[Carol Lin, Cnn Anchor:] San Francisco's Barry Bonds hit his 714th home run two hours ago. He ties Babe Ruth for second on major league baseball's home run list. Bonds is 41 homers behind Hank Aaron's all- time record of 755. Staying with sports, from Baltimore's Pimlico Race Track, Bernadini wins the 130th running of The Preakness just a few minutes ago. You might be wondering about favorite Barbaro, who pulled up from the start of the second duel in horse racing's Triple Crown. He got hurt and didn't quite finish very well. To New Orleans where they're calling today's mayoral election the most important in Crescent City history. It is a runoff between incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin and Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. Polls close in two and a half hours. Let's go live to Jonathan Betz from our CNN affiliate, WWL. Give us an idea how this race is going.
[John Betz, Wwl Correspondent:] So far it's been a very smooth election here in New Orleans. We've seen a steady stream of voters coming here at University of New Orleans. At super polling places across the city analysts expect a higher turnout for this election compared to the primary just in April. That election drew about 36 percent of registered voters. Analysts expect that to go up by a few thousand votes for this election. Now, of course, the candidates spent the day campaigning today trying to draw in those last minute votes. The incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin is in a very good mood after voting today. He says he feels very optimistic and very confident about this race. You can actually see it in his personality and the way he's acting recently in the last couple of days, in a very good mood. Of course his opponent challenger, lieutenant governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu, also very optimistic, hoping to unseat Nagin and become this city's first white mayor in nearly 30 years. It was a job that his father, Moon Landrieu, held back in the late '70s. He hopes to take over after his father after 30 years and set an historic moment for the city of new orleans. Race is of course an undercurrent in this race here. The one who will win, consultants say, will be the man who can pull more votes over from his challenger. For Mitch Landrieu you have to pull in more African-American votes. For Mayor Nagin, he'd have to pull in more Caucasian votes. Challengers and consultants say that's a good possibility for either man. It's such a tight race they're not sure which way it might go. Recovery is the big thing for a lot of people here. Across the city of New Orleans there are hundreds of streets and homes and neighborhoods that lay virtually untouched since the floodwaters receded. A lot of people are very frustrated they're not seeing more activity in the city of New Orleans, hoping that the next mayor of New Orleans will kick start the economy and get more people back in their homes and back in the city of New Orleans.
[Lin:] That was quite a bit. Thank you very much. Yet, we're going to delve a little deeper. Pollster and political analyst Dr. Silas Lee joins us from New Orleans. We'll get his thoughts on the election and what it means to this city desperate to move forward. Dr. Lee, great to have you. What is the sense out there? I mean, is it is this about who is really best qualified to rebuild or is it really a vote for or against Ray Nagin, the current mayor?
[Silas Lee, Political Strategist:] A combination of both. This is a referendum on Ray Nagin. Katrina changed the political dynamics and the priorities of voters in New Orleans. So for some voters there's a strong referendum on the job performance of Ray Nagin. For other voters it's looking at who is most competent, who will be the face of rebuilding as this urban center attempts to rebuild in the 21st century.
[Lin:] The face of rebuilding. So this is really about which candidate has the most credibility not only to the electorate but also to the federal government, the Army Corps of Engineers, all the players that it's going to take to not only rebuild that city but keep it safe.
[Lee:] This next mayor, they will represent the city on a national and international level. They must be the salesperson for the city. They must be the chief confidante in terms of communicating the vision, the sense of integrity to the business community as well as elected officials around the country.
[Lin:] Because there are taxpayers not in Louisiana, in Georgia, in Texas, in California all wondering, wait a second, is the rebuilding going to come out of my pocket? Who is going to be responsible? Who is going to pay for it? That has got to be pretty critical when you say the face of rebuilding.
[Lee:] When you speak of the face of rebuilding, you're talking about an image, an image that conveys credibility, an image that conveys confidence and definitely an image that conveys to the rest of the world and the nation that we are serious about rebuilding. Not only rebuilding but, most importantly, restoring the community, restoring a sense of competence and dignity for the residents of this city.
[Lin:] So Dr. Lee, what is unusual politically about this race?
[Lee:] What's so unusual is that you have an African-American incumbent who is a Democrat facing a very aggressive challenge from a White challenger who historically, he has enjoyed a strong support from the black community. That's Mitch Landrieu. What's unusual is that this is creating some unusual bed fellows to some degree. You have conservative whites who support Ray Nagin and you have moderate and liberal African-Americans who support Mitch Landrieu for diverse reasons. They're coming together, to some degree. So it's unusual in a sense that conservative whites are supporting Ray Nagin and, at the same time, some African Americans are supporting Ray Nagin because they feel that it's important to maintain the symbol of an African-American presence in the mayor's office.
[Lin:] But how much power does the mayor really have?
[Lee:] The mayor proposes a budget. This is a situation in this city where we have a strong mayor form of government. But the reality of it is this. The mayor is really the conductor of an orchestra. It's a leadership position. It's about building coalitions, not exclusively management. You must be able to build coalitions in and out of the city and state, across party lines. It's a strong leadership position.
[Lin:] Dr. Lee, are you ready to make a call on this race?
[Lee:] Not yet. It's too early.
[Lin:] That close?
[Lee:] You know what, it's all about turnout. Two critical factors.
[Lin:] Yes. But tens of thousands of evacuees are trying to come from three different states. They didn't allow polling places outside of the state of New Orleans. I mean, a majority of them support Ray Nagin. They could make or break, in terms of turnout in absentee vote.
[Lee:] They could make or break this election. Also another critical factor is absentee ballot. People can vote by absentee by fax up to 8:00 p.m. tonight. Due to the fact that you have so many voters who are displaced many of them returned to New Orleans today to vote. That is why this election is so close to call. Voters are split. You talk to one voter they may support Landrieu. Another voter, they may support Nagin for diverse reasons. That's why this election is too close to call, because of the unusual dynamics.
[Lin:] Unusual indeed. But it's New Orleans we're talking about, Dr. Lee. So anything can go.
[Lee:] That's the reality of it also. What's unusual here quite often becomes normal.
[Lin:] Dr. Lee, we're going to hold you to that. In fact, please join us again tomorrow night. We want to go over the election results with you. It's going to be nothing but a surprise, I get the feeling.
[Lee:] Probably will be.
[Lin:] Silas Lee, thank you.
[Lee:] You're welcome.
[Lin:] Views across America begins with one dumb criminal. A thief who allegedly stole a Milwaukee woman's purse left some damning evidence. His picture on her cell phone. The phone was confiscated at a store where police say the man tried to get it activated. The woman recognized him as one of three who she says robbed her. All right. Just below the surface of Puget Sound, you can see the outline of a vintage airplane. Yes, that's it. It went down yesterday while the pilot was trying to land. One of two people on board was towed to safety by a kayaker. The other swam to shore. A Celebrity Cruise Line skipper is getting the boot for allegedly drinking before work. He was removed from his boat yesterday in Washington State after failing a routine Breathalyzer from the Coast Guard. A relief captain took the helm for the Alaskan cruise. The coolest video we have seen today. The Defense Department air show at Andrews Air Force Base. That's the 82nd Airborne performing a massive parachute jump. The Army's Golden Knights parachute team and the Navy's Blue Angels also wowed those crowds. Look at them. After a lukewarm reception at the Cannes Film Festival, "The Da Vinci Code" is scorching box office records in Italy. Now another film, a sexy tale from China, is raising controversy in Southern France. Our Brooke Anderson reports.
[Brooke Anderson, Cnn Entertainment Reporter:] A bit of controversy here at the 59th Cannes Film Festival and this doesn't involve "The Da Vinci Code," if you can imagine that. Instead one of the films up for the prestigious Palm D'or, a Chinese film, called "Summer Palace," was actually submitted to the festival before it passed China's censors. The movie, among other things, contains at least eight sex scenes. Chinese authorities have pulled it from contention and pulled it from the festival and now movie makers have flown to Beijing to plead with authorities to change their minds. We're going to keep you updated on that. "Fast Food Nation" also up for the Palm D'or. It's the story of the dark side of the American fast food industry including working conditions for illegal immigrants. I spoke with stars Greg Kinnear and Wilmer Valderrama star about these pressing real life issues that film addresses.
[Greg Kinnear, Actor "fast Food Nation":] I was down in the slaughterhouses and that's probably the most, you know, it's a pretty tough environment when you get around the animals themselves and, you know, you just aren't usually that connected with the thing that ends up in your little brown box. It was it would be impossible, really, to do the movie without kind of exposing the audience to kind of the underbelly of how this all begins. And it ain't pretty.
[Wilmer Valderrama, Actor "fast Food Nation":] Hopefully this film, you know, kind of triggers the awareness of what some of the illegal immigrants really, really do for a living, and to see how everyone works and how they get their stuff done and what they have to go through for about 16 hours out of the day just to make a few dollars to feed their families. That to me, it's an issue that needs to be addressed.
[Anderson:] Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and the cast of "Dream Girls" are here in Cannes. They gave a sneak peak of their film last night, showed about 15 minutes of the movie.
[Beyonce Knowles, Actress "dream Girls":] It's a classic film. It's something that everyone is going to love, and you walk out of the film feeling like anything is possible.
[Anderson:] That film opens in December. Now, many stars are expected to make their way here to Cannes over the course of the festival, including Oliver Stone, Kirsten Dunst and Halle Berry. Reporting from the 59th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, I'm Brooke Anderson.
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