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CNN Live Saturday

Kerry in Ohio, Bush in Florida; U.S. Military Investigating Reserve Unit in Iraq; Yankees-Red Sox Prepare for ALCS Game 3

Aired October 16, 2004 - 14:00   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.


KELLY WALLACE: It is 2:00 p.m. on the east coast, 11:00 a.m. in the west. I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
Ahead this hour, the candidates and the campaign blitz, what President Bush and Senator Kerry are saying today to lure those crucial undecided voters.

Also the controversy over U.S. troops reportedly refusing a dangerous mission in Iraq. We'll have the latest on the investigation.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. It was probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The incredible pain of war, how a young former Marine holds up after losing her fiance and her brother in the war. Her story of coverage and survival.

Those stories in a moment. But first a look at stories now in the news.

As Muslims in Iraq celebrate the start of the holy month of Ramadan, insurgents are taking aim at Christian churches. Explosions rocked five churches in the Iraqi capital earlier today. No casualties are reported. Police say they are not sure yet whether the blasts were connected.

September 11th cannot be the day liberty perished in the United States. Those words from a federal appeals court. The panel said fears of a terrorist attack are not sufficient reasons for authorities to search people at a protest. The ruling stems from the annual protest at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, a training site for Latin American soldiers. It means protesters will not have to pass through medal detectors when they gather for next month's demonstration.

And health officials here in the United States, that none of the flu vaccine quarantined in Britain last week is safe for Americans to use. There had been hope that at least some of the shots could be salvaged.

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

And we begin on the campaign trail. No time is more critical in this battle for the White House than right now. Just 17 days from now, Americans will choose their president. And this weekend, both George W. Bush and John Kerry are on a blistering campaign pace.

Today, President Bush is focusing on Florida, with three stops in the sunshine state. Florida's 27 electoral votes are critical in the president's re-election bid.

As for Senator Kerry, is he trying to buck the trend in the Buckeye State. He is on a swing through southern Ohio, the state with 20 electoral votes, barely went for President Bush in 2000 and no Republican has won the White House without Ohio.

We're on the trial with President Bush and Senator Kerry as they zip across Florida and Ohio.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is traveling with the Bush campaign in Florida.

and Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign in Xenia, Ohio.

And Ed, lets begin with you. What's the strategy for the day?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon again, Kelly.

You know, it's been made many times in this election cycle that Ohio may be the new Florida. I can tell you the weather is not exactly the same, but it is major battleground, as you know. And John Kerry is here because in these final 17 days, he really wants to focus in on the domestic agenda.

That's what the strategy is for Kerry. And since this is a state hard-hit by job losses, he thinks a message about the economy and about health care may really resonate. and in fact, in this particular area, the six southeastern counties of Ohio have correctly predicted the presidential winner for every race dating back to 1964.

So Kerry will be coming back here next week. Vice President Cheney will also be here early next week. Obviously both sides want those 20 electoral votes that you mentioned.

Now in particular, in going after the jobs issue, Kerry today was brandishing a front page newspaper headline from this week when Treasury Secretary John Snow came to town and was quoted as saying, "This talk about job losses is a myth." Secretary Snow has said he was misquoted, misunderstood, but John Kerry pounced anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I got a message for our president of the United States. Mr. President, the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans, and they deserve better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: John Kerry, also deciding to attack today about the shortage of about 48 million flu vaccines. It obviously came up in that third and final presidential debate. But the Kerry campaign has also put out a new ad today, suggesting that the White House, the Bush administration in general, took too long, that they waited three years to try to deal with this problem.

John Kerry, today, at this town hall meeting behind me, in Ohio, also jumped on the president, saying that the mistakes made with the flu vaccine is symbolic of other mistakes made by the administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: Even after a year of warning so signs that something was wrong, after warnings we were vulnerable to shortages, what's that sound like, sounds like the policy on Enron and Halliburton. And now -- now he tells healthy Americans not to get the flu shots. What's that sound like, sounds like his health care plan "pray you don't get sick," right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The Bush campaign is firing back that Senator Kerry has voted in the past against increasing -- just general vaccinations and vaccine production, saying's that he's the last person who should be attacking the president -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Ed, we have to leave it there. Ed Henry battling the wind in the battleground state of Ohio. Ed, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

And as we said, CNN's Elaine Quijano is traveling with the Bush campaign in Florida. West Palm Beach, just one of several stops for the president today in the sunshine state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president is focusing on the issues of terrorism and the war in Iraq. Now, the president today had stops earlier in Sunrise, Florida, and also here in West Palm Beach, is drawing attention to Kerry's vote nearly one years ago today against the $87 billion bill to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, Mr. Bush continues to try and paint Kerry as a flip-flopper, retooling his standard stump speech.

The president saying Kerry's vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq and his vote against the $87 billion was a politically motivated decision made according to the president during the Democratic primaries in the face of tough opposition from anti-war candidate Howard Dean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry apparently decided supporting our troops, even while they were in harm's way was not as important as shoring up his political position. At a time of great threat to our country, at a time of great challenge to the world, the commander in chief must stand on principle, not on the shifting sands of political convenience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: The Kerry campaign is firing back. Officials there are pointing to a memo one year ago today, by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a memo know campaign officials say raises questions about the Defense Department's approach to the war on terrorism.

Meantime, here in Florida, the president continuing on with a stop in Daytona, Florida, later this afternoon. The campaign says that his strategy here in this state is similar to the strategy that they'll be taking in other swing states, and that is to go into traditionally Democratic strongholds, places though where the president feels that he has made some inroads and the campaign officials feel the president has made some inroads to target the voters there and hopefully tip the balance of votes his way come November.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, West Palm Beach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Elaine Quijano, traveling with the Bush campaign.

As President Bush and Senator John Kerry battle it out over the final days of the race, what is going to tip the election?

Joining us today from Boston, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein with the "Los Angeles Times."

And Ron, I guess you might be there for a big ball game later today?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There's another race going on too, Kelly.

WALLACE: Yes, I guess, I know you want the Red Sox to win.

BROWNSTEIN: And about half -- yes, we're following that one, too.

WALLACE: Absolutely. All right, well, Ron, "Newsweek" coming out with the latest poll, showing still a dead heat between President Bush and Senator Kerry.

Looking at some of the latest polling, can you deduct any trends moving in direction for either candidate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's interesting. The "Newsweek" poll has a dead heat among registered voters, they have president back ahead among likely voters. The Zogby, John Zogby who's an independent pollster, his tracking showing a little movement for the president as well, since the last debate. Although there have been other surveys, particularly the third -- the other big tracking poll from the ABC/"Washington Post" shows it -- continue to be a dead heat.

The thing to watch, I think most closely in this, is can anyone get themselves over 50 percent. When you are this close to an election, the spread between the candidates sometimes is less revealing of where the race really is in the absolute number the incumbent has on the theory, that historically, most people undecided until the very end break away from the incumbent.

Now the Republicans -- the bush campaign, at least, optimistic they can break that trend. They can win even if Bush is only polling 47, 48, 49. But I know, a lot of Republican strategists, having been through a lot of other races, will feel more comfortable the closer he gets his own number to 50 percent, no matter where John Kerry is.

WALLACE: And another number you're always looking at, the approval rating for the president. In this "Newsweek" poll it's up a point, but still under 50 percent, at 47 percent. How much of a danger sign is that?

BROWNSTEIN: Enormous. That really is, you know, historically, and I think I said to you this before, the president's approval rating is usually a better indicator of where the race is heading than the spread between the candidates.

It's a much less volatile measure than the polling on the horse race. In the history of modern polling, which goes back to 1952, we have had eight races involving incumbent presidents. Five of them had an approval rating over 50 percent by Election Day, they all won. Three were under 50, they all lost. The past isn't necessarily a guarantee of the future, but obviously if you are a Republican, you don't want to have to buck that trend.

WALLACE: And Ron, the other question is, undecided voters, we know the Kerry campaign strategy trying to go after undecided voters. We know a little bit of the Republican strategy, trying to really energize the Republican base. Looking at undecideds, how many of the undecideds are actually going to go to the polls? Will some of them just stay away?

BROWNSTEIN: That is a critical question, Kelly. Look, first of all, anybody who is undecided this late in an election tends to be cool at best toward the incumbent, whether it's a governor's race, a presidential race or whatever. And I think in all the polling, most people who are undecided now are saying the country is -- a plurality or a majority of them are saying the country is on the wrong track. They have a negative view of Bush's job performance.

What the Bush campaign says is, look, since they have resisted going to John Kerry this long in a race of extraordinary length, with an extraordinary amount of information for voters, maybe they won't break for him in the historic numbers that we've seen. Maybe more of them will stay home than we think and other factors, particularly mobilization and get out the vote efforts will decide the race.

Again that is somewhat pushing against the tide of history, and not something you'd want to have to bet on, but it may be a factor that could be important down the race, down the stretch.

WALLACE: All right, Ron, we'll leave it there and let you get to some other pressing matters, matters of baseball. Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst with "The Los Angeles Times," thanks so much, great to see you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

WALLACE: Well, coming up ahead, skepticism of the American government is prompting one former Marine to make a few changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BROZAK (D), NEW JERSEY CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Steve Brozak, I'm looking to become your congressman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Still to come, switching parties and running for office.

Plus, double doses of pride and pain, how one former Marine copes with her losses in Iraq.

And later, to display or not to display, that is the question. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Welcome back. Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry sat down with our own CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley for an extensive interview yesterday. Included in their talk: differences he sees between the war in Iraq and Vietnam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?

KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And you can see Candy Crowley's entire interview with Senator Kerry at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. One Marine service in Iraq changed his mind about how things in Washington run, but rather than sit back and watch, he's trying to do something about it by running for Congress.

Christine Romans has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROZAK: Are you a Marine as well?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BROZAK: Semper fi, Marine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Semper fi to you, too.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Brozak is a Marine, a lifelong Republican and no stranger to war.

BROZAK: I volunteered to go back on active duty right after 9/11 because I knew that we were in a real war to protect this democracy and to protect democracy worldwide.

ROMANS: He served in the Middle East and at the Pentagon and came away outraged, he says, that poor planning in Washington and lack of an exit strategy for Iraq put National Guard and reservists in jeopardy. So disillusioned with his government and his party, he became a Democrat, and is running for a New Jersey congressional seat.

BROZAK: People understand that we're fighting a war on terror that's threatening this democracy, but the one thing they don't want to be told is one thing today and another thing tomorrow. If you tell someone that they're going to be in-country for 12 months, then you better make sure that they're in-country for 12 months. If you then tell them that they have to do another three months, and then another three months after that, that is lying to them.

ROMANS: Brozak's opponent is two-term Republican incumbent Mark Ferguson in a heavily Republican district. The former Marine is outfinanced and behind in the polls. But Brozak doesn't care about the odds.

BROZAK: There's an expression in the Marine Corps, lead, follow or get the heck out of my way. If you see that there's a problem, and you have the ability to change it, you have the ability to make a difference, I can't think of a worse crime than not trying to do something.

I'm Steve Brozak, I'm looking to become your congressman.

JAIMEE GILMARTIN, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR: This race is very much a microcosm of the national race. Here you have somebody who has been in the war situation, who has been close to the military, who comes back and says, I have to question my government. I have to question my president. ROMANS: A Wall Street businessman for nearly 20 years, Brozak also questions his president's support for shipping American jobs overseas. Those are jobs, he says, American troops will desperately need when they finally get home.

BROZAK: Hi, sir. My name is Steve Brozak and I am running...

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, Westfield, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And this story just in to CNN. A train derailment in Whittier, California, near the 605 freeway, that's about 20 miles east of Los Angeles. We have some live pictures from CNN affiliate -- these are taped pictures, I'm told, from CNN affiliate KABC, about 30 cars of the freight train we are told are involved in the derailment. Some of the train cars are carrying chemicals and the derailment has forced the evacuation of about 25 to 30 nearby homes. Right now there are no reports of injuries. We will continue to monitor the story and bring any updates on the situation as needed.

Up next here on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, will a new commandment get etched into stone? "Thou shall not display," a debate on a move by the U.S. Supreme Court coming up next.

And later...

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Mark McKay at Fenway Park in Boston, where it's cool but dry. Great news as the Red Sox and Yankees prepare to play game three of the American League Championship Series. A live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: The Supreme Court surprised many veteran legal experts this week by taking on the Ten Commandments. The justices will decide whether the commandments can be displayed in government buildings or whether such a display is an unconstitutional attempt to establish religion. The cases come from Kentucky and Texas. The issues are very similar to those presented when Alabama's chief justice put a monument of the Ten Commandments on display at the state supreme court. The justices, however, refused to hear Judge Roy Moore's appeal. He eventually lost his job over the matter.

We will talk to Judge Moore in a moment. First the Reverend Barry Lynn is with the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and joins us from New York.

Reverend Lynn, thanks for joining us today.

REV. BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED: Nice to be here.

WALLACE: Good to have you. First off, are you opposed, is the ACLU opposed to the display of the Ten Commandments in any public or government building whatsoever? LYNN: I'm opposed to any idea that the government is promoting what is essentially a religious statement. Now the Ten Commandments, whatever else anyone claims they are, are a statement of religious and moral principles, deeply revered by myself and by tens of millions of other Americans. But they're not the basis, Kelly, for the secular law of our country.

We don't have secular parallels to the many of the Ten Commandments. We don't make it a crime to worship a false god, even though there's a commandment against it. We don't have laws against coveting your neighbor's spouse or car or other possessions. If we did, half the country would be, of course, in a penitentiary.

So it is false to claim, as some do, that this is the basis for the judicial system of our country. It is religious. It belongs and should be displayed in synagogues, on synagogues, lawns and churches and church lawns, but not in federal buildings, not in government schools, not anywhere that it looks like it's being promoted by government officials.

WALLACE: Let me just make a correction too. I said you were with the ACLU, my mistake. Americans -- of course, you're with the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Let me ask you, are you pleased, though, that the Supreme Court has decided to hear these cases coming from Kentucky and Texas? What impact do you believe, just by the court hearing these cases, could there be in this country?

LYNN: Well, I know that there are many of these cases around the country. We filed many of them. We've filed a lawsuit against Judge Moore, who you're going to have on shortly, and I think there is somewhat of a mosaic of differing opinions, based on the specific way in which the Ten Commandments are displayed.

I'd like to see a good, clean rule come out of these cases, and I think we will see that. In 1980, the Supreme Court made it very clear that you couldn't display the Ten Commandments in public schools in the state of Kentucky, because the court said these are obviously religious statements, as they certainly are.

And in Texas, one of the places where this is emerging now in the Supreme Court, the monument outside of a government building in Texas was really just a prop given to the city on the basis of advertising that "Ten Commandments" movie back in the '60s, where Charlton Heston played Moses.

So these are not great, well-established historic monuments. In general, these are just somebody gets a decision -- makes a decision that he wants to promote the idea of a Christian nation, which is what's going on in Kentucky, the other case that the Supreme Court took, and decided to put the Ten Commandments up on courthouse walls.

I don't think in America, Christians and Jews and others who revere the Ten Commandments need or should get the blessing of government at any level, state, local, or federal, to embrace and to promote their religious ideas. That's what most of the courts say. That's certainly what the court said to Judge Moore, who argued and argued and cost the taxpayers of the state of Alabama something like a half a million dollars in legal fees, of which he paid none himself.

WALLACE: All right, Reverend Barry Lynn...

LYNN: It's over.

WALLACE: OK. I'm sorry to say, we don't have a lot of time today. We're going to have to leave it there. Reverend Barry Lynn...

LYNN: Thank you.

WALLACE: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, thanks for being with us. And as we said, we're also going to be talking with Judge Roy Moore, the former Alabama chief justice.

Judge, thanks for joining us today.

ROY MOORE, FMR. ALABAMA CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you for asking me, Kelly.

WALLACE: Well, first, let me get your response right away to Reverend Lynn who he says he does not want to see any official government building in any way connected to a display of the Ten Commandments. Why do you so very much disagree?

MOORE: Well, then he ought to start with the Supreme Court of the United States because they've got the Ten Commandments on the building. You see, Kelly, one thing we've got to recognize and I agree with Barry Lynn to some degree. The representation of the Ten Commandments is about God and that's the point that the United States Supreme Court is avoiding with every ounce of their efforts.

They don't want to talk about whether or not this state can acknowledge God. And that's what it's about. It's not about a monument or the Ten Commandments, and that's why the cases in McCreary County and Van Orden case versus Perry in Texas are so faulty because you see they've taken these cases because the defendants in the original cases both have surrounded the monuments, the monument of the Ten Commandments or plaque of the Ten Commandments with historical artifacts to reduce it to history, so that you don't recognize a real God.

And that's why they avoided my case.

WALLACE: I was going to ask you, what is the sense of why you think that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't take your case but took these cases from Texas and Kentucky?

MOORE: Because the monument in Alabama represented the sovereignty of God and it was acknowledged to do so, which is consistent with our organic law. The representations of the Ten Commandments in Texas and Kentucky are surrounded by history, so to secularize them, to reduce them to a historical affect that has none presently, and that's to get court acceptance, and I think that they'll possibly approve it, and when they do, it will be a bad result. When you start with the wrong premise, you reach a bad result. And you should not be able to...

WALLACE: So you're not even pleased with the discussion of these issues and the court taking the cases from Texas and Kentucky, even if it will continue a debate and a discussion about these issues. You just feel like it's not the right premise or not the right issue for discussion.

MOORE: It's not the right premise and they're going to avoid the issue, whether or not the state can acknowledge God. And indeed, for centuries we did recognize God as the source of our religious liberty. In 1931, in the United States Supreme Court in U.S. versus Macintosh, both the majority and minority of the court said religious liberty comes from the obedience to the will of God.

Where have we gone and why have we lost it?

WALLACE: All right. Well, wish we could talk more about this, but we're out of time. Roy Moore, former Alabama chief justice, we thank you for being here.

MOORE: Thank you.

WALLACE: And I'm sure we'll discuss this issue with you again in the weeks ahead. Thanks so much.

MOORE: Thank you.

WALLACE: Moving ahead to Iraq, the terrorists in Iraq are finding a new target. Coming up, a series of bombings at Christian churches. A look at the latest attacks and report of more American soldiers killed.

Also, the latest on the investigation into a platoon's refusal to go on a dangerous mission in Iraq. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY, don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. These stories now in the news. A roadside bomb kills two American soldiers in Afghanistan. Three wounded men were evacuated to Germany for treatment. One is in critical condition.

Well-wishers are showering Pope John Paul II with congratulatory messages today. It was 26 years ago today the pope was elected head of the Catholic Church. John Paul who is 84 suffers from a number of ailments, including Parkinson's disease.

And near Whittier, California more than two dozen freight cars some carrying chemicals went off the track this morning, forcing the evacuation of 25 to 30 homes. No injuries have been reported. At least one home has been damaged. No word yet on the cause of the derailment.

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

And now the latest in the fight in Iraq. Five separate bomb attacks across Baghdad damaged Christian churches in four neighborhoods. No casualties are reported. In Falluja, a peace delegation led by a local cleric is offering to resume talks if U.S. attacks are halted and the chief negotiator is released by U.S. forces.

And the U.S. military reports the death of four more U.S. troops. Two soldiers and a marine were killed along with an Iraqi civilian in the town of Qaim, near the Syrian border. And a U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered in an attack near Mosul Friday.

The U.S. military is investigating whether a reserve unit in Iraq violated the rules by refusing to go on a dangerous mission. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is one of the most dangerous missions in Iraq -- driving a convoy. This past Wednesday in Tallil, southeast of Baghdad, 19 soldiers from a supply platoon failed to report for a mission to drive a fuel truck north to Taji. It is now believed five of the soldiers may actually have refused their orders. Specialist Amber McClenny left this frantic message on her mother's answering machine.

SPECIALIST AMBER MCCLENNY: Hi, mom, this is Amber. This is a real, real big emergency. I need you to contact someone. I mean, raise pure hell. Yesterday we refused to go on a convoy to Taji, which is above Baghdad.

STARR: The army is emphasizing, this is an isolated incident, saying, "it is far too early in the investigation to speculate as to what happened, why it happened, or any action that might be taken." Patricia Ann McCook says the troops were worried about safety including her husband, Sergeant Larry McCook.

PATRICIA ANN MCCOOK: They don't have bulletproof protection on the vehicles. They just don't go fast at all. It's just not safe to be in a hostile territory.

STARR: Three probes are under way into the actions of the soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, a reserve unit from South Carolina. Investigators are talking to all of those involved, trying to find out what happened and why. Another inquiry is determining whether there were violations of the uniform code of military justice, and the commanding officer has ordered a safety maintenance stand down, during which all vehicles will be inspected and retraining will be done.

Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson says relatives of the soldiers told him the unit had unsafe equipment.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D) MISSISSIPPI: And it goes to the issue of whether or not we have had adequately equipped our men and women to fight this war in Iraq.

STARR: According to a military source, some of the soldiers raised valid concerns, an indication there may have been safety problems with the equipment, but the source said the concerns were raised in an inappropriate manner, causing a breakdown in discipline.

STARR (on camera): The convoy was eventually driven by other soldiers. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: With more on the military's position on the issues raised in Barbara Starr's report, we turn to Major William Ritter, public affairs officer for the 81st Regional Readiness Command he is now with us on the phone from Birmingham, Alabama. Major Ritter thanks for joining us today.

MAJ. WILLIAM RITTER, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, 81ST REGIONAL READINESS COMMAND: Thanks so much for having me.

WALLACE: Since we just listened to Barbara Starr's report, can you tell us the latest on the investigation?

RITTER: It is continuing. There is no additional new information. The 343rd has been a very experienced unit and they've served quite well for nine months, and I want to stress that it is a very isolated incident, and it is still in the early stages of the investigation to speculate specifically what happened.

WALLACE: Major Ritter let me ask you is it within a soldier's rights if he or she feels there's you know, unsafe equipment or in danger to refuse orders? Does a soldier have that right?

RITTER: Absolutely. It is welcome and even necessary at times for soldiers to offer their opinions on any subject to their superiors. However, the normal chain of command and normal good order and discipline must still prevail, and that's part of the investigation right now, as far as did the soldiers follow the appropriate steps in expressing their concerns.

WALLACE: Well, when you say that, as you look into the investigation, if the soldiers were concerned about the equipment, concerned about their safety, but their superior commander still said they must go on this mission, what happens then?

RITTER: Well, it's in a war zone, and sometimes the mission must come first, 100 percent, and yes the army and the commanders would not send the soldiers out if they were inadequately prepared or inadequately equipped to do the mission. If the mission was still deemed necessary, then the commanders must have felt they had what they needed to complete the mission.

WALLACE: What could happen to these men and women for refusing orders if it's determined that they were wrong, and should have continued with that mission? What could happen to them?

RITTER: Again, that's part of the investigation, and they're looking into if their actions were violations of the uniform code of military justice. Depending on what the investigation finds, if there were violations, they would be subject to the disciplinary actions based on what was found they violated.

WALLACE: And how severe could the disciplinary actions be?

RITTER: That's unknown that the time, with the investigation ongoing, it's too early to determine what exactly the charges might be and the disciplinary actions will be based on what the actual charges are.

WALLACE: Any other steps that are being taken in light of these concerns allegedly raised by these soldiers, that they had unsafe equipment that they thought this was an ultimate suicide mission to continue with this route?

RITTER: The unit was placed on a maintenance and safety stand down which basically means they'll be checking the equipment. They're going to be looking at the statements collected from the soldiers doing the preliminary investigation to find out what the next step has to be.

WALLACE: OK, Major William Ritter, public affairs officer for the 81st Regional Readiness Command, we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today. Thanks very much.

RITTER: Thanks for having me.

WALLACE: To keep track of the latest developments about Iraq, stay tuned to CNN and go to CNN.com when you're away from your television set.

It is a double loss for one former marine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. It's probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

WALLACE: How one woman deals with the pride and pain of losing both her fiancee and brother in Iraq.

And you remember this crash. NASA finally figured out what really went wrong and we are told it wasn't rocket science.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: A look now at stories across America. Long lines symbolize the shortage of the flu vaccine. In Michigan, 3.4 million people are considered high risk, but the state one has about two million does. Michigan and several other states have made it a crime to give flu shots to healthy low risk people.

That hard landing of NASA's Genesis space probe last month maybe connected to a problem with engineering drawings, an investigation board says some of those drawings were done backwards. Genesis was returning to Earth with samples of the sun when it smashed into the Utah desert.

The driver of an 18-wheeler led Houston police on a 20-minute chase during rush hour Friday afternoon. Police say the chase started after the truck was involved in an accident. Eventually more than a dozen police cars were in pursuit the truck crashed into several trucks and cars before it was stopped.

And the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln left its homeport in Washington State yesterday for deployment of at least four months in the Pacific. When it returned from hits last deployment in May of last year, President Bush welcomed it home under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished" and declared major combat in Iraq was over.

While fighting continues in Iraq, a new survey looks at what members of the military and their families think of what's going on. The National Annenberg Election Survey finds that 63 percent of the military and their families approved of the way President Bush is handling Iraq. The same survey found that only 38 percent felt that National Guard and reserve forces sent to Iraq had been properly trained and equipped, 42 percent said no. And 62 percent believe that the Bush administration underestimated the reasonable number of troops needed to keep the peace in Iraq.

For one mother and former marine, Iraq was a very painful experience; both she and her brother were in the corps. So was the man she planned to marry, but as David Mattingly reports, that has all changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Taps at Arlington National Cemetery, an echoing reminder of sacrifices made during war. But on this day, the sounds evoke double measures of pride and pain for one young marine, who in two days lost both her brother and her fiancee to fighting in Iraq.

CPL. ROSANNA POWERS, U.S. MARINES: I don't know. It's probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

MATTINGLY: Now barely 23 years old, Corporal Rosanna Powers joined the marines straight out of high school. Her younger brother Lance Corporal Caleb Powers followed a year later. And last year she fell in love with Sergeant Rick Lord of Florida. The two had a baby boy last October and were planning to be married.

(on camera): They were soon to be a family of marines and nothing could have made them happier. But as faith stepped in they were also discussing plans to return to civilian life.

(voice-over): In some of his last phone calls home, Lord yearned to become a full time dad and husband. Powers talked of becoming a small town farmer, quite a change for a young man who grew up dreaming only of the marines.

POWERS: When he would talk on the phone and he'd talk marine talk to me and I'm like no, no, no, we don't do that here. I talk civilian talk.

MATTINGLY: Rosanna Powers says the marine life was a perfect fit for her brother. His fund-raising work for Child Help USA won him celebrity friendships and the respect of his tiny hometown in Washington State.

DON RANDALL, UNCLE: He was always smiling, always happy. Always wanted to be a marine.

MATTINGLY: Caleb Powers, just 21, was shot and killed August 17th. Rick Lord, age 24, died from injuries the next day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember the good times.

MATTINGLY: The two most important men in Rosanna Powers' life, two lifetimes of plans and dreams gone in two heartbeats of the war.

POWERS: They definitely knew what they were getting into, and they did this for a good reason, and a good outcome will come of it.

MATTINGLY: Spoken like a true marine. But Rosanna Powers is now a civilian mom with plans to go to college. She's already taught her son to recognize and kiss his father's picture. And when he's older, she plans to tell him of a young father and an uncle what gave up everything in service to their country.

David Mattingly, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: CNN Live Saturday will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: The defense in the Scott Peterson trial will lay out its case to the jury starting Monday after a delay over some "legal issues." Peterson is accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. Will jurors here from Peterson from the witness stand? We'll talk about the case with our legal eagles, Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor, and he joins us from Cleveland, Ohio. Great to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Nice to see you also.

WALLACE: And also great to see you Richard Herman, who is a criminal defense attorney and he joins us from New York. Great to see you both.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi Kelly.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to be with you.

WALLACE: Avery let me begin with you. Why the delay over these "legal issues"?

FRIEDMAN: Well, the delay was actually imperative Kelly, because each side must turn over expert reports. So what happened here was that Mark Geragos had a report of his cement expert, and he had it turned over to the prosecution, and so the reality was it was a proper delay. I think Richard probably agrees with his favorite lawyer, Gloria Allred, who said it was a tactic but I don't think it was. I think it was legitimate.

WALLACE: But Richard could the defense be blamed then for this delay? You have these jurors who have been sitting here now for what, five months.

HERMAN: Right.

WALLACE: And they've had a week delay in an already long trial?

HERMAN: The California State evidence law requires the defense counsel to produce this evidence with an expert when they decide that they intend to use that expert. Geragos did that perfectly, pursuant to the law. What's happened and what's caused the delay is the fact that, once again, this prosecutor is completely unprepared, a complete abomination.

Has dropped the ball. What did he think is this they weren't going to put a concrete expert in? What the defense concrete expert is going to testify to this jury and educate them on is the fact that there's a difference between concrete and cement. That if you examine the aggregate in concrete it can be compared 100 percent. He's going to match the concrete in the driveway to the concrete in the one anchor that Scott said he made and the prosecution's theory that Scott used the balance of the concrete to make four anchors is going to go down the drain. It's going to be an abomination.

WALLACE: Is this going to be an abomination a blow to the prosecution?

HERMAN: Abomination? No, listen; this is a battle of experts. Clinically speaking, what's going to happen is the jury will have to decide whether it believes the prosecution's expert or whether it believes the defense expert? What is going to happen here, in the last actually we're only going to see seven more days of actual trial after 19 weeks. We're going to see the concrete expert, probably an obstetrician, probably a dog expert and maybe one other, and then come around Election Day, and we're going to see closing arguments here.

FRIEDMAN: Kelly...

WALLACE: What about -- Richard, let me ask you, though are we going to see Scott Peterson. Will Mark Geragos bring Scott Peterson to the stand?

HERMAN: Kelly, there's not too many things that are guaranteed in life. But one thing that you can bet the house on is that there is no way Scott Peterson is going to take the stand. He doesn't have to take the stand in this case, and getting back to this issue with the concrete.

The prosecution's concrete expert himself testified on cross- examination he never saw the driveway. He doesn't know where the sample came from that he tested. He's going to get destroyed on Monday in court there. His whole testimony is going to be discounted by the jury and they're going to be upset with him because they're going to feel that the prosecution tried pull the wool over on him again in this case.

FRIEDMAN: Kelly, the only thing Richard got right is that we will not see Scott Peterson. He is a fertilizer salesman and we've seen so much fertilizer coming around about this guy. That's what's going to happen. Four witnesses, the case will be over the first week in November.

HERMAN: Hey Kelly, you know what? If the prosecution has the complete burden of proof and when Dr. Henry Lee testifies in this case that the baby was born full-term in February, which is consistent with two of the three medical experts...

FRIEDMAN: No.

HERMAN: You have reasonable doubt this jury must acquit him. They must.

FRIEDMAN: There will be a conviction.

WALLACE: Well you know gentlemen, as I said at the beginning you didn't even need me. You can take it away right there.

FRIEDMAN: We're glad you're here keeping peace.

WALLACE: All right, Avery Friedman, Richard Herman. Thanks so much. Of course we'll be talking to you again and we will be watching what the defense does as the court returns on Monday. Thanks again, gentleman. Have a great day.

HERMAN: Likewise. Take care Kelly.

FRIEDMAN: You too Kelly.

WALLACE: The stage is set but will Mother Nature cooperate? After last night's rainout, they are trying it once again tonight.

MCKAY: The fans aren't the only ones antsy for baseball in Boston. I'm Mark McKay at Fenway Park. A preview of game three of the American League Championship Series just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: It's about that time in Boston. Red Sox fans are beginning to worry about the curse of the Bambino. So far the New York Yankees are up to 2-0 in the American League Championship series. The Sox's may have gotten a break with last night's rainout. Let's check in with Mark McKay. He is at Fenway Park, sight of today's game.

Mark great to see you. First to put you on weather duty will we be playing baseball today?

MCKAY: We're going to keep our fingers crossed Kelly. We've been out here for the better part of an hour and a half or so. When we first got here, the sun was shining, just a few puffy clouds. Unfortunately it has clouded over now, overcast skies, a bit dark and quite windy and cool tonight. Forecasters Kelly tell us that the game will go on as scheduled, will be played under mostly cloudy skies temperatures hovering in the mid to upper 50s. There's the weather forecast.

As you can imagine Friday's rainout really did no favors for the scheduled starting pitchers. Kevin Brown said to be the most antsy player in the Yankee Club House last night is hoping to channel that nervous energy into tonight's affair. The right-hander won ten games in the regular season, but he's battled through both injury and inconsistency this year.

It's a roller coast ride, though that now sees Brown with a chance to give his team a commanding lead in the American League Championship Series. Now as for Red Sox manager Terry Francona, he said that Friday's rainout shouldn't affect he's game three-starter right-hander Bronson Arroyo. Francona, Kelly, said that his pitcher has been able to make adjustments all year long. He'll have to make plenty of adjustments tonight. The Red Sox are hoping not to go down 0-3 in a series. No team has been able to bounce back from such a deficit and win the American League Pennant.

WALLACE: Mark fair to say everyone in Boston and New York City will be watching that game. We'll be checking in with you throughout the day, Mark. Thanks so much. And you know if you ever decide to give up sports you can always try weather.

MCKAY: I'll try.

WALLACE: Well there is much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. At the top of the hour it is "NEXT@CNN." At 4:00 p.m. Eastern "CNN LIVE SATURDAY" today looking at the government crack down on doctors violating flu shot guidelines. And at 5:00 p.m. "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiling pop star Jennifer Lopez and Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez. But first Daniel Sieberg with a preview of NEXT@CNN."

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "NEXT@CNN" a reality check of the future of space tourism. When will you be heading into orbit? And alarming news about the state of the world's amphibians. Those stories and a lot more coming up after a check of the headlines from the CNN newsroom.

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 October 16, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLY WALLACE: It is 2:00 p.m. on the east coast, 11:00 a.m. in the west. I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
Ahead this hour, the candidates and the campaign blitz, what President Bush and Senator Kerry are saying today to lure those crucial undecided voters.

Also the controversy over U.S. troops reportedly refusing a dangerous mission in Iraq. We'll have the latest on the investigation.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. It was probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The incredible pain of war, how a young former Marine holds up after losing her fiance and her brother in the war. Her story of coverage and survival.

Those stories in a moment. But first a look at stories now in the news.

As Muslims in Iraq celebrate the start of the holy month of Ramadan, insurgents are taking aim at Christian churches. Explosions rocked five churches in the Iraqi capital earlier today. No casualties are reported. Police say they are not sure yet whether the blasts were connected.

September 11th cannot be the day liberty perished in the United States. Those words from a federal appeals court. The panel said fears of a terrorist attack are not sufficient reasons for authorities to search people at a protest. The ruling stems from the annual protest at the School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia, a training site for Latin American soldiers. It means protesters will not have to pass through medal detectors when they gather for next month's demonstration.

And health officials here in the United States, that none of the flu vaccine quarantined in Britain last week is safe for Americans to use. There had been hope that at least some of the shots could be salvaged.

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

And we begin on the campaign trail. No time is more critical in this battle for the White House than right now. Just 17 days from now, Americans will choose their president. And this weekend, both George W. Bush and John Kerry are on a blistering campaign pace.

Today, President Bush is focusing on Florida, with three stops in the sunshine state. Florida's 27 electoral votes are critical in the president's re-election bid.

As for Senator Kerry, is he trying to buck the trend in the Buckeye State. He is on a swing through southern Ohio, the state with 20 electoral votes, barely went for President Bush in 2000 and no Republican has won the White House without Ohio.

We're on the trial with President Bush and Senator Kerry as they zip across Florida and Ohio.

CNN's Elaine Quijano is traveling with the Bush campaign in Florida.

and Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign in Xenia, Ohio.

And Ed, lets begin with you. What's the strategy for the day?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon again, Kelly.

You know, it's been made many times in this election cycle that Ohio may be the new Florida. I can tell you the weather is not exactly the same, but it is major battleground, as you know. And John Kerry is here because in these final 17 days, he really wants to focus in on the domestic agenda.

That's what the strategy is for Kerry. And since this is a state hard-hit by job losses, he thinks a message about the economy and about health care may really resonate. and in fact, in this particular area, the six southeastern counties of Ohio have correctly predicted the presidential winner for every race dating back to 1964.

So Kerry will be coming back here next week. Vice President Cheney will also be here early next week. Obviously both sides want those 20 electoral votes that you mentioned.

Now in particular, in going after the jobs issue, Kerry today was brandishing a front page newspaper headline from this week when Treasury Secretary John Snow came to town and was quoted as saying, "This talk about job losses is a myth." Secretary Snow has said he was misquoted, misunderstood, but John Kerry pounced anyway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I got a message for our president of the United States. Mr. President, the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans, and they deserve better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: John Kerry, also deciding to attack today about the shortage of about 48 million flu vaccines. It obviously came up in that third and final presidential debate. But the Kerry campaign has also put out a new ad today, suggesting that the White House, the Bush administration in general, took too long, that they waited three years to try to deal with this problem.

John Kerry, today, at this town hall meeting behind me, in Ohio, also jumped on the president, saying that the mistakes made with the flu vaccine is symbolic of other mistakes made by the administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: Even after a year of warning so signs that something was wrong, after warnings we were vulnerable to shortages, what's that sound like, sounds like the policy on Enron and Halliburton. And now -- now he tells healthy Americans not to get the flu shots. What's that sound like, sounds like his health care plan "pray you don't get sick," right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: The Bush campaign is firing back that Senator Kerry has voted in the past against increasing -- just general vaccinations and vaccine production, saying's that he's the last person who should be attacking the president -- Kelly.

WALLACE: Ed, we have to leave it there. Ed Henry battling the wind in the battleground state of Ohio. Ed, thanks very much. We appreciate it.

And as we said, CNN's Elaine Quijano is traveling with the Bush campaign in Florida. West Palm Beach, just one of several stops for the president today in the sunshine state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The president is focusing on the issues of terrorism and the war in Iraq. Now, the president today had stops earlier in Sunrise, Florida, and also here in West Palm Beach, is drawing attention to Kerry's vote nearly one years ago today against the $87 billion bill to fund troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, Mr. Bush continues to try and paint Kerry as a flip-flopper, retooling his standard stump speech.

The president saying Kerry's vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq and his vote against the $87 billion was a politically motivated decision made according to the president during the Democratic primaries in the face of tough opposition from anti-war candidate Howard Dean.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Senator Kerry apparently decided supporting our troops, even while they were in harm's way was not as important as shoring up his political position. At a time of great threat to our country, at a time of great challenge to the world, the commander in chief must stand on principle, not on the shifting sands of political convenience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: The Kerry campaign is firing back. Officials there are pointing to a memo one year ago today, by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, a memo know campaign officials say raises questions about the Defense Department's approach to the war on terrorism.

Meantime, here in Florida, the president continuing on with a stop in Daytona, Florida, later this afternoon. The campaign says that his strategy here in this state is similar to the strategy that they'll be taking in other swing states, and that is to go into traditionally Democratic strongholds, places though where the president feels that he has made some inroads and the campaign officials feel the president has made some inroads to target the voters there and hopefully tip the balance of votes his way come November.

Elaine Quijano, CNN, West Palm Beach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Elaine Quijano, traveling with the Bush campaign.

As President Bush and Senator John Kerry battle it out over the final days of the race, what is going to tip the election?

Joining us today from Boston, CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein with the "Los Angeles Times."

And Ron, I guess you might be there for a big ball game later today?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There's another race going on too, Kelly.

WALLACE: Yes, I guess, I know you want the Red Sox to win.

BROWNSTEIN: And about half -- yes, we're following that one, too.

WALLACE: Absolutely. All right, well, Ron, "Newsweek" coming out with the latest poll, showing still a dead heat between President Bush and Senator Kerry.

Looking at some of the latest polling, can you deduct any trends moving in direction for either candidate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's interesting. The "Newsweek" poll has a dead heat among registered voters, they have president back ahead among likely voters. The Zogby, John Zogby who's an independent pollster, his tracking showing a little movement for the president as well, since the last debate. Although there have been other surveys, particularly the third -- the other big tracking poll from the ABC/"Washington Post" shows it -- continue to be a dead heat.

The thing to watch, I think most closely in this, is can anyone get themselves over 50 percent. When you are this close to an election, the spread between the candidates sometimes is less revealing of where the race really is in the absolute number the incumbent has on the theory, that historically, most people undecided until the very end break away from the incumbent.

Now the Republicans -- the bush campaign, at least, optimistic they can break that trend. They can win even if Bush is only polling 47, 48, 49. But I know, a lot of Republican strategists, having been through a lot of other races, will feel more comfortable the closer he gets his own number to 50 percent, no matter where John Kerry is.

WALLACE: And another number you're always looking at, the approval rating for the president. In this "Newsweek" poll it's up a point, but still under 50 percent, at 47 percent. How much of a danger sign is that?

BROWNSTEIN: Enormous. That really is, you know, historically, and I think I said to you this before, the president's approval rating is usually a better indicator of where the race is heading than the spread between the candidates.

It's a much less volatile measure than the polling on the horse race. In the history of modern polling, which goes back to 1952, we have had eight races involving incumbent presidents. Five of them had an approval rating over 50 percent by Election Day, they all won. Three were under 50, they all lost. The past isn't necessarily a guarantee of the future, but obviously if you are a Republican, you don't want to have to buck that trend.

WALLACE: And Ron, the other question is, undecided voters, we know the Kerry campaign strategy trying to go after undecided voters. We know a little bit of the Republican strategy, trying to really energize the Republican base. Looking at undecideds, how many of the undecideds are actually going to go to the polls? Will some of them just stay away?

BROWNSTEIN: That is a critical question, Kelly. Look, first of all, anybody who is undecided this late in an election tends to be cool at best toward the incumbent, whether it's a governor's race, a presidential race or whatever. And I think in all the polling, most people who are undecided now are saying the country is -- a plurality or a majority of them are saying the country is on the wrong track. They have a negative view of Bush's job performance.

What the Bush campaign says is, look, since they have resisted going to John Kerry this long in a race of extraordinary length, with an extraordinary amount of information for voters, maybe they won't break for him in the historic numbers that we've seen. Maybe more of them will stay home than we think and other factors, particularly mobilization and get out the vote efforts will decide the race.

Again that is somewhat pushing against the tide of history, and not something you'd want to have to bet on, but it may be a factor that could be important down the race, down the stretch.

WALLACE: All right, Ron, we'll leave it there and let you get to some other pressing matters, matters of baseball. Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst with "The Los Angeles Times," thanks so much, great to see you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

WALLACE: Well, coming up ahead, skepticism of the American government is prompting one former Marine to make a few changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BROZAK (D), NEW JERSEY CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Steve Brozak, I'm looking to become your congressman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: Still to come, switching parties and running for office.

Plus, double doses of pride and pain, how one former Marine copes with her losses in Iraq.

And later, to display or not to display, that is the question. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Welcome back. Presidential candidate Senator John Kerry sat down with our own CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley for an extensive interview yesterday. Included in their talk: differences he sees between the war in Iraq and Vietnam.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY: They're very different. This is a war on terror, that was a civil war, an ideological war.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: But you said there wasn't a terror threat, right?

KERRY: Oh, there is now. That's the problem. The problem is that where there wasn't a connection to al Qaeda, now you have this extraordinary magnet that has been created for jihadists who have crossed the border in the thousands. And it is a haven for terrorism now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And you can see Candy Crowley's entire interview with Senator Kerry at 6:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. One Marine service in Iraq changed his mind about how things in Washington run, but rather than sit back and watch, he's trying to do something about it by running for Congress.

Christine Romans has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROZAK: Are you a Marine as well?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BROZAK: Semper fi, Marine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Semper fi to you, too.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Steve Brozak is a Marine, a lifelong Republican and no stranger to war.

BROZAK: I volunteered to go back on active duty right after 9/11 because I knew that we were in a real war to protect this democracy and to protect democracy worldwide.

ROMANS: He served in the Middle East and at the Pentagon and came away outraged, he says, that poor planning in Washington and lack of an exit strategy for Iraq put National Guard and reservists in jeopardy. So disillusioned with his government and his party, he became a Democrat, and is running for a New Jersey congressional seat.

BROZAK: People understand that we're fighting a war on terror that's threatening this democracy, but the one thing they don't want to be told is one thing today and another thing tomorrow. If you tell someone that they're going to be in-country for 12 months, then you better make sure that they're in-country for 12 months. If you then tell them that they have to do another three months, and then another three months after that, that is lying to them.

ROMANS: Brozak's opponent is two-term Republican incumbent Mark Ferguson in a heavily Republican district. The former Marine is outfinanced and behind in the polls. But Brozak doesn't care about the odds.

BROZAK: There's an expression in the Marine Corps, lead, follow or get the heck out of my way. If you see that there's a problem, and you have the ability to change it, you have the ability to make a difference, I can't think of a worse crime than not trying to do something.

I'm Steve Brozak, I'm looking to become your congressman.

JAIMEE GILMARTIN, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR: This race is very much a microcosm of the national race. Here you have somebody who has been in the war situation, who has been close to the military, who comes back and says, I have to question my government. I have to question my president. ROMANS: A Wall Street businessman for nearly 20 years, Brozak also questions his president's support for shipping American jobs overseas. Those are jobs, he says, American troops will desperately need when they finally get home.

BROZAK: Hi, sir. My name is Steve Brozak and I am running...

ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, Westfield, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And this story just in to CNN. A train derailment in Whittier, California, near the 605 freeway, that's about 20 miles east of Los Angeles. We have some live pictures from CNN affiliate -- these are taped pictures, I'm told, from CNN affiliate KABC, about 30 cars of the freight train we are told are involved in the derailment. Some of the train cars are carrying chemicals and the derailment has forced the evacuation of about 25 to 30 nearby homes. Right now there are no reports of injuries. We will continue to monitor the story and bring any updates on the situation as needed.

Up next here on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, will a new commandment get etched into stone? "Thou shall not display," a debate on a move by the U.S. Supreme Court coming up next.

And later...

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Mark McKay at Fenway Park in Boston, where it's cool but dry. Great news as the Red Sox and Yankees prepare to play game three of the American League Championship Series. A live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: The Supreme Court surprised many veteran legal experts this week by taking on the Ten Commandments. The justices will decide whether the commandments can be displayed in government buildings or whether such a display is an unconstitutional attempt to establish religion. The cases come from Kentucky and Texas. The issues are very similar to those presented when Alabama's chief justice put a monument of the Ten Commandments on display at the state supreme court. The justices, however, refused to hear Judge Roy Moore's appeal. He eventually lost his job over the matter.

We will talk to Judge Moore in a moment. First the Reverend Barry Lynn is with the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and joins us from New York.

Reverend Lynn, thanks for joining us today.

REV. BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED: Nice to be here.

WALLACE: Good to have you. First off, are you opposed, is the ACLU opposed to the display of the Ten Commandments in any public or government building whatsoever? LYNN: I'm opposed to any idea that the government is promoting what is essentially a religious statement. Now the Ten Commandments, whatever else anyone claims they are, are a statement of religious and moral principles, deeply revered by myself and by tens of millions of other Americans. But they're not the basis, Kelly, for the secular law of our country.

We don't have secular parallels to the many of the Ten Commandments. We don't make it a crime to worship a false god, even though there's a commandment against it. We don't have laws against coveting your neighbor's spouse or car or other possessions. If we did, half the country would be, of course, in a penitentiary.

So it is false to claim, as some do, that this is the basis for the judicial system of our country. It is religious. It belongs and should be displayed in synagogues, on synagogues, lawns and churches and church lawns, but not in federal buildings, not in government schools, not anywhere that it looks like it's being promoted by government officials.

WALLACE: Let me just make a correction too. I said you were with the ACLU, my mistake. Americans -- of course, you're with the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Let me ask you, are you pleased, though, that the Supreme Court has decided to hear these cases coming from Kentucky and Texas? What impact do you believe, just by the court hearing these cases, could there be in this country?

LYNN: Well, I know that there are many of these cases around the country. We filed many of them. We've filed a lawsuit against Judge Moore, who you're going to have on shortly, and I think there is somewhat of a mosaic of differing opinions, based on the specific way in which the Ten Commandments are displayed.

I'd like to see a good, clean rule come out of these cases, and I think we will see that. In 1980, the Supreme Court made it very clear that you couldn't display the Ten Commandments in public schools in the state of Kentucky, because the court said these are obviously religious statements, as they certainly are.

And in Texas, one of the places where this is emerging now in the Supreme Court, the monument outside of a government building in Texas was really just a prop given to the city on the basis of advertising that "Ten Commandments" movie back in the '60s, where Charlton Heston played Moses.

So these are not great, well-established historic monuments. In general, these are just somebody gets a decision -- makes a decision that he wants to promote the idea of a Christian nation, which is what's going on in Kentucky, the other case that the Supreme Court took, and decided to put the Ten Commandments up on courthouse walls.

I don't think in America, Christians and Jews and others who revere the Ten Commandments need or should get the blessing of government at any level, state, local, or federal, to embrace and to promote their religious ideas. That's what most of the courts say. That's certainly what the court said to Judge Moore, who argued and argued and cost the taxpayers of the state of Alabama something like a half a million dollars in legal fees, of which he paid none himself.

WALLACE: All right, Reverend Barry Lynn...

LYNN: It's over.

WALLACE: OK. I'm sorry to say, we don't have a lot of time today. We're going to have to leave it there. Reverend Barry Lynn...

LYNN: Thank you.

WALLACE: Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, thanks for being with us. And as we said, we're also going to be talking with Judge Roy Moore, the former Alabama chief justice.

Judge, thanks for joining us today.

ROY MOORE, FMR. ALABAMA CHIEF JUSTICE: Thank you for asking me, Kelly.

WALLACE: Well, first, let me get your response right away to Reverend Lynn who he says he does not want to see any official government building in any way connected to a display of the Ten Commandments. Why do you so very much disagree?

MOORE: Well, then he ought to start with the Supreme Court of the United States because they've got the Ten Commandments on the building. You see, Kelly, one thing we've got to recognize and I agree with Barry Lynn to some degree. The representation of the Ten Commandments is about God and that's the point that the United States Supreme Court is avoiding with every ounce of their efforts.

They don't want to talk about whether or not this state can acknowledge God. And that's what it's about. It's not about a monument or the Ten Commandments, and that's why the cases in McCreary County and Van Orden case versus Perry in Texas are so faulty because you see they've taken these cases because the defendants in the original cases both have surrounded the monuments, the monument of the Ten Commandments or plaque of the Ten Commandments with historical artifacts to reduce it to history, so that you don't recognize a real God.

And that's why they avoided my case.

WALLACE: I was going to ask you, what is the sense of why you think that the U.S. Supreme Court didn't take your case but took these cases from Texas and Kentucky?

MOORE: Because the monument in Alabama represented the sovereignty of God and it was acknowledged to do so, which is consistent with our organic law. The representations of the Ten Commandments in Texas and Kentucky are surrounded by history, so to secularize them, to reduce them to a historical affect that has none presently, and that's to get court acceptance, and I think that they'll possibly approve it, and when they do, it will be a bad result. When you start with the wrong premise, you reach a bad result. And you should not be able to...

WALLACE: So you're not even pleased with the discussion of these issues and the court taking the cases from Texas and Kentucky, even if it will continue a debate and a discussion about these issues. You just feel like it's not the right premise or not the right issue for discussion.

MOORE: It's not the right premise and they're going to avoid the issue, whether or not the state can acknowledge God. And indeed, for centuries we did recognize God as the source of our religious liberty. In 1931, in the United States Supreme Court in U.S. versus Macintosh, both the majority and minority of the court said religious liberty comes from the obedience to the will of God.

Where have we gone and why have we lost it?

WALLACE: All right. Well, wish we could talk more about this, but we're out of time. Roy Moore, former Alabama chief justice, we thank you for being here.

MOORE: Thank you.

WALLACE: And I'm sure we'll discuss this issue with you again in the weeks ahead. Thanks so much.

MOORE: Thank you.

WALLACE: Moving ahead to Iraq, the terrorists in Iraq are finding a new target. Coming up, a series of bombings at Christian churches. A look at the latest attacks and report of more American soldiers killed.

Also, the latest on the investigation into a platoon's refusal to go on a dangerous mission in Iraq. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY, don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: I'm Kelly Wallace in Washington. These stories now in the news. A roadside bomb kills two American soldiers in Afghanistan. Three wounded men were evacuated to Germany for treatment. One is in critical condition.

Well-wishers are showering Pope John Paul II with congratulatory messages today. It was 26 years ago today the pope was elected head of the Catholic Church. John Paul who is 84 suffers from a number of ailments, including Parkinson's disease.

And near Whittier, California more than two dozen freight cars some carrying chemicals went off the track this morning, forcing the evacuation of 25 to 30 homes. No injuries have been reported. At least one home has been damaged. No word yet on the cause of the derailment.

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

And now the latest in the fight in Iraq. Five separate bomb attacks across Baghdad damaged Christian churches in four neighborhoods. No casualties are reported. In Falluja, a peace delegation led by a local cleric is offering to resume talks if U.S. attacks are halted and the chief negotiator is released by U.S. forces.

And the U.S. military reports the death of four more U.S. troops. Two soldiers and a marine were killed along with an Iraqi civilian in the town of Qaim, near the Syrian border. And a U.S. soldier died of wounds suffered in an attack near Mosul Friday.

The U.S. military is investigating whether a reserve unit in Iraq violated the rules by refusing to go on a dangerous mission. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It is one of the most dangerous missions in Iraq -- driving a convoy. This past Wednesday in Tallil, southeast of Baghdad, 19 soldiers from a supply platoon failed to report for a mission to drive a fuel truck north to Taji. It is now believed five of the soldiers may actually have refused their orders. Specialist Amber McClenny left this frantic message on her mother's answering machine.

SPECIALIST AMBER MCCLENNY: Hi, mom, this is Amber. This is a real, real big emergency. I need you to contact someone. I mean, raise pure hell. Yesterday we refused to go on a convoy to Taji, which is above Baghdad.

STARR: The army is emphasizing, this is an isolated incident, saying, "it is far too early in the investigation to speculate as to what happened, why it happened, or any action that might be taken." Patricia Ann McCook says the troops were worried about safety including her husband, Sergeant Larry McCook.

PATRICIA ANN MCCOOK: They don't have bulletproof protection on the vehicles. They just don't go fast at all. It's just not safe to be in a hostile territory.

STARR: Three probes are under way into the actions of the soldiers from the 343rd Quartermaster Company, a reserve unit from South Carolina. Investigators are talking to all of those involved, trying to find out what happened and why. Another inquiry is determining whether there were violations of the uniform code of military justice, and the commanding officer has ordered a safety maintenance stand down, during which all vehicles will be inspected and retraining will be done.

Democratic Congressman Bennie Thompson says relatives of the soldiers told him the unit had unsafe equipment.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON, (D) MISSISSIPPI: And it goes to the issue of whether or not we have had adequately equipped our men and women to fight this war in Iraq.

STARR: According to a military source, some of the soldiers raised valid concerns, an indication there may have been safety problems with the equipment, but the source said the concerns were raised in an inappropriate manner, causing a breakdown in discipline.

STARR (on camera): The convoy was eventually driven by other soldiers. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: With more on the military's position on the issues raised in Barbara Starr's report, we turn to Major William Ritter, public affairs officer for the 81st Regional Readiness Command he is now with us on the phone from Birmingham, Alabama. Major Ritter thanks for joining us today.

MAJ. WILLIAM RITTER, PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER, 81ST REGIONAL READINESS COMMAND: Thanks so much for having me.

WALLACE: Since we just listened to Barbara Starr's report, can you tell us the latest on the investigation?

RITTER: It is continuing. There is no additional new information. The 343rd has been a very experienced unit and they've served quite well for nine months, and I want to stress that it is a very isolated incident, and it is still in the early stages of the investigation to speculate specifically what happened.

WALLACE: Major Ritter let me ask you is it within a soldier's rights if he or she feels there's you know, unsafe equipment or in danger to refuse orders? Does a soldier have that right?

RITTER: Absolutely. It is welcome and even necessary at times for soldiers to offer their opinions on any subject to their superiors. However, the normal chain of command and normal good order and discipline must still prevail, and that's part of the investigation right now, as far as did the soldiers follow the appropriate steps in expressing their concerns.

WALLACE: Well, when you say that, as you look into the investigation, if the soldiers were concerned about the equipment, concerned about their safety, but their superior commander still said they must go on this mission, what happens then?

RITTER: Well, it's in a war zone, and sometimes the mission must come first, 100 percent, and yes the army and the commanders would not send the soldiers out if they were inadequately prepared or inadequately equipped to do the mission. If the mission was still deemed necessary, then the commanders must have felt they had what they needed to complete the mission.

WALLACE: What could happen to these men and women for refusing orders if it's determined that they were wrong, and should have continued with that mission? What could happen to them?

RITTER: Again, that's part of the investigation, and they're looking into if their actions were violations of the uniform code of military justice. Depending on what the investigation finds, if there were violations, they would be subject to the disciplinary actions based on what was found they violated.

WALLACE: And how severe could the disciplinary actions be?

RITTER: That's unknown that the time, with the investigation ongoing, it's too early to determine what exactly the charges might be and the disciplinary actions will be based on what the actual charges are.

WALLACE: Any other steps that are being taken in light of these concerns allegedly raised by these soldiers, that they had unsafe equipment that they thought this was an ultimate suicide mission to continue with this route?

RITTER: The unit was placed on a maintenance and safety stand down which basically means they'll be checking the equipment. They're going to be looking at the statements collected from the soldiers doing the preliminary investigation to find out what the next step has to be.

WALLACE: OK, Major William Ritter, public affairs officer for the 81st Regional Readiness Command, we appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today. Thanks very much.

RITTER: Thanks for having me.

WALLACE: To keep track of the latest developments about Iraq, stay tuned to CNN and go to CNN.com when you're away from your television set.

It is a double loss for one former marine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. It's probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

WALLACE: How one woman deals with the pride and pain of losing both her fiancee and brother in Iraq.

And you remember this crash. NASA finally figured out what really went wrong and we are told it wasn't rocket science.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: A look now at stories across America. Long lines symbolize the shortage of the flu vaccine. In Michigan, 3.4 million people are considered high risk, but the state one has about two million does. Michigan and several other states have made it a crime to give flu shots to healthy low risk people.

That hard landing of NASA's Genesis space probe last month maybe connected to a problem with engineering drawings, an investigation board says some of those drawings were done backwards. Genesis was returning to Earth with samples of the sun when it smashed into the Utah desert.

The driver of an 18-wheeler led Houston police on a 20-minute chase during rush hour Friday afternoon. Police say the chase started after the truck was involved in an accident. Eventually more than a dozen police cars were in pursuit the truck crashed into several trucks and cars before it was stopped.

And the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln left its homeport in Washington State yesterday for deployment of at least four months in the Pacific. When it returned from hits last deployment in May of last year, President Bush welcomed it home under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished" and declared major combat in Iraq was over.

While fighting continues in Iraq, a new survey looks at what members of the military and their families think of what's going on. The National Annenberg Election Survey finds that 63 percent of the military and their families approved of the way President Bush is handling Iraq. The same survey found that only 38 percent felt that National Guard and reserve forces sent to Iraq had been properly trained and equipped, 42 percent said no. And 62 percent believe that the Bush administration underestimated the reasonable number of troops needed to keep the peace in Iraq.

For one mother and former marine, Iraq was a very painful experience; both she and her brother were in the corps. So was the man she planned to marry, but as David Mattingly reports, that has all changed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Taps at Arlington National Cemetery, an echoing reminder of sacrifices made during war. But on this day, the sounds evoke double measures of pride and pain for one young marine, who in two days lost both her brother and her fiancee to fighting in Iraq.

CPL. ROSANNA POWERS, U.S. MARINES: I don't know. It's probably like the hardest thing ever. Nobody should ever have to go through it.

MATTINGLY: Now barely 23 years old, Corporal Rosanna Powers joined the marines straight out of high school. Her younger brother Lance Corporal Caleb Powers followed a year later. And last year she fell in love with Sergeant Rick Lord of Florida. The two had a baby boy last October and were planning to be married.

(on camera): They were soon to be a family of marines and nothing could have made them happier. But as faith stepped in they were also discussing plans to return to civilian life.

(voice-over): In some of his last phone calls home, Lord yearned to become a full time dad and husband. Powers talked of becoming a small town farmer, quite a change for a young man who grew up dreaming only of the marines.

POWERS: When he would talk on the phone and he'd talk marine talk to me and I'm like no, no, no, we don't do that here. I talk civilian talk.

MATTINGLY: Rosanna Powers says the marine life was a perfect fit for her brother. His fund-raising work for Child Help USA won him celebrity friendships and the respect of his tiny hometown in Washington State.

DON RANDALL, UNCLE: He was always smiling, always happy. Always wanted to be a marine.

MATTINGLY: Caleb Powers, just 21, was shot and killed August 17th. Rick Lord, age 24, died from injuries the next day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember the good times.

MATTINGLY: The two most important men in Rosanna Powers' life, two lifetimes of plans and dreams gone in two heartbeats of the war.

POWERS: They definitely knew what they were getting into, and they did this for a good reason, and a good outcome will come of it.

MATTINGLY: Spoken like a true marine. But Rosanna Powers is now a civilian mom with plans to go to college. She's already taught her son to recognize and kiss his father's picture. And when he's older, she plans to tell him of a young father and an uncle what gave up everything in service to their country.

David Mattingly, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: CNN Live Saturday will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: The defense in the Scott Peterson trial will lay out its case to the jury starting Monday after a delay over some "legal issues." Peterson is accused of killing his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. Will jurors here from Peterson from the witness stand? We'll talk about the case with our legal eagles, Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor, and he joins us from Cleveland, Ohio. Great to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Nice to see you also.

WALLACE: And also great to see you Richard Herman, who is a criminal defense attorney and he joins us from New York. Great to see you both.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi Kelly.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to be with you.

WALLACE: Avery let me begin with you. Why the delay over these "legal issues"?

FRIEDMAN: Well, the delay was actually imperative Kelly, because each side must turn over expert reports. So what happened here was that Mark Geragos had a report of his cement expert, and he had it turned over to the prosecution, and so the reality was it was a proper delay. I think Richard probably agrees with his favorite lawyer, Gloria Allred, who said it was a tactic but I don't think it was. I think it was legitimate.

WALLACE: But Richard could the defense be blamed then for this delay? You have these jurors who have been sitting here now for what, five months.

HERMAN: Right.

WALLACE: And they've had a week delay in an already long trial?

HERMAN: The California State evidence law requires the defense counsel to produce this evidence with an expert when they decide that they intend to use that expert. Geragos did that perfectly, pursuant to the law. What's happened and what's caused the delay is the fact that, once again, this prosecutor is completely unprepared, a complete abomination.

Has dropped the ball. What did he think is this they weren't going to put a concrete expert in? What the defense concrete expert is going to testify to this jury and educate them on is the fact that there's a difference between concrete and cement. That if you examine the aggregate in concrete it can be compared 100 percent. He's going to match the concrete in the driveway to the concrete in the one anchor that Scott said he made and the prosecution's theory that Scott used the balance of the concrete to make four anchors is going to go down the drain. It's going to be an abomination.

WALLACE: Is this going to be an abomination a blow to the prosecution?

HERMAN: Abomination? No, listen; this is a battle of experts. Clinically speaking, what's going to happen is the jury will have to decide whether it believes the prosecution's expert or whether it believes the defense expert? What is going to happen here, in the last actually we're only going to see seven more days of actual trial after 19 weeks. We're going to see the concrete expert, probably an obstetrician, probably a dog expert and maybe one other, and then come around Election Day, and we're going to see closing arguments here.

FRIEDMAN: Kelly...

WALLACE: What about -- Richard, let me ask you, though are we going to see Scott Peterson. Will Mark Geragos bring Scott Peterson to the stand?

HERMAN: Kelly, there's not too many things that are guaranteed in life. But one thing that you can bet the house on is that there is no way Scott Peterson is going to take the stand. He doesn't have to take the stand in this case, and getting back to this issue with the concrete.

The prosecution's concrete expert himself testified on cross- examination he never saw the driveway. He doesn't know where the sample came from that he tested. He's going to get destroyed on Monday in court there. His whole testimony is going to be discounted by the jury and they're going to be upset with him because they're going to feel that the prosecution tried pull the wool over on him again in this case.

FRIEDMAN: Kelly, the only thing Richard got right is that we will not see Scott Peterson. He is a fertilizer salesman and we've seen so much fertilizer coming around about this guy. That's what's going to happen. Four witnesses, the case will be over the first week in November.

HERMAN: Hey Kelly, you know what? If the prosecution has the complete burden of proof and when Dr. Henry Lee testifies in this case that the baby was born full-term in February, which is consistent with two of the three medical experts...

FRIEDMAN: No.

HERMAN: You have reasonable doubt this jury must acquit him. They must.

FRIEDMAN: There will be a conviction.

WALLACE: Well you know gentlemen, as I said at the beginning you didn't even need me. You can take it away right there.

FRIEDMAN: We're glad you're here keeping peace.

WALLACE: All right, Avery Friedman, Richard Herman. Thanks so much. Of course we'll be talking to you again and we will be watching what the defense does as the court returns on Monday. Thanks again, gentleman. Have a great day.

HERMAN: Likewise. Take care Kelly.

FRIEDMAN: You too Kelly.

WALLACE: The stage is set but will Mother Nature cooperate? After last night's rainout, they are trying it once again tonight.

MCKAY: The fans aren't the only ones antsy for baseball in Boston. I'm Mark McKay at Fenway Park. A preview of game three of the American League Championship Series just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: It's about that time in Boston. Red Sox fans are beginning to worry about the curse of the Bambino. So far the New York Yankees are up to 2-0 in the American League Championship series. The Sox's may have gotten a break with last night's rainout. Let's check in with Mark McKay. He is at Fenway Park, sight of today's game.

Mark great to see you. First to put you on weather duty will we be playing baseball today?

MCKAY: We're going to keep our fingers crossed Kelly. We've been out here for the better part of an hour and a half or so. When we first got here, the sun was shining, just a few puffy clouds. Unfortunately it has clouded over now, overcast skies, a bit dark and quite windy and cool tonight. Forecasters Kelly tell us that the game will go on as scheduled, will be played under mostly cloudy skies temperatures hovering in the mid to upper 50s. There's the weather forecast.

As you can imagine Friday's rainout really did no favors for the scheduled starting pitchers. Kevin Brown said to be the most antsy player in the Yankee Club House last night is hoping to channel that nervous energy into tonight's affair. The right-hander won ten games in the regular season, but he's battled through both injury and inconsistency this year.

It's a roller coast ride, though that now sees Brown with a chance to give his team a commanding lead in the American League Championship Series. Now as for Red Sox manager Terry Francona, he said that Friday's rainout shouldn't affect he's game three-starter right-hander Bronson Arroyo. Francona, Kelly, said that his pitcher has been able to make adjustments all year long. He'll have to make plenty of adjustments tonight. The Red Sox are hoping not to go down 0-3 in a series. No team has been able to bounce back from such a deficit and win the American League Pennant.

WALLACE: Mark fair to say everyone in Boston and New York City will be watching that game. We'll be checking in with you throughout the day, Mark. Thanks so much. And you know if you ever decide to give up sports you can always try weather.

MCKAY: I'll try.

WALLACE: Well there is much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY. At the top of the hour it is "NEXT@CNN." At 4:00 p.m. Eastern "CNN LIVE SATURDAY" today looking at the government crack down on doctors violating flu shot guidelines. And at 5:00 p.m. "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" profiling pop star Jennifer Lopez and Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez. But first Daniel Sieberg with a preview of NEXT@CNN."

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ahead on "NEXT@CNN" a reality check of the future of space tourism. When will you be heading into orbit? And alarming news about the state of the world's amphibians. Those stories and a lot more coming up after a check of the headlines from the CNN newsroom.

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