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Sinclair Broadcast Group to Air Anti-Kerry Film Nationwide; D.C. Businesses Getting in on Voting Action; Tyco Sells Ex-Chief Kozlowski's Luxury Apartment
Aired October 11, 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news -- Mount St. Helens, live pictures now as it blows off a little more steam. Another plume of steam gushed out of the volcano this morning. Similar activity occurred for several hours yesterday, keeping scientists guessing as to whether this is a rehearsal for something bigger to come.
An American is sharing this year's Nobel Prize in Economics. Edward Prescott and Finn Kydland of Norway were named today for their work in showing how government policies affect business cycles. It's the sixth year in a row that the Award has gone to an American.
And welcome news for the New York Yankees. Ace reliever Mariano Rivera is expected back in New York for tomorrow night's playoff game against the Boston Red Sox. Rivera went to Panama this weekend after two of his relatives were electrocuted in his swimming pool. Rivera learned of their deaths while celebrating Saturday night's victory against Minnesota.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With little more than three weeks to Election Day, the media, its fairness -- or perceived lack of it -- is once again stirring debate. The largest owner of TV stations in the country is airing a primetime documentary next week that takes aim at John Kerry.
The film is called "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal." It accuses the presidential nominee of betraying U.S prisoners during the Vietnam War. It's planned for air on the 62 stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Those stations, affiliates of all the major network, reach about a quarter of the total U.S. TV audience and are based in swing states, like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Talk about a hot political potato.
Joining us to toss it around, Tim Graham of the Media Research Center from our D.C. Bureau, and David Brock, president and CEO of Media Matters for America.
Dave, let's begin with you. What's the matter with Sinclair running this? As I'm told, they've offered up a panel discussion afterward, have invited John Kerry to attend. Doesn't that balance it out?
DAVID BROCK, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MEDIA MATTERS: No, I don't think so. Look, what we have here is we're on the eve of a national election. As you noted, many of these stations are in swing states. This is a 90-minute film that is essentially a partisan attack ad. Sinclair Broadcasting is forcing the stations it owns or manages to carry this.
And most problematic is the fact that they apparently want to classify this as news, which could be an effort to evade federal regulations that require the broadcasters to offer equal time. So, this could be illegal, and I think these plans should be canceled. I think it is outrageous abuse of the public airwaves.
O'BRIEN: Tim Graham, do you have a problem with -- let's just talk about the airing of the documentary in and of itself before we talk about the larger issue of media bias.
TIM GRAHAM, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Well, I think once again Media Matters is trying to censor. They tried to censor Rush Limbaugh, now they're trying to censor an anti-Kerry film. It's really sad.
You know, the fact of the matter is if you've watched network television this year, you've seen countless stories that have showed John Kerry's war heroism. And in those stories, you have not seen the people you would see in this film, the people you've seen in the Swift Boat Vet commercials, because the networks are so liberal, they've decided there's only one side of the John Kerry story they want to tell, and that's the one that makes John Kerry look like a hero.
O'BRIEN: So, to sum it up, though, in and of itself, the airing of the documentary not fair. But in the context of what has preceded it, it would be?
GRAHAM: Well, obviously it's an anti-Kerry film, and the Sinclair Group wants people to see it. By contrast, all the other networks have done 80 or 90 stories on President Bush's military record this year. And those weren't exactly balanced stories either. They've all promoted Michael Moore's film and a bunch of other liberal or radical documentary films.
This is just one small thing to balance it out a little bit. And of course, the left is crying foul that somebody would hear an opposing point of view.
O'BRIEN: What if -- David Brock, what if Sinclair said we're going to air this documentary and then follow it up with "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Michael Moore film? Would that balance it out?
BROCK: Well, I probably don't think it would. I mean, the issue here really as far as I can tell from the press accounts is this phony notion that this film is news. Now, I don't think anyone would think that Michael Moore's film was news either. In fact, he has said it was an op-ed.
So, this is a real corruption of journalism here that we have by a company that, you know, 97 percent of its executives have given money to the Republican party. And I think it is very troubling that the allegations here are already known to be false -- the allegations of treason, the allegations of perjury. And it is wrong for him to say that the Swift Boat Veterans haven't gotten ample airtime for weeks and weeks over the summer.
O'BRIEN: Probably -- not any more so on cable, though.
Tim, I'm curious -- this whole ownership of this station, very conservative group. They mandate a conservative commentary on all their stations. Is this a station ownership with a big agenda? And is that really fair when it comes to the public airwaves? We're not talking about cable here; we're talking about something that is regulated by the government by the FCC. Go ahead.
GRAHAM: Well, if we're going to look at this by judging from people's FEC donations, you have to go back again to looking at the fact that when Bill Clinton was president, the president of ABC News -- or of ABC, Michael Eisner, was hosting major Hollywood fundraisers for President Clinton.
O'BRIEN: No, no, but we're talking about stuff on the air now. We're talking about stuff on the air. We're not talking about stuff that happens in Manhattan salons here or in Georgetown, right? When it comes to what's going on the air, there's a real difference here, isn't there?
GRAHAM: Well, I think the difference again is that this is a film that's seen as partisan film. But when partisans do journalism -- when Aaron Brown does a four-minute story on Memorial Day making John Kerry look like a hero, that's journalism.
It wasn't journalism. It wasn't balanced. It was as propagandistic as anything somebody on Sinclair is going to see.
O'BRIEN: But taking in the context all of our coverage and all the other stories that precede it and followed it during the day, you could make a case that is fair, which is precisely your argument, right?
GRAHAM: Well, if Sinclair -- if you have a Sinclair station that's airing ABC News or CBS News or NBC News, this again is 90 minutes. It's a drop in the bucket to all the anti-Bush bias and pro- Kerry bias that ABC, NBC, and CBS station have been putting on this year.
O'BRIEN: David Brock, final thought from you.
BROCK: Well, I just think that's absurd.
The issue isn't one of bias. The issue is what's news and what isn't news, what is fair use of the airwaves and what isn't. This is clearly an abuse of the public airwaves, and I hope Americans rise up against these stations and take some action to stop this. This is just an outrage.
(AUDIO GAP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, three weeks and a day until the election. We brought you almost every kind of presidential poll result. And the latest unscientific approach involves burritos and bartenders, as CNN's Ed Henry reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the presidential race so close, businesses all over Washington are getting in on the action, giving consumers a chance to vote with their stomachs, as well as their hearts.
This Democrat sunk his teeth into the John Kerry Savory Chicken Burrito, which is full of ingredients the senator's campaign helped pick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's buying these burritos because they want to see what Kerry eats.
HENRY: The owner of California Tortilla says sales of Kerry's favorite burritos soared after the candidate's strong performance in the first debate.
(on camera): Was there a burrito bounce from the debate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Numbers don't lie when it comes to...
HENRY (voice-over): This Bush voter was skeptical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The burrito poll to me is not the best poll out there. I think we'll find out when the vote is taken.
HENRY: There's no avoiding flip-flops when you're rolling a burrito. The Bush Burrito has chicken with Texas hickory sauce, while the Kerry one has Boston baked beans and Heinz 57 sauce. What's an undecided voter to do?
(on camera): Let's give it a try. The Bush Burrito. The Kerry Burrito. I'm still undecided.
(voice-over): The hip Hotel George on Capitol Hill, named after George Washington, is offering two presidential room packages, complete with the candidates' favorite desserts.
SHOLER KIA, HOTEL MANAGER: We want to have some fun and creativity with our guests. Therefore, we're trying to keep both parties happy.
HENRY (on camera): Hmm, Kerry's Cookies, George W.'s Ice Cream. I just can't make up my mind.
(voice-over): The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown is also shaking things up with creative cocktails for the campaign season.
(on camera): Bartender, can I get a W-tini?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly, certainly.
HENRY: How about a Kerry Berry Cosmo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry Berry? All right.
HENRY: Now, I notice the W. drink is blue, even though he normally wins the red states. The Kerry drink's red, even though he normally wins the blue states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
HENRY: Why the mix up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we figure, you know, George Bush wants to win again, he's got to switch up and go for the voters he didn't get the last time.
HENRY: Hmm, still can't make up my mind. Just put me down as an undecided voter.
Covering the presidential battle and the burritos, the candidates and the cocktails, Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Interesting expense report from Ed Henry on that one.
News across America now -- preliminary autopsy reports inconclusive on former baseball star Ken Caminiti. The 1996 National League MVP died yesterday in a -- New York City at age 41. The medical examiner's office says it can't rule on a cause of death until toxicology tests are complete. Caminiti had a history of drug use, including a March 2001 cocaine arrest.
A new NFL record for the New England Patriots. Yesterday's 24-10 victory over Miami gives the Pats 19 consecutive wins. The Pats have earned two Super Bowl titles in three years.
And red faces in Carter County, Missouri, after election officials realized they had forgotten to include the incumbent Bush/Cheney ticket on hundreds of absentee ballots which were sent out last month. Replacement ballots are being sent to everyone who requested an absentee ballot, along with a letter complain explaining the error. Either ballot may be returned, but only one per voter will be counted.
A proposed real estate deal involving a Tyco tycoon turning a few heads. Rhonda Schaffler here to tell us about everything, including the shower curtain.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Miles, too bad, you missed your opportunity. I'm going to tell you about an apartment so pricey, it is even shocking by New York standards. That's coming up when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: All right. I know what many of you are thinking: If I bid on that Kozlowski apartment on Fifth Avenue, I'll get the shower curtain. I'll put it on eBay, and I'll make a fortune. Well, it's not going to work out quite that way.
First of all, the asking price is $21 million. Secondly, there's the little matter of that shower curtain being a piece of evidence, right Rhonda Schaffler?
SCHAFFLER: That's right. You missed out on both, Miles, quite frankly. You're not going to get the shower curtain, and you might not get this $21 million apartment. And that is the word that Tyco is selling this luxury Fifth Avenue apartment of ex-Chief Dennis Kozlowski for a cool $21 million. And according to "The New York Times," the apartment is being bought by a Manhattan hedge fund executive.
Of course, the shower curtain. Who could forget it? That was part of the excesses -- a $6,000 shower curtain. However, the new owner's going to have to get a new shower curtain. That little piece was removed from the apartment as evidence at the Kozlowski trial earlier this year. The case, by the way, ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors plan to retry that case sometime next year.
As for the market today, stocks moving modestly higher. Quiet holiday trading here. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 27 points. Nasdaq up a quarter percent.
That's it from Wall Street. Coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM, a $136 billion tax bill gets Senate approval. I'll tell you who's getting all the tax breaks.
In the meantime, Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Rhonda, thanks so much.
Well, as people pause to remember the remarkable life of Christopher Reeve, we bring you one of his many appearances here on CNN. He talked with Paula Zahn in 2001 about his life and his medical work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Given, though, what you said about the resources that are required, the number of people that it would require to keep up a routine like yours, what kind of hope does your recovery offer for other spinal cord patients?
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: Well, the fact is that you can get it down to being able to do it with your own family. The main thing is I want people to see the benefits. I want people to see that, just at the very, very minimum, all this exercise I've been doing has kept me out of the hospital for four-and-a-half years.
ZAHN: And when you feel your body doing these things that you never thought you'd be able to do again, is it a feeling of triumph? REEVE: It's a feeling of like more, I want more, I want more.
ZAHN: Right after your accident, when you first regained consciousness, you and Dana made an agreement, and essentially she said if you agreed to try to fight and to try to live and life was unbearable two years down the road, she would help you end your life.
Did you ever get close to making that decision?
REEVE: No. That was really put to rest in the first week of my experience in intensive care. And it really was when Dana and the kids came into the room. And I had said it might be better to let me go. And it was absolutely clear they wanted me to stick around.
ZAHN: Do you ever think your injury was part of God's divine plan for you?
REEVE: Yeah, I don't think it was, because I think life is just too random for that. If that was his plan for me, I don't understand what was his plan for all the people killed on 9/11?
ZAHN: Do you still think about walking someday.
REEVE: Oh, sure. Absolutely. I'm not even thinking, I'm planning. You know, and basically I started exercising to maintain my health, but also to be ready for a cure if and when it comes. But I think that science and exercise get me halfway. And certainly, the next thing we need to do is -- particularly in this country, is to get politics out of the equation.
ZAHN: Do you have any hope that you can remove politics from the stem-cell debate?
REEVE: Yeah, by education. And I had the opportunity to speak to many senators, many representatives and -- particularly in the issue of nucleus transplantation, which is known as therapeutic cloning.
But I'm amazed to find out how many of our elected officials do not know or did not know that this nucleus transplantation involves an unfertilized egg. It's not destroying the union of male and female. It's an unfertilized egg that just sits in the lab.
ZAHN: Is that the key to your complete recovery?
REEVE: I think that's the key that's probably the best hope for people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, leukemia, cancer, you name it.
ZAHN: When people look at you, they view you through all kinds of prisms of reference. Just a final thought on what do you want people to think when they see you, when they hear you talk?
REEVE: Oh, just please keep an open mind what I'm talking about, particularly if you're a hardcore opponent. You know, then that said, like any opponent, you know, just please spend one hour in a wheelchair like this and not even be able to scratch your nose or shift your weight. And then, let's resume the conversation after that.
You know, you can't legislate compassion, but that's what's needed most. And what politicians have to do is just imagine what it's like to be somebody else. If we all did that, man, we could change the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: More on Christopher Reeve in LIVE FROM, of course, and on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 11, 2004 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Taking a look at stories now in the news -- Mount St. Helens, live pictures now as it blows off a little more steam. Another plume of steam gushed out of the volcano this morning. Similar activity occurred for several hours yesterday, keeping scientists guessing as to whether this is a rehearsal for something bigger to come.
An American is sharing this year's Nobel Prize in Economics. Edward Prescott and Finn Kydland of Norway were named today for their work in showing how government policies affect business cycles. It's the sixth year in a row that the Award has gone to an American.
And welcome news for the New York Yankees. Ace reliever Mariano Rivera is expected back in New York for tomorrow night's playoff game against the Boston Red Sox. Rivera went to Panama this weekend after two of his relatives were electrocuted in his swimming pool. Rivera learned of their deaths while celebrating Saturday night's victory against Minnesota.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: With little more than three weeks to Election Day, the media, its fairness -- or perceived lack of it -- is once again stirring debate. The largest owner of TV stations in the country is airing a primetime documentary next week that takes aim at John Kerry.
The film is called "Stolen Honor: Wounds that Never Heal." It accuses the presidential nominee of betraying U.S prisoners during the Vietnam War. It's planned for air on the 62 stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Those stations, affiliates of all the major network, reach about a quarter of the total U.S. TV audience and are based in swing states, like Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. Talk about a hot political potato.
Joining us to toss it around, Tim Graham of the Media Research Center from our D.C. Bureau, and David Brock, president and CEO of Media Matters for America.
Dave, let's begin with you. What's the matter with Sinclair running this? As I'm told, they've offered up a panel discussion afterward, have invited John Kerry to attend. Doesn't that balance it out?
DAVID BROCK, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MEDIA MATTERS: No, I don't think so. Look, what we have here is we're on the eve of a national election. As you noted, many of these stations are in swing states. This is a 90-minute film that is essentially a partisan attack ad. Sinclair Broadcasting is forcing the stations it owns or manages to carry this.
And most problematic is the fact that they apparently want to classify this as news, which could be an effort to evade federal regulations that require the broadcasters to offer equal time. So, this could be illegal, and I think these plans should be canceled. I think it is outrageous abuse of the public airwaves.
O'BRIEN: Tim Graham, do you have a problem with -- let's just talk about the airing of the documentary in and of itself before we talk about the larger issue of media bias.
TIM GRAHAM, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Well, I think once again Media Matters is trying to censor. They tried to censor Rush Limbaugh, now they're trying to censor an anti-Kerry film. It's really sad.
You know, the fact of the matter is if you've watched network television this year, you've seen countless stories that have showed John Kerry's war heroism. And in those stories, you have not seen the people you would see in this film, the people you've seen in the Swift Boat Vet commercials, because the networks are so liberal, they've decided there's only one side of the John Kerry story they want to tell, and that's the one that makes John Kerry look like a hero.
O'BRIEN: So, to sum it up, though, in and of itself, the airing of the documentary not fair. But in the context of what has preceded it, it would be?
GRAHAM: Well, obviously it's an anti-Kerry film, and the Sinclair Group wants people to see it. By contrast, all the other networks have done 80 or 90 stories on President Bush's military record this year. And those weren't exactly balanced stories either. They've all promoted Michael Moore's film and a bunch of other liberal or radical documentary films.
This is just one small thing to balance it out a little bit. And of course, the left is crying foul that somebody would hear an opposing point of view.
O'BRIEN: What if -- David Brock, what if Sinclair said we're going to air this documentary and then follow it up with "Fahrenheit 9/11," the Michael Moore film? Would that balance it out?
BROCK: Well, I probably don't think it would. I mean, the issue here really as far as I can tell from the press accounts is this phony notion that this film is news. Now, I don't think anyone would think that Michael Moore's film was news either. In fact, he has said it was an op-ed.
So, this is a real corruption of journalism here that we have by a company that, you know, 97 percent of its executives have given money to the Republican party. And I think it is very troubling that the allegations here are already known to be false -- the allegations of treason, the allegations of perjury. And it is wrong for him to say that the Swift Boat Veterans haven't gotten ample airtime for weeks and weeks over the summer.
O'BRIEN: Probably -- not any more so on cable, though.
Tim, I'm curious -- this whole ownership of this station, very conservative group. They mandate a conservative commentary on all their stations. Is this a station ownership with a big agenda? And is that really fair when it comes to the public airwaves? We're not talking about cable here; we're talking about something that is regulated by the government by the FCC. Go ahead.
GRAHAM: Well, if we're going to look at this by judging from people's FEC donations, you have to go back again to looking at the fact that when Bill Clinton was president, the president of ABC News -- or of ABC, Michael Eisner, was hosting major Hollywood fundraisers for President Clinton.
O'BRIEN: No, no, but we're talking about stuff on the air now. We're talking about stuff on the air. We're not talking about stuff that happens in Manhattan salons here or in Georgetown, right? When it comes to what's going on the air, there's a real difference here, isn't there?
GRAHAM: Well, I think the difference again is that this is a film that's seen as partisan film. But when partisans do journalism -- when Aaron Brown does a four-minute story on Memorial Day making John Kerry look like a hero, that's journalism.
It wasn't journalism. It wasn't balanced. It was as propagandistic as anything somebody on Sinclair is going to see.
O'BRIEN: But taking in the context all of our coverage and all the other stories that precede it and followed it during the day, you could make a case that is fair, which is precisely your argument, right?
GRAHAM: Well, if Sinclair -- if you have a Sinclair station that's airing ABC News or CBS News or NBC News, this again is 90 minutes. It's a drop in the bucket to all the anti-Bush bias and pro- Kerry bias that ABC, NBC, and CBS station have been putting on this year.
O'BRIEN: David Brock, final thought from you.
BROCK: Well, I just think that's absurd.
The issue isn't one of bias. The issue is what's news and what isn't news, what is fair use of the airwaves and what isn't. This is clearly an abuse of the public airwaves, and I hope Americans rise up against these stations and take some action to stop this. This is just an outrage.
(AUDIO GAP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, three weeks and a day until the election. We brought you almost every kind of presidential poll result. And the latest unscientific approach involves burritos and bartenders, as CNN's Ed Henry reports from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the presidential race so close, businesses all over Washington are getting in on the action, giving consumers a chance to vote with their stomachs, as well as their hearts.
This Democrat sunk his teeth into the John Kerry Savory Chicken Burrito, which is full of ingredients the senator's campaign helped pick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's buying these burritos because they want to see what Kerry eats.
HENRY: The owner of California Tortilla says sales of Kerry's favorite burritos soared after the candidate's strong performance in the first debate.
(on camera): Was there a burrito bounce from the debate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Numbers don't lie when it comes to...
HENRY (voice-over): This Bush voter was skeptical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The burrito poll to me is not the best poll out there. I think we'll find out when the vote is taken.
HENRY: There's no avoiding flip-flops when you're rolling a burrito. The Bush Burrito has chicken with Texas hickory sauce, while the Kerry one has Boston baked beans and Heinz 57 sauce. What's an undecided voter to do?
(on camera): Let's give it a try. The Bush Burrito. The Kerry Burrito. I'm still undecided.
(voice-over): The hip Hotel George on Capitol Hill, named after George Washington, is offering two presidential room packages, complete with the candidates' favorite desserts.
SHOLER KIA, HOTEL MANAGER: We want to have some fun and creativity with our guests. Therefore, we're trying to keep both parties happy.
HENRY (on camera): Hmm, Kerry's Cookies, George W.'s Ice Cream. I just can't make up my mind.
(voice-over): The Ritz Carlton Hotel in Georgetown is also shaking things up with creative cocktails for the campaign season.
(on camera): Bartender, can I get a W-tini?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly, certainly.
HENRY: How about a Kerry Berry Cosmo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry Berry? All right.
HENRY: Now, I notice the W. drink is blue, even though he normally wins the red states. The Kerry drink's red, even though he normally wins the blue states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
HENRY: Why the mix up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we figure, you know, George Bush wants to win again, he's got to switch up and go for the voters he didn't get the last time.
HENRY: Hmm, still can't make up my mind. Just put me down as an undecided voter.
Covering the presidential battle and the burritos, the candidates and the cocktails, Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Interesting expense report from Ed Henry on that one.
News across America now -- preliminary autopsy reports inconclusive on former baseball star Ken Caminiti. The 1996 National League MVP died yesterday in a -- New York City at age 41. The medical examiner's office says it can't rule on a cause of death until toxicology tests are complete. Caminiti had a history of drug use, including a March 2001 cocaine arrest.
A new NFL record for the New England Patriots. Yesterday's 24-10 victory over Miami gives the Pats 19 consecutive wins. The Pats have earned two Super Bowl titles in three years.
And red faces in Carter County, Missouri, after election officials realized they had forgotten to include the incumbent Bush/Cheney ticket on hundreds of absentee ballots which were sent out last month. Replacement ballots are being sent to everyone who requested an absentee ballot, along with a letter complain explaining the error. Either ballot may be returned, but only one per voter will be counted.
A proposed real estate deal involving a Tyco tycoon turning a few heads. Rhonda Schaffler here to tell us about everything, including the shower curtain.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Miles, too bad, you missed your opportunity. I'm going to tell you about an apartment so pricey, it is even shocking by New York standards. That's coming up when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: All right. I know what many of you are thinking: If I bid on that Kozlowski apartment on Fifth Avenue, I'll get the shower curtain. I'll put it on eBay, and I'll make a fortune. Well, it's not going to work out quite that way.
First of all, the asking price is $21 million. Secondly, there's the little matter of that shower curtain being a piece of evidence, right Rhonda Schaffler?
SCHAFFLER: That's right. You missed out on both, Miles, quite frankly. You're not going to get the shower curtain, and you might not get this $21 million apartment. And that is the word that Tyco is selling this luxury Fifth Avenue apartment of ex-Chief Dennis Kozlowski for a cool $21 million. And according to "The New York Times," the apartment is being bought by a Manhattan hedge fund executive.
Of course, the shower curtain. Who could forget it? That was part of the excesses -- a $6,000 shower curtain. However, the new owner's going to have to get a new shower curtain. That little piece was removed from the apartment as evidence at the Kozlowski trial earlier this year. The case, by the way, ended in a mistrial. Prosecutors plan to retry that case sometime next year.
As for the market today, stocks moving modestly higher. Quiet holiday trading here. The Dow Jones Industrial Average up 27 points. Nasdaq up a quarter percent.
That's it from Wall Street. Coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM, a $136 billion tax bill gets Senate approval. I'll tell you who's getting all the tax breaks.
In the meantime, Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: Rhonda, thanks so much.
Well, as people pause to remember the remarkable life of Christopher Reeve, we bring you one of his many appearances here on CNN. He talked with Paula Zahn in 2001 about his life and his medical work.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA ZAHN, HOST, "PAULA ZAHN NOW": Given, though, what you said about the resources that are required, the number of people that it would require to keep up a routine like yours, what kind of hope does your recovery offer for other spinal cord patients?
CHRISTOPHER REEVE, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: Well, the fact is that you can get it down to being able to do it with your own family. The main thing is I want people to see the benefits. I want people to see that, just at the very, very minimum, all this exercise I've been doing has kept me out of the hospital for four-and-a-half years.
ZAHN: And when you feel your body doing these things that you never thought you'd be able to do again, is it a feeling of triumph? REEVE: It's a feeling of like more, I want more, I want more.
ZAHN: Right after your accident, when you first regained consciousness, you and Dana made an agreement, and essentially she said if you agreed to try to fight and to try to live and life was unbearable two years down the road, she would help you end your life.
Did you ever get close to making that decision?
REEVE: No. That was really put to rest in the first week of my experience in intensive care. And it really was when Dana and the kids came into the room. And I had said it might be better to let me go. And it was absolutely clear they wanted me to stick around.
ZAHN: Do you ever think your injury was part of God's divine plan for you?
REEVE: Yeah, I don't think it was, because I think life is just too random for that. If that was his plan for me, I don't understand what was his plan for all the people killed on 9/11?
ZAHN: Do you still think about walking someday.
REEVE: Oh, sure. Absolutely. I'm not even thinking, I'm planning. You know, and basically I started exercising to maintain my health, but also to be ready for a cure if and when it comes. But I think that science and exercise get me halfway. And certainly, the next thing we need to do is -- particularly in this country, is to get politics out of the equation.
ZAHN: Do you have any hope that you can remove politics from the stem-cell debate?
REEVE: Yeah, by education. And I had the opportunity to speak to many senators, many representatives and -- particularly in the issue of nucleus transplantation, which is known as therapeutic cloning.
But I'm amazed to find out how many of our elected officials do not know or did not know that this nucleus transplantation involves an unfertilized egg. It's not destroying the union of male and female. It's an unfertilized egg that just sits in the lab.
ZAHN: Is that the key to your complete recovery?
REEVE: I think that's the key that's probably the best hope for people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, leukemia, cancer, you name it.
ZAHN: When people look at you, they view you through all kinds of prisms of reference. Just a final thought on what do you want people to think when they see you, when they hear you talk?
REEVE: Oh, just please keep an open mind what I'm talking about, particularly if you're a hardcore opponent. You know, then that said, like any opponent, you know, just please spend one hour in a wheelchair like this and not even be able to scratch your nose or shift your weight. And then, let's resume the conversation after that.
You know, you can't legislate compassion, but that's what's needed most. And what politicians have to do is just imagine what it's like to be somebody else. If we all did that, man, we could change the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: More on Christopher Reeve in LIVE FROM, of course, and on "PAULA ZAHN NOW" at 8:00 p.m. tonight.
We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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