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American Morning
John Kerry Set to Meet Former Rival Howard Dean; President Bush in Political Battleground State of Ohio
Aired March 10, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The presidential campaign gets personal, each side accusing the other of getting into the attack mode early.
A way to fight two killers -- a new drug may help people both quit smoking and lose weight at the same time.
A young girl disappears and so does her computer hard drive. Was there something there that she didn't want anybody to see?
We've got those stories and much more 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: All right, good morning.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the second D.C. sniper to be sentenced today. But Lee Malvo will not get a death sentence, as John Muhammad did yesterday. Live to the courthouse in a moment for that. We'll get you updated.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, after losing his lead to Senator John Kerry, President Bush is fighting back with a strong defense of his economic record. We're going to bring you to the White House, coming up in just a few moments.
HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty yet again -- good morning.
O'BRIEN: Hello.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That kid who's going to be sentenced today, what is he, 17?
HEMMER: Yes, 17 at the time of the shootings.
CAFFERTY: He's going to get life in prison. What do you suppose it's going to cost the taxpayers to support him as he meets the actuarial tables?
HEMMER: It's just this jurisdiction now. He could go to Maryland. There could be other cases brought against him.
CAFFERTY: They should fry them both tomorrow. Coming up in the Cafferty File, it's Wednesday. Things that people say, including Britney Spears hinting at yet another wedding. And we'll tell you why Senator John McCain is telling folks, "Just get on the damn plane." Things to listen to.
HEMMER: Are you serious?
CAFFERTY: Yes, absolutely serious. You wouldn't misquote Senator McCain, would you?
HEMMER: No, I wouldn't misquote you, either. Absolutely not.
CAFFERTY: No.
HEMMER: We will stay tuned.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: He really said that.
O'BRIEN: Top stories now, shall we?
Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson says Americans are just too darned fat. The government has launched an ad campaign to promote healthy eating and more exercise. The ads coincide with a CDC report that says poor diet and physical interactivity may soon surpass tobacco related deaths. Jack Cafferty, of course, has been following the story this morning. He'll have more on that just ahead.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is said to be doing well and expected to fully recover following surgery to remove his gallbladder. Doctors say yesterday's 90 minute surgery went as planned. The attorney general is resting in the intensive care unit of George Washington University Hospital. It's not clear, though, whether Ashcroft will be able to return to work.
Anti-terrorist police in London are questioning four men released from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. A fifth man was allowed to go free and rejoin his family. Negotiations continue between London and Washington, D.C. on the fate of four other British detainees who are still being held at Guantanamo.
Sports and the steroid controversy will be the focus on Capitol Hill today. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is scheduled to go before a Senate committee this morning. Congress wants major league baseball and its players' union to implement more rigorous drug testing.
And Oprah Winfrey has made "Vanity Fair's" international best dressed list. It is a first for Winfrey, who says that Gianfranco Ferre, who created the silver gown that she wore to the Oscars, is her favorite designer. Also making the list this year is actress Cate Blanchett, writer/director Sofia Coppola and also model Kate Moss.
HEMMER: Good for all, huh? O'BRIEN: A high correlation when they have friends who are designers and they're on the best dressed list. I want some people on that list who have to go out like to Target and buy their clothes. I mean that would be a challenge.
HEMMER: Good friends to have, huh?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start with politics this hour.
Senator John Kerry is set to meet with former rival Howard Dean today in D.C. Aides to both men tell us they doubt anything will come of the meeting. They say it's just another effort to get out to know and like each other. Stay tuned.
Four Southern primaries yesterday -- Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. As expected, largely a formality, Senator John Kerry won them all by wide margins. He is now closer than ever to mathematically gaining the Democratic nomination. Last night in Illinois, the City of Chicago, Senator Kerry telling supporters that President Bush is already resorting to personal attacks because he does not have a record to run on, the words from Senator Kerry last night.
Now, with Kerry and President Bush already trading heavy fire, many analysts believe this could be one of the dirtiest and longest campaigns in memory. If we were back in 1968, Jeff Greenfield tells me, we'd be talking about the upcoming New Hampshire primary. That year it was held on March 12. Now, the nominating season effectively over. What does an eight month general election campaign mean?
Jeff Greenfield is here to answer that.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: Let the game begin, huh?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Eight months. Are we ready for this? I mean does this mean endless campaigning?
GREENFIELD: Well, lord help us, we are in for four months, more or less, of daily speculating about who John Kerry is going to pick as his running mate, unless he mercifully chooses early.
This never used to happen because it took the conventions to figure out who the presidential nominee would be. But the answer, I'm afraid, Bill, is, yes, we are in for a very long campaign. HEMMER: I don't know if we're ready for this.
GREENFIELD: Look, for one thing, the Bush campaign has to spend all of its $100 million before the conventions. This money was technically for Bush's renomination. So, among other things, there's going to be a very heavy ad presence all spring. The Kerry campaign knows full well what happened to Bob Dole back in '96. The out of money nominee watched helplessly as the Democrats hammered him with ads all spring. So Kerry and pro-Democratic independent groups will, if the Federal Election Commission lets them, run their own heavy ad campaign all spring. There's a $5 million ad buy from Moveon.org up this weekend.
Finally, let's not forget us, the world of free cable news networks, with 24 hours a day to fill. And we will be doing more than our share of feeding this beast.
HEMMER: Yes, I said how much can we take. I wonder how much they can take, meaning the viewers.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: A question about tone here. The vice president the other day talking about Senator Kerry talking about indecision kills. Senator Kerry comes back and said something close to bad rush decisions kill, too.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Is the length of the campaign partly responsible for that tone?
GREENFIELD: I think so, because in the old days, the party didn't know who their opponent would be until the conventions. They spent more of their time attacking each other.
I think there's also this fact. There's now a permanent political operation that's sprung up across the spectrum, left and right, from think tanks, from interest groups and, let me point this finger again, people who find a ready made platform on cable TV.
The other thing, I think, the same combination of factors that's made all of our politics more polarized. Most seats in Congress are safe. There are ideologically sharper distinctions between the parties. So more and more they're appealing to the strong-minded rather than the uncommitted middle, so you use strong language.
I thought of this, Bill, in regard to one of the smarter things I thought that either side has done, is when the president called Kerry the night of Super Tuesday to congratulate them, one of the few grace gestures we might see this whole campaign. I think the candidates might find it useful to say something favorable about something the other guy did, apart from the fact that he's a nice husband and father, which they always say.
HEMMER: Well, maybe an e-mail, perhaps. GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: A top line?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's talk more about the prediction. I know you hate this game.
GREENFIELD: Yes, I do. But...
HEMMER: But people are already starting to handicap this race, and it is early.
GREENFIELD: Yes, and...
HEMMER: Does history tell us much?
GREENFIELD: Right. Well, one of the things that people do is they try to develop rules that supposedly add scientific certainty to the prediction. And they're almost always proven false sooner or later. I remember no Republican won the White House without New York. Nixon did it in '68, Bush's father did it in '88, Bush did it in 2000. No Democrat has won without carrying Texas, we used to say. Bill Clinton did it twice. No one ever won the White House without winning the New Hampshire primary, except for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. And back in 2000, several academics proved with mathematical formulas that they used economic and polling data, and maybe their Social Security numbers, that Gore was going to win big, maybe even a landslide. And that didn't happen.
This year we heard that whoever raised the most money in the pre- election year and led in the pre-election year poll would be nominated. That's been true since 1988. So, congratulations Howard Dean.
So here's my idea. Let's -- maybe we should forget the predictions and spend some time talking about the really tough issues that, in my view, no candidate will speak to honestly, like the Social Security/Medicare train wreck that's coming when the baby boomers retire. Or how do we open markets to Third World goods? Very politically difficult.
I'd like to say that that's what we're going to be doing in the next eight months, Bill, but I think the truth is don't hold your breath.
HEMMER: Yes. I'll keep breathing, then. You say it, I believe it.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: Nice to see you, Jeff.
All right, here's Soledad. O'BRIEN: Well, President Bush today will be in the political battleground state of Ohio, where he's going to talk about his economic policies. It is Mr. Bush's 16th visit to the Buckeye State as president.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux now a more on that -- hey, Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Ohio has lost more than 160,000 manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate is at 6.2 percent, well over the national average. And no Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. So this makes President Bush's new economic speech even that more important.
Aides tell us that, of course, he is going to recognize that Americans are suffering. But at the same time he's also going to defend his trade policy as critical to creating new jobs. He's also, of course, going to contrast this to his critics, most notably his opponent, Senator Kerry. He's going to argue that he promotes more taxes, more spending, as well as trade barriers.
Now, a senior administration official tells us part of the president's remarks, he will say that some politicians in Washington see these new challenges and want to respond in old ways, by raising taxes, building walls around our economy and isolating America from the rest of the world; taxing and spending is the enemy of job creation, a recipe for economic disaster -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne, I want to ask you a question about this $5 million campaign ad blitz that's going to start airing today. The Bush campaign, they're anti-Bush ads. The Bush campaign is saying not quite so fast.
Where do you think this ends up?
MALVEAUX: Well, essentially the Bush campaign is filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. They say that this group, Media Fund, is violating campaign finance laws because they say that they're using soft or unregulated money to impact a federal election.
Now, they say that they're acting like a political action committee or a political party, which, of course, is required under certain rules, restrictions for fundraising and for contributions. The group, Media Fund, says look, this is just an intimidation tactic by the Bush camp to not run these type of ads.
But, Soledad, this is just the beginning of how they define what kind of resources they can use in this bitter contest.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think the words just the beginning are the critical words right there.
Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, could the venue for the Scott Peterson case be changed yet again? What's going on in California? It smells like a Jeff Toobin segment to me.
Back in a moment with that.
O'BRIEN: Also, is it possible? A new drug promises to both help people quit smoking and lose weight at the same time. We'll explain, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: D.C. area sniper Lee Malvo will be sentenced today in Virginia and it is likely there will be no leeway from the judge. A jury has recommended life in prison for the convicted sniper. Yesterday, Malvo's accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death.
Jeanne Meserve live for us in Chesapeake, Virginia this morning -- Jeanne, good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
About 20 people who lost family members in the sniper spree are expected in court this morning for this last phase of the first trial of Lee Malvo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Lee Boyd Malvo's attorneys say their client's final sentencing will be brief. The judge has no option but to endorse the jury's recommendation of life without parole and their client will not speak.
John Muhammad did speak at his court appearance, telling Judge Leroy Millette, "I had nothing to do with this," a reference to the sniper shootings that claimed 10 lives in the Washington area. But the judge reaffirmed the jury's sentence of death, saying, "These offenses were so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension."
More than 50 victim family members gathered for the closing scene in this drama, and they were gratified.
SONIA WILLS, MOTHER OF SNIPING VICTIM: Justice has been served today. I can go to my son's grave and wish him a happy birthday on Sunday. Conrad would have been 37.
MESERVE: Muhammad's attorneys had urged the judge to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole. "He was not born evil. He is not a virus. He is not the devil," said Jonathan Shapiro, maintaining that Muhammad had once led a life of value and could again.
JONATHAN SHAPIRO, ATTORNEY FOR MUHAMMAD: Nothing was solved today and in our view more pain is inflicted.
MESERVE: But prosecutor Paul Ebert say Muhammad's lack of remorse for his horrible crimes made death the appropriate and only appropriate sentence.
PAUL EBERT, PROSECUTOR: Council for the defense says he sees no evil in his client. I can't agree with that. I see nothing but evil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: After the sentencing, the prosecutors for Muhammad and Malvo will announce where the two convicted snipers will be tried next. The expectation has been that they will swap prosecutions. But any additional trials of Malvo are likely to be postponed until after the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of executing juveniles -- Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.
Jeanne, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jury selection in the Scott Peterson case is being delayed while the judge considers a new change of venue motion from the defense. Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, claims that a large percentage of prospective jurors have prejudged Scott Peterson's guilt. The case has already been moved once, from Modesto to Redwood City, California.
And our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to talk about this latest request.
Nice to see you.
Good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why the objection now?
TOOBIN: Well, the jurors have started to be interviewed in Redwood City and in San Mateo County and Mark Geragos doesn't like what he's seeing. He says, he claims, that an inordinate number are already biased against Scott Peterson. So, he wants to move again.
HEMMER: Yes, hang on. So, this is the way I understand it.
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: Simple math tells me of the first 100 response, 61 have been dismissed. A pretty high number, but that leaves 39 who have gotten through the first step, which is also a pretty high number, I would think.
TOOBIN: A pretty high number. And, you know, you -- there are all sorts of reasons you can be dismissed in this case. Remember, this is supposed to be a five month trial. A lot of jurors can't sit for five months. So just because 60 were dismissed, that doesn't mean they were all biased because -- they were all dismissed because they were biased. There could be any number of reasons why they were.
HEMMER: Back up a little bit. Did Geragos have any say when the judge decided to take it to San Mateo County? Could he have said no, I don't like the jury pool out there, I don't get a good reaction from them?
TOOBIN: You know, this is so extraordinary that, you know, it is rare enough to get a change of venue. But now to start asking where, you know, which is an appropriate place, all that they were entitled to was to get out of Stanislaus County, which is Modesto. And, remember, that was the community that was so mobilized because they had lost one of their own, Laci.
HEMMER: And it kind of made sense, too, didn't it?
TOOBIN: It really was. As we discussed often here, I thought it was the best change of venue motion I had ever seen.
But I have never heard, in any case, of getting a second change of venue. It may have happened, but I've never heard of it. And there is nothing in particular about any other part of California that is likely to be better than San Mateo.
HEMMER: That's an interesting point because what I hear is if you want to get that fair and impartial jury on a case that has widespread publicity across the state, you go to L.A., Los Angeles County. But there is a cost that has to be factored in there.
TOOBIN: There's a tremendous, well, there's a tremendous cost to a case like this under any circumstances. Plus, Geragos, never lacking chutzpah, a technical legal term, he wants two juries. He wants one jury to evaluate the death penalty, another jury to evaluate guilt. Again, something extremely unusual, something very expensive and something that I will be willing to bet he is not going to get.
HEMMER: Just reading between the lines, reading between the words of Jeff Toobin this morning...
TOOBIN: Yes?
HEMMER: You don't think he has a fighting chance of getting this, do you?
TOOBIN: I don't think he has a chance in the world, because, as you point out, 30 jurors -- I mean 40 out of a hundred...
HEMMER: Thirty-nine, almost 40.
TOOBIN: ... is not bad. And all they really need are 70 to whittle down to get their 12 plus six alternates. So I don't think he's got a chance.
But, you know, Mark Geragos, I suppose you've got to give him credit, he's out there fighting every day. HEMMER: What was that legal term again?
TOOBIN: Chutzpah.
HEMMER: Chutzpah.
TOOBIN: Yes. It's more common in New York than other parts of the country.
HEMMER: Nice. Well done.
Thank you, Jeff.
Talk to you later.
TOOBIN: See you.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, obesity may soon be the nation's number one preventable killer, ahead of smoking. Who's to blame for that problem? Jack's got some of your thoughts ahead.
Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Jayson Blair has admitted to being a liar and a plagiarist. But now he's hoping you'll buy his new book. The former "New York Times" reporter resigned last May in a scandal that also led to the ouster of two top editors.
Last night, Blair was asked whether he had apologized to the people that he had harmed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
JAYSON BLAIR, FORMER "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: One of the things that I did, you know, in the fall of last year was make a list of people I felt had been hurt by this situation. And I've slowly begun trying to make amends. And I've started with friends. And as I move from friends, some of my former colleagues, some of the people I plagiarized from. I really need to understand my actions completely, have my heart into these apologies and, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't done apologizing over the next 20 years. And I don't find anything wrong with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Among Blair's admissions, he faked trips to San Antonio and elsewhere while he was writing the stories, actually, from his Brooklyn apartment.
HEMMER: I saw a little bit of that last night. He is a man who clearly has issues still that he needs to tackle personally.
O'BRIEN: You mean like psychological issues that he is working on.
HEMMER: No question about it.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I saw that, as well, and I would completely agree. He talks about himself in the second person a lot, which is also a little strange.
HEMMER: Yes.
Here's Jack, in the first person -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: Hi.
I have an idea.
HEMMER: Yes?
CAFFERTY: The news media ought to stop giving this punk free publicity.
HEMMER: You know, there are some questions about that, actually, about giving these high profile national interviews to a guy who's hawking books who's trying to make some money.
CAFFERTY: Or, as I, the way I phrased it was the news media should stop giving this punk free publicity, which is kind of the same thing you said, only...
HEMMER: Love you, baby.
CAFFERTY: Only it wasn't.
Obesity may overtake smoking as this country's number one preventable killer as early as next year. Startling numbers. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that diet and physical interactivity caused 400,000 deaths in the year 2000; 435,000 were tobacco related; just 85,000 died from alcohol related deaths.
To battle the issue, the government has begun a new ad campaign that adds just a touch of humor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like somebody's double chin. He must have lost it snacking on fruits and vegetables.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody's going to trip on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: I like that.
CAFFERTY: I think that's my favorite of the three we've seen. So the question is who's responsible for fixing America's weight problem? Is it the government? Is it the food industry? Or is it up to each of us?
Jack from Oakton, Virginia writes, "It's time for personal responsibility." This is an interesting idea. "Individuals outside standard weight charts used by the insurance companies to determine mortality should pay an additional 25 percent on their federal income tax to cover the added health costs paid by those who are fit."
Peggy in Durham, California: "Until they lower food prices, most Americans can't afford to eat healthy. It's cheaper to buy the crap than the healthy choices. Macaroni and cheese, four for a dollar, or fresh vegetables at $0.99 a pound."
Carl in Castle Rock, Colorado: "I'm probably one of the few obese people who blames myself entirely. No one forced me to eat fast food. I did it because it was convenient and it tasted good. No one made me avoid exercise. I avoided it because it was hard work. I topped out at 100 pounds overweight. That's when I got a trainer. I've been following his diet plan. I've lost 10 pounds of fat. I'm putting on muscle since. And I'm not done. If I can do it, anyone can."
Mark in Lititz, Pennsylvania: "Obesity is about personal responsibility and Krispy Kreme earnings are up. Do you think there's a connection here?"
And Steve in Houston: "It's Jack's fault for the obesity problem. I sit by your show waiting for his segment, which is every half hour. Snap out of it. How am I supposed to get any exercise?"
HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You can get an elliptical machine and watch the TV while working out. I mean...
HEMMER: That's an idea.
O'BRIEN: ... frankly.
HEMMER: Sure, a treadmill.
O'BRIEN: Shot a hole in that.
HEMMER: What, we have the double chins, we have what, the love handles?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: And the stomach.
O'BRIEN: Those are...
CAFFERTY: And the stomach...
O'BRIEN: I think those are very cute ads.
CAFFERTY: Those are cute. Like it -- for government work, it's not bad.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: You remember about 10 days ago, McDonald's came out and they got rid of the super size order, too, so no small coincidence.
O'BRIEN: Right.
See, but I'd be curious to know how much those ads really will help, I mean, as opposed to just raising some awareness and people saying they're cute. Like, do they really help someone who is 100 pounds overweight who, frankly, and we all know, it's much cheaper and it's just easier to go out and eat poorly than eat well. I mean it's hard to go out and get a fresh salad and good healthy things on top of it and drink well. It is.
CAFFERTY: OK. You're going to face this challenge soon. You're going to have twins. You've got two little kids at home. We'll expect you to be out at the supermarket right after AMERICAN MORNING buying the fruits and vegetables, going home, preparing a five course meal...
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
CAFFERTY: ... with all the healthy food groups six nights a week.
O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, my kids have never eaten more take out in their lives. And you know what? They've got a few months to go...
CAFFERTY: And it'll get worse.
O'BRIEN: ... and they're going to be eating more. No question.
CAFFERTY: No, you know, I mean...
O'BRIEN: It's hard.
CAFFERTY: ... two income households, everybody racing around trying to make enough money to pay the rent and stuff. The food industry, which, we carry the commercials.
HEMMER: We sure do.
CAFFERTY: All the TV networks do. We sell the stuff. They make it all very appealing. So, you know, it's a dilemma, as they say. But we'll get it solved. That's why we're here each morning.
HEMMER: Remember, I'm there for you.
O'BRIEN: Are you going to make me dinner every night?
HEMMER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Hemmer, you're the best.
HEMMER: No.
In a moment here on the topic of...
CAFFERTY: Me, too.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Oh, come on. You guys.
HEMMER: On the same topic, obesity...
O'BRIEN: You guys.
HEMMER: ... could a new drug help you fight both obesity and smoking? We'll get to that in a moment here.
The top stories, also, just a few short minutes away.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Bush in Political Battleground State of Ohio>
Aired March 10, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The presidential campaign gets personal, each side accusing the other of getting into the attack mode early.
A way to fight two killers -- a new drug may help people both quit smoking and lose weight at the same time.
A young girl disappears and so does her computer hard drive. Was there something there that she didn't want anybody to see?
We've got those stories and much more 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: All right, good morning.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Other stories this hour, the second D.C. sniper to be sentenced today. But Lee Malvo will not get a death sentence, as John Muhammad did yesterday. Live to the courthouse in a moment for that. We'll get you updated.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, after losing his lead to Senator John Kerry, President Bush is fighting back with a strong defense of his economic record. We're going to bring you to the White House, coming up in just a few moments.
HEMMER: Also, Jack Cafferty yet again -- good morning.
O'BRIEN: Hello.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That kid who's going to be sentenced today, what is he, 17?
HEMMER: Yes, 17 at the time of the shootings.
CAFFERTY: He's going to get life in prison. What do you suppose it's going to cost the taxpayers to support him as he meets the actuarial tables?
HEMMER: It's just this jurisdiction now. He could go to Maryland. There could be other cases brought against him.
CAFFERTY: They should fry them both tomorrow. Coming up in the Cafferty File, it's Wednesday. Things that people say, including Britney Spears hinting at yet another wedding. And we'll tell you why Senator John McCain is telling folks, "Just get on the damn plane." Things to listen to.
HEMMER: Are you serious?
CAFFERTY: Yes, absolutely serious. You wouldn't misquote Senator McCain, would you?
HEMMER: No, I wouldn't misquote you, either. Absolutely not.
CAFFERTY: No.
HEMMER: We will stay tuned.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: He really said that.
O'BRIEN: Top stories now, shall we?
Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson says Americans are just too darned fat. The government has launched an ad campaign to promote healthy eating and more exercise. The ads coincide with a CDC report that says poor diet and physical interactivity may soon surpass tobacco related deaths. Jack Cafferty, of course, has been following the story this morning. He'll have more on that just ahead.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is said to be doing well and expected to fully recover following surgery to remove his gallbladder. Doctors say yesterday's 90 minute surgery went as planned. The attorney general is resting in the intensive care unit of George Washington University Hospital. It's not clear, though, whether Ashcroft will be able to return to work.
Anti-terrorist police in London are questioning four men released from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. A fifth man was allowed to go free and rejoin his family. Negotiations continue between London and Washington, D.C. on the fate of four other British detainees who are still being held at Guantanamo.
Sports and the steroid controversy will be the focus on Capitol Hill today. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is scheduled to go before a Senate committee this morning. Congress wants major league baseball and its players' union to implement more rigorous drug testing.
And Oprah Winfrey has made "Vanity Fair's" international best dressed list. It is a first for Winfrey, who says that Gianfranco Ferre, who created the silver gown that she wore to the Oscars, is her favorite designer. Also making the list this year is actress Cate Blanchett, writer/director Sofia Coppola and also model Kate Moss.
HEMMER: Good for all, huh? O'BRIEN: A high correlation when they have friends who are designers and they're on the best dressed list. I want some people on that list who have to go out like to Target and buy their clothes. I mean that would be a challenge.
HEMMER: Good friends to have, huh?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start with politics this hour.
Senator John Kerry is set to meet with former rival Howard Dean today in D.C. Aides to both men tell us they doubt anything will come of the meeting. They say it's just another effort to get out to know and like each other. Stay tuned.
Four Southern primaries yesterday -- Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. As expected, largely a formality, Senator John Kerry won them all by wide margins. He is now closer than ever to mathematically gaining the Democratic nomination. Last night in Illinois, the City of Chicago, Senator Kerry telling supporters that President Bush is already resorting to personal attacks because he does not have a record to run on, the words from Senator Kerry last night.
Now, with Kerry and President Bush already trading heavy fire, many analysts believe this could be one of the dirtiest and longest campaigns in memory. If we were back in 1968, Jeff Greenfield tells me, we'd be talking about the upcoming New Hampshire primary. That year it was held on March 12. Now, the nominating season effectively over. What does an eight month general election campaign mean?
Jeff Greenfield is here to answer that.
Nice to see you.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
HEMMER: Let the game begin, huh?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Eight months. Are we ready for this? I mean does this mean endless campaigning?
GREENFIELD: Well, lord help us, we are in for four months, more or less, of daily speculating about who John Kerry is going to pick as his running mate, unless he mercifully chooses early.
This never used to happen because it took the conventions to figure out who the presidential nominee would be. But the answer, I'm afraid, Bill, is, yes, we are in for a very long campaign. HEMMER: I don't know if we're ready for this.
GREENFIELD: Look, for one thing, the Bush campaign has to spend all of its $100 million before the conventions. This money was technically for Bush's renomination. So, among other things, there's going to be a very heavy ad presence all spring. The Kerry campaign knows full well what happened to Bob Dole back in '96. The out of money nominee watched helplessly as the Democrats hammered him with ads all spring. So Kerry and pro-Democratic independent groups will, if the Federal Election Commission lets them, run their own heavy ad campaign all spring. There's a $5 million ad buy from Moveon.org up this weekend.
Finally, let's not forget us, the world of free cable news networks, with 24 hours a day to fill. And we will be doing more than our share of feeding this beast.
HEMMER: Yes, I said how much can we take. I wonder how much they can take, meaning the viewers.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: A question about tone here. The vice president the other day talking about Senator Kerry talking about indecision kills. Senator Kerry comes back and said something close to bad rush decisions kill, too.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Is the length of the campaign partly responsible for that tone?
GREENFIELD: I think so, because in the old days, the party didn't know who their opponent would be until the conventions. They spent more of their time attacking each other.
I think there's also this fact. There's now a permanent political operation that's sprung up across the spectrum, left and right, from think tanks, from interest groups and, let me point this finger again, people who find a ready made platform on cable TV.
The other thing, I think, the same combination of factors that's made all of our politics more polarized. Most seats in Congress are safe. There are ideologically sharper distinctions between the parties. So more and more they're appealing to the strong-minded rather than the uncommitted middle, so you use strong language.
I thought of this, Bill, in regard to one of the smarter things I thought that either side has done, is when the president called Kerry the night of Super Tuesday to congratulate them, one of the few grace gestures we might see this whole campaign. I think the candidates might find it useful to say something favorable about something the other guy did, apart from the fact that he's a nice husband and father, which they always say.
HEMMER: Well, maybe an e-mail, perhaps. GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: A top line?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Let's talk more about the prediction. I know you hate this game.
GREENFIELD: Yes, I do. But...
HEMMER: But people are already starting to handicap this race, and it is early.
GREENFIELD: Yes, and...
HEMMER: Does history tell us much?
GREENFIELD: Right. Well, one of the things that people do is they try to develop rules that supposedly add scientific certainty to the prediction. And they're almost always proven false sooner or later. I remember no Republican won the White House without New York. Nixon did it in '68, Bush's father did it in '88, Bush did it in 2000. No Democrat has won without carrying Texas, we used to say. Bill Clinton did it twice. No one ever won the White House without winning the New Hampshire primary, except for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. And back in 2000, several academics proved with mathematical formulas that they used economic and polling data, and maybe their Social Security numbers, that Gore was going to win big, maybe even a landslide. And that didn't happen.
This year we heard that whoever raised the most money in the pre- election year and led in the pre-election year poll would be nominated. That's been true since 1988. So, congratulations Howard Dean.
So here's my idea. Let's -- maybe we should forget the predictions and spend some time talking about the really tough issues that, in my view, no candidate will speak to honestly, like the Social Security/Medicare train wreck that's coming when the baby boomers retire. Or how do we open markets to Third World goods? Very politically difficult.
I'd like to say that that's what we're going to be doing in the next eight months, Bill, but I think the truth is don't hold your breath.
HEMMER: Yes. I'll keep breathing, then. You say it, I believe it.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: Nice to see you, Jeff.
All right, here's Soledad. O'BRIEN: Well, President Bush today will be in the political battleground state of Ohio, where he's going to talk about his economic policies. It is Mr. Bush's 16th visit to the Buckeye State as president.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux now a more on that -- hey, Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Ohio has lost more than 160,000 manufacturing jobs. The unemployment rate is at 6.2 percent, well over the national average. And no Republican has won the White House without winning Ohio. So this makes President Bush's new economic speech even that more important.
Aides tell us that, of course, he is going to recognize that Americans are suffering. But at the same time he's also going to defend his trade policy as critical to creating new jobs. He's also, of course, going to contrast this to his critics, most notably his opponent, Senator Kerry. He's going to argue that he promotes more taxes, more spending, as well as trade barriers.
Now, a senior administration official tells us part of the president's remarks, he will say that some politicians in Washington see these new challenges and want to respond in old ways, by raising taxes, building walls around our economy and isolating America from the rest of the world; taxing and spending is the enemy of job creation, a recipe for economic disaster -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne, I want to ask you a question about this $5 million campaign ad blitz that's going to start airing today. The Bush campaign, they're anti-Bush ads. The Bush campaign is saying not quite so fast.
Where do you think this ends up?
MALVEAUX: Well, essentially the Bush campaign is filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. They say that this group, Media Fund, is violating campaign finance laws because they say that they're using soft or unregulated money to impact a federal election.
Now, they say that they're acting like a political action committee or a political party, which, of course, is required under certain rules, restrictions for fundraising and for contributions. The group, Media Fund, says look, this is just an intimidation tactic by the Bush camp to not run these type of ads.
But, Soledad, this is just the beginning of how they define what kind of resources they can use in this bitter contest.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think the words just the beginning are the critical words right there.
Suzanne Malveaux for us at the White House this morning. Suzanne, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, could the venue for the Scott Peterson case be changed yet again? What's going on in California? It smells like a Jeff Toobin segment to me.
Back in a moment with that.
O'BRIEN: Also, is it possible? A new drug promises to both help people quit smoking and lose weight at the same time. We'll explain, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: D.C. area sniper Lee Malvo will be sentenced today in Virginia and it is likely there will be no leeway from the judge. A jury has recommended life in prison for the convicted sniper. Yesterday, Malvo's accomplice, John Allen Muhammad, was sentenced to death.
Jeanne Meserve live for us in Chesapeake, Virginia this morning -- Jeanne, good morning.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
About 20 people who lost family members in the sniper spree are expected in court this morning for this last phase of the first trial of Lee Malvo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): Lee Boyd Malvo's attorneys say their client's final sentencing will be brief. The judge has no option but to endorse the jury's recommendation of life without parole and their client will not speak.
John Muhammad did speak at his court appearance, telling Judge Leroy Millette, "I had nothing to do with this," a reference to the sniper shootings that claimed 10 lives in the Washington area. But the judge reaffirmed the jury's sentence of death, saying, "These offenses were so vile that they were almost beyond comprehension."
More than 50 victim family members gathered for the closing scene in this drama, and they were gratified.
SONIA WILLS, MOTHER OF SNIPING VICTIM: Justice has been served today. I can go to my son's grave and wish him a happy birthday on Sunday. Conrad would have been 37.
MESERVE: Muhammad's attorneys had urged the judge to reduce his sentence to life in prison without parole. "He was not born evil. He is not a virus. He is not the devil," said Jonathan Shapiro, maintaining that Muhammad had once led a life of value and could again.
JONATHAN SHAPIRO, ATTORNEY FOR MUHAMMAD: Nothing was solved today and in our view more pain is inflicted.
MESERVE: But prosecutor Paul Ebert say Muhammad's lack of remorse for his horrible crimes made death the appropriate and only appropriate sentence.
PAUL EBERT, PROSECUTOR: Council for the defense says he sees no evil in his client. I can't agree with that. I see nothing but evil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: After the sentencing, the prosecutors for Muhammad and Malvo will announce where the two convicted snipers will be tried next. The expectation has been that they will swap prosecutions. But any additional trials of Malvo are likely to be postponed until after the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of executing juveniles -- Soledad, back to you.
O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.
Jeanne, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jury selection in the Scott Peterson case is being delayed while the judge considers a new change of venue motion from the defense. Peterson's attorney, Mark Geragos, claims that a large percentage of prospective jurors have prejudged Scott Peterson's guilt. The case has already been moved once, from Modesto to Redwood City, California.
And our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to talk about this latest request.
Nice to see you.
Good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Why the objection now?
TOOBIN: Well, the jurors have started to be interviewed in Redwood City and in San Mateo County and Mark Geragos doesn't like what he's seeing. He says, he claims, that an inordinate number are already biased against Scott Peterson. So, he wants to move again.
HEMMER: Yes, hang on. So, this is the way I understand it.
TOOBIN: Right.
HEMMER: Simple math tells me of the first 100 response, 61 have been dismissed. A pretty high number, but that leaves 39 who have gotten through the first step, which is also a pretty high number, I would think.
TOOBIN: A pretty high number. And, you know, you -- there are all sorts of reasons you can be dismissed in this case. Remember, this is supposed to be a five month trial. A lot of jurors can't sit for five months. So just because 60 were dismissed, that doesn't mean they were all biased because -- they were all dismissed because they were biased. There could be any number of reasons why they were.
HEMMER: Back up a little bit. Did Geragos have any say when the judge decided to take it to San Mateo County? Could he have said no, I don't like the jury pool out there, I don't get a good reaction from them?
TOOBIN: You know, this is so extraordinary that, you know, it is rare enough to get a change of venue. But now to start asking where, you know, which is an appropriate place, all that they were entitled to was to get out of Stanislaus County, which is Modesto. And, remember, that was the community that was so mobilized because they had lost one of their own, Laci.
HEMMER: And it kind of made sense, too, didn't it?
TOOBIN: It really was. As we discussed often here, I thought it was the best change of venue motion I had ever seen.
But I have never heard, in any case, of getting a second change of venue. It may have happened, but I've never heard of it. And there is nothing in particular about any other part of California that is likely to be better than San Mateo.
HEMMER: That's an interesting point because what I hear is if you want to get that fair and impartial jury on a case that has widespread publicity across the state, you go to L.A., Los Angeles County. But there is a cost that has to be factored in there.
TOOBIN: There's a tremendous, well, there's a tremendous cost to a case like this under any circumstances. Plus, Geragos, never lacking chutzpah, a technical legal term, he wants two juries. He wants one jury to evaluate the death penalty, another jury to evaluate guilt. Again, something extremely unusual, something very expensive and something that I will be willing to bet he is not going to get.
HEMMER: Just reading between the lines, reading between the words of Jeff Toobin this morning...
TOOBIN: Yes?
HEMMER: You don't think he has a fighting chance of getting this, do you?
TOOBIN: I don't think he has a chance in the world, because, as you point out, 30 jurors -- I mean 40 out of a hundred...
HEMMER: Thirty-nine, almost 40.
TOOBIN: ... is not bad. And all they really need are 70 to whittle down to get their 12 plus six alternates. So I don't think he's got a chance.
But, you know, Mark Geragos, I suppose you've got to give him credit, he's out there fighting every day. HEMMER: What was that legal term again?
TOOBIN: Chutzpah.
HEMMER: Chutzpah.
TOOBIN: Yes. It's more common in New York than other parts of the country.
HEMMER: Nice. Well done.
Thank you, Jeff.
Talk to you later.
TOOBIN: See you.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, obesity may soon be the nation's number one preventable killer, ahead of smoking. Who's to blame for that problem? Jack's got some of your thoughts ahead.
Stay with us.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Jayson Blair has admitted to being a liar and a plagiarist. But now he's hoping you'll buy his new book. The former "New York Times" reporter resigned last May in a scandal that also led to the ouster of two top editors.
Last night, Blair was asked whether he had apologized to the people that he had harmed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")
JAYSON BLAIR, FORMER "NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTER: One of the things that I did, you know, in the fall of last year was make a list of people I felt had been hurt by this situation. And I've slowly begun trying to make amends. And I've started with friends. And as I move from friends, some of my former colleagues, some of the people I plagiarized from. I really need to understand my actions completely, have my heart into these apologies and, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't done apologizing over the next 20 years. And I don't find anything wrong with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Among Blair's admissions, he faked trips to San Antonio and elsewhere while he was writing the stories, actually, from his Brooklyn apartment.
HEMMER: I saw a little bit of that last night. He is a man who clearly has issues still that he needs to tackle personally.
O'BRIEN: You mean like psychological issues that he is working on.
HEMMER: No question about it.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I saw that, as well, and I would completely agree. He talks about himself in the second person a lot, which is also a little strange.
HEMMER: Yes.
Here's Jack, in the first person -- good morning.
CAFFERTY: Hi.
I have an idea.
HEMMER: Yes?
CAFFERTY: The news media ought to stop giving this punk free publicity.
HEMMER: You know, there are some questions about that, actually, about giving these high profile national interviews to a guy who's hawking books who's trying to make some money.
CAFFERTY: Or, as I, the way I phrased it was the news media should stop giving this punk free publicity, which is kind of the same thing you said, only...
HEMMER: Love you, baby.
CAFFERTY: Only it wasn't.
Obesity may overtake smoking as this country's number one preventable killer as early as next year. Startling numbers. A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that diet and physical interactivity caused 400,000 deaths in the year 2000; 435,000 were tobacco related; just 85,000 died from alcohol related deaths.
To battle the issue, the government has begun a new ad campaign that adds just a touch of humor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AD)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like somebody's double chin. He must have lost it snacking on fruits and vegetables.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody's going to trip on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: I like that.
CAFFERTY: I think that's my favorite of the three we've seen. So the question is who's responsible for fixing America's weight problem? Is it the government? Is it the food industry? Or is it up to each of us?
Jack from Oakton, Virginia writes, "It's time for personal responsibility." This is an interesting idea. "Individuals outside standard weight charts used by the insurance companies to determine mortality should pay an additional 25 percent on their federal income tax to cover the added health costs paid by those who are fit."
Peggy in Durham, California: "Until they lower food prices, most Americans can't afford to eat healthy. It's cheaper to buy the crap than the healthy choices. Macaroni and cheese, four for a dollar, or fresh vegetables at $0.99 a pound."
Carl in Castle Rock, Colorado: "I'm probably one of the few obese people who blames myself entirely. No one forced me to eat fast food. I did it because it was convenient and it tasted good. No one made me avoid exercise. I avoided it because it was hard work. I topped out at 100 pounds overweight. That's when I got a trainer. I've been following his diet plan. I've lost 10 pounds of fat. I'm putting on muscle since. And I'm not done. If I can do it, anyone can."
Mark in Lititz, Pennsylvania: "Obesity is about personal responsibility and Krispy Kreme earnings are up. Do you think there's a connection here?"
And Steve in Houston: "It's Jack's fault for the obesity problem. I sit by your show waiting for his segment, which is every half hour. Snap out of it. How am I supposed to get any exercise?"
HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: You can get an elliptical machine and watch the TV while working out. I mean...
HEMMER: That's an idea.
O'BRIEN: ... frankly.
HEMMER: Sure, a treadmill.
O'BRIEN: Shot a hole in that.
HEMMER: What, we have the double chins, we have what, the love handles?
O'BRIEN: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: And the stomach.
O'BRIEN: Those are...
CAFFERTY: And the stomach...
O'BRIEN: I think those are very cute ads.
CAFFERTY: Those are cute. Like it -- for government work, it's not bad.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
HEMMER: You remember about 10 days ago, McDonald's came out and they got rid of the super size order, too, so no small coincidence.
O'BRIEN: Right.
See, but I'd be curious to know how much those ads really will help, I mean, as opposed to just raising some awareness and people saying they're cute. Like, do they really help someone who is 100 pounds overweight who, frankly, and we all know, it's much cheaper and it's just easier to go out and eat poorly than eat well. I mean it's hard to go out and get a fresh salad and good healthy things on top of it and drink well. It is.
CAFFERTY: OK. You're going to face this challenge soon. You're going to have twins. You've got two little kids at home. We'll expect you to be out at the supermarket right after AMERICAN MORNING buying the fruits and vegetables, going home, preparing a five course meal...
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
CAFFERTY: ... with all the healthy food groups six nights a week.
O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, my kids have never eaten more take out in their lives. And you know what? They've got a few months to go...
CAFFERTY: And it'll get worse.
O'BRIEN: ... and they're going to be eating more. No question.
CAFFERTY: No, you know, I mean...
O'BRIEN: It's hard.
CAFFERTY: ... two income households, everybody racing around trying to make enough money to pay the rent and stuff. The food industry, which, we carry the commercials.
HEMMER: We sure do.
CAFFERTY: All the TV networks do. We sell the stuff. They make it all very appealing. So, you know, it's a dilemma, as they say. But we'll get it solved. That's why we're here each morning.
HEMMER: Remember, I'm there for you.
O'BRIEN: Are you going to make me dinner every night?
HEMMER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: Hemmer, you're the best.
HEMMER: No.
In a moment here on the topic of...
CAFFERTY: Me, too.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Oh, come on. You guys.
HEMMER: On the same topic, obesity...
O'BRIEN: You guys.
HEMMER: ... could a new drug help you fight both obesity and smoking? We'll get to that in a moment here.
The top stories, also, just a few short minutes away.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Bush in Political Battleground State of Ohio>
