Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

More Marines, Soldiers, National Guard Troops, Reservists Will Replace Forces Rotating Home From Iraq

Aired May 04, 2004 - 15:00   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we start a new hour with a new round of comings and goings in Iraq. Going, according to the Pentagon, 10,000 more Marines and soldiers, and more than three times that many National Guard troops and reservists. They'll replace the forces rotating home as their tours of duty run out, meaning at least for now, no more extensions like the 90 days tacked on to 20,000 soldiers who have already been in Iraq for a year.
For more on this and the simmering POW abuse scandal, let's check in with CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the development in this troop rotation announcement is that the U.S. commander in Iraq, General John Abizaid, has decided to maintain the higher level of U.S. forces in Iraq because of the situation there which includes a continuing violence and attack against U.S. and troops and their Iraqi supporters.

The message from Abizaid is he will need a higher level of troops. That's why they extended some 20,000 troops for three months. However, the Pentagon today said they would keep their promise, keep its promise to those troops to come home after the three month extension. And this plan, according to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, will provide replacements from other sources.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We will not extent the same individuals beyond the 90 days. Instead, we are identifying and preparing to deploy forces to replace those individuals.

Recently I approved deployment of approximately 10,000 replacement personnel. Other units are now being identified and will be approved in the coming days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Still an open question is whether General Abizaid will want more troops in the summertime. That's still to be resolved.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld again commenting on the now infamous photograph showing prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. Called the actions of American troops there totally unacceptable and un-American. He said the Pentagon would take all steps noes bring those responsible for justice. He also denied keeping Congress in the dark about the photographs, insisting that when they made a brief public announcement back in January of the investigation that constituted notification.

But on Capitol Hill today many members of Congress were upset that they had no idea of the scale of the abuse and the number of investigations that was going on and a lot of outrage expressed today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie.

Now the latest on Thomas Hamill, the American held hostage in Iraq. He spoke to reporters for the first time today. While happy with his own situation, he's urging supporters to keep the others in Iraq in their thoughts and prayers.

Our Chris Burns brings us the latest now from Landstuhl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thomas Hamill getting antibiotics and some testing here. But he's going to get some surgery when he goes back to the states in the coming days. He's waiting for his wife to arrive tomorrow.

(voice-over): At this U.S. military hospital Iraq is a world away for Thomas Hamill. But the wounded former hostage thinks about those he left behind.

THOMAS HAMILL, FORMER HOSTAGE: First and foremost I would like to thank the American public for their support of all deployed in the Middle East. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with those who are still there.

BURNS: Appearing before cameras here for the first time, the Mississippi dairy farmer turned truck driver didn't take questions. But a doctor treating him for his bullet wound says the April 9 ambush of his fuel convoy, the beginning of his captivity, remains vivid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He recalls a pop, a blast and a motioning sound from his door and burning in his forearm. So that was how he was injured. He treated the injury by controlling the bleeding with a pair of socks that he had on the dashboard.

BURNS: Jepsen (ph) says Hamill wasn't abused as a hostage. In fact, he was operated on captivity, though one of the attackers struck him in the head with a rifle butt during the ambush.

Hamill told doctors his captors kept him in one place no more than four days at a time. And that he slept on dirt floors.

On Sunday the sound that woke Hamill up was music to his ears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He awoke some time in the morning to the sound of these diesel engines that he recognized as U.S. vehicles as opposed to the Iraqi vehicles he was used to hearing.

BURNS: That, Jepsen says, was when Hamill pried the door open ask ran to freedom.

(on camera): Doctors say that once he's back in the states Hamill will need more than one operation to repair his arm. And he's undergoing counseling to repair that invisible injury, the trauma from a deadly ordeal.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: By bus and by plane, the top presidential candidates are off and running today. President Bush is on a whirlwind swing through Ohio. It's the second leg of a two-day bus tour. Bush repeated his promise to not cut and run in Iraq. He also criticized Democrat John Kerry for suggesting that world leaders would rather see Kerry in the White House.

Kerry meantime going back to school. This afternoon he's in an elementary school in Albuquerque. Earlier in St. Paul, Minnesota Kerry set a goal of a million more high school graduates in five years. Kerry wants to repeal the Bush tax cut for folks making $200,000 a year. He says that would free more money for education.

Elsewhere across America today, from New Orleans comes word that former Vice President Al Gore is now media mogul. He and businessman Joel Hyatt have bought News World International, a 24-hour satellite TV channel carrying news produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Gore, a former journalist will issue be chairman of the board.

In Texas a man who confessed to murder after seeing "The Passion of the Christ" faces trial after pleading not guilty. Police say Dan Leech told them he had strangled a female friend.

And in Pleasantville, New Jersey a cry baby award may win some middle school basketball coaches disciplinary action. The school superintendent is outraged at that the coaches came up with the trophy to humiliate one of their team players.

Straight ahead an economy in recovery raising eyebrows with the Feds. Coming up we'll find out what's in store for interest rates this year as the market appears to be making a turnaround.

Also help for plus-sized teens trying to find that perfect outfit. We'll talk to a designer bridging the gap between what's hot and what's not.

And we'll check our entertainment headlines as fans prepare to say farewell to "Frazier."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: When you've hit rock bottom there's nowhere to go, but up, right? Many of us have taken comfort in those words at one time or another. But right now they're striking fear in the hearts of credit-dependent consumers, which is all about all of us.

Still CNN's Lisa Leiter reports an unavoidable upswing in interest rates could be reason for panic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA LEITER, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): the era of cheap money may be coming to an end if the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates. It's not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen. Right now the key federal funds rate stands at a historic low of 1 percent. And economists say any hikes from there will just take rates back to normal somewhere between 2 1/2 and 4 percent.

JIM BIANCO, BIANCORESEARCH.COM: We're not talking about the Fed stepping on the fray, we're talking about the Fed taking the foot off the gas.

LEITER: For sure, this is not the economy of let's say the 1970s, when lines for gas ran for miles and inflation soared to 13 percent. Paul Volker took over the central bank in 1979 with a tight- fisted policy to fight inflation. Short-term interest rates jumped as high as 20 percent.

DAVID JONES, INVESTORS SECURITY TRUST CO.: I don't think the kind of interest rate increases we'll see from these very low levels will be anything like the shocks you saw in tight-money periods in the late 1970s or early 1980s a when Paul Volker, the predecessor to Chairman Greenspan, was fighting inflation, fighting actually double digit inflation.

LEITER: In contrast, today's inflation rates stand at just 1 1/2 percent. And Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is still more concerned about slow growth than he is about an overheated economy.

And while analysts say rising rates could lower home sales from their record levels, they won't hurt too much. Mortgage rates are not expected to climb much higher than 7 percent, a far cry from the 18 percent high of 1981.

BIANCO: A little bit of movement in interest rates should not attack the ability to own a house and purchase a new house or trade up to a bigger house or whatever you're planning on doing. A big, big interest rate movement should affect it, obviously. But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) half a percent or 1 percent of mortgage rates should not affect it. If it does, you paid too much for that house.

LEITER (on camera): Bianco and others actually argue that while the rate might not be a bad thing. If interest rates stay too low ask the economy takes a turn for the worse, the Federal Reserve won't have much room to lower them again.

Lisa Leiter, CNN Financial News, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: More violence in the Middle East today. In Gaza an Israeli attack helicopter fired a missile at a group of armed Palestinians in a refugee camp. Palestinian sources say two people were killed, 22 were injured. The helicopter attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he would come up with an alternative plan for withdrawal from that region.

Other news around the world. Mary Donaldson is about to become Australia's Cinderella. She marries Denmark's Crown Prince Frederick in ten days. Donaldson is a native of Tasmania. Australians are calling her there their own Lady Di. The ceremony will broadcast live Down Under.

And BMW Drivers are apparently getting more than anyone else on the road. A survey in a German magazine finds men who own the ultimate driving machine have sex 2.2 times a week. Couldn't say it without a straight face.

Mercedes drivers report having sex 1.6 times a week. Porsche drivers rank last with 1.4.

All right, there are clothes for teenage girls struggling with their weight. Up next we'll talk to the woman making plus size designs for teens trying to fit in.

Also, history in the making at the Peacock network. Details on that mini series that have fans flocking to their TV sets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: What do teenage girls fear more than cancer? Nuclear war or the death of their parents? According to one survey, their worst fear is being overweight. Nearly 25 percent of American teens weigh too much.

At a time when they most desperately want to fit in with their peers, many girls and young women are not even able to fit into cool clothes that everyone else is wearing. Few clothing marketers are tapping into the fear and fashion sense of larger teens. One of those plus size success stores is a clothing chain called Torrid.

The founder and CEO Betsy McLaughlin joins us now from Los Angeles. Hi, Betsy.

BETSY MCLAUGHLIN, CEO, HOT TOPIC INC.: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about the research that you did and what hit you about all these emotional pleas from these teens.

MCLAUGHLIN: Well about four years ago we started to hear from many young women between 15 and 29 about how much they wanted to just be able to buy clothes the same as their friends. They wanted the same brands. They wanted the same fashion. And there was just nowhere to go. I think what was most overwhelming was just the emotion that came along with the letters and e-mails just pleading to have somewhere they can go so they didn't wind up dressing like their mother or grandmother or their father.

PHILLIPS: What was the biggest challenge in this process? Was it finding a style that was flattering on them? Was it -- I don't know. How did you know -- how did you know exactly where to go?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, we didn't really have to go out and search too much because we had so much feedback from customers.

But I think the greatest challenge is getting the fit correct. When you look at the junior market it's not a matter of just making a larger size 7 or a larger size 9. You have really have to redo the fit specs correctly.

And there was no one who had done it before. So we spent a tremendous amount of time bringing young women, measuring their bodies so that we could get the correct proportions in our garment.

PHILLIPS: What about men?

MCLAUGHLIN: What about men?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: It seems they have it so easy though. When you think of a woman and -- I mean, come on, we hear the men talk all of the time about us. We're always under pressure to look good and to be the right weight, so-called right weight. Either women are fat or skinny. And men, it seems like are just men. They don't have to worry about it.

MCLAUGHLIN: I think there is a lot more social pressure for women to be a certain size. I think there's so much more media attention and certainly magazines focus a thinner woman.

I do think there's probably a concept out there for men. But as we've always done we really focus on what we know and we've really targeted the plus size for 15 to 29 because we feel that's where there's the most potential.

PHILLIPS: So how did you -- how do you -- by putting these clothes together and designing these clothes, putting this Web site together, talking about this issue, do you think you are encouraging women maybe to stay the way they are or along with these designs are you encouraging women to maybe get more healthy? Maybe get on an exercise program. What's your feeling about that?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I think that as retailers, we're really looking at a niche market. There's a customer out there that's underserved. And I really don't think it's our position to have to judge or judge any of our customers.

I do believe though that anything that makes a young woman feel beautiful and feminine and sexy, regardless of what that is, it just happens to be Torrid or Torrid.com. I think that's a good thing for any individual to have a place go that will make them feel special inside.

PHILLIPS: So we started looking at all these facts about being overweight. And found a number of Web sites, of course. A number of surveys.

One thing we found that girls developed eating and self-image problems before drug or alcohol problems. There are drug and alcohol programs at almost every school, but no eating disorder programs.

MCLAUGHLIN: I think that being plus-sized is a little different than having a drug or alcohol disorder.

You could be a size 12 and size 14 and be very, very healthy. I don't particularly think that size is an indicator of health. And I think that's where the difference lies.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. The Web site -- or the clothing chain is called Torrid. Founder CEO Betsy McLaughlin. And why don't we plug that Web site? We've been showing it.

MCLAUGHLIN: It is Torrid.com.

PHILLIPS: OK, that's easy. Betsy, thank you so much.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Checking entertainment headlines on Tuesday, they said it couldn't be done, but NBC made a successful disaster movie without showing (UNINTELLIGIBLE). "10.5" which aired Sunday and Monday was the most watched move on any network in more than two years. That's a lot of folks who were under the notion of watching Hollywood reduced to rubble.

Meanwhile, "Frazier" fans have only two more servings of tossed salad and scrambled eggs. The long-running hit sitcom is winding down to its finale on May 13. Kelsey Grammar has played the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shrink for 20 years, nine seasons on "Cheers," 11 on "Frazier."

And finally another character with character. In a new poll just in time for Mother's Day this weekend, voters chose Claire Huxtable from "The Cosby Show" as best TV mom. Claire was played by Phylicia Rashad who's starring on Broadway now as Sean Comb's -- oh yeah, P. Diddy, in "A Raisin in the Sun."

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A quick look at the headlines now. Even as gas prices are raising the cost of driving many cities are raising the hike of parking. Financial news reporter Jen Rodgers reports why you may get a nasty surprise next time you fail to beat the meter maid to your car.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN RODGERS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Parking tickets are painful for drivers, but they're an increasingly important profit center for cash-strapped cities.

GLEN BOLOFSKY, PRES., PARKINGTICKET.COM: They're not using traffic rules to improve traffic condition. They're using traffic rules to generate revenue.

RODGERS: Glen Bolofsky started ParkingTicket.com to help consumers fight parking fines.

BOLOFSKY: All of the major cities have all found parking tickets to be a great way to raise revenue without calling it a tax.

RODGERS (on camera): The cities aren't taking in more because they're writing more tickets. For the most part the money comes from new late fees, tougher collection standards and those higher ticket prices.

(voice-over): In cities like Los Angeles the fines are especially steep.

JIMMY PRICE, L.A. PARKING ENFORCEMENT AND TRAFFIC: Parking in a disabled person's zone has gone up tremendously. I believe now the fine's around $355.

RODGERS: Fines like that will help Los Angeles collect $110 million in parking fees this year up 20 percent from two years ago. Chicago projects a 28 percent jump to $141 million. New York expects to bring in $562 million, a 48 percent increase from 2002.

And it's not just the big towns. Nearly half of the country's cities raised fines and fees last year. With the significant portion of the added revenue coming from parking tickets. Cities say it's much-needed money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It helps finance police services, fire services, ambulatory services, parks and recs, libraries. Even street services benefit from the funds.

RODGERS: The extra money isn't the only benefit. Cities contend parking enforcement makes for safer streets, but that's hard to remember when you're the one being handed a ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be careful next time OK? Sorry about that.

RODGERS: Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That does it for LIVE FROM... "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" is up next. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 4, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we start a new hour with a new round of comings and goings in Iraq. Going, according to the Pentagon, 10,000 more Marines and soldiers, and more than three times that many National Guard troops and reservists. They'll replace the forces rotating home as their tours of duty run out, meaning at least for now, no more extensions like the 90 days tacked on to 20,000 soldiers who have already been in Iraq for a year.
For more on this and the simmering POW abuse scandal, let's check in with CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the development in this troop rotation announcement is that the U.S. commander in Iraq, General John Abizaid, has decided to maintain the higher level of U.S. forces in Iraq because of the situation there which includes a continuing violence and attack against U.S. and troops and their Iraqi supporters.

The message from Abizaid is he will need a higher level of troops. That's why they extended some 20,000 troops for three months. However, the Pentagon today said they would keep their promise, keep its promise to those troops to come home after the three month extension. And this plan, according to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, will provide replacements from other sources.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We will not extent the same individuals beyond the 90 days. Instead, we are identifying and preparing to deploy forces to replace those individuals.

Recently I approved deployment of approximately 10,000 replacement personnel. Other units are now being identified and will be approved in the coming days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Still an open question is whether General Abizaid will want more troops in the summertime. That's still to be resolved.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld again commenting on the now infamous photograph showing prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad. Called the actions of American troops there totally unacceptable and un-American. He said the Pentagon would take all steps noes bring those responsible for justice. He also denied keeping Congress in the dark about the photographs, insisting that when they made a brief public announcement back in January of the investigation that constituted notification.

But on Capitol Hill today many members of Congress were upset that they had no idea of the scale of the abuse and the number of investigations that was going on and a lot of outrage expressed today -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon. Thanks, Jamie.

Now the latest on Thomas Hamill, the American held hostage in Iraq. He spoke to reporters for the first time today. While happy with his own situation, he's urging supporters to keep the others in Iraq in their thoughts and prayers.

Our Chris Burns brings us the latest now from Landstuhl.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thomas Hamill getting antibiotics and some testing here. But he's going to get some surgery when he goes back to the states in the coming days. He's waiting for his wife to arrive tomorrow.

(voice-over): At this U.S. military hospital Iraq is a world away for Thomas Hamill. But the wounded former hostage thinks about those he left behind.

THOMAS HAMILL, FORMER HOSTAGE: First and foremost I would like to thank the American public for their support of all deployed in the Middle East. Please keep your thoughts and prayers with those who are still there.

BURNS: Appearing before cameras here for the first time, the Mississippi dairy farmer turned truck driver didn't take questions. But a doctor treating him for his bullet wound says the April 9 ambush of his fuel convoy, the beginning of his captivity, remains vivid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He recalls a pop, a blast and a motioning sound from his door and burning in his forearm. So that was how he was injured. He treated the injury by controlling the bleeding with a pair of socks that he had on the dashboard.

BURNS: Jepsen (ph) says Hamill wasn't abused as a hostage. In fact, he was operated on captivity, though one of the attackers struck him in the head with a rifle butt during the ambush.

Hamill told doctors his captors kept him in one place no more than four days at a time. And that he slept on dirt floors.

On Sunday the sound that woke Hamill up was music to his ears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He awoke some time in the morning to the sound of these diesel engines that he recognized as U.S. vehicles as opposed to the Iraqi vehicles he was used to hearing.

BURNS: That, Jepsen says, was when Hamill pried the door open ask ran to freedom.

(on camera): Doctors say that once he's back in the states Hamill will need more than one operation to repair his arm. And he's undergoing counseling to repair that invisible injury, the trauma from a deadly ordeal.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: By bus and by plane, the top presidential candidates are off and running today. President Bush is on a whirlwind swing through Ohio. It's the second leg of a two-day bus tour. Bush repeated his promise to not cut and run in Iraq. He also criticized Democrat John Kerry for suggesting that world leaders would rather see Kerry in the White House.

Kerry meantime going back to school. This afternoon he's in an elementary school in Albuquerque. Earlier in St. Paul, Minnesota Kerry set a goal of a million more high school graduates in five years. Kerry wants to repeal the Bush tax cut for folks making $200,000 a year. He says that would free more money for education.

Elsewhere across America today, from New Orleans comes word that former Vice President Al Gore is now media mogul. He and businessman Joel Hyatt have bought News World International, a 24-hour satellite TV channel carrying news produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Gore, a former journalist will issue be chairman of the board.

In Texas a man who confessed to murder after seeing "The Passion of the Christ" faces trial after pleading not guilty. Police say Dan Leech told them he had strangled a female friend.

And in Pleasantville, New Jersey a cry baby award may win some middle school basketball coaches disciplinary action. The school superintendent is outraged at that the coaches came up with the trophy to humiliate one of their team players.

Straight ahead an economy in recovery raising eyebrows with the Feds. Coming up we'll find out what's in store for interest rates this year as the market appears to be making a turnaround.

Also help for plus-sized teens trying to find that perfect outfit. We'll talk to a designer bridging the gap between what's hot and what's not.

And we'll check our entertainment headlines as fans prepare to say farewell to "Frazier."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: When you've hit rock bottom there's nowhere to go, but up, right? Many of us have taken comfort in those words at one time or another. But right now they're striking fear in the hearts of credit-dependent consumers, which is all about all of us.

Still CNN's Lisa Leiter reports an unavoidable upswing in interest rates could be reason for panic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA LEITER, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): the era of cheap money may be coming to an end if the Federal Reserve raises short-term interest rates. It's not a question of if it will happen, but when it will happen. Right now the key federal funds rate stands at a historic low of 1 percent. And economists say any hikes from there will just take rates back to normal somewhere between 2 1/2 and 4 percent.

JIM BIANCO, BIANCORESEARCH.COM: We're not talking about the Fed stepping on the fray, we're talking about the Fed taking the foot off the gas.

LEITER: For sure, this is not the economy of let's say the 1970s, when lines for gas ran for miles and inflation soared to 13 percent. Paul Volker took over the central bank in 1979 with a tight- fisted policy to fight inflation. Short-term interest rates jumped as high as 20 percent.

DAVID JONES, INVESTORS SECURITY TRUST CO.: I don't think the kind of interest rate increases we'll see from these very low levels will be anything like the shocks you saw in tight-money periods in the late 1970s or early 1980s a when Paul Volker, the predecessor to Chairman Greenspan, was fighting inflation, fighting actually double digit inflation.

LEITER: In contrast, today's inflation rates stand at just 1 1/2 percent. And Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan is still more concerned about slow growth than he is about an overheated economy.

And while analysts say rising rates could lower home sales from their record levels, they won't hurt too much. Mortgage rates are not expected to climb much higher than 7 percent, a far cry from the 18 percent high of 1981.

BIANCO: A little bit of movement in interest rates should not attack the ability to own a house and purchase a new house or trade up to a bigger house or whatever you're planning on doing. A big, big interest rate movement should affect it, obviously. But (UNINTELLIGIBLE) half a percent or 1 percent of mortgage rates should not affect it. If it does, you paid too much for that house.

LEITER (on camera): Bianco and others actually argue that while the rate might not be a bad thing. If interest rates stay too low ask the economy takes a turn for the worse, the Federal Reserve won't have much room to lower them again.

Lisa Leiter, CNN Financial News, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: More violence in the Middle East today. In Gaza an Israeli attack helicopter fired a missile at a group of armed Palestinians in a refugee camp. Palestinian sources say two people were killed, 22 were injured. The helicopter attack came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he would come up with an alternative plan for withdrawal from that region.

Other news around the world. Mary Donaldson is about to become Australia's Cinderella. She marries Denmark's Crown Prince Frederick in ten days. Donaldson is a native of Tasmania. Australians are calling her there their own Lady Di. The ceremony will broadcast live Down Under.

And BMW Drivers are apparently getting more than anyone else on the road. A survey in a German magazine finds men who own the ultimate driving machine have sex 2.2 times a week. Couldn't say it without a straight face.

Mercedes drivers report having sex 1.6 times a week. Porsche drivers rank last with 1.4.

All right, there are clothes for teenage girls struggling with their weight. Up next we'll talk to the woman making plus size designs for teens trying to fit in.

Also, history in the making at the Peacock network. Details on that mini series that have fans flocking to their TV sets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: What do teenage girls fear more than cancer? Nuclear war or the death of their parents? According to one survey, their worst fear is being overweight. Nearly 25 percent of American teens weigh too much.

At a time when they most desperately want to fit in with their peers, many girls and young women are not even able to fit into cool clothes that everyone else is wearing. Few clothing marketers are tapping into the fear and fashion sense of larger teens. One of those plus size success stores is a clothing chain called Torrid.

The founder and CEO Betsy McLaughlin joins us now from Los Angeles. Hi, Betsy.

BETSY MCLAUGHLIN, CEO, HOT TOPIC INC.: Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about the research that you did and what hit you about all these emotional pleas from these teens.

MCLAUGHLIN: Well about four years ago we started to hear from many young women between 15 and 29 about how much they wanted to just be able to buy clothes the same as their friends. They wanted the same brands. They wanted the same fashion. And there was just nowhere to go. I think what was most overwhelming was just the emotion that came along with the letters and e-mails just pleading to have somewhere they can go so they didn't wind up dressing like their mother or grandmother or their father.

PHILLIPS: What was the biggest challenge in this process? Was it finding a style that was flattering on them? Was it -- I don't know. How did you know -- how did you know exactly where to go?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, we didn't really have to go out and search too much because we had so much feedback from customers.

But I think the greatest challenge is getting the fit correct. When you look at the junior market it's not a matter of just making a larger size 7 or a larger size 9. You have really have to redo the fit specs correctly.

And there was no one who had done it before. So we spent a tremendous amount of time bringing young women, measuring their bodies so that we could get the correct proportions in our garment.

PHILLIPS: What about men?

MCLAUGHLIN: What about men?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: It seems they have it so easy though. When you think of a woman and -- I mean, come on, we hear the men talk all of the time about us. We're always under pressure to look good and to be the right weight, so-called right weight. Either women are fat or skinny. And men, it seems like are just men. They don't have to worry about it.

MCLAUGHLIN: I think there is a lot more social pressure for women to be a certain size. I think there's so much more media attention and certainly magazines focus a thinner woman.

I do think there's probably a concept out there for men. But as we've always done we really focus on what we know and we've really targeted the plus size for 15 to 29 because we feel that's where there's the most potential.

PHILLIPS: So how did you -- how do you -- by putting these clothes together and designing these clothes, putting this Web site together, talking about this issue, do you think you are encouraging women maybe to stay the way they are or along with these designs are you encouraging women to maybe get more healthy? Maybe get on an exercise program. What's your feeling about that?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, I think that as retailers, we're really looking at a niche market. There's a customer out there that's underserved. And I really don't think it's our position to have to judge or judge any of our customers.

I do believe though that anything that makes a young woman feel beautiful and feminine and sexy, regardless of what that is, it just happens to be Torrid or Torrid.com. I think that's a good thing for any individual to have a place go that will make them feel special inside.

PHILLIPS: So we started looking at all these facts about being overweight. And found a number of Web sites, of course. A number of surveys.

One thing we found that girls developed eating and self-image problems before drug or alcohol problems. There are drug and alcohol programs at almost every school, but no eating disorder programs.

MCLAUGHLIN: I think that being plus-sized is a little different than having a drug or alcohol disorder.

You could be a size 12 and size 14 and be very, very healthy. I don't particularly think that size is an indicator of health. And I think that's where the difference lies.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. The Web site -- or the clothing chain is called Torrid. Founder CEO Betsy McLaughlin. And why don't we plug that Web site? We've been showing it.

MCLAUGHLIN: It is Torrid.com.

PHILLIPS: OK, that's easy. Betsy, thank you so much.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Checking entertainment headlines on Tuesday, they said it couldn't be done, but NBC made a successful disaster movie without showing (UNINTELLIGIBLE). "10.5" which aired Sunday and Monday was the most watched move on any network in more than two years. That's a lot of folks who were under the notion of watching Hollywood reduced to rubble.

Meanwhile, "Frazier" fans have only two more servings of tossed salad and scrambled eggs. The long-running hit sitcom is winding down to its finale on May 13. Kelsey Grammar has played the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shrink for 20 years, nine seasons on "Cheers," 11 on "Frazier."

And finally another character with character. In a new poll just in time for Mother's Day this weekend, voters chose Claire Huxtable from "The Cosby Show" as best TV mom. Claire was played by Phylicia Rashad who's starring on Broadway now as Sean Comb's -- oh yeah, P. Diddy, in "A Raisin in the Sun."

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A quick look at the headlines now. Even as gas prices are raising the cost of driving many cities are raising the hike of parking. Financial news reporter Jen Rodgers reports why you may get a nasty surprise next time you fail to beat the meter maid to your car.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN RODGERS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Parking tickets are painful for drivers, but they're an increasingly important profit center for cash-strapped cities.

GLEN BOLOFSKY, PRES., PARKINGTICKET.COM: They're not using traffic rules to improve traffic condition. They're using traffic rules to generate revenue.

RODGERS: Glen Bolofsky started ParkingTicket.com to help consumers fight parking fines.

BOLOFSKY: All of the major cities have all found parking tickets to be a great way to raise revenue without calling it a tax.

RODGERS (on camera): The cities aren't taking in more because they're writing more tickets. For the most part the money comes from new late fees, tougher collection standards and those higher ticket prices.

(voice-over): In cities like Los Angeles the fines are especially steep.

JIMMY PRICE, L.A. PARKING ENFORCEMENT AND TRAFFIC: Parking in a disabled person's zone has gone up tremendously. I believe now the fine's around $355.

RODGERS: Fines like that will help Los Angeles collect $110 million in parking fees this year up 20 percent from two years ago. Chicago projects a 28 percent jump to $141 million. New York expects to bring in $562 million, a 48 percent increase from 2002.

And it's not just the big towns. Nearly half of the country's cities raised fines and fees last year. With the significant portion of the added revenue coming from parking tickets. Cities say it's much-needed money.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It helps finance police services, fire services, ambulatory services, parks and recs, libraries. Even street services benefit from the funds.

RODGERS: The extra money isn't the only benefit. Cities contend parking enforcement makes for safer streets, but that's hard to remember when you're the one being handed a ticket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be careful next time OK? Sorry about that.

RODGERS: Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That does it for LIVE FROM... "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS" is up next. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com