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Accused Soldier's Family: He's a Fall Guy for Prison Scandal; Judge Clears Way for Class Action Suit Against Wal-Mart

Aired June 23, 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.


O'BRIEN: This story first, though, this morning. One of the seven U.S. soldiers accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has suffered a legal setback.
A military judge yesterday refused to order a new Article 32 hearing for Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick. Article 32 hearing is the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding. Granting it would have been akin to dropping the original charges.

Joining us this morning from Mountain Lake Park in Maryland to talk about the case is Sergeant Frederick's father, and also his uncle, Bill Lawson.

Gentlemen, good morning. Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.

BILL LAWSON, IVAN "CHIP" FREDERICK'S UNCLE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: How much of a setback is the denial of the judge to essentially grant a new -- the equivalent of a new grand jury hearing?

LAWSON: I don't think that it's that much of a setback. We were expecting the judge to do this since he's been unfair to not only Chip, but all of the seven all along.

O'BRIEN: In addition, his civilian lawyer had said that he was going to try to attempt to get a change of venue, arguing, in part, that he'd like to represent your son, Red, and your nephew, over the phone because he felt logistically it's hard to get to Baghdad. It's also dangerous as well.

What are the chances of that, do you think, happening, Red?

IVAN "RED" FREDERICK, IVAN "CHIP" FREDERICK'S UNCLE: I don't think that he will go unless it becomes necessary at the court- martial. He said he don't believe it was worthwhile to go over there and spend ten minutes front of a judge which he could do by phone. And the judge denied that, I guess.

O'BRIEN: We have all spoken before. And I know, both Bill and Red, you think that Chip, as you call him is taking a fall for other people, other higher ranking people.

When you see some of the evidence that some people are pointing to, for example, a photograph that appears to have been taken by Chip with a dead Iraqi prisoner, an apparently dead Iraqi prisoner, how do you explain your theory that he's a fall guy and not to a large degree responsible?

LAWSON: Well, that was evidence, that photograph was evidence, and it's also -- it's in Chip's own personal handwritten notes. It's also in the Taguba report explaining the entire situation and why he took that photograph.

It was for evidence, because he couldn't get anybody to write anything down. So I believe it's evidence.

O'BRIEN: Lynndie England, who's also accused in this scandal, has said this. I want to show a little of what have she said.

"I get a lot of people that support me," she says, come up and shake my hand. "And they think I'm great. They think I am the heroine of Baghdad."

Red, is Chip getting similar treatment in your community?

FREDERICK: I'm sure he is. I spent about two hours with about 40 or 50 Vietnam vets last night, and they are all very supportive and wish me well and anything they could do to help, they were more than willing to do.

They think it's a terrible thing that the Army is trying to do to these low-level soldiers, and they think it's not right. They're being mistreated.

O'BRIEN: Before I let you gentlemen go, I just want you to tell me how is Chip doing, and how is his family doing, as well?

LAWSON: I think, you know, the family is holding together very well. You know, we support each other, and we're in this for the long haul, however long it takes.

And Chip has decided that he's going to go take his chances in court, because he believes he's innocent. And we're going to support him. And we believe, based on the response we're getting from the American public, that they believe that all seven of these individuals, including Chip, are innocent.

O'BRIEN: Bill Lawson is the uncle of Chip Frederick, and Red Frederick is Chip's father.

Gentlemen, thanks again for your time. Appreciate it.

LAWSON: Thank you.

FREDERICK: Thank you, Soledad. A and good luck on your two children coming into this world.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. That's very kind of you. Good luck to you, as well, in your legal fight -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, thanks.

Twenty-six minutes now before the hour. To perhaps the most significant business story of the day today.

The country's largest private employer, retail giant Wal-Mart, 1.2 million employees, is now the defendant in the nation's largest private civil rights case ever.

Yesterday a federal judge granted class action status to a sex discrimination lawsuit.

Watching that story for us this morning, here is Jen Rogers in L.A.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not easy to have a career and a family, but my job makes it a lot easier to do both.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wal-Mart ads say one thing. Christine Kwapnoski tells a different story.

CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, PLAINTIFF: The first time I saw that ad I had to laugh.

ROGERS: An 18-year veteran of the world's largest retailer, Kwapnoski alleges Wal-Mart is not an ideal workplace for women.

KWAPNOSKI: I've been promoted over several times, ended up training the male counterparts that were being promoted over me.

ROGERS: Kwapnoski, who is suing Wal-Mart along with six other women, alleges the company discriminates against women when it comes to pay, promotion and training.

That lawsuit became the largest civil rights class action case ever, according to the women's attorney, who says size matters when you're fighting Wal-Mart.

BRAD SELIGMAN, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: It's the largest case anyone has brought against Wal-Mart. They've never faced a national class action. They've always faced local, smaller cases. This is the first time that the entire company, coast to coast, is on the line. And that really does make a difference.

ROGERS: The class, certified by a federal judge in San Francisco, covers every female employee who works or worked at a Wal- Mart-owned store in the United States since late 1998. That's over 1.5 million women.

Wal-Mart denies it discriminates against women and says it has announced a new job classification and pay structure for hourly associates, which is designed to ensure internal equity and external competitiveness.

(on camera) Wal-Mart is also quick to point out that Tuesday's order is not a ruling on the merits of the case, but a decision that the suit meets the legal requirements to move forward under class action status. (voice-over) Wal-Mart fought class action certification in court last fall, arguing its 3,200 stores are autonomous, acting as individual businesses, with most decisions regarding pay and promotion made at the local level.

After a speech in Washington Tuesday, Wal-Mart chairman Rob Walton says the class certification is cause for concern.

ROB WALTON, WAL-MART CHAIRMAN: We believe that it's wrong and the judge has made a mistake.

ROGERS: The company says it will appeal Tuesday's decision. No trial date has been set.

Plaintiffs' attorneys say they will have no problem locating the million-plus women now part of this class, saying Wal-Mart keeps the best employment records of any company in the United States.

Jen Rogers, CNN financial news, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: As you can only guess, it's a massive case. Initially filed about three years ago, already producing 1.5 million pages of evidence. Just getting under way.

O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, you probably don't think about it, but your toothpaste could pose a health risk. There's a new report out on the safety of some of the items that you use every single day. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to stop by to talk about that.

HEMMER: Also, significant political news. Maybe. A secret meeting between senators John Kerry and John Edwards fueling even more speculation. We'll get to it when we continue in a moment here after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Twenty minutes now before the hour. I want to get to this story about beauty and perhaps a health risk, as well.

A new study looks at cosmetic and personal care products. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking us -- into this for us.

Good morning, Sanjay. How are you?

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

Yes, this is the same group, the Environmental Working Group, that actually put out those recommendation, cautions regarding mercury in fish. So that's a little bit of their background.

Now they set their sights on the home care industry, the cosmetic industry, rather, looking at 7,500 products and finding some interesting facts here. The question that they're trying to answer is this: what are all these products that we slather onto our bodies every day, what are they doing to us? Could they potentially be causing cancer? Could they potentially be triggering immune actions? Things like that.

And what they found was that all but 28 of the 7,500 products they looked at contained ingredients that had not been adequately tested. So they developed a web site to try and figure out what is your personal risk at any given time.

And one of our producers actually put in all the products that she uses on any given day, nine products, and tried to calculate her risk. And take a look at some findings there. Sort of interesting.

The scale, I'll just tell you, zero is safe, 10 is considered unsafe, most risky. Then you can see some of the more common products there and their potential risk.

Now the cosmetic industry for their part is saying, "Listen, these cosmetics, these health care products have been around for a long time. No one has ever linked them to cancer. So certainly you do have this web site but no one is concluded that there is a risk between these two things so don't go throwing out your cosmetics yet."

But there is some concern, obviously, about some of these ingredients that have not been fully tested. And that's what's at issue here, Bill.

HEMMER: And also at issue is the specific concerns. What are they from a health standard?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean there are specific concerns that this environmental working group puts out. Let just point out one thing. A lot of these products just haven't been tested so they don't really know if they're safe, but they also don't know if they're unsafe.

But the concern here are potential to cause cancer, trigger allergic reactions, interference with hormonal systems. Some of the specific hormonal products do that and impair reproduction as a result. Harmful impurities also sometimes getting into these products.

Some of the chemicals that they're most concerned about here, and this is what they're telling people on their web site to be cautious of: coal tar, for example, which is in a lot of hair dye products; progesterone, in menopause creams, things like that; parabens; talc; lead acetate; phenol. Again, these are some the products that they're most concerned about, Bill.

HEMMER: Just to be clear, you can find these on the label, right?

GUPTA: You can found them on the label if you're looking.

And you know, there are other sort of caveats. And we'd like to tell people what to do with this information and things that they can sort of think about.

Again, no one is saying throw out all the cosmetic products. That's going to be OK. But maybe use fewer of them. Use fewer products; perhaps that might be a good idea. Also use milder soaps. That's an option. These are recommendations from the environmental working group web site. Minimize the use of dark hair dyes; cut down on the use of powders.

Again, this is based on their opinion, which is based on just limited data at this point. But a lot of people talking about this today, Bill.

HEMMER: And I imagine you're going to get a heck of a reaction, too, from some of products and companies seen on that list.

GUPTA: Yes, absolutely.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Starbucks has come up with a way to turn your spare change into coffee. Plus, somebody wants to put one of the coffee houses into a highly unusual spot. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," and he'll explain for us just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Forty-six minutes past the hour. That means it's time to take a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn, again.

DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning.

We begin with a new terror tape that threatens the life of Iraqi's new interim prime minister. It's an audiotape believed to be the voice of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has been posted on the Internet.

Al-Zarqawi is a Jordanian terror suspect with possible links to al Qaeda. The CIA has not yet verified the recording.

To California now. The first detective called to Scott Peterson's home is back on the stand today in a double murder trial.

Yesterday the detective told jurors that Peterson appeared, quote, "calm, cool and relaxed" the day he reported his wife, Laci, was missing.

The jury also watched a videotaped interview, during which Peterson told police that he and his wife had a problem-free marriage.

Defense attorneys criticize police, saying they focused too much on Peterson, missing other leads.

In politics, reports of a secret meeting between Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and North Carolina Senator John Edwards. The Associated Press says the two met briefly in the president's room near the Senate chamber in Washington.

Edwards' name has been mentioned as a possible running mate choice for Kerry.

Meanwhile, President Bush is stumping in Pennsylvania today. The president highlighting his $15 billion plan for fighting HIV and AIDS.

And service dogs have been used to help people who are blind, deaf and disabled. Now a Canadian study suggests that some dogs may have a natural ability to predict epileptic seizures. Its not yet clear how they do it, but there is speculation that the dog might be able to pick up on subtle changes in a person's behavior. Researchers warn it is still too early to tell, yet promising to watch.

Bill back to you.

HEMMER: Let them see that short-haired yellow Lab, too. Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes.

HEMMER: Now you can turn all that spare change into coffee cash, and soon it won't be just that caffeine at Starbucks that gets you going. My favorite topic. Andy Serwer's covering it today, "Minding Your Business."

Good morning, Drew.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you guys.

Yes, a couple Starbucks stories here. What do you guys do with your spare change, by the way? Piggy bank?

O'BRIEN: I throw it in a jar.

SERWER: Yes, throw it in the jar.

HEMMER: Parking meters.

SERWER: Well, a lot of people, of course, use those change machines at super markets run by a company called Coinstar. There are a couple other ones. Coinstar takes 8.9 cents. How do they take 8.9 cents? That's 89 cents on 1,000 pennies.

But they have a new program now where you can put your change into these machines in supermarkets in Seattle, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, a new program, and out comes a Starbucks card.

And here's the wrinkle. No fee. They don't take the 8.9 cents. So you get 100 cents on the dollar if you get a Starbucks discount card, a Starbucks card coming out of there. So in other words, if you have spare change, and you go to Starbucks, this is a win-win. Right?

I mean it has to be that Starbucks is probably paying Coinstar a little bit of money for this program. It's a pilot program. They don't reveal that.

But I mean, if you're a customer, this is just a good thing.

HEMMER: How about a grind to grip and a little biscotti on the side?

SERWER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: I'll take it.

SERWER: I will.

Let's talk about another Starbucks situation here. OK, August, 1892, Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew and Abby Borden, brutally murdered. Remember, we're talking about the Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Massachusetts, going all the way back -- There's Lizzie.

She was acquitted, by the way, if you remember going all the way back.

O'BRIEN: Killing everybody with an axe.

SERWER: What's going on? Yes, that's right.

OK, here's what's going on. It's a bed and breakfast now in Fall River, Massachusetts. Has been since 1996. It has a new owner. He's going to refurbish it, and he wants to bring in a Starbucks. He wants to put a Starbucks in Lizzie Borden's house.

He says he's contacted the company. No word back. I mean, what are you going to serve there? What, a caramel cut-you-up-uccino? I mean...

O'BRIEN: I knew that was coming.

SERWER: You knew -- you knew the caramel cut-you-up-uccino?

O'BRIEN: I knew something was coming, some bad kind of pun.

SERWER: It's kind of a wacky idea. I don't think Starbucks is going to go for this.

O'BRIEN: What's the up side on that one for them?

SERWER: Nothing.

HEMMER: With one raw sugar and a dollop of milk. To go.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

In a moment here, think you know what the best movie song of all time is? Name it. Straight ahead. We will after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Time to check in with Toure. He's got the "Question of the Day."

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": That's right. The American Film Institute's list of the 100 best movie songs is out. We all know that the song can make the movie.

No. 1 is "Over the Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz." Didn't she have a daughter who did well for herself? She did.

No. 23, "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

No. 60, "It Had to Be You."

HEMMER: Yes. Only you.

TOURE: From "When Harry Met Sally.

No. 4, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by the incomparable Temptations from "The Big Chill."

Our question, the best song from a movie ever? Of course, the correct answer is "Shaft." Missing from the list is the theme from...

HEMMER: No, no, "Shaft" is on there, 38.

TOURE: No, no. The correct answer, the No. 1. See every time, I'm over here correcting you guys. I love you guys! It's OK.

O'BRIEN: Toure, we really appreciate it.

TOURE: Whew! Missing from the list, "The Theme from the Pink Panther," "Don't You Forget About Me" from "The Breakfast Club."

O'BRIEN: Yes, that was good.

TOURE: So, now do we still have time to actually read the e- mail? OK.

HEMMER: Keep going, Toure.

TOURE: From Rufus X -- love the name, brother -- "What would be more darkly comical and surreal than Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' during a full-scale helicopter assault in 'Apocalypse Now'?"

Good answer. And we'll have Larry Fishburne here in the next hour to talk about that. Best movie song ever, says Paul, "'Moon River' from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'." Very conservative choice.

Stephanie from Pittsburgh, "Just remembering the Beatles singing 'Twist and Shout' as Ferris Bueller rides through downtown Chicago on a parade float instantly brings back the whole movie."

Absolutely great choice.

And K.J. from Smyrna, Georgia, "Undoubtedly, my favorite movie song of all time, Michelle Pfeiffer's revealing rendition of 'Makin' Whoopie' from 'The Fabulous Baker Boys'. It makes you wish you were a piano."

Good answer.

Keep e-mailing us at AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Because you've got nothing tolls do on a Wednesday.

How about the best soundtracks of all time?

TOURE: "Superfly."

HEMMER: "Saturday Night Fever."

TOURE: Absolutely. Great one.

HEMMER: "Pulp Fiction."

TOURE: Great. "Pulp Fiction's" a great one. "Kill Bill" is a great soundtrack.

HEMMER: I love that.

O'BRIEN: That's not the question of the day.

HEMMER: I know.

O'BRIEN: Don't confuse people.

HEMMER: Thanks, Daryn -- thanks, Toure. Check of the weather. Here's Chad Myers now.

Hey, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll vote for "The Big Chill" on that one.

HEMMER: We'll take that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Chad, thanks for that.

The debate continues at the White House and the Pentagon, what were the rules for interrogation. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by live. We'll get to that in a moment here when we continue. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 23, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
O'BRIEN: This story first, though, this morning. One of the seven U.S. soldiers accused of abusing inmates at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison has suffered a legal setback.
A military judge yesterday refused to order a new Article 32 hearing for Staff Sergeant Ivan "Chip" Frederick. Article 32 hearing is the military equivalent of a grand jury proceeding. Granting it would have been akin to dropping the original charges.

Joining us this morning from Mountain Lake Park in Maryland to talk about the case is Sergeant Frederick's father, and also his uncle, Bill Lawson.

Gentlemen, good morning. Nice to see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.

BILL LAWSON, IVAN "CHIP" FREDERICK'S UNCLE: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: How much of a setback is the denial of the judge to essentially grant a new -- the equivalent of a new grand jury hearing?

LAWSON: I don't think that it's that much of a setback. We were expecting the judge to do this since he's been unfair to not only Chip, but all of the seven all along.

O'BRIEN: In addition, his civilian lawyer had said that he was going to try to attempt to get a change of venue, arguing, in part, that he'd like to represent your son, Red, and your nephew, over the phone because he felt logistically it's hard to get to Baghdad. It's also dangerous as well.

What are the chances of that, do you think, happening, Red?

IVAN "RED" FREDERICK, IVAN "CHIP" FREDERICK'S UNCLE: I don't think that he will go unless it becomes necessary at the court- martial. He said he don't believe it was worthwhile to go over there and spend ten minutes front of a judge which he could do by phone. And the judge denied that, I guess.

O'BRIEN: We have all spoken before. And I know, both Bill and Red, you think that Chip, as you call him is taking a fall for other people, other higher ranking people.

When you see some of the evidence that some people are pointing to, for example, a photograph that appears to have been taken by Chip with a dead Iraqi prisoner, an apparently dead Iraqi prisoner, how do you explain your theory that he's a fall guy and not to a large degree responsible?

LAWSON: Well, that was evidence, that photograph was evidence, and it's also -- it's in Chip's own personal handwritten notes. It's also in the Taguba report explaining the entire situation and why he took that photograph.

It was for evidence, because he couldn't get anybody to write anything down. So I believe it's evidence.

O'BRIEN: Lynndie England, who's also accused in this scandal, has said this. I want to show a little of what have she said.

"I get a lot of people that support me," she says, come up and shake my hand. "And they think I'm great. They think I am the heroine of Baghdad."

Red, is Chip getting similar treatment in your community?

FREDERICK: I'm sure he is. I spent about two hours with about 40 or 50 Vietnam vets last night, and they are all very supportive and wish me well and anything they could do to help, they were more than willing to do.

They think it's a terrible thing that the Army is trying to do to these low-level soldiers, and they think it's not right. They're being mistreated.

O'BRIEN: Before I let you gentlemen go, I just want you to tell me how is Chip doing, and how is his family doing, as well?

LAWSON: I think, you know, the family is holding together very well. You know, we support each other, and we're in this for the long haul, however long it takes.

And Chip has decided that he's going to go take his chances in court, because he believes he's innocent. And we're going to support him. And we believe, based on the response we're getting from the American public, that they believe that all seven of these individuals, including Chip, are innocent.

O'BRIEN: Bill Lawson is the uncle of Chip Frederick, and Red Frederick is Chip's father.

Gentlemen, thanks again for your time. Appreciate it.

LAWSON: Thank you.

FREDERICK: Thank you, Soledad. A and good luck on your two children coming into this world.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. That's very kind of you. Good luck to you, as well, in your legal fight -- Bill.

HEMMER: Soledad, thanks.

Twenty-six minutes now before the hour. To perhaps the most significant business story of the day today.

The country's largest private employer, retail giant Wal-Mart, 1.2 million employees, is now the defendant in the nation's largest private civil rights case ever.

Yesterday a federal judge granted class action status to a sex discrimination lawsuit.

Watching that story for us this morning, here is Jen Rogers in L.A.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not easy to have a career and a family, but my job makes it a lot easier to do both.

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wal-Mart ads say one thing. Christine Kwapnoski tells a different story.

CHRISTINE KWAPNOSKI, PLAINTIFF: The first time I saw that ad I had to laugh.

ROGERS: An 18-year veteran of the world's largest retailer, Kwapnoski alleges Wal-Mart is not an ideal workplace for women.

KWAPNOSKI: I've been promoted over several times, ended up training the male counterparts that were being promoted over me.

ROGERS: Kwapnoski, who is suing Wal-Mart along with six other women, alleges the company discriminates against women when it comes to pay, promotion and training.

That lawsuit became the largest civil rights class action case ever, according to the women's attorney, who says size matters when you're fighting Wal-Mart.

BRAD SELIGMAN, PLAINTIFFS' ATTORNEY: It's the largest case anyone has brought against Wal-Mart. They've never faced a national class action. They've always faced local, smaller cases. This is the first time that the entire company, coast to coast, is on the line. And that really does make a difference.

ROGERS: The class, certified by a federal judge in San Francisco, covers every female employee who works or worked at a Wal- Mart-owned store in the United States since late 1998. That's over 1.5 million women.

Wal-Mart denies it discriminates against women and says it has announced a new job classification and pay structure for hourly associates, which is designed to ensure internal equity and external competitiveness.

(on camera) Wal-Mart is also quick to point out that Tuesday's order is not a ruling on the merits of the case, but a decision that the suit meets the legal requirements to move forward under class action status. (voice-over) Wal-Mart fought class action certification in court last fall, arguing its 3,200 stores are autonomous, acting as individual businesses, with most decisions regarding pay and promotion made at the local level.

After a speech in Washington Tuesday, Wal-Mart chairman Rob Walton says the class certification is cause for concern.

ROB WALTON, WAL-MART CHAIRMAN: We believe that it's wrong and the judge has made a mistake.

ROGERS: The company says it will appeal Tuesday's decision. No trial date has been set.

Plaintiffs' attorneys say they will have no problem locating the million-plus women now part of this class, saying Wal-Mart keeps the best employment records of any company in the United States.

Jen Rogers, CNN financial news, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: As you can only guess, it's a massive case. Initially filed about three years ago, already producing 1.5 million pages of evidence. Just getting under way.

O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, you probably don't think about it, but your toothpaste could pose a health risk. There's a new report out on the safety of some of the items that you use every single day. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to stop by to talk about that.

HEMMER: Also, significant political news. Maybe. A secret meeting between senators John Kerry and John Edwards fueling even more speculation. We'll get to it when we continue in a moment here after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Twenty minutes now before the hour. I want to get to this story about beauty and perhaps a health risk, as well.

A new study looks at cosmetic and personal care products. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking us -- into this for us.

Good morning, Sanjay. How are you?

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

Yes, this is the same group, the Environmental Working Group, that actually put out those recommendation, cautions regarding mercury in fish. So that's a little bit of their background.

Now they set their sights on the home care industry, the cosmetic industry, rather, looking at 7,500 products and finding some interesting facts here. The question that they're trying to answer is this: what are all these products that we slather onto our bodies every day, what are they doing to us? Could they potentially be causing cancer? Could they potentially be triggering immune actions? Things like that.

And what they found was that all but 28 of the 7,500 products they looked at contained ingredients that had not been adequately tested. So they developed a web site to try and figure out what is your personal risk at any given time.

And one of our producers actually put in all the products that she uses on any given day, nine products, and tried to calculate her risk. And take a look at some findings there. Sort of interesting.

The scale, I'll just tell you, zero is safe, 10 is considered unsafe, most risky. Then you can see some of the more common products there and their potential risk.

Now the cosmetic industry for their part is saying, "Listen, these cosmetics, these health care products have been around for a long time. No one has ever linked them to cancer. So certainly you do have this web site but no one is concluded that there is a risk between these two things so don't go throwing out your cosmetics yet."

But there is some concern, obviously, about some of these ingredients that have not been fully tested. And that's what's at issue here, Bill.

HEMMER: And also at issue is the specific concerns. What are they from a health standard?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean there are specific concerns that this environmental working group puts out. Let just point out one thing. A lot of these products just haven't been tested so they don't really know if they're safe, but they also don't know if they're unsafe.

But the concern here are potential to cause cancer, trigger allergic reactions, interference with hormonal systems. Some of the specific hormonal products do that and impair reproduction as a result. Harmful impurities also sometimes getting into these products.

Some of the chemicals that they're most concerned about here, and this is what they're telling people on their web site to be cautious of: coal tar, for example, which is in a lot of hair dye products; progesterone, in menopause creams, things like that; parabens; talc; lead acetate; phenol. Again, these are some the products that they're most concerned about, Bill.

HEMMER: Just to be clear, you can find these on the label, right?

GUPTA: You can found them on the label if you're looking.

And you know, there are other sort of caveats. And we'd like to tell people what to do with this information and things that they can sort of think about.

Again, no one is saying throw out all the cosmetic products. That's going to be OK. But maybe use fewer of them. Use fewer products; perhaps that might be a good idea. Also use milder soaps. That's an option. These are recommendations from the environmental working group web site. Minimize the use of dark hair dyes; cut down on the use of powders.

Again, this is based on their opinion, which is based on just limited data at this point. But a lot of people talking about this today, Bill.

HEMMER: And I imagine you're going to get a heck of a reaction, too, from some of products and companies seen on that list.

GUPTA: Yes, absolutely.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Starbucks has come up with a way to turn your spare change into coffee. Plus, somebody wants to put one of the coffee houses into a highly unusual spot. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," and he'll explain for us just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Forty-six minutes past the hour. That means it's time to take a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn, again.

DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning.

We begin with a new terror tape that threatens the life of Iraqi's new interim prime minister. It's an audiotape believed to be the voice of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It has been posted on the Internet.

Al-Zarqawi is a Jordanian terror suspect with possible links to al Qaeda. The CIA has not yet verified the recording.

To California now. The first detective called to Scott Peterson's home is back on the stand today in a double murder trial.

Yesterday the detective told jurors that Peterson appeared, quote, "calm, cool and relaxed" the day he reported his wife, Laci, was missing.

The jury also watched a videotaped interview, during which Peterson told police that he and his wife had a problem-free marriage.

Defense attorneys criticize police, saying they focused too much on Peterson, missing other leads.

In politics, reports of a secret meeting between Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and North Carolina Senator John Edwards. The Associated Press says the two met briefly in the president's room near the Senate chamber in Washington.

Edwards' name has been mentioned as a possible running mate choice for Kerry.

Meanwhile, President Bush is stumping in Pennsylvania today. The president highlighting his $15 billion plan for fighting HIV and AIDS.

And service dogs have been used to help people who are blind, deaf and disabled. Now a Canadian study suggests that some dogs may have a natural ability to predict epileptic seizures. Its not yet clear how they do it, but there is speculation that the dog might be able to pick up on subtle changes in a person's behavior. Researchers warn it is still too early to tell, yet promising to watch.

Bill back to you.

HEMMER: Let them see that short-haired yellow Lab, too. Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Yes.

HEMMER: Now you can turn all that spare change into coffee cash, and soon it won't be just that caffeine at Starbucks that gets you going. My favorite topic. Andy Serwer's covering it today, "Minding Your Business."

Good morning, Drew.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good to see you guys.

Yes, a couple Starbucks stories here. What do you guys do with your spare change, by the way? Piggy bank?

O'BRIEN: I throw it in a jar.

SERWER: Yes, throw it in the jar.

HEMMER: Parking meters.

SERWER: Well, a lot of people, of course, use those change machines at super markets run by a company called Coinstar. There are a couple other ones. Coinstar takes 8.9 cents. How do they take 8.9 cents? That's 89 cents on 1,000 pennies.

But they have a new program now where you can put your change into these machines in supermarkets in Seattle, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, a new program, and out comes a Starbucks card.

And here's the wrinkle. No fee. They don't take the 8.9 cents. So you get 100 cents on the dollar if you get a Starbucks discount card, a Starbucks card coming out of there. So in other words, if you have spare change, and you go to Starbucks, this is a win-win. Right?

I mean it has to be that Starbucks is probably paying Coinstar a little bit of money for this program. It's a pilot program. They don't reveal that.

But I mean, if you're a customer, this is just a good thing.

HEMMER: How about a grind to grip and a little biscotti on the side?

SERWER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: I'll take it.

SERWER: I will.

Let's talk about another Starbucks situation here. OK, August, 1892, Fall River, Massachusetts. Andrew and Abby Borden, brutally murdered. Remember, we're talking about the Lizzie Borden murders in Fall River, Massachusetts, going all the way back -- There's Lizzie.

She was acquitted, by the way, if you remember going all the way back.

O'BRIEN: Killing everybody with an axe.

SERWER: What's going on? Yes, that's right.

OK, here's what's going on. It's a bed and breakfast now in Fall River, Massachusetts. Has been since 1996. It has a new owner. He's going to refurbish it, and he wants to bring in a Starbucks. He wants to put a Starbucks in Lizzie Borden's house.

He says he's contacted the company. No word back. I mean, what are you going to serve there? What, a caramel cut-you-up-uccino? I mean...

O'BRIEN: I knew that was coming.

SERWER: You knew -- you knew the caramel cut-you-up-uccino?

O'BRIEN: I knew something was coming, some bad kind of pun.

SERWER: It's kind of a wacky idea. I don't think Starbucks is going to go for this.

O'BRIEN: What's the up side on that one for them?

SERWER: Nothing.

HEMMER: With one raw sugar and a dollop of milk. To go.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.

In a moment here, think you know what the best movie song of all time is? Name it. Straight ahead. We will after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Time to check in with Toure. He's got the "Question of the Day."

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": That's right. The American Film Institute's list of the 100 best movie songs is out. We all know that the song can make the movie.

No. 1 is "Over the Rainbow," sung by Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz." Didn't she have a daughter who did well for herself? She did.

No. 23, "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head" from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

No. 60, "It Had to Be You."

HEMMER: Yes. Only you.

TOURE: From "When Harry Met Sally.

No. 4, "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" by the incomparable Temptations from "The Big Chill."

Our question, the best song from a movie ever? Of course, the correct answer is "Shaft." Missing from the list is the theme from...

HEMMER: No, no, "Shaft" is on there, 38.

TOURE: No, no. The correct answer, the No. 1. See every time, I'm over here correcting you guys. I love you guys! It's OK.

O'BRIEN: Toure, we really appreciate it.

TOURE: Whew! Missing from the list, "The Theme from the Pink Panther," "Don't You Forget About Me" from "The Breakfast Club."

O'BRIEN: Yes, that was good.

TOURE: So, now do we still have time to actually read the e- mail? OK.

HEMMER: Keep going, Toure.

TOURE: From Rufus X -- love the name, brother -- "What would be more darkly comical and surreal than Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries' during a full-scale helicopter assault in 'Apocalypse Now'?"

Good answer. And we'll have Larry Fishburne here in the next hour to talk about that. Best movie song ever, says Paul, "'Moon River' from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'." Very conservative choice.

Stephanie from Pittsburgh, "Just remembering the Beatles singing 'Twist and Shout' as Ferris Bueller rides through downtown Chicago on a parade float instantly brings back the whole movie."

Absolutely great choice.

And K.J. from Smyrna, Georgia, "Undoubtedly, my favorite movie song of all time, Michelle Pfeiffer's revealing rendition of 'Makin' Whoopie' from 'The Fabulous Baker Boys'. It makes you wish you were a piano."

Good answer.

Keep e-mailing us at AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Because you've got nothing tolls do on a Wednesday.

How about the best soundtracks of all time?

TOURE: "Superfly."

HEMMER: "Saturday Night Fever."

TOURE: Absolutely. Great one.

HEMMER: "Pulp Fiction."

TOURE: Great. "Pulp Fiction's" a great one. "Kill Bill" is a great soundtrack.

HEMMER: I love that.

O'BRIEN: That's not the question of the day.

HEMMER: I know.

O'BRIEN: Don't confuse people.

HEMMER: Thanks, Daryn -- thanks, Toure. Check of the weather. Here's Chad Myers now.

Hey, Chad, good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll vote for "The Big Chill" on that one.

HEMMER: We'll take that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Chad, thanks for that.

The debate continues at the White House and the Pentagon, what were the rules for interrogation. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by live. We'll get to that in a moment here when we continue. Back after this.

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