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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Three explosions rock Green Zone in Baghdad

Aired November 04, 2003 - 17:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now the investigation. They're trying to figure out what happened in Iraq. U.S. and coalition forces coming under fire in an area considered safe, the enemy picking and choosing targets apparently eager to show there's no such thing as safe in Iraq.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Target Baghdad, a bold attack shakes the Iraqi capital.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These people, being the terrorists, and those who would kill innocent life, want us to retreat.

BLITZER: Covering the casualties, should you be allowed to see the coffins coming home? I'll ask reporter and media critic Bernard Goldberg.

Mutual fund mess, is your retirement at risk?

Just say no, CBS takes a last minute pass on a miniseries about the Reagans, was it the pressure?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, November 04, 2003.

BLITZER: We begin in Baghdad. For a second straight night explosions rocking the heavily-guarded heart of the city as Iraqi insurgents send a clear message that they can strike anywhere they want.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in the Iraqi capital.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, another set of explosions shaking the fragile sense of security in the Iraqi capital. The latest information we have from coalition officials is that three explosions rocked an area called the Green Zone which is in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad the area which housed the presidential palace of Saddam Hussein and some of the key buildings of his administration and has since been taken over by the coalition authorities here in Baghdad. The latest information that we have is that at least four individuals have been injured as a result of these explosions. One of them was being treated at the scene of the explosions while the other three were evacuated to a medical facility inside the Green Zone.

It's not clear if there was any substantial damage caused by these explosions which were either caused by mortars being lobbed into the compound or by rockets being fired but what they clearly underscore is just how confident, just how willing and just how able these insurgents, whoever they are, are to strike the capital and strike the coalition authority at its heart in Baghdad -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Matthew Chance in Baghdad thank you very much.

The bold attacks in the heart of Baghdad follow Sunday's shoot down of a U.S. military helicopter killing at least 15 Americans and wounding 20, now the Pentagon under attack for failing to protect U.S. troops.

Let's go live to our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, some disturbing questions being raised by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin who today said that he had information from people inside the military that not all the helicopters being operated by National Guard units had automatic flare dispensers and missile detection systems that could have prevented the shoot down over Iraq. He says he has written Defense Secretary Rumsfeld asking for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I find the reports from military sources that I have received about the lack of protective equipment to be alarming and unacceptable. We know what a dangerous environment Iraq is. The threats from surface-to-air missiles were well known even before this tragic crash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now, the Army says that it is standard equipment for all of its helicopters to be equipped with what's known as a missile approach detector and warning system that automatically dispenses flares to deflect heat-seeking missiles.

He said there's no reason -- an Army spokesman said there's no reason to think this helicopter didn't have that system but an investigation is underway to make sure and the Army insists that there is no difference in the equipment in these helicopters between the active duty forces and the National Guard units -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon; Jamie thank you very much.

The U.S. death toll in Iraq rose once again today. A soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed and two were wounded when their vehicle hit an explosive device in Baghdad. That brings to 256 the number of U.S. troops who have been killed under what are described as hostile circumstances in Iraq.

In the northern city of Mosul a hotel housing American troops was hit by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Troops returned fire. The military says there were no casualties. The incident follows a similar attack on a Mosul police station and the shooting death of a judge.

President Bush today toured the damage done by the California fires but he's now facing political fires fed by the growing violence in Iraq.

Let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, Mr. Bush on his way back to Washington now. He had hoped that stop in California would give him the chance to assess the damage, promise any federal help that could help the victims of California's wildfires and, of course, to say thank you to the firefighters and others on the front lines in that effort.

But no sooner had Mr. Bush stepped from the rubble of this, once a residential area just a few days ago, he stepped from the rubble of this residential compound and faced questions from reporters.

Mr. Bush, of course, was asked about the recent state of attacks in Iraq. He offered his first direct comments about the deaths of those soldiers on the Chinook helicopter saying they died in a noble cause and voicing his condolences for their families.

Mr. Bush also at one point said that he thought Saddam Hussein was trying to stir up trouble. At another point he said, look, I don't know what he's doing but Mr. Bush said with certainty that those behind the attacks would not get what they want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: These people want to, these people being the terrorists and those who would kill innocent life, want us to retreat. They want us to leave because they know that a free and peaceful Iraq in their midst would damage their cause and we will stay the course. We will do our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: "We'll get him. We'll find him," Mr. Bush said of Saddam Hussein as U.S. troops assess the damage from today's explosions, Mr. Bush also saying that the administration is trying as quickly as possible to beef up and accelerate the training of Iraqi police and security forces so that they would be on the front lines -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's John King at the White House, thank you very much. It's a tough, emotionally draining job, one that most of us will never have to experience. It's being carried out right now at the Army's Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the home base of six of the soldiers killed when an Army Chinook helicopter went down in Iraq on Sunday.

CNN's Kris Osborn is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This man has to look Fort Sill families in the eye sharing the hard news parents aren't prepared to hear.

MAJ. RON MEYER, U.S. ARMY: Every family will have a different response to a tragedy like this and we see that as chaplains. You may go out on a notification where the family is very quiet. You may go out on another notification where, in fact, you'll have the family members very emotional.

OSBORN: The last few days have been difficult for Army chaplain Rob Meyer but much more difficult for the family of Ross Pennanen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he gave the ultimate for this country, his life.

OSBORN: Ross' family holds on to a cherished letter written by their son in a war zone. His stepmother says Sergeant Pennanen did not join the military until he was in his 30s, a late effort she says to emulate his father, an Air Force veteran.

LINDA PENNANEN, STEPMOTHER: You know it was like, well, can somebody 34 go into the military and keep up with all these young kids? He didn't keep up with them. He set the pace out in front of them.

OSBORN: Also being remembered is Ross' fellow artillery man, Fort Sill soldier, Sergeant Stephen D. Conover (ph) who in combat had some close calls of his own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got ambushed one time and his was the only vehicle without a bullet hole when they were right in front of him and everyone with him said how did that happen? And he said I know why my mom has praying angels all around us.

OSBORN: By the time Sergeant Conover had boarded that Chinook Sunday morning he had already put his best friend in a body bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had saw his best friend die in his place. He was supposed to be driving the Humvee and the told him to drive the Howitzer and he was a sergeant and he saw the Humvee explode and he said I had to scoop up my best friend and put the dog tags in his mouth.

OSBORN (on camera): In response to the deaths one soldier here on post who had not been deployed to Iraq told me: "We take this personally. It makes me want to go to Iraq to help my fellow soldiers." The commanding general here at Fort Sill says memorials are planned.

Kris Osborn CNN, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Last journey home. Why the American public is not seeing its war dead return home to Dover.

What's happening to your money, why Congress is concerned about mutual funds?

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SULLIVAN: Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Beatlemania, remembering the night that sparked a pop culture revolution in the United States. We'll have a special behind- the-scenes look what happened that night.

First, today's news quiz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): What was the last song the Beatles performed on their first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance, "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," "All my Loving," the answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Thumping "The Reagans," CBS sends the miniseries packing. Is the network buckling under pressure? We're live from New York. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's a story that could have potentially enormous financial implications for almost all of you, the scandal over alleged abuses among mutual funds is growing.

Prudential Securities is only the latest company implicated joining several other well known firms, including Fidelity, Janus, Morgan Stanley, and Vanguard. News of the Prudential case broke as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission was warning Congress more firms are indeed likely to face charges. So, what exactly does all of this mean for all of us?

CNN's Kathleen Koch has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retirees Carl and Pat Hemmer thought investigating in mutual funds was the prudent, cautious thing to do but with word that more mutual fund firms may be charged with trading abuses they've decided to sell some of the funds they own.

CARL HEMMER, RETIREE: What Putnam and other accused funds have done is squandered their trust, the trust that we had in them.

KOCH: Mutual funds are the investment of choice for some 95 million Americans, half of the nation's households. Experts say while it may not be a good idea to put more money in the funds being investigated, selling out may not be the best option either.

MERCER BULLARO, FUND DEMOCRACY: You may have tax consequences that are not worth enduring in order to sell their shares. You also amazingly may have to pay a sales (unintelligible) in order to get out of those funds that have been alleged to have engaged in these frauds.

KOCH: Firms that track mutual funds caution investors not to overreact.

DON PHILLIPS, MORNINGSTAR: Your money is not in jeopardy in say an Enron situation that the value of your account is going to drop to zero. You know what it means is that perhaps you should have gotten, been getting a slightly better deal than you've actually gotten.

KOCH: Another consumer concern were the fines or penalties levied on mutual funds managers under investigation will be passed on to investors. At a hearing on Capitol Hill, federal officials promised that won't happen.

STEPHEN CUTLER, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION: It certainly isn't our intention here to have investors foot the bill for the wrongdoing that fund management companies were engaged in.

KOCH (on camera): To better protect investors, Congress is considering passing laws to hold mutual funds directors more accountable.

(voice-over): The question for millions of investors, like the Hemmers, whether they can safely put their money back in other mutual funds.

HEMMER: You know it's enough to have the risks of the normal marketplace but when you have to take the risk of dealing with criminal minds that's bad, very bad. None of us counted on that.

KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And here's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day is this. "Have recent disclosures about the mutual fund industry changed your investment plans"? You can vote right now, cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

While you're there I'd love to hear directly from you. Send me your comments anytime. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

The head of a leading healthcare company also accused of wrongdoing. That story tops our Justice Report. A massive indictment against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, prosecutors say he used a massive fraud scheme to inflate earnings and pocket hundreds of millions of dollars. Scrushy is facing 85 charges that could get him a sentence of up to 650 years and $36 million in fines.

And testimony shifted today from DNA evidence to detective work in Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing. The first Modesto police official to interview him was on the stand. And, a woman Peterson had an affair with is expected to testify this week. Peterson is accused of killing his wife Laci and their unborn child.

Real time war coverage but no coffins, should Americans be able to see their war dead come home? We'll take a closer look.

And, taking a pass on Ronald Reagan, why CBS is scrapping a planned miniseries on the former president.

History and youthful hysteria, the British invasion that reshaped America's music scene, we'll take you behind the scenes of the Beatles' U.S. debut 40 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: CBS has made a last minute decision not, repeat not to air a miniseries about the former President Ronald Reagan but CBS will air it on a non-commercial cable channel Showtime. The network denies the move has anything to do with complaints from those who say the show portrays the Reagans in an unflattering light.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is joining us now live from New York with a look at why this miniseries is so controversial -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, on this story it really depends on who you believe. Some might see this as an act of censorship and a prestigious network caving in to outside pressure.

Others might see it as an act of respect for a former president and his family's views on the truth, or it can be seen as a network that decides that a program they produced isn't balanced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA (voice-over): They hype about the CBS miniseries "The Reagans" with James Brolin as Ronald Reagan quickly gave way to a bitter and controversial battle over content based on news reports about a draft script even though some doing the arguing had never seen the movie. Supporters of Ronald Reagan, like the Republican National Committee, questioned the movie's historical accuracy. Today, CBS released a statement trying to put an end to this. In it they say:

"CBS will not broadcast "The Reagans" on November 16 and 18. This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script."

The movie will now be seen on the Showtime cable network. The controversy and parts of a draft script spilled out into the media. One particular exchange from that draft that appeared in "The New York Times" had President Reagan saying about AIDS patients that: "Those that live in sin shall die in sin." The decision to pull the movie had some politicians saying CBS had caved into right-wing pressure.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MINORITY LEADER: It smells of intimidation to me. It sounds to me like they were intimidated and making decisions that reversed earlier ones and I'm disappointed.

HINOJOSA: But supporters of the former president applauded CBS with some reservations.

JIM DYKE, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CMTE.: I think it was the right decision. They pointed out themselves that they didn't think it was a very balanced portrayal but, again, I don't know that it's a victory that you're misinforming fewer viewers on a different channel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Now, Wolf, just another bit of that statement from CBS. They said that: "Although the producers have sources" this is for the miniseries to verify each scene, they said "we did not believe it presented a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS."

The producers did respond though. They said although we're disappointed that CBS will not be airing the program that we produced for them from the script that they approved we're excited that Showtime has agreed to air the program -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, this controversy apparently not going away, at least not yet, CNN's Maria Hinojosa reporting from New York. Thank you, Maria.

We'll have more on this CBS decision. That's coming up on this program.

Also, the news media and the U.S. military, should TV cameras be allowed to cover the return of soldiers killed in combat? I'll ask the media critic and the best-selling journalist and author Bernard Goldberg.

Visualizing a new wave of voters, Democratic presidential candidates get ready to answer to a younger generation.

Record-breaking pie, we'll take a bite out of this super sized pizza. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Keeping an eye on key races. For millions of Americans today is Election Day.

Also this, behind the scenes of "The Ed Sullivan Show" on the night the Beatles made American music history. I'm old enough to remember. Many of you are as well. We'll take you back to that night. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Deadly battlefields abroad and a controversial PR battle right here at home, why you don't see scenes like this on television.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

Authorities at this hour are searching for a motive for a deadly shootout on an Arizona highway. Police say in at least two cars that people opened fire as they sped along Interstate 10. Four people were killed. At least three others were wounded and several more sprinted off into a desolate stretch of desert. The area is on an Indian reservation south of Phoenix.

President Bush today got a firsthand look at some of the wildfire devastation in Southern California. He toured the region scorched by the so-called Cedar fire near San Diego. The fires the swept across almost three-quarters of a million acres in Southern California are now fully contained.

There is word from Pakistan that two suspected al Qaeda operatives have been killed during a firefight with Pakistani troops. A third suspect managed to escape. Intelligence sources are telling CNN the three were trying to enter Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.

We've received a lot of e-mail from viewers all over the world asking why there's been virtually no media coverage of the return of American troops killed in Iraq. Here's what two of you wrote to us.

Denise wrote this: "I was wondering about the lack of information on our dead soldiers being brought back to the U.S. There have not been any images of the planes landing at Dover Air Force Base."

James asked this question. "Why has media coverage of dead soldiers arriving from Iraq been banned? Is this censorship or respect for the loved ones"?

The reason for the lack of coverage of flag-draped caskets arriving at military air bases is because of a Pentagon ban dating back to before the first Gulf War.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): In March and April when major combat was underway in Iraq, people around the world had extraordinary access to the fighting thanks to the journalists embedded with U.S. and coalition forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraqi forces continue to engage the U.S. military.

BLITZER: This was in marked contrast to the first Gulf War in 1991 when reporters were barred from going to the front lines. But what hasn't changed over the past dozen years is the Pentagon's adamant refusal to permit camera crews to record the return of those troops killed in action. That's why you're not seeing the nearly daily arrival of coffins in the United States.

Critics say the Pentagon fears the pictures would demoralize the American public and weaken support for the war.

MICHAEL HIRSH, "NEWSWEEK": The Pentagon is, basically, suppressing images, I think fearful of the negative impact. Again, the drum beat of returning bodies.

BLITZER: Just before the first Gulf War, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell issued an order prohibiting any news media coverage of coffins returning to the Dover, Delaware Air Force Base.

Since 1955, that's been the U.S. military's largest mortuary, first stop of the caskets coming home.

The images were searing. Who can forget the return of the 241 bodies killed in the 1983 terrorist bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut? But those pictures went away, except on those rare occasions when the White House wanted the American public to see the coffins. That was the case in 1986, following the plane crash that killed then- Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others in Croatia.

In November 2000, at the tail end of the Clinton administration, the Pentagon expanded that Dover ban to include all U.S. military bases. That ban has remained in effect since then.

What the Pentagon does allow is media coverage of individual graveside services. Victoria Clarke was, until recently, the Pentagon spokeswoman. She disagrees with the ban.

VICTORIA CLARKE, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: I happen to believe that people should be allowed to recover -- cover those events. I think if you're going to sign pieces of paper saying young people are going to put their lives at risk and young people are going to die for important causes, then we should be willing to let people see what happens and the kinds of terrible things that can happen in conflicts. And I think that is being straight with the American people.

BLITZER: But the ban remains in effect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Just a little while ago I discussed this and other media issues with the former CBS news reporter and producer Bernard Goldberg. His new book is entitled "Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Bernard Goldberg, thanks very much for joining us. Congratulations on the new book. We're going to get to that in a second.

But this little controversy that's brewing now, continuing a policy of closing Dover, the Air Force base there. We can't get access to see the coffins coming back. Is that a problem, as far as you're concerned?

BERNARD GOLDBERG, AUTHOR, "ARROGANCE": Yes, I guess it is. I'm for more information, not less. I mean, if it were up to me, I would televise executions. And I understand why the administration doesn't want it. But the American people, you know, need to see that also.

But there's a bigger point here, Wolf, I think, and that is the general coverage of Iraq. I'm not one of those people who says, there's too much bad news. I say, Give us all the bad news you've got. When American soldiers are killed, put it on page one, lead the newscast with it, give us all the bad news you've got, then give us more bad news.

But then -- then -- give us the rest of the story. It's the only way we're going to know what's going on there. There's other stuff going on that's quite positive.

Now, journalists -- journalists always say, Well, we tend towards the negative. We don't tell you that the plane landed safely. We don't tell you that the First National Bank didn't get robbed. But you would have to be a moron not to know that most banks don't get robbed and most planes do land safely. How in the world are we supposed to know what's going on in Iraq unless they give us the whole story? That's called good journalism.

And if they don't, by the way -- if they don't, you're more into politics than I am, but I think that this constant onslaught of negative images, which I say are fine, but without the balance of the positive stuff, I think that's going to -- that's going to show itself during the election campaign next year, and it's not going to be good for the Republicans.

BLITZER: Well, is the national news media guilty of this filter that the White House has suggested that we're not giving the full story of what's happening in Iraq?

GOLDBERG: Yes, I think -- I think the White House is absolutely right about that.

As I say, bad news is legitimate. When American soldiers are killed -- I get up every morning, I turn on the news and I see another soldier, another two soldiers, every now and then 15 soldiers killed, it's heart breaking. It's legitimate news and it's needs to be there.

But it's also legitimate news when schools are opening, when roads are being built, when people are going back to work. You don't have to report in this country that the plane landed safely, but you do have to report the good news over there because, otherwise, we don't know what the whole picture is.

And after a while -- after a while, you say, I can't take this anymore. And that will affect how you vote in the election.

BLITZER: Let's make a dramatic shift to this CBS decision not to air this mini series on the Reagans -- your former employer, CBS. They put out a statement, and I'll put up on the screen. "This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script."

Do you buy that?

GOLDBERG: No. And I don't want to start laughing out loud. But that's -- come on. That's ridiculous.

First of all, TV executives have more agility than they have backbone. These guys are clueless. Just as I think a lot of newspeople in the East Coast are clueless about how the American people think, the elites out in Hollywood are clueless as to how so many ordinary Americans could love this guy so much. So they let somebody write a play -- a screenplay, making stuff up, making the Reagans look like two doofuses. And they don't get in the beginning that this is going to cause a major brouhaha in Middle America.

But there is not a species on the planet Earth, Wolf -- not a species on the planet Earth that is more fine tuned to self- preservation than television executives. So once these guys saw that this was not going to go away, this was going to get nasty, I didn't have a doubt in the world that they would either take the controversial stuff out or dump it over to some other place like Showtime.

BLITZER: In your new book, "Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite," you have a 12-step program for what you call the liberal media to try to deal fairly accurately with news.

Give us the gist. What's the main point you're trying to make?

GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I think if 12 steps are good enough for alcoholics, they ought to be enough for journalists.

But let me give you step three because that's a real important one. Step three says we need some real diversity in American newsrooms. Rights now, what we have, basically, is have skin-deep diversity. I'm not against that. But it's only skin deep. There's no diversity of ideas.

So here is my idea for step three. Let's hire people who went to Harvard and Yale and the Columbia School of Journalism. Fine. But then let's take the advice of Tim Russert at NBC and also hire people some people who went to less tony schools. Let's some hire some people who didn't go to college at all, but who are hard working and go-getters and are smart. For whatever reason, they didn't go to college. Let's hire some people who actually served in the military. Let's hire some people who go to church or temple on a regular basis.

Let's have some real diversity -- some blue collar people, some white collar people, some conservative people, some liberal people. If we had that kind of diversity, when the mainstream media does a story on abortion or guns or affirmative action or whatever it is that they see through their liberal prism, there will be somebody in the newsroom, somebody who is decent and fair-minded who says, You know, I don't think we should do that. That's not right. And then they'll notice it.

By the way, if they had somebody like that out in Hollywood, they would have never gotten this far down the road with the Reagan movie.

BLITZER: Unfortunately, Bernard, Goldberg, we got to leave it right there. We could continue this conversation for some time. And maybe we will down the road. I hope we will. Thanks very much.

GOLDBERG: I hope so.

BLITZER: Congratulations once again on the new book. "Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite." Your first book, "Bias," was No. 1 on "The New York Times" best-seller list. I'm sure this one is not going to be far behind. Appreciate it very much.

GOLDBERG: Thanks, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Rocking the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the real message here is that the youth vote is up for grabs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Democratic presidential candidates try to bridge the generations gap tonight in Boston.

And voting right now. It's Election Day for many Americans. We'll cover the key races.

Plus this: the screams of delight that awoke a nation. I'll talk with one of Ed Sullivan's assistants about the Beatles' live television debut 40 years ago.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines "Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Slow road to peace. The power struggle between Yasser Arafat and his prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, threatens to delay renewed talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Qorei is expected to miss today's deadline to name new ministers to replace an emergency cabinet. He says he'll do that next week, assuming he resolves a dispute with Arafat over who has control over security forces.

Takeover remembered. Thousands of Irainans took to the streets of Tehran on the 24th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

Sick ship dispute. Spain has reopened the border crossing with Gibraltar after closing it for 13 hours. The closing, the first in almost 20 years, happened after a cruise ship with many passengers suffering from a highly contagious stomach virus, docked at the British colony.

And they're off! Farmers in Thailand race in their tractors in Iron Buffalo Drag Races. Held every month, farmers say it is a fun way to pay tribute to their machines.

Very big pizza. In fact, this pizza, all 100 yards of it, is expected to make it into the Guinness book of records as the world's longest. The creation of an Israeli the took 25 cooks and 30 hours to put it together to bake it.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today is election day for millions of Americans. Among the key races, the gubernatorial contest in Kentucky. Democratic State Attorney General Ben Chandler is battling Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher for the top job at the blue grass state. State officials say they expect a moderate turnout of about 40 percent of registered voters.

In Mississippi, Democratic incumbent Governor Ronnie Musgrove is fighting for a second term. His opponent, Haley Barbour, the former Republican National Committee chairman and Washington lobbyist. President Bush was in Mississippi over the weekend to campaign for Barbour. Polls show the race neck to neck.

Among the key mayoral elections, the one in Philadelphia. The incumbent Mayor John Street facing a rematch with Republican Sam Katz, a businessman he narrowly beat four-years-ago. Street is favored to win a second term, despite a federal investigation into possible corruption in city contracts.

San Francisco gets a new mayor, voting from nine candidates. A runoff election will be held just over a month from now if no candidate wins a majority of today's votes.

The top job in Houston, Texas up is also up for grabs. Bill White leading a field of nine candidates, hoping to replace Mayor Lee Brown. White is a former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration. He spent more than $2 million of his own campaign money in order to try to win this race.

Keep up with all the latest from today's voting on CNN's "NEWS NIGHT" with Aaron Brown. That's 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. pacific. Tomorrow morning get all the late-breaking results with Carol Costello. That's 5:00 a.m. Eastern. All the overnight returns should be in by then.

Just over an hour in Boston, CNN and "Rock the Vote" will co-host a 90-minute live town meeting with the Democratic presidential candidates. The event spotlights the concerns of younger voters. Eight of the nine Democratic candidates are taking part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: The young people I've met going around the country are committed. They're passionate. They're courage us. They're civic-minded. They want to help America.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: One quarter of all the people who gave us money in the last campaign were under 30-years-old. It is the first time in a generation I have seen young people get involved in politics again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Congressman Dick Gephardt won't be there. He's campaigning in Iowa. Anderson Cooper, he will be there. He's the moderator of tonight's forum. It begins a little more than an hour from now. 7:00 p.m. Eastern in Boston.

Beatlemania: Flashback to the British invasion.

We're behind the scenes with the Brooklyn boy who became a Beatle, at least for one day. We'll give you the inside story. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, what was the last song was the Beatles preformed on their first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance?

The answer, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The Beatles sang five songs in the following order, "All My Loving," "Until There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." 73 million people tune indeed to watch their performance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I was one of those 73 million viewers 40 years ago today. The Beatles rocked the royal family at a concert in London soon after that. They were rocking the United States. The British Invasion began with the old Ed Sullivan Show. Here's how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): One mob scene that set off so many more.

The fall of 1963. Britons caught on to a phenomena. And America is about to.

Here, London Airport, Ed Sullivan, already a legend on American TV, is on vacation, in transit. He can't help but notice. Sullivan finds out, these are the Beatles. On a whim, on the spot, he books them as a one-time novelty, something to bounce off the acts his show has become known for.

Sullivan may or may not realize he has lit a wildfire. The Beatles get a record contract in the U.S. Sales take off. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is the No. 1 single in mid-January 1964.

By now, Sullivan senses what's going on, and cements his reputation as a master promoter.

ED SULLIVAN, TV HOST: We're getting tens of thousands of letters from all over the country asking for tickets for the first appearance on our show of the Beatles. The Beatles are coming.

BLITZER: February 7, 1964. The Beatles touch down in New York. Not a moment too soon for a nation still reeling from the murder of a young president.

Amidst this emotional trauma, even after the buildup, four young mop tops from Liverpool shake millions out of despair with their youthfulness, charm and humor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think of the comment that you're nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not true. It's not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to get a haircut while you're here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had one yesterday.

BLITZER: Two days later, the moment arrives. There is no going back.

SULLIVAN: Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles.

(MUSIC AND SINGING)

BLITZER: That night, a new record -- 73 million viewers watched "The Ed Sullivan Show." The Beatles appeared three more times, a total of 20 performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

(SINGING)

BLITZER: Some have been liberated from vaults and put on a new DVD -- the four complete, historic Ed Sullivan shows featuring the Beatles. It's history and hysteria caught on tape.

A step back, to days we're always trying to recapture. What may have been the last gasp of innocence in American pop culture 40 years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We're now joined by a man who was directly part of that phenomenon as a production assistant on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Vince Calandra was a Beatle for a day during camera rehearsals. He went on to work with the Beatles in their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965.

Vince Calandra is joining us now live from Los Angeles.

Vince, thanks very much. Bringing back a lot of memories for all of us.

What was going through Ed Sullivan's mind on that occasion when he brought them to the United States?

VINCE CALANDRA, FORMER ED SULLIVAN ASST.: I think he didn't realize. I mean, he realized how important this was going to be.

We, at the Sullivan show, never realized what was happening. We began to really get into it, like, around the third week in January, when we got between 50,000 and 60,000 requests for tickets.

BLITZER: You were a stand-in during one of the rehearsals. Talk a little bit about that, before their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

CALANDRA: George -- George had gotten the flu, and he was staying at the Plaza Hotel. The doctors told him that he should -- should not go to the rehearsals because he was really sick. So the three, John, Paul and Ringo came to the studio and we did a camera blocking. So they -- being I was wearing a dark jacket that day, I was brought -- Sullivan asked me to go in and stand in for them.

So I kind of went up there, not knowing how to hold a guitar, wearing this Beatle wig, and being totally embarrassed. They ran their songs, and I was -- I just stood there, not realizing I was going to be part of history.

BLITZER: You were -- what? -- 29-years-old at the time? So you were already a young man. You were a man -- an adult at that time. What were they like personally?

CALANDRA: Personally, I must tell you, Wolf, they were four of the most professional people I had worked with.

I realize that, you know, Paul was 21 and John was 23. And when we did the rehearsal, they insisted on hearing the tapes played back in the control room, which no group had ever done on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before. And I remember them going in there. And I'm thinking, My God. This is a phenomenon.

BLITZER: Vince...

CALANDRA: You know, usually groups would come on and they would do their song, and they would be gone. But they insisted on hearing the playback. And they had some comments on how the audio should be because they sang basically at half voice, but they played their instruments full time.

BLITZER: Those were amazing times for all of us who are old enough to remember it. And if you're not old enough to remember, you can remember now on the DVD. Thanks very much, Vince Calandra for sharing some thoughts with us.

CALANDRA: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our "Web Question of the Day." That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." "Have recent disclosures about the mutual fund industry changed your investment plans?" Look at this. Thirty-five of you say yes; 65 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

A reminder, we're here every night, weeknights, 5p.m. Eastern.

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 November 4, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now the investigation. They're trying to figure out what happened in Iraq. U.S. and coalition forces coming under fire in an area considered safe, the enemy picking and choosing targets apparently eager to show there's no such thing as safe in Iraq.
Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Target Baghdad, a bold attack shakes the Iraqi capital.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These people, being the terrorists, and those who would kill innocent life, want us to retreat.

BLITZER: Covering the casualties, should you be allowed to see the coffins coming home? I'll ask reporter and media critic Bernard Goldberg.

Mutual fund mess, is your retirement at risk?

Just say no, CBS takes a last minute pass on a miniseries about the Reagans, was it the pressure?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is WOLF BLITZER REPORTS for Tuesday, November 04, 2003.

BLITZER: We begin in Baghdad. For a second straight night explosions rocking the heavily-guarded heart of the city as Iraqi insurgents send a clear message that they can strike anywhere they want.

CNN's Matthew Chance is in the Iraqi capital.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, another set of explosions shaking the fragile sense of security in the Iraqi capital. The latest information we have from coalition officials is that three explosions rocked an area called the Green Zone which is in the center of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad the area which housed the presidential palace of Saddam Hussein and some of the key buildings of his administration and has since been taken over by the coalition authorities here in Baghdad. The latest information that we have is that at least four individuals have been injured as a result of these explosions. One of them was being treated at the scene of the explosions while the other three were evacuated to a medical facility inside the Green Zone.

It's not clear if there was any substantial damage caused by these explosions which were either caused by mortars being lobbed into the compound or by rockets being fired but what they clearly underscore is just how confident, just how willing and just how able these insurgents, whoever they are, are to strike the capital and strike the coalition authority at its heart in Baghdad -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Matthew Chance in Baghdad thank you very much.

The bold attacks in the heart of Baghdad follow Sunday's shoot down of a U.S. military helicopter killing at least 15 Americans and wounding 20, now the Pentagon under attack for failing to protect U.S. troops.

Let's go live to our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, some disturbing questions being raised by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin who today said that he had information from people inside the military that not all the helicopters being operated by National Guard units had automatic flare dispensers and missile detection systems that could have prevented the shoot down over Iraq. He says he has written Defense Secretary Rumsfeld asking for answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I find the reports from military sources that I have received about the lack of protective equipment to be alarming and unacceptable. We know what a dangerous environment Iraq is. The threats from surface-to-air missiles were well known even before this tragic crash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now, the Army says that it is standard equipment for all of its helicopters to be equipped with what's known as a missile approach detector and warning system that automatically dispenses flares to deflect heat-seeking missiles.

He said there's no reason -- an Army spokesman said there's no reason to think this helicopter didn't have that system but an investigation is underway to make sure and the Army insists that there is no difference in the equipment in these helicopters between the active duty forces and the National Guard units -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon; Jamie thank you very much.

The U.S. death toll in Iraq rose once again today. A soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed and two were wounded when their vehicle hit an explosive device in Baghdad. That brings to 256 the number of U.S. troops who have been killed under what are described as hostile circumstances in Iraq.

In the northern city of Mosul a hotel housing American troops was hit by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Troops returned fire. The military says there were no casualties. The incident follows a similar attack on a Mosul police station and the shooting death of a judge.

President Bush today toured the damage done by the California fires but he's now facing political fires fed by the growing violence in Iraq.

Let's go live to our Senior White House Correspondent John King -- John.

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And, Wolf, Mr. Bush on his way back to Washington now. He had hoped that stop in California would give him the chance to assess the damage, promise any federal help that could help the victims of California's wildfires and, of course, to say thank you to the firefighters and others on the front lines in that effort.

But no sooner had Mr. Bush stepped from the rubble of this, once a residential area just a few days ago, he stepped from the rubble of this residential compound and faced questions from reporters.

Mr. Bush, of course, was asked about the recent state of attacks in Iraq. He offered his first direct comments about the deaths of those soldiers on the Chinook helicopter saying they died in a noble cause and voicing his condolences for their families.

Mr. Bush also at one point said that he thought Saddam Hussein was trying to stir up trouble. At another point he said, look, I don't know what he's doing but Mr. Bush said with certainty that those behind the attacks would not get what they want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: These people want to, these people being the terrorists and those who would kill innocent life, want us to retreat. They want us to leave because they know that a free and peaceful Iraq in their midst would damage their cause and we will stay the course. We will do our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: "We'll get him. We'll find him," Mr. Bush said of Saddam Hussein as U.S. troops assess the damage from today's explosions, Mr. Bush also saying that the administration is trying as quickly as possible to beef up and accelerate the training of Iraqi police and security forces so that they would be on the front lines -- Wolf.

BLITZER: CNN's John King at the White House, thank you very much. It's a tough, emotionally draining job, one that most of us will never have to experience. It's being carried out right now at the Army's Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the home base of six of the soldiers killed when an Army Chinook helicopter went down in Iraq on Sunday.

CNN's Kris Osborn is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This man has to look Fort Sill families in the eye sharing the hard news parents aren't prepared to hear.

MAJ. RON MEYER, U.S. ARMY: Every family will have a different response to a tragedy like this and we see that as chaplains. You may go out on a notification where the family is very quiet. You may go out on another notification where, in fact, you'll have the family members very emotional.

OSBORN: The last few days have been difficult for Army chaplain Rob Meyer but much more difficult for the family of Ross Pennanen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he gave the ultimate for this country, his life.

OSBORN: Ross' family holds on to a cherished letter written by their son in a war zone. His stepmother says Sergeant Pennanen did not join the military until he was in his 30s, a late effort she says to emulate his father, an Air Force veteran.

LINDA PENNANEN, STEPMOTHER: You know it was like, well, can somebody 34 go into the military and keep up with all these young kids? He didn't keep up with them. He set the pace out in front of them.

OSBORN: Also being remembered is Ross' fellow artillery man, Fort Sill soldier, Sergeant Stephen D. Conover (ph) who in combat had some close calls of his own.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got ambushed one time and his was the only vehicle without a bullet hole when they were right in front of him and everyone with him said how did that happen? And he said I know why my mom has praying angels all around us.

OSBORN: By the time Sergeant Conover had boarded that Chinook Sunday morning he had already put his best friend in a body bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had saw his best friend die in his place. He was supposed to be driving the Humvee and the told him to drive the Howitzer and he was a sergeant and he saw the Humvee explode and he said I had to scoop up my best friend and put the dog tags in his mouth.

OSBORN (on camera): In response to the deaths one soldier here on post who had not been deployed to Iraq told me: "We take this personally. It makes me want to go to Iraq to help my fellow soldiers." The commanding general here at Fort Sill says memorials are planned.

Kris Osborn CNN, Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Last journey home. Why the American public is not seeing its war dead return home to Dover.

What's happening to your money, why Congress is concerned about mutual funds?

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED SULLIVAN: Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Beatlemania, remembering the night that sparked a pop culture revolution in the United States. We'll have a special behind- the-scenes look what happened that night.

First, today's news quiz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): What was the last song the Beatles performed on their first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance, "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," "All my Loving," the answer coming up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Thumping "The Reagans," CBS sends the miniseries packing. Is the network buckling under pressure? We're live from New York. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's a story that could have potentially enormous financial implications for almost all of you, the scandal over alleged abuses among mutual funds is growing.

Prudential Securities is only the latest company implicated joining several other well known firms, including Fidelity, Janus, Morgan Stanley, and Vanguard. News of the Prudential case broke as the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission was warning Congress more firms are indeed likely to face charges. So, what exactly does all of this mean for all of us?

CNN's Kathleen Koch has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Retirees Carl and Pat Hemmer thought investigating in mutual funds was the prudent, cautious thing to do but with word that more mutual fund firms may be charged with trading abuses they've decided to sell some of the funds they own.

CARL HEMMER, RETIREE: What Putnam and other accused funds have done is squandered their trust, the trust that we had in them.

KOCH: Mutual funds are the investment of choice for some 95 million Americans, half of the nation's households. Experts say while it may not be a good idea to put more money in the funds being investigated, selling out may not be the best option either.

MERCER BULLARO, FUND DEMOCRACY: You may have tax consequences that are not worth enduring in order to sell their shares. You also amazingly may have to pay a sales (unintelligible) in order to get out of those funds that have been alleged to have engaged in these frauds.

KOCH: Firms that track mutual funds caution investors not to overreact.

DON PHILLIPS, MORNINGSTAR: Your money is not in jeopardy in say an Enron situation that the value of your account is going to drop to zero. You know what it means is that perhaps you should have gotten, been getting a slightly better deal than you've actually gotten.

KOCH: Another consumer concern were the fines or penalties levied on mutual funds managers under investigation will be passed on to investors. At a hearing on Capitol Hill, federal officials promised that won't happen.

STEPHEN CUTLER, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION: It certainly isn't our intention here to have investors foot the bill for the wrongdoing that fund management companies were engaged in.

KOCH (on camera): To better protect investors, Congress is considering passing laws to hold mutual funds directors more accountable.

(voice-over): The question for millions of investors, like the Hemmers, whether they can safely put their money back in other mutual funds.

HEMMER: You know it's enough to have the risks of the normal marketplace but when you have to take the risk of dealing with criminal minds that's bad, very bad. None of us counted on that.

KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And here's your turn to weigh in on the story. Our web question of the day is this. "Have recent disclosures about the mutual fund industry changed your investment plans"? You can vote right now, cnn.com/wolf. We'll have the results later in this broadcast.

While you're there I'd love to hear directly from you. Send me your comments anytime. I'll try to read some of them on the air each day at the end of this program. That's also where you can read my daily online column, cnn.com/wolf.

The head of a leading healthcare company also accused of wrongdoing. That story tops our Justice Report. A massive indictment against former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, prosecutors say he used a massive fraud scheme to inflate earnings and pocket hundreds of millions of dollars. Scrushy is facing 85 charges that could get him a sentence of up to 650 years and $36 million in fines.

And testimony shifted today from DNA evidence to detective work in Scott Peterson's preliminary hearing. The first Modesto police official to interview him was on the stand. And, a woman Peterson had an affair with is expected to testify this week. Peterson is accused of killing his wife Laci and their unborn child.

Real time war coverage but no coffins, should Americans be able to see their war dead come home? We'll take a closer look.

And, taking a pass on Ronald Reagan, why CBS is scrapping a planned miniseries on the former president.

History and youthful hysteria, the British invasion that reshaped America's music scene, we'll take you behind the scenes of the Beatles' U.S. debut 40 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: CBS has made a last minute decision not, repeat not to air a miniseries about the former President Ronald Reagan but CBS will air it on a non-commercial cable channel Showtime. The network denies the move has anything to do with complaints from those who say the show portrays the Reagans in an unflattering light.

CNN's Maria Hinojosa is joining us now live from New York with a look at why this miniseries is so controversial -- Maria.

MARIA HINOJOSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, on this story it really depends on who you believe. Some might see this as an act of censorship and a prestigious network caving in to outside pressure.

Others might see it as an act of respect for a former president and his family's views on the truth, or it can be seen as a network that decides that a program they produced isn't balanced.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA (voice-over): They hype about the CBS miniseries "The Reagans" with James Brolin as Ronald Reagan quickly gave way to a bitter and controversial battle over content based on news reports about a draft script even though some doing the arguing had never seen the movie. Supporters of Ronald Reagan, like the Republican National Committee, questioned the movie's historical accuracy. Today, CBS released a statement trying to put an end to this. In it they say:

"CBS will not broadcast "The Reagans" on November 16 and 18. This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script."

The movie will now be seen on the Showtime cable network. The controversy and parts of a draft script spilled out into the media. One particular exchange from that draft that appeared in "The New York Times" had President Reagan saying about AIDS patients that: "Those that live in sin shall die in sin." The decision to pull the movie had some politicians saying CBS had caved into right-wing pressure.

SEN. TOM DASCHLE (D), MINORITY LEADER: It smells of intimidation to me. It sounds to me like they were intimidated and making decisions that reversed earlier ones and I'm disappointed.

HINOJOSA: But supporters of the former president applauded CBS with some reservations.

JIM DYKE, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CMTE.: I think it was the right decision. They pointed out themselves that they didn't think it was a very balanced portrayal but, again, I don't know that it's a victory that you're misinforming fewer viewers on a different channel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HINOJOSA: Now, Wolf, just another bit of that statement from CBS. They said that: "Although the producers have sources" this is for the miniseries to verify each scene, they said "we did not believe it presented a balanced portrayal of the Reagans for CBS."

The producers did respond though. They said although we're disappointed that CBS will not be airing the program that we produced for them from the script that they approved we're excited that Showtime has agreed to air the program -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, this controversy apparently not going away, at least not yet, CNN's Maria Hinojosa reporting from New York. Thank you, Maria.

We'll have more on this CBS decision. That's coming up on this program.

Also, the news media and the U.S. military, should TV cameras be allowed to cover the return of soldiers killed in combat? I'll ask the media critic and the best-selling journalist and author Bernard Goldberg.

Visualizing a new wave of voters, Democratic presidential candidates get ready to answer to a younger generation.

Record-breaking pie, we'll take a bite out of this super sized pizza. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Keeping an eye on key races. For millions of Americans today is Election Day.

Also this, behind the scenes of "The Ed Sullivan Show" on the night the Beatles made American music history. I'm old enough to remember. Many of you are as well. We'll take you back to that night. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to CNN.

Deadly battlefields abroad and a controversial PR battle right here at home, why you don't see scenes like this on television.

First, though, a quick check of the latest headlines.

Authorities at this hour are searching for a motive for a deadly shootout on an Arizona highway. Police say in at least two cars that people opened fire as they sped along Interstate 10. Four people were killed. At least three others were wounded and several more sprinted off into a desolate stretch of desert. The area is on an Indian reservation south of Phoenix.

President Bush today got a firsthand look at some of the wildfire devastation in Southern California. He toured the region scorched by the so-called Cedar fire near San Diego. The fires the swept across almost three-quarters of a million acres in Southern California are now fully contained.

There is word from Pakistan that two suspected al Qaeda operatives have been killed during a firefight with Pakistani troops. A third suspect managed to escape. Intelligence sources are telling CNN the three were trying to enter Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan.

We've received a lot of e-mail from viewers all over the world asking why there's been virtually no media coverage of the return of American troops killed in Iraq. Here's what two of you wrote to us.

Denise wrote this: "I was wondering about the lack of information on our dead soldiers being brought back to the U.S. There have not been any images of the planes landing at Dover Air Force Base."

James asked this question. "Why has media coverage of dead soldiers arriving from Iraq been banned? Is this censorship or respect for the loved ones"?

The reason for the lack of coverage of flag-draped caskets arriving at military air bases is because of a Pentagon ban dating back to before the first Gulf War.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): In March and April when major combat was underway in Iraq, people around the world had extraordinary access to the fighting thanks to the journalists embedded with U.S. and coalition forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Iraqi forces continue to engage the U.S. military.

BLITZER: This was in marked contrast to the first Gulf War in 1991 when reporters were barred from going to the front lines. But what hasn't changed over the past dozen years is the Pentagon's adamant refusal to permit camera crews to record the return of those troops killed in action. That's why you're not seeing the nearly daily arrival of coffins in the United States.

Critics say the Pentagon fears the pictures would demoralize the American public and weaken support for the war.

MICHAEL HIRSH, "NEWSWEEK": The Pentagon is, basically, suppressing images, I think fearful of the negative impact. Again, the drum beat of returning bodies.

BLITZER: Just before the first Gulf War, then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and then-Joint Chiefs Chairman Colin Powell issued an order prohibiting any news media coverage of coffins returning to the Dover, Delaware Air Force Base.

Since 1955, that's been the U.S. military's largest mortuary, first stop of the caskets coming home.

The images were searing. Who can forget the return of the 241 bodies killed in the 1983 terrorist bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut? But those pictures went away, except on those rare occasions when the White House wanted the American public to see the coffins. That was the case in 1986, following the plane crash that killed then- Commerce Secretary Ron Brown and 34 others in Croatia.

In November 2000, at the tail end of the Clinton administration, the Pentagon expanded that Dover ban to include all U.S. military bases. That ban has remained in effect since then.

What the Pentagon does allow is media coverage of individual graveside services. Victoria Clarke was, until recently, the Pentagon spokeswoman. She disagrees with the ban.

VICTORIA CLARKE, FMR. PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: I happen to believe that people should be allowed to recover -- cover those events. I think if you're going to sign pieces of paper saying young people are going to put their lives at risk and young people are going to die for important causes, then we should be willing to let people see what happens and the kinds of terrible things that can happen in conflicts. And I think that is being straight with the American people.

BLITZER: But the ban remains in effect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Just a little while ago I discussed this and other media issues with the former CBS news reporter and producer Bernard Goldberg. His new book is entitled "Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Bernard Goldberg, thanks very much for joining us. Congratulations on the new book. We're going to get to that in a second.

But this little controversy that's brewing now, continuing a policy of closing Dover, the Air Force base there. We can't get access to see the coffins coming back. Is that a problem, as far as you're concerned?

BERNARD GOLDBERG, AUTHOR, "ARROGANCE": Yes, I guess it is. I'm for more information, not less. I mean, if it were up to me, I would televise executions. And I understand why the administration doesn't want it. But the American people, you know, need to see that also.

But there's a bigger point here, Wolf, I think, and that is the general coverage of Iraq. I'm not one of those people who says, there's too much bad news. I say, Give us all the bad news you've got. When American soldiers are killed, put it on page one, lead the newscast with it, give us all the bad news you've got, then give us more bad news.

But then -- then -- give us the rest of the story. It's the only way we're going to know what's going on there. There's other stuff going on that's quite positive.

Now, journalists -- journalists always say, Well, we tend towards the negative. We don't tell you that the plane landed safely. We don't tell you that the First National Bank didn't get robbed. But you would have to be a moron not to know that most banks don't get robbed and most planes do land safely. How in the world are we supposed to know what's going on in Iraq unless they give us the whole story? That's called good journalism.

And if they don't, by the way -- if they don't, you're more into politics than I am, but I think that this constant onslaught of negative images, which I say are fine, but without the balance of the positive stuff, I think that's going to -- that's going to show itself during the election campaign next year, and it's not going to be good for the Republicans.

BLITZER: Well, is the national news media guilty of this filter that the White House has suggested that we're not giving the full story of what's happening in Iraq?

GOLDBERG: Yes, I think -- I think the White House is absolutely right about that.

As I say, bad news is legitimate. When American soldiers are killed -- I get up every morning, I turn on the news and I see another soldier, another two soldiers, every now and then 15 soldiers killed, it's heart breaking. It's legitimate news and it's needs to be there.

But it's also legitimate news when schools are opening, when roads are being built, when people are going back to work. You don't have to report in this country that the plane landed safely, but you do have to report the good news over there because, otherwise, we don't know what the whole picture is.

And after a while -- after a while, you say, I can't take this anymore. And that will affect how you vote in the election.

BLITZER: Let's make a dramatic shift to this CBS decision not to air this mini series on the Reagans -- your former employer, CBS. They put out a statement, and I'll put up on the screen. "This decision is based solely on our reaction to seeing the final film, not the controversy that erupted around a draft of the script."

Do you buy that?

GOLDBERG: No. And I don't want to start laughing out loud. But that's -- come on. That's ridiculous.

First of all, TV executives have more agility than they have backbone. These guys are clueless. Just as I think a lot of newspeople in the East Coast are clueless about how the American people think, the elites out in Hollywood are clueless as to how so many ordinary Americans could love this guy so much. So they let somebody write a play -- a screenplay, making stuff up, making the Reagans look like two doofuses. And they don't get in the beginning that this is going to cause a major brouhaha in Middle America.

But there is not a species on the planet Earth, Wolf -- not a species on the planet Earth that is more fine tuned to self- preservation than television executives. So once these guys saw that this was not going to go away, this was going to get nasty, I didn't have a doubt in the world that they would either take the controversial stuff out or dump it over to some other place like Showtime.

BLITZER: In your new book, "Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite," you have a 12-step program for what you call the liberal media to try to deal fairly accurately with news.

Give us the gist. What's the main point you're trying to make?

GOLDBERG: Well, first of all, I think if 12 steps are good enough for alcoholics, they ought to be enough for journalists.

But let me give you step three because that's a real important one. Step three says we need some real diversity in American newsrooms. Rights now, what we have, basically, is have skin-deep diversity. I'm not against that. But it's only skin deep. There's no diversity of ideas.

So here is my idea for step three. Let's hire people who went to Harvard and Yale and the Columbia School of Journalism. Fine. But then let's take the advice of Tim Russert at NBC and also hire people some people who went to less tony schools. Let's some hire some people who didn't go to college at all, but who are hard working and go-getters and are smart. For whatever reason, they didn't go to college. Let's hire some people who actually served in the military. Let's hire some people who go to church or temple on a regular basis.

Let's have some real diversity -- some blue collar people, some white collar people, some conservative people, some liberal people. If we had that kind of diversity, when the mainstream media does a story on abortion or guns or affirmative action or whatever it is that they see through their liberal prism, there will be somebody in the newsroom, somebody who is decent and fair-minded who says, You know, I don't think we should do that. That's not right. And then they'll notice it.

By the way, if they had somebody like that out in Hollywood, they would have never gotten this far down the road with the Reagan movie.

BLITZER: Unfortunately, Bernard, Goldberg, we got to leave it right there. We could continue this conversation for some time. And maybe we will down the road. I hope we will. Thanks very much.

GOLDBERG: I hope so.

BLITZER: Congratulations once again on the new book. "Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite." Your first book, "Bias," was No. 1 on "The New York Times" best-seller list. I'm sure this one is not going to be far behind. Appreciate it very much.

GOLDBERG: Thanks, Wolf.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Rocking the vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the real message here is that the youth vote is up for grabs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Democratic presidential candidates try to bridge the generations gap tonight in Boston.

And voting right now. It's Election Day for many Americans. We'll cover the key races.

Plus this: the screams of delight that awoke a nation. I'll talk with one of Ed Sullivan's assistants about the Beatles' live television debut 40 years ago.

First, though, a quick look at some other news making headlines "Around the World."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Slow road to peace. The power struggle between Yasser Arafat and his prime minister, Ahmed Qorei, threatens to delay renewed talks between Palestinians and Israelis. Qorei is expected to miss today's deadline to name new ministers to replace an emergency cabinet. He says he'll do that next week, assuming he resolves a dispute with Arafat over who has control over security forces.

Takeover remembered. Thousands of Irainans took to the streets of Tehran on the 24th anniversary of the storming of the U.S. embassy in 1979. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

Sick ship dispute. Spain has reopened the border crossing with Gibraltar after closing it for 13 hours. The closing, the first in almost 20 years, happened after a cruise ship with many passengers suffering from a highly contagious stomach virus, docked at the British colony.

And they're off! Farmers in Thailand race in their tractors in Iron Buffalo Drag Races. Held every month, farmers say it is a fun way to pay tribute to their machines.

Very big pizza. In fact, this pizza, all 100 yards of it, is expected to make it into the Guinness book of records as the world's longest. The creation of an Israeli the took 25 cooks and 30 hours to put it together to bake it.

And that's our look "Around the World."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Today is election day for millions of Americans. Among the key races, the gubernatorial contest in Kentucky. Democratic State Attorney General Ben Chandler is battling Republican Congressman Ernie Fletcher for the top job at the blue grass state. State officials say they expect a moderate turnout of about 40 percent of registered voters.

In Mississippi, Democratic incumbent Governor Ronnie Musgrove is fighting for a second term. His opponent, Haley Barbour, the former Republican National Committee chairman and Washington lobbyist. President Bush was in Mississippi over the weekend to campaign for Barbour. Polls show the race neck to neck.

Among the key mayoral elections, the one in Philadelphia. The incumbent Mayor John Street facing a rematch with Republican Sam Katz, a businessman he narrowly beat four-years-ago. Street is favored to win a second term, despite a federal investigation into possible corruption in city contracts.

San Francisco gets a new mayor, voting from nine candidates. A runoff election will be held just over a month from now if no candidate wins a majority of today's votes.

The top job in Houston, Texas up is also up for grabs. Bill White leading a field of nine candidates, hoping to replace Mayor Lee Brown. White is a former deputy energy secretary in the Clinton administration. He spent more than $2 million of his own campaign money in order to try to win this race.

Keep up with all the latest from today's voting on CNN's "NEWS NIGHT" with Aaron Brown. That's 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. pacific. Tomorrow morning get all the late-breaking results with Carol Costello. That's 5:00 a.m. Eastern. All the overnight returns should be in by then.

Just over an hour in Boston, CNN and "Rock the Vote" will co-host a 90-minute live town meeting with the Democratic presidential candidates. The event spotlights the concerns of younger voters. Eight of the nine Democratic candidates are taking part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WESLEY CLARK (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: The young people I've met going around the country are committed. They're passionate. They're courage us. They're civic-minded. They want to help America.

HOWARD DEAN (D), PRES. CANDIDATE: One quarter of all the people who gave us money in the last campaign were under 30-years-old. It is the first time in a generation I have seen young people get involved in politics again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Congressman Dick Gephardt won't be there. He's campaigning in Iowa. Anderson Cooper, he will be there. He's the moderator of tonight's forum. It begins a little more than an hour from now. 7:00 p.m. Eastern in Boston.

Beatlemania: Flashback to the British invasion.

We're behind the scenes with the Brooklyn boy who became a Beatle, at least for one day. We'll give you the inside story. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Earlier we asked, what was the last song was the Beatles preformed on their first "Ed Sullivan Show" appearance?

The answer, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

The Beatles sang five songs in the following order, "All My Loving," "Until There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There," and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." 73 million people tune indeed to watch their performance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: I was one of those 73 million viewers 40 years ago today. The Beatles rocked the royal family at a concert in London soon after that. They were rocking the United States. The British Invasion began with the old Ed Sullivan Show. Here's how it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): One mob scene that set off so many more.

The fall of 1963. Britons caught on to a phenomena. And America is about to.

Here, London Airport, Ed Sullivan, already a legend on American TV, is on vacation, in transit. He can't help but notice. Sullivan finds out, these are the Beatles. On a whim, on the spot, he books them as a one-time novelty, something to bounce off the acts his show has become known for.

Sullivan may or may not realize he has lit a wildfire. The Beatles get a record contract in the U.S. Sales take off. "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is the No. 1 single in mid-January 1964.

By now, Sullivan senses what's going on, and cements his reputation as a master promoter.

ED SULLIVAN, TV HOST: We're getting tens of thousands of letters from all over the country asking for tickets for the first appearance on our show of the Beatles. The Beatles are coming.

BLITZER: February 7, 1964. The Beatles touch down in New York. Not a moment too soon for a nation still reeling from the murder of a young president.

Amidst this emotional trauma, even after the buildup, four young mop tops from Liverpool shake millions out of despair with their youthfulness, charm and humor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think of the comment that you're nothing but a bunch of British Elvis Presleys?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not true. It's not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to get a haircut while you're here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had one yesterday.

BLITZER: Two days later, the moment arrives. There is no going back.

SULLIVAN: Ladies and gentlemen, the Beatles.

(MUSIC AND SINGING)

BLITZER: That night, a new record -- 73 million viewers watched "The Ed Sullivan Show." The Beatles appeared three more times, a total of 20 performances on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

(SINGING)

BLITZER: Some have been liberated from vaults and put on a new DVD -- the four complete, historic Ed Sullivan shows featuring the Beatles. It's history and hysteria caught on tape.

A step back, to days we're always trying to recapture. What may have been the last gasp of innocence in American pop culture 40 years ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: We're now joined by a man who was directly part of that phenomenon as a production assistant on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Vince Calandra was a Beatle for a day during camera rehearsals. He went on to work with the Beatles in their famous Shea Stadium concert in 1965.

Vince Calandra is joining us now live from Los Angeles.

Vince, thanks very much. Bringing back a lot of memories for all of us.

What was going through Ed Sullivan's mind on that occasion when he brought them to the United States?

VINCE CALANDRA, FORMER ED SULLIVAN ASST.: I think he didn't realize. I mean, he realized how important this was going to be.

We, at the Sullivan show, never realized what was happening. We began to really get into it, like, around the third week in January, when we got between 50,000 and 60,000 requests for tickets.

BLITZER: You were a stand-in during one of the rehearsals. Talk a little bit about that, before their first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

CALANDRA: George -- George had gotten the flu, and he was staying at the Plaza Hotel. The doctors told him that he should -- should not go to the rehearsals because he was really sick. So the three, John, Paul and Ringo came to the studio and we did a camera blocking. So they -- being I was wearing a dark jacket that day, I was brought -- Sullivan asked me to go in and stand in for them.

So I kind of went up there, not knowing how to hold a guitar, wearing this Beatle wig, and being totally embarrassed. They ran their songs, and I was -- I just stood there, not realizing I was going to be part of history.

BLITZER: You were -- what? -- 29-years-old at the time? So you were already a young man. You were a man -- an adult at that time. What were they like personally?

CALANDRA: Personally, I must tell you, Wolf, they were four of the most professional people I had worked with.

I realize that, you know, Paul was 21 and John was 23. And when we did the rehearsal, they insisted on hearing the tapes played back in the control room, which no group had ever done on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before. And I remember them going in there. And I'm thinking, My God. This is a phenomenon.

BLITZER: Vince...

CALANDRA: You know, usually groups would come on and they would do their song, and they would be gone. But they insisted on hearing the playback. And they had some comments on how the audio should be because they sang basically at half voice, but they played their instruments full time.

BLITZER: Those were amazing times for all of us who are old enough to remember it. And if you're not old enough to remember, you can remember now on the DVD. Thanks very much, Vince Calandra for sharing some thoughts with us.

CALANDRA: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll have the results of our "Web Question of the Day." That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Here's how you're weighing in on our "Web Question of the Day." "Have recent disclosures about the mutual fund industry changed your investment plans?" Look at this. Thirty-five of you say yes; 65 percent of you say no. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

A reminder, we're here every night, weeknights, 5p.m. Eastern.

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