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American Morning

50-Year Murder Case Still Intrigues; Cassini Probe Flies by Titan; John Kerry Spends Holiday with Governor Vilsack in Iowa

Aired July 05, 2004 - 09:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Has Senator Kerry made up his mind? Word today that his VP choice could be a done deal.
Money for the new Iraq going up in flames. Insurgents deliver a serious blow to a major oil pipeline there.

And going to the moon, Saturn's moon. The probe that may unlock an incredible mystery ahead this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Nine o'clock here in New York. Happy July 5th today. Heidi Collins working for Soledad.

Good morning to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: You're here all week, right?

COLLINS: I am here all week.

HEMMER: Yes, excellent.

COLLINS: I'll be much funnier towards the end of the week.

HEMMER: Set the alarm.

Politics in the headlines, too. Democratic officials perhaps teasing us a bit today, saying that Senator Kerry has selected his running mate. Won't say who it is. We'll tell you what we know, what we're trying to figure out, and what to look forward to in the next few days or so.

COLLINS: Compelling, that's for sure.

HEMMER: Sure.

COLLINS: Also, healthy swimming tips for summer from the CDC. We'll go poolside and we'll learn more live here, as you see. We're going to be talking about hot spots in which the pool will bring -- whoa, he jumps -- great summer fun. But there could be some miserable surprises as well. We'll let you know what those are...

HEMMER: All right. COLLINS: ... under water.

HEMMER: OK.

Jack Cafferty back again.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Have you seen "Caddyshack"...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Sure do -- cannonball, Baby Ruth.

COLLINS: Yes. Something with Baby Ruth -- sorry.

CAFFERTY: Yes, Baby Ruth.

There is some speculation this morning -- it's a candy bar. You guys settle down. Speculation this morning that they're talking about granting amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq. Obviously a controversial idea. Reportedly, some discussions have already been held. Whether it happens or not, they're not being specific about a timetable.

One thing, though, that has been noticeable, it's so quiet over there, you can -- you can notice it. The silence is deafening.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: I mean, it really has, since sovereignty was handed over, it's calmed down some, at least for the moment.

HEMMER: And knock wood, too, and make sure that it stays that way.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: I think it's a good observation, though, and fair at this point, too. Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.

Months of political speculation may just about be over. Maybe not. But John Kerry has reportedly decided who he wants to run as his Democratic presidential vice president. Well, Kelly Wallace has been covering the campaign, joining us now.

All right, Kelly, what's the scoop?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a Democratic official is telling CNN that it is clear, John Kerry has made up his mind and that he's committed to announcing it very, very quickly. Perhaps no surprise here.

Campaign officials are not confirming this report right now. But all eyes will certainly be on Pittsburgh, and that is where Senator Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are hosting a barbecue for politicians from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to see if he gives any clues about what he's planning to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): John Kerry seems to be enjoying this moment. Strutting his stuff in Iowa, where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed, all the while keeping everyone guessing about who he will choose as his running mate, and when.

(on camera): What are the main factors that he is considering in making this decision?

STEPHANIE CUTLER, KERRY CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Kelly, I can't get into what -- what's going on in his mind. And, you know, it's up to him. You know, he's playing his cards very close to his chest, as he should.

WALLACE (voice-over): So, was this a clue or just coincidence? Kerry spent Sunday with Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

GOV. TOM VILSACK (D), IOWA: How are you?

WALLACE: The rags to riches governor is believed to be on the short list.

RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is not about me.

WALLACE: Also on the list, Democratic sources say, Congressman Dick Gephardt and Senator John Edwards, who dodged questions yesterday in North Carolina, but didn't stop auditioning for the job.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Do everything in your power to make sure that Senator John Kerry is the next president of the United States.

WALLACE: The only real clues from a Kerry campaign source who told CNN, "The senator wants someone who has national, not regional appeal, has demonstrated leadership ability, and is compatible with Kerry on every level." In addition to choosing a running mate, the senator is courting rural voters. His bus trip through the heartland was all about trying to make the case that, despite his big city home town, he is a lot like them.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It really doesn't matter whether it's a Democrat idea or Republican idea. It matters whether it works for America.

WALLACE: Small town USA could play a major role in '04. Al Gore lost the rural vote decisively to George W. Bush in 2000. John Kerry hopes to change that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And Democratic sources are telling us that Senator Kerry feels very good about how he has handled this process. He feels very good about the confidentiality here and how he's been able to treat people fairly, he thinks, throughout it.

COLLINS: But why all the secrecy?

WALLACE: Well, in part, because he feels that he was treated unfairly back in 2000. His name, as well as two others, were sort of leaked out as being on Al Gore's short list. And he just did not like that getting out there, being paraded out there. He wanted to sort of keep it under wraps for people so that no one's dangled out there as a possibility and then pulled out -- pulled back later.

COLLINS: Sure. People want to know, though. That's for sure. All right.

WALLACE: We hope we get an answer soon.

COLLINS: Yes, we do, too. All right. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much.

WALLACE: Sure.

COLLINS: Bill?

HEMMER: All right. So then how important is this decision? Our political analyst, Ron Brownstein, of the "L.A. Times," our guest last hour, offering his perspective on the impending choice for running mate. Here's Ron.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON BROWNSTEIN, "L.A. TIMES": Well, look, I think we all have to tip our hat to John Kerry. I mean, he really has done a good job of keeping this a secret.

I separate the candidates, the contenders into two categories. The conventional wisdom about who are the front runners, which we're still seeing, began very early. And it began at a point when it seemed this race was going to pivot mostly on domestic issues.

So we're talking about people like John Edwards of North Carolina, Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Tom Vilsack, the governor of Iowa, all of whom offer credibility and the ability to deliver a message mostly on things like health care and the economy. As the year has gone on, and it's increasingly seen -- seen as though Iraq and national security would be the centerpiece of this race, you have a whole series of other names that have lingered in discussion, whether it's Joe Biden, the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Wesley Clark, the candidate, Bob Graham of Florida, the former intelligence committee chairman, who also brings a state, potentially, help you in a state that is very importance.

Right now, I think the -- the conventional wisdom is still on the first group. But I would not rule out a surprise of someone who had a little more to say on the national security size.

HEMMER: Ron, about 10 days ago, here's what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Gallup poll turned up. "Enthusiastic or satisfied if Kerry picks the following?" John Edwards clearly on top of that list; Dick Gephardt behind him at 64 percent. Tom Vilsack further down the line at 54 percent.

John Edwards has gotten so much attention regarding this. Is it almost a disappointment to the Democratic faithful if he's not chosen?

BROWNSTEIN: A top aide to one of the other contenders said to me yesterday that the biggest reason they thought their candidate might not get picked is that John Kerry would laugh to absorb two or three days of griping Democrats and reporters asking, "Why didn't you pick John Edwards?" There seems to be some resistance, obviously, in Kerry world to Edwards.

They seem to get along OK. The question, though, was whether Kerry felt that Edwards was moving too fast running for president in his first term in the Senate. But there's no doubt that John Edwards was a very good campaigner, had a very sharp message: the two Americas, President Bush honoring wealth, not work. And a lot of Democratic activists around the country really responded to him.

The question here seems to be one more of personal chemistry. But no one should be ruling him out, I think.

HEMMER: With the newspaper in Iowa over the weekend, Senator Kerry talked about abortion. On the screen part of his quote: "I oppose abortion personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist who does not share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America."

Again, over the weekend. Sunday, in fact. The Bush campaign has already said this is another indication of him flipping his message yet again.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look...

HEMMER: How do you weigh in on how we are to size this up now from the Catholic candidate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, this, first of all, is something that Catholic politicians have often said. It's a distinction they've often drawn. I think most famously, Mario Cuomo, in a speech at Notre Dame in the 1980s, their personal faith leads them one way, but they do not believe they can legislate their personal faith on others. That is a common line for Democratic Catholics.

Now, why is he doing it now? A more interesting question. John Kerry over the weekend has spent his time in small town rural America, arguing that he has mainstream, centrist, even conservative values.

The biggest change in the electorate, Bill, from '96, when Clinton won, to 2000, when Gore lost, was the Democratic collapse in rural sort of blue highway America. And it's very clear that John Kerry sees one of his major tasks, especially with Dick Cheney going after him over the weekend on issues like guns and abortion, as grounding himself in the cultural mainstream for more culturally conservative voters in those Midwestern states and elsewhere who are going to be, I think, really crucial in deciding who the next president is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And Ron Brownstein from earlier, sizing up Senator Kerry's campaign to date.

President Bush also giving a Fourth of July speech to a cheering crowd in Charleston, West Virginia, making a point to defend the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush says America is safer with Saddam Hussein behind bars now, and went on to thank the nation's founding fathers yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're thankful that this nation they created 228 years ago remains free and independent, and the best hope for all mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: A bit later in the day, engine trouble on Air Force One delayed the president's departure out of Maryland. A second Boeing 757 brought in to fly Bush to -- President Bush to West Virginia.

COLLINS: The 50-year-old murder of Marilyn Shepherd still intrigues amateur and professional detectives. It's the case believed to be the inspiration for the TV series and movie, "The Fugitive." Soledad recently spoke with the author of a book who he thinks he knows who committed the crime. We'll here that in just a moment, but first, Chris Lawrence updates us on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nothing at Bay Village, Ohio, suggests one of the most famous crime scenes of the last century. The home of the infamous murder was torn down in 1993, and the only evidence of what happened is in libraries like this one. But for hundreds of people a year, the Cleveland State University archives remain popular.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like people come here on a regular basis thinking they're going to solve the Sam Shepherd murder case.

LAWRENCE: But no one has. After Marilyn Shepherd was found bludgeoned to death in their bedroom in 1954, Sam Shepherd was convicted of murder. He said an intruder killed his pregnant wife. And 10 years later, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision when it overturned the verdict, saying excessive media coverage denied the doctor a fair trial.

SAM SHEPHERD, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE: After 10 years in prison for something I didn't do, it was about time.

LAWRENCE: Some legal scholars see similarities between this case and Scott Peterson's trial for the murder of his wife, Laci.

PATRICIA FALK, CLEVELAND STATE LAW PROFESSOR: There are lots of murders all the time, but only a few really capture the imagination in a way that these cases do.

LAWRENCE (on camera): The Shepherds' original home doesn't exist anymore, but the case has lived on through constant attention and popular culture.

(voice-over): Many still believe it inspired the television character Richard Kimble, and later a film version of "The Fugitive."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe "The Fugitive" wasn't based on the Shepherd trial. But it's really hard to imagine that it wasn't a factor of playing it on somebody's mind when they were putting it together.

LAWRENCE: A second jury acquitted Dr. Shepherd in 1966, and he died four years later. His son tried to get him vindicated through DNA evidence, but the murder of Marilyn Shepherd remains open and unsolved.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Bay Village, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Former FBI agent Bernard Conners believes a different man, Air Force Major James Call, committed the crime. His book is called "Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call," first released two years ago, has now been updated. Bernard Conners joins us to talk to us about this case.

You point the finger at Major James Call. Why him?

BERNARD CONNERS, AUTHOR, "TAILSPIN": Another major in the Air Force contacted me six years ago, and he had long suspected that -- a man named George Warburton (ph) contacted me, and he long suspected that Major James Arlon Call had committed this crime. In fact, Major Call was apprehended for killing a police officer in 1954. And at the time, they suspected his involvement in the Shepherd case.

O'BRIEN: What was the evidence to say that it was Major Call? I know you focus a lot on a new photograph. And we've got this photograph. So tell me what this photograph shows and why do you think it's some kind of evidence?

CONNERS: Call was in Cleveland at the time, attending -- we know he attended sports car races. When Sam Shepherd read the hard-back version of the book, he saw these pictures of Major Call and he contacted him. He said, "You know, I have a picture here from a family album which shows my mother talking to this man. And it looks like Major Call."

And those of us in law enforcement realize that identification by photography is an uncertain science. So I was very skeptical. I gave it to all the family of Major Call, the family of Robert Sylvester, who was with Call two weeks -- his closest friend, a respected scientist, biochemist -- was with Call two weeks before the Shepherd homicide. He said, "That is Jim Call."

O'BRIEN: Why would Major Call kill Marilyn Shepherd?

CONNERS: Well, he -- he -- in my opinion, he kind of lost it, Soledad. He'd lost his wife, and he went into this moral tailspin.

He lived life in the air. He did things no one else would do. And he took -- I think it was an adrenaline rush. His son told me -- who is a wonderful man in Meridian, Mississippi, with whom I spent a few days to learn more about -- he said, "Bernard, you probably only have the tip of the iceberg." "Major" -- or Jimmy, he called his father -- "Jim was probably a serial killer."

And he just arrived -- derived a tremendous rush from doing these things. And with Marilyn Shepherd -- in fact, when he was apprehended, shortly after the Shepherd homicide, he admitted that he had just committed an egregious crime. And as I said earlier, the officers and New York State police and in Reno, Nevada, where he was originally apprehended before he was extradited here for the murder of the police officer, suspected him of the Shepherd homicide.

O'BRIEN: It's a fascinating look at a crime I think which has really been dissected over and over again. A really incredible look at it. Nice to see you, Bernard Conners. Thanks for joining us.

CONNERS: You're welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All right. Just about 15 minutes now past the hour. Other news now with Carol Costello at the CNN Center.

Happy Fourth of July -- or fifth now, Carol. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right back at you, Bill. Thank you.

Here are the latest headlines for you now. A delay in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic, acting as his own attorney, expected to start his defense today at a U.N. tribunal at The Hague. The judges are reportedly concerned about Milosevic's blood pressure and heart complaints. A ruling on how to proceed is expected by tomorrow.

In Iraq, a key oil pipeline is burning south of Baghdad. Fire crews working overnight to contain the blaze. A ministry of oil spokesman saying an improvised explosive device went off beneath the line yesterday. The pipeline feeds oil from Iraq's southern oil fields to refineries throughout the country.

Vice President Dick Cheney drops one of his doctors after a report that claims the physician abused prescription narcotics. Dick Cheney's office tells CNN Dr. Gary Malakoff has been let go from the medical team that monitors the vice president's health. Today's issue of The New Yorker claims the doctor has abused prescription narcotics for years.

At Ground Zero, the first step was taken on the Fourth of July to build the new Freedom Tower. A 20-ton granite block, cornerstone of the new tower, was lifted into place at the World Trade Center site. The inscription on the stone is dedicated to those killed in the September 11 attacks. It will take five years to build the tower.

A huge upset in soccer, as Greece wins the European championship. Greek fans went into an absolute frenzy as their team beat Portugal one-nil in -- in the finals yesterday. Angelos Charisteas scored that goal. The Greeks were an 80 to nil long shot, hadn't won a single game in major competition before the European tournament.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: They are going nuts in Athens today, Carol.

COSTELLO: They are.

HEMMER: And they are going to keep on going nuts until the summer games start in mid August.

COLLINS: No kidding, yes.

HEMMER: Great victory for that country.

COLLINS: Indeed, it was.

Jack Cafferty joining us now.

CAFFERTY: I missed it.

COLLINS: You missed it?

CAFFERTY: Yes. I planned to watch it, but I missed it.

There is talk in Iraq to granting amnesty to the insurgents. The new government over there apparently already in talks with some of the insurgent groups, including the renegade cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. One school of thought says, let them turn in their weapons, grant them amnesty, give them a job and let bygones be bygones. The other school of thought is, some of these people killed American soldiers and maybe they ought to be held accountable.

So that's the question, is this a good idea or not? And John in (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Georgia, writes, "Iraq's new freedom is like a child taking its first steps. They will fail, they will fall, but they have to learn to walk on their own. We can help, but we can't do it for them. The only way to look is forward; the past is over."

"Only the present and future are important. It's their country and we have our own problems here."

Joe in Rockland County, New York, "Haven't we learned anything from our past mistakes? You don't let your enemies go free to fight you another day. You capture or kill them. Look at Afghanistan, for example. We are still dealing with Taliban fighters that we let go free there."

Steve in Palmetto, Florida, "Granting amnesty makes perfect sense in a society where tribal loyalties and religious fervor weigh more heavily than a desire to enter the 21st century, culturally or politically. After all, one of the last things our presidents do before leaving office is to sign pardons. Maybe Iraq has learned more than we realize."

Bob in Florida writes, "Yes, I support the plan that all the insurgents should be granted amnesty, followed immediately with a one- way ticket to meet their virgins." The Islamic thing is they die and...

HEMMER: I tell you, one thing you hear from a lot of Americans, especially the politicians who go to Iraq, they like this new prime minister...

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: ... Ayad Allawi. They're very impressed with him. And we hear that across the board.

CAFFERTY: Yes. The rumor is he's a tough guy. And the fact that it's been quiet over there since he took charge might be testament to the fact that maybe he is.

HEMMER: Not completely quite, but a tough guy and a smart guy, too.

COLLINS: Well...

CAFFERTY: Well, a lot quieter than it's been. I mean, you know...

HEMMER: Sure.

CAFFERTY: ... cars backfire in the middle of the night in the most peaceful countries in the world.

HEMMER: Yes. A lot of the reports over the weekend say the Iraqis notice a lot fewer -- far fewer American Marines and soldiers on the streets.

COLLINS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: And many more Iraqi forces and security personnel, too.

(CROSSTALK) CAFFERTY: Well, that was part of the whole problem, was the visibility of the infidel -- that would be us. And the fact that now maybe they can start to recede into the background a little bit is probably a good thing.

COLLINS: Perception is everything, huh? All right.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

COLLINS: Jack, Bill, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Sure.

COLLINS: Let's go to Chad. He's got the weather now.

And Chad, quite a bit of stuff happening in the Midwest, right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks.

Chad, you may have seen this video over the weekend. We thought it was so good we'd show it again today.

Secretary of State Colin Powell making many sacrifices over his years. On Friday, he made one more. The secretary of state sounding a most undiplomatic note, the "YMCA" in southeast Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That performance, the annual curtain call, part of the traditional close to the ASEAN summit, where diplomats provide the entertainment. And he did it this year, in fine fashion, with a hard hat, too, from Jakarta in Indonesia, the secretary of state.

COLLINS: I have seen it a couple of times.

HEMMER: And?

COLLINS: And when he starts to dance, I really lose it every time.

HEMMER: You don't look away, though, do you?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: Keep watching it.

COLLINS: Definitely compelling. All right.

Still to come this morning, Cassini makes its first pass at Saturn's biggest moon. Find out why some experts say it has a little something in common with Los Angeles, of all places.

HEMMER: Also in a moment, you hear all the time about kids playing too many video games indoors, not exercising enough outdoors. Maybe they need to combine the two. Sanjay has that ahead here.

COLLINS: And before the break, a look and a listen at some of the Fourth of July's fun all around the country. This time it's the capital fourth in Washington. We'll play it again for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We are getting more scientific rays for the pictures of Saturn coming from NASA's Cassini spacecraft just days after it started orbiting that ringed planet. Cassini had a not-so-close encounter with Titan, the largest of Saturn's 31 moons. Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Planetarium, joined us earlier today here on AMERICAN MORNING to talk about the new views that he is seeing.

Here's Jack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACK HORKHEIMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MIAMI PLANETARIUM: These are the best pictures yet. As a matter of fact, you notice the -- the planet is kind of orange-ish looking. That is a kind of a ubiquitous, all encompassing, you might call it like the small over LA, kind of orange-ish. But with special cameras, infrared cameras and different wave lengths, they were able to image this -- this moon, which is really bigger than the planets Pluto and Mercury.

And what we are seeing is -- in the detail here -- is the best we've ever seen before on this -- this only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere, one and a half times the density of our Earth. We're seeing areas of light and dark, but they're just the reverse of what they thought they would be.

The dark areas you just saw were actually the water ice areas. And the light areas were the hydrocarbon areas. But one of the things that's puzzling scientists is they couldn't find the evidence of liquid. And we thought for a long time that there should be large lakes of methane, maybe oceans of it, which we could explore when the Huygens spacecraft detaches and lands on the surface of Titan later this year, and the beginning of next year.

Look at those dark areas, Bill. That's actually the icy part, and the light areas are the -- the relatively solid part. You know, like when you're in an airplane, and you see sunlight glinting off of lakes, or oceans, you see the sunlight glinting and flashing, that's what scientists expected to see when they came close to Titan this past Saturday. And instead, they saw no flashes.

And so this is really puzzling, because maybe there aren't these great oceans and lakes of liquid methane. They have seen a wonderful, a huge methane cloud system at the South Pole, however. And in several hours of taking photographs, they actually watched a huge storm systems at the South Pole move in various areas.

HEMMER: Jack, let me stop you there. You said a whole lot. And I really appreciate your comments. If all that is true, what you're describing to us, does that take away from the significance of this mission?

HORKHEIMER: Oh, no. No, not at all. On the contrary, we still believe that, you know, the -- the hydrocarbon-rich Titan -- I keep wanting to call it a planet. It's really a moon.

HEMMER: Because it's so big.

(CROSSTALK)

HORKHEIMER: The hydrocarbon-rich moon is really, we think, indicative of what our Earth was like about four billion years ago, when -- before life ever began. And that's going to give us a lot of insight into how moons and planets evolve, especially this moon with an atmosphere. That's what's so bizarre and wonderful.

We've never, ever landed on a moon with an atmosphere. And we're going to do it now. This is the only one, our only chance.

And it's only going to get better. We're going to come closer in October, and then we're going to pay a couple dozen visits to this moon over the next four years. So I would speculate that within another six to eight months, we are going to see a whole other world before our eyes that we've never seen before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Keep looking up. Jack Horkheimer from earlier. The Cassini spacecraft designed to spend at least four years studying Saturn and its rings and its moons -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, your Monday morning dose of "90-Second Pop." The purple one celebrates a special anniversary by getting together with some ghost from his musical past.

Plus, what is it about "Spider-Man 2" that has so many moviegoers tangled in its web? "90-Second-Pop" is coming up later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody -- 9:30 here in New York. The markets are closed for the holiday. We are not closed, though, here at AMERICAN MORNING. Heidi is working for Soledad...

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: ... all week.

COLLINS: All week.

HEMMER: All right. This is the time of year when everyone heads to the pool to cool off. As it turns out, many pools are not just teeming with children, they're teeming with microscopic things as well.

COLLINS: Look at the...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: How to avoid the bad water. We'll take you live to Stone Mountain, Georgia, today, an expert from the CDC in a few moments, to let you know what you need to know for your kids this summer. So we'll have that for you.

COLLINS: Yes. Also, Sanjay Gupta back to tell us about what could be a great way to help kids lose weight besides swimming, using one of the most popular activities for children to coax them into some exercise: the video game approach. Interesting, coming up.

HEMMER: I love that idea, too.

In the meantime, though, let's back to Iraq this half-hour. The family of a marine missing in Iraq is waiting for word about what has happened to him. An Islamic militant group that claims to be holding the corporal denies reports that he's been beheaded. As we sort through what we know and don't know now, Rusty Dornin has this report this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shadows cast by old glory at Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's home in West Jordan, Utah, a reminder that, while it may be the holiday celebrating independence, there is little freedom from fear for this family right now. Conflicting reports of Hassoun's fate brought neighbors and friends to their home this weekend. Kathleen Samuel (ph) doesn't know the family, but brought her own message of support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Agony, anguish, sadness, a deep loss.

DORNIN: The headlines here describe not only the emotions of a family that remains in seclusion, but of the community as well. The imam at the Hassoun's family's mosque visits the family daily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the moment, we're just, as you would say, keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

DORNIN: Claims Saturday on two different Web sites that Hassoun was beheaded are being denied by the group claiming to hold him. No one here seems to know what to believe. The conflicting and unconfirmed reports only heighten the anxiety for some, like neighbor Melissa Funk (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are actually realizing, you know, how sad it is, you know? It's not -- it's your neighbor.

DORNIN (on camera): There are people of different faiths here in Salt Lake City. Many stress, when it comes to the fate of this young man, they are united with one prayer in mind: bring Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun back safely.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also, Hassoun is of Lebanese descent. There has been confusion about his disappearance as well. The military says it's unlikely that he could have been captured on his marine base in Iraq. More when we get it -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Look before you leap, sound advice for anyone taking a plunge into a public pool this summer. The Centers for Disease Control has launched a healthy swimming campaign to protect people from parasites found all too often in pools.

Dr. Michael Beach, with the CDC, joins us now poolside from Stone Mountain, Georgia. I'm not going to make any comments about D. Beach's name and the water that we'll be talking about today.

But, sir, I do want to ask you, the name of this parasite is called cryptosporidium. What is it, and how does it spread?

DR. MICHAEL BEACH, CDC: This is one of those parasites that's actually enclosed in a very tight shell. It's chlorine-resistant, and it's spread when people who are ill with diarrhea from this parasite contaminate the water, and then somebody ends up swallowing it.

COLLINS: Well, are there any telltale signs if you infected? And then what should you do?

BEACH: If you're infected, you should consult your physician and take care of your health care like you normally do. But one thing you should be doing is not going in the pool. Swimming is out of the question until you're better.

COLLINS: OK. Then speaking of swimming, the pool behind you looks incredibly inviting. But how can I tell just by looking if a pool is safe or not?

BEACH: Well, if we go to the pool, we want to look at it and see that you can see the main drain. It's a safety concern. The sides should be clean, not slippery. There shouldn't be a strong chemical odor. You should hear the pumps running for the filtration system.

But most of all, just let's remember, it's not drinking water, it's not sterile. We shouldn't be swallowing it. You want to basically think of it in terms of it's shared water. You don't drink your bath water. Don't drink the pool water.

COLLINS: So basically swim with your mouth closed is the first and obviously way to avoid it.

BEACH: Exactly. COLLINS: But what else can swimmers do to protect themselves and their kids from these parasites? We've already said don't swim with gastrointestinal illnesses or swallow the pool water. But what about showering/ Does that help much before going in?

BEACH: Right. We really want to see that swimmers think about good hygiene before they go swimming. So shower before you swim. Change the diapers in an approved diaper changing area, where you can wash up your child and your hands after you finish. Not at poolside.

Let's start thinking about regular bathroom breaks for our children. They need to be going in the restroom, not in the pool.

COLLINS: OK. What about the chlorine, though? I mean, is it just a myth that when we go, and we look at these pools, and they look and smell like chlorine, that that is really a chemical that can kill the parasite?

BEACH: That's a great question, Heidi. With cryptosporidium, it's chlorine-resistant. So it will survive for several days, even in a well-maintained pool.

That smell, that strong chemical odor that stings your eyes and your lungs and so on, is not really chlorine at all. It's chlorine binding with all of the compounds that we dump into the pool. And so what we really want to do is use the restroom more often. And if it stings your eyes, go to your pool operator. They're not maintaining the pool as well as they should.

COLLINS: All right. Dr. Michael Beach, thank you so much for joining us early this morning. We appreciate it. Safe swimming out there, huh?

BEACH: Thank you so much. Have a happy holiday.

COLLINS: Thanks. You, too.

HEMMER: He's got the right name, too, huh, Dr. Beach?

COLLINS: Yes. Isn't that great?

HEMMER: I like that.

In a moment here, think your kids are playing too many video games? Maybe they're not playing enough. Sanjay explains.

COLLINS: Hmm, hard to imagine. All right.

Well, also ahead, the "90-Second Pop" panel swings into action. They'll tell us what's behind "Spider-Man 2"'s box office super powers.

HEMMER: Before the break, though, a look back at Fourth of July fireworks at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Fifteen percent of American children and teenagers are reported to be overweight or even obese. A new generation of video games may be just the thing America needs. Or is it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us. Details now.

Good morning.

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

Yes, you think of video gamers, and you typically think of paunchy teenagers with a lot of soda cans sort of strewn about. That image may be changing.

About four hours in front of the television is what most teenagers, American children, will spend. And that doesn't even count video games. So the -- the sort of premise has been for good reason.

Well, that may all be changing with a new video game. Here's a story of one young man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Video games, lots of hours on couches, teenage obesity, they all seem to go together. But what about a video game that might also be a weight loss aid? Seventeen-year-old John Polchowski (ph) used to spend up to three hours a day playing video games alone in his room. Then he got hooked on a game called "Dance Dance Revolution," or "DDR.".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I kept on playing, I got better. I noticed it was getting to be a really good workout. And I tried to use that to become -- to make it a goal and lose a lot of weight from it.

GUPTA: After playing the game for one to two hours every day for a year, he started to lose weight. Along with eating healthier, John eventually lost 70 pounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to do it whenever I want. I don't need to get other people.

GUPTA: John's mother knows that he probably couldn't have done it without "DDR."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to lose weight, I think, without doing exercise also. So -- and this was something he enjoyed.

GUPTAS: Dr. Richard Adler is a pediatrician who has been tracking active video games and their success in fighting obesity.

DR. RICHARD ADLER, PEDIATRICIAN: There's never been anything that I have seen that has the potential for increasing physical activity like this. It has a potential for being -- being absolutely tremendous in terms of its impact on children.

GUPTA: There are no official numbers on how many kids have lost weight with these games, but manufacturers are developing more interactive games involving skateboarding, fighting and more dancing. Maybe other kids will see some of John's success.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel a lot better. I always have a lot more energy. I'm more outgoing. I can go out and do stuff and enjoy it a lot more. I'm not really confined to my house like I used to be.

GUPTA: The video games that for too long kept kids housebound might now help them get up and get out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: This would definitely fall in the category, if you can't beat them, join them, sort of story, Bill. Listen, we spend a lot of time talking about childhood obesity. It is a complicated problem.

There aren't many options out there to help these kids lose weight. This may be one of them. And it looks pretty fun as well, Bill.

HEMMER: What kind of price on those games, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Well, you know, a lot of them be will fit into your existing system. So if you have an existing Xbox or something like this, the game itself will cost another $40 or so. The little kit that you actually do the dancing on for that one game is about another $30 to $40 as well. So they can be pricey, but a lot of people already have the -- the existing games -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Sanjay. Good luck (ph) this morning.

GUPTA: All right. Thank you.

HEMMER: Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, it's been up in the air for weeks, but it looks like Senator Kerry might have picked his running mate. We'll tell you more about that when we come back on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Carol Costello.

Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi, Heidi. Thank you.

Hold on to your hats. Democrats could have a vice presidential candidate before the end of this week. Aides to Senator Kerry telling CNN that a decision has been made. But officials would not disclose who the senator has selected or the details surrounding the announcement. Thousands of people are visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to see a new exhibit that features photos and items from the former president's funeral. They will be on display until mid- November. The Reagan Library Web site is also showing some of the photos online.

Break out your coins in Pennsylvania, the state legislature has passed a bill to install more than 60,000 slot machines at 14 locations. Governor Ed Rendell is expected to sign the bill today. Lawmakers are hoping the gambling dollars will help reduce property taxes.

And turning to sports. In Wimbledon, Roger Federer does it again, winning his second straight men's title. Federer defeating second-seated Andy Roddick in four sets yesterday. Russia's Maria Sharapova won Saturday on the women's side, beating Serena Williams, who was seeking here third Wimbledon victory in a row. At 17, Sharapova is the second youngest women's champion at Wimbledon in the Open Era after Martina Hingis.

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Carol Costello, thanks so much.

HEMMER: Back to Jack now, "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: You think the kid's got a future, that 17-year-old girl?

HEMMER: Are you kidding me?

COLLINS: Oh yes.

HEMMER: Pre-ordained almost.

CAFFERTY: I'll be her agent.

The question we're messing around with this morning, is granting amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq the right approach? The new government is considering doing that. In fact, some talks reportedly have already been held about allowing those insurgents who are willing to lay down their arms and agree to a do-over if they promise to be nice.

Scott in Oakland, Florida, writes, "Giving the terrorists amnesty will only allow them to regroup and plan additional attacks on the interim government and other targets, such as the United States."

J.P. in Toronto, Ontario, "There's one aspect I don't think most have considered. An offer of amnesty must put stress on the insurgents and divide some of them. Anything that causes strife amongst the enemy is a step to an end."

And Bill in Jacksonville, Florida, "The notion of granting amnesty for the insurgents is the latest heartbreaking twist in the war on terror. Why does our strategy now include making peace with those terrorists? Will we be fighting them again on our soil?"

We thank those of you who chose to write in this morning.

HEMMER: What are the numbers? Do you have any idea how many people would receive this if they eventually went forward with it?

CAFFERTY: It depends, I guess, on how many people they would offer it to. Supposedly, there have been some talks with this radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Then there's all the old Ba'ath Party guys who were in the army at the time the regime fell, they were just sent home, which may have been a tactical error. Maybe you keep them on the payroll and try to weed them out, weed out the bad ones from the good ones.

So I don't know if there's -- if there's a number that you can put your finger on. But there are two big groups, the biggest one being the Ba'athist loyalists, and then Muqtada al-Sadr's gang of thugs.

HEMMER: It's got to be several thousand, you think, at a minimum.

CAFFERTY: Oh, I'm sure, yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Sure.

Did you see this?

CAFFERTY: What?

HEMMER: A couple in Seattle -- watch -- tried something different for help paying for their upcoming wedding. They had a car wash. I guess next they'll have a bake sale.

The entire wedding party grabbed the sponges and the buckets to help them raise the money. Here's what the bride and groom had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last year we had -- nine of my friends got married last year, so they're all very acquainted with how much it costs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cost of a wedding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they're just wanting to bless us and just give us a good way out. So this is a good, creative way to get people out here to support us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: They said they made about $400 for that event. What did you say before, Jack? CAFFERTY: Nothing. I just...

HEMMER: Oh, come on.

CAFFERTY: Dry your sponges and go away.

HEMMER: I think you said something like it's a holiday.

CAFFERTY: I said it's easy to tell it's a holiday. We're ruminating for three hours over John Kerry's running mate. It's the most attention he's gotten in three months. And we're doing a car wash to raise $400 in left armpit, Washington, or wherever that was.

COLLINS: Oh, my goodness.

CAFFERTY: It is -- it's a holiday.

COLLINS: And we are so glad you're here to share it with us.

CAFFERTY: Well, I want to bring a little sunshine, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: And there's more to come. "90-Second Pop," in fact, with Prince. It's a reunion of sorts for the purple one. It's all ahead right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now for a Monday edition of "90-Second Pop," with a couple of newcomers to the program today. Comedian Greg Fitzsimmons, a rookie -- and you better be funny, too, Greg -- Entertainment Weekly's Jessica Shaw. She is, of course, a pop veteran. And another first-timer, Jeremy Helligar, senior editor for US Weekly.

Thanks, you guys, for being here on this holiday.

Jeremy, I want to start with you, with this "Purple Rain" deal. Twenty years ago, this movie came out. And now...

(CROSSTALK)

JESSICA SHAW, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: And Prince (ph) got older, I just have to say.

COLLINS: Yes. And like we were saying in the break, I don't remember it at all. But there are -- there's quite a reunion going on here. He got back together with Sheila E., with the drummer, Wendy, that we knew, and, of course, The Time. This happened at the Essence Music Festival.

What is the significance here? Are they going to get back together?

JEREMY HELLIGAR, SENIOR EDITOR, US WEEKLY: You know, this has been a huge effort for Prince. He has his biggest record, "Musicology," in years. And it's sort of fitting that he would sort of cap it all with this reunion. I mean, Sheila E., The Time, Prince, are responsible for some of the best and biggest music of the mid -- mid-'80s.

SHAW: I don't know. I think Prince is the best, and he is a legend. But when I heard that people were like -- the audience was going crazy for Sheila E., I was kind of like, come on, it's Sheila E.

GREG FITZSIMMONS, COMEDIAN: Well, you know where he found Sheila E. and Morris Day and The Time? Right where he left them.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: All right. Greg, let's move on a little bit here. Macy Gray, OK, so she's going to be singing naked for Elton John's AIDS foundation, which is a great foundation. Do we have to sing naked?

FITZSIMMONS: Not naked. Not naked.

COLLINS: Not naked? Oh, she's got the shoes on. Right.

FITZSIMMONS: She'll be wearing -- she's wearing Jimmy Choo shoes.

COLLINS: OK.

FITZSIMMONS: Which really -- because you've got to leave something to take off later. You've got to -- you've got to leave something to push the envelope with later.

SHAW: We can only hope. I mean, don't you really just -- aren't you dying to see her feet?

FITZSIMMONS: Did you hear she was barefoot?

SHAW: Yeah.

FITZSIMMON: I think it -- look, first of all, if you're going to get naked in front of a crowd full of men, do it at an Elton John AIDS benefit. Because if they're all gay, it's not as intimidating. If somebody screams out, "Hey, great pair," he's talking about the shoes.

COLLINS: The shoes, definitely.

SHAW: You know what? Like gay, straight, do we really want to see Macy Gray naked?

FITZSIMMONS: Yes.

HELLIGAR: No one wants to see Macy Gray naked.

FITZSIMMONS: I do.

SHAW: That is the most desperate ploy for attention and help that I've ever seen other than Sheila E. You know?

COLLINS: But do they think they're going to bring in more money that way? Like...

SHAW: I don't know. Like less money.

HELLIGAR: They're going to lose money.

COLLINS: Less money.

SHAW: She's going to be walking out that door.

FITZSIMMONS: No. I've got a counterpoint. I'm in love with Macy Gray. First of all...

SHAW: And Jimmy Choo shoes.

FITZSIMMONS: And Jimmy Choo shoes, but that's another thing. That's on my Web site. But if you -- you know, she's a descendent of Prince. I mean, she is singing the kind of funk, you know, cool the funk.

HELLIGAR: Yes, but she hasn't sold a record in ages. I mean, no one cares about her anymore.

COLLINS: Oh.

HELLIGAR: Macy Gray is yesterday's news. I mean, why is she doing this?

FITZSIMMONS: She's the best new artist in 10 years. You have no idea what you're talking about.

COLLINS: Well, we're talking about here, even though it's because she's not going to wear any clothes.

HELLIGAR: Oh, no, no, no.

COLLINS: But that's OK.

All right, Jessica, let's talk about "Spider-Man 2."

SHAW: "Spider-Man."

COLLINS: This is potentially going to be absolutely huge.

SHAW: Yes. Well, it already is absolutely huge. I mean, over $40 million its first day, which is, you know, breaking all the records. And people are speculating, you know, after today, it's going to break $160 million, which is...

COLLINS: Yes, but, I mean, it could be the highest-grossing movie ever.

SHAW: Yes, it could. It is amazing. And I'm not even like a huge superhero fan. I'm so not the target audience. But it's really smart. And it's sensitive. And he's tortured. And it's not just action. It's a great, great movie. It's a great story.

FITZSIMMONS: And you really got a wide demographic, because not only are you getting comic book geeks, but you're also getting, you know, women that live with their cats in their 40s.

SHAW: And she's naked with Jimmy Choo shoes in the movie, which is great.

COLLINS: All right, guys. Thank you so much for being here. Greg, Jessica and Jeremy, you guys did fabulous as rookies today.

Bill, back over to you.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks for that.

Final check of the weather. Here's Chad on a holiday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks for that. See you again tomorrow.

Next hour on CNN, what is Iraq doing to protected its oil? Brent Sadler is live again in Baghdad, talking with Drew Griffin on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: If you missed it last night, one final look. The fireworks over the National Mall in Washington, D.C. And what a beautiful, breathtaking sight it is every year. One of the finest shows you will see. Despite the rain they got earlier in the day, still a great night last night.

We've got to run, huh?

COLLINS: We do.

CAFFERTY: Yes, sir.

HEMMER: Same time tomorrow.

CAFFERTY: One can only hope we'll have this much fun next July.

HEMMER: Yes. Very good happy pills.

Here's -- here's Drew Griffin at the CNN Center.

Good morning, Drew, working for Daryn today.

COLLINS: Hey, Drew. DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning, Heidi. How are you guys doing?

HEMMER: Doing just great, thanks.

GRIFFIN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I am Drew Griffin.

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


Aired July 5, 2004 - 09:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Has Senator Kerry made up his mind? Word today that his VP choice could be a done deal.
Money for the new Iraq going up in flames. Insurgents deliver a serious blow to a major oil pipeline there.

And going to the moon, Saturn's moon. The probe that may unlock an incredible mystery ahead this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: Nine o'clock here in New York. Happy July 5th today. Heidi Collins working for Soledad.

Good morning to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: You're here all week, right?

COLLINS: I am here all week.

HEMMER: Yes, excellent.

COLLINS: I'll be much funnier towards the end of the week.

HEMMER: Set the alarm.

Politics in the headlines, too. Democratic officials perhaps teasing us a bit today, saying that Senator Kerry has selected his running mate. Won't say who it is. We'll tell you what we know, what we're trying to figure out, and what to look forward to in the next few days or so.

COLLINS: Compelling, that's for sure.

HEMMER: Sure.

COLLINS: Also, healthy swimming tips for summer from the CDC. We'll go poolside and we'll learn more live here, as you see. We're going to be talking about hot spots in which the pool will bring -- whoa, he jumps -- great summer fun. But there could be some miserable surprises as well. We'll let you know what those are...

HEMMER: All right. COLLINS: ... under water.

HEMMER: OK.

Jack Cafferty back again.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Have you seen "Caddyshack"...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Sure do -- cannonball, Baby Ruth.

COLLINS: Yes. Something with Baby Ruth -- sorry.

CAFFERTY: Yes, Baby Ruth.

There is some speculation this morning -- it's a candy bar. You guys settle down. Speculation this morning that they're talking about granting amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq. Obviously a controversial idea. Reportedly, some discussions have already been held. Whether it happens or not, they're not being specific about a timetable.

One thing, though, that has been noticeable, it's so quiet over there, you can -- you can notice it. The silence is deafening.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: I mean, it really has, since sovereignty was handed over, it's calmed down some, at least for the moment.

HEMMER: And knock wood, too, and make sure that it stays that way.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: I think it's a good observation, though, and fair at this point, too. Thank you, Jack.

COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.

Months of political speculation may just about be over. Maybe not. But John Kerry has reportedly decided who he wants to run as his Democratic presidential vice president. Well, Kelly Wallace has been covering the campaign, joining us now.

All right, Kelly, what's the scoop?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a Democratic official is telling CNN that it is clear, John Kerry has made up his mind and that he's committed to announcing it very, very quickly. Perhaps no surprise here.

Campaign officials are not confirming this report right now. But all eyes will certainly be on Pittsburgh, and that is where Senator Kerry and his wife, Teresa, are hosting a barbecue for politicians from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia to see if he gives any clues about what he's planning to do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice-over): John Kerry seems to be enjoying this moment. Strutting his stuff in Iowa, where the movie "Field of Dreams" was filmed, all the while keeping everyone guessing about who he will choose as his running mate, and when.

(on camera): What are the main factors that he is considering in making this decision?

STEPHANIE CUTLER, KERRY CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Kelly, I can't get into what -- what's going on in his mind. And, you know, it's up to him. You know, he's playing his cards very close to his chest, as he should.

WALLACE (voice-over): So, was this a clue or just coincidence? Kerry spent Sunday with Tom Vilsack of Iowa.

GOV. TOM VILSACK (D), IOWA: How are you?

WALLACE: The rags to riches governor is believed to be on the short list.

RICHARD GEPHARDT (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is not about me.

WALLACE: Also on the list, Democratic sources say, Congressman Dick Gephardt and Senator John Edwards, who dodged questions yesterday in North Carolina, but didn't stop auditioning for the job.

SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Do everything in your power to make sure that Senator John Kerry is the next president of the United States.

WALLACE: The only real clues from a Kerry campaign source who told CNN, "The senator wants someone who has national, not regional appeal, has demonstrated leadership ability, and is compatible with Kerry on every level." In addition to choosing a running mate, the senator is courting rural voters. His bus trip through the heartland was all about trying to make the case that, despite his big city home town, he is a lot like them.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It really doesn't matter whether it's a Democrat idea or Republican idea. It matters whether it works for America.

WALLACE: Small town USA could play a major role in '04. Al Gore lost the rural vote decisively to George W. Bush in 2000. John Kerry hopes to change that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And Democratic sources are telling us that Senator Kerry feels very good about how he has handled this process. He feels very good about the confidentiality here and how he's been able to treat people fairly, he thinks, throughout it.

COLLINS: But why all the secrecy?

WALLACE: Well, in part, because he feels that he was treated unfairly back in 2000. His name, as well as two others, were sort of leaked out as being on Al Gore's short list. And he just did not like that getting out there, being paraded out there. He wanted to sort of keep it under wraps for people so that no one's dangled out there as a possibility and then pulled out -- pulled back later.

COLLINS: Sure. People want to know, though. That's for sure. All right.

WALLACE: We hope we get an answer soon.

COLLINS: Yes, we do, too. All right. Kelly Wallace, thanks so much.

WALLACE: Sure.

COLLINS: Bill?

HEMMER: All right. So then how important is this decision? Our political analyst, Ron Brownstein, of the "L.A. Times," our guest last hour, offering his perspective on the impending choice for running mate. Here's Ron.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON BROWNSTEIN, "L.A. TIMES": Well, look, I think we all have to tip our hat to John Kerry. I mean, he really has done a good job of keeping this a secret.

I separate the candidates, the contenders into two categories. The conventional wisdom about who are the front runners, which we're still seeing, began very early. And it began at a point when it seemed this race was going to pivot mostly on domestic issues.

So we're talking about people like John Edwards of North Carolina, Dick Gephardt of Missouri, Tom Vilsack, the governor of Iowa, all of whom offer credibility and the ability to deliver a message mostly on things like health care and the economy. As the year has gone on, and it's increasingly seen -- seen as though Iraq and national security would be the centerpiece of this race, you have a whole series of other names that have lingered in discussion, whether it's Joe Biden, the former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, Wesley Clark, the candidate, Bob Graham of Florida, the former intelligence committee chairman, who also brings a state, potentially, help you in a state that is very importance.

Right now, I think the -- the conventional wisdom is still on the first group. But I would not rule out a surprise of someone who had a little more to say on the national security size.

HEMMER: Ron, about 10 days ago, here's what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Gallup poll turned up. "Enthusiastic or satisfied if Kerry picks the following?" John Edwards clearly on top of that list; Dick Gephardt behind him at 64 percent. Tom Vilsack further down the line at 54 percent.

John Edwards has gotten so much attention regarding this. Is it almost a disappointment to the Democratic faithful if he's not chosen?

BROWNSTEIN: A top aide to one of the other contenders said to me yesterday that the biggest reason they thought their candidate might not get picked is that John Kerry would laugh to absorb two or three days of griping Democrats and reporters asking, "Why didn't you pick John Edwards?" There seems to be some resistance, obviously, in Kerry world to Edwards.

They seem to get along OK. The question, though, was whether Kerry felt that Edwards was moving too fast running for president in his first term in the Senate. But there's no doubt that John Edwards was a very good campaigner, had a very sharp message: the two Americas, President Bush honoring wealth, not work. And a lot of Democratic activists around the country really responded to him.

The question here seems to be one more of personal chemistry. But no one should be ruling him out, I think.

HEMMER: With the newspaper in Iowa over the weekend, Senator Kerry talked about abortion. On the screen part of his quote: "I oppose abortion personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception. But I can't take my Catholic belief, my article of faith, and legislate it on a Protestant or a Jew or an atheist who does not share it. We have separation of church and state in the United States of America."

Again, over the weekend. Sunday, in fact. The Bush campaign has already said this is another indication of him flipping his message yet again.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look...

HEMMER: How do you weigh in on how we are to size this up now from the Catholic candidate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, this, first of all, is something that Catholic politicians have often said. It's a distinction they've often drawn. I think most famously, Mario Cuomo, in a speech at Notre Dame in the 1980s, their personal faith leads them one way, but they do not believe they can legislate their personal faith on others. That is a common line for Democratic Catholics.

Now, why is he doing it now? A more interesting question. John Kerry over the weekend has spent his time in small town rural America, arguing that he has mainstream, centrist, even conservative values.

The biggest change in the electorate, Bill, from '96, when Clinton won, to 2000, when Gore lost, was the Democratic collapse in rural sort of blue highway America. And it's very clear that John Kerry sees one of his major tasks, especially with Dick Cheney going after him over the weekend on issues like guns and abortion, as grounding himself in the cultural mainstream for more culturally conservative voters in those Midwestern states and elsewhere who are going to be, I think, really crucial in deciding who the next president is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And Ron Brownstein from earlier, sizing up Senator Kerry's campaign to date.

President Bush also giving a Fourth of July speech to a cheering crowd in Charleston, West Virginia, making a point to defend the war in Iraq. Mr. Bush says America is safer with Saddam Hussein behind bars now, and went on to thank the nation's founding fathers yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're thankful that this nation they created 228 years ago remains free and independent, and the best hope for all mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: A bit later in the day, engine trouble on Air Force One delayed the president's departure out of Maryland. A second Boeing 757 brought in to fly Bush to -- President Bush to West Virginia.

COLLINS: The 50-year-old murder of Marilyn Shepherd still intrigues amateur and professional detectives. It's the case believed to be the inspiration for the TV series and movie, "The Fugitive." Soledad recently spoke with the author of a book who he thinks he knows who committed the crime. We'll here that in just a moment, but first, Chris Lawrence updates us on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nothing at Bay Village, Ohio, suggests one of the most famous crime scenes of the last century. The home of the infamous murder was torn down in 1993, and the only evidence of what happened is in libraries like this one. But for hundreds of people a year, the Cleveland State University archives remain popular.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like people come here on a regular basis thinking they're going to solve the Sam Shepherd murder case.

LAWRENCE: But no one has. After Marilyn Shepherd was found bludgeoned to death in their bedroom in 1954, Sam Shepherd was convicted of murder. He said an intruder killed his pregnant wife. And 10 years later, the Supreme Court made a landmark decision when it overturned the verdict, saying excessive media coverage denied the doctor a fair trial.

SAM SHEPHERD, ACCUSED OF MURDERING WIFE: After 10 years in prison for something I didn't do, it was about time.

LAWRENCE: Some legal scholars see similarities between this case and Scott Peterson's trial for the murder of his wife, Laci.

PATRICIA FALK, CLEVELAND STATE LAW PROFESSOR: There are lots of murders all the time, but only a few really capture the imagination in a way that these cases do.

LAWRENCE (on camera): The Shepherds' original home doesn't exist anymore, but the case has lived on through constant attention and popular culture.

(voice-over): Many still believe it inspired the television character Richard Kimble, and later a film version of "The Fugitive."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe "The Fugitive" wasn't based on the Shepherd trial. But it's really hard to imagine that it wasn't a factor of playing it on somebody's mind when they were putting it together.

LAWRENCE: A second jury acquitted Dr. Shepherd in 1966, and he died four years later. His son tried to get him vindicated through DNA evidence, but the murder of Marilyn Shepherd remains open and unsolved.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Bay Village, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Former FBI agent Bernard Conners believes a different man, Air Force Major James Call, committed the crime. His book is called "Tailspin: The Strange Case of Major Call," first released two years ago, has now been updated. Bernard Conners joins us to talk to us about this case.

You point the finger at Major James Call. Why him?

BERNARD CONNERS, AUTHOR, "TAILSPIN": Another major in the Air Force contacted me six years ago, and he had long suspected that -- a man named George Warburton (ph) contacted me, and he long suspected that Major James Arlon Call had committed this crime. In fact, Major Call was apprehended for killing a police officer in 1954. And at the time, they suspected his involvement in the Shepherd case.

O'BRIEN: What was the evidence to say that it was Major Call? I know you focus a lot on a new photograph. And we've got this photograph. So tell me what this photograph shows and why do you think it's some kind of evidence?

CONNERS: Call was in Cleveland at the time, attending -- we know he attended sports car races. When Sam Shepherd read the hard-back version of the book, he saw these pictures of Major Call and he contacted him. He said, "You know, I have a picture here from a family album which shows my mother talking to this man. And it looks like Major Call."

And those of us in law enforcement realize that identification by photography is an uncertain science. So I was very skeptical. I gave it to all the family of Major Call, the family of Robert Sylvester, who was with Call two weeks -- his closest friend, a respected scientist, biochemist -- was with Call two weeks before the Shepherd homicide. He said, "That is Jim Call."

O'BRIEN: Why would Major Call kill Marilyn Shepherd?

CONNERS: Well, he -- he -- in my opinion, he kind of lost it, Soledad. He'd lost his wife, and he went into this moral tailspin.

He lived life in the air. He did things no one else would do. And he took -- I think it was an adrenaline rush. His son told me -- who is a wonderful man in Meridian, Mississippi, with whom I spent a few days to learn more about -- he said, "Bernard, you probably only have the tip of the iceberg." "Major" -- or Jimmy, he called his father -- "Jim was probably a serial killer."

And he just arrived -- derived a tremendous rush from doing these things. And with Marilyn Shepherd -- in fact, when he was apprehended, shortly after the Shepherd homicide, he admitted that he had just committed an egregious crime. And as I said earlier, the officers and New York State police and in Reno, Nevada, where he was originally apprehended before he was extradited here for the murder of the police officer, suspected him of the Shepherd homicide.

O'BRIEN: It's a fascinating look at a crime I think which has really been dissected over and over again. A really incredible look at it. Nice to see you, Bernard Conners. Thanks for joining us.

CONNERS: You're welcome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All right. Just about 15 minutes now past the hour. Other news now with Carol Costello at the CNN Center.

Happy Fourth of July -- or fifth now, Carol. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right back at you, Bill. Thank you.

Here are the latest headlines for you now. A delay in the trial of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic, acting as his own attorney, expected to start his defense today at a U.N. tribunal at The Hague. The judges are reportedly concerned about Milosevic's blood pressure and heart complaints. A ruling on how to proceed is expected by tomorrow.

In Iraq, a key oil pipeline is burning south of Baghdad. Fire crews working overnight to contain the blaze. A ministry of oil spokesman saying an improvised explosive device went off beneath the line yesterday. The pipeline feeds oil from Iraq's southern oil fields to refineries throughout the country.

Vice President Dick Cheney drops one of his doctors after a report that claims the physician abused prescription narcotics. Dick Cheney's office tells CNN Dr. Gary Malakoff has been let go from the medical team that monitors the vice president's health. Today's issue of The New Yorker claims the doctor has abused prescription narcotics for years.

At Ground Zero, the first step was taken on the Fourth of July to build the new Freedom Tower. A 20-ton granite block, cornerstone of the new tower, was lifted into place at the World Trade Center site. The inscription on the stone is dedicated to those killed in the September 11 attacks. It will take five years to build the tower.

A huge upset in soccer, as Greece wins the European championship. Greek fans went into an absolute frenzy as their team beat Portugal one-nil in -- in the finals yesterday. Angelos Charisteas scored that goal. The Greeks were an 80 to nil long shot, hadn't won a single game in major competition before the European tournament.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: They are going nuts in Athens today, Carol.

COSTELLO: They are.

HEMMER: And they are going to keep on going nuts until the summer games start in mid August.

COLLINS: No kidding, yes.

HEMMER: Great victory for that country.

COLLINS: Indeed, it was.

Jack Cafferty joining us now.

CAFFERTY: I missed it.

COLLINS: You missed it?

CAFFERTY: Yes. I planned to watch it, but I missed it.

There is talk in Iraq to granting amnesty to the insurgents. The new government over there apparently already in talks with some of the insurgent groups, including the renegade cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. One school of thought says, let them turn in their weapons, grant them amnesty, give them a job and let bygones be bygones. The other school of thought is, some of these people killed American soldiers and maybe they ought to be held accountable.

So that's the question, is this a good idea or not? And John in (UNINTELLIGIBLE), Georgia, writes, "Iraq's new freedom is like a child taking its first steps. They will fail, they will fall, but they have to learn to walk on their own. We can help, but we can't do it for them. The only way to look is forward; the past is over."

"Only the present and future are important. It's their country and we have our own problems here."

Joe in Rockland County, New York, "Haven't we learned anything from our past mistakes? You don't let your enemies go free to fight you another day. You capture or kill them. Look at Afghanistan, for example. We are still dealing with Taliban fighters that we let go free there."

Steve in Palmetto, Florida, "Granting amnesty makes perfect sense in a society where tribal loyalties and religious fervor weigh more heavily than a desire to enter the 21st century, culturally or politically. After all, one of the last things our presidents do before leaving office is to sign pardons. Maybe Iraq has learned more than we realize."

Bob in Florida writes, "Yes, I support the plan that all the insurgents should be granted amnesty, followed immediately with a one- way ticket to meet their virgins." The Islamic thing is they die and...

HEMMER: I tell you, one thing you hear from a lot of Americans, especially the politicians who go to Iraq, they like this new prime minister...

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

HEMMER: ... Ayad Allawi. They're very impressed with him. And we hear that across the board.

CAFFERTY: Yes. The rumor is he's a tough guy. And the fact that it's been quiet over there since he took charge might be testament to the fact that maybe he is.

HEMMER: Not completely quite, but a tough guy and a smart guy, too.

COLLINS: Well...

CAFFERTY: Well, a lot quieter than it's been. I mean, you know...

HEMMER: Sure.

CAFFERTY: ... cars backfire in the middle of the night in the most peaceful countries in the world.

HEMMER: Yes. A lot of the reports over the weekend say the Iraqis notice a lot fewer -- far fewer American Marines and soldiers on the streets.

COLLINS: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: And many more Iraqi forces and security personnel, too.

(CROSSTALK) CAFFERTY: Well, that was part of the whole problem, was the visibility of the infidel -- that would be us. And the fact that now maybe they can start to recede into the background a little bit is probably a good thing.

COLLINS: Perception is everything, huh? All right.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

COLLINS: Jack, Bill, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Sure.

COLLINS: Let's go to Chad. He's got the weather now.

And Chad, quite a bit of stuff happening in the Midwest, right?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks.

Chad, you may have seen this video over the weekend. We thought it was so good we'd show it again today.

Secretary of State Colin Powell making many sacrifices over his years. On Friday, he made one more. The secretary of state sounding a most undiplomatic note, the "YMCA" in southeast Asia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That performance, the annual curtain call, part of the traditional close to the ASEAN summit, where diplomats provide the entertainment. And he did it this year, in fine fashion, with a hard hat, too, from Jakarta in Indonesia, the secretary of state.

COLLINS: I have seen it a couple of times.

HEMMER: And?

COLLINS: And when he starts to dance, I really lose it every time.

HEMMER: You don't look away, though, do you?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: Keep watching it.

COLLINS: Definitely compelling. All right.

Still to come this morning, Cassini makes its first pass at Saturn's biggest moon. Find out why some experts say it has a little something in common with Los Angeles, of all places.

HEMMER: Also in a moment, you hear all the time about kids playing too many video games indoors, not exercising enough outdoors. Maybe they need to combine the two. Sanjay has that ahead here.

COLLINS: And before the break, a look and a listen at some of the Fourth of July's fun all around the country. This time it's the capital fourth in Washington. We'll play it again for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We are getting more scientific rays for the pictures of Saturn coming from NASA's Cassini spacecraft just days after it started orbiting that ringed planet. Cassini had a not-so-close encounter with Titan, the largest of Saturn's 31 moons. Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Planetarium, joined us earlier today here on AMERICAN MORNING to talk about the new views that he is seeing.

Here's Jack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACK HORKHEIMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MIAMI PLANETARIUM: These are the best pictures yet. As a matter of fact, you notice the -- the planet is kind of orange-ish looking. That is a kind of a ubiquitous, all encompassing, you might call it like the small over LA, kind of orange-ish. But with special cameras, infrared cameras and different wave lengths, they were able to image this -- this moon, which is really bigger than the planets Pluto and Mercury.

And what we are seeing is -- in the detail here -- is the best we've ever seen before on this -- this only moon in the solar system that has an atmosphere, one and a half times the density of our Earth. We're seeing areas of light and dark, but they're just the reverse of what they thought they would be.

The dark areas you just saw were actually the water ice areas. And the light areas were the hydrocarbon areas. But one of the things that's puzzling scientists is they couldn't find the evidence of liquid. And we thought for a long time that there should be large lakes of methane, maybe oceans of it, which we could explore when the Huygens spacecraft detaches and lands on the surface of Titan later this year, and the beginning of next year.

Look at those dark areas, Bill. That's actually the icy part, and the light areas are the -- the relatively solid part. You know, like when you're in an airplane, and you see sunlight glinting off of lakes, or oceans, you see the sunlight glinting and flashing, that's what scientists expected to see when they came close to Titan this past Saturday. And instead, they saw no flashes.

And so this is really puzzling, because maybe there aren't these great oceans and lakes of liquid methane. They have seen a wonderful, a huge methane cloud system at the South Pole, however. And in several hours of taking photographs, they actually watched a huge storm systems at the South Pole move in various areas.

HEMMER: Jack, let me stop you there. You said a whole lot. And I really appreciate your comments. If all that is true, what you're describing to us, does that take away from the significance of this mission?

HORKHEIMER: Oh, no. No, not at all. On the contrary, we still believe that, you know, the -- the hydrocarbon-rich Titan -- I keep wanting to call it a planet. It's really a moon.

HEMMER: Because it's so big.

(CROSSTALK)

HORKHEIMER: The hydrocarbon-rich moon is really, we think, indicative of what our Earth was like about four billion years ago, when -- before life ever began. And that's going to give us a lot of insight into how moons and planets evolve, especially this moon with an atmosphere. That's what's so bizarre and wonderful.

We've never, ever landed on a moon with an atmosphere. And we're going to do it now. This is the only one, our only chance.

And it's only going to get better. We're going to come closer in October, and then we're going to pay a couple dozen visits to this moon over the next four years. So I would speculate that within another six to eight months, we are going to see a whole other world before our eyes that we've never seen before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Keep looking up. Jack Horkheimer from earlier. The Cassini spacecraft designed to spend at least four years studying Saturn and its rings and its moons -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come, your Monday morning dose of "90-Second Pop." The purple one celebrates a special anniversary by getting together with some ghost from his musical past.

Plus, what is it about "Spider-Man 2" that has so many moviegoers tangled in its web? "90-Second-Pop" is coming up later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody -- 9:30 here in New York. The markets are closed for the holiday. We are not closed, though, here at AMERICAN MORNING. Heidi is working for Soledad...

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: ... all week.

COLLINS: All week.

HEMMER: All right. This is the time of year when everyone heads to the pool to cool off. As it turns out, many pools are not just teeming with children, they're teeming with microscopic things as well.

COLLINS: Look at the...

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: How to avoid the bad water. We'll take you live to Stone Mountain, Georgia, today, an expert from the CDC in a few moments, to let you know what you need to know for your kids this summer. So we'll have that for you.

COLLINS: Yes. Also, Sanjay Gupta back to tell us about what could be a great way to help kids lose weight besides swimming, using one of the most popular activities for children to coax them into some exercise: the video game approach. Interesting, coming up.

HEMMER: I love that idea, too.

In the meantime, though, let's back to Iraq this half-hour. The family of a marine missing in Iraq is waiting for word about what has happened to him. An Islamic militant group that claims to be holding the corporal denies reports that he's been beheaded. As we sort through what we know and don't know now, Rusty Dornin has this report this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shadows cast by old glory at Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's home in West Jordan, Utah, a reminder that, while it may be the holiday celebrating independence, there is little freedom from fear for this family right now. Conflicting reports of Hassoun's fate brought neighbors and friends to their home this weekend. Kathleen Samuel (ph) doesn't know the family, but brought her own message of support.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Agony, anguish, sadness, a deep loss.

DORNIN: The headlines here describe not only the emotions of a family that remains in seclusion, but of the community as well. The imam at the Hassoun's family's mosque visits the family daily.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the moment, we're just, as you would say, keeping our fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

DORNIN: Claims Saturday on two different Web sites that Hassoun was beheaded are being denied by the group claiming to hold him. No one here seems to know what to believe. The conflicting and unconfirmed reports only heighten the anxiety for some, like neighbor Melissa Funk (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are actually realizing, you know, how sad it is, you know? It's not -- it's your neighbor.

DORNIN (on camera): There are people of different faiths here in Salt Lake City. Many stress, when it comes to the fate of this young man, they are united with one prayer in mind: bring Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun back safely.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Salt Lake City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Also, Hassoun is of Lebanese descent. There has been confusion about his disappearance as well. The military says it's unlikely that he could have been captured on his marine base in Iraq. More when we get it -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Look before you leap, sound advice for anyone taking a plunge into a public pool this summer. The Centers for Disease Control has launched a healthy swimming campaign to protect people from parasites found all too often in pools.

Dr. Michael Beach, with the CDC, joins us now poolside from Stone Mountain, Georgia. I'm not going to make any comments about D. Beach's name and the water that we'll be talking about today.

But, sir, I do want to ask you, the name of this parasite is called cryptosporidium. What is it, and how does it spread?

DR. MICHAEL BEACH, CDC: This is one of those parasites that's actually enclosed in a very tight shell. It's chlorine-resistant, and it's spread when people who are ill with diarrhea from this parasite contaminate the water, and then somebody ends up swallowing it.

COLLINS: Well, are there any telltale signs if you infected? And then what should you do?

BEACH: If you're infected, you should consult your physician and take care of your health care like you normally do. But one thing you should be doing is not going in the pool. Swimming is out of the question until you're better.

COLLINS: OK. Then speaking of swimming, the pool behind you looks incredibly inviting. But how can I tell just by looking if a pool is safe or not?

BEACH: Well, if we go to the pool, we want to look at it and see that you can see the main drain. It's a safety concern. The sides should be clean, not slippery. There shouldn't be a strong chemical odor. You should hear the pumps running for the filtration system.

But most of all, just let's remember, it's not drinking water, it's not sterile. We shouldn't be swallowing it. You want to basically think of it in terms of it's shared water. You don't drink your bath water. Don't drink the pool water.

COLLINS: So basically swim with your mouth closed is the first and obviously way to avoid it.

BEACH: Exactly. COLLINS: But what else can swimmers do to protect themselves and their kids from these parasites? We've already said don't swim with gastrointestinal illnesses or swallow the pool water. But what about showering/ Does that help much before going in?

BEACH: Right. We really want to see that swimmers think about good hygiene before they go swimming. So shower before you swim. Change the diapers in an approved diaper changing area, where you can wash up your child and your hands after you finish. Not at poolside.

Let's start thinking about regular bathroom breaks for our children. They need to be going in the restroom, not in the pool.

COLLINS: OK. What about the chlorine, though? I mean, is it just a myth that when we go, and we look at these pools, and they look and smell like chlorine, that that is really a chemical that can kill the parasite?

BEACH: That's a great question, Heidi. With cryptosporidium, it's chlorine-resistant. So it will survive for several days, even in a well-maintained pool.

That smell, that strong chemical odor that stings your eyes and your lungs and so on, is not really chlorine at all. It's chlorine binding with all of the compounds that we dump into the pool. And so what we really want to do is use the restroom more often. And if it stings your eyes, go to your pool operator. They're not maintaining the pool as well as they should.

COLLINS: All right. Dr. Michael Beach, thank you so much for joining us early this morning. We appreciate it. Safe swimming out there, huh?

BEACH: Thank you so much. Have a happy holiday.

COLLINS: Thanks. You, too.

HEMMER: He's got the right name, too, huh, Dr. Beach?

COLLINS: Yes. Isn't that great?

HEMMER: I like that.

In a moment here, think your kids are playing too many video games? Maybe they're not playing enough. Sanjay explains.

COLLINS: Hmm, hard to imagine. All right.

Well, also ahead, the "90-Second Pop" panel swings into action. They'll tell us what's behind "Spider-Man 2"'s box office super powers.

HEMMER: Before the break, though, a look back at Fourth of July fireworks at Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Fifteen percent of American children and teenagers are reported to be overweight or even obese. A new generation of video games may be just the thing America needs. Or is it? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us. Details now.

Good morning.

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

Yes, you think of video gamers, and you typically think of paunchy teenagers with a lot of soda cans sort of strewn about. That image may be changing.

About four hours in front of the television is what most teenagers, American children, will spend. And that doesn't even count video games. So the -- the sort of premise has been for good reason.

Well, that may all be changing with a new video game. Here's a story of one young man.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): Video games, lots of hours on couches, teenage obesity, they all seem to go together. But what about a video game that might also be a weight loss aid? Seventeen-year-old John Polchowski (ph) used to spend up to three hours a day playing video games alone in his room. Then he got hooked on a game called "Dance Dance Revolution," or "DDR.".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I kept on playing, I got better. I noticed it was getting to be a really good workout. And I tried to use that to become -- to make it a goal and lose a lot of weight from it.

GUPTA: After playing the game for one to two hours every day for a year, he started to lose weight. Along with eating healthier, John eventually lost 70 pounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was able to do it whenever I want. I don't need to get other people.

GUPTA: John's mother knows that he probably couldn't have done it without "DDR."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to lose weight, I think, without doing exercise also. So -- and this was something he enjoyed.

GUPTAS: Dr. Richard Adler is a pediatrician who has been tracking active video games and their success in fighting obesity.

DR. RICHARD ADLER, PEDIATRICIAN: There's never been anything that I have seen that has the potential for increasing physical activity like this. It has a potential for being -- being absolutely tremendous in terms of its impact on children.

GUPTA: There are no official numbers on how many kids have lost weight with these games, but manufacturers are developing more interactive games involving skateboarding, fighting and more dancing. Maybe other kids will see some of John's success.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel a lot better. I always have a lot more energy. I'm more outgoing. I can go out and do stuff and enjoy it a lot more. I'm not really confined to my house like I used to be.

GUPTA: The video games that for too long kept kids housebound might now help them get up and get out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: This would definitely fall in the category, if you can't beat them, join them, sort of story, Bill. Listen, we spend a lot of time talking about childhood obesity. It is a complicated problem.

There aren't many options out there to help these kids lose weight. This may be one of them. And it looks pretty fun as well, Bill.

HEMMER: What kind of price on those games, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Well, you know, a lot of them be will fit into your existing system. So if you have an existing Xbox or something like this, the game itself will cost another $40 or so. The little kit that you actually do the dancing on for that one game is about another $30 to $40 as well. So they can be pricey, but a lot of people already have the -- the existing games -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Thank you, Sanjay. Good luck (ph) this morning.

GUPTA: All right. Thank you.

HEMMER: Heidi.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, it's been up in the air for weeks, but it looks like Senator Kerry might have picked his running mate. We'll tell you more about that when we come back on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Carol Costello.

Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi, Heidi. Thank you.

Hold on to your hats. Democrats could have a vice presidential candidate before the end of this week. Aides to Senator Kerry telling CNN that a decision has been made. But officials would not disclose who the senator has selected or the details surrounding the announcement. Thousands of people are visiting the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to see a new exhibit that features photos and items from the former president's funeral. They will be on display until mid- November. The Reagan Library Web site is also showing some of the photos online.

Break out your coins in Pennsylvania, the state legislature has passed a bill to install more than 60,000 slot machines at 14 locations. Governor Ed Rendell is expected to sign the bill today. Lawmakers are hoping the gambling dollars will help reduce property taxes.

And turning to sports. In Wimbledon, Roger Federer does it again, winning his second straight men's title. Federer defeating second-seated Andy Roddick in four sets yesterday. Russia's Maria Sharapova won Saturday on the women's side, beating Serena Williams, who was seeking here third Wimbledon victory in a row. At 17, Sharapova is the second youngest women's champion at Wimbledon in the Open Era after Martina Hingis.

Back to you, Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. Carol Costello, thanks so much.

HEMMER: Back to Jack now, "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: You think the kid's got a future, that 17-year-old girl?

HEMMER: Are you kidding me?

COLLINS: Oh yes.

HEMMER: Pre-ordained almost.

CAFFERTY: I'll be her agent.

The question we're messing around with this morning, is granting amnesty to the insurgents in Iraq the right approach? The new government is considering doing that. In fact, some talks reportedly have already been held about allowing those insurgents who are willing to lay down their arms and agree to a do-over if they promise to be nice.

Scott in Oakland, Florida, writes, "Giving the terrorists amnesty will only allow them to regroup and plan additional attacks on the interim government and other targets, such as the United States."

J.P. in Toronto, Ontario, "There's one aspect I don't think most have considered. An offer of amnesty must put stress on the insurgents and divide some of them. Anything that causes strife amongst the enemy is a step to an end."

And Bill in Jacksonville, Florida, "The notion of granting amnesty for the insurgents is the latest heartbreaking twist in the war on terror. Why does our strategy now include making peace with those terrorists? Will we be fighting them again on our soil?"

We thank those of you who chose to write in this morning.

HEMMER: What are the numbers? Do you have any idea how many people would receive this if they eventually went forward with it?

CAFFERTY: It depends, I guess, on how many people they would offer it to. Supposedly, there have been some talks with this radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Then there's all the old Ba'ath Party guys who were in the army at the time the regime fell, they were just sent home, which may have been a tactical error. Maybe you keep them on the payroll and try to weed them out, weed out the bad ones from the good ones.

So I don't know if there's -- if there's a number that you can put your finger on. But there are two big groups, the biggest one being the Ba'athist loyalists, and then Muqtada al-Sadr's gang of thugs.

HEMMER: It's got to be several thousand, you think, at a minimum.

CAFFERTY: Oh, I'm sure, yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Sure.

Did you see this?

CAFFERTY: What?

HEMMER: A couple in Seattle -- watch -- tried something different for help paying for their upcoming wedding. They had a car wash. I guess next they'll have a bake sale.

The entire wedding party grabbed the sponges and the buckets to help them raise the money. Here's what the bride and groom had to say about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last year we had -- nine of my friends got married last year, so they're all very acquainted with how much it costs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cost of a wedding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So they're just wanting to bless us and just give us a good way out. So this is a good, creative way to get people out here to support us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: They said they made about $400 for that event. What did you say before, Jack? CAFFERTY: Nothing. I just...

HEMMER: Oh, come on.

CAFFERTY: Dry your sponges and go away.

HEMMER: I think you said something like it's a holiday.

CAFFERTY: I said it's easy to tell it's a holiday. We're ruminating for three hours over John Kerry's running mate. It's the most attention he's gotten in three months. And we're doing a car wash to raise $400 in left armpit, Washington, or wherever that was.

COLLINS: Oh, my goodness.

CAFFERTY: It is -- it's a holiday.

COLLINS: And we are so glad you're here to share it with us.

CAFFERTY: Well, I want to bring a little sunshine, you know.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: And there's more to come. "90-Second Pop," in fact, with Prince. It's a reunion of sorts for the purple one. It's all ahead right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Time now for a Monday edition of "90-Second Pop," with a couple of newcomers to the program today. Comedian Greg Fitzsimmons, a rookie -- and you better be funny, too, Greg -- Entertainment Weekly's Jessica Shaw. She is, of course, a pop veteran. And another first-timer, Jeremy Helligar, senior editor for US Weekly.

Thanks, you guys, for being here on this holiday.

Jeremy, I want to start with you, with this "Purple Rain" deal. Twenty years ago, this movie came out. And now...

(CROSSTALK)

JESSICA SHAW, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: And Prince (ph) got older, I just have to say.

COLLINS: Yes. And like we were saying in the break, I don't remember it at all. But there are -- there's quite a reunion going on here. He got back together with Sheila E., with the drummer, Wendy, that we knew, and, of course, The Time. This happened at the Essence Music Festival.

What is the significance here? Are they going to get back together?

JEREMY HELLIGAR, SENIOR EDITOR, US WEEKLY: You know, this has been a huge effort for Prince. He has his biggest record, "Musicology," in years. And it's sort of fitting that he would sort of cap it all with this reunion. I mean, Sheila E., The Time, Prince, are responsible for some of the best and biggest music of the mid -- mid-'80s.

SHAW: I don't know. I think Prince is the best, and he is a legend. But when I heard that people were like -- the audience was going crazy for Sheila E., I was kind of like, come on, it's Sheila E.

GREG FITZSIMMONS, COMEDIAN: Well, you know where he found Sheila E. and Morris Day and The Time? Right where he left them.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: All right. Greg, let's move on a little bit here. Macy Gray, OK, so she's going to be singing naked for Elton John's AIDS foundation, which is a great foundation. Do we have to sing naked?

FITZSIMMONS: Not naked. Not naked.

COLLINS: Not naked? Oh, she's got the shoes on. Right.

FITZSIMMONS: She'll be wearing -- she's wearing Jimmy Choo shoes.

COLLINS: OK.

FITZSIMMONS: Which really -- because you've got to leave something to take off later. You've got to -- you've got to leave something to push the envelope with later.

SHAW: We can only hope. I mean, don't you really just -- aren't you dying to see her feet?

FITZSIMMONS: Did you hear she was barefoot?

SHAW: Yeah.

FITZSIMMON: I think it -- look, first of all, if you're going to get naked in front of a crowd full of men, do it at an Elton John AIDS benefit. Because if they're all gay, it's not as intimidating. If somebody screams out, "Hey, great pair," he's talking about the shoes.

COLLINS: The shoes, definitely.

SHAW: You know what? Like gay, straight, do we really want to see Macy Gray naked?

FITZSIMMONS: Yes.

HELLIGAR: No one wants to see Macy Gray naked.

FITZSIMMONS: I do.

SHAW: That is the most desperate ploy for attention and help that I've ever seen other than Sheila E. You know?

COLLINS: But do they think they're going to bring in more money that way? Like...

SHAW: I don't know. Like less money.

HELLIGAR: They're going to lose money.

COLLINS: Less money.

SHAW: She's going to be walking out that door.

FITZSIMMONS: No. I've got a counterpoint. I'm in love with Macy Gray. First of all...

SHAW: And Jimmy Choo shoes.

FITZSIMMONS: And Jimmy Choo shoes, but that's another thing. That's on my Web site. But if you -- you know, she's a descendent of Prince. I mean, she is singing the kind of funk, you know, cool the funk.

HELLIGAR: Yes, but she hasn't sold a record in ages. I mean, no one cares about her anymore.

COLLINS: Oh.

HELLIGAR: Macy Gray is yesterday's news. I mean, why is she doing this?

FITZSIMMONS: She's the best new artist in 10 years. You have no idea what you're talking about.

COLLINS: Well, we're talking about here, even though it's because she's not going to wear any clothes.

HELLIGAR: Oh, no, no, no.

COLLINS: But that's OK.

All right, Jessica, let's talk about "Spider-Man 2."

SHAW: "Spider-Man."

COLLINS: This is potentially going to be absolutely huge.

SHAW: Yes. Well, it already is absolutely huge. I mean, over $40 million its first day, which is, you know, breaking all the records. And people are speculating, you know, after today, it's going to break $160 million, which is...

COLLINS: Yes, but, I mean, it could be the highest-grossing movie ever.

SHAW: Yes, it could. It is amazing. And I'm not even like a huge superhero fan. I'm so not the target audience. But it's really smart. And it's sensitive. And he's tortured. And it's not just action. It's a great, great movie. It's a great story.

FITZSIMMONS: And you really got a wide demographic, because not only are you getting comic book geeks, but you're also getting, you know, women that live with their cats in their 40s.

SHAW: And she's naked with Jimmy Choo shoes in the movie, which is great.

COLLINS: All right, guys. Thank you so much for being here. Greg, Jessica and Jeremy, you guys did fabulous as rookies today.

Bill, back over to you.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks for that.

Final check of the weather. Here's Chad on a holiday.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks for that. See you again tomorrow.

Next hour on CNN, what is Iraq doing to protected its oil? Brent Sadler is live again in Baghdad, talking with Drew Griffin on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: If you missed it last night, one final look. The fireworks over the National Mall in Washington, D.C. And what a beautiful, breathtaking sight it is every year. One of the finest shows you will see. Despite the rain they got earlier in the day, still a great night last night.

We've got to run, huh?

COLLINS: We do.

CAFFERTY: Yes, sir.

HEMMER: Same time tomorrow.

CAFFERTY: One can only hope we'll have this much fun next July.

HEMMER: Yes. Very good happy pills.

Here's -- here's Drew Griffin at the CNN Center.

Good morning, Drew, working for Daryn today.

COLLINS: Hey, Drew. DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning, Heidi. How are you guys doing?

HEMMER: Doing just great, thanks.

GRIFFIN: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I am Drew Griffin.

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