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Jurors in Scott Peterson Trial Waiting to Hear From His Former Mistress; Discussion About Wave of Solar Storms That Washed Over Earth

Aired July 12, 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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Among the headlines this morning, the question -- will this be the week prosecutor's call Amber Frey to the witness stand?
We're going to get an update on the case and some graphic evidence now before the jury.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at huge storms raging on the surface of the sun. Did you know that?

Our old space buddy Jack Horkheimer is going to be on the show in just a few minutes. You can wait, Jack.

Talking about the effects these storms have throughout the solar system, especially on Mars and all that water. Still wondering about that.

COOPER: All right. Also looking at a sudden outbreak of whooping cough that has officials worried about children's health. We're going to look at where the problem is concentrated and what parents can do about that.

So that is ahead.

After a week of evidence, both gruesome and heart wrenching, jurors in the Scott Peterson trial are waiting to hear from his former mistress. Amber Frey is possibly the prosecution's star witness in Peterson's double murder trial.

Ted Rowlands gets us up to date before testimony resumes today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutors used photographs of a pregnant woman from their office as they tried to prove that Scott Peterson's pickup truck and boat could have been used to transport and dump his wife's body.

One photograph showed the woman, who is approximately the same size as the pregnant Laci Peterson was, lying down in Peterson's truck and boat. Another showed the woman lying inside Peterson's oversized toolbox, which he had in the bed of his truck.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos argued to the judge that because the woman posing was alive and therefore not in a state of rigor mortis, and because she got in and out of the boat and truck herself for the pictures, the photos should not have been allowed in court. The judge disagreed.

Legal analysts say the photographs were a very effective way to show the jury how Peterson may have been able to dispose of his pregnant wife's body.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: It's convincing. And it answers a lot of questions. And more importantly, it's graphic, and it's powerful, and it sticks in the jury's mind.

ROWLANDS: Also last week, the man who sold Scott Peterson the 14-foot boat testified that it was large enough for two people to move around.

Still to come, the much-anticipated testimony of Peterson's mistress, Amber Frey. She is not expected to take the stand for at least a week.

According to her attorney, Gloria Allred, Frey has not been given a date from prosecutors as to when she should expect to take the stand.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The judge has imposed a gag order that prevents attorneys from revealing when Frey might testify -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well it's been some eight months since a wave of solar storms washed over the Earth, sending highly charged particles and radiation our way. The spectacular sunbursts have been speeding across the solar system, and scientists are learning just how it's affecting other planets.

Astronomer Jack Horkheimer has been watching. He's executive director of the Miami Planetarium. He joins us now from Miami.

Good morning to you, Jack. Thanks for being here.

JACK HORKHEIMER, MIAMI PLANETARIUM: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: You know, when all of this happened, some storms exploded last Halloween -- airplanes were rerouted, people at the space station took cover; the Northern Lights became the southern lights, if you will. In an astronomy viewpoint here, tell us how big of a deal this really was.

HORKHEIMER: Well, what we saw last October and the beginning of November were the hugest -- the biggest monster storms we had ever recorded coming from the sun, and billions of tons of charged particles leapt out from the sun, all combined and swept across the solar system, they passed -- they passed Mercury, Venus and then quite a bit of exciting interchanged with our earth and a few scary moments there. But then it swept out toward Mars and it -- the -- the energy was so intense that it stripped away an upper layer of Mars atmosphere, it actually knocked out the radiation detectors on a Mars space orbiter, and we now believe that, actually, storms like this have been reoccurring over billions and billions of years.

One of the theories is that maybe this is one of the mechanisms that stripped water away from Mars and turned water back into hydrogen and oxygen. After it passed Mars, it zipped out to Saturn and passed Jupiter, and then Saturn, and it was recorded that magnetic storms occurred on both planets by our satellites. Even Cassini saw it.

And then it went out past a -- it went way out past Pluto. It was picked up over seven billion miles away by Voyager Two and then by Voyager One and about nine billion miles away, and it's going to go out to the very boundaries of what we call the sun's influence.

The heliosphere where it ends and interstellar space begins -- and -- when that happens, we may get a bounce back effect and this maybe recorded by Voyager One and we may actually be able to witness exactly -- see for the first time exactly how far out the sun's influence extends, why these are called the "Halloween monster solar storms."

And they literally sent this ball of energized particles, slamming throughout the entire solar system -- we can say, in a way, the storm ravaged all the planets and is heading out to the very ends of the solar system.

COLLINS: We were just looking at some pretty incredible images there, as you were speaking, Jack, and you know -- I'm not sure if there's really an answer yet.

It sounds like it's going to take a while to really decipher this data that you now have, but what do you think about the water on Mars? Do these solar flares help unlock that mystery in a way that you can come to a conclusion, finally?

HORKHEIMER: No conclusion can be reached. This is one of many theories. But it's a very nice theory. It's a nifty theory. And it's very plausible.

Something that all viewers might want to know is that we're expecting some more solar storms, some large suns about -- in about two or three more days, even though we are at over the end of solar maximum. We're going down toward the solar minimum.

And if you really want to see what all these; what this is all about, I just happened to pick it up last week. The new edition of "National Geographic" has a huge section on the sun, which is -- with simply mind-blowing -- with photographs just like you've been showing on the air.

COLLINS: So possible that this next one could be even more disruptive?

HORKHEIMER: I beg your pardon?

COLLINS: Possible that this next solar wave of the sun storms could be more disruptive?

HORKHEIMER: No, no, no. I don't think they're not going to be that big. Not that intense. But they'll be a nice group.

The November 4th eruption was the largest solar disruption of coronal mass ejection we'd ever recorded in history.

COLLINS: All right, Jack Horkheimer; thanks for putting it into perspective for us, and keep looking up.

HORKHEIMER: Right.

COLLINS: Right?

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

COOPER: Well, a Massachusetts fireworks celebration was about six days late, and about eight hours early this weekend.

An explosive shell went off accidentally at noon on Saturday

While a crew was setting up the display, 2,500 shells were ignited all at once and were spent long before nightfall.

The fireworks had been rescheduled from 4th of July weekend to last weekend. No one, thankfully, was injured.

COLLINS: Wow. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, health officials try to keep an outbreak of highly contagious and potentially fatal infection from spreading further.

COLLINS: Plus, the latest on the track and field doping scandal and why a couple of athletes may have been feeling some pressure. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Sanjay is on assignment today.

In this morning's medical segment, the problem with protussis, that is whopping cough to you and me.

It's on the rise among teenagers in the United States. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center with details. Did I even pronounce that correctly?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you did. You pronounced both protussis and whooping cough correctly. I'm very impressed. That's great, Anderson.

Anderson in fact you're right, there is an unusually large outbreak of whooping cough in this country and it doesn't just effect children.

In fact, it's more likely; it seems, to effect teenagers.

Let's take a look at this outbreak in the United States. Across the United States there have been since January about 4,000 cases, and you can see the states where there have been more than 100.

New York leads the country with 900 cases since January.

One of the latest outbreaks has been in the Chicago area, where there have been 100 cases since the beginning of the year.

Now it's interesting -- in Chicago, 80 percent of the cases have been among people ages 10 to 15. Again, not little kids, but ages 10 to 15.

Now you might think how can that be? You think of whooping cough as a little kid's disease. Well, the reason why is that the last booster for this vaccination is given at around age four, and so when you give a vaccination, the last one, at around age four, this vaccination wears off in about five to ten years.

So if you do the math, that means that at around age nine or ten, the vaccination has started to wear off, and that's why you're seeing older children getting this disease -- Anderson.

COOPER: So why not just vaccinate teens and adults? I mean, if it wears off?

COHEN: Right, that would make sense, and in fact, that's what public health experts are thinking about doing now. They're testing out the vaccine in teens and adults. Right now it's not proven safe in that age group. They're testing it out; it's gone well so far.

COOPER: And how do you know if you or your child has whooping cough?

COHEN: Right. There are a couple of signs to look for. In children it starts out as sort of flu-like symptoms, kind of a cold with a low-grade fever and so you might think, oh, it's really not that big of a deal for one to two weeks this is how it will go.

And then the child will have coughing fits. And that's when you know its whooping cough. It sounds like a whoop. It is a fit, they have trouble breathing. It's very different from a regular cough.

And then once they get -- you can -- you hear that child right there -- that child is gasping for breath. That is very different. That's what a parent should look for.

And unfortunately, that can last -- not that intensely, but whooping cough can last for months and months and really has a hard time going away.

Now in adults it's very different. They don't have that classic kind of cough like you just saw in that child. It's much more of a run of the mill kind of cough in adults. And they -- it doesn't necessarily last as long in adults and the adults also have flu-like symptoms.

COOPER: All right, Elizabeth Cohen thanks very much.

Still to come this morning, how was your commute into work this morning? No matter how much traffic there was, I bet you didn't have to share the road with a plane.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forty-five minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan -- hey, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Heidi.

Some increased pressure for the Bush administration to name a new CIA director. George Tenet officially stepped down yesterday, and some senators are calling for a quick replacement.

Tenet's departure came two days after the release of a Senate report that was highly critical of the CIA over intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. But the White House is not saying when a permanent CIA replacement will be named.

Perhaps a bit of a surprise for Republicans, perhaps not. But former President Ronald Reagan's son will speak at the Democratic National Convention. Ron Reagan is expected to talk about stem cell research according to an adviser for John Kerry's camp.

The younger Reagan has said that he opposes President Bush's stand on stem cell research. Former President Ronald Reagan died last month after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

It is day two of the International AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Today, Uganda's president insisted that condoms are not the ultimate solution to fighting the AIDS crisis. He said that abstinence and loving relationships in marriage are even more crucial.

The comments are at odds with the majority of researchers and activists who have promoted condoms as a frontline defense against the epidemic.

In sports, track sprinter Tim Montgomery will not be going to Athens. Montgomery failed to qualify for the 100 meters in yesterday's Olympic trials.

Montgomery says he has been distracted by accusations that he has used banned performance-enhancing drugs. His girlfriend, five-time gold medalist Marion Jones has so far failed to qualify for the Olympic team, as well.

And a botched emergency landing in Santa Clarita, California -- take a look at this -- the pilot not only wrecked his plane when he landed on a freeway over the weekend, but he also was arrested. He was apparently trying to land when the plane clipped a van and it flipped upside down.

The van driver was not hurt, but officials are looking into whether the pilot was flying under the influence of alcohol.

I'm not sure, but that might be known as an FUI.

COLLINS: I think it's a good guess. That is also known as a hard landing. All right, Daryn. Thanks so much for that.

Want to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Heidi.

The issues confronting the electorate in November are many. The war in Iraq, the economy, health care, prescription drugs, the war on terrorism, gay marriage; there are so many.

The list just goes on and on. So we decided to ask you what you thought the deciding issue in the election might be.

Robert in Wilton Manner (ph) writes a very intelligent letter, which he begins: "First of all, 'Anchorman' is the worst movie we have ever seen. Totally empty and beyond stupid. No redeeming values." Then he goes on: "Deciding the election will come down to a comfort level the American public feels with the prospective leader."

Jeffrey in Toledo: "To paraphrase John McCain, I am neither Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or vegetarian. To me, the main issue in this election is competence, and I strongly feel that Bush- Cheney has largely been asleep at the switch on many issues."

James in Monogby Heala (ph), Pennsylvania: "Bill Clinton had it right in 1992 and the words still hold true today. It's the economy, stupid. The thing Americans still care about most is money."

Chuck in Glen Head, New York: "The deciding issue will be gay marriage. Although the country is concerned about terrorism, the war in Iraq, and the economy, that concern pales in comparison to their concern that two people of the same sex may be able to marry and live their lives in peace and love."

And finally Michael in Ft. Lauderdale writes: "It's going to be a two-issue campaign fought to the death. Issue one, President Bush's desire to amend the constitution until all Americans are forced to be conservative Christian Republicans versus the John Boy's intimidating the country and lowering national self esteem with their good hair. So it boils down to either going to church or to the beauty salon."

COLLINS: OK, that's easy enough, right?

CAFFERTY: No.

COOPER: Interesting. All right, thanks.

CAFFERTY: No. Kind of you, but not really.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

COOPER: Some business news ahead. We'll be right back on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Airlines are predicting a record summer, but one carrier has a dire warning for its employees. Andy Serwer has that in "Minding Your Business" -- Andy.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Ah, the airline business. I just love talking about this.

COOPER: Not about business.

SERWER: Not really. It's just -- you know -- here's where the good news is bad news yet again for the airlines.

I mean, on the surface this looks pretty good because the airlines are saying a couple of them are flying fuller than ever. Over 85 percent full and that's kind of a benchmark. When you exceed that, your planes are really jam-packed.

A couple of the biggies here -- Northwest, United and JetBlue are over 85 percent full. Now, why are they so full?

Well, there's two reasons. Here are the numbers here. Now here are the numbers here -- JetBlue is down slightly, but basically this is a very, very healthy airline that's always very full. It runs very full planes.

United -- boy, that's impressive. Same with Northwest. Some of the other ones are full as well. The reason why they're full, Anderson, is because they're flying fewer planes. And the planes are smaller.

So, because of that, it's not really a good picture because they're going to lose about $3 billion this year and you know just all kinds of troubles.

COOPER: Interesting.

SERWER: This is interesting.

COOPER: It's like when you buy cereal and they've actually shrunk the box and...

SERWER: Cost the same, though. Yes. But it cost the same, yes.

COOPER: Also an announcement from U.S. Airways that is sort of worrying to their employees. SERWER: Yes, the CEO yesterday, Bruce Lakefield, this is great -- he had one of those phone messages that permeates throughout the system -- you know, everyone gets it on their voicemail. I love those. So personal.

COOPER: I got one from Dr. Phil.

SERWER: You did?

COOPER: I actually did.

SERWER: Shape up.

COOPER: No, he's like, I'm up here at Barnes & Noble.

SERWER: Oh, that's -- thank you for the information.

This one said that unless the airline made cuts soon that they would just -- the airline -- this is U.S. Air -- would just run out of steam next year. And that seems very important.

COOPER: Yes.

SERWER: Just run out of steam. I mean, it's right up there with jet fuel. Basically if U.S. Air doesn't make money next year, you know, game over possibly because it's going to run out of funding and, you know, I've said it before, I'll say it again, it's not just going into bankruptcy, but at some point some of these big airlines, the big traditional carriers are either going to close or merge.

And it's just simply a fact. The price of oil is not going to go down to $20 a barrel any time soon, and that's sort of what they were counting on and so we're just going to see these businesses come together.

COLLINS: Right. It's just been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) JPA (ph), right?

SERWER: That's it, yes; you know this stuff, huh?

COLLINS: Expensive, too.

SERWER: Yes, that's the fuel.

COLLINS: Andy, thanks so much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COOPER: Next hour, the Democrats think they have just the ticket to beat the president and Vice President Cheney.

Now they might get a boost from a man with a famous Republican last name. Stay with us for that on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Next hour, this AMERICAN MORNING George Tenet is out, but who will take his place? One senator. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Democratic candidates splitting up and going in separate directions, as hometown values become the focus of their campaign.

Terror fears before the election. Could an attack actually derail the voting?

And some of the best deals in years on new cars. How to make the most of a buyer's market on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

COLLINS: Or not. They're both gone.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: But we're here. Good morning everybody. I'm Heidi Collins along with Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: Thanks for having me this week.

COLLINS: Yes. And you're going to do your own show tonight at seven, so we'll talk to you on Friday when you're halfway asleep.

COOPER: That's right. We're going to be talking a lot this morning about what's going on in the presidential race.

Both candidates out on the campaign trail. There you see President Bush, also John Kerry and John Edwards actually campaigning separately today.

We're going to talk about that with Kelly Wallace. Also Jack Cafferty joins us this morning. Good morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Indeed, good morning, Anderson. We're taking a look in the e-mail question at what you think the most critical issue in the election might be. Is it the war, is it the economy, is it health insurance, is it terrorism, is it prescription drugs, is it gay marriage?

Am@cnn.com, drop us a line and we will share your thoughts a bit later.

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 July 12, 2004 - 08:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Among the headlines this morning, the question -- will this be the week prosecutor's call Amber Frey to the witness stand?
We're going to get an update on the case and some graphic evidence now before the jury.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Also, we're looking at huge storms raging on the surface of the sun. Did you know that?

Our old space buddy Jack Horkheimer is going to be on the show in just a few minutes. You can wait, Jack.

Talking about the effects these storms have throughout the solar system, especially on Mars and all that water. Still wondering about that.

COOPER: All right. Also looking at a sudden outbreak of whooping cough that has officials worried about children's health. We're going to look at where the problem is concentrated and what parents can do about that.

So that is ahead.

After a week of evidence, both gruesome and heart wrenching, jurors in the Scott Peterson trial are waiting to hear from his former mistress. Amber Frey is possibly the prosecution's star witness in Peterson's double murder trial.

Ted Rowlands gets us up to date before testimony resumes today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Prosecutors used photographs of a pregnant woman from their office as they tried to prove that Scott Peterson's pickup truck and boat could have been used to transport and dump his wife's body.

One photograph showed the woman, who is approximately the same size as the pregnant Laci Peterson was, lying down in Peterson's truck and boat. Another showed the woman lying inside Peterson's oversized toolbox, which he had in the bed of his truck.

Defense attorney Mark Geragos argued to the judge that because the woman posing was alive and therefore not in a state of rigor mortis, and because she got in and out of the boat and truck herself for the pictures, the photos should not have been allowed in court. The judge disagreed.

Legal analysts say the photographs were a very effective way to show the jury how Peterson may have been able to dispose of his pregnant wife's body.

DEAN JOHNSON, LEGAL ANALYST: It's convincing. And it answers a lot of questions. And more importantly, it's graphic, and it's powerful, and it sticks in the jury's mind.

ROWLANDS: Also last week, the man who sold Scott Peterson the 14-foot boat testified that it was large enough for two people to move around.

Still to come, the much-anticipated testimony of Peterson's mistress, Amber Frey. She is not expected to take the stand for at least a week.

According to her attorney, Gloria Allred, Frey has not been given a date from prosecutors as to when she should expect to take the stand.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Redwood City, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: The judge has imposed a gag order that prevents attorneys from revealing when Frey might testify -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well it's been some eight months since a wave of solar storms washed over the Earth, sending highly charged particles and radiation our way. The spectacular sunbursts have been speeding across the solar system, and scientists are learning just how it's affecting other planets.

Astronomer Jack Horkheimer has been watching. He's executive director of the Miami Planetarium. He joins us now from Miami.

Good morning to you, Jack. Thanks for being here.

JACK HORKHEIMER, MIAMI PLANETARIUM: Good morning, Heidi.

COLLINS: You know, when all of this happened, some storms exploded last Halloween -- airplanes were rerouted, people at the space station took cover; the Northern Lights became the southern lights, if you will. In an astronomy viewpoint here, tell us how big of a deal this really was.

HORKHEIMER: Well, what we saw last October and the beginning of November were the hugest -- the biggest monster storms we had ever recorded coming from the sun, and billions of tons of charged particles leapt out from the sun, all combined and swept across the solar system, they passed -- they passed Mercury, Venus and then quite a bit of exciting interchanged with our earth and a few scary moments there. But then it swept out toward Mars and it -- the -- the energy was so intense that it stripped away an upper layer of Mars atmosphere, it actually knocked out the radiation detectors on a Mars space orbiter, and we now believe that, actually, storms like this have been reoccurring over billions and billions of years.

One of the theories is that maybe this is one of the mechanisms that stripped water away from Mars and turned water back into hydrogen and oxygen. After it passed Mars, it zipped out to Saturn and passed Jupiter, and then Saturn, and it was recorded that magnetic storms occurred on both planets by our satellites. Even Cassini saw it.

And then it went out past a -- it went way out past Pluto. It was picked up over seven billion miles away by Voyager Two and then by Voyager One and about nine billion miles away, and it's going to go out to the very boundaries of what we call the sun's influence.

The heliosphere where it ends and interstellar space begins -- and -- when that happens, we may get a bounce back effect and this maybe recorded by Voyager One and we may actually be able to witness exactly -- see for the first time exactly how far out the sun's influence extends, why these are called the "Halloween monster solar storms."

And they literally sent this ball of energized particles, slamming throughout the entire solar system -- we can say, in a way, the storm ravaged all the planets and is heading out to the very ends of the solar system.

COLLINS: We were just looking at some pretty incredible images there, as you were speaking, Jack, and you know -- I'm not sure if there's really an answer yet.

It sounds like it's going to take a while to really decipher this data that you now have, but what do you think about the water on Mars? Do these solar flares help unlock that mystery in a way that you can come to a conclusion, finally?

HORKHEIMER: No conclusion can be reached. This is one of many theories. But it's a very nice theory. It's a nifty theory. And it's very plausible.

Something that all viewers might want to know is that we're expecting some more solar storms, some large suns about -- in about two or three more days, even though we are at over the end of solar maximum. We're going down toward the solar minimum.

And if you really want to see what all these; what this is all about, I just happened to pick it up last week. The new edition of "National Geographic" has a huge section on the sun, which is -- with simply mind-blowing -- with photographs just like you've been showing on the air.

COLLINS: So possible that this next one could be even more disruptive?

HORKHEIMER: I beg your pardon?

COLLINS: Possible that this next solar wave of the sun storms could be more disruptive?

HORKHEIMER: No, no, no. I don't think they're not going to be that big. Not that intense. But they'll be a nice group.

The November 4th eruption was the largest solar disruption of coronal mass ejection we'd ever recorded in history.

COLLINS: All right, Jack Horkheimer; thanks for putting it into perspective for us, and keep looking up.

HORKHEIMER: Right.

COLLINS: Right?

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

COOPER: Well, a Massachusetts fireworks celebration was about six days late, and about eight hours early this weekend.

An explosive shell went off accidentally at noon on Saturday

While a crew was setting up the display, 2,500 shells were ignited all at once and were spent long before nightfall.

The fireworks had been rescheduled from 4th of July weekend to last weekend. No one, thankfully, was injured.

COLLINS: Wow. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, health officials try to keep an outbreak of highly contagious and potentially fatal infection from spreading further.

COLLINS: Plus, the latest on the track and field doping scandal and why a couple of athletes may have been feeling some pressure. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, Sanjay is on assignment today.

In this morning's medical segment, the problem with protussis, that is whopping cough to you and me.

It's on the rise among teenagers in the United States. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is at the CNN Center with details. Did I even pronounce that correctly?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you did. You pronounced both protussis and whooping cough correctly. I'm very impressed. That's great, Anderson.

Anderson in fact you're right, there is an unusually large outbreak of whooping cough in this country and it doesn't just effect children.

In fact, it's more likely; it seems, to effect teenagers.

Let's take a look at this outbreak in the United States. Across the United States there have been since January about 4,000 cases, and you can see the states where there have been more than 100.

New York leads the country with 900 cases since January.

One of the latest outbreaks has been in the Chicago area, where there have been 100 cases since the beginning of the year.

Now it's interesting -- in Chicago, 80 percent of the cases have been among people ages 10 to 15. Again, not little kids, but ages 10 to 15.

Now you might think how can that be? You think of whooping cough as a little kid's disease. Well, the reason why is that the last booster for this vaccination is given at around age four, and so when you give a vaccination, the last one, at around age four, this vaccination wears off in about five to ten years.

So if you do the math, that means that at around age nine or ten, the vaccination has started to wear off, and that's why you're seeing older children getting this disease -- Anderson.

COOPER: So why not just vaccinate teens and adults? I mean, if it wears off?

COHEN: Right, that would make sense, and in fact, that's what public health experts are thinking about doing now. They're testing out the vaccine in teens and adults. Right now it's not proven safe in that age group. They're testing it out; it's gone well so far.

COOPER: And how do you know if you or your child has whooping cough?

COHEN: Right. There are a couple of signs to look for. In children it starts out as sort of flu-like symptoms, kind of a cold with a low-grade fever and so you might think, oh, it's really not that big of a deal for one to two weeks this is how it will go.

And then the child will have coughing fits. And that's when you know its whooping cough. It sounds like a whoop. It is a fit, they have trouble breathing. It's very different from a regular cough.

And then once they get -- you can -- you hear that child right there -- that child is gasping for breath. That is very different. That's what a parent should look for.

And unfortunately, that can last -- not that intensely, but whooping cough can last for months and months and really has a hard time going away.

Now in adults it's very different. They don't have that classic kind of cough like you just saw in that child. It's much more of a run of the mill kind of cough in adults. And they -- it doesn't necessarily last as long in adults and the adults also have flu-like symptoms.

COOPER: All right, Elizabeth Cohen thanks very much.

Still to come this morning, how was your commute into work this morning? No matter how much traffic there was, I bet you didn't have to share the road with a plane.

Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forty-five minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan -- hey, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Heidi.

Some increased pressure for the Bush administration to name a new CIA director. George Tenet officially stepped down yesterday, and some senators are calling for a quick replacement.

Tenet's departure came two days after the release of a Senate report that was highly critical of the CIA over intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq. But the White House is not saying when a permanent CIA replacement will be named.

Perhaps a bit of a surprise for Republicans, perhaps not. But former President Ronald Reagan's son will speak at the Democratic National Convention. Ron Reagan is expected to talk about stem cell research according to an adviser for John Kerry's camp.

The younger Reagan has said that he opposes President Bush's stand on stem cell research. Former President Ronald Reagan died last month after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

It is day two of the International AIDS conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Today, Uganda's president insisted that condoms are not the ultimate solution to fighting the AIDS crisis. He said that abstinence and loving relationships in marriage are even more crucial.

The comments are at odds with the majority of researchers and activists who have promoted condoms as a frontline defense against the epidemic.

In sports, track sprinter Tim Montgomery will not be going to Athens. Montgomery failed to qualify for the 100 meters in yesterday's Olympic trials.

Montgomery says he has been distracted by accusations that he has used banned performance-enhancing drugs. His girlfriend, five-time gold medalist Marion Jones has so far failed to qualify for the Olympic team, as well.

And a botched emergency landing in Santa Clarita, California -- take a look at this -- the pilot not only wrecked his plane when he landed on a freeway over the weekend, but he also was arrested. He was apparently trying to land when the plane clipped a van and it flipped upside down.

The van driver was not hurt, but officials are looking into whether the pilot was flying under the influence of alcohol.

I'm not sure, but that might be known as an FUI.

COLLINS: I think it's a good guess. That is also known as a hard landing. All right, Daryn. Thanks so much for that.

Want to check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Heidi.

The issues confronting the electorate in November are many. The war in Iraq, the economy, health care, prescription drugs, the war on terrorism, gay marriage; there are so many.

The list just goes on and on. So we decided to ask you what you thought the deciding issue in the election might be.

Robert in Wilton Manner (ph) writes a very intelligent letter, which he begins: "First of all, 'Anchorman' is the worst movie we have ever seen. Totally empty and beyond stupid. No redeeming values." Then he goes on: "Deciding the election will come down to a comfort level the American public feels with the prospective leader."

Jeffrey in Toledo: "To paraphrase John McCain, I am neither Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or vegetarian. To me, the main issue in this election is competence, and I strongly feel that Bush- Cheney has largely been asleep at the switch on many issues."

James in Monogby Heala (ph), Pennsylvania: "Bill Clinton had it right in 1992 and the words still hold true today. It's the economy, stupid. The thing Americans still care about most is money."

Chuck in Glen Head, New York: "The deciding issue will be gay marriage. Although the country is concerned about terrorism, the war in Iraq, and the economy, that concern pales in comparison to their concern that two people of the same sex may be able to marry and live their lives in peace and love."

And finally Michael in Ft. Lauderdale writes: "It's going to be a two-issue campaign fought to the death. Issue one, President Bush's desire to amend the constitution until all Americans are forced to be conservative Christian Republicans versus the John Boy's intimidating the country and lowering national self esteem with their good hair. So it boils down to either going to church or to the beauty salon."

COLLINS: OK, that's easy enough, right?

CAFFERTY: No.

COOPER: Interesting. All right, thanks.

CAFFERTY: No. Kind of you, but not really.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

COOPER: Some business news ahead. We'll be right back on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Airlines are predicting a record summer, but one carrier has a dire warning for its employees. Andy Serwer has that in "Minding Your Business" -- Andy.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Ah, the airline business. I just love talking about this.

COOPER: Not about business.

SERWER: Not really. It's just -- you know -- here's where the good news is bad news yet again for the airlines.

I mean, on the surface this looks pretty good because the airlines are saying a couple of them are flying fuller than ever. Over 85 percent full and that's kind of a benchmark. When you exceed that, your planes are really jam-packed.

A couple of the biggies here -- Northwest, United and JetBlue are over 85 percent full. Now, why are they so full?

Well, there's two reasons. Here are the numbers here. Now here are the numbers here -- JetBlue is down slightly, but basically this is a very, very healthy airline that's always very full. It runs very full planes.

United -- boy, that's impressive. Same with Northwest. Some of the other ones are full as well. The reason why they're full, Anderson, is because they're flying fewer planes. And the planes are smaller.

So, because of that, it's not really a good picture because they're going to lose about $3 billion this year and you know just all kinds of troubles.

COOPER: Interesting.

SERWER: This is interesting.

COOPER: It's like when you buy cereal and they've actually shrunk the box and...

SERWER: Cost the same, though. Yes. But it cost the same, yes.

COOPER: Also an announcement from U.S. Airways that is sort of worrying to their employees. SERWER: Yes, the CEO yesterday, Bruce Lakefield, this is great -- he had one of those phone messages that permeates throughout the system -- you know, everyone gets it on their voicemail. I love those. So personal.

COOPER: I got one from Dr. Phil.

SERWER: You did?

COOPER: I actually did.

SERWER: Shape up.

COOPER: No, he's like, I'm up here at Barnes & Noble.

SERWER: Oh, that's -- thank you for the information.

This one said that unless the airline made cuts soon that they would just -- the airline -- this is U.S. Air -- would just run out of steam next year. And that seems very important.

COOPER: Yes.

SERWER: Just run out of steam. I mean, it's right up there with jet fuel. Basically if U.S. Air doesn't make money next year, you know, game over possibly because it's going to run out of funding and, you know, I've said it before, I'll say it again, it's not just going into bankruptcy, but at some point some of these big airlines, the big traditional carriers are either going to close or merge.

And it's just simply a fact. The price of oil is not going to go down to $20 a barrel any time soon, and that's sort of what they were counting on and so we're just going to see these businesses come together.

COLLINS: Right. It's just been (UNINTELLIGIBLE) JPA (ph), right?

SERWER: That's it, yes; you know this stuff, huh?

COLLINS: Expensive, too.

SERWER: Yes, that's the fuel.

COLLINS: Andy, thanks so much.

SERWER: You're welcome.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COOPER: Next hour, the Democrats think they have just the ticket to beat the president and Vice President Cheney.

Now they might get a boost from a man with a famous Republican last name. Stay with us for that on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Next hour, this AMERICAN MORNING George Tenet is out, but who will take his place? One senator. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The Democratic candidates splitting up and going in separate directions, as hometown values become the focus of their campaign.

Terror fears before the election. Could an attack actually derail the voting?

And some of the best deals in years on new cars. How to make the most of a buyer's market on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

COLLINS: Or not. They're both gone.

(LAUGHTER)

COLLINS: But we're here. Good morning everybody. I'm Heidi Collins along with Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: Thanks for having me this week.

COLLINS: Yes. And you're going to do your own show tonight at seven, so we'll talk to you on Friday when you're halfway asleep.

COOPER: That's right. We're going to be talking a lot this morning about what's going on in the presidential race.

Both candidates out on the campaign trail. There you see President Bush, also John Kerry and John Edwards actually campaigning separately today.

We're going to talk about that with Kelly Wallace. Also Jack Cafferty joins us this morning. Good morning, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Indeed, good morning, Anderson. We're taking a look in the e-mail question at what you think the most critical issue in the election might be. Is it the war, is it the economy, is it health insurance, is it terrorism, is it prescription drugs, is it gay marriage?

Am@cnn.com, drop us a line and we will share your thoughts a bit later.

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