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American Morning

Reactions to the Iraqi Elections; Laura Bush Speaks Out

Aired February 01, 2005 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Opening bell from Wall Street. Starting the month of February today. 10,489 is your opening mark. Decent day yesterday. Dow 30 finished up 62 points on the positive side. Nasdaq, too, similar story, up 26 points at the close. Starting today in the month of February, 2,062 at the Nasdaq. Welcome back, everybody.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, it is exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. First Lady Laura Bush, just like her husband, is getting another four years in the White House. She sat down this morning with CNN's Candy Crowley and she talked about some of her own plans for her second term.

HEMMER: All right, we'll hear from her. Also in a moment, officials here in the U.S. and in Iraq call the vote on Sunday a success. How are other counties in the Middle East now reacting? Our senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, she has been monitoring the Web sites and the news networks and the newspapers from the Middle East, so we'll talk to her in a moment and find out what she is discovering today.

O'BRIEN: Headlines first. With Carol Costello. Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," a Pentagon official is telling lawmakers at this hour more details about a plan to raise the death benefits for military families. The retroactive plan raising the amount nearly eight times from around $12,000 to $100,000 tax free. The boost is likely to become part of President Bush's budget proposal set to be delivered to Congress next week.

NASA could be ready to launch space shuttle Discovery as early as May. That's according to an independent panel overseeing the space agency. The announcement coming earlier this morning on the second anniversary of the Columbia disaster. Seven astronauts were killed when the shuttle broke apart over Texas on its landing approach to Florida's space center.

There have been many claims, but one couple in Sri Lanka has filed court papers to gain custody of a little boy known as Baby 81. That's because the infant was the 81st admission into a hospital the day the deadly tsunami swept across Southeast Asia. A judge could issue a decision as early as tomorrow. A nurse at the hospital says she's praying the baby is given to the right parents. And in California, the fans have gathered. Michael Jackson's faithful now waiting for another wave from their idol. Jackson will soon arrive at the courthouse for a second day of jury selection. Another great excuse to escape jury duty from a potential juror -- this is from "The Washington Post." A middle-aged man told the judge he couldn't afford it, the judge asked him if his employer would pay him. The answer, no, sir, my boss is an attorney. That got a big laugh out of the courtroom.

HEMMER: We'll have a daily watch on that, too, won't we?

COSTELLO: Yes.

HEMMER: What did you tell us last hour, a guy was on house arrest?

COSTELLO: Yes, he had an ankle bracelet on.

HEMMER: You pay your price. Thank you, Carol.

The outcome of Iraq's first election in nearly 50 years, still unknown. We may get word within the next day or two about preliminary results. But all official word not expected for another week or so. And in Baghdad, the counting is under way this hour. All the ballots being brought there to the Iraqi capital. Election officials say it will probably take, again, about ten days to complete the tallies.

Also in a new audiotape believed to have been recorded by the terror leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. He claims and calls on the Sunnis to resist a Shiite takeover in Iraq's new national assembly.

Also Iraq's interim president saying today that some of the 170,000 U.S. and foreign troops could be out of Iraq by the end of the year, but only after Iraqi forces are trained and insurgents are brought under control.

CNN's Octavia Nasr has been monitoring the Arab media since that election. She's our senior editor for Arab affairs, and with us now from the CNN center.

Good to have you, Octavia. First of all, we have called this a success. We have also said this is history for the people in Iraq. How are the others reacting? Similar or not?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: The Arab media are looking at it with a big surprise. A lot of raised eyebrows. But positive, if we are to describe it. They're very happy, it seems, that Iraqis stood up for themselves. The key words that I'm finding are courage. Iraqis' bravery, heroism, control of their destiny.

But again, there is a lot of realism here. Take a look at this cartoon here, Bill. It shows the ballot box, the Iraqi ballot box, elevated a at a pedestal -- no, this is a different one. This one shows three different ballot boxes. And again, it shows how much the Shiites are going to get. They're the ones with the full box. Then the minorities in the middle, then the one on the left-hand side of the screen is the empty one showing the Sunnis.

This is the one that I wanted to point out. A bleeding ballot box, but again, the sign of victory coming out of it, despite all odds Iraqis made it, Arab media are telling us today.

HEMMER: What about the ripple effect? Brent Sadler was in Syria yesterday, talking about the discussions that are under way there. How legitimate are the discussions and how many people are talking about that possibility?

NASR: It's interesting you ask that, because today it seems, on Arab media, this is the story. And Arab experts and analysts are telling us that this is a direct effect to what happened in Iraq. Not just the elections, but also the fall of the Baathist regime. Remember that Syria has a Baathist regime as well. And remember that Syria is on the list of the axis of evil that President Bush mentioned last year.

So here you see an official from Syria visiting Lebanon in order to talk to the parties that oppose the presence of Syria in Lebanon. And basically, they're saying, the experts are saying, this is not coincidence, this is not a surprise. Syria is definitely nervous about what's coming up -- Bill.

HEMMER: One thing we talked about yesterday was the image of the finger stained in that purple or blue ink. Does that image resonate so far that you've been able to tell?

NASR: It is. And it seems to me, from reading all the media and listening to the sound bites, listening to the people, the ordinary people in the streets, it seems to me that Arabs in general are very proud of the Iraqis. They really didn't think that they're going to come out and vote. They didn't think that they're going to brave it. And they thought that they're going to stay at home, be scared because of the insurgencies and because of the violence. And in a way, they're very happily surprised. In a way, they're thinking of themselves now. Because a lot of people in the Arab world talk about their freedoms. They talk about their democracy. And they're sort of waiting for their turn, in a way.

HEMMER: Interesting stuff. Octavia, thanks. Please come back and give us more when you get it. Octavia Nasr there at the CNN Center. Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As President Bush gets ready to deliver his State of the Union address tomorrow night, First Lady Laura Bush is talking about her plans for the next four years in the White House. Among the issues on her agenda, women's health and heart initiatives.

Candy Crowley, a CNN senior political correspondent. She's in Washington for us this morning. Hey, Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. You're right. The first lady hoping to draw attention throughout this term and specifically this month on women and heart disease. She calls this initiative the heart truth and the heart truth is that women are more likely to die from heart disease than anything else. And more women than men die from heart disease. The first lady has taken this project on as one of the very first of her second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't know that it was the number one killer. When I found that out, I was really amazed. And I knew if I didn't know that probably a lot of other women didn't know, either. And so this, the heart truth campaign is actually a part of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Department of Health. And that is to get the word out to women.

One of the reasons that women -- that more women than men die of heart disease is that women don't really know what the symptoms of a heart attack are. And because they think of heart disease as a man's disease, they don't go straight to the emergency room if they are suffering any symptoms.

CROWLEY: And the main risk factors? I mean, tell women, at this point, who is at risk?

BUSH: The main risk factors are high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, not having a healthy diet. In other words, being obese or overweight. Not exercising. And all of those are things that people can change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: We also talked about a couple of other things. Among them, her husband's State of the Union address. She says he will talk about a initiative that has caught her attention. That is, to help young male teenagers in their lives. So there will be some new initiatives of that. Social Security, of course. And we also talked about Iraq and about criticism that her husband has seemed cold, often, when there have been U.S. casualties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: All of these tragedies, every one of them, he thinks about every single day. And when you're the commander in chief, when you're the one who's made the decision to put young men and women in harm's way, which is by far the most difficult decision any president ever has to make, then you're always aware of the consequences of that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: The first lady says she and her husband, the president, got up early on Sunday to watch the returns and were very moved by the number of Iraqis that came to the polls -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Candy, thanks very much.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll preview the President's State of the Union with White House communications director Dan Bartlett and Connecticut congressman Chris Shays, who's just returned from Iraq. (WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Week three of our "New You Revolution." We're helping folks break their bad, unhealthy habits.

HEMMER: Yes, Sanjay's back with us, check up on the progress of one man today by the name of Harald.

Sanjay, good morning. How's he doing? How are the rest of them?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning.

Well, all of our participants do seem to be headed in the right direction, and all of them are seeing some early results.

But today, we do want to take a closer look at how well our runner, Harald Fricker, has been doing so far.

GUPTA (voice over): Harald has been doing a lot of running, and he's lost at least 10 pounds already.

(on camera): We're doing all these sprints here. What's next for you? Are you going back to Colorado?

HARALD FRICKER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT" Oh, yes.

GUPTA: What are you going to do out there?

FRICKER: Well, we're going to do a little snowshoeing.

GUPTA (voice over): He's addicted to running under any conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going out for your normal 100-mile snowshoe, Harald. We're going out for maybe 100 seconds.

GUPTA: Can his trainer stop him from doing too much?

FRICKER: He got mad at me the other day when I spent five extra minutes on one of the machines.

GUPTA: Harald has to learn more is not always better.

FRICKER: I used to be able to do knuckle push-ups by the hundreds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, I was, all right?

FRICKER: All, I'm just giving you the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, right now, Harald. FRICKER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we want to work smarter, not harder.

GUPTA: And that it's a variety of exercises that will fuel his metabolism and help bring down his weight. Harald still thinks he's that young, fit runner from the '90s, who ran with other super athletes like Mike Closer (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good to see you. Out for a snowshoe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to get him moving.

GUPTA: If Harald wants to be like Mike, he needs to do one more thing: Get more sleep, something he's still not doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my sleep. I sleep eight hours a night.

FRICKER: You do?

GUPTA: Studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Harald has been working on curbing his food cravings.

FRICKER: Can I have any of these? Not a Kit Kat, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, all of that's out? What about Pop Tarts?

GUPTA: When he's about to slip, his trainer is just a call away.

(on camera): Minor setbacks and some real results are what our other participants have experienced as well. Here's their weekly check-up.

THELKA FISCHER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It is 8:30, and I am in the office. And I'm going to go sit and do a little more work.

GUPTA (voice over): So, Thekla is still working late and skipping meals and discovered another cause of her late-night eating habit: being separated from her husband.

FISCHER: I end up eating late with him or maybe having more to eat because it's a time where we bond.

GUPTA: But she's made it to yoga three times in the past week.

FISCHER: That's definitely more than I was doing before.

LEIGH ANN RAYNOR, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It seems like everyone's enjoying this but me.

GUPTA: Actually, Leigh Ann is enjoying breaking her bad habits and is exercising regularly.

RAYNOR: I've lost, like, four and a half pounds.

GUPTA: She's thrilled because she's now able to walk two miles on the treadmill. And Leigh Ann is listening to her body just as the doctor ordered. She tried an aerobics class at her church, but it proved too much for a sore knee.

RAYNOR: Oh, no, we're not.

GUPTA: So, she'll continue to do what works best: cardio rehab and walking.

This week, Jonathan has something to celebrate in addition to his birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Superstar!

JONATHAN KARP, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: I went to scratch my back, and I was like, ooh. It's like something I'm totally not used to.

GUPTA: Keeping track of his nail-biting is paying off.

KARP: I'm starting to see some white spots on my nails in certain spots. This nail looks really good.

GUPTA: He's armed with a nail file to smooth out his gnawing urges. And although fighting stress from work is no piece of cake, he's on his way.

(on camera): So, all of our participants are making some progress there, as you can see. Next week, we're going to take a closer look at how our grandmother, Sandra Garth, is doing.

SANDRA GARTH, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: What's inside the "New You" refrigerator?

GUPTA: She's stocked her fridge with healthy food and she's working out every day, even sometimes with her grandson. We'll tell you how she's staying motivated.

And if you've been following our "New You" participants, you can learn from what they've learned. Here are some take-home tips for you. More is not always better. Doing a lot of one type of exercise may not always lead to the results you're looking for. Also, listen to your body. If something hurts while you're exercising, stop doing it. Sometimes it's OK to take it easier or try something different. And finally, keep a journal. It will help you be more aware of your behavior and can help your track your success.

All of our "New You" participants are keeping journals, and you can track their ups and downs or send them an e-mail by logging on to CNN.com/am.

We'll keep you up to speed on it, next week, Tuesday again -- Bill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that. The markets are open, too. We'll find out the early movers and shakers in a moment here.

Also back with Jack, right after this, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: "Question of the Day" is about whether or not there should be a timetable set by the United States for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Now that the election is over, some Democrats, including Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts, want the president to go on during his State of the Union Address tomorrow night and announce a specific timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal.

Here's what some of you think about that idea. Donna writes, "As a soldier, I can say a timetable for leaving Iraq is a scary concept. Sure, my peers and I don't want to be in harm's way any longer than possible, but we also don't leave until a job is done."

Judy in Sag Harbor, New York, "How about we offer troop withdrawals contingent upon the insurgents behaving. For example, if 30 days go by without car bombings, et cetera, we agree to pull out X number of troops? this may give the general population incentive to help put down the terrorist activities."

And, Ayrica writes, "Yes, the Democrats should be demanding an exit strategy now. The American people have paid for this war far too long. It's time to go."

HEMMER: I don't know what it means, but you heard what Jeff Koinange reported at the top of our hour, the last two days have been quiet. There are some security restrictions still in place. But the vehicle traffic came back around noon local time yesterday. Could this hold?

CAFFERTY: If what we saw on our TV screens concerning that election is an accurate portrayal of what happened in that country, the insurgents were handed a fairly stiff repudiation.

O'BRIEN: And some of those comic strips that Octavia Nasr was showing, just fascinating to see.

HEMMER: There is a suggestion there might be some Baghdad envy now in the Middle East. We'll see.

CAFFERTY: I wonder what they're thinking in Tehran.

O'BRIEN: And other places as well.

Jack, thank you very much.

Coming up on CNN, a ghost town that's been revitalized by a fast- growing industry. The fight against terror. Rick and Daryn are going to take you to Terror Town, USA, where business is booming and everybody plays a part. That's ahead in the next hour on CNN LIVE TODAY. "AMERICAN MORNING" is back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Want to get a preview right now, check in with Aaron Brown, what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT." Here's Aaron.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Tonight on NEWSNIGHT, we go back to a subject that is painful, all the more so because it ought to be a crime, but often is not -- stolen childhoods. Millions of children forced into slavery overseas, and in some cases in this country as well. A look at how it's tolerated, even encouraged. That story, and plus all the day's top news, morning papers, everything else that makes NEWSNIGHT NEWSNIGHT, CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: All right, 12 hours away. Aaron, thanks for that. See you later tonight.

We've got to run.

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 February 1, 2005 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Opening bell from Wall Street. Starting the month of February today. 10,489 is your opening mark. Decent day yesterday. Dow 30 finished up 62 points on the positive side. Nasdaq, too, similar story, up 26 points at the close. Starting today in the month of February, 2,062 at the Nasdaq. Welcome back, everybody.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, it is exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. First Lady Laura Bush, just like her husband, is getting another four years in the White House. She sat down this morning with CNN's Candy Crowley and she talked about some of her own plans for her second term.

HEMMER: All right, we'll hear from her. Also in a moment, officials here in the U.S. and in Iraq call the vote on Sunday a success. How are other counties in the Middle East now reacting? Our senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, she has been monitoring the Web sites and the news networks and the newspapers from the Middle East, so we'll talk to her in a moment and find out what she is discovering today.

O'BRIEN: Headlines first. With Carol Costello. Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," a Pentagon official is telling lawmakers at this hour more details about a plan to raise the death benefits for military families. The retroactive plan raising the amount nearly eight times from around $12,000 to $100,000 tax free. The boost is likely to become part of President Bush's budget proposal set to be delivered to Congress next week.

NASA could be ready to launch space shuttle Discovery as early as May. That's according to an independent panel overseeing the space agency. The announcement coming earlier this morning on the second anniversary of the Columbia disaster. Seven astronauts were killed when the shuttle broke apart over Texas on its landing approach to Florida's space center.

There have been many claims, but one couple in Sri Lanka has filed court papers to gain custody of a little boy known as Baby 81. That's because the infant was the 81st admission into a hospital the day the deadly tsunami swept across Southeast Asia. A judge could issue a decision as early as tomorrow. A nurse at the hospital says she's praying the baby is given to the right parents. And in California, the fans have gathered. Michael Jackson's faithful now waiting for another wave from their idol. Jackson will soon arrive at the courthouse for a second day of jury selection. Another great excuse to escape jury duty from a potential juror -- this is from "The Washington Post." A middle-aged man told the judge he couldn't afford it, the judge asked him if his employer would pay him. The answer, no, sir, my boss is an attorney. That got a big laugh out of the courtroom.

HEMMER: We'll have a daily watch on that, too, won't we?

COSTELLO: Yes.

HEMMER: What did you tell us last hour, a guy was on house arrest?

COSTELLO: Yes, he had an ankle bracelet on.

HEMMER: You pay your price. Thank you, Carol.

The outcome of Iraq's first election in nearly 50 years, still unknown. We may get word within the next day or two about preliminary results. But all official word not expected for another week or so. And in Baghdad, the counting is under way this hour. All the ballots being brought there to the Iraqi capital. Election officials say it will probably take, again, about ten days to complete the tallies.

Also in a new audiotape believed to have been recorded by the terror leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi. He claims and calls on the Sunnis to resist a Shiite takeover in Iraq's new national assembly.

Also Iraq's interim president saying today that some of the 170,000 U.S. and foreign troops could be out of Iraq by the end of the year, but only after Iraqi forces are trained and insurgents are brought under control.

CNN's Octavia Nasr has been monitoring the Arab media since that election. She's our senior editor for Arab affairs, and with us now from the CNN center.

Good to have you, Octavia. First of all, we have called this a success. We have also said this is history for the people in Iraq. How are the others reacting? Similar or not?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: The Arab media are looking at it with a big surprise. A lot of raised eyebrows. But positive, if we are to describe it. They're very happy, it seems, that Iraqis stood up for themselves. The key words that I'm finding are courage. Iraqis' bravery, heroism, control of their destiny.

But again, there is a lot of realism here. Take a look at this cartoon here, Bill. It shows the ballot box, the Iraqi ballot box, elevated a at a pedestal -- no, this is a different one. This one shows three different ballot boxes. And again, it shows how much the Shiites are going to get. They're the ones with the full box. Then the minorities in the middle, then the one on the left-hand side of the screen is the empty one showing the Sunnis.

This is the one that I wanted to point out. A bleeding ballot box, but again, the sign of victory coming out of it, despite all odds Iraqis made it, Arab media are telling us today.

HEMMER: What about the ripple effect? Brent Sadler was in Syria yesterday, talking about the discussions that are under way there. How legitimate are the discussions and how many people are talking about that possibility?

NASR: It's interesting you ask that, because today it seems, on Arab media, this is the story. And Arab experts and analysts are telling us that this is a direct effect to what happened in Iraq. Not just the elections, but also the fall of the Baathist regime. Remember that Syria has a Baathist regime as well. And remember that Syria is on the list of the axis of evil that President Bush mentioned last year.

So here you see an official from Syria visiting Lebanon in order to talk to the parties that oppose the presence of Syria in Lebanon. And basically, they're saying, the experts are saying, this is not coincidence, this is not a surprise. Syria is definitely nervous about what's coming up -- Bill.

HEMMER: One thing we talked about yesterday was the image of the finger stained in that purple or blue ink. Does that image resonate so far that you've been able to tell?

NASR: It is. And it seems to me, from reading all the media and listening to the sound bites, listening to the people, the ordinary people in the streets, it seems to me that Arabs in general are very proud of the Iraqis. They really didn't think that they're going to come out and vote. They didn't think that they're going to brave it. And they thought that they're going to stay at home, be scared because of the insurgencies and because of the violence. And in a way, they're very happily surprised. In a way, they're thinking of themselves now. Because a lot of people in the Arab world talk about their freedoms. They talk about their democracy. And they're sort of waiting for their turn, in a way.

HEMMER: Interesting stuff. Octavia, thanks. Please come back and give us more when you get it. Octavia Nasr there at the CNN Center. Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: As President Bush gets ready to deliver his State of the Union address tomorrow night, First Lady Laura Bush is talking about her plans for the next four years in the White House. Among the issues on her agenda, women's health and heart initiatives.

Candy Crowley, a CNN senior political correspondent. She's in Washington for us this morning. Hey, Candy, good morning.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Soledad. You're right. The first lady hoping to draw attention throughout this term and specifically this month on women and heart disease. She calls this initiative the heart truth and the heart truth is that women are more likely to die from heart disease than anything else. And more women than men die from heart disease. The first lady has taken this project on as one of the very first of her second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't know that it was the number one killer. When I found that out, I was really amazed. And I knew if I didn't know that probably a lot of other women didn't know, either. And so this, the heart truth campaign is actually a part of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Department of Health. And that is to get the word out to women.

One of the reasons that women -- that more women than men die of heart disease is that women don't really know what the symptoms of a heart attack are. And because they think of heart disease as a man's disease, they don't go straight to the emergency room if they are suffering any symptoms.

CROWLEY: And the main risk factors? I mean, tell women, at this point, who is at risk?

BUSH: The main risk factors are high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, smoking, not having a healthy diet. In other words, being obese or overweight. Not exercising. And all of those are things that people can change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: We also talked about a couple of other things. Among them, her husband's State of the Union address. She says he will talk about a initiative that has caught her attention. That is, to help young male teenagers in their lives. So there will be some new initiatives of that. Social Security, of course. And we also talked about Iraq and about criticism that her husband has seemed cold, often, when there have been U.S. casualties.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: All of these tragedies, every one of them, he thinks about every single day. And when you're the commander in chief, when you're the one who's made the decision to put young men and women in harm's way, which is by far the most difficult decision any president ever has to make, then you're always aware of the consequences of that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: The first lady says she and her husband, the president, got up early on Sunday to watch the returns and were very moved by the number of Iraqis that came to the polls -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Candy, thanks very much.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll preview the President's State of the Union with White House communications director Dan Bartlett and Connecticut congressman Chris Shays, who's just returned from Iraq. (WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Week three of our "New You Revolution." We're helping folks break their bad, unhealthy habits.

HEMMER: Yes, Sanjay's back with us, check up on the progress of one man today by the name of Harald.

Sanjay, good morning. How's he doing? How are the rest of them?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning.

Well, all of our participants do seem to be headed in the right direction, and all of them are seeing some early results.

But today, we do want to take a closer look at how well our runner, Harald Fricker, has been doing so far.

GUPTA (voice over): Harald has been doing a lot of running, and he's lost at least 10 pounds already.

(on camera): We're doing all these sprints here. What's next for you? Are you going back to Colorado?

HARALD FRICKER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT" Oh, yes.

GUPTA: What are you going to do out there?

FRICKER: Well, we're going to do a little snowshoeing.

GUPTA (voice over): He's addicted to running under any conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going out for your normal 100-mile snowshoe, Harald. We're going out for maybe 100 seconds.

GUPTA: Can his trainer stop him from doing too much?

FRICKER: He got mad at me the other day when I spent five extra minutes on one of the machines.

GUPTA: Harald has to learn more is not always better.

FRICKER: I used to be able to do knuckle push-ups by the hundreds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was, I was, all right?

FRICKER: All, I'm just giving you the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, right now, Harald. FRICKER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we want to work smarter, not harder.

GUPTA: And that it's a variety of exercises that will fuel his metabolism and help bring down his weight. Harald still thinks he's that young, fit runner from the '90s, who ran with other super athletes like Mike Closer (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good to see you. Out for a snowshoe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to get him moving.

GUPTA: If Harald wants to be like Mike, he needs to do one more thing: Get more sleep, something he's still not doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love my sleep. I sleep eight hours a night.

FRICKER: You do?

GUPTA: Studies have shown that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Harald has been working on curbing his food cravings.

FRICKER: Can I have any of these? Not a Kit Kat, Three Musketeers, Milky Way, all of that's out? What about Pop Tarts?

GUPTA: When he's about to slip, his trainer is just a call away.

(on camera): Minor setbacks and some real results are what our other participants have experienced as well. Here's their weekly check-up.

THELKA FISCHER, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It is 8:30, and I am in the office. And I'm going to go sit and do a little more work.

GUPTA (voice over): So, Thekla is still working late and skipping meals and discovered another cause of her late-night eating habit: being separated from her husband.

FISCHER: I end up eating late with him or maybe having more to eat because it's a time where we bond.

GUPTA: But she's made it to yoga three times in the past week.

FISCHER: That's definitely more than I was doing before.

LEIGH ANN RAYNOR, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: It seems like everyone's enjoying this but me.

GUPTA: Actually, Leigh Ann is enjoying breaking her bad habits and is exercising regularly.

RAYNOR: I've lost, like, four and a half pounds.

GUPTA: She's thrilled because she's now able to walk two miles on the treadmill. And Leigh Ann is listening to her body just as the doctor ordered. She tried an aerobics class at her church, but it proved too much for a sore knee.

RAYNOR: Oh, no, we're not.

GUPTA: So, she'll continue to do what works best: cardio rehab and walking.

This week, Jonathan has something to celebrate in addition to his birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Superstar!

JONATHAN KARP, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: I went to scratch my back, and I was like, ooh. It's like something I'm totally not used to.

GUPTA: Keeping track of his nail-biting is paying off.

KARP: I'm starting to see some white spots on my nails in certain spots. This nail looks really good.

GUPTA: He's armed with a nail file to smooth out his gnawing urges. And although fighting stress from work is no piece of cake, he's on his way.

(on camera): So, all of our participants are making some progress there, as you can see. Next week, we're going to take a closer look at how our grandmother, Sandra Garth, is doing.

SANDRA GARTH, "NEW YOU" PARTICIPANT: What's inside the "New You" refrigerator?

GUPTA: She's stocked her fridge with healthy food and she's working out every day, even sometimes with her grandson. We'll tell you how she's staying motivated.

And if you've been following our "New You" participants, you can learn from what they've learned. Here are some take-home tips for you. More is not always better. Doing a lot of one type of exercise may not always lead to the results you're looking for. Also, listen to your body. If something hurts while you're exercising, stop doing it. Sometimes it's OK to take it easier or try something different. And finally, keep a journal. It will help you be more aware of your behavior and can help your track your success.

All of our "New You" participants are keeping journals, and you can track their ups and downs or send them an e-mail by logging on to CNN.com/am.

We'll keep you up to speed on it, next week, Tuesday again -- Bill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that. The markets are open, too. We'll find out the early movers and shakers in a moment here.

Also back with Jack, right after this, on AMERICAN MORNING.

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(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: "Question of the Day" is about whether or not there should be a timetable set by the United States for withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Now that the election is over, some Democrats, including Senator Kennedy of Massachusetts, want the president to go on during his State of the Union Address tomorrow night and announce a specific timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal.

Here's what some of you think about that idea. Donna writes, "As a soldier, I can say a timetable for leaving Iraq is a scary concept. Sure, my peers and I don't want to be in harm's way any longer than possible, but we also don't leave until a job is done."

Judy in Sag Harbor, New York, "How about we offer troop withdrawals contingent upon the insurgents behaving. For example, if 30 days go by without car bombings, et cetera, we agree to pull out X number of troops? this may give the general population incentive to help put down the terrorist activities."

And, Ayrica writes, "Yes, the Democrats should be demanding an exit strategy now. The American people have paid for this war far too long. It's time to go."

HEMMER: I don't know what it means, but you heard what Jeff Koinange reported at the top of our hour, the last two days have been quiet. There are some security restrictions still in place. But the vehicle traffic came back around noon local time yesterday. Could this hold?

CAFFERTY: If what we saw on our TV screens concerning that election is an accurate portrayal of what happened in that country, the insurgents were handed a fairly stiff repudiation.

O'BRIEN: And some of those comic strips that Octavia Nasr was showing, just fascinating to see.

HEMMER: There is a suggestion there might be some Baghdad envy now in the Middle East. We'll see.

CAFFERTY: I wonder what they're thinking in Tehran.

O'BRIEN: And other places as well.

Jack, thank you very much.

Coming up on CNN, a ghost town that's been revitalized by a fast- growing industry. The fight against terror. Rick and Daryn are going to take you to Terror Town, USA, where business is booming and everybody plays a part. That's ahead in the next hour on CNN LIVE TODAY. "AMERICAN MORNING" is back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Want to get a preview right now, check in with Aaron Brown, what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT." Here's Aaron.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Tonight on NEWSNIGHT, we go back to a subject that is painful, all the more so because it ought to be a crime, but often is not -- stolen childhoods. Millions of children forced into slavery overseas, and in some cases in this country as well. A look at how it's tolerated, even encouraged. That story, and plus all the day's top news, morning papers, everything else that makes NEWSNIGHT NEWSNIGHT, CNN tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: All right, 12 hours away. Aaron, thanks for that. See you later tonight.

We've got to run.

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