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American Morning
Judge Deals Blow to Bryant Defense; Funding for War in Iraq Expected to Run Out by End of August
Aired April 22, 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Earth Day, by the way.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, and likewise. What are you doing to celebrate?
HEMMER: I'm getting a card for you.
O'BRIEN: OK. We'll see if that happens.
HEMMER: I have my earth tones on today.
O'BRIEN: You just made that up off the top of your head.
HEMMER: It's my imagination.
In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll talk about the Kobe Bryant matter. We'll talk to a reporter out of Denver, watching the proceedings closely. Perhaps the biggest decision to date happened late yesterday. What happens now? A variance of opinions on the legal side about this, about how much it could hurt the defense or how much not. So we'll get to Colorado in a moment on that.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us. If you find that you cannot resist a plate of fudge or brownies, duh, or pizza, duh, well, maybe you have a food addiction, which some people say could be just as real as a drug or alcohol addiction. We're going to get Dr. Sanjay Gupta to get to the bottom of that.
HEMMER: From the category of a no-brainer. Yes, you sit in bed eating a pint of Haagen-Dazs with a spoon. I don't do that.
Top stories again this half hour. Michael Jackson has been indicted by Santa Barbara grand jury, specific charges not known. It's believed they are similar to the child molestation and child endangerment charges Jackson already faced at one point. In a statement, his lawyer says they are confident he'll be fully exonerated. He's said to be arraigned April 30th. No trial date set on that case.
In Iraq, a Spanish journalist gunned down today in a Baghdad marketplace. A police official telling CNN the journalist was shot and killed earlier today, identity not disclosed. An Iraqi translator also apparently injured in that same incident.
In this country, a judge refused to throw out the case against Oklahoma city bombing conspirator Terry Nichols. Nichols' lawyer charged the prosecution withheld evidence. He's on trial, state murder charges, that could carry the death penalty along with it. Michael Fortier also took the stand for a second day. He's in prison for knowing about the plot and not telling authorities.
The focus is on the environment today on the campaign trail. It is Earth Day yet again. President Bush is in Maine, where we'll talk about progress in the environment since the first Earth day, more than 30 years ago.
Meanwhile, in Houston, John Kerry takes aim at the White House for what he charges are rollbacks for clean air and water regulations. The world's largest cruise ship is in the Big Apple today. It came in about two hours ago. The Queen Mary II docking on Manhattan's west side. Among the many amenities on this craft, the largest ballroom and wine collection at sea, a canyon ranch spa, the world's only shipboard planetarium. The cost of a six-day crossing starts at $1,500 per person. They have a crew of 1,000 on board to help you on that journey. Now in New York today, the Maiden Voyage.
O'BRIEN: That's going to be amazing. It'll be fun to drive up the west side and see what that really looks like.
HEMMER: I've seen that thing coming up the Hudson.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Now to Colorado and the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. The judge has dealt a blow to the defense, denying Bryant's lawyers access to his accuser's medical records. Just what impact could the ruling have on Bryant's legal strategy? Joining us this morning from Denver, reporter Alex Stone of KAOA Radio. Nice to see you again, Alex. Thanks for being with us. We talk about this being a blow to the defense. But exactly how big of a blow is it, do you think?
ALEX STONE, KAOA RADIO: Good morning, Soledad.
Good to see you again, too. It is a fairly big blow. If it wasn't a surprise to the defense, it hit them hard, because they have put such an emphasis on wanting to get into the accuser's background. There's a chance they could still do it by going through what witnesses have told them, if the allows that in, but for now, the records they put so much focus on, for now at least, are out.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, just because they are not allowed to introduce the records doesn't mean they can't talk about her medical history. Does it limit them from asking her about it at all?
STONE: At this point, we don't know. All the judge has said is that they don't have access to these records. He also threw out three subpoenas that have been issue for health workers around Colorado to try to get into her medical history.
So as of right now, they could ask those questions when this goes to trial in front of a jury. He could, the judge, just Terry Rodreagal (ph), could end up throwing that out and saying you can't even talk about it. But right now, they could go through witness statements, and at least talking about what they do know.
O'BRIEN: The area has been, I think it's fair to say, flooded with victims' rights advocates and lots of media and a bunch of other people as well. What's the atmosphere been like in the wake of this new information in Eagle, Colorado?
STONE: Victim advocates are calling it a victory. They've been coming out over the last couple of weeks, Soledad, and saying, judge, you cannot open up these records, because nobody will feel secure talking to their doctors, especially for rape victims or for alleged victims, anybody in this type of situation, because they're going to feel like anything they say to a psychiatrist or to their own doctor, their physician, could come out publicly, and eventually, be broadcast around the world. So victims' rights advocates are saying this is a victory for them.
O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, there's another pretrial hearing, I think it's Monday actually. And that focuses on the sexual history part of the accuser's background. What exactly, specifically, is at stake here?
STONE: This is going to be a three-day hearing, Soledad, so there's a lot that's going to be tackled during this time. Some of it is going to be the sexual background of the accuser. That is continuing. They are still talking about this behind closed doors. They've been talking about it for several months now. How much of her background can be, if any, talked about during trial time in front of a jury. They're also going to talk about evidence that Kobe Bryant, are the statements he made to police, should they be allowed in, should they not in evidence he gave to police the night before he was arrested.
And then they want to get into the motions filed in the last hearing about slowing down the trial or speeding it up. All sides now saying they want to speed it up. Will they be able to? They're going to talk about it in the next hearing.
O'BRIEN: Does Kobe Bryant have to be in court for all of this? Because of course, with the playoffs, theoretically, he could miss some of this.
STONE: Yes, theoretically, he could. The judge wants him in court. He's supposed to be in court, unless the judge allows him to not attend any of these hearings. We do expect him to be in the courtroom all three days. He's only missed one hearing through all of this, when he was sick one day. That was the day the accuser's mother was testifying, several months ago. Otherwise he's been in court every day.
O'BRIEN: All right, Alex Stone of KOA Radio. As always, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning. We'll check in with you, obviously, again as the story continues -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 22 before the hour now. Funding for the war in Iraq expected to run out by the end of August. But the White House also being criticized for a reluctance to ask for more money prior to the election. Now we're learning that money was being spent on military projects in the Mideast in 2002, before the president asked Congress to pass a war resolution.
Joe Johns watching the money on Capitol Hill.
Good morning there, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
There's talk of a $4 billion shortfall by the end of the budget year. And the question, essentially, is whether the Pentagon will come to Congress and ask for money like that before the election.
Of course, there's a problem now, as you mentioned. The problem is that story by Bob Woodward about millions of dollars being diverted from Afghanistan to pay for Iraq planning before Congress authorized the war in Iraq. Now congressional appropriators are circulating a list, a list of 21 projects for the war on terrorism.
This list right here. This list includes, interestingly enough, a lot of things for Kuwait from the year 2002.
Now, I'll just read it to you. There you go -- $24 million for U.S. army ammunition storage and supply system, $15 million for communication equipment for U.S. base in Kuwait, $6.5 million for petroleum distribution systems with trucks.
All of this, of course, is leading particularly Democrats in Congress, to question whether the next time they appropriate money for the Department of Defense, whether they actually should require the Department of Defense to spell out precisely what it is planning to do with the money. This could mean more scrutiny of the Pentagon at a time when the administration is really pushing flexibility in spending -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, ultimately, is there an allegation here the build- up for war began when this money that you just showed us was diverted to areas like Kuwait?
JOHNS: Well, that is the question. And many Democrats are not willing to go that far. Of course, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has questioned whether the spending by the Pentagon was legal. The Pentagon says it was perfectly legal.
At the end of the day, perhaps, at least, as I said, Congress may pay much closer attention to any more money that's given to the Pentagon, if this issue really catches fire.
HEMMER: Watching the cash on Capitol Hill. Thanks, Joe. Joe Johns there in D.C.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an al Qaeda connection claimed in that deadly Saudi Arabia blast. Now that country is turning up the heat to try to track down terrorists.
HEMMER: Also, think you like chocolate? Think you're an addict? Sanjay may back up your hunch in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And look at this, what's up with this starry-eyed little toddler? Find out why he's No. 1 with some of Hollywood's A- list.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Chocoholics can now look to science to support their habit. A new study says that the brain can respond to favorite foods in an addictive manner, and it's similar to the response that's triggered, believe it or not, by cocaine.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with details.
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
We are not sure we're going to give an excuse to chocoholics quite yet, but a really interesting study here looking at people who smelled and tasted food, but did not actually eat it, and trying to see what happens in their brain, finding out there are some very specific changes that occur in the brain, talking about desire, talking about a likely role for addiction as well with the food as opposed to cocaine.
Interesting, it was a small study. It was a study done of about 12 hungry adults. They hadn't eaten in about 17 hours. They picked all their favorite foods, everything from Cinnabons, to pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, brownies. And they essentially did, they got the smell of the food and then they got a cotton swab taste of the food as well. Then they were taken to the PET scanner to get their brains imaged, to find out what was lighting up, what was changing in the brains.
Very interesting here. On the top now, somewhat difficult to see, but you can tell on the top row, that is when someone has been -- smelled and tasted food that they really like. That's what the food smell and taste, brain really lighting up. All those yellow areas, as you can see, and some of the red areas as well. On the bottom, that's with no food stimulation, much less lighting up there without the food stimulation, specifically -- I'll show you on this brain model -- since those images are a little bit harder to tell, specific areas of the brain that are responsible, in part, for addiction.
Up here, in the frontal lobe as well as this area here, the superior temporal lobe it's called. Those areas specifically responsible for addictions. Those areas perhaps responsible in part, as well, for people who smell, taste, but didn't eat these foods, and the way that their brains responded to it. Interesting study, what they're trying to do here, Soledad, a small study, but trying to make the role as to whether or not food can also be an addictive substance -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: So the fact that the PET scan shows that they are really liking it, does that take it to the next level, that it's actually equivalent to something like a cocaine addiction?
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, because people have long talked about substances that are addictive. Food hasn't typically made that list. But they did, was they really tried to make this case that food can be an addictive substance as well.
Take a look, for example, at food versus cocaine. These are people who are thinking about food on the left. Now those yellow areas in the front of the brain -- that's the front part of the brain -- that's an area where addictive personalities tend to light up. These are people who are just stimulated by food. On the right, you can see the whole brain light up with cocaine. But again in front, that same area, lights up more brightly in cocaine, but it's the same area of the brain being affected by both.
O'BRIEN: So what's the big picture plan with this? I mean, researchers must be working toward some kind of goal. So is it to control food cravings, or what is it?
GUPTA: I think, first of all, the whole notion that food can be addictive is becoming a very hot topic. Certainly, we talked about cigarettes, potentially, being addictive. Obviously, illicit drugs being addictive. Could food be addictive as well? You're starting to see some of the early studies here, and that has wide implications, given the obesity and the overweight situation in this country.
There are also other situations as well. When you talk about children, for example, trying to control some of those compulsive cravings early in life so they don't lead to compulsive eatings later on.
They also think of food as a gateway substance, meaning that if you become a compulsive eater, if you become someone who's addicted to food, they say, are you more likely to also become addicted to other substances later on in life, become more vulnerable to bad habits? One of the researchers we spoke to as well, Soledad, making the case that we're sort of bombarded by so much advertising about food, which in a way is food stimulation. We see candy machines everywhere, which in a way, is food stimulation. Could those, in fact, be fostering, enhancing the addiction to food that you can now measure on these perform PET scans.
O'BRIEN: I knew it wasn't me. I knew they were all those candy machines that are responsible for my addiction to chocolate. Thank you, Sanjay. I feel so much better now that we've spoken -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks.
Wherever there are celebrities, you have seen the paparazzi nearby clicking their cameras, but who is this Jeremy guy?
Jeanne Moos explains this morning in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He may be just learning to talk.
JEREMY ZOREK: Uh-oh. Nice.
MOOS: But somehow he's managed to talk his way into dozens of celebrity photo-ops. From Leno to Billy Crystal to Robin Williams to Halle Berry.
MICHAEL ZOREK, JEREMY'S DAD: It's not the best picture of Jeremy but she looks beautiful.
MOOS: Jeremy's dad posts them all on the Web site whoisthatwithjeremy.com.
J. ZOREK: Who's that?
M. ZOREK: That's G. Gordon Liddy.
MOOS: From Watergate to Playboy, sorry, Hef, Jeremy is a boy who plays, not a playboy. Back in the '80s Jeremy's dad was an actor. In a dress, in a mohawk. Now his son's posing with actors like 007, singers like Billy Joel. They run into celebs on the street, go to dozens of book signings. Jeremy's most photographed moment was with none other than Madonna.
(on camera): So are you doing it for fun?
Do you want to have a show biz career?
M. ZOREK: It's for fun. It's for fun. He models. Which is fine. But none of this...
J. ZOREK: Mommy! Mommy!
MOOS (voice-over): We tagged along when Jeremy lined up to meet Danny Aiello signing his new CD.
M. ZOREK: Can you say hi Danny Aiello.
J. ZOREK: Hi Danny Aiello.
M. ZOREK: This is my son Jeremy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Jeremy.
M. ZOREK: Can I get a photograph?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
MOOS: A few say no. Among them Mikhail Gorbachev and Paul McCartney. Though Ringo posed.
(on camera): Can you say P. Diddy.
J. ZOREK: P. Diddy.
MOOS (voice-over): From rapper, to former president, there's even a parody Web site now. Who is that eating Jeremy? And someone photo swabbed Jeremy's head onto Michael Jackson's dangling baby. Once in awhile Jeremy fuss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more for the road.
M. ZOREK: He likes -- if you know the ABC song he likes that better.
J. ZOREK: ABCD.
MOOS: This kid's too cool to drool on a celebrity. Makes posing with Santa seem quaint.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's just weird. Can you imagine hauling your kid all over New York City at book signings? What is he, 18-months old? To book signings? Then get his picture taken with celebrities.
HEMMER: You've got two more on the way.
O'BRIEN: You know, and if I ever say I'm going to do that, take me out back...
HEMMER: I will.
O'BRIEN: ... and hit me over the head with a 2 by 4, please.
Still to come, soccer's next world cup is in beer-loving Germany two years from now. So why are some Germans already up in arms about that? Andy Serwer is going to join us with a look about what's going on there, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Pushing again the hairy edge of existence, here's Jack Cafferty this morning with us. Sorry, pal.
O'BRIEN: That was funny. Come on, Jack. That was cute.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wait until you find out who is going to sell all the beer at the World Cup Games in Germany. And Andy Serwer has that and some inflation news, and a follow-up to a story that we sort of got at a little bit yesterday. Now we can tell the rest of the story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We can. We can.
All right, let's start off with the markets. Yesterday, Greenspan Testifying. This morning, though, more fodder for the inflation hawks. Wholesale prices rising up .5 percent, the core rate of the PPI .2 percent. More indications, Jack, perhaps that inflation is rearing its ugly head.
CAFFERTY: Does the stock market know this may happen?
SERWER: The stock market doesn't. The futures are flat. We'll be checking it out later in the morning.
Let's talk about soccer, futbol. Of course, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. Jack Cafferty may be ignoring it, but it's big, big, big, big, big stuff, watched by millions around the globe, every four years. In 2006, it's going to be in Germany, Munich and a dozen other cities. So guess who got an exclusive deal to sell beer for the World Cup in Germany?
CAFFERTY: Just amazing.
SERWER: Budweiser. Budweiser. And a lot of Germans are none too happy. Germans love their beer. We have some great Germans drinking beer.
Those are big beers. Look at that, that's a lunch beer. Now here are some locals.
Anyway, not only did Budweiser get the beer deal, McDonald's got the food deal. So if you go to the World Cup in Germany, you'll have to drink Budweiser and eat Big Macs. So the Germans are none too happy.
One local politician saying, yes, there will be other food we'll be supplied with, respectable products.
CAFFERTY: Probably getting you and old knackwurst, if you know where to look over there.
And Budweiser is nothing like the indigenous German beers. I mean, the Germans will be just in open revolt when they taste that stuff. It's much milder.
SERWER: They say they won't wash their cars in Germany with Budweiser. That's what someone said. Anyway, it's going to be a lot of fun.
Let's talk about this ads. Jim Cantaloupa, the CEO of McDonald's passed away on Monday. McDonald's took out an ad. We talked about this a little bit, Jack. Here's the ad they took out which we thought was a little interesting. I mean, it shows Ronald McDonald crying.
CAFFERTY: That's dumb.
SERWER: And then here today is an ad by Coca-Cola, which I thought was in a lot better taste. Coke, of course, being the biggest customer of the company. And, yes that's sort of a little more tasteful perhaps, should I say that?
CAFFERTY: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: I was a little surprised that the company didn't maybe do a mixture of the two, That Coke had to come out with that, as opposed to...
SERWER: This is how you do it right.
CAFFERTY: The stockholders got to be upset about them spending all this money to run these full-page adds in "The New York Times," showing a half of Ronald McDonald's face with a tear on it. I mean, they don't give that stuff away over there.
SERWER: And then he can't even read it, as you pointed out.
CAFFERTY: Yes, the guy it's intended for ain't going to read it, because they don't get the paper there.
What else you got?
SERWER: That's it. It's up to you.
CAFFERTY: On to the Cafferty File. City workers in Chicago making hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of phone calls to sex hotlines, psychic hotlines, directory assistance, all on the taxpayers' dime. It's government work. Offenders include employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, the police department, the public library -- can you see the librarian out there in Chicago calling that sex hotline -- and the mayor's office of employment and training. The mayor's press secretary says people have been fired in at least two cases.
SERWER: At least two.
CAFFERTY: But it is Chicago. Mayor Daly would be proud.
May soon be able to turn to our potato chips for self- enlightenment. Pringles has made a deal with the folks that make that Trivial Pursuit game, and they're going start printing trivia questions on the potato chips. Each one will have a multiple choice question, the answer printed upside down. The questions, about 2,000 of them, are printed with food coloring and, therefore, will not change the taste.
SERWER: I thought you weren't supposed to play with your food. I'm always telling my kids that.
CAFFERTY: I've got one more, and then I'll be back out there on the hairy edge of existence. A new reason dinosaurs may become extinct. It has to do with the male/female ratio. Researchers say an asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago, caused too many dinosaurs to be born male. If dinosaurs are like modern day reptiles, the sex of the little creature can change in the egg based on the outside temperature. Because the asteroid changed the climate by causing years of dark skies, it also created a disproportionate number of male dinosaurs.
You don't learn things like this on "Good Morning America." Diane Sawyer doesn't know that.
(CROSSTALK) SERWER: ... any asteroids around here with some male babies. What do you think?
CAFFERTY: Yes, that might apply in one case we know about.
O'BRIEN: Two baby girls, right?
HEMMER: In a moment here, the talk about money in Washington and Congress about the funding for Iraq. We'll get to that in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 22, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Earth Day, by the way.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, and likewise. What are you doing to celebrate?
HEMMER: I'm getting a card for you.
O'BRIEN: OK. We'll see if that happens.
HEMMER: I have my earth tones on today.
O'BRIEN: You just made that up off the top of your head.
HEMMER: It's my imagination.
In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll talk about the Kobe Bryant matter. We'll talk to a reporter out of Denver, watching the proceedings closely. Perhaps the biggest decision to date happened late yesterday. What happens now? A variance of opinions on the legal side about this, about how much it could hurt the defense or how much not. So we'll get to Colorado in a moment on that.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to join us. If you find that you cannot resist a plate of fudge or brownies, duh, or pizza, duh, well, maybe you have a food addiction, which some people say could be just as real as a drug or alcohol addiction. We're going to get Dr. Sanjay Gupta to get to the bottom of that.
HEMMER: From the category of a no-brainer. Yes, you sit in bed eating a pint of Haagen-Dazs with a spoon. I don't do that.
Top stories again this half hour. Michael Jackson has been indicted by Santa Barbara grand jury, specific charges not known. It's believed they are similar to the child molestation and child endangerment charges Jackson already faced at one point. In a statement, his lawyer says they are confident he'll be fully exonerated. He's said to be arraigned April 30th. No trial date set on that case.
In Iraq, a Spanish journalist gunned down today in a Baghdad marketplace. A police official telling CNN the journalist was shot and killed earlier today, identity not disclosed. An Iraqi translator also apparently injured in that same incident.
In this country, a judge refused to throw out the case against Oklahoma city bombing conspirator Terry Nichols. Nichols' lawyer charged the prosecution withheld evidence. He's on trial, state murder charges, that could carry the death penalty along with it. Michael Fortier also took the stand for a second day. He's in prison for knowing about the plot and not telling authorities.
The focus is on the environment today on the campaign trail. It is Earth Day yet again. President Bush is in Maine, where we'll talk about progress in the environment since the first Earth day, more than 30 years ago.
Meanwhile, in Houston, John Kerry takes aim at the White House for what he charges are rollbacks for clean air and water regulations. The world's largest cruise ship is in the Big Apple today. It came in about two hours ago. The Queen Mary II docking on Manhattan's west side. Among the many amenities on this craft, the largest ballroom and wine collection at sea, a canyon ranch spa, the world's only shipboard planetarium. The cost of a six-day crossing starts at $1,500 per person. They have a crew of 1,000 on board to help you on that journey. Now in New York today, the Maiden Voyage.
O'BRIEN: That's going to be amazing. It'll be fun to drive up the west side and see what that really looks like.
HEMMER: I've seen that thing coming up the Hudson.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Now to Colorado and the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case. The judge has dealt a blow to the defense, denying Bryant's lawyers access to his accuser's medical records. Just what impact could the ruling have on Bryant's legal strategy? Joining us this morning from Denver, reporter Alex Stone of KAOA Radio. Nice to see you again, Alex. Thanks for being with us. We talk about this being a blow to the defense. But exactly how big of a blow is it, do you think?
ALEX STONE, KAOA RADIO: Good morning, Soledad.
Good to see you again, too. It is a fairly big blow. If it wasn't a surprise to the defense, it hit them hard, because they have put such an emphasis on wanting to get into the accuser's background. There's a chance they could still do it by going through what witnesses have told them, if the allows that in, but for now, the records they put so much focus on, for now at least, are out.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, just because they are not allowed to introduce the records doesn't mean they can't talk about her medical history. Does it limit them from asking her about it at all?
STONE: At this point, we don't know. All the judge has said is that they don't have access to these records. He also threw out three subpoenas that have been issue for health workers around Colorado to try to get into her medical history.
So as of right now, they could ask those questions when this goes to trial in front of a jury. He could, the judge, just Terry Rodreagal (ph), could end up throwing that out and saying you can't even talk about it. But right now, they could go through witness statements, and at least talking about what they do know.
O'BRIEN: The area has been, I think it's fair to say, flooded with victims' rights advocates and lots of media and a bunch of other people as well. What's the atmosphere been like in the wake of this new information in Eagle, Colorado?
STONE: Victim advocates are calling it a victory. They've been coming out over the last couple of weeks, Soledad, and saying, judge, you cannot open up these records, because nobody will feel secure talking to their doctors, especially for rape victims or for alleged victims, anybody in this type of situation, because they're going to feel like anything they say to a psychiatrist or to their own doctor, their physician, could come out publicly, and eventually, be broadcast around the world. So victims' rights advocates are saying this is a victory for them.
O'BRIEN: As you mentioned, there's another pretrial hearing, I think it's Monday actually. And that focuses on the sexual history part of the accuser's background. What exactly, specifically, is at stake here?
STONE: This is going to be a three-day hearing, Soledad, so there's a lot that's going to be tackled during this time. Some of it is going to be the sexual background of the accuser. That is continuing. They are still talking about this behind closed doors. They've been talking about it for several months now. How much of her background can be, if any, talked about during trial time in front of a jury. They're also going to talk about evidence that Kobe Bryant, are the statements he made to police, should they be allowed in, should they not in evidence he gave to police the night before he was arrested.
And then they want to get into the motions filed in the last hearing about slowing down the trial or speeding it up. All sides now saying they want to speed it up. Will they be able to? They're going to talk about it in the next hearing.
O'BRIEN: Does Kobe Bryant have to be in court for all of this? Because of course, with the playoffs, theoretically, he could miss some of this.
STONE: Yes, theoretically, he could. The judge wants him in court. He's supposed to be in court, unless the judge allows him to not attend any of these hearings. We do expect him to be in the courtroom all three days. He's only missed one hearing through all of this, when he was sick one day. That was the day the accuser's mother was testifying, several months ago. Otherwise he's been in court every day.
O'BRIEN: All right, Alex Stone of KOA Radio. As always, nice to see you. Thanks for joining us this morning. We'll check in with you, obviously, again as the story continues -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 22 before the hour now. Funding for the war in Iraq expected to run out by the end of August. But the White House also being criticized for a reluctance to ask for more money prior to the election. Now we're learning that money was being spent on military projects in the Mideast in 2002, before the president asked Congress to pass a war resolution.
Joe Johns watching the money on Capitol Hill.
Good morning there, Joe.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
There's talk of a $4 billion shortfall by the end of the budget year. And the question, essentially, is whether the Pentagon will come to Congress and ask for money like that before the election.
Of course, there's a problem now, as you mentioned. The problem is that story by Bob Woodward about millions of dollars being diverted from Afghanistan to pay for Iraq planning before Congress authorized the war in Iraq. Now congressional appropriators are circulating a list, a list of 21 projects for the war on terrorism.
This list right here. This list includes, interestingly enough, a lot of things for Kuwait from the year 2002.
Now, I'll just read it to you. There you go -- $24 million for U.S. army ammunition storage and supply system, $15 million for communication equipment for U.S. base in Kuwait, $6.5 million for petroleum distribution systems with trucks.
All of this, of course, is leading particularly Democrats in Congress, to question whether the next time they appropriate money for the Department of Defense, whether they actually should require the Department of Defense to spell out precisely what it is planning to do with the money. This could mean more scrutiny of the Pentagon at a time when the administration is really pushing flexibility in spending -- Bill.
HEMMER: Yes, ultimately, is there an allegation here the build- up for war began when this money that you just showed us was diverted to areas like Kuwait?
JOHNS: Well, that is the question. And many Democrats are not willing to go that far. Of course, Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the leading Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, has questioned whether the spending by the Pentagon was legal. The Pentagon says it was perfectly legal.
At the end of the day, perhaps, at least, as I said, Congress may pay much closer attention to any more money that's given to the Pentagon, if this issue really catches fire.
HEMMER: Watching the cash on Capitol Hill. Thanks, Joe. Joe Johns there in D.C.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an al Qaeda connection claimed in that deadly Saudi Arabia blast. Now that country is turning up the heat to try to track down terrorists.
HEMMER: Also, think you like chocolate? Think you're an addict? Sanjay may back up your hunch in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And look at this, what's up with this starry-eyed little toddler? Find out why he's No. 1 with some of Hollywood's A- list.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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O'BRIEN: Chocoholics can now look to science to support their habit. A new study says that the brain can respond to favorite foods in an addictive manner, and it's similar to the response that's triggered, believe it or not, by cocaine.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with details.
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
We are not sure we're going to give an excuse to chocoholics quite yet, but a really interesting study here looking at people who smelled and tasted food, but did not actually eat it, and trying to see what happens in their brain, finding out there are some very specific changes that occur in the brain, talking about desire, talking about a likely role for addiction as well with the food as opposed to cocaine.
Interesting, it was a small study. It was a study done of about 12 hungry adults. They hadn't eaten in about 17 hours. They picked all their favorite foods, everything from Cinnabons, to pizza, cheeseburgers, ice cream, brownies. And they essentially did, they got the smell of the food and then they got a cotton swab taste of the food as well. Then they were taken to the PET scanner to get their brains imaged, to find out what was lighting up, what was changing in the brains.
Very interesting here. On the top now, somewhat difficult to see, but you can tell on the top row, that is when someone has been -- smelled and tasted food that they really like. That's what the food smell and taste, brain really lighting up. All those yellow areas, as you can see, and some of the red areas as well. On the bottom, that's with no food stimulation, much less lighting up there without the food stimulation, specifically -- I'll show you on this brain model -- since those images are a little bit harder to tell, specific areas of the brain that are responsible, in part, for addiction.
Up here, in the frontal lobe as well as this area here, the superior temporal lobe it's called. Those areas specifically responsible for addictions. Those areas perhaps responsible in part, as well, for people who smell, taste, but didn't eat these foods, and the way that their brains responded to it. Interesting study, what they're trying to do here, Soledad, a small study, but trying to make the role as to whether or not food can also be an addictive substance -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: So the fact that the PET scan shows that they are really liking it, does that take it to the next level, that it's actually equivalent to something like a cocaine addiction?
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, because people have long talked about substances that are addictive. Food hasn't typically made that list. But they did, was they really tried to make this case that food can be an addictive substance as well.
Take a look, for example, at food versus cocaine. These are people who are thinking about food on the left. Now those yellow areas in the front of the brain -- that's the front part of the brain -- that's an area where addictive personalities tend to light up. These are people who are just stimulated by food. On the right, you can see the whole brain light up with cocaine. But again in front, that same area, lights up more brightly in cocaine, but it's the same area of the brain being affected by both.
O'BRIEN: So what's the big picture plan with this? I mean, researchers must be working toward some kind of goal. So is it to control food cravings, or what is it?
GUPTA: I think, first of all, the whole notion that food can be addictive is becoming a very hot topic. Certainly, we talked about cigarettes, potentially, being addictive. Obviously, illicit drugs being addictive. Could food be addictive as well? You're starting to see some of the early studies here, and that has wide implications, given the obesity and the overweight situation in this country.
There are also other situations as well. When you talk about children, for example, trying to control some of those compulsive cravings early in life so they don't lead to compulsive eatings later on.
They also think of food as a gateway substance, meaning that if you become a compulsive eater, if you become someone who's addicted to food, they say, are you more likely to also become addicted to other substances later on in life, become more vulnerable to bad habits? One of the researchers we spoke to as well, Soledad, making the case that we're sort of bombarded by so much advertising about food, which in a way is food stimulation. We see candy machines everywhere, which in a way, is food stimulation. Could those, in fact, be fostering, enhancing the addiction to food that you can now measure on these perform PET scans.
O'BRIEN: I knew it wasn't me. I knew they were all those candy machines that are responsible for my addiction to chocolate. Thank you, Sanjay. I feel so much better now that we've spoken -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks.
Wherever there are celebrities, you have seen the paparazzi nearby clicking their cameras, but who is this Jeremy guy?
Jeanne Moos explains this morning in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He may be just learning to talk.
JEREMY ZOREK: Uh-oh. Nice.
MOOS: But somehow he's managed to talk his way into dozens of celebrity photo-ops. From Leno to Billy Crystal to Robin Williams to Halle Berry.
MICHAEL ZOREK, JEREMY'S DAD: It's not the best picture of Jeremy but she looks beautiful.
MOOS: Jeremy's dad posts them all on the Web site whoisthatwithjeremy.com.
J. ZOREK: Who's that?
M. ZOREK: That's G. Gordon Liddy.
MOOS: From Watergate to Playboy, sorry, Hef, Jeremy is a boy who plays, not a playboy. Back in the '80s Jeremy's dad was an actor. In a dress, in a mohawk. Now his son's posing with actors like 007, singers like Billy Joel. They run into celebs on the street, go to dozens of book signings. Jeremy's most photographed moment was with none other than Madonna.
(on camera): So are you doing it for fun?
Do you want to have a show biz career?
M. ZOREK: It's for fun. It's for fun. He models. Which is fine. But none of this...
J. ZOREK: Mommy! Mommy!
MOOS (voice-over): We tagged along when Jeremy lined up to meet Danny Aiello signing his new CD.
M. ZOREK: Can you say hi Danny Aiello.
J. ZOREK: Hi Danny Aiello.
M. ZOREK: This is my son Jeremy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Jeremy.
M. ZOREK: Can I get a photograph?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
MOOS: A few say no. Among them Mikhail Gorbachev and Paul McCartney. Though Ringo posed.
(on camera): Can you say P. Diddy.
J. ZOREK: P. Diddy.
MOOS (voice-over): From rapper, to former president, there's even a parody Web site now. Who is that eating Jeremy? And someone photo swabbed Jeremy's head onto Michael Jackson's dangling baby. Once in awhile Jeremy fuss.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One more for the road.
M. ZOREK: He likes -- if you know the ABC song he likes that better.
J. ZOREK: ABCD.
MOOS: This kid's too cool to drool on a celebrity. Makes posing with Santa seem quaint.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's just weird. Can you imagine hauling your kid all over New York City at book signings? What is he, 18-months old? To book signings? Then get his picture taken with celebrities.
HEMMER: You've got two more on the way.
O'BRIEN: You know, and if I ever say I'm going to do that, take me out back...
HEMMER: I will.
O'BRIEN: ... and hit me over the head with a 2 by 4, please.
Still to come, soccer's next world cup is in beer-loving Germany two years from now. So why are some Germans already up in arms about that? Andy Serwer is going to join us with a look about what's going on there, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
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HEMMER: Pushing again the hairy edge of existence, here's Jack Cafferty this morning with us. Sorry, pal.
O'BRIEN: That was funny. Come on, Jack. That was cute.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Wait until you find out who is going to sell all the beer at the World Cup Games in Germany. And Andy Serwer has that and some inflation news, and a follow-up to a story that we sort of got at a little bit yesterday. Now we can tell the rest of the story.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We can. We can.
All right, let's start off with the markets. Yesterday, Greenspan Testifying. This morning, though, more fodder for the inflation hawks. Wholesale prices rising up .5 percent, the core rate of the PPI .2 percent. More indications, Jack, perhaps that inflation is rearing its ugly head.
CAFFERTY: Does the stock market know this may happen?
SERWER: The stock market doesn't. The futures are flat. We'll be checking it out later in the morning.
Let's talk about soccer, futbol. Of course, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. Jack Cafferty may be ignoring it, but it's big, big, big, big, big stuff, watched by millions around the globe, every four years. In 2006, it's going to be in Germany, Munich and a dozen other cities. So guess who got an exclusive deal to sell beer for the World Cup in Germany?
CAFFERTY: Just amazing.
SERWER: Budweiser. Budweiser. And a lot of Germans are none too happy. Germans love their beer. We have some great Germans drinking beer.
Those are big beers. Look at that, that's a lunch beer. Now here are some locals.
Anyway, not only did Budweiser get the beer deal, McDonald's got the food deal. So if you go to the World Cup in Germany, you'll have to drink Budweiser and eat Big Macs. So the Germans are none too happy.
One local politician saying, yes, there will be other food we'll be supplied with, respectable products.
CAFFERTY: Probably getting you and old knackwurst, if you know where to look over there.
And Budweiser is nothing like the indigenous German beers. I mean, the Germans will be just in open revolt when they taste that stuff. It's much milder.
SERWER: They say they won't wash their cars in Germany with Budweiser. That's what someone said. Anyway, it's going to be a lot of fun.
Let's talk about this ads. Jim Cantaloupa, the CEO of McDonald's passed away on Monday. McDonald's took out an ad. We talked about this a little bit, Jack. Here's the ad they took out which we thought was a little interesting. I mean, it shows Ronald McDonald crying.
CAFFERTY: That's dumb.
SERWER: And then here today is an ad by Coca-Cola, which I thought was in a lot better taste. Coke, of course, being the biggest customer of the company. And, yes that's sort of a little more tasteful perhaps, should I say that?
CAFFERTY: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: I was a little surprised that the company didn't maybe do a mixture of the two, That Coke had to come out with that, as opposed to...
SERWER: This is how you do it right.
CAFFERTY: The stockholders got to be upset about them spending all this money to run these full-page adds in "The New York Times," showing a half of Ronald McDonald's face with a tear on it. I mean, they don't give that stuff away over there.
SERWER: And then he can't even read it, as you pointed out.
CAFFERTY: Yes, the guy it's intended for ain't going to read it, because they don't get the paper there.
What else you got?
SERWER: That's it. It's up to you.
CAFFERTY: On to the Cafferty File. City workers in Chicago making hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of phone calls to sex hotlines, psychic hotlines, directory assistance, all on the taxpayers' dime. It's government work. Offenders include employees at the Department of Health and Human Services, the police department, the public library -- can you see the librarian out there in Chicago calling that sex hotline -- and the mayor's office of employment and training. The mayor's press secretary says people have been fired in at least two cases.
SERWER: At least two.
CAFFERTY: But it is Chicago. Mayor Daly would be proud.
May soon be able to turn to our potato chips for self- enlightenment. Pringles has made a deal with the folks that make that Trivial Pursuit game, and they're going start printing trivia questions on the potato chips. Each one will have a multiple choice question, the answer printed upside down. The questions, about 2,000 of them, are printed with food coloring and, therefore, will not change the taste.
SERWER: I thought you weren't supposed to play with your food. I'm always telling my kids that.
CAFFERTY: I've got one more, and then I'll be back out there on the hairy edge of existence. A new reason dinosaurs may become extinct. It has to do with the male/female ratio. Researchers say an asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago, caused too many dinosaurs to be born male. If dinosaurs are like modern day reptiles, the sex of the little creature can change in the egg based on the outside temperature. Because the asteroid changed the climate by causing years of dark skies, it also created a disproportionate number of male dinosaurs.
You don't learn things like this on "Good Morning America." Diane Sawyer doesn't know that.
(CROSSTALK) SERWER: ... any asteroids around here with some male babies. What do you think?
CAFFERTY: Yes, that might apply in one case we know about.
O'BRIEN: Two baby girls, right?
HEMMER: In a moment here, the talk about money in Washington and Congress about the funding for Iraq. We'll get to that in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Back after this.
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