Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Barrels, Gallons and Price Increases; High Pollen Count Got You Down?
Aired April 12, 2005 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Barrels, gallons and price increases -- it all adds up to outrage for Americans. What are you really mad about and who should you blame?
And high pollen count got you down? We'll go over some natural ways to relieve the symptoms with an allergy expert.
Plus, the tragic play that took a young athlete's life.
It is Tuesday, April 12.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq this morning. He's warning Iraq's new leaders to avoid political purges and corruption in government. He also says there should be no delaying the next round of elections. In two minutes, we'll take you live to Baghdad for more on Rumsfeld's surprise visit.
President Bush will go to Fort Hood, Texas this morning. He'll talk about the situation in Iraq and then he'll have lunch with the troops. He's expected back at the White House late this afternoon.
John Negroponte, President Bush's choice to be the nation's top intelligence chief, heads to Capitol Hill this morning. He appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee four hours from now for confirmation hearings.
Eastern Colorado cannot catch a break. Up to two feet of melting snow froze as the thermometer dropped last night. Hundreds of people are now stuck at Denver's airport. Dozens of schools are closed again, and so are the 200 miles of interstate highways.
I think the freezing rain was probably worse than the two feet of snow -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It was just, it wasn't freezing rain, Carol, it was the snow was melting.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK. MYERS: So you kind of had that layer of slush underneath and then temperatures were down into the 20s overnight. So now you've got a layer of frozen stuff under all of that snow and, boy, is there snow everywhere here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: To our top story now, Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad. It is his ninth visit to the Iraq capital since Saddam Hussein was booted.
Live now to Baghdad and our Aneesh Raman for more on the defense secretary's trip -- good morning, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.
The secretary of defense here to talk politics and security. In terms of the former, he met with leaders of Iraq's transitional government, the first American cabinet secretary to do so. He met with Prime Minister Designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani, voicing some of the strongest rhetoric coming from the Bush administration, calling for no more delays in the formation of this government, saying that they must meet their deadline in drafting the constitution, which is now just about four months away.
He also called for corruption to be removed from all governance and that there be essential diversity in all of the ministerial positions.
Now, obviously Secretary Rumsfeld here to talk security, as well, with top American commanders on the ground. Among the myriad of issues they will discuss is the possibility of American troop reductions in the coming year, something that has been discussed back home in recent days. That because March has passed with some of the lowest American casualties in Iraq in just over a year. And Iraqi security forces, whose success is key to any sort of American withdrawal, are starting to bear the brunt of the security operations.
Secretary Rumsfeld speaking to that point earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The goal of the United States and the coalition is to work with the Iraqi security forces to help to build them, increase their size, increase their equipment -- improve their equipment and increase their capability in command and control, and increasingly transfer responsibility to the Iraqi security forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now, the other key to any talk of withdrawal is, of course, the status of the insurgency, something no American military officials on camera are willing to surmise as to what is going on. We have seen the insurgents shift tactics, Carol. Less frequent but more sophisticated attacks, but the very nature that this visit was a surprise, something that's always been the case with Secretary Rumsfeld's visits, shows that the situation on the ground has a lot of work yet to be done -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad this morning.
Thank you.
Tales of bloody soldiers and dying friends punctuated the first day of testimony in the court martial of Hasan Akbar. Akbar is accused of launching a grenade and firearm attack against his fellow soldiers while they were in Kuwait in March of 2003. He's charged with two counts of first degree murder. Soldiers who were wounded in the attack testified during the trial's first day.
Defense attorneys claim Akbar was mentally unstable at the time of the attack.
The Pentagon has released the names of most of the U.S. service members killed or missing in that helicopter crash in Afghanistan last week. Fifteen members of the military and three civilian contractors were killed when their transport chopper went down in bad weather. Among the victims, 23-year-old Chrystal Stout of South Carolina.
This is what her father had to say about this daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY STOUT, FATHER OF CRASH VICTIM: The next day I sent her an e-mail. I said I've heard about a helicopter crash. I said e-mail me and let me know you're OK. Of course she'll never get that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The crash was the deadliest for the military in Afghanistan since the Taliban were deposed in 2001.
In other "News Across America" now, dozens of firefighters worked late into the night trying to control a raging warehouse fire in Baltimore. The company that owns the warehouse makes foam packing products. The cause of the fire under investigation.
Classes start again today at a Red Lake, Minnesota high school for the first time since a deadly shooting there three weeks ago. sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise killed seven people at the Indian reservation school last month, before killing himself. Students came back to the school yesterday for a traditional Indian healing ceremony.
Doctors say a high school football coach from Canton, Texas is still in critical condition, but improving. Coach Gary Joe Kinne was shot in the chest last week, allegedly by the angry parent of a former player. A suspect in the shooting is being held on $1 million bail.
Sports safety may once again be called into question following the death of an Arena Football League player. We told you about this story yesterday, but we have the video now. The play, as you can see, looks pretty ordinary. Al Lucas is number 76. You see him there in the red jersey. He gets hit by another player's knee and then he drops to the ground. It wasn't until after the game that his teammates were told that he had died.
Lucas' mother says she knows it was just an accident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAINE LUCAS, MOTHER: All I can say is that people just have to be prepared. You don't know when this kind of thing will happen, so all you can do is you can pray and you could be in the best possible shape that you can so you avoid injury.
But this is just one of those unexplained things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He was just 26 years old.
The players are establishing a trust fund to take care of Lucas' wife and 1-year-old daughter.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, oh, the beauty of spring. It's enough to make many of us sneeze. Coming up at 12 minutes past, allergy relief may not have to be in the form of a pill.
At 22 minutes after, what's it like to witness history? We'll hear from our own Alessio Vinci on his experience covering the Vatican in recent weeks.
And after the half hour, what determines the price of gas and why is it soaring and who's really profiting? Oh, we'll have a couple of experts to join us to explain it all.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO:
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:11 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Baghdad today. His trip was kept secret for security reasons. He met with the country's new leaders, including the president and the man who will be prime minister. He's also scheduled to hold a town hall style meeting with U.S. troops in Iraq.
Two suitcases that caused a partial evacuation of the U.S. Capitol Building were detonated by police. Hopefully you'll see it soon. They belonged to a Chinese man who was taken into custody after saying he wanted to talk to President Bush. Actually, they did explode one of those suitcases, and then they opened up the other. Nothing dangerous was found inside.
In money news, former AIG Chief Maurice Greenberg is supposed to testify today about accounting practices at the insurance giant. But Greenberg is expected to plead the fifth when he finally faces investigators.
In culture, Miss. North Carolina captured the crown in the 54th Annual Miss. USA pageant. Twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Cooley will now move on to compete in the Miss. Universe pageant next month.
In sports, the Boston Red Sox open Fenway Park with another successful stab at the rival New York Yankees. The Sox won 8-1, for their second straight win over New York -- Chad.
MYERS: Yes, but A-Rod had a three run error in the third. So that made the Red Sox fans just as happy, actually.
They got to pick up the rings yesterday, Carol.
COSTELLO: They did.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: The Red Sox gave out 45 World Series rings before their opener on Monday. The Yankees actually were watching from the dugout, Chad, and they clapped every so often.
MYERS: I heard that they were supposedly clapping a little bit, yes.
COSTELLO: I thought that was very tasteful.
MYERS: I thought he was supposed to get a makeover.
COSTELLO: No, no, no, no.
MYERS: No?
COSTELLO: You don't makeover a man who's perfect.
MYERS: Whoo, Carol.
COSTELLO: You know I like that Johnny Damon.
MYERS: I know you do.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning. Ah, spring. Beautiful flowers and nasty pollen. If you suffer from allergies, we hear you. This morning we decided to talk relief, not only in pill form, but in ways you might not imagine. Acupressure, anyone?
Joining me now is Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, who's worked for 25 years to come up with alternative remedies.
Welcome, Doctor.
DR. JACOB TEITELBAUM, INTERNIST/AUTHOR: Oh, good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, first off, I always thought I had allergies. I took an allergy test and found out that I was allergic to nothing. I actually had sinus problems.
So my first question is how can you tell if what you're suffering from are allergies?
TEITELBAUM: Well, usually, in addition to fatigue and headache, you're going to have symptoms of not just nasal congestion, but sneezing. Also, if you find you're doing the allergic salute a good bit, you probably have allergies going on.
COSTELLO: So fatigue, nasal congestion, cough and sneezing.
But, see, that could mimic other things, as well, couldn't it? Should you go in and have an allergy test taken?
TEITELBAUM: Sometimes you can. We deal with a lot of chronic sinusitis, which actually is a mix of different confections. So a lot of it has to do with the timing, if it's a certain time of year and it goes away with others. Like this time of your, you're going to have tree and grass pollens. So the testing can be useful.
But usually the history will give you a pretty good idea between sinusitis versus allergies.
COSTELLO: I understand.
MYERS: Let's talk about these pollens, because some pollens are so easy to be allergic to and others -- like we have this in Georgia right now and other Southern states, there's so much yellow pollen coming off the pine trees, but no one seems to be allergic to it. And then you get this little ragweed, the tiniest little thing, and people go crazy.
TEITELBAUM: Absolutely. And there are certain ones that we just react to more. There are certain ones that mimic outside invaders more than others, so our bodies react to it. I used to have horrible ragweed allergies, for example, and from August to October it drove me nuts until I got rid of them.
MYERS: How did you get rid of them?
TEITELBAUM: Well, there's a number of treatments that you can do. I started by using the natural things, like Vitamin C, which can give you some quick relief. There's a wonderful homeopathic nose spray called Sneez-Eze, where one spray twice a day will keep things going really well. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the allergies.
COSTELLO: Now, wait a minute. Hold on.
What is Sneez-Eze and why is it natural?
TEITELBAUM: Well, it's a homeopathic, which is a very, very tiny dose thing, so you don't get any of the side effects. Interestingly, the studies show that people found it to be twice as effective as Claritin and Benadryl. So these kind of things, Vitamin C, the MSM, which is another one that can give long-term relief, these helped me in the beginning.
But eventually I went for a treatment called MAEP, which is a form of acupressure. And I was kind of teasing the person who did it. I said you're not going to help my allergies with acupressure. One 20 minute treatment with the NAAT knocked out my hay fever 20 minutes ago -- I mean five years ago. It's gone.
COSTELLO: OK, let's talk more about acupressure and exactly what that is. And that means when you squeeze pressure points on your body.
So where did they squeeze you?
TEITELBAUM: Well, they just go up and down the back of the spine, the spinal series. They just kind of go up and down the spine a bit and you hit points in this area. It has to be done by somebody who's trained in the NAET form of acupressure, though, because regular acupressure won't do it.
But like I say, one 20 minute treatment can knock out a single allergy per visit.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's hard to believe.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: Chad, do you believe that?
TEITELBAUM: That's what I said.
MYERS: You know, I haven't really been allergic to too many things, especially pollens in the air. But when the ragweed season comes out, I mean I think everybody gets a little bit of it there.
What about this, I see little bottles now of saline for the nose and even for my little child, there's just saline. And there's nothing in it except really just salt water.
Does that wash anything out? Is there any use for that?
TEITELBAUM: It does wash things out. And if you have nasal congestion, the salt water rinses would be a very good approach to treatment.
But like I say, we like to get at the underlying cause.
MYERS: Yes.
TEITELBAUM: If it's a sinusitis, you go after the infections. If it's allergies, you go after the allergic causes and triggers.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: Dr. Teitelbaum, thank you for helping us out this morning.
We appreciate it.
TEITELBAUM: Well, you're very welcome.
Thank you.
COSTELLO: And thanks to you, too, Chad.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Allergies, pain relief, cholesterol -- Americans take a lot of pills for a lot of reasons.
Why are we paying so much?
Carrie Lee has got some new figures on drug prices this morning.
And in the front row of history, a CNN correspondent shares his personal reflections on covering the death of Pope John Paul. We're going to ask him about a conspiracy theory when DAYBREAK continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Consumers hoping new laws should slow increasing drug prices are going to be disappointed with our next story.
Carrie Lee has more in our "Business Buzz" this morning.
It's insane how much drug -- I mean prescription drugs cost.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prescription drug prices rose just over 7 percent last year, Carol, twice the rate of inflation. This, after a 7 percent increase in 2003. So it's really compounding here. These numbers according to the AARP, the nation's largest seniors' group, with 35 million members.
Now, this is the biggest increase we've seen in five years, 2004, that is. The study focused on nearly 200 name brand drugs widely used by older Americans. Generic drug prices rose here. They were essentially flat, but overall we did see the increase. A spokesman for the drug industry trade group told Reuters that the numbers are actually misleading, though. He says because the study focused on wholesale prices, prices charged by manufacturers, and that the study missed price discounts, such as rebates, that could cut costs for the retail consumer.
AARP's chief, though, says he was disappointed with the price increase, particularly after President Bush signed a sweeping overhaul of Medicare last year. That new law is going to give seniors a prescription drug benefit next year, but it dos prohibit the government from negotiating drug prices on behalf of consumers.
Of course, that's what you see in other countries like Canada. The government really steps in and helps people out.
COSTELLO: Well, I was just -- I had to laugh when you said rebates because rebates are usually a rip-off. Most people don't send in for their rebate. And then you figure if you're going to offer a rebate, why not just offer a discount?
LEE: Right. And there's no consistency with a rebate. You might get one here or there. It doesn't mean you're going to be able to get it every time.
COSTELLO: The futures looking this morning?
LEE: Looking pretty flat, actually. We did see a little bit of selling yesterday, the Dow and Nasdaq under water a bit. We are going to watch discount brokers. This group has really taken a hit, names like Ameritrade, E-Trade, because there are a lot of discounting price wars going on here. Good news for consumers, not such good news for these stocks.
COSTELLO: And you're going to be back in the next half hour to talk about how much the oil companies are making these days.
LEE: That's right.
COSTELLO: I can't wait for that.
LEE: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, so many of our headlines have come out of Rome over the last couple of weeks. This morning, our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, joins me with a page from his reporter's notebook.
That's when DAYBREAK comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was unprecedented. Millions of pilgrims flocking to Rome to bid a final farewell to the pope, and millions more watching around the world. Our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, was witness to this moment in history.
He's in the United States.
He's live from Atlanta with us this morning -- good morning, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: The most interesting thing, because, you know, we talked to you before this interview, was your struggle to find the right words to put this story in perspective.
Tell us about that.
VINCI: Well, you know, we've been -- I've been living in Rome for now four years. And ever since I got there, having to get ready myself for, obviously, the passing of Pope John Paul II. I knew that sooner or later that was going to happen. And, of course, you try to come up with the right words. I mean, to go on worldwide television and saying the pope has died sounded a bit rough to me. And so I was struggling.
And I even spoke to very many journalists who have been covering this story for so long. And no one could really come up with the right sentence, if you want, something that was powerful enough but at the same time could convey, of course, the importance of the message and at the same time wasn't too abrupt.
So, I mean, you know, the moments when we heard and when we confirmed the news, it really felt that, you know, I was really having a hard time coming out with the right words...
COSTELLO: Yes, so...
VINCI: And eventually they just came out right. I mean, you know, you just tell the way it is and you move on.
COSTELLO: Well, we thought you did it just right.
So you're struggling to find the words. You're also struggling to get the right information to the public, because there were so many false alarms about exactly when the pope died.
VINCI: That's correct. As a matter of fact, ever since he was brought in hospital back in February the 1st and throughout the two months preceding his death, I was receiving daily calls about, you know, him slipping in the shower, him being already dead, him being in a coma, him being on a respirator. And, of course, all this information is very hard to check, because the Vatican, of course, especially as far as the health of John Paul II, was extremely closed. There was no information whatsoever.
So trying to confirm this information or trying to, you know, talk to colleagues, talk to Vatican sources and, of course, you know, that was the main problem.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
VINCI: And obviously, you know, also with the Italian media, you know, they have different standards in Italy as opposed to the United States. I mean they come out and they tell the news and then if it's wrong, then they move on. They don't issue any apologies and nothing like that. Nevertheless, the Italian media this time got it right.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Well, because of all this uncertainty and because of all this secrecy surrounding the Vatican, there are many conspiracy theories out there. I want to read to you what I found on the Internet this morning. It says: "Rome -- the politics of electing the next pope moved into bizarre territory with rumors sweeping Rome of a conservative plot to secure the papacy. In a conspiracy theory worthy of a Dan Brown novel, liberals suggested that Pope John Paul II had died a day earlier than was officially declared, but the news was withheld to give the conservatives an advantage."
VINCI: Well, that's -- I don't think that's possible, first of all, because those who elect the pope are cardinals. And so there were no cardinals which were made between Friday and Saturday. So that would be, you know, impossible for them to, you know, by keeping the death of the pope secret for another day, I don't know how you could influence the voting procedure two weeks later.
At the same time, you know, all these rumors, of course, come out and I've heard them and read them, as well. Some people were saying that because between Friday and Saturday, you know, 18 new bishops were made and, of course, the pope wanted -- those in the Apostolic Palace wanted to make sure that those nominations went through.
At the same time, while there are, of course, very few people who have access to the pope -- I mean I spoke to half a, you know, dozen people from within the Vatican who told me that they saw the pope alive on Saturday morning. It would really take a massive conspiracy to be able to keep the death of the pope secret for such a long time, I mean between Friday and Saturday evening. And I don't think that's really true.
At the same time, of course, everything is possible inside the Vatican and, you know -- but I mean I really think it would be really, really difficult to keep the death of the pope secret for more than 24 hours.
COSTELLO: Oh, I think you're right about that.
OK, your most moving moment.
VINCI: Well, certainly seeing the crowds of people waiting in line for hours. I mean I was -- perhaps some of our viewers remember -- I mean I was struck by a story of this family who drove seven hours by car then, you know, walked all the way to the center of Rome. Of course, access to Rome by car was very difficult. Spent in line 15 hours just to spend a few seconds in front of the pope. And every person that you see in this line actually waited between five and 15 hours, only to be able to spend a few seconds inside the basilica and pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II.
That really, to me, meant that this was a pope really who had an impact in the lives of so many people. And I think that, as I said, you know, I was really humbled by the fact that, you know, I don't think I could put myself through that. And so I really, I was admiring the people who would really find the courage and the strength, even with, you know, in the middle of the night. And thank god it wasn't raining. You may be interested to know that ever since the end of the funeral there has been nonstop rain in Rome for the last three days.
So imagine if those long lines would have been in the middle of, you know, with rain and bad weather. It would have been even worse.
COSTELLO: Yes.
VINCI: At the same time, you know, seeing these people waiting for just such a long time, it really gave me a good understanding about why this man was so popular, just because people just loved him and beyond his theological and his religion. It's just, he was a great guy and they really loved him and they wanted to be there to pay their final respects. And I think that really speaks for himself.
COSTELLO: It was absolutely fascinating and amazing. And you did such a great job.
Alessio Vinci, welcome to the United States, and have a safe trip back to Rome.
In the next half hour of DAYBREAK, Democrats say he'd be a proverbial bull in a china shop. Republicans say he's just what America needs to affect change at the United Nations. Why are the confirmation hearings for this man so very heated?
And why so much emotion in Washington about breast implants?
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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 April 12, 2005 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Barrels, gallons and price increases -- it all adds up to outrage for Americans. What are you really mad about and who should you blame?
And high pollen count got you down? We'll go over some natural ways to relieve the symptoms with an allergy expert.
Plus, the tragic play that took a young athlete's life.
It is Tuesday, April 12.
You are watching DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
Now in the news, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Iraq this morning. He's warning Iraq's new leaders to avoid political purges and corruption in government. He also says there should be no delaying the next round of elections. In two minutes, we'll take you live to Baghdad for more on Rumsfeld's surprise visit.
President Bush will go to Fort Hood, Texas this morning. He'll talk about the situation in Iraq and then he'll have lunch with the troops. He's expected back at the White House late this afternoon.
John Negroponte, President Bush's choice to be the nation's top intelligence chief, heads to Capitol Hill this morning. He appears before the Senate Intelligence Committee four hours from now for confirmation hearings.
Eastern Colorado cannot catch a break. Up to two feet of melting snow froze as the thermometer dropped last night. Hundreds of people are now stuck at Denver's airport. Dozens of schools are closed again, and so are the 200 miles of interstate highways.
I think the freezing rain was probably worse than the two feet of snow -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It was just, it wasn't freezing rain, Carol, it was the snow was melting.
COSTELLO: Oh, OK. MYERS: So you kind of had that layer of slush underneath and then temperatures were down into the 20s overnight. So now you've got a layer of frozen stuff under all of that snow and, boy, is there snow everywhere here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: To our top story now, Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad. It is his ninth visit to the Iraq capital since Saddam Hussein was booted.
Live now to Baghdad and our Aneesh Raman for more on the defense secretary's trip -- good morning, Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.
The secretary of defense here to talk politics and security. In terms of the former, he met with leaders of Iraq's transitional government, the first American cabinet secretary to do so. He met with Prime Minister Designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari and President Jalal Talabani, voicing some of the strongest rhetoric coming from the Bush administration, calling for no more delays in the formation of this government, saying that they must meet their deadline in drafting the constitution, which is now just about four months away.
He also called for corruption to be removed from all governance and that there be essential diversity in all of the ministerial positions.
Now, obviously Secretary Rumsfeld here to talk security, as well, with top American commanders on the ground. Among the myriad of issues they will discuss is the possibility of American troop reductions in the coming year, something that has been discussed back home in recent days. That because March has passed with some of the lowest American casualties in Iraq in just over a year. And Iraqi security forces, whose success is key to any sort of American withdrawal, are starting to bear the brunt of the security operations.
Secretary Rumsfeld speaking to that point earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The goal of the United States and the coalition is to work with the Iraqi security forces to help to build them, increase their size, increase their equipment -- improve their equipment and increase their capability in command and control, and increasingly transfer responsibility to the Iraqi security forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAMAN: Now, the other key to any talk of withdrawal is, of course, the status of the insurgency, something no American military officials on camera are willing to surmise as to what is going on. We have seen the insurgents shift tactics, Carol. Less frequent but more sophisticated attacks, but the very nature that this visit was a surprise, something that's always been the case with Secretary Rumsfeld's visits, shows that the situation on the ground has a lot of work yet to be done -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad this morning.
Thank you.
Tales of bloody soldiers and dying friends punctuated the first day of testimony in the court martial of Hasan Akbar. Akbar is accused of launching a grenade and firearm attack against his fellow soldiers while they were in Kuwait in March of 2003. He's charged with two counts of first degree murder. Soldiers who were wounded in the attack testified during the trial's first day.
Defense attorneys claim Akbar was mentally unstable at the time of the attack.
The Pentagon has released the names of most of the U.S. service members killed or missing in that helicopter crash in Afghanistan last week. Fifteen members of the military and three civilian contractors were killed when their transport chopper went down in bad weather. Among the victims, 23-year-old Chrystal Stout of South Carolina.
This is what her father had to say about this daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY STOUT, FATHER OF CRASH VICTIM: The next day I sent her an e-mail. I said I've heard about a helicopter crash. I said e-mail me and let me know you're OK. Of course she'll never get that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The crash was the deadliest for the military in Afghanistan since the Taliban were deposed in 2001.
In other "News Across America" now, dozens of firefighters worked late into the night trying to control a raging warehouse fire in Baltimore. The company that owns the warehouse makes foam packing products. The cause of the fire under investigation.
Classes start again today at a Red Lake, Minnesota high school for the first time since a deadly shooting there three weeks ago. sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise killed seven people at the Indian reservation school last month, before killing himself. Students came back to the school yesterday for a traditional Indian healing ceremony.
Doctors say a high school football coach from Canton, Texas is still in critical condition, but improving. Coach Gary Joe Kinne was shot in the chest last week, allegedly by the angry parent of a former player. A suspect in the shooting is being held on $1 million bail.
Sports safety may once again be called into question following the death of an Arena Football League player. We told you about this story yesterday, but we have the video now. The play, as you can see, looks pretty ordinary. Al Lucas is number 76. You see him there in the red jersey. He gets hit by another player's knee and then he drops to the ground. It wasn't until after the game that his teammates were told that he had died.
Lucas' mother says she knows it was just an accident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAINE LUCAS, MOTHER: All I can say is that people just have to be prepared. You don't know when this kind of thing will happen, so all you can do is you can pray and you could be in the best possible shape that you can so you avoid injury.
But this is just one of those unexplained things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: He was just 26 years old.
The players are establishing a trust fund to take care of Lucas' wife and 1-year-old daughter.
Coming up on DAYBREAK, oh, the beauty of spring. It's enough to make many of us sneeze. Coming up at 12 minutes past, allergy relief may not have to be in the form of a pill.
At 22 minutes after, what's it like to witness history? We'll hear from our own Alessio Vinci on his experience covering the Vatican in recent weeks.
And after the half hour, what determines the price of gas and why is it soaring and who's really profiting? Oh, we'll have a couple of experts to join us to explain it all.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO:
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 6:11 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is in Baghdad today. His trip was kept secret for security reasons. He met with the country's new leaders, including the president and the man who will be prime minister. He's also scheduled to hold a town hall style meeting with U.S. troops in Iraq.
Two suitcases that caused a partial evacuation of the U.S. Capitol Building were detonated by police. Hopefully you'll see it soon. They belonged to a Chinese man who was taken into custody after saying he wanted to talk to President Bush. Actually, they did explode one of those suitcases, and then they opened up the other. Nothing dangerous was found inside.
In money news, former AIG Chief Maurice Greenberg is supposed to testify today about accounting practices at the insurance giant. But Greenberg is expected to plead the fifth when he finally faces investigators.
In culture, Miss. North Carolina captured the crown in the 54th Annual Miss. USA pageant. Twenty-one-year-old Chelsea Cooley will now move on to compete in the Miss. Universe pageant next month.
In sports, the Boston Red Sox open Fenway Park with another successful stab at the rival New York Yankees. The Sox won 8-1, for their second straight win over New York -- Chad.
MYERS: Yes, but A-Rod had a three run error in the third. So that made the Red Sox fans just as happy, actually.
They got to pick up the rings yesterday, Carol.
COSTELLO: They did.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: The Red Sox gave out 45 World Series rings before their opener on Monday. The Yankees actually were watching from the dugout, Chad, and they clapped every so often.
MYERS: I heard that they were supposedly clapping a little bit, yes.
COSTELLO: I thought that was very tasteful.
MYERS: I thought he was supposed to get a makeover.
COSTELLO: No, no, no, no.
MYERS: No?
COSTELLO: You don't makeover a man who's perfect.
MYERS: Whoo, Carol.
COSTELLO: You know I like that Johnny Damon.
MYERS: I know you do.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Those are the latest headlines for you this morning. Ah, spring. Beautiful flowers and nasty pollen. If you suffer from allergies, we hear you. This morning we decided to talk relief, not only in pill form, but in ways you might not imagine. Acupressure, anyone?
Joining me now is Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, who's worked for 25 years to come up with alternative remedies.
Welcome, Doctor.
DR. JACOB TEITELBAUM, INTERNIST/AUTHOR: Oh, good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: You know, first off, I always thought I had allergies. I took an allergy test and found out that I was allergic to nothing. I actually had sinus problems.
So my first question is how can you tell if what you're suffering from are allergies?
TEITELBAUM: Well, usually, in addition to fatigue and headache, you're going to have symptoms of not just nasal congestion, but sneezing. Also, if you find you're doing the allergic salute a good bit, you probably have allergies going on.
COSTELLO: So fatigue, nasal congestion, cough and sneezing.
But, see, that could mimic other things, as well, couldn't it? Should you go in and have an allergy test taken?
TEITELBAUM: Sometimes you can. We deal with a lot of chronic sinusitis, which actually is a mix of different confections. So a lot of it has to do with the timing, if it's a certain time of year and it goes away with others. Like this time of your, you're going to have tree and grass pollens. So the testing can be useful.
But usually the history will give you a pretty good idea between sinusitis versus allergies.
COSTELLO: I understand.
MYERS: Let's talk about these pollens, because some pollens are so easy to be allergic to and others -- like we have this in Georgia right now and other Southern states, there's so much yellow pollen coming off the pine trees, but no one seems to be allergic to it. And then you get this little ragweed, the tiniest little thing, and people go crazy.
TEITELBAUM: Absolutely. And there are certain ones that we just react to more. There are certain ones that mimic outside invaders more than others, so our bodies react to it. I used to have horrible ragweed allergies, for example, and from August to October it drove me nuts until I got rid of them.
MYERS: How did you get rid of them?
TEITELBAUM: Well, there's a number of treatments that you can do. I started by using the natural things, like Vitamin C, which can give you some quick relief. There's a wonderful homeopathic nose spray called Sneez-Eze, where one spray twice a day will keep things going really well. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the allergies.
COSTELLO: Now, wait a minute. Hold on.
What is Sneez-Eze and why is it natural?
TEITELBAUM: Well, it's a homeopathic, which is a very, very tiny dose thing, so you don't get any of the side effects. Interestingly, the studies show that people found it to be twice as effective as Claritin and Benadryl. So these kind of things, Vitamin C, the MSM, which is another one that can give long-term relief, these helped me in the beginning.
But eventually I went for a treatment called MAEP, which is a form of acupressure. And I was kind of teasing the person who did it. I said you're not going to help my allergies with acupressure. One 20 minute treatment with the NAAT knocked out my hay fever 20 minutes ago -- I mean five years ago. It's gone.
COSTELLO: OK, let's talk more about acupressure and exactly what that is. And that means when you squeeze pressure points on your body.
So where did they squeeze you?
TEITELBAUM: Well, they just go up and down the back of the spine, the spinal series. They just kind of go up and down the spine a bit and you hit points in this area. It has to be done by somebody who's trained in the NAET form of acupressure, though, because regular acupressure won't do it.
But like I say, one 20 minute treatment can knock out a single allergy per visit.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's hard to believe.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: Chad, do you believe that?
TEITELBAUM: That's what I said.
MYERS: You know, I haven't really been allergic to too many things, especially pollens in the air. But when the ragweed season comes out, I mean I think everybody gets a little bit of it there.
What about this, I see little bottles now of saline for the nose and even for my little child, there's just saline. And there's nothing in it except really just salt water.
Does that wash anything out? Is there any use for that?
TEITELBAUM: It does wash things out. And if you have nasal congestion, the salt water rinses would be a very good approach to treatment.
But like I say, we like to get at the underlying cause.
MYERS: Yes.
TEITELBAUM: If it's a sinusitis, you go after the infections. If it's allergies, you go after the allergic causes and triggers.
MYERS: Wow!
COSTELLO: Dr. Teitelbaum, thank you for helping us out this morning.
We appreciate it.
TEITELBAUM: Well, you're very welcome.
Thank you.
COSTELLO: And thanks to you, too, Chad.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Allergies, pain relief, cholesterol -- Americans take a lot of pills for a lot of reasons.
Why are we paying so much?
Carrie Lee has got some new figures on drug prices this morning.
And in the front row of history, a CNN correspondent shares his personal reflections on covering the death of Pope John Paul. We're going to ask him about a conspiracy theory when DAYBREAK continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time now for a little "Business Buzz."
Consumers hoping new laws should slow increasing drug prices are going to be disappointed with our next story.
Carrie Lee has more in our "Business Buzz" this morning.
It's insane how much drug -- I mean prescription drugs cost.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prescription drug prices rose just over 7 percent last year, Carol, twice the rate of inflation. This, after a 7 percent increase in 2003. So it's really compounding here. These numbers according to the AARP, the nation's largest seniors' group, with 35 million members.
Now, this is the biggest increase we've seen in five years, 2004, that is. The study focused on nearly 200 name brand drugs widely used by older Americans. Generic drug prices rose here. They were essentially flat, but overall we did see the increase. A spokesman for the drug industry trade group told Reuters that the numbers are actually misleading, though. He says because the study focused on wholesale prices, prices charged by manufacturers, and that the study missed price discounts, such as rebates, that could cut costs for the retail consumer.
AARP's chief, though, says he was disappointed with the price increase, particularly after President Bush signed a sweeping overhaul of Medicare last year. That new law is going to give seniors a prescription drug benefit next year, but it dos prohibit the government from negotiating drug prices on behalf of consumers.
Of course, that's what you see in other countries like Canada. The government really steps in and helps people out.
COSTELLO: Well, I was just -- I had to laugh when you said rebates because rebates are usually a rip-off. Most people don't send in for their rebate. And then you figure if you're going to offer a rebate, why not just offer a discount?
LEE: Right. And there's no consistency with a rebate. You might get one here or there. It doesn't mean you're going to be able to get it every time.
COSTELLO: The futures looking this morning?
LEE: Looking pretty flat, actually. We did see a little bit of selling yesterday, the Dow and Nasdaq under water a bit. We are going to watch discount brokers. This group has really taken a hit, names like Ameritrade, E-Trade, because there are a lot of discounting price wars going on here. Good news for consumers, not such good news for these stocks.
COSTELLO: And you're going to be back in the next half hour to talk about how much the oil companies are making these days.
LEE: That's right.
COSTELLO: I can't wait for that.
LEE: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
Still to come on DAYBREAK, so many of our headlines have come out of Rome over the last couple of weeks. This morning, our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, joins me with a page from his reporter's notebook.
That's when DAYBREAK comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It was unprecedented. Millions of pilgrims flocking to Rome to bid a final farewell to the pope, and millions more watching around the world. Our Rome bureau chief, Alessio Vinci, was witness to this moment in history.
He's in the United States.
He's live from Atlanta with us this morning -- good morning, Alessio.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: The most interesting thing, because, you know, we talked to you before this interview, was your struggle to find the right words to put this story in perspective.
Tell us about that.
VINCI: Well, you know, we've been -- I've been living in Rome for now four years. And ever since I got there, having to get ready myself for, obviously, the passing of Pope John Paul II. I knew that sooner or later that was going to happen. And, of course, you try to come up with the right words. I mean, to go on worldwide television and saying the pope has died sounded a bit rough to me. And so I was struggling.
And I even spoke to very many journalists who have been covering this story for so long. And no one could really come up with the right sentence, if you want, something that was powerful enough but at the same time could convey, of course, the importance of the message and at the same time wasn't too abrupt.
So, I mean, you know, the moments when we heard and when we confirmed the news, it really felt that, you know, I was really having a hard time coming out with the right words...
COSTELLO: Yes, so...
VINCI: And eventually they just came out right. I mean, you know, you just tell the way it is and you move on.
COSTELLO: Well, we thought you did it just right.
So you're struggling to find the words. You're also struggling to get the right information to the public, because there were so many false alarms about exactly when the pope died.
VINCI: That's correct. As a matter of fact, ever since he was brought in hospital back in February the 1st and throughout the two months preceding his death, I was receiving daily calls about, you know, him slipping in the shower, him being already dead, him being in a coma, him being on a respirator. And, of course, all this information is very hard to check, because the Vatican, of course, especially as far as the health of John Paul II, was extremely closed. There was no information whatsoever.
So trying to confirm this information or trying to, you know, talk to colleagues, talk to Vatican sources and, of course, you know, that was the main problem.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
VINCI: And obviously, you know, also with the Italian media, you know, they have different standards in Italy as opposed to the United States. I mean they come out and they tell the news and then if it's wrong, then they move on. They don't issue any apologies and nothing like that. Nevertheless, the Italian media this time got it right.
COSTELLO: Interesting.
Well, because of all this uncertainty and because of all this secrecy surrounding the Vatican, there are many conspiracy theories out there. I want to read to you what I found on the Internet this morning. It says: "Rome -- the politics of electing the next pope moved into bizarre territory with rumors sweeping Rome of a conservative plot to secure the papacy. In a conspiracy theory worthy of a Dan Brown novel, liberals suggested that Pope John Paul II had died a day earlier than was officially declared, but the news was withheld to give the conservatives an advantage."
VINCI: Well, that's -- I don't think that's possible, first of all, because those who elect the pope are cardinals. And so there were no cardinals which were made between Friday and Saturday. So that would be, you know, impossible for them to, you know, by keeping the death of the pope secret for another day, I don't know how you could influence the voting procedure two weeks later.
At the same time, you know, all these rumors, of course, come out and I've heard them and read them, as well. Some people were saying that because between Friday and Saturday, you know, 18 new bishops were made and, of course, the pope wanted -- those in the Apostolic Palace wanted to make sure that those nominations went through.
At the same time, while there are, of course, very few people who have access to the pope -- I mean I spoke to half a, you know, dozen people from within the Vatican who told me that they saw the pope alive on Saturday morning. It would really take a massive conspiracy to be able to keep the death of the pope secret for such a long time, I mean between Friday and Saturday evening. And I don't think that's really true.
At the same time, of course, everything is possible inside the Vatican and, you know -- but I mean I really think it would be really, really difficult to keep the death of the pope secret for more than 24 hours.
COSTELLO: Oh, I think you're right about that.
OK, your most moving moment.
VINCI: Well, certainly seeing the crowds of people waiting in line for hours. I mean I was -- perhaps some of our viewers remember -- I mean I was struck by a story of this family who drove seven hours by car then, you know, walked all the way to the center of Rome. Of course, access to Rome by car was very difficult. Spent in line 15 hours just to spend a few seconds in front of the pope. And every person that you see in this line actually waited between five and 15 hours, only to be able to spend a few seconds inside the basilica and pay their last respects to Pope John Paul II.
That really, to me, meant that this was a pope really who had an impact in the lives of so many people. And I think that, as I said, you know, I was really humbled by the fact that, you know, I don't think I could put myself through that. And so I really, I was admiring the people who would really find the courage and the strength, even with, you know, in the middle of the night. And thank god it wasn't raining. You may be interested to know that ever since the end of the funeral there has been nonstop rain in Rome for the last three days.
So imagine if those long lines would have been in the middle of, you know, with rain and bad weather. It would have been even worse.
COSTELLO: Yes.
VINCI: At the same time, you know, seeing these people waiting for just such a long time, it really gave me a good understanding about why this man was so popular, just because people just loved him and beyond his theological and his religion. It's just, he was a great guy and they really loved him and they wanted to be there to pay their final respects. And I think that really speaks for himself.
COSTELLO: It was absolutely fascinating and amazing. And you did such a great job.
Alessio Vinci, welcome to the United States, and have a safe trip back to Rome.
In the next half hour of DAYBREAK, Democrats say he'd be a proverbial bull in a china shop. Republicans say he's just what America needs to affect change at the United Nations. Why are the confirmation hearings for this man so very heated?
And why so much emotion in Washington about breast implants?
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
