Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Fresh Fighting in Fallujah Between U.S. Marines and Iraqi Insurgents; Discussion with Mothers of CU Football Players

Aired April 26, 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: About 8:30 here in New York. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING On this Monday. And we're going to get you back to Iraq in a few moments. A lot of news, not just in Baghdad, but also this scene here in Fallujah. Jim Clancy is standing by watching the latest out of this town west of Baghdad. Apparently a very long firefight today. Ten Marines were wounded. Four described as serious wounds. We'll get you the latest on what's happening there in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, a follow-up to the sex scandal out of University of Colorado. How do the mothers of the players feel? We'll talk to two moms. Each one has a son on the football team, and they're said to be frustrated. We'll tell you why.

HEMMER: Some hate mail involved there. That stories coming up in a moment.

Top stories here at half hour in Iraq, where there has been renewed fighting in Fallujah. U.S. Marines and insurgents engage in what's described as a raging firefight. At least 10 Marines were wounded, four, again, seriously. The violence coming despite a recent extension of a cease-fire there, live to Baghdad for the latest in a moment.

British troops in Iraq may get reinforcements soon. The British Ministry of Defense says discussions are under way with coalition partners about possibly increasing forces. A spokeswoman says any deployment decision will be announced in parliament before the troops are moved.

In U.S. politics on the campaign trail, Jobs the focus this week. President Bush is in Minnesota today where he'll promote job training programs. The Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry kicking off a four-state bus tour in Wheeling, West Virginia. That's the first place. Senator Kerry is asking voters to hop on the jobs-first express.

Box office, hot opening for Denzel Washington's new film. The revenge thriller, "Man on Fire," debuted at No. 1, $23 million over the weekend. This marks his strongest opening since his Oscar-winning role on "Training Day." Jennifer Garner's new comedy "13 Going on 30" came in at No. 2.

9:00 Eastern Time last night, the scene over New York Harbor, right here lady liberty. Thousands watching as the fireworks lit up the sky. To the left of your screen, you see that giant boat, the Queen Mary II, leaving the harbor on its way back to Great Britain. It was joined by its predecessor the QEII, the Queen Elizabeth II here in New York. The first time two ships in this famed cruise line have sailed across the Atlantic together.

O'BRIEN: Katie Couric had a little shindig this weekend on that ship, and raised $5 million for cancer research.

HEMMER: Hugely successful.

O'BRIEN: That's a nice place to have a party. You go, girl! Let's see how she tops it next year.

HEMMER: Coming back to New York yesterday, a lot of things are visible from the skyline, like the Empire State Building. You could see the Queen Mary II sitting there on the Hudson, enormous craft.

O'BRIEN: It's not small.

HEMMER: Not small at all.

(WEATHER REPORT).

O'BRIEN: In Iraq this morning, an explosion in Baghdad leveled a building, and there were reports that two people were killed, four others injured. There was fresh fighting today in Fallujah between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents, and that followed the U.S. military extension of a cease-fire.

For the latest on the tense situation starting in Fallujah, let's go to Jim Clancy. He's live in Baghdad for us.

And, Jim, we're looking at live pictures not too long ago, when we last spoke, of the smoke wafting over Fallujah.

What's happening there?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is apparently quieted somewhat in Fallujah along the front lines. But I've got to tell you, Soledad, when you look at these pictures, so too are all Iraqis, looking at Fallujah. In many ways, this is a city that has become a symbol for Iraqis opposed to occupation in their country. A symbol of an anti-American sentiment that has grown over the past year, as disappointments have grown as well. What happened on the ground was that a large number of insurgents attacked U.S. Marine positions there with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. There were sniping as well. Marines responded. They were calling in close air support amidst a pitched battle. They said they were outnumbered and they were trying to hold their lines. Helicopter gunships and fixed-wing aircraft were called into the fight. Those helicopters firing Hellfire missiles, which are laser guided, at targets.

One of the targets apparently a mosque that snipers were using as a cover, a base of cover, firing on the Marine forces. That mosque was destroyed.

Now why do people put gunmen in mosques? Well, part of it is because it will stir resentment against the United States, against those U.S. Marines in the country, further their cause against this occupation, the presence of the U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jim, I mentioned an explosion, a very large explosion, in Baghdad. What can you tell us about that?

CLANCY: Well, I wish could I tell you more, to be certain about everything. As you noted, there have been reports of two dead and four wounded. This was a massive blast. Eyewitnesses that were some half a kilometer away say they heard some gunshots first, and then there was a massive blast and a mushroom cloud rising up over the area.

At first it was believed this might be a roadside bomb. Later, eyewitnesses said that it was actually a dozen U.S. soldiers that were trying to gain entry to a building there in an area where there were many chemical warehouses, chemical storage areas. And suddenly, that building exploded. It completely obliterated the front wall, apparently a house next door was also damaged. Four Humvees that had been parked out in front were burned. I think you already saw people dancing on those.

So I mean, you had a situation of devastation on the ground, and yet the details are very slow to come out about what this was, what were they investigating at that site or was indeed this some kind of a bomb. We're just going to have to wait for details to become apparent -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jim Clancy, reporting for us from Baghdad this morning, updating us on what's happening across that country today. Lots of bad news to report.

All right, Jim, thanks.

HEMMER: About 22 before the hour now.

Back in this country, the University of Colorado football program under investigation by both the state attorney general and a panel appointed by the board of regents at the school. Some mothers of the football players now say the allegations of sexual abuse against a few players have affected everyone associated with that team. Two mothers have agreed to join us today. They're both in Denver.

Patty Klopfenstein, mother of tight end Joe Klopfenstein and Judy Duren, mother of wide reciever Michael Duren.

Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. We appreciate your time.

And, Patty, I want to start with you. Since 1997, eight women have come forward, alleging various stories of sexual abuse, in some cases rape. You say the players have been unfairly affected. Explain why.

PATTY KLOPFENSTEIN, MOTHER OF CU PLAYER: What we've done is substituted political correctness for honesty in our search for the answers here. Many otherwise intelligent people have accused us of victim blaming when we call for due process in this investigation, and when we say that women do not have a monopoly on truthfulness. No charges have been filed in any of these unsupported sexual assault allegations.

HEMMER: Judy, your son, Michael, what's he told you about this?

JUDY DUREN, MOTHER OF CU PLAYER: He's a bit frustrated with the attention being on a few incidences of just a few of the boys on the team. There is many on the team, 100 or so, and it's very frustrating for the whole team to have a negative light put on all of them by a few bad decisions made by a few kids. Most of the kids on the team are upstanding young men. They go to class. They do their work. They go to practice. They do what is asked of them. They're good students, in good academic standings. And they would like to have some attention put on that.

Patty, on Friday of last week, you met with a panel conducting this investigation. What was your message to them about the ongoing matter?

KLOPFENSTEIN: Our message is they need to stay on task. They've gone off into so many other things they were not charged to look at, and during the process of our presentation Friday, they accused us of doing that. But if you listen -- I've been to every one of their meetings, and they have been more times not on topic than they have been on topic. It's become a bully pulpit for individual agendas, and it has to stop.

HEMMER: Patty, I mentioned eight allegations going back to 1997. Six of those occurred while Gary Barnett, now suspended from his duties there, was the head coach. What responsibility do you lay at his feet, if any, at this point?

KLOPFENSTEIN: I don't lay any more responsibility at his feet than I do of any other head of a department at CU for a professor who goes astray or any other student that goes astray. It's not fair to hold someone else responsible.

HEMMER: Judy, the final word here, if this is the case, and you're butting heads, essentially, out in Colorado, at what point have you been given assurance you'll get answers to at least arrive at some sort of conclusions to that program can put this behind itself and go forward?

DUREN: We're hoping to have an answer by the middle of May, which seems like it's been an awful long time for this kind of investigation. They've come up with nothing that we know of so far other than they don't feel that things are right up in Boulder, but they really haven't come up with any substantiated evidence to anyone yet. And we're hoping that they will come to a conclusion soon, so that the team can get their coach back, so that we can restore integrity.

HEMMER: Your frustration is clear. And thanks for spending time with us today. We'll follow it, as we have for many months now. Patty Klopfenstein and Judy Duren, our guest today from Denver, Colorado, talking about the latest for the CU football team in the American West.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, violence building in Fallujah, Iraq. What's happened to the cease-fire there? We'll take a look. In the next hour, we're going to talk with a former U.S. Army general on the strategy that is needed to stop the insurgents.

HEMMER: Also, the queen of cosmetics, who started her empire in a New York kitchen, more on the passing of Estee Lauder this morning.

O'BRIEN: And what you need to know if you have a newborn, or two, say. Dr. Sanjay Gupta with health tips, what you need to know for your baby. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues, right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. This morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta begins a week-long series on the joy of parenting newborns. The first installment deals with one of the first choices facing parents, whether or not to breast feed their child. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with more.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning to you.

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

And for our viewers, I should point out as well, that you, Soledad, were the inspiration for this series. For those who do not know, Soledad is pregnant with twins. So we're trying to give Soledad some advice. But she's also going to give us some advice this week. She has two children already. A really important issue we're going to start with, breast feeding, certainly requires patience, time and energy, but it can have a huge impact on the overall development of your child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing excellent. Very good.

GUPTA (voice-over): The number of nursing mothers is on the rise. Studies show 70 percent of new moms begin breast feeding in the hospital, but that number drops dramatically when you check with them just a few months later. Why?

REBECCA SLOAN, MOTHER OF NEWBORN: It is hard. People and books that I read have said it's natural, it's not supposed to hurt. It hurts. It hurts!

GUPTA: Rebecca Sloan had hard time getting her baby to nurse at first.

SLOAN: The first two weeks, your nipples are so sore, it's hard, because you have to be patient, and because of the emotional state that you're in, and the lack of sleep that you have. GUPTA: Rebecca stuck with it. Now her daughter, Teegan (ph), is thriving.

SLOAN: It is to natural. Once you get over those hurdles, it's absolutely wonderful.

GUPTA: Research shows breast-fed babies are less likely to get sick, they have fewer ear and chest infections, less gas and diarrhea, and are less likely to suffer from allergies, asthma, diabetes and cancer.

Breast-fed babies also have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome and of obesity in childhood, and children who are breast fed do better on IQ tests.

AMY SPANGLER, CHAIRWOMAN, U.S. BREAST-FEEDING COMMITTEE: Four months to six months of exclusive breast feeding is what seems to be needed for babies to get the life-long benefits that breast feeding provides.

GUPTA: Breast feeding saves money, too. You can save up to $1,000 in the first year, compared to buying formula and bottles. Working moms have an even harder time of nursing for more than a few weeks. Going back to work and having to pump breast milk is challenging.

Heidi Murkoff, author of "What to Expect When You Are Expecting," counsels new moms that any amount of breast feeding is better than nothing.

HEIDI MURKOFF, AUTHOR, "WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING": So if you find you can't fit full-time breast feeding into your schedule, or you just don't have the energy or desire to keep it up around the clock, you can combine breast feeding and bottle feeding in absolutely any way that's going to work for you.

GUPTA: Before your baby is born, learn as much as you can about breast feeding, but make sure to seek out help, so you and your baby can learn how to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It can really take up to six week for moms, especially first-time moms, to get the hang of it, and that's why it's so important not give up too quickly, and also get the help that you need getting started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And there are also lots of health benefits for the mothers as well in terms of breast feeding. First of all, it may increase the degree at which you lose weight post pregnancy. That's important. Also, it reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer long-term. That's based on some new studies, building bone strength as well, Soledad, all important things for baby and mom in terms of breast feeding -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Sanjay, you know, so many of these studies show the benefits to the baby, and you listed them all. But I'm curious to know, those studies, did they say how long in the studies, the women were breast feeding for, because I think, you knew, especially if you're a working mom, that's the question, how do you do it while you're going back to work? So is it a month is fine? Two months? Three months? A year?

GUPTA: yes, this is one of the most common questions we got when we researched when we were doing this. First of all, any amount of breast feeding is better than none. Everyone that we talked to said that.

From the American Breast Feeding Committee, they say four to six months of exclusive breast feeding is probably best in terms of getting all the health benefits, again, exclusive breast feeding. And then we talked to folks at the World Health Organization as well. They say, up to a year of breast feeding is probably going to be good, in terms of getting health benefits. That's if you're doing both breast and bottle feeding.

But, again, bottom line, any amount of breast feeding is going to be better than none. This is a food source designed specifically for your baby.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about this all week. What else you got for us for the rest of the week?

GUPTA: We got some interesting things. Again, all based on newborns. You can take a look at the schedule there. Tuesday, one of our most popular, losing weight after pregnancy. How do you do it? Wednesday, postpartum depression, important, a serious topic. And the baby blues as well. Thursday, sleep training, your baby, and subsequently, you. And the caregivers will need to know how to do that. And finally, handling multiples, Soledad. This one we designed especially for you with the twins. So that's the weeklong schedule.

O'BRIEN: I'll be taking notes. And then I'll call you and grill you some more. All right, Sanjay, Thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Soledad. In a moment here, more on the passing of America's queen of beauty, Estee Lauder.

And the famed GE executive Jack Welch gets hitched. Andy joins us with more on those stories, right after this here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The titan of the cosmetics industry is being remembered this morning, and nearly 40 years after Andy Warhol turned soup can labels into pop art, they're back. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. This is kind of a business people who love people segment, OK?

Let's talk about Estee Lauder. She passed away in New York City on Saturday. Born in Corona, Queens, her name was Josephine Esther Mentzer, middle-class family there in Queens, not a member of European royalty as some would believe. Obviously, she was the queen of the cosmetics industry, Clinique (ph) an Mack (ph) and all those other lines, worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. Her family will be taking over this company. It's a public company, but Leonard, Ronald and Grandson, William, are going to be taking over the company. Estee Lauder was 97 years old.

Let's talk about something else over the weekend as well. Jack Welch getting married again. Of course, getting married to Susie Wetlauffer (ph). That magazine editor from "The Harvard Business Review." There is a picture on Park Street church in Boston, Massachusetts. Jack very happy. They're working on a book together, Jack, called "Winning." And a lot of celebrities there, notables. Matt Lauer was there. Vernon Jordan was there. Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Pats was there as well.

And then finally, let's talk about this soup, because this is interesting to me, kind of novel. Andy Warhol, of course, took the Campbell's soup can and turned it into pop art, famously, around 1962. There's Andy. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he hailed.

CAFFERTY: Where did his hair come from?

SERWER: Downtown, Manhattan.

Now Campbell's is rolling out these limited edition -- that was the famous print. That goes for over $1 million now.

CAFFERTY: That's unbelievable.

SERWER: It Looks like a Campbell's Soup can, doesn't it?

CAFFERTY: It does to me.

SERWER: It really does. Now Campbell's is rolling out. Here they are. These are the commemorative line of soup cans in Pittsburgh, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia. And it's got his signature here, right there. You can see that.

O'BRIEN: What kind of soup is that?

SERWER: This is your tomato soup.

O'BRIEN: It's all tomato?

SERWER: And, you know, looking for food.

You see that, she's just going right for it.

O'BRIEN: I know.

SERWER: Kind of interesting -- kind of. CAFFERTY: I'm not sure the file is a lot better than that.

SERWER: All right, thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: We're going to take a run at it here. Believe me, I may defer. Researchers at the Museum of History and Science in Florence, Italy have unveiled a new car over this past weekend. We have a picture right here. It's called the Leonardo Fiat, after the inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci. The car runs on springs instead of gasoline, probably designed to entertain royalty, rather than transportation. But it is the world's first self-propelled vehicle. Da Vinci's notebooks have shown designs for helicopters, submarines, military tanks and bicycles.

SERWER: I thought it ran on soup. Sorry.

CAFFERTY: That's possible.

CAFFERTY: What would it take for to you give up your password to your computer? A survey in Liverpool, England says 37 percent of you will give up your computer password if somebody asks you nicely. 34 percent hold out until somebody offers up a candy bar. Other passwords statistics, 40 percent of you know your coworker's pass words. And 55 percent of you would tell your boss your password if he asked for it.

SERWER: Please.

O'BRIEN: A candy bar?

CAFFERTY: See what I mean about these.

When it comes to -- it's Monday, you know? When it comes to potty parity, the Chicago Bears are not interested. The Bears want to shorten the lines at the men's bathrooms at Soldier Field during the football games, and they're thinking of turning some of the women's bathrooms into men's rooms in order to accomplish that.

SERWER: That's backwards.

CAFFERTY: Well. Yes, it is. The Bears claim, though, that on Sundays, during the season, the stadium crowd is about 75 percent men. And the lines now average about 15 minutes. In order for this to happen, the Bears will have to get around Chicago's potty parity law, which says the facilities have to build more women's bathroom stalls.

SERWER: Can't they just build as many as they need? I mean, that would be too much for -- it's Chicago again, isn't it? your favorite town.

O'BRIEN: Don't get him started.

All right, Jack. Thanks. I thought those were good. Two thumbs up. I liked them.

CAFFERTY: You liked them? O'BRIEN: Pretty good.

Still to come this morning, much more on that firefight out of Fallujah and the tense situation there with insurgents across Iraq. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 26, 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: About 8:30 here in New York. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING On this Monday. And we're going to get you back to Iraq in a few moments. A lot of news, not just in Baghdad, but also this scene here in Fallujah. Jim Clancy is standing by watching the latest out of this town west of Baghdad. Apparently a very long firefight today. Ten Marines were wounded. Four described as serious wounds. We'll get you the latest on what's happening there in a moment.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, a follow-up to the sex scandal out of University of Colorado. How do the mothers of the players feel? We'll talk to two moms. Each one has a son on the football team, and they're said to be frustrated. We'll tell you why.

HEMMER: Some hate mail involved there. That stories coming up in a moment.

Top stories here at half hour in Iraq, where there has been renewed fighting in Fallujah. U.S. Marines and insurgents engage in what's described as a raging firefight. At least 10 Marines were wounded, four, again, seriously. The violence coming despite a recent extension of a cease-fire there, live to Baghdad for the latest in a moment.

British troops in Iraq may get reinforcements soon. The British Ministry of Defense says discussions are under way with coalition partners about possibly increasing forces. A spokeswoman says any deployment decision will be announced in parliament before the troops are moved.

In U.S. politics on the campaign trail, Jobs the focus this week. President Bush is in Minnesota today where he'll promote job training programs. The Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry kicking off a four-state bus tour in Wheeling, West Virginia. That's the first place. Senator Kerry is asking voters to hop on the jobs-first express.

Box office, hot opening for Denzel Washington's new film. The revenge thriller, "Man on Fire," debuted at No. 1, $23 million over the weekend. This marks his strongest opening since his Oscar-winning role on "Training Day." Jennifer Garner's new comedy "13 Going on 30" came in at No. 2.

9:00 Eastern Time last night, the scene over New York Harbor, right here lady liberty. Thousands watching as the fireworks lit up the sky. To the left of your screen, you see that giant boat, the Queen Mary II, leaving the harbor on its way back to Great Britain. It was joined by its predecessor the QEII, the Queen Elizabeth II here in New York. The first time two ships in this famed cruise line have sailed across the Atlantic together.

O'BRIEN: Katie Couric had a little shindig this weekend on that ship, and raised $5 million for cancer research.

HEMMER: Hugely successful.

O'BRIEN: That's a nice place to have a party. You go, girl! Let's see how she tops it next year.

HEMMER: Coming back to New York yesterday, a lot of things are visible from the skyline, like the Empire State Building. You could see the Queen Mary II sitting there on the Hudson, enormous craft.

O'BRIEN: It's not small.

HEMMER: Not small at all.

(WEATHER REPORT).

O'BRIEN: In Iraq this morning, an explosion in Baghdad leveled a building, and there were reports that two people were killed, four others injured. There was fresh fighting today in Fallujah between U.S. Marines and Iraqi insurgents, and that followed the U.S. military extension of a cease-fire.

For the latest on the tense situation starting in Fallujah, let's go to Jim Clancy. He's live in Baghdad for us.

And, Jim, we're looking at live pictures not too long ago, when we last spoke, of the smoke wafting over Fallujah.

What's happening there?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is apparently quieted somewhat in Fallujah along the front lines. But I've got to tell you, Soledad, when you look at these pictures, so too are all Iraqis, looking at Fallujah. In many ways, this is a city that has become a symbol for Iraqis opposed to occupation in their country. A symbol of an anti-American sentiment that has grown over the past year, as disappointments have grown as well. What happened on the ground was that a large number of insurgents attacked U.S. Marine positions there with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. There were sniping as well. Marines responded. They were calling in close air support amidst a pitched battle. They said they were outnumbered and they were trying to hold their lines. Helicopter gunships and fixed-wing aircraft were called into the fight. Those helicopters firing Hellfire missiles, which are laser guided, at targets.

One of the targets apparently a mosque that snipers were using as a cover, a base of cover, firing on the Marine forces. That mosque was destroyed.

Now why do people put gunmen in mosques? Well, part of it is because it will stir resentment against the United States, against those U.S. Marines in the country, further their cause against this occupation, the presence of the U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jim, I mentioned an explosion, a very large explosion, in Baghdad. What can you tell us about that?

CLANCY: Well, I wish could I tell you more, to be certain about everything. As you noted, there have been reports of two dead and four wounded. This was a massive blast. Eyewitnesses that were some half a kilometer away say they heard some gunshots first, and then there was a massive blast and a mushroom cloud rising up over the area.

At first it was believed this might be a roadside bomb. Later, eyewitnesses said that it was actually a dozen U.S. soldiers that were trying to gain entry to a building there in an area where there were many chemical warehouses, chemical storage areas. And suddenly, that building exploded. It completely obliterated the front wall, apparently a house next door was also damaged. Four Humvees that had been parked out in front were burned. I think you already saw people dancing on those.

So I mean, you had a situation of devastation on the ground, and yet the details are very slow to come out about what this was, what were they investigating at that site or was indeed this some kind of a bomb. We're just going to have to wait for details to become apparent -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Jim Clancy, reporting for us from Baghdad this morning, updating us on what's happening across that country today. Lots of bad news to report.

All right, Jim, thanks.

HEMMER: About 22 before the hour now.

Back in this country, the University of Colorado football program under investigation by both the state attorney general and a panel appointed by the board of regents at the school. Some mothers of the football players now say the allegations of sexual abuse against a few players have affected everyone associated with that team. Two mothers have agreed to join us today. They're both in Denver.

Patty Klopfenstein, mother of tight end Joe Klopfenstein and Judy Duren, mother of wide reciever Michael Duren.

Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. We appreciate your time.

And, Patty, I want to start with you. Since 1997, eight women have come forward, alleging various stories of sexual abuse, in some cases rape. You say the players have been unfairly affected. Explain why.

PATTY KLOPFENSTEIN, MOTHER OF CU PLAYER: What we've done is substituted political correctness for honesty in our search for the answers here. Many otherwise intelligent people have accused us of victim blaming when we call for due process in this investigation, and when we say that women do not have a monopoly on truthfulness. No charges have been filed in any of these unsupported sexual assault allegations.

HEMMER: Judy, your son, Michael, what's he told you about this?

JUDY DUREN, MOTHER OF CU PLAYER: He's a bit frustrated with the attention being on a few incidences of just a few of the boys on the team. There is many on the team, 100 or so, and it's very frustrating for the whole team to have a negative light put on all of them by a few bad decisions made by a few kids. Most of the kids on the team are upstanding young men. They go to class. They do their work. They go to practice. They do what is asked of them. They're good students, in good academic standings. And they would like to have some attention put on that.

Patty, on Friday of last week, you met with a panel conducting this investigation. What was your message to them about the ongoing matter?

KLOPFENSTEIN: Our message is they need to stay on task. They've gone off into so many other things they were not charged to look at, and during the process of our presentation Friday, they accused us of doing that. But if you listen -- I've been to every one of their meetings, and they have been more times not on topic than they have been on topic. It's become a bully pulpit for individual agendas, and it has to stop.

HEMMER: Patty, I mentioned eight allegations going back to 1997. Six of those occurred while Gary Barnett, now suspended from his duties there, was the head coach. What responsibility do you lay at his feet, if any, at this point?

KLOPFENSTEIN: I don't lay any more responsibility at his feet than I do of any other head of a department at CU for a professor who goes astray or any other student that goes astray. It's not fair to hold someone else responsible.

HEMMER: Judy, the final word here, if this is the case, and you're butting heads, essentially, out in Colorado, at what point have you been given assurance you'll get answers to at least arrive at some sort of conclusions to that program can put this behind itself and go forward?

DUREN: We're hoping to have an answer by the middle of May, which seems like it's been an awful long time for this kind of investigation. They've come up with nothing that we know of so far other than they don't feel that things are right up in Boulder, but they really haven't come up with any substantiated evidence to anyone yet. And we're hoping that they will come to a conclusion soon, so that the team can get their coach back, so that we can restore integrity.

HEMMER: Your frustration is clear. And thanks for spending time with us today. We'll follow it, as we have for many months now. Patty Klopfenstein and Judy Duren, our guest today from Denver, Colorado, talking about the latest for the CU football team in the American West.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, violence building in Fallujah, Iraq. What's happened to the cease-fire there? We'll take a look. In the next hour, we're going to talk with a former U.S. Army general on the strategy that is needed to stop the insurgents.

HEMMER: Also, the queen of cosmetics, who started her empire in a New York kitchen, more on the passing of Estee Lauder this morning.

O'BRIEN: And what you need to know if you have a newborn, or two, say. Dr. Sanjay Gupta with health tips, what you need to know for your baby. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues, right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. This morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta begins a week-long series on the joy of parenting newborns. The first installment deals with one of the first choices facing parents, whether or not to breast feed their child. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us from the CNN Center with more.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning to you.

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

And for our viewers, I should point out as well, that you, Soledad, were the inspiration for this series. For those who do not know, Soledad is pregnant with twins. So we're trying to give Soledad some advice. But she's also going to give us some advice this week. She has two children already. A really important issue we're going to start with, breast feeding, certainly requires patience, time and energy, but it can have a huge impact on the overall development of your child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Doing excellent. Very good.

GUPTA (voice-over): The number of nursing mothers is on the rise. Studies show 70 percent of new moms begin breast feeding in the hospital, but that number drops dramatically when you check with them just a few months later. Why?

REBECCA SLOAN, MOTHER OF NEWBORN: It is hard. People and books that I read have said it's natural, it's not supposed to hurt. It hurts. It hurts!

GUPTA: Rebecca Sloan had hard time getting her baby to nurse at first.

SLOAN: The first two weeks, your nipples are so sore, it's hard, because you have to be patient, and because of the emotional state that you're in, and the lack of sleep that you have. GUPTA: Rebecca stuck with it. Now her daughter, Teegan (ph), is thriving.

SLOAN: It is to natural. Once you get over those hurdles, it's absolutely wonderful.

GUPTA: Research shows breast-fed babies are less likely to get sick, they have fewer ear and chest infections, less gas and diarrhea, and are less likely to suffer from allergies, asthma, diabetes and cancer.

Breast-fed babies also have a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome and of obesity in childhood, and children who are breast fed do better on IQ tests.

AMY SPANGLER, CHAIRWOMAN, U.S. BREAST-FEEDING COMMITTEE: Four months to six months of exclusive breast feeding is what seems to be needed for babies to get the life-long benefits that breast feeding provides.

GUPTA: Breast feeding saves money, too. You can save up to $1,000 in the first year, compared to buying formula and bottles. Working moms have an even harder time of nursing for more than a few weeks. Going back to work and having to pump breast milk is challenging.

Heidi Murkoff, author of "What to Expect When You Are Expecting," counsels new moms that any amount of breast feeding is better than nothing.

HEIDI MURKOFF, AUTHOR, "WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU ARE EXPECTING": So if you find you can't fit full-time breast feeding into your schedule, or you just don't have the energy or desire to keep it up around the clock, you can combine breast feeding and bottle feeding in absolutely any way that's going to work for you.

GUPTA: Before your baby is born, learn as much as you can about breast feeding, but make sure to seek out help, so you and your baby can learn how to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It can really take up to six week for moms, especially first-time moms, to get the hang of it, and that's why it's so important not give up too quickly, and also get the help that you need getting started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And there are also lots of health benefits for the mothers as well in terms of breast feeding. First of all, it may increase the degree at which you lose weight post pregnancy. That's important. Also, it reduces the risk of ovarian and breast cancer long-term. That's based on some new studies, building bone strength as well, Soledad, all important things for baby and mom in terms of breast feeding -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, Sanjay, you know, so many of these studies show the benefits to the baby, and you listed them all. But I'm curious to know, those studies, did they say how long in the studies, the women were breast feeding for, because I think, you knew, especially if you're a working mom, that's the question, how do you do it while you're going back to work? So is it a month is fine? Two months? Three months? A year?

GUPTA: yes, this is one of the most common questions we got when we researched when we were doing this. First of all, any amount of breast feeding is better than none. Everyone that we talked to said that.

From the American Breast Feeding Committee, they say four to six months of exclusive breast feeding is probably best in terms of getting all the health benefits, again, exclusive breast feeding. And then we talked to folks at the World Health Organization as well. They say, up to a year of breast feeding is probably going to be good, in terms of getting health benefits. That's if you're doing both breast and bottle feeding.

But, again, bottom line, any amount of breast feeding is going to be better than none. This is a food source designed specifically for your baby.

O'BRIEN: We're talking about this all week. What else you got for us for the rest of the week?

GUPTA: We got some interesting things. Again, all based on newborns. You can take a look at the schedule there. Tuesday, one of our most popular, losing weight after pregnancy. How do you do it? Wednesday, postpartum depression, important, a serious topic. And the baby blues as well. Thursday, sleep training, your baby, and subsequently, you. And the caregivers will need to know how to do that. And finally, handling multiples, Soledad. This one we designed especially for you with the twins. So that's the weeklong schedule.

O'BRIEN: I'll be taking notes. And then I'll call you and grill you some more. All right, Sanjay, Thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Soledad. In a moment here, more on the passing of America's queen of beauty, Estee Lauder.

And the famed GE executive Jack Welch gets hitched. Andy joins us with more on those stories, right after this here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The titan of the cosmetics industry is being remembered this morning, and nearly 40 years after Andy Warhol turned soup can labels into pop art, they're back. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. This is kind of a business people who love people segment, OK?

Let's talk about Estee Lauder. She passed away in New York City on Saturday. Born in Corona, Queens, her name was Josephine Esther Mentzer, middle-class family there in Queens, not a member of European royalty as some would believe. Obviously, she was the queen of the cosmetics industry, Clinique (ph) an Mack (ph) and all those other lines, worth many hundreds of millions of dollars. Her family will be taking over this company. It's a public company, but Leonard, Ronald and Grandson, William, are going to be taking over the company. Estee Lauder was 97 years old.

Let's talk about something else over the weekend as well. Jack Welch getting married again. Of course, getting married to Susie Wetlauffer (ph). That magazine editor from "The Harvard Business Review." There is a picture on Park Street church in Boston, Massachusetts. Jack very happy. They're working on a book together, Jack, called "Winning." And a lot of celebrities there, notables. Matt Lauer was there. Vernon Jordan was there. Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Pats was there as well.

And then finally, let's talk about this soup, because this is interesting to me, kind of novel. Andy Warhol, of course, took the Campbell's soup can and turned it into pop art, famously, around 1962. There's Andy. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he hailed.

CAFFERTY: Where did his hair come from?

SERWER: Downtown, Manhattan.

Now Campbell's is rolling out these limited edition -- that was the famous print. That goes for over $1 million now.

CAFFERTY: That's unbelievable.

SERWER: It Looks like a Campbell's Soup can, doesn't it?

CAFFERTY: It does to me.

SERWER: It really does. Now Campbell's is rolling out. Here they are. These are the commemorative line of soup cans in Pittsburgh, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia. And it's got his signature here, right there. You can see that.

O'BRIEN: What kind of soup is that?

SERWER: This is your tomato soup.

O'BRIEN: It's all tomato?

SERWER: And, you know, looking for food.

You see that, she's just going right for it.

O'BRIEN: I know.

SERWER: Kind of interesting -- kind of. CAFFERTY: I'm not sure the file is a lot better than that.

SERWER: All right, thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: We're going to take a run at it here. Believe me, I may defer. Researchers at the Museum of History and Science in Florence, Italy have unveiled a new car over this past weekend. We have a picture right here. It's called the Leonardo Fiat, after the inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci. The car runs on springs instead of gasoline, probably designed to entertain royalty, rather than transportation. But it is the world's first self-propelled vehicle. Da Vinci's notebooks have shown designs for helicopters, submarines, military tanks and bicycles.

SERWER: I thought it ran on soup. Sorry.

CAFFERTY: That's possible.

CAFFERTY: What would it take for to you give up your password to your computer? A survey in Liverpool, England says 37 percent of you will give up your computer password if somebody asks you nicely. 34 percent hold out until somebody offers up a candy bar. Other passwords statistics, 40 percent of you know your coworker's pass words. And 55 percent of you would tell your boss your password if he asked for it.

SERWER: Please.

O'BRIEN: A candy bar?

CAFFERTY: See what I mean about these.

When it comes to -- it's Monday, you know? When it comes to potty parity, the Chicago Bears are not interested. The Bears want to shorten the lines at the men's bathrooms at Soldier Field during the football games, and they're thinking of turning some of the women's bathrooms into men's rooms in order to accomplish that.

SERWER: That's backwards.

CAFFERTY: Well. Yes, it is. The Bears claim, though, that on Sundays, during the season, the stadium crowd is about 75 percent men. And the lines now average about 15 minutes. In order for this to happen, the Bears will have to get around Chicago's potty parity law, which says the facilities have to build more women's bathroom stalls.

SERWER: Can't they just build as many as they need? I mean, that would be too much for -- it's Chicago again, isn't it? your favorite town.

O'BRIEN: Don't get him started.

All right, Jack. Thanks. I thought those were good. Two thumbs up. I liked them.

CAFFERTY: You liked them? O'BRIEN: Pretty good.

Still to come this morning, much more on that firefight out of Fallujah and the tense situation there with insurgents across Iraq. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com