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American Morning

Iraq: A Nation on the Brink?; Interview With Richard Ben- Veniste; 'House Call' With Sanjay Gupta

Aired April 05, 2004 - 9:00   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.


ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nine o'clock here in New York. Good morning on a Monday. Good to have you with us today. Soledad is out this week. Heidi Collins is not.

COLLINS: I am not.

HEMMER: She picks up the duties.

Nice to see you. Good morning again.

COLLINS: Thanks. Good morning to you, too, Bill.

Other stories we are following this morning:

A message from airline passengers to the big carriers: check out the little guy. We'll tell you about some surprising (AUDIO GAP).

HEMMER: Aren't they? Yes.

Also in a moment here, speeding up the search for a running mate. Jeff Greenfield joins us this hour to talk about the Kerry campaign hard at work now looking for a VP. Why the hurry? Jeff explains in a moment here. If they select one soon, it will be the earliest they've ever done that. We'll talk with Jeff in a moment.

COLLINS: Jack Cafferty?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Why do they want to do it this early?

HEMMER: They are -- they want to get the momentum. They want to get...

CAFFERTY: Momentum.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Well, if Kerry would stay out of the hospital and spend time on the campaign trail. You know, I mean, he goes snowboarding, he gets his shoulder...

HEMMER: He talks about that Friday, as a matter of fact, in depth. CAFFERTY: Is the jury system in this country flawed in some way? We're looking at the Martha Stewart, the Tyco, the Scott Peterson cases. And if it is, how would you change it? AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: I have some interesting ideas already. Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: All right, Jack. Thanks so much.

To the news now. The White House will review the report from the September 9/11 Commission before its release. Commission Chairman Tom Kean says the text will be examined to prevent potentially harmful intelligence from being leaked. Critics say this raises the prospect of White House censorship.

The commission will hear this week from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. And CNN will have special live coverage of that testimony Thursday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Federal investigators are now looking into funding practices by the nonprofit foundation that handled the reopening of the Statue of Liberty. The New York Times reports the investigation centers around how the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation spent donations. There have also been questions raised about fair bidding practices for contracts.

The Archdiocese of Boston has settled with four men who claim they were sexually abused by a former priest in the 1980s. An attorney says a settlement in the civil case was reached last night but the amount has not been disclosed. A formal announcement is being expected today. A criminal case against the priest continues.

Lawyers for NBA star Jayson Williams are hoping for a big break in their case today. As the case appeared to be winding down, prosecutors announced documents and photos accidentally had not been sent to defense attorneys. The defense says the mistake hurts Williams' chance at a fair trial. They will make that argument in court today.

Dozens of people have been evacuated in Texas after a series of weekend thunderstorms ripped through the southern portion of the state. Heavy winds and up to a foot of hail in some places knocked out power lines. Flash flood watches have been issued for parts of Texas and New Mexico as well.

HEMMER: That's just one part of the country, too, with some tough weather out there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to Iraq this hour. More bloody confrontations in several Iraqi cities. The violence leaving 13 U.S. troops and scores of Iraqis dead as the fighting escalates. The U.S. is vowing that law and order will be put back in place.

To Baghdad straight away, and Walter Rodgers, watching a number of developments already today -- Walter. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

The weekend's bloody fighting between the Shiite militias in Iraq and U.S. Army forces in Baghdad continued and actually spilled over into today. Above Baghdad this morning, you could see Apache helicopters firing rockets into portions of the Iraqi capital.

One of the targets was said to be the headquarters of Moqtada al- Sadder, the leader of one particularly militant Shiite Muslim. This particular sect under Sadder has vowed to end and declare war against the American military occupation here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS (voice-over): Iraq has suddenly become much worse for the Americans. These are militant Shiite Muslims. Previously, they waited patiently, giving the U.S. interim regime a chance to govern Iraq. But a fiery Shiite leader, Moqtada al-Sadder, decided to challenge the U.S. military occupation, sending his illegal militia soldiers into the streets in open revolt.

In Basra, supposedly under British control, a large group of protesters muscled their way into the governor's office and took that over Monday morning. But it was in cities like Najaf and Baghdad's northern suburb of Sadder City the Shiite revolt erupted most violent.

According to coalition officials, protesting Shiite Muslims in Najaf opened fire on coalition soldiers there. And coalition forces, mostly Spanish and Iraqi police, returned fire. At least 20 Iraqis were killed, along with at least one coalition soldier. Well over a hundred people were in hospital as a consequence of all the shooting.

U.S. officials Sunday warned the Shiite violence would not be tolerated, but Moqtada al-Sadder shrugged off the American warning when he sent his illegal private army into the streets to challenge the American military in Sadder City. It took American tanks to restore a modicum of quite there, but at a cost of at least eight U.S. soldiers killed. Many more American soldiers were wounded. At least 40 Iraqis were killed as well, and close to 200 Iraqis are now in hospitals. Iraq clearly is not going according to Washington script.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS: U.S. forces are also on the offensive in Fallujah. Fallujah, of course, is the site of that bloody massacre of four U.S. civilian contractors last week. The Marines took that city this morning. Again, using helicopters before dawn and then, later, tanks and troops went into the city, locking down, at least at first, a city of 300,000 Iraqis. Their mission: to find the killers of those four U.S. civilian contractors -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt Rodgers, thanks there, live in Baghdad.

Let's stay in the Iraqi capital now. And more from that city. Newsweek Magazine correspondent at large Rod Norland is also there in Baghdad. He's the co-author of an article in the current issue of Newsweek that examines the challenges that lie ahead as the transfer of Iraqi sovereignty approaches, again, June 30 on the calendar.

The story is called "Dark road Ahead." And the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadder figures prominently in that article. Rod Norland is our guest now from Baghdad as well.

Rod, was this the right decision to shut down that newspaper?

ROD NORLAND, CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE, NEWSWEEK: Well, they had to do something about Moqtada al-Sadder once he started declaring war on the Americans. He's been getting increasingly more difficult.

The newspaper was being very provocative. Now, they were talking about six months ago dealing with him, and I think they felt they just couldn't delay dealing with him any longer.

It remains to be seen how much support he really has, though. In the past, he's only had a few thousand men, although very well organized. And it does appear that there's -- at least in the last day or so -- an awful lot of simply think for him.

There are demonstrations today in five cities; there's violence in a number of places. And if people go out in the streets in big numbers, it could be a very serious problem.

The other really worrisome thing that's happening is -- reportedly, at least -- Ayatollah Sistani, who is the leading moderate and the most respected Shiite cleric, has actually given some measure of support to Moqtada al-Sadder. So we really look at the possibility of a Shiite insurrection, as well as a Sunni one in places like Fallujah.

HEMMER: All right. Let's talk about Fallujah, then, because previously we were talking about Sadder City there in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The Marines have surrounded that town. Can they, through a show of strength and power, and overwhelming military operations superiority, quell what's happening inside of Fallujah and find those responsible for the killings last week?

NORLAND: I'd be very doubtful they could actually find the individuals responsible. They can shut the city down, which is what they've done now. They've blockaded it. The major highways are cut. But it's at a price.

The major highway into Iraq from Jordan, its most important lifeline, is closed today. And that could go on for sometime, depending.

So it's not going to be easy at all. And then there is also the danger of arousing the radicals in Fallujah to join with radicals like Moqtada al-Sadder. And you have this crossover that has never happened before in Iraq, Sunnis and Shia joining together against foreigners.

HEMMER: Today is April 5. April 12, a week away, is the next holly day for the Shiite population. The last significant holy day, 200 worshippers were killed. Is there anything being done right now to possibly prevent another attack there on a holy day like the 12th of April?

NORLAND: Well, you know, they expected an attack on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as well, and I think they did everything they could to prevent it, at least in terms of what Iraqi officials could do. I think we'll see more American forces on the streets, but it's unclear if they would be able to make much of a difference.

You're talking about possibly millions of people in the streets, any one of which could be hiding a suicide belt or in a car that has a bomb. And that's going to be very difficult to contain.

There is another anniversary coming, too, a few days before that, which is April 9, the day that Baghdad fell to American forces. So we'll see probably some opposition activity around that. It's going to be a very busy week ahead.

HEMMER: Rod, I don't have much time left. Senator Lugar over the weekend said June 30 is far too -- well, he didn't go that far. But he said a dialogue needs to be started as to whether or not this is the deadline that should hold firm and fast. Do the Iraqi people pay attention to the handover power in late June?

NORLAND: Yes. And I think they would be extremely disappointed and even angrier if it didn't take place. You know, there still is a reservoir of goodwill that we could tap into, and we would lose a lot of that if we failed to keep to that schedule.

HEMMER: Thanks, Rod. Rod Norland of Newsweek Magazine. Appreciate your thoughts. And stay safe over there. Thanks again.

Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: In Paris this morning, 13 suspected terrorists with alleged links to al Qaeda have been arrested by French police. Several Parisian neighborhoods were raided. The suspects are being held in connection with last year's terrorist attacks in Morocco. Thirty-three people were killed when bombs exploded in a busy tourist area there. The identities of the suspects have not been released.

HEMMER: In a moment here, what will that panel ask Condoleezza Rice on Thursday morning while she is under oath and in public? We'll hear from one of the commissioners, Richard Ben-Veniste, in a moment here on that topic.

COLLINS: Is television stunting your child's development? Dr. Sanjay Guppy looks at some New research there.

HEMMER: Also, will John Kerry pick a running mate earlier than expected? And, if so, what does that mean for the race? We'll take a look at who might be on top of that list ahead here this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On Thursday, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify publicly before the panel investigating the September 11 attacks. The White House had cited executive privilege as its reason for keeping Rice from testifying publicly and under oath.

What led to the change and what questions will the panel put to Rice? Richard Ben-Veniste is a commissioner on the 9/11 panel. He is joining us live from Washington this morning.

Thanks so much for being with us, Mr. Ben-Veniste. We appreciate your time this morning.

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMMISSIONER: Good morning.

COLLINS: I want to ask you first about something that happened yesterday. The 9/11 Commission spokesman, Al Felzenberg, said that a historical photograph faxed to the White House earlier last week may have actually persuaded the White House now to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify before the commission.

We are looking at that photograph now, from 1945. It shows Admiral William D. Leahy, the White House chief of staff, testifying about the attacks on Pearl Harbor before a special congressional panel.

Do you think this photograph had any influence, sir?

BEN-VENISTE: Well, perhaps it did. It's one of a number of instances where a White House personnel had testified before Congress. This perhaps, along with Pearl Harbor, is the most important instance of where we need to hear from presidential appointee -- in this case, Dr. Rice.

And so I think that, combined with the fact that many, many Republicans, as well as most Americans, said that this was the right thing to do, we need to hear from her. This is the commission which has the responsibility of finding the facts. So it's appropriate that they finally changed course and allowed her to testify.

COLLINS: But what are some of the questions you want to hear Condoleezza Rice answer publicly and under oath?

BEN-VENISTE: There are a number of discrepancies between Dr. Rice and others, and Dr. Rice and herself in the sense that she has said things along the way here that seem to be contradicted by the evidence. So we'll want to clarify it.

It's our job to try to get to the facts. Particularly of interest to us is, what steps did the government take, what steps did the administration pursue to try to protect us against attack by terrorists. What were the priorities? And there is some discrepancy about this. We need to sort that out. Clearly, Richard Clarke told Dr. Rice that there were terrorist cells, al Qaeda cells in the United States. What did the administration do about that information? Why could we not have prevented the 9/11 attacks?

COLLINS: Are you saying there could possibly be discrepancies, though, between what she has already said in private and what she will now say on Thursday in public?

BEN-VENISTE: There are a number of different statements that have been made. And we'll need to get clarification and try to sort that out.

COLLINS: I want to ask you about some interviewing that went on over the weekend. The leaders of the commission investigating these attacks, of course, have said, or at least the evidence that has been gathered by the panel, has them now indicating that they very well could be saying that these attacks were preventable. Your thoughts on that.

BEN-VENISTE: I think that's correct. We had a great deal of intelligence. The problem was that the intelligence was not utilized in an effective way that could have prevented the attacks.

We knew that two of the hijackers were in the United States. We knew they were al Qaeda. The FBI was looking for them, but they didn't do so in an effective way. And they didn't communicate up the chain.

Moreover, there was no sense of urgency in that the cabinet convened to discuss these issues in a way that could have shaken the trees and gotten the information up. In addition to the two al Qaeda hijackers who we knew about in the United States, there was Moussaoui, who was acting erratically, trying to learn how to fly a commercial plane despite the fact he had never flown anything than a Piper Cub before. And he was a person who we knew had contacts with Islamic militant jihadists back in Europe.

So there were indications certainly that the United States could be attacked during the summer of high alert, and yet nothing effective was done to pursue these leads and to protect us. So these are issues that are among my own agenda for things which we will pursue with Dr. Rice.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so very much this morning, Richard Ben-Veniste.

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

COLLINS: Appreciate your time.

And, once again, we do want to remind everyone, CNN will bring special live coverage of this week's 9/11 Commission hearings. Live coverage, that is, of Condoleezza Rice's testimony, which will begin Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. HEMMER: Still to come, Heidi, changes in the air. Airline customers picking the best airlines in the country. Results might surprise you just a bit.

And a serious problem with children is being linked with watching TV. Sanjay has that when we continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Popping kids in front of the TV set at a young age could be stunting their brain development. Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is making a 'House Call' from the CNN Center with details.

Hey, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, Heidi, not a big surprise here that potentially television or at least lots of it could stunt a child's brain development later on in life, specifically talking about something called ADHD. Here's the thing, Heidi. We know about children's television watching habits. We don't know as much about ADHD, but it's long believed that the two might be connected.

It's been long believed that ADHD might be influenced by environmental factors. So an interesting story now. A study coming out of the Journal of Pediatrics trying to look and see if there is a connection between the two.

So far, ADHD and hereditary were the only two linked factors. But they found interesting facts.

First of all, 53 percent of children actually have televisions in their bedroom. Children between the age of one and three on average, a one-year-old watches 2.2 hours of television a day. That's one years old. Three years old, it goes up to about 3.6 hours.

What they found was that 10 percent of those children, if they're watching that much television or more, are going to develop ADHD or significant attention problems by the age of seven. Pretty significant finding here that that much television watching leads to ADHD by the age of seven.

Critics saying that the brain, especially of children, very, very plastic. They have plots of plasticity, meaning easily influenced by lots of television watching, which is why ADHD might be caused by lots of television watching here.

Now, it's hard to link the on two. This isn't a cause and effect sort of story or study. But it's one of those things that certainly researchers, advocates, all that are going to say, you know what? Here's another reason not to watch as much television, especially at a young age -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, let me ask you about educational television, because I've seen quite a lot of that in the past three years or so. And I realize the term is subjective. You know, what is educational television? But is that included in this, or is there any harm there?

GUPTA: One of the criticisms of this study is that it did not make a distinction between good and bad television. So, yes, educational television considered by a lot to be sort of good television.

But here's the thing. Interesting, researchers telling us that what it really is, is that television is such a high-paced media now, so fast-paced medium, that when kids eventually get into the classroom, it's a much closer paced medium. If they're used to that fast-paced medium of television, oftentimes they're going to get easily distracted when they get in the classroom. Slower pace there -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, what do doctors say the alternative is then for parents limit TV exposure at a young age? I mean, do we just go outside to play, or what should we be doing?

GUPTA: Well, and you've been through this to some extent with your son, Riley (ph), no question. But there are sort of commonsensical solutions or suggestions as far as limiting television watching in your children.

Pediatrics Association says no television before the age of two. Can we do that? Perhaps. Set media time limits. Keep TVs, VCRs and computers out of the bedroom.

Again, more than half of kids have one of these in their bedroom. Parental attention as much as possible, and interaction with outside environmental people as well, getting the kids outside the home.

These are all possible solutions. Suggestions, I should say. It is difficult, not question. But I think this is probably the first study that really shows possibly a link between television and ADHD.

COLLINS: And the computer or computier, as Riley (ph) would like to call it.

GUPTA: That's right. You ought to ask your partner there, too, Bill Hemmer, how much television he watched when he was a kid. Just out of curiosity.

HEMMER: Very little.

COLLINS: I can tell by looking at him.

HEMMER: I was outside playing in the yard.

COLLINS: Oh, you were?

HEMMER: Absolutely. That's our demo, by the way. Kids under the age of eight here on AMERICAN MORNING.

CAFFERTY: Did they have TV in Cincinnati when you were a child? HEMMER: As a matter of fact, they did. It's Jack, right?

CAFFERTY: Yes. The one thing that doctors have found is that allowing your children to watch the entire three hours of AMERICAN MORNING is fine. Not a problem at all.

HEMMER: Exactly right.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: It looks as though there may be a snag in the jury system. On Friday, we got the mistrial of the Tyco case because of juror number four. Martha Stewart's lawyers want a New trial. They say one of the jurors in that case lied about his past on the questionnaire.

Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, wants another change of venue. They can hold the trial on the moon, I guess. They don't seem to be able to get a jury together there.

So should the jury system be changed in some way is the inquiry of the day. Get the kids around now, because we're going to read the letters.

Bob in Florida: "Attorneys should have a limit on fees that they are allowed to charge." Now, that's a good idea just in and of itself. "And the courts should appoint the experts to give testimony for both the prosecution and defense. The jurors are seated by the court. Why not the experts as well?"

Mike in Parsippany: "We don't need juries anymore. We should ask the question on CNN after five or 10 minutes of getting the facts from one of the talking heads, and then let the viewers decide. After all, they represent all that's good and wise in our country. Why waste taxpayers money on trials?"

Alan in Nashville, Tennessee: "Jack, the jury system is imperfect, just as it was designed to be. Dennis Nero Kozlowski will be retried and convicted. So let's all relax."

And Dee Scott in Seattle writes this: "Yes, we should rid ourselves of the archaic jury system and let the politicians decide. That way, we know the verdict can be bought, and we don't have to pay those pesky lawyers in the middle."

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Yes. We had those jurors on last hour. They said, if you're going to retry them, their advice to the defense is to take a plea. Because they think he'll go down if there is another case.

CAFFERTY: I guess they were, but not for juror number four. They were ready to convict in this last trial for...

(CROSSTALK) HEMMER: But they said between Monday and Friday, between the point when the judge came in and said, mistrial, the deal is done here, they said they were making progress every day toward a conviction.

CAFFERTY: Toward a conviction.

HEMMER: And then it was stopped.

CAFFERTY: Well, good. Let's hope we give them a second try.

HEMMER: All right. We'll keep you posted.

Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, more practical joking on the way to MTV.

He's ready to Punk more celebrities. Asthenia Kucher, that's our -- just part of our "90-Second Pop" this morning. Also, opening bell in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, 9:31 here in New York. Welcome back. Heidi in today for Soledad. Good morning again.

COLLINS: Good morning again.

HEMMER: A big win for the underdog when it comes to airlines passenger satisfaction. Why low-cost airlines are beating the giant carriers at there own game. The list is out. We'll get to it in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

COLLINS: Also, Jeff Greenfield is here this morning to talk about a gamble by the Kerry campaign said to be speeding up the process of choosing a VP. Jeff will look at some of the names on that list.

HEMMER: More testament to how fierce this election campaign is going to be.

COLLINS: Yes, indeed.

HEMMER: All right. Tops stories here at the half-hour.

Our headlines: a showdown continues between radical militiamen and coalition troops in Baghdad. Apache helicopters firing rockets into a Shiite neighborhood today. Several people reported injured there.

Coalition forces also raid the office of Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential cleric who has ignited anti-U.S. violence. Earlier today in Baghdad, the U.S. civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, labeled the cleric an outlaw. More than a dozen U.S. soldiers and scores of Iraqis have been killed since Saturday. Police in Spain have arrested two more people in connection with the March 11 attacks on commuter trains near Madrid. Authorities trying to determine if the men have ties to a group called the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. That group is thought to have ties with al Qaeda. The attacks left 190 dead and more than 1,400 wounded.

Firefighters continue to battle several blazes across parts of Florida today. Near Jacksonville, approaching flames and heavy smoke forced officials to close part of I-95 for the weekend. A south Florida fire forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes in southwest Miami, Dade County. Fires near the Everglades still burning but said to be under control, consuming about 3,300 acres there in the southern part of Florida.

A boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, still standing, despite being gutted by fire last night. Officials say the fire started in a car engine in the garage and spread quickly. Firefighters were called around 9:00 last night. The fire extinguished about 30 minutes later.

You're up to date now, 9:33 in New York.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: When it comes to taking the skies, travelers are discovering the big airlines may no longer be their best ticket. Discount carriers are fast making top marks in customer quality.

CNN's Bob Franken has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The winner and new champion in the 14th annual Airline Quality Rating is JetBlue. In fact, three of the top four best performers are low-fare operators: JetBlue, Southwest and America West.

All together, the study rated 14. Many of the big ones were somewhere at the bottom. United, American, Delta among those in the lower tier. All of the information came from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

What about performance industry-wide? This will surprise the weary traveler. It was up. Although, that weary traveler might not be surprised to find it was up only slightly. And that, because the number of official consumer complaints was way down.

Even so, on-time arrivals were down, while passenger bumping was up. Lost luggage, up. This is a joint project of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University.

As for the performance of the low-cost carriers, the analysts made it clear they believe it's not just those low fares, but higher customer service which has resulted in a big jump in their market share, from just 4 percent when the studies began to a full 25 percent now. The old joke used to be, flying is the best way to fly. The study might suggest that flying cheaply is the best way to fly.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Airline experts say this news is a sign the airline industry is going through major changes. Carriers are being forced to deliver good service at a good price or suffer severe losses -- Bill.

HEMMER: Back to politics now. Word came yesterday in The New York Times that the Kerry campaign is leading toward an early pick of a vice presidential candidate maybe by mid June. If that happens, it's considered very early in presidential campaigns.

With the article and new round of speculation about who might be on the undercard, our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, here with us on a Monday morning.

Nice to see you. Richard Nixon once said the VP pick can't help, but it can hurt.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, remember, you're talking about the guy who picked Spiro Agnew as his running mate, a pick that post-election (UNINTELLIGIBLE) nearly cost Nixon the election. But I don't think it's right.

Look, you can clearly point to choices that were political liabilities. Agnew was an obvious one; George McGovern's choice of Senator Tom Eagleton in 1972, he had to leave the ticket when his history of being hospitalized for depression was revealed.

Geraldine Ferraro made history when Walter Mondale chose her as the first woman on the ticket back in '84, but she was then pummeled with questions about her husband's real estate activities. And Dan Quayle in 1988 became a lightning rod. So there is this tradition, sort of.

HEMMER: I've got to think there's another side to this story.

GREENFIELD: Yes. And I think it's a widely overlooked one.

I mean, the obviously example is when John Kennedy picked him Lyndon Johnson in 1960. That probably won him Texas, maybe some other southern states. But I think there are more examples.

For instance, when Reagan picked George H. W. Bush in 1980, that was a clear signal that he was going to run a broad campaign by reaching out to Republican moderates. I think Clinton's pick of Al Gore in 1992, very unconventional. Gore was the same age and came from the same region, same political bent. But it reinforced the idea of a young, energetic campaign of change.

And back in 2000, I think both picks helped. I think Dick Cheney gave Bush weight, a sense of experience in foreign policy, while Joe Lieberman showed that Al Gore was not the predictable risk or risk (ph) politician when he chose not only the first Jewish candidate, but one who had openly criticized Gore's boss, Bill Clinton, for his misbehavior. So I think there are records where they actually helped.

HEMMER: It kind of takes us just to the meat of the matter here. What does that history tell us about John Kerry's possibilities?

GREENFIELD: Well, you know, the list that we've seen so far, which as far as I can tell, now includes about everybody but Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, is heavy with possibilities based on conventional notions. John Edwards may give you support in the South and rural America. Dick Gephardt may give you strength in Missouri and the blue collar Midwest.

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico would be the first Hispanic. It maybe gives you strength in New Mexico and Arizona. Hillary Clinton, well, there's no logic at all to that choice, but people like to talk about it.

But the other way you go is to make a pick that changes the country's sense of who you are. For instance, does John Kerry want to signal that he thinks September 11 was a huge event and is a huge event that has to change the way politicians think and act? That is the appeal of the politically impossible John McCain idea, reaching across party lines.

It's what argues for another Republican of stature. Someone like -- and this is not a prediction, folks -- former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, who now heads the 9/11 Commission. It argues for a Democrat like former Senator and commission member Bob Kerrey, who has views on Iraq that are very different from John Kerry's.

But we have to acknowledge this. The man who has been tasked with heading up the Kerry search is a fellow named Jim Johnson. Former top aide of Walter Monday, former head of Fanny Mae, the powerful and cash-rich mortgage insurance agency.

Johnson is chair of the Kennedy Center. He is about as classic and establishment Washington insider as you could find. So this does not portend a daring unconventional choice. But the key here to me is that because Senator Kerry will ultimately be making the choice, we're going to learn a lot about the kind of candidate and maybe the kind of president Kerry will be by the running mate he picks.

HEMMER: Very interesting stuff, too. Do you think it also goes to a testament to the campaign, if indeed he's going to go this early and choose a running mate and buck the trend of history? Does it tell you a little something about, well, how critical it is at this point and how quickly we've started this election cycle?

GREENFIELD: Yes, it absolutely tells us. It tells us -- the calendar that a lot of us grew up with, where you wait for the convention -- it used to be you had to wait to be nominated at the convention, and then generally within a week or so of the convention that is out the window. The rules are completely different, which is why I'm having such a hard time. HEMMER: Hard time but a good time, too, I think.

GREENFIELD: It's fascinating, yes.

HEMMER: It's keeping our interest. Thank you, Jeff.

GREENFIELD: OK.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, will the stock market rally pick up where it left off on Friday? Hope so. Not so sure about that. Andy Serwer will have the up to the minute market news in just a moment.

HEMMER: Also, Heidi, a new TV show in the works. It's got drugs and violence and big stars, and everything in it really happened. "90-Second Pop" has it in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More music that will stick with you all day long. Time, once again, for "90-Second Pop."

Today, "Punk'd" again. You'll never guess who wants a reality show. And could two star cross stars get together once again?

Here to discuss it all, humorous Andy Borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold"; New York Magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard; and Toure, contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine.

My goodness. We have so much to get to.

First of all, Sarah, "Punk'd?" I mean, we thought with we had heard the last from Ashton Kutcher.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Well, he "Punk'd" us. I think this is completely a response to the fact that his last two movies have just completely tanked.

"Butterfly Effect," it was really, really bad film. And the critics actually singled out the fact that he has no talent and is a really bad actor. So I think this is one of the things that he -- really, he's a better celebrity than he is an actor. And this is the vehicle for him to do that.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: But this was always the plan, right? Of course, he said, I'm not going to do "Punk'd" anymore so that you, the celebrities, would think, OK, I can let my guard down. And if they call me to go do something stupid, then it won't be "Punk'd." I mean, everybody in Hollywood was constantly worried about...

BERNARD: That's making him sound like he's a punk genius. I think he just didn't...

(CROSSTALK) ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: He has a plan (ph) where he loves playing pranks on people. And I really think that's what his last three films were all about.

BERNARD: Right. We were "Punk'd" by his bad acting.

BOROWITZ: We were all "Punk'd" again. Or tanked, as you would say.

BERNARD: Tanked.

COLLINS: Silly us. All right.

Andy?

BOROWITZ: Yes?

COLLINS: You're pals, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston.

BOROWITZ; Yes, yes.

COLLINS: OK. What is the deal here? Because Bobby Brown is looking for his own TV reality show. He might want to check in with Ashton on this.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

COLLINS: And, as we know, Whitney has recently, you know, checked in for drug rehab.

BOROWITZ: Right.

COLLINS: What is going on here? I mean, do people want to watch, first of all, do you think?

BOROWITZ: Well, here is the concept, first of all. Bobby Brown wants to do a reality show that would show like a day in the average life of Bobby Brown. And, you know, I've got news for Bobby. That show is already on TV. It's called "Cops."

But, you know, I don't know. I mean, his wife has had some troubles, in rehab. Once again, Bobby Brown's timing is exquisite. I think it's just a great time for a reality show.

TOURE: I mean, if there is anybody who would be the black Osbournes family, wildness, a little drug doing, a lot of cursing, it would be the Browns.

BOROWITZ: That's right.

BERNARD: But when did this happen that reality shows became like the panaceas for celebrities who have -- you know, has-been careers? This is what they do now.

I mean, that was the case with the Osbournes a little bit. Jessica Simpson, she wasn't living up to the Britney expectation. So it's kind of like a natural thing that he would want to do this. I mean, this is the model.

BOROWITZ: It's a time for healing. And I think that's what a reality is all about.

TOURE: It's amazing that we're to this level. Don't even remember in like '88, he was the king of America! "Don't be Cruel," every song on the album was incredible. And now look.

BOROWITZ: Toure, it's his prerogative.

COLLINS: All right. Moving right along. I know, Toure, you want to talk about this movie, Nicole Kinmon's new movie. Oh, you love it.

TOURE: Oh, it's awesome.

COLLINS: Right. Why is it getting so much buzz? The reviews, you have to admit, have been mixed.

TOURE: Well, the reviews have been mixed, but that's because certain critics are stupid. It was an awesome, awesome film.

It's three hours long, so you've got to bring a lunch. But, I mean, like it's fun, it's Nicole Kidman, it's smart. The sets are smart. The dialogue -- I mean, it's very much like a critique of America and the brutality of America. And...

BOROWITZ: I've got to admit, I screwed up because I thought that "Dogville" was a Disney film. And my kids hated it.

BERNARD: Wait, can we talk about the anti-America (UNINTELLIGIBLE), because this guy, Lars Von Trier, has never been to America. Is that right?

TOURE: Yes.

BERNARD: So how can you make this movie about small town America and insult us in this way? He's never even been here.

BOROWITZ: And he's from Denmark. And I've got news for him, Denmark isn't so great either. They don't have NASCAR there.

BERNARD: Terrible.

COLLINS: Quickly, Toure, tell us what it's about, so that people...

TOURE: Nicole Kidman come to see a small town that seems very nice and sweet, and quickly becomes not so nice and sweet.

COLLINS: Oh, OK. So that's that. All right. So we've got to ask you really quickly before we go, Nicole, Tom, getting back together? Just rumors? What do you think?

BERNARD: This is a "Punk'd" thing coming back again, right? BOROWITZ: I am just a hopeless romantic. I hope it's true. I've still got my fingers crossed for Liza and David. So I think that I really would like to see it happen.

COLLINS: You never know.

BERNARD: Such a romantic.

COLLINS: Hey, guys, thank you so much. Appreciate your time, as always, Andy, Sarah and Toure. Thanks again -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Heidi, thanks.

Twelve minutes now before the hour. Aaron Brown, a preview of what is coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," Iraqi shades of gray. The first of a series of stories you have not seen before. Surprising stories, some of them reported to us by CNN's Nic Robertson.

We'll have that, all the top news, of course, morning papers and the rest. That's "NEWSNIGHT," CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

HEMMER: All right. Aaron, thanks.

In a moment, here's some good news for Tyco that has nothing to do with judges, juries or lawyers. Andy has that.

Back with Jack also in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Mistrial and all, Tyco stock is on a tear. With that, checking the markets, Andy Serwer back with us here, 'Minding Your Business.' First, to the markets.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Let's do that. A little surprising here now. Well, a little surprising in the markets, though, Bill.

I thought we were going to get beat up this morning because of events overseas. Well, OK, I stand corrected. We were up a little bit, but that's how quickly things go here. Just down four points.

A couple of stocks moving to the upside. Cigna raising its forecast for the year. That stock is up five points.

Another stock on the move, as you mentioned, though, Bill, is Tyco. And you can see here that the stock has been up, doubled really over the past year, which is really pretty amazing. This because the company has been moving away from Dennis Kozlowski, the man with the golden shower curtain -- can we call him that -- and Mark Swartz.

HEMMER: Six grand. SERWER: You know, this is a big conglomerate, it makes all manner of things. It's a healthy company. It's not like Enron or Arthur Andersen or even WorldCom.

And the one problem they do have is they face billions of dollars of shareholder litigation. Potentially a settlement of billions of dollars. That's why the stock was up a little bit on Friday, because the mistrial makes it more difficult for the shareholders to sue the company. And acquittal, of course, would really make things difficult. But we're not anticipating that.

And, finally, I want to talk about the picture of the day. This comes from cameraman John, who is a fisherman. Check this out.

Up in Danbury, Connecticut, a convenience store: "Martha Stewart Omnimedia, world headquarters, two miles ahead." Of course, that's just a couple of miles away from the women's prison up there in Danbury.

And we talked to the guy who ran the story. He said, "Yes, that's for real." He's going to be taking it down, though, pretty soon, and putting up another sign honoring the troops in Iraq. But for now, up there in Danbury, pretty close to where Martha Stewart may be.

HEMMER: Sentencing now scheduled for mid June. We'll see if the schedule holds.

Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: All right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Who do you like, Georgia Tech, UConn? Quickly.

SERWER: I told you, Georgia Tech.

HEMMER: Jack?

CAFFERTY: What?

SERWER: They beat them once already this year.

HEMMER: Yes, they did.

SERWER: They'll beat them again.

HEMMER: How bad did they beat them by?

SERWER: I don't know the score. But Luke Sensor (ph) only got two points.

HEMMER: You don't know the score? SERWER: Don't know the score. But this year, this time is going to be even better.

HEMMER: All right. Jack?

CAFFERTY: I like the Bengals.

COLLINS: Oh, god!

CAFFERTY: It's Jack, right?

Heidi, who do you like tonight?

COLLINS: Well, UConn is on a roll. Women's, men's...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Unless they cancel the ceremony.

We've got to go. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.

Hey, Daryn, good morning. Happy Monday/

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You can't walk the streets of Atlanta without saying, "Go yellowjackets" -- Georgia Tech.

HEMMER: I bet that is all of the talk in Atlanta.

KAGAN: Yes. And, Billy, stay tuned. We're looking at baseball opening day from Cincinnati.

HEMMER: Where the tradition all began.

KAGAN: There you go.

COLLINS: We talked about them a little bit today.

HEMMER: Elephants on 5th Street.

KAGAN: You have a great day there in New York City. We'll get started.

Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here is a look what is happening at this hour.

U.S. Marines lock down the volatile Iraqi City of Fallujah. Operation Vigilant Resolve comes in response to last week's ambush and brutal killing of four U.S. civilian contractors. The Marines have surrounded the city on all sides. Coalition officials say one Marine and at least seven Iraqis were killed in the firefights this morning in Fallujah. A soldier injured in an attack on his convoy in Mosul on Sunday has also died.

There is violence in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City as well. At least eight U.S. troops died in clashes with supporters of a radical Muslim cleric. The arrest of the cleric's deputy set off the violence protests over the weekend. An Iraqi government official says that arrest is part of an investigation into a rival cleric's death a year ago.

Secretary of State Colin Powell heads to Haiti today to meet with the country's new leader to urge them not to give government positions to rebels who helped out President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...


Aired April 5, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Nine o'clock here in New York. Good morning on a Monday. Good to have you with us today. Soledad is out this week. Heidi Collins is not.

COLLINS: I am not.

HEMMER: She picks up the duties.

Nice to see you. Good morning again.

COLLINS: Thanks. Good morning to you, too, Bill.

Other stories we are following this morning:

A message from airline passengers to the big carriers: check out the little guy. We'll tell you about some surprising (AUDIO GAP).

HEMMER: Aren't they? Yes.

Also in a moment here, speeding up the search for a running mate. Jeff Greenfield joins us this hour to talk about the Kerry campaign hard at work now looking for a VP. Why the hurry? Jeff explains in a moment here. If they select one soon, it will be the earliest they've ever done that. We'll talk with Jeff in a moment.

COLLINS: Jack Cafferty?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Why do they want to do it this early?

HEMMER: They are -- they want to get the momentum. They want to get...

CAFFERTY: Momentum.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Well, if Kerry would stay out of the hospital and spend time on the campaign trail. You know, I mean, he goes snowboarding, he gets his shoulder...

HEMMER: He talks about that Friday, as a matter of fact, in depth. CAFFERTY: Is the jury system in this country flawed in some way? We're looking at the Martha Stewart, the Tyco, the Scott Peterson cases. And if it is, how would you change it? AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: I have some interesting ideas already. Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: All right, Jack. Thanks so much.

To the news now. The White House will review the report from the September 9/11 Commission before its release. Commission Chairman Tom Kean says the text will be examined to prevent potentially harmful intelligence from being leaked. Critics say this raises the prospect of White House censorship.

The commission will hear this week from National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. And CNN will have special live coverage of that testimony Thursday, 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Federal investigators are now looking into funding practices by the nonprofit foundation that handled the reopening of the Statue of Liberty. The New York Times reports the investigation centers around how the Statue of Liberty Ellis Island Foundation spent donations. There have also been questions raised about fair bidding practices for contracts.

The Archdiocese of Boston has settled with four men who claim they were sexually abused by a former priest in the 1980s. An attorney says a settlement in the civil case was reached last night but the amount has not been disclosed. A formal announcement is being expected today. A criminal case against the priest continues.

Lawyers for NBA star Jayson Williams are hoping for a big break in their case today. As the case appeared to be winding down, prosecutors announced documents and photos accidentally had not been sent to defense attorneys. The defense says the mistake hurts Williams' chance at a fair trial. They will make that argument in court today.

Dozens of people have been evacuated in Texas after a series of weekend thunderstorms ripped through the southern portion of the state. Heavy winds and up to a foot of hail in some places knocked out power lines. Flash flood watches have been issued for parts of Texas and New Mexico as well.

HEMMER: That's just one part of the country, too, with some tough weather out there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to Iraq this hour. More bloody confrontations in several Iraqi cities. The violence leaving 13 U.S. troops and scores of Iraqis dead as the fighting escalates. The U.S. is vowing that law and order will be put back in place.

To Baghdad straight away, and Walter Rodgers, watching a number of developments already today -- Walter. WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

The weekend's bloody fighting between the Shiite militias in Iraq and U.S. Army forces in Baghdad continued and actually spilled over into today. Above Baghdad this morning, you could see Apache helicopters firing rockets into portions of the Iraqi capital.

One of the targets was said to be the headquarters of Moqtada al- Sadder, the leader of one particularly militant Shiite Muslim. This particular sect under Sadder has vowed to end and declare war against the American military occupation here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS (voice-over): Iraq has suddenly become much worse for the Americans. These are militant Shiite Muslims. Previously, they waited patiently, giving the U.S. interim regime a chance to govern Iraq. But a fiery Shiite leader, Moqtada al-Sadder, decided to challenge the U.S. military occupation, sending his illegal militia soldiers into the streets in open revolt.

In Basra, supposedly under British control, a large group of protesters muscled their way into the governor's office and took that over Monday morning. But it was in cities like Najaf and Baghdad's northern suburb of Sadder City the Shiite revolt erupted most violent.

According to coalition officials, protesting Shiite Muslims in Najaf opened fire on coalition soldiers there. And coalition forces, mostly Spanish and Iraqi police, returned fire. At least 20 Iraqis were killed, along with at least one coalition soldier. Well over a hundred people were in hospital as a consequence of all the shooting.

U.S. officials Sunday warned the Shiite violence would not be tolerated, but Moqtada al-Sadder shrugged off the American warning when he sent his illegal private army into the streets to challenge the American military in Sadder City. It took American tanks to restore a modicum of quite there, but at a cost of at least eight U.S. soldiers killed. Many more American soldiers were wounded. At least 40 Iraqis were killed as well, and close to 200 Iraqis are now in hospitals. Iraq clearly is not going according to Washington script.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RODGERS: U.S. forces are also on the offensive in Fallujah. Fallujah, of course, is the site of that bloody massacre of four U.S. civilian contractors last week. The Marines took that city this morning. Again, using helicopters before dawn and then, later, tanks and troops went into the city, locking down, at least at first, a city of 300,000 Iraqis. Their mission: to find the killers of those four U.S. civilian contractors -- Bill.

HEMMER: Walt Rodgers, thanks there, live in Baghdad.

Let's stay in the Iraqi capital now. And more from that city. Newsweek Magazine correspondent at large Rod Norland is also there in Baghdad. He's the co-author of an article in the current issue of Newsweek that examines the challenges that lie ahead as the transfer of Iraqi sovereignty approaches, again, June 30 on the calendar.

The story is called "Dark road Ahead." And the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadder figures prominently in that article. Rod Norland is our guest now from Baghdad as well.

Rod, was this the right decision to shut down that newspaper?

ROD NORLAND, CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE, NEWSWEEK: Well, they had to do something about Moqtada al-Sadder once he started declaring war on the Americans. He's been getting increasingly more difficult.

The newspaper was being very provocative. Now, they were talking about six months ago dealing with him, and I think they felt they just couldn't delay dealing with him any longer.

It remains to be seen how much support he really has, though. In the past, he's only had a few thousand men, although very well organized. And it does appear that there's -- at least in the last day or so -- an awful lot of simply think for him.

There are demonstrations today in five cities; there's violence in a number of places. And if people go out in the streets in big numbers, it could be a very serious problem.

The other really worrisome thing that's happening is -- reportedly, at least -- Ayatollah Sistani, who is the leading moderate and the most respected Shiite cleric, has actually given some measure of support to Moqtada al-Sadder. So we really look at the possibility of a Shiite insurrection, as well as a Sunni one in places like Fallujah.

HEMMER: All right. Let's talk about Fallujah, then, because previously we were talking about Sadder City there in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The Marines have surrounded that town. Can they, through a show of strength and power, and overwhelming military operations superiority, quell what's happening inside of Fallujah and find those responsible for the killings last week?

NORLAND: I'd be very doubtful they could actually find the individuals responsible. They can shut the city down, which is what they've done now. They've blockaded it. The major highways are cut. But it's at a price.

The major highway into Iraq from Jordan, its most important lifeline, is closed today. And that could go on for sometime, depending.

So it's not going to be easy at all. And then there is also the danger of arousing the radicals in Fallujah to join with radicals like Moqtada al-Sadder. And you have this crossover that has never happened before in Iraq, Sunnis and Shia joining together against foreigners.

HEMMER: Today is April 5. April 12, a week away, is the next holly day for the Shiite population. The last significant holy day, 200 worshippers were killed. Is there anything being done right now to possibly prevent another attack there on a holy day like the 12th of April?

NORLAND: Well, you know, they expected an attack on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as well, and I think they did everything they could to prevent it, at least in terms of what Iraqi officials could do. I think we'll see more American forces on the streets, but it's unclear if they would be able to make much of a difference.

You're talking about possibly millions of people in the streets, any one of which could be hiding a suicide belt or in a car that has a bomb. And that's going to be very difficult to contain.

There is another anniversary coming, too, a few days before that, which is April 9, the day that Baghdad fell to American forces. So we'll see probably some opposition activity around that. It's going to be a very busy week ahead.

HEMMER: Rod, I don't have much time left. Senator Lugar over the weekend said June 30 is far too -- well, he didn't go that far. But he said a dialogue needs to be started as to whether or not this is the deadline that should hold firm and fast. Do the Iraqi people pay attention to the handover power in late June?

NORLAND: Yes. And I think they would be extremely disappointed and even angrier if it didn't take place. You know, there still is a reservoir of goodwill that we could tap into, and we would lose a lot of that if we failed to keep to that schedule.

HEMMER: Thanks, Rod. Rod Norland of Newsweek Magazine. Appreciate your thoughts. And stay safe over there. Thanks again.

Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: In Paris this morning, 13 suspected terrorists with alleged links to al Qaeda have been arrested by French police. Several Parisian neighborhoods were raided. The suspects are being held in connection with last year's terrorist attacks in Morocco. Thirty-three people were killed when bombs exploded in a busy tourist area there. The identities of the suspects have not been released.

HEMMER: In a moment here, what will that panel ask Condoleezza Rice on Thursday morning while she is under oath and in public? We'll hear from one of the commissioners, Richard Ben-Veniste, in a moment here on that topic.

COLLINS: Is television stunting your child's development? Dr. Sanjay Guppy looks at some New research there.

HEMMER: Also, will John Kerry pick a running mate earlier than expected? And, if so, what does that mean for the race? We'll take a look at who might be on top of that list ahead here this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On Thursday, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice will testify publicly before the panel investigating the September 11 attacks. The White House had cited executive privilege as its reason for keeping Rice from testifying publicly and under oath.

What led to the change and what questions will the panel put to Rice? Richard Ben-Veniste is a commissioner on the 9/11 panel. He is joining us live from Washington this morning.

Thanks so much for being with us, Mr. Ben-Veniste. We appreciate your time this morning.

RICHARD BEN-VENISTE, 9/11 COMMMISSIONER: Good morning.

COLLINS: I want to ask you first about something that happened yesterday. The 9/11 Commission spokesman, Al Felzenberg, said that a historical photograph faxed to the White House earlier last week may have actually persuaded the White House now to allow Condoleezza Rice to testify before the commission.

We are looking at that photograph now, from 1945. It shows Admiral William D. Leahy, the White House chief of staff, testifying about the attacks on Pearl Harbor before a special congressional panel.

Do you think this photograph had any influence, sir?

BEN-VENISTE: Well, perhaps it did. It's one of a number of instances where a White House personnel had testified before Congress. This perhaps, along with Pearl Harbor, is the most important instance of where we need to hear from presidential appointee -- in this case, Dr. Rice.

And so I think that, combined with the fact that many, many Republicans, as well as most Americans, said that this was the right thing to do, we need to hear from her. This is the commission which has the responsibility of finding the facts. So it's appropriate that they finally changed course and allowed her to testify.

COLLINS: But what are some of the questions you want to hear Condoleezza Rice answer publicly and under oath?

BEN-VENISTE: There are a number of discrepancies between Dr. Rice and others, and Dr. Rice and herself in the sense that she has said things along the way here that seem to be contradicted by the evidence. So we'll want to clarify it.

It's our job to try to get to the facts. Particularly of interest to us is, what steps did the government take, what steps did the administration pursue to try to protect us against attack by terrorists. What were the priorities? And there is some discrepancy about this. We need to sort that out. Clearly, Richard Clarke told Dr. Rice that there were terrorist cells, al Qaeda cells in the United States. What did the administration do about that information? Why could we not have prevented the 9/11 attacks?

COLLINS: Are you saying there could possibly be discrepancies, though, between what she has already said in private and what she will now say on Thursday in public?

BEN-VENISTE: There are a number of different statements that have been made. And we'll need to get clarification and try to sort that out.

COLLINS: I want to ask you about some interviewing that went on over the weekend. The leaders of the commission investigating these attacks, of course, have said, or at least the evidence that has been gathered by the panel, has them now indicating that they very well could be saying that these attacks were preventable. Your thoughts on that.

BEN-VENISTE: I think that's correct. We had a great deal of intelligence. The problem was that the intelligence was not utilized in an effective way that could have prevented the attacks.

We knew that two of the hijackers were in the United States. We knew they were al Qaeda. The FBI was looking for them, but they didn't do so in an effective way. And they didn't communicate up the chain.

Moreover, there was no sense of urgency in that the cabinet convened to discuss these issues in a way that could have shaken the trees and gotten the information up. In addition to the two al Qaeda hijackers who we knew about in the United States, there was Moussaoui, who was acting erratically, trying to learn how to fly a commercial plane despite the fact he had never flown anything than a Piper Cub before. And he was a person who we knew had contacts with Islamic militant jihadists back in Europe.

So there were indications certainly that the United States could be attacked during the summer of high alert, and yet nothing effective was done to pursue these leads and to protect us. So these are issues that are among my own agenda for things which we will pursue with Dr. Rice.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so very much this morning, Richard Ben-Veniste.

BEN-VENISTE: Thank you.

COLLINS: Appreciate your time.

And, once again, we do want to remind everyone, CNN will bring special live coverage of this week's 9/11 Commission hearings. Live coverage, that is, of Condoleezza Rice's testimony, which will begin Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. HEMMER: Still to come, Heidi, changes in the air. Airline customers picking the best airlines in the country. Results might surprise you just a bit.

And a serious problem with children is being linked with watching TV. Sanjay has that when we continue in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Popping kids in front of the TV set at a young age could be stunting their brain development. Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is making a 'House Call' from the CNN Center with details.

Hey, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, Heidi, not a big surprise here that potentially television or at least lots of it could stunt a child's brain development later on in life, specifically talking about something called ADHD. Here's the thing, Heidi. We know about children's television watching habits. We don't know as much about ADHD, but it's long believed that the two might be connected.

It's been long believed that ADHD might be influenced by environmental factors. So an interesting story now. A study coming out of the Journal of Pediatrics trying to look and see if there is a connection between the two.

So far, ADHD and hereditary were the only two linked factors. But they found interesting facts.

First of all, 53 percent of children actually have televisions in their bedroom. Children between the age of one and three on average, a one-year-old watches 2.2 hours of television a day. That's one years old. Three years old, it goes up to about 3.6 hours.

What they found was that 10 percent of those children, if they're watching that much television or more, are going to develop ADHD or significant attention problems by the age of seven. Pretty significant finding here that that much television watching leads to ADHD by the age of seven.

Critics saying that the brain, especially of children, very, very plastic. They have plots of plasticity, meaning easily influenced by lots of television watching, which is why ADHD might be caused by lots of television watching here.

Now, it's hard to link the on two. This isn't a cause and effect sort of story or study. But it's one of those things that certainly researchers, advocates, all that are going to say, you know what? Here's another reason not to watch as much television, especially at a young age -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, let me ask you about educational television, because I've seen quite a lot of that in the past three years or so. And I realize the term is subjective. You know, what is educational television? But is that included in this, or is there any harm there?

GUPTA: One of the criticisms of this study is that it did not make a distinction between good and bad television. So, yes, educational television considered by a lot to be sort of good television.

But here's the thing. Interesting, researchers telling us that what it really is, is that television is such a high-paced media now, so fast-paced medium, that when kids eventually get into the classroom, it's a much closer paced medium. If they're used to that fast-paced medium of television, oftentimes they're going to get easily distracted when they get in the classroom. Slower pace there -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, what do doctors say the alternative is then for parents limit TV exposure at a young age? I mean, do we just go outside to play, or what should we be doing?

GUPTA: Well, and you've been through this to some extent with your son, Riley (ph), no question. But there are sort of commonsensical solutions or suggestions as far as limiting television watching in your children.

Pediatrics Association says no television before the age of two. Can we do that? Perhaps. Set media time limits. Keep TVs, VCRs and computers out of the bedroom.

Again, more than half of kids have one of these in their bedroom. Parental attention as much as possible, and interaction with outside environmental people as well, getting the kids outside the home.

These are all possible solutions. Suggestions, I should say. It is difficult, not question. But I think this is probably the first study that really shows possibly a link between television and ADHD.

COLLINS: And the computer or computier, as Riley (ph) would like to call it.

GUPTA: That's right. You ought to ask your partner there, too, Bill Hemmer, how much television he watched when he was a kid. Just out of curiosity.

HEMMER: Very little.

COLLINS: I can tell by looking at him.

HEMMER: I was outside playing in the yard.

COLLINS: Oh, you were?

HEMMER: Absolutely. That's our demo, by the way. Kids under the age of eight here on AMERICAN MORNING.

CAFFERTY: Did they have TV in Cincinnati when you were a child? HEMMER: As a matter of fact, they did. It's Jack, right?

CAFFERTY: Yes. The one thing that doctors have found is that allowing your children to watch the entire three hours of AMERICAN MORNING is fine. Not a problem at all.

HEMMER: Exactly right.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: It looks as though there may be a snag in the jury system. On Friday, we got the mistrial of the Tyco case because of juror number four. Martha Stewart's lawyers want a New trial. They say one of the jurors in that case lied about his past on the questionnaire.

Scott Peterson's lawyer, Mark Geragos, wants another change of venue. They can hold the trial on the moon, I guess. They don't seem to be able to get a jury together there.

So should the jury system be changed in some way is the inquiry of the day. Get the kids around now, because we're going to read the letters.

Bob in Florida: "Attorneys should have a limit on fees that they are allowed to charge." Now, that's a good idea just in and of itself. "And the courts should appoint the experts to give testimony for both the prosecution and defense. The jurors are seated by the court. Why not the experts as well?"

Mike in Parsippany: "We don't need juries anymore. We should ask the question on CNN after five or 10 minutes of getting the facts from one of the talking heads, and then let the viewers decide. After all, they represent all that's good and wise in our country. Why waste taxpayers money on trials?"

Alan in Nashville, Tennessee: "Jack, the jury system is imperfect, just as it was designed to be. Dennis Nero Kozlowski will be retried and convicted. So let's all relax."

And Dee Scott in Seattle writes this: "Yes, we should rid ourselves of the archaic jury system and let the politicians decide. That way, we know the verdict can be bought, and we don't have to pay those pesky lawyers in the middle."

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Yes. We had those jurors on last hour. They said, if you're going to retry them, their advice to the defense is to take a plea. Because they think he'll go down if there is another case.

CAFFERTY: I guess they were, but not for juror number four. They were ready to convict in this last trial for...

(CROSSTALK) HEMMER: But they said between Monday and Friday, between the point when the judge came in and said, mistrial, the deal is done here, they said they were making progress every day toward a conviction.

CAFFERTY: Toward a conviction.

HEMMER: And then it was stopped.

CAFFERTY: Well, good. Let's hope we give them a second try.

HEMMER: All right. We'll keep you posted.

Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, more practical joking on the way to MTV.

He's ready to Punk more celebrities. Asthenia Kucher, that's our -- just part of our "90-Second Pop" this morning. Also, opening bell in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, 9:31 here in New York. Welcome back. Heidi in today for Soledad. Good morning again.

COLLINS: Good morning again.

HEMMER: A big win for the underdog when it comes to airlines passenger satisfaction. Why low-cost airlines are beating the giant carriers at there own game. The list is out. We'll get to it in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

COLLINS: Also, Jeff Greenfield is here this morning to talk about a gamble by the Kerry campaign said to be speeding up the process of choosing a VP. Jeff will look at some of the names on that list.

HEMMER: More testament to how fierce this election campaign is going to be.

COLLINS: Yes, indeed.

HEMMER: All right. Tops stories here at the half-hour.

Our headlines: a showdown continues between radical militiamen and coalition troops in Baghdad. Apache helicopters firing rockets into a Shiite neighborhood today. Several people reported injured there.

Coalition forces also raid the office of Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential cleric who has ignited anti-U.S. violence. Earlier today in Baghdad, the U.S. civilian administrator, Paul Bremer, labeled the cleric an outlaw. More than a dozen U.S. soldiers and scores of Iraqis have been killed since Saturday. Police in Spain have arrested two more people in connection with the March 11 attacks on commuter trains near Madrid. Authorities trying to determine if the men have ties to a group called the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group. That group is thought to have ties with al Qaeda. The attacks left 190 dead and more than 1,400 wounded.

Firefighters continue to battle several blazes across parts of Florida today. Near Jacksonville, approaching flames and heavy smoke forced officials to close part of I-95 for the weekend. A south Florida fire forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes in southwest Miami, Dade County. Fires near the Everglades still burning but said to be under control, consuming about 3,300 acres there in the southern part of Florida.

A boyhood home of former President Bill Clinton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, still standing, despite being gutted by fire last night. Officials say the fire started in a car engine in the garage and spread quickly. Firefighters were called around 9:00 last night. The fire extinguished about 30 minutes later.

You're up to date now, 9:33 in New York.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: When it comes to taking the skies, travelers are discovering the big airlines may no longer be their best ticket. Discount carriers are fast making top marks in customer quality.

CNN's Bob Franken has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The winner and new champion in the 14th annual Airline Quality Rating is JetBlue. In fact, three of the top four best performers are low-fare operators: JetBlue, Southwest and America West.

All together, the study rated 14. Many of the big ones were somewhere at the bottom. United, American, Delta among those in the lower tier. All of the information came from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

What about performance industry-wide? This will surprise the weary traveler. It was up. Although, that weary traveler might not be surprised to find it was up only slightly. And that, because the number of official consumer complaints was way down.

Even so, on-time arrivals were down, while passenger bumping was up. Lost luggage, up. This is a joint project of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and Wichita State University.

As for the performance of the low-cost carriers, the analysts made it clear they believe it's not just those low fares, but higher customer service which has resulted in a big jump in their market share, from just 4 percent when the studies began to a full 25 percent now. The old joke used to be, flying is the best way to fly. The study might suggest that flying cheaply is the best way to fly.

Bob Franken, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Airline experts say this news is a sign the airline industry is going through major changes. Carriers are being forced to deliver good service at a good price or suffer severe losses -- Bill.

HEMMER: Back to politics now. Word came yesterday in The New York Times that the Kerry campaign is leading toward an early pick of a vice presidential candidate maybe by mid June. If that happens, it's considered very early in presidential campaigns.

With the article and new round of speculation about who might be on the undercard, our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, here with us on a Monday morning.

Nice to see you. Richard Nixon once said the VP pick can't help, but it can hurt.

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Well, remember, you're talking about the guy who picked Spiro Agnew as his running mate, a pick that post-election (UNINTELLIGIBLE) nearly cost Nixon the election. But I don't think it's right.

Look, you can clearly point to choices that were political liabilities. Agnew was an obvious one; George McGovern's choice of Senator Tom Eagleton in 1972, he had to leave the ticket when his history of being hospitalized for depression was revealed.

Geraldine Ferraro made history when Walter Mondale chose her as the first woman on the ticket back in '84, but she was then pummeled with questions about her husband's real estate activities. And Dan Quayle in 1988 became a lightning rod. So there is this tradition, sort of.

HEMMER: I've got to think there's another side to this story.

GREENFIELD: Yes. And I think it's a widely overlooked one.

I mean, the obviously example is when John Kennedy picked him Lyndon Johnson in 1960. That probably won him Texas, maybe some other southern states. But I think there are more examples.

For instance, when Reagan picked George H. W. Bush in 1980, that was a clear signal that he was going to run a broad campaign by reaching out to Republican moderates. I think Clinton's pick of Al Gore in 1992, very unconventional. Gore was the same age and came from the same region, same political bent. But it reinforced the idea of a young, energetic campaign of change.

And back in 2000, I think both picks helped. I think Dick Cheney gave Bush weight, a sense of experience in foreign policy, while Joe Lieberman showed that Al Gore was not the predictable risk or risk (ph) politician when he chose not only the first Jewish candidate, but one who had openly criticized Gore's boss, Bill Clinton, for his misbehavior. So I think there are records where they actually helped.

HEMMER: It kind of takes us just to the meat of the matter here. What does that history tell us about John Kerry's possibilities?

GREENFIELD: Well, you know, the list that we've seen so far, which as far as I can tell, now includes about everybody but Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith, is heavy with possibilities based on conventional notions. John Edwards may give you support in the South and rural America. Dick Gephardt may give you strength in Missouri and the blue collar Midwest.

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico would be the first Hispanic. It maybe gives you strength in New Mexico and Arizona. Hillary Clinton, well, there's no logic at all to that choice, but people like to talk about it.

But the other way you go is to make a pick that changes the country's sense of who you are. For instance, does John Kerry want to signal that he thinks September 11 was a huge event and is a huge event that has to change the way politicians think and act? That is the appeal of the politically impossible John McCain idea, reaching across party lines.

It's what argues for another Republican of stature. Someone like -- and this is not a prediction, folks -- former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean, who now heads the 9/11 Commission. It argues for a Democrat like former Senator and commission member Bob Kerrey, who has views on Iraq that are very different from John Kerry's.

But we have to acknowledge this. The man who has been tasked with heading up the Kerry search is a fellow named Jim Johnson. Former top aide of Walter Monday, former head of Fanny Mae, the powerful and cash-rich mortgage insurance agency.

Johnson is chair of the Kennedy Center. He is about as classic and establishment Washington insider as you could find. So this does not portend a daring unconventional choice. But the key here to me is that because Senator Kerry will ultimately be making the choice, we're going to learn a lot about the kind of candidate and maybe the kind of president Kerry will be by the running mate he picks.

HEMMER: Very interesting stuff, too. Do you think it also goes to a testament to the campaign, if indeed he's going to go this early and choose a running mate and buck the trend of history? Does it tell you a little something about, well, how critical it is at this point and how quickly we've started this election cycle?

GREENFIELD: Yes, it absolutely tells us. It tells us -- the calendar that a lot of us grew up with, where you wait for the convention -- it used to be you had to wait to be nominated at the convention, and then generally within a week or so of the convention that is out the window. The rules are completely different, which is why I'm having such a hard time. HEMMER: Hard time but a good time, too, I think.

GREENFIELD: It's fascinating, yes.

HEMMER: It's keeping our interest. Thank you, Jeff.

GREENFIELD: OK.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, will the stock market rally pick up where it left off on Friday? Hope so. Not so sure about that. Andy Serwer will have the up to the minute market news in just a moment.

HEMMER: Also, Heidi, a new TV show in the works. It's got drugs and violence and big stars, and everything in it really happened. "90-Second Pop" has it in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: More music that will stick with you all day long. Time, once again, for "90-Second Pop."

Today, "Punk'd" again. You'll never guess who wants a reality show. And could two star cross stars get together once again?

Here to discuss it all, humorous Andy Borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold"; New York Magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard; and Toure, contributing editor at Rolling Stone Magazine.

My goodness. We have so much to get to.

First of all, Sarah, "Punk'd?" I mean, we thought with we had heard the last from Ashton Kutcher.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Well, he "Punk'd" us. I think this is completely a response to the fact that his last two movies have just completely tanked.

"Butterfly Effect," it was really, really bad film. And the critics actually singled out the fact that he has no talent and is a really bad actor. So I think this is one of the things that he -- really, he's a better celebrity than he is an actor. And this is the vehicle for him to do that.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: But this was always the plan, right? Of course, he said, I'm not going to do "Punk'd" anymore so that you, the celebrities, would think, OK, I can let my guard down. And if they call me to go do something stupid, then it won't be "Punk'd." I mean, everybody in Hollywood was constantly worried about...

BERNARD: That's making him sound like he's a punk genius. I think he just didn't...

(CROSSTALK) ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: He has a plan (ph) where he loves playing pranks on people. And I really think that's what his last three films were all about.

BERNARD: Right. We were "Punk'd" by his bad acting.

BOROWITZ: We were all "Punk'd" again. Or tanked, as you would say.

BERNARD: Tanked.

COLLINS: Silly us. All right.

Andy?

BOROWITZ: Yes?

COLLINS: You're pals, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston.

BOROWITZ; Yes, yes.

COLLINS: OK. What is the deal here? Because Bobby Brown is looking for his own TV reality show. He might want to check in with Ashton on this.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

COLLINS: And, as we know, Whitney has recently, you know, checked in for drug rehab.

BOROWITZ: Right.

COLLINS: What is going on here? I mean, do people want to watch, first of all, do you think?

BOROWITZ: Well, here is the concept, first of all. Bobby Brown wants to do a reality show that would show like a day in the average life of Bobby Brown. And, you know, I've got news for Bobby. That show is already on TV. It's called "Cops."

But, you know, I don't know. I mean, his wife has had some troubles, in rehab. Once again, Bobby Brown's timing is exquisite. I think it's just a great time for a reality show.

TOURE: I mean, if there is anybody who would be the black Osbournes family, wildness, a little drug doing, a lot of cursing, it would be the Browns.

BOROWITZ: That's right.

BERNARD: But when did this happen that reality shows became like the panaceas for celebrities who have -- you know, has-been careers? This is what they do now.

I mean, that was the case with the Osbournes a little bit. Jessica Simpson, she wasn't living up to the Britney expectation. So it's kind of like a natural thing that he would want to do this. I mean, this is the model.

BOROWITZ: It's a time for healing. And I think that's what a reality is all about.

TOURE: It's amazing that we're to this level. Don't even remember in like '88, he was the king of America! "Don't be Cruel," every song on the album was incredible. And now look.

BOROWITZ: Toure, it's his prerogative.

COLLINS: All right. Moving right along. I know, Toure, you want to talk about this movie, Nicole Kinmon's new movie. Oh, you love it.

TOURE: Oh, it's awesome.

COLLINS: Right. Why is it getting so much buzz? The reviews, you have to admit, have been mixed.

TOURE: Well, the reviews have been mixed, but that's because certain critics are stupid. It was an awesome, awesome film.

It's three hours long, so you've got to bring a lunch. But, I mean, like it's fun, it's Nicole Kidman, it's smart. The sets are smart. The dialogue -- I mean, it's very much like a critique of America and the brutality of America. And...

BOROWITZ: I've got to admit, I screwed up because I thought that "Dogville" was a Disney film. And my kids hated it.

BERNARD: Wait, can we talk about the anti-America (UNINTELLIGIBLE), because this guy, Lars Von Trier, has never been to America. Is that right?

TOURE: Yes.

BERNARD: So how can you make this movie about small town America and insult us in this way? He's never even been here.

BOROWITZ: And he's from Denmark. And I've got news for him, Denmark isn't so great either. They don't have NASCAR there.

BERNARD: Terrible.

COLLINS: Quickly, Toure, tell us what it's about, so that people...

TOURE: Nicole Kidman come to see a small town that seems very nice and sweet, and quickly becomes not so nice and sweet.

COLLINS: Oh, OK. So that's that. All right. So we've got to ask you really quickly before we go, Nicole, Tom, getting back together? Just rumors? What do you think?

BERNARD: This is a "Punk'd" thing coming back again, right? BOROWITZ: I am just a hopeless romantic. I hope it's true. I've still got my fingers crossed for Liza and David. So I think that I really would like to see it happen.

COLLINS: You never know.

BERNARD: Such a romantic.

COLLINS: Hey, guys, thank you so much. Appreciate your time, as always, Andy, Sarah and Toure. Thanks again -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Heidi, thanks.

Twelve minutes now before the hour. Aaron Brown, a preview of what is coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," Iraqi shades of gray. The first of a series of stories you have not seen before. Surprising stories, some of them reported to us by CNN's Nic Robertson.

We'll have that, all the top news, of course, morning papers and the rest. That's "NEWSNIGHT," CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

HEMMER: All right. Aaron, thanks.

In a moment, here's some good news for Tyco that has nothing to do with judges, juries or lawyers. Andy has that.

Back with Jack also in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Mistrial and all, Tyco stock is on a tear. With that, checking the markets, Andy Serwer back with us here, 'Minding Your Business.' First, to the markets.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Let's do that. A little surprising here now. Well, a little surprising in the markets, though, Bill.

I thought we were going to get beat up this morning because of events overseas. Well, OK, I stand corrected. We were up a little bit, but that's how quickly things go here. Just down four points.

A couple of stocks moving to the upside. Cigna raising its forecast for the year. That stock is up five points.

Another stock on the move, as you mentioned, though, Bill, is Tyco. And you can see here that the stock has been up, doubled really over the past year, which is really pretty amazing. This because the company has been moving away from Dennis Kozlowski, the man with the golden shower curtain -- can we call him that -- and Mark Swartz.

HEMMER: Six grand. SERWER: You know, this is a big conglomerate, it makes all manner of things. It's a healthy company. It's not like Enron or Arthur Andersen or even WorldCom.

And the one problem they do have is they face billions of dollars of shareholder litigation. Potentially a settlement of billions of dollars. That's why the stock was up a little bit on Friday, because the mistrial makes it more difficult for the shareholders to sue the company. And acquittal, of course, would really make things difficult. But we're not anticipating that.

And, finally, I want to talk about the picture of the day. This comes from cameraman John, who is a fisherman. Check this out.

Up in Danbury, Connecticut, a convenience store: "Martha Stewart Omnimedia, world headquarters, two miles ahead." Of course, that's just a couple of miles away from the women's prison up there in Danbury.

And we talked to the guy who ran the story. He said, "Yes, that's for real." He's going to be taking it down, though, pretty soon, and putting up another sign honoring the troops in Iraq. But for now, up there in Danbury, pretty close to where Martha Stewart may be.

HEMMER: Sentencing now scheduled for mid June. We'll see if the schedule holds.

Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: All right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Who do you like, Georgia Tech, UConn? Quickly.

SERWER: I told you, Georgia Tech.

HEMMER: Jack?

CAFFERTY: What?

SERWER: They beat them once already this year.

HEMMER: Yes, they did.

SERWER: They'll beat them again.

HEMMER: How bad did they beat them by?

SERWER: I don't know the score. But Luke Sensor (ph) only got two points.

HEMMER: You don't know the score? SERWER: Don't know the score. But this year, this time is going to be even better.

HEMMER: All right. Jack?

CAFFERTY: I like the Bengals.

COLLINS: Oh, god!

CAFFERTY: It's Jack, right?

Heidi, who do you like tonight?

COLLINS: Well, UConn is on a roll. Women's, men's...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Unless they cancel the ceremony.

We've got to go. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.

Hey, Daryn, good morning. Happy Monday/

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. You can't walk the streets of Atlanta without saying, "Go yellowjackets" -- Georgia Tech.

HEMMER: I bet that is all of the talk in Atlanta.

KAGAN: Yes. And, Billy, stay tuned. We're looking at baseball opening day from Cincinnati.

HEMMER: Where the tradition all began.

KAGAN: There you go.

COLLINS: We talked about them a little bit today.

HEMMER: Elephants on 5th Street.

KAGAN: You have a great day there in New York City. We'll get started.

Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Here is a look what is happening at this hour.

U.S. Marines lock down the volatile Iraqi City of Fallujah. Operation Vigilant Resolve comes in response to last week's ambush and brutal killing of four U.S. civilian contractors. The Marines have surrounded the city on all sides. Coalition officials say one Marine and at least seven Iraqis were killed in the firefights this morning in Fallujah. A soldier injured in an attack on his convoy in Mosul on Sunday has also died.

There is violence in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City as well. At least eight U.S. troops died in clashes with supporters of a radical Muslim cleric. The arrest of the cleric's deputy set off the violence protests over the weekend. An Iraqi government official says that arrest is part of an investigation into a rival cleric's death a year ago.

Secretary of State Colin Powell heads to Haiti today to meet with the country's new leader to urge them not to give government positions to rebels who helped out President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...