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American Morning
'House Call'; '90-Second Pop'
Aired March 04, 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: Welcome back, everybody. Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad this morning. Happy Friday to you.
We have new pictures again Martha Stewart enjoying her first day of relative freedom. She got out of jail at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time last night, plans to be on the job Monday morning. We'll find out what she has to say, and which Americans like her and which do not. There's a new poll that suggests some answers in that. We'll get to it.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
Also, do you work hard? Did you get a bonus last year? Even if you did, it probably wasn't close to what a bunch of restaurant workers got from their boss. We'll meet the boss and one of his happy employees just ahead.
HEMMER: They are happy, too.
Kelly Wallace also with us today looking at the headlines.
Good morning to you, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Did you guys get a bonus from your boss?
HEMMER: Well, we did in December, right, a little bit?
COSTELLO: I did. I just got one last month.
HEMMER: Good on ya.
WALLACE: I don't know, got to look into that. All right.
Good morning again, everyone.
Now in the news, President Bush kicking off his Social Security blitz this hour. The president departing Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland just a few minutes ago. He'd heading to New Jersey. It is the first stop of a 60-day, 60-stop tour aimed at selling his Social Security reforms to the American people. President Bush will meet with supporters in Indiana this afternoon.
Pope John Paul II may make another appearance this weekend. A Vatican spokesman says the pope may give blessings to the faithful in Rome from his hospital window. He did the same thing last Sunday. As for when he'll be released, no date yet. But Vatican officials say the pontiff may be back at the Vatican in time for Easter celebrations, three weeks from now.
In California, the jury in the Robert Blake murder trial could get the case as early as today. Closing arguments expected to wrap up when the trial resumes less than three hours from now. Blake's defense attorney calls the murder case against the actor ridiculous. The former "Baretta" star faces life in prison if convicted.
And a growing problem for some residents in Lake City, Florida. A giant sinkhole -- get this -- now about the size of two football fields, it is threatening to swallow up a two-story home. Health officials are now asking people in the area to boil their water in case of contamination. Nearly two football fields long.
COSTELLO: And it's sucking up their water supply, too. That's why they have to boil water.
WALLACE: It is becoming a growing problem for people in that area.
HEMMER: Sixty feet deep will do it. Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: Sure.
HEMMER: Five months behind bars. Martha Stewart back at home now, her suburban New York City estate, at this hour.
Just a short time ago, she was seen walking the grounds of her 153-acre compound. That's in the northern part of Westchester county. She'll serve the next five months under house arrest. And early this morning, walking side by side with her daughter Alexis. Stewart waving to supporters before boarding a plane home.
Upon that release, Martha posted a statement on her Web site, in part saying, "The experience of the last five months in Alderson, West Virginia has been life altering and life affirming. I can tell you now that I feel very fortunate that I've had a family that nurtured me, the advantage of an excellent education and the opportunity to pursue the American dream."
New poll numbers, too. CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll showing more women are sympathetic to Martha than men, 57 to 37 percent. Sixty percent of men and 42 percent of women they have an unsympathetic view toward Stewart. Both genders, about 63 percent, say they do not think Martha was treated unfairly because she is a successful woman; 35 percent do feel she was treated unfairly.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
The white supremacist Matt Hale is talking, saying he hopes police catch the "animal" who killed the husband and mother of federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow this week in Chicago. Hale's mother told "Time" magazine that her son said, quite, "There is simply no way that any supporter of mine would commit such a heinous crime. I totally condemn it, and want this perpetrator caught and prosecuted. I only hope they sincerely wish to apprehend this animal, instead of railroading an innocent. Only an idiot would think I would do this. My sentencing date is April 6th."
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I spoke with "Time" magazine's Wendy Cole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So Hale says only an idiot will do this, but he's going to be sentenced for arranging to kill Judge Lefkow. That's sort of a strange psychology, isn't it?
WENDY COLE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, clearly, the timing of this seems a bit odd, because he will be sentenced next month. And if you're looking for, you know, a bit of compassion from the judge, it seems the timing seems a bit suspicious, and you know, odd considering what he's up against just in one month.
COSTELLO: Well, in one month, he's already facing up to 40 years in prison.
COLE: Yes. Well, you know, it may -- we don't know for sure, of course, that's why the criminal investigation continues. But a likely scenario would be perhaps that somebody who is one of his followers is acting kind of as a lone wolf and may not really need a direct instruction from Matt Hale to do this. So that feels more plausible, that somebody associated with him, but may not have actually been him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was Wendy Cole, "Time" magazine's Midwest bureau chief, earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: House calls by doctors may be a think of thing of the past, but "mouse calls" are the latest doctor/patient practice. It's doctoring via e-mail. And insurance providers are signing on to the cyberconsultations.
Dr. Robert Levine has a program, e-visit program, I should say. It's a pilot program, at the Columbia University Medical Center here in New York. And he's here to talk about the benefits and the risks for the patients.
Welcome, doctor.
DR. ROBERT LEVINE, COLUMBIA UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: It all sounds so impersonal, doctoring by e-mail.
LEVINE: Well, actually it creates more doctor contact with the patient, gives them different opportunities. Patients call us by telephone. Now as they move to the Net, it's just another communication tool, and that's what this is about.
COSTELLO: We have a you few examples of e-mails that people have sent to you in particular.
LEVINE: OK.
COSTELLO: So we'll put some up, and I know they're hard to read. But these are the sorts of questions that people are asking their doctors. One is about a renewed prescription for birth control pills. That's very common.
LEVINE: So that cuts down on telephone volume in the office. The patient does this when for me it's women, since I'm a gynecologist. A patient does it at her convenience. We pick it up at our convenience. It saves one phone call to the office. And then when we have to renew the prescription with the pharmacy, we send it out as an e-script. Therefore we don't have to play phone tag with the pharmacy, which makes life a lot easier for everybody.
COSTELLO: All of this is on a secure site as well, so you don't have to worry about the information leaking out.
LEVINE: It is what we call in the jargon HIPA compliant, which means that you're protected and we're protected as far as privacy is concerned.
COSTELLO: What other kind of advice would you give a patient via e-mail? How detailed does that get?
LEVINE: Well, the patients who are going to request advice are patients that I know, and so you have to establish a relationship with the patient, the patient has to establish a relationship with you. So therefore, the advice that I give is going to be dependent on that particular patient. And I will make a judgment as to whether or not I think it's appropriate for that patient to receive advice from me over the Internet. I may say, call me, come in and see me.
COSTELLO: I understand. I wanted to talk about cost, too, because insurance companies sometimes pay doctors what, $25 per e- mail. You could make a lot of money doing that.
LEVINE: Well, I'm not sure you are going to make a lot of money doing it. I think that you're going to be paid for convenience, for the patient and for the doctor. It is going to save the insurance company ultimately money; it's going to save the patient money -- she doesn't have to come in, pay for parking, she doesn't have to pay transportation. It may be something that can be handled over the Internet.
COSTELLO: Well, a call for a renewal prescription on birth control pills. You can probably call your doctor on the phone, and that's free.
LEVINE: That's going to be free in this system also. The charges are not for the routine kinds of things that you would normally handle for free on the telephone. These are going to be for more complex types of telephone calls, that require some clinical judgment.
COSTELLO: Right, and then a lot of time on your part.
LEVINE: Correct.
COSTELLO: Dr. Robert Levine, thank you for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning, we appreciate it.
Back to you.
HEMMER: Well, the government says it's the biggest tax-fraud scheme ever. Is that true, or just a $200 million misunderstanding? Andy's "Minding Your Business," back with that.
And Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey pairing up for a new TV project this weekend. Does the dream team deliver? "90-Second Pop" explains that in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Name that tune. Come on.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: What was that? I failed.
HEMMER: "90-Second Pop" on a Friday. Say hello to Toure. We call it pop. He calls it pop. The prince of urban populism is back. Jessi Klein, comedian from VH-1's "Best Week Ever."
Good morning, Jess. Welcome back.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: Hi. Good morning. Thank you.
HEMMER: And B.J. Sigmund from "Us Weekly" back from the Oscars in L.A.
Good morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good to see you.
HEMMER: The Martha machine rolls on. Carol says she's bringing back the poncho, by the way.
SIGESMUND: Absolutely. Well, let's talk...
HEMMER: A classy act last night?
SIGESMUND: Completely classy. This was 12:30 a.m. We've got to see the video. This was a history-making walk by Martha Stewart, absolutely. You've got to see when they run the video, the jeans, that knit poncho, ever so fashionable. Look at those high heels. This is a 63-year-old woman, a complete 180 from the frumpy Martha Stewart that we got to know in the '90s. Look at that little hair flip. This was like an Oscar walk that I just saw on Sunday night.
But you know what? Martha has always been amazing at manipulating her own image. She made sure that she had execs from Martha Stewart Omnimedia there to make sure that this image went around the world. And it was amazing. Fashion history and personality.
HEMMER: How many people go to prison and come back a billionaire?
TOURE: Well, she...
HEMMER: That's what her net worth is back again.
TOURE: But not just that. Like, she's so hip-hop, right? Like, you do your time with pride, chin up, no problem, and you get moral authority and, like, integrity out of it.
KLEIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), she's got a sort of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now.
TOURE: She's got (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now.
KLEIN: Well, you know, I was talking to Wendy in the makeup room, and we were watching the footage. And she goes, I want to go to prison, like, if I can come out looking that good. Let's all go.
HEMMER: You know, we're kind of happy with Wendy around here. We really don't want to kiss her off to West Virginia. How much of this is overkill?
TOURE: Today is the day. I mean...
HEMMER: Come on!
TOURE: We can't get enough.
SIGESMUND: We've been talking about this day forever.
TOURE: We can't get enough.
SIGESMUND: This kicks off in earnest the comeback that we've been speaking about for two months now.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And now comes the TV shows.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And her stock will rise more.
TOURE: We thought she was over when she went to jail.
SIGESMUND: She's a fashion icon.
HEMMER: Right.
TOURE: So not over.
HEMMER: Listen, let's move to the next topic. Martha Stewart said before she went to jail, she said the spring garden is just around the corner. It's time to get things growing again.
KLEIN: Oh, Hallmark.
HEMMER: Sunday night, ABC, Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey team up. The movie is called "Their Eyes Were Watching God," based on a novel.
TOURE: The novel.
HEMMER: How good is it?
TOURE: The great novel. I watched it last night. It's pretty darn good. Janie Crawford, the star of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," is the original "Desperate Housewife." She has, like, three different husbands, and she kisses another guy. Halle has this great sexy kiss with her new boyfriend.
HEMMER: Which is getting all the publicity, by the way, before the movie comes out.
TOURE: I mean, this is good. It's interesting. She has -- three times, she says, I'm watching God, which I don't think Janie Crawford actually says in the book. So that's a little creepy. But overall, this is pretty good. They stayed pretty close. It's good.
KLEIN: The thing that I think is funny is that Oprah said one of the reasons she wanted to make this movie is so that more people would read the book. But one way to get me to not read a book is to make a movie of it, where Halle Berry is eating fruit out of someone's hand.
SIGESMUND: I will say that the sex that everyone is talking about I think is eclipsing the greater meaning of this book. I think Oprah had something else in mind nine years ago when she bought this book. It's an historical book.
HEMMER: But that kiss is going to drive some viewers to watch the show Sunday night.
TOURE: I just love the whole project.
HEMMER: Quickly.
TOURE: Because it's like the black woman, superhero summit. Oprah, Halle, Zora Neale Hurston. The great playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks, adapted it. So it's just like all of these superheroes coming together, able to leap powerful white men in a single bound. It's like yes.
HEMMER: Third topic. Look at this superhero. This is a...
TOURE: Superhero.
HEMMER: Do we have the picture?
KLEIN: Let's look at the picture.
HEMMER: Star Jones apparently is now the target of PETA.
KLEIN: Oh!
HEMMER: That is not Star Jones. That's a drag queen from here in New York.
TOURE: Artilla DeBarge (ph).
HEMMER: What's happening, Jess? What's the story?
KLEIN: It's so good. I have one word for you in terms of the resemblance between these two: uncanny. It is uncanny. The only difference, I would say, is that Star Jones is a little bit more flamboyant than the drag queen.
TOURE: This is from PETA.
KLEIN: The drag queen hasn't quite captured that.
TOURE: Right. This is from PETA. They're trying to make fun of her for wearing fur. PETA has a dream enemy in Star, because she looks ridiculous every day. So the easiest idea in the world to sell is that she looks ridiculous in fur.
HEMMER: And we should...
TOURE: It's so easy. Ergo (ph), ergo (ph), you, regular consumer, look ridiculous in fur. But what Star really needs to do is she needs to get the other PWETA on her side, People Who Eat Tasty Animals. And that would...
SIGESMUND: But we haven't talked about the fact that Star Jones is -- her lawyers are demanding that PETA not go through with this advertising campaign. She says, you know, it's against the First Amendment to use someone's image in advertising. She seems to have no sense of humor at all. Anna Wintor (ph), the editor of "Vogue," famously has never bothered with PETA, even though they have trashed her in the past.
HEMMER: By the way, this is just a picture. The ad has not been produced just yet.
SIGESMUND: They just produced it yesterday.
HEMMER: And it's already getting some publicity.
SIGESMUND: Right.
TOURE: I don't even know...
HEMMER: Thanks...
TOURE: How did fur become cool again? How did it happen?
KLEIN: People want to do what Star Jones does. Not!
HEMMER: Pick up Jessi this weekend. Did I mention Martha Stewart's not in jail anymore?
KLEIN: She's out!
HEMMER: Thanks. See you guys. We'll see all three of you later.
KLEIN: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Uncle Sam says it's the biggest tax-fraud scheme of all time. But the suspect says he has a good excuse. He wanted to change the world. Andy's "Minding Your Business," next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. A man charged with cheating the government out of $2 million says he was just trying to do the right thing.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, sure.
HEMMER: Andy Serwer has that and a check of the market and a jobs report, too.
SERWER: Yes, we're going to talk about that.
Wall Street has officially exhaled. Remember they had bated breath earlier. The jobs report came out. And Wall Street likes what it saw. Dow Jones industrials up 40 points at this hour. The jobs report came out for the month of February at 8:30. Here's what we got. 262,000 jobs added in the month. Much more than expected. January, for instance, was 132,000. So you can see a real pickup there. Unemployment picks up. That just means more people are now looking for jobs. All in all a very positive report.
We'll get to the tax cheat in a second. First of all, the curse of the Chicago Cubs continues. No, I'm not talking about Billy Hemmer's billy goat. I'm talking about Sammy Sosa. Here's what happened. Sammy Sosa traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles. OK? The team is owned by the "Chicago Tribune" company. And the CEO announced the other day because of this change, they had to eat $60 million of Sammy's contract. It is going to be a three cent hit to earnings. The institutional investors started laughing and the CEO goes, hey, Sammy did not come cheap. So kind of a nice little sports/Wall Street thing there.
Now as far as this tax cheat. The $200 million tax cheat allegedly perpetrated by a gentleman named Walter Anderson down in Washington, D.C. "The Washington Post" has a great story today, an interview with this guy from jail. And let's just say he's a little different. I mean, why are we surprised here? He said that $200 million? He was going to use it to change the world. So in other words, why should he pay taxes and have the government spend it when he could have done a better job at it? That's sort of the point. He was going use it to do arms control, human rights, family planning, space exploration. So there was really no reason for the government to collect those taxes, you guys...
HEMMER: He's benevolent.
SERWER: ... because he could have done it himself.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: He better be getting his prom dress ready for San Quentin. He'll be going to that Friday night dance out there pretty soon.
HEMMER: I think you're probably right.
SERWER: And he's already in one.
CAFFERTY: He can change that world.
SERWER: Yes, sir.
COSTELLO: Wow. Back to Jack and the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Why do you look at me like that? "Question of the Day" is what world record would you like to see broken? This in honor of that guy that went around the world by himself in that airplane. And here's what you're writing this morning. This is almost over.
Nancy in New York writes: "Are we supposed to care about world records to break? What makes that so important? They're often a waste of money and resources for egotistical rich people."
Paul writes this: "To the seven words that you cannot say on radio and TV, let's add Martha."
And Don in Minnesota writes: "I think CNN should give the early morning news crew a raise and some new furniture. I think they make the news interesting, even the Martha Stewart story."
COSTELLO: Yay, Don.
SERWER: Now, that's work.
CAFFERTY: A little reminder, that we do this tiny little business show called "In the Money" and this weekend we're going to have the head of the Texas jewboys on. That would be Kinky Friedman. He's a country singer and songwriter and a mystery writer. He wants to be governor of the state of Texas, following the proud tradition of Ann Richards and the rest of them down there.
Stop the wussification of the Lone Star state, is one of his campaign slogans. The other one is, I want to be governor. Hey, how tough can it be? Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00, invite to you join us for what I think will be an interesting and no doubt entertaining conversation with the Kinkster.
SERWER: Sure it will be.
HEMMER: Look forward to that.
COSTELLO: I can't get past the cigar. Kind of grosses me out.
CAFFERTY: Well, you and somebody else.
COSTELLO: Do you like your boss enough to vacation with him or her? Some workers in Baltimore definitely do now. We'll tell you about the amazing gift they got from their boss. But first, how many paid vacation days does the average American worker receive each year? Is it seven, 13 or 19? We'll be back with the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Before the break, we asked you this. How many paid vacation days does the average American worker receive each year? The answer is B, 13. Americans receive the fewest paid vacation days in the industrialized world. But did I need to tell you that? Over to you, Bill.
HEMMER: Time to meet a small business owner with a big heart. Bruce Reamer sent the entire staff of his Maryland restaurant on a cruise to the Bahamas. All this as a reward for their hard work. And that generosity was recognized by our crack "Extra Effort" team. Bruce Reamer is with us from Baltimore today along with one of his employees, Russell Warfield.
Good morning, gentlemen.
BRUCE REAMER, TOOK HIS WORKERS ON VACATION: Good morning, sir.
RUSSELL WARFIELD, BOSS PAID FOR HIS VACATION: Good morning.
HEMMER: I'm told I have to be extra nice to you today.
REAMER: That's right.
HEMMER: Hey, tell me. 17 children was it, 30 adults, 17 children. What was the price tag on that, Bruce?
REAMER: A lot.
HEMMER: What did your accountant say?
REAMER: He thinks I'm crazy.
HEMMER: Yes? How did you justify the trip? REAMER: You know, we've got some employees that work hard and you know, we had a great year and picked up a lot of slack. And you know, we want to retain our employees and we want to attract some new employees. Just seemed like a great way for everybody to get out and have some fun. And we have relationships -- you know, some employees have been there over ten years.
HEMMER: Well you must have had a really good year because you closed the restaurant for a week, as well.
REAMER: That's right. Usually a slow week.
HEMMER: Yes, you think so, huh?
REAMER: Yes.
HEMMER: Tell me, who got to go on this trip?
REAMER: Any employee that's been there five years or longer. And basically used the fulltime employees. If they were eligible for the health insurance, then they were eligible for the trip.
HEMMER: I got you. Hey Russell, what do you think of your boss down there?
WARFIELD: Aw, he's a swell guy, I'm telling you.
HEMMER: Yes? When you were chosen, what was your reaction?
WARFIELD: I thought he was kidding. And I just kept hanging in there. I was hoping he wasn't. But finally it come to head and I couldn't get over it. It was the best day of my life, or the best week. The best week.
HEMMER: Really? Who were you able to take with you?
WARFIELD: I took my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law and my two grandchildren.
HEMMER: Tell us about the trip. How good was it?
WARFIELD: Oh, my god. It passed outstanding. All you wanted to do -- it was like a dream come true, that I'm 62 years old. If he wouldn't have took me, I probably wouldn't have went.
HEMMER: Wow. We will stop at Salerno's (ph) next time down Baltimore way.
WARFIELD: I hope so.
REAMER: Great, thank you.
WARFIELD: Thank you kindly.
REAMER: That's why we call it extra effort, too. Good for them?
CAFFERTY: Is CNN listening to this stuff?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
CAFFERTY: When do we get to go somewhere on a nice trip?
COSTELLO: We're clearly going to the Bahamas.
SERWER: When does the ship leave?
CAFFERTY: Send us to Chicago in December or something.
HEMMER: We got to run. Have a great weekend. Here's Rick and Daryn down at the CNN Center.
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Aired March 4, 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: Welcome back, everybody. Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad this morning. Happy Friday to you.
We have new pictures again Martha Stewart enjoying her first day of relative freedom. She got out of jail at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Time last night, plans to be on the job Monday morning. We'll find out what she has to say, and which Americans like her and which do not. There's a new poll that suggests some answers in that. We'll get to it.
COSTELLO: That should be interesting.
Also, do you work hard? Did you get a bonus last year? Even if you did, it probably wasn't close to what a bunch of restaurant workers got from their boss. We'll meet the boss and one of his happy employees just ahead.
HEMMER: They are happy, too.
Kelly Wallace also with us today looking at the headlines.
Good morning to you, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Did you guys get a bonus from your boss?
HEMMER: Well, we did in December, right, a little bit?
COSTELLO: I did. I just got one last month.
HEMMER: Good on ya.
WALLACE: I don't know, got to look into that. All right.
Good morning again, everyone.
Now in the news, President Bush kicking off his Social Security blitz this hour. The president departing Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland just a few minutes ago. He'd heading to New Jersey. It is the first stop of a 60-day, 60-stop tour aimed at selling his Social Security reforms to the American people. President Bush will meet with supporters in Indiana this afternoon.
Pope John Paul II may make another appearance this weekend. A Vatican spokesman says the pope may give blessings to the faithful in Rome from his hospital window. He did the same thing last Sunday. As for when he'll be released, no date yet. But Vatican officials say the pontiff may be back at the Vatican in time for Easter celebrations, three weeks from now.
In California, the jury in the Robert Blake murder trial could get the case as early as today. Closing arguments expected to wrap up when the trial resumes less than three hours from now. Blake's defense attorney calls the murder case against the actor ridiculous. The former "Baretta" star faces life in prison if convicted.
And a growing problem for some residents in Lake City, Florida. A giant sinkhole -- get this -- now about the size of two football fields, it is threatening to swallow up a two-story home. Health officials are now asking people in the area to boil their water in case of contamination. Nearly two football fields long.
COSTELLO: And it's sucking up their water supply, too. That's why they have to boil water.
WALLACE: It is becoming a growing problem for people in that area.
HEMMER: Sixty feet deep will do it. Thank you, Kelly.
WALLACE: Sure.
HEMMER: Five months behind bars. Martha Stewart back at home now, her suburban New York City estate, at this hour.
Just a short time ago, she was seen walking the grounds of her 153-acre compound. That's in the northern part of Westchester county. She'll serve the next five months under house arrest. And early this morning, walking side by side with her daughter Alexis. Stewart waving to supporters before boarding a plane home.
Upon that release, Martha posted a statement on her Web site, in part saying, "The experience of the last five months in Alderson, West Virginia has been life altering and life affirming. I can tell you now that I feel very fortunate that I've had a family that nurtured me, the advantage of an excellent education and the opportunity to pursue the American dream."
New poll numbers, too. CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll showing more women are sympathetic to Martha than men, 57 to 37 percent. Sixty percent of men and 42 percent of women they have an unsympathetic view toward Stewart. Both genders, about 63 percent, say they do not think Martha was treated unfairly because she is a successful woman; 35 percent do feel she was treated unfairly.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
The white supremacist Matt Hale is talking, saying he hopes police catch the "animal" who killed the husband and mother of federal Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow this week in Chicago. Hale's mother told "Time" magazine that her son said, quite, "There is simply no way that any supporter of mine would commit such a heinous crime. I totally condemn it, and want this perpetrator caught and prosecuted. I only hope they sincerely wish to apprehend this animal, instead of railroading an innocent. Only an idiot would think I would do this. My sentencing date is April 6th."
Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I spoke with "Time" magazine's Wendy Cole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: So Hale says only an idiot will do this, but he's going to be sentenced for arranging to kill Judge Lefkow. That's sort of a strange psychology, isn't it?
WENDY COLE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Well, clearly, the timing of this seems a bit odd, because he will be sentenced next month. And if you're looking for, you know, a bit of compassion from the judge, it seems the timing seems a bit suspicious, and you know, odd considering what he's up against just in one month.
COSTELLO: Well, in one month, he's already facing up to 40 years in prison.
COLE: Yes. Well, you know, it may -- we don't know for sure, of course, that's why the criminal investigation continues. But a likely scenario would be perhaps that somebody who is one of his followers is acting kind of as a lone wolf and may not really need a direct instruction from Matt Hale to do this. So that feels more plausible, that somebody associated with him, but may not have actually been him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was Wendy Cole, "Time" magazine's Midwest bureau chief, earlier on AMERICAN MORNING.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: House calls by doctors may be a think of thing of the past, but "mouse calls" are the latest doctor/patient practice. It's doctoring via e-mail. And insurance providers are signing on to the cyberconsultations.
Dr. Robert Levine has a program, e-visit program, I should say. It's a pilot program, at the Columbia University Medical Center here in New York. And he's here to talk about the benefits and the risks for the patients.
Welcome, doctor.
DR. ROBERT LEVINE, COLUMBIA UNIV. MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you.
COSTELLO: It all sounds so impersonal, doctoring by e-mail.
LEVINE: Well, actually it creates more doctor contact with the patient, gives them different opportunities. Patients call us by telephone. Now as they move to the Net, it's just another communication tool, and that's what this is about.
COSTELLO: We have a you few examples of e-mails that people have sent to you in particular.
LEVINE: OK.
COSTELLO: So we'll put some up, and I know they're hard to read. But these are the sorts of questions that people are asking their doctors. One is about a renewed prescription for birth control pills. That's very common.
LEVINE: So that cuts down on telephone volume in the office. The patient does this when for me it's women, since I'm a gynecologist. A patient does it at her convenience. We pick it up at our convenience. It saves one phone call to the office. And then when we have to renew the prescription with the pharmacy, we send it out as an e-script. Therefore we don't have to play phone tag with the pharmacy, which makes life a lot easier for everybody.
COSTELLO: All of this is on a secure site as well, so you don't have to worry about the information leaking out.
LEVINE: It is what we call in the jargon HIPA compliant, which means that you're protected and we're protected as far as privacy is concerned.
COSTELLO: What other kind of advice would you give a patient via e-mail? How detailed does that get?
LEVINE: Well, the patients who are going to request advice are patients that I know, and so you have to establish a relationship with the patient, the patient has to establish a relationship with you. So therefore, the advice that I give is going to be dependent on that particular patient. And I will make a judgment as to whether or not I think it's appropriate for that patient to receive advice from me over the Internet. I may say, call me, come in and see me.
COSTELLO: I understand. I wanted to talk about cost, too, because insurance companies sometimes pay doctors what, $25 per e- mail. You could make a lot of money doing that.
LEVINE: Well, I'm not sure you are going to make a lot of money doing it. I think that you're going to be paid for convenience, for the patient and for the doctor. It is going to save the insurance company ultimately money; it's going to save the patient money -- she doesn't have to come in, pay for parking, she doesn't have to pay transportation. It may be something that can be handled over the Internet.
COSTELLO: Well, a call for a renewal prescription on birth control pills. You can probably call your doctor on the phone, and that's free.
LEVINE: That's going to be free in this system also. The charges are not for the routine kinds of things that you would normally handle for free on the telephone. These are going to be for more complex types of telephone calls, that require some clinical judgment.
COSTELLO: Right, and then a lot of time on your part.
LEVINE: Correct.
COSTELLO: Dr. Robert Levine, thank you for joining AMERICAN MORNING this morning, we appreciate it.
Back to you.
HEMMER: Well, the government says it's the biggest tax-fraud scheme ever. Is that true, or just a $200 million misunderstanding? Andy's "Minding Your Business," back with that.
And Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey pairing up for a new TV project this weekend. Does the dream team deliver? "90-Second Pop" explains that in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Name that tune. Come on.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: What was that? I failed.
HEMMER: "90-Second Pop" on a Friday. Say hello to Toure. We call it pop. He calls it pop. The prince of urban populism is back. Jessi Klein, comedian from VH-1's "Best Week Ever."
Good morning, Jess. Welcome back.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: Hi. Good morning. Thank you.
HEMMER: And B.J. Sigmund from "Us Weekly" back from the Oscars in L.A.
Good morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good to see you.
HEMMER: The Martha machine rolls on. Carol says she's bringing back the poncho, by the way.
SIGESMUND: Absolutely. Well, let's talk...
HEMMER: A classy act last night?
SIGESMUND: Completely classy. This was 12:30 a.m. We've got to see the video. This was a history-making walk by Martha Stewart, absolutely. You've got to see when they run the video, the jeans, that knit poncho, ever so fashionable. Look at those high heels. This is a 63-year-old woman, a complete 180 from the frumpy Martha Stewart that we got to know in the '90s. Look at that little hair flip. This was like an Oscar walk that I just saw on Sunday night.
But you know what? Martha has always been amazing at manipulating her own image. She made sure that she had execs from Martha Stewart Omnimedia there to make sure that this image went around the world. And it was amazing. Fashion history and personality.
HEMMER: How many people go to prison and come back a billionaire?
TOURE: Well, she...
HEMMER: That's what her net worth is back again.
TOURE: But not just that. Like, she's so hip-hop, right? Like, you do your time with pride, chin up, no problem, and you get moral authority and, like, integrity out of it.
KLEIN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), she's got a sort of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now.
TOURE: She's got (UNINTELLIGIBLE) now.
KLEIN: Well, you know, I was talking to Wendy in the makeup room, and we were watching the footage. And she goes, I want to go to prison, like, if I can come out looking that good. Let's all go.
HEMMER: You know, we're kind of happy with Wendy around here. We really don't want to kiss her off to West Virginia. How much of this is overkill?
TOURE: Today is the day. I mean...
HEMMER: Come on!
TOURE: We can't get enough.
SIGESMUND: We've been talking about this day forever.
TOURE: We can't get enough.
SIGESMUND: This kicks off in earnest the comeback that we've been speaking about for two months now.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And now comes the TV shows.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And her stock will rise more.
TOURE: We thought she was over when she went to jail.
SIGESMUND: She's a fashion icon.
HEMMER: Right.
TOURE: So not over.
HEMMER: Listen, let's move to the next topic. Martha Stewart said before she went to jail, she said the spring garden is just around the corner. It's time to get things growing again.
KLEIN: Oh, Hallmark.
HEMMER: Sunday night, ABC, Halle Berry and Oprah Winfrey team up. The movie is called "Their Eyes Were Watching God," based on a novel.
TOURE: The novel.
HEMMER: How good is it?
TOURE: The great novel. I watched it last night. It's pretty darn good. Janie Crawford, the star of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," is the original "Desperate Housewife." She has, like, three different husbands, and she kisses another guy. Halle has this great sexy kiss with her new boyfriend.
HEMMER: Which is getting all the publicity, by the way, before the movie comes out.
TOURE: I mean, this is good. It's interesting. She has -- three times, she says, I'm watching God, which I don't think Janie Crawford actually says in the book. So that's a little creepy. But overall, this is pretty good. They stayed pretty close. It's good.
KLEIN: The thing that I think is funny is that Oprah said one of the reasons she wanted to make this movie is so that more people would read the book. But one way to get me to not read a book is to make a movie of it, where Halle Berry is eating fruit out of someone's hand.
SIGESMUND: I will say that the sex that everyone is talking about I think is eclipsing the greater meaning of this book. I think Oprah had something else in mind nine years ago when she bought this book. It's an historical book.
HEMMER: But that kiss is going to drive some viewers to watch the show Sunday night.
TOURE: I just love the whole project.
HEMMER: Quickly.
TOURE: Because it's like the black woman, superhero summit. Oprah, Halle, Zora Neale Hurston. The great playwright, Suzan-Lori Parks, adapted it. So it's just like all of these superheroes coming together, able to leap powerful white men in a single bound. It's like yes.
HEMMER: Third topic. Look at this superhero. This is a...
TOURE: Superhero.
HEMMER: Do we have the picture?
KLEIN: Let's look at the picture.
HEMMER: Star Jones apparently is now the target of PETA.
KLEIN: Oh!
HEMMER: That is not Star Jones. That's a drag queen from here in New York.
TOURE: Artilla DeBarge (ph).
HEMMER: What's happening, Jess? What's the story?
KLEIN: It's so good. I have one word for you in terms of the resemblance between these two: uncanny. It is uncanny. The only difference, I would say, is that Star Jones is a little bit more flamboyant than the drag queen.
TOURE: This is from PETA.
KLEIN: The drag queen hasn't quite captured that.
TOURE: Right. This is from PETA. They're trying to make fun of her for wearing fur. PETA has a dream enemy in Star, because she looks ridiculous every day. So the easiest idea in the world to sell is that she looks ridiculous in fur.
HEMMER: And we should...
TOURE: It's so easy. Ergo (ph), ergo (ph), you, regular consumer, look ridiculous in fur. But what Star really needs to do is she needs to get the other PWETA on her side, People Who Eat Tasty Animals. And that would...
SIGESMUND: But we haven't talked about the fact that Star Jones is -- her lawyers are demanding that PETA not go through with this advertising campaign. She says, you know, it's against the First Amendment to use someone's image in advertising. She seems to have no sense of humor at all. Anna Wintor (ph), the editor of "Vogue," famously has never bothered with PETA, even though they have trashed her in the past.
HEMMER: By the way, this is just a picture. The ad has not been produced just yet.
SIGESMUND: They just produced it yesterday.
HEMMER: And it's already getting some publicity.
SIGESMUND: Right.
TOURE: I don't even know...
HEMMER: Thanks...
TOURE: How did fur become cool again? How did it happen?
KLEIN: People want to do what Star Jones does. Not!
HEMMER: Pick up Jessi this weekend. Did I mention Martha Stewart's not in jail anymore?
KLEIN: She's out!
HEMMER: Thanks. See you guys. We'll see all three of you later.
KLEIN: Thanks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Uncle Sam says it's the biggest tax-fraud scheme of all time. But the suspect says he has a good excuse. He wanted to change the world. Andy's "Minding Your Business," next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. A man charged with cheating the government out of $2 million says he was just trying to do the right thing.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, sure.
HEMMER: Andy Serwer has that and a check of the market and a jobs report, too.
SERWER: Yes, we're going to talk about that.
Wall Street has officially exhaled. Remember they had bated breath earlier. The jobs report came out. And Wall Street likes what it saw. Dow Jones industrials up 40 points at this hour. The jobs report came out for the month of February at 8:30. Here's what we got. 262,000 jobs added in the month. Much more than expected. January, for instance, was 132,000. So you can see a real pickup there. Unemployment picks up. That just means more people are now looking for jobs. All in all a very positive report.
We'll get to the tax cheat in a second. First of all, the curse of the Chicago Cubs continues. No, I'm not talking about Billy Hemmer's billy goat. I'm talking about Sammy Sosa. Here's what happened. Sammy Sosa traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Baltimore Orioles. OK? The team is owned by the "Chicago Tribune" company. And the CEO announced the other day because of this change, they had to eat $60 million of Sammy's contract. It is going to be a three cent hit to earnings. The institutional investors started laughing and the CEO goes, hey, Sammy did not come cheap. So kind of a nice little sports/Wall Street thing there.
Now as far as this tax cheat. The $200 million tax cheat allegedly perpetrated by a gentleman named Walter Anderson down in Washington, D.C. "The Washington Post" has a great story today, an interview with this guy from jail. And let's just say he's a little different. I mean, why are we surprised here? He said that $200 million? He was going to use it to change the world. So in other words, why should he pay taxes and have the government spend it when he could have done a better job at it? That's sort of the point. He was going use it to do arms control, human rights, family planning, space exploration. So there was really no reason for the government to collect those taxes, you guys...
HEMMER: He's benevolent.
SERWER: ... because he could have done it himself.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: He better be getting his prom dress ready for San Quentin. He'll be going to that Friday night dance out there pretty soon.
HEMMER: I think you're probably right.
SERWER: And he's already in one.
CAFFERTY: He can change that world.
SERWER: Yes, sir.
COSTELLO: Wow. Back to Jack and the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Why do you look at me like that? "Question of the Day" is what world record would you like to see broken? This in honor of that guy that went around the world by himself in that airplane. And here's what you're writing this morning. This is almost over.
Nancy in New York writes: "Are we supposed to care about world records to break? What makes that so important? They're often a waste of money and resources for egotistical rich people."
Paul writes this: "To the seven words that you cannot say on radio and TV, let's add Martha."
And Don in Minnesota writes: "I think CNN should give the early morning news crew a raise and some new furniture. I think they make the news interesting, even the Martha Stewart story."
COSTELLO: Yay, Don.
SERWER: Now, that's work.
CAFFERTY: A little reminder, that we do this tiny little business show called "In the Money" and this weekend we're going to have the head of the Texas jewboys on. That would be Kinky Friedman. He's a country singer and songwriter and a mystery writer. He wants to be governor of the state of Texas, following the proud tradition of Ann Richards and the rest of them down there.
Stop the wussification of the Lone Star state, is one of his campaign slogans. The other one is, I want to be governor. Hey, how tough can it be? Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00, invite to you join us for what I think will be an interesting and no doubt entertaining conversation with the Kinkster.
SERWER: Sure it will be.
HEMMER: Look forward to that.
COSTELLO: I can't get past the cigar. Kind of grosses me out.
CAFFERTY: Well, you and somebody else.
COSTELLO: Do you like your boss enough to vacation with him or her? Some workers in Baltimore definitely do now. We'll tell you about the amazing gift they got from their boss. But first, how many paid vacation days does the average American worker receive each year? Is it seven, 13 or 19? We'll be back with the answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Before the break, we asked you this. How many paid vacation days does the average American worker receive each year? The answer is B, 13. Americans receive the fewest paid vacation days in the industrialized world. But did I need to tell you that? Over to you, Bill.
HEMMER: Time to meet a small business owner with a big heart. Bruce Reamer sent the entire staff of his Maryland restaurant on a cruise to the Bahamas. All this as a reward for their hard work. And that generosity was recognized by our crack "Extra Effort" team. Bruce Reamer is with us from Baltimore today along with one of his employees, Russell Warfield.
Good morning, gentlemen.
BRUCE REAMER, TOOK HIS WORKERS ON VACATION: Good morning, sir.
RUSSELL WARFIELD, BOSS PAID FOR HIS VACATION: Good morning.
HEMMER: I'm told I have to be extra nice to you today.
REAMER: That's right.
HEMMER: Hey, tell me. 17 children was it, 30 adults, 17 children. What was the price tag on that, Bruce?
REAMER: A lot.
HEMMER: What did your accountant say?
REAMER: He thinks I'm crazy.
HEMMER: Yes? How did you justify the trip? REAMER: You know, we've got some employees that work hard and you know, we had a great year and picked up a lot of slack. And you know, we want to retain our employees and we want to attract some new employees. Just seemed like a great way for everybody to get out and have some fun. And we have relationships -- you know, some employees have been there over ten years.
HEMMER: Well you must have had a really good year because you closed the restaurant for a week, as well.
REAMER: That's right. Usually a slow week.
HEMMER: Yes, you think so, huh?
REAMER: Yes.
HEMMER: Tell me, who got to go on this trip?
REAMER: Any employee that's been there five years or longer. And basically used the fulltime employees. If they were eligible for the health insurance, then they were eligible for the trip.
HEMMER: I got you. Hey Russell, what do you think of your boss down there?
WARFIELD: Aw, he's a swell guy, I'm telling you.
HEMMER: Yes? When you were chosen, what was your reaction?
WARFIELD: I thought he was kidding. And I just kept hanging in there. I was hoping he wasn't. But finally it come to head and I couldn't get over it. It was the best day of my life, or the best week. The best week.
HEMMER: Really? Who were you able to take with you?
WARFIELD: I took my wife, my daughter, my son-in-law and my two grandchildren.
HEMMER: Tell us about the trip. How good was it?
WARFIELD: Oh, my god. It passed outstanding. All you wanted to do -- it was like a dream come true, that I'm 62 years old. If he wouldn't have took me, I probably wouldn't have went.
HEMMER: Wow. We will stop at Salerno's (ph) next time down Baltimore way.
WARFIELD: I hope so.
REAMER: Great, thank you.
WARFIELD: Thank you kindly.
REAMER: That's why we call it extra effort, too. Good for them?
CAFFERTY: Is CNN listening to this stuff?
COSTELLO: I don't know.
CAFFERTY: When do we get to go somewhere on a nice trip?
COSTELLO: We're clearly going to the Bahamas.
SERWER: When does the ship leave?
CAFFERTY: Send us to Chicago in December or something.
HEMMER: We got to run. Have a great weekend. Here's Rick and Daryn down at the CNN Center.
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