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Coffee: A Little Through the Day Goes a Long Way

Aired May 11, 2004 - 13:30   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking the headlines "At This Hour." The Colorado attorney general has decided against criminal charges in nine alleged sexual assault cases. All nine involved football players and a recruiting scandal at the University of Colorado. Officials say there are evidence problems and that some alleged victims are reluctant to go forward.
Basketball star Kobe Bryant and lawyers back in a Colorado courtroom. Defense and prosecution expected to discuss questions for potential jurors. Bryant is expected to enter his plea in the rape case some time before the hearing ends tomorrow.

A judge in California has denied a defense motion to change the location of the murder trial of Scott Peterson. Jury selection has been under way for two months now. The trial will be held in Redwood City in suburban San Francisco. Peterson's lawyer wanted the case moved to Los Angeles.

And Vice President Dick Cheney back at work after tests on a pacemaker placed in his chest about three years ago. Doctors say his condition is good. The test was describe as routine and not triggered by any particular medical problem.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, health news now. A grande coffee study out today that concludes a lot of coffee at once may not be the best way to answer your caffeine jones. Medical correspondent and part time barista Holly Firfer serves up the finding with a little currant scone. Thank you, Miles. Miles added the currant scone.

O'BRIEN: Currant.

PHILLIPS: Currant.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How fancy of you?

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: All right, you guys are coffee drinkers, right?

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: Exactly. If you want that sort of last-minute, late night, you got to work late, got to do study, whatever, got to go out and party, perhaps you think, I had a grande latte this morning, I'm in good shape. According to study "The Journal of Sleep" that big cup of joe you had isn't going to help you much now and later in the day. Researchers found people who take small amounts of caffeine through the day are able to stay awake and perform better on cognitive tests without affecting nighttime sleep habits versus those who had a large amount of caffeine early in the day or those who had no caffeine at all.

They studied people by messing up their time clocks.So instead of keeping a 24-hour day clock, they lived on a 42-hour day and they changed up their sleep rhythm to see how they were able to function with various amounts of caffeine at different times.

What they found was small amounts during the day keeps you going later in the day than one big cup in the morning.

PHILLIPS: Why is that? Explain the whole medical workings...

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: It's actually physiological. They looked at what's going on and how the caffeine works in our body. We have two physiological systems that run our sleep and wake cycles. One is the circadian rhythm which promotes sleep by using an internal clock. Our bodies release melatonin and other hormones which make you sleepy in a cyclical fashion. We all know about that one.

But the other is a homeostatic system which make you crave more sleep as the day goes on. Now caffeine blocks the receptors for a critical chemical messenger, if you will, that drives that craving for sleep.

To make it simple, it works like our appetites do. The longer you go without food, the hungrier you get. If you snack during the day, you won't be as hungry come dinner. The same goes with sleep. The longer you go without caffeine, the more tired you will be at the end of the day. But if you have small amounts throughout the day you won't crash by evening.

Remember, caffeine has its own set of side effects. It can make you jittery, gives some people headaches, speed up your heart rate. Before you start drinking coffee all day long, know whether you need it.

The study was aimed at people who do swing shifts or overnight shifts, people who work long hours, like medical residents, truck drivers, those of us here at CNN, those kind of professions. They're not saying go out and drink a lot of coffee during the day, they're saying for those people who need it, how does it work, how can they best use caffeine? A little throughout the day.

PHILLIPS: What if we have little sleeping episodes through the day?

FIRFER: Nap time would be good, maybe 1:00, 3:00, say 5:00.

PHILLIPS: Holly Firfer, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, back to the Pentagon for an update on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld taking some questions from his own staff. We'll see if he gets any difficult ones.

And don't worry about Jeanne Moos giving you a bum steer. The amazing story of this cow is no bull.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There were reports today that the U.S. is considering the possibility of handing over Saddam Hussein to Iraqi authorities, perhaps before even the transfer of sovereignty on June 30th.

For more details on that, we turn it over to CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

Well, a bit of confusion here and not a lot of clarity. There have been statements out of Kuwait that the man who will be heading the Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal, a man named Salim Chalabi (ph), has made some statements saying that he believes the coalition was thinking, preparing if you will, to hand Saddam Hussein over to Iraqis, back to the Iraqis, by the June 30th date, when sovereignty will be turned back over to the Iraqis.

But here at the Pentagon, I have to tell you, officials are saying so far, according to a statement they've given us, that although it has been the intention of the U.S. to see that Saddam Hussein is tried by the Iraqi people, there has been no time or date set yet for that to happen.

It's not even clear at this point whether Saddam Hussein necessarily will be the first high-level official, if you will, of the former Iraqi regime to go on trial before the new Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal.

But nonetheless, Pentagon officials say they remain committed to turning Saddam back to the Iraqis for trial, just not clear when that will happen -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, what sort of a court system awaits Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi side right now?

STARR: Well, that is evolving. They have established this system for a tribunal. President Bush had very publicly stated on the day that Saddam Hussein was captured, that it would be up to the Iraqis to try him. They want to give him back to the Iraqis. They have what is still an evolving justice system. They are expected to seek some assistance from the international legal community, possibly the United States as well, if they bring Saddam to trial.

But the feeling by the Bush administration, as fledging as the Iraqi justice system is, it's best really for stability of that country to turn him over to the Iraqi people and let them bring him to justice.

CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's the inspiring story of a desperate escape to freedom, set in New York, and starring a cow. Trust me, you're going to love it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oops, that's the word at the zoo in St. Louis. Experts suspect an orangutan didn't take her birth control pill, and now Mara (ph) is going to be a mom again.

O'BRIEN: In the meantime, zookeepers are trying to figure out what went wrong so it doesn't happen again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL ASA, RESEARCH DIRECTOR: What's especially embarrassing is that we're the contraception center for North American zoos, and we've got an unplanned pregnancy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's not uncommon in orangutans. There'S really no other symptom, other than they start showing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And the question of course, is why would it matter? Why not let her have her baby? I think probably the answer might be that there's enough orangutans in captivity. In other words, you know, it's not endangered.

PHILLIPS: Are you a zoologist?

O'BRIEN: No, no, I'm just guessing. I'm just guessing. To be honest, I had no idea they were on the pill.

PHILLIPS: You didn't know I was Rhonda Schaffler.

O'BRIEN: No, I didn't, that was another surprise for me. But just when I try to convince people we just don't read anything in the prompter, my partner does that.

PHILLIPS: All right. Cows are not known for being daring creatures, as you probably all know, but every once in a while, a rebel comes along.

Jeanne Moos rounds up the story of a renegade steer and its flight to freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If this steer hadn't fled here, it would probably be frying rather than lying in the hot sun. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're calling him Liberty Freedom.

MOOS (on camera): Liberty Freedom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): Liberty Freedom was about to become fresh meat at this Newark, New Jersey slaughter house when he somehow managed to escape. He made a left and went loping down Lockwood, running the stop sign.

(on camera): Ignoring the one-way sign, the steer hung a right, traveling against traffic.

(voice-over): And then he made the life-saving turn into Triangle Towing and Repair. Probably mistook it for a barn. Owner Judy Borselino (ph) was on the phone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said Bob -- I was talking to Bob -- I said, I've got to go, there's a steer coming in here, bye.

MOOS (on camera): He just came over here and just plopped himself down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

MOOS (voice-over): They closed the gate. This bovine had gotten anything but the bum steer.

(on camera): When is the last time you had a hamburger?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, I can't even remember. I only eat veggie burgers.

MOOS (voice-over): So when three guys from the slaughter house came chasing Liberty Freedom...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said no, you can't have him.

MOOS: Besides, Judy says the slaughter house owes her $4,000 for repairs she made to its trucks.

(on camera): So you built this kind of pen for him over here.

(voice-over): The slaughter house folks wouldn't talk to us. Judy's hoping to send Liberty Freedom to the farm sanctuary in upstate New York, home to pigs, rabbits and even two other cows who escaped from slaughter houses.

As getaways go, this one was both rare, and well done.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The carb craze strikes again. Hasn't it been going crazy for a while?

O'BRIEN: I'm kind of over it. Can't we get into another craze? Let's start a new diet.

PHILLIPS: How about the Kyra and Miles Diet?

O'BRIEN: The cotton candy diet. All cotton candy, all the time. What do you think of that?

(MARKET UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up next, a second hour of LIVE FROM... this DVD will self-destruct in -- too busy to return your video rentals?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's the latest convenience for Americans the on go. But you, you don't go anywhere. More LIVE FROM... -- and you don't need a DVD for that -- after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 11, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking the headlines "At This Hour." The Colorado attorney general has decided against criminal charges in nine alleged sexual assault cases. All nine involved football players and a recruiting scandal at the University of Colorado. Officials say there are evidence problems and that some alleged victims are reluctant to go forward.
Basketball star Kobe Bryant and lawyers back in a Colorado courtroom. Defense and prosecution expected to discuss questions for potential jurors. Bryant is expected to enter his plea in the rape case some time before the hearing ends tomorrow.

A judge in California has denied a defense motion to change the location of the murder trial of Scott Peterson. Jury selection has been under way for two months now. The trial will be held in Redwood City in suburban San Francisco. Peterson's lawyer wanted the case moved to Los Angeles.

And Vice President Dick Cheney back at work after tests on a pacemaker placed in his chest about three years ago. Doctors say his condition is good. The test was describe as routine and not triggered by any particular medical problem.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, health news now. A grande coffee study out today that concludes a lot of coffee at once may not be the best way to answer your caffeine jones. Medical correspondent and part time barista Holly Firfer serves up the finding with a little currant scone. Thank you, Miles. Miles added the currant scone.

O'BRIEN: Currant.

PHILLIPS: Currant.

HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: How fancy of you?

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: All right, you guys are coffee drinkers, right?

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: Exactly. If you want that sort of last-minute, late night, you got to work late, got to do study, whatever, got to go out and party, perhaps you think, I had a grande latte this morning, I'm in good shape. According to study "The Journal of Sleep" that big cup of joe you had isn't going to help you much now and later in the day. Researchers found people who take small amounts of caffeine through the day are able to stay awake and perform better on cognitive tests without affecting nighttime sleep habits versus those who had a large amount of caffeine early in the day or those who had no caffeine at all.

They studied people by messing up their time clocks.So instead of keeping a 24-hour day clock, they lived on a 42-hour day and they changed up their sleep rhythm to see how they were able to function with various amounts of caffeine at different times.

What they found was small amounts during the day keeps you going later in the day than one big cup in the morning.

PHILLIPS: Why is that? Explain the whole medical workings...

(CROSSTALK)

FIRFER: It's actually physiological. They looked at what's going on and how the caffeine works in our body. We have two physiological systems that run our sleep and wake cycles. One is the circadian rhythm which promotes sleep by using an internal clock. Our bodies release melatonin and other hormones which make you sleepy in a cyclical fashion. We all know about that one.

But the other is a homeostatic system which make you crave more sleep as the day goes on. Now caffeine blocks the receptors for a critical chemical messenger, if you will, that drives that craving for sleep.

To make it simple, it works like our appetites do. The longer you go without food, the hungrier you get. If you snack during the day, you won't be as hungry come dinner. The same goes with sleep. The longer you go without caffeine, the more tired you will be at the end of the day. But if you have small amounts throughout the day you won't crash by evening.

Remember, caffeine has its own set of side effects. It can make you jittery, gives some people headaches, speed up your heart rate. Before you start drinking coffee all day long, know whether you need it.

The study was aimed at people who do swing shifts or overnight shifts, people who work long hours, like medical residents, truck drivers, those of us here at CNN, those kind of professions. They're not saying go out and drink a lot of coffee during the day, they're saying for those people who need it, how does it work, how can they best use caffeine? A little throughout the day.

PHILLIPS: What if we have little sleeping episodes through the day?

FIRFER: Nap time would be good, maybe 1:00, 3:00, say 5:00.

PHILLIPS: Holly Firfer, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, back to the Pentagon for an update on Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld taking some questions from his own staff. We'll see if he gets any difficult ones.

And don't worry about Jeanne Moos giving you a bum steer. The amazing story of this cow is no bull.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: There were reports today that the U.S. is considering the possibility of handing over Saddam Hussein to Iraqi authorities, perhaps before even the transfer of sovereignty on June 30th.

For more details on that, we turn it over to CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Miles.

Well, a bit of confusion here and not a lot of clarity. There have been statements out of Kuwait that the man who will be heading the Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal, a man named Salim Chalabi (ph), has made some statements saying that he believes the coalition was thinking, preparing if you will, to hand Saddam Hussein over to Iraqis, back to the Iraqis, by the June 30th date, when sovereignty will be turned back over to the Iraqis.

But here at the Pentagon, I have to tell you, officials are saying so far, according to a statement they've given us, that although it has been the intention of the U.S. to see that Saddam Hussein is tried by the Iraqi people, there has been no time or date set yet for that to happen.

It's not even clear at this point whether Saddam Hussein necessarily will be the first high-level official, if you will, of the former Iraqi regime to go on trial before the new Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal.

But nonetheless, Pentagon officials say they remain committed to turning Saddam back to the Iraqis for trial, just not clear when that will happen -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, what sort of a court system awaits Saddam Hussein on the Iraqi side right now?

STARR: Well, that is evolving. They have established this system for a tribunal. President Bush had very publicly stated on the day that Saddam Hussein was captured, that it would be up to the Iraqis to try him. They want to give him back to the Iraqis. They have what is still an evolving justice system. They are expected to seek some assistance from the international legal community, possibly the United States as well, if they bring Saddam to trial.

But the feeling by the Bush administration, as fledging as the Iraqi justice system is, it's best really for stability of that country to turn him over to the Iraqi people and let them bring him to justice.

CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thank you very much -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's the inspiring story of a desperate escape to freedom, set in New York, and starring a cow. Trust me, you're going to love it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oops, that's the word at the zoo in St. Louis. Experts suspect an orangutan didn't take her birth control pill, and now Mara (ph) is going to be a mom again.

O'BRIEN: In the meantime, zookeepers are trying to figure out what went wrong so it doesn't happen again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERYL ASA, RESEARCH DIRECTOR: What's especially embarrassing is that we're the contraception center for North American zoos, and we've got an unplanned pregnancy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's not uncommon in orangutans. There'S really no other symptom, other than they start showing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: And the question of course, is why would it matter? Why not let her have her baby? I think probably the answer might be that there's enough orangutans in captivity. In other words, you know, it's not endangered.

PHILLIPS: Are you a zoologist?

O'BRIEN: No, no, I'm just guessing. I'm just guessing. To be honest, I had no idea they were on the pill.

PHILLIPS: You didn't know I was Rhonda Schaffler.

O'BRIEN: No, I didn't, that was another surprise for me. But just when I try to convince people we just don't read anything in the prompter, my partner does that.

PHILLIPS: All right. Cows are not known for being daring creatures, as you probably all know, but every once in a while, a rebel comes along.

Jeanne Moos rounds up the story of a renegade steer and its flight to freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If this steer hadn't fled here, it would probably be frying rather than lying in the hot sun. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're calling him Liberty Freedom.

MOOS (on camera): Liberty Freedom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MOOS (voice-over): Liberty Freedom was about to become fresh meat at this Newark, New Jersey slaughter house when he somehow managed to escape. He made a left and went loping down Lockwood, running the stop sign.

(on camera): Ignoring the one-way sign, the steer hung a right, traveling against traffic.

(voice-over): And then he made the life-saving turn into Triangle Towing and Repair. Probably mistook it for a barn. Owner Judy Borselino (ph) was on the phone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said Bob -- I was talking to Bob -- I said, I've got to go, there's a steer coming in here, bye.

MOOS (on camera): He just came over here and just plopped himself down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah.

MOOS (voice-over): They closed the gate. This bovine had gotten anything but the bum steer.

(on camera): When is the last time you had a hamburger?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God, I can't even remember. I only eat veggie burgers.

MOOS (voice-over): So when three guys from the slaughter house came chasing Liberty Freedom...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said no, you can't have him.

MOOS: Besides, Judy says the slaughter house owes her $4,000 for repairs she made to its trucks.

(on camera): So you built this kind of pen for him over here.

(voice-over): The slaughter house folks wouldn't talk to us. Judy's hoping to send Liberty Freedom to the farm sanctuary in upstate New York, home to pigs, rabbits and even two other cows who escaped from slaughter houses.

As getaways go, this one was both rare, and well done.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The carb craze strikes again. Hasn't it been going crazy for a while?

O'BRIEN: I'm kind of over it. Can't we get into another craze? Let's start a new diet.

PHILLIPS: How about the Kyra and Miles Diet?

O'BRIEN: The cotton candy diet. All cotton candy, all the time. What do you think of that?

(MARKET UPDATE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up next, a second hour of LIVE FROM... this DVD will self-destruct in -- too busy to return your video rentals?

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's the latest convenience for Americans the on go. But you, you don't go anywhere. More LIVE FROM... -- and you don't need a DVD for that -- after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com