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American Morning
'Political Jab'; 'Paging Dr. Gupta'
Aired December 14, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: People there have lived to see their 100th birthday. It's a remarkable statistic that just about anywhere on the planet is trying to match. We'll try and figure out what they're doing so right in Okinawa in a few moments.
Also, Soledad is back in New York. How are you, Soledad?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Bill, I'm doing just great. We miss you here, though. We're looking forward to seeing you at the beginning of next week.
HEMMER: I miss you, too.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, "Political Jab" taking a look at whether Washington is starting to turn on Donald Rumsfeld. Are the Defense Secretary's days numbered?
We're going to talk with that -- about that, rather -- with Watkins and Finney.
Before that, though, let's get another check of the headlines. Kelly Wallace with us. Good morning.
(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once again taking heat from his fellow Republicans. That's just one of our topics this morning in "Political Jab."
Joining us this morning, in fact, Democratic strategist Karen Finney from Washington, D.C.
Hi, Karen. Good morning.
KAREN FINNEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hi, good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Republican strategist Joe Watkins from the Time- Warner Center right here in New York City. Nice to have you in town even if you're not right with us this morning Joe.
Joe, in fact, let's begin with you. As you've heard, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, lots of flack from his own party. At some point, don't you think, especially considering his remarks to the troops, he needs to step down?
JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, again, this is a decision that the President of the United States has to make. Secretaries in the president's cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president. So, clearly, as long as President George Bush has confidence in Donald Rumsfeld, he'll continue to be the Secretary of Defense.
O'BRIEN: Karen, what do you think? I mean, to some degree, he's got a point, right? If the president wants him to stay, he's going to stay. It really doesn't matter what people are crying for, right?
FINNEY: Well, I think that's true -- actually I'm going to agree with Joe on this one, but obviously I'm going to have a slightly different take. I think that Rumsfeld is probably safe, more because in replacing him that would be an admission of failure on Bush's part and, as we know the president has said he doesn't make any mistakes.
He's ignored the fact that again and again...
WATKINS: The president never said that.
FINNEY: ... there has been blunder after blunder when it comes to Iraq.
O'BRIEN: One at a time.
WATKINS: Secretary Rumsfeld has had a very strong record. I like the way he handled the situation last week. He was very direct and clear, and he said after the fact that he doesn't mind the soldiers questioning him. He thinks it's a good thing that they have these kind of town meetings.
O'BRIEN: But Joe, but let me just -- wait here for a second. But many people thought when you say, you know, you go with the Army you have, not the Army you want, it's like well, actually, you could wait till you got the Army you want before you go, wasn't that kind of sort of the question?
WATKINS: Well...
FINNEY: Absolutely, that's an admission, quite frankly, that we went in without a real plan to win the peace; we went in ill-prepared for the task at hand. You know, our young men and women who are over there deserve better...
WATKINS: Not so, not so. We did have a plan, we went into Iraq with a plan to win the war and guess what, we're on our way to elections on January 30th. It's a great thing. Our soldiers are doing a great job...
FINNEY: Well, I think those elections are called into question at this point.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's turn and talk about stem cells, because as much as Karen says you guys agree, you really don't agree on this.
(LAUGHTER)
Stem cell research -- we heard that Governor Schwarzenegger is appointing three Democrats to run the $3 billion stem cell research project in California. Karen, any surprise there?
FINNEY: No surprise. I mean, you know, Governor Schwarzenegger has taken a different position than the president on stem cell research as, quite frankly, a number of Republicans do. I think it shows that within the Republican Party there are a great degree of variability between conservatives and the moderates, and I think we're going to see frankly over the next four years that this president is going to have a real challenge kind of keeping everyone unified, because now they're not so concerned with the re-election; now they've got their own...
WATKINS: He doesn't have that challenge in the past -- he hasn't had that challenge in the past. I mean, I think this president has done a very, very good job of unifying the Republican Party and realize the Republican Party is really a big tent; it's a big tent.
There are lots of people in the party that have different ideas on issues that matter to everybody. And we follow the president, he's a great leader and certainly we follow his lead. But of course independent governors are allowed to follow the course that they'd like.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing a great job in California. Has one of the highest approval ratings in that state since Ronald Reagan.
O'BRIEN: Joe Watkins, Karen Finney, joining us from Washington, D.C. this morning. You guys as always thanks.
WATKINS: Thanks so much.
FINNEY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Now I'll send it back to Bill Hemmer in Tokyo -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks. Here in Japan the issue of Iraq not too far away. The U.S. military nearly 60,000 strong in this country. A good number already spending time in Iraq, including Major Brandon Hart, a JAG who recently returned from serving several months in Iraq, my guest now here in Tokyo. Good evening to you.
MAJOR BRANDON HART, U.S. AIR FORCE: Good evening.
HEMMER: Welcome home. You've been home for a couple of months, right?
HART: Good to be home. A few months.
HEMMER: How long did you serve in Iraq?
HART: Three months.
HEMMER: And what was your primary job when you were there?
HART: I was the base JAG, so primarily military justice, the job one, but after that you've got your contracts and legal assistance for the troops -- basically full service legal office. HEMMER: All right. What part of the country, Major?
HART: About 45 miles north of Baghdad, at Balad Airbase.
HEMMER: OK, we've heard of Balad before. How would you say your time was there in terms of what you were able to learn from the other troops that were serving there about the attitude for their presence in Iraq at that time?
HART: As far as the American troops?
HEMMER: How they felt about being there, yes?
HART: They felt great about being there. The morale was high.
HEMMER: Yes?
HART: I mean, we had a sense of mission there that you don't get probably anywhere else in the world right now as far as feeling good about what you're doing, trying to build a democracy and show some people some freedom they've never had.
HEMMER: Will you go back?
HART: I have no idea. I'd certainly go if they call me there.
HEMMER: So it's always a possibility.
HART: It's always a possibility.
HEMMER: How do you like living here in Japan, by the way? Because I've talked to a number of the U.S. military personnel since we've been here in the past five days. They all love it.
HART: Japan is a great place to be assigned.
HEMMER: Tell me why.
HART: Well, there's just so much to do here in a huge city and it feels like a small town. People are real friendly, the food is good, tempura here is the best and a lot of activities for the family, a lot of sightseeing.
HEMMER: Good for you. You're married, right?
HART: I am married.
HEMMER: A couple of kids?
HART: Wife Trinna (ph) and two kids.
HEMMER: Watching my way right now?
HART: Yes, they might be.
HEMMER: You want to say hello? HART: Hi, there, family.
HEMMER: They can see you here in Japan because we carry this program here in prime time, so...
HART: That's right.
HEMMER: Hopefully they're watching, right?
HART: They're watching.
HEMMER: Good to see you, Major. Thanks for coming by, hope you have a really good holiday, too, OK? Thanks for your time and be safe, OK?
HART: Appreciate it.
HEMMER: You don't have to go just yet; all these people are applauding for you back there. Nice to see you, Major. All right.
Let's get a break here. In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING Andy's back in a moment on why a popular SUV is really making headlines so Andy has that in a moment.
First want to check the weather. Rob's in for Chad at the CNN Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING Andy Serwer on why a popular SUV is being pulled off the market.
Jack Cafferty has got an update on New York's most famous hawks. Negotiations are underway that could solve those problems there.
And people who live past 100 have some things in common like diet and exercise but how does suspicion help people live longer? Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains up next. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Time to page the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta all the way from Tokyo now. On the Japanese island of Okinawa, living longer has become a fact of life.
I will talk to Sanjay in a moment about that. First, though, some background from here in Japan and CNN's Atika Shubert.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guess how old Makato Nakamatsu (ph) is? Seventy? Eighty? Ninety, maybe? Try 100 years old.
This sprightly great grandmother of 13 is just one of more than 800 centenarians living in Okinawa, the largest verifiable and healthiest concentration of 100 year olds in the world.
On the islands of Okinawa, diseases like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension are rare. Healthy seniors are seen actively at work fishing and farming, seemingly immune to old age.
Okinawa is home to the world's oldest and healthiest people and part of the secret seems to be right on this fishing boat. Elderly fishermen who work late into their lives and of course eat the daily catch. And that turns out to be part of the secret of the Okinawa fountain of youth: staying active and eating well.
That, according to Dr. Craig Wilcox, who has studied Okinawa's centenarians for more than a decade.
DR. CRAIG WILCOX, GERONTOLOGIST: I think they just came up with the right formula, Okinawa. They're doing a lot to either avoid or delay these diseases associated with aging.
SHUBERT: We asked Dr. Wilcox to show us how the Okinawans do it. He took us to the market.
WILCOX: Let's have a look at this. Wow. See that purple color?
SHUBERT: First, eat lots of colorful fruits and veggies. That means carbs too, but unrefined. Brown rice or whole wheat.
WILCOX: The traditional diet is very vegetable heavy. Over 70 percent of the daily color intake came from vegetables.
SHUBERT: Second, eat moderate portions of protein, especially heart healthy fish and tofu. But also a surprising Okinawan favorite: pork. But just a little.
WILCOX: The way that this is prepared in a traditional Okinawan style would be to boil this down and keep pouring it off until you pour off all the fat.
SHUBERT: Third, follow Okinawan table etiquette. Eat until you are 80 percent full and no more. That keeps calories in check.
Is that the secret to Nakamatsu's exuberant good health? She's certainly happy to share her healthy lunch, but also recommends daily exercises. Apparently when you live past 100 you know some pretty good dance moves. And if you do all that, she says, she'll come visit you when you turn 100.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Okinawa, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: What a life for her. We're paging the good doctor now. Sanjay Gupta, at the CNN Center.
How are you, Sanjay? Good morning. Tell us about this fountain of youth. How you doing? GUPTA: Good morning. Yes, really interesting, obviously. Okinawa a great place to look at as far as centenarians go. A couple of facts to point out.
First of all, with regards to Okinawa. So they live longer, lower rates of Alzheimer's. If they leave the island, those things go away. Why, is the question? Atika sort of mentioned a couple of these things.
Vigorous physical and mental exercise throughout their lives. A diet low in fat and salt. High in fruits and vegetables.
Also a couple of other interesting things that we found in our research on this -- soy, a significant part of the diet, 60 to 120 grams of soy daily and eat only until you're 80 percent full.
Atika mentioned this, it's called hallahachibo (ph), Bill, that's the name of it -- it's called eat only until you're 80 percent full. That's going to make you eat fewer calories. Really important.
Also an important sense of social belonging. Everyone from the youngest in this community to the oldest in this community has a sense of place and is respected as such, Bill. All these things seem to have a factor as well.
HEMMER: Yes, is this exclusive only to Okinawa, Sanjay, or do you find if you put out the map of the world do you find other areas of the world where you see similar aging rates?
GUPTA: Well, Okinawa is one of the best, certainly, around the world, but there are other places around the world that have high concentrations of centenarians. Take a look: Okinawa topping the list but also Nova Scotia, Canada, for example. Sardinia, Italy as well.
If you want to look around the world as far as life expectancy Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan all around 81. Japan as a country 81.
Canada 80, France 79. USA 77. China 72 and Botswana only 30. The reason it's so low in Botswana really has to do with high infant mortality rates there, Bill.
HEMMER: What about personality traits, Sanjay? Do you see any common link that would conclude any research as to why some people are living longer than others?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, there are some significant personality links and this is probably one of the most interesting things about it. If you look at the personalities of people. Strong but flexible characters. They tend to be more dominant in terms of their personality.
Also a bit suspicious. Suspicious of those around them, sometimes. But they're very practical minded. And tend to be more relaxed in general. Another important thing that we found as well, Bill, is that the people who lived longer oftentimes had helpers or people that they associated with who were much younger than them. That was both their -- they got some help from those young people as well as sort of a passageway into being young themselves, perhaps making them live longer, Bill.
HEMMER: How about that woman in the story that Atika showed -- she was just vibrant -- absolutely.
Hey, thanks, Sanjay. Very interesting stuff. Eighty percent filled and then stop. Talk to you later. Oh, I like that too. We'll talk to you later.
Here's Soledad again in New York.
O'BRIEN: Thanks guys. Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer explains why Blockbuster Video thinks it can make more money by waiving one of its fees. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We've got your New Year's resolution by Blockbuster and Ford is taking it's largest off the market.
Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." I know about those Blockbuster late fees. My kid's think it's a one-way deal. You just rent the tapes and never have to return them -- so -- I pay those things regularly.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Your family is like an annuity.
CAFFERTY: Yes, exactly. I'm part of the cash flow.
SERWER: All right. Let's talk about the market though first of all, Jack. Check in on yesterday's action. A very good one.
Dow up 95 points. A lot of merger mania going down on Wall Street and it continues. Talks of deals in the telecom industry and the software industry boosting stocks across the board.
This morning though the trade deficit hits a record high in October of $55 billion. We have our emissary in Japan, Bill Hemmer, who is going to try to do something about that -- right, Bill? Well, we'll get to that in a second.
So, Blockbuster says it's going to end late fees, Jack. It's going to give you one-week grace period, trying to boost its business. But if you read it, it looks like a world of red tape to me. So you get a one-week grace period. Let me read this to you.
After the grace period, the chain will automatically sell the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for credit, less a restocking fee. Plus your first born child, minus three buckets of popcorn.
No, I added those last two points. But I mean this is not a straight shot.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
SERWER: I don't like it. All right, Ford is doing away with the Ford Excursion. This is a big kahuna. This is a big vehicle. This is the biggest thing they make. This is a monster. It's a 19-foot, 9200-pound beast that does 14 miles to the gallon and seats nine.
Enviros dub this one the Ford Valdese, a lightning run for environmentalists. They're getting rid of it in September and they're going to make a super duty pickup truck. Sales have been down and the back seat you could get a 7-foot flip down color monitor with wireless headphones for the kiddies. Now how are we going to live without that?
CAFFERTY: Well, we'll have to figure out something.
SERWER: Well, go to Blockbuster.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that's right, and then lose the tapes while you're in Albuquerque on vacation. Thanks, Andy. Time for the "File."
In honor of our shows out of Japan this week, we bring you the following: remember the boyfriend pillow? This was a soft silent arm for women to fall asleep on.
Now men in Japan are getting their own place to rest their heads. On a woman's lap.
SERWER: Wow.
CAFFERTY: According to the manufacturer, this latest pillow fulfills a primal need for men, especially single men who find it soothing but not for the reasons you're probably thinking.
SERWER: That's so wrong.
CAFFERTY: Quote, from the time people were kids, they have laid their heads on their mother's laps to get their ears cleaned, end quote.
(LAUGHTER)
SERWER: What kind of mother -- yes.
O'BRIEN: Gross.
SERWER: What do they...
O'BRIEN: Sorry.
CAFFERTY: So far, the company has sold 3,000 of these things to a bunch of weird guys in Japan. However, a note -- you have to clean your own ears. The pillow thing doesn't do that.
I don't recall ever...
SERWER: No, I don't either. I mean...
CAFFERTY: Let's move along here because I could destroy this whole thing in 20 seconds.
If you are an American traveling abroad, you may want to grab the "Go Canadian" package to ward off those pesky foreigners ready to give you a hard time.
It's a good disguise easy to become a Hoosier with t- shirtking.com's packet includes the T-shirt, a Canadian flag pin and a patch for your luggage. There's even a quick reference guide, "How to Speak Canadian," eh? It includes important Knuck expressions like a "twofer," that's a case of 24 beers and a Canadian staple, "double- double," a coffee with double cream, double sugar.
"Buck," which is a unit of 100, often used to describe highway speeds, as in I got caught doing a buck-thirty on the 401.
Runners, which is a term for sneakers, and the all-important "eh?" which should be used to end every sentence.
"Nice day, eh?" Or, "What's Bill doing in Japan, eh?"
And finally this: it's been a week since those red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola were summarily kicked out of their New York penthouse nest at 927 Fifth Avenue. Lived there for 12 years. They may be on the verge of winning this thing, though, against the wealthy snobs who live at that address.
The building's co-op board met yesterday with the Autobahn Society and the New York Park officials about rebuilding the nest, and it seems that a tentative deal has been reached. Nothing in writing yet, but we got something on the board.
The board says they must consult with the co-op's architect before making any commitment, but they are looking at replacing the spikes that held the hawk's nest in place, or building a new structure to secure the nest. John Flicker of the Autobahn Society -- now there's a name for the guy running the Autobahn Society -- his name is Flicker...
SERWER: Our friend.
CAFFERTY: He says that all of this needs to happen quickly because the onset of winter -- the longer they wait, the longer the birds will be at risk. We will continue to follow this story, and we will let you know how it comes out.
SERWER: They're going to delay this thing, I think, until the birds go off somewhere.
CAFFERTY: I don't think so, because people like me will continue to sit here and harp and scream and squabble about it...
SERWER: You have been doing that, squawking.
CAFFERTY: This is a story that made the front page of "The New York Times" on Saturday.
SERWER: And the protestors were out there in force.
CAFFERTY: They've got people picketing and stuff. I mean, just, you know, bite the bullet and do the right thing and quit monkey businessing around here. Is that a verb, "monkey businessing?"
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
CAFFERTY: To monkey business?
SERWER: Get the nest up.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely, good job.
CAFFERTY: I'm going to get me one of those pillows. Would you clean my ears?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Uh, no, actually -- no I won't.
CAFFERTY: Actually, no I won't.
O'BRIEN: Let's go back to Bill Hemmer, please. Please.
HEMMER: Hey Jack -- hey Jack, I'll get you one, eh? I'll get you one.
CAFFERTY: All right.
HEMMER: Hey you know you're hitting on that hawk story again. I mean they're holding signs up here in Tokyo...
CAFFERTY: See, it's a global event now.
HEMMER: You're communicating with the people around the world on this. We've got something for the "File" from Tokyo.
This is for you guys. Washroom technology. Every member of our crew here in Japan has remarked about the bathroom technology, including this by Toto (ph) -- you literally put the soap on your hands inside the sink, then you move to the right and the water comes out, then you hold your hands there and the blow-dryer blows the water off of your hands.
They say the design is set up so that in case there are any germs they stay inside the sink. There you go, there's the soap, there's the water and then the blow dryer comes up. After further review, I can tell you the blow-dryer needs a little bit of help. Because your hands are still soaking wet when you're coming out of that thing, but...
O'BRIEN: It's not perfected yet.
HEMMER: Correct.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. Coming up in just a moment, a look at today's top stories, including the Peterson verdict. Two of the jurors who recommended death for Scott Peterson tell us what they thought was the most significant piece of evidence in that trial.
Stay with us: you're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired December 14, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: People there have lived to see their 100th birthday. It's a remarkable statistic that just about anywhere on the planet is trying to match. We'll try and figure out what they're doing so right in Okinawa in a few moments.
Also, Soledad is back in New York. How are you, Soledad?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Bill, I'm doing just great. We miss you here, though. We're looking forward to seeing you at the beginning of next week.
HEMMER: I miss you, too.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, "Political Jab" taking a look at whether Washington is starting to turn on Donald Rumsfeld. Are the Defense Secretary's days numbered?
We're going to talk with that -- about that, rather -- with Watkins and Finney.
Before that, though, let's get another check of the headlines. Kelly Wallace with us. Good morning.
(NEWSBREAK)
O'BRIEN: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld once again taking heat from his fellow Republicans. That's just one of our topics this morning in "Political Jab."
Joining us this morning, in fact, Democratic strategist Karen Finney from Washington, D.C.
Hi, Karen. Good morning.
KAREN FINNEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Hi, good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Republican strategist Joe Watkins from the Time- Warner Center right here in New York City. Nice to have you in town even if you're not right with us this morning Joe.
Joe, in fact, let's begin with you. As you've heard, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, lots of flack from his own party. At some point, don't you think, especially considering his remarks to the troops, he needs to step down?
JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know, again, this is a decision that the President of the United States has to make. Secretaries in the president's cabinet serve at the pleasure of the president. So, clearly, as long as President George Bush has confidence in Donald Rumsfeld, he'll continue to be the Secretary of Defense.
O'BRIEN: Karen, what do you think? I mean, to some degree, he's got a point, right? If the president wants him to stay, he's going to stay. It really doesn't matter what people are crying for, right?
FINNEY: Well, I think that's true -- actually I'm going to agree with Joe on this one, but obviously I'm going to have a slightly different take. I think that Rumsfeld is probably safe, more because in replacing him that would be an admission of failure on Bush's part and, as we know the president has said he doesn't make any mistakes.
He's ignored the fact that again and again...
WATKINS: The president never said that.
FINNEY: ... there has been blunder after blunder when it comes to Iraq.
O'BRIEN: One at a time.
WATKINS: Secretary Rumsfeld has had a very strong record. I like the way he handled the situation last week. He was very direct and clear, and he said after the fact that he doesn't mind the soldiers questioning him. He thinks it's a good thing that they have these kind of town meetings.
O'BRIEN: But Joe, but let me just -- wait here for a second. But many people thought when you say, you know, you go with the Army you have, not the Army you want, it's like well, actually, you could wait till you got the Army you want before you go, wasn't that kind of sort of the question?
WATKINS: Well...
FINNEY: Absolutely, that's an admission, quite frankly, that we went in without a real plan to win the peace; we went in ill-prepared for the task at hand. You know, our young men and women who are over there deserve better...
WATKINS: Not so, not so. We did have a plan, we went into Iraq with a plan to win the war and guess what, we're on our way to elections on January 30th. It's a great thing. Our soldiers are doing a great job...
FINNEY: Well, I think those elections are called into question at this point.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's turn and talk about stem cells, because as much as Karen says you guys agree, you really don't agree on this.
(LAUGHTER)
Stem cell research -- we heard that Governor Schwarzenegger is appointing three Democrats to run the $3 billion stem cell research project in California. Karen, any surprise there?
FINNEY: No surprise. I mean, you know, Governor Schwarzenegger has taken a different position than the president on stem cell research as, quite frankly, a number of Republicans do. I think it shows that within the Republican Party there are a great degree of variability between conservatives and the moderates, and I think we're going to see frankly over the next four years that this president is going to have a real challenge kind of keeping everyone unified, because now they're not so concerned with the re-election; now they've got their own...
WATKINS: He doesn't have that challenge in the past -- he hasn't had that challenge in the past. I mean, I think this president has done a very, very good job of unifying the Republican Party and realize the Republican Party is really a big tent; it's a big tent.
There are lots of people in the party that have different ideas on issues that matter to everybody. And we follow the president, he's a great leader and certainly we follow his lead. But of course independent governors are allowed to follow the course that they'd like.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing a great job in California. Has one of the highest approval ratings in that state since Ronald Reagan.
O'BRIEN: Joe Watkins, Karen Finney, joining us from Washington, D.C. this morning. You guys as always thanks.
WATKINS: Thanks so much.
FINNEY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Now I'll send it back to Bill Hemmer in Tokyo -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks. Here in Japan the issue of Iraq not too far away. The U.S. military nearly 60,000 strong in this country. A good number already spending time in Iraq, including Major Brandon Hart, a JAG who recently returned from serving several months in Iraq, my guest now here in Tokyo. Good evening to you.
MAJOR BRANDON HART, U.S. AIR FORCE: Good evening.
HEMMER: Welcome home. You've been home for a couple of months, right?
HART: Good to be home. A few months.
HEMMER: How long did you serve in Iraq?
HART: Three months.
HEMMER: And what was your primary job when you were there?
HART: I was the base JAG, so primarily military justice, the job one, but after that you've got your contracts and legal assistance for the troops -- basically full service legal office. HEMMER: All right. What part of the country, Major?
HART: About 45 miles north of Baghdad, at Balad Airbase.
HEMMER: OK, we've heard of Balad before. How would you say your time was there in terms of what you were able to learn from the other troops that were serving there about the attitude for their presence in Iraq at that time?
HART: As far as the American troops?
HEMMER: How they felt about being there, yes?
HART: They felt great about being there. The morale was high.
HEMMER: Yes?
HART: I mean, we had a sense of mission there that you don't get probably anywhere else in the world right now as far as feeling good about what you're doing, trying to build a democracy and show some people some freedom they've never had.
HEMMER: Will you go back?
HART: I have no idea. I'd certainly go if they call me there.
HEMMER: So it's always a possibility.
HART: It's always a possibility.
HEMMER: How do you like living here in Japan, by the way? Because I've talked to a number of the U.S. military personnel since we've been here in the past five days. They all love it.
HART: Japan is a great place to be assigned.
HEMMER: Tell me why.
HART: Well, there's just so much to do here in a huge city and it feels like a small town. People are real friendly, the food is good, tempura here is the best and a lot of activities for the family, a lot of sightseeing.
HEMMER: Good for you. You're married, right?
HART: I am married.
HEMMER: A couple of kids?
HART: Wife Trinna (ph) and two kids.
HEMMER: Watching my way right now?
HART: Yes, they might be.
HEMMER: You want to say hello? HART: Hi, there, family.
HEMMER: They can see you here in Japan because we carry this program here in prime time, so...
HART: That's right.
HEMMER: Hopefully they're watching, right?
HART: They're watching.
HEMMER: Good to see you, Major. Thanks for coming by, hope you have a really good holiday, too, OK? Thanks for your time and be safe, OK?
HART: Appreciate it.
HEMMER: You don't have to go just yet; all these people are applauding for you back there. Nice to see you, Major. All right.
Let's get a break here. In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING Andy's back in a moment on why a popular SUV is really making headlines so Andy has that in a moment.
First want to check the weather. Rob's in for Chad at the CNN Center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING Andy Serwer on why a popular SUV is being pulled off the market.
Jack Cafferty has got an update on New York's most famous hawks. Negotiations are underway that could solve those problems there.
And people who live past 100 have some things in common like diet and exercise but how does suspicion help people live longer? Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains up next. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Time to page the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta all the way from Tokyo now. On the Japanese island of Okinawa, living longer has become a fact of life.
I will talk to Sanjay in a moment about that. First, though, some background from here in Japan and CNN's Atika Shubert.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Guess how old Makato Nakamatsu (ph) is? Seventy? Eighty? Ninety, maybe? Try 100 years old.
This sprightly great grandmother of 13 is just one of more than 800 centenarians living in Okinawa, the largest verifiable and healthiest concentration of 100 year olds in the world.
On the islands of Okinawa, diseases like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension are rare. Healthy seniors are seen actively at work fishing and farming, seemingly immune to old age.
Okinawa is home to the world's oldest and healthiest people and part of the secret seems to be right on this fishing boat. Elderly fishermen who work late into their lives and of course eat the daily catch. And that turns out to be part of the secret of the Okinawa fountain of youth: staying active and eating well.
That, according to Dr. Craig Wilcox, who has studied Okinawa's centenarians for more than a decade.
DR. CRAIG WILCOX, GERONTOLOGIST: I think they just came up with the right formula, Okinawa. They're doing a lot to either avoid or delay these diseases associated with aging.
SHUBERT: We asked Dr. Wilcox to show us how the Okinawans do it. He took us to the market.
WILCOX: Let's have a look at this. Wow. See that purple color?
SHUBERT: First, eat lots of colorful fruits and veggies. That means carbs too, but unrefined. Brown rice or whole wheat.
WILCOX: The traditional diet is very vegetable heavy. Over 70 percent of the daily color intake came from vegetables.
SHUBERT: Second, eat moderate portions of protein, especially heart healthy fish and tofu. But also a surprising Okinawan favorite: pork. But just a little.
WILCOX: The way that this is prepared in a traditional Okinawan style would be to boil this down and keep pouring it off until you pour off all the fat.
SHUBERT: Third, follow Okinawan table etiquette. Eat until you are 80 percent full and no more. That keeps calories in check.
Is that the secret to Nakamatsu's exuberant good health? She's certainly happy to share her healthy lunch, but also recommends daily exercises. Apparently when you live past 100 you know some pretty good dance moves. And if you do all that, she says, she'll come visit you when you turn 100.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Okinawa, Japan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: What a life for her. We're paging the good doctor now. Sanjay Gupta, at the CNN Center.
How are you, Sanjay? Good morning. Tell us about this fountain of youth. How you doing? GUPTA: Good morning. Yes, really interesting, obviously. Okinawa a great place to look at as far as centenarians go. A couple of facts to point out.
First of all, with regards to Okinawa. So they live longer, lower rates of Alzheimer's. If they leave the island, those things go away. Why, is the question? Atika sort of mentioned a couple of these things.
Vigorous physical and mental exercise throughout their lives. A diet low in fat and salt. High in fruits and vegetables.
Also a couple of other interesting things that we found in our research on this -- soy, a significant part of the diet, 60 to 120 grams of soy daily and eat only until you're 80 percent full.
Atika mentioned this, it's called hallahachibo (ph), Bill, that's the name of it -- it's called eat only until you're 80 percent full. That's going to make you eat fewer calories. Really important.
Also an important sense of social belonging. Everyone from the youngest in this community to the oldest in this community has a sense of place and is respected as such, Bill. All these things seem to have a factor as well.
HEMMER: Yes, is this exclusive only to Okinawa, Sanjay, or do you find if you put out the map of the world do you find other areas of the world where you see similar aging rates?
GUPTA: Well, Okinawa is one of the best, certainly, around the world, but there are other places around the world that have high concentrations of centenarians. Take a look: Okinawa topping the list but also Nova Scotia, Canada, for example. Sardinia, Italy as well.
If you want to look around the world as far as life expectancy Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan all around 81. Japan as a country 81.
Canada 80, France 79. USA 77. China 72 and Botswana only 30. The reason it's so low in Botswana really has to do with high infant mortality rates there, Bill.
HEMMER: What about personality traits, Sanjay? Do you see any common link that would conclude any research as to why some people are living longer than others?
GUPTA: Yes, I mean, there are some significant personality links and this is probably one of the most interesting things about it. If you look at the personalities of people. Strong but flexible characters. They tend to be more dominant in terms of their personality.
Also a bit suspicious. Suspicious of those around them, sometimes. But they're very practical minded. And tend to be more relaxed in general. Another important thing that we found as well, Bill, is that the people who lived longer oftentimes had helpers or people that they associated with who were much younger than them. That was both their -- they got some help from those young people as well as sort of a passageway into being young themselves, perhaps making them live longer, Bill.
HEMMER: How about that woman in the story that Atika showed -- she was just vibrant -- absolutely.
Hey, thanks, Sanjay. Very interesting stuff. Eighty percent filled and then stop. Talk to you later. Oh, I like that too. We'll talk to you later.
Here's Soledad again in New York.
O'BRIEN: Thanks guys. Still to come this morning, Andy Serwer explains why Blockbuster Video thinks it can make more money by waiving one of its fees. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: We've got your New Year's resolution by Blockbuster and Ford is taking it's largest off the market.
Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." I know about those Blockbuster late fees. My kid's think it's a one-way deal. You just rent the tapes and never have to return them -- so -- I pay those things regularly.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Your family is like an annuity.
CAFFERTY: Yes, exactly. I'm part of the cash flow.
SERWER: All right. Let's talk about the market though first of all, Jack. Check in on yesterday's action. A very good one.
Dow up 95 points. A lot of merger mania going down on Wall Street and it continues. Talks of deals in the telecom industry and the software industry boosting stocks across the board.
This morning though the trade deficit hits a record high in October of $55 billion. We have our emissary in Japan, Bill Hemmer, who is going to try to do something about that -- right, Bill? Well, we'll get to that in a second.
So, Blockbuster says it's going to end late fees, Jack. It's going to give you one-week grace period, trying to boost its business. But if you read it, it looks like a world of red tape to me. So you get a one-week grace period. Let me read this to you.
After the grace period, the chain will automatically sell the product, less the rental fee. If the customers don't want to purchase the movie or game, they can return the product within 30 days for credit, less a restocking fee. Plus your first born child, minus three buckets of popcorn.
No, I added those last two points. But I mean this is not a straight shot.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
SERWER: I don't like it. All right, Ford is doing away with the Ford Excursion. This is a big kahuna. This is a big vehicle. This is the biggest thing they make. This is a monster. It's a 19-foot, 9200-pound beast that does 14 miles to the gallon and seats nine.
Enviros dub this one the Ford Valdese, a lightning run for environmentalists. They're getting rid of it in September and they're going to make a super duty pickup truck. Sales have been down and the back seat you could get a 7-foot flip down color monitor with wireless headphones for the kiddies. Now how are we going to live without that?
CAFFERTY: Well, we'll have to figure out something.
SERWER: Well, go to Blockbuster.
CAFFERTY: Yes, that's right, and then lose the tapes while you're in Albuquerque on vacation. Thanks, Andy. Time for the "File."
In honor of our shows out of Japan this week, we bring you the following: remember the boyfriend pillow? This was a soft silent arm for women to fall asleep on.
Now men in Japan are getting their own place to rest their heads. On a woman's lap.
SERWER: Wow.
CAFFERTY: According to the manufacturer, this latest pillow fulfills a primal need for men, especially single men who find it soothing but not for the reasons you're probably thinking.
SERWER: That's so wrong.
CAFFERTY: Quote, from the time people were kids, they have laid their heads on their mother's laps to get their ears cleaned, end quote.
(LAUGHTER)
SERWER: What kind of mother -- yes.
O'BRIEN: Gross.
SERWER: What do they...
O'BRIEN: Sorry.
CAFFERTY: So far, the company has sold 3,000 of these things to a bunch of weird guys in Japan. However, a note -- you have to clean your own ears. The pillow thing doesn't do that.
I don't recall ever...
SERWER: No, I don't either. I mean...
CAFFERTY: Let's move along here because I could destroy this whole thing in 20 seconds.
If you are an American traveling abroad, you may want to grab the "Go Canadian" package to ward off those pesky foreigners ready to give you a hard time.
It's a good disguise easy to become a Hoosier with t- shirtking.com's packet includes the T-shirt, a Canadian flag pin and a patch for your luggage. There's even a quick reference guide, "How to Speak Canadian," eh? It includes important Knuck expressions like a "twofer," that's a case of 24 beers and a Canadian staple, "double- double," a coffee with double cream, double sugar.
"Buck," which is a unit of 100, often used to describe highway speeds, as in I got caught doing a buck-thirty on the 401.
Runners, which is a term for sneakers, and the all-important "eh?" which should be used to end every sentence.
"Nice day, eh?" Or, "What's Bill doing in Japan, eh?"
And finally this: it's been a week since those red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola were summarily kicked out of their New York penthouse nest at 927 Fifth Avenue. Lived there for 12 years. They may be on the verge of winning this thing, though, against the wealthy snobs who live at that address.
The building's co-op board met yesterday with the Autobahn Society and the New York Park officials about rebuilding the nest, and it seems that a tentative deal has been reached. Nothing in writing yet, but we got something on the board.
The board says they must consult with the co-op's architect before making any commitment, but they are looking at replacing the spikes that held the hawk's nest in place, or building a new structure to secure the nest. John Flicker of the Autobahn Society -- now there's a name for the guy running the Autobahn Society -- his name is Flicker...
SERWER: Our friend.
CAFFERTY: He says that all of this needs to happen quickly because the onset of winter -- the longer they wait, the longer the birds will be at risk. We will continue to follow this story, and we will let you know how it comes out.
SERWER: They're going to delay this thing, I think, until the birds go off somewhere.
CAFFERTY: I don't think so, because people like me will continue to sit here and harp and scream and squabble about it...
SERWER: You have been doing that, squawking.
CAFFERTY: This is a story that made the front page of "The New York Times" on Saturday.
SERWER: And the protestors were out there in force.
CAFFERTY: They've got people picketing and stuff. I mean, just, you know, bite the bullet and do the right thing and quit monkey businessing around here. Is that a verb, "monkey businessing?"
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
CAFFERTY: To monkey business?
SERWER: Get the nest up.
O'BRIEN: Absolutely, good job.
CAFFERTY: I'm going to get me one of those pillows. Would you clean my ears?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Uh, no, actually -- no I won't.
CAFFERTY: Actually, no I won't.
O'BRIEN: Let's go back to Bill Hemmer, please. Please.
HEMMER: Hey Jack -- hey Jack, I'll get you one, eh? I'll get you one.
CAFFERTY: All right.
HEMMER: Hey you know you're hitting on that hawk story again. I mean they're holding signs up here in Tokyo...
CAFFERTY: See, it's a global event now.
HEMMER: You're communicating with the people around the world on this. We've got something for the "File" from Tokyo.
This is for you guys. Washroom technology. Every member of our crew here in Japan has remarked about the bathroom technology, including this by Toto (ph) -- you literally put the soap on your hands inside the sink, then you move to the right and the water comes out, then you hold your hands there and the blow-dryer blows the water off of your hands.
They say the design is set up so that in case there are any germs they stay inside the sink. There you go, there's the soap, there's the water and then the blow dryer comes up. After further review, I can tell you the blow-dryer needs a little bit of help. Because your hands are still soaking wet when you're coming out of that thing, but...
O'BRIEN: It's not perfected yet.
HEMMER: Correct.
O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks. Coming up in just a moment, a look at today's top stories, including the Peterson verdict. Two of the jurors who recommended death for Scott Peterson tell us what they thought was the most significant piece of evidence in that trial.
Stay with us: you're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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