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CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Novak Zone: A look at John Kerry and John Edward Ticket; A big Spat in Texas over Condom Use Being Taught in Schools
Aired July 10, 2004 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for joining us. It is 9:00 a.m. here in Atlanta. If you're just waking up on the West Coast, it's an early 6:00 a.m. Thanks for starting your day with us.
Here's what is coming up this hour.
Is a kidnapping drama in Iraq helping set international policy in the hostage's home country? We'll go to the Philippines to find out.
GRIFFIN: A Texas-sized debate about school textbooks causing a condom conundrum for state educators.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was walking back from the playground with my little sister, like, maybe 10 yards ahead of me, and then I got shocked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Your mom always warned you about the dangers of lightning strikes. This 10-year-old lived to tell the tale about his own up-close encounter.
First, though, the headlines.
GRIFFIN: An announcement today by the Philippines, but no word if it is linked to a Filipino hostage held in Iraq under threat of death. The government in Manila says its 51 humanitarian troops will leave Iraq on August 20 as scheduled. The government had considered extending the deployment in Iraq as it did in February. Those holding the hostage have demanded the pull-out from the Philippines.
U.S. Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun reportedly doing well, at least physically, at a military hospital in Germany, three weeks after he vanished in an alleged kidnapping in Iraq. Hassoun appeared at the U.S. embassy in Beirut on Thursday. The Navy investigating to determine if it really was a kidnapping, or perhaps a hoax. The BBC reports British Prime Minister Tony Blair considered resigning last month, but he was persuaded by some cabinet secretaries to stay on. Blair's popularity has plummeted since he committed British troops to the war in Iraq last year. No government comment yet on that BBC report.
Betty?
NGUYEN: Now to our top story, an announcement by the government of the Philippines its troops will leave Iraq August 20 as scheduled. The Manila government is negotiating for the release of a Filipino hostage in Iraq threatened with death unless his country's troops withdraw.
Now, more on this from CNN's Maria Ressa, live by videophone from Manila. Hi, there.
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (by videophone): Hi, Betty.
Well, at this point it's clear that the Philippines is trying to balance many different demands. It has the family of the hostage, Angelo de la Cruz (ph), and the Filipino public, where demands for negotiation and for its troop pullouts have increased over the last few hours, and then the kidnappers themselves and the international community and the commitment to the international community.
The Philippine government has emphasized its decision to pull out its troops as scheduled on August 20 is not linked to the kidnappers' demands. However, it also does say that it has fulfilled -- not only fulfilled its agreement with the Iraqi people, but at the same time, it is also pulling out of this theater of arena, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, I understand that the government was depending upon a six-month -- actually, they were thinking that within six months, they would decide whether they were going to go ahead and send more troops or allow those troops to stay and those humanitarian aid workers. This decision not to continue that, is that based on the hostage situation?
RESSA: I asked the Philippine foreign secretary exactly that question just a short while ago. And she did point out that in the past, the Philippine government extended a six-month deadline by another six months. And we were getting to the point where the Philippines were considering to extend it. What she said was that any future developments in Iraq, as far as the Philippines was concerned, is now going to be governed by the new U.N. resolution, and that, in a sense, puts it in a whole different arena.
The Philippine government certainly wants to make sure that it is not seen as bowing to the terrorists' demands, to the kidnappers' demands, and yet, at the same time, it is also trying to do its best to try to save the life of this Filipino hostage. The deadline, by the way, the 72-hour deadline, ends just five hours from now.
NGUYEN: Maria Ressa, we thank you so much for that insight -- Drew. GRIFFIN: Elsewhere around the world, Betty, the American editor of "Forbes" magazine in Russia shot to death outside his office in Moscow. This happened last evening. Paul Klebnikov (ph) was shot four times. He'd published information on some of Russia's wealthiest people.
To Latin America next. Colombian officials traveling to Cuba to seek extradition of this man, Luis Hernando Bustamente. He's suspected of leading a cartel in Colombia that has smuggled $10 billion worth of cocaine in the U.S. Bustamente was captured this week in Cuba.
Experts attending an AIDS conference in Bangkok say HIV testing must be routine, not voluntary, if treatment is to be effective on a mass scale. Under a proposal, HIV tests would be administered routinely when a patient seeks treatment for other sexually transmitted diseases or seeks prenatal care.
NGUYEN: It's a business traveler's dream, breeze past the long lines, straight through airport security, and not have to pay a dime for the privilege. But the cost of personal privacy may have some weighing the tradeoff in an experimental program.
Sean Callebs has a closer look now from Washington. Hi, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Betty.
Indeed, air travelers have at one time or another all had to wait an extra-long amount of time in those security lines while people fumbled with keys or whatever. Well, after some prompting from the airline industry and congressional leaders, there is now a new pilot program out that is designed to shave a significant amount of time off waiting in those security lines.
It is called the Registered Traveler Program. Now, this program actually started in Minneapolis on June 28. And it is coming to airports in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Houston. Volunteers will undergo a thorough government background check and agree to digital fingerprinting and iris scan. Now, in return, those travelers, flyers who pass the background check, will get a high-tech ID card that will allow them to pass quickly through an express security line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK HATFIELD, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: One will do a background check that looks for wants or warrants, outstanding criminal wants or warrants. And then the other piece is, we will vet them against our list, our databases of terrorists and known threats to civil aviation. So it's a pretty good package right now. But we'll evolve that. We may change that as we learn more from the pilot program and as we look at other features that we can employ with regards to the background check.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CALLEBS: And authorities say this program is attractive to frequent flyers because it will separate the experienced traveler from the more novice, you know, the ones who forget to take their keys out, don't take the laptop out of their briefcase, generally, the ones that trigger extra security checks and hold up the line.
Well, this is not a new idea. Other nations, including Israel, have had a similar program for some time. The Transportation Security Administration says registered flyers will still have to go through security screenings, and they say this test program will not compromise safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HATFIELD: I can tell you two things. Our airports are safer now than they ever have been. We have a security system, a matrix of security that is unlike any seen before in history. But I can also tell you that we will never have the luxury of declaring our job as done. This is an ongoing process, an evolving process, and one that we can never afford to rest at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Now, this new program does address passengers' concerns, but there are other concerns out there, specifically, those who work in restaurants and stores within the airport themselves, they didn't have to go through security screens until now. The TSA announced that program began this past Wednesday. Also, many of the workers who have access to the tarmac don't have to go through security screenings. Some congressional members want that changed, Betty, and they want it done quickly.
NGUYEN: Hey, Sean, speaking of concerns, those who submit their information so they can get through the lines faster, how do they know that this information won't get into the wrong hands?
CALLEBS: Well, they really don't. They are going to have to basically take the information that comes from the TSA. A lot of people that have come forward and talked about this so far say it's -- they are willing to make this tradeoff.
These are people who travel quite a bit. A lot of the information is out there in various ways anyhow. And they are willing to make the sacrifice to go through this very thorough background check just for the chance to shave a few minutes off darting through the airport.
NGUYEN: Basically, trust the TSA. All right, Sean Callebs, thank you.
And we want to hear from you this morning. Would you be willing to give up personal information to get through airport security more quickly? Share your shots with us. All have you to do is e-mail us at wam@cnn.com.
GRIFFIN: And this was a busy week in the war on terror. We've got highlights in your terror watch this weekend.
A confidential source telling CNN the heads of the CIA and FBI briefed senators behind closed doors this week. They told the legislators the terror threat level in the U.S. is as high as it has been since the September 11 attacks.
That came as the public heard from Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge Thursday. He said officials believe al Qaeda is planning a large-scale attack on the U.S. in an effort to disrupt the democratic process before the November election. But Secretary Ridge said there was no specific threat.
The U.S. Coast Guard continuing efforts to secure America's ports. Nineteen ships have been denied entry. Another 30 have been detained. This since July 1, when new security regulations went into effect.
And it's a cleanup operation, also considered a preventative measure against a potential nuclear terror threat. The Energy Department says it removed nearly two tons of radiological and nuclear materials from Iraq last month. The Defense Department transported that material to the U.S.
And just what does he know about a possible link? The federal 9/11 commission said this week it believes Vice President Dick Cheney knows nothing more about the September 11 attacks than the panel members do. The commission has said it has seen no evidence to suggest Saddam Hussein's government had anything to do with September 11, and asked Mr. Cheney to come forward if there's something that he has not told the panel about.
NGUYEN: Well, Drew, don't tell your kids, but it's not all fun and games at Disneyland these days. Why the thunder won't roll on this mountain anymore.
GRIFFIN: And a textbook issue in Texas raising questions about sex ed in high school. We'll talk about how much is too much.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center. Saturday afternoon forecast for you, it should be nice in some spots and steamy in others. We're in the middle of summer, and it sure feels like it. Complete forecast is coming up after the break.
CNN LIVE SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The choice is made, but is John Edwards right for John Kerry? Bob Novak weighs in The Novak Zone. That's a little bit later right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Across America this Saturday morning, in Wisconsin, a Milwaukee jury has returned a guilty verdict against a self-described minister who was involved in the death of an 8-year-old autistic boy. Prosecutors say Ray Hemphill laid on the youngster's chest for at least an hour in an attempt to perform an exorcism on the boy to release the demons. Hemphill faces five years in prison for the felony abuse conviction.
Next, to California. Michael Jackson's defense team has won an unusual courtroom maneuver. The district attorney prosecuting the child molestation case will take the stand. He'll have to explain why police searched the office of a private investigator reportedly working for the pop star's attorney at the time. The defense contends such a move may have violated Jackson's attorney-client privilege.
And in southern California, Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is closed indefinitely. A two-train collision on the roller coaster sent three people to the hospital Thursday. Faulty maintenance was blamed for a September accident that killed one man and injured 10 other.
GRIFFIN: One of the toughest questions parents and school boards have to answer is how much sex education should students be exposed to. Last week in Texas, a state advisory panel gave preliminary approval to three textbooks that focus almost entirely on abstinence, not having sex. Critics say that approach fails to give students the information they need and doesn't comply with health education standards.
Joining us to debate the issue is Jennifer Marshall from the Heritage Foundation and Michael McGee from Planned Parenthood.
Michael, what's wrong with telling kids, Hey, just don't have sex, that's the safest route, prevents pregnancy, prevents diseases, and statistics show it also prevents poverty later in life. Why not just say, Don't do it?
MICHAEL MCGEE, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: That's a sufficient message for a small part of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- of the population. The reality is, young people need more information than that in order to grow into sexually healthy adults. By the time kids are out of high school, two-thirds of them have had intercourse. So telling them not to have sex really isn't helpful to the majority.
GRIFFIN: But Michael, we tell them not to smoke. We don't tell them, Well, if you do smoke, just inhale a little bit. Isn't this the same thing in terms of a health issue?
MCGEE: No, it's not. Smoking is never good for you. But sex is something we need to keep the species going. So we can't really equate smoking that is always bad for you with sexuality.
GRIFFIN: Jennifer Marshall, your response?
JENNIFER MARSHALL, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Well, teens need more information about how the choices they make about sex today will affect their future and their goals and their dreams tomorrow. And they are not getting that in most sex education courses today. So that's why what Texas has done is a great thing. It's presenting abstinence as a legitimate choice and as the best choice for their futures, for their goals in achieving what they want in life.
That's what abstinence education does. It presents what sexuality is in a holistic sense, how it will affect them emotionally, psychologically, physically. And what's happening in most safe-sex sex education courses today is that it's a merely physical presentation of the facts, treating this as a one-dimensional activity in life, which it simply isn't.
And it -- what we find in most sex education courses today is that they are aggressively promoting the use of condoms. In fact, the Heritage Foundation recently conducted a study on nine of the top (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
GRIFFIN: Well, Jennifer, Jennifer, can I just break in just real quickly before you get to your study? If you are into this holistic approach, why not include everything, which includes not only abstinence, but also the use of condoms and other preventative measures of teen pregnancy? Why withhold any information from our teens?
MARSHALL: You should not withhold information, that's exactly my point. And what we found in these curricula was the safe-sex curricula were in fact aggressively promoting the use, in very explicit ways that would shock most parents. And, in fact, they were spending about 28 percent of their time promoting contraception and condoms.
What we found with abstinence material, on the other hand, is that they are spending well over half their time teaching kids about how to make choices proactively about sex and its role in their life and how the engagement in sex early before marriage as a teenager is going to really harm their life outcomes.
Now, the other thing we found in polling parents and polling teens is nine out of 10, virtually all parents and teens, want abstinence to be the message that is heard in schools today. So clearly (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
MCGEE: Oh, now, you know that's baloney. That is not sufficient information at all. Even in your own poll, you know that the majority of parents want both messages about delaying intercourse along with messages...
GRIFFIN: Michael...
MCGEE: ... about contraception.
MARSHALL: Nobody (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
GRIFFIN: Michael and Jennifer, hold on one second, because I'm a -- I'm, I'm -- I just want to bring up some statistics that I brought up from the CDC Web site, which tell me that teen pregnancy is down and dropping, down 30 percent over the last -- looks like 10, 11 years. So whatever is going on in our schools must be doing well.
Michael, what has happened that has dropped these teen pregnancy rates to this extent?
MCGEE: Seventy-five percent of that drop is attributable to teenagers using more effective contraception more consistently. Twenty-five percent of that decline is due to teenagers delaying intercourse. But this is what I'm saying is, we need a balanced approach that does both things for young people, gives them the information and skills they need to delay intercourse until maturity, along with information about contraception.
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: Jennifer, is the drop due to more condom use?
MARSHALL: No, I think it's due to different expectations. Teens live up or down to our expectations for them. Nobody is afraid of the C- word, nobody's afraid of talking about condoms or contraceptives. It's how we talk about them.
Are we going to give the facts about what they do, or are we going to do, as most sex education courses do today, and parents would be shocked, and that is, aggressively promote them and creative ways of using them and things that you, parents would be shocked at the fact that their kids are hearing.
MCGEE: Eighty-three percent of parents in a January study said they believe teenagers should learn how to use condoms. That's from the Teicher (ph) Family Foundation...
MARSHALL: But they don't know what is going on in the classrooms today.
MCGEE: ... and the National Public Radio and the Harvard Government School.
GRIFFIN: Well, competing...
MCGEE: Eighty-three percent.
GRIFFIN: ... opinion polls here from both sides of this issue. And in Texas, they are trying to decide what to do about their textbooks. We thank you both for joining us. Jennifer Marshall with the Heritage Foundation, Michael McGee with Planned Parenthood. Obviously we could go on for hours and hours, guys, and maybe we should just ask the teenagers what they want.
Thanks for joining us.
NGUYEN: Still ahead, what to do after the love is gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not enjoying being in the room with you, playing with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: One of music's heaviest hitters finds a way to make it through the tough times.
And a check on our top stories this morning, including the latest on the Filipino hostage held captive in Iraq.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, good morning, Albuquerque. Look at this. This is the Sandia mountain range, looking southeast this morning. What a beautiful day on tap, hopefully. We'll check in with Rob to see what he has to say about the forecast. That's coming up.
But first, we want to get you updated on this hour's top stories.
Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
Here's a look at the headlines.
The Philippine government has been negotiating the release of a truck driver being held captive in Iraq. Video on Al Jazeera television showed the man begging his government to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Militants had threatened to behead him by this afternoon.
In Germany, the U.S. military is trying to unravel the mystery surrounding Marine Corporal Wassef Hassoun. The 24-year-old translator disappeared in Iraq on June 19 and resurfaced this week in Lebanon, some 500 miles away. He's going through a battery of medical tests today.
GRIFFIN: It's a hot day across most of the nation, so says Rob Marciano, who has been following the weather for us all morning long. Good morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, Drew. Hi, Betty.
It's the middle of July, so it is a hot and steamy in many areas. And really the best can you do, especially if you live east of the Colorado Rockies this time of year, is just ask for lower levels of humidity. And that's what you'll get across the Northeast, the Great Lakes as well.
SO not all that cool, but comfortable. It'll be hot and humid across the South, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) normally we'd get afternoon cooling thunderstorms. We're not really going to get them, at least in a widespread variety.
But we have seen thunderstorms pop up across parts of Nebraska, also across parts of the Dakotas today, stretching back to the Colorado Rockies and down in the South. So they will take them there. And where we have seen the thunderstorm -- or where we will see the thunderstorms pop up is in around an area of high pressure that is kind of centered right through here, which is going to kind of put the kibosh on widespread thunderstorms across the South and the East.
So that's what we have in the weather map for a highlight today. It will be kind of breezy across parts of Texas. Mentioned the showers, the storms across the Colorado Rockies. And this area of red across the Dakotas could bring some strong to severe weather.
But along this front, which is the boundary between this cool, comfortable air, relatively cool, and the South, steamy conditions is where we'll see a few showers pop up, Tennessee, Ohio Valley, but mostly the Northeast and the Great Lakes looks to be pretty dry.
Hey, I want to highlight a couple of golf tournaments for you. Champions Tour up in Dearborn, Michigan, and the PGA Tour out there in Illinois, where the John Deere Classic was delayed yesterday because of some rainfall. And today there will be a couple of showers in that area. Eighty-four degrees expected, southeast winds at five to 10 millions an hour.
The ladies are playing Ontario on the seniors are playing in Illinois, where partly cloudy conditions and comfortable temperatures expected. And in Niagara Falls and Ontario, partly cloudy and a high of about 80 degrees. If you have your own game today, play well. And if it's going to be thundering and lightning in your area, be careful.
By the way, Northeast, there's your temperature. Good-looking weekend to get out there. It's true. And, oh, Albuquerque, you want to show that one more time?
GRIFFIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Rob.
MARCIANO: There were showers, there were showers actually reported in Albuquerque just a few minutes ago. So sun breaking through those showers, obviously, 71 degrees. Got up to about 88 for a high temperature.
NGUYEN: That's not bad...
MARCIANO: No, not too (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
NGUYEN: ... especially this time of the year. OK, thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
GRIFFIN: It's a high-profile test case for gay rights in the state of Georgia. Gay members of a private golf club say it's unfair. Married couples have to pay one fee, while gays and lesbians pay a fee for each person. The golf club is standing firm, though, and the mayor of Atlanta says she is trapped in the middle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR SHIRLEY FRANKLIN, ATLANTA, GEORGIA: I regret that Georgia is one of few states that has not put on the books that antidiscrimination law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Could the case be headed to court? Well, I bet so. New developments in the standoff between gay golfers and a private club, that is tomorrow on CNN SUNDAY MORNING at 9:00 Eastern time. Still ahead, cashing in on Mega Millions jackpot.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Alina Cho in Lowell, Massachusetts, where a maid has really cleaned up, winning one of the largest lottery jackpots in history. We'll have hometown reaction coming up.
GRIFFIN: And the race is on for the White House, but do the candidates have the right running mates to get the job done? We'll tackle that question in The Novak Zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERALDINE WILLIAMS, MEGA MILLIONS WINNER: I just said, Oh, God! Oh, God! Let it be, let it be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: It be, it be indeed for Geraldine Williams, the newest Mega Millions jackpot win come forward this week. But what's next for her and her money?
NGUYEN: What a lucky lady.
Welcome back. That story is coming up.
But first, here's a look at headlines this hour.
Japan's prime minister knows his clout if not his job is on the line. Voters will cast votes today, or tomorrow, I should say, for parliament's upper house, even though control of the lower chamber assures the prime minister's party will stay in power. A poor showing could weaken his influence or even invite calls for his resignation.
Saboteurs in Iraq have attacked a natural gas pipeline. The mayor of Kirkuk says a bomb was planted along the pipeline which links local oilfields to refineries some 40 miles away. That line has been shut down as crews scramble to make repairs.
In Washington, a statewide Amber Alert has been issued for a child believed to have been abducted from a murder scene by her own father. Police in Kenniwick (ph) say James T. Moran walked into a home, killed a man and woman, and fled with his 7-year-old daughter.
Drew?
GRIFFIN: He's covered every presidential election since 1960. Today he'll tell us what he really thinks of that Kerry-Edwards ticket. Will John Edwards remain hot, or will his sizzle fizzle by November?
Robert Novak is in The Novak Zone on this July 10.
And it's a pleasure to have you here this morning, Mr. Novak. ROBERT NOVAK, THE NOVAK ZONE: Thank you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: I must ask you, I've heard this week whatever John Edwards has, somebody said, you should bottle it, and John Kerry should drink it, talking about his charisma. Is the charisma of John Edwards enough to carry John Kerry's lack of, as some are reporting?
NOVAK: It never quite works out that way. I remember the excitement in 1996 when Bob Dole picked Jack Kemp, who has lots of charisma, and Jack Kemp was a distant memory two weeks after Labor Day.
Vice presidents just have a very short timespan. They do energize the base when it is a popular choice inside the party for the vice president, as certainly John Edwards is. But it really doesn't have a very long-lasting effect.
GRIFFIN: We've seen some polls come out after the choice this week, and many were expecting a pop after the pick. There didn't seem to be one in all the myriad of polls that show one ahead of the other.
NOVAK: No, and as a matter of fact, Drew, the people vote for presidents. They don't vote for vice presidents. The great exception to the rule of a vice president causing any impact was Lyndon Johnson in 1960, the first presidential election I covered, when he was able to carry Southern states without which John Kennedy from Massachusetts, like John Kerry, would not have been elected.
So the question is, would John Edwards, will he be able to actually carry any Southern states? That is very doubtful, even in his own state of North Carolina, where he was not running very well for reelection until he dropped out. So it's dubious that you have that kind of an impact.
GRIFFIN: Is Edwards a liability? The trial lawyer, President Bush made some comments this week, said you couldn't be a pro-trial lawyer and pro-small business at the same time. Does he bring liability?
GRIFFIN: Well, that's -- yes, that's the formulation they use. That's what the Republicans are going to do. Most people don't lie awake nights worrying about trial lawyers. It's people who get sued by trial lawyers, business people, who worry about it.
It depends how you put it. The Democrats are going to say, Who are you for, the trial lawyer who protects the ordinary person, or the big corporate interests? Republicans are going to say, Who are you for, the rich trial lawyers, multimillionaire trial lawyers like Johnny Edwards, or are you for the small businessman who is trying to survive?
I don't know that that really is a huge issue. I think the bigger problem for Senator Edwards, perhaps, is that although he is 51 years old, he looks 31. And I don't think that is entirely an asset when you are talking about the presidency. I don't think it helped him that much when he was running for the nomination. GRIFFIN: Certainly didn't help him when Whoopi Goldberg called him "the kid" this week, that's for sure. You wrote in your syndicated column that this ticket is now unbalanced. Why is it unbalanced?
NOVAK: It is unbalanced because they both agree on everything. I checked the liberal ratings by the Americans for Democratic Action, a liberal organization, and in the nine -- in last year's voting, they voted on all the issues that were tested exactly the same. And they always voted the liberal line.
So what they are, this is not a labeling, it's not an abuse, they are both very strong liberals. Senator Kerry did not reach out to somebody who disagreed, a little bit from him in the party, either to his left or his right. He got somebody who was the straight liberal line.
When Jack Kennedy picked Lyndon Johnson, he was picking somebody who disagreed with him on a lot of issues. When Ronald Reagan picked the George -- the senior George Bush, he picked somebody who disagreed with him.
But for better or for worse, they have a ticket that is the -- is -- and this is a unified Democratic Party, there's not too many dissidents. So it's not surprising that Senator Kerry picked somebody who was totally, totally in step with him on every issue, and it's always the liberal issue.
GRIFFIN: Somewhere along the way these two vice-presidential candidates are going to have to debate. How do you see that debate playing out between the current vice president and the vice president wannabe?
NOVAK: Well, the conventional wisdom would be, you have on the one hand this handsome, charismatic, likable Johnny Edwards, a golden voiced trial lawyer, who made millions of dollars wooing Southern juries. On the other hand, you have this gruff former oil executive, kind of tough guy, who if doesn't like somebody, he uses some tough language. It's one-sided. Edwards will kill him.
But the expectations are going to be so high, and they are going to be pushed so high by the Republicans, that it might be a surprise. If you remember back, Drew, four years ago we had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Joe Lieberman was supposed to be a huge advantage over Dick Cheney in the debates, and it was generally agreed that Cheney won that debate.
Cheney is a -- one thing nobody has ever accused Dick Cheney of being is charismatic, never. But he is no patsy. I think it's going to be a very, very interesting debate. And I don't know how it will come out.
GRIFFIN: All right, Bob, we're running out of time, but I've been waiting all week to ask you the big question. You talked about Dick Cheney, of course, he's associated with Halliburton, oil, all the negatives of society that we don't like. Is he a liability on the George Bush ticket, and should George Bush get rid of him? NOVAK: Two, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) two big questions, Drew. The first question is, I don't think he's a liability, because I don't think people vote for vice presidents, they vote for presidents. George Bush Sr. was elected with Dan Quayle, and Richard Nixon was elected with Spiro Agnew. Didn't hurt them. Very poor vice-presidential candidates.
On the other hand, should he get rid of him? I don't, I don't see, I think it causes more trouble than it helps. President Bush would be picking his successor, the man he wanted to succeed him if he's reelected. If he named somebody, he doesn't have a clear choice, John McCain would be the strongest, but he won't take the vice- presidential nomination.
So I think that they will stick with Dick Cheney, and I don't think it will make that much difference. It's very interesting to me that most of the people who are saying, You have got to change Dick Cheney, are people who don't want George Bush elected. We had Nicolas Kristof in "The New York Times" today, who hates Bush, saying, Gee, for your own good, you got to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) change the vice president.
So it's going to be Bush-Cheney.
GRIFFIN: Mr. Novak, pleasure to have you this morning. And you can see much more of Bob Novak tonight on THE CAPITAL GANG, which airs at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. See you then, Bob.
NOVAK: Thank you, Drew.
GRIFFIN: And there are some who say former president Bill Clinton bears part of the blame for the lingering war on terror. Tomorrow here on "CNN SUNDAY MORNING," Clinton responds to his critics in an interview with our Christiane Amanpour. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: This has nothing to do with my being a Democrat and you're being a Republican. I just -- my -- I believe objectively, I have been reading this for eight years, and I'm watching this, I think by far your biggest problem is bin Laden and al Qaeda, and it's my great regret that I didn't get him. I tried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, the Middle East, all topics on the table as Christiane Amanpour talks with Bill Clinton tomorrow on "CNN SUNDAY MORNING." That is at 9:00 a.m. Eastern time.
NGUYEN: A Massachusetts cleaning woman won't have to vacuum another rug, ever. Sixty-seven-year-old Geraldine Williams can hire a staff to deal with such things now, that she's one of the nation's newest millionaires.
CNN's Alina Cho is in Lowell, Massachusetts, home of the latest Mega Millions lottery winner. What a lucky lady, Alina. CHO: Certainly, such a great story, Betty. Good morning to you.
You know, Lowell, Massachusetts, is the birthplace of Ed McMahon. But Geraldine Williams, or Gerry, as she's called around here, is certainly the biggest star for Lowell these days.
Here's why the 67-year-old retired janitor, who cleaned homes for a living in retirement, picked up the ceremonial $294 million check yesterday in Braintree at the state's lottery headquarters. She certainly won't have to clean homes anymore.
This is the second-largest lottery jackpot ever won by a single individual, we should mention. Williams chose the lump sum, which works out to about $118 million after taxes. Not bad. She said when she saw the numbers on television, she looked at her ticket and told her boyfriend, Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! She then called her children and said she was 98 percent sure that she had won. Certainly is hard to believe, but it is true.
Neighbors say very nice things about her. They call her a hard worker, sincere, and say this couldn't have happened to a nicer person.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it will change her. Materialistically it will, of course, you know. But inside of her, I don't think it will change her at all. She's just -- she's a great person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody knew. I mean, 5,000 people go to a store, buy tickets, and bang, next thing you know, it's some old lady's got a ticket worth enough money to buy half the town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She told me, she said, I wish I can win a million dollars so I can go travel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now she's got more than that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now she got more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More than a million dollar. Now she got $117 million to enjoy, and that's wonderful.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
CHO: What is not so wonderful is that neighbors say they have received phone calls from as far away from El Paso, Texas, from people who are seeking financial help.
As for what Williams will do with the money, she says she will travel, help her children, of course, perhaps take a couple of golf lessons, and certainly never clean another house again, Betty.
NGUYEN: I don't blame her for that one. All right, Alina Cho, thank you very much. Drew?
GRIFFIN: Well, money apparently wasn't an issue for a Hollywood legend. What the late Marlon Brando has left behind.
And putting the hard feelings behind them, how one heavy metal group banded together.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: One last reminder to weigh in on this morning's e-mail question. There it is, Would you give up more personal information to get through airport security more quickly? E-mail us right now, come on, wam@cnn.com. We want to hear from you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Welcome back to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm Drew Griffin.
In the news this morning, contrary to the rumors that he was broke, actor Marlon Brando, who died nine days ago, left an estate worth nearly $22 million. Brando's assets include $18.6 million in real estate holdings and $3 million in personal property. The Oscar- winning actor died of lung failure at the age of 80.
NGUYEN: A new documentary follows the heavy metal band Metallica through nearly three years of rock star reality.
As Adaora Udoji reports, the film isn't just about music.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like that bam, bam-do-dee-doo.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When cameras started rolling in 2001, the Metallica kingdom was crumbling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not happy playing music...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm prepared for the worst.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: Founding members Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield could barely stand each other. Kirk Hamit (ph) was playing peacemaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just feel so disrespected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: This documentary, "Some Kind of Monster," starts here, but takes a turn, capturing the world's bestselling heavy metal band personally transform over two and a half years. In the midst of turmoil, change came in the form of Phil Towels (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it you feel that you are not saying now?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: A $40,000-a-month counselor who introduced them to group therapy sessions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk about that, and what does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not enjoying being in the room with you, playing with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: Every session was recorded. Hetfield came to realize his hard drinking was taking a toll and headed to rehab.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you walk away from Metallica, I'm not sure that it would surprise me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UDOJI: After reconnecting with his family and getting sober, he came back.
(on camera): How are you different today than before this project started?
JAMES HETFIELD, FOUNDING MEMBER, METALLICA: I have learned to accept, be more accepting. I have learned to be more assertive for what I need and communicate (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and that all relationships really need work.
UDOJI (voice-over): The poster children for discontent, once named Alcoholica for all the alcohol they downed, now a haven of communication.
LARS ULRICH, FOUNDING MEMBER, METALLICA: I was given an opportunity to reconnect. The greatest lesson is it is probably never too late to take any kind of relationships to a deeper level. UDOJI: A deeper level derived from anger that propelled them to unprecedented success. The fuel today, understanding, and they hope their fans approve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOME KIND OF MONSTER")
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Metallica, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, it is shocking, but true. A little boy survived a lightning strike and tells his amazing tale. That story is ahead.
And good morning, Seattle. We'll have your complete weather forecast in about five minutes. Looking good.
And coming up at the top of the hour, it is "ON THE STORY." We want to check in now with Barbara Starr in Washington with a preview. Hi, Barbara.
STARR: Hello to you.
Well, we're "ON THE STORY" from here in Washington, to Baghdad, to the Olympic trials. Elaine Quijano and political producer Sasha Johnson are "ON THE STORY" of the John-John ticket, Kerry and Edwards, and the White House reaction. I'll have the latest on the missing Marine who turned up in Lebanon. Josie Burke is "ON THE STORY" of the American athletes trying for the Olympics and burned up that the doping scandal grabs the headlines. And Gerri Willis talks about Enron boss Ken Lay in handcuffs.
All "ON THE STORY," all just ahead. CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFFIN: Downtown Seattle and the Space Needle. Getting ready to carry tourists up to the top for a peek at what could be a nice day. Rob's going to have your forecast, Seattle, along with the rest of the nation's, in just a few minutes.
First, here's our top stories in the headlines.
The Philippines says withdrawing its troops next month from Iraq is not directly linked to hostage negotiations. Militants have threatened to kill a Filipino truck driver unless Filipino the troops leave Iraq.
U.S. Marine Wassef Hassoun is at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The corporal got a medical exam and was found to be in good health. Now the Navy is trying to find out what happened from the time he disappeared in Iraq three weeks ago until he resurfaced this week in Lebanon.
NGUYEN: Well, all morning long, we've been asking your thoughts about our e-mail question of the day. And we have gotten lots of responses so far. And, in fact, Donald has a little problem with our e-mail question itself.
He says, "Your question is too open-ended. What type of information are you suggesting? Information such as name, age, sex, and home address? Well, that's fine. But information such as Social Security numbers and dates of birth, as well as financial information, no, that is not needed."
GRIFFIN: And from Joanne, "What good is privacy if foreigners are able to slip through security, our military," she says, "to protect us. We now risk destruction by individual terrorists who walk among us. The only hope we have is in screening them out as they attempt to enter our country."
NGUYEN: We appreciate all the responses today. And, of course, we'll have another e-mail question of the day starting tomorrow morning on "CNN SUNDAY."
Now, here's a shocking story, but it has a happy ending. A 9- year-old Colorado boy is sporting bandages and some burns, but he says he's happy to be alive after being struck by lightning.
Here's Andrew Resnick (ph) of our affiliate KUSA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was walking back from the playground with my little sister, like, maybe 10 yards ahead of me. And then I got shocked.
ANDREW RESNICK, REPORTER, KUSA-TV (voice-over): Nine-year-old Jeff Baninger (ph) didn't remember the actual strike, says he didn't feel any pain. He woke up to find two people doing CPR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And thinking, What just happened? Why are there people surrounding me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was hit, and he was out. He had no pulse, no -- wasn't breathing.
BRIAN STANLEY, PERFORMED CPR: You just hope for the best. But, you know, 90 seconds, two minutes, is a long time.
RESNICK: The strike hit Jeff in the head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Part of my glasses melted.
RESNICK: But the injuries cover his entire body, burn marks on his neck and leg, bandages on his chest, stomach, and left foot. This is the shoe he was wearing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm still in shock. I'm speechless. It's the most amazing thing. I'm so lucky. I'm glad he's still alive.
RESNICK: Jeff's brother made a souvenir T-shirt. On the front, a message of survival. After Jeff got out of the hospital, he visited the exact spot where the lightning hit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just, like, a white star.
RESNICK: Jeff says he has a long list of people to thank, beginning with Brian Stanley and Darryl Johnson (ph), the two people who did CPR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to thank Children's Hospital and the people who were praying for me. And I also want to thank God for keeping me alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: That report from Andrew Resnick at KUSA in Denver.
GRIFFIN: And lightning a problem all across the country...
MARCIANO: Yes.
GRIFFIN: ... especially in the summer.
MARCIANO: You know, a lot of people don't know this, but tornadoes, hurricanes, they don't kill nearly as many people as lightning does on a yearly basis, so...
GRIFFIN: Really?
NGUYEN: Go inside.
MARCIANO: Most of them men, most of them carrying golf clubs, and not nearly as lucky as that young man, so that's good news there.
If you're heading to the beach, also a place where thunder and lightning could be an issue, you want to get out of the water. Here are the ocean temperatures for you beachgoers, not only today, but not going to change a whole lot tomorrow. Gulf of Mexico, along the Florida Peninsula, we're looking at temperatures, water temperatures, in the 80s. And then you slide up into the Carolinas and the Del Marva, the south Jersey shore, into the 70s.
Sixties, Long Island Sound and, say, Jones Beach out to Cape Cod. Lake Eries and Ontario and southern parts of Lake Michigan into the 60s. So that's bearable, especially if it is real warm. You get out there and take a refreshing dip.
On the West Coast, you've got to go to L.A. southward to get temperatures in the 60s. North of that, it's a little bit chilly. A cool and showery day across Seattle. And then thunderstorms possible across this part of the world, maybe some strong ones. And, really, thunderstorms not going to be as widespread across the South as they would normally be this time of year. And that's because it's just downright hot. Ninety-one degrees expected for a high temperature in Atlanta, 84 degrees, a beautiful day in New York City, 80 degrees in Chicago.
Here's a live shot from Seattle, 56 currently. A shower or two possible. Puget Sound to your right, temperatures there right around 50 degrees. They don't really go to the beach in Seattle.
NGUYEN: Not in the 50s, OK.
MARCIANO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the ocean, the cold water.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Rob.
GRIFFIN: Plenty more ahead on CNN today. Up next, it's "ON THE STORY." At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, it's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," a focus on champions today, with profiles of tennis's Venus and Serena Williams and cycling champ Lance Armstrong. And at noon, the latest news on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
NGUYEN: And that's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for watching this morning.
GRIFFIN: Have a great morning (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
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