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CNN Live Today

Protesters and the RNC; RNC's High Price Tag; Fall TV Shows; Int'l. Gymnastics Assn. Head Asks Hamm to Give Gold to S. Korean

Aired August 27, 2004 - 10:30   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's check out what's happening "Now in the News.
Russian intelligence now says terrorism is believed to be behind at least one of that country's two plane crashes Tuesday night. Investigators found traces of explosives in the second plane that went down. Officials confirm that Chechen women boarded both flights and no one has come forward to claim their remains.

President Bush is enacting intelligence reform. Mr. Bush plans to sign executive orders today, establishing a new National Counterterrorism Center and beefing up the role of the CIA director. The CIA chief would receive authority on an interim basis to perform many of the duties of a National Intelligence Director. White House aides say the president will work with Congress to create the National Intelligence Director's post.

Calm in Najaf -- residents are returning to the Iraqi city today following three weeks of fighting. The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr worked out a peace deal. Al-Sadr's militia men left the Imam Ali Mosque and are turning over their weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. forces have pulled back from the center of the city.

A Guantanamo Bay detainee is being arraigned today, but Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi will not get to make a plea -- to enter a plea. Al Qosi's lawyer is leaving the case to take a new job, and no replacement has been found yet. Al Qosi, accused of being an accountant and pay master for al Qaeda, is charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes.

New York is often considered the crossroads of the world. And in the coming days, Madison Square Garden will be the way station, at least for presidential politics. The Republican party kicks off its convention there on Monday.

Our national correspondent Kelly Wallace has a preview of that. Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

There is likely to be as much attention to what is happening inside this convention hall behind me as there is to the attention on what is happening on the streets outside. As you said, this convention getting underway on Monday, and a big question will be: How many protesters will actually take to the streets, and just how peaceful will those protesters be?

Yesterday, four activists were arrested after unfurling a huge banner critical of the president outside the Plaza Hotel. And then yesterday, we also saw some other activists, AIDS activists who decided to bare it all, we should say, to make their point. And a few of those demonstrators were arrested.

The stakes are certainly high for the president. Although, he is heading into this convention with some good news in some of the polls -- some showing that he's making some improvement in some of the key battleground states.

Let's take a look at a new "Los Angeles Times" poll among registered voters. First in Missouri, the president now leading his Democratic rival John Kerry 46 to 44 percent. Take a look at Ohio. No Republican ever winning the White House without winning the Buckeye State. The president is ahead 49 to 44 percent. That is beyond the margin of error. And in Wisconsin, again among registered voters, the split is 48 to 44 percent.

A big challenge for the president, though, will be trying to convince the undecideds, who could decide this election, that he should be hired for another four years. And the challenge for the Democrats, you can say, is trying to keep themselves in the news when all eyes will be on the Republican party. The Democratic party is setting up a war room just a few blocks from here -- noisy Madison Square Garden -- just as the Republicans did during the Democratic convention in Boston.

I am competing with lots of traffic, so Daryn, I'll toss it back to you.

KAGAN: I was going to say, they were talking about all the traffic being shut down. Clearly that has not happened yet. The convention is not underway yet. Kelly Wallace in New York City, thank you.

Well, the GOP, as you may well know, stands for Grand Old Party. And those who didn't know that will be reminded next week with the grandiose scope and scale of the Republican party's gathering.

Financial News reporter Allan Chernoff looks at the gold behind the glitter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The proposed budget for the Republican National Convention is $64 million, excluding security. But the final price tag may be even higher. The New York Host Committees' fund-raisers say they've collected about $70 million in private donations.

LEWIS EISENBERG, CO-CHAIR, NYC HOST CMTE.: This is New York City. Everything's better. And when you want the best, it usually costs a little more. This will be the best. It'll cost a little more. CHERNOFF: It will cost plenty just to accommodate reporters: $4.5 million to renovate the city's main post office into a giant media workspace. Another three-quarters of a million to build a temporary bridge across 8th Avenue so reporters can have easy access to the convention on the other side of the street.

And rental for Madison Square Garden? Five million dollars.

KEVIN SHEEKY, PRESIDENT, NYC HOST CMTE.: Sounds a lot, but we spent $15 million renovating the Garden. The entire lower section of the Garden has been taken out. It's been built up nine-and-a-half feet. A new floor has been put in. I mean, it's a really dynamic change that people are going to see in the Garden when the curtains pull back.

CHERNOFF: Madison Square Garden, home to basketball's New York Knicks and hockey's Rangers, is a contractor's delight this week: more than $2 million spent on electrical work; $2.5 million to construct the speakers' podium; $800,000 for decor and fabric covering.

The Republicans plan to put on a big show: $5.5 million allocated for program and production costs. Then, there are parties and entertainment around town.

SHEEKY: A welcome for delegates on Broadway. Renting out Broadway shows, sending delegates to something that you can't recreate anywhere else in the country. Another $1.5 million and, like someone once said, a million here, a million there, it starts to add up.

CHERNOFF (on camera): It's not that the Democrats were chintzy in Boston, but the Republicans clearly have more elaborate plans. And in New York, the GOP is proving that throwing a grand old party can run up a tab approaching $70 million.

Allan Chernoff, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It goes without saying that CNN will have extensive coverage of the convention, beginning with the Sunday primetime lineup. To set the stage, at 8:00 Eastern, CNN presents "The Mission of George W. Bush." Larry King follows with a live convention preview. Then, at 10:00 Eastern, CNN's Wolf Blitzer hosts "America Votes 2004."

An American gymnast is being asked to give up his gold medal. We'll have the story just ahead.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERI HATCHER, ACTRESS: You'll love this. He said, "It doesn't mean anything. It was just sex."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: You're going to get a sneak peek at lives of some "Desperate Housewives" coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange.

The economy grew more slowly than first thought in the second quarter because of shrinking corporate profits and higher imports. The revised reading on gross domestic product shows the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from April to June. That's down from the three percent pace seen in the Commerce Department's first snapshot last month. And it is a sharp slowdown from the 4.5 percent growth rate during the first three months of this year.

Among the drags on the economy: higher oil prices, which limited consumer spending; and the trade deficit widened to a record. Here on Wall Street this morning, investors brushing aside some of those numbers, which were pretty much in line with estimates.

And stocks are edging higher. Right now, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up some 13 points; Nasdaq's adding .5 percent.

Helping offset the weaker growth, the better than expected reading on consumer confidence. And as for our daily check on oil prices, crude oil trading down just a few cents in New York at about $43 a barrel. That comes on top of five straight sessions of decline.

That's the very latest from Wall Street. CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, wait until you hear the story we're following out of Athens, Greece, the site of the Olympic Summer Games. The head of the International Gymnastics Association has written a letter to American Paul Hamm asking that he give back his gold medal to a South Korean that was victimized by scoring mistakes.

The U.S. Olympic Committee in turn has issued a strong response. Our Mark McKay is covering the Games; he joins us with details.

Mark, they want him to give back the gold medal?

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Out of sportsmanship -- perhaps the ultimate gesture of sportsmanship. This according to the International Gymnastics Federation, Daryn. As you can imagine, it's not sitting well with the USOC. He may be back on U.S. soil, but Paul Hamm is certainly not being forgotten in Greece.

Yet another chapter written this afternoon here in Athens of this ongoing saga involving the all-around gymnastics competition, the men's final. The gold medal winner, Paul Hamm, was supposed to receive a letter, as you mentioned, from the International Gymnastics Federation suggesting that Hamm give his gold to South Korea's Yang Tae-young in a gesture of sportsmanship.

Now, Yang, as we remember, earned bronze instead of a possible gold due to a judging error. Well, the letter never got to Hamm. The United States Olympic Committee refused to deliver it to their gymnast. They did, however, release its contents to the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER UEBERROTH, USOC CHAIRMAN: We've reviewed the action of the International Gymnastics Federation, and we think it's deplorable. They're deflecting their own incompetence and their problem to a young athlete who simply came here to compete in the Olympic Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: Strong words indeed, Daryn. And we spoke with Hamm -- CNN Sports spoke with Hamm earlier this week. He basically told us he did everything he needed to do to win that gold medal. In his heart, he feels he is the gold medal winner.

Now, a little earlier today here in Athens, Daryn, IOC President Jacques Rogge addressed this issue and others involving controversy. He said that no duplicate medals will be awarded because of timing errors, like they had in the equestrian events, or in gymnastics, where judging errors got in the way of the results -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Now, didn't Paul Hamm also say earlier that he wasn't going to do anything unless the FIG said that he should? And now they have come forward and said that he should?

MCKAY: That's the latest. I hadn't heard that particular quote or anything from him in terms of that, but he basically went out earlier in the week when we spoke to him and said that, you know, "I've done everything I can do." He fell victim to the judges' errors.

We'll have to see how this plays out, now that this letter didn't get into his hands, Daryn. It ended up staying in the hands of the USOC. Then, they come out today with some angry words here in Athens.

KAGAN: Right. And the other part of this that critics have been saying since the start of this, that the South Koreans did not file the protest in the amount of time that they were supposed to, and also, that the scoring would have been different.

You can't just say you add up the scores differently, somebody else wins -- that there would have been an adjustment mid-competition that ultimately could have changed the outcome of this competition.

MCKAY: I think the U.S. team coach even addressed that this week, Daryn, saying that they reviewed a tape that showed the South Korean had made an error and the judges didn't catch that. They say, you know, that's par for the course. There will be errors in this sport.

So, when you really break it down, the South Koreans actually wanted to go as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which seems to be the Supreme Court here when it comes to these issues. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said they're not going to get involved. And with the IOC coming out today, Daryn, saying that they will not issue duplicate medals, I believe the issue is moot, unless Hamm wants to give that medal to the South Korean. We'll see where it goes from here.

KAGAN: Something tells me this is not the last we've hear of this one. Mark McKay in Athens, Greece. Once again, gymnastics officials asking Paul Hamm to give back his gold medal.

We're going to have a lot more news ahead. We're going to take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATCHER: Did he have to bang his secretary? I have that women over for brunch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: OK. "Sex and the City" turns desperate in the 'burbs. Fall TV lineups -- "Desperate Housewives." And it plays with fantasy in the reality show "Wife Swap."

Our "Eye on Entertainment" focuses on television and the new fall lineup. Yes, it is that time already. CBS rolling out yet another "CSI." "Joey" makes it on his own on NBC. And then, there are "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" on ABC.

Joining us in New York, "Entertainment Weekly's" editor-at-large, Ken Tucker. Ken, good morning.

KEN TUCKER, EDITOR, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and start with "Lost." This sounds kind of like a "Gilligan's Island" does "Alias."

TUCKER: It does. You've hit it on the head. It's a very nice adventure show from the guy who brought us "Alias," J.J. Abrams Matthew Fox from "Party of Five" is part of this plane crash. You meet these -- about 18, 20 people who survive the crash. And you kind of follow their lives. You discover their secrets. It's both this survival/adventure story and the way people can kind of recreate themselves when they're thrown together in this catastrophe.

KAGAN: Is it good?

TUCKER: It's really good.

KAGAN: Let's get right to it, Ken.

TUCKER: It's really good. It's so harrowing in the beginning, it scares the heck out of you. But it's really exciting, and it really moves along. It's got that J.J. Abrams kind of crackling dialogue. I like it.

KAGAN: Yes, I'm an "Alias" fan, so I might like that one.

"Desperate Housewives" -- is this the "Sex and the City" gals get married and move to the 'burbs?

TUCKER: In a way, yes. It's kind of -- it this hour-long sort of black humor drama. It's got a great cast with Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross, all playing these wives living in these very affluent suburbs. And kind of the key to it is that one of their friends, before the show even begins, commits suicide, and she narrates the rest of the show.

She kind of hovers over them...

KAGAN: Wow.

TUCKER: ... talking about their lives and how there are all these little intrigues and sexual escapades and -- sounds pretty juicy, doesn't it?

KAGAN: Yes.

Hey, that's the gal who was on "Melrose Place." She played the psycho on "Melrose Place."

TUCKER: Exactly. Good eye.

KAGAN: Yes, all right. Why...

TUCKER: I'm sure she loves to be known as the psycho from "Melrose Place."

KAGAN: Well, maybe she can now recreate her career, with a more dramatic roll.

"Wife Swap" -- reality television getting out of control, it sounds like?

TUCKER: Actually, pretty much in control. This is a reality show we like.

KAGAN: Really?

TUCKER: Really. I mean, you know, it's all relative with reality TV. But the idea is that, just what the title says, to swap two women, who, you know, exchange lives, very different lifestyles. One's a mother who has three nannies to take care of her kids. Another is a woman who works with her husband in their wood shop business, and they swap, and they both just have miserable times.

KAGAN: Now why would any woman want -- I don't know.

TUCKER: I think you live vicariously through them, and you say, boy, am I glad to be where I am. I'm so glad I'm with my husband.

KAGAN: Yes, makes your husband look a lot better.

OK, "Joey" -- Joey is a loan off of "Friends." Can they keep the "Friends" franchise going?

TUCKER: I think maybe they can.

KAGAN: Really?

TUCKER: I think that Matt LeBlanc is just so likable. And what he also has going for him in this show is the fact that every other sitcom that I've seen just stinks, just flat out is just terrible this season. And so, "Joey" actually has a good chance of kind of breaking through. His costar is Drea de Matteo, plays his sister. She's from "The Sopranos."

KAGAN: Right.

TUCKER: And she does a very good transition from that kind of heavy drama to being this very snappy, tough sister of his. So, you know, "Joey" could make it.

KAGAN: And of course we know what happened to her on "The Sopranos." May she rest in peace.

TUCKER: That's right. We're very sorry. We're very glad that she's back, though, and making jokes about her boob job on "Joey."

KAGAN: Well, so good tease, on that note, you've given me so much to look forward to with the coming fall season.

TUCKER: Thank you.

KAGAN: Ken, thank you. Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly." You can read a lot more of his stuff and his reviews in the magazine.

Thank you, Ken.

KAGAN: And keep your eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. Find out more about the fall television lineup, and why Yellowcard is lighting up the MTV Video Music Awards.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: So we're going to try out this new thing on CNN LIVE TODAY. It's our picture of the day, our pet of the day. You're going to have to let us know what you think.

But this one, oodles of poodles and other animals on display today at the Shanghai International Pet Expo. As living standards have increased in China, pet ownership has been soaring in recent years. So the shows like this attract a lot of interest from the Chinese. The expo is also big business with many Chinese companies making pet care products for the global market, and the well-coiffed poodle, a rainbow of colors to dye for.

Do you like it? Pet of the day, picture of the day, I don't know.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: New Yorkers are bracing for the RNC. It's not just traffic and extra security. A new poll suggests a lot of New Yorkers have very little in common with the delegates headed their way. That is ahead.

Plus, the first day of school can be a scary time for kids and parents. Help in dealing with separation anxiety is ahead in today's "Daily Dose" as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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


Aired August 27, 2004 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Let's check out what's happening "Now in the News.
Russian intelligence now says terrorism is believed to be behind at least one of that country's two plane crashes Tuesday night. Investigators found traces of explosives in the second plane that went down. Officials confirm that Chechen women boarded both flights and no one has come forward to claim their remains.

President Bush is enacting intelligence reform. Mr. Bush plans to sign executive orders today, establishing a new National Counterterrorism Center and beefing up the role of the CIA director. The CIA chief would receive authority on an interim basis to perform many of the duties of a National Intelligence Director. White House aides say the president will work with Congress to create the National Intelligence Director's post.

Calm in Najaf -- residents are returning to the Iraqi city today following three weeks of fighting. The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr worked out a peace deal. Al-Sadr's militia men left the Imam Ali Mosque and are turning over their weapons. Meanwhile, U.S. forces have pulled back from the center of the city.

A Guantanamo Bay detainee is being arraigned today, but Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al Qosi will not get to make a plea -- to enter a plea. Al Qosi's lawyer is leaving the case to take a new job, and no replacement has been found yet. Al Qosi, accused of being an accountant and pay master for al Qaeda, is charged with conspiracy to commit war crimes.

New York is often considered the crossroads of the world. And in the coming days, Madison Square Garden will be the way station, at least for presidential politics. The Republican party kicks off its convention there on Monday.

Our national correspondent Kelly Wallace has a preview of that. Kelly, good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

There is likely to be as much attention to what is happening inside this convention hall behind me as there is to the attention on what is happening on the streets outside. As you said, this convention getting underway on Monday, and a big question will be: How many protesters will actually take to the streets, and just how peaceful will those protesters be?

Yesterday, four activists were arrested after unfurling a huge banner critical of the president outside the Plaza Hotel. And then yesterday, we also saw some other activists, AIDS activists who decided to bare it all, we should say, to make their point. And a few of those demonstrators were arrested.

The stakes are certainly high for the president. Although, he is heading into this convention with some good news in some of the polls -- some showing that he's making some improvement in some of the key battleground states.

Let's take a look at a new "Los Angeles Times" poll among registered voters. First in Missouri, the president now leading his Democratic rival John Kerry 46 to 44 percent. Take a look at Ohio. No Republican ever winning the White House without winning the Buckeye State. The president is ahead 49 to 44 percent. That is beyond the margin of error. And in Wisconsin, again among registered voters, the split is 48 to 44 percent.

A big challenge for the president, though, will be trying to convince the undecideds, who could decide this election, that he should be hired for another four years. And the challenge for the Democrats, you can say, is trying to keep themselves in the news when all eyes will be on the Republican party. The Democratic party is setting up a war room just a few blocks from here -- noisy Madison Square Garden -- just as the Republicans did during the Democratic convention in Boston.

I am competing with lots of traffic, so Daryn, I'll toss it back to you.

KAGAN: I was going to say, they were talking about all the traffic being shut down. Clearly that has not happened yet. The convention is not underway yet. Kelly Wallace in New York City, thank you.

Well, the GOP, as you may well know, stands for Grand Old Party. And those who didn't know that will be reminded next week with the grandiose scope and scale of the Republican party's gathering.

Financial News reporter Allan Chernoff looks at the gold behind the glitter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The proposed budget for the Republican National Convention is $64 million, excluding security. But the final price tag may be even higher. The New York Host Committees' fund-raisers say they've collected about $70 million in private donations.

LEWIS EISENBERG, CO-CHAIR, NYC HOST CMTE.: This is New York City. Everything's better. And when you want the best, it usually costs a little more. This will be the best. It'll cost a little more. CHERNOFF: It will cost plenty just to accommodate reporters: $4.5 million to renovate the city's main post office into a giant media workspace. Another three-quarters of a million to build a temporary bridge across 8th Avenue so reporters can have easy access to the convention on the other side of the street.

And rental for Madison Square Garden? Five million dollars.

KEVIN SHEEKY, PRESIDENT, NYC HOST CMTE.: Sounds a lot, but we spent $15 million renovating the Garden. The entire lower section of the Garden has been taken out. It's been built up nine-and-a-half feet. A new floor has been put in. I mean, it's a really dynamic change that people are going to see in the Garden when the curtains pull back.

CHERNOFF: Madison Square Garden, home to basketball's New York Knicks and hockey's Rangers, is a contractor's delight this week: more than $2 million spent on electrical work; $2.5 million to construct the speakers' podium; $800,000 for decor and fabric covering.

The Republicans plan to put on a big show: $5.5 million allocated for program and production costs. Then, there are parties and entertainment around town.

SHEEKY: A welcome for delegates on Broadway. Renting out Broadway shows, sending delegates to something that you can't recreate anywhere else in the country. Another $1.5 million and, like someone once said, a million here, a million there, it starts to add up.

CHERNOFF (on camera): It's not that the Democrats were chintzy in Boston, but the Republicans clearly have more elaborate plans. And in New York, the GOP is proving that throwing a grand old party can run up a tab approaching $70 million.

Allan Chernoff, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: It goes without saying that CNN will have extensive coverage of the convention, beginning with the Sunday primetime lineup. To set the stage, at 8:00 Eastern, CNN presents "The Mission of George W. Bush." Larry King follows with a live convention preview. Then, at 10:00 Eastern, CNN's Wolf Blitzer hosts "America Votes 2004."

An American gymnast is being asked to give up his gold medal. We'll have the story just ahead.

Also...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERI HATCHER, ACTRESS: You'll love this. He said, "It doesn't mean anything. It was just sex."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: You're going to get a sneak peek at lives of some "Desperate Housewives" coming up on CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Rhonda Schaffler at the New York Stock Exchange.

The economy grew more slowly than first thought in the second quarter because of shrinking corporate profits and higher imports. The revised reading on gross domestic product shows the economy expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate from April to June. That's down from the three percent pace seen in the Commerce Department's first snapshot last month. And it is a sharp slowdown from the 4.5 percent growth rate during the first three months of this year.

Among the drags on the economy: higher oil prices, which limited consumer spending; and the trade deficit widened to a record. Here on Wall Street this morning, investors brushing aside some of those numbers, which were pretty much in line with estimates.

And stocks are edging higher. Right now, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up some 13 points; Nasdaq's adding .5 percent.

Helping offset the weaker growth, the better than expected reading on consumer confidence. And as for our daily check on oil prices, crude oil trading down just a few cents in New York at about $43 a barrel. That comes on top of five straight sessions of decline.

That's the very latest from Wall Street. CNN's LIVE TODAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, wait until you hear the story we're following out of Athens, Greece, the site of the Olympic Summer Games. The head of the International Gymnastics Association has written a letter to American Paul Hamm asking that he give back his gold medal to a South Korean that was victimized by scoring mistakes.

The U.S. Olympic Committee in turn has issued a strong response. Our Mark McKay is covering the Games; he joins us with details.

Mark, they want him to give back the gold medal?

MARK MCKAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Out of sportsmanship -- perhaps the ultimate gesture of sportsmanship. This according to the International Gymnastics Federation, Daryn. As you can imagine, it's not sitting well with the USOC. He may be back on U.S. soil, but Paul Hamm is certainly not being forgotten in Greece.

Yet another chapter written this afternoon here in Athens of this ongoing saga involving the all-around gymnastics competition, the men's final. The gold medal winner, Paul Hamm, was supposed to receive a letter, as you mentioned, from the International Gymnastics Federation suggesting that Hamm give his gold to South Korea's Yang Tae-young in a gesture of sportsmanship.

Now, Yang, as we remember, earned bronze instead of a possible gold due to a judging error. Well, the letter never got to Hamm. The United States Olympic Committee refused to deliver it to their gymnast. They did, however, release its contents to the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER UEBERROTH, USOC CHAIRMAN: We've reviewed the action of the International Gymnastics Federation, and we think it's deplorable. They're deflecting their own incompetence and their problem to a young athlete who simply came here to compete in the Olympic Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKAY: Strong words indeed, Daryn. And we spoke with Hamm -- CNN Sports spoke with Hamm earlier this week. He basically told us he did everything he needed to do to win that gold medal. In his heart, he feels he is the gold medal winner.

Now, a little earlier today here in Athens, Daryn, IOC President Jacques Rogge addressed this issue and others involving controversy. He said that no duplicate medals will be awarded because of timing errors, like they had in the equestrian events, or in gymnastics, where judging errors got in the way of the results -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Now, didn't Paul Hamm also say earlier that he wasn't going to do anything unless the FIG said that he should? And now they have come forward and said that he should?

MCKAY: That's the latest. I hadn't heard that particular quote or anything from him in terms of that, but he basically went out earlier in the week when we spoke to him and said that, you know, "I've done everything I can do." He fell victim to the judges' errors.

We'll have to see how this plays out, now that this letter didn't get into his hands, Daryn. It ended up staying in the hands of the USOC. Then, they come out today with some angry words here in Athens.

KAGAN: Right. And the other part of this that critics have been saying since the start of this, that the South Koreans did not file the protest in the amount of time that they were supposed to, and also, that the scoring would have been different.

You can't just say you add up the scores differently, somebody else wins -- that there would have been an adjustment mid-competition that ultimately could have changed the outcome of this competition.

MCKAY: I think the U.S. team coach even addressed that this week, Daryn, saying that they reviewed a tape that showed the South Korean had made an error and the judges didn't catch that. They say, you know, that's par for the course. There will be errors in this sport.

So, when you really break it down, the South Koreans actually wanted to go as far as the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which seems to be the Supreme Court here when it comes to these issues. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said they're not going to get involved. And with the IOC coming out today, Daryn, saying that they will not issue duplicate medals, I believe the issue is moot, unless Hamm wants to give that medal to the South Korean. We'll see where it goes from here.

KAGAN: Something tells me this is not the last we've hear of this one. Mark McKay in Athens, Greece. Once again, gymnastics officials asking Paul Hamm to give back his gold medal.

We're going to have a lot more news ahead. We're going to take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HATCHER: Did he have to bang his secretary? I have that women over for brunch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: OK. "Sex and the City" turns desperate in the 'burbs. Fall TV lineups -- "Desperate Housewives." And it plays with fantasy in the reality show "Wife Swap."

Our "Eye on Entertainment" focuses on television and the new fall lineup. Yes, it is that time already. CBS rolling out yet another "CSI." "Joey" makes it on his own on NBC. And then, there are "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" on ABC.

Joining us in New York, "Entertainment Weekly's" editor-at-large, Ken Tucker. Ken, good morning.

KEN TUCKER, EDITOR, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and start with "Lost." This sounds kind of like a "Gilligan's Island" does "Alias."

TUCKER: It does. You've hit it on the head. It's a very nice adventure show from the guy who brought us "Alias," J.J. Abrams Matthew Fox from "Party of Five" is part of this plane crash. You meet these -- about 18, 20 people who survive the crash. And you kind of follow their lives. You discover their secrets. It's both this survival/adventure story and the way people can kind of recreate themselves when they're thrown together in this catastrophe.

KAGAN: Is it good?

TUCKER: It's really good.

KAGAN: Let's get right to it, Ken.

TUCKER: It's really good. It's so harrowing in the beginning, it scares the heck out of you. But it's really exciting, and it really moves along. It's got that J.J. Abrams kind of crackling dialogue. I like it.

KAGAN: Yes, I'm an "Alias" fan, so I might like that one.

"Desperate Housewives" -- is this the "Sex and the City" gals get married and move to the 'burbs?

TUCKER: In a way, yes. It's kind of -- it this hour-long sort of black humor drama. It's got a great cast with Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman and Marcia Cross, all playing these wives living in these very affluent suburbs. And kind of the key to it is that one of their friends, before the show even begins, commits suicide, and she narrates the rest of the show.

She kind of hovers over them...

KAGAN: Wow.

TUCKER: ... talking about their lives and how there are all these little intrigues and sexual escapades and -- sounds pretty juicy, doesn't it?

KAGAN: Yes.

Hey, that's the gal who was on "Melrose Place." She played the psycho on "Melrose Place."

TUCKER: Exactly. Good eye.

KAGAN: Yes, all right. Why...

TUCKER: I'm sure she loves to be known as the psycho from "Melrose Place."

KAGAN: Well, maybe she can now recreate her career, with a more dramatic roll.

"Wife Swap" -- reality television getting out of control, it sounds like?

TUCKER: Actually, pretty much in control. This is a reality show we like.

KAGAN: Really?

TUCKER: Really. I mean, you know, it's all relative with reality TV. But the idea is that, just what the title says, to swap two women, who, you know, exchange lives, very different lifestyles. One's a mother who has three nannies to take care of her kids. Another is a woman who works with her husband in their wood shop business, and they swap, and they both just have miserable times.

KAGAN: Now why would any woman want -- I don't know.

TUCKER: I think you live vicariously through them, and you say, boy, am I glad to be where I am. I'm so glad I'm with my husband.

KAGAN: Yes, makes your husband look a lot better.

OK, "Joey" -- Joey is a loan off of "Friends." Can they keep the "Friends" franchise going?

TUCKER: I think maybe they can.

KAGAN: Really?

TUCKER: I think that Matt LeBlanc is just so likable. And what he also has going for him in this show is the fact that every other sitcom that I've seen just stinks, just flat out is just terrible this season. And so, "Joey" actually has a good chance of kind of breaking through. His costar is Drea de Matteo, plays his sister. She's from "The Sopranos."

KAGAN: Right.

TUCKER: And she does a very good transition from that kind of heavy drama to being this very snappy, tough sister of his. So, you know, "Joey" could make it.

KAGAN: And of course we know what happened to her on "The Sopranos." May she rest in peace.

TUCKER: That's right. We're very sorry. We're very glad that she's back, though, and making jokes about her boob job on "Joey."

KAGAN: Well, so good tease, on that note, you've given me so much to look forward to with the coming fall season.

TUCKER: Thank you.

KAGAN: Ken, thank you. Ken Tucker from "Entertainment Weekly." You can read a lot more of his stuff and his reviews in the magazine.

Thank you, Ken.

KAGAN: And keep your eye on entertainment 24/7 by pointing your Internet browser to CNN.com/entertainment. Find out more about the fall television lineup, and why Yellowcard is lighting up the MTV Video Music Awards.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: So we're going to try out this new thing on CNN LIVE TODAY. It's our picture of the day, our pet of the day. You're going to have to let us know what you think.

But this one, oodles of poodles and other animals on display today at the Shanghai International Pet Expo. As living standards have increased in China, pet ownership has been soaring in recent years. So the shows like this attract a lot of interest from the Chinese. The expo is also big business with many Chinese companies making pet care products for the global market, and the well-coiffed poodle, a rainbow of colors to dye for.

Do you like it? Pet of the day, picture of the day, I don't know.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: New Yorkers are bracing for the RNC. It's not just traffic and extra security. A new poll suggests a lot of New Yorkers have very little in common with the delegates headed their way. That is ahead.

Plus, the first day of school can be a scary time for kids and parents. Help in dealing with separation anxiety is ahead in today's "Daily Dose" as the second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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