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American Morning

Battling Insurgents in Iraq; Credit Card Rights

Aired May 19, 2005 - 08:30   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Just exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Ahead, we're going to talk about all the rules that you need to know about your credit card, but you probably don't.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And a lot of rules, too. And not knowing could put you in a deep financial hole, too. So we'll let you know what you need to know in a moment here. Gerri Willis hanging out over there. Back to Gerri in a moment.

First, here's Carol Costello with the headlines -- Carol, hello again.

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

"Now in the News," Laura Bush is promoting democracy and women's rights in the Middle East. The first lady is set to leave for Jordan, where she will speak Saturday at a world economic forum. The five-day trip will also include stops in Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian- controlled West Bank.

That color-coded terrorist alert system. Guess what? It could be on its way out. As you know, the system uses five colors from red to green to signal the country's threat level. We're at yellow now. Did you know that? Did you remember? Anyway, the House voted 424-2 to scrap the color-coded format in favor of more specific warnings for the American public. The bill would also add some 2,000 more border security guards.

Investigators in Idaho say they have no new leads in what the sheriff calls a very brutal triple homicide. Detectives interviewed 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner last night. They'd hoped he would provide some clues about the whereabouts of 8-year-old Shasta and 9- year-old Dylan Groene. The bodies of their mother and brother were found on Monday. The FBI now assisting in the search for those children.

And new charges against that woman who claims she found part of a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Prosecutors have charged Anna Ayala for attempted grand theft for the millions of dollars Wendy's claims it lost as a result of the negative publicity. Now they're adding conspiracy to present a false insurance claim to her list of charges. In total, Ayala could face almost ten years in prison.

And you want to win in sports? Wear red. A new study by British anthropologists shows athletes who wear red are consistently more likely to win. The research is based on last year's Summer Olympics Games in Athens, but it began with observations in the animal kingdom, where the red color is often associated with male dominance. Details appear in the journal "Nature." Cincinnati Reds, Bill, doing well?

HEMMER: Have they heard about the Cincinnati Reds? Because they're having an absolute stink-o of a year.

COSTELLO: They just lost four in a row, didn't they?

HEMMER: Ooh, swept by the Mets.

COSTELLO: They're last place, aren't they?

HEMMER: Swept by the Mets, I tell you.

COSTELLO: OK. Boston Red Sox. Red works for them.

HEMMER: Mmm, not so much.

COSTELLO: Tiger Woods. Oh, Tiger Woods. He wore red that day.

HEMMER: On the final round, he always wears red. That goes back to his roots for his mother in Thailand.

COSTELLO: Well, it didn't work for him this last time.

HEMMER: Yes, I know. The most flawed story in the day, Carol. Talk to you later.

I want to get back to Iraq right now. The latest insurgent violence today. There, an oil ministry official gunned down in western Baghdad. Also an aide to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, also killed by a gunman there. More than 400 Iraqis have been killed since the new government came to power three months ago.

Colonel Ronnie Johnson is the commander of the 256th brigade in Iraq, and I asked him what explains the increase in these attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. RONNIE JOHNSON, CMDR., 256TH BRIGADE: Well, one thing with the attacks, though -- it's been high visibility things like car bombs the last month here. The attacks overall are still down from the pre- election levels back in January. The car bombs and things of that nature, of course, get a lot of attention and quite often have been directed against Iraqi citizens, I-Peace (ph), Iraqi police, Iraqi army, things of that nature. I would read it as a desperate attempt by the terrorists to derail what we all have accomplished here over the past year, and particularly since the elections.

HEMMER: So you're saying they're not gaining strength then, right?

JOHNSON: I do not think that they are. We continue to fight them. They certainly have the ability to still inflict damage. They have done so. I do not think they're gaining strength. We are certainly making inroads in fighting them. We're getting much better cooperation from the Iraqi citizens and helping us fight this fight. The Iraqi army is becoming much more capable. We are having success here.

HEMMER: It is now being reported and believed that Zarqawi is behind this latest string of bombings. If that is indeed the case, how important is it to catch him? The most wanted man in the country of Iraq today.

JOHNSON: Well, Zarqawi, I would think, represents a big part of the foreign influence that comes in here, and a large part of the ones that are perpetrating a lot of these suicide type bombings. To take Zarqawi out would definitely disrupt that operation, and it would certainly be a very symbolic capture. He probably would not end the insurgency completely, but it would certainly deal a severe blow to them.

HEMMER: One of your primary jobs, colonel, is to get the Iraqis ready to take care of their own security for their own country for their own people. How close are you, do you believe, in your estimation, to making sure that happens?

JOHNSON: Well, with the brigade that we're partnered with, the 1st brigade of the 6th Iraqi division, this is the first brigade of the new Iraqi army that is actually taking over its own battle space. A portion of the -- eastern portion of our battle space, located in western Baghdad, they have taken over that area. They patrol that themselves. They've done quite a good job. Haifa (ph) Street, which was a particularly contested area a few months back, they patrol that exclusively themselves. They're doing quite a good job in maintaining that. We still have a ways to go, but we are working very closely with them now in joint operations throughout the remainder of our battle space.

HEMMER: You touch on this in your first answer. What do you believe the story is in Iraq that we are not hearing back in the U.S.?

JOHNSON: You know, I would think the biggest story is the Iraqi people themselves are quite more willing to come forward and help us now. I think the fact that they see their own police, their own Iraqi army, out there fighting this fight, I think that gives a lot of hope to the Iraqi people. They are more willing now to come forward and be -- participate in this process. And I think that is a critical story that everyone should focus on.

HEMMER: Colonel, be safe. Ronnie Johnson, a colonel from Baghdad, with me now. Thank you, sir.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, this week, Congress is debating how to protect consumers when they use their credit cards. A lot of practices used by credit card companies are now in question. One of the most controversial is this. When you're late on your credit card, one of them, and it makes all the other interest rates go up on your other cards.

CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis has got a look at that and much more this morning. That is called universal default. Explain exactly how it works and why credit card companies can do it this.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I'm telling you, this is a really scary thing. Look at this. If you're late paying a credit card, maybe your mortgage, maybe a utility, all of your credit card rates could go up, no kidding. And how much? 29.99 percent. This is a ton of money. Typical rates right now, 14 to 16 percent. If your rate goes up to 30 percent, Soledad, I mean, I don't know if you're better off talking to the local loan shark or not, but that is incredibly high. It makes it very difficult to pay off your debt.

O'BRIEN: It's probably a wash, I mean, to go to the loan shark or your credit card company. The Senate Banking Committee, as I mentioned, holding hearings. What are the credit card companies saying in their own defense?

WILLIS: Well, one of the things they're saying is you know, we're going to allow you to opt out. If we're going to raise your interest rates significantly, we'll send you a letter, we'll let you know. You can say, you know what, I don't want to pay that. And you can pay off your balance and move on. But how many of us have $12,000, which is the average, you know, amount of money people have on their credit cards to pay it off? So I'm not sure how useful that is.

O'BRIEN: All right. You've got some tips for folks, so let's go through them. First, you say, read the agreement. Sounds pretty simple.

WILLIS: Well, and it's not. It's a little like sanskrit. Look, there's a ton of information. It's very long. It's in very, very little type. It's tough to read. But if you really want to keep the credit card you have right now, you should look at it and get a sense of what all the details are.

O'BRIEN: All right. If you need to understand the lender's credit card, you can go online, you say.

WILLIS: There are two great places to go. If you're going to use a different credit card, let's say you've had it with the credit card operator, you're going to get a brand new one. Go to cardweb or bankrate.com. They're two great Web sites that help you find another card. They really look at the details, Soledad. They'll really let you know which the good ones are out there.

O'BRIEN: You say understand the deadline. Which, again, I thought, was pretty simple and straightforward, but that one's not, either. WILLIS: Devil's in the details. I got to tell you, what you may not know about the deadline for your credit card payment is a lot. Check out, make sure it's not falling on a holiday or a weekend, and about half of credit card companies right now, they require that you make your payment by 1:00 in the afternoon. So if you thought you had till 5:00 p.m. or close of business, forget about it. You've got to do it quickly. Makes sense here to be paying that bill online, because you can really control when your payment goes in.

O'BRIEN: You can complain if you're unhappy.

WILLIS: Well, and here's the big thing to know, because I have done this myself. It works. Call your credit card operator. Tell them, I'm getting lots of solicitations in the mail that rates are lower, that terms are better. What can you do for me? It's very likely that you will get your rate cut.

O'BRIEN: With credit -- with the Senate Banking Committee now taking a closer look at the credit card companies, do you think with all this focus there's going to be a change, a difference will be made?

WILLIS: I think it's a great question. I'm not sure I can answer it, but what I can say is this. We talked a lot about the bankruptcy bill, made it harder for people to file bankruptcy. Financial industry was behind that, including the credit card operators. Could be time for a little give and take here, maybe some good news for consumers. It's good that Washington's putting the spotlight on these practices.

O'BRIEN: You know, and it seems like you always end up by saying know what you're getting into.

WILLIS: Absolutely. You've actually got to pay attention to the details. It's critical. Again, cardweb.com is a great place to go if you want more information.

O'BRIEN: And some great advice. Gerri, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Wal-Mart is changing the way customers rent DVDs. Andy's "Minding Your Business." He's got a look at that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, did you know millions of these dust mites could be living in your bed and making you sick in the process. We're paging the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta has that in a moment, as we continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about indoor allergies. Did you know that more than 40 pounds of dust can accumulate in your home on average every year? As Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us, it's the smallest particles that can cause some of the biggest problems. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When they bought their new house in late 2004, Allyson and Reid Winnick were filled with promise and pride.

ALLYSON WINNICK, INDOOR ALLERGY SUFFERER: We moved here October 1st, into a pristine gorgeous home on the beach, and within a couple of weeks we all started getting sick, coughs, and congestion and runny noses.

GUPTA: The whole family was besieged by a mysterious illness. They were exhausted, moving at a slower pace. It became harder to wake up in the morning, and 7-year-old Justin was late for school almost every day. They feared it was sinister mold growing in the air ducts, or even asbestos, or fiberglass from new construction. It was neither.

WINNICK: Lots of dust mites. Lots and lots of dust mites.

GUPTA: Dust mites are microscopic spiders so small that 7,000 of them can fit on a dime. They thrive in humidity and feed off skin cells humans shed. The Winnick's aren't alone; 99 percent of all households have them. The average number in any given bed? Two million. While the Winnick's indoor allergy trigger is the dust mite there are other culprits when it comes to indoor allergies.

DR. GILLIAN SHEPERD, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: Indoor allergies are extremely common, probably vastly more common than seasonal allergies. The number-one culprit are the pets at home.

GUPTA: With cats and dogs, the actual allergen isn't their hair, but a protein found in their saliva, dander, skin and urine. It's so pervasive it is easily transported on an owner's clothing. As for cats, even if you remove one from a room, it takes six months before it's free of cat allergies. Also, there may be a reason why some people are allergic to some cats and not others.

DR. CLIFFORD BASSETT, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: The darker the color of the pet dander on cats, the more allergy symptoms, and male cats have more dander and seem to have more allergenic properties than female cats in a variety of preliminary studies.

GUPTA: The Winnicks turned to healthy nest, a company that specializes in testing and ridding the home of allergens. The treatments can cost hundreds of dollars. Other ways to fight indoor allergies, keep humidity below 50 percent, possibly with a dehumidifier. Use allergy protectant covers for your mattress, box springs and pillows. Wash your sheets weekly in hot water and use a hot dryer. Vacuum weekly with a HEPA filter. Consider hardwood or tile floors. Carpets can accumulate 1,000 times more allergen than non-carpeted floors.

As for stuffed toys, put them in a plastic bag and freeze for 24 hours to kill those mites. Now six months after finding the dust mites, the Winnicks have learned to deal with them. WINNICK: So everything's good. No one sneezes when they wake up anymore.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And more advice, experts say change your pillows. Do it every year. That's a pretty good way to steer clear of mold and dust mites -- Bill.

HEMMER: Wal-Mart has just announced a deal with their DVDs, if you buy or if you rent. Andy has the story on that, next here in a moment.

Back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: One of those accounting fraud cases could be in the hands of the jury before this day is out. That and a preview of today's markets, here's Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you, Jack.

It was colorful, it was impassioned, and it was bizarre. I'm talking about the closing arguments in the trial of Richard Scrushy yesterday down in Birmingham. Defense attorney Donald Watkins wrapping himself and his client in the American flag, saying that they must acquit, the jury must acquit Scrushy because 800 million Americans have given their lives throughout history in this country in order to preserve the law of the Constitution. What? Then he went on to say this acquittal would be good to help America get off her knees. Long after we're gone, the country will look back and remember what was done here.

Another defense attorney then went on to describe government witnesses as rats and rodents, holding up a big picture of a rat with a piece of cheese and saying, that's one of them there. I mean, this stuff is unbelievable.

CAFFERTY: Where's this trial?

SERWER: Birmingham, Alabama, truly Southern gothic.

CAFFERTY: They make moonshine whiskey in those places.

SERWER: These guys are having a lot of fun. I would be laughing if I was in the courtroom.

O'BRIEN: Eight-hundred and six. I don't know if it's accurate. I don't know what it has to do with anything.

SERWER: It's just fun. I think it's kind of fun.

Here's another story, a completely different story. Wal-Mart is saying this morning that it will get out of the DVD rental business and is directing its customers on its Web site this morning to its rival Netflix. This is a huge victory for Netflix, because everybody predicted this company was going to have huge problems when Wal-Mart got in the business. And now Wal-Mart is apparently capitulating and saying, we're getting out. The interesting thing here, Jack, and the stock is just taking off this morning in premarket. The Netflix stock, it's up 30 percent this morning. The chart doesn't show it. Once it starts trading, it will be at $19, way up.

But here's the interesting thing, did word leak out? I checked it out, and the volume on the stock is huge on days leading up to today, and the stock is up 17 percent when the market is only up a percentage point or two.

CAFFERTY: That would be called insider trading.

SERWER: That would be. Just a question. As far as the markets go, we're looking for a four-peat this morning, because the market has been up three days in a row this week, a very solid day yesterday. Lower oil prices and benign inflation report. And futures are higher this morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: What's that thing you got in your hand?

SERWER: The syringe pen. It's a pen that...

HEMMER: Always handy?

SERWER: Someone gave this to me, and I felt I should use it. What do you think?

CAFFERTY: Whatever you need to get through the day.

SERWER: It's a syringe pen.

Never mind.

O'BRIEN: How does it write?

SERWER: It writes just fine. Do you want to borrow it, my syringe pen?

CAFFERTY: No, no, I don't...

SERWER: Partake?

CAFFERTY: Time for the "Cafferty File."

Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome. CAFFERTY: This fall, students at the University of Iowa will be able to enroll in a course on pornography. It's the University of Iowa. It's a state school. Offered by the communications program at the college of liberal arts and sciences, the class is already full. The waiting list is growing. The pornographic films and other explicit materials will not shown to students, we are told, According to a guy named Jay Clarkson, who's going to teach this thing. The goal of the course is to get students to thinking about how pornography has moved from the adult bookstore to everyday thinking. The speaker of the house in the great state of Iowa ain't happy. He says he's going to ask some questions about whether tax dollars ought to be spent on students studying pornography.

SERWER: Liberal arts.

CAFFERTY: Just when you thought there was a greeting card for every occasion, a woman in Bethesda, Maryland has created a line of cards for those of you having extramarital affairs. Cathy Gallagher launched the Secret Lover Collection at this week's National Stationary Show. One of the holiday cards reads, "As we celebrate with our families, I'll be thinking of you."

HEMMER: That's cruel.

CAFFERTY: And for the boss who's in love with his secretary, "I used to look forward to the weekends, but since we met, they seem like an eternity."

SERWER: Thank god for Monday.

CAFFERTY: The cards not available to the public yet, but Gallagher thinks there's a huge market out there for them, and she's probably right.

A Florida woman demanding the recall of her son's high school yearbook because she is offended by this photograph. Boynton Beach High school's 2005 yearbook includes this picture of Jacqueline Noble's son with a leash around his neck being held by his girlfriend. Robert Richards was voted most whipped for his relationship with the girl. The couple has since broken up. The kids have no problem with the picture.

Another picture raising objections in this same year book is a couple voted most likely to be on Jerry Springer. This one shows a male student pretending to be on the verge of hitting a female with the back of his hand. The school board is now investigating how these pictures got in the yearbook.

O'BRIEN: Don't you think it's weird, though, that the boy's mother would complain? I mean, wouldn't -- she would just talk to her son and say, now, why would you pose for an idiotic picture like that?

SERWER: And they're broken up, and he still thinks it's OK.

CAFFERTY: Probably because she told him to. That's what they were voted. SERWER: Yes, that's right. That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: And you'll still do it, even though we're broken up.

HEMMER: Thanks, guys.

In a moment here, top stories coming up here. Also, we'll talk to the first American today. First American to climb the 14 tallest mountains in the world, and what an amazing story he has to tell.

Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 19, 2005 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Just exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Ahead, we're going to talk about all the rules that you need to know about your credit card, but you probably don't.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And a lot of rules, too. And not knowing could put you in a deep financial hole, too. So we'll let you know what you need to know in a moment here. Gerri Willis hanging out over there. Back to Gerri in a moment.

First, here's Carol Costello with the headlines -- Carol, hello again.

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

"Now in the News," Laura Bush is promoting democracy and women's rights in the Middle East. The first lady is set to leave for Jordan, where she will speak Saturday at a world economic forum. The five-day trip will also include stops in Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian- controlled West Bank.

That color-coded terrorist alert system. Guess what? It could be on its way out. As you know, the system uses five colors from red to green to signal the country's threat level. We're at yellow now. Did you know that? Did you remember? Anyway, the House voted 424-2 to scrap the color-coded format in favor of more specific warnings for the American public. The bill would also add some 2,000 more border security guards.

Investigators in Idaho say they have no new leads in what the sheriff calls a very brutal triple homicide. Detectives interviewed 33-year-old Robert Roy Lutner last night. They'd hoped he would provide some clues about the whereabouts of 8-year-old Shasta and 9- year-old Dylan Groene. The bodies of their mother and brother were found on Monday. The FBI now assisting in the search for those children.

And new charges against that woman who claims she found part of a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili. Prosecutors have charged Anna Ayala for attempted grand theft for the millions of dollars Wendy's claims it lost as a result of the negative publicity. Now they're adding conspiracy to present a false insurance claim to her list of charges. In total, Ayala could face almost ten years in prison.

And you want to win in sports? Wear red. A new study by British anthropologists shows athletes who wear red are consistently more likely to win. The research is based on last year's Summer Olympics Games in Athens, but it began with observations in the animal kingdom, where the red color is often associated with male dominance. Details appear in the journal "Nature." Cincinnati Reds, Bill, doing well?

HEMMER: Have they heard about the Cincinnati Reds? Because they're having an absolute stink-o of a year.

COSTELLO: They just lost four in a row, didn't they?

HEMMER: Ooh, swept by the Mets.

COSTELLO: They're last place, aren't they?

HEMMER: Swept by the Mets, I tell you.

COSTELLO: OK. Boston Red Sox. Red works for them.

HEMMER: Mmm, not so much.

COSTELLO: Tiger Woods. Oh, Tiger Woods. He wore red that day.

HEMMER: On the final round, he always wears red. That goes back to his roots for his mother in Thailand.

COSTELLO: Well, it didn't work for him this last time.

HEMMER: Yes, I know. The most flawed story in the day, Carol. Talk to you later.

I want to get back to Iraq right now. The latest insurgent violence today. There, an oil ministry official gunned down in western Baghdad. Also an aide to the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, also killed by a gunman there. More than 400 Iraqis have been killed since the new government came to power three months ago.

Colonel Ronnie Johnson is the commander of the 256th brigade in Iraq, and I asked him what explains the increase in these attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COL. RONNIE JOHNSON, CMDR., 256TH BRIGADE: Well, one thing with the attacks, though -- it's been high visibility things like car bombs the last month here. The attacks overall are still down from the pre- election levels back in January. The car bombs and things of that nature, of course, get a lot of attention and quite often have been directed against Iraqi citizens, I-Peace (ph), Iraqi police, Iraqi army, things of that nature. I would read it as a desperate attempt by the terrorists to derail what we all have accomplished here over the past year, and particularly since the elections.

HEMMER: So you're saying they're not gaining strength then, right?

JOHNSON: I do not think that they are. We continue to fight them. They certainly have the ability to still inflict damage. They have done so. I do not think they're gaining strength. We are certainly making inroads in fighting them. We're getting much better cooperation from the Iraqi citizens and helping us fight this fight. The Iraqi army is becoming much more capable. We are having success here.

HEMMER: It is now being reported and believed that Zarqawi is behind this latest string of bombings. If that is indeed the case, how important is it to catch him? The most wanted man in the country of Iraq today.

JOHNSON: Well, Zarqawi, I would think, represents a big part of the foreign influence that comes in here, and a large part of the ones that are perpetrating a lot of these suicide type bombings. To take Zarqawi out would definitely disrupt that operation, and it would certainly be a very symbolic capture. He probably would not end the insurgency completely, but it would certainly deal a severe blow to them.

HEMMER: One of your primary jobs, colonel, is to get the Iraqis ready to take care of their own security for their own country for their own people. How close are you, do you believe, in your estimation, to making sure that happens?

JOHNSON: Well, with the brigade that we're partnered with, the 1st brigade of the 6th Iraqi division, this is the first brigade of the new Iraqi army that is actually taking over its own battle space. A portion of the -- eastern portion of our battle space, located in western Baghdad, they have taken over that area. They patrol that themselves. They've done quite a good job. Haifa (ph) Street, which was a particularly contested area a few months back, they patrol that exclusively themselves. They're doing quite a good job in maintaining that. We still have a ways to go, but we are working very closely with them now in joint operations throughout the remainder of our battle space.

HEMMER: You touch on this in your first answer. What do you believe the story is in Iraq that we are not hearing back in the U.S.?

JOHNSON: You know, I would think the biggest story is the Iraqi people themselves are quite more willing to come forward and help us now. I think the fact that they see their own police, their own Iraqi army, out there fighting this fight, I think that gives a lot of hope to the Iraqi people. They are more willing now to come forward and be -- participate in this process. And I think that is a critical story that everyone should focus on.

HEMMER: Colonel, be safe. Ronnie Johnson, a colonel from Baghdad, with me now. Thank you, sir.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Well, this week, Congress is debating how to protect consumers when they use their credit cards. A lot of practices used by credit card companies are now in question. One of the most controversial is this. When you're late on your credit card, one of them, and it makes all the other interest rates go up on your other cards.

CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis has got a look at that and much more this morning. That is called universal default. Explain exactly how it works and why credit card companies can do it this.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: I'm telling you, this is a really scary thing. Look at this. If you're late paying a credit card, maybe your mortgage, maybe a utility, all of your credit card rates could go up, no kidding. And how much? 29.99 percent. This is a ton of money. Typical rates right now, 14 to 16 percent. If your rate goes up to 30 percent, Soledad, I mean, I don't know if you're better off talking to the local loan shark or not, but that is incredibly high. It makes it very difficult to pay off your debt.

O'BRIEN: It's probably a wash, I mean, to go to the loan shark or your credit card company. The Senate Banking Committee, as I mentioned, holding hearings. What are the credit card companies saying in their own defense?

WILLIS: Well, one of the things they're saying is you know, we're going to allow you to opt out. If we're going to raise your interest rates significantly, we'll send you a letter, we'll let you know. You can say, you know what, I don't want to pay that. And you can pay off your balance and move on. But how many of us have $12,000, which is the average, you know, amount of money people have on their credit cards to pay it off? So I'm not sure how useful that is.

O'BRIEN: All right. You've got some tips for folks, so let's go through them. First, you say, read the agreement. Sounds pretty simple.

WILLIS: Well, and it's not. It's a little like sanskrit. Look, there's a ton of information. It's very long. It's in very, very little type. It's tough to read. But if you really want to keep the credit card you have right now, you should look at it and get a sense of what all the details are.

O'BRIEN: All right. If you need to understand the lender's credit card, you can go online, you say.

WILLIS: There are two great places to go. If you're going to use a different credit card, let's say you've had it with the credit card operator, you're going to get a brand new one. Go to cardweb or bankrate.com. They're two great Web sites that help you find another card. They really look at the details, Soledad. They'll really let you know which the good ones are out there.

O'BRIEN: You say understand the deadline. Which, again, I thought, was pretty simple and straightforward, but that one's not, either. WILLIS: Devil's in the details. I got to tell you, what you may not know about the deadline for your credit card payment is a lot. Check out, make sure it's not falling on a holiday or a weekend, and about half of credit card companies right now, they require that you make your payment by 1:00 in the afternoon. So if you thought you had till 5:00 p.m. or close of business, forget about it. You've got to do it quickly. Makes sense here to be paying that bill online, because you can really control when your payment goes in.

O'BRIEN: You can complain if you're unhappy.

WILLIS: Well, and here's the big thing to know, because I have done this myself. It works. Call your credit card operator. Tell them, I'm getting lots of solicitations in the mail that rates are lower, that terms are better. What can you do for me? It's very likely that you will get your rate cut.

O'BRIEN: With credit -- with the Senate Banking Committee now taking a closer look at the credit card companies, do you think with all this focus there's going to be a change, a difference will be made?

WILLIS: I think it's a great question. I'm not sure I can answer it, but what I can say is this. We talked a lot about the bankruptcy bill, made it harder for people to file bankruptcy. Financial industry was behind that, including the credit card operators. Could be time for a little give and take here, maybe some good news for consumers. It's good that Washington's putting the spotlight on these practices.

O'BRIEN: You know, and it seems like you always end up by saying know what you're getting into.

WILLIS: Absolutely. You've actually got to pay attention to the details. It's critical. Again, cardweb.com is a great place to go if you want more information.

O'BRIEN: And some great advice. Gerri, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Wal-Mart is changing the way customers rent DVDs. Andy's "Minding Your Business." He's got a look at that ahead.

HEMMER: Also, did you know millions of these dust mites could be living in your bed and making you sick in the process. We're paging the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta has that in a moment, as we continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about indoor allergies. Did you know that more than 40 pounds of dust can accumulate in your home on average every year? As Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us, it's the smallest particles that can cause some of the biggest problems. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When they bought their new house in late 2004, Allyson and Reid Winnick were filled with promise and pride.

ALLYSON WINNICK, INDOOR ALLERGY SUFFERER: We moved here October 1st, into a pristine gorgeous home on the beach, and within a couple of weeks we all started getting sick, coughs, and congestion and runny noses.

GUPTA: The whole family was besieged by a mysterious illness. They were exhausted, moving at a slower pace. It became harder to wake up in the morning, and 7-year-old Justin was late for school almost every day. They feared it was sinister mold growing in the air ducts, or even asbestos, or fiberglass from new construction. It was neither.

WINNICK: Lots of dust mites. Lots and lots of dust mites.

GUPTA: Dust mites are microscopic spiders so small that 7,000 of them can fit on a dime. They thrive in humidity and feed off skin cells humans shed. The Winnick's aren't alone; 99 percent of all households have them. The average number in any given bed? Two million. While the Winnick's indoor allergy trigger is the dust mite there are other culprits when it comes to indoor allergies.

DR. GILLIAN SHEPERD, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: Indoor allergies are extremely common, probably vastly more common than seasonal allergies. The number-one culprit are the pets at home.

GUPTA: With cats and dogs, the actual allergen isn't their hair, but a protein found in their saliva, dander, skin and urine. It's so pervasive it is easily transported on an owner's clothing. As for cats, even if you remove one from a room, it takes six months before it's free of cat allergies. Also, there may be a reason why some people are allergic to some cats and not others.

DR. CLIFFORD BASSETT, ALLERGY SPECIALIST: The darker the color of the pet dander on cats, the more allergy symptoms, and male cats have more dander and seem to have more allergenic properties than female cats in a variety of preliminary studies.

GUPTA: The Winnicks turned to healthy nest, a company that specializes in testing and ridding the home of allergens. The treatments can cost hundreds of dollars. Other ways to fight indoor allergies, keep humidity below 50 percent, possibly with a dehumidifier. Use allergy protectant covers for your mattress, box springs and pillows. Wash your sheets weekly in hot water and use a hot dryer. Vacuum weekly with a HEPA filter. Consider hardwood or tile floors. Carpets can accumulate 1,000 times more allergen than non-carpeted floors.

As for stuffed toys, put them in a plastic bag and freeze for 24 hours to kill those mites. Now six months after finding the dust mites, the Winnicks have learned to deal with them. WINNICK: So everything's good. No one sneezes when they wake up anymore.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And more advice, experts say change your pillows. Do it every year. That's a pretty good way to steer clear of mold and dust mites -- Bill.

HEMMER: Wal-Mart has just announced a deal with their DVDs, if you buy or if you rent. Andy has the story on that, next here in a moment.

Back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: One of those accounting fraud cases could be in the hands of the jury before this day is out. That and a preview of today's markets, here's Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you, Jack.

It was colorful, it was impassioned, and it was bizarre. I'm talking about the closing arguments in the trial of Richard Scrushy yesterday down in Birmingham. Defense attorney Donald Watkins wrapping himself and his client in the American flag, saying that they must acquit, the jury must acquit Scrushy because 800 million Americans have given their lives throughout history in this country in order to preserve the law of the Constitution. What? Then he went on to say this acquittal would be good to help America get off her knees. Long after we're gone, the country will look back and remember what was done here.

Another defense attorney then went on to describe government witnesses as rats and rodents, holding up a big picture of a rat with a piece of cheese and saying, that's one of them there. I mean, this stuff is unbelievable.

CAFFERTY: Where's this trial?

SERWER: Birmingham, Alabama, truly Southern gothic.

CAFFERTY: They make moonshine whiskey in those places.

SERWER: These guys are having a lot of fun. I would be laughing if I was in the courtroom.

O'BRIEN: Eight-hundred and six. I don't know if it's accurate. I don't know what it has to do with anything.

SERWER: It's just fun. I think it's kind of fun.

Here's another story, a completely different story. Wal-Mart is saying this morning that it will get out of the DVD rental business and is directing its customers on its Web site this morning to its rival Netflix. This is a huge victory for Netflix, because everybody predicted this company was going to have huge problems when Wal-Mart got in the business. And now Wal-Mart is apparently capitulating and saying, we're getting out. The interesting thing here, Jack, and the stock is just taking off this morning in premarket. The Netflix stock, it's up 30 percent this morning. The chart doesn't show it. Once it starts trading, it will be at $19, way up.

But here's the interesting thing, did word leak out? I checked it out, and the volume on the stock is huge on days leading up to today, and the stock is up 17 percent when the market is only up a percentage point or two.

CAFFERTY: That would be called insider trading.

SERWER: That would be. Just a question. As far as the markets go, we're looking for a four-peat this morning, because the market has been up three days in a row this week, a very solid day yesterday. Lower oil prices and benign inflation report. And futures are higher this morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: What's that thing you got in your hand?

SERWER: The syringe pen. It's a pen that...

HEMMER: Always handy?

SERWER: Someone gave this to me, and I felt I should use it. What do you think?

CAFFERTY: Whatever you need to get through the day.

SERWER: It's a syringe pen.

Never mind.

O'BRIEN: How does it write?

SERWER: It writes just fine. Do you want to borrow it, my syringe pen?

CAFFERTY: No, no, I don't...

SERWER: Partake?

CAFFERTY: Time for the "Cafferty File."

Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome. CAFFERTY: This fall, students at the University of Iowa will be able to enroll in a course on pornography. It's the University of Iowa. It's a state school. Offered by the communications program at the college of liberal arts and sciences, the class is already full. The waiting list is growing. The pornographic films and other explicit materials will not shown to students, we are told, According to a guy named Jay Clarkson, who's going to teach this thing. The goal of the course is to get students to thinking about how pornography has moved from the adult bookstore to everyday thinking. The speaker of the house in the great state of Iowa ain't happy. He says he's going to ask some questions about whether tax dollars ought to be spent on students studying pornography.

SERWER: Liberal arts.

CAFFERTY: Just when you thought there was a greeting card for every occasion, a woman in Bethesda, Maryland has created a line of cards for those of you having extramarital affairs. Cathy Gallagher launched the Secret Lover Collection at this week's National Stationary Show. One of the holiday cards reads, "As we celebrate with our families, I'll be thinking of you."

HEMMER: That's cruel.

CAFFERTY: And for the boss who's in love with his secretary, "I used to look forward to the weekends, but since we met, they seem like an eternity."

SERWER: Thank god for Monday.

CAFFERTY: The cards not available to the public yet, but Gallagher thinks there's a huge market out there for them, and she's probably right.

A Florida woman demanding the recall of her son's high school yearbook because she is offended by this photograph. Boynton Beach High school's 2005 yearbook includes this picture of Jacqueline Noble's son with a leash around his neck being held by his girlfriend. Robert Richards was voted most whipped for his relationship with the girl. The couple has since broken up. The kids have no problem with the picture.

Another picture raising objections in this same year book is a couple voted most likely to be on Jerry Springer. This one shows a male student pretending to be on the verge of hitting a female with the back of his hand. The school board is now investigating how these pictures got in the yearbook.

O'BRIEN: Don't you think it's weird, though, that the boy's mother would complain? I mean, wouldn't -- she would just talk to her son and say, now, why would you pose for an idiotic picture like that?

SERWER: And they're broken up, and he still thinks it's OK.

CAFFERTY: Probably because she told him to. That's what they were voted. SERWER: Yes, that's right. That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: And you'll still do it, even though we're broken up.

HEMMER: Thanks, guys.

In a moment here, top stories coming up here. Also, we'll talk to the first American today. First American to climb the 14 tallest mountains in the world, and what an amazing story he has to tell.

Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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