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Olmert Receives Warm Welcome in Congress; Internet Home to Many Bird Flu Drug Scams; Bush, Blair to Hold Press Conference Tomorrow

Aired May 24, 2006 - 14:30   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair together again in front of reporters tomorrow at the White House. CNN's White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president. She joins us now live from Pottstown, Pennsylvania.
Hi, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well hi, Kyra.

Today is really a day of politics as well as policy for President Bush. He's going to start off at this location. This is the Limerick Generating Station. It's a nuclear power plant.

That is where the president is going to be speaking, touring this facility and, of course, talking about his energy plan, the push for nuclear energy as opposed to, I guess, trying to wean Americans off their addiction to foreign oil, all a part of his energy push as he faces really a great deal of political pressure from Americans who are facing those high gas prices.

And, of course, as you mentioned, of course, there is a great deal of focus on tomorrow and what is happening with President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He's going to be at the White House, the two of them, of course, standing side by side, a 7:30 press conference.

The focus is going to be on the status of Iraq. A lot of speculation, reports about whether or not there will be any major announcements of significant drawdowns or withdrawal of U.S. or coalition forces.

We're told by senior administration officials that is not going to be the case, but we did hear from President Bush just yesterday saying that there is a very unique situation here, a reassessment, if you will, the United States and the new Iraqi government being able to sit down and talk about the possibility -- the possibility -- of drawing down troops within a certain timetable at least looking at the situation on the ground to see if that's possible -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux there in Pottsville. Thank you so much. That news conference, once again, as Suzanne mentioned, tomorrow 7:30 Eastern. Of course, CNN is all over it live. Tune into THE SITUATION ROOM with Wolf Blitzer before, during and after. Well, applause in the U.S., anger in the Mideast. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gets a warm welcome from Congress, but back in his neck of the woods, it's a whole different story. CNN's John Vause is in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Israeli prime minister received 17 standing ovations during his address as he urged the U.S. Congress to take action now to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons.

EHUD OLMERT, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If we don't take Iran's bellicose rhetoric seriously now, we will be forced to take its nuclear aggression seriously later.

VAUSE (voice-over): He also told U.S. lawmakers that he needed their active support to push ahead with his plan to evacuate thousands of Jewish settlers from the West Bank and define Israel's permanent borders. And while he was still hoping to negotiate peace with the Palestinian president, that would be impossible, he said, until the Hamas-led Palestinian government recognized Israel, disarmed and honored all interim agreements.

OLMERT: The Palestinian Authority is ruled by Hamas, an organization committed to vehement anti-Semitism, the glorification of terror, and the total destruction of Israel. As long as these are their guiding principles, they can never be a partner.

VAUSE: Just hours earlier, a fierce firefight broke out in the West Bank city of Ramallah between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen. It happened when an elite undercover Israeli unit went into Ramallah to catch a senior member from Islamic jihad. Both Israeli and Palestinian sources confirm the arrest of a Mohamed Shubaki (ph), a senior military commander with Islamic jihad from the West Bank city of Kalkilia.

During the operation, a large mob surrounded Israeli soldiers. They were pelted with rocks and stones. There was a sound of gunfire. At least four Palestinians were killed, and more than 30 wounded.

(on camera): And in Gaza, Palestinian security sources say that the local head of the preventive security service, Malbil Hahud (ph), was killed when his car exploded. Hahud is loyal to the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. His death will fuel the escalating violence in Gaza. Abbas has been locked in a tense power struggle with his Hamas new government which has deployed a 3,000 strong army throughout the Gaza Strip.

John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, is the U.S. sending out the wrong messages at home and abroad? Former President Carter sure thinks so. Our Wolf Blitzer talked to him just a short time ago. Wolf joins us from Washington.

Wolf, if you don't mind, just coming out of that John Vause report, I know you talked to Carter about the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Carter was there monitoring the elections earlier this year. What's his take? What does he think about Hamas winning the election, and this friction now with Israel not wanting to negotiate with Hamas?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he does point out -- and he was there monitoring it with other international observers. The election was free and fair. Hamas was elected. Is he happy about that? No.

He does think that there's an opportunity, though, for the Israelis to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, that even though his party Fatah was not elected, it was still an "opening," in his words, for the Israelis to talk to Mahmoud Abbas.

The problem that the Israelis have is, as Ehud Olmert said to me only the other day, is he doesn't -- as much as he respects Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, likes him, feels his intentions are very positive, he doesn't think he has any clout, any credibility left.

And as a result, this peace process, if you will, is pretty much at a stalemate and the Israelis -- Olmert is making the case that Israel eventually, unless Hamas changes its position, is going to go forward with some unilateral steps, disengaging or withdrawing from parts of the West Bank. And that's causing angst in the region and elsewhere -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Wolf, what about the immigration debate? Did he weigh in on that?

BLITZER: Yes. I asked him about that. And he had written an op-ed piece, an editorial piece, only the other day in which he suggested that there were some racist overtones in this entire debate. And I asked him what he meant by that. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's such a punitive approach to the very sensitive issue of immigration. And I tried to point out in my editorial that these people who come to our country, and even the ones who employ them, are good, honest, hard- working, dedicated people and they don't need to be punished.

And so I think whenever you single out a particular category of people for this punitive legislation, as I believe was done in the House version of the bill that might be passed, it does have overtones of distinguishing between a particular class of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He also said, Kyra, he wasn't happy that there's an effort underway in the Congress to make English the official or national language. He said this country has done just fine without doing that over the past 200-plus years and really it's not necessary to do it right now.

PHILLIPS: When I interviewed the former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, about a week or so ago, we talked about the Iran issue. She definitely wants negotiations to happen and talks to happen. Did you ask Jimmy Carter about that? My guess is he thinks talks are the right way to go as well?

BLITZER: Your guess is right, Kyra. He believes as Madeleine Albright, as many others are suggesting, there should be a direct dialogue between the U.S. and Iran on Iran's nuclear program as opposed to simply going through the Europeans, the British, the French, the Germans, or the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

He feels there should be a direct dialogue. It might not, in the end, result in much, but he doesn't think it could hurt and he thinks potentially the Iranians are reaching out to the U.S. for this kind of dialogue and it would be a good idea for President Bush to respond. We got into that as well.

PHILLIPS: Well, you also said that Jimmy Carter talked about human rights abuses by the U.S. government, and then from what I see here, he said that "it has undermined our authority in the world and has embarrassed us as a nation." What did he mean by this?

BLITZER: You know, he's got a major conference at the Carter Center that's underway right now, and he spoke very, very strongly yesterday in his opening statement. What the Carter Center and Jimmy Carter has been trying to do over the years is promote democracy, promote human rights.

What he fears is that some of the alleged abuses in human rights in which this U.S. government, the Bush administration, has been engaged in over the past few years, has undermined U.S. credibility in trying to preach the importance of human rights and respecting individuals' human rights.

And he specifically referred to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, the allegations of torture, the allegations that the U.S. has been sending terror suspects to third countries where there could be torture, what's called rendition. And that has undermined the American ability to speak authoritatively on this issue, and that's one of the major themes, Kyra, of this conference that's underway in Atlanta right now.

PHILLIPS: All right. Wolf Blitzer, we'll see you in THE SITUATION ROOM at 4:00 p.m.? Deal?

BLITZER: Deal.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jimmy Carter also, as you mentioned, Wolf, that he's holding this conference. He is going to have a press conference at 3:00 Eastern time. We'll definitely monitor that for you as well. Well, this isn't idle chatter, but the finale of "American Idol" is expected to put 35 million people in front of their TVs tonight. Which of the dueling duo is your favorite? Is it soulful Taylor Hicks -- he kind of looks like George Clooney -- or beautiful Katherine McPhee? Who does she look like? We're going to preview the big finish when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fredricka Whitfield, what are you working on for us?

WHITFIELD: Well, take a look at some pictures we're just now getting in out of Baltimore in an industrial area there. About a dozen firefighters are working a scene right there. An active fire. It's believed to be a two-alarm fire. And hazardous materials may be involved. We apologize for the transmission there. But, obviously, this coming from a helicopter point of view.

We don't know exactly what this industrial site involves, just that this is an active fire under way. And we're not certain as to whether it is near any residential areas. We can see right there from the fire hoses that they are actively trying to put it out. And, of course, when we get more information out of Baltimore there, we'll be able to bring that to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, sounds good. Thanks, Fred.

Well, depend on it. If there's a public health scare, somebody will try to make a buck off of it. Case in point: bird flu. Our Randi Kaye investigated for "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just type avian flu or bird flu into an Internet browser and find sites that will sell you avian flue protection kits, food to stockpile. There's even generic Tamiflu, herbal cures. There's only one problem with those...

DAVID ELDER, DIRECTOR OF ENFORCEMENT, FDA: None of these products have any scientific evidence to show that they're safe and effective for either the treatment or the prevention of bird flu.

KAYE (on camera): Would you call this false advertising?

ELDER: I would call it fraud.

KAYE (voice-over): As director of enforcement at the FDA, David Elder polices Internet frauds and counterfeits. Along with U.S. Customs, his agents recently seized 51 shipments of so-called generic Tamiflu, purchased over the Internet and on their way to U.S. consumers from China. What alerted them?

ELDER: There is no generic Tamiflu available in this country.

KAYE: Elder shows us how the real and fake pills look alike. But the real surprise, what's inside the pills. Ten tablets of Vitamin C?

ELDER: Yes.

KAYE: This is just the beginning of a crackdown in which the FDA has sent out at least 28 warning letters to U.S. Internet companies that claim to offer a cure or protection.

ELDER: We've seen counterfeit Gucci bags and counterfeit Rolex watches. These are counterfeit prescription drugs. People are taking these to prevent serious illness.

KAYE: We went trolling on the Internet to see what else we could find. Right off the bat, we found Avian RX on this Web site, which says it claims to be the herbal Tamiflu.

ELDER: Making a claim that it's an herbal alternative for Tamiflu is equivalent to a prescription drug claim. I am not aware that anybody has submitted an application to the FDA, seeking approval for that claim on that particular product.

KAYE: We contacted Jared Wheat (ph), president of High Tech Pharmaceuticals, which makes Avian RX. He told us by phone, his company has "no control over the claims by the distributor on the Web site." He says he "chose the name Avian RX at random," but he told us he had "changed the name from Avian RX to Defend RX."

The next day, we found Defend-RX being offered. The name of the product had changed, but not the claims about it. And then, when we ordered Defend-RX, we got Avian RX, instead.

When we asked Mr. Wheat (ph) about this, he e-mails us, "no comment."

But the FDA had a comment.

ELDER: The manufacturer of Avian-RX is actually under injunction from 2003 for past practices of marketing products without approval by the agency, and remains under that injunction.

KAYE: However, the FDA will not comment on what, if anything, it's doing about Avian-RX or Defend-RX, saying it can't talk about investigations.

One company does talk to us, the maker of AVN 36. Its Web site, birdflustopper.com, claims to offer a powerful immune system booster to help protect your family against the bird flu.

But when we asked Marketing Director Gayla Young for evidence...

GAYLA YOUNG, MARKETING DIRECTOR, AVN 36: It's actually not a cure for bird flu. It doesn't really stop it. At this point there is no vaccine for the H5N1 virus, the avian influenza. Our approach is it was created specifically for the immune system and we want to kind of get people's awareness in taking the bird flu a little more seriously. KAYE: So why call it birdflustopper.com?

YOUNG: When we have that domain name birdflustopper.com, it's primarily to promote our product, the Avian 36.

KAYE: Young notes the small print does say AVN 36 does not cure bird flu.

(on camera): What will the consumer get as a result of purchasing one of these products?

ELDER: Well, if they purchase it on the Internet, one thing they can be sure of is their credit card will be debited.

KAYE: Is there any way, though, for the average consumer to know the difference between a product that works and a product that is making false claims?

ELDER: There is a way. There are no products currently approved that consumers could purchase over the Internet that are approved for the treatment of prevention of avian flu.

KAYE (voice-over): If all of this seems familiar, it should. Similar promises popped up during the SARS epidemic, and in 2001, with anthrax.

ELDER: Whenever there's public health concerns, there's a small segment of the population that is going to try to seek to profit.

KAYE (on camera): A report by the Italian Wines Union says white wine has the same active ingredients as Tamiflu and might actually save me from the bird flu. Well, that is one bird flu cure I am willing to spend a little money on, just in case. Cheers.

Randi Kaye, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Anderson Cooper exposing the frauds. Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern. Let's get straight to Fredricka once again, working a story for us in the newsroom -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Another fire, but a different city. This time in Houston, south Houston. Take a look at these pictures as firefighters are trying to battle a blaze of an abandoned apartment building. We don't know the circumstances of this fire, but you can see it's a pretty sizable one and a number of firefighters are on the scene trying to put it out any way they can. This taking place in South Houston -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. Thanks so much.

Well, straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer with "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." A.J. where have you been?

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I've been, you know, doing things that we entertainment-type people do, Kyra. Can you feel it, though? There's lots of music in the air today.

PHILLIPS: Hey, country music. I was watching.

HAMMER: Yes, well, I'm going to let everybody who wasn't watching know who went home with those trophies from the Academy of Country Music Awards. And we're also going to let you know who hit the high notes on "American Idol" last night. That's all coming up when CNN's LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This into CNN from our congressional correspondent Dana Bash. As you know, we've been covering the story of this man, Congressman William Jefferson under fire. Some politicians coming forward and asking him to step off certain committees right now because of allegations of corruption and embezzlement.

As you know, almost $100,000 was found stuffed in his freezer. The Justice Department raided his office. Now we are being told that Congressman William Jefferson's attorney has filed a motion to get all the papers back that were taken from his office in that raid. Dana Bash working this story for us. We'll try and find out more information and bring it to you as soon as we get it.

Las Vegas turned into Nashville west last night. As you might guess, it wasn't a pep rally for the Dixie Chicks. A bit farther West, rock and soul took the stage as "American Idol" filled to a big finish. Our own idol, A.J. Hammer, has all the details and a look ahead to Headline Prime's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Do you sing too, A.J., or is that just Sibila?

HAMMER: I don't sing. But where did I get that title?

PHILLIPS: Our witty writers, come on. We had to come up with something that fit you perfectly.

HAMMER: I wondered if you ad-libbed it yourself, but now I know how you really feel. All right, Kyra, let's get to it.

The best in country music rounded up in Las Vegas last night. It was the 41st annual Country Music Awards and Sin City proved lucky for Kenny Chesney. He hit the proverbial jackpot, winning entertainer of the year last night. This makes it the second year in a row that Chesney has taken home the top trophy. Brooks & Dunn became the most honored artist in the history of the ACMs when they nabbed their 20th and 21st honors last night. Brad Paisley had his arms full. He got trophies winning three, including album of the year.

"American Idol" turned country superstar Carrie Underwood won the crown of top new female vocalist. Now you may remember when Underwood won "American Idol," that was just last year. The Oklahoma native went from being a complete unknown to a star, and it happened, as it once happened on that show, literally overnight.

But who is next for "American Idol?" Well this evening may actually be the biggest night in television of the year. The newest "American Idol" will be crowned, coming down to the Soul Patrol versus McPheever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR HICKS, CONTESTANT, AMERICAN IDOL: (SINGING)

KATHARINE MCPHEE, CONTESTANT, AMERICAN IDOL: (SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: It's down to those two, Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee. They each performed three songs on yesterday's program. Of course, tough-tongued judge Simon Cowell had lots to say. He gave round one to Hicks, the second song to McPhee, and to No. 3, back to Hicks. And of course, Kyra, we're going to find out tonight if voters agree with Mr. Nasty on who will become the newest "American Idol." Are you going with the common logic that Taylor Hicks is going to walk away with this thing?

PHILLIPS: Is that what you think?

HAMMER: I think it's what's actually going to happen, yes. I don't recall a single "American Idol" where Katharine has performed -- and I haven't seen every single one this season, but where she's performed and there haven't been bad things said about her performance, or harsh criticisms, I should say.

PHILLIPS: You know both of them are going to get record deals anyway, so it really doesn't matter, right?

HAMMER: Do you have a second real quick to hear what the runner- up is being offered?

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

HAMMER: There is one food chain yesterday that offered $10,000 for the runner-up to sing their jingle. Well today another food chain came forward and said, we'll top that, we'll give the runner-up $100,000 to sing our jingle and a lifetime supply of cookies.

PHILLIPS: Oooh, but you're not going to tell me the jingles or the company?

HAMMER: Well the first one was Kentucky Fried Chicken for the $10,000 yesterday and the second one escapes me at the moment.

PHILLIPS: But it's cookies.

HAMMER: It was Eat'n Park's chain of restaurants.

PHILLIPS: Ah, very good.

HAMMER: Eat'n Park.

PHILLIPS: Wow, that's be grand. I'd go for it. What's coming up tonight? HAMMER: Tonight we get into the duel over the Dixies. You've mentioned it and America's biggest country stars are giving "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" their no holds-barred opinions about the Dixie Chicks controversial Bush-bashing album. What does country music think about it? You get to hear what the stars have to say on T.V.'s most provocative entertainment news program, it's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime. I'm in the mood for some cookies.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it sounded good. Send us a little this way. Thanks, A.J.

HAMMER: All right, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well we're working a number of developing stories including this fire right now in an abandoned apartment building. Live pictures from our affiliate KTRK. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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