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'CNN Security Watch': Nation's Food Supply Safety; '90-Second Pop'

Aired December 06, 2004 - 07:30 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: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Miles O'Brien -- my brother, Miles. I like that.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to be here, sister. It's good to be here.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien today, filling in again for Bill Hemmer, who is out today. The CNN security watch this morning we're talking about.

M. O'BRIEN: We're looking at the huge task of protecting Americans every time they eat a meal. There are new concerns over terrorists attacking the food supply. If that doesn't worry you, I don't know what else will this morning. We'll look at what foods are at risk and what can be done to protect them. We'll try to sort it all out.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, on a much lighter note, "90- Second Pop." We're going to talk to the young woman who could just be the next teen sensation, Lindsay Lohan. You've seen her acting. Can she sing? Could she be the next Britney Spears? I think that's career-wise, maybe not marriage-wise. We'll take a look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: She's big in the O'Brien household -- this O'Brien household...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... with young Connery (ph), a big fan, a big fan. So who knows?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, she's a pretty talented young lady.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Let's check the headlines. Heidi Collins is here with that.

Good morning -- Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everybody.

""Now in the News," a developing story out of Saudi Arabia. There has been an attack outside the U.S. consulate in the port city of Jeddah. Smoke is seen rising from the compound there. You can see it on tape. A senior Bush administration official is telling CNN there was gunfire, an explosion, and more gunfire, as the attack was launched. Saudi officials say three of the attackers were killed, three others wounded. The U.S. embassy in Riyadh said no Americans had been taken hostage or injured.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is predicting Congress will have an intelligence overhaul bill by midweek; that, despite opposition from some Republicans who say the Pentagon would lose some authority under the proposed remake. House Speaker Dennis Hastert blocked the measure last month after two powerful committee chairmen objected.

A hearing is scheduled today at a Texas Army post for Specialist Charles Graner. He is accused of being the ringleader of alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The hearing is expected to get under way in just about three hours from now. And Graner's lawyers say positions taken by President Bush and military leaders have made it impossible for his client to get a fair trial.

And in football, the Orange Bowl match-up is a done deal. The University of Southern California and Oklahoma landed the two top spots in the bowl championship series standings. The undefeated teams will go head-to-head January 4 at the Orange Bowl. And Auburn is out of the picture despite its 12-0 record. Thank you, BCS, once again.

S. O'BRIEN: And they are feeling that, yes.

COLLINS: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Auburn, wow! All right, Heidi, thanks.

"CNN Security Watch" now, a series of special reports to talk about this week. Today's focus: Is your food safe?

In his resignation speech on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson raised an alarm over the vulnerability of the nation's food supply. Tom Foreman now tracking how food gets into the country, and what's done to protect it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More pork, more beef, more vegetables, fruit, wine and cheese. American consumption of foreign food is rising rapidly. The Department of Agriculture says next year America will import as much food as it exports. Unheard of for generations.

And in Washington, alarm bells are ringing.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We know that at least three of the major pathogens, or germs, that could be used as bioterror agents can be put in food.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), INCOMING MINORITY LEADER: I'm worried about it, as are all of the American people worried about it.

FOREMAN: Security around foreign food is tightening. Suppliers must now register with the U.S. government, and inspections of shipments have increased from 12,000 a year to 98,000, a fact noted by the outgoing secretary of Health and Human services, even as he said the food supply is vulnerable to terrorists.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: We've increased the number and the percentage, but it still is a very minute amount that we're doing.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're a large country with all kinds of avenues, where somebody can inflict harm. And we're doing everything we can to protect the American people.

FOREMAN: The greatest bulk of America's imported food comes from the European Union, Canada is next, then Mexico. The Middle East sends very little food to the U.S., and most of that is from the country of Turkey.

Still, lawmakers say at the very the least all food should bear explicit labels showing the country of origin, as Americans consume more of everything foreign, from soup to nuts.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The FDA says counterterrorism measures include hiring hundreds of new inspectors, doubling its presence in ports and updating testing labs -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So, how safe is our food? How hard a job is it to protect the food supply? Something to chew over with Caroline Smith Dewaal. She is director of food safety at the Center for Science in Public Interest. She joins us this morning from Washington.

Ms. Dewaal, good have you with us.

CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL, CTR. SCIENCE IN PUBLIC INTEREST: Good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You saw that piece.

DEWAAL: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: It is troubling. And I feel like in a story like this with something this big, it's easy to, you know, misinterpret the risk. You study this. How risky is it really for all of us?

DEWAAL: I think Secretary Thompson was sounding an alarm to President Bush that not enough has been done. Secretary Thompson was a strong leader when it came to food safety and improving the safety and inspection of food after the September 11 attacks and the anthrax attacks that followed.

And so, he has been a strong advocate and a good watchdog here. For him to leave office with this message means that much more needs to be done to ensure that food is as safe as it can be. M. O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the numbers are kind of stark here. The amount of money spent on protecting the food supply, according to the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, is about 900 million, and that's an increase of 42 million. But nevertheless, when you consider it compared against the costs the Pentagon and the campaign in Iraq, that's a very small amount of money. What kinds of numbers are appropriate to go after something as large as the food supply and imports of food?

DEWAAL: Well, we know that when Congress increased food inspection at FDA by $100 million, it only increased the inspection of imports by about 1 percent. So, it went from less than 1 percent to about 2 percent. Very small numbers. What Secretary Thompson is saying is that 98 percent of the food supply is inspected of imported food regulated by FDA. And that's not enough. So we know that...

M. O'BRIEN: Say that again. You said 98 percent is inspected? No, that's not right, is it?

DEWAAL: No, 98 percent...

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

DEWAAL: ... of food imported into the U.S. that's inspected by FDA is never checked by the government.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. All right. OK.

DEWAAL: And that...

M. O'BRIEN: So only 2 percent is actually checked.

DEWAAL: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: That's outrageous, I think, to most people right now. Why aren't we getting better protection for our taxpayer money here?

DEWAAL: Well, one of the problems is the FDA doesn't have the ability to actually check farms and factories in countries that want to import to the U.S. Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has that authority when it comes to meat and poultry products. But the FDA is dealing with a very ancient law and one that badly needs to be updated.

We actually recommend that the food functions at FDA should be separated from the drug functions, and that they should be combined with the meat and poultry inspection at USDA in an independent agency. We really think that food today is too important to have it spread all over the government.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I think we can all agree that food is important, and it should be a focus. It doesn't appear to be. In the grand scheme of things, we talk about intelligence reform, we talk about waging a campaign in Iraq. Is this a likely target, the food supply, for terrorists, do you think? DEWAAL: I think there are many opportunities for problems in the food supply. We have seen some examples of intentional contamination, which are really troubling. One happened just a few years ago, where ground beef in Michigan was contaminated with a chemical, and it sickened about 100 people. A worse example occurred in China. And this was economic terrorism, but flour was contaminated with rat poison. And that killed about 38 people in that community. These are small examples, but they show the vulnerability.

In addition, we know from natural food outbreaks that the food distribution system allows food to be distributed quickly. And so, if food is subject to intentional contamination, it may take a while to find that food and get it off supermarket shelves.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

DEWAAL: So, today, prevention is very important, and strong inspection programs are essential.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Caroline Smith Dewaal, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Troubling words from you, and keep us posted on any progress in this realm.

DEWAAL: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: More on "CNN Security Watch" tonight. If your food safe? At 7:00 p.m. Eastern on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," how likely is it for terrorists to poison the food supply? And then on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," 8:00 p.m. Eastern, what sabotage safeguards are in place at meat processing plants? At 10:00 Eastern, "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN," are crop dusters safe from terrorism?

S. O'BRIEN: Scientists in Brazil are celebrating a mammoth discovery. They unveiled this replica -- easy for me to say -- of a new dinosaur species whose fossils were recently found in Brazil. This plant-eating dinosaur is an ancestor of the brontosaurus and roamed the Earth about 230 million years ago. The significance is that it actually has more in common with the species found in Europe than in South America.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, how will Wall Street react to the developing story of an attack on a U.S. consulate on Saudi Arabia? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, some "90-Second Pop." "National Treasure" taking in another huge haul at the box office. Is Nicolas Cage now Hollywood's new golden boy? Stay with us. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: And Jack's back with the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed. Thank you, Soledad. One hundred and thirty-eight days since the 9/11 Commission issued its recommendations on how to make the country safer. Congress has done nothing. They haven't passed a single piece of legislation that the commission recommended.

There is a bill, but it's stuck in the House of Representatives. This is a bill that's supported by the public, according to all of the polls, and most of the families of the 9/11 victims. The Senate supports it. President Bush says he supports it. More than enough votes in the House to pass it. And yet, it looks very much now like Congress may adjourn for the year this week without doing anything.

The question we're asking is: What has to be done to get the Congress to pass the intelligence reform bill?

Pamela in Pinkney, Michigan: "Write letters, call, e-mail. We could threaten to boycott, quit paying our taxes, cut their pay, take away their perks. We could fire them, take them out back, beat them up. Seriously, the only thing that will get them moving on reforms is when we're attacked again."

D.W. in Crescent City, California: "It's the Pentagon lobby that's holding up the bill. So fire Rumsfeld. Who does he think he is to put his turf interests in front of the safety of the homeland."

Ken in Prescott, Arizona: "Bush didn't want the 9/11 Commission in the first place. You can't expect him to really back its findings."

Patricia in Davis, Illinois: "Get the politicians to think about the people of the United States and not their buddies is in the Pentagon who are afraid of losing control. The same old thing over and over again. You cover my back; I'll cover yours. Once elected, the politicians are in office to see what they can get for themselves."

And Paul in Hellertown, PA: "Dear Jack, several months prior to the recent elections, Congress had the votes to pass the 9/11 Commission recommendations, but chose instead to go on vacation. Then they went on vacation again. Few incumbents lost in the recent election. Sadly, we have in place a government the electorate richly deserves."

So there.

S. O'BRIEN: But they could vote and it would pass. I mean...

CAFFERTY: There are more than enough votes in both the House and the Senate...

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

CAFFERTY: ... to pass the legislation. You've got a couple of guys holding the thing up. If the president picked up the phone to Dennis Hastert and said, I want this brought to a vote, the speaker of the House could order a vote be taken. Now, if there aren't enough votes, fine, but vote on it. Let's vote on it. That's what democracy is, you know?

S. O'BRIEN: But the president has been certainly putting more and more, I think it's fair to say, increasing pressure on, at least from reports that we have.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Maybe he's trying to have it both ways...

S. O'BRIEN: Not having...

SERWER: ... putting some pressure on but not really.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you don't think so, really? Politics being what it is.

SERWER: I've seen this.

CAFFERTY: Why can't they just vote on it?

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

CAFFERTY: I mean, it's a democracy.

S. O'BRIEN: And why are...

CAFFERTY: You have this bill. You say how many are in favor and how many are opposed? If there are more opposed, then it doesn't pass. I mean, it's really simple.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: We will find out about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think that's true. All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Some serious breaking news out of Saudi Arabia to tell you about this morning. And the question is: Will that attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah have any impact on the markets?

Can you tell yet, Andy Serwer?

SERWER: You can, because futures are mixed to down. Obviously, this kind of news is very unsettling; also the violence in Iraq over the weekend.

We did have a nice session on Friday, and that capped off quite a good week for the market. You can see here, the Nasdaq in particular, that tech stocks up over 2 percent. Futures are suffering a bit, though, this morning, as mentioned.

And we want to shift gears here, though, and talk a little bit about football, because, of course, we had that over the weekend as well.

M. O'BRIEN: I don't get to play.

SERWER: No. No, you don't. But you get to...

M. O'BRIEN: He stirs the pot and I watch.

SERWER: Yes. OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, so...

SERWER: Well, everyone has a role, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right.

SERWER: There were some very interesting games over the weekend. Sorry about that.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a job.

SERWER: Let's talk about -- there he is again. No, Jack. He's trying -- no, they keep taking it away. There you go. OK, Jack.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, no, he has found...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: There you go. All right. The Eagles' game in particular was a close one. And the Jags almost had a chance to win it. There was a 60-yard feel -- field goal, excuse me, at the very end by Josh Scoby that came, oh, so close. But we didn't get it. There it is. OK. Up and no good. OK.

Let's look at how the anchors did. How did the anchors do? I'm sort of interested in how the anchors did. Oh, well, look here.

M. O'BRIEN: Would you look at that!

SERWER: Wow, what a week! I did a -- hey, do you think the crews are aware that the Redskins beat the Giants? I'm not sure they are.

CAFFERTY: Oh.

SERWER: Let's see. Soledad continues to do well. Bill Hemmer, who is not here, he just lies in bed and smokes a cigar and makes picks. Heidi got tripped up by her Vikings. Jack, of course, stirs the pot here and doesn't make football. Maybe Dennis Hastert gave you some ideas.

CAFFERTY: We're not on speaking terms at this time.

SERWER: You and me? Or Dennis Hastert?

CAFFERTY: No, no, you and I are on speaking terms.

SERWER: Oh, OK. All right. Good, OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Were these all your picks, genuinely, Soledad?

CAFFERTY: No.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

S. O'BRIEN: I channel Todd.

SERWER: That's right. That's very good.

S. O'BRIEN: We're a team. It's a team. We do it as a team.

SERWER: Yes. It's a team sport.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a team sport, and we do it a team.

SERWER: Indeed, right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the tabloids love rumors. They love Lindsay Lohan. But can the kid star turned "it" girl give Britney Spears a run for her money? "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: I kind of like that song, huh? Welcome back, everybody. It's time for another edition of "90-Second Pop." It's time to round up the usual suspects. Andy Borowitz, commissioner of comedy over at BorowitzReport.com.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: That's a good one.

S. O'BRIEN: Sarah, thank you. I can't take credit, but I read it. Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine. B.J. Sigesmund is staff editor for "US Weekly".

Good morning.

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome, welcome, welcome. Let's get right to the VH1 Awards. Anna Nicole Smith, I mean, she's sort of a walking tragedy here.

BERNARD: She is. Absolutely. Well, this was all supposed to be about what was big in '04. And what was certainly not big was that show. I've got to say, it was one of the most boring award shows. And I think we all just might be sick of the format.

So, the highlight, of course, is what was the most egregious performance. And that was Anna Nicole Smith once again. But really only because Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav were on the stage giving her an award. So the combination of all three of them together is just unbelievable.

As you can see, she flung out some gigantic red bra, saying that used to be her size. And then, as you can also see, she seemed to start taking off her dress. And, you know, a well-timed page, I guess, came out and dragged her off the stage.

SIGESMUND: That just looked totally planned.

S. O'BRIEN: That wasn't planned.

SIGESMUND: That had to be totally planned.

BERNARD: It looked like she might do it. I really thought...

S. O'BRIEN: No, I think it was...

BERNARD: She's so out of control, you don't know.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. I think it was sort of, like, planned, but then that the joke would be to hustle her off. But then, of course, because she's a little out there, that maybe...

BERNARD: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: ... you know, a little boob action first before they were able to get her hustled off. It didn't happen.

All right. What's the next thing we're talking about? Oh, what did you like about it?

SIGESMUND: I though the show was...

S. O'BRIEN: Because the show was really (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: The show was really witless. I mean, it was not funny at all.

S. O'BRIEN: You liked nothing?

SIGESMUND: But there was something I liked toward the very end. They had Eric McCormick come out very solemnly to talk about the in memoriam section, the people, the things that we've lost this year, you know. And you went in thinking it was going to be those who had passed away. And then it cuts to clips of Bennifer, clips of Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise, clips of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, like all of these couples who have crashed.

BERNARD: And I think the one was the clip of John Edwards and John Kerry, and it said 2004 to 2004.

SIGESMUND: That was great. BERNARD: All right. So that was one funny moment.

SIGESMUND: Yes. And Andy had a new catch phrase, didn't you?

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, no, I mean, I just thought that it was too bad that Paris Hilton won the best catch phrase for "that's hot," because I thought Usher with Yeh (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe next year a little more creativity.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: I'm saying, Yeh (ph).

S. O'BRIEN: "National Treasure," it's such a bad movie, but it's doing well.

SIGESMUND: Yes. And no...

S. O'BRIEN: It's shocking!

BERNARD: That never happens.

SIGESMUND: No one thought this movie was going to be the No. 1 movie for even one weekend, let alone three weekends. But two things have happened. First of all, the movie has much better word-of-mouth than its reviews. But the far more important thing is the other four movies in the top five are all kids' movies: "Christmas With the Kranks", "SpongeBob," "The Incredibles" and one more I'm forgetting, all kids' movies.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: I saw "National Treasure," and it is so full of, like, historical inaccuracies. At one point, it says the first president the United States was Jerry Bruckheimer. It's not true.

S. O'BRIEN: In their little world it's true.

BERNARD: He was like No. 5.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

BERNARD: I think it's just also because "Closer" was the other big movie of the weekend, and I really feel like people just aren't in a mood to see such a depressing movie.

S. O'BRIEN: So...

BOROWITZ: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's exactly right. You know, it' s just kind of a bummer. BERNARD: So "National Treasure" is at least escapist.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Lindsey Lohan?

BERNARD: Yes.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Long Island girl. Again, Long Islanders, take it over.

BERNARD: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: She's had her share of the headlines, hasn't she?

BERNARD: Absolutely.

BOROWITZ: She has. Well, you know, there's all this talk about is Lindsey Lohan the next Britney Spears? I mean, that's because of the new CD coming out. She was just hospitalized for exhaustion, because she's been partying so hard. So, I think, yes, she is the next Britney Spears

S. O'BRIEN: And her dad...

BERNARD: That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: Yes, cookey (ph) dad, cookey (ph) dad, I love that. We love that.

BERNARD: She has completely followed the J.Lo model, which is that you're an actress...

BOROWITZ: Good one.

BERNARD: ... you know, maybe J.Lo wasn't as well-known when she made her transition. Then you have to have an album. Then you have to have a perfume. Then you have to have a line of jeans. So, I think we're just going to see that all of this is going to come out for Lindsay in the next year.

BOROWITZ: Right.

SIGESMUND: She's already has a big break-up, right?

BERNARD: She already has a big break-up.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: You know what? I was reading about -- you know, doing a little research on "90-Second Pop." I did my research. And they were only going out for six months. BERNARD: That's right.

BOROWITZ: I know.

SIGESMUND: She's only 18 years old!

BOROWITZ: I know.

SIGESMUND: I mean, this is the first in a long string of guys for Lindsay.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh!

BOROWITZ: But she has no marriages yet. She's playing catch-up now.

BERNARD: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: She's got a lot to be working to.

BERNARD: She went out for six months, but every single night they were out seen somewhere. So, it felt like longer.

S. O'BRIEN: It sounds like they were together for five years or so.

BOROWITZ: My question is, they were saying for a while that Hilary Duff would be the next Britney Spears? Is she still the next Britney Spears? Is she even Hilary Duff anymore?

S. O'BRIEN: Those questions and much more on the next edition of "90-Second Pop."

BOROWITZ: We'll be on there.

S. O'BRIEN: You guys, as always, thank you.

Miles -- back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, guys.

In a moment, a "CNN Security Watch." Just how safe is the U.S. food supply from terrorists? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell us about that. And we'll also tell you about that attack at that consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The latest details on that. Stay with us as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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 December 6, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien. Miles O'Brien -- my brother, Miles. I like that.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to be here, sister. It's good to be here.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien today, filling in again for Bill Hemmer, who is out today. The CNN security watch this morning we're talking about.

M. O'BRIEN: We're looking at the huge task of protecting Americans every time they eat a meal. There are new concerns over terrorists attacking the food supply. If that doesn't worry you, I don't know what else will this morning. We'll look at what foods are at risk and what can be done to protect them. We'll try to sort it all out.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, on a much lighter note, "90- Second Pop." We're going to talk to the young woman who could just be the next teen sensation, Lindsay Lohan. You've seen her acting. Can she sing? Could she be the next Britney Spears? I think that's career-wise, maybe not marriage-wise. We'll take a look at that.

M. O'BRIEN: She's big in the O'Brien household -- this O'Brien household...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... with young Connery (ph), a big fan, a big fan. So who knows?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, she's a pretty talented young lady.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Let's check the headlines. Heidi Collins is here with that.

Good morning -- Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys. And good morning to you, everybody.

""Now in the News," a developing story out of Saudi Arabia. There has been an attack outside the U.S. consulate in the port city of Jeddah. Smoke is seen rising from the compound there. You can see it on tape. A senior Bush administration official is telling CNN there was gunfire, an explosion, and more gunfire, as the attack was launched. Saudi officials say three of the attackers were killed, three others wounded. The U.S. embassy in Riyadh said no Americans had been taken hostage or injured.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is predicting Congress will have an intelligence overhaul bill by midweek; that, despite opposition from some Republicans who say the Pentagon would lose some authority under the proposed remake. House Speaker Dennis Hastert blocked the measure last month after two powerful committee chairmen objected.

A hearing is scheduled today at a Texas Army post for Specialist Charles Graner. He is accused of being the ringleader of alleged abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. The hearing is expected to get under way in just about three hours from now. And Graner's lawyers say positions taken by President Bush and military leaders have made it impossible for his client to get a fair trial.

And in football, the Orange Bowl match-up is a done deal. The University of Southern California and Oklahoma landed the two top spots in the bowl championship series standings. The undefeated teams will go head-to-head January 4 at the Orange Bowl. And Auburn is out of the picture despite its 12-0 record. Thank you, BCS, once again.

S. O'BRIEN: And they are feeling that, yes.

COLLINS: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Auburn, wow! All right, Heidi, thanks.

"CNN Security Watch" now, a series of special reports to talk about this week. Today's focus: Is your food safe?

In his resignation speech on Friday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson raised an alarm over the vulnerability of the nation's food supply. Tom Foreman now tracking how food gets into the country, and what's done to protect it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More pork, more beef, more vegetables, fruit, wine and cheese. American consumption of foreign food is rising rapidly. The Department of Agriculture says next year America will import as much food as it exports. Unheard of for generations.

And in Washington, alarm bells are ringing.

SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: We know that at least three of the major pathogens, or germs, that could be used as bioterror agents can be put in food.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), INCOMING MINORITY LEADER: I'm worried about it, as are all of the American people worried about it.

FOREMAN: Security around foreign food is tightening. Suppliers must now register with the U.S. government, and inspections of shipments have increased from 12,000 a year to 98,000, a fact noted by the outgoing secretary of Health and Human services, even as he said the food supply is vulnerable to terrorists.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: We've increased the number and the percentage, but it still is a very minute amount that we're doing.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're a large country with all kinds of avenues, where somebody can inflict harm. And we're doing everything we can to protect the American people.

FOREMAN: The greatest bulk of America's imported food comes from the European Union, Canada is next, then Mexico. The Middle East sends very little food to the U.S., and most of that is from the country of Turkey.

Still, lawmakers say at the very the least all food should bear explicit labels showing the country of origin, as Americans consume more of everything foreign, from soup to nuts.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The FDA says counterterrorism measures include hiring hundreds of new inspectors, doubling its presence in ports and updating testing labs -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So, how safe is our food? How hard a job is it to protect the food supply? Something to chew over with Caroline Smith Dewaal. She is director of food safety at the Center for Science in Public Interest. She joins us this morning from Washington.

Ms. Dewaal, good have you with us.

CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL, CTR. SCIENCE IN PUBLIC INTEREST: Good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You saw that piece.

DEWAAL: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: It is troubling. And I feel like in a story like this with something this big, it's easy to, you know, misinterpret the risk. You study this. How risky is it really for all of us?

DEWAAL: I think Secretary Thompson was sounding an alarm to President Bush that not enough has been done. Secretary Thompson was a strong leader when it came to food safety and improving the safety and inspection of food after the September 11 attacks and the anthrax attacks that followed.

And so, he has been a strong advocate and a good watchdog here. For him to leave office with this message means that much more needs to be done to ensure that food is as safe as it can be. M. O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the numbers are kind of stark here. The amount of money spent on protecting the food supply, according to the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration, is about 900 million, and that's an increase of 42 million. But nevertheless, when you consider it compared against the costs the Pentagon and the campaign in Iraq, that's a very small amount of money. What kinds of numbers are appropriate to go after something as large as the food supply and imports of food?

DEWAAL: Well, we know that when Congress increased food inspection at FDA by $100 million, it only increased the inspection of imports by about 1 percent. So, it went from less than 1 percent to about 2 percent. Very small numbers. What Secretary Thompson is saying is that 98 percent of the food supply is inspected of imported food regulated by FDA. And that's not enough. So we know that...

M. O'BRIEN: Say that again. You said 98 percent is inspected? No, that's not right, is it?

DEWAAL: No, 98 percent...

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

DEWAAL: ... of food imported into the U.S. that's inspected by FDA is never checked by the government.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. All right. OK.

DEWAAL: And that...

M. O'BRIEN: So only 2 percent is actually checked.

DEWAAL: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: That's outrageous, I think, to most people right now. Why aren't we getting better protection for our taxpayer money here?

DEWAAL: Well, one of the problems is the FDA doesn't have the ability to actually check farms and factories in countries that want to import to the U.S. Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has that authority when it comes to meat and poultry products. But the FDA is dealing with a very ancient law and one that badly needs to be updated.

We actually recommend that the food functions at FDA should be separated from the drug functions, and that they should be combined with the meat and poultry inspection at USDA in an independent agency. We really think that food today is too important to have it spread all over the government.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I think we can all agree that food is important, and it should be a focus. It doesn't appear to be. In the grand scheme of things, we talk about intelligence reform, we talk about waging a campaign in Iraq. Is this a likely target, the food supply, for terrorists, do you think? DEWAAL: I think there are many opportunities for problems in the food supply. We have seen some examples of intentional contamination, which are really troubling. One happened just a few years ago, where ground beef in Michigan was contaminated with a chemical, and it sickened about 100 people. A worse example occurred in China. And this was economic terrorism, but flour was contaminated with rat poison. And that killed about 38 people in that community. These are small examples, but they show the vulnerability.

In addition, we know from natural food outbreaks that the food distribution system allows food to be distributed quickly. And so, if food is subject to intentional contamination, it may take a while to find that food and get it off supermarket shelves.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

DEWAAL: So, today, prevention is very important, and strong inspection programs are essential.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Caroline Smith Dewaal, thank you for your time. We appreciate it. Troubling words from you, and keep us posted on any progress in this realm.

DEWAAL: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: More on "CNN Security Watch" tonight. If your food safe? At 7:00 p.m. Eastern on "ANDERSON COOPER 360," how likely is it for terrorists to poison the food supply? And then on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," 8:00 p.m. Eastern, what sabotage safeguards are in place at meat processing plants? At 10:00 Eastern, "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN," are crop dusters safe from terrorism?

S. O'BRIEN: Scientists in Brazil are celebrating a mammoth discovery. They unveiled this replica -- easy for me to say -- of a new dinosaur species whose fossils were recently found in Brazil. This plant-eating dinosaur is an ancestor of the brontosaurus and roamed the Earth about 230 million years ago. The significance is that it actually has more in common with the species found in Europe than in South America.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, how will Wall Street react to the developing story of an attack on a U.S. consulate on Saudi Arabia? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, some "90-Second Pop." "National Treasure" taking in another huge haul at the box office. Is Nicolas Cage now Hollywood's new golden boy? Stay with us. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: And Jack's back with the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Indeed. Thank you, Soledad. One hundred and thirty-eight days since the 9/11 Commission issued its recommendations on how to make the country safer. Congress has done nothing. They haven't passed a single piece of legislation that the commission recommended.

There is a bill, but it's stuck in the House of Representatives. This is a bill that's supported by the public, according to all of the polls, and most of the families of the 9/11 victims. The Senate supports it. President Bush says he supports it. More than enough votes in the House to pass it. And yet, it looks very much now like Congress may adjourn for the year this week without doing anything.

The question we're asking is: What has to be done to get the Congress to pass the intelligence reform bill?

Pamela in Pinkney, Michigan: "Write letters, call, e-mail. We could threaten to boycott, quit paying our taxes, cut their pay, take away their perks. We could fire them, take them out back, beat them up. Seriously, the only thing that will get them moving on reforms is when we're attacked again."

D.W. in Crescent City, California: "It's the Pentagon lobby that's holding up the bill. So fire Rumsfeld. Who does he think he is to put his turf interests in front of the safety of the homeland."

Ken in Prescott, Arizona: "Bush didn't want the 9/11 Commission in the first place. You can't expect him to really back its findings."

Patricia in Davis, Illinois: "Get the politicians to think about the people of the United States and not their buddies is in the Pentagon who are afraid of losing control. The same old thing over and over again. You cover my back; I'll cover yours. Once elected, the politicians are in office to see what they can get for themselves."

And Paul in Hellertown, PA: "Dear Jack, several months prior to the recent elections, Congress had the votes to pass the 9/11 Commission recommendations, but chose instead to go on vacation. Then they went on vacation again. Few incumbents lost in the recent election. Sadly, we have in place a government the electorate richly deserves."

So there.

S. O'BRIEN: But they could vote and it would pass. I mean...

CAFFERTY: There are more than enough votes in both the House and the Senate...

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

CAFFERTY: ... to pass the legislation. You've got a couple of guys holding the thing up. If the president picked up the phone to Dennis Hastert and said, I want this brought to a vote, the speaker of the House could order a vote be taken. Now, if there aren't enough votes, fine, but vote on it. Let's vote on it. That's what democracy is, you know?

S. O'BRIEN: But the president has been certainly putting more and more, I think it's fair to say, increasing pressure on, at least from reports that we have.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Maybe he's trying to have it both ways...

S. O'BRIEN: Not having...

SERWER: ... putting some pressure on but not really.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you don't think so, really? Politics being what it is.

SERWER: I've seen this.

CAFFERTY: Why can't they just vote on it?

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

CAFFERTY: I mean, it's a democracy.

S. O'BRIEN: And why are...

CAFFERTY: You have this bill. You say how many are in favor and how many are opposed? If there are more opposed, then it doesn't pass. I mean, it's really simple.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: We will find out about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think that's true. All right, Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Some serious breaking news out of Saudi Arabia to tell you about this morning. And the question is: Will that attack on the U.S. consulate in Jeddah have any impact on the markets?

Can you tell yet, Andy Serwer?

SERWER: You can, because futures are mixed to down. Obviously, this kind of news is very unsettling; also the violence in Iraq over the weekend.

We did have a nice session on Friday, and that capped off quite a good week for the market. You can see here, the Nasdaq in particular, that tech stocks up over 2 percent. Futures are suffering a bit, though, this morning, as mentioned.

And we want to shift gears here, though, and talk a little bit about football, because, of course, we had that over the weekend as well.

M. O'BRIEN: I don't get to play.

SERWER: No. No, you don't. But you get to...

M. O'BRIEN: He stirs the pot and I watch.

SERWER: Yes. OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, so...

SERWER: Well, everyone has a role, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: That's right.

SERWER: There were some very interesting games over the weekend. Sorry about that.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a job.

SERWER: Let's talk about -- there he is again. No, Jack. He's trying -- no, they keep taking it away. There you go. OK, Jack.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, no, he has found...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: There you go. All right. The Eagles' game in particular was a close one. And the Jags almost had a chance to win it. There was a 60-yard feel -- field goal, excuse me, at the very end by Josh Scoby that came, oh, so close. But we didn't get it. There it is. OK. Up and no good. OK.

Let's look at how the anchors did. How did the anchors do? I'm sort of interested in how the anchors did. Oh, well, look here.

M. O'BRIEN: Would you look at that!

SERWER: Wow, what a week! I did a -- hey, do you think the crews are aware that the Redskins beat the Giants? I'm not sure they are.

CAFFERTY: Oh.

SERWER: Let's see. Soledad continues to do well. Bill Hemmer, who is not here, he just lies in bed and smokes a cigar and makes picks. Heidi got tripped up by her Vikings. Jack, of course, stirs the pot here and doesn't make football. Maybe Dennis Hastert gave you some ideas.

CAFFERTY: We're not on speaking terms at this time.

SERWER: You and me? Or Dennis Hastert?

CAFFERTY: No, no, you and I are on speaking terms.

SERWER: Oh, OK. All right. Good, OK.

M. O'BRIEN: Were these all your picks, genuinely, Soledad?

CAFFERTY: No.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

S. O'BRIEN: I channel Todd.

SERWER: That's right. That's very good.

S. O'BRIEN: We're a team. It's a team. We do it as a team.

SERWER: Yes. It's a team sport.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a team sport, and we do it a team.

SERWER: Indeed, right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the tabloids love rumors. They love Lindsay Lohan. But can the kid star turned "it" girl give Britney Spears a run for her money? "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: I kind of like that song, huh? Welcome back, everybody. It's time for another edition of "90-Second Pop." It's time to round up the usual suspects. Andy Borowitz, commissioner of comedy over at BorowitzReport.com.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: That's a good one.

S. O'BRIEN: Sarah, thank you. I can't take credit, but I read it. Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine. B.J. Sigesmund is staff editor for "US Weekly".

Good morning.

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome, welcome, welcome. Let's get right to the VH1 Awards. Anna Nicole Smith, I mean, she's sort of a walking tragedy here.

BERNARD: She is. Absolutely. Well, this was all supposed to be about what was big in '04. And what was certainly not big was that show. I've got to say, it was one of the most boring award shows. And I think we all just might be sick of the format.

So, the highlight, of course, is what was the most egregious performance. And that was Anna Nicole Smith once again. But really only because Brigitte Nielsen and Flavor Flav were on the stage giving her an award. So the combination of all three of them together is just unbelievable.

As you can see, she flung out some gigantic red bra, saying that used to be her size. And then, as you can also see, she seemed to start taking off her dress. And, you know, a well-timed page, I guess, came out and dragged her off the stage.

SIGESMUND: That just looked totally planned.

S. O'BRIEN: That wasn't planned.

SIGESMUND: That had to be totally planned.

BERNARD: It looked like she might do it. I really thought...

S. O'BRIEN: No, I think it was...

BERNARD: She's so out of control, you don't know.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. I think it was sort of, like, planned, but then that the joke would be to hustle her off. But then, of course, because she's a little out there, that maybe...

BERNARD: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: ... you know, a little boob action first before they were able to get her hustled off. It didn't happen.

All right. What's the next thing we're talking about? Oh, what did you like about it?

SIGESMUND: I though the show was...

S. O'BRIEN: Because the show was really (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: The show was really witless. I mean, it was not funny at all.

S. O'BRIEN: You liked nothing?

SIGESMUND: But there was something I liked toward the very end. They had Eric McCormick come out very solemnly to talk about the in memoriam section, the people, the things that we've lost this year, you know. And you went in thinking it was going to be those who had passed away. And then it cuts to clips of Bennifer, clips of Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise, clips of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, like all of these couples who have crashed.

BERNARD: And I think the one was the clip of John Edwards and John Kerry, and it said 2004 to 2004.

SIGESMUND: That was great. BERNARD: All right. So that was one funny moment.

SIGESMUND: Yes. And Andy had a new catch phrase, didn't you?

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Well, no, I mean, I just thought that it was too bad that Paris Hilton won the best catch phrase for "that's hot," because I thought Usher with Yeh (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

S. O'BRIEN: Maybe next year a little more creativity.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: I'm saying, Yeh (ph).

S. O'BRIEN: "National Treasure," it's such a bad movie, but it's doing well.

SIGESMUND: Yes. And no...

S. O'BRIEN: It's shocking!

BERNARD: That never happens.

SIGESMUND: No one thought this movie was going to be the No. 1 movie for even one weekend, let alone three weekends. But two things have happened. First of all, the movie has much better word-of-mouth than its reviews. But the far more important thing is the other four movies in the top five are all kids' movies: "Christmas With the Kranks", "SpongeBob," "The Incredibles" and one more I'm forgetting, all kids' movies.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: I saw "National Treasure," and it is so full of, like, historical inaccuracies. At one point, it says the first president the United States was Jerry Bruckheimer. It's not true.

S. O'BRIEN: In their little world it's true.

BERNARD: He was like No. 5.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

BERNARD: I think it's just also because "Closer" was the other big movie of the weekend, and I really feel like people just aren't in a mood to see such a depressing movie.

S. O'BRIEN: So...

BOROWITZ: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's exactly right. You know, it' s just kind of a bummer. BERNARD: So "National Treasure" is at least escapist.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Lindsey Lohan?

BERNARD: Yes.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Long Island girl. Again, Long Islanders, take it over.

BERNARD: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: She's had her share of the headlines, hasn't she?

BERNARD: Absolutely.

BOROWITZ: She has. Well, you know, there's all this talk about is Lindsey Lohan the next Britney Spears? I mean, that's because of the new CD coming out. She was just hospitalized for exhaustion, because she's been partying so hard. So, I think, yes, she is the next Britney Spears

S. O'BRIEN: And her dad...

BERNARD: That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: Yes, cookey (ph) dad, cookey (ph) dad, I love that. We love that.

BERNARD: She has completely followed the J.Lo model, which is that you're an actress...

BOROWITZ: Good one.

BERNARD: ... you know, maybe J.Lo wasn't as well-known when she made her transition. Then you have to have an album. Then you have to have a perfume. Then you have to have a line of jeans. So, I think we're just going to see that all of this is going to come out for Lindsay in the next year.

BOROWITZ: Right.

SIGESMUND: She's already has a big break-up, right?

BERNARD: She already has a big break-up.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: You know what? I was reading about -- you know, doing a little research on "90-Second Pop." I did my research. And they were only going out for six months. BERNARD: That's right.

BOROWITZ: I know.

SIGESMUND: She's only 18 years old!

BOROWITZ: I know.

SIGESMUND: I mean, this is the first in a long string of guys for Lindsay.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh!

BOROWITZ: But she has no marriages yet. She's playing catch-up now.

BERNARD: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: She's got a lot to be working to.

BERNARD: She went out for six months, but every single night they were out seen somewhere. So, it felt like longer.

S. O'BRIEN: It sounds like they were together for five years or so.

BOROWITZ: My question is, they were saying for a while that Hilary Duff would be the next Britney Spears? Is she still the next Britney Spears? Is she even Hilary Duff anymore?

S. O'BRIEN: Those questions and much more on the next edition of "90-Second Pop."

BOROWITZ: We'll be on there.

S. O'BRIEN: You guys, as always, thank you.

Miles -- back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, guys.

In a moment, a "CNN Security Watch." Just how safe is the U.S. food supply from terrorists? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell us about that. And we'll also tell you about that attack at that consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The latest details on that. Stay with us as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

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