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CNN Live Saturday

Checkpoints In Washington Grind Traffic To Halt; Prominent New York Doctor May Be Connected To 2001 Anthrax Attacks;

Aired August 07, 2004 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. in Washington, 9:00 p.m. in Pakistan, two of the frontlines in the Iran terror. I'm Deborah Feyerick, this is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Ahead this hour:
Hunting down al-Qaeda leaders: The key role Pakistan is playing in capturing suspects. Also, what new leads federal investigators have in the deadly anthrax attacks. And later:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all knew when we joined the reserves this could happen and it did so this is what we train for, so this is what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The real band of brothers in Iraq: How four brothers feel as they head to Iraq in the same military unit.

Also, it's not too late if you think about heading to Greece for the Olympics. Great travel deals, yours for the taking.

But first, a look at the top stories in the news now.

Two Marines killed in combat in Iraq. The U.S. Military confirms the Marines died in gun battles in Najaf. That's where there's been intense fighting with Shiite Moslem insurgents. It was some of the bloodiest fighting in recent months; we'll have the latest developments in a live report from Iraq coming up in just 30 minutes.

Police say an extreme level of violence was used in the killing of six people at a house in Deltona, Florida. Authorities won't talk about a motive or say how the victims died. They're still searching for persons of interest. The victims were found when one failed to show up for a job.

A military court is set to reconvene this afternoon to consider the case against Lynndie England. She's seen in those infamous standing near an Iraqi prisoner held on a leash. The hearing will determine whether she will face a court-martial.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Investigators are learning more about an alleged al-Qaeda operative. Eisa al-Hindi is now in British custody. One report says Osama bin Laden sent al-Hindi to the U.S. in early 2001 to scout potential targets. Officials want to know who he contacted. Maria Ressa joins us now from Islamabad with more on the investigation.

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Deborah, all of this began in June with the arrest of a man called the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and in affect, what we're seeing really is the unraveling of an al-Qaeda cell that had plots that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed allegedly put in place before 9/11 began. After the arrest of this alleged nephew, that led to the arrest of Eisa al-Hindi, last week.

In the U.K. a man officials describe as al-Qaeda's a leader in the U.K. -- information from him -- well, according to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he said he sent al-Hindi to New York City in 2001 at the request of Osama bin Laden to case potential targets. He also, just three months ago, al-Hindi was in Lahore, Pakistan meeting with three other known associates of associates Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. One of them was a computer expert who had the files that al-Hindi -- the basically the surveillance of photographs and reports that he made from that scouting trip in 2001. Information from the computer files, of this man arrested in Pakistan in mid-July, led U.S. authorities to raise the terror alert in three U.S. cities last week. Now, that information, along with the information from al-Hindi is uncovering tentacles of this cell, not just here in Pakistan, also the U.S., the U.K. and as far in the Far East Malaysia and Indonesia.

Back to you, Deborah.

FEYERICK: Maria, how big of a get is this for investigators? This is opening up really whole new avenues that they can go down to try to find other people. They must be thrilled about this.

RESSA: Absolutely. This is really a tip of the iceberg and shows you the scope of al-Qaeda, this global reach of al-Qaeda. Eisa al-Hindi is a big get. This man, for example, according to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also was in touch with the southeast Asian arm of al- Qaeda, a group called Jemaah Islamiah, but aside from him, the treasure-trove that Pakistan has from the arrest of other suspects just over the last week that has led to the arrest of a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a man on the FBI wanted list, al- Ghilani. He is wanted for the bombing in East Africa, also another big fish. A lot of information but, more importantly, information that's leading to active links to other operatives around the world.

FEYERICK: Maria Ressa, thank you very much.

Back on the home front in the war on terror, extra security remains in place in the nation's capital. In his radio address today, President Bush called the high state of alert there, and in New York and New Jersey, a grim reminder of the threats still facing the U.S. The show of force has some officials worrying that there is too much police protection. Brian Todd is in Washington with the details.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deborah, city officials have been complaining for several days about too many checkpoints, too much backed up traffic. Today Homeland Security and local officials -- local police officials are not commenting on those complaints.

We're now on day seven of this increased terror threat level. That level is officially designated as high or orange and that applies to this entire city, not just the financial sectors as in some other places.

Now still, in front of the World Bank here, the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve building, new checkpoints have been set up, officials establishing a very visible security presence. Still, it's a little deceiving when you walk or drive by these places. At the World Bank, for instance, three out of the four streets surrounding the building are still open to traffic. And an official tells us that everyone who works there is still taking it in stride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMIAN MILVERTON, WORLD BANK SPOKESMAN: But I think most people realize that we're taking it very seriously and that's the most important thing. The steps are real, you can see them, they are being felt everyday. I don't believe they're causing a great deal of inconvenience. To many the bank's staff haven't heard any complaints about -- in that sort of way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: The World Bank officials also say that they're offering extra counseling to help people cope with all of this, but they say not a lot of extra people have signed up for that counseling. There's a collective sense here that everybody just has to deal with the anxiety and inconvenience -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: Brian Todd in Washington, we know how it feels in New York, as well.

Well, heightened security and terrorism chatter, additional intelligence. What next? How does the intelligence committee move forward? Joining me to look at that issue will be CNN military analyst, Ken Robinson.

Ken, let's talk about what happened this week. It was a big week, just how far did the U.S. and Pakistan move the ball ahead in this war on terror?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN ANALYST: Well, they've made enormous strides, as you saw in Maria Ressa's report. The issue is not just knowing retrospectively what they were planning, but also to be able to have links to active cells who may be communicating with each other will enable them to try to apply some shock to those cells, identify and disrupt potential future attacks. It's a big deal.

FEYERICK: Yes, one thing that's surprising Ken, is that when they do get some of these men in custody, the men talk. They give information. Cynics might say, are they just sort of providing information that might be sending the U.S. and other officials on sort of decoy?

ROBINSON: That's a fair argument. We need to know, really, how much information they provided and how much information was taken from what they had on them in terms of their computers, their CD-ROMs, as I understand it, much of this was derived from that which they had embedded, which was decrypted and then able to be exploited. So, there is some communication going back and forth in their interrogations, but there may be a large treasure-trove of that which they were trying to hide, that they were captured with.

FEYERICK: And I think, of course, we saw that with the arrest of the 12 men in Britain and also, I guess, the alert which told New Yorkers and the rest of the country for the first time what the specific targets were, that's why everybody was sort of battening down the hatches, this week.

ROBINSON: And to be able to see that someone was actually on the inside. That someone within al-Qaeda, not just cased the outside of the building, but potentially cased the inside of the building and then updated those caisson reports as early as January of this year. That's just pretty telling the United States intelligence community, that it's a clear and present threat.

FEYERICK: And, let's talk about that a little because there's information that perhaps there was somebody inside either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund who may have been providing information to those people outside.

ROBINSON: Well, that's one of the greatest risks we have to all of our infrastructure, or aviation industry, et cetera. You know, we guard the front door with transportation safety, but in the back door we have guest workers, we have janitorial crews, and sometimes the issue of determining and vetting those personal may be the weakest link to the ability to be able to penetrate and assess where our vulnerabilities truly are.

FEYERICK: And then, just quickly and finally, Ken, this also seems to be a pretty big coo in terms of information sharing, not just between U.S. intelligence authorities, but also Pakistani intelligence authority, something that we're seeing in a very measurable way, perhaps not for the first time, but certainly in a big way.

ROBINSON: Well, you know, they've got a real challenge. They can be very aggressive in their urban areas where we've seen a lot of these captors. They have a greater challenge when they try to enforce and control their lawless area on the border, which have been autonomous since 1947 with the creation of Pakistan. That's the area where they believe these new camps may be active. Where Arab fighters may be moving about and that's where the great pressure is being applied on the pressure on the government of Pakistan. But, it's an enormous challenge for them to try to move in there unilaterally and do something. There may be a requirement for a different type of a plan and assault to be able to move into that area.

FEYERICK: OK, Ken Robinson, thanks very much.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Deb.

FEYERICK: A New York doctor may be linked to the deadly anthrax attacks three years ago, but investigators won't say how or why. Properties connected to Dr. Ken Berry are targets of federal searches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): FBI officials will not say why they searched Dr. Kenneth Berry's home in Wellsville, New York. They're also not saying why they searched a house nearby where Berry lived until June of 2001. Or why they carted off boxes and bags from a beach house on the Jersey Shore owned by Berry's parents. All the FBI will say is the search has something to do with finding the origins of the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings. New York governor George Pataki telling CNN:

GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Well, what they're doing is just simply checking every possible lead to see -- to try to eliminate those who might be, in any way, considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks.

FEYERICK: Everyone in the small Wellsville community seemed to be talking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure for Wellsville it'll be a day that goes down in our history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Labeled, you know, a very loving family and this is a complete shock and it's very sad to hear.

FEYERICK: Berry is founder of Preempt Systems, the counter- terrorism company that trains first responders how to react if there's a biological or chemical attack. Berry was head of emergency medicine in the Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, resigning in October 2001, around the time of the anthrax attacks. A hospital spokeswoman did not know why Berry stepped down. Before he did, he filed a patent application for a system to identify chemical and biological agents, that was ten days before the two anthrax letters were postmarked from New Jersey. Berry's website says he's a "weapons of mass destruction for the Defense Department," CNN could not confirm that with the Pentagon. Repeated attempts to reach Berry or his representative were unsuccessful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, Berry was arrested Thursday, but not because of anything to do with anthrax, but because of an alleged domestic disturbance.

Well, what does it feel like to pull one of the world's most wanted men from a tiny hole in the ground? Only on CNN, we'll introduce you to Samir (ph), an Iraqi American as close to the action as one could possibly get, that story ahead.

But coming up first, the race for the White House and this week's jobs numbers. Wall Street hated the figures, but how will it play on Main Street.

And this:

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the polls are now open. Welcome to Bobblelection.

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FEYERICK: We'll explain exactly what a bobbelection is, and tell you which candidate won. This CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

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FEYERICK: Time for the presidential campaign trail mix. The southwest is today's staging ground for the democratic ticket. John Kerry and running mate John Edwards start the day in Colorado and end it in one of the most crucial battlegrounds, New Mexico. CNN will have live coverage of the Kerry-Edwards rally in our 2:00 p.m. hour.

Meantime, President Bush attending his nephew's wedding today in Maine. The son of Florida Governor Jeb Bush is marrying another lawyer, Amada Williams from Texas.

And Vice president Dick Cheney is in New York for a fundraiser.

Well, a lot of people out there looking for work. The jobs report for July not as good as expected. Attention, once again, focusing on the economy, it's an issue polls show is helping the democratic ticket, as CNN's Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Against a backdrop of hay bails and corn stalks on a Missouri farm, John Kerry used the lackluster jobs report to mock the president's new campaign slogan.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the last few days you heard people in positions of leadership on the other side saying America has turned the corner. Well, it must have been a u- turn.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not turning back.

BASH: On the stump in New Hampshire, an undeterred president talked up the economy with a concession.

BUSH: We got more to do. I'm not going to be satisfied until everybody who wants to work can find a job.

BASH: The 32,000 jobs created in July was a figure much lower than expected. The political reality, the bad jobs news is good news for Senator Kerry. The democratic National Committee already had an ad cut.

ANNOUNCER: Millions of job lost to plant closures and outsourcing. BASH: Bush aides note support Bush's handling of the economy has improved. That may be true, but a recent CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows Americans think John Kerry is a better leader on the issue by ten points.

Bush campaign officials privately admit they're frustrated by several months of improved job numbers that had major competition for air time. April's report showed a long-awaited sign of growth, 308,000 new jobs, but that week U.S. civilians were brutally killed in Fallujah. May's report, 288,000 jobs added, that day Donald Rumsfeld testified before Congress at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. April's report was later revised upwards, May and June downward.

Bush campaign aides point to considerable job growth where it matters, contested states like New Hampshire, where the president campaigned and Missouri where his opponent farmed for votes.

(on camera): Some political veterans say if voters don't feel the economic turn-around by now, it may be too late to break into their psyche by election day. It's something happened to the first President Bush, something his son is trying to avoid.

Dana Bash, CNN, Kansas City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, if the nation gets another jobs report like the one this week, political observers say the economy could outpace terrorism as No.1 topic of public concern. Rajeev Dhawan is with the Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center.

Thanks for being here.

RAJEEV DHAWAN, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

FEYERICK: First of all, what happened? There were supposed to be a lot of jobs out there. Where'd they go?

DHAWAN: Well, you can blame the high oil prices and the election jitters for this problem. You know, the economy was going gangbusters in the spring then it's taking a breather, and that's because of these kind of concerns where the employees pull back from hiring people.

FEYERICK: Now, is it job growth across the board that suffered or just in particular sectors?

DHAWAN: It was across the board, except for manufacturing which was suffering for the last three years, but it seem to be doing better. So I think, it was a case of the economy taking a breather and we are concerned this breather should not turn any longer. You know, the economy was so good and strong in the spring and now it's very weak in terms of job hiring.

FEYERICK: Now, are companies sort of sending the message that they, themselves, are cutting back and so they just can't hire these people? Are they taking a sort of precautionary approach to expanding their staffs?

DHAWAN: I would say precautionary approach, because, you know, when you have uncertainty and you don't know where the price of the oil would end up, you don't know who's going to be in the White House come November, people feel uncertain and they hold back on big risky things and what's the most risky things? Opening a new firm, opening a new division, hiring people and that's what shows up suddenly over there.

FEYERICK: In terms of the number of jobs that we're seeing, the people -- we're always hearing about people in very high-power jobs who now simply can't even find work. Is it just they're not modifying their expectations?

DHAWAN: Well, in case of the high-paying jobs, we have lost a lot of them and they still haven't come back to the same numbers. That is going to be a concern going forward. Even if the jobs come back, what is the quality of them and how many those high-paying are coming back? And these people will have to modify their expectations because today, in the current world, it's such a volatile world, you know, you can not expect to have the same kind of job security you had in the late '90s.

FEYERICK: And finally, is there any way to predict what kind of an economy we're going to be seeing in November, come election time?

DHAWAN: I think by the time November comes the job growth will still be a little bit weak, even if the couple of the months -- the next few months are going to be good, it's going to be very vulnerable. You know, see, one good month followed by two bad months and two good months followed by one bad month, that's going to be going to be the norm going forward until elections get over and we know who's the new commander-in-chief.

FEYERICK: OK, a rollercoaster that every American is certainly on right now.

DHAWAN: Right, unfortunately, that's the new norm.

FEYERICK: OK, Rajeev Dhawan, thank you, as always, for joining us.

DHAWAN: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Well, a political program note: Join "Larry King Live" next Thursday night at 9:00 Eastern for an exclusive joint interview with President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. That's Thursday at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific here on CNN.

Another money issue, whether it's for yourself or a child. Saving for college can seem like an overwhelming task. "Dollar Signs" takes your calls and you e-mails today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. We hope to hear from you. Find out how and when to start saving for that college education. Send your questions to us here at dollarsigns@CNN.com or call us at 1-800-807-2620. Well, couch potatoes and Olympic fanatics rejoice, this year you will have more chances and more events to tune in to. But, if you want that special feeling of really being there, it's not too late to head to the summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Event tickets are still available and there are travel deals galore. Details later in the hour.

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FEYERICK: Well, the Olympic torch continues its journey toward Athens as the world repairs for next week's opening of the summer games. The torch arrives in the Greek capital tomorrow carried by Greece's soccer team who did amazingly well in the World Cup. Meanwhile, CNN's Jen Rogers reports, this year you won't have to miss a moment of Olympic excitement.

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JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the track to the pool, records are expected to be set at the summer Olympics, but athletes won't be the only ones breaking barriers. "NBC" will making history with an unpressanted 1,210 hours of around the clock coverage.

MELISA GREGO, "TELEVISIONWEEK": I think it will be kind of fun for viewers because everything will be on the air no matter what sport you like, whether it's swimming, gymnastic, equestrian, softball, anything, basketball, softball -- you'll be able to find it.

ROGERS: But, get new batteries for your remote, Olympic coverage will be spread across seven "NBC" channels. "NBC," "MSNBC," "CNBC," "USA," "Bravo," "Telemundo," and "NBC HDTV" affiliate.

(on camera): This year's coverage will top the number of hours broadcast in the last five summer games combined. Averaging more than 70 hours a day for 17 days.

(voice-over): And for the first time every one of the 28 Olympic sports will be at least partially covered whether it's badminton on "Bravo" or archery on "MSNBC." But, with security questions swirling, and the continuing controversy over performance enhancing drugs is the American viewers' appetite ready for this Olympic feast?

DAVID CARTER, THE SPORTS BUSINESS GROUP: It's going to affect viewership negatively at all at the beginning because I think that kind of controversy is going to make a lot of people want to tune in and see it.

ROGERS: So far advertisers seem confident that viewers won't tune out. "NBC," which hopes to sell $1 billion worth of advertising for the games says 95 percent of its inventory is sold. But while Madison Avenue may be buying, it's also bracing for the worst.

CARTER: They're going through contingency planning, have crisis management programs in place for any eventuality that might pop up.

ROGERS: With much of the coverage on a tape delay, thanks to a seven-hour time difference between Athens and New York, at least there might be time to prepare for any changes.

Jen Rogers, CNN financial news, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: If watching the Olympics in person, rather than watching on TV is more your style, there are still some last-minute travel deals available on flights, hotels, and tickets. Our "Weekend Getaway" is in the next half hour.

Still ahead, a check of the day's top stories including the continuing violence in Najaf, we'll have a live report from Baghdad.

Then, the inside scoop on the capture of Saddam Hussein, it's a story you have not heard before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name? He said, "I'm Saddam." "Saddam what?" I had to really yell at him. He said, "I'm Saddam Hussein."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We'll hear from the man who was there for Saddam Hussein's capture and why it was an especially important moment for him.

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FEYERICK: Now in the news: CNN has learned that so-called "chatter" between suspected terrorists has significantly dropped off. Counter-terrorism officials say they're not sure why, but they are concerned. Comminications between suspected terrorists declined before the September 11 attacks.

Two small planes collided in mid-air over Kinalon (ph) New Jersey. One of them crashed into someone's backyard. An FAA spokeswomen reports all five people on the planes are dead. There were no injuries on the ground.

In Kandahar, Afghanistan, gunmen ambushed a convoy of election workers headed to a remote Taliban stronghold. Two workers were killed. To date, 12 people have been killed preparing for Afghanistan's historic vote, set for October 9.

A Blue Dog Democrat will wear a Republican hat from now on. Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander made the surprise party switch moments before qualifying for the November elections. He had registered as Democrat on Wednesday.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

In Iraq, a bloody week in Najaf where interim prime minister Iyad Allawi says he believes criminals and foreign forces are behind the resistance. Allawi signed an amnesty law and the interim government ordered Al Jazeera TV off the air. CNN's Matthew Chance joins us from Baghdad -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deborah, thank you.

In a day where there has been widespread violence again in Iraq and also a day where the government reached out to those carrying out the violence to try to bring them back into the political fold. Iraq signing into law a new measure giving people amnesty. It could affect thousands of people who have been at the fringes of the sidelines of this country's mounting insurgency.

Now, this amnesty agreement, which will be enforced for 30 days, is not aimed that most hardline of the insurgent fighters, Iyad Allawi, the country's interim prime minister, saying that he hoped it would effect or would allow low-level criminals to rejoin the mainstream of peaceful society. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER, IRAQ (through translator): This order has been established to allow citizens to rejoin the civil society, to participate in the reconstruction of their country and the improvement of their lives instead of wasting their lives pointlessly toward a lost cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: That announcement coming on the third day of bitter fighting in the holy city of Najaf. Members of the Mehdi army militia, loyal to the radical Shiite Cleric Maqtada al Sadr, battling on the streets of Najaf with U.S. Marines backed by interim Iraqi forces, as well.

There have been high casualties, medical officials in Najaf saying at least 21 civilians have been killed in the latest fighting, more than 120 wounded, as well.

It is the worst violence in the region since a cease-fire agreement with Maqtada Al Sadr last June. Shows no sign at the moment of easing. Deborah?

FEYERICK: Matthew, let's go to Al Jazeera. Why, in fact, were they taken off the air for a month? That's pretty significant.

CHANCE: It does seem to be pretty significant. That's right, the interim Iraqi prime minister today making these reasons clear why he has decided to issue this ban on Al Jazeera and asked them to close down the office from today, here in Baghdad, for one month.

He said that they had an independent commission looking into the output of Al Jazeera over the past month or so, and said they had found that some of their output was inciting violence and inciting racial hatred.

He was asked by one of our CNN producers whether he was concerned about the impact this closure would have on the freedom of the press. He said his priority was more the safety of the Iraqi people.

FEYERICK: Matthew Chance in Baghdad, thank you very much for joining us.

The last time we saw Saddam Hussein was in Baghdad, still defiant and occasionally combative, at a court hearing on July 1. Now CNN has learned the details of his capture from the man who pulled the former Iraqi dictator from the spider hole where he was hiding. Frommer Iraq hostage and CNN's Special contributor, Ron Young, has this special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMIR, TRANSLATOR WITH SPECIAL FORCES: The moment I was like - I don't know what to do. This is the guy who destroyed millions of lives. He's in my hands. I don't know, to kill him, by the way, it's not a good idea.

I don't know what to do, really.

I told him, you call yourself a hero and a leader of the Arab nation. You are nobody. And he called me a traitor and spy. He made me really upset and I had to -- I was so angry.

I don't know, really, I punched him a couple times in the face. Grabbed him from his beard and they told me to stop. That's enough.

Saddam spoke two words in English when we pulled him out. When we pulled him out he spoke the word because he thought nobody speak Arabic with the forces. He said, America, why? He said it three times. America, why? America, why?

I remember one of the forces told me to tell him. He said, Samir, tell him the reason we're here is because President Bush sent us to find you.

RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: How did he react?

SAMIR: He's a spoiled boy. My shoe is better than you and your family.

Any question you ask him, he's crazy. I think he's crazy. He's like, the war is not over. He said, I'm a hostage or I'm a prisoner?

YOUNG: He had no idea.

SAMIR: He said, you didn't win the war. He said, you didn't win the war, the war's not over. We told him that the war is over. The war is over, it's gone. You're gone. He said, no, the war is not over.

YOUNG (voice over): Special Forces took Saddam Hussein back to one of his palaces, he was no longer president, but a prisoner.

YOUNG (on camera): Was he crying?

SAMIR: He wasn't really crying but he was like -- it felt like, he's not Saddam any more. He's not the president any more. He felt it's gone.

I remember a couple of questions, they ask while I was there. They asked about the massacre (ph) graves and he denied it. He blamed the vice president, Iraqi vice president, Al Douri (ph).

He said, America, it was like, why you come crossing the Atlantic? You come in here -- that the way he talk -- you come in here to Iraq. What do you know about Baghdad?

PAUL BREMER, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

YOUNG (voice over): Soon, word traveled in Nasiriya and later the pictures.

SAMIR: My mom, when she saw the first picture, that first picture came out, they blocked my face. She said, from his hand I could tell it was Samir.

My parents, they proud of me.

Samir returned to St. Louis. He told only a few people what happened. He tried to tell his story to President Bush in an e-mail, but it bounced back. Then, last month, friends arranged for him to meet President Bush.

SAMIR: I was like -- it can't be. It can't be. I couldn't sleep that night. I just couldn't believe it. I shook the president's hand. And I told him, Mr. President, thank you, thank you for what you have done to Iraq, to free the country. That's a great moment.

Again, I tell him, sir, this is me and Saddam. He said, he saw it. He saw the picture.

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG (on camera): What would you say to the people in this country who say that our going to war wasn't worth it, that the cost was too high?

SAMIR: I want to say, like, especially the whole family, they have sons or kids that have a daddy or a mother serving in Iraq, I want it tell them what they do in Iraq is the right thing because they save a life, they're changing the Iraq.

Going to Iraq, I think, is the right thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, you can hear Samir's full story with CNN Special Contributor Ron Young later today in a special report at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 Pacific.

One quick correction, offices of Al Jazeera in Baghdad have been closed, but the station itself still does remain on the air in Iraq.

Well, meet the Scherzbergs, two army specialist and two sergeants, a real life Band of Brothers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it would be horrible to send one off to war by himself. He would feel like we deserted him. But in this way we're sending, you know, a brother -- excuse me -- brothers with them to take care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Their story is up next.

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FEYERICK: In news across America, a manhunt is under way in Texas for five federal prisoners, including a man believed to be the leader of the Mexican mafia gang. Witnesses say they saw the five crawl under fences at a prison near San Antonio yesterday.

Arizona officials are calling this Phoenix home a house of hazards. Radioactive chemicals and heavy metals were discovered during an estate sale at the property. Officials say the hazardous items could have been left by the home's previous owner, a chemist, who died.

In New Jersey, Coast Guard teams are searching this container ship for possible hazards. The Department of Agriculture received word that a container of lemons on board may contain what was described as a harmful biological substance. Initial tests have come back negative.

In San Francisco an Italian artist managed to swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco with hands and feet tied. Alberto Prestini (ph) made the one and a half mile swim in just under two hours.

Attempts are under way to save the lives of 34 beached dolphins on Hutchinson Island, Florida. Beach goers pushed the rough tooth dolphins out to sea yesterday, but they all returned to shore.

From America's heartland, a tale of four close-knit brothers, all of them Reservists and all headed to Iraq. CNN's Jonathan Freed caught up with them as they waited for orders to ship out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From left to right meet Specialist Scherzberg, Specialist Scherzberg, Sergeant Scherzberg and Sergeant Scherzberg. They're brothers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I punch him in the arm, he feels it, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it. Ouch!

FREED: They're Army Reservists, all in the same unit, the 915th Transportation Company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention!

FREED: And their unit is heading to Iraq.

SGT. MATTHEW SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY: We all knew that when we joined the Reserves this could happen and it did. So, now, this is what we trained for, so this is what we have to do.

FREED: Matthew Scherzberg, his twin Justin, and their brother Bret served in Iraq last year with a different company. When the 915th got its orders older brother Jeffrey, a former Reservist reenlisted, saying he couldn't let the three go back without him.

JEFFERY SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY: Definitely something that I'm not used to. I usually look after the little guys, but this time I'm kind of counting on them to give me advice, so it is definitely going to be different.

FREED: At first, their father didn't even want to hear about it.

MARTY SCHERZBERG, FATHER: I kept imagine saying, I'm going to call the senator, you know. This can't be. They've already did their time, but the governor, I did call the governor.

FREED: But Marty Scherzberg changed his mind, reluctantly, when he saw that his kids weren't the only ones heading back into the war zone for another year.

(on camera): When the brothers get to Iraq, they're going to be working the supply lines driving trucks and, although, they're all part of the same unit, they're being split up, assigned to separate platoons.

CAPT. DAVID MARNE, 915th TRANSPORTATION CO.: For safety, security, to just spread out their experience.

FREED: The army approved the brothers' assignment because they're all volunteers. And because they have a fifth brother who is staying at home. Their mother believes it's not too much to ask of one family.

CONNIE SCHERZBERG, MOTHER: I think it would be horrible to send one off to war by himself. He would just feel like, oh we deserted him. But in this way, we're sending, you know, brother -- excuse me. Brothers with them to take care of them. It's very comforting.

FREED: The brothers comfort themselves by trying not to think about what could happen to them.

SPECIALIST BRETT SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION CO.: You try to keep your head out of that and you'll prepare for the situation when something like that happens.

FREED (on camera): Do you think you're in denial about that?

BRETT SCHERZBERG: Sure. Yeah. Definitely. Why wouldn't you be?

FREED: The three Iraq veterans insist that kind of preparation gives you an edge. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Ft. Riley, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: This programming note. The murders of six people in Deltona, Florida, shocked the community. A police news conference on the investigation coming up at 2:00 Eastern. CNN, will, of course, have live coverage.

We're less than a week away from the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, if you think it's just too late to jet over there, think again. We'll hear about some last-minute travel deals to Athens that might be too good to pass up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Less than a week from now the curtain goes up on the Summer Olympics in the city where the games originally began. The world's biggest sports event gets under way next Friday in Athens, Greece.

And if you are thinking of heading to the Greek capital, it's not too late to get some good travel deals. While sales are picking up fast, there are still many tickets left for many of the events. Pauline Frommer, with Budget Travel Online is with us from New York to talk about some of the deals still available.

First of all, why are there so many empty seats at this point?

PAULINE FROMMER, "ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL": Well, I think a lot of people have been worried about security. There's been a lot of talk in the media about how difficult it will be to secure these Olympic Games, you have the high cost of the euro.

And you have the fact that it didn't look like Athens was going to be ready on time. In fact, the last nail will go into those stadiums the day before the games.

FEYERICK: How does this compare to other Olympics?

FROMMER: Well, it's a smaller Olympics, but they knew that from the start simply because the venues are smaller. There are going to be about half million people visiting this Olympics, that compares to Sydney which had 1.6 million, and Atlanta which had 1.2 million. It's a smaller Olympics.

FEYERICK: The people attending the events now, are they mostly the families of the athletes, or are you seeing a lot of independent people just going on holiday in Greece?

FROMMER: I would assume it's a wide variety of visitors. I mean, the interesting thing is there are many fewer European Union visitors going to the Olympics. In fact, half, over half, of the European Union tickets are unsold, which means while it's hard to get tickets from the United States because each country is allotted a certain amount of tickets and most of the U.S. tickets are now sold out. If you actually go to the Games and try to get them on the spots with the exception of the opening and closing ceremonies everything, almost everything is open and available at this very late date.

FEYERICK: Is it that fewer Americans and Europeans are traveling, or are they simply just not traveling to Greece?

FROMMER: Well, it's that fewer are traveling to Greece, as we said earlier, there have been these worries, that's led to a tremendous fire sale, to be quite honest.

Right now you can get tickets from New York to Athens from such companies as Homeric Tours or Carton, which is the official seller to the Olympics in the United States for about $850, $880. A month ago the cheapest flight you could have gotten between New York and Athens would have been $1,500. That is simply because large blocks of seats are now available to the public because they didn't sell.

FEYERICK: What are some travel tips for the Olympics in 2006? Not to jump ahead. But those are going to be taking place Turin. Will people wait to the last minute then? And then actually see the opposite, that it's not a fire sale, that is going on, but in fact, they're sold out? Are we going to see that balance?

FROMMER: Well, it's very unusual to see this massive a fire sale. One thing that does happen at every Olympics is that large blocks of hotel rooms are set aside by various nationalities and various corporations and at the last moment and last couple weeks before the games many of those hotel rooms have happened.

That's happened for the last six or seven Olympics. Those people who wait until the last minute to book their hotel rooms will usually pay less than those who book months in advance.

We're finding that for this Olympics, too. If you go to carton.com you can get a room aboard a ship in the Piraeus (ph) Harbor, for $300 a night. If you booked two weeks ago it would have been $900 a night.

FEYERICK: So, in this case, definitely good to have waited. Unfortunately, I can't make it. But we will hopefully plan for 2006.

Pauline Frommer, thank you very much for joining us on this.

FROMMER: Thank you.

Well, Olympic training in the 21st century that is less about blood, sweat and tears and more about the state of the art of technology. Coming up at 2:00 Eastern, we'll show you how American athletes use high-tech tools to improve their skills.

The state of Florida is in the spotlight, again, in the battle for the Oval Office, but this time there's a twist -- and may the best bobblehead win. The story when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Well, here we go again. Another battle to the wire in Florida in the race for the White House. But in this case, it's the battle of the bobbleheads and minor league baseball fans got to decide the winner. The story from CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Look at the line. Voting for president is serious business. Even if it's August and it really doesn't count.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the polls are now open. Welcome to Babble election.

ZARRELLA: Seven minor league baseball stadiums hosted a spirited presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need a change.

ZARRELLA: Fans got to vote for either President Bush or Senator John Kerry. In exchange, they got a bobblehead doll of the candidate of their choice. Kim Harris cast the first Florida vote.

KIM HARRIS, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: As a disabled veteran I have to go with George Bush.

ZARRELLA: From Ft. Myers, Florida, home of the Miracle, to the Sioux Falls Canaries, the ballparks were all decked out, bunting hanging from the facade. Voting booths had even Representatives from the two major parties. It was supposed to be just a fun promotion to boost summer attendance, but --

LINDA MCNABS (ph), TOOK PART IN ELECTION: They're not smiling. I walk out a minute ago and I said, would you people lighten up? And they are just, we have to vote right, we have to vote right, got to get in there.

ZARRELLA: As a reminder of unpleasantries past, every Ft. Myers voter received a hanging chad. As expected here in Florida, there were some who didn't think the election was fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How come Nader wasn't on the ballot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like every other Florida election.

ZARRELLA: Dick Cheney had no problem with it. That's right, this man's name is Richard Cheney. You can guess who he voted for.

DICK CHENEY, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: The vice president is a distant cousin.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Does he know who you are?

CHENEY: No, I doubt it. ZARRELLA: At the end of the night, just as it is expected to be in November, the election was close. Of the seven cities, President Bush won four to Senator Kerry's three. The president won Ft. Myers with 53 percent of the vote, despite partisan vote counters ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two in a row. We're rallying.

ZARRELLA: ...who favored Senator Kerry.

(on camera): Now, given all the problems Florida has had with electronic voting machines and counting ballots, come November, elections officials might want to consider something really simple, like a bobble-election -- John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Myers, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: That's one debate I certainly would have liked to have seen. Well, anyway, there's more on CNN SATURDAY in a few moments, "In The Money". At 2 Eastern, a big day of politics, we'll be live from the campaign trail. At 3:00 it's "Next@CNN", today looking at how technology is supposed to help us make us work smarter is actually making many people work harder.

END

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired August 7, 2004 - 12:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. in Washington, 9:00 p.m. in Pakistan, two of the frontlines in the Iran terror. I'm Deborah Feyerick, this is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Ahead this hour:
Hunting down al-Qaeda leaders: The key role Pakistan is playing in capturing suspects. Also, what new leads federal investigators have in the deadly anthrax attacks. And later:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all knew when we joined the reserves this could happen and it did so this is what we train for, so this is what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The real band of brothers in Iraq: How four brothers feel as they head to Iraq in the same military unit.

Also, it's not too late if you think about heading to Greece for the Olympics. Great travel deals, yours for the taking.

But first, a look at the top stories in the news now.

Two Marines killed in combat in Iraq. The U.S. Military confirms the Marines died in gun battles in Najaf. That's where there's been intense fighting with Shiite Moslem insurgents. It was some of the bloodiest fighting in recent months; we'll have the latest developments in a live report from Iraq coming up in just 30 minutes.

Police say an extreme level of violence was used in the killing of six people at a house in Deltona, Florida. Authorities won't talk about a motive or say how the victims died. They're still searching for persons of interest. The victims were found when one failed to show up for a job.

A military court is set to reconvene this afternoon to consider the case against Lynndie England. She's seen in those infamous standing near an Iraqi prisoner held on a leash. The hearing will determine whether she will face a court-martial.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Investigators are learning more about an alleged al-Qaeda operative. Eisa al-Hindi is now in British custody. One report says Osama bin Laden sent al-Hindi to the U.S. in early 2001 to scout potential targets. Officials want to know who he contacted. Maria Ressa joins us now from Islamabad with more on the investigation.

MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Deborah, all of this began in June with the arrest of a man called the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and in affect, what we're seeing really is the unraveling of an al-Qaeda cell that had plots that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed allegedly put in place before 9/11 began. After the arrest of this alleged nephew, that led to the arrest of Eisa al-Hindi, last week.

In the U.K. a man officials describe as al-Qaeda's a leader in the U.K. -- information from him -- well, according to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he said he sent al-Hindi to New York City in 2001 at the request of Osama bin Laden to case potential targets. He also, just three months ago, al-Hindi was in Lahore, Pakistan meeting with three other known associates of associates Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. One of them was a computer expert who had the files that al-Hindi -- the basically the surveillance of photographs and reports that he made from that scouting trip in 2001. Information from the computer files, of this man arrested in Pakistan in mid-July, led U.S. authorities to raise the terror alert in three U.S. cities last week. Now, that information, along with the information from al-Hindi is uncovering tentacles of this cell, not just here in Pakistan, also the U.S., the U.K. and as far in the Far East Malaysia and Indonesia.

Back to you, Deborah.

FEYERICK: Maria, how big of a get is this for investigators? This is opening up really whole new avenues that they can go down to try to find other people. They must be thrilled about this.

RESSA: Absolutely. This is really a tip of the iceberg and shows you the scope of al-Qaeda, this global reach of al-Qaeda. Eisa al-Hindi is a big get. This man, for example, according to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also was in touch with the southeast Asian arm of al- Qaeda, a group called Jemaah Islamiah, but aside from him, the treasure-trove that Pakistan has from the arrest of other suspects just over the last week that has led to the arrest of a (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a man on the FBI wanted list, al- Ghilani. He is wanted for the bombing in East Africa, also another big fish. A lot of information but, more importantly, information that's leading to active links to other operatives around the world.

FEYERICK: Maria Ressa, thank you very much.

Back on the home front in the war on terror, extra security remains in place in the nation's capital. In his radio address today, President Bush called the high state of alert there, and in New York and New Jersey, a grim reminder of the threats still facing the U.S. The show of force has some officials worrying that there is too much police protection. Brian Todd is in Washington with the details.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deborah, city officials have been complaining for several days about too many checkpoints, too much backed up traffic. Today Homeland Security and local officials -- local police officials are not commenting on those complaints.

We're now on day seven of this increased terror threat level. That level is officially designated as high or orange and that applies to this entire city, not just the financial sectors as in some other places.

Now still, in front of the World Bank here, the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve building, new checkpoints have been set up, officials establishing a very visible security presence. Still, it's a little deceiving when you walk or drive by these places. At the World Bank, for instance, three out of the four streets surrounding the building are still open to traffic. And an official tells us that everyone who works there is still taking it in stride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAMIAN MILVERTON, WORLD BANK SPOKESMAN: But I think most people realize that we're taking it very seriously and that's the most important thing. The steps are real, you can see them, they are being felt everyday. I don't believe they're causing a great deal of inconvenience. To many the bank's staff haven't heard any complaints about -- in that sort of way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: The World Bank officials also say that they're offering extra counseling to help people cope with all of this, but they say not a lot of extra people have signed up for that counseling. There's a collective sense here that everybody just has to deal with the anxiety and inconvenience -- Deborah.

FEYERICK: Brian Todd in Washington, we know how it feels in New York, as well.

Well, heightened security and terrorism chatter, additional intelligence. What next? How does the intelligence committee move forward? Joining me to look at that issue will be CNN military analyst, Ken Robinson.

Ken, let's talk about what happened this week. It was a big week, just how far did the U.S. and Pakistan move the ball ahead in this war on terror?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN ANALYST: Well, they've made enormous strides, as you saw in Maria Ressa's report. The issue is not just knowing retrospectively what they were planning, but also to be able to have links to active cells who may be communicating with each other will enable them to try to apply some shock to those cells, identify and disrupt potential future attacks. It's a big deal.

FEYERICK: Yes, one thing that's surprising Ken, is that when they do get some of these men in custody, the men talk. They give information. Cynics might say, are they just sort of providing information that might be sending the U.S. and other officials on sort of decoy?

ROBINSON: That's a fair argument. We need to know, really, how much information they provided and how much information was taken from what they had on them in terms of their computers, their CD-ROMs, as I understand it, much of this was derived from that which they had embedded, which was decrypted and then able to be exploited. So, there is some communication going back and forth in their interrogations, but there may be a large treasure-trove of that which they were trying to hide, that they were captured with.

FEYERICK: And I think, of course, we saw that with the arrest of the 12 men in Britain and also, I guess, the alert which told New Yorkers and the rest of the country for the first time what the specific targets were, that's why everybody was sort of battening down the hatches, this week.

ROBINSON: And to be able to see that someone was actually on the inside. That someone within al-Qaeda, not just cased the outside of the building, but potentially cased the inside of the building and then updated those caisson reports as early as January of this year. That's just pretty telling the United States intelligence community, that it's a clear and present threat.

FEYERICK: And, let's talk about that a little because there's information that perhaps there was somebody inside either the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund who may have been providing information to those people outside.

ROBINSON: Well, that's one of the greatest risks we have to all of our infrastructure, or aviation industry, et cetera. You know, we guard the front door with transportation safety, but in the back door we have guest workers, we have janitorial crews, and sometimes the issue of determining and vetting those personal may be the weakest link to the ability to be able to penetrate and assess where our vulnerabilities truly are.

FEYERICK: And then, just quickly and finally, Ken, this also seems to be a pretty big coo in terms of information sharing, not just between U.S. intelligence authorities, but also Pakistani intelligence authority, something that we're seeing in a very measurable way, perhaps not for the first time, but certainly in a big way.

ROBINSON: Well, you know, they've got a real challenge. They can be very aggressive in their urban areas where we've seen a lot of these captors. They have a greater challenge when they try to enforce and control their lawless area on the border, which have been autonomous since 1947 with the creation of Pakistan. That's the area where they believe these new camps may be active. Where Arab fighters may be moving about and that's where the great pressure is being applied on the pressure on the government of Pakistan. But, it's an enormous challenge for them to try to move in there unilaterally and do something. There may be a requirement for a different type of a plan and assault to be able to move into that area.

FEYERICK: OK, Ken Robinson, thanks very much.

ROBINSON: Thanks, Deb.

FEYERICK: A New York doctor may be linked to the deadly anthrax attacks three years ago, but investigators won't say how or why. Properties connected to Dr. Ken Berry are targets of federal searches.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): FBI officials will not say why they searched Dr. Kenneth Berry's home in Wellsville, New York. They're also not saying why they searched a house nearby where Berry lived until June of 2001. Or why they carted off boxes and bags from a beach house on the Jersey Shore owned by Berry's parents. All the FBI will say is the search has something to do with finding the origins of the deadly 2001 anthrax mailings. New York governor George Pataki telling CNN:

GOV. GEORGE PATAKI (R), NEW YORK: Well, what they're doing is just simply checking every possible lead to see -- to try to eliminate those who might be, in any way, considered a suspect in the anthrax attacks.

FEYERICK: Everyone in the small Wellsville community seemed to be talking about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure for Wellsville it'll be a day that goes down in our history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Labeled, you know, a very loving family and this is a complete shock and it's very sad to hear.

FEYERICK: Berry is founder of Preempt Systems, the counter- terrorism company that trains first responders how to react if there's a biological or chemical attack. Berry was head of emergency medicine in the Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, resigning in October 2001, around the time of the anthrax attacks. A hospital spokeswoman did not know why Berry stepped down. Before he did, he filed a patent application for a system to identify chemical and biological agents, that was ten days before the two anthrax letters were postmarked from New Jersey. Berry's website says he's a "weapons of mass destruction for the Defense Department," CNN could not confirm that with the Pentagon. Repeated attempts to reach Berry or his representative were unsuccessful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Now, Berry was arrested Thursday, but not because of anything to do with anthrax, but because of an alleged domestic disturbance.

Well, what does it feel like to pull one of the world's most wanted men from a tiny hole in the ground? Only on CNN, we'll introduce you to Samir (ph), an Iraqi American as close to the action as one could possibly get, that story ahead.

But coming up first, the race for the White House and this week's jobs numbers. Wall Street hated the figures, but how will it play on Main Street.

And this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the polls are now open. Welcome to Bobblelection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: We'll explain exactly what a bobbelection is, and tell you which candidate won. This CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Time for the presidential campaign trail mix. The southwest is today's staging ground for the democratic ticket. John Kerry and running mate John Edwards start the day in Colorado and end it in one of the most crucial battlegrounds, New Mexico. CNN will have live coverage of the Kerry-Edwards rally in our 2:00 p.m. hour.

Meantime, President Bush attending his nephew's wedding today in Maine. The son of Florida Governor Jeb Bush is marrying another lawyer, Amada Williams from Texas.

And Vice president Dick Cheney is in New York for a fundraiser.

Well, a lot of people out there looking for work. The jobs report for July not as good as expected. Attention, once again, focusing on the economy, it's an issue polls show is helping the democratic ticket, as CNN's Dana Bash reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Against a backdrop of hay bails and corn stalks on a Missouri farm, John Kerry used the lackluster jobs report to mock the president's new campaign slogan.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the last few days you heard people in positions of leadership on the other side saying America has turned the corner. Well, it must have been a u- turn.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not turning back.

BASH: On the stump in New Hampshire, an undeterred president talked up the economy with a concession.

BUSH: We got more to do. I'm not going to be satisfied until everybody who wants to work can find a job.

BASH: The 32,000 jobs created in July was a figure much lower than expected. The political reality, the bad jobs news is good news for Senator Kerry. The democratic National Committee already had an ad cut.

ANNOUNCER: Millions of job lost to plant closures and outsourcing. BASH: Bush aides note support Bush's handling of the economy has improved. That may be true, but a recent CNN/USA Today Gallup poll shows Americans think John Kerry is a better leader on the issue by ten points.

Bush campaign officials privately admit they're frustrated by several months of improved job numbers that had major competition for air time. April's report showed a long-awaited sign of growth, 308,000 new jobs, but that week U.S. civilians were brutally killed in Fallujah. May's report, 288,000 jobs added, that day Donald Rumsfeld testified before Congress at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. April's report was later revised upwards, May and June downward.

Bush campaign aides point to considerable job growth where it matters, contested states like New Hampshire, where the president campaigned and Missouri where his opponent farmed for votes.

(on camera): Some political veterans say if voters don't feel the economic turn-around by now, it may be too late to break into their psyche by election day. It's something happened to the first President Bush, something his son is trying to avoid.

Dana Bash, CNN, Kansas City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, if the nation gets another jobs report like the one this week, political observers say the economy could outpace terrorism as No.1 topic of public concern. Rajeev Dhawan is with the Georgia State University Economic Forecasting Center.

Thanks for being here.

RAJEEV DHAWAN, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

FEYERICK: First of all, what happened? There were supposed to be a lot of jobs out there. Where'd they go?

DHAWAN: Well, you can blame the high oil prices and the election jitters for this problem. You know, the economy was going gangbusters in the spring then it's taking a breather, and that's because of these kind of concerns where the employees pull back from hiring people.

FEYERICK: Now, is it job growth across the board that suffered or just in particular sectors?

DHAWAN: It was across the board, except for manufacturing which was suffering for the last three years, but it seem to be doing better. So I think, it was a case of the economy taking a breather and we are concerned this breather should not turn any longer. You know, the economy was so good and strong in the spring and now it's very weak in terms of job hiring.

FEYERICK: Now, are companies sort of sending the message that they, themselves, are cutting back and so they just can't hire these people? Are they taking a sort of precautionary approach to expanding their staffs?

DHAWAN: I would say precautionary approach, because, you know, when you have uncertainty and you don't know where the price of the oil would end up, you don't know who's going to be in the White House come November, people feel uncertain and they hold back on big risky things and what's the most risky things? Opening a new firm, opening a new division, hiring people and that's what shows up suddenly over there.

FEYERICK: In terms of the number of jobs that we're seeing, the people -- we're always hearing about people in very high-power jobs who now simply can't even find work. Is it just they're not modifying their expectations?

DHAWAN: Well, in case of the high-paying jobs, we have lost a lot of them and they still haven't come back to the same numbers. That is going to be a concern going forward. Even if the jobs come back, what is the quality of them and how many those high-paying are coming back? And these people will have to modify their expectations because today, in the current world, it's such a volatile world, you know, you can not expect to have the same kind of job security you had in the late '90s.

FEYERICK: And finally, is there any way to predict what kind of an economy we're going to be seeing in November, come election time?

DHAWAN: I think by the time November comes the job growth will still be a little bit weak, even if the couple of the months -- the next few months are going to be good, it's going to be very vulnerable. You know, see, one good month followed by two bad months and two good months followed by one bad month, that's going to be going to be the norm going forward until elections get over and we know who's the new commander-in-chief.

FEYERICK: OK, a rollercoaster that every American is certainly on right now.

DHAWAN: Right, unfortunately, that's the new norm.

FEYERICK: OK, Rajeev Dhawan, thank you, as always, for joining us.

DHAWAN: Thank you.

FEYERICK: Well, a political program note: Join "Larry King Live" next Thursday night at 9:00 Eastern for an exclusive joint interview with President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush. That's Thursday at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific here on CNN.

Another money issue, whether it's for yourself or a child. Saving for college can seem like an overwhelming task. "Dollar Signs" takes your calls and you e-mails today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern. We hope to hear from you. Find out how and when to start saving for that college education. Send your questions to us here at dollarsigns@CNN.com or call us at 1-800-807-2620. Well, couch potatoes and Olympic fanatics rejoice, this year you will have more chances and more events to tune in to. But, if you want that special feeling of really being there, it's not too late to head to the summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Event tickets are still available and there are travel deals galore. Details later in the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Well, the Olympic torch continues its journey toward Athens as the world repairs for next week's opening of the summer games. The torch arrives in the Greek capital tomorrow carried by Greece's soccer team who did amazingly well in the World Cup. Meanwhile, CNN's Jen Rogers reports, this year you won't have to miss a moment of Olympic excitement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the track to the pool, records are expected to be set at the summer Olympics, but athletes won't be the only ones breaking barriers. "NBC" will making history with an unpressanted 1,210 hours of around the clock coverage.

MELISA GREGO, "TELEVISIONWEEK": I think it will be kind of fun for viewers because everything will be on the air no matter what sport you like, whether it's swimming, gymnastic, equestrian, softball, anything, basketball, softball -- you'll be able to find it.

ROGERS: But, get new batteries for your remote, Olympic coverage will be spread across seven "NBC" channels. "NBC," "MSNBC," "CNBC," "USA," "Bravo," "Telemundo," and "NBC HDTV" affiliate.

(on camera): This year's coverage will top the number of hours broadcast in the last five summer games combined. Averaging more than 70 hours a day for 17 days.

(voice-over): And for the first time every one of the 28 Olympic sports will be at least partially covered whether it's badminton on "Bravo" or archery on "MSNBC." But, with security questions swirling, and the continuing controversy over performance enhancing drugs is the American viewers' appetite ready for this Olympic feast?

DAVID CARTER, THE SPORTS BUSINESS GROUP: It's going to affect viewership negatively at all at the beginning because I think that kind of controversy is going to make a lot of people want to tune in and see it.

ROGERS: So far advertisers seem confident that viewers won't tune out. "NBC," which hopes to sell $1 billion worth of advertising for the games says 95 percent of its inventory is sold. But while Madison Avenue may be buying, it's also bracing for the worst.

CARTER: They're going through contingency planning, have crisis management programs in place for any eventuality that might pop up.

ROGERS: With much of the coverage on a tape delay, thanks to a seven-hour time difference between Athens and New York, at least there might be time to prepare for any changes.

Jen Rogers, CNN financial news, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: If watching the Olympics in person, rather than watching on TV is more your style, there are still some last-minute travel deals available on flights, hotels, and tickets. Our "Weekend Getaway" is in the next half hour.

Still ahead, a check of the day's top stories including the continuing violence in Najaf, we'll have a live report from Baghdad.

Then, the inside scoop on the capture of Saddam Hussein, it's a story you have not heard before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name? He said, "I'm Saddam." "Saddam what?" I had to really yell at him. He said, "I'm Saddam Hussein."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We'll hear from the man who was there for Saddam Hussein's capture and why it was an especially important moment for him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Now in the news: CNN has learned that so-called "chatter" between suspected terrorists has significantly dropped off. Counter-terrorism officials say they're not sure why, but they are concerned. Comminications between suspected terrorists declined before the September 11 attacks.

Two small planes collided in mid-air over Kinalon (ph) New Jersey. One of them crashed into someone's backyard. An FAA spokeswomen reports all five people on the planes are dead. There were no injuries on the ground.

In Kandahar, Afghanistan, gunmen ambushed a convoy of election workers headed to a remote Taliban stronghold. Two workers were killed. To date, 12 people have been killed preparing for Afghanistan's historic vote, set for October 9.

A Blue Dog Democrat will wear a Republican hat from now on. Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander made the surprise party switch moments before qualifying for the November elections. He had registered as Democrat on Wednesday.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

In Iraq, a bloody week in Najaf where interim prime minister Iyad Allawi says he believes criminals and foreign forces are behind the resistance. Allawi signed an amnesty law and the interim government ordered Al Jazeera TV off the air. CNN's Matthew Chance joins us from Baghdad -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Deborah, thank you.

In a day where there has been widespread violence again in Iraq and also a day where the government reached out to those carrying out the violence to try to bring them back into the political fold. Iraq signing into law a new measure giving people amnesty. It could affect thousands of people who have been at the fringes of the sidelines of this country's mounting insurgency.

Now, this amnesty agreement, which will be enforced for 30 days, is not aimed that most hardline of the insurgent fighters, Iyad Allawi, the country's interim prime minister, saying that he hoped it would effect or would allow low-level criminals to rejoin the mainstream of peaceful society. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM PRIME MINISTER, IRAQ (through translator): This order has been established to allow citizens to rejoin the civil society, to participate in the reconstruction of their country and the improvement of their lives instead of wasting their lives pointlessly toward a lost cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: That announcement coming on the third day of bitter fighting in the holy city of Najaf. Members of the Mehdi army militia, loyal to the radical Shiite Cleric Maqtada al Sadr, battling on the streets of Najaf with U.S. Marines backed by interim Iraqi forces, as well.

There have been high casualties, medical officials in Najaf saying at least 21 civilians have been killed in the latest fighting, more than 120 wounded, as well.

It is the worst violence in the region since a cease-fire agreement with Maqtada Al Sadr last June. Shows no sign at the moment of easing. Deborah?

FEYERICK: Matthew, let's go to Al Jazeera. Why, in fact, were they taken off the air for a month? That's pretty significant.

CHANCE: It does seem to be pretty significant. That's right, the interim Iraqi prime minister today making these reasons clear why he has decided to issue this ban on Al Jazeera and asked them to close down the office from today, here in Baghdad, for one month.

He said that they had an independent commission looking into the output of Al Jazeera over the past month or so, and said they had found that some of their output was inciting violence and inciting racial hatred.

He was asked by one of our CNN producers whether he was concerned about the impact this closure would have on the freedom of the press. He said his priority was more the safety of the Iraqi people.

FEYERICK: Matthew Chance in Baghdad, thank you very much for joining us.

The last time we saw Saddam Hussein was in Baghdad, still defiant and occasionally combative, at a court hearing on July 1. Now CNN has learned the details of his capture from the man who pulled the former Iraqi dictator from the spider hole where he was hiding. Frommer Iraq hostage and CNN's Special contributor, Ron Young, has this special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMIR, TRANSLATOR WITH SPECIAL FORCES: The moment I was like - I don't know what to do. This is the guy who destroyed millions of lives. He's in my hands. I don't know, to kill him, by the way, it's not a good idea.

I don't know what to do, really.

I told him, you call yourself a hero and a leader of the Arab nation. You are nobody. And he called me a traitor and spy. He made me really upset and I had to -- I was so angry.

I don't know, really, I punched him a couple times in the face. Grabbed him from his beard and they told me to stop. That's enough.

Saddam spoke two words in English when we pulled him out. When we pulled him out he spoke the word because he thought nobody speak Arabic with the forces. He said, America, why? He said it three times. America, why? America, why?

I remember one of the forces told me to tell him. He said, Samir, tell him the reason we're here is because President Bush sent us to find you.

RON YOUNG, CNN SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR: How did he react?

SAMIR: He's a spoiled boy. My shoe is better than you and your family.

Any question you ask him, he's crazy. I think he's crazy. He's like, the war is not over. He said, I'm a hostage or I'm a prisoner?

YOUNG: He had no idea.

SAMIR: He said, you didn't win the war. He said, you didn't win the war, the war's not over. We told him that the war is over. The war is over, it's gone. You're gone. He said, no, the war is not over.

YOUNG (voice over): Special Forces took Saddam Hussein back to one of his palaces, he was no longer president, but a prisoner.

YOUNG (on camera): Was he crying?

SAMIR: He wasn't really crying but he was like -- it felt like, he's not Saddam any more. He's not the president any more. He felt it's gone.

I remember a couple of questions, they ask while I was there. They asked about the massacre (ph) graves and he denied it. He blamed the vice president, Iraqi vice president, Al Douri (ph).

He said, America, it was like, why you come crossing the Atlantic? You come in here -- that the way he talk -- you come in here to Iraq. What do you know about Baghdad?

PAUL BREMER, COALITION PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY: Ladies and gentlemen, we got him.

YOUNG (voice over): Soon, word traveled in Nasiriya and later the pictures.

SAMIR: My mom, when she saw the first picture, that first picture came out, they blocked my face. She said, from his hand I could tell it was Samir.

My parents, they proud of me.

Samir returned to St. Louis. He told only a few people what happened. He tried to tell his story to President Bush in an e-mail, but it bounced back. Then, last month, friends arranged for him to meet President Bush.

SAMIR: I was like -- it can't be. It can't be. I couldn't sleep that night. I just couldn't believe it. I shook the president's hand. And I told him, Mr. President, thank you, thank you for what you have done to Iraq, to free the country. That's a great moment.

Again, I tell him, sir, this is me and Saddam. He said, he saw it. He saw the picture.

(LAUGHTER)

YOUNG (on camera): What would you say to the people in this country who say that our going to war wasn't worth it, that the cost was too high?

SAMIR: I want to say, like, especially the whole family, they have sons or kids that have a daddy or a mother serving in Iraq, I want it tell them what they do in Iraq is the right thing because they save a life, they're changing the Iraq.

Going to Iraq, I think, is the right thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Well, you can hear Samir's full story with CNN Special Contributor Ron Young later today in a special report at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 Pacific.

One quick correction, offices of Al Jazeera in Baghdad have been closed, but the station itself still does remain on the air in Iraq.

Well, meet the Scherzbergs, two army specialist and two sergeants, a real life Band of Brothers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought it would be horrible to send one off to war by himself. He would feel like we deserted him. But in this way we're sending, you know, a brother -- excuse me -- brothers with them to take care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Their story is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: In news across America, a manhunt is under way in Texas for five federal prisoners, including a man believed to be the leader of the Mexican mafia gang. Witnesses say they saw the five crawl under fences at a prison near San Antonio yesterday.

Arizona officials are calling this Phoenix home a house of hazards. Radioactive chemicals and heavy metals were discovered during an estate sale at the property. Officials say the hazardous items could have been left by the home's previous owner, a chemist, who died.

In New Jersey, Coast Guard teams are searching this container ship for possible hazards. The Department of Agriculture received word that a container of lemons on board may contain what was described as a harmful biological substance. Initial tests have come back negative.

In San Francisco an Italian artist managed to swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco with hands and feet tied. Alberto Prestini (ph) made the one and a half mile swim in just under two hours.

Attempts are under way to save the lives of 34 beached dolphins on Hutchinson Island, Florida. Beach goers pushed the rough tooth dolphins out to sea yesterday, but they all returned to shore.

From America's heartland, a tale of four close-knit brothers, all of them Reservists and all headed to Iraq. CNN's Jonathan Freed caught up with them as they waited for orders to ship out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From left to right meet Specialist Scherzberg, Specialist Scherzberg, Sergeant Scherzberg and Sergeant Scherzberg. They're brothers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I punch him in the arm, he feels it, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's it. Ouch!

FREED: They're Army Reservists, all in the same unit, the 915th Transportation Company.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Attention!

FREED: And their unit is heading to Iraq.

SGT. MATTHEW SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY: We all knew that when we joined the Reserves this could happen and it did. So, now, this is what we trained for, so this is what we have to do.

FREED: Matthew Scherzberg, his twin Justin, and their brother Bret served in Iraq last year with a different company. When the 915th got its orders older brother Jeffrey, a former Reservist reenlisted, saying he couldn't let the three go back without him.

JEFFERY SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION COMPANY: Definitely something that I'm not used to. I usually look after the little guys, but this time I'm kind of counting on them to give me advice, so it is definitely going to be different.

FREED: At first, their father didn't even want to hear about it.

MARTY SCHERZBERG, FATHER: I kept imagine saying, I'm going to call the senator, you know. This can't be. They've already did their time, but the governor, I did call the governor.

FREED: But Marty Scherzberg changed his mind, reluctantly, when he saw that his kids weren't the only ones heading back into the war zone for another year.

(on camera): When the brothers get to Iraq, they're going to be working the supply lines driving trucks and, although, they're all part of the same unit, they're being split up, assigned to separate platoons.

CAPT. DAVID MARNE, 915th TRANSPORTATION CO.: For safety, security, to just spread out their experience.

FREED: The army approved the brothers' assignment because they're all volunteers. And because they have a fifth brother who is staying at home. Their mother believes it's not too much to ask of one family.

CONNIE SCHERZBERG, MOTHER: I think it would be horrible to send one off to war by himself. He would just feel like, oh we deserted him. But in this way, we're sending, you know, brother -- excuse me. Brothers with them to take care of them. It's very comforting.

FREED: The brothers comfort themselves by trying not to think about what could happen to them.

SPECIALIST BRETT SCHERZBERG, 915th TRANSPORTATION CO.: You try to keep your head out of that and you'll prepare for the situation when something like that happens.

FREED (on camera): Do you think you're in denial about that?

BRETT SCHERZBERG: Sure. Yeah. Definitely. Why wouldn't you be?

FREED: The three Iraq veterans insist that kind of preparation gives you an edge. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Ft. Riley, Kansas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: This programming note. The murders of six people in Deltona, Florida, shocked the community. A police news conference on the investigation coming up at 2:00 Eastern. CNN, will, of course, have live coverage.

We're less than a week away from the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics, if you think it's just too late to jet over there, think again. We'll hear about some last-minute travel deals to Athens that might be too good to pass up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FEYERICK: Less than a week from now the curtain goes up on the Summer Olympics in the city where the games originally began. The world's biggest sports event gets under way next Friday in Athens, Greece.

And if you are thinking of heading to the Greek capital, it's not too late to get some good travel deals. While sales are picking up fast, there are still many tickets left for many of the events. Pauline Frommer, with Budget Travel Online is with us from New York to talk about some of the deals still available.

First of all, why are there so many empty seats at this point?

PAULINE FROMMER, "ARTHUR FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL": Well, I think a lot of people have been worried about security. There's been a lot of talk in the media about how difficult it will be to secure these Olympic Games, you have the high cost of the euro.

And you have the fact that it didn't look like Athens was going to be ready on time. In fact, the last nail will go into those stadiums the day before the games.

FEYERICK: How does this compare to other Olympics?

FROMMER: Well, it's a smaller Olympics, but they knew that from the start simply because the venues are smaller. There are going to be about half million people visiting this Olympics, that compares to Sydney which had 1.6 million, and Atlanta which had 1.2 million. It's a smaller Olympics.

FEYERICK: The people attending the events now, are they mostly the families of the athletes, or are you seeing a lot of independent people just going on holiday in Greece?

FROMMER: I would assume it's a wide variety of visitors. I mean, the interesting thing is there are many fewer European Union visitors going to the Olympics. In fact, half, over half, of the European Union tickets are unsold, which means while it's hard to get tickets from the United States because each country is allotted a certain amount of tickets and most of the U.S. tickets are now sold out. If you actually go to the Games and try to get them on the spots with the exception of the opening and closing ceremonies everything, almost everything is open and available at this very late date.

FEYERICK: Is it that fewer Americans and Europeans are traveling, or are they simply just not traveling to Greece?

FROMMER: Well, it's that fewer are traveling to Greece, as we said earlier, there have been these worries, that's led to a tremendous fire sale, to be quite honest.

Right now you can get tickets from New York to Athens from such companies as Homeric Tours or Carton, which is the official seller to the Olympics in the United States for about $850, $880. A month ago the cheapest flight you could have gotten between New York and Athens would have been $1,500. That is simply because large blocks of seats are now available to the public because they didn't sell.

FEYERICK: What are some travel tips for the Olympics in 2006? Not to jump ahead. But those are going to be taking place Turin. Will people wait to the last minute then? And then actually see the opposite, that it's not a fire sale, that is going on, but in fact, they're sold out? Are we going to see that balance?

FROMMER: Well, it's very unusual to see this massive a fire sale. One thing that does happen at every Olympics is that large blocks of hotel rooms are set aside by various nationalities and various corporations and at the last moment and last couple weeks before the games many of those hotel rooms have happened.

That's happened for the last six or seven Olympics. Those people who wait until the last minute to book their hotel rooms will usually pay less than those who book months in advance.

We're finding that for this Olympics, too. If you go to carton.com you can get a room aboard a ship in the Piraeus (ph) Harbor, for $300 a night. If you booked two weeks ago it would have been $900 a night.

FEYERICK: So, in this case, definitely good to have waited. Unfortunately, I can't make it. But we will hopefully plan for 2006.

Pauline Frommer, thank you very much for joining us on this.

FROMMER: Thank you.

Well, Olympic training in the 21st century that is less about blood, sweat and tears and more about the state of the art of technology. Coming up at 2:00 Eastern, we'll show you how American athletes use high-tech tools to improve their skills.

The state of Florida is in the spotlight, again, in the battle for the Oval Office, but this time there's a twist -- and may the best bobblehead win. The story when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Well, here we go again. Another battle to the wire in Florida in the race for the White House. But in this case, it's the battle of the bobbleheads and minor league baseball fans got to decide the winner. The story from CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Look at the line. Voting for president is serious business. Even if it's August and it really doesn't count.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the polls are now open. Welcome to Babble election.

ZARRELLA: Seven minor league baseball stadiums hosted a spirited presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need a change.

ZARRELLA: Fans got to vote for either President Bush or Senator John Kerry. In exchange, they got a bobblehead doll of the candidate of their choice. Kim Harris cast the first Florida vote.

KIM HARRIS, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: As a disabled veteran I have to go with George Bush.

ZARRELLA: From Ft. Myers, Florida, home of the Miracle, to the Sioux Falls Canaries, the ballparks were all decked out, bunting hanging from the facade. Voting booths had even Representatives from the two major parties. It was supposed to be just a fun promotion to boost summer attendance, but --

LINDA MCNABS (ph), TOOK PART IN ELECTION: They're not smiling. I walk out a minute ago and I said, would you people lighten up? And they are just, we have to vote right, we have to vote right, got to get in there.

ZARRELLA: As a reminder of unpleasantries past, every Ft. Myers voter received a hanging chad. As expected here in Florida, there were some who didn't think the election was fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How come Nader wasn't on the ballot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like every other Florida election.

ZARRELLA: Dick Cheney had no problem with it. That's right, this man's name is Richard Cheney. You can guess who he voted for.

DICK CHENEY, LEE COUNTY RESIDENT: The vice president is a distant cousin.

ZARRELLA (on camera): Does he know who you are?

CHENEY: No, I doubt it. ZARRELLA: At the end of the night, just as it is expected to be in November, the election was close. Of the seven cities, President Bush won four to Senator Kerry's three. The president won Ft. Myers with 53 percent of the vote, despite partisan vote counters ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two in a row. We're rallying.

ZARRELLA: ...who favored Senator Kerry.

(on camera): Now, given all the problems Florida has had with electronic voting machines and counting ballots, come November, elections officials might want to consider something really simple, like a bobble-election -- John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Myers, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: That's one debate I certainly would have liked to have seen. Well, anyway, there's more on CNN SATURDAY in a few moments, "In The Money". At 2 Eastern, a big day of politics, we'll be live from the campaign trail. At 3:00 it's "Next@CNN", today looking at how technology is supposed to help us make us work smarter is actually making many people work harder.

END

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