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Court Case Controversy About What Was Supposed to be Bombshell for Prosecution in Peterson Murder Trial; 'Kamber & May'

Aired June 30, 2004 - 08:30   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just shy of 70 degrees here at 8:30 in the morning in New York City. What a wonderful day it's going to be today.
If you're in the Northeast, get outside today, right. Take advantage of the springtime, because we haven't had one until now. In a moment here, the Scott Peterson trial has plenty of twists and turns in the last week -- all from one witness, we are told, too. Another surprise coming from testimony suggesting that Scott Peterson once considered ways to dispose of a human body. Redwood City -- we're going to report from California, in a moment, on that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, the White House has been very pleased with the handover of sovereignty in Iraq, but will it help the president in his re-election campaign? We're going to find out what Kamber and May think about that in just a few moments.

HEMMER: Also, you still hear smokers, from time to time, talk about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Many suggest they're overblown. Sanjay, though, has information today that could put the question to rest once and for all. That information in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: But let's get started with the court case controversy about what was supposed to be a bombshell for the prosecution in Scott Peterson's double murder trial. This as defense attorney Mark Geragos finally wrapped days of tough cross-examination of detective Al Brocchini yesterday. Well, CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us live from Modesto, California this morning.

You know, Rusty you hate to use the word "bombshell" a lot in cases like this, but it really is unclear who sort of gained the most from this information, what happened?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well really, you know, as you said, it's a tough cross-examination. Detective Al Brocchini was on the stand for several days with grueling questions from defense attorney Mark Geragos. But prosecutors were able to regain some ground, finally. They were able to re-ask some questions to the detective. He was able to clear up some clouds over his conduct. And prosecutors seemed a bit more passionate. Some observers say they gave a dose of his own medicine back to defense attorney Mark Geragos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): A bombshell drop by prosecutors fizzled less than an hour later. Detective Al Brocchini testified police had received a tip from a man claiming Peterson told him nine years ago that the perfect way to get rid of a dead body would be to weight the neck and arms with anchors and throw it into the sea -- exactly what prosecutors claimed Scott Peterson did to his wife. But when questioned by the defense, Brocchini admitted the witness was not credible. Court observers say it might be prosecutors exercising a bit of their own gamesmanship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the defense counsel opens the door wide to what would otherwise be hearsay, the prosecution gets to walk through that door and bring in things the defense counsel might not want to hear.

DORNIN: The jury did hear about the part of an interview Brocchini admitted to leaving out of his report. He testified another detective who conducted the original interview put the details in his report. Prosecutors hope to dispel the inference by the defense that police were trying to cover up f information.

And this week the court released evidence photos taken at the defendant's house: the mop and bucket Peterson says his wife was using when he left the house the day she disappeared, rags on top of the washing machine he says he took out so he could wash the clothes he wore fishing, Laci Peterson's purse left hanging on the hook in the bedroom, and the babies room, blue, with a much talked about nautical theme.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Three more witnesses did follow Detective Brocchini. One was a firearms expert that testified, basically, that the gun that Scott Peterson had, had never been fired. Two other witnesses were business associates, who -- and they were describing very sexually explicit scenes and acts. This was the woman who ended up setting up Scott Peterson with Amber Frey -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Rusty for us, this morning. Rusty Dornin, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thirty-three past the hour. Time for Kamber and May now on a Wednesday morning.

Iraq is sovereign, but is that in word only? From D.C., Democratic consultant Victor Kamber of the Kamber Group.

Vic, good morning to you.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning, Bill. How are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine. Thanks.

Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation For Defense of Democracies.

And, Cliff, we need a much shorter lead-in for you next time. Good morning to you as well.

CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning.

HEMMER: Last night Senator John McCain was on with Larry King, and they were talking about the situation in Iraq. At one point, Senator McCain said this: The United States military presence in Iraq is not dictated so much by the time, as by the number of casualties. Cliff let's start with you. Does that also apply to the election in November -- George Bush's fate tied to how many Americans die between now and then?

MAY: Well, that's a harsh way to put it. Let me just try to put this into some context, because I think what's happening this week is significant. First, America kept its promise. That's important. Secondly, Iraqis now have self-rule. That's very important to them. Third, the new government has the confidence of the people, and it's diverse -- Sunni, Shiites, Kurds, women are in important positions. And finally, we're moving towards elections in Iraq. That's not just important; that's historic.

And finally, if I may just for one second, there's an ad in today's "USA Today," I would like to call people's attention to. I had something to do with it. It's more than a dozen Iraqi organizations, and they're thanking Americans for the sacrifices that America has made to get them to this point.

Now, to answer your question, John Kerry and George Bush do not, at this point, have very different policies with regard to Iraq. The -- and so everybody should be able to celebrate that we have gotten Iraq to this point, and hope that we can take Iraq the rest of the way and have it be a free member of the civilized world.

The only difference is that there are a lot of people around John Kerry, whether it's Al Gore or Michael Moore, who have very different positions where Iraq is concerned, and some people think that maybe John Kerry believes what's they believe, but isn't saying so now, and will change his mind later.

HEMMER: And, Victor, what do you think about that?

KAMBER: Well, to answer your direct question, there's no doubt that the death of Americans in Iraq will have a toll on the election. The continuation of troops and the money we're spending in Iraq will have a toll on the election.

I don't know how else to answer you. I mean, the fact that we turned over in the dead of the night, sort of slinked away in terms of sovereignty on paper, we still are the security force. The Iraqis are no more secure today than we were the first day we entered the country. They're less secure. And without our troops there, there would be mass murders in that country.

We hope the elections will take place, but they won't before the November elections. When Cliff says that John Kerry and George Bush have similar agendas, they have similar goals, there's no doubt. I think the difference is, who can achieve those goals? And one of the goals is to bring world leaders and world countries into Iraq to help. George Bush has been unsuccessful with that. I think John Kerry would be very successful.

HEMMER: Is it just in word only? Is it only on paper, at this point?

MAY: No. Iraqis are making decisions for themselves. Actually, they have been for some weeks. One of the reasons the handover was early, was Iraqis were in charge of all the ministries. And the new prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said there's really no point in waiting around, I want to make these decisions. Paul Bremer is gone. Look, America is going to play an important role there. Iraqis don't have the military, and commando forces and police forces to protect themselves from the foreign jihadis and from some of the Baathist loyalists of Saddam Hussein. They need America's help, absolutely.

KAMBER: Let's see the first time Iraq says they want to paint the wall green and America says, no, you've got to paint it red, and we'll see whose decision it is.

MAY: It's already happening. There are Already decisions being made that Americans don't agree with, that I don't agree with. But you know what, it's time for Iraqis to start making mistakes; we can't just be making mistakes for them.

KAMBER: I don't disagree. I don't believe it. It's that simple.

MAY: It's already happening.

HEMMER: Thanks, men. We've got to leave it there. Listen, we also want to call about Zell Miller talking about the Republican Convention in New York at the end of July -- or excuse me -- end of August, I should say. We'll get to it next time. We're out of time today. Thanks to both of you.

MAY: Thank you.

KAMBER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." He's going to tell you why one computer maker is betting you'll think bigger is better.

Also, the Reverend Al Sharpton gets a new gig. Find out why he says it makes him the working man's Donald Trump. We'll explain as we continue right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Smoking can be hazardous to your health, even if you don't smoke. A new British medical study suggests that passive smoke is more dangerous, in fact, than previously thought. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with details on this, this morning. Good morning to you, Sanjay.

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

Really no surprise then, that secondhand smoke -- passive smoke -- is bad for you. People have known that for some time. But now a new study actually looking at just how bad is it for you, actually trying to measure this. They did this over a long term: looked at 2,100 men, followed them for 20 years, trying to measure their risk of a couple things -- heart disease, as related to secondhand smoke.

Now, until now, most of the studies really focused on whether or not your spouse smoked, your partner smoked. If they smoked, they knew you had increased risk of cardiovascular disease. But they also wanted to know, let's say you were exposed in bars or restaurants, at your workplace, things like that -- what would happen? Well, previous studies, again -- if the spouse smokes, you had about a 25 percent increased risk of heart disease. But you also have an increased risk of heart disease from these other things, as well. The lowest exposure, for example, in restaurants and bars, may increase your risk up to 50 percent; the highest exposure, up to 200 percent.

Your question, Soledad, everyone's question probably is, well, how do you know? How do you know how much you've been exposed? Well that's sort of the most interesting thing about this, they actually measured a certain chemical in the blood, that is a breakdown product of nicotine. So, let's say you're exposed to secondhand smoke. The nicotine actually goes into your body and leaves it.

But one of the harmful chemicals called cotonine (ph) actually remains in the body, and that is what they measure to try and figure just how much exposure you get. Bottom line though, Soledad, the more exposure people are getting, the higher of risk of cardiovascular disease long term.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, are children more susceptible to all of this? So if an adult has a certain amount of exposure, is it even multiplied for children who are in a home where one of the parents, or both parents smoke?

GUPTA: Absolutely. There's a couple of things. Children are more susceptible, just basically because of physical size. So smaller children are going to be the most susceptible. But also, in the home, if both parents are smoking, there's a couple of things that happen. One is that there's obviously going to be a lot more secondhand smoke. There's also going to be increased likelihood of the child smoking as well. Data has shown that children of two smokers are more likely to start smoking themselves. So, it's sort of a double whammy for them -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're getting word today of when Saddam Hussein might get his first day in court. We'll look at that ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Back to Drew Griffin with other news at the CNN Center.

Good morning there, Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Saddam Hussein one step closer now to facing justice. Iraqi authorities gaining legal custody of the former Iraqi leader and 11 other high-profile members of his former regime. The coalition will keep physical custody of this group until sufficient Iraqi security is in place. Charges expected tomorrow.

The U.S. military changed the status of Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun from deserter to captured. He was initially listed as missing when he failed to report for duty in Iraq on June 20th. The Arab-language network Al Jazeera aired this video of a man identified at Hassoun, who was surrounded by armed captors. The military still investigating the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

U.S. officials are said to be preparing for hundreds of possible lawsuits from suspected terrorists following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week. According to sources cited in "The Los Angeles Times," officials are considering moving detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to military prisons within the United States. The newspaper says the move would consolidate all expected proceedings into one court.

Southwestern Idaho getting pounded with severe weather. Heavy weekend rains in the Boise area flooding intersections and knocking out power for 12,000 customers there. Some damage reported, but fortunately no injuries.

And former Democratic presidential contender and political activist Al Sharpton has a new job. Sharpton is slated to host "I Hate My Job," premiering on Spike TV this Fall. The reality show guides contestants through career makeovers, Sharpton calling himself the working man's Donald Trump. Might have to get a little more hair, or at least higher hair -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: He's got to do something with the hair. Although, you know, if you want to pick two guys with interesting, shall we say, hair, those would be the two.

GRIFFIN: He's got some hair.

O'BRIEN: All right, Drew, thanks.

Jack's got the question of the day. Hello. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANALYST: I think that TV show is the only job he's had since he was roadie for James Brown, which was like 400 years ago.

O'BRIEN: And being a politician. That counts as a job, sort of.

CAFFERTY: That's not a job; that's a ruse.

"Question of the Day," when Nicholas Berg was beheaded last month, "The L.A. Times" says his name was the second most popular search request on Google after "American Idol." That's a little scary. According to cbsnews.com, any stories that contain graphic violence cause an astronomical spike in viewing online, all of which puts traditional news media in a bit of a tough spot. With the obvious appetite out there for violence, as displayed by all those hits out there on the Internet, the question we're asking this morning is, how much coverage should traditional media, such as we here at AMERICAN MORNING, give to terrorist kidnappings and beheadings? We're getting some great stuff.

Dave in Nevada writes this: "TV censors, sex and nudity, accident victims and the name and face of some court plaintiffs all for good reason. There are still a few million Americans, believe it or not, who think seeing Americans hanged and burned on a bridge is more harmful to our little kids than a glimpse of Janet's boob."

David in Lovington, New Mexico: "The leftist news media should show more of the beheadings keep it fresh in our minds and to remind America what kind of animals we're trying to exterminate. It sometimes appears even September 11th has faded from some memories. And in some cases, such as the mini-mind of Michael Moore, we -- meaning the Americans -- are the bad guys."

Trish in Austintown, Ohio: "You've played Abu Ghraib ad nauseam, and that was nothing but poor humiliation of those barbarians. Show the beheadings. Show the hangings. But, you don't want to do that. That might stir the world to kill these savages. More people might actually want America to retaliate for these murderous acts.

And John in Quitman, Georgia, who we're hearing from fairly regularly -- and is not bad actually -- writes this. He said, "No, you should charge for the publicity, which is what the terrorists want. They should follow the same rules as the political campaigns. I am Osama Bin Laden, and I approve this message."

O'BRIEN: That's clever.

HEMMER: Strong e-mails, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Well, some interesting subjects, you know.

HEMMER: I've talked to some people who have gone on the Internet to find that Nick Berg beheading, and to a person, they will tell you they regret it to this day.

CAFFERTY: Did you watch it? HEMMER: No way.

CAFFERTY: Some of the people around the news room did, and they all said the same thing, I wish I hadn't done it.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Right.

HEMMER: And the next day they said the same thing, too. A couple guys didn't sleep that night.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Let's change our focus now. Andy Serwer checking in right now.

A huge flat screen on your home computer. That's the newest idea anyway. That and a preview of the markets today. And Alan Greenspan is going to make his call there today, too.

Good morning to you, Andy.

SERWER: Good morning to you. I wanted to go out to San Francisco and talk about Apple Computer's Worldwide Developers Conference out there, a big deal for that company. Steve Jobs, the man, rolling out a 30-inch flat screen called the Cinema Screen. Look at that. It looks like a picture.

HEMMER: It's beautiful.

SERWER: That's for your computer.

This company obviously is just a very, very dynamic one. They only have about 3 percent market share in the PC business, but they're very, very influential. Obviously, always looking at Microsoft. Steve Jobs saying our new software, Tiger, that's going to come out before Microsoft's software, is going to drive the copycats crazy. They had big banners out there saying, Redmond, get your photocopiers ready. Interesting stuff there.

And a lot of people counted this company out, but over the past year, the stock has rebounded tremendously. Apple stock has basically doubled. And a lot of that has to do with iTunes and the iPods, which has been a tremendous business for this company. You've got to give Steve Jobs credit. He's revolutionized the PC business, revolutionized the movie business because, of course, he runs Pixar. And now he is revolutionizing the music business as well, a very, very influential figure, I think underrated.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: I don't think he's given his due. A lot of people say, oh, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs. I think he -- when we look back in history, he will be the most important technologist of our time.

HEMMER: I like that. Quick check of the markets. Up yesterday, Waiting on the Fed.

SERWER: Yes. Well, we're just sort of treading water. We did manage to go up a little bit yesterday. Let's check the numbers here. You can see on the Dow. This morning, futures are up. Of course, as you said, the big news at 2:15 when the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter point, sure, Soledad, as the sun will set.

O'BRIEN: 2:15. Sure as the sun will set in the West this evening, Andy Serwer is predicting this.

SERWER: Now watch it not happen.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, if you're wrong, you might not want to come in tomorrow.

SERWER: No, I won't. Believe me.

CAFFERTY: I don't want to come in tomorrow, either and I don't care whether they raise interest rates or not.

(LAUGHTER)

SERWER: That's an every day for Jack. Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: All right. Andy, thanks.

Coming up in our next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, who's John Kerry's number one choice to be his number two? There is a short list to win Kerry's veepstakes? Who's on it? We'll take a look at that,. just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. We've got this just in to CNN. You're looking at a picture of Joel Steinberg. He was an inmate at the Southport Correctional Facility -- notorious. You can see him there in the white shirt. There is a stretch limo and it looks like he is standing with someone who may be his attorney as he gets ready to leave that correctional facility. He has now been released.

He was part of a case that shocked not only people here in New York City, but also the nation, when he was convicted of killing his live-in girlfriend's daughter, convicted of beating 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg to death. The case truly changed how child abuse allegations and information was handled here in New York City and around the nation. Steinberg served two-thirds of his term that he was sentenced to in prison. His plans, we are told, to come back to New York City. That's just in to CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, an unorthodox campaign to cut down on the number of older men having sex with young girls. We're going to talk with one of the men behind the plan. It's pretty shocking. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 30, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just shy of 70 degrees here at 8:30 in the morning in New York City. What a wonderful day it's going to be today.
If you're in the Northeast, get outside today, right. Take advantage of the springtime, because we haven't had one until now. In a moment here, the Scott Peterson trial has plenty of twists and turns in the last week -- all from one witness, we are told, too. Another surprise coming from testimony suggesting that Scott Peterson once considered ways to dispose of a human body. Redwood City -- we're going to report from California, in a moment, on that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, the White House has been very pleased with the handover of sovereignty in Iraq, but will it help the president in his re-election campaign? We're going to find out what Kamber and May think about that in just a few moments.

HEMMER: Also, you still hear smokers, from time to time, talk about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Many suggest they're overblown. Sanjay, though, has information today that could put the question to rest once and for all. That information in a few moments.

O'BRIEN: But let's get started with the court case controversy about what was supposed to be a bombshell for the prosecution in Scott Peterson's double murder trial. This as defense attorney Mark Geragos finally wrapped days of tough cross-examination of detective Al Brocchini yesterday. Well, CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us live from Modesto, California this morning.

You know, Rusty you hate to use the word "bombshell" a lot in cases like this, but it really is unclear who sort of gained the most from this information, what happened?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well really, you know, as you said, it's a tough cross-examination. Detective Al Brocchini was on the stand for several days with grueling questions from defense attorney Mark Geragos. But prosecutors were able to regain some ground, finally. They were able to re-ask some questions to the detective. He was able to clear up some clouds over his conduct. And prosecutors seemed a bit more passionate. Some observers say they gave a dose of his own medicine back to defense attorney Mark Geragos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN (voice-over): A bombshell drop by prosecutors fizzled less than an hour later. Detective Al Brocchini testified police had received a tip from a man claiming Peterson told him nine years ago that the perfect way to get rid of a dead body would be to weight the neck and arms with anchors and throw it into the sea -- exactly what prosecutors claimed Scott Peterson did to his wife. But when questioned by the defense, Brocchini admitted the witness was not credible. Court observers say it might be prosecutors exercising a bit of their own gamesmanship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the defense counsel opens the door wide to what would otherwise be hearsay, the prosecution gets to walk through that door and bring in things the defense counsel might not want to hear.

DORNIN: The jury did hear about the part of an interview Brocchini admitted to leaving out of his report. He testified another detective who conducted the original interview put the details in his report. Prosecutors hope to dispel the inference by the defense that police were trying to cover up f information.

And this week the court released evidence photos taken at the defendant's house: the mop and bucket Peterson says his wife was using when he left the house the day she disappeared, rags on top of the washing machine he says he took out so he could wash the clothes he wore fishing, Laci Peterson's purse left hanging on the hook in the bedroom, and the babies room, blue, with a much talked about nautical theme.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DORNIN: Three more witnesses did follow Detective Brocchini. One was a firearms expert that testified, basically, that the gun that Scott Peterson had, had never been fired. Two other witnesses were business associates, who -- and they were describing very sexually explicit scenes and acts. This was the woman who ended up setting up Scott Peterson with Amber Frey -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Rusty for us, this morning. Rusty Dornin, thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: Thirty-three past the hour. Time for Kamber and May now on a Wednesday morning.

Iraq is sovereign, but is that in word only? From D.C., Democratic consultant Victor Kamber of the Kamber Group.

Vic, good morning to you.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT, THE KAMBER GROUP: Good morning, Bill. How are you?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine. Thanks.

Cliff May, former RNC communications director, now with the Foundation For Defense of Democracies.

And, Cliff, we need a much shorter lead-in for you next time. Good morning to you as well.

CLIFF MAY, FOUNDATION FOR DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACIES: Good morning.

HEMMER: Last night Senator John McCain was on with Larry King, and they were talking about the situation in Iraq. At one point, Senator McCain said this: The United States military presence in Iraq is not dictated so much by the time, as by the number of casualties. Cliff let's start with you. Does that also apply to the election in November -- George Bush's fate tied to how many Americans die between now and then?

MAY: Well, that's a harsh way to put it. Let me just try to put this into some context, because I think what's happening this week is significant. First, America kept its promise. That's important. Secondly, Iraqis now have self-rule. That's very important to them. Third, the new government has the confidence of the people, and it's diverse -- Sunni, Shiites, Kurds, women are in important positions. And finally, we're moving towards elections in Iraq. That's not just important; that's historic.

And finally, if I may just for one second, there's an ad in today's "USA Today," I would like to call people's attention to. I had something to do with it. It's more than a dozen Iraqi organizations, and they're thanking Americans for the sacrifices that America has made to get them to this point.

Now, to answer your question, John Kerry and George Bush do not, at this point, have very different policies with regard to Iraq. The -- and so everybody should be able to celebrate that we have gotten Iraq to this point, and hope that we can take Iraq the rest of the way and have it be a free member of the civilized world.

The only difference is that there are a lot of people around John Kerry, whether it's Al Gore or Michael Moore, who have very different positions where Iraq is concerned, and some people think that maybe John Kerry believes what's they believe, but isn't saying so now, and will change his mind later.

HEMMER: And, Victor, what do you think about that?

KAMBER: Well, to answer your direct question, there's no doubt that the death of Americans in Iraq will have a toll on the election. The continuation of troops and the money we're spending in Iraq will have a toll on the election.

I don't know how else to answer you. I mean, the fact that we turned over in the dead of the night, sort of slinked away in terms of sovereignty on paper, we still are the security force. The Iraqis are no more secure today than we were the first day we entered the country. They're less secure. And without our troops there, there would be mass murders in that country.

We hope the elections will take place, but they won't before the November elections. When Cliff says that John Kerry and George Bush have similar agendas, they have similar goals, there's no doubt. I think the difference is, who can achieve those goals? And one of the goals is to bring world leaders and world countries into Iraq to help. George Bush has been unsuccessful with that. I think John Kerry would be very successful.

HEMMER: Is it just in word only? Is it only on paper, at this point?

MAY: No. Iraqis are making decisions for themselves. Actually, they have been for some weeks. One of the reasons the handover was early, was Iraqis were in charge of all the ministries. And the new prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said there's really no point in waiting around, I want to make these decisions. Paul Bremer is gone. Look, America is going to play an important role there. Iraqis don't have the military, and commando forces and police forces to protect themselves from the foreign jihadis and from some of the Baathist loyalists of Saddam Hussein. They need America's help, absolutely.

KAMBER: Let's see the first time Iraq says they want to paint the wall green and America says, no, you've got to paint it red, and we'll see whose decision it is.

MAY: It's already happening. There are Already decisions being made that Americans don't agree with, that I don't agree with. But you know what, it's time for Iraqis to start making mistakes; we can't just be making mistakes for them.

KAMBER: I don't disagree. I don't believe it. It's that simple.

MAY: It's already happening.

HEMMER: Thanks, men. We've got to leave it there. Listen, we also want to call about Zell Miller talking about the Republican Convention in New York at the end of July -- or excuse me -- end of August, I should say. We'll get to it next time. We're out of time today. Thanks to both of you.

MAY: Thank you.

KAMBER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." He's going to tell you why one computer maker is betting you'll think bigger is better.

Also, the Reverend Al Sharpton gets a new gig. Find out why he says it makes him the working man's Donald Trump. We'll explain as we continue right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Smoking can be hazardous to your health, even if you don't smoke. A new British medical study suggests that passive smoke is more dangerous, in fact, than previously thought. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with details on this, this morning. Good morning to you, Sanjay.

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

Really no surprise then, that secondhand smoke -- passive smoke -- is bad for you. People have known that for some time. But now a new study actually looking at just how bad is it for you, actually trying to measure this. They did this over a long term: looked at 2,100 men, followed them for 20 years, trying to measure their risk of a couple things -- heart disease, as related to secondhand smoke.

Now, until now, most of the studies really focused on whether or not your spouse smoked, your partner smoked. If they smoked, they knew you had increased risk of cardiovascular disease. But they also wanted to know, let's say you were exposed in bars or restaurants, at your workplace, things like that -- what would happen? Well, previous studies, again -- if the spouse smokes, you had about a 25 percent increased risk of heart disease. But you also have an increased risk of heart disease from these other things, as well. The lowest exposure, for example, in restaurants and bars, may increase your risk up to 50 percent; the highest exposure, up to 200 percent.

Your question, Soledad, everyone's question probably is, well, how do you know? How do you know how much you've been exposed? Well that's sort of the most interesting thing about this, they actually measured a certain chemical in the blood, that is a breakdown product of nicotine. So, let's say you're exposed to secondhand smoke. The nicotine actually goes into your body and leaves it.

But one of the harmful chemicals called cotonine (ph) actually remains in the body, and that is what they measure to try and figure just how much exposure you get. Bottom line though, Soledad, the more exposure people are getting, the higher of risk of cardiovascular disease long term.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, are children more susceptible to all of this? So if an adult has a certain amount of exposure, is it even multiplied for children who are in a home where one of the parents, or both parents smoke?

GUPTA: Absolutely. There's a couple of things. Children are more susceptible, just basically because of physical size. So smaller children are going to be the most susceptible. But also, in the home, if both parents are smoking, there's a couple of things that happen. One is that there's obviously going to be a lot more secondhand smoke. There's also going to be increased likelihood of the child smoking as well. Data has shown that children of two smokers are more likely to start smoking themselves. So, it's sort of a double whammy for them -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're getting word today of when Saddam Hussein might get his first day in court. We'll look at that ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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HEMMER: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Back to Drew Griffin with other news at the CNN Center.

Good morning there, Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Saddam Hussein one step closer now to facing justice. Iraqi authorities gaining legal custody of the former Iraqi leader and 11 other high-profile members of his former regime. The coalition will keep physical custody of this group until sufficient Iraqi security is in place. Charges expected tomorrow.

The U.S. military changed the status of Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun from deserter to captured. He was initially listed as missing when he failed to report for duty in Iraq on June 20th. The Arab-language network Al Jazeera aired this video of a man identified at Hassoun, who was surrounded by armed captors. The military still investigating the circumstances surrounding his disappearance.

U.S. officials are said to be preparing for hundreds of possible lawsuits from suspected terrorists following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week. According to sources cited in "The Los Angeles Times," officials are considering moving detainees out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to military prisons within the United States. The newspaper says the move would consolidate all expected proceedings into one court.

Southwestern Idaho getting pounded with severe weather. Heavy weekend rains in the Boise area flooding intersections and knocking out power for 12,000 customers there. Some damage reported, but fortunately no injuries.

And former Democratic presidential contender and political activist Al Sharpton has a new job. Sharpton is slated to host "I Hate My Job," premiering on Spike TV this Fall. The reality show guides contestants through career makeovers, Sharpton calling himself the working man's Donald Trump. Might have to get a little more hair, or at least higher hair -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: He's got to do something with the hair. Although, you know, if you want to pick two guys with interesting, shall we say, hair, those would be the two.

GRIFFIN: He's got some hair.

O'BRIEN: All right, Drew, thanks.

Jack's got the question of the day. Hello. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANALYST: I think that TV show is the only job he's had since he was roadie for James Brown, which was like 400 years ago.

O'BRIEN: And being a politician. That counts as a job, sort of.

CAFFERTY: That's not a job; that's a ruse.

"Question of the Day," when Nicholas Berg was beheaded last month, "The L.A. Times" says his name was the second most popular search request on Google after "American Idol." That's a little scary. According to cbsnews.com, any stories that contain graphic violence cause an astronomical spike in viewing online, all of which puts traditional news media in a bit of a tough spot. With the obvious appetite out there for violence, as displayed by all those hits out there on the Internet, the question we're asking this morning is, how much coverage should traditional media, such as we here at AMERICAN MORNING, give to terrorist kidnappings and beheadings? We're getting some great stuff.

Dave in Nevada writes this: "TV censors, sex and nudity, accident victims and the name and face of some court plaintiffs all for good reason. There are still a few million Americans, believe it or not, who think seeing Americans hanged and burned on a bridge is more harmful to our little kids than a glimpse of Janet's boob."

David in Lovington, New Mexico: "The leftist news media should show more of the beheadings keep it fresh in our minds and to remind America what kind of animals we're trying to exterminate. It sometimes appears even September 11th has faded from some memories. And in some cases, such as the mini-mind of Michael Moore, we -- meaning the Americans -- are the bad guys."

Trish in Austintown, Ohio: "You've played Abu Ghraib ad nauseam, and that was nothing but poor humiliation of those barbarians. Show the beheadings. Show the hangings. But, you don't want to do that. That might stir the world to kill these savages. More people might actually want America to retaliate for these murderous acts.

And John in Quitman, Georgia, who we're hearing from fairly regularly -- and is not bad actually -- writes this. He said, "No, you should charge for the publicity, which is what the terrorists want. They should follow the same rules as the political campaigns. I am Osama Bin Laden, and I approve this message."

O'BRIEN: That's clever.

HEMMER: Strong e-mails, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Well, some interesting subjects, you know.

HEMMER: I've talked to some people who have gone on the Internet to find that Nick Berg beheading, and to a person, they will tell you they regret it to this day.

CAFFERTY: Did you watch it? HEMMER: No way.

CAFFERTY: Some of the people around the news room did, and they all said the same thing, I wish I hadn't done it.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Right.

HEMMER: And the next day they said the same thing, too. A couple guys didn't sleep that night.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Let's change our focus now. Andy Serwer checking in right now.

A huge flat screen on your home computer. That's the newest idea anyway. That and a preview of the markets today. And Alan Greenspan is going to make his call there today, too.

Good morning to you, Andy.

SERWER: Good morning to you. I wanted to go out to San Francisco and talk about Apple Computer's Worldwide Developers Conference out there, a big deal for that company. Steve Jobs, the man, rolling out a 30-inch flat screen called the Cinema Screen. Look at that. It looks like a picture.

HEMMER: It's beautiful.

SERWER: That's for your computer.

This company obviously is just a very, very dynamic one. They only have about 3 percent market share in the PC business, but they're very, very influential. Obviously, always looking at Microsoft. Steve Jobs saying our new software, Tiger, that's going to come out before Microsoft's software, is going to drive the copycats crazy. They had big banners out there saying, Redmond, get your photocopiers ready. Interesting stuff there.

And a lot of people counted this company out, but over the past year, the stock has rebounded tremendously. Apple stock has basically doubled. And a lot of that has to do with iTunes and the iPods, which has been a tremendous business for this company. You've got to give Steve Jobs credit. He's revolutionized the PC business, revolutionized the movie business because, of course, he runs Pixar. And now he is revolutionizing the music business as well, a very, very influential figure, I think underrated.

HEMMER: Really?

SERWER: I don't think he's given his due. A lot of people say, oh, Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs. I think he -- when we look back in history, he will be the most important technologist of our time.

HEMMER: I like that. Quick check of the markets. Up yesterday, Waiting on the Fed.

SERWER: Yes. Well, we're just sort of treading water. We did manage to go up a little bit yesterday. Let's check the numbers here. You can see on the Dow. This morning, futures are up. Of course, as you said, the big news at 2:15 when the Fed will raise interest rates by a quarter point, sure, Soledad, as the sun will set.

O'BRIEN: 2:15. Sure as the sun will set in the West this evening, Andy Serwer is predicting this.

SERWER: Now watch it not happen.

O'BRIEN: I was going to say, if you're wrong, you might not want to come in tomorrow.

SERWER: No, I won't. Believe me.

CAFFERTY: I don't want to come in tomorrow, either and I don't care whether they raise interest rates or not.

(LAUGHTER)

SERWER: That's an every day for Jack. Thank you, Jack.

O'BRIEN: All right. Andy, thanks.

Coming up in our next hour of AMERICAN MORNING, who's John Kerry's number one choice to be his number two? There is a short list to win Kerry's veepstakes? Who's on it? We'll take a look at that,. just ahead. Stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. We've got this just in to CNN. You're looking at a picture of Joel Steinberg. He was an inmate at the Southport Correctional Facility -- notorious. You can see him there in the white shirt. There is a stretch limo and it looks like he is standing with someone who may be his attorney as he gets ready to leave that correctional facility. He has now been released.

He was part of a case that shocked not only people here in New York City, but also the nation, when he was convicted of killing his live-in girlfriend's daughter, convicted of beating 6-year-old Lisa Steinberg to death. The case truly changed how child abuse allegations and information was handled here in New York City and around the nation. Steinberg served two-thirds of his term that he was sentenced to in prison. His plans, we are told, to come back to New York City. That's just in to CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, an unorthodox campaign to cut down on the number of older men having sex with young girls. We're going to talk with one of the men behind the plan. It's pretty shocking. That's ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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