Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Christopher Reeve, 52, Dies; Bush Attacks Kerry on Terrorism Stance; Afghanistan Still has Long Path to Recovery

Aired October 11, 2004 - 13:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "WOLF BLITZER REPORT": I'll be back later today. Every weekday at 5 p.m. Eastern for WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. LIVE FROM starts right now.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Actor Christopher Reeve, best known to fans as Superman and later as a champion of stem cell research, dies. We'll tell you what happened to him and what -- how close he was to being able to walk one day. That's coming up in just a moment.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: And the campaign trail leads west and a controversy brews over a decision to air an anti -- anti-Kerry documentary, rather.

O'BRIEN: And tangling and dangling. There it is. We've got the right video now. A hot air balloon ride leaves a couple of young passengers hanging by a thread. This is great when it works, boards matching pictures. We call it television.

Welcome to the CNN Center and LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. We're hanging from a thread. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Well, the cure never came, but the hope never died. As the world reflects on the life and loss of Christopher Reeve, the words cure and hope are being called Reeves' guideposts in life, his legacy in death.

The actor, whose real life strength and courage dwarfed his movie roles, passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack and slipping into a coma the day before. He was only 52 years old.

It was May of '95 that Reeve was thrown from a horse and given little chance of ever being able to breathe on his own again, let alone feel or move. Eventually, though, he could put away the respirator, at least for a while. And by 2000, he could move a finger.

In the end, says one of Reeves' neurologists, the most -- he could move most of his limbs and had regained sensation throughout his body. Remarkable strides, due largely, in the view of Reeve's doctors, to his attitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WISE YOUNG, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: I think most people are devastated by their injury and really cannot think beyond the injury itself and the loss that they have suffered after a spinal cord injury.

Christopher was very different. He was already thinking far beyond. At six weeks after injury when I first met him, he asked me, point blank, "Will there be therapies that will restore function to people with spinal cord injury?"

When I said yes and explained why, he immediately asked how long it would take. And I said to him that, you know, if we were lucky, we worked very hard and we had all the resources, it might take seven years.

So he said, "Let's make this a goal." He wanted to stand up and toast his friends and family when he was 50 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, Reeves' vision was grand, his resources vast, but he succumbed to a common insidious complication of paralysis. Here to talk about that and the prospects for a cure that millions of people still await, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

And I think that's what we were wondering this morning is, with all that care, with all those nurses, how did he get these bed sores? And is it just never enough when you just cannot move...

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... for such a long period of time?

GUPTA: I think it is. And you know, he's a very unusual situation in so many ways.

Most patients with a spinal cord injury that high up in the spinal cord where you can't only not move, you can't even breathe on your own, a lot of times those patients don't survive more than a year or so.

So the fact that he lived nine years was pretty remarkable in and of itself.

But Kyra, as you pointed out, it also means that constantly he's having pressure on parts of his body that he can't adjust. Like when you're lying in bed, you're constantly adjusting so you don't put any pressure on any single point for too long.

What happens is that if the skin breaks down, it's an open conduit to bacterial infections, which can ultimately be pretty significant.

PHILLIPS: So even though he had worked so hard and he was very healthy in many ways, it's pretty amazing that he lasted nine years, right? Working as hard as he did and achieving some of the things that he did. GUPTA: Absolutely. I mean, he really defied the statistics in many ways. One was just the fact that he survived. I think that in and of itself most doctors would say was remarkable.

Also, the fact that he did have some movement. I talked to his doctors this morning. They said, yes, he was having some movement in all of his limbs.

Look at these -- we've seen these images so many times, Kyra. The premise was a simple one. Typically, the brain sends a message to the spinal cord and tells your legs to get up and move, to walk for example.

The premise was this: activity related recovery. Move the legs, and eventually the limbs will send a signal back to the brain, saying, "Yes, I'm ready to move." That's what he was trying to do.

In all fairness to the doctors, to Christopher Reeve as well, it's unlikely, based on that therapy alone, that he would have ever been able to walk. He was waiting, and so many are, for a stem cell breakthrough.

PHILLIPS: Well, if anything, he's been an incredible inspiration to so many other people who want to have faith in fact that they will feel in certain part of their limbs. There's been a little controversy over that, too, about maybe because of all the care that he had, that it might have maybe been a little easier for him.

What do you think about that? I mean, you've got to have a lot of therapy, right?

GUPTA: I think that's a very fair controversy. You know, we get calls all the time here at CNN. We get a lot of calls from young people, for example, after watching a Christopher Reeve story and saying, you know, "Am I going to be able to walk again today?" Sixteen-year-olds that have been paralyzed, quadriplegics.

I think the controversy was significant, important to talk about. Is there a sense that he was giving false hope to people? Perhaps, to some degree. Was it likely that he would walk again, based on this therapy? Probably not.

Did he do a lot to try and advance the cause of spinal cord injuries and possibly stem cells? Absolutely. I mean, you know, the NIH funding more than doubled while he was advocating. It wasn't just because of him. But he had a lot to do with that. And I think that he'll always be remembered for that.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Well, they're still neck and neck in the polls. And once again the two main candidates for president are pretty close on the map as well. George W. Bush is en route to Colorado from a campaign stop in New Mexico, where John Kerry is holding the administration's feet to the fire over the subject of energy policy.

CNN's Dana Bash traveling with the White House press corps in Denver. Ed Henry with the Kerry camp in Santa Fe.

Dana, ladies first.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Miles.

Well, the president is on his way here to Colorado. But, as you said, he did start the day in New Mexico.

And he was trying essentially in his stump speech to stick to what is the strategy from here on out, according to Bush officials, which is to continue to paint John Kerry who has, as he said, a credibility problem, because he is contradictory on a lot of different issues in statements, particularly with the war on Iraq, as we've heard from months from the Bush campaign.

But also as somebody who is out of the mainstream. We're going to hear a lot of the "L" word, that he's a liberal, focusing in on more his record as senator, particularly on domestic issues, leading into Wednesday's debate.

But, of course, the other part of the strategy is to seize on what the campaign sees as some potential openings from John Kerry, his own statements, one of which they saw over the weekend in a "New York Times" magazine article.

Senator Kerry noted that he hopes that the United States could come to a point where terrorism is not a focus but perhaps just a nuisance. Well, the president jumped on that, suggesting that John Kerry simply doesn't get it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, Kerry said defeating terrorism was really more about law enforcement and intelligence than a strong military operation. More about law enforcement than a strong military?

Now, Kerry says we have to get back to the place where terrorists are a nuisance, like gambling and prostitution. We're never going to end them. Terrorism, a nuisance?

How can Kerry protect us when he doesn't understand the threat?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Well, obviously, what you just saw was an advertisement that the Bush campaign put out yesterday, again, about these Kerry comments. But of course, the president did earlier today speak about it himself.

The vice president also is campaigning in New Jersey. That's a state that is surprisingly close. It's a Democratic state but the president, according to several polls, has really gained on John Kerry there. He was campaigning there.

Also said that John Kerry, his statements are naive and dangerous and that we cannot go back to a pre-9/11 mindset.

Well, as you can imagine, Miles, the Kerry campaign says that the Bush campaign is taking all of this out of context. And they were reminding reporters that it was the president himself in an August interview who said that perhaps the war on terror is unwinnable -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash, thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, John Kerry is looking for some traction on the alternative energy front. CNN's Ed Henry is front and center now in Santa Fe with more on that -- Ed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And given what a passionate advocate he was for the environment, this speech, these words, these thoughts, Chris, I'll just tell you I was really blown away, because on Saturday...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. Obviously, that was not Ed Henry. That was John Kerry speaking. We're working out the mic situation. We will try and bring Ed back and tell you what is taking place there at the John Kerry preview there.

Stay with CNN for complete coverage of the final presidential debate, which, of course, will be on Wednesday. We're live beginning at 7 Eastern from Tempe, Arizona. That debate starts at 9.

O'BRIEN: There's no question we're live.

A man held for years by the United States as an enemy combatant is now free to go home. Find out why he was allowed to walk away just ahead.

What happens now after historic elections in Afghanistan? We'll go in depth on that issue.

And from the depths of Mount St. Helens, a volcano blowing off more steam. Kind of pretty there in the morning light. We'll tell you if there's anything to worry about. More later on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Live pictures now. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Democratic nominee, John Kerry, addressing a crowd there. The subject is energy policy. Let's listen for a moment. (LIVE EVENT JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KERRY: To have witnessed his courage is quite extraordinary. He was a pilot, loved to fly his own plane; he was a sailor, loved to sail; a rider, as you know, bicycle enthusiast; an outdoorsman in every regard.

And you have to imagine what it's like to suddenly have all of that cut off, but just keep your spirit.

That's why he was so special because, I think, any of you would stop and say, "Wow, do I have that kind of courage? Could I have kept going? Could I have kept believing?"

As Chris once said, so many of our dreams at first seem impossible. Then they seem improbable. And then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

I know that if we put our minds to it, one day we're going to realize Chris' inevitable dream. And that's our mission for all of us.

(APPLAUSE)

And given what a passionate advocate he was for the environment, this speech, these words, these thoughts are for Chris. And I'll just tell you, I was really blown away because on Saturday after the debate, I picked up my cell phone and I had a wonderful, long message from Chris, who called me to thank me for talking about the possibilities for cure.

And the excitement in his voice -- this was just before he went into the hospital -- and the excitement in his voice, I had no idea he was going in because he didn't tell me that. The excitement in his voice was just really palpable. And he was so thrilled about where the discussion of stem-cell research had come to.

So he would care about what we're talking about here today because he was a passionate environmentalist. This is for him.

For 60 years, your great state has been at the leading change and of innovation. In a very real sense, we won World War II right here in this state. In the summer of...

(APPLAUSE)

... yes, you should applaud for that.

(AUDIO BREAK)

KERRY: They're working for drug companies. They're working for HMOs. And they're certainly working for the big oil companies. And the results are clear: 1.6 million private sector jobs have been lost. The cost of health care is up 64 percent. College tuition is up more than 35 percent. And the typical family in America -- not those at the top -- but the typical family in America is making $1,500 less each year with the cost of nearly everything else continuing to rise.

Right now, oil prices, as the governor just mentioned, are at an all-time high with no end in sight.

In most parts of the country, a gallon of gas is somewhere around the $2 mark. I saw enough gas stations in the last days with $2.20, $1.98 for the lowest price -- up 30 percent since George Bush took office.

In the last four years, the cost of heating the average home has gone up 91 percent. And the high energy costs have pushed up prices across the board, from the food that you have on your table to the clothes that you and your children wear.

The 30 percent increase in gas prices means a lot more profit for this president's friends in the oil industry. But for most middle- class Americans, the Bush tax increase is a tax increase that they can't afford.

(APPLAUSE)

The funny thing is -- almost funny -- is that George Bush is trying to scare you, trying to scare all Americans into thinking that I'm going to raise your taxes when he knows that I have a plan that lowers the middle-class taxes for 98 percent of all Americans. I lower the cost of doing business and I lower corporate tax rates for 99 percent of all businesses.

The only people he's trying to protect are the people at the top. Those are only people affected.

But to borrow a saying, when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices, "He can run, but he can't hide."

(APPLAUSE)

Facts, as President Ronald Reagan reminded us, are stubborn things, Mr. President.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

Four years ago when he was running for president, George Bush said, quote, "What I think the president ought to do is get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say, 'We expect you to open your spigots.'"

Today, four years later, with gas prices at a record level, we're still waiting for George Bush to make that phone call.

His energy policy has failed. It's non-existent -- well, I can't say it's non-existent. It's an oil policy. What we need is a policy for all Americans because middle-class families pay the price every single time they fill up the gas tank or pay the home-heating oil bill.

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE EVENT)

O'BRIEN: John Kerry in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just a little taste of what he's saying today on the hustings (ph) there -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, there appears to be a breakthrough in Afghanistan's disputed presidential election. The main opposition candidate to interim president Hamid Karzai says he will accept the findings of on independent commission into allegations of cheating and double voting.

It could be days before a winner is now declared. Whoever wins will face enormous challenges and expectations.

CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports from Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time Afghan people see a real future.

"Thank God we have freedom now," says Zahra (ph). "Girls and boys go to school, and it's up to us women whether we cover our face or not. We're happier now."

Zahra (ph) and her friends are widows. They're illiterate. And like 70 percent of Afghans earning only $2 a day, they expect these elections to make life easier and better.

These farmers, for instance, are harvesting onions. Afghan's biggest national crop now is poppies. Its biggest export, opium, earns ten times what he could cultivating other crops.

"We grow it because this way we can feed our family," says Nor Mohammed (ph) in Kandahar. "Illegal or not, we don't have a choice."

The government so far is waging a losing battle against opium poppies. One and a half million Afghans are involved in a multibillion-dollar a year drug business, which goes to local warlords who are uninterested in a strong central government. Which is why Afghanistan's finance minister says creating jobs will be the next president's greatest challenge.

ASHRAF GHANI, AFGHAN FINANCE MINISTER: The greatest threat to us now comes from narcotics, but narcotics cannot be handled without creating sustainable employment for the majority of the people, which means attracting private sector investment.

AMANPOUR: This means the international community cannot declare success with these elections and walk away. (on camera) The World Bank says Afghanistan lost $240 billion over two decades of war, and its needs now are at least $80 billion. (AUDIO GAP) and has been pledged for the next two years.

(voice-over) Despite U.S. priorities and resources being diverted to Iraq, the U.S. ambassador here says that Afghanistan will need even more aid after these elections.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN: There should be even further effort to accelerate construction. We are certainly committed to that. We would like to see more roads being paved, more schools being built, more clinic being built.

AMANPOUR: Even though schools are being built, the entire education system and teachers' training need to be improved.

And health care, too. Paternal and infant mortality in Afghanistan remain among the highest in the world.

So three years after the Taliban, Afghanistan is not out of the woods yet. Just like these wounded veterans of wars past, the country itself is just taking its first baby steps towards the future.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now.

A peace initiative appears to be working in Iraq's Sadr City. Rebels loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are trickling into police stations to turn over heavy weapons. In return, they're getting coupons good for cash. The deal is a key step in ending weeks of fighting in the militant stronghold.

Ten Turkish hostages freed in Iraq awaiting their return home. The ten employees of a Turkish construction company released yesterday after nearly a month in captivity. Al Jazeera reporting militants beheaded another Turkish contractor and his translator yesterday.

More violence in Gaza. A Palestinian man was killed in a shoot- out with Israeli soldiers today. Elsewhere an Islamic Jihad leader was injured in a house explosion. Witnesses say Israeli fires set off the blast. Israel denies any involvement in the incident.

A man once held as an enemy combatant in the U.S. Is back in Saudi Arabia. Yasser Hamdi returned home today under a deal with the U.S. The agreement required Hamdi to give up his U.S. citizenship and promise never to travel to certain Middle Eastern countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we hit I immediately got down and held onto the ropes inside the basket. PHILLIPS: Hanging by a thread hundreds of feet above the ground. Two boys on this wild ride tell their story.

Later on LIVE FROM, seeking revenge. They mourned for 40 days. Now Russian parents say their religion demands retaliation. Going after the Beslan school attackers.

And tomorrow on LIVE FROM, bounce or bust? On the eve of the final Bush-Kerry debate, how past performances might predict the future of this race for the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it sounds like an episode of "Survivor" and "Fear Factor" rolled into one. But this was no reality show stunt.

After this hot air balloon careened into a radio tower during high winds, the pilot and his two young passengers were left dangling nearly 700 feet above Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 69-year-old pilot and the boys, aged 10 and 14, managed to get out of the basket and then carefully picked their way down the 670-foot tower. Rescuers met them about 100 feet up the tower and secured them with safety gear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CHAPEL, PILOT: We just made sure we were all OK, and I kind of settled us all down and made sure, took a look at the upper structure of the balloon and the basket was fairly secure to the tower.

Then I held onto the tower and the boys climbed out and got out. Troy went first, and then Aaron. And then I climbed through the tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As long as we're talking about hot air, shock jock Howard Stern is already priming the pump on his move to satellite radio, even though it's still more than a year down the road.

The "New York Post" reports that Stern is on the prowl for sidekicks who share his passion for uncensored on-air antics. His deal calls for him to launch three Stern related channels on the Sirius Satellite Network.

The brand demands that those who aren't afraid to work blue. Howard won't name names but says he's already made some hires. Let the speculation begin.

O'BRIEN: Prices at the pump on the rise again. There's not going to be any relief in the short term. Rhonda Schaffler here with the bad news once again. Hello, Rhonda.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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


Aired October 11, 2004 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "WOLF BLITZER REPORT": I'll be back later today. Every weekday at 5 p.m. Eastern for WOLF BLITZER REPORTS. LIVE FROM starts right now.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Actor Christopher Reeve, best known to fans as Superman and later as a champion of stem cell research, dies. We'll tell you what happened to him and what -- how close he was to being able to walk one day. That's coming up in just a moment.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: And the campaign trail leads west and a controversy brews over a decision to air an anti -- anti-Kerry documentary, rather.

O'BRIEN: And tangling and dangling. There it is. We've got the right video now. A hot air balloon ride leaves a couple of young passengers hanging by a thread. This is great when it works, boards matching pictures. We call it television.

Welcome to the CNN Center and LIVE FROM. I'm Miles O'Brien.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. We're hanging from a thread. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

O'BRIEN: Well, the cure never came, but the hope never died. As the world reflects on the life and loss of Christopher Reeve, the words cure and hope are being called Reeves' guideposts in life, his legacy in death.

The actor, whose real life strength and courage dwarfed his movie roles, passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack and slipping into a coma the day before. He was only 52 years old.

It was May of '95 that Reeve was thrown from a horse and given little chance of ever being able to breathe on his own again, let alone feel or move. Eventually, though, he could put away the respirator, at least for a while. And by 2000, he could move a finger.

In the end, says one of Reeves' neurologists, the most -- he could move most of his limbs and had regained sensation throughout his body. Remarkable strides, due largely, in the view of Reeve's doctors, to his attitude.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. WISE YOUNG, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY: I think most people are devastated by their injury and really cannot think beyond the injury itself and the loss that they have suffered after a spinal cord injury.

Christopher was very different. He was already thinking far beyond. At six weeks after injury when I first met him, he asked me, point blank, "Will there be therapies that will restore function to people with spinal cord injury?"

When I said yes and explained why, he immediately asked how long it would take. And I said to him that, you know, if we were lucky, we worked very hard and we had all the resources, it might take seven years.

So he said, "Let's make this a goal." He wanted to stand up and toast his friends and family when he was 50 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, Reeves' vision was grand, his resources vast, but he succumbed to a common insidious complication of paralysis. Here to talk about that and the prospects for a cure that millions of people still await, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

And I think that's what we were wondering this morning is, with all that care, with all those nurses, how did he get these bed sores? And is it just never enough when you just cannot move...

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

PHILLIPS: ... for such a long period of time?

GUPTA: I think it is. And you know, he's a very unusual situation in so many ways.

Most patients with a spinal cord injury that high up in the spinal cord where you can't only not move, you can't even breathe on your own, a lot of times those patients don't survive more than a year or so.

So the fact that he lived nine years was pretty remarkable in and of itself.

But Kyra, as you pointed out, it also means that constantly he's having pressure on parts of his body that he can't adjust. Like when you're lying in bed, you're constantly adjusting so you don't put any pressure on any single point for too long.

What happens is that if the skin breaks down, it's an open conduit to bacterial infections, which can ultimately be pretty significant.

PHILLIPS: So even though he had worked so hard and he was very healthy in many ways, it's pretty amazing that he lasted nine years, right? Working as hard as he did and achieving some of the things that he did. GUPTA: Absolutely. I mean, he really defied the statistics in many ways. One was just the fact that he survived. I think that in and of itself most doctors would say was remarkable.

Also, the fact that he did have some movement. I talked to his doctors this morning. They said, yes, he was having some movement in all of his limbs.

Look at these -- we've seen these images so many times, Kyra. The premise was a simple one. Typically, the brain sends a message to the spinal cord and tells your legs to get up and move, to walk for example.

The premise was this: activity related recovery. Move the legs, and eventually the limbs will send a signal back to the brain, saying, "Yes, I'm ready to move." That's what he was trying to do.

In all fairness to the doctors, to Christopher Reeve as well, it's unlikely, based on that therapy alone, that he would have ever been able to walk. He was waiting, and so many are, for a stem cell breakthrough.

PHILLIPS: Well, if anything, he's been an incredible inspiration to so many other people who want to have faith in fact that they will feel in certain part of their limbs. There's been a little controversy over that, too, about maybe because of all the care that he had, that it might have maybe been a little easier for him.

What do you think about that? I mean, you've got to have a lot of therapy, right?

GUPTA: I think that's a very fair controversy. You know, we get calls all the time here at CNN. We get a lot of calls from young people, for example, after watching a Christopher Reeve story and saying, you know, "Am I going to be able to walk again today?" Sixteen-year-olds that have been paralyzed, quadriplegics.

I think the controversy was significant, important to talk about. Is there a sense that he was giving false hope to people? Perhaps, to some degree. Was it likely that he would walk again, based on this therapy? Probably not.

Did he do a lot to try and advance the cause of spinal cord injuries and possibly stem cells? Absolutely. I mean, you know, the NIH funding more than doubled while he was advocating. It wasn't just because of him. But he had a lot to do with that. And I think that he'll always be remembered for that.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Well, they're still neck and neck in the polls. And once again the two main candidates for president are pretty close on the map as well. George W. Bush is en route to Colorado from a campaign stop in New Mexico, where John Kerry is holding the administration's feet to the fire over the subject of energy policy.

CNN's Dana Bash traveling with the White House press corps in Denver. Ed Henry with the Kerry camp in Santa Fe.

Dana, ladies first.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Miles.

Well, the president is on his way here to Colorado. But, as you said, he did start the day in New Mexico.

And he was trying essentially in his stump speech to stick to what is the strategy from here on out, according to Bush officials, which is to continue to paint John Kerry who has, as he said, a credibility problem, because he is contradictory on a lot of different issues in statements, particularly with the war on Iraq, as we've heard from months from the Bush campaign.

But also as somebody who is out of the mainstream. We're going to hear a lot of the "L" word, that he's a liberal, focusing in on more his record as senator, particularly on domestic issues, leading into Wednesday's debate.

But, of course, the other part of the strategy is to seize on what the campaign sees as some potential openings from John Kerry, his own statements, one of which they saw over the weekend in a "New York Times" magazine article.

Senator Kerry noted that he hopes that the United States could come to a point where terrorism is not a focus but perhaps just a nuisance. Well, the president jumped on that, suggesting that John Kerry simply doesn't get it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, Kerry said defeating terrorism was really more about law enforcement and intelligence than a strong military operation. More about law enforcement than a strong military?

Now, Kerry says we have to get back to the place where terrorists are a nuisance, like gambling and prostitution. We're never going to end them. Terrorism, a nuisance?

How can Kerry protect us when he doesn't understand the threat?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Well, obviously, what you just saw was an advertisement that the Bush campaign put out yesterday, again, about these Kerry comments. But of course, the president did earlier today speak about it himself.

The vice president also is campaigning in New Jersey. That's a state that is surprisingly close. It's a Democratic state but the president, according to several polls, has really gained on John Kerry there. He was campaigning there.

Also said that John Kerry, his statements are naive and dangerous and that we cannot go back to a pre-9/11 mindset.

Well, as you can imagine, Miles, the Kerry campaign says that the Bush campaign is taking all of this out of context. And they were reminding reporters that it was the president himself in an August interview who said that perhaps the war on terror is unwinnable -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Dana Bash, thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, John Kerry is looking for some traction on the alternative energy front. CNN's Ed Henry is front and center now in Santa Fe with more on that -- Ed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And given what a passionate advocate he was for the environment, this speech, these words, these thoughts, Chris, I'll just tell you I was really blown away, because on Saturday...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK. Obviously, that was not Ed Henry. That was John Kerry speaking. We're working out the mic situation. We will try and bring Ed back and tell you what is taking place there at the John Kerry preview there.

Stay with CNN for complete coverage of the final presidential debate, which, of course, will be on Wednesday. We're live beginning at 7 Eastern from Tempe, Arizona. That debate starts at 9.

O'BRIEN: There's no question we're live.

A man held for years by the United States as an enemy combatant is now free to go home. Find out why he was allowed to walk away just ahead.

What happens now after historic elections in Afghanistan? We'll go in depth on that issue.

And from the depths of Mount St. Helens, a volcano blowing off more steam. Kind of pretty there in the morning light. We'll tell you if there's anything to worry about. More later on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Live pictures now. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Democratic nominee, John Kerry, addressing a crowd there. The subject is energy policy. Let's listen for a moment. (LIVE EVENT JOINED IN PROGRESS)

KERRY: To have witnessed his courage is quite extraordinary. He was a pilot, loved to fly his own plane; he was a sailor, loved to sail; a rider, as you know, bicycle enthusiast; an outdoorsman in every regard.

And you have to imagine what it's like to suddenly have all of that cut off, but just keep your spirit.

That's why he was so special because, I think, any of you would stop and say, "Wow, do I have that kind of courage? Could I have kept going? Could I have kept believing?"

As Chris once said, so many of our dreams at first seem impossible. Then they seem improbable. And then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

I know that if we put our minds to it, one day we're going to realize Chris' inevitable dream. And that's our mission for all of us.

(APPLAUSE)

And given what a passionate advocate he was for the environment, this speech, these words, these thoughts are for Chris. And I'll just tell you, I was really blown away because on Saturday after the debate, I picked up my cell phone and I had a wonderful, long message from Chris, who called me to thank me for talking about the possibilities for cure.

And the excitement in his voice -- this was just before he went into the hospital -- and the excitement in his voice, I had no idea he was going in because he didn't tell me that. The excitement in his voice was just really palpable. And he was so thrilled about where the discussion of stem-cell research had come to.

So he would care about what we're talking about here today because he was a passionate environmentalist. This is for him.

For 60 years, your great state has been at the leading change and of innovation. In a very real sense, we won World War II right here in this state. In the summer of...

(APPLAUSE)

... yes, you should applaud for that.

(AUDIO BREAK)

KERRY: They're working for drug companies. They're working for HMOs. And they're certainly working for the big oil companies. And the results are clear: 1.6 million private sector jobs have been lost. The cost of health care is up 64 percent. College tuition is up more than 35 percent. And the typical family in America -- not those at the top -- but the typical family in America is making $1,500 less each year with the cost of nearly everything else continuing to rise.

Right now, oil prices, as the governor just mentioned, are at an all-time high with no end in sight.

In most parts of the country, a gallon of gas is somewhere around the $2 mark. I saw enough gas stations in the last days with $2.20, $1.98 for the lowest price -- up 30 percent since George Bush took office.

In the last four years, the cost of heating the average home has gone up 91 percent. And the high energy costs have pushed up prices across the board, from the food that you have on your table to the clothes that you and your children wear.

The 30 percent increase in gas prices means a lot more profit for this president's friends in the oil industry. But for most middle- class Americans, the Bush tax increase is a tax increase that they can't afford.

(APPLAUSE)

The funny thing is -- almost funny -- is that George Bush is trying to scare you, trying to scare all Americans into thinking that I'm going to raise your taxes when he knows that I have a plan that lowers the middle-class taxes for 98 percent of all Americans. I lower the cost of doing business and I lower corporate tax rates for 99 percent of all businesses.

The only people he's trying to protect are the people at the top. Those are only people affected.

But to borrow a saying, when it comes to George Bush's record on gas prices, "He can run, but he can't hide."

(APPLAUSE)

Facts, as President Ronald Reagan reminded us, are stubborn things, Mr. President.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

Four years ago when he was running for president, George Bush said, quote, "What I think the president ought to do is get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say, 'We expect you to open your spigots.'"

Today, four years later, with gas prices at a record level, we're still waiting for George Bush to make that phone call.

His energy policy has failed. It's non-existent -- well, I can't say it's non-existent. It's an oil policy. What we need is a policy for all Americans because middle-class families pay the price every single time they fill up the gas tank or pay the home-heating oil bill.

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE EVENT)

O'BRIEN: John Kerry in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Just a little taste of what he's saying today on the hustings (ph) there -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, there appears to be a breakthrough in Afghanistan's disputed presidential election. The main opposition candidate to interim president Hamid Karzai says he will accept the findings of on independent commission into allegations of cheating and double voting.

It could be days before a winner is now declared. Whoever wins will face enormous challenges and expectations.

CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour reports from Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time Afghan people see a real future.

"Thank God we have freedom now," says Zahra (ph). "Girls and boys go to school, and it's up to us women whether we cover our face or not. We're happier now."

Zahra (ph) and her friends are widows. They're illiterate. And like 70 percent of Afghans earning only $2 a day, they expect these elections to make life easier and better.

These farmers, for instance, are harvesting onions. Afghan's biggest national crop now is poppies. Its biggest export, opium, earns ten times what he could cultivating other crops.

"We grow it because this way we can feed our family," says Nor Mohammed (ph) in Kandahar. "Illegal or not, we don't have a choice."

The government so far is waging a losing battle against opium poppies. One and a half million Afghans are involved in a multibillion-dollar a year drug business, which goes to local warlords who are uninterested in a strong central government. Which is why Afghanistan's finance minister says creating jobs will be the next president's greatest challenge.

ASHRAF GHANI, AFGHAN FINANCE MINISTER: The greatest threat to us now comes from narcotics, but narcotics cannot be handled without creating sustainable employment for the majority of the people, which means attracting private sector investment.

AMANPOUR: This means the international community cannot declare success with these elections and walk away. (on camera) The World Bank says Afghanistan lost $240 billion over two decades of war, and its needs now are at least $80 billion. (AUDIO GAP) and has been pledged for the next two years.

(voice-over) Despite U.S. priorities and resources being diverted to Iraq, the U.S. ambassador here says that Afghanistan will need even more aid after these elections.

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO AFGHANISTAN: There should be even further effort to accelerate construction. We are certainly committed to that. We would like to see more roads being paved, more schools being built, more clinic being built.

AMANPOUR: Even though schools are being built, the entire education system and teachers' training need to be improved.

And health care, too. Paternal and infant mortality in Afghanistan remain among the highest in the world.

So three years after the Taliban, Afghanistan is not out of the woods yet. Just like these wounded veterans of wars past, the country itself is just taking its first baby steps towards the future.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: News around the world now.

A peace initiative appears to be working in Iraq's Sadr City. Rebels loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr are trickling into police stations to turn over heavy weapons. In return, they're getting coupons good for cash. The deal is a key step in ending weeks of fighting in the militant stronghold.

Ten Turkish hostages freed in Iraq awaiting their return home. The ten employees of a Turkish construction company released yesterday after nearly a month in captivity. Al Jazeera reporting militants beheaded another Turkish contractor and his translator yesterday.

More violence in Gaza. A Palestinian man was killed in a shoot- out with Israeli soldiers today. Elsewhere an Islamic Jihad leader was injured in a house explosion. Witnesses say Israeli fires set off the blast. Israel denies any involvement in the incident.

A man once held as an enemy combatant in the U.S. Is back in Saudi Arabia. Yasser Hamdi returned home today under a deal with the U.S. The agreement required Hamdi to give up his U.S. citizenship and promise never to travel to certain Middle Eastern countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we hit I immediately got down and held onto the ropes inside the basket. PHILLIPS: Hanging by a thread hundreds of feet above the ground. Two boys on this wild ride tell their story.

Later on LIVE FROM, seeking revenge. They mourned for 40 days. Now Russian parents say their religion demands retaliation. Going after the Beslan school attackers.

And tomorrow on LIVE FROM, bounce or bust? On the eve of the final Bush-Kerry debate, how past performances might predict the future of this race for the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it sounds like an episode of "Survivor" and "Fear Factor" rolled into one. But this was no reality show stunt.

After this hot air balloon careened into a radio tower during high winds, the pilot and his two young passengers were left dangling nearly 700 feet above Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The 69-year-old pilot and the boys, aged 10 and 14, managed to get out of the basket and then carefully picked their way down the 670-foot tower. Rescuers met them about 100 feet up the tower and secured them with safety gear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CHAPEL, PILOT: We just made sure we were all OK, and I kind of settled us all down and made sure, took a look at the upper structure of the balloon and the basket was fairly secure to the tower.

Then I held onto the tower and the boys climbed out and got out. Troy went first, and then Aaron. And then I climbed through the tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As long as we're talking about hot air, shock jock Howard Stern is already priming the pump on his move to satellite radio, even though it's still more than a year down the road.

The "New York Post" reports that Stern is on the prowl for sidekicks who share his passion for uncensored on-air antics. His deal calls for him to launch three Stern related channels on the Sirius Satellite Network.

The brand demands that those who aren't afraid to work blue. Howard won't name names but says he's already made some hires. Let the speculation begin.

O'BRIEN: Prices at the pump on the rise again. There's not going to be any relief in the short term. Rhonda Schaffler here with the bad news once again. Hello, Rhonda.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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