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American Morning

Saddam Hussein Says He's Been on Hunger Strike for Three Days; Shark Attacks

Aired February 14, 2006 - 09:32   ET

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

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam Hussein says he's been on a hunger strike for three days now. That coming from the former Iraqi leader at the opening of today's session in court. But after less than three hours, court adjourned for two weeks.
CNN's Aneesh Raman was in the courtroom for the proceedings. He joins us now live from Baghdad.

Aneesh, good morning.

First of all, what can you tell us about this hunger strike?

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Zain, good morning.

Saddam said that he had embarked on a three-day hunger strike. It was the first thing really that came out of his mouth at the start of today's session. We're not clear how many other defendants are joining in. We do know that Saddam's half-brother, Barzan Hassan Al- Tikriti, another animated defendant, he said at one point he was on a hunger strike, and Awad Bandar, the former chief judge of the country's Revolution Court, said he hadn't eaten for two days.

Now we asked court officials after the session today whether in fact they were on a hunger strike. Court officials say they are not in charge of the detainment. So they're not sure. But they are now investigating it, in terms of whether this is actually taking place -- Zain.

VERJEE: The court has been adjourned for two weeks. Why two weeks? Why the delay?

RAMAN: Essentially we have no idea. The court did not make any reason known in the courtroom, and after the press conferences with the court spokesman, they divulged no information. It's the seventh time this court has taken an adjournment. Two times it was for over a month. In part, we're told in the abstract, is the perennial problem of having this court in a country that is still dealing with sustained violence. The difficulties, logistical, of bringing witnesses in to the highly fortified Green Zone where the trial takes place. But again, no reason given to us. Court set to resume two weeks from today -- Zain.

VERJEE: How are Iraqis viewing this trial, Aneesh? Are they following it closely? Do they think it's a farce, a joke?

RAMAN: Well, it's tough to tell. For the vast majority of Iraqis, they have already decided Saddam's guilt, and so this is essentially just a technicality until he's executed.

But for those we went to and saw yesterday, they weren't really paying attention at the cafe we were at. They were listening to it in terms of background noise. Many of them called this trial a play, a soap opera, not really a legal proceeding.

A lot of them do see the new chief judge, though, as bringing in a style that has brought control to the courtroom. The former chief judge was widely condemned for being too lenient on the defendants. This chief judge in his first session threw out Saddam's brother. That led to Saddam walking out. And now some days later, it seems, the defendants are starting to behave. They're paying attention in court, calling the judge sir. But then again, they're also hurling insults. Saddam today told the judge to strike himself on the head with his own gavel -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's Aneesh Raman reporting to us from Baghdad. Thanks, Aneesh -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, when that shark bite with his teeth, babe, scarlet billows start to spread. But shark attacks are not spreading. In fact, they declined last year for the fifth year in a row. George Burgess, the director of the International Shark Attack File, he joins us from Gainesville.

George, clearly a fan of the late Bobby Darin. Good to have you with us, George.

Let's talk about the numbers first, put them up on the screen. And we start in 2000. I assume they've kept numbers longer since 2000, but we're just looking at this timeframe. From '78 in 2000, the summer of 2001 was that famous summer of the shark when we did an awful lot of reporting on it. Then as you can see, it pretty much steadily, with a few blips dropping; 2005, 58 attacks worldwide. What does that tell you?

GEORGE BURGESS, DIR., INTL. SHARK ATTACK FILE: Well, of course, the shark attacks are a function of both human abundance and shark abundance in the water. You have to get the two together to have an attack. So probably there is an influence of both shark numbers, which are on decline as a result of overfishing, as well as less people in the water as a result of social and economic changes over the last several years.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the number of sharks first of all. A lot of people would say, great, fewer sharks. Not necessarily so, right?

BURGESS: Well, I don't think so. Obviously when we enter the ocean, it's a wilderness we're entering. It's a wilderness experience. And one would hope when we go into the wilderness see the natural world. So sharks are a part of that natural world.

O'BRIEN: well, why are there fewer sharks? What do you think? Are they being overfished? BURGESS: Yes, overfishing is the culprit worldwide. For years people have been fishing for sharks and their relatives, (INAUDIBLE), and these critters can't stand fishing pressure the way other kinds of fish can do it. So they're in decline worldwide, and it's a very serious problem.

O'BRIEN: How serious? I mean this -- we're talking about the top of the food chain in the ocean, and you start messing with that complicated interrelation between species, you can have problems.

BURGESS: You hit that on the head. Sharks are apex predators, the top of the food chain. And so if you mess with the top of the food chain, you're going to see some ramifications, and that's going to happen if we don't simmer down our fishing efforts.

O'BRIEN: I remember I think I first met you on television in that famous summer of the shark, and we were talking about some techniques for beating off -- beating away a shark as the shark comes after you. And you say, be aggressive. Punch it in the nose, right?

BURGESS: Yes, if you're actually under attack, you haven't been able to get out of the water, which, of course is your first thing you should be looking for, hitting them on the nose is a good thing to do. They are sensitive on the nose, and generally, if you smack them on the nose it will move away. But that doesn't mean it won't come back. So in the interim, you sure want to get out of the water.

O'BRIEN: So does that have anything to do are the reduces numbers? Because I mean, that would still considered a shark attack anyway if you punched it in the nose, right?

BURGESS: Right. It doesn't have anything to do with reducing the numbers. What it does have a reduction in mortality. And last year, there were only four fatalities worldwide. And when you consider the literally billions of human hours spent in the water worldwide, to only have four fatalities pretty much puts it in perspective. Shark attacks is not a major phenomenon.

O'BRIEN: All right, that is my final point here. We're talking about 58 total attacks, just attacks, in the whole world in 2005, and you say only four of them fatalities. Given how rare they are, I mean, you got a much better chance of being struck by lightning or whatever, given how rare they are, do we pay too much attention to them?

BURGESS: Oh, very much so. In fact, I was just looking in the newspaper this morning. If you read the papers today, you'll find stories on the number of gunshot wounds associated with hunting incidents, and you're going to find there's more of those in any given year in one state than there is attacks by sharks in the world.

O'BRIEN: But we still cover them, don't we? There's something...

BURGESS: That's right.

O'BRIEN: ... morbidly fascinating about it, isn't it?

BURGESS: Yes, sharks definitely are publicity sort of animals, and as long as there are sharks, as long as there are sharks, as long as there are humans, I'm going to be on CNN talking about it.

O'BRIEN: I guess you're right. Yes, it's sad to see the passing of Peter Benchley who wrote "Jaws." I wonder, I think that might have had a lot to do with it as well.

George Burgess, shark researcher, thanks for being with us as always.

BURGESS: Good to be with you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Andy is "Minding Your Business" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. What do you have?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I am, Zain.

What do you do if you base your ad campaign on an Olympic athlete who washes out? We'll tell you the answer, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: If you're celebrating a birthday today, happy birthday.

Let's check in on early trading on wall street.

SERWER: Can't talk about Florence Henderson.

VERJEE: We can if you want. What would you like to say?

SERWER: No, that's OK. I'd rather just talk about stocks.

VERJEE: General Motors?

SERWER: Yes, we're let's talk about General Motors, et al.

Let's go down to the Big Board, Zain, and see how things are faring at this hour. The Dow up 24 points, it seems to me. What's going on? Retail sales brisk in the month of January. Can you say gift cards?

Also, oil prices are lower. A couple things to tell you about. GM, you know, we talk about them cutting, slashing, how about investing? Reports say they're going to be putting $500 million into five plants in Michigan, including a Cadillac facility. Another thing to tell you about quickly.

Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, will not stand for re- election as a Coke director. He's been a big force of that company for years and years.

You might see this in the papers this morning, a new anti-union ad campaign kicking off, this by a gentleman Richard Burman (ph), who's a lobbyist for the restaurant and beverage industries, saying that unions have hurt airlines and steel business and the auto industry. This is a controversial guy, Richard Burman, who's going to spend about $5 million on this campaign. The Center for Union Facts. I love these names of these entities, Zain.

"The New York Times" say this is a gentleman, Mr. Burman, who says that soda does not cause diabetes. He's Criticized MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, for alcohol restrictions and other things like that. A controversial person there.

Now, Coca-Cola.

VERJEE: Yes, pulling the ad with Michelle Kwan. It's gets worse for her, doesn't it?

SERWER: That's right. Yes, and this is difficult stuff, because you know, you put all this time and money and effort into a campaign based upon an athlete, and then what happens if the athlete doesn't compete, or washes out? And this of course what happened to Michelle Kwan, not going to be competing at this Olympics. '

She was in two ad campaigns, one for Coke and one for Visa. Visa is keeping the ad campaign. Coke saying, no, it's just doesn't work. Visa said it just shows her skating, so it's still relevant.

VERJEE: How much does she lose from that?

SERWER: It's unclear how much she would lose in that situation. One would think she would still get paid. It's not her fault, right?

VERJEE: Yes, I hope so. Got to get paid.

Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

Let's go to Daryn Kagan over at CNN Center in Atlanta.

Hey, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Zain.

Well, speaking of the Olympics, we're going to do just that. We're going to talk more about Michelle Kwan's quest, or lack of quest, for gold and exit from the Winter Games with someone that knows that world very well. Gold medalist Tara Lipinski will join me. And these guys have the latest crime-solving technology at their fingertips and they work for Target, also known as Target. We'll explain and go behind the scenes just ahead.

For now, back to you, and a lovely Valentine's Day to you, Zain.

VERJEE: Gee, thanks, Daryn.

Coming up, a lot of ladies hoping for diamonds this Valentine's Day. But if it came from Costco instead of Tiffany's, would you really be able to tell the difference? We're going to do a little diamond-buying 101. That will be next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SINGING)

VERJEE: I guess they are.

O'BRIEN: A kiss on the head, maybe ever so quite contentential (ph), is that it? But diamonds are a girl's best friend.

VERJEE: Now, for you guys, it's Valentine's Day and you may be looking at diamonds, not quite sure which one to get. We've got someone here that's going to help you.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Hopefully we will know the true story here as to whether we go buy the diamonds at Costco or we go to Tiffany's. Whatever.

VERJEE: Donald Palmieri joins us now. He is a master gemologist, the president of the Gem Certification and Appraisal lab. He's here to show us what to look for.

First of all, though, is there a huge quality difference between if I go shopping at Tiffany's or Costco?

DONALD PALMIERI, GEM CERTIFICATION & APPRAISAL LAB: No, actually, there isn't in the examples we have here, that were brought in by Costco. These are very high quality diamonds. So the quality can be the same.

VERJEE: And the price?

PALMIERI: Price can be different. There's a different buying experience.

O'BRIEN: Well, that's true, that's very true. As a matter of fact, I think we prepared a graphic to sort of show the comparison. These are high-end diamonds regardless. Costco, if we do 1.11 carat diamond, it's $6,400. At a fine jeweler, any fine jeweler in this case, right? I mean, referring to the...

PALMIERI: Most fine jewelers, many of them had to become competitive.

O'BRIEN: Ten thousand dollars. And for two carats, $32,000 versus $39,000. The percentages are different there, why?

PALMIERI: Well, it's really the shopping experience that Costco wishes to deliver. They wish to deliver more of a low cost and a low overhead type of shopping experience. So you do need to know what you're doing when you go in, but you can get some great values. O'BRIEN: So if I'm a guy or anyone walking into, say, Costco, what am I looking for, you know, if I have the faintest idea how to buy a diamond?

PALMIERI: You first of all, you should familiarize yourself with the four Cs. We've heard about those for years and years. Those are the most popular. And that would be carat weight, color, cut and clarity. So the carat weight, obviously, is the weight of the diamond. And that's how diamonds -- that's the initial peg for or threshold for pricing a diamond. The larger they are, the more rare they are. But, of course, the higher quality they are, the even more rare. And, of course, the price goes up exponentially.

O'BRIEN: How can you tell if there are flaws in diamonds?

PALMIERI: Well, Miles was doing a great job using my loop. It's a 10-power loop, and I think we have him just about ready to come into the lab.

VERJEE: They are big diamonds. They don't look very big...

O'BRIEN: I don't see a flaw in this one. Is this one there?

PALMIERI: That's a VS2, and it happens to be very slightly included. So it would be very difficult, especially the way you're looking. That's not quite now we do it in the laboratory.

O'BRIEN: Oh really? How do you...

PALMIERI: A few more lessons. We'll get you there.

O'BRIEN: I think I'm kind of a neophyte on this. But this what are you looking for?

PALMIERI: We're looking for inclusions, but that's only one part...

O'BRIEN: Meaning, just little marks?

PALMIERI: Nature's birthmarks. That's exactly what they are. These are just...

VERJEE: What about appraisals? I mean, you can go to one place and you may get inflated appraisal values. Do you need to be concerned about that? Do people need to watch.

PALMIERI: You said it, I didn't. And, yes, that's one of my pet peeves is that when you buy a diamond from a retail merchant, whether it be Costco or Blue Nile or Tiffany, you always should get an appraisal from the seller signed by the seller, and that really is one of your best protections. Because if you ever find out later that it was other than what they represented at the time of sale, at the point of sale, then you have a document signed by the jeweler that says something contrary that made you actually make the purchase.

O'BRIEN: But is there really a guarantee in the document? They don't have to buy it back from you for that price, do they?

PALMIERI: Well, the interesting thing is that our laboratory is the only laboratory in the world that guarantees the quality. And we're an independent laboratory. We have no relationship with any of the retailers, any of the manufacturers, and that's what we do at GCAL. We certify the diamonds and we guarantee the quality. So if we're wrong, even if we make a mistake, we have to pay you the difference between what we said it is and what it actually turns out to be.

O'BRIEN: Well, how do we get somebody like GCAL involved in a purchase like this? Do you send them pictures?

PALMIERI: Well, you ask the jeweler. You ask the jeweler if they carry GCAL certificates.

VERJEE: I'm just looking at this ring and the other diamonds that you have there. What are the popular shapes that are out there right now?

PALMIERI: Well, the most popular shape is the round brilliant. And that has been far and away, and it is also the most expensive shape. On the other hand, the second most sought after shape is a princess cut, which is a square cut diamond. And that's on the other end of the price spectrum.

VERJEE: Why is that so sought after now?

PALMIERI: Well, because if you look at a piece of diamond rough, it most readily lends itself to being cut in a square cut. And if you look, we have one. Right here, we have a nice beautiful three carat princess cut.

O'BRIEN: Beautiful.

PALMIERI: Right. And that particular stone almost looks like the half of a diamond crystal, of an octahedral (ph) crystal. And then, of course...

VERJEE: How much is it?

PALMIERI: ... we have the cochette (ph), which is a squarish. That's about $80,000.

O'BRIEN: Wow.

VERJEE: At a shopping mall?

O'BRIEN: Costco price, or is that a high-end price?

PALMIERI: That's actually a little more than a Costco price.

O'BRIEN: Really?

PALMIERI: You could go to Costco and get that probably a little cheaper. O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right, Don Palmieri, thank you very much.

VERJEE: Thank you.

PALMIERI: Thank you.

O'BRIENN: Master gemologist. We appreciate the guidance. Got to get shopping.

VERJEE: We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: That's all the time we have for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

VERJEE: Daryn Kagan's at CNN Center to take you through the next couple of hours on CNN.

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