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American Morning

I.D. Theft Insurance; Presidential Hopes; Schiavo Debate; Thrill Ride Safety; Feds vs. Spitzer; Wyeth Job Cuts; Now & Then: Linda Tripp

Aired June 20, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up, the race to the White House. Senator Joe Biden says he's running for the White House already, while Senator John McCain says it will be years before he decides. Is one tactic better than the other? We'll get into that one.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's only 150 some odd days into President Bush's second term. I mean kind of early on, don't you think?

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, you know, these guys are so coy. Normally it's kind of nice to have a little candor, maybe. I don't know.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We'll see.

MILES O'BRIEN: Could work.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It could be years of that's candor. It could be years before I decide. That's true, because the last time he just said no. N-o. Is there something you don't understand about that, Soledad? So maybe he is being a little more candid.

MILES O'BRIEN: Maybe so.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's ahead this morning. First, though, a look at the morning's top stories with Carol Costello.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, he could be being more realistic because, you know, you have to have the money and the support before you decide. So he's waiting, see?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, all true.

COSTELLO: All true.

Good morning to you. Good morning to all of you. "Now in the News."

A car explosion in Baghdad just outside of a police station. At least five were killed in that attack. More than a dozen others injured. The blast comes just hours after another car bomb hit a police compound in Northern Iraq. The explosion killed at least a dozen people there, wound more than 100 others. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is calling on Egyptians to lead and define a democratic future in the Middle East. Secretary Rice delivering a major foreign policy address at Cairo's American University earlier this morning. Rice is in Egypt as preparations begin for elections there. Those elections set for September.

A fourth suspect in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager is expected to appear before a judge in Aruba today. The arrest of disk jockey Steve Croes was announced on Friday. Among the three other people being detained in the case, is the son of a Dutch judge. The boy's father was questioned over the weekend. Eighteen-year-old Natalee Holloway disappeared on May 30th. No one has yet been charged in the case.

And Tom Cruise and the war of the words. Four men in London could face assault charges for spraying the actor with water at the premiere of his new movie "War of the Worlds." Cruise, not happy with the incident. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Hey, hey, no, no, no. No, no. Don't run away. Don't run away. Don't run away. I don't care. That's incredibly rude. I'm here giving you an interview and answering your questions and you do something really nasty. You're a jerk. You're a jerk. You know what, you're a jerk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The prank was supposed to be funny. It was apparently part of a British comedy show. Scotland Yard could decide whether to charge the pranksters as early as today.

And for more on this and other stories, go online. Just visit cnn.com, click on to "watch" to see free video of our most popular stories.

And I just did it, Miles, and it's pretty darn cool. And it's free.

MILES O'BRIEN: And it's free. And we don't know about the Ginsu knives yet. But the truth is, there's no catch on this, right, Carol?

COSTELLO: No.

MILES O'BRIEN: It is free.

COSTELLO: Absolutely free.

MILES O'BRIEN: Wow, that's fantastic. All right. Hyping that up this morning.

MasterCard says only 68,000 account are at high risk after a major security breach involving some 40 million credit card accounts. It is the largest ever breach of computer security announced Friday night. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover all involved in this thing. After this latest hacking incident, you may want to consider buying identity insurance. Lauren Young, personal finance editor of "BusinessWeek," is here with some advice on how you can protect yourself.

Lauren, good to have you with us.

First, then, that 68,000 number. We've probably - they're kind of down playing it but there's a bigger number here and really we should presume, if we have one of these cards, that we might be in trouble here, right?

LAUREN YOUNG, "BUSINESSWEEK": Better safe than sorry. I would definitely check it out. I mean we know that 10 million Americans annually are victims of identity theft. So - and the numbers this year have been absolutely staggering. So I would be concerned. If I was a MasterCard holder, I would at least call and check and find out what it exactly means that this information is out there.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it's not like they're going to call you up.

So, all right, let's talk about I.D. insurance, I.D. theft insurance. What is it? How do we get it?

YOUNG: Well, basically, it will help you cover any costs you incur if your identity is hijacked. And keep in mind that the average American, all-state reports, they spend about 30 hours trying to recoup their identity and their losses - their out of pocket losses from going to the notary, for example, are anywhere from $500 to $1,200. So it can really add up.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. And we should be - clarify here. You know, you're protected for the losses incurred by the charging already. This is for the time it takes to kind of repair your good name.

Let's talk about those benefits that are involved. Specifically, what do they do for you.

YOUNG: Well, exactly. They're going to cover anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 of those out of pocket expenses for the lawyer, for the postage. And, believe me, you're going to be going to the post office a lot if this happens to you because you have to notarize everything. And keep in mind also that if you're someone who works on an hourly non-salary basis, you're a waitress, you're a freelancer, you may be able to get your salary recouped too. And, also, if you have to take a day off from work, you may actually be able to get that salary if you have to take a leave. Because, as I said, some people are spending up to 80 hours to get their identities back.

MILES O'BRIEN: And 80 hours can - if you're paid hourly in particular, can really mean a lot. Or if you have to burn a vacation day. Time is money, right, so this is an important thing.

YOUNG: Absolutely.

MILES O'BRIEN: How do you find an insurer? What's the best way to go about all of that? Could you possibly be insured and not even know it?

YOUNG: Yes. And that's a great point. Call the company right now. If you have renter's insurance - and if you don't have it, you should have it, if you're not a homeowner. And if you have homeowners insurance, please call your company first and ask them. Chances are that they may offer this. As a matter of fact, the big ones do, Travelers, AIG. So call them first.

MILES O'BRIEN: How much are we talking here for this kind of coverage?

YOUNG: Well, it might be free. But again, you didn't even know this. And this is great. I used to tell people not to get identity theft insurance. I thought it was a waste of money. I have changed my tune. If you do have to pay for it, it's going to be probably $25 to $50 a year. Don't pay more from that. You can shop around, but call your insurer and ask them if they offer it.

MILES O'BRIEN: $25 to $50 a year. I mean that's, you know, certainly a reasonable cost.

YOUNG: At this point, I really think that we're on the brink of an epidemic. I think it's worth it.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. All right. And what about monitoring credit reports? That would be an important thing. Is that part all this coverage?

YOUNG: Some of the companies will offer that too you for free. And I think actually those kind of policies are the best because, as I said, you're spending hours doing this. And they will send you little updates letting you know. The major credit bureaus also do that but I think it's better to go with one of the big insurance companies.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. A couple tips then for people. Good idea to get your credit report. You can do that for free now, what is it, once a year? Isn't that the rule?

YOUNG: Once a year. Now this is new now. Everyone in the country, except us on the east coast right now, can get it for free. We'll be able to get it in September. And the Web site you're going to go to is annualcreditreport.com. And there's a toll free number, too, if you're not online. It's 877-322-8228. You'll be able to look at your credit report and see if there's anything funky going on.

MILES O'BRIEN: And a final thought, shredders. Get a shredder, right?

YOUNG: I am a big fan of the - but it has to be a cross cut shredder. And if there's a ticker-tape parade in your neighborhood, you can just throw it out the window.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're set. Yeah. And the kids love them. They just love to jam those things in there.

All right, thank you very much, Lauren. Appreciate it. Lauren Young is personal financial editor of "BusinessWeek."

Appreciate you dropping by.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's a long way off but two senior senators say they are exploring bids for the presidency for 2008. Delaware Democrat Joe Biden, Arizona Republican John McCain. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (r)) ARIZONA: The question is not whether you'd like to be president or not. The question is, do you think you can win and do you want to run? And none of those are clear to me and that's why I'm going to wait a couple of years before making any decision.

SEN. JOE BIDEN (D) DELAWARE: And I'm acting now in terms of finding that out as if I'm running. My intention now is to seek the nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: More on this from Washington D.C. with Democratic Consultant Victor Kamber and former RNC Communications Director Cliff May. He's now president of the Foundations for Defense of Democracies.

Oh, my goodness, that title seems to gets longer every single day, Cliff.

Good morning to both of you. Nice to see you guys.

CLIFFORD MAY, FMR. RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: Good morning.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You know, you hear McCain saying, well, I'm going to think about it over the next several years. The last time I talked to him he said, Soledad, basically, read my lips, no, no, no. So it sounds almost kind of like he's running, right?

MAY: I think it does. And I would just say, Soledad, that I agree with Miles and Carol, I'd prefer candor over cleanness. Also, the structure is such that you've got to start very early if you want to run. You've got to line up your donors. You've got to line up your staff who's going to work on your campaign. I don't think Vic and I are going to disagree on this one.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: One hundred and fifty two days, though. Vic, do you think it's a little to - it's to early at all?

KAMBER: Not at all. And Cliff just said it. I think John McCain can afford to wait. When he said a year or two years to make up his mind, he's a national figure, he's run for president. Like Hillary Clinton, I think he can afford to wait until 2006 to really form a decision. Joe Biden, who I think is a terrific senator and would be a terrific candidate, I think realizes that Hillary Clinton today is the presumptive favorite and if he wants to be a player, he's got to go line up people. The amount of money that's needed to run for president, we're talking about probably this go around, $25 million to $30 million, which you have to raise in these $2,000 and $4,000 sums. So the ability to line up the kind of money, the endorsements, work in those retail states of New Hampshire and Iowa, there's - I think you have to start now.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Cliff, who do you think has the better shot at winning their party's nomination?

MAY: Well, there's no question that Hillary is not just the presumptive favorite but the prohibitive favorite. I think it's going to be very hard for Biden or anybody else to take the nomination away from Hillary if she wants it, and I think she does. On the Republican side, it's wide open. McCain, Rudy Giuliani, George Allen, Mitt Romney. There's any number of people who could - who could win that nomination. So there too you've got to start early and make sure you get the talent on your team and the money you need.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right. Let's take a look at another story that we're talking about this week. A new autopsy report on Terri Schiavo that you both know about. They're looking now at whether or not there's a gap between the time that Terri fell unconscious and when her husband called the paramedics. Here's what Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida, had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JEB BUSH, (r)) FLORIDA: What I'm asking for is that the state attorney, based on this new information, review that information so that there can be closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What's wrong with more investigation so that they can have closure? Vic?

KAMBER: Well, I just think it was irresponsible of the governor. If he wanted some information, quietly, let's do it. And if there's a problem, then let's go public. Obviously, what he's done is cast some doubt about the family once again, about the husband. He's raised all these issues. He's raised hopes in the wrong place. I just think it's an irresponsible act from the governor, primarily to once again placate the people he cares about and not really worried about the Schiavo family. He's governor of the state. If he wanted an investigation quietly done, he could have had it done. But to go public with it makes no sense at all.

MAY: I . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Go ahead, Cliff. MAY: You couldn't do it secretly. I don't know what quietly means. He sounds pretty quiet there. Look, the autopsy report has raised some questions. The governor has asked those questions be answered. I don't see how you can fault that, but Vic has found a way.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I don't think we have time to get to the third question, so we're going to just wrap it up there. You guys, as always, thank you very much.

KAMBER: Thank you.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And it's nice to see you.

Democratic Consultant Victor Kamber and former RNC Chairman Cliff May for us this morning.

Nice to see you guys.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right, Chad Myers, it's not too early to make your announcement. Are you going to run?

CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: No, I'm not running.

MILES O'BRIEN: You're not going to run?

MYERS: No. Not until '12.

MILES O'BRIEN: '12?

MYERS: 2012.

MILES O'BRIEN: 2012. OK. All right. Starting the committee now.

MYERS: That's right.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thanks, Chad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the state attorney general who turned up the heat on Wall Street now faces a new opponent, the feds. Andy will explain as he minds your business ahead.

MILES O'BRIEN: And a court ruling on ride safety. It could make some thrill rides a lot less thrilling. Jeffrey Toobin tells us what's at stake up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: A family of five injured on a New Jersey boardwalk water ride this weekend. Atlantic City fire officials say their car on the big splash ride went into an empty basin. See, it's supposed to be a water ride. The father was thrown from the ride. He remains hospitalized. I'm not laughing. It is pretty silly. The mother and three children were only slightly hurt.

Amusement park accidents like that one in Atlantic City and the death last week of a small boy on a Walt Disney World ride raising some questions about the safety of thrill rides. Just last week, the California Supreme Court raised the bar for safety on thrill rides in that state. The ruling could force operators to redesign or remove such attractions. Joining us this morning is our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin to talk a little bit about this.

This California decision here, first of all, only applies, obviously, to California.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Correct.

MILES O'BRIEN: What specifically were they saying there?

TOOBIN: Well, the question is - it's actually an interesting legal question. Is a roller coaster more like sky diving, or is it more like a greyhound bus? What are your expectations?

MILES O'BRIEN: Somewhere in between, right?

TOOBIN: Well, it's somewhere - well, what they said was, it is more like a greyhound bus. Is that the operators of roller coasters are supposed to exercise the utmost care with regard to safety, which is a higher standard than reasonable care, which is what you use for thrill rides. In other words, to translate that into English, what that means is, it's now easier to win a lawsuit against a roller coaster operator.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right. So now, utmost care and diligence versus reasonable care. Talk about subjective terms.

TOOBIN: Right. They are, but they are the terms that a jury is instructed. I mean, if a case goes to trial.

MILES O'BRIEN: So there is a definition as to what this means, right?

TOOBIN: There is a definition. And it is clear - I mean, you know, it is, to a certain extent, legal mumbo-jumbo. But it is clear that utmost care is a stricter standard than reasonable care. And it was an interesting debate in the justices because some of the justices were say, come on, it's a roller coaster, you're expecting some danger. Whereas the justices in the majority said, no, no, no, you're expecting the illusion of danger but you're really expecting safety. And I think that's probably the better argument. At least that's the winning argument in California. And so that's the problem.

MILES O'BRIEN: So what will happen to park operators here? What will they do?

TOOBIN: Well, they're sort of walking a tight rope in response to it. Because what they're saying is, oh, this is bad. We're going to have to change our rides. We're going to have to make additional belts. We're going to have to make them slower, more boring.

But on the other hand they're saying, but our rides are still great. We really - they're already safe. So they haven't really decided what they wanted to do yet. But the risk is, the risk to them is, they will slow the rides down so much and put in so many warnings and restraints that it will be boring and people won't want to do it.

MILES O'BRIEN: There you have it. It's not - you don't want to pay for that and have a bus ride.

TOOBIN: Exactly.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. So could this lead to the demise of the thrill rides?

TOOBIN: Well, that's - I think this one decision on the level of fault at issue is probably not going to change it. But I think it is indicative of the paradox, the risk that roller coaster operators are under right now because there is kind of an arms race with roller coasters. You know, it's everybody's trying to get more thrilling, more exciting, faster. But, you know, there are these accidents, like the poor kid at Epcot and this woman, this terrible case. This woman that actually gave rise to this lawsuit. She was on her honeymoon from Spain in 2000 and died at Disneyland. So it's a, you know, sad story.

MILES O'BRIEN: I guess it is a bit surprising how unregulated, up to this point, it has been, right?

TOOBIN: Well, there's been - they've trusted self regulation because I think Disney - these thrill park operators know that if people get hurt, no one will go. But, again, they have to judge that against, you know, keeping people - keeping things thrilling enough to get people coming back.

MILES O'BRIEN: Jeffrey Toobin, always a thrill.

TOOBIN: Your roller coaster editor.

MILES O'BRIEN: That's it, roller coaster desk, Toobin, can I help you. All right. An up and down job.

All right. Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, he fights corruption on Wall Street but now one state attorney general is fighting with the feds. Andy explains as he minds your business. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

The attorney general of New York state is being sued, not only by banks, but also by an agency of the federal government. With more on what's behind that, Andy Serwer's here. He's "Minding Your Business." Back from his vacation.

Nice to see you. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What's going on?

SERWER: Well, it's really kind of a dog bites man story, isn't it? I mean here we have crusading New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who sued all manner of companies, now being sued by the federal government. The office of the comptroller of the currency has joined large banks such as JP Morgan and Wells Fargo in suing Spitzer.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: On what grounds?

SERWER: This is sort of a jurisdictional thing, I guess, Soledad. What's going on is Spitzer is investigating banks about discriminatory lending practices, saying that minorities are getting bad rates. The office of the comptroller concerns, he said, hey, that's our jurisdiction. But what's going on now is that Spitzer's saying, look, this is the insensitive Bush administration. And, of course, Spitzer is running for governor of New York state.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, I was going to say, doesn't that sound like he's setting himself up for something?

SERWER: It plays right into his hands, doesn't it? It's pretty interesting.

Another story we want to talk about this morning is drug giant Wyeth, which makes all manner of over the counter medicines. "The Wall Street Journal" was reporting this morning that Wyeth is going to be laying off about 30 percent of its work force. About 750 out of 2,500 salespeople. And the reason why this is such big news, Soledad, is because it really may mark the beginning of the end of these large sales forces that all these big drug companies have, like Merck, like Bristol Myers Squibb, and like Pfizer because of all the problems they've had with their medicine, such at Vioxx and Bextra and Celebrex. When these drugs aren't selling the way they used to, this job of selling these pharmaceuticals to doctors is not going to be in such demand, so these companies are cutting back.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, but how are they going to sell the drugs? I mean, they've got to have something.

SERWER: Well, they've got to have people out there but just not the huge numbers of people that they've had previously. And it used to be just this fantastic job where you made a ton of money going out there pedaling these pharmaceuticals. Those days may be over.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks very much. SERWER: You're welcome.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We'll check back with you a little bit later.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.

She's the woman who put the spotlight on Monica Lewinsky and a presidential affair. Now, as part of CNN's 25th anniversary series "Then & Now," Paula Zahn checks in on Linda Tripp.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA TRIPP: I'm you. I'm just like you.

PAULA ZAHN: Former White House Employee Linda Tripp may not have been just like every American, but she was certainly everywhere in 1998.

MONICA LEWINSKY: Linda, if I ever want to have an affair with a married man again, especially if he's president, please shoot me.

ZAHN: Tripp's taped phone conversations with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky made her a key part of the White Water investigation and the impeachment of President Clinton.

TRIPP: Monica made choices, the president made choices, and I was forced to make choices.

ZAHN: Those choices made Tripp a punch line on Saturday night live and a political pariah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't hear that. Tell me that louder.

TRIPP: I regret that my children were put through just horrific pain and that other people's children were as well.

ZAHN: Tripp is now 55 years old and married her childhood sweetheart last year. The couple own a holiday themed gift shop and live on a farm near Middleburg, Virginia. Tripp has undergone plastic surgery and survived a bout with breast cancer. She says she doesn't hate Bill Clinton but wishes he would have made different choices.

TRIPP: He could have been completely honest. I think he could have done it in a way that would have saved us all an enormous amount of heart ache.

ZAHN: Tripp has not talked with or seen Monica Lewinsky since 1998.

TRIPP: Given the same set of circumstances, at the time, knowing what I did at the time, I probably would have done it all the same way.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ANNOUNCER: "Then & Now" is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson. At Johnson & Johnson, we believe nursing is the essence of caring. Log on to cnn.com/cnn25 to read more on where these newsmakers are now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: The search is intensifying once again in the mountains of Northeast Utah for an 11-year-old Boy Scout who's been missing since Friday.

And the search continues in Aruba for Natalee Holloway missing now for three weeks. A live report from the island as the latest suspect prepares for a date in court.

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