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CNN Live Today
Kerry Hits Three States Targeting Different Issues; Japanese Prime Minister Backs Bush; Margaret Hassan Pleads for Life in New Tape
Aired October 22, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: We've got a lot of news that we're going to be covering on this day. As a matter of fact, there may be a development coming out of that Margaret Hassan story. We're going to get the very latest on that.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Yes, very disturbing development. Right now let's take a look at what is happening now in the news. And here is the latest on Margaret Hassan; the woman held hostage by terrorists in Iraq is pleading for her life to be saved. The Arabic TV station al Jazeera has just broadcast a tape of Margaret Hassan. We at CNN have chosen not to show the tape, but this is an earlier picture of her.
The British Iraqi national was kidnapped on Tuesday. A crying Hassan asked for British forces to withdraw from Iraq, she says, quote, "I don't want to die like Bigley;" referring to the British hostage who was decapitated earlier this month.
A military judge has ordered a January trial for Specialist Charles Graner. The Army Reservist is charged not only in connection with the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, but also with adultery. Private First Class Lynndie England, who also faces court-martial in the case, has said that Graner is the father of the child she delivered earlier this month.
We're also keeping an eye out today for a ruling on a request for a new hearing in the case of Terri Schiavo. She is the brain-damaged woman at the center of the right-to-die battle. Florida's Supreme Court said yesterday it will not reconsider it striking down of a state law designed to preserve her life. Today's ruling will focus on her parents' request for a new trial to determine their daughter's wishes.
On a much lighter note the St. Louis Cardinals now wing their way to Boston for tomorrow night's first game of the World Series. The Cards beat the Houston Astros last night 5 to 2, the final there in the decisive Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. That sets the stage for the Red Sox versus the Red Birds in the fall classic.
And congratulations to those St. Louis Cardinal fans, I know they're very excited. Haven't been since the '80s.
SANCHEZ: Should be a heck of a series, huh?
KAGAN: Absolutely. Looking forward to that.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we are following several stories on this day. First of all, the White House remains a nail biter. A consensus poll of six separate media polls is finding now that President Bush has a two- percentage point lead over Senator John Kerry. The president is going to be speaking this hour in Pennsylvania; and we're going to go there shortly. But we wanted to get in Wisconsin, the first of John Kerry's three stops today.
CNN's Kelly Wallace is joining us from Milwaukee, where the senator will be speaking.
Hi, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Rick. And as you can see, a crowd gathering here behind me. Getting ready to hear from Senator Kerry a couple of hours from now here on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. They will get a little bit of a surprise, because we are told Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg will be on hand.
The senator to focus on issues affecting workingwomen, equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage. No accident here. Both campaigns very aware of what we're seeing in some polls. And that is that six of the 10 voters still undecided are women.
And so, that is why the campaign was very, very happy when Dana Reeve approached the campaign we're told, and said she wanted to come out and stump for Senator Kerry. She did that yesterday in Columbus, Ohio. It was quite emotional. Her first public appearance since the death of her husband, actor Christopher Reeve some 11 or 12 days ago. She was speaking as the senator was talking about embryonic stem cell research. Both talking about how a majority of Americans supporting expanded federal funding of that research.
The Kerry campaign believing this is an issue that can help with swing voters, and help with women. Because just take a look at the numbers. According to our recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Senator Kerry has just a six-point lead with women voters over President Bush. This is a bit of a danger sign because Democrats traditionally do much better with women than Republicans. In 2000, in fact, Al Gore had an 11-point advantage with women voters over George W. Bush.
And so we're hearing Senator Kerry talk a lot about women's issues. He did that last night in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There he was speaking before a crowd of thousands. A very important state for the Kerry campaign, a state Al Gore narrowly won in 2000. And then after here in Wisconsin, John Kerry heading out West to Nevada and Colorado, Rick, those are two states George W. Bush won four years ago -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting but we've seen just this last week, the senator deviate this message to fit what we in this business call the "demographic influence." Earlier in the week he was hitting big on Iraq. Then he was going after the hunters. Now he's going after women. Is this a pattern that you've seen consistently throughout his campaign?
SANCHEZ: It's all politics all the time, especially in these final days right now, Rick. The campaign is saying that it is trying to sort of fight this on two fronts. That wherever the senator goes he is going to talk about issues such as Iraq and terrorism. Because this campaign knows that issue of terrorism, the biggest gap really between the president and the senator, when it comes to polls, and so that is where he has to make it up.
Obviously they are targeting these undecided voters. They are targeting swing voters. It's very clear the senator yesterday, going out hunting, trying to reach men. Men in rural America. The question is, does it really work? Does a hunting trip one day, just talking about women's issues another day really work? The campaign will say he's been talking about these issues throughout the past several months. The key is what do these undecided voters decide?
To you, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Well, it proves if nothing else, unlike so many other politicians he does not have just one quintessential stump speech?
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: Right.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
WALLACE: Don't they all alter and have many different stump speeches, don't they?
SANCHEZ: Just to fit the audience. All right. Kelly, thanks so much. We'll be checking back with you later.
Meanwhile, the man who directed a documentary about John Kerry's Vietnam service is suing Sinclair Broadcasting. George Butler doesn't want Sinclair to use his pictures and film in another documentary tonight. Tonight's show includes parts of the anti-Kerry documentary. From an outcry from Democrats, Sinclair said it was not airing "Stolen Honor, Wounds that Never Heal," in its entirety tonight. Instead, 40 of the company's 62 stations will now show a program looking at how documentaries can influence elections.
KAGAN: President Bush is talking about domestic issues today. He is hitting three battleground states. He's going to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. We expect to hear from him when he speaks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, his second visit there in the last 16 days.
Our Dana Bash is traveling with the president and we will hear from her in just a bit. Meanwhile, a group of undecided voters in Ohio who took part in a town hall on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN" last night. In that a lot of people concerned -- voiced concerns about Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tend to lean heavily towards a libertarian standpoint or maybe even the Constitutionalist standpoint. I'm a registered Republican. But I lean far to the right of George Bush. He's a little bit too liberal for me. But from a Libertarian standpoint the thing I like about Kerry is, at least my perception is that he might get us out of Iraq a little bit quicker. But will he do it more dangerously? I don't know. I don't know what to do yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Some voters said that neither candidate has been specific enough about how to get out of Iraq and restore the peace.
Looks like Senator Kerry is gaining some ground in Ohio. A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup shows registered voters favor Kerry over Bush 50 percent to 44 percent. But among likely voters, it's just about dead even. 48 percent for Kerry, 47 percent for Bush. The sampling error is plus or minus four percent. Ohio has 20 electoral votes up for grabs.
Secretary of state Colin Powell says that U.S. intelligence experts can't be sure about the extent of North Korea's nuclear program. Powell's comment from an interview comes as he leaves today for a four-day visit. He's going to Japan, China and South Korea.
Powell says that plans to discuss the possibility on resuming six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear program. The North has refused to attend a new round of talks. There is speculation that North Korea wants to hold off discussions until after the U.S. election, hoping that President Bush will lose.
Most Japanese also say that they hope the president loses on November 2. But as CNN's Atika Schubert reports, Japan's prime minister is standing by Mr. Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just days to go before the U.S. election, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a blunt comment on who he is backing.
"I'm close to President Bush, so I'd like him to do well," he told reporters. Koizumi has staked his political career on supporting Bush policies, even when the Japanese public disagrees with him.
NORIKO HAMA, POLITICAL ANALYST: The Japanese people are very, very skeptical about this Bush-Koizumi combination. They do want to keep that distance.
SCHUBERT: Case in point, Koizumi sent Japanese troops to Iraq at the request of President Bush, despite loud objections from the public.
(on camera): Koizumi may back Bush but media polls show more than 50 percent of Japanese want to see Kerry in the White House. To find why, we went to the center of political debate, the Izakaya, also known as the local pub.
(voice-over): A few beers gets some candid answers. This man told us, "I don't really support either one. But Bush is the worst; he started the Iraq war and he failed."
We found just one Bush supporter in this crowd. "Bush has a good relationship with Koizumi and that's important. I think it's better for Japan," this man says.
But the overwhelming majority of answers were more anti-Bush than pro-Kerry. "I support Kerry," this man says. "Bush is a failure. It would be better for the U.S. and the whole world if Kerry is president."
Koizumi may think Bush is the right man for the job. The Japanese public, it seems, isn't so sure.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We told you about a story that's been developing affecting Margaret Hassan, the woman that CARE representative who's been taken hostage. Moments ago on al Jazeera, they released a videotape of her literally pleading for her life.
Karl Penhaul is standing by now. He's in Baghdad with the very latest on this story.
Karl, what do we know?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rick. I've just seen the video broadcast by the Arabic language broadcast for al Jazeera. It shows Margaret Hassan standing in a room against a wall. She's not blindfolded. Her hands are not tied. She starts out with a message calling on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to pull British troops out of Iraq. She also makes a call for Prime Minister Blair not to pull those troops any closer to Baghdad.
She then carries on and says, "These could be my last hours. This could be my final moments." She said, "If something is not done," she said that the same fate could befall her as felled the British engineer Kenneth Bigley. As we know, he was beheaded two weeks ago by the al Zarqawi terrorist network.
She then ends, calling on Prime Minister Blair, "I beg you, I beg you." At that point she pulls out a Kleenex or some kind of handkerchief and bursts into tears. A very dramatic video there, very disturbing video.
In fact, also ironic that this is Margaret Hassan, a British and Iraqi national, who's dedicated more than 30 years of her life to humanitarian work here in Iraq. We also know that she was a very staunch opponent of the invasion in the first place. Now, she's having to plead with Prime Minister Blair to get the British troops out.
But it also seems that her kidnap three days ago is very closely linked to this decision by Blair and his Defense Secretary Jeff Hoon to send 850 members of the Black Watch Battalion further to the south of Baghdad to support U.S. Marines when they launch an all-out assault on the city of Fallujah -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: She has dual citizenship, she's married to an Iraqi; she's lived in that country for 30 years. One would imagine she could speak Arabic pretty well. Which would mean she'd be able to communicate with her captors, right -- Karl?
PENHAUL: Well, we would guess right now, and it is only speculation, but Margaret Hassan, we've been told by a friend and her relatives, that she's a very strong woman, a very strong-willed woman. Even during the invasion she stayed in Iraq, convinced that this was her country. This was where her work lies. And so we know right now that Margaret Hassan will surely be telling her kidnappers that she believes she's Iraqi, and explaining to them the kind of work she's done.
I'm sure, also, that she'll be outlining her opposition to the invasion and subsequent occupation. Because we know she was, indeed, a very staunch opponent of that, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Karl Penhaul with the very latest on that developing story, as we watch it for you here at CNN and also some perspective on it. Karl, we'll be getting back to you -- Daryn.
KAGAN: We want to go back to the campaign trail now. Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, this is where we'll hear from President Bush later today.
Our Dana Bash is on the campaign trail.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. And the president is going to retool his stump speech we're told by some of his aides today, to give essentially what is going to be the beginning of his closing arguments in these last 11 days of the campaign.
We're not going to hear any new policy ideas or anything of that sort, but sort of a re -- a different kind of way of presenting some of the themes that he's been talking about all along. For example, they're talking about five themes, like: family security, of course the war on terror, the family budget. Talking about taxes, saying that he's pointing out that Senator Kerry, for example, voted against some tax cuts that hit the middle class like a child Care Tax Credit.
Talking about health care, retirement and values, saying that Senator Kerry as we've heard from him over the last several days, is President Bush believes is to the left of some in his own party.
Now they're are also, the Bush campaign releasing -- and actually we already have a new ad that's put out today and it is called "Wolves." And it highlights an amendment that Senator Kerry proposed back in 1994, one that actually didn't go anywhere. But that proposed to cut some intelligence funding. And the images, of course, are supposed to show or represent the threat.
Now, a senior Bush aide tells CNN that they actually cut this add five months ago, but they held it on the shelves. Because they said focus groups thought that it was very effective and they wanted to use it as a final punch, if you will, against Senator Kerry.
Now, after this, Daryn, the president is going to go someplace that is going to make some Republicans very happy. And that is Ohio. Some Republicans there have been quite concerned because the president hasn't been there in nearly three weeks. As you know, it's a very important state. The Bush campaign says that they are certainly still very much in playing there, and they're still there vying for the state. And that the president will be back several times before Election Day. But today is certainly a time that many Ohio Republicans have called, we're told, the Bush campaign to say where's the president, are going to be happy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Dana Bash in a very noisy Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Thank you for that.
BASH: Very noisy.
KAGAN: We'll hear from the president a little bit later, as well as we're tracking John Kerry's campaign.
SANCHEZ: Yes, we will. It's a case of being at the right place but at the wrong time. Still to come, how a young, aspiring journalist's love for baseball winds up costing her her life.
KAGAN: Plus, down from the mountain, some hikers are rescued. Some are still out there.
SANCHEZ: And then later, would you like chop sticks with that? Hooters is spreading its wings to a new country. I guess you've guessed what it is already, didn't you?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's take a look at some other stories making news "Coast to Coast."
A gunman is in custody after opening fire at his former Missouri workplace. One worker was wounded in that shooting. All 110 workers in the factory at the time were able to evacuate. The gunman surrendered after a seven-hour standoff with police.
A Florida judge is expected to rule today on a request by the parents of a brain damaged woman. Terri Schiavo's parents are asking that her husband be removed as her guardian. Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court refused to rehear another Schiavo matter. The court had struck down a law preventing Michael Schiavo from removing his wife's feeding tube.
And the Boston Police Department is accepting full responsibility for the death of a 21-year-old college student. Victoria Snelgrove had joined other fans celebrating the Red Sox American League Championship on Wednesday night. A police projectile fired to disburse unruly crowds struck Snelgrove in the eye. The projectile disperses pepper spray. It hit Snelgrove in the eye and ultimately killed her.
SANCHEZ: Rescue teams are going to be back out this morning in an effort to try and find two hikers still missing in the Sequoia National Park in California. The two of the latest to be caught by a -- really a surprise blizzard that suddenly hit the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is looking at rescue efforts for many of some of the other stranded hikers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the Sierra Nevada, time was critical. The weather postcard perfect for rescuers. At Yosemite's el Capitan, these climbers braved the blizzard this week hanging on ropes, huddled on the face of the granite monolith. Under warm, sunny skies, they are trying to climb out on their own. The only way to reach stranded climbers here is to fly a helicopter to the top and rappel rescuers down the face.
Here you see them retrieving the bodies of a Japanese couple who froze to death. Later, the bodies were brought down the mountain. Apparently the couple was trapped near a waterfall that was getting them wetter and wetter as temperatures dropped.
SCOTT GEDIMEN, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: You're just colder and colder. And with no shelter, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time without the proper equipment.
DORNIN: Across the Sierra to the southeast, four hikers rescued by a helicopter. Well-prepared, they hunkered down for four days. But when the skies cleared, the snow was so deep they couldn't go anywhere.
JEFF PEACOCK, RESCUED HIKER: It took us, I don't know, 20 minutes to walk 100 yards. And we were so exhausted, we could barely move.
DORNIN: His 73-year-old father says he and his son both imagined the worst.
TOM PEACOCK, RESCUED HIKER: You have All kinds of dreams about what's going to happen if you don't make it, what happens to your family? DOUG SCHNEIDER, RESCUED HIKER: And when we heard the chopper come over, we just ran out, grabbed all our mirrors and red signal flares and waved them in.
DORNIN: This couple and their dog also waved in the rescuers. Missing since Monday, they were picked up in yet another part of the Sierra. On another happy note, four hikers from a Santa Cruz wine making family can toast their rescuers for finding them in the snows above Shaver Lake.
(on camera): Rusty Dornin, CNN, Yosemite National Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: So remember that thing you were saying to me earlier, the check is in the mail?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes. Yes. Well, Gerri Willis is going to come along to explain what we can do about things like that.
Gerr, good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, guys. Good morning. If you're used to relying on the float, no more. We'll tell you what to do about it when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Speaking of business, you've probably written a check on a Wednesday through some of the funds that you thought you had to cover it. And you figured, you know what? They'll be there by the time it gets to the bank, so I'll be fine. Well guess what? We're now being told this is a habit we will all need to break.
CNN/FN personal finance editor Gerri Willis explains in today's "Top Five Tips."
That's going to become a no-no, huh?
WILLIS: Unfortunately. You know, it's one of those little things you get as a freebie and it's going away because of a new law called Check 21. Hey, you used to be able to rely on a float for one to five days. Now, it may -- your checks may post as fast as 24 hours.
What happened? Well, after 9/11, the government decided it was a bad idea to rely on the real checks moving around the country by train and plane. So now they're going to do it virtually and it could cost you money if you're not careful.
SANCHEZ: So it's going to be a lot easier to bounce a check and we need to be cognizant of that? WILLIS: Oh, yes, absolutely. You're going to have to actually balance your checkbook. You know, Rick, only like one in eight Americans actually does the math all the time. Now you're going to have to do it, so that you make sure that you don't bounce that check. Because those fees, they run up really quickly.
SANCHEZ: Hold on, I got you here. There's something a lot of banks offer, it's called like "bounce protection." You can always get that, right?
WILLIS: Yes, you can get that. But then you'll really pay through the nose. Here's why. Each time you write a check and you end up not having the money in your account, you overdraft, you're going to have to pay $20 to $35. This protection isn't so much protection as insurance. It's more like a high-cost loan.
What's more, the number of days that you add on that you don't have the money to cover that you'll be paying $2 to $5 each day that you don't have the money in your account. So it's really expensive to have bounce protection.
SANCHEZ: Should we start to get used to the separation anxiety that we're all going to go through when we have to live without our checks or our checkbooks altogether?
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Yes. It's all-virtual. The whole world is virtual now. The checks you get back -- you know, you're used to getting your monthly statement with the real checks. This may have already happened to you. You're getting copies of them. Don't worry. It's the way the new world works. And you know, this is an adequate representation of how you spent your money.
SANCHEZ: What if you're someone who's not used to being on the computer? Because it does seem, and from what I'm hearing you say, is we're just going to have to get used to do being our banking online, right?
WILLIS: It's going to pay to be web savvy now. Actually the best protection if you're really worried about, you know, over drafting your account, having late fees, the best thing to do is sign up for your account online. You can normally check your balances for free.
Now, if you actually want to pay your bills online, you may have to pay a fee. But at least you can check what's going on. You know when things are posting. You know when your money is hitting the bank. And I got to tell you, Rick, one thing that amazed me ironically about this. They're going to speed up how fast the checks are posted to your account. But they don't have any obligation to post the money you're putting in to your account any more quickly.
SANCHEZ: Mm!
WILLIS: So, it's a real mixed bag here. SANCHEZ: Yes. It's a little thing called interest, right? That works for them but not for us.
WILLIS: There you go. That's right.
SANCHEZ: Don't have to hit me with a stick or a brick. That's her.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Gerri, thanks for taking us to the future.
KAGAN: Happy Friday.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
KAGAN: Just don't make too much money over the weekend, because if it's not in your account it's going to cost you.
Obviously we're gearing up for the elections in the U.S., but are terrorists also planning an attack?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do believe that the threat is as genuine today as it was when I left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Still to come a former spymaster on U.S. spies inside al Qaeda, and what we should watch out for around the election.
SANCHEZ: Also, billions for insurgents? They have more money than you can imagine. We're going to look at their funds for fighting when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 22, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: We've got a lot of news that we're going to be covering on this day. As a matter of fact, there may be a development coming out of that Margaret Hassan story. We're going to get the very latest on that.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Yes, very disturbing development. Right now let's take a look at what is happening now in the news. And here is the latest on Margaret Hassan; the woman held hostage by terrorists in Iraq is pleading for her life to be saved. The Arabic TV station al Jazeera has just broadcast a tape of Margaret Hassan. We at CNN have chosen not to show the tape, but this is an earlier picture of her.
The British Iraqi national was kidnapped on Tuesday. A crying Hassan asked for British forces to withdraw from Iraq, she says, quote, "I don't want to die like Bigley;" referring to the British hostage who was decapitated earlier this month.
A military judge has ordered a January trial for Specialist Charles Graner. The Army Reservist is charged not only in connection with the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, but also with adultery. Private First Class Lynndie England, who also faces court-martial in the case, has said that Graner is the father of the child she delivered earlier this month.
We're also keeping an eye out today for a ruling on a request for a new hearing in the case of Terri Schiavo. She is the brain-damaged woman at the center of the right-to-die battle. Florida's Supreme Court said yesterday it will not reconsider it striking down of a state law designed to preserve her life. Today's ruling will focus on her parents' request for a new trial to determine their daughter's wishes.
On a much lighter note the St. Louis Cardinals now wing their way to Boston for tomorrow night's first game of the World Series. The Cards beat the Houston Astros last night 5 to 2, the final there in the decisive Game 7 of the National League Championship Series. That sets the stage for the Red Sox versus the Red Birds in the fall classic.
And congratulations to those St. Louis Cardinal fans, I know they're very excited. Haven't been since the '80s.
SANCHEZ: Should be a heck of a series, huh?
KAGAN: Absolutely. Looking forward to that.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we are following several stories on this day. First of all, the White House remains a nail biter. A consensus poll of six separate media polls is finding now that President Bush has a two- percentage point lead over Senator John Kerry. The president is going to be speaking this hour in Pennsylvania; and we're going to go there shortly. But we wanted to get in Wisconsin, the first of John Kerry's three stops today.
CNN's Kelly Wallace is joining us from Milwaukee, where the senator will be speaking.
Hi, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Rick. And as you can see, a crowd gathering here behind me. Getting ready to hear from Senator Kerry a couple of hours from now here on the campus of the University of Wisconsin. They will get a little bit of a surprise, because we are told Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg will be on hand.
The senator to focus on issues affecting workingwomen, equal pay for women, raising the minimum wage. No accident here. Both campaigns very aware of what we're seeing in some polls. And that is that six of the 10 voters still undecided are women.
And so, that is why the campaign was very, very happy when Dana Reeve approached the campaign we're told, and said she wanted to come out and stump for Senator Kerry. She did that yesterday in Columbus, Ohio. It was quite emotional. Her first public appearance since the death of her husband, actor Christopher Reeve some 11 or 12 days ago. She was speaking as the senator was talking about embryonic stem cell research. Both talking about how a majority of Americans supporting expanded federal funding of that research.
The Kerry campaign believing this is an issue that can help with swing voters, and help with women. Because just take a look at the numbers. According to our recent CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, Senator Kerry has just a six-point lead with women voters over President Bush. This is a bit of a danger sign because Democrats traditionally do much better with women than Republicans. In 2000, in fact, Al Gore had an 11-point advantage with women voters over George W. Bush.
And so we're hearing Senator Kerry talk a lot about women's issues. He did that last night in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There he was speaking before a crowd of thousands. A very important state for the Kerry campaign, a state Al Gore narrowly won in 2000. And then after here in Wisconsin, John Kerry heading out West to Nevada and Colorado, Rick, those are two states George W. Bush won four years ago -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting but we've seen just this last week, the senator deviate this message to fit what we in this business call the "demographic influence." Earlier in the week he was hitting big on Iraq. Then he was going after the hunters. Now he's going after women. Is this a pattern that you've seen consistently throughout his campaign?
SANCHEZ: It's all politics all the time, especially in these final days right now, Rick. The campaign is saying that it is trying to sort of fight this on two fronts. That wherever the senator goes he is going to talk about issues such as Iraq and terrorism. Because this campaign knows that issue of terrorism, the biggest gap really between the president and the senator, when it comes to polls, and so that is where he has to make it up.
Obviously they are targeting these undecided voters. They are targeting swing voters. It's very clear the senator yesterday, going out hunting, trying to reach men. Men in rural America. The question is, does it really work? Does a hunting trip one day, just talking about women's issues another day really work? The campaign will say he's been talking about these issues throughout the past several months. The key is what do these undecided voters decide?
To you, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Well, it proves if nothing else, unlike so many other politicians he does not have just one quintessential stump speech?
(LAUGHTER)
WALLACE: Right.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
WALLACE: Don't they all alter and have many different stump speeches, don't they?
SANCHEZ: Just to fit the audience. All right. Kelly, thanks so much. We'll be checking back with you later.
Meanwhile, the man who directed a documentary about John Kerry's Vietnam service is suing Sinclair Broadcasting. George Butler doesn't want Sinclair to use his pictures and film in another documentary tonight. Tonight's show includes parts of the anti-Kerry documentary. From an outcry from Democrats, Sinclair said it was not airing "Stolen Honor, Wounds that Never Heal," in its entirety tonight. Instead, 40 of the company's 62 stations will now show a program looking at how documentaries can influence elections.
KAGAN: President Bush is talking about domestic issues today. He is hitting three battleground states. He's going to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. We expect to hear from him when he speaks in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, his second visit there in the last 16 days.
Our Dana Bash is traveling with the president and we will hear from her in just a bit. Meanwhile, a group of undecided voters in Ohio who took part in a town hall on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN" last night. In that a lot of people concerned -- voiced concerns about Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tend to lean heavily towards a libertarian standpoint or maybe even the Constitutionalist standpoint. I'm a registered Republican. But I lean far to the right of George Bush. He's a little bit too liberal for me. But from a Libertarian standpoint the thing I like about Kerry is, at least my perception is that he might get us out of Iraq a little bit quicker. But will he do it more dangerously? I don't know. I don't know what to do yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Some voters said that neither candidate has been specific enough about how to get out of Iraq and restore the peace.
Looks like Senator Kerry is gaining some ground in Ohio. A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup shows registered voters favor Kerry over Bush 50 percent to 44 percent. But among likely voters, it's just about dead even. 48 percent for Kerry, 47 percent for Bush. The sampling error is plus or minus four percent. Ohio has 20 electoral votes up for grabs.
Secretary of state Colin Powell says that U.S. intelligence experts can't be sure about the extent of North Korea's nuclear program. Powell's comment from an interview comes as he leaves today for a four-day visit. He's going to Japan, China and South Korea.
Powell says that plans to discuss the possibility on resuming six-nation talks on the North Korean nuclear program. The North has refused to attend a new round of talks. There is speculation that North Korea wants to hold off discussions until after the U.S. election, hoping that President Bush will lose.
Most Japanese also say that they hope the president loses on November 2. But as CNN's Atika Schubert reports, Japan's prime minister is standing by Mr. Bush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SCHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just days to go before the U.S. election, Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a blunt comment on who he is backing.
"I'm close to President Bush, so I'd like him to do well," he told reporters. Koizumi has staked his political career on supporting Bush policies, even when the Japanese public disagrees with him.
NORIKO HAMA, POLITICAL ANALYST: The Japanese people are very, very skeptical about this Bush-Koizumi combination. They do want to keep that distance.
SCHUBERT: Case in point, Koizumi sent Japanese troops to Iraq at the request of President Bush, despite loud objections from the public.
(on camera): Koizumi may back Bush but media polls show more than 50 percent of Japanese want to see Kerry in the White House. To find why, we went to the center of political debate, the Izakaya, also known as the local pub.
(voice-over): A few beers gets some candid answers. This man told us, "I don't really support either one. But Bush is the worst; he started the Iraq war and he failed."
We found just one Bush supporter in this crowd. "Bush has a good relationship with Koizumi and that's important. I think it's better for Japan," this man says.
But the overwhelming majority of answers were more anti-Bush than pro-Kerry. "I support Kerry," this man says. "Bush is a failure. It would be better for the U.S. and the whole world if Kerry is president."
Koizumi may think Bush is the right man for the job. The Japanese public, it seems, isn't so sure.
Atika Schubert, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We told you about a story that's been developing affecting Margaret Hassan, the woman that CARE representative who's been taken hostage. Moments ago on al Jazeera, they released a videotape of her literally pleading for her life.
Karl Penhaul is standing by now. He's in Baghdad with the very latest on this story.
Karl, what do we know?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rick. I've just seen the video broadcast by the Arabic language broadcast for al Jazeera. It shows Margaret Hassan standing in a room against a wall. She's not blindfolded. Her hands are not tied. She starts out with a message calling on British Prime Minister Tony Blair to pull British troops out of Iraq. She also makes a call for Prime Minister Blair not to pull those troops any closer to Baghdad.
She then carries on and says, "These could be my last hours. This could be my final moments." She said, "If something is not done," she said that the same fate could befall her as felled the British engineer Kenneth Bigley. As we know, he was beheaded two weeks ago by the al Zarqawi terrorist network.
She then ends, calling on Prime Minister Blair, "I beg you, I beg you." At that point she pulls out a Kleenex or some kind of handkerchief and bursts into tears. A very dramatic video there, very disturbing video.
In fact, also ironic that this is Margaret Hassan, a British and Iraqi national, who's dedicated more than 30 years of her life to humanitarian work here in Iraq. We also know that she was a very staunch opponent of the invasion in the first place. Now, she's having to plead with Prime Minister Blair to get the British troops out.
But it also seems that her kidnap three days ago is very closely linked to this decision by Blair and his Defense Secretary Jeff Hoon to send 850 members of the Black Watch Battalion further to the south of Baghdad to support U.S. Marines when they launch an all-out assault on the city of Fallujah -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: She has dual citizenship, she's married to an Iraqi; she's lived in that country for 30 years. One would imagine she could speak Arabic pretty well. Which would mean she'd be able to communicate with her captors, right -- Karl?
PENHAUL: Well, we would guess right now, and it is only speculation, but Margaret Hassan, we've been told by a friend and her relatives, that she's a very strong woman, a very strong-willed woman. Even during the invasion she stayed in Iraq, convinced that this was her country. This was where her work lies. And so we know right now that Margaret Hassan will surely be telling her kidnappers that she believes she's Iraqi, and explaining to them the kind of work she's done.
I'm sure, also, that she'll be outlining her opposition to the invasion and subsequent occupation. Because we know she was, indeed, a very staunch opponent of that, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Karl Penhaul with the very latest on that developing story, as we watch it for you here at CNN and also some perspective on it. Karl, we'll be getting back to you -- Daryn.
KAGAN: We want to go back to the campaign trail now. Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania, this is where we'll hear from President Bush later today.
Our Dana Bash is on the campaign trail.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. And the president is going to retool his stump speech we're told by some of his aides today, to give essentially what is going to be the beginning of his closing arguments in these last 11 days of the campaign.
We're not going to hear any new policy ideas or anything of that sort, but sort of a re -- a different kind of way of presenting some of the themes that he's been talking about all along. For example, they're talking about five themes, like: family security, of course the war on terror, the family budget. Talking about taxes, saying that he's pointing out that Senator Kerry, for example, voted against some tax cuts that hit the middle class like a child Care Tax Credit.
Talking about health care, retirement and values, saying that Senator Kerry as we've heard from him over the last several days, is President Bush believes is to the left of some in his own party.
Now they're are also, the Bush campaign releasing -- and actually we already have a new ad that's put out today and it is called "Wolves." And it highlights an amendment that Senator Kerry proposed back in 1994, one that actually didn't go anywhere. But that proposed to cut some intelligence funding. And the images, of course, are supposed to show or represent the threat.
Now, a senior Bush aide tells CNN that they actually cut this add five months ago, but they held it on the shelves. Because they said focus groups thought that it was very effective and they wanted to use it as a final punch, if you will, against Senator Kerry.
Now, after this, Daryn, the president is going to go someplace that is going to make some Republicans very happy. And that is Ohio. Some Republicans there have been quite concerned because the president hasn't been there in nearly three weeks. As you know, it's a very important state. The Bush campaign says that they are certainly still very much in playing there, and they're still there vying for the state. And that the president will be back several times before Election Day. But today is certainly a time that many Ohio Republicans have called, we're told, the Bush campaign to say where's the president, are going to be happy -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Dana Bash in a very noisy Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Thank you for that.
BASH: Very noisy.
KAGAN: We'll hear from the president a little bit later, as well as we're tracking John Kerry's campaign.
SANCHEZ: Yes, we will. It's a case of being at the right place but at the wrong time. Still to come, how a young, aspiring journalist's love for baseball winds up costing her her life.
KAGAN: Plus, down from the mountain, some hikers are rescued. Some are still out there.
SANCHEZ: And then later, would you like chop sticks with that? Hooters is spreading its wings to a new country. I guess you've guessed what it is already, didn't you?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's take a look at some other stories making news "Coast to Coast."
A gunman is in custody after opening fire at his former Missouri workplace. One worker was wounded in that shooting. All 110 workers in the factory at the time were able to evacuate. The gunman surrendered after a seven-hour standoff with police.
A Florida judge is expected to rule today on a request by the parents of a brain damaged woman. Terri Schiavo's parents are asking that her husband be removed as her guardian. Yesterday, the Florida Supreme Court refused to rehear another Schiavo matter. The court had struck down a law preventing Michael Schiavo from removing his wife's feeding tube.
And the Boston Police Department is accepting full responsibility for the death of a 21-year-old college student. Victoria Snelgrove had joined other fans celebrating the Red Sox American League Championship on Wednesday night. A police projectile fired to disburse unruly crowds struck Snelgrove in the eye. The projectile disperses pepper spray. It hit Snelgrove in the eye and ultimately killed her.
SANCHEZ: Rescue teams are going to be back out this morning in an effort to try and find two hikers still missing in the Sequoia National Park in California. The two of the latest to be caught by a -- really a surprise blizzard that suddenly hit the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is looking at rescue efforts for many of some of the other stranded hikers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the Sierra Nevada, time was critical. The weather postcard perfect for rescuers. At Yosemite's el Capitan, these climbers braved the blizzard this week hanging on ropes, huddled on the face of the granite monolith. Under warm, sunny skies, they are trying to climb out on their own. The only way to reach stranded climbers here is to fly a helicopter to the top and rappel rescuers down the face.
Here you see them retrieving the bodies of a Japanese couple who froze to death. Later, the bodies were brought down the mountain. Apparently the couple was trapped near a waterfall that was getting them wetter and wetter as temperatures dropped.
SCOTT GEDIMEN, YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK: You're just colder and colder. And with no shelter, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time without the proper equipment.
DORNIN: Across the Sierra to the southeast, four hikers rescued by a helicopter. Well-prepared, they hunkered down for four days. But when the skies cleared, the snow was so deep they couldn't go anywhere.
JEFF PEACOCK, RESCUED HIKER: It took us, I don't know, 20 minutes to walk 100 yards. And we were so exhausted, we could barely move.
DORNIN: His 73-year-old father says he and his son both imagined the worst.
TOM PEACOCK, RESCUED HIKER: You have All kinds of dreams about what's going to happen if you don't make it, what happens to your family? DOUG SCHNEIDER, RESCUED HIKER: And when we heard the chopper come over, we just ran out, grabbed all our mirrors and red signal flares and waved them in.
DORNIN: This couple and their dog also waved in the rescuers. Missing since Monday, they were picked up in yet another part of the Sierra. On another happy note, four hikers from a Santa Cruz wine making family can toast their rescuers for finding them in the snows above Shaver Lake.
(on camera): Rusty Dornin, CNN, Yosemite National Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: So remember that thing you were saying to me earlier, the check is in the mail?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KAGAN: Yes. Yes. Well, Gerri Willis is going to come along to explain what we can do about things like that.
Gerr, good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, guys. Good morning. If you're used to relying on the float, no more. We'll tell you what to do about it when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Speaking of business, you've probably written a check on a Wednesday through some of the funds that you thought you had to cover it. And you figured, you know what? They'll be there by the time it gets to the bank, so I'll be fine. Well guess what? We're now being told this is a habit we will all need to break.
CNN/FN personal finance editor Gerri Willis explains in today's "Top Five Tips."
That's going to become a no-no, huh?
WILLIS: Unfortunately. You know, it's one of those little things you get as a freebie and it's going away because of a new law called Check 21. Hey, you used to be able to rely on a float for one to five days. Now, it may -- your checks may post as fast as 24 hours.
What happened? Well, after 9/11, the government decided it was a bad idea to rely on the real checks moving around the country by train and plane. So now they're going to do it virtually and it could cost you money if you're not careful.
SANCHEZ: So it's going to be a lot easier to bounce a check and we need to be cognizant of that? WILLIS: Oh, yes, absolutely. You're going to have to actually balance your checkbook. You know, Rick, only like one in eight Americans actually does the math all the time. Now you're going to have to do it, so that you make sure that you don't bounce that check. Because those fees, they run up really quickly.
SANCHEZ: Hold on, I got you here. There's something a lot of banks offer, it's called like "bounce protection." You can always get that, right?
WILLIS: Yes, you can get that. But then you'll really pay through the nose. Here's why. Each time you write a check and you end up not having the money in your account, you overdraft, you're going to have to pay $20 to $35. This protection isn't so much protection as insurance. It's more like a high-cost loan.
What's more, the number of days that you add on that you don't have the money to cover that you'll be paying $2 to $5 each day that you don't have the money in your account. So it's really expensive to have bounce protection.
SANCHEZ: Should we start to get used to the separation anxiety that we're all going to go through when we have to live without our checks or our checkbooks altogether?
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIS: Yes. It's all-virtual. The whole world is virtual now. The checks you get back -- you know, you're used to getting your monthly statement with the real checks. This may have already happened to you. You're getting copies of them. Don't worry. It's the way the new world works. And you know, this is an adequate representation of how you spent your money.
SANCHEZ: What if you're someone who's not used to being on the computer? Because it does seem, and from what I'm hearing you say, is we're just going to have to get used to do being our banking online, right?
WILLIS: It's going to pay to be web savvy now. Actually the best protection if you're really worried about, you know, over drafting your account, having late fees, the best thing to do is sign up for your account online. You can normally check your balances for free.
Now, if you actually want to pay your bills online, you may have to pay a fee. But at least you can check what's going on. You know when things are posting. You know when your money is hitting the bank. And I got to tell you, Rick, one thing that amazed me ironically about this. They're going to speed up how fast the checks are posted to your account. But they don't have any obligation to post the money you're putting in to your account any more quickly.
SANCHEZ: Mm!
WILLIS: So, it's a real mixed bag here. SANCHEZ: Yes. It's a little thing called interest, right? That works for them but not for us.
WILLIS: There you go. That's right.
SANCHEZ: Don't have to hit me with a stick or a brick. That's her.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Gerri, thanks for taking us to the future.
KAGAN: Happy Friday.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
KAGAN: Just don't make too much money over the weekend, because if it's not in your account it's going to cost you.
Obviously we're gearing up for the elections in the U.S., but are terrorists also planning an attack?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do believe that the threat is as genuine today as it was when I left.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: Still to come a former spymaster on U.S. spies inside al Qaeda, and what we should watch out for around the election.
SANCHEZ: Also, billions for insurgents? They have more money than you can imagine. We're going to look at their funds for fighting when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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