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American Morning

Hurricane Ivan Already Blamed for More Than 60 Deaths; Dozens of Iraqis Killed in Car Bombing in Baghdad

Aired September 14, 2004 - 07:00   ET

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


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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Hurricane Ivan smashing past western Cuba, into the Gulf of Mexico, and the next stop, the U.S. Blood in Baghdad. Dozens are dead as a car bomb explodes near a downtown police station.
Also, police in Wisconsin release shocking videotape of a baby thrown on to the highway during a high speed chase.

And with two out in the ninth, an ugly bullpen brawl where the players go after the fans, all ahead this morning, here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: And good morning, everyone. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Heidi Collins with us again today. Good morning to you.

COLLINS: Good morning. Welcome back.

HEMMER: No free cars, by the way, on this show. You've got to watch a different show for that. What an amazing story.

COLLINS: It was only seven million worth.

HEMMER: Yes, give or take a few, that's right.

Some of the stories we're watching here on this AMERICAN MORNING. The presidential campaign continues. President Bush, Senator Kerry really going after each other hard on healthcare. We'll check on that topic, and the campaign themes for today. We'll also talk to the governor of Wisconsin, a battleground state. There is a new poll out, so we'll get to the numbers and the governor also this morning.

COLLINS: And Andy Serwer continues the series on the cutting edge technology that has finally arrived. Today, he'll tell you how to download movies online legally. That's a concept, huh?

HEMMER: I like that.

Jack Cafferty good morning to you.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How're you doing, William?

When you go out to the ballpark, you probably don't expect to get hit in the head with a chair thrown by one of the players, but it happened last night. We're going to take a look at what happens when athletes lose control.

COLLINS: It's believable.

All right, Jack. Thank you.

I want to check on the stories now in the news with Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center for the very latest.

Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you.

A chaotic scene in central Baghdad this morning. A car bomb struck a police station just hours ago. Officials say at least 47 people were killed, many of them recruits lined up to apply for police jobs.

Coming up, CNN's Diana Muriel is in Baghdad, with the latest on who is being blamed for that attack.

And in Baqubah, gunmen reportedly opened fire on a minibus that was carrying policeman. Officials say that at least 12 people were killed.

It is another day off for school children in Beslan, Russia, after the deadly standoff that killed more than 330 hostages almost three weeks ago. Classes were called off just minutes before school was set to start this morning. Officials said that security checks hadn't been completed yet, and so classes are likely to resume tomorrow.

President Bush is expected today to request about $3.1 billion for hurricane relief. It's to help Florida repair the damage caused by Hurricanes Charley and Frances. It will also include money for the flooding that Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston caused in southeastern states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

And OK, here it is, the unsportsmanlike behavior last night in Oakland, California. Take a look. Texas Ranger relief pitcher Doug Brocail started screaming at a fan, had to be restrained by teammates. Then Rangers reliever Frank Francisco tossed a chair in the stands. Look what happened; it broke this woman's nose.

Oakland won the game by the way, 7-6, went into extra innings, 10-0. Ranger manager Buck Showalter says, you know, they always hear trash from the fans. It's really bad when come to Oakland. He said, that night, it crossed the lines, but really, there is no excuse.

Still, by the way, is woman is considering filing charges.

HEMMER: Will not be the end of that.

KAGAN: Oh, no, will not.

HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn.

Jack is talking about it this morning, throughout the morning here, too. So, we'll get back to that story.

Meanwhile, though, back to Ivan in a moment. Moving into the Gulf of Mexico this morning, forecasters call it an extremely dangerous category-five storm. Ivan yesterday spending much of that day pounding the western edge of Cuba, damaging homes and businesses, and making things downright miserable.

A latest look at the image of Ivan now. The hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 160 miles an hour, stronger gusts than that even. Ivan will likely make U.S. landfall somewhere between New Orleans and Florida's western panhandle late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, but exactly where it goes is anybody's guess. Ivan already blamed for more than 60 deaths going back to Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, and Cayman Islands.

Forecaster Rick Nabb is tracking the storm with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He's my guest now.

Rick, good morning to you.

RICK NABB, FORECASTER, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Your forecast takes the hurricane where in the Gulf of Mexico?

NABB: Well, the hurricane has emerged into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, and it's moving in the general direction of the northern Gulf Coast, and we are anticipating that it will make more of a northerly turn, and sometime tomorrow night or Thursday morning, between eastern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, we could have landfall.

However, this is a very large hurricane, so conditions will be deteriorating during the day on Wednesday, and that's why we already have a hurricane watch up for the New Orleans, Biloxi, Pensacola and Florida panhandle areas.

HEMMER: And watching this satellite image just about an hour ago it shows the eye weakening a little bit. What explains that, and does that indicate that the storm is weakening?

NABB: Not necessarily. Hurricanes of this intensity tend to go through fluctuations, where the eye will become better defined and less defined, and then come back. Right now, we still have a central pressure that justifies a category-five hurricane.

We do anticipate some slight weakening as it moves north through the Gulf of Mexico. However, when it does arrive at the Gulf Coast, it still could still be a major hurricane of category three or four intensity.

HEMMER: Rick, this storm is moving about nine miles an hour, not extremely fast for a hurricane of this size. Almost similar to Frances in the way it approached the east coast of Florida. What explains why these storms slow down this way? NABB: Well, if you compare those storms, Frances this year and also now Ivan, compare those to Isabel last year, where Isabel had a very well-defined steering current moving a little more quickly. This year, we have hurricanes that are embedded within a much more weak steering. The subtropical ridge over the Atlantic not as strong, not pushing these storms along as fast as other storms have been. And we don't expect much change in the forward speed between now and the time of landfall. In fact, after landfall, it could even slow down. This could be a significant rainfall event for the southeastern U.S. and the Appalachians.

HEMMER: Rick, thanks. Rick Nabb there in Miami at the National Hurricane Center. Busy days yet again. Thanks for talking with us.

NABB: Thank you.

HEMMER: Much appreciated.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: The pace of death and destruction in Iraq has quickened over the past several days. Dozens of Iraqis have been killed today. The most horrific attack was a car bombing in Baghdad.

Diana Muriel is now there with the very latest.

Diana, good morning.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Indeed, another deadly day in Baghdad, Heidi, 47 killed and 114 wounded in a car bomb attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURIEL (voice-over): Another bomb, another scene of devastation in downtown Baghdad. A massive car bomb exploded outside a police station midmorning Tuesday. A line of recruits waiting to sign up as police officers bore the brunt of the blast. The explosion left a deep crater in the street and ignited several cars in the vicinity.

Ambulances were quickly on the scene, ferrying the dead and injured to two local hospitals. There, medics fought to save lives, sometimes appearing overwhelmed by the scale of the carnage.

The interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, quickly broke off his engagement to come to the blast site. He was mobbed by an angry crowd who laid the blame squarely on the Americans. This man says, since the Americans forces came here, they have perpetrated massacres against the Iraqi people.

But the fact is, no one has come forward to claim responsibility for this bloody slaughter.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MURIEL: Heidi, the numbers of dead and wounded could indeed rise as the day goes on. But at the moment, we have from the ministry of health 47 killed and 114 wounded in that deadly blast -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That is just awful there, Diana. Wondering, what is the security situation like outside of the police stations now? And will it be increased after events like this continue to happen?

MURIEL: Well, over the last few months, the police have been trying to improve the security they have outside their police stations, because they have been subbed to attacks up and down the country. Many of them have blast walls, concrete blast walls, positioned outside. And indeed, this one did, but the blast took place in the street, where the recruits and passersby were located.

The police are highly under-resourced and highly under staffed. That's why they are on this massive recruiting drive looking for new police officers. But the training process is a long one. They need assistance from the multinational forces here, the coalition forces, and for outside help to not only recruit and train, but also to give equipment to these police officers.

Many of them don't have all the equipment they need. Many of them don't even have flack jackets. Many have just pistols and not assault rifles. It's a very precarious situation for the authorities here, particularly for the police.

COLLINS: All right, Diana Muriel, live from Baghdad this morning. Thanks, Diana.

HEMMER: Brian Bennett, a writer for "TIME" magazine, just back from Iraq, is our guest in about 30 minutes. We'll talk to him more about what's happening today there.

In the meantime, though, in this country, a man being chased by police in Wisconsin pulled a dangerous stunt while trying to elude authorities. The 23-year-old driver slowed down long enough to drop an infant in a car seat on to a highway in Green Bay. Police stopped, rescued the baby, miraculously unharmed. It's believed the man was involved with a domestic dispute with the child's mother. The high speed chase did continue, eventually ending in the man's death after his car flipped over. Again, that story out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Wow.

COLLINS: That is amazing. I've never seen anything like it.

All right, well still to come this morning, a mystery from the Cold War gets the attention of the Air Force. Experts are headed to the waters off the coast of Georgia, and they may have a tough decision ahead of them.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, how about Batman. leaving Gotham to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace? We'll tell you what he wanted, in a moment.

COLLINS: OK. Plus, President Bush takes on an issue that many thought believed to John Kerry. The Democrats may be losing ground. That's all ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: On the campaign trail this morning, John Kerry meets with seniors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then later in Toledo, Ohio today, before heading off for Detroit, Michigan. Yesterday, the Democratic presidential candidate criticizing President Bush on the lapse of the assault weapons plan, saying the president chose -- quote -- "to make the job of the terrorists easier," end quote.

HEMMER: Meanwhile, for the president's part, out west today, a rally in Denver, then heading off for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yesterday, healthcare was the focus for the White House. Dana Bash is there live this morning.

Dana, good morning there.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And healthcare is the focus for the president, and he's talking more about it this week than he has in quite sometime. He's falling back on a classic Republican argument, that the Democrats plan is too costly and it will only mean higher taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Bush theme of the day -- healthcare. The candidate boiled it down to black and white. He's got ideas that give you more control. Senator Kerry gives control to Uncle Sam.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision-making in healthcare.

BASH: He'll raise your taxes too. That was the mantra, then the punchline.

BUSH: What would you expect from a senator from Massachusetts?

BASH: The president's pushing for expanding tax-free healthcare accounts, letting small businesses band together to buy insurance and lower rates, overhauling medical liability laws. That one always gets huge applause, especially the kicker.

BUSH: You can't be pro-doctor or pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket.

BASH: Senator Kerry does want to repeal Bush top bracket tax cuts to pay for healthcare subsidies, but aides call the big government label baseless. And Camp Kerry points to a recent non- partisan study showing family health premiums more than doubled on the president's watch. In Michigan, where Mr. Bush lost in 2000, polls show healthcare tops what swing voters care most about. As of last month, Senator Kerry had a 41-point lead on the issue there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And leadership on healthcare is a liability for the president nationwide, and the Bush campaign is trying to chip away at Senator Kerry's lead, particularly among middle-class voters, who have felt the squeeze because of rising health watch on the president's watch -- Bill.

HEMMER: Dana Bash, thanks, on the Front Lawn this morning -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows the president moving ahead in Wisconsin. The Badger State is one of 17 key battlegrounds that could swing the election either way. Four years ago, Al Gore took Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, but it was by 1 percent, so it was close even then.

Jim Doyle, the state's Democratic governor, is joining us now from Madison this morning.

Governor, good morning to you.

GOV. JIM DOYLE (D), WISCONSIN: Good morning.

COLLINS: Let's look at the numbers, if we could, up on the screen. We've got among likely voters 52 percent favoring President Bush, over 44 percent for John Kerry, and among registered voters, 49 percent for President Bush, 45 for Senator John Kerry. This picture is a little bit different back in August. Why do you think your guy is slipping?

DOYLE: Well, I think, as everybody has said, the conventions in the summer, and there's some ebbs and flows that go on. I have no doubt, and I think everybody in Wisconsin on both sides really recognize that whatever the polls show right now, depending on which one you look at and so on, but within the next couple of weeks, this is going to be a dead-even race. It was absolutely dead even in 2000, and that's sort of where we left on then and I think that's really where we pick it up again in 2004.

COLLINS: What does Senator Kerry have to do, though, or say, perhaps, to turn your state around back to where they were, even just one month ago?

DOYLE: Well, I think the issues here are pretty basic. We lost 84,000 manufacturing jobs. Wisconsin, after Indiana, has the highest percentage of our workers in manufacturing of any state in the country. So, this movement of jobs out of the United States has hit us hard. We have made a little bit of a bounceback here, but I think it's pretty hard for the president to make a case that he's done much to help Wisconsin's jobs. And secondly, the issue you just mentioned, healthcare, I think calling Senator Kerry and John Edwards names is not getting him very far. He's got a very hard case to say that he's done anything to help people with the rising cost of healthcare here in Wisconsin, and there's no doubt it is a huge issue for Wisconsin families.

COLLINS: We're going to talk about healthcare in just a minute. I want to ask you something about the assault weapons ban, which I'm sure you understood expired yesterday. John Kerry, though, had this to say about it. Let's listen in for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, tomorrow, for the first time in 10 years, when a killer walks into a gun shop, when a terrorist goes to a gun show somewhere in America, when they want to purchase an AK-47 or some other military assault weapon, they are going to hear one word -- sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Some Democrats, though, think this issue could actually backfire on Senator Kerry. What do Democrats in your state think?

DOYLE: There's no doubt in Wisconsin we strongly support the ban on assault weapons. I think that's true all over the country. I think people are sort of shocked to realize that we're going back 10 years here on a ban that was widely supported when it happened. And by every public opinion poll and everything I hear, people understand the difference between an assault weapon and a deer rifle, and people in Wisconsin overwhelmingly support the ban.

COLLINS: Pardon the interruption, but you remember in 2000, Al Gore had a little bit of trouble, and some people say, some Democrats say, supporting that issue may have hurt him in that election.

DOYLE: The question then was by no means assault weapons. This is a 10-year-old issue, and I don't think -- there's very, very little support, if any, that I see in favor of reintroducing assault weapons on to the streets of America.

COLLINS: All right, let's talk about healthcare. You brought it up already. I want to go ahead and listen to a commercial that President Clinton -- or excuse, President Bush will have here in just moment. Let's listen to this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message.

ANNOUNCER: On healthcare, President Bush and our leaders in Congress have a practical plan. Allow small businesses to join together to get lower insurance rates big companies get. Stop frivolous lawsuits against doctors. Health coverage you can take with you. The liberals in Congress and Kerry's plan, Washington bureaucrats in control, a government run healthcare plan, $1.5 trillion price tag -- big government in charge, not you, not your doctor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Governor, you think this sort of attack could hurt John Kerry?

DOYLE: Well, it's just a false attack. The fact is the president's been president for four years, and he is finally telling us a little bit about what he might do about healthcare. What has he done in the last four years? We already in Wisconsin and most states have provisions that allow small businesses to band together to make purchases. If he wanted to do something to really help us with healthcare, would he stand with me and some other governors in the upper Midwest to allow the reimportation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. That's something that could all help us tomorrow. Yet, his administration is doing everything he can to keep those cheaper prescription drugs safe, the FDA approved drugs coming into the state of Wisconsin.

So, and John Kerry's plan is hardly what the president characterizes it there. He really is in favor of opening up the market place and getting real competition into this. Families need, desperately need help on healthcare costs. Employers need it, employees need it. Public, private sector everybody is crying out for it, and the president really has dropped the ball on this over the last four years, and now makes a few little suggestions about what he might do in the next four years.

COLLINS: Governor, appreciate it. All right, Governor Jim Doyle, coming to us from Wisconsin this morning. Thank you, sir, for your time.

DOYLE: Thank you.

HEMMER: Well, 23 minutes past the hour. In a moment, one struggling major airline has a plan to get back on track. Passengers will pay the price. Andy has that. "Minding Your Business" after a break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. Airways filed for bankruptcy for a second time now, and now that move may threaten some of the employees' pensions.

Andy Serwer back with us here, "Minding Your Business." Good morning to you, first check on a Tuesday morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. Good to see you again.

This is some really grim news. U.S. Air saying it may have to terminate the pension plans for 25,000 employees, saying it will have to contribute half a billion dollars or more over the next five years to remain a viable company.

Well, if you can't meet the obligations of employees who've been working for your company for decades and decades, maybe you should rethink things. Isn't your obligation to employees No. 1, over passengers and bond holders and shareholders? Ironically, the largest shareholders of U.S. Air is the state of Alabama pension fund. You think they might understand this a little bit?

The consequences here to me for other airline employees and for employees at other large companies is dire. I just think this is a really, really bad road.

Let's talk about what is going on at Delta. We talked about how they're getting rid of their hub at Dallas-Fort Worth, laying off thousands of employees, also scrambling to avoid bankruptcy. Guess what? The company that invented the hub-and-spoke system is looking to deemphasize hubs. They say this is going to be good for employees, because you'll be able to make connections easier. What it really means is they're going to have less flights coming in, you're going to be waiting longer for your flight.

Yes, this is great stuff that's going on in the airline business, and every day...

HEMMER: We can't go a day without it, that's exactly right, without talking about some angle.

SERWER: It's what's happening right now.

HEMMER: All right, thank you, Andy. Markets are up slightly yesterday. We'll get to that next time.

SERWER: Indeed -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Jack now, "The Cafferty File" and the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Heidi.

Last night, during the ninth inning, Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco got into an altercation with some Oakland A's fan next to the bullpen. Fans were talking trash. Francisco lost his school, threw a chair into the stands, hit a man in the head, broke a woman's nose. The woman says she may file charges.

The team apologized on behalf of the idiot player, but the Ranger's manager, Buck Showalter, said the fan's behavior was worse than usual, saying, quote, "Tonight it went over the line." What does that mean, Buck, that it's OK to pickup a chair and throw it into the stands and break a woman's nose? What do you mean it went over the line?

Play resumed 19 minutes later, but questions have been raised now about how tempers flaring can spoil the game. Roger Kahn wrote that great book "The Boys of Summer." If he wrote it today, it might be "The Morons of This Summer." That's nonsense. "What should happen to the baseball player who threw a chair into the stands?" Am@CNN.com. Knock yourselves out.

COLLINS: I mean, it was the ninth inning, right, so that was just it?

SERWER: Well, you know, it is true that people are saying more obnoxious things than ever, but it doesn't give you the right to throw a chair.

HEMMER: Well, that videotape personifies the entire incident from yesterday, that woman standing there with blood coming down her face.

CAFFERTY: If you want to put up with abuse, drive a bus in New York City for $40,000 a year. These punks are paid millions of dollars to play baseball. Somebody says something, well, so what? You know.

HEMMER: Yes, am@CNN.com. Good topic.

SERWER: Point well taken.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Ivan knocking on Cuba overnight last night. What part of the U.S. will he knock on next? The latest on the storm when we come back, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING. In a few minutes, Hurricane Ivan has not diminished in strength at all. Look at this thing, still just huge, as it moves closer to the U.S. We'll get the latest forecast from Chad, also, check on one where Florida resort town where things are suddenly a lot less fun.

HEMMER: You mentione the size of that hurricane there, what 100 miles out hurricane force winds, 200 miles out tropical storm winds.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, it's still at 160 miles an hour.

HEMMER: Indeed it is.

In a moment here also, is the U.S. trying to protect airlines from terrorists with one hand tied behind its back. Talk to an author, talk show host, who claim political correctness is keeping the people in charge of safety from adequately doing their job. He has, shall we say, very strong opinions about this. Michael Smerconish is our guest here in a moment.

We want to check on the stories now in the news, though, with Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.

Good morning once again, Daryn.

KAGAN: Heidi, good morning. A hearing will get underway this morning for the nomination of Porter Goss as the new CIA chief. Goss is an ex-CIA agent, and a retiring Republican congressman from Florida. He's President Bush's choice for the job. Some Democrats, though, question his ability to steer a politically independent course. He is expected to be confirmed.

More hearings are set to get underway this morning on the possible link between antidepressants and higher suicidal tendencies among children. Two FDA advisory panels are considering whether agency action, including stronger warning labels, is needed on antidepressant medications.

People in Southern California are expecting to deal with more rolling blackouts today. Workers are trying to repair equipment at a substation in the L.A. area. Residents are being asked to conserve power to reduce the length and frequency of outages.

And Ralph Nader is back on the presidential ballot in Florida. Well, at least for now he is. Florida's supreme court agreed yesterday to hear an appeal of a ruling which kept Nader's candidacy for the Reform Party off the ballot. State Democrats say the appeal is, quote, "blatant partisan maneuvering." So, the secretary of state, Heidi, telling local officials put him on. Meanwhile, she is appealing the decision to keep it on there.

COLLINS: OK, I'm sure we'll figure that out later, right.

KAGAN: Stay tuned. Stay tuned.

COLLINS: Daryn, thanks so much.

Hurricane Ivan is being called an extremely dangerous category- five storm this morning. And it's headed for the United States. Ivan ravaged Cuba's western tip yesterday, with 160 miles-an-hour winds, heavy rains and unrelenting surf, that destroyed homes and businesses there. Ivan is now making its way through the Gulf of Mexico. There's a hurricane watch in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to St. Marks, Florida, a huge agree geographic space. Ivan is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.

And David Mattingly is live in Panama City Beach now wit the very latest from there.

David, hello.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

You're not going to find many people out enjoying the sand and the surf this morning, I'm afraid. Even though the projected path of Ivan is taking it to the west of here, Panama City Beach is still well within that cone of uncertainty. And as long as this danger exists, the people who live here are going to be watching this storm very closely and thinking about how much this town has to lose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTINGLY (voice-over): With a major hurricane bearing down on its now strangely empty beaches, Panama City Beach is one resort town in danger of losing its cool, not cool as in temperature, but cool as in the place to be.

Every year, 300,000 to 400,000 high school and college kids give Panama City Beach reason to claim title as the hottest spring break town in America, and there's concern major repairs after a hurricane could move the party elsewhere.

CHERYL PAGE, OWNER, SALTY'S: I think that the spring breakers will go elsewhere, and they may like it better and may not return.

MATTINGLY: Cheryl Page, owner of one popular watering hole, remembers back in 1995 when Hurricane Opal sent waves crashing through her business and washing the kitchen out to sea. This time, employees are pulling down the thousands of dollar bills tacked up by customers in anticipation of another hard hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, the problem is once whoever is here is here, that they're not going to be ale to get over the bridges if it does kick and kick (ph).

MATTINGLY: After making sure everyone is safe, Mayor Lee Sullivan worries most about the city's long-term future. A building boom is transforming mom-and-pop hotels into high-rise condos, and their value depends on the sugar white sand beaches which are dangerously vulnerable to erosion.

MYR. LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH: So, all the money, the millions of dollars that that we have spent getting this beach to be what it is, can be wiped out, and we're aware of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: A mandatory evacuation order has been set for the beaches to go into effect at noon Eastern time today. That could change to some degree however. Local officials are going to be getting back together, meeting about an hour from now to look at all the latest data and decide if they need to amend that evacuation order.

But it's going to be a very difficult decision to make, Heidi, because everyone is thinking back to 1995 and Hurricane Opal with its 17-foot storm surge. If you imagine 17 feet, you see how far away the surf is right now, 17 feet would bring it to the top of these dunes, and I'd be getting very wet right now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, you'd have to move quickly. Wow.

All right, David Mattingly, thanks so much for that.

We're going to be speaking with the mayor of Panama City Beach, Mayor Lee Sullivan. That will be coming up in our next hour, 8:00 Eastern.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

HEMMER: This morning's car bombing in Baghdad, the deadliest in a rising wave of attacks by insurgents in Iraq, 47 are dead, more than 100 wounded outside the city's central police station. That happened a few hours ago.

Now the increase in attacks, going back about five days now, appears to be in response to U.S. attempts to possibly regain control of insurgent-held areas like the town of Fallujah. American airstrikes there have been targeting militants who claim responsibility for car bombings, and those who sympathize with al Qaeda.

Brian Bennett was in Fallujah, just returned back to the U.S. He's reporting now in this week's "TIME" magazine. And he's my guest in D.C.

BRIAN BENNETT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be with you, Bill.

HEMMER: Brian, welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.

Let's talk about the violence today so far, and really going back to about Thursday or Friday of last week. We know these insurgents don't want the U.S. there. What is their endgame that they voice for Iraq?

BENNETT: Well, this is one of the problems with the insurgency, is they don't really have a viable alternative that they're presenting to the Iraqi people. Certainly all they know is they want the Americans to leave. They certainly want the Sunni minority in the country to have more political influence, as they have had for the last several decades in the country.

HEMMER: Is there an explanation as to why we have seen in uptick? I mentioned the possible of air strikes in Fallujah. Does that explain it, though?

BENNETT: Well, I think what we're seeing is the elections in January are coming ever closer, and the Iraqi government and the Americans who are providing security for the Iraqi government there are realizing that if they have areas like Fallujah, Samarra, Tall Afar in the north, these cities that have been largely controlled by the resistance and by insurgents, they will not be able to have free and fair elections and fair battles in those areas, because the insurgents will do their best to influence the elections in those areas. And what they need to do in the next several months is take back control of those areas for the Iraqi government.

HEMMER: So, Brian, Help me understand this then, if you're going to hold elections in January and bypass areas like Fallujah, how can you hold them, how can they be viable for the rest of the 25 million people if you're are not going to do it throughout the entire country.

BENNETT: This is a major problem that the Iraqi government is facing right now. They would prefer to have control of these areas, of Fallujah, of Samarra, which U.S. troops went into last week. They prefer to have Iraqi government-controlled police on the streets, as there have been in the last few months, and be able to have monitored ballots in the coming elections.

HEMMER: In a word, if the situation remains as it is today and has been for the past week, can you hold these elections even?

BENNETT: Well, an election could be held, but I think it would be contested as to whether or not it was fair, as to whether or not voters were intimidated, or just simply afraid to leave their homes and go to the polls.

HEMMER: In the short time we have left, a lot of time our viewers want to know about the good stories happening in Iraq. You brought one to us today, a former Iraqi captain in the army, now rejoining again. What is his story, Brian, that you found?

BENNETT: Well, I talked to Captain Abdul Hadhi (ph) in a Marine base outside of Fallujah, where they're training the Iraqi National Guard, and this man was pretty much an inspiration.

He'd been kidnapped on his way home from work as a captain in the new Iraqi army and tortured for five days, and he was eventually released, and he went right back to work, and he's still at the Marine base training, helping to train new Iraqi recruits. His feet are still swollen from the torture, but he's still shows up, even though he can't put his boots on. He shows up in sandals.

HEMMER: Is he the exception or the rule?

BENNETT: From what I found, he is an exceptional case. There are a number of men who show up to work with the new Iraqi army. And they are there because they believe that this is the best way forward for their country. This is the best way forward to secure the now government, and they really view the insurgency run by a bunch of criminals and thugs, who all they want to do is destabilize and take advantage of the situation.

HEMMER: Brian Bennett's is with "TIME" magazine. Welcome home -- Heidi.

BENNETT: Thanks a lot.

COLLINS: Now to the case of Batman at Buckingham. Scotland Yard is demanding an inquiry after this man, dressed as, yes, Batman, evaded security to stage a protest on a Buckingham Balance balcony yesterday. Police spent five hours trying to persuade the man to come down. Eventually, he was removed and arrested. The man is a member of a father's rights group that has staged other publicity stunts, including throwing flower-filled condoms at Prime Minister Tony Blair.

HEMMER: Wait until you see what Superman has got planned over there.

In a moment here, part two of our week-long series, the future is now, today. Forget about waiting in line at the theater or the video store, all you need is a mouse and a modem to see a movie, and Andy has that in a moment.

COLLINS: Plus, we'll talk to one man who says political correctness is winning out over security when you fly. We'll talk about that, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Radio talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has never been one to mince words. His new book is called "Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11: A Look at the State of the Airline Security Business and the Structure Here in the U.S."

Michael Smerconish is my guest now here in New York.

And good morning to you.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, AUTHOR, "FLYING BLIND": Hey, Bill.

HEMMER: Why do you claim that we're as vulnerable today as we were three years ago.

SMERCONISH: I don't think we learned lessons from 9/11. And specifically what I look to is the fact that is 19 hijackers on 9/11 had a lot of commonalities, a lot of common denominators and traits -- race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and yet we have a conscious policy of deliberate decision in this country where we are saying to our airport screeners, you must exclude consideration of those factors. And that, to me, seems lunacy.

HEMMER: You're saying that the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, is told not to look for these people.

SMERCONISH: Absolutely, the TSA is told to the extent you rely on any of those criteria, we will fine you, and United and American Airlines, the two airlines that were victimized on 9/11, were each fined $1.5 million by the Department of Transportation because the DOT believed they were relying on those factors.

HEMMER: I fine that a little bit unbelievable. Where's your evidence to prove that that is indeed the message that's sent out.

SMERCONISH: I've read the litigation files, so I'm not sitting here, pulling it from some wackjob Internet Web site. I've read the files, and I'm here tell you that United, American, Delta and Continental have all been victimized by our Department of our Transportation, and they've paid millions of dollars because the DOT says you improperly took into account, race, gender, ethnicity in trying to protect your airlines post 9/11.

HEMMER: Is your position, Michael, that we have done too PC?

SMERCONISH: Absolutely we've gone too PC.

And Bill, my position is not you give the rubber hose and the stack of phonebooks to every young Arab mail who come through an airport security checkpoint. All that I'm saying is that you've got to allow some common sense to enter the dynamic, and you've got to allow the antenna to be raised when have you someone present at an airport security checkpoint who has those commonalities with the 19 hijackers. Stop pulling my 8-year-old kid out of line or my 85-year- old grandmother with an aluminum walker.

HEMMER: Has that happened to your kid?

SMERCONISH: It happened to me twice, and that's was how the book got started.

HEMMER: Back up a little bit here.

SMERCONISH: Sure.

HEMMER: If you travel in Israel today, in and out of the airport there, east of Tel Aviv, El Al Airlines will do that same thing. They'll check your 8-year-old kid and they'll check your 96-year-old grandmother, because they believe that terrorists look for patterns and holes, and they will send through people to check the system and to run tests. So then, why should we not do the same to make sure that we don't have any cracks in our system?

SMERCONISH: I love the question. I flew El-Al to Tel Aviv two years ago. There's a chapter in "Flying Blind" that talks about El- Al. I want their system here. Because you know what they do? They don't look just for bombs, they look for bombers.

And I've been through their security checkpoint. And by the way, me, a white guy from the suburbs of Philadelphia, I want you to take a look at me. I just want to make sure that the heightened scrutiny is going toward those who resemble the 9/11 hijackers. So, I can live with the El-Al system. I wish we had it in our country.

HEMMER: We are three years down the road.

SMERCONISH: Right.

HEMMER: How do we make it better, in your estimation?

SMERCONISH: In my estimation, we've got to get rid of Norman Mineta, the secretary of the Department of Transportation, and we've got to send a signal to the TSA and the Department of Transportation: allow common sense to prevail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: That's the author, radio talk-show host, and columnist Michael Smerconish. He is donating all the proceeds, he says, from his book to 9/11 charities -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, want a night at the movies, but don't have time for the cineplex or video store? Well, fear not. Andy Serwer tells us why the future is now. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Andy Serwer is here now with today's report in his week-long series, "The Future is Now." It's about cutting-edge technologies that could soon be a common part of our everyday lives.

Right now, we're going to be talking about downloading movies, though.

SERWER: That's right, Heidi. Most people know about downloading songs offline. Is downloading movies the next wave? Let's check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN HESS, MOVIE DOWNLOADER: People dancing and singing.

SERWER (voice-over): Susan Hess is multitasking. With three- and-a-half-year-old twins, a night at the movies or even getting to the store to bring home a rental is usually out of the question.

HESS: Everybody talks to me about, oh, have you seen this movie? It's fabulous, blah blah blah. And I have no idea what they are talking about half the time.

SERWER: That's where her laptop comes in. Now Susan downloads movies, paying $12.95 a month for up to 100 movies. She subscribes to a Web site from Starz, the cable channel.

Competing sites have bigger selections and charge for each movie you download, but you don't get to keep the movies. After a month, Starz automatically erases it.

HESS: I don't have to worry about returning them.

SERWER: All the downloading sites require same thing: high- speed Internet and time. A movie can take 10 minutes to two-and-a- half hours to download.

The other problem: selection.

HESS: How do you say this? "Gigli?"

SERWER (on camera): "Gigli."

HESS: "Gigli?"

SERWER: "Gigli."

HESS: Oh, yeah. I'm like, oh, that's a hot pick, really?

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Sounds beautiful.

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS: It means you're not my type.

SERWER (voice-over): But just like with downloading songs, digital pirates say why pay when you can get it for free? HESS: It's just like walking down the street in lower Manhattan and buying one of the DVDs from the street vendors. It's probably not very good quality, and it's stolen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERWER (on camera): Heidi, people have been saying that chains like Blockbuster will be put out of business by movies on demand and online movies. That hasn't happened yet, but it's likely that customers like Susan Hess are increasingly going to be taking the vanguard in this business.

COLLINS: And you were saying, with the 10 minutes to two-and-a- half hours to download, might want to think about doing it overnight.

SERWER: Yeah, people do it overnight. And also, the other thing is the quality is very, very good in these things. So, you know, it really is something people are going to be doing, I think.

COLLINS: Great, especially for the little tykes.

SERWER: Yeah.

COLLINS: What's coming up tomorrow?

SERWER: Well, tomorrow we're going to be talking about downloading music directly to your car. It's wi-fi and wheels. That's tomorrow morning on "The Future is Now."

HEMMER: I like that idea. Very cool.

COLLINS: Love that.

SERWER: It's a lot of fun.

COLLINS: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: A lot's happening -- Jack?

CAFFERTY: In this altercation last night at this baseball game between Texas and Oakland. This moron Frank Francisco, he plays for the Rangers, threw a chair into the stands. Hit one guy in the head. Broke a woman's nose. She is thinking about filing charges. America's pastime, you know what I'm saying?

"What should happen to the baseball player who threw the chair into the stands?"

Ian writes in Providence: "Ever think the maybe the woman who got Geraldoed deserved it?" That's a reference to Geraldo Rivera being hit in the nose with a chair.

HEMMER: New verb. A new verb.

CAFFERTY: Yes, Geraldoed. "Did you ever think she deserved it? No doubt she's about to become very rich, which will encourage other annoying fans to hurl insults at the players hoping for a similar reaction and a big payoff. The player's union should pass the hat to help this guy pay for what they have all fantasized about doing."

And Dave in Japan says: "He lashed out at a group of people who posed absolutely no threat to him, resulting in a mass of unnecessary conflict with innocent victims. He's now wildly unpopular and will no doubt lose a small fortune to boot. Sounds like what Bush did in Iraq. Maybe the guy should run for president."

COLLINS: But we don't know that she was even involved in the altercation, right? Because I saw that he was originally throwing the chair at a guy, and then it actually bounced off and hit her in the face, right?

CAFFERTY: Ricochet. Well, you know, he's a reliever. If he had real good stuff, he'd be a starter.

HEMMER: People used to just be worried about baseballs and hockey pucks. Now you have to worry about chairs, right?

SERWER: We missed you man.

COLLINS: Ouch.

SERWER: Missed you.

HEMMER: You're right, Andy.

Get a break here in a moment. Ivan has cleared Cuba. Up next: the U.S. Gulf coast. Where and when? Two questions this morning. Top of the hour after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 September 14, 2004 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Hurricane Ivan smashing past western Cuba, into the Gulf of Mexico, and the next stop, the U.S. Blood in Baghdad. Dozens are dead as a car bomb explodes near a downtown police station.
Also, police in Wisconsin release shocking videotape of a baby thrown on to the highway during a high speed chase.

And with two out in the ninth, an ugly bullpen brawl where the players go after the fans, all ahead this morning, here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: And good morning, everyone. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Heidi Collins with us again today. Good morning to you.

COLLINS: Good morning. Welcome back.

HEMMER: No free cars, by the way, on this show. You've got to watch a different show for that. What an amazing story.

COLLINS: It was only seven million worth.

HEMMER: Yes, give or take a few, that's right.

Some of the stories we're watching here on this AMERICAN MORNING. The presidential campaign continues. President Bush, Senator Kerry really going after each other hard on healthcare. We'll check on that topic, and the campaign themes for today. We'll also talk to the governor of Wisconsin, a battleground state. There is a new poll out, so we'll get to the numbers and the governor also this morning.

COLLINS: And Andy Serwer continues the series on the cutting edge technology that has finally arrived. Today, he'll tell you how to download movies online legally. That's a concept, huh?

HEMMER: I like that.

Jack Cafferty good morning to you.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How're you doing, William?

When you go out to the ballpark, you probably don't expect to get hit in the head with a chair thrown by one of the players, but it happened last night. We're going to take a look at what happens when athletes lose control.

COLLINS: It's believable.

All right, Jack. Thank you.

I want to check on the stories now in the news with Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center for the very latest.

Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you.

A chaotic scene in central Baghdad this morning. A car bomb struck a police station just hours ago. Officials say at least 47 people were killed, many of them recruits lined up to apply for police jobs.

Coming up, CNN's Diana Muriel is in Baghdad, with the latest on who is being blamed for that attack.

And in Baqubah, gunmen reportedly opened fire on a minibus that was carrying policeman. Officials say that at least 12 people were killed.

It is another day off for school children in Beslan, Russia, after the deadly standoff that killed more than 330 hostages almost three weeks ago. Classes were called off just minutes before school was set to start this morning. Officials said that security checks hadn't been completed yet, and so classes are likely to resume tomorrow.

President Bush is expected today to request about $3.1 billion for hurricane relief. It's to help Florida repair the damage caused by Hurricanes Charley and Frances. It will also include money for the flooding that Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston caused in southeastern states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

And OK, here it is, the unsportsmanlike behavior last night in Oakland, California. Take a look. Texas Ranger relief pitcher Doug Brocail started screaming at a fan, had to be restrained by teammates. Then Rangers reliever Frank Francisco tossed a chair in the stands. Look what happened; it broke this woman's nose.

Oakland won the game by the way, 7-6, went into extra innings, 10-0. Ranger manager Buck Showalter says, you know, they always hear trash from the fans. It's really bad when come to Oakland. He said, that night, it crossed the lines, but really, there is no excuse.

Still, by the way, is woman is considering filing charges.

HEMMER: Will not be the end of that.

KAGAN: Oh, no, will not.

HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn.

Jack is talking about it this morning, throughout the morning here, too. So, we'll get back to that story.

Meanwhile, though, back to Ivan in a moment. Moving into the Gulf of Mexico this morning, forecasters call it an extremely dangerous category-five storm. Ivan yesterday spending much of that day pounding the western edge of Cuba, damaging homes and businesses, and making things downright miserable.

A latest look at the image of Ivan now. The hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 160 miles an hour, stronger gusts than that even. Ivan will likely make U.S. landfall somewhere between New Orleans and Florida's western panhandle late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, but exactly where it goes is anybody's guess. Ivan already blamed for more than 60 deaths going back to Grenada, Barbados, Jamaica, and Cayman Islands.

Forecaster Rick Nabb is tracking the storm with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. He's my guest now.

Rick, good morning to you.

RICK NABB, FORECASTER, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Your forecast takes the hurricane where in the Gulf of Mexico?

NABB: Well, the hurricane has emerged into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, and it's moving in the general direction of the northern Gulf Coast, and we are anticipating that it will make more of a northerly turn, and sometime tomorrow night or Thursday morning, between eastern Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle, we could have landfall.

However, this is a very large hurricane, so conditions will be deteriorating during the day on Wednesday, and that's why we already have a hurricane watch up for the New Orleans, Biloxi, Pensacola and Florida panhandle areas.

HEMMER: And watching this satellite image just about an hour ago it shows the eye weakening a little bit. What explains that, and does that indicate that the storm is weakening?

NABB: Not necessarily. Hurricanes of this intensity tend to go through fluctuations, where the eye will become better defined and less defined, and then come back. Right now, we still have a central pressure that justifies a category-five hurricane.

We do anticipate some slight weakening as it moves north through the Gulf of Mexico. However, when it does arrive at the Gulf Coast, it still could still be a major hurricane of category three or four intensity.

HEMMER: Rick, this storm is moving about nine miles an hour, not extremely fast for a hurricane of this size. Almost similar to Frances in the way it approached the east coast of Florida. What explains why these storms slow down this way? NABB: Well, if you compare those storms, Frances this year and also now Ivan, compare those to Isabel last year, where Isabel had a very well-defined steering current moving a little more quickly. This year, we have hurricanes that are embedded within a much more weak steering. The subtropical ridge over the Atlantic not as strong, not pushing these storms along as fast as other storms have been. And we don't expect much change in the forward speed between now and the time of landfall. In fact, after landfall, it could even slow down. This could be a significant rainfall event for the southeastern U.S. and the Appalachians.

HEMMER: Rick, thanks. Rick Nabb there in Miami at the National Hurricane Center. Busy days yet again. Thanks for talking with us.

NABB: Thank you.

HEMMER: Much appreciated.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: The pace of death and destruction in Iraq has quickened over the past several days. Dozens of Iraqis have been killed today. The most horrific attack was a car bombing in Baghdad.

Diana Muriel is now there with the very latest.

Diana, good morning.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Indeed, another deadly day in Baghdad, Heidi, 47 killed and 114 wounded in a car bomb attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MURIEL (voice-over): Another bomb, another scene of devastation in downtown Baghdad. A massive car bomb exploded outside a police station midmorning Tuesday. A line of recruits waiting to sign up as police officers bore the brunt of the blast. The explosion left a deep crater in the street and ignited several cars in the vicinity.

Ambulances were quickly on the scene, ferrying the dead and injured to two local hospitals. There, medics fought to save lives, sometimes appearing overwhelmed by the scale of the carnage.

The interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, quickly broke off his engagement to come to the blast site. He was mobbed by an angry crowd who laid the blame squarely on the Americans. This man says, since the Americans forces came here, they have perpetrated massacres against the Iraqi people.

But the fact is, no one has come forward to claim responsibility for this bloody slaughter.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MURIEL: Heidi, the numbers of dead and wounded could indeed rise as the day goes on. But at the moment, we have from the ministry of health 47 killed and 114 wounded in that deadly blast -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That is just awful there, Diana. Wondering, what is the security situation like outside of the police stations now? And will it be increased after events like this continue to happen?

MURIEL: Well, over the last few months, the police have been trying to improve the security they have outside their police stations, because they have been subbed to attacks up and down the country. Many of them have blast walls, concrete blast walls, positioned outside. And indeed, this one did, but the blast took place in the street, where the recruits and passersby were located.

The police are highly under-resourced and highly under staffed. That's why they are on this massive recruiting drive looking for new police officers. But the training process is a long one. They need assistance from the multinational forces here, the coalition forces, and for outside help to not only recruit and train, but also to give equipment to these police officers.

Many of them don't have all the equipment they need. Many of them don't even have flack jackets. Many have just pistols and not assault rifles. It's a very precarious situation for the authorities here, particularly for the police.

COLLINS: All right, Diana Muriel, live from Baghdad this morning. Thanks, Diana.

HEMMER: Brian Bennett, a writer for "TIME" magazine, just back from Iraq, is our guest in about 30 minutes. We'll talk to him more about what's happening today there.

In the meantime, though, in this country, a man being chased by police in Wisconsin pulled a dangerous stunt while trying to elude authorities. The 23-year-old driver slowed down long enough to drop an infant in a car seat on to a highway in Green Bay. Police stopped, rescued the baby, miraculously unharmed. It's believed the man was involved with a domestic dispute with the child's mother. The high speed chase did continue, eventually ending in the man's death after his car flipped over. Again, that story out of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Wow.

COLLINS: That is amazing. I've never seen anything like it.

All right, well still to come this morning, a mystery from the Cold War gets the attention of the Air Force. Experts are headed to the waters off the coast of Georgia, and they may have a tough decision ahead of them.

HEMMER: Also in a moment here, how about Batman. leaving Gotham to pay a visit to Buckingham Palace? We'll tell you what he wanted, in a moment.

COLLINS: OK. Plus, President Bush takes on an issue that many thought believed to John Kerry. The Democrats may be losing ground. That's all ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: On the campaign trail this morning, John Kerry meets with seniors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then later in Toledo, Ohio today, before heading off for Detroit, Michigan. Yesterday, the Democratic presidential candidate criticizing President Bush on the lapse of the assault weapons plan, saying the president chose -- quote -- "to make the job of the terrorists easier," end quote.

HEMMER: Meanwhile, for the president's part, out west today, a rally in Denver, then heading off for Las Vegas, Nevada.

Yesterday, healthcare was the focus for the White House. Dana Bash is there live this morning.

Dana, good morning there.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

And healthcare is the focus for the president, and he's talking more about it this week than he has in quite sometime. He's falling back on a classic Republican argument, that the Democrats plan is too costly and it will only mean higher taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Bush theme of the day -- healthcare. The candidate boiled it down to black and white. He's got ideas that give you more control. Senator Kerry gives control to Uncle Sam.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm running against a fellow who has got a massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision-making in healthcare.

BASH: He'll raise your taxes too. That was the mantra, then the punchline.

BUSH: What would you expect from a senator from Massachusetts?

BASH: The president's pushing for expanding tax-free healthcare accounts, letting small businesses band together to buy insurance and lower rates, overhauling medical liability laws. That one always gets huge applause, especially the kicker.

BUSH: You can't be pro-doctor or pro-patient and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. My opponent made his choice, and he put him on the ticket.

BASH: Senator Kerry does want to repeal Bush top bracket tax cuts to pay for healthcare subsidies, but aides call the big government label baseless. And Camp Kerry points to a recent non- partisan study showing family health premiums more than doubled on the president's watch. In Michigan, where Mr. Bush lost in 2000, polls show healthcare tops what swing voters care most about. As of last month, Senator Kerry had a 41-point lead on the issue there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And leadership on healthcare is a liability for the president nationwide, and the Bush campaign is trying to chip away at Senator Kerry's lead, particularly among middle-class voters, who have felt the squeeze because of rising health watch on the president's watch -- Bill.

HEMMER: Dana Bash, thanks, on the Front Lawn this morning -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll shows the president moving ahead in Wisconsin. The Badger State is one of 17 key battlegrounds that could swing the election either way. Four years ago, Al Gore took Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes, but it was by 1 percent, so it was close even then.

Jim Doyle, the state's Democratic governor, is joining us now from Madison this morning.

Governor, good morning to you.

GOV. JIM DOYLE (D), WISCONSIN: Good morning.

COLLINS: Let's look at the numbers, if we could, up on the screen. We've got among likely voters 52 percent favoring President Bush, over 44 percent for John Kerry, and among registered voters, 49 percent for President Bush, 45 for Senator John Kerry. This picture is a little bit different back in August. Why do you think your guy is slipping?

DOYLE: Well, I think, as everybody has said, the conventions in the summer, and there's some ebbs and flows that go on. I have no doubt, and I think everybody in Wisconsin on both sides really recognize that whatever the polls show right now, depending on which one you look at and so on, but within the next couple of weeks, this is going to be a dead-even race. It was absolutely dead even in 2000, and that's sort of where we left on then and I think that's really where we pick it up again in 2004.

COLLINS: What does Senator Kerry have to do, though, or say, perhaps, to turn your state around back to where they were, even just one month ago?

DOYLE: Well, I think the issues here are pretty basic. We lost 84,000 manufacturing jobs. Wisconsin, after Indiana, has the highest percentage of our workers in manufacturing of any state in the country. So, this movement of jobs out of the United States has hit us hard. We have made a little bit of a bounceback here, but I think it's pretty hard for the president to make a case that he's done much to help Wisconsin's jobs. And secondly, the issue you just mentioned, healthcare, I think calling Senator Kerry and John Edwards names is not getting him very far. He's got a very hard case to say that he's done anything to help people with the rising cost of healthcare here in Wisconsin, and there's no doubt it is a huge issue for Wisconsin families.

COLLINS: We're going to talk about healthcare in just a minute. I want to ask you something about the assault weapons ban, which I'm sure you understood expired yesterday. John Kerry, though, had this to say about it. Let's listen in for a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, tomorrow, for the first time in 10 years, when a killer walks into a gun shop, when a terrorist goes to a gun show somewhere in America, when they want to purchase an AK-47 or some other military assault weapon, they are going to hear one word -- sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Some Democrats, though, think this issue could actually backfire on Senator Kerry. What do Democrats in your state think?

DOYLE: There's no doubt in Wisconsin we strongly support the ban on assault weapons. I think that's true all over the country. I think people are sort of shocked to realize that we're going back 10 years here on a ban that was widely supported when it happened. And by every public opinion poll and everything I hear, people understand the difference between an assault weapon and a deer rifle, and people in Wisconsin overwhelmingly support the ban.

COLLINS: Pardon the interruption, but you remember in 2000, Al Gore had a little bit of trouble, and some people say, some Democrats say, supporting that issue may have hurt him in that election.

DOYLE: The question then was by no means assault weapons. This is a 10-year-old issue, and I don't think -- there's very, very little support, if any, that I see in favor of reintroducing assault weapons on to the streets of America.

COLLINS: All right, let's talk about healthcare. You brought it up already. I want to go ahead and listen to a commercial that President Clinton -- or excuse, President Bush will have here in just moment. Let's listen to this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm George W. Bush, and I approved this message.

ANNOUNCER: On healthcare, President Bush and our leaders in Congress have a practical plan. Allow small businesses to join together to get lower insurance rates big companies get. Stop frivolous lawsuits against doctors. Health coverage you can take with you. The liberals in Congress and Kerry's plan, Washington bureaucrats in control, a government run healthcare plan, $1.5 trillion price tag -- big government in charge, not you, not your doctor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Governor, you think this sort of attack could hurt John Kerry?

DOYLE: Well, it's just a false attack. The fact is the president's been president for four years, and he is finally telling us a little bit about what he might do about healthcare. What has he done in the last four years? We already in Wisconsin and most states have provisions that allow small businesses to band together to make purchases. If he wanted to do something to really help us with healthcare, would he stand with me and some other governors in the upper Midwest to allow the reimportation of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. That's something that could all help us tomorrow. Yet, his administration is doing everything he can to keep those cheaper prescription drugs safe, the FDA approved drugs coming into the state of Wisconsin.

So, and John Kerry's plan is hardly what the president characterizes it there. He really is in favor of opening up the market place and getting real competition into this. Families need, desperately need help on healthcare costs. Employers need it, employees need it. Public, private sector everybody is crying out for it, and the president really has dropped the ball on this over the last four years, and now makes a few little suggestions about what he might do in the next four years.

COLLINS: Governor, appreciate it. All right, Governor Jim Doyle, coming to us from Wisconsin this morning. Thank you, sir, for your time.

DOYLE: Thank you.

HEMMER: Well, 23 minutes past the hour. In a moment, one struggling major airline has a plan to get back on track. Passengers will pay the price. Andy has that. "Minding Your Business" after a break here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. Airways filed for bankruptcy for a second time now, and now that move may threaten some of the employees' pensions.

Andy Serwer back with us here, "Minding Your Business." Good morning to you, first check on a Tuesday morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. Good to see you again.

This is some really grim news. U.S. Air saying it may have to terminate the pension plans for 25,000 employees, saying it will have to contribute half a billion dollars or more over the next five years to remain a viable company.

Well, if you can't meet the obligations of employees who've been working for your company for decades and decades, maybe you should rethink things. Isn't your obligation to employees No. 1, over passengers and bond holders and shareholders? Ironically, the largest shareholders of U.S. Air is the state of Alabama pension fund. You think they might understand this a little bit?

The consequences here to me for other airline employees and for employees at other large companies is dire. I just think this is a really, really bad road.

Let's talk about what is going on at Delta. We talked about how they're getting rid of their hub at Dallas-Fort Worth, laying off thousands of employees, also scrambling to avoid bankruptcy. Guess what? The company that invented the hub-and-spoke system is looking to deemphasize hubs. They say this is going to be good for employees, because you'll be able to make connections easier. What it really means is they're going to have less flights coming in, you're going to be waiting longer for your flight.

Yes, this is great stuff that's going on in the airline business, and every day...

HEMMER: We can't go a day without it, that's exactly right, without talking about some angle.

SERWER: It's what's happening right now.

HEMMER: All right, thank you, Andy. Markets are up slightly yesterday. We'll get to that next time.

SERWER: Indeed -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Jack now, "The Cafferty File" and the Question of the Day.

CAFFERTY: Thank you, Heidi.

Last night, during the ninth inning, Texas Rangers reliever Frank Francisco got into an altercation with some Oakland A's fan next to the bullpen. Fans were talking trash. Francisco lost his school, threw a chair into the stands, hit a man in the head, broke a woman's nose. The woman says she may file charges.

The team apologized on behalf of the idiot player, but the Ranger's manager, Buck Showalter, said the fan's behavior was worse than usual, saying, quote, "Tonight it went over the line." What does that mean, Buck, that it's OK to pickup a chair and throw it into the stands and break a woman's nose? What do you mean it went over the line?

Play resumed 19 minutes later, but questions have been raised now about how tempers flaring can spoil the game. Roger Kahn wrote that great book "The Boys of Summer." If he wrote it today, it might be "The Morons of This Summer." That's nonsense. "What should happen to the baseball player who threw a chair into the stands?" Am@CNN.com. Knock yourselves out.

COLLINS: I mean, it was the ninth inning, right, so that was just it?

SERWER: Well, you know, it is true that people are saying more obnoxious things than ever, but it doesn't give you the right to throw a chair.

HEMMER: Well, that videotape personifies the entire incident from yesterday, that woman standing there with blood coming down her face.

CAFFERTY: If you want to put up with abuse, drive a bus in New York City for $40,000 a year. These punks are paid millions of dollars to play baseball. Somebody says something, well, so what? You know.

HEMMER: Yes, am@CNN.com. Good topic.

SERWER: Point well taken.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Ivan knocking on Cuba overnight last night. What part of the U.S. will he knock on next? The latest on the storm when we come back, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING. In a few minutes, Hurricane Ivan has not diminished in strength at all. Look at this thing, still just huge, as it moves closer to the U.S. We'll get the latest forecast from Chad, also, check on one where Florida resort town where things are suddenly a lot less fun.

HEMMER: You mentione the size of that hurricane there, what 100 miles out hurricane force winds, 200 miles out tropical storm winds.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, it's still at 160 miles an hour.

HEMMER: Indeed it is.

In a moment here also, is the U.S. trying to protect airlines from terrorists with one hand tied behind its back. Talk to an author, talk show host, who claim political correctness is keeping the people in charge of safety from adequately doing their job. He has, shall we say, very strong opinions about this. Michael Smerconish is our guest here in a moment.

We want to check on the stories now in the news, though, with Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center.

Good morning once again, Daryn.

KAGAN: Heidi, good morning. A hearing will get underway this morning for the nomination of Porter Goss as the new CIA chief. Goss is an ex-CIA agent, and a retiring Republican congressman from Florida. He's President Bush's choice for the job. Some Democrats, though, question his ability to steer a politically independent course. He is expected to be confirmed.

More hearings are set to get underway this morning on the possible link between antidepressants and higher suicidal tendencies among children. Two FDA advisory panels are considering whether agency action, including stronger warning labels, is needed on antidepressant medications.

People in Southern California are expecting to deal with more rolling blackouts today. Workers are trying to repair equipment at a substation in the L.A. area. Residents are being asked to conserve power to reduce the length and frequency of outages.

And Ralph Nader is back on the presidential ballot in Florida. Well, at least for now he is. Florida's supreme court agreed yesterday to hear an appeal of a ruling which kept Nader's candidacy for the Reform Party off the ballot. State Democrats say the appeal is, quote, "blatant partisan maneuvering." So, the secretary of state, Heidi, telling local officials put him on. Meanwhile, she is appealing the decision to keep it on there.

COLLINS: OK, I'm sure we'll figure that out later, right.

KAGAN: Stay tuned. Stay tuned.

COLLINS: Daryn, thanks so much.

Hurricane Ivan is being called an extremely dangerous category- five storm this morning. And it's headed for the United States. Ivan ravaged Cuba's western tip yesterday, with 160 miles-an-hour winds, heavy rains and unrelenting surf, that destroyed homes and businesses there. Ivan is now making its way through the Gulf of Mexico. There's a hurricane watch in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to St. Marks, Florida, a huge agree geographic space. Ivan is expected to make landfall late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.

And David Mattingly is live in Panama City Beach now wit the very latest from there.

David, hello.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

You're not going to find many people out enjoying the sand and the surf this morning, I'm afraid. Even though the projected path of Ivan is taking it to the west of here, Panama City Beach is still well within that cone of uncertainty. And as long as this danger exists, the people who live here are going to be watching this storm very closely and thinking about how much this town has to lose.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATTINGLY (voice-over): With a major hurricane bearing down on its now strangely empty beaches, Panama City Beach is one resort town in danger of losing its cool, not cool as in temperature, but cool as in the place to be.

Every year, 300,000 to 400,000 high school and college kids give Panama City Beach reason to claim title as the hottest spring break town in America, and there's concern major repairs after a hurricane could move the party elsewhere.

CHERYL PAGE, OWNER, SALTY'S: I think that the spring breakers will go elsewhere, and they may like it better and may not return.

MATTINGLY: Cheryl Page, owner of one popular watering hole, remembers back in 1995 when Hurricane Opal sent waves crashing through her business and washing the kitchen out to sea. This time, employees are pulling down the thousands of dollar bills tacked up by customers in anticipation of another hard hit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, the problem is once whoever is here is here, that they're not going to be ale to get over the bridges if it does kick and kick (ph).

MATTINGLY: After making sure everyone is safe, Mayor Lee Sullivan worries most about the city's long-term future. A building boom is transforming mom-and-pop hotels into high-rise condos, and their value depends on the sugar white sand beaches which are dangerously vulnerable to erosion.

MYR. LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH: So, all the money, the millions of dollars that that we have spent getting this beach to be what it is, can be wiped out, and we're aware of that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: A mandatory evacuation order has been set for the beaches to go into effect at noon Eastern time today. That could change to some degree however. Local officials are going to be getting back together, meeting about an hour from now to look at all the latest data and decide if they need to amend that evacuation order.

But it's going to be a very difficult decision to make, Heidi, because everyone is thinking back to 1995 and Hurricane Opal with its 17-foot storm surge. If you imagine 17 feet, you see how far away the surf is right now, 17 feet would bring it to the top of these dunes, and I'd be getting very wet right now -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, you'd have to move quickly. Wow.

All right, David Mattingly, thanks so much for that.

We're going to be speaking with the mayor of Panama City Beach, Mayor Lee Sullivan. That will be coming up in our next hour, 8:00 Eastern.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

HEMMER: This morning's car bombing in Baghdad, the deadliest in a rising wave of attacks by insurgents in Iraq, 47 are dead, more than 100 wounded outside the city's central police station. That happened a few hours ago.

Now the increase in attacks, going back about five days now, appears to be in response to U.S. attempts to possibly regain control of insurgent-held areas like the town of Fallujah. American airstrikes there have been targeting militants who claim responsibility for car bombings, and those who sympathize with al Qaeda.

Brian Bennett was in Fallujah, just returned back to the U.S. He's reporting now in this week's "TIME" magazine. And he's my guest in D.C.

BRIAN BENNETT, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be with you, Bill.

HEMMER: Brian, welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.

Let's talk about the violence today so far, and really going back to about Thursday or Friday of last week. We know these insurgents don't want the U.S. there. What is their endgame that they voice for Iraq?

BENNETT: Well, this is one of the problems with the insurgency, is they don't really have a viable alternative that they're presenting to the Iraqi people. Certainly all they know is they want the Americans to leave. They certainly want the Sunni minority in the country to have more political influence, as they have had for the last several decades in the country.

HEMMER: Is there an explanation as to why we have seen in uptick? I mentioned the possible of air strikes in Fallujah. Does that explain it, though?

BENNETT: Well, I think what we're seeing is the elections in January are coming ever closer, and the Iraqi government and the Americans who are providing security for the Iraqi government there are realizing that if they have areas like Fallujah, Samarra, Tall Afar in the north, these cities that have been largely controlled by the resistance and by insurgents, they will not be able to have free and fair elections and fair battles in those areas, because the insurgents will do their best to influence the elections in those areas. And what they need to do in the next several months is take back control of those areas for the Iraqi government.

HEMMER: So, Brian, Help me understand this then, if you're going to hold elections in January and bypass areas like Fallujah, how can you hold them, how can they be viable for the rest of the 25 million people if you're are not going to do it throughout the entire country.

BENNETT: This is a major problem that the Iraqi government is facing right now. They would prefer to have control of these areas, of Fallujah, of Samarra, which U.S. troops went into last week. They prefer to have Iraqi government-controlled police on the streets, as there have been in the last few months, and be able to have monitored ballots in the coming elections.

HEMMER: In a word, if the situation remains as it is today and has been for the past week, can you hold these elections even?

BENNETT: Well, an election could be held, but I think it would be contested as to whether or not it was fair, as to whether or not voters were intimidated, or just simply afraid to leave their homes and go to the polls.

HEMMER: In the short time we have left, a lot of time our viewers want to know about the good stories happening in Iraq. You brought one to us today, a former Iraqi captain in the army, now rejoining again. What is his story, Brian, that you found?

BENNETT: Well, I talked to Captain Abdul Hadhi (ph) in a Marine base outside of Fallujah, where they're training the Iraqi National Guard, and this man was pretty much an inspiration.

He'd been kidnapped on his way home from work as a captain in the new Iraqi army and tortured for five days, and he was eventually released, and he went right back to work, and he's still at the Marine base training, helping to train new Iraqi recruits. His feet are still swollen from the torture, but he's still shows up, even though he can't put his boots on. He shows up in sandals.

HEMMER: Is he the exception or the rule?

BENNETT: From what I found, he is an exceptional case. There are a number of men who show up to work with the new Iraqi army. And they are there because they believe that this is the best way forward for their country. This is the best way forward to secure the now government, and they really view the insurgency run by a bunch of criminals and thugs, who all they want to do is destabilize and take advantage of the situation.

HEMMER: Brian Bennett's is with "TIME" magazine. Welcome home -- Heidi.

BENNETT: Thanks a lot.

COLLINS: Now to the case of Batman at Buckingham. Scotland Yard is demanding an inquiry after this man, dressed as, yes, Batman, evaded security to stage a protest on a Buckingham Balance balcony yesterday. Police spent five hours trying to persuade the man to come down. Eventually, he was removed and arrested. The man is a member of a father's rights group that has staged other publicity stunts, including throwing flower-filled condoms at Prime Minister Tony Blair.

HEMMER: Wait until you see what Superman has got planned over there.

In a moment here, part two of our week-long series, the future is now, today. Forget about waiting in line at the theater or the video store, all you need is a mouse and a modem to see a movie, and Andy has that in a moment.

COLLINS: Plus, we'll talk to one man who says political correctness is winning out over security when you fly. We'll talk about that, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Radio talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has never been one to mince words. His new book is called "Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11: A Look at the State of the Airline Security Business and the Structure Here in the U.S."

Michael Smerconish is my guest now here in New York.

And good morning to you.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, AUTHOR, "FLYING BLIND": Hey, Bill.

HEMMER: Why do you claim that we're as vulnerable today as we were three years ago.

SMERCONISH: I don't think we learned lessons from 9/11. And specifically what I look to is the fact that is 19 hijackers on 9/11 had a lot of commonalities, a lot of common denominators and traits -- race, religion, ethnicity, gender, and yet we have a conscious policy of deliberate decision in this country where we are saying to our airport screeners, you must exclude consideration of those factors. And that, to me, seems lunacy.

HEMMER: You're saying that the TSA, the Transportation Security Administration, is told not to look for these people.

SMERCONISH: Absolutely, the TSA is told to the extent you rely on any of those criteria, we will fine you, and United and American Airlines, the two airlines that were victimized on 9/11, were each fined $1.5 million by the Department of Transportation because the DOT believed they were relying on those factors.

HEMMER: I fine that a little bit unbelievable. Where's your evidence to prove that that is indeed the message that's sent out.

SMERCONISH: I've read the litigation files, so I'm not sitting here, pulling it from some wackjob Internet Web site. I've read the files, and I'm here tell you that United, American, Delta and Continental have all been victimized by our Department of our Transportation, and they've paid millions of dollars because the DOT says you improperly took into account, race, gender, ethnicity in trying to protect your airlines post 9/11.

HEMMER: Is your position, Michael, that we have done too PC?

SMERCONISH: Absolutely we've gone too PC.

And Bill, my position is not you give the rubber hose and the stack of phonebooks to every young Arab mail who come through an airport security checkpoint. All that I'm saying is that you've got to allow some common sense to enter the dynamic, and you've got to allow the antenna to be raised when have you someone present at an airport security checkpoint who has those commonalities with the 19 hijackers. Stop pulling my 8-year-old kid out of line or my 85-year- old grandmother with an aluminum walker.

HEMMER: Has that happened to your kid?

SMERCONISH: It happened to me twice, and that's was how the book got started.

HEMMER: Back up a little bit here.

SMERCONISH: Sure.

HEMMER: If you travel in Israel today, in and out of the airport there, east of Tel Aviv, El Al Airlines will do that same thing. They'll check your 8-year-old kid and they'll check your 96-year-old grandmother, because they believe that terrorists look for patterns and holes, and they will send through people to check the system and to run tests. So then, why should we not do the same to make sure that we don't have any cracks in our system?

SMERCONISH: I love the question. I flew El-Al to Tel Aviv two years ago. There's a chapter in "Flying Blind" that talks about El- Al. I want their system here. Because you know what they do? They don't look just for bombs, they look for bombers.

And I've been through their security checkpoint. And by the way, me, a white guy from the suburbs of Philadelphia, I want you to take a look at me. I just want to make sure that the heightened scrutiny is going toward those who resemble the 9/11 hijackers. So, I can live with the El-Al system. I wish we had it in our country.

HEMMER: We are three years down the road.

SMERCONISH: Right.

HEMMER: How do we make it better, in your estimation?

SMERCONISH: In my estimation, we've got to get rid of Norman Mineta, the secretary of the Department of Transportation, and we've got to send a signal to the TSA and the Department of Transportation: allow common sense to prevail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: That's the author, radio talk-show host, and columnist Michael Smerconish. He is donating all the proceeds, he says, from his book to 9/11 charities -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, want a night at the movies, but don't have time for the cineplex or video store? Well, fear not. Andy Serwer tells us why the future is now. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Andy Serwer is here now with today's report in his week-long series, "The Future is Now." It's about cutting-edge technologies that could soon be a common part of our everyday lives.

Right now, we're going to be talking about downloading movies, though.

SERWER: That's right, Heidi. Most people know about downloading songs offline. Is downloading movies the next wave? Let's check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN HESS, MOVIE DOWNLOADER: People dancing and singing.

SERWER (voice-over): Susan Hess is multitasking. With three- and-a-half-year-old twins, a night at the movies or even getting to the store to bring home a rental is usually out of the question.

HESS: Everybody talks to me about, oh, have you seen this movie? It's fabulous, blah blah blah. And I have no idea what they are talking about half the time.

SERWER: That's where her laptop comes in. Now Susan downloads movies, paying $12.95 a month for up to 100 movies. She subscribes to a Web site from Starz, the cable channel.

Competing sites have bigger selections and charge for each movie you download, but you don't get to keep the movies. After a month, Starz automatically erases it.

HESS: I don't have to worry about returning them.

SERWER: All the downloading sites require same thing: high- speed Internet and time. A movie can take 10 minutes to two-and-a- half hours to download.

The other problem: selection.

HESS: How do you say this? "Gigli?"

SERWER (on camera): "Gigli."

HESS: "Gigli?"

SERWER: "Gigli."

HESS: Oh, yeah. I'm like, oh, that's a hot pick, really?

BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR: Sounds beautiful.

JENNIFER LOPEZ, ACTRESS: It means you're not my type.

SERWER (voice-over): But just like with downloading songs, digital pirates say why pay when you can get it for free? HESS: It's just like walking down the street in lower Manhattan and buying one of the DVDs from the street vendors. It's probably not very good quality, and it's stolen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERWER (on camera): Heidi, people have been saying that chains like Blockbuster will be put out of business by movies on demand and online movies. That hasn't happened yet, but it's likely that customers like Susan Hess are increasingly going to be taking the vanguard in this business.

COLLINS: And you were saying, with the 10 minutes to two-and-a- half hours to download, might want to think about doing it overnight.

SERWER: Yeah, people do it overnight. And also, the other thing is the quality is very, very good in these things. So, you know, it really is something people are going to be doing, I think.

COLLINS: Great, especially for the little tykes.

SERWER: Yeah.

COLLINS: What's coming up tomorrow?

SERWER: Well, tomorrow we're going to be talking about downloading music directly to your car. It's wi-fi and wheels. That's tomorrow morning on "The Future is Now."

HEMMER: I like that idea. Very cool.

COLLINS: Love that.

SERWER: It's a lot of fun.

COLLINS: All right, Andy, thanks.

HEMMER: A lot's happening -- Jack?

CAFFERTY: In this altercation last night at this baseball game between Texas and Oakland. This moron Frank Francisco, he plays for the Rangers, threw a chair into the stands. Hit one guy in the head. Broke a woman's nose. She is thinking about filing charges. America's pastime, you know what I'm saying?

"What should happen to the baseball player who threw the chair into the stands?"

Ian writes in Providence: "Ever think the maybe the woman who got Geraldoed deserved it?" That's a reference to Geraldo Rivera being hit in the nose with a chair.

HEMMER: New verb. A new verb.

CAFFERTY: Yes, Geraldoed. "Did you ever think she deserved it? No doubt she's about to become very rich, which will encourage other annoying fans to hurl insults at the players hoping for a similar reaction and a big payoff. The player's union should pass the hat to help this guy pay for what they have all fantasized about doing."

And Dave in Japan says: "He lashed out at a group of people who posed absolutely no threat to him, resulting in a mass of unnecessary conflict with innocent victims. He's now wildly unpopular and will no doubt lose a small fortune to boot. Sounds like what Bush did in Iraq. Maybe the guy should run for president."

COLLINS: But we don't know that she was even involved in the altercation, right? Because I saw that he was originally throwing the chair at a guy, and then it actually bounced off and hit her in the face, right?

CAFFERTY: Ricochet. Well, you know, he's a reliever. If he had real good stuff, he'd be a starter.

HEMMER: People used to just be worried about baseballs and hockey pucks. Now you have to worry about chairs, right?

SERWER: We missed you man.

COLLINS: Ouch.

SERWER: Missed you.

HEMMER: You're right, Andy.

Get a break here in a moment. Ivan has cleared Cuba. Up next: the U.S. Gulf coast. Where and when? Two questions this morning. Top of the hour after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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