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CNN Saturday Morning News

A New Video Tape from Osama bin Laden; A look at the Presidential Campaigns of President Bush, Senator Kerry

Aired October 30, 2004 - 07:00   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning.
From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

It is October 30, one day before Halloween. Three more days to go before the presidential election.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris.

Thank you for being with us.

Now in the news, quick reaction on the campaign trail to a new videotaped message from Osama bin Laden. The candidates traded barbs, but John Kerry said Americans are united in their determination to destroy bin Laden. And George Bush said Americans will not be intimidated by an enemy of our country.

The family of a Japanese hostage in Iraq has new hope this morning. A cabinet secretary in Tokyo now says a body found north of Baghdad is not that of the man kidnapped on Tuesday. Earlier, other Japanese officials said the description matched that of 24-year-old Shosei Koda, whose captors have threatened his life.

Someone pepper sprayed singer R. Kelly during his concert with rapper Jay Z last night in New York's Madison Square Garden. R. Kelly was taken to the hospital for treatment and was listed in stable condition.

In Boston, they're calling it a rolling rally, but today's parade for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox will also be a floating rally. The players will be in amphibious duck boats and part of the parade will be in the Charles River. A massive turnout is expected for the parade, that starts about three hours from now.

NGUYEN: Well, we have a lot coming up this hour on CNN's CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

In just a few minutes, CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen joins us with his analysis of the latest taunting from Osama bin Laden and what it's intended to accomplish. Also ahead, the quickening pulse of the body of politics, as the candidates sprint to Election Day. We'll speak at length with senior advisers of both campaigns about what to expect between now and Tuesday.

And a little later, with a lunar eclipse overhead, the Red Sox finally emerged from the shadow of Babe Ruth. CNN's own heavy hitter, Rick Horrow, takes us "Beyond The Game."

HARRIS: Now our top story.

A taped message from America's most wanted terrorist. Government officials are carefully scrutinizing the new Osama bin Laden videotape. They're looking for any hidden messages or clues of a possible terrorist attack. And what does it mean coming just four days before the U.S. presidential election?

CNN's Nic Robertson has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Alive and apparently well, Osama bin Laden appears to have timed his first video message in nearly three years to influence the U.S. election.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.

ROBERTSON: He accuses President Bush of misleading the U.S. public. And, in a politically charged swipe, says on September the 11th, Bush wasted time reading to school children after he was told of the attack on the World Trade Center.

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It never occurred to us that he, the commander-in-chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.

ROBERTSON: In an apparent effort to explain why America has been singled out for attack by al Qaeda, Osama talks of his first feelings of opposition to U.S. foreign policy.

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The event that affected me most personally was in 1982, when America gave permission for Israel to invade Lebanon. That built a strong desire in me to punish the guilty.

ROBERTSON: The only indication that the tape was recorded recently is bin Laden's reference to how we are now entering the fourth year since 9/11. This is the second such video message from the al Qaeda leadership in a month and a half. Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had a similar tape broadcast on September 9. That both men would release such video statements an indication how secure they must feel. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Well, they're still looking at it, but U.S. intelligence officials say the videotaped message from Osama bin Laden appears to be authentic and recently recorded. And one senior law enforcement official says it has set off alarm bells.

Our own terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, joins us now from Washington -- and, Peter, before we talk, let's take a listen to another piece of this tape, and then let's discuss it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I wonder about you. After, even after the fourth year after the 9/11, Bush is confusing you and not telling you the true reason. So the motivations are still there for us to repeat what happened. I will talk to you about the reasons behind those events and I will be honest with you the moment that the decision was taken so that you ponder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, Peter, why this tape? Why now?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think principally to show that bin Laden is in the game and it's a form of psychological warfare. You know, it was strange to me that we didn't hear from bin Laden on the anniversary of 9/11, when we traditionally have heard from him. We also didn't hear from him around October 7, the beginning of the war against the Taliban, another anniversary we've heard from him. And now we have the answer. The reason we didn't hear from him then, only heard from his deputy, as Nic Robertson made clear in his piece, Ayman al-Zawahiri, around the 9/11 anniversary, is that they were saving this major statement, the first one that he's made of this kind for three years, for the election.

Obviously bin Laden trying to show that he's, you know, a major player on the world stage.

HARRIS: Look at this appearance in this tape. I'm looking at it as it's up on the screen now. He is sitting behind a desk and he appears rather stately as he sits there, as if he could be a head of state.

What do you make of his appearance and what you see there from him physically and his voice? What does he sound like to you? BERGEN: Well, it's interesting to contrast this with the last on camera videotaped statement from bin Laden December 27, 2001, in which A, his whole left side was immobilized and he was -- and he looked a lot older than, in fact, he is. He's only 48. In his last videotaped statement, he appeared to be much older.

So in this statement, he no longer has the immobilized shoulder and his -- he seems to be in reasonably good health and, as you said, sitting behind a desk, clearly pretty comfortable. I think the comfort level, the fact that both bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have, for the very, you know, for the first time in years released videotaped statements, indicates that they feel pretty secure.

HARRIS: Clearly, in your mind, trying to influence this election? And, if so, how? BERGEN: I think it's not that, I mean as bin Laden himself said, he doesn't care if Bush or Kerry wins. I don't think bin Laden worries that if Rand Beers is national security adviser as opposed to Condoleezza Rice, that somehow the United States is going to have a different policy on al Qaeda. Both candidates have made clear in their reactions to this tape that they're going to go after al Qaeda, whatever bin Laden's statements.

But I think it's just a way of reminding the American public, for bin Laden, as a form of sort of psychological warfare, that, hey, I'm still out there. You haven't captured me. It's now more than three years since the 9/11 attacks. And it's a way of sort of inserting himself into world events.

HARRIS: OK. And, Peter, did you hear anything in the tape to signal a new attack? BERGEN: Tapes have sometimes preceded new attacks. But I'll tell you that we've had more than 20 tapes, audiotapes and videotapes from either bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In fact, we've had so many tapes, that it's hard to make an association between tapes and attacks at this point.

But I would say that given the fact we've had nearly two dozen audiotapes and videotapes from bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the chain of custody of these tapes is one way you can definitely get back to them, to me it's extraordinary that we haven't been able to follow the chain of custody back and actually find these people.

HARRIS: Interesting.

OK, Peter, thank you.

We'll hear more about this new bin Laden tape when Peter Bergen joins us again during the 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING. BERGEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: We're talking about the final stretch. There are just three days before the presidential election and President Bush maintains a slight edge in the polls. Our latest poll of polls gives Bush a 3 point advantage. He leads Senator Kerry 49 percent to 46 percent. The poll is an average of six leading national polls.

The last weekend before the election and the campaign is nearly non-stop. John Kerry will be in Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio today. First on the agenda, a rally in Appleton, Wisconsin. That's where we find CNN's Kelly Wallace -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

Well, both campaigns firing shots at each other over this new Osama bin Laden tape. The Kerry campaign saying that the president and his advisers are the ones playing politics with this. That is a message we're likely to hear from the Kerry campaign team on this day once again.

All the while, the senator's advisers refusing to speculate on the political fallout of this October surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Looking somber and serious as he went before the cameras yesterday, Senator Kerry said Americans are united in wanting to destroy Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are barbarians and I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes, period.

Thank you.

QUESTION: What about the timing, senator? What do you make of the timing?

WALLACE: And that was it. No mention of the new bin Laden tape, a bona fide October surprise. At his event later in Miami...

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Like soldiers on a winter's night with a vow to defend...

WALLACE: His third in the last two days with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Just this declaration, that takes on new urgency in these final days.

KERRY: I will fight a smarter, tougher, more effective, more strategic war on terror and we will make America safer than George Bush has.

WALLACE: However, earlier, before he was briefed about the specifics of the tape, the senator, in an interview, hammered away at the president.

KERRY: And I regret that when George Bush had the opportunity in Afghanistan at Tora Bora, he didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden, he outsourced the job to Afghan warlords. I would never have done that.

WALLACE: But a continuing problem for the senator, at least according to the latest polls, he has not narrowed the nearly 20 point gap between himself and the president when voters are asked who would do a better job handling terrorism.

His strategy? Trying to convince undecided voters that it would be risky to stick with the president after his record at home and abroad.

KERRY: His mistakes and misjudgments have hurt our troops, have put our troops at greater risk, have over extended the armed forces of the United States, have driven away our allies, have diverted our focus from Osama bin Laden and the real war on terror.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WALLACE: And aides say they are going to try and move forward on this day, stick to their original game plan here in Wisconsin, later in Ohio and Iowa. All this while the campaign and its advisers can't answer this question, no one can really answer it, and that is does this tape hurt President Bush by reminding voters that Osama bin Laden remains at large or does it help him by making the war on terrorism, his strength, the main issue on the minds of undecided voters in these final days -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Kelly Wallace, thank you for that.

Well, President Bush barnstorms the upper Midwest -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- before heading for Florida tonight. The president was in Ohio yesterday, where the new bin Laden tape was the hot topic.

Our senior White House correspondent, John King, has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president offered his assessment between campaign stops in Ohio.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists and I am confident that we will prevail.

KING: The reemergence of bin Laden four days before the election immediately became a campaign flashpoint. In Columbus, Ohio, the president lashed out at Democrat John Kerry for repeating, after the bin Laden tape aired, his assertion that bad planning by Mr. Bush allowed the al Qaeda leader to escape a manhunt in Afghanistan.

BUSH: It's simply not the case. It's the worst kind of Monday morning quarterbacking. It is especially shameful in the light of a new tape from America's enemy.

KING: At earlier stops, Mr. Bush made no mention of the tape, but continued his relentless assault on Senator Kerry's credentials to assume command of the war on terror.

BUSH: During the last 20 years in key moments of challenge and decision for America, Senator Kerry has chosen the position of weakness and inaction.

KING: Mr. Bush was told that reports of a new bin Laden tape Friday morning as he flew to a New Hampshire event featuring family members of 9/11 victims.

BUSH: We are shrinking the area where terrorists can operate freely. We have the terrorists on the run.

KING: Mr. Bush was briefed throughout the day and made his public statement after the tape aired on Al Jazeera and then in the United States. Aides say Mr. Bush had no second thoughts about keeping his campaign schedule, including this evening Ohio event with a rowdy crowd of 20,000 and an introduction by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm here to pump you up to reelect President George W. Bush.

KING (on camera): The obvious risk for the president is that voters see bin Laden and blame Mr. Bush for the fact that he is still at large. But most senior Bush political aides believe if there is any political benefit, it falls to the president, because voters have consistently said they view him as the tougher candidate when it comes to winning the war on terror.

John King, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Well, now to our e-mail Question of the Day. Will bin Laden's message influence your vote? E-mail us now at wam@cnn.com. We will read your responses throughout the morning.

NGUYEN: And believe it or not, there are only three days to go before you can cast your vote. So what's the winning strategy in both camps? We'll ask the senior campaign advisers for both candidates in the next half hour.

HARRIS: And then questions still surround the missing weapons in Iraq and whether the Bush administration was probably or properly safeguarding ammunition sites. A key Republican law maker speaks out.

NGUYEN: But first, there appears to be a bigger emphasis on getting out the vote during this presidential election. So all morning long we'll bring you a sample of what's on the minds of America's young people. We asked them, why do you feel compelled to vote this year?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why am I compelled to vote? Because I feel like having that right is, you know, very important and, you know, for the issues I believe in, I feel like if I'm going to argue against them or for them, I should stand up and vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I feel like it's a very important election. It's very close between Bush and Kerry and I think maybe my vote will make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I'm strong on some of the issues that I want to be changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Well, here's the deal. A judge throws a surprise party for a convicted felon right there in her courtroom. Does it pose a question of ethics? A tough case for this morning's legal panel. A judge and her celebration on the docket next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And let's check some other stories making headlines this Saturday morning.

John Edwards has been blazing up the campaign trail for real. His campaign plane had to make an emergency landing in North Carolina last night. That after an ABC crew's camera battery blew up and sparked a small fire on board. No one was injured. The plane took off again later.

NGUYEN: Well, members of a north Georgia family say they are just happy to be alive after a car crashed into their house and sparked a raging fire early Friday. Check out this video. The house was destroyed. The driver of the car told police he suffered a seizure and lost control. The owner of the house pulled the driver from that car.

And in New York City, remembering Christopher Reeve. About 900 people attended a memorial for the paralyzed actor, who died earlier this month at the age of 52. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and comedian Robin Williams spoke at that service. Clinton says Reeve's courage will live on.

Missing ballots in Florida, voting lawsuits in Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania -- does this mean another recount is brewing? Check out the details in our Voter Alert. That is a little bit later this hour.

HARRIS: Rob Marciano is back.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.

NGUYEN: Hi, Rob.

HARRIS: Welcome back, doctor.

MARCIANO: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Yes.

HARRIS: Yes, she is, actually.

NGUYEN: That's my Kleenex. I didn't mean for you to touch that. I'm sorry.

MARCIANO: That's OK. NGUYEN: I've got the allergies today.

HARRIS: Way to go, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Good to see you, sir.

MARCIANO: Hey, the last weekend of October. A huge night for us tonight.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes.

MARCIANO: We turn the clocks back, an extra hour of sleep.

NGUYEN: That's right, we get an extra hour.

HARRIS: An extra hour of sleep. Yes.

NGUYEN: Boy, it means a lot on this shift, doesn't it?

MARCIANO: Yes, it certainly does. I hope you enjoy it, as well, and Halloween tomorrow night.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Well, the Red Sox finally did it, 86 years of curse now history.

NGUYEN: So, with the renewed interest in the national pastime, will the current baseball salaries become super astronomical next season? Find out when we go "Beyond The Game." That's later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Time now for our weekly "Rewind," a look at the top stories for the past week.

Missing bombs -- on Monday it was revealed that more than 300 tons of high grade explosives went missing from a storage site in Iraq. Still no word on the fate of those explosives.

On Friday, a grim new study came out on the Iraq conflict. Health experts estimate at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the U.S.-led invasion, mostly from violence. The study is on a British medical journal's Web site.

And on Wednesday, the curse was reversed. The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Millions of fans are expected at a victory rally today in Boston. And get this, players will parade through town on duck boats, allowing them to travel on the states and on the Charles River. Now, that's the way to celebrate.

Well, tomorrow we will fast forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.

Now with just three days to go before the elections, we are taking the pulse in both candidates' camps. Their senior advisers join us ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

HARRIS: And a prominent Republican leader says he confronted Condoleezza Rice about the missing weapons in Iraq four months ago. Her reaction? Find out when we return.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're pregnant, you know to avoid alcohol and some under cooked foods. But a new study by Stanford University suggests there are a few other things to cross off your list to avoid getting a bacterial illness called Listeriosis, which can pass from mother to baby and cause premature delivery or stillbirth.

Listeria can grow in hot tubs and cold cuts, so be sure to reheat them until they are 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Soft cheese like brie, feta and blue cheese, pate or meat spread, and unpasteurized milk, should also be avoided.

According to the CDC, pregnant women are 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get sick from the bacteria. In fact, one third of Listeria infections happen during pregnancy.

Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: House Speaker Dennis Hastert says he confronted the national security adviser about the proper safeguarding of ammunition sites in Iraq four months ago. We'll be talking a lot about that.

Welcome back.

Good morning to you.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

That story in a minute.

First, a look at the morning's headlines.

U.S. government officials say the new videotape from Osama bin Laden appears to be authentic and made recently. Now they're analyzing the tape to see if it contains any hidden messages forewarning an attack on the U.S. Some experts suggest bin Laden may be trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.

U.S.-led forces say they killed five suspected militants and arrested nine others in eastern Afghanistan. It happened Thursday during a military attack on a suspected al Qaeda operative near Jalalabad. The military says there's credible evidence the operative was planning an attack on coalition forces.

It's time to change your clocks. Roll them back an hour and say good-bye to daylight savings time. Standard time begins at 2:00 Sunday morning for most of the country, so enjoy, enjoy that extra hour of sleep.

NGUYEN: The final days before the election and President Bush is painting himself as the leader best equipped to fight terrorism. Meantime, the world's most wanted terrorist has resurfaced on videotape.

Senior Bush campaign adviser Mary Matalin joins us now from the campaign's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Good morning to you, Mary.

MARY MATALIN, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good morning, Betty.

Thanks for having me.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

Let's talk about this Osama bin Laden tape.

How much of an effect will it have on this election?

MATALIN: Well, we're not thinking of it politically. We're reminded that Osama bin Laden has issued myriad fatwas on Americans. He hates all Americans. He's determined to destroy us. And that's why this president, the first president in -- during the rise of Islamo-fascism, has done something to push back to destroy him and has, in fact, destroyed his training camps, has killed or captured three out of the four of his leaders, has disrupted his financial network, has taken the battle to them, has taken on one of his top lieutenants in Baghdad, al-Zarqawi. And we've got to continue this global war on terror.

It's not a political issue so much as it reasserts the choice that's between the American people on Tuesday. This is, again, I'll say, the first president that's taken on these terrorists after two decades of attacking us.

NGUYEN: But no doubt it will be made a political issue.

Does it play into the Kerry camp's claims that the current administration shifted focus off of Osama bin Laden and placed it in Iraq?

MATALIN: Iraq is the central war -- central front on the war on terror. Zarqawi, who is -- who fled Afghanistan -- is running operations, terrorist operations, bombings and beheadings and all of that, out of Baghdad. Sent a missive to UBL, which -- Osama bin Laden -- which we intercepted, which said if they transform the region, if they plant the flag of freedom here, if the Americans get democracy in Iraq, they will suffocate us.

So, look, the president has a short-term strategy to go after these guys where they are, these barbarians, and a long-term strategy to eradicate the ideology and the reason for their hatred of us and replace it with freedom and democracy.

Senator Kerry, on the contrary, has not had any policy for 20 years against the terrorists and has not presented any in this campaign. In fact, in the final four days after saying for the entire campaign that Saddam Hussein was the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, is now saying, with five days to go, that's a very dangerous place.

So we still don't know what Senator Kerry's policy is on the global war on terror. And, you know what? You can't lead, people can't follow you if they don't know where you're going.

NGUYEN: All right, Mary, I need to get this in because we're almost out of time. But let's continue with Iraq for just a moment.

Lately a lot of news about those 360 tons of explosives missing in Iraq.

Did this administration not safeguard those ammunition depots correctly or adequately?

MATALIN: Well, as you know, Betty, yesterday a major who actually had gone in there and destroyed several thousand tons of those munitions from the 3rd I.D., that was their job, they did get it done and that amount and, you know, the IAEA is now saying 380 tons or three tons. They don't know what it was. But we do know this. The United States of America and its allies has destroyed 400,000 tons, 1,000 times more than what was being said to be there. And we think that's been destroyed, too.

So guess what? It's a dangerous place. There's a million tons of those kinds of munitions that part of the reason for going in there was to keep out of the hands of terrorists. They're now being destroyed and Senator Kerry was sitting in the president's place. He has made it clear that he would not have gone in there and Saddam would still be in -- would be the head of that country and would be in possession of those weapons.

They're now being destroyed.

NGUYEN: All right, Mary Matalin, senior Bush campaign adviser.

Unfortunately, we are absolutely out of time.

But we thank you for your time this morning.

MATALIN: Thanks for having me.

NGUYEN: Sure.

And in just a few minutes, we will hear from the other side, of course. Senior Kerry campaign adviser Joe Lockhart joins us at 40 past the hour -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, it has become an issue late in this campaign, those explosives that went missing in Iraq. But there were earlier questions about whether the U.S. was doing enough to guard Iraqi weapons sites. Those questions were raised by House Speaker Dennis Hastert in June during a private meeting between National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and GOP leaders. Sources tell CNN that Hastert got angry because he wasn't satisfied with the answers Rice gave him. The sources say Hastert wasn't focusing on Al Qa Qaa. That's the Iraqi storage site where more than 300 tons of high grade explosives went missing. Still no word on the fate of those explosives.

NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., CNN is keeping up with voting irregularities and alerting you to potential problems in the system. We begin this week's "Voter Alert," in, where else but Florida, where some Broward County residents are not absent-minded absentee voters. They actually never got the ballots they asked for. Residents requested the absentee ballots weeks ago and election officials say they were mailed, but apparently no one can seem to find them. County officials have remailed up to 14,000 new absentee ballots.

Now to Colorado. One man, one vote? Maybe not. Almost 4,000 people have registered to vote in more than one Colorado county and officials fear they could vote twice.

And we are also eyeing Ohio now. The challenging and the challengers -- a judge has effectively stopped Republican attempts to challenge some 30,000 newly registered voters before Election Day. Republicans allege fraud may be at play. Another hearing on the matter, well, that comes on Monday.

In Iowa, if you vote in the right county but at the wrong precinct, your vote will not be counted.

HARRIS: Man.

NGUYEN: That decision from a federal court. That's right. But those provisional ballots will be set aside just in case a lawsuit comes about.

And the key decision in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania extends the deadline for counting overseas ballots. Ballots from the state's overseas voters must be postmarked by November 2 and state officials have eight days to count them.

Well, with the election just three days away, some voters are worried about problems in the system, no doubt. Well, if you have a problem, some states suggest all you have to do is give them a call. The number is on your screen. It is 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

HARRIS: It's enough to make your head spin...

NGUYEN: A lot...

HARRIS: ... your eyes cross and everything else. Next stop on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, a stop at the very busy Kerry campaign headquarters in Washington. We'll talk to John Kerry's senior adviser, Joe Lockhart, when we return.

But first, more of the voices of young America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen a lot more interest among young...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Younger? Definitely. Definitely. Like this is the most I've ever seen. Like MTV, like the Voter Dive, they're really trying to target young students. This is the most I've ever seen in any presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Civic duty. I think every American should be voting. That's what makes democracy in America great is you actually have a choice in who's leading your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A judge throws a surprise party for a convicted felon right there in her courtroom. Does it pose a question of ethics? A tough case for this morning's legal panel. A judge and her celebration on the docket next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, a short time ago we spoke with Republican strategist and Bush senior adviser Mary Matalin. Now we want to turn to Joe Lockhart, Democratic senior adviser to the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

He joins us now from Washington.

Good morning to you.

JOE LOCKHART, SENIOR KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about that Osama bin Laden tape that has surfaced.

Does this play into the Bush camp's claims that terrorists want him out of office?

LOCKHART: Well, I don't know. I mean, listen, I think that America is united in their revulsion to this and in this idea that Osama bin Laden has no right and no standing to participate in our election. I think that both Republicans and Democrats, George Bush, John Kerry, agree that this election is ours. And, you know, it's the most sacred thing in our democracy, what we do every four years. And a barbarian murderer terrorist is not going to impact this. We're going to have our election based on what's in our interests, not some terrorist on the other side of the world.

NGUYEN: But voters, no doubt, are taking notice to this latest tape by Osama bin Laden.

Does it really put the emphasis on the fact that there is a war against terror that is raging right now and that could possibly be in Bush's favor, because he has been touted as a war president?

LOCKHART: Well, you know, listen, I think that Americans were very well aware of the threat, the war on terror. We've been having a debate about this over the last year. They heard from John Kerry in three debates talk about this, three debates that the American public overwhelming thought he won against George Bush. John Kerry has been very clear that he will stop at nothing to hunt down, capture or kill these terrorists, that he can fight a more effective war. And the public is going to have to make a judgment. And it's not for Osama bin Laden to inject himself.

But there's two different philosophies. John Kerry has said consistently that he never would have diverted attention and resources out of Afghanistan into Iraq. Now, we have a mess in Iraq that George Bush's misjudgments created. We have a huge terrorism problem that was created in Iraq. So the public will look at this, they'll make their judgment. And I don't think that, you know, Osama bin Laden injecting himself, you know, at the eleventh hour is going to have much of an impact. The public has been looking at this for a year and it's my view that they're going to make the decision that John Kerry is better on the war on terror and better on getting this economy going again so that people can start going back to work.

NGUYEN: Joe, you mentioned the problems in Iraq. We're looking right now at 360 tons of missing explosives in Iraq. Is that going to be a deciding factor in this election?

LOCKHART: Well, I'm not sure it's going to be a deciding factor, but it is an important clue to the president's misjudgments. His own Army chief of staff, General Shinseki, told the president before going in that he didn't have enough troops. His point man on the ground, Ambassador Bremer, called from there and said you don't have enough troops here, we can't secure the country.

But we went ahead and did this anyway. And now what we see is there's 380 tons, or whatever the number is, of high grade explosives that are most likely in the hands of terrorists that are targeting our troops. So the question, the fundamental question is who can keep this country safer? I think there's a lot of evidence mounting that it's John Kerry.

I think the other important issue that was raised this morning is, you know, it's sort of the stubbornness and go it alone attitude of the president. The U.N. weapons inspectors, according to the "Boston Globe," pleaded with the U.S. government to allow them in in the aftermath of the invasion, to go and secure all these weapons sites. And the president said no. The president made the decision it was better to leave these sites unguarded than to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to go in and guard them. It makes no sense. He has to account for that record. He hasn't talked about it much this week, but the public will want to know.

NGUYEN: All right, we're going to have to leave it there.

Joe Lockhart, the Kerry senior campaign adviser, thank you for your time this morning.

LOCKHART: Oh, thank you.

NGUYEN: Tony.

HARRIS: And checking the headlines right now, Osama bin Laden is on the campaign trail today, in a manner of speaking. A taunting new videotape by the al Qaeda leader has injected itself into the final days before the election. The timing apparently is intended to rattle the candidates and voters.

In Paris, Yasser Arafat is undergoing medical tests for an unspecified blood disorder. The Palestinian leader arrived yesterday at a French military hospital suffering from stomach flu and low blood platelets.

And some law makers were already on a short fuse over the security of Iraqi weapons as recently as last summer. Sources say House Speaker Dennis Hastert grew angry with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice over fears that weapons and explosives might fall into the wrong hands.

NGUYEN: Well, in the meantime, it is the day before Halloween and no better time to talk about the end of an 86-year-old curse.

HARRIS: The Red Sox rebound and so does the game of baseball. Remember that strike year a decade ago?

CNN sports analyst Rick Horrow does and he says it's time for both the Sox and the league to exorcise all the demons.

We take you "Beyond The Game" right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: As he has his morning cup of coffee -- good morning, Rick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Feeling, huh? More than a feeling -- that's the Boston song.

It's the completion of the greatest comeback in baseball history. The Boston Red Sox, down three games to none against the Yankees. They go on to win four straight over New York, then sweep the St. Louis Cardinals to become world champions for the first time since 1918. And like the Red Sox, the game itself has pulled off a remarkable comeback from the strike that damaged baseball's image a decade ago, in 1994.

The baseball strike a decade ago drove millions of fans from the game. Did the Red Sox revival bring them back? What better question to put to the author of "When the Game Is On the Line," our CNN sports wizard analyst, Rick Horrow, who joins us live from West Palm Beach, Florida -- good morning, Rick.

Wizard now.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Hey, capital W, pal. That's a pretty good -- that's -- you're a music critic now. That is, that's a pretty good...

HARRIS: How about that, huh?

HORROW: Yes. A pretty good selection by the producer. That is good so...

HARRIS: That's not bad. Not bad.

HORROW: Yes.

HARRIS: All right, Rick, is all well with the game of baseball?

HORROW: Yes. And, you know, that thud we're hearing are the millions of fans from the Red Sox nation getting on not the bandwagon, but the duck boats for that two million person parade today. And it's huge. A 16 rating for the series, the best in a decade. And as you said, a decade ago, we were wondering whether baseball would ever exist again. And the strike that happened then, the lockout, people said it may never come back.

But now $4.1 billion in revenues over the last decade on an annual basis. Players are making more money than ever before, a $2.4 million average salary. We may think it's too much, but the owners are making a lot of money, too. A $200 million sale of the franchise by the Milwaukee Brewers. Everybody's expectations exceeded. So it's great for baseball. It's great for the fans, as well. And the economic health is better than it has been in a long, long time.

HARRIS: Well, let's explore that a little further here now. Commissioner Bud says the luxury tax will transfer a bunch of money, about $300 million, from the haves to the have-nots.

Is there a benefit in there somewhere for the fans?

HORROW: Yes, Commissioner Bud is right. The bottom line, by the way, is the fans need to stay in the game. My daughter, a freshman at B.C., called me yesterday from the Fenway Park merchandising store, asking what kind of hat I wanted. That was a girl who a year ago wouldn't care anything about baseball. That's the target audience. How do you keep them?

The way you do it, by the way, is affordable ticket prices. So the Red Sox may be difficult because they're at $40 to pay for their $127 million payroll, but for those other teams, the commissioner is right, the more money that's transferred from the central fund to those have not teams, the less reliance they have on raising ticket prices, which means more average fans are able to attend the game... HARRIS: Got you.

HORROW: ... which is darned good for baseball.

HARRIS: OK, now, D.C. gets a team. If they get a stadium financing deal worked out. Once that financing is worked out, once D.C. gets a stadium, who gets the team and what cities are in the running here?

HORROW: Well, you know, the bottom line is the relocation of the Expos helped other people besides just Washington, D.C. According to the "Sports Business Journal," you've got teams like the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland As and the Florida Marlins, even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, potentially looking, if they don't get their deals done in their local markets. Where do they go? Las Vegas? Maybe. Norfolk's on the top of the list by a lot of people; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland.

So even if the Expos do go to D.C., which looks pretty likely, the on deck cities are better able to get major league baseball down the road.

HARRIS: OK.

Rick, what's your fair ball of the week?

HORROW: Hey, the fair ball is Reebok and Curt Schilling. You know, we may be tired of looking at Curt Schilling's bloody foot, but Reebok is not.

HARRIS: And we are.

HORROW: Yes, we are. But Reebok paid nothing for that exposure. You saw the little Reebok tag on his foot, 36 seconds of media time. There are people that quantify what that means. And they got it for free, while other companies are spending all this money producing those major commercials.

HARRIS: And what's your foul ball of the week?

HORROW: That's Brigham's ice cream store. And it's not them personally, but they've got a problem because they've got a flavor of ice cream called Reverse The Curse. Now you've got all of these businesses and signs all over Boston, they've got to come up with another slogan.

But, by the way, Tony, it sure beats the alternative. It's a darned good problem, especially when you consider the Red Sox had won the first World Series game in 140,000 major league games since 1918.

HARRIS: Wow!

HORROW: That's a heck of a stat, by the way.

HARRIS: That is.

All right, Rick, good to see you, as always.

Take care of yourself.

HORROW: Hey, next week I can't wait, we're going to play name the musician next week. That's perfect, though, and you've got it, man.

HARRIS: All right, Rick, thanks -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Just as long as Tony is not doing any singing.

HARRIS: Oh, come on now.

NGUYEN: Yikes!

All right, well, good morning Orlando. One of the stops on President Bush's itinerary today. There's Orlando. The forecast for Florida and the rest of the country, that is just ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

But first, here is an election tidbit for you this morning. According to "Time" magazine, 12 percent of voters nationwide and more than 70 percent in Ohio will be using punch card ballots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The costumes, masks, ghouls, goblins, we need a forecast for Halloween.

NGUYEN: We sure do.

Rob -- you may need a costume, though.

MARCIANO: I was going to say...

NGUYEN: Have you gotten that in shape just yet? I mean are you working on it?

HARRIS: Well, the one he's wearing now is pretty good. Couldn't you...

NGUYEN: Yikes!

HARRIS: Wouldn't that -- oh, I'm sorry, Rob. Are we on?

NGUYEN: A little scary for us, here.

HARRIS: Are we on?

MARCIANO: Hey, you get a forecast when I know what you guys are going to wear tomorrow night.

NGUYEN: You want to know what we're going to wear tomorrow?

MARCIANO: Yes, that's right.

NGUYEN: We have to work the early morning shift, in case you've forgotten. We're going to be sleeping.

HARRIS: We're going to be...

NGUYEN: Maybe pajamas.

HARRIS: Yes. There you go.

MARCIANO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: Yes.

MARCIANO: All right, I'll send kids from my neighborhood over to your house then.

NGUYEN: OK.

MARCIANO: There you go, Betty Nguyen opening the door with her pajamas on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get to our e-mail Question of the Day. Will Osama bin Laden's message influence your vote?

HARRIS: And we've got this from Dennis: "I can tell you my vote will not change just because a new tape is released. If there are still those out there willing to change their vote out of fear, I think it best that they stay home next Tuesday."

That's from Dennis.

NGUYEN: Cherylin (ph) from Jackson Hole, Wyoming writes: "We cannot let bin Laden influence our decision to vote regardless of our political affiliation. The emergence of the tape four days before the election is bin Laden's attempt at political extortion."

And, of course, we invite you to send in your response to wam@cnn.com and we'll read those on the air.

HARRIS: Well, the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.

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 30, 2004 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning.
From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

It is October 30, one day before Halloween. Three more days to go before the presidential election.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris.

Thank you for being with us.

Now in the news, quick reaction on the campaign trail to a new videotaped message from Osama bin Laden. The candidates traded barbs, but John Kerry said Americans are united in their determination to destroy bin Laden. And George Bush said Americans will not be intimidated by an enemy of our country.

The family of a Japanese hostage in Iraq has new hope this morning. A cabinet secretary in Tokyo now says a body found north of Baghdad is not that of the man kidnapped on Tuesday. Earlier, other Japanese officials said the description matched that of 24-year-old Shosei Koda, whose captors have threatened his life.

Someone pepper sprayed singer R. Kelly during his concert with rapper Jay Z last night in New York's Madison Square Garden. R. Kelly was taken to the hospital for treatment and was listed in stable condition.

In Boston, they're calling it a rolling rally, but today's parade for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox will also be a floating rally. The players will be in amphibious duck boats and part of the parade will be in the Charles River. A massive turnout is expected for the parade, that starts about three hours from now.

NGUYEN: Well, we have a lot coming up this hour on CNN's CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

In just a few minutes, CNN terrorism expert Peter Bergen joins us with his analysis of the latest taunting from Osama bin Laden and what it's intended to accomplish. Also ahead, the quickening pulse of the body of politics, as the candidates sprint to Election Day. We'll speak at length with senior advisers of both campaigns about what to expect between now and Tuesday.

And a little later, with a lunar eclipse overhead, the Red Sox finally emerged from the shadow of Babe Ruth. CNN's own heavy hitter, Rick Horrow, takes us "Beyond The Game."

HARRIS: Now our top story.

A taped message from America's most wanted terrorist. Government officials are carefully scrutinizing the new Osama bin Laden videotape. They're looking for any hidden messages or clues of a possible terrorist attack. And what does it mean coming just four days before the U.S. presidential election?

CNN's Nic Robertson has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Alive and apparently well, Osama bin Laden appears to have timed his first video message in nearly three years to influence the U.S. election.

OSAMA BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.

ROBERTSON: He accuses President Bush of misleading the U.S. public. And, in a politically charged swipe, says on September the 11th, Bush wasted time reading to school children after he was told of the attack on the World Trade Center.

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): It never occurred to us that he, the commander-in-chief of the country, would leave 50,000 citizens in the two towers to face those horrors alone because he thought listening to a child discussing her goats was more important.

ROBERTSON: In an apparent effort to explain why America has been singled out for attack by al Qaeda, Osama talks of his first feelings of opposition to U.S. foreign policy.

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The event that affected me most personally was in 1982, when America gave permission for Israel to invade Lebanon. That built a strong desire in me to punish the guilty.

ROBERTSON: The only indication that the tape was recorded recently is bin Laden's reference to how we are now entering the fourth year since 9/11. This is the second such video message from the al Qaeda leadership in a month and a half. Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, had a similar tape broadcast on September 9. That both men would release such video statements an indication how secure they must feel. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Well, they're still looking at it, but U.S. intelligence officials say the videotaped message from Osama bin Laden appears to be authentic and recently recorded. And one senior law enforcement official says it has set off alarm bells.

Our own terrorism analyst, Peter Bergen, joins us now from Washington -- and, Peter, before we talk, let's take a listen to another piece of this tape, and then let's discuss it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIN LADEN (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I wonder about you. After, even after the fourth year after the 9/11, Bush is confusing you and not telling you the true reason. So the motivations are still there for us to repeat what happened. I will talk to you about the reasons behind those events and I will be honest with you the moment that the decision was taken so that you ponder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, Peter, why this tape? Why now?

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think principally to show that bin Laden is in the game and it's a form of psychological warfare. You know, it was strange to me that we didn't hear from bin Laden on the anniversary of 9/11, when we traditionally have heard from him. We also didn't hear from him around October 7, the beginning of the war against the Taliban, another anniversary we've heard from him. And now we have the answer. The reason we didn't hear from him then, only heard from his deputy, as Nic Robertson made clear in his piece, Ayman al-Zawahiri, around the 9/11 anniversary, is that they were saving this major statement, the first one that he's made of this kind for three years, for the election.

Obviously bin Laden trying to show that he's, you know, a major player on the world stage.

HARRIS: Look at this appearance in this tape. I'm looking at it as it's up on the screen now. He is sitting behind a desk and he appears rather stately as he sits there, as if he could be a head of state.

What do you make of his appearance and what you see there from him physically and his voice? What does he sound like to you? BERGEN: Well, it's interesting to contrast this with the last on camera videotaped statement from bin Laden December 27, 2001, in which A, his whole left side was immobilized and he was -- and he looked a lot older than, in fact, he is. He's only 48. In his last videotaped statement, he appeared to be much older.

So in this statement, he no longer has the immobilized shoulder and his -- he seems to be in reasonably good health and, as you said, sitting behind a desk, clearly pretty comfortable. I think the comfort level, the fact that both bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have, for the very, you know, for the first time in years released videotaped statements, indicates that they feel pretty secure.

HARRIS: Clearly, in your mind, trying to influence this election? And, if so, how? BERGEN: I think it's not that, I mean as bin Laden himself said, he doesn't care if Bush or Kerry wins. I don't think bin Laden worries that if Rand Beers is national security adviser as opposed to Condoleezza Rice, that somehow the United States is going to have a different policy on al Qaeda. Both candidates have made clear in their reactions to this tape that they're going to go after al Qaeda, whatever bin Laden's statements.

But I think it's just a way of reminding the American public, for bin Laden, as a form of sort of psychological warfare, that, hey, I'm still out there. You haven't captured me. It's now more than three years since the 9/11 attacks. And it's a way of sort of inserting himself into world events.

HARRIS: OK. And, Peter, did you hear anything in the tape to signal a new attack? BERGEN: Tapes have sometimes preceded new attacks. But I'll tell you that we've had more than 20 tapes, audiotapes and videotapes from either bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. In fact, we've had so many tapes, that it's hard to make an association between tapes and attacks at this point.

But I would say that given the fact we've had nearly two dozen audiotapes and videotapes from bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, and the chain of custody of these tapes is one way you can definitely get back to them, to me it's extraordinary that we haven't been able to follow the chain of custody back and actually find these people.

HARRIS: Interesting.

OK, Peter, thank you.

We'll hear more about this new bin Laden tape when Peter Bergen joins us again during the 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING. BERGEN: Thank you.

NGUYEN: We're talking about the final stretch. There are just three days before the presidential election and President Bush maintains a slight edge in the polls. Our latest poll of polls gives Bush a 3 point advantage. He leads Senator Kerry 49 percent to 46 percent. The poll is an average of six leading national polls.

The last weekend before the election and the campaign is nearly non-stop. John Kerry will be in Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio today. First on the agenda, a rally in Appleton, Wisconsin. That's where we find CNN's Kelly Wallace -- good morning, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.

Well, both campaigns firing shots at each other over this new Osama bin Laden tape. The Kerry campaign saying that the president and his advisers are the ones playing politics with this. That is a message we're likely to hear from the Kerry campaign team on this day once again.

All the while, the senator's advisers refusing to speculate on the political fallout of this October surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): Looking somber and serious as he went before the cameras yesterday, Senator Kerry said Americans are united in wanting to destroy Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They are barbarians and I will stop at absolutely nothing to hunt down, capture or kill the terrorists wherever they are, whatever it takes, period.

Thank you.

QUESTION: What about the timing, senator? What do you make of the timing?

WALLACE: And that was it. No mention of the new bin Laden tape, a bona fide October surprise. At his event later in Miami...

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Like soldiers on a winter's night with a vow to defend...

WALLACE: His third in the last two days with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen. Just this declaration, that takes on new urgency in these final days.

KERRY: I will fight a smarter, tougher, more effective, more strategic war on terror and we will make America safer than George Bush has.

WALLACE: However, earlier, before he was briefed about the specifics of the tape, the senator, in an interview, hammered away at the president.

KERRY: And I regret that when George Bush had the opportunity in Afghanistan at Tora Bora, he didn't choose to use American forces to hunt down and kill Osama bin Laden, he outsourced the job to Afghan warlords. I would never have done that.

WALLACE: But a continuing problem for the senator, at least according to the latest polls, he has not narrowed the nearly 20 point gap between himself and the president when voters are asked who would do a better job handling terrorism.

His strategy? Trying to convince undecided voters that it would be risky to stick with the president after his record at home and abroad.

KERRY: His mistakes and misjudgments have hurt our troops, have put our troops at greater risk, have over extended the armed forces of the United States, have driven away our allies, have diverted our focus from Osama bin Laden and the real war on terror.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WALLACE: And aides say they are going to try and move forward on this day, stick to their original game plan here in Wisconsin, later in Ohio and Iowa. All this while the campaign and its advisers can't answer this question, no one can really answer it, and that is does this tape hurt President Bush by reminding voters that Osama bin Laden remains at large or does it help him by making the war on terrorism, his strength, the main issue on the minds of undecided voters in these final days -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Kelly Wallace, thank you for that.

Well, President Bush barnstorms the upper Midwest -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota -- before heading for Florida tonight. The president was in Ohio yesterday, where the new bin Laden tape was the hot topic.

Our senior White House correspondent, John King, has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The president offered his assessment between campaign stops in Ohio.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans will not be intimidated or influenced by an enemy of our country. I'm sure Senator Kerry agrees with this. I also want to say to the American people that we are at war with these terrorists and I am confident that we will prevail.

KING: The reemergence of bin Laden four days before the election immediately became a campaign flashpoint. In Columbus, Ohio, the president lashed out at Democrat John Kerry for repeating, after the bin Laden tape aired, his assertion that bad planning by Mr. Bush allowed the al Qaeda leader to escape a manhunt in Afghanistan.

BUSH: It's simply not the case. It's the worst kind of Monday morning quarterbacking. It is especially shameful in the light of a new tape from America's enemy.

KING: At earlier stops, Mr. Bush made no mention of the tape, but continued his relentless assault on Senator Kerry's credentials to assume command of the war on terror.

BUSH: During the last 20 years in key moments of challenge and decision for America, Senator Kerry has chosen the position of weakness and inaction.

KING: Mr. Bush was told that reports of a new bin Laden tape Friday morning as he flew to a New Hampshire event featuring family members of 9/11 victims.

BUSH: We are shrinking the area where terrorists can operate freely. We have the terrorists on the run.

KING: Mr. Bush was briefed throughout the day and made his public statement after the tape aired on Al Jazeera and then in the United States. Aides say Mr. Bush had no second thoughts about keeping his campaign schedule, including this evening Ohio event with a rowdy crowd of 20,000 and an introduction by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I'm here to pump you up to reelect President George W. Bush.

KING (on camera): The obvious risk for the president is that voters see bin Laden and blame Mr. Bush for the fact that he is still at large. But most senior Bush political aides believe if there is any political benefit, it falls to the president, because voters have consistently said they view him as the tougher candidate when it comes to winning the war on terror.

John King, CNN, Columbus, Ohio.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: Well, now to our e-mail Question of the Day. Will bin Laden's message influence your vote? E-mail us now at wam@cnn.com. We will read your responses throughout the morning.

NGUYEN: And believe it or not, there are only three days to go before you can cast your vote. So what's the winning strategy in both camps? We'll ask the senior campaign advisers for both candidates in the next half hour.

HARRIS: And then questions still surround the missing weapons in Iraq and whether the Bush administration was probably or properly safeguarding ammunition sites. A key Republican law maker speaks out.

NGUYEN: But first, there appears to be a bigger emphasis on getting out the vote during this presidential election. So all morning long we'll bring you a sample of what's on the minds of America's young people. We asked them, why do you feel compelled to vote this year?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why am I compelled to vote? Because I feel like having that right is, you know, very important and, you know, for the issues I believe in, I feel like if I'm going to argue against them or for them, I should stand up and vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I feel like it's a very important election. It's very close between Bush and Kerry and I think maybe my vote will make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I'm strong on some of the issues that I want to be changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Well, here's the deal. A judge throws a surprise party for a convicted felon right there in her courtroom. Does it pose a question of ethics? A tough case for this morning's legal panel. A judge and her celebration on the docket next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And let's check some other stories making headlines this Saturday morning.

John Edwards has been blazing up the campaign trail for real. His campaign plane had to make an emergency landing in North Carolina last night. That after an ABC crew's camera battery blew up and sparked a small fire on board. No one was injured. The plane took off again later.

NGUYEN: Well, members of a north Georgia family say they are just happy to be alive after a car crashed into their house and sparked a raging fire early Friday. Check out this video. The house was destroyed. The driver of the car told police he suffered a seizure and lost control. The owner of the house pulled the driver from that car.

And in New York City, remembering Christopher Reeve. About 900 people attended a memorial for the paralyzed actor, who died earlier this month at the age of 52. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and comedian Robin Williams spoke at that service. Clinton says Reeve's courage will live on.

Missing ballots in Florida, voting lawsuits in Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania -- does this mean another recount is brewing? Check out the details in our Voter Alert. That is a little bit later this hour.

HARRIS: Rob Marciano is back.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guys.

NGUYEN: Hi, Rob.

HARRIS: Welcome back, doctor.

MARCIANO: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Good to see you.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Yes.

HARRIS: Yes, she is, actually.

NGUYEN: That's my Kleenex. I didn't mean for you to touch that. I'm sorry.

MARCIANO: That's OK. NGUYEN: I've got the allergies today.

HARRIS: Way to go, Rob.

MARCIANO: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: Good to see you, sir.

MARCIANO: Hey, the last weekend of October. A huge night for us tonight.

NGUYEN: Oh, yes.

MARCIANO: We turn the clocks back, an extra hour of sleep.

NGUYEN: That's right, we get an extra hour.

HARRIS: An extra hour of sleep. Yes.

NGUYEN: Boy, it means a lot on this shift, doesn't it?

MARCIANO: Yes, it certainly does. I hope you enjoy it, as well, and Halloween tomorrow night.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Well, the Red Sox finally did it, 86 years of curse now history.

NGUYEN: So, with the renewed interest in the national pastime, will the current baseball salaries become super astronomical next season? Find out when we go "Beyond The Game." That's later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Time now for our weekly "Rewind," a look at the top stories for the past week.

Missing bombs -- on Monday it was revealed that more than 300 tons of high grade explosives went missing from a storage site in Iraq. Still no word on the fate of those explosives.

On Friday, a grim new study came out on the Iraq conflict. Health experts estimate at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians have died since the U.S.-led invasion, mostly from violence. The study is on a British medical journal's Web site.

And on Wednesday, the curse was reversed. The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series since 1918, sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals in four games. Millions of fans are expected at a victory rally today in Boston. And get this, players will parade through town on duck boats, allowing them to travel on the states and on the Charles River. Now, that's the way to celebrate.

Well, tomorrow we will fast forward to the week ahead and tell you which stories will grab the spotlight.

Now with just three days to go before the elections, we are taking the pulse in both candidates' camps. Their senior advisers join us ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

HARRIS: And a prominent Republican leader says he confronted Condoleezza Rice about the missing weapons in Iraq four months ago. Her reaction? Find out when we return.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're pregnant, you know to avoid alcohol and some under cooked foods. But a new study by Stanford University suggests there are a few other things to cross off your list to avoid getting a bacterial illness called Listeriosis, which can pass from mother to baby and cause premature delivery or stillbirth.

Listeria can grow in hot tubs and cold cuts, so be sure to reheat them until they are 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Soft cheese like brie, feta and blue cheese, pate or meat spread, and unpasteurized milk, should also be avoided.

According to the CDC, pregnant women are 20 times more likely than other healthy adults to get sick from the bacteria. In fact, one third of Listeria infections happen during pregnancy.

Holly Firfer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: House Speaker Dennis Hastert says he confronted the national security adviser about the proper safeguarding of ammunition sites in Iraq four months ago. We'll be talking a lot about that.

Welcome back.

Good morning to you.

I'm Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

That story in a minute.

First, a look at the morning's headlines.

U.S. government officials say the new videotape from Osama bin Laden appears to be authentic and made recently. Now they're analyzing the tape to see if it contains any hidden messages forewarning an attack on the U.S. Some experts suggest bin Laden may be trying to influence the U.S. presidential election.

U.S.-led forces say they killed five suspected militants and arrested nine others in eastern Afghanistan. It happened Thursday during a military attack on a suspected al Qaeda operative near Jalalabad. The military says there's credible evidence the operative was planning an attack on coalition forces.

It's time to change your clocks. Roll them back an hour and say good-bye to daylight savings time. Standard time begins at 2:00 Sunday morning for most of the country, so enjoy, enjoy that extra hour of sleep.

NGUYEN: The final days before the election and President Bush is painting himself as the leader best equipped to fight terrorism. Meantime, the world's most wanted terrorist has resurfaced on videotape.

Senior Bush campaign adviser Mary Matalin joins us now from the campaign's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Good morning to you, Mary.

MARY MATALIN, BUSH-CHENEY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good morning, Betty.

Thanks for having me.

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

Let's talk about this Osama bin Laden tape.

How much of an effect will it have on this election?

MATALIN: Well, we're not thinking of it politically. We're reminded that Osama bin Laden has issued myriad fatwas on Americans. He hates all Americans. He's determined to destroy us. And that's why this president, the first president in -- during the rise of Islamo-fascism, has done something to push back to destroy him and has, in fact, destroyed his training camps, has killed or captured three out of the four of his leaders, has disrupted his financial network, has taken the battle to them, has taken on one of his top lieutenants in Baghdad, al-Zarqawi. And we've got to continue this global war on terror.

It's not a political issue so much as it reasserts the choice that's between the American people on Tuesday. This is, again, I'll say, the first president that's taken on these terrorists after two decades of attacking us.

NGUYEN: But no doubt it will be made a political issue.

Does it play into the Kerry camp's claims that the current administration shifted focus off of Osama bin Laden and placed it in Iraq?

MATALIN: Iraq is the central war -- central front on the war on terror. Zarqawi, who is -- who fled Afghanistan -- is running operations, terrorist operations, bombings and beheadings and all of that, out of Baghdad. Sent a missive to UBL, which -- Osama bin Laden -- which we intercepted, which said if they transform the region, if they plant the flag of freedom here, if the Americans get democracy in Iraq, they will suffocate us.

So, look, the president has a short-term strategy to go after these guys where they are, these barbarians, and a long-term strategy to eradicate the ideology and the reason for their hatred of us and replace it with freedom and democracy.

Senator Kerry, on the contrary, has not had any policy for 20 years against the terrorists and has not presented any in this campaign. In fact, in the final four days after saying for the entire campaign that Saddam Hussein was the wrong war, wrong time, wrong place, is now saying, with five days to go, that's a very dangerous place.

So we still don't know what Senator Kerry's policy is on the global war on terror. And, you know what? You can't lead, people can't follow you if they don't know where you're going.

NGUYEN: All right, Mary, I need to get this in because we're almost out of time. But let's continue with Iraq for just a moment.

Lately a lot of news about those 360 tons of explosives missing in Iraq.

Did this administration not safeguard those ammunition depots correctly or adequately?

MATALIN: Well, as you know, Betty, yesterday a major who actually had gone in there and destroyed several thousand tons of those munitions from the 3rd I.D., that was their job, they did get it done and that amount and, you know, the IAEA is now saying 380 tons or three tons. They don't know what it was. But we do know this. The United States of America and its allies has destroyed 400,000 tons, 1,000 times more than what was being said to be there. And we think that's been destroyed, too.

So guess what? It's a dangerous place. There's a million tons of those kinds of munitions that part of the reason for going in there was to keep out of the hands of terrorists. They're now being destroyed and Senator Kerry was sitting in the president's place. He has made it clear that he would not have gone in there and Saddam would still be in -- would be the head of that country and would be in possession of those weapons.

They're now being destroyed.

NGUYEN: All right, Mary Matalin, senior Bush campaign adviser.

Unfortunately, we are absolutely out of time.

But we thank you for your time this morning.

MATALIN: Thanks for having me.

NGUYEN: Sure.

And in just a few minutes, we will hear from the other side, of course. Senior Kerry campaign adviser Joe Lockhart joins us at 40 past the hour -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, it has become an issue late in this campaign, those explosives that went missing in Iraq. But there were earlier questions about whether the U.S. was doing enough to guard Iraqi weapons sites. Those questions were raised by House Speaker Dennis Hastert in June during a private meeting between National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and GOP leaders. Sources tell CNN that Hastert got angry because he wasn't satisfied with the answers Rice gave him. The sources say Hastert wasn't focusing on Al Qa Qaa. That's the Iraqi storage site where more than 300 tons of high grade explosives went missing. Still no word on the fate of those explosives.

NGUYEN: Back here in the U.S., CNN is keeping up with voting irregularities and alerting you to potential problems in the system. We begin this week's "Voter Alert," in, where else but Florida, where some Broward County residents are not absent-minded absentee voters. They actually never got the ballots they asked for. Residents requested the absentee ballots weeks ago and election officials say they were mailed, but apparently no one can seem to find them. County officials have remailed up to 14,000 new absentee ballots.

Now to Colorado. One man, one vote? Maybe not. Almost 4,000 people have registered to vote in more than one Colorado county and officials fear they could vote twice.

And we are also eyeing Ohio now. The challenging and the challengers -- a judge has effectively stopped Republican attempts to challenge some 30,000 newly registered voters before Election Day. Republicans allege fraud may be at play. Another hearing on the matter, well, that comes on Monday.

In Iowa, if you vote in the right county but at the wrong precinct, your vote will not be counted.

HARRIS: Man.

NGUYEN: That decision from a federal court. That's right. But those provisional ballots will be set aside just in case a lawsuit comes about.

And the key decision in the Keystone State. Pennsylvania extends the deadline for counting overseas ballots. Ballots from the state's overseas voters must be postmarked by November 2 and state officials have eight days to count them.

Well, with the election just three days away, some voters are worried about problems in the system, no doubt. Well, if you have a problem, some states suggest all you have to do is give them a call. The number is on your screen. It is 1-866-OUR-VOTE.

HARRIS: It's enough to make your head spin...

NGUYEN: A lot...

HARRIS: ... your eyes cross and everything else. Next stop on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, a stop at the very busy Kerry campaign headquarters in Washington. We'll talk to John Kerry's senior adviser, Joe Lockhart, when we return.

But first, more of the voices of young America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen a lot more interest among young...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Younger? Definitely. Definitely. Like this is the most I've ever seen. Like MTV, like the Voter Dive, they're really trying to target young students. This is the most I've ever seen in any presidential election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Civic duty. I think every American should be voting. That's what makes democracy in America great is you actually have a choice in who's leading your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A judge throws a surprise party for a convicted felon right there in her courtroom. Does it pose a question of ethics? A tough case for this morning's legal panel. A judge and her celebration on the docket next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING at 8:00 a.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, a short time ago we spoke with Republican strategist and Bush senior adviser Mary Matalin. Now we want to turn to Joe Lockhart, Democratic senior adviser to the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

He joins us now from Washington.

Good morning to you.

JOE LOCKHART, SENIOR KERRY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Good morning.

NGUYEN: Let's talk about that Osama bin Laden tape that has surfaced.

Does this play into the Bush camp's claims that terrorists want him out of office?

LOCKHART: Well, I don't know. I mean, listen, I think that America is united in their revulsion to this and in this idea that Osama bin Laden has no right and no standing to participate in our election. I think that both Republicans and Democrats, George Bush, John Kerry, agree that this election is ours. And, you know, it's the most sacred thing in our democracy, what we do every four years. And a barbarian murderer terrorist is not going to impact this. We're going to have our election based on what's in our interests, not some terrorist on the other side of the world.

NGUYEN: But voters, no doubt, are taking notice to this latest tape by Osama bin Laden.

Does it really put the emphasis on the fact that there is a war against terror that is raging right now and that could possibly be in Bush's favor, because he has been touted as a war president?

LOCKHART: Well, you know, listen, I think that Americans were very well aware of the threat, the war on terror. We've been having a debate about this over the last year. They heard from John Kerry in three debates talk about this, three debates that the American public overwhelming thought he won against George Bush. John Kerry has been very clear that he will stop at nothing to hunt down, capture or kill these terrorists, that he can fight a more effective war. And the public is going to have to make a judgment. And it's not for Osama bin Laden to inject himself.

But there's two different philosophies. John Kerry has said consistently that he never would have diverted attention and resources out of Afghanistan into Iraq. Now, we have a mess in Iraq that George Bush's misjudgments created. We have a huge terrorism problem that was created in Iraq. So the public will look at this, they'll make their judgment. And I don't think that, you know, Osama bin Laden injecting himself, you know, at the eleventh hour is going to have much of an impact. The public has been looking at this for a year and it's my view that they're going to make the decision that John Kerry is better on the war on terror and better on getting this economy going again so that people can start going back to work.

NGUYEN: Joe, you mentioned the problems in Iraq. We're looking right now at 360 tons of missing explosives in Iraq. Is that going to be a deciding factor in this election?

LOCKHART: Well, I'm not sure it's going to be a deciding factor, but it is an important clue to the president's misjudgments. His own Army chief of staff, General Shinseki, told the president before going in that he didn't have enough troops. His point man on the ground, Ambassador Bremer, called from there and said you don't have enough troops here, we can't secure the country.

But we went ahead and did this anyway. And now what we see is there's 380 tons, or whatever the number is, of high grade explosives that are most likely in the hands of terrorists that are targeting our troops. So the question, the fundamental question is who can keep this country safer? I think there's a lot of evidence mounting that it's John Kerry.

I think the other important issue that was raised this morning is, you know, it's sort of the stubbornness and go it alone attitude of the president. The U.N. weapons inspectors, according to the "Boston Globe," pleaded with the U.S. government to allow them in in the aftermath of the invasion, to go and secure all these weapons sites. And the president said no. The president made the decision it was better to leave these sites unguarded than to allow U.N. weapons inspectors to go in and guard them. It makes no sense. He has to account for that record. He hasn't talked about it much this week, but the public will want to know.

NGUYEN: All right, we're going to have to leave it there.

Joe Lockhart, the Kerry senior campaign adviser, thank you for your time this morning.

LOCKHART: Oh, thank you.

NGUYEN: Tony.

HARRIS: And checking the headlines right now, Osama bin Laden is on the campaign trail today, in a manner of speaking. A taunting new videotape by the al Qaeda leader has injected itself into the final days before the election. The timing apparently is intended to rattle the candidates and voters.

In Paris, Yasser Arafat is undergoing medical tests for an unspecified blood disorder. The Palestinian leader arrived yesterday at a French military hospital suffering from stomach flu and low blood platelets.

And some law makers were already on a short fuse over the security of Iraqi weapons as recently as last summer. Sources say House Speaker Dennis Hastert grew angry with national security adviser Condoleezza Rice over fears that weapons and explosives might fall into the wrong hands.

NGUYEN: Well, in the meantime, it is the day before Halloween and no better time to talk about the end of an 86-year-old curse.

HARRIS: The Red Sox rebound and so does the game of baseball. Remember that strike year a decade ago?

CNN sports analyst Rick Horrow does and he says it's time for both the Sox and the league to exorcise all the demons.

We take you "Beyond The Game" right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

NGUYEN: As he has his morning cup of coffee -- good morning, Rick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Feeling, huh? More than a feeling -- that's the Boston song.

It's the completion of the greatest comeback in baseball history. The Boston Red Sox, down three games to none against the Yankees. They go on to win four straight over New York, then sweep the St. Louis Cardinals to become world champions for the first time since 1918. And like the Red Sox, the game itself has pulled off a remarkable comeback from the strike that damaged baseball's image a decade ago, in 1994.

The baseball strike a decade ago drove millions of fans from the game. Did the Red Sox revival bring them back? What better question to put to the author of "When the Game Is On the Line," our CNN sports wizard analyst, Rick Horrow, who joins us live from West Palm Beach, Florida -- good morning, Rick.

Wizard now.

RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Hey, capital W, pal. That's a pretty good -- that's -- you're a music critic now. That is, that's a pretty good...

HARRIS: How about that, huh?

HORROW: Yes. A pretty good selection by the producer. That is good so...

HARRIS: That's not bad. Not bad.

HORROW: Yes.

HARRIS: All right, Rick, is all well with the game of baseball?

HORROW: Yes. And, you know, that thud we're hearing are the millions of fans from the Red Sox nation getting on not the bandwagon, but the duck boats for that two million person parade today. And it's huge. A 16 rating for the series, the best in a decade. And as you said, a decade ago, we were wondering whether baseball would ever exist again. And the strike that happened then, the lockout, people said it may never come back.

But now $4.1 billion in revenues over the last decade on an annual basis. Players are making more money than ever before, a $2.4 million average salary. We may think it's too much, but the owners are making a lot of money, too. A $200 million sale of the franchise by the Milwaukee Brewers. Everybody's expectations exceeded. So it's great for baseball. It's great for the fans, as well. And the economic health is better than it has been in a long, long time.

HARRIS: Well, let's explore that a little further here now. Commissioner Bud says the luxury tax will transfer a bunch of money, about $300 million, from the haves to the have-nots.

Is there a benefit in there somewhere for the fans?

HORROW: Yes, Commissioner Bud is right. The bottom line, by the way, is the fans need to stay in the game. My daughter, a freshman at B.C., called me yesterday from the Fenway Park merchandising store, asking what kind of hat I wanted. That was a girl who a year ago wouldn't care anything about baseball. That's the target audience. How do you keep them?

The way you do it, by the way, is affordable ticket prices. So the Red Sox may be difficult because they're at $40 to pay for their $127 million payroll, but for those other teams, the commissioner is right, the more money that's transferred from the central fund to those have not teams, the less reliance they have on raising ticket prices, which means more average fans are able to attend the game... HARRIS: Got you.

HORROW: ... which is darned good for baseball.

HARRIS: OK, now, D.C. gets a team. If they get a stadium financing deal worked out. Once that financing is worked out, once D.C. gets a stadium, who gets the team and what cities are in the running here?

HORROW: Well, you know, the bottom line is the relocation of the Expos helped other people besides just Washington, D.C. According to the "Sports Business Journal," you've got teams like the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland As and the Florida Marlins, even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, potentially looking, if they don't get their deals done in their local markets. Where do they go? Las Vegas? Maybe. Norfolk's on the top of the list by a lot of people; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland.

So even if the Expos do go to D.C., which looks pretty likely, the on deck cities are better able to get major league baseball down the road.

HARRIS: OK.

Rick, what's your fair ball of the week?

HORROW: Hey, the fair ball is Reebok and Curt Schilling. You know, we may be tired of looking at Curt Schilling's bloody foot, but Reebok is not.

HARRIS: And we are.

HORROW: Yes, we are. But Reebok paid nothing for that exposure. You saw the little Reebok tag on his foot, 36 seconds of media time. There are people that quantify what that means. And they got it for free, while other companies are spending all this money producing those major commercials.

HARRIS: And what's your foul ball of the week?

HORROW: That's Brigham's ice cream store. And it's not them personally, but they've got a problem because they've got a flavor of ice cream called Reverse The Curse. Now you've got all of these businesses and signs all over Boston, they've got to come up with another slogan.

But, by the way, Tony, it sure beats the alternative. It's a darned good problem, especially when you consider the Red Sox had won the first World Series game in 140,000 major league games since 1918.

HARRIS: Wow!

HORROW: That's a heck of a stat, by the way.

HARRIS: That is.

All right, Rick, good to see you, as always.

Take care of yourself.

HORROW: Hey, next week I can't wait, we're going to play name the musician next week. That's perfect, though, and you've got it, man.

HARRIS: All right, Rick, thanks -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Just as long as Tony is not doing any singing.

HARRIS: Oh, come on now.

NGUYEN: Yikes!

All right, well, good morning Orlando. One of the stops on President Bush's itinerary today. There's Orlando. The forecast for Florida and the rest of the country, that is just ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

But first, here is an election tidbit for you this morning. According to "Time" magazine, 12 percent of voters nationwide and more than 70 percent in Ohio will be using punch card ballots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The costumes, masks, ghouls, goblins, we need a forecast for Halloween.

NGUYEN: We sure do.

Rob -- you may need a costume, though.

MARCIANO: I was going to say...

NGUYEN: Have you gotten that in shape just yet? I mean are you working on it?

HARRIS: Well, the one he's wearing now is pretty good. Couldn't you...

NGUYEN: Yikes!

HARRIS: Wouldn't that -- oh, I'm sorry, Rob. Are we on?

NGUYEN: A little scary for us, here.

HARRIS: Are we on?

MARCIANO: Hey, you get a forecast when I know what you guys are going to wear tomorrow night.

NGUYEN: You want to know what we're going to wear tomorrow?

MARCIANO: Yes, that's right.

NGUYEN: We have to work the early morning shift, in case you've forgotten. We're going to be sleeping.

HARRIS: We're going to be...

NGUYEN: Maybe pajamas.

HARRIS: Yes. There you go.

MARCIANO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

NGUYEN: Yes.

MARCIANO: All right, I'll send kids from my neighborhood over to your house then.

NGUYEN: OK.

MARCIANO: There you go, Betty Nguyen opening the door with her pajamas on.

(WEATHER REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get to our e-mail Question of the Day. Will Osama bin Laden's message influence your vote?

HARRIS: And we've got this from Dennis: "I can tell you my vote will not change just because a new tape is released. If there are still those out there willing to change their vote out of fear, I think it best that they stay home next Tuesday."

That's from Dennis.

NGUYEN: Cherylin (ph) from Jackson Hole, Wyoming writes: "We cannot let bin Laden influence our decision to vote regardless of our political affiliation. The emergence of the tape four days before the election is bin Laden's attempt at political extortion."

And, of course, we invite you to send in your response to wam@cnn.com and we'll read those on the air.

HARRIS: Well, the next hour of CNN SATURDAY MORNING begins right now.

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