Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Iran & Nukes; Hypertension Prevention; Avoiding X-Mas Scams
Aired November 29, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
How much should responsibility should be placed on the president to get 9/11 reforms through Congress? It is the big talk in Washington this week. And our pals Kamber and May know what's being said. They're ready for that and other topics in just a minute.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, it's easy to get lost in all the international back and forth over Iran's nuclear program. Bottom line, has a nuclear threat been averted? That's the big question. We're going to talk with a veteran of disarmament from the Soviet Union days about what all these international agreements really mean.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Heidi Collins at the news desk next to me. Rather (ph), hello.
M. O'BRIEN: At the big table now.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, there you are, hi.
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome to the big table.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to get you straight to the news, though, in fact. Emergency crews in southwestern Colorado are apparently searching for one of the sons of NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol. According to affiliate KUSA, the 14-year-old is only one -- is the only one unaccounted for following yesterday's fiery plane crash. At least two people were killed. NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol and another son survived. We'll have details of their condition just as soon as we get them.
Firefighters are on the scene at a two alarm fire in College Park, Maryland. The fire broke out at a seafood restaurant. You see those pictures, a little bit earlier today. It's not clear if anyone was in the building, though, at the time.
Efforts to restart the deadlocked peace process in Northern Ireland apparently gaining some momentum now. British Prime Minister Tony Blair holding key talks today with members of the Sinn Fein party. President Bush has said he is ready to do anything he can to keep the process moving forward.
And new rules for your passport photos. The State Department is saying no to big toothy grins. One State Department official says smiling distorts other facial features, so a neutral expression is needed for computers to analyze photos. And there you have it, no smiling.
M. O'BRIEN: Stop it. Stop it right now. We are legislating it out of existence.
COLLINS: Who has that much fun getting their passport photo taken, anyway, but...
M. O'BRIEN: We only have to live with it for about, what, 20 years or so...
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: You want to have a nice one. All right, we'll see you a little bit later.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi.
M. O'BRIEN: Iran has been under great deal of pressure to make concessions on its nuclear program. Matthew Bunn is a nuclear expert with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He joins us now from Boston with more on all this.
Mr. Bunn, good to have you with us.
MATTHEW BUNN, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: Good to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, bring us up to date. There is an apparent agreement. There's been so many degrees of agreement and questions about what the agreement really entails. Why don't you give us a sense of where it stands right now?
BUNN: Well, basically Iran has agreed to stop putting together the centrifuges that it could use to make nuclear bomb fuel and to stop testing them and making the components of them. This is a breakthrough because it stops at least open progress in Iran toward putting in place the capability to make nuclear bomb fuel. But it's explicitly a temporary agreement. There's a lasting agreement to be negotiated still. And it's clear already that even the temporary agreement is quite unpopular back home in Tehran.
M. O'BRIEN: Which is the rub, of course. The hardliners back at home not happy about what's going on, and that's why there's all these loopholes. There's got to be a lot of concern that Iran will try to exploit those loopholes.
BUNN: There is, I think, concern. Iran has had a long history, almost two decades now, of a secret concealed nuclear program with extensive cover-ups and lies to the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. But in the last couple of years, they have opened up substantially. I think working with this deal and trying to make sure that it is followed through on as President Bush said, and is verified, is the best hope we've got.
But if we're going to be able to move from this temporary deal to a lasting agreement, under which Iran would permanently give up its nuclear weapons ambitions, the United States is going to have to do more than just snipe from the sidelines.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk, then, about the United States' role. What should the U.S. be doing that it is not?
BUNN: Well, the United States so far has refused to join with the Europeans in engaging Iran. And the series of things that Iran wants in return for it giving up its nuclear weapons ambitions -- the nuclear weapons option that it's current -- what it calls a civilian program, is going to give it, if it moves forward with it, are things that the Europeans alone can't give them.
The United States is going to have to engage politically with Iran and ultimately, I believe, will have to promise that the United States will not attack Iran or try to overthrow its government if Iran lives up to its obligations.
M. O'BRIEN: And that leads us to some speculation of what Iran's motivation might be. Do you suspect that the Iranian regime is most concerned about the possibility of the United States invading and thus, the possibility of having nuclear arms would preclude that?
BUNN: Well, I think the Iranians have a lot of different concerns that are driving support for this nuclear effort. I think a big part of it is a prestige issue. Iran thinks of itself as a great civilization from thousands of years ago and a regional power that should have a substantial role in the region that it's in. It also has concerns about the United States, which, after all, has overthrown the governments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which are on Iran's borders. It has concerns about Israel, whose existence Iran has never acknowledged -- its right to exist. So there's a lot of different factors in play.
Unfortunately right now, the issue has become very politicized within Iran. Several years ago, most people in Iran didn't know they had a nuclear program. Now, it's seen as sort of a key item of Iran's technological leadership and so it's become much more difficult for any politician in Iran to give it up.
M. O'BRIEN: Matthew Bunn is with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Thanks for joining us this morning.
BUNN: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls at the end of January. This morning, though, there are questions about whether or not that will happen. Joining us this morning to talk about that from Washington D.C., our resident debaters, Democrat strategist Victor Kamber and former RNC communications director, Cliff May.
Good morning, gentlemen. Victor, we're going to begin with you. Let's talk a little bit about the delay. To delay or not delay in the Iraq elections? Victor, do you think the elections should go off as planned and scheduled or no? VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: No, I don't. You know, George Bush won the election, so my view is let's take Iraq off the table in a political way, just to have an election for the sake of an election. If you really believe in democracy, if you really believe in the safety of Iraqi people, it seems to me we need to secure the country more than it is secure.
The Iraqis need to play a bigger role. Just last week, 80, 85 polling places had to close because they were not safe. They couldn't arm them, they couldn't secure them. You have two major groups, the Kurds and the Sunnis, who are asking for a delay. I'm not saying for a delay for the sake of a delay or to help one political party, I'm really talking about the safety and security of those who are voting and participating, and to see a real democracy.
S. O'BRIEN: Cliff, what do you think?
CLIFFORD MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, I think you want to go ahead with this if at all possible, and I think it is possible. The last thing you want to do is send a message that the terrorists can dictate when you're going to hold elections. All they have to do is take some car bombs, some suicide bombers, blow up a few things and say, oh, well, we can't do it until everything is secure.
Most of the country is secure at this point. But you can never stop the individual suicide bomber. Let the Iraqi people get involved in their own government. Let them have an election.
S. O'BRIEN: But isn't that the risk there, Cliff? If the Sunnis don't get involved in their own government, if they boycott, for example, don't you run a greater risk that they'll be alienated by the process and in the end, you feed the insurgency, which brings it back around to the car bombs, that could increase. I mean, that's not complicated math, there.
MAY: I hear you, Soledad. But I think you want to say, first of all, it's your choice, we want you to participate and we hope you will. In times of war, this is not something unusual. In 1864, something like a dozen states didn't get to vote for President Lincoln. Was his election not legitimate? It was. The South was told get your act in order, you'll be involved in the next election if you want to be.
I think -- don't forget, this is not an election for everything, this is an election for those who will get together and write the constitution for the country, which will guarantee rights. I think you want to say we want this to happen, we need your help. You have to protect your polling places, you have to tell where the terrorists are hiding. We want you to you have a choice and we're going to give it to you.
KAMBER: It is crucial that we protect as many people as possible. Lives lost for the sake of saying we had an election is just lives lost, it's a waste. I understand what Cliff is saying, we're not going let the tail wag the dog, in the sense of the terrorists dictating. But I think safety, security -- that's what's this is about...
MAY: Keep in mind...
KAMBER: We went to war for democracy, supposedly, not just to -- and you know, and let's ensure there is a real democratic process.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's leave it there so we can ask another question about something we visited last week. 9/11 legislation now stalled in Congress, as we all know. Did you hear Governor Kean, what he said about it? Pretty strong words. He essentially said it's not going to be if, but when, meaning that if there is another attack, that's when -- another terror attack -- that's when everyone's going to get on board and pass this legislation. Cliff, what do you think of this?
MAY: Well, look, I think it's basically a good bill. But I am concerned that General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, has misgivings. I'm concerned that the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee -- he has misgivings about it. So I think it's not a time for arm twisting, it's a time to bring these various people together, all of whom have the same goal, really good reform of the intelligence system that's been broken for over 25 years. Let's get them together and see if we can come out with something we all agree on, since the goal is the same for everybody.
S. O'BRIEN: Victor, do you think that some of these misgivings, as we just heard from Cliff, are more about money and control and power than misgivings over the safety of the troops?
KAMBER: I think they're more about power within Washington and who's in control. Certain leadership in the House, the White House, certain generals. I agree with Cliff on the one thing, let's get them together. And that's the president's responsibility. The president of the United States should get out of Crawford, get back to Washington, open that Oval Office up and bring people into that office and before they leave, cut a deal that gets this done.
This is the safety of our country that's at stake. We don't need another terrorist attack in order to pass legislation. We should pass it now. The two provisions that are at jeopardy here -- there's 100 provisions in this bill and two of them are holding up the legislation. Get those people in that Oval Office and get this resolved, Mr. President.
S. O'BRIEN: Victor Kamber, Clifford May, joining us this morning. You guys, kind of low-key this morning. Wow, you've mellowed out a lot over the holidays.
KAMBER: Thanksgiving. Too much turkey.
S. O'BRIEN: Exactly. We're giving -- a little tryptophan in there, right? Nice to see you guys, as always, thanks -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll have to jack up their coffee a little bit next time.
(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning: in the holiday spirit of giving, what should you know before you donate to charity?
M. O'BRIEN: Plus, doctors see an alarming trend in what has been dubbed the silent killer. We're paging Doctor Gupta to get the facts on hypertension. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, "Paging Doctor Gupta" time. This morning, we're talking about a silent killer, hypertension. Tens of millions of Americans have high blood pressure. Sanjay is at the CNN Center to tell us what we need to know, how to keep it low. You know what I've been doing? When I go to a drugstore, every now and then I'll try one of those machines just to see where I stand. Is that a good idea?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is an excellent idea, Miles, because about a quarter of American adults have this blood pressure problem, but a third of them don't know it. So it's important to get it checked often. So a really good point to start off with, though, Miles.
Listen, they call it the silent killer because a lot of times, there are no symptoms. You simply don't know that your blood pressure is high until you have a devastating problem, such as a stroke, for example. It wasn't supposed to be this way. If you look back in medical history, in the mid-70s, we were headed in the right direction. Blood pressure was going down, and the consequences of blood pressure were going -- high blood pressure -- were going down as well, such as stroke.
But things started to change. America became fatter. Sixty percent now, two-thirds of America fat. They became lazier. Only about a quarter of people exercise and still about a quarter of people smoke. Those are known risk factors for hypertension. We haven't done very well at controlling those things, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so let's talk numbers here for just a moment. Because when I check that machine, you know, there's a certain break point, and I wonder, you know, if I'm one above, I've got high blood pressure, I should be worried, if I'm below, I'm OK, or is it a little more of a gray area?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's always hard to give definitive numbers with things. But I think with blood pressure, you can get as definitive as possible, here. For example, high blood pressure, people call it an upper number and a lower number. The upper number's called systolic, lower number diastolic. This is worth remembering, 140 over 90 is considered high. Look at the very bottom of the screen. If you're below 120 over 80, that's considered normal.
As you can tell, Miles, that leaves a gray area in between, which is called pre-hypertension. This used to be called borderline, but doctors now say you know what, we're concerned enough about people who fall within that gray range that they should get at least checked often, if not treated as well.
Also Miles, worth pointing out that children, they're not immune from this disease, as well. Three percent of our children now hypertensive. Pediatricians will start measuring blood pressure in a child starting at the age of three.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's kind of scary, in a way. All right, I'm a little bit gray there, I think. I think I should be watching it. What should I be doing?
GUPTA: Well, there's things that you can control and things that are not controllable when it comes to hypertension. And some of them we already talked about. But if you look at the things that just have changed about America: our diet, exercise, things like that, those are things that controllable. There are things that are not controllable, as well, like if someone is pregnant, someone is diabetic, for example.
But here's the thing, there are some specific guidelines. There's a diet, if you're concerned about this, called the DASH Diet. This is the dietary approach to controlling hypertension. If you're concerned about just trying to use diet to control your blood pressure, there are some specific things. Of course, exercising more, stopping smoking, cutting down on fatty foods, those things are going to help. And there are good medications available if you are someone who is a candidate for one of those, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, I suspect you wouldn't want to try medicinal marijuana if you had a problem with this. Let's shift gears here and talk just briefly about that. The Supreme Court is going to weigh the legal arguments. I'm curious, just from your medical perspective, is there a lot of validity to the claims that it really helps people out?
GUPTA: Yes, you know, I think a lot of doctors would say there are. If you look back at what we call our pharmacopia, you know, all the drugs that have been used throughout medical history, for over 150 years, medical marijuana has actually been on that list. So this isn't something new by any means. What's newer is, obviously, all the controversy that surrounds it.
Specifically, what are the uses of medical marijuana? People have used it to treat nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite -- specifically those things associated with chemotherapy. There's also certain neurodegenerative problems, such as M.S., for example, people often have significant pain with that that just doesn't respond well to some of the current medications out there. Marijuana sometimes has a role there, as well. Also, people with glaucoma. People with glaucoma may have been told that marijuana reduces the pressure in the eyes, which is important. So some validity.
What it does, in a nutshell, there's a natural produced substance in the body called a cannabanoid. This is a pain-killing substance, your body naturally produces it. What medical marijuana does, also called tetrahydrocannabinol, is it mimics those effects. That's why you get some of the beneficiary effects of medical marijuana, as well. It can also distort your perception and make you lose sight of time, all those sorts of things, which is what makes people high and also makes it controversial, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Sounds practically holistic. All right. Sanjay Gupta. Appreciate it.
GUPTA: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for stopping by -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning. One country turns its homeless population into walking billboards. Jack explains in "The Cafferty File" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Tips on charity giving this holiday season. Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer. She is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Jack.
CAFFERTY: So how do I pick one?
WILLIS: It's not easy. There are over a million charitable organizations out there to choose from. It can be very tough, even if you know the cause that you're interested in giving to. One great place to go: charitynavigator.org, a great Web site. They rate these charitable organizations and they tell you how much out of each dollar that they spend for raising the money, so you know exactly how efficient they are in raising money.
CAFFERTY: What are things I should watch out for? How can I spot the ones that might not be quite on the up and up?
WILLIS: Well, there's a lot of that out there, particularly at Christmas time, because the scammers are out and their tool of choice is the telephone, they love to use the telephone to try to get people to give money that they otherwise shouldn't be giving. Watch out for these solicitations over the phone. If you've never heard of an organization, best thing to do is ask only for an annual report, don't send them money.
Mail can also be dangerous, as well, if you're getting solicited through your mailbox. If you get a solicitation that's disguised as a bill demanding payment -- watch out, that's illegal. One thing to keep in mind, you definitely want to have that receipt for your taxes, and make sure that you do your giving by December 31st.
CAFFERTY: I saw an ad over the weekend. The local -- I think it's the local CBS affiliate here in New York City, promoting a series of stories they were doing on these phony charities, raising money for families of soldiers in Iraq. I mean, that's about as low and weasely as you can get. WILLIS: That's heartbreaking. That's heartbreaking.
CAFFERTY: Yes. It's a scam. So, just, you know, be alert, right?
WILLIS: One other thing to watch out for, make sure that they're not just tax-exempt, make sure that they are tax-deductible. Some organizations will say oh, we're tax-exempt, you can give us money and claim it on your taxes -- not true.
CAFFERTY: All right. So be aware. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Time for "The File." Cigarettes, they cost a lot more than you might think. A study by a team of health economists has found the price paid by smokers, their families and society is about $41 a package. The figure's based on costs for a 24-year-old smoker over 60 years for the cigarettes, taxes, medical insurance, medical care, lost earnings. Incidental costs such as higher cleaning bills and lower resale values for smoker's cars were not even figured in. Could be even more.
The homeless in Holland -- some of them are being given free winter coats on condition that they agree to become walking or sleeping ad campaigns. They will get the free coats, as long as they don't mind sporting print ads on their backs. Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry was one of the first to sign up for this. The idea came from a group of nuns who live near the Red Light District in Amsterdam, they say the jackets are an opportunity for businesses to advertise in a socially responsible way.
And welcome to the 21st century. A man in Chile, who is living in France now, has won the right to see his daughter on a Webcam. Pablo Gonzalez's (ph) 9-year-old daughter lives in Santiago with her mother, so Gonzalez, separated by thousands of miles, went to court and asked if he could see his daughter on specific days and times over the Internet. The court ruled in his favor, on condition that he buy his daughter a computer and Webcam.
S. O'BRIEN: A win-win all around.
CAFFERTY: There you go. Visitation on the Web now. So, new deal.
S. O'BRIEN: Not quite in person, but I guess it's better than nothing.
CAFFERTY: Well, I guess those Webcams are almost like a videoconference, right? It's a live...
S. O'BRIEN: A little shaky.
M. O'BRIEN: E-visitation.
CAFFERTY: E-visitation? Yes. M. O'BRIEN: We coined a phrase, right here.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: In a moment, today's top stories, including the latest on that fiery plane crash involving NBC's Dick Ebersol. We'll update you on the search for another survivor this morning. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 29, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
How much should responsibility should be placed on the president to get 9/11 reforms through Congress? It is the big talk in Washington this week. And our pals Kamber and May know what's being said. They're ready for that and other topics in just a minute.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also ahead, it's easy to get lost in all the international back and forth over Iran's nuclear program. Bottom line, has a nuclear threat been averted? That's the big question. We're going to talk with a veteran of disarmament from the Soviet Union days about what all these international agreements really mean.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Heidi Collins at the news desk next to me. Rather (ph), hello.
M. O'BRIEN: At the big table now.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, there you are, hi.
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome to the big table.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We do want to get you straight to the news, though, in fact. Emergency crews in southwestern Colorado are apparently searching for one of the sons of NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol. According to affiliate KUSA, the 14-year-old is only one -- is the only one unaccounted for following yesterday's fiery plane crash. At least two people were killed. NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol and another son survived. We'll have details of their condition just as soon as we get them.
Firefighters are on the scene at a two alarm fire in College Park, Maryland. The fire broke out at a seafood restaurant. You see those pictures, a little bit earlier today. It's not clear if anyone was in the building, though, at the time.
Efforts to restart the deadlocked peace process in Northern Ireland apparently gaining some momentum now. British Prime Minister Tony Blair holding key talks today with members of the Sinn Fein party. President Bush has said he is ready to do anything he can to keep the process moving forward.
And new rules for your passport photos. The State Department is saying no to big toothy grins. One State Department official says smiling distorts other facial features, so a neutral expression is needed for computers to analyze photos. And there you have it, no smiling.
M. O'BRIEN: Stop it. Stop it right now. We are legislating it out of existence.
COLLINS: Who has that much fun getting their passport photo taken, anyway, but...
M. O'BRIEN: We only have to live with it for about, what, 20 years or so...
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: You want to have a nice one. All right, we'll see you a little bit later.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Heidi.
M. O'BRIEN: Iran has been under great deal of pressure to make concessions on its nuclear program. Matthew Bunn is a nuclear expert with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He joins us now from Boston with more on all this.
Mr. Bunn, good to have you with us.
MATTHEW BUNN, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT: Good to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, bring us up to date. There is an apparent agreement. There's been so many degrees of agreement and questions about what the agreement really entails. Why don't you give us a sense of where it stands right now?
BUNN: Well, basically Iran has agreed to stop putting together the centrifuges that it could use to make nuclear bomb fuel and to stop testing them and making the components of them. This is a breakthrough because it stops at least open progress in Iran toward putting in place the capability to make nuclear bomb fuel. But it's explicitly a temporary agreement. There's a lasting agreement to be negotiated still. And it's clear already that even the temporary agreement is quite unpopular back home in Tehran.
M. O'BRIEN: Which is the rub, of course. The hardliners back at home not happy about what's going on, and that's why there's all these loopholes. There's got to be a lot of concern that Iran will try to exploit those loopholes.
BUNN: There is, I think, concern. Iran has had a long history, almost two decades now, of a secret concealed nuclear program with extensive cover-ups and lies to the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. But in the last couple of years, they have opened up substantially. I think working with this deal and trying to make sure that it is followed through on as President Bush said, and is verified, is the best hope we've got.
But if we're going to be able to move from this temporary deal to a lasting agreement, under which Iran would permanently give up its nuclear weapons ambitions, the United States is going to have to do more than just snipe from the sidelines.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk, then, about the United States' role. What should the U.S. be doing that it is not?
BUNN: Well, the United States so far has refused to join with the Europeans in engaging Iran. And the series of things that Iran wants in return for it giving up its nuclear weapons ambitions -- the nuclear weapons option that it's current -- what it calls a civilian program, is going to give it, if it moves forward with it, are things that the Europeans alone can't give them.
The United States is going to have to engage politically with Iran and ultimately, I believe, will have to promise that the United States will not attack Iran or try to overthrow its government if Iran lives up to its obligations.
M. O'BRIEN: And that leads us to some speculation of what Iran's motivation might be. Do you suspect that the Iranian regime is most concerned about the possibility of the United States invading and thus, the possibility of having nuclear arms would preclude that?
BUNN: Well, I think the Iranians have a lot of different concerns that are driving support for this nuclear effort. I think a big part of it is a prestige issue. Iran thinks of itself as a great civilization from thousands of years ago and a regional power that should have a substantial role in the region that it's in. It also has concerns about the United States, which, after all, has overthrown the governments in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which are on Iran's borders. It has concerns about Israel, whose existence Iran has never acknowledged -- its right to exist. So there's a lot of different factors in play.
Unfortunately right now, the issue has become very politicized within Iran. Several years ago, most people in Iran didn't know they had a nuclear program. Now, it's seen as sort of a key item of Iran's technological leadership and so it's become much more difficult for any politician in Iran to give it up.
M. O'BRIEN: Matthew Bunn is with Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Thanks for joining us this morning.
BUNN: Thank you. Pleasure to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Iraqis are supposed to go to the polls at the end of January. This morning, though, there are questions about whether or not that will happen. Joining us this morning to talk about that from Washington D.C., our resident debaters, Democrat strategist Victor Kamber and former RNC communications director, Cliff May.
Good morning, gentlemen. Victor, we're going to begin with you. Let's talk a little bit about the delay. To delay or not delay in the Iraq elections? Victor, do you think the elections should go off as planned and scheduled or no? VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: No, I don't. You know, George Bush won the election, so my view is let's take Iraq off the table in a political way, just to have an election for the sake of an election. If you really believe in democracy, if you really believe in the safety of Iraqi people, it seems to me we need to secure the country more than it is secure.
The Iraqis need to play a bigger role. Just last week, 80, 85 polling places had to close because they were not safe. They couldn't arm them, they couldn't secure them. You have two major groups, the Kurds and the Sunnis, who are asking for a delay. I'm not saying for a delay for the sake of a delay or to help one political party, I'm really talking about the safety and security of those who are voting and participating, and to see a real democracy.
S. O'BRIEN: Cliff, what do you think?
CLIFFORD MAY, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, I think you want to go ahead with this if at all possible, and I think it is possible. The last thing you want to do is send a message that the terrorists can dictate when you're going to hold elections. All they have to do is take some car bombs, some suicide bombers, blow up a few things and say, oh, well, we can't do it until everything is secure.
Most of the country is secure at this point. But you can never stop the individual suicide bomber. Let the Iraqi people get involved in their own government. Let them have an election.
S. O'BRIEN: But isn't that the risk there, Cliff? If the Sunnis don't get involved in their own government, if they boycott, for example, don't you run a greater risk that they'll be alienated by the process and in the end, you feed the insurgency, which brings it back around to the car bombs, that could increase. I mean, that's not complicated math, there.
MAY: I hear you, Soledad. But I think you want to say, first of all, it's your choice, we want you to participate and we hope you will. In times of war, this is not something unusual. In 1864, something like a dozen states didn't get to vote for President Lincoln. Was his election not legitimate? It was. The South was told get your act in order, you'll be involved in the next election if you want to be.
I think -- don't forget, this is not an election for everything, this is an election for those who will get together and write the constitution for the country, which will guarantee rights. I think you want to say we want this to happen, we need your help. You have to protect your polling places, you have to tell where the terrorists are hiding. We want you to you have a choice and we're going to give it to you.
KAMBER: It is crucial that we protect as many people as possible. Lives lost for the sake of saying we had an election is just lives lost, it's a waste. I understand what Cliff is saying, we're not going let the tail wag the dog, in the sense of the terrorists dictating. But I think safety, security -- that's what's this is about...
MAY: Keep in mind...
KAMBER: We went to war for democracy, supposedly, not just to -- and you know, and let's ensure there is a real democratic process.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's leave it there so we can ask another question about something we visited last week. 9/11 legislation now stalled in Congress, as we all know. Did you hear Governor Kean, what he said about it? Pretty strong words. He essentially said it's not going to be if, but when, meaning that if there is another attack, that's when -- another terror attack -- that's when everyone's going to get on board and pass this legislation. Cliff, what do you think of this?
MAY: Well, look, I think it's basically a good bill. But I am concerned that General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staffs, has misgivings. I'm concerned that the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee -- he has misgivings about it. So I think it's not a time for arm twisting, it's a time to bring these various people together, all of whom have the same goal, really good reform of the intelligence system that's been broken for over 25 years. Let's get them together and see if we can come out with something we all agree on, since the goal is the same for everybody.
S. O'BRIEN: Victor, do you think that some of these misgivings, as we just heard from Cliff, are more about money and control and power than misgivings over the safety of the troops?
KAMBER: I think they're more about power within Washington and who's in control. Certain leadership in the House, the White House, certain generals. I agree with Cliff on the one thing, let's get them together. And that's the president's responsibility. The president of the United States should get out of Crawford, get back to Washington, open that Oval Office up and bring people into that office and before they leave, cut a deal that gets this done.
This is the safety of our country that's at stake. We don't need another terrorist attack in order to pass legislation. We should pass it now. The two provisions that are at jeopardy here -- there's 100 provisions in this bill and two of them are holding up the legislation. Get those people in that Oval Office and get this resolved, Mr. President.
S. O'BRIEN: Victor Kamber, Clifford May, joining us this morning. You guys, kind of low-key this morning. Wow, you've mellowed out a lot over the holidays.
KAMBER: Thanksgiving. Too much turkey.
S. O'BRIEN: Exactly. We're giving -- a little tryptophan in there, right? Nice to see you guys, as always, thanks -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll have to jack up their coffee a little bit next time.
(WEATHER REPORT) S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning: in the holiday spirit of giving, what should you know before you donate to charity?
M. O'BRIEN: Plus, doctors see an alarming trend in what has been dubbed the silent killer. We're paging Doctor Gupta to get the facts on hypertension. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: All right, "Paging Doctor Gupta" time. This morning, we're talking about a silent killer, hypertension. Tens of millions of Americans have high blood pressure. Sanjay is at the CNN Center to tell us what we need to know, how to keep it low. You know what I've been doing? When I go to a drugstore, every now and then I'll try one of those machines just to see where I stand. Is that a good idea?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is an excellent idea, Miles, because about a quarter of American adults have this blood pressure problem, but a third of them don't know it. So it's important to get it checked often. So a really good point to start off with, though, Miles.
Listen, they call it the silent killer because a lot of times, there are no symptoms. You simply don't know that your blood pressure is high until you have a devastating problem, such as a stroke, for example. It wasn't supposed to be this way. If you look back in medical history, in the mid-70s, we were headed in the right direction. Blood pressure was going down, and the consequences of blood pressure were going -- high blood pressure -- were going down as well, such as stroke.
But things started to change. America became fatter. Sixty percent now, two-thirds of America fat. They became lazier. Only about a quarter of people exercise and still about a quarter of people smoke. Those are known risk factors for hypertension. We haven't done very well at controlling those things, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so let's talk numbers here for just a moment. Because when I check that machine, you know, there's a certain break point, and I wonder, you know, if I'm one above, I've got high blood pressure, I should be worried, if I'm below, I'm OK, or is it a little more of a gray area?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's always hard to give definitive numbers with things. But I think with blood pressure, you can get as definitive as possible, here. For example, high blood pressure, people call it an upper number and a lower number. The upper number's called systolic, lower number diastolic. This is worth remembering, 140 over 90 is considered high. Look at the very bottom of the screen. If you're below 120 over 80, that's considered normal.
As you can tell, Miles, that leaves a gray area in between, which is called pre-hypertension. This used to be called borderline, but doctors now say you know what, we're concerned enough about people who fall within that gray range that they should get at least checked often, if not treated as well.
Also Miles, worth pointing out that children, they're not immune from this disease, as well. Three percent of our children now hypertensive. Pediatricians will start measuring blood pressure in a child starting at the age of three.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's kind of scary, in a way. All right, I'm a little bit gray there, I think. I think I should be watching it. What should I be doing?
GUPTA: Well, there's things that you can control and things that are not controllable when it comes to hypertension. And some of them we already talked about. But if you look at the things that just have changed about America: our diet, exercise, things like that, those are things that controllable. There are things that are not controllable, as well, like if someone is pregnant, someone is diabetic, for example.
But here's the thing, there are some specific guidelines. There's a diet, if you're concerned about this, called the DASH Diet. This is the dietary approach to controlling hypertension. If you're concerned about just trying to use diet to control your blood pressure, there are some specific things. Of course, exercising more, stopping smoking, cutting down on fatty foods, those things are going to help. And there are good medications available if you are someone who is a candidate for one of those, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, I suspect you wouldn't want to try medicinal marijuana if you had a problem with this. Let's shift gears here and talk just briefly about that. The Supreme Court is going to weigh the legal arguments. I'm curious, just from your medical perspective, is there a lot of validity to the claims that it really helps people out?
GUPTA: Yes, you know, I think a lot of doctors would say there are. If you look back at what we call our pharmacopia, you know, all the drugs that have been used throughout medical history, for over 150 years, medical marijuana has actually been on that list. So this isn't something new by any means. What's newer is, obviously, all the controversy that surrounds it.
Specifically, what are the uses of medical marijuana? People have used it to treat nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite -- specifically those things associated with chemotherapy. There's also certain neurodegenerative problems, such as M.S., for example, people often have significant pain with that that just doesn't respond well to some of the current medications out there. Marijuana sometimes has a role there, as well. Also, people with glaucoma. People with glaucoma may have been told that marijuana reduces the pressure in the eyes, which is important. So some validity.
What it does, in a nutshell, there's a natural produced substance in the body called a cannabanoid. This is a pain-killing substance, your body naturally produces it. What medical marijuana does, also called tetrahydrocannabinol, is it mimics those effects. That's why you get some of the beneficiary effects of medical marijuana, as well. It can also distort your perception and make you lose sight of time, all those sorts of things, which is what makes people high and also makes it controversial, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Sounds practically holistic. All right. Sanjay Gupta. Appreciate it.
GUPTA: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for stopping by -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning. One country turns its homeless population into walking billboards. Jack explains in "The Cafferty File" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Tips on charity giving this holiday season. Gerri Willis is in for Andy Serwer. She is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, Jack.
CAFFERTY: So how do I pick one?
WILLIS: It's not easy. There are over a million charitable organizations out there to choose from. It can be very tough, even if you know the cause that you're interested in giving to. One great place to go: charitynavigator.org, a great Web site. They rate these charitable organizations and they tell you how much out of each dollar that they spend for raising the money, so you know exactly how efficient they are in raising money.
CAFFERTY: What are things I should watch out for? How can I spot the ones that might not be quite on the up and up?
WILLIS: Well, there's a lot of that out there, particularly at Christmas time, because the scammers are out and their tool of choice is the telephone, they love to use the telephone to try to get people to give money that they otherwise shouldn't be giving. Watch out for these solicitations over the phone. If you've never heard of an organization, best thing to do is ask only for an annual report, don't send them money.
Mail can also be dangerous, as well, if you're getting solicited through your mailbox. If you get a solicitation that's disguised as a bill demanding payment -- watch out, that's illegal. One thing to keep in mind, you definitely want to have that receipt for your taxes, and make sure that you do your giving by December 31st.
CAFFERTY: I saw an ad over the weekend. The local -- I think it's the local CBS affiliate here in New York City, promoting a series of stories they were doing on these phony charities, raising money for families of soldiers in Iraq. I mean, that's about as low and weasely as you can get. WILLIS: That's heartbreaking. That's heartbreaking.
CAFFERTY: Yes. It's a scam. So, just, you know, be alert, right?
WILLIS: One other thing to watch out for, make sure that they're not just tax-exempt, make sure that they are tax-deductible. Some organizations will say oh, we're tax-exempt, you can give us money and claim it on your taxes -- not true.
CAFFERTY: All right. So be aware. Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Time for "The File." Cigarettes, they cost a lot more than you might think. A study by a team of health economists has found the price paid by smokers, their families and society is about $41 a package. The figure's based on costs for a 24-year-old smoker over 60 years for the cigarettes, taxes, medical insurance, medical care, lost earnings. Incidental costs such as higher cleaning bills and lower resale values for smoker's cars were not even figured in. Could be even more.
The homeless in Holland -- some of them are being given free winter coats on condition that they agree to become walking or sleeping ad campaigns. They will get the free coats, as long as they don't mind sporting print ads on their backs. Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry was one of the first to sign up for this. The idea came from a group of nuns who live near the Red Light District in Amsterdam, they say the jackets are an opportunity for businesses to advertise in a socially responsible way.
And welcome to the 21st century. A man in Chile, who is living in France now, has won the right to see his daughter on a Webcam. Pablo Gonzalez's (ph) 9-year-old daughter lives in Santiago with her mother, so Gonzalez, separated by thousands of miles, went to court and asked if he could see his daughter on specific days and times over the Internet. The court ruled in his favor, on condition that he buy his daughter a computer and Webcam.
S. O'BRIEN: A win-win all around.
CAFFERTY: There you go. Visitation on the Web now. So, new deal.
S. O'BRIEN: Not quite in person, but I guess it's better than nothing.
CAFFERTY: Well, I guess those Webcams are almost like a videoconference, right? It's a live...
S. O'BRIEN: A little shaky.
M. O'BRIEN: E-visitation.
CAFFERTY: E-visitation? Yes. M. O'BRIEN: We coined a phrase, right here.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: In a moment, today's top stories, including the latest on that fiery plane crash involving NBC's Dick Ebersol. We'll update you on the search for another survivor this morning. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
