[George W. Bush, President Of The United States:] A new term is a new opportunity to reach out to the whole nation.
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] The president prepares for four more years. This morning, a look at his second-term agenda. Yasser Arafat's health continuing to slide, by some reports falling into a coma overnight. Scott Peterson's life hanging in the balance as the first full day of jury deliberations is to begin. And maybe not such a good idea. A man tries to lecture lions about God, and he's lucky to be alive on this
[American Morning. Announcer:] From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
[Bill Hemmer, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, everyone. 7:00 here in New York City. That's where we are, right? You were in Columbus yesterday.
[O'brien:] Yes, it's been a long few days for you, we know.
[Hemmer:] How're you doing? That was one fast trip to Ohio and back, huh?
[O'brien:] There and back, yes, all resolved.
[Hemmer:] Timing was perfect.
[O'brien:] Thank you.
[Hemmer:] So welcome home. We're still watching the fallout from yesterday and the election this morning. We'll talk about President Bush's priorities now in his second term. Where does he try to move the agenda now? We'll also talk about the road ahead for Democrats. How do they try to influence public policy and rebuild for the next election? We'll get to that this morning.
[O'brien:] Also ahead, a look at why Iran may be the next big challenge for U.S. in the Middle East. Ken Pollack will join us to talk about U.S. options and why, if challenged, Iran could be a lot more dangerous in Iraq.
[Hemmer:] All right, Jack is off today. He was off yesterday, continues his vacation away from us. Toure is in taking e-mails in a moment. Politics again is the agenda there. Let's start with morning with Daryn Kagan, the headlines there at the CNN Center. Daryn, good morning.
[Daryn Kagan, Cnn Anchor:] Bill, good morning. Now in the news, there are conflicting reports about Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's condition today. Senior Palestinian officials tell CNN Arafat has been in a coma since last night. But other Palestinian sources say Arafat has been medicated and simply slept through the night. No confirmation from doctors on either report. We will keep you updated as more details come in on that. There is word of a car bomb attack in Iraq. According to the Associated Press, an Iraqi National Guard patrol was hit south of Baghdad. At least three people were reportedly killed. And in Falluja, U.S. planes, backed by tanks, pummeled suspected insurgent targets overnight. It's part after plan to soften resistance ahead of a possible offensive. A hospital official says at least two people were killed in the airstrikes. To California now, jurors resume deliberations in the Scott Peterson double-murder case. The panel has sat through five months of testimony. It met for about four hours yesterday. They'll remain sequestered until a verdict is reached. Federal investigators are looking into what caused a subway accident in Washington D.C. Transit officials say an empty train rolled back into a passenger train yesterday, injuring about 20 people. The impact was so great one of the trains ended up on top of the other one. Witnesses say the train conductor warned passengers to get out, seconds before the impact. Investigators are examining breaking systems, maintenance records and the possibility of operator error. Bill, back to you in New York.
[Hemmer:] All right, Daryn, thanks. Back to the election now. It is the morning after, the morning after today. And with the second term now on the horizon, President Bush vows to gain the support of all Americans, especially those who did not vote for him on Tuesday. During a victory speech yesterday in Washington, President Bush thanking supporters and saying it's time for the country to unite. A CNN"USA Today"Gallup poll shows a majority of Americans are pleased with the outcome of this election, now big surprise, based on the 58 million and the 51 percent that President Bush garnered on Tuesday. 38 percent say they are upset about it. 9 percent say it does not matter. About a quarter of those polled are enthusiastic about a second term. About a third say they are optimistic. 18 percent say they are pessimistic, while about a quarter say they are afraid. Now the president losing no time yesterday, spelling out plans for conservative, social, and economic agendas during his second. What else can we expect? To the White House this morning, and Suzanne Malveaux there. Good morning.
[Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Bill. The White House is very optimistic. Yesterday President Bush delivering a rousing acceptance speech. The president wasting no time in trying to move forward to implement his second-term agenda. In about three hours or so, he's actually going to hold his first cabinet meeting in some three months, and perhaps the last one of his first term. Now some of the priorities, the goals they are putting forward already, would be simplifying the tax code, reforming the health care system, as well as revamping Social Security. Now it's these and other issues that will require the cooperation of Congress, and despite the fact that they won seats both in the House and the Senate, the Republicans widening their lead, President Bush yesterday reached out to Democrats as well as the 55 million voters who wanted to oust him.
[Bush:] To make this nation stronger and better, I will need your support, and I will work to earn it. I will do all I can do to deserve your trust.
[Malveaux:] Now, having said that, Bill, the White House is very confident that it's going to be working in a bipartisan fashion on its own terms, considering the president won by a mandate Bill.
[Hemmer:] Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that. Before we let you go, what are you hearing about cabinet changes at this particular point?
[Malveaux:] Well, certainly, there's a lot of buzz about cabinet changes. We don't expect that it's going to happen in a surge, but perhaps some waves, mostly with the national security team is what the buzz is. A lot of talk about Secretary of State Colin Powell stepping down after the first term. Also as well, we are hearing about Attorney General John Ashcroft, who has had some health problems. Who isn't going, the talk is, is not going despite some calls for his resignation in the spring, the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
[Hemmer:] Thanks, Suzanne. Now, Soledad.
[O'brien:] Well to hear the president tell it, a new term is a new opportunity to unite a divided electorate. So what can we expect from W-2. Joining us this morning is Republican strategist Ed Rollins and Lisa Caputo. She's the former press secretary for Hillary Clinton. Good morning to both of you. You know, two ways to go when I look at it, and the president, I think, hinted at least at one way, which is, he wants to represent everyone now, and because he won with a surprisingly large popular vote margin he can do that, or he won a decisive victory, so he can do whatever he wants and go back and represent the people who put him in office. Which way do you think he goes, Lisa?
[Lisa Caputo, Hillary Clinton's Fmr. Press Secy:] I think if he's a uniter and not a divider, and he's truly a political pro, he needs to move to the middle, and he needs to start to govern the country from the middle. He cannot start with his agenda with a Supreme Court appointment that could put the tilting of the court in jeopardy, number one. Number two, he can't start with faith-based initiatives. I mean, let's remember something, this was not a landslide, this was not a Reagan landslide. True, he won the popular vote, but he got 51 percent of the vote, and he's got both houses. Don't think that Democrats aren't going to fight him if he starts with some conservative first move.
[O'brien:] But you say he can't do this, he can't do that. Ed, do you agree with that? Or do you think he actually kind of can write his own book?
[Ed Rollins, Republican Strategist:] I think he can do whatever he pretty much wants to at that point in time. I think, obviously, his tone yesterday was a conciliatory tone, and as was Senator Kerry's. But at the end of the day, he does have an agenda. He ran an agenda. He's going to try and implement that agenda. He's got to finish this war in Iraq. He's got to have a democracy plan in place in the very near future. He's got to rebuild the military. We have spent a lot of resources over there the last year, year and a half. So I think the reality is that he now has the votes in both the Congress and the Senate to move his agenda forward. If there is a Supreme Court fight, no matter who he puts up, there's going to be a battle.
[O'brien:] Do you predict a move to the middle then?
[Rollins:] No, I predict he's going to stay right where he is. I think he sees himself as a centrist, and I think his agenda is one that his constituency wants, and I think that you would see a real uprising among those that supported him if he moves away from that.
[O'brien:] At the same time, some people say your second term, or a president's second term, is about writing pages in a history book. Do you think that that might going to encourage a move to the middle?
[Caputo:] I really don't know. I mean, it really depends on how he wants to be remembered, what does he want his legacy to be. I mean, is he somebody who wants to accomplish a lot, have a legislative agenda where he cuts across party lines? Or does he want to really move further to the right? Let's remember, the evangelical Christians really came out in droves. I mean, Karl Rove did a great job of turning out this vote from the far right. I think, in many respects, That's the wing of the party that got him elected. So is he going to play to the wing of the party? Don't forget, Soledad, it's a deeply divided country, culturally. We almost have two different cultures going on?
[O'brien:] How do you unify people? I mean, they are pro-choice, pro-life. They are for the war, or against the war. They are for gay marriage, or against gay marriage. I mean, those are issues that all the unifying in the world is not necessarily going to bring some people together.
[Rollins:] I think we just had an election to debate all that, and I think the reality is that Bush now has four more years to go forward with the agenda that he was on.
[O'brien:] So the whole unity thing is just...
[Rollins:] Well, I think it's an intention, and I think it depend on, as you see in the polls, it's still 38 percent who oppose and are very disappointed by the election. Democrats are not happy. And I think at the end of the day, it depends on whether they want to reach out and do some things with him. If they don't, then obviously he will continue to try to move his agenda forward with the Republican majority.
[O'brien:] No. 1 thing on the agenda what's first?
[Rollins:] I think he's got to finish. First of all, he's got to take the September 11th and make the right decisions on this revitalization of the intelligence network, what have you. He's got a basically get his appropriations through to fund the war the rest of the way. And then obviously, his first budget that comes out will sort of define where we're going for the next four years?
[O'brien:] What do you think, Lisa.
[Caputo:] I think he's got to clean up Iraq. I mean, I had a woman sitting in my office yesterday, with a 14-year-old, in tears, afraid that her son is going to be drafted. That's No. 1. He's got to clean up Iraq. No. 2, he's got to get our economy moving again, and in the right direction. We're operating with a huge deficit. What are we going to do to bring the budget back into a balance and have fiscal responsibility?
[O'brien:] Lisa Caputo and Ed Rollins, nice to see you, guys. Thanks for being with us.
[Rollins:] Thank you. My pleasure.
[Caputo:] Thanks, Soledad.
[Hemmer:] Amazing videotape out of Taiwan. A man was attacked and injured at the Taipei Zoo. Apparently he jumped into the lions den and started preaching about Christianity. Onlookers were saying he was shouting, "Jesus will save you." And telling the lions, "come bite me." One of the male lions did just that, right there, and zoo workers able to drive off the lion with water hoses and a tranquilizer gun. We're told the man got out OK.
[O'brien:] I'm not sure that's the right crowd to be preaching to.
[Hemmer:] That's right. It's not the choir.
[O'brien:] Still to come this morning, in his second term, will the president use troops in Iran as did he in Iraq. Our expert says it's impossible without a draft. We're going to talk with him in just a moment.
[Hemmer:] Also, what about the Democrats? they saw big losses on Tuesday. How will they recover. We'll talk to Paul Begala with CNN's "CROSSFIRE" about that this hour.
[O'brien:] And Scott Peterson's fate now rests in the hands of jurors. Are there signs they are going to reach a quick verdict? Court TV's Lisa Bloom joins us, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Another lawsuit has been filed against pop star Michael Jackson. This one accusing him of sexual assault more than 20 years ago. The suit filed Monday in federal court in New Orleans accuses Jackson of sexual assault and battery and false imprisonment, allegedly during a nine-day period in May 1984. The new accuser says he repressed the memory of the incident until recently.
[Hemmer:] Soledad, about 15 minutes past the hour now. Scott Peterson's double-murder trial now in the hands of the jury in California. That panel sequestered during deliberations, which started yesterday and are set to resume a bit later today. Court TV's Lisa Bloom back with me here on AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you.
[Lisa Bloom, Court Tv:] Good morning.
[Hemmer:] Before the jury was charged and headed off in deliberations, Mark Geragos had about 20 minutes to come back and conclude his arguments. What did he provide in the final 20 minutes to jurors that would help his man?
[Bloom:] His last chance to speak directly to the jury, and he focused on his two best arguments, namely the lack of forensic evidence against Scott Peterson, no evidence of blood, saliva, vomit or any bodily fluids in the house, which is where law enforcement thinks Scott Peterson killed Laci Peterson. Also Scott being very cooperative with the police, even though he had a defense attorney from the beginning. He allowed them to do a full search. He gave statements to the police. And ultimately they didn't find any hard evidence against him.
[Hemmer:] So as a juror, is that how you find a way to acquit Scott Peterson if it goes that way?
[Bloom:] Absolutely. If they're looking for acquit or if they're just basing it on the hard evidence, and, remember, jurors have very high standards for forensic evidence, with shows like "Forensic Files" and "CSI"; they expect a certain amount of forensic evidence.
[Hemmer:] You believe it's had an affect on jurors?
[Bloom:] Absolutely. They want to see some hard evidence. It makes it much easier for them to convict. But nevertheless, the prosecution came back yesterday in their rebuttal closing argument and hammered on their strongest point, the bodies washing ashore where Scott Peterson placed himself on the day when Laci went missing. What is the defense explanation for that? The defense explanation has to be that Scott Peterson was framed. That's the only possible alternate explanation. And Rick Distaso, the prosecutor, hit hard on that point. Do you mean to tell me, he said, that homeless people kidnapped, abducted Laci Peterson and somehow got her body 90 miles north, secreted it for three months, weighed it down with concrete weights, and then it submerged. I mean, it's an absurd theory. That's what the prosecutor hit home on. Always been their strongest point that Scott Peterson places himself at the crime scene, and ultimately, at the end, that's what they focus on.
[Hemmer:] To quote Distaso, only two possible things happened here, he killed them, and or someone else did it and framed him.
[Bloom:] Right, exactly. And who would frame an unsuccessful fertilizer salesman from Modesto. Who would have a motivation to do that? The defense had so many different theories, ultimately unproven at trial. Perhaps a homeless person, the mysterious brown van, the Satanic cult, none of that proven by the defense.
[Hemmer:] Court TV is reporting that jurors appeared jovial as they got off the bus heading into deliberations. It's tough to read any jury in any case. But what do you make of the comments that you're getting out of Redwood City?
[Bloom:] Well, I think most observers think this is either going to be a hung jury, or it will be a conviction. Very few people think it's going to be an acquittal. Now, we want the jury to be cohesive if we're going to have a verdict. The fact that they're jovial, that they're getting along, that there were no questions yesterday during the first four hours of deliberation is all a good sign that, ultimately, there will be a verdict. But I think it's going to be a long deliberation.
[Hemmer:] You do.
[Bloom:] A five-month long trial. This is the jury's first chance to talk to one another about the case.
[Hemmer:] True, yes, very true.
[Bloom:] We've all been talking about. They need to talk about it, and they need to work through the facts. I think it will be at least a week of deliberations.
[Hemmer:] If it's a quick verdict, just to take the contrarian here, do we look like fools? We've given this case an awful lot of attention for a year.
[Bloom:] Bill, that's an interesting question. I don't think we look like fools. I don't think it will be a quick verdict, though, because I think the lack of forensic evidence is something for the jury to get over, if they're going to convict.
[Hemmer:] All right, thanks, Lisa, Lisa Bloom from Court TV Soledad.
[O'brien:] Still to come this morning, the president's re-election a big win for him, can you say the same for Wall Street? Andy's "Minding Your Business," just ahead right here on AMERICAN MORNING. How did Wall Street react to news of four more years? Plus, major developments in the scandal surrounding Enron this morning. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business." Good morning.
[Andy Serwer, "fortune" Magazine:] Good morning, Soledad.
[O'brien:] Let's talk about the market reaction.
[Serwer:] Indeed. Even with the economy not firing on all cylinders, yesterday the financial markets celebrated, the Dow up over 100 points, Nasdaq breaking 2000 for the first time since July. Why? Well, you could say that the president was re-elected, an incumbent, the markets like that. Also a Republican, of course Wall Street liking that as well. And I think even more importantly a relief rally, Soledad, that we didn't have a repeat of 2000. The markets like that. A couple of really interesting stocks in focus yesterday. Halliburton hitting a three-year high, up 7 percent yesterday. Look at that chart. Obviously, there was some concern there if John Kerry was elected, and I think you can finish the sentence there. Stem-cell stocks also very active. These stocks were down yesterday. Obviously, President Bush has been an opponent of embryonic stem cell research. And interestingly, that first company there, stem cells, only does adult stem cell research. It fell anyway. So some confusion in the markets as well.
[O'brien:] What happened with Enron?
[Serwer:] The first criminal conviction in the Enron mess yesterday down in Houston, four Merrill Lynch bankers, plus one former Enron executive were convicted, and their sentences will be handed down at a later date, but we're finally getting some progress in that situation.
[O'brien:] All right, Andy, thanks.
[Serwer:] You're welcome
[O'brien:] Jack's out, Toure's in today. What's on your mind, my man? Welcome back.
[Toure, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, you know, presidential second terms are usually theatrical affairs. Nixon's second term had Watergate, Reagan's second had Iran-Contra, and Clinton had Monica of course. President Bush swaggers into a new four years with a mandate over a divided electorate, and a chance to make a long-term impact on the country. Half of America is thrilled about another four years, half is devastated. What do you think? What do you expect President Bush to accomplish in the next four years? E-mail us now am@CNN.com.
[Hemmer:] Very appropriate topic. What he was talking yesterday about was Social Security reform, tax reform.
[Toure:] Trying to bring us together.
[Serwer:] Yes, but he's talking about scandals a little bit, too, perhaps, anticipating something like that happening?
[Toure:] Something's going to happen.
[Hemmer:] Jay Leno had some fun. Election is over. Listen to last night with Jay Leno.
[Jay Leno, "tonight Show" Host":] Mr. President.
[Unidentified Male:] Three more years, man! Three more years! Three more years!
[Leno:] Mr. President, isn't that four more years?
[Unidentified Male:] Well, you know, senior year you just party a lot.
[Leno:] Well, Mr. President, congratulations. You seem very excited.
[Unidentified Male:] Oh, I am. I'll tell you, I never won a presidential election before.
[Hemmer:] Let the games begin. There's a new report out, too, in "Time" magazine. We're going to talk about it in a moment here. Four theories about how the Bush campaign won this election essentially. One of them is laying this trap on Iraq that they say John Kerry fell for. We'll talk to "Time" magazine editor about that. Also, a uniter and not a divider. That was one of the president's early mantras. How will that play out now in a second term? We'll get back to that, as AMERICAN MORNING continues on a Thursday morning, right after this.