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Arafat Heads To Paris For Medical Treatment; A Kansas City Couple and Partisan Politics; Operation Truth Ads; Entertainment News
Aired October 28, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is LIVE FROM, and I'm Miles O'Brien.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ANDERSON, BUSH SUPPORTER: I'm against abortion.
MAGGIE MCCOY, KERRY SUPPORTER: I am pro-choice.
ANDERSON: I'm for traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All's fair in love and war and politics. Election year intensifies -- the tests of true love of one odd couple.
O'BRIEN: And I thought arguing about directions was bad.
All right. Veterans of the war in Iraq, some of them want to you hear their message about what's going on over there.
First, here's what's happening in the news.
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat will be heading to Paris for treatment. Live pictures of the compound in Ramallah. Some earth-moving equipment there preparing a landing pad for the helicopter which will transport him to Jordan tomorrow. A French government plane will then take him to Paris. The man seen as a symbol of Palestinian independence being described as seriously, seriously ill.
An explosion rocked the Marriott hotel in central Islamabad, Pakistan. The blast occurring in the main lobby of the hotel. Employees telling CNN several injured. Officials in Pakistan say a short circuit caused the explosion.
A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says U.S. officials were directly warned how vulnerable explosives at an Iraqi weapons site were; nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives recently found missing. The spokeswoman says security concerns were brought up after another Iraqi facility was looted in April of last year. And take a moment to get a good look at that cell phone of yours. The Kyocera company is recalling a million mobile phone batteries. They say some counterfeit units made their way into the system, might be a safety hazard. There's been a few reports of batteries getting too hot. They could cause damage or injuries.
PHILLIPS: Back to Yasser Arafat now. CNN's Michael Holmes and producer Sausan Chosheh have both covered the Palestinian leader in the West Bank extensively, and they know him very well. Earlier today, I spoke with them here at CNN Center about the conditions over there and the consequences of Arafat's health crisis. Here's what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Israelis mounted a major incursion after a series of suicide bombings inside Israel. And we were in Ramallah when they came in and basically sealed off the whole place. And we went in those early days of fighting went to the Muqata, the Palestinian Authority headquarters, and we were there one day and some peace protesters basically marched straight across an open area, car park area of the compound and straight into Arafat's office building.
And we went with him, myself and Margaret Moth (ph), the camerawoman. And it was an amazing experience, because we had warning shots fired at us on the ground. The Israelis were in the buildings literally 50 feet from Arafat's office. And we went in there and, before we knew it, we were talking to him.
PHILLIPS: And that relationship, obviously, continued for you. Sausan, you've had a relationship with Yasser Arafat for quite a long time. You know him probably better than any of us here in the building. Tell us what life is like for him right now as he lives within this compound.
SAUSAN GHOSHEH, CNN PRODUCER: Well, this compound where he is right now has been described by doctors as a dungeon. It's a place where he's basically confined -- for a long time, he was confined to only one room. And now he's confined to a bedroom and a working room.
And he doesn't see the sun. He hardly goes out of the office. And for his health, it's been described as something very detrimental, that he should actually be moved out of there in order to recuperate and get better.
PHILLIPS: And what is it you know about his health right now?
GHOSHEH: About his health? Well, two weeks ago he started getting sick, and Palestinian officials were saying he got a flu. And the flu that went down into the stomach in terms of a stomach virus. After that, he was not able to hold anything down. He was eating, but he was vomiting everything. He was eating -- they put IVs in.
And now they're saying that he has something this his blood which is breaking down the white blood cells. We're not sure now. They're saying it could be a series of things. It could be cancer, but it also could be a virus that's affecting that and is causing some temporary memory loss. He's not unconscious. He's not in a coma.
What's happening with him is he's losing -- he doses off, basically. He doesn't recognize anybody who's around him, and then suddenly he's awake and alert and knows people around him. But he's unable to walk, and he's sleeping most of the time.
And one thing that he's still insisting on, despite a lot of recommendations by the doctors that he should get out for treatment, he wants to stay in the compound and he doesn't want to leave Ramallah.
PHILLIPS: And let's talk about that. Michael, why doesn't he want to leave the compound in Ramallah? He had a chance to go to Paris. His wife is there. His daughter is there. Why not leave?
HOLMES: He's had the chance to go anytime he wants. What he worries about is not being allowed back in by the Israelis.
Arafat sees himself as the father of the Palestinian people -- the father of the revolution, if you like, returning Palestinians to a homeland. And the notion of him going to Paris, perhaps, and dying there or something is something that he just cannot countenance. He must remain with his people as he sees it.
You know, a lot of Palestinians opposed to Arafat, they support him as their figurehead, if you like, their father figure. And he's said to us and others on many occasions that his greatest fear was that the Israelis would come in and try to either kill him or take him out and expel him to another country. And he said he would die resisting that.
I mean, he would rather be in those two rooms than living what would be an extremely comfortable life in Paris. It's not about creature comforts for him.
PHILLIPS: What about his wife? What about his daughter? Does he communicate with them at all? And is it hard for them, or is this just an understanding?
GHOSHEH: Well, it's very hard for him, because every time we saw Yasser Arafat, he always asked us, "Did you see Zahwa? How is she like?"
HOLMES: His daughter.
GHOSHEH: His daughter is Zahwa. And I saw Zahwa two weeks ago in Paris -- they were on vacation. They actually moved to Tunis. Now they're living in Tunis. But she was on vacation in Paris. She went to see her dentist, actually, for the weekend.
And I saw her there, and she said, "Tell me about my father. I want to know what he's like." She doesn't have any recollection of him. They left in 2000, September...
PHILLIPS: What did you say to his daughter?
GHOSHEH: I said, "You have to come and see him. He's always asking about you."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Again, the latest headline is Arafat dropping resistance to leaving Ramallah and flying to Paris for treatment. We're going to keep you posted on his progress.
O'BRIEN: Only five days to go until the presidential election, and it's a single-digit separation between the candidates. An average of nationwide polls puts President Bush with a 49 percent margin over John Kerry with 47 percent. It's two points between them; margin of error about four points.
The presidential campaign may be dividing the nation, but a Kansas City couple says politics won't split them up. You see, he is a Bush supporter; she supports Kerry. I guess you could call it Matalin/Carville syndrome.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim introduces us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maggie McCoy is a high school guidance counselor. John Anderson runs a reality company. For a while, mutual friends have been trying to fix them up.
ANDERSON: And the quote I got back -- and I'm not sure it was exact -- but it was that life's too short to date a Republican. And I...
OPPENHEIM (on camera): Did you say that?
MCCOY: No. That was kinder than what I had said.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Somehow, love conquered. These days, John spends most of his time at Maggie's. They agreed each would get to put out a lawn sign. One Bush sign for John, one Kerry sign for Maggie. Then, Maggie added a single American flag to the Kerry side.
ANDERSON: She was escalating.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): You could have decorated your own side.
ANDERSON: She was escalating.
MCCOY: Right, which was sort of what I thought you were going to do.
ANDERSON: The rules supposedly were that we have two signs and that was it.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): The rules changed. John put a Communist Chinese flag by the Kerry sign. Maggie retaliated with a keeled-over cowboy on the Bush side.
ANDERSON: The flip-flops were next.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): Very modest investment on your part.
ANDERSON: Yes, as opposed to later investments.
OPPENHEIM: OK.
(voice-over): Indeed, Maggie mocked him on machismo. John goaded her on goose hunting. This was real estate politics.
MCCOY: It allowed us to express our own feelings but have fun with it.
OPPENHEIM: But make no mistake, those feelings are intense. On key social issues, John and Maggie are polarized.
ANDERSON: I'm against abortion.
MCCOY: I am pro-choice.
ANDERSON: I'm for traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
MCCOY: I really don't understand the argument about gay marriage.
OPPENHEIM: When it comes to fighting terrorism, where John sees leadership...
ANDERSON: The president was unique in the sense he was prepared to defend our country.
OPPENHEIM: ... Maggie sees just the opposite.
MCCOY: I don't like the way he presents the country with all this bravado.
OPPENHEIM: In other words, despite the funny front yard, this isn't easy.
(on camera): How can you be in love and have a whole part of someone where the belief system is different from how you believe?
ANDERSON: Well, it's very difficult. And I think that you have to reach down and hopefully it comes out of some degree of maturity.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): And sometimes immaturity. Maggie's managed to sneak a Kerry banner in the back of John's car.
ANDERSON: We've gone outside the yard, obviously. We're all over town.
OPPENHEIM: He seemed to realize her mischief was part of the sign language of this relationship. MCCOY: I mean, I don't have to pretend to like Bush and Cheney or anything they do to get along with John. I just make fun of him. It works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Secrets to a good marriage right there. I guess their favorite color must be purple. Hopefully love will prevail on November 3rd. That report, once again, from CNN's Keith Oppenheim.
PHILLIPS: As the election draws near, veterans from the war in Iraq are coming home with some politically charged messages. One group called Operation Truth has taken its message to television with ads that seem critical of the war. But the group says it's neither pro-Kerry nor pro-Bush.
CNN's Brian Todd goes in search of the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRAIN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was an anonymous Iraq war vet until this ad.
ROBERT ACOSTA, IRAQ VETERAN: They told us that we'd win the war and be home soon, but we're still there. So, when people ask me where my arm went, I try to find the words, but they're not there.
TODD: This happened to Army Specialist Robert Acosta when he and a buddy took their Humvee outside Baghdad Airport to get sodas. Someone threw a grenade through the window. It took his right hand and badly injured his left leg.
Now, this high school dropout, who got his equivalency degree just to qualify for the Army, finds himself on the national stage.
ACOSTA: I think awareness should be just raised and people should know really what's going on, how people are coming back from this war.
TODD: Acosta was back from the war recovering from wounds when he heard the man on the left, another Iraq war vet named Paul Rieckhoff, on the radio. He e-mailed Rieckhoff who was forming a group called Operation Truth.
PAUL RIECKHOFF, EXEC. DIR. OPERATION TRUTH: We want to wake the American public up and let them know there's a human cost to the war.
TODD: It may be that simple or far more complex. Rieckhoff says the ad that so far has run on CNN, FOX, and MSNBC is not partisan, despite its timing and message.
ACOSTA: I was called to serve in Iraq because the government said there were weapons of mass destruction, but they weren't there.
TODD (on camera): They say they're nonpartisan. Do you buy it?
IRA TEINOWITZ, "ADVERTISING AGE" MAGAZINE: No, no, I don't. Looks like an ad from a group that's supporting John Kerry.
TODD (voice-over): A Kerry campaign official tells CNN the campaign has no connection with Operation Truth.
(on camera): It's clearly an anti-war ad.
RIECKHOFF: It's not an anti-war ad, and that's important to understand. It's a soldier's experience, and we're not an -- it's not an anti-war ad. We're not an anti-war group. People say you're speaking out against the war. We're not speaking out against the war, we're speaking out about the war.
TODD (voice-over): Rieckhoff says his crusade is to education about resources and equipment he says aren't getting to the troops and about the medical care they need. So, who's underwriting Operation Truth?
(on camera): How did you get the money to start this?
RIECKHOFF: We got our money through individual contributions on the Internet and through my credit card.
TODD (voice-over): Rieckhoff, who spent time as an investment banker, says he went $20,000 in debt to start the group, which now claims to have raised about $200,000.
(on camera): Both Rieckhoff and Acosta say they are not bitter about their experience in Iraq. They feel they accomplished some good. But they say they want to continue producing ads after the election to call attention to the war and the people fighting it.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Courtney Love is well known for her wild and outrageous behavior. Coming up, why her latest stunt could land her in prison.
And politics and pumpkins -- the presidential spin on carving.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A look around the world of health and medicine now. This is far from definitive, but scientists in Spain have drawn a loose association between red wine and the slow development of lung cancer. White wine, not as beneficial. In fact, the scientists say it may even slightly raise the risk of such cancers. The results are new in the medical journal "Thorax."
Low score for the popular arthritis pain product glucosamine. Canadian researchers say the long-term benefit of the food supplement is the big doughnut, zero. A two-year study conducted in British Columbia found arthritis sufferers actually reported better long-term pain relief taking a placebo, which is to say a sugar pill. Research continues.
And the U.S. Military ordered to stop forcing troops to be inoculated against anthrax. A federal judge has ruled the Food and Drug Administration violated its own rules when it approved the experimental vaccine. The Department of Defense has already vaccinated more than a million troops, mostly under a mandatory anti- anthrax program.
PHILLIPS: This Halloween, there's a pumpkin out there for every political persuasion. Take a look -- John Kerry and President Bush will greet trick-or-treaters at the home in Ohio. A Columbus area woman has been carving these pumpkin masterpieces since 1988. She says hundreds of people have come to see her house to see the famous faces each year. She picks her pumpkin heads on political figures or celebrities who currently in the spotlight.
O'BRIEN: All right. Redheaded teen queen Lindsay Lohan is currently in the spotlight, to say the least. The 18-year-old actress apparently doing better after a little stay in the hospital. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas has that story and others in her Hollywood headlines live now from L.A. -- Sibila?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Good news for actress Lindsay Lohan. The "Freaky Friday" star is expected to be well enough to tape her cameo on "That '70s Show." The 18-year-old actress had been hospitalized with a high fever and an infection. No word, though, on when she'll begin production on her upcoming film "Herbie: Fully Loaded" -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: OK. What about Courtney Love? I understand she's in a little bit of trouble again.
VARGAS: Yeah, more legal woes for rocker Courtney Love. The singer has been ordered to stand trial for felony assault. The Los Angeles court commissioner made the ruling at a preliminary hearing after listening to testimony from musician Kristin King.
Now, King says Love threw a whiskey bottle at her, sat on her, slapped her, and chipped her tooth during an altercation at the home of Love's ex-manager and ex-boyfriend. Now, Love's lawyer says his client was grossly overcharged. Love is due back in court November 10th for a formal arrangement. She is free on $150,000 bail.
Well, shifting gears -- start your engines, the race is on. CBS's Emmy-winning reality show "Amazing Race" has launched its sixth installment. The network has unveiled a new line of 11 couples who will make the 25,000-mile dash around the world for a million dollars. "The Amazing Race" premieres on CBS November 16th.
Well, imagine this -- you pull up to the drive-thru window at your local Mickey D's and find that the checkout person is your favorite R&B singer -- Really! That's what reportedly happened to a few lucky patrons who were served by singer R. Kelly at McDonald's in St. Louis. According to the report, Kelly had pulled up to the fast food joint after they had closed. Now, he talked them into reopening, and apparently he decided to show his gratitude by serving burgers and fries to some very excited customers.
Now, Miles, that is what I call customer satisfaction.
O'BRIEN: I should say. I hope he asked the obligatory, "Would you like a hot apple pie with that," which is, you know, part of the drill.
VARGAS: Oh, absolutely. He had to. I hope so.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sibila. Thanks a lot.
VARGAS: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Coming up -- preparations for Martha Stewart's return for television. What are the plans for the domestic diva after her prison term is complete? CNN's LIVE FROM continues right after a break.
O'BRIEN: That's not her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, it's true. Martha Stewart will be starring in another TV show. What is it, Escape from Alcatraz? What is it?
PHILLIPS: Escape from the kitchen? No wait, she already did that. It's not going to be a drama about her time in prison, though.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it isn't?
PHILLIPS: No.
O'BRIEN: I'd watch that. All right, Rhonda, what's she going to do, cooking or something?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Not only is it another show, it's going to be primetime, Miles and Kyra. So, she's going right to the premiere hours.
According to Martha Stewart Living, Martha herself is going to star in a new primetime TV series in the fall of 2005. Of course, she does have to finish up that little prison sentence first. We don't know exactly what the show is about. No details on that yet. But her company is looking forward to her return.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia posted a $14 million loss in the third quarter. That's four times wider than the loss a year ago. The company expects business to pick up next year when Martha returns and it sees a pickup in advertising revenue -- Miles, Kyra?
O'BRIEN: All right. We got a company that's new to the exchange today, going to the moon. What do we got going on today?
SCHAFFLER: DreamWorks Animation -- big, big IPO here today. Became a publicly traded company this morning. Already, the stock is surging nearly 40 percent. DreamWorks is responsible for films like "Shrek" and "Shark Tale."
So, that is one of the high fliers here on Wall Street today, where overall the markets are moving higher. Dow is up 26 points. Nasdaq gaining half of a percent.
That is the very latest from Wall Street. Miles, Kyra, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Rhonda. See you tomorrow.
That wraps up this Thursday edition of LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: Now to take us through the next 90 minutes of political headlines, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS." Hi, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, Kyra. Thanks to you and Miles.
With just five days until the election, some voters in Ohio are finding themselves in limbo. We'll take a look at the confusion with Ohio's secretary of state, as well as the president of People for the American Way.
Plus, the curse has officially been reversed. The Boston Red Sox are now world champions. Senator John Kerry is certainly excited, but President Bush got some good news after the win, as well. "INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Here's what's happening now in the news.
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat will be heading to Paris for treatment. The 75-year-old taken by helicopter to Jordan tomorrow, then a French government plane will bring him on to Paris. The man seen as a symbol of Palestinian independence is described as seriously, seriously ill.
An explosion rattled central Islamabad, Pakistan, today. The blast damaged the lobby of the Marriott Hotel, injured at least five. Authorities quick to allay fears of terror, however, telling reporters it appears to have been caused by an electrical problem. Police are investigating nonetheless.
And a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says U.S. officials were directly warned how vulnerable explosives at an Iraqi weapons site were. Nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives recently reported missing. The spokeswoman says security concerns were brought up after another Iraqi facility was looted in April of last year.
I'm Miles O'Brien. Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
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 28, 2004 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is LIVE FROM, and I'm Miles O'Brien.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Here's what's all new this half hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ANDERSON, BUSH SUPPORTER: I'm against abortion.
MAGGIE MCCOY, KERRY SUPPORTER: I am pro-choice.
ANDERSON: I'm for traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All's fair in love and war and politics. Election year intensifies -- the tests of true love of one odd couple.
O'BRIEN: And I thought arguing about directions was bad.
All right. Veterans of the war in Iraq, some of them want to you hear their message about what's going on over there.
First, here's what's happening in the news.
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat will be heading to Paris for treatment. Live pictures of the compound in Ramallah. Some earth-moving equipment there preparing a landing pad for the helicopter which will transport him to Jordan tomorrow. A French government plane will then take him to Paris. The man seen as a symbol of Palestinian independence being described as seriously, seriously ill.
An explosion rocked the Marriott hotel in central Islamabad, Pakistan. The blast occurring in the main lobby of the hotel. Employees telling CNN several injured. Officials in Pakistan say a short circuit caused the explosion.
A spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says U.S. officials were directly warned how vulnerable explosives at an Iraqi weapons site were; nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives recently found missing. The spokeswoman says security concerns were brought up after another Iraqi facility was looted in April of last year. And take a moment to get a good look at that cell phone of yours. The Kyocera company is recalling a million mobile phone batteries. They say some counterfeit units made their way into the system, might be a safety hazard. There's been a few reports of batteries getting too hot. They could cause damage or injuries.
PHILLIPS: Back to Yasser Arafat now. CNN's Michael Holmes and producer Sausan Chosheh have both covered the Palestinian leader in the West Bank extensively, and they know him very well. Earlier today, I spoke with them here at CNN Center about the conditions over there and the consequences of Arafat's health crisis. Here's what they told me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Israelis mounted a major incursion after a series of suicide bombings inside Israel. And we were in Ramallah when they came in and basically sealed off the whole place. And we went in those early days of fighting went to the Muqata, the Palestinian Authority headquarters, and we were there one day and some peace protesters basically marched straight across an open area, car park area of the compound and straight into Arafat's office building.
And we went with him, myself and Margaret Moth (ph), the camerawoman. And it was an amazing experience, because we had warning shots fired at us on the ground. The Israelis were in the buildings literally 50 feet from Arafat's office. And we went in there and, before we knew it, we were talking to him.
PHILLIPS: And that relationship, obviously, continued for you. Sausan, you've had a relationship with Yasser Arafat for quite a long time. You know him probably better than any of us here in the building. Tell us what life is like for him right now as he lives within this compound.
SAUSAN GHOSHEH, CNN PRODUCER: Well, this compound where he is right now has been described by doctors as a dungeon. It's a place where he's basically confined -- for a long time, he was confined to only one room. And now he's confined to a bedroom and a working room.
And he doesn't see the sun. He hardly goes out of the office. And for his health, it's been described as something very detrimental, that he should actually be moved out of there in order to recuperate and get better.
PHILLIPS: And what is it you know about his health right now?
GHOSHEH: About his health? Well, two weeks ago he started getting sick, and Palestinian officials were saying he got a flu. And the flu that went down into the stomach in terms of a stomach virus. After that, he was not able to hold anything down. He was eating, but he was vomiting everything. He was eating -- they put IVs in.
And now they're saying that he has something this his blood which is breaking down the white blood cells. We're not sure now. They're saying it could be a series of things. It could be cancer, but it also could be a virus that's affecting that and is causing some temporary memory loss. He's not unconscious. He's not in a coma.
What's happening with him is he's losing -- he doses off, basically. He doesn't recognize anybody who's around him, and then suddenly he's awake and alert and knows people around him. But he's unable to walk, and he's sleeping most of the time.
And one thing that he's still insisting on, despite a lot of recommendations by the doctors that he should get out for treatment, he wants to stay in the compound and he doesn't want to leave Ramallah.
PHILLIPS: And let's talk about that. Michael, why doesn't he want to leave the compound in Ramallah? He had a chance to go to Paris. His wife is there. His daughter is there. Why not leave?
HOLMES: He's had the chance to go anytime he wants. What he worries about is not being allowed back in by the Israelis.
Arafat sees himself as the father of the Palestinian people -- the father of the revolution, if you like, returning Palestinians to a homeland. And the notion of him going to Paris, perhaps, and dying there or something is something that he just cannot countenance. He must remain with his people as he sees it.
You know, a lot of Palestinians opposed to Arafat, they support him as their figurehead, if you like, their father figure. And he's said to us and others on many occasions that his greatest fear was that the Israelis would come in and try to either kill him or take him out and expel him to another country. And he said he would die resisting that.
I mean, he would rather be in those two rooms than living what would be an extremely comfortable life in Paris. It's not about creature comforts for him.
PHILLIPS: What about his wife? What about his daughter? Does he communicate with them at all? And is it hard for them, or is this just an understanding?
GHOSHEH: Well, it's very hard for him, because every time we saw Yasser Arafat, he always asked us, "Did you see Zahwa? How is she like?"
HOLMES: His daughter.
GHOSHEH: His daughter is Zahwa. And I saw Zahwa two weeks ago in Paris -- they were on vacation. They actually moved to Tunis. Now they're living in Tunis. But she was on vacation in Paris. She went to see her dentist, actually, for the weekend.
And I saw her there, and she said, "Tell me about my father. I want to know what he's like." She doesn't have any recollection of him. They left in 2000, September...
PHILLIPS: What did you say to his daughter?
GHOSHEH: I said, "You have to come and see him. He's always asking about you."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Again, the latest headline is Arafat dropping resistance to leaving Ramallah and flying to Paris for treatment. We're going to keep you posted on his progress.
O'BRIEN: Only five days to go until the presidential election, and it's a single-digit separation between the candidates. An average of nationwide polls puts President Bush with a 49 percent margin over John Kerry with 47 percent. It's two points between them; margin of error about four points.
The presidential campaign may be dividing the nation, but a Kansas City couple says politics won't split them up. You see, he is a Bush supporter; she supports Kerry. I guess you could call it Matalin/Carville syndrome.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim introduces us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maggie McCoy is a high school guidance counselor. John Anderson runs a reality company. For a while, mutual friends have been trying to fix them up.
ANDERSON: And the quote I got back -- and I'm not sure it was exact -- but it was that life's too short to date a Republican. And I...
OPPENHEIM (on camera): Did you say that?
MCCOY: No. That was kinder than what I had said.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Somehow, love conquered. These days, John spends most of his time at Maggie's. They agreed each would get to put out a lawn sign. One Bush sign for John, one Kerry sign for Maggie. Then, Maggie added a single American flag to the Kerry side.
ANDERSON: She was escalating.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): You could have decorated your own side.
ANDERSON: She was escalating.
MCCOY: Right, which was sort of what I thought you were going to do.
ANDERSON: The rules supposedly were that we have two signs and that was it.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): The rules changed. John put a Communist Chinese flag by the Kerry sign. Maggie retaliated with a keeled-over cowboy on the Bush side.
ANDERSON: The flip-flops were next.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): Very modest investment on your part.
ANDERSON: Yes, as opposed to later investments.
OPPENHEIM: OK.
(voice-over): Indeed, Maggie mocked him on machismo. John goaded her on goose hunting. This was real estate politics.
MCCOY: It allowed us to express our own feelings but have fun with it.
OPPENHEIM: But make no mistake, those feelings are intense. On key social issues, John and Maggie are polarized.
ANDERSON: I'm against abortion.
MCCOY: I am pro-choice.
ANDERSON: I'm for traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
MCCOY: I really don't understand the argument about gay marriage.
OPPENHEIM: When it comes to fighting terrorism, where John sees leadership...
ANDERSON: The president was unique in the sense he was prepared to defend our country.
OPPENHEIM: ... Maggie sees just the opposite.
MCCOY: I don't like the way he presents the country with all this bravado.
OPPENHEIM: In other words, despite the funny front yard, this isn't easy.
(on camera): How can you be in love and have a whole part of someone where the belief system is different from how you believe?
ANDERSON: Well, it's very difficult. And I think that you have to reach down and hopefully it comes out of some degree of maturity.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): And sometimes immaturity. Maggie's managed to sneak a Kerry banner in the back of John's car.
ANDERSON: We've gone outside the yard, obviously. We're all over town.
OPPENHEIM: He seemed to realize her mischief was part of the sign language of this relationship. MCCOY: I mean, I don't have to pretend to like Bush and Cheney or anything they do to get along with John. I just make fun of him. It works.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Secrets to a good marriage right there. I guess their favorite color must be purple. Hopefully love will prevail on November 3rd. That report, once again, from CNN's Keith Oppenheim.
PHILLIPS: As the election draws near, veterans from the war in Iraq are coming home with some politically charged messages. One group called Operation Truth has taken its message to television with ads that seem critical of the war. But the group says it's neither pro-Kerry nor pro-Bush.
CNN's Brian Todd goes in search of the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRAIN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was an anonymous Iraq war vet until this ad.
ROBERT ACOSTA, IRAQ VETERAN: They told us that we'd win the war and be home soon, but we're still there. So, when people ask me where my arm went, I try to find the words, but they're not there.
TODD: This happened to Army Specialist Robert Acosta when he and a buddy took their Humvee outside Baghdad Airport to get sodas. Someone threw a grenade through the window. It took his right hand and badly injured his left leg.
Now, this high school dropout, who got his equivalency degree just to qualify for the Army, finds himself on the national stage.
ACOSTA: I think awareness should be just raised and people should know really what's going on, how people are coming back from this war.
TODD: Acosta was back from the war recovering from wounds when he heard the man on the left, another Iraq war vet named Paul Rieckhoff, on the radio. He e-mailed Rieckhoff who was forming a group called Operation Truth.
PAUL RIECKHOFF, EXEC. DIR. OPERATION TRUTH: We want to wake the American public up and let them know there's a human cost to the war.
TODD: It may be that simple or far more complex. Rieckhoff says the ad that so far has run on CNN, FOX, and MSNBC is not partisan, despite its timing and message.
ACOSTA: I was called to serve in Iraq because the government said there were weapons of mass destruction, but they weren't there.
TODD (on camera): They say they're nonpartisan. Do you buy it?
IRA TEINOWITZ, "ADVERTISING AGE" MAGAZINE: No, no, I don't. Looks like an ad from a group that's supporting John Kerry.
TODD (voice-over): A Kerry campaign official tells CNN the campaign has no connection with Operation Truth.
(on camera): It's clearly an anti-war ad.
RIECKHOFF: It's not an anti-war ad, and that's important to understand. It's a soldier's experience, and we're not an -- it's not an anti-war ad. We're not an anti-war group. People say you're speaking out against the war. We're not speaking out against the war, we're speaking out about the war.
TODD (voice-over): Rieckhoff says his crusade is to education about resources and equipment he says aren't getting to the troops and about the medical care they need. So, who's underwriting Operation Truth?
(on camera): How did you get the money to start this?
RIECKHOFF: We got our money through individual contributions on the Internet and through my credit card.
TODD (voice-over): Rieckhoff, who spent time as an investment banker, says he went $20,000 in debt to start the group, which now claims to have raised about $200,000.
(on camera): Both Rieckhoff and Acosta say they are not bitter about their experience in Iraq. They feel they accomplished some good. But they say they want to continue producing ads after the election to call attention to the war and the people fighting it.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Courtney Love is well known for her wild and outrageous behavior. Coming up, why her latest stunt could land her in prison.
And politics and pumpkins -- the presidential spin on carving.
ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: A look around the world of health and medicine now. This is far from definitive, but scientists in Spain have drawn a loose association between red wine and the slow development of lung cancer. White wine, not as beneficial. In fact, the scientists say it may even slightly raise the risk of such cancers. The results are new in the medical journal "Thorax."
Low score for the popular arthritis pain product glucosamine. Canadian researchers say the long-term benefit of the food supplement is the big doughnut, zero. A two-year study conducted in British Columbia found arthritis sufferers actually reported better long-term pain relief taking a placebo, which is to say a sugar pill. Research continues.
And the U.S. Military ordered to stop forcing troops to be inoculated against anthrax. A federal judge has ruled the Food and Drug Administration violated its own rules when it approved the experimental vaccine. The Department of Defense has already vaccinated more than a million troops, mostly under a mandatory anti- anthrax program.
PHILLIPS: This Halloween, there's a pumpkin out there for every political persuasion. Take a look -- John Kerry and President Bush will greet trick-or-treaters at the home in Ohio. A Columbus area woman has been carving these pumpkin masterpieces since 1988. She says hundreds of people have come to see her house to see the famous faces each year. She picks her pumpkin heads on political figures or celebrities who currently in the spotlight.
O'BRIEN: All right. Redheaded teen queen Lindsay Lohan is currently in the spotlight, to say the least. The 18-year-old actress apparently doing better after a little stay in the hospital. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas has that story and others in her Hollywood headlines live now from L.A. -- Sibila?
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. Good news for actress Lindsay Lohan. The "Freaky Friday" star is expected to be well enough to tape her cameo on "That '70s Show." The 18-year-old actress had been hospitalized with a high fever and an infection. No word, though, on when she'll begin production on her upcoming film "Herbie: Fully Loaded" -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: OK. What about Courtney Love? I understand she's in a little bit of trouble again.
VARGAS: Yeah, more legal woes for rocker Courtney Love. The singer has been ordered to stand trial for felony assault. The Los Angeles court commissioner made the ruling at a preliminary hearing after listening to testimony from musician Kristin King.
Now, King says Love threw a whiskey bottle at her, sat on her, slapped her, and chipped her tooth during an altercation at the home of Love's ex-manager and ex-boyfriend. Now, Love's lawyer says his client was grossly overcharged. Love is due back in court November 10th for a formal arrangement. She is free on $150,000 bail.
Well, shifting gears -- start your engines, the race is on. CBS's Emmy-winning reality show "Amazing Race" has launched its sixth installment. The network has unveiled a new line of 11 couples who will make the 25,000-mile dash around the world for a million dollars. "The Amazing Race" premieres on CBS November 16th.
Well, imagine this -- you pull up to the drive-thru window at your local Mickey D's and find that the checkout person is your favorite R&B singer -- Really! That's what reportedly happened to a few lucky patrons who were served by singer R. Kelly at McDonald's in St. Louis. According to the report, Kelly had pulled up to the fast food joint after they had closed. Now, he talked them into reopening, and apparently he decided to show his gratitude by serving burgers and fries to some very excited customers.
Now, Miles, that is what I call customer satisfaction.
O'BRIEN: I should say. I hope he asked the obligatory, "Would you like a hot apple pie with that," which is, you know, part of the drill.
VARGAS: Oh, absolutely. He had to. I hope so.
O'BRIEN: All right, Sibila. Thanks a lot.
VARGAS: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Coming up -- preparations for Martha Stewart's return for television. What are the plans for the domestic diva after her prison term is complete? CNN's LIVE FROM continues right after a break.
O'BRIEN: That's not her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, it's true. Martha Stewart will be starring in another TV show. What is it, Escape from Alcatraz? What is it?
PHILLIPS: Escape from the kitchen? No wait, she already did that. It's not going to be a drama about her time in prison, though.
O'BRIEN: Oh, it isn't?
PHILLIPS: No.
O'BRIEN: I'd watch that. All right, Rhonda, what's she going to do, cooking or something?
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Not only is it another show, it's going to be primetime, Miles and Kyra. So, she's going right to the premiere hours.
According to Martha Stewart Living, Martha herself is going to star in a new primetime TV series in the fall of 2005. Of course, she does have to finish up that little prison sentence first. We don't know exactly what the show is about. No details on that yet. But her company is looking forward to her return.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia posted a $14 million loss in the third quarter. That's four times wider than the loss a year ago. The company expects business to pick up next year when Martha returns and it sees a pickup in advertising revenue -- Miles, Kyra?
O'BRIEN: All right. We got a company that's new to the exchange today, going to the moon. What do we got going on today?
SCHAFFLER: DreamWorks Animation -- big, big IPO here today. Became a publicly traded company this morning. Already, the stock is surging nearly 40 percent. DreamWorks is responsible for films like "Shrek" and "Shark Tale."
So, that is one of the high fliers here on Wall Street today, where overall the markets are moving higher. Dow is up 26 points. Nasdaq gaining half of a percent.
That is the very latest from Wall Street. Miles, Kyra, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Rhonda. See you tomorrow.
That wraps up this Thursday edition of LIVE FROM.
PHILLIPS: Now to take us through the next 90 minutes of political headlines, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS." Hi, Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hi, Kyra. Thanks to you and Miles.
With just five days until the election, some voters in Ohio are finding themselves in limbo. We'll take a look at the confusion with Ohio's secretary of state, as well as the president of People for the American Way.
Plus, the curse has officially been reversed. The Boston Red Sox are now world champions. Senator John Kerry is certainly excited, but President Bush got some good news after the win, as well. "INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Here's what's happening now in the news.
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat will be heading to Paris for treatment. The 75-year-old taken by helicopter to Jordan tomorrow, then a French government plane will bring him on to Paris. The man seen as a symbol of Palestinian independence is described as seriously, seriously ill.
An explosion rattled central Islamabad, Pakistan, today. The blast damaged the lobby of the Marriott Hotel, injured at least five. Authorities quick to allay fears of terror, however, telling reporters it appears to have been caused by an electrical problem. Police are investigating nonetheless.
And a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency says U.S. officials were directly warned how vulnerable explosives at an Iraqi weapons site were. Nearly 380 tons of powerful explosives recently reported missing. The spokeswoman says security concerns were brought up after another Iraqi facility was looted in April of last year.
I'm Miles O'Brien. Now "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
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