President Bush Undergoes Colonoscopy; Candidates Spreading Word on the Web
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead this hour on CNN, it is brutal, it was almost banned, but now it is booming. We're going to take a closer look at violent new sport of mixed martial arts. Also, Muggle mania erupts around the globe as the new Harry Potter book hits store shelves. And we have a sneak peek at your questions from the CNN/YouTube debate. The news is unfolding live on this Saturday, July 21. I'm Melissa Long in for Fredricka Whitfield and you are in the NEWSROOM. First up, President Bush is back in charge, reclaiming authority shortly after an early morning colon screening. Five polyps were found in that examination. White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is live at the White House.</s>ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Melissa. That's right, President Bush underwent that colonoscopy this morning at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland. Doctors did find five polyps all of them described as small, less than a centimeter and all of them were removed. Now, the White House, just moments ago, released a photo after the colonoscopy itself. It shows President Bush walking along with his chief of staff, Josh Bolton, and the president's dog, of course, the first dog, Barney. Now, White House spokesman, Scott Stansel (ph) says, as for the polyps themselves, none of them appeared "worrisome" to doctors. He says doctors were not at all surprised to find those polyps. Why? Because other polyps have been found before during other colonoscopies. In 1998 before his time in office as president, when he was governor, doctors found two polyps. In 1999, as well, doctors found two more polyps. Now, the president had another colonoscopy in 2002 and doctors at that time did not find any polyps. They did recommend that he have the procedure once more five years later. We're at that point now, 2007, when doctors again found five this morning. Now, the polyps are going to be examined under a microscope at National Naval Medical Center in suburban Washington. We should have results in the next 48 to 72 hours or so. As the president was undergoing this procedure, because he was under the effects of anesthesia, he temporarily handed over his presidential powers to Vice President Dick Cheney who was at his home on the eastern shore of Maryland and while the president was waiting for that anesthesia to fully wear off, it was about two hours or so, that, in fact, the power had been transferred to the vice president. But Mr. Bush has now resumed his duties as president of the United States. He's going to be having some briefings today with his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, also with his chief of staff, Josh Bolton. And the president, Melissa, is described as being in very good spirits. In fact, he is going to be taking a bike ride from what we understand, later this afternoon.</s>LONG: A lot of people are groggy after that type of procedure. Clearly he doesn't seem to be too groggy today. While power had been transferred to the vice president, anything of importance take place this morning?</s>QUIJANO: No, in fact what we are told by White House spokesman, Scott Stansal, is in fact there was nothing warranting any kind of presidential action to be taken during that time. Again, we understand it was about two hours. The procedure itself did not last that long, from what we understand. It only took about 30 minutes, 31 minutes or so. Because of the effects of the anesthesia, of course, the transfer of power actually lasted a little bit longer than that, about two hours and five minutes in all, we're told.</s>LONG: Elaine Quijano from the White House. Elaine, thank you. And some things you might want to know about colon cancer. Health officials expect more than 112,000 new cases to be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. It is the fourth most common type of cancer, 90 percent of cases show up in people over the age of 50. Early diagnosis is key to survival. Some new numbers are out in the Democratic race for the White House. Want to share them with you. The latest CNN Opinion Research Poll of primary voters in South Carolina shows Hillary Clinton leading with 39 percent; Barack Obama, 25 percent; John Edwards with 15 percent support. And al though Al Gore says he has no plans to run, 10 percent of voters in South Carolina want him in. None of the other contenders topped two percent. All of the candidates are spreading their word on the Web, some doing it better than others. CNN chief national correspondent, John King takes a look.</s>JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He made his mark as a grassroots organizer the old fashioned way, clipboards and shoe leather. Note the typewriter in this photo from a Chicago voter registration drive back in 1992. But fast forward to campaign 2008. No typewriters here, the architects of Barackobama.com working constantly to spread the word.</s>SEN BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: for the cost of war...</s>KING: On YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, not to mention the official campaign Web site where a click or two finds the next event in a town near you or perhaps just a new ring tone.</s>RINGTONE: Obama, oh, oh. Go! Go! Go!</s>KING: Four years ago, Howard Dean put Internet fund-raising on the map, but failed to turn his on-line money and buzz into enough votes. One reason the Dean campaign veteran who runs the Obama Web operation puts so much emphasis on helping supporters organize.</s>JOE ROSPARS, OBAMA DIRECTOR OF NEW MEDIA: Folks are forming their own grassroots volunteer groups. There's over 5,000 across the country. Each one of the tools is a piece of the campaign that an individual supporter can own and use to evangelize to their friends.</s>KING: Every campaign has an Internet presence these days. John Edwards put a premium on social networking sites from Facebook to MySpace to BeBo. Hillary Clinton likewise gets high marks from Web watchers for a creative site, an attention-grabbing videos. One key target of all the campaign is younger voters. Among all Americans, 15 percent said they relied most on the Internet for political news in the 2006 cycle, double the number from 2002. But among those under the age of 36 who have broadband connections, 35 percent say the Internet is their main source of political news.</s>JOHN WALSH, FRM. PATRICK CAMPAIGN MGR.: Maybe you're not going to meet them at the chicken dinner or the political meeting but they're instinct lively going to the Web for their information and so you catch them there.</s>KING: John Walsh helped Duval Patrick go from underdog to governor of Massachusetts in 2006, in part, through Internet organizing he jokes, took some time to learn and to trust.</s>WALSH: The first heard "blog" was in this campaign. I described my technical expertise this way, I don't know how they put the little people in my TV set, but I know how to use the clicker.</s>CHRIS HUGHES, FACEBOOK: if I click on Nevada, for instance, to see who my friends are, who are supporting the campaign there.</s>KING: Chris Hughes is among the founders of Facebook and now among the 20-something's looking to prove the power of Internet organizing. Almost 20,000 people so far have downloaded a special Facebook application to help Obama supporters lobby their friends in early primary and caucus states.</s>HUGHES: The idea is that I'm reaching out to people I know. I know all of these people I went to high school from her, I knew him from college. We chose to launch and offer a tool set that is more focused on organizing rather than not necessarily having an enjoyable time on the Web site.</s>KING: In other words, talking blog, and swap videos all you want, but don't lose sight of the basics and the bottom line.</s>LONG: That report from our chief national correspondent, John King who joins us now live from Charleston, South Carolina. Site of the first of its kind CNN/YouTube debate, is actually just two days away now. And we see that the campaigns are using the Web to tap into the younger voters. Turning to the debate, are the questions that are coming in from the Web also from the younger voters?</s>KING: They are from across the spectrum, Melissa. And that what makes this so fascinating. Yes, there are a lot of questions from younger voters. But I think what we are seeing as we try this revolutionary format is that the mainstreaming of the Internet across America. We're getting questions from older Americans asking about Social Security and their healthcare costs. From parents asking about college costs, from young Americans, too, asking about things anywhere from the Iraq war to healthcare to college costs to gay rights. But it is an amazing spectrum. We're over the 2,000 mark in number of questions submitted. We still have until Sunday if you want to download or upload a question, I guess is the right word, and get it into the YouTube debate. So, what we are seeing here is yes, the campaigns use it to reach all voters, but they think with a special emphasis on younger voters. But in the questions coming in so far we're proving power of the Internet and how it's mainstreaming across America, which is why it's so important for all campaigns and why we think we have quite a creation in the YouTube debate, Monday night.</s>LONG: Plus, we've been discussing, of course, the Internet and these blogs can help the underdogs with their political campaigns, but also can sometimes catch them in a not positive light which can hurt the campaign, as well.</s>KING: Well, one of the things, if you go to the campaign headquarters -- we went to Obama, this week, we've talk with some of the others as well, they say one of the key decisions, you have to make if you want to run a real and a thorough Internet operation is to recognize that you have to give up control. That you have to put information out there that most times will be used properly by your supporters, but sometimes people can use, plus other people can use their own Web sites, as well. We've seen "Obama Girl" hit. There's a Hillary video up. People going after Rudy Giuliani. So, one of the things you have to do, if you accept this technology, is understand that there come some uncertainty and unpredictability, some things you don't like, with all of the benefits of being able to reach people in this extraordinary quick and extraordinary global way.</s>LONG: Yeah, it's embracing new technology, but at the same time giving up control. John King, thanks so much. We will see you, of course, throughout the day and of course, on Mondays as well. And once again, CNN, again, is raising the bar in the presidential debates. And as you can see, you can take part as well. Anderson Cooper will be hosting Monday's Democratic debate. It is the first of its kind event, it is live and interactive, it is on television and on-line. The CNN/YouTube debate. You can see the Republican candidates debate in September on Monday, the 17th. So, submit your questions right now. To do so, just logon to cnn.com/americavotes. CNN, your political headquarters. Now, the story of central Massachusetts, firefighters from dozens of communities are trying to control a huge fire at a sprawling mill complex. The fire broke out about eight hours ago and so far, no serious injuries are reported. The three-story building houses about 65 businesses. Around three dozen communities in Massachusetts and even Rhode Island have sent firefighters and ambulances to the scene. Firefighters in Utah are battling to keep that wildfire from reaching a town about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City. The fire has scorched over 24 square miles since Thursday burning a campground, and a motel and forcing several rescues. Fire officials think the fire started with sparks from a flat tire. With the very latest on whether or not they'll get rain in the Utah area, also check on the weekend weather forecast all around the country. Hi Reynolds.</s>BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly what's inside this book? Harry Potter fans don't have to wait anymore. Harry Potter and the deathly hallows is now on sale. I'm Bonnie Schneider. I'll have that story, coming up.</s>LONG: And what's the most likely result for U.S. troops in Iraq? America's generals are speaking out on what they see coming in the months ahead.