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Uncertain Future; Confronting Falluja; Inside the Campaigns

Aired November 05, 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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Uncertain future. Yasser Arafat in a coma. Who will be in charge of the PLO? Will it mean peace or more violence for the Middle East?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training alongside U.S. Marines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Coalition forces preparing for a big fight in Falluja. We've got the latest from Iraq.

PHILLIPS: Inside the epic battle for the White House. Amazing new details about the candidates, their wives and the fight of their lives.

O'BRIEN: Fire and ice. Amazing pictures of nature's breathtaking power and beauty.

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

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of LIVE FROM starts right now.

It may well be the final battle of Yasser Arafat, not against some mystery affliction that's reduced the Palestinian icon to a coma, but a search undertaken by proxy for a spiritually suitable, politically palatable burial site. Arafat's hospital on the outskirts of Paris says his condition is unchanged from yesterday. U.S. officials tell CNN that means coma with machines keeping the 75-year- old patient clinically alive.

A top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem says Arafat wants to be buried there near the Al Aqsa Mosque. Israel says that's out of the question.

CNN's John Vause checks in from Ramallah, where a separate but equally intense struggle may be looming within the Palestinian leadership -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Today in Gaza, all the rival Palestinian factions met and decided on a show of unity, at least for now, and also they said they would try and maintain law and order in the coming days. But also at the meeting, the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that they will continue their military struggle against the Israelis. The intefadeh will continue, they said, regardless of whether Yasser Arafat is dead or alive.

Meantime, it seems the most pressing problem for the Palestinian Authority right now is to make funeral arrangements for Yasser Arafat. In the past, Arafat has said he wants to be buried in Jerusalem. It's also understood that is the wishes of his family.

He wants to be buried in the Haram Shareef, the noble sanctuary as it's known to the Muslims. It's also called the Temple Mount to the Jews and Christians. And the Israeli government has made certain in no uncertain terms that that simply will not be happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOSEF LAPID, ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER: I don't know where they'll bury him. They will choose where to bury him. But he will not be buried in Jerusalem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

LAPID: Because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried and not Arab terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, one of the options to the Israelis certainly would be -- would prefer is that Arafat is buried in Gaza. His family is from Gaza, although it's believed Arafat was born in Cairo. But there is an Arafat family grave plot near the town of Karmun (ph) in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

There is a family plot there, but it's believed to have fallen into disrepair. His father and sister are both buried there. But because of the state of the plot, it's not considered suitable for the president of the Palestinian Authority.

Now, all day long negotiations have been under way between the Israelis and Palestinians about this. They are looking at a number of scenarios.

Palestinian sources tell us that one possible scenario is that Arafat has his funeral service in the Jordanian capital Amman, and then his body is flown to Gaza to be buried. The Palestinians have grave concerns about the logistics of having the funeral in Gaza because they just simply can't handle the hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the heads of state, who would want to attend that funeral service -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John Vause, live from Ramallah. Thank you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: A transparent warning from the interim prime minister of Iraq. The window is closing, says Ayad Allawi, on the foremost of Iraqi flashpoint cities, Falluja. Allawi warns the airstrikes and the clashes, the massing and training that have been the backdrop for occasional peace talks are soon to give way to all-out combat with the fate of the whole country at stake. And when and if Allawi gives the go-ahead, U.S. Marines and soldiers will fight alongside Iraqi troops of all stripes and backgrounds.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training along U.S. Marines. Because these Iraqi soldiers who will also be heading into battle, into the battle for the fight of Falluja. What they've been doing here is training with some of the U.S. Marines, but also with some of the U.S. equipment, such as this amphibious armored vehicle.

Now, while for many of the U.S. Marines Falluja promises to be their first time in combat, some of the Iraqi soldiers about join the fight have seen battle before. Some of them, they tell us, were resistance fighters in the Peshmerga, the resistance unit that fought against Saddam Hussein in the Kurdish north.

Others of these fighters tell me they are Shia fighters from the south of Iraq. Some engaged against Saddam Hussein during his persecution of the Shia majority here in Iraq.

Others also say that they were actually members of Saddam Hussein's army. Some of them, in fact, say they were involved in the invasion of Kuwait, the incident that started off the whole first Gulf War.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, near Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The campaign is over. The Wednesday morning quarterbacking continues in earnest today. It is a Washington parlor game to try to figure out what went right and what went wrong in the long, expensive slog that is a modern campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Of course it's always nice to know what was going on behind the scenes, beneath the veneer of photo ops and orchestrated town meetings. To that end, the folks at "Newsweek" scored a scoop, fly on the wall access to both campaigns. The end result is this week's cover story.

Joining us now, to of the flies on the wall, Kevin Peraino, Bush shadow, and Jonathan Darman, who followed Kerry.

Good to have you both with us.

JONATHAN DARMAN, "NEWSWEEK": Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's begin with you, Kevin.

The conventional wisdom -- and this -- it is your duty here to pierce holes in conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is that Karl Rove is a genius. From what you saw, is that what really happened behind the scenes?

KEVIN PERAINO, "NEWSWEEK": Well, like, if you spend five minutes with Karl Rove, it's plain to anybody who spends any time with him that he's an incredibly bright man. One friend described him as having lightning of the brain.

He's funny, he's witty, and spend any time with him at all and you are aware that you are in the presence of a powerful intellect. And obviously his plan was successful this time around.

That said, you know, I think he does get his aura -- the aura of King Karl sometimes takes on a life of its own. It certainly serves him well to sort of -- to sort of play up this -- this aura and this mystique. And frankly, you know, if the emperor has no clothes, nobody particularly wants to find out.

O'BRIEN: Jonathan, let's talk about the other side of this. The conventional wisdom is also that the Kerry campaign was run by a candidate who micromanaged things, changed horses midstream, and as a result ended up with a muddled campaign. What was really going on the inside, though? Was this -- was this the fault of the candidate himself or were there other forces at work?

DARMAN: That's a pretty accurate picture. I mean, certainly Senator Kerry doesn't deserve all of the blame for every mistake his campaign made. But at really every moment along the way, Senator Kerry was probably a little bit too involved with the intricacies of different decisions.

He really sort of wanted to mull over every decision the campaign made. You know, sometimes at excruciating length. And he really set the tone for a campaign that really wasn't nimble enough in attacking the other side.

O'BRIEN: You could make the case that those are attributes you wouldn't want ultimately in a president.

DARMAN: You could say that. And there certainly is a sharp contrast there with President Bush, who, you know, whatever you want to say about him, good or bad, is someone who makes decisions quickly and then sticks to them.

O'BRIEN: Tell us a little bit about that, Kevin. Did you see much evidence of that decisiveness, that quick decision-making? And to what extent were things perhaps half-cocked at times?

PERAINO: Yes. I mean, well, I think the president has made a point in his life, his personal life, and in his White House to run a disciplined, top-down organization. There's a mantra around the White House late is rude, all meetings start on time, or they are supposed to, at least. The president himself, as everybody knows, exercises relentlessly. He's a disciplined man. And the discipline extends to his campaign.

I mean, this is an -- this was an incredibly well organized and aggressive, successful, rapid response operation that managed to create this caricature in the public mind of Kerry as a loser, as a flip-flopping liberal. And frankly, you know, they were almost too good at it, because at the first debate, Kerry got up there on the same stage with the president and I think people at home realized that he wasn't quite the loser that the caricature portrayed.

O'BRIEN: Jonathan, you know, it occurs to me as we're talking here that really these campaigns were reflections of the personality of the candidates themselves. To what extent -- comment on that, but to what extent, also, did their mates play into this, the first lady, and the first lady, in this case, wannabe?

DARMAN: Yes. Well, I covered the Democratic campaign.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

DARMAN: So Mrs. Heinz Kerry, I'm sure it will surprise no one, had plenty of strong opinions about how her husband should run his campaign. But I think what people will be surprised by when they read our story is just how intricately and intimately involved she was, especially in the early stages. At one point, when Senator Kerry was really down in the polls against his challenger, Howard Dean, Mrs. Kerry called Senator Kerry's then campaign manager, Jim Jordan, and said she wanted him to issue a challenge for a debate between her and Governor Dean.

O'BRIEN: For real? Really?

DARMAN: Yes. And, you know, a lot of us probably would have liked to have watch that.

O'BRIEN: Talk about must-see TV.

DARMAN: Yes, definitely.

O'BRIEN: Kevin, what about the first lady? She has been, in the past, a reluctant campaigner. We saw her out there much more, especially toward the end. Tell us what was going on behind the scenes as far as that decision and how it played out. What is the consensus on how is played out ultimately in the outcome?

PERAINO: Right. Well, the campaign did focus groups on some of the ads that had images of the first lady. And, you know, I don't think it will surprise anybody that the dial sort of went through the roof when the first lady -- when images of the first lady came on the screen.

But I don't think -- you don't need a pollster or a focus group to tell you that Laura Bush's presence in the campaign is going to soften some of Bush's hard edges that he's inevitably going to collect as the result of being a wartime president. You know, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she's going to be good at softening his public image.

She was also a reassuring role, played a reassuring role on the campaign trail with the president, just kind of -- and she didn't spend a lot of time with him because she was off doing her own thing. But both she and Barbara and Jenna Bush, who were involved this time for their first time, sort of went a long way to buoying the president's mood.

And we have some reporting in the story about how -- a little bit more detail about how Barbara and Jenna decided to get involved. Jenna Bush had a bad dream. She dreamt that her father lost the election in the winter of 2004, and she sent a message to her father and she called her mother and said, "You know, I think this time around I really want to be involved."

O'BRIEN: All right. Final thought, Jonathan. I just want to ask you if you ever felt like you were the skunk at the garden party as you had this access. And on the other side of it, did you feel as if you had to kind of put up a wall, a barrier there because you got too close to the people you were reporting?

DARMAN: Well, on the skunk at the garden party phenomenon, the first time I sort of noticed that was the first time I ever traveled on Senator Kerry's plane. I introduced myself to him and I said, "Hi, I'm John Darman. I'm working on the 'Newsweek' campaign book.

And his response was, "The 'Newsweek' campaign book? Oh, no." And I thought that was not a good sort of preview of things to come.

O'BRIEN: All right. We've got to leave it there. Thank you very much, Kevin Peraino, Jonathan Darman. And the "Newsweek" magazine cover story is largely their work, and we invite you to check it out on newsstands right now. Thanks very much -- Kyra.

DARMAN: Thanks a lot.

PHILLIPS: Other news "Across America" now.

What went wrong in New Jersey? Military investigators now trying to find out how a National Guard strike fighter opened fire on a school in Little Egg Harbor. It happened Wednesday night a few miles away from a firing range the military uses to train pilots in bombing techniques.

Operations there are now suspended. No one was injured during the incident. There was minor damage at the school.

A dramatic rescue on Oregon's Mt. Hood. Check this out.

One of two climbers who fell into a crevasse yesterday was able to use his cell phone to call for help. The medical team, lowered by a helicopter, was able to treat that man, but the other climber died at the scene. In Seattle, horrifying moments for people aboard a city bus. Police say a passenger grabbed the steering wheel from the driver, causing the bus to crash into a tree and power pole. Nine people were injured there.

Just in time for the winter season, the National Park Service has announced a plan for snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. It will allow limited, guided snowmobile treks for the next three winters.

O'BRIEN: A fiery foreclosure. A spectacular blaze lights up the Texas night sky. And investigators smell something suspicious in the smoke. We'll have more on that ahead.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Redwood City, California, where we are all watching and waiting as jurors continue their deliberations for the third day. More coming up.

O'BRIEN: And breaking the color barrier while fighting for their country, heroically, I might add. Later on LIVE FROM, inside the true blue patriotism of the Tuskegee Airmen on this the 60th anniversary of their founding.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It is day three of jury deliberations in the Scott Peterson double murder trial. But don't expect to see his reaction if and when a verdict is reached.

CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now from Redwood City, California, courthouse. And being outside the courthouse is something she, I guess, has to get used to given the fact that there's no cameras inside -- Rusty.

DORNIN: That's right. No cameras, Miles. The judge decided audio feeds only. He's concerned about the privacy of the families, and also he even said the possibility of a "meltdown" by one of the family members when the verdict is announced.

They've been deliberating about three hours this morning. So far, no peep from the jury room. No requests for evidence or read- backs.

Yesterday we did learn from a source close to the case that they asked for photos of the inside of Laci and Scott Peterson's house. Those photos did include some shots of a laundry hamper that had a blouse that apparently Laci Peterson was wearing the day before she disappeared. Now, the defense has maintained that because that blouse was in the laundry hamper, she definitely came home, changed her clothes, and then got up the next morning and wore something different.

Another significant development was the election of a foreman to the jury, juror number five. He's a lawyer and a doctor.

That is significant because most people expect him to be very meticulous. He went into the deliberation room with 12 notebooks underneath his arm. He's likely to be very cautious as he goes through the proceedings of this five-month trial. So not many people here are expecting a very quick verdict.

Also, the judge did rule that no transcripts of any of these closed-door sessions -- much of this trial has been behind closed doors -- none of that will be unsealed while the jury is deliberating. Of course, if they don't come up with a verdict today, they will be going back to their hotel, where they will be sequestered for the weekend. No incoming calls, no regular TV, just movies and sports and meals -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rusty, let's remind viewers what their choices are as far as verdicts.

DORNIN: Their choices are first-degree murder for Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Those are two different verdicts. Or second- degree murder.

Now, first-degree is premeditated. If he is convicted of first- degree murder, that would also kick in whether there are special circumstances. If the jury votes for yes, special circumstances of multiple murders is true, that would trigger the death penalty phase of this trial.

O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin in Redwood City. Thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: A fiery eruption in the land of ice. It's some of the most spectacular video we've seen this week. Check this out. Just ahead, we'll take you inside this volcano.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler in New York. Another rally on Wall Street, and shares of Sears making a big splash today. I'll have a full report when LIVE FROM returns right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Mount St. Helens getting a close inspection this week. Beautiful, clear weather allowing scientists to work on the volcano ever so carefully. They are taking photos and measurements and collecting samples of lava and ash. Rising magma continues to build a lava dome in the crater of Mount St. Helens.

PHILLIPS: Another volcano is stealing the spotlight Mount St. Helens, and it's putting on a spectacular show in a remote region of Iceland. ITN's Lawrence McGinty has the story and the stunning pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE MCGINTY, REPORTER, ITN (voice-over): They call it the land of ice and fire. And Iceland is certainly living up to its reputation with this spectacular eruption of a volcano called Grimsvotn.

It started on Monday night. The clouds hit the plumes. Now they can be seen rising majestically eight miles into the sky.

The volcano lies deep under the biggest ice sheet in Europe called Vatnajokull. That is in the southeast of Iceland, an area full of volcanic activity.

Scientists have mapped the glacier's surface over lying Grimsvotn, but strip away the ice and you see a classic volcano. The heat from Grimsvotn melts the ice above it, forming lakes inside the craters. A week ago, the lakes burst and flooded away, reducing the pressure on the magma underneath, which erupted.

It's a bit like pulling the cork from a champagne bottle, except in this case, what's released is an aerial spectacular with dust, clouds and debris. There doesn't seem to be any threat to life or property. This is a very remote area. But the Icelandic authorities have diverted air traffic away from the plume itself. Scientists predict it will drift as far away as the Norwegian coast.

LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The first major economic report after the presidential election having a little impact on Wall Street.

PHILLIPS: No surprise there. Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange -- Rhonda.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired November 5, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Uncertain future. Yasser Arafat in a coma. Who will be in charge of the PLO? Will it mean peace or more violence for the Middle East?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training alongside U.S. Marines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Coalition forces preparing for a big fight in Falluja. We've got the latest from Iraq.

PHILLIPS: Inside the epic battle for the White House. Amazing new details about the candidates, their wives and the fight of their lives.

O'BRIEN: Fire and ice. Amazing pictures of nature's breathtaking power and beauty.

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

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of LIVE FROM starts right now.

It may well be the final battle of Yasser Arafat, not against some mystery affliction that's reduced the Palestinian icon to a coma, but a search undertaken by proxy for a spiritually suitable, politically palatable burial site. Arafat's hospital on the outskirts of Paris says his condition is unchanged from yesterday. U.S. officials tell CNN that means coma with machines keeping the 75-year- old patient clinically alive.

A top Muslim cleric in Jerusalem says Arafat wants to be buried there near the Al Aqsa Mosque. Israel says that's out of the question.

CNN's John Vause checks in from Ramallah, where a separate but equally intense struggle may be looming within the Palestinian leadership -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Today in Gaza, all the rival Palestinian factions met and decided on a show of unity, at least for now, and also they said they would try and maintain law and order in the coming days. But also at the meeting, the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said that they will continue their military struggle against the Israelis. The intefadeh will continue, they said, regardless of whether Yasser Arafat is dead or alive.

Meantime, it seems the most pressing problem for the Palestinian Authority right now is to make funeral arrangements for Yasser Arafat. In the past, Arafat has said he wants to be buried in Jerusalem. It's also understood that is the wishes of his family.

He wants to be buried in the Haram Shareef, the noble sanctuary as it's known to the Muslims. It's also called the Temple Mount to the Jews and Christians. And the Israeli government has made certain in no uncertain terms that that simply will not be happening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOSEF LAPID, ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER: I don't know where they'll bury him. They will choose where to bury him. But he will not be buried in Jerusalem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

LAPID: Because Jerusalem is the city where Jewish kings are buried and not Arab terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, one of the options to the Israelis certainly would be -- would prefer is that Arafat is buried in Gaza. His family is from Gaza, although it's believed Arafat was born in Cairo. But there is an Arafat family grave plot near the town of Karmun (ph) in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

There is a family plot there, but it's believed to have fallen into disrepair. His father and sister are both buried there. But because of the state of the plot, it's not considered suitable for the president of the Palestinian Authority.

Now, all day long negotiations have been under way between the Israelis and Palestinians about this. They are looking at a number of scenarios.

Palestinian sources tell us that one possible scenario is that Arafat has his funeral service in the Jordanian capital Amman, and then his body is flown to Gaza to be buried. The Palestinians have grave concerns about the logistics of having the funeral in Gaza because they just simply can't handle the hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the heads of state, who would want to attend that funeral service -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John Vause, live from Ramallah. Thank you -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: A transparent warning from the interim prime minister of Iraq. The window is closing, says Ayad Allawi, on the foremost of Iraqi flashpoint cities, Falluja. Allawi warns the airstrikes and the clashes, the massing and training that have been the backdrop for occasional peace talks are soon to give way to all-out combat with the fate of the whole country at stake. And when and if Allawi gives the go-ahead, U.S. Marines and soldiers will fight alongside Iraqi troops of all stripes and backgrounds.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Today, some of the Iraqi soldiers have been training along U.S. Marines. Because these Iraqi soldiers who will also be heading into battle, into the battle for the fight of Falluja. What they've been doing here is training with some of the U.S. Marines, but also with some of the U.S. equipment, such as this amphibious armored vehicle.

Now, while for many of the U.S. Marines Falluja promises to be their first time in combat, some of the Iraqi soldiers about join the fight have seen battle before. Some of them, they tell us, were resistance fighters in the Peshmerga, the resistance unit that fought against Saddam Hussein in the Kurdish north.

Others of these fighters tell me they are Shia fighters from the south of Iraq. Some engaged against Saddam Hussein during his persecution of the Shia majority here in Iraq.

Others also say that they were actually members of Saddam Hussein's army. Some of them, in fact, say they were involved in the invasion of Kuwait, the incident that started off the whole first Gulf War.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, near Falluja.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The campaign is over. The Wednesday morning quarterbacking continues in earnest today. It is a Washington parlor game to try to figure out what went right and what went wrong in the long, expensive slog that is a modern campaign for the U.S. presidency.

Of course it's always nice to know what was going on behind the scenes, beneath the veneer of photo ops and orchestrated town meetings. To that end, the folks at "Newsweek" scored a scoop, fly on the wall access to both campaigns. The end result is this week's cover story.

Joining us now, to of the flies on the wall, Kevin Peraino, Bush shadow, and Jonathan Darman, who followed Kerry.

Good to have you both with us.

JONATHAN DARMAN, "NEWSWEEK": Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's begin with you, Kevin.

The conventional wisdom -- and this -- it is your duty here to pierce holes in conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom is that Karl Rove is a genius. From what you saw, is that what really happened behind the scenes?

KEVIN PERAINO, "NEWSWEEK": Well, like, if you spend five minutes with Karl Rove, it's plain to anybody who spends any time with him that he's an incredibly bright man. One friend described him as having lightning of the brain.

He's funny, he's witty, and spend any time with him at all and you are aware that you are in the presence of a powerful intellect. And obviously his plan was successful this time around.

That said, you know, I think he does get his aura -- the aura of King Karl sometimes takes on a life of its own. It certainly serves him well to sort of -- to sort of play up this -- this aura and this mystique. And frankly, you know, if the emperor has no clothes, nobody particularly wants to find out.

O'BRIEN: Jonathan, let's talk about the other side of this. The conventional wisdom is also that the Kerry campaign was run by a candidate who micromanaged things, changed horses midstream, and as a result ended up with a muddled campaign. What was really going on the inside, though? Was this -- was this the fault of the candidate himself or were there other forces at work?

DARMAN: That's a pretty accurate picture. I mean, certainly Senator Kerry doesn't deserve all of the blame for every mistake his campaign made. But at really every moment along the way, Senator Kerry was probably a little bit too involved with the intricacies of different decisions.

He really sort of wanted to mull over every decision the campaign made. You know, sometimes at excruciating length. And he really set the tone for a campaign that really wasn't nimble enough in attacking the other side.

O'BRIEN: You could make the case that those are attributes you wouldn't want ultimately in a president.

DARMAN: You could say that. And there certainly is a sharp contrast there with President Bush, who, you know, whatever you want to say about him, good or bad, is someone who makes decisions quickly and then sticks to them.

O'BRIEN: Tell us a little bit about that, Kevin. Did you see much evidence of that decisiveness, that quick decision-making? And to what extent were things perhaps half-cocked at times?

PERAINO: Yes. I mean, well, I think the president has made a point in his life, his personal life, and in his White House to run a disciplined, top-down organization. There's a mantra around the White House late is rude, all meetings start on time, or they are supposed to, at least. The president himself, as everybody knows, exercises relentlessly. He's a disciplined man. And the discipline extends to his campaign.

I mean, this is an -- this was an incredibly well organized and aggressive, successful, rapid response operation that managed to create this caricature in the public mind of Kerry as a loser, as a flip-flopping liberal. And frankly, you know, they were almost too good at it, because at the first debate, Kerry got up there on the same stage with the president and I think people at home realized that he wasn't quite the loser that the caricature portrayed.

O'BRIEN: Jonathan, you know, it occurs to me as we're talking here that really these campaigns were reflections of the personality of the candidates themselves. To what extent -- comment on that, but to what extent, also, did their mates play into this, the first lady, and the first lady, in this case, wannabe?

DARMAN: Yes. Well, I covered the Democratic campaign.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

DARMAN: So Mrs. Heinz Kerry, I'm sure it will surprise no one, had plenty of strong opinions about how her husband should run his campaign. But I think what people will be surprised by when they read our story is just how intricately and intimately involved she was, especially in the early stages. At one point, when Senator Kerry was really down in the polls against his challenger, Howard Dean, Mrs. Kerry called Senator Kerry's then campaign manager, Jim Jordan, and said she wanted him to issue a challenge for a debate between her and Governor Dean.

O'BRIEN: For real? Really?

DARMAN: Yes. And, you know, a lot of us probably would have liked to have watch that.

O'BRIEN: Talk about must-see TV.

DARMAN: Yes, definitely.

O'BRIEN: Kevin, what about the first lady? She has been, in the past, a reluctant campaigner. We saw her out there much more, especially toward the end. Tell us what was going on behind the scenes as far as that decision and how it played out. What is the consensus on how is played out ultimately in the outcome?

PERAINO: Right. Well, the campaign did focus groups on some of the ads that had images of the first lady. And, you know, I don't think it will surprise anybody that the dial sort of went through the roof when the first lady -- when images of the first lady came on the screen.

But I don't think -- you don't need a pollster or a focus group to tell you that Laura Bush's presence in the campaign is going to soften some of Bush's hard edges that he's inevitably going to collect as the result of being a wartime president. You know, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that she's going to be good at softening his public image.

She was also a reassuring role, played a reassuring role on the campaign trail with the president, just kind of -- and she didn't spend a lot of time with him because she was off doing her own thing. But both she and Barbara and Jenna Bush, who were involved this time for their first time, sort of went a long way to buoying the president's mood.

And we have some reporting in the story about how -- a little bit more detail about how Barbara and Jenna decided to get involved. Jenna Bush had a bad dream. She dreamt that her father lost the election in the winter of 2004, and she sent a message to her father and she called her mother and said, "You know, I think this time around I really want to be involved."

O'BRIEN: All right. Final thought, Jonathan. I just want to ask you if you ever felt like you were the skunk at the garden party as you had this access. And on the other side of it, did you feel as if you had to kind of put up a wall, a barrier there because you got too close to the people you were reporting?

DARMAN: Well, on the skunk at the garden party phenomenon, the first time I sort of noticed that was the first time I ever traveled on Senator Kerry's plane. I introduced myself to him and I said, "Hi, I'm John Darman. I'm working on the 'Newsweek' campaign book.

And his response was, "The 'Newsweek' campaign book? Oh, no." And I thought that was not a good sort of preview of things to come.

O'BRIEN: All right. We've got to leave it there. Thank you very much, Kevin Peraino, Jonathan Darman. And the "Newsweek" magazine cover story is largely their work, and we invite you to check it out on newsstands right now. Thanks very much -- Kyra.

DARMAN: Thanks a lot.

PHILLIPS: Other news "Across America" now.

What went wrong in New Jersey? Military investigators now trying to find out how a National Guard strike fighter opened fire on a school in Little Egg Harbor. It happened Wednesday night a few miles away from a firing range the military uses to train pilots in bombing techniques.

Operations there are now suspended. No one was injured during the incident. There was minor damage at the school.

A dramatic rescue on Oregon's Mt. Hood. Check this out.

One of two climbers who fell into a crevasse yesterday was able to use his cell phone to call for help. The medical team, lowered by a helicopter, was able to treat that man, but the other climber died at the scene. In Seattle, horrifying moments for people aboard a city bus. Police say a passenger grabbed the steering wheel from the driver, causing the bus to crash into a tree and power pole. Nine people were injured there.

Just in time for the winter season, the National Park Service has announced a plan for snowmobile use in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. It will allow limited, guided snowmobile treks for the next three winters.

O'BRIEN: A fiery foreclosure. A spectacular blaze lights up the Texas night sky. And investigators smell something suspicious in the smoke. We'll have more on that ahead.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rusty Dornin in Redwood City, California, where we are all watching and waiting as jurors continue their deliberations for the third day. More coming up.

O'BRIEN: And breaking the color barrier while fighting for their country, heroically, I might add. Later on LIVE FROM, inside the true blue patriotism of the Tuskegee Airmen on this the 60th anniversary of their founding.

Stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: It is day three of jury deliberations in the Scott Peterson double murder trial. But don't expect to see his reaction if and when a verdict is reached.

CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now from Redwood City, California, courthouse. And being outside the courthouse is something she, I guess, has to get used to given the fact that there's no cameras inside -- Rusty.

DORNIN: That's right. No cameras, Miles. The judge decided audio feeds only. He's concerned about the privacy of the families, and also he even said the possibility of a "meltdown" by one of the family members when the verdict is announced.

They've been deliberating about three hours this morning. So far, no peep from the jury room. No requests for evidence or read- backs.

Yesterday we did learn from a source close to the case that they asked for photos of the inside of Laci and Scott Peterson's house. Those photos did include some shots of a laundry hamper that had a blouse that apparently Laci Peterson was wearing the day before she disappeared. Now, the defense has maintained that because that blouse was in the laundry hamper, she definitely came home, changed her clothes, and then got up the next morning and wore something different.

Another significant development was the election of a foreman to the jury, juror number five. He's a lawyer and a doctor.

That is significant because most people expect him to be very meticulous. He went into the deliberation room with 12 notebooks underneath his arm. He's likely to be very cautious as he goes through the proceedings of this five-month trial. So not many people here are expecting a very quick verdict.

Also, the judge did rule that no transcripts of any of these closed-door sessions -- much of this trial has been behind closed doors -- none of that will be unsealed while the jury is deliberating. Of course, if they don't come up with a verdict today, they will be going back to their hotel, where they will be sequestered for the weekend. No incoming calls, no regular TV, just movies and sports and meals -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Rusty, let's remind viewers what their choices are as far as verdicts.

DORNIN: Their choices are first-degree murder for Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Those are two different verdicts. Or second- degree murder.

Now, first-degree is premeditated. If he is convicted of first- degree murder, that would also kick in whether there are special circumstances. If the jury votes for yes, special circumstances of multiple murders is true, that would trigger the death penalty phase of this trial.

O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin in Redwood City. Thank you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: A fiery eruption in the land of ice. It's some of the most spectacular video we've seen this week. Check this out. Just ahead, we'll take you inside this volcano.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler in New York. Another rally on Wall Street, and shares of Sears making a big splash today. I'll have a full report when LIVE FROM returns right after this.

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O'BRIEN: Mount St. Helens getting a close inspection this week. Beautiful, clear weather allowing scientists to work on the volcano ever so carefully. They are taking photos and measurements and collecting samples of lava and ash. Rising magma continues to build a lava dome in the crater of Mount St. Helens.

PHILLIPS: Another volcano is stealing the spotlight Mount St. Helens, and it's putting on a spectacular show in a remote region of Iceland. ITN's Lawrence McGinty has the story and the stunning pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE MCGINTY, REPORTER, ITN (voice-over): They call it the land of ice and fire. And Iceland is certainly living up to its reputation with this spectacular eruption of a volcano called Grimsvotn.

It started on Monday night. The clouds hit the plumes. Now they can be seen rising majestically eight miles into the sky.

The volcano lies deep under the biggest ice sheet in Europe called Vatnajokull. That is in the southeast of Iceland, an area full of volcanic activity.

Scientists have mapped the glacier's surface over lying Grimsvotn, but strip away the ice and you see a classic volcano. The heat from Grimsvotn melts the ice above it, forming lakes inside the craters. A week ago, the lakes burst and flooded away, reducing the pressure on the magma underneath, which erupted.

It's a bit like pulling the cork from a champagne bottle, except in this case, what's released is an aerial spectacular with dust, clouds and debris. There doesn't seem to be any threat to life or property. This is a very remote area. But the Icelandic authorities have diverted air traffic away from the plume itself. Scientists predict it will drift as far away as the Norwegian coast.

LAWRENCE MCGINTY, ITV News.

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O'BRIEN: The first major economic report after the presidential election having a little impact on Wall Street.

PHILLIPS: No surprise there. Rhonda Schaffler live from the New York Stock Exchange -- Rhonda.

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