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American Morning
Senator John Edwards Going Hard Now After the President; A Judge Throws Out Potential Evidence Against Kobe Bryant
Aired July 15, 2004 - 08:00 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator John Edwards going hard now after the president. Is this just what running mates do? And can the strategy backfire?
A judge throws out potential evidence against Kobe Bryant. But is what he let into the trial more important?
And a celebration about to begin in Hollywood for the best shows on television. Emmy nominations about to be announced on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COOPER: Good morning.
Bill is on vacation this week.
Soledad is resting.
I'm Anderson Cooper.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Some of the news making headlines this morning, former NFL head coach Mike Ditka saying he will find other ways to speak out about issues other than running for Senate. His decision leaves Illinois Republicans, though, still looking for a candidate. In just a few minutes, we'll talk to Democratic candidate Barack Obama about who -- he's turned it into a very unusual race there.
COOPER: Yes, right now he is the only candidate in the race, so we'll see if -- what he says about that.
COLLINS: Yes.
COOPER: Also in California, attorney Mark Geragos is asking that murder charges be thrown out against Scott Peterson. We'll look at his complaint and whether the judge is likely to take it seriously.
COLLINS: Also, some residents of Pennsylvania waking up to an awful mess this morning. A line powerful storms rolling through southern parts of that state. We'll get an update from one of the hardest hit towns.
COOPER: And Jack Cafferty is off today, but in a few minutes Toure' will be with us with the e-mail Question of the Day.
COLLINS: And the answer, probably, too, right?
COOPER: That's right.
COLLINS: For now, though, Democratic vice presidential hopeful John Edwards went on the attack against President Bush as he campaigned alone in Chicago yesterday. The issue he hammered away at -- same-sex marriage.
CNN's Kelly Wallace reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Chicago last night, John Edwards continued to show he's willing to assume the role of attack dog, hitting the White House once again on the issue of gay marriage.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president and the vice president tried to use our constitution as a device, a political device to divide this country.
WALLACE: A contrast to the all positive all the time Edwards as presidential candidate, but this is what running mates do -- fire away at the opposition, such as accusing the president of failing to take responsibility for faulty prewar intelligence on Iraq, like the British prime minister did yesterday.
EDWARDS: He didn't blame anybody else. Instead, he said I take full responsibility for what happened.
WALLACE: The Bush-Cheney campaign responded, calling it "the latest example of the Kerry campaign's flailing and desperate attempt to distract from their troubling record on Iraq."
(on camera): The challenge for John Edwards is striking the right balance between verbal volleys with Team Bush-Cheney and his optimistic message that made him a vice presidential candidate in the first place.
(voice-over): He tried to do that in a round of television interviews.
EDWARDS: What you're doing, Mr. President, is not working.
WALLACE: Including appearances on Wisconsin TV stations, no coincidence. President Bush happened to be in the state wrapping up a bus tour through three small towns, targeting Edwards without mentioning him by name.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You cannot be pro-small business and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. You have to choose. WALLACE: Voters can count on three and a half months of this back and forth before they get to choose for themselves.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Edwards wrapped up his day with a fund-raiser in Chicago. It pulled in $750,000 -- Anderson.
COOPER: With Mike Ditka's decision not to make an end run for the Senate, the Democrat who would be senator from Illinois remains unopposed and, according to many, unbeatable.
State Senator Barack Obama is a rising star in the state and on the national stage.
He'll be a prime time player at the Democratic convention this month, delivering the keynote speech.
And Barack Obama joins us now from Chicago.
Good morning.
Thanks for being with us.
BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Good morning, Anderson.
Thank you so much.
COOPER: What are you going to be speaking about in the keynote address, because this is probably going to be the biggest national audience you've had thus far.
OBAMA: No doubt about it. And it's a huge honor and a huge privilege. And what I'm going to try to do, I think, is project a vision for the future of the Democratic Party and how we can play a role in securing a future for all Americans. What I also want to do is give voice to the stories that I've been hearing as I've been traveling around the State of Illinois.
People are strong, they're resilient, they're proud, but they're also struggling to maintain economic security, to try to deal with health care costs and try to make sure that their children get educated. And so hopefully I can express some of their hopes and dreams and see how those hopes and dreams can be achieved by the Democratic Party.
COOPER: You continue to run extraordinarily hard for this Senate seat, though right now you are unopposed.
Why continue running with the kind of speed and aggression that you have thus far?
OBAMA: Well, you know, the -- when your name is Barack Obama, you've got -- you're like Avis, you've got to try harder. But mainly it's because the -- you know, I'm not in the race to run against something, I'm in the race to run for the people that I seek to represent. And this is an enormous opportunity for me during the campaign for them to know who I am, know what my values are.
COOPER: Did you learn something from the 2000 race? Because in 2000, I mean people said look, you're a rising star. You ran for a congressional seat and you lost.
OBAMA: Right.
COOPER: What did you learn?
OBAMA: Well, you know, number one is you never take anything for granted. And I think that politics can turn on a dime. You know, we had the possibility yesterday that Mike Ditka might be my opponent and the coach is hugely popular here in Chicago. So that would have been a formidable candidate. You never know what's going to happen.
But more importantly, I think that I've learned over the last six, seven years of service as a state legislator that people really expect not so much you bickering with the other side, as they do for you to listen to them and see if you can help solve their problems. And this gives me a good opportunity to learn what are on folks' minds and for them to know a little bit about me.
COOPER: I want to play a quick sound bite from Mike Ditka from earlier this morning and have you comment about it.
Let's play this, him deciding not to run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DITKA, FORMER CHICAGO BEARS COACH: The main thing for me is my life is such that I don't know if I could uproot it and change it and make that drastically a change in my life. And if I thought I could affect government or changing people's opinion, then I probably would have done it. But I don't think I can. I'm just going to be one more voice in the wilderness. People are going to say oh, that's a good point, but it's not good enough and they'll turn me off. And I don't like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Are they going to find anyone to run against you?
OBAMA: Well, I'm sure they will find a candidate who can articulate the Republican philosophy. But part of what's been happening here in Illinois is that we've been trending Democratic. The Bush record is not selling in Illinois particularly well. We've been really hard hit by losses of manufacturing jobs. People are struggling with escalating health care costs and people are feeling anxious about the direction in Iraq.
We've got tons of reservists and National Guardsmen from small towns all across the state who have been overseas now for 18 months. COOPER: But are they turning to John Kerry? I mean there was an interesting article just the other day about the Congressional Black Caucus basically blasting Kerry's new campaign, reaching out to African-American voters. It's some, it's a $2 million ad campaign that he has started -- commercials, radio, television and print. They said basically it's uninspiring, it doesn't get how to reach this audience.
Do you think John Kerry is doing a good enough job reaching out to the African-American community?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that John Kerry and John Edwards have enormous tasks ahead of them, right? They have to reach out to constituencies that are widely diverse and make sure that we focus on a common set of values and a common vision for the country.
I'm confident that by the time November rolls around, that we are going to see a stark contrast between John Kerry and President Bush. And I think people are really going to want to make the kind of change that I'm advocating for.
COOPER: All right, Barack Obama, appreciate you joining us.
We'll look for you at the convention.
Thanks very much.
OBAMA: It was a pleasure to be with you, Anderson.
COOPER: All right.
OBAMA: Thank you.
COOPER: Heidi.
COLLINS: Just about 10 minutes past the hour now.
Time for a look at some of the other news with Daryn Kagan -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, our first headline from Iraq, where the interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is remaining optimistic about security in Iraq despite a series of attacks today. Allawi says that service will be specifically -- the special new security service will be specifically geared toward tackling the insurgency that is operating in the country. He spoke just hours after a car bomb in western Iraq killed at least 10 Iraqis and injured dozens of others.
Also today, near Karbala, two suspected suicide bombers were killed outside the city. They detonated their bomb after being detected at a police roadblock.
There is a lot of drawing out to do here in the U.S., a lot of cleaning up to do, as well, across the Northeast. Up to 14 inches of rain fell in parts of Pennsylvania this week, stalling cars and closing down roadways. Heavy winds downing power lines and damaging hundreds of homes. Dozens of people have reportedly been injured. More rain is expected today.
In health news, can't imagine your life without bread or pasta? Well, guess what? You are not alone. A new online survey found that more than half of Americans who tried following those low carb diets, they have given up. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will tell us more. She's coming up in the next half hour.
The nation's teachers may be getting shortchanged. According to a teacher's union survey, educators' salaries are not keeping up pace with expenses. An average educator now makes about $45,800. That's according to the American Federation of Teachers. That is up just 3 percent from last year.
And finally, the original, not just any, but the original Heisman Trophy, is up for sale. A family in Florida is selling the statue, a copy of which annually goes to the best player in college football. It was created back in 1935. Not everyone can bid, though. The family that is selling it has chosen 150 sports and businesspeople as potential buyers. They are being now mailed information about how to bid -- Heidi, they are expecting, hoping to get just over $1 million for that original Heisman.
COLLINS: Wow!
All right.
KAGAN: A lot of coin.
COLLINS: I can't really do the close very well.
All right, Daryn, thanks so much for that.
COOPER: I thought that was more a stop in the name of the love kind of pose you were doing there.
COLLINS: It probably was. Because it's more like this, isn't it? Oh, well, I tried.
All right, moving on to some legal matters this morning, Kobe Bryant's lawyers have lost a fight to keep some compelling evidence out of his sexual assault trial. An audiotape made by police of Bryant just hours after a young woman accused him of rape can be used in court. The judge says Bryant is heard "occasionally crying and very emotional" on the tape.
The judge will also allow into evidence clothing spotted with blood taken from Bryant's room that night. All of this occurred before Bryant was arrested or advised of his rights.
Now to the Scott Peterson trial, where prosecutors are hoping to use the defendant's own words against him. Now, the defense is, once again, pushing for a mistrial.
KFBK radio reporter Chris Filippi is covering the trial.
He joins us from the courthouse in Redwood City, California. Thanks for being here, Chris. We quickly want to get to this now.
Mark Geragos asking for a mistrial with prejudice.
What does that mean?
CHRIS FILIPPI, KFBK REPORTER: That means not only does he want this case halted, he wants it thrown out never to be tried again. A regular mistrial, the prosecution could come back for a second attempt, start fresh with a new jury. A mistrial with prejudice, it's all done. Scott Peterson could never be tried again for allegedly killing his wife.
COLLINS: Anybody really expecting that to happen, Chris?
FILIPPI: No, not at all. This is the third time that Mark Geragos has asked for a mistrial. The first two chances, those did not work. Most are expecting this third chance will not work. I think what he's really after is trying to get some sanctions against the prosecution. Perhaps the judge may end up warning prosecutors in front of the jury, further attacking their credibility.
COLLINS: Let's get to what the Modesto police detectives are saying, that Scott Peterson made five cement rings to help weigh down Laci Peterson's body.
How is the defense ripping holes through that idea?
FILIPPI: They haven't really ripped holes through it yet. Now, what authorities are saying is that, you as you said, Scott made five anchors. They recovered one of them. The question is what happened with the other four.
Now, for the defense, they're really going after this search of San Francisco Bay. They're saying that they used such high tech equipment, they found all this debris, objects as small as beer cans, on the floor of the Bay. So if that's the case, then how come authorities could not find these other four cement anchors that Scott allegedly used to tie his wife's body down?
The defense claim? That they didn't find them because they were never there. The bodies were planted later.
COLLINS: All right, Chris Filippi, thanks so much for that.
We appreciate it -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, powerful thunderstorms, perhaps even a tornado, ripped through Pennsylvania yesterday. And this morning, people are getting a look at just how serious the damage actually is.
Kevin Henry of station WHTM is live for us now in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania.
How's it look out there? KEVIN HENRY, WHTM REPORTER: Well, it doesn't look good, Anderson, I can tell you that right now. The storm packed a wallop. It blew through yesterday afternoon while most people luckily were at work, destroying at least a few dozen homes. Let's take a look at some of the pictures we shot for you.
Most of the damage was contained to the Country Squire developments just outside Campbelltown in Lebanon County, P.A. That development has 80 homes. We're told 30 to 50 of them were destroyed. Witnesses say they heard what sounded like a train coming through and then they saw the funnel cloud. The National Weather Service is on its way here this morning to determine if that is, indeed, the case. Was this a tornado? The National Weather Service will answer that question.
This storm left 16 people hurt, one of them critically.
We spoke to the husband of the woman, 36-year-old Jodi Lennington (ph), who lives out there in the development. He says he was there this morning. He says she's doing much better. He also says she asked him, she wanted one thing. She said, "I want you to find my wedding ring."
While we were standing there talking to Jerry Lennington (ph), guess what? Under all that rubble that used to be a house, they found her diamond ring. So I guess it's thank god for small favors and hopefully we're going to be hearing a lot more stories that are showing the optimistic side of all of this because really, when your house is destroyed, Anderson, you really can't find a sliver lining. But these folks found one.
COOPER: Yes, Kevin. It's also remarkable when you looked at those pictures you were just showing us, those aerial pictures, how -- I mean one house is left standing and the house right next door is destroyed and then the house next to it is still standing. It's just remarkable the, you know, the irony of fate, I guess.
Now, Kevin, I understand you're standing in front of a Red Cross center.
Is that pretty busy this morning?
HENRY: Actually, not it hasn't. What happened last night, let me kind of give you an idea, Anderson. There was about 150 people converged on this right after the storm blew through, looking for help, looking for what they could do. A lot of folks hung out here for most of the evening while inspectors inspected some of the houses to see if they were structurally sound.
Then those folks came back and said all right, who lives at such and such address? OK, your house is OK. Those folks went back. They don't have any power, but they went back.
Everybody else, we're told, went to family, friends or staying in a hotel until they can regroup and get some insurance adjusters out here to assess the damage to see if they can move back in or else they're going to have to rebuild from scratch.
COOPER: All right, Kevin Henry, thanks very much.
Appreciate it this morning.
Unbelievable images there.
Let's take a quick check of the nation's weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: In about a half an hour now, we will be hearing who's nominated for TV's Emmy Awards. We'll just wrap some shows -- will some just wrapped shows, that is, like the smash comedy -- I thought we were talking about "Will and Grace." We are not. We're talking about "Friends," a huge smash hit, especially according to Anderson. Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox get nods for their roles. We'll have to find out.
And, the well loved spin-off of "Cheers," the comedy "Frasier," with Kelsey Grammer, also a good one. Or, will the dramas take center stage, like HBO's popular crime family show, the "Sopranos?" We'll find out pretty soon, so stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
We will have live coverage of the 2004 Emmy nominations recognizing the best in television coming up at 8:30 Eastern.
You know, they do have a new system now. There's going to be like 10 nominees as opposed to five, but still narrowing it down to just the final five.
COOPER: I want to see if "Deadwood" on HBO has been nominated.
COLLINS: Yes, that western?
COOPER: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes, I haven't really watched that one.
COOPER: You haven't?
COLLINS: No.
COOPER: Well, foul language, but really interesting.
COLLINS: Sure, there's foul language.
COOPER: All right, still to come, Toure' has some new vocabulary words for you -- nothing foul, but, for example, you've probably heard of metrosexuals. But what about retrosexuals? I haven't heard of that.
COLLINS: I haven't either, but we'll learn.
COOPER: All right. COLLINS: All right, plus, Martha Stewart's future could include prison time. What about her company, though? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
COOPER: Also ahead, name that political tune. Who cares about policy if you can't dance to the campaign music? Political Pop is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So what happens to a business when the brains behind it is behind bars?
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with that.
Obviously, we're talking about Martha Stewart.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good questions.
This is a first in the history of American business, in the history of America. It's a sentencing sale, a sentencing sale, OK? Let me get to this. Martha Stewart is going to be sentenced tomorrow by the judge. It's judgment day for Martha Stewart. She's looking at 10 to 16 months. We've all heard about this ad nauseum and so the day is finally here.
Now, what else is going on is that Kmart is running a sale this weekend on her stuff, OK? It's a sentencing sale.
COOPER: But, you know, they're not calling it a sentencing sale.
SERWER: It's -- I'm calling it a sentencing sale, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. All right.
SERWER: No, I'm allowed to do that. It's a sentencing -- it's a coincidence. The company is not commenting on whether it has anything to do with the fact that she's being sentenced at the same time. I mean it's just pretty amazing to me.
So how is Martha Stewart's company doing? Well, not so great. Ad sales for the magazine not doing so well. Questions about sales of her stuff at Kmart, is the bloom off the rose? Will there be a convict motif on some of her new items, say sheets and towels with a striped look? We've heard these kind of lines before.
COOPER: Yes, yes.
SERWER: Is that why you're shaking your head?
COOPER: Uh-huh.
SERWER: Meanwhile, Kmart's been doing great, though, and it doesn't really have anything to do with Martha Stewart. The company came out of bankruptcy last year and the stock's gone from like 12 bucks to $80. A lot of that has to do with... COOPER: It's gone from $12 to $80?
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: That's amazing.
SERWER: It truly is. There's this guy named Eddie Lampert who's the chairman of the company. He runs this hedge fund. And a lot of people are speculating that it's become this big real estate play. It owns a lot of valuable real estate all over the country. So it's not so much a merchandising or a retailing story anymore. It's a story about...
COOPER: Why didn't you tell us to buy this stock?
SERWER: I did.
COOPER: You did?
SERWER: You were out that day. You were doing the night show.
COOPER: OK. Probably.
SERWER: I said everyone buy the stock, Anderson. Did someone tell Anderson? You didn't get the note?
COOPER: I didn't get the memo.
SERWER: I'm sorry about that.
COOPER: Oh, well.
COLLINS: There's that one.
SERWER: But you can go to the sentencing sale this weekend. So, I mean it's just -- I mean is that amazing? A sentencing sale.
COLLINS: No more blue light specials.
TOURE': Keep it real.
SERWER: That is real.
TOURE': Keep it real.
SERWER: That's very real.
COLLINS: Yikes!
All right, Andy, thanks so much for that.
SERWER: All right.
You're welcome.
COLLINS: And now we're going to check in with Toure'. Jack is off today.
Toure' is here with the Toure' experience.
I like it.
TOURE': Have you ever been experienced?
COLLINS: I don't know. I don't think I should answer that.
TOURE': Well, today we want to talk about neologisms, new words, because new words are being invented all the time and even great slang words like bling bling might end up in the dictionary one day if they're good enough at helping us convey our world.
And as a full service news network, here's some new words entering the language.
For example, metrosexual, which isn't exactly a new word, but just the idea of the whole thing, an urban male with a strong ascetic sense, right, who spends a great deal of time on his money, time and money on his appearance, his lifestyle. He might get a manicure, has products, you know.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Products.
TOURE': Retro, you know, metrosexual, right here, baby. I'll take that.
But of course there's also a retrosexual, which is a man with an under developed ascetic sense who spends as little time and money on his appearance as possible.
COOPER:
COLLINS: Yes.
COOPER: Oh, well, man, wait a minute. Is that Jack Cafferty's picture there?
TOURE': Oh my god. Who did that? I -- Jack, I didn't have anything to do with that at all.
SERWER: He's going to come back here...
COLLINS: Yes, is he watching?
SERWER: He's going to come back here and...
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE': I have nothing to do.
SERWER: He's going to get you. TOURE': "Egosurfing" is a verb. It means -- Anderson, I'm sure you know what this means -- scouring the Internet for mentions of your own name or your business's name.
COOPER: I explicitly actually do not do this because it's so depressing.
TOURE': Yes.
COOPER: It totally is.
COLLINS: Oh, stop it.
COOPER: It's totally true.
TOURE': (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
COOPER: No, just depressing. Reading what people say about you? It's not good.
SERWER: Yes, no, that's...
COOPER: Not good.
TOURE': A celesbian is a celebrity who's a lesbian.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TOURE': We just love that word.
SERWER: But of course.
TOURE': Right.
A "Crackberry," Andy Serwer knows well...
SERWER: Yes, because we talk about Crackberries.
TOURE': ... is a Blackberry because they're so obsessive and addictive and...
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: I gave mine up.
SERWER: It's an addiction.
COOPER: Yes.
COLLINS: Did you really?
COOPER: I gave up both crack and the Blackberry.
SERWER: He went to the 12 steps program.
COLLINS: The Blackberry, oh, yes. TOURE': And we all know about, we all know about Generation X. But after that is Generation Y, somebody who's part of the generation born after 1978. You can also call them a Yer, right? And I hate the Generation X. I just, ugh. It doesn't mean anything to me.
COOPER: I hate all those names. They're stupid.
TOURE': Drink the Kool-Aid is one of my favorite new ones. It means to be a firm believer in something. But it's about like taking the idea just totally blindly, you know? So I mean, you know, I can't believe you thought, you know, that the Lakers were going to keep Shaq. Your blind -- you're drinking the Kool-Aid, you know?
SERWER: I see.
COOPER: I've drunken the Toure' Kool-Aid.
SERWER: So you must be experienced.
COOPER: I bought into the Toure' experience.
SERWER: Yes, right, exactly.
COLLINS: What about this last one? This is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE': The last one is just special because I know you guys had a conversation about bootylicious earlier this week.
COOPER: Yes, of course. Often.
TOURE': Bootylicious is about a curvaceous or voluptuous woman, especially in the behind area.
SERWER: Really?
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: That's what bootylicious means?
COLLINS: Wolf Blitzer knows a lot about this from that interview he did on "The Daily Show."
TOURE': He does.
COOPER: We asked Jack the other day if -- about bootyliciousness and he seemed...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: He deferred.
TOURE': The funny thing is when me and Jack talked about it downstairs, he knows plenty.
COOPER: Oh, yes?
TOURE': Oh, yes.
COLLINS: Wow! I think we should move on.
COOPER: What happens downstairs stays downstairs.
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: That's a good rule, actually.
COLLINS: All right, Toure', thanks so much, I think.
Hey, just about 10 minutes from now, the Emmy nominations will be announced in Hollywood. We're going to have that for you live. We're looking at a shot right there.
Also ahead, Whoopi Goldberg pays a price for speaking her mind about the president. Political Pop is coming up.
It's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired July 15, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator John Edwards going hard now after the president. Is this just what running mates do? And can the strategy backfire?
A judge throws out potential evidence against Kobe Bryant. But is what he let into the trial more important?
And a celebration about to begin in Hollywood for the best shows on television. Emmy nominations about to be announced on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
COOPER: Good morning.
Bill is on vacation this week.
Soledad is resting.
I'm Anderson Cooper.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Some of the news making headlines this morning, former NFL head coach Mike Ditka saying he will find other ways to speak out about issues other than running for Senate. His decision leaves Illinois Republicans, though, still looking for a candidate. In just a few minutes, we'll talk to Democratic candidate Barack Obama about who -- he's turned it into a very unusual race there.
COOPER: Yes, right now he is the only candidate in the race, so we'll see if -- what he says about that.
COLLINS: Yes.
COOPER: Also in California, attorney Mark Geragos is asking that murder charges be thrown out against Scott Peterson. We'll look at his complaint and whether the judge is likely to take it seriously.
COLLINS: Also, some residents of Pennsylvania waking up to an awful mess this morning. A line powerful storms rolling through southern parts of that state. We'll get an update from one of the hardest hit towns.
COOPER: And Jack Cafferty is off today, but in a few minutes Toure' will be with us with the e-mail Question of the Day.
COLLINS: And the answer, probably, too, right?
COOPER: That's right.
COLLINS: For now, though, Democratic vice presidential hopeful John Edwards went on the attack against President Bush as he campaigned alone in Chicago yesterday. The issue he hammered away at -- same-sex marriage.
CNN's Kelly Wallace reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Chicago last night, John Edwards continued to show he's willing to assume the role of attack dog, hitting the White House once again on the issue of gay marriage.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president and the vice president tried to use our constitution as a device, a political device to divide this country.
WALLACE: A contrast to the all positive all the time Edwards as presidential candidate, but this is what running mates do -- fire away at the opposition, such as accusing the president of failing to take responsibility for faulty prewar intelligence on Iraq, like the British prime minister did yesterday.
EDWARDS: He didn't blame anybody else. Instead, he said I take full responsibility for what happened.
WALLACE: The Bush-Cheney campaign responded, calling it "the latest example of the Kerry campaign's flailing and desperate attempt to distract from their troubling record on Iraq."
(on camera): The challenge for John Edwards is striking the right balance between verbal volleys with Team Bush-Cheney and his optimistic message that made him a vice presidential candidate in the first place.
(voice-over): He tried to do that in a round of television interviews.
EDWARDS: What you're doing, Mr. President, is not working.
WALLACE: Including appearances on Wisconsin TV stations, no coincidence. President Bush happened to be in the state wrapping up a bus tour through three small towns, targeting Edwards without mentioning him by name.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You cannot be pro-small business and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. You have to choose. WALLACE: Voters can count on three and a half months of this back and forth before they get to choose for themselves.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Edwards wrapped up his day with a fund-raiser in Chicago. It pulled in $750,000 -- Anderson.
COOPER: With Mike Ditka's decision not to make an end run for the Senate, the Democrat who would be senator from Illinois remains unopposed and, according to many, unbeatable.
State Senator Barack Obama is a rising star in the state and on the national stage.
He'll be a prime time player at the Democratic convention this month, delivering the keynote speech.
And Barack Obama joins us now from Chicago.
Good morning.
Thanks for being with us.
BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS SENATE CANDIDATE: Good morning, Anderson.
Thank you so much.
COOPER: What are you going to be speaking about in the keynote address, because this is probably going to be the biggest national audience you've had thus far.
OBAMA: No doubt about it. And it's a huge honor and a huge privilege. And what I'm going to try to do, I think, is project a vision for the future of the Democratic Party and how we can play a role in securing a future for all Americans. What I also want to do is give voice to the stories that I've been hearing as I've been traveling around the State of Illinois.
People are strong, they're resilient, they're proud, but they're also struggling to maintain economic security, to try to deal with health care costs and try to make sure that their children get educated. And so hopefully I can express some of their hopes and dreams and see how those hopes and dreams can be achieved by the Democratic Party.
COOPER: You continue to run extraordinarily hard for this Senate seat, though right now you are unopposed.
Why continue running with the kind of speed and aggression that you have thus far?
OBAMA: Well, you know, the -- when your name is Barack Obama, you've got -- you're like Avis, you've got to try harder. But mainly it's because the -- you know, I'm not in the race to run against something, I'm in the race to run for the people that I seek to represent. And this is an enormous opportunity for me during the campaign for them to know who I am, know what my values are.
COOPER: Did you learn something from the 2000 race? Because in 2000, I mean people said look, you're a rising star. You ran for a congressional seat and you lost.
OBAMA: Right.
COOPER: What did you learn?
OBAMA: Well, you know, number one is you never take anything for granted. And I think that politics can turn on a dime. You know, we had the possibility yesterday that Mike Ditka might be my opponent and the coach is hugely popular here in Chicago. So that would have been a formidable candidate. You never know what's going to happen.
But more importantly, I think that I've learned over the last six, seven years of service as a state legislator that people really expect not so much you bickering with the other side, as they do for you to listen to them and see if you can help solve their problems. And this gives me a good opportunity to learn what are on folks' minds and for them to know a little bit about me.
COOPER: I want to play a quick sound bite from Mike Ditka from earlier this morning and have you comment about it.
Let's play this, him deciding not to run.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE DITKA, FORMER CHICAGO BEARS COACH: The main thing for me is my life is such that I don't know if I could uproot it and change it and make that drastically a change in my life. And if I thought I could affect government or changing people's opinion, then I probably would have done it. But I don't think I can. I'm just going to be one more voice in the wilderness. People are going to say oh, that's a good point, but it's not good enough and they'll turn me off. And I don't like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Are they going to find anyone to run against you?
OBAMA: Well, I'm sure they will find a candidate who can articulate the Republican philosophy. But part of what's been happening here in Illinois is that we've been trending Democratic. The Bush record is not selling in Illinois particularly well. We've been really hard hit by losses of manufacturing jobs. People are struggling with escalating health care costs and people are feeling anxious about the direction in Iraq.
We've got tons of reservists and National Guardsmen from small towns all across the state who have been overseas now for 18 months. COOPER: But are they turning to John Kerry? I mean there was an interesting article just the other day about the Congressional Black Caucus basically blasting Kerry's new campaign, reaching out to African-American voters. It's some, it's a $2 million ad campaign that he has started -- commercials, radio, television and print. They said basically it's uninspiring, it doesn't get how to reach this audience.
Do you think John Kerry is doing a good enough job reaching out to the African-American community?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that John Kerry and John Edwards have enormous tasks ahead of them, right? They have to reach out to constituencies that are widely diverse and make sure that we focus on a common set of values and a common vision for the country.
I'm confident that by the time November rolls around, that we are going to see a stark contrast between John Kerry and President Bush. And I think people are really going to want to make the kind of change that I'm advocating for.
COOPER: All right, Barack Obama, appreciate you joining us.
We'll look for you at the convention.
Thanks very much.
OBAMA: It was a pleasure to be with you, Anderson.
COOPER: All right.
OBAMA: Thank you.
COOPER: Heidi.
COLLINS: Just about 10 minutes past the hour now.
Time for a look at some of the other news with Daryn Kagan -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, our first headline from Iraq, where the interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, is remaining optimistic about security in Iraq despite a series of attacks today. Allawi says that service will be specifically -- the special new security service will be specifically geared toward tackling the insurgency that is operating in the country. He spoke just hours after a car bomb in western Iraq killed at least 10 Iraqis and injured dozens of others.
Also today, near Karbala, two suspected suicide bombers were killed outside the city. They detonated their bomb after being detected at a police roadblock.
There is a lot of drawing out to do here in the U.S., a lot of cleaning up to do, as well, across the Northeast. Up to 14 inches of rain fell in parts of Pennsylvania this week, stalling cars and closing down roadways. Heavy winds downing power lines and damaging hundreds of homes. Dozens of people have reportedly been injured. More rain is expected today.
In health news, can't imagine your life without bread or pasta? Well, guess what? You are not alone. A new online survey found that more than half of Americans who tried following those low carb diets, they have given up. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen will tell us more. She's coming up in the next half hour.
The nation's teachers may be getting shortchanged. According to a teacher's union survey, educators' salaries are not keeping up pace with expenses. An average educator now makes about $45,800. That's according to the American Federation of Teachers. That is up just 3 percent from last year.
And finally, the original, not just any, but the original Heisman Trophy, is up for sale. A family in Florida is selling the statue, a copy of which annually goes to the best player in college football. It was created back in 1935. Not everyone can bid, though. The family that is selling it has chosen 150 sports and businesspeople as potential buyers. They are being now mailed information about how to bid -- Heidi, they are expecting, hoping to get just over $1 million for that original Heisman.
COLLINS: Wow!
All right.
KAGAN: A lot of coin.
COLLINS: I can't really do the close very well.
All right, Daryn, thanks so much for that.
COOPER: I thought that was more a stop in the name of the love kind of pose you were doing there.
COLLINS: It probably was. Because it's more like this, isn't it? Oh, well, I tried.
All right, moving on to some legal matters this morning, Kobe Bryant's lawyers have lost a fight to keep some compelling evidence out of his sexual assault trial. An audiotape made by police of Bryant just hours after a young woman accused him of rape can be used in court. The judge says Bryant is heard "occasionally crying and very emotional" on the tape.
The judge will also allow into evidence clothing spotted with blood taken from Bryant's room that night. All of this occurred before Bryant was arrested or advised of his rights.
Now to the Scott Peterson trial, where prosecutors are hoping to use the defendant's own words against him. Now, the defense is, once again, pushing for a mistrial.
KFBK radio reporter Chris Filippi is covering the trial.
He joins us from the courthouse in Redwood City, California. Thanks for being here, Chris. We quickly want to get to this now.
Mark Geragos asking for a mistrial with prejudice.
What does that mean?
CHRIS FILIPPI, KFBK REPORTER: That means not only does he want this case halted, he wants it thrown out never to be tried again. A regular mistrial, the prosecution could come back for a second attempt, start fresh with a new jury. A mistrial with prejudice, it's all done. Scott Peterson could never be tried again for allegedly killing his wife.
COLLINS: Anybody really expecting that to happen, Chris?
FILIPPI: No, not at all. This is the third time that Mark Geragos has asked for a mistrial. The first two chances, those did not work. Most are expecting this third chance will not work. I think what he's really after is trying to get some sanctions against the prosecution. Perhaps the judge may end up warning prosecutors in front of the jury, further attacking their credibility.
COLLINS: Let's get to what the Modesto police detectives are saying, that Scott Peterson made five cement rings to help weigh down Laci Peterson's body.
How is the defense ripping holes through that idea?
FILIPPI: They haven't really ripped holes through it yet. Now, what authorities are saying is that, you as you said, Scott made five anchors. They recovered one of them. The question is what happened with the other four.
Now, for the defense, they're really going after this search of San Francisco Bay. They're saying that they used such high tech equipment, they found all this debris, objects as small as beer cans, on the floor of the Bay. So if that's the case, then how come authorities could not find these other four cement anchors that Scott allegedly used to tie his wife's body down?
The defense claim? That they didn't find them because they were never there. The bodies were planted later.
COLLINS: All right, Chris Filippi, thanks so much for that.
We appreciate it -- Anderson.
COOPER: Well, powerful thunderstorms, perhaps even a tornado, ripped through Pennsylvania yesterday. And this morning, people are getting a look at just how serious the damage actually is.
Kevin Henry of station WHTM is live for us now in Campbelltown, Pennsylvania.
How's it look out there? KEVIN HENRY, WHTM REPORTER: Well, it doesn't look good, Anderson, I can tell you that right now. The storm packed a wallop. It blew through yesterday afternoon while most people luckily were at work, destroying at least a few dozen homes. Let's take a look at some of the pictures we shot for you.
Most of the damage was contained to the Country Squire developments just outside Campbelltown in Lebanon County, P.A. That development has 80 homes. We're told 30 to 50 of them were destroyed. Witnesses say they heard what sounded like a train coming through and then they saw the funnel cloud. The National Weather Service is on its way here this morning to determine if that is, indeed, the case. Was this a tornado? The National Weather Service will answer that question.
This storm left 16 people hurt, one of them critically.
We spoke to the husband of the woman, 36-year-old Jodi Lennington (ph), who lives out there in the development. He says he was there this morning. He says she's doing much better. He also says she asked him, she wanted one thing. She said, "I want you to find my wedding ring."
While we were standing there talking to Jerry Lennington (ph), guess what? Under all that rubble that used to be a house, they found her diamond ring. So I guess it's thank god for small favors and hopefully we're going to be hearing a lot more stories that are showing the optimistic side of all of this because really, when your house is destroyed, Anderson, you really can't find a sliver lining. But these folks found one.
COOPER: Yes, Kevin. It's also remarkable when you looked at those pictures you were just showing us, those aerial pictures, how -- I mean one house is left standing and the house right next door is destroyed and then the house next to it is still standing. It's just remarkable the, you know, the irony of fate, I guess.
Now, Kevin, I understand you're standing in front of a Red Cross center.
Is that pretty busy this morning?
HENRY: Actually, not it hasn't. What happened last night, let me kind of give you an idea, Anderson. There was about 150 people converged on this right after the storm blew through, looking for help, looking for what they could do. A lot of folks hung out here for most of the evening while inspectors inspected some of the houses to see if they were structurally sound.
Then those folks came back and said all right, who lives at such and such address? OK, your house is OK. Those folks went back. They don't have any power, but they went back.
Everybody else, we're told, went to family, friends or staying in a hotel until they can regroup and get some insurance adjusters out here to assess the damage to see if they can move back in or else they're going to have to rebuild from scratch.
COOPER: All right, Kevin Henry, thanks very much.
Appreciate it this morning.
Unbelievable images there.
Let's take a quick check of the nation's weather.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: In about a half an hour now, we will be hearing who's nominated for TV's Emmy Awards. We'll just wrap some shows -- will some just wrapped shows, that is, like the smash comedy -- I thought we were talking about "Will and Grace." We are not. We're talking about "Friends," a huge smash hit, especially according to Anderson. Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox get nods for their roles. We'll have to find out.
And, the well loved spin-off of "Cheers," the comedy "Frasier," with Kelsey Grammer, also a good one. Or, will the dramas take center stage, like HBO's popular crime family show, the "Sopranos?" We'll find out pretty soon, so stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
We will have live coverage of the 2004 Emmy nominations recognizing the best in television coming up at 8:30 Eastern.
You know, they do have a new system now. There's going to be like 10 nominees as opposed to five, but still narrowing it down to just the final five.
COOPER: I want to see if "Deadwood" on HBO has been nominated.
COLLINS: Yes, that western?
COOPER: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes, I haven't really watched that one.
COOPER: You haven't?
COLLINS: No.
COOPER: Well, foul language, but really interesting.
COLLINS: Sure, there's foul language.
COOPER: All right, still to come, Toure' has some new vocabulary words for you -- nothing foul, but, for example, you've probably heard of metrosexuals. But what about retrosexuals? I haven't heard of that.
COLLINS: I haven't either, but we'll learn.
COOPER: All right. COLLINS: All right, plus, Martha Stewart's future could include prison time. What about her company, though? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
COOPER: Also ahead, name that political tune. Who cares about policy if you can't dance to the campaign music? Political Pop is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: So what happens to a business when the brains behind it is behind bars?
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with that.
Obviously, we're talking about Martha Stewart.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good questions.
This is a first in the history of American business, in the history of America. It's a sentencing sale, a sentencing sale, OK? Let me get to this. Martha Stewart is going to be sentenced tomorrow by the judge. It's judgment day for Martha Stewart. She's looking at 10 to 16 months. We've all heard about this ad nauseum and so the day is finally here.
Now, what else is going on is that Kmart is running a sale this weekend on her stuff, OK? It's a sentencing sale.
COOPER: But, you know, they're not calling it a sentencing sale.
SERWER: It's -- I'm calling it a sentencing sale, Anderson.
COOPER: All right. All right.
SERWER: No, I'm allowed to do that. It's a sentencing -- it's a coincidence. The company is not commenting on whether it has anything to do with the fact that she's being sentenced at the same time. I mean it's just pretty amazing to me.
So how is Martha Stewart's company doing? Well, not so great. Ad sales for the magazine not doing so well. Questions about sales of her stuff at Kmart, is the bloom off the rose? Will there be a convict motif on some of her new items, say sheets and towels with a striped look? We've heard these kind of lines before.
COOPER: Yes, yes.
SERWER: Is that why you're shaking your head?
COOPER: Uh-huh.
SERWER: Meanwhile, Kmart's been doing great, though, and it doesn't really have anything to do with Martha Stewart. The company came out of bankruptcy last year and the stock's gone from like 12 bucks to $80. A lot of that has to do with... COOPER: It's gone from $12 to $80?
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: That's amazing.
SERWER: It truly is. There's this guy named Eddie Lampert who's the chairman of the company. He runs this hedge fund. And a lot of people are speculating that it's become this big real estate play. It owns a lot of valuable real estate all over the country. So it's not so much a merchandising or a retailing story anymore. It's a story about...
COOPER: Why didn't you tell us to buy this stock?
SERWER: I did.
COOPER: You did?
SERWER: You were out that day. You were doing the night show.
COOPER: OK. Probably.
SERWER: I said everyone buy the stock, Anderson. Did someone tell Anderson? You didn't get the note?
COOPER: I didn't get the memo.
SERWER: I'm sorry about that.
COOPER: Oh, well.
COLLINS: There's that one.
SERWER: But you can go to the sentencing sale this weekend. So, I mean it's just -- I mean is that amazing? A sentencing sale.
COLLINS: No more blue light specials.
TOURE': Keep it real.
SERWER: That is real.
TOURE': Keep it real.
SERWER: That's very real.
COLLINS: Yikes!
All right, Andy, thanks so much for that.
SERWER: All right.
You're welcome.
COLLINS: And now we're going to check in with Toure'. Jack is off today.
Toure' is here with the Toure' experience.
I like it.
TOURE': Have you ever been experienced?
COLLINS: I don't know. I don't think I should answer that.
TOURE': Well, today we want to talk about neologisms, new words, because new words are being invented all the time and even great slang words like bling bling might end up in the dictionary one day if they're good enough at helping us convey our world.
And as a full service news network, here's some new words entering the language.
For example, metrosexual, which isn't exactly a new word, but just the idea of the whole thing, an urban male with a strong ascetic sense, right, who spends a great deal of time on his money, time and money on his appearance, his lifestyle. He might get a manicure, has products, you know.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Products.
TOURE': Retro, you know, metrosexual, right here, baby. I'll take that.
But of course there's also a retrosexual, which is a man with an under developed ascetic sense who spends as little time and money on his appearance as possible.
COOPER:
COLLINS: Yes.
COOPER: Oh, well, man, wait a minute. Is that Jack Cafferty's picture there?
TOURE': Oh my god. Who did that? I -- Jack, I didn't have anything to do with that at all.
SERWER: He's going to come back here...
COLLINS: Yes, is he watching?
SERWER: He's going to come back here and...
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE': I have nothing to do.
SERWER: He's going to get you. TOURE': "Egosurfing" is a verb. It means -- Anderson, I'm sure you know what this means -- scouring the Internet for mentions of your own name or your business's name.
COOPER: I explicitly actually do not do this because it's so depressing.
TOURE': Yes.
COOPER: It totally is.
COLLINS: Oh, stop it.
COOPER: It's totally true.
TOURE': (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
COOPER: No, just depressing. Reading what people say about you? It's not good.
SERWER: Yes, no, that's...
COOPER: Not good.
TOURE': A celesbian is a celebrity who's a lesbian.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TOURE': We just love that word.
SERWER: But of course.
TOURE': Right.
A "Crackberry," Andy Serwer knows well...
SERWER: Yes, because we talk about Crackberries.
TOURE': ... is a Blackberry because they're so obsessive and addictive and...
SERWER: Yes.
COOPER: I gave mine up.
SERWER: It's an addiction.
COOPER: Yes.
COLLINS: Did you really?
COOPER: I gave up both crack and the Blackberry.
SERWER: He went to the 12 steps program.
COLLINS: The Blackberry, oh, yes. TOURE': And we all know about, we all know about Generation X. But after that is Generation Y, somebody who's part of the generation born after 1978. You can also call them a Yer, right? And I hate the Generation X. I just, ugh. It doesn't mean anything to me.
COOPER: I hate all those names. They're stupid.
TOURE': Drink the Kool-Aid is one of my favorite new ones. It means to be a firm believer in something. But it's about like taking the idea just totally blindly, you know? So I mean, you know, I can't believe you thought, you know, that the Lakers were going to keep Shaq. Your blind -- you're drinking the Kool-Aid, you know?
SERWER: I see.
COOPER: I've drunken the Toure' Kool-Aid.
SERWER: So you must be experienced.
COOPER: I bought into the Toure' experience.
SERWER: Yes, right, exactly.
COLLINS: What about this last one? This is (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE': The last one is just special because I know you guys had a conversation about bootylicious earlier this week.
COOPER: Yes, of course. Often.
TOURE': Bootylicious is about a curvaceous or voluptuous woman, especially in the behind area.
SERWER: Really?
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: That's what bootylicious means?
COLLINS: Wolf Blitzer knows a lot about this from that interview he did on "The Daily Show."
TOURE': He does.
COOPER: We asked Jack the other day if -- about bootyliciousness and he seemed...
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: He deferred.
TOURE': The funny thing is when me and Jack talked about it downstairs, he knows plenty.
COOPER: Oh, yes?
TOURE': Oh, yes.
COLLINS: Wow! I think we should move on.
COOPER: What happens downstairs stays downstairs.
COLLINS: Yes.
SERWER: That's a good rule, actually.
COLLINS: All right, Toure', thanks so much, I think.
Hey, just about 10 minutes from now, the Emmy nominations will be announced in Hollywood. We're going to have that for you live. We're looking at a shot right there.
Also ahead, Whoopi Goldberg pays a price for speaking her mind about the president. Political Pop is coming up.
It's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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