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Britain Votes; Disneyland Celebrates 50th Birthday

Aired May 05, 2005 - 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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," live pictures out of Douglas, Arizona. You're looking at the new head of the Department of Homeland Security. He's on the Arizona border today. Michael Chertoff making his first visit to the U.S./Mexico border. He's doing the tour with Senators John McCain and John Kyle. We'll follow it, let you know if any news is made.
An analyst with the U.N. Weapons Inspection Agency is being questioned about the small explosions in New York. Two novelty-type grenades went off today in front of the building that houses the British Consulate. There were no significant damage or injuries. Those explosions came as Britain held its general election.

Florida authorities on the hunt for a sexual predator. This man right here. Investigators in Palm Beach say that Patrick Bell cut off his tracking device two days ago, before vanishing. Authorities label Bell as a threat to society. He was convicted in 1999 of molesting two children.

The runaway bride may have to pay up for misleading authorities. The mayor of Duluth, Georgia, says it's important for Jennifer Wilbanks to reimburse the city for time and money spent searching for her. Wilbanks' attorney says her client will make amends.

A road runs through it. The Bush administration announced a new rule today that opens up national forest to road building and commercial ventures. It affects nearly 60 million acres, mainly in the West.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: As Britain votes, CNN.com looks at the stakes in the U.K. elections, giving you the low-down on the world politics, as prime minister Tony Blair defends himself against new attacks that he mislead the country in the run-up to the war. Even so, opinion polls show Blair on course to win an unprecedented third term in office.

CNN.com/ukelections schools you Britain's political parties, two of which have dominated for the past several decades, Labor and the Conservatives. Labor, currently lead by Blair, was formed in 1900 to get representatives from the organized working class into Parliament. One of Blair's greatest challenges comes from the right-of-center Conservative Party under Michael Howard.

But there are other parties, too, like the Respect Party, an anti-Iraq war group headed by George Galloway, who was actually expelled from the Labor Party for his stance on the Iraq War. We've got all the profiles and seats to watch, as well as an interactive guide to the House of Commons.

While you're online, take a virtual tour of the British Parliament. To be one of the first to know what happens in this historic election, click over to CNN.com/ukelections.

Reporting from the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Dot-com is a good place to go to learn more about the British elections. One of the things you'll see on there all the time is our professor of politics, Bill Schneider, who is across the pond in our bureau today. We asked him to put a bowler on. He says he has one, but he didn't bring it. Now, if you owned a bowler, wouldn't you bring it to London, Bill Schneider?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No,, there are plenty of bowlers here.

O'BRIEN: OK. In any case, hey, you've been to the polls already. I know we don't have any early results, but you never know who you're going to meet at the polls. Tell us your brief vignette, would you?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I was at a polling place this morning in a posh district, a constituency in Richmond. A lot of Rolling Stones live there. I went to a polling place and one of the voting counters for the Liberal Democratic Party was a very lovely woman who was explaining the voting procedure to me. And at the end I asked her her name and she said Attenborough. And I said, are you related to Sir Richard Attenborough? And she said I am the wife of Lord Richard Attenborough. And we talked for a moment. He's the noted actor and filmmaker. He won an Actor for "Gandhi" some years ago.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we've heard of him. Yes, we've heard of him, yes. Wow. It's interesting...

SCHNEIDER: And here's the kicker...

O'BRIEN: Go ahead.

SCHNEIDER: Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: No, you.

SCHNEIDER: What's interesting is her husband cannot vote because he is a member of the House of Lords. And remember, the election today in Britain is for the House of Commons, and unlike you and me, Miles, he's not a commoner.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this election in general. It seems as the British public is not very happy with the choice they are presented. They're happy with the economy. They are not happy with their involvement in Iraq, and personally, I think they seem to have some problems with Tony Blair, but they think his party is the place to be. Does that sum it up?

SCHNEIDER: That does sum it up. The prevailing view, as I can discern it here in Britain is, they want to keep Labor in, principally because the economy is good, and they don't think Michael Howard, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, has a lot of credibility. They'd like to keep Labor in and get Blair out. So by giving Blair a diminished majority, they just might be able do that, because he will be given pressure to, if he's re-elected, turn over power to another leader of the party.

In fact, Miles, today I visited a columnist who was is the left, she's anti-war, but she's also a Labor Party supporter. She wrote a column several weeks ago in which she urged her readers to hold their nose and vote for Blair. In fact, she said if you e-mail me, I will send you a nose peg. That is this thing. She got hundreds of e-mails from readers who asked for one of these. As you can see it says, "Hold Your Nose and Vote Labour." So she said all these people are supposed to go to the polls today -- hundreds wrote in, put this on their nose and voted for Tony Blair, even though they're anti-war. Like this.

O'BRIEN: Well, clearly so far, it's been a nail-biter for you. There's no question about that. Let's talk about the mudslinging. We talk about dirty campaigns here in the U.S. but I just want to give people a flavor of the kind of accusations they trade over there. Anybody who's seen the debates in the House of Commons knows it is a blood sport there. Let's listen to Howard as he makes some criticism of Blair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOWARD, CONSERVATIVE PARTY: On the one thing on which Mr. Blair has taken a stand in the last eight years, on going to war, no more important decision can a British prime minister take, and he couldn't even tell the truth about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: We don't hear that very often here in this country. You know, even when the mud slings. candidates don't call each other liars.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. He called him a liar. He did. And so they ads have called Tony Blair a liar. They said if he's prepared to lie -- this was a billboard -- if he's prepared to lie to take the country to war, he's prepared to lie to win an election. That is very harsh. It's the most negative campaign I've seen, and I've covered many British elections.

The result is -- well, here's an old rule in politics: if A attacks B, the votes go to C. That's what seems to be happening. The Conservative's attack on Blair is not helping the Conservatives and it's hurting Blair, but the votes are going to the third party, the Liberal Democrats, who are also the only anti-war party. But their vote appears to be going up.

O'BRIEN: All right. So is it safe to say that if Tony Blair prevails, he will not have the mandate he currently has? And to what extent will that affect his ability to govern?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he currently has a majority of 166 seats. If that majority is significantly below 100 seats, 60 or 70 seats, he will be under pressure, because it will look the message that I described was sent. We want to keep Labor in and get Blair out. Then, his own party, which includes a lot of anti-war candidates -- I spent time with a Labor Party candidate whose platform was vote for me, and I will stand up to Tony Blair on issues like Iraq.

He'll be under pressure from candidates like that to stand aside and turn over power to another leader. There is one in waiting named Gordon Brown, who is the chancellor, which is the secretary of treasury. And even though he said he supported Blair on the war, he's not associated with the war. He's associated with the booming economy.

O'BRIEN: All right. And as we see there, that is Gordon Brown, who might very well end up becoming prime minister out of this after a year or so, huh?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. He could easily become the next prime minister of Britain. He is the most popular figure in British politics. Blair is one of the least popular, even though they did agree on the war.

O'BRIEN: All right. Bill Schneider, thanks for dropping by. Hoist a Guinness for us, will you, while you're over there?

SCHNEIDER: All right.

O'BRIEN: And enjoy the election. You'll be on all night, I'm sure. So don't work too hard.

SCHNEIDER: Well, no drinking on election day. Sorry.

O'BRIEN: Oh, that's right. Save that for tomorrow. All right, Take care -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, other news around the world now.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi telling the Italian parliament blame for U.S. troops cannot be ruled out in the March 4th shooting death of an Italian agent in Iraq. He said the checkpoint shooting will not alter U.S. relations or speed withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq. Now, an official Pentagon report exonerated American troops in the death of Nicola Calapari.

Now remembering the Holocaust. Today thousands of people gathered at the site of the infamous Auschwitz death camp in Southern Poland to take part in a march of the living. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon led a delegation that included Holocaust survivors. People around the world are commemorating six million Jews killed in the Holocaust during World War II.

Pope Benedict visited the Vatican summer residence at Castelgandolfo, south of Rome, today. He delighted residents and said he plans to keep up the tradition of spending the summer there.

Follow-up today on the rock, paper, scissors story. Before you think this is trivial, we are talking about a game of rock, paper, scissors worth $20 million.

PHILLIPS: Also ahead, they may have struck gold. Black gold, that is. It's a new source of oil here in the U.S.

O'BRIEN: And the Magic Kingdom gets a bit of a makeover in time for its 50th birthday. What you can expect if you are visiting the land of the rodent this summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It's now been 50 years since Walt Disney turned an orange grove in Anaheim into a colossus that changed the way people in this country vacation. CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson has more on Disneyland at 50.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): When you wish upon a star

WALT DISNEY, FOUNDER "DISNEYLAND": To all who come to this happy place, welcome.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's been 50 years since Walt Disney opened Disneyland, a place where he hoped parents and children could have fun together. A 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, California, was transformed into one of the greatest tourist attractions in history, and the timing was right. A post-war economic boom had given middle-class America the income necessary to travel and enjoy more leisure activities.

And just like that, the Magic Kingdom was formed, a place of dreams for children, memories for adults, and a home built for some of the most famous names of the time, like Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. Oh, and did we mention Oscar?

Oscar, you have been doing this for a really long time now.

OSCAR MARTINEZ, DISNEY'S LONGEST SERVING EMPLOYEE: Many years.

ANDERSON: Oscar Martinez has been working the kitchens of Disneyland since 1956. As the park's longest-running cast member, he has witnessed the stuff of legends, like a young Steve Martin, who began his show-biz career working in the park's magic shop.

STEVE MARTIN, ACTOR: So, young Steve Martin starts performing magic here, and lo and behold, they call the place the Magic Kingdom. Coincidence? I don't think so. ANDERSON: Since its opening, Disneyland has been visited by an estimated half a billion people, and, while competitors like Universal Studios, Sea World and Busch Gardens weren't around back then, Disney still dominates the theme park industry, raking in $8 billion a year. And many of today's visitors enjoy the same attractions they did back in 1955, from the horse-drawn trolleys of Main Street to Sleeping Beauty's castle to the theme park's trademark rides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very important to kind of keep the legacy of the past, but keep growing on that, through the future. It's my job as creative director for Walt Disney Worldwide Entertainment to actually help create and shepherd forward the products for the 50th anniversary.

ANDERSON: What are the highlights? What will people see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's wonderful is, from the moment you enter the park, Disneyland is totally transformed, from the golden lamp posts leading you up to the brand new castle that is totally decored with fantastic crowns, to our new historical exhibit at the opera house, where you can see Steve Martin in a brand new film, kind of highlighting, you know, Walt Disney's dream through today.

ANDERSON: The park has also launched a new interactive Buzz Lightyear attraction, Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams, and it's longest fireworks show ever, a 17-minute spectacle narrated by Julie Andrews.

ANDERSON: What do you think this world would be like without a Disneyland?

JULIE ANDREWS, ACTRESS: It's sort of a -- I was going to say a national treasure, but it's really an international treasure if you think about all the other parks and resorts. And I think we would be a sadder place without it.

ANDERSON: What would Walt Disney say if he were here today?

ANDREWS: I've -- you know, I've thought about that. And I was wondering that myself. I think he'd be very pleased.

CHORUS (SINGING): Dreams come true...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (on camera): Julie Andrews, the epitome of a Disney princess. Miles, the 18-month long anniversary event officially kicks off today for the public. This celebration will be happening at all the Disney parks around the world, including Hong Kong when Disneyland opens there later this year. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right. Always remember, just a spoonful of sugar...

ANDERSON: Makes the medicine go down.

O'BRIEN: ...helps the medicine -- all right, thanks for coming by. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: All right, coming up next, the multimillion dollar game of rock, paper, scissors -- the playground game pays off big when some adults try it.

O'BRIEN: And speaking of money, geologists -- they're big on the rock choice. Anyway, they've struck oil in the West, and think it's the biggest discovery in 30 years. That could be good news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Hi. Ready? Should we shoot for who reads this one? One two, three. Scissors.

PHILLIPS: Crush scissors. Do we have do it three times?

O'BRIEN: It's up to you. I think for lack of time, let's just do it once. You read the story.

Rock crushes scissors. You know, scissors is usually the better choice, though -- statistically.

PHILLIPS: Rock crushes everything.

O'BRIEN: No, it doesn't crush everything. Paper covers rock. Read the story, read the story. You won.

PHILLIPS: Last week you will recall the world's two most prestigious auction houses duked it out for a fat sales commission with a grown-up game of -- we're kidding here -- rock, paper, scissors.

O'BRIEN: And the Japanese firm picked scissors, because they went to an 11-year-old girl and the girl said you always pick scissors. Anyway, the reason this all happened, is the people had about $20 million worth of art, they couldn't decide between Christie's or Sotheby's -- who can.

So the boss set the playing field. And rules, one game, the winner got the job. Fast forward, Christy's, of course, chose scissors, beat Sotheby's paper, won the job.

PHILLIPS: Never go paper. And it paid off too. The 4 paintings fetched almost $18 million, most of it from this Paul Cezanne work alone. Christy's cut of that, well, they won't say, but it's a lot. Maybe they'll buy a new jump rump, or maybe a swing set.

O'BRIEN: A set of jacks. People still play jacks?

PHILLIPS: Yes. You can still buy it for 99 cents at the dollar store. There you go.

All right. Geologists are calling it a spectacular find, a major oil discovery in Utah.

O'BRIEN: Susan Lisovicz breaks it down for us, it means gas prices will begin dropping.

PHILLIPS: Plummeting, dropping. I know where you were going.

O'BRIEN: Dropping immediately, right?

PHILLIPS: Taking a dive.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ah, no. Not quite, Miles. Certainly everybody hopes so, anybody who drives a big, fat gas guzzler, any way. Well, it's being called the largest on-shore oil discovery in more than three decades. A small company has snapped up the leasing rights to a half million acres in central Utah that it says could yield a billion barrels of oil.

The find is just 130 miles south of Salt Lake City. And it was made by Wolverine Gas and Oil. So, if you are look to get into the stock, well, it's a privately held company with just 25 employees.

The skeptics warn that the oil will take years to recover and the ground has not yet been fully surveyed. And even if Wolverine could produce 1 billion barrels, that would only satisfy our nation's demand for about 45 days. A lot of food for thought there. Kyra, Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: That puts it into perspective, doesn't it. We are oil thirsty.

All right. How are the markets doing?

LISOVICZ: Markets? Well, right now, they're tanking. But most of the session they were virtually unchanged until some news broke on General Motors. Earlier this afternoon, Standard & Poor's cut its rating on GM's debt to junk status, a move that will raise the automakers borrowing costs. The downgrade follows months of slumping sales, shrinking market share and a stock price that fell to a 12-year low. All the things we have been reporting over the last few weeks.

GM shares right now are losing more than 5 percent. And that is dragging on the blue chip average. The Dow Industrial is right now down about 74 points. You remember, GM was largely responsible for the Dow's rally yesterday when Kirk Krikorian said he wanted to buy a whole bunch of GM shares. The NASDAQ meanwhile losing more than a third of a percent. And that is the latest from Wall Street.

Kyra and Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Susan. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Well, the attorney for the runaway bride is holding a news conference in just about an hour.

O'BRIEN: You can bet that will be seen here live on CNN. Will Jennifer Wilbanks do community service? She's negotiating with the city.

PHILLIPS: And a few days after Governor Jeb Bush signs the Lunsford Act, a convicted sex offender in Florida slips out of his tracking bracelet. Actually, two in one day. We're live from Miami, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Checking some stories now in the news. Paying for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House just passed a bill providing $82 billion more dollars to the war effort. The measure is expected to clear the Senate next week and boost total spending on the two conflicts in the war on terrorism to more than $300 billion.

Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney hosts a nurse-in on Capitol Hill. She is reintroducing the Breast Feeding Promotion Act. The legislation promotes the health and well-being of infants whose mothers return to the workplace. It also clarifies breast feeding and expressing breast milk at work as protected rights under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.

Precious Doe now has a name. Authorities say the previously unidentified child was 3-year-old Erica Michelle Maria Green. They charged her mother, Michelle Johnson, in the child's death four years ago now. Police say Johnson told them her husband kicked the girl in the head and after she died, he cut off her head.

A sting operation targeting a reputed mob family leads to charges against three New York area doctors. The FBI says wiretapes revealed the physicians gave large amounts of Viagra and other prescription drugs to members of the Gambino crime family. In return, the feds say, the doctors got lots of favors including low cost construction work and auto repairs.

PHILLIPS: Well, the search is on for at least one sexual predator from Florida. Police say the registered sex offender disappeared leaving only his tracking device behind.

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 May 5, 2005 - 14:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "Now in the News," live pictures out of Douglas, Arizona. You're looking at the new head of the Department of Homeland Security. He's on the Arizona border today. Michael Chertoff making his first visit to the U.S./Mexico border. He's doing the tour with Senators John McCain and John Kyle. We'll follow it, let you know if any news is made.
An analyst with the U.N. Weapons Inspection Agency is being questioned about the small explosions in New York. Two novelty-type grenades went off today in front of the building that houses the British Consulate. There were no significant damage or injuries. Those explosions came as Britain held its general election.

Florida authorities on the hunt for a sexual predator. This man right here. Investigators in Palm Beach say that Patrick Bell cut off his tracking device two days ago, before vanishing. Authorities label Bell as a threat to society. He was convicted in 1999 of molesting two children.

The runaway bride may have to pay up for misleading authorities. The mayor of Duluth, Georgia, says it's important for Jennifer Wilbanks to reimburse the city for time and money spent searching for her. Wilbanks' attorney says her client will make amends.

A road runs through it. The Bush administration announced a new rule today that opens up national forest to road building and commercial ventures. It affects nearly 60 million acres, mainly in the West.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: As Britain votes, CNN.com looks at the stakes in the U.K. elections, giving you the low-down on the world politics, as prime minister Tony Blair defends himself against new attacks that he mislead the country in the run-up to the war. Even so, opinion polls show Blair on course to win an unprecedented third term in office.

CNN.com/ukelections schools you Britain's political parties, two of which have dominated for the past several decades, Labor and the Conservatives. Labor, currently lead by Blair, was formed in 1900 to get representatives from the organized working class into Parliament. One of Blair's greatest challenges comes from the right-of-center Conservative Party under Michael Howard.

But there are other parties, too, like the Respect Party, an anti-Iraq war group headed by George Galloway, who was actually expelled from the Labor Party for his stance on the Iraq War. We've got all the profiles and seats to watch, as well as an interactive guide to the House of Commons.

While you're online, take a virtual tour of the British Parliament. To be one of the first to know what happens in this historic election, click over to CNN.com/ukelections.

Reporting from the dot-com desk, I'm Christina Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Dot-com is a good place to go to learn more about the British elections. One of the things you'll see on there all the time is our professor of politics, Bill Schneider, who is across the pond in our bureau today. We asked him to put a bowler on. He says he has one, but he didn't bring it. Now, if you owned a bowler, wouldn't you bring it to London, Bill Schneider?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No,, there are plenty of bowlers here.

O'BRIEN: OK. In any case, hey, you've been to the polls already. I know we don't have any early results, but you never know who you're going to meet at the polls. Tell us your brief vignette, would you?

SCHNEIDER: Yes, I was at a polling place this morning in a posh district, a constituency in Richmond. A lot of Rolling Stones live there. I went to a polling place and one of the voting counters for the Liberal Democratic Party was a very lovely woman who was explaining the voting procedure to me. And at the end I asked her her name and she said Attenborough. And I said, are you related to Sir Richard Attenborough? And she said I am the wife of Lord Richard Attenborough. And we talked for a moment. He's the noted actor and filmmaker. He won an Actor for "Gandhi" some years ago.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we've heard of him. Yes, we've heard of him, yes. Wow. It's interesting...

SCHNEIDER: And here's the kicker...

O'BRIEN: Go ahead.

SCHNEIDER: Go ahead.

O'BRIEN: No, you.

SCHNEIDER: What's interesting is her husband cannot vote because he is a member of the House of Lords. And remember, the election today in Britain is for the House of Commons, and unlike you and me, Miles, he's not a commoner.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this election in general. It seems as the British public is not very happy with the choice they are presented. They're happy with the economy. They are not happy with their involvement in Iraq, and personally, I think they seem to have some problems with Tony Blair, but they think his party is the place to be. Does that sum it up?

SCHNEIDER: That does sum it up. The prevailing view, as I can discern it here in Britain is, they want to keep Labor in, principally because the economy is good, and they don't think Michael Howard, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, has a lot of credibility. They'd like to keep Labor in and get Blair out. So by giving Blair a diminished majority, they just might be able do that, because he will be given pressure to, if he's re-elected, turn over power to another leader of the party.

In fact, Miles, today I visited a columnist who was is the left, she's anti-war, but she's also a Labor Party supporter. She wrote a column several weeks ago in which she urged her readers to hold their nose and vote for Blair. In fact, she said if you e-mail me, I will send you a nose peg. That is this thing. She got hundreds of e-mails from readers who asked for one of these. As you can see it says, "Hold Your Nose and Vote Labour." So she said all these people are supposed to go to the polls today -- hundreds wrote in, put this on their nose and voted for Tony Blair, even though they're anti-war. Like this.

O'BRIEN: Well, clearly so far, it's been a nail-biter for you. There's no question about that. Let's talk about the mudslinging. We talk about dirty campaigns here in the U.S. but I just want to give people a flavor of the kind of accusations they trade over there. Anybody who's seen the debates in the House of Commons knows it is a blood sport there. Let's listen to Howard as he makes some criticism of Blair.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOWARD, CONSERVATIVE PARTY: On the one thing on which Mr. Blair has taken a stand in the last eight years, on going to war, no more important decision can a British prime minister take, and he couldn't even tell the truth about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: We don't hear that very often here in this country. You know, even when the mud slings. candidates don't call each other liars.

SCHNEIDER: That's right. He called him a liar. He did. And so they ads have called Tony Blair a liar. They said if he's prepared to lie -- this was a billboard -- if he's prepared to lie to take the country to war, he's prepared to lie to win an election. That is very harsh. It's the most negative campaign I've seen, and I've covered many British elections.

The result is -- well, here's an old rule in politics: if A attacks B, the votes go to C. That's what seems to be happening. The Conservative's attack on Blair is not helping the Conservatives and it's hurting Blair, but the votes are going to the third party, the Liberal Democrats, who are also the only anti-war party. But their vote appears to be going up.

O'BRIEN: All right. So is it safe to say that if Tony Blair prevails, he will not have the mandate he currently has? And to what extent will that affect his ability to govern?

SCHNEIDER: Well, he currently has a majority of 166 seats. If that majority is significantly below 100 seats, 60 or 70 seats, he will be under pressure, because it will look the message that I described was sent. We want to keep Labor in and get Blair out. Then, his own party, which includes a lot of anti-war candidates -- I spent time with a Labor Party candidate whose platform was vote for me, and I will stand up to Tony Blair on issues like Iraq.

He'll be under pressure from candidates like that to stand aside and turn over power to another leader. There is one in waiting named Gordon Brown, who is the chancellor, which is the secretary of treasury. And even though he said he supported Blair on the war, he's not associated with the war. He's associated with the booming economy.

O'BRIEN: All right. And as we see there, that is Gordon Brown, who might very well end up becoming prime minister out of this after a year or so, huh?

SCHNEIDER: That's right. He could easily become the next prime minister of Britain. He is the most popular figure in British politics. Blair is one of the least popular, even though they did agree on the war.

O'BRIEN: All right. Bill Schneider, thanks for dropping by. Hoist a Guinness for us, will you, while you're over there?

SCHNEIDER: All right.

O'BRIEN: And enjoy the election. You'll be on all night, I'm sure. So don't work too hard.

SCHNEIDER: Well, no drinking on election day. Sorry.

O'BRIEN: Oh, that's right. Save that for tomorrow. All right, Take care -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, other news around the world now.

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi telling the Italian parliament blame for U.S. troops cannot be ruled out in the March 4th shooting death of an Italian agent in Iraq. He said the checkpoint shooting will not alter U.S. relations or speed withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq. Now, an official Pentagon report exonerated American troops in the death of Nicola Calapari.

Now remembering the Holocaust. Today thousands of people gathered at the site of the infamous Auschwitz death camp in Southern Poland to take part in a march of the living. Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon led a delegation that included Holocaust survivors. People around the world are commemorating six million Jews killed in the Holocaust during World War II.

Pope Benedict visited the Vatican summer residence at Castelgandolfo, south of Rome, today. He delighted residents and said he plans to keep up the tradition of spending the summer there.

Follow-up today on the rock, paper, scissors story. Before you think this is trivial, we are talking about a game of rock, paper, scissors worth $20 million.

PHILLIPS: Also ahead, they may have struck gold. Black gold, that is. It's a new source of oil here in the U.S.

O'BRIEN: And the Magic Kingdom gets a bit of a makeover in time for its 50th birthday. What you can expect if you are visiting the land of the rodent this summer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: It's now been 50 years since Walt Disney turned an orange grove in Anaheim into a colossus that changed the way people in this country vacation. CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson has more on Disneyland at 50.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): When you wish upon a star

WALT DISNEY, FOUNDER "DISNEYLAND": To all who come to this happy place, welcome.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It's been 50 years since Walt Disney opened Disneyland, a place where he hoped parents and children could have fun together. A 160-acre orange grove in Anaheim, California, was transformed into one of the greatest tourist attractions in history, and the timing was right. A post-war economic boom had given middle-class America the income necessary to travel and enjoy more leisure activities.

And just like that, the Magic Kingdom was formed, a place of dreams for children, memories for adults, and a home built for some of the most famous names of the time, like Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy. Oh, and did we mention Oscar?

Oscar, you have been doing this for a really long time now.

OSCAR MARTINEZ, DISNEY'S LONGEST SERVING EMPLOYEE: Many years.

ANDERSON: Oscar Martinez has been working the kitchens of Disneyland since 1956. As the park's longest-running cast member, he has witnessed the stuff of legends, like a young Steve Martin, who began his show-biz career working in the park's magic shop.

STEVE MARTIN, ACTOR: So, young Steve Martin starts performing magic here, and lo and behold, they call the place the Magic Kingdom. Coincidence? I don't think so. ANDERSON: Since its opening, Disneyland has been visited by an estimated half a billion people, and, while competitors like Universal Studios, Sea World and Busch Gardens weren't around back then, Disney still dominates the theme park industry, raking in $8 billion a year. And many of today's visitors enjoy the same attractions they did back in 1955, from the horse-drawn trolleys of Main Street to Sleeping Beauty's castle to the theme park's trademark rides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very important to kind of keep the legacy of the past, but keep growing on that, through the future. It's my job as creative director for Walt Disney Worldwide Entertainment to actually help create and shepherd forward the products for the 50th anniversary.

ANDERSON: What are the highlights? What will people see?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's wonderful is, from the moment you enter the park, Disneyland is totally transformed, from the golden lamp posts leading you up to the brand new castle that is totally decored with fantastic crowns, to our new historical exhibit at the opera house, where you can see Steve Martin in a brand new film, kind of highlighting, you know, Walt Disney's dream through today.

ANDERSON: The park has also launched a new interactive Buzz Lightyear attraction, Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams, and it's longest fireworks show ever, a 17-minute spectacle narrated by Julie Andrews.

ANDERSON: What do you think this world would be like without a Disneyland?

JULIE ANDREWS, ACTRESS: It's sort of a -- I was going to say a national treasure, but it's really an international treasure if you think about all the other parks and resorts. And I think we would be a sadder place without it.

ANDERSON: What would Walt Disney say if he were here today?

ANDREWS: I've -- you know, I've thought about that. And I was wondering that myself. I think he'd be very pleased.

CHORUS (SINGING): Dreams come true...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON (on camera): Julie Andrews, the epitome of a Disney princess. Miles, the 18-month long anniversary event officially kicks off today for the public. This celebration will be happening at all the Disney parks around the world, including Hong Kong when Disneyland opens there later this year. Back to you.

O'BRIEN: All right. Always remember, just a spoonful of sugar...

ANDERSON: Makes the medicine go down.

O'BRIEN: ...helps the medicine -- all right, thanks for coming by. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: All right, coming up next, the multimillion dollar game of rock, paper, scissors -- the playground game pays off big when some adults try it.

O'BRIEN: And speaking of money, geologists -- they're big on the rock choice. Anyway, they've struck oil in the West, and think it's the biggest discovery in 30 years. That could be good news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Hi. Ready? Should we shoot for who reads this one? One two, three. Scissors.

PHILLIPS: Crush scissors. Do we have do it three times?

O'BRIEN: It's up to you. I think for lack of time, let's just do it once. You read the story.

Rock crushes scissors. You know, scissors is usually the better choice, though -- statistically.

PHILLIPS: Rock crushes everything.

O'BRIEN: No, it doesn't crush everything. Paper covers rock. Read the story, read the story. You won.

PHILLIPS: Last week you will recall the world's two most prestigious auction houses duked it out for a fat sales commission with a grown-up game of -- we're kidding here -- rock, paper, scissors.

O'BRIEN: And the Japanese firm picked scissors, because they went to an 11-year-old girl and the girl said you always pick scissors. Anyway, the reason this all happened, is the people had about $20 million worth of art, they couldn't decide between Christie's or Sotheby's -- who can.

So the boss set the playing field. And rules, one game, the winner got the job. Fast forward, Christy's, of course, chose scissors, beat Sotheby's paper, won the job.

PHILLIPS: Never go paper. And it paid off too. The 4 paintings fetched almost $18 million, most of it from this Paul Cezanne work alone. Christy's cut of that, well, they won't say, but it's a lot. Maybe they'll buy a new jump rump, or maybe a swing set.

O'BRIEN: A set of jacks. People still play jacks?

PHILLIPS: Yes. You can still buy it for 99 cents at the dollar store. There you go.

All right. Geologists are calling it a spectacular find, a major oil discovery in Utah.

O'BRIEN: Susan Lisovicz breaks it down for us, it means gas prices will begin dropping.

PHILLIPS: Plummeting, dropping. I know where you were going.

O'BRIEN: Dropping immediately, right?

PHILLIPS: Taking a dive.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ah, no. Not quite, Miles. Certainly everybody hopes so, anybody who drives a big, fat gas guzzler, any way. Well, it's being called the largest on-shore oil discovery in more than three decades. A small company has snapped up the leasing rights to a half million acres in central Utah that it says could yield a billion barrels of oil.

The find is just 130 miles south of Salt Lake City. And it was made by Wolverine Gas and Oil. So, if you are look to get into the stock, well, it's a privately held company with just 25 employees.

The skeptics warn that the oil will take years to recover and the ground has not yet been fully surveyed. And even if Wolverine could produce 1 billion barrels, that would only satisfy our nation's demand for about 45 days. A lot of food for thought there. Kyra, Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: That puts it into perspective, doesn't it. We are oil thirsty.

All right. How are the markets doing?

LISOVICZ: Markets? Well, right now, they're tanking. But most of the session they were virtually unchanged until some news broke on General Motors. Earlier this afternoon, Standard & Poor's cut its rating on GM's debt to junk status, a move that will raise the automakers borrowing costs. The downgrade follows months of slumping sales, shrinking market share and a stock price that fell to a 12-year low. All the things we have been reporting over the last few weeks.

GM shares right now are losing more than 5 percent. And that is dragging on the blue chip average. The Dow Industrial is right now down about 74 points. You remember, GM was largely responsible for the Dow's rally yesterday when Kirk Krikorian said he wanted to buy a whole bunch of GM shares. The NASDAQ meanwhile losing more than a third of a percent. And that is the latest from Wall Street.

Kyra and Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Susan. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Well, the attorney for the runaway bride is holding a news conference in just about an hour.

O'BRIEN: You can bet that will be seen here live on CNN. Will Jennifer Wilbanks do community service? She's negotiating with the city.

PHILLIPS: And a few days after Governor Jeb Bush signs the Lunsford Act, a convicted sex offender in Florida slips out of his tracking bracelet. Actually, two in one day. We're live from Miami, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Checking some stories now in the news. Paying for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the House just passed a bill providing $82 billion more dollars to the war effort. The measure is expected to clear the Senate next week and boost total spending on the two conflicts in the war on terrorism to more than $300 billion.

Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney hosts a nurse-in on Capitol Hill. She is reintroducing the Breast Feeding Promotion Act. The legislation promotes the health and well-being of infants whose mothers return to the workplace. It also clarifies breast feeding and expressing breast milk at work as protected rights under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978.

Precious Doe now has a name. Authorities say the previously unidentified child was 3-year-old Erica Michelle Maria Green. They charged her mother, Michelle Johnson, in the child's death four years ago now. Police say Johnson told them her husband kicked the girl in the head and after she died, he cut off her head.

A sting operation targeting a reputed mob family leads to charges against three New York area doctors. The FBI says wiretapes revealed the physicians gave large amounts of Viagra and other prescription drugs to members of the Gambino crime family. In return, the feds say, the doctors got lots of favors including low cost construction work and auto repairs.

PHILLIPS: Well, the search is on for at least one sexual predator from Florida. Police say the registered sex offender disappeared leaving only his tracking device behind.

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