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American Morning

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Maintaining Low Profile; 'Gimme a Minute'

Aired July 16, 2004 - 08:30   ET

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

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


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also we'll look at an important decision by the government to treat obesity as an illness. This change in the rules could affect millions of people. So we're going to look at some of the new options for them.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, could have a big impact on insurance rates.

All right. So, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was one of the most visible faces of the Bush administration of course during the war with Iraq. Now, he seems to have kind of dropped off the radar. Have you guys seen him lately? Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

Barbara, have you seen him?

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In the hallway, we did stop and chat. I have to tell you, it's summertime. The Pentagon press corps is doing a bit of its own so-called Kremlin watching. Where is Rumsfeld? For a man who became the world's famous for those press conferences, those unscripted press conferences here in this briefing room, we haven't seen him here in this room for a month, the last press conference June 17th, well before the turnover to Iraqi sovereignty.

It's a very sensitive issue around the Pentagon here Anderson. Let me take you just behind the scenes for a second. A few minutes ago, I poked my head in the press office, asked somebody, where's Rumsfeld and was indeed handed a piece of paper listing all of the other appearances he's made, television, radio, press conferences overseas. But still, since May, we think it's been only two press conferences here in this briefing room.

Now they insist the secretary is not being kept away from the news media, but that the war in Iraq is essentially now a State Department issue. It's a diplomatic issue. Sovereignty has happened, that the secretary will in fact be in this briefing room much less to update us on the day-to-day progress of the war. And also, it's worth noting, Kimmitt and Senor, the two briefers in Baghdad, they're gone. No more military briefings over there either -- Anderson.

COOPER: But the number of troops over there is still the same. It's more I mean sort of a public relations attempt I guess.

STARR: Well, Anderson, I guess the skeptics still might question whether this is an effort before the election to ratchet down the profile on the war, on the prison abuse scandal but just the pure facts, exactly, 140,000 troops over there. And if it is a State Department issue, still it's a huge issue for the U. S. military troops. The latest numbers 887 fatalities by U. S. troops since the war began, 887 and more than 5,000 wounded. So for the U. S. uniformed military, it is still the major story impacting their lives. Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon. Thanks Barbara.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will introduce her husband, former President Bill Clinton on the opening night of the Democratic convention. But as Ed Henry reports, that is really not as simple as it may sound.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton was originally left off the speaking list for the Democratic National Convention kicking off a firestorm. But it turns out all nine Senate Democratic women were initially snubbed by the Kerry campaign, leaving the dean of their caucus furious.

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D) MARYLAND: And I personally felt rather volcanic.

HENRY: All nine women were expecting a major role in the first night of the convention but the announcement of the lineup left them out. Mikulski faxed an angry letter to Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill and then vented by phone.

MIKULSKI: I told them this ship of state missed the boat.

HENRY: Mikulski noted Clinton never asked for separate podium time at the convention and she said if the Kerry camp had better promoted the role of all Senate women, they could have avoided charges that Clinton was shunned.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Yes, I think Senator Clinton should be on the program.

HENRY: Faced with this criticism from women leaders, the Kerry campaign scrambled to clarify. All nine female senators are getting their time in the limelight together on Monday evening and Clinton will be at the podium later that night, introducing her husband in prime time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Senator Clinton said she was never disappointed by having a small role at the convention and now that she's been given a more prominent role, the senator said she was quote, honored and delighted.

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

COLLINS: We now have the give me a minute crew on the clock for this very topic. In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review" online.

Hi, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIEW": Hey. How's it going?

COLLINS: Good. CNN political contributor Donna Brazile. Donna, hello to you as well.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

COLLINS: She is the author of "Cooking the Grease, Stirring the Pot in American Politics. " And in Cleveland this morning, Andy Borowitz, noted inventor of borowitzreport.com.

Hello to you as well.

So let's get straight to this. Jonah, let me begin with you. Hillary Rodham Clinton as we had just said, wasn't speaking, now she's speaking on opening night. Was she really missing from that initial line-up? What's the flap on this?

GOLDBERG: I don't know. It seems from the outside, at first I thought it was all sorts of conspiracy and intrigue and they're trying to create drama. Now, I just think it was a massive foul-up. The one thing I think is pretty funny is all these feminists are screaming about how insulting it was that Hillary wasn't invited. Now, she's just simply being invited to introduce her husband. Nice feminist role.

COLLINS: Donna, was this a screw-up or not?

BRAZILE: The Kerry campaign decided to release a partial list of speakers and unfortunately, she was not on it. She deserved to be on it. She's one of the most admired women in America and you know what, among Democratic delegates she's tops.

COLLINS: OK, Andy, why wasn't she on that initial list?

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Her role keeps expanding. She's now going to open the convention with her rendition of the disco classic, "I Will Survive".

COLLINS: That would be good, definitely good to tune in for that one. All right, Donna, let me get you on this one. Tell me what exactly this might say, if anything, about the Kerry Clinton lineup?

BRAZILE: I think it says that this is a very strong party, a very unified, very energized party and to have Hillary, Bill, and Barack Obama (ph) and others, it's a good day, a new day in the Democratic party.

COLLINS: All right. Jonah, your thoughts on that. Is this a new day in the Democratic party?

GOLDBERG: It's Friday, I guess it's a new day compared to Thursday. I see no evidence this is a new day in the Democratic party. It seems to me that this is still the gang that can't shoot straight a little bit.

COLLINS: OK, Andy Borowitz, final thought on that.

BOROWITZ: It's going to be an awesome convention. They're going to show a autobiographical film on John Kerry called "I, Robot. "

COLLINS: OK. Andy, thanks.

As all of you know, the rumor about Dick Cheney possibly being taken off the ticket has just spread like wildfire. We already did another interview on it this morning. Is this just a rumor kind of stuck in a vacuum? What do you think this is all about? Donna, let's start with you on this one.

BRAZILE: As a Democrat I hope he stays on the ticket. Look, I think, Dick Cheney has been in charge for the last four years, why remove him now when we can make a case against both him and the other person?

COLLINS: The other person. Who's that?

BRAZILE: President Bush.

COLLINS: All right. What about you, Jonah, your thoughts on that?

GOLDBERG: I think it's all a media generated rumor or a Democratic generated rumor or a combination of the two. There's absolutely no truth it to. The good news for Democrats in all this is it hides the fact that John Edwards didn't have much of a bounce in the polls, better to talk about Dick Cheney than John Edwards.

COLLINS: OK, Andy Borowitz.

BOROWITZ: You know what, If Cheney is dumped, I've got a feeling his farewell speech will be two words long.

COLLINS: What two words?

BOROWITZ: I'm not going to say. I'm on a five-second delay.

COLLINS: Thank goodness for that in this case. All right. Also you guys, we know that this week, the big media picked up on the fact that there are going to be bloggers that will be credentialed at the convention, not very many of them, but they are still going to get credentialed. They have no editors as you know, no traditional journalist background. Should these guys be there covering the conventions or not? Jonah.

GOLDBERG: You can't really get me going on how useful a journalist's background is for the most of the journalists who are prominent around Washington these days. But I'll say this for the bloggers. Some of my best friends are bloggers. My guess is some of them will be very interesting with insights and some of them will be remarkably boring. It all depends on the talent, not the technology.

COLLINS: Donna, what kind of impact do these bloggers have?

BRAZILE: Oh they have a great deal of blog, a great deal of impact. They're very influential and you know what, they will tap into the energy and the spirit on the convention floors and they will be able to report it unfiltered.

COLLINS: All right. Andy.

BOROWITZ: They're going to cause some friction. A lot of these bloggers just make up their stories and newspaper reporters see that as their role.

COLLINS: OK, guys, want to make sure we have time for what we may have missed, the under cover story of the week. Why don't you go ahead and start Donna.

BRAZILE: Well, I don't know if was (INAUDIBLE) but Congressman Charles Rangel was arrested this week outside the Sudan embassy to bring more public attention and awareness to the genocide that's taking place. His message was simple. It's time to act.

COLLINS: We did cover that, Donna, thanks so much. And, Jonah, how about you?

GOLDBERG: Rangel's on the right side of that one I should say. You guys didn't miss it, but it was certainly under covered, the fact that both the British and U. S. Senate intelligence reports both totally debunked the notion that George Bush or Tony Blair lied about anything going into the Gulf -- going into the Iraq war. But also that Joe Wilson, who started this whole Bush lied thing, did lie a lot and he deserves to be vilified for it.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Jonah and Andy, I can only imagine.

BOROWITZ: We got some bad news on the Olympics this week. Athens officials have admitted that they have not yet begun building the stadium.

COLLINS: Got some work to do there. All right.

BOROWITZ: They're playing catch up.

COLLINS: Definitely. OK, guys, thanks so much this morning to all three of you, Jonah, Donna and Andy. Thanks again.

COOPER: I think they can catch up to see (INAUDIBLE) if they work overtime.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Medicare reacts to what has become a billion-dollar problem in America in recognizing a brand new illness.

COLLINS: That's not it, but also ahead, danger now creeping closer as you can see, closer and closer to the homes out west, very dramatic pictures. They're all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It is just about 45 minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We begin in India. Grim details about a massive fire in the country's southern province. At least 78 people have been killed, mostly children. It's believed the fire started in the kitchen of a girls' school. Officials say some children had difficulty fleeing the flames and expect that death toll to rise.

A developing story out of the middle east. Palestinian gunmen had kidnapped Dabi Zubali (ph), the Palestinian chief of police of the Gaza strip in the West Bank. Witnesses said the gunman exchanged fire with Zubali's bodyguards near Gaza City before taking the man to a refuge camp.

The U.S. embassy in Tokyo is confirming that former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has been detained. Fischer has been wanted since 1992 for breaking U. N. sanctions by playing a tournament in Yugoslavia. Japanese officials say that he was taken into custody as he tried to leave for the Philippines. A report said he will be deported to the U.S.

Back here in the U.S., fire crews in California, aren't even close to containing that state's largest wildfire. Strong winds yesterday whipped up the flames which have destroyed more than 10,000 acres of brush and forest since Monday. Another large fire is also threatening the capital of Nevada, Carson City. Hundreds of people have been evacuated in both states.

And finally, on an animal note. A public good bye for Bobo. Hundreds gathered last night outside the Florida home where the tiger was kept before he escaped and was killed this week. The former Tarzan actor who owned Bobo says he is still grieving over the big cat's death, which he is calling a murder. Wildlife officials say they shot Bobo after he lunged at them.

Anderson, you know, Bobo had been declawed, but not defanged. Apparently wildlife officials did not want to find out if his meow was worse than his bit.

COOPER: All right. Daryn Kagan, thanks very much for that. I'm going to leave that one alone.

KAGAN: OK.

COOPER: Coming up, we're going to be talking with Toure about Martha Stewart. Her sentencing will take place in about an hour and 15 minutes. We will be watching that and that is a live shot outside the court, where as you can imagine, the media has gathered, waiting to see the arrival of Martha Stewart. All that ahead in this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And let's check in with Toure and the "Question of the Day."

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: You're hilarious. We have some good, good poems about Martha this time. I'm so happy.

COOPER: It's not a question of the day, it's more a poem of the day.

TOURE: It's more a challenge of the day and the viewers have stepped up to the challenge, big time. I'm so happy. The first one is from Alex, who's a producer here: "There once was a gal from Westport, who found herself sitting in court. Folks thought her a pest, so her guilt was professed and for more than a mere little tort." Right? Very good.

Ladonna, from Durham, North Carolina says, "Martha, Martha how did your portfolio grow, with run-up hits and inside tips and pretty little lies in a row." See, they're good right now.

Diego from Russo, Missouri, "Money and fame was a part of the game. You succeeded and made yourself a name. You yearned for more and turned to greed. Today is your day of judgment, oh, yes, indeed."

COOPER: There's some bitterness out there.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Which you knew, which you knew was there.

COLLINS: Any Martha fans?

TOURE: No. "Martha, Martha, you're so fine, one day soon I do opine, you'll find yourself with someone new, some awful, wretched, vile slew."

COOPER: Goodness.

TOURE: That's Jim from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

COOPER: That's not even shocking funny, that's just like mean.

TOURE: And Pete Frye from Kingston, New Jersey: "There once was a dame from Connecticut, who was known as a master of etiquette, then she lied about stocks and will soon live behind locks, inside traders we hope this will educate."

COLLINS: That was pretty good, too.

TOURE: There's good stuff out there. Early in morning, got your coffee, got your poems going, I love that.

COLLINS: We should have rated them. We should have had a rating system.

TOURE: Well, obviously Alex would win, maybe Andy.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Toure. Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," Can tell us how Hollywood is coming to a shopping mall near you. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Advertisers are using new techniques to target young customers. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business. "

I understand you do have a poem first.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, yes, I've got a Martha knock-knock joke. We haven't done one of those. You ready?

COLLINS: It's a joke.

SERWER: Yes. Knock knock.

COLLINS: Who's there?

SERWER: Stewart.

COLLINS: Stewart who.

SERWER: Stewart getting your jail outfit ready?

COOPER: I'm not getting that.

SERWER: Stewart getting your (INAUDIBLE) you got to do it with a Southern accent.

COOPER: She's from Connecticut though.

SERWER: It wasn't good, it was terrible, thank you.

COOPER: Lordy.

SERWER: Advertisers for the movie businesses have been having a hard time pulling in young viewers. Increasingly people are tuning out TV commercials. They spend 80 percent of their marketing budget doing TV advertising. The studio is concerned that young people are tuning out. So 20th Century Fox has a new strategy. They're going to be advertising movies at the malls. OK, that means they're going to have posters at the malls, stickers. Stores are going to be handing out free tickets and they're going to have the stars of the movies walking around the malls. The first one they're going to do is "I, Robot. " That's that movie about John Kerry or is it Dick Cheney? I forget which one.

COOPER: How much are they going to pay these stars to walk the mall.

SERWER: ... walk around the mall. Can you imagine?

COOPER: No, I really can't.

SERWER: Mobbed in a mall.

COOPER: Not since Tiffany went on her mall tour back in the early '80s.

SERWER: Mauled at the mall. So what we're understanding here is Will Smith is going to be at a mall; 125 malls are going to be doing this.

COOPER: Oh, please, Will Smith is not going to go to 125 malls.

SERWER: You're right. He will only go to 123. You're right, Anderson. He draws the line after 123 malls. It's a strategy. Listen, the people in Hollywood, they never sleep. They're always thinking about new ways to solve things.

Speaking of trying to sell to young people though, Honda is also trying to do this as well, selling to young people, that key demographic. They're trying to sell to young people. They're going to be rolling out a new inexpensive car. This is less expensive than the Civic. The Civic is not exactly an inexpensive car, You can get one for like less than $18,000. This new car is going to be about $16,000, and so it competes with the Toyota Scion, which has been very, very, very popular. So I think this is the kind of car you get in college. You work and you get in college. I don't know how to get some bling-bling because I'm concerned about bling bling. How do you get the bling-bling? My name has been inextricably linked to bling- bling today.

COOPER: So what kind of watch (INAUDIBLE)?

SERWER: This is an Eddie Bauer bling-bling.

COOPER: I don't think Eddie Bauer and bling-bling can be the same...

SERWER: I think what you might want to do to get the bling-bling and the Honda is you bring a Fendi bag in it, a Fendi bag and then all of a sudden it becomes bling-bling

Quick market note here, PNC, the old Pittsburgh National Bank buying Riggs Bank. That's the bank of the presidents they call it down in Washington, D.C. that had some problems, allegations of money laundering there. So interesting Wall Street story we'll be watching and I'll be tracking the markets for you coming up.

COOPER: I am surprised no one has sent in a nice Martha Stewart poem. I mean, give her a break. She's being sentenced today. She could use some encouragement.

SERWER: Let's see if some people can say something nice. Say something nice or nothing at all, right, Andy?

COOPER: Exactly? Coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING, we're about an hour away from Martha Stewart sentencing. We're going to go to the courthouse for a live shot there, a lot of people gathering already. We'll also talk to senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who's standing by. Stay with us at AMERICAN MORNING.

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 16, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also we'll look at an important decision by the government to treat obesity as an illness. This change in the rules could affect millions of people. So we're going to look at some of the new options for them.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, could have a big impact on insurance rates.

All right. So, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was one of the most visible faces of the Bush administration of course during the war with Iraq. Now, he seems to have kind of dropped off the radar. Have you guys seen him lately? Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

Barbara, have you seen him?

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: In the hallway, we did stop and chat. I have to tell you, it's summertime. The Pentagon press corps is doing a bit of its own so-called Kremlin watching. Where is Rumsfeld? For a man who became the world's famous for those press conferences, those unscripted press conferences here in this briefing room, we haven't seen him here in this room for a month, the last press conference June 17th, well before the turnover to Iraqi sovereignty.

It's a very sensitive issue around the Pentagon here Anderson. Let me take you just behind the scenes for a second. A few minutes ago, I poked my head in the press office, asked somebody, where's Rumsfeld and was indeed handed a piece of paper listing all of the other appearances he's made, television, radio, press conferences overseas. But still, since May, we think it's been only two press conferences here in this briefing room.

Now they insist the secretary is not being kept away from the news media, but that the war in Iraq is essentially now a State Department issue. It's a diplomatic issue. Sovereignty has happened, that the secretary will in fact be in this briefing room much less to update us on the day-to-day progress of the war. And also, it's worth noting, Kimmitt and Senor, the two briefers in Baghdad, they're gone. No more military briefings over there either -- Anderson.

COOPER: But the number of troops over there is still the same. It's more I mean sort of a public relations attempt I guess.

STARR: Well, Anderson, I guess the skeptics still might question whether this is an effort before the election to ratchet down the profile on the war, on the prison abuse scandal but just the pure facts, exactly, 140,000 troops over there. And if it is a State Department issue, still it's a huge issue for the U. S. military troops. The latest numbers 887 fatalities by U. S. troops since the war began, 887 and more than 5,000 wounded. So for the U. S. uniformed military, it is still the major story impacting their lives. Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon. Thanks Barbara.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will introduce her husband, former President Bill Clinton on the opening night of the Democratic convention. But as Ed Henry reports, that is really not as simple as it may sound.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hillary Clinton was originally left off the speaking list for the Democratic National Convention kicking off a firestorm. But it turns out all nine Senate Democratic women were initially snubbed by the Kerry campaign, leaving the dean of their caucus furious.

SEN. BARBARA MIKULSKI (D) MARYLAND: And I personally felt rather volcanic.

HENRY: All nine women were expecting a major role in the first night of the convention but the announcement of the lineup left them out. Mikulski faxed an angry letter to Kerry's campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill and then vented by phone.

MIKULSKI: I told them this ship of state missed the boat.

HENRY: Mikulski noted Clinton never asked for separate podium time at the convention and she said if the Kerry camp had better promoted the role of all Senate women, they could have avoided charges that Clinton was shunned.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Yes, I think Senator Clinton should be on the program.

HENRY: Faced with this criticism from women leaders, the Kerry campaign scrambled to clarify. All nine female senators are getting their time in the limelight together on Monday evening and Clinton will be at the podium later that night, introducing her husband in prime time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Senator Clinton said she was never disappointed by having a small role at the convention and now that she's been given a more prominent role, the senator said she was quote, honored and delighted.

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

COLLINS: We now have the give me a minute crew on the clock for this very topic. In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review" online.

Hi, Jonah.

JONAH GOLDBERG, EDITOR, "NATIONAL REVIEW": Hey. How's it going?

COLLINS: Good. CNN political contributor Donna Brazile. Donna, hello to you as well.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

COLLINS: She is the author of "Cooking the Grease, Stirring the Pot in American Politics. " And in Cleveland this morning, Andy Borowitz, noted inventor of borowitzreport.com.

Hello to you as well.

So let's get straight to this. Jonah, let me begin with you. Hillary Rodham Clinton as we had just said, wasn't speaking, now she's speaking on opening night. Was she really missing from that initial line-up? What's the flap on this?

GOLDBERG: I don't know. It seems from the outside, at first I thought it was all sorts of conspiracy and intrigue and they're trying to create drama. Now, I just think it was a massive foul-up. The one thing I think is pretty funny is all these feminists are screaming about how insulting it was that Hillary wasn't invited. Now, she's just simply being invited to introduce her husband. Nice feminist role.

COLLINS: Donna, was this a screw-up or not?

BRAZILE: The Kerry campaign decided to release a partial list of speakers and unfortunately, she was not on it. She deserved to be on it. She's one of the most admired women in America and you know what, among Democratic delegates she's tops.

COLLINS: OK, Andy, why wasn't she on that initial list?

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Her role keeps expanding. She's now going to open the convention with her rendition of the disco classic, "I Will Survive".

COLLINS: That would be good, definitely good to tune in for that one. All right, Donna, let me get you on this one. Tell me what exactly this might say, if anything, about the Kerry Clinton lineup?

BRAZILE: I think it says that this is a very strong party, a very unified, very energized party and to have Hillary, Bill, and Barack Obama (ph) and others, it's a good day, a new day in the Democratic party.

COLLINS: All right. Jonah, your thoughts on that. Is this a new day in the Democratic party?

GOLDBERG: It's Friday, I guess it's a new day compared to Thursday. I see no evidence this is a new day in the Democratic party. It seems to me that this is still the gang that can't shoot straight a little bit.

COLLINS: OK, Andy Borowitz, final thought on that.

BOROWITZ: It's going to be an awesome convention. They're going to show a autobiographical film on John Kerry called "I, Robot. "

COLLINS: OK. Andy, thanks.

As all of you know, the rumor about Dick Cheney possibly being taken off the ticket has just spread like wildfire. We already did another interview on it this morning. Is this just a rumor kind of stuck in a vacuum? What do you think this is all about? Donna, let's start with you on this one.

BRAZILE: As a Democrat I hope he stays on the ticket. Look, I think, Dick Cheney has been in charge for the last four years, why remove him now when we can make a case against both him and the other person?

COLLINS: The other person. Who's that?

BRAZILE: President Bush.

COLLINS: All right. What about you, Jonah, your thoughts on that?

GOLDBERG: I think it's all a media generated rumor or a Democratic generated rumor or a combination of the two. There's absolutely no truth it to. The good news for Democrats in all this is it hides the fact that John Edwards didn't have much of a bounce in the polls, better to talk about Dick Cheney than John Edwards.

COLLINS: OK, Andy Borowitz.

BOROWITZ: You know what, If Cheney is dumped, I've got a feeling his farewell speech will be two words long.

COLLINS: What two words?

BOROWITZ: I'm not going to say. I'm on a five-second delay.

COLLINS: Thank goodness for that in this case. All right. Also you guys, we know that this week, the big media picked up on the fact that there are going to be bloggers that will be credentialed at the convention, not very many of them, but they are still going to get credentialed. They have no editors as you know, no traditional journalist background. Should these guys be there covering the conventions or not? Jonah.

GOLDBERG: You can't really get me going on how useful a journalist's background is for the most of the journalists who are prominent around Washington these days. But I'll say this for the bloggers. Some of my best friends are bloggers. My guess is some of them will be very interesting with insights and some of them will be remarkably boring. It all depends on the talent, not the technology.

COLLINS: Donna, what kind of impact do these bloggers have?

BRAZILE: Oh they have a great deal of blog, a great deal of impact. They're very influential and you know what, they will tap into the energy and the spirit on the convention floors and they will be able to report it unfiltered.

COLLINS: All right. Andy.

BOROWITZ: They're going to cause some friction. A lot of these bloggers just make up their stories and newspaper reporters see that as their role.

COLLINS: OK, guys, want to make sure we have time for what we may have missed, the under cover story of the week. Why don't you go ahead and start Donna.

BRAZILE: Well, I don't know if was (INAUDIBLE) but Congressman Charles Rangel was arrested this week outside the Sudan embassy to bring more public attention and awareness to the genocide that's taking place. His message was simple. It's time to act.

COLLINS: We did cover that, Donna, thanks so much. And, Jonah, how about you?

GOLDBERG: Rangel's on the right side of that one I should say. You guys didn't miss it, but it was certainly under covered, the fact that both the British and U. S. Senate intelligence reports both totally debunked the notion that George Bush or Tony Blair lied about anything going into the Gulf -- going into the Iraq war. But also that Joe Wilson, who started this whole Bush lied thing, did lie a lot and he deserves to be vilified for it.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Jonah and Andy, I can only imagine.

BOROWITZ: We got some bad news on the Olympics this week. Athens officials have admitted that they have not yet begun building the stadium.

COLLINS: Got some work to do there. All right.

BOROWITZ: They're playing catch up.

COLLINS: Definitely. OK, guys, thanks so much this morning to all three of you, Jonah, Donna and Andy. Thanks again.

COOPER: I think they can catch up to see (INAUDIBLE) if they work overtime.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Medicare reacts to what has become a billion-dollar problem in America in recognizing a brand new illness.

COLLINS: That's not it, but also ahead, danger now creeping closer as you can see, closer and closer to the homes out west, very dramatic pictures. They're all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: It is just about 45 minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We begin in India. Grim details about a massive fire in the country's southern province. At least 78 people have been killed, mostly children. It's believed the fire started in the kitchen of a girls' school. Officials say some children had difficulty fleeing the flames and expect that death toll to rise.

A developing story out of the middle east. Palestinian gunmen had kidnapped Dabi Zubali (ph), the Palestinian chief of police of the Gaza strip in the West Bank. Witnesses said the gunman exchanged fire with Zubali's bodyguards near Gaza City before taking the man to a refuge camp.

The U.S. embassy in Tokyo is confirming that former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has been detained. Fischer has been wanted since 1992 for breaking U. N. sanctions by playing a tournament in Yugoslavia. Japanese officials say that he was taken into custody as he tried to leave for the Philippines. A report said he will be deported to the U.S.

Back here in the U.S., fire crews in California, aren't even close to containing that state's largest wildfire. Strong winds yesterday whipped up the flames which have destroyed more than 10,000 acres of brush and forest since Monday. Another large fire is also threatening the capital of Nevada, Carson City. Hundreds of people have been evacuated in both states.

And finally, on an animal note. A public good bye for Bobo. Hundreds gathered last night outside the Florida home where the tiger was kept before he escaped and was killed this week. The former Tarzan actor who owned Bobo says he is still grieving over the big cat's death, which he is calling a murder. Wildlife officials say they shot Bobo after he lunged at them.

Anderson, you know, Bobo had been declawed, but not defanged. Apparently wildlife officials did not want to find out if his meow was worse than his bit.

COOPER: All right. Daryn Kagan, thanks very much for that. I'm going to leave that one alone.

KAGAN: OK.

COOPER: Coming up, we're going to be talking with Toure about Martha Stewart. Her sentencing will take place in about an hour and 15 minutes. We will be watching that and that is a live shot outside the court, where as you can imagine, the media has gathered, waiting to see the arrival of Martha Stewart. All that ahead in this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And let's check in with Toure and the "Question of the Day."

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: You're hilarious. We have some good, good poems about Martha this time. I'm so happy.

COOPER: It's not a question of the day, it's more a poem of the day.

TOURE: It's more a challenge of the day and the viewers have stepped up to the challenge, big time. I'm so happy. The first one is from Alex, who's a producer here: "There once was a gal from Westport, who found herself sitting in court. Folks thought her a pest, so her guilt was professed and for more than a mere little tort." Right? Very good.

Ladonna, from Durham, North Carolina says, "Martha, Martha how did your portfolio grow, with run-up hits and inside tips and pretty little lies in a row." See, they're good right now.

Diego from Russo, Missouri, "Money and fame was a part of the game. You succeeded and made yourself a name. You yearned for more and turned to greed. Today is your day of judgment, oh, yes, indeed."

COOPER: There's some bitterness out there.

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: Which you knew, which you knew was there.

COLLINS: Any Martha fans?

TOURE: No. "Martha, Martha, you're so fine, one day soon I do opine, you'll find yourself with someone new, some awful, wretched, vile slew."

COOPER: Goodness.

TOURE: That's Jim from Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

COOPER: That's not even shocking funny, that's just like mean.

TOURE: And Pete Frye from Kingston, New Jersey: "There once was a dame from Connecticut, who was known as a master of etiquette, then she lied about stocks and will soon live behind locks, inside traders we hope this will educate."

COLLINS: That was pretty good, too.

TOURE: There's good stuff out there. Early in morning, got your coffee, got your poems going, I love that.

COLLINS: We should have rated them. We should have had a rating system.

TOURE: Well, obviously Alex would win, maybe Andy.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much, Toure. Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business," Can tell us how Hollywood is coming to a shopping mall near you. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Advertisers are using new techniques to target young customers. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business. "

I understand you do have a poem first.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, yes, I've got a Martha knock-knock joke. We haven't done one of those. You ready?

COLLINS: It's a joke.

SERWER: Yes. Knock knock.

COLLINS: Who's there?

SERWER: Stewart.

COLLINS: Stewart who.

SERWER: Stewart getting your jail outfit ready?

COOPER: I'm not getting that.

SERWER: Stewart getting your (INAUDIBLE) you got to do it with a Southern accent.

COOPER: She's from Connecticut though.

SERWER: It wasn't good, it was terrible, thank you.

COOPER: Lordy.

SERWER: Advertisers for the movie businesses have been having a hard time pulling in young viewers. Increasingly people are tuning out TV commercials. They spend 80 percent of their marketing budget doing TV advertising. The studio is concerned that young people are tuning out. So 20th Century Fox has a new strategy. They're going to be advertising movies at the malls. OK, that means they're going to have posters at the malls, stickers. Stores are going to be handing out free tickets and they're going to have the stars of the movies walking around the malls. The first one they're going to do is "I, Robot. " That's that movie about John Kerry or is it Dick Cheney? I forget which one.

COOPER: How much are they going to pay these stars to walk the mall.

SERWER: ... walk around the mall. Can you imagine?

COOPER: No, I really can't.

SERWER: Mobbed in a mall.

COOPER: Not since Tiffany went on her mall tour back in the early '80s.

SERWER: Mauled at the mall. So what we're understanding here is Will Smith is going to be at a mall; 125 malls are going to be doing this.

COOPER: Oh, please, Will Smith is not going to go to 125 malls.

SERWER: You're right. He will only go to 123. You're right, Anderson. He draws the line after 123 malls. It's a strategy. Listen, the people in Hollywood, they never sleep. They're always thinking about new ways to solve things.

Speaking of trying to sell to young people though, Honda is also trying to do this as well, selling to young people, that key demographic. They're trying to sell to young people. They're going to be rolling out a new inexpensive car. This is less expensive than the Civic. The Civic is not exactly an inexpensive car, You can get one for like less than $18,000. This new car is going to be about $16,000, and so it competes with the Toyota Scion, which has been very, very, very popular. So I think this is the kind of car you get in college. You work and you get in college. I don't know how to get some bling-bling because I'm concerned about bling bling. How do you get the bling-bling? My name has been inextricably linked to bling- bling today.

COOPER: So what kind of watch (INAUDIBLE)?

SERWER: This is an Eddie Bauer bling-bling.

COOPER: I don't think Eddie Bauer and bling-bling can be the same...

SERWER: I think what you might want to do to get the bling-bling and the Honda is you bring a Fendi bag in it, a Fendi bag and then all of a sudden it becomes bling-bling

Quick market note here, PNC, the old Pittsburgh National Bank buying Riggs Bank. That's the bank of the presidents they call it down in Washington, D.C. that had some problems, allegations of money laundering there. So interesting Wall Street story we'll be watching and I'll be tracking the markets for you coming up.

COOPER: I am surprised no one has sent in a nice Martha Stewart poem. I mean, give her a break. She's being sentenced today. She could use some encouragement.

SERWER: Let's see if some people can say something nice. Say something nice or nothing at all, right, Andy?

COOPER: Exactly? Coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING, we're about an hour away from Martha Stewart sentencing. We're going to go to the courthouse for a live shot there, a lot of people gathering already. We'll also talk to senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who's standing by. Stay with us at AMERICAN MORNING.

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