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American Morning

News Conference on the Recovery of Thomas Hamill; Campaign Themes; The Teen Brain

Aired May 03, 2004 - 9:00   ET

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

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An escaped hostage is free on a U.S. air base this morning and waiting for his family reunion.
Democrats are concerned about John Kerry's strategy, while President Bush launches a new twist to his campaign.

And 100-plus temperatures in southern California soar just as fire season begins on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Bill Hemmer off today. Miles O'Brien is sitting in.

So thank you again.

M. O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hemmer playing golf and me working. That's it in a nutshell.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, has his grandfather's memorial golf tournament.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's for a good cause. It is, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: But you're right. He is playing golf today.

M. O'BRIEN: Other stories we're following: we will be talking with the American general who was in charge of the Abu Ghraib Prison where U.S. soldiers have been accused of abusing prisoners.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the teenage brain, it really is different. Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets into the heads of teenagers to show us just how they think and perhaps explain why they do things like smoke or dye their hair those weirdo colors and drive recklessly.

M. O'BRIEN: Millions of parents dying to know the answer on this one. Aren't they?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Somebody said -- I've got four of them. Not teenagers, four kids. Somebody said raising teenagers is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. It's probably some wisdom there.

S. O'BRIEN: That was encouraging. Thanks, Jack. CAFFERTY: The e-mail subject we're fooling with here this morning is the wisdom of putting former Ba'ath Party generals in charge of Iraq's military to handle sticky little wickets like Fallujah. Good idea or not? AM@CNN.com is the address.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Some news just coming into CNN to tell you about. Small arms fire has left one U.S. soldier dead, two others injured south of Baghdad. The U.S. military says three of them were standing guard over weapons cache. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks over the weekend.

Meantime, U.S. forces are on alert in Najaf, responding to mortar fire there. Some exclusive pictures, CNN pictures, of U.S. troops on the roof of a compound in Najaf. Military officials say shelling began overnight. Followers of the radical Shiite cleric, Mutada al- Sadr, are believed to be behind the attacks in the Iraqi holy city. No casualties reported there.

Turkish officials say they foiled a planned terrorist attack. Police have detained 16 people suspected of planning a bomb attack during an upcoming NATO summit in Istanbul. Police say the suspects are believed to be members of a group linked to al Qaeda. President Bush expected to attend that NATO meeting. It's set for next month.

Mexico says it has decided to modify its relationship with Cuba but not break off ties completely. Following a blister speech by Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Mexico is recalling its ambassador to Cuba and has given the Cuban ambassador 48 hours to leave the country. The two former allies have been increasingly distant since Mexican President Vicente Fox took office.

And in southern California, the spring scorcher stretches on. The National Weather Service reported 16 areas in southern California experiencing new record highs yesterday. In LA, dozens of people attending a Cinco de Mayo celebration suffered heat-related ailments, including dizziness and dehydration. They had to be hospitalized.

And the temperatures expected to be in the triple digits again today. And that's where I'm headed today. I'm going from here to there. I'm going -- yes. Headed up there for a week.

Well, Mars. That's as close as you can get to Mars, Pasadena, the jet propulsion lab there. All my space pals, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll stay in the air-conditioning.

S. O'BRIEN: You better.

(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you now to a news conference which is being held, I believe, by the -- some of the soldiers who rescued Thomas Hamill. It looks like they are showing pictures of him shaking their hands. Obviously a very grateful Thomas Hamill, as he was rescued from his Iraqi captors, held for three weeks.

The stories of how he has been able to escape really quite remarkable. And earlier this morning, we spoke to his family members back in Macon, Mississippi, who are awaiting to see him in person. They are, obviously, overjoyed.

This morning, we are expecting to hear from a couple of the brigade combat teams who took part in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Lots of questions to ask. So let's listen in.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from CNN. How did he escape?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, sir?

QUESTION: How did he escape?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd have to ask Mr. Hamill that.

QUESTION: A follow-up here. Any idea who the people that captured him are associated with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to divulge any information on that at this point in time based on the situation that we've got. So I'd ask to defer those types of questions, if we can.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), FP (ph). Did he say anything to you about the fate of any of the other people that were kidnapped with him at the same time? And also, can you tell us exactly what he said to you, first of all, when he came across the field, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step up to the mic.

JOE MERRILL, U.S. ARMY: He initially came across the field and he had stated that he wanted to have us recognize him as an American. So he was waving is his hands and shouting. He fell a couple of times.

He walked up to the truck and, you know, I don't know exactly what he said when he got here, when he got to my soldiers. But he was obviously very glad to see us. And once we found out, we recognized who he was, we knew we had gotten somebody good.

QUESTION: Did he say anything to you about the fate of the others that were being held at the same time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to speak to this particular operation and securing Mr. Hamill, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The person Hamill...

S. O'BRIEN: You're listening to obviously some of the foreign press putting questions towards some of the soldiers who were involved in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Of course, some of the big questions that I think it's fair to say everybody would like to know, the specifics of how exactly Thomas Hamill escaped, who were the people holding him, and what about the fate of the others who are kidnapped at the same time and, yet, we really haven't heard anything from them? What has happened to them?

Those three big questions the military unwilling and unable to answer at this time. Let's go back to the press conference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can assure you that they, just like the other 130,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving here in Iraq, are displaying fortitude and courage everyday. They were out conducting a combat patrol at the time that they recovered Mr. Hamill.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Your mentioned that Mr. Hamill, when he approached you, he just waved his hand and raised a flag, a white flag. Although we know that he was British and you are from coalition forces. So why he raise this flag?

Was he afraid that -- was he afraid that you will not recognize him? Or was he afraid that you might just be anti-coalition forces? Or why he just raised this white flag?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman asked that when he approached you, he waved a white flag, and why he waved that white flag. OK?

You'll have to ask him that.

MERRILL: He didn't wave a white flag. He came out in the field, and he actually took his shirt off and waved his shirt in the air. And as he got closer, we he heard that he was speaking English.

At first, at a distance, we thought he was an Iraqi farmer who was coming up to the trucks. As he got closer, we heard that he was speaking English. And the first man who walked up to him realized immediately that it was Mr. Hamill.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Reuters. So can I just to be clear? He came running out of the house. And he's shouting, "I'm an American, I'm an American," can you just confirm that?

And then can you describe, was he scared? You know, you said he fell over. Was he running very fast? Can you just described what a bit more of the scene was like?

And did any of you have your guns on him? Because you thought he was an Iraqi farmer running towards you, did everyone have sort of guns, sort of their weapons unarmed?

And also, when you went back to the house, what were the people doing? Were they sitting around with an AK-47? Were they running off to him? What were they doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The AK-47 was outside the building over in the grass. And when we got to the building and went past the building, and when he came up to us, realized he was an American and realized he was a hostage, we immediately took the platoon back and swept back through the area that he was in.

The AK was found outside. And from where it was laying, we assessed that from what he had told us that someone was watching him. They probably saw us coming and decided that 40 on one wasn't going to be a good day for him. So he probably ran off. That's why we found just the weapon. He probably walked off.

The other detainees were just walking in the area. There was no other men in the house. It was just women and children.

QUESTION: And -- sorry. And the previous part of the question about, you know, when he was running towards you and what happened and the look on his face and that sort of thing?

MERRILL: He was obviously very relieved once he realized we were Americans. He was yelling, "I'm an American, I'm an American, I'm an American POW." At a distance, it was obvious he was unarmed so we did not have a weapons trained (ph) on him.

He had his hands in the air, waving his shirt around. So he was yelling, "I'm an American." As he got closer, we found what he was yelling. And once he got close up, we immediately recognized him.

QUESTION (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Mohammed (ph), has mentioned the personalities or the nationality of those who have kidnapped him? And how much -- how -- how many were they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as Mr. Hamill and what he's mentioned, again, I'd ask you to ask him those questions directly. The information that he has given to us immediately afterwards was given to the patrol, and that is currently being evaluated. With respect to the second part of the question, again?

QUESTION (through translator): He just wanted to know the number -- he just wanted to know -- to identify -- if you can -- has he identified the nationalities and the member of the -- of those people who have kept him as a hostage, whether they were American or Syrian?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With respect to the information we received, again, that information again is currently being evaluated.

QUESTION (through translator): Have you -- has Mr. Hamill identified the place where he was took hostage? The media has reported that he is outside of Iraq. So couldn't he be here to take part in this conference?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last -- we placed Mr. Hamill on a medical evacuation helicopter, and he was taken to a medical treatment facility. And then he was brought for repatriation. And I'd defer those questions to the JTF-7.

QUESTION (through translator): Did he -- did he identify the exact place where he was taken hostage? Was it in the north, in the south?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we picked him up, he was elated. He was happy to see an American patrol. His actions at that point in time were to address his wound.

He took the patrol back to the -- to the house. The gentleman here represent the unit that were on the ground at that time. As soon as the house was searched and he identified it, we put him on a medical evacuation and he was lifted out of the area at that point in time.

The information preceding and after that particular event, will have to be answered by another either JTF-7 or another headquarters. What we're trying to do today is describe to you the events that occurred on the ground yesterday.

QUESTION (through translator): From the photos we've seen, it is obvious that the hostage was not submitted to the same torture that the prisoners were submitted to in Abu Ghraib. Did he declare any kind of torture he suffered? And isn't it possible that the people who took him hostage just let him escape after the siege on Fallujah was ended?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he declare to you at the time any -- any torture at all? You were on the ground.

MERRILL: At the time that we got him, he did not say anything about being tortured. We offered him food and water. In fact, he took the water and refused the food because he said he had eaten that morning. So he had stated that they had fed him, his captors had fed him. So -- and that's all I can -- that's all he said to me.

QUESTION: Quinn O'Toole (ph) with NPR. For the fellows who were on the patrol, could you tell us a little bit of the communication that went on when you saw him running across the field? Did he say anything over the radios? What was your reaction? I imagine it's the first American you've seen running across a field up to your patrol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, the report that came in over the radio was there was an individual running towards the convoy. As he got closer, they identified him as an American. And as soon as they identified him as an American POW, they came out with a radio. At that point, we consolidated all of the soldiers there and we moved towards that building.

QUESTION: What was your reaction? I mean, emotionally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually felt kind of good. Something that I think everybody wants to do. So...

QUESTION (through translator): Where exactly in Tikrit have you found the hostage? Why -- why wasn't he tried or made an attempt to escape in the head (ph) -- not exactly that day? As you said, that he has been left and the guard was off that day. So why he didn't make any attempt to run away before this patrol coming in to him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, again, that is a question you're going to have to ask Mr. Hamill.

If I could just -- we were on the ground with him for an hour and 45 minutes, maximum. That is the extent of our participation in this operation. He -- again, as I mentioned in my statement, he approached the patrol. The patrol recovered Mr. Hamill.

He voluntarily took the patrol back to the house that he had been captured from. And in that hour and 45 minutes, from the time that he was recovered to the time he got on the helicopter, he was rendered medical aid, given water, and then medivacked out.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), NBC News. Colonel, Mr. Hamill was found quite a far distance north of where he was supposedly captured. Did it surprise you that your men were able to -- you know, that he was in your area? Or did you have any sort of forewarning at all that he might, you know, be, you know, be in that area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a fair question. We conduct aggressive patrols everyday. Just as everybody else, I was glad that we were able to participate with the recovery of Mr. Hamill.

We patrol this area frequently. And, again, based on his account, you'll have to determine what his actions were and what led to his recovery. We know what we saw on the ground. I don't know if that answers your question, but we were all happy that we were able to participate in it.

Thanks. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Could we get you guys to spell your names?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spell your names.

S. O'BRIEN: You've been listening to a news conference, a press conference being held with some of the members of the team that was involved in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Of course, some of the big questions they refused to answer, the question specifically of how he escaped, saying that that was a question the journalists would have to pose to Mr. Hamill himself.

Also, the nationality and the number of people who held him in the home outside of Tikrit where he was held. And also, they wouldn't answer questions about any of the others who had been taken at the same time Mr. Hamill was taken as well.

What they were able to do was to fill in the details, describe a little more fully seeing Thomas Hamill coming running across the field, apparently waving his T-shirt. He took his shirt off and waving it over his head.

He fell a couple of times. And they described him as being obviously very glad to see the patrol. They said that they heard him speaking English and they recognized a little. When he got a little closer, that they immediately recognized him as the captured american, Thomas Hamill. When they went back to check out the place where he had been held, they found an AK-47 lying outside of the building on the grass. They dressed his wound, and the platoon went back. And they said there were no men in the house, only women and children. And some of the detainees that they then took after this were actually walking in the area.

So that is pretty much the description. The best description we have heard to date of what exactly happened to Thomas Hamill, what led to his rescue.

He is now in Germany, where he is going to make his way back to his family. And, of course, a big celebration in Macon, Mississippi. And, in fact, that is where we found our correspondent, Bob Franken, with a little more detail on that.

Bob, good morning to you. The mayor, I believe, said it's going to be an unending parade today. Is that right?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be a parade when he returns. Time to be determined.

It was interesting to listen to the soldier, typical military understatement in a situation like this, saying that the whole thing felt kind of good. Well, for the residents, the family, the loved ones of Thomas Hamill, it felt kind of good, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Kelly Hamill is headed out of town to ultimately meet up with her husband. But first, she had to try to somehow express her gratitude here at home.

KELLY HAMILL, THOMAS HAMILL'S WIFE: We love you dearly.

FRANKEN: Her neighbors have kept her spirits from sinking when she didn't really know whether she would ever see her Tommy alive again.

HAMILL: Oh. But I want to thank everybody for the support that they have given us at this time. But he is fine. He's doing real well.

FRANKEN: After the initial frightening video showing Hamill held hostage by unknown enemy captors, he dropped out of sight. Emotions here had risen and fallen with the good and bad news about other hostages, but now there was good news.

JASON HIGGENBOTHAM, COUSIN OF HAMILL: The lord gives us opportunities, and we just -- you know, you just have to know when to take them. And Tommy realized when to take it, and he did. And now he's coming home to us.

FRANKEN: Hamill had volunteered to go into harm's way. In the shaky economy, he needed the big money Halliburton paid him to be a civilian truck driver in the Iraqi danger zone. It is a story that has had a tragic end for so many, but a tragic end he was literally able to escape.

HAMILL: Well, he told me he was coming home. That's all he said. And I'm not going to let him go back again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Tommy Hamill is described as someone who is extremely private. So it's going to be interesting to see when he is the man they're honoring in a large parade -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning. Bob, thanks.

Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, still to come on the program, charges of abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Is the problem more widespread than once thought?

One campaign may be in need of a theme while the other takes new turn. We'll look at the latest from the campaign trail for you.

And "Mean Girls" duke it out with "Man on Fire" at the box office. We'll tell you who came out ahead. Box office battle of the sexes just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush beginning an intense new phase of his re-election campaign today. The president is traveling to Michigan and Ohio, both states that have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since Mr. Bush took office. Today in Michigan, he makes stops Niles, Kalamazoo, and the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. It is the 13th time Mr. Bush has been to Michigan as president.

And tomorrow, in Ohio, that crucial state, the president's tour moves north to south, beginning in the Toledo suburb of Maumee and ending in Cincinnati. It is his 16th visit to Ohio since taking office.

John Kerry fell off his bicycle this weekend, and you would be forgiven if you didn't see that as a metaphor for his presidential campaign. A provocative piece in the Sunday New York Times quoting Democratic Party officials who say Kerry's campaign is struggling to find a theme and to make the transition from the primary battles to taking on President Bush. Senior analyst Jeff Greenfield joins us with more.

And Jeff, this is kind of the normal discontent in campaigns, isn't it?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, it's certainly not unique. And it is not the first time the challenger has been behind incumbents in this ring (ph).

Back in 1980 at this point, Ronald Reagan trailed President Carter by nine points. And back in 1992, Bill Clinton trailed the first President Bush by 15 points, was in a virtual tie with Ross Perot. And, believe it or not, that led some Democrats to call for a brokered convention to find another nomee.

But Democrats should not find too much comfort in the past. I think there are warning signs for the Kerry campaign that need tending to.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, these Bush campaign commercials have been very effective. Let's look at one, where it raises the question about Senator Kerry's ability to handle the issue of defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the war on terror: Bradley fighting vehicles, Patriot missiles, B-2 stealth bombers, F-18 fighters jets, and more. Kerry even voted against body armor for our troops on the frontline of the war on terror. John Kerry's record on national security, troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Taking aside whether it's truthful or not -- and we could quibble about that for quite some time -- how much damage is it doing?

GREENFIELD: Well, if you just look at polling numbers, you know, you show a very marginal shift away from Kerry. It's the numbers that show voters are now inclined to think Kerry says what voters want him to hear, not what he believes important. I mean, I'll show you what I mean.

Last week's New York Times-CBS poll, Kerry, 46, Bush 44. At the beginning of April, he was five points ahead. That is a meaningless statistical shift. And people should not focus on that.

But the same poll said 61 percent say he says what people want to hear, 29 percent say what he wants to believe -- or what he believes. And the point is, these ads have hit at a time when most voters, as opposed to those of us who have been obsessed with this campaign for like three years, only have the vaguest sense of who Kerry is.

Now, this was also the point in past campaigns, when people thought of Ronald Reagan mostly as a conservative and an actor. They didn't know he had been a two-term governor of California. They thought of Clinton, believe it or not, as a child of privilege because he had gone to Oxford and Yale Law School. They didn't know about his hard scrabbled (ph) background in Hope as the son of a single mother.

So the potential for Kerry to change the views there. What Democrats are wanting to see, I think, is a crisper and sharper message that is stripped of the so-called Senate speak that periodically crops up, and to stop the self-inflicted wounds. I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it. I don't own an SUV, my family owns an SUV.

I mean, the question every challenger has to answer when he runs against an incumbent is, all right, the public says, look, if I fire the president, and I hire you, what will be different? And that's what Democrats want to start hearing from John Kerry, and soon.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's worth reminding everyone we are only talking about May here.

GREENFIELD: Thank you. You know, polls six months out. He's gone from five to two points. If you're going to react to that, you've got to try the decaf. That's my campaign slogan this year: try the decaf.

M. O'BRIEN: The decaf?

GREENFIELD: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: It's been coined here today. All right. Thank you, Jeff Greenfield. Always a pleasure having you drop by.

Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it is just a little bit after half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. And as we mentioned, Miles O'Brien is in for Bill Hemmer, who has the day off.

We just finished hearing a very gripping account from Iraq about the escape of the former Iraqi prisoner, Thomas Hamill. Thomas Hamill was able to escape from his captors over the weekend, ran then half a mile across a field to a passing American patrol, apparently removing his shirt and waving it in the air while he's making his way toward the patrol. And he was screaming "I'm an American, I'm a POW," as he got closer and closer.

Just a few minutes ago, we were able to listen to some of the members of that team who helped in that escape, describing what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRILL: He initially came across the field, and he had stated that he wanted to have us recognize him as an American. So he was waving his hands and shouting. He fell a couple of times.

He walked up to the truck and, you know, I don't know exactly what he said when he got here, when he got to my soldiers. But he was obviously very glad to see us. And once we found out we recognized who he was, we knew we had gotten somebody good. So...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Thomas Hamill was captured last month while driving a truck at a convoy that was ambushed.

Other top stories to talk about this morning.

Small arms fire left one U.S. soldier dead, two others injured south of Baghdad. The U.S. military says the three were standing guard over a weapons cache. U.S. troops also increasing their presence in Najaf today. Eleven U.S. soldiers killed in attacks over the weekend.

At least six senior Army officers have been reprimanded in connection with the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Photos released last week show what appears to be U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners inside the Abu Ghraib Prison just outside of Baghdad. Six other soldiers are now facing criminal charges.

Today is the first day that senior citizens can sign up for Medicare's new discount drug cards. The Bush administration says the cards will save senior moneys. It could cut prices up to 17 percent for name brand drugs, and also up to 30 percent for generics. But some say seniors can still get cheaper prices online through pharmacies and buying their prescriptions from Canadian pharmacies.

Minnesota Timerwolves forward, Kevin Garnett, is expected to be named the NBA's most valuable player this afternoon. Garnett was second in scoring this season, while leading the Timberwolves to their first Midwest division title. He averaged 24 points and led the league with a 13.9 rebounds this game per season.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Parents of teenagers take heart. It's not just you. Adolescent behavior has scientists scratching their heads as well. TIME magazine devotes its cover story this week to new research trying to explain what makes teens tick. Now, that is a subject to tackle. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to explain it all to us.

And it's not a pretty story, is it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an important topic. And a lot of the arbitrary guidelines we have by which a child should be a able to drive, someone should be able to vote, a lot of that is based on brain development, actually, from a long time ago. Some of that now being re-challenged, if you will, Miles, trying to figure out how much the brain develops and when.

This study coming from 1,800 -- a study of 1,8000 teenagers, I should say, and young adults as well, over 13 years. So a pretty long-term study trying to figure out using MRI images when does the brain develop and what parts of the brain develop when. Important, again, because of trying to develop these guidelines into adulthood.

The image is probably the most valuable thing here. Looking from the back to the front, if you look at where the brain develops and when, this is a graphic of the brain. You can see the occipital lobe, the temporal lobe. This is the teen brain development.

That blue part in front, Miles, that is the frontal lobes. That is the executive decision-making center of the brain. That's where a lot of people will have that tendency to actually think about something and think about it before they actually act upon it. If that's not fully developed, a lot of people's impulses often act it out. What they're finding is that part of the brain actually develops a lot later than we previously thought. It was thought to develop at age 12. It's not so. At least into the 20s, and they say this constant pruning of the brain going on to age 40 or so, in fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. I thought the brain develops very early on for most of us. Let's talk -- for most of us, I should say. I don't know about mine, but that's another story.

We've always historically just blamed it on hormones. It's the raging hormones. That's a simplistic statement, I guess.

GUPTA: And environmental, hormonal, that's what they thought caused a lot of the moods, significant mood changes, behavioral changes during adolescence. That's what they thought it was for the most part.

This study for the first time really throwing some water on that sort of theory about this sort of thing, saying, in fact, a lot of the executive decision-making not yet developed by age 12. Certainly not by a teenager as well, maybe even into the 20s.

But the thing I find somewhat fascinating, Claudia Wallace, who wrote the article for TIME Magazine, really says, you know what, this really starts talking about when should we be allowed to do things. Whether it be driving, whether it be voting, when should we be making decisions about life, career, marriage? All that sort of stuff. Very interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: So I'm sure there are a lot of parents listening right now, wondering how to handle a surly teen. What does this do for them? I mean, what are the implications?

GUPTA: I think more than anything else, this is a study. And obviously, it's mainly a scientific study.

Claudia wasn't trying to give any advice certainly on parenting. That's a much more contentious topic. But I think knowing that the brain, at least according to this study, not fully developed by age 12, as previously thought, may make a little bit better in terms of communication, understanding, at least of certain behaviors.

M. O'BRIEN: So you say, honey, I understand your brain hasn't fully developed yet. That will go over real well with a teen, won't it?

GUPTA: That's right. Just keep that to yourself maybe.

M. O'BRIEN: I think so.

GUPTA: That's a good strategy.

M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, thanks for dropping by.

GUPTA: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Andy "Minding Your Business" with a check of the market this morning.

And, if you've heard of men behaving badly, what about girls? We're going to tell you why girls rule at the box office. That is in our "90-Second Pop."

Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: All right. We're rocking out on "90-Second Pop" this morning. Who's got a lighter?

Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

In today's episode -- pipe down, everybody. In today's episode of "90-Second Pop," girls behaving badly, a sweep-style disaster, and a pop star's bad pipes.

Here this morning, I'll introduce you to our culture vultures. Do you like that, culture vultures? It's hard to say, actually. We may not use that again. I can't get that out.

Andy Borowitz, the author of "Governor Arnold"; and New York Magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard; and Toure, a contributing editor from Rolling Stone; nice to see you, guys. Good morning. Good morning.

Toure, let's begin with you. And Sarah was saying off camera you're like a teenage girl. You love "Mean Girls."

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You know, nothing is sacred here at "90-Second Pop." So this is Tina Fey, the writer for "SNL."

TOURE, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And the previews were -- or the early word was that it was fantastic. Tell me about the movie.

TOURE: It's fantastic. I mean, Lindsey Lohan moves from Africa and joins the normal vulturous (ph) jungle high school. And violating the normal rules of high school movies, she gets to be a popular girl and sort of outsider looking down on the popular girls as well. But it's just so much fun. So hilarious.

S. O'BRIEN: Is Tina Fey describing her own life?

TOURE: Maybe. I don't know. I mean, the thing is that Tina Fey is like our age. She's like grown.

So, I mean, I don't want to sound like, you know, it was so much better in our day. But the teen movies we had were so much deeper. I mean, this is fun, this is great.

SARAH BERNARD, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Well, "Heathers" -- you can't talk about "Mean Girls" without talking about "Heathers."

TOURE: "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Sixteen Candles." I mean, they were so much deeper. But "Mean Girls" is far...

S. O'BRIEN: You think "Sixteen Candles" was so much deeper?

TOURE: It was better. It was better!

(CROSSTALK)

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: This movie has been compared a lot to "Heathers." But I thought it was closer in spirit to "Gladiator," actually. It reminded me a little bit more of the epic sweep of the battle scene.

S. O'BRIEN: High school generally is closer to "Gladiator."

BOROWITZ: Yes, exactly.

TOURE: The shock of the weekend, though, for me was that "Envy" was terrible!

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I hadn't even heard about this movie. Ben Stiller, Jack Black...

TOURE: Jack Black, Christopher Walken, Barry Levinson...

S. O'BRIEN: What's it about?

BERNARD: I think Jack Black -- anything Jack Black has does for years has been golden. I mean, from "School of Rock," which was...

S. O'BRIEN: What's "Envy" about?

TOURE: Well, Jack Black is the neighbor of Ben Stiller. Jack Black makes (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which makes dog pooh go away.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, right.

TOURE: He becomes, you know, the new Bill Gates, and Ben Stiller is not. So he's envious. But it's just...

BOROWITZ: Where would you rate it like on a scale of one to "Charlie's Angels II?"

TOURE: Well, better than "Ishtar," but...

BERNARD: But less than "Charlie's Angels II."

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Sarah. Let's talk about "Earthquake" the miniseries.

BERNARD: Again, I don't even know what to tell you. I was worried, honestly, about watching this because we've seen enough destruction of our own city. I was thinking the people in California would just be traumatized. But then it was so bad and so campy that you couldn't even be upset about it.

I mean, the graphics were terrible. There was this scene where the Golden Gate Bridge is falling apart. But it's like the cheapest animation.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: But, in fairness, though...

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe it's all about the special effects.

BERNARD: I think these are about the special effects. And then all of these scientists have come out saying this is not accurate. Of course it's not accurate. It is the silliest thing ever!

S. O'BRIEN: It's a miniseries.

BOROWITZ: It is like the cheapest looking earthquake ever. But, you know, California is having a budget crisis. So maybe that's what the earthquake would look like. It is possible.

BERNARD: No, that's true.

S. O'BRIEN: They just can't afford a big, expensive earthquake.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: I just don't find nature that scary anymore. You know?

S. O'BRIEN: You've lived out in California for a while.

Let's talk about Christina Aguilera. Oh, my goodness. What am I going to do? She cancelled her summer...

BERNARD: Summer plans.

S. O'BRIEN: Ruined.

BOROWITZ: Your summer plans have changed. Christina has cancelled her 28-city tour because of sore, strained vocal cords. I could tread kind of lightly because Christina and I are very close, as you know.

But this is actually true. She apparently strained her vocal cords shouting at her agent, saying, why have I not sold any tickets to my tour? Which will strain your vocal chords.

S. O'BRIEN: Is that true?

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: And she's been doing a lot of things for money recently. She's been doing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ads, she's been doing cell phone commercials. So she's really trying to make some dough.

BOROWITZ: I think she should go on with the tour. Because it seems to me that when you're on tour, the way you put strain on your vocal cords is if you have to be heard over your screaming fans. But if there's no one in the audience, I don't see the problem.

S. O'BRIEN: A hard sell.

TOURE: This is no loss, because if you want to see a show, this is the best summer concert lineup we've had in years. Beyonce is out with Alicia Keys, Madonna is on tour, Prince is on tour. I'm excited.

S. O'BRIEN: Unless you want to see Christina Aguilera.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: Also, Cher's farewell tour from last year is still going on.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, and that will be the final word this morning as we say goodbye, you guys. As always, thank you very much, Andy and Sarah and Toure. Thank you.

Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, Sprint is unveiling a new pricing plan, but will it really save customers money? We'll tell you what it's all about coming up.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Sprint calls it a plan to revolutionize the cell phone business. Revolutionary, huh? That is a big word.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: That's strong words.

M. O'BRIEN: But will it lighten your bill? That is more of the issue. Andy Serwer, is it really a revolution?

SERWER: Well, it may be overweightedness.

M. O'BRIEN: Overweightedness?

SERWER: We talked about that earlier in the program. We'll get back to that. Let's check the markets, though, first, OK?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's do that.

SERWER: I like to do that on good days. It's a good day.

Forty-one points on the Dow, stocks moving. A talk of lower oil prices moving the markets.

What else is going on? A story about a grand jury investigating Coke. Problems continuing there; that's not moving the stock.

TASER is down a bit. They had a three for one split. So when you see that stock at $29, it did not drop $60, OK? Just to alert you to that.

Let's talk about how the market does as we move into the month of May here. And historically, it has not been a good period for stocks. They say sell in May, walk away. It's kind of a watch phrase on Wall Street because you can see over the summer the market doesn't do as well as it does in the winter.

No real reason for that phenomena explained, except that maybe traders like to go to the beach? Last year, of course, it didn't hold true. So if you plan to trade or sell stocks, I don't advise doing it, because it never really works out.

M. O'BRIEN: What would Warren Buffett say about that?

SERWER: He would say...

M. O'BRIEN: Buy and hold.

SERWER: ... buy and hold, yes. He would.

Let's talk about Sprint, though. They do have a new plan here for cell phone customers, and that being, give me a break in terms of you exceed your monthly plan. It used to be, of course, you would get, say, 300 minutes and you pay $35. If you exceed that, you go to 40 cents a minute, which adds up to be a lot of money. Now they're saying you can buy blocks, say 25 minutes for $2.50, which is a better deal if you do the math.

What is going on, Miles, is prices in this business are falling. We talk a lot about inflation, higher prices. Not true in the cell phone business. You should really shop around because you will be able to get better and better deals going forward here.

M. O'BRIEN: And now that people can take their phone numbers with them...

SERWER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: ... the competition is really heated.

SERWER: Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: And time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, someday I've got to think about getting a cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: No you won't.

SERWER: Now that would be revolutionary. That would be the revolution.

S. O'BRIEN: Can you imagine? I'll just call Jack on his cell phone.

SERWER: We would call and call and call all day long.

CAFFERTY: That's why I don't have one.

S. O'BRIEN: I'll get Jack on his blackberry (ph). I know you don't. That's the joke.

CAFFERTY: Anyway, the Question of the Day is an interesting one. Are things so bad in Iraq that Saddam's former generals should be put back in charge?

They have commissioned one of his former generals to command a group of Iraqi military in trying to resolve the situation in Fallujah. And to some of arguers, this makes not a whole lot of sense, beginning with this letter.

"Many coalition soldiers sacrificed their lives trying to capture and depose Saddam, his generals, and all of the people on that infamous deck of cards. To now place one in charge of an armed contingent, a former Iraqi soldiers seems to negate that sacrifice."

John in Florida writes this: "Jack, we said we invaded for weapons of mass destruction. Then we evolved to regime change, citing Saddam's brutality of the Iraqi people and their brutality in his prisons. However, there are no WMD. We are putting the regime back in place, and we are now killing Iraqis and brutalizing them in the prisons. I'm confused."

S. O'BRIEN: Is that final -- no one has proven that yet?

CAFFERTY: Proven what?

S. O'BRIEN: The charges about the prisoners being killed inside the prison. I mean, some have alleged that.

CAFFERTY: But they're being killed in the battles that are fought all over the country everyday.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. No question.

CAFFERTY: Thousands of them have died.

S. O'BRIEN: No question.

CAFFERTY: I'll be out of here in just a minute.

S. O'BRIEN: No. I'm sorry. I just wanted to clarify. Please, go on. CAFFERTY: Pam in Pennsylvania: "Why must the government be continually scrutinized in every decision? How do questions like this support our president and troops? Who are we to sit back and second- guess decisions of those in command?"

Sarah writes from Pocatello, Idaho: "Membership in the Ba'ath Party was required for anyone to hold a job in Iraq, much like membership in the Communist Party was required in the Soviet Union. People joined to feed their families, not necessarily because they supported Saddam."

And finally, Dan in Pennsylvania, "That makes as much sense as putting Charles Manson in charge of the California Parole Board."

That's an interesting take on things.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting feedback, yes.

CAFFERTY: I might go out and get me a cell phone. And then I'm going to call you later and we'll talk.

S. O'BRIEN: Mine is never on, so go ahead. Leave a message.

SERWER: This is the story of the day. You don't want to get a cell phone.

CAFFERTY: No chance. No way.

M. O'BRIEN: Breaking news: Cafferty with cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, really.

The comedians at "Saturday Night Live" poked some fun at the president and the vice president and their joint appearance at last week's closed-door 9/11 hearings. Let's listen to a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": What if they ask you about integrating the intelligence-gathering branches of the federal government?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I will be reassuring. I would seek to put their minds at ease. I would say, "Gentlemen, I have good news."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good news?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERWER: That's pretty good. S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Sometimes it's really, really funny. That was late night political humor over the weekend on "Saturday Night Live."

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, Thomas Hamill is safe in Germany. There are emerging details of his gripping escape from Iraqi captives. That is coming up in the next hour with Daryn Kagan on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Guess what? We're out of time!

M. O'BRIEN: It flies. It flies when you're having fun.

S. O'BRIEN: It sure does. Miles, thank you for filling in for Billy today.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. I'm out of here. One-day stand, on my way to other parts.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, you're going down to jet propulsion lab.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Mars, as I like to call it.

S. O'BRIEN: Have a good, safe trip. We certainly appreciate you filling in and helping us out.

Daryn Kagan is going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

9


Aired May 3, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An escaped hostage is free on a U.S. air base this morning and waiting for his family reunion.
Democrats are concerned about John Kerry's strategy, while President Bush launches a new twist to his campaign.

And 100-plus temperatures in southern California soar just as fire season begins on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Bill Hemmer off today. Miles O'Brien is sitting in.

So thank you again.

M. O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hemmer playing golf and me working. That's it in a nutshell.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, has his grandfather's memorial golf tournament.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's for a good cause. It is, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: But you're right. He is playing golf today.

M. O'BRIEN: Other stories we're following: we will be talking with the American general who was in charge of the Abu Ghraib Prison where U.S. soldiers have been accused of abusing prisoners.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the teenage brain, it really is different. Dr. Sanjay Gupta gets into the heads of teenagers to show us just how they think and perhaps explain why they do things like smoke or dye their hair those weirdo colors and drive recklessly.

M. O'BRIEN: Millions of parents dying to know the answer on this one. Aren't they?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Somebody said -- I've got four of them. Not teenagers, four kids. Somebody said raising teenagers is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree. It's probably some wisdom there.

S. O'BRIEN: That was encouraging. Thanks, Jack. CAFFERTY: The e-mail subject we're fooling with here this morning is the wisdom of putting former Ba'ath Party generals in charge of Iraq's military to handle sticky little wickets like Fallujah. Good idea or not? AM@CNN.com is the address.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Some news just coming into CNN to tell you about. Small arms fire has left one U.S. soldier dead, two others injured south of Baghdad. The U.S. military says three of them were standing guard over weapons cache. Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks over the weekend.

Meantime, U.S. forces are on alert in Najaf, responding to mortar fire there. Some exclusive pictures, CNN pictures, of U.S. troops on the roof of a compound in Najaf. Military officials say shelling began overnight. Followers of the radical Shiite cleric, Mutada al- Sadr, are believed to be behind the attacks in the Iraqi holy city. No casualties reported there.

Turkish officials say they foiled a planned terrorist attack. Police have detained 16 people suspected of planning a bomb attack during an upcoming NATO summit in Istanbul. Police say the suspects are believed to be members of a group linked to al Qaeda. President Bush expected to attend that NATO meeting. It's set for next month.

Mexico says it has decided to modify its relationship with Cuba but not break off ties completely. Following a blister speech by Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Mexico is recalling its ambassador to Cuba and has given the Cuban ambassador 48 hours to leave the country. The two former allies have been increasingly distant since Mexican President Vicente Fox took office.

And in southern California, the spring scorcher stretches on. The National Weather Service reported 16 areas in southern California experiencing new record highs yesterday. In LA, dozens of people attending a Cinco de Mayo celebration suffered heat-related ailments, including dizziness and dehydration. They had to be hospitalized.

And the temperatures expected to be in the triple digits again today. And that's where I'm headed today. I'm going from here to there. I'm going -- yes. Headed up there for a week.

Well, Mars. That's as close as you can get to Mars, Pasadena, the jet propulsion lab there. All my space pals, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll stay in the air-conditioning.

S. O'BRIEN: You better.

(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you now to a news conference which is being held, I believe, by the -- some of the soldiers who rescued Thomas Hamill. It looks like they are showing pictures of him shaking their hands. Obviously a very grateful Thomas Hamill, as he was rescued from his Iraqi captors, held for three weeks.

The stories of how he has been able to escape really quite remarkable. And earlier this morning, we spoke to his family members back in Macon, Mississippi, who are awaiting to see him in person. They are, obviously, overjoyed.

This morning, we are expecting to hear from a couple of the brigade combat teams who took part in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Lots of questions to ask. So let's listen in.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from CNN. How did he escape?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, sir?

QUESTION: How did he escape?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd have to ask Mr. Hamill that.

QUESTION: A follow-up here. Any idea who the people that captured him are associated with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to divulge any information on that at this point in time based on the situation that we've got. So I'd ask to defer those types of questions, if we can.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), FP (ph). Did he say anything to you about the fate of any of the other people that were kidnapped with him at the same time? And also, can you tell us exactly what he said to you, first of all, when he came across the field, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step up to the mic.

JOE MERRILL, U.S. ARMY: He initially came across the field and he had stated that he wanted to have us recognize him as an American. So he was waving is his hands and shouting. He fell a couple of times.

He walked up to the truck and, you know, I don't know exactly what he said when he got here, when he got to my soldiers. But he was obviously very glad to see us. And once we found out, we recognized who he was, we knew we had gotten somebody good.

QUESTION: Did he say anything to you about the fate of the others that were being held at the same time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to speak to this particular operation and securing Mr. Hamill, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The person Hamill...

S. O'BRIEN: You're listening to obviously some of the foreign press putting questions towards some of the soldiers who were involved in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Of course, some of the big questions that I think it's fair to say everybody would like to know, the specifics of how exactly Thomas Hamill escaped, who were the people holding him, and what about the fate of the others who are kidnapped at the same time and, yet, we really haven't heard anything from them? What has happened to them?

Those three big questions the military unwilling and unable to answer at this time. Let's go back to the press conference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can assure you that they, just like the other 130,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving here in Iraq, are displaying fortitude and courage everyday. They were out conducting a combat patrol at the time that they recovered Mr. Hamill.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Your mentioned that Mr. Hamill, when he approached you, he just waved his hand and raised a flag, a white flag. Although we know that he was British and you are from coalition forces. So why he raise this flag?

Was he afraid that -- was he afraid that you will not recognize him? Or was he afraid that you might just be anti-coalition forces? Or why he just raised this white flag?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman asked that when he approached you, he waved a white flag, and why he waved that white flag. OK?

You'll have to ask him that.

MERRILL: He didn't wave a white flag. He came out in the field, and he actually took his shirt off and waved his shirt in the air. And as he got closer, we he heard that he was speaking English.

At first, at a distance, we thought he was an Iraqi farmer who was coming up to the trucks. As he got closer, we heard that he was speaking English. And the first man who walked up to him realized immediately that it was Mr. Hamill.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from Reuters. So can I just to be clear? He came running out of the house. And he's shouting, "I'm an American, I'm an American," can you just confirm that?

And then can you describe, was he scared? You know, you said he fell over. Was he running very fast? Can you just described what a bit more of the scene was like?

And did any of you have your guns on him? Because you thought he was an Iraqi farmer running towards you, did everyone have sort of guns, sort of their weapons unarmed?

And also, when you went back to the house, what were the people doing? Were they sitting around with an AK-47? Were they running off to him? What were they doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The AK-47 was outside the building over in the grass. And when we got to the building and went past the building, and when he came up to us, realized he was an American and realized he was a hostage, we immediately took the platoon back and swept back through the area that he was in.

The AK was found outside. And from where it was laying, we assessed that from what he had told us that someone was watching him. They probably saw us coming and decided that 40 on one wasn't going to be a good day for him. So he probably ran off. That's why we found just the weapon. He probably walked off.

The other detainees were just walking in the area. There was no other men in the house. It was just women and children.

QUESTION: And -- sorry. And the previous part of the question about, you know, when he was running towards you and what happened and the look on his face and that sort of thing?

MERRILL: He was obviously very relieved once he realized we were Americans. He was yelling, "I'm an American, I'm an American, I'm an American POW." At a distance, it was obvious he was unarmed so we did not have a weapons trained (ph) on him.

He had his hands in the air, waving his shirt around. So he was yelling, "I'm an American." As he got closer, we found what he was yelling. And once he got close up, we immediately recognized him.

QUESTION (through translator): (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Mr. Mohammed (ph), has mentioned the personalities or the nationality of those who have kidnapped him? And how much -- how -- how many were they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as Mr. Hamill and what he's mentioned, again, I'd ask you to ask him those questions directly. The information that he has given to us immediately afterwards was given to the patrol, and that is currently being evaluated. With respect to the second part of the question, again?

QUESTION (through translator): He just wanted to know the number -- he just wanted to know -- to identify -- if you can -- has he identified the nationalities and the member of the -- of those people who have kept him as a hostage, whether they were American or Syrian?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With respect to the information we received, again, that information again is currently being evaluated.

QUESTION (through translator): Have you -- has Mr. Hamill identified the place where he was took hostage? The media has reported that he is outside of Iraq. So couldn't he be here to take part in this conference?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last -- we placed Mr. Hamill on a medical evacuation helicopter, and he was taken to a medical treatment facility. And then he was brought for repatriation. And I'd defer those questions to the JTF-7.

QUESTION (through translator): Did he -- did he identify the exact place where he was taken hostage? Was it in the north, in the south?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we picked him up, he was elated. He was happy to see an American patrol. His actions at that point in time were to address his wound.

He took the patrol back to the -- to the house. The gentleman here represent the unit that were on the ground at that time. As soon as the house was searched and he identified it, we put him on a medical evacuation and he was lifted out of the area at that point in time.

The information preceding and after that particular event, will have to be answered by another either JTF-7 or another headquarters. What we're trying to do today is describe to you the events that occurred on the ground yesterday.

QUESTION (through translator): From the photos we've seen, it is obvious that the hostage was not submitted to the same torture that the prisoners were submitted to in Abu Ghraib. Did he declare any kind of torture he suffered? And isn't it possible that the people who took him hostage just let him escape after the siege on Fallujah was ended?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did he declare to you at the time any -- any torture at all? You were on the ground.

MERRILL: At the time that we got him, he did not say anything about being tortured. We offered him food and water. In fact, he took the water and refused the food because he said he had eaten that morning. So he had stated that they had fed him, his captors had fed him. So -- and that's all I can -- that's all he said to me.

QUESTION: Quinn O'Toole (ph) with NPR. For the fellows who were on the patrol, could you tell us a little bit of the communication that went on when you saw him running across the field? Did he say anything over the radios? What was your reaction? I imagine it's the first American you've seen running across a field up to your patrol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, the report that came in over the radio was there was an individual running towards the convoy. As he got closer, they identified him as an American. And as soon as they identified him as an American POW, they came out with a radio. At that point, we consolidated all of the soldiers there and we moved towards that building.

QUESTION: What was your reaction? I mean, emotionally?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It actually felt kind of good. Something that I think everybody wants to do. So...

QUESTION (through translator): Where exactly in Tikrit have you found the hostage? Why -- why wasn't he tried or made an attempt to escape in the head (ph) -- not exactly that day? As you said, that he has been left and the guard was off that day. So why he didn't make any attempt to run away before this patrol coming in to him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, again, that is a question you're going to have to ask Mr. Hamill.

If I could just -- we were on the ground with him for an hour and 45 minutes, maximum. That is the extent of our participation in this operation. He -- again, as I mentioned in my statement, he approached the patrol. The patrol recovered Mr. Hamill.

He voluntarily took the patrol back to the house that he had been captured from. And in that hour and 45 minutes, from the time that he was recovered to the time he got on the helicopter, he was rendered medical aid, given water, and then medivacked out.

QUESTION: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), NBC News. Colonel, Mr. Hamill was found quite a far distance north of where he was supposedly captured. Did it surprise you that your men were able to -- you know, that he was in your area? Or did you have any sort of forewarning at all that he might, you know, be, you know, be in that area?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a fair question. We conduct aggressive patrols everyday. Just as everybody else, I was glad that we were able to participate with the recovery of Mr. Hamill.

We patrol this area frequently. And, again, based on his account, you'll have to determine what his actions were and what led to his recovery. We know what we saw on the ground. I don't know if that answers your question, but we were all happy that we were able to participate in it.

Thanks. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: Could we get you guys to spell your names?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spell your names.

S. O'BRIEN: You've been listening to a news conference, a press conference being held with some of the members of the team that was involved in the rescue of Thomas Hamill. Of course, some of the big questions they refused to answer, the question specifically of how he escaped, saying that that was a question the journalists would have to pose to Mr. Hamill himself.

Also, the nationality and the number of people who held him in the home outside of Tikrit where he was held. And also, they wouldn't answer questions about any of the others who had been taken at the same time Mr. Hamill was taken as well.

What they were able to do was to fill in the details, describe a little more fully seeing Thomas Hamill coming running across the field, apparently waving his T-shirt. He took his shirt off and waving it over his head.

He fell a couple of times. And they described him as being obviously very glad to see the patrol. They said that they heard him speaking English and they recognized a little. When he got a little closer, that they immediately recognized him as the captured american, Thomas Hamill. When they went back to check out the place where he had been held, they found an AK-47 lying outside of the building on the grass. They dressed his wound, and the platoon went back. And they said there were no men in the house, only women and children. And some of the detainees that they then took after this were actually walking in the area.

So that is pretty much the description. The best description we have heard to date of what exactly happened to Thomas Hamill, what led to his rescue.

He is now in Germany, where he is going to make his way back to his family. And, of course, a big celebration in Macon, Mississippi. And, in fact, that is where we found our correspondent, Bob Franken, with a little more detail on that.

Bob, good morning to you. The mayor, I believe, said it's going to be an unending parade today. Is that right?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's going to be a parade when he returns. Time to be determined.

It was interesting to listen to the soldier, typical military understatement in a situation like this, saying that the whole thing felt kind of good. Well, for the residents, the family, the loved ones of Thomas Hamill, it felt kind of good, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice-over): Kelly Hamill is headed out of town to ultimately meet up with her husband. But first, she had to try to somehow express her gratitude here at home.

KELLY HAMILL, THOMAS HAMILL'S WIFE: We love you dearly.

FRANKEN: Her neighbors have kept her spirits from sinking when she didn't really know whether she would ever see her Tommy alive again.

HAMILL: Oh. But I want to thank everybody for the support that they have given us at this time. But he is fine. He's doing real well.

FRANKEN: After the initial frightening video showing Hamill held hostage by unknown enemy captors, he dropped out of sight. Emotions here had risen and fallen with the good and bad news about other hostages, but now there was good news.

JASON HIGGENBOTHAM, COUSIN OF HAMILL: The lord gives us opportunities, and we just -- you know, you just have to know when to take them. And Tommy realized when to take it, and he did. And now he's coming home to us.

FRANKEN: Hamill had volunteered to go into harm's way. In the shaky economy, he needed the big money Halliburton paid him to be a civilian truck driver in the Iraqi danger zone. It is a story that has had a tragic end for so many, but a tragic end he was literally able to escape.

HAMILL: Well, he told me he was coming home. That's all he said. And I'm not going to let him go back again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: Tommy Hamill is described as someone who is extremely private. So it's going to be interesting to see when he is the man they're honoring in a large parade -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning. Bob, thanks.

Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, still to come on the program, charges of abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Is the problem more widespread than once thought?

One campaign may be in need of a theme while the other takes new turn. We'll look at the latest from the campaign trail for you.

And "Mean Girls" duke it out with "Man on Fire" at the box office. We'll tell you who came out ahead. Box office battle of the sexes just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush beginning an intense new phase of his re-election campaign today. The president is traveling to Michigan and Ohio, both states that have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since Mr. Bush took office. Today in Michigan, he makes stops Niles, Kalamazoo, and the Detroit suburb of Sterling Heights. It is the 13th time Mr. Bush has been to Michigan as president.

And tomorrow, in Ohio, that crucial state, the president's tour moves north to south, beginning in the Toledo suburb of Maumee and ending in Cincinnati. It is his 16th visit to Ohio since taking office.

John Kerry fell off his bicycle this weekend, and you would be forgiven if you didn't see that as a metaphor for his presidential campaign. A provocative piece in the Sunday New York Times quoting Democratic Party officials who say Kerry's campaign is struggling to find a theme and to make the transition from the primary battles to taking on President Bush. Senior analyst Jeff Greenfield joins us with more.

And Jeff, this is kind of the normal discontent in campaigns, isn't it?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: Well, it's certainly not unique. And it is not the first time the challenger has been behind incumbents in this ring (ph).

Back in 1980 at this point, Ronald Reagan trailed President Carter by nine points. And back in 1992, Bill Clinton trailed the first President Bush by 15 points, was in a virtual tie with Ross Perot. And, believe it or not, that led some Democrats to call for a brokered convention to find another nomee.

But Democrats should not find too much comfort in the past. I think there are warning signs for the Kerry campaign that need tending to.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, these Bush campaign commercials have been very effective. Let's look at one, where it raises the question about Senator Kerry's ability to handle the issue of defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry has repeatedly opposed weapons vital to winning the war on terror: Bradley fighting vehicles, Patriot missiles, B-2 stealth bombers, F-18 fighters jets, and more. Kerry even voted against body armor for our troops on the frontline of the war on terror. John Kerry's record on national security, troubling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Taking aside whether it's truthful or not -- and we could quibble about that for quite some time -- how much damage is it doing?

GREENFIELD: Well, if you just look at polling numbers, you know, you show a very marginal shift away from Kerry. It's the numbers that show voters are now inclined to think Kerry says what voters want him to hear, not what he believes important. I mean, I'll show you what I mean.

Last week's New York Times-CBS poll, Kerry, 46, Bush 44. At the beginning of April, he was five points ahead. That is a meaningless statistical shift. And people should not focus on that.

But the same poll said 61 percent say he says what people want to hear, 29 percent say what he wants to believe -- or what he believes. And the point is, these ads have hit at a time when most voters, as opposed to those of us who have been obsessed with this campaign for like three years, only have the vaguest sense of who Kerry is.

Now, this was also the point in past campaigns, when people thought of Ronald Reagan mostly as a conservative and an actor. They didn't know he had been a two-term governor of California. They thought of Clinton, believe it or not, as a child of privilege because he had gone to Oxford and Yale Law School. They didn't know about his hard scrabbled (ph) background in Hope as the son of a single mother.

So the potential for Kerry to change the views there. What Democrats are wanting to see, I think, is a crisper and sharper message that is stripped of the so-called Senate speak that periodically crops up, and to stop the self-inflicted wounds. I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it. I don't own an SUV, my family owns an SUV.

I mean, the question every challenger has to answer when he runs against an incumbent is, all right, the public says, look, if I fire the president, and I hire you, what will be different? And that's what Democrats want to start hearing from John Kerry, and soon.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's worth reminding everyone we are only talking about May here.

GREENFIELD: Thank you. You know, polls six months out. He's gone from five to two points. If you're going to react to that, you've got to try the decaf. That's my campaign slogan this year: try the decaf.

M. O'BRIEN: The decaf?

GREENFIELD: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: It's been coined here today. All right. Thank you, Jeff Greenfield. Always a pleasure having you drop by.

Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it is just a little bit after half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. And as we mentioned, Miles O'Brien is in for Bill Hemmer, who has the day off.

We just finished hearing a very gripping account from Iraq about the escape of the former Iraqi prisoner, Thomas Hamill. Thomas Hamill was able to escape from his captors over the weekend, ran then half a mile across a field to a passing American patrol, apparently removing his shirt and waving it in the air while he's making his way toward the patrol. And he was screaming "I'm an American, I'm a POW," as he got closer and closer.

Just a few minutes ago, we were able to listen to some of the members of that team who helped in that escape, describing what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MERRILL: He initially came across the field, and he had stated that he wanted to have us recognize him as an American. So he was waving his hands and shouting. He fell a couple of times.

He walked up to the truck and, you know, I don't know exactly what he said when he got here, when he got to my soldiers. But he was obviously very glad to see us. And once we found out we recognized who he was, we knew we had gotten somebody good. So...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Thomas Hamill was captured last month while driving a truck at a convoy that was ambushed.

Other top stories to talk about this morning.

Small arms fire left one U.S. soldier dead, two others injured south of Baghdad. The U.S. military says the three were standing guard over a weapons cache. U.S. troops also increasing their presence in Najaf today. Eleven U.S. soldiers killed in attacks over the weekend.

At least six senior Army officers have been reprimanded in connection with the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Photos released last week show what appears to be U.S. soldiers abusing and humiliating prisoners inside the Abu Ghraib Prison just outside of Baghdad. Six other soldiers are now facing criminal charges.

Today is the first day that senior citizens can sign up for Medicare's new discount drug cards. The Bush administration says the cards will save senior moneys. It could cut prices up to 17 percent for name brand drugs, and also up to 30 percent for generics. But some say seniors can still get cheaper prices online through pharmacies and buying their prescriptions from Canadian pharmacies.

Minnesota Timerwolves forward, Kevin Garnett, is expected to be named the NBA's most valuable player this afternoon. Garnett was second in scoring this season, while leading the Timberwolves to their first Midwest division title. He averaged 24 points and led the league with a 13.9 rebounds this game per season.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Parents of teenagers take heart. It's not just you. Adolescent behavior has scientists scratching their heads as well. TIME magazine devotes its cover story this week to new research trying to explain what makes teens tick. Now, that is a subject to tackle. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to explain it all to us.

And it's not a pretty story, is it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an important topic. And a lot of the arbitrary guidelines we have by which a child should be a able to drive, someone should be able to vote, a lot of that is based on brain development, actually, from a long time ago. Some of that now being re-challenged, if you will, Miles, trying to figure out how much the brain develops and when.

This study coming from 1,800 -- a study of 1,8000 teenagers, I should say, and young adults as well, over 13 years. So a pretty long-term study trying to figure out using MRI images when does the brain develop and what parts of the brain develop when. Important, again, because of trying to develop these guidelines into adulthood.

The image is probably the most valuable thing here. Looking from the back to the front, if you look at where the brain develops and when, this is a graphic of the brain. You can see the occipital lobe, the temporal lobe. This is the teen brain development.

That blue part in front, Miles, that is the frontal lobes. That is the executive decision-making center of the brain. That's where a lot of people will have that tendency to actually think about something and think about it before they actually act upon it. If that's not fully developed, a lot of people's impulses often act it out. What they're finding is that part of the brain actually develops a lot later than we previously thought. It was thought to develop at age 12. It's not so. At least into the 20s, and they say this constant pruning of the brain going on to age 40 or so, in fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. I thought the brain develops very early on for most of us. Let's talk -- for most of us, I should say. I don't know about mine, but that's another story.

We've always historically just blamed it on hormones. It's the raging hormones. That's a simplistic statement, I guess.

GUPTA: And environmental, hormonal, that's what they thought caused a lot of the moods, significant mood changes, behavioral changes during adolescence. That's what they thought it was for the most part.

This study for the first time really throwing some water on that sort of theory about this sort of thing, saying, in fact, a lot of the executive decision-making not yet developed by age 12. Certainly not by a teenager as well, maybe even into the 20s.

But the thing I find somewhat fascinating, Claudia Wallace, who wrote the article for TIME Magazine, really says, you know what, this really starts talking about when should we be allowed to do things. Whether it be driving, whether it be voting, when should we be making decisions about life, career, marriage? All that sort of stuff. Very interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: So I'm sure there are a lot of parents listening right now, wondering how to handle a surly teen. What does this do for them? I mean, what are the implications?

GUPTA: I think more than anything else, this is a study. And obviously, it's mainly a scientific study.

Claudia wasn't trying to give any advice certainly on parenting. That's a much more contentious topic. But I think knowing that the brain, at least according to this study, not fully developed by age 12, as previously thought, may make a little bit better in terms of communication, understanding, at least of certain behaviors.

M. O'BRIEN: So you say, honey, I understand your brain hasn't fully developed yet. That will go over real well with a teen, won't it?

GUPTA: That's right. Just keep that to yourself maybe.

M. O'BRIEN: I think so.

GUPTA: That's a good strategy.

M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, thanks for dropping by.

GUPTA: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Andy "Minding Your Business" with a check of the market this morning.

And, if you've heard of men behaving badly, what about girls? We're going to tell you why girls rule at the box office. That is in our "90-Second Pop."

Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: All right. We're rocking out on "90-Second Pop" this morning. Who's got a lighter?

Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

In today's episode -- pipe down, everybody. In today's episode of "90-Second Pop," girls behaving badly, a sweep-style disaster, and a pop star's bad pipes.

Here this morning, I'll introduce you to our culture vultures. Do you like that, culture vultures? It's hard to say, actually. We may not use that again. I can't get that out.

Andy Borowitz, the author of "Governor Arnold"; and New York Magazine contributing editor, Sarah Bernard; and Toure, a contributing editor from Rolling Stone; nice to see you, guys. Good morning. Good morning.

Toure, let's begin with you. And Sarah was saying off camera you're like a teenage girl. You love "Mean Girls."

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You know, nothing is sacred here at "90-Second Pop." So this is Tina Fey, the writer for "SNL."

TOURE, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And the previews were -- or the early word was that it was fantastic. Tell me about the movie.

TOURE: It's fantastic. I mean, Lindsey Lohan moves from Africa and joins the normal vulturous (ph) jungle high school. And violating the normal rules of high school movies, she gets to be a popular girl and sort of outsider looking down on the popular girls as well. But it's just so much fun. So hilarious.

S. O'BRIEN: Is Tina Fey describing her own life?

TOURE: Maybe. I don't know. I mean, the thing is that Tina Fey is like our age. She's like grown.

So, I mean, I don't want to sound like, you know, it was so much better in our day. But the teen movies we had were so much deeper. I mean, this is fun, this is great.

SARAH BERNARD, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Well, "Heathers" -- you can't talk about "Mean Girls" without talking about "Heathers."

TOURE: "Some Kind of Wonderful," "Sixteen Candles." I mean, they were so much deeper. But "Mean Girls" is far...

S. O'BRIEN: You think "Sixteen Candles" was so much deeper?

TOURE: It was better. It was better!

(CROSSTALK)

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: This movie has been compared a lot to "Heathers." But I thought it was closer in spirit to "Gladiator," actually. It reminded me a little bit more of the epic sweep of the battle scene.

S. O'BRIEN: High school generally is closer to "Gladiator."

BOROWITZ: Yes, exactly.

TOURE: The shock of the weekend, though, for me was that "Envy" was terrible!

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I hadn't even heard about this movie. Ben Stiller, Jack Black...

TOURE: Jack Black, Christopher Walken, Barry Levinson...

S. O'BRIEN: What's it about?

BERNARD: I think Jack Black -- anything Jack Black has does for years has been golden. I mean, from "School of Rock," which was...

S. O'BRIEN: What's "Envy" about?

TOURE: Well, Jack Black is the neighbor of Ben Stiller. Jack Black makes (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which makes dog pooh go away.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, right.

TOURE: He becomes, you know, the new Bill Gates, and Ben Stiller is not. So he's envious. But it's just...

BOROWITZ: Where would you rate it like on a scale of one to "Charlie's Angels II?"

TOURE: Well, better than "Ishtar," but...

BERNARD: But less than "Charlie's Angels II."

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Sarah. Let's talk about "Earthquake" the miniseries.

BERNARD: Again, I don't even know what to tell you. I was worried, honestly, about watching this because we've seen enough destruction of our own city. I was thinking the people in California would just be traumatized. But then it was so bad and so campy that you couldn't even be upset about it.

I mean, the graphics were terrible. There was this scene where the Golden Gate Bridge is falling apart. But it's like the cheapest animation.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: But, in fairness, though...

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe it's all about the special effects.

BERNARD: I think these are about the special effects. And then all of these scientists have come out saying this is not accurate. Of course it's not accurate. It is the silliest thing ever!

S. O'BRIEN: It's a miniseries.

BOROWITZ: It is like the cheapest looking earthquake ever. But, you know, California is having a budget crisis. So maybe that's what the earthquake would look like. It is possible.

BERNARD: No, that's true.

S. O'BRIEN: They just can't afford a big, expensive earthquake.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: I just don't find nature that scary anymore. You know?

S. O'BRIEN: You've lived out in California for a while.

Let's talk about Christina Aguilera. Oh, my goodness. What am I going to do? She cancelled her summer...

BERNARD: Summer plans.

S. O'BRIEN: Ruined.

BOROWITZ: Your summer plans have changed. Christina has cancelled her 28-city tour because of sore, strained vocal cords. I could tread kind of lightly because Christina and I are very close, as you know.

But this is actually true. She apparently strained her vocal cords shouting at her agent, saying, why have I not sold any tickets to my tour? Which will strain your vocal chords.

S. O'BRIEN: Is that true?

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: And she's been doing a lot of things for money recently. She's been doing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) ads, she's been doing cell phone commercials. So she's really trying to make some dough.

BOROWITZ: I think she should go on with the tour. Because it seems to me that when you're on tour, the way you put strain on your vocal cords is if you have to be heard over your screaming fans. But if there's no one in the audience, I don't see the problem.

S. O'BRIEN: A hard sell.

TOURE: This is no loss, because if you want to see a show, this is the best summer concert lineup we've had in years. Beyonce is out with Alicia Keys, Madonna is on tour, Prince is on tour. I'm excited.

S. O'BRIEN: Unless you want to see Christina Aguilera.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: Also, Cher's farewell tour from last year is still going on.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, and that will be the final word this morning as we say goodbye, you guys. As always, thank you very much, Andy and Sarah and Toure. Thank you.

Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, Sprint is unveiling a new pricing plan, but will it really save customers money? We'll tell you what it's all about coming up.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Sprint calls it a plan to revolutionize the cell phone business. Revolutionary, huh? That is a big word.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: That's strong words.

M. O'BRIEN: But will it lighten your bill? That is more of the issue. Andy Serwer, is it really a revolution?

SERWER: Well, it may be overweightedness.

M. O'BRIEN: Overweightedness?

SERWER: We talked about that earlier in the program. We'll get back to that. Let's check the markets, though, first, OK?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's do that.

SERWER: I like to do that on good days. It's a good day.

Forty-one points on the Dow, stocks moving. A talk of lower oil prices moving the markets.

What else is going on? A story about a grand jury investigating Coke. Problems continuing there; that's not moving the stock.

TASER is down a bit. They had a three for one split. So when you see that stock at $29, it did not drop $60, OK? Just to alert you to that.

Let's talk about how the market does as we move into the month of May here. And historically, it has not been a good period for stocks. They say sell in May, walk away. It's kind of a watch phrase on Wall Street because you can see over the summer the market doesn't do as well as it does in the winter.

No real reason for that phenomena explained, except that maybe traders like to go to the beach? Last year, of course, it didn't hold true. So if you plan to trade or sell stocks, I don't advise doing it, because it never really works out.

M. O'BRIEN: What would Warren Buffett say about that?

SERWER: He would say...

M. O'BRIEN: Buy and hold.

SERWER: ... buy and hold, yes. He would.

Let's talk about Sprint, though. They do have a new plan here for cell phone customers, and that being, give me a break in terms of you exceed your monthly plan. It used to be, of course, you would get, say, 300 minutes and you pay $35. If you exceed that, you go to 40 cents a minute, which adds up to be a lot of money. Now they're saying you can buy blocks, say 25 minutes for $2.50, which is a better deal if you do the math.

What is going on, Miles, is prices in this business are falling. We talk a lot about inflation, higher prices. Not true in the cell phone business. You should really shop around because you will be able to get better and better deals going forward here.

M. O'BRIEN: And now that people can take their phone numbers with them...

SERWER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: ... the competition is really heated.

SERWER: Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: And time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: You know, someday I've got to think about getting a cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: No you won't.

SERWER: Now that would be revolutionary. That would be the revolution.

S. O'BRIEN: Can you imagine? I'll just call Jack on his cell phone.

SERWER: We would call and call and call all day long.

CAFFERTY: That's why I don't have one.

S. O'BRIEN: I'll get Jack on his blackberry (ph). I know you don't. That's the joke.

CAFFERTY: Anyway, the Question of the Day is an interesting one. Are things so bad in Iraq that Saddam's former generals should be put back in charge?

They have commissioned one of his former generals to command a group of Iraqi military in trying to resolve the situation in Fallujah. And to some of arguers, this makes not a whole lot of sense, beginning with this letter.

"Many coalition soldiers sacrificed their lives trying to capture and depose Saddam, his generals, and all of the people on that infamous deck of cards. To now place one in charge of an armed contingent, a former Iraqi soldiers seems to negate that sacrifice."

John in Florida writes this: "Jack, we said we invaded for weapons of mass destruction. Then we evolved to regime change, citing Saddam's brutality of the Iraqi people and their brutality in his prisons. However, there are no WMD. We are putting the regime back in place, and we are now killing Iraqis and brutalizing them in the prisons. I'm confused."

S. O'BRIEN: Is that final -- no one has proven that yet?

CAFFERTY: Proven what?

S. O'BRIEN: The charges about the prisoners being killed inside the prison. I mean, some have alleged that.

CAFFERTY: But they're being killed in the battles that are fought all over the country everyday.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. No question.

CAFFERTY: Thousands of them have died.

S. O'BRIEN: No question.

CAFFERTY: I'll be out of here in just a minute.

S. O'BRIEN: No. I'm sorry. I just wanted to clarify. Please, go on. CAFFERTY: Pam in Pennsylvania: "Why must the government be continually scrutinized in every decision? How do questions like this support our president and troops? Who are we to sit back and second- guess decisions of those in command?"

Sarah writes from Pocatello, Idaho: "Membership in the Ba'ath Party was required for anyone to hold a job in Iraq, much like membership in the Communist Party was required in the Soviet Union. People joined to feed their families, not necessarily because they supported Saddam."

And finally, Dan in Pennsylvania, "That makes as much sense as putting Charles Manson in charge of the California Parole Board."

That's an interesting take on things.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting feedback, yes.

CAFFERTY: I might go out and get me a cell phone. And then I'm going to call you later and we'll talk.

S. O'BRIEN: Mine is never on, so go ahead. Leave a message.

SERWER: This is the story of the day. You don't want to get a cell phone.

CAFFERTY: No chance. No way.

M. O'BRIEN: Breaking news: Cafferty with cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, really.

The comedians at "Saturday Night Live" poked some fun at the president and the vice president and their joint appearance at last week's closed-door 9/11 hearings. Let's listen to a little bit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": What if they ask you about integrating the intelligence-gathering branches of the federal government?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I will be reassuring. I would seek to put their minds at ease. I would say, "Gentlemen, I have good news."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good news?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERWER: That's pretty good. S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Sometimes it's really, really funny. That was late night political humor over the weekend on "Saturday Night Live."

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING, Thomas Hamill is safe in Germany. There are emerging details of his gripping escape from Iraqi captives. That is coming up in the next hour with Daryn Kagan on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Guess what? We're out of time!

M. O'BRIEN: It flies. It flies when you're having fun.

S. O'BRIEN: It sure does. Miles, thank you for filling in for Billy today.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. I'm out of here. One-day stand, on my way to other parts.

S. O'BRIEN: Right, you're going down to jet propulsion lab.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Mars, as I like to call it.

S. O'BRIEN: Have a good, safe trip. We certainly appreciate you filling in and helping us out.

Daryn Kagan is going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

9