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American Morning
Red Sox Head to World Series; Jim Belushi's Chicago; Interview with Amy Dickinson
Aired October 21, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful day here in the Windy City. Chicago, Illinois, exterior of the Field Museum. We are inside today. Good morning, and welcome back.
There was a huge party in Boston today.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You think?
HEMMER: And it's going to go for about another couple of days until these folks get tired. Some people there are going to have a hard time giving up on this one. The Red Sox gave their fans something to remember last night in such a big way. They beat the Yanks 10-3. They won the seven-game series to advance to the World Series. And get this, they did it down 3-0.
Johnny Damon, Derek Lowe the big heroes last night. All those home runs to right field where Babe Ruth used to hit so many in Yankee Stadium. We'll talk about that in a moment here. Also talk about the curse that's here in Chicago relating to the Cubs in baseball.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Chicago through the eyes of Jim Belushi, the native son and star of "According to Jim" shows us his city, tells us about the great tradition of comedy in this town.
HEMMER: And he would know, too.
O'BRIEN: Yes, he would.
HEMMER: Want to get back outside again with Heidi Collins watching the news and the headlines there. Hey, Heidi, good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, Bill. I want to give you another look at Chicago, something we haven't quite seen yet during our week of broadcasting from here: A gorgeous shot today of Lake Michigan. You can see it there. As you know by now, the second largest of the Great Lakes.
But look at this. This is the Navy Pier's Ferris wheel. It was modeled after the very first Ferris wheel in the country. It's 150 feet high. Seats about 40 people. But what's so interesting about it, it's open year-round. Yeah, even in the cold.
Navy Pier, though, originally opened 1916. It was (AUDIO GAP).
O'BRIEN: All right, well let's take a look at the headlines. Seems like we're having a little trouble with Heidi's microphone, so we'll go ahead and give you the top stories this morning.
President Bush is approving a key suicide prevention bill this morning. The president signed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act this hour. He's going to head next to Pennsylvania.
Senator John Kerry is addressing stem-cell research. The widow of the late actor Christopher Reeve will introduce Kerry at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, this afternoon.
Rush Limbaugh is trying to keep investigators from looking at his medical records. There is word that Limbaugh will file an appeal this morning. He says investigators violated his right to privacy when they seized medical records from his doctor's offices last year. An appeals court ruled against Limbaugh earlier this month.
Cuban President Fidel Castro says he is, quote, "in one piece" after a tumble off the stage. Castro just finished a speech. He was walking away from the podium when he apparently tripped. The Cuban leader reportedly injured his left knee and right arm in the tumble.
And finally whales, porpoises, and dolphins cannot sue President Bush or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. That's the ruling, believe it or not, of a San Francisco appeals court. A marine mammal activist brought the suit on behalf of the animals. He claimed the U.S. Navy violated the Endangered Species Act. The panel ruled the law does not grant the animals the right to sue.
That had to go to court. How about that?
Now, the Red Sox -- last night the team took a major step forward toward reversing the curse that's kept them from winning a World Series for the past 86 years or so. It's not hard to believe that Boston fans were ecstatic after the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees, completing the biggest comeback in postseason baseball history. And of course, taking them on to the World Series.
Here's Mark McKay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As they celebrated on the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, Red Sox players had to be pinching themselves. Could this have actually happened?
After a nightmarish start to the American League Championship Series, Boston enjoyed a dream finish and are World Series bound for the first time in 18 years at the expense of their greatest rival.
CURT SCHILLING, RED SOX PITCHER: We just beat the best organization in sports history to get to the World Series in unprecedented fashion. So, what an appropriate group of guys to do it.
KEVIN MILLAR, RED SOX FIRST BASEMAN: You got to win four games, not three. It's just like when you're hitting, you get three strikes, not two. And I'll tell you right now, they didn't win the fourth. THEO EPSTEIN, RED SOX GENERAL MANAGER: This one's for all the great Red Sox teams that couldn't quite beat the Yankees -- '49, '78, our team last year fell just short against these guys.
MCKAY: History has never been kind to Boston. If the Red Sox exorcise demons against the Yankees, they did so in grand fashion, after being victimized by past playoff home runs from such unlikely heroes as Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone, this Red Sox team turned the tables by simply bombing the Bronx bombers.
DEREK JETER, YANKEES SHORTSTOP: We didn't deserve to win. You know, we didn't play well enough. We had our opportunities. We let some slip away, and you know, they played better than us.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, YANKEE THIRD BASEMAN: That's something that's going to hurt all winter, and I think it's going to make us stronger, make us hungrier for next year. And we'll be better.
EPSTEIN: Take a trip to the World Series no matter the road, but coming through Yankee Stadium, falling down 3-0 to these guys, being down in the ninth inning in game four and coming back to beat them in Yankee Stadium makes it beyond imagination.
MCKAY (on camera): With history in their back pocket, the Red Sox will now go about the business of trying to reverse the curse. Eighty-six years after winning their last World Series title, the Red Sox play host to game one of the 2004 fall classic Saturday at Fenway Park.
Mark McKay, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Boston's World Series opponent will be determined tonight. Yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros in dramatic fashion, 6-4, to even the National League series at three games apiece. The seventh and deciding game is tonight in St. Louis.
HEMMER: It's kind of like oh, yeah, that series.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yeah, that other game that's going on.
HEMMER: Twelve days before the election. President Bush going to Pennsylvania today and tomorrow, his 40th and 41st trips there since taking office. John Kerry, meanwhile, went duck hunting earlier today in Ohio. The NRA is attacking Senator Kerry's record in a new ad campaign.
The candidates have not been to the State of Illinois very much, but that does not mean there are not hot political issues to talk about today. John Williams hosts a talk show for WGN Radio, my guest now here in the Field Museum. Nice to see you. Good morning.
JOHN WILLIAMS, TALK SHOW HOST, WGN RADIO: Good morning. Welcome to Chicago. HEMMER: Thank you very much. Wonderful to be here. Do folks in your state feel dissed by these candidates?
WILLIAMS: I don't know that we feel dissed, but they're conspicuous by their absence. You know, not only have the candidates not been here, but they haven't even been spending much money on a radio station like ours, TV stations. They're not even spending money, just to show you how one camp's taking the state for granted and the other figures that there's no hope.
HEMMER: So, it's the sense that John Kerry's going to win Illinois based on all the polling. And it's the sense that Barack Obama is going to beat Alan Keyes...
WILLIAMS: No, he's going to cream Alan Keyes.
HEMMER: Somebody the other day said 98 percent of the vote. Not sure if that's going to be the case.
WILLIAMS: Well, it's going to be 50-plus.
HEMMER: When you listen to folks for your radio program, what are the issues for them for this election?
WILLIAMS: You know, everybody's got their own issues. On occasion, we open the phone lines, we'll say, "Well, what is your one key issue?" And then you'll get things like you will in other states, stem-cell research, gay issues, defense spending, taxes. But really, the war starts all of the conversations. Everything trickles down after that.
HEMMER: What do you hear about Iraq? Do you hear one side saying hey, let's go ahead and win in Iraq? Do you hear one side saying I don't know how we win in Iraq? Or is there a way to gauge the reaction, the breakdown you're getting?
WILLIAMS: Well, it's not perfect, because you've right, you got two different parties. And then within each party, you have different attitudes. But in general, it is like you might find elsewhere in the country. I think there's a lot of people who feel this is a president who's under fire, but we need to support him. And those are the conservatives.
I think -- you know, in Illinois, a lot of us, Chicago included, didn't really know that much about John Kerry before the primaries and really until afterwards.
And so, I think there's this bunker mentality among the Republicans. We've got our president, it's the time of war. There's a lot of conservatives in the Chicago area, too, even though it's a Democratic -- you know, principally -- city with Mayor Daley and all. But I think there's this bunker mentality, that who is this guy coming from outside? He's attacking our president. We need to rally around the troops.
HEMMER: There was a sense about a week ago by many that the campaign had taken another turn toward the negative when the Mary Cheney issue came up. Yesterday, we had Teresa Heinz Kerry going at it with Laura Bush a little bit under the radar -- perhaps not so under the radar.
What is your sense of listeners about the negativity of this campaign? Did they like it, or did they accept it?
WILLIAMS: Oh, I think they're done with it, you know? I just think people are ready for it to be over, more than anything else. And we're kind of watch this theater here. They're not coming to play really in Chicago. They're not asking for our votes. They're not spending money here.
So, we're kind of watching it a little distanced from the fray. And it just is starting to play as angry, bad theater.
HEMMER: Well, good luck to you on your show.
WILLIAMS: It's nice to meet you guys. You're in a great place to be broadcasting from. We're glad that you're in Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we are. Thank you.
HEMMER: You're a good man.
O'BRIEN: You bet.
HEMMER: John Williams from WGN Radio. Thanks, again.
WILLIAMS: My pleasure.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad?
O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at the weather now for the day ahead. Orelon Sidney is in for Chad Myers who is off. She's at CNN with the very latest for us. Good morning, again, Orelon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Orelon, thanks a lot -- Bill?
HEMMER: How would you like to dish out advice to thousands of readers every day? We kind of do. That's Amy Dickinson's job. We'll talk to her in a moment here in Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Plus, one of Chicago's native sons tells us where to go, what to do, what to eat while we're in the Windy City (INAUDIBLE). Chicago according to Jim Belushi just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The Field Museum here in Chicago boasts one of the best Egypt collections in the world. It features 23 mummies, and explains the embalming process as well. Even cats were mummified. That's, of course, because cats were sacred animals in ancient Egypt -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Good history there.
Here in Chicago, Jim Belushi does a sitcom that's called "According to Jim." Well, they tape it actually in Hollywood, but Jim Belushi is one of the best-known folks you'll find in this entire city. The dos and don'ts according to Jim, this morning from L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BELUSHI, ACTOR: Bill, Soledad, got to tell you, Chicago, you got to go to the Second City. You got to go to The House of Blues. You got go to Portillos (ph) for hot dogs, Mr. Beef for beef, Wrigley Field. You've got to go to Wrigley Field, even if the Cubs aren't playing right now.
But the must-see for me when I go to Chicago is, of course, the beautiful lakefront, the park, Lincoln Park. The Million Dollar Mile there on Michigan Avenue. And of course, the Second City. I mean, Second City has been there since 1959, and spawned great talents, like my brother, John, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner.
The music scene is a great scene there. I mean, you can go to the House of Blues, which is right downtown, fabulous $27 million opera house juke joint for blues. And any kind of music. Chicago, let the blues, sweet home Chicago, that civilized living city.
Chicago's great for cinema. You know, I mean Mayor Daley, the original Mayor Daley, the father, didn't like films coming to Chicago, because he felt they always depicted Chicago as gangsters and a lot of crime and violence, and so he had a moratorium on film making. And then I was in one of the first movies that started there, was "Ordinary People."
And now Chicago is filled with great filming.
It's time for a drum solo.
This is the fourth season of "According to Jim," which takes place in Chicago, and we're very happy about that. "According Jim" takes place in Chicago, because Chicago has a lot to offer. I mean, there's a great personality of Chicago that we try to capture in a show. And being a bears fan, a Cubs fan, the great Mayor Daley and the great politics in Chicago. My life is out here now. I've been out here for 18 years. This is where my work is, but I love Chicago. Chicago is the coolest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Yes. And we know that too well now. Thank you, Jim, for that.
One of my favorites, the "Tribune" building in downtown Chicago. On the exterior, throughout the ground level, they have pieces of some of the greatest monuments on the planet embedded into the side on the street level, a must-see for anyone who comes to this great town.
Back downstairs now to Soledad with more there. O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. Still to come this morning, want to know it's like to replace a legend like Ann Landers? Ask Amy, Amy Dickinson. The "Chicago Tribune" new advice columnist will join us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: AMERICAN MORNING attracts a varied audience. That's a family of raccoons outside the Field Museum. Looks like they didn't care for the last segment. They're headed over to the nearest trash bin to get a little lunch or something.
"Minding Your Business" with Andy Serwer. It's all about baseball and the stock markets. Some interesting numbers.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we're running them for you. Let's check out the Big Board, dip in back to New York City. Stocks are trading down this morning, and big, big earnings day. You can see here just down about seven points on the Dow. Not so bad. It's the biggest earnings day of the season.
eBay after the close last night, that's up five bucks. I think that's an all-time high, right around $97. AIG is very active. AT&T reporting a $7 billion loss, writeoffs, as it's exiting the consumer business. Merck has the Vioxx recall, SBC, Pfizer, and then after the bell, Microsoft. So a huge day for earnings there.
Let's talk about who you should root for in the World Series if you care about your stock portfolio. We ran it and tried to look at what happened when the Red Sox won the World Series, how did the stock market today? As it turns out, the Red Sox won the World Series a lot back in the early part of the 20th century. You can see here, they won five times.
CAFFERTY: 1915.
SERWER: That's the interesting point there. That is the biggest gain for the Dow in history, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Is that right?
SERWER: Is in 1915. Now the Astros have never won the World Series, so you can't run any numbers on them, but the Cardinals have. So let's look and see what happens when the Cardinals win the World Series? Well, you can see it's all across the board. But check out 1931 there, Jack, down 52 percent. That is the biggest drop in the history of the stock market for the Dow. So, and you can see here, here's some other -- the Cardinals have won eight times as a matter of fact.
CAFFERTY: So if you're long in this market, in other words, the translation is go, Red Sox.
SERWER: For all you Yankee fans out there, very disappointed, you should root for the Red Sox if you care about your stock portfolio, because stocks do better when the Red Sox win than the Cardinals. The Astros win, all bets are off, we don't know.
CAFFERTY: You were talking about the stock of Sinclair Broadcasting and how it went into the porcelain container after they announced plans to run this anti-Kerry film on their stations. They have since backed off of that. They are now going to include only a portion of that anti-Kerry program inside an hour-long program that runs tomorrow night on the Sinclair stations. Pressure from shareholders, sponsors, and they decided to retreat a little bit.
That's the question, though, in a race this tight, it is appropriate for Sinclair to be airing portions of such a highly partisan film.
We heard from C.R. in Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why do Democratic leaders encourage people to watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' but won't allow Sinclair to television to a documentary reliving the negative side of their own candidate? I think Americans should be allowed to see the other side of John Kerry, just like we saw the other side of George Bush."
Jerry in Church Point, Louisiana: "Did Michael Moore back out. Bush took the heat with Michael Moore movie, but sometimes making a big stink about something just makes it stink that much more."
And Jim in Burlington, Vermont, advises: "Check out the Field Museum again. There's a statue of Jack in there having dinner. It's in the neo-grouch section of the museum."
Very funny. Anyway we thank you for your participation in the QoD as we call it around here. And we'll have another one tomorrow, which will be our farewell appearance here in the big town.
Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Well, believe it or not, it has been 15 months since Amy Dickinson became the new Ann Landers, replacing the legendary advice diva. Whether you clueless in Kalamazoo or confused in Columbus, it is clear that Amy is making quite a name for herself. Her column, "Ask Amy," appears in the "Chicago Trib." It's syndicated in newspapers around the country. She joins us this morning.
So your column today, you confess to something, some may find a tad shocking.
AMY DICKINSON, "ASK AMY": I know, it is. It's a shock. But, yes in today's column, I confess that I had a dream recently about Dr. Phil.
O'BRIEN: Can you see what kind of dream?
DICKINSON: Well, it wasn't a racy dream. It was kind of a therapy dream, but this was reacting to a question from a woman who said, I'm middle aged, I'm married, I'm happy, but I have this habit of developing crushes on people, and I just feel terrible about it. And so basically, I was saying to her that, you know, crushes are fine, like crushes are crushes, and they shouldn't crush you. But a fantasy can be a good thing to have.
O'BRIEN: Is that the type of letter you get? Is that typical? Or is there no typical letter that you're getting from you're fans?
DICKINSON: I actually feel like there is kind of a typical letter. They're usually about behavior. And you know, we're sitting here in this amazing setting, in front of Sue back here, and I really feel like, you know, as people we wake up in the morning, and we want to be better. And that's why people write to me, they want to change for the better. And if we weren't that way, we'd be like, you know, like Sue back there, you know, like gone.
O'BRIEN: You said when you were first telling people about how, 15 months ago when you started, and we were chatting about what you're concerned about, that you felt like there was this pressure, because, of course, Ann Landers was Ann Landers, and you had these huge pumps to fill, I think was the quote that we used at the time. How has it gone?
DICKINSON: It's gone great. You know, I feel like she went out ahead, and she just broke all this ground. She was really -- in her way, she was revolutionary. And she made it easy for somebody like me to talk about gay marriage, to talk about sex, to talk about, you know, everything from kind of etiquette to sexual behavior. She made it happen.
O'BRIEN: You moved here from Washington D.C. with your daughter.
DICKINSON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So what do you think is the greatest thing about being here in Chicago now?
DICKINSON: You know, before I moved here I got an article, "Bonnie Hunt's Chicago." Bonnie Hunt is my favorite actress, and she had a list of things that she loves to do -- hot dogs, Wrigley Field, she recommended, like, the nursing staff at northwestern where she was a nurse.
O'BRIEN: If you have to be in there, that's where you want to go.
DICKINSON: If you have to be in there. I've gone down the list, "Bonnie Hunt's Chicago."
O'BRIEN: Doing everything...
DICKINSON: Now it's Amy's Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Amy Dickinson, nice to have you.
DICKINSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Good luck in the not so new job. You're an old hand at it.
DICKINSON: I'm over it.
O'BRIEN: It's nice to have you, thanks.
Coming up on CNN this morning, there is a Lottery in New Jersey. But instead of millions of dollars, the lucky winners are going to get flu shots. "CNN LIVE TODAY" is in the Garden State to see how that's working out. That's coming up with Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez.
AMERICAN MORNING is back from Chicago in just a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Hey, tomorrow, Adler Planetarium Friday, closes out our week here. We'll talk to the director over there, a great location. Ebert and Roeper back with us, more talk about movies. And "Deep Dish Politics," twelve days and counting.
Before we go, Edith Chapin (ph), Dave Stett (ph), Mitch Walker (ph), great employees for CNN, running the bureau here, and doing a great job for us.
COLLINS: Excellent.
HEMMER: And everybody really out here, who...
CAFFERTY: Bulletin, the sun's out for the first time since we got here.
COLLINS: Yes, and our driver's over here, too.
O'BRIEN: Let's head it back to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez.
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Aired October 21, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful day here in the Windy City. Chicago, Illinois, exterior of the Field Museum. We are inside today. Good morning, and welcome back.
There was a huge party in Boston today.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You think?
HEMMER: And it's going to go for about another couple of days until these folks get tired. Some people there are going to have a hard time giving up on this one. The Red Sox gave their fans something to remember last night in such a big way. They beat the Yanks 10-3. They won the seven-game series to advance to the World Series. And get this, they did it down 3-0.
Johnny Damon, Derek Lowe the big heroes last night. All those home runs to right field where Babe Ruth used to hit so many in Yankee Stadium. We'll talk about that in a moment here. Also talk about the curse that's here in Chicago relating to the Cubs in baseball.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Chicago through the eyes of Jim Belushi, the native son and star of "According to Jim" shows us his city, tells us about the great tradition of comedy in this town.
HEMMER: And he would know, too.
O'BRIEN: Yes, he would.
HEMMER: Want to get back outside again with Heidi Collins watching the news and the headlines there. Hey, Heidi, good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again, Bill. I want to give you another look at Chicago, something we haven't quite seen yet during our week of broadcasting from here: A gorgeous shot today of Lake Michigan. You can see it there. As you know by now, the second largest of the Great Lakes.
But look at this. This is the Navy Pier's Ferris wheel. It was modeled after the very first Ferris wheel in the country. It's 150 feet high. Seats about 40 people. But what's so interesting about it, it's open year-round. Yeah, even in the cold.
Navy Pier, though, originally opened 1916. It was (AUDIO GAP).
O'BRIEN: All right, well let's take a look at the headlines. Seems like we're having a little trouble with Heidi's microphone, so we'll go ahead and give you the top stories this morning.
President Bush is approving a key suicide prevention bill this morning. The president signed the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act this hour. He's going to head next to Pennsylvania.
Senator John Kerry is addressing stem-cell research. The widow of the late actor Christopher Reeve will introduce Kerry at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, this afternoon.
Rush Limbaugh is trying to keep investigators from looking at his medical records. There is word that Limbaugh will file an appeal this morning. He says investigators violated his right to privacy when they seized medical records from his doctor's offices last year. An appeals court ruled against Limbaugh earlier this month.
Cuban President Fidel Castro says he is, quote, "in one piece" after a tumble off the stage. Castro just finished a speech. He was walking away from the podium when he apparently tripped. The Cuban leader reportedly injured his left knee and right arm in the tumble.
And finally whales, porpoises, and dolphins cannot sue President Bush or Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. That's the ruling, believe it or not, of a San Francisco appeals court. A marine mammal activist brought the suit on behalf of the animals. He claimed the U.S. Navy violated the Endangered Species Act. The panel ruled the law does not grant the animals the right to sue.
That had to go to court. How about that?
Now, the Red Sox -- last night the team took a major step forward toward reversing the curse that's kept them from winning a World Series for the past 86 years or so. It's not hard to believe that Boston fans were ecstatic after the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees, completing the biggest comeback in postseason baseball history. And of course, taking them on to the World Series.
Here's Mark McKay.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As they celebrated on the hallowed grounds of Yankee Stadium, Red Sox players had to be pinching themselves. Could this have actually happened?
After a nightmarish start to the American League Championship Series, Boston enjoyed a dream finish and are World Series bound for the first time in 18 years at the expense of their greatest rival.
CURT SCHILLING, RED SOX PITCHER: We just beat the best organization in sports history to get to the World Series in unprecedented fashion. So, what an appropriate group of guys to do it.
KEVIN MILLAR, RED SOX FIRST BASEMAN: You got to win four games, not three. It's just like when you're hitting, you get three strikes, not two. And I'll tell you right now, they didn't win the fourth. THEO EPSTEIN, RED SOX GENERAL MANAGER: This one's for all the great Red Sox teams that couldn't quite beat the Yankees -- '49, '78, our team last year fell just short against these guys.
MCKAY: History has never been kind to Boston. If the Red Sox exorcise demons against the Yankees, they did so in grand fashion, after being victimized by past playoff home runs from such unlikely heroes as Bucky Dent and Aaron Boone, this Red Sox team turned the tables by simply bombing the Bronx bombers.
DEREK JETER, YANKEES SHORTSTOP: We didn't deserve to win. You know, we didn't play well enough. We had our opportunities. We let some slip away, and you know, they played better than us.
ALEX RODRIGUEZ, YANKEE THIRD BASEMAN: That's something that's going to hurt all winter, and I think it's going to make us stronger, make us hungrier for next year. And we'll be better.
EPSTEIN: Take a trip to the World Series no matter the road, but coming through Yankee Stadium, falling down 3-0 to these guys, being down in the ninth inning in game four and coming back to beat them in Yankee Stadium makes it beyond imagination.
MCKAY (on camera): With history in their back pocket, the Red Sox will now go about the business of trying to reverse the curse. Eighty-six years after winning their last World Series title, the Red Sox play host to game one of the 2004 fall classic Saturday at Fenway Park.
Mark McKay, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Boston's World Series opponent will be determined tonight. Yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Houston Astros in dramatic fashion, 6-4, to even the National League series at three games apiece. The seventh and deciding game is tonight in St. Louis.
HEMMER: It's kind of like oh, yeah, that series.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yeah, that other game that's going on.
HEMMER: Twelve days before the election. President Bush going to Pennsylvania today and tomorrow, his 40th and 41st trips there since taking office. John Kerry, meanwhile, went duck hunting earlier today in Ohio. The NRA is attacking Senator Kerry's record in a new ad campaign.
The candidates have not been to the State of Illinois very much, but that does not mean there are not hot political issues to talk about today. John Williams hosts a talk show for WGN Radio, my guest now here in the Field Museum. Nice to see you. Good morning.
JOHN WILLIAMS, TALK SHOW HOST, WGN RADIO: Good morning. Welcome to Chicago. HEMMER: Thank you very much. Wonderful to be here. Do folks in your state feel dissed by these candidates?
WILLIAMS: I don't know that we feel dissed, but they're conspicuous by their absence. You know, not only have the candidates not been here, but they haven't even been spending much money on a radio station like ours, TV stations. They're not even spending money, just to show you how one camp's taking the state for granted and the other figures that there's no hope.
HEMMER: So, it's the sense that John Kerry's going to win Illinois based on all the polling. And it's the sense that Barack Obama is going to beat Alan Keyes...
WILLIAMS: No, he's going to cream Alan Keyes.
HEMMER: Somebody the other day said 98 percent of the vote. Not sure if that's going to be the case.
WILLIAMS: Well, it's going to be 50-plus.
HEMMER: When you listen to folks for your radio program, what are the issues for them for this election?
WILLIAMS: You know, everybody's got their own issues. On occasion, we open the phone lines, we'll say, "Well, what is your one key issue?" And then you'll get things like you will in other states, stem-cell research, gay issues, defense spending, taxes. But really, the war starts all of the conversations. Everything trickles down after that.
HEMMER: What do you hear about Iraq? Do you hear one side saying hey, let's go ahead and win in Iraq? Do you hear one side saying I don't know how we win in Iraq? Or is there a way to gauge the reaction, the breakdown you're getting?
WILLIAMS: Well, it's not perfect, because you've right, you got two different parties. And then within each party, you have different attitudes. But in general, it is like you might find elsewhere in the country. I think there's a lot of people who feel this is a president who's under fire, but we need to support him. And those are the conservatives.
I think -- you know, in Illinois, a lot of us, Chicago included, didn't really know that much about John Kerry before the primaries and really until afterwards.
And so, I think there's this bunker mentality among the Republicans. We've got our president, it's the time of war. There's a lot of conservatives in the Chicago area, too, even though it's a Democratic -- you know, principally -- city with Mayor Daley and all. But I think there's this bunker mentality, that who is this guy coming from outside? He's attacking our president. We need to rally around the troops.
HEMMER: There was a sense about a week ago by many that the campaign had taken another turn toward the negative when the Mary Cheney issue came up. Yesterday, we had Teresa Heinz Kerry going at it with Laura Bush a little bit under the radar -- perhaps not so under the radar.
What is your sense of listeners about the negativity of this campaign? Did they like it, or did they accept it?
WILLIAMS: Oh, I think they're done with it, you know? I just think people are ready for it to be over, more than anything else. And we're kind of watch this theater here. They're not coming to play really in Chicago. They're not asking for our votes. They're not spending money here.
So, we're kind of watching it a little distanced from the fray. And it just is starting to play as angry, bad theater.
HEMMER: Well, good luck to you on your show.
WILLIAMS: It's nice to meet you guys. You're in a great place to be broadcasting from. We're glad that you're in Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we are. Thank you.
HEMMER: You're a good man.
O'BRIEN: You bet.
HEMMER: John Williams from WGN Radio. Thanks, again.
WILLIAMS: My pleasure.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad?
O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at the weather now for the day ahead. Orelon Sidney is in for Chad Myers who is off. She's at CNN with the very latest for us. Good morning, again, Orelon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Orelon, thanks a lot -- Bill?
HEMMER: How would you like to dish out advice to thousands of readers every day? We kind of do. That's Amy Dickinson's job. We'll talk to her in a moment here in Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Plus, one of Chicago's native sons tells us where to go, what to do, what to eat while we're in the Windy City (INAUDIBLE). Chicago according to Jim Belushi just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The Field Museum here in Chicago boasts one of the best Egypt collections in the world. It features 23 mummies, and explains the embalming process as well. Even cats were mummified. That's, of course, because cats were sacred animals in ancient Egypt -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Good history there.
Here in Chicago, Jim Belushi does a sitcom that's called "According to Jim." Well, they tape it actually in Hollywood, but Jim Belushi is one of the best-known folks you'll find in this entire city. The dos and don'ts according to Jim, this morning from L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM BELUSHI, ACTOR: Bill, Soledad, got to tell you, Chicago, you got to go to the Second City. You got to go to The House of Blues. You got go to Portillos (ph) for hot dogs, Mr. Beef for beef, Wrigley Field. You've got to go to Wrigley Field, even if the Cubs aren't playing right now.
But the must-see for me when I go to Chicago is, of course, the beautiful lakefront, the park, Lincoln Park. The Million Dollar Mile there on Michigan Avenue. And of course, the Second City. I mean, Second City has been there since 1959, and spawned great talents, like my brother, John, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner.
The music scene is a great scene there. I mean, you can go to the House of Blues, which is right downtown, fabulous $27 million opera house juke joint for blues. And any kind of music. Chicago, let the blues, sweet home Chicago, that civilized living city.
Chicago's great for cinema. You know, I mean Mayor Daley, the original Mayor Daley, the father, didn't like films coming to Chicago, because he felt they always depicted Chicago as gangsters and a lot of crime and violence, and so he had a moratorium on film making. And then I was in one of the first movies that started there, was "Ordinary People."
And now Chicago is filled with great filming.
It's time for a drum solo.
This is the fourth season of "According to Jim," which takes place in Chicago, and we're very happy about that. "According Jim" takes place in Chicago, because Chicago has a lot to offer. I mean, there's a great personality of Chicago that we try to capture in a show. And being a bears fan, a Cubs fan, the great Mayor Daley and the great politics in Chicago. My life is out here now. I've been out here for 18 years. This is where my work is, but I love Chicago. Chicago is the coolest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Yes. And we know that too well now. Thank you, Jim, for that.
One of my favorites, the "Tribune" building in downtown Chicago. On the exterior, throughout the ground level, they have pieces of some of the greatest monuments on the planet embedded into the side on the street level, a must-see for anyone who comes to this great town.
Back downstairs now to Soledad with more there. O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. Still to come this morning, want to know it's like to replace a legend like Ann Landers? Ask Amy, Amy Dickinson. The "Chicago Tribune" new advice columnist will join us, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: AMERICAN MORNING attracts a varied audience. That's a family of raccoons outside the Field Museum. Looks like they didn't care for the last segment. They're headed over to the nearest trash bin to get a little lunch or something.
"Minding Your Business" with Andy Serwer. It's all about baseball and the stock markets. Some interesting numbers.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we're running them for you. Let's check out the Big Board, dip in back to New York City. Stocks are trading down this morning, and big, big earnings day. You can see here just down about seven points on the Dow. Not so bad. It's the biggest earnings day of the season.
eBay after the close last night, that's up five bucks. I think that's an all-time high, right around $97. AIG is very active. AT&T reporting a $7 billion loss, writeoffs, as it's exiting the consumer business. Merck has the Vioxx recall, SBC, Pfizer, and then after the bell, Microsoft. So a huge day for earnings there.
Let's talk about who you should root for in the World Series if you care about your stock portfolio. We ran it and tried to look at what happened when the Red Sox won the World Series, how did the stock market today? As it turns out, the Red Sox won the World Series a lot back in the early part of the 20th century. You can see here, they won five times.
CAFFERTY: 1915.
SERWER: That's the interesting point there. That is the biggest gain for the Dow in history, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Is that right?
SERWER: Is in 1915. Now the Astros have never won the World Series, so you can't run any numbers on them, but the Cardinals have. So let's look and see what happens when the Cardinals win the World Series? Well, you can see it's all across the board. But check out 1931 there, Jack, down 52 percent. That is the biggest drop in the history of the stock market for the Dow. So, and you can see here, here's some other -- the Cardinals have won eight times as a matter of fact.
CAFFERTY: So if you're long in this market, in other words, the translation is go, Red Sox.
SERWER: For all you Yankee fans out there, very disappointed, you should root for the Red Sox if you care about your stock portfolio, because stocks do better when the Red Sox win than the Cardinals. The Astros win, all bets are off, we don't know.
CAFFERTY: You were talking about the stock of Sinclair Broadcasting and how it went into the porcelain container after they announced plans to run this anti-Kerry film on their stations. They have since backed off of that. They are now going to include only a portion of that anti-Kerry program inside an hour-long program that runs tomorrow night on the Sinclair stations. Pressure from shareholders, sponsors, and they decided to retreat a little bit.
That's the question, though, in a race this tight, it is appropriate for Sinclair to be airing portions of such a highly partisan film.
We heard from C.R. in Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why do Democratic leaders encourage people to watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' but won't allow Sinclair to television to a documentary reliving the negative side of their own candidate? I think Americans should be allowed to see the other side of John Kerry, just like we saw the other side of George Bush."
Jerry in Church Point, Louisiana: "Did Michael Moore back out. Bush took the heat with Michael Moore movie, but sometimes making a big stink about something just makes it stink that much more."
And Jim in Burlington, Vermont, advises: "Check out the Field Museum again. There's a statue of Jack in there having dinner. It's in the neo-grouch section of the museum."
Very funny. Anyway we thank you for your participation in the QoD as we call it around here. And we'll have another one tomorrow, which will be our farewell appearance here in the big town.
Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
Well, believe it or not, it has been 15 months since Amy Dickinson became the new Ann Landers, replacing the legendary advice diva. Whether you clueless in Kalamazoo or confused in Columbus, it is clear that Amy is making quite a name for herself. Her column, "Ask Amy," appears in the "Chicago Trib." It's syndicated in newspapers around the country. She joins us this morning.
So your column today, you confess to something, some may find a tad shocking.
AMY DICKINSON, "ASK AMY": I know, it is. It's a shock. But, yes in today's column, I confess that I had a dream recently about Dr. Phil.
O'BRIEN: Can you see what kind of dream?
DICKINSON: Well, it wasn't a racy dream. It was kind of a therapy dream, but this was reacting to a question from a woman who said, I'm middle aged, I'm married, I'm happy, but I have this habit of developing crushes on people, and I just feel terrible about it. And so basically, I was saying to her that, you know, crushes are fine, like crushes are crushes, and they shouldn't crush you. But a fantasy can be a good thing to have.
O'BRIEN: Is that the type of letter you get? Is that typical? Or is there no typical letter that you're getting from you're fans?
DICKINSON: I actually feel like there is kind of a typical letter. They're usually about behavior. And you know, we're sitting here in this amazing setting, in front of Sue back here, and I really feel like, you know, as people we wake up in the morning, and we want to be better. And that's why people write to me, they want to change for the better. And if we weren't that way, we'd be like, you know, like Sue back there, you know, like gone.
O'BRIEN: You said when you were first telling people about how, 15 months ago when you started, and we were chatting about what you're concerned about, that you felt like there was this pressure, because, of course, Ann Landers was Ann Landers, and you had these huge pumps to fill, I think was the quote that we used at the time. How has it gone?
DICKINSON: It's gone great. You know, I feel like she went out ahead, and she just broke all this ground. She was really -- in her way, she was revolutionary. And she made it easy for somebody like me to talk about gay marriage, to talk about sex, to talk about, you know, everything from kind of etiquette to sexual behavior. She made it happen.
O'BRIEN: You moved here from Washington D.C. with your daughter.
DICKINSON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So what do you think is the greatest thing about being here in Chicago now?
DICKINSON: You know, before I moved here I got an article, "Bonnie Hunt's Chicago." Bonnie Hunt is my favorite actress, and she had a list of things that she loves to do -- hot dogs, Wrigley Field, she recommended, like, the nursing staff at northwestern where she was a nurse.
O'BRIEN: If you have to be in there, that's where you want to go.
DICKINSON: If you have to be in there. I've gone down the list, "Bonnie Hunt's Chicago."
O'BRIEN: Doing everything...
DICKINSON: Now it's Amy's Chicago.
O'BRIEN: Amy Dickinson, nice to have you.
DICKINSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Good luck in the not so new job. You're an old hand at it.
DICKINSON: I'm over it.
O'BRIEN: It's nice to have you, thanks.
Coming up on CNN this morning, there is a Lottery in New Jersey. But instead of millions of dollars, the lucky winners are going to get flu shots. "CNN LIVE TODAY" is in the Garden State to see how that's working out. That's coming up with Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez.
AMERICAN MORNING is back from Chicago in just a few moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Hey, tomorrow, Adler Planetarium Friday, closes out our week here. We'll talk to the director over there, a great location. Ebert and Roeper back with us, more talk about movies. And "Deep Dish Politics," twelve days and counting.
Before we go, Edith Chapin (ph), Dave Stett (ph), Mitch Walker (ph), great employees for CNN, running the bureau here, and doing a great job for us.
COLLINS: Excellent.
HEMMER: And everybody really out here, who...
CAFFERTY: Bulletin, the sun's out for the first time since we got here.
COLLINS: Yes, and our driver's over here, too.
O'BRIEN: Let's head it back to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez.
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