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CNN Live Sunday

U.S. Planes, Tanks Attack Insurgent Positions in Fallujah; Gallup Poll Puts Bush in Lead

Aired October 17, 2004 - 18:00 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.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Here's what's happening right now in the news. U.S. planes and tanks today attacked suspected insurgent positions in Fallujah. Iraqi hospital officials say there are casualties, but it's still too dangerous to reach them. And Jordan has filed charges against Abu Musab al Zarqawi and 16 other suspected militants. Jordanian officials accused them of plotting attacks against the U.S. embassy, the prime minister's office and other targets in Jordan.
And Britain is considering a U.S. request to redeploy its troops to different parts of Iraq. British officials say any redeployment will not including sending British troops to Fallujah or Baghdad.

Good evening. I'm Carol Lin, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Is it still a presidential horse race? Well, we've got a hot new CNN Gallup poll in our hands. You're going to be the first to see the results.

And also this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I walked on into my apartment and begin to shut the door and before I knew it, I had a gun. They forced their way in and they had a gun pointed straight for my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Kidnapped at gunpoint, a television news crew becomes the story. The couple joins me to talk about their story from the alert convenience store clerk who helped them to the dramatic police showdown that got them out.

Right now, I'm going to begin with a question. Is it the quality of the candidate or the quality of the campaign that determines who wins the presidency this year? Well, previous polls have shown the candidates locked in a statistical dead heat. But new numbers suggest President Bush may be mobilizing his supporters more effectively than rival John Kerry.

For example, a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll out today shows that among those who say they are likely to go to the voting booth, George Bush gets 52 percent of the vote over John Kerry's 44 percent. Now, the difference among registered voters is much smaller, 49 to 46 percent. But in both categories, independent candidate Ralph Nader pulls 1 percent of the vote. But the fat lady's not ready to sing just yet. We've got more new poll numbers coming up in just a few minutes.

But first, let's check in to see what the candidates are up to today. John Kerry put a lot of miles on his campaign odometer today. The Democratic contender started his day in Ohio before heading to Florida. Both states are in critical swing categories. CNN's Joe Johns caught up with Kerry at a rally near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. How did it go Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it was a huge rally here in south Florida. You know, early voting begins tomorrow here and Kerry was pulling out all of the stops, issuing an urgent appeal to voters to get to the polls as early as they possibly can. The Kerry campaign also hitting hard on an issue that resonates here in the state of Florida with this large number of senior citizens. That, of course, the issue of Social Security. He was keying today off a quote in "The New York Times" magazine suggesting that the president would come out strong for privatizing Social Security in January if reelected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Congressional Budget Office, which is bipartisan, said that the president's plan will mean a 25 to 45 percent cut in benefits. It blows a $2 trillion hole in Social Security and I make this pledge to you. We fixed it in the 1990s, and I'll tell you what, I will never privatize Social Security. I'll never cut the benefits and I won't raise the retirement age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, the Bush campaign essentially denies that the president has ever used that word privatization. It accuses Kerry of engaging in scare tactics. Today, on "LATE EDITION" on CNN, the Commerce secretary himself talked about the administration's position.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: He has consistently said for the last five or six years that we need to give serious consideration for the young people of this country to be able to have private accounts within the Social Security system, so that over a 30 or 40-year period, they will have a nice nest egg to retire on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Earlier today Kerry was in Columbus, Ohio, attending service at an African-American church. Also in get-out-the-vote, their mode there as well, telling the congregation, if you get to the polls, we'll make sure every vote counts. Carol, back to you.

LIN: Joe, I'm wondering if you've gotten any reaction from the Kerry campaign to our latest polling data that still shows, along with other polls that President Bush is still stronger when it comes to the war on terror and now picking up steam on some domestic issues like taxes and education.

JOHNS: Well, obviously both sides, they say, can talk about the polls as long as they want. Clearly, though, they say, it's very close right now. They did put out a cheat sheet of sorts today indicating that in a number of polls, Kerry is shown to be leading as you know. So many of those polls also indicate it is within the statistical margin of error, that in short, suggests that this thing is still very much up for grabs, Carol.

LIN: All right. I'll be talking with our political director shortly about our polling data. Thanks very much Joe.

In the meantime, Senator John Edwards also is campaigning in Florida. He is in the midst of a five-day tour of the sunshine state. Today it was a rally at the University of Florida in Gainesville. John Edwards is telling supporters in the state to be wary of what he calls old tricks by the GOP. Both campaigns have armies of lawyers standing by for possible legal challenges in Florida and several other states.

Now, the president laid off the campaign trail today. But Bush/Cheney strategists were busy getting out their message and plotting out the last 16 days before the election. CNN's Elaine Quijano has been keeping track of all of that from the White House today. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you Carol. Bush aides say that the strategy here in the final weeks is for the president to hit the blue areas of some of these swing states, areas that went to Al Gore back in 2000. Still, both sides are acknowledging the race is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): Just over two weeks left to reach the shrinking number of undecideds and most polls show a neck-and-neck race. But a new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll gives President Bush an edge over Senator John Kerry, among likely voters, 52 percent to 44 percent, among registered voters, 49-46. Bush aides say they have the momentum and note the debates which instant polls showed Kerry won, did not have an effect on Kerry's favorable rating. Both sides say anything could still happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only poll that matters and that's the one on November 2nd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only one poll that matters, Wolf and that's on November 2nd.

QUIJANO: The president picked up several newspaper endorsements, including the "Chicago Tribune" which supported him in 2000. The "Tribune" cites his resoluteness in fighting terrorism. Denver's "Rocky Mountain News" also threw its support behind Bush citing his foreign policy vision. But some say an endorsement by a much smaller paper, the "Canton Repository" in Stark County, Ohio could hold more sway. Analysts say in a smaller community, the endorsement for Bush could have much bigger influence in a swing county in a swing state.

This week the president heads to several battleground states including Florida, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Add to that New Jersey, a traditionally Democratic stronghold where the president is set to give a speech on terrorism Monday. Hundreds of New Jersey residents died in the September 11th attacks and as one senior Bush aide put it, voters still feel the personal sting of 9/11.

Behind the scenes administration officials say they've been reaching out to congressional leaders trying to get a bill on 9/11 intelligence reforms to the president's desk as soon as possible. Republicans say lawmakers plan to meet Wednesday to work out differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN) MAJORITY LEADER: On Wednesday, the conference report, the conferees, the senators and the House members will meet to pull those two bills together and I'm very hopeful that over the next several weeks, we will send a bill to the president, to the United States, which will be the most far-reaching reform in over 50 years of our intelligence community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, before leaving the White House tomorrow, President Bush will sign the homeland security appropriations bill for next fiscal year. Part of that money will go to border security, transportation security and first responders. Carol?

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Elaine. Elaine Quijano live from the White House.

All right. Let's get down to those new polling numbers in this race that just came out this afternoon. CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup finds George W. Bush ahead of John Kerry among likely voters. That gap shrinks to a statistical dead heat among registered voters. CNN polling director Keating Holland joins me now from Washington now to talk about what it all means. Keating, I think I called you the political director earlier. Was that a promotion?

KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Yes, it was, but I'm sure I won't mind.

LIN: OK, all right, polling director it is. Let's start with the significance between registered voters and likely voters. I get a lot of e-mails on this.

HOLLAND: Well we do, too. Registered voters, it's basically a dead heat. Likely voters, there's one clear indication here, George Bush used the debate to mobilize his base. Republicans are now much more energized than they were about voting and that's the reason you're seeing the difference between the likely voters before the debates and after the debates. That's what's really driving the picture here, adding those three important points between the 49 percent Bush gets among registered voters and the 52 he's getting among likely voters.

LIN: Are you more interested in the likely voter number? Is that more telling for you right now at this point in the race?

HOLLAND: The registered voter number is telling me that there has been some movement, if only slight movement, after the third debate. John Kerry won. Most Americans believe he did a better job. But just as in 2000, we're seeing a very interesting pattern. A win in a debate is not translating into more support. In fact, Bush is doing what he did in 2000, which is making himself more popular and mobilizing his base in the debates. And that's what's driving the -- that's what's driving the likely voter. It's also showing a couple of points difference in the registered voter. The changes within the margin of error, but there are other polls that are showing a similar pattern.

LIN: You talk about enthusiasm. I mean take a look at the polling data that you have, the Republican base. Look at that, 77 percent compared to the Democrats, 65 percent, when it comes to being extremely or very enthusiastic and of course it's going to get down to turnout on November 2nd.

HOLLAND: It certainly is. And one particular thing that Bush did very well was get home the point that Kerry is liberal, maybe too liberal. That's what I think a lot of Republicans will weigh in here. The other thing I think they were waiting for was for him to show the old George Bush, not the one we saw on the first debate, but the one who's a little more popular and a little more in command and in control. I think that's what they were seeing in the third debate. They responded to it very enthusiastically. Earlier, Democrats were more enthusiastic about this race than Republicans, now it looks like Republicans are energized and that's what's driving the election today. Ask me in a couple more days, things might have changed all over again.

LIN: I wonder because it certainly, it seems like this race is tightening up. You take a look at the people who are watching, the people who are planning on voting, the polling data that you find, does it matter more than previous years when it comes to this election, 72 percent told your organization yes.

HOLLAND: Yes, that's certainly true. We get an election like this about once a generation, 72 percent said this election mattered to them more than previous elections. That's compared to 1996 or 2000 when that number was in the 40s. People are really looking at this as a make-or-break election. It's something that is mattering to people. Like I said, this is the sort of thing that pollsters only see once in a generation. Political junkies love stuff like this.

LIN: It may come down literally to the wire when the person is standing at the ballot box saying, what matters to me more? I'm going to show two graphics very quickly, showing how people were polled in terms of the issues and who was stronger on it. For example, who better handles Medicare, the deficit, health care, the economy. John Kerry came out ahead here. But who better handles for example terrorism. George W. Bush is maintaining his numbers there. Taxes, Iraq, education. Doesn't that tell you that if people think that the war on terror is more important than, for example, what's going to happen with Medicare reform, that that's a more immediate need, that that's how they're going to vote at the ballot box?

HOLLAND: That's certainly true. Kerry did do one very important thing during the debate, something that he couldn't do during the conventions which is convince Americans that he can be commander in chief. Before the debates most Americans said that he couldn't handle that job. Now a majority say he does.

LIN: And they don't believe his pledge on taxes.

HOLLAND: They don't seem to necessarily. A democrat comes in with two strikes against him when it comes to taxes. It looks like that is now an issue that Bush has regained the lead on. The same is true of education, as you pointed out earlier. Most domestic issues caught the Democrats way. That's a traditional pattern we've seen in previous elections.

LIN: Keating Holland, always very interesting. You deserve a promotion. Thank you very much.

HOLLAND: Thank you.

LIN: All right. A quiz for you now. What's black, white and red or blue all over? Some of the nation's newspapers out today with their presidential endorsements. John Kerry picking up endorsements from the "New York Times," the "Boston Globe" and the "Minneapolis Star Tribune." President Bush found favor with the "Chicago Tribune," the "Rocky Mountain News" and the "Omaha World Herald."

The fight for Fallujah does rage on in this war on terror. And the casualties there are continuing to mount. But is there a larger strategy at play? Up next tonight, the race to win the war in Iraq's most dangerous city.

Plus, held up at home. A news anchor and her photographer find themselves in the news after a home invasion turns into a kidnapping.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my business. I'm an actress. I'm the messenger. How I feel about it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: They may be invisible, but their voices you probably recognize. Later tonight the people behind all those political ads.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: An explosion rocks central Baghdad today. Reuters and the Associated Press say the blast killed seven people and wounded 20 others. And more detainees from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison are going home. About 250 detainees were released today and more than 1,000 detainees have been released since the U.S. military began reevaluating their cases. Two Iraqi national guardsmen were killed in Sadr city when a mortar round hit a football stadium. Nine people were wounded. The stadium was a collection site for weapons turned in by Iraqis.

And a deadline for that weapons program has been extended. Iraqi officials hope to encourage more of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia to hand in their guns.

The bombs and bullets are again being exchanged in Fallujah. U.S. forces are trying to loosen up the hold of rebel forces in that area. Now the weapons buy back plan is just one of the strategies at work in hot spots like Fallujah. Our Brian Todd reports on the other strategies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The push into Fallujah, on one front, a powerful display of lethal force. But as U.S.-led forces hit insurgent targets, analysts say a broader strategy is at work, one that began with the offensive in the Sunni triangle city of Samarra earlier this month.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTEL ANALYST: One of the things that they're doing right now is carrot and stick. They're going to try to reach out at tribal leaders at local levels, block to block and they're going to try to use incentive and those areas where someone is harboring or supporting an insurgent or a jihadist, they're going to bomb those buildings and they're going to chase where those people go and then they're going to bomb that building.

TODD: Analysts say local leaders who work with coalition forces and give up insurgent fighters will be given the chance to exchange weapons for money. U.S.-led commanders, they say, want to send many signals to locals in the most dangerous cities, that U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies want to work with the locals, that they're coming in waves, that they're not going anywhere anytime soon and that they have overwhelming power to back all of it up. Not a new strategy according to military experts, but one that has taken on greater urgency as the interim Iraqi government tries to establish credibility ahead of the January elections.

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, FMR NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: I think there's some room here for the interim government in time to be able to also get its influence into that area. But you have to get rid of the leadership of these insurgents and Zarqawi is one of the often named another foreign influence in that city. That has to go.

TODD: Abu Musab Zarqawi is a particular problem right now. A clearly menacing presence with a dangerous band of foreign jihadists, his group just designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. But a top military official tells CNN coalition commanders are frustrated, believing Zarqawi has been built up in the media as, in his words, a rock star. Terrorism experts agree, some perspective on Zarqawi is desperately needed.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS: Presidents and government leaders always have to pinpoint to someone that, you know, who they can identify with. It is much more complex than that. There's not just one al Qaeda or Zarqawi, there are many al Qaedas and al Zarqawi's.

TODD: As for this particular Zarqawi, one analyst with close ties to the U.S. military tells me, he is not a master terrorist. There will be nothing magic about his demise. And in his words, eventually they'll run this guy down. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We also have more now on other news around the world. For example, in Israel, a stormy meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jewish settlers. He rejected their demand to hold a nationwide referendum on his controversial Gaza withdrawal plan. The settlers were once his strongest supporters. Now they charge Mr. Sharon with leading the country toward a civil war.

And in Venezuela, a powerful picture. A fire swept through one of the country's tallest buildings today. More than two dozen firefighters were injured. People in nearby residents and businesses were all evacuated for fear the high rise would collapse.

And in Afghanistan, they're still counting the votes. Interim president Hamid Karzai is maintaining a huge lead in the presidential elections that were held a week ago. But most of the ballots have not yet been counted.

And they are the new faces of America. Immigrants crossing over the nation's borders. Up next, how the newcomers and their neighbors are coping with the cross-cultural tension.

Plus, they've got the Boston blues, but tonight is the night for the Red Sox to show off their stuff. Can they do it? A playoff preview is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The Houston Astros are turning the National League championship series against the St. Louis Cardinals into a horse race, at least. The Astros came roaring back behind the pitching of Roger Clemens yesterday to break into the win column. The Cards lead the series two games to one. St. Louis is winning today's important game four by the score of 5-3.

The New York Yankees could sweep the American League championship series with a win tonight in Boston. Mark McKay is live at Fenway Park in Boston where Red Sox fans are used to being underdogs. That's an understatement, Mark.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yeah, for 86 years or so. That's right, Carol, nice to see you again. The fans are streaming in to Fenway Park once again tonight, hoping their team can do something. New York Yankee manager Joe Torre though met with the media just over the past hour here at Fenway Park. And he proclaimed that his Yankees are business-like going into game four of the American League championship series and why not? Last night, the Yanks showed the Red Sox that they meant business and banging out no fewer than 19 runs in game three to build on their confidence that they brought with them to Boston. "El Duke" Orlando Hernandez gets the start for the Yankees tonight on the mound. The Red Sox counter with Derek Lowe for a team that may be down but one that believes they're not out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY DAMON, BOSTON RED SOX: People in the clubhouse don't feel that way. I mean, they need to pack it up now. I think everyone knows that we have to win, we had to win tonight and we didn't do it. But we're not out yet. We're not packing our bags yet. We need to come out and play our very best baseball these next four games. We have to play our best baseball of the year.

DEREK JETER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Duke is a competitor. Regardless of how he feels, he's going to go out there, he's going to give you a chance. He likes to be in these situations. Hopefully his health (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: So, the Yankees are one win away from winning their 40th American League pennant, Carol. The champagne is on ice here at Fenway park. But the Red Sox and their fans certainly hope that the Yankees don't sip it at their expense.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Mark. You a betting man? Not literally, but figuratively tonight?

MCKAY: I think they have a good chance perhaps to win tonight. You know, to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series, it's never been done in major league baseball and only two times when you include the NBA and NHL. So the chances look very slim. But this is a squad -- the Red Sox, they call themselves the idiots. They're very loose. They came out here before batting practice, very loose and yes the idiots at least on the surface feel loose and that can help them tonight.

LIN: All right. I guess that could be part of being an idiot. We'll see. Thanks, Mark.

Well, on a much more serious note, imagine coming home from work to find someone else inside. That's exactly what happened to two TV news employees, an anchor and a photographer held at gun point and taken on a wild ride across town.

Up next, I'm going to talk to them about their harrowing experience.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To lose your (UNINTELLIGIBLE), lose your hair and you don't feel good about yourself. But today was fine. Today was a lot of fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Battling breast cancer. For a lot of women, just getting through the day can be tough. But we're going to show you a place that hopes to put a little luxury back into their lives.

And later, fighting for their future, U.S. soldiers on the front lines with Iraq's national guard. We're there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back. Here is a quick look at what's happening right "Now in the News."

Funerals were held in Baghdad today for nine Iraqi police officers. They were killed yesterday by insurgents who attacked their minibus with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

And the British ambassador in Iraq appealed today for information that would lead to the recovery of the remains of Kenneth Bigley. Kenneth Bigley and two Americans were kidnapped from a home in Baghdad last month and beheaded.

And on the campaign trail, John Kerry criticized President Bush for suggesting that Social Security could be privatized. John Kerry said that would be a disaster for the middle class.

And Los Angeles holds its 20th annual AIDS walk. Organizers predicted more than 25,000 people would turn out. Today's event include some celebrities who helped launch the first walk.

The Statue of Liberty may say, "Give me your tired, your poor," but some people in the United States say the country's resources are being stretched by illegal immigrants. CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa takes a look at both sides of this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Arthur King is furious.

DONALD ARTHUR KING, FEELS ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE RUINING GEORGIA: Come help us! Come on! What do you think about illegal immigration? Tell me true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It ain't right.

KING: It ain't right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

KING: It's going to get worse.

HINOJOSA: Illegal aliens, as he calls them, has flooded his state of Georgia. And no one's doing anything about it. KING: How will we know when we have enough illegal aliens in our country? And how will we stop them then?

Do you have a passport?

I think, in fact, illegal aliens are ruining Georgia, and I think they're ruining the United States of America.

A Green Card?

HINOJOSA (on camera): D.A. is a man on a mission, trying to stop what he calls a veritable modern-day invasion. But look around and anyone can tell him it's a losing battle. George has one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the country. And despite some resistance, these people have found a place for themselves. An average of 90 immigrants arrive here every day.

(voice-over): Undocumented like Rosa, 28 years old and a single mother, she spends every waking moment working to bring her children across.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My kids, the goal for me to bring my kids from Mexico.

HINOJOSA: Rosa first came to Georgia two years ago, all alone. Last year, unable to bear the separation any longer, Rosa paid a smuggler $5,000 to wade her children across the river at night. But they were caught at a checkpoint and immediately deported. Rosa faced a difficult decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I told my daughter, "You have two options. I either stay in Mexico with you, or I will live for the States for another year in preparation to bring the two of you." Then my daughter told me to return to the States so I could bring them eventually.

HINOJOSA: Back in Mexico, in Villa Juanita, Veracruz, her children wait for her. More than half of the town has left for el norte, the north. Rosa's sister takes stock of her abandoned town.

(on camera): 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 who 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)

LIN: Joining me now up in New York, Maria Hinojosa.

Maria, you've got a one-hour special coming up on "CNN PRESENTS." I know this is just a taste of what you discovered in your reporting. But taking a look at both sides of the story, you know, ending with the happy-go-lucky sister, I mean, people are going to wonder, why don't they stay and invest their energies in their own home town in Mexico?

HINOJOSA: Well, you know what? For example, Rosa, who we followed throughout all of this summer, I mean, she says, "If I go back to Mexico, to that town, I can look forward to making $30 a week and having to say to my children, 'I can't take you to the doctor, I can't take you to the dentist, and you're going to have to eat tortillas all day.'"

She says, "How can I do that? I'm a mother. I won't do that to my children." So they continue to come.

LIN: And people who go to their local emergency room or local state office know that there are illegal immigrants taking advantage of tax paid-for benefits that we as citizens subsidize. Do these people contribute financially to our system at all other than the labor of their backs?

HINOJOSA: You know what? There's -- economists have been debating this for decades. The National Academy of Sciences came out with a report that said, on a net basis, there is a gain for the U.S. economy from these immigrants.

Many of them do pay their taxes. They pay taxes every time they buy. In fact, most of them use fraudulent Social Security numbers so they're contributing into that system. They don't get any of that back.

And some of them, Carol, believe it or not, they can get a piece of paper from the U.S. government that allows them to pay their federal taxes. Many of them do. One of our characters said he did so joyously.

LIN: Interesting. Maria, looking forward to the -- to the hour. And very interesting, you know, in these post-9/11 days to see what the viewpoint really is out there on illegal immigration. Thank you. Looking forward to it.

HINOJOSA: My pleasure.

LIN: Now, you can see Maria's entire documentary, "Immigration Nation, Divided Country," tonight at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

We've got other news "Across America" now.

Police in Baltimore, Maryland, are calling it a real miracle that there were no deaths in yesterday's 92-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95. At least 49 people were injured. Emergency workers cleared I-95 seven hours after the accident. In Arizona, a deadly crash involving a stolen truck and a police chase. Police say the truck was loaded with illegal immigrants. It rolled over at high speed after a police chase. Six people were killed, 15 seriously injured. Police are now questioning a man they believe was driving the truck.

In Washington, D.C., hundreds gathered on the Lincoln Memorial grounds for the million-worker march. Came pretty short of that. They're concerned about jobs, universal health care and the end to the war in Iraq.

And two workers in Alabama who are used to covering the news of the day became the big story. The journalists were kidnapped and robbed near Birmingham Monday night. Sherri Jackson of our affiliate station WIAT picks the story up from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRANDON MORGAN, NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER: So I walk on into my apartment and begin to shut the door. And before I knew it, I had a gun -- they forced their way in and they had the gun pointed straight to my face.

SHERRI JACKSON, WIAT REPORTER (voice-over): Monday night is one News 42 photographer Brandon Morgan, and his girlfriend, also a 42 employee, will never forget. A home invasion quickly turned into a kidnapping as two armed suspects forced Morgan and Sherrie Evans to drive to several ATMs.

After getting cash there, they forced Morgan to try cashing a check at CC Food Mart in Tarrant. An alert cashier noticed something was wrong and notified her manager, who called police.

JOANN PARVIN, STORE MANAGER: If she hadn't used her head like she did, I'm afraid something really bad would have happened to them. I mean, I do.

JACKSON: When Tarrant police arrived, the suspect in the store ran. The other holding Evans at gun point in the car also ran.

CHIEF JESSE SPRAYBERRY, TARRANT CITY POLICE: The officer shouted for him to stop. And he turned toward the officer, pointing the handgun, and the officer fired one shot. But it didn't strike anyone.

JACKSON: Morgan says he and Evans are thankful for the clerk's quick thinking.

MORGAN: She did an unbelievable job of notifying the police. I mean, she saved both of our lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The journalists who survived that robbery and kidnapping join me live from Birmingham.

Thanks for being with us, Brandon and Morgan -- Brandon Morgan and Sherrie Evans.

SHERRIE EVANS, WIAT REPORTER: Thank you.

LIN: I was watching the two of you in the monitor, and you watched that piece, you must have seen it a hundred times. You know the story, of course. How are you guys doing? You were so intent on still looking at those pictures and hearing your own story again.

MORGAN: Well, it's tough to get over the fact that our lives were in danger. I mean, we almost lost our lives. You know, what do you think and what do you feel when you have a gun pointed to you?

LIN: Sherrie...

EVANS: You keep replaying those images over and over again.

LIN: You both are going through post-traumatic stress and counseling right now?

MORGAN: We have not started counseling yet. We are still looking into that. But obviously, you know, we're both under stress.

LIN: Yes.

MORGAN: And we...

LIN: Go ahead. I'm sorry, Brandon. Go ahead.

MORGAN: We -- you know, it's still -- it's just still amazing that, you know, we report it every day. You know, we're out there every day, shooting, you know, homicides. And then we become it. And it's just amazing to me. I mean, I'm still amazed that it happened.

LIN: What specifically happened in that convenience store? How was the clerk so clever to be able to detect that there was a problem?

MORGAN: I would -- I would have to say god. She immediately knew what was going on.

LIN: How?

MORGAN: She's a new employee.

LIN: I mean, were you sending her signals? I mean, how did she know you were being held against your will?

MORGAN: I sent eye signals. I could not physically tell her, you know...

LIN: Of course.

MORGAN: ... I'm being robbed. You know, obviously, when you have a customer come in asking to cash a $350 check, that should be some sort of sign.

LIN: Right. MORGAN: And then the guy that went in the store with me had half of his -- half of his face covered.

LIN: Ah.

MORGAN: So apparently that -- you know, she noticed that.

LIN: Yes, something was up.

MORGAN: And did the right thing.

LIN: Sherrie, there's still, what, one outstanding suspect they're looking for? Someone is still out there?

EVANS: One person has turned himself in at this time. But the second suspect who was in the car with me, holding me at gun point, he's still out there. So we'll be really happy when he gets caught.

LIN: Sherrie, you realize -- I mean, you're on the air, you're at the very beginning of pursuing your on-air career. You are a natural target for people. They're going to know you just by your presence on television. How has that affected your life plans?

EVANS: It is very scary. And right now, I happen to be a one- person band, where I go out and I shoot my own stories. And it makes me think twice about going out now.

And, you know, it's good to have a photographer with you to watch your back. I'm always very careful. But situations like this, you never know when they're going to happen.

LIN: Sherrie Evans, Brandon Morgan, a lesson for all of us. This could happen to anybody. You carry yourself with poise. Thank you very much for sharing your story.

MORGAN: Thank you.

EVANS: Thank you.

LIN: I want to move on now to some medical news. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and more than 40,000 American women will die from breast cancer this year alone. And for those that survive, the medical treatment and the emotional stress are pretty challenging.

But right now, spas throughout the country are providing a sanctuary for some of those survivors. JJ Ramberg reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I had chemo, I developed this black line on a lot of my nails.

JJ RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, Nadine Lake has been through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. But a few weeks ago she underwent an entirely different round of treatments.

Nadine is a part of a group of women who were invited to the SK Sanctuary in San Diego, California. The spa closes its doors once a month to its regular clients and opens them only to breast cancer survivors.

KELLY COSTA GRAVITT, SK SANCTUARY SPA: Welcome to SK Institute breast cancer spa program here at SK Sanctuary.

RAMBERG: Spas around the country are teaming up with medical staffs to provide brief services to breast cancer patients, offering them days of pampering, massages, facials, manicures and yoga classes. Giving them the chance at least for a few hours to forget the battle being waged within their body.

LINDA BOOTH, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Today I was just a woman getting a facial. You know, so I forgot all about the heavy load.

RAMBERG: And doctors say forgetting about that load once in a while can be integral to the healing process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the extent that individuals can become more highly motivated, can become more confident of themselves, an experience like this has positive value.

RAMBERG: These days are not just about the beauty treatments. The spas also provide a place for breast cancer survivors to meet each other and talk about their experiences in an atmosphere far from the needles and medications of the doctors' offices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does grow back. And thicker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it will grow back curly, too.

SYLVIA DUNMAYANT, CANCER PATIENT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to a hospital, it just -- it may be a post-traumatic stress signal. So it just -- it just makes sense that you would go to a place that's very comfortable and you're pampered.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really nice to talk to other women who have been through it, and gotten through it, and are doing so well.

RAMBERG (on camera): Some spas are taking their involvement even a step further. In addition to providing special training on how to give treatments to cancer patients, they're also teaching therapists how to spot breast cancer while giving a massage, hopefully helping to catch the disease before it's too late.

JJ Ramberg, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, still to come, we're going to talk about a different kind of rebuilding: a new Iraq. It is no easy task, and for members of Iraq's National Guard a little help from the U.S. soldiers is a must for success. And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your vote does make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: You hear them all the time. Now you get to meet them, the people behind all those political ads.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Tonight, in our special look at life on the front lines in Iraq, a different perspective from the eyes of Iraq's new National Guard. Proud and full of hope about a new future for Iraq, they willingly place their lives on the lines every day. Our Jane Arraf has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In this volatile Iraq, so much happens 24 hours can seem like a lifetime. This is the 205th Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in Muqtadia (ph). They're part of the hope for a new Iraq.

Colonel Dhia Ismael Abed, in charge since his brigadier general was arrested for ties to insurgents, reminds his men to check their weapons. Increasingly, these missions are backed, rather than led, by U.S. forces who want Iraqi troops to be able to replace...

COL. DHIA ISMAEL ABED, IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD: I don't have tanks. I don't have -- so this is -- but these guys are ready to go the mission and support by coalition forces, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coalition forces now support us.

ARRAF: One of the most important lessons Iraqis and Americans have learned on this base is how to work together. At first, Colonel Dhia says, "The Americans wouldn't say hello."

ABED: But now it's changed, everything. Now we can speak with him like he's a friend.

ARRAF: Now they invite each other over for dinner. Then it's time for the night's mission. An Iraqi informant has told them where to find the suspected leader of the insurgency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My guys are the first, and you follow (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'll be in the back.

ARRAF: Almost two hours' drive into the countryside, the convoy reaches a farmhouse. But the man they're looking for isn't here. Major Ismael, who says he's arrested more than 200 insurgents, is enraged at the informant, a member of the National Guard. "He put his men's life in danger," he tells him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The source didn't pan out exactly as we thought.

ARRAF: They decide to go back. "It wasn't a total failure," U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Newell (ph) says. He says it was a victory that the Iraqis planned the mission, executed it and stuck with it.

The next day begins in tragedy. One of the National Guard, 24- year-old Amar Izbarataz (ph), is killed by a roadside bomb. It ripped through one of the unarmored vehicles the National Guard use. "He was a nationalist. He deserves martyrdom," says Major Ismael.

At the training center, the new Iraqi recruits are eating in the new cafeteria. They've all heard the news but seem undeterred. "Anyone who has a sense of nationalism and really wants to help his people isn't afraid," says (UNINTELLIGIBLE), just 22. Every one of them knows that the days ahead will likely bring a mix of tragedy and success. And above all, the chance to make a difference.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, we're going to go behind the scenes on a different battle line. If you've done a lot of channel surfing over the last few months, chances are you've heard their voices. Still to come, we're going to go behind the microphone of all those political ads.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All right. No detail is too small in a political campaign. And that includes paying attention to what kind of voice might strike the right chord in campaign ads. CNN's Bruce Burkhardt lends an ear to some people who lend their voices when it's party politics time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real life, real work, real leadership.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... helped bring $2 million...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A quiet, real American courage.

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bruce Burkhardt. And I not only approve this story, but I'm voicing it, too. Just like Allen Blevis (ph) is giving voice to this ad for a Democratic congressman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine this, the year is 1968.

BURKHARDT: And Betsy Ames is doing the same for a Republican congressman. BETSY AMES, VOICE TALENT: ... that your vote does make a difference.

BURKHARDT: They are the invisible people, as invisible as they are critical to persuading you to vote for the right guy.

JOE SLADE WHITE, DEMOCRATIC MEDIA CONSULTANT: If there's any false notes in it, in the tone of voice, then you don't know why you don't like a commercial, but it's because of that, because it doesn't sound true. It doesn't ring true. We say "ring true" because it's a sound.

BURKHARDT: Joe Slade White, like most media consultants, is on the go in this election season. From the back seat of a Washington, D.C. cab, he directs a voice-over session in a New York studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he knows firsthand the difference that education can mean for our children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the time on that, Mark?

BURKHARDT: Allen Blevis (ph) has worked with Joe for years. And other Democrats, including Clinton and Gore. Like most political voice-over talent, he only works one side of the street, in his case, Democratic.

AMES: Your voice does make a difference.

BURKHARDT: Betsy Ames, who does exclusively Republican ads, says it just worked out that way. They asked first.

AMES: This is my business. I'm an actress. I'm the messenger. How I feel about it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we'll bring the audio down.

BURKHARDT: Tom Edmond (ph) is a Republican consultant who was behind the highly-effective NRA ads in the 2000 election, works with Betsy often.

AMES: All right. Let's do a safety of -- safety of the safety.

BURKHARDT: And if there's one thing Republican and Democratic consultants agree on, it's the importance of the voice. The use of women's voices in ads has been increasing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patty Murray has a different view.

BURKHARDT: So, too, have male voices that sound friendlier, conversational.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And dreams need places where they can play out.

WHITE: If the quality of the voice says, I'm not going to listen to you, I'm just going to tell you things, then people are going to get turned off.

BURKHARDT: And though we like to think we're turned on by matters of substance, maybe we're moved more by the candidate who's found his or her voice.

WHITE: Yes. Why don't we play that back? I think that was really, really good.

BURKHARDT: Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time we have for this hour. But coming up next, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." Tonight, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, the happy couple.

And at 8:00 Eastern, CNN PRESENTS: "Immigrant Nation, Divided Country."

At 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND," a tribute to the late Christopher Reeve.

And then I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern for our prime-time show. Tonight, the flu vaccine shortage. Is America really facing a crisis? I'll talk with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

The hour's headlines when we come back, and then "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS."

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 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Here's what's happening right now in the news. U.S. planes and tanks today attacked suspected insurgent positions in Fallujah. Iraqi hospital officials say there are casualties, but it's still too dangerous to reach them. And Jordan has filed charges against Abu Musab al Zarqawi and 16 other suspected militants. Jordanian officials accused them of plotting attacks against the U.S. embassy, the prime minister's office and other targets in Jordan.
And Britain is considering a U.S. request to redeploy its troops to different parts of Iraq. British officials say any redeployment will not including sending British troops to Fallujah or Baghdad.

Good evening. I'm Carol Lin, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Is it still a presidential horse race? Well, we've got a hot new CNN Gallup poll in our hands. You're going to be the first to see the results.

And also this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I walked on into my apartment and begin to shut the door and before I knew it, I had a gun. They forced their way in and they had a gun pointed straight for my face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Kidnapped at gunpoint, a television news crew becomes the story. The couple joins me to talk about their story from the alert convenience store clerk who helped them to the dramatic police showdown that got them out.

Right now, I'm going to begin with a question. Is it the quality of the candidate or the quality of the campaign that determines who wins the presidency this year? Well, previous polls have shown the candidates locked in a statistical dead heat. But new numbers suggest President Bush may be mobilizing his supporters more effectively than rival John Kerry.

For example, a CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll out today shows that among those who say they are likely to go to the voting booth, George Bush gets 52 percent of the vote over John Kerry's 44 percent. Now, the difference among registered voters is much smaller, 49 to 46 percent. But in both categories, independent candidate Ralph Nader pulls 1 percent of the vote. But the fat lady's not ready to sing just yet. We've got more new poll numbers coming up in just a few minutes.

But first, let's check in to see what the candidates are up to today. John Kerry put a lot of miles on his campaign odometer today. The Democratic contender started his day in Ohio before heading to Florida. Both states are in critical swing categories. CNN's Joe Johns caught up with Kerry at a rally near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. How did it go Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, it was a huge rally here in south Florida. You know, early voting begins tomorrow here and Kerry was pulling out all of the stops, issuing an urgent appeal to voters to get to the polls as early as they possibly can. The Kerry campaign also hitting hard on an issue that resonates here in the state of Florida with this large number of senior citizens. That, of course, the issue of Social Security. He was keying today off a quote in "The New York Times" magazine suggesting that the president would come out strong for privatizing Social Security in January if reelected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Congressional Budget Office, which is bipartisan, said that the president's plan will mean a 25 to 45 percent cut in benefits. It blows a $2 trillion hole in Social Security and I make this pledge to you. We fixed it in the 1990s, and I'll tell you what, I will never privatize Social Security. I'll never cut the benefits and I won't raise the retirement age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, the Bush campaign essentially denies that the president has ever used that word privatization. It accuses Kerry of engaging in scare tactics. Today, on "LATE EDITION" on CNN, the Commerce secretary himself talked about the administration's position.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON EVANS, COMMERCE SECRETARY: He has consistently said for the last five or six years that we need to give serious consideration for the young people of this country to be able to have private accounts within the Social Security system, so that over a 30 or 40-year period, they will have a nice nest egg to retire on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Earlier today Kerry was in Columbus, Ohio, attending service at an African-American church. Also in get-out-the-vote, their mode there as well, telling the congregation, if you get to the polls, we'll make sure every vote counts. Carol, back to you.

LIN: Joe, I'm wondering if you've gotten any reaction from the Kerry campaign to our latest polling data that still shows, along with other polls that President Bush is still stronger when it comes to the war on terror and now picking up steam on some domestic issues like taxes and education.

JOHNS: Well, obviously both sides, they say, can talk about the polls as long as they want. Clearly, though, they say, it's very close right now. They did put out a cheat sheet of sorts today indicating that in a number of polls, Kerry is shown to be leading as you know. So many of those polls also indicate it is within the statistical margin of error, that in short, suggests that this thing is still very much up for grabs, Carol.

LIN: All right. I'll be talking with our political director shortly about our polling data. Thanks very much Joe.

In the meantime, Senator John Edwards also is campaigning in Florida. He is in the midst of a five-day tour of the sunshine state. Today it was a rally at the University of Florida in Gainesville. John Edwards is telling supporters in the state to be wary of what he calls old tricks by the GOP. Both campaigns have armies of lawyers standing by for possible legal challenges in Florida and several other states.

Now, the president laid off the campaign trail today. But Bush/Cheney strategists were busy getting out their message and plotting out the last 16 days before the election. CNN's Elaine Quijano has been keeping track of all of that from the White House today. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening to you Carol. Bush aides say that the strategy here in the final weeks is for the president to hit the blue areas of some of these swing states, areas that went to Al Gore back in 2000. Still, both sides are acknowledging the race is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO (voice-over): Just over two weeks left to reach the shrinking number of undecideds and most polls show a neck-and-neck race. But a new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll gives President Bush an edge over Senator John Kerry, among likely voters, 52 percent to 44 percent, among registered voters, 49-46. Bush aides say they have the momentum and note the debates which instant polls showed Kerry won, did not have an effect on Kerry's favorable rating. Both sides say anything could still happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only poll that matters and that's the one on November 2nd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's only one poll that matters, Wolf and that's on November 2nd.

QUIJANO: The president picked up several newspaper endorsements, including the "Chicago Tribune" which supported him in 2000. The "Tribune" cites his resoluteness in fighting terrorism. Denver's "Rocky Mountain News" also threw its support behind Bush citing his foreign policy vision. But some say an endorsement by a much smaller paper, the "Canton Repository" in Stark County, Ohio could hold more sway. Analysts say in a smaller community, the endorsement for Bush could have much bigger influence in a swing county in a swing state.

This week the president heads to several battleground states including Florida, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Add to that New Jersey, a traditionally Democratic stronghold where the president is set to give a speech on terrorism Monday. Hundreds of New Jersey residents died in the September 11th attacks and as one senior Bush aide put it, voters still feel the personal sting of 9/11.

Behind the scenes administration officials say they've been reaching out to congressional leaders trying to get a bill on 9/11 intelligence reforms to the president's desk as soon as possible. Republicans say lawmakers plan to meet Wednesday to work out differences in the House and Senate versions of the legislation.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN) MAJORITY LEADER: On Wednesday, the conference report, the conferees, the senators and the House members will meet to pull those two bills together and I'm very hopeful that over the next several weeks, we will send a bill to the president, to the United States, which will be the most far-reaching reform in over 50 years of our intelligence community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUIJANO: Now, before leaving the White House tomorrow, President Bush will sign the homeland security appropriations bill for next fiscal year. Part of that money will go to border security, transportation security and first responders. Carol?

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Elaine. Elaine Quijano live from the White House.

All right. Let's get down to those new polling numbers in this race that just came out this afternoon. CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup finds George W. Bush ahead of John Kerry among likely voters. That gap shrinks to a statistical dead heat among registered voters. CNN polling director Keating Holland joins me now from Washington now to talk about what it all means. Keating, I think I called you the political director earlier. Was that a promotion?

KEATING HOLLAND, CNN POLLING DIRECTOR: Yes, it was, but I'm sure I won't mind.

LIN: OK, all right, polling director it is. Let's start with the significance between registered voters and likely voters. I get a lot of e-mails on this.

HOLLAND: Well we do, too. Registered voters, it's basically a dead heat. Likely voters, there's one clear indication here, George Bush used the debate to mobilize his base. Republicans are now much more energized than they were about voting and that's the reason you're seeing the difference between the likely voters before the debates and after the debates. That's what's really driving the picture here, adding those three important points between the 49 percent Bush gets among registered voters and the 52 he's getting among likely voters.

LIN: Are you more interested in the likely voter number? Is that more telling for you right now at this point in the race?

HOLLAND: The registered voter number is telling me that there has been some movement, if only slight movement, after the third debate. John Kerry won. Most Americans believe he did a better job. But just as in 2000, we're seeing a very interesting pattern. A win in a debate is not translating into more support. In fact, Bush is doing what he did in 2000, which is making himself more popular and mobilizing his base in the debates. And that's what's driving the -- that's what's driving the likely voter. It's also showing a couple of points difference in the registered voter. The changes within the margin of error, but there are other polls that are showing a similar pattern.

LIN: You talk about enthusiasm. I mean take a look at the polling data that you have, the Republican base. Look at that, 77 percent compared to the Democrats, 65 percent, when it comes to being extremely or very enthusiastic and of course it's going to get down to turnout on November 2nd.

HOLLAND: It certainly is. And one particular thing that Bush did very well was get home the point that Kerry is liberal, maybe too liberal. That's what I think a lot of Republicans will weigh in here. The other thing I think they were waiting for was for him to show the old George Bush, not the one we saw on the first debate, but the one who's a little more popular and a little more in command and in control. I think that's what they were seeing in the third debate. They responded to it very enthusiastically. Earlier, Democrats were more enthusiastic about this race than Republicans, now it looks like Republicans are energized and that's what's driving the election today. Ask me in a couple more days, things might have changed all over again.

LIN: I wonder because it certainly, it seems like this race is tightening up. You take a look at the people who are watching, the people who are planning on voting, the polling data that you find, does it matter more than previous years when it comes to this election, 72 percent told your organization yes.

HOLLAND: Yes, that's certainly true. We get an election like this about once a generation, 72 percent said this election mattered to them more than previous elections. That's compared to 1996 or 2000 when that number was in the 40s. People are really looking at this as a make-or-break election. It's something that is mattering to people. Like I said, this is the sort of thing that pollsters only see once in a generation. Political junkies love stuff like this.

LIN: It may come down literally to the wire when the person is standing at the ballot box saying, what matters to me more? I'm going to show two graphics very quickly, showing how people were polled in terms of the issues and who was stronger on it. For example, who better handles Medicare, the deficit, health care, the economy. John Kerry came out ahead here. But who better handles for example terrorism. George W. Bush is maintaining his numbers there. Taxes, Iraq, education. Doesn't that tell you that if people think that the war on terror is more important than, for example, what's going to happen with Medicare reform, that that's a more immediate need, that that's how they're going to vote at the ballot box?

HOLLAND: That's certainly true. Kerry did do one very important thing during the debate, something that he couldn't do during the conventions which is convince Americans that he can be commander in chief. Before the debates most Americans said that he couldn't handle that job. Now a majority say he does.

LIN: And they don't believe his pledge on taxes.

HOLLAND: They don't seem to necessarily. A democrat comes in with two strikes against him when it comes to taxes. It looks like that is now an issue that Bush has regained the lead on. The same is true of education, as you pointed out earlier. Most domestic issues caught the Democrats way. That's a traditional pattern we've seen in previous elections.

LIN: Keating Holland, always very interesting. You deserve a promotion. Thank you very much.

HOLLAND: Thank you.

LIN: All right. A quiz for you now. What's black, white and red or blue all over? Some of the nation's newspapers out today with their presidential endorsements. John Kerry picking up endorsements from the "New York Times," the "Boston Globe" and the "Minneapolis Star Tribune." President Bush found favor with the "Chicago Tribune," the "Rocky Mountain News" and the "Omaha World Herald."

The fight for Fallujah does rage on in this war on terror. And the casualties there are continuing to mount. But is there a larger strategy at play? Up next tonight, the race to win the war in Iraq's most dangerous city.

Plus, held up at home. A news anchor and her photographer find themselves in the news after a home invasion turns into a kidnapping.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my business. I'm an actress. I'm the messenger. How I feel about it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: They may be invisible, but their voices you probably recognize. Later tonight the people behind all those political ads.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: An explosion rocks central Baghdad today. Reuters and the Associated Press say the blast killed seven people and wounded 20 others. And more detainees from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison are going home. About 250 detainees were released today and more than 1,000 detainees have been released since the U.S. military began reevaluating their cases. Two Iraqi national guardsmen were killed in Sadr city when a mortar round hit a football stadium. Nine people were wounded. The stadium was a collection site for weapons turned in by Iraqis.

And a deadline for that weapons program has been extended. Iraqi officials hope to encourage more of Muqtada al-Sadr's militia to hand in their guns.

The bombs and bullets are again being exchanged in Fallujah. U.S. forces are trying to loosen up the hold of rebel forces in that area. Now the weapons buy back plan is just one of the strategies at work in hot spots like Fallujah. Our Brian Todd reports on the other strategies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The push into Fallujah, on one front, a powerful display of lethal force. But as U.S.-led forces hit insurgent targets, analysts say a broader strategy is at work, one that began with the offensive in the Sunni triangle city of Samarra earlier this month.

KEN ROBINSON, CNN MILITARY INTEL ANALYST: One of the things that they're doing right now is carrot and stick. They're going to try to reach out at tribal leaders at local levels, block to block and they're going to try to use incentive and those areas where someone is harboring or supporting an insurgent or a jihadist, they're going to bomb those buildings and they're going to chase where those people go and then they're going to bomb that building.

TODD: Analysts say local leaders who work with coalition forces and give up insurgent fighters will be given the chance to exchange weapons for money. U.S.-led commanders, they say, want to send many signals to locals in the most dangerous cities, that U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies want to work with the locals, that they're coming in waves, that they're not going anywhere anytime soon and that they have overwhelming power to back all of it up. Not a new strategy according to military experts, but one that has taken on greater urgency as the interim Iraqi government tries to establish credibility ahead of the January elections.

GEN. GEORGE JOULWAN, FMR NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: I think there's some room here for the interim government in time to be able to also get its influence into that area. But you have to get rid of the leadership of these insurgents and Zarqawi is one of the often named another foreign influence in that city. That has to go.

TODD: Abu Musab Zarqawi is a particular problem right now. A clearly menacing presence with a dangerous band of foreign jihadists, his group just designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department. But a top military official tells CNN coalition commanders are frustrated, believing Zarqawi has been built up in the media as, in his words, a rock star. Terrorism experts agree, some perspective on Zarqawi is desperately needed.

MAGNUS RANSTORP, UNIVERSITY OF ST. ANDREWS: Presidents and government leaders always have to pinpoint to someone that, you know, who they can identify with. It is much more complex than that. There's not just one al Qaeda or Zarqawi, there are many al Qaedas and al Zarqawi's.

TODD: As for this particular Zarqawi, one analyst with close ties to the U.S. military tells me, he is not a master terrorist. There will be nothing magic about his demise. And in his words, eventually they'll run this guy down. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: We also have more now on other news around the world. For example, in Israel, a stormy meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jewish settlers. He rejected their demand to hold a nationwide referendum on his controversial Gaza withdrawal plan. The settlers were once his strongest supporters. Now they charge Mr. Sharon with leading the country toward a civil war.

And in Venezuela, a powerful picture. A fire swept through one of the country's tallest buildings today. More than two dozen firefighters were injured. People in nearby residents and businesses were all evacuated for fear the high rise would collapse.

And in Afghanistan, they're still counting the votes. Interim president Hamid Karzai is maintaining a huge lead in the presidential elections that were held a week ago. But most of the ballots have not yet been counted.

And they are the new faces of America. Immigrants crossing over the nation's borders. Up next, how the newcomers and their neighbors are coping with the cross-cultural tension.

Plus, they've got the Boston blues, but tonight is the night for the Red Sox to show off their stuff. Can they do it? A playoff preview is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: The Houston Astros are turning the National League championship series against the St. Louis Cardinals into a horse race, at least. The Astros came roaring back behind the pitching of Roger Clemens yesterday to break into the win column. The Cards lead the series two games to one. St. Louis is winning today's important game four by the score of 5-3.

The New York Yankees could sweep the American League championship series with a win tonight in Boston. Mark McKay is live at Fenway Park in Boston where Red Sox fans are used to being underdogs. That's an understatement, Mark.

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yeah, for 86 years or so. That's right, Carol, nice to see you again. The fans are streaming in to Fenway Park once again tonight, hoping their team can do something. New York Yankee manager Joe Torre though met with the media just over the past hour here at Fenway Park. And he proclaimed that his Yankees are business-like going into game four of the American League championship series and why not? Last night, the Yanks showed the Red Sox that they meant business and banging out no fewer than 19 runs in game three to build on their confidence that they brought with them to Boston. "El Duke" Orlando Hernandez gets the start for the Yankees tonight on the mound. The Red Sox counter with Derek Lowe for a team that may be down but one that believes they're not out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNNY DAMON, BOSTON RED SOX: People in the clubhouse don't feel that way. I mean, they need to pack it up now. I think everyone knows that we have to win, we had to win tonight and we didn't do it. But we're not out yet. We're not packing our bags yet. We need to come out and play our very best baseball these next four games. We have to play our best baseball of the year.

DEREK JETER, NEW YORK YANKEES: Duke is a competitor. Regardless of how he feels, he's going to go out there, he's going to give you a chance. He likes to be in these situations. Hopefully his health (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: So, the Yankees are one win away from winning their 40th American League pennant, Carol. The champagne is on ice here at Fenway park. But the Red Sox and their fans certainly hope that the Yankees don't sip it at their expense.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Mark. You a betting man? Not literally, but figuratively tonight?

MCKAY: I think they have a good chance perhaps to win tonight. You know, to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the series, it's never been done in major league baseball and only two times when you include the NBA and NHL. So the chances look very slim. But this is a squad -- the Red Sox, they call themselves the idiots. They're very loose. They came out here before batting practice, very loose and yes the idiots at least on the surface feel loose and that can help them tonight.

LIN: All right. I guess that could be part of being an idiot. We'll see. Thanks, Mark.

Well, on a much more serious note, imagine coming home from work to find someone else inside. That's exactly what happened to two TV news employees, an anchor and a photographer held at gun point and taken on a wild ride across town.

Up next, I'm going to talk to them about their harrowing experience.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To lose your (UNINTELLIGIBLE), lose your hair and you don't feel good about yourself. But today was fine. Today was a lot of fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Battling breast cancer. For a lot of women, just getting through the day can be tough. But we're going to show you a place that hopes to put a little luxury back into their lives.

And later, fighting for their future, U.S. soldiers on the front lines with Iraq's national guard. We're there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Welcome back. Here is a quick look at what's happening right "Now in the News."

Funerals were held in Baghdad today for nine Iraqi police officers. They were killed yesterday by insurgents who attacked their minibus with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

And the British ambassador in Iraq appealed today for information that would lead to the recovery of the remains of Kenneth Bigley. Kenneth Bigley and two Americans were kidnapped from a home in Baghdad last month and beheaded.

And on the campaign trail, John Kerry criticized President Bush for suggesting that Social Security could be privatized. John Kerry said that would be a disaster for the middle class.

And Los Angeles holds its 20th annual AIDS walk. Organizers predicted more than 25,000 people would turn out. Today's event include some celebrities who helped launch the first walk.

The Statue of Liberty may say, "Give me your tired, your poor," but some people in the United States say the country's resources are being stretched by illegal immigrants. CNN correspondent Maria Hinojosa takes a look at both sides of this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN URBAN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Arthur King is furious.

DONALD ARTHUR KING, FEELS ILLEGAL ALIENS ARE RUINING GEORGIA: Come help us! Come on! What do you think about illegal immigration? Tell me true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It ain't right.

KING: It ain't right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

KING: It's going to get worse.

HINOJOSA: Illegal aliens, as he calls them, has flooded his state of Georgia. And no one's doing anything about it. KING: How will we know when we have enough illegal aliens in our country? And how will we stop them then?

Do you have a passport?

I think, in fact, illegal aliens are ruining Georgia, and I think they're ruining the United States of America.

A Green Card?

HINOJOSA (on camera): D.A. is a man on a mission, trying to stop what he calls a veritable modern-day invasion. But look around and anyone can tell him it's a losing battle. George has one of the fastest-growing Latino populations in the country. And despite some resistance, these people have found a place for themselves. An average of 90 immigrants arrive here every day.

(voice-over): Undocumented like Rosa, 28 years old and a single mother, she spends every waking moment working to bring her children across.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My kids, the goal for me to bring my kids from Mexico.

HINOJOSA: Rosa first came to Georgia two years ago, all alone. Last year, unable to bear the separation any longer, Rosa paid a smuggler $5,000 to wade her children across the river at night. But they were caught at a checkpoint and immediately deported. Rosa faced a difficult decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I told my daughter, "You have two options. I either stay in Mexico with you, or I will live for the States for another year in preparation to bring the two of you." Then my daughter told me to return to the States so I could bring them eventually.

HINOJOSA: Back in Mexico, in Villa Juanita, Veracruz, her children wait for her. More than half of the town has left for el norte, the north. Rosa's sister takes stock of her abandoned town.

(on camera): 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 who 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)

LIN: Joining me now up in New York, Maria Hinojosa.

Maria, you've got a one-hour special coming up on "CNN PRESENTS." I know this is just a taste of what you discovered in your reporting. But taking a look at both sides of the story, you know, ending with the happy-go-lucky sister, I mean, people are going to wonder, why don't they stay and invest their energies in their own home town in Mexico?

HINOJOSA: Well, you know what? For example, Rosa, who we followed throughout all of this summer, I mean, she says, "If I go back to Mexico, to that town, I can look forward to making $30 a week and having to say to my children, 'I can't take you to the doctor, I can't take you to the dentist, and you're going to have to eat tortillas all day.'"

She says, "How can I do that? I'm a mother. I won't do that to my children." So they continue to come.

LIN: And people who go to their local emergency room or local state office know that there are illegal immigrants taking advantage of tax paid-for benefits that we as citizens subsidize. Do these people contribute financially to our system at all other than the labor of their backs?

HINOJOSA: You know what? There's -- economists have been debating this for decades. The National Academy of Sciences came out with a report that said, on a net basis, there is a gain for the U.S. economy from these immigrants.

Many of them do pay their taxes. They pay taxes every time they buy. In fact, most of them use fraudulent Social Security numbers so they're contributing into that system. They don't get any of that back.

And some of them, Carol, believe it or not, they can get a piece of paper from the U.S. government that allows them to pay their federal taxes. Many of them do. One of our characters said he did so joyously.

LIN: Interesting. Maria, looking forward to the -- to the hour. And very interesting, you know, in these post-9/11 days to see what the viewpoint really is out there on illegal immigration. Thank you. Looking forward to it.

HINOJOSA: My pleasure.

LIN: Now, you can see Maria's entire documentary, "Immigration Nation, Divided Country," tonight at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

We've got other news "Across America" now.

Police in Baltimore, Maryland, are calling it a real miracle that there were no deaths in yesterday's 92-vehicle pileup on Interstate 95. At least 49 people were injured. Emergency workers cleared I-95 seven hours after the accident. In Arizona, a deadly crash involving a stolen truck and a police chase. Police say the truck was loaded with illegal immigrants. It rolled over at high speed after a police chase. Six people were killed, 15 seriously injured. Police are now questioning a man they believe was driving the truck.

In Washington, D.C., hundreds gathered on the Lincoln Memorial grounds for the million-worker march. Came pretty short of that. They're concerned about jobs, universal health care and the end to the war in Iraq.

And two workers in Alabama who are used to covering the news of the day became the big story. The journalists were kidnapped and robbed near Birmingham Monday night. Sherri Jackson of our affiliate station WIAT picks the story up from here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRANDON MORGAN, NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER: So I walk on into my apartment and begin to shut the door. And before I knew it, I had a gun -- they forced their way in and they had the gun pointed straight to my face.

SHERRI JACKSON, WIAT REPORTER (voice-over): Monday night is one News 42 photographer Brandon Morgan, and his girlfriend, also a 42 employee, will never forget. A home invasion quickly turned into a kidnapping as two armed suspects forced Morgan and Sherrie Evans to drive to several ATMs.

After getting cash there, they forced Morgan to try cashing a check at CC Food Mart in Tarrant. An alert cashier noticed something was wrong and notified her manager, who called police.

JOANN PARVIN, STORE MANAGER: If she hadn't used her head like she did, I'm afraid something really bad would have happened to them. I mean, I do.

JACKSON: When Tarrant police arrived, the suspect in the store ran. The other holding Evans at gun point in the car also ran.

CHIEF JESSE SPRAYBERRY, TARRANT CITY POLICE: The officer shouted for him to stop. And he turned toward the officer, pointing the handgun, and the officer fired one shot. But it didn't strike anyone.

JACKSON: Morgan says he and Evans are thankful for the clerk's quick thinking.

MORGAN: She did an unbelievable job of notifying the police. I mean, she saved both of our lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: The journalists who survived that robbery and kidnapping join me live from Birmingham.

Thanks for being with us, Brandon and Morgan -- Brandon Morgan and Sherrie Evans.

SHERRIE EVANS, WIAT REPORTER: Thank you.

LIN: I was watching the two of you in the monitor, and you watched that piece, you must have seen it a hundred times. You know the story, of course. How are you guys doing? You were so intent on still looking at those pictures and hearing your own story again.

MORGAN: Well, it's tough to get over the fact that our lives were in danger. I mean, we almost lost our lives. You know, what do you think and what do you feel when you have a gun pointed to you?

LIN: Sherrie...

EVANS: You keep replaying those images over and over again.

LIN: You both are going through post-traumatic stress and counseling right now?

MORGAN: We have not started counseling yet. We are still looking into that. But obviously, you know, we're both under stress.

LIN: Yes.

MORGAN: And we...

LIN: Go ahead. I'm sorry, Brandon. Go ahead.

MORGAN: We -- you know, it's still -- it's just still amazing that, you know, we report it every day. You know, we're out there every day, shooting, you know, homicides. And then we become it. And it's just amazing to me. I mean, I'm still amazed that it happened.

LIN: What specifically happened in that convenience store? How was the clerk so clever to be able to detect that there was a problem?

MORGAN: I would -- I would have to say god. She immediately knew what was going on.

LIN: How?

MORGAN: She's a new employee.

LIN: I mean, were you sending her signals? I mean, how did she know you were being held against your will?

MORGAN: I sent eye signals. I could not physically tell her, you know...

LIN: Of course.

MORGAN: ... I'm being robbed. You know, obviously, when you have a customer come in asking to cash a $350 check, that should be some sort of sign.

LIN: Right. MORGAN: And then the guy that went in the store with me had half of his -- half of his face covered.

LIN: Ah.

MORGAN: So apparently that -- you know, she noticed that.

LIN: Yes, something was up.

MORGAN: And did the right thing.

LIN: Sherrie, there's still, what, one outstanding suspect they're looking for? Someone is still out there?

EVANS: One person has turned himself in at this time. But the second suspect who was in the car with me, holding me at gun point, he's still out there. So we'll be really happy when he gets caught.

LIN: Sherrie, you realize -- I mean, you're on the air, you're at the very beginning of pursuing your on-air career. You are a natural target for people. They're going to know you just by your presence on television. How has that affected your life plans?

EVANS: It is very scary. And right now, I happen to be a one- person band, where I go out and I shoot my own stories. And it makes me think twice about going out now.

And, you know, it's good to have a photographer with you to watch your back. I'm always very careful. But situations like this, you never know when they're going to happen.

LIN: Sherrie Evans, Brandon Morgan, a lesson for all of us. This could happen to anybody. You carry yourself with poise. Thank you very much for sharing your story.

MORGAN: Thank you.

EVANS: Thank you.

LIN: I want to move on now to some medical news. This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and more than 40,000 American women will die from breast cancer this year alone. And for those that survive, the medical treatment and the emotional stress are pretty challenging.

But right now, spas throughout the country are providing a sanctuary for some of those survivors. JJ Ramberg reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I had chemo, I developed this black line on a lot of my nails.

JJ RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, Nadine Lake has been through chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. But a few weeks ago she underwent an entirely different round of treatments.

Nadine is a part of a group of women who were invited to the SK Sanctuary in San Diego, California. The spa closes its doors once a month to its regular clients and opens them only to breast cancer survivors.

KELLY COSTA GRAVITT, SK SANCTUARY SPA: Welcome to SK Institute breast cancer spa program here at SK Sanctuary.

RAMBERG: Spas around the country are teaming up with medical staffs to provide brief services to breast cancer patients, offering them days of pampering, massages, facials, manicures and yoga classes. Giving them the chance at least for a few hours to forget the battle being waged within their body.

LINDA BOOTH, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Today I was just a woman getting a facial. You know, so I forgot all about the heavy load.

RAMBERG: And doctors say forgetting about that load once in a while can be integral to the healing process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the extent that individuals can become more highly motivated, can become more confident of themselves, an experience like this has positive value.

RAMBERG: These days are not just about the beauty treatments. The spas also provide a place for breast cancer survivors to meet each other and talk about their experiences in an atmosphere far from the needles and medications of the doctors' offices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does grow back. And thicker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it will grow back curly, too.

SYLVIA DUNMAYANT, CANCER PATIENT: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to a hospital, it just -- it may be a post-traumatic stress signal. So it just -- it just makes sense that you would go to a place that's very comfortable and you're pampered.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really nice to talk to other women who have been through it, and gotten through it, and are doing so well.

RAMBERG (on camera): Some spas are taking their involvement even a step further. In addition to providing special training on how to give treatments to cancer patients, they're also teaching therapists how to spot breast cancer while giving a massage, hopefully helping to catch the disease before it's too late.

JJ Ramberg, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, still to come, we're going to talk about a different kind of rebuilding: a new Iraq. It is no easy task, and for members of Iraq's National Guard a little help from the U.S. soldiers is a must for success. And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your vote does make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: You hear them all the time. Now you get to meet them, the people behind all those political ads.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Tonight, in our special look at life on the front lines in Iraq, a different perspective from the eyes of Iraq's new National Guard. Proud and full of hope about a new future for Iraq, they willingly place their lives on the lines every day. Our Jane Arraf has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): In this volatile Iraq, so much happens 24 hours can seem like a lifetime. This is the 205th Battalion of the Iraqi National Guard in Muqtadia (ph). They're part of the hope for a new Iraq.

Colonel Dhia Ismael Abed, in charge since his brigadier general was arrested for ties to insurgents, reminds his men to check their weapons. Increasingly, these missions are backed, rather than led, by U.S. forces who want Iraqi troops to be able to replace...

COL. DHIA ISMAEL ABED, IRAQI NATIONAL GUARD: I don't have tanks. I don't have -- so this is -- but these guys are ready to go the mission and support by coalition forces, because (UNINTELLIGIBLE) coalition forces now support us.

ARRAF: One of the most important lessons Iraqis and Americans have learned on this base is how to work together. At first, Colonel Dhia says, "The Americans wouldn't say hello."

ABED: But now it's changed, everything. Now we can speak with him like he's a friend.

ARRAF: Now they invite each other over for dinner. Then it's time for the night's mission. An Iraqi informant has told them where to find the suspected leader of the insurgency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My guys are the first, and you follow (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'll be in the back.

ARRAF: Almost two hours' drive into the countryside, the convoy reaches a farmhouse. But the man they're looking for isn't here. Major Ismael, who says he's arrested more than 200 insurgents, is enraged at the informant, a member of the National Guard. "He put his men's life in danger," he tells him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The source didn't pan out exactly as we thought.

ARRAF: They decide to go back. "It wasn't a total failure," U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Pete Newell (ph) says. He says it was a victory that the Iraqis planned the mission, executed it and stuck with it.

The next day begins in tragedy. One of the National Guard, 24- year-old Amar Izbarataz (ph), is killed by a roadside bomb. It ripped through one of the unarmored vehicles the National Guard use. "He was a nationalist. He deserves martyrdom," says Major Ismael.

At the training center, the new Iraqi recruits are eating in the new cafeteria. They've all heard the news but seem undeterred. "Anyone who has a sense of nationalism and really wants to help his people isn't afraid," says (UNINTELLIGIBLE), just 22. Every one of them knows that the days ahead will likely bring a mix of tragedy and success. And above all, the chance to make a difference.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, we're going to go behind the scenes on a different battle line. If you've done a lot of channel surfing over the last few months, chances are you've heard their voices. Still to come, we're going to go behind the microphone of all those political ads.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: All right. No detail is too small in a political campaign. And that includes paying attention to what kind of voice might strike the right chord in campaign ads. CNN's Bruce Burkhardt lends an ear to some people who lend their voices when it's party politics time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real life, real work, real leadership.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... helped bring $2 million...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A quiet, real American courage.

BRUCE BURKHARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bruce Burkhardt. And I not only approve this story, but I'm voicing it, too. Just like Allen Blevis (ph) is giving voice to this ad for a Democratic congressman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine this, the year is 1968.

BURKHARDT: And Betsy Ames is doing the same for a Republican congressman. BETSY AMES, VOICE TALENT: ... that your vote does make a difference.

BURKHARDT: They are the invisible people, as invisible as they are critical to persuading you to vote for the right guy.

JOE SLADE WHITE, DEMOCRATIC MEDIA CONSULTANT: If there's any false notes in it, in the tone of voice, then you don't know why you don't like a commercial, but it's because of that, because it doesn't sound true. It doesn't ring true. We say "ring true" because it's a sound.

BURKHARDT: Joe Slade White, like most media consultants, is on the go in this election season. From the back seat of a Washington, D.C. cab, he directs a voice-over session in a New York studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he knows firsthand the difference that education can mean for our children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the time on that, Mark?

BURKHARDT: Allen Blevis (ph) has worked with Joe for years. And other Democrats, including Clinton and Gore. Like most political voice-over talent, he only works one side of the street, in his case, Democratic.

AMES: Your voice does make a difference.

BURKHARDT: Betsy Ames, who does exclusively Republican ads, says it just worked out that way. They asked first.

AMES: This is my business. I'm an actress. I'm the messenger. How I feel about it has absolutely nothing to do with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we'll bring the audio down.

BURKHARDT: Tom Edmond (ph) is a Republican consultant who was behind the highly-effective NRA ads in the 2000 election, works with Betsy often.

AMES: All right. Let's do a safety of -- safety of the safety.

BURKHARDT: And if there's one thing Republican and Democratic consultants agree on, it's the importance of the voice. The use of women's voices in ads has been increasing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Patty Murray has a different view.

BURKHARDT: So, too, have male voices that sound friendlier, conversational.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And dreams need places where they can play out.

WHITE: If the quality of the voice says, I'm not going to listen to you, I'm just going to tell you things, then people are going to get turned off.

BURKHARDT: And though we like to think we're turned on by matters of substance, maybe we're moved more by the candidate who's found his or her voice.

WHITE: Yes. Why don't we play that back? I think that was really, really good.

BURKHARDT: Bruce Burkhardt, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: That's all the time we have for this hour. But coming up next, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." Tonight, Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez, the happy couple.

And at 8:00 Eastern, CNN PRESENTS: "Immigrant Nation, Divided Country."

At 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND," a tribute to the late Christopher Reeve.

And then I'm going to be back at 10:00 Eastern for our prime-time show. Tonight, the flu vaccine shortage. Is America really facing a crisis? I'll talk with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

The hour's headlines when we come back, and then "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS."

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