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American Morning
Jailhouse Rock: Captive Audience for Contest
Aired March 27, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story we're watching. Just how many pets are dead from that toxic pet food? The numbers are way up overnight.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A view from the top. America's top military commander in the Middle East on whether it's civil war in Iraq and how long American troops could stay.
O'BRIEN: Too many close calls on the runway. Why isn't the plan to keep your plane safe taking flight?
ROBERTS: And change of heart. What now for millions of patients and their doctors who may not need angioplasties after all.
We're live from Baghdad, Jerusalem, New Orleans and New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: And good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Tuesday, March 27th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
ROBERTS: And good morning. I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien. Thanks very much for joining us.
Having one of those difficult days where, you know, I can't even write my name.
O'BRIEN: It's because you get up at 3:00 in the morning when you help us out, which we appreciate.
ROBERTS: You know, I read that "Newsweek" article about, you know, exercising the brain. I firmly believe in that.
O'BRIEN: Yes, give that up too. On this schedule, it's not going to happen.
ROBERTS: Get some blood flowing in there.
Speaking of blood flow, we begin this morning with a major medical development for the nations number one killer -- heart disease. It tuns out angioplasty may not be the best way to save lives or prevent heart attacks in non-emergency patients. This according to a new study out in "The New England Journal of Medicine" today. It says angioplasty, using a balloon and a stent to pry open a blocked artery is no better than conventional drug treatment. That patients who took medicine, such as aspirin and statin, those cholesterol lowering drugs, were no less likely to suffer a heart attack or die than those who had angioplasty. Researchers did note that angioplasty remains a viable procedure for high-risk patients, but they account for only a third of the 1.2 million angioplasties performed each year.
Dr. Steven Nissen is the president of the American College of Cardiology. He joins us from New Orleans.
Dr. Nissen, you have called this a blockbuster study. Those are your words. Why is it a blockbuster?
DR. STEVEN NISSEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY: It's a blockbuster because, you know, more than a million Americans, as you point out, have a stint every year. And the question is, you know, could we treat some of those patients with just medicines. And medicines have gotten so many better in recent years. No one's really been able to test, head to head, optimal medicines versus stinting. And the result was really surprising. People did about equally as well.
ROBERTS: Well, it's a very important study and it's certainly something that we want to talk more about. Do us a favor, Dr. Nissen, stay with us because we want to come back to you in a few minutes to talk more about the results of this important study, from New Orleans there.
Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's turn to Baghdad now where the new head of the U.S. central command is getting his first look at the war zone. His name is Admiral William Fallon. He talked with CNN's Kyra Phillips overnight about what Iraqis are telling him and whether he is seeing civil war. Kyra's in Baghdad wit that.
Kyra, good morning to you. Let's begin with the admiral's first impressions so far. What has he told you?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's only been on the job for a week now, Soledad. He's been Iraq for four days. He's been all over this country. But he spent a lot of time with Iraqis. A lot of time on the streets.
He told me yesterday that he was just walking through one of the main Baghdad streets and he was flocked by a bunch of Iraqis. They saw his entourage and thought, well, this must be somebody important. He sat down with them. He started having tea. What did they say? We need security. We need security. When are you going to give us more security.
So I asked the admiral, what did you tell them? Six months? A year? Could you give them any date? And he said, no, I just can't make promises that I can't keep. At the same time he said, they have to take responsibility in this as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. WILLIAM FALLON, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Do everything they can to help us to identify those who are not likely or just definitely not willing to go abide by the rules of justice. There are some killers that are still loose in this country. I think it's a very small percentage of the population. The idea that the whole country's at war with one another I think is absolutely not true. But there are some zealots here that will stop at nothing. And they don't care how many men, women or children they'll kill or maim.
PHILLIPS: And you don't think there's civil war?
FALLON: No, I don't think it's a civil war. There are factions that are fighting, small factions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And he said that's why he needs more from the locals, Soledad, because they are tuned in to these factions. Everybody has their village, their district, their certain area. And they are the ones that are helping the U.S. military and Iraqi forces find the bad guys. It's the local intel that is helping bring down the insurgents, the militias, and the terrorists that are making life difficult for Iraqis here in this country.
O'BRIEN: Many military personnel, Kyra, as you well know, back away for giving any kind of timetable for withdraw. Does he fall into that camp or has he been able to look out and say, here's what I see down the road?
PHILLIPS: I know, it's like the famous last question, right? When is there going to be security and when can U.S. troops come home? And, of course, I even asked him that. And I even mentioned, look, outgoing Iraqi Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said democracy could take generations in this country.
So I said to the admiral, does that mean U.S. troops could be here for generations? And it was very interesting. He said, well, if you look at other parts of the world, there are U.S. troops in other countries helping to secure those areas and keep the peace. And then at the same time he said, but I just can't imagine that this many troops would be here in Iraq for that long. Still would not commit to a timetable.
O'BRIEN: Only a week on the job and already dodging probably what many people consider to be the most important question.
Kyra Phillips in Baghdad for us.
Thank you, Kyra.
And there is word that the Marine Corps is sending 1,800 reservists back to Iraq. They're Marines who left active duty but still have time left on their eight-year commitments. They are expected to report for duty in October and to be deployed to Iraq early next year.
John.
ROBERTS: News about Afghanistan now. Pat Tillman's family is angry in a blistering response to that new Pentagon report. They say the Army is guilty of criminal negligence, malfeasance, incompetence, concealment, evidence tampering and more. Tillman quit the NFL after 9/11, joined up with the Army and was killed in Afghanistan, but it was more than a month before his family was told that he was killed by friendly, not enemy fire.
The Pentagon report released yesterday says the truth did not come out because three Army investigations into Tillman's death were "deficient." It blames nine officers, four of them generals. All could face discipline, but no suggestion of criminal charges.
The Tillman family is pushing for a congressional investigation. Here's part of their statement after they were briefed on the report. "There is an overpowering suggestion of violations of law, regulation and policy that reaches from the vehicle that fired on Pat and took his life to the office of the secretary of defense."
A top Justice Department official is taking the fifth, refusing to answer questions from Congress about those fired federal prosecutors. Monica Goodling is the Justice Department's liaison with the White House. Her attorney has told her to stay quiet, saying the case is too politically charged to testify about on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tells NBC News, he has questioned whether it's appropriate for him to stay on the job. He says continued claims the Justice Department fired eight U.S. attorneys for political reason are stressful, but he will not step down unless President Bush asks him to.
O'BRIEN: In the Bahamas this morning, prosecutors are going to be taking a new look at the death of Anna Nicole Smith's son Daniel. A jury is now reviewing his case. Twenty-year-old Daniel died last September from a prescription drug overdose. Now the jury's deciding whether his death was an accident, was it suicide or was it murder? As for Anna Nicole, we now know that she died from an accidental drug overdose. The medical examiner told Larry King, a combination of nine drugs, in particular a sleeping aid called chloralhydrate, is what killed her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, BROWARD COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER: By itself it could have caused the death, but perhaps not in a person who is used to the drug. But in combination with the other drugs, definitely all of them together caused the unfortunate death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: As for the fight over Anna Nicole's 6-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, we're awaiting DNA tests that will reveal just who is the father. It's kind of a long list of potentials there, but Howard Stern, Larry Birkhead and a couple of other people are at the top of that list.
And some truly disturbing new developments this morning in that poisoned pet food scare. First, the New York lab that initially ID'ed the rat poison is now testing individual ingredients in the food. They're trying to see exactly what was contaminated. The recall effected 95 brands of cuts and gravy-style dog food and cat food.
And now hundreds of veterinarians across the country are saying that the number of pets who have died from eating the food is much worse than what we originally heard. So far the FDA has confirmed 14 deaths of dogs and cats. Vets say, though, they found 471 cases of kidney failure in pets caused by eating the poisoned food, confirmed at least 104 fatal cases.
ROBERTS: Happening in America this morning.
An aide to Virginia Senator Jim Webb spent the night in jail for carrying an unlicensed gun and ammunition into a Senate office building. It happened on Monday morning. The aide is identified as Phillip Thompson. He's a former Marine. It turned out that the gun was actually Webb's. He was on his way to the airport when he remembered he'd left it in his bag. He gave the gun to Thompson, who put it in his briefcase and then forgot it was there when he went to Capitol Hill. Everybody's forgetting this gun.
Police are investigating the deaths of five people found in a home north of Washington, D.C. Police in Frederick, Maryland, found the four children and one man dead inside the house in Monday. The man, believed to be the children's father, was found hanged. Police are looking for the mother.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin wants state troopers and the National Guard to stay in the city throughout the end of the summer. He's asking Louisiana's governor to extend their stay beyond the June 30th deadline to help patrol the streets. Already 40 murders there this year.
Newark Airport in New Jersey, the Centers for Disease Control giving the all clear and releasing 272 passengers on board a flight from Hong Kong. Seven people on the flight seemed to have flu-like symptoms, which caused the flight to be held. The CDC and Homeland Security now saying that the sickness is nothing to be concerned about.
To Seattle now. Twelve police cars and city vehicles were torched and police are looking for someone spotted running from the scene. It happened in a city garage. One of the cars had a natural gas tank. It exploded, scattering debris on to a nearby highway. No one was hurt, though.
And that brush fire in southwestern Florida that we've been following. That fire is now threatening about 100 homes. It's happening in Lehigh, near Ft. Myers. So far, more than 250 acres have burned. Firefighters say they have the fire 80 percent contained.
O'BRIEN: Is this the fire that started as the controlled burn earlier in the week?
ROBERTS: Oh, that happens all the time.
O'BRIEN: And then it just spread out of control?
ROBERTS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Wow, what a mess.
Let's talk about close calls on the runway. Believe it or not, it happens more than you might think. Already this year, the FAA is reporting nine runway close calls. They call them incursions. There were 68 in 2006. There were 50 in 2005. Thirty years after the world's deadliest plane accident, which is when two jumbo jets collided on a runway in the Canary Islands and killed 583 people, officials are still trying to figure out what to do about it. CNN's Kathleen Koch has our story this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A Frontier AirBus A-319 is about to land in Denver. But as this just released National Transportation Safety Board animation of the January incident shows, it doesn't know a small plane has strayed on to the runway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frontier 297, go around (ph).
KOCH: The planes miss colliding by just 50 feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 4216, where you at again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) 4216. Yes, we made a wrong turn there.
KOCH: Nearly every day on the nation's runways, a plane gets too close to another aircraft, building or vehicle on the ground. One in 10 runway incursions is serious, like this one in Los Angeles in 2004 when a controller cleared two planes to use the same runway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 440, cancel takeoff clearance, hold in position.
KOCH: But federal safety officials are at odds over how to fix the problem. The Federal Aviation Administration Friday announced what most see as an interim step. Quick approval of technology to give pilots a moving map display in the cockpit, similar to GPS used by drivers.
MARION BLAKEY, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: Which runway am I on is the basic question. Where am I going? And this is very valuable information that the device will provide.
KOCH: But it has drawbacks. The unit won't show where our planes are or alert pilots if a collision is imminent. The NTSB has been pushing for that type of system for more than a decade.
MARK ROSENKER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: Runway incursions are serious threats to aviation safety. We believe that the FAA must do something and do something quickly.
KOCH: The FAA says such technology is years away and that any improvement is just that.
BLAKEY: Well, following the NTSB's recommendation, it seems the technology exists, which it does not at this point.
KOCH: Pilots agree the moving map system . . .
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That was CNN's Kathleen Koch with that report. Sixty- eight close calls on the nation's runway just last year.
John.
ROBERTS: Coming up, he took a lot of heat for spending $2,500 taxpayer money, your money, to have a chandelier cleaned in his house. Now the head of the Smithsonian is paying the price.
And another heartless thug caught on tape beating up a 77-year- old. Who would do such a thing and why?
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In Ft. Wane, Indiana, this morning, another brutal beating caught on tape. The victim this time around is a 77-year-old man who was working as a clerk at a GNC store. Take a look at this. The attacker comes in, asks for help, then starts punches the employee. He keeps hitting him even when he's down. Then he drags him in the back room. Eventually he has to go back to a -- oh, it's horrible. Look at him. He just keeps pounding on him.
Anyway, the suspect got away with $270 and two phones. The poor victim was bruised and bleeding, but, believe it or not, thank goodness, he had no serious injuries. And, of course, that attack follows the beatings in New York that we've been covering of two elderly women, one who's 85 and one who's 101, beaten up by a mugger. It happened earlier in the month. In all these cases, the attacker is still not caught.
It is 15 minutes past the hour. That means it's time for Chad. He's at the CNN Weather Center watching what is going to be a nice day in New York.
Chad, bless you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Back to our top stories now.
A blockbuster study about angioplasty. A major, new study found that in many cases drugs alone kept arteries clear just as well as the procedure. Dr. Steven Nissen is president of the American College of Cardiology. He joins us again from New Orleans. Dr. Nissen, do us favor. Just so that we're all on the same page here. Can you explain for us what a stint is and how it's inserted in the heart?
NISSEN: Sure. It's inserted through a small tube, generally put from the groin up into the arteries in the heart. And a stint is really a small, wire mesh device that with a balloon is used to prop open the coronary. And it kind of makes a new channel, opens things up so that more blood flow can get through the blocked area.
ROBERTS: So what did this study find in terms of stints versus drugs?
NISSEN: Well, everybody in the study got very aggressive medical therapy, cholesterol lowering drugs, blood pressure lowering drugs, aspirin. But half of the patients got a stint and half of them didn't. They were followed for almost five years. And at the end of five years, almost exactly the same number of patients in each group were still alive, hadn't had a heart attack and were doing very well.
ROBERTS: Here's the thing that I don't understand. The study found that patients who had stints and cholesterol lowering therapy with the statin drugs had better blood flow to the heart than people who were treated simply with drugs, and yet there was no difference in the heart attack rate. How do you explain that?
NISSEN: We understand it quite well that most heart attacks do not occur at the site of the most blocked area in the coronary. There are many, many other plaques in the coronary. And one of those plaques will rupture, a blood clot occurs and that's what causes a heart attack. The stint is only covering perhaps 1 percent or 2 percent of all the plaque in the coronary and that's not enough to prevent the next heart attack.
ROBERTS: And we should also point out, Dr. Nissen, that this was for patients that have what's called stable chest pain. It's not somebody who's having a heart attack who needs an emergency procedure. What's the take away from the study for those patients?
NISSEN: I think if you're a patient that has very stable chest pain, you have choices now. You can elect to have medical therapy alone, drug therapy. And if you do well, you may actually become completely free of symptoms in the first year. There's no need for you to get a stint. But if you ever get to the point where your quality of life is impaired, you can always have a stint later. Deferring the procedure isn't going to compromise your long-term health.
ROBERTS: Wow, that's great. And I'm sure, as well, it's a huge differential in cost, as well. The average stint implacement costs about $25,000.
Dr. Steven Nissen, thanks very much for joining us with that important news this morning. Appreciate it.
NISSEN: My pleasure. ROBERTS: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, say it ain't so. Even pricey Tiffany's is feeling the pinch at the gas pump. We'll tell you why.
And a beloved American institution, the world's biggest museum complex, the Smithsonian, now under fire for the former director's big spending.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Lavish spending by the head of an organization. Sounds like a corporate scandal, but it actually happened at the Smithsonian with taxpayers' dollars. Lawrence Small resigned as head of the Smithsonian after details of his compensation were made public by "The Washington Post." "The Post" reported that Small's base salary nearly doubled from $330,000 in 2000 when he took the job, to more than $617 this year. OK. So what's the problem there, you say? Well, Small's spending habits also were questioned. $300,000 to redecorate, including $13,000 for a conference table, $2,000 each for two arm chairs and $1,500 for a wall sconce.
O'BRIEN: That's ridiculous.
ROBERTS: But it doesn't stop there.
O'BRIEN: A wall sconce.
ROBERT: A wall sconce. But it doesn't stop there. It was an ancient Etruscan (ph) wall sconce, I understand.
And because Small used his own home for Smithsonian functions, he received more than, cha-ching, $1 million in housing allowances during his tenure. That includes $273,000 on housekeeping -- that's a lot of beds to make -- $12,000 on swimming pool maintenance and $2,500 for cleaning a chandelier. I would have done it for half the price.
The Smithsonian operates 18 museums and the National Zoo. It's a non-profit organization that receives federal funding. $615 million last year. Christian Samper (ph), who's the director of the Museum of Natural History will serve as the acting secretary while the Smithsonian searches for a permanent replacement for Small, who is now out cleaning chandeliers himself.
O'BRIEN: Isn't there someone who oversees that? That's ridiculous. This is like corporate scandal deshure (ph), but with my money.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just think that they should probably have absolutely no dust in that house.
ROBERTS: Ever.
ELAM: You should walk in and be able to eat off the floor. ROBERTS: Ever. There's no dust ever.
ELAM: Exactly. Ever. Yes.
O'BRIEN: That's just ridiculous.
ELAM: Well, let's talk about a different kind of cleaning. Can we go from there and start (ph) "Minding Your Business."
O'BRIEN: Stephanie Elam, "Minding Your Business." Twenty-five minutes past the hour. There you go, your official intro.
ELAM: I'm officially here.
Now let's talk a little bit about what's going on as far as consumer spending. That's obviously something very important for all of us to take a look at because it gives us an idea of where the economy is going. Well, we can tell you that we've got an idea because of companies like Tiffany's. They're actually showing that people are starting to hold back a little bit.
Now Wal-Mart, companies on that level, we've seen lower income Americans holding back their spending. That hits those companies first. And then companies in the middle market, like Tiffany's, are seeing it, reporting flat sales. So it's not a huge, huge difference right now, but you can definitely see that it's playing its part at this point.
Part of the issue too is the recent softness that we've seen in the housing market and that is another issue because yesterday we did get some numbers on February. New home sales were actually down 4 percent and that is the slowest paced in more than six years. That was just before we fell into a recession. So that gave the markets a little bit of a jitter.
One other thing worth mentioning. A lot of the homes are on the market right now. In fact, we're up to a 16-year high in that arena. So that's giving another little bit of a pause.
So taking a look at the markets yesterday, they were a bit mixed and it did break its five-day winning streak at this point because of the Dow being down yesterday 12 points to 12,469. The Nasdaq was up nearly seven points, coming in at 2,455. And there's renewed fears about the housing market based on these numbers that came out for the new home sales yesterday. So when you take a look at that, it's giving people a little bit of wonder of whether or not we're going to see some more worries about the sub-prime lending and whether that's going to affect the markets going forward.
O'BRIEN: I think, yes. I think, yes. It's not -- that one's not going away.
ELAM: Yes, I don't think we're done with it at this point. Yes.
O'BRIEN: All right, Stephanie Elam for us this morning. Thank you, Steph. The top stories of the morning are coming up next.
You know I have so many -- do you have people call you and e-mail you about this pet food story?
ROBERTS: No.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I know a ton of people whose pets have died.
ROBERTS: Nobody.
O'BRIEN: Really? And now the vets are saying it's much worse than we originally thought.
ROBERTS: It's terrible.
O'BRIEN: The number of dogs and cats across the country who have been killed. We're going to update you on the numbers coming up this morning.
And then remember this guy? Yes, we dubbed him New York's subway super hero. Well, he's in the headlines again. We'll tell you why this time.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's Tuesday, March 27th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts, in for Miles O'Brien this morning. Happy Tuesday to you.
O'BRIEN: Thank you for helping us out. We certainly appreciate it.
ROBERTS: Hey, I was glad to be here.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: It's always fun to make that trip to New York.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. We appreciate that.
ROBERTS: A little shopping...
O'BRIEN: Yes, a little work.
ROBERTS: I'd love to go out for dinner, but unfortunately...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Several developing stories we're following for you this morning, and there are some disturbing new numbers coming in overnight, reports that toxic pet food may have killed lots more dogs and cats than first thought.
ROBERTS: And we've been following what's a blockbuster study on angioplasty. You know, those operations to open blocked arteries in the heart. More than a million Americans have them. Now a new study shows that most didn't need that surgery.
O'BRIEN: And the video of the morning, they call him Toadzilla. Look at that.
ROBERTS: Whoa.
O'BRIEN: That is a two-pound toad with a little normal sized toad on top of his back.
ROBERTS: Look at the size of that.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Be careful, though, he's poisonous. Look at that. That's like a cat.
ROBERTS: It looks like a giant Bufo toad.
O'BRIEN: Ooh, he's giant.
We're going to update you what's going on with this toad in Australia straight ahead.
Also, we heard overnight from the family of former Army Ranger Pat Tillman. A blistering response to the Pentagon's report about his death by friendly fire, accusing the Army of criminal negligence, evidence-tampering, and much more.
Now, Tillman quit the NFL, you'll remember, after 9/11. He joined the Army. He was killed in Afghanistan. More than a month, though, before his family was told that, in fact, he died by friendly fire.
The Pentagon report was released yesterday, it called three Army investigations deficient. It blames nine officers -- four of them are generals. All could face discipline, but there is no suggestion of criminal charges at this point.
Now, the Tillman family is still pushing for a congressional investigation. They released this statement yesterday, saying this, "There is an overpowering suggestion of violations of law, regulation and policy that reaches from the vehicle that fired on Pat and took his life, to the office of the secretary of defense."
They are furious.
We'll see what the next step in that is.
Also, there is word this morning that the Marine Corps is sending 1,800 reservists back to Iraq. They're Marines who left active duty but still have time on their eight-year commitment. They're expected to report for duty in October and will be deployed to Iraq early next year. ROBERTS: A top Justice Department official is taking the Fifth, refusing to answer questions from Congress about those fired federal prosecutors. Monica Goodling is the Justice Department's liaison with the White House. Her attorney has told her to stay quiet, saying the case is too politically charged to testify about on Capitol Hill.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tells NBC News that he has questioned whether it's appropriate for him to stay on the job. He says he is pained by Democratic and Republican criticism that he has lost credibility over the firing of those U.S. attorneys.
In just a few hours, Congress is going to take a close look at safety on cruise ships. A House panel will hear from several people with real horror stories. They include a passenger who claims she was raped by a crew member and a father who says his daughter's disappearance was ignored.
Congress is debating whether to ramp up laws protecting cruise ship passengers.
Also on the Hill today, FBI Director Robert Mueller will be on the hot seat taking questions from senators about the FBI's abuse of the Patriot Act. Earlier this month, a report by the inspector general found the FBI improperly used the Patriot Act to collect personal information on Americans.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way back home right now after three days of shuttling between Arab, Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Before leaving Israel early this morning, Ms. Rice announced that Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to meet every two weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The most important thing is they've agreed to talk together. Now, occasionally, I'll show up and I'll talk with them, but nothing can substitute for the importance of the parties sitting down together, regularly, talking about the issues before them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Progress in the Middle East is a high priority in the final years of the Bush administration, but still lots of criticisms that they are not engaged heavily enough -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: There are some new developments this morning in that poisoned pet food scare that's left dogs and cats, hundreds of them, dead across the country. First, a New York lab that initially I.D.'d the poison has started testing individual ingredients in the food. They're trying to figure out exactly what's been contaminated.
Then, last week, the New York State Food Lab announced that it was a form of rodent poison that's banned in the U.S. that's behind the scare. The recall affected 95 brands of cuts and gravy-style dog and cat food. And numbers, wow, they're really adding up. The situation is worse than anybody had first thought.
There's word from hundreds of veterinarians across the country about the death toll. The FDA is confirming 14 deaths of dogs and cats. Vets, though, say they found 471 cases of kidney failure in pets caused by eating the poisoned food, and they've confirmed at least 104 fatal cases -- John.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Health news is making our top story this morning.
A major heart study with some very big implications has found that having an angioplasty is no better than treatment with medications to clear blocked arteries. That's in staple patients.
You know how the procedure works, like this -- a balloon is inserted into the artery, the balloon is blown up, then the artery is propped open with a little stent. Like a little mesh screen.
In non-emergency situations, it turns out, though, that the risk of dying from a heart attack is the if you had the invasive and expensive surgery, or if you took aspirin and blood thinners and medication to lower your cholesterol and then change some of your lifestyle habits.
1.2 million Americans had angioplasty last year. It's not cheap. It costs $40,000 per surgery.
Another strike against trans fats. This one in a study from the Harvard School of Public Health. It found that women with the highest levels of trans fats in their blood are three times more likely to have heart disease than women who have the lowest levels of trans fats.
Now, trans fats are in those processed oils used to make cookies, pastries and fried food. And trans fat not made naturally. It's only in your diet. That's the only way they could have gotten it, through their diet.
Drugs used to treat acid reflux disease in adults, it turns out they're safe and effective for children. That's the worse from Canadian researchers, who say drugs like Prilosec and Prevacid have revolutionized their treatment for kids. The kids need to be watched, they say, for iron, calcium and B12 deficiencies.
You'll want to toss some more blueberries on your yogurt this morning. Another new study is confirming blueberries benefit in fighting colon cancer. They have a natural anti-oxidant. Grapes, red wine also have it, too. Antioxidants help fight cancer.
That study is reported by the American Chemical Society.
Pizza, believe it or not, can be a cancer fighter, too.
ROBERTS: Yes! Yes!
O'BRIEN: Finally, a story we can relate to. Whole grain, whole wheat crust baked at higher temperatures for a longer time, believe it or not, it increases antioxidants in the crust.
ROBERTS: Wow. You can actually bake goodness into something.
O'BRIEN: There's a little asterisk on this story, though, and here it is. If you put too much cheese on it, which is high in fat, if you put sausage and pepperoni and all the good stuff, it outweighs the benefits.
ROBERTS: Yes, there's always a catch.
O'BRIEN: Yes, there's always a catch.
ROBERTS: Always a catch.
Astronauts usually have to deal with what they call thermostabilized food in space, like dehydrated mac and cheese, dehydrated chicken a la king. But when you're a billionaire, like Microsoft billionaire Charles Simonyi, you can bring along something delicious with you.
Simonyi will be dining on wine-roasted quail, duck breast, and rice pudding in space, all courtesy of his good friend, Martha Stewart. Here's a shot of Simonyi tasting the standard NASA stuff. He's scheduled to launch on April the 7th for an 11-day stay on the International Space Station, paying out $20 million for the opportunity.
Coming up to 44 minutes after the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center.
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ROBERTS: Catching you up now on news from the campaign trail.
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards will all be speaking at the Communications Workers of America in Washington this morning. The CWA represents about.700,000 phone, television and Internet workers.
And Senator Clinton is roaring toward this week's fund-raising reporting deadline. With a little help from her husband, Clinton took in more than $6 million in the past week. Bill Clinton helped raise about $3.7 million of that at fund-raisers in New York and D.C., according to a campaign spokesman.
Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign fixed a potentially dangerous problem with its Web site. The flaw could have allowed hackers to access personal information submitted by volunteers. But thanks to a tip from The Associated Press, the site was fixed before any information was stolen. The site, joinrudy2008.com, was launched last week.
And, of course, all the day's political news is available any time, day or night, at CNN.com/ticker. Check it out.
O'BRIEN: Well, you've heard of identical twins. That's when one fertilized egg splits into two. You've heard of fraternal twins, that's what I have, two eggs fertilized at the same time.
Now, apparently, there's a third kind of twin. Scientists have discovered semi-identical twins. Very, very rare. In a nutshell, they're identical on the mother's side, fraternal on the father's side.
Kind of weird, right?
ROBERTS: Yes, kind of weird. But how do you tell?
O'BRIEN: I don't know.
ROBERTS: I mean, just by looking at them. Obviously, DNA...
O'BRIEN: Well, apparently, they would be close but not -- not exactly identity DNA-wise. It's in the "Journal of Human Genetics".
ROBERTS: Cool.
"American Idol" can make or break a wannabe superstar's dreams. But what about "Inmate Idle"?
CNN's Gary Tuchman listens in.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Talk about a captive audience. And this jailhouse, or jail yard, to be precise, an "American Idol" type competition to help increase inmate's self-esteem. This contest at the Maricopa County, Arizona, lockup, is billed at "Inmate Idle," spelled I-D-L -E.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): Oh, how you sang to me.
TUCHMAN: Six inmates in the finals. Their musical choices running the gamut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): Sitting in the morning sun...
TUCHMAN: The inmates singing like canaries.
UNIDENTIFIED CROWD (SINGING): ... I've got friends in low places.
TUCHMAN: "Friends in Low Places," sung by a man with a sense of irony, Gary Fisher (ph), behind bars for auto theft and aggravated DUI. The judge is an Elvis impersonator, a real rock legend, Alice Cooper, and the county sheriff, Joe Arpaio.
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Great song that you picked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): Can you take me higher...
TUCHMAN: The contestants worked their fellow inmates into a frenzy because the winner's jail section would share the first prize.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): I guess you'd say...
TUCHMAN: Corey Brothers (ph), serving time for violating probation...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): ... what can make me feel this way? My girl...
TUCHMAN: ... his version of "My Girl" brought down the house.
ALICE COOPER, MUSICIAN: Now, I'm from Detroit, you know, so that's Motown. I know my Motown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're a winner, Mr. Corey (ph).
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: We should also point out that any rap music that was performed was bad rap. No. OK.
O'BRIEN: You know what? You're making me hankering for Miles with his bad jokes.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: And that's a...
ROBERTS: OK. How about this one, then? Those guys can actually make horizontal stripes look good.
No? OK.
O'BRIEN: You want to just move on.
ROBERTS: What was the prize for winning "Inmate Idle"? Deliveries from Pizza Hut and McDonald's.
A lot of fun for a guy who is normally really hard on convicts, too.
O'BRIEN: Arpaio, yes, he's the guy who put them in the pink stripes. And he's the tough guy. So this was kind of an interesting change for him.
How about this one? Not a Kodak moment. Lots of questions this morning about how the company is dealing with complaints from consumers.
And get a load of this big toad. I'm a poet and I didn't know it.
In Australia, Toadzilla. We'll tell you what's going on there. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
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ROBERTS: Kodak resigns its membership and a national consumer protection group over customer complaints about its cameras.
A couple of minutes now before the top of the hour. Stephanie Elam here "Minding Your Business".
Good morning, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
It's a case of, "You want us out, we quit." That's what Kodak is doing here.
Basically, they've quit the Council of Better Business Bureaus because the group was actually beginning expulsion proceedings against the company because it says that they forwarded some complaints to the headquarters and they never told them how they resolved them. But Kodak says they have a 99 percent resolution rate with these issues that have come up, whether they be about non-working digital cameras, or whether it has to do with consumer representatives.
But the interesting part here is that this is the regional office that covers the Rochester, New York, headquarters of Kodak. So it basically became a little issue that has now become a big issue overall. So it's kind of interesting to see what they're doing now.
But they said, we're out of it, we've actually resolved these issues -- we've had little skirmishes with them over what's going to happen with the Better Business Bureau, and they're just like, thanks.
O'BRIEN: Doesn't it hurt your reputation to quit the Better Business Bureau, though?
ROBERTS: One would think.
ELAM: Well, they seem to not really care about that. And the one thing I didn't know about the Better Business Bureau, it is made up of more than two dozen company members that came together and founded the Better Business Bureau in 1971. So...
O'BRIEN: Right. So that's like a little smack on the hand by your own competitors and people in the industry. I think that might hurt them in the long run. ELAM: It could. We'll see.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Stephanie.
We're coming up at the top of the hour. Chad is at the weather center with an update on -- is the big weather story today our beautiful weather her in New York?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is.
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