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American Morning
Army Rape Probe; Gender Controversy at Harvard
Aired February 23, 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Santa Maria, California, pop star Michael Jackson expected back in court, just about two hours from now. They're apparently make some headway in selecting a jury. It's now down to 221 candidates. A final set of 12 juror and eight alternates could be chosen in days.
And a friendly tennis matchup reaching great heights. Check this out, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer showing off their skills some 700 feet up from the ground. Are you kidding me. The grass court is actually the helicopter pad of a luxury hotel. The two tennis greats visiting the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Open.
That looks incredibly scary to me.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A little dangerous.
Going for the ball.
COLLINS: Yes, exactly, oops.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Wait until the play the first football game out there. We're talking highlights.
Thank you, Heidi.
Want to get to the Pentagon. Soledad just mentioned this story. Now acknowledging that the Army's investigating claims that a U.S. soldier raped a female Iraqi prisoner. That investigation one of several inquiries of abuse of women detainees in Iraq.
At the Pentagon here's Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, hello there.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, the Pentagon is just acknowledging under questioning from Congress that there is, in fact, at least one case still active, an investigation of a U.S. soldier accused of raping a female detainee in Iraq.
But the Pentagon is stressing at this point, that this allegation which occurred more than a year ago at the Abu Ghraib Prison, has not been substantiated.
In fact, they also revealed there was another investigation of a similar investigation at Abu Ghraib. In that case, the investigation concluded with no charges filed because of a lack of evidence. They say that could well happen in this case as well.
The reason these particular cases are coming to light now is that members of Congress have been asked by constituents about reports of U.S. soldiers raping women in Iraq, and the Pentagon was pressed for answers at this at congressional testimony last week. Donald Rumsfeld said he didn't know anything about it, but would get an answer back to Congress.
In response to that they reviewed all of the current investigations and allegations to discover there are at least two that involved allegations of rape. But again, the Pentagon is stressing that none of those have been substantiated. They also revealed, again, several cases that have been publicized about women detainees who were abused, either forcing to expose themselves to U.S. soldiers. In one case, an allegation that a teenage boy was raped by a U.S. contractor. That case is under investigation by the Justice Department -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jamie, thanks for that. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Harvard University President Lawrence Summers is under fire for comments about the aptitudes of women. He's avoided a no- confidence vote, though, for now. Summers met with 500 faculty members last night to face questions and calls to step down. But what he said in a conference a month ago has fueled a nationwide debate about the sexes.
National correspondent Kelly Wallace join us with more.
Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Soledad.
It was a suggestion, we should say, raised by Lawrence Summers and it's likely to be debated around water coolers around the country. The suggestion is this, women and men out there, are there innate differences between us when it come to science and math?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice-over): What a debate it has become, moving from the campus of Harvard, to the headlines to the airwaves...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By Harvard president...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The man who started it all, Harvard's president, Lawrence summers, who told a conference last month, quote, "Issues of intrinsic aptitude may be one of the reasons fewer women than men reach the highest levels in science and engineering. Outrage from liberal women's groups. KATHERINE SPILLAR, FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: Well, the heart of the matter is the bias that president Summers exhibited himself in his comment.
WALLACE: Support from conservatives.
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, INDEPENDENT'S WOMEN'S FORUM: This poor guy basically told the truth in an off-the-record meeting, and now he's being painted as someone who is anti-woman.
WALLACE: Two women, two very different view. So we asked them, first, are there innate differences between the sexes?
PFOTENHAUER: In the field of neurobiology, it's pretty established that men have a superior spatial ability on average. Women have superior verbal reasoning skills on average.
SPILLAR: The research is in, and it's conclusive -- women are every bit an equal to a man in any of these fields.
WALLACE: Why then do fewer women than men become scientists and engineers? Bias, says one.
SPILLAR: What is clear, is that when women face discrimination in the workplace and in education, of course their opportunities are stunted.
WALLACE: Career choice, says the other.
PFOTENHAUER: The women are going to law school because they're likely to be better than the male lawyers they're up against. And the men are going to science and math, because they're likely to be better than their competition.
WALLACE: One says women too often complain about discrimination...
PFOTENHAUER: I think that you are basically setting someone up to have a victim mentality.
WALLACE: The other says women too often are discriminated against.
SPILLAR: It's stealing from girls their chances of achieving their full potential, and that's wrong.
WALLACE: Both, however, agree on this -- society benefits from the debate sparked by one speech, by one Ivy League president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Because both say if we as a society want to see more women moving into the sciences and engineering, then we should, a, identify the problem, Soledad, if there is one, and only then can we figure out what to do about it.
O'BRIEN: Is there any real sense that Larry Summers is going to lose his job because of this controversy?
WALLACE: It doesn't appear so. We should point out the Harvard Corporation, which hired him, it is the Harvard Corporation which could then fire him if it decides to. Right now it is standing behind Lawrence Summers. And it looks like a recent poll done of the faculty, only about a third think he should step down, but they may put on the docket a vote of no confidence at the next faculty meeting in March, so we'll see.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, Thanks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about breast cancer this morning. It kills 40,00 women every year in the United States and it is so common that it's found in one of every seven women.
HEMMER: Later this evening, Paula Zahn is devoting her entire one hour show to the disease. And Paula's with us this morning now for a preview. Great to see you.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I feel like I've come home here. Our old place.
HEMMER: That's right. Good morning.
ZAHN: Good to see the two of you.
ZAHN: You know, you hear the statistics, that one in seven women will contract breast cancer in their lifetime, and it sends chills down your spine. But tonight what you learn is the fact that survivor-ship is sort of the new face of breast cancer. And we'll be profiling Carly Simon. Lynn Redgrave, who you're going to see in just a couple seconds, decided to chronicle her story through pictures taken by her daughter and very poignant diary entries. It ultimately turned into a book -- that was not her intention, she thought it would be cathartic to share with other women about what she went through.
And what you're about to see is her talk in a very candid way, what it means to be diagnosed with cancer and then to go through the next several stages of surgery and then ultimately recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNN REDGRAVE, ACTRESS/BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Tuesday, the 18th of February, 2003. Woke 5:15-ish, feeling terrific. That slight heady feeling gone. Excited about starting work, having a schedule. I'm feeling very positive this morning. Tea, candles and Nigel Kennedy playing. I feel that my treatment will work. I have faith. I'm so lucky to know what all this side of life is.
ZAHN: The other amazing thing about your journey is how hard you pushed yourself. After the surgery, you had committed to doing a play. Even during chemotherapy, you did not miss one performance.
REDGRAVE: No, I didn't. And there were days when I would wake up from my big nap. You know, take massive nap in the afternoon and wake up feeling very drugged. And if I hadn't had a show to go to, I would have just got back into bed. It took an alarm to wake me up. But I love the theater. All of us were actors in the theater, look on it as doctor theater, you know? You get down there, you're with your colleagues, the energy starts to come back and by the time you've got your makeup and your hair and your wig on, and your costume, you walk out there and for a period of time, you no longer have cancer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And that was just a small part of Lynn Redgrave sharing her story, her battle with breast cancer. And tonight, not only will you hear from Carly Simon, but for the first time, my mother, who is a two-time breast cancer survivor, talks quite openly about her battle with the disease as two other members of my family were fighting cancer.
But in addition to that, you'll hear from Tommy Thompson, who was the former governor of Wisconsin, of course, the former secretary of Health and Human Services, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer. She is a survivor. And not too long after that, his daughter, who was in her 30s, was diagnosed with breast cancer and he talked about the arc of his experience, how different it was when his wife was diagnosed. He also lost a mother-in-law to cancer in the middle of all that. But the reality of knowing that your own child could be sick and that that sickness could cost your life.
And here was a guy who basically -- with his position as secretary of Health and Human Services, could pick up the phone and talk to any cutting-edge doctor on the issue of breast cancer and have his phone calls answered. And he talks about how hopeless he felt at some points and how he ultimately decided the way to feel empowered was to do as much homework as he could do, to see if he could help save lives.
HEMMER: But there's also a lot of hope in these stories, too. Your own mother is a pillar of strength these days. And...
ZAHN: And you've met her, you know. Old Betty, you can't stop her.
HEMMER: And she has a few opinions.
ZAHN: Yes, she does. But, you know, the truth is, had she been diagnosed 30 years ago, had she not had a mammogram, she might not be alive today. And despite all of the controversy over mammograms, and whether they ultimately save lives, every woman tonight, especially Carly Simon, will say that my life was saved by having a mammogram. The earlier you detect breast cancer, the better your outcome's going to be.
And the fact is, there are hundreds of thousands -- in fact, there a lot more than that, women walking around in this country who are breast cancer survivors, who are living very full and joyful lives. And that's the bottom line of this hour tonight. I think people will walk away from it inspired. I know I'm inspired by their stories.
HEMMER: We'll see at 8:00 tonight, 5:00 on the West Coast, Paula.
ZAHN: Great. I don't miss getting up at 4:30 in the morning, folks.
HEMMER: Really? Well, you could do it on Thursday tomorrow for us if you'd like.
ZAHN: No, thank you. I did that for 16 years of my life.
HEMMER: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Paula, nice to see you.
HEMMER: All right, let's get a break in a moment here. Thinking about buying an iPod? Andy says if you want to make that decision, hold off just a bit longer. He's "Minding Your Business." We'll get to Andy on that.
O'BRIEN: Also, does one TV network have a hit on its hands? "90 Second Pop" will get stars without makeup. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time for the Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop." Our pop experts -- those big words. Andy Borowitz of Borowitzreport.com. Crystal McCrary Anthony, author of the "Gotham Diaries." And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Loving Duran Duran, by the way. Are you really going to see them in concert?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: I am. I am.
ANTHONY: Lucky.
O'BRIEN: Simon Le Bon.
BOROWITZ: I'm taking my daughter. But it's a secret, so don't tell anybody that, America.
O'BRIEN: Don't you even worry about it. Oops, my bad.
BOROWITZ: It's OK.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Miss America. I think this is a brilliant idea. BOROWITZ: You do? OK.
O'BRIEN: Miss America as a reality...
BOROWITZ: Well, yes. Well, I mean, it's...
O'BRIEN: OK.
BOROWITZ: Well, no, that's good. It's good to hear all sides. Well, you know, Miss America, I guess, has lost its TV deal, because the ratings were going down. So they've gone to Hollywood's William Morris Agency to help revamp the show and turn it into a reality show. And their theory is -- I guess their spokesman said that the Miss America pageant is the original reality show, which I agree with...
O'BRIEN: It is.
BOROWITZ: ... except for the reality part. Because I think that it's like where is the reality in this show? The women have sashes on. It just doesn't seem -- I don't know. So what is it going to be? Is it going to be like "Fear Factor?" Are they going to get rid of the swimsuit competition? Are they going to eat bugs and stuff?
O'BRIEN: The back-biting, the controversy, the girl-on-girl violence. Come on!
BOROWITZ: OK. All right. Well, now it's starting to sound...
ANTHONY: That sounds like another series, girl-on-girl violence.
TOURE: It sounds like high school.
O'BRIEN: But why would they go to -- why not just go to Mark Burnett himself and get it, you know, packaged?
BOROWITZ: I don't know.
ANTHONY: I think they're going to totally repackage it.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ANTHONY: And the thing about this is there's such a thing as too much reality. I mean, I don't know if I really want to hear the story about Peggy Sue's grandma and her bingo club that saved up to send her to the pageant.
TOURE: I want to hear that.
ANTHONY: I mean, there's a bit...
TOURE: I want to hear that. I definitely want to hear about that.
O'BRIEN: Peggy Sue grabbing a handful of somebody else's hair and pulling.
ANTHONY: That's more interesting.
TOURE: now that, yes.
O'BRIEN: That's the kind of TV I'm visualizing here.
BOROWITZ: I have a fix. I mean, I'm not William Morris or anything, but I think, like, in the old days, there were these scandals when it turned out that Miss America contestants had posed for naked photos and stuff like that.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BOROWITZ: Why not just make that a regular part of the pageant itself? I mean, I think that would be great.
O'BRIEN: Let's take you now to the pictures, the photographs.
BOROWITZ: Exactly. Exactly.
O'BRIEN: That would be scary. Crystal let's talk a little bit about something people are doing that's very mean to the stars. You're really heartbroken about this. But, again, I'm so...
ANTHONY: I think it's very mean. I mean, it's humiliating.
O'BRIEN: It's something called -- it's called "Stars Without Makeup," which kind of says it all. Every so often, a title says it all. This says it all.
ANTHONY: That would be me an hour ago. I mean, anybody without makeup, I mean, it's humiliating. It's degrading. They're going to show...
O'BRIEN: Blah, blah, blah. They're stars. Who cares?
ANTHONY: When you think about it, though, I mean, I understand why a Sean Penn knocks a cameraman out. Now no offense. Or an Alec Baldwin, who I understand is featured in this, along with Diana Ross, looking really bad and Goldie Hawn with no makeup.
O'BRIEN: It's so hard to throw a little powder and some lip gloss on in the morning. You've have paparazzi in your front yard, for god's sake.
TOURE: This would be really cool if it was on MTV or on Nickelodeon...
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE: ... marketed at teenage girls, right? Deconstructing the celebrity beauty mix. But it's on Fox, so it will be crass and just bitz (ph).
BOROWITZ: You know, if I want to see a behind-the-scene look at celebrities, I'll do what I always do. I'll just hack into their cell phones. Who needs Fox? O'BRIEN: Again, I'm going to try to watch that. I think that sounds great.
BOROWITZ: Sounds good.
O'BRIEN: And finally, OK, I think we can all agree, quality television, "Project Runway."
TOURE: Yea! The best reality show since "Apprentice." Smart reality show, right? I love Heidi's accent. I love how smart it is. I love evil. I love hating Wendy Pepper, right? That's part of it. Tonight is the finale.
O'BRIEN: There are three. And Wendy Pepper is a suburban mom.
TOURE: There's the evil suburban mom.
O'BRIEN: Oh, she's not evil.
TOURE: She is evil. Watch the show, see evil. But Kara Saun is the consistently respectable, consistently good...
O'BRIEN: You think she's going to win?
TOURE: No. Most people think Kara Saun is going to win. My man, Jay McCarroll, flights of fancy, he is the genius of the show. He's the one who can become a fashion visionary like Alexander McQueen. He's going to pull it out. He is going to win. That's not a spoiler; that's a prediction.
BOROWITZ: You know, I didn't think I would like this show, but I took Toure's advice. And now I'm, like, totally into fashion. For example, I'm wearing Old Navy today.
ANTHONY: We're all color-coordinated, one of my favorite things to do.
BOROWITZ: We are.
O'BRIEN: I was going to point that out. And I wanted to say your ensemble today...
BOROWITZ: Thank you. I'm also finding myself saying things like 'You go, girl.' I'm saying that a lot.
O'BRIEN: Are you feeling it?
BOROWITZ: Yes, I'm totally feeling it.
O'BRIEN: Are you feeling this?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Like, 'That's hot, that's not.'
BOROWITZ: OK. ANTHONY: That's old jargon. What's a new hip word? Can you help us with something?
TOURE: CNN is too old for this. We can't, like, have new words. It will scare the people.
O'BRIEN: We don't want to scare them.
ANTHONY: People aren't saying "what's up" anymore. They're saying "what to do?"
BOROWITZ: Really?
TOURE: Really?
ANTHONY: That's what I heard.
O'BRIEN: Spoken like a bunch of people in their 40s. All right, you guys, as always, thank you.
Back to Bill.
All right, you guys, as always, thank you. Let's get right to Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks, Soledad. Stay away from our cell phones, though, Andy.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs will not stop until every living being owns an iPod. That's what he says. The latest tactic to get the gadget in your hands, though. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" next here in a moment as we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. "Martha Stewart Living" is losing and the iPod family gets a bit bigger and maybe a bit cheaper, too. Here's Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. We talked about this story earlier this morning. And low and behold, Apple has gone ahead and introduced these new products. We'll get to that in that in a second.
Let's talk about the market, first of all. Stocks trading up this hour. Long way to go to make up yesterday's losses. In fact, 130 points more to go, because we're only up 44 points. Couple stocks in focus this morning. Apple with its new product line, that's up to about $86. That stock is up threefold over the past year. Amazing.
Martha Stewart is down a touch. They just announced earnings. That stock -- I didn't realize it, the stock has gone from $7 to about $35 over the past three years. A lot of hype. Martha Stewart is going to be getting out of prison a week from this Sunday. That would be March 6th. Meanwhile, though, the company this morning announcing a $7 million loss in the quarter. That's because advertising at the flagship magazine is still headed south. And of course, television revenue has been headed south, too, because the show ain't on the air anymore. But that probably will all go the other way pretty soon because she's going to be working on things.
HEMMER: That's right.
SERWER: House arrest for five months.
HEMMER: Yes, but here comes the comeback, too.
SERWER: That's right. You can make a lot of drapes during those five months.
HEMMER: That you can.
SERWER: And then also plan a lot of reality television shows, which is what she's going to be doing. At 7:40 a.m. Eastern this morning, we told you that Apple was going to introduce a new product. At 8:30 Eastern this morning, they did.
HEMMER: Look at you.
SERWER: How good am I? I'm sorry, I got to say that about myself every once in a while. Here's what we got. $199 mini price point. And the coolest thing is color -- little screen there with color album cover art. You see that on the right there?
HEMMER: Nice, like that.
SERWER: I always thought that was cool because the album could come up and what did the album cover look like? Here are some of the colors. They say they're new. I don't think those are new. They look like the old colors to me.
HEMMER: Pink's been there, silver's been there.
SERWER: Come on, Steve Jobs, get it together. Anyway, I think the album art is cool. The blue is new, I think.
O'BRIEN: You just bought one!
SERWER: You paid too much! Sorry.
O'BRIEN: Yes. $50 too much. The story of my life!
SEWER: Return it and buy -- no, they're not going to let you do that.
O'BRIEN: No, I know.
CAFFERTY: I got mine free.
SERWER: I remember, from Whoopi.
O'BRIEN: That's right, from your girl, yes.
CAFFERTY: Whoopi Goldberg.
SERWER: Whoopi bought an expensive one because that was last year.
CAFFERTY: Took care of me on that iPod situation
SERWER: All right. You got it.
O'BRIEN: Final look at the "Question of the Day"?
CAFFERTY: Final one. Should doctor assisted suicide be legal?
Allan in South Carolina writes: "If my health has nowhere to go but down, allow me to choose to leave this world with my dignity. I don't want the law, my government or my church to cause me to be humiliated or debased in my final days."
This is a happy little topic we're fooling with here today.
HEMMER: Sure, yes.
CAFFERTY: Victor in California: "The medical profession is increasingly able to draw out the process of death almost indefinitely. Were the victim of this healthcare capable of choosing to die and at least two physicians independently agree, painless assistance is the appropriate medical treatment."
And finally, Gene in Portland, Oregon, where doctor-assisted suicide is legal: "I guess states rights only matter when it's a right that the right thinks is righteous."
SERWER: And what would Hunter Thompson think?
CAFFERTY: Oh, lame.
HEMMER: Cheerio again.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That was Winchester-assisted.
SERWER: Yes, indeed. All right, we're done with this topic.
HEMMER: Thank you.
SERWER: Thankfully.
HEMMER: Rainy season out in California took more than a century to make. A brutal stretch of storms washing away dozens of homes in Southern California. More could be on the way today. It is daybreak in California. Rick and Daryn have that next hour. We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Hey, we got to run, huh?
O'BRIEN: We're out of time.
HEMMER: Time to go. Jack, Heidi, Andy?
O'BRIEN: Be back here tomorrow.
HEMMER: By the way, I saw "High Noon" with Gary Cooper while I was off over the weekend, and Gary Cooper looks a whole lot like Jack Cafferty in that film.
CAFFERTY: He's dead.
HEMMER: But he was alive when he...
O'BRIEN: That's what was remarkable about it.
HEMMER: Here's Rick and Daryn. See you tomorrow.
O'BRIEN: Guys, good 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 February 23, 2005 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Santa Maria, California, pop star Michael Jackson expected back in court, just about two hours from now. They're apparently make some headway in selecting a jury. It's now down to 221 candidates. A final set of 12 juror and eight alternates could be chosen in days.
And a friendly tennis matchup reaching great heights. Check this out, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer showing off their skills some 700 feet up from the ground. Are you kidding me. The grass court is actually the helicopter pad of a luxury hotel. The two tennis greats visiting the United Arab Emirates for the Dubai Open.
That looks incredibly scary to me.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A little dangerous.
Going for the ball.
COLLINS: Yes, exactly, oops.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Wait until the play the first football game out there. We're talking highlights.
Thank you, Heidi.
Want to get to the Pentagon. Soledad just mentioned this story. Now acknowledging that the Army's investigating claims that a U.S. soldier raped a female Iraqi prisoner. That investigation one of several inquiries of abuse of women detainees in Iraq.
At the Pentagon here's Jamie McIntyre.
Jamie, hello there.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, the Pentagon is just acknowledging under questioning from Congress that there is, in fact, at least one case still active, an investigation of a U.S. soldier accused of raping a female detainee in Iraq.
But the Pentagon is stressing at this point, that this allegation which occurred more than a year ago at the Abu Ghraib Prison, has not been substantiated.
In fact, they also revealed there was another investigation of a similar investigation at Abu Ghraib. In that case, the investigation concluded with no charges filed because of a lack of evidence. They say that could well happen in this case as well.
The reason these particular cases are coming to light now is that members of Congress have been asked by constituents about reports of U.S. soldiers raping women in Iraq, and the Pentagon was pressed for answers at this at congressional testimony last week. Donald Rumsfeld said he didn't know anything about it, but would get an answer back to Congress.
In response to that they reviewed all of the current investigations and allegations to discover there are at least two that involved allegations of rape. But again, the Pentagon is stressing that none of those have been substantiated. They also revealed, again, several cases that have been publicized about women detainees who were abused, either forcing to expose themselves to U.S. soldiers. In one case, an allegation that a teenage boy was raped by a U.S. contractor. That case is under investigation by the Justice Department -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jamie, thanks for that. Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon this morning -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Harvard University President Lawrence Summers is under fire for comments about the aptitudes of women. He's avoided a no- confidence vote, though, for now. Summers met with 500 faculty members last night to face questions and calls to step down. But what he said in a conference a month ago has fueled a nationwide debate about the sexes.
National correspondent Kelly Wallace join us with more.
Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again, Soledad.
It was a suggestion, we should say, raised by Lawrence Summers and it's likely to be debated around water coolers around the country. The suggestion is this, women and men out there, are there innate differences between us when it come to science and math?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE (voice-over): What a debate it has become, moving from the campus of Harvard, to the headlines to the airwaves...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By Harvard president...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The man who started it all, Harvard's president, Lawrence summers, who told a conference last month, quote, "Issues of intrinsic aptitude may be one of the reasons fewer women than men reach the highest levels in science and engineering. Outrage from liberal women's groups. KATHERINE SPILLAR, FEMINIST MAJORITY FOUNDATION: Well, the heart of the matter is the bias that president Summers exhibited himself in his comment.
WALLACE: Support from conservatives.
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, INDEPENDENT'S WOMEN'S FORUM: This poor guy basically told the truth in an off-the-record meeting, and now he's being painted as someone who is anti-woman.
WALLACE: Two women, two very different view. So we asked them, first, are there innate differences between the sexes?
PFOTENHAUER: In the field of neurobiology, it's pretty established that men have a superior spatial ability on average. Women have superior verbal reasoning skills on average.
SPILLAR: The research is in, and it's conclusive -- women are every bit an equal to a man in any of these fields.
WALLACE: Why then do fewer women than men become scientists and engineers? Bias, says one.
SPILLAR: What is clear, is that when women face discrimination in the workplace and in education, of course their opportunities are stunted.
WALLACE: Career choice, says the other.
PFOTENHAUER: The women are going to law school because they're likely to be better than the male lawyers they're up against. And the men are going to science and math, because they're likely to be better than their competition.
WALLACE: One says women too often complain about discrimination...
PFOTENHAUER: I think that you are basically setting someone up to have a victim mentality.
WALLACE: The other says women too often are discriminated against.
SPILLAR: It's stealing from girls their chances of achieving their full potential, and that's wrong.
WALLACE: Both, however, agree on this -- society benefits from the debate sparked by one speech, by one Ivy League president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: Because both say if we as a society want to see more women moving into the sciences and engineering, then we should, a, identify the problem, Soledad, if there is one, and only then can we figure out what to do about it.
O'BRIEN: Is there any real sense that Larry Summers is going to lose his job because of this controversy?
WALLACE: It doesn't appear so. We should point out the Harvard Corporation, which hired him, it is the Harvard Corporation which could then fire him if it decides to. Right now it is standing behind Lawrence Summers. And it looks like a recent poll done of the faculty, only about a third think he should step down, but they may put on the docket a vote of no confidence at the next faculty meeting in March, so we'll see.
O'BRIEN: Kelly, Thanks.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about breast cancer this morning. It kills 40,00 women every year in the United States and it is so common that it's found in one of every seven women.
HEMMER: Later this evening, Paula Zahn is devoting her entire one hour show to the disease. And Paula's with us this morning now for a preview. Great to see you.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: I feel like I've come home here. Our old place.
HEMMER: That's right. Good morning.
ZAHN: Good to see the two of you.
ZAHN: You know, you hear the statistics, that one in seven women will contract breast cancer in their lifetime, and it sends chills down your spine. But tonight what you learn is the fact that survivor-ship is sort of the new face of breast cancer. And we'll be profiling Carly Simon. Lynn Redgrave, who you're going to see in just a couple seconds, decided to chronicle her story through pictures taken by her daughter and very poignant diary entries. It ultimately turned into a book -- that was not her intention, she thought it would be cathartic to share with other women about what she went through.
And what you're about to see is her talk in a very candid way, what it means to be diagnosed with cancer and then to go through the next several stages of surgery and then ultimately recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LYNN REDGRAVE, ACTRESS/BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Tuesday, the 18th of February, 2003. Woke 5:15-ish, feeling terrific. That slight heady feeling gone. Excited about starting work, having a schedule. I'm feeling very positive this morning. Tea, candles and Nigel Kennedy playing. I feel that my treatment will work. I have faith. I'm so lucky to know what all this side of life is.
ZAHN: The other amazing thing about your journey is how hard you pushed yourself. After the surgery, you had committed to doing a play. Even during chemotherapy, you did not miss one performance.
REDGRAVE: No, I didn't. And there were days when I would wake up from my big nap. You know, take massive nap in the afternoon and wake up feeling very drugged. And if I hadn't had a show to go to, I would have just got back into bed. It took an alarm to wake me up. But I love the theater. All of us were actors in the theater, look on it as doctor theater, you know? You get down there, you're with your colleagues, the energy starts to come back and by the time you've got your makeup and your hair and your wig on, and your costume, you walk out there and for a period of time, you no longer have cancer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And that was just a small part of Lynn Redgrave sharing her story, her battle with breast cancer. And tonight, not only will you hear from Carly Simon, but for the first time, my mother, who is a two-time breast cancer survivor, talks quite openly about her battle with the disease as two other members of my family were fighting cancer.
But in addition to that, you'll hear from Tommy Thompson, who was the former governor of Wisconsin, of course, the former secretary of Health and Human Services, whose wife was diagnosed with cancer. She is a survivor. And not too long after that, his daughter, who was in her 30s, was diagnosed with breast cancer and he talked about the arc of his experience, how different it was when his wife was diagnosed. He also lost a mother-in-law to cancer in the middle of all that. But the reality of knowing that your own child could be sick and that that sickness could cost your life.
And here was a guy who basically -- with his position as secretary of Health and Human Services, could pick up the phone and talk to any cutting-edge doctor on the issue of breast cancer and have his phone calls answered. And he talks about how hopeless he felt at some points and how he ultimately decided the way to feel empowered was to do as much homework as he could do, to see if he could help save lives.
HEMMER: But there's also a lot of hope in these stories, too. Your own mother is a pillar of strength these days. And...
ZAHN: And you've met her, you know. Old Betty, you can't stop her.
HEMMER: And she has a few opinions.
ZAHN: Yes, she does. But, you know, the truth is, had she been diagnosed 30 years ago, had she not had a mammogram, she might not be alive today. And despite all of the controversy over mammograms, and whether they ultimately save lives, every woman tonight, especially Carly Simon, will say that my life was saved by having a mammogram. The earlier you detect breast cancer, the better your outcome's going to be.
And the fact is, there are hundreds of thousands -- in fact, there a lot more than that, women walking around in this country who are breast cancer survivors, who are living very full and joyful lives. And that's the bottom line of this hour tonight. I think people will walk away from it inspired. I know I'm inspired by their stories.
HEMMER: We'll see at 8:00 tonight, 5:00 on the West Coast, Paula.
ZAHN: Great. I don't miss getting up at 4:30 in the morning, folks.
HEMMER: Really? Well, you could do it on Thursday tomorrow for us if you'd like.
ZAHN: No, thank you. I did that for 16 years of my life.
HEMMER: Good to see you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Paula, nice to see you.
HEMMER: All right, let's get a break in a moment here. Thinking about buying an iPod? Andy says if you want to make that decision, hold off just a bit longer. He's "Minding Your Business." We'll get to Andy on that.
O'BRIEN: Also, does one TV network have a hit on its hands? "90 Second Pop" will get stars without makeup. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time for the Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop." Our pop experts -- those big words. Andy Borowitz of Borowitzreport.com. Crystal McCrary Anthony, author of the "Gotham Diaries." And Toure, CNN's pop culture correspondent.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Loving Duran Duran, by the way. Are you really going to see them in concert?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: I am. I am.
ANTHONY: Lucky.
O'BRIEN: Simon Le Bon.
BOROWITZ: I'm taking my daughter. But it's a secret, so don't tell anybody that, America.
O'BRIEN: Don't you even worry about it. Oops, my bad.
BOROWITZ: It's OK.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Miss America. I think this is a brilliant idea. BOROWITZ: You do? OK.
O'BRIEN: Miss America as a reality...
BOROWITZ: Well, yes. Well, I mean, it's...
O'BRIEN: OK.
BOROWITZ: Well, no, that's good. It's good to hear all sides. Well, you know, Miss America, I guess, has lost its TV deal, because the ratings were going down. So they've gone to Hollywood's William Morris Agency to help revamp the show and turn it into a reality show. And their theory is -- I guess their spokesman said that the Miss America pageant is the original reality show, which I agree with...
O'BRIEN: It is.
BOROWITZ: ... except for the reality part. Because I think that it's like where is the reality in this show? The women have sashes on. It just doesn't seem -- I don't know. So what is it going to be? Is it going to be like "Fear Factor?" Are they going to get rid of the swimsuit competition? Are they going to eat bugs and stuff?
O'BRIEN: The back-biting, the controversy, the girl-on-girl violence. Come on!
BOROWITZ: OK. All right. Well, now it's starting to sound...
ANTHONY: That sounds like another series, girl-on-girl violence.
TOURE: It sounds like high school.
O'BRIEN: But why would they go to -- why not just go to Mark Burnett himself and get it, you know, packaged?
BOROWITZ: I don't know.
ANTHONY: I think they're going to totally repackage it.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ANTHONY: And the thing about this is there's such a thing as too much reality. I mean, I don't know if I really want to hear the story about Peggy Sue's grandma and her bingo club that saved up to send her to the pageant.
TOURE: I want to hear that.
ANTHONY: I mean, there's a bit...
TOURE: I want to hear that. I definitely want to hear about that.
O'BRIEN: Peggy Sue grabbing a handful of somebody else's hair and pulling.
ANTHONY: That's more interesting.
TOURE: now that, yes.
O'BRIEN: That's the kind of TV I'm visualizing here.
BOROWITZ: I have a fix. I mean, I'm not William Morris or anything, but I think, like, in the old days, there were these scandals when it turned out that Miss America contestants had posed for naked photos and stuff like that.
O'BRIEN: Right.
BOROWITZ: Why not just make that a regular part of the pageant itself? I mean, I think that would be great.
O'BRIEN: Let's take you now to the pictures, the photographs.
BOROWITZ: Exactly. Exactly.
O'BRIEN: That would be scary. Crystal let's talk a little bit about something people are doing that's very mean to the stars. You're really heartbroken about this. But, again, I'm so...
ANTHONY: I think it's very mean. I mean, it's humiliating.
O'BRIEN: It's something called -- it's called "Stars Without Makeup," which kind of says it all. Every so often, a title says it all. This says it all.
ANTHONY: That would be me an hour ago. I mean, anybody without makeup, I mean, it's humiliating. It's degrading. They're going to show...
O'BRIEN: Blah, blah, blah. They're stars. Who cares?
ANTHONY: When you think about it, though, I mean, I understand why a Sean Penn knocks a cameraman out. Now no offense. Or an Alec Baldwin, who I understand is featured in this, along with Diana Ross, looking really bad and Goldie Hawn with no makeup.
O'BRIEN: It's so hard to throw a little powder and some lip gloss on in the morning. You've have paparazzi in your front yard, for god's sake.
TOURE: This would be really cool if it was on MTV or on Nickelodeon...
BOROWITZ: Right.
TOURE: ... marketed at teenage girls, right? Deconstructing the celebrity beauty mix. But it's on Fox, so it will be crass and just bitz (ph).
BOROWITZ: You know, if I want to see a behind-the-scene look at celebrities, I'll do what I always do. I'll just hack into their cell phones. Who needs Fox? O'BRIEN: Again, I'm going to try to watch that. I think that sounds great.
BOROWITZ: Sounds good.
O'BRIEN: And finally, OK, I think we can all agree, quality television, "Project Runway."
TOURE: Yea! The best reality show since "Apprentice." Smart reality show, right? I love Heidi's accent. I love how smart it is. I love evil. I love hating Wendy Pepper, right? That's part of it. Tonight is the finale.
O'BRIEN: There are three. And Wendy Pepper is a suburban mom.
TOURE: There's the evil suburban mom.
O'BRIEN: Oh, she's not evil.
TOURE: She is evil. Watch the show, see evil. But Kara Saun is the consistently respectable, consistently good...
O'BRIEN: You think she's going to win?
TOURE: No. Most people think Kara Saun is going to win. My man, Jay McCarroll, flights of fancy, he is the genius of the show. He's the one who can become a fashion visionary like Alexander McQueen. He's going to pull it out. He is going to win. That's not a spoiler; that's a prediction.
BOROWITZ: You know, I didn't think I would like this show, but I took Toure's advice. And now I'm, like, totally into fashion. For example, I'm wearing Old Navy today.
ANTHONY: We're all color-coordinated, one of my favorite things to do.
BOROWITZ: We are.
O'BRIEN: I was going to point that out. And I wanted to say your ensemble today...
BOROWITZ: Thank you. I'm also finding myself saying things like 'You go, girl.' I'm saying that a lot.
O'BRIEN: Are you feeling it?
BOROWITZ: Yes, I'm totally feeling it.
O'BRIEN: Are you feeling this?
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Like, 'That's hot, that's not.'
BOROWITZ: OK. ANTHONY: That's old jargon. What's a new hip word? Can you help us with something?
TOURE: CNN is too old for this. We can't, like, have new words. It will scare the people.
O'BRIEN: We don't want to scare them.
ANTHONY: People aren't saying "what's up" anymore. They're saying "what to do?"
BOROWITZ: Really?
TOURE: Really?
ANTHONY: That's what I heard.
O'BRIEN: Spoken like a bunch of people in their 40s. All right, you guys, as always, thank you.
Back to Bill.
All right, you guys, as always, thank you. Let's get right to Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks, Soledad. Stay away from our cell phones, though, Andy.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs will not stop until every living being owns an iPod. That's what he says. The latest tactic to get the gadget in your hands, though. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" next here in a moment as we continue after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. "Martha Stewart Living" is losing and the iPod family gets a bit bigger and maybe a bit cheaper, too. Here's Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. We talked about this story earlier this morning. And low and behold, Apple has gone ahead and introduced these new products. We'll get to that in that in a second.
Let's talk about the market, first of all. Stocks trading up this hour. Long way to go to make up yesterday's losses. In fact, 130 points more to go, because we're only up 44 points. Couple stocks in focus this morning. Apple with its new product line, that's up to about $86. That stock is up threefold over the past year. Amazing.
Martha Stewart is down a touch. They just announced earnings. That stock -- I didn't realize it, the stock has gone from $7 to about $35 over the past three years. A lot of hype. Martha Stewart is going to be getting out of prison a week from this Sunday. That would be March 6th. Meanwhile, though, the company this morning announcing a $7 million loss in the quarter. That's because advertising at the flagship magazine is still headed south. And of course, television revenue has been headed south, too, because the show ain't on the air anymore. But that probably will all go the other way pretty soon because she's going to be working on things.
HEMMER: That's right.
SERWER: House arrest for five months.
HEMMER: Yes, but here comes the comeback, too.
SERWER: That's right. You can make a lot of drapes during those five months.
HEMMER: That you can.
SERWER: And then also plan a lot of reality television shows, which is what she's going to be doing. At 7:40 a.m. Eastern this morning, we told you that Apple was going to introduce a new product. At 8:30 Eastern this morning, they did.
HEMMER: Look at you.
SERWER: How good am I? I'm sorry, I got to say that about myself every once in a while. Here's what we got. $199 mini price point. And the coolest thing is color -- little screen there with color album cover art. You see that on the right there?
HEMMER: Nice, like that.
SERWER: I always thought that was cool because the album could come up and what did the album cover look like? Here are some of the colors. They say they're new. I don't think those are new. They look like the old colors to me.
HEMMER: Pink's been there, silver's been there.
SERWER: Come on, Steve Jobs, get it together. Anyway, I think the album art is cool. The blue is new, I think.
O'BRIEN: You just bought one!
SERWER: You paid too much! Sorry.
O'BRIEN: Yes. $50 too much. The story of my life!
SEWER: Return it and buy -- no, they're not going to let you do that.
O'BRIEN: No, I know.
CAFFERTY: I got mine free.
SERWER: I remember, from Whoopi.
O'BRIEN: That's right, from your girl, yes.
CAFFERTY: Whoopi Goldberg.
SERWER: Whoopi bought an expensive one because that was last year.
CAFFERTY: Took care of me on that iPod situation
SERWER: All right. You got it.
O'BRIEN: Final look at the "Question of the Day"?
CAFFERTY: Final one. Should doctor assisted suicide be legal?
Allan in South Carolina writes: "If my health has nowhere to go but down, allow me to choose to leave this world with my dignity. I don't want the law, my government or my church to cause me to be humiliated or debased in my final days."
This is a happy little topic we're fooling with here today.
HEMMER: Sure, yes.
CAFFERTY: Victor in California: "The medical profession is increasingly able to draw out the process of death almost indefinitely. Were the victim of this healthcare capable of choosing to die and at least two physicians independently agree, painless assistance is the appropriate medical treatment."
And finally, Gene in Portland, Oregon, where doctor-assisted suicide is legal: "I guess states rights only matter when it's a right that the right thinks is righteous."
SERWER: And what would Hunter Thompson think?
CAFFERTY: Oh, lame.
HEMMER: Cheerio again.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That was Winchester-assisted.
SERWER: Yes, indeed. All right, we're done with this topic.
HEMMER: Thank you.
SERWER: Thankfully.
HEMMER: Rainy season out in California took more than a century to make. A brutal stretch of storms washing away dozens of homes in Southern California. More could be on the way today. It is daybreak in California. Rick and Daryn have that next hour. We're back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Hey, we got to run, huh?
O'BRIEN: We're out of time.
HEMMER: Time to go. Jack, Heidi, Andy?
O'BRIEN: Be back here tomorrow.
HEMMER: By the way, I saw "High Noon" with Gary Cooper while I was off over the weekend, and Gary Cooper looks a whole lot like Jack Cafferty in that film.
CAFFERTY: He's dead.
HEMMER: But he was alive when he...
O'BRIEN: That's what was remarkable about it.
HEMMER: Here's Rick and Daryn. See you tomorrow.
O'BRIEN: Guys, good morning.
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