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Three Groups Claim Responsibility for Bombing of Three Egyptian Resorts in Sinai Peninsula; Battlegrounds No More?

Aired October 08, 2004 - 13:30   ET

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

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


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking headlines in the news now. Ken Bigley's family say they have absolute proof he was brutally killed by his captors. The Arabic-language network Abu Dabi TV says it received a video showing the 62-year-old engineer being beheaded by his captors. The station refusing to show the footage, saying it won't serve as a mouthpiece for terror groups. Bigley was kidnapped in Baghdad 22 days ago.
In the Philippines, a strong earthquake rocked Manila for more than a minute. The 6.4 magnitude quake forced frightened residents into the streets, shook buildings and knocked out power. It's epicenter, 55 miles south-southwest of the capital.

And three groups have claimed responsibility for the bombing of three Egyptian resorts in the Sinai peninsula last night, the claims posted on the Islamic Web sites. At least 29 killed, most of them Israeli tourists. More than 30 remain missing.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As Miles just mentioned, Al Qaeda is just one of several terror groups claiming responsibility for the deadly attacks in Egypt.

CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen believes it is Al Qaeda. Bergen, who is Afghanistan, covering the elections, says "The bombings bear the hallmarks of the terrorist networks."

He joins me now live from Kabul.

Peter, I do want to ask you a couple of questions about the elections that you're covering in Afghanistan, but first the explosions, and tell me about how you believe these do bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think there's several reasons it's likely to be Al Qaeda. Of course we don't know for sure, but the universe of possible suspects, I think, is pretty small.

Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas have not operated historically in Egypt. Al Qaeda has a strong presence in Egypt through the Jihad group, which is Ayman Al Zawahiri, the No. 2 in Al Qaeda. It's his group. This is a group that has conducted terrorist attacks in Egypt for more than two decades.

Also the fact that these bombings were simultaneous, which is a hallmark of Al Qaeda, whether we saw that in '98 with the U.S. embassy bombings, the attacks in Africa. We saw that on 9/11.

Also the fact that these attacks seem to require quite a lot of planning, perhaps months, and also the fact that the targets were Jewish and Israeli citizens. In the past two years, Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have conducted an intense campaign against Israelis and Jews. They hadn't done this before 9, 11 but after 9/11 we saw attacks in Casablanca, Morocco against a Jewish community center. We also saw an attack on two synagogues in Istanbul. We've also seen an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya, an attempt to bring down an Israeli passenger jet in Kenya. So this is part of a pattern if, indeed, it is al Qaeda, of attacking Jewish and Israeli targets.

PHILLIPS: OK, you brought up a couple different points. Let me back up for a minute and first talk about just terrorist group in Egypt going back to 1997, and you've talked about this before, the Islamic group, that agreed actually to a cease fire, correct, and so things had calmed a bit. So my question to you is, is that even possible with Al Zawahiri and the other jihad that's forming and the connections to Al Qaeda? Is it possible to even reach a cease-fire there in Egypt with this group?

BERGEN: Well, the Islamic group probably killed, you know, several hundred tourists, Christians, policemen in Egypt in the '90s. In '97, as you say, they basically agreed to a cease-fire with the Egyptian government. That cease-fire has held now for seven years. There was basically to be no terrorism in Egypt. Ayman Al Zawahiri's jihad group never signed on to the cease-fire. If it is Al Qaeda behind these attacks, this is their way of saying that they have no part of this cease-fire, and that they plan to, again, attack tourists in Egypt. Overseas tourism is one of the most important things in the Egyptian economy. This is a way of attacking Egypt's government, Egypt's government, attacking Israel, and also, parenthetically, attacking an American-owned company, being the Hilton hotel, where this happened. Al Qaeda has been attacking American hotels around the world, a Sheraton in Karachi in 2002, a j.w. Marriott in Jakarta in 2003. So this will also be part of a pattern of attacking symbols of American economic power.

PHILLIPS: So, Peter, will we see this Egyptian jihad group -- also there were Egyptians that had gotten into Samarra, the commander of the First Infantry Division talked about the Egyptians involved in those attack there. What is happening or not happening politically that is no now creating, I guess, maybe it's always been there, but more of a surge or development of Al Qaeda in Egypt?

BERGEN: Well, that's hard to say. I mean, I just think that the jihad group was one of the most effective terrorist group in Egypt. It was responsible. It had a role of the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. It also attacked a whole range of government ministers in the mid '90s. And if indeed it is Al Qaeda, I think we'll find that it is Egyptian members of Al Qaeda associated with the jihad group in Egypt who implemented this attack. And obviously, we don't know yet, but I think it's a reasonable hypotheses, given the fact that Palestinian groups have been attacked in Egypt in the past.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, real quickly, you're in Afghanistan covering the election, security there. I know some election officials have even been killed. Even the number has been downsized of those to work the elections. Give us an update on the security, and how do you think this is going to go?

BERGEN: I think the security situation here is not perfect, but it's far from terrible. Obviously, there have a number of -- you know, in the last few days, an attempt on the vice president's life, which didn't succeed, also, a rocket attack here in Kabul, which was ineffectual. Arrest in Kandahar, where people were seemingly planning to blow up a fuel truck just today. However, none of these things -- if you really want to disrupt the election, that train has left the station. I mean, this election is going to go forward. It's not going to be perfect, but it's going to be reasonably OK, and I think, you know, Hamid Karzai looks like he'll be elected in a landslide.

PHILLIPS: CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen there, live from Kabul.

Thanks so much, Peter -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, is out to clear his fame. He told CNN's Larry King last night he wants his name off a no-fly list and a proper explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSUF ISLAM, FORMERLY CAT STEVENS: It seems to be that there's more than one story. You know, one is that they got the name wrong because they really did not have my name on the watch list. It was Y- O-U-S-S-O-U-F, I think, and my name is not spelled like that. The other point was that there was some -- as far as I could see other questions related to me being a U.S. citizen didn't relate to me. So I thought maybe it's that, then they're kind of talking about other issues connected to information that happened between, you know, July and September. Well, I know what happened between July and September, so I really would like to see what they have. You know, what is it all about? Give me an explanation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The 56-year-old performer was denied entry into the U.S. last month on security grounds. He was accused of helping fund terror groups. The singer does concede some of his charity donations could have ended up in the wrong hands.

PHILLIPS: Debate night tonight. It'll be the second Q&A for the president and Democrat John Kerry. The first, you'll recall, was in Florida, one of those battleground states. This evening, it's in Missouri, another state once considered up for grabs by both parties. Well, it's not any more.

Kelly Wallace has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I know the president will join me in welcoming all of Florida to this debate.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was no accident the first presidential debate was in Florida, the first and only vice presidential face-off in Ohio, and the last two presidential showdowns in Missouri and Arizona. All four states had been considered battlegrounds by both campaigns just a few months ago, but things have changed.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wait until you get to Phoenix!

WALLACE: A CNN analysis of the latest polling shows Arizona likely going for President Bush and Missouri leaning the president's way. The Kerry campaign is no longer running TV ads in either place.

KERRY: I'm John Kerry and I approve this message.

WALLACE: So keeping in mind the ever-changing political landscape, get your pens ready. Here are some of the states up for grabs. Those we already mentioned, Florida and Ohio, and also Pennsylvania. But Colorado? That's right. A state Mr. Bush won by more than 8 points in 2000, a state where Senator Kerry prepared for tonight's debate.

KERRY: Well, obviously I'd like to win all of Colorado's electoral votes.

WALLACE: And a state where the race is neck-and-neck, according to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should have used the resources that we had.

WALLACE: And then there is New York, which explains why Senator Edwards was there yesterday. Recent polls show the race tightening in a state the Democrats easily won four years ago.

Where else is it too close to call?

BUSH: Help is on the way!

WALLACE: Other states Mr. Bush won in 2000: New Hampshire, West Virginia, Nevada. And other states Al Gore won: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

And so just about a dozen states now considered the most competitive battlegrounds, the places the campaigns are devoting most of their resources, knowing these states could play the biggest role on Election Day.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And here's some pictures just came in to us a few moments ago of John Kerry arriving at the venue for the debate. Dramatic stuff, huh, folks? All right, there you have it. We know he's there.

The format for tonight's match up: the town hall meeting. Audience members will be allowed to ask questions. It's a lot less tightly moderated, although those questions are selected in advance, of course.

CNN tested the format last night in Racine, Wisconsin. Bush advisor Tucker Eskew and Kerry rep. Tad Devine took on a live audience and each other over Medicare, social security, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

Our Paula Zahn kept the panel on focus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Is or is it not true, though, that Halliburton was one of the few companies, including subsidiaries, that was prepared to do this kind of work.

TAD DEVINE, JOHN KERRY ADVISOR: It's a fact. It's also true that they could have had a system to ensure that others would have a chance.

Here's what's happening right now in Iraq. Instead of hiring Iraqis, we're hiring Halliburton. If you want to get Iraq safe and secure, why don't we give them jobs over there. That would be a...

(APPLAUSE)

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH ADVISOR: Why don't we stop insulting them like the Kerry campaign continually does, insulting the prime minister of Iraq, running down the contributions by Iraqis. Running down the contributions by Iraqis. They completely dismiss the deaths and casualties suffered by Iraq. Iraq is our number one ally in this fight.

ZAHN: That's a different issue. But is the infrastructure in place for Iraqis to do the kind of job that Halliburton...

ESKEW: There's not. To my knowledge, that's why we're adding billions of dollars in reconstruction money to help do just exactly that.

Let me just say the criticisms that have come out of this campaign on Halliburton have been proven false by independent bodies like factcheck.org.

(APPLAUSE)

ZAHN: You can truly tell where our Bush supporters are and Kerry supporters, and the undecideds are scattered through here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: CNN's Paula Zahn there, moderating a lively discussion last night in Racine, Wisconsin. Tonight's moderator is ABC's Charles Gibson. The two candidates step into the lights 9:00 Eastern. Our live coverage begins at 7:00. Don't miss a moment of it.

PHILLIPS: Even early birds don't always catch the worm. The media-savvy Martha Stewart managed to sneak into prison this morning to begin serving her five-month sentence. A statement says "Camp Cupcake's" newest inmate arrived at 6:15 this morning, slipping past the dozens of photographers staked out in Alderson, West Virginia.

CNN's Allan Chernoff with more on the domestic diva's first day in minimum security lockup. How did she get through there?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNNFN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as you know, usually Martha Stewart does invite publicity, but certainly not today.

This was all coordinated, according to local police officials. They worked with the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, even with officials from CSX Railroad that has a line right near the prison. They wanted to help Martha Stewart get in so that she wouldn't be hounded by the media. And of course, there are dozen of reporters camped out right here in front of the federal prison.

So, that was special treatment. Typically, inmates check in about 8:00 in the morning until early afternoon. But once inside, the word is no special treatment at all for Martha Stewart. She did have to go through a strip search. Also, she's getting her prison khakis, trading in that street clothing, and then having orientation and being assigned a bunk bed. She'll be sleeping in a very small cubical. There are no prison bars here at Alderson.

Now, Martha Stewart, of course, is also going to have to work eventually for 12 cents an hour, seven-and-one-half hours every day. She'll probably be working either in the kitchen, some groundskeeping, perhaps even working as a janitor.

Some of the locals around here, though, are having fun with all this. In fact, tonight at one of the local clubs, they're planning to have a Martha Stewart look-alike contest. And the prize: $250 at Kmart, a gift certificate. And of course, that could be spent on Martha Stewart Everyday products -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Allan, look at all this publicity and all of these events taking place, even the welcome signs. I mean, is this at all, do you think, or have you heard any critics say it's sort of, I don't know, taking this serious situation and kind of making a mockery of the whole thing?

CHERNOFF: Well, obviously it's a terribly serious situation for Martha Stewart, and we should point out that she is continuing to appeal this case. She has maintained her innocence, even though she was convicted of lying about a stock sale.

But the people around here -- keep in mind, this is a very small town, Alderson. Just a little more than 1,000 people. They're simply trying to have a little fun and also perhaps make a little bit of a profit, as well. As you know, people selling T-shirts. In fact, just down the road, we've got somebody with a van full of about 200 T- shirts of Martha Stewart on them.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff, all right. Once again, live there from the minimum security lockup, where Martha Stewart remains. Thank you -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: Humans aren't the only creatures who benefit from a touch-up. After the break, why you may not be able to take the tuna you buy at the market at face value.

Plus, a new drug warning for people suffering from arthritis.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if a photo really was worth more than 1,000 words? Elizabeth Mynatt thinks so. She's an associate professor at Georgia Tech who's part of the Digital Family Portrait Project. Beyond a simple picture frame, a system of microphones, cameras, and sensors could allow family members to keep an eye on their elderly loved ones while still giving them their independence.

ELIZABETH MYNATT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH: Economically, these technologies can have a tremendous impact for the senior adults, in this country as well as other countries, that are grappling with how to care for an aging of population.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a person moves from room to room, family members can receive real time information. The signal is sent over an encrypted Internet channel in order to protect the person's privacy.

Through the digital portrait, the family is able to pinpoint any causes for concern, like leaving an oven on or a kettle boiling.

MYNATT: I'm quite optimistic that these technology will become commonplace in the home in the next few decades.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, did you step away from the sushi? There's a chance that tuna in the window isn't as fresh as it looks. And there's growing concern over the practice of gassing tuna with carbon monoxide to make it look bright red as if it had just been pulled out of the sea.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen on why this practice is raising a red flag with some health and consumer advocates, of course. You know, it's funny -- and I don't know, maybe it's because I cook a lot -- but I can always tell by the color and the texture and the smell.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's because you eat a lot.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I do. It's amazing how much I can eat. But anyway, isn't that true, though? Don't you think...

COHEN: It is true. I know I can tell when I eat sushi, there's just a certain texture, a certain something that you look for, not to mention smell. But people sometimes also do use sight in order to tell if a piece of tuna is going to be fresh or not. And some countries have said, hey, this practice of gassing the fish with carbon monoxide, not going to happen. That's the untreated tuna. That's what it look like right there. It's dark red. And on the right is treated. It's been treated with carbon monoxide .

Now let's go over what this whole carbon monoxide treating tuna thing is. It sounds kind of bizarre. The treatment itself is not toxic. There's nothing technically wrong with it. It's FDA approved. It's widely used. The concern is not about the treatment itself. The concern is that it's masking old fish. So you used to have, you know, there's a certain color that a fish will turn. It will turn a kind of brown or kind of chocolately color when it's not good. If you gassed it, it won't turn that color, and so that's the problem there. And so some countries say, hey, you can't treat it like this. There are certainly advocate in this country saying, why are we letting them treat fish this way? You got to keep it fresh.

PHILLIPS: Why are we letting them? That's good question. What's the answer to that?

COHEN: There's no real answer to that. I mean of course the fish industry would like to continue it.

PHILLIPS: Here's the controversy. Yes, right.

OK, another side note. You had an update on arthritis?

COHEN: That's right. Last week the news was about Vioxx, which was a drug to treat arthritis taken off the market. The news today is about a drug called Remicade. It's another arthritis drug. And the FDA is now going to start labeling it, that among people taking Remicade, there have been some cases of lymphoma that have not shown up in people who don't take Remicade. So something to keep in mind when you're thinking about arthritis drugs.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Thanks a lot for announcing how much I love to eat.

COHEN: That's right, I just had to share that with everyone.

PHILLIPS: Miles, it is pretty much incredible how much I can eat.

Anyway, take it away, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Not going to touch that one.

On to more serious news, back to our top story. The apparent murder of Kenneth Bigley at the hands of insurgent captors in Iraq. His family have pleaded very directly with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to somehow negotiate his way to freedom. Today, the prime minister is offering some response to Kenneth Bigley's death.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I feel desperately sorry for Ken Bigley, for his family who behaved with extraordinary dignity and courage. I feel utter revulsion that the people that did this. Not just that the barbaric nature of the killing, but the way, frankly, they've play with the situation over the past few weeks. And I feel a strong sense, as I hope others do, that the actions of these people, whether in Iraq or elsewhere, should not prevail over people like Ken Bigley who, after all, only wanted to make Iraq and the world a better place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Ken Bigley's family saying the British prime minister has blood on his hands.

Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: Coming up in our second hour of CNN's LIVE FROM, all kinds of things. It's going to be fantastic. We're going to talk about the debate, Kerry versus Bush, this time in a townhall meeting. And we'll have the full analysis for you. Be sure to tune into CNN's coverage of the second presidential debate, which begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern with Anderson Cooper, and then at 8:00, Paula Zahn takes over, followed by a special pre-debate show with Wolf Blitzer at 8:30. All those are Eastern times, by the way. And Wolf will take us right up to the debate, scheduled to begin at 9:00 Eastern. We'll have plenty of commentary afterwards as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 8, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking headlines in the news now. Ken Bigley's family say they have absolute proof he was brutally killed by his captors. The Arabic-language network Abu Dabi TV says it received a video showing the 62-year-old engineer being beheaded by his captors. The station refusing to show the footage, saying it won't serve as a mouthpiece for terror groups. Bigley was kidnapped in Baghdad 22 days ago.
In the Philippines, a strong earthquake rocked Manila for more than a minute. The 6.4 magnitude quake forced frightened residents into the streets, shook buildings and knocked out power. It's epicenter, 55 miles south-southwest of the capital.

And three groups have claimed responsibility for the bombing of three Egyptian resorts in the Sinai peninsula last night, the claims posted on the Islamic Web sites. At least 29 killed, most of them Israeli tourists. More than 30 remain missing.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: As Miles just mentioned, Al Qaeda is just one of several terror groups claiming responsibility for the deadly attacks in Egypt.

CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen believes it is Al Qaeda. Bergen, who is Afghanistan, covering the elections, says "The bombings bear the hallmarks of the terrorist networks."

He joins me now live from Kabul.

Peter, I do want to ask you a couple of questions about the elections that you're covering in Afghanistan, but first the explosions, and tell me about how you believe these do bear the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think there's several reasons it's likely to be Al Qaeda. Of course we don't know for sure, but the universe of possible suspects, I think, is pretty small.

Palestinian terrorist groups like Hamas have not operated historically in Egypt. Al Qaeda has a strong presence in Egypt through the Jihad group, which is Ayman Al Zawahiri, the No. 2 in Al Qaeda. It's his group. This is a group that has conducted terrorist attacks in Egypt for more than two decades.

Also the fact that these bombings were simultaneous, which is a hallmark of Al Qaeda, whether we saw that in '98 with the U.S. embassy bombings, the attacks in Africa. We saw that on 9/11.

Also the fact that these attacks seem to require quite a lot of planning, perhaps months, and also the fact that the targets were Jewish and Israeli citizens. In the past two years, Al Qaeda and affiliated groups have conducted an intense campaign against Israelis and Jews. They hadn't done this before 9, 11 but after 9/11 we saw attacks in Casablanca, Morocco against a Jewish community center. We also saw an attack on two synagogues in Istanbul. We've also seen an attack on an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya, an attempt to bring down an Israeli passenger jet in Kenya. So this is part of a pattern if, indeed, it is al Qaeda, of attacking Jewish and Israeli targets.

PHILLIPS: OK, you brought up a couple different points. Let me back up for a minute and first talk about just terrorist group in Egypt going back to 1997, and you've talked about this before, the Islamic group, that agreed actually to a cease fire, correct, and so things had calmed a bit. So my question to you is, is that even possible with Al Zawahiri and the other jihad that's forming and the connections to Al Qaeda? Is it possible to even reach a cease-fire there in Egypt with this group?

BERGEN: Well, the Islamic group probably killed, you know, several hundred tourists, Christians, policemen in Egypt in the '90s. In '97, as you say, they basically agreed to a cease-fire with the Egyptian government. That cease-fire has held now for seven years. There was basically to be no terrorism in Egypt. Ayman Al Zawahiri's jihad group never signed on to the cease-fire. If it is Al Qaeda behind these attacks, this is their way of saying that they have no part of this cease-fire, and that they plan to, again, attack tourists in Egypt. Overseas tourism is one of the most important things in the Egyptian economy. This is a way of attacking Egypt's government, Egypt's government, attacking Israel, and also, parenthetically, attacking an American-owned company, being the Hilton hotel, where this happened. Al Qaeda has been attacking American hotels around the world, a Sheraton in Karachi in 2002, a j.w. Marriott in Jakarta in 2003. So this will also be part of a pattern of attacking symbols of American economic power.

PHILLIPS: So, Peter, will we see this Egyptian jihad group -- also there were Egyptians that had gotten into Samarra, the commander of the First Infantry Division talked about the Egyptians involved in those attack there. What is happening or not happening politically that is no now creating, I guess, maybe it's always been there, but more of a surge or development of Al Qaeda in Egypt?

BERGEN: Well, that's hard to say. I mean, I just think that the jihad group was one of the most effective terrorist group in Egypt. It was responsible. It had a role of the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981. It also attacked a whole range of government ministers in the mid '90s. And if indeed it is Al Qaeda, I think we'll find that it is Egyptian members of Al Qaeda associated with the jihad group in Egypt who implemented this attack. And obviously, we don't know yet, but I think it's a reasonable hypotheses, given the fact that Palestinian groups have been attacked in Egypt in the past.

PHILLIPS: And, Peter, real quickly, you're in Afghanistan covering the election, security there. I know some election officials have even been killed. Even the number has been downsized of those to work the elections. Give us an update on the security, and how do you think this is going to go?

BERGEN: I think the security situation here is not perfect, but it's far from terrible. Obviously, there have a number of -- you know, in the last few days, an attempt on the vice president's life, which didn't succeed, also, a rocket attack here in Kabul, which was ineffectual. Arrest in Kandahar, where people were seemingly planning to blow up a fuel truck just today. However, none of these things -- if you really want to disrupt the election, that train has left the station. I mean, this election is going to go forward. It's not going to be perfect, but it's going to be reasonably OK, and I think, you know, Hamid Karzai looks like he'll be elected in a landslide.

PHILLIPS: CNN's terrorism analyst Peter Bergen there, live from Kabul.

Thanks so much, Peter -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Yusuf Islam, the British singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, is out to clear his fame. He told CNN's Larry King last night he wants his name off a no-fly list and a proper explanation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YUSUF ISLAM, FORMERLY CAT STEVENS: It seems to be that there's more than one story. You know, one is that they got the name wrong because they really did not have my name on the watch list. It was Y- O-U-S-S-O-U-F, I think, and my name is not spelled like that. The other point was that there was some -- as far as I could see other questions related to me being a U.S. citizen didn't relate to me. So I thought maybe it's that, then they're kind of talking about other issues connected to information that happened between, you know, July and September. Well, I know what happened between July and September, so I really would like to see what they have. You know, what is it all about? Give me an explanation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The 56-year-old performer was denied entry into the U.S. last month on security grounds. He was accused of helping fund terror groups. The singer does concede some of his charity donations could have ended up in the wrong hands.

PHILLIPS: Debate night tonight. It'll be the second Q&A for the president and Democrat John Kerry. The first, you'll recall, was in Florida, one of those battleground states. This evening, it's in Missouri, another state once considered up for grabs by both parties. Well, it's not any more.

Kelly Wallace has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I know the president will join me in welcoming all of Florida to this debate.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was no accident the first presidential debate was in Florida, the first and only vice presidential face-off in Ohio, and the last two presidential showdowns in Missouri and Arizona. All four states had been considered battlegrounds by both campaigns just a few months ago, but things have changed.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wait until you get to Phoenix!

WALLACE: A CNN analysis of the latest polling shows Arizona likely going for President Bush and Missouri leaning the president's way. The Kerry campaign is no longer running TV ads in either place.

KERRY: I'm John Kerry and I approve this message.

WALLACE: So keeping in mind the ever-changing political landscape, get your pens ready. Here are some of the states up for grabs. Those we already mentioned, Florida and Ohio, and also Pennsylvania. But Colorado? That's right. A state Mr. Bush won by more than 8 points in 2000, a state where Senator Kerry prepared for tonight's debate.

KERRY: Well, obviously I'd like to win all of Colorado's electoral votes.

WALLACE: And a state where the race is neck-and-neck, according to the latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should have used the resources that we had.

WALLACE: And then there is New York, which explains why Senator Edwards was there yesterday. Recent polls show the race tightening in a state the Democrats easily won four years ago.

Where else is it too close to call?

BUSH: Help is on the way!

WALLACE: Other states Mr. Bush won in 2000: New Hampshire, West Virginia, Nevada. And other states Al Gore won: Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and New Mexico.

And so just about a dozen states now considered the most competitive battlegrounds, the places the campaigns are devoting most of their resources, knowing these states could play the biggest role on Election Day.

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And here's some pictures just came in to us a few moments ago of John Kerry arriving at the venue for the debate. Dramatic stuff, huh, folks? All right, there you have it. We know he's there.

The format for tonight's match up: the town hall meeting. Audience members will be allowed to ask questions. It's a lot less tightly moderated, although those questions are selected in advance, of course.

CNN tested the format last night in Racine, Wisconsin. Bush advisor Tucker Eskew and Kerry rep. Tad Devine took on a live audience and each other over Medicare, social security, the economy, and the war in Iraq.

Our Paula Zahn kept the panel on focus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Is or is it not true, though, that Halliburton was one of the few companies, including subsidiaries, that was prepared to do this kind of work.

TAD DEVINE, JOHN KERRY ADVISOR: It's a fact. It's also true that they could have had a system to ensure that others would have a chance.

Here's what's happening right now in Iraq. Instead of hiring Iraqis, we're hiring Halliburton. If you want to get Iraq safe and secure, why don't we give them jobs over there. That would be a...

(APPLAUSE)

TUCKER ESKEW, BUSH ADVISOR: Why don't we stop insulting them like the Kerry campaign continually does, insulting the prime minister of Iraq, running down the contributions by Iraqis. Running down the contributions by Iraqis. They completely dismiss the deaths and casualties suffered by Iraq. Iraq is our number one ally in this fight.

ZAHN: That's a different issue. But is the infrastructure in place for Iraqis to do the kind of job that Halliburton...

ESKEW: There's not. To my knowledge, that's why we're adding billions of dollars in reconstruction money to help do just exactly that.

Let me just say the criticisms that have come out of this campaign on Halliburton have been proven false by independent bodies like factcheck.org.

(APPLAUSE)

ZAHN: You can truly tell where our Bush supporters are and Kerry supporters, and the undecideds are scattered through here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: CNN's Paula Zahn there, moderating a lively discussion last night in Racine, Wisconsin. Tonight's moderator is ABC's Charles Gibson. The two candidates step into the lights 9:00 Eastern. Our live coverage begins at 7:00. Don't miss a moment of it.

PHILLIPS: Even early birds don't always catch the worm. The media-savvy Martha Stewart managed to sneak into prison this morning to begin serving her five-month sentence. A statement says "Camp Cupcake's" newest inmate arrived at 6:15 this morning, slipping past the dozens of photographers staked out in Alderson, West Virginia.

CNN's Allan Chernoff with more on the domestic diva's first day in minimum security lockup. How did she get through there?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNNFN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as you know, usually Martha Stewart does invite publicity, but certainly not today.

This was all coordinated, according to local police officials. They worked with the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, even with officials from CSX Railroad that has a line right near the prison. They wanted to help Martha Stewart get in so that she wouldn't be hounded by the media. And of course, there are dozen of reporters camped out right here in front of the federal prison.

So, that was special treatment. Typically, inmates check in about 8:00 in the morning until early afternoon. But once inside, the word is no special treatment at all for Martha Stewart. She did have to go through a strip search. Also, she's getting her prison khakis, trading in that street clothing, and then having orientation and being assigned a bunk bed. She'll be sleeping in a very small cubical. There are no prison bars here at Alderson.

Now, Martha Stewart, of course, is also going to have to work eventually for 12 cents an hour, seven-and-one-half hours every day. She'll probably be working either in the kitchen, some groundskeeping, perhaps even working as a janitor.

Some of the locals around here, though, are having fun with all this. In fact, tonight at one of the local clubs, they're planning to have a Martha Stewart look-alike contest. And the prize: $250 at Kmart, a gift certificate. And of course, that could be spent on Martha Stewart Everyday products -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Allan, look at all this publicity and all of these events taking place, even the welcome signs. I mean, is this at all, do you think, or have you heard any critics say it's sort of, I don't know, taking this serious situation and kind of making a mockery of the whole thing?

CHERNOFF: Well, obviously it's a terribly serious situation for Martha Stewart, and we should point out that she is continuing to appeal this case. She has maintained her innocence, even though she was convicted of lying about a stock sale.

But the people around here -- keep in mind, this is a very small town, Alderson. Just a little more than 1,000 people. They're simply trying to have a little fun and also perhaps make a little bit of a profit, as well. As you know, people selling T-shirts. In fact, just down the road, we've got somebody with a van full of about 200 T- shirts of Martha Stewart on them.

PHILLIPS: Allan Chernoff, all right. Once again, live there from the minimum security lockup, where Martha Stewart remains. Thank you -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: Humans aren't the only creatures who benefit from a touch-up. After the break, why you may not be able to take the tuna you buy at the market at face value.

Plus, a new drug warning for people suffering from arthritis.

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if a photo really was worth more than 1,000 words? Elizabeth Mynatt thinks so. She's an associate professor at Georgia Tech who's part of the Digital Family Portrait Project. Beyond a simple picture frame, a system of microphones, cameras, and sensors could allow family members to keep an eye on their elderly loved ones while still giving them their independence.

ELIZABETH MYNATT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, GEORGIA TECH: Economically, these technologies can have a tremendous impact for the senior adults, in this country as well as other countries, that are grappling with how to care for an aging of population.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a person moves from room to room, family members can receive real time information. The signal is sent over an encrypted Internet channel in order to protect the person's privacy.

Through the digital portrait, the family is able to pinpoint any causes for concern, like leaving an oven on or a kettle boiling.

MYNATT: I'm quite optimistic that these technology will become commonplace in the home in the next few decades.

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PHILLIPS: So, did you step away from the sushi? There's a chance that tuna in the window isn't as fresh as it looks. And there's growing concern over the practice of gassing tuna with carbon monoxide to make it look bright red as if it had just been pulled out of the sea.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen on why this practice is raising a red flag with some health and consumer advocates, of course. You know, it's funny -- and I don't know, maybe it's because I cook a lot -- but I can always tell by the color and the texture and the smell.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's because you eat a lot.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I do. It's amazing how much I can eat. But anyway, isn't that true, though? Don't you think...

COHEN: It is true. I know I can tell when I eat sushi, there's just a certain texture, a certain something that you look for, not to mention smell. But people sometimes also do use sight in order to tell if a piece of tuna is going to be fresh or not. And some countries have said, hey, this practice of gassing the fish with carbon monoxide, not going to happen. That's the untreated tuna. That's what it look like right there. It's dark red. And on the right is treated. It's been treated with carbon monoxide .

Now let's go over what this whole carbon monoxide treating tuna thing is. It sounds kind of bizarre. The treatment itself is not toxic. There's nothing technically wrong with it. It's FDA approved. It's widely used. The concern is not about the treatment itself. The concern is that it's masking old fish. So you used to have, you know, there's a certain color that a fish will turn. It will turn a kind of brown or kind of chocolately color when it's not good. If you gassed it, it won't turn that color, and so that's the problem there. And so some countries say, hey, you can't treat it like this. There are certainly advocate in this country saying, why are we letting them treat fish this way? You got to keep it fresh.

PHILLIPS: Why are we letting them? That's good question. What's the answer to that?

COHEN: There's no real answer to that. I mean of course the fish industry would like to continue it.

PHILLIPS: Here's the controversy. Yes, right.

OK, another side note. You had an update on arthritis?

COHEN: That's right. Last week the news was about Vioxx, which was a drug to treat arthritis taken off the market. The news today is about a drug called Remicade. It's another arthritis drug. And the FDA is now going to start labeling it, that among people taking Remicade, there have been some cases of lymphoma that have not shown up in people who don't take Remicade. So something to keep in mind when you're thinking about arthritis drugs.

PHILLIPS: All right.

Thanks a lot for announcing how much I love to eat.

COHEN: That's right, I just had to share that with everyone.

PHILLIPS: Miles, it is pretty much incredible how much I can eat.

Anyway, take it away, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Not going to touch that one.

On to more serious news, back to our top story. The apparent murder of Kenneth Bigley at the hands of insurgent captors in Iraq. His family have pleaded very directly with British Prime Minister Tony Blair to somehow negotiate his way to freedom. Today, the prime minister is offering some response to Kenneth Bigley's death.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I feel desperately sorry for Ken Bigley, for his family who behaved with extraordinary dignity and courage. I feel utter revulsion that the people that did this. Not just that the barbaric nature of the killing, but the way, frankly, they've play with the situation over the past few weeks. And I feel a strong sense, as I hope others do, that the actions of these people, whether in Iraq or elsewhere, should not prevail over people like Ken Bigley who, after all, only wanted to make Iraq and the world a better place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Ken Bigley's family saying the British prime minister has blood on his hands.

Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

O'BRIEN: Coming up in our second hour of CNN's LIVE FROM, all kinds of things. It's going to be fantastic. We're going to talk about the debate, Kerry versus Bush, this time in a townhall meeting. And we'll have the full analysis for you. Be sure to tune into CNN's coverage of the second presidential debate, which begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern with Anderson Cooper, and then at 8:00, Paula Zahn takes over, followed by a special pre-debate show with Wolf Blitzer at 8:30. All those are Eastern times, by the way. And Wolf will take us right up to the debate, scheduled to begin at 9:00 Eastern. We'll have plenty of commentary afterwards as well.

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