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Jobs Report Lower Than Anticipated; Martha Stewart Arrives at Alderson Prison; "Gimmie a Minute"

Aired October 08, 2004 - 08:31   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. 8:30. Back to Andy Serwer right now. The jobs number is in, and it looks how, Andy?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE": It just came in: 96,000 jobs were added to the economy in month of September. That's a bit weaker than anticipated. Economists were looking for 150,000 jobs to be created. The unemployment rate holds steady at 5.4 percent.

We're going to be sorting through these numbers, but it is obviously weaker than the administration would have hoped. And it's going to be something that both campaigns are going to be chewing over, over the next hours, and of course, critical information for tonight's debate.

HEMMER: Just reading the wire here, Labor also saying according to preliminary estimates the economy added 236,000 more jobs than previously thought in the year ending March 2004?

SERWER: Right. As they're looking at the 12-month period...

HEMMER: OK.

SERWER: ... March 2003 to March 2004, there are more jobs created than previously anticipated. But you're going to see both campaigns looking to spin these numbers. Is it positive? Is it negative?

A couple other points: The hurricane season down in Florida, not good for job creation. The fall is a weak time as well, because companies do budgets and look towards the next year, maybe looking to lay some people off. And it's just a situation that the numbers have to be sorted through. We're going to be looking at revisions for August and June and July, as well, over the next couple minutes.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: But important to know, this is the last report we're going to hear, as we mentioned earlier today, before the election.

SERWER: That's very important.

COLLINS: This is a number that'll stick.

SERWER: That's right.

COLLINS: All right. Andy Serwer, thanks for that.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Want to take you now back to the Martha Stewart story. She has reported to Alderson Prison in West Virginia, slipping in very early this morning.

And CNN's Deborah Feyerick is there. She's going to join us now live with more details. Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Heidi.

Well, prison officials have now confirmed that Martha Stewart arrived at the prison at approximately 6:15 this morning. There was a great sense of anticipation on the drive in this morning at around 5:15. There were state troopers lined up at various points along the road to make sure that nobody interfered with her access to the prison.

She was -- a source told us earlier that she was really advised to arrive before 2:00 so as to cause the least amount of disruption to the prison. But when she arrived -- and this is very interesting -- there are dozens of photographers lined up all along the road, all of them were shooting every car that entered, expecting that in one of those cars was Martha Stewart.

And even though everyone was shooting away, she managed to come in, nobody getting a clear picture. Everybody now scrambling to check their videotapes to see if, in fact, there is some sort of an image of her in what we believe was a tan van.

Now, former inmates and prison officials really are saying that the only way to make it inside prison is to forget about life outside. As a matter of fact, this morning Martha Stewart posted a note on her Web site. And that was the first indication that anybody really had that she did come in the cover of darkness. She put a letter on her Web site saying, "Dear friends, by the time you read this, I will have reported to a minimum security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, to begin serving my five-month sentence."

She also told people she's -- her appeal is moving forward and that, unfortunately, because of her incarceration, she would no longer be able to write as frequently on her Web site or to keep people posted as often as she has been.

Right now, she's going through the processing system. She'll be assigned a job, a bunk, and a rule book as to what she cannot do while she's inside -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yeah. And Deb, you know, it's interesting you bring up the rule book and life inside prison. For someone like Martha Stewart, as we were speaking earlier with Jeffrey Toobin, no control at all. And this is a woman who really liked control. It was important to her in her life.

She's going to be getting up at 6:00 a.m., going to work at 8:00, as you earlier reported. Very, very different on the inside. FEYERICK: Very, very different. And she's going to have to get used to that, because a lot of the people in that prison are watching to see how it is she is going to react. And how she spends her first day is how she may define what could be next five months.

COLLINS: All right, Deb Feyerick, thanks so much. A live update on the Martha Stewart situation in Alderson, West Virginia. Thanks again, Deb.

HEMMER: And more news now with Kelly Wallace with the headlines this morning. Back to Kelly, now. Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, again, to you. Good morning, everyone.

Human rights experts may be headed to Sudan's Darfur region. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked an international panel to investigate whether genocide occurred in the region. More than one- and-a-half million people have been displaced since last year. The U.S. Congress and members of the Bush administration have classified the violence as genocide, but the African Union has fought the use of that term.

Federal officials could be picking up a $1 billion tab in Florida. President Bush has ordered FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to pay for 90 percent of the costs racked up by this year's hurricanes. That's significantly more than normal. FEMA usually pays 75 percent of the costs not covered by insurance.

And Kobe Bryant's accuser may be officially identified as early as today. Court documents that had previously protected her name will be released later today. A judge ruled this week that the woman would have to be identified in the civil case. Lawyers for the accuser say they were prepared for the ruling and are going ahead with their case.

Quick check of the headlines. Back to Heidi and Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Kelly. Thanks for that.

It's Friday morning. Time for "Gimmie a Minute" right now -- a look at some of the week's biggest stories. In Pittsburgh today, Bev Smith is with us. She's with American Urban Radio Networks. What's happening, Bev? Good morning to you.

BEV SMITH, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Good morning to you!

HEMMER: Also in New York, WABC radio host Mark Simone. How are you, Mark?

MARK SIMONE, WABC RADIO HOST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Good morning to you. Also in New York, John DeVore from "Maxim" magazine. Welcome back, John.

JOHN DEVORE, "MAXIM" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Bill. HEMMER: Let's get it on, Bev! The weapons report is out. It concludes Saddam Hussein had no WMD after 1991. How does this translate on November 2nd?

SMITH: Surprise, surprise! I don't think it's going to make a difference at all. Those of us who knew it and who believed it and who talked about it, talked with our audience about it, no big surprise.

What was a surprise is even after it happened, the president didn't believe it. And so, I think for those believers in the George Bush way of life, it may make a slight dent. But I think most people already have their minds made up.

HEMMER: All right. She says a slight dent, Mark. How about you?

SIMONE: Well, the president set up a committee a few weeks ago to investigate it, so he already believes it.

Listen, it's problem for Kerry, because he was yelling about WMD even before Bush even took office. I think the other thing it shows is Kerry is wrong, our allies aren't the bribed and coerced. It turns out the handful of countries that didn't go in are bribed and coerced.

HEMMER: To John, how about it?

DEVORE: I agree. WMD, they remind me of Tinkerbell. The Republicans clap their hands and want them to believe they exist, but they don't. They never have. And it's not going to matter during the election. If this would have stuck, it would have stuck by now.

HEMMER: Got it.

Next topic. Howard Stern's going to get $100 million a year. This is like Mark Simone money. Is he worth it? Mark, start us off.

SIMONE: Yeah, all he needs is a million subscribers to make it pay. He's got eight-and-a-half million listeners. I would think half his audience would take out subscriptions.

Also, you remember, he works best when he is the anti- establishment guy. Twenty years at Viacom, you're the establishment.

HEMMER: And that's what he wants, to be the anti guy again.

What about it, Bev? Is he worth it? You're in radio.

SMITH: Well, you know, how do you determine worth? If someone offered me $100 million, I know I'd take it. So, I think that he's worth it from his perspective. I'm not a Howard Stern fan, but I think he's a very clever businessman.

And I think his fans will follow him. They're devoted. They like to see short people who -- people who are challenged thrown at each other and old ladies wearing Lycra pants showing their breasts. So, hey!

HEMMER: Just about everything in there for everyone...

SMITH: Right.

HEMMER: ... don't you think?

What about it, John? Is anyone worth it?

DEVORE: Well, look, satellite radio is going to be huge. It's where pay cable was 20 years ago. I'm fan of Stern, and I'm looking forward to uninterrupted belching.

HEMMER: And a few more things, too, I bet.

Hey, Bev, Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for November 2nd. Thousands of lawyers on each side ready to fan out in case there is an issue. Is this any way it pick a president?

SMITH: Well, it's the way we have to pick a president today because of the things that the Republicans have done. In Florida already, 45,000 to 50,000 names, eligible people were put on a list. Now the Republican National Committee in Florida said, oops, sorry, but those names remain on the list. It's the way goes.

I'm not so worried about the lawyers, because their purpose is to make sure that the election goes the right way. We do it around the world all the time. But I am worried about John Ashcroft sending out police officers, sending out agents from the FBI to monitor. I think that can be rather intimidating.

HEMMER: All right. Let's go to Mark, then. I don't think I can find 1,000 lawyers in a phone book, Mark?

SIMONE: Ten thousand lawyers descending on a state. That's worse than locusts. I mean, this is just -- this is theatrics. You don't need -- if you can't win your case with 8,500 lawyers, give up. O.J. only needed six.

HEMMER: Cicadas are coming back. John?

DEVORE: I agree with Mark. This is like Ally McBeal versus Matlock. It's a lot of bluster to remind the faithful of what a debacle 2000 was.

HEMMER: All right. Back to Mark again. Want to go undercover story of the week. What's on your mind?

SIMONE: Well, you know, they keep saying the reconstruction is going well. There was a pretty good sign of it this week. I was shocked that Iraqi Airlines is back in business. They've got two daily -- this is being optimistic -- they call them round-trip flights, one to Amman and one to Damascus. So, they say get there early. Check-in is not bad, but the line at that insurance machine is pretty big.

HEMMER: Bev?

SMITH: OK, I don't think I'd book a flight on that.

I think the story that was missed is the story coming out of West Virginia and coming out of Arizona, and that is that the Republicans dispersed leaflets to those two states, and the leaflets said that a vote for a Democrat would be a vote against the Bible. The Republican National Committee said, yes, we did it, but it's no big deal, but the leaflets are everywhere, and they have not apologized.

HEMMER: All right, you're on the record.

John, what about it?

DEVORE: It's a tossup between Mount St. Helens and Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay's well-deserved spanking by the Ethics Committee. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

HEMMER: Mount St. Helens still out there, too, Belching I believe is the word we used. Magma, that's huge with my demographics.

Thanks to all three of you.

SMITH: Thank you.

HEMMER: Have a good weekend. So long.

SMITH: You, too.

HEMMER: Debate coverage live tonight. The debate begins at 9:00 all here on CNN.

COLLINS: Yes, and don't forget the short people throwing each other around and the old ladies in Lycra pants, profound statement of the day.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, what do the new job numbers mean for tonight's debate? You can bet they'll be talking about it.

HEMMER: Also, Sanjay's back in a moment. What may be going into your tuna to make it just look fresh. Doesn't sound good.

Back in a moment, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The tuna on display at your local sushi bar or supermarket may look fresh, but chances are it's been treated with carbon monoxide to give it a more appetizing appearance.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with more.

Pink and fresh doesn't all mean it's fresh though, right? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a really interesting story here. You know, lot of people use color to look at all sorts of different food, especially their tuna. They're looking for a specific color before they buy it or before they eat their sushi, trying to find that sort of brightish, pinkish color.

But for a long time, there's been concerns about carbon monoxide actually being used in the treatment process of tuna to try and make it retain that color for longer period of time.

Now a couple of things about carbon monoxide. It's actually been used for quite white a while in the actual gas packing of some of these tuna steaks, but the carbon monoxide itself is not toxic. That actually doesn't cause any harm to either you or the fish. It is FDA approved and widely used. The concern though, Heidi, and the reason people are starting to talk about this more is that fish that would otherwise have aged and started to look old actually still looks bright and pink, so people think it's fresher fish. They buy that. Sometimes old fish can be unhealthier, and people think it's still just fine -- Heidi.

COLLINS: So then when you were looking at the fish that you're either going to buy in the store or at your favorite sushi place, is it just that color, just that pinkness that allows you to know whether it's been treated?

GUPTA: Well, here's a couple of things to keep in mind -- take a look at this animation of the two different types of fish. On left there you see what is untreated fish. That is fish that you normally would see in a store that's not been treated with carbon monoxide. On the right is the treated fish.

Now the right -- the fish on right is actually going to maintain that color for a longer period of time, given the fact that it has this carbon monoxide treatment. The fish on the left will probably turn dark a little bit sooner. Another thing to keep in mind that sushi-grade fish is going to be about $10 to $11 per pound, so a little bit more expensive than the untreated fish, so it will probably be a little bit cheaper.

Smell is always a good way as well to try and figure out whether your fish is fresh or not. And also, worth keeping in mind, every time that we talk about tuna, as far as pregnant women or nursing mothers go, 12 ounces of the light tuna or six ounces of the albacore, or canned tuna, is all that you should really be eating -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Ha, Maguru (ph) the Japanese name for that tuna.

GUPTA: That's right.

COLLINS: Sushi fan that I am.

Hey, what's coming up this weekend, Sanjay.

This weekend we've got "HOUSE CALL" 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Two big stories in the medical news this week, the flu vaccine shortage, also the Vioxx recall. Two big stories. We're going to talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci. We're going to talk with the head of the arthritis foundation. We're going to take everybody's questions, find out what went wrong and what went right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Everybody's questions, you're going to take them and take everybody on, right?

GUPTA: That's right, we're going to take them on!

COLLINS: All right, Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Well, here is a sticky story. Kids are kids, we know that. A student in Alabama proved just that while sitting in class. Eleven-year-old Vincent York was chewing on his pencil when another student surprised him. The pencil slipped down his throat. Vincent struggled to get a three-and-three-quarter-inch quarter pencil with a jumbo eraser are out of his esophagus.

It gets worse. The teacher didn't believe him. Vincent had to wait until he got home from school to tell his mom. She took him to the hospital, where the pencil was safely removed. Vincent said to be doing fine now -- three-and-three-quarter inch.

COLLINS: I guess he couldn't cough. I mean, how do you make something up like that? I don't know. Yikes!

We've seen so many pictures of the people who accidentally get, like, nails through their head.

HEMMER: Sure.

COLLINS: Never seen a pencil down a throat. All right.

HEMMER: Still to come this morning. More fun from the folks at Jib Jab. You know these guys, got a new ad on their Web site. We'll That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, welcome back. The just-released jobs number is out for September. Back to Andy to break down the numbers, "Minding Your Business" now. How do you see it here?

SERWER: I've been crunching numbers. That's what we've been doing.

First of all, the headline: 96,000 jobs created in the month of September. Weaker than anticipated; economists were looking for 150,000 jobs. Good news is the unemployment rate, though, stays at 5.4 percent.

Now, revisions for the month of August. Jobs created revised downward from 144 to 128. So, less jobs created in August than originally anticipated. However, in July, more jobs created -- these economists -- up to 85,000 from 73,000 jobs created. Some loss of jobs in manufacturing, and the hurricanes' implications weren't good. That hurt us, as well.

Now, overall, crunching the numbers, this year, 1.53 million jobs created in the United States this year. That's the good news. The bad news -- I guess you'd have to say particularly for the president -- is that overall during his administration, hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. We are calculating 880,000 jobs lost during his administration.

Now, this is going to be subject to revisions by economists. There are some preliminary numbers suggesting more jobs were created over the past 12 months from last March to this March. It's a little bit complicated.

But I think the bottom line is when you are talking about the candidates trying to pick through these numbers, I think the Kerry campaign is going to pick up on the fact there were jobs lost during this administration; the Bush administration can say that we've had 13 straight months of job creation going back to last September.

So, it's sort of like which numbers do you want to pick?

HEMMER: It sounds like there's a little bit for both sides in there listening to you.

SERWER: That's right. On the other hand, bottom line is the job market is not so strong right now. I think...

HEMMER: What did you say earlier? It's clear as mud?

SERWER: Clear as mud. The economists are helping us out again, right?

HEMMER: All right, Andy. Thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Thanks for making it make sense, though.

SERWER: Thanks. Hope so.

COLLINS: Something neither candidate wants to see, though, before going on national TV tonight: another animated spoof from jibjab.com. The Web site that brought us "This Land is Your Land." Well, this one, set to "Dixie," just now been release.

(MUSIC)

HEMMER: Round two was just as good, I think.

COLLINS: We are going to see more of "It's Good to Be in D.C." in the next hour when the creators of Jib Jab Media will be our guests right here. So, can't wait for that.

No "Cafferty File" today while Jack's away, of course, but Andy Borowitz here now with "The Borowitz Report."

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: "The Borowitz Report" -- and here are today's shockers from borowitzreport.com, where you'll find news you won't find anywhere else because I make it up.

Just days after saying that he had never met Senator John Edwards until their nationally televised debate on Tuesday night, Vice President Dick Cheney backtracked somewhat today, admitting that in August of last year, he and Mr. Edwards went on a two-week camping trip. "I had totally forgotten about that camping trip," Mr. Cheney told reporters today. "My bad."

But Mr. Cheney's statement was not good enough for Mr. Edwards, who said that Mr. Cheney also forgot to mention a visit the two of them made to Disneyland last March. Showing a photograph of the two men riding the famous Space Mountain ride together, Senator Edwards said, "After all the good times we had together, to hear Dick Cheney act as though he's never met, well, I got to tell you, it hurts real bad."

In other campaign news, after Senator John Kerry told TV host Dr. Phil that he had spanked his daughter only once in his life, President Bush accused Mr. Kerry of being unwilling to use spanking unless it passed a global test. "If my opponent won't spank his own daughter, how can we expect him to spank Osama bin Laden," Mr. Bush said. Senator Kerry fired back, "Osama bin Laden is not my daughter," to which Mr. Bush replied, "I know that."

And finally -- and finally, going into game three of the ALDS, the New York Yankees lead the Minnesota Twins by $100 million.

HEMMER: Yes, they do.

BOROWITZ: Thank you very much. That's "The Borowitz Report."

COLLINS: That's not true!

BOROWITZ: It's true.

HEMMER: ... shockers. Thank you, Andy.

In a moment here, who has more on line tonight in this debate number two? Reports from the trail -- the campaign trail -- in a moment as we continue after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired October 8, 2004 - 08:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone. 8:30. Back to Andy Serwer right now. The jobs number is in, and it looks how, Andy?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE": It just came in: 96,000 jobs were added to the economy in month of September. That's a bit weaker than anticipated. Economists were looking for 150,000 jobs to be created. The unemployment rate holds steady at 5.4 percent.

We're going to be sorting through these numbers, but it is obviously weaker than the administration would have hoped. And it's going to be something that both campaigns are going to be chewing over, over the next hours, and of course, critical information for tonight's debate.

HEMMER: Just reading the wire here, Labor also saying according to preliminary estimates the economy added 236,000 more jobs than previously thought in the year ending March 2004?

SERWER: Right. As they're looking at the 12-month period...

HEMMER: OK.

SERWER: ... March 2003 to March 2004, there are more jobs created than previously anticipated. But you're going to see both campaigns looking to spin these numbers. Is it positive? Is it negative?

A couple other points: The hurricane season down in Florida, not good for job creation. The fall is a weak time as well, because companies do budgets and look towards the next year, maybe looking to lay some people off. And it's just a situation that the numbers have to be sorted through. We're going to be looking at revisions for August and June and July, as well, over the next couple minutes.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: But important to know, this is the last report we're going to hear, as we mentioned earlier today, before the election.

SERWER: That's very important.

COLLINS: This is a number that'll stick.

SERWER: That's right.

COLLINS: All right. Andy Serwer, thanks for that.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Want to take you now back to the Martha Stewart story. She has reported to Alderson Prison in West Virginia, slipping in very early this morning.

And CNN's Deborah Feyerick is there. She's going to join us now live with more details. Deb, good morning.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Heidi.

Well, prison officials have now confirmed that Martha Stewart arrived at the prison at approximately 6:15 this morning. There was a great sense of anticipation on the drive in this morning at around 5:15. There were state troopers lined up at various points along the road to make sure that nobody interfered with her access to the prison.

She was -- a source told us earlier that she was really advised to arrive before 2:00 so as to cause the least amount of disruption to the prison. But when she arrived -- and this is very interesting -- there are dozens of photographers lined up all along the road, all of them were shooting every car that entered, expecting that in one of those cars was Martha Stewart.

And even though everyone was shooting away, she managed to come in, nobody getting a clear picture. Everybody now scrambling to check their videotapes to see if, in fact, there is some sort of an image of her in what we believe was a tan van.

Now, former inmates and prison officials really are saying that the only way to make it inside prison is to forget about life outside. As a matter of fact, this morning Martha Stewart posted a note on her Web site. And that was the first indication that anybody really had that she did come in the cover of darkness. She put a letter on her Web site saying, "Dear friends, by the time you read this, I will have reported to a minimum security prison in Alderson, West Virginia, to begin serving my five-month sentence."

She also told people she's -- her appeal is moving forward and that, unfortunately, because of her incarceration, she would no longer be able to write as frequently on her Web site or to keep people posted as often as she has been.

Right now, she's going through the processing system. She'll be assigned a job, a bunk, and a rule book as to what she cannot do while she's inside -- Heidi?

COLLINS: Yeah. And Deb, you know, it's interesting you bring up the rule book and life inside prison. For someone like Martha Stewart, as we were speaking earlier with Jeffrey Toobin, no control at all. And this is a woman who really liked control. It was important to her in her life.

She's going to be getting up at 6:00 a.m., going to work at 8:00, as you earlier reported. Very, very different on the inside. FEYERICK: Very, very different. And she's going to have to get used to that, because a lot of the people in that prison are watching to see how it is she is going to react. And how she spends her first day is how she may define what could be next five months.

COLLINS: All right, Deb Feyerick, thanks so much. A live update on the Martha Stewart situation in Alderson, West Virginia. Thanks again, Deb.

HEMMER: And more news now with Kelly Wallace with the headlines this morning. Back to Kelly, now. Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, again, to you. Good morning, everyone.

Human rights experts may be headed to Sudan's Darfur region. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked an international panel to investigate whether genocide occurred in the region. More than one- and-a-half million people have been displaced since last year. The U.S. Congress and members of the Bush administration have classified the violence as genocide, but the African Union has fought the use of that term.

Federal officials could be picking up a $1 billion tab in Florida. President Bush has ordered FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to pay for 90 percent of the costs racked up by this year's hurricanes. That's significantly more than normal. FEMA usually pays 75 percent of the costs not covered by insurance.

And Kobe Bryant's accuser may be officially identified as early as today. Court documents that had previously protected her name will be released later today. A judge ruled this week that the woman would have to be identified in the civil case. Lawyers for the accuser say they were prepared for the ruling and are going ahead with their case.

Quick check of the headlines. Back to Heidi and Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Kelly. Thanks for that.

It's Friday morning. Time for "Gimmie a Minute" right now -- a look at some of the week's biggest stories. In Pittsburgh today, Bev Smith is with us. She's with American Urban Radio Networks. What's happening, Bev? Good morning to you.

BEV SMITH, AMERICAN URBAN RADIO NETWORKS: Good morning to you!

HEMMER: Also in New York, WABC radio host Mark Simone. How are you, Mark?

MARK SIMONE, WABC RADIO HOST: Good morning.

HEMMER: Good morning to you. Also in New York, John DeVore from "Maxim" magazine. Welcome back, John.

JOHN DEVORE, "MAXIM" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Bill. HEMMER: Let's get it on, Bev! The weapons report is out. It concludes Saddam Hussein had no WMD after 1991. How does this translate on November 2nd?

SMITH: Surprise, surprise! I don't think it's going to make a difference at all. Those of us who knew it and who believed it and who talked about it, talked with our audience about it, no big surprise.

What was a surprise is even after it happened, the president didn't believe it. And so, I think for those believers in the George Bush way of life, it may make a slight dent. But I think most people already have their minds made up.

HEMMER: All right. She says a slight dent, Mark. How about you?

SIMONE: Well, the president set up a committee a few weeks ago to investigate it, so he already believes it.

Listen, it's problem for Kerry, because he was yelling about WMD even before Bush even took office. I think the other thing it shows is Kerry is wrong, our allies aren't the bribed and coerced. It turns out the handful of countries that didn't go in are bribed and coerced.

HEMMER: To John, how about it?

DEVORE: I agree. WMD, they remind me of Tinkerbell. The Republicans clap their hands and want them to believe they exist, but they don't. They never have. And it's not going to matter during the election. If this would have stuck, it would have stuck by now.

HEMMER: Got it.

Next topic. Howard Stern's going to get $100 million a year. This is like Mark Simone money. Is he worth it? Mark, start us off.

SIMONE: Yeah, all he needs is a million subscribers to make it pay. He's got eight-and-a-half million listeners. I would think half his audience would take out subscriptions.

Also, you remember, he works best when he is the anti- establishment guy. Twenty years at Viacom, you're the establishment.

HEMMER: And that's what he wants, to be the anti guy again.

What about it, Bev? Is he worth it? You're in radio.

SMITH: Well, you know, how do you determine worth? If someone offered me $100 million, I know I'd take it. So, I think that he's worth it from his perspective. I'm not a Howard Stern fan, but I think he's a very clever businessman.

And I think his fans will follow him. They're devoted. They like to see short people who -- people who are challenged thrown at each other and old ladies wearing Lycra pants showing their breasts. So, hey!

HEMMER: Just about everything in there for everyone...

SMITH: Right.

HEMMER: ... don't you think?

What about it, John? Is anyone worth it?

DEVORE: Well, look, satellite radio is going to be huge. It's where pay cable was 20 years ago. I'm fan of Stern, and I'm looking forward to uninterrupted belching.

HEMMER: And a few more things, too, I bet.

Hey, Bev, Democrats and Republicans are gearing up for November 2nd. Thousands of lawyers on each side ready to fan out in case there is an issue. Is this any way it pick a president?

SMITH: Well, it's the way we have to pick a president today because of the things that the Republicans have done. In Florida already, 45,000 to 50,000 names, eligible people were put on a list. Now the Republican National Committee in Florida said, oops, sorry, but those names remain on the list. It's the way goes.

I'm not so worried about the lawyers, because their purpose is to make sure that the election goes the right way. We do it around the world all the time. But I am worried about John Ashcroft sending out police officers, sending out agents from the FBI to monitor. I think that can be rather intimidating.

HEMMER: All right. Let's go to Mark, then. I don't think I can find 1,000 lawyers in a phone book, Mark?

SIMONE: Ten thousand lawyers descending on a state. That's worse than locusts. I mean, this is just -- this is theatrics. You don't need -- if you can't win your case with 8,500 lawyers, give up. O.J. only needed six.

HEMMER: Cicadas are coming back. John?

DEVORE: I agree with Mark. This is like Ally McBeal versus Matlock. It's a lot of bluster to remind the faithful of what a debacle 2000 was.

HEMMER: All right. Back to Mark again. Want to go undercover story of the week. What's on your mind?

SIMONE: Well, you know, they keep saying the reconstruction is going well. There was a pretty good sign of it this week. I was shocked that Iraqi Airlines is back in business. They've got two daily -- this is being optimistic -- they call them round-trip flights, one to Amman and one to Damascus. So, they say get there early. Check-in is not bad, but the line at that insurance machine is pretty big.

HEMMER: Bev?

SMITH: OK, I don't think I'd book a flight on that.

I think the story that was missed is the story coming out of West Virginia and coming out of Arizona, and that is that the Republicans dispersed leaflets to those two states, and the leaflets said that a vote for a Democrat would be a vote against the Bible. The Republican National Committee said, yes, we did it, but it's no big deal, but the leaflets are everywhere, and they have not apologized.

HEMMER: All right, you're on the record.

John, what about it?

DEVORE: It's a tossup between Mount St. Helens and Republican House majority leader Tom DeLay's well-deserved spanking by the Ethics Committee. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

HEMMER: Mount St. Helens still out there, too, Belching I believe is the word we used. Magma, that's huge with my demographics.

Thanks to all three of you.

SMITH: Thank you.

HEMMER: Have a good weekend. So long.

SMITH: You, too.

HEMMER: Debate coverage live tonight. The debate begins at 9:00 all here on CNN.

COLLINS: Yes, and don't forget the short people throwing each other around and the old ladies in Lycra pants, profound statement of the day.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, what do the new job numbers mean for tonight's debate? You can bet they'll be talking about it.

HEMMER: Also, Sanjay's back in a moment. What may be going into your tuna to make it just look fresh. Doesn't sound good.

Back in a moment, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The tuna on display at your local sushi bar or supermarket may look fresh, but chances are it's been treated with carbon monoxide to give it a more appetizing appearance.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now from the CNN Center with more.

Pink and fresh doesn't all mean it's fresh though, right? DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a really interesting story here. You know, lot of people use color to look at all sorts of different food, especially their tuna. They're looking for a specific color before they buy it or before they eat their sushi, trying to find that sort of brightish, pinkish color.

But for a long time, there's been concerns about carbon monoxide actually being used in the treatment process of tuna to try and make it retain that color for longer period of time.

Now a couple of things about carbon monoxide. It's actually been used for quite white a while in the actual gas packing of some of these tuna steaks, but the carbon monoxide itself is not toxic. That actually doesn't cause any harm to either you or the fish. It is FDA approved and widely used. The concern though, Heidi, and the reason people are starting to talk about this more is that fish that would otherwise have aged and started to look old actually still looks bright and pink, so people think it's fresher fish. They buy that. Sometimes old fish can be unhealthier, and people think it's still just fine -- Heidi.

COLLINS: So then when you were looking at the fish that you're either going to buy in the store or at your favorite sushi place, is it just that color, just that pinkness that allows you to know whether it's been treated?

GUPTA: Well, here's a couple of things to keep in mind -- take a look at this animation of the two different types of fish. On left there you see what is untreated fish. That is fish that you normally would see in a store that's not been treated with carbon monoxide. On the right is the treated fish.

Now the right -- the fish on right is actually going to maintain that color for a longer period of time, given the fact that it has this carbon monoxide treatment. The fish on the left will probably turn dark a little bit sooner. Another thing to keep in mind that sushi-grade fish is going to be about $10 to $11 per pound, so a little bit more expensive than the untreated fish, so it will probably be a little bit cheaper.

Smell is always a good way as well to try and figure out whether your fish is fresh or not. And also, worth keeping in mind, every time that we talk about tuna, as far as pregnant women or nursing mothers go, 12 ounces of the light tuna or six ounces of the albacore, or canned tuna, is all that you should really be eating -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Ha, Maguru (ph) the Japanese name for that tuna.

GUPTA: That's right.

COLLINS: Sushi fan that I am.

Hey, what's coming up this weekend, Sanjay.

This weekend we've got "HOUSE CALL" 8:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Two big stories in the medical news this week, the flu vaccine shortage, also the Vioxx recall. Two big stories. We're going to talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci. We're going to talk with the head of the arthritis foundation. We're going to take everybody's questions, find out what went wrong and what went right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Everybody's questions, you're going to take them and take everybody on, right?

GUPTA: That's right, we're going to take them on!

COLLINS: All right, Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Well, here is a sticky story. Kids are kids, we know that. A student in Alabama proved just that while sitting in class. Eleven-year-old Vincent York was chewing on his pencil when another student surprised him. The pencil slipped down his throat. Vincent struggled to get a three-and-three-quarter-inch quarter pencil with a jumbo eraser are out of his esophagus.

It gets worse. The teacher didn't believe him. Vincent had to wait until he got home from school to tell his mom. She took him to the hospital, where the pencil was safely removed. Vincent said to be doing fine now -- three-and-three-quarter inch.

COLLINS: I guess he couldn't cough. I mean, how do you make something up like that? I don't know. Yikes!

We've seen so many pictures of the people who accidentally get, like, nails through their head.

HEMMER: Sure.

COLLINS: Never seen a pencil down a throat. All right.

HEMMER: Still to come this morning. More fun from the folks at Jib Jab. You know these guys, got a new ad on their Web site. We'll That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, welcome back. The just-released jobs number is out for September. Back to Andy to break down the numbers, "Minding Your Business" now. How do you see it here?

SERWER: I've been crunching numbers. That's what we've been doing.

First of all, the headline: 96,000 jobs created in the month of September. Weaker than anticipated; economists were looking for 150,000 jobs. Good news is the unemployment rate, though, stays at 5.4 percent.

Now, revisions for the month of August. Jobs created revised downward from 144 to 128. So, less jobs created in August than originally anticipated. However, in July, more jobs created -- these economists -- up to 85,000 from 73,000 jobs created. Some loss of jobs in manufacturing, and the hurricanes' implications weren't good. That hurt us, as well.

Now, overall, crunching the numbers, this year, 1.53 million jobs created in the United States this year. That's the good news. The bad news -- I guess you'd have to say particularly for the president -- is that overall during his administration, hundreds of thousands of jobs lost. We are calculating 880,000 jobs lost during his administration.

Now, this is going to be subject to revisions by economists. There are some preliminary numbers suggesting more jobs were created over the past 12 months from last March to this March. It's a little bit complicated.

But I think the bottom line is when you are talking about the candidates trying to pick through these numbers, I think the Kerry campaign is going to pick up on the fact there were jobs lost during this administration; the Bush administration can say that we've had 13 straight months of job creation going back to last September.

So, it's sort of like which numbers do you want to pick?

HEMMER: It sounds like there's a little bit for both sides in there listening to you.

SERWER: That's right. On the other hand, bottom line is the job market is not so strong right now. I think...

HEMMER: What did you say earlier? It's clear as mud?

SERWER: Clear as mud. The economists are helping us out again, right?

HEMMER: All right, Andy. Thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Thanks for making it make sense, though.

SERWER: Thanks. Hope so.

COLLINS: Something neither candidate wants to see, though, before going on national TV tonight: another animated spoof from jibjab.com. The Web site that brought us "This Land is Your Land." Well, this one, set to "Dixie," just now been release.

(MUSIC)

HEMMER: Round two was just as good, I think.

COLLINS: We are going to see more of "It's Good to Be in D.C." in the next hour when the creators of Jib Jab Media will be our guests right here. So, can't wait for that.

No "Cafferty File" today while Jack's away, of course, but Andy Borowitz here now with "The Borowitz Report."

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: "The Borowitz Report" -- and here are today's shockers from borowitzreport.com, where you'll find news you won't find anywhere else because I make it up.

Just days after saying that he had never met Senator John Edwards until their nationally televised debate on Tuesday night, Vice President Dick Cheney backtracked somewhat today, admitting that in August of last year, he and Mr. Edwards went on a two-week camping trip. "I had totally forgotten about that camping trip," Mr. Cheney told reporters today. "My bad."

But Mr. Cheney's statement was not good enough for Mr. Edwards, who said that Mr. Cheney also forgot to mention a visit the two of them made to Disneyland last March. Showing a photograph of the two men riding the famous Space Mountain ride together, Senator Edwards said, "After all the good times we had together, to hear Dick Cheney act as though he's never met, well, I got to tell you, it hurts real bad."

In other campaign news, after Senator John Kerry told TV host Dr. Phil that he had spanked his daughter only once in his life, President Bush accused Mr. Kerry of being unwilling to use spanking unless it passed a global test. "If my opponent won't spank his own daughter, how can we expect him to spank Osama bin Laden," Mr. Bush said. Senator Kerry fired back, "Osama bin Laden is not my daughter," to which Mr. Bush replied, "I know that."

And finally -- and finally, going into game three of the ALDS, the New York Yankees lead the Minnesota Twins by $100 million.

HEMMER: Yes, they do.

BOROWITZ: Thank you very much. That's "The Borowitz Report."

COLLINS: That's not true!

BOROWITZ: It's true.

HEMMER: ... shockers. Thank you, Andy.

In a moment here, who has more on line tonight in this debate number two? Reports from the trail -- the campaign trail -- in a moment as we continue after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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