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American Morning
Debate Focus; Volcano Watch; 'House Call' With Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Aired October 04, 2004 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Going to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning. Daryn Kagan standing by at the CNN Center for more on that.
Good morning to you, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, we begin with another bloody day in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesperson says a car bomb exploded prematurely this morning in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The blast killed at least three people, including the two people who were carrying the bomb.
In Baghdad, at least 16 people were killed this morning in a pair of explosions. Officials say an Army recruitment center and an American convoy were targeted.
Back here in the U.S., the Supreme Court is back to work after summer recess. The nine justices will hear arguments today on possibly changing the guidelines for prison sentences. It's one of almost 50 cases now before the court. This, by the way, is the longest-serving Supreme Court since the early 19th century.
News from Hollywood. Actress Janet Leigh, known for her "Psycho" shower scene, died yesterday at her home in Beverly Hills. Leigh won a Golden Globe Award for her part in that movie. She was also featured along side Frank Sinatra in the original "Manchurian Candidate." Janet Leigh was 77 years old.
Two Americans have won the first of this year's Nobel prizes. Linda Buck, along with Richard Axle (ph), earned the 2004 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their study of the sense of smell. Other categories will be announced this week, with a peace prize announcement on Friday.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: $1.38 million they get for that.
KAGAN: Good for them.
COLLINS: Yes. Ten thousand unknown odors prompted the study. Did you know that? That's a lot.
KAGAN: And as far as the song, "Smell, where'd you get that smell?"
COLLINS: All right, Daryn. Thanks so much. We'll check back a little bit later.
Well, the presidential horse race is once again neck and neck. According to a new CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, President Bush and Senator John Kerry are dead even among likely voters, each with 49 percent. The president has a slight two-point edge, 49 percent to 47 percent, among registered voters. Both candidates are digesting this latest shift in the polls while they prep for this week's debate on domestic issues.
We have a report from each camp now. Frank Buckley with the Kerry campaign.
Frank, good morning to you.
And Dana Bash at the White House as well.
Dana, we're going to get back to you in a moment. Want to begin now with Frank Buckley in Hampton, New Hampshire.
Good morning.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
A little hard to hear you over the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pep band playing here. But Senator Kerry is here to talk about one of the hottest domestic social issues of the election season, stem cell research, using embryonic stem cells to search for cures for things like Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.
Senator Kerry arrived here late last night in New Hampshire to a large airport rally. He says that while he is here, he will propose or talk about his proposals to expand stem cell research and to increase funding that is limited right now to the existing stem cell lines by the Bush administration.
All of this part of the Kerry campaign's shift to domestic policy issues. Senator Kerry saying he will be the champion of the middle class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let me tell you something. I'm running for president, so that beginning on November 3rd I can get to work to make sure that we bring back opportunity, bring back jobs, bring back fairness, so I can stand up on January 20th and say to America, I've got your back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Meanwhile, the Kerry campaign is happy about the new poll results from CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup. They believe they were helped by last Thursday's debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE CUTTER, KERRY CAMPAIGN SPOKESWOMAN: I think what we take out of this poll is that the American people liked what they saw on Thursday night. They saw somebody up there at the debate with the president telling the truth. And it was refreshing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: At the same time, they're downplaying some of the poll results, saying that they will go up and down in the polls before Election Day. And one thing that they agree with the Bush campaign on, it may be the only thing they agree on, is that this race will be close right up to Election Day -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, maybe they'll agree on their music selection as well. Frank Buckley, thanks so much for that.
Want to get now to the White House and Dana Bash, standing by for the Bush side of things.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Well, one top Bush aide conceded that Americans, at least for now, seem to like John Kerry more than they did before last week's debate. But also noted that a majority of Americans, according to CNN's new poll, does not show that they are ready to vote for the senator yet.
Another top Republican conceded that the problem that they have right now is that Republicans are disappointed in last week's debate, Democrats are energized. That is reflected in the poll.
Now, Bush aides are hoping that the vice president will do well tomorrow night in his debate with John Edwards. That could help boost the morale of Republicans. But they know it is next Friday, the town hall debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry in St. Louis, where the president needs to rebound.
And so that end, the president looked at the tape from last week. He had a debate prep session with aides here at the White House yesterday. They are hoping that round two, which again is a town hall, is a format that the president will feel more comfortable. They're adjusting their prep strategy for that.
Now, meanwhile, Mr. Bush will be on the campaign trail this week. He leaves later this hour to go to Iowa. He is, just like John Kerry, going to focus on domestic issues.
Today, he's going to use the power of the incumbency, sign a tax bill that is really quite popular. It focuses on middle-class voters. Even John Kerry supports most of what's in this tax cut bill.
It includes an extension of tax cuts aimed at the middle class, like the reduction in the so-called marriage penalty. And it also extends the $1,000 child tax credit -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Dana Bash, thanks so much, coming to us live from the White House this morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN political analyst Carlos Watson spent a long weekend in Miami. He has some issues this morning, campaign issues he wants to talk about, starting with the new poll numbers.
Carlos, good morning to you.
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Back on the screen here, Bush and Kerry 49 to 49. I want to get your thoughts on this. And also, I want you to expand on what you told our producers last night about Democrats being better prepared for the spin the next day. Explain that.
WATSON: This is great news for John Kerry, no two ways about it. He essentially has closed a double-digit gap, or at least close to a double-digit gap, went from eight points to tied. And I think part of it was Kerry outperforming the president.
But frankly, I think, Bill, just as big a story is that Democrats didn't allow it to happen in 2004 what did happen in 2000, which is after Gore was perceived by many voters who actually watched it to have won the debate, they actually lost the spin game. This time around, Democrats were in the spin room. They were online with the bloggers, et cetera.
They were on talk radio. And they ultimately won the spin game as well.
And that's why I they you're seeing as big a bump as you're seeing. Not just because of Kerry's performance, which was better than the president, but also because of a much better spin game by the Democrats.
HEMMER: On a similar note here, is it true that -- that Democrats across the country were encouraged to vote online in these -- these Web sites, like cnn.com, about who they thought won that debate?
WATSON: There have been e-mails going around. But remember, some of the surveys you saw from CNN, Gallup and others weren't just the online ones, but also were more traditional polls.
And in those polls we see -- you know, in some of the polls, 53 percent to 37 percent immediately after saying that John Kerry did better. More recent polls you saw one where the margins were even better.
So I don't think it was just Democrats gearing up in that way. I think legitimately people thought that Kerry did better.
HEMMER: OK. Another poll number I want to take a look at here. Better news for the White House on this front.
"Who do you trust more as commander in chief?" George Bush still wins in this category, 50 percent to 45 percent. When you analyze that and the issue of terrorism in Iraq, what do you conclude at this point, Carlos?
WATSON: Well, that clearly Kerry had a better performance. But it wasn't enough to dismiss what has been a long-term advantage for the president.
I mean, the lead's gone from 16 points down to five points. But I will say this, that to the extent that Kerry has gotten on first base, or even second base with his performance last week, if he performs well again on Friday, the president could be in real trouble. And even those traditional advantages, you could begin to see those change.
HEMMER: All right. Let's talk about tomorrow night, shall we? John Edwards and Dick Cheney -- one thing you're focused on is the moderator, Gwen Ifill. Why the attention there, Carlos?
WATSON: I think of all the moderators, one of four different moderators, I think she may end up asking the toughest, most nuanced questions of any of the four moderators we'll ultimately see. And so I think that ultimately could play a key role in who is perceived as the winner.
Obviously Dick Cheney's got a lot of experience, and may be more prepared for some of those nuanced questions. But we've also got an experienced and successful trial lawyer in John Edwards on the other side.
In either case, I've got to say, Bill, that I think this will be the most important vice presidential debate in history. I think this is actually one that, opposed to just being interesting, actually could move the polls two or three points in one direction or another.
HEMMER: Interesting thought there. See you in Cleveland, OK, Carlos? Carlos Watson in Miami this morning.
WATSON: Good to see you.
HEMMER: Tomorrow night, the vice presidential candidates debate in Cleveland, Ohio. AMERICAN MORNING is on the road yet again for the pre and post-debate analysis in Cleveland tomorrow morning, and also again Wednesday morning. So we'll have it for you then -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Checking back on the weather now. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the very latest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: OK, Chad, thanks so much. Maybe we should head there for some warmth, huh?
HEMMER: In a moment here, now on high alert. How dangerous is Mount St. Helens? We'll hear from the interior secretary, Gale Norton, about that this morning after some changes over the weekend.
COLLINS: And the latest car crash tests. Which flunked and which passed? We'll have that just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, when your baby's laughter is a sign of something serious, still to come this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mount St. Helens is on its highest state of alert now. Scientists are predicting that some kind of event is imminent at the Washington State volcano.
They don't think it will be anything near the eruption in 1980 that left 57 people dead and massive piles of ash for miles around. But I asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton about some of the greatest concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Secretary Norton, I know that you toured Mount St. Helens over the weekend. Tell us about what you saw.
GALE NORTON, INTERIOR SECRETARY: It was amazing to see from the air the volcano and, you know, the devastation that occurred in 1980. You can still see, of course, very visibly what the effects were of the hundreds of feet of ash, the thousand-foot mountain that was knocked down and spread around the valley.
COLLINS: Do you know if that will have any impact, or did that have any impact on what's going on now, losing 1,000 feet off the top of that mountain?
NORTON: Well, obviously that caused a huge change in the volcano. What we've seen since then is a gradual buildup, again, of a small dome inside the crater.
But what we're looking at today is a much more shallow than the big eruption that occurred in 1980. And so no one is expecting anything close to the level of explosion that occurred then.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, that's certainly some great news there. But the U.S. Geological Survey is saying about 70 percent chance, though, that this could erupt within any moment, or within the next month or so. What's the latest that you're hearing on the exact activity?
NORTON: We still remain at level 3, which is their highest level of volcano alert. And basically, we have seen a number of very small earthquakes.
There are little earthquakes that are magnitude 3 or less that continue every few minutes. It has at some times been a little faster and a little slower.
What has really gotten the attention of the volcano experts though, is when they have what's called a harmonic tremor. That's an ongoing rumble and indicates that magma is moving inside the volcano.
One of those occurred on Saturday, about the time that I was there. And then another one occurred last night.
So a little bit after midnight Eastern Time. And that went on for about an hour and a half. And then since that time, the volcano earthquake activity has slowed down. And that's the same pattern that has occurred a couple of times now.
COLLINS: And you say you were basically in the area when this happened on Saturday. I know there are a lot of photographers and people who are very interested in being there if, in fact, there is an eruption. Any concern of yours about those people that are getting close in to the volcano?
NORTON: Well, people are not being allowed in closer than about six or seven miles from the volcano. The closest observation point, the Johnson Center, that was about five miles from the volcano, has been closed.
COLLINS: Oh, OK.
NORTON: And so people have to stay further away than that.
COLLINS: So what is your biggest concern then with all of this?
NORTON: The biggest concern is the ash and what that does, and especially to aircraft. The ash is gritty, it gets inside motors and causes them to jam up. And so that has been the largest concern.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Interior Secretary Gale Norton from Washington, D.C. a little bit earlier today -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 15 minutes past the hour. If you're in the market for a new car this fall, we have the list on which cars did best in side impact crash testing.
The insurance industry crashed cars at about 30 miles an hour. The car that did best, the 2004 Saab 9-3, followed by the 2005 Mitsubishi Galant, 2004 Lexus ES-330 and the 2004 Acura TL.
The midsize cars with acceptable ratings, again, the Saab 9-3, followed by the 2005 Mercedes C Class, and the Volvo S40, the 2005 model. The car that fared the worst, the 2004 Jaguar X-Type, the cheapest Jaguar model. It starts at $31,000.
There you have the list -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, why one baby's constant giggling is no laughing matter. Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: What happens when a baby's constant laughter turns out to be a sign of something quite serious? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with more on a story he first told us about just a few weeks ago.
First, you know, you think it's such a great little story, and then you realize this is much more serious, as we say.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, we visited with Nico before the operation and now afterwards as well.
Listen, the parents just thought he was a very happy baby because he was giggling all the time. But then they come to find out that the truth was really no laughing matter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): The sweet sound of a baby's laughter. As a newborn, baby Nico laughed so much that his parents nicknamed him Captain Giggles.
MICHAEL BASTOLLA, NICO'S FATHER: He would just giggle through the night, and I would just pick him up and say, "Come on, Captain Giggles," because that's all he would do, as you heard, the giggling.
GUPTA: But in a few weeks, Nico's mother, Rhonda, a pediatric nurse, noticed something serious.
M. BASTOLLA: His wasn't a warm laugh. His was a -- his almost had a chill to it, like you knew something was wrong.
GUPTA: Something wrong was happening deep inside baby Nico's brain. Baby Nico Bastolla was born with hypothalamic hamartoma, a benign tumor that was tickling part of his brain. His giggles were actually seizures.
DR. HAROLD REKATE, BARROW NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE: It's a very rare disease. It's a little ball in the middle of the bottom of the brain that's constantly firing electrical activity. It can cause seizures to occur three times to 30 times to a 100 times a day.
GUPTA: Nico's condition interfered with him growing and kept him from sleeping.
REKATE: It will be unlikely that he will be able to develop properly, to have a normal IQ, to have normal emotional patterns, unless something is done early.
GUPTA: A brain operation was the only way to stop the seizures, but possible risks included stroke, even death. Now more than a month after the operation...
RHONDA LUNZ-RAMSEY, NICO'S MOTHER: It's like it's his new birthday. He'll have, you know, a normal happy, healthy childhood. And the doctor said when we left, "Just go home, take care of your kid, and he should live to be a 104."
GUPTA: Today, Nico is a boy who giggles only when he wants to.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA: There are about 200 to 300 children in the country that actually have this hypothalamic hamartoma. It is believed that Nico is the youngest person ever in the world to have the operation to remove it. He's doing very well -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, such a sweet little smile there. But, you know, as you mentioned in the piece, his mother is a pediatric nurse, and even she didn't know anything was wrong. It took awhile, anyway.
How is any parent supposed to know when the giggling or the laughing just isn't quite right?
GUPTA: Yes. And I should point out, a lot of doctors probably wouldn't recognize this either. It is a very rare condition.
A couple of things to keep in mind. If it's persistent, you know, as Dr. Rekate mentioned, three to 100 times per day, also when it starts to interfere with other things, his eating, his growth, sleeping, things like that, those are all warning signs as well. Worth getting checked out at that point -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It's really not even something that doctors witness very much. What did you say, 200 to 300 cases?
GUPTA: That's right. Very, very rare.
And I don't think anybody would sort of think of this as sort of the first likelihood in terms of why the kid might be giggling so much. But as you sort of investigate further and further, you can find this sort of thing. It's a benign tumor. So Nico should be essentially cured of this now.
COLLINS: Oh, that's so great. All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Jack's on vacation. Andy Borowitz working for us, and the "Question of the Day."
And as we go along throughout the morning we're making sure that Andy gets his props for the Borowitz Report. The big book of shockers, which includes "New Tape May Mean Al Gore is Alive," "Microsoft Buys Massachusetts," and many, many more. "Journalists Embedded with Fox News."
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: That's right.
HEMMER: Headline.
BOROWITZ: That's right.
HEMMER: How are you?
BOROWITZ: I'm great. And boy, we're getting some amazing answers.
You know, it's debate week here at AMERICAN MORNING, which made we wonder about other potential match-ups. The Bush twins versus the Kerry daughters of course comes to mind.
But today's question is about the debate I'd like to see. If Laura Bush debated Teresa Heinz Kerry, who would win and why? OK.
Mark from Fort Erie, Ontario, writes: "If those two women ever went one on one, the biggest winners would easily be the late-night comedians." And the morning comedians, I might add. "It would probably create enough material to last them right through to the election."
Anonymous writes: "Laura would win, of course, because she's consistently cool, calm and collected, while Teresa is consistently hassled, harried and hot-headed."
Coy from Austin, Texas, writes: "Teresa would win no question. Though library science is an incredibly important area of study, and I'm sure the woman is very intelligent, Teresa could say that the U.S. was being annexed by Canada, and I'd go with her because of her fantastic accent."
And Paul from Hellertown, Pennsylvania, writes: "The debate between the wives would be a draw. Mrs. Bush would run out of time because she couldn't get in touch with her husband in order to find out what her opinion was. and Mrs. Kerry wouldn't get the perpetually lodged foot out of her mouth."
Ouch.
HEMMER: There's a shock.
BOROWITZ: It is a shock.
HEMMER: How's the response? They liked this today?
BOROWITZ: They love this.
HEMMER: Yes?
BOROWITZ: This was on fire.
HEMMER: Pretty creative. "Winona Ryder Returns Iraqi Artifacts." "World's Oldest Vase Found in Actress's Saks Bag."
BOROWITZ: That's true. We forgot about Winona.
HEMMER: This is a great book.
BOROWITZ: Thank you, Bill. Thank you.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu takes on a whole new role, and that role is on Broadway. With a very stern message, as well. He'll talk about that after a break here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Almost 9:30. Welcome back, everybody, here in New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In a moment here, the team behind SpaceShipOne could earn $10 million within the next few hours. They're trying for a second trip into space after a wild ride a week ago. Miles tells us what's happening out there in the Mojave Desert in a moment. We'll get back to Miles on that.
COLLINS: Also, a new life for the woman once called the Long Island Lolita. We're talking to Amy Fisher this morning about her autobiography and how she managed to disappear after getting out of prison. That's coming up in a moment.
HEMMER: In the meantime, on Monday morning, want to get you down to Wall Street as we start a whole new week of trading today. And a decent week last week.
The Dow was up, the Nasdaq was up. Dow back over 10000. Nasdaq right around 2000. Not quite there. But we'll see what happens today.
Oil has been weighing on the markets for weeks now. We know that because we've been reporting on it just about every day here. But now, with a bit of an ease on oil prices, we saw the markets respond last week. And they did favorably on Friday, too.
Up 112 on Friday was the Dow 30, 10192 is your opening mark today. Nasdaq market site, mentioned that, at 1942, up 45 points in trading on Friday. So we'll see where we go this week now, with stocks opened for business now on a Monday morning here in New York.
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Aired October 4, 2004 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Going to check on the stories "Now in the News" this morning. Daryn Kagan standing by at the CNN Center for more on that.
Good morning to you, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, we begin with another bloody day in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesperson says a car bomb exploded prematurely this morning in the Iraqi city of Mosul. The blast killed at least three people, including the two people who were carrying the bomb.
In Baghdad, at least 16 people were killed this morning in a pair of explosions. Officials say an Army recruitment center and an American convoy were targeted.
Back here in the U.S., the Supreme Court is back to work after summer recess. The nine justices will hear arguments today on possibly changing the guidelines for prison sentences. It's one of almost 50 cases now before the court. This, by the way, is the longest-serving Supreme Court since the early 19th century.
News from Hollywood. Actress Janet Leigh, known for her "Psycho" shower scene, died yesterday at her home in Beverly Hills. Leigh won a Golden Globe Award for her part in that movie. She was also featured along side Frank Sinatra in the original "Manchurian Candidate." Janet Leigh was 77 years old.
Two Americans have won the first of this year's Nobel prizes. Linda Buck, along with Richard Axle (ph), earned the 2004 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their study of the sense of smell. Other categories will be announced this week, with a peace prize announcement on Friday.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: $1.38 million they get for that.
KAGAN: Good for them.
COLLINS: Yes. Ten thousand unknown odors prompted the study. Did you know that? That's a lot.
KAGAN: And as far as the song, "Smell, where'd you get that smell?"
COLLINS: All right, Daryn. Thanks so much. We'll check back a little bit later.
Well, the presidential horse race is once again neck and neck. According to a new CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll, President Bush and Senator John Kerry are dead even among likely voters, each with 49 percent. The president has a slight two-point edge, 49 percent to 47 percent, among registered voters. Both candidates are digesting this latest shift in the polls while they prep for this week's debate on domestic issues.
We have a report from each camp now. Frank Buckley with the Kerry campaign.
Frank, good morning to you.
And Dana Bash at the White House as well.
Dana, we're going to get back to you in a moment. Want to begin now with Frank Buckley in Hampton, New Hampshire.
Good morning.
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
A little hard to hear you over the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) pep band playing here. But Senator Kerry is here to talk about one of the hottest domestic social issues of the election season, stem cell research, using embryonic stem cells to search for cures for things like Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease.
Senator Kerry arrived here late last night in New Hampshire to a large airport rally. He says that while he is here, he will propose or talk about his proposals to expand stem cell research and to increase funding that is limited right now to the existing stem cell lines by the Bush administration.
All of this part of the Kerry campaign's shift to domestic policy issues. Senator Kerry saying he will be the champion of the middle class.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, let me tell you something. I'm running for president, so that beginning on November 3rd I can get to work to make sure that we bring back opportunity, bring back jobs, bring back fairness, so I can stand up on January 20th and say to America, I've got your back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: Meanwhile, the Kerry campaign is happy about the new poll results from CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup. They believe they were helped by last Thursday's debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE CUTTER, KERRY CAMPAIGN SPOKESWOMAN: I think what we take out of this poll is that the American people liked what they saw on Thursday night. They saw somebody up there at the debate with the president telling the truth. And it was refreshing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BUCKLEY: At the same time, they're downplaying some of the poll results, saying that they will go up and down in the polls before Election Day. And one thing that they agree with the Bush campaign on, it may be the only thing they agree on, is that this race will be close right up to Election Day -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, maybe they'll agree on their music selection as well. Frank Buckley, thanks so much for that.
Want to get now to the White House and Dana Bash, standing by for the Bush side of things.
Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Well, one top Bush aide conceded that Americans, at least for now, seem to like John Kerry more than they did before last week's debate. But also noted that a majority of Americans, according to CNN's new poll, does not show that they are ready to vote for the senator yet.
Another top Republican conceded that the problem that they have right now is that Republicans are disappointed in last week's debate, Democrats are energized. That is reflected in the poll.
Now, Bush aides are hoping that the vice president will do well tomorrow night in his debate with John Edwards. That could help boost the morale of Republicans. But they know it is next Friday, the town hall debate between President Bush and Senator Kerry in St. Louis, where the president needs to rebound.
And so that end, the president looked at the tape from last week. He had a debate prep session with aides here at the White House yesterday. They are hoping that round two, which again is a town hall, is a format that the president will feel more comfortable. They're adjusting their prep strategy for that.
Now, meanwhile, Mr. Bush will be on the campaign trail this week. He leaves later this hour to go to Iowa. He is, just like John Kerry, going to focus on domestic issues.
Today, he's going to use the power of the incumbency, sign a tax bill that is really quite popular. It focuses on middle-class voters. Even John Kerry supports most of what's in this tax cut bill.
It includes an extension of tax cuts aimed at the middle class, like the reduction in the so-called marriage penalty. And it also extends the $1,000 child tax credit -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Dana Bash, thanks so much, coming to us live from the White House this morning -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN political analyst Carlos Watson spent a long weekend in Miami. He has some issues this morning, campaign issues he wants to talk about, starting with the new poll numbers.
Carlos, good morning to you.
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Back on the screen here, Bush and Kerry 49 to 49. I want to get your thoughts on this. And also, I want you to expand on what you told our producers last night about Democrats being better prepared for the spin the next day. Explain that.
WATSON: This is great news for John Kerry, no two ways about it. He essentially has closed a double-digit gap, or at least close to a double-digit gap, went from eight points to tied. And I think part of it was Kerry outperforming the president.
But frankly, I think, Bill, just as big a story is that Democrats didn't allow it to happen in 2004 what did happen in 2000, which is after Gore was perceived by many voters who actually watched it to have won the debate, they actually lost the spin game. This time around, Democrats were in the spin room. They were online with the bloggers, et cetera.
They were on talk radio. And they ultimately won the spin game as well.
And that's why I they you're seeing as big a bump as you're seeing. Not just because of Kerry's performance, which was better than the president, but also because of a much better spin game by the Democrats.
HEMMER: On a similar note here, is it true that -- that Democrats across the country were encouraged to vote online in these -- these Web sites, like cnn.com, about who they thought won that debate?
WATSON: There have been e-mails going around. But remember, some of the surveys you saw from CNN, Gallup and others weren't just the online ones, but also were more traditional polls.
And in those polls we see -- you know, in some of the polls, 53 percent to 37 percent immediately after saying that John Kerry did better. More recent polls you saw one where the margins were even better.
So I don't think it was just Democrats gearing up in that way. I think legitimately people thought that Kerry did better.
HEMMER: OK. Another poll number I want to take a look at here. Better news for the White House on this front.
"Who do you trust more as commander in chief?" George Bush still wins in this category, 50 percent to 45 percent. When you analyze that and the issue of terrorism in Iraq, what do you conclude at this point, Carlos?
WATSON: Well, that clearly Kerry had a better performance. But it wasn't enough to dismiss what has been a long-term advantage for the president.
I mean, the lead's gone from 16 points down to five points. But I will say this, that to the extent that Kerry has gotten on first base, or even second base with his performance last week, if he performs well again on Friday, the president could be in real trouble. And even those traditional advantages, you could begin to see those change.
HEMMER: All right. Let's talk about tomorrow night, shall we? John Edwards and Dick Cheney -- one thing you're focused on is the moderator, Gwen Ifill. Why the attention there, Carlos?
WATSON: I think of all the moderators, one of four different moderators, I think she may end up asking the toughest, most nuanced questions of any of the four moderators we'll ultimately see. And so I think that ultimately could play a key role in who is perceived as the winner.
Obviously Dick Cheney's got a lot of experience, and may be more prepared for some of those nuanced questions. But we've also got an experienced and successful trial lawyer in John Edwards on the other side.
In either case, I've got to say, Bill, that I think this will be the most important vice presidential debate in history. I think this is actually one that, opposed to just being interesting, actually could move the polls two or three points in one direction or another.
HEMMER: Interesting thought there. See you in Cleveland, OK, Carlos? Carlos Watson in Miami this morning.
WATSON: Good to see you.
HEMMER: Tomorrow night, the vice presidential candidates debate in Cleveland, Ohio. AMERICAN MORNING is on the road yet again for the pre and post-debate analysis in Cleveland tomorrow morning, and also again Wednesday morning. So we'll have it for you then -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Checking back on the weather now. Chad Myers at the CNN Center with the very latest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: OK, Chad, thanks so much. Maybe we should head there for some warmth, huh?
HEMMER: In a moment here, now on high alert. How dangerous is Mount St. Helens? We'll hear from the interior secretary, Gale Norton, about that this morning after some changes over the weekend.
COLLINS: And the latest car crash tests. Which flunked and which passed? We'll have that just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, when your baby's laughter is a sign of something serious, still to come this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mount St. Helens is on its highest state of alert now. Scientists are predicting that some kind of event is imminent at the Washington State volcano.
They don't think it will be anything near the eruption in 1980 that left 57 people dead and massive piles of ash for miles around. But I asked Interior Secretary Gale Norton about some of the greatest concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Secretary Norton, I know that you toured Mount St. Helens over the weekend. Tell us about what you saw.
GALE NORTON, INTERIOR SECRETARY: It was amazing to see from the air the volcano and, you know, the devastation that occurred in 1980. You can still see, of course, very visibly what the effects were of the hundreds of feet of ash, the thousand-foot mountain that was knocked down and spread around the valley.
COLLINS: Do you know if that will have any impact, or did that have any impact on what's going on now, losing 1,000 feet off the top of that mountain?
NORTON: Well, obviously that caused a huge change in the volcano. What we've seen since then is a gradual buildup, again, of a small dome inside the crater.
But what we're looking at today is a much more shallow than the big eruption that occurred in 1980. And so no one is expecting anything close to the level of explosion that occurred then.
COLLINS: Yes. Well, that's certainly some great news there. But the U.S. Geological Survey is saying about 70 percent chance, though, that this could erupt within any moment, or within the next month or so. What's the latest that you're hearing on the exact activity?
NORTON: We still remain at level 3, which is their highest level of volcano alert. And basically, we have seen a number of very small earthquakes.
There are little earthquakes that are magnitude 3 or less that continue every few minutes. It has at some times been a little faster and a little slower.
What has really gotten the attention of the volcano experts though, is when they have what's called a harmonic tremor. That's an ongoing rumble and indicates that magma is moving inside the volcano.
One of those occurred on Saturday, about the time that I was there. And then another one occurred last night.
So a little bit after midnight Eastern Time. And that went on for about an hour and a half. And then since that time, the volcano earthquake activity has slowed down. And that's the same pattern that has occurred a couple of times now.
COLLINS: And you say you were basically in the area when this happened on Saturday. I know there are a lot of photographers and people who are very interested in being there if, in fact, there is an eruption. Any concern of yours about those people that are getting close in to the volcano?
NORTON: Well, people are not being allowed in closer than about six or seven miles from the volcano. The closest observation point, the Johnson Center, that was about five miles from the volcano, has been closed.
COLLINS: Oh, OK.
NORTON: And so people have to stay further away than that.
COLLINS: So what is your biggest concern then with all of this?
NORTON: The biggest concern is the ash and what that does, and especially to aircraft. The ash is gritty, it gets inside motors and causes them to jam up. And so that has been the largest concern.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Interior Secretary Gale Norton from Washington, D.C. a little bit earlier today -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 15 minutes past the hour. If you're in the market for a new car this fall, we have the list on which cars did best in side impact crash testing.
The insurance industry crashed cars at about 30 miles an hour. The car that did best, the 2004 Saab 9-3, followed by the 2005 Mitsubishi Galant, 2004 Lexus ES-330 and the 2004 Acura TL.
The midsize cars with acceptable ratings, again, the Saab 9-3, followed by the 2005 Mercedes C Class, and the Volvo S40, the 2005 model. The car that fared the worst, the 2004 Jaguar X-Type, the cheapest Jaguar model. It starts at $31,000.
There you have the list -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, why one baby's constant giggling is no laughing matter. Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: What happens when a baby's constant laughter turns out to be a sign of something quite serious? Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with more on a story he first told us about just a few weeks ago.
First, you know, you think it's such a great little story, and then you realize this is much more serious, as we say.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, we visited with Nico before the operation and now afterwards as well.
Listen, the parents just thought he was a very happy baby because he was giggling all the time. But then they come to find out that the truth was really no laughing matter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): The sweet sound of a baby's laughter. As a newborn, baby Nico laughed so much that his parents nicknamed him Captain Giggles.
MICHAEL BASTOLLA, NICO'S FATHER: He would just giggle through the night, and I would just pick him up and say, "Come on, Captain Giggles," because that's all he would do, as you heard, the giggling.
GUPTA: But in a few weeks, Nico's mother, Rhonda, a pediatric nurse, noticed something serious.
M. BASTOLLA: His wasn't a warm laugh. His was a -- his almost had a chill to it, like you knew something was wrong.
GUPTA: Something wrong was happening deep inside baby Nico's brain. Baby Nico Bastolla was born with hypothalamic hamartoma, a benign tumor that was tickling part of his brain. His giggles were actually seizures.
DR. HAROLD REKATE, BARROW NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE: It's a very rare disease. It's a little ball in the middle of the bottom of the brain that's constantly firing electrical activity. It can cause seizures to occur three times to 30 times to a 100 times a day.
GUPTA: Nico's condition interfered with him growing and kept him from sleeping.
REKATE: It will be unlikely that he will be able to develop properly, to have a normal IQ, to have normal emotional patterns, unless something is done early.
GUPTA: A brain operation was the only way to stop the seizures, but possible risks included stroke, even death. Now more than a month after the operation...
RHONDA LUNZ-RAMSEY, NICO'S MOTHER: It's like it's his new birthday. He'll have, you know, a normal happy, healthy childhood. And the doctor said when we left, "Just go home, take care of your kid, and he should live to be a 104."
GUPTA: Today, Nico is a boy who giggles only when he wants to.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA: There are about 200 to 300 children in the country that actually have this hypothalamic hamartoma. It is believed that Nico is the youngest person ever in the world to have the operation to remove it. He's doing very well -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, such a sweet little smile there. But, you know, as you mentioned in the piece, his mother is a pediatric nurse, and even she didn't know anything was wrong. It took awhile, anyway.
How is any parent supposed to know when the giggling or the laughing just isn't quite right?
GUPTA: Yes. And I should point out, a lot of doctors probably wouldn't recognize this either. It is a very rare condition.
A couple of things to keep in mind. If it's persistent, you know, as Dr. Rekate mentioned, three to 100 times per day, also when it starts to interfere with other things, his eating, his growth, sleeping, things like that, those are all warning signs as well. Worth getting checked out at that point -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It's really not even something that doctors witness very much. What did you say, 200 to 300 cases?
GUPTA: That's right. Very, very rare.
And I don't think anybody would sort of think of this as sort of the first likelihood in terms of why the kid might be giggling so much. But as you sort of investigate further and further, you can find this sort of thing. It's a benign tumor. So Nico should be essentially cured of this now.
COLLINS: Oh, that's so great. All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.
GUPTA: Thank you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: Jack's on vacation. Andy Borowitz working for us, and the "Question of the Day."
And as we go along throughout the morning we're making sure that Andy gets his props for the Borowitz Report. The big book of shockers, which includes "New Tape May Mean Al Gore is Alive," "Microsoft Buys Massachusetts," and many, many more. "Journalists Embedded with Fox News."
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: That's right.
HEMMER: Headline.
BOROWITZ: That's right.
HEMMER: How are you?
BOROWITZ: I'm great. And boy, we're getting some amazing answers.
You know, it's debate week here at AMERICAN MORNING, which made we wonder about other potential match-ups. The Bush twins versus the Kerry daughters of course comes to mind.
But today's question is about the debate I'd like to see. If Laura Bush debated Teresa Heinz Kerry, who would win and why? OK.
Mark from Fort Erie, Ontario, writes: "If those two women ever went one on one, the biggest winners would easily be the late-night comedians." And the morning comedians, I might add. "It would probably create enough material to last them right through to the election."
Anonymous writes: "Laura would win, of course, because she's consistently cool, calm and collected, while Teresa is consistently hassled, harried and hot-headed."
Coy from Austin, Texas, writes: "Teresa would win no question. Though library science is an incredibly important area of study, and I'm sure the woman is very intelligent, Teresa could say that the U.S. was being annexed by Canada, and I'd go with her because of her fantastic accent."
And Paul from Hellertown, Pennsylvania, writes: "The debate between the wives would be a draw. Mrs. Bush would run out of time because she couldn't get in touch with her husband in order to find out what her opinion was. and Mrs. Kerry wouldn't get the perpetually lodged foot out of her mouth."
Ouch.
HEMMER: There's a shock.
BOROWITZ: It is a shock.
HEMMER: How's the response? They liked this today?
BOROWITZ: They love this.
HEMMER: Yes?
BOROWITZ: This was on fire.
HEMMER: Pretty creative. "Winona Ryder Returns Iraqi Artifacts." "World's Oldest Vase Found in Actress's Saks Bag."
BOROWITZ: That's true. We forgot about Winona.
HEMMER: This is a great book.
BOROWITZ: Thank you, Bill. Thank you.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu takes on a whole new role, and that role is on Broadway. With a very stern message, as well. He'll talk about that after a break here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Almost 9:30. Welcome back, everybody, here in New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
In a moment here, the team behind SpaceShipOne could earn $10 million within the next few hours. They're trying for a second trip into space after a wild ride a week ago. Miles tells us what's happening out there in the Mojave Desert in a moment. We'll get back to Miles on that.
COLLINS: Also, a new life for the woman once called the Long Island Lolita. We're talking to Amy Fisher this morning about her autobiography and how she managed to disappear after getting out of prison. That's coming up in a moment.
HEMMER: In the meantime, on Monday morning, want to get you down to Wall Street as we start a whole new week of trading today. And a decent week last week.
The Dow was up, the Nasdaq was up. Dow back over 10000. Nasdaq right around 2000. Not quite there. But we'll see what happens today.
Oil has been weighing on the markets for weeks now. We know that because we've been reporting on it just about every day here. But now, with a bit of an ease on oil prices, we saw the markets respond last week. And they did favorably on Friday, too.
Up 112 on Friday was the Dow 30, 10192 is your opening mark today. Nasdaq market site, mentioned that, at 1942, up 45 points in trading on Friday. So we'll see where we go this week now, with stocks opened for business now on a Monday morning here in New York.
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