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American Morning
Interview with Senator Norm Coleman; 'Daily Dose'
Aired December 08, 2004 - 09:30 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. 9:30 here in New York City. As we continue now, we know the reform bill passed in the House, now headed for the Senate today. Some say the final vote warns of troubled waters ahead for the president. We'll talk to a key Republican supporter of that bill about the signals being sent there. Senator Norm Coleman our guest in a few minutes, there on Capitol Hill.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, we're going to meet a couple from California who have taken on a very difficult mission. Their charitable organization focuses something I think most folks would rather never think about. It's serious stuff. It's a cemetery for children who are abandoned and then die. And now they've won $27 million in the Lottery. We're going to tell you exactly what they plan to do with that big windfall coming up.
HEMMER: Also, Heidi Collins with us here. Headlines, bottom of the hour. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys, and good morning to you, everyone. "Now in the News" this morning, charges expected to be filed today in connection with last month's basketball fight. According to media reports, five players and five fans expected to be charged for their roles in the November 19th brawl. The fighting broke out on the court and in the stands during a Pacers/Pistons game. Prosecutors have scheduled a news conference, it's coming up 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. CNN will, of course, have live coverage of it for you.
There's now apparently no peace deal for Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern are expected to reveal details of a peace package in Belfast today. But it's now a bust. The two leaders still making the trip there. A Protestant leader is blaming the Irish Republican Army for the setback.
In California, Scott Peterson's defense team back in court within THE next three hours, likely to wrap up the case today for why their client should be spared the death penalty. Peterson's mother expected to be the last witness called to plead for his life. The jury could begin deliberating Peterson's fate as early as tomorrow.
And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Kuwait earlier today, facing tough questions from American troops who are getting ready to go to Iraq. Among the soldiers's concerns, the Pentagon stop-loss program. That policy prevents some personnel from leaving the service even if their enlistments are nearly over. Another concern raised by soldiers, the lack of armor protection for military vehicles. And that is the news for now.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks.
The approval from the House now of that sweeping intel reform bill creates a national intelligence chief and will enact other changes proposed by the 9/11 Commission.
Republican Senator Norm Coleman helped draft the Senate bill and negotiate the differences between the Senate and the House versions. He's my guest now.
Senator, good morning.
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R) MINNESOTA: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: I imagine you have a bit of a smile on your face after this, is that right?
COLEMAN: Well, I do.
When we left here before Thanksgiving, a lot of folks said it couldn't be done. It needed to be done. We needed to create a director of national intelligence. We needed to create a national counterterrorism center, and we've done that. And this will pass overwhelmingly in the Senate today.
HEMMER: Here is the rub, then: Critics say you're just reshuffling the deck here and creating more bureaucracy. Outside of the political issues in this, how are you now making Americans safer?
COLEMAN: Very simple. We've got somebody in charge which we hadn't had before.
If you look at the problems of 9/11, you had the -- you know, the CIA couldn't communicate with the FBI. George Tenet, a few years before 9/11, put out a memo saying, "We are at war with Al Qaida" -- nobody heard, nobody listened.
Now you will have a director of national intelligence be the president's closest national intelligence adviser. And when that word goes out, everyone will listen -- Defense Department, CIA, FBI.
We really have made major reform here, long in coming, well done. This will make America safer.
HEMMER: Let's talk about another issue that you're very hot on this point. You have put your sights, essentially, on Kofi Annan at the U.N. -- calls for him to step down rebuffed by him, actually, yesterday in the statements he released, and talking about this issue at the U.N.
Why do you believe Kofi Annan -- he's the one who should go based on the oil-for-food program scandal?
COLEMAN: Because the oil-for-food program was run by the secretariat, and the secretary general is in charge of the secretariat.
In any other organization in the world, the CEO overseeing the most massive fraud in the history of the organization would simply go, step back, so that you can then get about the business of reform. That's not going to happen. Kofi Annan's legacy is an oil-for-food program that allowed Saddam Hussein to fund terrorism, to bribe folks who are tied to member states, and to rebuild his military capacity to get around sanctions. That's his legacy. Kofi Annan's a fine man, but he oversaw this incredible disaster of incredible magnitude, and he really should step down if we care about the U.N. making reform and regaining credibility.
HEMMER: Let me get to reform (inaudible) but keep it on Kofi Annan for a second. Where's the proof that he's guilty for this?
COLEMAN: It's not a matter of being guilty. Where's the proof Ken Lay's guilty? It's not about being guilty.
When you are the CEO, you're overseeing folks under you who have committed fraud. There is proof that Saddam ripped off the oil-for- food program for billions of dollars. There's proof that he used it to rebuild his military capacity. There's proof that he used it to bribe people.
And the reality is that Kofi Annan, who is the CEO, he was the guy in charge. And how do you get about reform if the guy in charge during the time all of this took place is now the guy who's going to be responsible for cleaning up the ship.
HEMMER: There are members of Congress who have had an issue with the U.N. for years now, based on the amount of money that the U.S. pays to the U.N. every year, and that's been on the table for some time. If that were not the central issue in the past, would you still be pushing for this reform of the U.N. for Kofi Annan (inaudible)?
COLEMAN: Yes, absolutely.
I come from Minnesota. Harold Stassen, former governor of Minnesota, one of the creators of U.N. I don't believe the United States should be the sole policeman of the world. I'd like to see the U.N. have the credibility to go into places like Sudan and really do good humanitarian work and pick up some of the responsibility America's taken in policing the world today.
But it's not going to happen if you have a scandal of incredible proportion that folks simply don't do everything possible to clean it up. And the way you start is by taking the guy in charge, and him saying, "I'm going to step down," put somebody new in place, and then we'll go about restoring credibility.
HEMMER: Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota.
Thank you for your time.
COLEMAN: Thank you, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In an effort to prevent sudden infant death syndrome, Back to Sleep campaign has urged parents to put their babies down on their backs to sleep. But new research suggests there is a time when babies should be on their tummies.
Elizabeth Cohen joins us with some details. Everyone always knew about Back to Sleep. It was a actually a very successful program. Why does tummy time for your baby make SIDS less of a risk for them?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very confusing, so let me start with the back first. Because as you said, it has been successful, but still, some people have not gotten the message that putting a baby on his or her back to go to sleep is the number one way to prevent SIDS. It has really brought SIDS rates way down, once doctors started saying put that baby on his or her back to go to sleep.
But now there's a study that says that babies really do need some tummy time while they're awake and while they're being observed. So don't put your baby to sleep on her stomach, but while she's awake, while she's being observed, let her spend time on the tummy.
Now there's two reasons for doing this. One, it helps the baby develop her neck and shoulder muscles. She'd never have an opportunity to do that if she were on her back all the time. And two, it can help prevent suffocation risks. And here's the reason why. When a baby's on her tummy, if she's not used to it, she doesn't know what to do if all of a sudden, she's on her stomach, she's face down and her mouth and her nose are blocked. She doesn't know she ought to be turning her head, but if she has had some practice on her stomach, she knows to do that.
So again, let's go over some of the basics here. It's important to do this while the baby is awake and being observed. It helps develop the baby's neck and shoulder muscles and it can help reduce suffocation risk. But again, Soledad, I can't emphasize enough, back to sleep. And if the baby is going to be on his or her tummy...
O'BRIEN: Observed.
COHEN: ... watch her. And while they're awake.
O'BRIEN: What are the other ways that you can help prevent SIDS, outside of tummy time and outside of putting the baby back to sleep?
COHEN: Right. A couple of other things that you can do. First of all, what you want to do is don't smoke. That's very important. Don't smoke while you're pregnant, and don't smoke while the baby -- while you've had your baby. Place the baby on the back to sleep, that's number one. Don't overheat the baby's room. That's very important, too. Sometimes we think babies need to be sort of warmed up, but they don't need to be that warm. And as I said, don't smoke. That's so important.
O'BRIEN: All right, great advice. It's so scary, I think, for -- you know, as you are and I am, we have a new baby in the house. It really is kind of a terrifying thing.
COHEN: That's right. And what should make you feel better is that putting your baby on her back makes an amazing difference.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth, thanks. It's always nice to have you in person. We appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Break here in a moment. Andy's back "Minding Your Business." Where's the best place to work if you want free karate lessons and movie rentals? Andy tells you in a moment here. Also, "90 Second Pop," Alicia Keys, going for more gold again this year, but the biggest star on Grammy night could be a surprising newcomer. Back in a moment, here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I love me some Usher, I've got to tell you. Wednesday's edition of "90-Second Pop." We have an all-star pop panel featuring this morning the comedy stylings of Andy Borowitz from the BorowitzReport.com.
Good morning.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine.
Hello.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Hello.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly."
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: I love me some Usher.
BERNARD: You love Usher, huh?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And he did well.
BERNARD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: But not as well as some other people.
BERNARD: That's right. The Grammy nominations came out. And the big rivalry, of course, is between Usher and Kanye West, who was completely snubbed at the American Music Awards and has 10 nominations for the Grammy Awards.
So, Usher was the really big winner at the American Music Awards. We're going to see if they're going to, you know, battle each other out. Or, hopefully, Kanye will win, because I think that honestly his album, "College Dropout?"
SIGESMUND: Right.
BERNARD: Yes, "College Dropout" was probably the best of the year. And the best new artist category is the one that he was really upset about losing last time. He actually stood up when they, you know, were giving the awards out. He thought he was going to win...
O'BRIEN: It's like...
BERNARD: ... so much that he actually stood up...
O'BRIEN: Oh, it's not me.
BERNARD: ... and walked towards the stage. And then they said it was actually Gretchen Wilson, who is a country singer.
BOROWITZ: Right.
BERNARD: So, he was very upset about being robbed.
SIGESMUND: He is so clearly the Alicia Keys of this year. I can already see him in February holding all of his Grammys up.
BERNARD: Yes.
SIGESMUND: You know, I can already picture it.
BOROWITZ: But did you see who got the smoking award nomination? Seriously, Bill Clinton did for "My Life."
O'BRIEN: I didn't realize that Hillary had won.
BOROWITZ: He did. I actually have it in my car. It's great. It's the first 300 hours are a little slow...
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: ... but then it picks up. It's good.
BERNARD: We need to get Usher to do "yeah yeahs."
BOROWITZ: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: I love him.
BOROWITZ: It's a great (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right. We've got to -- moving on. Martha Stewart potentially taking over for Jane Pauley. Is there no justice in TV land?
SIGESMUND: Well, here's the deal.
O'BRIEN: Ex-con Martha Stewart taking over for the lovely Jane Pauley.
BERNARD: For Jane.
SIGESMUND: You know, 2005 could mark the reinvention of Martha. Already, renewal subscriptions of her magazine are looking up. And her stock has doubled in the last few months.
Now comes word that, yes, she might be coming back to TV in a five-day syndicated series, five-day-a-week syndicated series, just like she had years ago. Only this time, it's going to be produced by Mark Burnett of "Survivor" fame, of "Apprentice" fame. Remember, he turned Donald Trump from a 1980s relic into this pop culture, hip phenomenon. Imagine what he can do for Martha.
BOROWITZ: But like the last thing we need is another talk show. When I heard Martha Stewart on TV, I thought it was going to be like "Oz" or something, you know. You just don't...
BERNARD: No, it's going to have her how-to stuff, though. It's not going to be just her like in the Jane Pauley format. She's still going to be cooking and doing all of her demos.
SIGESMUND: Right.
O'BRIEN: Nothing like going to prison for a good re-launch, right?
SIGESMUND: You know what? She went to prison, and she went early. And that seems to have earned her back a decent amount of respect from the American people.
BOROWITZ: Good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for all of us.
O'BRIEN: I realize I sound like a conservative Republican. But where is the world today?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thank you. A remarkable story of love and sacrifice this morning. Why one couple is giving up part of their newly won riches to remember some of the smallest victims. Back in a moment, with their story live after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Markets are open. Life is good, too, if you're an executive at one company, some very sweet perks to talk about. Back to Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
How are you, Drew? Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I am fine, but a lot of moving parts this morning going on on Wall Street. First of all, a couple of commodities, platinum and gold plummeting this morning. We're tracking that down a little bit for you. A couple tech stocks.
Let's go to the Big Board, though. The Dow is up 19, so all is well in the world, at least partly.
Here's going on with Sirius, though. Listen to this, Smith Barney has put a sell rating on the stock. Again, that rarely happens, and it's down 21 percent this morning, $2, to 7.
Pixar is also really feeling the heat as well. They have announced this morning they are delaying their new film cars. That was supposed to come out next year. Now they're moving it to '06. Well, how're you going to make any money in '05, though? You're going to selling DVDs and videos of "The Incredibles," but you're not going to have a movie release. So that stock is down.
Merck is up a little bit on the news of their profits coming in less, as the news was less bad than Wall Street anticipated.
Let's talk about Colgate, though, because the other day they talked about laying off 4,400 employees. And this is one of these "bad news gets worse" thing here. The AP did a little story, checking up on a perk program for their executives. A program called Above and Beyond, which was a Buck Owen (ph) song, as Jack can tell you; 800 executives getting up to $11,000 a year for these types of deals here -- rowing machines, karate lessons, pet sitters, dog walkers.
O'BRIEN: Pet sitters?
SERWER: Yes.
Yes, movie rentals, babysitters, tax assistance. The company said, well, it's not really that much more than other companies. But the AP did this long survey, and it was a little more than most companies. The AP worked on this story, and they were going to put it out on Monday, and it just so happened the same day the story, the layoffs came. You know, just one of those things.
HEMMER: I like the encouraging physical exercise, that's a good thing, but feeding the cat?
SERWER: Well, you know, it helps people get on with their lives.
HEMMER: We all got make a living.
SERWER: Yes, today's theme.
CAFFERTY: Don't we -- CNN doesn't do that for us?
SERWER: Well, you could -- you got a lot of pets, right?
CAFFERTY: Yes, I do actually. I mean, I could use...
SERWER: Eleven-thousand dollars to buy cat food.
CAFFERTY: There is an office in this building that has a treadmill in it, did you know that?
SERWER: I didn't. I've never been there.
O'BRIEN: And there's someone who had twins who needs to work off a few pounds, and get her butt on that treadmill.
SERWER: You go. Give her the key.
O'BRIEN: But we're not going to name names this morning.
We are talking about some folks who are on the fence about Latrell Sprewell. Good guy? Bad guy?
CAFFERTY: You can't really blame him, right? How long ago was it he grabbed P.J. Carlesimo and choked him at practice? A few years ago, right? Then he got traded to the Knicks. He cussed out the president of the Knicks. He got a big fine big for that. Now he's with the Timberwolves, and he hurled some sexual vulgarity at a woman in the seats.
SERWER: It was graphic.
CAFFERTY: Yes, It was graphic, and it was terrible. But he's still making $14 million a year to play basketball. So I mean, you know, who's really at fault here? Yes, he's at fault, but so is somebody who's set up the system that works like that.
So the question is, how do you clean up pro sports? Trooper Tom writes from Morgantown, West Virginia, "I'm a 16 year trooper with the West Virginia State Police. I have a family to feed. Last year I made $50,000. I have to wear body armor and a gun to go to work to provide a first line defense for our country. What does it say for society when professional sports players make millions to play a game and law enforcement officers make pennies in comparison."
I don't know, Tom, but I'll tell you this, I'm a lot gladder that you're doing what you do know that I am that Latrell Sprewell is being paid $14 million to play basketball."
Greg in Edenperry (ph), Minnesota, "Ban booze at athletic events. It takes two to tango. Frankly, I'm more tired of the rude, drunk fans. Expecting pros to be God-like and not react to the constant badgering and stuff being thrown at them is not realistic."
Dan in Jersey City writes this, "With the volume of professional athletes that have been shoved through the universities and even the high schools, based on athletics alone, with zero regard to their academic performance, the answer to player profanity is easy. Give them a reading comprehension test and tell them if you can't spell it, you can't say it. Problem solved. But it could make it harder when it comes to calling an inaudible."
SERWER: Oh, very good.
CAFFERTY: Some of you people are nuts, but I like those.
O'BRIEN: And we appreciate you.
CAFFERTY: Yes, those are my favorites.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. All right, one more quick reminder, AMERICAN MORNING is live in Tokyo, Japan, starting on Monday next week. Look for our reports then. Tell you all about it. Holiday gifts and more. Break here. Back in a moment after this, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired December 8, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. 9:30 here in New York City. As we continue now, we know the reform bill passed in the House, now headed for the Senate today. Some say the final vote warns of troubled waters ahead for the president. We'll talk to a key Republican supporter of that bill about the signals being sent there. Senator Norm Coleman our guest in a few minutes, there on Capitol Hill.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, we're going to meet a couple from California who have taken on a very difficult mission. Their charitable organization focuses something I think most folks would rather never think about. It's serious stuff. It's a cemetery for children who are abandoned and then die. And now they've won $27 million in the Lottery. We're going to tell you exactly what they plan to do with that big windfall coming up.
HEMMER: Also, Heidi Collins with us here. Headlines, bottom of the hour. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys, and good morning to you, everyone. "Now in the News" this morning, charges expected to be filed today in connection with last month's basketball fight. According to media reports, five players and five fans expected to be charged for their roles in the November 19th brawl. The fighting broke out on the court and in the stands during a Pacers/Pistons game. Prosecutors have scheduled a news conference, it's coming up 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. CNN will, of course, have live coverage of it for you.
There's now apparently no peace deal for Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern are expected to reveal details of a peace package in Belfast today. But it's now a bust. The two leaders still making the trip there. A Protestant leader is blaming the Irish Republican Army for the setback.
In California, Scott Peterson's defense team back in court within THE next three hours, likely to wrap up the case today for why their client should be spared the death penalty. Peterson's mother expected to be the last witness called to plead for his life. The jury could begin deliberating Peterson's fate as early as tomorrow.
And Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in Kuwait earlier today, facing tough questions from American troops who are getting ready to go to Iraq. Among the soldiers's concerns, the Pentagon stop-loss program. That policy prevents some personnel from leaving the service even if their enlistments are nearly over. Another concern raised by soldiers, the lack of armor protection for military vehicles. And that is the news for now.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Thanks.
The approval from the House now of that sweeping intel reform bill creates a national intelligence chief and will enact other changes proposed by the 9/11 Commission.
Republican Senator Norm Coleman helped draft the Senate bill and negotiate the differences between the Senate and the House versions. He's my guest now.
Senator, good morning.
SEN. NORM COLEMAN (R) MINNESOTA: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: I imagine you have a bit of a smile on your face after this, is that right?
COLEMAN: Well, I do.
When we left here before Thanksgiving, a lot of folks said it couldn't be done. It needed to be done. We needed to create a director of national intelligence. We needed to create a national counterterrorism center, and we've done that. And this will pass overwhelmingly in the Senate today.
HEMMER: Here is the rub, then: Critics say you're just reshuffling the deck here and creating more bureaucracy. Outside of the political issues in this, how are you now making Americans safer?
COLEMAN: Very simple. We've got somebody in charge which we hadn't had before.
If you look at the problems of 9/11, you had the -- you know, the CIA couldn't communicate with the FBI. George Tenet, a few years before 9/11, put out a memo saying, "We are at war with Al Qaida" -- nobody heard, nobody listened.
Now you will have a director of national intelligence be the president's closest national intelligence adviser. And when that word goes out, everyone will listen -- Defense Department, CIA, FBI.
We really have made major reform here, long in coming, well done. This will make America safer.
HEMMER: Let's talk about another issue that you're very hot on this point. You have put your sights, essentially, on Kofi Annan at the U.N. -- calls for him to step down rebuffed by him, actually, yesterday in the statements he released, and talking about this issue at the U.N.
Why do you believe Kofi Annan -- he's the one who should go based on the oil-for-food program scandal?
COLEMAN: Because the oil-for-food program was run by the secretariat, and the secretary general is in charge of the secretariat.
In any other organization in the world, the CEO overseeing the most massive fraud in the history of the organization would simply go, step back, so that you can then get about the business of reform. That's not going to happen. Kofi Annan's legacy is an oil-for-food program that allowed Saddam Hussein to fund terrorism, to bribe folks who are tied to member states, and to rebuild his military capacity to get around sanctions. That's his legacy. Kofi Annan's a fine man, but he oversaw this incredible disaster of incredible magnitude, and he really should step down if we care about the U.N. making reform and regaining credibility.
HEMMER: Let me get to reform (inaudible) but keep it on Kofi Annan for a second. Where's the proof that he's guilty for this?
COLEMAN: It's not a matter of being guilty. Where's the proof Ken Lay's guilty? It's not about being guilty.
When you are the CEO, you're overseeing folks under you who have committed fraud. There is proof that Saddam ripped off the oil-for- food program for billions of dollars. There's proof that he used it to rebuild his military capacity. There's proof that he used it to bribe people.
And the reality is that Kofi Annan, who is the CEO, he was the guy in charge. And how do you get about reform if the guy in charge during the time all of this took place is now the guy who's going to be responsible for cleaning up the ship.
HEMMER: There are members of Congress who have had an issue with the U.N. for years now, based on the amount of money that the U.S. pays to the U.N. every year, and that's been on the table for some time. If that were not the central issue in the past, would you still be pushing for this reform of the U.N. for Kofi Annan (inaudible)?
COLEMAN: Yes, absolutely.
I come from Minnesota. Harold Stassen, former governor of Minnesota, one of the creators of U.N. I don't believe the United States should be the sole policeman of the world. I'd like to see the U.N. have the credibility to go into places like Sudan and really do good humanitarian work and pick up some of the responsibility America's taken in policing the world today.
But it's not going to happen if you have a scandal of incredible proportion that folks simply don't do everything possible to clean it up. And the way you start is by taking the guy in charge, and him saying, "I'm going to step down," put somebody new in place, and then we'll go about restoring credibility.
HEMMER: Senator Norm Coleman from Minnesota.
Thank you for your time.
COLEMAN: Thank you, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In an effort to prevent sudden infant death syndrome, Back to Sleep campaign has urged parents to put their babies down on their backs to sleep. But new research suggests there is a time when babies should be on their tummies.
Elizabeth Cohen joins us with some details. Everyone always knew about Back to Sleep. It was a actually a very successful program. Why does tummy time for your baby make SIDS less of a risk for them?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very confusing, so let me start with the back first. Because as you said, it has been successful, but still, some people have not gotten the message that putting a baby on his or her back to go to sleep is the number one way to prevent SIDS. It has really brought SIDS rates way down, once doctors started saying put that baby on his or her back to go to sleep.
But now there's a study that says that babies really do need some tummy time while they're awake and while they're being observed. So don't put your baby to sleep on her stomach, but while she's awake, while she's being observed, let her spend time on the tummy.
Now there's two reasons for doing this. One, it helps the baby develop her neck and shoulder muscles. She'd never have an opportunity to do that if she were on her back all the time. And two, it can help prevent suffocation risks. And here's the reason why. When a baby's on her tummy, if she's not used to it, she doesn't know what to do if all of a sudden, she's on her stomach, she's face down and her mouth and her nose are blocked. She doesn't know she ought to be turning her head, but if she has had some practice on her stomach, she knows to do that.
So again, let's go over some of the basics here. It's important to do this while the baby is awake and being observed. It helps develop the baby's neck and shoulder muscles and it can help reduce suffocation risk. But again, Soledad, I can't emphasize enough, back to sleep. And if the baby is going to be on his or her tummy...
O'BRIEN: Observed.
COHEN: ... watch her. And while they're awake.
O'BRIEN: What are the other ways that you can help prevent SIDS, outside of tummy time and outside of putting the baby back to sleep?
COHEN: Right. A couple of other things that you can do. First of all, what you want to do is don't smoke. That's very important. Don't smoke while you're pregnant, and don't smoke while the baby -- while you've had your baby. Place the baby on the back to sleep, that's number one. Don't overheat the baby's room. That's very important, too. Sometimes we think babies need to be sort of warmed up, but they don't need to be that warm. And as I said, don't smoke. That's so important.
O'BRIEN: All right, great advice. It's so scary, I think, for -- you know, as you are and I am, we have a new baby in the house. It really is kind of a terrifying thing.
COHEN: That's right. And what should make you feel better is that putting your baby on her back makes an amazing difference.
O'BRIEN: All right. Elizabeth, thanks. It's always nice to have you in person. We appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Break here in a moment. Andy's back "Minding Your Business." Where's the best place to work if you want free karate lessons and movie rentals? Andy tells you in a moment here. Also, "90 Second Pop," Alicia Keys, going for more gold again this year, but the biggest star on Grammy night could be a surprising newcomer. Back in a moment, here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: I love me some Usher, I've got to tell you. Wednesday's edition of "90-Second Pop." We have an all-star pop panel featuring this morning the comedy stylings of Andy Borowitz from the BorowitzReport.com.
Good morning.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York" magazine.
Hello.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Hello.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly."
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: I love me some Usher.
BERNARD: You love Usher, huh?
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And he did well.
BERNARD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: But not as well as some other people.
BERNARD: That's right. The Grammy nominations came out. And the big rivalry, of course, is between Usher and Kanye West, who was completely snubbed at the American Music Awards and has 10 nominations for the Grammy Awards.
So, Usher was the really big winner at the American Music Awards. We're going to see if they're going to, you know, battle each other out. Or, hopefully, Kanye will win, because I think that honestly his album, "College Dropout?"
SIGESMUND: Right.
BERNARD: Yes, "College Dropout" was probably the best of the year. And the best new artist category is the one that he was really upset about losing last time. He actually stood up when they, you know, were giving the awards out. He thought he was going to win...
O'BRIEN: It's like...
BERNARD: ... so much that he actually stood up...
O'BRIEN: Oh, it's not me.
BERNARD: ... and walked towards the stage. And then they said it was actually Gretchen Wilson, who is a country singer.
BOROWITZ: Right.
BERNARD: So, he was very upset about being robbed.
SIGESMUND: He is so clearly the Alicia Keys of this year. I can already see him in February holding all of his Grammys up.
BERNARD: Yes.
SIGESMUND: You know, I can already picture it.
BOROWITZ: But did you see who got the smoking award nomination? Seriously, Bill Clinton did for "My Life."
O'BRIEN: I didn't realize that Hillary had won.
BOROWITZ: He did. I actually have it in my car. It's great. It's the first 300 hours are a little slow...
BERNARD: Yes.
BOROWITZ: ... but then it picks up. It's good.
BERNARD: We need to get Usher to do "yeah yeahs."
BOROWITZ: Yes. Yes.
O'BRIEN: I love him.
BOROWITZ: It's a great (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: All right. We've got to -- moving on. Martha Stewart potentially taking over for Jane Pauley. Is there no justice in TV land?
SIGESMUND: Well, here's the deal.
O'BRIEN: Ex-con Martha Stewart taking over for the lovely Jane Pauley.
BERNARD: For Jane.
SIGESMUND: You know, 2005 could mark the reinvention of Martha. Already, renewal subscriptions of her magazine are looking up. And her stock has doubled in the last few months.
Now comes word that, yes, she might be coming back to TV in a five-day syndicated series, five-day-a-week syndicated series, just like she had years ago. Only this time, it's going to be produced by Mark Burnett of "Survivor" fame, of "Apprentice" fame. Remember, he turned Donald Trump from a 1980s relic into this pop culture, hip phenomenon. Imagine what he can do for Martha.
BOROWITZ: But like the last thing we need is another talk show. When I heard Martha Stewart on TV, I thought it was going to be like "Oz" or something, you know. You just don't...
BERNARD: No, it's going to have her how-to stuff, though. It's not going to be just her like in the Jane Pauley format. She's still going to be cooking and doing all of her demos.
SIGESMUND: Right.
O'BRIEN: Nothing like going to prison for a good re-launch, right?
SIGESMUND: You know what? She went to prison, and she went early. And that seems to have earned her back a decent amount of respect from the American people.
BOROWITZ: Good (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for all of us.
O'BRIEN: I realize I sound like a conservative Republican. But where is the world today?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thank you. A remarkable story of love and sacrifice this morning. Why one couple is giving up part of their newly won riches to remember some of the smallest victims. Back in a moment, with their story live after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Markets are open. Life is good, too, if you're an executive at one company, some very sweet perks to talk about. Back to Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
How are you, Drew? Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I am fine, but a lot of moving parts this morning going on on Wall Street. First of all, a couple of commodities, platinum and gold plummeting this morning. We're tracking that down a little bit for you. A couple tech stocks.
Let's go to the Big Board, though. The Dow is up 19, so all is well in the world, at least partly.
Here's going on with Sirius, though. Listen to this, Smith Barney has put a sell rating on the stock. Again, that rarely happens, and it's down 21 percent this morning, $2, to 7.
Pixar is also really feeling the heat as well. They have announced this morning they are delaying their new film cars. That was supposed to come out next year. Now they're moving it to '06. Well, how're you going to make any money in '05, though? You're going to selling DVDs and videos of "The Incredibles," but you're not going to have a movie release. So that stock is down.
Merck is up a little bit on the news of their profits coming in less, as the news was less bad than Wall Street anticipated.
Let's talk about Colgate, though, because the other day they talked about laying off 4,400 employees. And this is one of these "bad news gets worse" thing here. The AP did a little story, checking up on a perk program for their executives. A program called Above and Beyond, which was a Buck Owen (ph) song, as Jack can tell you; 800 executives getting up to $11,000 a year for these types of deals here -- rowing machines, karate lessons, pet sitters, dog walkers.
O'BRIEN: Pet sitters?
SERWER: Yes.
Yes, movie rentals, babysitters, tax assistance. The company said, well, it's not really that much more than other companies. But the AP did this long survey, and it was a little more than most companies. The AP worked on this story, and they were going to put it out on Monday, and it just so happened the same day the story, the layoffs came. You know, just one of those things.
HEMMER: I like the encouraging physical exercise, that's a good thing, but feeding the cat?
SERWER: Well, you know, it helps people get on with their lives.
HEMMER: We all got make a living.
SERWER: Yes, today's theme.
CAFFERTY: Don't we -- CNN doesn't do that for us?
SERWER: Well, you could -- you got a lot of pets, right?
CAFFERTY: Yes, I do actually. I mean, I could use...
SERWER: Eleven-thousand dollars to buy cat food.
CAFFERTY: There is an office in this building that has a treadmill in it, did you know that?
SERWER: I didn't. I've never been there.
O'BRIEN: And there's someone who had twins who needs to work off a few pounds, and get her butt on that treadmill.
SERWER: You go. Give her the key.
O'BRIEN: But we're not going to name names this morning.
We are talking about some folks who are on the fence about Latrell Sprewell. Good guy? Bad guy?
CAFFERTY: You can't really blame him, right? How long ago was it he grabbed P.J. Carlesimo and choked him at practice? A few years ago, right? Then he got traded to the Knicks. He cussed out the president of the Knicks. He got a big fine big for that. Now he's with the Timberwolves, and he hurled some sexual vulgarity at a woman in the seats.
SERWER: It was graphic.
CAFFERTY: Yes, It was graphic, and it was terrible. But he's still making $14 million a year to play basketball. So I mean, you know, who's really at fault here? Yes, he's at fault, but so is somebody who's set up the system that works like that.
So the question is, how do you clean up pro sports? Trooper Tom writes from Morgantown, West Virginia, "I'm a 16 year trooper with the West Virginia State Police. I have a family to feed. Last year I made $50,000. I have to wear body armor and a gun to go to work to provide a first line defense for our country. What does it say for society when professional sports players make millions to play a game and law enforcement officers make pennies in comparison."
I don't know, Tom, but I'll tell you this, I'm a lot gladder that you're doing what you do know that I am that Latrell Sprewell is being paid $14 million to play basketball."
Greg in Edenperry (ph), Minnesota, "Ban booze at athletic events. It takes two to tango. Frankly, I'm more tired of the rude, drunk fans. Expecting pros to be God-like and not react to the constant badgering and stuff being thrown at them is not realistic."
Dan in Jersey City writes this, "With the volume of professional athletes that have been shoved through the universities and even the high schools, based on athletics alone, with zero regard to their academic performance, the answer to player profanity is easy. Give them a reading comprehension test and tell them if you can't spell it, you can't say it. Problem solved. But it could make it harder when it comes to calling an inaudible."
SERWER: Oh, very good.
CAFFERTY: Some of you people are nuts, but I like those.
O'BRIEN: And we appreciate you.
CAFFERTY: Yes, those are my favorites.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. All right, one more quick reminder, AMERICAN MORNING is live in Tokyo, Japan, starting on Monday next week. Look for our reports then. Tell you all about it. Holiday gifts and more. Break here. Back in a moment after this, on AMERICAN MORNING.
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