Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

What Attracts a Woman to a Killer?; Al Qaeda Video Appears to Show Navy SEAL's I.D.; The War on Cancer

Aired August 11, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR; And I'm Carol Costello in for Miles today.

O'BRIEN: Nice to have you. Thanks for helping us out. You get to sleep in a little.

COSTELLO: Well, actually, I'm here every day. But I do get to sleep in, because I'm off DAYBREAK.

O'BRIEN: Right. You know, you're usually in a little -- trying to give you the silver lining this morning.

Coming up, we're going to talk about tipping. A very expensive restaurant -- have you heard this? Per Se? It's ridiculous. You know how much it costs for four people to eat at Per Se? About $1,000. Four people.

COSTELLO: And you get this much food, the little gourmet portions.

O'BRIEN: And it's tiny little -- but it's very good. Anyway, they're making a very bold move by automatically adding the tip at 20 percent onto your check. As you can imagine, some people think it's a great idea. Other people think it's kind of a rip-off.

COSTELLO: I don't think so.

O'BRIEN: We're going to talk about that ahead this morning.

First, though, we got a quiz question for you. Where do you think, Carol, the word "tip" comes from? Is it Latin for "stips," mean small coin or gift? Is it an acronym standing for "To Insure Promptness"? Or is it a made-up word with no origin that we know of?

COSTELLO: Ooh, I like that one. I'll pick that one.

O'BRIEN: OK. I'm going to go with B. I think it's for "To Insure Promptness." But I'm asking.

COSTELLO: Let's ask Fredricka. Let's put her on the spot.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: How about "To Insure Perfection"? COSTELLO: Oh!

O'BRIEN: Good choice, sunshine. But it's a good idea.

WHITFIELD: Oh, well. Somewhere splitting the difference between B and C. All right, good morning to you all.

Two fugitives wanted in connection with the shooting death of a Tennessee prison guard are expected to face first-degree murder charges. George and Jennifer Hyatte were captured without incident last night at a motel room in Columbus, Ohio. The woman was apparently injured in the shooting with corrections officers. Authorities say they'll both be extradited to Tennessee after hearings today.

Mitchell Johnson, one of the two students convicted in the shootings at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas, gets out of prison today. Johnson took part in the shooting which killed four students and a teacher. Today is his 21st birthday. He was prosecuted as a juvenile, but since he is now officially an adult, he is being released.

President Bush is meeting with his defense and foreign policy teams today during his working vacation. The meeting of the minds taking place today at the president's Texas ranch, just one day after he signed a massive transportation bill in Illinois. Iraq will be the focus of today's agenda.

And remember the grilled cheese sandwich that sold on eBay for $28,000? The one that was said to have an image of the Virgin Mary? Well, now, an Ohio woman says she found the image of Jesus on a pierogi. That's a type of polish dumpling. Opening bid is $500. At last check, there was a bid for $760. Carol? Are you a taker?

COSTELLO: I don't think so. I cannot believe people buy those things.

WHITFIELD: I don't get it.

COSTELLO: Whatever helps you spiritually, it's OK.

WHITFIELD: There you go. That's the right attitude.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: A purported Al Qaeda video that aired on an Arab news network shows disturbing images. The two-hour video appears to show the photo I.D. of one of the Navy SEALs killed in June in eastern Afghanistan.

Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon. Barbara, what more can you tell us about the contents of this tape and its authenticity?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Carol. The Pentagon certainly is not confirming the authenticity of the tape. This was another one of those alleged al Qaeda training tape, showing alleged jihadis speaking various languages, including English, apparently training for what they say is more attacks against the West. So the U.S. not confirming the tape, but there is one part of it, indeed, that really did catch the eye of the U.S. Navy. And this was the part of the tape that showed that identification card of Danny Dietz, one of the Navy SEALs killed in Afghanistan, in the mountains, in June.

The Navy saying they have every reason to believe that is his I.D. card. The gun that is shown is the type of gun, the type of weapon, used by U.S. Navy SEALs on these types of reconnaissance missions. There is also a computer shown on the tape. Now, U.S. Navy officials say they can't confirm that's a Navy computer, but it is the type of laptop computer that special forces often take on missions to help them get information on locations, maps, targeting, intelligence, that type of thing.

So some of this has a lot of appearance of being genuine to the Navy, although the military is not confirming the overall tape -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon this morning.

O'BRIEN: We've been talking about Jennifer Hyatte this morning. She met her husband while he was in prison. He was a career criminal serving a long sentence, she was a divorced mother trying to start a career as a practical nurse. Well, now she is a accused of killing a deputy to help him escape.

So what attracts a woman to a man behind bars? Adaora Udoji's been investigating that. Good morning.

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Soledad, I think many people would actually be surprised at what we found. Prison officials and therapists say far more women pursue men in prison than the other way around. They say, though, there is no typical profile. The women are of all ages. Some are educated, some are not. And they get involved with these men for many reason.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UDOJI (voice-over): They are killers, like Scott Peterson; serial murders and pedophiles like John Wayne Gacy, but women still flock to them.

Richard Ramirez terrorized San Francisco in the '80s, torturing and murdering 13 people. In prison, though, he was nicknamed the "Death Row Romeo."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just wanted to see what he looked like. I think he's cute.

UDOJI: Why? Because women fought over him. In 1996, freelance journalist Doreen Lioy married him in a San Quentin prison waiting room.

DOREEN RAMIREZ, RICHARD RAMIREZ' WIFE: I am ecstatically happy today and very, very proud to have married Richard and to be his wife.

UDOJI: Lyle Menendez, convicted of brutally murdering his wealthy parents in Los Angeles, got a letter from former model Anna Erikkson. He is in prison for life. She married him, anyway, and reportedly divorced him after finding out he was writing to another woman.

How could anyone choose a convicted felon who's committed such heinous crimes?

SANDRA BROWN, AUTHOR: Women have had a long fascination with bad boys, but the problem is that pathological men that are that dangerous and that pathological by nature do not change.

UDOJI: Still, prison romances blossom all the time, say California prison officials. And today the Internet has made those connections easier, with Web sites like prisonpenpals.com. Because most inmates get out of prison, relationships to look forward to can be a good thing, those officials say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For better or for worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For better or for worse.

UDOJI: Author Asha Bendele met her husband, a convicted murderer, while taking a class working in prison. They married five years later, nearly 15 years after his crime.

ASHA BENDELE, AUTHOR, "A PRISONER'S WIFE": The person I met, the value systems, the things I saw him do in the facility, the way other people spoke about him, said to me whoever he was as a boy of, you know, 17-and-half, he's not now.

UDOJI: She says the stories are complicated. Often the women knew the men before they were in prison, have seen another side of them. Though she doesn't doubt some women suffer a classic rescue syndrome and seek out men they don't know to try and reform them. Also, psychologists say those men can be charming.

Ted Bundy, a law student, had many fooled until he confessed to bludgeoning to death more than 30 women and girls. Carole Boone sent letters. They married and had a son before his execution.

These kind of stories people remember, of women chasing men who committed terrible crimes, and many simply don't understand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

UDOJI: There hasn't been much research done on this, which means there are no hard national numbers on how many inmates get married in prison, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Is it your sense, then, that except in the big celebrity cases, most of the people who marry prisoners are not nuts? Aren't crazy?

UDOJI: Well, I mean, I think there is that we see these very sensational cases and people look at these women, for example, the one who married Richard Ramirez, and you think how in goodness name could you have done that? But I think as Asha Bendele was saying, that the vast majority of women who get involved with men in prison, they actually, like she, met them while working in the prison, taking a class -- she was -- others working, librarians.

There are all kinds of people who work in prison. Family, friends, somebody that you knew growing up. I mean, there's a variety of ways that many people get involved, many women end up getting involved with men in prison. And, again, as we said -- we just heard in that package, so many men get out of prison.

O'BRIEN: All right. Who would once to have Ted Bundy's baby, is what I'd say. But great story. Adaora, thanks a lot -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Some amazing video of a water rescue in China now. Take a look at this tape. Young girl dragged into the Yellow Sea by a giant wave pounding a sea wall. You see it there. She narrowly escapes death when rescuers jump into the raging waters. Well, we can't see much yet. The first attempt fails. But in a second attempt, a man jumps in and this time he has a rope attached to him. Finally, after about ten tense minutes, he manages to get the drowning girl back to shore. Oh, that's a brave man to jump in that water.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we are "Minding Your Business." Andy tells us how hundreds of truck drivers are protesting against record high gas prices.

COSTELLO: You go.

And we're "Paging Dr. Gupta" for his series special "The War on Cancer." Today we'll meet a man who struggled in his transition from cancer doctor to cancer patient.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All this week, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking us to the front lines in the fight against cancer. This morning, in part four of his special series, we'll meet a cancer doctor who became a cancer patient.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ten years ago, Dr. Martin Raber was on one side of the war on cancer, as chief of physicians at MD Anderson.

DR. MARTIN RABER, CANCER SURVIVOR: I was arguably at the top of my game, OK. I was physician at MD Anderson. I was doing a lot of very interesting studies in oncology.

GUPTA (on camera): You are on this upward trajectory like a rocket it sounds like here at MD Anderson.

RABER: I was doing well.

GUPTA: You were doing well.

RABER: I was doing well.

GUPTA: Then cancer almost killed him. Dr. Raber had lymphoma, a rare cancer of the blood. His prognosis, poor. At home, four children and a frightened wife.

DR. ADELE RABER, WIFE OF CANCER SURVIVOR: It was very scary because, of course, his disease does not have a cure rate. There was a lot of fear, in how am I going to make this all work out? How are we going to take care of the kids and take care of Marty?

RABER: I can remember being on gurneys a lot, particularly when I was really ill. Your time is spent in waiting rooms. Your time is spent with clerks, and the I took Inerfuron (ph) for two years, which not a drug I would particularly wish on people, and I reoriented my career away from patient care. I had bigtime doctor/patient confusion. I couldn't decide if I was a patient or the doctor. You know, I didn't practice medicine for about four or five years, and I was -- I was really sick, I was on the sofa for a year.

GUPTA: His recovery took five years. And when he came back to work...

RABER: Hi, Erin (ph), how are you? It's good to see you.

GUPTA: It was for the patients.

RABER: How are you feeling? How's your pain?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's probably about a two or something.

RABER: I interacted differently with the patients, and I had a different sense than the other physicians with me about where the patient was and about what the patient needed to hear. I don't think I have to tell a patient every time I see them, hey, you know you're going to die of this disease soon, but I have to tell them once. I have to have that discussion. You have to lock eye contact, and I have to know that they got it on some level.

GUPTA (on camera): How important is it for you as a doctor to give a patient a few more months of life?

RABER: It's always the same question. At what price? One of my patients a couple months ago said to me, Dr. Raber you're just trying to buy time for me. I said, of course, that's what I do for a living, I buy time for people.

GUPTA: Would it be fair to say we have done a lot towards improving the quality of life that's left, not as much towards the quantity?

RABER: Looking in the population as a whole at the big numbers, that's probably true. Lot of small victories, but we haven't won the war. And for the people who enjoy the small victories, like me, and my illness, it's really great.

But for the vast majority of patients who die of their disease, not a whole lot has changed. When you treat cancer all day, you know, you win a lot, you lose a lot, and you're humbled by the disease.

GUPTA (voice-over): While cancer robs its victims, Dr. Raber found it can also give something back.

RABER: After you've had a serious illness you think about life a lot differently and you appreciate life a lot more, and in many ways life is better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Tomorrow, the final part of Dr. Gupta's series "Money or Your Life." Sanjay's week-long series is leading up to a Sunday night special, "CNN PRESENTS: TAMING THE BEAST: INSIDE THE WAR ON CANCER." That's Sunday at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're "Minding Your Business." Andy explains how truck drivers are taking a stand against soaring gas prices. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: With yet another record high set today, oil prices are drawing the ire of America's truckers. It's like, hey, good buddy, let's strike.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Yes. Lot of angry truckers in south Florida, Carol. We'll get to that in a second.

First of all, we want to tell you about a new survey of consumers that asked them what's expensive and what's a good value in the economy today. First of all, we know gasoline is going to be on that list. This is a survey of 1,100 consumers done in May. There you go. Gasoline topping the list. I wonder what percentage would say it's overvalued now. 90 percent. Now, Carrie Bradshaw from "Sex and the City." Designer shoes, they're expensive.

COSTELLO: I have to agree.

SERWER: Prescription drugs is interesting, because, of course, co-pay are going through the roof. Mine tripled over the past two years. Unbelievable. What's not perceived as expensive in the economy? Mouthwash. It's a great value.

COSTELLO: Mouthwash.

SERWER: That's what people think. We ought to get a liter for six bucks. Deodorant, baby care. Hair coloring -- this is because, you know, it's cheaper to do it at home than go to a salon, I guess.

COSTELLO: I was going to say, hair coloring. I think that's overpriced at the salon.

SERWER: Well it's not the salon. That's the stuff in the bottle, I think they're talking about here. Pet foods. Fido's doing OK here. And snack foods -- you know, get a bag of Doritos for a buck. So, interesting stuff and it's interesting for the companies, as well as consumers.

Now, let's go to south Florida. Yesterday 600 truckers tying up the roads down there, having a protest, staging a big back-up, going to Miami's City Hall, protesting the high cost of fuel. Specifically what's going on here, Carol, is that there's a fuel surcharge that the trucking companies charge customers. The truckers are charging, though, that the boss pockets that fuel charge.

COSTELLO: No.

SERWER: And doesn't pass it on to the truckers who actually have to pay for the gas themselves.

COSTELLO: The truckers have to pay for the gas?

SERWER: Yes -- they fill -- they're independent contractors, so they're buying their gas. The fuel surcharge doesn't go to them, they're saying. And they drove down to Miami City Hall to protest. A lot of honking horns. And we're going to see more and more of that stuff with the high price of gas, the way it is today.

COSTELLO: Especially if the price of oil keeps on going up.

SERWER: Indeed.

COSTELLO: Andy, thank you.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: But burning more gas?

SERWER: Yes. It's a little counterintuitive.

O'BRIEN: To protest the high cost of gas? I'm not sure I'm following the protest, but hey.

SERWER: Got you.

O'BRIEN: I get it. All right, Andy, thanks. Earlier, you'll recall, we asked you where the word tip came from. The answer is A. There was -- all your choices there. The Latin word "stips," which means small coin or gift. Many people think that it's an acronym, that is stands for "To Ensure Promptness," which is what I thought. Wrong. It's nothing more than a myth. It's means stips, small coins. Some news out of New York now. An upscale New York City restaurant taking a break from American custom. As of September 1st, customers at Per Se will no longer have to tip their waiters. Wait a minute, there's a catch. There is a European-style service fee tacked on to the final bill at 20 percent. Should this be the new trend in fine dining?

Randy Cohen writes the weekly column "The Ethicist" for "The New York Times Magazine." Nice to have you back. Thanks for being with us.

Do you think that many restaurants will follow what Per Se is doing? And we should mention, Per Se is a really, really, really, expensive restaurant, where dinner for four can go for $1,000.

RANDY COHEN, "THE ETHICIST": I think I know what you're getting at. You're not taking me there, are you?

O'BRIEN: We are so not going.

COHEN: I'm leaving.

I hope so. I think this is a wonderful plan.

O'BRIEN: Why? What's wonderful about it?

COHEN: Because no one who has a choice would like to be paid in tips. It's just a way to exploit the weakest and worst paid employees. No surgeon or CEO says, oh, I'd prefer to be paid by tipping. I mean, you're a powerful broadcasting personality. Do you have that written in your contract? Oh, no, no, you would like to be just tipped by the guests?

O'BRIEN: But you certainly get -- I mean, people get paid -- powerful CEOs get paid in stock options and all those things that actually -- their performance and how they do...

COHEN: Oh, it's nothing to do with their performance.

O'BRIEN: ... will affect the stock options.

COHEN: They get big, fat packages whether they win or lose. Does the name Disney ring a bell? $140 million?

O'BRIEN: Wow, you're just burying me with the facts. Because...

COHEN: Well, I mean, are you relying on the guests? Are you relying on me to tip you? You're powerful. You could have that in your contract. I have $5.00 for you.

O'BRIEN: I always am happy to take the money from you, Randy, but my question is this. At the end of the day, you have this service. Isn't -- it's about service. And if someone gives you bad service, what are your other options?

COHEN: Well, you know, it doesn't affect the service, really. Many restaurants pool their tips so that you have no way of rewarding your individual server.

O'BRIEN: What about fixing it the other way? Saying, you know, the truth is waiters and waitresses should not be paid such a ridiculously low salary, frankly, that a tip would really be on top of what they're earning?

COHEN: Well, right. That -- the way it works is they're paid less than the minimum wage. And under the assumption the rest of the money will be made up in tips. I'm for that. Why don't we pay people a decent wage? These are the hardest working, lowest-paid employees. If they had a choice, they would like to be paid, a decent wage, decent benefits, not rely on the whim of the customer.

O'BRIEN: What's a fair tip? Is 15 percent -- I mean...

COHEN: Well, while we're waiting...

O'BRIEN: Because that's going to probably be a fairly long...

COHEN: ... for utopia to arrive. Yes. Tip. Overtip. Tip generously.

O'BRIEN: So 15 percent is a low tip.

COHEN: Is the minimum, yes. Never less. Never less. You know, think what you pay for a hair cut. Think about the number of hair cuts you get a year and then think what these people make. Often -- especially delivery people, often hard working immigrants sending money back home, tip generously. Urge them to abandon tipping and pay these people a decent wage. Stop by your restaurant and say get rid of them.

O'BRIEN: You're always going for the nirvana, and I have to say, I don't think it's going to come any time soon.

COHEN: No, I think you're right. While we're waiting, overtip. Overtip. These are the lowest paid employees in our economy. You're doing great. Look at that. You look fabulous.

O'BRIEN: Well, thank you very much.

COHEN: It's all going well. It's going pretty well.

O'BRIEN: And I'm a big tipper, but I will say there are times when I get bad service in a restaurant, surly service. When I have somebody who cannot for the life of them remember my order and, you know, is not pleasant. Sometimes I feel like the tip or lack thereof might be the only recourse.

COHEN: But it isn't much recourse, because if tips are pooled, you can't influence that. A better approach is to talk to the boss, to say, you know, I didn't like the service.

O'BRIEN: Oh, get them fired, as opposed to a low tip? Uh huh!

COHEN: It won't get them fired. Every time there's a complaint, people don't get fired. I've written letters to the mayor about certain city employees and they don't get fired. Maybe you have better luck than I do. There's nothing wrong with saying, you know, I didn't like the service. That's fine. But this is a person's paycheck. If you don't like what your surgeon, you know, you don't say I've decided not to pay you a chunk of the bill,

O'BRIEN: Some people do.

COHEN: Yes, well, I'll see you in court.

O'BRIEN: Randy Cohen, it's nice to have you, as always. I love debating with you.

COHEN: I always lose.

O'BRIEN: No, you don't. What are you talking about? This is -- you've made this so personal today. It's not that at all.

COHEN: All right, well, then here's have $5 here for you.

O'BRIEN: Actually, now it's 10. Thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, and we're trying to decide whether to tip you or Randy and how much.

SERWER: I got a $5. What did you got?

O'BRIEN: $10 apiece.

SERWER: No, $5?

COSTELLO: $5?

SERWER: You got a little bit more, huh?

COSTELLO: $5, $20 or $50.

O'BRIEN: It's all fine, all of it.

SERWER: Yes, they're going to split it.

O'BRIEN: And I'm speaking on behalf of Randy here. We'll take it all and divide it equally.

COHEN: We pool our tips.

O'BRIEN: We pool our tips here.

COSTELLO: OK. We'll be right over with it -- not. In a moment, are the Rolling Stones taking shots at President Bush? We'll hear from Mick Jagger and Keith Richards about their controversial new song. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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