Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Londoners Still Nervous in Wake of Attacks; "90 Second Pop"

Aired August 01, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hopefully, they don't have to evacuate the building there. With the fire department out there, I think everything's all right so far.
It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up, we'll look at more at the growing fears in London that another terrorist attack could be coming.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, people there, already unnerved. We're going to check in with Kelly Wallace this morning. She's just back from London. She saw for herself some of the nervousness and the fear in the folks there. And she's also going to show us some of the precautions that many people are now taking to be prepared for the very worst. A look at that's ahead.

First, though, a look at the headlines with Carol Costello. Good morning again.

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

"Now in the News," new developments. We now know that President Bush will appoint John Bolton as U.N. ambassador this morning. That's according to a senior administration official. President Bush expected to make that announcement at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. It will happen in the Roosevelt Room. Bolton's position will be a recess appointment, one that does not require Senate confirmation. The Senate had blocked Bolton's nomination over documents and accusations of bad behavior. The move by President Bush would give Bolton the U.N. post until at least January of 2007.

Saudi Arabia today mourning the death of King Fahd. Saudi officials announced today the king died on Sunday night. He'd been in and out of the hospital in recent months for pneumonia-like symptoms. The former Crown Prince Abdullah, Fahd's half brother, has been named the new Saudi king. Abdullah has been the day-to-day ruler after Fahd suffered a stroke some 10 years ago. The burial will be held tomorrow.

Iraqi officials say Saddam Hussein's trial could begin as early as mid-October. Iraq's national security adviser says Saddam's trial will be broadcast throughout the Arab world to show Iraqis that the former dictator has quote, "gone into the past." Officials hope the trial begins before Iraqis vote to ratify a new constitution on October 15th. And two Discovery crew members appear to be having success on the second spacewalk of their mission. Right now they're fixing a gyroscope which helps steer the International Space Station. But could their trip home be in jeopardy? NASA is deciding whether two pieces of filler material on the underbelly of the shuttle need to be repaired. The damage could cause overheating during re-entry. Of course, they haven't decided that. When will they decide that, actually?

M. O'BRIEN: I think it's all but decided.

COSTELLO: All but decided, they're going...

M. O'BRIEN: Made official later today.

COSTELLO: That they're going to do it or not going to do it?

M. O'BRIEN: They're going to do it.

COSTELLO: Going to do that.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: I knew Miles would know the answer to that question.

S. O'BRIEN: He knows all things.

COSTELLO: He does.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Carol, thanks.

COSTELLO: Well, Italian police say a man detained as a suspect in the failed London bombings used a fake name to get into Britain. The suspect, originally known as Hussain Osman, is, in fact, an Ethiopian named Hamdi Adus Isaac. Not only that, but he also told authorities -- British authorities, that is -- that he was a political refugee from Somalia when actually he lived in Italy. He returned apparently there after the failed plot on July 21st. In London again, on high alert this morning, a Scotland Yard has reportedly deployed thousands of police in response to indications another attack might be in the planning stages. Meanwhile, Londoners are trying to go about their business as usual.

And Kelly Wallace is just back from London. You know, it's so interesting. And I think there was a similar thing here in New York after 9/11, where the authorities are telling you, go about your day as usual. At the same time, you're living in a very new day. What kinds of things did you see and how do you find folks are coping with that very contradictory sort of advice?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. What you do is, you see them taking some new precautions; precautions, perhaps, that they never quite would have imagined before the attacks, the first attacks, in July. And this is a story we put together before I left London this weekend. And, again, you will see that some Londoners, not all, are taking steps again, that they never quite thought they would take.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL MARKS, DIRECTOR, SPYMASTER: ... puts it straight over one's head. Puts these elastic bands around the neck, and you are now safe for 15 minutes.

WALLACE (voice-over): Pocket-sized gas masks. Michael Marks says they've been flying off the shelves at his security gear shop. Nearly 800 sold in the last week since the July 21st botched bombings.

MARKS: They're basically coming and saying what can we do? What can we carry? What can we give to our children to give them some security so that we won't worry so much?

WALLACE: Sales of survival kits like this one, which include a mask, whistle and flashlight, are up 150 percent since the first attacks, with several thousand sold, a company spokesman said. And Dave Butler says he's starting to pick up interest in the mask he sells, which he and his wife carry everywhere.

DAVE BUTLER, SECURITY CONSULTANT: The mask that I carry is actually good against chemical, biological, radiological dust. So it's good against all of the three major threat hazards that we currently could expect terrorists to use.

WALLACE: The new normal in London -- perhaps -- because out on the street, it's hard to find anyone who actually purchased a new mask or a survival kit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Survival kit? No. What's a survival kit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a mask. A gas mask, protecting you from dust. A couple of...

WALLACE: When we explained, she adds...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I think if there's a problem down there, you might need more than a swab, so, you know, I don't need to carry a swab on me, I'm fine.

WALLACE: Still, there are constant reminders that things have changed. Police out in full force during rush hour. Cynical spoofs like this one, warning people on the underground, known as the Tube, not to run on concourses, especially if they are carrying a backpack, wearing a big coat or looking a bit foreign. Cartoonists renaming stops along the Tube, "Terror," "Panic," "Fear," and "Doom."

And as Londoners go about their business, something else is different. They now check each other out on the lookout for anything suspicious.

(on camera): Do you find yourself looking around a bit more? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do a bit more vigilance, and sort of if someone was to leave a bag down or something like that, you'd be more sort of it aware of it. But not really. Just get on with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And one professor I met in London put it this way. He said there's a difference between behavior and thought, Soledad. He said behavior, people might say they're going about their daily lives -- again, trying to do what the authorities say, go about their normal business -- but their thoughts are different. Now they have this thought of, could I be attacked? Could the tube I'm riding on be attacked? Could the bus I'm riding on be attacked? In which case you have people looking around, looking at suspicious packages, looking at each other to wonder, could think person be a threat?

S. O'BRIEN: And clearly, the answer is yes. As of, you know, the July 7th date, absolutely. It could happen there, too. All right, Kelly, thanks.

WALLACE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: We know that teenagers are concerned, at times obsessed, with how they look. But according to a just-published study, body image is as important to teenage boys as it to girls.

Dr. Alison Field, assistant professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital in Boston, is the lead author on that study. Dr. Field, good to have you with us.

DR. ALISON FIELD, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOSTON: Thank you for having me.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's go to some stats here. This might surprise some people. According to your study, when you polled a group of adolescents -- or studied a group of adolescents, would be more accurate -- aged 12 to 18, 30 percent of both boys and girls frequently thought about wanting more defined muscles. Did that surprise you?

FIELD: It did. I mean, we've studied eating disorder behaviors in girls, but not so much in boys. And it was surprising to see 30 percent of boys were thinking a lot about their weight and shape. What was also surprising was that the girls had the same concerns. And that was also a big surprise.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Also interesting in this same group of people here, ages 12 to 18, this whole issue of supplements. Using supplements in the past year to improve their appearance, their muscle mass or their strength. Eight percent of girls, 12 percent of boys. What's going on there?

FIELD: You know, it's really surprising seeing at such a young age, children are willing to resort to supplements that may be unhealthy. We don't know a lot about the health effects of many of these products. So that was a little surprising. I mean, the good news is, at least for the girl, the majority of those using supplements were using protein powder. And we don't actually think that is unhealthy for them.

M. O'BRIEN: Protein powder is not a problem. What should we be worried about as parents?

FIELD: Well, we should be worried about a lot of things. Last night, just to check it out, I went on the Internet. And it's amazing how many Web sites there are selling products that may be unhealthy, such as growth hormone, creatine, amino acids. A lot of products we don't know if they're healthy, if they're given as supplements to adolescents, but they are widely available.

M. O'BRIEN: We as adults have created this monster, haven't we, by creating, you know, a media/sports culture that tends to venerate all this?

FIELD: It's true. And it's also in the mainstream media. We see magazine pictures all the time looking at who has the best abs. You know, looking at pictures of stars on the beach. Or we see magazine articles, in five minutes a day, and you can have a six-pack abs. And it does create really unrealistic expectations for young people.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what parents can do to try to thwart this. I know you have some advice. We'll just run through some of these tips that you gave us earlier for parents. Stress the risks involved in taking creatine in hormones. That seems obvious. Number two, make children aware that photos in magazines are unrealistic. That's probably a hard sell, isn't it?

FIELD: It is. And what I really hope is for kids to become aware -- actually probably adults as well, that the images we see, a lot of them are touched up post-production, so that there's shading put in, there's even makeup put on people's abs so they look like they really have an amazing muscle structure. And if the models don't look good enough, clearly, it's unrealistic for anyone to aspire to look better than people who do this as a profession.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell them about PhotoShop, I guess.

Avoid making weight-related comments. What if you have a child, though, that is having some problems with obesity? How do you handle that?

FIELD: It's a great question. Obesity is a huge public health problem. But I think what we know now, is that if you focus too much on weight per se, it just makes people very concerned about their weight, but doesn't make them take healthy steps towards monitoring their weight. So instead, it's better for parents to encourage kids to be active for a variety of reasons, not necessarily for weight, just for the mental health benefits, to run off all of that excess energy they have, as well as changing the family's diet, not singling one child out, and of course talking to a pediatrician about what they can do.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Doctor Alison Field, fascinating study, and good advice. We appreciate it. She's at the Children's Hospital in Boston. And we appreciate it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Much more American morning still to come.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," the third weekend's a charm. "Wedding Crashers" hits number one in the box office, but a movie about penguins may prove to be a bigger surprise.

Plus, is Kobe Bryant good for business? One shoe company banks on the former NBA golden boy. That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: So, Andy Serwer, what were they thinking in Dearborn, Michigan when they said, hey, let's get Eminen to sell cars. That will be good.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: That's asking for trouble.

M. O'BRIEN: I think so.

SERWER: I mean, you get a rap star to try to endorse your products, or do tie-ins with your products, and that's what happened with Ford. We'll get to that in a second. Let's talk about the markets. First of all, Miles, it looks like the winning streak on Wall Street continues, at least a little bit. We're up seven here in early trading. Up nine -- well, we're not going to continue doing that. A lot of optimism following that great month we had in July. The price of oil is higher with the news of the death of Saudi King Fahd. But that doesn't seem to be crimping Wall Street's style.

Let's talk about autos. First up, GM. We all wondered what was going to happen after GM ended its employee discounts for everyone program, that was so successful, and spurred record auto sales in June. Well, it looks like we know the answer now. This morning, GM is saying it's going to be cutting, slashing, prices for its '06 models, which will be out very soon, of course. On 30 models, that's roughly 70 cars, you're going to be having these price cuts, and then you're going to have other incentives on the rest of them. For instance, $4,800 off on a Cadillac and $645 off on a G6.

Speaking of cars, let's move across the yard, if you will, to Ford. And as Miles mentioned, they did have this tie-in with Eminem. Eminem called up Ford. Of course Eminem's from Detroit, and said, hey, you know I'd like to get a new ford for this video that I'm making. And Ford said, great, well, let's talk about tie-ins. Well, it turned out that Eminem was interested in using the Ford to promote or include in one of his songs called, well -- it's a three-letter word that is a barnyard animal. It rhymes with glass. Glass like that. If you can -- Miles is cringing. And anyway, you know, Ford sort of read the name of the song and the lyrics, and the lyrics were described by one observer as middle school locker room rhymes.

M. O'BRIEN: And they were shocked. It's hard to believe Eminem would do that!

SERWER: As you said that in the upshot here. You know, it's why didn't they see this coming? You know, it's not like Eminem is a corporate kind of guy.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm going to guess that on Bill Ford's iPod, no Eminem, so.

SERWER: I think that's probably safe, but on his kids, I bet there's some Eminem.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, thanks you very much. Appreciate it -- Soledad.

SERWER: Yes, you're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, "The Wedding Crashers" no longer a bridesmaid at the box office. "Ninety-second" poppers weigh in on the secrets of its success.

And just ahead at the top of the hour on CNN LIVE TODAY, president Bush's announcement naming John Bolton ambassador to the U.N. We're back, right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: That'll wake you up, if you're not already awake. Good morning. It's time once again for "90 Second Pop" with our own American idols. Andy Borowitz from borowitzreport.com, Sarah Bernard from "New York" magazine and B.J. Sigesmund from "US Weekly," joining us. Good morning, good morning.

Actually, we should start with our own little news here. Or not so little. B.J. Sigesmund has decided, after two years of me mangling his name, he's going to do me a favor and drop the Sigesmund, and really just use your real name, which is Bradley Jacobs.

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Right, exactly. Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: What's behind that?

B.J. SIGESMUND: Well, you know, I'm a grown up now. And it was just time to drop my childhood nickname. So the big secret of what my initials stood for all this time is out. I'm going by my first and my middle names now.

S. O'BRIEN: Bradley Jacobs.

SIGESMUND: Exactly. ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: I should also say, I'm not calling myself Andy Borowitz anymore. I don't think that's a very sexy name. I'm now known as Lou Dobbs.

S. O'BRIEN: Okay, Lou! We'll check in with you in a just moment.

SIGESMUND: And I just -- I wanted to also say, as for my last name, you know, apologies to my mom and dad.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry I mangled it, Mr. and Mrs. Sigesmund, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE It's all because of Soledad.

SIGESMUND: Exactly. Well, apologies to them and the rest of the Sigesmunds, but I just got tired of...

S. O'BRIEN: They'll get over it.

SIGESMUND: Sigmonsund, Sigerston, et cetera. So it was just time to simplify.

S. O'BRIEN: OK, I'm sorry, already, man!

BOROWITZ: Mr. Jacobs.

S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Jacobs. And that's -- you know, you could have done it two years ago. That would have much more helpful for me.

SIGESMUND: Sorry.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's get right to our top story, then, Mr. Jacobs. "The Wedding Crashers," finally number one at the box office.

SIGESMUND: Finally. It's very rare that a movie comes out and is not number one until its third week the at the box office.

S. O'BRIEN: Almost unheard of, really.

SIGESMUND: Yes, it's really almost unheard of. But the "Wedding Crashers" has such incredible word of mouth, it actually dropped fewer percentage points from last weekend. This thing is on track to make $175, maybe $200 million. That's awesome, considering it only costs $40 million, compared to, say, "Willy Wonka and" -- I'm sorry, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," which made $150 million, but also cost $150 million.

BERNARD: Don't you think it's funny, though? Because the summer is usually the action movie time of year, right? This is when we would think that "Stealth" or "The Island," the two big action films, would be doing well. And they're pretty much fading, right from the start.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Instead, it's a little charmer that's kind of getting everybody.

SIGESMUND: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Yum, in a word. Let's talk a little about Nike. They've got this ad with Kobe Bryant, of course, who had his own host of legal problems not so long ago. Let's show the ad so we can see what people about it. This was first in "Sports Illustrated."

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: He's now a blond woman.

BOROWITZ: Kobe is smiling and (INAUDIBLE) at the blond woman, which I look.

S. O'BRIEN: It's kind of an interesting ad. First of all, as he's done, as you can see, in shadow, and then list sort of all the bad things that people accuse of him, sort of personality-wise. He's arrogant, on and on. And then also put on that list his workout. Does it work? Does it not work?

BOROWITZ: Well, it's going to get attention. You know, we're talking about it. I mean, I think it's kind of a daring thing. You usually don't take -- I mean, when a sports figure is involved in something, usually, the first thing to talk about is, he's lost his value at a pitch man. This is Nike kind of turning that on its head. I mean, don't know if it works. I don't think he can really use the phrase "Just Do It" with Kobe, for example. I think you might want to -- might back off of that a little bit.

S. O'BRIEN: A new low, I believe, right here on "90 Second Pop."

BOROWITZ: But I think, you know, we are talking about it. It's kind of an intense, you know, black and white ad. It's good.

SIGESMUND: In some ways, though, I think it's a mixed message. Because partially, it's Kobe admitting to so many of his faults, that he's a ball hog and he has an answer for that. You know, he's selfish, and he has an answer for that. But he does also ignore adultery. He ignores all the charges against him.

S. O'BRIEN: There's kind of a couple of a biggies that they leave off the list.

SIGESMUND: Yes, something he doesn't cop to.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see if it works, won't we? Let's talk about this new TV channel, Current TV. Al Gore started it. Apparently, he's aiming for an 18 to 35 -- which, of course, the most valuable demographic...

BERNARD: That's us, you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh my God, it's not me, anymore. It hasn't been me for a really long time.

BERNARD: No, you're in, you're in.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, when I lie about my age. But a lot of this stuff you can really find on the Web. I mean, and isn't that...

BERNARD: I know.

S. O'BRIEN: ... what the audience is doing right away?

BERNARD: This is a whole interesting thing. This is Al Gore being Ted Turner, I think, or he's trying to be. He's doing a whole network that is going to be very cheap, because the programming comes entirely from viewers via video blogs. So it's basically going to be cable access.

S. O'BRIEN: Cheap or cutting edge?

BERNARD: Exactly. We're not sure.

S. O'BRIEN: That's the question we leave you with this morning. Well, we'll see. You guys, excellent chatting with you. Bradley Jacobs, we welcome you.

SIGESMUND: Thanks.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you guys, appreciate it.

A short break and we are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, the woman who could be the poster girl for the blogger generation, not seen on that screen there. Her online journal...

S. O'BRIEN: It's me!

M. O'BRIEN: But thanks to what she wrote about her boss, it may have cost her her job. See, you didn't want to be this person, trust me. Cost her not one, but two jobs. We'll meet her tomorrow at 7:00 Eastern right...

S. O'BRIEN: I love my bosses. Each and every one of them here.

SERWER: Reply all.

COSTELLO: I know. What did she do, say, I hate my boss? My boss stinks?

S. O'BRIEN: You know, bloggers tend to be bitterly honest about things.

M. O'BRIEN: And bosses tend to be thin-skinned. So there you have it!

SERWER: That's a nice combination.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a bad combo!

S. O'BRIEN: That's how that goes!

M. O'BRIEN: That's all we can say about that. That's all we have for AMERICAN MORNING this morning. Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center, to take you through the next few hours on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

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