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Debating the Debate; Troops in Iraq Ponder U.S. Elections

Aired October 01, 2004 - 14:36   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, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a difficult because you don't know who the bad guy is. Some days you don't even know if you are the good guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: American soldiers on a difficult mission in Iraq. Who do they want to elect as their commander-in-chief? The election as seen from the front lines just ahead.

O'BRIEN: And the battle for votes here at home. Who came out ahead after the first presidential debate? We'll talk about it. But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

PHILLIPS: A new development in the search for missing Utah woman, Lori Hacking. Human remains were found today in the Salt Lake City landfill where investigators have been looking for her body. They say it will take several weeks to identify those remains. Hacking disappeared in mid-July. Her husband Mark Hacking has been charged with her murder.

A rebel stronghold under fire. An Iraqi official reports Samarra is now virtually in government hands. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in a major offensive there. The U.S. military reports that more than 109 insurgents have been killed. One American soldier has also died in that operation.

Murder charges dismissed on a technicality. A Virginia judge dropped murder charges against convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad in the death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. The judge says Muhammad was denied his right to a speedy trial. Muhammad has already been convicted and sentenced to death for another sniper killing. Today's ruling has no impact on that conviction.

O'BRIEN: Well, by now we've seen the numbers, the major post- debate polls indicating the winner was Senator John Kerry over President Bush. But not to sound flip or flop for that matter, so what? What does Kerry's apparent win in the first of three debates mean for the race for president? Joining me, former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, a CNN contributor, and Democratic consultant Morris Reed, a former official in the Clinton administration.

Gentlemen, I'd like you to -- good to have you both with us. Let's put the spin machine in reverse for a moment. I want to begin with Bob Barr. Tell me something good you saw in John Kerry's performance.

BOB BARR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: John Kerry did himself a great deal of good in the campaign last night because he came across both in terms of his demeanor as very presidential. But he also was able, largely untouched, to rebut many of the charges that the Bush campaign has leveled against him. Not so much because he answered all of the questions but because the president was really somewhat timid in really taking the battle to John Kerry and John Kerry I think now is back in this race that he was in danger of slipping away from just yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Morris Reed, tell me something good. Pretend like you're a GOP spinmeister if you could. Tell me something good about the president's performance.

MORRIS REED, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: He looked good on camera.

O'BRIEN: That's it?

REED: He also did a great job. I think that President Bush did a good job of really communicating. He is -- the one thing about him, about George Bush that people always love to talk about is that he's a regular guy. He really came across as a regular guy, someone that you feel comfortable with that you can sit down and have a conversation with. So I think he communicated effectively. He reassured the people he was the president and he can still communicate and hold his own in the debate.

O'BRIEN: Now we can put your spin machines back on forward. Thanks for playing along with our game. They're will be some parting gifts later. We appreciate it.

Let's look at some numbers for just a moment if we could. First of all, this is that instant stuff that comes right out after these things. I don't know how accurate these things are but nevertheless let's go with it. Who did the better job in the debate? Kerry 53 percent, Bush 37 percent. No doubt about that one. Now let's move on, though. And talk about how this impacts opinions. The opinion of Kerry after the debate, more favorable, 46 percent, less favorable, 13 percent. No change, 41 percent. Interesting number there. Finally, one more to share with you. We've got a bunch of others. This is all we have time for. Opinion of Bush after the debate, more favorable, didn't get as much upsurge here, less favorable, 17 percent. But once again 62 percent no change.

Bob Barr, this is a populous that is really stuck in cement, isn't it?

BARR: Well, it's not that different from how the voting public participates in these elections from cycle to cycle. You really see very little movement in these types of numbers until the last 10 days, weeks, sometimes even the weekend before the election. And that's why you'll have such tremendous upsets as we saw in 1980, and we saw again in the last cycle. People really despite all of us on this program being very much involved in this and following it, the vast majority of the American people are not yet focused on this election. That's why it's important for Kerry to remain in the hunt as he now is once again. But I don't think either candidate should look to see tremendous movement in these numbers until perhaps the final debate.

O'BRIEN: Morris, if you are in the Kerry campaign and look at those numbers, are you frustrated because you have to be happy with how your candidate performed and the public's reaction to it. Nevertheless, you see that people are ecstatic, or is that to be expected so quick after a debate like that?

REED: We still have a long way to go before November 2. I agree with the congressman. People are really just now tuning in. I think what Kerry did yesterday was keep himself in the game. He kept his campaign alive. I think it's going to go back to a level playing field. One of the things I've been talking about all along is this election is going to be decided in the last 15 days. It's really going to turn to turnout and motivating your base to get out there. I think what Kerry did last night was reassure his base that he is in this thing. He's a closer. He's going to stay in this to the very end. So I think it was great that both parties had a great presentation last night. It wasn't much of a debate. We've sort of fixed this thing that it is not much of a debate anymore. I thought the presentations were both good. Kerry did a little bit better.

O'BRIEN: Bob Barr, I'm curious about one thing here. Do you think that George Bush was put at a disadvantage because of the bubble in which he operates, surrounded by his staff and at rallies where only people who are 100 percent supporters are allowed in. In the sense he sort of -- he has kept himself out of the hurly-burly of politics. It may not have his political calluses ready for an encounter like that. Would you go along with that?

BARR: I don't think so. This is -- both of these gentlemen are very seasoned campaigners and Bush in particular who is coming into now the final stretch of his second national campaign certainly understands the dynamics. He understands the need to be ready for these things. What we saw last night was the president perhaps taking Mr. Kerry a little bit for granted and taking -- and thinking simply because the numbers in the wake of the Republican convention seemed to favor him, he backed off a little bit too much. And I suspect that he won't do that in the next debate.

O'BRIEN: Morris, if you are the Kerry campaign you have to be a little worried about that very point that they are going to be redoubling their efforts, the Bush campaign, that is, in order not to have quite the repeat of what we saw last night. What does the Kerry campaign do to stem that concern?

REED: This has always been a race for the president to lose. I think with the -- what bodes well for the Kerry campaign is the next two debates really don't play well or play to the president's strength. They decided to go with this first debate in this format because they felt like they were going to be able to nail it. The next two debates don't play to the president's strength but Kerry's people need to stay focused and keep energizing their base and really identify and show contrast between what America will look like under John Kerry as opposed to George Bush. It's a long way. This race is not over, but John Kerry is back in the hunt.

O'BRIEN: Gentlemen, excellent. Morris Reed and Bob Barr, no debate about this. You do a good job helping us understand politics.

By the way, two more debates are set for next week beginning Tuesday with the running mates. The vice presidential debate begins 7:00 Eastern. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will handle that one followed by a special debate preview with Paula Zahn and Wolf Blitzer. Then at 9:00 p.m., the main event. Vice President Cheney, Senator John Edwards live from Cleveland. Do join us. Set your TiVos. Put it in your palm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So who will soldiers vote for? We have another election angle for you. Iraq. The soldiers in the field, what are they thinking and how will they vote? Here's CNN's Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are few Americans with more at stake in these elections than American soldiers. But they are not rushing to send in those ballots. At this first infantry division camp, Sergeant Major Steve Falconberg has launched a one-man voter registration drive. He's personally filled out and mailed registration forms for almost 200 soldiers. But he thinks that fewer than half of the 800 troops here might end up voting. No doubt who is getting his vote.

SGT. MAJ. STEVE FALCONBERG, U.S. ARMY: George W. Bush, absolutely.

ARRAF: How come?

FALCONBERG: I believe he has put some pride into America that wasn't there before.

ARRAF: Soldiers have fought and died for the right to vote. But at this base in the Sunni Triangle, the U.S. election seemed to be about the last thing on most soldiers' minds. This medic joined the army after a cousin was killed in the World Trade Center attack. No matter who wins, he says U.S. troops will need to be in Iraq. He's not voting.

LAMARE WILLIAMS JR., U.S. ARMY: To me, it's beyond voting.

ARRAF: But there are others who question why they are here. Like Tom who covered up his last name because he didn't want to get into trouble. TOM, U.S. ARMY: It's kind of difficult because you don't know who the bad guy is and some days you don't even know if you are the good guy. It's more just, you are here to keep your guys alive.

ARRAF: He says he plans to vote for Kerry.

In what many believe is a traditionally Republican-leaning military, a surprising number of soldiers we spoke with said they plan to give Kerry a chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want somebody to represent us and to know what we've been through, to help us through what we're going through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mostly -- most of the other guys in the camp say the same thing. It's almost kind of choosing the lesser of two evils.

ARRAF: Like the question of whether they should have gone to war in Iraq, when it comes to this election, more than a few soldiers say there are no easy choices. Jane Arraf, CNN, at Camp Normandy, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: From catching a wave to catching a whale, coming up, what happened when a 30-foot whale surfaced right below a surfer.

And a check of the markets, what's behind the firing of the CEO of a popular software company? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, it was one whale of a ride. A surfer in...

O'BRIEN: Staying over there.

PHILLIPS: Come on. All right. Let's go to a two-shot here. We're talking about San Clemente, California.

Dee (ph) said I'm directing from the set again. Usually you do that.

O'BRIEN: What's new?

PHILLIPS: Well, tell us about this reporter.

O'BRIEN: Well, Spyros Vamvas was riding on the back of a whale. Need we say more? Vamvas away. Vamvas.

(LAUGHTER)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPYROS VAMVAS, SURFER: I couldn't see anything when I looked down except whale. I don't know the exact size of him, but to me, it was just enormous. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Sorry. Vamvas says that he's not sure who was more spooked, either he was or the whale.

O'BRIEN: All right. I guess, as I say, kind of a killer story, dude.

(MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: That wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM. We're glad it's over.

PHILLIPS: Really?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You're really glad?

O'BRIEN: It has been a long week. Long day.

PHILLIPS: That's right. You've been on assignment all week and then you've got to come back to me.

Let's go to a special 90 minutes of political headlines now. "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."

Hi, Judy, it's great to see you. We're glad you are taking over.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS": Well, I can never get enough of either one of you. So I always hate to say good-bye. Thanks, Kyra. Thanks, Miles.

It is one debate down, but President Bush and Senator Kerry clash two more times.

Plus, the vice presidential candidates face off next week as well. We'll take a look at the campaign road ahead.

Plus, a look back at last night. Who the voters think won. And how will this debate affect the race for the White House? Stayed tuned, I go "INSIDE POLITICS" in three minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now in the news, target insurgency. Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops launched a massive assault today in Samarra. The offensive centered around an important Shiite shrine known as the Golden Mosque. More than 100 people were killed during fighting in the unstable Sunni Triangle city, including one U.S. soldier.

The Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera aired what is says is a new audio tape from al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the tape, the speaker issues a call to action in the Muslim world and comments on the Palestinian conflict as well as conflict in Iraq, Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Britain's top ticker is back on track. Prime Minister Tony Blair already back at 10 Downing Street after a medical procedure to correct and irregular heartbeat. Mr. Blair says he feels absolutely fine. And a hospital spokesperson says he shouldn't have any more problems with atrial flutter.

Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."

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 - 14:36   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of a difficult because you don't know who the bad guy is. Some days you don't even know if you are the good guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: American soldiers on a difficult mission in Iraq. Who do they want to elect as their commander-in-chief? The election as seen from the front lines just ahead.

O'BRIEN: And the battle for votes here at home. Who came out ahead after the first presidential debate? We'll talk about it. But first, here's what's happening now in the news.

PHILLIPS: A new development in the search for missing Utah woman, Lori Hacking. Human remains were found today in the Salt Lake City landfill where investigators have been looking for her body. They say it will take several weeks to identify those remains. Hacking disappeared in mid-July. Her husband Mark Hacking has been charged with her murder.

A rebel stronghold under fire. An Iraqi official reports Samarra is now virtually in government hands. Thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops are involved in a major offensive there. The U.S. military reports that more than 109 insurgents have been killed. One American soldier has also died in that operation.

Murder charges dismissed on a technicality. A Virginia judge dropped murder charges against convicted sniper John Allen Muhammad in the death of FBI analyst Linda Franklin. The judge says Muhammad was denied his right to a speedy trial. Muhammad has already been convicted and sentenced to death for another sniper killing. Today's ruling has no impact on that conviction.

O'BRIEN: Well, by now we've seen the numbers, the major post- debate polls indicating the winner was Senator John Kerry over President Bush. But not to sound flip or flop for that matter, so what? What does Kerry's apparent win in the first of three debates mean for the race for president? Joining me, former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia, a CNN contributor, and Democratic consultant Morris Reed, a former official in the Clinton administration.

Gentlemen, I'd like you to -- good to have you both with us. Let's put the spin machine in reverse for a moment. I want to begin with Bob Barr. Tell me something good you saw in John Kerry's performance.

BOB BARR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: John Kerry did himself a great deal of good in the campaign last night because he came across both in terms of his demeanor as very presidential. But he also was able, largely untouched, to rebut many of the charges that the Bush campaign has leveled against him. Not so much because he answered all of the questions but because the president was really somewhat timid in really taking the battle to John Kerry and John Kerry I think now is back in this race that he was in danger of slipping away from just yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Morris Reed, tell me something good. Pretend like you're a GOP spinmeister if you could. Tell me something good about the president's performance.

MORRIS REED, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: He looked good on camera.

O'BRIEN: That's it?

REED: He also did a great job. I think that President Bush did a good job of really communicating. He is -- the one thing about him, about George Bush that people always love to talk about is that he's a regular guy. He really came across as a regular guy, someone that you feel comfortable with that you can sit down and have a conversation with. So I think he communicated effectively. He reassured the people he was the president and he can still communicate and hold his own in the debate.

O'BRIEN: Now we can put your spin machines back on forward. Thanks for playing along with our game. They're will be some parting gifts later. We appreciate it.

Let's look at some numbers for just a moment if we could. First of all, this is that instant stuff that comes right out after these things. I don't know how accurate these things are but nevertheless let's go with it. Who did the better job in the debate? Kerry 53 percent, Bush 37 percent. No doubt about that one. Now let's move on, though. And talk about how this impacts opinions. The opinion of Kerry after the debate, more favorable, 46 percent, less favorable, 13 percent. No change, 41 percent. Interesting number there. Finally, one more to share with you. We've got a bunch of others. This is all we have time for. Opinion of Bush after the debate, more favorable, didn't get as much upsurge here, less favorable, 17 percent. But once again 62 percent no change.

Bob Barr, this is a populous that is really stuck in cement, isn't it?

BARR: Well, it's not that different from how the voting public participates in these elections from cycle to cycle. You really see very little movement in these types of numbers until the last 10 days, weeks, sometimes even the weekend before the election. And that's why you'll have such tremendous upsets as we saw in 1980, and we saw again in the last cycle. People really despite all of us on this program being very much involved in this and following it, the vast majority of the American people are not yet focused on this election. That's why it's important for Kerry to remain in the hunt as he now is once again. But I don't think either candidate should look to see tremendous movement in these numbers until perhaps the final debate.

O'BRIEN: Morris, if you are in the Kerry campaign and look at those numbers, are you frustrated because you have to be happy with how your candidate performed and the public's reaction to it. Nevertheless, you see that people are ecstatic, or is that to be expected so quick after a debate like that?

REED: We still have a long way to go before November 2. I agree with the congressman. People are really just now tuning in. I think what Kerry did yesterday was keep himself in the game. He kept his campaign alive. I think it's going to go back to a level playing field. One of the things I've been talking about all along is this election is going to be decided in the last 15 days. It's really going to turn to turnout and motivating your base to get out there. I think what Kerry did last night was reassure his base that he is in this thing. He's a closer. He's going to stay in this to the very end. So I think it was great that both parties had a great presentation last night. It wasn't much of a debate. We've sort of fixed this thing that it is not much of a debate anymore. I thought the presentations were both good. Kerry did a little bit better.

O'BRIEN: Bob Barr, I'm curious about one thing here. Do you think that George Bush was put at a disadvantage because of the bubble in which he operates, surrounded by his staff and at rallies where only people who are 100 percent supporters are allowed in. In the sense he sort of -- he has kept himself out of the hurly-burly of politics. It may not have his political calluses ready for an encounter like that. Would you go along with that?

BARR: I don't think so. This is -- both of these gentlemen are very seasoned campaigners and Bush in particular who is coming into now the final stretch of his second national campaign certainly understands the dynamics. He understands the need to be ready for these things. What we saw last night was the president perhaps taking Mr. Kerry a little bit for granted and taking -- and thinking simply because the numbers in the wake of the Republican convention seemed to favor him, he backed off a little bit too much. And I suspect that he won't do that in the next debate.

O'BRIEN: Morris, if you are the Kerry campaign you have to be a little worried about that very point that they are going to be redoubling their efforts, the Bush campaign, that is, in order not to have quite the repeat of what we saw last night. What does the Kerry campaign do to stem that concern?

REED: This has always been a race for the president to lose. I think with the -- what bodes well for the Kerry campaign is the next two debates really don't play well or play to the president's strength. They decided to go with this first debate in this format because they felt like they were going to be able to nail it. The next two debates don't play to the president's strength but Kerry's people need to stay focused and keep energizing their base and really identify and show contrast between what America will look like under John Kerry as opposed to George Bush. It's a long way. This race is not over, but John Kerry is back in the hunt.

O'BRIEN: Gentlemen, excellent. Morris Reed and Bob Barr, no debate about this. You do a good job helping us understand politics.

By the way, two more debates are set for next week beginning Tuesday with the running mates. The vice presidential debate begins 7:00 Eastern. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will handle that one followed by a special debate preview with Paula Zahn and Wolf Blitzer. Then at 9:00 p.m., the main event. Vice President Cheney, Senator John Edwards live from Cleveland. Do join us. Set your TiVos. Put it in your palm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So who will soldiers vote for? We have another election angle for you. Iraq. The soldiers in the field, what are they thinking and how will they vote? Here's CNN's Jane Arraf.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are few Americans with more at stake in these elections than American soldiers. But they are not rushing to send in those ballots. At this first infantry division camp, Sergeant Major Steve Falconberg has launched a one-man voter registration drive. He's personally filled out and mailed registration forms for almost 200 soldiers. But he thinks that fewer than half of the 800 troops here might end up voting. No doubt who is getting his vote.

SGT. MAJ. STEVE FALCONBERG, U.S. ARMY: George W. Bush, absolutely.

ARRAF: How come?

FALCONBERG: I believe he has put some pride into America that wasn't there before.

ARRAF: Soldiers have fought and died for the right to vote. But at this base in the Sunni Triangle, the U.S. election seemed to be about the last thing on most soldiers' minds. This medic joined the army after a cousin was killed in the World Trade Center attack. No matter who wins, he says U.S. troops will need to be in Iraq. He's not voting.

LAMARE WILLIAMS JR., U.S. ARMY: To me, it's beyond voting.

ARRAF: But there are others who question why they are here. Like Tom who covered up his last name because he didn't want to get into trouble. TOM, U.S. ARMY: It's kind of difficult because you don't know who the bad guy is and some days you don't even know if you are the good guy. It's more just, you are here to keep your guys alive.

ARRAF: He says he plans to vote for Kerry.

In what many believe is a traditionally Republican-leaning military, a surprising number of soldiers we spoke with said they plan to give Kerry a chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want somebody to represent us and to know what we've been through, to help us through what we're going through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mostly -- most of the other guys in the camp say the same thing. It's almost kind of choosing the lesser of two evils.

ARRAF: Like the question of whether they should have gone to war in Iraq, when it comes to this election, more than a few soldiers say there are no easy choices. Jane Arraf, CNN, at Camp Normandy, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: From catching a wave to catching a whale, coming up, what happened when a 30-foot whale surfaced right below a surfer.

And a check of the markets, what's behind the firing of the CEO of a popular software company? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, it was one whale of a ride. A surfer in...

O'BRIEN: Staying over there.

PHILLIPS: Come on. All right. Let's go to a two-shot here. We're talking about San Clemente, California.

Dee (ph) said I'm directing from the set again. Usually you do that.

O'BRIEN: What's new?

PHILLIPS: Well, tell us about this reporter.

O'BRIEN: Well, Spyros Vamvas was riding on the back of a whale. Need we say more? Vamvas away. Vamvas.

(LAUGHTER)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPYROS VAMVAS, SURFER: I couldn't see anything when I looked down except whale. I don't know the exact size of him, but to me, it was just enormous. (END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Sorry. Vamvas says that he's not sure who was more spooked, either he was or the whale.

O'BRIEN: All right. I guess, as I say, kind of a killer story, dude.

(MARKET REPORT)

O'BRIEN: That wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM. We're glad it's over.

PHILLIPS: Really?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: You're really glad?

O'BRIEN: It has been a long week. Long day.

PHILLIPS: That's right. You've been on assignment all week and then you've got to come back to me.

Let's go to a special 90 minutes of political headlines now. "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."

Hi, Judy, it's great to see you. We're glad you are taking over.

JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS": Well, I can never get enough of either one of you. So I always hate to say good-bye. Thanks, Kyra. Thanks, Miles.

It is one debate down, but President Bush and Senator Kerry clash two more times.

Plus, the vice presidential candidates face off next week as well. We'll take a look at the campaign road ahead.

Plus, a look back at last night. Who the voters think won. And how will this debate affect the race for the White House? Stayed tuned, I go "INSIDE POLITICS" in three minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now in the news, target insurgency. Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops launched a massive assault today in Samarra. The offensive centered around an important Shiite shrine known as the Golden Mosque. More than 100 people were killed during fighting in the unstable Sunni Triangle city, including one U.S. soldier.

The Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera aired what is says is a new audio tape from al Qaeda's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In the tape, the speaker issues a call to action in the Muslim world and comments on the Palestinian conflict as well as conflict in Iraq, Chechnya and Afghanistan.

Britain's top ticker is back on track. Prime Minister Tony Blair already back at 10 Downing Street after a medical procedure to correct and irregular heartbeat. Mr. Blair says he feels absolutely fine. And a hospital spokesperson says he shouldn't have any more problems with atrial flutter.

Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."

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