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Setting the Course; Can Teeth Whitening Go Too Far?

Aired November 04, 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: Checking stories now in the news. A turn for the worst. Yasser Arafat said to be in critical condition. Earlier, the French hospital where he's being treated denied reports that Arafat has died. Palestinian officials have conducted a flurry of emergency meetings and the Israeli military remains on high alert.
Tax reform, Social Security and of course the war on terror, some of the priorities President Bush laying out for his second term. At a news conference this morning, Mr. Bush also promised to reach out to allies who oppose the Iraq war. He says he hasn't decided on any changes in his cabinet or in the White House staff.

Four years ago, President Bush eked into office, promising to be a uniter, not a divider. And when he was Texas governor, he did, in fact, reach across the aisle frequently. Quickly found he wasn't in Austin anymore. Washington was a bitter place then. It remains so today. Should we expect more of the same for the next four years? We pose that question to Amy Walter of "The Cook Political Report" from, where else, inside the Beltway.

Amy, good to see you again.

AMY WALTER, "COOK POLITICAL REPORT": How are you?

O'BRIEN: Good, thanks. Good, thanks.

Let's -- the news conference just ended about an hour or so ago. Right at the end, I thought at the end was one of the more fascinating statements. Listen -- listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the disappointments of being here in Washington is how bitter this town can become and how divisive. I'm not blaming one party or the other. It's just the reality of Washington D.C., sometimes exacerbated by you, because it's great sport. It's really -- it's entertaining for some. It also makes it difficult to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right, and he went on to say he thinks he's learned a few things over the past four years, and that he might be able to do a little better as far as trying to bring people together. What are the chances of that really happening?

WALTER: Yes, I'm sure there were a lot of Democrats who saw that press conference and didn't exactly feel like they wanted to go embrace Republicans...

O'BRIEN: They weren't feeling the love today, is that what you're saying, no love?

WALTER: No group hugs, no group hugs.

O'BRIEN: Listen, I think you're looking at a Congress that has shown they don't need to reach across the aisle, especially in the House. You know, in 1993 when President Clinton had a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, he barely passed his budget in 1993 by one vote, even when he had a 40-seat majority. Last year, President Bush -- or actually this year -- gosh, it already feels like we're a year...

O'BRIEN: Yes, sure does.

WALTER: President Bush passed his budget without one single Democratic vote, and he only had a 12-seat majority. So now that Republicans have even a little bit of a bigger majority, there's no reason for them to go have to reach across the other side of the aisle, even on very divisive, difficult to put together pieces of legislation.

O'BRIEN: So is the feeling then on Capitol Hill, then, among Democrats in particular, that they are really out in the cold here, and what would their strategy be to try to get any sort of foothold on moving any kind of legislation through?

WALTER: Well, I guess what they have to hope is that Republicans try to do some over-reaching, that they try to push issues, whether it's tax cuts, whether it's on some social issues. Even on Social Security, which quite frankly, I think is going to be just as difficult for Republicans to have to deal with as Democrats, and hope to use that against the Republican Party two years from now in the midterm election.

Remember, there's something called the six-year itch, where the party in power, been in power for the second term of the presidency, they traditionally have a very tough time the midterm elections. 1998 was a little bit of an exception, because well, we had an impeachment then, that sort of threw off that historical norm.

But the fact is, that if you're Democrats in the House and Senate, the one thing that you have to be looking toward is 2006, and just hoping that you can hold on, really, and hold off any sort of Republican move until then.

O'BRIEN: All right. But there is a -- it's human nature, in a situation like this, when you got control of all the important places...

WALTER: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... to over-reach, isn't it?

WALTER: Well, you know, I think there's a sense -- and you certainly heard it from the president today, you're hearing it on the House and Senate side, that there's a mandate now, that the American public not only gave increases in the Senate and the House, re-elected with the president, but did it with the majority of the vote. The president elected, 51 percent of the vote. There's certainly something to that, absolutely.

I think the concern, though, has to be about what sort of issues they decide to move forward, and then what are the outside influences pushing on the House and the Senate as they have to make these decisions? Obviously, you have the deficit. Obviously, you have the war on terror. Any other outside environmental problem whether it's -- and by environment, I mean the political environment, what's happening in Iraq.

And then of course the Supreme Court. We know that we may have to start talking about and thinking about that, as well as other judicial appointments. When the rubber meets the road, I think both sides actually may find that this is a little more difficult and there are, you know, more pieces of the puzzle to this than it looks like today.

O'BRIEN: What's your take on the court for just a moment? let's talk about that. Chief Justice Rehnquist of course very ill, and this court has been intact as it is for 10 years now.

WALTER: Right.

O'BRIEN: Lots of -- well, I guess elderly's an OK term. Is that politically correct, to say elderly? Senior citizens...

WALTER: Yes, sure.

O'BRIEN: ... on the bench now. Many opportunities potentially in this four-year term for the president to make nominations. Could, ultimately, lead to incredible rancor, couldn't it?

WALTER: Oh, there's no doubt about that. And I think you saw this during the election, that you had both sides really trying to motivate their bases with this exact idea that we could put one or two Supreme Court justices in during this tenure, and how important that's going to be for the base.

And look, remember, it has to actually go through Congress, too. The president has to appoint someone. The head of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate will be Arlen Specter. He's known as a moderate from the Northeast. In fact, he's already made statements to the effect that, you know, look, don't think that we're just going to be able to put and somebody forward who may be considered too conservative or too divisive. So I think we're going to have a very interesting sort of battle, not just between the Republicans and Democrats, but even within the two parties once this -- if there's a potential nomination fight.

O'BRIEN: But just to bring it all back home here, the mood in Washington, just to state it clearly -- and you're as in touch with that mood as anybody -- is what? Is there any sort of germ of trying to bridge gaps between the parties right now, or is it just the opposite?

WALTER: Yes, I don't see that there is a sense from either side that they want to go hands and try to work together and anything. And the real question now is, what could do that, what could bring that together?

We saw in 2001 that we were almost equally divided in terms of the House and the Senate, in terms of their ability to want to work together. September 11th did bring the two sides together for a short time.

Is there some other issue that will bring them together? We don't know. But at this point, it sure doesn't look that way.

O'BRIEN: Amy Walter is with "The Cook Political Report"...

WALTER: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: ... joining us from Washington. Thanks for your time, as always.

WALTER: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just ahead on LIVE FROM -- gunned down in the street: The killing of an outspoken critic of Islam is generating headlines, protests, and controversy.

Also ahead, man versus lions. It's our video of the day, as LIVE FROM takes you around the world.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN< the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A possible terror link -- police in Holland have nine men in custody today connected to this week's killing of a controversial filmmaker in Amsterdam. Investigators are probing a possible link to a known Islamic terror group with a brutal history.

Diana Muriel now with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of mourners braved the November chill to protest the killing of controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in a central Amsterdam square. Forty-seven-year-old van Gogh, a distant relative of the 19th century painter Vincent van Gogh, was shot and stabbed to death on his way to work Tuesday. Police say he received death threats following the release last August of his television film criticizing the treatment of women under Islam. Police say a 26-year-old man is being held on suspicion of his murder. The man, of Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with police officers near the scene of the crime.

Van Gogh was an outspoken critic of Islam, branding Imams as women haters and ridiculing the prophet Mohammed in his newspaper columns. Some branded him as an extremist. Others championed him as an advocate of free speech. But addressing the crowd of mourners, Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk told them, "In this country, nobody can be killed because of what he says. That is not what we want."

The words echoed by the Dutch prime minister.

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Solutions are not going to be reached if bullets are used. Freedom of speech is a very crucial thing for everybody, always.

MURIEL: Immigration, integration, and Islam are burning political issues in the Netherlands, home to nearly one million Muslims. Security for politicians has been stepped up since the murder of Pim Fortuyn just days ahead of the May 2002 election in which his party, fighting on an anti-immigration platform, took second place.

Diana Muriel, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: At least one of the men being questioned was reportedly connected to last year's suicide bombings in Casablanca.

PHILLIPS: Other news from around the world now -- from CNN's "What not to do at the zoo" file. Taipei, Taiwan, a man jumped into the lion exhibit and begins shouting at the animals. Well, the lions, being lion, did what lions do. Was the cat whisperer hurt? Oh yes -- not critically, though. He was treated for, imagine this, claw and bite injuries. Can only hope he takes future messages to more hospitable creatures.

What not to do in Iceland -- stand too close to the volcano. Hello! This is one impressive eruption, and it's in eastern Iceland, no danger to any populated area. But ash is steadily falling all over Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This particular volcano is on the biggest glacial plain in Europe and erupts like this every few years.

PHILLIPS: There it is. Waiting for the whistle. And this bird had better watch it. He's going to get his little feathered face slapped. A caged canary at a craft shop in rural England had the whole whistle down pat. We're told that Bixby (ph) reserves his sexy come-on only for women customers. Few seem to mind, except those who think the shop owner is the one being a little saucy.

O'BRIEN: Could you be taking the joy of the whitening strip a little too far? Who knows? Dr. Gupta with the dangers of overwhitening. You don't want them whiter than white, folks.

That's next, as LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Michael Jackson's attorney was urging a judge to remove prosecutor Tom Sneddon from the case, saying he's too personally invested. Well, a decision came down on that.

Miguel Marquez, working the story for us in Santa Maria.

Hi, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Kyra.

The judge said that Thomas Sneddon, or his office, isn't going anywhere. Judge Rodney Melville ruling very quickly, which is not usually the case with this judge, typically hears argument, takes under advisement, and then rules on paper several days later. In this case, he ruled from the bench, saying that the defense's motion to recuse Mr. Sneddon and his office from this case held no merit.

There was also representatives from California's attorney general's office present in court today. They argued with the prosecution that the defense just didn't meet the standard that Mr. Sneddon had somehow gone too far, was too overzealous and had a conflict of interest in this case, and therefore, couldn't be trusted to give Mr. Jackson a fair trial -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, Miguel, quickly, to give viewers a little bit of a perspective. I mean, it's no mystery that a relationship between Sneddon and Michael Jackson has existed, and it's been pretty controversial.

MARQUEZ: Yes, this is one thing that Thomas Mesereau Jr., Mr. Jackson's lawyer, argued in court, is that back to '93, when there was a grand jury put together here in Santa Barbara County, and also in L.A. County, that Mr. Sneddon was involved in that, that Mr. Sneddon had made jokes about Michael Jackson along the way, that he held a national press conference in which he joked about the case, at the same time he was announcing charges against Mr. Jackson, that he prejudiced the grand jury during the grand jury proceedings here.

But all of that, the judge believed did not constitute a conflict of interest, did not constitute an overzealousness on the part of this district attorney, and he said this office can go ahead and try the case -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Miguel Marquez, live from Santa Maria, California, thanks for the update.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: They say you can't be too rich or too thin. But can your teeth be too white?

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says some people have become tooth- bleaching junkies. Sounds terrible. They're putting their smiles at definite risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whiter teeth after just three days, full results in seven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): TV commercials and magazine ads promise sparkling white smiles. And who doesn't want that. But for some, teeth whitening has become an obsession.

JESSICA NEFF, TEETH WHITENING "JUNKIE": I tried the tray and gel systems over the counter. I've done the Rembrandt gel and toothpaste. I've done the Crest White Strips. I just tried the new Oral-B White Strips, and the paint-on brush that you use.

GUPTA: And fueling Jessica's fascination with teeth whitening, shows like "The Swan" and "Extreme Makeover." And of course the desire to make a dazzling first impression. She is part after growing numbers of consumers referred to as teeth-whitening junkies, people who excessively bleach.

DR. JONATHAN LEVINE, AESTHETIC DENTIST: The manufacturer says use it for two weeks, morning and night, twice a day, or 10 days every day. That doesn't mean doubling up on it and use it for three months.

GUPTA: Once a treatment that was only administered by dentist, cheap and easy at-home products have transformed it into a relatively safe and effective beauty regimen for millions of Americans.

(on camera): But abusing these products might be harmful, causing gum irritation, oversensitivity, and in some cases irreversible damage.

LEVINE: You're breaking down the structural integrity of the tooth. These people will be prone to fractures, and they're going to need some type of long-term restorations to restore the tooth that the whitening broke down from the inside.

GUPTA (voice-over): Ironically, excessive bleaching can turn pearly whites into an unnatural translucent blue. Some simple guidelines can help to avoid this permanent damage from at-home whitening. Follow the directions, especially length and frequency of use. Use concentrations lower than 7 percent hydrogen peroxide. Look for hydrogen peroxide instead of carbamide peroxide ingredients. Steer clear of online products, which are mainly unregulated by the FDA, and of course talk to your dentist before starting any whitening regimen. As far as Jessica goes, she's still obsessed with white teeth, but she does check with her dentist regularly. and together they keep that smile sparkling.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, 25 years ago today, the Islamic Revolution swept into the American embassy in Tehran. The impact of that historic moment on the life of a Delta Force member sent to rescue American hostages, and its impact on terrorism around the world today.

LIVE FROM's hour of power begins right after this.

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 November 4, 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: Checking stories now in the news. A turn for the worst. Yasser Arafat said to be in critical condition. Earlier, the French hospital where he's being treated denied reports that Arafat has died. Palestinian officials have conducted a flurry of emergency meetings and the Israeli military remains on high alert.
Tax reform, Social Security and of course the war on terror, some of the priorities President Bush laying out for his second term. At a news conference this morning, Mr. Bush also promised to reach out to allies who oppose the Iraq war. He says he hasn't decided on any changes in his cabinet or in the White House staff.

Four years ago, President Bush eked into office, promising to be a uniter, not a divider. And when he was Texas governor, he did, in fact, reach across the aisle frequently. Quickly found he wasn't in Austin anymore. Washington was a bitter place then. It remains so today. Should we expect more of the same for the next four years? We pose that question to Amy Walter of "The Cook Political Report" from, where else, inside the Beltway.

Amy, good to see you again.

AMY WALTER, "COOK POLITICAL REPORT": How are you?

O'BRIEN: Good, thanks. Good, thanks.

Let's -- the news conference just ended about an hour or so ago. Right at the end, I thought at the end was one of the more fascinating statements. Listen -- listen to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the disappointments of being here in Washington is how bitter this town can become and how divisive. I'm not blaming one party or the other. It's just the reality of Washington D.C., sometimes exacerbated by you, because it's great sport. It's really -- it's entertaining for some. It also makes it difficult to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: All right, and he went on to say he thinks he's learned a few things over the past four years, and that he might be able to do a little better as far as trying to bring people together. What are the chances of that really happening?

WALTER: Yes, I'm sure there were a lot of Democrats who saw that press conference and didn't exactly feel like they wanted to go embrace Republicans...

O'BRIEN: They weren't feeling the love today, is that what you're saying, no love?

WALTER: No group hugs, no group hugs.

O'BRIEN: Listen, I think you're looking at a Congress that has shown they don't need to reach across the aisle, especially in the House. You know, in 1993 when President Clinton had a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, he barely passed his budget in 1993 by one vote, even when he had a 40-seat majority. Last year, President Bush -- or actually this year -- gosh, it already feels like we're a year...

O'BRIEN: Yes, sure does.

WALTER: President Bush passed his budget without one single Democratic vote, and he only had a 12-seat majority. So now that Republicans have even a little bit of a bigger majority, there's no reason for them to go have to reach across the other side of the aisle, even on very divisive, difficult to put together pieces of legislation.

O'BRIEN: So is the feeling then on Capitol Hill, then, among Democrats in particular, that they are really out in the cold here, and what would their strategy be to try to get any sort of foothold on moving any kind of legislation through?

WALTER: Well, I guess what they have to hope is that Republicans try to do some over-reaching, that they try to push issues, whether it's tax cuts, whether it's on some social issues. Even on Social Security, which quite frankly, I think is going to be just as difficult for Republicans to have to deal with as Democrats, and hope to use that against the Republican Party two years from now in the midterm election.

Remember, there's something called the six-year itch, where the party in power, been in power for the second term of the presidency, they traditionally have a very tough time the midterm elections. 1998 was a little bit of an exception, because well, we had an impeachment then, that sort of threw off that historical norm.

But the fact is, that if you're Democrats in the House and Senate, the one thing that you have to be looking toward is 2006, and just hoping that you can hold on, really, and hold off any sort of Republican move until then.

O'BRIEN: All right. But there is a -- it's human nature, in a situation like this, when you got control of all the important places...

WALTER: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... to over-reach, isn't it?

WALTER: Well, you know, I think there's a sense -- and you certainly heard it from the president today, you're hearing it on the House and Senate side, that there's a mandate now, that the American public not only gave increases in the Senate and the House, re-elected with the president, but did it with the majority of the vote. The president elected, 51 percent of the vote. There's certainly something to that, absolutely.

I think the concern, though, has to be about what sort of issues they decide to move forward, and then what are the outside influences pushing on the House and the Senate as they have to make these decisions? Obviously, you have the deficit. Obviously, you have the war on terror. Any other outside environmental problem whether it's -- and by environment, I mean the political environment, what's happening in Iraq.

And then of course the Supreme Court. We know that we may have to start talking about and thinking about that, as well as other judicial appointments. When the rubber meets the road, I think both sides actually may find that this is a little more difficult and there are, you know, more pieces of the puzzle to this than it looks like today.

O'BRIEN: What's your take on the court for just a moment? let's talk about that. Chief Justice Rehnquist of course very ill, and this court has been intact as it is for 10 years now.

WALTER: Right.

O'BRIEN: Lots of -- well, I guess elderly's an OK term. Is that politically correct, to say elderly? Senior citizens...

WALTER: Yes, sure.

O'BRIEN: ... on the bench now. Many opportunities potentially in this four-year term for the president to make nominations. Could, ultimately, lead to incredible rancor, couldn't it?

WALTER: Oh, there's no doubt about that. And I think you saw this during the election, that you had both sides really trying to motivate their bases with this exact idea that we could put one or two Supreme Court justices in during this tenure, and how important that's going to be for the base.

And look, remember, it has to actually go through Congress, too. The president has to appoint someone. The head of the Judiciary Committee in the Senate will be Arlen Specter. He's known as a moderate from the Northeast. In fact, he's already made statements to the effect that, you know, look, don't think that we're just going to be able to put and somebody forward who may be considered too conservative or too divisive. So I think we're going to have a very interesting sort of battle, not just between the Republicans and Democrats, but even within the two parties once this -- if there's a potential nomination fight.

O'BRIEN: But just to bring it all back home here, the mood in Washington, just to state it clearly -- and you're as in touch with that mood as anybody -- is what? Is there any sort of germ of trying to bridge gaps between the parties right now, or is it just the opposite?

WALTER: Yes, I don't see that there is a sense from either side that they want to go hands and try to work together and anything. And the real question now is, what could do that, what could bring that together?

We saw in 2001 that we were almost equally divided in terms of the House and the Senate, in terms of their ability to want to work together. September 11th did bring the two sides together for a short time.

Is there some other issue that will bring them together? We don't know. But at this point, it sure doesn't look that way.

O'BRIEN: Amy Walter is with "The Cook Political Report"...

WALTER: Thanks, Miles.

O'BRIEN: ... joining us from Washington. Thanks for your time, as always.

WALTER: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Kyra?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, just ahead on LIVE FROM -- gunned down in the street: The killing of an outspoken critic of Islam is generating headlines, protests, and controversy.

Also ahead, man versus lions. It's our video of the day, as LIVE FROM takes you around the world.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN< the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: A possible terror link -- police in Holland have nine men in custody today connected to this week's killing of a controversial filmmaker in Amsterdam. Investigators are probing a possible link to a known Islamic terror group with a brutal history.

Diana Muriel now with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thousands of mourners braved the November chill to protest the killing of controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in a central Amsterdam square. Forty-seven-year-old van Gogh, a distant relative of the 19th century painter Vincent van Gogh, was shot and stabbed to death on his way to work Tuesday. Police say he received death threats following the release last August of his television film criticizing the treatment of women under Islam. Police say a 26-year-old man is being held on suspicion of his murder. The man, of Dutch-Moroccan nationality, was arrested after a shootout with police officers near the scene of the crime.

Van Gogh was an outspoken critic of Islam, branding Imams as women haters and ridiculing the prophet Mohammed in his newspaper columns. Some branded him as an extremist. Others championed him as an advocate of free speech. But addressing the crowd of mourners, Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk told them, "In this country, nobody can be killed because of what he says. That is not what we want."

The words echoed by the Dutch prime minister.

JAN PETER BALKENENDE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Solutions are not going to be reached if bullets are used. Freedom of speech is a very crucial thing for everybody, always.

MURIEL: Immigration, integration, and Islam are burning political issues in the Netherlands, home to nearly one million Muslims. Security for politicians has been stepped up since the murder of Pim Fortuyn just days ahead of the May 2002 election in which his party, fighting on an anti-immigration platform, took second place.

Diana Muriel, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: At least one of the men being questioned was reportedly connected to last year's suicide bombings in Casablanca.

PHILLIPS: Other news from around the world now -- from CNN's "What not to do at the zoo" file. Taipei, Taiwan, a man jumped into the lion exhibit and begins shouting at the animals. Well, the lions, being lion, did what lions do. Was the cat whisperer hurt? Oh yes -- not critically, though. He was treated for, imagine this, claw and bite injuries. Can only hope he takes future messages to more hospitable creatures.

What not to do in Iceland -- stand too close to the volcano. Hello! This is one impressive eruption, and it's in eastern Iceland, no danger to any populated area. But ash is steadily falling all over Norway, Sweden, and Finland. This particular volcano is on the biggest glacial plain in Europe and erupts like this every few years.

PHILLIPS: There it is. Waiting for the whistle. And this bird had better watch it. He's going to get his little feathered face slapped. A caged canary at a craft shop in rural England had the whole whistle down pat. We're told that Bixby (ph) reserves his sexy come-on only for women customers. Few seem to mind, except those who think the shop owner is the one being a little saucy.

O'BRIEN: Could you be taking the joy of the whitening strip a little too far? Who knows? Dr. Gupta with the dangers of overwhitening. You don't want them whiter than white, folks.

That's next, as LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Michael Jackson's attorney was urging a judge to remove prosecutor Tom Sneddon from the case, saying he's too personally invested. Well, a decision came down on that.

Miguel Marquez, working the story for us in Santa Maria.

Hi, Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you there, Kyra.

The judge said that Thomas Sneddon, or his office, isn't going anywhere. Judge Rodney Melville ruling very quickly, which is not usually the case with this judge, typically hears argument, takes under advisement, and then rules on paper several days later. In this case, he ruled from the bench, saying that the defense's motion to recuse Mr. Sneddon and his office from this case held no merit.

There was also representatives from California's attorney general's office present in court today. They argued with the prosecution that the defense just didn't meet the standard that Mr. Sneddon had somehow gone too far, was too overzealous and had a conflict of interest in this case, and therefore, couldn't be trusted to give Mr. Jackson a fair trial -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, Miguel, quickly, to give viewers a little bit of a perspective. I mean, it's no mystery that a relationship between Sneddon and Michael Jackson has existed, and it's been pretty controversial.

MARQUEZ: Yes, this is one thing that Thomas Mesereau Jr., Mr. Jackson's lawyer, argued in court, is that back to '93, when there was a grand jury put together here in Santa Barbara County, and also in L.A. County, that Mr. Sneddon was involved in that, that Mr. Sneddon had made jokes about Michael Jackson along the way, that he held a national press conference in which he joked about the case, at the same time he was announcing charges against Mr. Jackson, that he prejudiced the grand jury during the grand jury proceedings here.

But all of that, the judge believed did not constitute a conflict of interest, did not constitute an overzealousness on the part of this district attorney, and he said this office can go ahead and try the case -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Miguel Marquez, live from Santa Maria, California, thanks for the update.

We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: They say you can't be too rich or too thin. But can your teeth be too white?

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says some people have become tooth- bleaching junkies. Sounds terrible. They're putting their smiles at definite risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whiter teeth after just three days, full results in seven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): TV commercials and magazine ads promise sparkling white smiles. And who doesn't want that. But for some, teeth whitening has become an obsession.

JESSICA NEFF, TEETH WHITENING "JUNKIE": I tried the tray and gel systems over the counter. I've done the Rembrandt gel and toothpaste. I've done the Crest White Strips. I just tried the new Oral-B White Strips, and the paint-on brush that you use.

GUPTA: And fueling Jessica's fascination with teeth whitening, shows like "The Swan" and "Extreme Makeover." And of course the desire to make a dazzling first impression. She is part after growing numbers of consumers referred to as teeth-whitening junkies, people who excessively bleach.

DR. JONATHAN LEVINE, AESTHETIC DENTIST: The manufacturer says use it for two weeks, morning and night, twice a day, or 10 days every day. That doesn't mean doubling up on it and use it for three months.

GUPTA: Once a treatment that was only administered by dentist, cheap and easy at-home products have transformed it into a relatively safe and effective beauty regimen for millions of Americans.

(on camera): But abusing these products might be harmful, causing gum irritation, oversensitivity, and in some cases irreversible damage.

LEVINE: You're breaking down the structural integrity of the tooth. These people will be prone to fractures, and they're going to need some type of long-term restorations to restore the tooth that the whitening broke down from the inside.

GUPTA (voice-over): Ironically, excessive bleaching can turn pearly whites into an unnatural translucent blue. Some simple guidelines can help to avoid this permanent damage from at-home whitening. Follow the directions, especially length and frequency of use. Use concentrations lower than 7 percent hydrogen peroxide. Look for hydrogen peroxide instead of carbamide peroxide ingredients. Steer clear of online products, which are mainly unregulated by the FDA, and of course talk to your dentist before starting any whitening regimen. As far as Jessica goes, she's still obsessed with white teeth, but she does check with her dentist regularly. and together they keep that smile sparkling.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Coming up in the second hour of LIVE FROM, 25 years ago today, the Islamic Revolution swept into the American embassy in Tehran. The impact of that historic moment on the life of a Delta Force member sent to rescue American hostages, and its impact on terrorism around the world today.

LIVE FROM's hour of power begins right after this.

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