Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Turning the Tide; Interview with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist
Aired January 04, 2005 - 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:30 here in New York. Good morning, everybody. I'm Bill Hemmer in New York City in our studies here. Soledad continues to report from Thailand. We'll go back to her in about 30 minutes or so from Phuket, Thailand.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines have landed in Sri Lanka, ready to hand out aid and rebuild washed-out roads there. We will get a report from Sri Lanka in a moment.
Also, millions of Americans are now donating money to the relief effort. Two former presidents are leading that fund-raising drive, announced yesterday, will look at what message Washington is trying to send in a few moments here. Also Bill Frist is my guest in a moment from D.C. We'll talk to him.
Heidi Collins is with us as well. Good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. And good morning to once again, everybody.
"Now in the News" this morning.
At least seven Palestinians have been killed in Northern Gaza this morning. Palestinian officials say Israeli forces backed by troops rolled into a rural area and began firing. According to Israeli military sources, the tanks were targeting militants who had been shooting mortars into Israeli settlements.
Here in the United States, new developments in the investigation into a Maryland fire that caused more than $10 million in damage. A grand jury in Maryland has handed up indictments against five men, charging them with arson and conspiracy. They are part of an informal group of road racers. A sixth man remains charged but has not been indicted.
And the researcher who blew the whistle on the painkiller Vioxx is getting the green light now to publish his study. Dr. David Graham testified last November that the now-recalled drug was linked to heart problems in nearly 140,000 patients. His lawyer says Graham got approval from the FDA to resubmit his study for publication. The agency apparently forced him to withdraw an earlier version. That story still continues, as you would imagine.
HEMMER: All right, thanks, Heidi.
We want to get back to the tsunami. And U.S. Marines are now planning to hit the beach in Sri Lanka with food and medicine and heavy equipment; 46,000 are said to be dead, 14,000 more missing in Sri Lanka.
Satinder Bindra by videophone now with more there.
Satinder -- hello.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Just about a couple hours ago, a C5, the largest transport plane in the world, arrived here in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. It was carrying 100 Marines and tons of heavy equipment, things such as water purification plans, generators and other equipment that will clean out the debris here in Sri Lanka.
Of course, this mission is very important to the people of Sri Lanka. They have been asking for supplies, and today they have come. Our best sense is a lot of the U.S. equipment will be in place. It will be deployed in four days.
But today itself, at least a few U.S. helicopters managed to fly south. They flew to the city of Galle, one of the worst-affected areas, and distributed food supplies. These food supplies, of course, are coming from the United States as a gift from the people of America.
HEMMER: Satinder Bindra reporting by videophone there in Sri Lanka. We'll follow that story throughout the day as well.
Back in this country, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is heading up a delegation that is leaving for the region later today. Their first stop will be Sri Lanka.
Senator Frist joins me now from D.C.
Senator, good morning, and welcome back here.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You are also a physician. In every interview you have done over the past four or five days you've talked about water as the headline every time. Other than the obvious, tell us why this is so critical, clean water in all of the areas that need it.
FRIST: Well, Bill, you noticed in the piece that you just did from Sri Lanka, the first thing that was mentioned was water purification systems. And there's a reason for that. And it's that after you have a major catastrophe, where there's been disruption of the sanitation, whether it's simple latrines or whether it's plumbing being washed away and you diminish access to potable, or that is clean drinking water, you greatly increase the risk of death and disease.
And it really is very simple, and that is when you have poor sanitation, you have a proliferation of bacteria, shigella (ph) and dysentery and salmonella, cholera, e-coli, all of these bacteria, his, that is the only water that people can drink. And water, like food, is necessary. With that you get diarrhea. Very quickly you get dehydration. With dehydration, you get what's called cardiogenic (ph) shock, or shock and immediate heart failure. And all of this can happen over a period of about 24 hours or 48 hours.
What you need to do is focus on water. That needs to be your first priority. Clean drinking water, everything from what you just heard our Marines taking in, water purification systems, to little packets of like chlorine, something I will be taking in later today. That if you put in some water, you can stir it, and about 10 liters of water this little packet will clean. It gets rid of the bacteria. It gets rid of the parasites. It diminishes the risk of death. Again, this is the disaster after the disaster unless you focus on that that No. 1 priority.
HEMMER: Senator, show us that chlorine tablet in your hand again.
FRIST: This is a little packet, just a little bit of powder, predominantly chlorine and iron that you can dump into about 10 liters, or about two and a half gallons of water. And the water is clean. It gets rid of the bacteria. And, again, this is something that can be prevented.
Another phase that can come in in about three weeks is what mosquitoes carry, malaria, which we all hear about. Dinkhe (ph) fever is also carried by mosquito. Simple dredging of pools of water that are a product of the tidal wave is something that can avoid that catastrophe, which would occur about three or four weeks from now.
HEMMER: Have you stopped for a second and thought about what you expect to see when you land in Sri Lanka?
FRIST: Yes, I have. I have had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world in the midst of a number of catastrophes. This one is different, because it came so acutely over a 5 or 10- minute period, with a huge element of death and destruction. But an even greater psychological impact that will start last week, last Sunday, but continue through the coming weeks, death, loss, fear, uncertainty, panic, paralysis, all of that sets in. It's something that we can't just throw money at or think it's going to be over with in a week or a month. It's going to take months and months and years in this relief recovery and reconstruction.
HEMMER: Let me try and tick through a couple more items in the short time we have left. The president saying yesterday when Congress reconvenes today, the first order of business should be passing this money, $350 million worth to the victims. Will that happen today, Senator?
FRIST: Bill, from last year's appropriations, we appropriated about $384 million in a special account for disaster and famine. That's what the account is called. That money is immediately available and will be distributed as it's needed over the coming weeks, months and really over the course of the next year.
How much we have to replenish that particular account and reprogramming of other money is part of the reason that I'm going a little bit later today to Sri Lanka and India to be able to assess. So when the request comes over, we can act very quickly if need be.
Does it have to all be new money? Not necessarily. A lot of it will be from reprogrammed money. I can tell you when the president does call or come by and say that we need the money, we will set aside Senate business and we will respond to that request.
HEMMER: One final comment here. In the early days of this tragedy, the U.S. was criticized for its slow response. Our e-mail question today is asking whether or not the Arab countries have contributed enough on their own behalf. Four countries, a total of $24 million, do you believe that's an appropriate amount for those countries at this point?
FRIST: You know, we will know after the donor meeting at the end of next week how much everybody is stepping up. One of the silver linings or the blessings in this whole story is that this great catastrophe did occur in the part of the world where we have some very strong countries like India, who can very quickly and immediately respond.
Let me just go back to what you first said. The United States responded quickly, boldly, within 24 hours. You see it today as our aircraft and our military are delivering off of those helicopters supplies day in and day out. We are the world leader in responding to this catastrophe, and we have been since day one.
HEMMER: While I have you here, I want to get to a different matter here. A "Washington Post" story today indicates that there is a Republican proposal that by about the year 2050 Social Security benefits will be cut by a third. It points out the Republican plan believes that if you can privatize some of the investment in Social Security, you can make up for that one-third money that is lost in benefits. Is that indeed the proposal that will be put forth in a few months by Republicans in Congress?
FRIST: Well, we have a lot on the agenda. Social Security will be one of the major items over the course of this year. There is going to be a lot of engagement with the American people.
Two quick points. Right now, in the past Social Security benefits have been linked to an increase in wages instead of an increase in prices or the price index or inflation. One of the items mentioned that needs to be discussed -- and as you mentioned it was in the paper today -- is that shouldn't these benefits be adjusted to keep up with prices rather than wages? And that is one proposal that is on the table.
Let me also say for the personal savings account, everybody wants to say we're privatizing Social Security. That's not what's being done. No effect on recent retirees or soon-to-be retirees, but young people today recognize it's their money they are putting into Social Security. They own that money. They would like to be able to invest in personal accounts if they want to, a nest egg that can help them in later retirement. And if there is an adjustment from wages to price index, which was on the front page, we need to remember that you can have access to these personal accounts, which will grow much faster than either prices or wages if we look to the past.
HEMMER: Just to be clear, in a word, you are not denying that report, are you?
FRIST: Say that again?
HEMMER: You're not denying the report in the "Post" today?
FRIST: Oh, no, absolutely not. In fact, I believe that that's a proposal that I would strongly support.
HEMMER: OK.
FRIST: That we adjust benefits according to price increases and not wages.
HEMMER: I'm out of time. Good luck and travel well to Sri Lanka and other parts of the region, Senator.
FRIST: Great. Thank you.
HEMMER: Bill Frist is my guest there in D.C.
Also, in Washington, three presidents, one major fund-raising effort. Dana Bash is at the White House this morning there.
Dana -- good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.
And the former presidents say that their task is to tell Americans that no financial donation is too small. And they also defended the current president against criticism that he was too slow to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice over): Three presidents, a show of American unity at embassies of countries hit hardest by last week's tsunami disaster. As the current White House occupant tries to quiet criticism his reaction was not fast or generous enough.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the coming days, Presidents Clinton and Bush will ask Americans to donate directly to reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims.
BASH: The president's aides enlisted his father and his old rival to lead what they call a massive effort to solicit private donations.
BUSH: The greatest source of America's generosity is not our government. It's the good heart of the American people.
BASH: The former presidents say they'll help sustain and direct contributions, pointing to this USA Freedom Corps Web site.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The private donation of cash is more important at this stage of the recovery than sending things, items, tents, whatever.
BASH: President Clinton, known for moving fast to express public empathy in the face of tragedy, came to his successor's defense.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Promising that we would do more through the government if need be, I don't see how he could have done more. I think that right now we are just where we need to be, and we shouldn't be looking back. We should be looking forward.
BASH: Former President Bush acknowledged this could be an opportunity for America to revive its tarnished reputation around the world. But what about his son's personal low standings?
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: That's not what this is about. It's about saving lives. It's about caring. And the president cares.
BASH: Tapping the former presidents, sending his brother, Florida's governor, and the secretary of state for a firsthand look at the devastation, plus these pictures of military helicopters delivering aid, is a combination the White House hopes will silence its critics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And in terms of the American government's pledge, Bill, Secretary Powell says for now $350 million is where it will stay. But he also said that this is a multi-year commitment and that the president knows he may have to dip into the treasury again -- perhaps soon -- Bill.
HEMMER: Dana, thanks. Dana Bash on the Front Lawn there of the White House.
Coverage later today on CNN. Then later tonight in primetime, Anderson heads up our coverage at 7:00. He's in Sri Lanka. Paula joins him at 8:00 from New York. And our team of reporters and correspondents are spread throughout the region later tonight here live on CNN for the best and complete coverage. "Turning the Tide" another CNN special report.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: And, Chad, I bet you didn't know you brought this up. But, you know, how do you grow tomatoes in weather like this?
HEMMER: He would know.
COLLINS: And we have really...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Inside?
COLLINS: Yes, exactly. Well, that's what a lot of growers are doing. But there are others who say this, it's called the ugly tomato. Sadly. Poor thing. It can actually be grown right now, and they taste pretty darn good. But they're not allowing them to ship them out of state, out of the state of Florida. So we're going to talk about this poor thing.
HEMMER: It doesn't have the nice...
COLLINS: Ugly tomato.
HEMMER: ... ripe flavor, does it, or color?
COLLINS: Yes, but it tastes very good, though.
HEMMER: We'll get to that.
COLLINS: We'll find out.
HEMMER: Also in a moment here, a TV news legend gets dragged into court for a criminal trial. Andy tells us why. Still to come this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to go ahead and check in with Jack now, the "Question of the Day," talking more about the aid going into the tsunami people.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Heidi.
Here is a surprise for you. Four -- four -- Arab nations are offering to help the tsunami victims. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have reportedly offered a grand total of $24 million. By contrast, Norway, a country with a gross domestic product half the size of New Jersey's, has pledged $180 million.
Saudi Arabia, which has pledged a paltry $10 million, did manage to give 155 million in 2002 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
So, where is the support from these Middle East countries that have long-standing ties with Southeast Asia? Indonesia, after all, is the most heavily-populated Muslim nation on earth.
The question is this: Are Arab countries doing enough to aid the tsunami victims?
David in Ames, Iowa, writes: "Yes. Between government contributions and the Muslim charities they are contributing their fair share."
Reg in Thunder Bay, Ontario, writes: "Arab countries doing something to help others? I had to check the TV to be sure I wasn't on the comedy channel by mistake." Blaine in Madison, Wisconsin, writes: "This is not a contest to see which country can throw the most money at the tsunami victims. What is important is that the victims get the help they need. Officials have stated that they are receiving enough money, but they need more manpower. We need to focus on helping them, not just chucking wads of cash at them."
The Arab nations, so far, cannot be accused of chucking wads of cash at anyone.
Dave in Fort Meade, Maryland: "The Muslim world seems unable to deal with anything more than what's occurring within their own borders. It's disappointing the Muslim world doesn't reach out more than they do. But with all of the trouble they have at home, I can understand why they don't."
And Tim in Des Moines, Iowa: "Are Arab countries doing enough? Jack, you crazy old fool. How can you question the royal families of OPEC? If they get wind of your insolence, oil price will go up another $5 a barrel."
HEMMER: I thought what Bill Frist said was interesting. We'll see what happens at the donor conference on Thursday in Jakarta. Maybe more of that story then. Thank you , Jack.
To Andy right now. "60 Minutes" is making news today of a very different kind. Minding our business now once again with Mr. Serwer.
What gives?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, you probably remember Richard Scrushy's name. He, of course, is the founder and former CEO of a once high-flying health care company, HealthSouth. He got in a bunch of trouble; in fact, was indicted. He faces a trial with 58 counts of fraud and related charges that is set to begin this week in Birmingham.
Now, Mr. Scrushy dropped a bombshell the other day when he has announced that he is going to be subpoenaing Mike Wallace and a producer at CBS News. This is pretty wild stuff here.
Now, Wallace interviewed Scrushy for "60 Minutes" back in October of '03. And now Scrushy wants him to come down to testify. We're not sure what he wants him to testify about. He is not suing Mike Wallace, and the interview was, you know, hard-hitting but a straightforward piece that "60 Minutes" did. So it's very unclear what Scrushy's strategy is.
Obviously, the "60 Minutes" people are resisting this, saying they don't want to come down. And the judge has yet to rule on this matter.
HEMMER: Is there more to the interview that did not air?
SERWER: It's possible. But it's hard to see what his strategy is going to be here other than ticking off a lot of TV people up in New York City, which is always maybe a good thing to do.
HEMMER: We'll watch it. Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Well, they're called ugly, but people say they're tasty. Why have tomatoes become such a controversy in the Sunshine State? We'll take a look at these ugly tomatoes coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You can call them fat and you can call them ugly, but you can't call them tasteless. We're talking tomatoes. And Joe Procacci knows and grows a brand called Ugly Ripe. And, in fact, fans swear by their unique taste.
But Florida's tomato board says the uglies don't meet their standards for appearance. Did you know tomatoes had standards for appearance?
Well, Joe Procacci is joining us now to talk about the red ripe controversy.
Good morning to you.
JOE PROCACCI, TOMATO GROWER: Good morning.
COLLINS: Thank you for coming in and thank you for bringing such a batch for us. Why don't you start by telling us why you started growing the Ugly Ripes? And comparing them, I think we have -- what some people would call a normal tomato sitting right next to it.
PROCACCI: Well, we have been growing tomatoes for over 40 years. We've been selling tomatoes for over 57 years. And in 57 years we never had any consumers say that the tomatoes taste good. They all wrote in letters and said the tomatoes taste like cardboard.
So, we developed a variety that emanated from the heirloom tomatoes, and we crossed them with disease-resistant qualities into it. And thus we have a tasty tomato that we are able to ship.
COLLINS: And so, this is what you came up with. I'm going to go ahead and compare here. We've got the ugly tomato and the regular tomato that a lot of people see in the grocery store.
PROCACCI: Round and fat.
COLLINS: Yes, the round tomato. Maybe not this time of year, because it's winter. What is the advantage, though, of the ugly tomato? I mean, is it just the taste? Apparently they taste wonderful.
PROCACCI: That's the big advantage. It has a good flavor. Like I said before, the complaints from consumers were that they taste like cardboard. COLLINS: Yes, they just couldn't get a good tomato in the winter.
PROCACCI: These are the tomatoes that the Florida tomato committee...
COLLINS: Would (UNINTELLIGIBLE), right.
PROCACCI: ... would control. These are No. 1. This is what they would ship out of Florida.
COLLINS: But now they won't do that. They won't allow you to ship these out.
PROCACCI: They won't allow this to be shipped out, because of the shape and the ridges on it. But it's a perfectly tasty tomato, and we have hundreds of letters of people complimenting us on them. It's like a tomato that you plant in your garden.
COLLINS: Right.
PROCACCI: And it has the flavor of a summer tomato.
COLLINS: Well, we should go ahead and put on the screen what the Florida tomato committee wrote about their following objections, just so we have their point of view as well. They say: "No mandate exists that bans a shipment of Ugly Ripe tomatoes out of the state. The company can and has shipped Ugly Ripe tomatoes out of Florida, and they continue to do so under the minimum requirements established for the regulated area of Florida."
Is that true?
PROCACCI: Yes, we could, but it's not feasible. Before we could grade these tomatoes, we would lose 60 percent of this variety before we could pack a case of tomatoes. They say that if you have 90 percent of the No. 2 grade, you can ship them out of Florida.
COLLINS: I see.
PROCACCI: So, if we throw away 60 percent before we pack a crate of tomatoes, then we'd only -- they say, well, you have 70 percent, No. 2, you have to throw away 20 percent more...
COLLINS: That's right.
PROCACCI: ... in order to ship them out.
COLLINS: And it's very expensive.
PROCACCI: In that case we are throwing away 80 percent of the tomatoes which is like 8 out of 10 tomatoes that we grow. So it's not feasible.
COLLINS: We appreciate you coming in and sharing the Ugly Ripe story with us. Joe Procacci, thank you again. We wish you the best of luck.
PROCACCI: You're welcome.
COLLINS: All right. Bill -- back over to you.
HEMMER: And keep us posted.
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: A break here. In a moment, top stories are straight ahead. Also more U.S. aid is pouring into tsunami-wrecked Southeast Asia. A problem, though, today that no one saw coming. Back to Soledad live in Thailand at the top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired January 4, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: It's 7:30 here in New York. Good morning, everybody. I'm Bill Hemmer in New York City in our studies here. Soledad continues to report from Thailand. We'll go back to her in about 30 minutes or so from Phuket, Thailand.
Meanwhile, U.S. Marines have landed in Sri Lanka, ready to hand out aid and rebuild washed-out roads there. We will get a report from Sri Lanka in a moment.
Also, millions of Americans are now donating money to the relief effort. Two former presidents are leading that fund-raising drive, announced yesterday, will look at what message Washington is trying to send in a few moments here. Also Bill Frist is my guest in a moment from D.C. We'll talk to him.
Heidi Collins is with us as well. Good morning to you.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. And good morning to once again, everybody.
"Now in the News" this morning.
At least seven Palestinians have been killed in Northern Gaza this morning. Palestinian officials say Israeli forces backed by troops rolled into a rural area and began firing. According to Israeli military sources, the tanks were targeting militants who had been shooting mortars into Israeli settlements.
Here in the United States, new developments in the investigation into a Maryland fire that caused more than $10 million in damage. A grand jury in Maryland has handed up indictments against five men, charging them with arson and conspiracy. They are part of an informal group of road racers. A sixth man remains charged but has not been indicted.
And the researcher who blew the whistle on the painkiller Vioxx is getting the green light now to publish his study. Dr. David Graham testified last November that the now-recalled drug was linked to heart problems in nearly 140,000 patients. His lawyer says Graham got approval from the FDA to resubmit his study for publication. The agency apparently forced him to withdraw an earlier version. That story still continues, as you would imagine.
HEMMER: All right, thanks, Heidi.
We want to get back to the tsunami. And U.S. Marines are now planning to hit the beach in Sri Lanka with food and medicine and heavy equipment; 46,000 are said to be dead, 14,000 more missing in Sri Lanka.
Satinder Bindra by videophone now with more there.
Satinder -- hello.
SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.
Just about a couple hours ago, a C5, the largest transport plane in the world, arrived here in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo. It was carrying 100 Marines and tons of heavy equipment, things such as water purification plans, generators and other equipment that will clean out the debris here in Sri Lanka.
Of course, this mission is very important to the people of Sri Lanka. They have been asking for supplies, and today they have come. Our best sense is a lot of the U.S. equipment will be in place. It will be deployed in four days.
But today itself, at least a few U.S. helicopters managed to fly south. They flew to the city of Galle, one of the worst-affected areas, and distributed food supplies. These food supplies, of course, are coming from the United States as a gift from the people of America.
HEMMER: Satinder Bindra reporting by videophone there in Sri Lanka. We'll follow that story throughout the day as well.
Back in this country, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is heading up a delegation that is leaving for the region later today. Their first stop will be Sri Lanka.
Senator Frist joins me now from D.C.
Senator, good morning, and welcome back here.
SEN. BILL FRIST (R-TN), MAJORITY LEADER: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You are also a physician. In every interview you have done over the past four or five days you've talked about water as the headline every time. Other than the obvious, tell us why this is so critical, clean water in all of the areas that need it.
FRIST: Well, Bill, you noticed in the piece that you just did from Sri Lanka, the first thing that was mentioned was water purification systems. And there's a reason for that. And it's that after you have a major catastrophe, where there's been disruption of the sanitation, whether it's simple latrines or whether it's plumbing being washed away and you diminish access to potable, or that is clean drinking water, you greatly increase the risk of death and disease.
And it really is very simple, and that is when you have poor sanitation, you have a proliferation of bacteria, shigella (ph) and dysentery and salmonella, cholera, e-coli, all of these bacteria, his, that is the only water that people can drink. And water, like food, is necessary. With that you get diarrhea. Very quickly you get dehydration. With dehydration, you get what's called cardiogenic (ph) shock, or shock and immediate heart failure. And all of this can happen over a period of about 24 hours or 48 hours.
What you need to do is focus on water. That needs to be your first priority. Clean drinking water, everything from what you just heard our Marines taking in, water purification systems, to little packets of like chlorine, something I will be taking in later today. That if you put in some water, you can stir it, and about 10 liters of water this little packet will clean. It gets rid of the bacteria. It gets rid of the parasites. It diminishes the risk of death. Again, this is the disaster after the disaster unless you focus on that that No. 1 priority.
HEMMER: Senator, show us that chlorine tablet in your hand again.
FRIST: This is a little packet, just a little bit of powder, predominantly chlorine and iron that you can dump into about 10 liters, or about two and a half gallons of water. And the water is clean. It gets rid of the bacteria. And, again, this is something that can be prevented.
Another phase that can come in in about three weeks is what mosquitoes carry, malaria, which we all hear about. Dinkhe (ph) fever is also carried by mosquito. Simple dredging of pools of water that are a product of the tidal wave is something that can avoid that catastrophe, which would occur about three or four weeks from now.
HEMMER: Have you stopped for a second and thought about what you expect to see when you land in Sri Lanka?
FRIST: Yes, I have. I have had the opportunity to travel to different parts of the world in the midst of a number of catastrophes. This one is different, because it came so acutely over a 5 or 10- minute period, with a huge element of death and destruction. But an even greater psychological impact that will start last week, last Sunday, but continue through the coming weeks, death, loss, fear, uncertainty, panic, paralysis, all of that sets in. It's something that we can't just throw money at or think it's going to be over with in a week or a month. It's going to take months and months and years in this relief recovery and reconstruction.
HEMMER: Let me try and tick through a couple more items in the short time we have left. The president saying yesterday when Congress reconvenes today, the first order of business should be passing this money, $350 million worth to the victims. Will that happen today, Senator?
FRIST: Bill, from last year's appropriations, we appropriated about $384 million in a special account for disaster and famine. That's what the account is called. That money is immediately available and will be distributed as it's needed over the coming weeks, months and really over the course of the next year.
How much we have to replenish that particular account and reprogramming of other money is part of the reason that I'm going a little bit later today to Sri Lanka and India to be able to assess. So when the request comes over, we can act very quickly if need be.
Does it have to all be new money? Not necessarily. A lot of it will be from reprogrammed money. I can tell you when the president does call or come by and say that we need the money, we will set aside Senate business and we will respond to that request.
HEMMER: One final comment here. In the early days of this tragedy, the U.S. was criticized for its slow response. Our e-mail question today is asking whether or not the Arab countries have contributed enough on their own behalf. Four countries, a total of $24 million, do you believe that's an appropriate amount for those countries at this point?
FRIST: You know, we will know after the donor meeting at the end of next week how much everybody is stepping up. One of the silver linings or the blessings in this whole story is that this great catastrophe did occur in the part of the world where we have some very strong countries like India, who can very quickly and immediately respond.
Let me just go back to what you first said. The United States responded quickly, boldly, within 24 hours. You see it today as our aircraft and our military are delivering off of those helicopters supplies day in and day out. We are the world leader in responding to this catastrophe, and we have been since day one.
HEMMER: While I have you here, I want to get to a different matter here. A "Washington Post" story today indicates that there is a Republican proposal that by about the year 2050 Social Security benefits will be cut by a third. It points out the Republican plan believes that if you can privatize some of the investment in Social Security, you can make up for that one-third money that is lost in benefits. Is that indeed the proposal that will be put forth in a few months by Republicans in Congress?
FRIST: Well, we have a lot on the agenda. Social Security will be one of the major items over the course of this year. There is going to be a lot of engagement with the American people.
Two quick points. Right now, in the past Social Security benefits have been linked to an increase in wages instead of an increase in prices or the price index or inflation. One of the items mentioned that needs to be discussed -- and as you mentioned it was in the paper today -- is that shouldn't these benefits be adjusted to keep up with prices rather than wages? And that is one proposal that is on the table.
Let me also say for the personal savings account, everybody wants to say we're privatizing Social Security. That's not what's being done. No effect on recent retirees or soon-to-be retirees, but young people today recognize it's their money they are putting into Social Security. They own that money. They would like to be able to invest in personal accounts if they want to, a nest egg that can help them in later retirement. And if there is an adjustment from wages to price index, which was on the front page, we need to remember that you can have access to these personal accounts, which will grow much faster than either prices or wages if we look to the past.
HEMMER: Just to be clear, in a word, you are not denying that report, are you?
FRIST: Say that again?
HEMMER: You're not denying the report in the "Post" today?
FRIST: Oh, no, absolutely not. In fact, I believe that that's a proposal that I would strongly support.
HEMMER: OK.
FRIST: That we adjust benefits according to price increases and not wages.
HEMMER: I'm out of time. Good luck and travel well to Sri Lanka and other parts of the region, Senator.
FRIST: Great. Thank you.
HEMMER: Bill Frist is my guest there in D.C.
Also, in Washington, three presidents, one major fund-raising effort. Dana Bash is at the White House this morning there.
Dana -- good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.
And the former presidents say that their task is to tell Americans that no financial donation is too small. And they also defended the current president against criticism that he was too slow to respond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice over): Three presidents, a show of American unity at embassies of countries hit hardest by last week's tsunami disaster. As the current White House occupant tries to quiet criticism his reaction was not fast or generous enough.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the coming days, Presidents Clinton and Bush will ask Americans to donate directly to reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims.
BASH: The president's aides enlisted his father and his old rival to lead what they call a massive effort to solicit private donations.
BUSH: The greatest source of America's generosity is not our government. It's the good heart of the American people.
BASH: The former presidents say they'll help sustain and direct contributions, pointing to this USA Freedom Corps Web site.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The private donation of cash is more important at this stage of the recovery than sending things, items, tents, whatever.
BASH: President Clinton, known for moving fast to express public empathy in the face of tragedy, came to his successor's defense.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Promising that we would do more through the government if need be, I don't see how he could have done more. I think that right now we are just where we need to be, and we shouldn't be looking back. We should be looking forward.
BASH: Former President Bush acknowledged this could be an opportunity for America to revive its tarnished reputation around the world. But what about his son's personal low standings?
GEORGE H.W. BUSH: That's not what this is about. It's about saving lives. It's about caring. And the president cares.
BASH: Tapping the former presidents, sending his brother, Florida's governor, and the secretary of state for a firsthand look at the devastation, plus these pictures of military helicopters delivering aid, is a combination the White House hopes will silence its critics.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And in terms of the American government's pledge, Bill, Secretary Powell says for now $350 million is where it will stay. But he also said that this is a multi-year commitment and that the president knows he may have to dip into the treasury again -- perhaps soon -- Bill.
HEMMER: Dana, thanks. Dana Bash on the Front Lawn there of the White House.
Coverage later today on CNN. Then later tonight in primetime, Anderson heads up our coverage at 7:00. He's in Sri Lanka. Paula joins him at 8:00 from New York. And our team of reporters and correspondents are spread throughout the region later tonight here live on CNN for the best and complete coverage. "Turning the Tide" another CNN special report.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: And, Chad, I bet you didn't know you brought this up. But, you know, how do you grow tomatoes in weather like this?
HEMMER: He would know.
COLLINS: And we have really...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Inside?
COLLINS: Yes, exactly. Well, that's what a lot of growers are doing. But there are others who say this, it's called the ugly tomato. Sadly. Poor thing. It can actually be grown right now, and they taste pretty darn good. But they're not allowing them to ship them out of state, out of the state of Florida. So we're going to talk about this poor thing.
HEMMER: It doesn't have the nice...
COLLINS: Ugly tomato.
HEMMER: ... ripe flavor, does it, or color?
COLLINS: Yes, but it tastes very good, though.
HEMMER: We'll get to that.
COLLINS: We'll find out.
HEMMER: Also in a moment here, a TV news legend gets dragged into court for a criminal trial. Andy tells us why. Still to come this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to go ahead and check in with Jack now, the "Question of the Day," talking more about the aid going into the tsunami people.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Heidi.
Here is a surprise for you. Four -- four -- Arab nations are offering to help the tsunami victims. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have reportedly offered a grand total of $24 million. By contrast, Norway, a country with a gross domestic product half the size of New Jersey's, has pledged $180 million.
Saudi Arabia, which has pledged a paltry $10 million, did manage to give 155 million in 2002 to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers.
So, where is the support from these Middle East countries that have long-standing ties with Southeast Asia? Indonesia, after all, is the most heavily-populated Muslim nation on earth.
The question is this: Are Arab countries doing enough to aid the tsunami victims?
David in Ames, Iowa, writes: "Yes. Between government contributions and the Muslim charities they are contributing their fair share."
Reg in Thunder Bay, Ontario, writes: "Arab countries doing something to help others? I had to check the TV to be sure I wasn't on the comedy channel by mistake." Blaine in Madison, Wisconsin, writes: "This is not a contest to see which country can throw the most money at the tsunami victims. What is important is that the victims get the help they need. Officials have stated that they are receiving enough money, but they need more manpower. We need to focus on helping them, not just chucking wads of cash at them."
The Arab nations, so far, cannot be accused of chucking wads of cash at anyone.
Dave in Fort Meade, Maryland: "The Muslim world seems unable to deal with anything more than what's occurring within their own borders. It's disappointing the Muslim world doesn't reach out more than they do. But with all of the trouble they have at home, I can understand why they don't."
And Tim in Des Moines, Iowa: "Are Arab countries doing enough? Jack, you crazy old fool. How can you question the royal families of OPEC? If they get wind of your insolence, oil price will go up another $5 a barrel."
HEMMER: I thought what Bill Frist said was interesting. We'll see what happens at the donor conference on Thursday in Jakarta. Maybe more of that story then. Thank you , Jack.
To Andy right now. "60 Minutes" is making news today of a very different kind. Minding our business now once again with Mr. Serwer.
What gives?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, you probably remember Richard Scrushy's name. He, of course, is the founder and former CEO of a once high-flying health care company, HealthSouth. He got in a bunch of trouble; in fact, was indicted. He faces a trial with 58 counts of fraud and related charges that is set to begin this week in Birmingham.
Now, Mr. Scrushy dropped a bombshell the other day when he has announced that he is going to be subpoenaing Mike Wallace and a producer at CBS News. This is pretty wild stuff here.
Now, Wallace interviewed Scrushy for "60 Minutes" back in October of '03. And now Scrushy wants him to come down to testify. We're not sure what he wants him to testify about. He is not suing Mike Wallace, and the interview was, you know, hard-hitting but a straightforward piece that "60 Minutes" did. So it's very unclear what Scrushy's strategy is.
Obviously, the "60 Minutes" people are resisting this, saying they don't want to come down. And the judge has yet to rule on this matter.
HEMMER: Is there more to the interview that did not air?
SERWER: It's possible. But it's hard to see what his strategy is going to be here other than ticking off a lot of TV people up in New York City, which is always maybe a good thing to do.
HEMMER: We'll watch it. Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Well, they're called ugly, but people say they're tasty. Why have tomatoes become such a controversy in the Sunshine State? We'll take a look at these ugly tomatoes coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You can call them fat and you can call them ugly, but you can't call them tasteless. We're talking tomatoes. And Joe Procacci knows and grows a brand called Ugly Ripe. And, in fact, fans swear by their unique taste.
But Florida's tomato board says the uglies don't meet their standards for appearance. Did you know tomatoes had standards for appearance?
Well, Joe Procacci is joining us now to talk about the red ripe controversy.
Good morning to you.
JOE PROCACCI, TOMATO GROWER: Good morning.
COLLINS: Thank you for coming in and thank you for bringing such a batch for us. Why don't you start by telling us why you started growing the Ugly Ripes? And comparing them, I think we have -- what some people would call a normal tomato sitting right next to it.
PROCACCI: Well, we have been growing tomatoes for over 40 years. We've been selling tomatoes for over 57 years. And in 57 years we never had any consumers say that the tomatoes taste good. They all wrote in letters and said the tomatoes taste like cardboard.
So, we developed a variety that emanated from the heirloom tomatoes, and we crossed them with disease-resistant qualities into it. And thus we have a tasty tomato that we are able to ship.
COLLINS: And so, this is what you came up with. I'm going to go ahead and compare here. We've got the ugly tomato and the regular tomato that a lot of people see in the grocery store.
PROCACCI: Round and fat.
COLLINS: Yes, the round tomato. Maybe not this time of year, because it's winter. What is the advantage, though, of the ugly tomato? I mean, is it just the taste? Apparently they taste wonderful.
PROCACCI: That's the big advantage. It has a good flavor. Like I said before, the complaints from consumers were that they taste like cardboard. COLLINS: Yes, they just couldn't get a good tomato in the winter.
PROCACCI: These are the tomatoes that the Florida tomato committee...
COLLINS: Would (UNINTELLIGIBLE), right.
PROCACCI: ... would control. These are No. 1. This is what they would ship out of Florida.
COLLINS: But now they won't do that. They won't allow you to ship these out.
PROCACCI: They won't allow this to be shipped out, because of the shape and the ridges on it. But it's a perfectly tasty tomato, and we have hundreds of letters of people complimenting us on them. It's like a tomato that you plant in your garden.
COLLINS: Right.
PROCACCI: And it has the flavor of a summer tomato.
COLLINS: Well, we should go ahead and put on the screen what the Florida tomato committee wrote about their following objections, just so we have their point of view as well. They say: "No mandate exists that bans a shipment of Ugly Ripe tomatoes out of the state. The company can and has shipped Ugly Ripe tomatoes out of Florida, and they continue to do so under the minimum requirements established for the regulated area of Florida."
Is that true?
PROCACCI: Yes, we could, but it's not feasible. Before we could grade these tomatoes, we would lose 60 percent of this variety before we could pack a case of tomatoes. They say that if you have 90 percent of the No. 2 grade, you can ship them out of Florida.
COLLINS: I see.
PROCACCI: So, if we throw away 60 percent before we pack a crate of tomatoes, then we'd only -- they say, well, you have 70 percent, No. 2, you have to throw away 20 percent more...
COLLINS: That's right.
PROCACCI: ... in order to ship them out.
COLLINS: And it's very expensive.
PROCACCI: In that case we are throwing away 80 percent of the tomatoes which is like 8 out of 10 tomatoes that we grow. So it's not feasible.
COLLINS: We appreciate you coming in and sharing the Ugly Ripe story with us. Joe Procacci, thank you again. We wish you the best of luck.
PROCACCI: You're welcome.
COLLINS: All right. Bill -- back over to you.
HEMMER: And keep us posted.
COLLINS: Yes.
HEMMER: A break here. In a moment, top stories are straight ahead. Also more U.S. aid is pouring into tsunami-wrecked Southeast Asia. A problem, though, today that no one saw coming. Back to Soledad live in Thailand at the top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
