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American Morning

More U.S. Aid to Israel; BTK Sentencing

Aired August 16, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again. And hello to all of you.
Now in the news, a developing story. More details about that plane crash in Venezuela we told you about earlier this hour. Aviation officials say 152 people were onboard the West Caribbean Airlines flight. The plane had left Panama and was heading for Martinique when the plane's pilot reported engine troubles. It is not clear if anyone survived the crash. We'll keep you posted on developments we get here.

Spain is mourning the loss of its first troop deaths in Afghanistan after a helicopter went down. Seventeen Spanish troops were killed near the western Afghan city of Herat in what's being described as an accidental crash. The 17 were serving under NATO command and were part of a peacekeeping operation there.

The only woman ever put to death in Georgia's electric chair is being pardoned 60 years after her death. Lena Baker, a black maid, was put to death in 1944 for killing a white man she said held her at gunpoint and threatened her life. Baker's descendants lobbied publicly for the pardon. They're expected to receive an official proclamation in Atlanta later this month.

And some car owners are singing the praises of Toyota, calling it the top brand. Toyota got 87 out of 100 in a new survey out today. The University of Michigan study rates cars by customer satisfaction. Honda Motor Company and BMW were also in the top five. Ford Motor Company, though, got the lowest score for its Ford brand.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That must have hurt in Michigan. The study is taken in Michigan.

WALLACE: Michigan, right? The University of Michigan, home to Ford. So not good news.

COSTELLO: Chrysler?

WALLACE: We should say that GM's Cadillac and Buick brands rounded out the top five. So GM was up there for customer satisfaction.

COSTELLO: That's good.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A little silver lining with the bad news.

Kelly, thanks.

WALLACE: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Well, Jewish settlers who leave Gaza by midnight tonight are entitled to compensation, up to $300,000 in some cases. Now Israel might be asking for more U.S. aid.

Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning.

Suzanne, good morning to you.

What's the administration saying about granting more aid to Israel?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, so far, the United States basically contributed more than $2 billion a year to Israel. Now the State Department spokesman Sean McCormack says they have not made any additional commitments at this time. They are going to be sending assessment teams, however, to determine that in the future. This is something that he says, of course, that Secretary Rice, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have talked about in the past. It should also be noted as well the U.S. has increased dramatically the aid to the Palestinians to make sure that Gaza as well is economically viable -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne, let me ask you a question about this missed deadline for the Iraq constitution. It's now, as you know, been pushed back a week. What's the administration saying about that?

MALVEAUX: Well, it's interesting, because clearly, this is a disappointment to the administration, but they're trying to down play that. We saw in the president yesterday at his Crawford ranch, he put out a statement saying that these were heroic efforts made by the Iraqis. Secretary Rice also saying, of course, that -- paraphrasing, democracy is messy, but they believe the Iraqis are going to be successful. And as we saw earlier on this program as well, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq trying to downplay the importance of that deadline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KHALILZAD, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: It's a disappointment, not a significant setback. Look, Iraq is in the middle of a conflict. Disagreements among people about the future of the constitution is supposed to bring them together. They set themselves the target of August 15th to produce that draft. They're very close. They ran out of time last night, and they gave themselves an additional week that was allowed in the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And, Soledad, that really was a debate within the administration as well. Do you stick with that deadline, that hard and fast deadline, or do you allow this extension? Of course, it was up to the Iraqis. Some people embarrassed that the U.S. did insist on that deadline, but you can bet they're in overdrive now to make sure they hit the next deadline on Monday. O'BRIEN: Missing another deadline becomes a much bigger problem. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: A decorated Marine is now facing attempted murder charges in Massachusetts. In court Monday, Sergeant Daniel Cotnoir pleaded innocent to the charges, and a judge ordered him to undergo psychiatric tests.

As Dan Lothian reports, the case is drawing attention to an issue facing many war veterans, returning to civilian life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please join me in saluting this outstanding, unsung hero.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One month ago, 33- year-old Sergeant Daniel Cotnoir stood on the stage in the nation's capital and was named Marine of The Year for his service in Iraq. Today, he was standing before a judge in a Lawrence, Massachusetts courtroom pleading not guilty to among other things armed assault with the intent to murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... to be arraigned on two counts of...

LOTHIAN: The charges stem from a shooting incident outside his home that left two people wounded and brought back to the spotlight concerns about post-traumatic stress disorder and veterans of the war in Iraq. Cotnoir, a mortician in civilian life had the same job in the military.

ROBERT KELLEY, DEFENSE LAWYER: He had the task of retrieving the remains for those people who gave the ultimate sacrifice and he wanted them to be treated with dignity. So he went through a lot.

JAMES STOKES, FAMILY FRIEND: Well, how would you feel if you had to take care of your brothers and sisters that are over there?

LOTHIAN: This weekend, frustration over a long, simmering dispute led him to allegedly commit a crime.

(on camera): It happened early Saturday morning as the crowd was spilling out of that club and restaurant. Witnesses say there was a lot of noise. People were slamming car doors, playing loud music. Cotnoir, who lived with his wife and children on the second floor of the family-owned funeral home, was looking out the window. He had already called police and complained about the noise.

(voice-over): But before police arrived, witnesses say he grabbed a shotgun.

STEPHANIE TEJEDA, VICTIM'S COUSIN: He stood behind mini blinds, so you can see, like, just a shadow of it. But you can see it.

LOTHIAN: Witnesses say someone threw a bottle through his window and that's when the decorated Marine allegedly fired what his lawyer calls a warning shot in response to threatening situation. Fifteen- year-old Lissette Cumba and a 20-year-old man were hit by bullet fragments but were not seriously injured.

CUMBA: And I thought he was just doing it to scare us, you know. And he came and he started shooting at everybody.

LOTHIAN: Cotnoir recently recounted to a local newspaper reporter his haunting memories of war, including, having to cut down the beaten and burned bodies of two of the security contractors attacked in Falluja and hanged on a bridge last spring. Whether or not posttraumatic stress disorder becomes part of his defense, experts say the case highlights a major hurdle some soldiers are facing on the home front.

PITMAN: When they come home, they're expected to act completely normal. But it's not so easy for them to simply throw the switch and turn off all of the things that they've learned while they've been away.

LOTHIAN: A Marine honored for his service and valor has been ordered to undergo a psychological evaluation in a serious criminal case.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Lawrence, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: In other news, sentencing for the BTK serial killer begins tomorrow in Wichita, Kansas. Prosecutors plan to present gruesome evidence of the crimes Dennis Rader has confessed to, 10 murders between 1974 and 1991. Some family members of his victims will be in court to hear those details. Kelli Cochran has been raising money to help pay their expenses during the three-day hearing. She joins us from Wichita this morning.

Nice to see you, Mrs. Cochran. Thank you for talking with us.

You were living in Wichita and working, in fact, for the police department when the BTK Killer started his spree.

What's made you, though, so obsessed with helping the victims' family members?

KELLI COCHRAN, AIDING BTK FAMILIES: Well, the crimes themselves were so horrendous, and it affected the community in such a way that it just -- it really just -- it made you just want to do something. And that's one reason why I started the fund to help them be here. I know that, if I was in their position, if it had been one of my family members, I would certainly want to attend, and I didn't want it to be a financial reason that they didn't attend. I felt that it was important not so much for closure, but for justice itself, for them to be here.

O'BRIEN: How much money have you raised? How much do you need to raise? And what will the money go for? COCHRAN: Well, so far, right now we're just under $4,000. You know, we need to raise just as much as we can. The money is going to help the families not only with transportation here and their meals and any incidentals that they might need while they're here, but also to help compensate them for the time that their having to take away from their work, their jobs. This surely was not their intended vacation time. So, to me, it's important that we as a community come together and support these families in any way that we can, and I feel that this is the best way we can to take at least some of the stress off of them, because what they're going to have to go through this week is going to be very trying.

O'BRIEN: It's going to be horrific, isn't it? When we heard Dennis Rader in court, almost clinically lay out what he did. But he left a lot of holes, a lot of gaps. What he did, according to detectives and according to the actual record, is so much more horrible than the horrors he described in the courtroom. Do you think the family members want to hear that, are prepared to hear all that? Do you want to hear more of that?

COCHRAN: Well, I don't know that they're prepared to hear that, and I don't know they want to hear that, but as a community, unfortunately, because of the way the Kansas law is written for the hard 40 that we have, we have to hear those details, because if it is brought to the judge's attention of how horrific these crimes were, then he can be sentenced to the hard 40, where he would not be eligible for parole for 40 years. And that's the main reason in all of this evidence being presented, in my opinion, so that we can make sure that this monster of an individual is not allowed back in our community or in anybody's community.

O'BRIEN: The bulk of the donations that are coming to you, where are they coming from?

COCHRAN: They're coming from local individuals. We've had donations of from as far away as Florida, Texas. Most of them are from the surrounding community, and anywhere from -- we've gotten donations from $1 to $300. It's something that's touched everybody here, and you know, I originally asked -- I wanted to donate, and there was no fund available to donate to. And so I said, well, let's make one. And so we did. And to me, I had asked originally that, if everybody just gave $1 who could give $1, the amount that we would collect would be astronomical. And so far, you know, we're doing pretty good. I would like to see it be a lot more. When you have 10 victims, you can imagine how many family members there are in those 10 victims. The money's not going to go very far, what we have.

So the more we get, yes, the more families we're going to be able to help. And we've got families that are coming from a long distance, you know, so anything we can do to help them.

O'BRIEN: Every dime will help you, certainly. Kelli Cochran, thanks.

We should mention that those donations are going to the Wichita Municipal Federal Credit Union. Thank you very for being with us. Appreciate it -- Carol.

COCHRAN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: An authentic American hero, that's what mourners called publisher John Johnson at his funeral in Chicago. Johnson founded Ebony and Jet magazines. He used his groundbreaking publishing empire as a force for change. And Monday, 1,400 people, including captains of industry, famous entertainers and powerful government leaders honored his contribution to America.

Darlene Hill of CNN affiliate WFLD reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the joy, for the hope...

DARLENE HILL, WFLD REPORTER (voice-over): Services were held for John H. Johnson. No one sad or crying, because those attending say this is not a funeral, but a celebration of his life.

BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS; Mr. Johnson had big dreams for himself, but more importantly, he had big dreams for the community. And when you look at the legacy of Ebony and Jet, not only did it help spark the civil rights movement, but it gave people a sense of hope.

CAROL MOSLEY-BRAUN, FMR. ILLINOIS SENATOR: Because of his work, the world got a chance to see African-Americans in a new light.

ROLAND MARTIN, EDITOR, "CHICAGO DEFENDER": I don't think we should simply limit him to simply being one of the greatest black publishers of all time; he is simply one of the greatest media magnates in the history of our industry.

DIAHANN CARROLL, ACTRESS: He was one of the most sane, always supportive voices of my life. I owe everything to this wonderful man.

HILL: Former President Bill Clinton arrived with Johnson's wife, Eunice, and daughter Linda followed behind with other family members. Clinton told listeners that he had a lot in common with the publishing giant. They both grew up poor in Arkansas, and both worked hard at trying to make a difference.

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There were almost no African-Americans anywhere to be seen in mainstream white culture when John Johnson began with his dream. And that's why I was honored to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

HILL: While there were some somber moments at times during the service, there were lots of jokes, because John Johnson loved a good laugh.

TAVIS SMILEY, RADIO HOST: You can't save the people if you won't serve the people. And as any black leader in this room knows, including you, Mr. President...

(LAUGHTER)

HILL: At the end of the nearly three-hour service, the famous and those not so well-known, walked out of the chapel to a song that John Johnson always wanted to hear.

(MUSIC)

HILL: Take the A-train. John Johnson, gone, but not forgotten.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That's just awesome. Take the A-train. Good for him.

John Johnson died of heart failure in Chicago on August 8th. He was 87.

O'BRIEN: Nice way to go out of this world with all those folks celebrating his life, isn't it?

COSTELLO: That's great.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, everybody complains about the price of gas, but it might be a good value, believe it or not.

COSTELLO: Oh, Come on.

O'BRIEN; Believe it or not, when you compare it to other everyday products that are overpriced.

COSTELLO: OK, got that.

O'BRIEN: "Minding Your Business" just ahead.

COSTELLO: And next, new concerns about a possible link between hypertension and some popular painkillers. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: There's a new study out that says women taking Tylenol and other aspirin-free painkillers are more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Dr. Pamela Peeke is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and the author of "Body for Life for Women," and she joins us now live from Washington.

Good morning?

DR. PAMELA PEEKE, UNIV. OF MD.: Well, good morning to you.

COSTELLO: So tell us exactly -- you sound so happy this morning. We like that. What did the study find? PEEKE: Well, I don't know why I'm laughing so much. What's a woman to do with pain anymore? First, we take away all the prescription medicines, and now what this stud showed -- and this is a Harvard study of the nurses, 5,000 of them, and they looked at two different age groups. In the first group, between the ages of 51 and 77, they found that, if you were taking the equivalent of 500 milligrams of acetaminophen, commonly referred to as Tylenol Extra Strength, guess what, you increase your risk of high blood pressure over the next three years by two, in other words, doubled your risk. And if you were taking 400 milligrams of one of those non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, commonly referred to as Motrin, Aleve, Advil, then guess what, you increase your risk of high blood pressure by 80 percent.

They even look at young women, 34 to 53, and they found that if you were taking that same amount of acetaminophen, you also doubled your risk, and this is regular takers, not just once a year, but you know, you're regularly taking it for pain. And if you took that same amount of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, you increased your risk by 60 percent. So in both age groups, wow, there's a real difference there.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, but do they know why?

PEEKE: Yes. You know, it's interesting. We've been looking at this for quite some time. And what we found is that these medications tend to increase your risk of holding onto a lot more sodium and water in your kidneys. They also affect other chemicals in the body. One of them is called prostaglandin, and that basically allows your arteries, which, you know, remeasure for that blood pressure, to not be as flexible. And therefore, you tend to really hold onto that pressure, increasing your risk for high blood pressure.

COSTELLO: So if you take Tylenol on a regular basis, what do you do?

PEEKE: Well, gosh, first of all, it would be really nice to know what your blood pressure is. So ladies, heads up. Get ye to a blood pressure monitor and get ye to your physician's office. Because if you're taking any of these medicines on a routine basis, you need to start reevaluating what you're doing, number one. Number two, you really want to think about maybe cutting back a little bit here, because this is all dose dependent. The more you take on a regular basis, the higher your risk.

Here's another thing, a little radical thought. If you want to drop your meds, drop some weight. We found in the Harvard study, for instance, that women who were smaller, more fit, and interestingly, more physically active, were taking almost none of these analgesics. And, so, therefore, lifestyle really figures in here in a big way.

COSTELLO: All right. Thanks for the advice, Dr. Pamela Peeke from the University of Maryland. McNeill, the maker of Tylenol, by the way, says it cannot comment because it has not reviewed the study yet. But they do say acetaminophen -- that's really hard for me to say for some reason -- has a well-documented safety profile. We'll keep you posted if more information comes out on this -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, first it was a pinch, now it's a punch at the pump. Penny here, three cents there. OK, but 18 cents in just one week? What is up with that? We're going to take a look, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Surging gas prices fueled some of Jay Leno's jokes last night on "The Tonight Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST, "TONIGHT SHOW": In Beverly Hills, gas is like $3.45 a gallon. You know, I heard people complain about it in line today at Starbucks, where they were waiting to get their $5 cappucino. "I can't believe how much it is."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And, you know, it's all relative, isn't it? Let's get right to Ali Velshi. He's "Minding Your Business." He's in for Andy this morning. It's all relative?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they made me actually think about this, so I did some checking about prices that we pay for things today, starting with that Starbucks.

Well, here's a list of things that you might buy every day and what you might pay for them. Around here, a bottle of water is a buck. Gallon of gas, national average is $2.55. Although Jay Leno is right, in California, people are paying well over three bucks in some places. Medium Starbucks latte -- I guess that's what I call them.

COSTELLO: Grande.

O'BRIEN: Grande.

VELSHI: Grande.

O'BRIEN: Come on!

VELSHI: I don't know. I drink the coffee here. It's $4.80. A pack of cigarettes, $7.00 and the average home price, as we discussed, around $220,000.

Now, take it back. We keep comparing gas to the price of gas in 1981. So let's go back there. We've taken some prices of things that you buy -- you would have bought every day -- not every day, but things you would have bought in 1981 -- and we've adjusted them for inflation to today's dollars.

And you're looking at a postage stamp at 39 cents. So we pay less now for postage than we did then. A pack of smokes is way up. We pay seven bucks, it was two bucks. Gallon of gas, $3.03. So we're about there. A gallon of milk -- now this is the one that confuses me a bit. Because I paid four bucks for a gallon of milk in today's prices the other day. And adjusted for inflation, it was $4.75.

O'BRIEN: The price of milk's gone down a lot.

VELSHI: Yes, exactly. And the home price, as you see, has gone up. So, you know, it is all relative. We buy a lot of gas, and you don't buy your gas in one gallon at a time as part of another purchase. So it stands out, and you see that sign everywhere. I had to look it up to see what I paid for gas.

O'BRIEN: You don't get to eat it either, and that makes it feel more expensive.

VELSHI: Most of us don't get to eat our gas.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Ali.

COSTELLO: That struck me as really funny for some reason.

O'BRIEN: I'm glad I can crack you up this morning.

COSTELLO: In a moment, a pint-sized controversy over airline security. Does this look like the face of a terrorist? A look at how babies are ending up on the government's no-fly list. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A developing story in the Middle East. Just hours 'til Jewish settlers must move out of Gaza. Emotions running high. Some 500 protesters arrested. The very latest from the region.

Watching damage reports from Japan after a powerful earthquake overnight. Buildings badly hurt, dozens of people, as well. A live report from Tokyo is ahead.

And the federal rules for passengers who fly, up in the air again. Will small knives and razor blades be allowed on planes? And why are some babies making the no-fly list? Does that look like the face of a terrorist?

Those stories, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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