Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Laura Bush Tours the Middle East; Viagra for Sex Offenders

Aired May 23, 2005 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Dow starts the day 10,471, off about 21 points in trading on a Friday. But that was the only down day of the week, was Friday of last week. Nasdaq market site, 2,046 is your opening mark, up about three points in trading on Friday. Best week of the year, last week, for stocks here in New York. So we'll see which way we go today. Good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's almost exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, we're going to hear what the first lady had to say about that angry reception she received in Jerusalem.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux sat down today with Mrs. Bush and we'll have that interview, part of it, with the first lady in a matter of moments here. Also we'll get Arab reaction, too, from what's being said in the region.

First the headlines. Back to Carol Costello with those and more. Good morning.

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

"Now in the News," police say at least six people have been injured in a building collapse in Chicago, three of them seriously. These are new pictures that we just got in. Word is an explosion caused a three-story apartment building to partially collapse. Authorities are still not sure what caused that explosion. Emergency crews on the scene trying to figure it out.

U.S. and Iraqi forces launching a new operation to root out insurgents in western Baghdad. The U.S. military says a substantial number of suspected terrorists have been detained in Operation Squeeze Play. In the meantime, a car bomb went off just about three hours ago outside of a Baghdad restaurant. You see the heavy smoke there. The blast killed at least four people and wounded more than 100 others.

Out in California, Michael Jackson's lawyers may rest their case as early as tomorrow. Really. Still no word if the pop star will himself testify. Comedians Jay Leno and Chris Tucker are among the last witnesses expected on the stand. Court resumes in the next two hours.

And a school bus slamming into a home in Miami, Florida, this morning. Take a look at this. Details still sketchy. But at least four students on board that bus were hurt, none of them hurt seriously. The condition of the school bus driver is not known. Another nearby home was damaged in the accident, as well as some parked cars.

And a search this morning for a group of people who stabbed two people associated with singer Bobby Brown. You know, Whitney Houston's husband? Police say Brown was with a group of people early this morning at Justin's. That's a restaurant owned by Sean P. Diddy Combs, that's on Peachtree. A fight broke out. Two members of Brown's entourage were wounded. Brown was reportedly not directly involved in the fight. And needless to say, we'll probably be hearing a lot more about this later.

HEMMER: You mean the main Peachtree?

COSTELLO: The main Peachtree.

HEMMER: Because at last check, there's like 47 Peachtrees in Atlanta, Georgia, and that's no lie.

COSTELLO: It's the big ole Peachtree Street.

HEMMER: Thank you, Carol. We want to get back overseas right now, specifically in Egypt, where the First Lady Laura Bush, is visiting today. Mrs. Bush began a Middle East goodwill tour on Thursday in Jordan, but it was the weekend visit over the weekend to the holy sites in Jerusalem that grabbed the headlines.

Suzanne Malveaux spoke with Mrs. Bush one-on-one today. She joins us live in Cairo. And how did she respond today to what happened over the weekend, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, it was really very interesting. We sat down for a one-on-one interview at the Giza Pyramids to really assess how she believes her goodwill tour is going. We talked about a number of things. Talked about Israel's role with Palestinian women's rights. We also talked about Egypt's upcoming election. But of course, top on our list is what could best be called a distraction. That, of course, the tension and the protests that erupted around the first lady's, these -- the tension that I actually witnessed with the first lady at those Jewish and Muslim holy sites.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEUAX: What was going on through your head or through your heart at the moment when there was that hostility that was expressed towards you?

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I mean it was a very small moment, and I was surrounded by people who were very, very welcoming. It's not the first time. It certainly happens. We know -- we knew when we came here that these are places of great emotion.

The Holy Land is the birthplace of three different great religions. They're wonderful Christian sites there and obviously, the sites that mean the most to the Jewish people. And then at the Dome of the Rock, which is very important to Muslims. But, of course, there are tensions there. But that's part of the purpose of the trip, and part of the purpose of working for peace.

MALVEAUX: Did you speak with the president about it? Was he worried for you?

BUSH: Sure, after he saw your coverage, he was a little worried.

MALVEAUX: What he did think? What did he...

BUSH: Well, I called him to -- he called, actually, to find out and I told him that we were fine, that I felt like it had been a little bit built up.

MALVEAUX: Now since you've come here, I mean, obviously you're promoting peace and democracy. The U.S. really has suffered somewhat of an image problem here.

BUSH: Sure.

MALVEAUX: I mean, since you've been here, you've had the "Newsweek," the fallout of that, the false reports of desecration of the Koran, you've had Saddam Hussein, pictures in his underwear. How difficult is this mission for to you project and to convince people that they need to rethink America's image?

BUSH: It's difficult for all Americans for a handful of people to have committed humiliation, abuse. It's not the way all of our troops are, by any means. The great, great, great majority of our American troops are very helpful. They're serving with distinction in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So Bill, really here what we're seeing is a bit of damage control from the White House. Early in the morning, before she even left for Cairo, she came out, an unscheduled speaking stop to take questions from reporters. A couple of questions she knew she was going to be asked about this, essentially putting forth, trying to get ahead of this story. As you know, a big distraction, overshadowing much of what she was trying to convey over the last couple of weeks -- or last couple of days, rather, is this whole idea that yes, they were expecting, perhaps, some tensions, some protests, downplaying the significance of just how tense that was.

But Bill, she had described it, compared it as being on the campaign trail, where you've got a lot of security, a lot of jostling. A very different experience, however. We were there, we witnessed this. We saw an Israeli security guard who actually drew one of his guns at a young child who was running towards the first lady to approach her. A very tense situation.

Obviously the White House, the first lady, trying to get ahead of this, trying to get back on message to promote democracy, to promote human rights, women's rights and then, of course, to go back home, to take that message to the people here, go back home to her husband and try to convey that yes, this was a successful trip. I talked to many of those who are on the staff. They believed that there were certainly some shining moments here, discussions that they had with Palestinian women, also the speech that she gave on women's rights in Jordan. But clearly, there was a setback yesterday from those demonstration -- Bill.

HEMMER: Interesting reaction today. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that. Live in Cairo.

We want to talk more about the Arab reaction to Laura Bush's trip. CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, back with us live at the CNN Center. What are you picking up in the Arab world? What are you hearing and what are you reading?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Well, it seems that the timing of that trip is questionable. Many Arab media are -- first of all, they're not dealing with the story as a huge story. People I talked to said this is more a local story for Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories than it is for the region. The demonstration, the violence that we're talking about, the tension that Suzanne just described, some people are saying the first lady should have expected this.

She, probably, they say she was ill-informed about the situation. She was ill-informed about how unwelcome she was at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And they're saying this is why she was met with this kind of hostility. They say that the authorities of the Al-Aqsa Mosque welcome welcomed her and thought that her visit there would be a positive sign, would send a positive sign to the Palestinians, but not to worshipers who are dealing, as Suzanne mentioned, with the allegations of the desecration of the holy book, the Koran -- Bill.

HEMMER: Is anyone giving her credit for trying to show a sign of respect for a very sacred Muslim site, as the Dome of the Rock?

NASR: It's hard to find anyone giving her any credit for that, because anyone who has been to that part of the world, especially to the Dome of the Rock, will know that Christians are not necessarily welcome. She was welcome there because she's the first lady of the United States and because the authorities of that Mosque welcomed her in. But obviously, we saw the worshipers are saying she doesn't belong there.

Now, Al Jazeera, for example, this morning was questioning the motives of the first lady visiting the Dome of the Rock. They said how come she didn't go to the Church of the Nativity for example? This is a holy Christian site, she's Christian. Therefore, they see this as an instigator. They think that she went there only to challenge the Muslims when they were expecting her to play the role that she set out to play, which is the ambassador of this administration to the Middle East.

HEMMER: Do you think any of this has to do with the fact that she's a woman?

NASR: Not really. You can't think this way. In the Middle East, I mean, women still don't play a major role in politics, so obviously, seeing the first lady of the United States visiting the Middle East, as Al Jazeera, for example, again described it this morning, they said it was a symbolic visit. This was not a political visit. It was more about sightseeing and meeting other women and talking about issues that are not that important.

The Arab media, this quote from Abu Rehad Trehan (ph) of "Al Hayat" newspaper. He said that it seems that every day goes by the United States has to apologize and has to start an investigation about a new scandal. And he's saying that the U.S. should stop investigating and start doing something about it. Basically, the Arab media and the Arab street are waiting for some heads to roll about these investigations, and about these allegations, and these, you know, from the desecration of the Koran to abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and so forth. So it's not so much the fact that she's a woman, but more so, that she represents an administration that's not very popular in the Middle East.

HEMMER: That tour continues. Octavia Nasr, takes some pulse -- taking the pulse, rather, for us today. Thanks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A New York state audit shows that nearly 200 high-risk sex offenders have been getting free Viagra courtesy of taxpayers. It is an unintended consequence of the 1998 federal mandate requiring that state Medicaid programs pay for Viagra. New York senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton pushing to have the policy changed immediately.

Senator Schumer joins us this morning. How exactly did this happen and how real is this number, nearly 200?

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Well, first, it was unintended. It wasn't that the federal government said pay for the Viagra for sex offenders. They just didn't add it up. The list of sexual offenders is usually kept by the states. Medicaid, obviously, is a federal program and controller Alan Hevesi, the New York state controller, actually got a tip this was happening, did a match of the two lists and found 198. He called me and said, why don't you -- you're on the Finance Committee. Do something about this, get HHS to stop it or actually today, we will introduce legislation to stop it. Now, maybe that won't have to pass, if the HHS does something.

O'BRIEN: So the 198. Do you think that's a real number? Do you think that's way low?

SCHUMER: He thinks it's low, and I agree with that. This is just the match they found on the first list. Obviously, it's just New York state and so there are many more, probably, in New York state and in other places, because the match might have not -- may not have matched up. If one name is John Smith and one is John A. Smith, you wouldn't get a match, even though it might be the same person.

O'BRIEN: You mentioned you're going to be holding a news conference a little bit later. Jack Cafferty has been talking about this topic all morning. What exactly do you want to do? And how do you go about doing that? SCHUMER: Well, what we want, very simply, is Medicaid now to examine this policy. We want them to do two things. One, we want to say Medicaid will not pay for sexual offenders to get Viagra, period. They just put that in the regulations. They can do it on their own. If they don't, we will introduce legislation.

Second, they ought to be looking at other drugs, that it's clear here that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. In a large thing like government, that can happen. But now, they ought to do a thorough check and see what kind of medications is Medicaid giving out to people who shouldn't have them for one reason or another.

O'BRIEN: This level of sex offenders is considered the most likely to commit the crimes again.

SCHUMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Is there any evidence that anybody has harmed by...

SCHUMER: You know, there's no evidence, because there...

O'BRIEN: Will there be an investigation?

SCHUMER: It could have happened. There probably should be, but he only came one the list the other day, Hevesi did. And the names have not been made public. That's because there's privacy laws that prevent that. But a Level III offender is very serious offender. Sexual crimes in general are those that are the most repeated. People can be in jail for 20 years, get out and do it again. Before you get out of jail, a judge does a hearing and classifies you in New York state. Level I, Level II, Level III. Level III means you're likely to do it again.

O'BRIEN: To do it again.

SCHUMER: There's no reason people like that should be having the government pay for Viagra for them.

O'BRIEN: Two seconds or less. You think that they're going to reach a compromise in filibuster debate?

SCHUMER: I hope and pray, but it's still less than half. The odds, less than half.

O'BRIEN: Chuck Schumer. Nice to have you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us. We appreciate it -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, name your favorite movie of all time. "Time" magazine is doing just that, in fact. Its list of 100 Best Films Ever, from "Finding Nemo" to "King Kong." We'll get to that in a moment.

But first, which actor appears the most on "Time"'s 100 All-Time Best Movies? Jack Nicholson, Katherine Hepburn, or Robert De Niro? We'll get to the answer after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: The final "Star Wars" is breaking box office records, but it's the very first episode that has been named one of "Time" magazine's 100 Films of All Time. Back in 1977. That last is compiled by the magazine's film critics, part of the special Web feature. You can find it at time.com.

And the movie critic Richard Schickel from "Time" magazine is here to talk about it. Nice to see you.

RICHARD SCHICKEL, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

HEMMER: Good morning to you, as well. What was the criteria you used? How did you pick the film? Based on...

SCHICKEL: We had no criteria.

HEMMER: Whatever you wanted? Whatever you liked?

SCHICKEL: Yes -- well, within limits. Yes, kind of, though.

HEMMER: Limits like what?

SCHICKEL: What Richard Corliss and I liked. I mean, there are no standards in movies.

HEMMER: It's all subjective. It's like, what do you like and what I like?

SCHICKEL: And this week would probably be a different list than the one last time.

HEMMER: It probably will be. The most recent film that made your list, "Finding Nemo" in 2003.

SCHICKEL: Yes, well, we wanted to have something from each decade the magazine's been published. But this is a short decade. It's only 2005. But we also realized we didn't have an animated feature. And animated films are, you know, a huge part of movie history. I might have put "Pinocchio" on, as well. But -- so, it's just -- it's an attempt to balance genres.

HEMMER: Sure.

SCHICKEL: Great directors, some stars, that sort of thing.

HEMMER: I think it's a great pick, by the way. Just for the record. You believe the best film on the entire list is "Chinatown."

SCHICKEL: I do.

HEMMER: Jack Nicholson. Why?

SCHICKEL: Because it has fewer mistakes than any other movie I can think of. Most -- even great movies have some mistake in them, you know, but this one is almost perfect, narratively, visually. The acting's sensational. I just love the movie.

HEMMER: The only American Western on your list, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven."

SCHICKEL: Yes.

HEMMER: Is that perfect, too?

SCHICKEL: Pretty close. No, and we needed to have a Western, absolutely. You know, I mean, it's a great genre, historically speaking. And, so to me it's a great Western.

HEMMER: I'm thinking why isn't "Stagecoach" on that list? 1939, first big Western epic ever.

SCHICKEL: No, it wasn't really...

HEMMER: A huge year for films.

SCHICKEL: There were big epic Westerns before that. Covered wagons.

HEMMER: This is why we need another list, you know what I'm saying? Another film on your list is "Star Wars," the original from 1977.

SCHICKEL: Well, we also wanted to have some very esoteric films and some very populist films, too. I mean, you know, it is possible in movies to be popular and good.

HEMMER: Well, the trend this film set for so many for decades to come.

SCHICKEL: Yes, I mean, commercially speaking and the movies are distributed and marketed and so forth, it's a historic movie, but it's also witty...

HEMMER: Sure.

SCHICKEL: Upbeat and state-of-the-art.

HEMMER: And I agree with that pick, too.

SCHICKEL: Good. Because everything you disagree with.

HEMMER: No. I'll get to back in a second here. We only have three minutes here. On your Web site, too, you put some original critiques about some of the films. "Bonnie and Clyde" was called tasteless. Someone else nothing short of an invasion could ask much to "Casablanca."

SCHICKEL: I'm not going to take responsibility for dead "Time" movie critics. I mean, the idea was to go back and reexamine. I mean, we all make mistakes. I mean, you know institutionally and individually. HEMMER: I don't have much time for this, though, but you've got something called guilty pleasures. "Something About Mary" made your list. "Joe Versus the Volcano." One of our producers said that the worst film ever.

SCHICKEL: I say in the guilty pleasures, a lot of people think that. Not me.

O'BRIEN: Really?

HEMMER: Good list. Nice to see you. Richard Schickel, "Time" movie critic at time.com. Nice to see you. You can check out that complete list right now. The 100 Films of All Time, online as we speak. In addition, more of the guilty pleasures, great performances and also links to the original movie reviews that are so cool, looking back after time. Thanks, Richard.

SCHICKEL: Thanks.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I like the guilty pleasures the best.

Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. "CNN LIVE" is coming up next. Hey Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Earlier, you guys were talking about family vacations. Well, coming up at the top of the hour, we've got tips on summer air travel. Five things you have to know before you leave for the airport.

Also, Donald Trump going back to school, sort of. We'll get -- we're going to show you how you can get a diploma from the Donald.

And it's one of the summer's hottest reads. Author Michael Connelly is here with me to talk about his best-seller. It's called "The Closer." Detective Harry Bosch, back again.

For now, back to you in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Daryn, thanks. Look forward to that.

Well, Pepsi-Cola plans to phase out one of its soft drinks. Andy's got details, plus an early check of the market. He's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. A Pepsi drink goes flat. With that and a check of Wall Street, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Where do you want to start?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": I want to start with Wall -- actually, I want to start with the beverages, because I'm actually a little thirsty.

O'BRIEN: But you're going to start with...

SERWER: But I'm going to start with the markets. Let's do that and go down to the big board, Soledad, and see what we got this morning.

Dow is up 25 points. It looks like a bit of a continuation from last week, which was one of the best we've seen in a long time. Best in six months, in fact. Just more optimism, more liquidity, as they say in the financial world. A lot of money out there, looking for things to buy.

This was an idea whose time never came apparently. Pepsi is killing its drink the Pepsi Edge. And here's why. It was advertised as a mid-calorie cola. Now, that is a market that is sliced and diced too fine. You either want to have a regular cola or a no-calorie cola. A mid-calorie cola ain't going to cut it. This is what the Pepsi-Co Corporation just decided, they're going to be killing the drink.

Now let's go over its arch-nemesis, the Coca-Cola company. And they've got a bunch of new drinks out, energy drinks. We've got one here. It's called Full Throttle. Look at this thing. Get your motor running, head out on the highway and sip a little Full Throttle.

HEMMER: Head out on the highway. This is like what, Rock Star or Red Bull or what?

SERWER: It's like they also want Rock Star. Wow, who let the dog out?

O'BRIEN: It's not so bad.

SERWER: Ew! It's got a little bit of ginseng in it, I think, doesn't it?

HEMMER: I think it's got 1,000 calories in that thing.

O'BRIEN: A lot of sugar.

SERWER: Does it? Well, they all say -- on this Rock Star thing, this is supposed to be marketed to the blue collar folks. I don't know, Soledad, do you like this gothic goth lettering?

O'BRIEN: It doesn't really match the energy drink. But you know, I'm not an advertising executive.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Well, just get a little Red Bull and vodka in there, as I always say.

HEMMER: Yes. Where's the Kettle One?

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: All right, you're welcome. HEMMER: "Question of the Day" and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: More serious note. Should Medicaid coverage include sexual potency pills such as Viagra, which are being paid for as they're being prescribed to Level III sex offenders here in the state of New York. You heard Senator Schumer talking about it with Soledad a couple of minutes ago.

Tom in Wausau, Wisconsin: "You got to be kidding. However, isn't the bigger question why is Medicaid paying for Viagra at all? There are still some health insurance policies that do not cover birth control pills."

And in a similar note, Richard writes from Georgia: "There has to be something wrong with an insurance system that subsidizes Viagra, but not insulin."

And Bonnie in Ontario sums it up this way: "There's a registry for sexual offenders. Now maybe there should be a registry for doctors who prescribe these medications for them. The protection of our children, the public, is paramount. And the fact that these pills are being doled out at the out at the government's expense to these people is reprehensible."

HEMMER: Bonnie's onto something. Jack, thanks.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, going to get back to our series, "Surviving Family Vacations." This is a good one, too. Some tips on how to survive that vacation with another family. It's called "togethering" in the travel industry.

O'BRIEN: It's called a nightmare.

SERWER: That can be tough.

HEMMER: That, too. That's tomorrow. We're back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, we got to run. Way out of time. Tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: We'll be back here. In the meanwhile, Daryn Kagan's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY." Hey Daryn, good morning again.

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 May 23, 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: Dow starts the day 10,471, off about 21 points in trading on a Friday. But that was the only down day of the week, was Friday of last week. Nasdaq market site, 2,046 is your opening mark, up about three points in trading on Friday. Best week of the year, last week, for stocks here in New York. So we'll see which way we go today. Good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. It's almost exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, we're going to hear what the first lady had to say about that angry reception she received in Jerusalem.

HEMMER: Suzanne Malveaux sat down today with Mrs. Bush and we'll have that interview, part of it, with the first lady in a matter of moments here. Also we'll get Arab reaction, too, from what's being said in the region.

First the headlines. Back to Carol Costello with those and more. Good morning.

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

"Now in the News," police say at least six people have been injured in a building collapse in Chicago, three of them seriously. These are new pictures that we just got in. Word is an explosion caused a three-story apartment building to partially collapse. Authorities are still not sure what caused that explosion. Emergency crews on the scene trying to figure it out.

U.S. and Iraqi forces launching a new operation to root out insurgents in western Baghdad. The U.S. military says a substantial number of suspected terrorists have been detained in Operation Squeeze Play. In the meantime, a car bomb went off just about three hours ago outside of a Baghdad restaurant. You see the heavy smoke there. The blast killed at least four people and wounded more than 100 others.

Out in California, Michael Jackson's lawyers may rest their case as early as tomorrow. Really. Still no word if the pop star will himself testify. Comedians Jay Leno and Chris Tucker are among the last witnesses expected on the stand. Court resumes in the next two hours.

And a school bus slamming into a home in Miami, Florida, this morning. Take a look at this. Details still sketchy. But at least four students on board that bus were hurt, none of them hurt seriously. The condition of the school bus driver is not known. Another nearby home was damaged in the accident, as well as some parked cars.

And a search this morning for a group of people who stabbed two people associated with singer Bobby Brown. You know, Whitney Houston's husband? Police say Brown was with a group of people early this morning at Justin's. That's a restaurant owned by Sean P. Diddy Combs, that's on Peachtree. A fight broke out. Two members of Brown's entourage were wounded. Brown was reportedly not directly involved in the fight. And needless to say, we'll probably be hearing a lot more about this later.

HEMMER: You mean the main Peachtree?

COSTELLO: The main Peachtree.

HEMMER: Because at last check, there's like 47 Peachtrees in Atlanta, Georgia, and that's no lie.

COSTELLO: It's the big ole Peachtree Street.

HEMMER: Thank you, Carol. We want to get back overseas right now, specifically in Egypt, where the First Lady Laura Bush, is visiting today. Mrs. Bush began a Middle East goodwill tour on Thursday in Jordan, but it was the weekend visit over the weekend to the holy sites in Jerusalem that grabbed the headlines.

Suzanne Malveaux spoke with Mrs. Bush one-on-one today. She joins us live in Cairo. And how did she respond today to what happened over the weekend, Suzanne?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, it was really very interesting. We sat down for a one-on-one interview at the Giza Pyramids to really assess how she believes her goodwill tour is going. We talked about a number of things. Talked about Israel's role with Palestinian women's rights. We also talked about Egypt's upcoming election. But of course, top on our list is what could best be called a distraction. That, of course, the tension and the protests that erupted around the first lady's, these -- the tension that I actually witnessed with the first lady at those Jewish and Muslim holy sites.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEUAX: What was going on through your head or through your heart at the moment when there was that hostility that was expressed towards you?

LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I mean it was a very small moment, and I was surrounded by people who were very, very welcoming. It's not the first time. It certainly happens. We know -- we knew when we came here that these are places of great emotion.

The Holy Land is the birthplace of three different great religions. They're wonderful Christian sites there and obviously, the sites that mean the most to the Jewish people. And then at the Dome of the Rock, which is very important to Muslims. But, of course, there are tensions there. But that's part of the purpose of the trip, and part of the purpose of working for peace.

MALVEAUX: Did you speak with the president about it? Was he worried for you?

BUSH: Sure, after he saw your coverage, he was a little worried.

MALVEAUX: What he did think? What did he...

BUSH: Well, I called him to -- he called, actually, to find out and I told him that we were fine, that I felt like it had been a little bit built up.

MALVEAUX: Now since you've come here, I mean, obviously you're promoting peace and democracy. The U.S. really has suffered somewhat of an image problem here.

BUSH: Sure.

MALVEAUX: I mean, since you've been here, you've had the "Newsweek," the fallout of that, the false reports of desecration of the Koran, you've had Saddam Hussein, pictures in his underwear. How difficult is this mission for to you project and to convince people that they need to rethink America's image?

BUSH: It's difficult for all Americans for a handful of people to have committed humiliation, abuse. It's not the way all of our troops are, by any means. The great, great, great majority of our American troops are very helpful. They're serving with distinction in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So Bill, really here what we're seeing is a bit of damage control from the White House. Early in the morning, before she even left for Cairo, she came out, an unscheduled speaking stop to take questions from reporters. A couple of questions she knew she was going to be asked about this, essentially putting forth, trying to get ahead of this story. As you know, a big distraction, overshadowing much of what she was trying to convey over the last couple of weeks -- or last couple of days, rather, is this whole idea that yes, they were expecting, perhaps, some tensions, some protests, downplaying the significance of just how tense that was.

But Bill, she had described it, compared it as being on the campaign trail, where you've got a lot of security, a lot of jostling. A very different experience, however. We were there, we witnessed this. We saw an Israeli security guard who actually drew one of his guns at a young child who was running towards the first lady to approach her. A very tense situation.

Obviously the White House, the first lady, trying to get ahead of this, trying to get back on message to promote democracy, to promote human rights, women's rights and then, of course, to go back home, to take that message to the people here, go back home to her husband and try to convey that yes, this was a successful trip. I talked to many of those who are on the staff. They believed that there were certainly some shining moments here, discussions that they had with Palestinian women, also the speech that she gave on women's rights in Jordan. But clearly, there was a setback yesterday from those demonstration -- Bill.

HEMMER: Interesting reaction today. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks for that. Live in Cairo.

We want to talk more about the Arab reaction to Laura Bush's trip. CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs, Octavia Nasr, back with us live at the CNN Center. What are you picking up in the Arab world? What are you hearing and what are you reading?

OCTAVIA NASR, CNN SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Well, it seems that the timing of that trip is questionable. Many Arab media are -- first of all, they're not dealing with the story as a huge story. People I talked to said this is more a local story for Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories than it is for the region. The demonstration, the violence that we're talking about, the tension that Suzanne just described, some people are saying the first lady should have expected this.

She, probably, they say she was ill-informed about the situation. She was ill-informed about how unwelcome she was at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And they're saying this is why she was met with this kind of hostility. They say that the authorities of the Al-Aqsa Mosque welcome welcomed her and thought that her visit there would be a positive sign, would send a positive sign to the Palestinians, but not to worshipers who are dealing, as Suzanne mentioned, with the allegations of the desecration of the holy book, the Koran -- Bill.

HEMMER: Is anyone giving her credit for trying to show a sign of respect for a very sacred Muslim site, as the Dome of the Rock?

NASR: It's hard to find anyone giving her any credit for that, because anyone who has been to that part of the world, especially to the Dome of the Rock, will know that Christians are not necessarily welcome. She was welcome there because she's the first lady of the United States and because the authorities of that Mosque welcomed her in. But obviously, we saw the worshipers are saying she doesn't belong there.

Now, Al Jazeera, for example, this morning was questioning the motives of the first lady visiting the Dome of the Rock. They said how come she didn't go to the Church of the Nativity for example? This is a holy Christian site, she's Christian. Therefore, they see this as an instigator. They think that she went there only to challenge the Muslims when they were expecting her to play the role that she set out to play, which is the ambassador of this administration to the Middle East.

HEMMER: Do you think any of this has to do with the fact that she's a woman?

NASR: Not really. You can't think this way. In the Middle East, I mean, women still don't play a major role in politics, so obviously, seeing the first lady of the United States visiting the Middle East, as Al Jazeera, for example, again described it this morning, they said it was a symbolic visit. This was not a political visit. It was more about sightseeing and meeting other women and talking about issues that are not that important.

The Arab media, this quote from Abu Rehad Trehan (ph) of "Al Hayat" newspaper. He said that it seems that every day goes by the United States has to apologize and has to start an investigation about a new scandal. And he's saying that the U.S. should stop investigating and start doing something about it. Basically, the Arab media and the Arab street are waiting for some heads to roll about these investigations, and about these allegations, and these, you know, from the desecration of the Koran to abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and so forth. So it's not so much the fact that she's a woman, but more so, that she represents an administration that's not very popular in the Middle East.

HEMMER: That tour continues. Octavia Nasr, takes some pulse -- taking the pulse, rather, for us today. Thanks -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: A New York state audit shows that nearly 200 high-risk sex offenders have been getting free Viagra courtesy of taxpayers. It is an unintended consequence of the 1998 federal mandate requiring that state Medicaid programs pay for Viagra. New York senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton pushing to have the policy changed immediately.

Senator Schumer joins us this morning. How exactly did this happen and how real is this number, nearly 200?

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Well, first, it was unintended. It wasn't that the federal government said pay for the Viagra for sex offenders. They just didn't add it up. The list of sexual offenders is usually kept by the states. Medicaid, obviously, is a federal program and controller Alan Hevesi, the New York state controller, actually got a tip this was happening, did a match of the two lists and found 198. He called me and said, why don't you -- you're on the Finance Committee. Do something about this, get HHS to stop it or actually today, we will introduce legislation to stop it. Now, maybe that won't have to pass, if the HHS does something.

O'BRIEN: So the 198. Do you think that's a real number? Do you think that's way low?

SCHUMER: He thinks it's low, and I agree with that. This is just the match they found on the first list. Obviously, it's just New York state and so there are many more, probably, in New York state and in other places, because the match might have not -- may not have matched up. If one name is John Smith and one is John A. Smith, you wouldn't get a match, even though it might be the same person.

O'BRIEN: You mentioned you're going to be holding a news conference a little bit later. Jack Cafferty has been talking about this topic all morning. What exactly do you want to do? And how do you go about doing that? SCHUMER: Well, what we want, very simply, is Medicaid now to examine this policy. We want them to do two things. One, we want to say Medicaid will not pay for sexual offenders to get Viagra, period. They just put that in the regulations. They can do it on their own. If they don't, we will introduce legislation.

Second, they ought to be looking at other drugs, that it's clear here that the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. In a large thing like government, that can happen. But now, they ought to do a thorough check and see what kind of medications is Medicaid giving out to people who shouldn't have them for one reason or another.

O'BRIEN: This level of sex offenders is considered the most likely to commit the crimes again.

SCHUMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Is there any evidence that anybody has harmed by...

SCHUMER: You know, there's no evidence, because there...

O'BRIEN: Will there be an investigation?

SCHUMER: It could have happened. There probably should be, but he only came one the list the other day, Hevesi did. And the names have not been made public. That's because there's privacy laws that prevent that. But a Level III offender is very serious offender. Sexual crimes in general are those that are the most repeated. People can be in jail for 20 years, get out and do it again. Before you get out of jail, a judge does a hearing and classifies you in New York state. Level I, Level II, Level III. Level III means you're likely to do it again.

O'BRIEN: To do it again.

SCHUMER: There's no reason people like that should be having the government pay for Viagra for them.

O'BRIEN: Two seconds or less. You think that they're going to reach a compromise in filibuster debate?

SCHUMER: I hope and pray, but it's still less than half. The odds, less than half.

O'BRIEN: Chuck Schumer. Nice to have you. Thanks for coming in to talk to us. We appreciate it -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, name your favorite movie of all time. "Time" magazine is doing just that, in fact. Its list of 100 Best Films Ever, from "Finding Nemo" to "King Kong." We'll get to that in a moment.

But first, which actor appears the most on "Time"'s 100 All-Time Best Movies? Jack Nicholson, Katherine Hepburn, or Robert De Niro? We'll get to the answer after a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: The final "Star Wars" is breaking box office records, but it's the very first episode that has been named one of "Time" magazine's 100 Films of All Time. Back in 1977. That last is compiled by the magazine's film critics, part of the special Web feature. You can find it at time.com.

And the movie critic Richard Schickel from "Time" magazine is here to talk about it. Nice to see you.

RICHARD SCHICKEL, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good to be here.

HEMMER: Good morning to you, as well. What was the criteria you used? How did you pick the film? Based on...

SCHICKEL: We had no criteria.

HEMMER: Whatever you wanted? Whatever you liked?

SCHICKEL: Yes -- well, within limits. Yes, kind of, though.

HEMMER: Limits like what?

SCHICKEL: What Richard Corliss and I liked. I mean, there are no standards in movies.

HEMMER: It's all subjective. It's like, what do you like and what I like?

SCHICKEL: And this week would probably be a different list than the one last time.

HEMMER: It probably will be. The most recent film that made your list, "Finding Nemo" in 2003.

SCHICKEL: Yes, well, we wanted to have something from each decade the magazine's been published. But this is a short decade. It's only 2005. But we also realized we didn't have an animated feature. And animated films are, you know, a huge part of movie history. I might have put "Pinocchio" on, as well. But -- so, it's just -- it's an attempt to balance genres.

HEMMER: Sure.

SCHICKEL: Great directors, some stars, that sort of thing.

HEMMER: I think it's a great pick, by the way. Just for the record. You believe the best film on the entire list is "Chinatown."

SCHICKEL: I do.

HEMMER: Jack Nicholson. Why?

SCHICKEL: Because it has fewer mistakes than any other movie I can think of. Most -- even great movies have some mistake in them, you know, but this one is almost perfect, narratively, visually. The acting's sensational. I just love the movie.

HEMMER: The only American Western on your list, Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven."

SCHICKEL: Yes.

HEMMER: Is that perfect, too?

SCHICKEL: Pretty close. No, and we needed to have a Western, absolutely. You know, I mean, it's a great genre, historically speaking. And, so to me it's a great Western.

HEMMER: I'm thinking why isn't "Stagecoach" on that list? 1939, first big Western epic ever.

SCHICKEL: No, it wasn't really...

HEMMER: A huge year for films.

SCHICKEL: There were big epic Westerns before that. Covered wagons.

HEMMER: This is why we need another list, you know what I'm saying? Another film on your list is "Star Wars," the original from 1977.

SCHICKEL: Well, we also wanted to have some very esoteric films and some very populist films, too. I mean, you know, it is possible in movies to be popular and good.

HEMMER: Well, the trend this film set for so many for decades to come.

SCHICKEL: Yes, I mean, commercially speaking and the movies are distributed and marketed and so forth, it's a historic movie, but it's also witty...

HEMMER: Sure.

SCHICKEL: Upbeat and state-of-the-art.

HEMMER: And I agree with that pick, too.

SCHICKEL: Good. Because everything you disagree with.

HEMMER: No. I'll get to back in a second here. We only have three minutes here. On your Web site, too, you put some original critiques about some of the films. "Bonnie and Clyde" was called tasteless. Someone else nothing short of an invasion could ask much to "Casablanca."

SCHICKEL: I'm not going to take responsibility for dead "Time" movie critics. I mean, the idea was to go back and reexamine. I mean, we all make mistakes. I mean, you know institutionally and individually. HEMMER: I don't have much time for this, though, but you've got something called guilty pleasures. "Something About Mary" made your list. "Joe Versus the Volcano." One of our producers said that the worst film ever.

SCHICKEL: I say in the guilty pleasures, a lot of people think that. Not me.

O'BRIEN: Really?

HEMMER: Good list. Nice to see you. Richard Schickel, "Time" movie critic at time.com. Nice to see you. You can check out that complete list right now. The 100 Films of All Time, online as we speak. In addition, more of the guilty pleasures, great performances and also links to the original movie reviews that are so cool, looking back after time. Thanks, Richard.

SCHICKEL: Thanks.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: I like the guilty pleasures the best.

Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. "CNN LIVE" is coming up next. Hey Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Earlier, you guys were talking about family vacations. Well, coming up at the top of the hour, we've got tips on summer air travel. Five things you have to know before you leave for the airport.

Also, Donald Trump going back to school, sort of. We'll get -- we're going to show you how you can get a diploma from the Donald.

And it's one of the summer's hottest reads. Author Michael Connelly is here with me to talk about his best-seller. It's called "The Closer." Detective Harry Bosch, back again.

For now, back to you in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Daryn, thanks. Look forward to that.

Well, Pepsi-Cola plans to phase out one of its soft drinks. Andy's got details, plus an early check of the market. He's "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. A Pepsi drink goes flat. With that and a check of Wall Street, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Where do you want to start?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": I want to start with Wall -- actually, I want to start with the beverages, because I'm actually a little thirsty.

O'BRIEN: But you're going to start with...

SERWER: But I'm going to start with the markets. Let's do that and go down to the big board, Soledad, and see what we got this morning.

Dow is up 25 points. It looks like a bit of a continuation from last week, which was one of the best we've seen in a long time. Best in six months, in fact. Just more optimism, more liquidity, as they say in the financial world. A lot of money out there, looking for things to buy.

This was an idea whose time never came apparently. Pepsi is killing its drink the Pepsi Edge. And here's why. It was advertised as a mid-calorie cola. Now, that is a market that is sliced and diced too fine. You either want to have a regular cola or a no-calorie cola. A mid-calorie cola ain't going to cut it. This is what the Pepsi-Co Corporation just decided, they're going to be killing the drink.

Now let's go over its arch-nemesis, the Coca-Cola company. And they've got a bunch of new drinks out, energy drinks. We've got one here. It's called Full Throttle. Look at this thing. Get your motor running, head out on the highway and sip a little Full Throttle.

HEMMER: Head out on the highway. This is like what, Rock Star or Red Bull or what?

SERWER: It's like they also want Rock Star. Wow, who let the dog out?

O'BRIEN: It's not so bad.

SERWER: Ew! It's got a little bit of ginseng in it, I think, doesn't it?

HEMMER: I think it's got 1,000 calories in that thing.

O'BRIEN: A lot of sugar.

SERWER: Does it? Well, they all say -- on this Rock Star thing, this is supposed to be marketed to the blue collar folks. I don't know, Soledad, do you like this gothic goth lettering?

O'BRIEN: It doesn't really match the energy drink. But you know, I'm not an advertising executive.

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Well, just get a little Red Bull and vodka in there, as I always say.

HEMMER: Yes. Where's the Kettle One?

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: All right, you're welcome. HEMMER: "Question of the Day" and Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: More serious note. Should Medicaid coverage include sexual potency pills such as Viagra, which are being paid for as they're being prescribed to Level III sex offenders here in the state of New York. You heard Senator Schumer talking about it with Soledad a couple of minutes ago.

Tom in Wausau, Wisconsin: "You got to be kidding. However, isn't the bigger question why is Medicaid paying for Viagra at all? There are still some health insurance policies that do not cover birth control pills."

And in a similar note, Richard writes from Georgia: "There has to be something wrong with an insurance system that subsidizes Viagra, but not insulin."

And Bonnie in Ontario sums it up this way: "There's a registry for sexual offenders. Now maybe there should be a registry for doctors who prescribe these medications for them. The protection of our children, the public, is paramount. And the fact that these pills are being doled out at the out at the government's expense to these people is reprehensible."

HEMMER: Bonnie's onto something. Jack, thanks.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, going to get back to our series, "Surviving Family Vacations." This is a good one, too. Some tips on how to survive that vacation with another family. It's called "togethering" in the travel industry.

O'BRIEN: It's called a nightmare.

SERWER: That can be tough.

HEMMER: That, too. That's tomorrow. We're back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right, we got to run. Way out of time. Tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: We'll be back here. In the meanwhile, Daryn Kagan's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY." Hey Daryn, good morning again.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com