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American Morning

Conflicting Reports on Terri's Condition; Fuel-Efficient Technologies on the Rise

Aired March 28, 2005 - 07:00   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also coming up, gas prices going through the roof. But could you level the playing field with some innovative technologies available in certain new cars? We'll talk about what you should look for when shopping and how much it will actually save you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Which is the key.

COSTELLO: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Carol. Here's Kelly Wallace, looking at the headlines. Good morning again.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Bill and Carol. And good morning again to all of you. Here are some of the stories "Now in the News."

The trial within a trial in California. The judge in the Michael Jackson case expected to hear arguments today concerning whether past sexual allegations against Jackson should become part of the current trial. The pop star apparently paid millions of dollars to an accuser back in 1993. Jurors will be barred from the courtroom during this part of the trial.

Cincinnati's main airport is back up and running after a security scare caused some major delays. Authorities say baggage screeners noticed what looked like a gun in an x-ray image, but the passenger had already picked up the bag from the scanner. Some flights were held about two hours during the closedown, but the passenger and the bag were not found.

In sports now, March Madness. College basketball is down to the final four. Number one seed, North Carolina beating Wisconsin 88-82. And Kentucky, well, this game was incredible. Forcing overtime, with ten seconds on the clock, missing the three-point attempt and on the third try, the ball rolls around and goes in. It took two overtimes, but Michigan State won it, 94-88. They'll face North Carolina. Illinois takes on Louisville in the other semi-final.

And guess who's topping box offices? It's Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. They star in a remake of the 1967 interracial romance "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" The film debuted at number one this weekend, with an estimated $21 million. Sandra Bullock's sequel to "Miss Congeniality" came in second. I haven't seen either.

HEMMER: Pretty good chance I'm not going to see either. WALLACE: I was just going...

COSTELLO: I saw "Miss Congeniality 2" this weekend.

HEMMER: How was it?

COSTELLO: It was...

HEMMER: That's why we're not going to see it.

WALLACE: That's why we are -- chances are we're not racing to see it.

COSTELLO: It's so sad. Thank you, Kelly.

Conflicting reports this morning on whether Terri Schiavo is near death. Her parents' lawyers said she is past the point of no return, but other supporters angrily deny that. So we're "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning to get to the truth. Good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, really difficult to sort out, Carol. And there's a good chance we're not going to know for sure exactly how she's doing at any given specific time. You mention the lawyer for the Schiavo family saying she's past the point of no return. Not exactly sure what he meant by that. Perhaps with reference to her organs, her kidneys, in particular. Her father saying first a few days ago that she's near death, now saying she's hanging in there.

What we do know is more of a timeline, more of a standard timeline for folk whose have not been hydrated or being fed. Take a look here. Day one, typically, lips and skin start to lose moisture. Again, this is lack of feeding and lack of hydration. Day three to four, heart rate starts to goes up, blood pressure goes down. Then you can see day four to five, kidney function starts to slow.

Days five to ten, altered breathing rate, decrease in movements as well. Some people say more peaceful-like status. Day ten to death, several things happen here. May have to do with the kidneys shutting down. Subsequently, toxins accumulate in the blood stream. The brain slows. There's no response to environment and subsequently, someone may die of a cardiac arrest.

Ironically, Carol, and you and I have talked about this, back 15 years ago, if you go backwards to 15 years, 1990, what happened to her at that time was because of a severely low potassium, her heart failed and some say that was due to bulimia. So almost a sad irony, you sort of have the same sequence of events here.

COSTELLO: Yes. It is day ten for her and I believe the supporters were probably saying that, that she wasn't near death, because they have this thought that if they'd reinsert the feeding tube, then she could recover. Is that possible at this point?

GUPTA: Yes, she could recover, although it's not quite as simple as just putting back the feeding tube in now, when you get this far out. A couple of reasons why. One is we don't know if there's been some irreparable damage to her kidneys. And if so, that's going to -- the kidney function's going to need to be measured and she may need to be started on some sort of dialysis.

Also, there's a phenomenon called re-feeding phenomenon. When you start to re-feed somebody, you can't start them back at the same rate. It's usually slower rate, smaller amounts of foods and blander sort of foods as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The other thing I was curious about is they're giving her large doses of morphine. But most neurologists say that she wouldn't be in any pain in dying this way. So why the morphine?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, that's an excellent question. Let me just say this, that typically, what happens in a lot of hospice-type situations and to a lot of people in terminal death -- terminal life situations, is that comfort measures are given.

The thought is this. We don't know that they're in pain. We don't think that they're in pain, based on all the scientific knowledge that we have. But there really is no harm in giving some pain medications, ensuring comfort measures are given, so that if there's even the remote chance that she has some pain, that's taken care of as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from Atlanta this morning. Thank you.

HEMMER: When Congress gave jurisdiction in the Terri Schiavo case to federal courts, majority leader Tom DeLay said he prayed that the feeding tube would be restored. But when his own father was in a coma 16 years ago, Congressman DeLay chose not to keep him alive by extraordinary means. A spokesperson telling the "L.A. Times" that the circumstances were clearly not the same.

This is one of the topics this morning for Democratic consultant Victor Kamber, back with us. Vic, good morning to you in D.C.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning.

HEMMER: And Republican strategist Joe Watkins, down in Philly. Joe, nice to have you back, as well. And good morning to both of you.

JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thanks so much, Bill.

HEMMER: Victor, I want to start in this case of Tom DeLay case. There are some that are saying that Tom DeLay is showing himself to be a hypocrite in this. Others are saying no, this just shows you how clearly complicated these matters within families can be. How do you come down on this?

WATKINS: Are you talking to me, Bill?

HEMMER: Victor, yes. KAMBER: I do think it's complicated. And I -- you know, as much as I'm not a big Tom DeLay fan, you've heard it on this show a number of times, I'm not going to subscribe motives to him. I mean, his situation, what must have been a very tough family decision. The irony is that the spouse, his mother, made the ultimate decision, with family's support, and they said without a living will, that they knew the father would not want to live in that condition. Much like I'm hearing Michael Schiavo say about his wife, Terri. But I don't know all of the circumstances that went through his head and his heart when that happened. And I'm sure it was a very, very tough decision.

HEMMER: Joe, the one thing about the DeLay matter, that entire family was united on the decision they came by, right?

WATKINS: That's right. That's exactly right, Bill. So it was a little bit different than this case, where Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers have been really at odds the whole time -- not the whole time, but certainly since the 1990s. Initially, after Terri went into this state back in 1990, they were together, and Michael Schiavo, as I understand it, was living with the Schindlers, his in-laws and they were very much together in hoping that Terri would have a recovery and they worked pretty closely together.

But somewhere along the line, Michael Schiavo determined that he didn't want Terri to get the continued care because he felt that she couldn't recover, and eventually, he went to court to have her feeding tube removed, back in the late 1990s. And so much different case here. Again, also, as we all know, Tom DeLay's father was on life support. He was on a respirator and various other machines. Terri Schiavo has been able to breathe on her own. The only thing she's needs and has needed for these years is a feeding tube. It's to be fed and hydrated.

HEMMER: It is so intensely personal, too. Let's talk about a different matter here. Lighten it up a bit just a little bit. Vic, do you drink coffee?

KAMBER: Not as often as -- I go to the restaurant, though.

WATKINS: He needs to drink some.

HEMMER: Well, listen, here's the story. Here's the story. Starbucks apparently is doing this campaign. It's called "The Way I See It." And it has a number of people throughout the United States history and quotes that they've had, authors, poets, et cetera. Conservatives are pretty ticked off. There are 31 contributors, only one is a conservative. Victor, how do you come down on this? Starbucks got to something to pay for here?

KAMBER: Probably one too many, as far as I'm concerned. I think the conservatives or anybody who's unhappy with whatever Starbucks is doing, let them walk over to Wal-Mart and get their latte there.

HEMMER: I got you. It's a latte, by the way.

KAMBER: Whatever it is. WATKINS: Spoken like a true liberal.

HEMMER: Hey, Joe, do you drink coffee?

WATKINS: Well, no, I'm a non-coffee drinker, but clearly, my friend Vic needs some coffee just to calm him down a little bit, you know. So anti-conservative. You know, I can't believe Starbucks is doing this, actually, Bill, because it seems to me that at the end of the day, what they should be trying to do is to reach out to their customers. And their customers come in all political stripes, so why would they try to annoy or tick off some of their customers by only appealing to get liberals?

KAMBER: Joe, we are a capitalistic society and a democracy and an entrepreneur can do what he wants and you an as consumer can do what you want. Take your feet, take your money, walk someplace else if you're unhappy with Starbucks.

HEMMER: You want to drink a latte, you can. You want to drink a latte, well you can do that, too.

Third topic, military tribunals. The Pentagon apparently wants to review these tribunals and possibly change the rules to decide how a detainee might or may not be prosecuted. What is your take on this?

WATKINS: Well, you know, there's not complete unanimity of agreement on this inside the administration, and there are a group of folks, I think led, perhaps, by Vice President Cheney, who really does know something about this, that say -- these folks say, you know, don't be so quick to change stuff here. You know, don't fix what isn't broken. And clearly, no matter what you say about the military commissions or tribunals, as they tend to be known, you've got to admit that they're working. We have been spared, thank God, another catastrophic terrorist event.

And remember, the terrorists aren't playing by the rules. These are people who don't wear uniforms that say I'm a terrorist. They look like anybody else. But they mean to undermine our way of life and to kill us. Anybody and everybody, Democrats, Republicans, moderates, conservatives, liberals, are all fair game to the terrorist. So I say don't fix what's already working. I think I'm on the side of Dick Cheney and the president on this one.

HEMMER: He's saying the war's not over, Victor. Don't change now. What do you think?

KAMBER: Well, since these regulations and change recommendations have come from the Pentagon and since, I think, we've all of us have seen this administration wanting to take rights away from people -- I mean, we're not barbarians, we're not the terrorists, it's not an eye for an eye in the same way. We've got laws, we've got ways to operate. Our military leaders in the Pentagon are suggesting these changes, that we follow human rights conditions throughout the world. I have to believe we do it. And the fact that Dick Cheney or others want to keep up some of the torture or some of the other practices that are going on, I'm sorry, those days are over. HEMMER: To be continued. Joe, thanks. Victor, thanks. Enjoy your coffee this morning too, all right? Talk to you later. Here's Carol.

COSTELLO: You just won't let that go, that latte thing. Do you think he knows what a caramel macchiato is?.

HEMMER: No chance.

COSTELLO: I don't think so, either.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Make a lot of money selling stuff on eBay? Somebody might be ready to take a bite off our profit. We'll explain that with Andy in a moment.

COSTELLO: And if you want to save money on gas, we'll tell you what equipment you should look for when buying that new car. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: According to Triple A, the average price of a regular gallon of gasoline is now $2.13. And as prices continue to go up, drivers continue to look for ways to save. Here's Soledad with a few ideas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Automotive editor Rick Paul of "Consumer Reports" joins us with a look at some of the most fuel efficient cars that can help you save some dough. Good morning, nice to see you.

RICK PAUL, AUTOMOTIVE EDITOR, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Which cars do you recommend for buying or leasing, if you're trying to make your car more fuel efficient?

PAUL: Well, if fuel economy is a priority, the Toyota Prius is a five-seater, which has gotten the highest fuel economy of any five- seater that we've tested. That got 44 miles per gallon overall. So that's a good way to go. Look at the fuel economy. No matter what type of vehicle you're buying, look at the fuel economy figures and choose one that gets higher fuel economy numbers for that class. There's a wide range.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the new technologies that are out of there. For example, the variable displacement systems. What the heck is that?

PAUL: That's a relatively new technology, and that basically automatically cuts out half the engine cylinders when you're cruising on the highway, when you don't need the extra power. When you need full power again, it automatically comes back on so you have it. There's only a few cars that now have this: the Chrysler 300-C, the Honda Odyssey minivan, the Honda Accord Hybrid and some G.M. trucks. But we expect to see more of it in the future.

O'BRIEN: Do you expect that, in fact, it's going to, in the long-term, be something all the carmakers follow on to and make sure that they're creating more cars that have it?

PAUL: Yes, we expect to see more vehicles offering that system. And in the ones that we've tested, it's a pretty seamless system. You can barely notice it shifting back and forth between the modes.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about diesel fuel. For a while, it was very popular, but there were problems. Namely, it was stinky, it was hard to find, it could be very loud. What's the status of that now?

PAUL: Well, diesel is on bit of a comeback. Today's diesel cars are much cleaner, smoother and quieter than they used to be. Just last year, a number of new models were introduced, including the Volkswagen Passat, Jeep Liberty, and Mercedes Benz E-Class. And we expect to see more in the future, as diesel becomes more popular and people become more conscious of fuel economy.

O'BRIEN: How about hybrids? Of course, again, hybrids -- a lot of talk about hybrids years ago. And part of the -- the great part of hybrid and the bad part was the cars were so tiny.

PAUL: Yes. The original hybrids were small cars that really emphasized good fuel economy. I mentioned the Prius, that's one of them. Today, we're seeing more hybrids come out that are larger cars. They offer more practicality, but they don't provide as good a fuel economy. So you kind of have to look at the trade-offs of it. If fuel economy is really important, you might want to look at something like the Prius. If you -- some of them, like the Honda Accord Hybrid, actually provide better performance and better fuel economy.

O'BRIEN: What about cost? I mean, how much more does it cost to buy a fuel-efficient hybrid as opposed to a conventional car?

PAUL: Well, a hybrid typically runs about $2,000, $3,000 over a conventional car. And if you're looking in terms of just the dollars and cents, that can take anywhere from four to over ten years to pay off just in terms of fuel savings.

O'BRIEN: So you really have to be thinking about the environment. If you had to between diesel or a hybrid, what would you advise?

PAUL: Well, if you're doing city driving, a hybrid makes a lot of sense, because it can run -- a full hybrid, like the Prius, can run on just electric power in city conditions. And all hybrids also shut off the engine automatically when they come to a stop light, when you stop the car, so you're not burning gas while you're sitting at a red light. Diesels are more efficient on the highway, but they're not sold in all states, because of their emissions problems.

So I think, you know, it's easier to find a car that does well on the highway than in the city. Again, look at the ratings, compared between different cars, and no matter what vehicle you're buying, there's a wide range to choose from.

O'BRIEN: Rick Paul from "Consumer Reports," nice to see you. Thanks again for the terrific advice -- Bill?

HEMMER: In a moment here, if you sell items on eBay, should you be paying taxes on those items? Andy has that story, "Minding Your Business in a moment here. Next here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back, everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: EBay sellers, beware the tax man. Here to explain and check the markets, Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Let's be clear, I'm not the tax man.

CAFFERTY: No.

SERWER: OK, yeah. I'm just going to be talking about it.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all. We mentioned it earlier in this program, not a kind year so far to investors. Here's how the indices or indexes have done year-to-date. Nasdaq below 2,000. Past 15 months, we've been back and forth above the storied Hemmer line. It's kind of a Cafferty market. Jack was warning weeks ago that there were bad things brewing in the financial markets in terms of interest rates, in terms of the dollar, in terms of deficits.

CAFFERTY: There's a lot of stuff out there conspiring against higher stock prices.

SERWER: That's right.

The markets are up this morning though. Oil prices are down. Also, there's a giant LBO, leveraged buyout. That's where a bunch of guys on Wall Street buy a company. This time, it's the biggest deal since RJR Nabisco in 1989. Remember that deal? Barbarians at the Gate.

CAFFERTY: At the Gate, yeah.

SERWER: Twenty-five-billion-dollar deal. Boy, they sure did a number on that company.

CAFFERTY: Yes, they did.

SERWER: They did.

This one's a company called Sun Guard, which no one's ever heard of. It's a back office Wall Street deal -- $11 billion deal. But anyway, people on Wall Street are happy about that. Let's talk about eBay. April 15 rapidly approaching. I've got my head in the sand. I haven't done my taxes yet. But soon I will.

CAFFERTY: Is that where it is?

SERWER: Yes, that's where it is. Thank you, Jack. You were wondering where I was keeping it.

CAFFERTY: I didn't know they called that sand.

SERWER: Yes, thank you.

Here's the deal, Jack. EBay sellers are wondering whether they need to declare all that stuff -- you know, all the Happy Meal toys you've been selling and Welch's grape jelly jars and all that king of nonsense people sell on eBay -- whether it's income or not. And, you know, basically, if you're getting money, it's income.

People are, you know, scratching their head. It's not very complicated. I guess it's true that if you buy a DVD player at Best Buy for $99, and sell it on ebay for $45, that's a loss. It's not income. Everything else is income. So there's a lot of head scratching going on. It's not very complicated. If you think it's income, it's income.

CAFFERTY: Probably income.

SERWER: Indeed.

CAFFERTY: All right. And if the government thinks it's income, they'll take it.

SERWER: You best believe.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

Back to "The File" now. A new set of calendar pin-ups courtesy of the Canton, Ohio, symphony orchestra. The calendar is titled "More Than You Would Expect From An Orchestra" and features 18 women from the symphony posed with their instruments. And in some cases, not a lot else.

The symphony's president, Linda Moorehouse (ph), says they need to change the symphony's image to get it away from being stuffy.

HEMMER: Sweet.

CAFFERTY: The orchestra says it hopes to raise $50,000 with this calendar. Lots of luck.

50 cents. How do you say it?

COSTELLO: Fitty-cent.

CAFFERTY: Fifty-cent's next hit, could it feature a hamburger? McDonald's hopes to get the hip-hop artists to drop references of the burger into their lyrics. Today's issue of Advertising Age reports that McDonald's would pay $1 to $5 every time the hamburger songs are played on the radio. While McDonald's receives final approval of the lyrics, it would allow artists to decide how the sandwich is integrated into their songs. They hope to have several songs featuring the Big Mac by summer.

It occurs to me, Mondays are not very good for The File.

HEMMER: It's slowish.

CAFFERTY: Over the weekend, nothing interesting happens. We have one more here though. A high-ranking Church of England official -- this one isn't bad -- Church of England says that Prince Charles must apologize to the ex-husband of Camilla Parker Bowles before their April 8th wedding. The Sunday Times newspaper quotes Bishop David Sandcliff as saying, "Church rules dictates Charles must atone for committing adultery."

COSTELLO: And an "I'm sorry" will do that?

CAFFERTY: The bishop didn't say whether the apology should be delivered in person, by letter or other means. There's a rumor, however, that her ex-husband plans to send Charles a thank you note for agreeing to marry her.

SERWER: Yeah, there you go. Hey, Carol, you're from Canton, Ohio. Did you recognize any of those gals?

COSTELLO: A couple of them are my aunts.

SERWER: Go to school with any of them?

HEMMER: Holding their oboe.

COSTELLO: Hey, at least they're trying something different to generate interest in the symphony.

HEMMER: That's right.

COSTELLO: You got to admire that.

HEMMER: And as Jack said, good luck.

CAFFERTY: That calendar will generate interest in clothing.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's just wrong.

HEMMER: Thanks. Let's get a break here. In a moment here, the latest on the Terri Schiavo case. Back in a moment here, to Florida after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK>

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Aired March 28, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Also coming up, gas prices going through the roof. But could you level the playing field with some innovative technologies available in certain new cars? We'll talk about what you should look for when shopping and how much it will actually save you.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Which is the key.

COSTELLO: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Carol. Here's Kelly Wallace, looking at the headlines. Good morning again.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Bill and Carol. And good morning again to all of you. Here are some of the stories "Now in the News."

The trial within a trial in California. The judge in the Michael Jackson case expected to hear arguments today concerning whether past sexual allegations against Jackson should become part of the current trial. The pop star apparently paid millions of dollars to an accuser back in 1993. Jurors will be barred from the courtroom during this part of the trial.

Cincinnati's main airport is back up and running after a security scare caused some major delays. Authorities say baggage screeners noticed what looked like a gun in an x-ray image, but the passenger had already picked up the bag from the scanner. Some flights were held about two hours during the closedown, but the passenger and the bag were not found.

In sports now, March Madness. College basketball is down to the final four. Number one seed, North Carolina beating Wisconsin 88-82. And Kentucky, well, this game was incredible. Forcing overtime, with ten seconds on the clock, missing the three-point attempt and on the third try, the ball rolls around and goes in. It took two overtimes, but Michigan State won it, 94-88. They'll face North Carolina. Illinois takes on Louisville in the other semi-final.

And guess who's topping box offices? It's Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher. They star in a remake of the 1967 interracial romance "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" The film debuted at number one this weekend, with an estimated $21 million. Sandra Bullock's sequel to "Miss Congeniality" came in second. I haven't seen either.

HEMMER: Pretty good chance I'm not going to see either. WALLACE: I was just going...

COSTELLO: I saw "Miss Congeniality 2" this weekend.

HEMMER: How was it?

COSTELLO: It was...

HEMMER: That's why we're not going to see it.

WALLACE: That's why we are -- chances are we're not racing to see it.

COSTELLO: It's so sad. Thank you, Kelly.

Conflicting reports this morning on whether Terri Schiavo is near death. Her parents' lawyers said she is past the point of no return, but other supporters angrily deny that. So we're "Paging Dr. Gupta" this morning to get to the truth. Good morning.

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

Yes, really difficult to sort out, Carol. And there's a good chance we're not going to know for sure exactly how she's doing at any given specific time. You mention the lawyer for the Schiavo family saying she's past the point of no return. Not exactly sure what he meant by that. Perhaps with reference to her organs, her kidneys, in particular. Her father saying first a few days ago that she's near death, now saying she's hanging in there.

What we do know is more of a timeline, more of a standard timeline for folk whose have not been hydrated or being fed. Take a look here. Day one, typically, lips and skin start to lose moisture. Again, this is lack of feeding and lack of hydration. Day three to four, heart rate starts to goes up, blood pressure goes down. Then you can see day four to five, kidney function starts to slow.

Days five to ten, altered breathing rate, decrease in movements as well. Some people say more peaceful-like status. Day ten to death, several things happen here. May have to do with the kidneys shutting down. Subsequently, toxins accumulate in the blood stream. The brain slows. There's no response to environment and subsequently, someone may die of a cardiac arrest.

Ironically, Carol, and you and I have talked about this, back 15 years ago, if you go backwards to 15 years, 1990, what happened to her at that time was because of a severely low potassium, her heart failed and some say that was due to bulimia. So almost a sad irony, you sort of have the same sequence of events here.

COSTELLO: Yes. It is day ten for her and I believe the supporters were probably saying that, that she wasn't near death, because they have this thought that if they'd reinsert the feeding tube, then she could recover. Is that possible at this point?

GUPTA: Yes, she could recover, although it's not quite as simple as just putting back the feeding tube in now, when you get this far out. A couple of reasons why. One is we don't know if there's been some irreparable damage to her kidneys. And if so, that's going to -- the kidney function's going to need to be measured and she may need to be started on some sort of dialysis.

Also, there's a phenomenon called re-feeding phenomenon. When you start to re-feed somebody, you can't start them back at the same rate. It's usually slower rate, smaller amounts of foods and blander sort of foods as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The other thing I was curious about is they're giving her large doses of morphine. But most neurologists say that she wouldn't be in any pain in dying this way. So why the morphine?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, that's an excellent question. Let me just say this, that typically, what happens in a lot of hospice-type situations and to a lot of people in terminal death -- terminal life situations, is that comfort measures are given.

The thought is this. We don't know that they're in pain. We don't think that they're in pain, based on all the scientific knowledge that we have. But there really is no harm in giving some pain medications, ensuring comfort measures are given, so that if there's even the remote chance that she has some pain, that's taken care of as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from Atlanta this morning. Thank you.

HEMMER: When Congress gave jurisdiction in the Terri Schiavo case to federal courts, majority leader Tom DeLay said he prayed that the feeding tube would be restored. But when his own father was in a coma 16 years ago, Congressman DeLay chose not to keep him alive by extraordinary means. A spokesperson telling the "L.A. Times" that the circumstances were clearly not the same.

This is one of the topics this morning for Democratic consultant Victor Kamber, back with us. Vic, good morning to you in D.C.

VICTOR KAMBER, DEMOCRATIC CONSULTANT: Good morning.

HEMMER: And Republican strategist Joe Watkins, down in Philly. Joe, nice to have you back, as well. And good morning to both of you.

JOE WATKINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thanks so much, Bill.

HEMMER: Victor, I want to start in this case of Tom DeLay case. There are some that are saying that Tom DeLay is showing himself to be a hypocrite in this. Others are saying no, this just shows you how clearly complicated these matters within families can be. How do you come down on this?

WATKINS: Are you talking to me, Bill?

HEMMER: Victor, yes. KAMBER: I do think it's complicated. And I -- you know, as much as I'm not a big Tom DeLay fan, you've heard it on this show a number of times, I'm not going to subscribe motives to him. I mean, his situation, what must have been a very tough family decision. The irony is that the spouse, his mother, made the ultimate decision, with family's support, and they said without a living will, that they knew the father would not want to live in that condition. Much like I'm hearing Michael Schiavo say about his wife, Terri. But I don't know all of the circumstances that went through his head and his heart when that happened. And I'm sure it was a very, very tough decision.

HEMMER: Joe, the one thing about the DeLay matter, that entire family was united on the decision they came by, right?

WATKINS: That's right. That's exactly right, Bill. So it was a little bit different than this case, where Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers have been really at odds the whole time -- not the whole time, but certainly since the 1990s. Initially, after Terri went into this state back in 1990, they were together, and Michael Schiavo, as I understand it, was living with the Schindlers, his in-laws and they were very much together in hoping that Terri would have a recovery and they worked pretty closely together.

But somewhere along the line, Michael Schiavo determined that he didn't want Terri to get the continued care because he felt that she couldn't recover, and eventually, he went to court to have her feeding tube removed, back in the late 1990s. And so much different case here. Again, also, as we all know, Tom DeLay's father was on life support. He was on a respirator and various other machines. Terri Schiavo has been able to breathe on her own. The only thing she's needs and has needed for these years is a feeding tube. It's to be fed and hydrated.

HEMMER: It is so intensely personal, too. Let's talk about a different matter here. Lighten it up a bit just a little bit. Vic, do you drink coffee?

KAMBER: Not as often as -- I go to the restaurant, though.

WATKINS: He needs to drink some.

HEMMER: Well, listen, here's the story. Here's the story. Starbucks apparently is doing this campaign. It's called "The Way I See It." And it has a number of people throughout the United States history and quotes that they've had, authors, poets, et cetera. Conservatives are pretty ticked off. There are 31 contributors, only one is a conservative. Victor, how do you come down on this? Starbucks got to something to pay for here?

KAMBER: Probably one too many, as far as I'm concerned. I think the conservatives or anybody who's unhappy with whatever Starbucks is doing, let them walk over to Wal-Mart and get their latte there.

HEMMER: I got you. It's a latte, by the way.

KAMBER: Whatever it is. WATKINS: Spoken like a true liberal.

HEMMER: Hey, Joe, do you drink coffee?

WATKINS: Well, no, I'm a non-coffee drinker, but clearly, my friend Vic needs some coffee just to calm him down a little bit, you know. So anti-conservative. You know, I can't believe Starbucks is doing this, actually, Bill, because it seems to me that at the end of the day, what they should be trying to do is to reach out to their customers. And their customers come in all political stripes, so why would they try to annoy or tick off some of their customers by only appealing to get liberals?

KAMBER: Joe, we are a capitalistic society and a democracy and an entrepreneur can do what he wants and you an as consumer can do what you want. Take your feet, take your money, walk someplace else if you're unhappy with Starbucks.

HEMMER: You want to drink a latte, you can. You want to drink a latte, well you can do that, too.

Third topic, military tribunals. The Pentagon apparently wants to review these tribunals and possibly change the rules to decide how a detainee might or may not be prosecuted. What is your take on this?

WATKINS: Well, you know, there's not complete unanimity of agreement on this inside the administration, and there are a group of folks, I think led, perhaps, by Vice President Cheney, who really does know something about this, that say -- these folks say, you know, don't be so quick to change stuff here. You know, don't fix what isn't broken. And clearly, no matter what you say about the military commissions or tribunals, as they tend to be known, you've got to admit that they're working. We have been spared, thank God, another catastrophic terrorist event.

And remember, the terrorists aren't playing by the rules. These are people who don't wear uniforms that say I'm a terrorist. They look like anybody else. But they mean to undermine our way of life and to kill us. Anybody and everybody, Democrats, Republicans, moderates, conservatives, liberals, are all fair game to the terrorist. So I say don't fix what's already working. I think I'm on the side of Dick Cheney and the president on this one.

HEMMER: He's saying the war's not over, Victor. Don't change now. What do you think?

KAMBER: Well, since these regulations and change recommendations have come from the Pentagon and since, I think, we've all of us have seen this administration wanting to take rights away from people -- I mean, we're not barbarians, we're not the terrorists, it's not an eye for an eye in the same way. We've got laws, we've got ways to operate. Our military leaders in the Pentagon are suggesting these changes, that we follow human rights conditions throughout the world. I have to believe we do it. And the fact that Dick Cheney or others want to keep up some of the torture or some of the other practices that are going on, I'm sorry, those days are over. HEMMER: To be continued. Joe, thanks. Victor, thanks. Enjoy your coffee this morning too, all right? Talk to you later. Here's Carol.

COSTELLO: You just won't let that go, that latte thing. Do you think he knows what a caramel macchiato is?.

HEMMER: No chance.

COSTELLO: I don't think so, either.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Make a lot of money selling stuff on eBay? Somebody might be ready to take a bite off our profit. We'll explain that with Andy in a moment.

COSTELLO: And if you want to save money on gas, we'll tell you what equipment you should look for when buying that new car. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: According to Triple A, the average price of a regular gallon of gasoline is now $2.13. And as prices continue to go up, drivers continue to look for ways to save. Here's Soledad with a few ideas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Automotive editor Rick Paul of "Consumer Reports" joins us with a look at some of the most fuel efficient cars that can help you save some dough. Good morning, nice to see you.

RICK PAUL, AUTOMOTIVE EDITOR, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Which cars do you recommend for buying or leasing, if you're trying to make your car more fuel efficient?

PAUL: Well, if fuel economy is a priority, the Toyota Prius is a five-seater, which has gotten the highest fuel economy of any five- seater that we've tested. That got 44 miles per gallon overall. So that's a good way to go. Look at the fuel economy. No matter what type of vehicle you're buying, look at the fuel economy figures and choose one that gets higher fuel economy numbers for that class. There's a wide range.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of the new technologies that are out of there. For example, the variable displacement systems. What the heck is that?

PAUL: That's a relatively new technology, and that basically automatically cuts out half the engine cylinders when you're cruising on the highway, when you don't need the extra power. When you need full power again, it automatically comes back on so you have it. There's only a few cars that now have this: the Chrysler 300-C, the Honda Odyssey minivan, the Honda Accord Hybrid and some G.M. trucks. But we expect to see more of it in the future.

O'BRIEN: Do you expect that, in fact, it's going to, in the long-term, be something all the carmakers follow on to and make sure that they're creating more cars that have it?

PAUL: Yes, we expect to see more vehicles offering that system. And in the ones that we've tested, it's a pretty seamless system. You can barely notice it shifting back and forth between the modes.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about diesel fuel. For a while, it was very popular, but there were problems. Namely, it was stinky, it was hard to find, it could be very loud. What's the status of that now?

PAUL: Well, diesel is on bit of a comeback. Today's diesel cars are much cleaner, smoother and quieter than they used to be. Just last year, a number of new models were introduced, including the Volkswagen Passat, Jeep Liberty, and Mercedes Benz E-Class. And we expect to see more in the future, as diesel becomes more popular and people become more conscious of fuel economy.

O'BRIEN: How about hybrids? Of course, again, hybrids -- a lot of talk about hybrids years ago. And part of the -- the great part of hybrid and the bad part was the cars were so tiny.

PAUL: Yes. The original hybrids were small cars that really emphasized good fuel economy. I mentioned the Prius, that's one of them. Today, we're seeing more hybrids come out that are larger cars. They offer more practicality, but they don't provide as good a fuel economy. So you kind of have to look at the trade-offs of it. If fuel economy is really important, you might want to look at something like the Prius. If you -- some of them, like the Honda Accord Hybrid, actually provide better performance and better fuel economy.

O'BRIEN: What about cost? I mean, how much more does it cost to buy a fuel-efficient hybrid as opposed to a conventional car?

PAUL: Well, a hybrid typically runs about $2,000, $3,000 over a conventional car. And if you're looking in terms of just the dollars and cents, that can take anywhere from four to over ten years to pay off just in terms of fuel savings.

O'BRIEN: So you really have to be thinking about the environment. If you had to between diesel or a hybrid, what would you advise?

PAUL: Well, if you're doing city driving, a hybrid makes a lot of sense, because it can run -- a full hybrid, like the Prius, can run on just electric power in city conditions. And all hybrids also shut off the engine automatically when they come to a stop light, when you stop the car, so you're not burning gas while you're sitting at a red light. Diesels are more efficient on the highway, but they're not sold in all states, because of their emissions problems.

So I think, you know, it's easier to find a car that does well on the highway than in the city. Again, look at the ratings, compared between different cars, and no matter what vehicle you're buying, there's a wide range to choose from.

O'BRIEN: Rick Paul from "Consumer Reports," nice to see you. Thanks again for the terrific advice -- Bill?

HEMMER: In a moment here, if you sell items on eBay, should you be paying taxes on those items? Andy has that story, "Minding Your Business in a moment here. Next here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Welcome back, everyone.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: EBay sellers, beware the tax man. Here to explain and check the markets, Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Let's be clear, I'm not the tax man.

CAFFERTY: No.

SERWER: OK, yeah. I'm just going to be talking about it.

Let's talk about the markets, first of all. We mentioned it earlier in this program, not a kind year so far to investors. Here's how the indices or indexes have done year-to-date. Nasdaq below 2,000. Past 15 months, we've been back and forth above the storied Hemmer line. It's kind of a Cafferty market. Jack was warning weeks ago that there were bad things brewing in the financial markets in terms of interest rates, in terms of the dollar, in terms of deficits.

CAFFERTY: There's a lot of stuff out there conspiring against higher stock prices.

SERWER: That's right.

The markets are up this morning though. Oil prices are down. Also, there's a giant LBO, leveraged buyout. That's where a bunch of guys on Wall Street buy a company. This time, it's the biggest deal since RJR Nabisco in 1989. Remember that deal? Barbarians at the Gate.

CAFFERTY: At the Gate, yeah.

SERWER: Twenty-five-billion-dollar deal. Boy, they sure did a number on that company.

CAFFERTY: Yes, they did.

SERWER: They did.

This one's a company called Sun Guard, which no one's ever heard of. It's a back office Wall Street deal -- $11 billion deal. But anyway, people on Wall Street are happy about that. Let's talk about eBay. April 15 rapidly approaching. I've got my head in the sand. I haven't done my taxes yet. But soon I will.

CAFFERTY: Is that where it is?

SERWER: Yes, that's where it is. Thank you, Jack. You were wondering where I was keeping it.

CAFFERTY: I didn't know they called that sand.

SERWER: Yes, thank you.

Here's the deal, Jack. EBay sellers are wondering whether they need to declare all that stuff -- you know, all the Happy Meal toys you've been selling and Welch's grape jelly jars and all that king of nonsense people sell on eBay -- whether it's income or not. And, you know, basically, if you're getting money, it's income.

People are, you know, scratching their head. It's not very complicated. I guess it's true that if you buy a DVD player at Best Buy for $99, and sell it on ebay for $45, that's a loss. It's not income. Everything else is income. So there's a lot of head scratching going on. It's not very complicated. If you think it's income, it's income.

CAFFERTY: Probably income.

SERWER: Indeed.

CAFFERTY: All right. And if the government thinks it's income, they'll take it.

SERWER: You best believe.

CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.

Back to "The File" now. A new set of calendar pin-ups courtesy of the Canton, Ohio, symphony orchestra. The calendar is titled "More Than You Would Expect From An Orchestra" and features 18 women from the symphony posed with their instruments. And in some cases, not a lot else.

The symphony's president, Linda Moorehouse (ph), says they need to change the symphony's image to get it away from being stuffy.

HEMMER: Sweet.

CAFFERTY: The orchestra says it hopes to raise $50,000 with this calendar. Lots of luck.

50 cents. How do you say it?

COSTELLO: Fitty-cent.

CAFFERTY: Fifty-cent's next hit, could it feature a hamburger? McDonald's hopes to get the hip-hop artists to drop references of the burger into their lyrics. Today's issue of Advertising Age reports that McDonald's would pay $1 to $5 every time the hamburger songs are played on the radio. While McDonald's receives final approval of the lyrics, it would allow artists to decide how the sandwich is integrated into their songs. They hope to have several songs featuring the Big Mac by summer.

It occurs to me, Mondays are not very good for The File.

HEMMER: It's slowish.

CAFFERTY: Over the weekend, nothing interesting happens. We have one more here though. A high-ranking Church of England official -- this one isn't bad -- Church of England says that Prince Charles must apologize to the ex-husband of Camilla Parker Bowles before their April 8th wedding. The Sunday Times newspaper quotes Bishop David Sandcliff as saying, "Church rules dictates Charles must atone for committing adultery."

COSTELLO: And an "I'm sorry" will do that?

CAFFERTY: The bishop didn't say whether the apology should be delivered in person, by letter or other means. There's a rumor, however, that her ex-husband plans to send Charles a thank you note for agreeing to marry her.

SERWER: Yeah, there you go. Hey, Carol, you're from Canton, Ohio. Did you recognize any of those gals?

COSTELLO: A couple of them are my aunts.

SERWER: Go to school with any of them?

HEMMER: Holding their oboe.

COSTELLO: Hey, at least they're trying something different to generate interest in the symphony.

HEMMER: That's right.

COSTELLO: You got to admire that.

HEMMER: And as Jack said, good luck.

CAFFERTY: That calendar will generate interest in clothing.

COSTELLO: Oh, that's just wrong.

HEMMER: Thanks. Let's get a break here. In a moment here, the latest on the Terri Schiavo case. Back in a moment here, to Florida after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK>

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