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American Morning
Missing Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun Now in American Hands
Aired July 09, 2004 - 08:30 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun awoke today in American hands for the first time since his disappearance last month. Hassoun is expected to be flown to Germany from Lebanon for a medical check up and a debriefing. His family in his hometown in the U.S. spoke with him yesterday.
Miguel Marquez is there now. He's joining us live from West Jordan, Utah.
Good morning to you, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
His family here saying that he sounded good. They also understand based on what the family in Lebanon is telling them that he is maybe a little thinner for the entire ordeal. But they are certainly happy he is back.
But the family's initial reaction here in West Jordan, Utah, right outside of Salt Lake City, was one of sort of caution. There was not a lot of elation in their voice. They were more cautious about the information and were not as excited or interested in it as one might expect.
But finally, late yesterday afternoon, Hassoun's older brother Muhammed came out to their flag-draped front lawn and made a quick statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHAMMED HASSOUN, BROTHER OF MARINE WASSEF ALI HASSOUN: We are very grateful to Allah that we have our brother Wassef back in safe hands at the U.S. embassy. And we are very sad to also hear about the news that took place earlier today in Tripoli -- for the loss of life there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now, what he's talking about there -- the family here is quite concerned about what has happened in Tripoli when a rival clan to the Hassoun clan there accusing the Hassouns of being American agents over all of this.
They clashed. At least two people were killed in Tripoli. And the family hear has been greatly affected by what's happened there, adding anxiety -- another dose of anxiety, which must have been much worse since they've been through 19 days of absolute uncertainty now -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. That uncertainty that now we're hearing about. Some people thinking that this whole entire thing was a hoax. Any reaction from them on that front?
MARQUEZ: Well, it seems that, that may have been the reason, in part, for the initial reaction to the family -- that there is this concern and all this reporting being done, that the naval criminal investigation service has launched a missing persons investigation. And they're looking at everything from kidnapping to a possible hoax. The family I think being fairly reserved now, not only for that reason but also because now they fear their family members in Lebanon may be in danger as well -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Miguel Marquez coming to us from Utah this morning. Miguel, thanks.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now 28 minutes before the hour. It is Friday. It is "Gimme A Minute" time and time for our pithy panel.
From Cleveland, CNN political contributor, Donna Brazile. Good morning, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Also the author of "Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics."
In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review Online." Jonah, how are you doing?
JONAH GOLDBERG, "NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE": Good. How are you?
HEMMER: I'm doing just fine on a Friday, thanks.
Here in New York, Andy Borowitz. He's the one who is responsible for "BorowitzReport.com."
Drew, how are you? Good morning.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "BOROWITZREPORT.COM": I claim full responsibility.
HEMMER: As you should as well. It's an excellent Web site.
Donna, on the screen, there are a number of Web sites already showing the amount of affection between John Kerry and John Edwards. One says -- I think "Drudge" -- says these guys can't keep their hands off of each other.
You're the only one that who has hugged John Kerry. What do you make of the touchy, feely duo?
BRAZILE: Well, you know, John Kerry is quite lovable. And now with John Edwards this is an unstoppable ticket. They are positive. They are upbeat. They are optimistic. And they are ready to spread their joy across America.
HEMMER: Jonah, have you hugged your candidate today?
GOLDBERG: I don't hug candidates -- just flat policy.
Donna's the first person I've ever heard call John Kerry huggable or lovable. I thought this was a pretty good pick for Kerry. You know, Edwards is a good guy. He's so pretty. But now that they can't keep their hands off of each other, I'm not too sure.
HEMMER: Andy, what about just a simple high five?
BOROWITZ: You know, I thought it was sort of creepy yesterday when Edwards was trying to give a speech and Kerry kind of crept up behind him and started massaging his neck.
(LAUGHTER)
BOROWITZ: I don't know. I just thought that was going over the line.
HEMMER: You can see that at the "borowitzreport.com."
Next topic.
Jonah, Tony Blair yesterday suggesting WMD will never be found in Iraq. Put this together with a CIA report due out in a few hours in D.C. -- quite critical, we're told -- politically, how does this affect the campaign?
GOLDBERG: Obviously, it's bad news for George Bush. It's bad news for the CIA. Of course this report is going to be critical because -- look the failure to find WMD and the predictions it was a "slam dunk" probably constitute the biggest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor. So, it's a bad news.
HEMMER: Democrats are watching it closely.
Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, there's no question the CIA produced some bad intelligence in the lead up to war. But what concerns me is that this report is just the beginning. It's not the real deal. It's window dressing.
What happens when the administration officials receive this report, as well as members of Congress? Someone should be held accountable.
HEMMER: Andy's looking for his own weapon of mass destruction. Here we go.
BOROWITZ: Bill, this report is so bad for the CIA that George Tenet has just resigned again.
HEMMER: Twice in one summer, huh? BOROWITZ: Unbelievable.
HEMMER: Ken Lay yesterday turned himself in. He was -- he faced charges, 11 criminal counts.
Donna, he has said many times his relationship with President Bush could work against him. What happens politically now? Does this help the White House with Ken Lay in handcuffs yesterday?
BRAZILE: Well, you know, if this bird starts singing, I think he's going to really talk about his relationship with not just George Bush but also Dick Cheney and the energy task force. So we finally might get some information out of someone who knows what happened.
HEMMER: Well, ultimately you want investors to trust the system, don't you, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: Oh, sure. And I think it's great that we are putting these guys in cuffs and prosecuting them, if they're, in fact, guilty of what they seem to be.
But I've got to say, while this is a huge financial scandal, there has been nobody who has been able to demonstrate in any significant way why this should have been a political scandal at all. And it's been a lot of hot air. It's been very unfair, and I think it should stay on the financial pages where it belongs.
HEMMER: All right. Andy?
BOROWITZ: I thought it was a bad time for Ken Lay when President Bush took him off his online buddy list.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Sell your Enron shares, Andy. Have you done that, yet?
Under the radar.
Jonah, what have we missed this week?
GOLDBERG: Well, the list -- the prime time speakers at the Republican Convention have come out and they are all Rockefeller Republicans of one variation or another.
There's not a single, serious conservative up there speaking in prime time at the convention other than Bush and Cheney, of course. And this is a disaster. It shows a party that doesn't actually want to show it's true face and I think it's a problem.
HEMMER: Wow. Interesting. Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, Jonah might need to call Pat Buchanan to add some real color to the convention.
GOLDBERG: He belongs to the Independence Party, Donna.
BRAZILE: Oh, that's right. I forgot. He left you.
Yesterday on the House floor, there was an attempt to amend a piece of legislation to stop the Justice Department from sneaking and peeking at our library books. The law actually passed, but the Republicans who control everything kept the books open until they twisted a couple of arms.
HEMMER: Andy?
BOROWITZ: Saddam Hussein says that he is still present of Iraq and heard that from Rupert Murdoch.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Front page story, right?
BOROWITZ: Monday night.
HEMMER: Thanks to all three of you. Have a good weekend. Donna, Jonah, Andy -- thanks.
COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING -- shock of shocks. One company is appalled to find out booze and trash talk go along with poker. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" on that.
Also ahead, a massive recall involving kids' toys. Experts are worried about lead poisoning. What you need to know ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off this morning. But in this morning's medical segment, we're going to talk about tainted toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling more than a million toys because of possible lead poisoning. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now from the CNN Center with details on this. Frightening.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, it is frightening. You're a mom. You've probably seen them. There are vending machines that you see sometimes in toy stores, sometimes in malls that contain little pieces of jewelry.
And what the -- what the Consumer Product Safety Commission did is they recalled 150 million pieces of toy jewelry over concerns that some of it could pose a risk of led poisoning. This is one of the largest recalls in U.S. history.
You see them there. Some of these contain candy. This one in this case, you can see, contains jewelry.
Now, one of the problems here, only about -- not all of this jewelry is going to contain lead, but it's impossible to determine which does and which doesn't. So if you have jewelry like this you need to throw it out.
Now let's talk a bit about lead poisoning and what it can do to a child. It can lead to behavior problems, learning disabilities, hearing problems, and it can stunt growth. It can also cause possible seizures, coma or death. And 443,000 kids ages one through five have lead poisoning every year.
It can also be a problem for a pregnant woman because it can cause problems with her developing fetus. It can also be a problem for adults. Lead poisoning in adults can lead to all sorts of problems. And that would include fatigue, abdominal pain, headache, neurological problems. And sometimes it is very tough to diagnose when someone shows up with these problems. Obviously, those can lead to all sorts of -- that can be all sorts of other diseases besides lead poisoning.
So the bottom line message, take-home message for parents today is, if you have any of those -- any of that jewelry in your house that you bought at one of those gumball machines, throw it away -- Heidi?
COLLINS: But I'm willing to bet this might not be the only place where you can find lead poisoning? Where else is it?
COHEN: Right. There are lots of other places where lead poisoning can happen. For example, you can find lead in drinking water. You don't have to worry about taking a shower in it, but if you drink it, that can be a problem.
Old paint can have lead in it. Some home made health remedies, folk remedies that are more common in India or South Asia, some of those will have lead, particularly a problem for pregnant woman. Glazes on some imported ceramics, china and porcelain made in other countries can also contain led.
COLLINS: What about how to prevent it?
COHEN: Right. A couple of things can you do. Obviously, don't let your child have that jewelry. The problem is they could swallow it. If they ingest it, that's an issue.
Also, when you have -- if you're worried about lead in your water, run the water for 30 seconds before drinking. Use only cold water for drinking or cooking. Lead is more concentrated in hot water. Also, avoid those kind of home remedies that we were talking about, or cosmetics or pottery from other countries that may contain lead.
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Elizabeth Cohen thanks so much for that.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: And a lot to think about this morning. Good to see you.
COHEN: Good to see you. COLLINS: Still to come, Lance Armstrong still in the thick of things at the Tour de France, but he might be ready for some semi- retirement, maybe. Well, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Live event here in New York City. Elizabeth Edwards now with the microphone there. We know John Kerry and John Edwards and their wives are at this breakfast stop today, one of two stops today here in New York City after the gala affair last night at Radio City Music Hall.
Senator Hillary Clinton too, there, handling the introductions a few moments ago.
About 45 minutes past the hour. We want to get back to Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center watching the rest of the news for us. Fred, good morning to you.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again to you.
The Department of Homeland Security is warning that al Qaeda is planning to disrupt the November elections. Among the possible targets, the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month and the Republican Convention in New York next month.
Officials are saying despite the increased security there is no specific information about the threats.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to release its findings on intelligence failures in prewar Iraq. Sources familiar with the report say it criticizes intelligence analysts of not being careful enough in their assessment of Saddam Hussein's weapons capability. The report is expected to be released in about two hours.
New details about the murder of a family at the New Mexico ranch of newsman Sam Donaldson. A 14-year-old boy reportedly telling police that he shot his family after being repeatedly beaten his father. The teen, Cody Posey, is expected to appear in court for an arraignment hearing today.
In sports, cyclist Lance Armstrong is sitting out the Olympics this year. Armstrong, who is competing for his sixth Tour de France title, announcing that he wants to spend more time with this children. The defending champ lost his lead in the event yesterday dropping to sixth overall, but don't count him out yet.
And new images of Saturn showing the planet to be a lot dirtier than originally believed. Saturn's rings are mostly ice. Scientists now believe the rings inner regions are also full of rock and mud. The new information may hint at the ring's origins and evolution. Now back to you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Fredricka, thanks for that.
Back to Jack now -- "Question of the Day." JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, William.
Researches say that cosmetic surgeons may soon be attempting face transplants. It's a procedure that would be used on the faces of people who have been disfigured in accidents or whatever. It will not be used for cosmetic reasons, except here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Before it happens, doctors say that people need to think through these psychological and social effects of face transplants. That makes sense.
So here's the question. If you could get a face transplant, whose face would you like to have?
And some of this stuff is silly, actually, but it's not bad. Friday.
David in Amesville, Ohio: "I'd be John Kerry, then there'd two of us feeding the American public a lot of bull."
Shari in Abingdon, Maryland: "I would choose my mom's face. She's not famous. You wouldn't recognize her on TV. She's in her 70s. Still, she's one of the most beautiful people, full of kindness and love that show through on her face every day, and fame could never equal that."
Tony writes: "Raquel Welch's husband's face. Oh, and I'll need her address, too."
(LAUGHTER)
Cynthia in Long Beach: "I'd like to go out with the guy who wants Bill Hemmer's face, if he gets it. Otherwise, just forward my number to Bill."
HEMMER: You got it, Cynthia!
CAFFERTY: And Nick writes: "If I had to get a face transplant, I would take any face but Cafferty's. I couldn't imagine waking up to look at that thing every morning."
HEMMER: Come on.
COLLINS: Oh.
CAFFERTY: Nick, you ought to see it from in here. You think it looks bad to you.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Yes. That's right. I know Jack.
CAFFERTY: I see it from in here.
HEMMER: Well done. Andy's back in a moment "Minding Your Business" to tell you why one company folded its cards over celebrity poker.
Also an alligator with an appetite for adventure. In a big way, too.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A TV show, "Celebrity Poker Showdown" a little too racy for one advertiser. Andy Serwer is here with that and a preview of the market. He's "Minding Our Business" today as always.
Plus, GE's CEO talking great gain about the economy.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. And business today is beautiful.
COLLINS: Yes it is, Andy.
SERWER: That's the ad campaign.
COLLINS: It's great stuff too.
SERWER: And I love racy business stories. How often do I get to do that? I'm the business guy.
Let's talk about the markets yesterday first of all. Stocks beaten up a little bit, that's because the price of oil crept over $40 a barrel. But the good news is, it's fallen back down. It's back and forth. Obviously, political implications are living large there.
GE's CEO, as you mentioned, Heidi, Jeffrey Immelt saying this morning that business is the best it's been in years. This from the head of the arguably most important company in the United States. So that is big news.
Let's move on to this poker story though, shall we?
COLLINS: Yes. Racy, racy, racy.
SERWER: Racy, racy, racy.
Cingular Wireless, the big wireless company who was sponsoring "Celebrity Poker Showdown" on Bravo, and guess what -- they found it too racy because people were drinking. Drinking and the talk got a little saucy.
And so -- you know, they're shocked that this is going on. One show there were 17 shots of tequila downed. And then three was this interchange here, reporting in the "Wall Street Journal" which did this story between football star Jerome Bettis and comedian Wanda Sykes.
Wanda Sykes accused Jerome Bettis of looking at her cards.
Mr. Bettis denied this. Miss Sykes said, well it was my cards or my breasts. You were looking at something.
And Mr. Bettis replied, both of them are small.
HEMMER: Whoa.
SERWER: So, yikes says Wanda Sykes.
Anyway, Cingular Wireless what do you expect? It's a poker show. It's Las Vegas. It's drinking. It's talking.
COLLINS: There was drinking there, yes. That's for sure.
SERWER: But they got more than they bargained for. You got to know when to fold them.
HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.
COLLINS: Thanks, Kenny.
HEMMER: For the record, we're only looking at your cards.
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Sure.
SERWER: Gee, Bill.
HEMMER: Checking the weather. Here's Chad Myers at the CNN Center. What do we need to look out for today, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Great weather for you guys up there. Skies are going to be clearing. Lots of sunshine.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: We'll take what we can get here in New York, huh? It is so nice. Thank you, Chad. Talk to you next hour.
Alice the alligator has a bit of a problem. Alice lives with her owner in Derry, New Hampshire. Wednesday, she escaped from her fenced in, backyard pond for the second time this week.
Discovered in a nearby pond on a golf course, her owner insists she's not all that big or dangerous except, perhaps, to the neighborhood cats.
SERWER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Isn't that what they say in New Hampshire?
HEMMER: A little sinister on the owner's part, too, huh? Hide your cats people.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: That's coming out of New Hampshire.
COLLINS: Well, next hour this AMERICAN MORNING -- what's in a name? A whole lot of trouble when it comes to what the former L.A. mayor, Richard Riordan, said about a little girl's name. We'll tell you about it next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired July 9, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun awoke today in American hands for the first time since his disappearance last month. Hassoun is expected to be flown to Germany from Lebanon for a medical check up and a debriefing. His family in his hometown in the U.S. spoke with him yesterday.
Miguel Marquez is there now. He's joining us live from West Jordan, Utah.
Good morning to you, Miguel.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
His family here saying that he sounded good. They also understand based on what the family in Lebanon is telling them that he is maybe a little thinner for the entire ordeal. But they are certainly happy he is back.
But the family's initial reaction here in West Jordan, Utah, right outside of Salt Lake City, was one of sort of caution. There was not a lot of elation in their voice. They were more cautious about the information and were not as excited or interested in it as one might expect.
But finally, late yesterday afternoon, Hassoun's older brother Muhammed came out to their flag-draped front lawn and made a quick statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUHAMMED HASSOUN, BROTHER OF MARINE WASSEF ALI HASSOUN: We are very grateful to Allah that we have our brother Wassef back in safe hands at the U.S. embassy. And we are very sad to also hear about the news that took place earlier today in Tripoli -- for the loss of life there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Now, what he's talking about there -- the family here is quite concerned about what has happened in Tripoli when a rival clan to the Hassoun clan there accusing the Hassouns of being American agents over all of this.
They clashed. At least two people were killed in Tripoli. And the family hear has been greatly affected by what's happened there, adding anxiety -- another dose of anxiety, which must have been much worse since they've been through 19 days of absolute uncertainty now -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. That uncertainty that now we're hearing about. Some people thinking that this whole entire thing was a hoax. Any reaction from them on that front?
MARQUEZ: Well, it seems that, that may have been the reason, in part, for the initial reaction to the family -- that there is this concern and all this reporting being done, that the naval criminal investigation service has launched a missing persons investigation. And they're looking at everything from kidnapping to a possible hoax. The family I think being fairly reserved now, not only for that reason but also because now they fear their family members in Lebanon may be in danger as well -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Miguel Marquez coming to us from Utah this morning. Miguel, thanks.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now 28 minutes before the hour. It is Friday. It is "Gimme A Minute" time and time for our pithy panel.
From Cleveland, CNN political contributor, Donna Brazile. Good morning, Donna.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Also the author of "Cooking With Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics."
In Washington, Jonah Goldberg, editor of the "National Review Online." Jonah, how are you doing?
JONAH GOLDBERG, "NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE": Good. How are you?
HEMMER: I'm doing just fine on a Friday, thanks.
Here in New York, Andy Borowitz. He's the one who is responsible for "BorowitzReport.com."
Drew, how are you? Good morning.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "BOROWITZREPORT.COM": I claim full responsibility.
HEMMER: As you should as well. It's an excellent Web site.
Donna, on the screen, there are a number of Web sites already showing the amount of affection between John Kerry and John Edwards. One says -- I think "Drudge" -- says these guys can't keep their hands off of each other.
You're the only one that who has hugged John Kerry. What do you make of the touchy, feely duo?
BRAZILE: Well, you know, John Kerry is quite lovable. And now with John Edwards this is an unstoppable ticket. They are positive. They are upbeat. They are optimistic. And they are ready to spread their joy across America.
HEMMER: Jonah, have you hugged your candidate today?
GOLDBERG: I don't hug candidates -- just flat policy.
Donna's the first person I've ever heard call John Kerry huggable or lovable. I thought this was a pretty good pick for Kerry. You know, Edwards is a good guy. He's so pretty. But now that they can't keep their hands off of each other, I'm not too sure.
HEMMER: Andy, what about just a simple high five?
BOROWITZ: You know, I thought it was sort of creepy yesterday when Edwards was trying to give a speech and Kerry kind of crept up behind him and started massaging his neck.
(LAUGHTER)
BOROWITZ: I don't know. I just thought that was going over the line.
HEMMER: You can see that at the "borowitzreport.com."
Next topic.
Jonah, Tony Blair yesterday suggesting WMD will never be found in Iraq. Put this together with a CIA report due out in a few hours in D.C. -- quite critical, we're told -- politically, how does this affect the campaign?
GOLDBERG: Obviously, it's bad news for George Bush. It's bad news for the CIA. Of course this report is going to be critical because -- look the failure to find WMD and the predictions it was a "slam dunk" probably constitute the biggest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor. So, it's a bad news.
HEMMER: Democrats are watching it closely.
Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, there's no question the CIA produced some bad intelligence in the lead up to war. But what concerns me is that this report is just the beginning. It's not the real deal. It's window dressing.
What happens when the administration officials receive this report, as well as members of Congress? Someone should be held accountable.
HEMMER: Andy's looking for his own weapon of mass destruction. Here we go.
BOROWITZ: Bill, this report is so bad for the CIA that George Tenet has just resigned again.
HEMMER: Twice in one summer, huh? BOROWITZ: Unbelievable.
HEMMER: Ken Lay yesterday turned himself in. He was -- he faced charges, 11 criminal counts.
Donna, he has said many times his relationship with President Bush could work against him. What happens politically now? Does this help the White House with Ken Lay in handcuffs yesterday?
BRAZILE: Well, you know, if this bird starts singing, I think he's going to really talk about his relationship with not just George Bush but also Dick Cheney and the energy task force. So we finally might get some information out of someone who knows what happened.
HEMMER: Well, ultimately you want investors to trust the system, don't you, Jonah?
GOLDBERG: Oh, sure. And I think it's great that we are putting these guys in cuffs and prosecuting them, if they're, in fact, guilty of what they seem to be.
But I've got to say, while this is a huge financial scandal, there has been nobody who has been able to demonstrate in any significant way why this should have been a political scandal at all. And it's been a lot of hot air. It's been very unfair, and I think it should stay on the financial pages where it belongs.
HEMMER: All right. Andy?
BOROWITZ: I thought it was a bad time for Ken Lay when President Bush took him off his online buddy list.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Sell your Enron shares, Andy. Have you done that, yet?
Under the radar.
Jonah, what have we missed this week?
GOLDBERG: Well, the list -- the prime time speakers at the Republican Convention have come out and they are all Rockefeller Republicans of one variation or another.
There's not a single, serious conservative up there speaking in prime time at the convention other than Bush and Cheney, of course. And this is a disaster. It shows a party that doesn't actually want to show it's true face and I think it's a problem.
HEMMER: Wow. Interesting. Donna?
BRAZILE: Well, Jonah might need to call Pat Buchanan to add some real color to the convention.
GOLDBERG: He belongs to the Independence Party, Donna.
BRAZILE: Oh, that's right. I forgot. He left you.
Yesterday on the House floor, there was an attempt to amend a piece of legislation to stop the Justice Department from sneaking and peeking at our library books. The law actually passed, but the Republicans who control everything kept the books open until they twisted a couple of arms.
HEMMER: Andy?
BOROWITZ: Saddam Hussein says that he is still present of Iraq and heard that from Rupert Murdoch.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Front page story, right?
BOROWITZ: Monday night.
HEMMER: Thanks to all three of you. Have a good weekend. Donna, Jonah, Andy -- thanks.
COLLINS: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING -- shock of shocks. One company is appalled to find out booze and trash talk go along with poker. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" on that.
Also ahead, a massive recall involving kids' toys. Experts are worried about lead poisoning. What you need to know ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off this morning. But in this morning's medical segment, we're going to talk about tainted toys.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission is recalling more than a million toys because of possible lead poisoning. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now from the CNN Center with details on this. Frightening.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Yes, it is frightening. You're a mom. You've probably seen them. There are vending machines that you see sometimes in toy stores, sometimes in malls that contain little pieces of jewelry.
And what the -- what the Consumer Product Safety Commission did is they recalled 150 million pieces of toy jewelry over concerns that some of it could pose a risk of led poisoning. This is one of the largest recalls in U.S. history.
You see them there. Some of these contain candy. This one in this case, you can see, contains jewelry.
Now, one of the problems here, only about -- not all of this jewelry is going to contain lead, but it's impossible to determine which does and which doesn't. So if you have jewelry like this you need to throw it out.
Now let's talk a bit about lead poisoning and what it can do to a child. It can lead to behavior problems, learning disabilities, hearing problems, and it can stunt growth. It can also cause possible seizures, coma or death. And 443,000 kids ages one through five have lead poisoning every year.
It can also be a problem for a pregnant woman because it can cause problems with her developing fetus. It can also be a problem for adults. Lead poisoning in adults can lead to all sorts of problems. And that would include fatigue, abdominal pain, headache, neurological problems. And sometimes it is very tough to diagnose when someone shows up with these problems. Obviously, those can lead to all sorts of -- that can be all sorts of other diseases besides lead poisoning.
So the bottom line message, take-home message for parents today is, if you have any of those -- any of that jewelry in your house that you bought at one of those gumball machines, throw it away -- Heidi?
COLLINS: But I'm willing to bet this might not be the only place where you can find lead poisoning? Where else is it?
COHEN: Right. There are lots of other places where lead poisoning can happen. For example, you can find lead in drinking water. You don't have to worry about taking a shower in it, but if you drink it, that can be a problem.
Old paint can have lead in it. Some home made health remedies, folk remedies that are more common in India or South Asia, some of those will have lead, particularly a problem for pregnant woman. Glazes on some imported ceramics, china and porcelain made in other countries can also contain led.
COLLINS: What about how to prevent it?
COHEN: Right. A couple of things can you do. Obviously, don't let your child have that jewelry. The problem is they could swallow it. If they ingest it, that's an issue.
Also, when you have -- if you're worried about lead in your water, run the water for 30 seconds before drinking. Use only cold water for drinking or cooking. Lead is more concentrated in hot water. Also, avoid those kind of home remedies that we were talking about, or cosmetics or pottery from other countries that may contain lead.
COLLINS: Wow. All right. Elizabeth Cohen thanks so much for that.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: And a lot to think about this morning. Good to see you.
COHEN: Good to see you. COLLINS: Still to come, Lance Armstrong still in the thick of things at the Tour de France, but he might be ready for some semi- retirement, maybe. Well, that's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Live event here in New York City. Elizabeth Edwards now with the microphone there. We know John Kerry and John Edwards and their wives are at this breakfast stop today, one of two stops today here in New York City after the gala affair last night at Radio City Music Hall.
Senator Hillary Clinton too, there, handling the introductions a few moments ago.
About 45 minutes past the hour. We want to get back to Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center watching the rest of the news for us. Fred, good morning to you.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again to you.
The Department of Homeland Security is warning that al Qaeda is planning to disrupt the November elections. Among the possible targets, the Democratic National Convention in Boston later this month and the Republican Convention in New York next month.
Officials are saying despite the increased security there is no specific information about the threats.
The Senate Intelligence Committee is set to release its findings on intelligence failures in prewar Iraq. Sources familiar with the report say it criticizes intelligence analysts of not being careful enough in their assessment of Saddam Hussein's weapons capability. The report is expected to be released in about two hours.
New details about the murder of a family at the New Mexico ranch of newsman Sam Donaldson. A 14-year-old boy reportedly telling police that he shot his family after being repeatedly beaten his father. The teen, Cody Posey, is expected to appear in court for an arraignment hearing today.
In sports, cyclist Lance Armstrong is sitting out the Olympics this year. Armstrong, who is competing for his sixth Tour de France title, announcing that he wants to spend more time with this children. The defending champ lost his lead in the event yesterday dropping to sixth overall, but don't count him out yet.
And new images of Saturn showing the planet to be a lot dirtier than originally believed. Saturn's rings are mostly ice. Scientists now believe the rings inner regions are also full of rock and mud. The new information may hint at the ring's origins and evolution. Now back to you, Bill.
HEMMER: All right. Fredricka, thanks for that.
Back to Jack now -- "Question of the Day." JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, William.
Researches say that cosmetic surgeons may soon be attempting face transplants. It's a procedure that would be used on the faces of people who have been disfigured in accidents or whatever. It will not be used for cosmetic reasons, except here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Before it happens, doctors say that people need to think through these psychological and social effects of face transplants. That makes sense.
So here's the question. If you could get a face transplant, whose face would you like to have?
And some of this stuff is silly, actually, but it's not bad. Friday.
David in Amesville, Ohio: "I'd be John Kerry, then there'd two of us feeding the American public a lot of bull."
Shari in Abingdon, Maryland: "I would choose my mom's face. She's not famous. You wouldn't recognize her on TV. She's in her 70s. Still, she's one of the most beautiful people, full of kindness and love that show through on her face every day, and fame could never equal that."
Tony writes: "Raquel Welch's husband's face. Oh, and I'll need her address, too."
(LAUGHTER)
Cynthia in Long Beach: "I'd like to go out with the guy who wants Bill Hemmer's face, if he gets it. Otherwise, just forward my number to Bill."
HEMMER: You got it, Cynthia!
CAFFERTY: And Nick writes: "If I had to get a face transplant, I would take any face but Cafferty's. I couldn't imagine waking up to look at that thing every morning."
HEMMER: Come on.
COLLINS: Oh.
CAFFERTY: Nick, you ought to see it from in here. You think it looks bad to you.
(LAUGHTER)
HEMMER: Yes. That's right. I know Jack.
CAFFERTY: I see it from in here.
HEMMER: Well done. Andy's back in a moment "Minding Your Business" to tell you why one company folded its cards over celebrity poker.
Also an alligator with an appetite for adventure. In a big way, too.
Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A TV show, "Celebrity Poker Showdown" a little too racy for one advertiser. Andy Serwer is here with that and a preview of the market. He's "Minding Our Business" today as always.
Plus, GE's CEO talking great gain about the economy.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes. And business today is beautiful.
COLLINS: Yes it is, Andy.
SERWER: That's the ad campaign.
COLLINS: It's great stuff too.
SERWER: And I love racy business stories. How often do I get to do that? I'm the business guy.
Let's talk about the markets yesterday first of all. Stocks beaten up a little bit, that's because the price of oil crept over $40 a barrel. But the good news is, it's fallen back down. It's back and forth. Obviously, political implications are living large there.
GE's CEO, as you mentioned, Heidi, Jeffrey Immelt saying this morning that business is the best it's been in years. This from the head of the arguably most important company in the United States. So that is big news.
Let's move on to this poker story though, shall we?
COLLINS: Yes. Racy, racy, racy.
SERWER: Racy, racy, racy.
Cingular Wireless, the big wireless company who was sponsoring "Celebrity Poker Showdown" on Bravo, and guess what -- they found it too racy because people were drinking. Drinking and the talk got a little saucy.
And so -- you know, they're shocked that this is going on. One show there were 17 shots of tequila downed. And then three was this interchange here, reporting in the "Wall Street Journal" which did this story between football star Jerome Bettis and comedian Wanda Sykes.
Wanda Sykes accused Jerome Bettis of looking at her cards.
Mr. Bettis denied this. Miss Sykes said, well it was my cards or my breasts. You were looking at something.
And Mr. Bettis replied, both of them are small.
HEMMER: Whoa.
SERWER: So, yikes says Wanda Sykes.
Anyway, Cingular Wireless what do you expect? It's a poker show. It's Las Vegas. It's drinking. It's talking.
COLLINS: There was drinking there, yes. That's for sure.
SERWER: But they got more than they bargained for. You got to know when to fold them.
HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.
COLLINS: Thanks, Kenny.
HEMMER: For the record, we're only looking at your cards.
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Sure.
SERWER: Gee, Bill.
HEMMER: Checking the weather. Here's Chad Myers at the CNN Center. What do we need to look out for today, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Great weather for you guys up there. Skies are going to be clearing. Lots of sunshine.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: We'll take what we can get here in New York, huh? It is so nice. Thank you, Chad. Talk to you next hour.
Alice the alligator has a bit of a problem. Alice lives with her owner in Derry, New Hampshire. Wednesday, she escaped from her fenced in, backyard pond for the second time this week.
Discovered in a nearby pond on a golf course, her owner insists she's not all that big or dangerous except, perhaps, to the neighborhood cats.
SERWER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). Isn't that what they say in New Hampshire?
HEMMER: A little sinister on the owner's part, too, huh? Hide your cats people.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: That's coming out of New Hampshire.
COLLINS: Well, next hour this AMERICAN MORNING -- what's in a name? A whole lot of trouble when it comes to what the former L.A. mayor, Richard Riordan, said about a little girl's name. We'll tell you about it next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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