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American Morning

Storms Barrel Down on Florida; Kobe Bryant Case; 'Political Pop'

Aired August 12, 2004 - 07:30 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.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins on this Thursday edition of AMERICAN MORNING, watching these storms, huh?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

HEMMER: Pretty pictures at this point, but we're told later as we move...

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: That's right, like a postcard. But as we move throughout the morning, we'll cover that for you and get you back there live in Florida, find out what we're learning now about the coordinates for that storm.

COLLINS: Also, there's another sign today that the Kobe Bryant trial, scheduled to begin at end of the month, may never get off the ground. Did the court make one blunder too many? We'll talk to author and D.A. Jeanine Pirro in just a moment.

HEMMER: Also, our personal finance coach, David Bach, helping us all save a little extra cash, stops by today with some tips on how you can "Live Rich Today." Some advice on what you can do to save on your grocery bill.

COLLINS: Plus, some "Political Pop." It seems President Bush is dropping what had been one of his favorite economic themes on the campaign trail. Our panel is going to talk about that. Turn the corner?

HEMMER: And they are ready to go, too. Yes, turn corner maybe and maybe not. We'll get to that in a moment here.

Now the latest on what's happening in Florida. The storm is barreling down now, two of them in fact.

Chad Myers is on the beach in Panama City. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm at CNN center in Atlanta.

Chad -- good morning. Let's start there. What do you have in your hand?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have a wind gauge here, Bill. And now we're up to about 24 miles an hour. And literally, this squall came in just in the past 15 minutes, so good timing that you came to me. The wind is getting -- just driving this rain sideways here, and the storm is still well out to sea, at least 100 miles out to sea.

We have some partygoers here up and down the beach. We're going to chase them inside here pretty soon -- at least Mother Nature will.

Let me show you the radar as we even can now finally pick up what we think is the outside of an eye wall. The eye wall itself, the orange and the red part there is just to the south of Panama City. And obviously we're going to get these rain bands to come in. Every time a rain band comes in, the squalls are going to pick up and the winds are going to pick up.

And even though the hurricane hunters have found 50-mile-per-hour winds, I assume we'll have some gusts to 65 or maybe even a little bit higher than that.

The problem is that this is No. 1 of a one-two punch. This storm is going to put down a lot of rain. It already put down two to three inches of rain overnight across the Florida Panhandle. And now it's raining again very hard.

And so as this storm moves up the Northeast, Charley is going to move up the same path. And there is going to be a lot of rain. Two storms, two paths, almost parallel. And we're going to knock some trees down as well.

And my colleague, Rob Marciano, is in the weather center to tell you about that.

(WEATHER BREAK)

COLLINS: Now to the Kobe Bryant rape case. The prosecution's request for an indefinite delay of the trial could mean the criminal case is all but dead. The state claims that information about the accuser's sex life has poisoned the jury pool, and they say she is not ready to testify.

Jeanine Pirro, district attorney for Westchester County, New York, and author of "To Punish and Protect," is with us now.

All right. So, the prosecution actually began by asking for a fast trial, and they wanted jury selection to begin August 27. The judge said, you know, I'm going to stand by that.

JEANINE PIRRO, DISTRICT ATTORNEY WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y.: Right, right.

COLLINS: What now?

Here we are close to August 27, and it doesn't appear that this case is even going forward for so many reasons. No. 1 is the fact that the prosecution is asking for a delay based upon what appears to be the handwriting on the wall.

It appears that the victim is almost reluctant at this point, based upon the fact that there have been one too many blunders by the court. Her name released on the court Web site. Her medical records were released. Defense testimony was released. It's prejudicial to her.

But it's so close to this point in time when we're going to trial that the prosecution has said, wait a minute. We need an adjournment. The jury pool has been tainted here.

COLLINS: She (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PIRRO: But also there are DNA records that have not been turned over by the defense to the people that were supposed to be turned over two months ago.

Plus, you know, you hear the victim -- the accuser, because the judge forced people to call her the accuser, not the victim.

COLLINS: Right.

PIRRO: The attorney is saying, you know, what we've got here is an expanded gag order now. Now that our client has been so jeopardized by these court blunders, you expand the gag order that doesn't permit her to protect her reputation. This is one too many mistakes.

COLLINS: Well, and speaking of that reputation, you know, a defense expert questioned how many men she had slept with in the past. The prosecution never got respond.

PIRRO: Right.

COLLINS: How damaging does that become?

PIRRO: Look, the rape shield has been turned on its head in this case. You've got the court for the first time saying that she can't be called a victim. She's got to be called accuser.

And make no mistake. We're at the trial stage now. There has already been a probable cause hearing here. You've got the court that released her compensatory payments by the state for her medical counseling that she's entitled to.

There have been so many mistakes that she's saying, look, I want to take this to a civil court. What I want to do is have a level playing field. I want to turn the tables on Kobe Bryant. And that's what will happen, because now she can talk about his sex life, what he has done. She can subpoena his medical records. She can get in his statement to the police, the t-shirt with blood on it. Everything gets turned around.

COLLINS: Could this motion for delay, though, just be sort of a face-saving way for the prosecution to say, look, we quit?

PIRRO: I think what the prosecution is doing is re-assessing its case and trying to figure whether out they have a victim who will cooperate. I think that they are now stepping back a bit, and they're entitled to, based upon the fact that they don't have all of the defense reports. But the prosecution is definitely not in a good place.

COLLINS: What about the money in all of this? I mean, you know, unspecified damages...

PIRRO: Right.

COLLINS: ... for this civil lawsuit that's coming up. How does all of that play in?

PIRRO: Well, I think that what the accuser has said in this case is, look, I have been accused of everything from being a slut to a bigot to mentally unstable. I've been accused of having only a financial motive for this since there have been so many mistakes that have inured to my detriment, none of the mistakes incurred by the defendant in this case, I now am seeking money damages.

And make no mistake, Heidi. A victim has the right to bring a civil case. I mean, the fact that you are a victim in a criminal case doesn't mean you can't be a plaintiff in a civil case. She doesn't lose those rights. She is entitled to sue civilly.

COLLINS: All right, Jeanine Pirro, thanks so much, as always, for your insight on this case. More to go, that's for sure. All right.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: all right, Heidi, 22 minutes now before the hour. Back to Daryn Kagan watching the news and starting again in Iraq.

Daryn -- good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That we do. Bill, good morning to you.

A major U.S. military offensive is under way in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Explosions and gunfire are echoing throughout the city. American and Iraqi security forces are working to crush the insurgency led by radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr. The offensive was launched just overnight. It's not clear at this point if there are any casualties.

President Bush and Senator John Kerry pass by each other. They'll both be in Southern California today. The president addresses union leaders in Las Vegas and then heads to a fund-raiser with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Meanwhile, Senator Kerry is in the L.A. area speaking about job creation. He'll rally in Oregon tonight.

Speaking of the president, Larry King has an exclusive interview with President Bush and the first lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, tonight at 9:00 Eastern on "LARRY KING LIVE."

To Utah now. There are new details about the relationship between Mark and Lori Hacking. According to court papers released yesterday, Lori Hacking apparently wrote to her husband expressing doubts about their five-year marriage. Mark Hacking is charged with killing his wife and dumping her body. Investigators have yet to recover a gun or the body. The search of a landfill is expected to resume tonight.

To Washington, three 14-week old Sumatran tiger cubs make their official debut at the National Zoo. A few folks did get a sneak peek -- oh, look at that -- yesterday. The general public will be able to see them. Here are their names. They are Mara (ph), Jolin (ph) and Basar (ph).

Starting at 7:30 this morning, you get your peek. Each cub will grow. They look pretty cute now, but each is going to go to about 300 pounds over the next year. Sumatran tigers, by the way, are endangered. There are fewer than 500 remaining in the wild.

But you can get your peek. Bill, I know you love the animal stories. That one was for you.

HEMMER: I like Sumatra...

KAGAN: Yes, Sumatra.

HEMMER: The island.

KAGAN: Sumatran tigers.

HEMMER: That's right. Hey, thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Sure.

HEMMER: Jack a off on vacation. Back with us, look what the cat dragged back in, my man Toure. How are you doing?

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": I'm fine. I'm fine. We have a little bit of a more serious question. We're looking for honesty today. In New York City, we live with the strictures of terrorism every day. We know we are a constant target. But if you're in Miami or Iowa or North Dakota, do you really deep down fear that an attack is going to happen in your world? Is it a physical concern for you? Or is it just a big city concern? Is it just an East Cast thing, or is this something the whole country is worried about? Do you feel vulnerable if you're not in a big city?

So, the question is: Do you believe terrorism will affect you directly if you're not in New York City or Washington, D.C.? E-mail us at AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: A really great topic, too. The "L.A. Times" had a piece about a week ago that talked about the amount of attention the terror warnings got on the East Coast versus the West Coast in papers like the "L.A. Times" versus "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post".

TOURE: And it could happen out there.

COLLINS: The Oklahoma City bombing.

TOURE: Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.

HEMMER: But the point they made in Washington was that for us it's personal.

TOURE: That's right.

HEMMER: Because of the Pentagon...

TOURE: That's right.

HEMMER: ... because the World Trade Center, going back to 9/11.

TOURE: That's right.

COLLINS: It's certainly on everybody's mind no matter where you live, though.

TOURE: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Tour, thanks so much. Well check back and see what they say, huh?

Still to come this morning, food for thought. Want to know how to fill up your grocery cart without emptying your wallet? Yes, we all do. Personal finance guru David Bach has the secrets of saving big bucks at the supermarket.

HEMMER: Also, "Political Pop" and the Bush campaign making a bit of a u-turn on the stump. The president has dropped a favorite phrase apparently going back to last Friday. We'll talk about that, why he's not using it now.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Some food for thought. The average American household spends nearly 10 percent of its annual budget on groceries. There are some easy ways, though, to tighten your grocery budget. And David Bach, our resident personal finance coach, is here. And he's the author of the best-seller, "The Automatic Millionaire." And he's here now with some tips on how to save on food shopping to help you "Live Rich Today."

OK. So, do we really have to spend that much time in the grocery store?

DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: It's a lot of money. If you make $50,000 a year and you lose 10 percent of it to groceries...

COLLINS: Yes.

BACH: ... if you can just get to save a little bit on your groceries you can put thousands of dollars back in your pocket.

So we've got some tips here that people can use to be smart when they shop.

COLLINS: That's right. And the first one is, if it comes in a box, don't buy it. Why?

BACH: Yes, because food in a box is more expensive. So, for instance, let's say you go and you get spaghetti in a box frozen. Guess what? You're paying for the box. One-third of the cost to go make pasta at home takes a little bit more time, but it saves you a lot of money.

COLLINS: Right.

BACH: The same thing with canned food.

COLLINS: OK. Think before you drink.

BACH: Yes, you know, we spend a lot of money these days on bottled water, juice, beer, Coca-Cola. If you just cut back on what you drink, you can cut your grocery bill by 20 percent.

COLLINS: OK, interesting. Buying generic.

BACH: Generic, generic, generic. This is a great way to save money. A lot of times when you walk into a store and you'll see for instance, let's use aspirin as an example. You'll have the brand name product and then you'll have the generic product.

COLLINS: That's right.

BACH: Guess what? In many cases it's made by the exact same manufacturer. The product is identical, but the generic costs can be as much as 70 percent less.

COLLINS: Yes, I always check on those. All right, well, loyalty programs. How does this one help?

BACH: You know, when you check out at the grocery store, card, they always say, do you have your little grocery card? Most people say no. Take the time to sign up for those grocery cards, because we've seen that that will save you an average of 15 percent on your grocery bill.

COLLINS: Really?

BACH: Again, on $100, that can put 15 bucks back in your pocket every week.

COLLINS: So, those prices aren't inflated in order to get you to sign up and then make you feel like you're getting a deal?

BACH: Well, either way, if you don't have the card you're not getting the deal and you're paying inflated prices. COLLINS: True. All right. So clip and click coupons.

BACH: Yes, you know, in the old days we used to get our coupons out of the Sunday paper, and you can still do that. But you can also go to the Web right now.

COLLINS: Yes.

BACH: So you don't have to wait until Sunday. There's a Web site we have here. Go to couponcart.com and look for what types of coupons you want. Then you can click and print. Take those to the grocery store. And guess what? Boom, you're done. You don't even have to go through the newspaper anymore.

COLLINS: OK. The next one we hear about a lot in real estate: location, location, location.

BACH: Yes, and the grocery store, this is kind of funny. The expensive stuff is at the end of the aisle. And right at sight line, if you want to save money at the grocery store, go to the middle of the aisle. Look down low and look up high where you can't reach. That's where the cheaper products have been put.

COLLINS: Interesting, yes. Because it's easiest to look straight at the one that's the most popular and likely the more expensive.

BACH: And they've paid for that space a lot of times.

COLLINS: Sure.

BACH: They've actually had to pay to be put there. So that's why they're charging more for those products.

COLLINS: OK. Concrete floors, careful in stores with concrete stores. What is that?

BACH: Everybody loves to shop in these big-box warehouses, and that's great. You can save a lot of money at Costco and Wal-Mart. And guess what? You can also spend too much. So, when you go and you buy the big, huge box of cereal, No. 1, make sure you're not paying extra for all of that extra cereal. And No. 2, make sure that guess what? You're going to actually eat all of the extra stuff you're buying.

COLLINS: It depends on what kind of cereal. Lucky Charms, Sugar Pops, yes!

BACH: That's right. Captain Crunch we know we'll eat that.

COLLINS: And my favorite of all time: leave the kids at home. They're not little shoppers by themselves, are they?

BACH: You know, we all know it's not easy to always leave the kids with a baby-sitter. But the problem is, when you go grocery shopping with the kids, they always want to buy more things. Most parents will tell you they spend too much money because the kids are nagging them at the grocery store.

COLLINS: Yes, they're really good at that.

BACH: They're really good.

COLLINS: It's hard to say no 75,000 times in one grocery shopping trip.

BACH: That's right.

COLLINS: All right.

BACH: Muffle them up.

COLLINS: David Bach, thanks so much for that advice today. We do appreciate it.

And you can catch David every Thursday here on AMERICAN MORNING with tips on how to "Live Rich Today."

HEMMER: All right, Heidi, thanks for that.

Thirteen minutes now before the hour. A few little words on the trail. The president drops a favorite phrase from his speech. What he is not saying now and why.

And what John Kerry said that has Dick Cheney talking today.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Our panel is in place now. It's time for "Political Pop." On the left with us today, political strategist Serena Torrey is back here.

Good morning.

SERENA TORREY, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Also here, Andy Borowitz, responsible for BorowitzReport.com and also responsible for that strong fashion statement he's making today with that shirt. On the right, WABC radio host Mark Simone is back with us as well.

And good morning to all three of you.

TORREY: Good morning.

MARK SIMONE, WABC RADIO HOST: Good morning.

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.

HEMMER: Let's talk about the front page of "The New York Times." Apparently a dozen Democrats say they will not block the nomination of Porter Goss. Overnight, did this become a slam dunk? SIMONE: Well, you know, a lot of Democrats are opposed to it because he's a good friend of Cheney's, because he's a Republican, he's from Florida. That might help in the election.

And just by coincidence, he happens to have the best credentials in intelligence of anybody in government. And let's be honest. If Bush appointed James Bond they'd be opposing it.

TORREY: You know, Mark, I wish the Bush administration wouldn't play politics with a position like this. They've appointed the most -- or they've nominated the most partisan man in Congress, according to his colleagues, for this position. And what they were trying to do was goad Democrats into a fight over the nomination. But what they're going to get is a nationally-televised debate over intelligence failures under Bush. It's going to blow up in their face.

SIMONE: I think it blew right past the most important factor. The best resume as far as intelligence, of anybody in government right now. He was a great spy for years, ran the Senate Intelligence Committee.

TORREY: The director of Central Intelligence has to work with...

SIMONE: House. House.

HEMMER: Go ahead.

TORREY: But he's got to work with colleagues in the House and in the Senate. And when half of the House and the Senate doesn't find him able to work with them, we've got to look to...

BOROWITZ: I thought it interesting yesterday that Bush is now backing off the idea of an intelligence czar. He said it was too important a job to be entrusted to a Russian.

HEMMER: Placeba (ph).

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: The next topic here. I like that. Last week, John Kerry made the following statement. We'll put it on the screen. He's going to be picked today by the vice president. "I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror."

We are told that in Dayton, Ohio, today, the vice president will pick on that word, "sensitive." What did he mean by that word?

TORREY: You know, I'm not sure that it's all that helpful to be parsing John Kerry's words and nitpicking like this. What John Kerry is talking about is the fact that he wants to fight a war on terror. He wants to go after al Qaeda terrorists. He's going to invest in shoring up our homeland security. Ultimately, that's what the American people want. They're not worried about semantics.

SIMONE: A sensitive war on terror. We've tried everything. We've never tried sending them Hallmark cards, but I guess we could try that.

TORREY: You know that's not what he means.

HEMMER: Do you think that's what he means by that, Mark?

SIMONE: Well, the problem is Kerry has had every position under the sun. If you go to the RNC Web site, they've cut together all of his positions on the war. It runs 11 minutes, even with editing. And because he was in Vietnam 35 years ago, we're supposed to forget about the schizophrenia?

BOROWITZ: I thought it was interesting that John Edwards said that he would fight hotter, better-looking war on terror. I thought that was interesting.

HEMMER: According to "People" magazine, though, right?

BOROWITZ: Exactly.

TORREY: I think the Bush folks know that they're losing ground on the issue of credibility on national security, and they are really grasping at straws at this point.

HEMMER: Next topic. You were going to go, but I'm going to stop you.

BOROWITZ: Please.

HEMMER: We are told, Andy, that the president has dropped this phrase from his stump speech going back to last Friday. He used to say, we're turning the corner and we're not going back.

BOROWITZ: Right.

HEMMER: The jobs report came out on Friday. Is there something in there that suggests take that line out because of it?

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, I have a slightly different view that it said that he's going to saying, we're turning the corner. I think that's because in the past, every time he's tried to turn the corner he's fallen off his mountain bike. So, I think with that really it has bad connotations.

HEMMER: Two on the record, though, right, at this point?

BOROWITZ: Right. You know, very bad connotations, I think.

SIMONE: Well, you know, Bush turning the corner, he's got to stay away from metaphors. You picture Bush trying to re-fold that map. It doesn't look good. But here's the real problem. Unemployment is 5.5 percent. That's exactly what it was when Clinton ran for re- election. Every Democrat is on record at the time saying that's a great unemployment rate.

TORREY: Talk about flip-flopping. First the president says we're turning the corner. Now we're not turning the corner. You know, his aides have said that this line wasn't working in speeches when 57 percent of country says the country is going in the wrong direction. Maybe it's not the speeches that aren't working. Maybe it's the policies.

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, Bush has created 1.5 million jobs since last August. The problem is one person has to hold all of those jobs to feed a family of four. So that's been the big problem.

HEMMER: And in Russia today, it's even worse, right?

BOROWITZ: Yes. Placeba.

HEMMER: Thanks to all three of you. We are turning the corner to a commercial and back to Heidi now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill.

Still to come, the battle rages in Najaf. U.S. Marines attempt to crush the rebel Mehdi army. It's just one of the many developments in Iraq this morning. We've got them all right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In a moment, a state of emergency in Florida. Residents are now taking cover. The countdown to Bonnie and Charley is now entering its final hours. The latest live from the scene when we continue in a moment.

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Aired August 12, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins on this Thursday edition of AMERICAN MORNING, watching these storms, huh?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

HEMMER: Pretty pictures at this point, but we're told later as we move...

COLLINS: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: That's right, like a postcard. But as we move throughout the morning, we'll cover that for you and get you back there live in Florida, find out what we're learning now about the coordinates for that storm.

COLLINS: Also, there's another sign today that the Kobe Bryant trial, scheduled to begin at end of the month, may never get off the ground. Did the court make one blunder too many? We'll talk to author and D.A. Jeanine Pirro in just a moment.

HEMMER: Also, our personal finance coach, David Bach, helping us all save a little extra cash, stops by today with some tips on how you can "Live Rich Today." Some advice on what you can do to save on your grocery bill.

COLLINS: Plus, some "Political Pop." It seems President Bush is dropping what had been one of his favorite economic themes on the campaign trail. Our panel is going to talk about that. Turn the corner?

HEMMER: And they are ready to go, too. Yes, turn corner maybe and maybe not. We'll get to that in a moment here.

Now the latest on what's happening in Florida. The storm is barreling down now, two of them in fact.

Chad Myers is on the beach in Panama City. Rob Marciano is tracking the storm at CNN center in Atlanta.

Chad -- good morning. Let's start there. What do you have in your hand?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I have a wind gauge here, Bill. And now we're up to about 24 miles an hour. And literally, this squall came in just in the past 15 minutes, so good timing that you came to me. The wind is getting -- just driving this rain sideways here, and the storm is still well out to sea, at least 100 miles out to sea.

We have some partygoers here up and down the beach. We're going to chase them inside here pretty soon -- at least Mother Nature will.

Let me show you the radar as we even can now finally pick up what we think is the outside of an eye wall. The eye wall itself, the orange and the red part there is just to the south of Panama City. And obviously we're going to get these rain bands to come in. Every time a rain band comes in, the squalls are going to pick up and the winds are going to pick up.

And even though the hurricane hunters have found 50-mile-per-hour winds, I assume we'll have some gusts to 65 or maybe even a little bit higher than that.

The problem is that this is No. 1 of a one-two punch. This storm is going to put down a lot of rain. It already put down two to three inches of rain overnight across the Florida Panhandle. And now it's raining again very hard.

And so as this storm moves up the Northeast, Charley is going to move up the same path. And there is going to be a lot of rain. Two storms, two paths, almost parallel. And we're going to knock some trees down as well.

And my colleague, Rob Marciano, is in the weather center to tell you about that.

(WEATHER BREAK)

COLLINS: Now to the Kobe Bryant rape case. The prosecution's request for an indefinite delay of the trial could mean the criminal case is all but dead. The state claims that information about the accuser's sex life has poisoned the jury pool, and they say she is not ready to testify.

Jeanine Pirro, district attorney for Westchester County, New York, and author of "To Punish and Protect," is with us now.

All right. So, the prosecution actually began by asking for a fast trial, and they wanted jury selection to begin August 27. The judge said, you know, I'm going to stand by that.

JEANINE PIRRO, DISTRICT ATTORNEY WESTCHESTER COUNTY, N.Y.: Right, right.

COLLINS: What now?

Here we are close to August 27, and it doesn't appear that this case is even going forward for so many reasons. No. 1 is the fact that the prosecution is asking for a delay based upon what appears to be the handwriting on the wall.

It appears that the victim is almost reluctant at this point, based upon the fact that there have been one too many blunders by the court. Her name released on the court Web site. Her medical records were released. Defense testimony was released. It's prejudicial to her.

But it's so close to this point in time when we're going to trial that the prosecution has said, wait a minute. We need an adjournment. The jury pool has been tainted here.

COLLINS: She (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

PIRRO: But also there are DNA records that have not been turned over by the defense to the people that were supposed to be turned over two months ago.

Plus, you know, you hear the victim -- the accuser, because the judge forced people to call her the accuser, not the victim.

COLLINS: Right.

PIRRO: The attorney is saying, you know, what we've got here is an expanded gag order now. Now that our client has been so jeopardized by these court blunders, you expand the gag order that doesn't permit her to protect her reputation. This is one too many mistakes.

COLLINS: Well, and speaking of that reputation, you know, a defense expert questioned how many men she had slept with in the past. The prosecution never got respond.

PIRRO: Right.

COLLINS: How damaging does that become?

PIRRO: Look, the rape shield has been turned on its head in this case. You've got the court for the first time saying that she can't be called a victim. She's got to be called accuser.

And make no mistake. We're at the trial stage now. There has already been a probable cause hearing here. You've got the court that released her compensatory payments by the state for her medical counseling that she's entitled to.

There have been so many mistakes that she's saying, look, I want to take this to a civil court. What I want to do is have a level playing field. I want to turn the tables on Kobe Bryant. And that's what will happen, because now she can talk about his sex life, what he has done. She can subpoena his medical records. She can get in his statement to the police, the t-shirt with blood on it. Everything gets turned around.

COLLINS: Could this motion for delay, though, just be sort of a face-saving way for the prosecution to say, look, we quit?

PIRRO: I think what the prosecution is doing is re-assessing its case and trying to figure whether out they have a victim who will cooperate. I think that they are now stepping back a bit, and they're entitled to, based upon the fact that they don't have all of the defense reports. But the prosecution is definitely not in a good place.

COLLINS: What about the money in all of this? I mean, you know, unspecified damages...

PIRRO: Right.

COLLINS: ... for this civil lawsuit that's coming up. How does all of that play in?

PIRRO: Well, I think that what the accuser has said in this case is, look, I have been accused of everything from being a slut to a bigot to mentally unstable. I've been accused of having only a financial motive for this since there have been so many mistakes that have inured to my detriment, none of the mistakes incurred by the defendant in this case, I now am seeking money damages.

And make no mistake, Heidi. A victim has the right to bring a civil case. I mean, the fact that you are a victim in a criminal case doesn't mean you can't be a plaintiff in a civil case. She doesn't lose those rights. She is entitled to sue civilly.

COLLINS: All right, Jeanine Pirro, thanks so much, as always, for your insight on this case. More to go, that's for sure. All right.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: all right, Heidi, 22 minutes now before the hour. Back to Daryn Kagan watching the news and starting again in Iraq.

Daryn -- good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: That we do. Bill, good morning to you.

A major U.S. military offensive is under way in the Iraqi city of Najaf. Explosions and gunfire are echoing throughout the city. American and Iraqi security forces are working to crush the insurgency led by radical cleric Muqtada al Sadr. The offensive was launched just overnight. It's not clear at this point if there are any casualties.

President Bush and Senator John Kerry pass by each other. They'll both be in Southern California today. The president addresses union leaders in Las Vegas and then heads to a fund-raiser with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Meanwhile, Senator Kerry is in the L.A. area speaking about job creation. He'll rally in Oregon tonight.

Speaking of the president, Larry King has an exclusive interview with President Bush and the first lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, tonight at 9:00 Eastern on "LARRY KING LIVE."

To Utah now. There are new details about the relationship between Mark and Lori Hacking. According to court papers released yesterday, Lori Hacking apparently wrote to her husband expressing doubts about their five-year marriage. Mark Hacking is charged with killing his wife and dumping her body. Investigators have yet to recover a gun or the body. The search of a landfill is expected to resume tonight.

To Washington, three 14-week old Sumatran tiger cubs make their official debut at the National Zoo. A few folks did get a sneak peek -- oh, look at that -- yesterday. The general public will be able to see them. Here are their names. They are Mara (ph), Jolin (ph) and Basar (ph).

Starting at 7:30 this morning, you get your peek. Each cub will grow. They look pretty cute now, but each is going to go to about 300 pounds over the next year. Sumatran tigers, by the way, are endangered. There are fewer than 500 remaining in the wild.

But you can get your peek. Bill, I know you love the animal stories. That one was for you.

HEMMER: I like Sumatra...

KAGAN: Yes, Sumatra.

HEMMER: The island.

KAGAN: Sumatran tigers.

HEMMER: That's right. Hey, thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Sure.

HEMMER: Jack a off on vacation. Back with us, look what the cat dragged back in, my man Toure. How are you doing?

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE": I'm fine. I'm fine. We have a little bit of a more serious question. We're looking for honesty today. In New York City, we live with the strictures of terrorism every day. We know we are a constant target. But if you're in Miami or Iowa or North Dakota, do you really deep down fear that an attack is going to happen in your world? Is it a physical concern for you? Or is it just a big city concern? Is it just an East Cast thing, or is this something the whole country is worried about? Do you feel vulnerable if you're not in a big city?

So, the question is: Do you believe terrorism will affect you directly if you're not in New York City or Washington, D.C.? E-mail us at AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: A really great topic, too. The "L.A. Times" had a piece about a week ago that talked about the amount of attention the terror warnings got on the East Coast versus the West Coast in papers like the "L.A. Times" versus "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post".

TOURE: And it could happen out there.

COLLINS: The Oklahoma City bombing.

TOURE: Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.

HEMMER: But the point they made in Washington was that for us it's personal.

TOURE: That's right.

HEMMER: Because of the Pentagon...

TOURE: That's right.

HEMMER: ... because the World Trade Center, going back to 9/11.

TOURE: That's right.

COLLINS: It's certainly on everybody's mind no matter where you live, though.

TOURE: Absolutely.

COLLINS: Tour, thanks so much. Well check back and see what they say, huh?

Still to come this morning, food for thought. Want to know how to fill up your grocery cart without emptying your wallet? Yes, we all do. Personal finance guru David Bach has the secrets of saving big bucks at the supermarket.

HEMMER: Also, "Political Pop" and the Bush campaign making a bit of a u-turn on the stump. The president has dropped a favorite phrase apparently going back to last Friday. We'll talk about that, why he's not using it now.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Some food for thought. The average American household spends nearly 10 percent of its annual budget on groceries. There are some easy ways, though, to tighten your grocery budget. And David Bach, our resident personal finance coach, is here. And he's the author of the best-seller, "The Automatic Millionaire." And he's here now with some tips on how to save on food shopping to help you "Live Rich Today."

OK. So, do we really have to spend that much time in the grocery store?

DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: It's a lot of money. If you make $50,000 a year and you lose 10 percent of it to groceries...

COLLINS: Yes.

BACH: ... if you can just get to save a little bit on your groceries you can put thousands of dollars back in your pocket.

So we've got some tips here that people can use to be smart when they shop.

COLLINS: That's right. And the first one is, if it comes in a box, don't buy it. Why?

BACH: Yes, because food in a box is more expensive. So, for instance, let's say you go and you get spaghetti in a box frozen. Guess what? You're paying for the box. One-third of the cost to go make pasta at home takes a little bit more time, but it saves you a lot of money.

COLLINS: Right.

BACH: The same thing with canned food.

COLLINS: OK. Think before you drink.

BACH: Yes, you know, we spend a lot of money these days on bottled water, juice, beer, Coca-Cola. If you just cut back on what you drink, you can cut your grocery bill by 20 percent.

COLLINS: OK, interesting. Buying generic.

BACH: Generic, generic, generic. This is a great way to save money. A lot of times when you walk into a store and you'll see for instance, let's use aspirin as an example. You'll have the brand name product and then you'll have the generic product.

COLLINS: That's right.

BACH: Guess what? In many cases it's made by the exact same manufacturer. The product is identical, but the generic costs can be as much as 70 percent less.

COLLINS: Yes, I always check on those. All right, well, loyalty programs. How does this one help?

BACH: You know, when you check out at the grocery store, card, they always say, do you have your little grocery card? Most people say no. Take the time to sign up for those grocery cards, because we've seen that that will save you an average of 15 percent on your grocery bill.

COLLINS: Really?

BACH: Again, on $100, that can put 15 bucks back in your pocket every week.

COLLINS: So, those prices aren't inflated in order to get you to sign up and then make you feel like you're getting a deal?

BACH: Well, either way, if you don't have the card you're not getting the deal and you're paying inflated prices. COLLINS: True. All right. So clip and click coupons.

BACH: Yes, you know, in the old days we used to get our coupons out of the Sunday paper, and you can still do that. But you can also go to the Web right now.

COLLINS: Yes.

BACH: So you don't have to wait until Sunday. There's a Web site we have here. Go to couponcart.com and look for what types of coupons you want. Then you can click and print. Take those to the grocery store. And guess what? Boom, you're done. You don't even have to go through the newspaper anymore.

COLLINS: OK. The next one we hear about a lot in real estate: location, location, location.

BACH: Yes, and the grocery store, this is kind of funny. The expensive stuff is at the end of the aisle. And right at sight line, if you want to save money at the grocery store, go to the middle of the aisle. Look down low and look up high where you can't reach. That's where the cheaper products have been put.

COLLINS: Interesting, yes. Because it's easiest to look straight at the one that's the most popular and likely the more expensive.

BACH: And they've paid for that space a lot of times.

COLLINS: Sure.

BACH: They've actually had to pay to be put there. So that's why they're charging more for those products.

COLLINS: OK. Concrete floors, careful in stores with concrete stores. What is that?

BACH: Everybody loves to shop in these big-box warehouses, and that's great. You can save a lot of money at Costco and Wal-Mart. And guess what? You can also spend too much. So, when you go and you buy the big, huge box of cereal, No. 1, make sure you're not paying extra for all of that extra cereal. And No. 2, make sure that guess what? You're going to actually eat all of the extra stuff you're buying.

COLLINS: It depends on what kind of cereal. Lucky Charms, Sugar Pops, yes!

BACH: That's right. Captain Crunch we know we'll eat that.

COLLINS: And my favorite of all time: leave the kids at home. They're not little shoppers by themselves, are they?

BACH: You know, we all know it's not easy to always leave the kids with a baby-sitter. But the problem is, when you go grocery shopping with the kids, they always want to buy more things. Most parents will tell you they spend too much money because the kids are nagging them at the grocery store.

COLLINS: Yes, they're really good at that.

BACH: They're really good.

COLLINS: It's hard to say no 75,000 times in one grocery shopping trip.

BACH: That's right.

COLLINS: All right.

BACH: Muffle them up.

COLLINS: David Bach, thanks so much for that advice today. We do appreciate it.

And you can catch David every Thursday here on AMERICAN MORNING with tips on how to "Live Rich Today."

HEMMER: All right, Heidi, thanks for that.

Thirteen minutes now before the hour. A few little words on the trail. The president drops a favorite phrase from his speech. What he is not saying now and why.

And what John Kerry said that has Dick Cheney talking today.

Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Our panel is in place now. It's time for "Political Pop." On the left with us today, political strategist Serena Torrey is back here.

Good morning.

SERENA TORREY, POLITICAL STRATEGIST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Also here, Andy Borowitz, responsible for BorowitzReport.com and also responsible for that strong fashion statement he's making today with that shirt. On the right, WABC radio host Mark Simone is back with us as well.

And good morning to all three of you.

TORREY: Good morning.

MARK SIMONE, WABC RADIO HOST: Good morning.

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.

HEMMER: Let's talk about the front page of "The New York Times." Apparently a dozen Democrats say they will not block the nomination of Porter Goss. Overnight, did this become a slam dunk? SIMONE: Well, you know, a lot of Democrats are opposed to it because he's a good friend of Cheney's, because he's a Republican, he's from Florida. That might help in the election.

And just by coincidence, he happens to have the best credentials in intelligence of anybody in government. And let's be honest. If Bush appointed James Bond they'd be opposing it.

TORREY: You know, Mark, I wish the Bush administration wouldn't play politics with a position like this. They've appointed the most -- or they've nominated the most partisan man in Congress, according to his colleagues, for this position. And what they were trying to do was goad Democrats into a fight over the nomination. But what they're going to get is a nationally-televised debate over intelligence failures under Bush. It's going to blow up in their face.

SIMONE: I think it blew right past the most important factor. The best resume as far as intelligence, of anybody in government right now. He was a great spy for years, ran the Senate Intelligence Committee.

TORREY: The director of Central Intelligence has to work with...

SIMONE: House. House.

HEMMER: Go ahead.

TORREY: But he's got to work with colleagues in the House and in the Senate. And when half of the House and the Senate doesn't find him able to work with them, we've got to look to...

BOROWITZ: I thought it interesting yesterday that Bush is now backing off the idea of an intelligence czar. He said it was too important a job to be entrusted to a Russian.

HEMMER: Placeba (ph).

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: The next topic here. I like that. Last week, John Kerry made the following statement. We'll put it on the screen. He's going to be picked today by the vice president. "I believe I can fight a more effective, more thoughtful, more strategic, more proactive, more sensitive war on terror."

We are told that in Dayton, Ohio, today, the vice president will pick on that word, "sensitive." What did he mean by that word?

TORREY: You know, I'm not sure that it's all that helpful to be parsing John Kerry's words and nitpicking like this. What John Kerry is talking about is the fact that he wants to fight a war on terror. He wants to go after al Qaeda terrorists. He's going to invest in shoring up our homeland security. Ultimately, that's what the American people want. They're not worried about semantics.

SIMONE: A sensitive war on terror. We've tried everything. We've never tried sending them Hallmark cards, but I guess we could try that.

TORREY: You know that's not what he means.

HEMMER: Do you think that's what he means by that, Mark?

SIMONE: Well, the problem is Kerry has had every position under the sun. If you go to the RNC Web site, they've cut together all of his positions on the war. It runs 11 minutes, even with editing. And because he was in Vietnam 35 years ago, we're supposed to forget about the schizophrenia?

BOROWITZ: I thought it was interesting that John Edwards said that he would fight hotter, better-looking war on terror. I thought that was interesting.

HEMMER: According to "People" magazine, though, right?

BOROWITZ: Exactly.

TORREY: I think the Bush folks know that they're losing ground on the issue of credibility on national security, and they are really grasping at straws at this point.

HEMMER: Next topic. You were going to go, but I'm going to stop you.

BOROWITZ: Please.

HEMMER: We are told, Andy, that the president has dropped this phrase from his stump speech going back to last Friday. He used to say, we're turning the corner and we're not going back.

BOROWITZ: Right.

HEMMER: The jobs report came out on Friday. Is there something in there that suggests take that line out because of it?

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, I have a slightly different view that it said that he's going to saying, we're turning the corner. I think that's because in the past, every time he's tried to turn the corner he's fallen off his mountain bike. So, I think with that really it has bad connotations.

HEMMER: Two on the record, though, right, at this point?

BOROWITZ: Right. You know, very bad connotations, I think.

SIMONE: Well, you know, Bush turning the corner, he's got to stay away from metaphors. You picture Bush trying to re-fold that map. It doesn't look good. But here's the real problem. Unemployment is 5.5 percent. That's exactly what it was when Clinton ran for re- election. Every Democrat is on record at the time saying that's a great unemployment rate.

TORREY: Talk about flip-flopping. First the president says we're turning the corner. Now we're not turning the corner. You know, his aides have said that this line wasn't working in speeches when 57 percent of country says the country is going in the wrong direction. Maybe it's not the speeches that aren't working. Maybe it's the policies.

BOROWITZ: Well, you know, Bush has created 1.5 million jobs since last August. The problem is one person has to hold all of those jobs to feed a family of four. So that's been the big problem.

HEMMER: And in Russia today, it's even worse, right?

BOROWITZ: Yes. Placeba.

HEMMER: Thanks to all three of you. We are turning the corner to a commercial and back to Heidi now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Thanks, Bill.

Still to come, the battle rages in Najaf. U.S. Marines attempt to crush the rebel Mehdi army. It's just one of the many developments in Iraq this morning. We've got them all right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In a moment, a state of emergency in Florida. Residents are now taking cover. The countdown to Bonnie and Charley is now entering its final hours. The latest live from the scene when we continue in a moment.

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