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CNN Live Saturday

Great Travel Destinations To Feel Like Royalty; American, British Hostages Shown On New Tape; Americans Come Back After Miserable Friday Round Of Ryder's Cup

Aired September 18, 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.


COLLINS SPENCER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. on the East coast, 9:00 a.m. in the West. Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Collins Spencer at CNN's global headquarters. Ahead this hour, millions of voters are being encouraged to use absentee ballots in order to create a paper trail of their vote. But, is absentee ballot fraud an even greater danger?
Did Martha Stewart do the right thing? The ethical considerations of her decision to go directly to jail.

And a vacation fit for a king or queen: We'll show you the best places to go if you want to be pampered in the lap of luxury.

But first, stories now in the news. Two kidnapped Americans and their British colleague are seen in a newly aired video on al-Jazeera. The three men were seized Thursday from their home office in Baghdad. The men are threatened with beheading unless female Iraqi prisoners are released.

The United Nations is getting tough with Iran, and the nuclear watchdog agency voted to demand an end to Iran's uranium enrichment program. That process can be used to build nuclear weapons. The agency set an indirect November deadline.

Now, we're going to go directly to a news conference that's taking place in Macon County, North Carolina where the sheriff is talking about the dead, the missing, and flooding that has taken place in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. Let's go to the news conference.

WARREN CABE, MACON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICE DIRECTOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of that hurricane which basically engulfed the entire county that we have here. At approximately 11:00 p.m., we did have a call that was placed into our 9-1-1 center reporting a house that had collapsed with a subject injured in the Peaks Creek area of our county, which is in the southeastern corner of our county. When units arrived on the scene, we began getting reports back to our command post that there were numerous structures that were completely destroyed and that there were individuals injured and trapped. Extrication of those patients was an extremely difficult situation for our folks due to high water in the vicinity in the area where this destruction actually took place.

We did have severe damage all across our county, but this is by far the worst -- the worst case scenario and the worst area of any damage in our county. In this particular area, there are approximately anywhere from 20 to 30 homes that are located in a narrow canyon area along a creek. Sometime around 11:00 p.m. there was some type of a weather incident which, at this time, appears to be water-related which means it's probably a flash flood of some type, that swept through that area that damaged these homes, that has completely destroy a number of homes, wiping them off the foundation, destroying the road and destroying the bridge into this area.

In the process of extrication, we did recover four confirmed fatalities. We are still searching the area today. Our operations plan today is to provide an accountability of that area to make sure that we have accounted for all individuals that may be in that area that are still missing or unaccounted for. And we're doing that by hand search in these properties and by whatever other means necessary to come up with that accountability.

Once we are assured and we are comfortable with ourselves there are no individuals missing in this area that we have to account for, we're going to direct our efforts into other areas of the county that we realize may be damaged and there may be other hazards we have to assess in the county. We will address those efforts when we get through with this particular incident on Peaks Creek Road.

We have numerous other problems that are affecting our county at the moment. We have numerous power outages, the last update we had from Duke Power is that we still have almost 12,000 Duke Power customers without power in Macon County. We have numerous roads closed, both due to obstructs, we have not been able to remove coulding trees, mud slides, bridge failures, numerous things, and we will have a couple roads closed just because of the fact we've got equipment in there working on the road at this time.

We do still have numerous crews, in our county, assisting us in our efforts all across the state of North Carolina including several technical urban search and rescue teams and some technical swift water rescue technicians. We do have the National Guard that is in Macon County assisting us in our efforts at this time. We do also currently still have two shelters in place with individuals in those shelters. In the process much the flooding that night on September the 16th, into the morning of September 17, we did have to evacuate some residents and we also did have to evacuate one of our nursing homes. We evacuated 187 patients out of one of our nursing homes into one of our shelters.

The recovery process on this incident in Peaks Creek is going to be massive. We do have other incidents all over the county that we're having to deal with, but the one in the Peaks Creek area's by far going to be the most massive recovery effort that we're going to have. The response mode on this particular incident may still be several days away before we end the response mode and start into the recovery mode. To recover this particular area may take months. The county may be affected by this for months to come. In my personal opinion, this is probably the worst natural disaster in Macon County's history. I have no way of telling you any type of a dollar figure of what this is going to inflict upon us at this time. But our agencies are working with all the other volunteer agencies involved throughout the county, state of North Carolina, and the federal agencies that are involved to make sure that we recover from this, respond to the incidents that we have, keep the people safe in Macon County, and bring an end to this incident and recover from it as quickly and safely as possible.

I'm now free to take a few quick questions.

QUESTION: Do you have an approximation of the missing? Can you give us any kind (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SPENCER: And that was the sheriff from Macon County, North Carolina, talking about the death, destruction, and the flooding that's taken place there. Now, in western North Carolina, hard hit by Ivan, 200,000 people were left without power. Officials warn flash floods are still a risk as people dig through what's left. Sean Callebs is live in Macon County this morning and can give us an assessment of what else is going on there.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Good afternoon, Collins. Let's bring you up to date on exactly what is going on here in Macon County. You heard the Emergency Services director, Warren Cabe, just a minute ago, say what happened on Peaks Creek Road the night the remnants of Hurricane Ivan slammed into this area, could be the worst natural disaster ever in Macon County, North Carolina. We have some video just to give you an idea of the sheer devastation and the amount of water that came through that area at around 11:00 at night.

The information we're getting from authorities here, in Macon County, a wall of water perhaps as high as 30 feet rolled through that area, this coming from Peaks Creek. This is normally a creek that is only five feet to six feet wide. So clearly, it swelled exponentially once the dramatic rainfall from that hurricane really began pounding this area. We've herd heard as many as 30 homes simply devastated. You heard the Emergency Services director say they were ripped from their foundations and moved quite a ways down through the hillside.

There are 300 members of rescue teams up there right now doing a hands search, combing through the area trying to find any survivors in that area. Authorities say right now they know of four dead and have emergency -- EMS crews from Macon County, from Graham County, they have search and rescue teams from Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina, the highway patrol, even the National Guard. They're going through, right now, trying to find anybody who could still be trapped in that rubble. The big question, are there still people there, are there more fatalities? That's something that they haven't been able to answer so far. That area has received so much damage; it's been very difficult for even authorities to get up there.

There were some interviews with people who had friends and loved ones up in that area and they say the people near the Peaks Creek received virtually no notice that that creek was going to flood. The reason? Macon County officials said they warned people in areas that were prone to flooding, that they should evacuate, they should go to shelters, they should seek some kind of solace from the rain and the winds of the hurricane. Peaks Creek is an area that had never flooded before in this area. People were simply caught off guard. It happened in the middle of the night, very difficult for rescue teams to get up there and even do an initial search to find out if there were victims up there at that time. It's going to take months, according to officials here, to completely clean up this area. Collins, we hope to have a crew go up with Emergency Services authorities in a couple hours and get a firsthand look at this area. But you can see, just the devastation. Giant trees simply uprooted; homes smashed, moved down; the wall of water that came roaring down through, destroying the road, this clearly the most severe damage in this area of western North Carolina. Right now four dead, eight dead all over in western North Carolina, four here in Macon County and perhaps the number could go higher after authorities are able to go through that area and continue looking for any victims or survivors -- Collins.

SPENCER: Good luck to the residents, there. Sean Callebs in Macon County, North Carolina. Thanks for that, Sean.

Well, it could take weeks for power, sewer, and water services to be restored in parts of the northwest Florida. Let's go to Chris Lawrence in Pensacola and see what's going on there.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Collins. You know, we're three days out from this storm, and as we move around the area, it's still amazing at how much damage this storm caused. Take a look at this floating dock. I mean, look at the size and the weight of that concrete and the waves were so strong, they literally just picked up this dock and put it right on top of the deck. And as you can see, if you go over there, you can see, it did the same thing to another one, it's sitting 10, 15 feet out of the water, crushed the front end of that boat. And as we move over, the Golden Horse in Miami is literally just swept up and pushed right up on shore. The most frightening thing is, of all the damage that was done here to this marina, it's even more frightening when you actually compare it to some of the damage done do some people's homes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Hurricane Ivan didn't just destroy this Pensacola family's home, it erased it.

VIRGINIA TYSON, HOME DESTROYED BY IVAN: You can't even find like one piece of furniture. There isn't a couch, a chair, nothing that's intact at all.

LAWRENCE: Virginia Tyson and her boyfriend believe their home was washed away by a wall of water.

STEVE CHANCY, HOME DESTROYED BY IVAN: By the time it got to our house, I don't know what size it was, but big enough to take it out.

LAWRENCE: The house had been in Virginia's family for 25 years. It survived every hurricane, until now. TYSON: I called my mother and told her, "the worst picture you could possibly imagine, and it's nothing compared to how bad it is when you're actually looking at it."

LAWRENCE: The destruction is widespread across the Florida Panhandle. As of Saturday, some 400,000 Florida homes and businesses still had no power. And across the Gulf Coast, insurance companies estimate Ivan caused $2 to $10 billion in damage. To put that in perspective, hurricanes Charley and Frances caused about $11 billion in damage combined. And on Saturday, many families are now realizing they have no home to go back to.

TYSON: You just have to think hopefully even though it's almost impossible to do, that's just all there is you can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yeah, unfortunately for Virginia, she also worked on Pensacola Beach, meaning she's probably out of a home and a job.

Now, President George W. Bush is scheduled to tour this hurricane ravaged area tomorrow, and the emergency operation center tells us they are still searching for 14 people -- 14 people are still missing, although it's still unclear whether they just evacuated and forgot to tell anyone or if they were actually in danger -- Collins.

SPENCER: And Chris, that's quite a mess behind you. Do officials know, do they have any idea how long the cleanup process is going to take?

LAWRENCE: Down here, it's unclear. We talked to several of the boat owners who estimated millions of dollars in damage. Some of these boats have had holes literally poked right through the hulls. Some are probably unsalvageable. But I guess the first order of business would be, once they feel it's safe, to start pealing off things like this, just to get it out of here before you can even get over to get to some of the boats.

SPENCER: All right. Good to see you Chris, Chris Lawrence in Pensacola, Florida.

Well, are you of the millions -- one of the millions of Americans thinking the best way to secure your vote is through an absentee ballot? Find out why some election experts fear absentee balloting could be the biggest source of voter fraud this November.

Later this hour, you'll see the best places to vacation, that is if your idea of a vacation is to be treated like royalty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Well, welcome back. A powerful car bomb in northern Iraq and more hostages turn up on videotape. A senior international correspondent, Walter Rodgers, is in Baghdad with the latest.

Hi, Walter. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Collins. Three western hostages, two Americans, and a British engineer now face a deadline of Monday when their captors say they will be executed unless the United States meets the demands of the of the kidnapers. That demand specifically is the release of all female Iraqi detainees. The group which kidnapped these men and then subsequently released a videotape is said to be associated with Abu Musab Zarqawi, the alleged mastermind here, that group of his, the Unification and Jihad Group has done more than a little kidnapping recently. Again, the deadline for these three men is Tuesday of this coming week. The two Americans, by the way, are Jack Hensley and Eugene Jack Armstrong.

Elsewhere in Iraq today, there was a string of powerful car bomb explosions. And more roadside bombs, and the death toll was worse in the northern city of Kirkuk. There in Kirkuk, a kamikaze car took aim on the Iraq National Guard headquarters. The guards outside raised their rifles, tried to stop that kamikaze car, but the momentum of the car just carried it in toward the building and the guards outside. A thunderous explosion, 19 people killed almost instantly, more than 67 Iraqis were also wounded in that.

Indeed, this past week, the most dangerous occupation in Iraq has been either a policeman or a member of the National Guard because the Iraqi security forces have become the primary targets of the insurgents.

There was a close call here in Baghdad for a U.S. military convoy on the road to the Baghdad Airport. A roadside, a car parked beside the road, apparently exploded as the convoy went by, two U.S. military vehicles, humvees, were damaged. Three U.S. soldiers were injured in that explosion, in a explosive packed car, again on the airport road. So dangerous is that road that this morning, it had to be closed to all vehicular traffic because overnight the road was laced with roadside bombs -- Collins?

SPENCER: Walter, over the past several weeks, there's been nothing but bad this is coming out of Iraq. Is the bad news, is it as bad as it seems over there?

RODGERS: There is a very real security crisis in this country. Any westerner here is in grave jeopardy of being kidnapped. Iraqis face constant explosions going on around them. Suicide bombs, roadside bombs, as well. The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, recently described the situation as -- here in, Iraq as "The gates of hell having just been opened." French President Jacques Chirac said "The genie is now out of the bottle in this country" and so far 130,000 U.S. soldiers here, have not been able to put that genie back in the bottle -- Collins.

SPENCER: OK. Thanks, Walter. Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad.

Well, as many as one in four Americans is expected to vote by absentee ballot this November and both political parties are working as hard as they can to encourage it. Now, in some cases, even -- you know, even people are looking to gain some help from absentee ballots. It's an issue gaining more attention. Well, what we're going to do right now is we're going to take a break and come back with some more news and talk about absentee balloting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: As many as one in four Americans is expected to vote by absentee ballot this November and both political parties are working hard to encourage it. But, it appears the system may be open to all sorts of medaling. In many states in particular, some of the so called battleground states, political operatives can either distribute, collect, and in some cases even help fill out absentee ballots. The issue is gaining more attention. "New York Times" reporter, Michael Moss, wrote an extensive article on absentee ballots and the potential for fraud. He joins us from San Antonio.

And I thank you for joining us, Michael.

MICHAEL MOSS, "NEW YORK TIMES": Oh, nice to be here, Collins.

SPENCER: Michael, both political parties are strongly promoting using absentee balloting to secure more votes. Is this going to be more important, the absentee balloting, this year than in past elections.

MOSS: Oh, absolutely. It's fast becoming probably one of the key issues in part because both political parties see it as a key to winning those key states where both John Kerry and George Bush are still deadlocked. I should explain why we're taking a close look at it, too, because I was in Florida 2000 where I helped to break the story about the republican elections chief in Seminole County who allowed Republican Party operatives to camp out in her office for a while and fix 2000 absentee ballots that the party had messed up in mailing out applications. And as you can imagine, the democrats were quite concerned with that, but the bigger story, in fact, there was that the Republican Party had sent out some one million absentee ballot applications to voters in Florida as part of their strategy to get out the vote and lockdown those voters who would support George Bush.

SPENCER: Now Mike...

MOSS: Since then, what's happened -- yes?

SPENCER: Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry to interrupt you.

MOSS: I was going to say.

SPENCER: Go ahead.

MOSS: Since then, democrats have realized what the republicans did, and they've been perfecting their own strategies and using absentee votings to lockdown their supporters. In Arizona two years ago, there was a remarkable campaign for the governor where the democrats, for the first time in two decades, won the governor's race in large part by tracking absentee voters through data they gathered from election officials and then going to the houses of people who had just gotten their absentee voters -- their ballot, knocking on the door, and doing last minute electioneering in the privacy of those homes.

SPENCER: Now Michael, you have coercion -- may have coercion here and you may have fraud, but there are some states that are declining to take safeguards. Why do you think that is?

MOSS: Well, in part because election officials themselves are promoting absentee balloting as a way, one, to encourage turnout and, two, sort of help ease the election crunch on Election Day. So, you have now some 26 states where you no longer need an excuse to vote absentee, but at the same time, we looked carefully at the swing states and six of the 19 swing states don't require a witness signature on absentee ballots anymore. And many of the swing states allow political campaigns to, as they say, knock on doors to collect and even collect, and even collect the actual completed ballots, themselves.

SPENCER: Have there been any problems thus far?

MOSS: Well, we looked carefully, since 2000 election, there have been absentee voting fraud cases brought in at least 15 states. These are all, for the most part, local elections, but they're quite troubling to people who have been looking at absentee or voting fraud for a couple of reasons. One, because there's a chance that the people committing the fraud in local races may, in fact, now may be working on the presidential races and second, sort of the irony here is that a lot of attention and concern has been paid to voting machines, but in fact historically, absentee ballots have always been the most vulnerable part of the election system to fraud.

SPENCER: OK. Well, we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this and I want thank you again for joining us. Michael Moss, a reporter with the "New York Times." Thank you again, sir.

MOSS: Oh, thank you so much.

SPENCER: Hurricane Ivan took almost everything they owned and now this Florida couple is one of many trying to figure out how to rebuild their lives, their amazing story straight ahead.

And what can you and I learn from what Martha Stewart's decision to begin her jail sentence right away? The answer when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Sometimes pictures only tell part of the story in terms of homes and business lost to Hurricane Ivan. The anguish is best expressed through the eyes of the victims. Here's more from CNN's David Mattingly in Navarre, Florida, about 20 miles east of Pensacola.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What is this? That is your bed?

JEWEL PUGH, FLOOD VICTIM: That's our headboard.

KEN PUGH, FLOOD VICTIM: This is our family room.

MATTINGLY (voice over): Jewel and Ken Pugh were in the midst of remodeling their bayside home in Navarre, Florida, when Ivan made other plans.

KEN PUGH: This is the bedroom over here. This the is a kitchen. Used to be an island across here. The only thing that's left in the kitchen is the granite countertops.

MATTINGLY: The house on the water they retired to from California just two years ago is beyond repair.

JEWEL PUGH: You just wonder, why me? You know, why me?

MATTINGLY: Windows, doors, even brick walls are missing. Not a single piece of furniture is left. All of it taken by a hurricane more devastating than anyone imagined.

(on camera): I didn't even see any furniture out in the front yard. Where did it go?

JEWEL PUGH: We've been looking for it.

KEN PUGH: I don't know. When we left, we tried to get everything up as high as we could. You know, we tried to get it up off the floor if we could. But we haven't even seen our couches.

MATTINGLY (on camera): The storm surge was so powerful, it tore through these homes and took everyone's belongings to who knows where. Here at the Pugh's home, this is their bathtub. No one put it here, this is where the storm left it.

As for appliances, they're across the street. On the curb over there, that's their dryer. Their refrigerator is actually a few yards back, behind their neighbor's house.

(voice over): No house in this waterfront neighborhood was spared. Those on stilts fared only slightly better. Next door to the Pughs, it now takes a ladder to get into the house. Inside, Ginny Bryant finds her furniture stayed, but it is ruined, so is the carpet and the ceiling.

GINNY BRYANT, FLOOD VICTIM: We'll probably have to bulldoze it down. And but it will all be, you know, just a lot because we won't rebuild.

MATTINGLY: The Pughs won't rebuild either. When they evacuated, they took three days worth of clothes, photographs and papers. What they didn't take, they lost. The only thing they have to do now is fall back on their sense of humor.

KEN PUGH: What we're going to do now is we're going to wait for insurance. And then we're going to --

JEWEL PUGH: Go to Australia for six months.

MATTINGLY: David Mattingly, CNN, Navarre, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPENCER: In other news across America now, he was the cute child actor from the "Home Alone" movies. Now Macaulay Culkin is in trouble with the law. He was arrested on drug charges during a traffic stop in Oklahoma City. Authorities say they found marijuana and controlled substances without a valid prescription. He's been released on $4,000 bond.

And in Michigan, a 17 year old is in jail accused of making terror threats against his high school. Police in Clinton Township were tipped off after the boy made alleged threats in an online chatroom. Police say weapons and bomb-making materials were found in his home.

In Maine, a dome demolished. Explosives brought down Main Yankee's containment dome yesterday. It's one of the final steps toward decommissioning the former nuclear power plant.

And in New Jersey, American beauties on parade. The annual Miss America Parade brought out 100,000 people in Atlanta City last night. Luckily, a casino union strike that could have disrupted the parade was averted. The next Miss America will be crowned at tonight's pageant.

Let's go thumbs up or down on this week's news makers with "Ethics Guy". Bruce Weinstein, joins us at the Time Warner Center in New York.

Bruce, I want to thank you for joining us.

BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THE ETHICS GUY: Thanks for inviting me, Collins.

SPENCER: Bruce, we've got to give the thumbs up to the governor of Alabama for saying he would vigorously go after businesses that raise their prices after a bad situation. Is it unethical for businesses to raise their prices in order to take advantage of a bad situation?

WEINSTEIN: Absolutely, Collins. A thumbs up goes to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood for reiterating that it is a crime to gouge prices during a state of emergency, which occurred during the past weeks with Ivan and Frances.

It takes advantage of people's tragedy and it's wrong to do that. And thumbs up goes to the attorney general for reminding us that it is illegal and that violations of this can result in fines and even jail time.

SPENCER: Now, in New York City during the blackout last summer, businesses didn't take advantage of the situation.

WEINSTEIN: They did not, so a thumbs down goes to those motels and grocery stores and lumber yards, gas stations that raised prices and took advantage of, again, a tragic situation. Now, in the short run, those businesses will in fact profit, but in the long run, by damaging the trust, damaging the good faith that customers place in them, their businesses will be hurt. Because who would want to give them business once the tragedy dies down.

So New York businesses that did not do that during the blackout, businesses in the South that have raised their prices, have taken the low road should follow New York's lead in that regard.

SPENCER: Let's turn our attention to CBS and Dan Rather over the last week. We've heard about the alleged memos from his Navy days in the military. What type of ethical problems does CBS and Dan Rather face in regards to their sources and the memos themselves.

WEINSTEIN: Collins, Dan Rather gets a thumbs down from the ethics guy this week for standing by his story even though the legitimacy of the documents that has been used to convict President Bush's military record in the court of public opinion, the legitimacy of those documents has been questioned. And even though Dan Rather admits that there is a controversy surrounding this, he says that the story is true.

Now, innocent until proven guilty is not just a legal principle, this is a principle that applies, or ought to apply to journalism ethics, as well. It is unfair for Dan Rather to toe this line consistently without any evidence to support that conclusion.

It's just unfair to President Bush. Now, I'm saying this not as a Democrat or Republican, not as a conservative or liberal. This is an ethical analysis that is above and beyond politics.

SPENCER: Now, can CBS and Dan Rather get by this one without having a long-term effect on the network?

WEINSTEIN: You know, this is interesting, Collins, because by taking the low road, you're not just doing the wrong thing ethically, but you risk creating bad PR that can damage the business and damage the reputation of the organization in the long run.

It is never too late, though, to right a wrong. And CBS is finally agreed to hold an internal investigation, but Dan Rather should also refuse to jump to a conclusion until there is firm evidence to support the claim that President Bush skirted his military obligations if in fact that was the case.

SPENCER: All right, let's turn to Martha Stewart now. Did she do the right thing in saying that asking if she can go to jail as soon as possible?

WEINSTEIN: Yes, Collins. Martha Stewart gets a big thumbs up from the "Ethics Guy" this week, because by admitting that -- finally, a wrong has been committed, she is doing the time for the crime that she committed. Lying to federal investigators is a crime under the law. And instead of fighting it and appealing it and dragging not only her reputation but the reputation of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia into the mud, she would have just delayed what was an inevitable conclusion, probably.

So by admitting at least being willing to serve the five months in prison now, she's taken the high road. And the long run, she may very well reestablish the good faith that people placed in her. She gets a thumbs up.

SPENCER: All right. I want to thank you for joining us, Bruce. Always good to get your thoughts on the ethics out there.

WEINSTEIN: Thank you, Collins.

SPENCER: Bruce Weinstein.

E-mail us your ethics questions for Bruce Weinstein and we'll work on answers for next Saturday's program. The address is ethics@cnn.com.

Now, on paper they look unbeatable, but the Ryder Cup isn't played on paper, it is played on a golf course. And the U.S. team was dominated in the early going. We'll take you there live.

And he isn't the most loveable guy in baseball, just the best. Barry Bonds talks about entering baseball's most elite home run fraternity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: All right. Tiger's back in form and Phil Mickelson is on bench as Team America tries to make up for yesterday's embarrassment during the opening round of the Ryder Cup. CNN Sports Correspondent Larry Smith joins us from the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

Hey, Larry, what's going on today?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Collins, let me tell you something, what a turnaround here at Oakland Hills, from the ridiculous on Friday to a sublime Saturday.

Now the U.S. has not swept a four-ball competition in the Ryder Cup since 1967 but they are trying to do that today. Believe it or not, after Friday's horrible round. Get this, Tiger Woods and Chris Riley already have a victory, their first in the four-ball, in this Ryder Cup. They defeated Darrin Clark and Ian Poulter, 4/3.

Chris Riley, a new partner for Tiger after Friday's not so successful pairing with Phil Mickelson. He had four birdies, all four one hole, for that group. Now, the best match so far, Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco all square with Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, with two holes to go.

Jim Furyk, has hit three straight birdies. He and Chad Campbell now leading that pairing, 1 up with through 13 holes. And Davis Love III, has hit five birdies. He and Stewart Sink (ph) are leading Karl Montgomery and Padi (ph) Harrington. They won twice, that European group, yesterday. The Americans lead that 3 up, now with 6 holes to go.

On Friday, it was a different kind of story. The U.S. fell behind in 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 and 2 losses, coming from the duo of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. It was Mickelson's tee shot on 18 that ended up costing that duo a stroke, and the match was all square at that point.

And the Europeans ended up winning that match. It punctuated a disappointing Friday for the U.S. But they are coming back very strong right now. Afterwards, Tiger Woods stepped up as a team leader and challenged the crew to play better today. They're doing that so far.

Hal Sutton, the team captain has been all over the course cheering on his guys, patting Chris Riley on the back as he made shot after shot for the Americans. And Mickelson, by the way, sitting out this morning, but very, very visible. He has been cheering here and has been very vocal, as a part of a support group for this American team.

Very different, as well, in the gallery, Collins. As you look around, everyone's wearing red, white, and blue and cheers of "USA", just as two years ago, at Bel Pre (ph) the European crowd was very vocal, the American crowd getting vocal today as well.

Still to come, the foursomes competitions this afternoon, and tomorrow the singles competition. Right now, the Americans doing what they needed to do to get back in this Ryder Cup and to try to keep the Cup here in the U.S. Back to you.

SPENCER: All right, feeling a little better today. What did Woods and Mickelson say was the problem yesterday, Larry?

SMITH: Neither one of them talked, as you might imagine, after that. One thing, Coach Hal Sutton did, he did criticize Mickelson for changing equipment just a couple of weeks ago with the Ryder Cup right here. That's been a topic. But neither one really talked about it.

The other team members dismissed it. And said these guys are the top two American players. They are ranked two and four in the world, respectively. Everyone's going to come after them with their "A" game. Obviously, as you can see right now, Riley paired up much better with Woods, and Woods with Riley. We'll likely see that combination in the afternoon.

We may see Mickelson play in the afternoon. He is still -- Captain Sutton acts like a football coach the way he's running around patting them on the back. The Captain Hal Sutton said that Mickelson still is a great player and we may see him play in the afternoon, as well.

SPENCER: Keep an eye on it. Good to see you, Larry.

Larry Smith from the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills Township, Michigan.

San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds is marking another milestone in the home run chase joining the elite 700 club. Here's Sports Correspondent Michele Bonner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELE BONNER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and now Barry Bonds. Those are the only three players in major league history to hit 700 career home runs

And now, Bonds has positioned himself to pass the Babe's 714 home runs, with an eye on Aaron's all-time record of 755.

BARRY BONDS, BASEBALL PLAYER: You really can't put it into words to be in a class with those two great players, with Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. And you just -- it's like you're dreaming and not dreaming -- and you know, it's unbelievable.

HANK AARON, HALL OF FAME BASEBALL PLAYER Records are made to be broken. I mean, that's a known fact. I mean, if you have a record, eventually, somebody's going to come along and break it.

TOM GLAVINE (PH), NEW YORK METS PITCHER: Assuming all things stay the way they are and he stays healthy, I think the only reason he wouldn't do it would be he wouldn't want to and he retires.

BONNER: Who is the best to play the game is a question always answered with names like Mays, Ruth and Aaron. In the future, Bonds will be included.

JOHN DONOVON, SI.COM SENIOR WRITER: He's been a batting champion. He hit 73 home runs one year. He's getting on base at an unprecedented clip this year. His slugging percentage is other worldly. You could make a real good argument -- and I'm not sure if I would, but somebody could make a real good argument that he is the best player ever.

BONNER: The six-time NL MVP's numbers are more astounding when taking into account that many do not pitch to him. Consider that during his entire career, Hank Aaron was intentionally walked 293 times, while Bonds was been walked more than 100 times this year alone. Although exasperating at times, Bonds refuses to let the walks get to him.

BONDS: You have to have respect for the game of baseball. Regardless of what's going on out there. Everybody's out there trying to do the best they can and win for their team regardless. And you get into a situation that you need to walk someone, you walk them to help your team win.

So you don't lose any respect for anybody that does that. That's part of baseball. It's always been part of the game and will continue being part of the game.

BONNER: Earlier this year, his trainer and nutritionists were indicted in connection with a steroid investigation, but Bonds has repeatedly denied using steroids.

And even with than dark cloud hovering around the 40-year-old, Bonds continues to produce in the twilight of his career, which begs the question -- can he hit 800 home runs? For CNN Sports, I'm Michele Bonner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Oh, 800, boy.

Where can the average folks like us get treated like Hollywood stars or European royalty? The answer may be closer and more affordable than you think. We'll show you straight ahead.

And we'll show you a spoof with lots of style. Fitting and funny conclusion to Fashion Week in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: If you're ready to get away from it all and just say, ah, join the millions of other Americans who head to spas for a little pampering. With thousands of choices out there, spa goers are becoming more discerning. Every year, "Travel + Leisure" magazine asks readers to rate the spas, the upcoming October issue features the top destinations. Laura Begley is style editor with "Travel + Leisure" and joins us at the Time Warner Center in New York.

Hi, Laura.

LAURA BEGLEY, STYLE EDITOR, "TRAVEL + LEISURE": It is lovely to be here, but I'd rather be at a spa right now to tell you the truth.

SPENCER: There you go. Well let's start with number one, it is Miraval Life in Balance in Catalina, Arizona. What does that spa have to offer?

BEGLEY: This is their second year in a row ranking number one. This is a really interesting spa because it's not your traditional spa where they make you get up at 6:16 in the morning, and go on a hike. You get to plan your own day and really schedule your own agenda. There's a lot of freedom.

Even at dinner, they will let you drink wine if you like, which is pretty much unheard of at spas. Again, this spa is just super innovative. They've got treatments, like a new fertility treatment and they also have programs for men, like a program called "Conquering Your Inner Everest" where men can get out and get rugged and get in touch with themselves.

SPENCER: I need to conquer my inner Everest. What about number two, Calavie (ph) in Vista, California. Do they have any type of specialty there?

BEGLEY: Well, Calavie is sort the opposite end of Miraval, a much more structured experience. The chef monitors every calorie that you put in your mouth. This has become noteworthy this year because it's been bought by a new couple and totally renovated. It now has a provincial feel. There's frescoes in some of the rooms. It's just simply gorgeous. They're also all about service. When you go there, you don't even need to bring your gym clothes, they provide it for you.

SPENCER: You're speaking of service, there is a spa, The Greenhouse, in Arlington, Texas. They actually help unpack you and do more.

BEGLEY: They'll unpack your clothes and if you don't want to pack anything, they'll provide everything for you. They will give you a bathing suit. They will give you clothes to wear during the day. Now, that's service.

The Greenhouse, it is an old Southern mansion outside of Dallas. It's really lovely. They're also known for some of their innovative programs and packages. One of the most interesting I think is called "Baby & Me" and it is for moms and their new babies. And you can go and learn how to cook for your baby. You can learn how to give your baby massages, do pilatis with your baby, and they even have baby fashion shows.

SPENCER: Massages for babies, OK?

Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, what about that resort?

BEGLEY: Canyon Ranch has become so well-known. They've rolled out to even the QM2. They have an outpost there. Their original resort outside of Tucson is the grand daddy of spas. It's just amazing.

They'll teach you how to cook healthy. They have great life enhancement programs where you can go and really learn how to change your life. They have a program for women called "Women's Mid-Life". They have a program for elderly people on ageing. They have a program even to learn how to take care of your heart if you have heart problems.

SPENCER: We have one more, Golden Door, Escondido, California, is this one mainly for women?

BEGLEY: Yes, the Golden Door was created by women for women. But they also have some coed weeks and some men's weeks. And the Golden Door is really about mind over body. It's learning how to change your mind and how to change the way that you think about health and healing.

SPENCER: We're out of time, but definitely enjoyed talking to you, Laura Begley, is style editor with "Travel + Leisure".

Thanks, again.

BEGLEY: Thanks for being here.

SPENCER: Feel nice and relaxed right now. Well, if a fashion police squad did exist, they would have needed several patty wagons for all the arrests they would have made on this catwalk. It is the funniest fashion show you've ever seen and it is straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Question for you, who do you call when fashion week is over? The fashion police, of course. And a word of caution, this report from our Jeanne Moos may offend the stylishly dressed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You know how runway models sometimes take it off? Well, maybe these models should have left it on. These are the ones who work behind the scenes from dressers to carpenters, they make the real fashion shows possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do all the dirty work.

MOOS: And in an end-to-Fashion-Week ritual, they erect a runway on a Midtown Manhattan street and dress up in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any left over crap we have laying around the place.

MOOS: Skip the silk taffeta and chiffon, the latest trends are duct tape and packing blankets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tarp. It is made out of tarp, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couture - going to be wearing a bubble wrap straitjacket.

MOOS: There it is worn with duct tape hot pants that have been modified in the rear. The theme this season is butt cheeks, hence the chant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottoms up!

CROWD: Bottoms up!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you mind if it goes across your crack a little bit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, sweetheart, you do whatever you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you're the first man that's ever asked.

MOOS: Sure they're mocking the fashion world but it's the show's creative director demonstrates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all about having fun. MOOS: And those light fixtures probably don't have a fashion future, lanyards might, as cords used to hang ID around the neck. The real shows may have Paris Hilton in attendance, but this crowd plays it to the hilt.

They can't stuff bills into some Ralph Lauren model. If you think real models are too skinny, at least here you won't have a bone to pick. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPENCER: All right. We all have our fashions.

Well, there's much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. In a few moments, "In The Money" at 2 Eastern. On CNN LIVE SATURDAY, there is more than just the numbers in the latest polling on the presidential election. We'll take you inside those numbers.

At 3:00 it is Next@cnn. But first Jack Cafferty with a preview of "In The Money."

JACK CAFFERTY, ANCHOR, IN THE MONEY: Thanks.

Coming up on IN THE MONEY, as subtle as a ton of bricks, we'll look at whether overwhelming force is the way to go in Iraq, as U.S. forces battle the insurgents.

Plus, it looks like hurricanes are hitting America more often than they used to, we'll take a look at the wreckage and see if we can compute the damage in dollars and cents. And the conservatives' conservative, find out why Pat Buchanan thinks the Republicans are getting it wrong.

All that and more, right after this quick look at the headlines.

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 September 18, 2004 - 12:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLINS SPENCER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 12:00 p.m. on the East coast, 9:00 a.m. in the West. Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Collins Spencer at CNN's global headquarters. Ahead this hour, millions of voters are being encouraged to use absentee ballots in order to create a paper trail of their vote. But, is absentee ballot fraud an even greater danger?
Did Martha Stewart do the right thing? The ethical considerations of her decision to go directly to jail.

And a vacation fit for a king or queen: We'll show you the best places to go if you want to be pampered in the lap of luxury.

But first, stories now in the news. Two kidnapped Americans and their British colleague are seen in a newly aired video on al-Jazeera. The three men were seized Thursday from their home office in Baghdad. The men are threatened with beheading unless female Iraqi prisoners are released.

The United Nations is getting tough with Iran, and the nuclear watchdog agency voted to demand an end to Iran's uranium enrichment program. That process can be used to build nuclear weapons. The agency set an indirect November deadline.

Now, we're going to go directly to a news conference that's taking place in Macon County, North Carolina where the sheriff is talking about the dead, the missing, and flooding that has taken place in the wake of Hurricane Ivan. Let's go to the news conference.

WARREN CABE, MACON COUNTY EMERGENCY SERVICE DIRECTOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of that hurricane which basically engulfed the entire county that we have here. At approximately 11:00 p.m., we did have a call that was placed into our 9-1-1 center reporting a house that had collapsed with a subject injured in the Peaks Creek area of our county, which is in the southeastern corner of our county. When units arrived on the scene, we began getting reports back to our command post that there were numerous structures that were completely destroyed and that there were individuals injured and trapped. Extrication of those patients was an extremely difficult situation for our folks due to high water in the vicinity in the area where this destruction actually took place.

We did have severe damage all across our county, but this is by far the worst -- the worst case scenario and the worst area of any damage in our county. In this particular area, there are approximately anywhere from 20 to 30 homes that are located in a narrow canyon area along a creek. Sometime around 11:00 p.m. there was some type of a weather incident which, at this time, appears to be water-related which means it's probably a flash flood of some type, that swept through that area that damaged these homes, that has completely destroy a number of homes, wiping them off the foundation, destroying the road and destroying the bridge into this area.

In the process of extrication, we did recover four confirmed fatalities. We are still searching the area today. Our operations plan today is to provide an accountability of that area to make sure that we have accounted for all individuals that may be in that area that are still missing or unaccounted for. And we're doing that by hand search in these properties and by whatever other means necessary to come up with that accountability.

Once we are assured and we are comfortable with ourselves there are no individuals missing in this area that we have to account for, we're going to direct our efforts into other areas of the county that we realize may be damaged and there may be other hazards we have to assess in the county. We will address those efforts when we get through with this particular incident on Peaks Creek Road.

We have numerous other problems that are affecting our county at the moment. We have numerous power outages, the last update we had from Duke Power is that we still have almost 12,000 Duke Power customers without power in Macon County. We have numerous roads closed, both due to obstructs, we have not been able to remove coulding trees, mud slides, bridge failures, numerous things, and we will have a couple roads closed just because of the fact we've got equipment in there working on the road at this time.

We do still have numerous crews, in our county, assisting us in our efforts all across the state of North Carolina including several technical urban search and rescue teams and some technical swift water rescue technicians. We do have the National Guard that is in Macon County assisting us in our efforts at this time. We do also currently still have two shelters in place with individuals in those shelters. In the process much the flooding that night on September the 16th, into the morning of September 17, we did have to evacuate some residents and we also did have to evacuate one of our nursing homes. We evacuated 187 patients out of one of our nursing homes into one of our shelters.

The recovery process on this incident in Peaks Creek is going to be massive. We do have other incidents all over the county that we're having to deal with, but the one in the Peaks Creek area's by far going to be the most massive recovery effort that we're going to have. The response mode on this particular incident may still be several days away before we end the response mode and start into the recovery mode. To recover this particular area may take months. The county may be affected by this for months to come. In my personal opinion, this is probably the worst natural disaster in Macon County's history. I have no way of telling you any type of a dollar figure of what this is going to inflict upon us at this time. But our agencies are working with all the other volunteer agencies involved throughout the county, state of North Carolina, and the federal agencies that are involved to make sure that we recover from this, respond to the incidents that we have, keep the people safe in Macon County, and bring an end to this incident and recover from it as quickly and safely as possible.

I'm now free to take a few quick questions.

QUESTION: Do you have an approximation of the missing? Can you give us any kind (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SPENCER: And that was the sheriff from Macon County, North Carolina, talking about the death, destruction, and the flooding that's taken place there. Now, in western North Carolina, hard hit by Ivan, 200,000 people were left without power. Officials warn flash floods are still a risk as people dig through what's left. Sean Callebs is live in Macon County this morning and can give us an assessment of what else is going on there.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. Good afternoon, Collins. Let's bring you up to date on exactly what is going on here in Macon County. You heard the Emergency Services director, Warren Cabe, just a minute ago, say what happened on Peaks Creek Road the night the remnants of Hurricane Ivan slammed into this area, could be the worst natural disaster ever in Macon County, North Carolina. We have some video just to give you an idea of the sheer devastation and the amount of water that came through that area at around 11:00 at night.

The information we're getting from authorities here, in Macon County, a wall of water perhaps as high as 30 feet rolled through that area, this coming from Peaks Creek. This is normally a creek that is only five feet to six feet wide. So clearly, it swelled exponentially once the dramatic rainfall from that hurricane really began pounding this area. We've herd heard as many as 30 homes simply devastated. You heard the Emergency Services director say they were ripped from their foundations and moved quite a ways down through the hillside.

There are 300 members of rescue teams up there right now doing a hands search, combing through the area trying to find any survivors in that area. Authorities say right now they know of four dead and have emergency -- EMS crews from Macon County, from Graham County, they have search and rescue teams from Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as Raleigh, North Carolina, the highway patrol, even the National Guard. They're going through, right now, trying to find anybody who could still be trapped in that rubble. The big question, are there still people there, are there more fatalities? That's something that they haven't been able to answer so far. That area has received so much damage; it's been very difficult for even authorities to get up there.

There were some interviews with people who had friends and loved ones up in that area and they say the people near the Peaks Creek received virtually no notice that that creek was going to flood. The reason? Macon County officials said they warned people in areas that were prone to flooding, that they should evacuate, they should go to shelters, they should seek some kind of solace from the rain and the winds of the hurricane. Peaks Creek is an area that had never flooded before in this area. People were simply caught off guard. It happened in the middle of the night, very difficult for rescue teams to get up there and even do an initial search to find out if there were victims up there at that time. It's going to take months, according to officials here, to completely clean up this area. Collins, we hope to have a crew go up with Emergency Services authorities in a couple hours and get a firsthand look at this area. But you can see, just the devastation. Giant trees simply uprooted; homes smashed, moved down; the wall of water that came roaring down through, destroying the road, this clearly the most severe damage in this area of western North Carolina. Right now four dead, eight dead all over in western North Carolina, four here in Macon County and perhaps the number could go higher after authorities are able to go through that area and continue looking for any victims or survivors -- Collins.

SPENCER: Good luck to the residents, there. Sean Callebs in Macon County, North Carolina. Thanks for that, Sean.

Well, it could take weeks for power, sewer, and water services to be restored in parts of the northwest Florida. Let's go to Chris Lawrence in Pensacola and see what's going on there.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Collins. You know, we're three days out from this storm, and as we move around the area, it's still amazing at how much damage this storm caused. Take a look at this floating dock. I mean, look at the size and the weight of that concrete and the waves were so strong, they literally just picked up this dock and put it right on top of the deck. And as you can see, if you go over there, you can see, it did the same thing to another one, it's sitting 10, 15 feet out of the water, crushed the front end of that boat. And as we move over, the Golden Horse in Miami is literally just swept up and pushed right up on shore. The most frightening thing is, of all the damage that was done here to this marina, it's even more frightening when you actually compare it to some of the damage done do some people's homes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Hurricane Ivan didn't just destroy this Pensacola family's home, it erased it.

VIRGINIA TYSON, HOME DESTROYED BY IVAN: You can't even find like one piece of furniture. There isn't a couch, a chair, nothing that's intact at all.

LAWRENCE: Virginia Tyson and her boyfriend believe their home was washed away by a wall of water.

STEVE CHANCY, HOME DESTROYED BY IVAN: By the time it got to our house, I don't know what size it was, but big enough to take it out.

LAWRENCE: The house had been in Virginia's family for 25 years. It survived every hurricane, until now. TYSON: I called my mother and told her, "the worst picture you could possibly imagine, and it's nothing compared to how bad it is when you're actually looking at it."

LAWRENCE: The destruction is widespread across the Florida Panhandle. As of Saturday, some 400,000 Florida homes and businesses still had no power. And across the Gulf Coast, insurance companies estimate Ivan caused $2 to $10 billion in damage. To put that in perspective, hurricanes Charley and Frances caused about $11 billion in damage combined. And on Saturday, many families are now realizing they have no home to go back to.

TYSON: You just have to think hopefully even though it's almost impossible to do, that's just all there is you can do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yeah, unfortunately for Virginia, she also worked on Pensacola Beach, meaning she's probably out of a home and a job.

Now, President George W. Bush is scheduled to tour this hurricane ravaged area tomorrow, and the emergency operation center tells us they are still searching for 14 people -- 14 people are still missing, although it's still unclear whether they just evacuated and forgot to tell anyone or if they were actually in danger -- Collins.

SPENCER: And Chris, that's quite a mess behind you. Do officials know, do they have any idea how long the cleanup process is going to take?

LAWRENCE: Down here, it's unclear. We talked to several of the boat owners who estimated millions of dollars in damage. Some of these boats have had holes literally poked right through the hulls. Some are probably unsalvageable. But I guess the first order of business would be, once they feel it's safe, to start pealing off things like this, just to get it out of here before you can even get over to get to some of the boats.

SPENCER: All right. Good to see you Chris, Chris Lawrence in Pensacola, Florida.

Well, are you of the millions -- one of the millions of Americans thinking the best way to secure your vote is through an absentee ballot? Find out why some election experts fear absentee balloting could be the biggest source of voter fraud this November.

Later this hour, you'll see the best places to vacation, that is if your idea of a vacation is to be treated like royalty.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Well, welcome back. A powerful car bomb in northern Iraq and more hostages turn up on videotape. A senior international correspondent, Walter Rodgers, is in Baghdad with the latest.

Hi, Walter. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Collins. Three western hostages, two Americans, and a British engineer now face a deadline of Monday when their captors say they will be executed unless the United States meets the demands of the of the kidnapers. That demand specifically is the release of all female Iraqi detainees. The group which kidnapped these men and then subsequently released a videotape is said to be associated with Abu Musab Zarqawi, the alleged mastermind here, that group of his, the Unification and Jihad Group has done more than a little kidnapping recently. Again, the deadline for these three men is Tuesday of this coming week. The two Americans, by the way, are Jack Hensley and Eugene Jack Armstrong.

Elsewhere in Iraq today, there was a string of powerful car bomb explosions. And more roadside bombs, and the death toll was worse in the northern city of Kirkuk. There in Kirkuk, a kamikaze car took aim on the Iraq National Guard headquarters. The guards outside raised their rifles, tried to stop that kamikaze car, but the momentum of the car just carried it in toward the building and the guards outside. A thunderous explosion, 19 people killed almost instantly, more than 67 Iraqis were also wounded in that.

Indeed, this past week, the most dangerous occupation in Iraq has been either a policeman or a member of the National Guard because the Iraqi security forces have become the primary targets of the insurgents.

There was a close call here in Baghdad for a U.S. military convoy on the road to the Baghdad Airport. A roadside, a car parked beside the road, apparently exploded as the convoy went by, two U.S. military vehicles, humvees, were damaged. Three U.S. soldiers were injured in that explosion, in a explosive packed car, again on the airport road. So dangerous is that road that this morning, it had to be closed to all vehicular traffic because overnight the road was laced with roadside bombs -- Collins?

SPENCER: Walter, over the past several weeks, there's been nothing but bad this is coming out of Iraq. Is the bad news, is it as bad as it seems over there?

RODGERS: There is a very real security crisis in this country. Any westerner here is in grave jeopardy of being kidnapped. Iraqis face constant explosions going on around them. Suicide bombs, roadside bombs, as well. The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, recently described the situation as -- here in, Iraq as "The gates of hell having just been opened." French President Jacques Chirac said "The genie is now out of the bottle in this country" and so far 130,000 U.S. soldiers here, have not been able to put that genie back in the bottle -- Collins.

SPENCER: OK. Thanks, Walter. Walter Rodgers reporting live from Baghdad.

Well, as many as one in four Americans is expected to vote by absentee ballot this November and both political parties are working as hard as they can to encourage it. Now, in some cases, even -- you know, even people are looking to gain some help from absentee ballots. It's an issue gaining more attention. Well, what we're going to do right now is we're going to take a break and come back with some more news and talk about absentee balloting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: As many as one in four Americans is expected to vote by absentee ballot this November and both political parties are working hard to encourage it. But, it appears the system may be open to all sorts of medaling. In many states in particular, some of the so called battleground states, political operatives can either distribute, collect, and in some cases even help fill out absentee ballots. The issue is gaining more attention. "New York Times" reporter, Michael Moss, wrote an extensive article on absentee ballots and the potential for fraud. He joins us from San Antonio.

And I thank you for joining us, Michael.

MICHAEL MOSS, "NEW YORK TIMES": Oh, nice to be here, Collins.

SPENCER: Michael, both political parties are strongly promoting using absentee balloting to secure more votes. Is this going to be more important, the absentee balloting, this year than in past elections.

MOSS: Oh, absolutely. It's fast becoming probably one of the key issues in part because both political parties see it as a key to winning those key states where both John Kerry and George Bush are still deadlocked. I should explain why we're taking a close look at it, too, because I was in Florida 2000 where I helped to break the story about the republican elections chief in Seminole County who allowed Republican Party operatives to camp out in her office for a while and fix 2000 absentee ballots that the party had messed up in mailing out applications. And as you can imagine, the democrats were quite concerned with that, but the bigger story, in fact, there was that the Republican Party had sent out some one million absentee ballot applications to voters in Florida as part of their strategy to get out the vote and lockdown those voters who would support George Bush.

SPENCER: Now Mike...

MOSS: Since then, what's happened -- yes?

SPENCER: Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry to interrupt you.

MOSS: I was going to say.

SPENCER: Go ahead.

MOSS: Since then, democrats have realized what the republicans did, and they've been perfecting their own strategies and using absentee votings to lockdown their supporters. In Arizona two years ago, there was a remarkable campaign for the governor where the democrats, for the first time in two decades, won the governor's race in large part by tracking absentee voters through data they gathered from election officials and then going to the houses of people who had just gotten their absentee voters -- their ballot, knocking on the door, and doing last minute electioneering in the privacy of those homes.

SPENCER: Now Michael, you have coercion -- may have coercion here and you may have fraud, but there are some states that are declining to take safeguards. Why do you think that is?

MOSS: Well, in part because election officials themselves are promoting absentee balloting as a way, one, to encourage turnout and, two, sort of help ease the election crunch on Election Day. So, you have now some 26 states where you no longer need an excuse to vote absentee, but at the same time, we looked carefully at the swing states and six of the 19 swing states don't require a witness signature on absentee ballots anymore. And many of the swing states allow political campaigns to, as they say, knock on doors to collect and even collect, and even collect the actual completed ballots, themselves.

SPENCER: Have there been any problems thus far?

MOSS: Well, we looked carefully, since 2000 election, there have been absentee voting fraud cases brought in at least 15 states. These are all, for the most part, local elections, but they're quite troubling to people who have been looking at absentee or voting fraud for a couple of reasons. One, because there's a chance that the people committing the fraud in local races may, in fact, now may be working on the presidential races and second, sort of the irony here is that a lot of attention and concern has been paid to voting machines, but in fact historically, absentee ballots have always been the most vulnerable part of the election system to fraud.

SPENCER: OK. Well, we'll definitely be keeping an eye on this and I want thank you again for joining us. Michael Moss, a reporter with the "New York Times." Thank you again, sir.

MOSS: Oh, thank you so much.

SPENCER: Hurricane Ivan took almost everything they owned and now this Florida couple is one of many trying to figure out how to rebuild their lives, their amazing story straight ahead.

And what can you and I learn from what Martha Stewart's decision to begin her jail sentence right away? The answer when CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Sometimes pictures only tell part of the story in terms of homes and business lost to Hurricane Ivan. The anguish is best expressed through the eyes of the victims. Here's more from CNN's David Mattingly in Navarre, Florida, about 20 miles east of Pensacola.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What is this? That is your bed?

JEWEL PUGH, FLOOD VICTIM: That's our headboard.

KEN PUGH, FLOOD VICTIM: This is our family room.

MATTINGLY (voice over): Jewel and Ken Pugh were in the midst of remodeling their bayside home in Navarre, Florida, when Ivan made other plans.

KEN PUGH: This is the bedroom over here. This the is a kitchen. Used to be an island across here. The only thing that's left in the kitchen is the granite countertops.

MATTINGLY: The house on the water they retired to from California just two years ago is beyond repair.

JEWEL PUGH: You just wonder, why me? You know, why me?

MATTINGLY: Windows, doors, even brick walls are missing. Not a single piece of furniture is left. All of it taken by a hurricane more devastating than anyone imagined.

(on camera): I didn't even see any furniture out in the front yard. Where did it go?

JEWEL PUGH: We've been looking for it.

KEN PUGH: I don't know. When we left, we tried to get everything up as high as we could. You know, we tried to get it up off the floor if we could. But we haven't even seen our couches.

MATTINGLY (on camera): The storm surge was so powerful, it tore through these homes and took everyone's belongings to who knows where. Here at the Pugh's home, this is their bathtub. No one put it here, this is where the storm left it.

As for appliances, they're across the street. On the curb over there, that's their dryer. Their refrigerator is actually a few yards back, behind their neighbor's house.

(voice over): No house in this waterfront neighborhood was spared. Those on stilts fared only slightly better. Next door to the Pughs, it now takes a ladder to get into the house. Inside, Ginny Bryant finds her furniture stayed, but it is ruined, so is the carpet and the ceiling.

GINNY BRYANT, FLOOD VICTIM: We'll probably have to bulldoze it down. And but it will all be, you know, just a lot because we won't rebuild.

MATTINGLY: The Pughs won't rebuild either. When they evacuated, they took three days worth of clothes, photographs and papers. What they didn't take, they lost. The only thing they have to do now is fall back on their sense of humor.

KEN PUGH: What we're going to do now is we're going to wait for insurance. And then we're going to --

JEWEL PUGH: Go to Australia for six months.

MATTINGLY: David Mattingly, CNN, Navarre, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPENCER: In other news across America now, he was the cute child actor from the "Home Alone" movies. Now Macaulay Culkin is in trouble with the law. He was arrested on drug charges during a traffic stop in Oklahoma City. Authorities say they found marijuana and controlled substances without a valid prescription. He's been released on $4,000 bond.

And in Michigan, a 17 year old is in jail accused of making terror threats against his high school. Police in Clinton Township were tipped off after the boy made alleged threats in an online chatroom. Police say weapons and bomb-making materials were found in his home.

In Maine, a dome demolished. Explosives brought down Main Yankee's containment dome yesterday. It's one of the final steps toward decommissioning the former nuclear power plant.

And in New Jersey, American beauties on parade. The annual Miss America Parade brought out 100,000 people in Atlanta City last night. Luckily, a casino union strike that could have disrupted the parade was averted. The next Miss America will be crowned at tonight's pageant.

Let's go thumbs up or down on this week's news makers with "Ethics Guy". Bruce Weinstein, joins us at the Time Warner Center in New York.

Bruce, I want to thank you for joining us.

BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THE ETHICS GUY: Thanks for inviting me, Collins.

SPENCER: Bruce, we've got to give the thumbs up to the governor of Alabama for saying he would vigorously go after businesses that raise their prices after a bad situation. Is it unethical for businesses to raise their prices in order to take advantage of a bad situation?

WEINSTEIN: Absolutely, Collins. A thumbs up goes to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood for reiterating that it is a crime to gouge prices during a state of emergency, which occurred during the past weeks with Ivan and Frances.

It takes advantage of people's tragedy and it's wrong to do that. And thumbs up goes to the attorney general for reminding us that it is illegal and that violations of this can result in fines and even jail time.

SPENCER: Now, in New York City during the blackout last summer, businesses didn't take advantage of the situation.

WEINSTEIN: They did not, so a thumbs down goes to those motels and grocery stores and lumber yards, gas stations that raised prices and took advantage of, again, a tragic situation. Now, in the short run, those businesses will in fact profit, but in the long run, by damaging the trust, damaging the good faith that customers place in them, their businesses will be hurt. Because who would want to give them business once the tragedy dies down.

So New York businesses that did not do that during the blackout, businesses in the South that have raised their prices, have taken the low road should follow New York's lead in that regard.

SPENCER: Let's turn our attention to CBS and Dan Rather over the last week. We've heard about the alleged memos from his Navy days in the military. What type of ethical problems does CBS and Dan Rather face in regards to their sources and the memos themselves.

WEINSTEIN: Collins, Dan Rather gets a thumbs down from the ethics guy this week for standing by his story even though the legitimacy of the documents that has been used to convict President Bush's military record in the court of public opinion, the legitimacy of those documents has been questioned. And even though Dan Rather admits that there is a controversy surrounding this, he says that the story is true.

Now, innocent until proven guilty is not just a legal principle, this is a principle that applies, or ought to apply to journalism ethics, as well. It is unfair for Dan Rather to toe this line consistently without any evidence to support that conclusion.

It's just unfair to President Bush. Now, I'm saying this not as a Democrat or Republican, not as a conservative or liberal. This is an ethical analysis that is above and beyond politics.

SPENCER: Now, can CBS and Dan Rather get by this one without having a long-term effect on the network?

WEINSTEIN: You know, this is interesting, Collins, because by taking the low road, you're not just doing the wrong thing ethically, but you risk creating bad PR that can damage the business and damage the reputation of the organization in the long run.

It is never too late, though, to right a wrong. And CBS is finally agreed to hold an internal investigation, but Dan Rather should also refuse to jump to a conclusion until there is firm evidence to support the claim that President Bush skirted his military obligations if in fact that was the case.

SPENCER: All right, let's turn to Martha Stewart now. Did she do the right thing in saying that asking if she can go to jail as soon as possible?

WEINSTEIN: Yes, Collins. Martha Stewart gets a big thumbs up from the "Ethics Guy" this week, because by admitting that -- finally, a wrong has been committed, she is doing the time for the crime that she committed. Lying to federal investigators is a crime under the law. And instead of fighting it and appealing it and dragging not only her reputation but the reputation of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia into the mud, she would have just delayed what was an inevitable conclusion, probably.

So by admitting at least being willing to serve the five months in prison now, she's taken the high road. And the long run, she may very well reestablish the good faith that people placed in her. She gets a thumbs up.

SPENCER: All right. I want to thank you for joining us, Bruce. Always good to get your thoughts on the ethics out there.

WEINSTEIN: Thank you, Collins.

SPENCER: Bruce Weinstein.

E-mail us your ethics questions for Bruce Weinstein and we'll work on answers for next Saturday's program. The address is ethics@cnn.com.

Now, on paper they look unbeatable, but the Ryder Cup isn't played on paper, it is played on a golf course. And the U.S. team was dominated in the early going. We'll take you there live.

And he isn't the most loveable guy in baseball, just the best. Barry Bonds talks about entering baseball's most elite home run fraternity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: All right. Tiger's back in form and Phil Mickelson is on bench as Team America tries to make up for yesterday's embarrassment during the opening round of the Ryder Cup. CNN Sports Correspondent Larry Smith joins us from the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan.

Hey, Larry, what's going on today?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Collins, let me tell you something, what a turnaround here at Oakland Hills, from the ridiculous on Friday to a sublime Saturday.

Now the U.S. has not swept a four-ball competition in the Ryder Cup since 1967 but they are trying to do that today. Believe it or not, after Friday's horrible round. Get this, Tiger Woods and Chris Riley already have a victory, their first in the four-ball, in this Ryder Cup. They defeated Darrin Clark and Ian Poulter, 4/3.

Chris Riley, a new partner for Tiger after Friday's not so successful pairing with Phil Mickelson. He had four birdies, all four one hole, for that group. Now, the best match so far, Jay Haas and Chris DiMarco all square with Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, with two holes to go.

Jim Furyk, has hit three straight birdies. He and Chad Campbell now leading that pairing, 1 up with through 13 holes. And Davis Love III, has hit five birdies. He and Stewart Sink (ph) are leading Karl Montgomery and Padi (ph) Harrington. They won twice, that European group, yesterday. The Americans lead that 3 up, now with 6 holes to go.

On Friday, it was a different kind of story. The U.S. fell behind in 6 1/2 to 1 1/2 and 2 losses, coming from the duo of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. It was Mickelson's tee shot on 18 that ended up costing that duo a stroke, and the match was all square at that point.

And the Europeans ended up winning that match. It punctuated a disappointing Friday for the U.S. But they are coming back very strong right now. Afterwards, Tiger Woods stepped up as a team leader and challenged the crew to play better today. They're doing that so far.

Hal Sutton, the team captain has been all over the course cheering on his guys, patting Chris Riley on the back as he made shot after shot for the Americans. And Mickelson, by the way, sitting out this morning, but very, very visible. He has been cheering here and has been very vocal, as a part of a support group for this American team.

Very different, as well, in the gallery, Collins. As you look around, everyone's wearing red, white, and blue and cheers of "USA", just as two years ago, at Bel Pre (ph) the European crowd was very vocal, the American crowd getting vocal today as well.

Still to come, the foursomes competitions this afternoon, and tomorrow the singles competition. Right now, the Americans doing what they needed to do to get back in this Ryder Cup and to try to keep the Cup here in the U.S. Back to you.

SPENCER: All right, feeling a little better today. What did Woods and Mickelson say was the problem yesterday, Larry?

SMITH: Neither one of them talked, as you might imagine, after that. One thing, Coach Hal Sutton did, he did criticize Mickelson for changing equipment just a couple of weeks ago with the Ryder Cup right here. That's been a topic. But neither one really talked about it.

The other team members dismissed it. And said these guys are the top two American players. They are ranked two and four in the world, respectively. Everyone's going to come after them with their "A" game. Obviously, as you can see right now, Riley paired up much better with Woods, and Woods with Riley. We'll likely see that combination in the afternoon.

We may see Mickelson play in the afternoon. He is still -- Captain Sutton acts like a football coach the way he's running around patting them on the back. The Captain Hal Sutton said that Mickelson still is a great player and we may see him play in the afternoon, as well.

SPENCER: Keep an eye on it. Good to see you, Larry.

Larry Smith from the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills Township, Michigan.

San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds is marking another milestone in the home run chase joining the elite 700 club. Here's Sports Correspondent Michele Bonner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELE BONNER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and now Barry Bonds. Those are the only three players in major league history to hit 700 career home runs

And now, Bonds has positioned himself to pass the Babe's 714 home runs, with an eye on Aaron's all-time record of 755.

BARRY BONDS, BASEBALL PLAYER: You really can't put it into words to be in a class with those two great players, with Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth. And you just -- it's like you're dreaming and not dreaming -- and you know, it's unbelievable.

HANK AARON, HALL OF FAME BASEBALL PLAYER Records are made to be broken. I mean, that's a known fact. I mean, if you have a record, eventually, somebody's going to come along and break it.

TOM GLAVINE (PH), NEW YORK METS PITCHER: Assuming all things stay the way they are and he stays healthy, I think the only reason he wouldn't do it would be he wouldn't want to and he retires.

BONNER: Who is the best to play the game is a question always answered with names like Mays, Ruth and Aaron. In the future, Bonds will be included.

JOHN DONOVON, SI.COM SENIOR WRITER: He's been a batting champion. He hit 73 home runs one year. He's getting on base at an unprecedented clip this year. His slugging percentage is other worldly. You could make a real good argument -- and I'm not sure if I would, but somebody could make a real good argument that he is the best player ever.

BONNER: The six-time NL MVP's numbers are more astounding when taking into account that many do not pitch to him. Consider that during his entire career, Hank Aaron was intentionally walked 293 times, while Bonds was been walked more than 100 times this year alone. Although exasperating at times, Bonds refuses to let the walks get to him.

BONDS: You have to have respect for the game of baseball. Regardless of what's going on out there. Everybody's out there trying to do the best they can and win for their team regardless. And you get into a situation that you need to walk someone, you walk them to help your team win.

So you don't lose any respect for anybody that does that. That's part of baseball. It's always been part of the game and will continue being part of the game.

BONNER: Earlier this year, his trainer and nutritionists were indicted in connection with a steroid investigation, but Bonds has repeatedly denied using steroids.

And even with than dark cloud hovering around the 40-year-old, Bonds continues to produce in the twilight of his career, which begs the question -- can he hit 800 home runs? For CNN Sports, I'm Michele Bonner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Oh, 800, boy.

Where can the average folks like us get treated like Hollywood stars or European royalty? The answer may be closer and more affordable than you think. We'll show you straight ahead.

And we'll show you a spoof with lots of style. Fitting and funny conclusion to Fashion Week in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: If you're ready to get away from it all and just say, ah, join the millions of other Americans who head to spas for a little pampering. With thousands of choices out there, spa goers are becoming more discerning. Every year, "Travel + Leisure" magazine asks readers to rate the spas, the upcoming October issue features the top destinations. Laura Begley is style editor with "Travel + Leisure" and joins us at the Time Warner Center in New York.

Hi, Laura.

LAURA BEGLEY, STYLE EDITOR, "TRAVEL + LEISURE": It is lovely to be here, but I'd rather be at a spa right now to tell you the truth.

SPENCER: There you go. Well let's start with number one, it is Miraval Life in Balance in Catalina, Arizona. What does that spa have to offer?

BEGLEY: This is their second year in a row ranking number one. This is a really interesting spa because it's not your traditional spa where they make you get up at 6:16 in the morning, and go on a hike. You get to plan your own day and really schedule your own agenda. There's a lot of freedom.

Even at dinner, they will let you drink wine if you like, which is pretty much unheard of at spas. Again, this spa is just super innovative. They've got treatments, like a new fertility treatment and they also have programs for men, like a program called "Conquering Your Inner Everest" where men can get out and get rugged and get in touch with themselves.

SPENCER: I need to conquer my inner Everest. What about number two, Calavie (ph) in Vista, California. Do they have any type of specialty there?

BEGLEY: Well, Calavie is sort the opposite end of Miraval, a much more structured experience. The chef monitors every calorie that you put in your mouth. This has become noteworthy this year because it's been bought by a new couple and totally renovated. It now has a provincial feel. There's frescoes in some of the rooms. It's just simply gorgeous. They're also all about service. When you go there, you don't even need to bring your gym clothes, they provide it for you.

SPENCER: You're speaking of service, there is a spa, The Greenhouse, in Arlington, Texas. They actually help unpack you and do more.

BEGLEY: They'll unpack your clothes and if you don't want to pack anything, they'll provide everything for you. They will give you a bathing suit. They will give you clothes to wear during the day. Now, that's service.

The Greenhouse, it is an old Southern mansion outside of Dallas. It's really lovely. They're also known for some of their innovative programs and packages. One of the most interesting I think is called "Baby & Me" and it is for moms and their new babies. And you can go and learn how to cook for your baby. You can learn how to give your baby massages, do pilatis with your baby, and they even have baby fashion shows.

SPENCER: Massages for babies, OK?

Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, what about that resort?

BEGLEY: Canyon Ranch has become so well-known. They've rolled out to even the QM2. They have an outpost there. Their original resort outside of Tucson is the grand daddy of spas. It's just amazing.

They'll teach you how to cook healthy. They have great life enhancement programs where you can go and really learn how to change your life. They have a program for women called "Women's Mid-Life". They have a program for elderly people on ageing. They have a program even to learn how to take care of your heart if you have heart problems.

SPENCER: We have one more, Golden Door, Escondido, California, is this one mainly for women?

BEGLEY: Yes, the Golden Door was created by women for women. But they also have some coed weeks and some men's weeks. And the Golden Door is really about mind over body. It's learning how to change your mind and how to change the way that you think about health and healing.

SPENCER: We're out of time, but definitely enjoyed talking to you, Laura Begley, is style editor with "Travel + Leisure".

Thanks, again.

BEGLEY: Thanks for being here.

SPENCER: Feel nice and relaxed right now. Well, if a fashion police squad did exist, they would have needed several patty wagons for all the arrests they would have made on this catwalk. It is the funniest fashion show you've ever seen and it is straight ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SPENCER: Question for you, who do you call when fashion week is over? The fashion police, of course. And a word of caution, this report from our Jeanne Moos may offend the stylishly dressed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You know how runway models sometimes take it off? Well, maybe these models should have left it on. These are the ones who work behind the scenes from dressers to carpenters, they make the real fashion shows possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do all the dirty work.

MOOS: And in an end-to-Fashion-Week ritual, they erect a runway on a Midtown Manhattan street and dress up in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any left over crap we have laying around the place.

MOOS: Skip the silk taffeta and chiffon, the latest trends are duct tape and packing blankets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tarp. It is made out of tarp, actually.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Couture - going to be wearing a bubble wrap straitjacket.

MOOS: There it is worn with duct tape hot pants that have been modified in the rear. The theme this season is butt cheeks, hence the chant.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottoms up!

CROWD: Bottoms up!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you mind if it goes across your crack a little bit?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, sweetheart, you do whatever you want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you're the first man that's ever asked.

MOOS: Sure they're mocking the fashion world but it's the show's creative director demonstrates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all about having fun. MOOS: And those light fixtures probably don't have a fashion future, lanyards might, as cords used to hang ID around the neck. The real shows may have Paris Hilton in attendance, but this crowd plays it to the hilt.

They can't stuff bills into some Ralph Lauren model. If you think real models are too skinny, at least here you won't have a bone to pick. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SPENCER: All right. We all have our fashions.

Well, there's much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. In a few moments, "In The Money" at 2 Eastern. On CNN LIVE SATURDAY, there is more than just the numbers in the latest polling on the presidential election. We'll take you inside those numbers.

At 3:00 it is Next@cnn. But first Jack Cafferty with a preview of "In The Money."

JACK CAFFERTY, ANCHOR, IN THE MONEY: Thanks.

Coming up on IN THE MONEY, as subtle as a ton of bricks, we'll look at whether overwhelming force is the way to go in Iraq, as U.S. forces battle the insurgents.

Plus, it looks like hurricanes are hitting America more often than they used to, we'll take a look at the wreckage and see if we can compute the damage in dollars and cents. And the conservatives' conservative, find out why Pat Buchanan thinks the Republicans are getting it wrong.

All that and more, right after this quick look at the headlines.

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