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American Morning

Part Two of John Kerry Interview; Lynndie England Arrives for Military Hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Aired August 03, 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: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
The Army reservist who in some ways became the face of the prison abuse scandal in Iraq is having her pre-trial hearing today. We're going to look at the case against Lynndie England.

Also in a moment here, part two of my interview with the Democratic nominee John Kerry in a moment.

The Senator telling me how he felt he did at his convention in Boston on Thursday night. Also in a moment, why he thinks it's important for Americans to know that he hunts and he fishes and things of that matter, and why he's taking that message and his own faith in God on the trail. So we'll get to that and his personal side in a moment.

COLLINS: All right. Also, Hurricane Alex now off the coast of North Carolina. Will the storm pack a punch, or just tease the Outer Banks with its wind and rain? We're going to find out more from Chad Myers who is there.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. In the meantime, though, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry campaigning again today in the Midwest. I talked with him yesterday in Grand Rapids, Michigan live here on AMERICAN MORNING.

We talked about the terror warnings out there, the poll numbers out of Boston. Also what he thought about George Bush, his opponent. After we went off the air, we continued talking. Here's part two of that interview now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: The last few days on the campaign trail, you've talked about your faith in God, fishing as a young boy, hunting since the age of 12.

Why do you think that message is important in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because there are lots of people who care about it. And I want people to know the truth, not the distortions that they get in campaigns.

The truth is that I'm somebody who all my life has appreciated being outdoors, hunting, fishing, taking part in sports. And I think a lot of people want to know who you are. Who are you in your gut?

Who are you as a person? I know as a sportsman, as a hunter and a fisherman that you have to preserve the habitat. A lot of people try to scare people on the issue of guns and habitat and other things. I just don't want people to be scared. I want them to understand, really, who I am. And that's why I talk about things that I think are important to people.

HEMMER: It appears that along your campaign route you're going to a number of places that leaned toward George Bush in the year 2000. Specifically...

KERRY: Well I'm competing for the votes.

HEMMER: Specifically what is that strategy?

KERRY: I'm competing for votes. I want people to know the truth. The truth is we have the largest deficits in American history. The truth is there is nothing conservative about running up these deficits and piling debt onto our children.

There's nothing conservative about having your Attorney General violate the constitution and trample on people's civil rights and civil liberties.

I believe that people want to know the truth. I have a plan -- for instance, they've spent $90 million telling people things -- I want people to know the truth.

Under John Edwards and my economic plan, 98 percent of Americans get a tax cut. I want to say that again. Ninety-eight percent of all Americans get a tax cut under my economic plan. Ninety-nine percent of all businesses in America get a tax cut under my economic plan.

But I'm going to roll back President Bush's unaffordable tax cut, unwise tax cut, which adds to the deficit, we're going to roll it back for the wealthiest Americans so that we can invest in lowering health care costs for business and for Americans.

HEMMER: Some of that is in your "Plan for America" that came out on Monday. Thirty-six pages devoted to security, 30 pages devoted to the economy.

In your estimation, what is the key issue that wins in November? Is it terrorism in Iraq, or is it the economy?

KERRY: It's one word. Security. National security, physical, personal security, job security, wage, income security, health security -- security. People want to know that the government is doing everything in its power to protect and provide the possibilities of the American dream to our families.

I can do a better job than George Bush is of putting people back to work, restoring our alliances, making us stronger in the world and stronger at home and respected in the world, and I can do a better job of fighting the war on terror. HEMMER: What did you think of your speech last Thursday night in Boston?

KERRY: Well I don't think it's important what I thought of it, I think it's important whether Americans thought well of it, and we'll find out over the course of the next days.

It was a privilege to stand up there. It was an extraordinary experience to walk out on that stage and to see that arena filled with people and most importantly to have a chance to talk through the television to the American people.

I wanted to share who I am.

HEMMER: When you got to the period at the end of that 45-minute session at the Fleet Center, did you feel like, hey, I hit it?

KERRY: I just felt excited about the things that I had a chance to share with Americans. I mean, it's wonderful to be able to stand up in front of your own country people, your fellow citizens. Neighbors, friends, family. People you've not met.

And say I have a dream. I have a vision for our country. I know how to put America back to work and here's how we can do it. And I went one, two, three. Revitalize manufacturing. Lower the cost of health care. Have a fair play -- trade -- playing field.

I know how we can have health care for Americans. People deserve real plans for America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Senator Kerry what you did not hear yesterday here on AMERICAN MORNING, he continues his tour in Wisconsin again today in Milwaukee late yesterday.

President Bush meanwhile campaigns back in his home state of Texas. He's in Dallas later today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Moments ago Pfc. Lynndie England, the soldier at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal arrived for an important military hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina -- you see her there.

Now six months pregnant, she is the young woman seen in several photographs associated with the abuses at the prison.

Bob Franken is live at Fort Bragg now in North Carolina with the very latest this morning. Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This is the proceeding to decide whether there will be a court martial and which of those charges will be considered. For this proceeding alone they are expecting as many as 25 witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRANKEN (voice-over): Lynndie England was raised in a corner of small town America, but now these pictures from Iraq have made her a world-wide symbol of the controversy over mistreatment of prisoners by U.S. forces.

Private First Class England was reassigned to Fort Bragg and this is where she faces an Article 32 proceeding, the military's counterpart to a pre-trial hearing to determine whether she will face a court martial over more than a dozen charges.

In an earlier interview, England insisted she was reluctantly following orders.

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LYNNDIE ENGLAND: I didn't really, I mean, want to be in any pictures.

FRANKEN: They were for psy-op reasons, she said, and the reasons worked. I mean, so to us, we were doing our job which meant we were doing what we were told and the outcome was what they wanted.

RICK HERNANDEZ, LYNNDIE ENGLAND'S LAWYER: People in the higher chain of command were providing guidance to the lower chain of command of how to perform interrogations of detainees, yes.

FRANKEN: Defense lawyers say they will demand the right to make that point by calling high level witnesses from the Pentagon and Bush administration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The fact is that their client faces a potential of 38 years in prison. They say that Lynndie England was merely a scapegoat. Merely doing what she was told -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Bob Franken this morning coming from Fort Bragg -- Bob, thanks.

HEMMER: About 22 minutes now before the hour. Back to Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center looking at other news and tough news yet again today from Iraq there. Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, good morning to you. Our first headline comes from Iraq.

Another U.S. Marine has died there from wounds suffered yesterday in clashes with insurgents.

Some 919 American forces have now died in Iraq since March of last year. And in Najaf, the U.S. led coalition denies claims that its forces launched an operation against radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr. We'll speak with a CNN military analyst in the next half hour.

Here in the U.S., prosecutors are trying to show a financial motive in the Laci Peterson double murder case. Witnesses testified yesterday that Scott Peterson's fertilizer company was losing money and that he could collect $250,000 from his wife's insurance company. More testimony is expected when the court resumes later today.

The judge in Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case has released transcripts. They're from a closed-door hearing on the accuser's sexual history. The documents detail testimony from a defense expert on DNA evidence. It suggests the woman had a sexual encounter with another man after her incident with Bryant, a claim that is denied by the accuser's legal team.

And finally, take a look above. In orbit high above earth two astronauts are taking a six-hour walk in space. Both astronauts are outside the international space station taking care of maintenance. Engineers on earth are monitoring the station while the astronauts are on their space watch.

And that's because back in the day they used to have three astronauts up there. Now there's only two since the last shuttle disaster so the folks on earth have to steer the ship while the guys outside are doing the space walk.

HEMMER: So -- it's amazing how they adjust though. I'll tell you. So much talent.

KAGAN: The ultimate fix it guys.

HEMMER: Yes, that's right. Daryn, thanks. Talk to you again a bit later this morning. Hurricane Alex churning off the coast of North Carolina, the first hurricane of the season, also the first test this year of how prepared everyone is, too.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, one bank is about to get really personal with its credit cards. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business." He'll stop by to explain that.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, there's a new way to get your daily dose of vitamins we're told but are you really getting your money's worth when you do it? Sanjay stops by here in New York City today in a moment.

COLLINS: Plus, hybrid cars are supposed to cut back on pollution, but in one state they might also help cut back on traffic -- huh. We'll explain on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: New vitamin sprays give you a daily spritz of nutrition, but are they more hype than health? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with the details.

So, what gives?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you the biggest hype about this might be in fact that it gets people to take their vitamins because it's kind of a new inhaleable spray. Now, a lot of people take their vitamins in pill form that's been around for a long time, obviously.

But there have been a lot of interest; there's been a lot of interest in various types of inhaleable things like the flu mist, for example. Remember that?

COLLINS: Right.

GUPTA: The big thing was trying to get people to take their flu vaccine in the form of a spray. No shot, things like that. Same sort of principle here with the flu mist vaccine -- I'm sorry, not the flu mist -- the vita-mist spray. Now let me show you. Here's a couple of examples you see here. There's a women's health one, a prenatal sort of version as well.

I have the immune formula here; I'll tell you there's lots of different formulas. Basically you just take it and you spray it in your mouth.

COLLINS: Kind of like Bactine, right?

GUPTA: Let me tell you it tastes a little bit funny, it's got a little bit of an aftertaste to it. But it is gaining some popularity. Take a look at the list there. Sprayed like a breath freshener just like I showed you.

It's pretty expensive, actually. Those are expensive numbers. $20-36 for a month's supply. That's about three times more than the pills. You need to take eight spritzes a day, two spritzes every four hours and there's really no proof that it gives any more -- is any more effective than just taking the pills themselves.

COLLINS: And you have to remember -- I mean two spritzes every four hours. I don't...

GUPTA: You carry this in your pocket.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, what about people who might actually benefit from the spray form versus taking vitamin in the pill form?

GUPTA: Right. Besides the sort of cool factor of this there are people who might actually have some benefit from it. People who, for example, have swallowing problems, you can see the list there. They dislike swallowing pills. You know the vitamin pills are pretty big, Heidi. You've probably taken some of them? Hard to take sometimes.

Also gastrointestinal problems where it's just hard to swallow pills. Or if you've had recent surgery for example and for example gastric bypass surgery your doctor is telling you definitely need all your vitamins but it's hard for you to take them because of swallowing problems because your stomach is not doing well, the spray may help instead.

COLLINS: My mother could really benefit from these as far as swallowing pills. She's not so good at that.

GUPTA: Getting people to take their vitamins may be the biggest benefit.

COLLINS: Yes, excellent. All right, Sanjay thanks so much for that.

Still to come now this morning here's a good barroom debate. Who wins a fight between a two year old and a monkey? Jack has the answer to that. "The Cafferty Files" coming up after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Thank you, Bruce. Doing a great job today.

Yes, you are. Welcome back everybody. Over to Jack now who is also doing a great job.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, thank you. The big airlines in this country constantly whining about how tough their business is and one of the reasons they're in trouble is some of them are just plain stupid.

Andy Serwer is here now "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, I second that emotion. When does a trial balloon become a lead balloon? Check this one out from Delta Airlines out of Atlanta, Georgia, I believe, aren't they?

Here's what happened. Couple of weeks ago Delta put out an online survey to its frequent flyers asking them if they would be willing to pay a fee to send a call for service to a U.S. call rep rather than an Indian one. OK? In other words, so if you were going to call up Delta and make a reservation would you pay $5 to speak to an American rather than to have the call routed to India?

Kind of a bad idea. And Delta has since done a 180 on that. Yesterday -- today actually they have an op-ed piece in the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." Here's the CEO Gerald Grinstein saying, "That darn question should never have been on a survey. That's not what we're about, and we're not going to do it."

Interesting I know about one online lending company, Jack, that asks you whether you want your loan processed immediately by an Indian person or whether you want to wait up to two days to have an American do it.

CAFFERTY: The answer is...

SERWER: It just doesn't -- it just doesn't fly.

CAFFERTY: The answer to that is, which everyone will give me the money.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Now. That's all. I want -- why would I want to put my picture on my credit card? Assuming that I might want to do that now I can, correct?

SERWER: I think we might want to do that, Jack. This is a new -- it's a new VISA card put out by the First National Bank of Omaha called the "One of a Card," OK?

What you can do is a custom made VISA card. You can put any image you want -- you do it at their Web site. Oneofacard.com...

CAFFERTY: Could you be naked?

SERWER: Your kids, your cars, your little picture -- well, what if Jack Cafferty was on a VISA card? What would it look like? Hey, Reg, (ph) in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Have we got a card for you.

(LAUGHTER)

Guy down in Atlanta. Have we got a card for you. Mrs. Cafferty have we got a card for you. What do you think?

CAFFERTY: I think that's stupid. Why would you want to do that?

SERWER: The magic of Photoshop. No, I think we actually made that at their Web site.

CAFFERTY: No but why would you want to have your picture on the credit card?

SERWER: That's the part I don't -- well maybe you love you. Yes.

CAFFERTY: I know you're pretending you didn't hear my question.

SERWER: Yes. OK, I have -- I'm not responding to the people from Omaha but I assume you could -- no; you're not naked there.

But, I think you might be able to be naked.

CAFFERTY: So that might be fun then actually. You go into some really stuffy place and hand them your credit card and there's a naked person.

SERWER: Of if you just went to the, you know, grocer.

CAFFERTY: Martha Stewart's earnings are out and they're terrible.

SERWER: Yes, they're bad -- they're went to the loss of $19 million to the quarter. Some interesting news coming out of that company. We'll talk about that. Consumer spending dropped in the month of June more sharply than expected.

CAFFERTY: All right, thanks Andy.

To the "File." Body builders in Iraq stripping down to their tightest little Speedos in honor of their hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was the walking barbell's 57th birthday yesterday out there in California and thousands of miles away in Baghdad, members of the Arnold Classic Gym celebrated the man they call "The Greatest Champion Ever."

Some coated their bodies in the bronze oil, which makes them shine. Others couldn't get the real oil so they used some red colored ink, which made them look like they had a very bad sunburn. There's some rumor that maybe Arnold could be president of Iraq when his term as governor of California expires.

Over in Brooklyn a monkey and a kid got into a fight in a supermarket in Brooklyn. The tabloids here in New York making a big to-do about this story. "Daily News" had pictures of 2-year-old Thomas Romano (ph) and Darla, a 6-year-old Macaw.

They were having a stare down from their respective shopping carts and all of a sudden the monkey went nuts and bit the kid.

And the boy's grandmother who saw the whole thing says she saw something brown and furry on her grandson and she saw this man punching it. The monkey's owner who is there on the left says that the monkey was minding his own business and the kid provoked the whole deal. The mother says the monkey should -- well, that's enough of that story.

SERWER: Just another day at the Safeway I guess, huh?

CAFFERTY: Yes. You think the supermarket in your town is an interesting place.

Get married make more money. Labor Department economists say married guys make 20 percent more money than single men. The reasons: Married men are more productive, more reliable, more committed. Women are attracted to good-looking men. Employers say they may favor handsome employees. Married men all have real responsibilities therefore they take their work more seriously.

Single guys in turn have nothing to worry about. They live empty lives in empty apartments with empty refrigerators and dirty laundry.

But they can afford to make less money because they don't have a wife to support.

SERWER: Sounds kind of fun. Married men also older -- might make more money but...

CAFFERTY: Turning now to the scorecard: number of days since the 9/11 Commission made recommendations for protecting the country against terrorism: 12. Number of recommendations adopted by Congress: zero.

House and Senate committees, though, are holding hearings on how to implement the recommendations. That's what we need: more Congressional hearings. The Commission held hearings for 20 months.

That's all I have to say on that. COLLINS: All right, Jack thanks so much for that. Still to come this morning, the financial centers of three U.S. cities remain under orange alert this morning. We'll have a live report from one of the cites mentioned as a possible target.

Find out what's being done there. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

COLLINS: Good morning everybody. From New York and just a few miles up the river you saw her there Lady Liberty, the statue reopening this morning nearly three years after it was closed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Also this morning a very high level meeting going on between the secretary of homeland security and a group of state, local and business leaders talking about the current terror warnings. We'll have more on the security crackdown and where officials go from here. That's the question.

HEMMER: Also as we move away from that story, look at where the Bush and Kerry campaigns are headed today. A lot of material -- new material -- for the campaigns to discuss on the road after both candidates mix it up on terrorism yesterday.

COLLINS: True. Also in Iraq a gun battle at the home of Muqtada al Sadr. Are U.S. troops trying to send a message or kill the radical cleric? We'll talk to retired Major General Don Shepard about that.

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 August 3, 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: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
The Army reservist who in some ways became the face of the prison abuse scandal in Iraq is having her pre-trial hearing today. We're going to look at the case against Lynndie England.

Also in a moment here, part two of my interview with the Democratic nominee John Kerry in a moment.

The Senator telling me how he felt he did at his convention in Boston on Thursday night. Also in a moment, why he thinks it's important for Americans to know that he hunts and he fishes and things of that matter, and why he's taking that message and his own faith in God on the trail. So we'll get to that and his personal side in a moment.

COLLINS: All right. Also, Hurricane Alex now off the coast of North Carolina. Will the storm pack a punch, or just tease the Outer Banks with its wind and rain? We're going to find out more from Chad Myers who is there.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. In the meantime, though, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry campaigning again today in the Midwest. I talked with him yesterday in Grand Rapids, Michigan live here on AMERICAN MORNING.

We talked about the terror warnings out there, the poll numbers out of Boston. Also what he thought about George Bush, his opponent. After we went off the air, we continued talking. Here's part two of that interview now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: The last few days on the campaign trail, you've talked about your faith in God, fishing as a young boy, hunting since the age of 12.

Why do you think that message is important in places like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because there are lots of people who care about it. And I want people to know the truth, not the distortions that they get in campaigns.

The truth is that I'm somebody who all my life has appreciated being outdoors, hunting, fishing, taking part in sports. And I think a lot of people want to know who you are. Who are you in your gut?

Who are you as a person? I know as a sportsman, as a hunter and a fisherman that you have to preserve the habitat. A lot of people try to scare people on the issue of guns and habitat and other things. I just don't want people to be scared. I want them to understand, really, who I am. And that's why I talk about things that I think are important to people.

HEMMER: It appears that along your campaign route you're going to a number of places that leaned toward George Bush in the year 2000. Specifically...

KERRY: Well I'm competing for the votes.

HEMMER: Specifically what is that strategy?

KERRY: I'm competing for votes. I want people to know the truth. The truth is we have the largest deficits in American history. The truth is there is nothing conservative about running up these deficits and piling debt onto our children.

There's nothing conservative about having your Attorney General violate the constitution and trample on people's civil rights and civil liberties.

I believe that people want to know the truth. I have a plan -- for instance, they've spent $90 million telling people things -- I want people to know the truth.

Under John Edwards and my economic plan, 98 percent of Americans get a tax cut. I want to say that again. Ninety-eight percent of all Americans get a tax cut under my economic plan. Ninety-nine percent of all businesses in America get a tax cut under my economic plan.

But I'm going to roll back President Bush's unaffordable tax cut, unwise tax cut, which adds to the deficit, we're going to roll it back for the wealthiest Americans so that we can invest in lowering health care costs for business and for Americans.

HEMMER: Some of that is in your "Plan for America" that came out on Monday. Thirty-six pages devoted to security, 30 pages devoted to the economy.

In your estimation, what is the key issue that wins in November? Is it terrorism in Iraq, or is it the economy?

KERRY: It's one word. Security. National security, physical, personal security, job security, wage, income security, health security -- security. People want to know that the government is doing everything in its power to protect and provide the possibilities of the American dream to our families.

I can do a better job than George Bush is of putting people back to work, restoring our alliances, making us stronger in the world and stronger at home and respected in the world, and I can do a better job of fighting the war on terror. HEMMER: What did you think of your speech last Thursday night in Boston?

KERRY: Well I don't think it's important what I thought of it, I think it's important whether Americans thought well of it, and we'll find out over the course of the next days.

It was a privilege to stand up there. It was an extraordinary experience to walk out on that stage and to see that arena filled with people and most importantly to have a chance to talk through the television to the American people.

I wanted to share who I am.

HEMMER: When you got to the period at the end of that 45-minute session at the Fleet Center, did you feel like, hey, I hit it?

KERRY: I just felt excited about the things that I had a chance to share with Americans. I mean, it's wonderful to be able to stand up in front of your own country people, your fellow citizens. Neighbors, friends, family. People you've not met.

And say I have a dream. I have a vision for our country. I know how to put America back to work and here's how we can do it. And I went one, two, three. Revitalize manufacturing. Lower the cost of health care. Have a fair play -- trade -- playing field.

I know how we can have health care for Americans. People deserve real plans for America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Senator Kerry what you did not hear yesterday here on AMERICAN MORNING, he continues his tour in Wisconsin again today in Milwaukee late yesterday.

President Bush meanwhile campaigns back in his home state of Texas. He's in Dallas later today -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Moments ago Pfc. Lynndie England, the soldier at the center of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal arrived for an important military hearing at Fort Bragg, North Carolina -- you see her there.

Now six months pregnant, she is the young woman seen in several photographs associated with the abuses at the prison.

Bob Franken is live at Fort Bragg now in North Carolina with the very latest this morning. Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. This is the proceeding to decide whether there will be a court martial and which of those charges will be considered. For this proceeding alone they are expecting as many as 25 witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRANKEN (voice-over): Lynndie England was raised in a corner of small town America, but now these pictures from Iraq have made her a world-wide symbol of the controversy over mistreatment of prisoners by U.S. forces.

Private First Class England was reassigned to Fort Bragg and this is where she faces an Article 32 proceeding, the military's counterpart to a pre-trial hearing to determine whether she will face a court martial over more than a dozen charges.

In an earlier interview, England insisted she was reluctantly following orders.

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS LYNNDIE ENGLAND: I didn't really, I mean, want to be in any pictures.

FRANKEN: They were for psy-op reasons, she said, and the reasons worked. I mean, so to us, we were doing our job which meant we were doing what we were told and the outcome was what they wanted.

RICK HERNANDEZ, LYNNDIE ENGLAND'S LAWYER: People in the higher chain of command were providing guidance to the lower chain of command of how to perform interrogations of detainees, yes.

FRANKEN: Defense lawyers say they will demand the right to make that point by calling high level witnesses from the Pentagon and Bush administration.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The fact is that their client faces a potential of 38 years in prison. They say that Lynndie England was merely a scapegoat. Merely doing what she was told -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right, Bob Franken this morning coming from Fort Bragg -- Bob, thanks.

HEMMER: About 22 minutes now before the hour. Back to Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center looking at other news and tough news yet again today from Iraq there. Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, good morning to you. Our first headline comes from Iraq.

Another U.S. Marine has died there from wounds suffered yesterday in clashes with insurgents.

Some 919 American forces have now died in Iraq since March of last year. And in Najaf, the U.S. led coalition denies claims that its forces launched an operation against radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr. We'll speak with a CNN military analyst in the next half hour.

Here in the U.S., prosecutors are trying to show a financial motive in the Laci Peterson double murder case. Witnesses testified yesterday that Scott Peterson's fertilizer company was losing money and that he could collect $250,000 from his wife's insurance company. More testimony is expected when the court resumes later today.

The judge in Kobe Bryant's sexual assault case has released transcripts. They're from a closed-door hearing on the accuser's sexual history. The documents detail testimony from a defense expert on DNA evidence. It suggests the woman had a sexual encounter with another man after her incident with Bryant, a claim that is denied by the accuser's legal team.

And finally, take a look above. In orbit high above earth two astronauts are taking a six-hour walk in space. Both astronauts are outside the international space station taking care of maintenance. Engineers on earth are monitoring the station while the astronauts are on their space watch.

And that's because back in the day they used to have three astronauts up there. Now there's only two since the last shuttle disaster so the folks on earth have to steer the ship while the guys outside are doing the space walk.

HEMMER: So -- it's amazing how they adjust though. I'll tell you. So much talent.

KAGAN: The ultimate fix it guys.

HEMMER: Yes, that's right. Daryn, thanks. Talk to you again a bit later this morning. Hurricane Alex churning off the coast of North Carolina, the first hurricane of the season, also the first test this year of how prepared everyone is, too.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, one bank is about to get really personal with its credit cards. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business." He'll stop by to explain that.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, there's a new way to get your daily dose of vitamins we're told but are you really getting your money's worth when you do it? Sanjay stops by here in New York City today in a moment.

COLLINS: Plus, hybrid cars are supposed to cut back on pollution, but in one state they might also help cut back on traffic -- huh. We'll explain on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: New vitamin sprays give you a daily spritz of nutrition, but are they more hype than health? Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with the details.

So, what gives?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you the biggest hype about this might be in fact that it gets people to take their vitamins because it's kind of a new inhaleable spray. Now, a lot of people take their vitamins in pill form that's been around for a long time, obviously.

But there have been a lot of interest; there's been a lot of interest in various types of inhaleable things like the flu mist, for example. Remember that?

COLLINS: Right.

GUPTA: The big thing was trying to get people to take their flu vaccine in the form of a spray. No shot, things like that. Same sort of principle here with the flu mist vaccine -- I'm sorry, not the flu mist -- the vita-mist spray. Now let me show you. Here's a couple of examples you see here. There's a women's health one, a prenatal sort of version as well.

I have the immune formula here; I'll tell you there's lots of different formulas. Basically you just take it and you spray it in your mouth.

COLLINS: Kind of like Bactine, right?

GUPTA: Let me tell you it tastes a little bit funny, it's got a little bit of an aftertaste to it. But it is gaining some popularity. Take a look at the list there. Sprayed like a breath freshener just like I showed you.

It's pretty expensive, actually. Those are expensive numbers. $20-36 for a month's supply. That's about three times more than the pills. You need to take eight spritzes a day, two spritzes every four hours and there's really no proof that it gives any more -- is any more effective than just taking the pills themselves.

COLLINS: And you have to remember -- I mean two spritzes every four hours. I don't...

GUPTA: You carry this in your pocket.

COLLINS: Yes. Well, what about people who might actually benefit from the spray form versus taking vitamin in the pill form?

GUPTA: Right. Besides the sort of cool factor of this there are people who might actually have some benefit from it. People who, for example, have swallowing problems, you can see the list there. They dislike swallowing pills. You know the vitamin pills are pretty big, Heidi. You've probably taken some of them? Hard to take sometimes.

Also gastrointestinal problems where it's just hard to swallow pills. Or if you've had recent surgery for example and for example gastric bypass surgery your doctor is telling you definitely need all your vitamins but it's hard for you to take them because of swallowing problems because your stomach is not doing well, the spray may help instead.

COLLINS: My mother could really benefit from these as far as swallowing pills. She's not so good at that.

GUPTA: Getting people to take their vitamins may be the biggest benefit.

COLLINS: Yes, excellent. All right, Sanjay thanks so much for that.

Still to come now this morning here's a good barroom debate. Who wins a fight between a two year old and a monkey? Jack has the answer to that. "The Cafferty Files" coming up after the break here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Thank you, Bruce. Doing a great job today.

Yes, you are. Welcome back everybody. Over to Jack now who is also doing a great job.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, thank you. The big airlines in this country constantly whining about how tough their business is and one of the reasons they're in trouble is some of them are just plain stupid.

Andy Serwer is here now "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, I second that emotion. When does a trial balloon become a lead balloon? Check this one out from Delta Airlines out of Atlanta, Georgia, I believe, aren't they?

Here's what happened. Couple of weeks ago Delta put out an online survey to its frequent flyers asking them if they would be willing to pay a fee to send a call for service to a U.S. call rep rather than an Indian one. OK? In other words, so if you were going to call up Delta and make a reservation would you pay $5 to speak to an American rather than to have the call routed to India?

Kind of a bad idea. And Delta has since done a 180 on that. Yesterday -- today actually they have an op-ed piece in the "Atlanta Journal Constitution." Here's the CEO Gerald Grinstein saying, "That darn question should never have been on a survey. That's not what we're about, and we're not going to do it."

Interesting I know about one online lending company, Jack, that asks you whether you want your loan processed immediately by an Indian person or whether you want to wait up to two days to have an American do it.

CAFFERTY: The answer is...

SERWER: It just doesn't -- it just doesn't fly.

CAFFERTY: The answer to that is, which everyone will give me the money.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Now. That's all. I want -- why would I want to put my picture on my credit card? Assuming that I might want to do that now I can, correct?

SERWER: I think we might want to do that, Jack. This is a new -- it's a new VISA card put out by the First National Bank of Omaha called the "One of a Card," OK?

What you can do is a custom made VISA card. You can put any image you want -- you do it at their Web site. Oneofacard.com...

CAFFERTY: Could you be naked?

SERWER: Your kids, your cars, your little picture -- well, what if Jack Cafferty was on a VISA card? What would it look like? Hey, Reg, (ph) in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Have we got a card for you.

(LAUGHTER)

Guy down in Atlanta. Have we got a card for you. Mrs. Cafferty have we got a card for you. What do you think?

CAFFERTY: I think that's stupid. Why would you want to do that?

SERWER: The magic of Photoshop. No, I think we actually made that at their Web site.

CAFFERTY: No but why would you want to have your picture on the credit card?

SERWER: That's the part I don't -- well maybe you love you. Yes.

CAFFERTY: I know you're pretending you didn't hear my question.

SERWER: Yes. OK, I have -- I'm not responding to the people from Omaha but I assume you could -- no; you're not naked there.

But, I think you might be able to be naked.

CAFFERTY: So that might be fun then actually. You go into some really stuffy place and hand them your credit card and there's a naked person.

SERWER: Of if you just went to the, you know, grocer.

CAFFERTY: Martha Stewart's earnings are out and they're terrible.

SERWER: Yes, they're bad -- they're went to the loss of $19 million to the quarter. Some interesting news coming out of that company. We'll talk about that. Consumer spending dropped in the month of June more sharply than expected.

CAFFERTY: All right, thanks Andy.

To the "File." Body builders in Iraq stripping down to their tightest little Speedos in honor of their hero, Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was the walking barbell's 57th birthday yesterday out there in California and thousands of miles away in Baghdad, members of the Arnold Classic Gym celebrated the man they call "The Greatest Champion Ever."

Some coated their bodies in the bronze oil, which makes them shine. Others couldn't get the real oil so they used some red colored ink, which made them look like they had a very bad sunburn. There's some rumor that maybe Arnold could be president of Iraq when his term as governor of California expires.

Over in Brooklyn a monkey and a kid got into a fight in a supermarket in Brooklyn. The tabloids here in New York making a big to-do about this story. "Daily News" had pictures of 2-year-old Thomas Romano (ph) and Darla, a 6-year-old Macaw.

They were having a stare down from their respective shopping carts and all of a sudden the monkey went nuts and bit the kid.

And the boy's grandmother who saw the whole thing says she saw something brown and furry on her grandson and she saw this man punching it. The monkey's owner who is there on the left says that the monkey was minding his own business and the kid provoked the whole deal. The mother says the monkey should -- well, that's enough of that story.

SERWER: Just another day at the Safeway I guess, huh?

CAFFERTY: Yes. You think the supermarket in your town is an interesting place.

Get married make more money. Labor Department economists say married guys make 20 percent more money than single men. The reasons: Married men are more productive, more reliable, more committed. Women are attracted to good-looking men. Employers say they may favor handsome employees. Married men all have real responsibilities therefore they take their work more seriously.

Single guys in turn have nothing to worry about. They live empty lives in empty apartments with empty refrigerators and dirty laundry.

But they can afford to make less money because they don't have a wife to support.

SERWER: Sounds kind of fun. Married men also older -- might make more money but...

CAFFERTY: Turning now to the scorecard: number of days since the 9/11 Commission made recommendations for protecting the country against terrorism: 12. Number of recommendations adopted by Congress: zero.

House and Senate committees, though, are holding hearings on how to implement the recommendations. That's what we need: more Congressional hearings. The Commission held hearings for 20 months.

That's all I have to say on that. COLLINS: All right, Jack thanks so much for that. Still to come this morning, the financial centers of three U.S. cities remain under orange alert this morning. We'll have a live report from one of the cites mentioned as a possible target.

Find out what's being done there. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

COLLINS: Good morning everybody. From New York and just a few miles up the river you saw her there Lady Liberty, the statue reopening this morning nearly three years after it was closed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks.

Also this morning a very high level meeting going on between the secretary of homeland security and a group of state, local and business leaders talking about the current terror warnings. We'll have more on the security crackdown and where officials go from here. That's the question.

HEMMER: Also as we move away from that story, look at where the Bush and Kerry campaigns are headed today. A lot of material -- new material -- for the campaigns to discuss on the road after both candidates mix it up on terrorism yesterday.

COLLINS: True. Also in Iraq a gun battle at the home of Muqtada al Sadr. Are U.S. troops trying to send a message or kill the radical cleric? We'll talk to retired Major General Don Shepard about that.

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