Return to Transcripts main page
The Situation Room
Kerry Refuses to Apologize for Statements Republicans Called Offensive to Servicemen; Senate Races Remain Tight in Missouri and Tennessee; Jim Webb Shows Slight Lead In New Poll For Virginia Senate Race; North Korea Returns to the Table; Iraq Death Toll Mounts
Aired October 31, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much Susan.
And to our viewers, you're in the SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories.
Happening now, battleground snapshots one week before America votes. We have brand new poll numbers on some of the closest and most critical Senate showdowns. Are key Republicans on the ropes, or are they climbing back?
Also this hour, angry new fire over Iraq. At odds, two Vietnam War heroes, Senate colleagues and possible presidential contenders. John McCain wants an apology. John Kerry is downright livid.
And an October surprise the commander-in-chief is feeling good about. North Korea says it will return to nuclear talks. Is that giving Mr. Bush and his party any pre-election relief?
I'm Wolf Blitzer at CNN Election Headquarters in New York. You're in the SITUATION ROOM.
One week before the midterm elections, there's a red hot new war of words under way over Iraq. Senator John Kerry standing by his latest attack on the president's policy, a remark that some Republicans portraying as a slap at American troops.
Here's the comment that set off the fireworks. Listen to what Kerry said at a California college yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Those words prompted the White House Press Secretary Tony Snow and Republican Senator John McCain, among others, to demand an apology from Senator Kerry. Just a short while ago, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee responded by venting anger and disgust at Mr. Bush and his party.
Let's bring in our Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Kerry camp has been scrambling all day long to beat back criticism of Senator Kerry. One of his aides, telling CNN that Senator Kerry, quote, "mangled his prepared comments" yesterday, speaking in Pasadena, that in fact, the senator meant to criticize President Bush and wasn't criticizing U.S. troops.
Now, just a short while ago, as you said, a visibly angry John Kerry fired back at his critics. He went on the offense, calling his critics, quote, "crazy" to think that he, as a war veteran, would be criticizing U.S. troops in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy. If anyone owes our troops in the field an apology, it is the president and his failed team, and a Republican majority of the Congress that has been willing to stamp -- rubber stamp policies that have done injury to our troops and to their families.
My statement yesterday, and the White House knows this full well, was a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, the sparks have been flying on this story since last night, first with conservative bloggers, then with radio talk show hosts. And then as the day wore on, we saw the White House spokesman, Tony Snow, chime in, as well as Senator John McCain, who called on Senator Kerry to apologize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The statement in itself is incredibly offensive to those brave young Americans who have volunteered, whether they have high school diplomas or graduate degrees, and they take their duties seriously to our country and risk their lives.
So all he has to do is apologize and I think that we can move on. But the words speak for themselves here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, Senator Kerry responded that John McCain should be asking for an apology from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and from the White House for not sending enough troops to Iraq. He also took a swipe at Tony Snow, saying that he's not going to be lectured, in his words, "by a stuffed suit standing behind a microphone". Now, Wolf, this Republican criticism of John Kerry doesn't appear to be ready to let up any time soon, with elections just a week away. We've learned now that President Bush is going to chime in, in about an hour -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And we'll stand by for those remarks, Andrea.
Thank you very much.
In the next hour, by the way, as Andrea said, the president will be responding to Senator Kerry's remarks about Iraq during a campaign stop in Georgia. Our Elaine Quijano is on the campaign trail covering the president. We're going to bring you his remarks as soon as they come in. This issue clearly escalating, even as we speak right now. Much more on this debate coming up.
Also, one week from now, Americans will be at the polls and many candidates will be biting their nails. The stakes and the suspense are sky high, with control of the House of Representatives and the Senate on the line.
But as we'll keep reminding you over the next seven days, the Senate power struggle will ultimately be decided in only a handful of states. We have brand new CNN poll numbers from five battlegrounds: Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee and Missouri.
Here's the big picture. Democrats are ahead in three of those states. The Republican leads in one and another state, Missouri, right now dead even.
Our congressional correspondent Dana Bash is in Virginia. Our chief national correspondent John King is in Tennessee. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley is in Missouri.
Let's go to Candy first, where Republican Jim Talent, fighting for his political life right now. Couldn't get much closer in his contest between Claire McCaskill -- Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Forty-nine, forty-nine. That's a real battle in what has always been a battleground state. Talent says, look, I've always been in close elections, I've won one, I've lost one. The same holds true for McCaskill, by the way.
Look, when you're in a split like this, Wolf, what you know to do now in this final week is to go out and find more voters than your opponent does. And that's exactly what they're doing here in Missouri.
Claire McCaskill began in her base here in St. Louis, the urban area, and some of the closer-in suburbs. That is Democratic territory. She began this morning at a diner in a working class neighborhood. I'm told that it was a neighborhood where she has gone to church many times over the past year, an African-American church. Vital to her, that she bring out African-Americans. As for Jim Talent, a Republican, he, of course, went to southwestern Missouri, where the Republicans have a base. These are conservative rural and small town voters. Talent needs them to come out at a time when many Republican voters are dismayed. He needs to watch those rural areas for defectors, Republicans disgusted enough with policies, whether it be Iraq or spending. Some of them, threatening to jump over to the Democratic side. Talent has to bring them home if he's going to go from 49-49 to 50-49 -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And the sense, with a week to go in Missouri, Candy, is there one specific issue, Iraq, for example, that seems to be dominating the debate out there? Or are there several others?
KOPPEL: There's a lot of others. Look, Iraq is the main issue. I talked to Claire McCaskill today, and she said, certainly in the rural areas where she's trying to make some inroads, the issue is Iraq and health care. Talent, obviously, has talked a lot about social issues, trying to keep his coalition together.
There's also this stem cell initiative that's on the ballot. No one's quite sure who that's going to help or hurt. Certainly it rouses Talent's very conservative side, the Christian conservatives. But here in Missouri, about 51 percent of the people say they support the stem cell initiative. So that also is going to drive voters to the poll. We're just not sure who is more passionate about this issue, the Talent supporters or the McCaskill supporters.
BLITZER: Candy, thanks very much.
Candy in St. Louis.
Let's go to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our chief national correspondent John King is standing by with the CNN Election Express right next to him.
John, give us a little flavor of what's going on in Tennessee. This is another key battleground.
JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A remarkable race, Wolf. Democrat Harold Ford trying to become the first African- American elected to the United States Senate from the South since Reconstruction. Our new poll shows an uphill climb for Senator Ford -- Congressman Ford, excuse me, heading into the final week of the campaign. Among likely voters it shows, Bob Corker, the Republican former mayor of Chattanooga, ahead 52 percent to 44 percent.
The Corker campaign says it is encouraged by those numbers, although Republican aides concede their own polls don't show that big of a lead. The Ford campaign disputes the poll. They say their own surveys show about a dead heat.
But in any event, this is one of the most hotly contested Senate races in the country. God is an issue here, race is an issue here, because Mr. Ford is African-American. But on the issue you led the show with today, Iraq is also very much an issue here in Tennessee, as well. It's very interesting to watch Bob Corker. He started out as a strong supporter of the Iraq War, a strong supporter of the president. He has said consistently for months that it is up to the president as to who should be the Secretary of Defense when asked whether Don Rumsfeld should be fired.
But in an interview with CNN, as the election approaches, Mr. Corker said that if he is elected and he goes to Washington, one message he would deliver to the Republican president is, perhaps it's time for a change at the Pentagon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE SENATE CANDIDATE: Maybe with this change, hopefully a change in strategy that will fix our strategy and cause us to really move ahead in causing Iraq to be able to secure itself. Maybe it is time for someone else to lead that effort.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Now, as Harold Ford has been campaigning for months, he has long ago said Secretary Rumsfeld should go. He says there's deep discontent with the Iraq war here, even among conservatives, conservative voters he very much needs to vote for him to say it is time for a change in Washington. Harold Ford telling CNN a short time ago that he believes Mr. Corker is changing his position on Secretary Rumsfeld right now because he's getting worried in the campaign's final days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAROLD FORD (D), TENNESSEE: My opponent has been one of the staunchest admirers and defenders of Secretary Rumsfeld. And now with less than 200 hours left in the campaign, he has a different opinion on the secretary of defense. I've been saying for some time not only does Rumsfeld need to go, we need a new strategy, we need a new approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: So Iraq one of the issues, Wolf, that will play out in the closing week of the campaign. Again, Mr. Ford trying to win white, conservative votes. It's the only way he can get elected to this Senate seat. He says he despite our new poll numbers that he feels momentum in this race.
It's getting a lot of attention because it is the seat now held by the Senate majority leader, Bill Frist. It is getting a lot of attention because Democrats have to win this seat if they are going to have any chance of taking the Senate majority. And, of course, it's been getting a lot of attention because if you turn on the TV here in Tennessee, there are a lot of ads and many of them, Wolf, are quite nasty.
BLITZER: I know some of those ads. John, let's talk a little bit about John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee of two years ago. All of a sudden with a week left to go, today the comments that he made the other day, the White House going after him, saying he's insulting American servicemen and women. Give us a little perspective on what you're hearing from political operatives on both sides.
KING: I have had conversations and e-mails, Wolf, with three or four Democratic strategists involved in key races including contests here in the state of Tennessee, other House and Senate races around the country, and they are furious at Senator Kerry. They understand politicians sometimes misspeak, Senator Kerry says he mangled the joke from his prepared text.
But they're simply furious, one of these strategists saying to me he already gave the Republicans a victory in the last campaign. Is he trying to give them another one in this campaign? Another of the strategists said, you know, the Republicans would like President Bush to go away and be quiet until after the election. Maybe we can get that same message to Senator Kerry.
So Democrats are furious about this. They think things are going their way in this campaign. The last thing they say they need is another distraction, and as several of them put it, another distraction involving John Kerry.
BLITZER: And whenever someone misspeaks on the Democratic side, we've often learned, over the years, the Republicans very effective in pouncing very, very quickly. John, we're going to be getting back to you. Thanks very much.
Let's take a look at Virginia now. Dana bash is joining us from Alexandria, Virginia. Our new poll shows that the Democratic candidate, Jim Webb, slightly ahead of the incumbent George Allen, 50- 46 percent.
Dana, give us a little flavor of what may be happening in Virginia.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the Allen campaign insists their internal polling still shows him in the lead, but as you said, our poll and a couple of others that have come about in the past couple of days do not show that. And that's why Democrats on a national level are really looking to this state, to Virginia, for any possibility of making gains in Senate, maybe even taking control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): George Allen was preparing a 2008 run for the White House, thought his re-election to the Senate was in the bag. He doesn't anymore.
SEN. GEORGE ALLEN (R), VIRGINIA: Reach out to people. Reach out and let them know where we stand on issues that matter.
BASH: Just a few months ago, the Virginia Republican held a double digit lead. That has vanished. Now he's at 46 percent, Democrat Jim Webb, 50 percent -- a statistical dead heat, according to CNN's new poll conducted by Opinion Research Corporation. ALLEN: This fellow over here with the yellow shirt, macaca or whatever his name is.
BASH: Most trace Allen's plummet in the polls to this moment, what sounded like a racial slur aimed at a Webb aide.
(on camera): In all candor, it is because of what happened over the summer?
ALLEN: Look, I majored in history. Talk to your political consultants and political science folks.
BASH (voice-over): There are other reasons, especially Iraq. Allen's opponent, Jim Webb, is a Republican turned Democrat, Navy secretary under Ronald Reagan, whose opposition to the war drove him to run.
JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA SENATE CANDIDATE: George Allen is wrong on foreign policy. He's one of the reasons that we are in this disaster in Iraq.
BASH: Now, Allen is one of several Republicans in trouble changing his tune on Iraq.
ALLEN: If we doing the same things, we're going to get the same results. And the results and the progress in Iraq are insufficient.
BASH: But you have to listen hard for talk about issues.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The same Jim Webb who declared the Naval Academy a "horny woman's dream."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't it time Virginia made George Allen history?
BASH: It's a campaign certainly: the tighter the race, the closer Election Day, the nastier it all gets. At stop after stop, Allen brings up sexually explicit passages from military novels that Webb wrote.
ALLEN: My opponent says that he's proud of being an author and a novelist. And those passages, people have found them to be demeaning to women. He's proud of being an author. That's part of this record.
BASH: Now Webb's stump speech is dominated by rebutting Allen. He reads his own book reviews.
WEBB: "Lost Soldiers," which got a lot of attention, was called a masterpiece, one of the most poignant and powerful novels of this generation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now, Webb told us he simply doesn't have a choice but to respond to Senator Allen, and his campaign charges against him. And this is really a departure from years past when it comes to the Democrats' strategy. Their strategy now, led by the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Chuck Schumer, is to respond to every single allegation that comes at them.
And I can tell you, Wolf, the Democrats are playing at this, too. They're going after Senator Allen. They say, for example, that he has some sealed documents, some court documents, maybe even some arrests from the 1970s. The Allen campaign responds that they were unpaid parking tickets, maybe even a fishing violation. But the Democrats say if that's true, why don't you release them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Dana, thank you.
Dana Bash, John King, Candy Crowley, Andrea Koppel, they're part of the best political team on television. And remember, for all the latest campaign news at any time, check out our CNN Political Ticker, CNN.com/ticker.
Yet another dustup for Senator George Allen on the campaign trail in Virginia today. Allen was leaving a hotel ballroom in Charlottesville when a protester started yelling at him and trying to get near him. The man was eventually tackled down to the floor by three men wearing Allen stickers, presumably campaign staffers. The protester was removed from the building and Allen appeared undaunted, telling a reporter that stuff like that happens.
We're getting late word that this wasn't just any protester. The Associated Press reporting that the man apparently was a contributor to the popular liberal blog Daily Kos -- or Kos.
Checking our polls from other Senate battlegrounds, in Ohio, Democratic challenger Sherrod Brown has an 11-point lead over Republican incumbent Mike DeWine in our CNN survey of likely voters statewide.
And in New Jersey -- check this our -- the Senate Democrat Bob Menendez appears to be beating back a challenge by Republican Tom Kean Jr. Menendez now leads Kean by seven points in our poll of likely -- likely -- New Jersey voters.
Jack Cafferty is here with "The Cafferty File."
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We should get CNN to buy us, like, hip boots because it is getting pretty deep, and probably it's going to get deeper as we go to next Tuesday.
BLITZER: Can you imagine, another week to go?
CAFFERTY: This is awful. What did they call the Naval Academy? A horny woman's dream?
BLITZER: That's what he wrote in an article many years ago -- many years ago.
CAFFERTY: Unbelievable.
Well, here are the lucky ones. This are 77,000 dead people registered to vote in New York state. The "Poughkeepsie Journal" did a study, and they report as many as 2,600 of these corpses have actually voted. Sounds a little like Chicago.
There's more. There are dead people on voter rolls in all 62 New York counties. As many as 191 registered voters who died were listed as having the same address in the Bronx. Turned out to be an old age home.
And dead Democrats who vote outnumber dead Republicans who vote by more than 4-1. That's because there are more Democrats in New York than Republicans, living and dead.
Of course, dead voters are not a new phenomenon. In Chicago in 1982, one out of every 10 votes for governor was fraudulent, and that included votes cast by dead people. Chicago has a long and proud tradition of this kind of thing.
Experts insist voting by dead people is usually due to bookkeeping mistakes. And the "Poughkeepsie Journal" investigation didn't find any fraud in their investigation of the New York voter rolls. But still, it's enough to make you wonder, isn't it?
Here's the question: What does it mean if 77,000 dead people are registered to vote in New York state? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Good question. Mary Snow's working on that piece, too. We're going to have a major investigation. It's a good story.
CAFFERTY: OK.
BLITZER: Seventy-seven thousand people registered to vote who happen to be dead.
CAFFERTY: And some of them have voted.
BLITZER: We'll watch it.
CAFFERTY: Somebody wrote and said, they're going to be very disappointed when they find out their votes didn't count.
BLITZER: Thank you, Jack.
Coming up, much more on the war of words over John Kerry's comments. We're going to go live to the campaign trail in Georgia where President Bush is about to speak out on the controversy himself.
And how will this political battle affect next week's election? I'll ask James Carville and Bay Buchanan in today's "Strategy Session."
And later, why are Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Hollywood teaming up to take on big oil? Stick around. I'm in the CNN election headquarters in New York, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Welcome back. Let's check in with Zain Verjee for a closer look at some other stories making news. Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. There are new developments in the nuclear standoff with North Korea. Today, Pyongyang agreed to return to six-party talks over its nuclear weapons program. North Korea walked away from the negotiating table almost a year ago. Today, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the agreement was reached during talks in Beijing between North Korea, China and the United States. President Bush says he's pleased about this development, but he adds there's still a lot of work to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll be sending teams to the region to work with our partners to make sure that the current United Nations Security Council resolution is enforced. But also to make sure that the talks are effective. That we achieve the results we want, which is a North Korea that abandons their nuclear weapons programs and her nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Many voters here at home are keeping a close and wary eye on the situation in Iraq. Right now U.S. and Iraqi forces are no longer stopping and checking cars in Sadr City or other parts of Baghdad. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ordered military checkpoints to be lifted in that Shia militant stronghold. It is seen as another move by al-Maliki to assert his authority with the U.S. and to appeal to his Shia support base.
Also in Baghdad today, at least 22 people were killed in attacks. 15 of them were victims of a car bomb that exploded near a wedding party convoy. The dead included women and children.
And the Pentagon is reporting the deaths of two more U.S. troops in Iraq. 103 Americans have been killed in this month alone, and the total death toll since the war began now stands at 2,816. Wolf?
BLITZER: Zain, thank you very much. Our condolences to their families, as we say all the time. For the second day in a row, President Bush is in Georgia to campaign for Republicans with the midterm election now a week away. Mr. Bush not only is trying to help GOP incumbents in jeopardy, he's also trying to help GOP challengers who have a shot at toppling some House Democrats.
The president apparently thinks he can make some headway by firing away at Senator John Kerry. Our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president. She's joining us now from Georgia -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Bush is campaigning hard in this final stretch. As you mentioned, stopping here in Georgia for the second time in two days. A tight race here in Georgia's 8th Congressional District between former Republican Congressman Mac Collins and the incumbent Democrat Jim Marshall. But rather than go after Marshall's record, we're going to hear President Bush go after Senator John Kerry and his remarks. In an unusual move, the White House released those excerpts of the president's remarks that he's set to deliver here later today. Part of those reading, "The senator's suggestion that the men and women of our military are somehow uneducated is insulting and shameful." The statement going on to say "Senator Kerry owes them an apology."
So, the White House Wolf, clearly seizing on what they see as an opening here. A chance to attack Senator Kerry another rallying cry for conservatives, adding to the president's message that we've heard so many times on the campaign trail talking about taxes, terrorism, most recently gay marriage and now set to add this attack line on John Kerry hoping to rally that conservative base. Wolf.
BLITZER: Elaine, thank you. Elaine Quijano covering the president in Georgia today. We're going to bring you the president's remarks in next hour. The president going after John Kerry one week before the election causing quite a bit of commotion already today. And with a week to go before the election, can Republicans get some traction by attacking John Kerry? James Carville and Bay Buchanan -- they'll assess the senator's unapologetic remarks about Iraq and the GOP response.
Also, coming up in our strategy session, Democrats under the dome. What will they do if they reclaim control of Congress? Republicans are painting a very scary picture this Halloween, but is it accurate? Live from CNN's election headquarters in New York, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM, I'm Wolf Blitzer at CNN election headquarters here in New York.
In our "Strategy Session" today: A senator who was once so- called swift-boated is once again under political attack today. But, this time, Senator Kerry says he won't back down from a fight.
More now on Kerry's controversial comments and more on the heated Senate races in several key battleground states.
Joining us, our CNN political analysts, Bay Buchanan, the president of American Cause. James Carville, is, of course, a Democratic strategist.
James, I will start with you.
Listen to the words that sparked this latest uproar from Senator Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: Well, you know, education, if you make the most of it, and you study hard, and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq. (LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Now, that's the senator saying those words, and then the White House and Senator McCain, among others, pouncing on him, saying he owes American service men and women an apology.
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he certainly owed them an explanation, and he gave it. He botched a joke.
I mean, I tell you what. It is much easier to say, I botched a joke, than to say, I botched a war. And he was very frank. He said, I meant -- he meant to say, you end up getting us in Iraq, by meaning that the president, by every account, every book, gave no thought to this war, gave no thought to the aftermath.
So, he gave an explanation. And, as I say, Senator Kerry is one of the great war heroes to ever serve in the Congress. He has about a 100 percent record when it comes to the veterans. So, I don't know what -- I don't understand exactly what the problem is. He didn't owe anybody an apology. He owed an explanation.
BAY BUCHANAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know...
CARVILLE: He gave an explanation.
BUCHANAN: He...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Bay, hold on one second.
BUCHANAN: Sure.
BLITZER: I want to play what Senator Kerry said just about an hour or so ago. Listen to this little clip from Senator Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: Let me make it crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know how.
I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy. If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the president and his failed team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: All right, Bay, go ahead.
BUCHANAN: The problem here is that John Kerry did indeed insult our hardworking, brave, courageous men and women in Iraq. He insulted them. And he offended their families. That is a fact.
What he said is crystal clear. You heard the students laughing at this joke. The intent is, this is a liberal, elitist feeling. You would be stupid to get yourself in a position where you would end up in Iraq today.
That's his message to the young people. If he wanted to correct it, why didn't he correct it yesterday immediately, and say, jeez, I screwed up the wording here; this is what I meant?
No. He comes out today in this manic performance to suggest that this is really -- I didn't do this. This is all about the president. It's crazy. The man wants to be in the middle of this debate?
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: You know, James, I'm going to let you respond to that.
CARVILLE: Yes.
BLITZER: But I want to point out what our John King and our Candy Crowley -- they're getting word from some very concerned Democratic strategists right now, who are suggesting that John Kerry simply should shut up...
CARVILLE: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: ... because they're saying he's hurting Democrats a week before the election.
CARVILLE: Yes.
BLITZER: What do you say to that?
CARVILLE: I just look at -- it seems as though these Republicans, looking at Bay, they are not very happy about anything right now.
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: And I don't blame them.
Look, the man gave an -- he -- he botched a joke. He -- I think -- and, as I said, he owed an explanation. He gave one. And these so-called Democratic strategists ought to -- ought to quit whining, and -- and run this campaign, and talk about how they're going to raise the minimum wage, how -- how they're not going to take pay raises, how they're going to go to work and getting us out of this mess in Iraq -- very simple.
And Senator Kerry, I think, did exactly -- he -- he botched a -- a joke. I mean, John Kerry has botched any number of lines before. I mean, that is hardly anything that -- that would be unexpected here.
And by -- I think that everybody needs to get on and run their campaigns. I don't -- I -- I think people are way more concerned about this war than they are John Kerry's inarticulate way of making -- making a point.
BUCHANAN: Inarticulate.
He was quite clear. And, no question, he was offensive.
But the key here is, you want to make me happy, James, you keep letting -- keep that man right out there...
CARVILLE: Right.
BUCHANAN: ... front and center with that manic performance -- no better way to get our votes out.
BLITZER: Well, let's talk a little bit...
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: There's no -- there's no doubt that your vote responds to -- to -- to...
(LAUGHTER)
CARVILLE: ... to negativity.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Let's...
CARVILLE: But people -- people are looking for something...
BUCHANAN: To that lunatic.
CARVILLE: ... a little more than that this time.
BUCHANAN: We're really delighted, after seeing that performance, that he didn't beat George Bush.
BLITZER: Here's the latest CNN poll that's out today on Virginia, Bay. You are not going to be happy with this.
BUCHANAN: Yes.
BLITZER: George Allen down by four points -- Jim Webb, the Democratic challenger, at 50 percent, George Allen at 46 percent.
This was, only a month or two ago, supposed to be a slam-dunk for George Allen. It's not turning out like that.
BUCHANAN: No. No, it's certainly not. And that will teach you to call somebody macaca. That's for sure.
This -- this is a concern. This is one we had counted on to make certain we keep the majority there in the Senate. It's -- the last couple days, as things are breaking, it is not going in the favor of Allen. It's a great concern.
But there's no question we can still win it -- it is close enough -- as long as our vote gets out real big.
BLITZER: James, in Tennessee, our new poll has Bob Corker way ahead, at least, by eight points, or whatever, 52-44, over Harold Ford Jr. That's a bigger margin than I have seen in a lot of the other polls.
CARVILLE: It is.
And I -- you know, sometimes, polls, you know, vary from time to time. I think, generally, all polls are fine. And, this one, I probably disagree with.
I think Harold Ford is the best candidate we got out there this year. I think he's run an extraordinary campaign. You know, I predicted, early in the year, on New Year's Day, that -- that my New Year's prediction was, was (ph) that he would win. And I'm going to hold firm with that -- that prediction. I think this guy is -- he is -- he is a really, really, really thoroughbred out there.
And I -- and I think, in the end, he's going to do this thing and surprise people.
BLITZER: In Missouri, it couldn't get much closer, Bay...
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: ... 49-49...
BUCHANAN: No, it can't.
BLITZER: ... McCaskill and Talent. It could be a very long night if it boils down to who carries Missouri.
BUCHANAN: You have -- you have got that right. It looks like Missouri is going to be the key state, Wolf.
It's -- it has come down to one thing, in that whose vote comes out on Tuesday. If we get our vote out, we can win that one. If we don't, we are not going to.
CARVILLE: I agree with Bay there.
That -- we finally got something we can agree on, Bay, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: We will see -- see which party does a better job getting out the vote.
James and Bay, thanks very much.
CARVILLE: Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: And, as all of our viewers know, James Carville and Bay Buchanan are part of the best political team on television.
And, remember, for the latest campaign news at any time, check out the Political Ticker. Go to CNN.com/ticker.
Up next: Some presidents drag their party's candidates to victory. Others just drag them down -- Jeff Greenfield standing by to explore the Bush effect, as it's called, and whether he has coattails in reverse.
And later: another-high profile political smackdown -- Congressman Charlie Rangel vs. Vice President Dick Cheney. Wait until you hear what Charlie Rangel had to say.
This is CNN's -- America's campaign headquarters. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
In the battle for control of the House of Representatives, are some Republican statewide candidates a drag on their party? Good question.
Let's ask Jeff Greenfield, standing by for an answer -- Jeff.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Well, thank you for asking. I appreciate it.
Actually, we talk a lot about coattails in presidential years. You know, not many coats have tails anymore, but we will let that pass. But we mean, of course, whether the candidate at the top of the ticket can pull other candidates into office.
But, this year, there's a very different kind of issue that could be decisive: What about reverse coattails?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD (voice-over): Every so often, a major party nominates a candidate whose weak showing seems to hurt candidates down the ticket. Lyndon Johnson's landslide over Barry Goldwater in 1964 brought 50 new Democrats to the House and Senate. President Carter's defeat at the hands of Ronald Reagan in 1980 helped win 12 Senate seats and 37 House seats for the Republicans.
This year, of course, President Bush is not on the ticket, but his unpopularity has persuaded many Democrats that linking their opponent to the president...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
NARRATOR: Republican Tom Kean Jr., just another vote for Bush's agenda.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: ... is a politically shrewd move. But that is far from the most serious reverse-coattail problem Republicans face. In three states, New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, the GOP candidates for governor, the head of the ticket, are running far, far behind their Democratic foes.
In Ohio, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell is 20 to 25 points behind Congressman Ted Strickland. In Pennsylvania, former Pittsburgh Steeler star Lynn Swann trails Governor Ed Rendell by 18 to 24 points.
And, in New York, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer leads his Republican opponent, John Faso, by 47 points. The party's Senate fortunes in those states aren't that bad, but they're not pretty either. Ohio Senator Mike DeWine and Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum trail by double digits. And, in New York, Republican John Spencer is behind Senator Hillary Clinton by more than 30 points.
As it happens, all three of those states have incumbent Republican House members or open Republican seats that are vulnerable, as many as four in New York, four in Pennsylvania, four in Ohio. With a margin of only 15 seats in the whole House, Republicans don't have a lot of margin for error.
In 2002 and 2004, the Republican turnout machine, the project that Bush campaign architect Karl Rove began shaping from day one, outgunned the Democrats on Election Day. And Republican optimists this year are looking to that turnout machine and a big money advantage to hold the House and Senate this time.
But, if Republicans wake up next Tuesday, convinced that their fortunes at the top of the ticket are doomed, that suggests it will be a lot tougher to get them out to the ballot to save their down-ballot candidates.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GREENFIELD: And this is another reason why the Republican message this last week is aimed so squarely at the conservative base, warning them of what it would mean if the House goes Democratic and veteran liberals, Nancy Pelosi, John Conyers, Barney Frank, Charlie Rangel, assume control.
But, at the least, the bleak prospects for the top of the ticket in these three states is yet another reason why optimism among Republicans is in pretty short supply -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And those gubernatorial races, even though we don't pay a lot of attention to them, necessarily, are very important, especially going down to 2008. If there's a close race in Florida, for example...
GREENFIELD: You remember that.
BLITZER: ... you know the governor could have an impact on the outcome.
GREENFIELD: And where do our presidential candidates come from these days?
BLITZER: The South.
GREENFIELD: From the governors.
BLITZER: The governors. That's a good -- also a good point.
Thanks very much.
GREENFIELD: All right.
BLITZER: We are going to have you back, 8:00 p.m., in the second hour of our expanded of THE SITUATION ROOM later tonight.
And coming up next: On this day, only a week away from the election, how close are some of the key races? We are going to tell you about some key estimates in "The Cook Report."
And, in California, why is Julia Roberts and other A-list celebrities campaigning for something called Proposition 87? Our Ted Rowlands on the scene to explain.
We're here at CNN's election headquarters in New York. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
On our "Political Radar" this Tuesday: There's new evidence that the battle for Congress is getting closer, and that the Democrats' advantage appears to be growing. The nonpartisan "Cook Political Report" in Washington has added eight more House races to its list of so-called tossups. All of them previously were rated as leaning or likely to go Republican.
Nasty or nice? A survey by the Associated Press finds the political parties have spent nearly $160 million on ads attacking congressional candidates. That's compared to just $17 million on commercials that paint a positive image. And that's just over $1 of every -- of -- that's upbeat for every $10 so-called mean.
Democratic Congressman Charlie Rangel isn't known for mincing words, but it seems he really let loose in remarks about the vice president, Dick Cheney -- "The New York Post" reporting Rangel called Cheney -- and I'm quoting now -- "a son of a bitch," after the vice president said the New York lawmaker would raise taxes and destroy the economy if Democrats take control of the House.
And Rangel didn't stop there. We are going to have some more of this verbal wrestling match that's going on. That's coming up in our next hour. We will speak with Congressman Rangel himself. He will be here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
With Democrat Jim Webb opening up a slight four-point advantage over Republican George Allen in our latest CNN poll, the Virginia Senate race is a statistical dead heat.
Whoever wins on election night, this tumultuous and often bizarre campaign has been immeasurably shaped by the Internet.
Our Internet reporter, Abbi Tatton, has been following this race from the beginning. She's joining us now with more -- Abbi.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, the Internet has contributed to the tightening of this race. Who hasn't seen Senator George Allen's macaca moment caught on tape, uploaded to the popular- video site YouTube? And this version alone been viewed almost 300,000 times.
And Webb's team has since incorporated YouTube into one of their Web sites, Generation Webb, reaching out to young voters, trying to get them to the polls on Tuesday.
Liberal bloggers have also been on board for the Web campaign since the June's primary -- Webb's daughter blogging today at the site Daily Kos -- and also at Daily Kos today, that site linking to a video of one of their bloggers being tackled to the floor by three men wearing Allen stickers, presumably Allen staffers.
On the Allen side, Jim Webb's prolific writing career has given lots of ammunition for them to fire back online. This Web site, paid for by the Allen campaign, is Webb Against Women, making sure Internet users have access to some of the more explicit passages of Jim Webb's war novels.
CNN.com has the very latest on that poll showing Webb with a four-point lead, that equal to the margin of error. CNN has all the latest information on all these candidates. And, of course, this is where you are going to see the results coming in real-time next Tuesday -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Abbi, thank you.
Up next: Halloween tales from the dead, thousands of corpses still registered to vote in New York state. It's enough to make Jack Cafferty howl. Stand by for that.
And we're standing by for President Bush to go after his 2004 Democratic opponent, John Kerry. We will have an update on this new showdown over Iraq. That's coming up.
We're live at CNN election headquarters in New York, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back.
Let's check in with Jack. He's got "The Cafferty File" -- Jack
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Wolf. The question this hour is as follows. A Poughkeepsie newspaper did a little study. Our question is, what does it mean if 77,000 dead people are registered to vote in New York state?
Al writes from Lawrence, Kansas: "It means they don't have to worry about learning how to vote on the new electronic machines. These are definitely absentee voters."
Jay in Charleston, West Virginia: "Having dead people on the voter registrations rolls is old-school voter fraud, especially here in West Virginia. It is said, jokingly, that most West Virginia cemeteries have election polling places in them. However, it's the new-school voter-fraud method that's really scary and frightening. Boo."
Joseph in Oceanside, California: "Typical of all levels of government service. They're slothful, with a poor attitude, and they simply don't care. Why should they clean up the voter rolls, if the voters don't protest to their elected officials? Just like here in Southern California, where there are thousands of illegal aliens registered, but it is claimed they don't actually vote. Yeah, sure."
Jerry writes: "Jack, what's the difference? Most New Yorkers are brain-dead anyway. They elected a person from Arkansas, Washington, D.C., and Illinois to the Senate from New York, didn't they?"
That would be Hillary Clinton.
Brian in Orlando, Florida: "Jack, let them vote. They will probably do a better job than the living did the last few elections."
And my -- one of my favorite letters ever, in the spirit of Halloween, I hope, Buster writes from Poughkeepsie: "Dear Jack, nice costume. Are you supposed to be death warmed over? If CNN doesn't quit overworking you this week, you will be number 77,001. You better get some sleep, old buddy."
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: ... in Poughkeepsie there.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Death warmed over, I like that.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: You're a very handsome man.
CAFFERTY: Don't -- don't you start coming on to me about I'm a handsome man.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Up next: a combustible mix, Hollywood vs. big oil. It's a big-name, big-money brawl over a ballot initiative. We will explain why the stars are coming out in California.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: As you know, California is always jam-packed with celebrities. And, on Election Day, the state tends to be a bastion of ballot initiatives. Those two concepts are colliding one week from today in a big-name, big-money battle over oil and clean air.
CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, an incredible amount of money is being spent here in California this election, but it's not on candidates. It's on Proposition 87.
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to chart our own course into the future. And we're going to start by passing Prop 87.
ROWLANDS: And A-list of politicians and celebrities is stumping hard in California to pass Proposition 87.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With Prop 87, we can switch to cleaner fuels, wind and solar power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Prop 87 is a proposed $4 billion oil production tax that has turned California into a high-stakes battleground, with big names on one side and big oil on the other.
JULIA ROBERTS, ACTRESS: I wish I could wear this on my head. This is how much I believe in what we're trying to accomplish here.
ROWLANDS: Campaign spending on Prop 87 is over $125 million, much more than any of the national races this election. Oil companies are flooding the California airwaves, trying to convince people to vote no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a recipe for waste, not progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're fighting not just to win this battle here, but they're fighting to hold off other future battles that might go on across the country.
ROWLANDS: The money from Prop 87 will be used to fund alternative energy programs. In essence, it makes the oil companies help pay for their replacement.
ROBERT REDFORD, ACTOR: Obviously, the oil companies, they are putting in $75 million, $100 million to persuade people to stay where they are, like stay the course. That's no longer in fashion, is it?
ROWLANDS: Big oil isn't the only big spender. Fifty million dollars has been spent in favor of 87. Most of the money has come from this man, Steve Bing, a wealthy movie producer who stays behind the scenes, relying on the celebrities to talk to voters, something the No on 87 camp says won't work with California voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have heard celebrities talk to them before and political figures talk to them before. They're going to make up their mind on what affects them here in the state of California.
ROWLANDS: The No on 87 campaign argues that a massive tax will decrease oil production, which will raise gas prices. They also argue that the celebrities and others in favor of 87 are ignoring the details of the proposition, not telling voters about the potential downside, including the creation of a new government bureaucracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no discussion of Prop 87, just a nice discussion about alternative energy. Well, that's fine, but there's a lot of details in the measure that we have to deal with.
ROWLANDS (on camera): So, what is going to happen? Well, at this point, polls show that it is virtually a dead heat. You can expect that both sides will continue battling and spending, all the way up until Election Day -- Wolf.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Ted Rowlands reporting -- thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
