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American Morning

Intelligence Reform Winners, Losers; Influenza Fears

Aired December 08, 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 is about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Getting the 9/11 reforms through the House of Representatives was not easy for President Bush. In just a few moments, we're going to take a deeper look into what the ordeal may have cost him. Or does it leave him stronger as he goes into his second term?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also this issue from overseas. What stands in the way of the bird flu from Asia becoming a global pandemic? In a few moments, we'll talk to a doctor from the World Health Organization about the group's warnings that millions could die. Some have estimated as many as 70 million around the world, others says that number is overblown. We'll talk about that and let you know what the real concern is there at this point. So stay tuned.

O'BRIEN: Before that, though, let's get right to the headlines with Heidi Collins.

Good morning.

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

"Now in the News" this morning.

In Washington today, the Senate is expected to pass the compromise 9/11 bill. It cleared the House yesterday. The legislation is described as the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies since the creation of the CIA. The bill creates a new national intelligence director with control over all 15 U.S. spy agencies. It also establishes a counterterrorism center and tightens U.S. borders.

Now, we showed you these pictures about 10 minutes ago. This is a live picture now from WTTG. A huge fire breaking out in Lorton, Virginia. Three townhouses there are up in flames, as you can see. Firefighters, of course, are on the scene. We're going to follow this and have more details as they come in this morning.

A planned unveiling today of peace plans for Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bernie Ahern are getting ready to reveal details of a joint peace package. Right now, Blair is taking questions before Parliament.

And America's longest-serving astronaut is retiring. Seventy- four-year-old John Young joined NASA when John F. Kennedy was president. Young's first space flight was in 1965 when he piloted the first manned Gemini mission. I wonder if he wore that hat. After two trips to the moon, Young went on to command the very first space shuttle flight. We bid him adieu.

Back now over to Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Heidi, thanks.

The intelligence reform bill should sail through the Senate today. It passed the House yesterday 336-75. It sounds like a lot more winners than losers in Washington, D.C. But is that the whole story?

Kelly Wallace has some answers for us this morning.

Nice to see you. Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Great to see you.

You know, definitely some losers in this fight, but they could end up being winners in the next debate. As for this battle, though, some of the biggest winners were some of those who lost the most on September 11.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): By now, you may recognize their faces. They are the biggest winners in this fight, those family members who launched a full-court press for change, like Beverly Eckert, whose husband, Sean (ph), was killed in the World Trade Center attack.

BEVERLY ECKERT, 9/11 WIDOW: It's been three years. This country has waited long enough.

WALLACE: The biggest losers? The man who calls himself the "skunk at the garden party."

SEN. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: And this bill is lacking and incomplete.

WALLACE: House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who did not get the tougher immigration measures he wanted. And House conservatives, who never thought much of the bill in the first place. But losers in this battle will be emboldened for the next one.

ED ROLLINS, GOP STRATEGIST: It won't be just the president saying, you know, here's what I want and go do it, especially on the two complicated issues of tax reform and social security reform.

WALLACE: As for the president, he's both a winner and loser. Here's why. This is a bill he was never overly excited about, but ultimately decided it was something he had to have.

ALAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It was absolutely necessary for George Bush to get this bill through the Congress to discipline his Republicans and to start his new administration on a note of success, not failure.

WALLACE: The biggest question mark? Will American security be a winner or a loser? Critics say the bill is nothing more than reshuffling the bureaucracy. Even the bill's most passionate supporters say it won't necessarily prevent another terrorist attack.

LICHTMAN: So, remarkably, despite all the pressure to pass this bill, it is uncertain whether it will make us one bit safer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And both critics and supporters say it will ultimately come down to the leadership style and the personality of whomever is named director of national intelligence. This person has a huge, huge job, $40 billion budget, 15 agencies, 200,000 employees. So a big task ahead.

O'BRIEN: Can I throw some other names out there for you?

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: We heard a lot from the House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter. He's a winner. I mean, they made some concessions to him. Isn't he?

WALLACE: He is, and his stature increases. He's somewhat of a household name, of course. People have been talking about him for the past few days. He stood up to the White House, wanted a little bit more when it comes to chain of command, control over military intelligence. But some others say, Soledad, there was just a slight tinkering of the language.

O'BRIEN: The four words.

WALLACE: Yes, four words, not many big revisions. He was asked yesterday, in fact, does he feel like a winner here? He says, well, you know, I don't think I won. He says the troops won. But certainly his influence is enhanced for the next go around.

O'BRIEN: You've got to expect he's going to say that. How about Secretary Rumsfeld? He had tepid support at best at times for this legislation. And also the leadership of the Pentagon, who were vocally against the legislation. Are they the obvious losers in this?

WALLACE: You know, it appears part loser, but part winner, too, because like Duncan Hunter, they were pushing very hard for the control in terms of battlefield intelligence. But it's no secret that they weren't incredibly enthused about it, in particular about intelligence funding, control of the budget. That now goes to this person, whoever becomes the director of national intelligence and not the Pentagon chiefs.

O'BRIEN: And, as you say, it is a big budget.

WALLACE: A big job ahead for whomever gets it.

O'BRIEN: All right, Kelly, thanks, as always.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks for that.

Health news now. U.S. officials are taking new steps to ease the shortage of the flu vaccine. Outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary Tommy Thompson, says the U.S. will import up to four million doses out of Europe, but those receiving the shot will have to sign a consent form admitting that the shots may cause a health issue.

I talked about this with Dr. Klaus Stohr, the head of the World Health Organization's global influenza program, asking him about the safety of the newly-imported flu vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. KLAUS STOHR, W.H.O. INFLUENZA EXPERT: Well, influenza vaccines are subject to rigid quality assessment everywhere in the world, and the standards are relatively similar. Every country, however, requests that every vaccine is tested in their particular -- under their particular authority.

And I think the vaccine, which is now imported into the U.S., has not been tested in the U.S., but it has been tested in Europe or in Australia or Japan. In order to address this issue that it has been tested elsewhere but not in the U.S., I think the U.S. authorities are asking patients to understand that issue. But these vaccines are equally safe when they're being produced in other developed countries.

HEMMER: How do you believe the U.S. is handling the shortage?

STOHR: Well, the influenza shortage is caused by an unfortunate event in a company in the United Kingdom. The only way to shorten the shortage, to make the gap smaller, is to find out which vaccine doses are left somewhere else. Normally, every dose which is being produced is being used. There is a finite supply, and it's now important to find out which other companies or countries which have still some doses left, and I understand that that's exactly what the U.S. government is trying to do.

HEMMER: Let's move to a different topic, a specific type of flu, avian bird flu that comes out of Asia. Tommy Thompson mentioned this at the end of last week. Listen to how he talked about this.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: There has been 40 individuals that have come down with avian flu, and 30 have died. That is huge lethality. No other disease has had that kind of lethality before. And we do not have a vaccine.

HEMMER: It sounds like he's concerned. Should others be concerned as well, Doctor? STOHR: The establishment is very concerned about the possible occurrence of a pandemic. The first influenza pandemics have very little to do with the annual seasonal outbreaks of influenza. They are caused by a new influenza virus, and very often these new influenza viruses are coming from animals. That's what we are seeing in Asia that this animal virus has already jumped into humans. It is not transmissible from human to human to any significant extent. But if it was, that, of course, could ignite a pandemic.

HEMMER: You say that...

STOHR: In the past...

HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption there and the satellite delay here. You say countries are essentially unprepared for this. Why is that the case? And why has this not been a priority, Doctor?

STOHR: Well, influenza pandemics have caused global health emergencies. There have been hundreds of millions of people who get sick in a very short period of time. Many of them get hospitalized, and millions die. They are a recurring biological phenomenon. We cannot predict when they are happening, but we know that they will happen. And even small ones, like earthquakes, small ones will cause damage if you're not prepared.

Many countries have thought about pandemic preparedness. Only a few are working on pandemic preparedness. They have hospital infection control guidelines in place. They have thought about what they should do with the vaccine when it becomes available, because there will be limited supply. And companies are now moving towards vaccine developments.

We have to think about what we should do to slow down the spread of this virus when it emerges. So, pandemic preparedness under the current circumstance is very important, particularly considering what's happening in Asia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Dr. Stohr from the World Health Organization.

Some estimates say if the bird flu broke out worldwide, up to 70 million could die as a result. Others contend that number is exaggerated. One thing that is not an exaggeration, experts say, and doctor confirms, the greater majority of countries have no plan in the event of a worldwide outbreak -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A quick look at the weather now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: We want to let you know, we're going to Tokyo, Japan, here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: We as in you.

HEMMER: We as in me.

O'BRIEN: I'll hold down the fort.

HEMMER: A cast of like one and a half others. Primetime in Japan, AMERICAN MORNING, by the way, it airs in primetime...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: ... 9:00 to midnight throughout the country of Japan. So, we're going there and...

O'BRIEN: That will be great.

HEMMER: It takes 14-and-a-half hours to fly there nonstop from New York. And I think your baggage...

O'BRIEN: Yes, that won't be much fun.

HEMMER: Yes, that's very true. I think your baggage arrives in like 28 hours after that. So...

O'BRIEN: Do you know any Japanese?

HEMMER: Ohia (ph) and Kinitshua (ph).

O'BRIEN: Ohia (ph) Gonzamas (ph)

HEMMER: After that, boy, I'm stuck.

O'BRIEN: Well, you've got the weekend. Good luck.

HEMMER: I've got 14 hours on a plane ride to do it, too.

O'BRIEN: There you go. You see?

HEMMER: Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be live in Tokyo for you right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: You will be fluent.

HEMMER: I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be great.

O'BRIEN: Yes, me too.

Still ahead this morning, see red, save green. One carmaker tries a novel approach to boost sales. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the Grammy nominations are out. Alicia Keys got eight nods yesterday, but the surprise is who led the way with 10. "90-Second Pop" has a crack at that a bit later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Back to Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

Within days of the steroid scandal and the aftermath of that Indiana Pacers brawl, we have Latrell Sprewell of the Minnesota Timberwolves yelling sexual vulgarities at a female fan during a game on Saturday right there on television for everybody to see. The NBA suspended Sprewell for one game.

This punk makes $14 million a year, and his fine for doing what he did to this woman is a one-game suspension. It's not the first time Sprewell has demonstrated either that his name and professional don't belong in the same sentence.

Remember when he choked the Golden State Warriors coach, P.J. Carlos (ph)? Well, that was a number of years ago? Then he came to New York and played for the Knicks. At one point, he was fined for cursing out the president of the Knicks. He's still playing for the NBA. Something is wrong.

These days, if you dare to take your kids to a game you're gambling on what they're liable to see while they're there.

The question is this: What ought to be done to clean up professional sports?

Tom in -- Tim, rather, in Fredericksburg, Virginia: "Let's see all of the professional athletes play one complete season for the same salary as a high school teacher or a city firefighter. Their normal salary goes into a trust fund. If they make it through the entire year without any fines or suspensions and they don't fail drug tests, then they get the remainder of their annual salary."

Not a bad idea.

D.W. in Crescent City, California: "The reason for the abuses is there are huge monetary incentives to cheat. Fight fire with fire. Levy huge fines."

Dana in Santee, California: "Professional sports need to clean up the drug use, for one. And, two, the people in professional sports need to act professional all of the time. Too many kids believe they can follow these professionals and behave in the same manner without any consequences whatsoever."

Alvin in Nova Scotia: "They ought to be fined and have part of their gross salaries taken away. They are not above the law, except O.J."

And Lee in Kent, Ohio: "People watch professional sports because they want to see the impossible. They want to see hundreds of home runs and bone-breaking tackles. I'm all for cleaning up pro sports, but it won't happen until the fans start boycotts the games."

HEMMER: Think that will happen?

O'BRIEN: No.

CAFFERTY: Probably not.

HEMMER: I'll tell you what, if hockey breaks their labor stoppage or whatever it is, what is it, a lockout or, what, a strike? What are they calling it? If they come back and the fans don't come back, that sport is in a world of hurt.

CAFFERTY: And we've been down that road before. Remember the baseball strike...

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: ... and everybody said the fans will never come back? Well, they did.

HEMMER: How about the '80s with the NFL? That was a big deal, too, with the...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: No, I mean, to a degree, you know, the fans are at fault. But on the other hand, I mean, there should be -- isn't there some code of conduct for -- I mean, they call themselves professional athletes. They make millions of dollars a year. Suspending a guy for one game, who makes 14 million bucks, after he says what he says to this woman, I mean, that's not punishment.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: They're emotional.

CAFFERTY: It's meaningless.

SERWER: They're excitable.

CAFFERTY: They're morons, the ones who do that.

SERWER: They're having a good time, you know.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

CAFFERTY: What was it he said...

SERWER: The players.

CAFFERTY: Negotiating his contract, what was it he said? He has to feed his family.

SERWER: Yes, he said he has to feed his family. He wanted a couple million more. And he said, I've got a family to feed.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we all know that song...

SERWER: That's pretty well...

O'BRIEN: ... don't we?

SERWER: Yes, well, some of us (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Yes, but you don't go out here and curse out the people on the show.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes, she does. Yes she does. Sometimes she does. We just don't catch it on camera.

O'BRIEN: They don't roll tape, but I do it all the time.

CAFFERTY: During the commercial breaks when nobody can see it.

O'BRIEN: Jack, thank you very much.

Let's turn to business now. Andy is "Minding Your Business." Red tag sale by an automaker? That's kind of weird.

SERWER: Yes. Actually, General Motors is getting a holiday sale, Soledad. You know, they had this lock-and-roll program starring Suze Orman with these commercials. And apparently it didn't work too well. I'm available, by the way, to slap some red tags...

HEMMER: Yes.

SERWER: So is Jack.

O'BRIEN: You've got a family to feed.

SERWER: Because I've got a family, very good. They're actually going to put red tags on -- you know, sales for GM in November were down 13 percent. And they're anticipating sales are not going to be so ducky in the first quarter.

Listen to this: $3,500 back on the '04, $7,000 back -- that would be $7,000 back on the '04s, and that is a lot of money. And you can just imagine what it's going to do to GM's profits.

Sirius Satellite Radio and XM, the Coke and Pepsi of these satellite radio companies, got a big boost yesterday. Toyota said they're going to have factory-installed XM in 2006, and dealer- installed in Sirius in '05. And these stocks have just been flying. You know, it's amazing. Sirius is up 340 percent since August, up 90 cents yesterday.

CAFFERTY: Did you see where the head of Viacom says they're going to hold Howard Stern right to the very end of his contract?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Because they stand to make $100 million off his radio show if they keep him on the air to the end of his contract. Meantime, Stern goes on the air every day, trashes Viacom and talks up Sirius Satellite.

SERWER: Right. HEMMER: But they want him.

SERWER: It's a beautiful relationship.

CAFFERTY: It's a wonderful thing.

O'BRIEN: Back to the question, it's all about the money, isn't it?

SERWER: It is. It is.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, CBS dives into sitcom waters to find a new late-night host. But does he have enough star power to compete? "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Jack, you can't leave yet. I'm not done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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? Late night show -- "The Late, Late Show" now on CBS has a new host.

SIGESMUND: A new host.

O'BRIEN: And who is it?

BOROWITZ: The very exciting...

O'BRIEN: Who is the guy? Craig Ferguson?

BOROWITZ: The very exciting, Craig Ferguson.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: We're very excited about this.

BERNARD: Oh, reaction.

BOROWITZ: He played the boss on the beloved "Drew Carey Show." You know, this has been going on for weeks. They've been talking to people, like D.L. Hughley (ph), you know, all these people.

O'BRIEN: I love him.

BOROWITZ: I know. He's great.

SIGESMUND: And Damian Fahee (ph).

BOROWITZ: Right.

SIGESMUND: Also...

BERNARD: Michael Ian Black.

BOROWITZ: Right. I mean, this is, you know, CBS was searching for someone to host the show. And now, like, the new challenge is actually going to be finding someone to watch the show. That's going to be the challenge.

O'BRIEN: Is he funny?

BOROWITZ: He's Scottish.

BERNARD: He's a little bit funny. I think it's more about the accent.

BOROWITZ: He's Scottish. If we can understand him.

O'BRIEN: OK.

BOROWITZ: If we can understand him, he'll be great.

BERNARD: Now, the only thing that might help him out is that Letterman is actually edging in on Leno in the ratings.

BOROWITZ: That is true.

BERNARD: For a couple days a week he actually beats him for the first time.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: It all starts with "CSI," seriously.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: That's what he does. If "CSI" does well, then Letterman does well.

SIGESMUND: He was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: And then that Scottish guy.

BERNARD: People just leave the TV on.

SIGESMUND: Turn the volume down and leave it on CBS all night.

O'BRIEN: It's all about the lead-in. We all know that. All right, you guys, as always, thank you.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: There is on the BorowitzReport.com at this point, by the way...

BOROWITZ: It's all there.

HEMMER: ... a couple of good zingers in there today for you.

A break here. In a moment, today's top stories. And the 9/11 bill is expected to breeze through the Senate now. How are you safer because of it? We'll talk to Senator Dick Durbin in a moment, top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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Aired December 8, 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 is about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Getting the 9/11 reforms through the House of Representatives was not easy for President Bush. In just a few moments, we're going to take a deeper look into what the ordeal may have cost him. Or does it leave him stronger as he goes into his second term?

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also this issue from overseas. What stands in the way of the bird flu from Asia becoming a global pandemic? In a few moments, we'll talk to a doctor from the World Health Organization about the group's warnings that millions could die. Some have estimated as many as 70 million around the world, others says that number is overblown. We'll talk about that and let you know what the real concern is there at this point. So stay tuned.

O'BRIEN: Before that, though, let's get right to the headlines with Heidi Collins.

Good morning.

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

"Now in the News" this morning.

In Washington today, the Senate is expected to pass the compromise 9/11 bill. It cleared the House yesterday. The legislation is described as the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. intelligence agencies since the creation of the CIA. The bill creates a new national intelligence director with control over all 15 U.S. spy agencies. It also establishes a counterterrorism center and tightens U.S. borders.

Now, we showed you these pictures about 10 minutes ago. This is a live picture now from WTTG. A huge fire breaking out in Lorton, Virginia. Three townhouses there are up in flames, as you can see. Firefighters, of course, are on the scene. We're going to follow this and have more details as they come in this morning.

A planned unveiling today of peace plans for Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bernie Ahern are getting ready to reveal details of a joint peace package. Right now, Blair is taking questions before Parliament.

And America's longest-serving astronaut is retiring. Seventy- four-year-old John Young joined NASA when John F. Kennedy was president. Young's first space flight was in 1965 when he piloted the first manned Gemini mission. I wonder if he wore that hat. After two trips to the moon, Young went on to command the very first space shuttle flight. We bid him adieu.

Back now over to Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Heidi, thanks.

The intelligence reform bill should sail through the Senate today. It passed the House yesterday 336-75. It sounds like a lot more winners than losers in Washington, D.C. But is that the whole story?

Kelly Wallace has some answers for us this morning.

Nice to see you. Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Great to see you.

You know, definitely some losers in this fight, but they could end up being winners in the next debate. As for this battle, though, some of the biggest winners were some of those who lost the most on September 11.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): By now, you may recognize their faces. They are the biggest winners in this fight, those family members who launched a full-court press for change, like Beverly Eckert, whose husband, Sean (ph), was killed in the World Trade Center attack.

BEVERLY ECKERT, 9/11 WIDOW: It's been three years. This country has waited long enough.

WALLACE: The biggest losers? The man who calls himself the "skunk at the garden party."

SEN. JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R), WISCONSIN: And this bill is lacking and incomplete.

WALLACE: House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who did not get the tougher immigration measures he wanted. And House conservatives, who never thought much of the bill in the first place. But losers in this battle will be emboldened for the next one.

ED ROLLINS, GOP STRATEGIST: It won't be just the president saying, you know, here's what I want and go do it, especially on the two complicated issues of tax reform and social security reform.

WALLACE: As for the president, he's both a winner and loser. Here's why. This is a bill he was never overly excited about, but ultimately decided it was something he had to have.

ALAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: It was absolutely necessary for George Bush to get this bill through the Congress to discipline his Republicans and to start his new administration on a note of success, not failure.

WALLACE: The biggest question mark? Will American security be a winner or a loser? Critics say the bill is nothing more than reshuffling the bureaucracy. Even the bill's most passionate supporters say it won't necessarily prevent another terrorist attack.

LICHTMAN: So, remarkably, despite all the pressure to pass this bill, it is uncertain whether it will make us one bit safer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And both critics and supporters say it will ultimately come down to the leadership style and the personality of whomever is named director of national intelligence. This person has a huge, huge job, $40 billion budget, 15 agencies, 200,000 employees. So a big task ahead.

O'BRIEN: Can I throw some other names out there for you?

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: We heard a lot from the House Armed Services Chairman Duncan Hunter. He's a winner. I mean, they made some concessions to him. Isn't he?

WALLACE: He is, and his stature increases. He's somewhat of a household name, of course. People have been talking about him for the past few days. He stood up to the White House, wanted a little bit more when it comes to chain of command, control over military intelligence. But some others say, Soledad, there was just a slight tinkering of the language.

O'BRIEN: The four words.

WALLACE: Yes, four words, not many big revisions. He was asked yesterday, in fact, does he feel like a winner here? He says, well, you know, I don't think I won. He says the troops won. But certainly his influence is enhanced for the next go around.

O'BRIEN: You've got to expect he's going to say that. How about Secretary Rumsfeld? He had tepid support at best at times for this legislation. And also the leadership of the Pentagon, who were vocally against the legislation. Are they the obvious losers in this?

WALLACE: You know, it appears part loser, but part winner, too, because like Duncan Hunter, they were pushing very hard for the control in terms of battlefield intelligence. But it's no secret that they weren't incredibly enthused about it, in particular about intelligence funding, control of the budget. That now goes to this person, whoever becomes the director of national intelligence and not the Pentagon chiefs.

O'BRIEN: And, as you say, it is a big budget.

WALLACE: A big job ahead for whomever gets it.

O'BRIEN: All right, Kelly, thanks, as always.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks for that.

Health news now. U.S. officials are taking new steps to ease the shortage of the flu vaccine. Outgoing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary Tommy Thompson, says the U.S. will import up to four million doses out of Europe, but those receiving the shot will have to sign a consent form admitting that the shots may cause a health issue.

I talked about this with Dr. Klaus Stohr, the head of the World Health Organization's global influenza program, asking him about the safety of the newly-imported flu vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. KLAUS STOHR, W.H.O. INFLUENZA EXPERT: Well, influenza vaccines are subject to rigid quality assessment everywhere in the world, and the standards are relatively similar. Every country, however, requests that every vaccine is tested in their particular -- under their particular authority.

And I think the vaccine, which is now imported into the U.S., has not been tested in the U.S., but it has been tested in Europe or in Australia or Japan. In order to address this issue that it has been tested elsewhere but not in the U.S., I think the U.S. authorities are asking patients to understand that issue. But these vaccines are equally safe when they're being produced in other developed countries.

HEMMER: How do you believe the U.S. is handling the shortage?

STOHR: Well, the influenza shortage is caused by an unfortunate event in a company in the United Kingdom. The only way to shorten the shortage, to make the gap smaller, is to find out which vaccine doses are left somewhere else. Normally, every dose which is being produced is being used. There is a finite supply, and it's now important to find out which other companies or countries which have still some doses left, and I understand that that's exactly what the U.S. government is trying to do.

HEMMER: Let's move to a different topic, a specific type of flu, avian bird flu that comes out of Asia. Tommy Thompson mentioned this at the end of last week. Listen to how he talked about this.

TOMMY THOMPSON, HHS SECRETARY: There has been 40 individuals that have come down with avian flu, and 30 have died. That is huge lethality. No other disease has had that kind of lethality before. And we do not have a vaccine.

HEMMER: It sounds like he's concerned. Should others be concerned as well, Doctor? STOHR: The establishment is very concerned about the possible occurrence of a pandemic. The first influenza pandemics have very little to do with the annual seasonal outbreaks of influenza. They are caused by a new influenza virus, and very often these new influenza viruses are coming from animals. That's what we are seeing in Asia that this animal virus has already jumped into humans. It is not transmissible from human to human to any significant extent. But if it was, that, of course, could ignite a pandemic.

HEMMER: You say that...

STOHR: In the past...

HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption there and the satellite delay here. You say countries are essentially unprepared for this. Why is that the case? And why has this not been a priority, Doctor?

STOHR: Well, influenza pandemics have caused global health emergencies. There have been hundreds of millions of people who get sick in a very short period of time. Many of them get hospitalized, and millions die. They are a recurring biological phenomenon. We cannot predict when they are happening, but we know that they will happen. And even small ones, like earthquakes, small ones will cause damage if you're not prepared.

Many countries have thought about pandemic preparedness. Only a few are working on pandemic preparedness. They have hospital infection control guidelines in place. They have thought about what they should do with the vaccine when it becomes available, because there will be limited supply. And companies are now moving towards vaccine developments.

We have to think about what we should do to slow down the spread of this virus when it emerges. So, pandemic preparedness under the current circumstance is very important, particularly considering what's happening in Asia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Dr. Stohr from the World Health Organization.

Some estimates say if the bird flu broke out worldwide, up to 70 million could die as a result. Others contend that number is exaggerated. One thing that is not an exaggeration, experts say, and doctor confirms, the greater majority of countries have no plan in the event of a worldwide outbreak -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A quick look at the weather now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: We want to let you know, we're going to Tokyo, Japan, here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: We as in you.

HEMMER: We as in me.

O'BRIEN: I'll hold down the fort.

HEMMER: A cast of like one and a half others. Primetime in Japan, AMERICAN MORNING, by the way, it airs in primetime...

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: ... 9:00 to midnight throughout the country of Japan. So, we're going there and...

O'BRIEN: That will be great.

HEMMER: It takes 14-and-a-half hours to fly there nonstop from New York. And I think your baggage...

O'BRIEN: Yes, that won't be much fun.

HEMMER: Yes, that's very true. I think your baggage arrives in like 28 hours after that. So...

O'BRIEN: Do you know any Japanese?

HEMMER: Ohia (ph) and Kinitshua (ph).

O'BRIEN: Ohia (ph) Gonzamas (ph)

HEMMER: After that, boy, I'm stuck.

O'BRIEN: Well, you've got the weekend. Good luck.

HEMMER: I've got 14 hours on a plane ride to do it, too.

O'BRIEN: There you go. You see?

HEMMER: Next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we'll be live in Tokyo for you right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: You will be fluent.

HEMMER: I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be great.

O'BRIEN: Yes, me too.

Still ahead this morning, see red, save green. One carmaker tries a novel approach to boost sales. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, the Grammy nominations are out. Alicia Keys got eight nods yesterday, but the surprise is who led the way with 10. "90-Second Pop" has a crack at that a bit later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Back to Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill.

Within days of the steroid scandal and the aftermath of that Indiana Pacers brawl, we have Latrell Sprewell of the Minnesota Timberwolves yelling sexual vulgarities at a female fan during a game on Saturday right there on television for everybody to see. The NBA suspended Sprewell for one game.

This punk makes $14 million a year, and his fine for doing what he did to this woman is a one-game suspension. It's not the first time Sprewell has demonstrated either that his name and professional don't belong in the same sentence.

Remember when he choked the Golden State Warriors coach, P.J. Carlos (ph)? Well, that was a number of years ago? Then he came to New York and played for the Knicks. At one point, he was fined for cursing out the president of the Knicks. He's still playing for the NBA. Something is wrong.

These days, if you dare to take your kids to a game you're gambling on what they're liable to see while they're there.

The question is this: What ought to be done to clean up professional sports?

Tom in -- Tim, rather, in Fredericksburg, Virginia: "Let's see all of the professional athletes play one complete season for the same salary as a high school teacher or a city firefighter. Their normal salary goes into a trust fund. If they make it through the entire year without any fines or suspensions and they don't fail drug tests, then they get the remainder of their annual salary."

Not a bad idea.

D.W. in Crescent City, California: "The reason for the abuses is there are huge monetary incentives to cheat. Fight fire with fire. Levy huge fines."

Dana in Santee, California: "Professional sports need to clean up the drug use, for one. And, two, the people in professional sports need to act professional all of the time. Too many kids believe they can follow these professionals and behave in the same manner without any consequences whatsoever."

Alvin in Nova Scotia: "They ought to be fined and have part of their gross salaries taken away. They are not above the law, except O.J."

And Lee in Kent, Ohio: "People watch professional sports because they want to see the impossible. They want to see hundreds of home runs and bone-breaking tackles. I'm all for cleaning up pro sports, but it won't happen until the fans start boycotts the games."

HEMMER: Think that will happen?

O'BRIEN: No.

CAFFERTY: Probably not.

HEMMER: I'll tell you what, if hockey breaks their labor stoppage or whatever it is, what is it, a lockout or, what, a strike? What are they calling it? If they come back and the fans don't come back, that sport is in a world of hurt.

CAFFERTY: And we've been down that road before. Remember the baseball strike...

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: ... and everybody said the fans will never come back? Well, they did.

HEMMER: How about the '80s with the NFL? That was a big deal, too, with the...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: No, I mean, to a degree, you know, the fans are at fault. But on the other hand, I mean, there should be -- isn't there some code of conduct for -- I mean, they call themselves professional athletes. They make millions of dollars a year. Suspending a guy for one game, who makes 14 million bucks, after he says what he says to this woman, I mean, that's not punishment.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: They're emotional.

CAFFERTY: It's meaningless.

SERWER: They're excitable.

CAFFERTY: They're morons, the ones who do that.

SERWER: They're having a good time, you know.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

CAFFERTY: What was it he said...

SERWER: The players.

CAFFERTY: Negotiating his contract, what was it he said? He has to feed his family.

SERWER: Yes, he said he has to feed his family. He wanted a couple million more. And he said, I've got a family to feed.

O'BRIEN: Yes, we all know that song...

SERWER: That's pretty well...

O'BRIEN: ... don't we?

SERWER: Yes, well, some of us (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: Yes, but you don't go out here and curse out the people on the show.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Yes, she does. Yes she does. Sometimes she does. We just don't catch it on camera.

O'BRIEN: They don't roll tape, but I do it all the time.

CAFFERTY: During the commercial breaks when nobody can see it.

O'BRIEN: Jack, thank you very much.

Let's turn to business now. Andy is "Minding Your Business." Red tag sale by an automaker? That's kind of weird.

SERWER: Yes. Actually, General Motors is getting a holiday sale, Soledad. You know, they had this lock-and-roll program starring Suze Orman with these commercials. And apparently it didn't work too well. I'm available, by the way, to slap some red tags...

HEMMER: Yes.

SERWER: So is Jack.

O'BRIEN: You've got a family to feed.

SERWER: Because I've got a family, very good. They're actually going to put red tags on -- you know, sales for GM in November were down 13 percent. And they're anticipating sales are not going to be so ducky in the first quarter.

Listen to this: $3,500 back on the '04, $7,000 back -- that would be $7,000 back on the '04s, and that is a lot of money. And you can just imagine what it's going to do to GM's profits.

Sirius Satellite Radio and XM, the Coke and Pepsi of these satellite radio companies, got a big boost yesterday. Toyota said they're going to have factory-installed XM in 2006, and dealer- installed in Sirius in '05. And these stocks have just been flying. You know, it's amazing. Sirius is up 340 percent since August, up 90 cents yesterday.

CAFFERTY: Did you see where the head of Viacom says they're going to hold Howard Stern right to the very end of his contract?

SERWER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Because they stand to make $100 million off his radio show if they keep him on the air to the end of his contract. Meantime, Stern goes on the air every day, trashes Viacom and talks up Sirius Satellite.

SERWER: Right. HEMMER: But they want him.

SERWER: It's a beautiful relationship.

CAFFERTY: It's a wonderful thing.

O'BRIEN: Back to the question, it's all about the money, isn't it?

SERWER: It is. It is.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, CBS dives into sitcom waters to find a new late-night host. But does he have enough star power to compete? "90-Second Pop" is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Jack, you can't leave yet. I'm not done.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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? Late night show -- "The Late, Late Show" now on CBS has a new host.

SIGESMUND: A new host.

O'BRIEN: And who is it?

BOROWITZ: The very exciting...

O'BRIEN: Who is the guy? Craig Ferguson?

BOROWITZ: The very exciting, Craig Ferguson.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: We're very excited about this.

BERNARD: Oh, reaction.

BOROWITZ: He played the boss on the beloved "Drew Carey Show." You know, this has been going on for weeks. They've been talking to people, like D.L. Hughley (ph), you know, all these people.

O'BRIEN: I love him.

BOROWITZ: I know. He's great.

SIGESMUND: And Damian Fahee (ph).

BOROWITZ: Right.

SIGESMUND: Also...

BERNARD: Michael Ian Black.

BOROWITZ: Right. I mean, this is, you know, CBS was searching for someone to host the show. And now, like, the new challenge is actually going to be finding someone to watch the show. That's going to be the challenge.

O'BRIEN: Is he funny?

BOROWITZ: He's Scottish.

BERNARD: He's a little bit funny. I think it's more about the accent.

BOROWITZ: He's Scottish. If we can understand him.

O'BRIEN: OK.

BOROWITZ: If we can understand him, he'll be great.

BERNARD: Now, the only thing that might help him out is that Letterman is actually edging in on Leno in the ratings.

BOROWITZ: That is true.

BERNARD: For a couple days a week he actually beats him for the first time.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: It all starts with "CSI," seriously.

BERNARD: Yes.

BOROWITZ: That's what he does. If "CSI" does well, then Letterman does well.

SIGESMUND: He was (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: And then that Scottish guy.

BERNARD: People just leave the TV on.

SIGESMUND: Turn the volume down and leave it on CBS all night.

O'BRIEN: It's all about the lead-in. We all know that. All right, you guys, as always, thank you.

Bill -- back to you.

HEMMER: There is on the BorowitzReport.com at this point, by the way...

BOROWITZ: It's all there.

HEMMER: ... a couple of good zingers in there today for you.

A break here. In a moment, today's top stories. And the 9/11 bill is expected to breeze through the Senate now. How are you safer because of it? We'll talk to Senator Dick Durbin in a moment, top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

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