[O'brien:] Kobe Bryant still in the news not over staying with the L.A. Lakers this time, but because of today's hearings on the sexual allegations he faces in Colorado. CNN's Adrian Baschuk joining us now live from Eagle with the latest. Hello, Adrian.
[Adrian Baschuk, Cnn Correspondent:] Good afternoon, Miles. Now, earlier this morning, the attorney for the alleged victim revealed in open court that in the past his client has considered dropping the charges against Kobe Bryant altogether. Now, this is the first time we have heard about this. Now, granted, we must say that the case is still moving forward, but he did say in court, quote, "She's considered removing herself from this case when the people who are sworn to protect her rights have failed." Now, that charge coming in light of the fact that the court mistakenly published her name online earlier this year and most recently sent sealed transcripts of last month's rape shield hearing to seven media outlets. Now, the judge originally ordered the seven media outlets to destroy those transcripts, but the issue went to the Colorado Supreme Court. And today, the high court ruled that those transcripts must remain sealed, but not destroyed.
[Craig Silverman, Fmr. Denver Deputy D.a:] I wouldn't be surprised if the media would try to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is sort of an unprecedented prior restraint, and they're telling the judge, "Hurry up and make a detailed rape shield ruling, and maybe some of this issue will be rendered moot."
[Baschuk:] Now, earlier today, the question was: To ban, or not to ban? And that's cameras in the courtroom during trial. Well, now both sides the defense and prosecution have asked the judge to ban the presence of cameras. The D.A., Mark Hurlbert, saying earlier that if cameras were allowed in, it would turn the case into a, quote, "reality show, and turn this case from the People versus Kobe Bryant to 'Survivor in Eagle County'" Miles.
[O'brien:] Adrian Baschuk. Thank you very much. Kyra?
[Phillips:] A new study suggests that eating right protects your brain as you age. Researchers say that green vegetables like broccoli, spinach, romaine lettuce helped women retain memory as they got older. Women eating more veggies in their 60s did better on memory and verbal tests in their 70s than women who didn't That study was presented today at the Alzheimer's Conference. And calling it a problem growing as fast as our waistlines. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson promised an immediate impact now that Medicare will cover obesity as a medical problem. He talked about that change earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
[Tommy Thompson, Health & Human Services Secretary:] The big change is that we've got such a huge problem in America with people that are overweight and obese. 65% of Americans are either in one of those two categories. And the kind of diseases that are affected by obesity such as strokes and heart attacks and some cancers are causing such a tremendous problem, we decided we have to do something about it. And that's why the government has decided to change its policy, Heidi.
[Heidi Collins, Cnn Anchor:] How soon do you think we can expect to actually see this impact on the Medicare coverage?
[Thompson:] Well, you're going to see an impact very quickly, because we're changing the coverage right now. It's going to be based upon individual cases. It's going to be for the first time doctors are going to be able to analyze an individual and find out what sort of treatment he needs he or she needs. And then, they can apply for reimbursement through Medicare. And Medicare will analyze each one of these cases on an individual basis based upon the medical and scientific evidence. We're also going to empanel a group of experts this fall to take a look at the whole subject, to see how we might be able to combat it even more effectively than we have in the past.
[Collins:] You mentioned these weight loss tools. And we've heard a lot in the past oh, gosh several months about gastric bypass and several other different types of different treatments. What do you expect Medicare will cover on the front?
[Thompson:] Well, we're going to be covering things on an individual basis. A doctor is going to analyze somebody that's morbidly obese and decide maybe that they're going to have an operation. And they'll submit that kind of information to Medicare. And we will take a look at it, and more than likely we'll be covering some of those. Because we have such a huge problem $118 billion in America and over 400,000 Americans died last year because of obesity related illnesses. And we want to make sure we start solving this problem. The problem is growing as fast as our waistlines are in America.
[Collins:] Well, that being said, Secretary Thompson, what do you say to critics who are really feeling strongly about taxpayers not having to pay for this type of treatment?
[Thompson:] Well, the problem is that it's such a large problem already; $118 billion is growing faster than tobacco related illnesses. And it's time the government stands up and does everything we possibly can to alert Americans about the problems of obesity. And this is one way in which we can do it. This is not the only thing we're doing. We're having a whole panoply of ideas and things that the government is doing, trying to get people to exercise more, to eat more nutrition foods, more fruits and vegetables and to take into consideration the calorie counts. And so, we're trying to do a lot of things, not just this one thing.
[Collins:] All right. Quickly before we let you go, sir, I want to ask you a little bit about a "TIME" magazine report that is talking about faulty intelligence and the threat that Iraq had weaponized smallpox. That whole threat was overblown, they're saying. Will you continue to push for civilian smallpox vaccinations?
[Thompson:] Oh, we're going to continue to alert Americans about the problem of smallpox. We also, of course, have got in our inventory 400 million doses so that we can vaccinate every man, woman, and child. We put in plans in which if smallpox did break out, we could vaccinate every American within 10 days. So, we're doing all the preparatory work, but we're not actually pushing as hard to vaccinate people at this point in time.
[O'brien:] Well, it may be better to flick than to smash at least when it comes to mosquitoes, that is. That conclusion from researchers who focused on a woman who died in Pennsylvania from a fungal infection. She had been in contact with mosquitoes. The scientist concluded the woman must have swatted the bug, and its body parts were smashed into her skin we're so sorry if you're eating lunch and that caused an infection. They say if a pesky mosquito is in mid bite, flick it away and then feel free to stomp on it with your shod foot, if you like, to get even.
[Phillips:] All right. We're talking about great expectations for a growing genre of chick lit not the gum, but actually chick literature. We'll tell you about that.
[O'brien:] Yes. More important, we're going to talk about iPods.
[Phillip:] iPod. You pray for iPod?
[O'brien:] iPods. Their fans ought to listen up, because those prices which are very high on those iPods; I've been watching them myself, almost like the stock market finally, they are going down. So, you might want to check in on that.
[Phillips:] And don't forget, the top of the hour, the once missing Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun is supposed to come out and talk to reporters. Not going to take questions, though. It's going to be the first time we've heard from him since he surfaced in Lebanon. We're going to bring that to you live.