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Hitting the Homestretch; O'Reilly Settlement; Election Night Coverage

Aired October 29, 2004 - 10:59   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 ANCHOR: President Bush campaigns in Manchester, New Hampshire, this hour. Aides say Mr. Bush will personalize his final appeals to voters. A live report from the Granite State is just ahead.
Senator Kerry is spending today in Florida, where he has three events scheduled. Rock star Bruce Springsteen, who appeared at campaign events yesterday in Wisconsin and Ohio, is expected to join Kerry once again today.

Gastric flu is the early word from a Palestinian official on Yasser Arafat's illness. But a full diagnosis could take several days. Arafat arrived at a hospital -- military hospital, we should add, in Paris today for treatment. Aides say he's been seriously ill for the past two weeks now.

Also, the FBI has begun an inquiry into allegations a Halliburton subsidiary was unfairly awarded no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars. The FBI plans to interview the Army Corps of Engineers chief contracting officer who has made these accusations. A source says there is no federal investigation at this point at the White House or the vice president, who ran Halliburton before he became the vice president.

It is now 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. out West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Rick Sanchez.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

It might be a sleepless weekend for George Bush and John Kerry. Up first on CNN, hitting the homestretch. The presidential campaign down to the final four days, as we look at a live picture of President Bush there. Senator John Kerry also in the sprint to the finish line, heading into the last weekend of the campaign.

The president's first stop today, New Hampshire. After events in Manchester and Portsmouth, he heads to Ohio. He'll hold an afternoon rally in Toledo and another one this evening in Columbus.

Senator Kerry is spending the day in Florida. He's in Orlando this morning. From there, it is on to West Palm Beach and Miami.

Aides say the president plans to get personal during his campaign appearances today as he sums up his case for a second term. Our Dana Bash is traveling with the president. She is in Manchester, New Hampshire, and she joins us on the phone.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

And the president just began speaking here in Manchester. He was supposed to be joined on the stage, as you probably heard, by the Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling. But the White House and the Bush campaign told reporters this morning that the pitcher canceled last night.

He said it was because of his hurt ankle, and that doctors grounded him and said he couldn't come. They're not saying this publicly, but some Bush aides are suggesting perhaps he got some pressure not to tarnish his post-World Series after glow by delving into politics. But nevertheless, they are making it clear that Curt Schilling did endorse the president, he just doesn't have the in-your- face photo op that they were hoping for.

But the president, as I said, has just started speaking. And he's going to have a different kind of speech, his aides say.

He's not going to hit John Kerry today the way he did very harshly yesterday, at least not this morning. He's going to be talking about his experiences as president and honing in on, of course, the one that really changed him and changed the country, which is September 11.

And he's got a few guests here. He's got Arlene Howard, the woman who gave him her son's badge, of course, the days after September 11. David Bremer -- excuse me, David Beamer, the brother of one of those who died on Flight 93. And he's going to be talking just about his experiences.

We're told we're not going to hear the name John Kerry in his speech. But we will later when he appears with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Ohio -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Well, let's hear what we're going to hear and listening in a bit to president from New Hampshire.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... and would do anything to harm us. I will fight these enemies with every asset of our national power. We will do our duty and we will protect the American people.

(APPLAUSE)

On September 11th, 2001, our nation suffered terrible harm and the pain was greatest for our families of the lost.

With us today are Ernie Strada and his wife Mary Ann (ph), who lost their son Tom at the World Trade Center.

Please welcome the Stradas.

(APPLAUSE)

The September 11th families will always be in our thoughts and always be in our prayers.

(APPLAUSE)

This nation must never forget their pain. And on the day of that tragedy, I made a decision: America will no longer respond to terrorist murder with half measures and empty threats. We will no longer look away from gathering dangers and simply hope for the best.

We are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to fight the terrorist enemy and defend America. We will not relent and we will prevail.

(APPLAUSE)

First, we're on the offensive against the terrorist networks.

BUSH: The best way to prevent future attacks is to go after the enemy.

(APPLAUSE)

We will confront the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.

(APPLAUSE)

We are waging a global campaign from the mountains of central Asia to the deserts of the Middle East, from the Horn of Africa to the Philippines.

We're getting results. Since September the 11th, more than three-quarters of Al Qaeda's key members and associates have been detained or killed, and the rest of them know we are on their trail.

(APPLAUSE)

Secondly, we are confronting regimes that harbor terrorists and feed the terrorists and support the terrorists. I set a doctrine that these regimes are equally as guilty as the terrorists.

When a president speaks, he must speak clearly and he must mean what he says.

(APPLAUSE)

KAGAN: Listening in to President Bush as he has a rally in New Hampshire. He moves on to Ohio later today, where he'll be joined by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now with more on the Kerry campaign, here's Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right. Senator John Kerry is going to be in the state of Florida today, focusing on that sought-after I-4 corridor that goes all the way from Tampa through to the area of Daytona. But the midpoint, the center of that, is Orlando. And that is where our national correspondent Kelly Wallace is with the Kerry campaign in Florida this morning.

Hi, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rick.

Well, you certainly know this state very, very well, and all our viewers know how important it is. It has the biggest number of electoral votes up for grabs of all the battleground states. And if Senator Kerry can steal this state away from President Bush, that will make things very difficult for Mr. Bush in terms of his re-election.

Just take a look where the senator will be today. As Rick was mentioning, he's starting off here in Orlando. Lots of swing voters in this part of the state.

Later in the day, he heads to West Palm Beach and Miami. And that is all about rallying the Democratic base; namely. African- American and Jewish voters.

The senator getting ready to speak here in Orlando just moments from now. Aides say what he's going to try to do in this speech is try to bring together all the arguments he's been making on the stump for change. Talking about domestic issues and international issues, and trying to win over those undecided voters, who, despite all they have heard about Senator Kerry, still aren't backing his candidacy.

The senator giving a little bit of a preview of what we'll hear today when he did an interview with Jill Lawrence of "USA Today" aboard his campaign plane yesterday. And here's what he told Jill Lawrence. He said, "I think proceeding with four more years of George Bush is very risky for America, and I think Americans will realize that."

Now, this day also about getting momentum, getting out the vote. Senator Kerry getting some help for the second day in a row from The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. We learned earlier this morning that Springsteen would be palling up again with Senator Kerry later today in Miami. This after he turned out tens of thousands of people in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Columbus, Ohio.

Kerry's aides say they are thrilled about this because they say yesterday was their biggest crowd day of this campaign so far. Big crowds, energizing supporters, and getting them to the polls.

Other big names out today, former President Bill Clinton will be in Nevada and then New Mexico and Arkansas this weekend. And then we've been reporting throughout this day the senator's daughter, Alexandra. is in Hawaii meeting up with Al Gore. Hawaii suddenly becoming a surprising new battleground in this race. Vice President Cheney, Rick, also spending some time there as well.

SANCHEZ: Did you get your marching orders to go to Hawaii and cover that, by the way, yet?

WALLACE: I reported earlier the press corp was hoping, hoping Senator Kerry might decide to make a surprise trip to the Aloha State, but I decided to be a voice of realism and say that there is no chance that we will be going to Hawaii. But other people are going because clearly it's important.

SANCHEZ: We've got you covered. We thank you so much, Kelly, for bringing us that report.

WALLACE: OK.

SANCHEZ: We should let you know that as soon as Senator John Kerry starts to speak in Orlando, we're going to bring you a part of that live right here on CNN, just as we did with the president's speech just moments ago.

And our election coverage continues at the half-hour point. And tune into prime-time politics as well with CNN's Paula Zahn. On election eve, she's going to host a town hall meeting with undecided voters live from Florida. That's Monday, 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

Also, join CNN for complete coverage on election night. We're going to bring you real-time results live from TIMES SQUARE and the Big Board at the Nasdaq. Our election team kicks off full press coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Tuesday and through the evening with Daryn and myself right here from Atlanta.

KAGAN: Yes. We go overnight?

All right. Moving on to other stories.

What happened to hundreds of tons of high explosives missing from an Iraqi bunker? Pentagon officials contend they were probably moved before the invasion, but a U.S. television crew that was embedded with American forces during the war has video that could tell another story.

And that shows what appears to be explosives in the bunker when U.S. troops visited the site about nine days after the fall of f Baghdad. Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay says the images suggest the material was kept sealed until American forces arrived and then opened the bunker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KAY, FMR. U.S. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: The reason you seal it like that is a seal doesn't keep you from getting in. It shows that someone has tampered and breached it.

When Iraq was in -- the Saddam government was in power, that was there to show you if, in fact, the Iraqis breached the seal. It's not designed to keep you out.

In this film you see -- and what I think is most disturbing about this film is military tourism within a war zone. If you open up a bunker -- and I don't know what the Pottery Barn says about that rule, but I can tell you, in a war zone, if you open up a bunker, you're responsible for guarding it. You don't go out and casually open them up, look at what's there and then leave them, particularly when you don't have control of the site.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Kay says that he recognized the seal in the video as unique to weapons inspectors. He says he believes the site appears to have been looted. Coming up in our next half-hour, we'll hear from the head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

SANCHEZ: And here's another story that we'll be following. Probably a tense weekend for lawyers in the Scott Peterson murder trial as they prepare for closing arguments. We will have the details.

KAGAN: Also, it is settled. Bill O'Reilly's personal battle with a woman who says he sexually harassed her. It ends almost as quickly as it began.

SANCHEZ: And then later, a look at the INS - or should I say the ins and outs of the system that really decides the presidency. It's the electoral college. It's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

Lawyers in the Scott Peterson murder trial are expected to meet with the judge today. They're going to be discussing what evidence the jury is going to be allowed to consider during deliberations. Closing arguments begin Monday, and the jury should get the case, we're told, Wednesday.

Now, Peterson is accused of killing his wife and unborn son. His lawyers say he was simply framed.

KAGAN: The allegations made headlines, but details of the settlement between talk show host Bill O'Reilly and his former associate producer are confidential. O'Reilly has dropped his extortion lawsuit, and she has abandoned her sexual harassment case. The story now from CNN's Adaora Udoji.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill O'Reilly talked about the settlement at the top of his show.

BILL O'REILLY, FOX ANCHOR: You guys looked out for me, and I will never forget it. This brutal ordeal is now officially over, and I will never speak of it again. UDOJI: He didn't discuss the terms. It does mean his associate producer, Andrea Mackris, will stop making sexual harassment accusations against him, and he'll stop accusing her of launching a politically-motivated plot to extort $60 million.

Despite the bitter charges, O'Reilly's lawyers now say, "All parties have agreed there was no wrongdoing whatsoever by anyone." Mackris was also pleased.

ANDREA MACKRIS, FOX PRODUCER: It's over and I'm happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you satisfied with what the terms of the settlement?

MACKRIS: I can't say anything else. But I do appreciate everybody. Thank you.

UDOJI: "Court TV" anchor and attorney Lisa Bloom.

LISA BLOOM, "COURT TV": There are still unanswered questions. And of course the biggest one is what is the dollar amount of the settlement and who paid it? Was it Bill O'Reilly individually, Fox News, News Corp? We will probably never know the answer to that.

UDOJI: But the public's not likely to get any answers. The parties have agreed to keep all the details confidential.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thousands of people say they can see the difference. It's a popular procedure. The promise is to make sure that the eyes still have it. That's coming up in your daily dose of health news.

KAGAN: But up next, as John Kerry gets ready to speak in Orlando -- a live picture from there -- we're going to tell you how to customize your election coverage just by turning on your own computer. We'll take you on a tour of all CNN.com has to offer on Election Day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time to find out what's going on with the weather.

KAGAN: And Orelon Sidney is doing that for us.

Hi, Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Nobody gave me a heads up. And I've got computer problems up here, guys. Sorry.

KAGAN: All right.

SANCHEZ: She was there, and now she's gone away.

KAGAN: All right. We'll stand by for that. SANCHEZ: We'll do something else then.

KAGAN: I was thinking about maybe election night, perhaps. I don't know why I was thinking about election night, but I was thinking about election night. Really only three letters you need to remember: CNN.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Of course you're going to get the very latest results and the analysis right here, but you can customize your political coverage at CNN.com. CNN technology guru Daniel Sieberg -- did I get that right?

KAGAN: He's over there, Daniel Sieberg.

Daniel Sieberg, meet Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: Hi, Daniel.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick and Daryn. How are you guys doing?

KAGAN: Good to see you.

SANCHEZ: I see you going all morning long, man. You're like the Eveready bunny (sic) there.

SIEBERG: That's right. I keep going and going. My batteries are fully charged here. And you can think of me as the cyber ambassador to CNN.com.

There will be an immense amount of information -- there already is -- on CNN.com's election coverage page at CNN.com/election. And I'll give you a sneak preview of what you can find on Monday in just a second. But for now, let's go to the main page.

You can see it here at CNN.com/election. Right now, focusing on these showdown or swing states. They really are scattered across the country.

And in case you're wondering what a showdown state is, or why it matters so much, you can, of course, find out more information about that. That's the main page.

Now, on the next page, you can even zero in on a particular state. Florida being one of those swing states. You can find information about the different polls in that particular state. You can get information about the candidates in terms of the money they've been spending in a state like Florida. So all kinds of information at the state level.

Now, if you want to know about the polls -- and they seem to change every five minutes -- but we have categorized all the different polls there based on where they come from. And as well, there's something over here I want to show you called the CNN Poll of Polls. And if you click on that, you'll actually get a national average of polls across the country. Right now, President Bush about 49 percent, Senator Kerry 46 percent. So that averages out the different polls that are out there.

On the next page, the candidate tracker. This shows you where all the candidates are traveling, just absolutely zigzagging all over the country in a last-ditch effort to try to reach out to as many voters as possible. So that's the candidate tracker.

From here, the electoral college, which with full disclosure is a little bit confusing at times. This shows you which states are in Kerry's category and which states are in Bush, and also which ones are still in play. So that could be something that people are interested in looking at on CNN.com.

Now, the electoral college explainer is also there, as I mentioned. And finally, the issues are a big part of the election still. So if people want to find that information, they can. All sorts of information on all the candidates.

And finally, I mentioned this preview. What you can see here is a preview of what's going to be available on Monday.

The whole idea is you can go there and tailor these results for what you want. So you can put in your zip code -- you can just see it off to the side of the screen -- it's right over here. You can put in your zip code. You need to register for it.

And once you've done that, you can choose 20 different races to tailor for where you live, put in your zip code. That can be at the Senate level, it can be at the House level, of course, the presidential race as well.

So depending on what you want, you can tailor it for that and really get as much information as you can handle. And again, that's going to be available on Monday. The place to go is cnn.com/election.

So that's going to do it for me here at the tech version of the U.N. as your cyber ambassador.

Daryn and Rick, back to you.

KAGAN: Oh, very good. Now you get to breathe, deep breath, at least until Tuesday.

SIEBERG: And surf.

KAGAN: And surf, yes. Kowabunga. All right. Thank you, Daniel.

SIEBERG: All right.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Daniel. Good to meet you.

The Sunshine State still living in a shadow, the shadow of the last presidential election. KAGAN: Will this time be any different? The always intrepid Richard Quest will take a look at touch screens, early voting and crossed fingers coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It is now 28 minutes after the hour. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

President Bush is campaigning in New Hampshire this morning, while Senator John Kerry is making a push for votes in Florida. Live pictures from both places. Both candidates focusing on crucial swing states as they head into the final weekend before the election on Tuesday.

Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is at a military hospital in Paris this morning. A Palestinian official says doctors will need several days to diagnose Arafat's illness. She says he is suffering from intestinal flu, but there is more to it than that.

Some 850 British troops from the Black Watch Regiment in Basra have arrived at a base south of Baghdad. Those forces will free U.S. troops to fight in operations against militants in Falluja and other insurgents throughout Iraq.

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 29, 2004 - 10:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush campaigns in Manchester, New Hampshire, this hour. Aides say Mr. Bush will personalize his final appeals to voters. A live report from the Granite State is just ahead.
Senator Kerry is spending today in Florida, where he has three events scheduled. Rock star Bruce Springsteen, who appeared at campaign events yesterday in Wisconsin and Ohio, is expected to join Kerry once again today.

Gastric flu is the early word from a Palestinian official on Yasser Arafat's illness. But a full diagnosis could take several days. Arafat arrived at a hospital -- military hospital, we should add, in Paris today for treatment. Aides say he's been seriously ill for the past two weeks now.

Also, the FBI has begun an inquiry into allegations a Halliburton subsidiary was unfairly awarded no-bid contracts worth billions of dollars. The FBI plans to interview the Army Corps of Engineers chief contracting officer who has made these accusations. A source says there is no federal investigation at this point at the White House or the vice president, who ran Halliburton before he became the vice president.

It is now 11:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 8:00 a.m. out West. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Rick Sanchez.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.

It might be a sleepless weekend for George Bush and John Kerry. Up first on CNN, hitting the homestretch. The presidential campaign down to the final four days, as we look at a live picture of President Bush there. Senator John Kerry also in the sprint to the finish line, heading into the last weekend of the campaign.

The president's first stop today, New Hampshire. After events in Manchester and Portsmouth, he heads to Ohio. He'll hold an afternoon rally in Toledo and another one this evening in Columbus.

Senator Kerry is spending the day in Florida. He's in Orlando this morning. From there, it is on to West Palm Beach and Miami.

Aides say the president plans to get personal during his campaign appearances today as he sums up his case for a second term. Our Dana Bash is traveling with the president. She is in Manchester, New Hampshire, and she joins us on the phone.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

And the president just began speaking here in Manchester. He was supposed to be joined on the stage, as you probably heard, by the Red Sox pitcher, Curt Schilling. But the White House and the Bush campaign told reporters this morning that the pitcher canceled last night.

He said it was because of his hurt ankle, and that doctors grounded him and said he couldn't come. They're not saying this publicly, but some Bush aides are suggesting perhaps he got some pressure not to tarnish his post-World Series after glow by delving into politics. But nevertheless, they are making it clear that Curt Schilling did endorse the president, he just doesn't have the in-your- face photo op that they were hoping for.

But the president, as I said, has just started speaking. And he's going to have a different kind of speech, his aides say.

He's not going to hit John Kerry today the way he did very harshly yesterday, at least not this morning. He's going to be talking about his experiences as president and honing in on, of course, the one that really changed him and changed the country, which is September 11.

And he's got a few guests here. He's got Arlene Howard, the woman who gave him her son's badge, of course, the days after September 11. David Bremer -- excuse me, David Beamer, the brother of one of those who died on Flight 93. And he's going to be talking just about his experiences.

We're told we're not going to hear the name John Kerry in his speech. But we will later when he appears with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Ohio -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Well, let's hear what we're going to hear and listening in a bit to president from New Hampshire.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... and would do anything to harm us. I will fight these enemies with every asset of our national power. We will do our duty and we will protect the American people.

(APPLAUSE)

On September 11th, 2001, our nation suffered terrible harm and the pain was greatest for our families of the lost.

With us today are Ernie Strada and his wife Mary Ann (ph), who lost their son Tom at the World Trade Center.

Please welcome the Stradas.

(APPLAUSE)

The September 11th families will always be in our thoughts and always be in our prayers.

(APPLAUSE)

This nation must never forget their pain. And on the day of that tragedy, I made a decision: America will no longer respond to terrorist murder with half measures and empty threats. We will no longer look away from gathering dangers and simply hope for the best.

We are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to fight the terrorist enemy and defend America. We will not relent and we will prevail.

(APPLAUSE)

First, we're on the offensive against the terrorist networks.

BUSH: The best way to prevent future attacks is to go after the enemy.

(APPLAUSE)

We will confront the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home.

(APPLAUSE)

We are waging a global campaign from the mountains of central Asia to the deserts of the Middle East, from the Horn of Africa to the Philippines.

We're getting results. Since September the 11th, more than three-quarters of Al Qaeda's key members and associates have been detained or killed, and the rest of them know we are on their trail.

(APPLAUSE)

Secondly, we are confronting regimes that harbor terrorists and feed the terrorists and support the terrorists. I set a doctrine that these regimes are equally as guilty as the terrorists.

When a president speaks, he must speak clearly and he must mean what he says.

(APPLAUSE)

KAGAN: Listening in to President Bush as he has a rally in New Hampshire. He moves on to Ohio later today, where he'll be joined by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now with more on the Kerry campaign, here's Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right. Senator John Kerry is going to be in the state of Florida today, focusing on that sought-after I-4 corridor that goes all the way from Tampa through to the area of Daytona. But the midpoint, the center of that, is Orlando. And that is where our national correspondent Kelly Wallace is with the Kerry campaign in Florida this morning.

Hi, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rick.

Well, you certainly know this state very, very well, and all our viewers know how important it is. It has the biggest number of electoral votes up for grabs of all the battleground states. And if Senator Kerry can steal this state away from President Bush, that will make things very difficult for Mr. Bush in terms of his re-election.

Just take a look where the senator will be today. As Rick was mentioning, he's starting off here in Orlando. Lots of swing voters in this part of the state.

Later in the day, he heads to West Palm Beach and Miami. And that is all about rallying the Democratic base; namely. African- American and Jewish voters.

The senator getting ready to speak here in Orlando just moments from now. Aides say what he's going to try to do in this speech is try to bring together all the arguments he's been making on the stump for change. Talking about domestic issues and international issues, and trying to win over those undecided voters, who, despite all they have heard about Senator Kerry, still aren't backing his candidacy.

The senator giving a little bit of a preview of what we'll hear today when he did an interview with Jill Lawrence of "USA Today" aboard his campaign plane yesterday. And here's what he told Jill Lawrence. He said, "I think proceeding with four more years of George Bush is very risky for America, and I think Americans will realize that."

Now, this day also about getting momentum, getting out the vote. Senator Kerry getting some help for the second day in a row from The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. We learned earlier this morning that Springsteen would be palling up again with Senator Kerry later today in Miami. This after he turned out tens of thousands of people in Madison, Wisconsin, and in Columbus, Ohio.

Kerry's aides say they are thrilled about this because they say yesterday was their biggest crowd day of this campaign so far. Big crowds, energizing supporters, and getting them to the polls.

Other big names out today, former President Bill Clinton will be in Nevada and then New Mexico and Arkansas this weekend. And then we've been reporting throughout this day the senator's daughter, Alexandra. is in Hawaii meeting up with Al Gore. Hawaii suddenly becoming a surprising new battleground in this race. Vice President Cheney, Rick, also spending some time there as well.

SANCHEZ: Did you get your marching orders to go to Hawaii and cover that, by the way, yet?

WALLACE: I reported earlier the press corp was hoping, hoping Senator Kerry might decide to make a surprise trip to the Aloha State, but I decided to be a voice of realism and say that there is no chance that we will be going to Hawaii. But other people are going because clearly it's important.

SANCHEZ: We've got you covered. We thank you so much, Kelly, for bringing us that report.

WALLACE: OK.

SANCHEZ: We should let you know that as soon as Senator John Kerry starts to speak in Orlando, we're going to bring you a part of that live right here on CNN, just as we did with the president's speech just moments ago.

And our election coverage continues at the half-hour point. And tune into prime-time politics as well with CNN's Paula Zahn. On election eve, she's going to host a town hall meeting with undecided voters live from Florida. That's Monday, 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

Also, join CNN for complete coverage on election night. We're going to bring you real-time results live from TIMES SQUARE and the Big Board at the Nasdaq. Our election team kicks off full press coverage beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Tuesday and through the evening with Daryn and myself right here from Atlanta.

KAGAN: Yes. We go overnight?

All right. Moving on to other stories.

What happened to hundreds of tons of high explosives missing from an Iraqi bunker? Pentagon officials contend they were probably moved before the invasion, but a U.S. television crew that was embedded with American forces during the war has video that could tell another story.

And that shows what appears to be explosives in the bunker when U.S. troops visited the site about nine days after the fall of f Baghdad. Former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay says the images suggest the material was kept sealed until American forces arrived and then opened the bunker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID KAY, FMR. U.S. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: The reason you seal it like that is a seal doesn't keep you from getting in. It shows that someone has tampered and breached it.

When Iraq was in -- the Saddam government was in power, that was there to show you if, in fact, the Iraqis breached the seal. It's not designed to keep you out.

In this film you see -- and what I think is most disturbing about this film is military tourism within a war zone. If you open up a bunker -- and I don't know what the Pottery Barn says about that rule, but I can tell you, in a war zone, if you open up a bunker, you're responsible for guarding it. You don't go out and casually open them up, look at what's there and then leave them, particularly when you don't have control of the site.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Kay says that he recognized the seal in the video as unique to weapons inspectors. He says he believes the site appears to have been looted. Coming up in our next half-hour, we'll hear from the head of the U.N.'s nuclear agency, Mohammed ElBaradei.

SANCHEZ: And here's another story that we'll be following. Probably a tense weekend for lawyers in the Scott Peterson murder trial as they prepare for closing arguments. We will have the details.

KAGAN: Also, it is settled. Bill O'Reilly's personal battle with a woman who says he sexually harassed her. It ends almost as quickly as it began.

SANCHEZ: And then later, a look at the INS - or should I say the ins and outs of the system that really decides the presidency. It's the electoral college. It's coming up.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

Lawyers in the Scott Peterson murder trial are expected to meet with the judge today. They're going to be discussing what evidence the jury is going to be allowed to consider during deliberations. Closing arguments begin Monday, and the jury should get the case, we're told, Wednesday.

Now, Peterson is accused of killing his wife and unborn son. His lawyers say he was simply framed.

KAGAN: The allegations made headlines, but details of the settlement between talk show host Bill O'Reilly and his former associate producer are confidential. O'Reilly has dropped his extortion lawsuit, and she has abandoned her sexual harassment case. The story now from CNN's Adaora Udoji.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bill O'Reilly talked about the settlement at the top of his show.

BILL O'REILLY, FOX ANCHOR: You guys looked out for me, and I will never forget it. This brutal ordeal is now officially over, and I will never speak of it again. UDOJI: He didn't discuss the terms. It does mean his associate producer, Andrea Mackris, will stop making sexual harassment accusations against him, and he'll stop accusing her of launching a politically-motivated plot to extort $60 million.

Despite the bitter charges, O'Reilly's lawyers now say, "All parties have agreed there was no wrongdoing whatsoever by anyone." Mackris was also pleased.

ANDREA MACKRIS, FOX PRODUCER: It's over and I'm happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you satisfied with what the terms of the settlement?

MACKRIS: I can't say anything else. But I do appreciate everybody. Thank you.

UDOJI: "Court TV" anchor and attorney Lisa Bloom.

LISA BLOOM, "COURT TV": There are still unanswered questions. And of course the biggest one is what is the dollar amount of the settlement and who paid it? Was it Bill O'Reilly individually, Fox News, News Corp? We will probably never know the answer to that.

UDOJI: But the public's not likely to get any answers. The parties have agreed to keep all the details confidential.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thousands of people say they can see the difference. It's a popular procedure. The promise is to make sure that the eyes still have it. That's coming up in your daily dose of health news.

KAGAN: But up next, as John Kerry gets ready to speak in Orlando -- a live picture from there -- we're going to tell you how to customize your election coverage just by turning on your own computer. We'll take you on a tour of all CNN.com has to offer on Election Day.

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SANCHEZ: Time to find out what's going on with the weather.

KAGAN: And Orelon Sidney is doing that for us.

Hi, Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Nobody gave me a heads up. And I've got computer problems up here, guys. Sorry.

KAGAN: All right.

SANCHEZ: She was there, and now she's gone away.

KAGAN: All right. We'll stand by for that. SANCHEZ: We'll do something else then.

KAGAN: I was thinking about maybe election night, perhaps. I don't know why I was thinking about election night, but I was thinking about election night. Really only three letters you need to remember: CNN.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Of course you're going to get the very latest results and the analysis right here, but you can customize your political coverage at CNN.com. CNN technology guru Daniel Sieberg -- did I get that right?

KAGAN: He's over there, Daniel Sieberg.

Daniel Sieberg, meet Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: Hi, Daniel.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick and Daryn. How are you guys doing?

KAGAN: Good to see you.

SANCHEZ: I see you going all morning long, man. You're like the Eveready bunny (sic) there.

SIEBERG: That's right. I keep going and going. My batteries are fully charged here. And you can think of me as the cyber ambassador to CNN.com.

There will be an immense amount of information -- there already is -- on CNN.com's election coverage page at CNN.com/election. And I'll give you a sneak preview of what you can find on Monday in just a second. But for now, let's go to the main page.

You can see it here at CNN.com/election. Right now, focusing on these showdown or swing states. They really are scattered across the country.

And in case you're wondering what a showdown state is, or why it matters so much, you can, of course, find out more information about that. That's the main page.

Now, on the next page, you can even zero in on a particular state. Florida being one of those swing states. You can find information about the different polls in that particular state. You can get information about the candidates in terms of the money they've been spending in a state like Florida. So all kinds of information at the state level.

Now, if you want to know about the polls -- and they seem to change every five minutes -- but we have categorized all the different polls there based on where they come from. And as well, there's something over here I want to show you called the CNN Poll of Polls. And if you click on that, you'll actually get a national average of polls across the country. Right now, President Bush about 49 percent, Senator Kerry 46 percent. So that averages out the different polls that are out there.

On the next page, the candidate tracker. This shows you where all the candidates are traveling, just absolutely zigzagging all over the country in a last-ditch effort to try to reach out to as many voters as possible. So that's the candidate tracker.

From here, the electoral college, which with full disclosure is a little bit confusing at times. This shows you which states are in Kerry's category and which states are in Bush, and also which ones are still in play. So that could be something that people are interested in looking at on CNN.com.

Now, the electoral college explainer is also there, as I mentioned. And finally, the issues are a big part of the election still. So if people want to find that information, they can. All sorts of information on all the candidates.

And finally, I mentioned this preview. What you can see here is a preview of what's going to be available on Monday.

The whole idea is you can go there and tailor these results for what you want. So you can put in your zip code -- you can just see it off to the side of the screen -- it's right over here. You can put in your zip code. You need to register for it.

And once you've done that, you can choose 20 different races to tailor for where you live, put in your zip code. That can be at the Senate level, it can be at the House level, of course, the presidential race as well.

So depending on what you want, you can tailor it for that and really get as much information as you can handle. And again, that's going to be available on Monday. The place to go is cnn.com/election.

So that's going to do it for me here at the tech version of the U.N. as your cyber ambassador.

Daryn and Rick, back to you.

KAGAN: Oh, very good. Now you get to breathe, deep breath, at least until Tuesday.

SIEBERG: And surf.

KAGAN: And surf, yes. Kowabunga. All right. Thank you, Daniel.

SIEBERG: All right.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Daniel. Good to meet you.

The Sunshine State still living in a shadow, the shadow of the last presidential election. KAGAN: Will this time be any different? The always intrepid Richard Quest will take a look at touch screens, early voting and crossed fingers coming up.

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SANCHEZ: It is now 28 minutes after the hour. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what's happening "Now in the News."

President Bush is campaigning in New Hampshire this morning, while Senator John Kerry is making a push for votes in Florida. Live pictures from both places. Both candidates focusing on crucial swing states as they head into the final weekend before the election on Tuesday.

Ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is at a military hospital in Paris this morning. A Palestinian official says doctors will need several days to diagnose Arafat's illness. She says he is suffering from intestinal flu, but there is more to it than that.

Some 850 British troops from the Black Watch Regiment in Basra have arrived at a base south of Baghdad. Those forces will free U.S. troops to fight in operations against militants in Falluja and other insurgents throughout Iraq.

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