"Hot Topics"; NASCAR Race Team Tragedy
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Democrats roll out the big guns in the final days of the presidential campaign. Bill Clinton back on the stump and Jimmy Carter in print. The former president tells Britain's "Guardian" newspaper -- this is from President Clinton, he says -- and I quote -- "The U.S. suffered, in 9/11 a terrible and shocking attack, and George Bush has been adroit at exploiting that attack. And he has elevated himself in the consciousness of many Americans to a heroic commander-in-chief, fighting a global threat against America" -- that's end quote. So President Carter is bashing Bush. Soon President Clinton will be, too. Weeks after heart surgery and looking much thinner, Bill Clinton will hit the campaign trail, one of our hot topics this morning. So let's head live to Washington and Vaughn Ververs of "The National Journal's" "Hotline." Good morning, Vaughn.</s>VAUGHN VERVERS, EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Good morning, Carol.</s>COSTELLO: Diane Sawyer of ABC news interviewed Clinton. His interview airs today. Take a look at some of the pictures of President Clinton. He looks less than robust. He looks, of course, much thinner.</s>VERVERS: Well, it's going to be interesting to see him out on the campaign trail. I think people are very curious at how he will be able to perform, if it'll be the same Bill Clinton that we've seen in the past. He has apparently been getting tired. I mean, it's very common. He just had heart surgery, of course, and, you know, he's not going to be as spry as he used to be right away. But it's going to be interesting to see how he performs. He's going to be in Philadelphia today and also going to be going down to Florida. And his goal for the moment is to sort of fire up the African-American vote. Of course, Bill Clinton is very popular in that demographic. And he's trying to get that segment of the population excited about John Kerry. The Democratic campaign has been a little bit worried about that, and this will be a big help for him. And, of course, they'd like to have had him out on the trail a little bit earlier, I think, but they'll take him anytime they can get him.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, and, of course, everyone hopes he's OK. But he does look rather thin. The interesting thing is Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to stump for President Bush. So let's put the Governor Schwarzenegger versus the former President Bill Clinton, who is more helpful to whom?</s>VERVERS: Well, Clinton probably has a little bit more practical impact. Schwarzenegger does bring a very -- he brings the Hollywood level to the campaign. That's something that the president doesn't have a lot of. But I think in a practical sense, Bill Clinton probably means more to the Kerry campaign in some of those demographics to really rally the base of the Democratic Party. Schwarzenegger might be effective in trying to lure some undecideds over to the president's side, but, you know, he probably just brings a lot more show than real serious impact.</s>COSTELLO: Yes, because President Bush's base certainly isn't going to be listening very closely to what Arnold Schwarzenegger says.</s>VERVERS: That's right.</s>COSTELLO: President Bush granted an interview to Fox News. In it, he says, America's safety from terrorism is up in the air. And, of course, the Kerry camp has pounced on that. But is that really a slip-up by President Bush, though? I mean, can America ever be completely safe? Was it ever completely safe even before 9/11?</s>VERVERS: Well, I think that's what the president and his campaign would tell you. But it is sort of confounding that he would make that statement. I mean, after all, he earlier this fall gave another interview where he said that, you know, he doesn't know if the war on terror was winnable. And you can parse that any way you want. But this is a slip-up in that same vein, and I would think that the president would have sort of prepared a little bit better, maybe remembered that slip-up and not made it again. You know, it's up in the air what he said as much as what he was talking about. But it certainly is something that the Democrats -- and this is a point in time where we're really focusing in on just the smallest elements of both of these campaigns, and any little thing like that is going to be pounced upon and blown up.</s>COSTELLO: Oh, you're right about that. Vaughn Ververs is editor of "The Hotline" online. Thanks for joining DAYBREAK this morning. The New York office of the Homeland Security Department is facing allegations of discrimination. Three African-American female employees have filed a complaint. They say they were dropped from management spots, sent to out-of-state offices and replaced by less- qualified white males. One of the women, Charlene Monroe, has this to say in a statement. She says: "I received a call on Friday afternoon, August 13, informing me that I was to pack my bags because I was being transferred to an office in California that following Monday. The new management team at Homeland Security has cleaned house of any black employees in the New York office." A Homeland Security Department spokesman says the allegations are completely false. Employees and fans gathered outside of the offices of Hendrick Motorsports after they heard that several members of the organization were killed in a plane crash. Among the victims was owner Rick Hendrick's son and brother. For more on this story, here's John Romero, CNN affiliate WCNC in Charlotte, North Carolina. Good morning to you.</s>JOHN ROMERO, CNN AFFILIATE WCNC REPORTER: Well, good morning to you, too. Employees are just now showing up here at Rick Hendrick Motorsports, as friends and family have come to pay their final respects, fans too, to one of NASCAR's best-known names.</s>ROMERO (voice over): Fans laying flowers at the gate of Hendrick Motorsports, searching for answers.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe it. It's just devastating. It was such a great race team.</s>ROMERO: Employees comforting each other in the barricaded parking lot, wondering what to do next.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pray and be there for each other, and we just need that.</s>ROMERO:  12: 30 yesterday afternoon the Hendrick Motorsports' Beech 200 disappeared from the radar, trying to land at a tiny Blue Ridge regional airport outside of Martinsville. Among the 10 killed in the crash, John Hendrick, brother of Rick, and president of the company, Ricky Hendrick, Rick's son and retired NASCAR driver. The crash site near Virginia's Bull Mountain is so remote crews were forced to mount their rescue on ATVs.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a state police helicopter in the area, who picked up on the transponder signal from the aircraft.</s>ROMERO: Team owner Rick Hendrick was not on board the flight, skipping the trip because he wasn't feeling well. His team fields some of NASCAR's best-known drivers, including Jeff Gordon. His drivers at yesterday's Subway 500 not told of the crash until after the race. The winning car was one of Hendrick's and was allowed to skip the Victory Lane celebration. Back in Concord, employees covered the sign at the entrance of Hendrick Motorsports, waiting until nightfall when the team returned to the shops. They had huddled like a family in mourning for 90 minutes, returning home, taking the condolences of the NASCAR family with them.</s>COSTELLO: John Romero, thanks so much for joining DAYBREAK this morning, from North Carolina.</s>ROMERO: Thank you very much.</s>COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, wounded in war. We'll talk to a general who's trying to make it easier for military families and for the wounded veterans themselves. But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.