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American Morning
Operation Matador; Luck Strikes Twice
Aired May 11, 2005 - 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Exactly 9:30 here in New York.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here, a firsthand account of what's happening in western Iraq. We'll talk by phone with one of the field commanders, leading Marines in that offensive against insurgents there. Four days in the running now for that operation, so we'll talk about it.
O'BRIEN: First, though, let's get a look at the headlines with Kelly Wallace.
Hey, Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad.
Good morning again, everyone.
Now in the news, more than 50 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a new wave of bombings in Iraq. In Tikrit, A Car bombing going off at a busy intersection where a crowd of Iraqi workers were gathering. Within hours, insurgents set off attacks in five other locations, including a car bombing outside a police station in southern Baghdad. No word on any U.S. casualties.
The father of one of the two girls killed in suburban Chicago is set to appear at a bond hearing this morning. Jerry Hobbs is suspected of stabbing his 8-year-old daughter and her 9-year-old best friend to death on Mother's Day. Hobbs, once arrested for chasing family members with a chainsaw, led police to the girl's bodies. We're expecting to learn more detail on this case after this morning's hearing.
The latest nuclear claim coming from North Korea: North Korea's news agency reported earlier this morning that officials successfully removed 8,000 fuel rods from its main nuclear complex. The step would allow North Koreans to make weapons-grade plutonium. North Korea kicked out international inspectors in late 2002, but the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency believes North Korea could have material for as many as six nuclear weapons.
And an update on a story we've been following out of North Carolina. A Baptist minister accused of kicking out nine members of his congregation for their political beliefs has resigned. Reverend Chan Chandler said his comments had been taken out of context, manipulated and used in a manner that didn't express what he'd said. Some of the reverend supporters cried and vowed to leave the church with him.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, a thousand U.S. troops are in the fourth day of a major offensive against Iraqi insurgents. Operation Matador in the Anbar province is one of the largest missions since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Marine Commander Colonel Stephen Davis told me by phone this morning just how the offensive is proceeding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COL. STEPHEN DAVIS, COMMANDER, MARINE REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM 2: I think it's very effective. Clearly, there have been insurgents and foreign fighters staging in the area north of the Euphrates River and north of Al Qaim (ph). We have all the intelligence that drew us this area, we have not been up there in a while, and we were successful in surprising that enemy, and dispatching of much of them and disrupting the rest of them.
O'BRIEN: How many insurgents were killed? I've read the number's around a hundred. Is that accurate?
DAVIS: The number that's been reported of a hundred is accurate. We do not particularly count the bodies, if you will, because that's a bad metric, I think, to try and judge success by, but those numbers are accurate, and there is probably actually more, but we want to make sure that there is some credibility in what we report in that.
O'BRIEN: There are reports that the insurgents are well prepared, that they seem to be well-equipped. Is that accurate? And can you give me some specifics?
DAVIS: Those reports are credible, particularly up in the town of Ubadi (ph). There were reinforced positions. The enemy, as we expected, comes with a greater level of training, a sense of organization. Clearly they have rehearsed standard-operating procedures, and some of the buildings that we had to fight our way through, they were reinforced positions, well-constructed positions that would lend itself to what we would call a defense and depth. And other areas where we have fought with insurgents, we have seen the insurgents with body armor and a full array of modern gear.
O'BRIEN: And all those things tell you what? That they're coming in over the border? They're foreign fighters?
DAVIS: They're clearly paths that transcend the border, that the foreign fighters are using to come into Iraq. I don't think it's limited to just Syria alone, but it's an expansive region, and there's just not a whole lot of people out here.
O'BRIEN: Are there Iraqi forces fighting beside U.S. forces?
DAVIS: We have very few Iraqi forces with us in this particular fight. We are partnered with some units very, very closely. I am using those right now in other parts of my operations, but we have used the Iraqi forces extensively whenever we've been able to partner with them, and we look forward to doing that so very much more in the future. Their level of training increases, their capability increases relative to that, and they are very interested in contributing to getting their country back on its feet, getting control of their country and walking into the 21st century with the rest of the nations of this world.
O'BRIEN: Marine Commander Colonel Stephen Davis talking with this morning. Thanks for your time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: We'll continue to follow that story out of Iraq throughout the day here. In the meantime, 23 minutes before the hour.
I want to talk about a happy ending now. Giacomo was not the only winner in last Saturday's derby. Seven people won Superfecta bets on the race. Those are the bets that picked the first four finishers in the correct order. Each payout was worth more than $860,000, the highest in derby history, and if you placed one of those lucky bets, then you lost the ticket, how would your life be right now? For Chris Hertzog, luck struck twice for him, with some help from Brenda Reagan. Brenda not only sold him the ticket, but saved his life on Sunday morning. Both are with me now live in Phoenix.
Good morning to both of you. How are you doing out there?
BRENDA REAGAN, FOUND LOST TICKET: Good morning.
CHRIS HERTZOG, SUPERFECTA WINNER: Good morning.
HEMMER: Listen, in the interest of fair disclosure here, I was a skeptic on the story when I heard it yesterday. You know, you go to the track, you get your ticket, you have this great win and now the ticket's gone.
HERTZOG: Well, it came up. It worked it out, man. It worked out fine.
HEMMER: I would say it did.
Yes, Chris, take me back now. You picked the first four winners of this horse, right -- of this race rather, but that's a computer- generated, or did you go ahead and pick the horses?
HERTZOG: No, no. It was super quick picks, that I just -- give me $100 quick picks, and the computer helped me out a little bit.
HEMMER: How'd you lose the ticket?
HERTZOG: Well, actually it kind of fell behind the computer. I didn't really lose it. They got printed out so fast that the winning ticket, the 100th ticket, fell behind Brenda's computer, and she was lucky enough to find it the next day.
HEMMER: So you never had the ticket then, is that what you're saying?
HERTZOG: Basically, yes. I thought I had it -- well, yes, exactly, I didn't have the ticket.
HEMMER: Now I read about, you know, after the race you went back around to the area you were sitting, and I guess, what, the janitor came through and cleaned everything up, is that right?
HERTZOG: Well, no, not really. All -- some friends of mine who I was with and Jerry Sims (ph) and his management team, they helped to get all the trash bags in the second-floor clubhouse, and we took them down to the mechanical room and we had some assistance trying to go through the tickets, couldn't find it, and it came up the next day. So it all worked out, man.
HEMMER: How was Saturday night for you in the meantime? Because the word didn't come down until the next morning.
HERTZOG: I rolled around in bed quite often, but I got some sleep.
HEMMER: Let me talk to Brenda. Brenda, where was this ticket? Help me understand this cash register and where you found it.
REAGAN: It's actually a mutual telling machine, and the ticket had fallen out on the side of the machine because I'd punched out 100 tickets for Chris, and a couple of tickets apparently had fallen over to the side.
HEMMER: Is that common?
REAGAN: It can happen, especially when you're doing multiple tickets like that. It has happened in the prior past.
HEMMER: So Sunday, what time did you show up for works are then?
REAGAN: I'm sorry?
HEMMER: On Sunday morning, what time did you so up for work?
REAGAN: I showed up about 10:30.
HEMMER: And did you know Chris had bought this ticket?
REAGAN: I did. I knew as soon as the guys in the tote room had told me that I was the one who printed out the winning ticket, I knew automatically that it was Chris.
HEMMER: That is funny.
So you found it. Were you ecstatic? What was your reaction?
REAGAN: Well, first I was amazed, because I looked down and I was placing a bet for another customer, and I happened just to glance in the side of my machine and saw two Churchill tickets from race 10 and thought, wow, that's weird. So I picked up the tickets, and I turned around and asked my customers who exactly came in the Kentucky Derby, and they were telling me, and I started shaking and I said oh, my God, I found Chris's ticket.
HEMMER: Wow. So, Chris, I got to tell you, man, I think Brenda deserves a take in this.
HERTZOG: Yes.
HEMMER: How much of the 860 grand are you going to give her?
HERTZOG: Well, you know what, we worked something out, and right now we need to just -- that's between us right now.
HEMMER: OK.
You've got three kids, right, Chris?
HERTZOG: I have three beautiful young boys.
HEMMER: Yes. What are you going to do with that money?
HERTZOG: Well, I'm going to go to Dallas and see my best friend Clayton Wiggly (ph).
Hi, Clayton.
And also, I'm going to go to Montana and go fly fishing. I think I'm going to go fly fishing.
HEMMER: All right, enjoy that.
Hey, good luck to both of you. And thanks for sharing your story.
HERTZOG: Thanks. Have a good day.
REAGAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Chris Hertzog -- you do the same. Brenda Reagan out there in Phoenix.
Here is one horse you will not bet on the next race, the Preakness. You will not see the derby-favorite Bellamy Road soon. Apparently he has an injured bone in his left front knee. He'll miss the Preakness, miss the Belmont. The injury not considered career threatening, which is good news for the owner, George Steinbrenner. Bellamy Road expected to be back in action by late August, but clearly a disappointment this past weekend -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That ticket story is still an unbelievable story.
Coming up in just a moment, meet the investigator who makes sure that "CSI Miami" stays true to reality. Sanjay goes behind the scenes in "House Call."
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This week in a series of special reports, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is showing us how the work of crime scene detectives has inspired the "CSI" television dramas. As Sanjay tells us, with the help of a former Los Angeles forensics examiner, the "CSI" producers are keeping it real.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A quick rehearsal.
And, action!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Whoa, man, what the hell are you doing.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You've been lying to me for months.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't be stupid, put the gun down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's what a day on the job looks like for Elizabeth Devine, in the middle of the Florida Everglades followed by a CNN news crew.
For this show, the "CSI" crew set fire to the Everglades, a controlled burn with real firefighters standing by. They go to great heights to get the shot, as airboats race by below.
Check out the finished product, the chase scene.
The story is fictional drama, a serial killer on the loose, but parts of it inspired by real life, and Devine's days as a top-notch criminalist.
LIZ DEVINE, PRODUCER, "CSI MIAMI": OK, good.
GUPTA: She works closely with the director and the actors giving them advice from the field.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want it to seem like that guy's going to be the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut! next!
GUPTA: The labs on "CSI" and "CSI Miami" are modeled on this, the L.A. County sheriff's crime lab.
DEVINE: So this is my old stomping grounds.
GUPTA: For 15 years, Elizabeth worked on high-profile and often grisly cases. DEVINE: This was a bloodstain on his shirt, and I was able to prove that it was the victim's handprint, and the victim grabbed his shirt while she was still alive.
GUPTA (on camera): She grabbed it while he was stabbing her.
DEVINE: She grabbed it, and grabbed it like that.
GUPTA: Especially with the blood spatter and the whole (INAUDIBLE).
DEVINE: Yes. Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): She says that while she doesn't miss dealing with the tragedies or the long hours, the adrenaline rush was hard to give up.
DEVINE: When you get out there and you find the key piece of evidence, it's so exciting because you know this is it. This is the piece of evidence that's going to tell me who did it.
GUPTA (on camera): A lot of "CSI," the original "CSI," is based on some of the stuff you worked on here, and you saw here in the crime lab here.
DEVINE: My whole life is on that show. Everything that happened to me, you know, I would just talk to the writers and we would somehow incorporate little bits, sometimes the whole case into episodes.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: On Sunday you can see a whole hour on the subject in Sanjay's primetime special. It's called anatomy of murder. That's Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: In the meantime, "CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next. Here's Daryn Kagan. What are you working on, Daryn? Good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're talking about bosses, Bill. Lots to talk about there. There are screamers, backstabbers, there are glory seekers, all kinds of bad bosses out there. We'll show you how to recognize and possibly reform your boss.
Also a story about fighting back and winning. This lesson is told through the eyes and fist of a feisty 9-year-old.
And he's a politician who doesn't mind losing. Well, weight, that is. I'll talk with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He has lost more than a hundred pounds. He is talking his fight against obesity nationwide. He has a great story and some great advice.
HEMMER: Her certainly does, a great story. What do you think about those folks out in Phoenix, by the way. Are you buying that story? KAGAN: With the ticket?
HEMMER: Superfecta. Yes, what do you think?
KAGAN: You know, cash it in.
HEMMER: Take the money and run.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
HEMMER: And keep running.
KAGAN: Yes, like the horses.
HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn. See you later.
Wendy's has come up with a tasty new way to thank its loyal customers, this after the chili finger hoax. Andy has the details, the sweet details. That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Wendy's offering some freebies to get some customers back in the shop. That and a check of the markets early on. Here's Andy Serwer.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Best opening bell ever, wasn't it?
HEMMER: Amen.
O'BRIEN: No question.
SERWER: Let's see if we can run that again. We have Jimmy Page at the New York Stock Exchange, 20 minutes ago, opening things up. Oh, there you go.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they cued it up to the end of the music.
SERWER: There you go.
HEMMER: They cued it up to the bell.
O'BRIEN: Imagine, if you will...
SERWER: Yes, right, exactly.
CAFFERTY: All right, three minutes and we get one note and 12 seconds of applause.
SERWER: Maybe tomorrow we'll get REO Speedwagon.
CAFFERTY: Cool.
SERWER: Let's talk about what's going on here. Dreamworks getting killed. "Shrek 2" not the hit they thought it was going to be. Kodak stock is up. Dan Carp (ph), CEO, will be out as of June 1st. No longer swimming upstream against Fuji Film and Digital Photography. Antonio Perez (ph) taking over for him. I heard good things about him.
Yes, Shrek, they thought they were going to sell 40 million units on DVDS, they only did 35 million units.
HEMMER: That's pretty good.
SERWER: And "Madagascar" -- it's huge, but it's just not as huge as they thought. "Madagascar" comes out May 27th. They're hoping they're going to make up some slack there.
Here's a story for Soledad: a couple of kids apparel makers merging. Carter's, they make onesies...
O'BRIEN: Oh, they last forever.
SERWER: ... merging with Osh Kosh B'Gosh. Bill, where's Osh Kosh B'Gosh headquarters?
HEMMER: Wisconsin.
SERWER: Thank you. Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?
HEMMER: No one.
SERWER: Next, on to Wendy's. Wendy's making up to its customers after the chili finger imbroglio. This weekend, will be offering free frosties. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I thought it was going to be free chili or free chicken fingers in the chili. No. It's free frosties to make up for it. Well, they're going to put this behind them. We won't be able to make fun of them anymore.
HEMMER: Hey, do we still get that discount at the Starbucks in honor of Andy Serwer?
CAFFERTY: I think so.
HEMMER: 30 percent off?
SERWER: (INAUDIBLE) talk about that anymore, for some reason.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: Well, that's what Todd said.
HEMMER: Really.
CAFFERTY: You're the Starbucks employee of the week.
O'BRIEN: Then why don't we...
SERWER: Not employee. See that's the...
CAFFERTY: Customer of the week.
SERWER: Customer of the week.
CAFFERTY: Customer of the week, here at Rockefeller Center. And if you go in there and tell them you know Andy Serwer, you get what, 30 percent off?
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: ... right, Andy?
SERWER: How'd I do, Todd?
O'BRIEN: Why don't we just keep going with the "Question of the Day," Jack?
CAFFERTY: Hey, and nice job on the Jimmy Page stuff.
Should United Airlines be -- you know what's wrong? The director's over here? He's sitting right over there. Nobody's driving the boat.
Should United Airlines be allowed to default on its pension obligations? The court said they could do this. 134,000 people are going to be adversely affected by this decision.
Terri in Iowa writes: "My aunt retired two years ago from United. She worked 38 and a half years for them and can barely live on the pension she gets now and is looking for part-time work at 62 just to get by."
Erwin writes: "This is a moral issue. There is no lesser of two evils." The judge in this decision said this is the lesser two of evils, allowing them to default. Erwin says: "There is no lesser of two evils. There's only what is right and what is wrong. If people work long, hard years for something they are promised, they should get it."
And Dave in Florida writes: "If I default on my mortgage, they take my house away. If they don't pay my medical bills, they take my house away. If I don't pay my taxes, they take my house away. When someone bails me out, I might have a little more charitable feeling toward these six-figure morons."
HEMMER: Wow. Amen, Dave. Strong.
If you're one of the 13 people in the planet who have not seen the Rolling Stones in concert, you get another chance. Here's David Haffenreffer. The Stones are going on tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Rolling Stones starting everyone up and strutting their stuff in New York City and "ShowBiz Tonight" was there. 61-year-old Mick Jagger and the ageless band announcing yet another world tour, more than 40 years after the Stones first rocked the world. The tour will kick off at Boston's Fenway Park August 21.
MICK JAGGER, ROLLING STONES: And we're very upbeat about the tour and it's going to be a great summer.
HAFFENREFFER: The media all lined up at the Juilliard School of Music where hundreds of lucky fans heard the band play at a press event, for the first time in nearly 30 years, knocking out three songs, "Start Me Up," "Brown Sugar" and even one diehard fans probably haven't heard yet.
JAGGER: We're going to do a new song for you now that we've just written. So this one's called "Oh No, Not You Again."
HAFFENREFFER: That song is part of a new album, which Jagger says is 85 percent finished.
Thirty-five dates have already been announced in the United States and Canada. The band will then hit Mexico, South America, the Far East and then Europe. A lot of travelling for four guys whose combined age is 242 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Well, later tonight on "SHOWBIZ," 7:00 Eastern, headline prime. We are back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Guess what? We're out of time. That is it...
HEMMER: Fortunately.
O'BRIEN: .. for AMERICAN -- really, fortunately. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan in the CNN Center. Stop it!
HEMMER: Hey, Daryn.
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 May 11, 2005 - 09:30 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. Exactly 9:30 here in New York.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up here, a firsthand account of what's happening in western Iraq. We'll talk by phone with one of the field commanders, leading Marines in that offensive against insurgents there. Four days in the running now for that operation, so we'll talk about it.
O'BRIEN: First, though, let's get a look at the headlines with Kelly Wallace.
Hey, Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Soledad.
Good morning again, everyone.
Now in the news, more than 50 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in a new wave of bombings in Iraq. In Tikrit, A Car bombing going off at a busy intersection where a crowd of Iraqi workers were gathering. Within hours, insurgents set off attacks in five other locations, including a car bombing outside a police station in southern Baghdad. No word on any U.S. casualties.
The father of one of the two girls killed in suburban Chicago is set to appear at a bond hearing this morning. Jerry Hobbs is suspected of stabbing his 8-year-old daughter and her 9-year-old best friend to death on Mother's Day. Hobbs, once arrested for chasing family members with a chainsaw, led police to the girl's bodies. We're expecting to learn more detail on this case after this morning's hearing.
The latest nuclear claim coming from North Korea: North Korea's news agency reported earlier this morning that officials successfully removed 8,000 fuel rods from its main nuclear complex. The step would allow North Koreans to make weapons-grade plutonium. North Korea kicked out international inspectors in late 2002, but the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency believes North Korea could have material for as many as six nuclear weapons.
And an update on a story we've been following out of North Carolina. A Baptist minister accused of kicking out nine members of his congregation for their political beliefs has resigned. Reverend Chan Chandler said his comments had been taken out of context, manipulated and used in a manner that didn't express what he'd said. Some of the reverend supporters cried and vowed to leave the church with him.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, a thousand U.S. troops are in the fourth day of a major offensive against Iraqi insurgents. Operation Matador in the Anbar province is one of the largest missions since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Marine Commander Colonel Stephen Davis told me by phone this morning just how the offensive is proceeding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COL. STEPHEN DAVIS, COMMANDER, MARINE REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM 2: I think it's very effective. Clearly, there have been insurgents and foreign fighters staging in the area north of the Euphrates River and north of Al Qaim (ph). We have all the intelligence that drew us this area, we have not been up there in a while, and we were successful in surprising that enemy, and dispatching of much of them and disrupting the rest of them.
O'BRIEN: How many insurgents were killed? I've read the number's around a hundred. Is that accurate?
DAVIS: The number that's been reported of a hundred is accurate. We do not particularly count the bodies, if you will, because that's a bad metric, I think, to try and judge success by, but those numbers are accurate, and there is probably actually more, but we want to make sure that there is some credibility in what we report in that.
O'BRIEN: There are reports that the insurgents are well prepared, that they seem to be well-equipped. Is that accurate? And can you give me some specifics?
DAVIS: Those reports are credible, particularly up in the town of Ubadi (ph). There were reinforced positions. The enemy, as we expected, comes with a greater level of training, a sense of organization. Clearly they have rehearsed standard-operating procedures, and some of the buildings that we had to fight our way through, they were reinforced positions, well-constructed positions that would lend itself to what we would call a defense and depth. And other areas where we have fought with insurgents, we have seen the insurgents with body armor and a full array of modern gear.
O'BRIEN: And all those things tell you what? That they're coming in over the border? They're foreign fighters?
DAVIS: They're clearly paths that transcend the border, that the foreign fighters are using to come into Iraq. I don't think it's limited to just Syria alone, but it's an expansive region, and there's just not a whole lot of people out here.
O'BRIEN: Are there Iraqi forces fighting beside U.S. forces?
DAVIS: We have very few Iraqi forces with us in this particular fight. We are partnered with some units very, very closely. I am using those right now in other parts of my operations, but we have used the Iraqi forces extensively whenever we've been able to partner with them, and we look forward to doing that so very much more in the future. Their level of training increases, their capability increases relative to that, and they are very interested in contributing to getting their country back on its feet, getting control of their country and walking into the 21st century with the rest of the nations of this world.
O'BRIEN: Marine Commander Colonel Stephen Davis talking with this morning. Thanks for your time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: We'll continue to follow that story out of Iraq throughout the day here. In the meantime, 23 minutes before the hour.
I want to talk about a happy ending now. Giacomo was not the only winner in last Saturday's derby. Seven people won Superfecta bets on the race. Those are the bets that picked the first four finishers in the correct order. Each payout was worth more than $860,000, the highest in derby history, and if you placed one of those lucky bets, then you lost the ticket, how would your life be right now? For Chris Hertzog, luck struck twice for him, with some help from Brenda Reagan. Brenda not only sold him the ticket, but saved his life on Sunday morning. Both are with me now live in Phoenix.
Good morning to both of you. How are you doing out there?
BRENDA REAGAN, FOUND LOST TICKET: Good morning.
CHRIS HERTZOG, SUPERFECTA WINNER: Good morning.
HEMMER: Listen, in the interest of fair disclosure here, I was a skeptic on the story when I heard it yesterday. You know, you go to the track, you get your ticket, you have this great win and now the ticket's gone.
HERTZOG: Well, it came up. It worked it out, man. It worked out fine.
HEMMER: I would say it did.
Yes, Chris, take me back now. You picked the first four winners of this horse, right -- of this race rather, but that's a computer- generated, or did you go ahead and pick the horses?
HERTZOG: No, no. It was super quick picks, that I just -- give me $100 quick picks, and the computer helped me out a little bit.
HEMMER: How'd you lose the ticket?
HERTZOG: Well, actually it kind of fell behind the computer. I didn't really lose it. They got printed out so fast that the winning ticket, the 100th ticket, fell behind Brenda's computer, and she was lucky enough to find it the next day.
HEMMER: So you never had the ticket then, is that what you're saying?
HERTZOG: Basically, yes. I thought I had it -- well, yes, exactly, I didn't have the ticket.
HEMMER: Now I read about, you know, after the race you went back around to the area you were sitting, and I guess, what, the janitor came through and cleaned everything up, is that right?
HERTZOG: Well, no, not really. All -- some friends of mine who I was with and Jerry Sims (ph) and his management team, they helped to get all the trash bags in the second-floor clubhouse, and we took them down to the mechanical room and we had some assistance trying to go through the tickets, couldn't find it, and it came up the next day. So it all worked out, man.
HEMMER: How was Saturday night for you in the meantime? Because the word didn't come down until the next morning.
HERTZOG: I rolled around in bed quite often, but I got some sleep.
HEMMER: Let me talk to Brenda. Brenda, where was this ticket? Help me understand this cash register and where you found it.
REAGAN: It's actually a mutual telling machine, and the ticket had fallen out on the side of the machine because I'd punched out 100 tickets for Chris, and a couple of tickets apparently had fallen over to the side.
HEMMER: Is that common?
REAGAN: It can happen, especially when you're doing multiple tickets like that. It has happened in the prior past.
HEMMER: So Sunday, what time did you show up for works are then?
REAGAN: I'm sorry?
HEMMER: On Sunday morning, what time did you so up for work?
REAGAN: I showed up about 10:30.
HEMMER: And did you know Chris had bought this ticket?
REAGAN: I did. I knew as soon as the guys in the tote room had told me that I was the one who printed out the winning ticket, I knew automatically that it was Chris.
HEMMER: That is funny.
So you found it. Were you ecstatic? What was your reaction?
REAGAN: Well, first I was amazed, because I looked down and I was placing a bet for another customer, and I happened just to glance in the side of my machine and saw two Churchill tickets from race 10 and thought, wow, that's weird. So I picked up the tickets, and I turned around and asked my customers who exactly came in the Kentucky Derby, and they were telling me, and I started shaking and I said oh, my God, I found Chris's ticket.
HEMMER: Wow. So, Chris, I got to tell you, man, I think Brenda deserves a take in this.
HERTZOG: Yes.
HEMMER: How much of the 860 grand are you going to give her?
HERTZOG: Well, you know what, we worked something out, and right now we need to just -- that's between us right now.
HEMMER: OK.
You've got three kids, right, Chris?
HERTZOG: I have three beautiful young boys.
HEMMER: Yes. What are you going to do with that money?
HERTZOG: Well, I'm going to go to Dallas and see my best friend Clayton Wiggly (ph).
Hi, Clayton.
And also, I'm going to go to Montana and go fly fishing. I think I'm going to go fly fishing.
HEMMER: All right, enjoy that.
Hey, good luck to both of you. And thanks for sharing your story.
HERTZOG: Thanks. Have a good day.
REAGAN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Chris Hertzog -- you do the same. Brenda Reagan out there in Phoenix.
Here is one horse you will not bet on the next race, the Preakness. You will not see the derby-favorite Bellamy Road soon. Apparently he has an injured bone in his left front knee. He'll miss the Preakness, miss the Belmont. The injury not considered career threatening, which is good news for the owner, George Steinbrenner. Bellamy Road expected to be back in action by late August, but clearly a disappointment this past weekend -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That ticket story is still an unbelievable story.
Coming up in just a moment, meet the investigator who makes sure that "CSI Miami" stays true to reality. Sanjay goes behind the scenes in "House Call."
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This week in a series of special reports, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is showing us how the work of crime scene detectives has inspired the "CSI" television dramas. As Sanjay tells us, with the help of a former Los Angeles forensics examiner, the "CSI" producers are keeping it real.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A quick rehearsal.
And, action!
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Whoa, man, what the hell are you doing.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You've been lying to me for months.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Don't be stupid, put the gun down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's what a day on the job looks like for Elizabeth Devine, in the middle of the Florida Everglades followed by a CNN news crew.
For this show, the "CSI" crew set fire to the Everglades, a controlled burn with real firefighters standing by. They go to great heights to get the shot, as airboats race by below.
Check out the finished product, the chase scene.
The story is fictional drama, a serial killer on the loose, but parts of it inspired by real life, and Devine's days as a top-notch criminalist.
LIZ DEVINE, PRODUCER, "CSI MIAMI": OK, good.
GUPTA: She works closely with the director and the actors giving them advice from the field.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want it to seem like that guy's going to be the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut! next!
GUPTA: The labs on "CSI" and "CSI Miami" are modeled on this, the L.A. County sheriff's crime lab.
DEVINE: So this is my old stomping grounds.
GUPTA: For 15 years, Elizabeth worked on high-profile and often grisly cases. DEVINE: This was a bloodstain on his shirt, and I was able to prove that it was the victim's handprint, and the victim grabbed his shirt while she was still alive.
GUPTA (on camera): She grabbed it while he was stabbing her.
DEVINE: She grabbed it, and grabbed it like that.
GUPTA: Especially with the blood spatter and the whole (INAUDIBLE).
DEVINE: Yes. Yes.
GUPTA (voice-over): She says that while she doesn't miss dealing with the tragedies or the long hours, the adrenaline rush was hard to give up.
DEVINE: When you get out there and you find the key piece of evidence, it's so exciting because you know this is it. This is the piece of evidence that's going to tell me who did it.
GUPTA (on camera): A lot of "CSI," the original "CSI," is based on some of the stuff you worked on here, and you saw here in the crime lab here.
DEVINE: My whole life is on that show. Everything that happened to me, you know, I would just talk to the writers and we would somehow incorporate little bits, sometimes the whole case into episodes.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: On Sunday you can see a whole hour on the subject in Sanjay's primetime special. It's called anatomy of murder. That's Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: In the meantime, "CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next. Here's Daryn Kagan. What are you working on, Daryn? Good morning.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We're talking about bosses, Bill. Lots to talk about there. There are screamers, backstabbers, there are glory seekers, all kinds of bad bosses out there. We'll show you how to recognize and possibly reform your boss.
Also a story about fighting back and winning. This lesson is told through the eyes and fist of a feisty 9-year-old.
And he's a politician who doesn't mind losing. Well, weight, that is. I'll talk with Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. He has lost more than a hundred pounds. He is talking his fight against obesity nationwide. He has a great story and some great advice.
HEMMER: Her certainly does, a great story. What do you think about those folks out in Phoenix, by the way. Are you buying that story? KAGAN: With the ticket?
HEMMER: Superfecta. Yes, what do you think?
KAGAN: You know, cash it in.
HEMMER: Take the money and run.
KAGAN: Absolutely.
HEMMER: And keep running.
KAGAN: Yes, like the horses.
HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn. See you later.
Wendy's has come up with a tasty new way to thank its loyal customers, this after the chili finger hoax. Andy has the details, the sweet details. That's ahead after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Wendy's offering some freebies to get some customers back in the shop. That and a check of the markets early on. Here's Andy Serwer.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Best opening bell ever, wasn't it?
HEMMER: Amen.
O'BRIEN: No question.
SERWER: Let's see if we can run that again. We have Jimmy Page at the New York Stock Exchange, 20 minutes ago, opening things up. Oh, there you go.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, they cued it up to the end of the music.
SERWER: There you go.
HEMMER: They cued it up to the bell.
O'BRIEN: Imagine, if you will...
SERWER: Yes, right, exactly.
CAFFERTY: All right, three minutes and we get one note and 12 seconds of applause.
SERWER: Maybe tomorrow we'll get REO Speedwagon.
CAFFERTY: Cool.
SERWER: Let's talk about what's going on here. Dreamworks getting killed. "Shrek 2" not the hit they thought it was going to be. Kodak stock is up. Dan Carp (ph), CEO, will be out as of June 1st. No longer swimming upstream against Fuji Film and Digital Photography. Antonio Perez (ph) taking over for him. I heard good things about him.
Yes, Shrek, they thought they were going to sell 40 million units on DVDS, they only did 35 million units.
HEMMER: That's pretty good.
SERWER: And "Madagascar" -- it's huge, but it's just not as huge as they thought. "Madagascar" comes out May 27th. They're hoping they're going to make up some slack there.
Here's a story for Soledad: a couple of kids apparel makers merging. Carter's, they make onesies...
O'BRIEN: Oh, they last forever.
SERWER: ... merging with Osh Kosh B'Gosh. Bill, where's Osh Kosh B'Gosh headquarters?
HEMMER: Wisconsin.
SERWER: Thank you. Who's buried in Grant's Tomb?
HEMMER: No one.
SERWER: Next, on to Wendy's. Wendy's making up to its customers after the chili finger imbroglio. This weekend, will be offering free frosties. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I thought it was going to be free chili or free chicken fingers in the chili. No. It's free frosties to make up for it. Well, they're going to put this behind them. We won't be able to make fun of them anymore.
HEMMER: Hey, do we still get that discount at the Starbucks in honor of Andy Serwer?
CAFFERTY: I think so.
HEMMER: 30 percent off?
SERWER: (INAUDIBLE) talk about that anymore, for some reason.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: Well, that's what Todd said.
HEMMER: Really.
CAFFERTY: You're the Starbucks employee of the week.
O'BRIEN: Then why don't we...
SERWER: Not employee. See that's the...
CAFFERTY: Customer of the week.
SERWER: Customer of the week.
CAFFERTY: Customer of the week, here at Rockefeller Center. And if you go in there and tell them you know Andy Serwer, you get what, 30 percent off?
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: ... right, Andy?
SERWER: How'd I do, Todd?
O'BRIEN: Why don't we just keep going with the "Question of the Day," Jack?
CAFFERTY: Hey, and nice job on the Jimmy Page stuff.
Should United Airlines be -- you know what's wrong? The director's over here? He's sitting right over there. Nobody's driving the boat.
Should United Airlines be allowed to default on its pension obligations? The court said they could do this. 134,000 people are going to be adversely affected by this decision.
Terri in Iowa writes: "My aunt retired two years ago from United. She worked 38 and a half years for them and can barely live on the pension she gets now and is looking for part-time work at 62 just to get by."
Erwin writes: "This is a moral issue. There is no lesser of two evils." The judge in this decision said this is the lesser two of evils, allowing them to default. Erwin says: "There is no lesser of two evils. There's only what is right and what is wrong. If people work long, hard years for something they are promised, they should get it."
And Dave in Florida writes: "If I default on my mortgage, they take my house away. If they don't pay my medical bills, they take my house away. If I don't pay my taxes, they take my house away. When someone bails me out, I might have a little more charitable feeling toward these six-figure morons."
HEMMER: Wow. Amen, Dave. Strong.
If you're one of the 13 people in the planet who have not seen the Rolling Stones in concert, you get another chance. Here's David Haffenreffer. The Stones are going on tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Rolling Stones starting everyone up and strutting their stuff in New York City and "ShowBiz Tonight" was there. 61-year-old Mick Jagger and the ageless band announcing yet another world tour, more than 40 years after the Stones first rocked the world. The tour will kick off at Boston's Fenway Park August 21.
MICK JAGGER, ROLLING STONES: And we're very upbeat about the tour and it's going to be a great summer.
HAFFENREFFER: The media all lined up at the Juilliard School of Music where hundreds of lucky fans heard the band play at a press event, for the first time in nearly 30 years, knocking out three songs, "Start Me Up," "Brown Sugar" and even one diehard fans probably haven't heard yet.
JAGGER: We're going to do a new song for you now that we've just written. So this one's called "Oh No, Not You Again."
HAFFENREFFER: That song is part of a new album, which Jagger says is 85 percent finished.
Thirty-five dates have already been announced in the United States and Canada. The band will then hit Mexico, South America, the Far East and then Europe. A lot of travelling for four guys whose combined age is 242 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Well, later tonight on "SHOWBIZ," 7:00 Eastern, headline prime. We are back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Guess what? We're out of time. That is it...
HEMMER: Fortunately.
O'BRIEN: .. for AMERICAN -- really, fortunately. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan in the CNN Center. Stop it!
HEMMER: Hey, Daryn.
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