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Speakers At Day Two Of The Democratic National Convention; Importance Of Polling; "Entertainment News"

Aired July 27, 2004 - 14:30   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.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Sources in Baghdad tell CNN Egypt paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to free a diplomat kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents last week. The Egyptian government denies paying any ransom to secure his release. He arrived safely at Egypt's embassy in Baghdad late yesterday.

CNN has learned the Senate will move up its first hearing on the 9/11 Commission report to this Friday. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee wants to take up the panel's intelligence reform ideas the morning after the Democratic National Convention. House Republicans start hearings next week.

Attorney General John Ashcroft announcing the indictments of a major Islamic charity and seven people connected with it. After the 9/11 attacks, the Justice Department virtually shut down the Holy Land Foundation for allegedly financing terrorism. Federal authorities say they have arrested five of the seven individuals. We'll take that live as soon as John Ashcroft steps up to the podium.

In Redwood City, California, prosecutors using fishing experts to attack accused wife killer Scott Peterson's alibi. They argue that his bait and anchor were wrong for the fishing trip that he says that he took.

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, on the docket tonight at the DNC, they will have Teresa Heinz Kerry. Be interesting to see what she has to say. Some are calling her a bit of a loose cannon.

Ron Reagan -- wait a minute, isn't he a Republican?

This is very confusing, guys. And when I get confused, I turn to the "CROSSFIRE" guys. Paul Begala, Tucker Carlson, there with the bus, across the river there from the FleetCenter.

Gentlemen, how are you?

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Miles, great.

PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Great, Miles. How are you?

O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about Ted Kennedy first, because there was a piece today, I don't know where I saw it, but they were saying this is sort of like the convention he never got. You know, in other words, the one he didn't get in 1980 when he hoped he would be accepting the nomination.

But this is a bit of a victory lap for Ted Kennedy, emotionally. He was dedicating the site of the big dig to his mother and all that. So, what can we expect from him, a lot of, you know, Boston emotion?

BEGALA: Miles, I think you'll get some of that, but I think he's also going to be looking forward. And he has certainly told friends that he doesn't see this as a swan song. He doesn't like a lot of talk about that. I mean he is a man in his seventies who has been in the Senate for 42 years.

But he wants to stand up there, I suspect, tonight and talk about how he is going to fight on the Senate floor to pass President Kerry's healthcare plan and to try to pitch it toward the future more.

A lot of delegates are going to want to hear about Camelot, maybe shed a tear for his late brothers, but I think Senator Kennedy himself is more likely to push into the future.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Tucker, how do you think...

CARLSON: Well this...

O'BRIEN: ... Ted Kennedy plays in Peoria these days?

CARLSON: Well we are in, right now, sitting in the one place in America, maybe on the planet, where Ted Kennedy is not considered embarrassing.

And the problem for Democrats with that is they can lose sight, I think, of the fact that he is considered embarrassing in a lot of the rest of the country. He's very liberal. He brings with him, of course, a lot of baggage.

I have heard and read something different, Paul probably has better sources than I, but that Democrats are not interested in hearing a Bush-bashing speech from Kerry. In fact, his spokesman said yesterday that he's given a lot of those and he's not going to be giving one tonight. And in fact, he's going to be giving a more statesmen like. You know this is why John Kerry is a good guy.

O'BRIEN: All this statesman stuff.

CARLSON: That's probably smart.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but it's so boring. I wish they would start just having some fun up there.

CARLSON: It is boring. I agree with that.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really, come on.

All right, let's talk about Ron Reagan.

BEGALA: Which...

O'BRIEN: Wait, go ahead, Paul, make a point.

BEGALA: OK. I was going to bring us to Teresa Heinz Kerry, who has been...

O'BRIEN: OK.

BEGALA: ... not scripted and been delightful. You know she says shove it, and I love it. You know, I hope she does more of that with every right-wing blowhard.

You know, it wasn't a reporter, by the way, and I'm all for cussing out reporters, but it was some right-wing crackpot at some newspaper that had specialized in trying to say that Vince Foster was murdered. I mean I know who these crackpots are and I couldn't be happier that somebody is standing up to them.

O'BRIEN: All right.

CARLSON: Actually, it was a journal...

O'BRIEN: OK.

CARLSON: Hold on, I'm a shove it guy myself and will defend...

O'BRIEN: Yes, but you love it, too. You love it, come on, Tucker.

CARLSON: I do love it. I just I hate beating up the press. It's the first refuge of the guilty, the wrong, and the dishonest. And I have to say it's a theme with the Democrats pounding on the press corps.

We don't know if this guy was a right-wing crackpot. He's just an editor at a newspaper.

BEGALA: Yes, we do. He's -- no, it's not a newspaper, it's the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review." It's owned by a right-wing billionaire...

CARLSON: Come on!

BEGALA: ... and it prints right-wing crap. But there's a lot of responsible conservatives, like my friend Tucker, in this world who don't need to go and...

CARLSON: I am not responsible.

O'BRIEN: And by the way, I just want to make a point.

BEGALA: No, they are not a response...

O'BRIEN: I want to make a point here, because I saw Teresa Heinz Kerry earlier today talking to Bill Hemmer. She said no, I said un- Pennsylvanian. Well we all heard the tape, she said un-American. Why is she trying to get out of that?

TUCKER: Well that's -- it's...

BEGALA: Who cares?

TUCKER: See I think she runs -- well I -- you know you always want to tell the truth. And that's the beauty of Teresa Heinz Kerry is sometimes she does tell the truth. You don't want to neuter her. You don't want to take her essential Teresaness away.

O'BRIEN: Right.

TUCKER: What makes her appealing is that she is a loose cannon.

O'BRIEN: Teresaness.

TUCKER: She describes herself that way. She is a proud, loose cannon. I say let Teresa be Teresa.

BEGALA: Well in much the same way that Barbara Bush was Barbara Bush. We all remember, of course, when she said that Gerry Ferraro, the vice-presidential candidate in 1984, was something that rhymes with rich.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BEGALA: And you know what, America fell in love with Barbara Bush because she spoke her mind. She was a strong woman. This country likes strong women as first ladies, and I think that Teresa is in the tradition of Barbara Bush. That's an awfully high compliment.

O'BRIEN: All right. Ron Reagan, to have that name associated with the Democratic National Convention, Tucker, this is bad news for the Republicans, isn't it?

CARLSON: No, I mean, I don't think Ron Reagan is in danger of being confused with his dad. He looks different. He has had a completely different life. He has got different political views.

I don't think that this is going to be any kind of systematic refutation of the Reagan years or anything like it. Apparently he's going to get up and talk about why we need stem cell research paid for by the U.S. government and why...

O'BRIEN: Well, no, but there's a little more than that. You know, Tucker, there's this whole notion -- which he also brought out in the midst of all the eulogies, this whole notion of wearing religion on a politician's sleeve.

CARLSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: And that's a...

CARLSON: Right, but this...

O'BRIEN: ... too. CARLSON: Right. Well it is -- actually it's -- and it's a really interesting and complicated issue for the Democratic Party, and for that matter, for the Republican Party. But the fact is that people who go to church a lot tend to vote Republican. I'm not passing judgment on that, but it's true, according to all the surveys.

And I do think -- and Democrats think this, too, for that matter -- that the Democratic Party wants to be very careful not to seem hostile toward organized religion. And it does seem, frankly, hostile to organized religion, fair or unfair, that is the perception. And I think he's got to be really careful not to be seen as attacking religious people.

O'BRIEN: All right, Paul, give us you're inner Teresa now, let it rip.

BEGALA: No, Tucker is right. I know I almost never use those two words in the same sentence without not in between.

O'BRIEN: Tucker is right, wow.

BEGALA: But he is right this time. Too often, liberals have been seen as hostile to religion. It's not my expectation that Ron Reagan will be that way tonight. I had a chance to visit with him the other day.

And I think he was trying out some lines and some reasoning, at least, that he is going to make in his speech about stem cell research. And he said this, he said if President Bush really does believe that each one of those little embryos is a human life, those little cellular entities are human lives, then the only ethical thing to do would be to shut down every in vitro fertilization clinic.

Because when parents have babies through in vitro fertilization, there are dozens, scores, thousands across the country of those embryos that are destroyed.

O'BRIEN: But you're assuming...

BEGALA: And so, I think he makes a very interesting and reasoned position on this.

CARLSON: Well, that is the...

O'BRIEN: You are applying a lot of logic to this, which then there isn't a lot of logic in that realm, right?

BEGALA: Yes.

TUCKER: Well, no, but that's an interesting point. But to dismiss the whole thing out of hand as an obsession just of the kooky religious right...

BEGALA: I don't think...

TUCKER: ... is... BEGALA: I don't think Reagan will do that.

TUCKER: Well, many on the left do that. That people are getting in the way of progress because of superstition. And the fact is there are real moral and ethical concerns surrounding this.

I think it is totally fair to apply, as apparently Ron Reagan is, reason to it. Maybe we should shut down in vitro fertilization, I don't know, but it is worth talking about in a reasoned way.

BEGALA: Right.

TUCKER: And not dismiss the arguments as crackpottery, because they are not.

BEGALA: I agree. But if those entities are going to be destroyed anyway, and they are, they are all going to be thrown away, why not use them for medical research, which is Reagan's argument?

O'BRIEN: All right, we're going to have to -- I don't know how we got way down this road, but here we are.

TUCKER: No, we're almost -- we're close to solving it, Miles. It has a feeling...

O'BRIEN: I believe we solved it right there.

All right, gentlemen, we have to shove off, all right. We'll see you again. Paul Begala.

BEGALA: Thanks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Tucker Carlson, always a pleasure -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well what do the Democrats in the FleetCenter need to show Americans watching at home this week?

Frank Newport is Gallup Poll editor-in-chief and author of "Polling Matters." Wow, look at that. And he's with us from Princeton, New Jersey.

Frank, you came out with a new book.

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE GALLUP POLL: Indeed, Kyra. It's an attempt to explain why polling does matter, as you see from the title. And also, to answer a lot of questions. When I make speeches, people always say: How can a thousand people represent a million? And doesn't question wording make a difference to the responses?

So, the book is an attempt to provide answers to that. Hope you will read it. I'll send you a copy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I'm just wondering, do we all get free signed copies?

NEWPORT: Indeed you do, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Great.

NEWPORT: It's in the mail, quite seriously.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Frank.

NEWPORT: All right.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's start out with John Kerry.

NEWPORT: Everybody else needs to go to their neighborhood bookstore, of course.

PHILLIPS: OK, we'll start plugging it.

NEWPORT: No.

PHILLIPS: We'll plug it again at the end.

NEWPORT: Great.

PHILLIPS: John Kerry have to prove to voters -- what does he have to prove, rather, to voters at this week's convention?

NEWPORT: Well I think we have seen some of it on display already. We have seen the word strength, strong, strength, strong, strength. We see that a lot. And then we've seen a lot of discussion of Kerry's military activity. So we can show you where some of that comes from.

This is the direct question that we asked in the Gallup poll. Do you think that Kerry's Vietnam military service makes you more likely or less likely to vote for him? It's not a huge response, but you see the net positive is there, 27 versus 12 more likely.

And we isolated Independent voters, those more likely not to have made up their mind, and it's actually 30 percent. So directly, not a huge plus, but it looks like it is a plus to continue to emphasize that. And indirectly, of course, Kerry military service equals strength, and that's what they are trying to demonstrate.

Notice this, the question we put to American voters, which of the two candidates does not change their position for political reasons? Given this choice, it's a 22-point spread. As you can see there: Bush 52, Kerry only 30.

Same thing, Kyra, when we ask who is a strong and decisive leader? Bush strongly over Kerry. So that gives an idea of what the Kerry campaign is trying to correct or change with the activities this week in Boston.

PHILLIPS: All right, well we know Democrats are going to be addressing both the economy and terrorism this week, but which issue could have the greater impact?

NEWPORT: Well I think we cannot overlook the importance of the economy. A lot of -- I just was talking about the necessity for Kerry to show strength based on the polling, and of course terrorism is at the back of everybody's mind. Look at some interesting distinctions we've drawn out of the data here.

This was a question, which four issues is going to be most important to you in your vote? And what I have graphed for you here is the percent who say terrorism, and notice how high that is for Republicans. Forty-three percent of Republicans chose terrorism over three other issues right off the top of the hat. They are echoing, of course, the Republican platform emphasis on terrorism.

But look how low Independents and Democrats are. They are not talking about terrorism; they are talking about the economy. So, this is evidence to reach these Independents. Kerry is really going to have to talk about the economy.

Also, one other point here, we separated out all the states of the union in Bush states, Kerry states, likely Democratic states, and then on the right-hand side, showdown states. These are how these people look at the economy. This is optimism versus pessimism.

Notice how optimistic people are in Republican states on the left, that's like Utah and southern states and states like that. But notice the showdown states on the right, not nearly as much optimism about the economy. Another lesson to be learned, Kerry has got to address economic issues to reach the critical voters...

PHILLIPS: Frank.

NEWPORT: ... in the showdown states.

PHILLIPS: Frank, thank you so much. I have got to take our viewers now live to the Justice Department. Appreciate the poll numbers.

Attorney General, now, John Ashcroft talking about the indictment of several individuals linked with a major Islamic charity providing money to terrorist groups.

(LIVE EVENT)

PHILLIPS: Apologize for the technical difficulties there, but you're seeing Attorney General John Ashcroft making the announcement, seven men arrested, 42 count indictment for providing materials and resources to terrorists.

The Texas-based organization Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the foundation had claimed to be the largest Muslim charity in the United States. However, Attorney General John Ashcroft saying that it was the North American front for Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and providing a number of resources and cash to terrorists overseas.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Checking "Entertainment Headlines" for this Tuesday.

Ozzy Osbourne has some heavy metal in his bank account. Thanks to Ozzfest and popularity born of his MTV reality series, Ozzy Osbourne has become one rich dude. During the past 10 years, he's raked in a reported 35 million bucks from selling everything from T- shirts to action figures.

And if you like "The Sopranos," well, you will be in a long holding pattern. There will be no new episodes of the hit HBO crime drama until 2006. Series creator and executive producer David Chase says he needs time to come up with some more twists and turns for Tony and Carmela and the rest of the mob. Possible good news: Chase is hinting he might have more than 10 episodes in him for that 2006 season.

And finally, Oprah saves one small business on the strength of a sandwich. The talk show queen recently, I guess, got a chicken curry sandwich from a California cafe and she raved about it, but then found out the cafe owner was getting ready to close-up shop due to lackluster business. But hold the mayo -- less than 24 hours later, Oprah sent the cafe owner a check so that she could stay in biz.

O'BRIEN: Wow! Cool!

All right, Savile Row in the land of the rodent? Our Richard Quest has journeyed to just that place to gauge the vox populi in the hotly contested state of Florida.

Mr. Quest, it is good to see you. Are you having a good time there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here in Orlando with the vox populi. I'm glad to see your Latin, your classical training is up to scratch. I would have been picking you wrong there if you hadn't been.

Now look, we are here in Orlando trying to gauge what people are thinking about this. These two, they are young, they are 18. It is their first chance of voting for a U.S. president. And guess what, one is for Bush and one is for Kerry.

Who are you for -- Graham?

GRAHAM BROWN, KERRY SUPPORTER: I'm for Kerry, the Democratic committee.

QUEST: Why?

BROWN: I think that Bush needs to get out of office. He's a redneck Texan who just went in to war too quickly. He needs to rethink his plans and we need someone else in office.

QUEST: All right. A redneck Texan who needs to be out of office. Josh, do you agree? And if so, why not? JOSHUA STONE, BUSH SUPPORTER: I disagree, because I feel that George Bush has done a much better job in office than people give him credit for. He's done well with the war on terror. The economy is on the rebound. And John Kerry has no set of.

QUEST: Let me ask you: Four years ago, this state showed that every vote counts. Josh, how important is it for you this time round first time for you to vote?

STONE: Because I feel that only the people who vote should have a right to complain about who is in office. I understand free speech. But at the same time, most people who complain do not vote.

BROWN: Yes, it's what -- one of your duties as a citizen to take part and to vote to make your say public in how you feel the country should be run.

QUEST: Gentlemen, many thanks to you. I look forward to your voting on November the 2nd.

Two views there, Miles, and the interesting thing about all of this, of course, is that out of the mouth of babes, so to speak, we get the divided country that we know so well at the moment -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, a couple of fine young lads you found there, Richard Quest, good work and press on. And don't eat too much steak and eggs, it'll give you heartburn. All right.

QUEST: It is Miami tomorrow, Miami Beach. I'll speak to you then.

O'BRIEN: All right, a little Cuban coffee or something. All right, we'll see you in a bit. Thanks very much.

Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: That wraps up this -- I'm sorry, I was doing my Richard Quest, still. That wraps up this Tuesday edition of LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

PHILLIPS: Now to take us through the next riveting hour-and-a- half of political headlines, of course live from Boston, Judy Woodruff's "INSIDE POLITICS."

Judy, great to see you.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see you. Let's not oversell it. Riveting, let's hope.

Kyra and Miles, thank you both.

I am here again in Boston getting ready for the second night of the Democratic National Convention. We'll preview tonight's lineup and talk with Senator Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill. Plus, how would Teresa Heinz Kerry handle the role as first lady? Would she be more reserved like Laura Bush, or more outspoken like Hillary Clinton? We'll hear from our Bill Schneider.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired July 27, 2004 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Sources in Baghdad tell CNN Egypt paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to free a diplomat kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents last week. The Egyptian government denies paying any ransom to secure his release. He arrived safely at Egypt's embassy in Baghdad late yesterday.

CNN has learned the Senate will move up its first hearing on the 9/11 Commission report to this Friday. The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee wants to take up the panel's intelligence reform ideas the morning after the Democratic National Convention. House Republicans start hearings next week.

Attorney General John Ashcroft announcing the indictments of a major Islamic charity and seven people connected with it. After the 9/11 attacks, the Justice Department virtually shut down the Holy Land Foundation for allegedly financing terrorism. Federal authorities say they have arrested five of the seven individuals. We'll take that live as soon as John Ashcroft steps up to the podium.

In Redwood City, California, prosecutors using fishing experts to attack accused wife killer Scott Peterson's alibi. They argue that his bait and anchor were wrong for the fishing trip that he says that he took.

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, on the docket tonight at the DNC, they will have Teresa Heinz Kerry. Be interesting to see what she has to say. Some are calling her a bit of a loose cannon.

Ron Reagan -- wait a minute, isn't he a Republican?

This is very confusing, guys. And when I get confused, I turn to the "CROSSFIRE" guys. Paul Begala, Tucker Carlson, there with the bus, across the river there from the FleetCenter.

Gentlemen, how are you?

TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Hey, Miles, great.

PAUL BEGALA, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Great, Miles. How are you?

O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about Ted Kennedy first, because there was a piece today, I don't know where I saw it, but they were saying this is sort of like the convention he never got. You know, in other words, the one he didn't get in 1980 when he hoped he would be accepting the nomination.

But this is a bit of a victory lap for Ted Kennedy, emotionally. He was dedicating the site of the big dig to his mother and all that. So, what can we expect from him, a lot of, you know, Boston emotion?

BEGALA: Miles, I think you'll get some of that, but I think he's also going to be looking forward. And he has certainly told friends that he doesn't see this as a swan song. He doesn't like a lot of talk about that. I mean he is a man in his seventies who has been in the Senate for 42 years.

But he wants to stand up there, I suspect, tonight and talk about how he is going to fight on the Senate floor to pass President Kerry's healthcare plan and to try to pitch it toward the future more.

A lot of delegates are going to want to hear about Camelot, maybe shed a tear for his late brothers, but I think Senator Kennedy himself is more likely to push into the future.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Tucker, how do you think...

CARLSON: Well this...

O'BRIEN: ... Ted Kennedy plays in Peoria these days?

CARLSON: Well we are in, right now, sitting in the one place in America, maybe on the planet, where Ted Kennedy is not considered embarrassing.

And the problem for Democrats with that is they can lose sight, I think, of the fact that he is considered embarrassing in a lot of the rest of the country. He's very liberal. He brings with him, of course, a lot of baggage.

I have heard and read something different, Paul probably has better sources than I, but that Democrats are not interested in hearing a Bush-bashing speech from Kerry. In fact, his spokesman said yesterday that he's given a lot of those and he's not going to be giving one tonight. And in fact, he's going to be giving a more statesmen like. You know this is why John Kerry is a good guy.

O'BRIEN: All this statesman stuff.

CARLSON: That's probably smart.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but it's so boring. I wish they would start just having some fun up there.

CARLSON: It is boring. I agree with that.

O'BRIEN: Yes, really, come on.

All right, let's talk about Ron Reagan.

BEGALA: Which...

O'BRIEN: Wait, go ahead, Paul, make a point.

BEGALA: OK. I was going to bring us to Teresa Heinz Kerry, who has been...

O'BRIEN: OK.

BEGALA: ... not scripted and been delightful. You know she says shove it, and I love it. You know, I hope she does more of that with every right-wing blowhard.

You know, it wasn't a reporter, by the way, and I'm all for cussing out reporters, but it was some right-wing crackpot at some newspaper that had specialized in trying to say that Vince Foster was murdered. I mean I know who these crackpots are and I couldn't be happier that somebody is standing up to them.

O'BRIEN: All right.

CARLSON: Actually, it was a journal...

O'BRIEN: OK.

CARLSON: Hold on, I'm a shove it guy myself and will defend...

O'BRIEN: Yes, but you love it, too. You love it, come on, Tucker.

CARLSON: I do love it. I just I hate beating up the press. It's the first refuge of the guilty, the wrong, and the dishonest. And I have to say it's a theme with the Democrats pounding on the press corps.

We don't know if this guy was a right-wing crackpot. He's just an editor at a newspaper.

BEGALA: Yes, we do. He's -- no, it's not a newspaper, it's the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review." It's owned by a right-wing billionaire...

CARLSON: Come on!

BEGALA: ... and it prints right-wing crap. But there's a lot of responsible conservatives, like my friend Tucker, in this world who don't need to go and...

CARLSON: I am not responsible.

O'BRIEN: And by the way, I just want to make a point.

BEGALA: No, they are not a response...

O'BRIEN: I want to make a point here, because I saw Teresa Heinz Kerry earlier today talking to Bill Hemmer. She said no, I said un- Pennsylvanian. Well we all heard the tape, she said un-American. Why is she trying to get out of that?

TUCKER: Well that's -- it's...

BEGALA: Who cares?

TUCKER: See I think she runs -- well I -- you know you always want to tell the truth. And that's the beauty of Teresa Heinz Kerry is sometimes she does tell the truth. You don't want to neuter her. You don't want to take her essential Teresaness away.

O'BRIEN: Right.

TUCKER: What makes her appealing is that she is a loose cannon.

O'BRIEN: Teresaness.

TUCKER: She describes herself that way. She is a proud, loose cannon. I say let Teresa be Teresa.

BEGALA: Well in much the same way that Barbara Bush was Barbara Bush. We all remember, of course, when she said that Gerry Ferraro, the vice-presidential candidate in 1984, was something that rhymes with rich.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

BEGALA: And you know what, America fell in love with Barbara Bush because she spoke her mind. She was a strong woman. This country likes strong women as first ladies, and I think that Teresa is in the tradition of Barbara Bush. That's an awfully high compliment.

O'BRIEN: All right. Ron Reagan, to have that name associated with the Democratic National Convention, Tucker, this is bad news for the Republicans, isn't it?

CARLSON: No, I mean, I don't think Ron Reagan is in danger of being confused with his dad. He looks different. He has had a completely different life. He has got different political views.

I don't think that this is going to be any kind of systematic refutation of the Reagan years or anything like it. Apparently he's going to get up and talk about why we need stem cell research paid for by the U.S. government and why...

O'BRIEN: Well, no, but there's a little more than that. You know, Tucker, there's this whole notion -- which he also brought out in the midst of all the eulogies, this whole notion of wearing religion on a politician's sleeve.

CARLSON: Right.

O'BRIEN: And that's a...

CARLSON: Right, but this...

O'BRIEN: ... too. CARLSON: Right. Well it is -- actually it's -- and it's a really interesting and complicated issue for the Democratic Party, and for that matter, for the Republican Party. But the fact is that people who go to church a lot tend to vote Republican. I'm not passing judgment on that, but it's true, according to all the surveys.

And I do think -- and Democrats think this, too, for that matter -- that the Democratic Party wants to be very careful not to seem hostile toward organized religion. And it does seem, frankly, hostile to organized religion, fair or unfair, that is the perception. And I think he's got to be really careful not to be seen as attacking religious people.

O'BRIEN: All right, Paul, give us you're inner Teresa now, let it rip.

BEGALA: No, Tucker is right. I know I almost never use those two words in the same sentence without not in between.

O'BRIEN: Tucker is right, wow.

BEGALA: But he is right this time. Too often, liberals have been seen as hostile to religion. It's not my expectation that Ron Reagan will be that way tonight. I had a chance to visit with him the other day.

And I think he was trying out some lines and some reasoning, at least, that he is going to make in his speech about stem cell research. And he said this, he said if President Bush really does believe that each one of those little embryos is a human life, those little cellular entities are human lives, then the only ethical thing to do would be to shut down every in vitro fertilization clinic.

Because when parents have babies through in vitro fertilization, there are dozens, scores, thousands across the country of those embryos that are destroyed.

O'BRIEN: But you're assuming...

BEGALA: And so, I think he makes a very interesting and reasoned position on this.

CARLSON: Well, that is the...

O'BRIEN: You are applying a lot of logic to this, which then there isn't a lot of logic in that realm, right?

BEGALA: Yes.

TUCKER: Well, no, but that's an interesting point. But to dismiss the whole thing out of hand as an obsession just of the kooky religious right...

BEGALA: I don't think...

TUCKER: ... is... BEGALA: I don't think Reagan will do that.

TUCKER: Well, many on the left do that. That people are getting in the way of progress because of superstition. And the fact is there are real moral and ethical concerns surrounding this.

I think it is totally fair to apply, as apparently Ron Reagan is, reason to it. Maybe we should shut down in vitro fertilization, I don't know, but it is worth talking about in a reasoned way.

BEGALA: Right.

TUCKER: And not dismiss the arguments as crackpottery, because they are not.

BEGALA: I agree. But if those entities are going to be destroyed anyway, and they are, they are all going to be thrown away, why not use them for medical research, which is Reagan's argument?

O'BRIEN: All right, we're going to have to -- I don't know how we got way down this road, but here we are.

TUCKER: No, we're almost -- we're close to solving it, Miles. It has a feeling...

O'BRIEN: I believe we solved it right there.

All right, gentlemen, we have to shove off, all right. We'll see you again. Paul Begala.

BEGALA: Thanks -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Tucker Carlson, always a pleasure -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well what do the Democrats in the FleetCenter need to show Americans watching at home this week?

Frank Newport is Gallup Poll editor-in-chief and author of "Polling Matters." Wow, look at that. And he's with us from Princeton, New Jersey.

Frank, you came out with a new book.

FRANK NEWPORT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE GALLUP POLL: Indeed, Kyra. It's an attempt to explain why polling does matter, as you see from the title. And also, to answer a lot of questions. When I make speeches, people always say: How can a thousand people represent a million? And doesn't question wording make a difference to the responses?

So, the book is an attempt to provide answers to that. Hope you will read it. I'll send you a copy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I'm just wondering, do we all get free signed copies?

NEWPORT: Indeed you do, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Great.

NEWPORT: It's in the mail, quite seriously.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Frank.

NEWPORT: All right.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's start out with John Kerry.

NEWPORT: Everybody else needs to go to their neighborhood bookstore, of course.

PHILLIPS: OK, we'll start plugging it.

NEWPORT: No.

PHILLIPS: We'll plug it again at the end.

NEWPORT: Great.

PHILLIPS: John Kerry have to prove to voters -- what does he have to prove, rather, to voters at this week's convention?

NEWPORT: Well I think we have seen some of it on display already. We have seen the word strength, strong, strength, strong, strength. We see that a lot. And then we've seen a lot of discussion of Kerry's military activity. So we can show you where some of that comes from.

This is the direct question that we asked in the Gallup poll. Do you think that Kerry's Vietnam military service makes you more likely or less likely to vote for him? It's not a huge response, but you see the net positive is there, 27 versus 12 more likely.

And we isolated Independent voters, those more likely not to have made up their mind, and it's actually 30 percent. So directly, not a huge plus, but it looks like it is a plus to continue to emphasize that. And indirectly, of course, Kerry military service equals strength, and that's what they are trying to demonstrate.

Notice this, the question we put to American voters, which of the two candidates does not change their position for political reasons? Given this choice, it's a 22-point spread. As you can see there: Bush 52, Kerry only 30.

Same thing, Kyra, when we ask who is a strong and decisive leader? Bush strongly over Kerry. So that gives an idea of what the Kerry campaign is trying to correct or change with the activities this week in Boston.

PHILLIPS: All right, well we know Democrats are going to be addressing both the economy and terrorism this week, but which issue could have the greater impact?

NEWPORT: Well I think we cannot overlook the importance of the economy. A lot of -- I just was talking about the necessity for Kerry to show strength based on the polling, and of course terrorism is at the back of everybody's mind. Look at some interesting distinctions we've drawn out of the data here.

This was a question, which four issues is going to be most important to you in your vote? And what I have graphed for you here is the percent who say terrorism, and notice how high that is for Republicans. Forty-three percent of Republicans chose terrorism over three other issues right off the top of the hat. They are echoing, of course, the Republican platform emphasis on terrorism.

But look how low Independents and Democrats are. They are not talking about terrorism; they are talking about the economy. So, this is evidence to reach these Independents. Kerry is really going to have to talk about the economy.

Also, one other point here, we separated out all the states of the union in Bush states, Kerry states, likely Democratic states, and then on the right-hand side, showdown states. These are how these people look at the economy. This is optimism versus pessimism.

Notice how optimistic people are in Republican states on the left, that's like Utah and southern states and states like that. But notice the showdown states on the right, not nearly as much optimism about the economy. Another lesson to be learned, Kerry has got to address economic issues to reach the critical voters...

PHILLIPS: Frank.

NEWPORT: ... in the showdown states.

PHILLIPS: Frank, thank you so much. I have got to take our viewers now live to the Justice Department. Appreciate the poll numbers.

Attorney General, now, John Ashcroft talking about the indictment of several individuals linked with a major Islamic charity providing money to terrorist groups.

(LIVE EVENT)

PHILLIPS: Apologize for the technical difficulties there, but you're seeing Attorney General John Ashcroft making the announcement, seven men arrested, 42 count indictment for providing materials and resources to terrorists.

The Texas-based organization Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, the foundation had claimed to be the largest Muslim charity in the United States. However, Attorney General John Ashcroft saying that it was the North American front for Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, and providing a number of resources and cash to terrorists overseas.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Checking "Entertainment Headlines" for this Tuesday.

Ozzy Osbourne has some heavy metal in his bank account. Thanks to Ozzfest and popularity born of his MTV reality series, Ozzy Osbourne has become one rich dude. During the past 10 years, he's raked in a reported 35 million bucks from selling everything from T- shirts to action figures.

And if you like "The Sopranos," well, you will be in a long holding pattern. There will be no new episodes of the hit HBO crime drama until 2006. Series creator and executive producer David Chase says he needs time to come up with some more twists and turns for Tony and Carmela and the rest of the mob. Possible good news: Chase is hinting he might have more than 10 episodes in him for that 2006 season.

And finally, Oprah saves one small business on the strength of a sandwich. The talk show queen recently, I guess, got a chicken curry sandwich from a California cafe and she raved about it, but then found out the cafe owner was getting ready to close-up shop due to lackluster business. But hold the mayo -- less than 24 hours later, Oprah sent the cafe owner a check so that she could stay in biz.

O'BRIEN: Wow! Cool!

All right, Savile Row in the land of the rodent? Our Richard Quest has journeyed to just that place to gauge the vox populi in the hotly contested state of Florida.

Mr. Quest, it is good to see you. Are you having a good time there?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm here in Orlando with the vox populi. I'm glad to see your Latin, your classical training is up to scratch. I would have been picking you wrong there if you hadn't been.

Now look, we are here in Orlando trying to gauge what people are thinking about this. These two, they are young, they are 18. It is their first chance of voting for a U.S. president. And guess what, one is for Bush and one is for Kerry.

Who are you for -- Graham?

GRAHAM BROWN, KERRY SUPPORTER: I'm for Kerry, the Democratic committee.

QUEST: Why?

BROWN: I think that Bush needs to get out of office. He's a redneck Texan who just went in to war too quickly. He needs to rethink his plans and we need someone else in office.

QUEST: All right. A redneck Texan who needs to be out of office. Josh, do you agree? And if so, why not? JOSHUA STONE, BUSH SUPPORTER: I disagree, because I feel that George Bush has done a much better job in office than people give him credit for. He's done well with the war on terror. The economy is on the rebound. And John Kerry has no set of.

QUEST: Let me ask you: Four years ago, this state showed that every vote counts. Josh, how important is it for you this time round first time for you to vote?

STONE: Because I feel that only the people who vote should have a right to complain about who is in office. I understand free speech. But at the same time, most people who complain do not vote.

BROWN: Yes, it's what -- one of your duties as a citizen to take part and to vote to make your say public in how you feel the country should be run.

QUEST: Gentlemen, many thanks to you. I look forward to your voting on November the 2nd.

Two views there, Miles, and the interesting thing about all of this, of course, is that out of the mouth of babes, so to speak, we get the divided country that we know so well at the moment -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, a couple of fine young lads you found there, Richard Quest, good work and press on. And don't eat too much steak and eggs, it'll give you heartburn. All right.

QUEST: It is Miami tomorrow, Miami Beach. I'll speak to you then.

O'BRIEN: All right, a little Cuban coffee or something. All right, we'll see you in a bit. Thanks very much.

Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: That wraps up this -- I'm sorry, I was doing my Richard Quest, still. That wraps up this Tuesday edition of LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

PHILLIPS: Now to take us through the next riveting hour-and-a- half of political headlines, of course live from Boston, Judy Woodruff's "INSIDE POLITICS."

Judy, great to see you.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Great to see you. Let's not oversell it. Riveting, let's hope.

Kyra and Miles, thank you both.

I am here again in Boston getting ready for the second night of the Democratic National Convention. We'll preview tonight's lineup and talk with Senator Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill. Plus, how would Teresa Heinz Kerry handle the role as first lady? Would she be more reserved like Laura Bush, or more outspoken like Hillary Clinton? We'll hear from our Bill Schneider.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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