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American Morning

Airport Death: Police Release New Video; Marion Jones and Steroids; Mortgage Meltdown: Congress Helping Homeowners

Aired October 05, 2007 - 07:59   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back.
Thanks for joining us on this Friday, October the 5th.

I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

Brand new this morning, some new details of Carol Ann Gotbaum's final moments alive. Police releasing the video of her arrest at the Phoenix airport before she was found dead in a holding cell. And they also released transcripts of a phone call with her husband in which he says that his wife was an alcoholic and suicidal. It was a call placed about five minutes after her arrest.

We talked with an attorney for the family and we're going to hear from him in a moment. No one is still sure what happened to the 45- year-old mother of three in that holding room where she died alone in handcuffs and a shackle.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has new details from our National Update Desk.

And as you pointed out in the last hour, they did conduct two autopsies, but still not releasing any information about how she died.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, Kiran. No official cause of death just yet. But this airport surveillance video that you just referred to is really the only inside look we have of Gotbaum just moments before she died in police custody.

Now, there is no audio on the tape, but you can see for yourself, though it's grainy, that Gotbaum is upset. She's eventually surrounded by several police officers, and moments later Gotbaum is either forced to the ground or falls to the ground before she is handcuffed and shackled.

Now, the 45-year-old mother of three later died in a holding cell. She was left alone there. Gotbaum's family says she was manhandled, but police maintain they followed procedure and she likely strangled while trying to escape from the handcuffs. They say Gotbaum, who was on her way to alcohol rehab when she missed her light to Tucson, may have been drunk when she went into a tirade at the airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SGT. ANDY HILL, PHOENIX POLICE DEPT.: We have information that indicates that alcohol may have been involved, yes. And that either came through observations of officers -- but as far as definitive information that that was part of her physiology, that will have to be determined by the medical examiner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Also new this morning, Gotbaum's husband, we're learning, Noah, made several calls to emergency dispatchers while his wife was still alive. He was trying to warn them that she was in a deep depression, saying in one call, "She is suicidal. The police have to understand that they're not dealing with someone who's been just drinking on a flight and acting rowdy. That's not what is going on here."

But despite repeated attempts, Noah Gotbaum never got through to the officers who were holding his wife. Police say they weren't away that Carol Ann Gotbaum was depressed and suicidal.

And Kiran, on the question whether she was drunk, it could be weeks before we know for sure. Those toxicology test results won't be done for another one to three weeks.

CHETRY: All right.

Alina Cho with an update for us this morning.

Thanks.

ROBERTS: Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones admits to using performance-enhancing drugs. Jones said that she used a substance called The Clear while training for the Sydney games, where she won five medals, including three golds. Jones says that she thought it was simply flax seed oil, a nutritional supplement, but it's really a designer steroid called THG.

What is THG and what does it do?

Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with some answers.

This is actually called tetrahydrogestrinone, but what is it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a designer steroid. That was a pretty good pronunciation, John. It's a hard word to say.

THG, it's also called The Cream, it's called The Clear. You can take it as a pill, you can also take it as a cream. People actually rub it on their skin. So this is something that's been around for sometime.

And substances like these, people have heard maybe of THG. They may have also heard of a substance known as andro, another designer steroid. Those used to be legal. You could actually buy some of these substances or very similar substances at health food stores legally, but some time ago they became illegal.

And you just mentioned this whole relationship with flax seed oil. There was a time where it was transported perhaps with flax seed oil or taken with flax seed oil, and that's where I think some of that relationship came in.

Obviously, some people were told it was just flax seed oil, which we now know is not the case. It's a designer steroid, as I mentioned, John.

A designer steroid basically means you're looking at the molecular structure of testosterone, which in and of itself is not that complicated. But people will add various hydrogen molecules to try to make it a little bit different, and the idea, really, as you might imagine, to escape detection -- John.

ROBERTS: Yes. And how powerful was this stuff, Sanjay? Some people considered it to be the Holy Grail of performance-enhancing drugs.

GUPTA: It did seem like it was very powerful. And obviously, some of this is dependent on a person's individual physiology and it's dependent on the concentrations of the stuff that you take. But a lot of it is still basically broken down in the body into testosterone. That's sort of the goal of this stuff, is to ultimately make it more testosterone.

Now, you know, there was a lot of talk about what it does to the body externally. We also know a lot about what it does to the body internally.

It has some significant potential side-effects, including liver tumors. It actually can raise your bad cholesterol, lower your good cholesterol. It can also cause sort of aggressive behaviors which, John, we've talked about a lot with reference to other stories, psychiatric problems, depression, heart disease, later on down the line as well.

ROBERTS: Now, not to say that Marion Jones was doing this, but many, many athletes, bodybuilders in particular, take these steroids in what are called a stacks, a number of different steroids altogether.

So what is the overall effect on the body from that stack?

GUPTA: Yes, that's probably -- that's a huge rob problem, because again, the stacking idea is that you're taking different drugs, or at least it seems so. But what the body is basically doing, it's saying, get rid of these various hydrogen molecules here, they're not really doing anything, and breaking it down into what becomes mega doses of hormones.

When you taking lots of hormones like this, the body that produces any natural hormones suddenly says, OK, you know what? We don't need to produce hormones anymore. We're getting so much of this externally, we'll stop. And it can shut down your pituitary gland, it can shut down your adrenal glands, and that can cause a real problem in people -- again, either in the short term or the long term -- John.

ROBERTS: Not a good effect.

Sanjay Gupta for us this morning on the effects of THG.

Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Kiran.

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, it's time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning. And there is a big economic report out in about 25 minutes.

Ali Velshi is at our Business Update Desk to explain why this one really matters to a lot of people.

Hi, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran. It's about jobs.

We're about 20 minutes away from the monthly employment report. It comes out at 8:30 Eastern.

Last month, there was a big surprise. We were expecting to have more than 100,000 jobs created, and we found out that 400,000 jobs had been lost. Now we're looking to see what happens in September. Here is the expectation.

Again, experts are looking for more than 100,000 jobs created. Remember, this is important because as our population grows, more than 100,000 working-aged people are added to the economy every month, so we need more than 100,000 jobs just to keep the unemployment rate the same.

At 100,000, we're still not creating net jobs, which means the unemployment rate is expected in 20 minutes to go up to an annual rate of 4.7 percent. Right now, it's 4.6 percent.

Now, this affects you, because obviously a job is more important than the price of gas and the price of your home, because you need an income in order to do anything. But fundamentally, the jobs picture across the board makes a difference to Americans. If there is more unemployment, wages are lower. If there's more unemployment more people lose their homes, the price of homes continues to fall.

So, it is important to us that we see that jobs growth, and we'll see the market reacting when we hear that number.

So, at 8:30 Eastern, I'll be here to let you know what the jobs report for the month of September looks like and whether it pushes us further into recession or economic growth.

CHETRY: Sounds good. We'll be watching for it.

Ali, thanks so much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, the House is trying to help homeowners. In fact, just yesterday, passing legislation to help financially strapped people facing foreclosure or bankruptcy because of the mortgage crisis.

ROBERTS: The big question is, is it going to be enough?

CNN's personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, here to tell us more about that -- Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, guys, I've got to tell you, this is typical of what's going on in Congress right now. They're putting lots of ideas out on the table, but they're passing absolutely nothing. It's outrageous.

We're going to show you some comments today from some of the congressmen out there, what they say they're doing and what's really happening.

Let's start with Chris Dodd.

He is the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, he's a candidate for president. He's very talkative on this topic. Back in March, at the end of March, he had this to say about the mortgage meltdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), BANKING COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: The one thing I know for sure, we simply cannot sit back and watch 2.2 million families lose their home and with them, their financial futures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: Now, as you can see, he seems pretty adamant about that, but I've got to tell you, Dodd wanted to go after a non-legislative solution to solve this problem. He brought lots of people together last spring, but guess what? At the end of the day, only one percent of people with subprime mortgages are actually getting workouts from their lenders.

It's not working. And Dodd has introduced no bills so far.

ROBERTS: So who else is out there trying to solve this crisis? WILLIS: Senator Charles Schumer. I mean, you can't turn on the TV without seeing Schumer talking about the mortgage meltdown. And he does have a bill out there that is languishing right now.

It's a bill that would give $200 million to groups to help people in this mortgage crisis, but it hasn't passed yet. We're still waiting on that. He has introduced two other bills.

One other fellow out here, Barney Frank.

CHETRY: And that's the one you said yesterday may have the most chance of getting through the Senate.

WILLIS: Yes. You know, people really look to him to find solutions here. He is chairman of the House financial Services Committee. He talked to me personally on our show -- we've covered this year for a year and a half now -- about what was keeping this, you know, from being solved, why was it taking so long to solve this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), FINANCIAL SERVICES CHAIRMAN: You asked me why is it taking so long? Because we have been in power since January. And I hope we will pass (INAUDIBLE) this year. That's one of the differences it makes of the Democrats versus the Republicans who are in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: All right. It's nine months later. There is no Barney Frank bill introduced. We're still waiting.

CHETRY: And he is getting any support from the other House as well to try to come together with something? Because the House...

WILLIS: No.

CHETRY: ... did pass something, and now it's in the hands of the Senate.

WILLIS: That's right. We're still waiting for a bill to get passed. There are many ideas on the table. We talked about Hillary Clinton's idea. Everybody -- Barack Obama -- everybody has something out there, but nothing is getting through.

ROBERTS: All right. Well, Gerri, you're going to having more of this on your program on the weekend, right?

WILLIS: That's right, 9:30 a.m. on CNN, Saturday morning. Join us.

ROBERTS: All right. There you are, "OPEN HOUSE," mortgage meltdown -- hot property, battling insurance claims, all coming your way Saturday 9:30 and Sunday 3:30, as well as Saturday afternoon, here on CNN.

CHETRY: We'll be watching.

Gerri, thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Now to a CNN special investigation, "Planet in Peril," a look at how climate change is affecting the earth.

Anderson Cooper recently visited a small island off of the coast of Greenland, an island that didn't exist before the ice started melting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Constable Point, Greenland. To say this place is remote is an understatement.

We're here with explorer Dennis Schmitt, traveling up the east coast to his latest discovery. After a few flybys, we touch down. This is one of the world's newest and least explored islands.

DENNIS SCHMITT, EXPLORER: No one has ever been here before. We're the first people ever to walk here.

COOPER (on camera): No one has ever been here, really?

SCHMITT: No. We're the first to ever walk here.

COOPER (voice over): Schmitt didn't expect to make this discovery. He literally sailed right into it.

(on camera): When did you realize, wait a minute, this is not -- this is an island?

SCHMITT: Well, I realized something was wrong. Either I was in a different place, or the place where I was had completely changed. And I pointed to the area of open water and (INAUDIBLE) and I said that's the world's newest island.

COOPER (voice over): Here, in the Arctic's bitter cold, an island revealed because of Greenland's retreating ice shelf.

SCHMITT: It's the first example of an island actually breaking away from the continental mass.

COOPER: He named it a Warming Island, a permanent reminder of a warming Earth.

(on camera): It was a moment you dreamed of your whole life?

SCHMITT: Yes. Yes, when you're a kid and you think of that, you think -- you fantasize you can do that. But, of course, you don't think you'll really do it.

COOPER (voice over): But as a kid, Schmitt was well on his way to a life off the beaten path. Schmitt says he was tapped as a prodigy in his native California, placed in a special school as a child. And by 11, he says he was composing symphonies.

Then, at 19, he was restless in the modern world, so he went to live with the Eskimos in Alaska. After that, he took it a step further, literally. He walked across the Bering Strait.

SCHMITT: There was nobody to stop me. There were no soldiers, no rifle shots, nothing. I just kept walking. And I ended up on a Soviet island.

COOPER: And he's been traveling the Arctic ever since.

SCHMITT: I've had this since I was 16.

COOPER: Part explorer...

SCHMITT: "And I would ride his sled..."

COOPER: ... part poet and philosopher...

SCHMITT: "Between those reigning in the rain."

COOPER: ... musician and composer.

SCHMITT: I'm trying to invent a new kind of opera. The music I write and the poetry I write is just who I am.

All my life as an explorer, I was carrying notebooks around with me and writing music and poetry, all the while I was in the Arctic. I've never stopped doing that.

COOPER: Schmitt's island has become a visible symbol of climate change.

SCHMITT: I think that historically, Warming Island is going to be, by far, the most important thing I've discovered.

COOPER: Now 61, Dennis still makes several trips to the Arctic each year, hoping for more discoveries. Discoveries he believes can send a message to the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: The "Planet in Peril" CNN special with Anderson Cooper airs Tuesday and Wednesday, October the 23rd and 24th, 9:00 Eastern, in high-definition television.

It's going to be a great series.

CHETRY: It's going to be gorgeous, too, with high definition.

(NEWSBREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Friday, October 5th.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.

We've got the ballot jackpot in front of us this morning. I'm looking forward to this, because we've got some really good topics today.

CHETRY: We do.

ROBERTS: Yes.

Also, brand new this morning, Carol Ann Gotbaum's final moments alive. Police have released video of her Phoenix airport arrest. This is closed circuit television before the New York woman was found dead in a holding cell.

There you can see her surrounded by three police officers. She goes to the ground. They go down with her, take her hands behind her back, handcuff her, then they later take her away.

They also released transcripts of a phone call from her husband, a series of them, actually, in which he's pleading with the dispatcher to put him in contact with the arresting officers, because he wants to tell them that she was a alcoholic and suicidal.

Earlier, I spoke earlier with the Gotbaum's attorney, who says that the mother of three and recovering alcoholic may have been drinking during her layover at the airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MANNING, GOTBAUM FAMILY LAWYER: By the time she reached the gate, she found out that she was denied boarding; she had a very, very strong emotional reaction to that. And we believe that that just wasn't just a result of her being upset because of her determination to get well. We believe she may have been drinking but we have no evidence of that at this point yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The family says that Carol Ann Gotbaum was on her way to an alcohol treatment center in Tucson at the time. It is still unclear what happened to her in that holding room where she died all alone in handcuffs and shackled to a bench.

A tense standoff in new Hampshire is finally over. Convicted tax evaders, Ed and Elaine Brown arrested last night after held up in their home for almost a year. They were heavily armed and threatened that they wouldn't be taken alive. Earlier this year, their power and telephone service was cut but the couple had a generator. The feds say the Browns will begin serving 63 months in federal prison.

CHETRY: Elizabeth Edwards taking some shots at Rush Limbaugh. The wife of presidential candidate, John Edwards, spoke out on Air America radio saying that Rush Limbaugh has no right to criticize troops.

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: My classmates went to Vietnam. He did not. He was 4F. He had a medical disability, the same medical disability that probably should have stopped him from spending a lifetime in a radio announcer's chair but it is true, isn't it? If he has an inoperable position that doesn't allow him to serve, presumably it should also not allow him to sit for long periods of time the way he does.

(END AUDIOTAPE)

CHETRY: Limbaugh has been criticized by Democrats for a reference to phony soldiers on his radio program.

Senator Larry Craig now says he is not going anywhere despite losing a bid to overturn his guilty plea to a misdemeanor. Craig says he will finish out his term. Many fellow Republicans were hoping he would be gone by now. He had said that it was his intent to resign on September 30th.

And an AMERICAN MORNING followup for you now. David McSwane, the student editor of the Colorado State University paper gets to keep his job despite that flap over an obscenity in an editorial about President Bush. The one line which read "Taser this, F Bush" was publish in response to the tasering of a University of Florida student last month who disrupted a forum with John Kerry speaking. McSwane told us last week that the paper was just trying to spark dialogues on campus but the communication board of the school said he violated the papers code of ethics that bars profane or vulgar words in opinion writing.

ROBERTS: It certainly sparked a dialogue. Perhaps not the one he was intending.

Just in -- the jobs report for the month of September. Ali Velshi in our business update desk with the numbers. How is it looking, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, "MINDING YOUR BUSINESS:" A big sigh of relief for folks who are looking at this job numbers. What we found is that in September, 110,000 jobs were created. Now, economists had been expecting everything from a 100,000 up. We actually need more than 110,000 just to keep employment level. As a result, you saw the unemployment number slip a little bit. It was 4.6 percent. The unemployment rate is now 4.7 percent.

However, this is what was expected. It doesn't mean that job creation is particularly strong but at least unlike the surprise that we got last month, this is in the range of what was expected. 110,000 new jobs created in the United States in September. The other key point is, remember last month, John, we talked about a 4,000 job loss when we were expecting a 100,000 jobs to be created. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has now amended that. That is a common thing for them to do. They are now saying that 89,000 jobs were actually created in August, not 4,000 jobs lost. Now, this is a funny game that keeps on moving.

So if you look at today's news, it means that not only are things more positive in September, they were actually not as bad as we thought they were in August. As a result, we're seeing Dow Jones futures surging upwards looking for a strong opening today. For now, it looks like the employment picture, which in my opinion is one of the most important numbers that we ever have to look at is looking generally to the plus side of even. 110,000 jobs are strong. It's not as strong as the economy needs but it is what is expected and at least we didn't have any surprises on the downside. So, a good jobs picture for America this morning. John.

ROBERTS: Good way to finish the week. Ali Velshi for us this morning. Ali, thanks. Kiran.

CHETRY: Singer John Mellancamp weighing in on the Jena 6 controversy in Louisiana. The outspoken rocker wrote the song, Jena, in August after hearing about the incident. Here's a little bit of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM JOHNMELLANCAMP.COM)

JOHN MELLENCAMP: Whoa Jena, Whoa Jena...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Mellancamp made the video available on his myspace and youtube pages and plans to include the song on his upcoming album.

All right. It's time now for our Friday edition of ballot jackpot.

ROBERTS: We stuff the political hot topics box. We pull out these topics at random, letting our guests weigh in.

CHETRY: That's right. And joining us now, to join us for this in Washington, democratic strategist, Jamal Simmons. Great to see you as well. And Leslie Sanchez, Republican strategist and author of "Los Republicanos." Great to see you as well.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Let's get right to it, I usually let you go first but it's Friday, it's my turn. Pinning Obama. This is Barack Obama not wearing an American flag lapel pin saying that he doesn't need to wear his patriotism on his lapel. He's got it in his heart and then he is also saying that some of these people wearing these pins and not exactly I think in a patriotic fashion.

Jamal, is he just, you know, trying to deflect criticism here? JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, if you look around, most of the democratic candidates aren't wearing the American flag on their lapel pin. And a lot of people just stopped putting that flag on their lapel pin. I don't think that that's really a big of a deal. The real issues is, you know, if someone like George Bush who just cut off health care for all of these poor children this week with a veto, is that really making America a stronger place? I think what Obama is saying is wearing the pin may just be covering up his actions that really aren't in American's best interest.

CHETRY: OK.

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't know, maybe it's a little silly to think but potential voters in America want to see the American president wearing the American symbol of our pride and that is the American flag. You know, while it maybe a broader political statement, Obama says he is trying to, you know, engage in a dialogue about patriotism, I find it rather offensive and I think many voters are going to agree with me. You know, people remember what the flag stands for. You can take this dialogue anywhere you like but it's a simply of our country and people will remember that.

ROBERTS: All right. Let's move on. That one is done. Let's move on to topic number two coming up. Let's go.

CHETRY: Dobson to GOP: Not bluffing. This is a focus on the family. It's James Dobson, writing an op-ed in "The New York Times" saying that neither of the two political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human rights. They will join others in voting for a minority party candidate. Leslie, what would the impact be if focus on the family as well as other "values" voters go elsewhere and leave the GOP?

SANCHEZ: The impact could be tragic I think for the social conservative movement in the sense that you could end up with a Hillary Clinton in the White House. You could end up with a filibuster proof democratic majority in the Senate. It's a critical debate. And what's important here to remember is that I believe evangelical and social conservatives are politically maturing. They are realizing they have a tremendous amount of influence but they are also going to leverage and weigh the consequences that this could have on the faith movement, on the sanctity of life and on things like gay marriage?

CHETRY: So, how about you, Jamal, could this be a situation where it ends up falling in favor of the Democrats if a lot of the loyal GOP voters jump ship?

SIMMONS: Yes.

CHETRY: All right. Well, you know what? You get a bonus!

ROBERTS: Nothing more to say on that.

CHETRY: You get a bonus round. ROBERTS: OK. And for that, here we've got our last topic here this morning. This one's going to go to you first, Jamal. Politicizing 9/11. Hillary Clinton has got this new ad out called "Stand By Me," where she shows scenes of her down at Ground Zero wearing a mask to cover her face. The whole thing is talking about health care. But I mean, this really is a shot across Rudy Giuliani's bow saying you aren't the only one who has a claim to 9/11 here. But is she going too far? Is she politicizing 9/11, Jamal?

SIMMONS: Well, she should fight out the primary before she starts fighting the general election. But I do think that she's right on target and that she was there on 9/11. She has support of firefighters, support of families who were down, whose families were killed during 9/11, and I think it is perfectly appropriate for her to talk about that. Now, this isn't like Rudy Giuliani who's got supporters raising fund in $9 and $0.11 increments. Now, that's a little bit more involved.

SANCHEZ: That's not fair.

CHETRY: Leslie, go ahead.

SANCHEZ: Now, he denounced that. The bigger issue is Rudy Giuliani is incredibly strong on national security. He is seen as tough, energetic and smart according to the (INAUDIBLE) latest survey and she realizes that is a dangerous threat to her. She's trying to shift the conversation away and trying to move some of that national security aura to her. The problem is if you look at the two and match them together, Americans are going to fundamentally believe that we would be more vulnerable with a Hillary Clinton in the White House than with Republican president.

SIMMONS: Not true.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks folks for joining us. Leslie Sanchez, Jamal Simmons, good to see you again. Thanks for playing ballot jackpot.

If you're reading your cereal right now by the way, you may soon not recognize the box. We'll explain. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

ROBERTS: Something new, coming to your cereal box. Nutritional information is usually on the side moving to the front in big bold letters CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta went shopping for our "Fit Nation" report. He is in Atlanta now with more. Good morning, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, I found this sort of interesting. You know, this whole idea that American food makers are going to use cereal boxes as a sort of testing ground to figure out how they might change up these labels but some people, John, as I found out, might find it more confusing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA (voice-over): The choices can make you dizzy. Healthy heart logos. Zero transfat stamps. Low cholesterol. Jam-packed nutrition labels. Now, manufacturers are introducing new packaging aimed at making the information clearer and, consequently, decisions easier. Here is what you see on most of today's labels. The government actually requires that packages show you the bad stuff such as total fat, cholesterol, sodium, transfat but also the good stuff such as vitamin A, vitamin C, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. But now, companies like Kellogg's and General Mills are taking that information and putting it on the front of the box, big, bold letters. They call it an effort to try to educate consumers, but in countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden, the government is actually mandating label changes.

SUSAN ROBERTS, DRAKE UNIV, AGRICULTURAL LAW CTR.: In Europe, they're doing things with like a green light, yellow light kind of thing. It's very simple for people to see is this a healthy food or not a healthy food.

GUPTA: These products here are from England and they're actually color-coded according to a traffic light system. So take a look -- they're actually green if they're considered healthy. They're yellow or orange if considered borderline and just plain red if they're considered unhealthy. English food makers say that since the label changes, sales of green and yellow light products have jumped. Back in the states, the FDA says it has no immediate plans to require new food labels but with cereal makers out in front of the issue, other companies might follow suit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: A couple of interesting things here, John that I found out. First of all, Congress and the FDA made these labeling on the packages more common as of 2000. So, you saw a lot more of this over the last seven years. And according to a recent poll, about half of the people say they now do check the labels before buying a product but, at the same time, the obesity epidemic has grown so whether or not it's making a difference in terms of their choices, harder to say, John.

ROBERTS: Well, at least it has good information to have if you want to make that choice. Hey, Sanjay, we also want to get to your questions sent to Dr. Gupta's mailbag. We usually do this on Thursday but you were on assignment yesterday. So, we're going to get, get it, do it today.

CHETRY: That's right. And we'll start off with the first question. It's about the study that you had talked about linking alcohol to breast cancer and a self-proclaimed concerned mother writes in, my daughter comes from a family of cancer and she drinks a glass or two of red wine a day, is she at more risk thank normal? Or do you think she should back off of that? Or is she OK, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Well, this is an interesting concern mom because this is probably the stories that we talked about the most in the newsroom here as well. And we were alarmed by it as well. But the data was pretty convincing on this. Actually looking at this relationship between any kind of alcohol and breast cancer saying one to two drinks regularly. These women were followed over seven years and so one to two drinks a day regularly actually led to an increased risk of breast cancer by about 10 percent, more than three drinks a day actually increase your risk by about 20 percent. So, there was a correlation there and it didn't seem to matter if it was wine or some other kind of alcohol either. So, try to cut down and try not to drink it every night will be the best message.

ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE) certainly what a lot of people were talking about this week, Sanjay. We got another question for you. This one comes from Barbara in New York. She's looking for an update. She writes, "Dr. Gupta, you've been doing an insightful and sensitive story on little Youssif and his family. Youssif, of course, is the 5- year-old Iraqi boy who was terribly burned, brought to the United States for treatment, which you followed Sanjay. Please update Youssif's progress? I'm so moved and touched by this brave boy. What is the update?

GUPTA: Barbara, thank you. The story is a pretty remarkable one. As you remember, Youssif was burned by gasoline on his face. A couple of updates, he has had two operations now. One, we actually showed you quite a bit of that operation where they actually removed a lot of the scar tissue around his face. He now has his own skin in that area. We just talked to his doctor, Dr. Grossman, his doctor, yesterday. We've been getting pretty regular updates. And that skin seems to be taking pretty well.

What they did, Barbara, they actually took some of his skin from his own abdomen, uses actual skin and placed that on his face and hoping that skin sort of takes over time. As you know, he also has a couple of tissue expanders, which are just expanding normal skin around his face, which will be used to cover up some of the scars in the future. It's a long process, 6 to 8 months. It's a long for Youssif but he appears to be doing pretty well.

CHETRY: It's great to know that he got through the surgeries because that was a big question as well. It means he's going all right. If you have a question, by the way, for Dr. Gupta, e-mail us, go to CNN.com/am and then don't forget, we can see much more of Sanjay this weekend. Thanks a lot. By the way, Sanjay, on his show "HOUSE CALL". This weekend, Sanjay is going to looking at cholesterol and what the numbers you get from your doctor really mean. Also some of the top alternative therapies out there. What works and what doesn't? That is Saturday and Sunday morning, 8:30 a.m. Eastern.

ROBERTS: 13 minutes now to the top of the hour.

CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. there's that smile again. I love seeing that every morning. We're going to look at what's ahead.

TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: Good to see you, John. Good Friday to you. Track star Marion Jones on the NEWSROOM rundown. Boy, this one stings. The Olympic gold medalist reportedly said to admit to steroid use. What do you think? Shoot us an e-mail right now. NEWSROOM@cnn.com.

An agitated woman arrested. She dies a short time later. Phoenix police say this airport security tape that we're going to show in a second shows everything was by the book.

An 18th century burial ground for African national monument dedicated this morning in Manhattan. We will talk live with poet and author Maya Angelu. It is Friday in the NEWSROOM, just minutes away, top of the hour, right here on CNN. John, back to you. Have a good weekend.

ROBERTS: We will see you. Thanks, Tony. You too.

OK. So, Olympic star, Marion Jones' stunning admission that she used performance enhancing drugs. We're going to be talking about that who should know all about what it takes to perform. He's got 9 Olympic Gold medals. There he is. Carl Lewis joins us ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Police have released surveillance camera video of Carol Ann Gotbaum's arrest at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport.

CHETRY: Yes. And in the video you'll see a Transportation Security Administration office approaching Gotbaum followed by three police officers. While speaking with them, she was waving her arms and backing away from an officer who reached out for her and they say she became combative before then dropping to the drowned ground. Officers were on the ground with Gotbaum attempting to handcuffed her and they say she continued to scream profanities. You don't hear on this videotape but you see what's going on there.

ROBERTS: Yes. Certainly, as well, you know, it is open to still some interpretation. We wanted to know what you think. Did the Phoenix police used excessive force when they arrested Carol Ann Gotbaum? We've been asking you all morning to cast your vote on our web page, cnn.com/am. Right now, 43 percent of you say yes, the police did use excessive force. 57 percent say no. The very latest numbers coming from our web site there. So, it's the way we're going to finish off the day. Most people who voted today think, no, they did not use excessive force.

CHETRY: And as we've been telling you all morning, track start Marion Jones admitting that she took performance-enhancing drugs in a letter to friends and family obtained by "The Washington Post." And today she'll plead guilty to two counts of lying to federal agents about her drug use. Here, with his take on this shock in the sports world, joining me this morning from California, Olympic gold medalist himself, Carl Lewis. Winner of 9 Olympic Gold medals and countless world records as well in track and field. Carl, thanks for being with us this morning.

CARL LEWIS, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Great. Thanks for having me back.

CHETRY: You know Marion Jones personally. Were you surprised after all these years she admitted to using steroids?

LEWIS: Actually, I was surprised because it's very rare that people that get away with it ultimately admit it. What is great about this is that it shows -- that this is America's problem and that between government and the sport and you saw it, all the powers came together and stayed on it until they found out and that she had to admit it finally.

CHETRY: You know, in this letter she says she took the steroid known as the "Clear" for two years beginning in 1999 and her then Coach Trevor Graham gave her the substance telling her initially that it was a nutritional substance, flax seed oil. Barry Bond admitted to something similar. You're an athlete, is it normal to trust what a coach is giving you without asking any questions about what it is?

LEWIS: Well, in this climate of drug taking they say the onus is on the athlete. That is something that a lot of people do unfortunately because coaches have such a strong influence on some of them. But the bottom line you're not allowed to do it. I think that really hits to a broader problem is that we go after the athlete but not after the coaches because many of them do that. They will give the athletes something or have access to it and they should have the same penalties some way as the athletes do because it's like a pusher.

CHETRY: I think they are going after Graham as well and of course, and Balco, the company that was at the heart of some of the other doping scandal. I mean, it looks like it is a wide reaching problem and maybe they are acknowledging that. Do you think she is telling the truth when she thought it was flax seed oil?

LEWIS: Well, you know, it's hard to say what she's doing because obviously, she hasn't told the truth all these years so I don't want to get into what Marion is doing. But I think it goes back to the broader perspective and something like Balco is a good thing for sports, it's a good thing for track and field because it has brought this issue out.

CHETRY: You know, one of the things that, of course, is the biggest source of pride is being able to win a gold medal in something as important as the Olympics. So, in this situation she won three gold medals and two bronzes in Sydney in 2000. Should she lose those medals?

LEWIS: Absolutely. If she admitted that she took drugs during that period, the next person should win it because in reality, we're trying to make sure it's fair. Because it's not just about Marion, it's about the kids that are watching and some people that are watching and that are why we have to make sure it's about the athletes. I mean, here, I have a management training program and that is one of the things, I mean, I hold athletes to a higher standard than even the testing and so people know if they join our program, they have to be clean because we're going to be on top of them.

CHETRY: All right. Carl Lewis -- gold medalist, track star. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

LEWIS: Great. Thanks for having me back.

CHETRY: Here's a quick look right now at what CNN NEWSROOM is working for the top of the hour.

HARRIS: See these stories in the "CNN newsroom." track star Marion Jones reportedly admitting steroid use. The Olympic gold medalist expected in federal court today.

Phoenix police show an airport security tape and agitated passenger found dead in a holding cell a short time after his arrest.

A gunman's deadly rampage at a Louisiana law office.

The woman with a 20-year case of hiccups. NEWSROOM, just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, this was a story that certainly touched all of us this morning. So, we wanted to bring it to you one more time. A police officer in Indiana saved his K-9 partner from choking on a tennis ball. Officer Josh Halsey found his canine partner, Samo, lifeless in the backyard and unable to breathe and that is when he started CPR.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER JOSH HALSEY: When I started CPR and I grabbed this -- when I went to grab his throat and his muzzle is when I felt the lump. Immediately I knew it was a tennis ball. That's when I started just taking his esophagus and squeezing it to try to extract the ball and then I ended up having to pull it out of his mouth and continue CPR.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: He was able to get Samo breathing again. He said he suddenly came back around a little bit dazed and Samo now back at work.

CHETRY: All's well that ends well. Very adorable dog. He says, you know, he is like a family member and losing him would be tragic. Well, thanks so much for being with us all this week. We'll see you back here next week on AMERICAN MORNING.

ROBERTS: See you in the NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Friday morning, October 5. Here's what's on the rundown.

Hard fall for track star Marion Jones. She reportedly admits steroid use and heads to court today.

HARRIS: An agitated airline passenger dies in custody.

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