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American Morning

Crawford Protest Continues; Vioxx Verdict; Mysterious Death; Futures in Doubt for Evacuated Jewish Settlers; Pope's Appeal

Aired August 22, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Coming up on the program, a big blow to a big drug company. A woman awarded $229 million in the first liability suit against Merck over the drug, Vioxx.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Our legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, is going to talk to us about what this verdict means to Merck, and really for anyone who used this drug. This is the first of 4,000 at least potential lawsuits that are pending.

M O'BRIEN: Well, I don't think you multiply 4,000 times 229 million, but it's still an awful lot of money, isn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it still adds up to a lot of money.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Before we get to that, let's get a look at the headlines this morning with Carol Costello.

Good morning. Welcome to our new set.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It's beautiful. Isn't it bright and spunky?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I like it.

M. O'BRIEN: Spunky. I like that.

COSTELLO: It is, as any morning show should be, spunky! Good morning to you guys. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

Iraqi leaders are working to hammer out a draft constitution before a second deadline expires later today. The constitution must be presented to the National Assembly by 4:00 p.m. Eastern or a vote on setting a new deadline must take place. A senior Iraqi official says a second extension may be needed.

The final stage of the Gaza withdrawal. Israeli security forces are in Netzarim this morning. That's the last Israeli settlement left in Gaza. Bulldozers are clearing the empty communities. The military plans to demolish all Israeli houses in Gaza within the next couple of weeks. Palestinian authorities plan to build housing complexes on the land. Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph is set to be sentenced today to life in prison without a chance for parole. Rudolph was convicted for three bombings in the Atlanta area. One woman was killed, more than 100 people were injured in the 1996 attack at Centennial Olympic Park. many are expected to speak at today's sentencing. Last month, Rudolph got a life sentence for the 1998 bombing of an Alabama women's clinic.

And a close call for Tiger Woods. Woods beat Chris DiMarco by just one shot to win the NEC Invitational. He finishes 6 under 274, earning $1.3 million for the win. This is Woods' fifth tournament victory this year. And I think in all he's won, what, $11 million from these tournaments this year?

M. O'BRIEN: Not bad.

S. O'BRIEN: Not bad at all.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Carol. Appreciate that.

President Bush interrupts his vacation today to address a veterans group in Salt Lake City, Utah. Meanwhile, protesters are still camped out near the president's Crawford ranch.

CNN's Ed Lavandera live in Crawford.

Cindy Sheehan is not there. The protesters remain, though, don't they, Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, about several hundred strong. It's hard to get an exact number of how many people are here. But even though President Bush leaves Crawford today for a three-day trip to Idaho and Utah, the demonstrators here vow to stay.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice over): The big tent on the country landscape looked like a scene from an old-time religious revival. But inside, the message looked and sounded like an old-time war protest.

Just a few feet away from the security checkpoint that leads toward President Bush's ranch, several hundred protesters gathered to hear folk singer and Vietnam War protester Joan Baez. They were hoping Bush could hear the music.

ED MANNING, ANTIWAR PROTESTER: Maybe the wind was blowing in that direction and carried to him.

LAVANDERA: Even though Cindy Sheehan left the protest site last week because her mother suffered a stroke, demonstrators have spread out over three camp sites in Crawford. There is the "peace house" along the main road in town.

Closer to Bush's ranch, there is "Camp Casey," named after Sheehan's son who was killed in Iraq. And under the big tent, protesters listen to music, eat, lash out against the war. They vow to stay as long as the president is on vacation here, even if Cindy Sheehan does not return.

LYNN RODRIGUEZ, ANTIWAR PROTESTER: It's bigger than Cindy now. It's bigger than all of us. And there is -- it has not changed. I haven't noticed a single change. We're here, and we're strong.

GARY QUALLS, WAR SUPPORTER: I have informed you publicly to never use my son's name for your unjust and political agendas.

LAVANDERA: Gary Qualls has mobilized an opposing camp of his own, called "Fort Qualls," named after his son, Marine Lance Corporal Louis Qualls, who was killed in the battle for Falluja. Angry that Sheehan's supporters placed his son's name on a cross at a protest memorial, Gary Qualls took the cross and made it the centerpiece of his Fort Qualls. Supporters of the war gather here now to protest the protesters.

QUALLS: We must all remember our heroes and all of those have gone before us, and from now on never disrespect their names like what's being done at the Sheehan camp.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: As for Cindy Sheehan, she remains in Southern California with her family. We were told over the weekend that she does plan to return. Exactly when is not exactly clear at this point. But they say at the earliest, it would probably be about mid-week -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera. CNN will carry the president's speech at the V.F.W. convention in Salt Lake City today, live coverage 1:35 Eastern Time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Drug maker Merck says it's going to appeal a multimillion-dollar decision in the first Vioxx lawsuit. A Texas jury on Friday found Merck responsible for the death of Robert Ernst. The 59-year-old marathon runner had been taking Merck's once popular arthritis painkiller at the time of his death. The jury awarded more than $250 million in damages to Robert's wife, Carol.

CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin has got a look at this, this morning.

Good morning.

JEFFERY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: A huge surprise, I think it's fair to say.

TOOBIN: Well, certainly the amount was a surprise. I mean, the fact that the liability might be established was not a total surprise, but $220 million, even though that will certainly be knocked down on post-trial motions, if not on appeal to, say, maybe $20 million, it's just a total catastrophe for Merck, this result.

S. O'BRIEN: Because there are so many cases still pending. This was the first. TOOBIN: Over 4,000 are pending. And more will certainly be filed as a result of this victory by the plaintiffs. And Merck's policy, which it says it's going to continue, is to settle none of them and try every single one. So you can imagine what kind of a nightmare that's going to be.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, one has to think that they're going to be rethinking that strategy, I mean, after such a devastating loss.

TOOBIN: Well, actually I think for the time being they can't redo the strategy, because they have to try some and win some. Their negotiating leverage now, I think, is at an absolute bottom. If some verdicts come in that are more favorable to the defense, they can go to the other lawyers and say, look, you're not going to win like the now famous Mark Lanier (ph) did, the plaintiff's lawyer in Texas. Let's start settling.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the specifics of the case. Many legal analysts thought that this was a very weak case, and that they really lost on tactical mistakes.

TOOBIN: Well, and that's why this verdict has been such an earthquake for Merck, because this seemed like one of the weaker cases. The Cox 2 inhibitors, which is the category of drugs Vioxx is in, it supposedly causes clots. That's the problem with it. This plaintiff died of an arrhythmia. And they had to sort of argue that the arrhythmia was really a clot that couldn't be identified. So this was not a great case for the plaintiffs, and they still won.

S. O'BRIEN: Strategy-wise, though, many of the jurors seemed almost confused or overwhelmed by the science, and they seemed very angry about, you know, the sort of smoking gun documents.

TOOBIN: Well, and I think that's what, again, what makes this so bad for Merck. There were certain trial mistakes made that are always -- you know, there was too much cross-examination of the plaintiff's wife. But the real problem is the documents, the documents that show that Merck was trying to cover up the problems with these -- with the drug. The documents are going to be the same in all 4000 cases. That's what makes it so bad is that they can't change the documents. The documents are what they are. That's why they -- I mean, they're just paralyzed now.

S. O'BRIEN: Because the attorneys will bring those documents in every single case, those same documents?

TOOBIN: The plaintiffs' lawyers in these kind of cases cooperate with each other for the most part. So the documents will circulate from trial to trial. The same people will testify having to explain them. It's going to be -- they've got to figure out a better way to explain the documents.

S. O'BRIEN: Do they ever do some kind of class-action suits, all of these plaintiffs get together, do you think?

TOOBIN: Well, this is, you know, the crazy way we regulate drugs in this country is we have this relatively weak FDA, and then there's this lottery of individual lawsuits. The plaintiffs' lawyers at this point don't want a class-action...

S. O'BRIEN: Less money.

TOOBIN: ... because they get paid for each trial that they win. And you tend not to get as much money if you get a verdict in your favor. So for now, it looks like they're going to be trying these one at a time for quite some time.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got 3,999 to go at least.

TOOBIN: At least, and counting.

S. O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It may take weeks for doctors to determine what killed San Francisco 49ers Tom Herrion. In the meantime, teammates, friends and coaches are mourning the death of the 23-year-old lineman they liked to call "Big T" and "Train."

Steve Overmyer reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE NOLAN, 49ERS HEAD COACH: Right now, it's a day of mourning for the 49er family. As you all know, we lost a teammate and a very good friend as well.

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An autopsy performed on the San Francisco 49ers lineman Thomas Herrion revealed nothing conclusive about his cause of death Saturday night. Investigators will wait for toxicology results to come back in three to six weeks before giving a definitive cause of death.

JANICE HERRION, THOMAS' MOTHER; It's not our reasoning to go choose why that 23 years is all he was alive. And in those 23 years, he left his mark.

OVERMYER: Herrion, number 72, seen here, was on the field Saturday night in Denver in his team's last series, which led to a touchdown. At the end of the game, Herrion greeted fans and even joked with the team's nutritionist before gathering for a team huddle with their coach. Moments later, the 6-foot, 3-inch, 310-pound lineman collapsed in the locker room. Paramedics administered CPR, but he never regained consciousness.

HERRION: He was a joy. He lit up a room when he walked in. His teachers would say, oh, this boy just cracks me up. He had a teacher once that said, now, son, if you don't make it in nothing else, be a comic.

OVERMYER: Herrion was a backup lineman with the Niners. He played college football at Utah before spending time with the Cowboys last year and even a stint in NFL Europe. He may have only been with the team for a short amount of time, but was quick to make an impression.

NOLAN: I just respected his play and his work ethic. I always saw that he had leadership qualities.

OVERMYER: Steve Overmyer, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The 49ers are holding a memorial service tomorrow, and the team is considering bringing in grief counselors -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's sad. Twenty-three years old.

M. O'BRIEN: It's just incredible.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a heartbreaking story, isn't it?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess we'll know some answers soon when they get those test results back.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: It's time to turn and take a look at the weather this morning with Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a look at the Pope Benedict XVI's international debut last week in Germany. The pope-alusa (ph), maybe, you could call it that. Pope-appaloosa (ph)? Pope-appaloosa? I don't know. How well did it go, you may ask?

S. O'BRIEN: We'll take a look at that. Also ahead this morning, now that the Jewish settlers are nearly gone from Gaza, where do they go now? You might be surprised. We'll tell you just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza is now coming to a close. The last of the 21 settlements are being cleared out as we speak.

And as Paula Hancocks tell us, many of those forced from their homes have been living in hotels with little idea of where they're going next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A Jerusalem hotel lobby with more settlers than paying guests, a scene playing out in many hotels across Israeli. The government has rented 2,000 hotel rooms to house the settlers, for 10 days at least. Most of these families have been here since last Wednesday. Meir Moller says he has no idea where he and his family will be next Wednesday.

MEIR MOLLER, NEVE DEKALIM SETTLER: At the end of the week, we'll be thrown out of the hotel, and we don't know where we will be. So our situation is a situation of great doubt and great confusion.

HANCOCKS: Moller has been in Israeli for 40 years and moved to the Neve Dekalim settlement seven years ago with his wife and daughter. He says it is a close-knit community, many whom are now in the same hotel with him, but no guarantees from the government it would keep the community together.

MOLLER: We actually have very good food here. It's wonderful. But when you eat something very good and you know that a week later you don't know where to go, then you can't enjoy even the food you eat. You can't enjoy the rooms you're in. It's a kind of a grotesque situation in which we're provided with a so-called citation, so to speak. But on the other hand we know that five days later, our future looks very obscure. I lost my house. I lost my job. My daughter doesn't know in which school she's going to learn. This is a very bad situation.

HANCOCKS: His family has one suitcase of clothes. They refused to pack before the evacuation, just like many other settlers refusing to accept it would happen. Moller even believes his family will live in Neve Dekalim again in the future.

His wife, Rachel, is less willing to speculate.

RACHEL MOLLER, NEVE DEKALIM SETTLER: We are very confused, and we try not to think about it.

HANCOCKS: Some 8,500 settlers will have been evacuated by the end of the pullout. So many of them now living in hotel rooms are angry at the government, but not sufficiently planning for the days after the pullout.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now, after all of the settlers are gone, the Israeli army will demolish all of the homes in the settlements before packing up and moving out themselves. That process is expected to take about a month -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a Danielle Steel romance for less than a buck? It's a novel idea. We're going to explain just ahead AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Google is going head-to-head again with Microsoft. Amazon hoping to make a quick buck off of shorts. Not those kind of shorts. Ali Velshi is here for Andy Serwer again.

Let's talk about Google first of all. They always comes up with something.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, when your stock is at 300, you've got to keep...

VELSHI: And you're asking for more.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

VELSHI: You're going to sell more shares. They need more ideas.

Now, Google is doing something interesting. It's like if you look at this show and you think, what's the competition of this show? Morning shows or everything out there? Google is saying while Yahoo! is the main competition as search engine, they are looking at Microsoft, too as a provider of services that people use.

So they are coming out with something called a "sidebar." It shows up today. You can download it to the side of your screen on the right side. You can see it there. And it gives you stocks, weather, news. It even gives you a little place where you can type notes and save them.

It's information that you might need on your browser, and it competes with some of the services that Microsoft offers.

The interesting thing about this is that you can customize it. But if you don't want to customize it, it will monitor the way you work and give theoretically you the stuff you need, which could be good or bad.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. It kind of creeps people out a little bit. A little big brother component there. And eventually the real estate on your desktop is going to become more and more valuable with your IM boxes and your side panels and all of these things.

VELSHI: That's right. So they are just getting into that game. They're trying to figure out what to put on your desktop.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. From Google to Amazon, they are the two big dot-com stories of the past whatever.

VELSHI: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: However long this has been going on. Short stories.

VELSHI: Short stories. Not a big thing, by the way, for Americans. We are not big short story readers. But a lot of people want to read short stories. Amazon is breaking through that mold, and it's going to start selling short stories for 59 cents on its Web site that you can download. Digital short stories. Now, that means that you can download them and print them. You can read them on the Web. Yu can e-mail them. You can do all sorts of things with them. You can save them to your computer. They are going to be popular authors who write stories that are about seven pages long. And...

M. O'BRIEN: Seven pages, that's it.

VELSHI: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: So about the length of a commute if you're on a train or something.

VELSHI: That's exactly right.

M. O'BRIEN: It will be interesting to see if that works out.

VELSHI: We'll see if it does.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Ali Velshi, thanks very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Fifty-nine cents, I'd buy it!

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, guys.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: An estimated one million pilgrims from around the world turned out to hear Pope Benedict XVI say mass this weekend in his native Germany. It was a culmination of the week-long World Youth Day activities and the pope's first foreign trip as a leader of the Catholic Church.

Alessio Vinci has more this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): John Paul could almost magically command the attention of tens of thousands attending World Youth Day. His successor, Pope Benedict, wasn't able to repeat that, but many here said he didn't need to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all people can be alike. And we don't want everybody to be like John Paul, because that would make John Paul not as special as he was.

VINCI: Despite his lack of charisma, Pope Benedict proved he is capable of moving a crowd. I was quite amazed to see the rush to get a glimpse of him or even just a snap of his pope mobile passing by.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA! USA! VINCI (on camera): These are the young men and women, boys and girls who will, in part, judge the new papacy of Benedict XVI that have come out by the hundreds of thousands. And now the big question is: Will this pope be able to establish a emotional bond with a new crowd? Will they be able to understand every word that he wants to tell them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love the charismatic side of the church, but at the same time I like there to be the Orthodox side as well, where it's a little bit quieter, more subdued. For me, that could be more enticing towards prayer.

VINCI (voice over): And the new pope never really got personal, even during a visit to a German synagogue. He didn't talk about his life experiences, including a stint in the German army and being forced to enroll in the Hitler Youth. Instead, he stuck to his prepared notes. But he got a standing ovation.

In the end, World Youth Day may not have engaged young Catholics in doctrinal debate. But they came to confirm their faith, and by most accounts Pope Benedict did just that.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, with the pope in Cologne.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The pope announced that Sydney, Australia, will be hosts of the next World Youth Day. That's in 2008 -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, we'll kick off our special back-to-school series, "School Days." Today, some tips on making sure your kids are making healthy choices at lunch time. Beanie Weanies healthy? Maybe. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, an exclusive interview with the mother of Eric Rudolph. As Rudolph prepares for sentencing in Atlanta, what does his mother say to people who call him a monster? That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

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