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American Morning

Future of Iraq; 'Promises, Promises'; 'Crowded House'

Aired September 23, 2004 - 09:30   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: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And in just about 30 minutes, the prime minister of Iraq will be delivering a message to America. He's speaking before a joint meeting of Congress. We're going to look at what he will say and how it could help the president.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get to that. Also this half- hour, she's back, Soledad, the new twins. We'll check out on how they are doing. She's helping out Sanjay this week and in the coming weeks, too, to help us bring a special series on multiple births. Beautiful two boys, by the way, too.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: We'll check in on Soledad and see how Brad and Soledad are doing at home in a very crowded house now.

COLLINS: Six people there, right?

HEMMER: Oh, yes.

COLLINS: One, two, three, four, five, six, yes.

HEMMER: Yes, four kids, that's right.

COLLINS: Public math. All right. We're going to check on the stories "Now in the News" with Kelly Wallace at this time this morning.

Kelly -- good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Good morning, everyone.

We begin in Washington, where President Bush is honoring Native Americans this morning. Within the past hour, the president made remarks at the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. He said the museum will serve as a powerful reminder of the spirit and vitality of people native to the nation.

In Iraq, American warplanes are pounding insurgent targets in Baghdad. The U.S. military says it is part of a new operation aimed at disarming militias loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Hospital officials say at least one person was killed, some dozen others are wounded. This afternoon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to outline a plan to overhaul U.S. military forces overseas. It would reportedly abandon 35 percent of Cold War-era bases in the next decade, while expanding sites in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe to help fight terrorism.

And a bill extending three middle-class tax cuts could be signed by President Bush in the coming days. House and Senate negotiators reportedly approved the package yesterday. It will cost the government nearly $146 billion over 10 years. And Republicans are predicting swift approval by Congress.

That's a quick check of the headlines.

Back to Bill and Heidi.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly.

COLLINS: All right, Kelly, thanks.

More news from Congress now. They are likely to hear a positive view of the situation in Iraq from Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He will speak to a special joint meeting of Congress in less than a half-hour from now.

So, Joe Johns is live at the Capitol this morning for us with more on this.

Joe -- good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Heidi.

We do expect a positive view from Allawi, his view essentially that the insurgents are not winning, that they're not getting stronger, that they're getting more desperate in Iraq.

Of course, all of this comes at a time where there is increasing skepticism on Capitol Hill about the situation in Iraq. There are concerns about the training of security forces, concerns about how the reconstruction money is being spent, and concerns about the January elections, which are scheduled.

There is also some concern now about the possibility of more troops being needed for Iraq to secure those elections. General John Abizaid saying on Wednesday it's possible more troops may be needed, but that international and Iraqi forces ought to be able to do the job.

Democrats, for their part, are also raising questions about the timing of this speech by Allawi. Some, of course, have suggested they believe this is nothing more than a campaign event for President George W. Bush.

Heidi -- back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much for that. And we do want to let you know CNN will, of course, have live coverage of Prime Minister Allawi's address to a joint meeting of Congress, coming your way at the top of the hour, 10:00 a.m. Eastern

HEMMER: In the meantime, Heidi, two new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup polls out of swing states show President Bush ahead of his Democratic opponent, John Kerry.

First in Nevada, Bush leads Kerry by 9 percentage points among likely voters. That lead's a bit narrow, just 2 points among registered voters, and that is within the poll's 4.5 percent margin of error.

In West Virginia, President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 6 points among likely voters and 9 points among registered voters.

And back out west again, Oregon, also a battleground state, that state's supreme court has decided to remove Independent candidate Ralph Nader's name from the ballot due to flawed petitions and a lack of signatures. Nader says he'll go to the U.S. Supreme Court over that issue regarding the state of Oregon.

Oftentimes during this election season, one of the biggest complaints we get from viewers during an election cycle is that we do not hear enough about the issues. And so today, we continue our series, "Promises, Promises," five days, five issues. And today the focus is jobs.

Back with us again is Kelly Wallace.

And good morning.

WALLACE: Good morning again, Bill.

And we've been talking one of the top issues voters say they want to hear candidates talk more about: jobs. The candidates are getting that message, making lots and lots of promises about jobs. But can they turn those promises into reality?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): One candidate talks of jobs lost.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first president in 72 years to actually lose jobs on his watch.

WALLACE: The other about jobs created.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've increased jobs over the last two months by over 200,000 jobs.

WALLACE: Could both be right? Well, yes; 1.7 million jobs have been created since last September. But if you start counting when President Bush first took office, a total of 966,000 jobs have been lost. Senator Kerry thinks that's an opening.

KERRY: Are you ready to put America back to work?

(APPLAUSE)

WALLACE: Kerry's promise: create 10 million jobs in four years. He would reward companies that stay in the U.S., by cutting the corporate tax rate by 5 percent and providing $22 billion in new tax credits for businesses making new hires. And he would remove incentives for outsourcing, by eliminating tax breaks for businesses that send jobs overseas.

But can these proposals actually provide the jobs boom that Kerry promises? Sorry, we don't have a crystal ball.

BUSH: In order to keep jobs here in America, America must be the best place in the world to do business.

WALLACE: The president doesn't promise how many jobs he'll create. He does promise to spend 250 million for job training at community colleges and $10 billion over 10 years to encourage business investment in needy communities.

But just as with the senator's proposals, will the presidents actually create jobs? Again, no crystal ball here.

Both men agree on this: Another way to create job growth, cut costs on small businesses so they can hire more workers.

Kerry would try to slash health care premiums by 10 percent, but that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

The president promises to make his tax cuts permanent, but that could drive up the deficit.

And then there's this question: Does a president really create jobs? Some economists say a president has a role, but that job growth has more to do with larger, global forces in the economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And advisers to both sides we talked to yesterday say that's true. But they also say the president plays a role in setting the conditions for a strong economy. And, Bill, the voters you and I all talk to around the country seem to agree.

HEMMER: Many would suggest the president gets too much credit when the economy is good and too much credit when the economy is bad.

WALLACE: It comes with the territory.

HEMMER: Today is jobs. And what's tomorrow?

WALLACE: Tomorrow, health care, and such an important issue. Health care costs are going up; 44 million Americans are now uninsured. We'll talk about what each candidate is saying about what they will do about health care and, again, whether they can turn those promises into reality. HEMMER: It has been a good series, too.

WALLACE: Oh, you're sweet to say that. Thank you.

HEMMER: And for more, CNN.com/AM is there for you 24 hours a day as well.

Back to Heidi again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: It's time now to get a check of the weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, it turns out Superman is not vulnerable to kryptonite. Andy has that. Trust us, it is a business story.

COLLINS: It is indeed. And Soledad, she and her new twins help Dr. Gupta kick off our new series, "Crowded House." And, boy, that's for sure. You might be able to guess what it's all about. We're going to tell you about it next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Today, we begin our series on the issues surrounding multiple births. And we are calling it "Crowded House."

HEMMER: Yes, an issue that's very close to home for one of our favorites, Soledad O'Brien. You remember her. She hasn't been gone too long, has she?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: She gave birth to twin boys, beautiful babies, too. And Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN center.

She has been one busy woman, huh, Sanjay? Good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Does that surprise you at all that Soledad's been busy?

HEMMER: Well, normally she does a thousand things a day anyway.

GUPTA: That's right.

HEMMER: Now she does 2000 things a day. But she's doing great.

GUPTA: She is doing great. And she's not alone. The birth of twins, triplets, quads and more is on the rise. Part of that, Bill and Heidi, is due to the increase in popularity of fertility treatments. But along with a bigger family comes some unique health concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Say hi, little brother. GUPTA (voice over): For Soledad, it's only the beginning of her trek into the world of multiples. Most come the old-fashioned way like Soledad's babies. But about a third, according to the Society for Reproductive Medicine, come from in vitro fertilization, or IVF. With IVF, eggs are fertilized and implanted in the uterus. The hope? That one of them will eventually become a healthy baby.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I eat it.

AMY DIPASQUALE, MOTHER OF TWINS: I'm going to eat it.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I eat it.

GUPTA: Thirty-one-year-old Amy Dipasquale got two healthy babies, but only after years and years of fertility drugs and treatment.

DIPASQUALE: And it was very difficult and physically painful. The shots hurt. I'm still sore where I had gotten a lot of the shots done.

GUPTA: Four years later and after several courses of IVF, she was pregnant with Mason and Matthew. The path for Amy and her husband was difficult, painful, and the cost crippling. Each course of IVF is around $12,000, and there's no guarantee that it will even work.

If it does work, there's a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of a multiple pregnancy since usually more than one egg is implanted. Years ago, implanting three to four eggs was routine, resulting in a rash of multiple births. Now, the movement is toward implanting just two eggs to avoid that scenario.

DR. ZEV ROSENWAKS, N.Y. PRESBYTERIAN CORNELL MED. CTR.: The higher the order of the multiple pregnancy, also the bigger the problem for the mother in terms of medical complications.

GUPTA: Complications like high blood pressure or gestational diabetes, and serious uterine stretching, which could cause early contractions or, in extreme cases, uterine rupture. And extra pounds make it difficult to move.

DR. THOMAS PINKERT, WASHINGTON MATERIAL FETAL MEDICINE: When mothers have triplets or quadruplets, we're looking at somewhere between a 40-to-80-pound weight gain.

GUPTA: And multiples often arrive early, which could cause:

ROSENWAKS: Prematurity (ph) of the lungs, you could have neurological issues, bowel issues -- many, many problems for the baby.

GUPTA: In spite of all that, families like the Dipasquales keep trying, hoping for one baby, and being happy with even more.

DIPASQUALE: It's so worth it, the pain and the stress while you're going through it, because the end result is priceless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Definitely priceless as she said. For those who do conceive ultimately, it's important to point out as well, though, not everyone is still able to conceive even with IVF -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, sometimes it's really tough for them, obviously. But you did mention something about the movement to implant fewer embryos with IVF. Why is that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, and some of that's based on statistics. The reason they implant more than one embryo is just to increase the likelihood of pregnancy. Implanting one egg, it's about a 30-35 percent likelihood of turning into a pregnancy. If you do two eggs, it's 50 or 60.

So the thought was for a long time the more eggs you implant, the higher likelihood you have pregnancy. The problem is we started to see these multiple pregnancies, six babies, even seven babies. So, now the movement is to try and go back down to two and enhance that as best as you can, those are the guidelines now -- Heidi.

HEMMER: What are we getting next week, Sanjay? What's next?

GUPTA: Well, next week in the "Crowded House" series, we're going to discuss handling multiples. We're going to visit with the Kusattle (ph) household.

HEMMER: Look at that!

GUPTA: Their juggling act has been going strong for seven months. We're talking about sleep. We're talking about feeding. We're talking about the scheduling. Four babies at once. We're going to see what that's like during a 24-hour cycle for mom, dad, the quads, and the two older kids as well. How do they make it all work?

It's all part of our series called "Crowded House." Of course, that's all here on AMERICAN MORNING.

HEMMER: Good deal.

COLLINS: Most babies to be born still, though, isn't it septuplets, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Say again. What was that?

COLLINS: Septuplets, still the most babies that we know of to be born, right?

GUPTA: That's what I've heard, seven, right.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: I'll check on that and I'll get back to you on that.

COLLINS: And my hair is standing up just thinking about it. All right, Sanjay, thanks so much. GUPTA: All right.

COLLINS: We look forward to it.

HEMMER: Take care.

COLLINS: And still to come now this morning, Kryptonite ain't what it used to be. Just ask Superman and D.C. Comics. Andy explains in "Minding Your Business" coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We'll take you to a joint meeting of Congress now. Just a few moments ago, Vice President Dick Cheney going in, I believe Bill Frist is right behind him there. A little bit later on, maybe about 10 minutes or so, this meeting and these people will be hearing from Iyad Allawi, the interim Iraqi leader. He's going to be speaking to them, along with President Bush, and the American people also. We've also seen John Ashcroft, Senator Chuck Hagel, House Speaker Dennis Hastert. We're going to take a listen to that, coming up, once again, at about 10:00 or so.

HEMMER: In the meantime, the markets are open. Back with Andy Serwer.

And more trouble for the Kryptonite bike lock. You talked about it yesterday.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.

HEMMER: It's back again today. What's up?

SERWER: I can't keep out of the headlines. Let's talk about stocks, first of all. Kind of treading water and then slipping below here, yes. It's down 38 points. The reason why: the price of oil keeps going up. It's $48 a barrel right now, and that is just going to hold the economy and the stock market prisoner as long as we keep getting the price of oil scaring people like that.

Let's talk about Chi-Chi's restaurants, first of all. Say adios to Chi-Chi's.

HEMMER: No!

SERWER: It's no longer. That's right. Seventy-six restaurants closed down. They say they're closing their on Web site. Twenty- seven years and we leave with a tear in our eye. I guess the food's pretty spicy.

You may remember this company declared bankruptcy. World of trouble. They declared bankruptcy. Then they had that Hepatitis outbreak in Pennsylvania, where four people died. Bought by Outback Steakhouse. Outback is not going to run them. They're going to close them down and use them for the real estate.

Now, let's talk about Kryptonite lock. These people can't keep out of the news. You remember last week it was discovered that you could pick the locks with a Bic pen.

HEMMER: Show us.

SERWER: Then this week...

HEMMER: Show us, Andy.

SERWER: No, I'm not going to show you. I've got the pen. Here's the pen right here. You could pick it with a Bic pen. Then yesterday, we talked about how they're going to offer rebates. Today, published reports are saying guess what? Kryptonite is a trademark word that is protected, and they're infringing upon D.C. Comics' trademark.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: They should rename it "crummy lock that can be picked with a ballpoint pen."

SERWER: That could work. Now, this company has been around since 1972, and they've been fighting D.C. Comics back and forth for years and years. It's pretty interesting. We've got Kryptonite pizza. There are all kinds of companies.

Is Kryptonite real, by the way? I looked it up in the dictionary. Any surviving fragment of the exploded mythological planet Krypton, home of Superman. It's a real word.

HEMMER: It sounds real to me.

SERWER: It's a real word.

COLLINS: It's a real word.

SERWER: It's a real word.

HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Good stuff.

COLLINS: Thanks, Andy.

Let's check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again

CAFFERTY: The "Question of the Day," Heidi, is tough stuff: What should be the response to these beheadings of hostages in the Middle East? We've gotten a lot of mail, and it's, you know -- well, I'll read you these.

Jay in Glenview, Illinois: "For decades, terrorists have been allowed to kill randomly with virtual impunity. The Marine barracks in Beirut, Leon Klinghoffer, the fellow who was pushed off the Achille Lauro cruise ship. Just over three years ago, we changed the rules. We as a nation of people are and must remain committed to hunting and killing these cold-blooded monsters, the people who finance them and the people who harbor them."

Susan in Rochester, New York: "We must respond by opening up a new front in the war on terror: the PR war for the hearts and minds of the people. They must be more horrified by behavior of their fellow Muslims than they are by our behavior. It's a tall order."

And Kevin in Naples writes this: "Where is the outrage in the Arab world about how these barbarians are making them all look? What was it they said about Hitler? All it takes for tyranny to succeed is for good men and women to do nothing."

Coming up this weekend on "IN THE MONEY," we are going to have a high-level political roundtable discussing the campaign, the commercials, all of the issues with one of the whack jobs from "The Daily Show." Stephen Colbert (ph) is one of the correspondents on, I think the cleverest cable television show around, is going to join us on "IN THE MONEY" Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00. And we'll get this political situation sorted out. I'm looking forward to Stephen (ph) being here.

HEMMER: The folks at the Emmys agree with you, too, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Oh, did they win something?

HEMMER: They got some nice stuff this past weekend.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Did we win everything?

HEMMER: We're winning stuff every day: hearts and minds.

CAFFERTY: No, did we win any Emmys? Huh?

SERWER: Not yet. Not yet.

CAFFERTY: How many Emmys did AMERICAN MORNING win?

HEMMER: Pick the lock and I'll get back to you on that.

SERWER: Next year.

CAFFERTY: Indeed.

HEMMER: Any moment now -- thank you, Jack. Thank you, Jack.

All right, any moment now we will see -- there's the vice president, Dick Cheney. Iyad Allawi in the House chamber in a moment. We will hear him talk about the successes in Iraq and also the challenges going forward. How sympathetic will members of Congress be? And what about the American people?

A break here. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Hey, a cool thing coming up this weekend. Saturday at 11:00 and 5:00, and then on Sunday at 7:00, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," I was able to travel to Montreal to learn a little bit more about Cirque du Soliel, awesome, awesome entertainment. A lot of people see it in Vegas and all around the...

HEMMER: Very cool.

SERWER: Yes, they travel all around.

COLLINS: Yes, it's really amazing stuff.

HEMMER: Good deal. Looking forward to that.

We've got to run. Tomorrow is football Friday, by the way. Get your picks in now.

SERWER: Yes.

Here is Fredricka Whitfield. Iyad Allawi is almost there in the House.

Fred -- good morning.

COLLINS: Hi, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to both of you. Good morning to everyone.

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 September 23, 2004 - 09:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It's just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And in just about 30 minutes, the prime minister of Iraq will be delivering a message to America. He's speaking before a joint meeting of Congress. We're going to look at what he will say and how it could help the president.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We'll get to that. Also this half- hour, she's back, Soledad, the new twins. We'll check out on how they are doing. She's helping out Sanjay this week and in the coming weeks, too, to help us bring a special series on multiple births. Beautiful two boys, by the way, too.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: We'll check in on Soledad and see how Brad and Soledad are doing at home in a very crowded house now.

COLLINS: Six people there, right?

HEMMER: Oh, yes.

COLLINS: One, two, three, four, five, six, yes.

HEMMER: Yes, four kids, that's right.

COLLINS: Public math. All right. We're going to check on the stories "Now in the News" with Kelly Wallace at this time this morning.

Kelly -- good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Good morning, everyone.

We begin in Washington, where President Bush is honoring Native Americans this morning. Within the past hour, the president made remarks at the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian. He said the museum will serve as a powerful reminder of the spirit and vitality of people native to the nation.

In Iraq, American warplanes are pounding insurgent targets in Baghdad. The U.S. military says it is part of a new operation aimed at disarming militias loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Hospital officials say at least one person was killed, some dozen others are wounded. This afternoon, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to outline a plan to overhaul U.S. military forces overseas. It would reportedly abandon 35 percent of Cold War-era bases in the next decade, while expanding sites in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe to help fight terrorism.

And a bill extending three middle-class tax cuts could be signed by President Bush in the coming days. House and Senate negotiators reportedly approved the package yesterday. It will cost the government nearly $146 billion over 10 years. And Republicans are predicting swift approval by Congress.

That's a quick check of the headlines.

Back to Bill and Heidi.

HEMMER: Thank you, Kelly.

COLLINS: All right, Kelly, thanks.

More news from Congress now. They are likely to hear a positive view of the situation in Iraq from Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He will speak to a special joint meeting of Congress in less than a half-hour from now.

So, Joe Johns is live at the Capitol this morning for us with more on this.

Joe -- good morning.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Good morning, Heidi.

We do expect a positive view from Allawi, his view essentially that the insurgents are not winning, that they're not getting stronger, that they're getting more desperate in Iraq.

Of course, all of this comes at a time where there is increasing skepticism on Capitol Hill about the situation in Iraq. There are concerns about the training of security forces, concerns about how the reconstruction money is being spent, and concerns about the January elections, which are scheduled.

There is also some concern now about the possibility of more troops being needed for Iraq to secure those elections. General John Abizaid saying on Wednesday it's possible more troops may be needed, but that international and Iraqi forces ought to be able to do the job.

Democrats, for their part, are also raising questions about the timing of this speech by Allawi. Some, of course, have suggested they believe this is nothing more than a campaign event for President George W. Bush.

Heidi -- back to you.

COLLINS: All right, Joe Johns, thanks so much for that. And we do want to let you know CNN will, of course, have live coverage of Prime Minister Allawi's address to a joint meeting of Congress, coming your way at the top of the hour, 10:00 a.m. Eastern

HEMMER: In the meantime, Heidi, two new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup polls out of swing states show President Bush ahead of his Democratic opponent, John Kerry.

First in Nevada, Bush leads Kerry by 9 percentage points among likely voters. That lead's a bit narrow, just 2 points among registered voters, and that is within the poll's 4.5 percent margin of error.

In West Virginia, President Bush leads Senator Kerry by 6 points among likely voters and 9 points among registered voters.

And back out west again, Oregon, also a battleground state, that state's supreme court has decided to remove Independent candidate Ralph Nader's name from the ballot due to flawed petitions and a lack of signatures. Nader says he'll go to the U.S. Supreme Court over that issue regarding the state of Oregon.

Oftentimes during this election season, one of the biggest complaints we get from viewers during an election cycle is that we do not hear enough about the issues. And so today, we continue our series, "Promises, Promises," five days, five issues. And today the focus is jobs.

Back with us again is Kelly Wallace.

And good morning.

WALLACE: Good morning again, Bill.

And we've been talking one of the top issues voters say they want to hear candidates talk more about: jobs. The candidates are getting that message, making lots and lots of promises about jobs. But can they turn those promises into reality?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): One candidate talks of jobs lost.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first president in 72 years to actually lose jobs on his watch.

WALLACE: The other about jobs created.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've increased jobs over the last two months by over 200,000 jobs.

WALLACE: Could both be right? Well, yes; 1.7 million jobs have been created since last September. But if you start counting when President Bush first took office, a total of 966,000 jobs have been lost. Senator Kerry thinks that's an opening.

KERRY: Are you ready to put America back to work?

(APPLAUSE)

WALLACE: Kerry's promise: create 10 million jobs in four years. He would reward companies that stay in the U.S., by cutting the corporate tax rate by 5 percent and providing $22 billion in new tax credits for businesses making new hires. And he would remove incentives for outsourcing, by eliminating tax breaks for businesses that send jobs overseas.

But can these proposals actually provide the jobs boom that Kerry promises? Sorry, we don't have a crystal ball.

BUSH: In order to keep jobs here in America, America must be the best place in the world to do business.

WALLACE: The president doesn't promise how many jobs he'll create. He does promise to spend 250 million for job training at community colleges and $10 billion over 10 years to encourage business investment in needy communities.

But just as with the senator's proposals, will the presidents actually create jobs? Again, no crystal ball here.

Both men agree on this: Another way to create job growth, cut costs on small businesses so they can hire more workers.

Kerry would try to slash health care premiums by 10 percent, but that could cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

The president promises to make his tax cuts permanent, but that could drive up the deficit.

And then there's this question: Does a president really create jobs? Some economists say a president has a role, but that job growth has more to do with larger, global forces in the economy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And advisers to both sides we talked to yesterday say that's true. But they also say the president plays a role in setting the conditions for a strong economy. And, Bill, the voters you and I all talk to around the country seem to agree.

HEMMER: Many would suggest the president gets too much credit when the economy is good and too much credit when the economy is bad.

WALLACE: It comes with the territory.

HEMMER: Today is jobs. And what's tomorrow?

WALLACE: Tomorrow, health care, and such an important issue. Health care costs are going up; 44 million Americans are now uninsured. We'll talk about what each candidate is saying about what they will do about health care and, again, whether they can turn those promises into reality. HEMMER: It has been a good series, too.

WALLACE: Oh, you're sweet to say that. Thank you.

HEMMER: And for more, CNN.com/AM is there for you 24 hours a day as well.

Back to Heidi again -- Heidi.

COLLINS: It's time now to get a check of the weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, it turns out Superman is not vulnerable to kryptonite. Andy has that. Trust us, it is a business story.

COLLINS: It is indeed. And Soledad, she and her new twins help Dr. Gupta kick off our new series, "Crowded House." And, boy, that's for sure. You might be able to guess what it's all about. We're going to tell you about it next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Today, we begin our series on the issues surrounding multiple births. And we are calling it "Crowded House."

HEMMER: Yes, an issue that's very close to home for one of our favorites, Soledad O'Brien. You remember her. She hasn't been gone too long, has she?

COLLINS: No.

HEMMER: She gave birth to twin boys, beautiful babies, too. And Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN center.

She has been one busy woman, huh, Sanjay? Good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Does that surprise you at all that Soledad's been busy?

HEMMER: Well, normally she does a thousand things a day anyway.

GUPTA: That's right.

HEMMER: Now she does 2000 things a day. But she's doing great.

GUPTA: She is doing great. And she's not alone. The birth of twins, triplets, quads and more is on the rise. Part of that, Bill and Heidi, is due to the increase in popularity of fertility treatments. But along with a bigger family comes some unique health concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Say hi, little brother. GUPTA (voice over): For Soledad, it's only the beginning of her trek into the world of multiples. Most come the old-fashioned way like Soledad's babies. But about a third, according to the Society for Reproductive Medicine, come from in vitro fertilization, or IVF. With IVF, eggs are fertilized and implanted in the uterus. The hope? That one of them will eventually become a healthy baby.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I eat it.

AMY DIPASQUALE, MOTHER OF TWINS: I'm going to eat it.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I eat it.

GUPTA: Thirty-one-year-old Amy Dipasquale got two healthy babies, but only after years and years of fertility drugs and treatment.

DIPASQUALE: And it was very difficult and physically painful. The shots hurt. I'm still sore where I had gotten a lot of the shots done.

GUPTA: Four years later and after several courses of IVF, she was pregnant with Mason and Matthew. The path for Amy and her husband was difficult, painful, and the cost crippling. Each course of IVF is around $12,000, and there's no guarantee that it will even work.

If it does work, there's a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of a multiple pregnancy since usually more than one egg is implanted. Years ago, implanting three to four eggs was routine, resulting in a rash of multiple births. Now, the movement is toward implanting just two eggs to avoid that scenario.

DR. ZEV ROSENWAKS, N.Y. PRESBYTERIAN CORNELL MED. CTR.: The higher the order of the multiple pregnancy, also the bigger the problem for the mother in terms of medical complications.

GUPTA: Complications like high blood pressure or gestational diabetes, and serious uterine stretching, which could cause early contractions or, in extreme cases, uterine rupture. And extra pounds make it difficult to move.

DR. THOMAS PINKERT, WASHINGTON MATERIAL FETAL MEDICINE: When mothers have triplets or quadruplets, we're looking at somewhere between a 40-to-80-pound weight gain.

GUPTA: And multiples often arrive early, which could cause:

ROSENWAKS: Prematurity (ph) of the lungs, you could have neurological issues, bowel issues -- many, many problems for the baby.

GUPTA: In spite of all that, families like the Dipasquales keep trying, hoping for one baby, and being happy with even more.

DIPASQUALE: It's so worth it, the pain and the stress while you're going through it, because the end result is priceless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Definitely priceless as she said. For those who do conceive ultimately, it's important to point out as well, though, not everyone is still able to conceive even with IVF -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, sometimes it's really tough for them, obviously. But you did mention something about the movement to implant fewer embryos with IVF. Why is that?

GUPTA: Well, you know, and some of that's based on statistics. The reason they implant more than one embryo is just to increase the likelihood of pregnancy. Implanting one egg, it's about a 30-35 percent likelihood of turning into a pregnancy. If you do two eggs, it's 50 or 60.

So the thought was for a long time the more eggs you implant, the higher likelihood you have pregnancy. The problem is we started to see these multiple pregnancies, six babies, even seven babies. So, now the movement is to try and go back down to two and enhance that as best as you can, those are the guidelines now -- Heidi.

HEMMER: What are we getting next week, Sanjay? What's next?

GUPTA: Well, next week in the "Crowded House" series, we're going to discuss handling multiples. We're going to visit with the Kusattle (ph) household.

HEMMER: Look at that!

GUPTA: Their juggling act has been going strong for seven months. We're talking about sleep. We're talking about feeding. We're talking about the scheduling. Four babies at once. We're going to see what that's like during a 24-hour cycle for mom, dad, the quads, and the two older kids as well. How do they make it all work?

It's all part of our series called "Crowded House." Of course, that's all here on AMERICAN MORNING.

HEMMER: Good deal.

COLLINS: Most babies to be born still, though, isn't it septuplets, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Say again. What was that?

COLLINS: Septuplets, still the most babies that we know of to be born, right?

GUPTA: That's what I've heard, seven, right.

COLLINS: Yes.

GUPTA: I'll check on that and I'll get back to you on that.

COLLINS: And my hair is standing up just thinking about it. All right, Sanjay, thanks so much. GUPTA: All right.

COLLINS: We look forward to it.

HEMMER: Take care.

COLLINS: And still to come now this morning, Kryptonite ain't what it used to be. Just ask Superman and D.C. Comics. Andy explains in "Minding Your Business" coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We'll take you to a joint meeting of Congress now. Just a few moments ago, Vice President Dick Cheney going in, I believe Bill Frist is right behind him there. A little bit later on, maybe about 10 minutes or so, this meeting and these people will be hearing from Iyad Allawi, the interim Iraqi leader. He's going to be speaking to them, along with President Bush, and the American people also. We've also seen John Ashcroft, Senator Chuck Hagel, House Speaker Dennis Hastert. We're going to take a listen to that, coming up, once again, at about 10:00 or so.

HEMMER: In the meantime, the markets are open. Back with Andy Serwer.

And more trouble for the Kryptonite bike lock. You talked about it yesterday.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes.

HEMMER: It's back again today. What's up?

SERWER: I can't keep out of the headlines. Let's talk about stocks, first of all. Kind of treading water and then slipping below here, yes. It's down 38 points. The reason why: the price of oil keeps going up. It's $48 a barrel right now, and that is just going to hold the economy and the stock market prisoner as long as we keep getting the price of oil scaring people like that.

Let's talk about Chi-Chi's restaurants, first of all. Say adios to Chi-Chi's.

HEMMER: No!

SERWER: It's no longer. That's right. Seventy-six restaurants closed down. They say they're closing their on Web site. Twenty- seven years and we leave with a tear in our eye. I guess the food's pretty spicy.

You may remember this company declared bankruptcy. World of trouble. They declared bankruptcy. Then they had that Hepatitis outbreak in Pennsylvania, where four people died. Bought by Outback Steakhouse. Outback is not going to run them. They're going to close them down and use them for the real estate.

Now, let's talk about Kryptonite lock. These people can't keep out of the news. You remember last week it was discovered that you could pick the locks with a Bic pen.

HEMMER: Show us.

SERWER: Then this week...

HEMMER: Show us, Andy.

SERWER: No, I'm not going to show you. I've got the pen. Here's the pen right here. You could pick it with a Bic pen. Then yesterday, we talked about how they're going to offer rebates. Today, published reports are saying guess what? Kryptonite is a trademark word that is protected, and they're infringing upon D.C. Comics' trademark.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: They should rename it "crummy lock that can be picked with a ballpoint pen."

SERWER: That could work. Now, this company has been around since 1972, and they've been fighting D.C. Comics back and forth for years and years. It's pretty interesting. We've got Kryptonite pizza. There are all kinds of companies.

Is Kryptonite real, by the way? I looked it up in the dictionary. Any surviving fragment of the exploded mythological planet Krypton, home of Superman. It's a real word.

HEMMER: It sounds real to me.

SERWER: It's a real word.

COLLINS: It's a real word.

SERWER: It's a real word.

HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.

SERWER: Yes.

HEMMER: Good stuff.

COLLINS: Thanks, Andy.

Let's check in with Jack now and the "Question of the Day" once again

CAFFERTY: The "Question of the Day," Heidi, is tough stuff: What should be the response to these beheadings of hostages in the Middle East? We've gotten a lot of mail, and it's, you know -- well, I'll read you these.

Jay in Glenview, Illinois: "For decades, terrorists have been allowed to kill randomly with virtual impunity. The Marine barracks in Beirut, Leon Klinghoffer, the fellow who was pushed off the Achille Lauro cruise ship. Just over three years ago, we changed the rules. We as a nation of people are and must remain committed to hunting and killing these cold-blooded monsters, the people who finance them and the people who harbor them."

Susan in Rochester, New York: "We must respond by opening up a new front in the war on terror: the PR war for the hearts and minds of the people. They must be more horrified by behavior of their fellow Muslims than they are by our behavior. It's a tall order."

And Kevin in Naples writes this: "Where is the outrage in the Arab world about how these barbarians are making them all look? What was it they said about Hitler? All it takes for tyranny to succeed is for good men and women to do nothing."

Coming up this weekend on "IN THE MONEY," we are going to have a high-level political roundtable discussing the campaign, the commercials, all of the issues with one of the whack jobs from "The Daily Show." Stephen Colbert (ph) is one of the correspondents on, I think the cleverest cable television show around, is going to join us on "IN THE MONEY" Saturday at 1:00, Sunday at 3:00. And we'll get this political situation sorted out. I'm looking forward to Stephen (ph) being here.

HEMMER: The folks at the Emmys agree with you, too, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Oh, did they win something?

HEMMER: They got some nice stuff this past weekend.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Did we win everything?

HEMMER: We're winning stuff every day: hearts and minds.

CAFFERTY: No, did we win any Emmys? Huh?

SERWER: Not yet. Not yet.

CAFFERTY: How many Emmys did AMERICAN MORNING win?

HEMMER: Pick the lock and I'll get back to you on that.

SERWER: Next year.

CAFFERTY: Indeed.

HEMMER: Any moment now -- thank you, Jack. Thank you, Jack.

All right, any moment now we will see -- there's the vice president, Dick Cheney. Iyad Allawi in the House chamber in a moment. We will hear him talk about the successes in Iraq and also the challenges going forward. How sympathetic will members of Congress be? And what about the American people?

A break here. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Hey, a cool thing coming up this weekend. Saturday at 11:00 and 5:00, and then on Sunday at 7:00, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," I was able to travel to Montreal to learn a little bit more about Cirque du Soliel, awesome, awesome entertainment. A lot of people see it in Vegas and all around the...

HEMMER: Very cool.

SERWER: Yes, they travel all around.

COLLINS: Yes, it's really amazing stuff.

HEMMER: Good deal. Looking forward to that.

We've got to run. Tomorrow is football Friday, by the way. Get your picks in now.

SERWER: Yes.

Here is Fredricka Whitfield. Iyad Allawi is almost there in the House.

Fred -- good morning.

COLLINS: Hi, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to both of you. Good morning to everyone.

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