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CNN Live Today
Internet and Politics; Risks of Energy Drinks?; The 'New' New York
Aired August 30, 2004 - 11:32 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news for Monday, August 30th.
The Republican National Convention is underway this morning in New York with a welcome from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Tonight's speakers include: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain.
And President Bush is on his way to New Hampshire, a state he narrowly won in 2000 and where recent polls say he trails Democrat John Kerry in 2004. He'll be taking questions from supporters at an invitation-only event at a high school in Nashua.
An aide to Muqtada al-Sadr says the Shiite cleric is calling on Mehdi fighters all around Iraq to lay down their arms. A peace deal ended three weeks of battles in Najaf last week. The interim Iraqi government is urging Sadr to join the political process now.
Back now live to Madison Square Garden, where the Republican National Convention is underway this morning in New York City. Today's theme: the war on terror and the president's response to the September 11th attacks.
John Mercurio is a producer with CNN's political unit. And he joins us from Madison Square Garden this morning. John, where are you? There you are.
All right, well, the Democrats...
JOHN MERCURIO, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm right here.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you. The Democrats outnumber Republicans in this city. So, it makes for an interesting staging ground for the Republican National Convention.
But since when does the Republican convention or even the Democrat convention look for a place where they share a majority in that city? Should it really even matter?
MERCURIO: You know, that's sort of an antiquated view of things. People used to think that you would the convention to take place in a city that it would have some sort of impact on the campaign.
I think years ago people decided that because of the sort of globalization of the media, we're all watching this and there's no particular local impact. Frankly, having been to both Boston and New York, I can tell you that the local, the people who live here, get out of town. They're gone. I mean, for the most part, it's mostly just the media, the Republicans, and the such.
So, no, I don't think there's really any sort of local issue.
WHITFIELD: In fact, in New York, a lot of merchants are complaining that they expect to lose something like $280 million because of lost business because of the convention.
Well, let's talk about the tight race between President Bush and John Kerry. New poll numbers out showing that it is tighter than ever. It is still neck and neck, but the divide has narrowed even further, hasn't it?
MERCURIO: The divide has narrowed. And as you just said, there's three new polls that are out today that are sort of interesting. They sort of show that as President Bush begins his convention, there's new evidence that he's actually starting to gain some ground in these battleground states.
Now, there's three new polls, as I said. These are battleground states that Al Gore won in 2000, that Bush. Now, in Wisconsin, we show that President Bush has picked up a few points over John Kerry. The two are tied in the State of Pennsylvania, and John Kerry actually leads in Iowa. There's also a new poll out today in the State of Florida that shows that Bush is up.
So, again, there's new sort of evidence that mirrors the sort of national polling that we're seeing that shows that President Bush is picking up steam.
We also, in the political unit, did an electoral map also showing that President Bush, if the election were held today, would defeat John Kerry. He'd receive 274 electoral votes. You need 270 to win.
But it's so close. I mean, if a state like Nevada, a very small state, were to flip to John Kerry, you'd actually see a tie in the electoral collage right now.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And you know, you talk about Pennsylvania, that was a state where both candidates have spent an awful lot of time -- in fact, kind of crisscrossing one another one weekend.
What do you suppose the contributing factors are as to why now the numbers are just so much tighter between the two?
MERCURIO: I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you. Say that again?
WHITFIELD: What are the contributing factors as to why Bush has gained a couple more points making it much more of a neck and neck race?
MERCURIO: Right. I think we have to assume that a lot of it has to do with the sort of preoccupation of the past several weeks on this, sort of, Swift Boat controversy, these ads that have been run by this group that claims that John Kerry sort of mischaracterized his service in Vietnam.
I think that's sort of taken both campaigns off message. And I think that's really hurt John Kerry -- not just among veterans, but also sort of among swing voters, independent voters who he needs in order to win this election.
WHITFIELD: So, it looks like at least for President Bush, the bounce is beginning at the start of the convention...
MERCURIO: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: ... as opposed to the end. John Mercurio, of CNN's "MORNING GRIND," thanks so much.
MERCURIO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, for another perspective on the RNC, all you have to do is look online. AOL's Regina Lewis joins us from Madison Square Garden with today's Web talk.
And Regina, in Boston, it was about the blogs. What's the buzz now?
REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISOR: Well, Fredricka, here the big story is protest. And while the debate continues over the total turnout numbers yesterday, one thing's crystal clear: The Internet has a major, major role in the way demonstrators organize themselves.
There's actually a site called counterconvention.org, where it lists the who, what, when, where of every protest going on, including yesterday's. Now, of course, the flip side of that is it gives law enforcement a pretty good blueprint of where to send the troops. Although, I dare say, they're more concern about what's not being posted and who's not publicly planning things.
Here you see the site. Very well organized. So much traffic this week, they've had trouble keeping it up.
Beyond that -- go ahead. Sorry.
WHITFIELD: No, I was just going to say, it seems as though this organizing of the protests on the Web is working with so many group committing to organize this week, even though they have a designated kind of free-speech zone, it doesn't seem to matter, does it?
LEWIS: No. I think, really, it makes a lot of sense in terms of making sure that collective voice adds up. Some of the things that you'll see is the modern equivalent of a phone chain that says, you know, be here at this time.
But they're able to augment that with, "And say this," maybe post this on your sign so that all the messaging really resonates. That was the end goal, and it seems to be working. We're also seeing some innovative things like bikesagainstbush, where you can type in something you'd like to see written in chalk on certain sidewalks. Here you see it. About 32 bucks gives you enough to put messages on five different street blocks. And then the FAQ: Can you post positive things about Bush? Answer: No.
We're also seeing bluenewyorkcity.org asking people to put blue things in their windows, on their doorsteps -- anything that can be seen from street level: blue sheets, blue towels. It'll be interesting to see if that takes off.
But if you think about how difficult it would be pre-Internet to get that kind of message out in the kind of scale that they're able to do, it just wouldn't happen. Really transforming.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Regina Lewis, thanks so much -- keeping tabs on all the talk and the biz on the Internet for us.
LEWIS: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: So much more of the Republican National Convention straight ahead. At the end of the hour, we'll take a look at the new New York. Life there has changed since 9/11, and some say the Republicans hope to use that to their advantage.
Also, what's all the buzz about energy drinks? We're taking a close look coming up in your daily does of health news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, in today's "Daily Dose," energy drinks promise to give you a boost, but there could be risks with that buzz.
Here with more is CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Why am I not surprised?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, absolutely. Anything that can give you a boost could also give you a problem. And these are so popular; the sales of these energy drinks, they went up 44 percent in one year, from 2002 to 2003. So many, many people are doing them.
Let's take a look at them. There's a wide variety of these energy drinks on the market, and they make all sorts of interesting claims. For example, they'll say vitalizes the mind and the body, improves performance. My favorite one is that it says that the drink is pull of power components, whatever that means, not really sure.
WHITFIELD: A lot of caffeine?
COHEN: Exactly. And you have put your finger on it, which is that these are full of interesting-sounding ingredients and all sorts of very exotic herbs, but the experts that we talked to, said you know what, you get your buzz from the sugar and the caffeine. These drinks are loaded with both, and that's where the buzz comes, not from all these fancy-sounding herbs. Let's take a look at the caffeine content of some of these energy drinks. As you can see, Red Bull has 80 milligrams in a Red Bull. SoBe Adrenaline Rush, 79 milligrams. Rockstar, about 70 milligrams. Amp, 74. And just to give you a point of comparison, Starbucks coffee, 160. So, obviously these are not as much as a cup of strong coffee. But they can be twice as much as what you get in a can of soda.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
COHEN: So, if you're used to the caffeine in soda, this is going to be a lot more.
WHITFIELD: You know, you've heard of a lot of kids who will, like, mix these drinks like Red Bull, just to get, you know, a more intensified boost. I imagine that presents some really crazy side effects, just like a regular can of these products do.
COHEN: That's right, absolutely. Let's talk about some of the side effects from just the caffeine alone, and then I'll get into mixing them with alcohol, because that is, as Fredricka said, a big problem.
From caffeine alone, if you're drinking a lot, a lot of caffeine, you can have possible side effects, like muscle twitching, G.I. problems, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, elevated blood pressure and dehydration, because of course caffeine will dehydrate you, and as we mentioned, the big thing is to mix these with alcohol.
And so, when people go out at night and they drink one of these after another. I mean, I've been in these bars where I've seen people order one after another, this can really be a problem. It can send your heart beat racing. It can send your blood pressure up. And in people who would be vulnerable, it can also cause heart problems.
And of course, when you're out, it's not like your sitting at your desk drinking coffee; I mean, you're out just downing these things. A lot of caffeine and a lot of alcohol...
WHITFIELD: All right, a lot of athletes might reach for something like a Power Bar, energy bars. Is it the same thing? Are they reaching for these kind of energy drinks for the same kind of effect.
COHEN: Some of them are. I mean, to some effect these are a bar drink, but some people might also think, from the marketing, wow, this looks like a great thing if I'm going to go do a workout. This is not the best thing, according to the experts we talked to, for a workout. If you want to get something to a workout, go do your regular sports drink, like a Gatorade, one of those kinds of drinks. Those have all sorts of electrolytes keeping you hydrated. You can see them there. There's all sorts of choices. And don't forget good, old-fashioned water.
WHITFIELD: Everyone forgets about water. Why is that, you know, especially when you're working out? COHEN: Right. Drink lots of water or drink a sports drink.
WHITFIELD: All right, good advice. Thanks a lot, Liz Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Well, today's "Daily Dose," of course, health is rather online as well. Logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, SPECIAL REPORTS and a health library. The address is CNN.com/health.
Now what are the potential jurors in the Kobe Bryant case being asked? And we're going to find out. You're legal briefs are next, when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case tops today's "Legal Briefs." The NBA star arrived at the courthouse this morning as attorneys prepare to question potential jurors behind closed doors. Three hundred potential jurors have already filled out questionnaires, and at least 100 more are expected to join the jury pool this week. The felony sexual assault trial is scheduled to begin September 7th.
And in the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal, a military pretrial hearing continues at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for Private First Class Lynndie England. A guard at the prison today testified he saw England step on the fingers and toes of Iraqi prisoners. The Article 32 hearing will determine whether England will face a court-martial on charges of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison.
It's no coincidence that the city that survived the 9/11 attack is not the site of the Republican National Convention. Up next, a look at life in New York City, post-9/11 and during the RNC. Aaron Brown takes a look for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Republican National Convention is almost three years and two miles away from the tragedy of the World Trade Center. Still, it will be heavy on the delegates' minds this week.
Here's CNN "NEWSNIGHT" anchor, Aaron Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT" (voice-over): The Republicans will find a Ground Zero far different than the one the president saw just days after the attack. Then, it was a horrible graveyard -- a smoldering mass of mangled steel and concrete. Today, it looks like what it has become -- a huge construction site changing, growing by the day.
But if the site has changed, and it has, memories have not.
EVELYN ROBB, OWNER, EVELYN'S CHOCOLATES: It was horrible. People were just rushing in because they wanted to get off the street.
BROWN: Evelyn Robb has owned this chocolate shop, one block from where the towers fell, for nearly 40 years. Her shop re-opened two months after the attack. Her business has yet to recover.
ROBB: The people are not here, really. Even the different companies that we used to deal with, they've relocated.
BROWN: Three-thousand lives gone. Tens of thousands of jobs lost. A city under perpetual orange alert. It's something New Yorkers think about practically every day in ways large and small.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you have to have a badge.
BROWN: Companies in Manhattan have spent tens of millions of dollars upgrading security. Lobbies are now filled with security guards. Employees carry electronic I.D. cards. Hidden cameras keep an eye on all the doors.
GREGG POPKIN, VP, CB RICHARD ELLIS: I think it's really prudent to be well protected. To be thinking about this. You can't protect a building against an airplane flying into it, but what can you do is train people to react properly afterwards and mitigate the losses.
BROWN: Gregg Popkins' firm manages more than 100 office buildings in the metropolitan area. And like so many New Yorkers, he knew people who died on 9/11. What seemed a crazy worry three years ago doesn't seem so crazy today. Some of his tenants have emergency masks at their desks.
Basically, I just don't want it on my head that, God forbid, something happens in one of my buildings and my people were not prepared.
BROWN: National Guard troops patrol Penn Station right below Madison Square Garden, police occupy key intersections -- a show of force meant to be a deterrent. And there is counterterrorism activity that is not visible, but is there every hour, every day.
RAYMOND KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Obviously we're doing some increased security -- taking security measures surrounding the convention. But certainly after the convention, we're going to remain at a heightened state of readiness.
BROWN: The firehouses, which suffered more casualties on 9/11 than any other first responders, honor their dead on their front doors. Planes that used to fly over Manhattan don't fly over Manhattan anymore. Homeland Security helicopters do.
It is, for New Yorkers, the new normal.
Most Republican delegates shuttling from their hotels to Madison Square Garden and to Manhattan sites and nightlife likely won't see the crowded lively sections of Brooklyns and Queens that are homes to tens of thousands of immigrants from the Middle East and Asia. Immigrants who still feel unease and who all seem to have a story about a friend or a relative caught up in the fear after 9/11.
WALLAA MAHREN, VIDEO STORE CLERK: You couldn't even go out of home, you know, especially people who like wearing hijab like me. We couldn't go out for a while -- women -- because people, it was bothering them so bad.
ABDUL KUMANDAN, RESTAURANT MANAGER: They repeat over and over, day after day, the word terrorist and fear mongering. It doesn't help us.
BROWN: To the outsider, perhaps, New York is the same old place. The bright lights of Broadway shine, new buildings reach to the sky, the bustle of what New Yorkers think of as the world's capital city. But New York is not the same: not at Ground Zero, as cleaned up as it is; not at the firehouses, even with the flowers long gone; not in the office buildings, fearing the next attack.
We were all changed by 9/11, but none as painfully and maybe even as permanently as the City of New York.
Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for joining me the last couple hours. Miles O'Brien takes over from here. Hello.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Fredricka. I'm Miles O'Brien. "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" begins in just a few moments from New York's Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican National Convention -- in just a minute. But first, some headlines now in the news.
Muqtada al-Sadr reportedly calls on his Shiite militia to halt attacks in Ira. A spokesman says the radical cleric is planning to enter the political process and is awaiting the right time to announce his intentions.
At the same time, though, fresh attacks against petroleum targets have crippled Iraq's crucial oil industry.
French officials defy the demands of the group holding two French reporters. The journalists disappeared nine days ago, reportedly at the hands of the same group in Iraq that killed an Italian journalist. While appealing for the reporters' release, Paris says it will press ahead with the laws forbidding Muslim students from wearing head scarves in schools.
In South Carolina, the Charleston area tries to snap back from Tropical Storm Gaston. The near hurricane has weakened today over North Carolina. A lot of trees are down in -- maybe it's Gaston's -- path. Tens of thousands of people remain without power, and everyone's eyes are on Hurricane Frances, still hundreds of miles offshore, but already pretty powerful -- possibly aimed for landfall.
Those are the headlines. Now to Wolf Blitzer, live coverage from New York and the Republican National Convention.
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Aired August 30, 2004 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening now in the news for Monday, August 30th.
The Republican National Convention is underway this morning in New York with a welcome from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Tonight's speakers include: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain.
And President Bush is on his way to New Hampshire, a state he narrowly won in 2000 and where recent polls say he trails Democrat John Kerry in 2004. He'll be taking questions from supporters at an invitation-only event at a high school in Nashua.
An aide to Muqtada al-Sadr says the Shiite cleric is calling on Mehdi fighters all around Iraq to lay down their arms. A peace deal ended three weeks of battles in Najaf last week. The interim Iraqi government is urging Sadr to join the political process now.
Back now live to Madison Square Garden, where the Republican National Convention is underway this morning in New York City. Today's theme: the war on terror and the president's response to the September 11th attacks.
John Mercurio is a producer with CNN's political unit. And he joins us from Madison Square Garden this morning. John, where are you? There you are.
All right, well, the Democrats...
JOHN MERCURIO, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm right here.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you. The Democrats outnumber Republicans in this city. So, it makes for an interesting staging ground for the Republican National Convention.
But since when does the Republican convention or even the Democrat convention look for a place where they share a majority in that city? Should it really even matter?
MERCURIO: You know, that's sort of an antiquated view of things. People used to think that you would the convention to take place in a city that it would have some sort of impact on the campaign.
I think years ago people decided that because of the sort of globalization of the media, we're all watching this and there's no particular local impact. Frankly, having been to both Boston and New York, I can tell you that the local, the people who live here, get out of town. They're gone. I mean, for the most part, it's mostly just the media, the Republicans, and the such.
So, no, I don't think there's really any sort of local issue.
WHITFIELD: In fact, in New York, a lot of merchants are complaining that they expect to lose something like $280 million because of lost business because of the convention.
Well, let's talk about the tight race between President Bush and John Kerry. New poll numbers out showing that it is tighter than ever. It is still neck and neck, but the divide has narrowed even further, hasn't it?
MERCURIO: The divide has narrowed. And as you just said, there's three new polls that are out today that are sort of interesting. They sort of show that as President Bush begins his convention, there's new evidence that he's actually starting to gain some ground in these battleground states.
Now, there's three new polls, as I said. These are battleground states that Al Gore won in 2000, that Bush. Now, in Wisconsin, we show that President Bush has picked up a few points over John Kerry. The two are tied in the State of Pennsylvania, and John Kerry actually leads in Iowa. There's also a new poll out today in the State of Florida that shows that Bush is up.
So, again, there's new sort of evidence that mirrors the sort of national polling that we're seeing that shows that President Bush is picking up steam.
We also, in the political unit, did an electoral map also showing that President Bush, if the election were held today, would defeat John Kerry. He'd receive 274 electoral votes. You need 270 to win.
But it's so close. I mean, if a state like Nevada, a very small state, were to flip to John Kerry, you'd actually see a tie in the electoral collage right now.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And you know, you talk about Pennsylvania, that was a state where both candidates have spent an awful lot of time -- in fact, kind of crisscrossing one another one weekend.
What do you suppose the contributing factors are as to why now the numbers are just so much tighter between the two?
MERCURIO: I'm sorry, I couldn't quite hear you. Say that again?
WHITFIELD: What are the contributing factors as to why Bush has gained a couple more points making it much more of a neck and neck race?
MERCURIO: Right. I think we have to assume that a lot of it has to do with the sort of preoccupation of the past several weeks on this, sort of, Swift Boat controversy, these ads that have been run by this group that claims that John Kerry sort of mischaracterized his service in Vietnam.
I think that's sort of taken both campaigns off message. And I think that's really hurt John Kerry -- not just among veterans, but also sort of among swing voters, independent voters who he needs in order to win this election.
WHITFIELD: So, it looks like at least for President Bush, the bounce is beginning at the start of the convention...
MERCURIO: Exactly.
WHITFIELD: ... as opposed to the end. John Mercurio, of CNN's "MORNING GRIND," thanks so much.
MERCURIO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, for another perspective on the RNC, all you have to do is look online. AOL's Regina Lewis joins us from Madison Square Garden with today's Web talk.
And Regina, in Boston, it was about the blogs. What's the buzz now?
REGINA LEWIS, AOL ONLINE ADVISOR: Well, Fredricka, here the big story is protest. And while the debate continues over the total turnout numbers yesterday, one thing's crystal clear: The Internet has a major, major role in the way demonstrators organize themselves.
There's actually a site called counterconvention.org, where it lists the who, what, when, where of every protest going on, including yesterday's. Now, of course, the flip side of that is it gives law enforcement a pretty good blueprint of where to send the troops. Although, I dare say, they're more concern about what's not being posted and who's not publicly planning things.
Here you see the site. Very well organized. So much traffic this week, they've had trouble keeping it up.
Beyond that -- go ahead. Sorry.
WHITFIELD: No, I was just going to say, it seems as though this organizing of the protests on the Web is working with so many group committing to organize this week, even though they have a designated kind of free-speech zone, it doesn't seem to matter, does it?
LEWIS: No. I think, really, it makes a lot of sense in terms of making sure that collective voice adds up. Some of the things that you'll see is the modern equivalent of a phone chain that says, you know, be here at this time.
But they're able to augment that with, "And say this," maybe post this on your sign so that all the messaging really resonates. That was the end goal, and it seems to be working. We're also seeing some innovative things like bikesagainstbush, where you can type in something you'd like to see written in chalk on certain sidewalks. Here you see it. About 32 bucks gives you enough to put messages on five different street blocks. And then the FAQ: Can you post positive things about Bush? Answer: No.
We're also seeing bluenewyorkcity.org asking people to put blue things in their windows, on their doorsteps -- anything that can be seen from street level: blue sheets, blue towels. It'll be interesting to see if that takes off.
But if you think about how difficult it would be pre-Internet to get that kind of message out in the kind of scale that they're able to do, it just wouldn't happen. Really transforming.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Regina Lewis, thanks so much -- keeping tabs on all the talk and the biz on the Internet for us.
LEWIS: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: So much more of the Republican National Convention straight ahead. At the end of the hour, we'll take a look at the new New York. Life there has changed since 9/11, and some say the Republicans hope to use that to their advantage.
Also, what's all the buzz about energy drinks? We're taking a close look coming up in your daily does of health news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, in today's "Daily Dose," energy drinks promise to give you a boost, but there could be risks with that buzz.
Here with more is CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Why am I not surprised?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, absolutely. Anything that can give you a boost could also give you a problem. And these are so popular; the sales of these energy drinks, they went up 44 percent in one year, from 2002 to 2003. So many, many people are doing them.
Let's take a look at them. There's a wide variety of these energy drinks on the market, and they make all sorts of interesting claims. For example, they'll say vitalizes the mind and the body, improves performance. My favorite one is that it says that the drink is pull of power components, whatever that means, not really sure.
WHITFIELD: A lot of caffeine?
COHEN: Exactly. And you have put your finger on it, which is that these are full of interesting-sounding ingredients and all sorts of very exotic herbs, but the experts that we talked to, said you know what, you get your buzz from the sugar and the caffeine. These drinks are loaded with both, and that's where the buzz comes, not from all these fancy-sounding herbs. Let's take a look at the caffeine content of some of these energy drinks. As you can see, Red Bull has 80 milligrams in a Red Bull. SoBe Adrenaline Rush, 79 milligrams. Rockstar, about 70 milligrams. Amp, 74. And just to give you a point of comparison, Starbucks coffee, 160. So, obviously these are not as much as a cup of strong coffee. But they can be twice as much as what you get in a can of soda.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
COHEN: So, if you're used to the caffeine in soda, this is going to be a lot more.
WHITFIELD: You know, you've heard of a lot of kids who will, like, mix these drinks like Red Bull, just to get, you know, a more intensified boost. I imagine that presents some really crazy side effects, just like a regular can of these products do.
COHEN: That's right, absolutely. Let's talk about some of the side effects from just the caffeine alone, and then I'll get into mixing them with alcohol, because that is, as Fredricka said, a big problem.
From caffeine alone, if you're drinking a lot, a lot of caffeine, you can have possible side effects, like muscle twitching, G.I. problems, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, elevated blood pressure and dehydration, because of course caffeine will dehydrate you, and as we mentioned, the big thing is to mix these with alcohol.
And so, when people go out at night and they drink one of these after another. I mean, I've been in these bars where I've seen people order one after another, this can really be a problem. It can send your heart beat racing. It can send your blood pressure up. And in people who would be vulnerable, it can also cause heart problems.
And of course, when you're out, it's not like your sitting at your desk drinking coffee; I mean, you're out just downing these things. A lot of caffeine and a lot of alcohol...
WHITFIELD: All right, a lot of athletes might reach for something like a Power Bar, energy bars. Is it the same thing? Are they reaching for these kind of energy drinks for the same kind of effect.
COHEN: Some of them are. I mean, to some effect these are a bar drink, but some people might also think, from the marketing, wow, this looks like a great thing if I'm going to go do a workout. This is not the best thing, according to the experts we talked to, for a workout. If you want to get something to a workout, go do your regular sports drink, like a Gatorade, one of those kinds of drinks. Those have all sorts of electrolytes keeping you hydrated. You can see them there. There's all sorts of choices. And don't forget good, old-fashioned water.
WHITFIELD: Everyone forgets about water. Why is that, you know, especially when you're working out? COHEN: Right. Drink lots of water or drink a sports drink.
WHITFIELD: All right, good advice. Thanks a lot, Liz Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Well, today's "Daily Dose," of course, health is rather online as well. Logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical stories, SPECIAL REPORTS and a health library. The address is CNN.com/health.
Now what are the potential jurors in the Kobe Bryant case being asked? And we're going to find out. You're legal briefs are next, when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case tops today's "Legal Briefs." The NBA star arrived at the courthouse this morning as attorneys prepare to question potential jurors behind closed doors. Three hundred potential jurors have already filled out questionnaires, and at least 100 more are expected to join the jury pool this week. The felony sexual assault trial is scheduled to begin September 7th.
And in the Abu Ghraib Prison abuse scandal, a military pretrial hearing continues at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, for Private First Class Lynndie England. A guard at the prison today testified he saw England step on the fingers and toes of Iraqi prisoners. The Article 32 hearing will determine whether England will face a court-martial on charges of abusing detainees at Abu Ghraib Prison.
It's no coincidence that the city that survived the 9/11 attack is not the site of the Republican National Convention. Up next, a look at life in New York City, post-9/11 and during the RNC. Aaron Brown takes a look for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The Republican National Convention is almost three years and two miles away from the tragedy of the World Trade Center. Still, it will be heavy on the delegates' minds this week.
Here's CNN "NEWSNIGHT" anchor, Aaron Brown.
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AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT" (voice-over): The Republicans will find a Ground Zero far different than the one the president saw just days after the attack. Then, it was a horrible graveyard -- a smoldering mass of mangled steel and concrete. Today, it looks like what it has become -- a huge construction site changing, growing by the day.
But if the site has changed, and it has, memories have not.
EVELYN ROBB, OWNER, EVELYN'S CHOCOLATES: It was horrible. People were just rushing in because they wanted to get off the street.
BROWN: Evelyn Robb has owned this chocolate shop, one block from where the towers fell, for nearly 40 years. Her shop re-opened two months after the attack. Her business has yet to recover.
ROBB: The people are not here, really. Even the different companies that we used to deal with, they've relocated.
BROWN: Three-thousand lives gone. Tens of thousands of jobs lost. A city under perpetual orange alert. It's something New Yorkers think about practically every day in ways large and small.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, you have to have a badge.
BROWN: Companies in Manhattan have spent tens of millions of dollars upgrading security. Lobbies are now filled with security guards. Employees carry electronic I.D. cards. Hidden cameras keep an eye on all the doors.
GREGG POPKIN, VP, CB RICHARD ELLIS: I think it's really prudent to be well protected. To be thinking about this. You can't protect a building against an airplane flying into it, but what can you do is train people to react properly afterwards and mitigate the losses.
BROWN: Gregg Popkins' firm manages more than 100 office buildings in the metropolitan area. And like so many New Yorkers, he knew people who died on 9/11. What seemed a crazy worry three years ago doesn't seem so crazy today. Some of his tenants have emergency masks at their desks.
Basically, I just don't want it on my head that, God forbid, something happens in one of my buildings and my people were not prepared.
BROWN: National Guard troops patrol Penn Station right below Madison Square Garden, police occupy key intersections -- a show of force meant to be a deterrent. And there is counterterrorism activity that is not visible, but is there every hour, every day.
RAYMOND KELLY, NYPD COMMISSIONER: Obviously we're doing some increased security -- taking security measures surrounding the convention. But certainly after the convention, we're going to remain at a heightened state of readiness.
BROWN: The firehouses, which suffered more casualties on 9/11 than any other first responders, honor their dead on their front doors. Planes that used to fly over Manhattan don't fly over Manhattan anymore. Homeland Security helicopters do.
It is, for New Yorkers, the new normal.
Most Republican delegates shuttling from their hotels to Madison Square Garden and to Manhattan sites and nightlife likely won't see the crowded lively sections of Brooklyns and Queens that are homes to tens of thousands of immigrants from the Middle East and Asia. Immigrants who still feel unease and who all seem to have a story about a friend or a relative caught up in the fear after 9/11.
WALLAA MAHREN, VIDEO STORE CLERK: You couldn't even go out of home, you know, especially people who like wearing hijab like me. We couldn't go out for a while -- women -- because people, it was bothering them so bad.
ABDUL KUMANDAN, RESTAURANT MANAGER: They repeat over and over, day after day, the word terrorist and fear mongering. It doesn't help us.
BROWN: To the outsider, perhaps, New York is the same old place. The bright lights of Broadway shine, new buildings reach to the sky, the bustle of what New Yorkers think of as the world's capital city. But New York is not the same: not at Ground Zero, as cleaned up as it is; not at the firehouses, even with the flowers long gone; not in the office buildings, fearing the next attack.
We were all changed by 9/11, but none as painfully and maybe even as permanently as the City of New York.
Aaron Brown, CNN, New York.
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WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for joining me the last couple hours. Miles O'Brien takes over from here. Hello.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Fredricka. I'm Miles O'Brien. "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS" begins in just a few moments from New York's Madison Square Garden, the site of the Republican National Convention -- in just a minute. But first, some headlines now in the news.
Muqtada al-Sadr reportedly calls on his Shiite militia to halt attacks in Ira. A spokesman says the radical cleric is planning to enter the political process and is awaiting the right time to announce his intentions.
At the same time, though, fresh attacks against petroleum targets have crippled Iraq's crucial oil industry.
French officials defy the demands of the group holding two French reporters. The journalists disappeared nine days ago, reportedly at the hands of the same group in Iraq that killed an Italian journalist. While appealing for the reporters' release, Paris says it will press ahead with the laws forbidding Muslim students from wearing head scarves in schools.
In South Carolina, the Charleston area tries to snap back from Tropical Storm Gaston. The near hurricane has weakened today over North Carolina. A lot of trees are down in -- maybe it's Gaston's -- path. Tens of thousands of people remain without power, and everyone's eyes are on Hurricane Frances, still hundreds of miles offshore, but already pretty powerful -- possibly aimed for landfall.
Those are the headlines. Now to Wolf Blitzer, live coverage from New York and the Republican National Convention.
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