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American Morning

Montreal Shooting Spree; No End in Sight for Violence in Iraq; Former Texas Governor Ann Richard Dies

Aired September 14, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Still no motive in that deadly shooting spree in a Montreal college. Now new details, though, about the suspected shooter.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Remembering Ann Richards, the sharp- tongued former Texas governor. She broke barriers for herself and for others.

S. O'BRIEN: Childhood obesity nearing epidemic levels. Now even more serious consequences for overweight children to tell you about.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, Lindsay Wagner step aside. You'll meet a real bionic woman ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

S. O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

S. O'BRIEN: We're learning more this morning about the suspected shooter in a college shooting spree in Montreal. We now know his identity. His rampage at the Dawson College in Montreal left one woman dead, several others in critical condition.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is live in Montreal for us this morning.

Allan, good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And this city is really in shock this morning after yesterday's absolutely horrific events. A lone gunman just starting to shoot at Dawson College. And what's really incredible here is the way that people describe this gunman, walking around, almost randomly, just shooting without seeming to have much of a care in the world.

It sounds just unbelievably bizarre given the circumstances here. He shot and killed a 20-year-old woman, 19 people were wounded. This being the closest hospital, Montreal General, the closest hospital to the scene, the most severely wounded were brought right here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. TANEK RAZEK, CHIEF OF UMHC TRAUMA UNIT: We received 11 patients total from the event, six men and five women, ranging in age from 17 to 48. These -- five of these patients -- six of these patients remain in critical condition, two extremely critical in the intensive care unit. Five patients are in less critical, more stable condition right now for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: All of the six individuals who had surgery done last night are on some form of life support this morning. Particularly, of course, those two who are in very, very critical condition right now. Five others, as the doctor mentioned, in more stable condition right now.

A psychiatrist spoke to the media earlier. And she said that for the victims, as well as the families, the psychological scars could last a very long time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JOSEE IGARTUA, UNIVERSITY OF MONTREAL HOSPITAL CENTER: Today the confusion is gone, people know what has happened, people know what has happened to their loved ones. And so the confusion's subsiding and now we are dealing more with shock, grief, denial, anger, horror, really a sense of -- that people's personal security has been shattered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: "The Toronto Star" this morning is identifying the gunman as Kimveer Gill, although the police here are not confirming that identity. We understand he's a 25-year-old man who lived in a suburb of Montreal. But as for a motive, that remains a question that is unanswered right now -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff for us this morning.

Allan, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Iraq, the U.S. military claiming it has captured a high ranking al Qaeda operator, but no end in sight for the violence. Thirteen killed today in Baghdad, including two American soldiers. In one attack, Iraqi police were lured to the scene of a roadside bombing, only to be hit by another bombing in a car.

CNN's Michael Ware is in Baghdad now. He is embedded with U.S. troops -- Michael.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, amidst all of that violence, the U.S. military has stepped up in what has become known as the Battle of Baghdad. The long-running operation known as Operation together Forward to reclaim this city from insurgents, militias and death squads went to a new level today.

In the past, the operations have targeted areas contested by the sectarian groups, or where largely Shia death squads have operated against the Sunni sect. But today, for the first time, the target was a Shia domain, one of the strongholds of the most dominant Shia militias, Jaish al-Mahdi, loyal to the rebel anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Today, Stryker vehicles just like these behind me and thousands of American and Iraqi troops entered the Shahab (ph) district, clearing it of death squads, searching for weapons, and taking control of the streets, in the course of which there was one sniper attack on U.S. forces, an American soldier was wounded. We understand it was only lightly, however, and we're waiting for an update on his condition.

And we've just learned that one of these vehicles has just been hit by an IED back in the Shahab district -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael, you've been -- you were just embedded recently to the west of Baghdad, and now you're in Baghdad for, as you say, the Battle of Baghdad. To what extent do you get the sense that the focus on Baghdad saps resources which can be used outside in the Sunni Triangle?

WARE: Miles, you're very much touching the main point here in Iraq. I mean, the focus for the coalition forces right now is Baghdad. As a very senior U.S. military intelligence source said to me recently, "In terms of our priorities, it's Baghdad, Baghdad, Baghdad."

There's a belief among some of the core leadership that this battle will be won or lost here in Baghdad. It's about trying to prop up a relatively weak prime minister who does not have a popular base of his own, nor does he have his own militia, which is currently the currency of political power in Iraq. So they need to secure Baghdad to give him that support he needs.

In the meantime, however, while more and more resources are sucked into Baghdad, while reserves are called from Kuwait to go to Baghdad, that leaves Anbar, I'm afraid to say, hanging out there to dry. As we heard from the Marine general who controls Anbar province, he has enough troops to train the Iraqi forces, but he does not have enough troops to win the war against the al Qaeda-led insurgency out there -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware embedded with U.S. troops in Baghdad.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ann Richards was an enduring and endearing figure in Texas politics, says Texas Governor Rick Perry. Richards' qualities also impressed Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said he admired her straight talk.

Richards, the former Texas governor, died last night in Austin, Texas, after battling cancer.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Dallas this morning. Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, a friend of mine writing in "The Dallas Morning News" wrote this morning that in many ways Ann Richards seemed to come right out of central casting, the big Texas hair, the twang, and everyone agrees she was one of a kind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice over): Someone once said Ann Richards wasn't born funny but she got funny pretty quick.

ANN RICHARDS, FMR. Texas GOVERNOR: After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.

LAVANDERA: There wasn't much to laugh about as a young girl during the Depression. Growing up in Lakeview, a small town near Waco, she was Dorothy Ann Willis then.

RICHARDS: It was back then that I came to understand the small truths and the hardships that bind neighbors together. Those were real people, with real problems.

LAVANDERA: She listened to Franklin Roosevelt's radio chats with her family during the Depression. Her father once told her she could be anything she wanted to be. So, at Baylor University, Richards joined the debate team. A career in politics was born.

RICHARDS: More than anything else, we got into this business of government to open the doors to all of the people.

LAVANDERA: She married Dave Richards and had four children. They emerged themselves in Texas Democratic politics, even spent their honeymoon campaigning for a congressman.

Richards' first elected office was as a county commissioner in Austin. But years of hard drinking were taking its toll. Richards' marriage ended in divorce. In 1980, she quit drinking and smoking.

Richards never shied away from talking about her alcohol abuse.

RICHARDS: I had such high expectations of myself. I was going to be the best mother, the best housewife, the best entertainer, the best nurse. You know, whatever it was, I was going to be the best. And I never could live up to my own expectations.

LAVANDERA: But Richards' political career continued to flourish. She became Texas' state treasurer, which catapulted her to the state's biggest stage

LAVANDERA: I, Ann Willis Richards, do solemnly swear...

LAVANDERA: In 1990, Ann Richards was elect Texas governor, the first woman to hold the office in more than 50 years. In a conservative, now Republican state, she's always remained popular, a testament to the power of personality.

RICHARDS: I just made the remark that next year I'm going to be 60 years old, and I thought that I need to do something kind of jazzy when I was 60, and that I'd like to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

LAVANDERA: The image of the white-haired, tough-talking Texas was cemented. Ann Richards loved to put on a show, but nothing inspired her sharpest verbal darts quite like the Bush family. First, at the expense of President George Bush at the 1988 Democratic convention

RICHARDS: Poor George.

(LAUGHTER)

RICHARDS: He can't help it.

(APPLAUSE)

RICHARDS: He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.

LAVANDERA: Then, six years later, in a heated campaign for governor against George W. Bush, after he accidentally shot a protected bird on a hunting trip...

RICHARDS: You can't get dressed up in a hunting jacket, borrow somebody's shotgun, and hire yourself a guide, and go out in somebody's pasture and fake it.

LAVANDERA: Richards lost that election to the future president and never returned to public office.

On that last election night, it was clear she was passing the torch to another generation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: Soledad, and Ann Richards had said that the one thing she hoped to be remembered for politically was that in her four years as governor that she had opened up the doors of government and the seats of power in this state to not just women, but also people of Color, people who had never had that kind of access to power before -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, a pretty remarkable woman.

Ed Lavandera for us this morning.

Thanks, Ed.

Let's get to the forecast. It's 10 minutes past the hour and Chad's got a look for us.

What are you looking at, Chad? CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Two storms in the Atlantic.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you guys.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Chad.

Coming up our kids are fatter than ever. So what can we do to help them slim down? Well, maybe get them off the couch. That will help.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at one success story.

And later, the world's first bionic woman, for real. She is able to move her robotic arm just by thinking. An amazing story. You won't want to miss it.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: In this morning's "House Call," despite efforts to improve diet and exercise, American children are getting fatter. And a new study says one in five kids could be obese by the year 2010.

Our senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta this morning.

Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

You know, this isn't breaking news. We have been talking about this for quite some time, just how bad the overweight and obesity problem is getting among children. It's still getting worse.

There are some bright spots, though. There are some -- there's children in programs that are actually working.

We met one optimistic child who is trying to do something about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice over): Imani Lesane spends most days after school practicing with her dance troop. Performing is one of her passions. The 14-year-old has always been active, but overweight. A few months ago, Imani says something strange happened.

IMANI LESANE, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: I would drink anything that was in my sight, everything that was in my sight.

GUPTA: Concerned, she did some research.

LESANE: I think I have diabetes. They was, "Imani, you're too young to have diabetes."

GUPTA: Imani insisted her mom take her to the doctor, where her self-diagnosis was confirmed.

LESANE: I was mad. That's what I was. I wasn't scared. I was mad.

GUPTA: Type 2 diabetes is also referred to as adult diabetes for a reason. It was something children didn't get. But that's changing. It's one of the consequences of America's obesity epidemic.

A new report out from the Institute of Medicine says if current trends continue, by 2010 20 percent of American children will be obese. That's a six percent increase since 1999.

DR. JEFFREY KOPLAN, CHAIRMAN, IOM OBESITY REPORT: This is a big, big problem.

GUPTA: Dr. Jeffrey Koplan chaired the committee that wrote the report. He says Americans are beginning to realize childhood obesity is a serious public health problem, but says much more needs to be done.

KOPLAN: If we don't address it, we're going to be paying the price for it in disease, premature death, and dollars for many, many years to come.

GUPTA: So, the Institute of Medicine is urging President Bush to make childhood obesity a national priority by appointing a federal obesity coordinator, not quite an obesity czar, but pretty close.

It's also pushing for more research to determine which anti- obesity initiatives are working and why. The IOM also thinks the government should monitor restaurant menus to make sure nutritional information is accessible and relevant to kids.

Since being diagnosed with diabetes, Imani Lesane has cut down on junk food and exercises more. It's worked. So far, she's lost over 30 pounds, and her diabetes is under control.

LESANE: It's not your mother's disease, it's not your father's disease. It's your disease.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: For Imani, it seems to have worked. She's one success story.

But the thing that people are really highlighting is that health problems are showing up earlier and earlier, Soledad. You hear about diabetes, as just mentioned, but also heart attacks in 30-year-olds. It's remarkable.

We are starting to see the price and the consequences of the obesity epidemic -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: And you really can't say that we have not been warned.

Let me ask you a couple of questions. You talked about some of the programs that are sort of trying to help kids get a healthy start or change their habits. Which ones are the ones that work the best?

GUPTA: Well, the government actually highlighted a few different programs. One of them, for example, was the VERB campaign. You may have seen some of the ads on television, actually marketed toward tweens, you know, kids between the ages of nine and 13, actually trying to get them more active, showing them riding skateboards, being outside.

And they did something interesting as well. They actually measured the impact, and showed that in people who watched it, kids who watched it, actually had about a 30 percent increase in exercise habits. But, like a lot of other programs, this one had to be cut because of budget problems, and that -- that's part of the problem as well, Soledad, is maintaining the momentum.

S. O'BRIEN: What about educating the parents? It seems like sometimes, you know, you can't expect a 10, 11, 12-year-old necessarily to understand what makes a healthy meal, but the parents sometimes need to be taught, too.

GUPTA: Yes. Well, the parents do need to be taught, too. That's an important point, because children are growing up under very different circumstances than their parents are, for the most part, when it comes to exercise options, when it comes to being able to be outside, when it comes to healthy -- healthy food options in the schools as well.

Things have changed tremendously. So educating the parents about what is available is very important. But also reminding.

I think the thing that seems to work the most is reminding them that it's not just a cosmetic thing. It's not just an aesthetic thing. We are starting to see some catastrophic health problems in very young children.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a huge problem.

All right, Sanjay. Thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Sanjay is also working on a big special. It's called "Genius: Quest for Extreme Brain Power." We've been talking about it all morning.

Don't miss it. It's 10:00 p.m. Eastern Sunday night right here on CNN -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And speaking -- excuse me. And speaking of geniuses -- or is it genii?

S. O'BRIEN: I don't know. M. O'BRIEN: What is the plural, genii?

S. O'BRIEN: If were one, I should know that. But I'm not.

M. O'BRIEN: It's genii -- it's Barbara Eden, genii -- genii.

S. O'BRIEN: Genii.

M. O'BRIEN: Anyway, all right.

Remember Ken Jennings? He is the guy who won -- you remember...

S. O'BRIEN: Two and a half million bucks.

M. O'BRIEN: Two and a half million bucks on "Jeopardy." There he is.

Is he just a trivia buff or is he a real genius? We are putting him to the test. We are giving him our genius test in the green room right now, although it's not green. But anyway, you know the drill on that.

Coming up later, we'll find out how he did on our genius quiz and we'll talk to him about his new book.

Oh, and if you want to take the same quiz, you can log onto cnn.com/genius.

Obviously I'm not.

S. O'BRIEN: I just took that test.

M. O'BRIEN: And how did you do?

S. O'BRIEN: I don't know yet. I haven't gotten my responses.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

Also ahead, the president's pep rallies on the war on terror. Those speeches apparently worked. We've got he numbers for you, and just the man to go to, Bill Schneider.

Plus, the world gets an up-close look at the world's first bionic woman, an amazing medical breakthrough.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The president's series of pep talks on the war in Iraq and the war on terror apparently have worked. There are some new poll numbers that show an uptick at just the right time of year for politicians, just a little bit before the November elections.

Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, is here to walk us through the numbers, as he always does. Good to have you back with us, Bill.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A genius, of course, you are, at these numbers.

Let's talk about -- this is an NBC News-"Wall Street Journal" poll. These were conducted before 9/11, which may -- may have some impact, I think, on the numbers, but I just wanted to point that out before we got into this.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: The first one that we want to get into here, the president's handling of the situation in Iraq. And here we have from July to September, the 6th of both months, a 3 percent uptick in approval for the president. Those are -- that's -- that's as much as any political operation could hope for, for a couple of speeches, right?

SCHNEIDER: Well, not exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: No? Not necessarily?

SCHNEIDER: It's within the margin of error. The poll has a 3- point margin of error, so it might not have really increased at all.

Remember, this poll was done over the weekend, as you indicated, of September 11th. The polls do indicate a real uptick on the issue of terrorism, precisely. Not so much on Iraq. But some increase in confidence in Republicans on the issue of terrorism, which, of course, was the principle focus of the president's remarks.

Again, we don't know if it's temporary because it was done over the weekend when there was a lot of commemoration of 9/11 and there was a very big focus on the terrorism issue. But there does seem to be an improvement in the view of the administration's handling of terrorism.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. That could definitely skew the numbers.

The next one also from the NBC News-"Wall Street Journal" poll. "Would you like to have a Republican-controlled or Democratic- controlled Congress?" And as it stands right now, 39 percent want it Republican controlled, 48 percent Democrat, 13 not sure.

What do you think of those numbers?

SCHNEIDER: Well, they reflect what all the polls are showing, that people prefer a Democratic Congress over a Republican Congress. And it shows that the national forces in this campaign clearly favor the Democrats. People -- it's a Democratic environment.

Republicans are hoping to neutralize that by arguing, well, that's a national poll and there is no single national election. There are all these local elections. So the Republican strategy is to localize everything, to say that we're going to fight 435 House contests, 30-some Senate contests, we're going to do each one on its own, they will be personalized, they'll be localized, a lot of them are going to be framed around negative attacks on their Democratic opponents, but they hope to ignore those national forces as much as possible because, as we see here, those forces are not very friendly.

M. O'BRIEN: But can they ignore them, I wonder.

Let's look at some of the issues that are on people's minds.

Economic issues. And the economy is always up there at the top when you ask people. Gas prices and energy costs, it's amazing how quickly we forget highs gas prices. Gasoline prices go down, and we're just like -- we're over there.

The gap between rich and poor, that's on the rise. The deficit's on the rise. Unemployment is on the rise.

I would say that probably cuts against the Republicans there.

SCHNEIDER: I would have to disagree with you.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

SCHNEIDER: Because look at what happened to the gas price number. The obsessive concern, the anger over gas prices has diminished because gas prices have begun to go down. Not by a lot, but if they're going down, people gain a little bit of confidence. And the anger that was very, very strong over the summer over gas prices has diminished a bit.

Still, you notice at the top of the list. But it's not quite the pitch of anger that people felt when gas prices hit $3 a gallon this summer.

So, the fact that gas prices have been going down a bit could help Republicans because it may diminish some of that anger.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

And final one here, will their vote be a signal to the Bush administration? At this point -- and this is also NBC News-"Wall Street Journal" -- a vote to signal support of Bush, 25 percent, a vote to signal opposition of Bush, 37 percent. And then 36 percent say it's not a signal at all.

What do you think? Do voters, when they are voting for their congressmen, are they thinking this way?

SCHNEIDER: Well, some are, yes. And that is exactly why Republicans want to do what I described and make everything a local contest.

A lot of Republicans are trying to ignore President Bush because they realize that in many districts, in most parts of the country, President Bush is a negative. They don't want to make this a referendum on him or on his policies. It's not like 2002, or even 2004, when Bush was a relatively popular figure.

The Republicans want to make it a local contest. And a lot of them are simply ignoring President Bush.

You know, in that marquee contest this week in Rhode Island that Lincoln Chafee won, it's an interesting question. Did he win because a lot of voters supported President Bush, who supported Lincoln Chafee, or because he got the support of anti-Bush voters, many of whom admired his defiance of the administration on Iraq and on tax cuts and on other issues.

It's an interesting debate. But most Republicans around the country want to keep President Bush out of their contests.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Bill Schneider, thank you very much.

Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

A short break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is going to be getting together with Republicans on Capitol Hill this morning, talking about his antiterror proposals. Just a few moments ago, we saw the president walk through the halls of the Capitol. Do we have that tape yet? All right, we're going to bring that to you as soon as we see it. He was flanked by the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, and also the vice president, Dick Cheney.

We'll show you a little bit of that as soon as we get it turned around.

First, though, let's get to CNN's Capitol Hill correspondent Andrea Koppel with a preview.

Good morning.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CAPITAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

President Bush is about to put on his hat as cheerleader in chief, if you will, trying to buck up the morale of the 200-plus members of the Republican-led House. According to the White House, it was speaker Hastert who wanted him to come up here. You really look at the polls to figure out why you've got anti-incumbent sentiment at an all-time high, certainly in the last 12 years, growing frustration among the American people with the war in Iraq, and you've got independent political analysts saying that for the first time in a dozen years, Republicans stand a real chance of losing control of the House.

You've also got President Bush, who's going to be trying to build support for a couple of key pieces of his anti-terror legislation. He did score a victory yesterday in the House on DTE legislation, which did pass through a House committee. But over here in the Senate, Soledad, he is facing stiff resistance from three top senators, John Warner, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, who are all really staring down the White House right now over that detainee legislation.

And the question is really whether or not, you know, which side is going to blink, and whether or not it even gets through Congress before November -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: How important do you think, in fact, that legislation is to Republicans?

KOPPEL: You've only to look at the last five years and the last two election cycles to see that the Republicans have had a lot of success with making national security and presenting themselves as the party to -- the go-to party on national security. This year, however, you have Democrats who are really on the offense, who are taking a very aggressive stance, trying to present themselves also as a strong party on that subject. And you've also got this split within the Republican Party over here in the Senate, which is potentially very messy, as you head into November midterms, the fact is, if this gets to the floor of the Senate, if the bill that makes it out of Armed Services Committee makes it to the floor of the Senate, and is head-on with the president's legislation you are going to see some of those sound bites by John McCain, Warner and other Republicans ending up in Democratic ads as they try to fight for control of the Senate and the House -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Andrea, thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, get ready to meet the real bionic woman. Claudia Mitchell, 26 years old, she lost her left arm in a motorcycle accident after she left the Marines in 2004. And she has quite the bionic arm to replace the arm she lost.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta live from CNN Center with more on this breakthrough. We saw this once before, though.

There was a gentleman who I believe was severely shocked who used kind of an earlier version of this arm, right, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Jesse Sullivan, who was actually electrocuted, ended up losing both of this arms, and that has a left sort of earlier version, you're right, Miles, of the bionic arm. Claudia Mitchell, a remarkable story, I love stories like this, because you see some real advancements in medicine. She did lose her arm after a motorcycle accident. In August of 2005, she had surgery to prepare her arm specifically for this prosthesis, for this bionic prosthesis. In February of 2006, she was actually fitted. And since April, she's actually been using essentially a bionic arm, a pretty remarkable thing. She's going to be revealing the arm today at a press conference. We are getting this information now.

Again, the first man who received this, Jesse Sullivan, you have seen him in the past actually using his arms. This is the first of its kind really, actually people who had had no function whatsoever in their arms having pretty natural and normal function as opposed to previous prosthesis -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: I think we should point out to people. She has to just think about moving that arm, and it moves, right? There you see some live pictures as they talk about this. And there's Jesse right there with her.

GUPTA: And you can see both. The right one is the normal prosthesis. His left arm is bionic. And obviously Her left arm bionic as well.

Yes, let me tell you, Miles, if I can, as you are watching some of these pictures about how this works, because you're absolutely right, this is different than other prosthesis that actually had motors at specific joints that allowed those joints to move. What they do in this particular case -- you can see the animation there -- they take the nerves that would have gone to the arm. They keep those nerves; they don't cut them. Instead they put them into the chest. They give them a home in the chest, and then the signal still comes down to the brain. When you say that you're actually going to move the arm, the arm will move as it would have otherwise. Your chest muscle contracts, that amplifies the signal, and actually causes arm movement subsequently. So it's very natural, and it's almost instantaneous. It can't do all the 22 or so discrete movements of the arm, but it can do about four to six of them, and that gives them a lot of function they didn't have before, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: I should say. And it also has the capability of providing some sensation of touch back. How does that work?

GUPTA: This is really cool, actually. So in addition to the motor strength that you get from keeping those nerves intact, if they are actually touched on the chest where those nerves are implanted, they can touch and they'll actually say, you're touching my second finger, or you're touching my wrist. So it's not the same. They're not getting sensation from the actual prosthesis, but they can still have the sensation of touch, which is really important, and it's the first time you've actually been able to do that with someone who's had a complete arm amputation -- Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: And this is a $4 million arm. I assume it's going to be quite some time before these are widely used?

GUPTA: Yes, I think so. You know, they're obviously spending a lot of money on this, and they still want to get a lot more of the movements. Miles, if you get a sense, again, the 22 movements of the arm. Typically what they have now is just some external arm rotation, the arm will actually rotate. You actually will be able to bend the elbow back and forth, turn your wrist and open and close your hand. You can get a lot done with those four movements, but still nowhere near where they hope to be someday.

M. O'BRIEN: Complete with a manicure, I noticed, too. Pretty cool.

GUPTA: The nails look great.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay Gupta, that was fascinating. Thank you very much.

GUPTA: We'll keep you posted, thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: All right -- Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, the "Jeopardy" champion Ken Jennings is going to join us in the studio. We -- there he is, working on CNN's genius quiz. It's on our Web site. We'll find out how he did, ask him about his new book, too. It's called "Brainiac."

M. O'BRIEN: Of course.

S. O'BRIEN: That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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M. O'BRIEN: "Jeopardy" superstar Ken Jennings knows a lot about trivia. How else would he score a $2.5 million dollar booty the quiz show? Now he's out with a book on the world of trivia and the people who love it, kind of a subculture, you might say. It's entitled "Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs."

Ken is our guest. Good morning. Good to have you with us.

First of all, how did you do on the test?

KEN JENNINGS, AUTHOR, "BRAINIAC": I feel like I did pretty good.

S. O'BRIEN: Better than pretty good. He's a modest genius. He's a genius, and a modest genius. We scored your test. Six out of six.

JENNINGS: Oh, that's good to know.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

S. O'BRIEN: I got five out of seven. That's like a C.

M. O'BRIEN: I didn't take the test. I bowed out.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, I was surprised, reading your book just how competitive and in some ways not fun the people who are obsessed with trivia make it.

JENNINGS: Well, I don't know, there's people who definitely, you know, are into trivia only to know more than the other guy. You know, the Cliff Clavin know-it-all type. But a lot of the people I meet in "Brainiac" are just sort of normal, very curious, funny people. You know, you watch "Jeopardy" and these are sort of normal Americans.

M. O'BRIEN: Are they geniuses generally or are they kind of just trivia savants? JENNINGS: You know, when I was a kid, I would "Jeopardy" -- you know, I talk in the book about just loving "Jeopardy as a kid -- and I just assumed these are like the smartest people in America, you know, because they know all this trivia, they know all the presidents in order. But I think there's sort of a difference. You know, not everyone who memorizes facts is necessarily a genius, but they often do go hand in hand.

S. O'BRIEN: I read...

M. O'BRIEN: So what -- go ahead.

S. O'BRIEN: I read that you train. I mean, you really had planned to be on "Jeopardy" since you were a child.

JENNINGS: Yes, like for 20 years I wanted to be on this show. And when I found out I was going to be on, I spent a few weeks watching "Jeopardy" like two, three times a day, standing up, you know, behind my recliner at home, pretending I was on the show.

M. O'BRIEN: With the button?

JENNINGS: I had my son's Fischer Price ring stack toy in hand, you know, pretending it was a buzzer, and drilling on flash cards with my wife. It was nuts.

M. O'BRIEN: So you got to be fast with the buzzer as well as being smart? And that's they key. You've got to have that combination, right?

JENNINGS: Yes. "Brainiac" is full of behind the scenes game show secrets. A lot of people don't realize that "Jeopardy" is as much about the thumb as about the brain, you know. Pretty all the contestants know all the answers. They're all very smart people. So it's just a matter of who's figured out the timing.

M. O'BRIEN: I see.

S. O'BRIEN: Two-and-a-half million dollars. Last time we spoke, I asked you what you were going to do with the money and you said something, like, oh, you know, maybe fix my car, or something that left $2,450,000 left. What are you doing now?

JENNINGS: It's not all at your (INAUDIBLE). We're enjoying the budget surplus, you know, in our house, unlike in the rest of the country. I really enjoyed writing the book, so really the money has let me sort of buy time. You know, I don't work at my computer software job anymore.

M. O'BRIEN: No more day job?

JENNINGS: No more day job for the moment. You know, because I'm working from home, I get to see my son all day, I get to see my family. It's nice to have the time.

M. O'BRIEN: Tell me about the thing you posted on the blog about Alex Trebek. You sort of likened him to a robot. What was that all about?

JENNINGS: Well, if you read the whole posts, it's actually just a series of sort of silly, satirical suggestions for fixing "Jeopardy." But they're all bad ideas. You know, I said they should have killer bees and Alex should have a ventriloquist's dummy. I mean, these are not remotely serious suggestions. But some of the sentences were taken out of context so that it sounded like I really was insulting "Jeopardy" and Alex, which was the last thing on my mind.

M. O'BRIEN: So tongue-in-cheek.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, he basically apologized by saying, right, he's a cyborg, I'm sorry.

JENNINGS: That was before the whole thing erupted. Alex knows I love him. Alex, if you're watching, man, you know I love you.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's great. So you're having fun with it still, aren't you?

JENNINGS: Yes, the book tour has been a lot of fun and I'm looking foward to meeting people who have read the book.

M. O'BRIEN: So what's next, then?

JENNINGS: I had such a blast writing "Brainiac," meeting all these trivia nerds. You know, I learned like thousands of great trivia facts. So I think I might write a book of trivia now instead of a book about trivia so I can stop annoying my wife with all this minutia, you know?

S. O'BRIEN: She's like, yes, honey, go write it down.

JENNINGS: Just write another book, Ken.

S. O'BRIEN: Excellent. The book is called "Brainiac." It's truly a fun read. "The adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs." In stores right now, and Ken Jennings is the author and the big winner on "Jeopardy." Nice to see you. Thanks for coming.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks for dropping by.

JENNINGS: Thanks, Soledad, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" is just a couple minutes away. Tony Harris is at the CNN Center. He's got a look for us. Good morning.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning, Soledad. Just an invitation for you to join us in the "NEWSROOM" at the top of the hour.

President Bush, behind closed doors, twisting arms to get new terror legislation. He says it's critical to the fight.

Afghanistan's poppy production in full bloom. Heroin for the West, cold cash for the resurging Taliban.

Silver hair, sharp tongue. We remember the ever-colorful Ann Richards. The former Texas governor dies at 73.

Join Heidi Collins and me in the "NEWSROOM." We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. Soledad, Miles, back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Tony.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Tony.

Today is Thursday, and we know what that means here. Do you know what that means, Ken?

JENNINGS: No, I don't.

M. O'BRIEN: No, he has no idea. It's Miles Cam day, Ken! Keep sending those e-mails. We already had some great ones, but we always like more. Milescam@CNN.com is the place. The place to see the answers is on CNN.com/pipeline, 10:30 Eastern. Stay with us.

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M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment.

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M. O'BRIEN: We have been getting your e-mails today, because it is Thursday, which is Miles-cam day, coming up in a little more than half an hour on Pipeline. CNN.com/pipeline will answer the full wrath of them. But I've got a few previews of you, which you can see right here. And I'll give you the answers right now.

Dan in Quebec has this question. He's talking about the space station. "I have a question regarding the solar array. Will the station be more visible from Earth once the panels are completely opened?"

My best guess answer on that is, Dan, yes, because it doubles the amount of -- a little less than doubles the amount of that reflective mylar, gold mylar, is reflected by the sun.

There you see live pictures as they continue that process.

Both of those arrays, the port and starboard arrays, have been fully deployed now. About a million more solar cells providing electricity for the International Space Station.

And, yes, when the sun's rays catch -- sun catches those solar rays, and it bounces back. If you catch it right around dawn or dusk when you're in darkness, and the space station is still lit by the sun, you can really get quite a show.

Which leads us to Dave in Missouri, with his question, "Will the space station ever be big enough to see from the ground?"

It is big enough now. As a matter of fact, it is one of the brightest stars, if you will, in -- that you can see at all. And there's a Web site you can go to. I think we might have it up and available to you. Go to space flight.nasa.gov and click on the orbital tracking component, which is in real-time data. And right in the middle there, you can see, if you look very carefully -- I don't have the telestrator right now, but the space station is right now in the north Atlantic, not far from Greenland, and you can put in there where you are in the world, and it will give you predictions as to when is a good time to go out and look, and look for that space station. When you see it, it is unbelievable. It streaks across the sky, and it looks like a bright, shining meteor.

A question from Peter in Ontario. We like hearing from our friends in Canada. It's two Canadians on this one. "Why are there never any background stars visible in pictures from the shuttle or the space station?"

It's just a matter of the resolution of the cameras. They're not the best cameras in the world, quite frankly. And when they set their exposure for the space station, in the foreground there, of the Earth, it shuts down the iris such that you can't see the stars. Every now and then you will see them take a camera which is designed for low- light conditions. and you'll see a bunch of stars. And of course the astronauts with the human eye and the range of the human eye, they can adjust and see it all at once, so that would be the place to do it, see it right from space up front, and up close in person.

All right, thanks for the questions. The rest of them 10:30 Eastern on Pipeline. And thanks for being with us this morning.

On behalf of Soledad, who had to duck out early, I'm Miles O'Brien. We will see you tomorrow.

"NEWSROOM" begins right now.

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