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Could Lowering the Drinking Age Actually Create Responsible College-Aged Drinkers?; Allergy Survival 101

Aired April 14, 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: There say story just into us at CNN. An American businessman has been indicted in the federal investigation in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq. His name is David Chalmers. He's head of a Texas-based Bay oil company. They participated in the U.N. program. He was arrested apparently on Wednesday, yesterday in Houston. He faces three felony charges. There will be an indictment unveiled later today here in New York.
David Kelly, the U.S. attorney for the southeast district of New York, will oversee the press conference. We'll watch it from here. Again, indictments handed down in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. More when we get it.

First, though, back to the headlines and Carol Costello with those -- Carol.

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

Now in the news, two nearly back-to-back explosions go off in Baghdad. At least 11 people were killed, dozens of others wounded. Police say most of the casualties were civilians. The blasts apparently targeting an Iraqi police convoy.

The search begins again for a missing Florida girl, 13-year-old Sarah Lunde. New pictures of her this morning. Here they are. Home video shows Lunde with friends and family in December last year. Hundreds of volunteers searching for her. Sarah Lunde has been missing since early Sunday.

A travel tip for smokers, if you're heading for the airport this morning, leave the lighters at home. A new law is kicking in, banning all cigarette lighters from airplanes. Officials say the new rule makes air travel safer, but you can still carry as many as four match books onboard. If you have six books of matches, I don't know, you'll get your hand slapped.

And Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla, taking part in their first public event since their wedding. The royal couple breaking away from their honeymoon to attend the opening of a school playground in Scotland. Camilla now carries the title of duchess of Cornwall. The two were married -- do I need to tell you this, Bill? - the two were married last weekend. And they look happy.

HEMMER: Happily ever after.

COSTELLO: Of course.

HEMMER: Thanks, Carol.

Could lowering the drinking age actually create responsible college-aged drinkers? There's a lawmaker in Vermont who says yes to that question. The president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says that is nonsense.

Republican State Rep Richard Marron of Vermont is my guest in Montreal.

Good morning up there, sir.

RICHARD MARRON (R), VERMONT STATE REP.: Good morning.

HEMMER: And Wendy Hamilton is the president of the MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drives, with me here in the studio.

Good to you, Wendy, as well.

WENDY HAMILTON, PRESIDENT, MADD: Morning.

HEMMER: First up to our studios there in Montreal. Lowering the drinking age does what in your estimation, from 21 to 18, sir?

MARRON: By lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, we would be able to allow people to learn to drink in a responsible manner. Right now, there's nobody denies that a lot of young people are drinking. There's 4,000 young people in my state alone -- and I come from a very small state -- who go through a court-diversion program for possession of alcoholic beverages. I have no argument against the goals of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

I, too, want to enforce rigorous DUI laws, and in fact, we are doing that in Vermont. We have lowered our blood alcohol levels to .08, and I think we've through enforcement, we have an education, we've gotten people to realize that they should not be driving while intoxicated.

HEMMER: Let's go back over the years now. Some facts and figures to add to our conversation here. Going back to 1975, it's estimated 23,000 lives have been saved because of higher drinking age laws. In addition to that, the number of fatal crashes involving drunken drivers under 21 has decreased 61 percent, this between the years of 1982 and 1998. Are you concerned at all that lowering that age will actually reverse these two trends that I just mentioned?

MARRON: Well, I think there's two things going on. No. 1, as I mentioned earlier, in enforcement has been quite vigorous, and that has worked very well, and I also think there may be a double counting of statistics. The automobile industry claims that it has over the past 40 years lowered or decreased the number of people dying in automobile accidents by 75 percent. So some of these, there is some double counting going on, and there's also been improvements to highways for safety purposes.

HEMMER: Let me bring in Wendy Hamilton. He says the numbers are wrong.

HAMILTON: No, the numbers are not wrong. I mean, clearly airbags and seatbelts do help save lives, but there are many, many more drivers on the road than they were in 1975. I think what the legislators need to do is look at the credible science that's been done, not only as it relates to alcohol-impaired driving countermeasures and how many lives it's saved, but looking at the adolescent brain development and research that has come on board in the last 10 years or so that really clearly tells us that children's brains continue to develop into their mid-20s, and the parts where reasoning, and judgment and memories are stored are the last to develop. So putting alcohol into a child's system, even if that child is 20 years old, and they're almost adults, is really bad public policy.

HEMMER: What about his logic, it will help with binge drinking?

HAMILTON: No.

HEMMER: In other words, if you take the cap off at a younger age, perhaps you will not dive in this way when you turn 21.

HAMILTON: No, we've looked at a great deal of research. There's been credible research done looking at 30 European countries, where those young people are drinking more, and they're drinking, binge drinking more than what they are in the United States. What we saw when the 21 minimum age drinking law was passed in 1984 was that not only did the drunk-driving crashes related to that age group go down, but also drinking levels went down.

And what we know about brain development and what's going on with kids in their heads, the violent crime that happens on college campuses, 95 percent of violent crime that happens on college campuses is a result of alcohol being involved in it.

So you know, changing the drinking-age law is not going to help teach children to, or young people to drink more responsibly. This is a drug that kills more kids than all of the other elicit drugs combined. What we need to do is enforce the laws.

HEMMER: You had mentioned a number of studies from around the world. I want to get representative Marron's reaction to that. You've studied this issue, sir. How do you respond to that.

MARRON: Well, I think that I have studied that issue to some extent, and I think that I would suggest that those statistics are overblown. The fact that they've done studies in the last 10 years on brain development in adults, because 18 years old are adults, it was 21 years ago when we lowered -- raised the drinking age from 18 to 21.

HEMMER: Sir, do you have children?

MARRON: I have children. I have three grown children. I have two grandchildren.

HAMILTON: Would you be OK with them drinking at 18, even your grandchildren?

MARRON: My children were old enough to drink when they were 18, because that was what the law was then. And I would have no problem with my grandchildren doing it, and in fact, I grew up in New York State many, oh, 50 years ago and the drinking age was 18.

HEMMER: Thank you. Richard Marron of Vermont, state rep up there In Montreal, Wendy Hamilton, president of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Thanks to both.

O'BRIEN: Good luck getting an appointment with your allergy doctor as this punishing pollen season begins. Luckily we've got one here this morning. She's going to guide us through allergy survival 101 in today's "House Call."

Dr. Gillian Shepherd is from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Nice to see you. You saw the map that Chad had.

Give me a sense of how bad you think the season overall is going to be this year?

DR. GILLIAN SHEPHERD, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: This is a very bad time for allergy sufferers. But people have to recognize that what bothers them this time of the year are the pollen from trees. People are allergic to a lot of other things, like grasses and weeds, and its trees that are pollinating throughout the country now. A little bit less in the South at the moment. And as you saw, it's the mid band of the country that's having the worst time at the moment.

For those of us in the Northeast, the bad time is going to come next month, and because a lot of areas of the country have had a lot of rain this year, some of the pollen areas are more robust than usual.

O'BRIEN: Is that pretty much how they predict what kind of a pollen season we're going to have or what kind of an allergy season overall we're going to have, how much rain we've had?

SHEPHERD: It's always tough to predict, but its mainly based on weather factors, and therefore, how much pollen the tree is going to produce. Also, if it rains it's going to wash all the pollen away. Hot, windy day will increase the pollen count and spread it further. These pollen grains can travel up to 300 to 500 miles. So even though you may not live in an area with a lot of tree pollen, it can blow easily, generally west to east.

O'BRIEN: Do we know if we'll have a long pollen season, or a short pollen season this year?

SHEPHERD: Even in some places in the country, particularly in the Northeast, it started earlier than usual -- almost two weeks earlier -- that unfortunately doesn't mean it's going to wrap up two weeks earlier. It will probably go for the same length of time. Each tree pollinates for about two to three weeks. Right now we have cedar in large parts of the country, particularly in the South. We have oak in most of the middle of the country. We have more maple in this area, but when maple's done, then we move on to birch trees and we move on to other ones.

O'BRIEN: It never ends for allergy sufferers.

Let's get through some of the tips. You say big sunglasses can cover your eyes. Sunglasses for my eyes?

SHEPHERD: Recognize that you were shown that the poor people in Atlanta are encountering pollen counts of thousands of grains of pollen per cubic meter of air.

O'BRIEN: So literally block them out?

SHEPHERD: And that's what's in the air all the time going in your nose and hitting them out.

O'BRIEN: Exercise early in the morning?

SHEPHERD: No, do not exercise early in the morning. Pollen counts tend to be highest first thing in the morning from about 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. So if you're going out and doing huffing and puffing work outside, you should do it later in the day, when pollen counts are lower.

O'BRIEN: Keep the car and house windows shut, same thing as the sunglasses, just block it out.

SHEPHERD: Block your exposure, use air-conditioning. Remember to change the filter on the air-conditioning units, because that will get clogged easily. You're all familiar with pollen coating cars and furniture this time of year. It will also coat your ventilation systems.

O'BRIEN: Any new drugs on the market for people who really need something new and the drugs aren't working for them?

SHEPHERD: The No. 1 treatment of this generally are prescription eyedrops. Because with tree pollen, people get very itchy eyes, and then prescription steroid-based nose spray, but that is you do need to see a doctor to get that. There are very effective antihistamines over the counter that don't put you to sleep. There are more effective prescription pills and another one that's an anti- inflammatory drug this year that's helpful for this. But people that really have bad symptoms often need to go either to already shots or other modes of treatment that you need to see your doctor for. But most people could be very well controlled.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Gillian Shepherd, thanks for talking with us this morning, especially when you consider how bad the season looks to be this year. We appreciate it -- Bill.

SHEPHERD: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Break here in a moment.

If video killed the radio star, your cell phone may bring that back to life.

Andy explains in a moment here.

And Mariah Carey's comeback, the singer sitting down with CNN to talk about her career and her album and her biggest pet peeve about the Big Apple, back in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We've got these pictures in to CNN. You're looking at a live picture of Interstate 5 in California, Los Angeles. And what you can see there is that white sheet. It's on top of a minivan, a Pontiac minivan with a big hole in the windshield. They're covering it up now. What seems to have happened a metal object flown into the minivan that was driving on Interstate 5 in Glendale. Two people inside that vehicle are reported killed. This information is coming to us, by the way, from the Associated Press. A police spokesperson is saying it's unclear if the object was intentionally thrown, whether it was an accident.

You can also see, if the shot widens out a bit, just how a big of an impact this has on the traffic. The southbound traffic on I-5 has really backed up for just miles. And of course the investigation is continuing. You can see an ambulance at the scene, and police officers as well trying to figure out exactly what happened.

Two people on this California freeway in Los Angeles, reported dead now. Metal objects thrown through the wind shield. Unclear if it was an accident, unclear it was intentionally thrown. We'll see what happened throughout the rest of the day.

Let's go back to Bill now.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks. Two people, wow.

13 minutes now before the hour. Mariah Carey is back. The Grammy Award-winning pop superstar is out, and pumping out her new CD, too, "The Emancipation of Mimi."

A.J. Hammer is cohost of CNN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." He sat down with Mariah.

Who's Mimi, by the way?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mimi is Mariah. That's the nickname that her friend and relatives called her, and she actually lets me call her that as well.

HEMMER: I see. How was the interview?

HAMMER: It was great. It's been 15 years, which is kind of hard to believe, since Mariah, or Mimi, first burst onto the scene with "Vision of Love," and spent four weeks, a month, at No. 1. And now she's so completely self-assured, when she sat down with us, you just tell. I've run into her a lot over that 15 years, and you can really just tell, she has a confidence, she has a self-assuredness, and a lot of that comes from this emancipation, from this freedom, and that even allows her to let anything the press has to wing at her kind of roll off her.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: I think in the past i've always kind of, you know, for whatever reason, the negative stuff can bring you down, it can make you react, and of course, we're human. We all have that. It happens to everybody, but I mean, to not get enveloped by it is what I've had to learn, and that's just a process, just the way it is.

HAMMER: So are you still the workaholic that you always used to be? I just remember you would stay at the studio until the sun came up, basically.

CAREY: Basically. I still stay at the studio late, because you know, I'm most creative at night. I don't think that I'm the same in terms of my, the workaholic nature of who I am. My people, it's like become this legendary thing, and it is true, but I have learned is to set more boundaries.

HAMMER: It's a Saturday night, we're going out. What are you going out to do that you enjoy, not because it's an event or something like that?

CAREY: Probably go eat with friends somewhere.

HAMMER: Type of food?

CAREY: I would probably have Italian food, something, you know, fattening, mess that I shouldn't be eating, probably go to a club. The only thing with the clubs, is that the rule of the nonsmoking, some people don't actually listen to that.

HAMMER: No, we don't follow that here, so...

CAREY: And I really hate that. They need to follow the rules, or I'm going to have to spill the beans on CNN right here, the names of those clubs, but I won't -- as long as I get free drinks every time I go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Getting free drinks not a problem for Mariah.

HEMMER: I wonder how well she tips, though.

HEMMER: The CD, how is it?

HAMMER: It's terrific. Many critics are saying it's the best thing that she's done in years. She really gets back to her roots in it, in terms of those vocal calisthenics on the ballads. But it's also a modern hip-hop CD, and she has great collaborators, from Snoop Dogg to Kanye West on here as well.

HEMMER: Good to see you, A.J.

HAMMER: Nice to see you, Bill.

HEMMER: Come by anytime.

HAMMER: And it's Hemmer and Hammer. People get that confused sometimes.

HEMMER: Hemmer Hammer, yeah, that's right. Hemmer time! See you man. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" airs live on Headline News, 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 on the West Coast, Monday through Friday. Thanks, A.J.

In a moment here, first satellite, now cell phones -- Andy telling us about the latest blow to radio, "Minding Your Business." Back in a moment here after this on AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Want to hear the next Cold Play single before it hits music stores or radio? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with how to do that, plus he's got a check of the market this morning. How do you do that?

SERWER: You do it over your cell phone. I mean, these devices are doing everything nowadays -- not the dishes quite yet.

Let's check the market though first of all. Stocks trading down at this hour -- what do we got here? -- half a point. Now, we're up -- will you stop that machine? I can't keep up with it. We're up 2 points on the Dow. Southwest Airlines up. Pepsico up. Good earnings there. Apple Computer down over 5 percent. It reported after the bell good stuff, but what have you done for me lately, Wall Street is asking.

Price of oil down to $50.50 a barrel. That's good news.

Now, this Cold Play story, Soledad -- they have a new single out called "Speed Of Sound." And in a novel approach, the record company is releasing it to Cingular Wireless. You download it on your cell phone. Let's check it out.

Yeah, that's it. You go to the website. You download it to ring tone, and it's going to be there for a week before it comes out.

O'BRIEN: And you hear it on your cell phone?

SERWER: You'd hear it or your phone would ring with that tune, "Speed of Sound" by Cold Play, who is Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, of course, with baby, Apple.

HEMMER: Sounds like Bono. SERWER: It sounds like Radio Head. All the bands kind of sound like that these days. Well -- what, do I sound like, an old fogey, right? A little bit? No, there's a big difference between Cold Play and Radio Head and U2. I believe that.

Okay, that's the business report, Soledad. That's it. That's all the business we got.

O'BRIEN: Thank you for that.

SERWER: Luckily.

HEMMER: Buenos dias, mi amigo.

SERWER: Ah, vice nice.

CAFFERTY: Hasta latrine.

SERWER: Oh, no.

HEMMER: Yeah, all right.

CAFFERTY: Our question today: Should the rest of the country follow West Virginia's lead and make English the official language?

Wiley writes: "What's the big deal about making English the official language of our country? If that's too much trouble for foreigners who wish to come to this country to find a new life, then let them go somewhere else." Wiley, you're cold.

Tim in Des Moines writes: "English is now the official language of West Virginia? That's great. I've always wanted to visit West Virginia, but the language barrier has deterred me."

SERWER: We knew we're going to get good ones on that.

CAFFERTY: "Will West Virginia be also adopting the dollar as its official currency?"

HEMMER: My gosh. Tim's bad.

SERWER: That's clever.

CAFFERTY: And Cliff in Connecticut writes: "Jack, if you would like English to be required of all who choose to make their home here, I suggest you lead by example. I've listened to you blather on and on every morning for years, and for the life of me, I still can't figure out what you're saying."

SERWER: So have we.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Certain hostility here on the old sofa.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jack. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Well, the latest Beltway buzz has nothing to do with politics. Tonight, baseball returns to the national capital for the first time in 34 degrees. Daryn Kagan takes you out to the ballpark to preview the home debut of the Washington Nationals. That's on "CNN LIVE TODAY." We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are out of time. Jack, thank you for a very spirited debate this morning.

CAFFERTY: I'm just here to help out.

O'BRIEN: Uh-huh. We appreciate that -- not! Kidding.

CAFFERTY: It's a legitimate topic.

O'BRIEN: I got a lot of e-mails about it today, personal, people I don't know just e-mailing.

COSTELLO: Were they e-mails of hatred?

O'BRIEN: No. I delete those without even opening them. I'm no fool! We're out of time. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. Let's go right to Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center. Going to take you through the next few hours this morning. Hey, there.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hasta la vista, Jack.

O'BRIEN: We knew that was coming.

CAFFERTY: Sayonara, baby.

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 14, 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: There say story just into us at CNN. An American businessman has been indicted in the federal investigation in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program in Iraq. His name is David Chalmers. He's head of a Texas-based Bay oil company. They participated in the U.N. program. He was arrested apparently on Wednesday, yesterday in Houston. He faces three felony charges. There will be an indictment unveiled later today here in New York.
David Kelly, the U.S. attorney for the southeast district of New York, will oversee the press conference. We'll watch it from here. Again, indictments handed down in the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. More when we get it.

First, though, back to the headlines and Carol Costello with those -- Carol.

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

Now in the news, two nearly back-to-back explosions go off in Baghdad. At least 11 people were killed, dozens of others wounded. Police say most of the casualties were civilians. The blasts apparently targeting an Iraqi police convoy.

The search begins again for a missing Florida girl, 13-year-old Sarah Lunde. New pictures of her this morning. Here they are. Home video shows Lunde with friends and family in December last year. Hundreds of volunteers searching for her. Sarah Lunde has been missing since early Sunday.

A travel tip for smokers, if you're heading for the airport this morning, leave the lighters at home. A new law is kicking in, banning all cigarette lighters from airplanes. Officials say the new rule makes air travel safer, but you can still carry as many as four match books onboard. If you have six books of matches, I don't know, you'll get your hand slapped.

And Prince Charles and his new wife, Camilla, taking part in their first public event since their wedding. The royal couple breaking away from their honeymoon to attend the opening of a school playground in Scotland. Camilla now carries the title of duchess of Cornwall. The two were married -- do I need to tell you this, Bill? - the two were married last weekend. And they look happy.

HEMMER: Happily ever after.

COSTELLO: Of course.

HEMMER: Thanks, Carol.

Could lowering the drinking age actually create responsible college-aged drinkers? There's a lawmaker in Vermont who says yes to that question. The president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving says that is nonsense.

Republican State Rep Richard Marron of Vermont is my guest in Montreal.

Good morning up there, sir.

RICHARD MARRON (R), VERMONT STATE REP.: Good morning.

HEMMER: And Wendy Hamilton is the president of the MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drives, with me here in the studio.

Good to you, Wendy, as well.

WENDY HAMILTON, PRESIDENT, MADD: Morning.

HEMMER: First up to our studios there in Montreal. Lowering the drinking age does what in your estimation, from 21 to 18, sir?

MARRON: By lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, we would be able to allow people to learn to drink in a responsible manner. Right now, there's nobody denies that a lot of young people are drinking. There's 4,000 young people in my state alone -- and I come from a very small state -- who go through a court-diversion program for possession of alcoholic beverages. I have no argument against the goals of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

I, too, want to enforce rigorous DUI laws, and in fact, we are doing that in Vermont. We have lowered our blood alcohol levels to .08, and I think we've through enforcement, we have an education, we've gotten people to realize that they should not be driving while intoxicated.

HEMMER: Let's go back over the years now. Some facts and figures to add to our conversation here. Going back to 1975, it's estimated 23,000 lives have been saved because of higher drinking age laws. In addition to that, the number of fatal crashes involving drunken drivers under 21 has decreased 61 percent, this between the years of 1982 and 1998. Are you concerned at all that lowering that age will actually reverse these two trends that I just mentioned?

MARRON: Well, I think there's two things going on. No. 1, as I mentioned earlier, in enforcement has been quite vigorous, and that has worked very well, and I also think there may be a double counting of statistics. The automobile industry claims that it has over the past 40 years lowered or decreased the number of people dying in automobile accidents by 75 percent. So some of these, there is some double counting going on, and there's also been improvements to highways for safety purposes.

HEMMER: Let me bring in Wendy Hamilton. He says the numbers are wrong.

HAMILTON: No, the numbers are not wrong. I mean, clearly airbags and seatbelts do help save lives, but there are many, many more drivers on the road than they were in 1975. I think what the legislators need to do is look at the credible science that's been done, not only as it relates to alcohol-impaired driving countermeasures and how many lives it's saved, but looking at the adolescent brain development and research that has come on board in the last 10 years or so that really clearly tells us that children's brains continue to develop into their mid-20s, and the parts where reasoning, and judgment and memories are stored are the last to develop. So putting alcohol into a child's system, even if that child is 20 years old, and they're almost adults, is really bad public policy.

HEMMER: What about his logic, it will help with binge drinking?

HAMILTON: No.

HEMMER: In other words, if you take the cap off at a younger age, perhaps you will not dive in this way when you turn 21.

HAMILTON: No, we've looked at a great deal of research. There's been credible research done looking at 30 European countries, where those young people are drinking more, and they're drinking, binge drinking more than what they are in the United States. What we saw when the 21 minimum age drinking law was passed in 1984 was that not only did the drunk-driving crashes related to that age group go down, but also drinking levels went down.

And what we know about brain development and what's going on with kids in their heads, the violent crime that happens on college campuses, 95 percent of violent crime that happens on college campuses is a result of alcohol being involved in it.

So you know, changing the drinking-age law is not going to help teach children to, or young people to drink more responsibly. This is a drug that kills more kids than all of the other elicit drugs combined. What we need to do is enforce the laws.

HEMMER: You had mentioned a number of studies from around the world. I want to get representative Marron's reaction to that. You've studied this issue, sir. How do you respond to that.

MARRON: Well, I think that I have studied that issue to some extent, and I think that I would suggest that those statistics are overblown. The fact that they've done studies in the last 10 years on brain development in adults, because 18 years old are adults, it was 21 years ago when we lowered -- raised the drinking age from 18 to 21.

HEMMER: Sir, do you have children?

MARRON: I have children. I have three grown children. I have two grandchildren.

HAMILTON: Would you be OK with them drinking at 18, even your grandchildren?

MARRON: My children were old enough to drink when they were 18, because that was what the law was then. And I would have no problem with my grandchildren doing it, and in fact, I grew up in New York State many, oh, 50 years ago and the drinking age was 18.

HEMMER: Thank you. Richard Marron of Vermont, state rep up there In Montreal, Wendy Hamilton, president of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Thanks to both.

O'BRIEN: Good luck getting an appointment with your allergy doctor as this punishing pollen season begins. Luckily we've got one here this morning. She's going to guide us through allergy survival 101 in today's "House Call."

Dr. Gillian Shepherd is from the Weill Medical College of Cornell University.

Nice to see you. You saw the map that Chad had.

Give me a sense of how bad you think the season overall is going to be this year?

DR. GILLIAN SHEPHERD, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: This is a very bad time for allergy sufferers. But people have to recognize that what bothers them this time of the year are the pollen from trees. People are allergic to a lot of other things, like grasses and weeds, and its trees that are pollinating throughout the country now. A little bit less in the South at the moment. And as you saw, it's the mid band of the country that's having the worst time at the moment.

For those of us in the Northeast, the bad time is going to come next month, and because a lot of areas of the country have had a lot of rain this year, some of the pollen areas are more robust than usual.

O'BRIEN: Is that pretty much how they predict what kind of a pollen season we're going to have or what kind of an allergy season overall we're going to have, how much rain we've had?

SHEPHERD: It's always tough to predict, but its mainly based on weather factors, and therefore, how much pollen the tree is going to produce. Also, if it rains it's going to wash all the pollen away. Hot, windy day will increase the pollen count and spread it further. These pollen grains can travel up to 300 to 500 miles. So even though you may not live in an area with a lot of tree pollen, it can blow easily, generally west to east.

O'BRIEN: Do we know if we'll have a long pollen season, or a short pollen season this year?

SHEPHERD: Even in some places in the country, particularly in the Northeast, it started earlier than usual -- almost two weeks earlier -- that unfortunately doesn't mean it's going to wrap up two weeks earlier. It will probably go for the same length of time. Each tree pollinates for about two to three weeks. Right now we have cedar in large parts of the country, particularly in the South. We have oak in most of the middle of the country. We have more maple in this area, but when maple's done, then we move on to birch trees and we move on to other ones.

O'BRIEN: It never ends for allergy sufferers.

Let's get through some of the tips. You say big sunglasses can cover your eyes. Sunglasses for my eyes?

SHEPHERD: Recognize that you were shown that the poor people in Atlanta are encountering pollen counts of thousands of grains of pollen per cubic meter of air.

O'BRIEN: So literally block them out?

SHEPHERD: And that's what's in the air all the time going in your nose and hitting them out.

O'BRIEN: Exercise early in the morning?

SHEPHERD: No, do not exercise early in the morning. Pollen counts tend to be highest first thing in the morning from about 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. So if you're going out and doing huffing and puffing work outside, you should do it later in the day, when pollen counts are lower.

O'BRIEN: Keep the car and house windows shut, same thing as the sunglasses, just block it out.

SHEPHERD: Block your exposure, use air-conditioning. Remember to change the filter on the air-conditioning units, because that will get clogged easily. You're all familiar with pollen coating cars and furniture this time of year. It will also coat your ventilation systems.

O'BRIEN: Any new drugs on the market for people who really need something new and the drugs aren't working for them?

SHEPHERD: The No. 1 treatment of this generally are prescription eyedrops. Because with tree pollen, people get very itchy eyes, and then prescription steroid-based nose spray, but that is you do need to see a doctor to get that. There are very effective antihistamines over the counter that don't put you to sleep. There are more effective prescription pills and another one that's an anti- inflammatory drug this year that's helpful for this. But people that really have bad symptoms often need to go either to already shots or other modes of treatment that you need to see your doctor for. But most people could be very well controlled.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Gillian Shepherd, thanks for talking with us this morning, especially when you consider how bad the season looks to be this year. We appreciate it -- Bill.

SHEPHERD: Thank you. O'BRIEN: Break here in a moment.

If video killed the radio star, your cell phone may bring that back to life.

Andy explains in a moment here.

And Mariah Carey's comeback, the singer sitting down with CNN to talk about her career and her album and her biggest pet peeve about the Big Apple, back in a moment here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We've got these pictures in to CNN. You're looking at a live picture of Interstate 5 in California, Los Angeles. And what you can see there is that white sheet. It's on top of a minivan, a Pontiac minivan with a big hole in the windshield. They're covering it up now. What seems to have happened a metal object flown into the minivan that was driving on Interstate 5 in Glendale. Two people inside that vehicle are reported killed. This information is coming to us, by the way, from the Associated Press. A police spokesperson is saying it's unclear if the object was intentionally thrown, whether it was an accident.

You can also see, if the shot widens out a bit, just how a big of an impact this has on the traffic. The southbound traffic on I-5 has really backed up for just miles. And of course the investigation is continuing. You can see an ambulance at the scene, and police officers as well trying to figure out exactly what happened.

Two people on this California freeway in Los Angeles, reported dead now. Metal objects thrown through the wind shield. Unclear if it was an accident, unclear it was intentionally thrown. We'll see what happened throughout the rest of the day.

Let's go back to Bill now.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks. Two people, wow.

13 minutes now before the hour. Mariah Carey is back. The Grammy Award-winning pop superstar is out, and pumping out her new CD, too, "The Emancipation of Mimi."

A.J. Hammer is cohost of CNN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." He sat down with Mariah.

Who's Mimi, by the way?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mimi is Mariah. That's the nickname that her friend and relatives called her, and she actually lets me call her that as well.

HEMMER: I see. How was the interview?

HAMMER: It was great. It's been 15 years, which is kind of hard to believe, since Mariah, or Mimi, first burst onto the scene with "Vision of Love," and spent four weeks, a month, at No. 1. And now she's so completely self-assured, when she sat down with us, you just tell. I've run into her a lot over that 15 years, and you can really just tell, she has a confidence, she has a self-assuredness, and a lot of that comes from this emancipation, from this freedom, and that even allows her to let anything the press has to wing at her kind of roll off her.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIAH CAREY, SINGER: I think in the past i've always kind of, you know, for whatever reason, the negative stuff can bring you down, it can make you react, and of course, we're human. We all have that. It happens to everybody, but I mean, to not get enveloped by it is what I've had to learn, and that's just a process, just the way it is.

HAMMER: So are you still the workaholic that you always used to be? I just remember you would stay at the studio until the sun came up, basically.

CAREY: Basically. I still stay at the studio late, because you know, I'm most creative at night. I don't think that I'm the same in terms of my, the workaholic nature of who I am. My people, it's like become this legendary thing, and it is true, but I have learned is to set more boundaries.

HAMMER: It's a Saturday night, we're going out. What are you going out to do that you enjoy, not because it's an event or something like that?

CAREY: Probably go eat with friends somewhere.

HAMMER: Type of food?

CAREY: I would probably have Italian food, something, you know, fattening, mess that I shouldn't be eating, probably go to a club. The only thing with the clubs, is that the rule of the nonsmoking, some people don't actually listen to that.

HAMMER: No, we don't follow that here, so...

CAREY: And I really hate that. They need to follow the rules, or I'm going to have to spill the beans on CNN right here, the names of those clubs, but I won't -- as long as I get free drinks every time I go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HAMMER: Getting free drinks not a problem for Mariah.

HEMMER: I wonder how well she tips, though.

HEMMER: The CD, how is it?

HAMMER: It's terrific. Many critics are saying it's the best thing that she's done in years. She really gets back to her roots in it, in terms of those vocal calisthenics on the ballads. But it's also a modern hip-hop CD, and she has great collaborators, from Snoop Dogg to Kanye West on here as well.

HEMMER: Good to see you, A.J.

HAMMER: Nice to see you, Bill.

HEMMER: Come by anytime.

HAMMER: And it's Hemmer and Hammer. People get that confused sometimes.

HEMMER: Hemmer Hammer, yeah, that's right. Hemmer time! See you man. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" airs live on Headline News, 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 on the West Coast, Monday through Friday. Thanks, A.J.

In a moment here, first satellite, now cell phones -- Andy telling us about the latest blow to radio, "Minding Your Business." Back in a moment here after this on AMERICAN MORNING."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Want to hear the next Cold Play single before it hits music stores or radio? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with how to do that, plus he's got a check of the market this morning. How do you do that?

SERWER: You do it over your cell phone. I mean, these devices are doing everything nowadays -- not the dishes quite yet.

Let's check the market though first of all. Stocks trading down at this hour -- what do we got here? -- half a point. Now, we're up -- will you stop that machine? I can't keep up with it. We're up 2 points on the Dow. Southwest Airlines up. Pepsico up. Good earnings there. Apple Computer down over 5 percent. It reported after the bell good stuff, but what have you done for me lately, Wall Street is asking.

Price of oil down to $50.50 a barrel. That's good news.

Now, this Cold Play story, Soledad -- they have a new single out called "Speed Of Sound." And in a novel approach, the record company is releasing it to Cingular Wireless. You download it on your cell phone. Let's check it out.

Yeah, that's it. You go to the website. You download it to ring tone, and it's going to be there for a week before it comes out.

O'BRIEN: And you hear it on your cell phone?

SERWER: You'd hear it or your phone would ring with that tune, "Speed of Sound" by Cold Play, who is Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow, Chris Martin, of course, with baby, Apple.

HEMMER: Sounds like Bono. SERWER: It sounds like Radio Head. All the bands kind of sound like that these days. Well -- what, do I sound like, an old fogey, right? A little bit? No, there's a big difference between Cold Play and Radio Head and U2. I believe that.

Okay, that's the business report, Soledad. That's it. That's all the business we got.

O'BRIEN: Thank you for that.

SERWER: Luckily.

HEMMER: Buenos dias, mi amigo.

SERWER: Ah, vice nice.

CAFFERTY: Hasta latrine.

SERWER: Oh, no.

HEMMER: Yeah, all right.

CAFFERTY: Our question today: Should the rest of the country follow West Virginia's lead and make English the official language?

Wiley writes: "What's the big deal about making English the official language of our country? If that's too much trouble for foreigners who wish to come to this country to find a new life, then let them go somewhere else." Wiley, you're cold.

Tim in Des Moines writes: "English is now the official language of West Virginia? That's great. I've always wanted to visit West Virginia, but the language barrier has deterred me."

SERWER: We knew we're going to get good ones on that.

CAFFERTY: "Will West Virginia be also adopting the dollar as its official currency?"

HEMMER: My gosh. Tim's bad.

SERWER: That's clever.

CAFFERTY: And Cliff in Connecticut writes: "Jack, if you would like English to be required of all who choose to make their home here, I suggest you lead by example. I've listened to you blather on and on every morning for years, and for the life of me, I still can't figure out what you're saying."

SERWER: So have we.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Certain hostility here on the old sofa.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jack. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Well, the latest Beltway buzz has nothing to do with politics. Tonight, baseball returns to the national capital for the first time in 34 degrees. Daryn Kagan takes you out to the ballpark to preview the home debut of the Washington Nationals. That's on "CNN LIVE TODAY." We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are out of time. Jack, thank you for a very spirited debate this morning.

CAFFERTY: I'm just here to help out.

O'BRIEN: Uh-huh. We appreciate that -- not! Kidding.

CAFFERTY: It's a legitimate topic.

O'BRIEN: I got a lot of e-mails about it today, personal, people I don't know just e-mailing.

COSTELLO: Were they e-mails of hatred?

O'BRIEN: No. I delete those without even opening them. I'm no fool! We're out of time. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. Let's go right to Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center. Going to take you through the next few hours this morning. Hey, there.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hasta la vista, Jack.

O'BRIEN: We knew that was coming.

CAFFERTY: Sayonara, baby.

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