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American Morning
Red Sox Defeat Cardinals to Win World Series; Condition of Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat
Aired October 28, 2004 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: His health deteriorating. Now for the first time in nearly three years, will Yasser Arafat leave his compound in Ramallah?
Five days to go and the campaign is burning white hot. The candidates not letting up at all on missing Iraq explosives.
And a party 86 years in the making. The Boston Red Sox come home champions and obliterate their World Series curse on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
With just five days to go, we're following the presidential campaign this morning. The race, of course, exceedingly tight. We're going to talk about the campaign today with Jeff Greenfield about one part of the electorate that appears to have made up its mind. He's looking at rural voters and really the huge impact that they could have in this election.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, this could be the start of a really long weekend in Boston. The Red Sox returned home earlier today -- in fact, we saw it live last hour -- after wiping out the Cardinals in St. Louis, a team that had a great year, by the way. They won 105 games. But no match for Boston this year. They were swept four games to none, an 8-0 run going back to the Yankees series, four straight against New York, four straight against St. Louis.
Sorry about that.
The fans in Boston long time waiting for this one.
Jack's on me.
Eighty-six years. We don't have to talk about 1918 anymore. So a big day in Boston. We'll go back there in a few moments.
But just because we're here in New York, the Yankees love to rub it in, the "Post" says...
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
HEMMER: ... "About Time" and the "Daily News" says "See You in 2090."
CAFFERTY: That's terrific.
O'BRIEN: So bitter.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.
HEMMER: A tough town.
O'BRIEN: They can't just accept somebody else winning, you know what I mean?
CAFFERTY: You know, the Cardinals didn't -- it's like they didn't even show up.
HEMMER: Yes, you're exactly right.
CAFFERTY: I mean I watched from...
HEMMER: They have a great lineup.
CAFFERTY: ... about the fifth inning on, they were beat in the middle. I mean you could just see it on their faces. It's like they weren't, you know...
HEMMER: What a great offense, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Shut down.
CAFFERTY: All right...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the "Cafferty File" in less than an hour, Nicole Kidman talks about why she thinks it's perfectly fine to do a scene in a movie where she's naked in a bathtub with a 10-year-old boy.
HEMMER: Ho!
CAFFERTY: Imagine what that little boy had to tell his buddies at school.
And how sales of Halloween masks can predict who will be the next president. We're trying to keep it out of the gutter, but not very far. Just, you know...
HEMMER: Just a step or two.
CAFFERTY: I saw that sideways glance I got.
O'BRIEN: I didn't...
CAFFERTY: ... I got from the... O'BRIEN: Heidi, did I say anything? Did I do anything?
CAFFERTY: ... from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going just stay out of it.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm saying...
CAFFERTY: Well, she's -- I mean she is naked and they do a scene in this movie and she's naked in this tub with this...
O'BRIEN: They're actors.
CAFFERTY: What?
O'BRIEN: They're actors.
CAFFERTY: Well, they're naked actors in a bathtub and one of them is only 10 years old.
O'BRIEN: Moving now to our top stories this morning and Heidi Collins...
CAFFERTY: OK.
O'BRIEN: ... at the news desk.
COLLINS: Yes...
O'BRIEN: Heidi, save me, please.
COLLINS: Seriously, how am I supposed to get into this?
CAFFERTY: Go ahead. Come on in.
COLLINS: It's nice to see you, Cafferty.
We want to get to the news now this morning. We do, indeed.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may leave his compound for the first time in almost three years. The Israeli Defense Ministry has given its permission to transfer Arafat to a hospital in Ramallah. It is not clear how serious his condition is at this hour, but we will have a live report outside Arafat's compound coming up just about 10 minutes from now.
In Iraq, sources say insurgents targeted a military convoy earlier this morning, possibly setting off a car bomb. A U.S. soldier was killed. Two others are wounded.
And Margaret Hassan again pleading for her life. Hassan was abducted in Baghdad last week. A new videotape of her was aired yesterday on terror Arab language network Al Jazeera.
And in France, there is still no claim of responsibility this hour for a small explosion in the city of Bordeaux. The blast broke windows and caused minor structural damage last night. Another suspicious package was found near the scene. A bomb squad was called in to interesting. There were no reports, though, of any injuries.
Back now over to Bill and Soledad.
HEMMER: All right, good deal.
Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: And more on the Sox.
HEMMER: Done.
We're going to get to Boston right now this morning. The world champion Red Sox making their way back to Beantown. The Sox broke the curse of the Bambino from 1920, swept the Cardinals four games to nothing last night, the first World Series since 1918. And now the Red Sox say they can play in Yankee Stadium next year and not hear the chants of "1918! 1918!"
Here's Alina Cho outside Fenway Park this morning.
The sun is up there.
Alina -- good morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it is a chilly morning, Bill.
Good morning to you.
You know, Red Sox fans have wanted 86 years for a World Series title. We knew these fans were loyal. We found out just how loyal this morning. Many of them braved the chilly temperatures, came out to Fenway Park to welcome home their blvd team. Star pitcher Pedro Martinez at one point was even hanging out of his car, giving fans the number one sign. And then the crowd went wild.
This is a celebration that has not stopped since last night. By the thousands, Red Sox fans poured out of bars and into the streets, chanting, yelling, honking, screaming. You know, the Red Sox have accomplished what no one thought they could, winning eight straight games in the post-season, clinching the World Series title in a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The curse of the Bambino has been lifted, but Red Sox Coach Terry Francona says curse? What curse?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TERRY FRANCONA, RED SOX MANAGER: I didn't believe in it. I wasn't around then. Being world champions is by far the best. We don't -- I didn't do this for any other reason, just, you know, you can't reverse what was a long time ago.
(END VIDEO TAPE) CHO: You know, world champion T-shirts are already out, as you might expect, as is a Wheaties box, we're told. The celebration is not over yet, not by a long shot. The city is planning a big parade and the Red Sox, incidentally, have won six World Series titles now, Bill. That makes them the third most successful team in baseball history after only the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, two teams they defeated in dramatic fashion this year -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed, you're right. And the Patriots in the NFL, 21 straight games, too. Boston's hot.
CHO: That's right.
HEMMER: Alina, thanks.
Alina Cho at Fenway.
We'll get fan reaction again a bit later this hour.
Now to Soledad with more.
O'BRIEN: Just five days until the election. Both candidates are blazing through battleground states. Yesterday, Senator John Kerry campaigned in swing states, including Minnesota, where he again hammered the president over those missing explosives in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we're seeing is a White House that is dodging and bobbing and weaving in their usual efforts to avoid responsibility, just as they've done every step of the way in our involvement in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: President Bush, on the stump yesterday, broke his two day silence over the missing explosives and he says he's not to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now the senator is making wild charges about missing explosives when his top foreign policy adviser admits, "We do not know the facts." Think about that. The senator is denigrating the action of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Today on the campaign trail, Senator Kerry is on Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. And the president campaigns in Michigan, Ohio and in Pennsylvania.
Well, both candidates have been busy courting voters in America's heartland, where there has been a shift in the political landscape. Rural and small town voters are leaning Republican these days.
So how significant might that be in this year's election?
Let's get right to senior analyst Jeff Greenfield for some thoughts on that.
Why is this significant?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, you have to see the size of the shift. As recently as 1996, Bill Clinton ran just a couple of points behind Bob Dole in rural and small town America. But back in 2000, Bush beat Al Gore in those regions by more than 20 points. That's why he won West Virginia and Ohio and Missouri and, thus, the White House. And back in 2000, Bush almost won Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Those were states that Michael Dukakis, one of the weaker of Democratic candidates, carried in 1988, along with West Virginia.
Now, Kerry is either even or behind even in all of those states and the shift in the rural and small town vote is the key to the vulnerability there for Kerry.
O'BRIEN: So obviously that leads us right into well, why is this happening?
GREENFIELD: I think overwhelmingly it seems to be a question of values. These are more traditional communities when it comes to all kinds of matters -- abortion, prayer in public schools, the role of faith in public life, gay marriage, as well as an issue like gun ownership. And it tracks this other really remarkable shift in American politics. Until relatively recently, secular and religious parts of America more or less voted the same way. But in 2000, the biggest clue to vote was religiosity. The more often a voter attended church, the more likely that voter was to go with Bush. Those who rarely attended went big for Gore. And polls suggest we're going to see that same pattern this year.
O'BRIEN: So if you're going to see the same pattern this year and you've listed all the factors, I mean what does a Democratic candidate like Senator Kerry do, certainly five days out of the election?
GREENFIELD: Yes, well, in part that may explain why he put John Edwards on the ticket. It also explains why Kerry was conspicuously hunting in Boardman, Ohio a week ago today.
More fundamentally, there's not much Kerry can do except to make sure that his vote in the cities and in some of the suburbs of these states turns out. There's one other factor, at least one, that I ran across in Missouri, which is more heavily rural than other battleground states and a state that Kerry more or less conceded to Bush, but where polls now show the race tightening. The Iraq war, and particularly its execution, has turned off some rural culturally conservative voters. And that's one reason why two recent Missouri polls suggested that that race looks much closer than even either campaign thought it would be so.
O'BRIEN: Does the rural, small town theory hold true for Hawaii, which was for a long time a Democratic stronghold? Now it seems to be neck and neck.
GREENFIELD: No. I don't like to, I don't have the unified field theory of everything. I think Hawaii, first of all, that's weird. Hawaii, except for Reagan and Nixon...
O'BRIEN: That's the theory that it's weird.
GREENFIELD: ... in '72, Hawaii is as blue a state as there is. But remember two years ago it elected its first Republican governor, Linda Lingle, in more than 40 years.
O'BRIEN: And she's popular.
GREENFIELD: She's very popular. There are more, there are new arrivals in Hawaii that have changed the demographics of it, more entrepreneurial. And the Democrats took it for granted. And now they've sort of, they and their analysts are trying to put some ads in there, because even though that's not that many electoral votes -- I think it's four...
O'BRIEN: It could be enough.
GREENFIELD: That -- it was enough last time.
O'BRIEN: Everyone could be enough.
GREENFIELD: I may be going out to Hawaii for the last few days, actually, to cover this one.
O'BRIEN: And I'm happy to come, too, as your assistant.
GREENFIELD: The whole AMERICAN MORNING crew should be out there in Oahu.
O'BRIEN: Jeff's coffee fetcher in Oahu.
GREENFIELD: OK.
O'BRIEN: Think of me.
Thanks, Jeff.
You can also trust CNN on election night for complete minute by minute results of the presidential election. Obviously we'll be covering that live around the clock -- Bill.
HEMMER: Carry your laptop.
Let's get overseas now.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said to be seriously ill today, his condition being evaluated by doctors by the hour.
John Vause live in Ramallah outside the compound there.
John -- hello. What's the latest?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
A short time ago, I had a one on one conversation with one of Arafat's closest advisers, Nabil Abu Ruddeineh. He told me that right now doctors from Jordan, the same doctors who were here about this time last year, who carried out blood tests on Yasser Arafat, are now examining the Palestinian leader. The doctors from Egypt have arrived in Tel Aviv. They're expected to be here at Moqata within the next 20 minutes or so.
Now, in the next few hours, the doctors from Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and also the Palestinian doctors will sit down and decide just what to do with the Palestinian leader. Should he be moved from the compound to a hospital here in Ramallah? Should they move him to a hospital somewhere else, in Egypt or Jordan, or possibly Israel?
Now, the Israeli Defense Ministry has confirmed that they have received a request from the Palestinians to move Yasser Arafat to a hospital here in Ramallah and permission has been given for that. But the problem that the doctors have, I've been told, is they simply cannot pinpoint what is wrong with Yasser Arafat. They've run a battery of tests for everything from cancer, those kind of illnesses. They can't find anything wrong with him.
So they will sit down in the coming hours, try and work out the best facility to try and treat him under their prognosis, which they'll decide in the coming hours. But we're told that, for example, Arafat's blood pressure is good, 120 over 85. But Abu Ruddeineh told me that the Palestinian leader is weak. He is exhausted. He has lost weight. And what they're doing now is they're limiting Arafat's contact with people around him, limiting it to just those medical teams.
We're told that the prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, the former prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a senior figure from the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Dahlan, are now inside the compound, but they're not meeting with Arafat. They're being held in a room above. A lot of theories about what's wrong with Yasser Arafat, everything from colon cancer to some kind of blood disease. Israel speculating that possibly he even suffered a stroke. But it seems, Bill, that no one knows just what is causing the Palestinian leader to be such an ill man -- Bill.
HEMMER: John Vause outside the compound there in Ramallah.
Thanks for that, John.
We'll be in touch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Have a chance to see this? The stunning display in the night sky as the Earth's shadow moved across the moon, giving star gazers a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Take a look at this time lapse footage. It shows the moon during the course of the eclipse overnight. It began at 9:14 p.m. Eastern time when the shadow of the Earth began to cover the moon. At 10:23 p.m., the entire moon was obscured. The eclipse ended at 12:54 a.m., Eastern time again. The next total lunar eclipse will be in 2007, if you missed this one. It looked spectacular.
HEMMER: Thank goodness for videotape.
O'BRIEN: I know because...
HEMMER: I wasn't up at midnight. Were you?
O'BRIEN: Me neither, no. Well, well asleep by then. But boy, that looks great.
Time to check in on the weather now.
Rob Marciano is in for Chad Myers.
I know Rob watched it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what? I went to bed around 9:15, as well. In fact...
O'BRIEN: You're a meteorologist, for god's sake.
MARCIANO: Oh, I was watching the game and I...
O'BRIEN: Watching the game?
MARCIANO: Hey, you've seen one eclipse, you've seen them all.
O'BRIEN: Oh. Oh.
MARCIANO: Right? Plus you guys sped it up for me. I mean that's just 30 seconds. What is, you know, I'm trying to manage my time better.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Soledad, I promise in two and a half years I will stay up and watch the next lunar eclipse.
O'BRIEN: Rob, Rob, Rob. That's just sad.
HEMMER: We'll get videotape.
O'BRIEN: But you're right, the videotape is excellent.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I couldn't stay up to see it either.
Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
HEMMER: In a moment here, what happens if you go to the polls on Tuesday and you find out you cannot vote? Jeffrey Toobin talks about the scenarios that may create a rather substantial mess on November 2.
O'BRIEN: Also, some states are further narrowing a list of who can get flu shots. But it does vary from state to state. We're going to have the latest on that.
HEMMER: Also from Iraq today, is the Iraqi insurgency growing in numbers or is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi actually losing power? Which scenario is true? We'll try and find out in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: U.S. forces are launching a precision strike this morning on what's being called a meeting site for terrorists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. That's in Falluja. We're going on terrorist trail to Iraq today, where the insurgent group led by Zarqawi claims credit for the massacre of 48 Iraqi National Guardsmen this week; also, the kidnapping of a Japanese national just recently arriving in the country of Iraq. The group also declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden and changed its name to the Base of Jihad.
What does all this mean?
Our terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, is back with us today from Washington.
And, Peter -- good morning.
Why associate themselves now with bin Laden in such a direct fashion, do you believe?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's an interesting question. You know, Zarqawi's group has long been independent and even competitive with bin Laden. He set up a training camp in western Afghanistan that was hundreds of miles from al Qaeda's training camps before 9/11. And we've had testimony indicating in a trial in Germany that Zarqawi was competing for resources and for members with bin Laden. So it's interesting that now he's joining forces with bin Laden.
Also, the Bush administration in the past has said what the primary kind of piece of evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda is Zarqawi and, in fact, the fact that now bin Laden -- that Zarqawi is now, for the first time, swearing allegiance to bin Laden indicates, I think, that this relationship between bin Laden and Zarqawi, this strong relationship, is something that's new.
Why he's doing it right now, frankly, I have no idea. Maybe he's -- maybe it is a sign of desperation, as the Iraqi government has said. Maybe he's decided that he wants to plug into the larger al Qaeda network, he needs more fighters from around the Muslim world.
HEMMER: You almost got there in that answer there, which takes me to my next question.
What kind of impact would this have, if at all, in the U.S. or the war on terror, if this association is declared? BERGEN: That's a very interesting question. Clearly, Zarqawi's group is quite effective in the Middle East. There's no indication, very little indication of his group having any role in attacks outside the Middle East. There have been some suggestions that his group may have had some sort of role in the Madrid attacks back in March and also there was a terrorism trial in Germany involving members of his group.
So if, in fact, he can plug into the wider al Qaeda network, that might, indeed, be more problematic for people here right in the United States if his fighters and his determined cadre somehow became part of the larger al Qaeda organization.
HEMMER: How do we measure or how do we weigh, based on the evidence that we're getting out of Iraq about these two competing factions, one that says Zarqawi is in decline, and the other, a front page story today, that suggests that the insurgency is actually growing in numbers? Based on what we know, Peter, can we go one direction or the other to believe what is true? BERGEN: Well, I think we can just look at the number of attacks that have happened, you know, since the dissolution of the CPA. You've got, you know, the attacks have been coming more and more strong. There have been a larger number of attacks. The insurgency seems to have become much stronger. Just today we've seen a story about other towns, other than Falluja, in Iraq, where, you know, the Iraqi government is losing control. And basically you've got three or four cities in western Iraq, which is essentially no go areas for the United States and for the Iraqi government and also which are being run in a sort of Taliban style.
So I think the insurgency, just on the facts, is certainly not in decline. It seems to be rather on the rise.
HEMMER: One more thought here. Don Sheppard, military analyst, retired from the Air Force, on with us earlier in the week, and other analysts have said the same thing on the military side, in order for Zarqawi to be rooted out, it would take an Iraqi to do it.
Do you agree with that? BERGEN: I think that's true. I mean given the fact that Falluja is a sort of no go zone for the United States, at this point the only person likely to have that kind of information is an Iraqi or somebody inside Zarqawi's inner circle that would have real time information leading to his whereabouts.
HEMMER: Thank you, Peter. BERGEN: OK.
HEMMER: Peter Bergen down in D.C.
All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, where are we heading now?
A man under arrest this morning accused of trying to run down U.S. Representative Katherine Harris with his car. Harris, of course, was Florida's secretary of state and the overseer of the Florida recount four years ago. The driver of the car claims that Harris and a group of her supporters were blocking traffic on Tuesday in Sarasota. But police say 46-year-old Barry Seltzer sped toward Harris, swerved then at the last second, then drove off. They were able to track his license plate number. He was arrested yesterday. No one was injured, but apparently it was a very close call.
HEMMER: Very much so.
O'BRIEN: That must be pretty nerve wracking.
Still to come, Boston better throw a pretty good party. They've only had about a century to get ready for it. The Red Sox return to the top, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Boston's World Series win wasn't the only baseball shocker yesterday. Barry Bonds' 700th home run ball, hit back in September, sold for just over $804,000. Wow! That was the winning bid at the end of a 10 day online auction.
HEMMER: Eight hundred grand?
O'BRIEN: Four thousand dollars.
HEMMER: Well, wait until they get to 756, when he passes Babe Ruth. Ooh, sorry, Henry Aaron, 755. Big stuff. Big bucks.
What are you guys looking at over there?
CAFFERTY: We're just -- we're...
HEMMER: I'm finished.
CAFFERTY: We're just enthralled.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm enthralled.
CAFFERTY: ... by your grasp of that which is inconsequential.
O'BRIEN: I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: What else do you want to know?
O'BRIEN: No. I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: Thank you, baby.
CAFFERTY: She's enthralled and I'm not.
HEMMER: Toobin, what about you?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: All right.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: You just stay over in the dark over there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Be with you in a moment.
CAFFERTY: It's five days before the election and the candidates are talking about little else than those missing explosives in Iraq. The bottom line is that, yes, there are 380 tons of explosives missing from this particular site, as reported in the "New York Times." Nobody knows where they are. The issue now has come to monopolize the campaign. Both sides fighting to get control, use the story to their advantage.
So the question we're asking you this morning is are the missing explosives what the candidates ought to be talking about five days before we go in and vote?
Derrick in Arlington, Texas says: "Yes, they ought to be talking about this. The explosives are missing on Bush's watch and his war. He was told the weapons were there. He didn't secure the facility. He's responsible. He's the war time president. Yada yada yada."
Chuck in Bridgeton, Maine: "For about five minutes, yes. But I would rather be cramming on the candidates' plans concerning the complexities of the economic future of this country -- spending, budgets, taxes, oil prices, jobs. These boring issues are what will determine how we live in the decades to come."
Elaine in Bay City, Michigan: "Should we be talking about the missing weapons in Iraq five days before the election? Well, let's see. This happened a year and a half ago. And did we know about it? No. Some 1,100 soldiers have died in Iraq. Untold thousands of others have lost their limbs. Where did the weapons come from that have caused these injuries? Does it matter what happened to these weapons? What do you think?"
And Rick in Windsor, Ontario: "With all the wishy washy rhetoric flowing back and forth in this campaign, I say why not? When all is screamed and done, this will go down in history as the most disgraceful display of politicking ever. It's all so very unpresidential, in my opinion."
O'BRIEN: Do you think this has been the most disgraceful display of politicking?
CAFFERTY: It's up near the top.
O'BRIEN: It's up there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But worst ever?
CAFFERTY: It's been pretty skanky, yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: The question, though, is the time line, whether they were gone before the war started or whether they disappeared after the U.S. went into Baghdad.
CAFFERTY: Well, I think, I don't know. Five days before we vote, there's other stuff on the table. Yes, this is an issue. But it's over. They're gone. We don't know where they are. Let's figure out what we're going to do, you know, going forward. You can always look in the rearview mirror and see something, but maybe it -- maybe we ought to be watching the road.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: A break here.
In a moment, if you're registered to vote, you may not be able to on Tuesday. We'll figure this out with Jeff Toobin in a moment here.
What could keep you from casting your ballot?
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired October 28, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: His health deteriorating. Now for the first time in nearly three years, will Yasser Arafat leave his compound in Ramallah?
Five days to go and the campaign is burning white hot. The candidates not letting up at all on missing Iraq explosives.
And a party 86 years in the making. The Boston Red Sox come home champions and obliterate their World Series curse on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
With just five days to go, we're following the presidential campaign this morning. The race, of course, exceedingly tight. We're going to talk about the campaign today with Jeff Greenfield about one part of the electorate that appears to have made up its mind. He's looking at rural voters and really the huge impact that they could have in this election.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, this could be the start of a really long weekend in Boston. The Red Sox returned home earlier today -- in fact, we saw it live last hour -- after wiping out the Cardinals in St. Louis, a team that had a great year, by the way. They won 105 games. But no match for Boston this year. They were swept four games to none, an 8-0 run going back to the Yankees series, four straight against New York, four straight against St. Louis.
Sorry about that.
The fans in Boston long time waiting for this one.
Jack's on me.
Eighty-six years. We don't have to talk about 1918 anymore. So a big day in Boston. We'll go back there in a few moments.
But just because we're here in New York, the Yankees love to rub it in, the "Post" says...
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
HEMMER: ... "About Time" and the "Daily News" says "See You in 2090."
CAFFERTY: That's terrific.
O'BRIEN: So bitter.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes.
HEMMER: A tough town.
O'BRIEN: They can't just accept somebody else winning, you know what I mean?
CAFFERTY: You know, the Cardinals didn't -- it's like they didn't even show up.
HEMMER: Yes, you're exactly right.
CAFFERTY: I mean I watched from...
HEMMER: They have a great lineup.
CAFFERTY: ... about the fifth inning on, they were beat in the middle. I mean you could just see it on their faces. It's like they weren't, you know...
HEMMER: What a great offense, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Shut down.
CAFFERTY: All right...
O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: Coming up in the "Cafferty File" in less than an hour, Nicole Kidman talks about why she thinks it's perfectly fine to do a scene in a movie where she's naked in a bathtub with a 10-year-old boy.
HEMMER: Ho!
CAFFERTY: Imagine what that little boy had to tell his buddies at school.
And how sales of Halloween masks can predict who will be the next president. We're trying to keep it out of the gutter, but not very far. Just, you know...
HEMMER: Just a step or two.
CAFFERTY: I saw that sideways glance I got.
O'BRIEN: I didn't...
CAFFERTY: ... I got from the... O'BRIEN: Heidi, did I say anything? Did I do anything?
CAFFERTY: ... from the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm going just stay out of it.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm saying...
CAFFERTY: Well, she's -- I mean she is naked and they do a scene in this movie and she's naked in this tub with this...
O'BRIEN: They're actors.
CAFFERTY: What?
O'BRIEN: They're actors.
CAFFERTY: Well, they're naked actors in a bathtub and one of them is only 10 years old.
O'BRIEN: Moving now to our top stories this morning and Heidi Collins...
CAFFERTY: OK.
O'BRIEN: ... at the news desk.
COLLINS: Yes...
O'BRIEN: Heidi, save me, please.
COLLINS: Seriously, how am I supposed to get into this?
CAFFERTY: Go ahead. Come on in.
COLLINS: It's nice to see you, Cafferty.
We want to get to the news now this morning. We do, indeed.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may leave his compound for the first time in almost three years. The Israeli Defense Ministry has given its permission to transfer Arafat to a hospital in Ramallah. It is not clear how serious his condition is at this hour, but we will have a live report outside Arafat's compound coming up just about 10 minutes from now.
In Iraq, sources say insurgents targeted a military convoy earlier this morning, possibly setting off a car bomb. A U.S. soldier was killed. Two others are wounded.
And Margaret Hassan again pleading for her life. Hassan was abducted in Baghdad last week. A new videotape of her was aired yesterday on terror Arab language network Al Jazeera.
And in France, there is still no claim of responsibility this hour for a small explosion in the city of Bordeaux. The blast broke windows and caused minor structural damage last night. Another suspicious package was found near the scene. A bomb squad was called in to interesting. There were no reports, though, of any injuries.
Back now over to Bill and Soledad.
HEMMER: All right, good deal.
Thank you, Heidi.
COLLINS: And more on the Sox.
HEMMER: Done.
We're going to get to Boston right now this morning. The world champion Red Sox making their way back to Beantown. The Sox broke the curse of the Bambino from 1920, swept the Cardinals four games to nothing last night, the first World Series since 1918. And now the Red Sox say they can play in Yankee Stadium next year and not hear the chants of "1918! 1918!"
Here's Alina Cho outside Fenway Park this morning.
The sun is up there.
Alina -- good morning.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it is a chilly morning, Bill.
Good morning to you.
You know, Red Sox fans have wanted 86 years for a World Series title. We knew these fans were loyal. We found out just how loyal this morning. Many of them braved the chilly temperatures, came out to Fenway Park to welcome home their blvd team. Star pitcher Pedro Martinez at one point was even hanging out of his car, giving fans the number one sign. And then the crowd went wild.
This is a celebration that has not stopped since last night. By the thousands, Red Sox fans poured out of bars and into the streets, chanting, yelling, honking, screaming. You know, the Red Sox have accomplished what no one thought they could, winning eight straight games in the post-season, clinching the World Series title in a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The curse of the Bambino has been lifted, but Red Sox Coach Terry Francona says curse? What curse?
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TERRY FRANCONA, RED SOX MANAGER: I didn't believe in it. I wasn't around then. Being world champions is by far the best. We don't -- I didn't do this for any other reason, just, you know, you can't reverse what was a long time ago.
(END VIDEO TAPE) CHO: You know, world champion T-shirts are already out, as you might expect, as is a Wheaties box, we're told. The celebration is not over yet, not by a long shot. The city is planning a big parade and the Red Sox, incidentally, have won six World Series titles now, Bill. That makes them the third most successful team in baseball history after only the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals, two teams they defeated in dramatic fashion this year -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed, you're right. And the Patriots in the NFL, 21 straight games, too. Boston's hot.
CHO: That's right.
HEMMER: Alina, thanks.
Alina Cho at Fenway.
We'll get fan reaction again a bit later this hour.
Now to Soledad with more.
O'BRIEN: Just five days until the election. Both candidates are blazing through battleground states. Yesterday, Senator John Kerry campaigned in swing states, including Minnesota, where he again hammered the president over those missing explosives in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What we're seeing is a White House that is dodging and bobbing and weaving in their usual efforts to avoid responsibility, just as they've done every step of the way in our involvement in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: President Bush, on the stump yesterday, broke his two day silence over the missing explosives and he says he's not to blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now the senator is making wild charges about missing explosives when his top foreign policy adviser admits, "We do not know the facts." Think about that. The senator is denigrating the action of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Today on the campaign trail, Senator Kerry is on Ohio, Wisconsin and Florida. And the president campaigns in Michigan, Ohio and in Pennsylvania.
Well, both candidates have been busy courting voters in America's heartland, where there has been a shift in the political landscape. Rural and small town voters are leaning Republican these days.
So how significant might that be in this year's election?
Let's get right to senior analyst Jeff Greenfield for some thoughts on that.
Why is this significant?
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, you have to see the size of the shift. As recently as 1996, Bill Clinton ran just a couple of points behind Bob Dole in rural and small town America. But back in 2000, Bush beat Al Gore in those regions by more than 20 points. That's why he won West Virginia and Ohio and Missouri and, thus, the White House. And back in 2000, Bush almost won Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Those were states that Michael Dukakis, one of the weaker of Democratic candidates, carried in 1988, along with West Virginia.
Now, Kerry is either even or behind even in all of those states and the shift in the rural and small town vote is the key to the vulnerability there for Kerry.
O'BRIEN: So obviously that leads us right into well, why is this happening?
GREENFIELD: I think overwhelmingly it seems to be a question of values. These are more traditional communities when it comes to all kinds of matters -- abortion, prayer in public schools, the role of faith in public life, gay marriage, as well as an issue like gun ownership. And it tracks this other really remarkable shift in American politics. Until relatively recently, secular and religious parts of America more or less voted the same way. But in 2000, the biggest clue to vote was religiosity. The more often a voter attended church, the more likely that voter was to go with Bush. Those who rarely attended went big for Gore. And polls suggest we're going to see that same pattern this year.
O'BRIEN: So if you're going to see the same pattern this year and you've listed all the factors, I mean what does a Democratic candidate like Senator Kerry do, certainly five days out of the election?
GREENFIELD: Yes, well, in part that may explain why he put John Edwards on the ticket. It also explains why Kerry was conspicuously hunting in Boardman, Ohio a week ago today.
More fundamentally, there's not much Kerry can do except to make sure that his vote in the cities and in some of the suburbs of these states turns out. There's one other factor, at least one, that I ran across in Missouri, which is more heavily rural than other battleground states and a state that Kerry more or less conceded to Bush, but where polls now show the race tightening. The Iraq war, and particularly its execution, has turned off some rural culturally conservative voters. And that's one reason why two recent Missouri polls suggested that that race looks much closer than even either campaign thought it would be so.
O'BRIEN: Does the rural, small town theory hold true for Hawaii, which was for a long time a Democratic stronghold? Now it seems to be neck and neck.
GREENFIELD: No. I don't like to, I don't have the unified field theory of everything. I think Hawaii, first of all, that's weird. Hawaii, except for Reagan and Nixon...
O'BRIEN: That's the theory that it's weird.
GREENFIELD: ... in '72, Hawaii is as blue a state as there is. But remember two years ago it elected its first Republican governor, Linda Lingle, in more than 40 years.
O'BRIEN: And she's popular.
GREENFIELD: She's very popular. There are more, there are new arrivals in Hawaii that have changed the demographics of it, more entrepreneurial. And the Democrats took it for granted. And now they've sort of, they and their analysts are trying to put some ads in there, because even though that's not that many electoral votes -- I think it's four...
O'BRIEN: It could be enough.
GREENFIELD: That -- it was enough last time.
O'BRIEN: Everyone could be enough.
GREENFIELD: I may be going out to Hawaii for the last few days, actually, to cover this one.
O'BRIEN: And I'm happy to come, too, as your assistant.
GREENFIELD: The whole AMERICAN MORNING crew should be out there in Oahu.
O'BRIEN: Jeff's coffee fetcher in Oahu.
GREENFIELD: OK.
O'BRIEN: Think of me.
Thanks, Jeff.
You can also trust CNN on election night for complete minute by minute results of the presidential election. Obviously we'll be covering that live around the clock -- Bill.
HEMMER: Carry your laptop.
Let's get overseas now.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said to be seriously ill today, his condition being evaluated by doctors by the hour.
John Vause live in Ramallah outside the compound there.
John -- hello. What's the latest?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
A short time ago, I had a one on one conversation with one of Arafat's closest advisers, Nabil Abu Ruddeineh. He told me that right now doctors from Jordan, the same doctors who were here about this time last year, who carried out blood tests on Yasser Arafat, are now examining the Palestinian leader. The doctors from Egypt have arrived in Tel Aviv. They're expected to be here at Moqata within the next 20 minutes or so.
Now, in the next few hours, the doctors from Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia and also the Palestinian doctors will sit down and decide just what to do with the Palestinian leader. Should he be moved from the compound to a hospital here in Ramallah? Should they move him to a hospital somewhere else, in Egypt or Jordan, or possibly Israel?
Now, the Israeli Defense Ministry has confirmed that they have received a request from the Palestinians to move Yasser Arafat to a hospital here in Ramallah and permission has been given for that. But the problem that the doctors have, I've been told, is they simply cannot pinpoint what is wrong with Yasser Arafat. They've run a battery of tests for everything from cancer, those kind of illnesses. They can't find anything wrong with him.
So they will sit down in the coming hours, try and work out the best facility to try and treat him under their prognosis, which they'll decide in the coming hours. But we're told that, for example, Arafat's blood pressure is good, 120 over 85. But Abu Ruddeineh told me that the Palestinian leader is weak. He is exhausted. He has lost weight. And what they're doing now is they're limiting Arafat's contact with people around him, limiting it to just those medical teams.
We're told that the prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, the former prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, as well as a senior figure from the Gaza Strip, Mohammed Dahlan, are now inside the compound, but they're not meeting with Arafat. They're being held in a room above. A lot of theories about what's wrong with Yasser Arafat, everything from colon cancer to some kind of blood disease. Israel speculating that possibly he even suffered a stroke. But it seems, Bill, that no one knows just what is causing the Palestinian leader to be such an ill man -- Bill.
HEMMER: John Vause outside the compound there in Ramallah.
Thanks for that, John.
We'll be in touch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Have a chance to see this? The stunning display in the night sky as the Earth's shadow moved across the moon, giving star gazers a spectacular total lunar eclipse. Take a look at this time lapse footage. It shows the moon during the course of the eclipse overnight. It began at 9:14 p.m. Eastern time when the shadow of the Earth began to cover the moon. At 10:23 p.m., the entire moon was obscured. The eclipse ended at 12:54 a.m., Eastern time again. The next total lunar eclipse will be in 2007, if you missed this one. It looked spectacular.
HEMMER: Thank goodness for videotape.
O'BRIEN: I know because...
HEMMER: I wasn't up at midnight. Were you?
O'BRIEN: Me neither, no. Well, well asleep by then. But boy, that looks great.
Time to check in on the weather now.
Rob Marciano is in for Chad Myers.
I know Rob watched it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know what? I went to bed around 9:15, as well. In fact...
O'BRIEN: You're a meteorologist, for god's sake.
MARCIANO: Oh, I was watching the game and I...
O'BRIEN: Watching the game?
MARCIANO: Hey, you've seen one eclipse, you've seen them all.
O'BRIEN: Oh. Oh.
MARCIANO: Right? Plus you guys sped it up for me. I mean that's just 30 seconds. What is, you know, I'm trying to manage my time better.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Soledad, I promise in two and a half years I will stay up and watch the next lunar eclipse.
O'BRIEN: Rob, Rob, Rob. That's just sad.
HEMMER: We'll get videotape.
O'BRIEN: But you're right, the videotape is excellent.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I couldn't stay up to see it either.
Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
HEMMER: In a moment here, what happens if you go to the polls on Tuesday and you find out you cannot vote? Jeffrey Toobin talks about the scenarios that may create a rather substantial mess on November 2.
O'BRIEN: Also, some states are further narrowing a list of who can get flu shots. But it does vary from state to state. We're going to have the latest on that.
HEMMER: Also from Iraq today, is the Iraqi insurgency growing in numbers or is Abu Musab al-Zarqawi actually losing power? Which scenario is true? We'll try and find out in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: U.S. forces are launching a precision strike this morning on what's being called a meeting site for terrorists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. That's in Falluja. We're going on terrorist trail to Iraq today, where the insurgent group led by Zarqawi claims credit for the massacre of 48 Iraqi National Guardsmen this week; also, the kidnapping of a Japanese national just recently arriving in the country of Iraq. The group also declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden and changed its name to the Base of Jihad.
What does all this mean?
Our terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, is back with us today from Washington.
And, Peter -- good morning.
Why associate themselves now with bin Laden in such a direct fashion, do you believe?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's an interesting question. You know, Zarqawi's group has long been independent and even competitive with bin Laden. He set up a training camp in western Afghanistan that was hundreds of miles from al Qaeda's training camps before 9/11. And we've had testimony indicating in a trial in Germany that Zarqawi was competing for resources and for members with bin Laden. So it's interesting that now he's joining forces with bin Laden.
Also, the Bush administration in the past has said what the primary kind of piece of evidence linking Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda is Zarqawi and, in fact, the fact that now bin Laden -- that Zarqawi is now, for the first time, swearing allegiance to bin Laden indicates, I think, that this relationship between bin Laden and Zarqawi, this strong relationship, is something that's new.
Why he's doing it right now, frankly, I have no idea. Maybe he's -- maybe it is a sign of desperation, as the Iraqi government has said. Maybe he's decided that he wants to plug into the larger al Qaeda network, he needs more fighters from around the Muslim world.
HEMMER: You almost got there in that answer there, which takes me to my next question.
What kind of impact would this have, if at all, in the U.S. or the war on terror, if this association is declared? BERGEN: That's a very interesting question. Clearly, Zarqawi's group is quite effective in the Middle East. There's no indication, very little indication of his group having any role in attacks outside the Middle East. There have been some suggestions that his group may have had some sort of role in the Madrid attacks back in March and also there was a terrorism trial in Germany involving members of his group.
So if, in fact, he can plug into the wider al Qaeda network, that might, indeed, be more problematic for people here right in the United States if his fighters and his determined cadre somehow became part of the larger al Qaeda organization.
HEMMER: How do we measure or how do we weigh, based on the evidence that we're getting out of Iraq about these two competing factions, one that says Zarqawi is in decline, and the other, a front page story today, that suggests that the insurgency is actually growing in numbers? Based on what we know, Peter, can we go one direction or the other to believe what is true? BERGEN: Well, I think we can just look at the number of attacks that have happened, you know, since the dissolution of the CPA. You've got, you know, the attacks have been coming more and more strong. There have been a larger number of attacks. The insurgency seems to have become much stronger. Just today we've seen a story about other towns, other than Falluja, in Iraq, where, you know, the Iraqi government is losing control. And basically you've got three or four cities in western Iraq, which is essentially no go areas for the United States and for the Iraqi government and also which are being run in a sort of Taliban style.
So I think the insurgency, just on the facts, is certainly not in decline. It seems to be rather on the rise.
HEMMER: One more thought here. Don Sheppard, military analyst, retired from the Air Force, on with us earlier in the week, and other analysts have said the same thing on the military side, in order for Zarqawi to be rooted out, it would take an Iraqi to do it.
Do you agree with that? BERGEN: I think that's true. I mean given the fact that Falluja is a sort of no go zone for the United States, at this point the only person likely to have that kind of information is an Iraqi or somebody inside Zarqawi's inner circle that would have real time information leading to his whereabouts.
HEMMER: Thank you, Peter. BERGEN: OK.
HEMMER: Peter Bergen down in D.C.
All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, where are we heading now?
A man under arrest this morning accused of trying to run down U.S. Representative Katherine Harris with his car. Harris, of course, was Florida's secretary of state and the overseer of the Florida recount four years ago. The driver of the car claims that Harris and a group of her supporters were blocking traffic on Tuesday in Sarasota. But police say 46-year-old Barry Seltzer sped toward Harris, swerved then at the last second, then drove off. They were able to track his license plate number. He was arrested yesterday. No one was injured, but apparently it was a very close call.
HEMMER: Very much so.
O'BRIEN: That must be pretty nerve wracking.
Still to come, Boston better throw a pretty good party. They've only had about a century to get ready for it. The Red Sox return to the top, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Boston's World Series win wasn't the only baseball shocker yesterday. Barry Bonds' 700th home run ball, hit back in September, sold for just over $804,000. Wow! That was the winning bid at the end of a 10 day online auction.
HEMMER: Eight hundred grand?
O'BRIEN: Four thousand dollars.
HEMMER: Well, wait until they get to 756, when he passes Babe Ruth. Ooh, sorry, Henry Aaron, 755. Big stuff. Big bucks.
What are you guys looking at over there?
CAFFERTY: We're just -- we're...
HEMMER: I'm finished.
CAFFERTY: We're just enthralled.
O'BRIEN: No, I'm enthralled.
CAFFERTY: ... by your grasp of that which is inconsequential.
O'BRIEN: I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: What else do you want to know?
O'BRIEN: No. I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: Thank you, baby.
CAFFERTY: She's enthralled and I'm not.
HEMMER: Toobin, what about you?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm enthralled.
HEMMER: All right.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: You just stay over in the dark over there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Be with you in a moment.
CAFFERTY: It's five days before the election and the candidates are talking about little else than those missing explosives in Iraq. The bottom line is that, yes, there are 380 tons of explosives missing from this particular site, as reported in the "New York Times." Nobody knows where they are. The issue now has come to monopolize the campaign. Both sides fighting to get control, use the story to their advantage.
So the question we're asking you this morning is are the missing explosives what the candidates ought to be talking about five days before we go in and vote?
Derrick in Arlington, Texas says: "Yes, they ought to be talking about this. The explosives are missing on Bush's watch and his war. He was told the weapons were there. He didn't secure the facility. He's responsible. He's the war time president. Yada yada yada."
Chuck in Bridgeton, Maine: "For about five minutes, yes. But I would rather be cramming on the candidates' plans concerning the complexities of the economic future of this country -- spending, budgets, taxes, oil prices, jobs. These boring issues are what will determine how we live in the decades to come."
Elaine in Bay City, Michigan: "Should we be talking about the missing weapons in Iraq five days before the election? Well, let's see. This happened a year and a half ago. And did we know about it? No. Some 1,100 soldiers have died in Iraq. Untold thousands of others have lost their limbs. Where did the weapons come from that have caused these injuries? Does it matter what happened to these weapons? What do you think?"
And Rick in Windsor, Ontario: "With all the wishy washy rhetoric flowing back and forth in this campaign, I say why not? When all is screamed and done, this will go down in history as the most disgraceful display of politicking ever. It's all so very unpresidential, in my opinion."
O'BRIEN: Do you think this has been the most disgraceful display of politicking?
CAFFERTY: It's up near the top.
O'BRIEN: It's up there.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But worst ever?
CAFFERTY: It's been pretty skanky, yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
HEMMER: The question, though, is the time line, whether they were gone before the war started or whether they disappeared after the U.S. went into Baghdad.
CAFFERTY: Well, I think, I don't know. Five days before we vote, there's other stuff on the table. Yes, this is an issue. But it's over. They're gone. We don't know where they are. Let's figure out what we're going to do, you know, going forward. You can always look in the rearview mirror and see something, but maybe it -- maybe we ought to be watching the road.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: A break here.
In a moment, if you're registered to vote, you may not be able to on Tuesday. We'll figure this out with Jeff Toobin in a moment here.
What could keep you from casting your ballot?
Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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