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CNN Live At Daybreak

War of Words; Strike Three for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay

Aired October 07, 2004 - 06:29   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.


CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Thursday, October 7. And this is DAYBREAK. From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Carol Costello has the day off.
Right "Now in the News," more American casualties in Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when an explosion blasted a convoy near Fallujah, and that brings the U.S. death toll in Iraq in the Iraq war to 1,066.

And then there was carnage in Pakistan. A car bomb exploded this morning in the central city of Multon, killing 39 people. Many of the victims were militants observing the anniversary of their leader's death.

An Israeli missile killed two Palestinian teenagers this morning in northern Gaza. Palestinian medics say the teenagers were on their way to school. Israelis say the two were trying to launch a rocket.

U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins will be court-martialed on desertion charges beginning November 3. Jenkins is accused of defecting to North Korea back in 1965. He is now 64 years old and ailing in health.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Well, it's getting down to the wire, less than four. Yes, 26 more days until the presidential election. And the candidates are stepping up attacks against each other.

George Bush's revamped speech alleges that a John Kerry presidency would be dangerous to the nation's national security and economic future. Bush campaigns today in Wisconsin, and it's going to be his final public event before tomorrow night's debate.

John Kerry, meanwhile, is concentrating on preparing for that debate. He's leaving the tough talk to his running mate, John Edwards. Edwards is accusing George Bush of being out of touch with reality.

So, let's get a look ahead as to what we can expect at tomorrow night's town hall-style presidential debate. For that, I'm joined by CNN political analyst very early this morning, Ron Brownstein. He's live in Washington.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Carol. Good to see you.

LIN: Good morning, Ron.

All right, you're expectations for Friday's debate. President Bush's scowl, are we going to remember him -- are voters going to remember him more for his scowl than his policies for the first debate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think in the second debate, certainly the one piece of advice he's going to get on the way out is going to be to smile.

You know, these town hall debates are a wild card. They always have been. They're much more unpredictable, I think, than debates involving journalists. You don't really know what the questions are going to be. And the way they are phrased are sometimes unusual. I remember in 1992 a voter asking the first President Bush how the national debt had affected him personally. And he seemed a little bit taken aback by that question.

So, often they have been more diffuse. Personally, my own instinct is that the third debate, once again with a journalistic moderator, is probably going to be more intense and more kind of driving forward the message and the arguments of the candidates, but we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out in Saint Louis.

LIN: Well, tomorrow the unemployment figures come out the day of the debate. They're the last set of unemployment figures before the election. How do you think that's going to play into people's questions to the candidates? And how hard both of them are going to be put on domestic policy and what they're going to do for the economy?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, your instinct is that with ordinary voters asking it, we may get more questions about bread-and-butter domestic issues. I suspect not only the jobs market, and, of course, we've seen the Democrats after kind of muting the issue, resurfacing their attacks lately on President Bush's record. He does -- he is likely to end his term as the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs.

But beyond jobs, I would suspect health care. I mean, health care to me has been kind of the striking thing in this campaign. There is probably no issue with a larger gap between the level of public attention and the level of attention from the candidates. So, I would be very surprised if there wasn't something about rising health care costs and the rising number of Americans now to about 45 million, Carol, without health insurance.

LIN: So, who do you think, you know, given the town hall debate format and given what the likely voters' questions are going to be, whose strengths does this town hall format play to, John Kerry or President Bush?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, President Bush is kind of folksier, and he tends to be terser than John Kerry. We saw in the first debate one of his problems, however, was that he was very repetitive. I mean, he had certain lines that he wanted to get off. He said them over and again. At times he didn't really seem to fill up his entire block of time.

I think, you know, John Kerry -- they think it's a better format for John Kerry. I think it isn't bad for President Bush. The problem that he'll have is that we're moving from -- probably, not likely -- we're going to move substantially from the national security issues where he is strongest to a domestic record, where when you look at the deficit, the trends in the number of uninsured, poverty, incomes and jobs, he's got some tough numbers to defend.

LIN: All right, thanks very much, Ron Brownstein, always good to have you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

LIN: In the meantime, undecided voters are getting a chance to weigh in on this election. Tonight at 8:00 Eastern, Paula Zahn is going to host a town hall meeting live from Racine, Wisconsin.

And this is also your chance to ask the Bush and Kerry camps a question. All you have to do is send us your questions at CNN.com/ontheroad.

And stay with CNN for extensive live coverage of the second presidential debate. Our special programming begins Friday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.

The country is likely to have a national intelligence director, but the authority of that office is still up in the air. The Senate overwhelmingly approved an intelligence bill that includes many key recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, but the House is still considering its version.

The Senate legislation gives the intelligence director greater powers than the House bill. The House could also vote on its intelligence bill as early as today. The question is: Will that intelligence director have budget authority?

Also in Washington, it's strike three against Tom DeLay, the House majority leader. But as CNN's Ed Henry reports, it doesn't necessarily mean DeLay is out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ethics panel criticized the Texas Republican for appearing to link political donations to legislative action, in his dealings with West Star Energy, a Kansas company. The panel also found DeLay improperly used government resources by getting the Federal Aviation Administration to track the movement of Texas Democrats, who fled the state because of a battle over redistricting.

Members of the ethics panel put off action on a third allegation that DeLay, through his political action committee, funneled illegal corporate contributions to candidates for state office in Texas. Three people associated with the PAC were indicted last month on money laundering charges. This follows last Thursday's finding that DeLay had acted improperly during the high-profile vote over the Medicare reform bill.

The ethics panel found DeLay violated a House rule, when he offered a political favor in an effort to get a fellow Republican to switch his vote from no to yes on the prescription drug bill.

Democrats are pouncing, with one House aide telling CNN -- quote: "Three admonishments in a week is pretty serious. He can't say it's partisan, because this is a bipartisan committee."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, that's CNN's Ed Henry with that report.

An attorney for the congressman insisted that the three rebukes will have no effect on DeLay's political standing. And he will stay on as majority leader.

Now, here's some food for thought this morning. If you are a guy looking to start a family, a diet high in antioxidants could help you improve your odds of that happening. Lisa Drayer is going to explain in five minutes.

And at 50 past, gearing up for the next debate. Both candidates are looking to improve their performance. I'm going to be talking to an expert on what they might do body language-wise.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: After last year's super fiasco, the NFL gets a new sponsor for its Super Bowl halftime show. Stephanie Elam has that story. She's at the Nasdaq Marketsite in Times Square. Of course, we're talking about the infamous Janet Jackson breast-revealing moment at halftime.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Exactly, Carol. Well, it seems that won't be happening again this year. But Ameriquest is the new sponsor. It's expected to be announced today. This is according to the "USA Today," saying that the mortgage lender wants to get out there and get that exposure, so more people say it, so they're willing to pay for it. A record $15 million is what they're expected to pay to sponsor the halftime show. That's about $5 million more than what AOL paid to sponsor the season's show from last year.

No word, obviously, at this point on who will perform or produce the show, but the NFL says don't tune in if you expect to see any surprises like we did last year, simply because, they say, they're taking part in every aspect of halftime. They're taking control there.

And viewership is expected to top the 140 million viewers who watched last season. So, obviously this is good news for Ameriquest to get their name out there when the game is aired on February 6 from Jacksonville, Florida. One other interesting note: Still no word yet on whether or not there will be that five-second delay for the halftime show. There definitely won't be that for the game.

Back to you -- Carol.

LIN: I think so many people are going to tune in, because they just don't know what they're going to end up seeing. You never know.

ELAM: That's exactly it.

LIN: That is true. Thanks, Stephanie.

When a couple is having trouble getting pregnant, the woman is usually the focus of the doctors. But many men are dealing with fertility problems as well. And our registered dietitian, Lisa Drayer, has some good news about fixing those problems and whether it may lie in your eating perhaps.

Lisa, first of all, we're not talking about performance, right? We're talking about the actual mechanics of the quality of the sperm so that you can get pregnant.

LISA DRAYER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN: That's exactly right, Carol. And infertility affects 15 percent of all couples. And 30 to 50 percent of these couples will have an abnormality present in the male partner that contributes to difficulty in achieving a pregnancy.

The good news is there's a growing body of evidence to suggest that diet may help to boost Male fertility. According to information presented at the American Dietetic Association's annual conference this week, one food chemical that may offer benefits is lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant. It's present in foods like tomatoes. It's actually responsible for the red color of tomatoes.

But this pigment may play another role in the body, and that is it may positively affect fertility outcomes.

We're looking at a graphic here. We see that tomato sauce and juice are the best sources. Juice is a very concentrated source of lycopene. Tomato sauce is an excellent source, because cooking tomatoes increases lycopene availability in the body. Also, as we saw, watermelon, fresh tomatoes and pink grapefruit are good sources of lycopene as well.

LIN: Hey, that's good to know about the cooking, because I didn't realize that it could actually stimulate...

DRAYER: Yes.

LIN: ... more lycopene.

DRAYER: Yes. It enhances the absorption of lycopene in the body, cooking it with a little bit of fat. So tomato sauce with a little bit of olive oil in it.

LIN: That's OK by me.

What if you take vitamins instead? I mean, do you have to get it from food?

DRAYER: Right. Well, there is some research on antioxidant vitamins like high levels of vitamin C and E. Two fertility specialists that I talked to do prescribe vitamin C and E to their male patients to boost fertility. Food sources of E include nuts and oils. Also, vitamin C-rich foods include peppers, broccoli and oranges. Zinc and folic acid may be beneficial as well. Oysters and crab are excellent sources of zinc, and folic acid-rich foods include asparagus and fortified cereals.

Now, in terms of the not-so-good news, Carol, smoking can negatively affect fertility outcome. So, if you're a smoker and you want to -- you have some family plans, you may want to consider quitting.

Also, excess alcohol intake, we've talked about the benefits of one to two glasses of wine, let's say, per day. I'm not talking about this amount. But very large amounts of alcohol can actually be toxic to male reproductive organs.

And excess body weight can be a factor as well. I talked to Dr. Anthony Thomas (ph). He's the head of the male infertility unit at the Cleveland Clinic. He says if men have a very large amount of body fat, this actually may boost their estrogen levels.

LIN: Oh.

DRAYER: And the hormonal effects are such that this may negatively affect fertility outcome. So, another good reason to maintain a healthy body weight.

LIN: Boy, eating and -- OK, so no alcohol -- not no alcohol. Limit your alcohol, no smoking, watch your weight, all of those things that used to contribute to actually many people getting pregnant to begin with. It's just kind of ironic. All right, thanks, Lisa. Good to see you.

DRAYER: Thank you. You too.

LIN: You have a great day.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 45 past the house, and here's what's all new this morning.

All is quiet on Mount St. Helens again, at least for now. Scientists have lowered an alert, level saying a major eruption is no longer eminent. Seismic rumblings and small eruptions at the Washington State volcano last week had geologists worried.

And in money, another day, another record price for oil. One day after topping the $51 mark, the price for a barrel of oil hit $52.02.

And in culture, Dallas, Texas, may open up a site with notorious historical significance. The police department basement where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot could become a tourist attraction. His jail cell may also be opened to the public.

And in sports, it's all even between the Yankees and the Twins. New York won game two in extra innings 7-6 on tough plays by Alex Rodriguez and Derrick Jeter. Their division series is tied at one game apiece.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Let's check in with Heidi Collins and Rich Sanchez up in New York, who is in for Bill Hemmer, for a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning, guys.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, that's right. Coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING" today, President Bush is sharpening, rejiggering (ph) his attack on Senator John Kerry. He leveled the harshest attack, in fact, on John Kerry before tomorrow night's second presidential match-up. So, is he trying to reframe the debate or make up for the last one? We're going to have some analysis on that, plus reports from the campaign trail as well.

SANCHEZ: And if you ask what he's trying to reframe it from, here's the answer: Iraq. A WMD report -- a new CIA report says there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the time the U.S.-led invasion. And we're going to talk with former chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, and also take a look at the potential political fallout on this to be expected.

COLLINS: And speaking of fallout, Mount St. Helens -- above Mount St. Helens, in fact, spectacular exclusive pictures, Carol, from above the volcano where every crack can be measured. So, maybe it will give scientists some insight as to what is going to happen there, if anything. We will have that and a whole lot more coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING." Plus a full report on the Twins-Yankees, right?

SANCHEZ: Two Minnesotans here, right?

COLLINS: That's right. We didn't do very well last night, Carol.

SANCHEZ: That's right.

LIN: No bias there. All right, kids, we'll see you in just a bit. Thanks.

COLLINS: Great.

SANCHEZ: All right. LIN: When you're watching tomorrow night's debate, try to do more than just listen to the words. Straight ahead, I'm going to be looking at the importance of body language when CNN DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Martha Stewart has one more day of freedom before she heads off to prison in West Virginia. And some say her new home isn't really a prison at all, but that's not the impression given by at least one of the residents there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll tell you one thing, this ain't (sic) no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) camp cupcake!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: It's isn't a camp cupcake. Guards say staff cuts may make it impossible for Stewart to be protected from other inmates. While Stewart watches her back in the big house, will anyone be watching the store?

CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS (voice over): Martha Stewart can look forward to getting out of prison in five months. For her business, though, there is no timetable for recovery.

SHARON PATRICK, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: Psychologically, obviously, this has been very traumatic for the company.

CHERNOFF: Ms. Stewart's legal trouble has punished Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, transforming it into a money-losing operation. Advertisers ran from "Martha Stewart Living" magazine after criminal charges were filed, and Stewart's conviction accelerated the exodus.

There has been collateral damage as well. Sales of Martha Stewart everyday products at Kmart have fallen. Her syndicated television show is on hiatus. The company is shutting its direct mail "Catalog for Living," and this year has cut one of every five jobs.

Veteran media analyst Dennis McAlpine says Martha Stewart is damaged goods.

DENNIS MCALPINE, MEDIA ANALYST: I don't think there's a prayer in the world that she's going to totally improve her image. She may make it better. But, you know, can a leopard change its spots? And in the mind of the advertisers, they don't need this. They'd rather be with Oprah, and Martha Stewart is not Oprah. CHERNOFF: A comeback is dependent upon luring back advertisers. That's the purpose of trade publication ads urging them to take a look at "Living," which now has Martha Stewart's name in small type.

PATRICK: The advertisers are looking for resolution. We have every reason to believe that that will happen. It won't be tomorrow.

CHERNOFF: Some ad executives are willing to bet on Martha Stewart.

STEVE FUELING, STARCOM WORLDWIDE: We'll be recommending to our clients to reconsider that magazine and put it back into their schedules for next year.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Some investors also are betting on a comeback. They've been driving the stock up over the past few weeks. But chief executive Sharon Patrick has warned only after Martha Stewart has finished her jail time and after the company is no longer the subject of what she calls chronic negative attention, will advertisers come back.

Allan Chernoff, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: When the candidates prepare for debates, they memorize facts and learn some of the catchy phrases. But much of their practice doesn't even involve words. It's really about body language, how they carry themselves on stage.

Communications expert Sonya Hamlin joins me now to shed some light on that subject. She's the author of "How to Talk so People Listen." And she joins me from New York.

Sonya, good morning.

SONYA HAMLIN, COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Good morning.

LIN: Let's show a shot from the recent debate between the vice president and vice presidential candidate John Edwards. There is Dick Cheney looking like he's barely tolerating the junior senator.

HAMLIN: Yes, yes.

LIN: Barely tolerating. How does this come across to people? I mean, do people look at that as authoritative? Or do people look at that as snooty?

HAMLIN: Well, of course, it has very much to do with what your politics are as to whether you'll forgive him or not. But if you're simply looking for a leaderly (ph) quality, the idea that someone is petulant or annoyed isn't particularly useful, because we know that there will always be crises and issues, and you don't handle them by being annoyed. You handle them by being thoughtful, by looking in control and giving us some good ideas about how you're going to handle it or what the issues really are.

LIN: Well, and clearly John Edwards was trying to turn on the charm.

HAMLIN: Yes.

LIN: Oftentimes he would look at the camera. He would be smiling. He was much more physical with his hand motions, often sort of using his hands to jab in the air to underscore a point.

HAMLIN: Yes. But that also is natural to him. Actually, he was at a disadvantage by sitting down, because he is a trial lawyer. And what he's really accustomed to doing is standing up and using all of his energy to speak to the jury standing.

LIN: But, you know, in the previous shot there, see, he blinks a lot.

HAMLIN: Yes, that's true. And people will...

LIN: Dick Cheney didn't blink a lot. He was very -- his eyes were very focused in the debate.

HAMLIN: That's true. That seems to be his thinking habit. And that's OK. People get very used to that, and then it only becomes something that he is doing. But they're really paying much more attention to his demeanor, the countenance. He seemed quite relaxed, comfortable. And even when he was being very accusatory, he didn't seem to be angry or nasty. People like that.

LIN: A lot at stake in the upcoming presidential debate...

HAMLIN: Tremendous.

LIN: ... the second of those three, because it did not go well by conventional wisdom for President Bush just in terms of him scowling at John Kerry.

John Kerry, though, a lot of people tell me that they find his hand motions, these chopping hand motions annoying. Give me a critique of both candidates and what they need to do Friday night, tomorrow night.

HAMLIN: Who is chopping the hand motions, do you mean?

LIN: John Kerry.

HAMLIN: Yes, I think that the big issue for Friday night is that President Bush now has to let go, look relaxed and easy, and be able to deal with the issues without getting -- quote -- "personally involved," because that diminishes him. I think John Kerry has got the big challenge of seeing if he can do it again. He is on more solid ground because the issues that are national rather than international seem to be more comfortable for him.

LIN: Sonya Hamlin, yes, we'll see if both of them are in their elements on Friday night.

HAMLIN: Yes.

LIN: Thank you very much.

HAMLIN: You're welcome.

LIN: All right, from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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Aired October 7, 2004 - 06:29   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Thursday, October 7. And this is DAYBREAK. From the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. Carol Costello has the day off.
Right "Now in the News," more American casualties in Iraq. One U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded when an explosion blasted a convoy near Fallujah, and that brings the U.S. death toll in Iraq in the Iraq war to 1,066.

And then there was carnage in Pakistan. A car bomb exploded this morning in the central city of Multon, killing 39 people. Many of the victims were militants observing the anniversary of their leader's death.

An Israeli missile killed two Palestinian teenagers this morning in northern Gaza. Palestinian medics say the teenagers were on their way to school. Israelis say the two were trying to launch a rocket.

U.S. Army Sergeant Charles Jenkins will be court-martialed on desertion charges beginning November 3. Jenkins is accused of defecting to North Korea back in 1965. He is now 64 years old and ailing in health.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Well, it's getting down to the wire, less than four. Yes, 26 more days until the presidential election. And the candidates are stepping up attacks against each other.

George Bush's revamped speech alleges that a John Kerry presidency would be dangerous to the nation's national security and economic future. Bush campaigns today in Wisconsin, and it's going to be his final public event before tomorrow night's debate.

John Kerry, meanwhile, is concentrating on preparing for that debate. He's leaving the tough talk to his running mate, John Edwards. Edwards is accusing George Bush of being out of touch with reality.

So, let's get a look ahead as to what we can expect at tomorrow night's town hall-style presidential debate. For that, I'm joined by CNN political analyst very early this morning, Ron Brownstein. He's live in Washington.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Carol. Good to see you.

LIN: Good morning, Ron.

All right, you're expectations for Friday's debate. President Bush's scowl, are we going to remember him -- are voters going to remember him more for his scowl than his policies for the first debate?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think in the second debate, certainly the one piece of advice he's going to get on the way out is going to be to smile.

You know, these town hall debates are a wild card. They always have been. They're much more unpredictable, I think, than debates involving journalists. You don't really know what the questions are going to be. And the way they are phrased are sometimes unusual. I remember in 1992 a voter asking the first President Bush how the national debt had affected him personally. And he seemed a little bit taken aback by that question.

So, often they have been more diffuse. Personally, my own instinct is that the third debate, once again with a journalistic moderator, is probably going to be more intense and more kind of driving forward the message and the arguments of the candidates, but we'll have to wait and see how this one plays out in Saint Louis.

LIN: Well, tomorrow the unemployment figures come out the day of the debate. They're the last set of unemployment figures before the election. How do you think that's going to play into people's questions to the candidates? And how hard both of them are going to be put on domestic policy and what they're going to do for the economy?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, your instinct is that with ordinary voters asking it, we may get more questions about bread-and-butter domestic issues. I suspect not only the jobs market, and, of course, we've seen the Democrats after kind of muting the issue, resurfacing their attacks lately on President Bush's record. He does -- he is likely to end his term as the first president since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs.

But beyond jobs, I would suspect health care. I mean, health care to me has been kind of the striking thing in this campaign. There is probably no issue with a larger gap between the level of public attention and the level of attention from the candidates. So, I would be very surprised if there wasn't something about rising health care costs and the rising number of Americans now to about 45 million, Carol, without health insurance.

LIN: So, who do you think, you know, given the town hall debate format and given what the likely voters' questions are going to be, whose strengths does this town hall format play to, John Kerry or President Bush?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, President Bush is kind of folksier, and he tends to be terser than John Kerry. We saw in the first debate one of his problems, however, was that he was very repetitive. I mean, he had certain lines that he wanted to get off. He said them over and again. At times he didn't really seem to fill up his entire block of time.

I think, you know, John Kerry -- they think it's a better format for John Kerry. I think it isn't bad for President Bush. The problem that he'll have is that we're moving from -- probably, not likely -- we're going to move substantially from the national security issues where he is strongest to a domestic record, where when you look at the deficit, the trends in the number of uninsured, poverty, incomes and jobs, he's got some tough numbers to defend.

LIN: All right, thanks very much, Ron Brownstein, always good to have you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

LIN: In the meantime, undecided voters are getting a chance to weigh in on this election. Tonight at 8:00 Eastern, Paula Zahn is going to host a town hall meeting live from Racine, Wisconsin.

And this is also your chance to ask the Bush and Kerry camps a question. All you have to do is send us your questions at CNN.com/ontheroad.

And stay with CNN for extensive live coverage of the second presidential debate. Our special programming begins Friday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.

The country is likely to have a national intelligence director, but the authority of that office is still up in the air. The Senate overwhelmingly approved an intelligence bill that includes many key recommendations from the 9/11 Commission, but the House is still considering its version.

The Senate legislation gives the intelligence director greater powers than the House bill. The House could also vote on its intelligence bill as early as today. The question is: Will that intelligence director have budget authority?

Also in Washington, it's strike three against Tom DeLay, the House majority leader. But as CNN's Ed Henry reports, it doesn't necessarily mean DeLay is out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ethics panel criticized the Texas Republican for appearing to link political donations to legislative action, in his dealings with West Star Energy, a Kansas company. The panel also found DeLay improperly used government resources by getting the Federal Aviation Administration to track the movement of Texas Democrats, who fled the state because of a battle over redistricting.

Members of the ethics panel put off action on a third allegation that DeLay, through his political action committee, funneled illegal corporate contributions to candidates for state office in Texas. Three people associated with the PAC were indicted last month on money laundering charges. This follows last Thursday's finding that DeLay had acted improperly during the high-profile vote over the Medicare reform bill.

The ethics panel found DeLay violated a House rule, when he offered a political favor in an effort to get a fellow Republican to switch his vote from no to yes on the prescription drug bill.

Democrats are pouncing, with one House aide telling CNN -- quote: "Three admonishments in a week is pretty serious. He can't say it's partisan, because this is a bipartisan committee."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: All right, that's CNN's Ed Henry with that report.

An attorney for the congressman insisted that the three rebukes will have no effect on DeLay's political standing. And he will stay on as majority leader.

Now, here's some food for thought this morning. If you are a guy looking to start a family, a diet high in antioxidants could help you improve your odds of that happening. Lisa Drayer is going to explain in five minutes.

And at 50 past, gearing up for the next debate. Both candidates are looking to improve their performance. I'm going to be talking to an expert on what they might do body language-wise.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: After last year's super fiasco, the NFL gets a new sponsor for its Super Bowl halftime show. Stephanie Elam has that story. She's at the Nasdaq Marketsite in Times Square. Of course, we're talking about the infamous Janet Jackson breast-revealing moment at halftime.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Exactly, Carol. Well, it seems that won't be happening again this year. But Ameriquest is the new sponsor. It's expected to be announced today. This is according to the "USA Today," saying that the mortgage lender wants to get out there and get that exposure, so more people say it, so they're willing to pay for it. A record $15 million is what they're expected to pay to sponsor the halftime show. That's about $5 million more than what AOL paid to sponsor the season's show from last year.

No word, obviously, at this point on who will perform or produce the show, but the NFL says don't tune in if you expect to see any surprises like we did last year, simply because, they say, they're taking part in every aspect of halftime. They're taking control there.

And viewership is expected to top the 140 million viewers who watched last season. So, obviously this is good news for Ameriquest to get their name out there when the game is aired on February 6 from Jacksonville, Florida. One other interesting note: Still no word yet on whether or not there will be that five-second delay for the halftime show. There definitely won't be that for the game.

Back to you -- Carol.

LIN: I think so many people are going to tune in, because they just don't know what they're going to end up seeing. You never know.

ELAM: That's exactly it.

LIN: That is true. Thanks, Stephanie.

When a couple is having trouble getting pregnant, the woman is usually the focus of the doctors. But many men are dealing with fertility problems as well. And our registered dietitian, Lisa Drayer, has some good news about fixing those problems and whether it may lie in your eating perhaps.

Lisa, first of all, we're not talking about performance, right? We're talking about the actual mechanics of the quality of the sperm so that you can get pregnant.

LISA DRAYER, REGISTERED DIETITIAN: That's exactly right, Carol. And infertility affects 15 percent of all couples. And 30 to 50 percent of these couples will have an abnormality present in the male partner that contributes to difficulty in achieving a pregnancy.

The good news is there's a growing body of evidence to suggest that diet may help to boost Male fertility. According to information presented at the American Dietetic Association's annual conference this week, one food chemical that may offer benefits is lycopene. Lycopene is an antioxidant. It's present in foods like tomatoes. It's actually responsible for the red color of tomatoes.

But this pigment may play another role in the body, and that is it may positively affect fertility outcomes.

We're looking at a graphic here. We see that tomato sauce and juice are the best sources. Juice is a very concentrated source of lycopene. Tomato sauce is an excellent source, because cooking tomatoes increases lycopene availability in the body. Also, as we saw, watermelon, fresh tomatoes and pink grapefruit are good sources of lycopene as well.

LIN: Hey, that's good to know about the cooking, because I didn't realize that it could actually stimulate...

DRAYER: Yes.

LIN: ... more lycopene.

DRAYER: Yes. It enhances the absorption of lycopene in the body, cooking it with a little bit of fat. So tomato sauce with a little bit of olive oil in it.

LIN: That's OK by me.

What if you take vitamins instead? I mean, do you have to get it from food?

DRAYER: Right. Well, there is some research on antioxidant vitamins like high levels of vitamin C and E. Two fertility specialists that I talked to do prescribe vitamin C and E to their male patients to boost fertility. Food sources of E include nuts and oils. Also, vitamin C-rich foods include peppers, broccoli and oranges. Zinc and folic acid may be beneficial as well. Oysters and crab are excellent sources of zinc, and folic acid-rich foods include asparagus and fortified cereals.

Now, in terms of the not-so-good news, Carol, smoking can negatively affect fertility outcome. So, if you're a smoker and you want to -- you have some family plans, you may want to consider quitting.

Also, excess alcohol intake, we've talked about the benefits of one to two glasses of wine, let's say, per day. I'm not talking about this amount. But very large amounts of alcohol can actually be toxic to male reproductive organs.

And excess body weight can be a factor as well. I talked to Dr. Anthony Thomas (ph). He's the head of the male infertility unit at the Cleveland Clinic. He says if men have a very large amount of body fat, this actually may boost their estrogen levels.

LIN: Oh.

DRAYER: And the hormonal effects are such that this may negatively affect fertility outcome. So, another good reason to maintain a healthy body weight.

LIN: Boy, eating and -- OK, so no alcohol -- not no alcohol. Limit your alcohol, no smoking, watch your weight, all of those things that used to contribute to actually many people getting pregnant to begin with. It's just kind of ironic. All right, thanks, Lisa. Good to see you.

DRAYER: Thank you. You too.

LIN: You have a great day.

Your news, money, weather and sports. It is now 45 past the house, and here's what's all new this morning.

All is quiet on Mount St. Helens again, at least for now. Scientists have lowered an alert, level saying a major eruption is no longer eminent. Seismic rumblings and small eruptions at the Washington State volcano last week had geologists worried.

And in money, another day, another record price for oil. One day after topping the $51 mark, the price for a barrel of oil hit $52.02.

And in culture, Dallas, Texas, may open up a site with notorious historical significance. The police department basement where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot could become a tourist attraction. His jail cell may also be opened to the public.

And in sports, it's all even between the Yankees and the Twins. New York won game two in extra innings 7-6 on tough plays by Alex Rodriguez and Derrick Jeter. Their division series is tied at one game apiece.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LIN: Let's check in with Heidi Collins and Rich Sanchez up in New York, who is in for Bill Hemmer, for a look at what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Good morning, guys.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Carol.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol.

Yes, that's right. Coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING" today, President Bush is sharpening, rejiggering (ph) his attack on Senator John Kerry. He leveled the harshest attack, in fact, on John Kerry before tomorrow night's second presidential match-up. So, is he trying to reframe the debate or make up for the last one? We're going to have some analysis on that, plus reports from the campaign trail as well.

SANCHEZ: And if you ask what he's trying to reframe it from, here's the answer: Iraq. A WMD report -- a new CIA report says there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq at the time the U.S.-led invasion. And we're going to talk with former chief U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, and also take a look at the potential political fallout on this to be expected.

COLLINS: And speaking of fallout, Mount St. Helens -- above Mount St. Helens, in fact, spectacular exclusive pictures, Carol, from above the volcano where every crack can be measured. So, maybe it will give scientists some insight as to what is going to happen there, if anything. We will have that and a whole lot more coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING." Plus a full report on the Twins-Yankees, right?

SANCHEZ: Two Minnesotans here, right?

COLLINS: That's right. We didn't do very well last night, Carol.

SANCHEZ: That's right.

LIN: No bias there. All right, kids, we'll see you in just a bit. Thanks.

COLLINS: Great.

SANCHEZ: All right. LIN: When you're watching tomorrow night's debate, try to do more than just listen to the words. Straight ahead, I'm going to be looking at the importance of body language when CNN DAYBREAK continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Martha Stewart has one more day of freedom before she heads off to prison in West Virginia. And some say her new home isn't really a prison at all, but that's not the impression given by at least one of the residents there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll tell you one thing, this ain't (sic) no (EXPLETIVE DELETED) camp cupcake!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: It's isn't a camp cupcake. Guards say staff cuts may make it impossible for Stewart to be protected from other inmates. While Stewart watches her back in the big house, will anyone be watching the store?

CNN's Allan Chernoff reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS (voice over): Martha Stewart can look forward to getting out of prison in five months. For her business, though, there is no timetable for recovery.

SHARON PATRICK, MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA: Psychologically, obviously, this has been very traumatic for the company.

CHERNOFF: Ms. Stewart's legal trouble has punished Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, transforming it into a money-losing operation. Advertisers ran from "Martha Stewart Living" magazine after criminal charges were filed, and Stewart's conviction accelerated the exodus.

There has been collateral damage as well. Sales of Martha Stewart everyday products at Kmart have fallen. Her syndicated television show is on hiatus. The company is shutting its direct mail "Catalog for Living," and this year has cut one of every five jobs.

Veteran media analyst Dennis McAlpine says Martha Stewart is damaged goods.

DENNIS MCALPINE, MEDIA ANALYST: I don't think there's a prayer in the world that she's going to totally improve her image. She may make it better. But, you know, can a leopard change its spots? And in the mind of the advertisers, they don't need this. They'd rather be with Oprah, and Martha Stewart is not Oprah. CHERNOFF: A comeback is dependent upon luring back advertisers. That's the purpose of trade publication ads urging them to take a look at "Living," which now has Martha Stewart's name in small type.

PATRICK: The advertisers are looking for resolution. We have every reason to believe that that will happen. It won't be tomorrow.

CHERNOFF: Some ad executives are willing to bet on Martha Stewart.

STEVE FUELING, STARCOM WORLDWIDE: We'll be recommending to our clients to reconsider that magazine and put it back into their schedules for next year.

CHERNOFF (on camera): Some investors also are betting on a comeback. They've been driving the stock up over the past few weeks. But chief executive Sharon Patrick has warned only after Martha Stewart has finished her jail time and after the company is no longer the subject of what she calls chronic negative attention, will advertisers come back.

Allan Chernoff, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: When the candidates prepare for debates, they memorize facts and learn some of the catchy phrases. But much of their practice doesn't even involve words. It's really about body language, how they carry themselves on stage.

Communications expert Sonya Hamlin joins me now to shed some light on that subject. She's the author of "How to Talk so People Listen." And she joins me from New York.

Sonya, good morning.

SONYA HAMLIN, COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Good morning.

LIN: Let's show a shot from the recent debate between the vice president and vice presidential candidate John Edwards. There is Dick Cheney looking like he's barely tolerating the junior senator.

HAMLIN: Yes, yes.

LIN: Barely tolerating. How does this come across to people? I mean, do people look at that as authoritative? Or do people look at that as snooty?

HAMLIN: Well, of course, it has very much to do with what your politics are as to whether you'll forgive him or not. But if you're simply looking for a leaderly (ph) quality, the idea that someone is petulant or annoyed isn't particularly useful, because we know that there will always be crises and issues, and you don't handle them by being annoyed. You handle them by being thoughtful, by looking in control and giving us some good ideas about how you're going to handle it or what the issues really are.

LIN: Well, and clearly John Edwards was trying to turn on the charm.

HAMLIN: Yes.

LIN: Oftentimes he would look at the camera. He would be smiling. He was much more physical with his hand motions, often sort of using his hands to jab in the air to underscore a point.

HAMLIN: Yes. But that also is natural to him. Actually, he was at a disadvantage by sitting down, because he is a trial lawyer. And what he's really accustomed to doing is standing up and using all of his energy to speak to the jury standing.

LIN: But, you know, in the previous shot there, see, he blinks a lot.

HAMLIN: Yes, that's true. And people will...

LIN: Dick Cheney didn't blink a lot. He was very -- his eyes were very focused in the debate.

HAMLIN: That's true. That seems to be his thinking habit. And that's OK. People get very used to that, and then it only becomes something that he is doing. But they're really paying much more attention to his demeanor, the countenance. He seemed quite relaxed, comfortable. And even when he was being very accusatory, he didn't seem to be angry or nasty. People like that.

LIN: A lot at stake in the upcoming presidential debate...

HAMLIN: Tremendous.

LIN: ... the second of those three, because it did not go well by conventional wisdom for President Bush just in terms of him scowling at John Kerry.

John Kerry, though, a lot of people tell me that they find his hand motions, these chopping hand motions annoying. Give me a critique of both candidates and what they need to do Friday night, tomorrow night.

HAMLIN: Who is chopping the hand motions, do you mean?

LIN: John Kerry.

HAMLIN: Yes, I think that the big issue for Friday night is that President Bush now has to let go, look relaxed and easy, and be able to deal with the issues without getting -- quote -- "personally involved," because that diminishes him. I think John Kerry has got the big challenge of seeing if he can do it again. He is on more solid ground because the issues that are national rather than international seem to be more comfortable for him.

LIN: Sonya Hamlin, yes, we'll see if both of them are in their elements on Friday night.

HAMLIN: Yes.

LIN: Thank you very much.

HAMLIN: You're welcome.

LIN: All right, from the CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.

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