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American Morning
Interview with Senator Bob Kerrey; Senator John Kerry Begins Cross Country March to Democratic Convention
Aired July 23, 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator John Kerry begins a cross country march to Boston and the Democratic convention.
New information about mattresses, as well as a strange disturbance at a hotel, as the case of a missing Utah woman gets stranger.
And the man who was instrumental in Martha Stewart's guilty verdict, Douglas Faneuil -- what will happen when he is sentenced, on this AMERICAN MORNING?
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Some of the other news making headlines this hour. The 9/11 Commission members urging Congress and the White House to adopt their recommendations ASAP for preventing another terrorist attack. Heidi talks with one member, former Senator Bob Kerrey, in our studios. We'll get to him in a moment here.
Also, the Scott Peterson trial getting very heated. If you heard about this yesterday, the judge having to send jurors out of the courtroom yesterday as the lawyers fought among themselves. We'll tell you what promoted that.
Also this hour, from the middle part of the country, the search for a serial killer in Wichita, Kansas known as the BTK Strangler. We'll talk to a reporter and anchor from the area, find out about the latest clues that are putting that city on edge all over again. A series of letters have been put in the mail and we'll talk about the significance there in a moment here.
Also, Jack Cafferty here on a Friday -- good morning.
What's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
What is it Congress is scheduled to do today?
HEMMER: They're going home.
CAFFERTY: They go on vacation, right?
HEMMER: Yes, the recess begins today. The recess is four or five weeks.
CAFFERTY: They're saying they can't get around to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission until next year some time. They must be busy down there.
Coming up in the "Cafferty File," some Japanese families are dressing their children in knife and bulletproof clothing. And why some postal carriers in Canada are really steamed about some new doggie treats on the market.
The "Cafferty File" in about 20 minutes or so.
HEMMER: We wait.
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Can we go on vacation, too? Interesting.
HEMMER: Ah, I wish.
Here's Heidi now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The 9/11 Commission says we are not safe. They believe that without a dramatic overhaul of intelligence, the United States is open to another catastrophic attack like the one on September 11, 2001.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS KEAN, CO-CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: On that September day, we were unprepared. We did not grasp the magnitude of a threat that had been gathering over a considerable period of time. As we detail in our report, this was a failure of policy, management, capability and, above all, a failure of imagination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The panel recommends a number of changes to deal with those failures, among them, bringing together the counter-terrorism efforts of the CIA, FBI, Defense and Homeland Security Departments all under one roof; naming a national intelligence director to oversee all of those agencies and report directly to the president; and forming a permanent oversight committee for homeland security in each house of Congress.
Bob Kerrey served on the 9/11 Commission.
He is here with us this morning to give us a little bit more insight into all of this.
Good morning to you.
BOB KERREY, FORMER NEBRASKA SENATOR, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Good morning.
COLLINS: Thanks for being here.
You know, Tom Kean said yesterday, you heard it just moments ago, we are safer, we are not safe.
How long do you think it will take for these recommendations to actually become policy?
KERREY: Well, I'm not optimistic, frankly. I'm hopeful that Congress will do something about it, but I mean unfortunately I think we've demonstrated and we've already forgotten how vulnerable we were on 9/11 and how many mistakes were made to produce that vulnerability. And I'm hopeful that the report, that people will read the report, especially the narrative of how this happened, you know, shake their head and say my god, it shouldn't have happened.
And we've examined significant vulnerabilities that the country still has and I'm hopeful the Congress will deal with it. But in the examination of what's going on right now in Congress and my own experience down there, I'm just not optimistic that it's going to happen any time soon, unless the American people rise up and ask their congressmen, their senators and their president look, we've got to get these changes in place because if we don't, the country simply is not going to be as safe as it needs to be.
COLLINS: But something that's a little bit different about this panel is that it's not going to disband. It's not just going to go away, like we have seen other panels similar to this do.
What can you do to make sure that these recommendations do become policy? What's your role?
KERREY: Well, the first thing that we're going to do is stay unified as five Republicans, five Democrats who were selected by elected political officials in Washington, D.C. at a time of perhaps the most intense partisan strife in the nation's history, for all I know; certainly in my lifetime. And we're not going to use terrorism, as we talk about the presidential campaign, we're not going to use terrorism or the 9/11 incident to argue for our candidate. We're not going to politicize this issue.
So we're going to stay together in a unified fashion and when asked, we'll go to Congress and we'll try to make an effort beyond that. I mean it's got to be voluntary at this point because under the statute, we go out of business in 30 days. So we have talked privately about trying to issue a report card in six months or in a year, do some traveling, if possible. But most importantly, we've made a commitment to one another that between now and the 2nd of November, we're not going to politicize this issue.
We're going to look, we're going to argue for the recommendations the 10 of us reached as a consequence of getting in a mood that comes from reexamining this narrative and looking at what happened and seeing a series of, you know, relatively small but terribly consequential errors that were made over the course of 10 years. COLLINS: I want to read you a little bit from the "Wall Street Journal" editorial this morning and get your reaction to it. What they wrote is this: "So the doctrine of preemption has its issues, after all. In a world of conflicting intelligence, uncertain consequences and potential foreign opposition, it is still sometimes necessary for America to attack an adversary before it attacks us. That, reduced to its essence, is the main conclusion of yesterday's 567-page report from the 9/11 Commission."
Do you agree with that?
KERREY: I agree with that. And it's not the main conclusion. I would disagree with it being the main conclusion of the report. But it's definitely a conclusion of the 10 of us who were on this Commission, that one of the mistakes that was made was the failure to bring to the American public, as well as the international community, who Osama bin Laden was and what he was doing.
He had identified the United States of America as the head of the snake and he began in 1992 to kill Americans. And he indicated that there was going to be no difference between civilian and military people. And he launched a very successful series of efforts, the last one prior to 9/11 being the USS Cole in October of 2000. he had a camp in Afghanistan where he was training people and we did attack it in 1998, but that was the only time. The only military attack against his camps. And when the FBI said in '98 and '99, he was training more terrorists than we were training FBI agents to go after him.
So, yes, I would say -- although in this case, it's not really preemption because he had declared war on us, he had been attacking us and attacking us successfully over a period of 10 years, including being either directly or indirectly responsible for the knockdown of the Black Hawk helicopters and the killing of Rangers in October of 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia.
COLLINS: Right.
Quickly before we let you go, what do you think about our Question of the Day here, talking about how long it's going to take for these recommendations to become policy because of the elections, because of time off, recess for Congress?
KERREY: I don't think it's a good excuse. I think there's just -- there's too much evidence that we're not doing enough, that we need to change our law, that we need to fund things differently, that we need to act differently. There's too much evidence that there is still very significant vulnerabilities that the American people have as a consequence of not going far enough.
We've examined this in great detail. In many cases we've taken recommendations that were made before and adopted them as our own. Where we didn't have to reinvent the wheel, we didn't. I just don't think there's a good excuse, when security is the most important issue that Americans care about, to say that we're going to wait till next year or study this, etc. I think a special session or something special is called for.
COLLINS: Get on 'em.
KERREY: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Bob Kerrey, a member of the 9/11 Commission.
Thanks so much for your time.
KERREY: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Now eight minutes past the hour.
To election '04. The Democrats kick off in Boston on Monday and when they do, they will know the race for the White House is now a virtual dead heat. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll numbers showing Senator John Kerry leading President Bush 47 to 46, with Ralph Nader at 4 percent. In a two way race, Senator Kerry leads the president by two points.
The John Kerry/John Edwards team leaves Denver later today on a campaign road trip to Boston later and the Democratic convention next week.
Let's start this morning in Denver.
Elaine Quijano is there -- good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Today the Kerry/Edwards ticket begins another push to introduce Senator John Kerry to the American people ahead of the Democratic National Convention. Now, as you said, they begin here in Denver and the emphasis will be on the concept of national service.
Now, Senator Kerry is expected to propose what the campaign is calling a Citizens Patriot Fund, a multi-million dollar grant program aimed at encouraging people to start new service programs.
Now, this area ties into that theme. This was chosen as this pre-convention campaign swing start because Senator Kerry was born at an Army hospital just outside of Denver, the son of a man who served in the military himself, an Army pilot. And against that backdrop, Senator Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, is expected to focus on the senator's own military service, Senator Kerry's actions during the Vietnam War, which resulted in three Purple Hearts and a Silver and Bronze Star.
Look for Senator Edwards to focus on themes that he has already touched on while out on the campaign trail this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A man who volunteered and put his life on the line for his country, a man who stood and put his -- the lives of the men he served ahead of his own life when he was in Vietnam; who has led and served this country his whole life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, today's appearance is expected to last about an hour here in Denver. Then the two men will go their separate ways. Senator Kerry going on to an appearance in Sioux City, Iowa; and Senator Edwards moving on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a fund-raiser there tonight -- Bill.
HEMMER: Elaine, thanks.
We'll track their progress across the country. Monday morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," live from the DNC in Boston, our coverage kicks off then. On Monday, Bill Richardson, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman help us in the first hour, 7:00 a.m. on Monday. Teresa Heinz Kerry, Ben Affleck, many more kick off our coverage on Tuesday. We'll be there throughout the week.
Also, the White House, President Bush traveling to Detroit at this hour, in fact, to talk with the Urban League. That's set to start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. And certainly we will have live coverage of that speech -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The judge has reversed himself in the Kobe Bryant case and they were almost literally splitting hairs in the Scott Peterson trial.
Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here now.
So we're back to the hair on the pliers in the Peterson case.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Correct.
COLLINS: One strand or two? I mean how significant is that?
TOOBIN: Well, it's actually, it's a big deal because this is the key physical evidence in the case. Remember, the boat that Scott Peterson had where he went fishing on the fateful day that his wife died, there was a single hair found in that boat of his wife, Laci Peterson.
That evidence was introduced at the preliminary hearing -- I was there -- last fall. And what the government said was that single head of hair -- single piece of hair -- was Laci Peterson's. Now it comes out that there were apparently two hairs in that -- there's the boat right there -- but in the evidence container.
So, how did one hair turn into two? That is the issue that was dominating the trial yesterday.
COLLINS: And then, you know, obviously Geragos argued right away that, you know, there was contamination here and the way that the evidence was collected. TOOBIN: Exactly.
COLLINS: How is that going to play out?
TOOBIN: Well, again, a very good argument, if the jury buys it, of, you know, police incompetence or malevolence, something wrong here. You can't trust this very important piece of evidence. The prosecution did respond that the ends of the hair were matched, suggesting that it simply broke, and, even more sinister, suggested that perhaps the pliers that Scott Peterson may have used turned, mashed the hair, turned it when he was weighing down her body. That's perhaps a bit of a stretch, but that's the prosecution's spin on the evidence.
COLLINS: OK. We'll wait to hear more on that one, obviously.
TOOBIN: Oh, yes.
COLLINS: Now to the Kobe Bryant case.
At first, we had learned from the judge that this physical exam that Kobe went through after the accusation of rape was not going to be allowed and now it is.
TOOBIN: He changed his mind.
COLLINS: Yes.
TOOBIN: Very strange. I've rarely seen a judge do this. It does happen now and then.
COLLINS: Important?
TOOBIN: But, you know, I don't think it's terribly important because the physical exam of Kobe Bryant apparently didn't produce much incriminating evidence against him anyway. So the fact that it was excluded before and included now probably doesn't make much difference because there's just nothing particularly incriminating there.
COLLINS: OK, but, part of this case is now going to the Supreme Court.
TOOBIN: Who would have thought?
COLLINS: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOOBIN: The United States Supreme Court, a very interesting matter. This is the -- remember, the court reporters mistakenly disclosed to the press some of the closed door hearings that took place.
COLLINS: Right.
TOOBIN: The press says hey, we got it legally, we want to report it. The Colorado court, including a 4-3 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court, said no, we are going to issue a prior restraint. You may not disclose what you learned, even though you got it legally.
Prior restraints are very unusual in American constitutional law. The media has now gone to the United States Supreme Court and said please overturn the Colorado courts, let us broadcast and print this material. We'll see, probably in the next couple days, whether the Supreme Court of the United States is going to take up the case.
COLLINS: Oh, interesting.
All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much for breaking those down for us.
TOOBIN: OK.
COLLINS: We appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Boy, Heidi, there are countless questions today in Salt Lake City. More questions surrounding the husband of a missing jogger there. Twenty-seven-year-old Lori Hacking reported missing by her husband early Monday morning. The "Salt Lake Tribune" reports that Mark Hacking bought a mattress 30 minutes before phoning police about Lori's disappearance. A box spring confiscated from the Hacking apartment this week. "The Deseret News" says police responded to a disturbance involving Mark Hacking at a Salt Lake City hotel on Monday night hours after Lori disappeared.
Adding to Wednesday's revelation that Mark had lied to his wife and family about attending medical school in North Carolina, friends now very hard and difficult to press and offer an explanation in Salt Lake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH READ, MISSING JOGGER'S FRIEND: I think like everyone, I'm shocked. I have no reason to believe, you know, that Mark had anything to do with Lori and I think we just need really to return the focus to Lori. You know, her car was found in Memory Grove. It's a place she runs three to four times a week. And, you know, she's still out there and we just, you know, we need to find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Elizabeth Read, along with Ed Smart from last hour here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Elizabeth Smart's family helping with the search for Lori. Elizabeth kidnapped from the Salt Lake City area two years ago, found about nine months later. The Smarts reassuring the Hackings that nothing has been found indicating that Lori is not alive at this time.
Now Heidi again.
COLLINS: Just about 15 minutes past the hour now.
And time for a look at some of the other news with Fredricka Whitfield -- Fred, good morning to you.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Heidi.
Two more American soldiers have been killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq. The attack targeted a U.S. military convoy in the city of Samarra north of Baghdad. A third soldier was wounded.
And in Fallujah, a giant crater following an air strike on about a dozen fighters with suspected ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. forces led the attack, in coordination with Iraq's interim government. It's not clear if any militants were killed or wounded.
New details about mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. A review by the Army inspector general's office found 94 cases of confirmed or suspected abuses by American troops. That's the highest number so far acknowledged by the Army. The report also suggests the incidents are the fault of individuals and not the result of systematic failures.
The House of Representatives is taking on same-sex marriage. Law makers yesterday voted to bar federal courts from ordering states to recognize marriages approved in other states. Supporters say federal judges shouldn't be allowed to rewrite marriage policy. Critics say the bill is an attack on gays and the federal judiciary. The Bush administration supports the bill, which faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
And the cost of your Starbucks coffee could be on the way up. The world's largest seller of gourmet coffee says there's a likelihood that it will raise prices as its North -- in its North American stores next year. The last price hike was four years ago. A rise in dairy prices is one of the reasons for the increase.
And finally, could this be Lance Armstrong's last Tour de France? Armstrong out sprinted his closest rivals yesterday, pushing his lead to over four minutes. The "New York Times" quotes a race official as saying if Armstrong wins his sixth straight Tour Sunday, he won't return next year, preferring to race in other big events. Armstrong's agent denies those claims -- Bill, back to you.
Everybody will be watching this weekend.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
Well, you know, Fred, every time we've been here, every time we've had a five time winner going for a sixth time, they've always been jinxed somehow. Three stages left. Fingers crossed for Lance, right?
WHITFIELD: Well, don't jinx him.
HEMMER: I'm not! I'm not talking about that no hit in the eighth inning.
WHITFIELD: It sounds like you are.
HEMMER: No, no, no. He's my man.
Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HEMMER: About 18 minutes now past the hour.
Police in Kansas think the infamous BTK serial killer surfaced again just about a week ago. His letters to police are signed "BTK" for "bind, torture and kill." This spring, he returned to taunt detectives.
KAKE TV anchor Larry Hatteberg has been covering the story ever since the killer first struck back in the 1970s.
Larry is with us today from Wichita.
Good morning to you and thank you for your time.
This is very strange, quite curious. Since March, five months ago, four letters have gone out.
What are the contents of these letters?
LARRY HATTEBERG, ANCHOR/KAKE TV: Well, that's a good question. In the first letter, BTK wrote to the local newspaper here. And in that letter, he detailed an earlier death that had been committed by BTK, a killing, in 1986. And in that letter, he enclosed a photo that only the killer would have taken.
Now, the unique thing about BTK is from 1974 to 1977, he killed seven people in the Wichita area then disappeared for 25 years. Then, in March of this year, he has resurfaced by writing letters. And he communicates to the public either by writing a letter to the police department, by writing a letter to the local newspaper or by writing a letter to this television station, KAKE.
So the unique thing about him is he disappeared for 25 years and everybody thought he was dead or incarcerated or had simply gone away. But he had not.
HEMMER: Larry, it's my understanding that...
HATTEBERG: Then all of a sudden he came back.
HEMMER: Yes, I apologize for the interruption. There are word games in these letters, even possibly a biography about himself? What do we know about that?
HATTEBERG: Yes. In the letter that he wrote to this television station, he had a word puzzle in it, a word puzzle that may contain some clues. He also had the I.D. of a security officer with a telephone company. Now, the security officer had retired many years ago. The police believe it was that I.D. that he used as a ruse to get into many people's homes in order to do the killing. And, of course, that has many people in Wichita at this point very frightened.
HEMMER: Boy, for certain. Now, catch us up a little bit here. What do police think they know for certain about this?
HATTEBERG: Well, they know for certain that he wants publicity, that he wants national publicity. In the first letters that he wrote back in the '70s, one of the lines that he used was, "How many more people do I have to kill before I get national attention?" So we know he wants attention. Why? We're not exactly sure.
And what happened in the 25 years where he disappeared? That is also the key question.
The other question is what prompted him to resurface? Now, many of the media outlets in this area, of course, did a 25th anniversary of BTK, and that may have prompted him to come back into the limelight. But we know that he wants to communicate right now.
And yesterday, police issued a security warning, basically, for the Wichita area, telling people that he was back. And in the latest letter that was received at the Wichita Public Library last Saturday, there were indications in there that he may strike again. At least that's what our sources are telling us.
The Wichita Police Department is not releasing very much information at all. As a matter of fact, when they hold a news conference, they take no questions. They simply read a statement and that's it.
HEMMER: Larry, thanks for that.
Larry Hatteberg works at KAKE, a station that received a letter just recently.
Thank you, Larry.
Good to talk with you.
HATTEBERG: My pleasure.
HEMMER: Here's Heidi.
COLLINS: We want to get a check of the weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: I was so excited, the first time going to the beach. New to me.
MYERS: Are you?
COLLINS: Yes, the Hampton area. But it looks like it's going to be...
HEMMER: Since when do you believe a weatherman?
MYERS: Actually... COLLINS: Always!
HEMMER: I'm kidding.
COLLINS: Chad.
MYERS: Heidi, the Hamptons may be far enough east that you will actually be better than, let's say, if you were going to Coney Island or...
COLLINS: Because it's really important to get my own personalized weather cast, right?
HEMMER: That's right.
MYERS: Whatever it takes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COLLINS: That's all right.
Thank you very much.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the ultimate mix of fashion and form. One country goes to extremes to protect its kids. The "Cafferty File" has that and a lot more in a moment here.
COLLINS: Yup. And also ahead, the baby faced assistant who turned an empire on its ear. The man who helped put away Martha Stewart learns his fate.
HEMMER: Also, remember this picture? Tongues wagging this week when folks saw this. The Give Me A Minute crew has a few thoughts on Jenna Bush in a moment here.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Fast food restaurants start accepting credit cards and consumers are eating it up.
Carrie Lee is in for Andy this morning. She's minding your business at the Nasdaq market site.
This could be good news if you're hungry.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be good news. Yes. And if you don't have cash, especially. If you get a hankering for a Big Mac, you soon won't have to go searching for cash. That's because McDonald's says it's going to start accepting credit cards at up to 8,000 of its 13,000 plus U.S. stores by the end of the year, joining the ranks of Wendy's, Burger King and Taco Bell. They already accept plastic. It seems fast food is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Today's "Wall Street Journal" reports that for the first time last year, Americans used credit and debit cards to make purchases more often than they used cash and checks. Interesting, because when people use plastic, they tend to spend more money. Good for the economy, a boost to consumer spending. Not so good, though, when it comes to those rising debt levels.
Turning to stocks, we did see a little bit of buying after a pretty volatile session yesterday. The Nasdaq higher by 14 points. The Dow up just 4 points. Today, though, technology stocks could take a big drubbing after weaker than expected profit numbers from Microsoft and Amazon.com -- Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Carrie Lee, thanks so much for that.
HEMMER: We've been waiting 27 minutes for this, and the time has finally arrived.
CAFFERTY: That's very funny.
HEMMER: The "File"...
COLLINS: It's not funny. It's not a joke.
CAFFERTY: Yes it is.
HEMMER: No it's not.
CAFFERTY: You're making light of my whole thing.
HEMMER: I'm not at all.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes, sure.
HEMMER: I'm just giving you a nice, friendly setup.
CAFFERTY: Yes, OK.
HEMMER: Take it away.
CAFFERTY: I don't believe you.
Here's the deal in Japan. Some parents taking no chances on the safety of their kids, dressing them in the latest fashion that combines safety. We're talking knife resistant sweatshirts and coats. A true story. The coats look like regular coats, but they're made from the same fibers that the police use to make knife proof and bulletproof vests. And they're very expensive -- $420 each. It would be cheaper, actually, just to buy your kid a knife and tell him to fight back.
HEMMER: Advice is free.
CAFFERTY: Sometimes.
COLLINS: My god.
CAFFERTY: Sometimes the blind lead the blind. There's a new study in New Zealand that says that one in 10 working guide dogs is short-sighted. Researchers say that some of these dogs have such poor vision that if they were human, they would need to wear glasses. Then they would look like this. There. No, that one doesn't have glasses. Well, picture it with glasses. Imagine.
Apparently the dogs' blurry vision does not affect their day to day duties. The scientists say the dogs were able to compensate by relying on their senses of smell and hearing.
Why do you have a picture of Heidi up?
COLLINS: Because I was laughing really hard at you.
CAFFERTY: Kelly, are you directing this show? Or did you go home already?
KELLY: I'm directing.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Not very well.
Last item. In Canada, the sales of dog biscuits -- 27 minutes you wanted for the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEMMER: Yes, baby! I'm still waiting.
CAFFERTY: In Canada, the sale of dog biscuits shaped like mail carriers has come to a screeching hot. Pet Value Canada has halted selling little doggie treats that are shaped like mailmen because the postal carriers in Canada have no sense of humor. The postal workers accused the company of being insensitive to their risk of dog bites. The media P.R. guy, some clown named John Canes (ph), says: "This is not in any way, shape or form funny for us and to make light of that, I don't see that as funny at all, not even in the least." John Canes getting hysterical over a dog biscuit that looks like a mailman. That's up there in Canada. Life is slower there.
COLLINS: I think it's...
CAFFERTY: That's all I've got.
COLLINS: I hope the dogs can actually see that there are biscuits made into mail carriers.
CAFFERTY: Yes, me, too.
HEMMER: Yes.
Short-sighted, can't see long.
CAFFERTY: Can I go home now, too? Congress is leaving for vacation today without doing anything. How about letting me out?
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You've got 90 more minutes here with me, Heidi and me.
CAFFERTY: I've got to do...
HEMMER: Then you've got "In The Money" after that, OK?
CAFFERTY: I'm very busy outside.
HEMMER: You've got a long day ahead of yourself.
CAFFERTY: A great job, Ellie.
HEMMER: In a moment, Sanjay stops by. We'll tell you why what you wear to work could help you lose weight. A true story here.
Plus, without him, Martha Stewart might not be looking at prison time, so says some experts. Now the prosecution's star witness finds out what the future has in store for him.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired July 23, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Senator John Kerry begins a cross country march to Boston and the Democratic convention.
New information about mattresses, as well as a strange disturbance at a hotel, as the case of a missing Utah woman gets stranger.
And the man who was instrumental in Martha Stewart's guilty verdict, Douglas Faneuil -- what will happen when he is sentenced, on this AMERICAN MORNING?
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.
Eight o'clock here in New York.
Some of the other news making headlines this hour. The 9/11 Commission members urging Congress and the White House to adopt their recommendations ASAP for preventing another terrorist attack. Heidi talks with one member, former Senator Bob Kerrey, in our studios. We'll get to him in a moment here.
Also, the Scott Peterson trial getting very heated. If you heard about this yesterday, the judge having to send jurors out of the courtroom yesterday as the lawyers fought among themselves. We'll tell you what promoted that.
Also this hour, from the middle part of the country, the search for a serial killer in Wichita, Kansas known as the BTK Strangler. We'll talk to a reporter and anchor from the area, find out about the latest clues that are putting that city on edge all over again. A series of letters have been put in the mail and we'll talk about the significance there in a moment here.
Also, Jack Cafferty here on a Friday -- good morning.
What's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
What is it Congress is scheduled to do today?
HEMMER: They're going home.
CAFFERTY: They go on vacation, right?
HEMMER: Yes, the recess begins today. The recess is four or five weeks.
CAFFERTY: They're saying they can't get around to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission until next year some time. They must be busy down there.
Coming up in the "Cafferty File," some Japanese families are dressing their children in knife and bulletproof clothing. And why some postal carriers in Canada are really steamed about some new doggie treats on the market.
The "Cafferty File" in about 20 minutes or so.
HEMMER: We wait.
Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Can we go on vacation, too? Interesting.
HEMMER: Ah, I wish.
Here's Heidi now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The 9/11 Commission says we are not safe. They believe that without a dramatic overhaul of intelligence, the United States is open to another catastrophic attack like the one on September 11, 2001.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS KEAN, CO-CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: On that September day, we were unprepared. We did not grasp the magnitude of a threat that had been gathering over a considerable period of time. As we detail in our report, this was a failure of policy, management, capability and, above all, a failure of imagination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The panel recommends a number of changes to deal with those failures, among them, bringing together the counter-terrorism efforts of the CIA, FBI, Defense and Homeland Security Departments all under one roof; naming a national intelligence director to oversee all of those agencies and report directly to the president; and forming a permanent oversight committee for homeland security in each house of Congress.
Bob Kerrey served on the 9/11 Commission.
He is here with us this morning to give us a little bit more insight into all of this.
Good morning to you.
BOB KERREY, FORMER NEBRASKA SENATOR, 9/11 COMMISSIONER: Good morning.
COLLINS: Thanks for being here.
You know, Tom Kean said yesterday, you heard it just moments ago, we are safer, we are not safe.
How long do you think it will take for these recommendations to actually become policy?
KERREY: Well, I'm not optimistic, frankly. I'm hopeful that Congress will do something about it, but I mean unfortunately I think we've demonstrated and we've already forgotten how vulnerable we were on 9/11 and how many mistakes were made to produce that vulnerability. And I'm hopeful that the report, that people will read the report, especially the narrative of how this happened, you know, shake their head and say my god, it shouldn't have happened.
And we've examined significant vulnerabilities that the country still has and I'm hopeful the Congress will deal with it. But in the examination of what's going on right now in Congress and my own experience down there, I'm just not optimistic that it's going to happen any time soon, unless the American people rise up and ask their congressmen, their senators and their president look, we've got to get these changes in place because if we don't, the country simply is not going to be as safe as it needs to be.
COLLINS: But something that's a little bit different about this panel is that it's not going to disband. It's not just going to go away, like we have seen other panels similar to this do.
What can you do to make sure that these recommendations do become policy? What's your role?
KERREY: Well, the first thing that we're going to do is stay unified as five Republicans, five Democrats who were selected by elected political officials in Washington, D.C. at a time of perhaps the most intense partisan strife in the nation's history, for all I know; certainly in my lifetime. And we're not going to use terrorism, as we talk about the presidential campaign, we're not going to use terrorism or the 9/11 incident to argue for our candidate. We're not going to politicize this issue.
So we're going to stay together in a unified fashion and when asked, we'll go to Congress and we'll try to make an effort beyond that. I mean it's got to be voluntary at this point because under the statute, we go out of business in 30 days. So we have talked privately about trying to issue a report card in six months or in a year, do some traveling, if possible. But most importantly, we've made a commitment to one another that between now and the 2nd of November, we're not going to politicize this issue.
We're going to look, we're going to argue for the recommendations the 10 of us reached as a consequence of getting in a mood that comes from reexamining this narrative and looking at what happened and seeing a series of, you know, relatively small but terribly consequential errors that were made over the course of 10 years. COLLINS: I want to read you a little bit from the "Wall Street Journal" editorial this morning and get your reaction to it. What they wrote is this: "So the doctrine of preemption has its issues, after all. In a world of conflicting intelligence, uncertain consequences and potential foreign opposition, it is still sometimes necessary for America to attack an adversary before it attacks us. That, reduced to its essence, is the main conclusion of yesterday's 567-page report from the 9/11 Commission."
Do you agree with that?
KERREY: I agree with that. And it's not the main conclusion. I would disagree with it being the main conclusion of the report. But it's definitely a conclusion of the 10 of us who were on this Commission, that one of the mistakes that was made was the failure to bring to the American public, as well as the international community, who Osama bin Laden was and what he was doing.
He had identified the United States of America as the head of the snake and he began in 1992 to kill Americans. And he indicated that there was going to be no difference between civilian and military people. And he launched a very successful series of efforts, the last one prior to 9/11 being the USS Cole in October of 2000. he had a camp in Afghanistan where he was training people and we did attack it in 1998, but that was the only time. The only military attack against his camps. And when the FBI said in '98 and '99, he was training more terrorists than we were training FBI agents to go after him.
So, yes, I would say -- although in this case, it's not really preemption because he had declared war on us, he had been attacking us and attacking us successfully over a period of 10 years, including being either directly or indirectly responsible for the knockdown of the Black Hawk helicopters and the killing of Rangers in October of 1993 in Mogadishu, Somalia.
COLLINS: Right.
Quickly before we let you go, what do you think about our Question of the Day here, talking about how long it's going to take for these recommendations to become policy because of the elections, because of time off, recess for Congress?
KERREY: I don't think it's a good excuse. I think there's just -- there's too much evidence that we're not doing enough, that we need to change our law, that we need to fund things differently, that we need to act differently. There's too much evidence that there is still very significant vulnerabilities that the American people have as a consequence of not going far enough.
We've examined this in great detail. In many cases we've taken recommendations that were made before and adopted them as our own. Where we didn't have to reinvent the wheel, we didn't. I just don't think there's a good excuse, when security is the most important issue that Americans care about, to say that we're going to wait till next year or study this, etc. I think a special session or something special is called for.
COLLINS: Get on 'em.
KERREY: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Bob Kerrey, a member of the 9/11 Commission.
Thanks so much for your time.
KERREY: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Now eight minutes past the hour.
To election '04. The Democrats kick off in Boston on Monday and when they do, they will know the race for the White House is now a virtual dead heat. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll numbers showing Senator John Kerry leading President Bush 47 to 46, with Ralph Nader at 4 percent. In a two way race, Senator Kerry leads the president by two points.
The John Kerry/John Edwards team leaves Denver later today on a campaign road trip to Boston later and the Democratic convention next week.
Let's start this morning in Denver.
Elaine Quijano is there -- good morning, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Today the Kerry/Edwards ticket begins another push to introduce Senator John Kerry to the American people ahead of the Democratic National Convention. Now, as you said, they begin here in Denver and the emphasis will be on the concept of national service.
Now, Senator Kerry is expected to propose what the campaign is calling a Citizens Patriot Fund, a multi-million dollar grant program aimed at encouraging people to start new service programs.
Now, this area ties into that theme. This was chosen as this pre-convention campaign swing start because Senator Kerry was born at an Army hospital just outside of Denver, the son of a man who served in the military himself, an Army pilot. And against that backdrop, Senator Kerry's running mate, John Edwards, is expected to focus on the senator's own military service, Senator Kerry's actions during the Vietnam War, which resulted in three Purple Hearts and a Silver and Bronze Star.
Look for Senator Edwards to focus on themes that he has already touched on while out on the campaign trail this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A man who volunteered and put his life on the line for his country, a man who stood and put his -- the lives of the men he served ahead of his own life when he was in Vietnam; who has led and served this country his whole life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, today's appearance is expected to last about an hour here in Denver. Then the two men will go their separate ways. Senator Kerry going on to an appearance in Sioux City, Iowa; and Senator Edwards moving on to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for a fund-raiser there tonight -- Bill.
HEMMER: Elaine, thanks.
We'll track their progress across the country. Monday morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," live from the DNC in Boston, our coverage kicks off then. On Monday, Bill Richardson, Ted Kennedy, Joe Lieberman help us in the first hour, 7:00 a.m. on Monday. Teresa Heinz Kerry, Ben Affleck, many more kick off our coverage on Tuesday. We'll be there throughout the week.
Also, the White House, President Bush traveling to Detroit at this hour, in fact, to talk with the Urban League. That's set to start at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. And certainly we will have live coverage of that speech -- Heidi.
COLLINS: The judge has reversed himself in the Kobe Bryant case and they were almost literally splitting hairs in the Scott Peterson trial.
Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here now.
So we're back to the hair on the pliers in the Peterson case.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Correct.
COLLINS: One strand or two? I mean how significant is that?
TOOBIN: Well, it's actually, it's a big deal because this is the key physical evidence in the case. Remember, the boat that Scott Peterson had where he went fishing on the fateful day that his wife died, there was a single hair found in that boat of his wife, Laci Peterson.
That evidence was introduced at the preliminary hearing -- I was there -- last fall. And what the government said was that single head of hair -- single piece of hair -- was Laci Peterson's. Now it comes out that there were apparently two hairs in that -- there's the boat right there -- but in the evidence container.
So, how did one hair turn into two? That is the issue that was dominating the trial yesterday.
COLLINS: And then, you know, obviously Geragos argued right away that, you know, there was contamination here and the way that the evidence was collected. TOOBIN: Exactly.
COLLINS: How is that going to play out?
TOOBIN: Well, again, a very good argument, if the jury buys it, of, you know, police incompetence or malevolence, something wrong here. You can't trust this very important piece of evidence. The prosecution did respond that the ends of the hair were matched, suggesting that it simply broke, and, even more sinister, suggested that perhaps the pliers that Scott Peterson may have used turned, mashed the hair, turned it when he was weighing down her body. That's perhaps a bit of a stretch, but that's the prosecution's spin on the evidence.
COLLINS: OK. We'll wait to hear more on that one, obviously.
TOOBIN: Oh, yes.
COLLINS: Now to the Kobe Bryant case.
At first, we had learned from the judge that this physical exam that Kobe went through after the accusation of rape was not going to be allowed and now it is.
TOOBIN: He changed his mind.
COLLINS: Yes.
TOOBIN: Very strange. I've rarely seen a judge do this. It does happen now and then.
COLLINS: Important?
TOOBIN: But, you know, I don't think it's terribly important because the physical exam of Kobe Bryant apparently didn't produce much incriminating evidence against him anyway. So the fact that it was excluded before and included now probably doesn't make much difference because there's just nothing particularly incriminating there.
COLLINS: OK, but, part of this case is now going to the Supreme Court.
TOOBIN: Who would have thought?
COLLINS: Yes, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOOBIN: The United States Supreme Court, a very interesting matter. This is the -- remember, the court reporters mistakenly disclosed to the press some of the closed door hearings that took place.
COLLINS: Right.
TOOBIN: The press says hey, we got it legally, we want to report it. The Colorado court, including a 4-3 decision by the Colorado Supreme Court, said no, we are going to issue a prior restraint. You may not disclose what you learned, even though you got it legally.
Prior restraints are very unusual in American constitutional law. The media has now gone to the United States Supreme Court and said please overturn the Colorado courts, let us broadcast and print this material. We'll see, probably in the next couple days, whether the Supreme Court of the United States is going to take up the case.
COLLINS: Oh, interesting.
All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much for breaking those down for us.
TOOBIN: OK.
COLLINS: We appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Boy, Heidi, there are countless questions today in Salt Lake City. More questions surrounding the husband of a missing jogger there. Twenty-seven-year-old Lori Hacking reported missing by her husband early Monday morning. The "Salt Lake Tribune" reports that Mark Hacking bought a mattress 30 minutes before phoning police about Lori's disappearance. A box spring confiscated from the Hacking apartment this week. "The Deseret News" says police responded to a disturbance involving Mark Hacking at a Salt Lake City hotel on Monday night hours after Lori disappeared.
Adding to Wednesday's revelation that Mark had lied to his wife and family about attending medical school in North Carolina, friends now very hard and difficult to press and offer an explanation in Salt Lake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH READ, MISSING JOGGER'S FRIEND: I think like everyone, I'm shocked. I have no reason to believe, you know, that Mark had anything to do with Lori and I think we just need really to return the focus to Lori. You know, her car was found in Memory Grove. It's a place she runs three to four times a week. And, you know, she's still out there and we just, you know, we need to find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Elizabeth Read, along with Ed Smart from last hour here on "AMERICAN MORNING." Elizabeth Smart's family helping with the search for Lori. Elizabeth kidnapped from the Salt Lake City area two years ago, found about nine months later. The Smarts reassuring the Hackings that nothing has been found indicating that Lori is not alive at this time.
Now Heidi again.
COLLINS: Just about 15 minutes past the hour now.
And time for a look at some of the other news with Fredricka Whitfield -- Fred, good morning to you.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Heidi.
Two more American soldiers have been killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq. The attack targeted a U.S. military convoy in the city of Samarra north of Baghdad. A third soldier was wounded.
And in Fallujah, a giant crater following an air strike on about a dozen fighters with suspected ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. forces led the attack, in coordination with Iraq's interim government. It's not clear if any militants were killed or wounded.
New details about mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. A review by the Army inspector general's office found 94 cases of confirmed or suspected abuses by American troops. That's the highest number so far acknowledged by the Army. The report also suggests the incidents are the fault of individuals and not the result of systematic failures.
The House of Representatives is taking on same-sex marriage. Law makers yesterday voted to bar federal courts from ordering states to recognize marriages approved in other states. Supporters say federal judges shouldn't be allowed to rewrite marriage policy. Critics say the bill is an attack on gays and the federal judiciary. The Bush administration supports the bill, which faces an uphill battle in the Senate.
And the cost of your Starbucks coffee could be on the way up. The world's largest seller of gourmet coffee says there's a likelihood that it will raise prices as its North -- in its North American stores next year. The last price hike was four years ago. A rise in dairy prices is one of the reasons for the increase.
And finally, could this be Lance Armstrong's last Tour de France? Armstrong out sprinted his closest rivals yesterday, pushing his lead to over four minutes. The "New York Times" quotes a race official as saying if Armstrong wins his sixth straight Tour Sunday, he won't return next year, preferring to race in other big events. Armstrong's agent denies those claims -- Bill, back to you.
Everybody will be watching this weekend.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
Well, you know, Fred, every time we've been here, every time we've had a five time winner going for a sixth time, they've always been jinxed somehow. Three stages left. Fingers crossed for Lance, right?
WHITFIELD: Well, don't jinx him.
HEMMER: I'm not! I'm not talking about that no hit in the eighth inning.
WHITFIELD: It sounds like you are.
HEMMER: No, no, no. He's my man.
Thank you, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right.
HEMMER: About 18 minutes now past the hour.
Police in Kansas think the infamous BTK serial killer surfaced again just about a week ago. His letters to police are signed "BTK" for "bind, torture and kill." This spring, he returned to taunt detectives.
KAKE TV anchor Larry Hatteberg has been covering the story ever since the killer first struck back in the 1970s.
Larry is with us today from Wichita.
Good morning to you and thank you for your time.
This is very strange, quite curious. Since March, five months ago, four letters have gone out.
What are the contents of these letters?
LARRY HATTEBERG, ANCHOR/KAKE TV: Well, that's a good question. In the first letter, BTK wrote to the local newspaper here. And in that letter, he detailed an earlier death that had been committed by BTK, a killing, in 1986. And in that letter, he enclosed a photo that only the killer would have taken.
Now, the unique thing about BTK is from 1974 to 1977, he killed seven people in the Wichita area then disappeared for 25 years. Then, in March of this year, he has resurfaced by writing letters. And he communicates to the public either by writing a letter to the police department, by writing a letter to the local newspaper or by writing a letter to this television station, KAKE.
So the unique thing about him is he disappeared for 25 years and everybody thought he was dead or incarcerated or had simply gone away. But he had not.
HEMMER: Larry, it's my understanding that...
HATTEBERG: Then all of a sudden he came back.
HEMMER: Yes, I apologize for the interruption. There are word games in these letters, even possibly a biography about himself? What do we know about that?
HATTEBERG: Yes. In the letter that he wrote to this television station, he had a word puzzle in it, a word puzzle that may contain some clues. He also had the I.D. of a security officer with a telephone company. Now, the security officer had retired many years ago. The police believe it was that I.D. that he used as a ruse to get into many people's homes in order to do the killing. And, of course, that has many people in Wichita at this point very frightened.
HEMMER: Boy, for certain. Now, catch us up a little bit here. What do police think they know for certain about this?
HATTEBERG: Well, they know for certain that he wants publicity, that he wants national publicity. In the first letters that he wrote back in the '70s, one of the lines that he used was, "How many more people do I have to kill before I get national attention?" So we know he wants attention. Why? We're not exactly sure.
And what happened in the 25 years where he disappeared? That is also the key question.
The other question is what prompted him to resurface? Now, many of the media outlets in this area, of course, did a 25th anniversary of BTK, and that may have prompted him to come back into the limelight. But we know that he wants to communicate right now.
And yesterday, police issued a security warning, basically, for the Wichita area, telling people that he was back. And in the latest letter that was received at the Wichita Public Library last Saturday, there were indications in there that he may strike again. At least that's what our sources are telling us.
The Wichita Police Department is not releasing very much information at all. As a matter of fact, when they hold a news conference, they take no questions. They simply read a statement and that's it.
HEMMER: Larry, thanks for that.
Larry Hatteberg works at KAKE, a station that received a letter just recently.
Thank you, Larry.
Good to talk with you.
HATTEBERG: My pleasure.
HEMMER: Here's Heidi.
COLLINS: We want to get a check of the weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: I was so excited, the first time going to the beach. New to me.
MYERS: Are you?
COLLINS: Yes, the Hampton area. But it looks like it's going to be...
HEMMER: Since when do you believe a weatherman?
MYERS: Actually... COLLINS: Always!
HEMMER: I'm kidding.
COLLINS: Chad.
MYERS: Heidi, the Hamptons may be far enough east that you will actually be better than, let's say, if you were going to Coney Island or...
COLLINS: Because it's really important to get my own personalized weather cast, right?
HEMMER: That's right.
MYERS: Whatever it takes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COLLINS: That's all right.
Thank you very much.
HEMMER: In a moment here, the ultimate mix of fashion and form. One country goes to extremes to protect its kids. The "Cafferty File" has that and a lot more in a moment here.
COLLINS: Yup. And also ahead, the baby faced assistant who turned an empire on its ear. The man who helped put away Martha Stewart learns his fate.
HEMMER: Also, remember this picture? Tongues wagging this week when folks saw this. The Give Me A Minute crew has a few thoughts on Jenna Bush in a moment here.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Fast food restaurants start accepting credit cards and consumers are eating it up.
Carrie Lee is in for Andy this morning. She's minding your business at the Nasdaq market site.
This could be good news if you're hungry.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could be good news. Yes. And if you don't have cash, especially. If you get a hankering for a Big Mac, you soon won't have to go searching for cash. That's because McDonald's says it's going to start accepting credit cards at up to 8,000 of its 13,000 plus U.S. stores by the end of the year, joining the ranks of Wendy's, Burger King and Taco Bell. They already accept plastic. It seems fast food is finally catching up with the rest of the world. Today's "Wall Street Journal" reports that for the first time last year, Americans used credit and debit cards to make purchases more often than they used cash and checks. Interesting, because when people use plastic, they tend to spend more money. Good for the economy, a boost to consumer spending. Not so good, though, when it comes to those rising debt levels.
Turning to stocks, we did see a little bit of buying after a pretty volatile session yesterday. The Nasdaq higher by 14 points. The Dow up just 4 points. Today, though, technology stocks could take a big drubbing after weaker than expected profit numbers from Microsoft and Amazon.com -- Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Carrie Lee, thanks so much for that.
HEMMER: We've been waiting 27 minutes for this, and the time has finally arrived.
CAFFERTY: That's very funny.
HEMMER: The "File"...
COLLINS: It's not funny. It's not a joke.
CAFFERTY: Yes it is.
HEMMER: No it's not.
CAFFERTY: You're making light of my whole thing.
HEMMER: I'm not at all.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes, sure.
HEMMER: I'm just giving you a nice, friendly setup.
CAFFERTY: Yes, OK.
HEMMER: Take it away.
CAFFERTY: I don't believe you.
Here's the deal in Japan. Some parents taking no chances on the safety of their kids, dressing them in the latest fashion that combines safety. We're talking knife resistant sweatshirts and coats. A true story. The coats look like regular coats, but they're made from the same fibers that the police use to make knife proof and bulletproof vests. And they're very expensive -- $420 each. It would be cheaper, actually, just to buy your kid a knife and tell him to fight back.
HEMMER: Advice is free.
CAFFERTY: Sometimes.
COLLINS: My god.
CAFFERTY: Sometimes the blind lead the blind. There's a new study in New Zealand that says that one in 10 working guide dogs is short-sighted. Researchers say that some of these dogs have such poor vision that if they were human, they would need to wear glasses. Then they would look like this. There. No, that one doesn't have glasses. Well, picture it with glasses. Imagine.
Apparently the dogs' blurry vision does not affect their day to day duties. The scientists say the dogs were able to compensate by relying on their senses of smell and hearing.
Why do you have a picture of Heidi up?
COLLINS: Because I was laughing really hard at you.
CAFFERTY: Kelly, are you directing this show? Or did you go home already?
KELLY: I'm directing.
CAFFERTY: Yes. Not very well.
Last item. In Canada, the sales of dog biscuits -- 27 minutes you wanted for the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
HEMMER: Yes, baby! I'm still waiting.
CAFFERTY: In Canada, the sale of dog biscuits shaped like mail carriers has come to a screeching hot. Pet Value Canada has halted selling little doggie treats that are shaped like mailmen because the postal carriers in Canada have no sense of humor. The postal workers accused the company of being insensitive to their risk of dog bites. The media P.R. guy, some clown named John Canes (ph), says: "This is not in any way, shape or form funny for us and to make light of that, I don't see that as funny at all, not even in the least." John Canes getting hysterical over a dog biscuit that looks like a mailman. That's up there in Canada. Life is slower there.
COLLINS: I think it's...
CAFFERTY: That's all I've got.
COLLINS: I hope the dogs can actually see that there are biscuits made into mail carriers.
CAFFERTY: Yes, me, too.
HEMMER: Yes.
Short-sighted, can't see long.
CAFFERTY: Can I go home now, too? Congress is leaving for vacation today without doing anything. How about letting me out?
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You've got 90 more minutes here with me, Heidi and me.
CAFFERTY: I've got to do...
HEMMER: Then you've got "In The Money" after that, OK?
CAFFERTY: I'm very busy outside.
HEMMER: You've got a long day ahead of yourself.
CAFFERTY: A great job, Ellie.
HEMMER: In a moment, Sanjay stops by. We'll tell you why what you wear to work could help you lose weight. A true story here.
Plus, without him, Martha Stewart might not be looking at prison time, so says some experts. Now the prosecution's star witness finds out what the future has in store for him.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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