Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Concerns About Voting Integrity; Voices of Iraq
Aired October 19, 2004 - 10:30 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: A fortnight to the finish line. The general election is two weeks from today, as you heard Rick mention. Early voting lets people in a number of states beat the crowd to the polls on November 2nd. The first day of voting in Florida, yesterday, was marked by computer problems in two counties and an incorrect ballot in the third.
But as CNN's Gary Tuchman reports, Florida is not the only state where there are concerns about voting integrity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emma Diaz is a new citizen, who recently registered to vote. But earlier this month, the 22-year-old got some unexpected news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's not fair.
TUCHMAN: The Miami-Dade County Elections Office sent her a letter saying she neglected to mark a spot which would have indicated she was not, quote, "mentally incapacitated" with respect to voting.
(on camera): Why didn't you check that box?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- it was a mistake.
TUCHMAN: Are you mentally incapacitated?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Emma's mistake means that, for now, she cannot vote. She received her warning letter after the deadline for registration. So she is now a plaintiff in one of a number of lawsuits against the state of Florida and its secretary of state, Glenda Hood.
GLENDA HOOD, FLA. SECY. OF STATE: A lot of individuals, and groups and political parties feel that the only way that they can get media attention and get some attention to through litigation.
TUCHMAN: More controversy, four years after Florida's election bunch card ballot fiasco introduced the nation to hanging and pregnant chads. And the so-called butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County, Florida, where many voters accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a call the next morning from Japan, Grandma, what did you do? what happened there? I says, I don't want to talk about it. He says who did you vote for? I'm not talking. Because I was so confused.
TUCHMAN: In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, which instituted some changes. As a result, Florida no longer uses punch card voting. Here in Miami Dade County, election workers are testing new touch screen machines. Another change nationwide, provisional ballots, which will allow people to vote, even if there are questions about their registration.
JANE ERVIN, LEHIGH CO. ELECTIONS BOARD: Provisional ballots will be counted after it's ascertained, after the election, whether or not a person is actually registered to vote.
TUCHMAN: But here in Lehigh, County, Pennsylvania, and many other places, huge numbers of absentee ballots and new registrations are overwhelming the system.
ERVIN: This is preparing for a mini disaster. The last thing I want is for Pennsylvania to be the next Florida.
TUCHMAN: And those sentiments are being expressed around the country, where punch card ballots are still being used, including Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where early voters are already jabbing their punch card ballots.
MICHAEL VU, CUYOHOGA CO. ELECTIONS BOARD: We suspended any movement towards any type of voting system other than the punch card because we knew that there would have to be a massive public education effort.
TUCHMAN: Despite the Help America Vote Act, election reform is a work in progress, and that has left many worried, particularly in Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what you're going to see on Election Day in Florida is our version of an election war zone. There will be more people on the ground scrutinizing this vote than ever in history.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW" is running a series of reports on how safe is your ballot. Tonight, we'll look at provisional ballots and the potential problems with voter registration forms.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Wolf Blitzer and CNN International's Zain Verjee are cohosting a town hall today on the U.S. election.
Wolf and Zain are joining us now from George Washington University with a preview.
All right, guys, give us a sense of what we're going to be seeing? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, we're going to take a look not only at the U.S. foreign policy as it affects Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror, but we're going to take a look at nuclear proliferation, a real threat, perhaps the seminal threat facing the United States right now, especially, God forbid, if nuclear weapons or radiological weapons got into the hands of terrorists.
We've assembled a group of students, graduate students, representatives from thinktanks, the embassies here in Washington, at George Washington University. We're going to hear from them. We've also got some senators, some foreign policy representatives from both campaigns. This is going to be a really substantive discussion for the course of one hour.
Zain Verjee is also going to tell us about an exclusive new CNN/Gallup poll we have.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's really going to provide the substantive parts of this discussion. What we did is we commissioned this poll, looking specifically at how Americans view their role in the world today, a look at U.S. foreign policy, particularly important, as you well know, in this election, where that's really taken front and center stage, and not so much American domestic policy.
We've got a lot of new information. We're going to be revealing it during our town hall. But what I want to do is reveal one of the results that were particularly interesting. We asked this question, posed it to Americans, "Should Bush pay more attention to the views of other countries?" 65 percent said yes; 27 percent said no. Interesting results. We'll be talking about it shortly.
BLITZER: And we're going to especially be anxious, Rick, to hear from the students, the graduate students, to hear what's on their mind at this campus here in the nation's capital.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me follow up on that. Are they going to only be allowed to ask a question that they presented beforehand in note form, and not allowed to be engaged, as we saw in the last debate? Or will we actually see an open forum, where people are allowed to not only ask a question, but maybe even follow it up from the audience?
BLITZER: It's going to be very open. We did not negotiate any sort of ground rules, 32-page legal memoranda. This is going to be an open forum. We want people to interact and have a free exchange, what's on their mind. We want to hear from them. We've got a distinguished panel that's going to be on the stage. Zain and I will try to keep it relatively honest. It's going to be a lot of fun, especially with two weeks exactly before Election Day here in the U.S.
SANCHEZ: This sounds great. I look forward to it.
Thanks so much, Zain, Wolf, appreciate it.
And you can watch the "AMERICAN AGENDA TOWN HALL" at noon Eastern, right here, as you've come to expect, on CNN. KAGAN: There even going to have cutaways. Cutaways are allowed. Whew, they're going way out on that thing.
SANCHEZ: Well, is a Schwarzenegger flip-flop taking place? Still to come, the Governator switching sides and breaks away from his party. We're going to tell you on what.
Plus:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE SHOW" HOST: I had to drag my mom to the Canadian border to get her flu shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Plus, who's to blame for the flu shot shortage? You try saying that. Late night comedians took a stab at the answer. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
KAGAN: Let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast. Federal agents have unearthed an apparent Mafia graveyard in the New York City borough of Queens. Authorities believe the skeletons are two Mafia captains who were killed more than 20 years ago. The empty lot is near JFK International Airport. It could contain four more victims of the Gotti and Bonnano crime families.
Yesterday we told you about an amber alert issued for two Kentucky girls and their father. Police said that he fled with the two girls after abandoning the body of their 5-year-old sister in the family's Louisville home. Early this morning, police tracked the man and daughters to Detroit, Ohio, just north of Dayton. The 2-year-old and 5-year-old girls are unharmed.
And in the Washington area, a search is under way for a pure-bred pooch snatched from a dog show in Cumberland, Maryland. The champion pomeranian is regally named Lord Wilton. He's worth about $50,000. How much is that per ounce for that dog? That's a lot. The reward for his safe return is now up to 20 grand.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is breaking ranks with the Republican leadership over the issue of stem cell research. Schwarzenegger is endorsing a $3 billion bond measure that would fund human embryonic stem cell research. The state Republican Party officially opposes the proposition, and the Bush administration has limited federal funding of research. Schwarzenegger said his initial reservations to support the measure were based on financial concerns, not philosophical ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm very much interested in stem cell research and support it 100 percent. It was just a question how the state will handle the financial side of it, because -- but they have done something smart, which is that there are no payments due in the next five years. So that is what really made me decide to support it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Schwarzenegger got into office, in large part, by promising to rein in state spending and dig California out of debt.
The daughter of the late president, Ronald Reagan, has filed a lawsuit against the Salvation Army, saying that her support of stem cell research prompted the group to abruptly cancel her paid speech. Patti Davis said the Salvation Army canceled her $15,000 speaking engagement one day after she voiced her support in a network interview. She says the group cited her statement as a reason. The Salvation Army denies that, and says the suit is simply without merit.
KAGAN: Officials in Canada say they are willing to share surplus flu vaccine with Americans. But Bush administration officials are doubtful that licensing requirements could be met in time for this flu season. Canada could have more than two million doses left after its own citizens are vaccinated. The closing of a British factory due to contamination left the U.S. about 48 million flu shots short for this year.
Now granted, the flu vaccine shortage is a serious matter, but the late night shows, as you might imagine, are taking a lighter look at that situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: Because of the flu vaccine shortage, President Bush says that he will skip getting his flu shot this year. Not going to have one. He said because of the shortage, he let other people get them.
And Kerry says that he'll just get an extra shot of Botox. That's all he cares about.
(APPLAUSE)
But, have you noticed this now, that both candidates are using fear tactics? It's a last-minute in the campaign election. Both candidates are now using fear tactics. And you know, my fear, honest to God, my fear is that one of them will get elected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: I saw something really sad today coming to work, Hollywood Boulevard, two guys sharing a flu shot needle. Boy, that's sad. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Very funny. Have you gotten one?
SANCHEZ: No!
KAGAN: You have all those kids at home.
SANCHEZ: You know, I got to tell you, when you grow up in Florida, usually you're not big on flu shots.
KAGAN: Really?
SANCHEZ: I think it's in the northern climes where you get, like, really cold that you got to worry about it. Just a theory. Works for me, not necessarily for you.
KAGAN: You're going to hear from a few folks out there.
Still to come, how do you find solace in the midst of a war?
SANCHEZ: Do we really understand the Iraqi culture? Well, you may a little bit more after you listen to this fellow and his words. We're going to the streets of Sadr City, Fallujah and Baghdad to find out what Iraqis have to say about all of this, including the U.S. invasion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: "Voices of Iraq" is the name of a new documentary film that lets Iraqis, essentially, tell their stories. Here's what they did. Producers handed out 150 digital cameras to just normal people to get a sense of what their lives are like in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, and here they are.
Joining us now from New York to talk about the movie is executive producer Eric Manes and co-producer Archie Drury.
Hey, fellows, thanks for being with us.
Is this, more than anything else, an opportunity for other people to find out what the Iraqi people and what Iraq in general is really like?
ERIC MANES, EXEC. PROD., "VOICES OF IRAQ": Yes, we really believe that this is probably the first opportunity for the American public to meet the Iraqi people, and hope that the public takes advantage of it.
SANCHEZ: I've got a bunch of clips that I went through after I watched this. Here's the first one. Let's take a look at it together, then we'll react on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Baghdad before, before 1,200 years. From the river, you will see the truth of Baghdad. This is Babylon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here's an Iraqi guy, on a little skiff, telling us about the history of his nation, and saying things like Babylon. We, in this country, don't know much about the history of Iraq, do we? Should we?
MANES: Absolutely. Iraq is playing a central role in what's happening in the world right now. And I think it's important not only to know about where Iraq has been, but where Iraq is right now, because it's important to all of us.
SANCHEZ: You trying to make a statement, Eric, with this film?
MANES: I think the statement that we're trying to make -- and we didn't even know it until we got into the making of the film -- but Iraq is at a crossroads. It can go either way, either descend into chaos, or end up as a peaceful democracy. And the Iraqi people need our help.
SANCHEZ: Here's another clip, different element in this one, but I'd like to share it with our audience, as well. Let's go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is called the bombarding of Iraq. Every night planes used to come. And I never slept 45 days, I never slept, drinking, sitting beside my piano.
When the war was stopped, there was a cease-fire, I slept three days. I didn't wake up. It was so scary, and I didn't want to show my fear to my family. I tried to pretend I am a brave man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You know, it's one thing to see the pictures from the different news organizations; it's quite another to listen to one man's story, what it was like from his end, when this war first began, and what's going on now. We don't know much about the Iraqi people and their actual suffering. This tends to share that with us, does it not?
ARCHIE DRURY, CO-PRODUCER, "VOICE OF IRAQ": Yes, it does. What's really unique about this film is that Iraq has been on our minds for over two years now, in newspapers and TV. And this really gives the Iraqis an opportunity to speak for themselves for the first time in 24 years, and they were really excited to be able to have that opportunity. So it was really a labor of love. We're really proud of the film, and we hope everybody goes and sees it. They owe it to themselves, and they owe it to the Iraqis.
SANCHEZ: Maybe particularly salient now, because so many news organizations are announcing, look, it's just too dangerous; we're going to pull our reporters in the streets of Baghdad anymore, we're going to pull them back somewhat. So that makes it difficult for the rest of the world to really find out what's going on on those streets, right?
DRURY: Exactly. Exactly. That's what's unique about the film, because the cameras are flooded all over Iraq. And they're with Iraqis, and the Iraqis are filming Iraqis, so you really get a firsthand view of what their lives are like and what their hopes and dreams are for their future.
SANCHEZ: Let's talk about children if we can, and we've got a clip we'd like to share with our viewers on this, as well. Let's go ahead and play it.
A little girl who just wants to go home. She doesn't care. She's on neither side, it seems. She just wants to go home. Children's stories.
MANES: Yes, we really felt that if we were going to show the future of Iraq, the hopes and dreams that these people have, that it was essential to show children, because they really characterize what the possibility of the future is for that country.
SANCHEZ: Do you think in the end, after you listen to some of these, because you know, as Americans, look, we think we're right and we want to be right, and it bothers us somewhat to see interviews where people don't respond as angrily to the insurgents as they do to our attempt to liberate them. How frustrating is that?
MANES: It's a confusing environment for these people. You know, it's not really frustrating to us to have seen that. These people have been through incredible torture over 24 years of Saddam's regime. And now, with a war going on there, they've been through a great deal. They're frustrated, and they're venting that, and it's perfectly understandable.
SANCHEZ: Guys, it's nice of you to come on and share your insight. Interesting documentary. Eric Manes and Archie Drury, we wish you the best of luck.
DRURY: Thank you.
MANES: Thank you very much.
DRURY: We'd like you to go to voicesofiraq.com, too, to find out more about it.
SANCHEZ: Voiceofiraq.com.
DRURY: Voicesofiraq.com.
SANCEHZ: Oh, voices, voices.
Appreciate it, guys. Bye, bye, thanks.
DRURY: Thanks a lot.
SANCHEZ: Daryn, over to you. KAGAN: All right, get out your sleds and your snow boots, we are going to take you where winter has come a bit early this year. Plus, Jill Brown is along to join us for another look at your morning forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Take a look at these pictures, ski season arriving a bit early in the Cascades. Snow has blanketed much of the mountains straddling the Oregon/Washington State line. A snow advisory is in effect and weather experts are warning motorists to prepare for winterlike conditions.
SANCHEZ: Yes, some people go out and ski in that stuff.
KAGAN: Yes, it's called snow.
Do you know about that from South Florida?
SANCHEZ: Yes, we have.
KAGAN: There's a thing, there's a mountain, and then this white stuff comes on, and you put these things on your feet, and they slide down the mountain.
SANCHEZ: They do it in the Olympics, I understand.
KAGAN: It's great fun.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: The race is on for the state of Ohio.
SANCHEZ: Who will conquer the battleground state? We have interesting analysis coming up on this for you.
KAGAN: Have you ever wondered what the Edward, Bush families are really like? Find out from someone who knows.
The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
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 19, 2004 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A fortnight to the finish line. The general election is two weeks from today, as you heard Rick mention. Early voting lets people in a number of states beat the crowd to the polls on November 2nd. The first day of voting in Florida, yesterday, was marked by computer problems in two counties and an incorrect ballot in the third.
But as CNN's Gary Tuchman reports, Florida is not the only state where there are concerns about voting integrity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emma Diaz is a new citizen, who recently registered to vote. But earlier this month, the 22-year-old got some unexpected news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's not fair.
TUCHMAN: The Miami-Dade County Elections Office sent her a letter saying she neglected to mark a spot which would have indicated she was not, quote, "mentally incapacitated" with respect to voting.
(on camera): Why didn't you check that box?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I -- it was a mistake.
TUCHMAN: Are you mentally incapacitated?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Emma's mistake means that, for now, she cannot vote. She received her warning letter after the deadline for registration. So she is now a plaintiff in one of a number of lawsuits against the state of Florida and its secretary of state, Glenda Hood.
GLENDA HOOD, FLA. SECY. OF STATE: A lot of individuals, and groups and political parties feel that the only way that they can get media attention and get some attention to through litigation.
TUCHMAN: More controversy, four years after Florida's election bunch card ballot fiasco introduced the nation to hanging and pregnant chads. And the so-called butterfly ballot in Palm Beach County, Florida, where many voters accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan instead of Al Gore.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a call the next morning from Japan, Grandma, what did you do? what happened there? I says, I don't want to talk about it. He says who did you vote for? I'm not talking. Because I was so confused.
TUCHMAN: In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act, which instituted some changes. As a result, Florida no longer uses punch card voting. Here in Miami Dade County, election workers are testing new touch screen machines. Another change nationwide, provisional ballots, which will allow people to vote, even if there are questions about their registration.
JANE ERVIN, LEHIGH CO. ELECTIONS BOARD: Provisional ballots will be counted after it's ascertained, after the election, whether or not a person is actually registered to vote.
TUCHMAN: But here in Lehigh, County, Pennsylvania, and many other places, huge numbers of absentee ballots and new registrations are overwhelming the system.
ERVIN: This is preparing for a mini disaster. The last thing I want is for Pennsylvania to be the next Florida.
TUCHMAN: And those sentiments are being expressed around the country, where punch card ballots are still being used, including Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where early voters are already jabbing their punch card ballots.
MICHAEL VU, CUYOHOGA CO. ELECTIONS BOARD: We suspended any movement towards any type of voting system other than the punch card because we knew that there would have to be a massive public education effort.
TUCHMAN: Despite the Help America Vote Act, election reform is a work in progress, and that has left many worried, particularly in Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think what you're going to see on Election Day in Florida is our version of an election war zone. There will be more people on the ground scrutinizing this vote than ever in history.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW" is running a series of reports on how safe is your ballot. Tonight, we'll look at provisional ballots and the potential problems with voter registration forms.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Wolf Blitzer and CNN International's Zain Verjee are cohosting a town hall today on the U.S. election.
Wolf and Zain are joining us now from George Washington University with a preview.
All right, guys, give us a sense of what we're going to be seeing? WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, we're going to take a look not only at the U.S. foreign policy as it affects Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror, but we're going to take a look at nuclear proliferation, a real threat, perhaps the seminal threat facing the United States right now, especially, God forbid, if nuclear weapons or radiological weapons got into the hands of terrorists.
We've assembled a group of students, graduate students, representatives from thinktanks, the embassies here in Washington, at George Washington University. We're going to hear from them. We've also got some senators, some foreign policy representatives from both campaigns. This is going to be a really substantive discussion for the course of one hour.
Zain Verjee is also going to tell us about an exclusive new CNN/Gallup poll we have.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's really going to provide the substantive parts of this discussion. What we did is we commissioned this poll, looking specifically at how Americans view their role in the world today, a look at U.S. foreign policy, particularly important, as you well know, in this election, where that's really taken front and center stage, and not so much American domestic policy.
We've got a lot of new information. We're going to be revealing it during our town hall. But what I want to do is reveal one of the results that were particularly interesting. We asked this question, posed it to Americans, "Should Bush pay more attention to the views of other countries?" 65 percent said yes; 27 percent said no. Interesting results. We'll be talking about it shortly.
BLITZER: And we're going to especially be anxious, Rick, to hear from the students, the graduate students, to hear what's on their mind at this campus here in the nation's capital.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me follow up on that. Are they going to only be allowed to ask a question that they presented beforehand in note form, and not allowed to be engaged, as we saw in the last debate? Or will we actually see an open forum, where people are allowed to not only ask a question, but maybe even follow it up from the audience?
BLITZER: It's going to be very open. We did not negotiate any sort of ground rules, 32-page legal memoranda. This is going to be an open forum. We want people to interact and have a free exchange, what's on their mind. We want to hear from them. We've got a distinguished panel that's going to be on the stage. Zain and I will try to keep it relatively honest. It's going to be a lot of fun, especially with two weeks exactly before Election Day here in the U.S.
SANCHEZ: This sounds great. I look forward to it.
Thanks so much, Zain, Wolf, appreciate it.
And you can watch the "AMERICAN AGENDA TOWN HALL" at noon Eastern, right here, as you've come to expect, on CNN. KAGAN: There even going to have cutaways. Cutaways are allowed. Whew, they're going way out on that thing.
SANCHEZ: Well, is a Schwarzenegger flip-flop taking place? Still to come, the Governator switching sides and breaks away from his party. We're going to tell you on what.
Plus:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "LATE SHOW" HOST: I had to drag my mom to the Canadian border to get her flu shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Plus, who's to blame for the flu shot shortage? You try saying that. Late night comedians took a stab at the answer. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
KAGAN: Let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast. Federal agents have unearthed an apparent Mafia graveyard in the New York City borough of Queens. Authorities believe the skeletons are two Mafia captains who were killed more than 20 years ago. The empty lot is near JFK International Airport. It could contain four more victims of the Gotti and Bonnano crime families.
Yesterday we told you about an amber alert issued for two Kentucky girls and their father. Police said that he fled with the two girls after abandoning the body of their 5-year-old sister in the family's Louisville home. Early this morning, police tracked the man and daughters to Detroit, Ohio, just north of Dayton. The 2-year-old and 5-year-old girls are unharmed.
And in the Washington area, a search is under way for a pure-bred pooch snatched from a dog show in Cumberland, Maryland. The champion pomeranian is regally named Lord Wilton. He's worth about $50,000. How much is that per ounce for that dog? That's a lot. The reward for his safe return is now up to 20 grand.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is breaking ranks with the Republican leadership over the issue of stem cell research. Schwarzenegger is endorsing a $3 billion bond measure that would fund human embryonic stem cell research. The state Republican Party officially opposes the proposition, and the Bush administration has limited federal funding of research. Schwarzenegger said his initial reservations to support the measure were based on financial concerns, not philosophical ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm very much interested in stem cell research and support it 100 percent. It was just a question how the state will handle the financial side of it, because -- but they have done something smart, which is that there are no payments due in the next five years. So that is what really made me decide to support it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Schwarzenegger got into office, in large part, by promising to rein in state spending and dig California out of debt.
The daughter of the late president, Ronald Reagan, has filed a lawsuit against the Salvation Army, saying that her support of stem cell research prompted the group to abruptly cancel her paid speech. Patti Davis said the Salvation Army canceled her $15,000 speaking engagement one day after she voiced her support in a network interview. She says the group cited her statement as a reason. The Salvation Army denies that, and says the suit is simply without merit.
KAGAN: Officials in Canada say they are willing to share surplus flu vaccine with Americans. But Bush administration officials are doubtful that licensing requirements could be met in time for this flu season. Canada could have more than two million doses left after its own citizens are vaccinated. The closing of a British factory due to contamination left the U.S. about 48 million flu shots short for this year.
Now granted, the flu vaccine shortage is a serious matter, but the late night shows, as you might imagine, are taking a lighter look at that situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETTERMAN: Because of the flu vaccine shortage, President Bush says that he will skip getting his flu shot this year. Not going to have one. He said because of the shortage, he let other people get them.
And Kerry says that he'll just get an extra shot of Botox. That's all he cares about.
(APPLAUSE)
But, have you noticed this now, that both candidates are using fear tactics? It's a last-minute in the campaign election. Both candidates are now using fear tactics. And you know, my fear, honest to God, my fear is that one of them will get elected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "TONIGHT SHOW" HOST: I saw something really sad today coming to work, Hollywood Boulevard, two guys sharing a flu shot needle. Boy, that's sad. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Very funny. Have you gotten one?
SANCHEZ: No!
KAGAN: You have all those kids at home.
SANCHEZ: You know, I got to tell you, when you grow up in Florida, usually you're not big on flu shots.
KAGAN: Really?
SANCHEZ: I think it's in the northern climes where you get, like, really cold that you got to worry about it. Just a theory. Works for me, not necessarily for you.
KAGAN: You're going to hear from a few folks out there.
Still to come, how do you find solace in the midst of a war?
SANCHEZ: Do we really understand the Iraqi culture? Well, you may a little bit more after you listen to this fellow and his words. We're going to the streets of Sadr City, Fallujah and Baghdad to find out what Iraqis have to say about all of this, including the U.S. invasion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: "Voices of Iraq" is the name of a new documentary film that lets Iraqis, essentially, tell their stories. Here's what they did. Producers handed out 150 digital cameras to just normal people to get a sense of what their lives are like in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, and here they are.
Joining us now from New York to talk about the movie is executive producer Eric Manes and co-producer Archie Drury.
Hey, fellows, thanks for being with us.
Is this, more than anything else, an opportunity for other people to find out what the Iraqi people and what Iraq in general is really like?
ERIC MANES, EXEC. PROD., "VOICES OF IRAQ": Yes, we really believe that this is probably the first opportunity for the American public to meet the Iraqi people, and hope that the public takes advantage of it.
SANCHEZ: I've got a bunch of clips that I went through after I watched this. Here's the first one. Let's take a look at it together, then we'll react on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Baghdad before, before 1,200 years. From the river, you will see the truth of Baghdad. This is Babylon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here's an Iraqi guy, on a little skiff, telling us about the history of his nation, and saying things like Babylon. We, in this country, don't know much about the history of Iraq, do we? Should we?
MANES: Absolutely. Iraq is playing a central role in what's happening in the world right now. And I think it's important not only to know about where Iraq has been, but where Iraq is right now, because it's important to all of us.
SANCHEZ: You trying to make a statement, Eric, with this film?
MANES: I think the statement that we're trying to make -- and we didn't even know it until we got into the making of the film -- but Iraq is at a crossroads. It can go either way, either descend into chaos, or end up as a peaceful democracy. And the Iraqi people need our help.
SANCHEZ: Here's another clip, different element in this one, but I'd like to share it with our audience, as well. Let's go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is called the bombarding of Iraq. Every night planes used to come. And I never slept 45 days, I never slept, drinking, sitting beside my piano.
When the war was stopped, there was a cease-fire, I slept three days. I didn't wake up. It was so scary, and I didn't want to show my fear to my family. I tried to pretend I am a brave man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You know, it's one thing to see the pictures from the different news organizations; it's quite another to listen to one man's story, what it was like from his end, when this war first began, and what's going on now. We don't know much about the Iraqi people and their actual suffering. This tends to share that with us, does it not?
ARCHIE DRURY, CO-PRODUCER, "VOICE OF IRAQ": Yes, it does. What's really unique about this film is that Iraq has been on our minds for over two years now, in newspapers and TV. And this really gives the Iraqis an opportunity to speak for themselves for the first time in 24 years, and they were really excited to be able to have that opportunity. So it was really a labor of love. We're really proud of the film, and we hope everybody goes and sees it. They owe it to themselves, and they owe it to the Iraqis.
SANCHEZ: Maybe particularly salient now, because so many news organizations are announcing, look, it's just too dangerous; we're going to pull our reporters in the streets of Baghdad anymore, we're going to pull them back somewhat. So that makes it difficult for the rest of the world to really find out what's going on on those streets, right?
DRURY: Exactly. Exactly. That's what's unique about the film, because the cameras are flooded all over Iraq. And they're with Iraqis, and the Iraqis are filming Iraqis, so you really get a firsthand view of what their lives are like and what their hopes and dreams are for their future.
SANCHEZ: Let's talk about children if we can, and we've got a clip we'd like to share with our viewers on this, as well. Let's go ahead and play it.
A little girl who just wants to go home. She doesn't care. She's on neither side, it seems. She just wants to go home. Children's stories.
MANES: Yes, we really felt that if we were going to show the future of Iraq, the hopes and dreams that these people have, that it was essential to show children, because they really characterize what the possibility of the future is for that country.
SANCHEZ: Do you think in the end, after you listen to some of these, because you know, as Americans, look, we think we're right and we want to be right, and it bothers us somewhat to see interviews where people don't respond as angrily to the insurgents as they do to our attempt to liberate them. How frustrating is that?
MANES: It's a confusing environment for these people. You know, it's not really frustrating to us to have seen that. These people have been through incredible torture over 24 years of Saddam's regime. And now, with a war going on there, they've been through a great deal. They're frustrated, and they're venting that, and it's perfectly understandable.
SANCHEZ: Guys, it's nice of you to come on and share your insight. Interesting documentary. Eric Manes and Archie Drury, we wish you the best of luck.
DRURY: Thank you.
MANES: Thank you very much.
DRURY: We'd like you to go to voicesofiraq.com, too, to find out more about it.
SANCHEZ: Voiceofiraq.com.
DRURY: Voicesofiraq.com.
SANCEHZ: Oh, voices, voices.
Appreciate it, guys. Bye, bye, thanks.
DRURY: Thanks a lot.
SANCHEZ: Daryn, over to you. KAGAN: All right, get out your sleds and your snow boots, we are going to take you where winter has come a bit early this year. Plus, Jill Brown is along to join us for another look at your morning forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Take a look at these pictures, ski season arriving a bit early in the Cascades. Snow has blanketed much of the mountains straddling the Oregon/Washington State line. A snow advisory is in effect and weather experts are warning motorists to prepare for winterlike conditions.
SANCHEZ: Yes, some people go out and ski in that stuff.
KAGAN: Yes, it's called snow.
Do you know about that from South Florida?
SANCHEZ: Yes, we have.
KAGAN: There's a thing, there's a mountain, and then this white stuff comes on, and you put these things on your feet, and they slide down the mountain.
SANCHEZ: They do it in the Olympics, I understand.
KAGAN: It's great fun.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: The race is on for the state of Ohio.
SANCHEZ: Who will conquer the battleground state? We have interesting analysis coming up on this for you.
KAGAN: Have you ever wondered what the Edward, Bush families are really like? Find out from someone who knows.
The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
