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Kerry Reaching Out; Intelligence Reform; The Issues

Aired October 22, 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: Campaign countdown. An all-out blitz to get your vote. Kerry keys on women and Bush pushes his war on terrorism. We're covering the campaign trail every step of the way.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Does Al Gore have what it takes to help John Kerry win Florida? The Democrats are sending him.

O'BRIEN: It's an amazing performance. Comedian Jamie Foxx gets serious to play Ray Charles. This hour, the LIVE FROM interview with the man who just might be an Oscar contender for this performance.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.

This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.

Topping this hour, take nothing for granted, but shoot for the stars with a flat-out appeal to working women and a foray west. John Kerry is rewriting conventional Democratic strategy with a week and a half to go. We go straight away to CNN's Kelly Wallace in Milwaukee for the details -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, coming to you from a very spirited campus here in Milwaukee, the campus of the University of Wisconsin. You will hear some chanting and cheering. Mostly Kerry-Edwards supporters, but a handful of Bush-Cheney supporters on hand.

It really all comes down to simple math, if you think about it. Republicans tend to do better with male voters than Democrats. So Democrats need to do better with women if they are to win election in November.

That is all -- was all on the mind of Senator John Kerry earlier today. And he got a little help. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of president John F. Kennedy, she came here and said that her mother told her, if it were not for Wisconsin, John F. Kennedy would never have become president. And she called on the people of Wisconsin to do the same for Senator Kerry.

Now, the senator in his remarks said that he would fight for equal pay for women. He would also call for a hike in the minimum wage. And he had some very tough talk for the Bush White House, accusing the president and his advisers of being out of touch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter how tough it gets, no one in the White House seems to be listening. The women I meet, they don't expect the government to do their jobs for them. But they do want leaders who are on their side as they try to do their jobs. They want somebody to be able to empower them, to facilitate, to be able to make the playing field fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And the Bush-Cheney team reacting, saying the senator had a whole slew of inaccuracies in his speech. The sense is -- of how important this is for John Kerry -- is when you look at the numbers.

According to sort of an average of the polls done over the last 48 hours, Senator Kerry has about a seven-point lead with women voters over President Bush. If you look at how Al Gore did in 2000, he had an 11-point advantage with women voters, compared to President Bush. So clearly, the Kerry campaign trying to do more and more when it comes to reaching out to women voters.

And Fredricka, as you said, from here, Senator Kerry heading out West to Nevada and Colorado, two states that went for George W. Bush in 2000, but two states the Kerry campaign thinks could be very competitive for the Democrats this time around -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Kelly, we hear verbally from John Kerry he's trying to appeal to the women voters. But visually, the latest images of him hunting, certainly he's trying to appeal to a lot of men, particularly the gun rights advocates. Is that strategy working?

WALLACE: It is hard to tell, really. The question is certainly -- the goal was definitely to reach out to men, particularly men in rural America, hunters, gun owners. Some seven million hunters live in battleground states. And trying to fight against attacks coming from the National rifle Association that he'd be a threat to the second amendment.

It is not clear if these images in these final days will really pay off. But clearly, the Democrats are trying to learn from what some believe were mistakes, Fredricka, in 2000. Some political observers believe if Al Gore did a better job connecting with men, particularly gun owners, he might be president today -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: George W. Bush travel plans tried and true. The biggest of the battleground states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Bang, bang, bang.

There you see the president live, Canton, Ohio. He hasn't been to Ohio in three weeks. Interesting. We're going to figure out why that is all by checking with our political people along the way today.

He'll be talking about health care and medical malpractice reform. Earlier today, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the topic was taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The senator voted 10 times to raise taxes on gasoline. All told, during his 20 years in the United States Senate, my opponent has voted to raise taxes 98 times.

(BOOING)

BUSH: That's about five times a year. When he does something that often, he must really enjoy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, outside camera range today, Bush signed a cavalcade of tax breaks for corporations and farmers, what's an estimated $136 billion. We'll hear more about a taxing day on the campaign trail from CNN's Dana Bash, and we'll hear from her at the bottom of this hour.

A new poll should have the Kerry camp smiling a little bit today. According to The Associated Press's survey of likely voters, 49 percent want John Kerry to be the next president, 46 percent favor Bush. But notice the sampling error, plus or minus 3 percent. You can call that one dead even.

Is Saddam Hussein playing a role in the U.S. election? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

A new poll looking at the impact of gubernatorial international issues, I should say, finds a huge number of Bush supporters have misperceptions about key points. According to the survey, 20 percent of Bush supporters believe Iraq was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks, while only 8 percent of Kerry supporters think the same.

WHITFIELD: From Iraq now, a familiar image. The grainy video, a hostage pleading for her life.

Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped -- recently kidnapped director of CARE International in Baghdad seen on videotape broadcast by Al Jazeera Television. She was abducted by an unknown group just this past Tuesday.

Hassan is seen sobbing in the video pleading for her life. She appeals to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq.

On the front lines, more strikes on Falluja. U.S. warplanes hit suspected armed storage sites in the insurgent stronghold. A military spokesman says Marines fired precision-guided bombs at a building after troops spotted crates being moved.

The building was destroyed, causing secondary explosions. No word on casualties. Meanwhile, a Sunni cleric warned the Americans against conducting an offensive in that city, saying it would meet with stiff resistance.

And more fallout from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Another reservist has been ordered to stand trial. He is Specialist Charles Graner, one-time boyfriend of Private Lynndie England, who appeared in the most notorious of the prison photos. Graner will stand trial scheduled for January 7.

O'BRIEN: Remember the post-9/11 intelligence shakeup, including the push to appoint a national intelligence director? Well, it hasn't happened. As you may know, it's bottled up in Congress. That may not be a surprise to you. But let us assure you they are working on it.

CNN's Rudi Bakhtiar has the latest on this live from Washington -- Rudi.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

Well, they are definitely working on it. Despite two days of marathon talks on Capitol Hill, there is still no deal as Congress is trying to hammer out the differences on reforming the U.S. intelligence community post. You are looking at a live presser right now. That is Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the conference committee. He says he is going to have an offer on the table this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), MICHIGAN: That we do not have full agreement on all areas and recognizing that we still have some very contentious issues, and that we still have some differences to work through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: In an effort to put a compromised bill on the president's desk before the election, House Republicans have offered a proposal to drop two key provisions on immigration and border security. The first, a deportation provision, which would have given the government power to deport illegal immigrants without an opportunity to plead their case in court. The second is a provision which would have prevented illegal immigrants from using U.S. driver's licenses as a form of I.D.

Now, Senate negotiators want the position to have full authority over budget and personnel matters with regard to the national intelligence director. The House negotiators would like to see a weaker version of that post.

They are hammering it out. They say that they are going to try to work through the weekend and come up with a decision by Monday. Monday being the key date on this -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rudi Bakhtiar in Washington. Thank you very much -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, she doesn't dodge the issues, but conservative columnist Ann Coulter proved she can duck and weave with the best of them. The rest of the story later on LIVE FROM.

And baseball fans see red as the Sox and Cardinals get ready to take to the field. We'll get you ready for the big game.

And later, William Shatner is ready to boldly go where few men have gone before with billionaire Richard Branson. It sounds ominous doesn't it? Well, it's out of this world. Details later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The issues sometimes are obscured in the fog of an election campaign. But as we get into the final stretch, education has emerge as one of the key concerns. Aaron Brown takes a look at where the candidates stand on that subject.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say to every child, no matter what your circumstance, no matter where you live, your school will be the path to promise of America.

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George W. Bush made education reform and the No Child Left Behind Act his first legislative priority. The act required that all states set and meet academic standards, measured by testing. If schools did not improve, parents could send their children elsewhere. In return, federal funding for education has risen to record levels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, ready, go.

BROWN: The president proposes for a second term increasing the number of required tests, creating a fund to reward effective teachers, and forgiving more college loans for math, science and special education teachers who agree to work in low-income communities.

In addition, President Bush supports vouchers that would allow parents to apply public money to private school tuition. To help with the rising cost of college, the president would agree to allow more volunteers to earn college money in the AmeriCorps program and increase funding for other education loans and grants.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our education plan for a stronger America sets high standards and it demands accountability from parents, teachers and schools. It provides for smaller class sizes and it treats teachers like the professionals that they are.

Are you ready? Everybody ready?

BROWN: John Kerry supported the No Child Left Behind act, but says that Mr. Bush has never fully funded it, and that he will. Senator Kerry supports improving the required tests, putting more resources into so-called failing schools, and creating a national education trust fund to keep education funding out of the yearly budget battle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what we don't finish in class, you're going to finish for homework.

BROWN: The Democrats would raise the pay of many teachers, but require increased teacher testing and a streamlined process to fire those who do not perform. Their plan would provide federal guarantees for school repair and increase after-school programs.

Kerry is opposed to vouchers, saying they hurt public education. To combat the rising costs of college, Senator Kerry proposes a tax credit for a portion of college tuition and a plan under which two years of community service would earn enough money to pay for a state university degree.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, It's a beautiful day, shall we say, for U2 lead singer Bono as he announces he has found what he's look for after all these years. Details a little later on LIVE FROM.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange. Who is investing in mutual funds and who is not? It's a generational thing. I'll explain when CNN's LIVE FROM continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, some generations are more apt to invest in mutual funds than others. Rhonda Schaffler is back with the story from the Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Boston Police Department says it takes full responsibility for the death of a college student killed when officers tried to disperse a crowd celebrating the Red Sox Pennant win. Early reports indicate 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove was hit in the eye by a projectile that disperses pepper spray on impact. She died a few hours later.

Some 80,000 people took to the streets around Fenway Park following Boston's victory over the Yankees. The city's mayor says he's considering banning alcohol sales in some Boston neighborhood during the World Series. And that's to try to avoid a repeat of Wednesday's rowdiness -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: St. Louis Cardinals fans feeling pretty rowdy themselves today after watching their team sail past Roger Clemens, the rocket himself, and the Houston Astros to win a trip to the World Series. Witnesses say more than 52,000 red-clad bird fans bounced so much last night at the game that the concrete floors of Busch Stadium were quaking. Good thing they engineered a little extra structural integrity there, as they say.

All right. They went to the streets, they celebrated and the rest is history. And we now have the Red Birds versus the Red Sox in a World Series game. This is exciting stuff because, while the Yankees may be Boston's American League rival, you'd have to put the Cardinals as their number one National League rival.

We have a couple of guests who will be joining us very shortly to bat this around, so to speak. A couple of sports writders from the respective hometowns.

Stay with us. We'll be back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Red Sox and the Cardinals in the World Series. It's a great rivalry.

1946, the Ted Williams Red Sox team went down in seven games. 1967, Red Sox team also went down in seven games in flames. So there is a story past here.

Let's talk to a couple of sports writers who know these teams well. John Rawlings joining us from -- he's with "The Sporting News," joining us from St. Louis -- or do you prefer Louis? Does it matter?

JOHN RAWLINGS, EDITOR, "SPORTING NEWS": No. Whatever you like.

O'BRIEN: OK.

And Christopher Price, who is a columnist with "Boston Metro" in Boston.

Good to see you both, gentlemen.

CHRISTOPHER PRICE, "BOSTON METRO": Great to be here, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's start with you John out in St. Louis.

Your team must be exhausted. Actually, both these teams are probably exhausted. Just factor in the fatigue level, the emotional intensity level for just a moment for us.

RAWLINGS: You know, one of the amazing things about professional athletes is they don't react the way us normal humans do. They may be tired. They will not be tired when they go on the field tomorrow night.

It was very emotional here last night, as it would have been for the Red Sox in New York. But when the players get there, they have the capability to prepare themselves to play, and they'll be ready.

O'BRIEN: Chris, it is a concern, though, when a team comes back and wins four dramatic, many of them late-inning nail-biters to win a Pennant. You've got to wonder if the gas tank is empty on the Red Sox right now.

PRICE: Well, I would say that the Red Sox are ready to play right now. They were ready to play yesterday. The kind of momentum that they have, no one has really seen this in this town, coming from a Red Sox team, anyway, for a very, very long time.

That being said, I think they're going to be OK going into tomorrow night. They had a couple of days off, they had a couple of days to relax and recoup. I think they're going to be OK.

O'BRIEN: You know, John, what I really like about this series and this match-up is, number one, the history, which I referred to just a few minutes ago. I also like the fact that these are both really good baseball towns. Knowledgeable fans, devoted fans through thick and thin.

RAWLINGS: And I think both Boston and St. Louis you would describe first and foremost as a baseball town. You can't say that a lot about a lot of cities as popular as the NFL is. But I know in St. Louis fans are, first and foremost, baseball fans, Cardinal fans, and I do think that make this rivalry a little spicier.

O'BRIEN: I should say.

Chris, let's talk about the match-up in some specifics. How do you think it goes? Red Sox with just tremendous pitching, and that usually is what does it for you in the post-season, right?

PRICE: I think if Curt Schilling is a reasonable facsimile of himself, I think the Red Sox hold the edge here. I think between Martinez, Schilling and Tim Wakefield, who threw very well for the most part in the ALCS, I think the Red Sox have the edge when it comes to pitching.

O'BRIEN: How is that ankle?

PRICE: Right now, all the reports that we hear is that it's OK. He's going to get it stitched up again before game two. And I think it makes a lot of sense having him go in game two, as opposed to three, four and five, whereas he may have to take a chance, really, at really running the bases in St. Louis. There's going to be no such problem here in Boston.

O'BRIEN: Yes. That whole designated hitter, not designated rule. And it favors the AL this year, because you have home advantage to the AL, which means the DH potentially is in play for four games.

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Aired October 22, 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: Campaign countdown. An all-out blitz to get your vote. Kerry keys on women and Bush pushes his war on terrorism. We're covering the campaign trail every step of the way.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Does Al Gore have what it takes to help John Kerry win Florida? The Democrats are sending him.

O'BRIEN: It's an amazing performance. Comedian Jamie Foxx gets serious to play Ray Charles. This hour, the LIVE FROM interview with the man who just might be an Oscar contender for this performance.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.

This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.

Topping this hour, take nothing for granted, but shoot for the stars with a flat-out appeal to working women and a foray west. John Kerry is rewriting conventional Democratic strategy with a week and a half to go. We go straight away to CNN's Kelly Wallace in Milwaukee for the details -- Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, coming to you from a very spirited campus here in Milwaukee, the campus of the University of Wisconsin. You will hear some chanting and cheering. Mostly Kerry-Edwards supporters, but a handful of Bush-Cheney supporters on hand.

It really all comes down to simple math, if you think about it. Republicans tend to do better with male voters than Democrats. So Democrats need to do better with women if they are to win election in November.

That is all -- was all on the mind of Senator John Kerry earlier today. And he got a little help. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of president John F. Kennedy, she came here and said that her mother told her, if it were not for Wisconsin, John F. Kennedy would never have become president. And she called on the people of Wisconsin to do the same for Senator Kerry.

Now, the senator in his remarks said that he would fight for equal pay for women. He would also call for a hike in the minimum wage. And he had some very tough talk for the Bush White House, accusing the president and his advisers of being out of touch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No matter how tough it gets, no one in the White House seems to be listening. The women I meet, they don't expect the government to do their jobs for them. But they do want leaders who are on their side as they try to do their jobs. They want somebody to be able to empower them, to facilitate, to be able to make the playing field fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: And the Bush-Cheney team reacting, saying the senator had a whole slew of inaccuracies in his speech. The sense is -- of how important this is for John Kerry -- is when you look at the numbers.

According to sort of an average of the polls done over the last 48 hours, Senator Kerry has about a seven-point lead with women voters over President Bush. If you look at how Al Gore did in 2000, he had an 11-point advantage with women voters, compared to President Bush. So clearly, the Kerry campaign trying to do more and more when it comes to reaching out to women voters.

And Fredricka, as you said, from here, Senator Kerry heading out West to Nevada and Colorado, two states that went for George W. Bush in 2000, but two states the Kerry campaign thinks could be very competitive for the Democrats this time around -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Kelly, we hear verbally from John Kerry he's trying to appeal to the women voters. But visually, the latest images of him hunting, certainly he's trying to appeal to a lot of men, particularly the gun rights advocates. Is that strategy working?

WALLACE: It is hard to tell, really. The question is certainly -- the goal was definitely to reach out to men, particularly men in rural America, hunters, gun owners. Some seven million hunters live in battleground states. And trying to fight against attacks coming from the National rifle Association that he'd be a threat to the second amendment.

It is not clear if these images in these final days will really pay off. But clearly, the Democrats are trying to learn from what some believe were mistakes, Fredricka, in 2000. Some political observers believe if Al Gore did a better job connecting with men, particularly gun owners, he might be president today -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: George W. Bush travel plans tried and true. The biggest of the battleground states, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. Bang, bang, bang.

There you see the president live, Canton, Ohio. He hasn't been to Ohio in three weeks. Interesting. We're going to figure out why that is all by checking with our political people along the way today.

He'll be talking about health care and medical malpractice reform. Earlier today, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the topic was taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The senator voted 10 times to raise taxes on gasoline. All told, during his 20 years in the United States Senate, my opponent has voted to raise taxes 98 times.

(BOOING)

BUSH: That's about five times a year. When he does something that often, he must really enjoy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Now, outside camera range today, Bush signed a cavalcade of tax breaks for corporations and farmers, what's an estimated $136 billion. We'll hear more about a taxing day on the campaign trail from CNN's Dana Bash, and we'll hear from her at the bottom of this hour.

A new poll should have the Kerry camp smiling a little bit today. According to The Associated Press's survey of likely voters, 49 percent want John Kerry to be the next president, 46 percent favor Bush. But notice the sampling error, plus or minus 3 percent. You can call that one dead even.

Is Saddam Hussein playing a role in the U.S. election? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

A new poll looking at the impact of gubernatorial international issues, I should say, finds a huge number of Bush supporters have misperceptions about key points. According to the survey, 20 percent of Bush supporters believe Iraq was directly involved in the 9/11 attacks, while only 8 percent of Kerry supporters think the same.

WHITFIELD: From Iraq now, a familiar image. The grainy video, a hostage pleading for her life.

Margaret Hassan, the kidnapped -- recently kidnapped director of CARE International in Baghdad seen on videotape broadcast by Al Jazeera Television. She was abducted by an unknown group just this past Tuesday.

Hassan is seen sobbing in the video pleading for her life. She appeals to British Prime Minister Tony Blair to withdraw troops from Iraq.

On the front lines, more strikes on Falluja. U.S. warplanes hit suspected armed storage sites in the insurgent stronghold. A military spokesman says Marines fired precision-guided bombs at a building after troops spotted crates being moved.

The building was destroyed, causing secondary explosions. No word on casualties. Meanwhile, a Sunni cleric warned the Americans against conducting an offensive in that city, saying it would meet with stiff resistance.

And more fallout from the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. Another reservist has been ordered to stand trial. He is Specialist Charles Graner, one-time boyfriend of Private Lynndie England, who appeared in the most notorious of the prison photos. Graner will stand trial scheduled for January 7.

O'BRIEN: Remember the post-9/11 intelligence shakeup, including the push to appoint a national intelligence director? Well, it hasn't happened. As you may know, it's bottled up in Congress. That may not be a surprise to you. But let us assure you they are working on it.

CNN's Rudi Bakhtiar has the latest on this live from Washington -- Rudi.

RUDI BAKHTIAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

Well, they are definitely working on it. Despite two days of marathon talks on Capitol Hill, there is still no deal as Congress is trying to hammer out the differences on reforming the U.S. intelligence community post. You are looking at a live presser right now. That is Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the conference committee. He says he is going to have an offer on the table this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), MICHIGAN: That we do not have full agreement on all areas and recognizing that we still have some very contentious issues, and that we still have some differences to work through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BAKHTIAR: In an effort to put a compromised bill on the president's desk before the election, House Republicans have offered a proposal to drop two key provisions on immigration and border security. The first, a deportation provision, which would have given the government power to deport illegal immigrants without an opportunity to plead their case in court. The second is a provision which would have prevented illegal immigrants from using U.S. driver's licenses as a form of I.D.

Now, Senate negotiators want the position to have full authority over budget and personnel matters with regard to the national intelligence director. The House negotiators would like to see a weaker version of that post.

They are hammering it out. They say that they are going to try to work through the weekend and come up with a decision by Monday. Monday being the key date on this -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rudi Bakhtiar in Washington. Thank you very much -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, she doesn't dodge the issues, but conservative columnist Ann Coulter proved she can duck and weave with the best of them. The rest of the story later on LIVE FROM.

And baseball fans see red as the Sox and Cardinals get ready to take to the field. We'll get you ready for the big game.

And later, William Shatner is ready to boldly go where few men have gone before with billionaire Richard Branson. It sounds ominous doesn't it? Well, it's out of this world. Details later on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The issues sometimes are obscured in the fog of an election campaign. But as we get into the final stretch, education has emerge as one of the key concerns. Aaron Brown takes a look at where the candidates stand on that subject.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I say to every child, no matter what your circumstance, no matter where you live, your school will be the path to promise of America.

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George W. Bush made education reform and the No Child Left Behind Act his first legislative priority. The act required that all states set and meet academic standards, measured by testing. If schools did not improve, parents could send their children elsewhere. In return, federal funding for education has risen to record levels.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, ready, go.

BROWN: The president proposes for a second term increasing the number of required tests, creating a fund to reward effective teachers, and forgiving more college loans for math, science and special education teachers who agree to work in low-income communities.

In addition, President Bush supports vouchers that would allow parents to apply public money to private school tuition. To help with the rising cost of college, the president would agree to allow more volunteers to earn college money in the AmeriCorps program and increase funding for other education loans and grants.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our education plan for a stronger America sets high standards and it demands accountability from parents, teachers and schools. It provides for smaller class sizes and it treats teachers like the professionals that they are.

Are you ready? Everybody ready?

BROWN: John Kerry supported the No Child Left Behind act, but says that Mr. Bush has never fully funded it, and that he will. Senator Kerry supports improving the required tests, putting more resources into so-called failing schools, and creating a national education trust fund to keep education funding out of the yearly budget battle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what we don't finish in class, you're going to finish for homework.

BROWN: The Democrats would raise the pay of many teachers, but require increased teacher testing and a streamlined process to fire those who do not perform. Their plan would provide federal guarantees for school repair and increase after-school programs.

Kerry is opposed to vouchers, saying they hurt public education. To combat the rising costs of college, Senator Kerry proposes a tax credit for a portion of college tuition and a plan under which two years of community service would earn enough money to pay for a state university degree.

Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, It's a beautiful day, shall we say, for U2 lead singer Bono as he announces he has found what he's look for after all these years. Details a little later on LIVE FROM.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange. Who is investing in mutual funds and who is not? It's a generational thing. I'll explain when CNN's LIVE FROM continues in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, some generations are more apt to invest in mutual funds than others. Rhonda Schaffler is back with the story from the Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Boston Police Department says it takes full responsibility for the death of a college student killed when officers tried to disperse a crowd celebrating the Red Sox Pennant win. Early reports indicate 21-year-old Victoria Snelgrove was hit in the eye by a projectile that disperses pepper spray on impact. She died a few hours later.

Some 80,000 people took to the streets around Fenway Park following Boston's victory over the Yankees. The city's mayor says he's considering banning alcohol sales in some Boston neighborhood during the World Series. And that's to try to avoid a repeat of Wednesday's rowdiness -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: St. Louis Cardinals fans feeling pretty rowdy themselves today after watching their team sail past Roger Clemens, the rocket himself, and the Houston Astros to win a trip to the World Series. Witnesses say more than 52,000 red-clad bird fans bounced so much last night at the game that the concrete floors of Busch Stadium were quaking. Good thing they engineered a little extra structural integrity there, as they say.

All right. They went to the streets, they celebrated and the rest is history. And we now have the Red Birds versus the Red Sox in a World Series game. This is exciting stuff because, while the Yankees may be Boston's American League rival, you'd have to put the Cardinals as their number one National League rival.

We have a couple of guests who will be joining us very shortly to bat this around, so to speak. A couple of sports writders from the respective hometowns.

Stay with us. We'll be back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Red Sox and the Cardinals in the World Series. It's a great rivalry.

1946, the Ted Williams Red Sox team went down in seven games. 1967, Red Sox team also went down in seven games in flames. So there is a story past here.

Let's talk to a couple of sports writers who know these teams well. John Rawlings joining us from -- he's with "The Sporting News," joining us from St. Louis -- or do you prefer Louis? Does it matter?

JOHN RAWLINGS, EDITOR, "SPORTING NEWS": No. Whatever you like.

O'BRIEN: OK.

And Christopher Price, who is a columnist with "Boston Metro" in Boston.

Good to see you both, gentlemen.

CHRISTOPHER PRICE, "BOSTON METRO": Great to be here, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's start with you John out in St. Louis.

Your team must be exhausted. Actually, both these teams are probably exhausted. Just factor in the fatigue level, the emotional intensity level for just a moment for us.

RAWLINGS: You know, one of the amazing things about professional athletes is they don't react the way us normal humans do. They may be tired. They will not be tired when they go on the field tomorrow night.

It was very emotional here last night, as it would have been for the Red Sox in New York. But when the players get there, they have the capability to prepare themselves to play, and they'll be ready.

O'BRIEN: Chris, it is a concern, though, when a team comes back and wins four dramatic, many of them late-inning nail-biters to win a Pennant. You've got to wonder if the gas tank is empty on the Red Sox right now.

PRICE: Well, I would say that the Red Sox are ready to play right now. They were ready to play yesterday. The kind of momentum that they have, no one has really seen this in this town, coming from a Red Sox team, anyway, for a very, very long time.

That being said, I think they're going to be OK going into tomorrow night. They had a couple of days off, they had a couple of days to relax and recoup. I think they're going to be OK.

O'BRIEN: You know, John, what I really like about this series and this match-up is, number one, the history, which I referred to just a few minutes ago. I also like the fact that these are both really good baseball towns. Knowledgeable fans, devoted fans through thick and thin.

RAWLINGS: And I think both Boston and St. Louis you would describe first and foremost as a baseball town. You can't say that a lot about a lot of cities as popular as the NFL is. But I know in St. Louis fans are, first and foremost, baseball fans, Cardinal fans, and I do think that make this rivalry a little spicier.

O'BRIEN: I should say.

Chris, let's talk about the match-up in some specifics. How do you think it goes? Red Sox with just tremendous pitching, and that usually is what does it for you in the post-season, right?

PRICE: I think if Curt Schilling is a reasonable facsimile of himself, I think the Red Sox hold the edge here. I think between Martinez, Schilling and Tim Wakefield, who threw very well for the most part in the ALCS, I think the Red Sox have the edge when it comes to pitching.

O'BRIEN: How is that ankle?

PRICE: Right now, all the reports that we hear is that it's OK. He's going to get it stitched up again before game two. And I think it makes a lot of sense having him go in game two, as opposed to three, four and five, whereas he may have to take a chance, really, at really running the bases in St. Louis. There's going to be no such problem here in Boston.

O'BRIEN: Yes. That whole designated hitter, not designated rule. And it favors the AL this year, because you have home advantage to the AL, which means the DH potentially is in play for four games.

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