Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

When John Edwards and Dick Cheney Face-Off Tonight, It Will be Clash of Styles, as Well as Substance; Talk With President of Rock the Vote

Aired October 05, 2004 - 11:30   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news, Tuesday, the 5th of October. The one and only debate between the candidates for vice president is tonight in Cleveland. CNN has live coverage at 9:00 Eastern. Our coverage actually at 7:00. The debate's at 9:00. Dick Cheney and John Edwards facing off at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
In world news, a car bomb in the Iraqi town of Mosul today, killed three civilians, four U.S. soldiers were wounded. The attack took place as the soldiers' convoy passed.

Fed chairman Alan Greenspan told bankers this morning that the U.S. banking system is stronger and safer and able to contribute to a more secure U.S. economy. Stock investors were looking for clues on interest rates, but Greenspan didn't mention them.

And a tidal expert testifies in the Scott Peterson murder trial. He tells jurors that Laci Peterson's body could have been placed in San Francisco Bay near the spot her husband claims he was fishing. Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.

Twenty-eight days to go. Four weeks from today before the national election and the two men who could be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office are heading for a showdown. Who do you think will do a better job in tonight's vice presidential debate? Well, funny thing, we asked some people that as CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll taken over the weekend asked more than a thousand registered and likely voters and it seems they're about evenly split. Forty-two percent picked Edwards, 40 percent picked Dick Cheney, 15 percent not so sure. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Well, when John Edwards and Dick Cheney face-off tonight, it will be a clash of styles as well as substance. We're going to call in CNN political editor John Mercurio. He's in the spin room at Case Western University in Cleveland, the site of tonight's debate. And he's there for us to ask them just exactly how he expects the vice presidential debates (ph), their opposing styles to figure into the performances tonight.

John, good morning.

JOHN MERCURIO, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing great. How about those opposing styles, and are they really that easy to predict. Dick Cheney was a big surprise last time around.

MERCURIO: Dick Cheney was a big surprise. I mean, if you thought that was a contrast last week between John Kerry and George Bush, that was nothing compared to what we're probably going to see tonight.

Yes, Dick Cheney known obviously, America knows him very well, very steady, very deliberative, very calming, you know, considered someone who brings gravitas to the Bush administration. John Edwards largely unknown to most Americans, still, despite the campaign, fresh face, very hopeful, and youthful, energetic. I mean, the Kerry campaign is doing a lot today to try to emphasize Edwards' youth. They're actually saying that he's going to be going on a jog for about an hour. He's holding a townhall throughout the day. So they really want to get across this idea that he's active and youthful, and they want to make sure everyone knows that the Bush campaign was the one that demanded that this debate be seated, that the two campaigns are going to be seated. They're trying to make the point, I think, that Dick Cheney doesn't have the energy or the enthusiasm to stand for 90 minutes.

KAGAN: Yes, this whole debate season is fascinating. It's the one time everybody talks down their own candidate, reverse spin.

MERCURIO: Well, they talk them down now, but you notice what happens 90 minutes after the 90-minute debate, they'll talk them up.

KAGAN: Exactly, try to pump them up.

Now there's traditionally good sound bite moments that come from vice presidential debates, whether it's, you know -- "I knew John Kennedy, and you're no John Kennedy," being said to Dan Quayle. But really, traditionally, John, how significant in the outcome are the vice presidential debates?

MERCURIO: Traditionally, they're not very important. I mean, voters generally choose the ticket on the candidate for president and not for vice president. That could not be the case -- it's very possible that that won't be the case tonight. There's a lot of pressure on both these candidates, precisely because of last week's debate. John Kerry sort of upended the campaign as it was going. The polls have been all over the place, tightening this week, and so I think there's a lot of pressure at this point on both of them to, you know, on Cheney to sort of stem the flow toward Kerry, and on Edwards to continue the momentum towards the Kerry campaign.

KAGAN: You mentioned one part of tonight's format, that the candidates will be seated. And this has been called a debate, but basically it's kind of a side-by-side question-and-answer session, is it not?

MERCURIO: Well, that's true, and I think that's the way it was characterized last week in Miami, that it was going to be a side-by- side question and answer. But I think we did see a lot of back and forth last week between Bush and Kerry. And I think it's entirely possible, given the format they have, which is exactly the same, except that they're seated, we'll see some good exchange between the two of them. Gwen Ifill (ph) is obviously the moderator tonight. She's very accomplished and skillful at moderating debates. So I think -- I'm hopeful that there'll a sort of media exchange.

KAGAN: We are looking forward to it. John Mercurio in Cleveland, thank you.

MERCURIO: Thank you.

KAGAN: Looking to those of you in New Mexico or Illinois, time could be running out. Today is the deadline to register to vote in the November 2nd election. Registration deadlines passed in more than a dozen states on Monday.

Election boards across the country report a surge in voter registration this fall. CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of course, it helped that Kevin Bacon and Hillary Swank were here flipping pancakes in public. That isn't the reason why hundreds showed up over the week at Union Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, people came to register to vote on November 2nd.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote! Vote!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a major election. Yes, very important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really think it is very important. And right now I am very undecided.

COOPER: All over Ohio, boards of elections have been overwhelmed with the surge in voter registration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last chance too register.

COOPER: According to the most recent figures, the state's numbers of registered voters has already increased by half a million compared to 2000. It's not just Ohio. Other key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Oregon have experienced similar increases. In Florida alone, it was reported that nearly 600,000 new voters signed up between January and August.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: The 2000 election proved to a lot of people who have been very skeptical about politics, you know what, ever vote counts and every vote can make a difference.

COOPER: Something both camps are well aware of. And that's why the spent an unprecedented amount to reach out to potential voters. Getting them to registered by going door to door or through mailing lists. Or by setting up voting booths at events like NASCAR races.

SCHNEIDER: They believe this will be as close as the 2000 election, and they don't want to make the mistake of failing to turn out base voters.

COOPER: But experts say it's impossible to predict just how many of these registered voters will turn up on November 2nd. And in the end showing up at the polls is all that really matters in the world of "Raw Politics."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, young people in particular appear to be signing up to vote in record numbers. Jehmu Greene is president of Rock the Vote, joining me from Los Angeles this morning.

Jehmu, good morning. Good to see you again.

JEHMU GREENE, PRESIDENT, ROCK THE VOTE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: What is adding to the registration rolls here, and why are so many people signing up, do you think?

GREENE: Well, at Rock the Vote we've been seeing the numbers all year long. Young people have been more engaged in the election. They are absolutely financially stressed, obviously fighting on the front lines, bearing the burden of the war against terrorism, looking for answers from the candidates on a number of issues. And this surge in voter registration we're seeing in the last few weeks is really a sign of what's to come, the 20 million young people that will turn out on Election Day.

KAGAN: A couple questions on that. First of all, it's not just a matter of who is registering, but where they are, and what about the swing states, how is registration looking there?

GREENE: Registration is looking great in the key states in this election. On Friday of last week, Rock the Vote actually surpassed our goal of registering a million young people. And a good third of those numbers came in those swing states, came out of those key states. I think the young voters in those states know how close the election will be and how much more important and how much more of a difference their votes will make.

KAGAN: I saw one story that showed some of these young voters were getting it. One young man who's from New York, but re-registered because he was going to school in Pennsylvania and realized his vote would count more in Pennsylvania than it would in New York State.

GREENE: Yes, I think young people are really taking note of how close these votes are going to come down in these key states, and obviously the 2000 election has educated us all on the importance of these key states and how one state can really make a difference.

I think, though, what is really driving the surge that we're seeing in the voter registration for young people is, again, the issues that they are having to deal with, the fact that, you know, they're really looking to the candidates to talk to them about the draft. And you know, we had a foreign policy debate between the candidates. I don't think they had an informed and educated debate about this issue, and young people are still wanting to get that information.

KAGAN: Congratulations on getting all these people registered to vote, but how do you make the conversion to actually get them to vote? But how do you make that conversion to get them to vote, and how do you predict that?

GREENE: We are already there. We are now getting into our "get out the vote" operation, which means that we are going to contact people we registered to vote. We will contact them through the cell phones and the Rock the Vote mobile campaign that we have with Motorola and Cingular Wireless. We are going make sure that they get phone calls from their peers, from a young person who will call them on Election Day. We will make sure that they get information about their voting rights and where to find their polling place. When can you find your polling place by using your cell phone, that's a certain level of engagement we haven't seen in the elections before. And we're really looking to have all of these different tools, whether it's the cell phone, whether it's phone calls, whether it's knocking on doors -- making sure that everyone that we registered to vote, especially in these key states, that they are contacted several times before the election.

KAGAN: Jehmu Greene, it's been a busy year for you. I would book a vacation five weeks from tomorrow for you.

GREENE: No vacation coming, because we'll keep going, making sure they keep engaging on these issues.

KAGAN: All right, you keep going. Jehmu from Rock the Vote. Jehmu Greene, thank you so much.

We're going to look at some health news just ahead. Worried about heart disease? You might think your parents' medical history might hold some answers. There is another place to look in your family, as well. Our "Daily Dose" of health news is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Health news for you now. British officials today blocked flu vaccine shipments by a firm that makes half the vaccine used in the U.S. The British Health Department said the three-month suspension against Chiron Corporation was due to manufacturing problems. Officials would not elaborate. Chiron produces the Fluvirin vaccine. The company had said that factory tests showed some of the batches of the vaccine may have been contaminated.

With more on this, let's bring in our health correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with that and some other news. First of all, folks are getting ready to start thinking about having the flu vaccine here. How does this news affect if they should get it or not?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, everybody remembers last year when the flu season was more severe than usual. And so, everyone this year is probably getting ready to get it. So, this news may make people feel, gee, what's going to happen? The maker of half the vaccine in the U.S. is told not to ship any vaccine out. What does that mean? Well, since this has just happened, this news is just in, authorities aren't saying yet what exactly it's going to mean. But of course, people should expect perhaps there might be some delays.

Under these circumstances, what the Centers for Disease Control usually does is they say, "Look, we're going to have less supply in the beginning of the season than we thought that we originally might have. So, only get a shot if you really need it" -- in other words, if you're elderly, if you have some immune problems. Don't go getting if you're just a young, healthy person and you just wanted to get it in case you get the flu.

But Daryn, it really remains to be seen what impact it will have. This year's flu season is interesting, because for the first time, the CDC is saying all children ages six to 23 months ought to get not just one shot of the flu vaccine, but two -- kids need two. That's a huge increase over other years. So, not the best year to have this kind of...

KAGAN: A supply problem...

COHEN: Yeah...

KAGAN: ... I'm sure more information will be coming out on that.

On to our next topic now, and that is on heart disease. In the past, you might have looked at mom or dad to see what their history is. But now you have news that there's elsewhere in your family you need to look, as well.

COHEN: That's right. And that actually -- this elsewhere may be an even better indicator of whether or not you're at a risk for heart disease. As Daryn said, many times people think, oh well, gee, mom or dad had a heart attack at this age, maybe I am vulnerable also.

But actually, this newest study, which -- of about 8,500 people says look to your siblings, that actually maybe your siblings are a better indicator.

What this study found is that if a sibling had a heart attack, you had a four times increased chance of having artery buildup of calcium deposits in your arteries. And calcium deposits show that you are at a very high risk for getting heart disease. But when they looked at parents, if your parents had a heart attack, that meant that you only had about a twice as high of a risk of having that kind of buildup in your arteries. So, in fact, the siblings were a better indicator than the parents.

KAGAN: So, if you suspect you might have a problem, what kind of tests should you be looking at?

COHEN: Well, you want to go to your doctor. You want to say, hey, you know, my brother had a heart attack at age 45 or my sister had a heart attack at age 55. And you doctor will probably order up a series of tests.

They're going to check your cholesterol. They're going to check your triglycerides. They will probably check something called C- reactive protein, which is another blood test you can get.

They may also do something called an EBT, which is a heart scan that can look at some of those calcium deposits. It's not widely done all over the place yet, but you'll probably be seeing it more and more.

KAGAN: And what about genetic testing?

COHEN: Right, because that would make sense. In some ways, all of these other tests become secondary if you can just look into your genes and say, yeah, your brother Bobby had this gene and you do, too. Right now, that's not really widely available, but doctors have found that when they look at families with lots of heart disease, that sometimes they do find some genes.

So, in the future, you probably will go to your doctor and explain your family history, and they probably will give you some kind of a genetic test to let you know. Now, whether or not you want to know the answer to that...

KAGAN: Right.

COHEN: ... is, of course, another question. If you have your brother Bobby's bad heart disease genes, do you really want to know?

KAGAN: And do you want your insurance company to know?

COHEN: And do you -- right. And do you want your employer to know? Right, right.

KAGAN: That's a whole other issue. Elizabeth, thank you so much for that.

Well, for your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log onto our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports, and a health library. The address is cnn.com/health.

Business news is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

We have breaking news out of Gaza, this coming from Palestinian sources telling CNN that a large explosion has been heard in Gaza City. Palestinian sources saying that it's an Israeli-fired missile, that it hit a car in Gaza, this as seven days of violence goes on, a major Israeli offensive. It is aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. It's been taking place. On Wednesday, a Palestinian fired rocket landed in Israel, killing two small children. This is considered retribution for that attack. Meanwhile, from this latest attack, the Palestinian death toll is nearing close to 80. We have much more news ahead. A quick break. I'll be back with you, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right. Talk about party animals, pooches and the people who love them. (INAUDIBLE). It's all for a good cause. It's Yappy Hour. The events benefit animal rescue groups across the country.

Joining us to talk more about Yappy Hour, Wendy Diamond, and just as important, Lucky.

WENDY DIAMOND, FOUNDER, "ANIMAL FAIR" MAGAZINE: Absolutely.

KAGAN: World famous dog. The two of them, the founder of "Animal Fair" magazine, in Atlanta for a Yappy Hour here tonight.

DIAMOND: Absolutely. We're going the GP Yappy Hour tonight at the Weston, Peachtree. And we're very excited. It's going to benefit the Atlantic Humane Society, and it's an unbelievable event, because what it is, is it brings people from all across the board, with their dogs.

KAGAN: Not just people.

DIAMOND: But lots of dogs. And lots of dogs that you can actually rescue and kind of mingle with while you're at the event.

KAGAN: So there's adoption taking place.

DIAMOND: Absolutely. There's adoptions. You can't take the dogs home with you, but you can kind of walk around with them, see how you like their demeanor and whether these are the right dogs for you.

KAGAN: And can you just meet the famous Lucky?

DIAMOND: She's to take a nap before the event tonight, because it's been a long tour. We're going to 15 cities, and all the top markets, you know, the 15 cities, and we raised -- in every city, every dog has been adopted. There's not hundreds of dogs, but there's a good 10 dogs. It's really hard to find, you know, the right owner for each dog. It takes a lot to make sure it's the right family, it's the right, you know, home for the dogs, and I think that these events give people an idea of what it's like to have a dog if you don't have a dog.

KAGAN: So what's the real purpose here, to find a guy or to find a dog?

DIAMOND: Well, it's called Yappy Hour. It's a singles party. Now it doesn't mean singles party looking for a man or woman, like some of us might be, but it's also looking for maybe, you know, a German shepherd mix, or a shitzu or a mutt. It depends on what you're looking for. You know, so there might be people. There's singles. There's people that are young. There's people that are old. It's a really great event, and it gets everybody, you know, interacted together, because no one's scared to come up to somebody when they have a dog. It breaks all boundaries.

KAGAN: That's the truth.

DIAMOND: So everyone has an easy time. It's fun. You know, they have a couple cocktails. The dogs have a couple treats. It's a great event for everybody.

KAGAN: Excellent. You're on tour. Where can people find out where to find Yappy Hour.

DIAMOND: They can go To animalfair.com. It's F-A-I-R, like fairness to animals, or yappyhour.com.

KAGAN: Yappy Hour, that's easy to remember.

Lucky, such a pleasure to meet you in person. Sweet, sweet Lucky.

OK, thank you to both of you.

DIAMOND: Thank you so much, Daryn Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

KAGAN: Good luck with Yappy Hour, and Darla Louise, my dog, came from the Atlanta Humane Society.

DIAMOND: Oh, that's great.

KAGAN: Thank you. Rescue dogs rock.

DIAMOND: Absolutely.

KAGAN: All right, well, that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer gets to follow that up. He's in Cleveland, Ohio today.

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 5, 2004 - 11:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news, Tuesday, the 5th of October. The one and only debate between the candidates for vice president is tonight in Cleveland. CNN has live coverage at 9:00 Eastern. Our coverage actually at 7:00. The debate's at 9:00. Dick Cheney and John Edwards facing off at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
In world news, a car bomb in the Iraqi town of Mosul today, killed three civilians, four U.S. soldiers were wounded. The attack took place as the soldiers' convoy passed.

Fed chairman Alan Greenspan told bankers this morning that the U.S. banking system is stronger and safer and able to contribute to a more secure U.S. economy. Stock investors were looking for clues on interest rates, but Greenspan didn't mention them.

And a tidal expert testifies in the Scott Peterson murder trial. He tells jurors that Laci Peterson's body could have been placed in San Francisco Bay near the spot her husband claims he was fishing. Keeping you informed, CNN is the most trusted name in news.

Twenty-eight days to go. Four weeks from today before the national election and the two men who could be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office are heading for a showdown. Who do you think will do a better job in tonight's vice presidential debate? Well, funny thing, we asked some people that as CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll taken over the weekend asked more than a thousand registered and likely voters and it seems they're about evenly split. Forty-two percent picked Edwards, 40 percent picked Dick Cheney, 15 percent not so sure. The poll has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Well, when John Edwards and Dick Cheney face-off tonight, it will be a clash of styles as well as substance. We're going to call in CNN political editor John Mercurio. He's in the spin room at Case Western University in Cleveland, the site of tonight's debate. And he's there for us to ask them just exactly how he expects the vice presidential debates (ph), their opposing styles to figure into the performances tonight.

John, good morning.

JOHN MERCURIO, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing great. How about those opposing styles, and are they really that easy to predict. Dick Cheney was a big surprise last time around.

MERCURIO: Dick Cheney was a big surprise. I mean, if you thought that was a contrast last week between John Kerry and George Bush, that was nothing compared to what we're probably going to see tonight.

Yes, Dick Cheney known obviously, America knows him very well, very steady, very deliberative, very calming, you know, considered someone who brings gravitas to the Bush administration. John Edwards largely unknown to most Americans, still, despite the campaign, fresh face, very hopeful, and youthful, energetic. I mean, the Kerry campaign is doing a lot today to try to emphasize Edwards' youth. They're actually saying that he's going to be going on a jog for about an hour. He's holding a townhall throughout the day. So they really want to get across this idea that he's active and youthful, and they want to make sure everyone knows that the Bush campaign was the one that demanded that this debate be seated, that the two campaigns are going to be seated. They're trying to make the point, I think, that Dick Cheney doesn't have the energy or the enthusiasm to stand for 90 minutes.

KAGAN: Yes, this whole debate season is fascinating. It's the one time everybody talks down their own candidate, reverse spin.

MERCURIO: Well, they talk them down now, but you notice what happens 90 minutes after the 90-minute debate, they'll talk them up.

KAGAN: Exactly, try to pump them up.

Now there's traditionally good sound bite moments that come from vice presidential debates, whether it's, you know -- "I knew John Kennedy, and you're no John Kennedy," being said to Dan Quayle. But really, traditionally, John, how significant in the outcome are the vice presidential debates?

MERCURIO: Traditionally, they're not very important. I mean, voters generally choose the ticket on the candidate for president and not for vice president. That could not be the case -- it's very possible that that won't be the case tonight. There's a lot of pressure on both these candidates, precisely because of last week's debate. John Kerry sort of upended the campaign as it was going. The polls have been all over the place, tightening this week, and so I think there's a lot of pressure at this point on both of them to, you know, on Cheney to sort of stem the flow toward Kerry, and on Edwards to continue the momentum towards the Kerry campaign.

KAGAN: You mentioned one part of tonight's format, that the candidates will be seated. And this has been called a debate, but basically it's kind of a side-by-side question-and-answer session, is it not?

MERCURIO: Well, that's true, and I think that's the way it was characterized last week in Miami, that it was going to be a side-by- side question and answer. But I think we did see a lot of back and forth last week between Bush and Kerry. And I think it's entirely possible, given the format they have, which is exactly the same, except that they're seated, we'll see some good exchange between the two of them. Gwen Ifill (ph) is obviously the moderator tonight. She's very accomplished and skillful at moderating debates. So I think -- I'm hopeful that there'll a sort of media exchange.

KAGAN: We are looking forward to it. John Mercurio in Cleveland, thank you.

MERCURIO: Thank you.

KAGAN: Looking to those of you in New Mexico or Illinois, time could be running out. Today is the deadline to register to vote in the November 2nd election. Registration deadlines passed in more than a dozen states on Monday.

Election boards across the country report a surge in voter registration this fall. CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of course, it helped that Kevin Bacon and Hillary Swank were here flipping pancakes in public. That isn't the reason why hundreds showed up over the week at Union Hall in Cleveland, Ohio, people came to register to vote on November 2nd.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote! Vote!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a major election. Yes, very important.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really think it is very important. And right now I am very undecided.

COOPER: All over Ohio, boards of elections have been overwhelmed with the surge in voter registration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last chance too register.

COOPER: According to the most recent figures, the state's numbers of registered voters has already increased by half a million compared to 2000. It's not just Ohio. Other key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Oregon have experienced similar increases. In Florida alone, it was reported that nearly 600,000 new voters signed up between January and August.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: The 2000 election proved to a lot of people who have been very skeptical about politics, you know what, ever vote counts and every vote can make a difference.

COOPER: Something both camps are well aware of. And that's why the spent an unprecedented amount to reach out to potential voters. Getting them to registered by going door to door or through mailing lists. Or by setting up voting booths at events like NASCAR races.

SCHNEIDER: They believe this will be as close as the 2000 election, and they don't want to make the mistake of failing to turn out base voters.

COOPER: But experts say it's impossible to predict just how many of these registered voters will turn up on November 2nd. And in the end showing up at the polls is all that really matters in the world of "Raw Politics."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, young people in particular appear to be signing up to vote in record numbers. Jehmu Greene is president of Rock the Vote, joining me from Los Angeles this morning.

Jehmu, good morning. Good to see you again.

JEHMU GREENE, PRESIDENT, ROCK THE VOTE: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: What is adding to the registration rolls here, and why are so many people signing up, do you think?

GREENE: Well, at Rock the Vote we've been seeing the numbers all year long. Young people have been more engaged in the election. They are absolutely financially stressed, obviously fighting on the front lines, bearing the burden of the war against terrorism, looking for answers from the candidates on a number of issues. And this surge in voter registration we're seeing in the last few weeks is really a sign of what's to come, the 20 million young people that will turn out on Election Day.

KAGAN: A couple questions on that. First of all, it's not just a matter of who is registering, but where they are, and what about the swing states, how is registration looking there?

GREENE: Registration is looking great in the key states in this election. On Friday of last week, Rock the Vote actually surpassed our goal of registering a million young people. And a good third of those numbers came in those swing states, came out of those key states. I think the young voters in those states know how close the election will be and how much more important and how much more of a difference their votes will make.

KAGAN: I saw one story that showed some of these young voters were getting it. One young man who's from New York, but re-registered because he was going to school in Pennsylvania and realized his vote would count more in Pennsylvania than it would in New York State.

GREENE: Yes, I think young people are really taking note of how close these votes are going to come down in these key states, and obviously the 2000 election has educated us all on the importance of these key states and how one state can really make a difference.

I think, though, what is really driving the surge that we're seeing in the voter registration for young people is, again, the issues that they are having to deal with, the fact that, you know, they're really looking to the candidates to talk to them about the draft. And you know, we had a foreign policy debate between the candidates. I don't think they had an informed and educated debate about this issue, and young people are still wanting to get that information.

KAGAN: Congratulations on getting all these people registered to vote, but how do you make the conversion to actually get them to vote? But how do you make that conversion to get them to vote, and how do you predict that?

GREENE: We are already there. We are now getting into our "get out the vote" operation, which means that we are going to contact people we registered to vote. We will contact them through the cell phones and the Rock the Vote mobile campaign that we have with Motorola and Cingular Wireless. We are going make sure that they get phone calls from their peers, from a young person who will call them on Election Day. We will make sure that they get information about their voting rights and where to find their polling place. When can you find your polling place by using your cell phone, that's a certain level of engagement we haven't seen in the elections before. And we're really looking to have all of these different tools, whether it's the cell phone, whether it's phone calls, whether it's knocking on doors -- making sure that everyone that we registered to vote, especially in these key states, that they are contacted several times before the election.

KAGAN: Jehmu Greene, it's been a busy year for you. I would book a vacation five weeks from tomorrow for you.

GREENE: No vacation coming, because we'll keep going, making sure they keep engaging on these issues.

KAGAN: All right, you keep going. Jehmu from Rock the Vote. Jehmu Greene, thank you so much.

We're going to look at some health news just ahead. Worried about heart disease? You might think your parents' medical history might hold some answers. There is another place to look in your family, as well. Our "Daily Dose" of health news is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Health news for you now. British officials today blocked flu vaccine shipments by a firm that makes half the vaccine used in the U.S. The British Health Department said the three-month suspension against Chiron Corporation was due to manufacturing problems. Officials would not elaborate. Chiron produces the Fluvirin vaccine. The company had said that factory tests showed some of the batches of the vaccine may have been contaminated.

With more on this, let's bring in our health correspondent Elizabeth Cohen with that and some other news. First of all, folks are getting ready to start thinking about having the flu vaccine here. How does this news affect if they should get it or not?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, everybody remembers last year when the flu season was more severe than usual. And so, everyone this year is probably getting ready to get it. So, this news may make people feel, gee, what's going to happen? The maker of half the vaccine in the U.S. is told not to ship any vaccine out. What does that mean? Well, since this has just happened, this news is just in, authorities aren't saying yet what exactly it's going to mean. But of course, people should expect perhaps there might be some delays.

Under these circumstances, what the Centers for Disease Control usually does is they say, "Look, we're going to have less supply in the beginning of the season than we thought that we originally might have. So, only get a shot if you really need it" -- in other words, if you're elderly, if you have some immune problems. Don't go getting if you're just a young, healthy person and you just wanted to get it in case you get the flu.

But Daryn, it really remains to be seen what impact it will have. This year's flu season is interesting, because for the first time, the CDC is saying all children ages six to 23 months ought to get not just one shot of the flu vaccine, but two -- kids need two. That's a huge increase over other years. So, not the best year to have this kind of...

KAGAN: A supply problem...

COHEN: Yeah...

KAGAN: ... I'm sure more information will be coming out on that.

On to our next topic now, and that is on heart disease. In the past, you might have looked at mom or dad to see what their history is. But now you have news that there's elsewhere in your family you need to look, as well.

COHEN: That's right. And that actually -- this elsewhere may be an even better indicator of whether or not you're at a risk for heart disease. As Daryn said, many times people think, oh well, gee, mom or dad had a heart attack at this age, maybe I am vulnerable also.

But actually, this newest study, which -- of about 8,500 people says look to your siblings, that actually maybe your siblings are a better indicator.

What this study found is that if a sibling had a heart attack, you had a four times increased chance of having artery buildup of calcium deposits in your arteries. And calcium deposits show that you are at a very high risk for getting heart disease. But when they looked at parents, if your parents had a heart attack, that meant that you only had about a twice as high of a risk of having that kind of buildup in your arteries. So, in fact, the siblings were a better indicator than the parents.

KAGAN: So, if you suspect you might have a problem, what kind of tests should you be looking at?

COHEN: Well, you want to go to your doctor. You want to say, hey, you know, my brother had a heart attack at age 45 or my sister had a heart attack at age 55. And you doctor will probably order up a series of tests.

They're going to check your cholesterol. They're going to check your triglycerides. They will probably check something called C- reactive protein, which is another blood test you can get.

They may also do something called an EBT, which is a heart scan that can look at some of those calcium deposits. It's not widely done all over the place yet, but you'll probably be seeing it more and more.

KAGAN: And what about genetic testing?

COHEN: Right, because that would make sense. In some ways, all of these other tests become secondary if you can just look into your genes and say, yeah, your brother Bobby had this gene and you do, too. Right now, that's not really widely available, but doctors have found that when they look at families with lots of heart disease, that sometimes they do find some genes.

So, in the future, you probably will go to your doctor and explain your family history, and they probably will give you some kind of a genetic test to let you know. Now, whether or not you want to know the answer to that...

KAGAN: Right.

COHEN: ... is, of course, another question. If you have your brother Bobby's bad heart disease genes, do you really want to know?

KAGAN: And do you want your insurance company to know?

COHEN: And do you -- right. And do you want your employer to know? Right, right.

KAGAN: That's a whole other issue. Elizabeth, thank you so much for that.

Well, for your "Daily Dose" of health news online, log onto our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, special reports, and a health library. The address is cnn.com/health.

Business news is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

We have breaking news out of Gaza, this coming from Palestinian sources telling CNN that a large explosion has been heard in Gaza City. Palestinian sources saying that it's an Israeli-fired missile, that it hit a car in Gaza, this as seven days of violence goes on, a major Israeli offensive. It is aimed at halting Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel. It's been taking place. On Wednesday, a Palestinian fired rocket landed in Israel, killing two small children. This is considered retribution for that attack. Meanwhile, from this latest attack, the Palestinian death toll is nearing close to 80. We have much more news ahead. A quick break. I'll be back with you, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right. Talk about party animals, pooches and the people who love them. (INAUDIBLE). It's all for a good cause. It's Yappy Hour. The events benefit animal rescue groups across the country.

Joining us to talk more about Yappy Hour, Wendy Diamond, and just as important, Lucky.

WENDY DIAMOND, FOUNDER, "ANIMAL FAIR" MAGAZINE: Absolutely.

KAGAN: World famous dog. The two of them, the founder of "Animal Fair" magazine, in Atlanta for a Yappy Hour here tonight.

DIAMOND: Absolutely. We're going the GP Yappy Hour tonight at the Weston, Peachtree. And we're very excited. It's going to benefit the Atlantic Humane Society, and it's an unbelievable event, because what it is, is it brings people from all across the board, with their dogs.

KAGAN: Not just people.

DIAMOND: But lots of dogs. And lots of dogs that you can actually rescue and kind of mingle with while you're at the event.

KAGAN: So there's adoption taking place.

DIAMOND: Absolutely. There's adoptions. You can't take the dogs home with you, but you can kind of walk around with them, see how you like their demeanor and whether these are the right dogs for you.

KAGAN: And can you just meet the famous Lucky?

DIAMOND: She's to take a nap before the event tonight, because it's been a long tour. We're going to 15 cities, and all the top markets, you know, the 15 cities, and we raised -- in every city, every dog has been adopted. There's not hundreds of dogs, but there's a good 10 dogs. It's really hard to find, you know, the right owner for each dog. It takes a lot to make sure it's the right family, it's the right, you know, home for the dogs, and I think that these events give people an idea of what it's like to have a dog if you don't have a dog.

KAGAN: So what's the real purpose here, to find a guy or to find a dog?

DIAMOND: Well, it's called Yappy Hour. It's a singles party. Now it doesn't mean singles party looking for a man or woman, like some of us might be, but it's also looking for maybe, you know, a German shepherd mix, or a shitzu or a mutt. It depends on what you're looking for. You know, so there might be people. There's singles. There's people that are young. There's people that are old. It's a really great event, and it gets everybody, you know, interacted together, because no one's scared to come up to somebody when they have a dog. It breaks all boundaries.

KAGAN: That's the truth.

DIAMOND: So everyone has an easy time. It's fun. You know, they have a couple cocktails. The dogs have a couple treats. It's a great event for everybody.

KAGAN: Excellent. You're on tour. Where can people find out where to find Yappy Hour.

DIAMOND: They can go To animalfair.com. It's F-A-I-R, like fairness to animals, or yappyhour.com.

KAGAN: Yappy Hour, that's easy to remember.

Lucky, such a pleasure to meet you in person. Sweet, sweet Lucky.

OK, thank you to both of you.

DIAMOND: Thank you so much, Daryn Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

KAGAN: Good luck with Yappy Hour, and Darla Louise, my dog, came from the Atlanta Humane Society.

DIAMOND: Oh, that's great.

KAGAN: Thank you. Rescue dogs rock.

DIAMOND: Absolutely.

KAGAN: All right, well, that's going to do it for me, Daryn Kagan. Wolf Blitzer gets to follow that up. He's in Cleveland, Ohio today.

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