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President Bush's Nominee to Head CIA Answering Critics; South Korea Surprise

Aired September 14, 2004 - 13:32   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news, a downgraded, but still powerful, Hurricane Ivan is charging toward the Gulf Coast. People from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle are boarding up and heading out. We'll bring you the latest projections on Ivan in about 30 minutes, at 2:00 Eastern.
Off the hook, a French appeals court has upheld the acquittals of three photographers who took photos of Princess Di and Dodi Fayed after their fatal car crash. The paparazzis were acquitted last year of breaking privacy laws, but Fayed's father filed an appeal.

As early as today, military investigates plan to question a U.S. marine who mysteriously vanished in Iraq. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun says he was snatched by insurgents near his military camp in June. Days later, he turned up in Lebanon.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's nominee to head the CIA is answering his critics who say he's too partisan to run the agency independently. Porter Goss says he'll set aside partisan rancor.

More on Goss' testimony from CNN's David Ensor on Capitol Hill.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, as you Say, Porter Goss is getting a grilling today from Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, some of whom believe that he is too partisan a figure, too close to the White House, to be the new intelligence chief in the United States at this time. He's been accused of carrying the White House's water in the campaign against John Kerry. He's been accused of not doing enough as House Intelligence Committee chairman to investigate the failures in intelligence. As an old CIA officer, he's accused of being too close to the intelligence community, which he will now lead.

Here's a sample of the kind of rhetoric that has been going on between, in this case, Senator Durbin of Illinois and Mr. Goss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Do you think it went too far when it came to Mr. Feith's efforts and the DIA's efforts to create the scenario that led to the invasion of Iraq, that misled not only the administration, but the American people about the reality on the ground in that country?

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I simply don't have the answer to that. It would require a judgment on facts that I don't have, and didn't have, as the chairman of the committee.

DURBIN: As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, you don't have an opinion as to whether they went too far?

GOSS: Senator, I'm no longer the chairman of that committee, and I have -- you've stated your concern about my independence and my nonpartisanship, and I don't think it's appropriate for me to go down that road.

DURBIN: I will just tell you, if you were candid with me in that answer, it would convince me that you will be nonpartisan, but the fact that you reserve judgment whenever it gets close to being critical of this administration continues to trouble me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Senator Durbin there was referring to Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense, who has been accused of some Democrats of running a sort of a rogue intelligence operation inside the Department of Defense. As you saw, Mr. Goss was not willing to weigh in on that issue. He wants to avoid making waves if he can, obviously. He is expected to be confirmed, Betty, but he's certainly getting a rough ride.

NGUYEN: When is that vote going to happen, especially in the Senate Senate, David?

ENSOR: Well, the committee could vote at anytime in the next week or two. At the moment, they've only got today's hearing scheduled, and just one witness, Mr. Goss. There's some on the committee, though, who would like to have other witnesses before there is a vote.

NGUYEN: CNN's David Ensor, thank you, live from Capitol Hill for us.

News around the world now, starting with new photos of terror on a train track in Madrid. A Spanish newspaper published security camera photos of three explosions as they occurred last March; 191 people died in the bombings, blamed on Islamic terrorists.

Following public protests, the Turkish government apparently is abandoning a proposed law to make adultery a crime. Turkish lawmakers are working to reform the legal system to help Turkey gain membership in the European Union.

And the report on Al Jazeera says Iraqi insurgents have kidnapped a Jordanian truck driver. They're threatening to kill him unless his company stops operating if Iraq. Al Jazeera also says the driver admits delivering fuel to American forces.

PHILLIPS: We know about North Korea, we know about Iran, now new information this week about the possible spread of nuclear technology in South Korea. David Albright, former U.N. arms inspector, joins us from Washington, where he run the Institute for Science and International Security. Great to see you, David.

DAVID ALBIRGHT, FMR. U.N. ARMS INSPECTOR: Good to be here.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's definitely hit North Korea quickly, this in the news, because of the explosion a couple days ago. Why is North Korea of a -- pretty much a major concern to you right now?

ALBRIGHT: Well, the major concern about North Korea, is that its building nuclear weapons, and we can't find a formula or an agreement so that they will give us up those weapons. And you worry that if an agreement isn't found, that there will be pressure on countries like South Korea and Japan to go nuclear, or at least in the case of Japan, to become more militarized.

And so the explosion last week serves to remind us that North Korea remains a serious problem, appears to be increasing the quantity and quality of its nuclear arsenal, and we don't know how to get them to give it up.

PHILLIPS: Well, North Korea's coming forward, saying, hey, we're not doing anything wrong, we're going to allow British inspectors in. Tell us what those British inspectors are going to do, do you think they'll be allowed to come in, and what will be the main objective, and do you think they will get the truth?

ALBRIGHT: Well, the main thing they're looking at -- and in fact, it's the result of an invitation from North Korea, to come and look at this site of the explosion. North Korea said that they, in essence, blew up a mountain as part of a hydroelectric plant or program, and people are questioning that. And so North Korea said some British diplomats, and perhaps even other diplomats, could come in today. So we'll see if North Korea actually let them in and what they saw.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, South Korea, interesting. You've talked about these experiments going on with rogue scientists. We haven't really talked about South Korea, because it is an ally. Tell us about this laser-enrichment program, and sort of lay out the difference between that and these gas centrifuges. We've always been concerned about the centrifuges as a threat to build nuclear weapons. Now we're talk about South Korea.

ALBRIGHT: Well, that's right, and it's the result of a multi- year investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency to try to understand some inconsistencies they saw while doing inspections in South Korea. And one of the initial findings was that South Korea had a secret program to enrich uranium using lasers, which is a very sophisticated way to do it, and a bit surprising that it was taking place in South Korea, particularly taking place in secrecy , and behind the back of the International Atomic Agency. And so its enrichment technology that aims to enrich uranium, just like gas centrifuges do, but it's a little more complicated.

And like gas centrifuges, countries like South Korea are supposed to be completely open about their activities in that area, and make full declarations about such activities with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which South Korea did not do in this case.

PHILLIPS: All right, so you're watching North Korea, you're watching South Korea, and of course you're watching Iran. As you lay out the three, let's talk about Iran, how it fits in with regard to how advanced its program is. And is Iran being honest about building nukes, or do you think a lot of the trafficking using these front companies to build weapons systems is still in full force?

ALBRIGHT: Well, with Iran, the problem right now is that the agreement that was hammered out between the European Union and Iran to stop certain kind of uranium-enrichment activities and not build a certain kind of plutonium production reactor is falling apart. And there's a current effort right now to try to put that back together.

But there is, underneath this, concern that Iran isn't being completely forthright about its nuclear program. There's suspicions that some things remain secret. There's concern that Iran doesn't allow the inspectors to go wherever they feel they need to go. And there's -- so there's a general sense that maybe Iran hasn't really turned the corner and revealed everything.

And so when you put that together with concern that Iran will not give up certain nuclear weapons capabilities that it's putting in place, the international community is very troubled. And it's also reaching a point where it wants to have a fundamental decision about Iran, and so they're laying, the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors, a plan whereby Iran is going to have to make a fundamental decision about what it's going to do with respect to its fuel-cycle activities, it can produce nuclear explosive material, and how open it's going to be. And at the same time, the European Union wants to let this process go on further, it wants to give Iran one last chance.

But I think if Iran doesn't turn this corner and make this decision to do these opening-up activity, to give up its fuel-cycle activities, I think Iran -- oh, I'm sorry, the European Union, is going to will turn over the leadership of this process to the United Nations -- I'm sorry, to the united States, and I think we understand the United States takes a much tougher line on Iran than the European union does.

David Albright, former U.N. nuclear arms inspector, keeping your eyes on North Korea, Iran, and interesting developments in South Korea. We'll continue to follow up, too.

Thanks a lot, David.

ALBRIGHT: OK, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead a National Guard address by President Bush, amid questions about his own military past.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash at the White House, with more on what we may hear and not hear in that address, and what the first lady is now saying about documents questioning her husband's National Guard service. PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, the race for the White House runs through Wisconsin today, for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. We'll have the details ahead.

And fan interference takes on a whole new meaning during a game between the Texas Rangers and Oakland A's. What was that? Now police are taking action. Details on the disturbing images, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The National Guard Association is meeting this week in Las Vegas, and both presidential candidates will be making a pitch to the group, made up of 45,000 past and present Guard officers. Senator Kerry is on the agenda for Thursday, but President Bush is there today.

And CNN's Dana Bash has more on what he will and likely won't be talking about.

Hi there, Dana.

BASH: Hi, Betty.

And certainly the timing of this speech is quite interesting and noteworthy, given the fact that there are renewed questions about the president's service in the National Guard 30 years ago. But Bush officials say that this address has been in the works for some time, and that he is really going to focus on thanking the men and women who serve in the National Guard now, their service here at home, and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We're also told he's going to tougher his rhetoric against Senator Kerry about whether he's fit to be president. We're told not to expect the president to mention the controversy about his service at all, only to say that he was proud to have served in the national guard, only to say that he was proud to have served in the National Guard.

However, the first lady is jumping into this controversy, that one over documents, CBS says, are written by then-Lieutenant Bush's commander in the National Guard, that suggests that he defied an order, and also got preferential treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, they probably are altered and they probably are forgeries, and I think that's terrible, really. I think it's a terrible -- I mean, that's actually one of the risks you take when you run for public office, or when you're in the public eye for any reason. And that's, obviously, a lot of things are said about you that aren't true, and that's the drawback, that's the one thing that's not great about serving in public office.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Now, this is the first time a White House figure has gone that far, to say that these documents probably are forgeries. Until now, the White House has been very careful to say they simply do not know.

Now Bush aides are saying that the first lady was simply expressing her opinion, and that they don't have their own internal investigation going on, but they are also not pulling back from the first lady's statements. And they were quick to point out that more and more news organizations, they say, have poked holes in CBS' story, and they are also continuing to say that Democrats, by continuing to push this story, may be hurting themselves in the end -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Getting very interesting.

CNN's Dana Bash, thank you so much, live from Washington -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS; And now the Democrats, who are pulling another Bill Clinton staffer off the bench. This morning, the John Kerry campaign announced that former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry is officially joining their team as a senior adviser. He'll travel with in the campaign homestretch.

On the road, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this morning, Kerry stated his case to the nation's seniors, and slammed the Bush administration on Social Security and health care issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Once again, this administration hides the truth from the American people. And the reason they're hiding the truth from the American people is because the out-of-pocket expenses of Medicare have now gone up to 37.2 percent by 2006.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And he's on, he's off, he's back on again. Ralph Nader is, at least for the moment, back on the Florida ballot. Last week, a state judge ruled that the Reform Party didn't qualify as a national party under state law, and that Nader didn't deserve a spot on the Florida ballot, but the state's top election official filed an appeal, and ordered election supervisors to put him back. Now the Florida supreme court is getting involved. Stay tuned for further developments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doug Brocail and a fan were getting into it over there. And everybody's racing over, with two strikes on Blalock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Check it out, turns out he pitches chairs just as well as baseballs. Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco, who was the American League rookie in the month of August, just couldn't handle some of the trash the A's fans were talking in Oakland last night. So, he tossed a chair into the right field box seats. It hit two fans. One woman went to the hospital with facial cuts and a broken nose.

Well, today, Francisco was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and now has a mug shot to go along with his rookie card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DUNBAR, DEPUTY CHIEF, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Well, I think everybody saw the video late night. There was a heckler. And one thing led to another. There was no altercation physical until this player threw a chair into the stands. It looked like it hit the heckler's wife on the side of her head, may have broken her nose. It did cut her face, so that really met the criteria of an aggravated battery, which is a felony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And a little salt for Francisco's wounds: The A's won the game in the 10th inning 7-6. The teams are supposed to meet again tonight in Oakland, and we bet you number 50 will be absent from that roster.

Well,regional department stores from Miami to Seattle are getting a name change. Rhonda Schaffler's not changing her name, but she does have the latest on this. Hi there, Rhonda.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. Well, names like Burdines, Goldsmiths, Lazarus, they're all about to become a thing of the past. The owner of those stores, Federated Department Stores, says the regional store brands will now simply all be known as Macy's.

The signs will be changed in January, along with shopping bags and other items. Only Bloomingdale's, another Federated chain, will keep its name. The simplified common name will allow Federated to run a national ad campaign and sell more private-label items. In all, 184 stores will be undergoing the name change -- Betty?

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Rhonda Schaffler, thank you.

Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, well, she's got a music career spanning four decades. Straight ahead, we're going to talk live with legendary singer Patti LaBelle. LIVE FROM's hour of power has a "New Attitude."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 14, 2004 - 13:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news, a downgraded, but still powerful, Hurricane Ivan is charging toward the Gulf Coast. People from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle are boarding up and heading out. We'll bring you the latest projections on Ivan in about 30 minutes, at 2:00 Eastern.
Off the hook, a French appeals court has upheld the acquittals of three photographers who took photos of Princess Di and Dodi Fayed after their fatal car crash. The paparazzis were acquitted last year of breaking privacy laws, but Fayed's father filed an appeal.

As early as today, military investigates plan to question a U.S. marine who mysteriously vanished in Iraq. Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun says he was snatched by insurgents near his military camp in June. Days later, he turned up in Lebanon.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush's nominee to head the CIA is answering his critics who say he's too partisan to run the agency independently. Porter Goss says he'll set aside partisan rancor.

More on Goss' testimony from CNN's David Ensor on Capitol Hill.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, as you Say, Porter Goss is getting a grilling today from Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee, some of whom believe that he is too partisan a figure, too close to the White House, to be the new intelligence chief in the United States at this time. He's been accused of carrying the White House's water in the campaign against John Kerry. He's been accused of not doing enough as House Intelligence Committee chairman to investigate the failures in intelligence. As an old CIA officer, he's accused of being too close to the intelligence community, which he will now lead.

Here's a sample of the kind of rhetoric that has been going on between, in this case, Senator Durbin of Illinois and Mr. Goss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Do you think it went too far when it came to Mr. Feith's efforts and the DIA's efforts to create the scenario that led to the invasion of Iraq, that misled not only the administration, but the American people about the reality on the ground in that country?

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I simply don't have the answer to that. It would require a judgment on facts that I don't have, and didn't have, as the chairman of the committee.

DURBIN: As chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, you don't have an opinion as to whether they went too far?

GOSS: Senator, I'm no longer the chairman of that committee, and I have -- you've stated your concern about my independence and my nonpartisanship, and I don't think it's appropriate for me to go down that road.

DURBIN: I will just tell you, if you were candid with me in that answer, it would convince me that you will be nonpartisan, but the fact that you reserve judgment whenever it gets close to being critical of this administration continues to trouble me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: Senator Durbin there was referring to Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense, who has been accused of some Democrats of running a sort of a rogue intelligence operation inside the Department of Defense. As you saw, Mr. Goss was not willing to weigh in on that issue. He wants to avoid making waves if he can, obviously. He is expected to be confirmed, Betty, but he's certainly getting a rough ride.

NGUYEN: When is that vote going to happen, especially in the Senate Senate, David?

ENSOR: Well, the committee could vote at anytime in the next week or two. At the moment, they've only got today's hearing scheduled, and just one witness, Mr. Goss. There's some on the committee, though, who would like to have other witnesses before there is a vote.

NGUYEN: CNN's David Ensor, thank you, live from Capitol Hill for us.

News around the world now, starting with new photos of terror on a train track in Madrid. A Spanish newspaper published security camera photos of three explosions as they occurred last March; 191 people died in the bombings, blamed on Islamic terrorists.

Following public protests, the Turkish government apparently is abandoning a proposed law to make adultery a crime. Turkish lawmakers are working to reform the legal system to help Turkey gain membership in the European Union.

And the report on Al Jazeera says Iraqi insurgents have kidnapped a Jordanian truck driver. They're threatening to kill him unless his company stops operating if Iraq. Al Jazeera also says the driver admits delivering fuel to American forces.

PHILLIPS: We know about North Korea, we know about Iran, now new information this week about the possible spread of nuclear technology in South Korea. David Albright, former U.N. arms inspector, joins us from Washington, where he run the Institute for Science and International Security. Great to see you, David.

DAVID ALBIRGHT, FMR. U.N. ARMS INSPECTOR: Good to be here.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's definitely hit North Korea quickly, this in the news, because of the explosion a couple days ago. Why is North Korea of a -- pretty much a major concern to you right now?

ALBRIGHT: Well, the major concern about North Korea, is that its building nuclear weapons, and we can't find a formula or an agreement so that they will give us up those weapons. And you worry that if an agreement isn't found, that there will be pressure on countries like South Korea and Japan to go nuclear, or at least in the case of Japan, to become more militarized.

And so the explosion last week serves to remind us that North Korea remains a serious problem, appears to be increasing the quantity and quality of its nuclear arsenal, and we don't know how to get them to give it up.

PHILLIPS: Well, North Korea's coming forward, saying, hey, we're not doing anything wrong, we're going to allow British inspectors in. Tell us what those British inspectors are going to do, do you think they'll be allowed to come in, and what will be the main objective, and do you think they will get the truth?

ALBRIGHT: Well, the main thing they're looking at -- and in fact, it's the result of an invitation from North Korea, to come and look at this site of the explosion. North Korea said that they, in essence, blew up a mountain as part of a hydroelectric plant or program, and people are questioning that. And so North Korea said some British diplomats, and perhaps even other diplomats, could come in today. So we'll see if North Korea actually let them in and what they saw.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, South Korea, interesting. You've talked about these experiments going on with rogue scientists. We haven't really talked about South Korea, because it is an ally. Tell us about this laser-enrichment program, and sort of lay out the difference between that and these gas centrifuges. We've always been concerned about the centrifuges as a threat to build nuclear weapons. Now we're talk about South Korea.

ALBRIGHT: Well, that's right, and it's the result of a multi- year investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency to try to understand some inconsistencies they saw while doing inspections in South Korea. And one of the initial findings was that South Korea had a secret program to enrich uranium using lasers, which is a very sophisticated way to do it, and a bit surprising that it was taking place in South Korea, particularly taking place in secrecy , and behind the back of the International Atomic Agency. And so its enrichment technology that aims to enrich uranium, just like gas centrifuges do, but it's a little more complicated.

And like gas centrifuges, countries like South Korea are supposed to be completely open about their activities in that area, and make full declarations about such activities with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which South Korea did not do in this case.

PHILLIPS: All right, so you're watching North Korea, you're watching South Korea, and of course you're watching Iran. As you lay out the three, let's talk about Iran, how it fits in with regard to how advanced its program is. And is Iran being honest about building nukes, or do you think a lot of the trafficking using these front companies to build weapons systems is still in full force?

ALBRIGHT: Well, with Iran, the problem right now is that the agreement that was hammered out between the European Union and Iran to stop certain kind of uranium-enrichment activities and not build a certain kind of plutonium production reactor is falling apart. And there's a current effort right now to try to put that back together.

But there is, underneath this, concern that Iran isn't being completely forthright about its nuclear program. There's suspicions that some things remain secret. There's concern that Iran doesn't allow the inspectors to go wherever they feel they need to go. And there's -- so there's a general sense that maybe Iran hasn't really turned the corner and revealed everything.

And so when you put that together with concern that Iran will not give up certain nuclear weapons capabilities that it's putting in place, the international community is very troubled. And it's also reaching a point where it wants to have a fundamental decision about Iran, and so they're laying, the International Atomic Energy Agency board of governors, a plan whereby Iran is going to have to make a fundamental decision about what it's going to do with respect to its fuel-cycle activities, it can produce nuclear explosive material, and how open it's going to be. And at the same time, the European Union wants to let this process go on further, it wants to give Iran one last chance.

But I think if Iran doesn't turn this corner and make this decision to do these opening-up activity, to give up its fuel-cycle activities, I think Iran -- oh, I'm sorry, the European Union, is going to will turn over the leadership of this process to the United Nations -- I'm sorry, to the united States, and I think we understand the United States takes a much tougher line on Iran than the European union does.

David Albright, former U.N. nuclear arms inspector, keeping your eyes on North Korea, Iran, and interesting developments in South Korea. We'll continue to follow up, too.

Thanks a lot, David.

ALBRIGHT: OK, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead a National Guard address by President Bush, amid questions about his own military past.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash at the White House, with more on what we may hear and not hear in that address, and what the first lady is now saying about documents questioning her husband's National Guard service. PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, the race for the White House runs through Wisconsin today, for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. We'll have the details ahead.

And fan interference takes on a whole new meaning during a game between the Texas Rangers and Oakland A's. What was that? Now police are taking action. Details on the disturbing images, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The National Guard Association is meeting this week in Las Vegas, and both presidential candidates will be making a pitch to the group, made up of 45,000 past and present Guard officers. Senator Kerry is on the agenda for Thursday, but President Bush is there today.

And CNN's Dana Bash has more on what he will and likely won't be talking about.

Hi there, Dana.

BASH: Hi, Betty.

And certainly the timing of this speech is quite interesting and noteworthy, given the fact that there are renewed questions about the president's service in the National Guard 30 years ago. But Bush officials say that this address has been in the works for some time, and that he is really going to focus on thanking the men and women who serve in the National Guard now, their service here at home, and in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We're also told he's going to tougher his rhetoric against Senator Kerry about whether he's fit to be president. We're told not to expect the president to mention the controversy about his service at all, only to say that he was proud to have served in the national guard, only to say that he was proud to have served in the National Guard.

However, the first lady is jumping into this controversy, that one over documents, CBS says, are written by then-Lieutenant Bush's commander in the National Guard, that suggests that he defied an order, and also got preferential treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, they probably are altered and they probably are forgeries, and I think that's terrible, really. I think it's a terrible -- I mean, that's actually one of the risks you take when you run for public office, or when you're in the public eye for any reason. And that's, obviously, a lot of things are said about you that aren't true, and that's the drawback, that's the one thing that's not great about serving in public office.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BASH: Now, this is the first time a White House figure has gone that far, to say that these documents probably are forgeries. Until now, the White House has been very careful to say they simply do not know.

Now Bush aides are saying that the first lady was simply expressing her opinion, and that they don't have their own internal investigation going on, but they are also not pulling back from the first lady's statements. And they were quick to point out that more and more news organizations, they say, have poked holes in CBS' story, and they are also continuing to say that Democrats, by continuing to push this story, may be hurting themselves in the end -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Getting very interesting.

CNN's Dana Bash, thank you so much, live from Washington -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS; And now the Democrats, who are pulling another Bill Clinton staffer off the bench. This morning, the John Kerry campaign announced that former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry is officially joining their team as a senior adviser. He'll travel with in the campaign homestretch.

On the road, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this morning, Kerry stated his case to the nation's seniors, and slammed the Bush administration on Social Security and health care issues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Once again, this administration hides the truth from the American people. And the reason they're hiding the truth from the American people is because the out-of-pocket expenses of Medicare have now gone up to 37.2 percent by 2006.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And he's on, he's off, he's back on again. Ralph Nader is, at least for the moment, back on the Florida ballot. Last week, a state judge ruled that the Reform Party didn't qualify as a national party under state law, and that Nader didn't deserve a spot on the Florida ballot, but the state's top election official filed an appeal, and ordered election supervisors to put him back. Now the Florida supreme court is getting involved. Stay tuned for further developments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doug Brocail and a fan were getting into it over there. And everybody's racing over, with two strikes on Blalock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Check it out, turns out he pitches chairs just as well as baseballs. Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco, who was the American League rookie in the month of August, just couldn't handle some of the trash the A's fans were talking in Oakland last night. So, he tossed a chair into the right field box seats. It hit two fans. One woman went to the hospital with facial cuts and a broken nose.

Well, today, Francisco was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and now has a mug shot to go along with his rookie card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DUNBAR, DEPUTY CHIEF, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: Well, I think everybody saw the video late night. There was a heckler. And one thing led to another. There was no altercation physical until this player threw a chair into the stands. It looked like it hit the heckler's wife on the side of her head, may have broken her nose. It did cut her face, so that really met the criteria of an aggravated battery, which is a felony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And a little salt for Francisco's wounds: The A's won the game in the 10th inning 7-6. The teams are supposed to meet again tonight in Oakland, and we bet you number 50 will be absent from that roster.

Well,regional department stores from Miami to Seattle are getting a name change. Rhonda Schaffler's not changing her name, but she does have the latest on this. Hi there, Rhonda.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty. Well, names like Burdines, Goldsmiths, Lazarus, they're all about to become a thing of the past. The owner of those stores, Federated Department Stores, says the regional store brands will now simply all be known as Macy's.

The signs will be changed in January, along with shopping bags and other items. Only Bloomingdale's, another Federated chain, will keep its name. The simplified common name will allow Federated to run a national ad campaign and sell more private-label items. In all, 184 stores will be undergoing the name change -- Betty?

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PHILLIPS: Rhonda Schaffler, thank you.

Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, well, she's got a music career spanning four decades. Straight ahead, we're going to talk live with legendary singer Patti LaBelle. LIVE FROM's hour of power has a "New Attitude."

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