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U.S., Iraqis Launch Offensive on Samarra; Al Qaeda Tape Encourages New Leaders; Remains in Dump May be Missing Woman; Making Sense of the Debate; Israel Fights Back Against Rocket Attacks

Aired October 01, 2004 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CO-ANCHOR: And Senator Kerry hit swing states after their first head-to-head bout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American is truly (ph) like the most hated country of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: The debate over the debate. Europeans sound off on the American election.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.

A tug of war in Samarra. Five thousand U.S. and Iraqi soldiers move to retake a Sunni Triangle city they thought they'd dispensed with months ago. It's the hour's top story.

Air attacks and urban warfare with scores of dead insurgents, and a Shiite shrine in the center of it all.

CNN's Jane Arraf is with the 1st U.S. Infantry. We'll hear from her a little bit later. Brent Sadler has the latest for us.

Or not -- Kyra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The main issue dominating Iraq is the threat to routine life here with near daily car bombings, frequent assassinations and kidnappings.

It's in an attempt to root out insurgents operating in key cities that U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up the military pressure, launching a large-scale offensive in Samarra, some 60 miles north of the capital, aimed at wresting control from militants.

A brigade-sized assault by the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division is spearheading Iraq's own army and national guard to secure police stations and key government buildings. The combined advance, using U.S. tanks with close air support, met stiff resistance from fighters armed with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

The U.S. military claims several hundred insurgents and some 65 foreign fighters have taken root in Samarra, making repeated and unprovoked attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces.

This counterinsurgency offensive is likely to escalate, say government officials here. It's seen as the centerpiece of plans to secure Iraq before elections in four months' time.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And in a century of Islamic resistance. That's the rallying cry in an audio recording supposedly of Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It's a tape that aired first, like so many others, on the Arab network Al Jazeera.

Now to get the content and the context from CNN senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr.

You were pointing out the fact that there was talk about leadership, Ayman Al-Zawahiri coming forward and saying you must take the reigns, so to speak. What does this say about where they stand as leaders?

OCTAVIA NASR, ARAB AFFAIRS EDITOR: That's a very good question. Where do they stand?

I mean, this is the second audiotape that we've received from Ayman al-Zawahiri, supposedly Ayman al-Zawahiri. We have no way to confirm it is, indeed, him. It does sound like him.

Right before 9/11 we saw him Ayman al-Zawahiri and heard him. So that would make the other videotape a lot more important than today's tape.

Before we carry on with this, let's take a listen to what you're pointing out, the leadership bite.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA SECOND IN COMMAND (through translator): Oh, young men of Islam, here is our message to you. If we are killed or captured, you should carry on the fight.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

NASR: Now some would say, you know, this is the first time that he has mentioned being captured or killed. And indeed, it is. And you can hear it in his voice. He's saying, "This is our message to you. If we are captured or killed, you have to carry on the fight." And there was also another mention of leadership when he said that the resistance should get together and -- and sort of create a leadership, you know, to run the affairs of al Qaeda.

And, of course, that takes us to your question. You know, aren't they the leaders? They're supposed to be the leaders of al Qaeda. How come they're asking now for the creation of a leadership ward (ph)?

PHILLIPS: Well, it's interesting because you wonder, do they know something? Is something about to happen? Are they getting paranoid? That's and interesting point to think about. But we really didn't hear anything new from this tape, right?

NASR: Absolutely not. And that's very, very important to point out. There was nothing new in this tape. We -- we don't hear any dates or timelines or anything to indicate this is a new tape. Everything on it is general: Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine. Same old rhetoric.

Which also brings up -- brings up the question, are these people -- do they have anything new to offer? Do they -- or are they rehashing their old tapes or rehashing their old message? It's very interesting in this sense.

We have to pay attention. The media have to pay attention always whenever we hear from the No. 2 man in al Qaeda or the No. 1, Osama bin Laden, because usually attacks follow these messages. So we pay attention and we try to dissect these messages, analyze them.

This one has nothing new to offer except for that call for the creation of a leadership for the resistance. And, in a way, a proof of life which we cannot pinpoint. We cannot say it happened -- you know, it was taped last week or two weeks ago or last month.

But it certainly was taped after March. There is a reference there to the assassination of Hamas leaders, which took place back in March. So we know it was taped after that.

PHILLIPS: All right. Octavia Nasr, thank you so much.

NASR: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. We are awaiting a news conference from Salt Lake City at this hour. Authorities are searching a landfill there; say they have found some human remains. They may be the remains of Lori Hacking, who, as you recall, went missing on July 18.

Ultimately, her husband was arrested and charged, allegedly confessed to killing her and then dumping her body into a trash bin. He remains in custody, charged with murder.

And in the meantime, as this whole area is being searched, it has been cordoned off. Let's hear from a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police Department, Phil Eslinger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going through that area where the human remains were found, looking for other things?

PHIL ESLINGER, SPOKESPERSON, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: No. No. We -- the area that we -- the area that the remains were located in has been cordoned off. And that has been the focus at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any clothing?

ESLINGER: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is speculating that this is Lori Hacking. Everyone is hopeful that it is Lori Hacking. If, indeed, it is, tell me just the feeling of relief for your department.

ESLINGER: Well, the relief for our department is the fact that -- if, in fact, this is Lori's remains, is the fact that we are able to bring that family some closure. And that is -- and that's excellent for us, to be able to do that for them, and, also, to be able to put this case together just that much tighter.

O'BRIEN: Once again, human remains found. Still fairly early in all of this. But remains found precisely where they were looking in a landfill. You'll recall Lori Hacking's husband charged with her murder, allegedly confessed, indicated he disposed of her body into a Dumpster.

The first debate is history, but the talking points and propositions, jabs, taunts and spin, well, of course, they live on. Geographically, at least.

President Bush has put his first mano-a-mano with John Kerry far behind him. He's en route to New Hampshire from a campaign event in Pennsylvania, costarring Kerry's old friend and Republican Senate colleague, John McCain.

McCain says Kerry presented himself well. That's a quote from him. Bush says the White House spoke from the heart (sic), and had a good time.

Kerry is spending another day and a half in Florida, a big state that both candidates were largely shut out of for weeks by hurricanes. When Bush did visit, it was to look at damage and to comfort victims, though Democrats suggest that, too, politics.

Kerry also is airing a quickly put together TV spot, highlighting newspaper headlines from the debate.

Now, if you missed it, you missed earnest arguments peppered with moments of exasperation and uncharacteristic conciseness. We'll leave it to you to ascertain which trait is being linked with which candidate. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The war in Iraq dominated, Senator John Kerry forcefully trying to put to rest questions about his positions.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I made a mistake in how I talk about the war, but the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?

WALLACE: And President Bush repeatedly stressing his opponent was sending mixed messages.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place.

What message does that send our troops? What message does it send our allies?

WALLACE: And that's how it went, 90 minutes strong of back and forth with a moderator.

KERRY: In answer to your question about Iraq and sending people into Iraq, he just said the enemy attacked us. Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us.

BUSH: Of course, I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that.

WALLACE: And the president trying to win the point.

BUSH: You better have a president who chases these terrorists down and bring them to justice before they hurt us again.

WALLACE: Stylistically, Kerry seemed more at ease. The president appeared a bit angry at times. There were no great one- liners but a few attempts at humor.

BUSH: I won't told it against him that he went to Yale.

WALLACE: Even a few moments where they said nice things about each other.

BUSH: I admire the fact that he is a great dad.

KERRY: And I -- I have great respect and admiration for his wife.

WALLACE: And then the focus, their opponent's character flaws. Bush on Kerry...

BUSH: You cannot lead if you send mixed messages.

WALLACE: Kerry on Bush...

KERRY: It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong.

WALLACE (on camera): No surprise. Each camp says their guy was the winner, but Senator Kerry, behind in the polls had the most to lose. And initial reactions suggest he put himself back in the game.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, Coral Gables, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Indeed, a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows debate watchers give Kerry the win by a significant margin.

As to who did the better job, 53 percent of the 615 registered voters who watched the debate and responded to the survey said Kerry. Thirty-seven percent said Bush.

Forty-six percent say their opinion of Kerry was bolstered by his debate performance. Thirteen percent say their opinion suffered. Forty-one percent say it didn't change.

Just 21 percent say their opinion of Bush became more favorable; 17 percent say less. A whopping 62 percent report no change.

Now, we point out the debate watchers tend to be more partisan than the voting population in general, and opinions registered immediately after debates are often temporary.

Well, on Tuesday, the second bananas try to slip each other up in Cleveland. Cheney and John Edwards share a stage at Case Western Reserve University, and of course, you're going to see it live right here on CNN.

The next Bush-Kerry showdown comes next Friday at Washington University in St. Louis, with the third and last debate five days later in Arizona state -- at Arizona State, rather, in Tempe.

Straight ahead, smirks, smiles and scribbles. You've heard their words. Ahead, we're going to get an expert to read the body language of candidates Kerry and Bush.

And later, bitter pill? How a decision to take a popular painkiller off the market could hurt your bottom line.

And you want fries with that? A surprise customer comes calling at a fast food restaurant.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

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PHILLIPS: Days of Penitence. That's what Israel is calling a large-scale military operation to stop Palestinian rocket attacks. Armored vehicles are amassing on Israel's border with Gaza after days of violence. And there was more bloodshed today, also.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now live from Jerusalem with the details -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Well, Israeli forces are now involved in their largest and deepest penetration in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the Palestinian revolt four months -- rather years ago this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The dead and wounded keep on coming, the human toll of Israel's latest military operation in Gaza. Code name Days of Penitence, it's intended to create a buffer zone of nine kilometers, about 5 1/2 miles, along the fence that separates Israel from the northern Gaza Strip.

The range of the crude homemade Kassan rockets fired from Gaza into Israel regularly in recent months is the width of buffer.

Much of the fighting has raged in Jabaliya, Gaza's largest refugee camp, home to more than 100,000 people. At least 30 Palestinians, civilian as well as gunmen, have been killed in the battle, raging since early Thursday in this crowded, ramshackle camp.

Despite the operation's name, Hamas fighters are showing no signs of penitence, vowing to strike back.

Two Israeli army brigades have already deployed within Gaza, and two more are poised to go in. The trigger for Israel's latest offensive was the killing Wednesday of two Israeli children by a Kassan rocket which slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot.

DORE GOLD, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ADVISER: It is simply an intolerable situation that Israeli families can't sit in their living rooms in the town of Sderot without worrying that a rain of missiles will hit and strike their homes and kill their children. Israel will not allow that situation to continue.

WEDEMAN: Three other Israelis, a woman and two soldiers, were killed Thursday in Gaza.

Palestinian leaders are calling for international intervention to stop the fighting.

NABIL ABU ROEINEH, ARAFAT SPOKESMAN: We asked the Security Council to interfere immediately, because what's going on on the ground is very dangerous and catastrophic.

WEDEMAN: A call oft made and unlikely to be heard over the roar of gunfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And Kyra, although this operation is designed to stop rocket fire upon Israel, another one of those Kassan rockets was fired onto the Israeli town of Sderot, but in this case, no damage or casualties -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: More news around the world to tell you about.

A suicide bomber targets a Shiite mosque in eastern Pakistan. Hundreds were gathered for afternoon prayers when the bomb went off. Twenty-eight killed, more than 50 wounded. A second bomb outside the mosque was defused.

The country's information minister calls it is a very tragic incident caused by troublemakers trying to destabilize Pakistan.

Now, to Lebanon. The country's former economy minister is among five wounded after a car bomb explode in Beirut. His driver was killed. The remote controlled bomb went off when their car drove past.

And Russia beefs up security at its airports. As of today, all passengers have to take off coats, belts and shoes when going through the screenings. The new measures are in response to those terror attack that brought down two Russian planes in August.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, restless rumbles. On watch for a volcanic eruption. We're live from Mount St. Helens.

Later, American soldiers fighting for democracy. But will they exercise their right to vote in November? Their answers might surprise you.

Monday on LIVE FROM, with eyes on the $10 million prize, a pilot makes an experimental flight into space. We're live from the Mojave Desert.

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O'BRIEN: It's the day after the first presidential debates of this campaign season, and both candidates are out of the stump declaring victory.

Let's listen to John Kerry in Tampa at the University of South Florida.

KERRY: Nobody's talking about wilting and wavering. We're talking about winning and getting the job done right. That's what we're talking about.

(APPLAUSE)

Let's have the real debate.

Now, this is actually even more incredible. We didn't get a chance to really debate it last night, because it was at the end of an answer. But get this: I was pointing out how I have a better plan to defend America. And I do have a better plan to defend America.

I will fight and hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they are. And I'm going to provide America with the ability to do it.

KERRY: And I told you last night I'll add active duty forces to our armed forces. I'm going to double the number of our special forces. We're going to do what we need to do.

We will have the intelligence network that we need and deserve in America, and we're going to have a national director of intelligence with all of the intelligence gathered under one roof. This president is still resisting that.

And let me tell you something: Just today in the front pages of some of the newspapers of America, there's a story of how the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department issued a scathing report of what the administration has not done to unite the watchlists so that when you get on airplanes or you come into the country, we're operating off of one watchlist.

This is the single biggest task of the Homeland Security Department. It's a complete failure. And yet this president stands there and pretends to America we're doing all that we can.

So I raised the subject last night. "I said, Mr. President" -- and you know about this in Florida because -- you've got about 14 ports in Florida. Three of those ports -- one of them here, I know -- but three of those ports are major container ports. Ninety-five percent of the containers coming into America don't get inspected.

And yet we have technology that you can put on cranes that actually does a kind of scan and inspection, and there's other technology for tracking empty containers and for doing the things necessary to make America safer.

But guess what? They haven't done that. Not only have they not done that, when I talked about people in airplanes -- you get in an airplane, your baggage is X-rayed. But guess what? The cargo hold isn't X-rayed. You don't think somebody could figure that one out? We just lost two airplanes in Russia from terrorism.

So my friends, I'm talking about doing things that are fundamental for America's security. And what does the president say? What does the president say in response? He says...

AUDIENCE: Booo!

KERRY: No, no, no, you have to hear this.

He says, "Well, I don't know how you're going to pay for all that. You're going to have a tax gap."

My friends, this is the president who created a tax gap by providing a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans instead of investing in homeland security in the United States.

KERRY: Let's get real.

(APPLAUSE)

Do you know what? This is part of the Bush administration fiction. They think they can fool you all of the time. I know I'm here at a university, and since I'm here at a good university, I can talk about George Orwell and you all know who I'm talking about.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, here we are. This administration has a Clear Skies Initiative, but it makes the air dirtier than it used to be. This administration has a Healthy Forest Initiative, but it's healthy because you cut down the trees. That's the policy.

They have a policy for tax relief, right? But their kind of tax relief is the kind of relief you get when someone goes into your home and robs your TV set -- they relieve you of your TV set.

Because what George Bush has done, he's relieved 500,000 children of after-school programs and care. George Bush had relieved 140,000 unemployed workers of their job training.

And worst, what I just described to you, because of this tax cut, because of his question mark -- How are you going to pay for it? -- this president has relieved America of the homeland security that it deserves. And we're going to change that on November 2nd.

(APPLAUSE)

O'BRIEN: Senator John Kerry on the day after the first debates, stumping for votes in Florida, a place that's been difficult to get to of late because of all the hurricanes that blasted through that state.

We should note many Floridians missed the debate last night. They're still in the dark, as a result of the hurricanes.

He'll head to Kissimmee after that. We're tracking the campaigns, as always, for you. We'll keep you posted as both candidates on the day after tell their side of the story on how they think it all went -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Heartening news from London where British Prime Minister Tony Blair successfully has undergone treatment to correct an irregular heartbeat. Mr. Blair is already back at 10 Downing Street. But CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is at Hammersmith Hospital with more on today's procedure. How did it all go down, Fionnuala?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the British prime minister left this hospital just about an hour ago and returned to Downing Street, where he said to awaiting reporters that he felt fine.

As you say, this was a routine procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat, and it involved, among other things, inserting a catheter into a vein near the heart and then from there into the heart.

A hospital spokesman said that the procedure had gone well and he expected the British prime minister to make a full and rapid recovery.

Now, the announcement that he was to undergo this procedure was made last night to shocked journalists and indeed, has stunned the British public somewhat. And Mr. Blair is 51 years of age, exercises regularly, likes to play tennis. But he has had a fluttering of the heart a year or so ago and then a recurrence of the same problem in August.

And in his interviews to the media last night, he said he was undergoing this routine procedure to deal with it now. And during that time, as well, with the media last night, he also stressed that he intended to run again for office when a general election will be held, presumably, we think, next May, and that he intended to serve another full term as British prime minister, but would not seek a fourth term after that -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Finnoula, I -- we remember here in the United States when Vice President Dick Cheney went through his heart surgery. There was a lot of questions about is he fit to still take on that post. You say that the prime minister is looking forward to a reelection. What are people saying close to him? What are voters saying?

SWEENEY: Well, there have been a lot of speculation about the premiership over the last year or so. In fact, many believe that a deal was done as far back as 1994 when Tony Blair became leader of the Labor Party, a deal was done with the chancellor of Schteka (ph) here, that is essentially the finance minister Gordon Brown, that Tony Blair would serve a term or two and then hand over to Gordon Brand. Now that has been speculation in the media on and off over the years, but it's kind of reached fever pitch last week. Reports, again, of a rift between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Gordon Brown upset that Tony Blair didn't want to stand down.

And at the annual Labor Party conference, that is Tony Blair's political party, this week in Brighton. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown appealed -- appeared to have healed their rift, both showing their support for each other, and there was the shock announcement last night that Mr. Blair saying he had no intention of stepping down in the near future, he intends to run for reelection in May. But those who say that really all he has done is give something like four years notice to his political opponent to start the battle for the leadership -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Finnoula Sweeney, live from London, thank you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: OK, we know mount St. Helens is rumbling again, and we should be nervous about it, either a little bit or a lot, depending on which expert is talking at any given moment. Scientists watching the volcano do expect some event in the mountain's crater, and they expect it soon.

To Kimberly Osias now in the beautiful Cascades, a view of restless Mount St. Helens in the distance behind her.

Kimberly, good to have you with us. What's the latest?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to talk to you, Miles.

Well, I'll tell you, all that's blowing right now is a heck of a lot of wind, so I apologize for that. We haven't seen any ash yet. Everybody is on pins and needles just waiting. And as you said, some people are nervous, but a lot of people are excited about this.

We're at a level-two alert, or an orange alert, just under the red, meaning that volcanic activity is imminent. Scientists are saying that we've seen a number of earthquakes, some measuring with a magnitude of 3.3 even.

Now the whole focus of the activity is on this dome, but -- the crater's dome. They've had some helicopters, some help coming in with some helicopters earlier, using -- scientists are using infrared technology to their advantage to help them check for hotspots, or some steam, and also remain a safe distance from the crater. This technology is coming in from Alaska. In fact, there have been a number of choppers that have passed several times, just in the last hour or so around here.

I want to show you some beautiful shots aerially of that dome that we were talking about just a while ago. That dome is 925 feet, and it is earth that has built up since the 1980 explosion back in May. That was a horrible explosion, many recall; 57 people were killed, 200 homes destroyed. Scientists do not predict anything of that nature. They predict what could happen is it could be some ash and steam that could blow for several miles, and even have fist-size rocks.

They also are saying now that behind the crater, this sort of horseshoe crater, there's a glacier area, and they've seen some cracking, some cracking that has even shown some blue ice. That's how deep it goes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PIERSON, USGS: What we're seeing is some sort of, as Peter just said, some sort of upward pushing up or thrusting up of some portion of the crater floor. We don't know exactly how big that is. I haven't had a chance to get the latest on the dimensions. I heard it was roughly several hundred yards across. But, and so far, last I heard, there was no steaming. So what's pushing up seems to be cold rock, but likely, there's magma beneath that that's pushing below. (END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Now, if you want to play the odds, the likelihood, scientists say, that Mount St. Helens will blow is about 70 percent -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Kimberly Osias, 70 percent. Presumably, where you're standing, you won't be in harm's way because of the nature-anticipated eruption, right?

OSIAS: That's right. The crater is about 5 1/2 miles behind us. So we are a safe distance, and there are still a number of tourists watching and waiting. They expect it will be contained really to that area.

O'BRIEN: All right. Kimberly Osias at Mount St. Helens, thanks very much, back with more LIVE FROM in a moment.

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O'BRIEN: And now for a little bit of political perspective from overseas, CNN's Walter Rodgers watched last night's debate in London. Joining him, some people who didn't, or don't get to cast a vote, but who have strong opinions about America's choice for president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can lead this country...

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Serve a group of Europeans bagels and lox, blueberry muffins spiced with a U.S. presidential debate, and the analysts political indigestion.

RODGERS (on camera): Raise your hand if you think Kerry won the debate.

(voice-over): It seemed unanimous on this side of the Atlantic, Kerry won. But ask these same Europeans who they think will win the election, no question, Bush.

STEPHANIE STAVRINDES (ph), GREEN CYPRIOT: I think Bush can appeal a lot to the American people. He speaks simply, he's a very emotional man, and he shows a lot of passion in what he says. That definitely does appeal to the American people, who are very -- they like the simple talk.

RODGERS: President Bush seemed to confirm some Europeans assumptions that Americans are simple. Yet, the French don't find Americans perplexing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't explain how a country like America is in four years like the most hated country of the world. And I'm not saying, it's not an opinion. American people with whom I talk to in Paris who tell me this. RODGERS: It's true. Being an American in Europe makes you a target for insults and physical assault these days. The presidential debates were too late to make the morning papers here, but Europeans seemed resigned they are going to get four more years of Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be the same thing the last four years. So USA alone and maybe the world (ph) everywhere.

RODGERS: Inside, among our sample group of Europeans, similar cynicism.

KARINA URBACH, GERMAN HISTORIAN: Kerry would be an excellent president of the European Union. But that doesn't help him much, I guess. So you will be left with Bush at then end of the day.

RODGERS: Candidate Kerry talks Europe's language of alliances and multilateralism. Europeans share Kerry's view the Bush administration has made a mess of Iraq.

Still, the American president's rigid stand may have helped him overseas.

GORDIE CASINOS, SPANISH BUSINESSMAN: At the beginning I was against Bush, but I think after seeing Kerry, I would support Bush. I think Kerry is not the right person for the next four years.

RODGERS (on camera): Europeans feel they have a vital stake in the U.S. elections. More than a few wish they could vote in the States. Lacking that license, however, we could be in for four more years of trans-Atlantic grumbling and continental drift.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So much for the opinion across the pond, how did the candidates play in Peoria, or more precisely, at Ohio State University? CNNfn put touchpads in the hands of an audience to gauge their real time reaction to what the candidates were saying. Here is how it looked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people will decide. I decided the right action was in Iraq. My opponent calls it a mistake. It wasn't a mistake. He said I misled on Iraq. I don't think he was misleading when he called Iraq a grave threat in the fall of 2002.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Soldiers know over there that this isn't being done right yet. I'm going to get it right for those soldiers because it is important to Israel, it is important to America, it is important to the world, it's important to the fight on terror. But I have a plan to do it. He doesn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, in all, 22 undecided voters took part in this political version of rate a record. And we'll let you know if CNNfn plans to use this during future debates.

Well, you can memorize every fact in the world and have a command of every single issue, you can Superglu yourself to your point of view and stay on message until the cows come home. But like it or not, you are judged less on what you say than on how you say it.

Why does body language matter so much in how we judge people and why is it so crucial to presidential candidates in a debate? Joining us from New York to put style on trial, I guess we could say, Bob Wiesner, a communications expert with consulting firm Rogen International.

Good to see you, Bob.

BOB WIESNER, DIRECTOR, ROGEN INTL.: Nice to be here, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it seems the criticism began as soon as these two men shook hands, got on the stage, shook hands. And all of a sudden the critics were talking about how they pulled away or didn't pull away or who they looked at.

Taking a look at that, and right off the bat, as you look at the whole debate, leadership-wise, a strong leader, who came off stronger and why?

WIESNER: Well, that's a fairly simple analysis. From a leadership standpoint it was clearly Kerry. Kerry had a lot to prove. He needed to prove that he could be a strong commander in chief. And well, if you think back to the image of, say, someone like George C. Scott portraying General Patton in the movie, you are looking for a very strong body language, very upright and rigid posture, very sharp gestures, a very strong voice, very strong eye contact, which I think Senator Kerry was quite successful at executing.

PHILLIPS: So why are these so important, the posture and the tone and the eye contact, especially right now and for voters?

WIESNER: Because we're looking at trust as a critical issue here. And trust is a combination of not only what you say, but, also, how you say it. The same message can be interpreted and heard many, many different ways if the body language doesn't support it.

Body language isn't sign language. I want to be really clear about that. So there isn't a right gesture for leadership or a right gesture for a commander in chief. But if we don't have a complete package, if we don't have somebody who looks the part and sounds the part and not just delivering messages, it is very common for people to not believe the entire package is there.

PHILLIPS: All right. Looks the part, sounds the part, Ronald Reagan, known as "the great communicator," also an actor. When it comes down to it, is it the individual who is the better actor, or is it the individual who comes across more real, down-to-earth? WIESNER: Kyra, that's a great question. I think it really depends on what does the American public look for, and what defines leadership in their minds? And in this particular case we're talking mainly about the undecideds. Clearly having acting ability or the ability to be coached is important.

At our firm we work with senior leaders who don't have particularly broad styles. We try to pull them into different areas. But you can't turn them into actors nor can you turn them something they're not. So if the American public wants to see a strong, General Patton-like leader, then Kerry, whether he is a good actor or not, has to portray that.

PHILLIPS: So can a candidate actually win or lose just because of a presentation?

WIESNER: Well, I think you have to look only at Richard Nixon's performance in 1960 to say absolutely yes. I'm not sure that that was the case last night. But if we continue to see the same sort of performance from both Senator Kerry and President Bush, it is quite likely that we may have another Nixon-like situation.

PHILLIPS: Do you think one candidate trained more than another one when it came to body language and how they came across?

WIESNER: It's hard to say, Kyra. Certainly they have all learned the thumb tack gesture, which is a pretty standard coaching gesture. But whether or not they've actually gotten training, I would assume they have. Whether they've learned to take on the training and still appear natural, very difficult to tell.

PHILLIPS: Interesting stuff. All right. Bob Wiesner with Rogen International, thanks a lot.

WIESNER: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM from right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More than 500 patients at a prestigious U.S. hospital may have been exposed to a protein linked to a deadly brain disease, a probable case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been found in a patient at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Five hundred and sixteen other patients who also had surgery there have been warned of the remote possibility of exposure. Definitive confirmation will not be known for several weeks, so the hospital is looking at the sterilization of surgical instruments now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM A. BORNSTEIN, EMORY HEALTHCARE: We always follow and always have followed the required sterilization procedures. And we followed those in this case. What didn't happen is that the instruments that ended up having been used in a patient who subsequently turned out to have CJD were not subjected to this special enhanced sterilization that's necessary for CJD.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CJD is a degenerative fatal brain disorder that strikes one out of a million people each year. The Emory case is not the same as variant CJD that has been linked with mad cow disease.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Urban dwellers in west Philadelphia got close to nature last night, a bit too close for some people's comfort. A deer took a wrong turn somewhere and found itself in this fried chicken restaurant on Broad Street. Heard it was kind of popular. Well, he was not terribly happy to be there. Neither were the people taken rather by surprise when the deer showed up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started jumping around into the window because it saw its reflection, and then it just settled down and it was lying down on the thing, but it was crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the deer probably got separated from its herd in Fairmont Park and wandered into the city. The tail of the white tail ends predictably enough, though. Animal control officers managed to tranquilize the frightened creature and removed it. And by the way, chicken sandwiches for the rest of the night only a buck.

Sorry, Miles. That was a total Miles-liner, wasn't it?

O'BRIEN: I think so, yes.

PHILLIPS: You're influencing me. It's scary.

O'BRIEN: Yikes, that is scary.

All right, I'm sorry, Kyra. I'm very sorry. Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, you've seen the devastating pictures, you've heard the harrowing tales of survival. Up next, we'll talk to the man who saw it all firsthand. He's been to every one of those hurricanes and caught the brunt of many of them, CNN international correspondent Karl Penhaul in the house to give us the inside story. I must confess, when I saw him, I thought, uh-oh, we're in trouble here. There must be a hurricane coming our way. He'll join us when LIVE FROM's hour of power begins after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Assaults against insurgents. U.S. and Iraqi forces move to retake the hostile city. Our Jane Arraf is the only reporter embedded with the military in Samarra. O'BRIEN: The debate over the debate. Both Bush and Kerry claim victory, of course. But what do voters think? New poll numbers this hour.

PHILLIPS: Containing a nuclear threat. North Korea in the foreign policy spotlight, after a big difference of opinion in last night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the coolest ride I've ever taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Gnarly, dude. A surfer hangs 10 on the back of a whale. I guess you could call that story killer.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired October 1, 2004 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-ANCHOR: And Senator Kerry hit swing states after their first head-to-head bout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American is truly (ph) like the most hated country of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-ANCHOR: The debate over the debate. Europeans sound off on the American election.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips.

O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.

A tug of war in Samarra. Five thousand U.S. and Iraqi soldiers move to retake a Sunni Triangle city they thought they'd dispensed with months ago. It's the hour's top story.

Air attacks and urban warfare with scores of dead insurgents, and a Shiite shrine in the center of it all.

CNN's Jane Arraf is with the 1st U.S. Infantry. We'll hear from her a little bit later. Brent Sadler has the latest for us.

Or not -- Kyra.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The main issue dominating Iraq is the threat to routine life here with near daily car bombings, frequent assassinations and kidnappings.

It's in an attempt to root out insurgents operating in key cities that U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up the military pressure, launching a large-scale offensive in Samarra, some 60 miles north of the capital, aimed at wresting control from militants.

A brigade-sized assault by the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division is spearheading Iraq's own army and national guard to secure police stations and key government buildings. The combined advance, using U.S. tanks with close air support, met stiff resistance from fighters armed with rocket propelled grenades and machine guns.

The U.S. military claims several hundred insurgents and some 65 foreign fighters have taken root in Samarra, making repeated and unprovoked attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces.

This counterinsurgency offensive is likely to escalate, say government officials here. It's seen as the centerpiece of plans to secure Iraq before elections in four months' time.

Brent Sadler, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And in a century of Islamic resistance. That's the rallying cry in an audio recording supposedly of Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. It's a tape that aired first, like so many others, on the Arab network Al Jazeera.

Now to get the content and the context from CNN senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr.

You were pointing out the fact that there was talk about leadership, Ayman Al-Zawahiri coming forward and saying you must take the reigns, so to speak. What does this say about where they stand as leaders?

OCTAVIA NASR, ARAB AFFAIRS EDITOR: That's a very good question. Where do they stand?

I mean, this is the second audiotape that we've received from Ayman al-Zawahiri, supposedly Ayman al-Zawahiri. We have no way to confirm it is, indeed, him. It does sound like him.

Right before 9/11 we saw him Ayman al-Zawahiri and heard him. So that would make the other videotape a lot more important than today's tape.

Before we carry on with this, let's take a listen to what you're pointing out, the leadership bite.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

AYMAN AL-ZAWAHIRI, AL QAEDA SECOND IN COMMAND (through translator): Oh, young men of Islam, here is our message to you. If we are killed or captured, you should carry on the fight.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

NASR: Now some would say, you know, this is the first time that he has mentioned being captured or killed. And indeed, it is. And you can hear it in his voice. He's saying, "This is our message to you. If we are captured or killed, you have to carry on the fight." And there was also another mention of leadership when he said that the resistance should get together and -- and sort of create a leadership, you know, to run the affairs of al Qaeda.

And, of course, that takes us to your question. You know, aren't they the leaders? They're supposed to be the leaders of al Qaeda. How come they're asking now for the creation of a leadership ward (ph)?

PHILLIPS: Well, it's interesting because you wonder, do they know something? Is something about to happen? Are they getting paranoid? That's and interesting point to think about. But we really didn't hear anything new from this tape, right?

NASR: Absolutely not. And that's very, very important to point out. There was nothing new in this tape. We -- we don't hear any dates or timelines or anything to indicate this is a new tape. Everything on it is general: Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine. Same old rhetoric.

Which also brings up -- brings up the question, are these people -- do they have anything new to offer? Do they -- or are they rehashing their old tapes or rehashing their old message? It's very interesting in this sense.

We have to pay attention. The media have to pay attention always whenever we hear from the No. 2 man in al Qaeda or the No. 1, Osama bin Laden, because usually attacks follow these messages. So we pay attention and we try to dissect these messages, analyze them.

This one has nothing new to offer except for that call for the creation of a leadership for the resistance. And, in a way, a proof of life which we cannot pinpoint. We cannot say it happened -- you know, it was taped last week or two weeks ago or last month.

But it certainly was taped after March. There is a reference there to the assassination of Hamas leaders, which took place back in March. So we know it was taped after that.

PHILLIPS: All right. Octavia Nasr, thank you so much.

NASR: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. We are awaiting a news conference from Salt Lake City at this hour. Authorities are searching a landfill there; say they have found some human remains. They may be the remains of Lori Hacking, who, as you recall, went missing on July 18.

Ultimately, her husband was arrested and charged, allegedly confessed to killing her and then dumping her body into a trash bin. He remains in custody, charged with murder.

And in the meantime, as this whole area is being searched, it has been cordoned off. Let's hear from a spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police Department, Phil Eslinger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going through that area where the human remains were found, looking for other things?

PHIL ESLINGER, SPOKESPERSON, SALT LAKE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: No. No. We -- the area that we -- the area that the remains were located in has been cordoned off. And that has been the focus at the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any clothing?

ESLINGER: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is speculating that this is Lori Hacking. Everyone is hopeful that it is Lori Hacking. If, indeed, it is, tell me just the feeling of relief for your department.

ESLINGER: Well, the relief for our department is the fact that -- if, in fact, this is Lori's remains, is the fact that we are able to bring that family some closure. And that is -- and that's excellent for us, to be able to do that for them, and, also, to be able to put this case together just that much tighter.

O'BRIEN: Once again, human remains found. Still fairly early in all of this. But remains found precisely where they were looking in a landfill. You'll recall Lori Hacking's husband charged with her murder, allegedly confessed, indicated he disposed of her body into a Dumpster.

The first debate is history, but the talking points and propositions, jabs, taunts and spin, well, of course, they live on. Geographically, at least.

President Bush has put his first mano-a-mano with John Kerry far behind him. He's en route to New Hampshire from a campaign event in Pennsylvania, costarring Kerry's old friend and Republican Senate colleague, John McCain.

McCain says Kerry presented himself well. That's a quote from him. Bush says the White House spoke from the heart (sic), and had a good time.

Kerry is spending another day and a half in Florida, a big state that both candidates were largely shut out of for weeks by hurricanes. When Bush did visit, it was to look at damage and to comfort victims, though Democrats suggest that, too, politics.

Kerry also is airing a quickly put together TV spot, highlighting newspaper headlines from the debate.

Now, if you missed it, you missed earnest arguments peppered with moments of exasperation and uncharacteristic conciseness. We'll leave it to you to ascertain which trait is being linked with which candidate. Here's CNN's Kelly Wallace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The war in Iraq dominated, Senator John Kerry forcefully trying to put to rest questions about his positions.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I made a mistake in how I talk about the war, but the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?

WALLACE: And President Bush repeatedly stressing his opponent was sending mixed messages.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place.

What message does that send our troops? What message does it send our allies?

WALLACE: And that's how it went, 90 minutes strong of back and forth with a moderator.

KERRY: In answer to your question about Iraq and sending people into Iraq, he just said the enemy attacked us. Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden attacked us. Al Qaeda attacked us.

BUSH: Of course, I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that.

WALLACE: And the president trying to win the point.

BUSH: You better have a president who chases these terrorists down and bring them to justice before they hurt us again.

WALLACE: Stylistically, Kerry seemed more at ease. The president appeared a bit angry at times. There were no great one- liners but a few attempts at humor.

BUSH: I won't told it against him that he went to Yale.

WALLACE: Even a few moments where they said nice things about each other.

BUSH: I admire the fact that he is a great dad.

KERRY: And I -- I have great respect and admiration for his wife.

WALLACE: And then the focus, their opponent's character flaws. Bush on Kerry...

BUSH: You cannot lead if you send mixed messages.

WALLACE: Kerry on Bush...

KERRY: It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong.

WALLACE (on camera): No surprise. Each camp says their guy was the winner, but Senator Kerry, behind in the polls had the most to lose. And initial reactions suggest he put himself back in the game.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, Coral Gables, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Indeed, a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows debate watchers give Kerry the win by a significant margin.

As to who did the better job, 53 percent of the 615 registered voters who watched the debate and responded to the survey said Kerry. Thirty-seven percent said Bush.

Forty-six percent say their opinion of Kerry was bolstered by his debate performance. Thirteen percent say their opinion suffered. Forty-one percent say it didn't change.

Just 21 percent say their opinion of Bush became more favorable; 17 percent say less. A whopping 62 percent report no change.

Now, we point out the debate watchers tend to be more partisan than the voting population in general, and opinions registered immediately after debates are often temporary.

Well, on Tuesday, the second bananas try to slip each other up in Cleveland. Cheney and John Edwards share a stage at Case Western Reserve University, and of course, you're going to see it live right here on CNN.

The next Bush-Kerry showdown comes next Friday at Washington University in St. Louis, with the third and last debate five days later in Arizona state -- at Arizona State, rather, in Tempe.

Straight ahead, smirks, smiles and scribbles. You've heard their words. Ahead, we're going to get an expert to read the body language of candidates Kerry and Bush.

And later, bitter pill? How a decision to take a popular painkiller off the market could hurt your bottom line.

And you want fries with that? A surprise customer comes calling at a fast food restaurant.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Days of Penitence. That's what Israel is calling a large-scale military operation to stop Palestinian rocket attacks. Armored vehicles are amassing on Israel's border with Gaza after days of violence. And there was more bloodshed today, also.

CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now live from Jerusalem with the details -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Well, Israeli forces are now involved in their largest and deepest penetration in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the Palestinian revolt four months -- rather years ago this week.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The dead and wounded keep on coming, the human toll of Israel's latest military operation in Gaza. Code name Days of Penitence, it's intended to create a buffer zone of nine kilometers, about 5 1/2 miles, along the fence that separates Israel from the northern Gaza Strip.

The range of the crude homemade Kassan rockets fired from Gaza into Israel regularly in recent months is the width of buffer.

Much of the fighting has raged in Jabaliya, Gaza's largest refugee camp, home to more than 100,000 people. At least 30 Palestinians, civilian as well as gunmen, have been killed in the battle, raging since early Thursday in this crowded, ramshackle camp.

Despite the operation's name, Hamas fighters are showing no signs of penitence, vowing to strike back.

Two Israeli army brigades have already deployed within Gaza, and two more are poised to go in. The trigger for Israel's latest offensive was the killing Wednesday of two Israeli children by a Kassan rocket which slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot.

DORE GOLD, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT ADVISER: It is simply an intolerable situation that Israeli families can't sit in their living rooms in the town of Sderot without worrying that a rain of missiles will hit and strike their homes and kill their children. Israel will not allow that situation to continue.

WEDEMAN: Three other Israelis, a woman and two soldiers, were killed Thursday in Gaza.

Palestinian leaders are calling for international intervention to stop the fighting.

NABIL ABU ROEINEH, ARAFAT SPOKESMAN: We asked the Security Council to interfere immediately, because what's going on on the ground is very dangerous and catastrophic.

WEDEMAN: A call oft made and unlikely to be heard over the roar of gunfire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And Kyra, although this operation is designed to stop rocket fire upon Israel, another one of those Kassan rockets was fired onto the Israeli town of Sderot, but in this case, no damage or casualties -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: More news around the world to tell you about.

A suicide bomber targets a Shiite mosque in eastern Pakistan. Hundreds were gathered for afternoon prayers when the bomb went off. Twenty-eight killed, more than 50 wounded. A second bomb outside the mosque was defused.

The country's information minister calls it is a very tragic incident caused by troublemakers trying to destabilize Pakistan.

Now, to Lebanon. The country's former economy minister is among five wounded after a car bomb explode in Beirut. His driver was killed. The remote controlled bomb went off when their car drove past.

And Russia beefs up security at its airports. As of today, all passengers have to take off coats, belts and shoes when going through the screenings. The new measures are in response to those terror attack that brought down two Russian planes in August.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next, on LIVE FROM, restless rumbles. On watch for a volcanic eruption. We're live from Mount St. Helens.

Later, American soldiers fighting for democracy. But will they exercise their right to vote in November? Their answers might surprise you.

Monday on LIVE FROM, with eyes on the $10 million prize, a pilot makes an experimental flight into space. We're live from the Mojave Desert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It's the day after the first presidential debates of this campaign season, and both candidates are out of the stump declaring victory.

Let's listen to John Kerry in Tampa at the University of South Florida.

KERRY: Nobody's talking about wilting and wavering. We're talking about winning and getting the job done right. That's what we're talking about.

(APPLAUSE)

Let's have the real debate.

Now, this is actually even more incredible. We didn't get a chance to really debate it last night, because it was at the end of an answer. But get this: I was pointing out how I have a better plan to defend America. And I do have a better plan to defend America.

I will fight and hunt down and kill the terrorists wherever they are. And I'm going to provide America with the ability to do it.

KERRY: And I told you last night I'll add active duty forces to our armed forces. I'm going to double the number of our special forces. We're going to do what we need to do.

We will have the intelligence network that we need and deserve in America, and we're going to have a national director of intelligence with all of the intelligence gathered under one roof. This president is still resisting that.

And let me tell you something: Just today in the front pages of some of the newspapers of America, there's a story of how the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department issued a scathing report of what the administration has not done to unite the watchlists so that when you get on airplanes or you come into the country, we're operating off of one watchlist.

This is the single biggest task of the Homeland Security Department. It's a complete failure. And yet this president stands there and pretends to America we're doing all that we can.

So I raised the subject last night. "I said, Mr. President" -- and you know about this in Florida because -- you've got about 14 ports in Florida. Three of those ports -- one of them here, I know -- but three of those ports are major container ports. Ninety-five percent of the containers coming into America don't get inspected.

And yet we have technology that you can put on cranes that actually does a kind of scan and inspection, and there's other technology for tracking empty containers and for doing the things necessary to make America safer.

But guess what? They haven't done that. Not only have they not done that, when I talked about people in airplanes -- you get in an airplane, your baggage is X-rayed. But guess what? The cargo hold isn't X-rayed. You don't think somebody could figure that one out? We just lost two airplanes in Russia from terrorism.

So my friends, I'm talking about doing things that are fundamental for America's security. And what does the president say? What does the president say in response? He says...

AUDIENCE: Booo!

KERRY: No, no, no, you have to hear this.

He says, "Well, I don't know how you're going to pay for all that. You're going to have a tax gap."

My friends, this is the president who created a tax gap by providing a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans instead of investing in homeland security in the United States.

KERRY: Let's get real.

(APPLAUSE)

Do you know what? This is part of the Bush administration fiction. They think they can fool you all of the time. I know I'm here at a university, and since I'm here at a good university, I can talk about George Orwell and you all know who I'm talking about.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, here we are. This administration has a Clear Skies Initiative, but it makes the air dirtier than it used to be. This administration has a Healthy Forest Initiative, but it's healthy because you cut down the trees. That's the policy.

They have a policy for tax relief, right? But their kind of tax relief is the kind of relief you get when someone goes into your home and robs your TV set -- they relieve you of your TV set.

Because what George Bush has done, he's relieved 500,000 children of after-school programs and care. George Bush had relieved 140,000 unemployed workers of their job training.

And worst, what I just described to you, because of this tax cut, because of his question mark -- How are you going to pay for it? -- this president has relieved America of the homeland security that it deserves. And we're going to change that on November 2nd.

(APPLAUSE)

O'BRIEN: Senator John Kerry on the day after the first debates, stumping for votes in Florida, a place that's been difficult to get to of late because of all the hurricanes that blasted through that state.

We should note many Floridians missed the debate last night. They're still in the dark, as a result of the hurricanes.

He'll head to Kissimmee after that. We're tracking the campaigns, as always, for you. We'll keep you posted as both candidates on the day after tell their side of the story on how they think it all went -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Heartening news from London where British Prime Minister Tony Blair successfully has undergone treatment to correct an irregular heartbeat. Mr. Blair is already back at 10 Downing Street. But CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is at Hammersmith Hospital with more on today's procedure. How did it all go down, Fionnuala?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the British prime minister left this hospital just about an hour ago and returned to Downing Street, where he said to awaiting reporters that he felt fine.

As you say, this was a routine procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat, and it involved, among other things, inserting a catheter into a vein near the heart and then from there into the heart.

A hospital spokesman said that the procedure had gone well and he expected the British prime minister to make a full and rapid recovery.

Now, the announcement that he was to undergo this procedure was made last night to shocked journalists and indeed, has stunned the British public somewhat. And Mr. Blair is 51 years of age, exercises regularly, likes to play tennis. But he has had a fluttering of the heart a year or so ago and then a recurrence of the same problem in August.

And in his interviews to the media last night, he said he was undergoing this routine procedure to deal with it now. And during that time, as well, with the media last night, he also stressed that he intended to run again for office when a general election will be held, presumably, we think, next May, and that he intended to serve another full term as British prime minister, but would not seek a fourth term after that -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Finnoula, I -- we remember here in the United States when Vice President Dick Cheney went through his heart surgery. There was a lot of questions about is he fit to still take on that post. You say that the prime minister is looking forward to a reelection. What are people saying close to him? What are voters saying?

SWEENEY: Well, there have been a lot of speculation about the premiership over the last year or so. In fact, many believe that a deal was done as far back as 1994 when Tony Blair became leader of the Labor Party, a deal was done with the chancellor of Schteka (ph) here, that is essentially the finance minister Gordon Brown, that Tony Blair would serve a term or two and then hand over to Gordon Brand. Now that has been speculation in the media on and off over the years, but it's kind of reached fever pitch last week. Reports, again, of a rift between Gordon Brown and Tony Blair. Gordon Brown upset that Tony Blair didn't want to stand down.

And at the annual Labor Party conference, that is Tony Blair's political party, this week in Brighton. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown appealed -- appeared to have healed their rift, both showing their support for each other, and there was the shock announcement last night that Mr. Blair saying he had no intention of stepping down in the near future, he intends to run for reelection in May. But those who say that really all he has done is give something like four years notice to his political opponent to start the battle for the leadership -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Finnoula Sweeney, live from London, thank you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: OK, we know mount St. Helens is rumbling again, and we should be nervous about it, either a little bit or a lot, depending on which expert is talking at any given moment. Scientists watching the volcano do expect some event in the mountain's crater, and they expect it soon.

To Kimberly Osias now in the beautiful Cascades, a view of restless Mount St. Helens in the distance behind her.

Kimberly, good to have you with us. What's the latest?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to talk to you, Miles.

Well, I'll tell you, all that's blowing right now is a heck of a lot of wind, so I apologize for that. We haven't seen any ash yet. Everybody is on pins and needles just waiting. And as you said, some people are nervous, but a lot of people are excited about this.

We're at a level-two alert, or an orange alert, just under the red, meaning that volcanic activity is imminent. Scientists are saying that we've seen a number of earthquakes, some measuring with a magnitude of 3.3 even.

Now the whole focus of the activity is on this dome, but -- the crater's dome. They've had some helicopters, some help coming in with some helicopters earlier, using -- scientists are using infrared technology to their advantage to help them check for hotspots, or some steam, and also remain a safe distance from the crater. This technology is coming in from Alaska. In fact, there have been a number of choppers that have passed several times, just in the last hour or so around here.

I want to show you some beautiful shots aerially of that dome that we were talking about just a while ago. That dome is 925 feet, and it is earth that has built up since the 1980 explosion back in May. That was a horrible explosion, many recall; 57 people were killed, 200 homes destroyed. Scientists do not predict anything of that nature. They predict what could happen is it could be some ash and steam that could blow for several miles, and even have fist-size rocks.

They also are saying now that behind the crater, this sort of horseshoe crater, there's a glacier area, and they've seen some cracking, some cracking that has even shown some blue ice. That's how deep it goes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PIERSON, USGS: What we're seeing is some sort of, as Peter just said, some sort of upward pushing up or thrusting up of some portion of the crater floor. We don't know exactly how big that is. I haven't had a chance to get the latest on the dimensions. I heard it was roughly several hundred yards across. But, and so far, last I heard, there was no steaming. So what's pushing up seems to be cold rock, but likely, there's magma beneath that that's pushing below. (END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: Now, if you want to play the odds, the likelihood, scientists say, that Mount St. Helens will blow is about 70 percent -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Kimberly Osias, 70 percent. Presumably, where you're standing, you won't be in harm's way because of the nature-anticipated eruption, right?

OSIAS: That's right. The crater is about 5 1/2 miles behind us. So we are a safe distance, and there are still a number of tourists watching and waiting. They expect it will be contained really to that area.

O'BRIEN: All right. Kimberly Osias at Mount St. Helens, thanks very much, back with more LIVE FROM in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: And now for a little bit of political perspective from overseas, CNN's Walter Rodgers watched last night's debate in London. Joining him, some people who didn't, or don't get to cast a vote, but who have strong opinions about America's choice for president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't see how you can lead this country...

WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Serve a group of Europeans bagels and lox, blueberry muffins spiced with a U.S. presidential debate, and the analysts political indigestion.

RODGERS (on camera): Raise your hand if you think Kerry won the debate.

(voice-over): It seemed unanimous on this side of the Atlantic, Kerry won. But ask these same Europeans who they think will win the election, no question, Bush.

STEPHANIE STAVRINDES (ph), GREEN CYPRIOT: I think Bush can appeal a lot to the American people. He speaks simply, he's a very emotional man, and he shows a lot of passion in what he says. That definitely does appeal to the American people, who are very -- they like the simple talk.

RODGERS: President Bush seemed to confirm some Europeans assumptions that Americans are simple. Yet, the French don't find Americans perplexing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't explain how a country like America is in four years like the most hated country of the world. And I'm not saying, it's not an opinion. American people with whom I talk to in Paris who tell me this. RODGERS: It's true. Being an American in Europe makes you a target for insults and physical assault these days. The presidential debates were too late to make the morning papers here, but Europeans seemed resigned they are going to get four more years of Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be the same thing the last four years. So USA alone and maybe the world (ph) everywhere.

RODGERS: Inside, among our sample group of Europeans, similar cynicism.

KARINA URBACH, GERMAN HISTORIAN: Kerry would be an excellent president of the European Union. But that doesn't help him much, I guess. So you will be left with Bush at then end of the day.

RODGERS: Candidate Kerry talks Europe's language of alliances and multilateralism. Europeans share Kerry's view the Bush administration has made a mess of Iraq.

Still, the American president's rigid stand may have helped him overseas.

GORDIE CASINOS, SPANISH BUSINESSMAN: At the beginning I was against Bush, but I think after seeing Kerry, I would support Bush. I think Kerry is not the right person for the next four years.

RODGERS (on camera): Europeans feel they have a vital stake in the U.S. elections. More than a few wish they could vote in the States. Lacking that license, however, we could be in for four more years of trans-Atlantic grumbling and continental drift.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So much for the opinion across the pond, how did the candidates play in Peoria, or more precisely, at Ohio State University? CNNfn put touchpads in the hands of an audience to gauge their real time reaction to what the candidates were saying. Here is how it looked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The American people will decide. I decided the right action was in Iraq. My opponent calls it a mistake. It wasn't a mistake. He said I misled on Iraq. I don't think he was misleading when he called Iraq a grave threat in the fall of 2002.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Soldiers know over there that this isn't being done right yet. I'm going to get it right for those soldiers because it is important to Israel, it is important to America, it is important to the world, it's important to the fight on terror. But I have a plan to do it. He doesn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, in all, 22 undecided voters took part in this political version of rate a record. And we'll let you know if CNNfn plans to use this during future debates.

Well, you can memorize every fact in the world and have a command of every single issue, you can Superglu yourself to your point of view and stay on message until the cows come home. But like it or not, you are judged less on what you say than on how you say it.

Why does body language matter so much in how we judge people and why is it so crucial to presidential candidates in a debate? Joining us from New York to put style on trial, I guess we could say, Bob Wiesner, a communications expert with consulting firm Rogen International.

Good to see you, Bob.

BOB WIESNER, DIRECTOR, ROGEN INTL.: Nice to be here, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it seems the criticism began as soon as these two men shook hands, got on the stage, shook hands. And all of a sudden the critics were talking about how they pulled away or didn't pull away or who they looked at.

Taking a look at that, and right off the bat, as you look at the whole debate, leadership-wise, a strong leader, who came off stronger and why?

WIESNER: Well, that's a fairly simple analysis. From a leadership standpoint it was clearly Kerry. Kerry had a lot to prove. He needed to prove that he could be a strong commander in chief. And well, if you think back to the image of, say, someone like George C. Scott portraying General Patton in the movie, you are looking for a very strong body language, very upright and rigid posture, very sharp gestures, a very strong voice, very strong eye contact, which I think Senator Kerry was quite successful at executing.

PHILLIPS: So why are these so important, the posture and the tone and the eye contact, especially right now and for voters?

WIESNER: Because we're looking at trust as a critical issue here. And trust is a combination of not only what you say, but, also, how you say it. The same message can be interpreted and heard many, many different ways if the body language doesn't support it.

Body language isn't sign language. I want to be really clear about that. So there isn't a right gesture for leadership or a right gesture for a commander in chief. But if we don't have a complete package, if we don't have somebody who looks the part and sounds the part and not just delivering messages, it is very common for people to not believe the entire package is there.

PHILLIPS: All right. Looks the part, sounds the part, Ronald Reagan, known as "the great communicator," also an actor. When it comes down to it, is it the individual who is the better actor, or is it the individual who comes across more real, down-to-earth? WIESNER: Kyra, that's a great question. I think it really depends on what does the American public look for, and what defines leadership in their minds? And in this particular case we're talking mainly about the undecideds. Clearly having acting ability or the ability to be coached is important.

At our firm we work with senior leaders who don't have particularly broad styles. We try to pull them into different areas. But you can't turn them into actors nor can you turn them something they're not. So if the American public wants to see a strong, General Patton-like leader, then Kerry, whether he is a good actor or not, has to portray that.

PHILLIPS: So can a candidate actually win or lose just because of a presentation?

WIESNER: Well, I think you have to look only at Richard Nixon's performance in 1960 to say absolutely yes. I'm not sure that that was the case last night. But if we continue to see the same sort of performance from both Senator Kerry and President Bush, it is quite likely that we may have another Nixon-like situation.

PHILLIPS: Do you think one candidate trained more than another one when it came to body language and how they came across?

WIESNER: It's hard to say, Kyra. Certainly they have all learned the thumb tack gesture, which is a pretty standard coaching gesture. But whether or not they've actually gotten training, I would assume they have. Whether they've learned to take on the training and still appear natural, very difficult to tell.

PHILLIPS: Interesting stuff. All right. Bob Wiesner with Rogen International, thanks a lot.

WIESNER: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM from right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More than 500 patients at a prestigious U.S. hospital may have been exposed to a protein linked to a deadly brain disease, a probable case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease has been found in a patient at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. Five hundred and sixteen other patients who also had surgery there have been warned of the remote possibility of exposure. Definitive confirmation will not be known for several weeks, so the hospital is looking at the sterilization of surgical instruments now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WILLIAM A. BORNSTEIN, EMORY HEALTHCARE: We always follow and always have followed the required sterilization procedures. And we followed those in this case. What didn't happen is that the instruments that ended up having been used in a patient who subsequently turned out to have CJD were not subjected to this special enhanced sterilization that's necessary for CJD.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CJD is a degenerative fatal brain disorder that strikes one out of a million people each year. The Emory case is not the same as variant CJD that has been linked with mad cow disease.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Urban dwellers in west Philadelphia got close to nature last night, a bit too close for some people's comfort. A deer took a wrong turn somewhere and found itself in this fried chicken restaurant on Broad Street. Heard it was kind of popular. Well, he was not terribly happy to be there. Neither were the people taken rather by surprise when the deer showed up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started jumping around into the window because it saw its reflection, and then it just settled down and it was lying down on the thing, but it was crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the deer probably got separated from its herd in Fairmont Park and wandered into the city. The tail of the white tail ends predictably enough, though. Animal control officers managed to tranquilize the frightened creature and removed it. And by the way, chicken sandwiches for the rest of the night only a buck.

Sorry, Miles. That was a total Miles-liner, wasn't it?

O'BRIEN: I think so, yes.

PHILLIPS: You're influencing me. It's scary.

O'BRIEN: Yikes, that is scary.

All right, I'm sorry, Kyra. I'm very sorry. Coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, you've seen the devastating pictures, you've heard the harrowing tales of survival. Up next, we'll talk to the man who saw it all firsthand. He's been to every one of those hurricanes and caught the brunt of many of them, CNN international correspondent Karl Penhaul in the house to give us the inside story. I must confess, when I saw him, I thought, uh-oh, we're in trouble here. There must be a hurricane coming our way. He'll join us when LIVE FROM's hour of power begins after a quick break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Assaults against insurgents. U.S. and Iraqi forces move to retake the hostile city. Our Jane Arraf is the only reporter embedded with the military in Samarra. O'BRIEN: The debate over the debate. Both Bush and Kerry claim victory, of course. But what do voters think? New poll numbers this hour.

PHILLIPS: Containing a nuclear threat. North Korea in the foreign policy spotlight, after a big difference of opinion in last night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the coolest ride I've ever taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Gnarly, dude. A surfer hangs 10 on the back of a whale. I guess you could call that story killer.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

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