"Deep Dish Politics"; Soldier Field Could Lose Federal Landmark Status
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. We're live at the Adler Planetarium, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Soledad is dancing, because she goes home today...</s>SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Great music.</s>HEMMER: She goes home to see her four children today.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes.</s>HEMMER: You're looking forward to that, aren't you?</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, I am, although we've had a wonderful visit...</s>HEMMER: Yes, we have.</s>O'BRIEN: And a good time.</s>HEMMER: I got a lot of pictures.</s>O'BRIEN: Yes, I had a nice time, and we had some great music and beautiful pieces. And big thank you to everyone who's been hosting us. And also some of the folks we've been working with.</s>HEMMER: We got some stories too, stories about Jack.</s>O'BRIEN: A little work, a little fun. Got a lot of stories about Jack. No, we won't tell them.</s>HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone, to this AMERICAN MORNING. In a moment, serving up another slice of -- a final slice of deep dish politics. Members of the Chicago media join us, talking about last-minute factors that may swing the election, things like the return of Bill Clinton on Monday, same day voter registration, all that, coming up in just moments here.</s>O'BRIEN: Also this morning, did an out-of-control architect turn Chicago's legendary Soldier Field -- I keep calling it "Soldier's Field," which of course is the name of the one in Boston, but Soldier Field into a monstrosity. Some people say yes. That's one version. We're going to get a look at other version of events, and take a look at why some officials plan to make an example of the football stadium. That's just ahead.</s>HEMMER: I like it. Heidi Collins here...</s>O'BRIEN: You might be the only one.</s>HEMMER: I think you're right. Heidi Collins has the headlines.</s>HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I had a chance when I was in Denver to watch the construction of INVESCO Field when they got rid of, you know, Broncos stadium, and that as quite controversial as well, but now gorgeous. So maybe you'll have some people jumping on it, onboard your train.</s>HEMMER: Opinions can change with time.</s>COLLINS: Yes, this is true. I do want to get to the news now, though, this morning, intense fighting between Pakistani troops and suspected Al Qaeda members, so much so that some families and towns along the border with Afghanistan are fleeing the violence. Pakistani troops combing the area for Osama bin Laden and members of his terror network. Back here in the United States, new information about last week's bus crash in eastern Arkansas. Arkansas state police say careless drive something to blame for the crash that killed 14 people and injured 16 others. The bus company denies that claim though. Federal officials are still investigating. On the campaign trail, former Vice President Al Gore heading to Florida. Gore will campaign on behalf of Senator John Kerry this weekend, in the same state where a bitter recount ended his own presidential bid. I'm sure you remember that. President Bush also spends this weekend in the Sunshine State, but today, he rallies with supporters in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Ralph Nader wants the U.S. Supreme Court to place him on the Pennsylvania ballot. The independent candidate reportedly asked the High Court to review the battleground state's decision to keep him off. On Tuesday, the state upheld a lower court's ruling that found Nader's nomination papers flawed. Pennsylvania officials have until this afternoon to respond to those accusations. And that is all the news for now. Back to you, Soledad. I almost said, back to you, soldier.</s>O'BRIEN: Aye-aye, ma'am. Soldier Field, in fact, is the home of the Bears, one of Chicago's greatest landmarks, but it could be losing its federal landmark status. CNN's Chris Lawrence is outside Soldier Field this morning for us. Hey, Chris, good morning.</s>CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad, Bill is not only one who likes it. "The New York Times has raved about it, the design has won awards, but of course, some people here still call it the "toilet bowl." But you know, this argument against landmark status really isn't about whether you love it or hate it, it cuts to the heart of what it means to be a national landmark and whether you can change something so much that the building becomes something completely new and different.</s>LAWRENCE (voice-over): For the Chicago Bears, it's one thing to get beat at home, but quite another to watch your home take a critical beating.</s>BLAIR KAMIN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": It almost looks like the Starship Enterprise crash landed on top of the Lincoln Memorial.</s>LAWRENCE: Critics call Soldier Field's renovation the "eyesore on the lake shore."</s>ZAK BURKONE, FRUSTRATED FAN: It needed a facelift, but this is more than a face lift. This is a tummy tuck, the whole deal.</s>LAWRENCE: Soldier Field was built 80 years ago and dedicated to veterans of World War I. It's a national landmark, like the White House and Brooklyn Bridge. To renovate it, planners squeezed a new stadium between the colonnades. But the National Park Service says the changes obliterate what made the place historic, and recommended Soldier Field be removed from the national landmark list.</s>JOE CAPRILE, ARCHITECT: It's not trying to replicate the historic. The historic has been kept intact, and separated from the new.</s>LAWRENCE: Architect Joe Caprile helped redesigned Soldier Field, and wants the landmarks people to realize the challenge of building the new, while preserving the old.</s>JEAN JEHTY, SATISFIED FAN: They made the upgrades that they've needed to make without actually losing most of that historic feel that you had before.</s>LAWRENCE: Architecture critic Blair Kamin says the government is sending a message to other architects and politicians who change historic structures.</s>KAMIN: We will take it off our list, we will strip it of its status.</s>LAWRENCE: It doesn't matter in terms of money, but you lose prestige. And the final call comes down to the secretary of the interior who will decide whether Soldier Field's architect scored a touchdown, or fumbled away its landmark status.</s>O'BRIEN: So it's a big decision. What could it mean, and what could be implications be for other landmarks?</s>LAWRENCE: Well, you can look ahead and think, well, if they're going to do this, if they're going to put these parameters on how much you can change, you could say, well, say if officials decided for security reasons to dramatically alter the White House, it's conceivable that down the line even something as important as that could lose its landmark status.</s>O'BRIEN: Big implications. Chris Lawrence, thanks so much. Appreciate it. And let's head back over to Bill.</s>HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks, on this Friday morning. One final slice of "Deep Dish Politics." From left to right over here, Debra Pickett is back with us from the "Chicago Sun-Times," from the "Tribune," Jim Warren is here. Jim, good morning to you.</s>JIM WARREN, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": Hello.</s>HEMMER: And Teri O'Brien, radio host at WLS here in Chicago. How're we doing?</s>TERI O'BRIEN, WLS RADIO: Terrific.</s>HEMMER: Bill Clinton back on the stump for John Kerry on Monday.</s>O'BRIEN: He is. He is.</s>HEMMER: Do you think there were some risks in this, like what?</s>O'BRIEN: It's -- he's a very polarizing figure, and so it's a double-edged sword. He's a rock star to Democrats, clearly, and we know that John Kerry's very concerned about the African-American vote, and he's very popular with that community. But on the other hand, he could energize the people that are very much opposed to what his administration represented.</s>HEMMER: Tough to keep him down, though, when it's presidential politics in an election year. Debra, curious to know, what's the reaction you're hearing from mothers and from women based on the Teresa Heinz Kerry/Laura Bush comments from this week?</s>DEBRA PICKETT, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": Well, it's interesting. I hear a lot from my readers who are younger single women who aren't necessarily mothers, and they were really interested in the idea of having a discussion about work, and life and how real women actually balance that. And so the idea of actually talking about real jobs and real life was kind of exciting, and it's almost too bad I think for that block of voters that everyone is so eager to apologize and sort of smooth over this whole thing.</s>HEMMER: Do they take anything in an insulting manner when they hear that phrase "real job?" Because that was the catch phrase that...</s>PICKETT: That certainly was the catch phrase. In some respects, that's sort of the ultimate politically incorrect thing to say, to actually make some sort of implication that working outside the home for pay, getting up and going out and doing a job every day is realer than being a stay-at-home mom. But the fact is that the reality, economically, for most women in this country is that they have to go out and work a job.</s>HEMMER: I want to get to the Catholic issue here. Chicago, Illinois, well known for its Catholic population. When it comes to John Kerry, how does he secure this vote, and are there dangers right now in the waters in which he's treading, Jim?</s>WARREN: I've got to be the early morning grouch here, Bill. I don't think Bill Clinton's appearance is going to make any difference. I don't think Laura Bush, the comment about Laura and jobs, is going to make a difference by Teresa Heinz Kerry. I think it's most important really for the president. The president, yesterday his 40th trip to the state of Pennsylvania. What that is largely about is trying to secure a big chunk of that estimated 30 percent of the Pennsylvania vote which is claimed to be Roman Catholic. No surprise, no accident that he spent time with the Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia yesterday. His fingers are crossed, as it is, with the conservative, Christian vote, that he believes can he get out four million of those, Karl Rove believes, did not come out four years ago. It's all part and parcel of that.</s>HEMMER: It's why the White House is securing from Catholic Church, church lists, trying to get to those people, direct mail. It's going to be very interesting. To me, the most interesting thing is are we sort of setting up a caricature of these people? If you're the Roman catholic in Pennsylvania, who is, say, out of work, you've lost your manufacturing job, do you view yourself as a Catholic, who is a little bit chagrined by John Kerry's views on stem cell research? Or do you view yourself as someone who is desperate to get a job again, who is not terribly happy with your perception of the president's handling of the economy.</s>HEMMER: In 2000, 25 percent of those who voted were Roman Catholics.</s>WARREN: Right.</s>HEMMER: So you're suggesting now that this vote could be split this year?</s>WARREN: I'm suggesting that it's really kind of tricky what yourself image is, how you go and vote. Are you going to vote as a Catholic? Are you doing to vote as a Catholic? Are you going to vote as someone who's looking for a job, or are you going to vote, for instance, in a state like Oregon, or Michigan or Ohio, which have these gay marriage-ban referendums as someone who's intrigued by that issue?</s>HEMMER: And you saw what happened when that referendum was in the state of Missouri. What do you got there? Are we getting to that part just yet?</s>O'BRIEN: You can't ask me another question. Going to go back.</s>HEMMER: OK, wonderful. Thank you for that.</s>O'BRIEN: I've got one for you guys as well.</s>HEMMER: What do you hear from your radio call-in folks?</s>O'BRIEN: About?</s>HEMMER: About the Catholic issue here in Chicago.</s>O'BRIEN: Oh, definitely a very important issue, because in that last debate, that was the one issue that reduced Senator Kerry to just incomprehensible babbling, and he contradicts himself a lot, but he contradicted himself like four times in 30 seconds. It was really frightening.</s>PICKETT: You know, I'm not sure about that. I think, as Jim said, you really run a risk of reducing someone to a single factor in their identity in talking about Catholic voters. I think there's a real distinction in terms of people who take their faith extremely seriously, and who consider that a priority in making their voting decision, whether evangelical Christians, or Catholics, or whatever faith they hold, versus folks who are taking a more complex view and looking at themselves in economic terms or in other terms as well. I think those folks...</s>HEMMER: It is a good discussion. And a lot to consider, and only 11 days left to do it. Informed, involved, involved, connected, that sounds like AMERICAN MORNING, doesn't it?</s>O'BRIEN: It does.</s>WARREN: On behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, you know, thanks for showing up here.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we had a great time here.</s>HEMMER: Well, we've had a great week ourselves, so thank you as well. All right, go get warm. Nice to see you all. Back upstairs now to Soledad.</s>HEMMER: In a moment here, there's a lunar eclipse next week. We're in the perfect spot to get some tips on how best to view it. Some advice from the Adler Planetarium, in a moment here.</s>O'BRIEN: Plus, Martha Stewart gets creative in the prison kitchen. Andy is "Minding Your Business," just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.