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CNN Sunday Morning
Former Kennedy Aide Pierre Salinger Dies; Karzai Leads in Afghanistan's Vote Count
Aired October 17, 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.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is October 17th, 8 a.m. at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 5 a.m. on the west coast. Good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thank you so much for being with us today. Now in the news, he was a television news correspondent and a White House press secretary. Pierre Salinger has died in France.
He served as press secretary to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and was Paris bureau chief for ABC news. He had been living in southern France. Pierre Salinger was 79.
Now to Iraq. The U.S. military is investigating the crash of two helicopters in Baghdad. Two American soldiers were killed and two others injured. In Fallujah, U.S. forces bombard insurgent positions. Air strikes killed at least three people. And on the ground, insurgents fired rocket propelled grenades, mortars and heavy machine guns in a fire fight with U.S. forces.
In Afghanistan interim President Hamid Karzai widens his lead in the country's first presidential election. But with less than five percent of the ballots counted so far the country's electoral commission says it is just too early to call the election for Karzai.
An arson fire in Yosemite National Park has spread to 2,000 acres. Park rangers say they discovered the body of a man suspected of setting that blaze. The Yosemite fire is one of several in northern California. Just look at this map. The largest a 39,000 acre blaze northeast of San Francisco. That one is almost fully contained.
HARRIS: A lot on tap for you this morning. In politics it's a five letter word. Talk of a new military draft has spread over the Internet for weeks. Now the presidential candidates are talking about it themselves. We'll tell you what they're saying.
And the candidates are ready, the stage is set, but is your state ready for your vote. We'll look at voter irregularities four years after Florida. And we all start out cute and cuddly then develop unique qualities. We'll examine how a higher power might play a role in personality development.
NGUYEN: But up first this hour, it's a 16 day race now and the candidates are making a mad dash to the finish line. Just over two weeks until election day. President George Bush and Senator John Kerry are running hard on their positions hoping to win the long political marathon.
Our reporters, well they are keeping up with both campaigns, of course. Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign in Columbus, Ohio. And let's begin with CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's at the White House this morning.
Good morning to you, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty. President Bush is spending the day here in Washington taking some time off of the campaign trail before he heads back out again tomorrow.
Now yesterday the president visited the key battleground state of Florida, a state with a huge prize, 27 electoral votes up for grabs. Now the president while there traveled by bus. He made stops in several cities including Sunrise, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach, and it was at his last stop that he added some new language about the draft to his standard stump speech. But it didn't come out correctly at first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain. We will not have an all volunteer Army. And yet this week -- we will have an all voluntary Army.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me restate that. We will not have a draft.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the president went on to accuse John Kerry of trying to use the issue of the draft to scare voters. As for Mr. Bush today, as we said, a break from the campaign trail but already it's shaping up to be a busy week. Several states on his itinerary including New Jersey, Iowa, Minnesota and Florida once again.
Now Bush aides say that part of the strategy for the campaign is to have the president go to traditionally blue areas, democratic strongholds, but places where they feel that the president can connect with certain segments of the population. That's what they're going to try to do in these swing states in the days to come.
One more thing to tell you about, Betty. The president picking up a major endorsement from the "Chicago Tribune." The "Tribune" this morning citing the president's resoluteness over the last four years.
Betty.
NGUYEN: And we'll be talking about Kerry's endorsements this morning as well.
Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you for that.
Two new polls show the presidential race is still a virtual tie. The latest "Newsweek" poll of likely voters shows that President Bush is favored by 50 percent to Senator Kerry's 45 percent.
And a "Time Magazine" poll has Bush with a two point lead over Kerry among likely voters. But when you factor in the margins of error in both polls and race is a statistical dead heat.
Now John Kerry will attend church in Ohio this morning, as word comes from a couple of big endorsements that we mentioned from some major newspapers. Our Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign and joins us live from Columbus, Ohio.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. That's right. The Kerry camp is feeling very good this weekend. They did get those endorsements from "The New York Times" and "The Boston Globe." Those are not unexpected, especially "The Boston Globe" from his home state of Massachusetts.
But still the Kerry camp would rather have them than not have them. And they feel like this week they've wrapped up a three for three sweep in the presidential debates. They feel, here at the Kerry camp, that they have some momentum here in the final two weeks as well.
And in those polls that you mentioned the Kerry camp feels that right after the Republican convention the senator was slipping behind. All the momentum seemed to be on the president's side.
As you mentioned, most of the national polls show this is still deadlocked. The Kerry camp feels that they're in a good position. That they have closed that gap where they were falling behind the president.
And they way that they think they can push ahead is to come to these key mid-western battlegrounds. Ohio has 20 electoral votes, for example. And talk about a very tightly focused domestic agenda, talk about health care and the economy.
At a rally yesterday here in Ohio in a Republican part of Ohio Kerry was blasting the fact that Treasury Secretary John Snow is in Ohio this very week suggesting that talk of job loss is a myth.
Now Secretary Snow has said that his words were taken out of context, but Kerry still pounced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well I've got a message for our President of the United States. Mr. President, the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans and they deserve better.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now the senator is also hitting the administration over this flue vaccine shortage, saying that they had at least several warnings and did nothing to stop it. Also this morning he will be speaking at this Baptist church behind me and we understand that another domestic issue will be raised by the senator, Social Security reform.
Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Ed Henry. Thank you for that report.
Tony.
HARRIS: As the country waits for the election the world is watching as well. In a new program called American Agenda CNN correspondents around the world report on how people in other countries view U.S. foreign policy.
CNN's Frankfurt bureau chief Chris Burns gives us this preview from Berlin, Germany.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For decades American foreign policy was very much defined by this, the Berlin Wall, the Cold war, facing off with the Soviet Union, building multi lateral alliances to try to contain the Soviet Union.
At the same time Germany was very much affected by this, the memory of World War II, the former Gestapo secret police headquarters now that lies in ruin and other sites here in Berlin that remind people of the horrors of World War II to try to avoid any further conflicts at just about all costs.
And that is what -- where Germany sought also multilateral alliances with the United States and other countries.
Today it's a very different world. September 11th now very much defining U.S. foreign policy. A policy that many see as much more unilateral, much more pro-active, much more preemptory to try to address the threat of terror, the war on terror.
Germany having joined that war on terror to some extent, but very markedly staying out of the Iraq war. In fact, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was reelected two years ago on a platform of opposing that war.
So, Germans very much against any kind of a more unilateral approach, trying to stay out international conflicts. And this is where Germans would like to see America pursuing a more multilateral approach in foreign policy and also addressing the roots of terror, trying to fight poverty, trying to encourage democracy and also, cutting oil consumption.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We will have other reporters from Afghanistan and Iraq to Israel and Indonesia that will all be talking about the American agenda as viewed by the world. You can watch that program this coming Tuesday, October 19th starting at 12 p.m. eastern.
Now to news across America, the nightmare on I-95 is over and the interstate near Baltimore has reopened. Over 90 vehicles crashed in 17 separate accidents. The wrecks were blamed on hail and heavy sleet blowing through the south Baltimore suburbs. No deaths, but at least 49 people were hurt.
In southern California derailed freight cars, some carrying hazardous materials, smashed into four homes. Two dozen other houses were evacuated. Nearly 50 railroad cars jumped the tracks. One boxcar went through the roof of a home. No serious injuries reported.
In southern Arizona a high speed chase ended when a stolen truck rolled over causing an eleven car crash. Six people were killed. Sheriff's deputies say suspected illegal immigrants were in the truck. Many were thrown out when it hit a center median began to spiral and hit other vehicles.
An estimated three million illegal immigrants will flood into the United States this year in search of jobs. Tonight CNN presents Immigrant Nation, Divided Country. CNN's Maria Hinojosa tracks the illegal immigration debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many people just from this little part of the town have gone to the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Her husband. The son of the lady that lives over there. Three sons of one of the ladies that lives in the houses over there. Her husband. The son of the lady that lives over there with his wife and child. And a block down the husband of the woman that lives there also left.
HINOJOSA: And what about people who are thinking about going?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Oh, the ones who are thinking of leaving? There are many. Well, me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Maria Hinojosa will have a preview of Immigrant Nation, Divided Country live in the next hour on CNN SUNDAY.
NGUYEN: The 2004 presidential election is barely two weeks away. Can you believe it? And already voter problems are being logged and not just in Florida. Find out if your state is already dealing with some pre-election problems. HARRIS: And also at the bottom of the hour join doctor Sanjay Gupta for "HOUSE CALL" when he takes a closer look at the use of an epilepsy drug to treat headache pain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Do you love blooming flowers as much as you like seeing an old friend? Well, your answer can offer insight into your level of spirituality. Ahead this Sunday "Time" magazine asks, "is God in our genes." Stay with us to see what they found out and where you stand.
HARRIS: And good morning. Dallas morning wake up to a little celebration after Roger Clemons lead the Houston Astros to a five to two win over the St. Louis Cardinals. However the Cardinals now lead that series two to one in the best of three national league champions -- that should be the best of seven national league championship series.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well good morning on this Sunday. How's the weather shaping up as you head out today? Well, we don't know. That's why we're turning to Rob Marciano for the latest on that.
HARRIS: How's it looking, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: In the headlines this morning, veteran American journalist, Pierre Salinger has died in southern France where he lived. Salinger became a familiar face to Americans in the early '60s as President Kennedy's press secretary. Later he became chief European correspondent for ABC news. Salinger died yesterday of heart failure. He was 79.
President Bush is taking a break from the campaign trail spending the day at the White House. Democratic challenger, John Kerry, he is attending church this morning in Columbus, Ohio. Later he travels to Florida boosted by the endorsements of "The Boston Globe" and "The New York Times."
Also today in Washington, D.C. the Million Worker March gets underway at noon. Organizers say it's a protest of the war in Iraq coupled with demands for universal health care, an increase in the minimum wage and strengthening of Social Security. A lot of issues there.
HARRIS: Absolutely. The November election is two weeks and two days away, but already there are claims of fraud throughout the country. At issue, voter registration. CNN's Dan Lothian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over: The race to register voters in some states is being clouded by allegations of fraud. In the battleground state of Colorado there's a list of people who have registered multiple times and stacks of forms with bogus names, like this one filled out by Jason Kills Enemy.
Colorado's Secretary of State Donetta Davidson is fuming and has called for an investigation.
DONETTA DAVIDSON, COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't care if the election is close or not. We cannot allow fraud to happen in our state.
LOTHIAN: In southern Nevada the FBI is looking into allegations that registration forms filled out by Democrats at a private voters outreach office were destroyed and discarded, as this ex-worker claims.
ERIC RUSSELL, FMR. VOTER REGISTRATION EMPLOYEE: ...grabbed the Democrats, she handed them to her assistant and he ripped them up right in front of us.
LOTHIAN: Republican officials in the state have their doubts, but are demanding answers.
BRIAN SCROGGINS, CLARK COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: Obviously any of these allegations are serious and we're not taking them lightly.
LOTHIAN: In this election battle, locked in a statistical dead head allegations are amplified, especially in key battleground states like Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Colorado.
Throw into the mix concerns over new voting technology, confusing ballot changes and not even poll workers and the result some fear could be troubling.
DOUG CHAPIN, DIR. ELECTIONLINE.ORG: It's very unlikely that we will get through election day without some kind of a problem.
LOTHIAN (on-camera): This government accountability office report indicates the Justice Department has made some progress since the 2000 election in addressing voter irregularities. But it also reveals not enough has been done.
(voice-over) Congressman Henry Waxman says the government is not ready for another close election.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN, (D) CALIFORNIA: The Justice Department should have been prepared and maybe still can try to be prepared to stop any irregularities.
LOTHIAN: But in a statement the Justice Department said it has been proactive already implementing significant changes and that it can better monitor election activities and track voter complaints.
From Capitol Hill to the courts an aggressive effort is underway to make sure every vote is counted without fraud, mistakes or confusion.
Dan Lothian, CNN Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we do want to hear from you this Sunday morning. Has the debates helped you decide who you will vote for? E-mail us your responses. That's wam@cnn.com, and we'll read some of those on the air.
HARRIS: And it is one of those enduring question, is spirituality something we learned or something we're born with? Straight ahead we'll ask the question, is God in our genes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In our regular Sunday feature exploring religion a question. Is God In our Genes? How provocative is that? Is a person's spirituality a natural occurrence or the result of nurturing? "Time" magazine delved into it and details are in the October 25th issue of the magazine.
David Van Biema is a religion writer at "Time' magazine. He joins us from the Time Warner Center in New York. And good to see you this morning, David.
DAVID VAN BIEMA, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: How are you? So what is the science suggesting, as you did your research? Is God, it is a provocative question, in our genes?
VAN BIEMA: The science is suggesting that to some extent God is. The actual experiment was done by a molecular biologist named Dean Hamer (ph), who first did a survey of 1,000 people for spirituality and came up with the deviations between the various individuals for how spiritual they were.
And then he kind of went fishing in their genetic pool and discovered a variation in one gene that seemed to vary the same way -- the differences between their spiritualities varied. And that suggests there's probably some sort of genetic input into how spiritual people are.
HARRIS: And does it tell us to believe? Does it also tell us what to believe?
VAN BIEMA: It certainly doesn't tell us what to believe. It might contribute to why we feel an impulse to believe. But you have to ask yourself, does this mean that we're just getting our directions from our genes or is it possible that God put those genes there in order to act them exactly that way?
HARRIS: And what have we learned about -- I've also read in the piece that it's also captured in the mind. Is it in our minds, in our heads in our heart or a combination of both? I almost don't want to give you that third possibility?
VAN BIEMA: Well, I think that from a physical point of view that a lot of the stuff that goes into these feelings is sort of processed through in our minds and I think that scientist are pretty much in agreement on that.
So, as one of the scientist told us, well, if it's going to be anywhere it's certainly not going to be in our big toe.
HARRIS: And -- but you know, it brings me back to the thought of all the differences and all of the debate when it comes to matters in practical life. I'm thinking about the debate before the war in Iraq, and so many different options religiously on the legitimacy of that war. It may tell us to believe, but it certainly, as you mentioned, doesn't tell us what to believe as evidenced by that debate.
VAN BIEMA: Yes that's correct. I mean thus far all that he's managed to do is to find one gene, which could be one of thousands of genes that contribute to spirituality, which could in turn lead toward an inclination to -- toward belief. But to be honest, what would you expect to find? You would expect that in some way we would be hard wired for this sort of stuff.
And as I suggested, the real question is how did that hard wiring get there. And it certainly doesn't tell us what we need to believe and whether to go into Iraq or not.
HARRIS: It's an interesting topic, spirituality, religion, science, divine development. It is interesting stuff, and David thanks for taking the time to talk to us this morning.
VAN BIEMA: Thank you for having me on.
HARRIS: We appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: We're getting lots of interesting responses to our e-mail question of the day, and that question is, "Have the debates helped you decide who you will vote for.?
And Katie writes in saying like many Americans, the debates made me wonder why these two men are the best we have to offer. Most of us are disgusted by the system. I watched all three debates and observed that Kerry did not answer one question. So, Bush seems to be best of the worse.
HARRIS: And this e-mail from Nicholas. Yes, the debates influenced my decision. I watched all three debates and I'm certainly voting for John Kerry. Bush's facial expressions and skirting around certain issues was very apparent during the three debates.
We want to thank you for those e-mails.
NGUYEN: Keep cinnamon -- sending them in that is, at wam@cnn.com. We'll read those responses on the air throughout the morning.
HARRIS: The dangers of taking drugs long term to deal with chronic headache problems. Our doctor Sanjay makes, in just a couple of minutes, for your weekend "HOUSE CALL" on stopping headache pain.
I'm Tony Harris. NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We have a check of the top stories. That is straight ahead. And we'll both see you again at the top of the hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 17, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is October 17th, 8 a.m. at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 5 a.m. on the west coast. Good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thank you so much for being with us today. Now in the news, he was a television news correspondent and a White House press secretary. Pierre Salinger has died in France.
He served as press secretary to Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, and was Paris bureau chief for ABC news. He had been living in southern France. Pierre Salinger was 79.
Now to Iraq. The U.S. military is investigating the crash of two helicopters in Baghdad. Two American soldiers were killed and two others injured. In Fallujah, U.S. forces bombard insurgent positions. Air strikes killed at least three people. And on the ground, insurgents fired rocket propelled grenades, mortars and heavy machine guns in a fire fight with U.S. forces.
In Afghanistan interim President Hamid Karzai widens his lead in the country's first presidential election. But with less than five percent of the ballots counted so far the country's electoral commission says it is just too early to call the election for Karzai.
An arson fire in Yosemite National Park has spread to 2,000 acres. Park rangers say they discovered the body of a man suspected of setting that blaze. The Yosemite fire is one of several in northern California. Just look at this map. The largest a 39,000 acre blaze northeast of San Francisco. That one is almost fully contained.
HARRIS: A lot on tap for you this morning. In politics it's a five letter word. Talk of a new military draft has spread over the Internet for weeks. Now the presidential candidates are talking about it themselves. We'll tell you what they're saying.
And the candidates are ready, the stage is set, but is your state ready for your vote. We'll look at voter irregularities four years after Florida. And we all start out cute and cuddly then develop unique qualities. We'll examine how a higher power might play a role in personality development.
NGUYEN: But up first this hour, it's a 16 day race now and the candidates are making a mad dash to the finish line. Just over two weeks until election day. President George Bush and Senator John Kerry are running hard on their positions hoping to win the long political marathon.
Our reporters, well they are keeping up with both campaigns, of course. Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign in Columbus, Ohio. And let's begin with CNN's Elaine Quijano. She's at the White House this morning.
Good morning to you, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty. President Bush is spending the day here in Washington taking some time off of the campaign trail before he heads back out again tomorrow.
Now yesterday the president visited the key battleground state of Florida, a state with a huge prize, 27 electoral votes up for grabs. Now the president while there traveled by bus. He made stops in several cities including Sunrise, West Palm Beach and Daytona Beach, and it was at his last stop that he added some new language about the draft to his standard stump speech. But it didn't come out correctly at first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain. We will not have an all volunteer Army. And yet this week -- we will have an all voluntary Army.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me restate that. We will not have a draft.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now the president went on to accuse John Kerry of trying to use the issue of the draft to scare voters. As for Mr. Bush today, as we said, a break from the campaign trail but already it's shaping up to be a busy week. Several states on his itinerary including New Jersey, Iowa, Minnesota and Florida once again.
Now Bush aides say that part of the strategy for the campaign is to have the president go to traditionally blue areas, democratic strongholds, but places where they feel that the president can connect with certain segments of the population. That's what they're going to try to do in these swing states in the days to come.
One more thing to tell you about, Betty. The president picking up a major endorsement from the "Chicago Tribune." The "Tribune" this morning citing the president's resoluteness over the last four years.
Betty.
NGUYEN: And we'll be talking about Kerry's endorsements this morning as well.
Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you for that.
Two new polls show the presidential race is still a virtual tie. The latest "Newsweek" poll of likely voters shows that President Bush is favored by 50 percent to Senator Kerry's 45 percent.
And a "Time Magazine" poll has Bush with a two point lead over Kerry among likely voters. But when you factor in the margins of error in both polls and race is a statistical dead heat.
Now John Kerry will attend church in Ohio this morning, as word comes from a couple of big endorsements that we mentioned from some major newspapers. Our Ed Henry is with the Kerry campaign and joins us live from Columbus, Ohio.
Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. That's right. The Kerry camp is feeling very good this weekend. They did get those endorsements from "The New York Times" and "The Boston Globe." Those are not unexpected, especially "The Boston Globe" from his home state of Massachusetts.
But still the Kerry camp would rather have them than not have them. And they feel like this week they've wrapped up a three for three sweep in the presidential debates. They feel, here at the Kerry camp, that they have some momentum here in the final two weeks as well.
And in those polls that you mentioned the Kerry camp feels that right after the Republican convention the senator was slipping behind. All the momentum seemed to be on the president's side.
As you mentioned, most of the national polls show this is still deadlocked. The Kerry camp feels that they're in a good position. That they have closed that gap where they were falling behind the president.
And they way that they think they can push ahead is to come to these key mid-western battlegrounds. Ohio has 20 electoral votes, for example. And talk about a very tightly focused domestic agenda, talk about health care and the economy.
At a rally yesterday here in Ohio in a Republican part of Ohio Kerry was blasting the fact that Treasury Secretary John Snow is in Ohio this very week suggesting that talk of job loss is a myth.
Now Secretary Snow has said that his words were taken out of context, but Kerry still pounced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well I've got a message for our President of the United States. Mr. President, the people who have lost jobs on your watch are not myths. They are our neighbors. They are middle class Americans and they deserve better.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now the senator is also hitting the administration over this flue vaccine shortage, saying that they had at least several warnings and did nothing to stop it. Also this morning he will be speaking at this Baptist church behind me and we understand that another domestic issue will be raised by the senator, Social Security reform.
Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Ed Henry. Thank you for that report.
Tony.
HARRIS: As the country waits for the election the world is watching as well. In a new program called American Agenda CNN correspondents around the world report on how people in other countries view U.S. foreign policy.
CNN's Frankfurt bureau chief Chris Burns gives us this preview from Berlin, Germany.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): For decades American foreign policy was very much defined by this, the Berlin Wall, the Cold war, facing off with the Soviet Union, building multi lateral alliances to try to contain the Soviet Union.
At the same time Germany was very much affected by this, the memory of World War II, the former Gestapo secret police headquarters now that lies in ruin and other sites here in Berlin that remind people of the horrors of World War II to try to avoid any further conflicts at just about all costs.
And that is what -- where Germany sought also multilateral alliances with the United States and other countries.
Today it's a very different world. September 11th now very much defining U.S. foreign policy. A policy that many see as much more unilateral, much more pro-active, much more preemptory to try to address the threat of terror, the war on terror.
Germany having joined that war on terror to some extent, but very markedly staying out of the Iraq war. In fact, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was reelected two years ago on a platform of opposing that war.
So, Germans very much against any kind of a more unilateral approach, trying to stay out international conflicts. And this is where Germans would like to see America pursuing a more multilateral approach in foreign policy and also addressing the roots of terror, trying to fight poverty, trying to encourage democracy and also, cutting oil consumption.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We will have other reporters from Afghanistan and Iraq to Israel and Indonesia that will all be talking about the American agenda as viewed by the world. You can watch that program this coming Tuesday, October 19th starting at 12 p.m. eastern.
Now to news across America, the nightmare on I-95 is over and the interstate near Baltimore has reopened. Over 90 vehicles crashed in 17 separate accidents. The wrecks were blamed on hail and heavy sleet blowing through the south Baltimore suburbs. No deaths, but at least 49 people were hurt.
In southern California derailed freight cars, some carrying hazardous materials, smashed into four homes. Two dozen other houses were evacuated. Nearly 50 railroad cars jumped the tracks. One boxcar went through the roof of a home. No serious injuries reported.
In southern Arizona a high speed chase ended when a stolen truck rolled over causing an eleven car crash. Six people were killed. Sheriff's deputies say suspected illegal immigrants were in the truck. Many were thrown out when it hit a center median began to spiral and hit other vehicles.
An estimated three million illegal immigrants will flood into the United States this year in search of jobs. Tonight CNN presents Immigrant Nation, Divided Country. CNN's Maria Hinojosa tracks the illegal immigration debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many people just from this little part of the town have gone to the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Her husband. The son of the lady that lives over there. Three sons of one of the ladies that lives in the houses over there. Her husband. The son of the lady that lives over there with his wife and child. And a block down the husband of the woman that lives there also left.
HINOJOSA: And what about people who are thinking about going?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Oh, the ones who are thinking of leaving? There are many. Well, me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Maria Hinojosa will have a preview of Immigrant Nation, Divided Country live in the next hour on CNN SUNDAY.
NGUYEN: The 2004 presidential election is barely two weeks away. Can you believe it? And already voter problems are being logged and not just in Florida. Find out if your state is already dealing with some pre-election problems. HARRIS: And also at the bottom of the hour join doctor Sanjay Gupta for "HOUSE CALL" when he takes a closer look at the use of an epilepsy drug to treat headache pain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Do you love blooming flowers as much as you like seeing an old friend? Well, your answer can offer insight into your level of spirituality. Ahead this Sunday "Time" magazine asks, "is God in our genes." Stay with us to see what they found out and where you stand.
HARRIS: And good morning. Dallas morning wake up to a little celebration after Roger Clemons lead the Houston Astros to a five to two win over the St. Louis Cardinals. However the Cardinals now lead that series two to one in the best of three national league champions -- that should be the best of seven national league championship series.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well good morning on this Sunday. How's the weather shaping up as you head out today? Well, we don't know. That's why we're turning to Rob Marciano for the latest on that.
HARRIS: How's it looking, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: In the headlines this morning, veteran American journalist, Pierre Salinger has died in southern France where he lived. Salinger became a familiar face to Americans in the early '60s as President Kennedy's press secretary. Later he became chief European correspondent for ABC news. Salinger died yesterday of heart failure. He was 79.
President Bush is taking a break from the campaign trail spending the day at the White House. Democratic challenger, John Kerry, he is attending church this morning in Columbus, Ohio. Later he travels to Florida boosted by the endorsements of "The Boston Globe" and "The New York Times."
Also today in Washington, D.C. the Million Worker March gets underway at noon. Organizers say it's a protest of the war in Iraq coupled with demands for universal health care, an increase in the minimum wage and strengthening of Social Security. A lot of issues there.
HARRIS: Absolutely. The November election is two weeks and two days away, but already there are claims of fraud throughout the country. At issue, voter registration. CNN's Dan Lothian reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over: The race to register voters in some states is being clouded by allegations of fraud. In the battleground state of Colorado there's a list of people who have registered multiple times and stacks of forms with bogus names, like this one filled out by Jason Kills Enemy.
Colorado's Secretary of State Donetta Davidson is fuming and has called for an investigation.
DONETTA DAVIDSON, COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: I don't care if the election is close or not. We cannot allow fraud to happen in our state.
LOTHIAN: In southern Nevada the FBI is looking into allegations that registration forms filled out by Democrats at a private voters outreach office were destroyed and discarded, as this ex-worker claims.
ERIC RUSSELL, FMR. VOTER REGISTRATION EMPLOYEE: ...grabbed the Democrats, she handed them to her assistant and he ripped them up right in front of us.
LOTHIAN: Republican officials in the state have their doubts, but are demanding answers.
BRIAN SCROGGINS, CLARK COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY: Obviously any of these allegations are serious and we're not taking them lightly.
LOTHIAN: In this election battle, locked in a statistical dead head allegations are amplified, especially in key battleground states like Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Colorado.
Throw into the mix concerns over new voting technology, confusing ballot changes and not even poll workers and the result some fear could be troubling.
DOUG CHAPIN, DIR. ELECTIONLINE.ORG: It's very unlikely that we will get through election day without some kind of a problem.
LOTHIAN (on-camera): This government accountability office report indicates the Justice Department has made some progress since the 2000 election in addressing voter irregularities. But it also reveals not enough has been done.
(voice-over) Congressman Henry Waxman says the government is not ready for another close election.
REP. HENRY WAXMAN, (D) CALIFORNIA: The Justice Department should have been prepared and maybe still can try to be prepared to stop any irregularities.
LOTHIAN: But in a statement the Justice Department said it has been proactive already implementing significant changes and that it can better monitor election activities and track voter complaints.
From Capitol Hill to the courts an aggressive effort is underway to make sure every vote is counted without fraud, mistakes or confusion.
Dan Lothian, CNN Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we do want to hear from you this Sunday morning. Has the debates helped you decide who you will vote for? E-mail us your responses. That's wam@cnn.com, and we'll read some of those on the air.
HARRIS: And it is one of those enduring question, is spirituality something we learned or something we're born with? Straight ahead we'll ask the question, is God in our genes?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: In our regular Sunday feature exploring religion a question. Is God In our Genes? How provocative is that? Is a person's spirituality a natural occurrence or the result of nurturing? "Time" magazine delved into it and details are in the October 25th issue of the magazine.
David Van Biema is a religion writer at "Time' magazine. He joins us from the Time Warner Center in New York. And good to see you this morning, David.
DAVID VAN BIEMA, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Hi, Tony.
HARRIS: How are you? So what is the science suggesting, as you did your research? Is God, it is a provocative question, in our genes?
VAN BIEMA: The science is suggesting that to some extent God is. The actual experiment was done by a molecular biologist named Dean Hamer (ph), who first did a survey of 1,000 people for spirituality and came up with the deviations between the various individuals for how spiritual they were.
And then he kind of went fishing in their genetic pool and discovered a variation in one gene that seemed to vary the same way -- the differences between their spiritualities varied. And that suggests there's probably some sort of genetic input into how spiritual people are.
HARRIS: And does it tell us to believe? Does it also tell us what to believe?
VAN BIEMA: It certainly doesn't tell us what to believe. It might contribute to why we feel an impulse to believe. But you have to ask yourself, does this mean that we're just getting our directions from our genes or is it possible that God put those genes there in order to act them exactly that way?
HARRIS: And what have we learned about -- I've also read in the piece that it's also captured in the mind. Is it in our minds, in our heads in our heart or a combination of both? I almost don't want to give you that third possibility?
VAN BIEMA: Well, I think that from a physical point of view that a lot of the stuff that goes into these feelings is sort of processed through in our minds and I think that scientist are pretty much in agreement on that.
So, as one of the scientist told us, well, if it's going to be anywhere it's certainly not going to be in our big toe.
HARRIS: And -- but you know, it brings me back to the thought of all the differences and all of the debate when it comes to matters in practical life. I'm thinking about the debate before the war in Iraq, and so many different options religiously on the legitimacy of that war. It may tell us to believe, but it certainly, as you mentioned, doesn't tell us what to believe as evidenced by that debate.
VAN BIEMA: Yes that's correct. I mean thus far all that he's managed to do is to find one gene, which could be one of thousands of genes that contribute to spirituality, which could in turn lead toward an inclination to -- toward belief. But to be honest, what would you expect to find? You would expect that in some way we would be hard wired for this sort of stuff.
And as I suggested, the real question is how did that hard wiring get there. And it certainly doesn't tell us what we need to believe and whether to go into Iraq or not.
HARRIS: It's an interesting topic, spirituality, religion, science, divine development. It is interesting stuff, and David thanks for taking the time to talk to us this morning.
VAN BIEMA: Thank you for having me on.
HARRIS: We appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: We're getting lots of interesting responses to our e-mail question of the day, and that question is, "Have the debates helped you decide who you will vote for.?
And Katie writes in saying like many Americans, the debates made me wonder why these two men are the best we have to offer. Most of us are disgusted by the system. I watched all three debates and observed that Kerry did not answer one question. So, Bush seems to be best of the worse.
HARRIS: And this e-mail from Nicholas. Yes, the debates influenced my decision. I watched all three debates and I'm certainly voting for John Kerry. Bush's facial expressions and skirting around certain issues was very apparent during the three debates.
We want to thank you for those e-mails.
NGUYEN: Keep cinnamon -- sending them in that is, at wam@cnn.com. We'll read those responses on the air throughout the morning.
HARRIS: The dangers of taking drugs long term to deal with chronic headache problems. Our doctor Sanjay makes, in just a couple of minutes, for your weekend "HOUSE CALL" on stopping headache pain.
I'm Tony Harris. NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. We have a check of the top stories. That is straight ahead. And we'll both see you again at the top of the hour.
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