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Egyptian Resort Attacks; British Hostage Killed; Tonight's Debate

Aired October 08, 2004 - 14:00   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, CNN ANCHOR: Is it the work of al Qaeda? A live report on the bombings in Egypt.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The candidates will have to answer real questions from real people tonight.

O'BRIEN: Today we ask a couple of normal people what they hope to get out of tonight's debate.

PHILLIPS: And what's the deal with poker? Why is it so hot, and how can you be a part of it? Later in the show, how to host, dominate and crush your family and friends at the poker table.

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

O'BRIEN: And this is the straight flush of CNN programs, LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.

PHILLIPS: We begin on the Sinai Peninsula, home to seaside resorts that are no refuge from terror attacks seemingly aimed at Israelis. At least 29 people are dead in the aftermath of near simultaneous bombings at a major hotel and two camp sites crowded with Israelis on holiday. Let's get straight to CNN's John Vause in the Egyptian city of Taba for the latest -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

We're actually on the Israeli side of the Taba border, in the Israeli seaside town of Eilat. It's not far from the Hilton hotel, which bore the brunt of the explosions almost 24 hours ago. As you mentioned, there's been a bit of confusion over the last 24 hours or so about the number of dead killed in the three explosions.

The Israelis government now saying as many as 29 people were killed, confirming that four of the dead are, in fact, Israelis. Their bodies have been brought home.

The Egyptian government saying as many six -- as six Egyptians were also killed in the blast at the hotel. The nationalities of the other 19 at this stage remain unclear.

It's also unclear how many people remain missing and unaccounted for. Once again, the Israelis government putting the number at around 30. But it says it could be higher. Kyra, there has been some good news today. The Israeli Foreign Ministry saying a young woman was found beneath the rubble of the Hilton hotel. Apparently, she was trapped in an area where rescue workers were not searching. Someone heard her cries for help, they moved in, they removed the debris at times with their bare hands. And despite her injuries, her condition is described as being in good health.

Now, the Israeli government has also revised downwards the number of Israelis who were spending the Jewish holidays in the Sinai Peninsula. Originally, it was thought that as many as 35,000 Israelis had crossed the border. That number now at 15,000.

And they've been streaming across the border all night long. But with nightfall here, Kyra, that traffic has slowed considerably. The Israeli government saying about half have returned home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John, we were talking with Peter Bergen earlier, our terrorism expert, and he talked about the fact that this was a western-named hotel, one of the reasons why it was targeted. Are there any other hotels in the area with western names, like a Sheraton or a Hilton, that could be a possible target? And are folks there being warned to leave?

VAUSE: There are a lot of hotels in Taba, a lot of the chain hotels there. All the usual chain hotels, the big-name hotels are there. It's a very, very popular tourist destination.

And, in fact, what we are being told by the Israelis government, in fact, one of the reasons why the Hilton in Egypt was targeted is because it was seen in many ways as a soft target. The security at these hotels in Egypt is nowhere nearly as tight as security that you find at hotels in Israel, and that is one of the reasons the Israelis government and sources within the Israeli government are saying that this hotel was targeted. And also because there would be a large number of Israelis gathering at the Hilton hotel.

The Hilton, by the way, is, by far, the most popular hotel to holiday at during this time of year -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our John Vause live from Eilat, not far from taba, where those explosions took place.

John, thank you so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: A high-risk assignment, three weeks of terror, unspeakable death. Kenneth Bigley being mourned this hour in his Liverpool, England, and far beyond as word spreads of the silver haired engineer's execution by his Iraqi kidnappers. Here's British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: ... Ken Bigley, for his family, who behaved with extraordinary dignity and courage. I feel utter revulsion at the people that did this. Not just at the barbaric nature of the killing, but the way, frankly, they've played with the situation over the past few weeks. 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: Abu Dhabi TV says it has a video which it is choosing not to air, showing Bigley met the same fate as his fellow hostages and former co-workers, Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong. CNN's Robyn Curnow has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the darkened front rooms of number 54 Bedford Road, the family of Ken Bigley waited for the news they hoped would not come. Now it has.

The blinds in his mother's house firmly closed throughout the crisis. The family certainly did all it could to keep him alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask you as a family to be...

CURNOW: Their impassioned pleas from his son and brothers. Desperate messages from his wife in Thailand. And the most heart wrenching of all, his elderly mother's direct call to the kidnappers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is only a working man who wants to support his family. Please show mercy to Ken and send him home to me alive.

CURNOW: The strain all too much for Bigley's mother. She was admitted to hospital twice during the hostage crisis.

Throughout the ordeal, the people of Liverpool held vigils and prayers for Bigley. And Liverpool's Muslim community strongly denounced the terrorists' actions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Islam completely forbids that any innocent individual should be targeted.

CURNOW: The violent reality of post-war Iraq shockingly brought home to one family in a quiet Liverpool street.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Liverpool, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Other news from Iraq. The Pentagon says U.S. warplanes were aiming at a house that was hosting a terror meeting. Fourteen dead, 16 wounded in the attack. An emergency room doctor, however, says the Americans hit a wedding celebration. The U.S. says they were insurgents gathered at the house linked to the militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In Baghdad, an innovative way to neutralize roadside bombs. Over the past two days, U.S. war craft have bombed the deadly devices with precision munitions. The military says it received word today that several people were planning a roadside explosive. An official says those behind the plot were engaged, as they say in the military.

PHILLIPS: Less than seven hours until the showdown in St. Louis. George Bush and John Kerry are running neck and neck again. So what do they have to do in the second debate to win points?

Political analyst Carlos Watson watching it, of course. He's there.

Carlos, good to see you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Kyra Philips, long time no see.

PHILLIPS: Yes, no kidding. It's been awhile. So what do you think? Are you going to be watching baseball -- be honest -- or are you going to be watching this debate?

WATSON: You know I'm going to be watching. I think the interesting question is, on a Friday night, with football games all around the country, with some baseball games, with movies and other things, will other people be watching or, instead, will they just listen for one-liners the next day? I think that's one of the interesting questions of the debate tonight.

PHILLIPS: What about the format? Let's talk about the formats of these debates. And as we've been watching, do you think it's interesting how they have been so planned and perfected?

WATSON: Yes, although we may go a little bit off script for the first time. Remember, instead of just having three participants -- namely, a moderator, the president and Senator Kerry -- now you can have 20 different individuals jump in and having their say. And who knows if they'll agree to follow the rules or not.

So we may get a little bit of reality TV here, if you will. Reality TV meets politics.

PHILLIPS: And you know -- oh, that's interesting. We all know how reality TV has been doing.

That would be interesting behind the scenes. But that's a whole other segment idea.

Personal questions. We haven't seen, of course, a lot of the personal questions. There were very strict guidelines in the first debate, and then the other night we sort of saw Cheney and Edwards go there when there were some comments made about Cheney and his daughter who was gay.

Tonight, what do you think? Will it get personal?

WATSON: I think it will, Kyra. I think that will actually be -- when you take a real big step back and you say, what are some of the big changes in 2004 debates and politics, versus previous years, there was always kind of an invisible line.

Even in 1988, when Bernie Shaw asked Michael Dukakis about the issue of the death penalty, he asked it in a hypothetical way. But you saw on Tuesday at the vice presidential debate they brought up the issue of the vice president's daughter. And I bet you'll see tonight members of the audience ask questions that, you know, just four or eight years ago would have frankly seemed a little out of bounds. So don't be surprised if there's some spicy questions from the audience.

PHILLIPS: Now, ABC's Charlie Gibson obviously taking those questions. He'll be moderating this. He can really set the tone here, can't he?

WATSON: He really can. I mean, the question is, will he try and -- you know, as he looks through the questions, take some of the blander ones or, frankly, will he allow some of the very natural, very human spice?

For example, what if there's a woman who says, you know, "My husband is in Iraq right now and I want to know when you are going to bring him home? I feel like you are particularly responsible."

Would Charlie Gibson allow that question, A, to be read, and B, if she asked -- if she'd given another question which was different but started to read that one, would he cut her off? I think it's going to be interesting him not just to be a facilitator, but really almost a judge.

PHILLIPS: Well, isn't that sort of interesting? Because he's supposed to be a journalist. Of course, nonbiased. So could this maybe open up the forum for a bit of -- maybe a little more focus on Charlie Gibson?

And it could create something on what he decides to go with and what tone to set. It's sort of risky business, isn't it?

WATSON: Kind of a little Lance Ito here. I mean, remember that often, when you talk about court cases -- and I hope you'll forgive the analogy -- but when you talk about court cases, often you talk about the two primary lawyers.

But remember, in that case, the judge became as much of an issue as the -- as the lawyers who were involved. And I wouldn't be surprised to hear more about Charlie Gibson.

One other interesting thing to note about Charlie Gibson. Of the four moderators, three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, he's really the only one who's not a kind of Washington fixture. Right?

Jim Lehrer is based in Washington, Gwen Ifill is based in Washington, Bob Schieffer is based in Washington. So he may bring a different flavor to this.

PHILLIPS: Well, just for the sake of fairness -- I know we've got to wrap -- but behind you, Carlos, there's a Kerry-Edwards sign and then a Bush-Cheney sign. And the Bush-Cheney sign is a little smaller than the other one. We want to let folks know we haven't planned that background, right?

WATSON: You want me to turn around and look at it?

PHILLIPS: Yes, there you go. Now they dropped the signs.

WATSON: We'll have lots of signs tonight, Kyra. It will be exciting. It will be good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Carlos Watson, thank you so much. Always a pleasure -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Of course, you know size doesn't matter anyway.

The hall where the debate will take place is only so big. And you can only fit so many people into it, speaking of size.

So we decided to find some folks in the Gateway City -- by the way, a friend of mine, Bob Unice (ph), says we should call it the hooey in St. Louis or the hubris in St. Louis. We were trying to find a rhyme there.

Anyway, those who don't have a ticket to the event but still have some questions for the candidates are out there. CNN's Jonathan Freed picked up two people with plenty of differences but something in common, and he met them in St. Louis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Larry Borkowski (ph) owns DB's Sports Bar (ph) in St. Louis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politics or religion, man, just don't talk about them.

FREED: And he's not afraid to break his own rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you guys voting for?

FREED: A few blocks away...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello? Johnny's (ph).

FREED: ... is Joni Thomas' (ph) pizzeria, where she's never shy to serve up politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want Kerry to win the debate.

FREED: A Democrat and a Republican, different parties, same type of job. And plenty of questions they'd like to ask the candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to know taxes. I'd like to know foreign policy. I'd like to know the economy. And I'd like to know health care. FREED: Larry and Joni (ph) agree on those general topics, but if they could question only one candidate, they'd go separate ways. Joni (ph) would confront President Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't understand why we can't find Osama bin Laden. And are we really trying? That just drives me crazy.

FREED: Larry would ask John Kerry to define himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has he done as a senator? What decisions has he made? What -- what crises has he led people out of?

FREED: W didn't want to let them get away with just going after the other guy. So we asked what they'd ask their preferred candidate. Joni (ph) admits she thinks Kerry hasn't been clear about health care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's too expensive. We need it, and not everybody can afford it. And isn't there a way that we can, you know, make it work?

FREED: And while Larry supports the invasion of Iraq...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If President Bush would go back and just get them all again and do it differently, would he do it differently?

FREED: Despite their differences, these two business owners agree on taxes. They'd both ask the candidates to lower them, and say they would use part of the money to provide better employee benefits.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, St. Louis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Of course, CNN is the place to watch the debate, the run-up and the post-light (ph). We're live from St. Louis in prime- time.

Our special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern with "ANDERSON COOPER 360." "PAULA ZAHN NOW" follows at 8:00 Eastern. Wolf Blitzer and the CNN election team will have a special pre-debate show at 8:30 Eastern. And, of course, the main event at 9:00, right here on CNN.

Cancel those dinner plans, forget about that movie. This is the thing to watch.

The jobs report came out today. Good or bad news for U.S. workers, you may ask. That business update a little bit later in the program.

Also, the "CROSSFIRE" gang will be here to debate the debates. Think they'll agree on anything? Nah.

And, are you clueless when it comes to poker? Do you not know when to hold them or when to fold them? Well, you don't have to be. We'll have a guest who will teach you how to crush your opponents.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Energizer bunnies of space exploration, the rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, just keep on going and going. Which brings us to, back by popular demand -- well, actually, back by my demand, "The Mars Minute." And let's start the clock, shall we?

First of all, let's take a look at some pictures from those rovers as they awakened from their wintertime slumber, their conjunction slumber. And there you see not a very good picture at all. Uh-oh.

We don't have a properly synched-up shot. And therefore -- oh, there we go. That looked good.

You see the shadows are very long on Mars right now. Two weeks ago, the rovers awakened from their solar conjunction, which meant the sun was in the way and they couldn't talk with Earth.

Next picture.

Take a look at those dunes. I want to show you where those were in this picture just show you know. This is the Endurance Crater down there. There's the dunes.

And let me show you, Opportunity went up to the dunes, took a look and said, you know, those are very cool looking, but I'm going to get bogged down in that sand. And so they did not attempt to drive into the dunes.

Take a look at this rock. This one is called the Escher Rock. And I want you to note some of these cracks in here. They're very interesting to scientists.

There are two possible explanations for it. Water, which formed in there, cracked because of ice, or could have been caused by some sort of volcanic activity. They like to think it is the former because they've already discovered other reasons to believe there's water there.

Going into bonus time right now. Just a very cool shot I wanted to tell you about.

I love that shot. Savor it. Savor it.

Next one.

All right. This is where Opportunity is headed next as it goes out of the big Endurance Crater. Take a look at the huge journey that Opportunity has done. This distance from here to there is about one mile on the odometer.

How has Spirit done? Spirit has gone from here to here, and that distance is 2.25 miles on the odometer. And finally, we'll take you back to that wonderful shadow shot. Kyra, I don't know -- the warranty on these things is only for 90 days. And so they've extended the warranty and the mileage.

PHILLIPS: More than 50,000 pictures, right?

O'BRIEN: And 50,000 pictures, which is also beyond the warranty. So this is very -- how did you know that?

PHILLIPS: Because you went into bonus time and I had time to look.

O'BRIEN: OK. I'm very impressed.

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world.

She's known as the tree woman and founded Kenya's Greenbelt Movement. Now she's a Nobel Peace laureate as well. Wangari Maathai, a mother of three, is the recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee said she got the award for her contribution to the environment, democracy and, of course, peace.

Bringing democracy to some of the remote parts of the world, preparations are well under way for tomorrow's landmark elections in Afghanistan. It will be the country's first democratic poll, and it takes place almost three years after the Taliban regime was ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign.

It's official. Look at this skyscraper, 101 levels in Taiwan. The world's tallest building now. That structure just under 1,700 feet high takes the title from Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers.

Straight ahead, a new place to call home, at least for five months. Martha Stewart starts her prison life in West Virginia.

And a medicine for arthritis could cause you even more problems.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Live from the -- I'm Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange. Employers added almost 100,000 new jobs last month. So where are they? I'll break it down for you right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right. No -- there you are. No red carpet for Martha Stewart.

She sneaked past reporters under cover of darkness at dawn today to report to prison. Curses, foiled again.

Stewart begins a five-month sentence in Alderson, West Virginia. There you see the spacious setting there. No walls or fences. Actually, unlike her home, in some respects.

The minimum security facility also known as Camp Cupcake has just over 1,000 inmates. Stewart was sentenced in July to five months in prison and five months home detention for lying about a stock trade. And she is appealing her conviction.

PHILLIPS: A government report came out on jobs and, of course, it reported that employees added close to 100,000 jobs while the unemployment rate changed. John Kerry responded to that just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today we received more bad economic news about the country. And the president is now officially the first president in 72 years to lose jobs on his watch.

Tonight, I'll look forward to talking to America about how we can have a better plan to put Americans back to work and to create better jobs for our country. That's what America deserves and that's what it's going to get. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Who is doing the hiring?

O'BRIEN: I don't know. Maybe we need to be looking. You never know in this business.

Rhonda Schaffler joining us from New York on where we should be sending our resumes.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 8, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Is it the work of al Qaeda? A live report on the bombings in Egypt.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The candidates will have to answer real questions from real people tonight.

O'BRIEN: Today we ask a couple of normal people what they hope to get out of tonight's debate.

PHILLIPS: And what's the deal with poker? Why is it so hot, and how can you be a part of it? Later in the show, how to host, dominate and crush your family and friends at the poker table.

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

O'BRIEN: And this is the straight flush of CNN programs, LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us.

PHILLIPS: We begin on the Sinai Peninsula, home to seaside resorts that are no refuge from terror attacks seemingly aimed at Israelis. At least 29 people are dead in the aftermath of near simultaneous bombings at a major hotel and two camp sites crowded with Israelis on holiday. Let's get straight to CNN's John Vause in the Egyptian city of Taba for the latest -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

We're actually on the Israeli side of the Taba border, in the Israeli seaside town of Eilat. It's not far from the Hilton hotel, which bore the brunt of the explosions almost 24 hours ago. As you mentioned, there's been a bit of confusion over the last 24 hours or so about the number of dead killed in the three explosions.

The Israelis government now saying as many as 29 people were killed, confirming that four of the dead are, in fact, Israelis. Their bodies have been brought home.

The Egyptian government saying as many six -- as six Egyptians were also killed in the blast at the hotel. The nationalities of the other 19 at this stage remain unclear.

It's also unclear how many people remain missing and unaccounted for. Once again, the Israelis government putting the number at around 30. But it says it could be higher. Kyra, there has been some good news today. The Israeli Foreign Ministry saying a young woman was found beneath the rubble of the Hilton hotel. Apparently, she was trapped in an area where rescue workers were not searching. Someone heard her cries for help, they moved in, they removed the debris at times with their bare hands. And despite her injuries, her condition is described as being in good health.

Now, the Israeli government has also revised downwards the number of Israelis who were spending the Jewish holidays in the Sinai Peninsula. Originally, it was thought that as many as 35,000 Israelis had crossed the border. That number now at 15,000.

And they've been streaming across the border all night long. But with nightfall here, Kyra, that traffic has slowed considerably. The Israeli government saying about half have returned home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John, we were talking with Peter Bergen earlier, our terrorism expert, and he talked about the fact that this was a western-named hotel, one of the reasons why it was targeted. Are there any other hotels in the area with western names, like a Sheraton or a Hilton, that could be a possible target? And are folks there being warned to leave?

VAUSE: There are a lot of hotels in Taba, a lot of the chain hotels there. All the usual chain hotels, the big-name hotels are there. It's a very, very popular tourist destination.

And, in fact, what we are being told by the Israelis government, in fact, one of the reasons why the Hilton in Egypt was targeted is because it was seen in many ways as a soft target. The security at these hotels in Egypt is nowhere nearly as tight as security that you find at hotels in Israel, and that is one of the reasons the Israelis government and sources within the Israeli government are saying that this hotel was targeted. And also because there would be a large number of Israelis gathering at the Hilton hotel.

The Hilton, by the way, is, by far, the most popular hotel to holiday at during this time of year -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our John Vause live from Eilat, not far from taba, where those explosions took place.

John, thank you so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: A high-risk assignment, three weeks of terror, unspeakable death. Kenneth Bigley being mourned this hour in his Liverpool, England, and far beyond as word spreads of the silver haired engineer's execution by his Iraqi kidnappers. Here's British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: ... Ken Bigley, for his family, who behaved with extraordinary dignity and courage. I feel utter revulsion at the people that did this. Not just at the barbaric nature of the killing, but the way, frankly, they've played with the situation over the past few weeks. 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: Abu Dhabi TV says it has a video which it is choosing not to air, showing Bigley met the same fate as his fellow hostages and former co-workers, Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong. CNN's Robyn Curnow has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the darkened front rooms of number 54 Bedford Road, the family of Ken Bigley waited for the news they hoped would not come. Now it has.

The blinds in his mother's house firmly closed throughout the crisis. The family certainly did all it could to keep him alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ask you as a family to be...

CURNOW: Their impassioned pleas from his son and brothers. Desperate messages from his wife in Thailand. And the most heart wrenching of all, his elderly mother's direct call to the kidnappers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is only a working man who wants to support his family. Please show mercy to Ken and send him home to me alive.

CURNOW: The strain all too much for Bigley's mother. She was admitted to hospital twice during the hostage crisis.

Throughout the ordeal, the people of Liverpool held vigils and prayers for Bigley. And Liverpool's Muslim community strongly denounced the terrorists' actions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Islam completely forbids that any innocent individual should be targeted.

CURNOW: The violent reality of post-war Iraq shockingly brought home to one family in a quiet Liverpool street.

Robyn Curnow, CNN, Liverpool, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Other news from Iraq. The Pentagon says U.S. warplanes were aiming at a house that was hosting a terror meeting. Fourteen dead, 16 wounded in the attack. An emergency room doctor, however, says the Americans hit a wedding celebration. The U.S. says they were insurgents gathered at the house linked to the militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In Baghdad, an innovative way to neutralize roadside bombs. Over the past two days, U.S. war craft have bombed the deadly devices with precision munitions. The military says it received word today that several people were planning a roadside explosive. An official says those behind the plot were engaged, as they say in the military.

PHILLIPS: Less than seven hours until the showdown in St. Louis. George Bush and John Kerry are running neck and neck again. So what do they have to do in the second debate to win points?

Political analyst Carlos Watson watching it, of course. He's there.

Carlos, good to see you.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Kyra Philips, long time no see.

PHILLIPS: Yes, no kidding. It's been awhile. So what do you think? Are you going to be watching baseball -- be honest -- or are you going to be watching this debate?

WATSON: You know I'm going to be watching. I think the interesting question is, on a Friday night, with football games all around the country, with some baseball games, with movies and other things, will other people be watching or, instead, will they just listen for one-liners the next day? I think that's one of the interesting questions of the debate tonight.

PHILLIPS: What about the format? Let's talk about the formats of these debates. And as we've been watching, do you think it's interesting how they have been so planned and perfected?

WATSON: Yes, although we may go a little bit off script for the first time. Remember, instead of just having three participants -- namely, a moderator, the president and Senator Kerry -- now you can have 20 different individuals jump in and having their say. And who knows if they'll agree to follow the rules or not.

So we may get a little bit of reality TV here, if you will. Reality TV meets politics.

PHILLIPS: And you know -- oh, that's interesting. We all know how reality TV has been doing.

That would be interesting behind the scenes. But that's a whole other segment idea.

Personal questions. We haven't seen, of course, a lot of the personal questions. There were very strict guidelines in the first debate, and then the other night we sort of saw Cheney and Edwards go there when there were some comments made about Cheney and his daughter who was gay.

Tonight, what do you think? Will it get personal?

WATSON: I think it will, Kyra. I think that will actually be -- when you take a real big step back and you say, what are some of the big changes in 2004 debates and politics, versus previous years, there was always kind of an invisible line.

Even in 1988, when Bernie Shaw asked Michael Dukakis about the issue of the death penalty, he asked it in a hypothetical way. But you saw on Tuesday at the vice presidential debate they brought up the issue of the vice president's daughter. And I bet you'll see tonight members of the audience ask questions that, you know, just four or eight years ago would have frankly seemed a little out of bounds. So don't be surprised if there's some spicy questions from the audience.

PHILLIPS: Now, ABC's Charlie Gibson obviously taking those questions. He'll be moderating this. He can really set the tone here, can't he?

WATSON: He really can. I mean, the question is, will he try and -- you know, as he looks through the questions, take some of the blander ones or, frankly, will he allow some of the very natural, very human spice?

For example, what if there's a woman who says, you know, "My husband is in Iraq right now and I want to know when you are going to bring him home? I feel like you are particularly responsible."

Would Charlie Gibson allow that question, A, to be read, and B, if she asked -- if she'd given another question which was different but started to read that one, would he cut her off? I think it's going to be interesting him not just to be a facilitator, but really almost a judge.

PHILLIPS: Well, isn't that sort of interesting? Because he's supposed to be a journalist. Of course, nonbiased. So could this maybe open up the forum for a bit of -- maybe a little more focus on Charlie Gibson?

And it could create something on what he decides to go with and what tone to set. It's sort of risky business, isn't it?

WATSON: Kind of a little Lance Ito here. I mean, remember that often, when you talk about court cases -- and I hope you'll forgive the analogy -- but when you talk about court cases, often you talk about the two primary lawyers.

But remember, in that case, the judge became as much of an issue as the -- as the lawyers who were involved. And I wouldn't be surprised to hear more about Charlie Gibson.

One other interesting thing to note about Charlie Gibson. Of the four moderators, three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate, he's really the only one who's not a kind of Washington fixture. Right?

Jim Lehrer is based in Washington, Gwen Ifill is based in Washington, Bob Schieffer is based in Washington. So he may bring a different flavor to this.

PHILLIPS: Well, just for the sake of fairness -- I know we've got to wrap -- but behind you, Carlos, there's a Kerry-Edwards sign and then a Bush-Cheney sign. And the Bush-Cheney sign is a little smaller than the other one. We want to let folks know we haven't planned that background, right?

WATSON: You want me to turn around and look at it?

PHILLIPS: Yes, there you go. Now they dropped the signs.

WATSON: We'll have lots of signs tonight, Kyra. It will be exciting. It will be good.

PHILLIPS: All right. Carlos Watson, thank you so much. Always a pleasure -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Of course, you know size doesn't matter anyway.

The hall where the debate will take place is only so big. And you can only fit so many people into it, speaking of size.

So we decided to find some folks in the Gateway City -- by the way, a friend of mine, Bob Unice (ph), says we should call it the hooey in St. Louis or the hubris in St. Louis. We were trying to find a rhyme there.

Anyway, those who don't have a ticket to the event but still have some questions for the candidates are out there. CNN's Jonathan Freed picked up two people with plenty of differences but something in common, and he met them in St. Louis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Larry Borkowski (ph) owns DB's Sports Bar (ph) in St. Louis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politics or religion, man, just don't talk about them.

FREED: And he's not afraid to break his own rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who are you guys voting for?

FREED: A few blocks away...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello? Johnny's (ph).

FREED: ... is Joni Thomas' (ph) pizzeria, where she's never shy to serve up politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want Kerry to win the debate.

FREED: A Democrat and a Republican, different parties, same type of job. And plenty of questions they'd like to ask the candidates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to know taxes. I'd like to know foreign policy. I'd like to know the economy. And I'd like to know health care. FREED: Larry and Joni (ph) agree on those general topics, but if they could question only one candidate, they'd go separate ways. Joni (ph) would confront President Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't understand why we can't find Osama bin Laden. And are we really trying? That just drives me crazy.

FREED: Larry would ask John Kerry to define himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has he done as a senator? What decisions has he made? What -- what crises has he led people out of?

FREED: W didn't want to let them get away with just going after the other guy. So we asked what they'd ask their preferred candidate. Joni (ph) admits she thinks Kerry hasn't been clear about health care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's too expensive. We need it, and not everybody can afford it. And isn't there a way that we can, you know, make it work?

FREED: And while Larry supports the invasion of Iraq...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If President Bush would go back and just get them all again and do it differently, would he do it differently?

FREED: Despite their differences, these two business owners agree on taxes. They'd both ask the candidates to lower them, and say they would use part of the money to provide better employee benefits.

Jonathan Freed, CNN, St. Louis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Of course, CNN is the place to watch the debate, the run-up and the post-light (ph). We're live from St. Louis in prime- time.

Our special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern with "ANDERSON COOPER 360." "PAULA ZAHN NOW" follows at 8:00 Eastern. Wolf Blitzer and the CNN election team will have a special pre-debate show at 8:30 Eastern. And, of course, the main event at 9:00, right here on CNN.

Cancel those dinner plans, forget about that movie. This is the thing to watch.

The jobs report came out today. Good or bad news for U.S. workers, you may ask. That business update a little bit later in the program.

Also, the "CROSSFIRE" gang will be here to debate the debates. Think they'll agree on anything? Nah.

And, are you clueless when it comes to poker? Do you not know when to hold them or when to fold them? Well, you don't have to be. We'll have a guest who will teach you how to crush your opponents.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Energizer bunnies of space exploration, the rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, just keep on going and going. Which brings us to, back by popular demand -- well, actually, back by my demand, "The Mars Minute." And let's start the clock, shall we?

First of all, let's take a look at some pictures from those rovers as they awakened from their wintertime slumber, their conjunction slumber. And there you see not a very good picture at all. Uh-oh.

We don't have a properly synched-up shot. And therefore -- oh, there we go. That looked good.

You see the shadows are very long on Mars right now. Two weeks ago, the rovers awakened from their solar conjunction, which meant the sun was in the way and they couldn't talk with Earth.

Next picture.

Take a look at those dunes. I want to show you where those were in this picture just show you know. This is the Endurance Crater down there. There's the dunes.

And let me show you, Opportunity went up to the dunes, took a look and said, you know, those are very cool looking, but I'm going to get bogged down in that sand. And so they did not attempt to drive into the dunes.

Take a look at this rock. This one is called the Escher Rock. And I want you to note some of these cracks in here. They're very interesting to scientists.

There are two possible explanations for it. Water, which formed in there, cracked because of ice, or could have been caused by some sort of volcanic activity. They like to think it is the former because they've already discovered other reasons to believe there's water there.

Going into bonus time right now. Just a very cool shot I wanted to tell you about.

I love that shot. Savor it. Savor it.

Next one.

All right. This is where Opportunity is headed next as it goes out of the big Endurance Crater. Take a look at the huge journey that Opportunity has done. This distance from here to there is about one mile on the odometer.

How has Spirit done? Spirit has gone from here to here, and that distance is 2.25 miles on the odometer. And finally, we'll take you back to that wonderful shadow shot. Kyra, I don't know -- the warranty on these things is only for 90 days. And so they've extended the warranty and the mileage.

PHILLIPS: More than 50,000 pictures, right?

O'BRIEN: And 50,000 pictures, which is also beyond the warranty. So this is very -- how did you know that?

PHILLIPS: Because you went into bonus time and I had time to look.

O'BRIEN: OK. I'm very impressed.

PHILLIPS: Other news around the world.

She's known as the tree woman and founded Kenya's Greenbelt Movement. Now she's a Nobel Peace laureate as well. Wangari Maathai, a mother of three, is the recipient of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee said she got the award for her contribution to the environment, democracy and, of course, peace.

Bringing democracy to some of the remote parts of the world, preparations are well under way for tomorrow's landmark elections in Afghanistan. It will be the country's first democratic poll, and it takes place almost three years after the Taliban regime was ousted by a U.S.-led military campaign.

It's official. Look at this skyscraper, 101 levels in Taiwan. The world's tallest building now. That structure just under 1,700 feet high takes the title from Malaysia's Petronas Twin Towers.

Straight ahead, a new place to call home, at least for five months. Martha Stewart starts her prison life in West Virginia.

And a medicine for arthritis could cause you even more problems.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Live from the -- I'm Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange. Employers added almost 100,000 new jobs last month. So where are they? I'll break it down for you right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right. No -- there you are. No red carpet for Martha Stewart.

She sneaked past reporters under cover of darkness at dawn today to report to prison. Curses, foiled again.

Stewart begins a five-month sentence in Alderson, West Virginia. There you see the spacious setting there. No walls or fences. Actually, unlike her home, in some respects.

The minimum security facility also known as Camp Cupcake has just over 1,000 inmates. Stewart was sentenced in July to five months in prison and five months home detention for lying about a stock trade. And she is appealing her conviction.

PHILLIPS: A government report came out on jobs and, of course, it reported that employees added close to 100,000 jobs while the unemployment rate changed. John Kerry responded to that just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today we received more bad economic news about the country. And the president is now officially the first president in 72 years to lose jobs on his watch.

Tonight, I'll look forward to talking to America about how we can have a better plan to put Americans back to work and to create better jobs for our country. That's what America deserves and that's what it's going to get. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Who is doing the hiring?

O'BRIEN: I don't know. Maybe we need to be looking. You never know in this business.

Rhonda Schaffler joining us from New York on where we should be sending our resumes.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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