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American Morning
Four Remaining Candidates Have Final Face-to-Face; Disturbing Revelations About Killings at Columbine
Aired February 27, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's just half past the half hour actually on this AMERICAN MORNING. We're getting some perspective this morning on the Columbine investigation from two sides. Thousands of pieces of evidence were shown to the public this week. In just a minute, we'll have some reaction from the Colorado attorney general as well as the mother of one of the victims.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, if you're trying to win your office Oscar pool, don't fill out the ballot until you hear from our "90 Second Pop" today. They're making their predictions, taking a few dark horses in between. Agree or disagree? Decide for yourself. We'll get the picks from Toure, and Sara and Andy forthcoming.
O'BRIEN: Who knows if they're right, but you know.
HEMMER: Shot in the dark.
O'BRIEN: Let's get to our top stories this morning. California's attorney general is taking the issue of same-sex marriage to the state's top court. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples have married in San Francisco over the past two weeks. Now the focus of the debate shifts to the East Coast. The 26-year-old mayor of a Hudson Valley Village says that several gay and lesbian couples will be married there starting at noon today. The New York State health department says the law does not allow marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
Earlier this morning, Mayor Jason West joined us and challenged the health department's objection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYR. JASON WEST, NEW PALTZ, NEW YORKER: Laws governing marriage in New York State are gender neutral, and the Constitution of New York requires equal protection under those laws. If they read article III, section 25, they'll see that a marriage license is not required for a marriage to be legal, and I have a moral obligation, I took an oath of office last June to uphold the constitution of the state, and I intend to so today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Mayor West says the village will cap marriages at 12 for today, but will invite couples to sign a waiting list on the village's Web site. A new colon cancer drug has gotten the green light by the FDA. The drug Evastin (ph) works by starving a tumor of blood. It's approved for patients whose disease has spread to other parts of the body.
The longest supermarket strike in the nation's history may be nearing an end. Seventy-thousand Grocery workers in Southern California will decide whether to accept a tentative agreement this weekend. If a majority of the works agree with contract, many could be back at midweek, ending the 4 1/2 month strike.
O'BRIEN: Also in California, from heavy rains to snow to swelling waves, the northern part of the Golden State was doused with more wet and windy weather yesterday as the winter storm brought some huge waves as well. Swells were three times higher than usual and kept some of the kayakers and surfers at home.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
HEMMER: Busy weekend of campaigning for the Democratic candidates now that Super Tuesday is only four days and counting. Ten states hold contests next week. All told, 1,151 convention delegates at stake in one day. The four remaining candidates had their final face-to-face showdown last night in L.A. You saw it live on CNN.
Here's Frank Buckley this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a decidedly civilized clash between the front-runner, Senator John Kerry, and his biggest challenger, Senator John Edwards.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a good man. He's a candidate. He'd make a good president.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think John has run a terrific campaign, and he and I are friends.
BUCKLEY: But for Senator Edwards, it was not the breakout moment many political observers believe he needs if he's to surge on Super Tuesday.
Edwards pointed out differences with Kerry, but he didn't charge after him.
EDWARDS: Do you believe that change is more likely to be brought about by someone who's spent 20 years in Washington or by someone who's more of an outsider to this process.
BUCKLEY: Senator was already aiming at President Bush.
KERRY: He is trying to divide America. He's trying to divide America.
BUCKLEY: Kerry's view on the president's proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
KERRY: This is a president who always tries to create a cultural war and seek the lowest common denominator in American politics, because he can't come to America to talk about jobs.
BUCKLEY: Long shots Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton also had their say.
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's make a constitutional amendment against presidents that lie. Let's deal with the whole truth.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the voice for getting out of Iraq, for universal single parent health care, for getting out of NAFTA and the WTO.
BUCKLEY: But the attention was on Edwards and Kerry, sitting side by side, like a ticket?
EDWARDS: I think an Edwards/Kerry ticket would be powerful.
KERRY: I want to thank him for the consideration. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry wouldn't commit to putting Senator Edwards on his short list of possible VPs if he wins the nomination. He says, Bill, that he doesn't have a list yet -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Frank. Frank Buckley in L.A. Super Tuesday results liver here 7:00 Eastern Time, Tuesday night. We've got you covered there.
O'BRIEN: A report from the Colorado attorney general includes disturbing revelations about the killings at Columbine High School in 1999. It says that two years before the massacre, authorities had two great contacts with gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and at least 13 complaints or questions about them. A display of the evidence related to the massacre was made public yesterday. The contacts between authorities and the killers have led some victims' parents to question why officials did not intervene before the shootings.
Earlier this morning we spoke to Colorado's attorney general Ken Salazar, and he tried to explain why some clues were missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN SALALZAR, COLORADO ATTY. GEN.: When you go back through all of the events that happened before April 20th of '99, you'll find that there were a number of efforts on the part of law enforcement to try to understand what was going on. There were meetings in the Brown home. There were meetings in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, and there was an effort on the part of law enforcement to find out whether or not there was enough evidence to then go after Eric Harris at that time. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Dawn Anna Townsend's daughter, Lauren, was among those who were killed in the Columbine High School massacre. And Dawn joins us this morning from Denver to talk about the attorney general's report.
Nice to have you. Thank you for being with us this morning.
As you heard from the attorney general, he said that lots of effort was put in on behalf of the sheriff's department and law enforcement officials. He has also said that he does not intend to close this investigation until some missing pieces are brought in to his investigation. What more would you like to hear from him? What did he not say that didn't satisfy you yesterday?
DAWN ANNA TOWNSEND, MOTHER OF COLUMBINE VICTIM: Well, I think that was the most encouraging thing that he said to me yesterday, was that it was not closed. I was a little concerned that I might hear that, and I did not, because there are a lot of unanswered questions.
O'BRIEN: What would you have liked him to say in addition to that? Where did you think he wasn't strong enough?
TOWNSEND: Well, I need to say, first and foremost, that Ken Salazar has been the absolutely brightest light in all of this darkness, because he has never left the sides of the victims' families. He has never left the sides of the Columbine 2,000 victims, because we need not forget that there were many victims that day. And Ken Salazar has been our bright and shiny beacon of hope.
Governor Owens has not stood by our sides. Governor Owens has left us. The last I heard from him was April 25th of '99 when he promised to get to the bottom of it.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's department has not been by our sides. The court systems, the judges have not allowed any suits to go to court where we could subpoena people. Chief Justice Ericson (ph), who headed Governor Owens' commission, was very frustrated in the fact that Governor Owens did not give him subpoena power so we could have some of these key players come to the forefront and testify.
O'BRIEN: So you've met walls, to some degree? In every single turn, you've come against roadblocks?
TOWNSEND: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: I know that you took the report home, because you really wanted to be able to read it. Give me a sense of what it was like to know in great detail and great depth exactly what happened that day, or to the greatest ability possible?
TOWNSEND: Well, it is detailed. Michael Goodby (ph) is another man who needs to be applauded for his efforts on this. But all of them have admitted that it is a narrow report, because they have focused on the '97 report by Aaron Brown and Judy and Randy Brown before the Columbine massacre. And I have to admit to you that yesterday was a very, very overwhelming day for me, and that did not get through all of the report because it was quite tedious reading and overwhelming reading for me.
O'BRIEN: I one can only imagine. The report also details many balls dropped.
TOWNSEND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean, we talked a little bit about that report and the search warrant that was issued in 1998, but then of course never actually executed. I have to wonder just how painful that is for you to know in depth some of these details.
TOWNSEND: And that is why I am still waiting for the report, dealing with Kickbush (ph), dealing with Dunnaway (ph), dealing with Stone. Stone has never come to the plate. I am encouraged by Sheriff Mink. Salazar now has someone in Sheriff Mink who is willing to help him instead of the term stonewall in his efforts to get to some of these answers.
But yes, that's quite a frustrating, painful -- it's not a revelation, because we have known about that search warrant for quite a long time. But you know, the many, many, many ifs. The Browns, seeing how many times the browns tried to warn the sheriff's department that these two were dangerous. And it leads me to, as a concerned citizen, if I see right now individuals in my community that I deem as dangerous, there were no fewer than 10 contacts that the Browns made to the sheriff's department. What more could I do to alert a sheriff's department that I am seeing dangerous boys, dangerous children that might potentially do some horrible things? What more can I do to alert them that there's trouble here?
O'BRIEN: Dawn Anna Townsend's daughter, Lauren, was killed in the Columbine massacre. We thank you for your time this morning.
TOWNSEND: Thank you so much for having me, and I do applaud the press. The press was asking some incredible questions, and I thank them all for being there yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Thank your for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Five years later. That story never gets easier.
In a moment, new numbers out about the economy. Andy has a look at how the markets are reacting to that, in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And who will take home Hollywood's top prizes on Sunday? We're going to try to predict the winners in "90 Second Pop." That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Who is going to take home the Oscar gold on Sunday night? "90-Second Pop" panel not usually up early on a Friday, but then again we pay them. Predictions to be made.
Humorist Andy Borowitz is back.
Nice to see you, Drew (ph).
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good to be here.
HEMMER: Double shot of you today, by the way.
"New York" magazine contributing editor Sarah Bernard, back with us.
Nice to see you, Sarah. Good morning.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: You, too.
HEMMER: And Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone." You didn't like the tunes?
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: No, I not like the tunes.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like your shirt.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Are we starting to like that, Bill?
HEMMER: Yes, we are.
TOURE: OK.
HEMMER: Best picture, what do you like?
BOROWITZ: You know, I won't win an Oscar pool by saying this, but if it were the Andy awards, I would say "Lost in Translation." I think that...
HEMMER: Really, with Bill Murray?
BOROWITZ: Yes, I thought that was the...
HEMMER: Best picture.
BOROWITZ: That was the best picture I saw this year.
TOURE: The best picture of the year?
BOROWITZ: Yes. Well, I don't get out very much. But also, I thought, no, you know, the Coppola family tradition. Sofia Coppola is completely transporting movies.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: And the first credit at the end of that film goes to her father. I picked that up.
BERNARD: Oh, I think...
HEMMER: What about you, Sarah?
BERNARD: I totally disagree.
HEMMER: How so?
BERNARD: In the real Oscar pool, I think it's going to be lost -- I mean, I think it's going to be "Lord of the Rings," because basically it's three Oscars in one. They didn't get to give it to them the first time or the second time. And this is really saying that the entire trilogy is worthy of it. And it's such a big film. "Lost in Translation" is too small. They like to give it to things with big budgets, big stars...
HEMMER: So, this is when "Lord of the Rings" is anointed, you're thinking then.
BERNARD: Exactly. And, you know, there are so many people...
TOURE: Let me help you out.
BOROWITZ: I think you're right about that.
BERNARD: You disagree?
TOURE: Let me help you out. Tim Robbins is going to win supporting actor. Sean Penn is going to be the big actor. "Mystic River" is going to steal the night.
HEMMER: Best film?
TOURE: Just like the Patriots. The Red Sox can't do it.
BERNARD: It's too small.
TOURE: "Mystic River."
HEMMER: Why do you think that movie had the most impact? There was nothing good in that film, by the way.
TOURE: Nothing...
HEMMER: It was depressing from the beginning until the end.
TOURE: Yes, but we like it searing and powerful, and Sean Penn is burning through the screen. Oh, yes!
HEMMER: Don't you think -- "Lord of the Rings" I thought was going to win for best sound editing for a feature-length film involving at least the final film in a trilogy. Isn't that a category?
BERNARD: That is a category. It's new this year. HEMMER: "Master and Commander?" "Seabiscuit?" No?
TOURE: Oh!
BERNARD: Not a lot of people saw them.
TOURE: Whew!
HEMMER: What about best actress, who do you like?
BERNARD: Charlize.
HEMMER: You do.
BERNARD: I do. I think that this is some kind of performance where the pretty girls show their humility and they transform themselves. It's just like when Nicole Kidman won for "Virginia Woolf," and she had the prosthetic nose. It's like when Hilary Swank (ph) won for "Boys Don't Cry." Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball."
HEMMER: Yes.
BERNARD: There is a kind of tradition...
TOURE: Here's the thing. Most of the people in the academy are older, right? Diane Keaton, gets naked, big film, big funny.
BERNARD: It's a comedy.
TOURE: You'll win your Oscar pool if you go for the upset, Diane Keaton.
BOROWITZ: I would say no. Charlize, because the Oscars are still the only place in America where women are rewarded for gaining weight. I really do feel that way. I really do.
HEMMER: Because Oscar likes it.
BOROWITZ: And Soledad would agree with that.
BERNARD: So true. There you go.
TOURE: Is that true?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: What about best actor?
BERNARD: Bill Murray.
TOURE: It's got to be Sean Penn. It's got to be Sean Penn.
HEMMER: Really?
TOURE: Yes, burning through the screen, powerful.
BOROWITZ: Yes, they've already voted. You don't have to keep campaigning. No, I think the...
TOURE: No, the Oscar pool, I'm telling you how to win your Oscar pool.
BOROWITZ: OK. No, if there's any...
BERNARD: They don't like Sean Penn.
BOROWITZ: You know, in the SAG (ph) awards, I guess there was an upset, because it was actually Johnny Depp...
TOURE: Yes.
BOROWITZ: ... for the SAG (ph) awards, but I voted for Bill Murray. I think Bill Murray should get it.
HEMMER: So, we've got two for Bill Murray, because you like him, too.
BERNARD: Bill Murray, yes. And also, not just do I like Bill Murray, I don't think the academy likes Sean Penn. He doesn't play the game. He doesn't show up to things.
TOURE: Nobody likes Bill Murray either.
BERNARD: He doesn't campaign. He doesn't do any of that kind of Hollywood stuff that they like to see.
TOURE: Bill Murray is a jerk in the town. I mean, a great guy, but he's not liked.
HEMMER: Is that his reputation?
TOURE: Yes, Sean and Bill are both not liked. Yes, absolutely.
BERNARD: Well, you know what else? He did a great job in "Rushmore," and he didn't win, and I think people are going to try to give him this because of that.
HEMMER: A couple of wild cards quickly. The Janet effect is in place on Sunday night. ABC is going to have a five-second delay.
BOROWITZ: Which is unbelievable, because that show is long enough as it is.
HEMMER: Thank you, Sarah. See you a bit later, Andy. Nice to see you here as well.
Here's Soledad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come this morning, the chairman of a well-known gun company steps down. You won't believe why. Andy Serwer's going to tell you in just a few moments.
AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody. Why the chairman of a major gunmaker is under fire. For that, plus the market open, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning. Pretty remarkable story. But let's actually start with the market.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'll do that. And the watchword is, the watch phrase is better than expected. That's what we got this morning from the stock market and from the economy. GDP grew 1.4 percent, revised upwards. That's nice. And the market says we like that, and the Dow's up 34 points. We're across the board with the other indexes as well.
Just a quick note, Martha Stewart walking into court this morning set off the metal detector causing a little bit of a buzz with her watch.
O'BRIEN: The watch?
SERWER: Yes, yes, kind of A big one probably. Anyway, more on that later probably. Let's talk -- this is a remarkable, remarkable story. Forget about Michael Eisner. Forget about Dick Grasso, all these other CEOs. Let's talk about the chairman of Smith & Wesson, the venerable gunmaker, resigning. Looked like this guy James Minter had things going pretty well, 74 years old, becomes chairman of the company in January. Questions started coming up about this guy's past. Turns out that back in the 1950s and 1960s, he did 15 years in Michigan prisons for committing a string of armed robberies. OK, let's get this right, the chairman of the gun company did time in prison for committing a string of armed robberies. It gets even better. Turns out he was pulling the jobs while he was a student, a journalism student at the University of Michigan by day, doing the robberies at night, tried to break out of prison. After he did his time, he founded an agency to reform wayward youths. That was fine. When he became chairman, they asked him, anything we should know about, did you commit securities fraud any time over the past 20 years? He said no. And they said why didn't you tell them about the armed robberies? He said, no one even asked.
O'BRIEN: I could say why he wouldn't want to necessarily volunteer that.
SERWER: It's interested, I mean, he did the time.
HEMMER: What a resume for that guy. Convicted and everything?
O'BRIEN: Tried to break out of prison?
SERWER: The whole deal.
HEMMER: Question of the day. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The question this morning is whether Congress should pass something called the Unborn Victims of Violence act. In a nutshell, it would mean this. If you harm a pregnant woman, you would be charged with not one, but two crimes, one against her and one against the fetus she's carrying. People who are afraid for the future of abortion rights think it might be the beginning of a way to eventually overturn Roe V. Wade.
Sandra in Barnegan (ph), New Jersey writes this: "Americans, you got to love them. They're so busy watching 'Fear Factor,' they don't have a clue the moral police are silently setting up a real life fear factor of eroding civil rights. If Americans don't get their heads of their collective sandboxes, they're going to find themselves transported back to the idyllic 1950s, when poor women died in back alleys, and rich women discreetly vacationed in countries where abortions were legal.
Tim in Quaker Hill, Connecticut. "Yes, Congress should pass it. Unborn people are people, too. That's the issue. It's incumbent upon those who disagree to show that the unborn are not people."
Charlie in Brooklyn writes this: "You can dress a pig in a tutu, but it is still a dancing pig. This bill would deliver on a platter what the religious right has been trying to get done for decades. How stupid do they think we are? And the nerve to use that tragedy in California to sneak the bill through, referring to the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.
Join us this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." Entrepreneurs from India an China are not the only ones who are helping to pull jobs out of this country. We have found Americans who are setting up shops overseas, catering to U.S. companies that are exporting jobs. "IN THE MONEY" runs Saturday at 1:00 Eastern, Sunday at 3:00 Eastern. We invite you to join us.
HEMMER: We'd never miss it. How could we? It would not be a weekend without it.
O'BRIEN: Never, never, never.
HEMMER: So what time are you going to be over?
Coming up here on CNN, the stars are getting ready to walk the red carpet on Sunday. Daryn is in Hollywood. We'll hear from her, next hour on CNN LIVE TODAY. Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Disturbing Revelations About Killings at Columbine>
Aired February 27, 2004 - 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: It's just half past the half hour actually on this AMERICAN MORNING. We're getting some perspective this morning on the Columbine investigation from two sides. Thousands of pieces of evidence were shown to the public this week. In just a minute, we'll have some reaction from the Colorado attorney general as well as the mother of one of the victims.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, if you're trying to win your office Oscar pool, don't fill out the ballot until you hear from our "90 Second Pop" today. They're making their predictions, taking a few dark horses in between. Agree or disagree? Decide for yourself. We'll get the picks from Toure, and Sara and Andy forthcoming.
O'BRIEN: Who knows if they're right, but you know.
HEMMER: Shot in the dark.
O'BRIEN: Let's get to our top stories this morning. California's attorney general is taking the issue of same-sex marriage to the state's top court. Thousands of gay and lesbian couples have married in San Francisco over the past two weeks. Now the focus of the debate shifts to the East Coast. The 26-year-old mayor of a Hudson Valley Village says that several gay and lesbian couples will be married there starting at noon today. The New York State health department says the law does not allow marriage licenses for same-sex couples.
Earlier this morning, Mayor Jason West joined us and challenged the health department's objection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYR. JASON WEST, NEW PALTZ, NEW YORKER: Laws governing marriage in New York State are gender neutral, and the Constitution of New York requires equal protection under those laws. If they read article III, section 25, they'll see that a marriage license is not required for a marriage to be legal, and I have a moral obligation, I took an oath of office last June to uphold the constitution of the state, and I intend to so today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Mayor West says the village will cap marriages at 12 for today, but will invite couples to sign a waiting list on the village's Web site. A new colon cancer drug has gotten the green light by the FDA. The drug Evastin (ph) works by starving a tumor of blood. It's approved for patients whose disease has spread to other parts of the body.
The longest supermarket strike in the nation's history may be nearing an end. Seventy-thousand Grocery workers in Southern California will decide whether to accept a tentative agreement this weekend. If a majority of the works agree with contract, many could be back at midweek, ending the 4 1/2 month strike.
O'BRIEN: Also in California, from heavy rains to snow to swelling waves, the northern part of the Golden State was doused with more wet and windy weather yesterday as the winter storm brought some huge waves as well. Swells were three times higher than usual and kept some of the kayakers and surfers at home.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
HEMMER: Busy weekend of campaigning for the Democratic candidates now that Super Tuesday is only four days and counting. Ten states hold contests next week. All told, 1,151 convention delegates at stake in one day. The four remaining candidates had their final face-to-face showdown last night in L.A. You saw it live on CNN.
Here's Frank Buckley this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a decidedly civilized clash between the front-runner, Senator John Kerry, and his biggest challenger, Senator John Edwards.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a good man. He's a candidate. He'd make a good president.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think John has run a terrific campaign, and he and I are friends.
BUCKLEY: But for Senator Edwards, it was not the breakout moment many political observers believe he needs if he's to surge on Super Tuesday.
Edwards pointed out differences with Kerry, but he didn't charge after him.
EDWARDS: Do you believe that change is more likely to be brought about by someone who's spent 20 years in Washington or by someone who's more of an outsider to this process.
BUCKLEY: Senator was already aiming at President Bush.
KERRY: He is trying to divide America. He's trying to divide America.
BUCKLEY: Kerry's view on the president's proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
KERRY: This is a president who always tries to create a cultural war and seek the lowest common denominator in American politics, because he can't come to America to talk about jobs.
BUCKLEY: Long shots Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton also had their say.
REV. AL SHARPTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's make a constitutional amendment against presidents that lie. Let's deal with the whole truth.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the voice for getting out of Iraq, for universal single parent health care, for getting out of NAFTA and the WTO.
BUCKLEY: But the attention was on Edwards and Kerry, sitting side by side, like a ticket?
EDWARDS: I think an Edwards/Kerry ticket would be powerful.
KERRY: I want to thank him for the consideration. I appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry wouldn't commit to putting Senator Edwards on his short list of possible VPs if he wins the nomination. He says, Bill, that he doesn't have a list yet -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Frank. Frank Buckley in L.A. Super Tuesday results liver here 7:00 Eastern Time, Tuesday night. We've got you covered there.
O'BRIEN: A report from the Colorado attorney general includes disturbing revelations about the killings at Columbine High School in 1999. It says that two years before the massacre, authorities had two great contacts with gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, and at least 13 complaints or questions about them. A display of the evidence related to the massacre was made public yesterday. The contacts between authorities and the killers have led some victims' parents to question why officials did not intervene before the shootings.
Earlier this morning we spoke to Colorado's attorney general Ken Salazar, and he tried to explain why some clues were missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN SALALZAR, COLORADO ATTY. GEN.: When you go back through all of the events that happened before April 20th of '99, you'll find that there were a number of efforts on the part of law enforcement to try to understand what was going on. There were meetings in the Brown home. There were meetings in the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, and there was an effort on the part of law enforcement to find out whether or not there was enough evidence to then go after Eric Harris at that time. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Dawn Anna Townsend's daughter, Lauren, was among those who were killed in the Columbine High School massacre. And Dawn joins us this morning from Denver to talk about the attorney general's report.
Nice to have you. Thank you for being with us this morning.
As you heard from the attorney general, he said that lots of effort was put in on behalf of the sheriff's department and law enforcement officials. He has also said that he does not intend to close this investigation until some missing pieces are brought in to his investigation. What more would you like to hear from him? What did he not say that didn't satisfy you yesterday?
DAWN ANNA TOWNSEND, MOTHER OF COLUMBINE VICTIM: Well, I think that was the most encouraging thing that he said to me yesterday, was that it was not closed. I was a little concerned that I might hear that, and I did not, because there are a lot of unanswered questions.
O'BRIEN: What would you have liked him to say in addition to that? Where did you think he wasn't strong enough?
TOWNSEND: Well, I need to say, first and foremost, that Ken Salazar has been the absolutely brightest light in all of this darkness, because he has never left the sides of the victims' families. He has never left the sides of the Columbine 2,000 victims, because we need not forget that there were many victims that day. And Ken Salazar has been our bright and shiny beacon of hope.
Governor Owens has not stood by our sides. Governor Owens has left us. The last I heard from him was April 25th of '99 when he promised to get to the bottom of it.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's department has not been by our sides. The court systems, the judges have not allowed any suits to go to court where we could subpoena people. Chief Justice Ericson (ph), who headed Governor Owens' commission, was very frustrated in the fact that Governor Owens did not give him subpoena power so we could have some of these key players come to the forefront and testify.
O'BRIEN: So you've met walls, to some degree? In every single turn, you've come against roadblocks?
TOWNSEND: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: I know that you took the report home, because you really wanted to be able to read it. Give me a sense of what it was like to know in great detail and great depth exactly what happened that day, or to the greatest ability possible?
TOWNSEND: Well, it is detailed. Michael Goodby (ph) is another man who needs to be applauded for his efforts on this. But all of them have admitted that it is a narrow report, because they have focused on the '97 report by Aaron Brown and Judy and Randy Brown before the Columbine massacre. And I have to admit to you that yesterday was a very, very overwhelming day for me, and that did not get through all of the report because it was quite tedious reading and overwhelming reading for me.
O'BRIEN: I one can only imagine. The report also details many balls dropped.
TOWNSEND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: I mean, we talked a little bit about that report and the search warrant that was issued in 1998, but then of course never actually executed. I have to wonder just how painful that is for you to know in depth some of these details.
TOWNSEND: And that is why I am still waiting for the report, dealing with Kickbush (ph), dealing with Dunnaway (ph), dealing with Stone. Stone has never come to the plate. I am encouraged by Sheriff Mink. Salazar now has someone in Sheriff Mink who is willing to help him instead of the term stonewall in his efforts to get to some of these answers.
But yes, that's quite a frustrating, painful -- it's not a revelation, because we have known about that search warrant for quite a long time. But you know, the many, many, many ifs. The Browns, seeing how many times the browns tried to warn the sheriff's department that these two were dangerous. And it leads me to, as a concerned citizen, if I see right now individuals in my community that I deem as dangerous, there were no fewer than 10 contacts that the Browns made to the sheriff's department. What more could I do to alert a sheriff's department that I am seeing dangerous boys, dangerous children that might potentially do some horrible things? What more can I do to alert them that there's trouble here?
O'BRIEN: Dawn Anna Townsend's daughter, Lauren, was killed in the Columbine massacre. We thank you for your time this morning.
TOWNSEND: Thank you so much for having me, and I do applaud the press. The press was asking some incredible questions, and I thank them all for being there yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Thank your for that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Five years later. That story never gets easier.
In a moment, new numbers out about the economy. Andy has a look at how the markets are reacting to that, in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And who will take home Hollywood's top prizes on Sunday? We're going to try to predict the winners in "90 Second Pop." That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Who is going to take home the Oscar gold on Sunday night? "90-Second Pop" panel not usually up early on a Friday, but then again we pay them. Predictions to be made.
Humorist Andy Borowitz is back.
Nice to see you, Drew (ph).
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Good to be here.
HEMMER: Double shot of you today, by the way.
"New York" magazine contributing editor Sarah Bernard, back with us.
Nice to see you, Sarah. Good morning.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: You, too.
HEMMER: And Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone." You didn't like the tunes?
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: No, I not like the tunes.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like your shirt.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: Are we starting to like that, Bill?
HEMMER: Yes, we are.
TOURE: OK.
HEMMER: Best picture, what do you like?
BOROWITZ: You know, I won't win an Oscar pool by saying this, but if it were the Andy awards, I would say "Lost in Translation." I think that...
HEMMER: Really, with Bill Murray?
BOROWITZ: Yes, I thought that was the...
HEMMER: Best picture.
BOROWITZ: That was the best picture I saw this year.
TOURE: The best picture of the year?
BOROWITZ: Yes. Well, I don't get out very much. But also, I thought, no, you know, the Coppola family tradition. Sofia Coppola is completely transporting movies.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: And the first credit at the end of that film goes to her father. I picked that up.
BERNARD: Oh, I think...
HEMMER: What about you, Sarah?
BERNARD: I totally disagree.
HEMMER: How so?
BERNARD: In the real Oscar pool, I think it's going to be lost -- I mean, I think it's going to be "Lord of the Rings," because basically it's three Oscars in one. They didn't get to give it to them the first time or the second time. And this is really saying that the entire trilogy is worthy of it. And it's such a big film. "Lost in Translation" is too small. They like to give it to things with big budgets, big stars...
HEMMER: So, this is when "Lord of the Rings" is anointed, you're thinking then.
BERNARD: Exactly. And, you know, there are so many people...
TOURE: Let me help you out.
BOROWITZ: I think you're right about that.
BERNARD: You disagree?
TOURE: Let me help you out. Tim Robbins is going to win supporting actor. Sean Penn is going to be the big actor. "Mystic River" is going to steal the night.
HEMMER: Best film?
TOURE: Just like the Patriots. The Red Sox can't do it.
BERNARD: It's too small.
TOURE: "Mystic River."
HEMMER: Why do you think that movie had the most impact? There was nothing good in that film, by the way.
TOURE: Nothing...
HEMMER: It was depressing from the beginning until the end.
TOURE: Yes, but we like it searing and powerful, and Sean Penn is burning through the screen. Oh, yes!
HEMMER: Don't you think -- "Lord of the Rings" I thought was going to win for best sound editing for a feature-length film involving at least the final film in a trilogy. Isn't that a category?
BERNARD: That is a category. It's new this year. HEMMER: "Master and Commander?" "Seabiscuit?" No?
TOURE: Oh!
BERNARD: Not a lot of people saw them.
TOURE: Whew!
HEMMER: What about best actress, who do you like?
BERNARD: Charlize.
HEMMER: You do.
BERNARD: I do. I think that this is some kind of performance where the pretty girls show their humility and they transform themselves. It's just like when Nicole Kidman won for "Virginia Woolf," and she had the prosthetic nose. It's like when Hilary Swank (ph) won for "Boys Don't Cry." Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball."
HEMMER: Yes.
BERNARD: There is a kind of tradition...
TOURE: Here's the thing. Most of the people in the academy are older, right? Diane Keaton, gets naked, big film, big funny.
BERNARD: It's a comedy.
TOURE: You'll win your Oscar pool if you go for the upset, Diane Keaton.
BOROWITZ: I would say no. Charlize, because the Oscars are still the only place in America where women are rewarded for gaining weight. I really do feel that way. I really do.
HEMMER: Because Oscar likes it.
BOROWITZ: And Soledad would agree with that.
BERNARD: So true. There you go.
TOURE: Is that true?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: What about best actor?
BERNARD: Bill Murray.
TOURE: It's got to be Sean Penn. It's got to be Sean Penn.
HEMMER: Really?
TOURE: Yes, burning through the screen, powerful.
BOROWITZ: Yes, they've already voted. You don't have to keep campaigning. No, I think the...
TOURE: No, the Oscar pool, I'm telling you how to win your Oscar pool.
BOROWITZ: OK. No, if there's any...
BERNARD: They don't like Sean Penn.
BOROWITZ: You know, in the SAG (ph) awards, I guess there was an upset, because it was actually Johnny Depp...
TOURE: Yes.
BOROWITZ: ... for the SAG (ph) awards, but I voted for Bill Murray. I think Bill Murray should get it.
HEMMER: So, we've got two for Bill Murray, because you like him, too.
BERNARD: Bill Murray, yes. And also, not just do I like Bill Murray, I don't think the academy likes Sean Penn. He doesn't play the game. He doesn't show up to things.
TOURE: Nobody likes Bill Murray either.
BERNARD: He doesn't campaign. He doesn't do any of that kind of Hollywood stuff that they like to see.
TOURE: Bill Murray is a jerk in the town. I mean, a great guy, but he's not liked.
HEMMER: Is that his reputation?
TOURE: Yes, Sean and Bill are both not liked. Yes, absolutely.
BERNARD: Well, you know what else? He did a great job in "Rushmore," and he didn't win, and I think people are going to try to give him this because of that.
HEMMER: A couple of wild cards quickly. The Janet effect is in place on Sunday night. ABC is going to have a five-second delay.
BOROWITZ: Which is unbelievable, because that show is long enough as it is.
HEMMER: Thank you, Sarah. See you a bit later, Andy. Nice to see you here as well.
Here's Soledad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come this morning, the chairman of a well-known gun company steps down. You won't believe why. Andy Serwer's going to tell you in just a few moments.
AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back everybody. Why the chairman of a major gunmaker is under fire. For that, plus the market open, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning. Pretty remarkable story. But let's actually start with the market.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'll do that. And the watchword is, the watch phrase is better than expected. That's what we got this morning from the stock market and from the economy. GDP grew 1.4 percent, revised upwards. That's nice. And the market says we like that, and the Dow's up 34 points. We're across the board with the other indexes as well.
Just a quick note, Martha Stewart walking into court this morning set off the metal detector causing a little bit of a buzz with her watch.
O'BRIEN: The watch?
SERWER: Yes, yes, kind of A big one probably. Anyway, more on that later probably. Let's talk -- this is a remarkable, remarkable story. Forget about Michael Eisner. Forget about Dick Grasso, all these other CEOs. Let's talk about the chairman of Smith & Wesson, the venerable gunmaker, resigning. Looked like this guy James Minter had things going pretty well, 74 years old, becomes chairman of the company in January. Questions started coming up about this guy's past. Turns out that back in the 1950s and 1960s, he did 15 years in Michigan prisons for committing a string of armed robberies. OK, let's get this right, the chairman of the gun company did time in prison for committing a string of armed robberies. It gets even better. Turns out he was pulling the jobs while he was a student, a journalism student at the University of Michigan by day, doing the robberies at night, tried to break out of prison. After he did his time, he founded an agency to reform wayward youths. That was fine. When he became chairman, they asked him, anything we should know about, did you commit securities fraud any time over the past 20 years? He said no. And they said why didn't you tell them about the armed robberies? He said, no one even asked.
O'BRIEN: I could say why he wouldn't want to necessarily volunteer that.
SERWER: It's interested, I mean, he did the time.
HEMMER: What a resume for that guy. Convicted and everything?
O'BRIEN: Tried to break out of prison?
SERWER: The whole deal.
HEMMER: Question of the day. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The question this morning is whether Congress should pass something called the Unborn Victims of Violence act. In a nutshell, it would mean this. If you harm a pregnant woman, you would be charged with not one, but two crimes, one against her and one against the fetus she's carrying. People who are afraid for the future of abortion rights think it might be the beginning of a way to eventually overturn Roe V. Wade.
Sandra in Barnegan (ph), New Jersey writes this: "Americans, you got to love them. They're so busy watching 'Fear Factor,' they don't have a clue the moral police are silently setting up a real life fear factor of eroding civil rights. If Americans don't get their heads of their collective sandboxes, they're going to find themselves transported back to the idyllic 1950s, when poor women died in back alleys, and rich women discreetly vacationed in countries where abortions were legal.
Tim in Quaker Hill, Connecticut. "Yes, Congress should pass it. Unborn people are people, too. That's the issue. It's incumbent upon those who disagree to show that the unborn are not people."
Charlie in Brooklyn writes this: "You can dress a pig in a tutu, but it is still a dancing pig. This bill would deliver on a platter what the religious right has been trying to get done for decades. How stupid do they think we are? And the nerve to use that tragedy in California to sneak the bill through, referring to the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn son.
Join us this weekend for "IN THE MONEY." Entrepreneurs from India an China are not the only ones who are helping to pull jobs out of this country. We have found Americans who are setting up shops overseas, catering to U.S. companies that are exporting jobs. "IN THE MONEY" runs Saturday at 1:00 Eastern, Sunday at 3:00 Eastern. We invite you to join us.
HEMMER: We'd never miss it. How could we? It would not be a weekend without it.
O'BRIEN: Never, never, never.
HEMMER: So what time are you going to be over?
Coming up here on CNN, the stars are getting ready to walk the red carpet on Sunday. Daryn is in Hollywood. We'll hear from her, next hour on CNN LIVE TODAY. Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Disturbing Revelations About Killings at Columbine>
