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American Morning
Sen. Kerry, Vice President Cheney Attack Each Other; Suspect in Series of Highway Shootings Scheduled to Appear in Las Vegas Courtroom
Aired March 18, 2004 - 08:30 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: Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, could Iraq decide who's going to win the presidential election? Jeff Greenfield's going to talk with us about Vice President Dick Cheney, also Senator John Kerry. They were mixing it up yesterday. Big question, of course, is who gets the advantage. Plus, as we head toward the handover, the violence continues. Who will continue to get the advantage there.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: That's a good topic. We will bring in Jeff in a moment here.
Also, in medical news, it seemed like such a simply way to try and prevent a heart attack, take an Aspirin a day. That's what doctors say, well, wouldn't you know it, nothing is ever as simple as it sounds.
Sanjay talks about the people who are not helped at all by that little white Aspirin. We'll give you Sanjay in a few moments.
Our top stories first, another deadly attack in Iraq. Witnesses tell CNN that at least four people are dead after an apparent car bombing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The attack took place just about an hour ago. It comes one day after a suicide bombing at a central Baghdad hotel. The U.S. military now says 17 people are dead. Iraqi police are saying that six were killed. The Iraqi Governing Council is blaming al Qaeda for the attack.
U.S. lawmakers want to know where Saddam Hussein is hiding millions of dollars taken from Iraq. U.S. investigators have been trying to retrieve close to $1 billion stolen from Iraqi Central Bank. More than $100 million is still missing and believed to be in the hands of insurgents. A congressional committee will hold a hearing today on the efforts to track that money down.
Police in Savannah, Georgia are trying to figure out why a man drove his car into the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Eight people were injured in this crash. Investigators say the driver was not drunk, didn't seem to suffer any health-related emergencies. He was detained after the accident for questioning.
Beginning this summer, low-risk, frequent fliers could avoid extra security checks at airports, for a price. The government wants to begin testing a program in June that will allow certain passengers to avoid extra security checks at the nation's airports. Under the registered traveler's program, passengers would pay a fee and submit to background checks.
And singer Courtney Love's wild night has landed her in more trouble this morning after baring herself during an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" yesterday, then went out, sang at a nightclub in New York City. She performed there. Police say she the injured a clubgoer after threw a mike stand into the crowd. She's now been charged with reckless endangerment. The victim was treated for minor head injuries. Courtney love is also facing drug-related charges stemming from a separate incident out in California.
HEMMER: Just another night out for Courtney.
Bad night.
O'BRIEN: They've all been bad nights lately.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to yesterday now. If you were watching CNN yesterday afternoon, you saw those amazing live pictures at the scene in Baghdad. Even as the dead and wounded were being pulled from the rubble inside that Iraqi hotel, Senator John Kerry and the Vice President Dick Cheney in this country attacking each other about national security. It was an amazing juxtaposition. Jeff Greenfield was watching it, and he joins us this morning.
Nice to see you.
They are locking horns already, and we have seen this for quite sometime. There is a theory and a thinking that the president, the incumbent, stays above the fray, Rose Garden strategy. We're not seeing that now.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: No, absolutely we are not. And, in fact, at the speech at the Reagan Library yesterday, Vice President Cheney took on John Kerry bluntly and quite directly, zeroing in on Kerry's off-the-cuff comments that leaders from abroad wanted a change in the administration. Cheney explicitly raised the possibility that Kerry might have been promising those foreign leaders policy changes. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to foreign leaders that makes them so supportive of his candidacy. American voters are the ones charged with determining the outcome of this election, not unnamed foreign leaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Cheney then broadened his focus, and criticized Kerry for his vote against the first Gulf War back in 1990-'91, and his votes against the $87 billion Iraqi Reconstruction Act. Cheney also quoted a remark of Kerry's that I am sure we have not heard the last of. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: I note that yesterday, attempting to clarify the matter, Senator Kerry said, quote, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, in criticizing this vote, the vice president echoed a charge in a new Bush ad that, with that vote, Kerry was voting to deprive the Armed forces of body, hazard pay and health benefits.
HEMMER: That last part there sounds like somewhat of a preemptive strike, based on what Senator Kerry's been saying about the White House.
GREENFIELD: Yes, I think that's exactly what it was. Just two days ago in West Virginia, Kerry gave a speech to veterans in which he repeated his criticism of the Bush administration for trying to cut pay and benefits to the military.
Yesterday in Washington, Kerry gave a speech calling for the military family's bill of rights. Here's part of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a commander in chief who honors and supports them for real, a commander in chief who repays their risks on the battlefield by providing them with the best weapons and protections as they go into battle, a commander in chief who recognizes their commitment and sacrifice, and offers their families a decent life here at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: But Kerry was also speaking of broader themes. He repeated his call to the new Spanish socialist government, not to pull its troops out of Iraq, and he sounded a relatively hawkish theme on the legitimate use of American power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: We must and we will never give anyone else a veto over the national security of our nation. There is no greater imperative of a president than the Constitution's command to provide for the common defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now also, one of the most important messages Kerry delivered was nonverbal, the presence and endorsement of retired General John Chalizkazvaila (ph), the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
You may remember back in 1992, then Governor Clinton had the support of Admiral Crow to help diffuse the notion that he didn't have the right military stuff. And for Kerry, I think Chalizkazvaila will also serve that same function.
HEMMER: I mentioned they were locking horns at the beginning of this segment here. Is there any indication yet that someone is pushing the other more?
GREENFIELD: All right, we're talking hunch on my part. But I do think the Kerry campaign found itself in a tougher earlier fight and one that its candidate did not help with that its comments about other leaders supporting him, or that offhand remark about supporting the bill before voting against it.
I think, Bill, the problem isn't devastating, but that, remember, for most Americans, John Kerry is still in the process of introducing himself and it is quite clear that the Bush campaign is more than happy to do that introducing for him, with very tough speeches and very tough ads.
HEMMER: And if you listen to the polling, anywhere between a quarter and 50 percent of the people who are surveyed said they are still trying to figure out who John Kerry is.
GREENFIELD: It's March. It's March.
HEMMER: That it is, seven and a half and counting.
Thank you, Jeff. Talk to you later.
Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The suspect in a series of Ohio highway shootings is scheduled to appear tomorrow in it a Las Vegas courtroom.
Charles McCoy could be facing justice in Ohio by the weekend.
CNN's Sean Callebs joins us live from Columbus this morning.
Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Indeed, people here in the city are breathing a bit easier today now that the only suspect in a series of highway shootings is in custody out in Las Vegas. As you mentioned, he is scheduled to make his first appearance in court tomorrow, and if he does not fight the extradition, it could clear the way for him to be back here by this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): Charles McCoy Jr. was arrested 2,000 miles away from the city he is accused of terrorizing. Confronted by Las Vegas Police, McCoy went down without a fight, without incident, and despite concerns, with no gun in his possession. TED LEE, LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPT.: No, he didn't have any weapons, and he complied with the officers when they told him to get on the ground.
CALLEBS: Task force members in Columbus had warned McCoy should be considered armed and dangerous, with a history of mental trouble. McCoy is facing extradition back to Columbus, where, for the past couple of months, many residents feared driving the interstates south of the city.
Perhaps no family felt pain as deeply as Gail Knisley's. The 62- year-old died at the end of November, the shooter's lone fatality.
BRENT KNISLEY, VICTIM'S SON: She was kind, generous, loving, and the best woman in the world. She always put everybody's needs before her own, and helping others is what her purpose is life was all about.
CALLEBS: Authorities in Columbus say they can tie McCoy to the shootings by ballistic proof. Investigators aren't saying how they know, but accused McCoy of firing two shots from a 9 millimeter handgun into a house on December 15th.
STEVE MARTIN, DEP. CHIEF TASK FORCE: Ballistics is positively marched with eight other incidents all fired from the same weapon used to kill Mrs. Gail Knisley on November 25th.
CALLEBS: McCoy has been charged with felonious assault. More charges will be filed. The Franklin County prosecutor hasn't decided if this is a case that warrants the death penalty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Investigators here have said that McCoy has a history of mental health problems, and legal experts say if that comes into play as a possible defense, it could be a challenge under Ohio law. Attorneys must prove that McCoy simply didn't know the difference between right and wrong -- Soledad.
Sean Callebs for us this morning.
Sean, thanks.
Lisa Marie Presley, backing away from statements about Michael Jackson, set off a press frenzy. The star clarifying remarks she made in a TV interview in which she quoted as saying that during her marriage to Jackson, she, quote, "saw things." Here's the statement released by her publicist, saying -- I'm quoting now -- "My comments on a recent Australian Television interview regarding him were completely taken out of context. I was in no way referring to seeing something inappropriate with children. As I have stated before in other interviews, I never have," end quote.
Jackson pleaded innocence, not guilty to child molestation charges, remains free on $3 million bail.
Get a break here. In a moment, you know the outcry on outsourcing. Meet one company which is insourcing. Andy explains that.
And important news today for heart patients. Why an Aspirin a day may not be what the doctor should order. Our own doctor Sanjay Gupta tells us why, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: An Aspirin a day is often prescribed for recovering heart attacks patients, or candidates for heart disease, but many people are resistant to the effects of Aspirin. Now there's a new quick test to measure Aspirin resistance.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with details on that.
Hey, Sanjay, Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A very big story here, very wide implications potentially, a lot of people take Aspirin to ward off a heart attack, ward off a stroke, or ward off those things from happening again, if they've happened in the first place. Aspirin works as a blood thinner, which why it has those protective effects.
Now finding out that this Aspirin, which is a very common medication, everyone's heard of it, may not be as effective in some people as others. In fact, some people may be developing something known as Aspirin resistance. People really taking notice of this particular story.
Numbers, about 15-40 percent of all patients out there are actually Aspirin resistant; they don't get the same effects as the other people. Forty percent of those patients are more likely to suffer very detrimental effects from a heart event, such as if they're having a higher risk in angioplasty (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
To put it in perspective, as many as one-third of the nearly 20 million U.S. patients on chronic Aspirin therapy are somewhat resistant, again one-third. You won't have any symptoms from this. The cause of it is unknown as to why some people develop Aspirin resistance and others do not.
Now there is a test, you mentioned that already, a test that has been in the works for some time, to try and figure out if you can target those people quickly. The test now taking about 30 minutes. It's called a Verifying Now system. It takes about 30 minutes. You draw some blood, sits in a vial, costs about $30. What it's testing to see how well the platelets actually stick to each other before you actually prescribe someone some aspirin.
So what does this mean for the patients? It could mean that this will become a more common test to determine whether or not Aspirin is effective and whether or not another medication should potentially be used instead -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: All right, so if you're a patient and it's determined that, in fact, you are resistant to Aspirin, that's basically the next step for the doctor to figure out what your next treatment should be, is that what you're saying?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, first of all, I think you know, a lot of people are prescribed Aspirin, again, just to ward off a heart attack or a stroke, things like that. Doctors may take more credence now in actually performing an Aspirin-resistance test first, to find out, in fact, if someone is responsive to Aspirin, or maybe they need two Aspirins instead of the one Aspirin. So not only the Aspirin itself, but the dosing of the Aspirin.
But in some cases, Soledad, you are absolutely right. They may not have any effect from the Aspirin whatsoever, and in those situations an entirely different medication, also a blood thinner, may be used, medications like Clavix (ph) or Cumadin (ph) come to mind. Those are the medications doctors may prescribe instead.
O'BRIEN: In theory, can you overcome aspirin resistance? I mean, you were talking a little bit about changing the dosing, things like that. Is that -- would that be common, is that typical, to be able to just take a different number of pills?
GUPTA: That's a very interesting question. I don't think they know the answer to this. But here's what we do know, is that it does appear that there is some time-related course to the Aspirin resistance. That is to say that even if you do have an effect from the Aspirin, within the first several months of taking it chronically or daily, by 24 months, or a couple of years later, you may not have as much effectiveness, very interesting point that researchers make in this particularly study, saying that you could develop Aspirin resistance over time, as opposed to being born with it. That's something they're going to need to look in a little bit further.
But you know, it's important, because there are some side effects from Aspirin. A lot of people take it. But there are potentially side effects. And if you're getting only those side effects without any of the benefits. That could be a problem. Side effects, a lot of people know, such as stomach ulcers, gastric bleeding, hemorrhagic strokes. You don't want to get those side effects without getting of the benefits, for sure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HEMMER: In a moment here, forget about outsourcing overseas. One international company looking to move here. Andy has that. Also, Jack, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back. CAFFERTY: The latest news in American jobs could be insourcing. With that and market preview, Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." Insourcing?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Insourcing. I don't know if this is man bites dog, role reversal. I think it's actually the exception that proves the rule.
This is interesting stuff here. Story in "The Wall Street Journal" about a company in India, call center. This is called V- Customer, they do all these big call centers. You call up, try to get information, it's in India.
Well guess what? Here's the company, V-Customer, they've got six call centers, they handle all those millions of calls. Three thousand employees, looking to double almost by later this year. They are looking to buy a company in the United States, of course, to expand their operations. Helping out with the call centers. And isn't that ironic.
CAFFERTY: Maybe they could hire people in this country to speak English a little better than those folks over there do. I mean you get on the line with some of those folks in India, and you can spend the rest of your life there. They don't understand you, you don't understand them, it's takes forever.
HEMMER: Kind of like New York City.
SERWER: Listen, I was talking to someone from AOL at a call center in India and I was having a tough time, getting frustrated and I just said it's not her fault.
I can imagine the abuse this poor woman in India gets, day after day. She spoke English well, understood what she was doing. But you could see how frustrated customers with that job thing are giving her a hard time, right?
CAFFERTY: Well yes. I mean you pick up a phone to call AOL, it's an American company. The least you can expect to talk to someone who understands the language.
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Colin Powell was there this week trying to jawbone the Indians to lift trade restrictions to make the job situation better there. He is there.
And let's talk a little bit about what's going on in the markets.
CAFFERTY: Good news on the jobless claims?
SERWER: Yes, down a little bit last week. And that is good stuff. However, you can see yesterday, we had two days in a row up.
(CROSSTALK) SERWER: Couple other things going on. KMart reporting its first profit since it came out of bankruptcy in may of '03. Over $270 million. That compares to the quarter last year, Jack, where they lost over $1 billion.
Winnebago profits way, way up. We're talking about gasoline shortages. Is there a connection?
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: We are selling a lot of these things. Yes, I think there's a connection.
CAFFERTY: That doesn't make sense at all, does it? Gasoline prices going to $3 a gallon and people are buying these deals?
SERWER: Well there's a cause and effect. We bought a lot last year, now the demand for gas is up...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: The air stream is cooler, anyway, by the way.
SERWER: Microsoft apparently not getting relief by the EU this morning as well. That's interesting. They're not getting the settlement. That's crossing the tape right now.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Time now for "The Cafferty File." We begin with Togo, a 4-year-old endangered African gray parrot who whistles "The Star Spangled Banner" and is addicted to watching CNN.
HEMMER: Our kind of viewer.
CAFFERTY: I like Togo. However Togo is being held prisoner in Canada. Togo's owner was moving from Canada to the U.S. to marry a New Hampshire man. Says Togo was held at the border by customs people to check an export permit. She says, quote, "It's like losing a family member."
There's a Web side where Togo asks for donations and to get a good lawyer to, quote, "sue the poop out of the bad guys."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Togo also learning how to...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: He learns that kind of stuff because he's addicted to CNN.
How do pandas get ready for a date? By watching panda pornography, of course. Chinese veterinarians are showing them sex education videos. They are doing it with an American-born panda named Hua Mei -- or "why me" as the case may be.
The 4-year-old panda arrived from San Diego last month. Officials want her to mate, but she has been in a cage ever since she was born and doesn't know anything about sex. So they are showing her videos or other pandas doing the birds and bees deal. And so far Hua Mei has got four prospective mates lined up.
SERWER: Is that over that tape?
CAFFERTY: You are not old enough to watch those?
SERWER: Did Atlanta see that?
CAFFERTY: My favorite story is this. The actor who played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ" told Jennifer Lopez to please put your clothing back on. Jim Caviezal and J. Lo co-starred in a movie called "Angel Eyes" in 2001.
Before filming a sex scene, Caviezal told Lopez that he did not want to offend his new wife. He said that the only naked breasts he wanted to be near were his wife's, and he asked her to go put her clothes on. So she ended up shooting the scene in her bra and underwear.
When asked by a British newspaper how he got ready to play the role of Jesus Christ, Caviezal, who's a devout Catholic, said, I walked on my swimming pool twice a day. It's tough to do.
HEMMER: That's a great line.
SERWER: What would Jesus do?
CAFFERTY: That concludes "The Cafferty File."
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: A lot sex in "The Cafferty File" today.
SERWER: Racy.
CAFFERTY: Well.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You know what, don't even, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Don't even. Let's go to the break.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Scrambling to protect civilian targets, we've got the very latest in the bombings in Iraq. We're going to talk with a reported who was in Baghdad yesterday right at the time of the blast. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Suspect in Series of Highway Shootings Scheduled to Appear in Las Vegas Courtroom>
Aired March 18, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, could Iraq decide who's going to win the presidential election? Jeff Greenfield's going to talk with us about Vice President Dick Cheney, also Senator John Kerry. They were mixing it up yesterday. Big question, of course, is who gets the advantage. Plus, as we head toward the handover, the violence continues. Who will continue to get the advantage there.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: That's a good topic. We will bring in Jeff in a moment here.
Also, in medical news, it seemed like such a simply way to try and prevent a heart attack, take an Aspirin a day. That's what doctors say, well, wouldn't you know it, nothing is ever as simple as it sounds.
Sanjay talks about the people who are not helped at all by that little white Aspirin. We'll give you Sanjay in a few moments.
Our top stories first, another deadly attack in Iraq. Witnesses tell CNN that at least four people are dead after an apparent car bombing in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The attack took place just about an hour ago. It comes one day after a suicide bombing at a central Baghdad hotel. The U.S. military now says 17 people are dead. Iraqi police are saying that six were killed. The Iraqi Governing Council is blaming al Qaeda for the attack.
U.S. lawmakers want to know where Saddam Hussein is hiding millions of dollars taken from Iraq. U.S. investigators have been trying to retrieve close to $1 billion stolen from Iraqi Central Bank. More than $100 million is still missing and believed to be in the hands of insurgents. A congressional committee will hold a hearing today on the efforts to track that money down.
Police in Savannah, Georgia are trying to figure out why a man drove his car into the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade. Eight people were injured in this crash. Investigators say the driver was not drunk, didn't seem to suffer any health-related emergencies. He was detained after the accident for questioning.
Beginning this summer, low-risk, frequent fliers could avoid extra security checks at airports, for a price. The government wants to begin testing a program in June that will allow certain passengers to avoid extra security checks at the nation's airports. Under the registered traveler's program, passengers would pay a fee and submit to background checks.
And singer Courtney Love's wild night has landed her in more trouble this morning after baring herself during an appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" yesterday, then went out, sang at a nightclub in New York City. She performed there. Police say she the injured a clubgoer after threw a mike stand into the crowd. She's now been charged with reckless endangerment. The victim was treated for minor head injuries. Courtney love is also facing drug-related charges stemming from a separate incident out in California.
HEMMER: Just another night out for Courtney.
Bad night.
O'BRIEN: They've all been bad nights lately.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Back to yesterday now. If you were watching CNN yesterday afternoon, you saw those amazing live pictures at the scene in Baghdad. Even as the dead and wounded were being pulled from the rubble inside that Iraqi hotel, Senator John Kerry and the Vice President Dick Cheney in this country attacking each other about national security. It was an amazing juxtaposition. Jeff Greenfield was watching it, and he joins us this morning.
Nice to see you.
They are locking horns already, and we have seen this for quite sometime. There is a theory and a thinking that the president, the incumbent, stays above the fray, Rose Garden strategy. We're not seeing that now.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: No, absolutely we are not. And, in fact, at the speech at the Reagan Library yesterday, Vice President Cheney took on John Kerry bluntly and quite directly, zeroing in on Kerry's off-the-cuff comments that leaders from abroad wanted a change in the administration. Cheney explicitly raised the possibility that Kerry might have been promising those foreign leaders policy changes. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: At the very least, we have a right to know what he is saying to foreign leaders that makes them so supportive of his candidacy. American voters are the ones charged with determining the outcome of this election, not unnamed foreign leaders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Cheney then broadened his focus, and criticized Kerry for his vote against the first Gulf War back in 1990-'91, and his votes against the $87 billion Iraqi Reconstruction Act. Cheney also quoted a remark of Kerry's that I am sure we have not heard the last of. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: I note that yesterday, attempting to clarify the matter, Senator Kerry said, quote, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I voted against it."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, in criticizing this vote, the vice president echoed a charge in a new Bush ad that, with that vote, Kerry was voting to deprive the Armed forces of body, hazard pay and health benefits.
HEMMER: That last part there sounds like somewhat of a preemptive strike, based on what Senator Kerry's been saying about the White House.
GREENFIELD: Yes, I think that's exactly what it was. Just two days ago in West Virginia, Kerry gave a speech to veterans in which he repeated his criticism of the Bush administration for trying to cut pay and benefits to the military.
Yesterday in Washington, Kerry gave a speech calling for the military family's bill of rights. Here's part of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need a commander in chief who honors and supports them for real, a commander in chief who repays their risks on the battlefield by providing them with the best weapons and protections as they go into battle, a commander in chief who recognizes their commitment and sacrifice, and offers their families a decent life here at home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: But Kerry was also speaking of broader themes. He repeated his call to the new Spanish socialist government, not to pull its troops out of Iraq, and he sounded a relatively hawkish theme on the legitimate use of American power.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: We must and we will never give anyone else a veto over the national security of our nation. There is no greater imperative of a president than the Constitution's command to provide for the common defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now also, one of the most important messages Kerry delivered was nonverbal, the presence and endorsement of retired General John Chalizkazvaila (ph), the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.
You may remember back in 1992, then Governor Clinton had the support of Admiral Crow to help diffuse the notion that he didn't have the right military stuff. And for Kerry, I think Chalizkazvaila will also serve that same function.
HEMMER: I mentioned they were locking horns at the beginning of this segment here. Is there any indication yet that someone is pushing the other more?
GREENFIELD: All right, we're talking hunch on my part. But I do think the Kerry campaign found itself in a tougher earlier fight and one that its candidate did not help with that its comments about other leaders supporting him, or that offhand remark about supporting the bill before voting against it.
I think, Bill, the problem isn't devastating, but that, remember, for most Americans, John Kerry is still in the process of introducing himself and it is quite clear that the Bush campaign is more than happy to do that introducing for him, with very tough speeches and very tough ads.
HEMMER: And if you listen to the polling, anywhere between a quarter and 50 percent of the people who are surveyed said they are still trying to figure out who John Kerry is.
GREENFIELD: It's March. It's March.
HEMMER: That it is, seven and a half and counting.
Thank you, Jeff. Talk to you later.
Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The suspect in a series of Ohio highway shootings is scheduled to appear tomorrow in it a Las Vegas courtroom.
Charles McCoy could be facing justice in Ohio by the weekend.
CNN's Sean Callebs joins us live from Columbus this morning.
Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Indeed, people here in the city are breathing a bit easier today now that the only suspect in a series of highway shootings is in custody out in Las Vegas. As you mentioned, he is scheduled to make his first appearance in court tomorrow, and if he does not fight the extradition, it could clear the way for him to be back here by this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS (voice-over): Charles McCoy Jr. was arrested 2,000 miles away from the city he is accused of terrorizing. Confronted by Las Vegas Police, McCoy went down without a fight, without incident, and despite concerns, with no gun in his possession. TED LEE, LAS VEGAS POLICE DEPT.: No, he didn't have any weapons, and he complied with the officers when they told him to get on the ground.
CALLEBS: Task force members in Columbus had warned McCoy should be considered armed and dangerous, with a history of mental trouble. McCoy is facing extradition back to Columbus, where, for the past couple of months, many residents feared driving the interstates south of the city.
Perhaps no family felt pain as deeply as Gail Knisley's. The 62- year-old died at the end of November, the shooter's lone fatality.
BRENT KNISLEY, VICTIM'S SON: She was kind, generous, loving, and the best woman in the world. She always put everybody's needs before her own, and helping others is what her purpose is life was all about.
CALLEBS: Authorities in Columbus say they can tie McCoy to the shootings by ballistic proof. Investigators aren't saying how they know, but accused McCoy of firing two shots from a 9 millimeter handgun into a house on December 15th.
STEVE MARTIN, DEP. CHIEF TASK FORCE: Ballistics is positively marched with eight other incidents all fired from the same weapon used to kill Mrs. Gail Knisley on November 25th.
CALLEBS: McCoy has been charged with felonious assault. More charges will be filed. The Franklin County prosecutor hasn't decided if this is a case that warrants the death penalty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Investigators here have said that McCoy has a history of mental health problems, and legal experts say if that comes into play as a possible defense, it could be a challenge under Ohio law. Attorneys must prove that McCoy simply didn't know the difference between right and wrong -- Soledad.
Sean Callebs for us this morning.
Sean, thanks.
Lisa Marie Presley, backing away from statements about Michael Jackson, set off a press frenzy. The star clarifying remarks she made in a TV interview in which she quoted as saying that during her marriage to Jackson, she, quote, "saw things." Here's the statement released by her publicist, saying -- I'm quoting now -- "My comments on a recent Australian Television interview regarding him were completely taken out of context. I was in no way referring to seeing something inappropriate with children. As I have stated before in other interviews, I never have," end quote.
Jackson pleaded innocence, not guilty to child molestation charges, remains free on $3 million bail.
Get a break here. In a moment, you know the outcry on outsourcing. Meet one company which is insourcing. Andy explains that.
And important news today for heart patients. Why an Aspirin a day may not be what the doctor should order. Our own doctor Sanjay Gupta tells us why, after this.
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O'BRIEN: An Aspirin a day is often prescribed for recovering heart attacks patients, or candidates for heart disease, but many people are resistant to the effects of Aspirin. Now there's a new quick test to measure Aspirin resistance.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with details on that.
Hey, Sanjay, Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
A very big story here, very wide implications potentially, a lot of people take Aspirin to ward off a heart attack, ward off a stroke, or ward off those things from happening again, if they've happened in the first place. Aspirin works as a blood thinner, which why it has those protective effects.
Now finding out that this Aspirin, which is a very common medication, everyone's heard of it, may not be as effective in some people as others. In fact, some people may be developing something known as Aspirin resistance. People really taking notice of this particular story.
Numbers, about 15-40 percent of all patients out there are actually Aspirin resistant; they don't get the same effects as the other people. Forty percent of those patients are more likely to suffer very detrimental effects from a heart event, such as if they're having a higher risk in angioplasty (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
To put it in perspective, as many as one-third of the nearly 20 million U.S. patients on chronic Aspirin therapy are somewhat resistant, again one-third. You won't have any symptoms from this. The cause of it is unknown as to why some people develop Aspirin resistance and others do not.
Now there is a test, you mentioned that already, a test that has been in the works for some time, to try and figure out if you can target those people quickly. The test now taking about 30 minutes. It's called a Verifying Now system. It takes about 30 minutes. You draw some blood, sits in a vial, costs about $30. What it's testing to see how well the platelets actually stick to each other before you actually prescribe someone some aspirin.
So what does this mean for the patients? It could mean that this will become a more common test to determine whether or not Aspirin is effective and whether or not another medication should potentially be used instead -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: All right, so if you're a patient and it's determined that, in fact, you are resistant to Aspirin, that's basically the next step for the doctor to figure out what your next treatment should be, is that what you're saying?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, first of all, I think you know, a lot of people are prescribed Aspirin, again, just to ward off a heart attack or a stroke, things like that. Doctors may take more credence now in actually performing an Aspirin-resistance test first, to find out, in fact, if someone is responsive to Aspirin, or maybe they need two Aspirins instead of the one Aspirin. So not only the Aspirin itself, but the dosing of the Aspirin.
But in some cases, Soledad, you are absolutely right. They may not have any effect from the Aspirin whatsoever, and in those situations an entirely different medication, also a blood thinner, may be used, medications like Clavix (ph) or Cumadin (ph) come to mind. Those are the medications doctors may prescribe instead.
O'BRIEN: In theory, can you overcome aspirin resistance? I mean, you were talking a little bit about changing the dosing, things like that. Is that -- would that be common, is that typical, to be able to just take a different number of pills?
GUPTA: That's a very interesting question. I don't think they know the answer to this. But here's what we do know, is that it does appear that there is some time-related course to the Aspirin resistance. That is to say that even if you do have an effect from the Aspirin, within the first several months of taking it chronically or daily, by 24 months, or a couple of years later, you may not have as much effectiveness, very interesting point that researchers make in this particularly study, saying that you could develop Aspirin resistance over time, as opposed to being born with it. That's something they're going to need to look in a little bit further.
But you know, it's important, because there are some side effects from Aspirin. A lot of people take it. But there are potentially side effects. And if you're getting only those side effects without any of the benefits. That could be a problem. Side effects, a lot of people know, such as stomach ulcers, gastric bleeding, hemorrhagic strokes. You don't want to get those side effects without getting of the benefits, for sure -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HEMMER: In a moment here, forget about outsourcing overseas. One international company looking to move here. Andy has that. Also, Jack, right after this.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back. CAFFERTY: The latest news in American jobs could be insourcing. With that and market preview, Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." Insourcing?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Insourcing. I don't know if this is man bites dog, role reversal. I think it's actually the exception that proves the rule.
This is interesting stuff here. Story in "The Wall Street Journal" about a company in India, call center. This is called V- Customer, they do all these big call centers. You call up, try to get information, it's in India.
Well guess what? Here's the company, V-Customer, they've got six call centers, they handle all those millions of calls. Three thousand employees, looking to double almost by later this year. They are looking to buy a company in the United States, of course, to expand their operations. Helping out with the call centers. And isn't that ironic.
CAFFERTY: Maybe they could hire people in this country to speak English a little better than those folks over there do. I mean you get on the line with some of those folks in India, and you can spend the rest of your life there. They don't understand you, you don't understand them, it's takes forever.
HEMMER: Kind of like New York City.
SERWER: Listen, I was talking to someone from AOL at a call center in India and I was having a tough time, getting frustrated and I just said it's not her fault.
I can imagine the abuse this poor woman in India gets, day after day. She spoke English well, understood what she was doing. But you could see how frustrated customers with that job thing are giving her a hard time, right?
CAFFERTY: Well yes. I mean you pick up a phone to call AOL, it's an American company. The least you can expect to talk to someone who understands the language.
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: Colin Powell was there this week trying to jawbone the Indians to lift trade restrictions to make the job situation better there. He is there.
And let's talk a little bit about what's going on in the markets.
CAFFERTY: Good news on the jobless claims?
SERWER: Yes, down a little bit last week. And that is good stuff. However, you can see yesterday, we had two days in a row up.
(CROSSTALK) SERWER: Couple other things going on. KMart reporting its first profit since it came out of bankruptcy in may of '03. Over $270 million. That compares to the quarter last year, Jack, where they lost over $1 billion.
Winnebago profits way, way up. We're talking about gasoline shortages. Is there a connection?
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: We are selling a lot of these things. Yes, I think there's a connection.
CAFFERTY: That doesn't make sense at all, does it? Gasoline prices going to $3 a gallon and people are buying these deals?
SERWER: Well there's a cause and effect. We bought a lot last year, now the demand for gas is up...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: The air stream is cooler, anyway, by the way.
SERWER: Microsoft apparently not getting relief by the EU this morning as well. That's interesting. They're not getting the settlement. That's crossing the tape right now.
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: Time now for "The Cafferty File." We begin with Togo, a 4-year-old endangered African gray parrot who whistles "The Star Spangled Banner" and is addicted to watching CNN.
HEMMER: Our kind of viewer.
CAFFERTY: I like Togo. However Togo is being held prisoner in Canada. Togo's owner was moving from Canada to the U.S. to marry a New Hampshire man. Says Togo was held at the border by customs people to check an export permit. She says, quote, "It's like losing a family member."
There's a Web side where Togo asks for donations and to get a good lawyer to, quote, "sue the poop out of the bad guys."
(LAUGHTER)
CAFFERTY: Togo also learning how to...
(CROSSTALK)
CAFFERTY: He learns that kind of stuff because he's addicted to CNN.
How do pandas get ready for a date? By watching panda pornography, of course. Chinese veterinarians are showing them sex education videos. They are doing it with an American-born panda named Hua Mei -- or "why me" as the case may be.
The 4-year-old panda arrived from San Diego last month. Officials want her to mate, but she has been in a cage ever since she was born and doesn't know anything about sex. So they are showing her videos or other pandas doing the birds and bees deal. And so far Hua Mei has got four prospective mates lined up.
SERWER: Is that over that tape?
CAFFERTY: You are not old enough to watch those?
SERWER: Did Atlanta see that?
CAFFERTY: My favorite story is this. The actor who played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ" told Jennifer Lopez to please put your clothing back on. Jim Caviezal and J. Lo co-starred in a movie called "Angel Eyes" in 2001.
Before filming a sex scene, Caviezal told Lopez that he did not want to offend his new wife. He said that the only naked breasts he wanted to be near were his wife's, and he asked her to go put her clothes on. So she ended up shooting the scene in her bra and underwear.
When asked by a British newspaper how he got ready to play the role of Jesus Christ, Caviezal, who's a devout Catholic, said, I walked on my swimming pool twice a day. It's tough to do.
HEMMER: That's a great line.
SERWER: What would Jesus do?
CAFFERTY: That concludes "The Cafferty File."
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: A lot sex in "The Cafferty File" today.
SERWER: Racy.
CAFFERTY: Well.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: You know what, don't even, OK?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Don't even. Let's go to the break.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Scrambling to protect civilian targets, we've got the very latest in the bombings in Iraq. We're going to talk with a reported who was in Baghdad yesterday right at the time of the blast. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Suspect in Series of Highway Shootings Scheduled to Appear in Las Vegas Courtroom>
