[John Vause, Guest:] Today on
[Talkback Live:] the presidential push. Democrats begin lining up for 2004. Some campaigns are already in the works and more are sure to come. Who can give President Bush a run for his money? He's a powerful conservative mouthpiece. Now there is word that the left is looking for an equally powerful voice to take on Rush Limbaugh and others of his ilk. Is there a liberal general up to the task in a long-running media war? And new laws in the new year: At least one has civil libertarians up in arms: get arrested, give up your DNA. Cutting edge law enforcement or a gross invasion of privacy? TALKBACK LIVE begins right now. OK. Hello and welcome to TALKBACK LIVE. For the first day of 2003, I'm John Vause, in for Arthel Neville, who has this week off. Well, their pictures were released to the public and the FBI asked you and law enforcement across country for help in tracking them down. But now a Pakistani jeweler says a serious mistake has been made. Well, for more on that, CNN's Jeanne Meserve is here. She is going to help us sort it all out. Jeanne, what's going on?
[Jeanne Meserve, Cnn Correspondent:] John, you and the audience may have seen the photograph that the FBI has put of Mustafa Khan Owasi, one of five men it believes may have entered the U.S. illegally last week. Well, now compare it to this next photo. This is Mohammed Asghar, taken by the Associated Press. Asghar is a jeweler in Lahore, Pakistan, who says the FBI photo is of him. And you can see why. Except for the beard and the length of the hair, the resemblance between the two is extraordinary. Now, the FBI has not revealed where or how it got the photo of the man it identified as Owasi. But administration sources say his name and the four others came up during the interrogation of an alleged smuggler of illegal aliens that was picked up in Canada. Asghar, the man in Lahore, tells the Associated Press he has had forged travel documents. And he suspects the forgers may have recycled them. And we do know that the five men we're looking for, sources tells us they had forged British passports. Now, the FBI said, when it first posted the information about the five men, that their names and dates of birth could be fictitious. What about the photographs? An administration official says it is not inconceivable that they, too, are bogus. And the matter is being looked into. But if all the information, including the pictures, is falsified, it's not going to be of any use in nabbing these individuals that authorities believe are still at large here in the United States John.
[Vause:] Well, how could they get it so wrong? Where did the information come from? I understand it came from Canadian sources at one stage. Where has this all gone wrong?
[Meserve:] Well, I think your language may be a little bit harsh here. This is an imprecise science. They're dealing with intelligence source here that are not always reliable. As I said, when the FBI first posted the names and dates of birth, it said this could be fake information. These were forged documents. It's not inconceivable that these people would have had false photographs in the documents as well, if that indeed is where the photographs came from. It's a little bit puzzling in this respect, though. If you know someone who goes out and gets a fake I.D., let's say to do some underaged drinking, usually, they do put their own photograph on an I.D. that is otherwise falsified, so they can get through the door. Unclear exactly how this worked or even if this man in Pakistan is correct in his claim that the photograph is of him.
[Vause:] Certainly the photograph that we just saw there, the AP photograph, definitely looks like a very good match. The hair is slightly longer. He's unshaven. But, apart from that, they're virtually identical. What sort of doubts does this cast now on the other four photos that were released by the FBI?
[Meserve:] Well, of course, it raises questions about them. No one in the U.S. administration is quantifying their degree of discomfort with this or saying any more than it's not inconceivable that they're not authentic photographs of the five individuals they thought there were. But the bottom-line question is, how useful are they now? Obviously, if they're not photographs of the men they're looking for, they aren't useful at all.
[Vause:] OK, Jeanne Meserve there for us in Washington bringing us up to date, thanks for that. And happy new year. Well, we want to shift gears now. Let's turn our attention to politics. It's the first day of 2003. And guess what? The Democrats are already looking ahead to 2004. A senator and a governor are already actively seeking funds for a presidential campaign. Today, "The New York Times" reports Senate Democrat leader Tom Daschle could establish an exploratory committee for a presidential bid fairly soon. And Senator John Edwards of North Carolina is showing signs of a foundation laying for a White House run next year. And there are other names being floated as well. CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joins us now, also in Washington, to tell us who they are and if anyone actually stands a chance against President Bush.
[Candy Crowley, Cnn Sr. Political Correspondent:] Well, the answer to the first is, yes. We are two years away from a presidential race. I think you don't have to go much further than President Bush, the first one, to find a man who had very high public approval ratings just less than a year before an election and then, of course, lost to Bill Clinton. The field's getting crowded. When Al Gore moved out of the race in December, he sort of opened the floodgates. And so what we're seeing now is Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, The first Southerner to step into it. He will form, we believe tomorrow, an exploratory committee, which is basically, this has to do with money. They need to set that up so they can begin to raise money, because the primaries, even though they're a year away, they come very quickly as far as gathering the money up is concerned. We do expect that Joe Lieberman, who ran as vice president with Vice President Gore in the last presidential race, will also throw his hat in. We're expecting Dick Gephardt, who used to be the minority leader in the House. We expect him to throw his hat in. So, we won't be lacking for Democratic candidates in the 2004 race. It's beginning to get crowded and it's beginning to look like an election's coming.
[Vause:] Absolutely, Candy. Let's just talk about Tom Daschle for a moment. Has he seriously got a chance? Many people blame him for the midterm debacle for the Democrats. So has he got a real shot at this?
[Crowley:] Well, let me tell you, there are sort of two steps. They've got to get through the primary first. And, yes, whenever I have gone to a lot of these people started going around to various state party meetings. One in particular I remember in California, both John Edwards and Tom Daschle were among those present who spoke. And the Democratic Party faithful love Tom Daschle. There are even some who are trying to convince him that he should stay on as Democratic leader in the Senate, rather than run, because they believe they need him now. It is looking like he is leaning heavily towards running. So, sure, they all have a chance. The question is how good of a chance. Some more so than others. But you're right. George Bush looks pretty formidable. But, again, we're two years away.
[Vause:] Two years away. And the other surprise, I guess, announcement today, John Edwards, the senator, who basically is a self-made millionaire, the son of a textile workers. Tell us a little bit more about him, a fairly inexperienced candidate, though.
[Crowley:] Well, absolutely. Prior to 911, you will remember that there was this great yearning in the Democratic Party for a fresh face. There was all this talk that Al Gore was yesterday's news, that the Democrats really needed a fresh face. Well, here you go, John Edwards. He is in his fourth year as in fact, he's into his fifth year now in January of being a U.S. senator. It's the first political office he has ever held, the first political race he has ever been in. So, this is a political neophyte. And he is a fresh face. But the problem many see for John Edwards at this point is going to be to convince the nation that he, in fact11 world. And it may have changed what voters want in a candidate. George Bush had four years as the Texas governor. At the time, voters were willing to sort of look past that, look at the man, and say, OK, we want him. Now, in the post-911 world, would they look at John Edwards' four years of experience in the Senate and say, OK, it doesn't matter? That's very tricky for him, because he is up against a lot of experienced U.S. senators.
[Vause:] And Candy, you mentioned just a short time ago various degrees of support. We've got a Gallup poll there we want to bring in. This was conducted December 16 and 17. It found Senator Lieberman with the most support at 25 percent, followed by Senator Kerry with 21 percent; Congressman Gephardt, 14 percent; Senator Daschle, just 10 percent. What does that say? Is that just name recognition? Everybody knows who Joe Lieberman is?
[Crowley:] Pretty much, at this point. You know polls go up and down. Politicians can fall off stages and it changes things. So, certainly, that's an early look at it. You would expect, with Al Gore out of the running, that Joe Lieberman would come up No. 2 in the polls. Joe Lieberman's problem, many Democrats think, is that the Democrats are looking for someone a little more left of center. Joe Lieberman is pretty center. He supported the president on the war. He's been one of his strongest supporters. And in the Democratic primary, you get more liberal Democrats than there are in general, just as, in the Republican primary, you get more conservative Republicans. So, they've got to get past that first step. It isn't surprising that Joe Lieberman is out there. I think, at this point, he looks very strong. So does John Kerry. He's got a bundle of cash that he can use. He's tall. He, too, is telegenic. He's served in Vietnam and then he protested Vietnam. He has very good foreign policy credentials. So, you have a guy there that in fact has and he's got a boatload of money as well. So, you have some people here that are very interesting that you could make a case for all of them. And so much happens between now and then, not just about who these people are, but about what happens in the news. Will there be a war in Iraq? Will they come out and criticize it? Will they support it? Will it be successful? What's going to happen with the economy? So, any number of these things changes the dynamic of the race and, thus, those polls.
[Vause:] OK, Candy Crowley, thank you very much for that. Just two more years of this fun and games to go, huh?
[Crowley:] Great.
[Vause:] OK, well, joining us now to share their thoughts on the Democrats and the 2004 race, syndicated columnist and radio talk show host Armstrong Williams; and Christy Agner, who is with the Young Democrats of America, the official youth arm of the Democratic National Committee. OK, guys, we'll bring you in. Who do you think's going to be the best candidate for the job? Armstrong?
[Armstrong Williams, Syndicated Columnist:] Wow. I'm certainly not the person to ask. I think we've got the best person for the job in the White House right now, our sitting, President George Bush. It's kind of fun watching these guys sort of duke it out and maneuver for ground and positioning in this party. It will be interesting to see whether former Vice President Al Gore supports his former running mate, Joe Lieberman. I think that would make world of a difference, because Al Gore still enjoys widespread support among the party faithful. And he also has the ability to raise money. And he has great support among the grassroots of Democrats around the country. So I think, obviously, Joe Lieberman, given the fact that he was a former running mate of this man, is the early favorite. And I don't think you can count out Tom Daschle, like Candy stated. He's well loved and respected by the Democratic Party machine. So, as far as I'm concerned, I think those are two candidates, and then John Kerry. The fact that we're in sort of a military mode right now, John Kerry has an outstanding military background. Obviously, he has that presidential look. He has lots of money. And he who has lots of money has all the chances of winning in a Democratic primary.
[Vause:] But, Armstrong, you don't think much of Senator Edwards as a candidate, do you?
[Williams:] No. Well, you know, I'm a Southerner. And I don't think he has a chance of winning the South. The South is very conservative. I think the fact that Elizabeth Dole won in North Carolina eclipsed him. He has no experience. He was manufactured by the media, because they thought he was another Clinton. America was willing to deal with a Clinton, let's say, eight, 10, several years ago. But that has changed now since 911. Also...
[Vause:] Just hold it there. I just want to get Christy's response to that. What do you think about this, Christy? What's your opinion of basically the candidates who are up for grabs, especially John Edwards?
[Christy Agner, Young Democrats Of America:] Wow. Well, that's a great question to ask me, as a fellow North Carolinian. I'm actually very excited to join Senator Edwards this weekend and hope that we're hearing some good news about his ideas for leadership. I actually think a fresh face and a good vision is exactly what Democrats are looking for right now. I'm anxious to see what Senator Daschle will do. And I'm also anxious to see what Senator Lieberman will do, because, from the perspective of young people, we're ready to go.
[Vause:] OK, ready to go, and so are we. We're going to go to a break. But, first, Senator Edwards will be a guest on INSIDE POLITICS tomorrow. So, that will be at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. That's with Candy Crowley. So let us know what you think about which Democrat will actually make the best presidential candidate. Call us at 1-800-310-4CNN or drop us an e-mail at TALKBACK@CNN.com. And when we come back: Liberal leaders plot to weak another Republican stronghold Rush and the conservative media in the Democratic crosshairs. We'll have that when we come back.