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American Morning

Baghdad Hit With Four Deadly Car Bombs Today; Photos of the Fallen

Aired May 03, 2004 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Baghdad hit with four deadly car bombs today. We'll bring you a live report on the latest insurgent attacks. That's in just a moment.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also from Hollywood, coming up here, Hollywood's upset by a new technology. You can edit the stuff you don't want your kids to see. You can edit it out of feature films. Watch the film in its entirety, but pick and choose what you want in there and what you don't. So we'll talk about that.

O'BRIEN: Parents love it.

HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN; Some of the people who make the films, not so thrilled about it.

HEMMER: We'll get to that. First the headlines. Again, here's Carol for that. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, a developing story out of Afghanistan this morning. Word of a massive explosion there. According to reports, at least 28 people were killed in the blast at an ammunition dump, dozens more injured. These are new pictures we're just getting in of troops at the scene there. We'll continue to follow this story. We'll bring you more details when we know more.

Attorneys for Army Private Lynndie England are hoping a military judge will accept a plea deal. The 22-year-old Reservist, whose image has become synonymous with the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal heads to court later today. She's expected to plead guilty to lesser charges. If the judge rejects the plea, jury selection for England's military trial will begin tomorrow.

The search resumes this morning for the body of a 14-year-old Boy Scout who fell off a whale watching boat. Rescue teams have been searching the waters off Cape May Point, New Jersey since Saturday. A police spokesman says a black T-shirt was found attached to the boat's propeller. It is not clear if the shirt belonged to the boy.

A bride-to-be's cold feet could get her up to five years in prison. Jennifer Wilbanks returned to Atlanta late Saturday after calling the police from Albuquerque, New Mexico with a false kidnapping story. The Georgia D.A. says authorities are still deciding if a crime was committed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT CO. D.A.: It's not like she was running down the road and went I can't get married and just kept running to the bus station. So the things we're concerned about are those things that show pre-planning and intent, because that's an essential element we're going to have to show if we charge her with a crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sources say Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days before she left. If so, that does suggest the disappearance was planned and could weigh heavily against Wilbanks. There's that 9-1-1 call.

O'BRIEN: And why is she putting the towel over her head. It's like your picture has everywhere, honey. I mean, maybe she doesn't realize it.

HEMMER: She cut her hair, so she looks different now.

COSTELLO: Maybe she gave herself a bad hair cut, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Oh, it has nothing do with the shame, except for about the hair.

HEMMER: I was stunned Saturday morning when that news came across that she was alive.

COSTELLO: I was too.

O'BRIEN: I know her parents are like, we're glad you're well, honey. We want to till kill you.

COSTELLO: And her poor fiance, talk about massive embarrassment.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: The range of emotion was huge in that family over the weekend, for sure.

COSTELLO: I bet now they're just angry.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know.

HEMMER: See you, Carol.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.

Well, a deadly wave of violence sweeping Iraq this morning. CNN's Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad with the latest.

Ryan, good morning.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. A violent beginning to the week here. Four car bombs have exploded already today in the Iraqi capital, three of the four of those car bombs targeting the Iraqi security forces, something that's consistent with the pane we've seen for the last few weeks. The one car bomb that wasn't targeting Iraqi security forces went off in southern Baghdad, not clear who the target was there. It went off at a marketplace right next to a privately owned building. We know that at least nine Iraqi civilians were killed in that attack. And all in all, in the four attacks today, Iraqi police telling us at least 11 Iraqis killed, 29 wounded. The U.S. military says this is just an attempt to discredit Iraq's new government. That government is set to be sworn in tomorrow -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, on the very latest on this Australian who is being held hostage in Iraq?

COSTELLO: Sure, his name is Douglas Wood, and he's an Australian citizen who has resided in California for a bit more than a decade now. Last night's video appeared on the Al Jazeera television network, distributed to television agencies here, showing Mr. Wood pleading for his life. He's surrounded by two men carrying rifles. We've seen these kinds of hostage videos before. He's in this video begging U.S., Australian and British troops to withdraw from Iraq.

However, the Australian prime minister says that's not going to happen. He dreaded that an Australian would be taken hostage here, but he says he's not going to allow his country's foreign policy to be dictated by terrorists. There will be no ransom paid in this, he says, and there will be no troop withdrawal -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote for us with an update this morning. Ryan, thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: Twenty-five minutes before the hour.

The Pentagon last week released several hundred photographs showing the handling of the remains of U.S. troops killed in action. The Pentagon previously refused to release images like these. And a Pentagon spokesman telling CNN it is not changing its 14-year ban on media access to such events. The release comes now in response to a lawsuit filed by a former CNN correspondent, Ralph Begleiter, along with a nonprofit organization, the National Security Archive. And Ralph Begleiter is my guest from Montgomery, Alabama.

Nice to see you after a couple of years, Ralph. Good morning to you.

RALPH BEGLEITER, FMR. CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. How are you doing?

HEMMER: I'm doing fine, thanks.

The Pentagon has argued in the interest of family, this is a privacy matter here. That's why the release of the photos does not come very often. We've seen it a couple times in the past two years, but this latest dump scores hundreds of photographs. What are you to make of the Pentagon's argument, Ralph?

BEGLEITER: Well, the Pentagon has argued in the past that these images of these caskets returning to the United States should be kept private to protect the privacy of the families. The release this time, I think, demonstrates pretty clearly that the Pentagon accepts the argument that these images belong in the public space. The Pentagon wasn't forced to release these. They released them in advance of a judge's ruling, attempting to preempt the judge's ruling. So I think that accepts the argument that they belong in the public space. These are documents, Bill.

HEMMER: I apologize about the interruption here, but we're watching some of the photos here. Some of the faces, many of them have been blacked out. Did they give a reason why that happened this time?

BEGLEITER: The Pentagon says that under a provision of law that allows them to protect the security of forces that may go back into a combat zone, that they're permitted to, what they call redact the images that are released to the public. They call it redaction. I call it censorship. In any case, these are soldiers and sailors who have volunteered to be part of an honor guard to pay respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The Pentagon has chosen to black out their faces on these honor guards.

HEMMER: You issued your own legal challenge to get these photos released. Does that legal challenge end now? Are you satisfied?

BEGLEITER: The answer to that is really I'm not sure at this point. We have to determine whether the requests were completely fulfilled, and the difficulty in that is that the Pentagon has censored the date information for each of the photographs that it has released. They did release some information for some of the photographs, but not for all of them.

So the answer is, I don't know whether they've fulfilled the request, which went for a certain period of dates. Also, I had asked for video images as well as still photos, and no video was released and the Pentagon has not addressed that issue at all.

HEMMER: Ralph, what do we gain from looking at these photos, though? What do we get out of it?

BEGLEITER: We gain as a nation from being able to pay respects to those in the same way that a senior military officer might get out of his or her car at Arlington National Cemetery to salute the casket of a returning soldier at the cemetery. The rest of the nation now can pay its respects to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. It's a matter of honor for the families and a matter of honor for those who have paid the price, as well as a documentation of important events in the history of war. The Pentagon made these photos. They wouldn't take them in the first place if they weren't important documents of events in war. HEMMER: Ralph, one more thing here, a burial at sea is one particular image that struck you. Tell us about it. What happened? And why did it strike you with such an emotion?

BEGLEITER: Well, I don't know if you can see it now or if you've already seen it.

HEMMER: We sure can right now.

BEGLEITER: But this is a heart-stopping image, at least it was for me. The Pentagon released this image, complete with all of the identifying information about it. It occurred May 19, 2004, and the Pentagon released the name of the individual being buried at sea. I've already had some criticism from people who say that that kind of information surely invades the privacy of the individuals. But what people don't know is the Pentagon had previously published that very image on one of its own publicly available Internet sites long before it made that image available to me and to the American people.

HEMMER: Clearly...

BEGLEITER: If they put it on the Internet, the American people ought to be able to see.

HEMMER: Well, clearly they are stunning images and the debate will continue, too, as long as the war continues also in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ralph Begleiter, former CNN colleague good to see you again this morning -- Soledad..

BEGLEITER: Thank you for inviting me.

O'BRIEN: It's 20 minutes before the top of the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Well, we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about the controversy surrounding Accutane, a drug that's used to treat severe acne. As Sanjay tells us, a new study provides further evidence of the drug's link to depression.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: My youngest son B.J., Bart Jr., died in May 14, 2000. He shot himself.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bart Jr. was 17. Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak blames Accutane for his son's suicide and he wants it off the market. But until now, no one could say just how the drug might lead to depression.

STUPAK: This was the first study that really show as biological link a physical evidence.

GUPTA: With this high-tech camera, psychiatrist Douglas Bremner looked at the brains of 13 young adults taking Accutane for acne and another 15 on antibiotics. In the so-called Accutane brain, activity in this front part of the brain was down 21 percent.

DR. J. DOUGLAS BREMNER, EMORY UNIVERSITY: This plays a critical role in emotion. If there's a decrease in function in that part of the brain, it makes sense that there would be changes in mood.

GUPTA: Accutane and generic versions already carry an imposing warning. Aside from cautions about birth defects there's this:

(on camera): Accutane may cause depression, psychosis, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and aggressive behavior.

(voice-over): But that warning only started in 2002, four years after the Food and Drug Administration warned physicians that the drug might have psychiatric side effects. There are several lawsuits pending, including one by the family of 15-year-old patient Charles Bishop, who killed himself flying a small plane into a Tampa office tower three years ago. Of course, teens are more prone to clinical depression and experts say the rate, as measured by suicide and the number of teens seeking treatment, is rising.

A spokeswoman for Roche the company that makes Accutane, told us she doesn't know enough to comment about the new study, but says that Roche has never found a link between its drug and suicide. An FDA advisory panel recommended creating a formal registry of all patients on the drug to make it easier to keep track of side effects.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Roche tells CNN that it's working with generic manufacturers of Accutane and the FDA to try to put together a mandatory registry of all users of the drug. The registry is, in fact, expected to be in place by July -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Andy is "Minding Your Business," telling us today about ideas for a futuristic car that can fix itself -- you like that -- and never crashes.

O'BRIEN: I'll take one.

HEMMER: Yes. Andy explains in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, a new law lets parents make family- friendly versions of their favorite movies. Is it censorship, though? A look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Some in Hollywood are calling it the unkindest cut of all. Companies that help parents delete content from movies now are getting new protections from Washington. But as Brooke Anderson reports today, producers and directors now are putting up a First Amendment fight. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood and guts doesn't bother me much at all, but the sex does.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sex sells, but not to everybody. President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill allowing movies to be re-edited, but not by the people who created them. The part of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act that Hollywood likes makes it a federal offense to pirate a movie by using a camcorder to illegally record a film in a theater. The part the industry is ticked about says film filter companies are free to edit what they consider to be offensive movie content. Some say this is Big Brother meddling.

ROB REINER, FILM DIRECTOR: As a filmmaker, I'm against any kind of censorship or anything that would alter an artist's vision.

PAUL HAGGIS, "CRASH" DIRECTOR: I have some four letter words for those people. Exactly.

ANDERSON: Bill Aho is at the center of the controversy. His company, ClearPlay, sells filters to be used in DVD players, which would allow parents to pick and choose what their children see.

BILL AHO, CLEARPLAY: You have control over skipping or muting, over sex, graphic violence or profanity in DVDs that you watch.

ANDERSON: The consumer uses the filter to make the cuts.

AHO: In many cases -- not all, but in many cases, they're movies that you'd be pretty comfortable with if not for just a little bit of content.

ANDERSON: Producer Marshall Herskovitz, whose blockbuster films "Traffic" and "The Last Samurai" have been sanitized without his permission.

MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ, PRODUCER: Remember, if a movie is R-rated, it's meant for adults. Why on earth should it be changed and reduced so that it could be seen by children?

ANDERSON: ClearPlay isn't the only company cleaning up Hollywood. Clean Flicks and Family Flicks both sell edited versions of popular DVDs online and in stores.

HERSKOVITZ: A DVD is protected by the First Amendment, it's protected by copyright law, and you can't just change it because you object to those images that are coming across your television. Right now, the only legal and ethical recourse you have is to not buy it.

ANDERSON: But some parents believe buying the filters or the edited movies buys their children more time to be kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can protect them for a little bit longer, then that's a good deal. Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: The bill, signed by the president, was sponsored by Republican senator Orrin Hatch out of the state Utah. That's the state where many filtering technology firms are currently based.

If you have a noisy neighbor, Jack has just the thing to help you get revenge. That's in "The File," right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, my thanks to the 100 or so of you that wrote in to inform me that "Thank God and Greyhound She's Gone" was done by Roy Clark back in the '60s on the "Hee-Haw" television program.

On to other things, Bill Gates envisioning a smart car, and you can bid to own a pope-mobile, but it's not the one you're thinking about. Those stories and a look at the markets, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Jack.

A couple of car stories. Yes, Bill Gates went to Detroit, sat down with Bill Ford Jr., gave some advice to him, talked about the car of the future. And some interesting stuff. Software, of course, will do everything for a car. It will make the car fix itself. He's talking about a car that will fix itself, and software that will prevent a car from crashing. I'm not sure how it's all going to work. Bill says trust me, it's going to happen in the future.

Hey is that a 2006 Taurus? That's Bill Gates and Bill Ford hanging out there together. He said -- Bill said his first car was a '65 Mustang, by the way.

Now, why would a 1999 VW Golf be for sale on German eBay for $1.45 million? Because it's owned, apparently, by the pope. It was owned. This is really pretty funny here. This is it. This is the site. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger apparently owned this '99 VW Golf, which will go for about $4,000 or $5,000. Benny XVI apparently. This is the guy, Ben -- Halbe, 21 years old, is the seller. He says, it drives like Heaven. And then one funny line. No, this is good. Someone asked on the site, says, does black smoke or white smoke come out of the tail pipe? I thought that was pretty cute.

SERWER: That's cute.

As far as the markets go, let's just take a quick look at the month of April, which was not good a good one. And you can see here if you do that, times 12, you end up having a very terrible year.

HEMMER: Let's don't.

SERWER: Usually doesn't happen that way. Futures looking up a little bit this morning, though, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Time for "The Cafferty File," just in time for Mother's Day -- there you go. A report confirms what mothers have been saying for decades, American women like being mothers, but they tend to feel underappreciated and less valued by society. Right, Soledad? She's over here going.

O'BRIEN: Uh-huh.

CAFFERTY: According to a study, 81 percent of women are very satisfied with life as a mother. But of the 2,000 mothers surveyed, 33 percent would say the ideal situation would be to work part-time, 30 percent would like to work from home for pay, and 21 percent said not working at all is the ideal situation. The 21 percent are the brightest group of the mothers interviewed. Mothers also wanted to spend more time on personal and family relationships and less time at work.

You won't sea any of these women in the Miss Universe Contest, but they did turn out to battle it out in Thailand Sunday for the crown of Miss Jumbo Queen. It's an annual beauty contest -- you should pardon the expression -- celebrating the idea that big is beautiful. Competition is open only to women who weigh in at more than 176 pounds. Contestants perform racy dance numbers, cabaret shows and even self-defense demonstrations. The heaviest competitor in this particular pageant weighed 400 pounds. The Miss Jumbo Queen crown went to an 18-year-old girl who weighed in at 240 pounds. This pageant is done to raise money to protect the elephants in Thailand.

SERWER: Serious?

CAFFERTY: "The Cafferty File" is top of the line journalism.

SERWER: Why do I question? I'm sorry.

CAFFERTY: This is nothing frivolous here.

SERWER: Not bad.

CAFFERTY: Tired of noisy neighbors or your kids' loud music? Here's an idea for payback time, you can turn on something called "The Revenge CD: 20 Sounds That People Hate." There's a loud constant drilling noise, high heels pacing on a hardwood floor, a bowling alley, and this -- supposed to be a freight train. Sounds like it's about 600 miles away. And the CD also contains certain sexual noises. Those seeking revenge do not need to exact it on themselves. "The Revenge CD" comes with a set of earplugs so you can sit back and laugh in silence.

O'BRIEN: That's a good idea, especially in New York City apartments where people can hear that. My neighbor bought his kid drums. That's all I'm going to say.

SERWER: Oh, really?

CAFFERTY: Where do you come down on that motherhood survey?

O'BRIEN: I'm very satisfied with being a mother, but I could be a little more appreciated by all of you. No, I'm kidding. I'm fine with it.

CAFFERTY: We're not your children.

O'BRIEN: The children will never appreciate you. I'm not waiting for that, please. I'm not insane, you know. Thanks, Jack.

In a moment, more on that buried treasure that might have been a big hoax, the clues that tipped off police, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 3, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Baghdad hit with four deadly car bombs today. We'll bring you a live report on the latest insurgent attacks. That's in just a moment.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also from Hollywood, coming up here, Hollywood's upset by a new technology. You can edit the stuff you don't want your kids to see. You can edit it out of feature films. Watch the film in its entirety, but pick and choose what you want in there and what you don't. So we'll talk about that.

O'BRIEN: Parents love it.

HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN; Some of the people who make the films, not so thrilled about it.

HEMMER: We'll get to that. First the headlines. Again, here's Carol for that. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, a developing story out of Afghanistan this morning. Word of a massive explosion there. According to reports, at least 28 people were killed in the blast at an ammunition dump, dozens more injured. These are new pictures we're just getting in of troops at the scene there. We'll continue to follow this story. We'll bring you more details when we know more.

Attorneys for Army Private Lynndie England are hoping a military judge will accept a plea deal. The 22-year-old Reservist, whose image has become synonymous with the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal heads to court later today. She's expected to plead guilty to lesser charges. If the judge rejects the plea, jury selection for England's military trial will begin tomorrow.

The search resumes this morning for the body of a 14-year-old Boy Scout who fell off a whale watching boat. Rescue teams have been searching the waters off Cape May Point, New Jersey since Saturday. A police spokesman says a black T-shirt was found attached to the boat's propeller. It is not clear if the shirt belonged to the boy.

A bride-to-be's cold feet could get her up to five years in prison. Jennifer Wilbanks returned to Atlanta late Saturday after calling the police from Albuquerque, New Mexico with a false kidnapping story. The Georgia D.A. says authorities are still deciding if a crime was committed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY PORTER, GWINNETT CO. D.A.: It's not like she was running down the road and went I can't get married and just kept running to the bus station. So the things we're concerned about are those things that show pre-planning and intent, because that's an essential element we're going to have to show if we charge her with a crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sources say Wilbanks bought her bus ticket several days before she left. If so, that does suggest the disappearance was planned and could weigh heavily against Wilbanks. There's that 9-1-1 call.

O'BRIEN: And why is she putting the towel over her head. It's like your picture has everywhere, honey. I mean, maybe she doesn't realize it.

HEMMER: She cut her hair, so she looks different now.

COSTELLO: Maybe she gave herself a bad hair cut, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Oh, it has nothing do with the shame, except for about the hair.

HEMMER: I was stunned Saturday morning when that news came across that she was alive.

COSTELLO: I was too.

O'BRIEN: I know her parents are like, we're glad you're well, honey. We want to till kill you.

COSTELLO: And her poor fiance, talk about massive embarrassment.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: The range of emotion was huge in that family over the weekend, for sure.

COSTELLO: I bet now they're just angry.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know.

HEMMER: See you, Carol.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.

Well, a deadly wave of violence sweeping Iraq this morning. CNN's Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad with the latest.

Ryan, good morning.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. A violent beginning to the week here. Four car bombs have exploded already today in the Iraqi capital, three of the four of those car bombs targeting the Iraqi security forces, something that's consistent with the pane we've seen for the last few weeks. The one car bomb that wasn't targeting Iraqi security forces went off in southern Baghdad, not clear who the target was there. It went off at a marketplace right next to a privately owned building. We know that at least nine Iraqi civilians were killed in that attack. And all in all, in the four attacks today, Iraqi police telling us at least 11 Iraqis killed, 29 wounded. The U.S. military says this is just an attempt to discredit Iraq's new government. That government is set to be sworn in tomorrow -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan, on the very latest on this Australian who is being held hostage in Iraq?

COSTELLO: Sure, his name is Douglas Wood, and he's an Australian citizen who has resided in California for a bit more than a decade now. Last night's video appeared on the Al Jazeera television network, distributed to television agencies here, showing Mr. Wood pleading for his life. He's surrounded by two men carrying rifles. We've seen these kinds of hostage videos before. He's in this video begging U.S., Australian and British troops to withdraw from Iraq.

However, the Australian prime minister says that's not going to happen. He dreaded that an Australian would be taken hostage here, but he says he's not going to allow his country's foreign policy to be dictated by terrorists. There will be no ransom paid in this, he says, and there will be no troop withdrawal -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote for us with an update this morning. Ryan, thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: Twenty-five minutes before the hour.

The Pentagon last week released several hundred photographs showing the handling of the remains of U.S. troops killed in action. The Pentagon previously refused to release images like these. And a Pentagon spokesman telling CNN it is not changing its 14-year ban on media access to such events. The release comes now in response to a lawsuit filed by a former CNN correspondent, Ralph Begleiter, along with a nonprofit organization, the National Security Archive. And Ralph Begleiter is my guest from Montgomery, Alabama.

Nice to see you after a couple of years, Ralph. Good morning to you.

RALPH BEGLEITER, FMR. CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. How are you doing?

HEMMER: I'm doing fine, thanks.

The Pentagon has argued in the interest of family, this is a privacy matter here. That's why the release of the photos does not come very often. We've seen it a couple times in the past two years, but this latest dump scores hundreds of photographs. What are you to make of the Pentagon's argument, Ralph?

BEGLEITER: Well, the Pentagon has argued in the past that these images of these caskets returning to the United States should be kept private to protect the privacy of the families. The release this time, I think, demonstrates pretty clearly that the Pentagon accepts the argument that these images belong in the public space. The Pentagon wasn't forced to release these. They released them in advance of a judge's ruling, attempting to preempt the judge's ruling. So I think that accepts the argument that they belong in the public space. These are documents, Bill.

HEMMER: I apologize about the interruption here, but we're watching some of the photos here. Some of the faces, many of them have been blacked out. Did they give a reason why that happened this time?

BEGLEITER: The Pentagon says that under a provision of law that allows them to protect the security of forces that may go back into a combat zone, that they're permitted to, what they call redact the images that are released to the public. They call it redaction. I call it censorship. In any case, these are soldiers and sailors who have volunteered to be part of an honor guard to pay respects to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The Pentagon has chosen to black out their faces on these honor guards.

HEMMER: You issued your own legal challenge to get these photos released. Does that legal challenge end now? Are you satisfied?

BEGLEITER: The answer to that is really I'm not sure at this point. We have to determine whether the requests were completely fulfilled, and the difficulty in that is that the Pentagon has censored the date information for each of the photographs that it has released. They did release some information for some of the photographs, but not for all of them.

So the answer is, I don't know whether they've fulfilled the request, which went for a certain period of dates. Also, I had asked for video images as well as still photos, and no video was released and the Pentagon has not addressed that issue at all.

HEMMER: Ralph, what do we gain from looking at these photos, though? What do we get out of it?

BEGLEITER: We gain as a nation from being able to pay respects to those in the same way that a senior military officer might get out of his or her car at Arlington National Cemetery to salute the casket of a returning soldier at the cemetery. The rest of the nation now can pay its respects to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. It's a matter of honor for the families and a matter of honor for those who have paid the price, as well as a documentation of important events in the history of war. The Pentagon made these photos. They wouldn't take them in the first place if they weren't important documents of events in war. HEMMER: Ralph, one more thing here, a burial at sea is one particular image that struck you. Tell us about it. What happened? And why did it strike you with such an emotion?

BEGLEITER: Well, I don't know if you can see it now or if you've already seen it.

HEMMER: We sure can right now.

BEGLEITER: But this is a heart-stopping image, at least it was for me. The Pentagon released this image, complete with all of the identifying information about it. It occurred May 19, 2004, and the Pentagon released the name of the individual being buried at sea. I've already had some criticism from people who say that that kind of information surely invades the privacy of the individuals. But what people don't know is the Pentagon had previously published that very image on one of its own publicly available Internet sites long before it made that image available to me and to the American people.

HEMMER: Clearly...

BEGLEITER: If they put it on the Internet, the American people ought to be able to see.

HEMMER: Well, clearly they are stunning images and the debate will continue, too, as long as the war continues also in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Ralph Begleiter, former CNN colleague good to see you again this morning -- Soledad..

BEGLEITER: Thank you for inviting me.

O'BRIEN: It's 20 minutes before the top of the hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Well, we are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about the controversy surrounding Accutane, a drug that's used to treat severe acne. As Sanjay tells us, a new study provides further evidence of the drug's link to depression.

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REP. BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: My youngest son B.J., Bart Jr., died in May 14, 2000. He shot himself.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bart Jr. was 17. Michigan Congressman Bart Stupak blames Accutane for his son's suicide and he wants it off the market. But until now, no one could say just how the drug might lead to depression.

STUPAK: This was the first study that really show as biological link a physical evidence.

GUPTA: With this high-tech camera, psychiatrist Douglas Bremner looked at the brains of 13 young adults taking Accutane for acne and another 15 on antibiotics. In the so-called Accutane brain, activity in this front part of the brain was down 21 percent.

DR. J. DOUGLAS BREMNER, EMORY UNIVERSITY: This plays a critical role in emotion. If there's a decrease in function in that part of the brain, it makes sense that there would be changes in mood.

GUPTA: Accutane and generic versions already carry an imposing warning. Aside from cautions about birth defects there's this:

(on camera): Accutane may cause depression, psychosis, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and aggressive behavior.

(voice-over): But that warning only started in 2002, four years after the Food and Drug Administration warned physicians that the drug might have psychiatric side effects. There are several lawsuits pending, including one by the family of 15-year-old patient Charles Bishop, who killed himself flying a small plane into a Tampa office tower three years ago. Of course, teens are more prone to clinical depression and experts say the rate, as measured by suicide and the number of teens seeking treatment, is rising.

A spokeswoman for Roche the company that makes Accutane, told us she doesn't know enough to comment about the new study, but says that Roche has never found a link between its drug and suicide. An FDA advisory panel recommended creating a formal registry of all patients on the drug to make it easier to keep track of side effects.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

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O'BRIEN: Roche tells CNN that it's working with generic manufacturers of Accutane and the FDA to try to put together a mandatory registry of all users of the drug. The registry is, in fact, expected to be in place by July -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Andy is "Minding Your Business," telling us today about ideas for a futuristic car that can fix itself -- you like that -- and never crashes.

O'BRIEN: I'll take one.

HEMMER: Yes. Andy explains in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, a new law lets parents make family- friendly versions of their favorite movies. Is it censorship, though? A look at that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: Some in Hollywood are calling it the unkindest cut of all. Companies that help parents delete content from movies now are getting new protections from Washington. But as Brooke Anderson reports today, producers and directors now are putting up a First Amendment fight. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blood and guts doesn't bother me much at all, but the sex does.

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sex sells, but not to everybody. President Bush on Wednesday signed a bill allowing movies to be re-edited, but not by the people who created them. The part of the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act that Hollywood likes makes it a federal offense to pirate a movie by using a camcorder to illegally record a film in a theater. The part the industry is ticked about says film filter companies are free to edit what they consider to be offensive movie content. Some say this is Big Brother meddling.

ROB REINER, FILM DIRECTOR: As a filmmaker, I'm against any kind of censorship or anything that would alter an artist's vision.

PAUL HAGGIS, "CRASH" DIRECTOR: I have some four letter words for those people. Exactly.

ANDERSON: Bill Aho is at the center of the controversy. His company, ClearPlay, sells filters to be used in DVD players, which would allow parents to pick and choose what their children see.

BILL AHO, CLEARPLAY: You have control over skipping or muting, over sex, graphic violence or profanity in DVDs that you watch.

ANDERSON: The consumer uses the filter to make the cuts.

AHO: In many cases -- not all, but in many cases, they're movies that you'd be pretty comfortable with if not for just a little bit of content.

ANDERSON: Producer Marshall Herskovitz, whose blockbuster films "Traffic" and "The Last Samurai" have been sanitized without his permission.

MARSHALL HERSKOVITZ, PRODUCER: Remember, if a movie is R-rated, it's meant for adults. Why on earth should it be changed and reduced so that it could be seen by children?

ANDERSON: ClearPlay isn't the only company cleaning up Hollywood. Clean Flicks and Family Flicks both sell edited versions of popular DVDs online and in stores.

HERSKOVITZ: A DVD is protected by the First Amendment, it's protected by copyright law, and you can't just change it because you object to those images that are coming across your television. Right now, the only legal and ethical recourse you have is to not buy it.

ANDERSON: But some parents believe buying the filters or the edited movies buys their children more time to be kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can protect them for a little bit longer, then that's a good deal. Brooke Anderson, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: The bill, signed by the president, was sponsored by Republican senator Orrin Hatch out of the state Utah. That's the state where many filtering technology firms are currently based.

If you have a noisy neighbor, Jack has just the thing to help you get revenge. That's in "The File," right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, my thanks to the 100 or so of you that wrote in to inform me that "Thank God and Greyhound She's Gone" was done by Roy Clark back in the '60s on the "Hee-Haw" television program.

On to other things, Bill Gates envisioning a smart car, and you can bid to own a pope-mobile, but it's not the one you're thinking about. Those stories and a look at the markets, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Jack.

A couple of car stories. Yes, Bill Gates went to Detroit, sat down with Bill Ford Jr., gave some advice to him, talked about the car of the future. And some interesting stuff. Software, of course, will do everything for a car. It will make the car fix itself. He's talking about a car that will fix itself, and software that will prevent a car from crashing. I'm not sure how it's all going to work. Bill says trust me, it's going to happen in the future.

Hey is that a 2006 Taurus? That's Bill Gates and Bill Ford hanging out there together. He said -- Bill said his first car was a '65 Mustang, by the way.

Now, why would a 1999 VW Golf be for sale on German eBay for $1.45 million? Because it's owned, apparently, by the pope. It was owned. This is really pretty funny here. This is it. This is the site. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger apparently owned this '99 VW Golf, which will go for about $4,000 or $5,000. Benny XVI apparently. This is the guy, Ben -- Halbe, 21 years old, is the seller. He says, it drives like Heaven. And then one funny line. No, this is good. Someone asked on the site, says, does black smoke or white smoke come out of the tail pipe? I thought that was pretty cute.

SERWER: That's cute.

As far as the markets go, let's just take a quick look at the month of April, which was not good a good one. And you can see here if you do that, times 12, you end up having a very terrible year.

HEMMER: Let's don't.

SERWER: Usually doesn't happen that way. Futures looking up a little bit this morning, though, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Time for "The Cafferty File," just in time for Mother's Day -- there you go. A report confirms what mothers have been saying for decades, American women like being mothers, but they tend to feel underappreciated and less valued by society. Right, Soledad? She's over here going.

O'BRIEN: Uh-huh.

CAFFERTY: According to a study, 81 percent of women are very satisfied with life as a mother. But of the 2,000 mothers surveyed, 33 percent would say the ideal situation would be to work part-time, 30 percent would like to work from home for pay, and 21 percent said not working at all is the ideal situation. The 21 percent are the brightest group of the mothers interviewed. Mothers also wanted to spend more time on personal and family relationships and less time at work.

You won't sea any of these women in the Miss Universe Contest, but they did turn out to battle it out in Thailand Sunday for the crown of Miss Jumbo Queen. It's an annual beauty contest -- you should pardon the expression -- celebrating the idea that big is beautiful. Competition is open only to women who weigh in at more than 176 pounds. Contestants perform racy dance numbers, cabaret shows and even self-defense demonstrations. The heaviest competitor in this particular pageant weighed 400 pounds. The Miss Jumbo Queen crown went to an 18-year-old girl who weighed in at 240 pounds. This pageant is done to raise money to protect the elephants in Thailand.

SERWER: Serious?

CAFFERTY: "The Cafferty File" is top of the line journalism.

SERWER: Why do I question? I'm sorry.

CAFFERTY: This is nothing frivolous here.

SERWER: Not bad.

CAFFERTY: Tired of noisy neighbors or your kids' loud music? Here's an idea for payback time, you can turn on something called "The Revenge CD: 20 Sounds That People Hate." There's a loud constant drilling noise, high heels pacing on a hardwood floor, a bowling alley, and this -- supposed to be a freight train. Sounds like it's about 600 miles away. And the CD also contains certain sexual noises. Those seeking revenge do not need to exact it on themselves. "The Revenge CD" comes with a set of earplugs so you can sit back and laugh in silence.

O'BRIEN: That's a good idea, especially in New York City apartments where people can hear that. My neighbor bought his kid drums. That's all I'm going to say.

SERWER: Oh, really?

CAFFERTY: Where do you come down on that motherhood survey?

O'BRIEN: I'm very satisfied with being a mother, but I could be a little more appreciated by all of you. No, I'm kidding. I'm fine with it.

CAFFERTY: We're not your children.

O'BRIEN: The children will never appreciate you. I'm not waiting for that, please. I'm not insane, you know. Thanks, Jack.

In a moment, more on that buried treasure that might have been a big hoax, the clues that tipped off police, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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