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American Morning

'Kamber & May'; 'Paging Dr. Gupta'

Aired December 22, 2004 - 08:32   ET

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

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


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Kamber and May are just ahead. We're going to talk about the war in Iraq after the attack yesterday and the violence over the weekend. Is the U.S. really winning in Iraq.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also a much lighter topic this morning, we'll talk to a 12-year-old boy, Keith MacKowsky (ph), he wants to go to college on a gymnastics scholarship. One problem, though, to compete in high school, he would have to do it on a girl's team, and that's not going to be easy. The state is putting up a fight against him. We'll talk to him. He's 16. We'll talk to him in a moment.

O'BRIEN: All ends up in the courts, doesn't it?

HEMMER: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Headlines now with Carol Costello. Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And good morning all of you.

Now in the news, two French journalists held hostage in Iraq are expected to be back in Paris within the next hour. They were seized outside of Baghdad four months ago. French officials are downplaying claims the government struck a deal with insurgents to secure a release.

Here in the United States,another court date tomorrow for the woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and snatching her baby. Police in Montgomery facing a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

In the meantime, in Maryville, Missouri, an outpouring of emotion for the victim. Some 300 mourners turned out to pay last respects to 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was buried yesterday.

In business news, a shakeup at Fannie Mae, the country's second- largest financial institution. Fannie Mae's Franklin Raines announced his early retirement as CEO, and Timothy Howard steps down as CFO of the mortgage giant. The move comes just weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission penalized Fannie Mae for accounting-rules violations. And we put that "early retirement" phrase in quotes.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, the old early retirement, pursuing other projects.

COSTELLO: Spending more time with the family.

O'BRIEN: That's always not good. All right, Carol, thank you very much.

One of the stories we've been following this week, the attack against the U.S. military base in Iraq, and the latest theory as to how it was carried out.

Joining us from Washington to discuss that Democratic consultant Victor Kamber.

Hey, Victor, good morning.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning. Happy holidays.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, likewise.

Former RNC communications director Clifford May.

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIR.: Good morning. Merry Christmas.

O'BRIEN: At the end of the day it comes down to that, doesn't it? But before we talk about that, let's actually talk about the news that we've been reporting since yesterday at this time, 22 people killed, 72 others injured in that attack on Mosul. Election workers dragged into the streets and executed over the weekend. Before that, in a poll, a new poll, the question is how has the U.S. handled Iraq over the past few months? 58 percent say they disapprove.

Cliff, I'm going to let you start with this. All bad news? Is support for the war just crumbling?

MAY: Well, I certainly hope not, because what we were learning in recent days we didn't know already, is just what kind of enemy we are fighting. These are people who shoot election workers in the streets. These are people who bomb churches as they did yesterday also, mosques in Najaf and Karbala. These are people who are members of Ansar Al Sunna, which is a group clearly tied to Al Qaeda.

Now, In 1993, when we got hit in Somalia, we ran. In '83, in Beirut, when we got hit at our embassy and our barracks, we ran. In Iran, when they took our hostages in '79, we did nothing about it. This time, we need to stay and defeat once and for all this terrible enemy that has been fighting us for more than 20 years. If we don't defeat them in Iraq, tell me where we are going to make our stand?

O'BRIEN: Victor, analysts have almost unanimously said it's going to get worse before it gets better, especially as we head into the elections. I mean, Doesn't cliff have a point? You got to, at some point, just wait it out.

KAMBER: Well, if it was your son or daughter, your aunt our uncle, I don't know that waiting it out because President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld says we should wait it out. We made a mistake. The whole premise is a mistake. I think once we're there, we have to defend what we have gone into. But 1,300 Americans have died, over 10,000 wounded. No end in sight. No plan to get out. And it's getting worse. My heart goes out. This time of year, the holidays when you think about family being together, it's a horrible, horrible situation, and we have not contained this situation. We have not brought about stability. Having an election makes no sense. I will put that aside, but we have to find a way to stabilize the country, and it's not stabilized.

O'BRIEN: Another topic. You guys were talking about this yesterday, everybody was, this happy holidays versus merry Christmas. There's a new poll out, and the polls says that what would say to someone you just met? 56 percent of people overall say they say "merry Christmas," 41 percent would say "happy holidays." As we know, it's broken down between Republicans and Democrats, as you guys sort of pointed out this morning at our greeting. 71 percent of Republicans would say merry Christmas, 54 percent of Democrats would say happy holidays. Cliff, would you really prefer -- I mean, do you have a dog in this fight? Do you care if I say happy holidays or merry Christmas to you?

MAY: Listen, I'm not offended either way. But one of the things that wonderful about this country, is we don't just tolerate each other's religions, we respect them, we even celebrate them. I mean, you have Christians going to Jews houses for Passover and Hanukkah. You have Jews who go to see Santa Claus, and to go to see the Christmas lights. At the White House, you have Hanukkah and Christmas parties, and parties at the end of Ramadan as well. I think that's a great thing, and I think we shouldn't be offended. It's wonderful we have this attitude toward one another's holidays, and we should be proud of that.

O'BRIEN: Here, here, I agree with that. Vic, what do you think? Is this sort of much ado about nothing?

KAMBER: No, no, I totally agree with the one difference, is that I think there should be a level of sensitivity. You know, I'm a Christian, my father was a Pentecostal minister, and we grew up in a Jewish community in Chicago, Jewish ghetto I called it. We were the only Christians around. And you learned about sensitivities. I learned about how people were treating me and vice versa.

So I think trying to -- we always say that's politically correct. But there is nothing wrong with being politically correct if you are sensitive to someone else. Happy holidays, in fact, recognizes that you want to greet somebody; no sense throwing your religion through their face.

MAY: Vic is a lot more sensitive than I am. But it just doesn't offend me if people say to me happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Eve Murbarak (ph). I happen to think it's all wonderful.

O'BRIEN: Do you think it's offensive, Vic, if you see religious symbols in public places that are not symbols of your religion? KAMBER: Well, that bothers me not in the way you say, offensive -- I just -- I really do believe in the difference of church and state. And until we can come up with some symbolic thing to honor all religions, I do find it offensive to take and put a Nativity scene or some Jewish relics up, or some Buddhist relics in areas where other religions exist. I do think it's offensive.

I have no problem if do you it in your home or on your lawn. And I don't think of Santa Claus and Christmas trees in that way, but I think Nativity scenes and religious relics I have problems with.

MAY: I don't know about relics, but there's a Christmas tree, and there's a Menorah right now in the White House just a few blocks from here. I'm not offended by that. I think that's a great thing.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's going to be the final word this morning. Kamber and May joining us. Nice to see you guys.

Have a great holiday, OK.

KAMBER: Great holiday.

MAY: Seasonal greetings.

O'BRIEN: And merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah, happy end of Ramadan, happy Kwanzaa. Anybody I left out?

HEMMER: E-mail me.

O'BRIEN: E-mail, I'll get back at you.

HEMMER: A brand new front on the cola war. It isn't just about Coke and Pepsi anymore. We'll get to that.

O'BRIEN: And when every second counts, a kind of strange-looking device could mean the difference between life and death. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about a new automated device for performing CPR, and as Sanjay tells us, it is proving to be a real lifesaver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Earlier this year, 57-year-old Caralee Weich and her daughter, Amy, were in downtown San Francisco seeing a play, when Caralee began to feel lightheaded.

CARALEE WEICH, CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVOR: I told her that I felt dizzy, and then I just kind of went down.

DR. ARTHUR CHIN, CARDIOLOGIST: She was shocked a total of eight times, given all the proper CPR drugs, and intubated in the field. GUPTA: Caralee's heart had failed, and several nurses, who were also at the theater attending the play, started CPR. But when the ambulance arrived, the nurses were replaced with a machine called the Auto Pulse. Without it, she probably wouldn't have survived, because the machine does far more effective CPR.

CHIN: I believe the Auto Pulse was extremely important and instrumental in Caralee's complete recovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start CPR.

GUPTA: The Auto Pulse is designed to do the chest compression part of CPR, and couldn't be simpler to use. You simply strap it to the patient, and turn it on.

CHIEF ROBERT O'BRIEN, FREMONT, CALIF. FIRE DEPT.: With this device does, they turn it on and they let it go.

GUPTA: And it works. In Caralee's case, her heart was stopped for almost 40 minutes. That's usually too long, often leaving one dead or with significant brain damage. Ambulance companies, fire departments and hospitals across the country are beginning to buy Auto Pulse machines. And in one fire chief's opinion, it's well worth the cost of $11,000.

O'BRIEN: This is probably one of the best products we have seen. This is something that medically is going to make a difference.

GUPTA: Caralee considers herself living proof.

WEICH: My daughter Amy got married in July, and I walked her down the aisle, and I would have hated to miss that experience.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Auto Pulse won't be widely available for some time, so there is still plenty of benefit to taking CPR classes.

HEMMER: A blast from the past, one advertising icon making a comeback from the '90s. Andy's "Minding Your Business," has that right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

CAFFERTY: The colas are getting some competition from their lighter counterparts. Plus a familiar face is selling a fruitier beverage. Here's Andy. I didn't read that quite right. A familiar face is selling a fruitier beverage. Pause. Now, Andy Serwer with "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Yes, thank you, Jack. It must be my attire or something. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's all in the interpretation.

SERWER: Yes. Let's talk about the market yesterday. A great day on Wall Street. The Dow up 97 points.

CAFFERTY: I like that.

SERWER: Bringing us back to a three and a half year high. Best close since June of 2001. This is interesting. And I went -- where were you in 2001 in June? I went back and checked. Of course before 9/11. And I looked at my calendar, I was on a fishing trip with a guy and his brother, and one of the brothers was subsequently killed in 9/11.

CAFFERTY: Wow.

HEMMER: Ooh.

SERWER: So, that's how long ago it was. It really brought it back to me, just looking at that. June 2001. Moving on, the Snapple lady is back. Wendy Kaufmann. Remember her? Yes. She is an icon of the 1990s. Wendy, she -- yes, she's kind of short there, I guess. I never really got Wendy. I never really got it. I found her kind grating and some people thought she was cute. You know, she worked at Snapple answering letters and she became this sort of cult figure.

O'BRIEN: Well, they fired her.

SERWER: They fired her when Quaker Oats bought the company. They said they didn't want that -- new image. Then Quaker Oats couldn't make the company work and then they sold it to another company and then they hired her back. And then she kind of left again. Now she's back. I like this one line about her. Let me just say this thing. She's a true believer. "During the winter I take Snapple peach tea and put it in a cup in my microwave" and heat it up. I think that's kind of...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: That's fascinating.

SERWER: Isn't it? Yes. Well, that's about all she has -- I never got it. I mean, she's an unlikely pitch person. Now they want her to make it work again.

CAFFERTY: What a cool lady.

SERWER: You think so?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

SERWER: You liked her?

O'BRIEN: I liked her.

SERWER: You liked her? You didn't like her, you're being sarcastic. I can tell when you're sarcastic. I can tell. Right?

CAFFERTY: No. Peach tea in the microwave. Hey.

SERWER: Isn't that something?

O'BRIEN: She cooks like me.

CAFFERTY: Very adventuresome.

SERWER: Fruity!

CAFFERTY: The woman is obviously cutting edge.

SERWER: Yes, she really is.

SERWER: From Long Island, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes! I knew it.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Her accent kind of gave her away.

SERWER: That's all I've got, Jack, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Really?

SERWER: In case you couldn't tell.

CAFFERTY: You mean that's it?

SERWER: I certainly never really had anything.

CAFFERTY: No, no, I didn't -- another riveting segment. And to be followed by this. I shouldn't -- see, I shouldn't cast aspersions until after I read these because sometimes these don't work so well either. Wednesday, "Things People Say," beginning with this.

"The Republican party has done a good job of going to the American people and saying do you really want to get advice from the entertainers of Hollywood who have the weirdest and strangest lives about who you should vote for?" This would be the governator out there, the walking barbell in Sacramento, who is one of "Rolling Stone" magazine's people of the year for 2004.

"You know what made me angry? Getting off a horse in a dress."

HEMMER: Not bad.

CAFFERTY: Val Kilmer, talking about filming one of the great bombs ever made by those folks in Hollywood, that would be the movie "Alexander."

SERWER: It's always such a drag to do that, isn't it?

CAFFERTY: It is such a drag to do that. SERWER: Pun intended.

CAFFERTY: See now, if you had lines like that during the Snapple part of your...

SERWER: I just thought it was weird. She put the tea in the -- nevermind.

CAFFERTY: "I've always felt studly. People feel it. Men get threatened." Adam Sandler, who plays the star chef and husband of Tea Leoni in the new movie "Spanglish."

"I'm going to tackle her and lick her and hit her over the head and drag her back to my house." That could be Tommy Lee, talking about what he plans to do if he meets Angelina Jolie.

SERWER: God. Security.

O'BRIEN: Tackle her?

CAFFERTY. And finally this. "My New Year's resolution is to not make the worst-dressed list." That's Serena Williams, the tennis player who does appear in some rather odd outfits periodically.

O'BRIEN: She's a designer.

SERWER: It's a wicked forehand, though.

CAFFERTY: Well, perhaps she should consider a different career. Maybe just like hit the tennis ball.

O'BRIEN: Just tennis?

SERWER: Get a purple tie.

O'BRIEN: Hey, she's young and she's cute. She can wear whatever she wants.

HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.

This morning we continue our series, by the way, throughout the week, for the song "12 Days of Christmas." Day four, Dan Lothian explains how modern mimicry is changing the tune of today's calling birds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They fill forests and fast-paced urban cities with music. But are calling birds singing a different tune because of this?

(PHONES RINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely true that birds mimic cell phones. And of course, the more cell phones we have, the more they're ringing. LOTHIAN: A new census bureau report shows cell phone saturation in the U.S. up 300 percent from almost a decade ago. Almost 160 million subscribers last year. In city parks and sidewalks, the ringing of a cell phone competes with other noises, which experts say calling birds also mimic. Like a car alarm. Or the beep of a truck backing up.

At Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, there's even a documented case of a northern mockingbird sounding like this Boston area freeway near its home.

DOUGLAS CAUSEY, VERTEBRATE BIOLOGIST: Now, there is no reason for a bird to sound like a freeway. But it's a sound that this bird heard in its life.

LOTHIAN: Could these urban sounds cause some birds to lose their song?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no loss or willingness or ability to sing.

LOTHIAN: (on camera) While very little research is being done on this issue, some experts say the broader issue of noise pollution could eventually become a problem.

CAUSEY: Noise pollution is a serious problem for humans. It's not unlikely that loud urban sounds are going to have an effect on birds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There definitely is a case that's going to change birds' behavior, it will change where they sit.

LOTHIAN: Listening to the call from birds and humans in a world where the volume is rising. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And tomorrow, you guessed it, before you could, right? Five golden rings tomorrow -- Jack.

SERWER: Wow. What are they going to do?

CAFFERTY: That was riveting, that bird story.

SERWER: Those birds, the way they mimic the -- that's interesting.

HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about. A mockingbird.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: You're right on that one, too.

SERWER: Yes.

Hemmer: Hi, Jack, what's up? O'BRIEN: Good point.

CAFFERTY: Could we get a printed copy of the study that this...

SERWER: Oh, the study from Harvard? This is Harvard, wasn't it Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Let's not make fun of Harvard.

CAFFERTY: Harvard University. You know that check you send in into the alumni thing, they paid for that.

HEMMER: They actually did.

O'BRIEN: I'm so cheap, I never sent them a dime.

SERWER: I wouldn't after that.

HEMMER: Winter striking with a vengeance. Where will the dreams of a white Christmas turn into a nightmare, though? We'll check it out, we continue right after this. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Did the attack on U.S. troops in Mosul come from the outside or from within? Evidence found in kitchen equipment that could point to a planted bomb.

And a blast of snow and ice hitting the Midwest just in time for Christmas travel. It's dangerous driving on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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 December 22, 2004 - 08:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Kamber and May are just ahead. We're going to talk about the war in Iraq after the attack yesterday and the violence over the weekend. Is the U.S. really winning in Iraq.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also a much lighter topic this morning, we'll talk to a 12-year-old boy, Keith MacKowsky (ph), he wants to go to college on a gymnastics scholarship. One problem, though, to compete in high school, he would have to do it on a girl's team, and that's not going to be easy. The state is putting up a fight against him. We'll talk to him. He's 16. We'll talk to him in a moment.

O'BRIEN: All ends up in the courts, doesn't it?

HEMMER: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Headlines now with Carol Costello. Good morning again.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. And good morning all of you.

Now in the news, two French journalists held hostage in Iraq are expected to be back in Paris within the next hour. They were seized outside of Baghdad four months ago. French officials are downplaying claims the government struck a deal with insurgents to secure a release.

Here in the United States,another court date tomorrow for the woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and snatching her baby. Police in Montgomery facing a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death.

In the meantime, in Maryville, Missouri, an outpouring of emotion for the victim. Some 300 mourners turned out to pay last respects to 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett, who was buried yesterday.

In business news, a shakeup at Fannie Mae, the country's second- largest financial institution. Fannie Mae's Franklin Raines announced his early retirement as CEO, and Timothy Howard steps down as CFO of the mortgage giant. The move comes just weeks after the Securities and Exchange Commission penalized Fannie Mae for accounting-rules violations. And we put that "early retirement" phrase in quotes.

O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, the old early retirement, pursuing other projects.

COSTELLO: Spending more time with the family.

O'BRIEN: That's always not good. All right, Carol, thank you very much.

One of the stories we've been following this week, the attack against the U.S. military base in Iraq, and the latest theory as to how it was carried out.

Joining us from Washington to discuss that Democratic consultant Victor Kamber.

Hey, Victor, good morning.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning. Happy holidays.

O'BRIEN: Thank you, likewise.

Former RNC communications director Clifford May.

CLIFF MAY, FMR. RNC COMM. DIR.: Good morning. Merry Christmas.

O'BRIEN: At the end of the day it comes down to that, doesn't it? But before we talk about that, let's actually talk about the news that we've been reporting since yesterday at this time, 22 people killed, 72 others injured in that attack on Mosul. Election workers dragged into the streets and executed over the weekend. Before that, in a poll, a new poll, the question is how has the U.S. handled Iraq over the past few months? 58 percent say they disapprove.

Cliff, I'm going to let you start with this. All bad news? Is support for the war just crumbling?

MAY: Well, I certainly hope not, because what we were learning in recent days we didn't know already, is just what kind of enemy we are fighting. These are people who shoot election workers in the streets. These are people who bomb churches as they did yesterday also, mosques in Najaf and Karbala. These are people who are members of Ansar Al Sunna, which is a group clearly tied to Al Qaeda.

Now, In 1993, when we got hit in Somalia, we ran. In '83, in Beirut, when we got hit at our embassy and our barracks, we ran. In Iran, when they took our hostages in '79, we did nothing about it. This time, we need to stay and defeat once and for all this terrible enemy that has been fighting us for more than 20 years. If we don't defeat them in Iraq, tell me where we are going to make our stand?

O'BRIEN: Victor, analysts have almost unanimously said it's going to get worse before it gets better, especially as we head into the elections. I mean, Doesn't cliff have a point? You got to, at some point, just wait it out.

KAMBER: Well, if it was your son or daughter, your aunt our uncle, I don't know that waiting it out because President Bush or Donald Rumsfeld says we should wait it out. We made a mistake. The whole premise is a mistake. I think once we're there, we have to defend what we have gone into. But 1,300 Americans have died, over 10,000 wounded. No end in sight. No plan to get out. And it's getting worse. My heart goes out. This time of year, the holidays when you think about family being together, it's a horrible, horrible situation, and we have not contained this situation. We have not brought about stability. Having an election makes no sense. I will put that aside, but we have to find a way to stabilize the country, and it's not stabilized.

O'BRIEN: Another topic. You guys were talking about this yesterday, everybody was, this happy holidays versus merry Christmas. There's a new poll out, and the polls says that what would say to someone you just met? 56 percent of people overall say they say "merry Christmas," 41 percent would say "happy holidays." As we know, it's broken down between Republicans and Democrats, as you guys sort of pointed out this morning at our greeting. 71 percent of Republicans would say merry Christmas, 54 percent of Democrats would say happy holidays. Cliff, would you really prefer -- I mean, do you have a dog in this fight? Do you care if I say happy holidays or merry Christmas to you?

MAY: Listen, I'm not offended either way. But one of the things that wonderful about this country, is we don't just tolerate each other's religions, we respect them, we even celebrate them. I mean, you have Christians going to Jews houses for Passover and Hanukkah. You have Jews who go to see Santa Claus, and to go to see the Christmas lights. At the White House, you have Hanukkah and Christmas parties, and parties at the end of Ramadan as well. I think that's a great thing, and I think we shouldn't be offended. It's wonderful we have this attitude toward one another's holidays, and we should be proud of that.

O'BRIEN: Here, here, I agree with that. Vic, what do you think? Is this sort of much ado about nothing?

KAMBER: No, no, I totally agree with the one difference, is that I think there should be a level of sensitivity. You know, I'm a Christian, my father was a Pentecostal minister, and we grew up in a Jewish community in Chicago, Jewish ghetto I called it. We were the only Christians around. And you learned about sensitivities. I learned about how people were treating me and vice versa.

So I think trying to -- we always say that's politically correct. But there is nothing wrong with being politically correct if you are sensitive to someone else. Happy holidays, in fact, recognizes that you want to greet somebody; no sense throwing your religion through their face.

MAY: Vic is a lot more sensitive than I am. But it just doesn't offend me if people say to me happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Eve Murbarak (ph). I happen to think it's all wonderful.

O'BRIEN: Do you think it's offensive, Vic, if you see religious symbols in public places that are not symbols of your religion? KAMBER: Well, that bothers me not in the way you say, offensive -- I just -- I really do believe in the difference of church and state. And until we can come up with some symbolic thing to honor all religions, I do find it offensive to take and put a Nativity scene or some Jewish relics up, or some Buddhist relics in areas where other religions exist. I do think it's offensive.

I have no problem if do you it in your home or on your lawn. And I don't think of Santa Claus and Christmas trees in that way, but I think Nativity scenes and religious relics I have problems with.

MAY: I don't know about relics, but there's a Christmas tree, and there's a Menorah right now in the White House just a few blocks from here. I'm not offended by that. I think that's a great thing.

O'BRIEN: All right, that's going to be the final word this morning. Kamber and May joining us. Nice to see you guys.

Have a great holiday, OK.

KAMBER: Great holiday.

MAY: Seasonal greetings.

O'BRIEN: And merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah, happy end of Ramadan, happy Kwanzaa. Anybody I left out?

HEMMER: E-mail me.

O'BRIEN: E-mail, I'll get back at you.

HEMMER: A brand new front on the cola war. It isn't just about Coke and Pepsi anymore. We'll get to that.

O'BRIEN: And when every second counts, a kind of strange-looking device could mean the difference between life and death. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning about a new automated device for performing CPR, and as Sanjay tells us, it is proving to be a real lifesaver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Earlier this year, 57-year-old Caralee Weich and her daughter, Amy, were in downtown San Francisco seeing a play, when Caralee began to feel lightheaded.

CARALEE WEICH, CARDIAC ARREST SURVIVOR: I told her that I felt dizzy, and then I just kind of went down.

DR. ARTHUR CHIN, CARDIOLOGIST: She was shocked a total of eight times, given all the proper CPR drugs, and intubated in the field. GUPTA: Caralee's heart had failed, and several nurses, who were also at the theater attending the play, started CPR. But when the ambulance arrived, the nurses were replaced with a machine called the Auto Pulse. Without it, she probably wouldn't have survived, because the machine does far more effective CPR.

CHIN: I believe the Auto Pulse was extremely important and instrumental in Caralee's complete recovery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start CPR.

GUPTA: The Auto Pulse is designed to do the chest compression part of CPR, and couldn't be simpler to use. You simply strap it to the patient, and turn it on.

CHIEF ROBERT O'BRIEN, FREMONT, CALIF. FIRE DEPT.: With this device does, they turn it on and they let it go.

GUPTA: And it works. In Caralee's case, her heart was stopped for almost 40 minutes. That's usually too long, often leaving one dead or with significant brain damage. Ambulance companies, fire departments and hospitals across the country are beginning to buy Auto Pulse machines. And in one fire chief's opinion, it's well worth the cost of $11,000.

O'BRIEN: This is probably one of the best products we have seen. This is something that medically is going to make a difference.

GUPTA: Caralee considers herself living proof.

WEICH: My daughter Amy got married in July, and I walked her down the aisle, and I would have hated to miss that experience.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: The Auto Pulse won't be widely available for some time, so there is still plenty of benefit to taking CPR classes.

HEMMER: A blast from the past, one advertising icon making a comeback from the '90s. Andy's "Minding Your Business," has that right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

CAFFERTY: The colas are getting some competition from their lighter counterparts. Plus a familiar face is selling a fruitier beverage. Here's Andy. I didn't read that quite right. A familiar face is selling a fruitier beverage. Pause. Now, Andy Serwer with "Minding Your Business."

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Yes, thank you, Jack. It must be my attire or something. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's all in the interpretation.

SERWER: Yes. Let's talk about the market yesterday. A great day on Wall Street. The Dow up 97 points.

CAFFERTY: I like that.

SERWER: Bringing us back to a three and a half year high. Best close since June of 2001. This is interesting. And I went -- where were you in 2001 in June? I went back and checked. Of course before 9/11. And I looked at my calendar, I was on a fishing trip with a guy and his brother, and one of the brothers was subsequently killed in 9/11.

CAFFERTY: Wow.

HEMMER: Ooh.

SERWER: So, that's how long ago it was. It really brought it back to me, just looking at that. June 2001. Moving on, the Snapple lady is back. Wendy Kaufmann. Remember her? Yes. She is an icon of the 1990s. Wendy, she -- yes, she's kind of short there, I guess. I never really got Wendy. I never really got it. I found her kind grating and some people thought she was cute. You know, she worked at Snapple answering letters and she became this sort of cult figure.

O'BRIEN: Well, they fired her.

SERWER: They fired her when Quaker Oats bought the company. They said they didn't want that -- new image. Then Quaker Oats couldn't make the company work and then they sold it to another company and then they hired her back. And then she kind of left again. Now she's back. I like this one line about her. Let me just say this thing. She's a true believer. "During the winter I take Snapple peach tea and put it in a cup in my microwave" and heat it up. I think that's kind of...

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: That's fascinating.

SERWER: Isn't it? Yes. Well, that's about all she has -- I never got it. I mean, she's an unlikely pitch person. Now they want her to make it work again.

CAFFERTY: What a cool lady.

SERWER: You think so?

CAFFERTY: Yes.

SERWER: You liked her?

O'BRIEN: I liked her.

SERWER: You liked her? You didn't like her, you're being sarcastic. I can tell when you're sarcastic. I can tell. Right?

CAFFERTY: No. Peach tea in the microwave. Hey.

SERWER: Isn't that something?

O'BRIEN: She cooks like me.

CAFFERTY: Very adventuresome.

SERWER: Fruity!

CAFFERTY: The woman is obviously cutting edge.

SERWER: Yes, she really is.

SERWER: From Long Island, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Yes! I knew it.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Her accent kind of gave her away.

SERWER: That's all I've got, Jack, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Really?

SERWER: In case you couldn't tell.

CAFFERTY: You mean that's it?

SERWER: I certainly never really had anything.

CAFFERTY: No, no, I didn't -- another riveting segment. And to be followed by this. I shouldn't -- see, I shouldn't cast aspersions until after I read these because sometimes these don't work so well either. Wednesday, "Things People Say," beginning with this.

"The Republican party has done a good job of going to the American people and saying do you really want to get advice from the entertainers of Hollywood who have the weirdest and strangest lives about who you should vote for?" This would be the governator out there, the walking barbell in Sacramento, who is one of "Rolling Stone" magazine's people of the year for 2004.

"You know what made me angry? Getting off a horse in a dress."

HEMMER: Not bad.

CAFFERTY: Val Kilmer, talking about filming one of the great bombs ever made by those folks in Hollywood, that would be the movie "Alexander."

SERWER: It's always such a drag to do that, isn't it?

CAFFERTY: It is such a drag to do that. SERWER: Pun intended.

CAFFERTY: See now, if you had lines like that during the Snapple part of your...

SERWER: I just thought it was weird. She put the tea in the -- nevermind.

CAFFERTY: "I've always felt studly. People feel it. Men get threatened." Adam Sandler, who plays the star chef and husband of Tea Leoni in the new movie "Spanglish."

"I'm going to tackle her and lick her and hit her over the head and drag her back to my house." That could be Tommy Lee, talking about what he plans to do if he meets Angelina Jolie.

SERWER: God. Security.

O'BRIEN: Tackle her?

CAFFERTY. And finally this. "My New Year's resolution is to not make the worst-dressed list." That's Serena Williams, the tennis player who does appear in some rather odd outfits periodically.

O'BRIEN: She's a designer.

SERWER: It's a wicked forehand, though.

CAFFERTY: Well, perhaps she should consider a different career. Maybe just like hit the tennis ball.

O'BRIEN: Just tennis?

SERWER: Get a purple tie.

O'BRIEN: Hey, she's young and she's cute. She can wear whatever she wants.

HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about.

This morning we continue our series, by the way, throughout the week, for the song "12 Days of Christmas." Day four, Dan Lothian explains how modern mimicry is changing the tune of today's calling birds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They fill forests and fast-paced urban cities with music. But are calling birds singing a different tune because of this?

(PHONES RINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's absolutely true that birds mimic cell phones. And of course, the more cell phones we have, the more they're ringing. LOTHIAN: A new census bureau report shows cell phone saturation in the U.S. up 300 percent from almost a decade ago. Almost 160 million subscribers last year. In city parks and sidewalks, the ringing of a cell phone competes with other noises, which experts say calling birds also mimic. Like a car alarm. Or the beep of a truck backing up.

At Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, there's even a documented case of a northern mockingbird sounding like this Boston area freeway near its home.

DOUGLAS CAUSEY, VERTEBRATE BIOLOGIST: Now, there is no reason for a bird to sound like a freeway. But it's a sound that this bird heard in its life.

LOTHIAN: Could these urban sounds cause some birds to lose their song?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no loss or willingness or ability to sing.

LOTHIAN: (on camera) While very little research is being done on this issue, some experts say the broader issue of noise pollution could eventually become a problem.

CAUSEY: Noise pollution is a serious problem for humans. It's not unlikely that loud urban sounds are going to have an effect on birds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There definitely is a case that's going to change birds' behavior, it will change where they sit.

LOTHIAN: Listening to the call from birds and humans in a world where the volume is rising. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: And tomorrow, you guessed it, before you could, right? Five golden rings tomorrow -- Jack.

SERWER: Wow. What are they going to do?

CAFFERTY: That was riveting, that bird story.

SERWER: Those birds, the way they mimic the -- that's interesting.

HEMMER: That's what I'm talking about. A mockingbird.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: You're right on that one, too.

SERWER: Yes.

Hemmer: Hi, Jack, what's up? O'BRIEN: Good point.

CAFFERTY: Could we get a printed copy of the study that this...

SERWER: Oh, the study from Harvard? This is Harvard, wasn't it Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Let's not make fun of Harvard.

CAFFERTY: Harvard University. You know that check you send in into the alumni thing, they paid for that.

HEMMER: They actually did.

O'BRIEN: I'm so cheap, I never sent them a dime.

SERWER: I wouldn't after that.

HEMMER: Winter striking with a vengeance. Where will the dreams of a white Christmas turn into a nightmare, though? We'll check it out, we continue right after this. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Did the attack on U.S. troops in Mosul come from the outside or from within? Evidence found in kitchen equipment that could point to a planted bomb.

And a blast of snow and ice hitting the Midwest just in time for Christmas travel. It's dangerous driving on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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