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American Morning
Replacing Sandra Day O'Connor; Vocation Vactions
Aired July 05, 2005 - 08:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up, the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and the impact it might have on some critical issues facing the High Court's next term.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, the court has already decided to take up some cases which will go right to the heart of that matter.
And also, how you can give your dream job a try without having to quit your day job. That sounds good.
S. O'BRIEN: What job would you try?
M. O'BRIEN: You know, I really always wanted to be a traffic reporter, helicopter traffic reporter. I think that would be very cool. And this would be a good city to do it.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Is that a dumb dream job?
S. O'BRIEN: With lots of bad traffic -- no, it's charming.
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: How about you? What would yours be?
S. O'BRIEN: I have no idea. I don't know. But it wouldn't be traffic reporter. Just kidding, I'm joking you.
Let's get right to the headlines with Carol Costello.
M. O'BRIEN: And -- yes, well, anyway, go ahead.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," a convicted sex offender found with a missing 8-year-old Idaho girl is set to appear in court. Joseph Duncan faces kidnapping and fugitive charges. Shasta Groene continues to recover at a hospital. Newly released pictures show the girl with her father. In the meantime, investigators are waiting for a DNA analysis to determine if human remains found in Montana are those of her brother Dylan.
In Aruba, one suspect remains behind bars in connection with the disappearance of Natalee Holloway. Joran Van Der Sloot can appeal after a judge ruled Monday that he must remain in custody for another 60 days. His friends, two brothers, are now free after nearly a month behind bars, but they can be rearrested if new evidence surfaces. No formal charges have been filed in the case.
President Bush is heading to Europe ahead of tomorrow's G-8 Summit. The president leaving from Andrews Air Force Base within the past hour. His first stop, Denmark, where he'll meet with the prime minister. And then it's on to Scotland for the summit. Police already have their hands full there. Dozens of protesters were arrested Monday in clashes with police.
New recommendations for HIV testing and mothers-to-be. A federal panel suggests all pregnant women be screened for the AIDS virus, not just those considered at high risk. The thinking behind this is that early testing has been so successful in preventing the spread of AIDS to babies because pregnant women can be given a combination of drug therapies.
And talk about taking the plunge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I accept you, Gail, as my partner, as my friend and as my wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: I didn't know you could talk underwater, but apparently you can. This couple in Florida exchanging "I do's" in a shark tank. The groom entered to the theme song from "Jaws." Some 50 guests watched the 15-minute ceremony from outside the tank. The bride said she had jitters, but it had nothing to do with the nine sharks swimming around her. Oh, no, she was worried whether the cake would arrive in one piece.
S. O'BRIEN: Spoken like a true bride. Yes, yes, yes, the sharks.
COSTELLO: Whatever!
S. O'BRIEN: How's my cake?
COSTELLO: Exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: Kind of a soggy cake, right? I mean...
S. O'BRIEN: Well, this was also...
M. O'BRIEN: They did outside, OK.
COSTELLO: Because you don't want to put food where sharks are.
M. O'BRIEN: That would be bad. Do they like cake? Maybe.
S. O'BRIEN: That's not usually what they consider chum, but, you know, maybe they do. Thanks, Carol.
COSTELLO: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's cast the deciding vote between liberals and conservatives on some of the most critical decisions to reach the Supreme Court during the past two decades, including affirmative action, capital punishment and the disputed 2000 presidential election.
Linda Greenhouse is the Supreme Court correspondent for "The New York Times" and the author of "Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmun's Supreme Court Journey." She's in Washington this morning. Good to have you with us, Linda.
LINDA GREENHOUSE, "NEW YORK TIMES": Nice to be here.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the issues. And there are some issues already on the docket which will get right to the heart of the matter here come fall. Abortion rights, first of all.
GREENHOUSE: Yes, I should say there's always issues on the docket and the court already has a pretty interesting lineup. There is an abortion case on the docket. It doesn't go to the heart of the issue, whether there's a right to abortion. The court actually split 6-3 on that right now. So Justice O'Connor, one of the six leaving, it remains 5-4.
But this is a case from New Hampshire about a parental notice statute. It's really more jurisdictional and procedural, but there's obviously nothing the court can say on this subject that doesn't have both political and, ultimately, legal implications. So that's one interesting case, sure.
M. O'BRIEN: In Oregon, there is a right-to-die case, which the court will take up. Tell us about that one.
GREENHOUSE: Yes. The voters of Oregon passed an assisted -- physician-assisted suicide initiative a few years ago. And when the Bush administration came in, they -- Attorney General Ashcroft, the former attorney general, overturned a policy, the hands-off policy that the Clinton administration had taken and declared as a matter of federal drug policy that any Oregon doctor who followed the state law and prescribed a lethal dose of legal drugs for a terminally ill patient would lose his or her license -- federal license to prescribe drugs. And, really, doctors can't practice medicine without this license.
So it's -- the background music of this case is, of course, the general policy about physician-assisted suicide, which remains quite controversial and riveting in the country. The specific legal issue for the court is really one of administrative law. That is, did this regulation follow the underlying statute? Was the regulation proper? But it will be a really interesting case, because it's got the same kind of states rights background music as the medical marijuana case that the court decided a few weeks ago.
All right. Let's talk about the death penalty case and the possibility of using DNA evidence in that case.
GREENHOUSE: Well, there's a bunch of death penalty cases on the docket. Actually, the constitutionality of the Kansas death penalty. This DNA case, again, it's essentially jurisdictional and procedural. But the question is, when you've had a conviction and when the defendant has run through all the ordinary appeals and wants to get back in, claiming newly discovered evidence and reopen the case -- that's very, difficult to do -- almost impossible to do under the current statutes and Supreme Court precedents.
But when there's DNA evidence -- in other words, you're not saying, you know, my neighbor down the street now remembers what he thinks happened ten years ago, that kind of thing. But you say, I have DNA evidence that exonerates me, I want to come back into court and show that I'm actually innocent. Is -- are the gates going to be open for that? That's the question in this case. It's obviously pretty interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's talk briefly about the nomination process. This comes in the wake of that deal, filibuster deal on Capitol Hill, where senators agreed basically they won't filibuster a judicial nomination unless there are extraordinary circumstances. And that's meant to mean not philosophical problems, more of a nature of personal issues. How is that going to play out on the Hill?
GREENHOUSE: Well, of course, the 14 participants in that deal didn't precisely define extraordinary circumstances. And I gather from listening to various members of the Senate over the past couple of days there may not be an agreement among them as to what that means. You know, I think a filibuster would be difficult to sustain in a Supreme Court nomination situation if there's a prospect that the court will resume its term in October one justice short.
But I think this is a work in progress and a lot, obviously, is going to depend on who the president nominates. I mean, his is the next move, despite all the fuss going on now and interest groups setting down their markers and denouncing Attorney General Gonzales and this kind of thing. The next real move comes from the president.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Linda Greenhouse. Cancel all your vacations. Looks like your summer is shot. Linda Greenhouse of "The New York Times," author of "Becoming Justice Blackmun: Harry Blackmum's Supreme Court Journey." Thanks for your time.
GREENHOUSE: Thanks a lot.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It's 20 minutes almost before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, they call it "Vocation Vacation." It's a chance for people to spend some of their time off checking out their next dream job. Maggie Lake has our story this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lorraine Cestone could have gone to the Bahamas for a few days to get away from it all. Instead, she spent her vacation following a fashion stylist in New York City.
LORRAINE CESTONE, TRIED DREAM JOB: Almost like a cross between...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a cool...
CESTONE: .. like a fruit punch kind of color, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely.
CESTONE: All right, I have to find it.
LAKE: Looking to change careers, but not sure if she was ready to make the leap, Lorraine turned to Vocation Vacations. Founded by Brian Kurth, the company makes arrangements for individuals to try out their dream job during their time off. The vacations, which range from training as a sports announcer to a photographer, start from $350 and up. Some exceed $1,000, but Kurth says it's a worthwhile investment.
BRIAN KURTH, VOCATION VOCATIONS: If you're going to spend $30,000 to $100,000 on a car, why wouldn't you test drive a dream job before you go out and actually quit your day job to go take your -- to go actually and work your dream job?
LAKE (on camera): Young people entering the work force are likely to change jobs seven to ten times during the course of their career. For many, the transition can be stressful. A working vacation can be a way to gain confidence.
LESLIE PRAGER, CAREER COUNSELOR: It's a way to try something out in a low stress, low risk, way where you don't have to give up your day job to try something else.
LAKE (voice-over): In addition to meeting with career coaches like Leslie, vocation vacationers shadow a mentor for a taste of what their dream job is really like.
BRIDGETTE RAES, STYLE CONSULTANT: I really want her to see how I work and how I do this, but also, send her out and, like, you know, make suggestions.
LAKE: For Lorraine, who was worked in the airline industry as well as retail, it was an eye-opening experience.
CESTONE: I thought it just hey, we'll dress up, and that's it. I dress people up now and make them look great. But you know what, there's a lot more to it. LAKE: After careful consideration, Lorraine has decided being a stylist is not for her, but she hasn't give up the search for that perfect job.
CESTONE: Well, I already I saw on the Vocation Vacation Web site, there's a winemaker, which I would love to -- like, I could be all over the place.
LAKE: A little wine, a little fashion, all in a day's work.
Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: If you're interested in test driving a new dream job, you can log on to www.vocationvacations.com.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So what do you want to be?
S. O'BRIEN: So many things. Winemaker, that suddenly sounds interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: Winemaker, that sounded great.
S. O'BRIEN: Sit around and drink wine all day.
M. O'BRIEN: Very much in favor of that one. It sure beats working for a living.
S. O'BRIEN: I'll drink to that.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, kids and television. How much is really too much? And what can it do to your child's education? Elizabeth Cohen will weigh in on some new research.
S. O'BRIEN: And they came to lend a helping hand. Now some of the Live 8 rockers are getting a huge payoff in music sales. Andy is "Minding Your Business," up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta has got the day off today. In this morning's medical segment, more evidence that too much TV can be bad news for children. Elizabeth Cohen is live at the CNN Center with details on this study. And Elizabeth, it's not only the amount of TV, isn't it? It's also sort of where that TV is, right?
ELIZABETH COHEN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's where they're watching TV that seems to be really important, Soledad, according to this new study out of Stanford University and Johns Hopkins. What they did they polled a group of third graders -- so we're talking about children who are only eight years old -- and they asked them if they had a television in their bedrooms.
And, frankly, I couldn't believe the result. We're talking about 348 children in this study. 70 percent had a television in their bedroom. I found that really pretty amazing. And when they looked to kids who had a television in their bedrooms, they had an eight point drop in standardized math scores, a seven point drop in reading scores and an eight point drop in language arts. And it appears from this study that it's all because they have a TV in their bedroom because they controlled for other issues.
So the researchers say the bottom line is pretty clear. It's a reality, kids are going to watch TV, but have them watch in the living room where you can control a little better what they're watching. Now, another interesting point in this study is that they looked at -- they asked whether the children had access to a computer at home. Kids who had an access to a computer at home scored better on standardized tests -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: So you mentioned right there, it's all about control and that's the difference of keeping it in the bedroom, as opposed to keeping it somewhere else?
COHEN: That's right. And that explains why they had lower test scores when the TV was in the bedroom. When the TV was in the living room, parents can control much more what they watch. They can suggest that they watch educational TV, they can nudge them away from mindless cartoons. In the bedroom, parents don't really have a lot of control over what kids are watching.Also in the bedroom, researchers theorize the kids could be watching late at night and, thus they're not getting enough sleep and maybe that explains why they didn't do -- score so well on those tests.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yet another reason, more ammunition, for the pediatricians about saying no TV. All right. Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Elizabeth, thanks.
COHEN: Thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: Did we really need a study for that? I could have told you that. Bad idea, right?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, but you look at the numbers. 70 percent of the people have TVs in their kids' bedroom.
M. O'BRIEN: I know, I know.
S. O'BRIEN: ... so clearly some people don't have the message.
M. O'BRIEN: Taxpayer-funded study for something that was duh, of course. All right, still to come, no bluff, just a blunder and a lucky one at that. We'll meet the accidental poker player who's about to draw his biggest hand ever in the world series of poker. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The Live 8 concerts sent cash registers ringing for the performers who were involved. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning. ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: This is some good news for those who put a little...
SERWER: Yes, it really is.
S. O'BRIEN: ... charity over the weekend.
SERWER: And it was a huge event, Soledad. As many as three billion viewers around the globe watched part of Live 8 over the weekend. The concerts, of course, were to benefit those living in poverty in Africa.
There were some other beneficiaries as well, though. How about aging rock n' rollers? This is some interesting stuff here. Record sales for some of the acts that were performing soaring, at least in the U.K. These are numbers from HMV. We don't have numbers from the United States yet. Pink Floyd getting back together after 20 years of squabbling. Look at that. Album sales...
S. O'BRIEN: They need to get together. This clearly says...
SERWER: Yes, they do. They could make some money.
S. O'BRIEN: Pull the band back together.
SERWER: Look at that, The Who, whoever remains in The Who, at least, playing together. And the Eurythmics, Annie Lennox and company, as well.
And some interesting stuff also having to do with how the concert was broadcast, Soledad. AOL had 5 million viewers watching the concert live online, whereas ABC's show, the highlights show on Saturday night, only had 3 million viewers. Now, I think part of that is the difference between being able to watch it live and watching a highlight show. But it really shows that the quality online is up to par now where people will really sit in front of the computer and watch the show.
S. O'BRIEN: Right, and ten years ago, no one would have done that...
SERWER: No one would have done that.
S. O'BRIEN: ... because, you know, it would have sounded miserable.
SERWER: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: Huh, that's great. Interesting. I wonder if the same numbers -- if it holds in effect for smaller groups, not just aging rockers.
SERWER: Right. Well, it will be interesting to see, you know, what AOL does with this. I mean, there will be other concerts and they'll be rolling out this kind of a business model, I'm sure, down the road.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I bet it is. All right, Andy, thanks.
SERWER: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: An accidental click of the mouse could be the luckiest mistake Robert Guinther has ever made. He thought he was entering an ordinary online poker game, kind of a low stakes deal, later realized it was a real deal, a world series of poker qualifying tournament. He went on to beat 180 other players, earning a seat at the main event. This week in Las Vegas, a chance to win millions. Robert Guinther and his son, Rick, joining us from San Antonio. Good morning, gentlemen. I know you're off to Las Vegas soon, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER, WORLD SERIES OF POKER PLAYER: Right.
RICK GUINTHER, SON OF ROBERT GUINTHER: Yes, we're leaving tomorrow.
M. O'BRIEN: Very exciting. Very exciting. Robert, you must have been a little bit nervous when you discovered you stumbled on to the wrong table.
ROBERT GUINTHER: Yes, I was. I started playing regular, I thought it was a $10 multi-tournament. And at the first break, I turned right around and said, well, let me see where I'm standing. And I noticed the prize list was up there a little high and I thought, oh, wow. I looked up and found out I was in a $100 no limit hold 'em table.
M. O'BRIEN: I suspect -- I bet one of your first reactions would have been to bail. Did you want to get out?
ROBERT GUINTHER: No. Once I was in, I had to play.
M. O'BRIEN: Got to play, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: You got to play just the best you can.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, Rick, you were watching this online, sort of had the ability to see it from your computer. Tell me what you saw.
RICK GUINTHER: Well, correct. We -- actually, we didn't go to the end. We were sitting there playing dominoes with some friends when my dad called me. And then, after my son was really watching the game and he kept running downstairs, keeping us updated. And when dad got down to about the top 18, that's when we said, hey, we got to go watch him online. And so we all went up to the room, watched the computer, and just cheered him on. Put him on the speakerphone and just rooted him on until he got first place.
M. O'BRIEN: So Robert, you initially thought -- or excuse me, Rick, you initially thought, oh, Dad's going to be out soon, I'm not going to bother to watch that. And sure enough, he doesn't. Robert, what does that say about your son? No, let's not get into that. Let's talk about what was going on in your mind. At what point did you think you might have a chance of winning this thing?
ROBERT GUINTHER: Oh, you talking to me?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.
ROBERT GUINTHER: Well, I got down into the final table of nine. I just said, well, I want to go ahead and try the best I can because I knew my son and my grandson was watching me. And I just kept trying to play. And every time I got some good cards -- that's one thing I can say. If you ain't got the cards, you can play them. So I got down there, kept getting good cards until that final table. And the good lord was with me, that's all I can say.
M. O'BRIEN: Lady Luck was shining upon you. Now, when you won, you really didn't know what you had won, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: I didn't know I won. I thought I won $11,000. And my son said no...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, that's not so bad. $11,000 wouldn't be a bad day, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: No, it wasn't. I was happy as a lark.
M. O'BRIEN: But then Rick told you something else, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: Right. He told me, he said, no, Dad, you won a World Series Poker seat. And I couldn't believe it. And I told him, I said, wow, I said we're going, then. That's what we're doing. We're going now and just going to go out there and try to do the best we can.
M. O'BRIEN: Wouldn't it be something if you had some success there. Now, you're bringing Rick, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: And is he going to be there? Can he advise you? That's not allowed, right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: I don't know, I don't think so.
RICK GUINTHER: I'll be there for moral support.
M. O'BRIEN: Moral support. You're not going to set up any sort of signal system and all that. You certainly wouldn't tell us about it right now. I can only imagine how nervous you'll be up against these guys who are, you know, the greatest poker players around.
ROBERT GUINTHER: Well, you got to be a little nervous. I'm just going to, like I say, go out there, play my game and hope I do good. I know I've got the support my wife and my daughter-in-law and all my friends behind me.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, and well, don't bet the mortgage money, either. You got to be careful on that. Rick, you nervous about your dad?
RICK GUINTHER: Not really. I think he can do well. I mean, it's one person. 7,000 people are going to be out there. You know, absolutepoker.com was the Web site. And they're going to sponsor a lot of events and keep us going. So I think we'll have a good time, not be real nervous maybe the first day. But I think he'll do good.
M. O'BRIEN: I hope your luck holds out, gentleman. We'll be watching for you. And keep us posted. Why don't you come back after the tourney and let us know how it went, all right?
ROBERT GUINTHER: Sure will.
RICK GUINTHER: No problem.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Rick and Robert Guinther, thanks for being with us and good luck in Las Vegas. Hopefully it's not lost wages for them.
ROBERT GUINTHER: See you on Absolute Poker.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. See ya -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still ahead, somebody else who had some good luck, Venus Williams. She shocked tennis fans this weekend when she beat top seated Lindsay Davenport to win her third Wimbledon title. This morning, we talk with Venus. She's already onto her next tournament. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: New surveillance videotape to show you from Idaho. A convicted sex offender with little Shasta Groene just hours before she was rescued by police at a Denny's Restaurant. The alleged kidnapper faces judge today.
Violent protests are already disrupting this week's G8 Summit. Scottish police warning a robust response. We've got a live report from Edinborough, Scotland, just ahead.
And warning, some washes in effect all along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Cindy takes aim. But it's another storm way out in the Caribbean that has forecasters' attention. Will it become the season's first hurricane?
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