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Discussion with Chairman of Media Research Center; Finding Deals on Summer Wheels

Aired July 27, 2004 - 13:33   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: In the news now, word from Baghdad of a payoff to win release of a hostage in Iraq. Sources telling CNN Egypt paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the release of its diplomat kidnapped last week. Egypt denies it. At least 11 other people being held hostage in Iraq.
Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to announce seven indictments and the arrest of five linked to a major Islamic charity. The group is The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Authorities accuse the group of operating as a front for the Palestinian group Hamas. Ashcroft's announcement is set for an hour from now. You'll see it here live on CNN.

In the Middle East, the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has agreed to turn over internal security to Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. In return, Qorei has withdrawn his resignation. That apparently puts an end to a week-long leadership crisis.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential nominee- to-be is one day and a few hundred miles closer to Boston. John Kerry's in Norfolk, Virginia, site of the world's largest navy base. He's touting his military credentials and recommending a longer tour of duty for the 9/11 investigators. Kerry says extending the commission's mandate for 18 months would help ensure that its many recommendations are acted on.

The other half of the Kerry/Edwards ticket arrives in Boston in just a couple of hours. Vice presidential nominee-to-be John Edwards spent yesterday putting the finishing touches on his acceptance speech. He wrote out changes longhand on a yellow legal pad. He's also nursing a cold. In fact, Edwards canceled an appearance in North Carolina yesterday so he could try and rest his voice. Pretty wise idea.

Expectations are high for tomorrow night's speech. Edwards has said he'll focus on Kerry and the Democratic party's future and lay out his own background.

O'BRIEN: Here is a political point on which Democrats and Republicans might actually agree. Bill Clinton's speech at the convention was so powerful he might upstage the nominee, John Kerry, potentially.

My guest, Brent Bozell, is chairman of the Media Research Center, which accuses the national media of liberal bias, among other things. Brent, good to have you with us.

BRENT BOZELL, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Hi, how are you?

O'BRIEN: All right. First of all -- hey, before we get into that parsing through the Clinton speech, what's your general sense of the coverage so far, overall?

BOZELL: Well, it's too early to tell, actually. But from what I've seen, I just see that double standard all over again. You know, in 1996 when the Republican party decided they were going to go into the kinder gentler mode of having an upbeat fluff convention, you folks in the press savaged them relentlessly saying, no, this is a conservative party, they've got a right-wing agenda, blah, blah, blah.

But now, it seems like with the Democrats playing the same rope- a-dope game that the Republicans played, it's a completely different reaction so far. The media are going along with the fluff, saying what an upbeat convention this is, when in fact I think they ought to get tougher on them. They ought to get tougher on both parties.

O'BRIEN: All right, all right. Fair enough. Tougher on both parties. That's one point we will agree on.

Let's look at some of the Clinton excerpts. And I want to get your characterization of what Mr. Clinton had to say, because you consider yourself part of the truth squad here, as it were.

First clip, please: Clinton last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During the Vietnam War, many young men -- including the current president, the vice president and me -- could have gone to Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going, too. But instead, he said, "Send me."

When they sent those swift boats up the river in Vietnam and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, "Send me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, what Bill Clinton did there, a little self-deprecation there, saying, hey, I didn't go either. But what it does, of course, is it raises a key distinction between Kerry and Bush and Cheney here.

BOZELL: You know, it gives me acid reflux. You know, here we go again with another Clintonian moment: equating George Bush's five years in the National Guard to his draft dodging. You know, again, where is the press pointing this out?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I think what he was trying to do was equate Kerry's service to Bush's service in the Vietnam War. BOZELL: Yes, but -- but...

O'BRIEN: Right? I mean, kind of going around the horn there, aren't you?

BOZELL: No, no, no, he's putting himself in the same sentence. He dodged the draft. George W. Bush spent five years in the National Guard. There's a whole lot of difference between those two things.

O'BRIEN: All right, but -- but the difference between the Bush service and the Kerry service is evident. And perhaps voters took note of that, don't you think?

BOZELL: Well, I don't think so. You know, I think this is kind of rehashing old stuff about George Bush and the National Guard. People have beaten that one to death. I don't think -- I don't think that dog is going to bark.

O'BRIEN: All right. Next Clinton excerpt. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: After three conventions as a candidate or a president, tonight I come to you as a citizen, returning to the role that I have played for most of my life: as a foot soldier in our fight for the future, as we nominate in Boston a true New England patriot for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right. The question I have is: Can Elvis be a foot soldier?

BOZELL: No. Bill Clinton can't be second banana to anybody. And you know, he will galvanize his party, no question about it. But he also galvanizes the opposition. He's a wash.

O'BRIEN: So, if you're Kerry, do you tell him to stay home?

BOZELL: Oh, absolutely. If you're...

O'BRIEN: Write a sequel to that memoir?

BOZELL: You use him very -- yes, but a shorter one this time. No, you use him very sporadically. But be careful, the man loves the spotlight. And he and Hillary both have done it all year long.

O'BRIEN: OK. All right. Final excerpt. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: They believe the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embraced their economic, political, and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on important matters like health care and retirement security. Now, since most Americans aren't that far to the right, our friends have to portray us Democrats as simply unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America, but we don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That final point: They need a divided America. That's a point I think we're going to hear a little more of?

BOZELL: Well, they're going to -- they're going to try that. But here's the reality: This is the most liberal ticket in modern American political history. Only 17 percent of the American people call themselves liberal. So, who is divided?

I mean, they've got trouble. And by the way, a man of the people? He didn't mention in his speech that Ken Lay spent 13 nights, I believe, in Bill Clinton's Lincoln bedroom.

O'BRIEN: All right. But let's get back to that divided issue. Of course, George Bush famously ran for office saying he was a uniter. Didn't really turn out that way, did it?

BOZELL: Well, when anything George Bush says is turned on its ear, I hate to say it, but a lot of it, by the press, no matter what he does, he's been vilified for it. So, that will continue, and he's got to understand that.

O'BRIEN: Well, but no -- I guess you could make a case, Brent, that there's nothing about politics that is, by definition -- doesn't invite unity, does it?

BOZELL: And I think the press has a role to play here. Again, what I said before, where both parties are concerned, these are now events, fluff events. I wish the press would get really tough on covering the Democratic platform and the Republican platform, and telling the American people what they really believe in. If the press did that, they would be doing a huge service to the public.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but just a final thought, on that platform, the candidates tend to just run away from those platforms regardless, right?

BOZELL: Well, they want to, but they should be held accountable for it.

Look, your last guest on this show the a woman peddling these T- shirts, "I had an abortion," and speaking at the Democratic National Committee, and she's being highlighted by the convention. This is the kind of stuff that the media ought to be talking.

O'BRIEN: All right, Brent Bozell, I think we just did. Appreciate it.

Thanks for being with -- Kyra.

BOZELL: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: For about four minutes, I think.

Well, while we're parsing politicians, one more word on two little words from Teresa Heinz Kerry. If you haven't heard, Heinz Kerry took issue with a newspaper writer who questioned her use of the term "un-American," while lamenting an uncivil tone in U.S. politics. Well, when she learned the questionnaire worked for the conservative "Pittsburgh Tribune Review," Heinz Kerry accused him of misquoting her and told him to shove it. Fellow Democrats swarmed to her defense. And today, she defended herself in an interview with CNN's bill hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Take me back to Sunday night. Do you regret telling that reporter to shove it?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, WIFE OF JOHN KERRY: No. No. I respect reporters, and I respect anyone who does that job well. I don't, like anybody else, want to be trapped or be misrepresented intentionally by someone. That's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Heinz Kerry speaks tonight to the DNC. Stick with CNN for the whole story on the Democratic Convention. CNN's primetime coverage begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern, with Anderson Super, Wolf Blitzer, Larry King, plus dozens of CNN correspondents, inside and outside the FleetCenter. Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks tonight at 10:00 Eastern, followed by "AARON BROWN'S NEWSNIGHT" at 11:00. Larry King wraps up the night live at midnight with "Fahrenheit 9/11's" Michael Moore and former candidate Al Sharpton.

Fans of one popular medication may want to rethink their choice of pain relievers. After a break, why it could be bad for your kidneys.

Plus, using the power of cash to change the way humans get into space. LIVE FROM rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Big changes for Medicare could mean big changes for cancer patients. The government says it's paying big markups for the drugs cancer doctors give in their offices. And today the administration proposed cutting the payments. This could prompt some specialists to send patients to the hospital for treatment.

Now, in another provision, Medicare says low-income seniors won't have to declare small assets, like wedding rings, to determine if they qualify for a prescription drug program.

And there's word that caffeine and diabetes may not mix. Duke University researchers found that folks with type II diabetes had higher glucose and insulin levels when they had caffeine with their meals. This suggests caffeine interferes with how the body breaks down food. The study involved only 14 people. But it was enough for the author to recommend diabetics, avoid caffeine altogether. You can read about this, if you like, in the "Journal Diabetes Care."

PHILLIPS: What do you think about getting a new car or SUV? You could find some good deals on summer wheels. Fred Katayama of CNN Financial News looks at what's behind the auto glut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're just sitting there. So many unsold cars and trucks line dealers' lots that some auto makers could theoretically stop producing some models and still have enough to last through the end of the model year.

MARVIN SUSKIN, SCARSDALE FORD: Inventory levels today are pretty high, much higher than we would expect them to be at this time of the year. Usually this time of the year is our selling season. And it doesn't seem like we've really had a selling season.

KATAYAMA: The auto makers thought they would sell more cars and trucks this year because the economy would improve and consumers would have more income. So they raised sticker prices. But they guessed wrong and over produced. Customers noticed. Sales fell 2 percent last month.

JOHN CASESA, MERRILL LYNCH: The inventories right now are about 20 percent above normal. And what that means is over the next couple of months, this summer, July and August, these companies either need to cut production or cut prices further in the form of higher incentives.

KATAYAMA: The Detroit auto makers are the worst off, with an 84 day supply of cars and trucks in June, 31 percent above its historical average. The Europeans aren't faring much better. But the Asian auto makers are just 8 to 9 percent above normal.

Spending overtime on the lots, big sport utilities. Higher prices at the pump have pushed some consumers away from big gas guzzlers.

(on camera): The problem is auto makers make the most money off light trucks like sport utilities and pickups. Now, they may have to fatten incentives to clear vehicles off dealer lots, and that means it'll be tougher for them to keep the earnings engine running in high gear.

Fred Katayama, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: An aviation pioneer is aiming high once again. How the quest for space could lead to a $10 million payday for Burt Rutan and his team. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Is a common pain reliever doing more harm than good? New findings out raise concerns about long-term use. Acetaminophen, which is sold as Tylenol.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk about this.

Did I butcher that? I always say Tylenol.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is sold as Tylenol. It's sold as other things as well. You can buy acetaminophen in a generic brand.

PHILLIPS: Acetaminophen.

COHEN: Acetaminophen.

PHILLIPS: There we go.

COHEN: There you go, our pronunciation for the day. I'll say it three times really fast.

The concerns today about acetaminophen, there's a new Harvard study where they looked at 1,700 women, and they found that those who had taken the most acetaminophen, which we know is what's in Tylenol, those folks who were taking the most acetaminophen were the most likely to have kidney problems later in life.

So, of course, the first question is, well, how much is too much? Unfortunately, there is no good answer, but we can give some parameters. In the study, they found that they women who had taken fewer than one tablet per month for 25 years had an 8 percent risk of kidney impairment at the end of the study. But those who had taken more than one tablet per day for 25 years had a 15 percent risk of kidney impairment.

So as you can see, that is almost double the risk. Now the makers of Tylenol, they dispute the findings of this study. They say that other studies have had very different findings.

Now it's interesting, Kyra, they looked at both -- they looked at Aspirin, they looked at Ibuprofen, which is what's in Advil and Motrin, and they looked at acetaminophen. They did not find these kidney problems for Ibuprofen and for Aspirin.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. All right, so that kind of leads you back to the Tylenol issue. We've talked about that, because it can have an effect on liver, kidney?

COHEN: Right, it can have an effect on liver when taken with alcohol, something you want to be really careful with, with Acetaminophen.

PHILLIPS: So do we just give it up completely?

COHEN: Well, I asked the lead author of the study. I said, well, gosh, maybe this just sounds like people should give up Tylenol. He said, no, people should not do that. But he did have one word of advice. He said some people pop over-the-counter pain relievers like they're candy. They get a little headache, a little bit of a muscle ache, and he said, people need to remember, these are medicines and they do have side effects.

PHILLIPS: So do you take a little each day, take a lot at one time?

COHEN: You know what, as far as the kidney impairment goes, it doesn't really matter. Some of the women in this study were taking, let's say, one pill a day for some kind of chronic pain condition. Others wouldn't take it for a while, but then would take many doses in one day to treat -- let's say they had the flu. And he said, the researcher said, it doesn't really matter, it's the cumulative effect. If you take many pills over the course of time, it doesn't really matter how you take them.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: All right -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: California, the aviation legend who designed the first civilian craft to fly to space last month is now set to stage an effort to win a $10 million contest. Burt Rutan, who built Spaceship One, hanging beneath that odd-looking craft there, as it takes off, it flew beyond the threshold of space. That's 100 kilometers in altitude, with pilot Melville at the controls, June 21st. The Rutan team will try now for the X Prize. That is a $10 million purse that goes to the first private team to stage just such a flight twice in as many weeks. The first of those flights is slated for the end of September. We'll keep you posted -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, the trainer said that he had never seen anything like it. And when Ki, the killer whale, started attacking him, he somehow remained calm, and calmed the whale. We're going to talk with the man on the receiving end of this punishment next hour in the second hour, hour of power, of LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Freedom for a hostage, but is his release actually making it more dangerous for others in Iraq?

PHILLIPS: John Kerry's former rivals ready to rev up support. Day two of the Democratic Convention. We're live from Boston.

O'BRIEN: Body slam from a killer whale. The trainer, getting his treatment, lived to tell about it. As a matter of fact, he's able to talk, this hour on LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: And a deli owner has thousands of reasons to be happy. Oprah loves his chicken salad sandwich.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips.

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

We're making chicken salad today, on this hour of CNN's LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

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 July 27, 2004 - 13:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In the news now, word from Baghdad of a payoff to win release of a hostage in Iraq. Sources telling CNN Egypt paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for the release of its diplomat kidnapped last week. Egypt denies it. At least 11 other people being held hostage in Iraq.
Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to announce seven indictments and the arrest of five linked to a major Islamic charity. The group is The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. Authorities accuse the group of operating as a front for the Palestinian group Hamas. Ashcroft's announcement is set for an hour from now. You'll see it here live on CNN.

In the Middle East, the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has agreed to turn over internal security to Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei. In return, Qorei has withdrawn his resignation. That apparently puts an end to a week-long leadership crisis.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Democratic presidential nominee- to-be is one day and a few hundred miles closer to Boston. John Kerry's in Norfolk, Virginia, site of the world's largest navy base. He's touting his military credentials and recommending a longer tour of duty for the 9/11 investigators. Kerry says extending the commission's mandate for 18 months would help ensure that its many recommendations are acted on.

The other half of the Kerry/Edwards ticket arrives in Boston in just a couple of hours. Vice presidential nominee-to-be John Edwards spent yesterday putting the finishing touches on his acceptance speech. He wrote out changes longhand on a yellow legal pad. He's also nursing a cold. In fact, Edwards canceled an appearance in North Carolina yesterday so he could try and rest his voice. Pretty wise idea.

Expectations are high for tomorrow night's speech. Edwards has said he'll focus on Kerry and the Democratic party's future and lay out his own background.

O'BRIEN: Here is a political point on which Democrats and Republicans might actually agree. Bill Clinton's speech at the convention was so powerful he might upstage the nominee, John Kerry, potentially.

My guest, Brent Bozell, is chairman of the Media Research Center, which accuses the national media of liberal bias, among other things. Brent, good to have you with us.

BRENT BOZELL, MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: Hi, how are you?

O'BRIEN: All right. First of all -- hey, before we get into that parsing through the Clinton speech, what's your general sense of the coverage so far, overall?

BOZELL: Well, it's too early to tell, actually. But from what I've seen, I just see that double standard all over again. You know, in 1996 when the Republican party decided they were going to go into the kinder gentler mode of having an upbeat fluff convention, you folks in the press savaged them relentlessly saying, no, this is a conservative party, they've got a right-wing agenda, blah, blah, blah.

But now, it seems like with the Democrats playing the same rope- a-dope game that the Republicans played, it's a completely different reaction so far. The media are going along with the fluff, saying what an upbeat convention this is, when in fact I think they ought to get tougher on them. They ought to get tougher on both parties.

O'BRIEN: All right, all right. Fair enough. Tougher on both parties. That's one point we will agree on.

Let's look at some of the Clinton excerpts. And I want to get your characterization of what Mr. Clinton had to say, because you consider yourself part of the truth squad here, as it were.

First clip, please: Clinton last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During the Vietnam War, many young men -- including the current president, the vice president and me -- could have gone to Vietnam and didn't. John Kerry came from a privileged background. He could have avoided going, too. But instead, he said, "Send me."

When they sent those swift boats up the river in Vietnam and they told them their job was to draw hostile fire, to wave the American flag and bait the enemy to come out and fight, John Kerry said, "Send me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right. Well, what Bill Clinton did there, a little self-deprecation there, saying, hey, I didn't go either. But what it does, of course, is it raises a key distinction between Kerry and Bush and Cheney here.

BOZELL: You know, it gives me acid reflux. You know, here we go again with another Clintonian moment: equating George Bush's five years in the National Guard to his draft dodging. You know, again, where is the press pointing this out?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, I think what he was trying to do was equate Kerry's service to Bush's service in the Vietnam War. BOZELL: Yes, but -- but...

O'BRIEN: Right? I mean, kind of going around the horn there, aren't you?

BOZELL: No, no, no, he's putting himself in the same sentence. He dodged the draft. George W. Bush spent five years in the National Guard. There's a whole lot of difference between those two things.

O'BRIEN: All right, but -- but the difference between the Bush service and the Kerry service is evident. And perhaps voters took note of that, don't you think?

BOZELL: Well, I don't think so. You know, I think this is kind of rehashing old stuff about George Bush and the National Guard. People have beaten that one to death. I don't think -- I don't think that dog is going to bark.

O'BRIEN: All right. Next Clinton excerpt. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: After three conventions as a candidate or a president, tonight I come to you as a citizen, returning to the role that I have played for most of my life: as a foot soldier in our fight for the future, as we nominate in Boston a true New England patriot for president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right. The question I have is: Can Elvis be a foot soldier?

BOZELL: No. Bill Clinton can't be second banana to anybody. And you know, he will galvanize his party, no question about it. But he also galvanizes the opposition. He's a wash.

O'BRIEN: So, if you're Kerry, do you tell him to stay home?

BOZELL: Oh, absolutely. If you're...

O'BRIEN: Write a sequel to that memoir?

BOZELL: You use him very -- yes, but a shorter one this time. No, you use him very sporadically. But be careful, the man loves the spotlight. And he and Hillary both have done it all year long.

O'BRIEN: OK. All right. Final excerpt. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: They believe the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embraced their economic, political, and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on important matters like health care and retirement security. Now, since most Americans aren't that far to the right, our friends have to portray us Democrats as simply unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America, but we don't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That final point: They need a divided America. That's a point I think we're going to hear a little more of?

BOZELL: Well, they're going to -- they're going to try that. But here's the reality: This is the most liberal ticket in modern American political history. Only 17 percent of the American people call themselves liberal. So, who is divided?

I mean, they've got trouble. And by the way, a man of the people? He didn't mention in his speech that Ken Lay spent 13 nights, I believe, in Bill Clinton's Lincoln bedroom.

O'BRIEN: All right. But let's get back to that divided issue. Of course, George Bush famously ran for office saying he was a uniter. Didn't really turn out that way, did it?

BOZELL: Well, when anything George Bush says is turned on its ear, I hate to say it, but a lot of it, by the press, no matter what he does, he's been vilified for it. So, that will continue, and he's got to understand that.

O'BRIEN: Well, but no -- I guess you could make a case, Brent, that there's nothing about politics that is, by definition -- doesn't invite unity, does it?

BOZELL: And I think the press has a role to play here. Again, what I said before, where both parties are concerned, these are now events, fluff events. I wish the press would get really tough on covering the Democratic platform and the Republican platform, and telling the American people what they really believe in. If the press did that, they would be doing a huge service to the public.

O'BRIEN: Yes, but just a final thought, on that platform, the candidates tend to just run away from those platforms regardless, right?

BOZELL: Well, they want to, but they should be held accountable for it.

Look, your last guest on this show the a woman peddling these T- shirts, "I had an abortion," and speaking at the Democratic National Committee, and she's being highlighted by the convention. This is the kind of stuff that the media ought to be talking.

O'BRIEN: All right, Brent Bozell, I think we just did. Appreciate it.

Thanks for being with -- Kyra.

BOZELL: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: For about four minutes, I think.

Well, while we're parsing politicians, one more word on two little words from Teresa Heinz Kerry. If you haven't heard, Heinz Kerry took issue with a newspaper writer who questioned her use of the term "un-American," while lamenting an uncivil tone in U.S. politics. Well, when she learned the questionnaire worked for the conservative "Pittsburgh Tribune Review," Heinz Kerry accused him of misquoting her and told him to shove it. Fellow Democrats swarmed to her defense. And today, she defended herself in an interview with CNN's bill hemmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Take me back to Sunday night. Do you regret telling that reporter to shove it?

TERESA HEINZ KERRY, WIFE OF JOHN KERRY: No. No. I respect reporters, and I respect anyone who does that job well. I don't, like anybody else, want to be trapped or be misrepresented intentionally by someone. That's what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Heinz Kerry speaks tonight to the DNC. Stick with CNN for the whole story on the Democratic Convention. CNN's primetime coverage begins tonight at 7:00 Eastern, with Anderson Super, Wolf Blitzer, Larry King, plus dozens of CNN correspondents, inside and outside the FleetCenter. Teresa Heinz Kerry speaks tonight at 10:00 Eastern, followed by "AARON BROWN'S NEWSNIGHT" at 11:00. Larry King wraps up the night live at midnight with "Fahrenheit 9/11's" Michael Moore and former candidate Al Sharpton.

Fans of one popular medication may want to rethink their choice of pain relievers. After a break, why it could be bad for your kidneys.

Plus, using the power of cash to change the way humans get into space. LIVE FROM rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Big changes for Medicare could mean big changes for cancer patients. The government says it's paying big markups for the drugs cancer doctors give in their offices. And today the administration proposed cutting the payments. This could prompt some specialists to send patients to the hospital for treatment.

Now, in another provision, Medicare says low-income seniors won't have to declare small assets, like wedding rings, to determine if they qualify for a prescription drug program.

And there's word that caffeine and diabetes may not mix. Duke University researchers found that folks with type II diabetes had higher glucose and insulin levels when they had caffeine with their meals. This suggests caffeine interferes with how the body breaks down food. The study involved only 14 people. But it was enough for the author to recommend diabetics, avoid caffeine altogether. You can read about this, if you like, in the "Journal Diabetes Care."

PHILLIPS: What do you think about getting a new car or SUV? You could find some good deals on summer wheels. Fred Katayama of CNN Financial News looks at what's behind the auto glut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRED KATAYAMA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're just sitting there. So many unsold cars and trucks line dealers' lots that some auto makers could theoretically stop producing some models and still have enough to last through the end of the model year.

MARVIN SUSKIN, SCARSDALE FORD: Inventory levels today are pretty high, much higher than we would expect them to be at this time of the year. Usually this time of the year is our selling season. And it doesn't seem like we've really had a selling season.

KATAYAMA: The auto makers thought they would sell more cars and trucks this year because the economy would improve and consumers would have more income. So they raised sticker prices. But they guessed wrong and over produced. Customers noticed. Sales fell 2 percent last month.

JOHN CASESA, MERRILL LYNCH: The inventories right now are about 20 percent above normal. And what that means is over the next couple of months, this summer, July and August, these companies either need to cut production or cut prices further in the form of higher incentives.

KATAYAMA: The Detroit auto makers are the worst off, with an 84 day supply of cars and trucks in June, 31 percent above its historical average. The Europeans aren't faring much better. But the Asian auto makers are just 8 to 9 percent above normal.

Spending overtime on the lots, big sport utilities. Higher prices at the pump have pushed some consumers away from big gas guzzlers.

(on camera): The problem is auto makers make the most money off light trucks like sport utilities and pickups. Now, they may have to fatten incentives to clear vehicles off dealer lots, and that means it'll be tougher for them to keep the earnings engine running in high gear.

Fred Katayama, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: An aviation pioneer is aiming high once again. How the quest for space could lead to a $10 million payday for Burt Rutan and his team. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Is a common pain reliever doing more harm than good? New findings out raise concerns about long-term use. Acetaminophen, which is sold as Tylenol.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk about this.

Did I butcher that? I always say Tylenol.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is sold as Tylenol. It's sold as other things as well. You can buy acetaminophen in a generic brand.

PHILLIPS: Acetaminophen.

COHEN: Acetaminophen.

PHILLIPS: There we go.

COHEN: There you go, our pronunciation for the day. I'll say it three times really fast.

The concerns today about acetaminophen, there's a new Harvard study where they looked at 1,700 women, and they found that those who had taken the most acetaminophen, which we know is what's in Tylenol, those folks who were taking the most acetaminophen were the most likely to have kidney problems later in life.

So, of course, the first question is, well, how much is too much? Unfortunately, there is no good answer, but we can give some parameters. In the study, they found that they women who had taken fewer than one tablet per month for 25 years had an 8 percent risk of kidney impairment at the end of the study. But those who had taken more than one tablet per day for 25 years had a 15 percent risk of kidney impairment.

So as you can see, that is almost double the risk. Now the makers of Tylenol, they dispute the findings of this study. They say that other studies have had very different findings.

Now it's interesting, Kyra, they looked at both -- they looked at Aspirin, they looked at Ibuprofen, which is what's in Advil and Motrin, and they looked at acetaminophen. They did not find these kidney problems for Ibuprofen and for Aspirin.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. All right, so that kind of leads you back to the Tylenol issue. We've talked about that, because it can have an effect on liver, kidney?

COHEN: Right, it can have an effect on liver when taken with alcohol, something you want to be really careful with, with Acetaminophen.

PHILLIPS: So do we just give it up completely?

COHEN: Well, I asked the lead author of the study. I said, well, gosh, maybe this just sounds like people should give up Tylenol. He said, no, people should not do that. But he did have one word of advice. He said some people pop over-the-counter pain relievers like they're candy. They get a little headache, a little bit of a muscle ache, and he said, people need to remember, these are medicines and they do have side effects.

PHILLIPS: So do you take a little each day, take a lot at one time?

COHEN: You know what, as far as the kidney impairment goes, it doesn't really matter. Some of the women in this study were taking, let's say, one pill a day for some kind of chronic pain condition. Others wouldn't take it for a while, but then would take many doses in one day to treat -- let's say they had the flu. And he said, the researcher said, it doesn't really matter, it's the cumulative effect. If you take many pills over the course of time, it doesn't really matter how you take them.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: All right -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: California, the aviation legend who designed the first civilian craft to fly to space last month is now set to stage an effort to win a $10 million contest. Burt Rutan, who built Spaceship One, hanging beneath that odd-looking craft there, as it takes off, it flew beyond the threshold of space. That's 100 kilometers in altitude, with pilot Melville at the controls, June 21st. The Rutan team will try now for the X Prize. That is a $10 million purse that goes to the first private team to stage just such a flight twice in as many weeks. The first of those flights is slated for the end of September. We'll keep you posted -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, the trainer said that he had never seen anything like it. And when Ki, the killer whale, started attacking him, he somehow remained calm, and calmed the whale. We're going to talk with the man on the receiving end of this punishment next hour in the second hour, hour of power, of LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Freedom for a hostage, but is his release actually making it more dangerous for others in Iraq?

PHILLIPS: John Kerry's former rivals ready to rev up support. Day two of the Democratic Convention. We're live from Boston.

O'BRIEN: Body slam from a killer whale. The trainer, getting his treatment, lived to tell about it. As a matter of fact, he's able to talk, this hour on LIVE FROM.

PHILLIPS: And a deli owner has thousands of reasons to be happy. Oprah loves his chicken salad sandwich.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips.

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

We're making chicken salad today, on this hour of CNN's LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

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