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CNN Live At Daybreak

Managing Flu; Troops in South Korea; Australia Votes; Spoiled Food?; Copycats

Aired October 07, 2004 - 05:30   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin sitting in for Carol Costello.
Right "Now in the News," more American casualties in Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when an explosion hit a convoy near Fallujah. And that brings the U.S. death toll in Iraq to 1,066.

Carnage in Pakistan, a car bomb exploded this morning in the central city of Multan, killing 39 people. Many of the victims were militants observing the anniversary of their leader's death.

An Israeli missile killed two Palestinian teenagers this morning in northern Gaza. Palestinian medics say the teenagers were on their way to school. Israelis say the two were trying to launch a rocket.

U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins will be court-martialed on desertion charges beginning November 3. Jenkins is accused of defecting to North Korea in 1965. He is now 64 years old.

Chad Myers back in the Weather Center with today's weather.

Morning, again -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: In the meantime, U.S. health officials say they were surprised to learn that all of the flu vaccine from a British manufacturer may be worthless. They learned this summer that a few doses at a Liverpool facility may be at risk for contamination. But the latest news from British health regulators comes as a stunning blow.

CNN's Diana Muriel joins me right now from London with details about the damage control attempts.

Diana, good morning.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

Well, we have the officials from the Food and Drug Administration from the United States traveling to the U.K. today. They will be meeting with the health officials who imposed this license ban last Tuesday on Chiron Corporation's Liverpool manufacturing plant.

We understand they are going to go up to Liverpool and they are going to inspect this plant, which was supposed to have produced something in the order of 48 million flu vaccine doses for the U.S. market this year. It makes it the world's second largest manufacturer of flu vaccines, and it represented about half the 100 million vaccines that the U.S. had been hoping to get hold of for the 2004- 2005 season.

We had heard of contamination problems at this plant earlier in the year. Back in August, Chiron had said that there had been a contamination problem in the manufacturing process, but they said it was limited to between 6 and 8 million doses. The U.S. health authorities have been alerted, and they said they had come up with contingency plans. But they have made those contingency plans on the basis of those few doses being contaminated.

To be told last Tuesday by the British authorities that they were suspending the license for three months, banning all the exports of Fluvirin, which is the brand name that Chiron uses for their flu vaccines, that it was going to affect 48 million doses, that is a huge problem for the United States, and indeed for the rest of the world, because Chiron makes vaccines for the British market and for the European market -- Carol.

LIN: Diana, but this is not as big a story in Great Britain as it is here in the States, why is that?

MURIEL: Well there are more manufacturing plants here in Britain that make the flu virus. We've got about six plants making the flu vaccines here in the U.K. In the United States, I understand, there are just two vaccination manufacturers who have plants there.

And that is a huge problem, a structural problem, that the U.S. is now very concerned about. Indeed there were comments earlier this week from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta saying that the whole system of vaccine production in the United States is very fragile. And this will really affect very vulnerable areas of the population, Carol, the very young, between 6 months and 23 months...

LIN: Right.

MURIEL: ... should all receive flu vaccines, and should the very old, and should pregnant women. Now it may be that there is enough for them, but there isn't probably going to be enough for the general population...

LIN: Right.

MURIEL: ... of the United States and elsewhere this year -- Carol.

LIN: All right, Diana Muriel in London, thank you very much.

Want to update you now on the countdown to Election Day, which is just 26 days from today we're going to elect our next president right here in the United States. Another schedule note, the second debate between George Bush and John Kerry is tomorrow night and CNN's live coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern. The candidates meet at Washington University in St. Louis.

The election campaign right here in the United States is being closely watched in South Korea where the Bush administration wants to cut the 37,000-member U.S. force by a third.

Our Sohn-Jai is live on that story from Seoul.

And on the other side of the globe, U.S. officials will be closely watching Saturday's elections in Australia. Prime Minister John Howard, who sent Australian troops to Iraq, is pitted against Mark Latham. Latham is promising to bring the troops home.

For that, we're going live to Sydney and our Mike Chinoy.

First, though, to Seoul and correspondent Sohn Jie-Ae.

Good morning -- Sohn Jie-Ae.

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

We spent a day at Yongsan Army Garrison. It's the headquarters for the more than 30,000 U.S. troops that are stationed in South Korea. There the election season is in full force. There is a big push to get voters to register and then the registered voters could actually send in their absentee ballots.

The voter registration officers that we talked to said that they expect the voter turnout to be even more than the 70 percent that was for the entire military four years ago. The soldiers that we talked to on Yongsan role (ph) so closely watching the election process. It is not as easy for them in Seoul as it would be back home in the United States, but they are keeping watch of the debates and all the election issues through the Internet and through whatever means they can find here in South Korea -- Carol.

LIN: Jie-Ae, and especially since these troops could be directly affected by whoever becomes president, how is it likely to affect their votes given that President Bush plans to withdraw a third of those troops?

SOHN: You're right, especially since the security concern has become a big election issue, many of the soldiers here expressed concern about that. Now they are prohibited from actually expressing political views in front of a camera, but they did say issues like reduction of forces, and especially the North Korea issue, as well as how the United States is viewed overseas does concern them. So they are taking all of this into consideration as they head to the voting or here to the post office this year -- Carol.

LIN: Jie-Ae, thank you very much. Sohn Jie-Ae in South Korea.

In the meantime, we want to go to our correspondent in Sydney, Mike Chinoy. Good morning, Mike. It looks like election politics there are mirroring what's happening here in the United States.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you, it's evening here in Sydney. This is a very tightly contested election. Australians have gone to the polls 21 times since 1949 and they have only changed their government four times. So this weekend, they have a possibility to make a fifth change. It's a contest that pits three- term incumbent John Howard against his challenger Mark Latham, and Iraq has been one of the major issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHINOY (voice-over): The incumbent is 65, a low-key conservative, prime minister for eight years. The challenger is 43, an outspoken populist, who has headed his party for barely nine months. Mark Latham, candidate of the Opposition Labour Party and Prime Minister John Howard, a study in contrasts.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: So I present myself to the Australian people as an experienced, committed, focused prime minister.

CHINOY: In seeking a fourth term, Howard is claiming credit for years of dramatic economic growth.

HOWARD: We're offering a continuation of the strong economic management to the low unemployment or the low inflation, of the strong business confidence, of the high consumer confidence.

CHINOY: Latham has built much of his campaign around his own story of growing up in a rough Sydney neighborhood. He's accused Howard of catering to the well to do at the expense of the poor and middle class.

MARK LATHAM, OPPOSITION PARTY CANDIDATE: We need to ease the financial pressure on Australian families. We need to insure that middle Australia has a government that's on their side.

CHINOY: The two candidates also differ sharply on Iraq. Howard is a key ally of President George Bush and has sent Australian troops to Iraq. Latham, a critic of the war, has said he will order them home by Christmas.

There is, as well, a broader issue of character and temperament.

LATHAM: I share the emotion and language of my electorate in describing the prime minister as an (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

CHINOY: That jibe about Howard's closeness to Bush underscoring profound differences, not just in policy, but in style.

GREG SHERIDAN, "The AUSTRALIAN": John Howard represents the conservative, bland, reassuring middle Australia. Latham presents himself as a bit of a roughneck, a guy who is prepared to talk a bit rough, a straight shooter. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHINOY: Iraq intruded into this day, the next to last day of campaigning, as word surfaced here from Washington of the report saying that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister Howard was asked about that, and he said that nonetheless, he had no regrets about supporting the war or about sending Australian troops there. For his part, the opponent Mark Latham said that the prime minister should apologize to the Australian people. Something Howard said he would simply not do -- Carol.

LIN: All right, interesting report. Thanks very much, Mike. And now we know some Australian swear words as well.

All right, new fears in the meantime in the United States of an election nightmare this November 2. In four minutes, new voter registration programs are relying on voters to use the honor system, but could it be a cause for concern? We're going to bring your e- mails to our air, if you e-mail us. The "Question of the Day" is do you think your vote will be secure? We'll read those responses.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Hanging chads are a thing of the past in Florida, but voting problems are not. Civil rights groups are upset over hundreds of voter registration applications being disallowed. That means disqualified. It means that many people didn't check the box that says they are American citizens and that is making them ineligible to vote. But some argue that just by signing the form you are saying you are a citizen. Now this battle may be headed to court before November.

In the meantime, this is what some of you had to say to our e- mail question, do you think your vote will be secure?

For example, John Shufelt (ph) from Clifton Park, New York, writes, it is impossible for any vote to be 100 percent secure, just like it is impossible to prevent all terrorists from entering the United States. There are too many opportunities and too many people who are willing to manipulate the system. That plain fact should not be a reason not to vote.

In the meantime, Sarah K. (ph) of Long Island, New York, writes, duck season, rabbit season, no, it's voting fraud season. Electronic voting without a paper audit trail is very easy to alter without leaving a trace. The Web site, BlackBoxVoting.org, shows a chimpanzee erasing a voting log on Dibold's voting software (ph). All right, we're going to have to check that one. I have no doubt there will not be an honest vote on these machines.

In the meantime, Ian Branyon (ph) from Palm Springs, California, you are up early today. He writes, I don't think any of us believes our vote will be counted. We are being urged in this area to vote absentee, which is available now for any reason to assure that it is on record. That's out in California.

In the meantime, Doug (ph) in Aspen, Colorado, writes, the mess of voter registration, lack of people to run the polls and an absence of national voter lists, it's enough to make you lean towards the no, no, your vote is not going to be secure. But when you add that with the fact that electronic voting can be affected by any hacker with the will to do so and the lack of hard copy for the votes cast, it makes me wonder how they can call it democratic.

Thanks so much for all of your views.

In the meantime, your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 48 past, just 12 minutes to 6:00 on the East Coast.

And a car bomb in central Pakistan has killed at least 39 people. The explosion happened during a celebration of Islamic militants. Dozens of people were hurt in that attack.

And all is quiet on Mount St. Helens again, at least for now. Scientists have lowered an alert level, saying a major eruption is no longer imminent. Seismic rumblings and small eruptions at the Washington State volcano last week had geologists worried.

In money, investors are getting serious, that's a pun about satellite radio, thanks to Howard Stern. The D.J. says broadcast rules are too strict. So in 2006, he's moving his gaudy (ph) radio show to Sirius Satellite Radio. On the Nasdaq, shares of Sirius shot up 15 percent on the news.

In culture, Dallas, Texas may open up a site with dubious historical significance. The police department basement where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot could become a tourist attraction. His jail cell may also be open to the public.

Meanwhile, in sports, it's all even between the Yankees and the Twins. New York won game two in extra innings, 7 to 6 on clutch plays by Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Their division series is tied at one game apiece.

And lots of numbers to talk about in weather, most of them going lower and lower -- Chad.

MYERS: I only got to see the first three innings before I had to go to bed on that one, but that obviously was quite the game going to 12.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: All right, thanks, Chad. Should have assumed that you were watching the game.

MYERS: Yes.

LIN: In the meantime, there are allegations of corruption at the top of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq.

Our senior international editor David Clinch talking to us about that and what we plan for our coverage today.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol, good morning.

LIN: Hi, morning.

CLINCH: Well the headline from yesterday's WMD report in Washington, on one level, was no stockpiles of weapons.

LIN: Right.

CLINCH: Of course that's not news. But the other headline, which some news outlets are concentrating on, is that part of this report emphasized that Saddam Hussein was trying to use a corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program to bribe officials, particularly French, Russian, Chinese officials, perhaps, to get U.N. sanctions lifted so that he could start building weapons of mass destruction again.

Well we're going to take another look at that story today. It's an old story, in some ways, but just because politics are involved here, of course it fits very neatly into this current political atmosphere of President Bush and Senator Kerry disagreeing on the U.N. and internationalizing the Iraq...

LIN: Whether they embody that...

CLINCH: Exactly.

LIN: ... we should even be inviting into the process of having to go to war or not.

CLINCH: Right, and it fits very neatly into that. But just because politics are involved, and just because we've looked at this story before, we are going to take another look at it. When we have looked at this story before, yes, we have found some evidence that some officials, perhaps in some countries, might have been in a position to influence whether sanctions would be lifted or not.

But I have to say we've also found a lot of evidence that a lot of other countries were involved who had no influence over sanctions. And a very important part of it seems to have been Saddam Hussein trying to make himself rich. A lot of this money went back to him, went back to his sons, and at the expense of their people, of course, there's no doubt that they were prepared to take the money.

So we will look at it again, but there are some questions about how direct of a connection you can make between a corrupt U.N. Oil- for-Food program and a desire to make weapons of mass destruction.

LIN: Right.

CLINCH: But, again, worth looking at it again.

LIN: Yes.

CLINCH: And we are going to do that today. LIN: You bet. With the president saying that John Kerry would give veto power over U.S. foreign policy to some of these countries versus John Kerry saying you have to build alliances...

CLINCH: Absolutely.

LIN: ... if you want to pay for the war in Iraq.

CLINCH: Always worth looking at that again. And we will be doing that today.

LIN: All right, sounds good. Thanks -- David.

CLINCH: All right.

LIN: Much more ahead straight here on DAYBREAK, so stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: They say that cats have nine lives. And now, thanks to modern science, pet owners can make that old saying come true.

Jeanne Moos has that story and more from the New York Cat Show.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is a new wrinkle to the upcoming cat show, and we don't mean this Sphinx. Here kitty-kitty, here come the clones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you feel if you were cloned?

MOOS: Ask her, she's the one whose cells were inserted into empty eggs and implanted in two surrogate mothers. The original and her two clones will be displayed behind Plexiglas at the New York Cat Show, though the cloned cat doesn't get along with the clones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks of them as interlopers.

MOOS: They are the second and third successful clones produced by a company call Genetic Savings & Clone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tabouli (ph) and this is Baba Ganoush (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Other way around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Tabouli and this is Baba Ganoush.

MOOS: They are named after Middle Eastern foods that are favorites of the CEO's son. The two are almost identical to each other and the original, named Tahini (ph). The idea is to replace a beloved pet.

(on camera): You can't bear for Fluffy to be truly gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then you need to grow up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, because death is a part of life.

MOOS (voice-over): Nevertheless, five customers are paying $50,000 each to clone cats that have since departed.

(on camera): And their clones are going to be ready by the end of the year.

CAROLINE SCOTT (ph), CAT SHOW PARTICIPANT: Incredible. I don't care what cloning it is the soul cannot be duplicated.

MOOS (voice-over): Company officials say don't expect Fluffy to be resurrected, but do expect physical and even behavior or resemblances. The clones won't be the only stars of the cat show.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is named Colin Powell because he was born on 9/11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 09/11/02.

MOOS: And since he was 2004's cat of the year, he got to meet his namesake in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, this is the other Colin Powell.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Hi, Colin. How are you?

MOOS: Colin's owners, by the way, are Democrats.

(on camera): Did the real Colin Powell tell you where he likes to be rubbed?

(voice-over): Though cloning may rub you the wrong way, researchers are still working on dogs, which are harder to duplicate. But when it comes to making copy cats...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She'll turn herself around.

MOOS: ... sometimes even one is more than enough.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, the secret is out, well, almost out. Coming up next in the next hour, why the identity of Kobe Bryant's accuser could soon be made public. Our legal eagle Kendall Coffey sorts it all out for us.

This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 7, 2004 - 05:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From CNN's Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin sitting in for Carol Costello.
Right "Now in the News," more American casualties in Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when an explosion hit a convoy near Fallujah. And that brings the U.S. death toll in Iraq to 1,066.

Carnage in Pakistan, a car bomb exploded this morning in the central city of Multan, killing 39 people. Many of the victims were militants observing the anniversary of their leader's death.

An Israeli missile killed two Palestinian teenagers this morning in northern Gaza. Palestinian medics say the teenagers were on their way to school. Israelis say the two were trying to launch a rocket.

U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins will be court-martialed on desertion charges beginning November 3. Jenkins is accused of defecting to North Korea in 1965. He is now 64 years old.

Chad Myers back in the Weather Center with today's weather.

Morning, again -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: In the meantime, U.S. health officials say they were surprised to learn that all of the flu vaccine from a British manufacturer may be worthless. They learned this summer that a few doses at a Liverpool facility may be at risk for contamination. But the latest news from British health regulators comes as a stunning blow.

CNN's Diana Muriel joins me right now from London with details about the damage control attempts.

Diana, good morning.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol.

Well, we have the officials from the Food and Drug Administration from the United States traveling to the U.K. today. They will be meeting with the health officials who imposed this license ban last Tuesday on Chiron Corporation's Liverpool manufacturing plant.

We understand they are going to go up to Liverpool and they are going to inspect this plant, which was supposed to have produced something in the order of 48 million flu vaccine doses for the U.S. market this year. It makes it the world's second largest manufacturer of flu vaccines, and it represented about half the 100 million vaccines that the U.S. had been hoping to get hold of for the 2004- 2005 season.

We had heard of contamination problems at this plant earlier in the year. Back in August, Chiron had said that there had been a contamination problem in the manufacturing process, but they said it was limited to between 6 and 8 million doses. The U.S. health authorities have been alerted, and they said they had come up with contingency plans. But they have made those contingency plans on the basis of those few doses being contaminated.

To be told last Tuesday by the British authorities that they were suspending the license for three months, banning all the exports of Fluvirin, which is the brand name that Chiron uses for their flu vaccines, that it was going to affect 48 million doses, that is a huge problem for the United States, and indeed for the rest of the world, because Chiron makes vaccines for the British market and for the European market -- Carol.

LIN: Diana, but this is not as big a story in Great Britain as it is here in the States, why is that?

MURIEL: Well there are more manufacturing plants here in Britain that make the flu virus. We've got about six plants making the flu vaccines here in the U.K. In the United States, I understand, there are just two vaccination manufacturers who have plants there.

And that is a huge problem, a structural problem, that the U.S. is now very concerned about. Indeed there were comments earlier this week from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta saying that the whole system of vaccine production in the United States is very fragile. And this will really affect very vulnerable areas of the population, Carol, the very young, between 6 months and 23 months...

LIN: Right.

MURIEL: ... should all receive flu vaccines, and should the very old, and should pregnant women. Now it may be that there is enough for them, but there isn't probably going to be enough for the general population...

LIN: Right.

MURIEL: ... of the United States and elsewhere this year -- Carol.

LIN: All right, Diana Muriel in London, thank you very much.

Want to update you now on the countdown to Election Day, which is just 26 days from today we're going to elect our next president right here in the United States. Another schedule note, the second debate between George Bush and John Kerry is tomorrow night and CNN's live coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern. The candidates meet at Washington University in St. Louis.

The election campaign right here in the United States is being closely watched in South Korea where the Bush administration wants to cut the 37,000-member U.S. force by a third.

Our Sohn-Jai is live on that story from Seoul.

And on the other side of the globe, U.S. officials will be closely watching Saturday's elections in Australia. Prime Minister John Howard, who sent Australian troops to Iraq, is pitted against Mark Latham. Latham is promising to bring the troops home.

For that, we're going live to Sydney and our Mike Chinoy.

First, though, to Seoul and correspondent Sohn Jie-Ae.

Good morning -- Sohn Jie-Ae.

SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

We spent a day at Yongsan Army Garrison. It's the headquarters for the more than 30,000 U.S. troops that are stationed in South Korea. There the election season is in full force. There is a big push to get voters to register and then the registered voters could actually send in their absentee ballots.

The voter registration officers that we talked to said that they expect the voter turnout to be even more than the 70 percent that was for the entire military four years ago. The soldiers that we talked to on Yongsan role (ph) so closely watching the election process. It is not as easy for them in Seoul as it would be back home in the United States, but they are keeping watch of the debates and all the election issues through the Internet and through whatever means they can find here in South Korea -- Carol.

LIN: Jie-Ae, and especially since these troops could be directly affected by whoever becomes president, how is it likely to affect their votes given that President Bush plans to withdraw a third of those troops?

SOHN: You're right, especially since the security concern has become a big election issue, many of the soldiers here expressed concern about that. Now they are prohibited from actually expressing political views in front of a camera, but they did say issues like reduction of forces, and especially the North Korea issue, as well as how the United States is viewed overseas does concern them. So they are taking all of this into consideration as they head to the voting or here to the post office this year -- Carol.

LIN: Jie-Ae, thank you very much. Sohn Jie-Ae in South Korea.

In the meantime, we want to go to our correspondent in Sydney, Mike Chinoy. Good morning, Mike. It looks like election politics there are mirroring what's happening here in the United States.

MIKE CHINOY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you, it's evening here in Sydney. This is a very tightly contested election. Australians have gone to the polls 21 times since 1949 and they have only changed their government four times. So this weekend, they have a possibility to make a fifth change. It's a contest that pits three- term incumbent John Howard against his challenger Mark Latham, and Iraq has been one of the major issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHINOY (voice-over): The incumbent is 65, a low-key conservative, prime minister for eight years. The challenger is 43, an outspoken populist, who has headed his party for barely nine months. Mark Latham, candidate of the Opposition Labour Party and Prime Minister John Howard, a study in contrasts.

JOHN HOWARD, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: So I present myself to the Australian people as an experienced, committed, focused prime minister.

CHINOY: In seeking a fourth term, Howard is claiming credit for years of dramatic economic growth.

HOWARD: We're offering a continuation of the strong economic management to the low unemployment or the low inflation, of the strong business confidence, of the high consumer confidence.

CHINOY: Latham has built much of his campaign around his own story of growing up in a rough Sydney neighborhood. He's accused Howard of catering to the well to do at the expense of the poor and middle class.

MARK LATHAM, OPPOSITION PARTY CANDIDATE: We need to ease the financial pressure on Australian families. We need to insure that middle Australia has a government that's on their side.

CHINOY: The two candidates also differ sharply on Iraq. Howard is a key ally of President George Bush and has sent Australian troops to Iraq. Latham, a critic of the war, has said he will order them home by Christmas.

There is, as well, a broader issue of character and temperament.

LATHAM: I share the emotion and language of my electorate in describing the prime minister as an (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

CHINOY: That jibe about Howard's closeness to Bush underscoring profound differences, not just in policy, but in style.

GREG SHERIDAN, "The AUSTRALIAN": John Howard represents the conservative, bland, reassuring middle Australia. Latham presents himself as a bit of a roughneck, a guy who is prepared to talk a bit rough, a straight shooter. (END VIDEOTAPE)

CHINOY: Iraq intruded into this day, the next to last day of campaigning, as word surfaced here from Washington of the report saying that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister Howard was asked about that, and he said that nonetheless, he had no regrets about supporting the war or about sending Australian troops there. For his part, the opponent Mark Latham said that the prime minister should apologize to the Australian people. Something Howard said he would simply not do -- Carol.

LIN: All right, interesting report. Thanks very much, Mike. And now we know some Australian swear words as well.

All right, new fears in the meantime in the United States of an election nightmare this November 2. In four minutes, new voter registration programs are relying on voters to use the honor system, but could it be a cause for concern? We're going to bring your e- mails to our air, if you e-mail us. The "Question of the Day" is do you think your vote will be secure? We'll read those responses.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Hanging chads are a thing of the past in Florida, but voting problems are not. Civil rights groups are upset over hundreds of voter registration applications being disallowed. That means disqualified. It means that many people didn't check the box that says they are American citizens and that is making them ineligible to vote. But some argue that just by signing the form you are saying you are a citizen. Now this battle may be headed to court before November.

In the meantime, this is what some of you had to say to our e- mail question, do you think your vote will be secure?

For example, John Shufelt (ph) from Clifton Park, New York, writes, it is impossible for any vote to be 100 percent secure, just like it is impossible to prevent all terrorists from entering the United States. There are too many opportunities and too many people who are willing to manipulate the system. That plain fact should not be a reason not to vote.

In the meantime, Sarah K. (ph) of Long Island, New York, writes, duck season, rabbit season, no, it's voting fraud season. Electronic voting without a paper audit trail is very easy to alter without leaving a trace. The Web site, BlackBoxVoting.org, shows a chimpanzee erasing a voting log on Dibold's voting software (ph). All right, we're going to have to check that one. I have no doubt there will not be an honest vote on these machines.

In the meantime, Ian Branyon (ph) from Palm Springs, California, you are up early today. He writes, I don't think any of us believes our vote will be counted. We are being urged in this area to vote absentee, which is available now for any reason to assure that it is on record. That's out in California.

In the meantime, Doug (ph) in Aspen, Colorado, writes, the mess of voter registration, lack of people to run the polls and an absence of national voter lists, it's enough to make you lean towards the no, no, your vote is not going to be secure. But when you add that with the fact that electronic voting can be affected by any hacker with the will to do so and the lack of hard copy for the votes cast, it makes me wonder how they can call it democratic.

Thanks so much for all of your views.

In the meantime, your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 48 past, just 12 minutes to 6:00 on the East Coast.

And a car bomb in central Pakistan has killed at least 39 people. The explosion happened during a celebration of Islamic militants. Dozens of people were hurt in that attack.

And all is quiet on Mount St. Helens again, at least for now. Scientists have lowered an alert level, saying a major eruption is no longer imminent. Seismic rumblings and small eruptions at the Washington State volcano last week had geologists worried.

In money, investors are getting serious, that's a pun about satellite radio, thanks to Howard Stern. The D.J. says broadcast rules are too strict. So in 2006, he's moving his gaudy (ph) radio show to Sirius Satellite Radio. On the Nasdaq, shares of Sirius shot up 15 percent on the news.

In culture, Dallas, Texas may open up a site with dubious historical significance. The police department basement where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot could become a tourist attraction. His jail cell may also be open to the public.

Meanwhile, in sports, it's all even between the Yankees and the Twins. New York won game two in extra innings, 7 to 6 on clutch plays by Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter. Their division series is tied at one game apiece.

And lots of numbers to talk about in weather, most of them going lower and lower -- Chad.

MYERS: I only got to see the first three innings before I had to go to bed on that one, but that obviously was quite the game going to 12.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: All right, thanks, Chad. Should have assumed that you were watching the game.

MYERS: Yes.

LIN: In the meantime, there are allegations of corruption at the top of the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq.

Our senior international editor David Clinch talking to us about that and what we plan for our coverage today.

DAVID CLINCH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Hi, Carol, good morning.

LIN: Hi, morning.

CLINCH: Well the headline from yesterday's WMD report in Washington, on one level, was no stockpiles of weapons.

LIN: Right.

CLINCH: Of course that's not news. But the other headline, which some news outlets are concentrating on, is that part of this report emphasized that Saddam Hussein was trying to use a corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program to bribe officials, particularly French, Russian, Chinese officials, perhaps, to get U.N. sanctions lifted so that he could start building weapons of mass destruction again.

Well we're going to take another look at that story today. It's an old story, in some ways, but just because politics are involved here, of course it fits very neatly into this current political atmosphere of President Bush and Senator Kerry disagreeing on the U.N. and internationalizing the Iraq...

LIN: Whether they embody that...

CLINCH: Exactly.

LIN: ... we should even be inviting into the process of having to go to war or not.

CLINCH: Right, and it fits very neatly into that. But just because politics are involved, and just because we've looked at this story before, we are going to take another look at it. When we have looked at this story before, yes, we have found some evidence that some officials, perhaps in some countries, might have been in a position to influence whether sanctions would be lifted or not.

But I have to say we've also found a lot of evidence that a lot of other countries were involved who had no influence over sanctions. And a very important part of it seems to have been Saddam Hussein trying to make himself rich. A lot of this money went back to him, went back to his sons, and at the expense of their people, of course, there's no doubt that they were prepared to take the money.

So we will look at it again, but there are some questions about how direct of a connection you can make between a corrupt U.N. Oil- for-Food program and a desire to make weapons of mass destruction.

LIN: Right.

CLINCH: But, again, worth looking at it again.

LIN: Yes.

CLINCH: And we are going to do that today. LIN: You bet. With the president saying that John Kerry would give veto power over U.S. foreign policy to some of these countries versus John Kerry saying you have to build alliances...

CLINCH: Absolutely.

LIN: ... if you want to pay for the war in Iraq.

CLINCH: Always worth looking at that again. And we will be doing that today.

LIN: All right, sounds good. Thanks -- David.

CLINCH: All right.

LIN: Much more ahead straight here on DAYBREAK, so stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: They say that cats have nine lives. And now, thanks to modern science, pet owners can make that old saying come true.

Jeanne Moos has that story and more from the New York Cat Show.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is a new wrinkle to the upcoming cat show, and we don't mean this Sphinx. Here kitty-kitty, here come the clones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you feel if you were cloned?

MOOS: Ask her, she's the one whose cells were inserted into empty eggs and implanted in two surrogate mothers. The original and her two clones will be displayed behind Plexiglas at the New York Cat Show, though the cloned cat doesn't get along with the clones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She thinks of them as interlopers.

MOOS: They are the second and third successful clones produced by a company call Genetic Savings & Clone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tabouli (ph) and this is Baba Ganoush (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Other way around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Tabouli and this is Baba Ganoush.

MOOS: They are named after Middle Eastern foods that are favorites of the CEO's son. The two are almost identical to each other and the original, named Tahini (ph). The idea is to replace a beloved pet.

(on camera): You can't bear for Fluffy to be truly gone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then you need to grow up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, because death is a part of life.

MOOS (voice-over): Nevertheless, five customers are paying $50,000 each to clone cats that have since departed.

(on camera): And their clones are going to be ready by the end of the year.

CAROLINE SCOTT (ph), CAT SHOW PARTICIPANT: Incredible. I don't care what cloning it is the soul cannot be duplicated.

MOOS (voice-over): Company officials say don't expect Fluffy to be resurrected, but do expect physical and even behavior or resemblances. The clones won't be the only stars of the cat show.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is named Colin Powell because he was born on 9/11.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 09/11/02.

MOOS: And since he was 2004's cat of the year, he got to meet his namesake in Washington.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, this is the other Colin Powell.

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: Hi, Colin. How are you?

MOOS: Colin's owners, by the way, are Democrats.

(on camera): Did the real Colin Powell tell you where he likes to be rubbed?

(voice-over): Though cloning may rub you the wrong way, researchers are still working on dogs, which are harder to duplicate. But when it comes to making copy cats...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She'll turn herself around.

MOOS: ... sometimes even one is more than enough.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, the secret is out, well, almost out. Coming up next in the next hour, why the identity of Kobe Bryant's accuser could soon be made public. Our legal eagle Kendall Coffey sorts it all out for us.

This is DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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