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Escalating Iraqi Violence & January Elections; Dan Rather/CBS Admit Mistakes Using Questionable Documents; Health Risk in Imported Shrimp?

Aired September 21, 2004 - 08:30   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. 8:30 here in New York, and good morning.
The admission from CBS anchor Dan Rather and those shoddy documents used in a report could have reverberations across the media and across the Kerry campaign, too. Jeff Greenfield joins us in a moment, talks about the winners and the losers out of this story -- and there are a few, too. We'll get to it.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and also, could chaos in Fallujah be the greatest danger to a stable Iraqi government? Securing the city is becoming a major priority for the U.S. Military, but it will not be easy, Barbara Starr is joining us in a few minutes to look at the options, including getting help from Syria. We'll talk about that in a few minutes.

For now, though, we turn it over to Kelly Wallace -- now in the news, the stories this morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi. Good morning, Bill. Good morning, everyone.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is offering his condolences to the family of the American beheaded in Iraq. The secretary spoke just about 15 minutes ago. He calls the killing a terrible tragedy, but reiterates the terrorists will not win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: I'd like to extend my condolences to Mr. Armstrong's family. It's a terrible tragedy, and it just shows you the nature of the people that we are dealing with. These are murders. These are terrorists who do not want to see the Iraqi people live in peace and freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The United Nations General Assembly gets underway shortly. President Bush will address the group later this morning.

Police have no motive in the fatal shooting of a security guard at an Illinois state capitol yesterday, but they do have a suspect. Police have issued an arrest warrant for 24-year-old Derek W. Potts. He's accused of gunning down the unarmed guard and fleeing. A deadline in connection with dozens of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on suspicion of links to terror. Some 60 detainees have been held at the U.S. Military base for nearly three years. A federal judge now says the U.S. Government has until October 4th to either charge or release them.

And former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's son is set to be in a South African court this morning. Mark Thatcher is accused of being part of a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. He will appear in a Cape Town court in an effort to quash attempts by prosecutors from Equatorial Guinea to question him on the alleged coup plot.

That's a look at the headlines. That is a bizarre story -- Bill, Heidi?

COLLINS: That's for sure. All right. And Kelly, thanks so much. We'll check back with you in about 30 minutes.

About two hours from now, President Bush will address other world leaders at the United Nations. He is expected to paint a positive picture for the future of Iraq. Critical elements of that picture depend on elections scheduled for January, but a cloud of doubt hangs over those elections.

Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for more on all of this. Good morning to you, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.

Well, indeed, growing questions from Washington to the United Nations in New York to Baghdad about whether the escalating violence in Iraq will stop the elections there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): As Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Allawi prepares to meet President Bush this week in Washington, the violence in Iraq, now even more lethal and sophisticated and the stakes getting higher as the calendar ticks down to national elections scheduled for January. Worries that insurgents will prevent many Iraqis from voting.

BATHSHEBA CROCKER, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC INTL. STUDIES: If parts of the country remain off limits and elections cannot be held in those parts of the country, namely in Fallujah and Ramadi and the so-called Sunni Triangle, will that decrease their legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of the Iraqi people?

STARR: The U.S. Military goal: increase offensive operations in those insurgent areas, and then get Iraqis to take permanent control.

General George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, is now assessing every region. His priority: Iraqi control in the majority of the country by December, just before the national elections. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says it's vital to get more Iraqi security forces involved quickly.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should also intensify the training of Iraqis, to manage and guard the polling places that need to be opened. Otherwise, U.S. forces will end up bearing that burden alone.

STARR: But getting Iraqi forces to take control in insurgent strongholds remains a challenge. The Pentagon concedes that just half of the estimated 200,000 Iraqi security forces are trained and equipped. Iraqis still don't have enough weapons, vehicles, communications gear, or body armor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): And indeed, Heidi, the Bush administration is now turning to Syria, a long-time adversary. In recent days, State Department and military officials traveled there, met with officials in Syria to ask them for help in shutting down the border between Syria and Iraq to keep more foreign fighters from coming into Iraq.

No word from the Syrians on that request yet -- Heidi?

COLLINS: And Barbara, what about all of the attacks -- frequent attacks, I should say -- outside of police stations. Lots of men waiting in line to go sign up to be part of the Iraqi police force. Is that having any kind of effect now on the recruitment process?

STARR: Well, interestingly, Pentagon officials say no, that Iraqis are still signing up to join the Iraqi security forces. It's interesting and important to note over 700 Iraqis have -- who are members of the security forces are believed to have been killed in attacks this year alone, but still they are signing up.

The critical question: Will there be enough Iraqi security forces fully trained, fully equipped to be in place and ready to take over when those elections occur in January -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Certainly one of the questions. Barbara Starr from the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.

HEMMER: After days of questioning and controversy, "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather and the network CBS admit they now made a mistake by using questionable documents to report about President Bush's service in the National Guard about 30 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, "CBS EVENING NEWS": CBS News deeply regrets it. Also, I want to say personally and directly, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Dan Rather from last evening. Jeff Greenfield this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. You've been looking at this. Does it get any more serious than this if you're Dan Rather or Andrew Heyward, the president of the news operation?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: No. This was really serious. This was a major story on one of the network's flagship programs, "60 Minutes," reported by the man who's been its principle anchor for 20- plus year -- that is CBS -- raising questions about an incumbent president in the heat of the campaign.

And for that reason alone it's serious, but I think there's more to it. And first, for some 35 years, Dan Rather has been Exhibit A in the charge of liberal media bias. More than 30 years ago, he got into a contentious exchange with President Nixon as Watergate was heating up. In '88, Dan Rather and Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush got into a near shouting match during a live interview. And there's even a Web site called Rather Bias, which is solely devoted to Dan Rather's alleged, you know, infractions.

So, basically the critics are highly unlikely to be satisfied with an apology. There are already calls for everything from his dismissal to Congressional hearings. So, the heat's not going away because of this.

HEMMER: In the bigger picture, we had a guest on last hour about this, talking about viewers, talking about readers, talking about students going to journalism school looking at this story from the outside. But there is a bigger sea change that you picked up on.

GREENFIELD: Well, I think of all -- I don't want to claim credit for this. I mean, a lot of people have. This is a triumph for the so-called blogosphere, those self-based -- self-publishers based on the Web who often put the mainstream media -- they call them MSM, under a microscope.

They come from the left. They come from the right. The right, I think, has a more disciplined focused community in the blogosphere. They are very eager to demonstrate that the big traditional institutions are lazy or arrogant or unfair, and I think this represents that sea change in how the media works.

That while the bloggers individually are tiny compared to a network, you aggregate them, and they can reach people instantly who can raise serious questions about accuracy and fairness. That's partly what happened here.

HEMMER: Back to the election. Does someone win? Does someone lose off of this?

GREENFIELD: Oh, I think in the short run, this is a Godsend for the Bush campaign. First, now any questions about Bush's National Guard service, even those that have been raised by other media with no reliance on these documents, are going to be met with a lot more skepticism. This is the 13th stoke of the clock that casts doubt on all the others. Second, there are going to be questions -- they're already in the blogosphere -- about any possible connection the Kerry campaign may have to this. Now, we have to say there are so far no evidence at all, except a call from the CBS producer to a Kerry campaign person, not the other way around.

But in the whole hot-house atmosphere, the charge alone, I think, is going to fire up partisan. And look, it already took a lot of play out of Kerry's major speech on Monday, laying out the case against how Bush conducted the Iraq war. And if Bush in any way appears to be the victim of a dirty trick, you know, you can't buy that kind of impression. So, yeah...

HEMMER: The Kerry advisor you mentioned ask is Joe Lockhart. He's going to be our guest in the 9:00 hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. So, we'll put the questions to him.

Forty-two days and counting. Thank you, Jeff.

GREENFIELD: Yes, indeed.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi again.

COLLINS: A good samaritan with a knowledge of CPR saved a baby's life in Seattle this weekend. Eighteen-month-old Nicholas Pfeifer was trapped in his car seat underwater in an overturned car. His uncle, the driver, escaped the wreck, then bystanders jumped in to get the baby. And one of them administered CPR.

Nicholas had been in the water about two minutes, but responded to the CPR right away. Twenty years earlier ,the boy's grandfather died in a similar accident less than 10 miles from that very same spot. Unbelievable.

All right. Want to check on the weather situation now. Chad Myers in the CNN Center with the very latest on the forecast this morning. Good morning to you once again, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad, thanks.

Flying anywhere today?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: Me either. Save it for another day, will you, Chad?

COLLINS: Yeah.

HEMMER: Thanks.

One company decides it's good business to mix booze and guns. Andy is figuring out that story in a moment here. Only Andy.

COLLINS: We have a lot of explaining to do on that one. Also ahead, should you think twice the next time you go to eat shrimp? There may be potentially some deadly health risks there. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" on that here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Americans consume more shrimp than any other seafood, but therein lies the danger. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that today at the CNN Center. What do you have, Sanjay? Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, they consume a lot of shrimp: three-and-a-half pounds, per person per year, of shrimp on average. About 80 percent of the shrimp in the United States is imported. There's been some concern about some of the imported shrimp, in particular, having trace quantities of an antibiotic known as Chloramphenicol. Chloramphenicol used to be used in the feed in several countries outside the United States, now showing up, in trace amounts again, in shrimp

First of all, Chloramphenicol, what is it? It's an antibiotic; it's sort of an end-stage antibiotic. In higher doese, it can lower your blood cell coount, cause nausea and vomiting, and even has some role as a carcinogen, causing leukemia or anemia, which lowers your blood cell counts again.

Now, obviously, this is something that's been of cncern to the -- to the industry, the shrimp industry, both inside and outside the United States. A lot of people concerned about this, pointing out that right now while the FDA says most shrimp is going to be safe, they only inspect about one to two percent of it. So, again, this is an issue that's coming up, Bill.

HEMMER: All right. If it is such an issue, Sanjay, do you stop eating it? Is there another way to make sure you're OK healthwise?

GUPTA: Well, you know, from a medical standpoint, first of all, it's worth pointing out that the doses of Chloramphenicol in the shrimp are going to be pretty small. Those side effects tat I just pointed out there, very unlikely in the small doses that you'll likely get from shrimp.

But when it comes to this antibiotic, you can't smell it, you can't see it, you can't clean the shrimp to get it out. So, really, it's going to be a conversation about this with if you're going to a restaurant, if you're buying shrimp on the street.

You need to talk to folks about whether or not that shrimp's been inspected, from where it came -- there are certain Asian countries -- all the countries really in Asia are more likely to have Chloramphenicol than not.

We bring it up, Bill, to talk about Chloramphenicol and its association with shrimp. But again, to point out as well, the likelihood that anyone would be adversely affected by it, prety remote. The industry -- the import industry says they can't find a single documented case where certainly anyone has developed leukemia or anything like that, Bill.

HEMMER: I tell you, when I first saw this story last night when it came across my desk, I was wondering about oysters. I mean, so many times we think about oysters in this matter, but now it's about shrimp. So...

GUPTA: That's right. And really, the seafood industry in general -- Chloramphenicol was used in the feed for lots of different foods for some time. This antibiotic, now banned in many places around the world, so the numbers will probably go down. But it's always worth talking to the folks that you're buying the seafood from if that seafood has, in fact, been inspected, Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: The good doctor at the CNN Center.

In a moment here, it may not be PC, but a top official at one of the big auto makers says finding the right car is like finding the right woman. Andy has that story, too. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: General Motors boss says looks really do matter, especially when consumers are shopping for that new car. Andy Serwer is here now, "Minding Your Business."

Before we get to that, we've got a big Fed meeting today, right?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We do. The FOMC -- Federal Open Market Committee, Jack, is meeting at 2:15. We're going to get the word from them. They're probably going to be raising rates by a quarter point, third time this year. They don't care about the election; they care about the economy. That's there are job. Futures are looking a little bit brighter this morning. Housing starts, housing construction that is, for August just came out, actually surging, highest level in five months. That's good stuff.

I want to talk about this GM situation. You know, car executives for the most part are a very cautious bunch, not given to making bold statements. If you know Bob Lutz, he's not like that at all. He's the vice chairman at GM. And I get a kick out of this guy a lot of the times, the things he says. This one's a little over the top. He was speaking at a meeting in France, a production meeting, and this is what he said, "What do you want to in a female companion? What is the first thing that attracts you? Her ability to cook and keep house, or is it is the way she looks?" He's talking about cars. And then he went on to say, because he wanted to clarify, as people usually do when they make these statements, "It not politically correct. GM hates it when I draw that analogy. They hate it. But it's absolutely correct."

Well, Bob, you know, keep on speaking your mind, I guess. You're entitled to do that.

You want to talk about this latest Vodka? Can I do that?

CAFFERTY: Yes, this is an unbelievable story. I love this.

SERWER: You know, up until recently, I had no idea that the inventor of the AK-47 was still out there alive and well, Lieutenant General Mikhael Kalashnikov of the Russian army. He's the guy who invented who invented the AK-47. Now he's coming out with his own line of Vodka. By the way, that guy drinking with him is a Reuters reporter. He's got that the assignment. There it is, Kalishnikov Vodka. You get your gun, you get your bottle, you're out there shooting. It's 82 proof, so it's the AK-82.

He says he wants to, Jack, "continue the good name of his gun." That's what he says.

CAFFERTY: I guess...

SERWER: What do you think?

CAFFERTY: Maybe he and that guy from GM should get together and have a little (INAUDIBLE).

SERWER: They could have a big thing.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Time for a "File." If it happened once or twice, the president might be able to call it a slip of the tongue. He does that sometimes, you know. But it's happened ten times, the president has confused the name of these terrorists.

Yesterday was the most recent slip-up. During his speech in New Hampshire, the president said the late terrorist Abu Nidal killed Leon Klinghoffer, the Jewish-American who was tossed along with his wheelchair off the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985. The president repeated the mistake at a campaign event in New York City last night, saying, quote, "Abu Nidal was a cold-blooded terrorist, a killer, who killed Leon Klinghoffer," unquote. Well, it wasn't Abu Nidal. It was Abul Abbas, leader of a Palestinian group who was responsible for Klinghoffer's death. The White House has had a no comment. At least they don't have nuclear weapons.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: The sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant closed earlier this month when the accuser refused to testify among a keystone cops like environment out there in Colorado. This is the prosecutor Mark Hurlbert who charged Bryant. He said he couldn't proceed to trial without the alleged victim's testimony. Now he's trying to keep his job as the chief prosecutor in Eagle, Colorado. He's running for election there for the job of prosecutor, the word is that criminals all over the state hope he wins.

SERWER: Yes. Woody Harrelson would play that guy in a movie, don't you think?

HEMMER: He would.

CAFFERTY: There you go.

HEMMER: Separated at birth.

CAFFERTY: The video you're about to see is of the smallest dog in the world, try and control yourselves. This is Danka, a 1-year- old, 27 ounce chihuahua. She lives in Slovakia.

SERWER: Watch out for the bugs.

CAFFERTY: She's been named the smallest living dog in the world according to the "Guinness Book of World Records."

HEMMER: She's cute.

SERWER: Look, there's a worm.

CAFFERTY: She is seven inches along and eats two ounces of crushed dog food a day.

HEMMER: Two ounces?

SERWER: That's economical, right?

CAFFERTY: I'm very sorry. My producer says to run that.

SERWER: You like dogs.

HEMMER: You love dogs.

COLLINS: Your producer has a small dog that we know -- you have to out yourself -- that we know that you love.

SERWER: Yes, let's out Jack.

CAFFERTY: That's Massamo (ph). He occasionally hangs out in my office.

COLLINS: Yes, he does.

HEMMER: And you love Massamo.

SERWER: Dogs at home, dogs in the office -- you've got dogs all over the place.

CAFFERTY: It's a terrible story. Who cares about a seven-inch long whatever?

HEMMER: Out of Slovakia.

SERWER: Watch out for the worms.

HEMMER: In a moment here, John Kerry tearing into President Bush on the whole issue of Iraq. The senator may have been put back on the defensive, though. A live report on what's happening on both sides in a moment, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS; Still to come this morning, CBS and Dan Rather have apologized for the Bush document scandal. But some people wonder whether the Kerry campaign played any role. We'll talk live to Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 21, 2004 - 08:30   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. 8:30 here in New York, and good morning.
The admission from CBS anchor Dan Rather and those shoddy documents used in a report could have reverberations across the media and across the Kerry campaign, too. Jeff Greenfield joins us in a moment, talks about the winners and the losers out of this story -- and there are a few, too. We'll get to it.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and also, could chaos in Fallujah be the greatest danger to a stable Iraqi government? Securing the city is becoming a major priority for the U.S. Military, but it will not be easy, Barbara Starr is joining us in a few minutes to look at the options, including getting help from Syria. We'll talk about that in a few minutes.

For now, though, we turn it over to Kelly Wallace -- now in the news, the stories this morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Heidi. Good morning, Bill. Good morning, everyone.

Secretary of State Colin Powell is offering his condolences to the family of the American beheaded in Iraq. The secretary spoke just about 15 minutes ago. He calls the killing a terrible tragedy, but reiterates the terrorists will not win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: I'd like to extend my condolences to Mr. Armstrong's family. It's a terrible tragedy, and it just shows you the nature of the people that we are dealing with. These are murders. These are terrorists who do not want to see the Iraqi people live in peace and freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE: The United Nations General Assembly gets underway shortly. President Bush will address the group later this morning.

Police have no motive in the fatal shooting of a security guard at an Illinois state capitol yesterday, but they do have a suspect. Police have issued an arrest warrant for 24-year-old Derek W. Potts. He's accused of gunning down the unarmed guard and fleeing. A deadline in connection with dozens of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on suspicion of links to terror. Some 60 detainees have been held at the U.S. Military base for nearly three years. A federal judge now says the U.S. Government has until October 4th to either charge or release them.

And former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's son is set to be in a South African court this morning. Mark Thatcher is accused of being part of a plot to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. He will appear in a Cape Town court in an effort to quash attempts by prosecutors from Equatorial Guinea to question him on the alleged coup plot.

That's a look at the headlines. That is a bizarre story -- Bill, Heidi?

COLLINS: That's for sure. All right. And Kelly, thanks so much. We'll check back with you in about 30 minutes.

About two hours from now, President Bush will address other world leaders at the United Nations. He is expected to paint a positive picture for the future of Iraq. Critical elements of that picture depend on elections scheduled for January, but a cloud of doubt hangs over those elections.

Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for more on all of this. Good morning to you, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.

Well, indeed, growing questions from Washington to the United Nations in New York to Baghdad about whether the escalating violence in Iraq will stop the elections there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): As Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Allawi prepares to meet President Bush this week in Washington, the violence in Iraq, now even more lethal and sophisticated and the stakes getting higher as the calendar ticks down to national elections scheduled for January. Worries that insurgents will prevent many Iraqis from voting.

BATHSHEBA CROCKER, CTR. FOR STRATEGIC INTL. STUDIES: If parts of the country remain off limits and elections cannot be held in those parts of the country, namely in Fallujah and Ramadi and the so-called Sunni Triangle, will that decrease their legitimacy and credibility in the eyes of the Iraqi people?

STARR: The U.S. Military goal: increase offensive operations in those insurgent areas, and then get Iraqis to take permanent control.

General George Casey, the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq, is now assessing every region. His priority: Iraqi control in the majority of the country by December, just before the national elections. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry says it's vital to get more Iraqi security forces involved quickly.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should also intensify the training of Iraqis, to manage and guard the polling places that need to be opened. Otherwise, U.S. forces will end up bearing that burden alone.

STARR: But getting Iraqi forces to take control in insurgent strongholds remains a challenge. The Pentagon concedes that just half of the estimated 200,000 Iraqi security forces are trained and equipped. Iraqis still don't have enough weapons, vehicles, communications gear, or body armor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(on camera): And indeed, Heidi, the Bush administration is now turning to Syria, a long-time adversary. In recent days, State Department and military officials traveled there, met with officials in Syria to ask them for help in shutting down the border between Syria and Iraq to keep more foreign fighters from coming into Iraq.

No word from the Syrians on that request yet -- Heidi?

COLLINS: And Barbara, what about all of the attacks -- frequent attacks, I should say -- outside of police stations. Lots of men waiting in line to go sign up to be part of the Iraqi police force. Is that having any kind of effect now on the recruitment process?

STARR: Well, interestingly, Pentagon officials say no, that Iraqis are still signing up to join the Iraqi security forces. It's interesting and important to note over 700 Iraqis have -- who are members of the security forces are believed to have been killed in attacks this year alone, but still they are signing up.

The critical question: Will there be enough Iraqi security forces fully trained, fully equipped to be in place and ready to take over when those elections occur in January -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Certainly one of the questions. Barbara Starr from the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.

HEMMER: After days of questioning and controversy, "CBS Evening News" anchor Dan Rather and the network CBS admit they now made a mistake by using questionable documents to report about President Bush's service in the National Guard about 30 years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, "CBS EVENING NEWS": CBS News deeply regrets it. Also, I want to say personally and directly, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Dan Rather from last evening. Jeff Greenfield this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. You've been looking at this. Does it get any more serious than this if you're Dan Rather or Andrew Heyward, the president of the news operation?

JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. ANALYST: No. This was really serious. This was a major story on one of the network's flagship programs, "60 Minutes," reported by the man who's been its principle anchor for 20- plus year -- that is CBS -- raising questions about an incumbent president in the heat of the campaign.

And for that reason alone it's serious, but I think there's more to it. And first, for some 35 years, Dan Rather has been Exhibit A in the charge of liberal media bias. More than 30 years ago, he got into a contentious exchange with President Nixon as Watergate was heating up. In '88, Dan Rather and Vice President George Herbert Walker Bush got into a near shouting match during a live interview. And there's even a Web site called Rather Bias, which is solely devoted to Dan Rather's alleged, you know, infractions.

So, basically the critics are highly unlikely to be satisfied with an apology. There are already calls for everything from his dismissal to Congressional hearings. So, the heat's not going away because of this.

HEMMER: In the bigger picture, we had a guest on last hour about this, talking about viewers, talking about readers, talking about students going to journalism school looking at this story from the outside. But there is a bigger sea change that you picked up on.

GREENFIELD: Well, I think of all -- I don't want to claim credit for this. I mean, a lot of people have. This is a triumph for the so-called blogosphere, those self-based -- self-publishers based on the Web who often put the mainstream media -- they call them MSM, under a microscope.

They come from the left. They come from the right. The right, I think, has a more disciplined focused community in the blogosphere. They are very eager to demonstrate that the big traditional institutions are lazy or arrogant or unfair, and I think this represents that sea change in how the media works.

That while the bloggers individually are tiny compared to a network, you aggregate them, and they can reach people instantly who can raise serious questions about accuracy and fairness. That's partly what happened here.

HEMMER: Back to the election. Does someone win? Does someone lose off of this?

GREENFIELD: Oh, I think in the short run, this is a Godsend for the Bush campaign. First, now any questions about Bush's National Guard service, even those that have been raised by other media with no reliance on these documents, are going to be met with a lot more skepticism. This is the 13th stoke of the clock that casts doubt on all the others. Second, there are going to be questions -- they're already in the blogosphere -- about any possible connection the Kerry campaign may have to this. Now, we have to say there are so far no evidence at all, except a call from the CBS producer to a Kerry campaign person, not the other way around.

But in the whole hot-house atmosphere, the charge alone, I think, is going to fire up partisan. And look, it already took a lot of play out of Kerry's major speech on Monday, laying out the case against how Bush conducted the Iraq war. And if Bush in any way appears to be the victim of a dirty trick, you know, you can't buy that kind of impression. So, yeah...

HEMMER: The Kerry advisor you mentioned ask is Joe Lockhart. He's going to be our guest in the 9:00 hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. So, we'll put the questions to him.

Forty-two days and counting. Thank you, Jeff.

GREENFIELD: Yes, indeed.

HEMMER: All right. Here's Heidi again.

COLLINS: A good samaritan with a knowledge of CPR saved a baby's life in Seattle this weekend. Eighteen-month-old Nicholas Pfeifer was trapped in his car seat underwater in an overturned car. His uncle, the driver, escaped the wreck, then bystanders jumped in to get the baby. And one of them administered CPR.

Nicholas had been in the water about two minutes, but responded to the CPR right away. Twenty years earlier ,the boy's grandfather died in a similar accident less than 10 miles from that very same spot. Unbelievable.

All right. Want to check on the weather situation now. Chad Myers in the CNN Center with the very latest on the forecast this morning. Good morning to you once again, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: All right, Chad, thanks.

Flying anywhere today?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: Me either. Save it for another day, will you, Chad?

COLLINS: Yeah.

HEMMER: Thanks.

One company decides it's good business to mix booze and guns. Andy is figuring out that story in a moment here. Only Andy.

COLLINS: We have a lot of explaining to do on that one. Also ahead, should you think twice the next time you go to eat shrimp? There may be potentially some deadly health risks there. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" on that here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: Americans consume more shrimp than any other seafood, but therein lies the danger. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that today at the CNN Center. What do you have, Sanjay? Good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Yes, they consume a lot of shrimp: three-and-a-half pounds, per person per year, of shrimp on average. About 80 percent of the shrimp in the United States is imported. There's been some concern about some of the imported shrimp, in particular, having trace quantities of an antibiotic known as Chloramphenicol. Chloramphenicol used to be used in the feed in several countries outside the United States, now showing up, in trace amounts again, in shrimp

First of all, Chloramphenicol, what is it? It's an antibiotic; it's sort of an end-stage antibiotic. In higher doese, it can lower your blood cell coount, cause nausea and vomiting, and even has some role as a carcinogen, causing leukemia or anemia, which lowers your blood cell counts again.

Now, obviously, this is something that's been of cncern to the -- to the industry, the shrimp industry, both inside and outside the United States. A lot of people concerned about this, pointing out that right now while the FDA says most shrimp is going to be safe, they only inspect about one to two percent of it. So, again, this is an issue that's coming up, Bill.

HEMMER: All right. If it is such an issue, Sanjay, do you stop eating it? Is there another way to make sure you're OK healthwise?

GUPTA: Well, you know, from a medical standpoint, first of all, it's worth pointing out that the doses of Chloramphenicol in the shrimp are going to be pretty small. Those side effects tat I just pointed out there, very unlikely in the small doses that you'll likely get from shrimp.

But when it comes to this antibiotic, you can't smell it, you can't see it, you can't clean the shrimp to get it out. So, really, it's going to be a conversation about this with if you're going to a restaurant, if you're buying shrimp on the street.

You need to talk to folks about whether or not that shrimp's been inspected, from where it came -- there are certain Asian countries -- all the countries really in Asia are more likely to have Chloramphenicol than not.

We bring it up, Bill, to talk about Chloramphenicol and its association with shrimp. But again, to point out as well, the likelihood that anyone would be adversely affected by it, prety remote. The industry -- the import industry says they can't find a single documented case where certainly anyone has developed leukemia or anything like that, Bill.

HEMMER: I tell you, when I first saw this story last night when it came across my desk, I was wondering about oysters. I mean, so many times we think about oysters in this matter, but now it's about shrimp. So...

GUPTA: That's right. And really, the seafood industry in general -- Chloramphenicol was used in the feed for lots of different foods for some time. This antibiotic, now banned in many places around the world, so the numbers will probably go down. But it's always worth talking to the folks that you're buying the seafood from if that seafood has, in fact, been inspected, Bill.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: The good doctor at the CNN Center.

In a moment here, it may not be PC, but a top official at one of the big auto makers says finding the right car is like finding the right woman. Andy has that story, too. Back after this.

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HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: General Motors boss says looks really do matter, especially when consumers are shopping for that new car. Andy Serwer is here now, "Minding Your Business."

Before we get to that, we've got a big Fed meeting today, right?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We do. The FOMC -- Federal Open Market Committee, Jack, is meeting at 2:15. We're going to get the word from them. They're probably going to be raising rates by a quarter point, third time this year. They don't care about the election; they care about the economy. That's there are job. Futures are looking a little bit brighter this morning. Housing starts, housing construction that is, for August just came out, actually surging, highest level in five months. That's good stuff.

I want to talk about this GM situation. You know, car executives for the most part are a very cautious bunch, not given to making bold statements. If you know Bob Lutz, he's not like that at all. He's the vice chairman at GM. And I get a kick out of this guy a lot of the times, the things he says. This one's a little over the top. He was speaking at a meeting in France, a production meeting, and this is what he said, "What do you want to in a female companion? What is the first thing that attracts you? Her ability to cook and keep house, or is it is the way she looks?" He's talking about cars. And then he went on to say, because he wanted to clarify, as people usually do when they make these statements, "It not politically correct. GM hates it when I draw that analogy. They hate it. But it's absolutely correct."

Well, Bob, you know, keep on speaking your mind, I guess. You're entitled to do that.

You want to talk about this latest Vodka? Can I do that?

CAFFERTY: Yes, this is an unbelievable story. I love this.

SERWER: You know, up until recently, I had no idea that the inventor of the AK-47 was still out there alive and well, Lieutenant General Mikhael Kalashnikov of the Russian army. He's the guy who invented who invented the AK-47. Now he's coming out with his own line of Vodka. By the way, that guy drinking with him is a Reuters reporter. He's got that the assignment. There it is, Kalishnikov Vodka. You get your gun, you get your bottle, you're out there shooting. It's 82 proof, so it's the AK-82.

He says he wants to, Jack, "continue the good name of his gun." That's what he says.

CAFFERTY: I guess...

SERWER: What do you think?

CAFFERTY: Maybe he and that guy from GM should get together and have a little (INAUDIBLE).

SERWER: They could have a big thing.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

CAFFERTY: Time for a "File." If it happened once or twice, the president might be able to call it a slip of the tongue. He does that sometimes, you know. But it's happened ten times, the president has confused the name of these terrorists.

Yesterday was the most recent slip-up. During his speech in New Hampshire, the president said the late terrorist Abu Nidal killed Leon Klinghoffer, the Jewish-American who was tossed along with his wheelchair off the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985. The president repeated the mistake at a campaign event in New York City last night, saying, quote, "Abu Nidal was a cold-blooded terrorist, a killer, who killed Leon Klinghoffer," unquote. Well, it wasn't Abu Nidal. It was Abul Abbas, leader of a Palestinian group who was responsible for Klinghoffer's death. The White House has had a no comment. At least they don't have nuclear weapons.

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: The sexual assault case against Kobe Bryant closed earlier this month when the accuser refused to testify among a keystone cops like environment out there in Colorado. This is the prosecutor Mark Hurlbert who charged Bryant. He said he couldn't proceed to trial without the alleged victim's testimony. Now he's trying to keep his job as the chief prosecutor in Eagle, Colorado. He's running for election there for the job of prosecutor, the word is that criminals all over the state hope he wins.

SERWER: Yes. Woody Harrelson would play that guy in a movie, don't you think?

HEMMER: He would.

CAFFERTY: There you go.

HEMMER: Separated at birth.

CAFFERTY: The video you're about to see is of the smallest dog in the world, try and control yourselves. This is Danka, a 1-year- old, 27 ounce chihuahua. She lives in Slovakia.

SERWER: Watch out for the bugs.

CAFFERTY: She's been named the smallest living dog in the world according to the "Guinness Book of World Records."

HEMMER: She's cute.

SERWER: Look, there's a worm.

CAFFERTY: She is seven inches along and eats two ounces of crushed dog food a day.

HEMMER: Two ounces?

SERWER: That's economical, right?

CAFFERTY: I'm very sorry. My producer says to run that.

SERWER: You like dogs.

HEMMER: You love dogs.

COLLINS: Your producer has a small dog that we know -- you have to out yourself -- that we know that you love.

SERWER: Yes, let's out Jack.

CAFFERTY: That's Massamo (ph). He occasionally hangs out in my office.

COLLINS: Yes, he does.

HEMMER: And you love Massamo.

SERWER: Dogs at home, dogs in the office -- you've got dogs all over the place.

CAFFERTY: It's a terrible story. Who cares about a seven-inch long whatever?

HEMMER: Out of Slovakia.

SERWER: Watch out for the worms.

HEMMER: In a moment here, John Kerry tearing into President Bush on the whole issue of Iraq. The senator may have been put back on the defensive, though. A live report on what's happening on both sides in a moment, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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COLLINS; Still to come this morning, CBS and Dan Rather have apologized for the Bush document scandal. But some people wonder whether the Kerry campaign played any role. We'll talk live to Kerry adviser Joe Lockhart, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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