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American Morning
New York Town May Grant Same-Sex Marriage Licenses; Special Oscar Edition of "90-Second Pop"
Aired February 27, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Friday. Good morning.
What does New Paltz, New York, have in common with San Francisco? Soon, it could be the latest community to defy state government and marry same-sex couples. Whether these will actually be marriages or not still a bit of a question, but we'll talk to the mayor about it in a few moments this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, have you made your Oscar predictions yet? We're making ours this morning. A special Oscar edition of "90-Second Pop" is coming up in just a little bit. We're going to go on the record for all the major awards.
HEMMER: That's right. Sunday night is the big night.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Friday morning's the big morning for Jack Cafferty.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Good morning.
CAFFERTY: One of five that I enjoy each and every week. There's a piece of legislation moving through the Congress that isn't exactly what it appears to be at first glance. If you attack a pregnant woman, this law would make it also a crime, a second crime, if the fetus that she's carrying is harmed. Some people say it's a bit of a weasel deal. We'll explain and read some e-mails about it a bit later.
HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Jack.
Top of the hour now, top stories.
Neighbors of Haiti calling for U.N. peacekeepers to restore order there after three weeks of violence. Rebels closing in on the capital city, while supporters gather to protect the president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who says he will not leave. The U.S. has said it will not support sending a multi-national force to Haiti, unless its government reaches a peace compromise. Much more on this story in a few moments>
A California judge has ruled on having only one set of jurors for the double murder trial of Scott Peterson. That ruling means that a single jury will hear arguments in the trial, and will also participate in the penalty phase if convicted. The judge also turned down a defense request to have the jury sequestered. Peterson accused of killing his wife and unborn son. Jury selection for that trial is set for next week.
NASA was forced to cut short a risky space walk due to a space suit malfunction. Three hours into the walk yesterday, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri complained of water inside his helmet. He and American astronaut Michael Foale had left the International Space Station empty, marking the first time the outpost had ever been unattended during a space walk. The crewmen managed to complete their work by about 50 percent of what they set out to do.
A late winter storm blanketing parts of the Deep South today. About six to eight inches fell in parts of Tennessee. The snowfall forced many schools to close and slowed travel. Certainly that's the case today. The storm also hit parts of Georgia, Kentucky and the Carolinas.
And South Carolina talking about nine inches on the ground, which is right near a record, I believe, or pretty close anyway.
O'BRIEN: That's a lot of snow. Hey, Chad Myers.
HEMMER: That's where we find our guy.
O'BRIEN: Yes, he's in South Carolina this morning.
(WEATHER BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The AMERICAN MORNING snowman clearly will not last very long if Chad goes ahead and builds that this morning.
It is back to the stump today for the Democratic presidential candidates after last night's debate, which was seen right here on CNN. Senator John Kerry will talk about terrorism and national security during a speech today in Los Angeles. His main rival, Senator John Edwards, travels to Minnesota. That state like California and eight other states will hold nominating contests on Tuesday.
Senators Kerry and Edwards sparred about trade, the death penalty, and who's better-suited to defeat President Bush come November. At one point, CNN's Larry King asked both senators about their votes in favor of the president's Iraq war resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Do you regret your vote? Do you regret your vote?
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did what I believed was right at the time.
KING: Do you regret it? EDWARDS: I believe I did what was right at the time.
KING: No, do you regret it?
EDWARDS: I -- we don't get to go back, Larry...
KING: No, but you can...
EDWARDS: ... 500 times -- no, wait a minute.
KING: But you can regret something.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You asked a yes or no answer. Do you regret your vote? The answer is no. I do not regret my vote. I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning from our L.A. bureau is one of the panelists from last night's debate, CNN political contributor Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times."
Nice to see you, Ron. Thanks for being with us as always.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's start by rating the performances, as we like to do. The two front-runners especially, how do you think each did?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I thought that Senator Edwards sort of continued the trajectory that we've seen in the last few debates, where he has steadily ramped up his attempt to differentiate himself from Senator Kerry. But he didn't do so in such a dramatic or aggressive way as to radically change the trajectory of the debate or the race.
I thought Senator Kerry was very forceful from beginning to end, very confident, and very aggressive in defending his views, his positions and his experience. I thought he really did a good job of holding his ground.
O'BRIEN: Some people say Senator Kerry looked presidential to them, maybe even more so than Senator Edwards. They covered a number of issues in this debate, and I know that we have talked in the past about how they had to sort of start moving away from just attacking President Bush...
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... and just sort of getting on the record with what they believe and their own solutions to the nation's problems. What issue do you think was the most important?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, let's see. You know, we saw Senator Edwards, as we've said over the last few weeks, has really emphasized trade, and he went into more detail about their differences, tried to stretch that out. The problem, of course, in California, it's less of a one- sided advantage for him, I think, than in some other states like Ohio, where trade is seen more perhaps as a negative, at least among Democratic voters.
But we also saw Senator Edwards take a more centrist or even conservative position on social issues, forcefully defending the death penalty, and suggesting that he was better attuned on values-related issues to connect to voters in swing states and especially in the South.
Senator Kerry's strategy, I think by and large, was to argue there was not as much difference between them, as Senator Edwards was insisting. And that probably makes sense when you're the one who is ahead in the polls, you are looking to blunt rather than accentuate the differences.
O'BRIEN: The issue of gay marriages came up relatively early in the debate, as many people expected, of course. It's a big deal in California right now. I want to play what some people said was the best lines of the debate. This was Al Sharpton talking about gay marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL SHARPTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue is not who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Any big surprises from all of the candidates in the gay marriage discussion?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, very quickly on Al Sharpton's point. That really is an open question for this election. I mean, Democrats want -- and you saw this from John Kerry last night. John Edwards, I think, came back at him on it. Democrats, whenever Republicans want to talk about these values-related issues like gay marriage, want to say, no, the real issue is the economy. And John Edwards said, I think correctly, that you can't tell voters what's important to them. They're going to tell you what's important to them.
The surprise on gay marriage, to me, was John Kerry saying he was wrong in his interpretation of the law in 1996 when he voted against the efforts signed by President Clinton called the Defense of Marriage Act, which said that if a gay marriage was authorized in one state, like California or Massachusetts, other states would not have to recognize that. John Kerry was one of only 14 senators who voted against it. He said it unconstitutional.
Last night, he said he was wrong. It wasn't unconstitutional. In fact, it wasn't even necessary. States would not have to recognize it. That was an attempt to get himself out of a box, the one that President Bush was drawing on when he came out with his comments this week in which he said, look, the only way to ensure that one state will not have to recognize a gay marriage formed in another was a constitutional amendment.
The only way Kerry could square the circle between his opposition to the amendment and his old vote was to say that his old vote was based on faulty logic.
O'BRIEN: Which he did last night.
BROWNSTEIN: So, that's kind of a little odd, yes.
O'BRIEN: Ron Brownstein, nice to see you as always. Great job last night. And thanks for being with us this morning.
BROWNSTEIN: OK, thank you.
O'BRIEN: And, of course, CNN is the place to turn for complete coverage and results from the upcoming Super Tuesday contest. Our Super Tuesday coverage begins next Tuesday night, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, there's a new report on the Columbine killings that says the gunmen were well-known to authorities well before that massacre took place. Police had at least 15 contacts related to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in the two years prior to April of 1999. The investigation, though, by the Colorado attorney general, Ken Salazar, found no negligence on the part of law enforcement.
Earlier, I talked with the attorney general, asking him how law enforcement could miss what many considered to be warning signs for the two teens.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think the law enforcement community saw these kids as being involved in criminal mischief. There were only two direct contacts with the killers, and, in fact, with one of the principals there was only one. It was a traffic stop, and there was a van break-in. Those are the direct contact. The other contacts were complaints that were received about Eric Harris by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, and then follow-up for those contacts.
HEMMER: The 90-minute videotape released yesterday showing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold essentially making their own videotape. When we look at that tape, sir, does that help you understand how they could have been possibly so dangerous?
SALAZAR: You know, I think it is a horrific and painful videotape to watch -- essentially what were mass murders out there practicing what they were planning on doing. And it is very painful to watch that video. And, you know, all of us here in Colorado and all of us involved in law enforcement very much hoped that April 20, 1999 would never have happened in the way that it did.
HEMMER: Let's go back to April of 1998. There was a search warrant issued to search the home of Eric Harris. That search was never carried out. Why not?
SALAZAR: From our investigation and my review of the report what happened is there was a lieutenant within the Jefferson County Sheriff's office who felt that there was additional information that was needed prior to the execution of the affidavit. The search warrant on the Harris' home could not have been obtained without the execution of that affidavit.
HEMMER: I also understand that paperwork is missing from that time. Is that common?
SALAZAR: The materials that have been assembled with respect to Columbine are voluminous. They occupy a gymnasium full of space with all of the documents that have been collected. It is for me troublesome that we have not been able to locate those documents within the Jefferson County Sheriff's office, and that is why I refused to close our investigation yesterday and have said that we're going to continue to investigate to see whether we can find the missing files and daily reports.
HEMMER: When you put that together with this report in the "Rocky Mountain News" that within the report itself, it alleges that at least one officer admitted to a number of people who said that they were told to mislead the public on signs that were missed prior to April of 1999. What do you say to families who still believe at this point there was a cover-up in your state?
SALAZAR: I do not believe there was a cover-up before April 20th of 1999. I think law enforcement was doing its job. And I think what ended up happening is that these kids were looked at as kids who were involved in criminal mischief. JeffCo. (ph) Sheriff's Office was getting a complaint once a week from someone involved in a pipe bomb, and these were different kids.
And so, I think they were doing their job. And what happened after April 20th of 1999 and how the sheriff handled the communication out of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office, that's another question, and that's part of what we're looking at with respect to the missing files.
HEMMER: You say that report is incomplete. It's been almost five years. How long does it take to get a report like this done?
SALAZAR: Well, it's not -- what's missing is a file and a set of daily activity reports from Officer Gerra (ph), who was involved in putting together the affidavit. And I don't think that I can bring my investigation and my report to conclusion until I'm able to locate that report and those daily activity forms.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's the attorney general from earlier.
After that interview, we also talked about these meetings that took place in the home of a neighbor of Eric Harris, in the home of Randy Brown (ph), who made repeated calls to the police, talking about threats he felt from Eric Harris. Now in hindsight, the attorney general admits that meeting should have also taken place inside the home of Eric Harris.
More on Columbine a bit later this morning on AMERICAN MORNING here.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, some same-sex couples are planning to get married. They're not heading to San Francisco to exchange their vows. We're going to talk with the mayor of a community that will start hosting same-sex weddings today.
O'BRIEN: Also, did Mel Gibson change "The Passion" because of protests? We'll tell you what he said last night about that criticism in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And attorneys in Houston present their case, but put on a show. Did they go too far is the question now? That story is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Wedding bells for Rosie O'Donnell and partner, Kelli Carpenter. The couple was married in San Francisco, where more than 3,300 same-sex couples have wed since February 12.
Well, now the focus of the same-sex marriage debate shifts to the East Coast, and the 26-year-old mayor of a Hudson Valley village who 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, but New Paltz Major Jason West calls the unions his moral obligation. And Mayor West joins us from Village Hall in New Paltz this morning.
Nice to see you, Mayor West. Thanks for being with us.
MAYOR JASON WEST, NEW PALTZ, N.Y.: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You are not issuing marriage licenses. So, what exactly are you going to be doing starting today?
New York state law clearly states in Article 3 of the Domestic Relations Law that for a marriage to be legal in this state, all that's required is for it to be properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so. As mayor, I'm fully able to do that, and at noon today I start solemnizing marriages regardless of gender.
O'BRIEN: How many folks do you expect will be coming out starting at noon today?
WEST: I have no idea. We're going to cut it off at 12 marriages today and leaving the option open for more. If folks in the Northeast would like to be married, we're going to have a form up on our village Web site later today. And thats' www.VillageofNewPaltz.org.
O'BRIEN: Here is what the...
WEST: We're compiling a waiting list today.
O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you there. Here is what the Health Department of New York state says. They say it's not legal. And this is what it actually says: "A municipal clerk who issues a marriage license outside of these guidelines and any person who solemnizes such a marriage would be violating state law and subject to penalties in the law."
So, what they seem to be saying is what you're doing is illegal. You disagree.
WEST: I do. I actually recommend that the officials of the Department of Health re-read the Domestic Relations Law and re-read the Constitution of New York state. The 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 this state, and I intend to do so today.
O'BRIEN: There are legal experts who would say that basically you found a loophole. That actually while they do not state same-sex marriages in any of those documents that was the essential intention. These are legal experts. These are not necessarily people who weigh in on either side of this debate.
So, there are some who are saying essentially you're exploiting a loophole here. Is that, do you think, fair to say?
WEST: If you think abiding by the wording of the New York state laws is finding a loophole, then perhaps, yes.
O'BRIEN: There are some people who...
WEST: As far as I'm concerned, I'm upholding the Constitution and obeying the laws of this state as I see them.
O'BRIEN: Do you expect that you're going to get some political backlash for this? You're 26 years old. I have to assume you're pretty much at the start of your political career. Are you worried about what could happen to you personally?
WEST: I'm not worried at all, no. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm a member of the Green Party. I don't have any higher-ups in my organization trying to quash this for their future political careers, which leaves open me to follow my conscience and the Constitution as I see it.
O'BRIEN: Mayor Jason West joining us. He is the mayor of New Paltz in New York. Thanks for being with us.
HEMMER: More trouble in the magic kingdom yet again today. We talked a little bit about this yesterday. Also, the deposed head of the stock exchange now fighting back.
Andy Serwer has it all this morning, minding your business on Friday.
Good morning.
First, Michael Eisner.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, let's talk about that. Only a few days away from the Oscars, and the real action in Hollywood is not in the screening room, but in the boardroom, specifically Disney. We've been talking about the mounting problems for Michael Eisner, the CEO of that company, and they continue today. More shareholders coming out and saying they will vote no confidence at the board meeting on Wednesday of next week, at the annual meeting.
Let's take a look at some of the outfits now that have decided they're not going to support him.
T. Rowe Price, the giant mutual fund company in Baltimore coming out. The New York State Fund coming out yesterday, as well. We already know about Disney and CalPERS. Moving on to some of the others, you can see here also the pension funds in Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey. And we are looking at about 30 percent of the shareholders saying no at this point.
What can Disney do? A couple things. Ignore it. They can certainly do that. Number two, they could give him the boot. And number three, they could possibly separate the roles of chairman and CEO, making George Mitchell, the former senator from Maine who is on the board, the chairman.
HEMMER: Wow, downright rebellion, isn't it?
SERWER: Yes, it really is. It's interesting stuff. It's going to be great to watch this happen.
HEMMER: Dick Grasso says he's keeping the cash. Forget about it.
SERWER: Yes, yesterday...
HEMMER: My millions are my millions.
SERWER: That's it. And, you know, he got paid, so why should he give it back? That's a good argument, perhaps, although the New York Stock Exchange says otherwise. There he is, the former head of the NYSE. A letter yesterday from his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan. He said Mr. Grasso has no intention of returning any of the money and nothing will cause him to capitulate. The New York Stock Exchange is not happy. John Thane has suggested it might be appropriate for him to return some of that money.
HEMMER: Yes, thank you, Andy.
The GDP numbers are out in an hour. We'll talk about that next time.
SERWER: That's right.
HEMMER: All right. OK -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: He's probably going to require more of a suggestion to return the money, one would imagine.
SERWER: Hint, hint, sharper elbow.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, like a lawsuit, maybe.
CAFFERTY: That's...
O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That's, I'll be giving some of the money back to CNN in some life. Yes, that'll happen.
SERWER: Not.
CAFFERTY: The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would treat attacks on a pregnant woman as two separate crimes, one against her and one against the fetus she's carrying. Supporters named the bill, which is actively supported by the White House, in honor of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Peterson's husband Scott is facing double murder charges in California.
But critics claim this piece of legislation is not what it appears to be. They say it would give fetuses a new federal legal status, something that abortion opponents have wanted for a very long time.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he's going to bring it up soon, but he may not have the votes to pass it. It has passed the House of Representatives.
The question is this, then, should Congress pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act?
You can e-mail us at am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Good deal.
Thank you, Jack.
And a break here. What a year for the Oscars, huh? You've got your hobbits, your horsemen, your sailors, your cops and your washed up TV star all Sunday night. Who takes home the Oscar? The "90 Second Pop" weighs in in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
COMMERCIAL
HEMMER: What a sight. A pretty good sight on a Friday.
7:30 here in New York. Welcome back.
In a few minutes here, a stunning moment in a Texas courtroom -- a demonstration in front of a jury as prosecutors try to show how they think a woman killed her husband. We'll get a complete look at the trial in a moment, a remarkable case for a number of reasons, including the number of times they allege this man was stabbed. It is remarkable.
O'BRIEN: One has to imagine how all that happened. Did they bring the bed?
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And they reenact the hellish murder in the...
HEMMER: They'll see that all, yes.
O'BRIEN: Wow, shocking for the jurors, one has to imagine.
Also this morning, on a much lighter note, the Oscars are going to be handed out on Sunday night, but we're going to get an early jump on the awards, making our predictions with the "90 Second Pop" gang. Which movies have early buzz? We're talking about that, also get our picks on the record so that we can follow-up when we were all wrong and see who really had the worst record.
HEMMER: Wrong being the key.
O'BRIEN: As we like to do.
HEMMER: That's right.
The top stories again here at the half hour now.
California's attorney general says he will ask the state's highest court today to rule on same-sex marriages. The attorney general wants the state supreme court to decide if San Francisco is breaking the law by issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The mayor says the state's equal protection clause demands that all people be treated equally.
President Bush will talk about the U.S. dollar today with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The chancellor expected to warn the president of a global implications of a weak dollar, including its impact on world trade. The two leaders meet at the White House in a few hours this morning.
The U.S. Senate has agreed to require child safety locks on handguns. The measure was added to a Republican-backed bill protecting gun manufacturers from certain lawsuits. Senate Democrats are also calling for amendments requiring background checks on gun show sales and a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
From Chicago, what a sight it was last night -- hundreds of Cub fans gathered yesterday to cheer on the infamous Bartonin (ph) ball that some say cost the team a shot at the World Series. The ball was destroyed inside a bulletproof tank when an Oscar winning special effects designer applied pressure and heat and explosives to blow it up and reduce it to a pile of string. And in Chicago, they carried that on live television.
From North Carolina, winter storm warnings are in effect for much of the state today. Snow started falling overnight in Charlotte. They have about a foot of snow on the ground there already. And south of there, in South Carolina, it came down, as well, about nine inches thick in certain areas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: The Democratic presidential candidates are beginning their final push towards Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the nominating season. Ten states are going to hold contests on Tuesday. Eleven hundred fifty-one convention delegates are at stake. The four remaining candidates had their final face to face showdown last night in Los Angeles.
And as national correspondent Frank Buckley reports, it did little to change the established pecking order.
(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.
EDWARDS: He's a good man. He's a good candidate. He'd make a good president.
KERRY: I think John has run a terrific campaign and he and I are friends.
BUCKLEY: But for Senator Edwards, it was not the break out 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 spent 20 years in Washington or by someone who's more of an outsider to this process?
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry was already aiming at President Bush.
KERRY: He's 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 of American politics because he can't come to America and talk about jobs.
BUCKLEY: Long shots Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton also had their say.
SHARPTON: Let's make a constitutional amendment against presidents that lie. Let's deal with the whole thing.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I'm the voice for getting out of Iraq, for universal, single pair 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 including Senator Edwards on his list of potential vice presidential picks if he gets the nomination. He says he admires him, considers him a friend, thinks he's a great communicator but that was as far as he would go -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Frank, many people thought that this particular debate was one of the best because of the interchanges. The format sort of allowed for more interchanges.
What were better interchanges? What do you think was the biggest surprise of the night?
BUCKLEY: Well, I thought that, strangely, that interchange, that relaxed atmosphere meant that John Edwards, who is a guy who was supposed to have his breakout moment here, possibly get out a zinger, get out a where's the beef line or something that would get onto the newspaper front pages today and start to draw voters' attention to him just didn't happen. And, in fact, it was the opposite.
If you looked at those two guys, even though they joked about the ticket, someone just looking in on this process last night, maybe for the first time or who hadn't been paying very much attention to the Democrats to this point, might say, hey, is that the Democratic ticket?
They looked like buddies. They were buddy-buddy throughout the evening. Yes, Senator Edwards was drawing distinctions between himself and Senator Kerry, but the body language, the language he used suggested that they were collegial Senate friends and it looked like they could be a ticket.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. I'm sure many people are considering that today.
Frank Buckley for us this morning.
Nice to see you, Frank. Thanks.
CNN is going to have complete coverage and results for you all from the upcoming Super Tuesday contest. Our Super Tuesday coverage begins next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Right about 22 minutes now before the hour.
A Houston courtroom took on the air of theater yesterday. Prosecutors trying to prove their murder case with a dramatic recreation.
Here's Mike Brooks on that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Susan Wright, accused of murdering her husband Jeffrey by stabbing him 193 times, looked as if she could barely contain herself Wednesday as prosecutors, using the blood-soaked bed where the murder allegedly took place, reenacted how they believe she killed her husband.
Jurors looked on as assistant D.A. Paul Doyle was tied to the bed post by his wrists and ankles with neckties and terry cloth strips. Lead prosecutor Kelly Siegler then straddled Doyle as she questioned homicide detective Mark Reynolds.
KELLY SIEGLER, PROSECUTOR: Something like this and straddled him. And she's right-handed. And how do you think she held the knife? Attack at the head area first -- which side of his face are most of the injuries going to be on?
BROOKS: Defense Attorney Neal Davis, who denies that his client tied her husband to the bed, objected to the graphic demonstration. NEAL DAVIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's overly theatrical and I think it's overly prejudicial to the jury.
BROOKS: The defense says the 27-year-old defendant killed her husband only in self-defense after years of abuse and only after he pulled a knife on her and she wrestled it away from him. Defense attorney Davis also said that Susan Wright had been beaten and raped at their home.
Prosecutors say that Jeffrey Wright was murdered by his wife on January 13, 2003 because she had religious concerns about divorce and that she wanted $200,000 from a life insurance policy. They allege that she then buried her husband's body under their backyard patio. On January 15, Susan Wright filed a report for domestic abuse. Prosecutors say that report is part of the murder cover-up.
Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: If convicted, Susan Wright could receive a prison sentence of five to 99 years behind bars -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, how much of a chance does the president of Haiti have to keep his job? We've got an update on the violence there just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, as Japanese forces head to Iraq, the country's navy takes an unusual step to attract recruits. We'll show it to you in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And we won't know the winners till Sunday, but, hey, we can still guess, right? "90-Second Pop" and their Oscar predictions coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Some 20,000 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have been returning home from Iraq. The storied Army unit was based in northern Iraq for the past year. In the first weeks of the war, the 101st liberated the cities of Najaf, Hilla (ph) and Karbala, and it played a pivotal role in the attack that killed Saddam Hussein's two sons.
Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne, just returned this month, and he joins us this morning.
It's nice that you return home and you stop by to visit us. We certainly appreciate it.
MAJ. GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION: Well, it's great to be here, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: How has it been coming back?
PETRAEUS: It's wonderful.
O'BRIEN: I mean, for yourself, but everybody as well?
PETRAEUS: It's wonderful. We have under a hundred soldiers still left actually in Kuwait now, who will be home in the next week or so. But it's just great to see our soldiers reunited with their families and enjoying a break, and really enjoying America again.
O'BRIEN: Talk to me about some of the highlights and some of the lowlights of what you were able to accomplish and not accomplish in your time in Iraq.
PETRAEUS: Well, of course, there is the liberation of several key cities -- Najaf, Karbala and Hilla (ph) -- on the road to Baghdad. And then in Mosul, where we ended up in northern Iraq, the running of the first province election in Iraq was a real key moment for us and really for the rest of the country, the killing of Uday and Qusay.
And then there were some low moments. The loss of 17 soldiers in one night when the two helicopters crashed over Mosul was clearly the lowest point of the entire effort for us, and the month of November was very difficult for us as well.
O'BRIEN: In all, you lost something like 60 soldiers, didn't you?
PETRAEUS: It was over 60 soldiers of units that were with the 101st while we were in Iraq during our year.
O'BRIEN: You're a major general. You obviously are responsible for lots of manpower and weapons. But what was your real job there? It seems that a lot of your work was in diplomacy and sort of walking that fine line, as you were in these cities, of dealing with ethnic tensions.
PETRAEUS: Well, really, all of our soldiers were, on one hand, civil affair's soldiers in addition to being instruments, and also diplomats. The people of Iraq saw our soldiers. That was the coalition to them. They didn't see all the high-ranking officials.
And so, all of us ended up mediating, working together with Iraqi people, constantly helping at the sub-district, district and province level throughout the four provinces in northern Iraq.
O'BRIEN: You've talked a little bit about some acts of heroism that you witnessed.
PETRAEUS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And I'd like to hear about maybe the one that you thought most the remarkable.
PETRAEUS: Well, there were a number under heavy fire where our soldiers reacted extraordinarily. And ones that stick out most are probably the response under fire in the city of Karbala when we were liberating that city. Very, very heavy firefights in there, and infantrymen and medics coming to the rescue of other soldiers who were very seriously injured, wounded themselves, and continued to fight, and then rescued their buddies from the heavy action.
O'BRIEN: Is there any chance that you have could be returning to Iraq in the near future?
PETRAEUS: I don't think in the near future. And it's probably too early to tell what will be needed in the future. Everyone has said that we'll have soldiers in Iraq for some time, and probably a year or so hence we may have soldiers there again.
O'BRIEN: There is still a lot of work obviously to do there. What do you feel you didn't have time to do before you left?
PETRAEUS: Well, our soldiers accomplished some 5,000 reconstruction projects in northern Iraq, but there still is a tremendous amount to do. There are still countless schools and medical clinics and roads and so forth to rebuild. There is certainly a great deal of work to be done in the security arena, although our soldiers trained some 20,000 Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq, including police, border police, civil defense corps. And they were doing quite well. They were standing up to the bad guys, who want to see the new Iraq fail and who will continue to come after our forces and the new Iraq forces. O'BRIEN: Major General David Petraeus, it's nice to have you. Thanks for being back...
(CROSSTALK)
PETRAEUS: Well, it's great to be with you.
O'BRIEN: And welcome back to not only you, of course, but all of your men and women who served with you as well.
PETRAEUS: Thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Well done.
From Japan, on a military note, the navy is feeling a bit left out in Japan, because the Japanese army these days is getting all of the attention with its deployment to Iraq.
So, for the navy, time for a bit of a PR push.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- JAPANESE COMMERCIAL)
HEMMER: Can't make that up. The ad is aimed at young people, men and women that the navy spokesman says do not seem much interested in what the navy is doing. It will be aired next week on giant screens in trendy Tokyo shopping districts. And, you know, we're on primetime in Japan on AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: I think that's something that Jack Cafferty (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as he always likes to say, you know, we're on primetime.
HEMMER: In a moment...
O'BRIEN: But that's an interesting strategy for recruiting people.
HEMMER: I would say, yes. Go.
In a moment here, Hollywood's biggest event comes Sunday night. Plenty of contenders, few winners. Who will take home the top prize on Sunday? "90-Second Pop" weighs in after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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. Man, that's...
BERNARD: Five hours and five minutes...
BOROWITZ: That is the last thing to do.
TOURE: Do they cut out bad jokes? Do they use it for that?
BOROWITZ: That would be great.
HEMMER: Does "Finding Nemo" win much on Sunday night?
TOURE: It should.
BERNARD: It's going to win...
(CROSSTALK) BOROWITZ: You know, I am really holding out for it to win, even best sound on it, because Michael Eisner is having such a bad week, I just want him to get something.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: If the "City of God" doesn't win something, there should be rioting in the streets of New York, Hollywood, Rio, everywhere. Oh, my god. What a great movie.
HEMMER: We'll get a live report from Rio on Monday.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: I'll be covering it.
HEMMER: Thanks Toure. Thank you Sarah. See you a bit later, Andy. Nice to see you here as well.
All right, here's Soledad again.
O'BRIEN: Well, Bill, I love when all of your panelists agree. That's great.
Still to come this morning...
HEMMER: Sometimes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. That was sarcasm.
Political observers say Senator John Edwards needed a win to gain ground on Senator John Kerry. We're going to get a read on last night's debate from senior analyst Jeff Greenfield just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning.
John Edwards wanted a one-on-one contest with John Kerry. This might be as close as he gets. The two squared off in a debate live on CNN. Did Edwards get his moment of distinction?
Also, explaining "The Passion."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEL GIBSON, FILMMAKER: I expected, you know, hey, if you get into religion and politics, you know, you're going to touch a few nerves. But I didn't know I was going to hit a main artery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Director Mel Gibson talks about the vision behind one of the most controversial films in years.
Also, Cub fans rejoicing now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is right there, ladies and gentlemen. The ball is gone, the curse is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A $100,000 baseball blown to smithereens, the violent end to the Bartman ball.
This hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
Other stories that we're following this morning, the stunning amount of evidence that's been collected in the Columbine investigation. Ten thousand items on public display in Colorado related to that school massacre.
HEMMER: Also this hour, former governor of New Jersey, Thomas Kean is with us. He's the chairman of the 9/11 Commission. The panel has been asking for more time, about 60 days to do its work. Now it has hit yet another roadblock. We'll talk about that with him and what the future may hold for that Commission.
O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty's with us -- good morning, sir.
CAFFERTY: Good morning.
Coming up on the Cafferty File, if you have problems falling asleep, there's a new kind of milk out that may help you get the rest you need. And a remarkable squirrel in St. Louis, Missouri that made an amazing escape from a burning building.
HEMMER: Go squirrel.
CAFFERTY: You don't want to miss this.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad.
O'BRIEN: We're doing the squirrel video now.
I love it.
HEMMER: Look at the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: That's the end of the wake up at the bottom of the container.
O'BRIEN: No, I think it's a good thing. CAFFERTY: You do?
O'BRIEN: I'm very happy about it.
CAFFERTY: You're easily amused.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I am. That is true.
CAFFERTY: By virtue of the fact that you show up here every morning. That's proof enough.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely right.
Let's get right to our top stories this morning.
California's attorney general says he will ask the state's highest court today to rule on same-sex marriages. The attorney general wants the state supreme court to decide if San Francisco is breaking the law by issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The mayor of San Francisco says the state's equal protection clause demands that all people be treated equally.
Israeli police clashing with Palestinians at one of Jerusalem's holiest sites. Israeli police say they used stun grenades to disperse hundreds of Palestinians after they began throwing stones at them. The disputed compound is the site of biblical temples and the home to two mosques. No injuries have been reported.
Attackers who assault pregnant women could be in additional trouble. The House of Representatives passed a bill which makes injury to the fetus a separate crime. President Bush is backing the bill. It is not clear if the Senate's going to pass it or not. Jack Cafferty is talking about that this morning.
And a weighty matter for airline passengers. The National Transportation Safety Board says air travel would be safer if airlines weighed passengers periodically. The recommendation comes after an investigation into a commuter plane crash last year in North Carolina, which found that mistakes were made in estimating the weight of passengers and baggage.
In Minnesota, ice crossed racers slipped and slid to victory at the ice cross downhill races. With temperatures well below freezing, nearly 100 men, women and children looked on. An American and a Swede came out on top in that event. Apparently together they slid into each other and slid down the ice right through the finish line. A very dramatic ending.
HEMMER: It looked a bit like South Carolina, huh, in the past 24 hours?
O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of. Exactly.
HEMMER: That's where we find Chad Myers, live in Spartanburg. Nine inches on the ground -- Chad, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: We're about four days away now from Super Tuesday, when 10 states hold Democratic presidential nominating contests. The biggest state is California on Tuesday. The four remaining candidates there last night at USC for a debate sponsored by CNN and the "L.A. Times."
Senator John Edwards said he is more appealing to independent voters while the front runner, Senator John Kerry, maintains that he has the best chance to beat President Bush. They both had to defend their votes for the Iraq War resolution last evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: What we did is we voted on a resolution. It is for the president of the United States to determine how to conduct the war.
KING: So, you trusted...
EDWARDS: That's his responsibility.
KING: You trusted...
EDWARDS: No, I didn't trust him. What this comes down to is this president has failed in his responsibility.
KERRY: I do not regret my vote, I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Also other hot topics last night, the death penalty; same-sex marriage, especially in the state of California, where it is hot yet again.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, watched it all last night, back with us this morning to talk about it.
I saw you with Aaron just about nine short hours ago.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes.
HEMMER: Nice to see you early today.
Your impressions from last night.
What was key?
GREENFIELD: Well, I think the most important thing, Bill, is that this was John Edwards' first and best and maybe last chance to face off with Kerry as the only likely alternative and to argue, as we talked about yesterday, why Democrats should not simply go with John Kerry. Edwards made explicit what he's been sort of saying for months -- I can win all the votes Kerry can, but I can also win where he can't. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: What do we do to attract independent voters? Because we have to get these people.
KING: And you're saying you can do that better?
EDWARDS: I know I can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, part of Edwards' argument is biography. He came from modest roots in the South. He understands such folks. He feels their pain, if you will.
Kerry was clearly ready, as he has been in the past, to strike some populist themes, in this case, when he's talking about health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: The biggest story today, Larry, are 43 million Americans who have no health care. The biggest story today is the people...
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: The biggest story, the biggest story are the workers that I met with out in front of Bond's Supermarket, the UFCW workers, who have been out there walking for five months. A husband and a wife who haven't worked in five months because they can't get health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: So Kerry is determined not to be the establishment insider distant from real people and that's what that was.
HEMMER: In the State of California, they talked about gay marriage. There were a couple of hot button issues last night.
How did they rank? How did they do?
GREENFIELD: Well, the death penalty came up and John Kerry, who is the first Democrat to oppose it, would be the first nominee to oppose it since Mike Dukakis, began by answering a question about a child killer the way Mike Dukakis should have answered that famous question about what he'd do if his wife were raped and murdered. And then he went on.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: If it was a 5-year-old. Should live? KERRY: Larry, my instinct is to want to strangle that person with my own hands. I understand the instincts. I really do. I've prosecuted people. I know what the feeling of the families is and everybody else. But we have 111 people who have been now released from death row, death row, let alone the rest of the prison system, because of DNA evidence that showed they didn't commit the crime with which they were convicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: John Edwards said, by the way, he was for the death penalty, despite some problems he had with that.
And on gay marriage, I think both Kerry and Edwards were trying to kind of thread a needle -- I'm against gay marriage, but I'm against a constitutional amendment, but I want states to have the power to stop if it they want, but I'm not sure how I feel about the Defense of Marriage Act. This one, I think, is going to be playing out a little more.
HEMMER: Like this a little bit, huh?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: I don't want to make too much of this, Frank Buckley talked about it a half hour ago, posture, physical interaction is very critical in a debate like this last night.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: The way this table was set up, with John Kerry on the end and John Edwards, almost forced the ping pong back and forth with his answers and his questions, the way he followed it.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Did you pick up on that at all?
GREENFIELD: Well, I mentioned this last night before the debate, that I thought it would help Kerry, and, frankly, this time I think a rare prediction that was right. It stopped Kerry from being an orator, from pointing and making these grand senatorial comments that sometimes make him look pompous. And it kept Edwards from commanding the room physically, the way he does when he's giving a closing argument, the way he uses his hands.
So the format actually helped Kerry cool it down a little, which is what he needed. And it also marginalized Kucinich and Sharpton by putting them on the other end.
So, yes, it makes a difference sometimes.
HEMMER: And it was spirited, too, Ron and Larry, an excellent job; Janet, as well.
GREENFIELD: They were excellent questioners. Larry did a great job. And when you have four instead of 10 people, you know what? The debate gets a lot more coherent.
HEMMER: So true.
Have a good weekend.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
CNN is the place to turn, we know that already. Complete coverage, results from the upcoming contests. Our coverage on Super Tuesday starts at 7:00 Eastern. We'll have it all for you. That's 4:00 in L.A. -- now, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: An unusual meeting is taking place today in Oklahoma City. Law enforcement agents from six states are getting together to see if they're all looking for the same killer.
Ed Lavandera is live for us in Oklahoma City -- Ed, good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, authorities say here that the murder cases they'll be talking about today have more similarities than differences at this point, and the similarities include women that were found at truck stops, were picked up at truck stops here along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma. And that's what they'll be talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY RUSHING, GRAY COUNTY CHIEF DEPUTY: This is a still photo from a surveillance camera.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The blurry picture captured the last moments of a woman's life.
RUSHING: This woman here is who we believe to be our victim.
LAVANDERA: But since she was last seen five months ago, this woman remains a complete mystery. Chief Deputy Kelly Rushing and a team of investigators don't know who she is. They know nothing about her.
RUSHING: The last thing she said to anyone was, "I've got a ride and I've got to go."
LAVANDERA: Six hours after cameras showed her walking around a truck stop in Oklahoma with a backpack and wearing what looks like men's clothing, she was found dead along a highway in the Texas Panhandle, the clothes and backpack nowhere to be found.
RUSHING: Just discarded on the side of the road like a bag of trash.
LAVANDERA: Investigators believe this case could be linked to similar murders in Oklahoma, Texas and four other states. In the last two years, some 10 women have been found dead along highways. In almost every case, the women were last seen at truck stops and also had a history of prostitution. Investigators say there are more similarities to these cases, but they're ready to say they're all connected.
JESSICA BROWN, OKLAHOMA STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We have entertained the idea we may be talking about a serial killer, but we have nothing at this point in time that directly links these homicides to one person.
TED UNDERWOOD, VICTIM'S UNCLE: We're looking at Casey's spirit houses.
LAVANDERA: Following ancient Seminole tradition, Casey Jo Pipestem was buried on her family's land in central Oklahoma. Pipestem was 19 and last seen in an Oklahoma City truck stop in January. She was found dead in Texas, her body thrown off a bridge into a creek. Her family worries that no one cares about these victims because of their lifestyles and they want people to know that no one deserves to die like this.
UNDERWOOD: I think if people looked at their background, I think what they would find is that they were human beings, that they were people with families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: There will be about four dozen investigators here in Oklahoma City this morning to discuss and compare notes on all the different cases that they have from Texas to Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well. And the authorities do say that they're, as we mentioned before, that there are more similarities than differences, and that's what brings them all here. In fact, they wouldn't travel this far to compare notes if they didn't feel that they had a reason to. But at the same point, we must stress again that authorities here are not ready to call this a serial killer case. But they're definitely investigating that possibility -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Such sad stories to tell there.
I'm curious to know, as you point out and really reiterate, similar is the word investigators are using. But are they pointing to any forensic evidence that would link any of these people?
LAVANDERA: Well, it's difficult to get that kind of information out of authorities. But they do say that all the different investigations are kind of at different points, so you have a lot of different law enforcement agencies that are waiting for their forensic testing to come back. But that's definitely one of the pieces of evidence they hope will be able to connect the dots between all of these different cases if that does happen.
O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us this morning.
Ed, thanks.
LAVANDERA: You've got it.
O'BRIEN: Again, what a sad story.
Thank you.
HEMMER: Still to come here, the commission investigating the attacks of 9/11 fighting now for more time. We'll talk with the chairman, Thomas Kean, to find out why and what 60 more days would do for that commission.
O'BRIEN: And some say it's a baseball that might have kept the Chicago Cubs out of the World Series. We're going to show you the explosive way that Cubs fans tried to get rid of the curse.
HEMMER: Also, a momentous occasion for former talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. What she says motivated her to go to San Francisco. Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The commission that is investigating the 9/11 attacks wants 60 more days to get its report ready, past the current May 27th deadline. But House Speaker Dennis Hastert says he's going to block that request even though the Senate and President Bush have OKed it.
Former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean is the chairman of the 9/11 Commission.
He joins us this morning.
Nice to see you.
Thank you for joining us.
TOM KEAN, CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Specifically, why the extra 60 days needed?
KEAN: We've just got a tremendous amount of work to do. We've done over 1,000 interviews now. We've got over two million documents that we're going through. We've reached the stage where we've put everything together. Now we've got to start working doing the report and making the recommendations to make the American people safer.
We were about a month delayed getting started because they changed chairman and vice chairman. We need this extra time at the end to really do the kind of solid report that the American people deserve.
O'BRIEN: Here's what Dennis Hastert has to say. He says, "The Speaker says -- thinks," rather, "it's the wrong thing to do for two reasons. One, if there are recommendations that need action, we need them sooner rather than later. Two, he does not want this to be delayed any further and become a political football in the middle of the campaign."
This comes from the spokesperson for Speaker Dennis Hastert.
So let's take each of those points that he makes.
The first is if there's something important in this report, we need it sooner than later.
Why would you argue with that point?
KEAN: If there's something important we'll get it out. One of the things we want to do in this process is have an additional public hearing or two. That's how you do get information out and to the American people. One of the things that we'd have to do if we were to shorten our time is cancel some of those public hearings. The public would get less information, not more.
We'll get everything important out as soon as we have it.
O'BRIEN: Some people say a bigger concern might be, for some people, the political element of all of this. Boy, you're getting close to the election cycle. We're getting closer to November and the closer you get to November, that seems to be what Dennis Hastert is reiterating, it becomes a political issue in the election.
How would you answer his concerns about that? And what would you say to him?
KEAN: Well, first of all, I really don't think, with all due respect to the Speaker, that politics is a reason for saying we should have a less good report for the American people. We're asking, really, for a July date, to get it out in July. And that's before, long before Labor Day, long before the campaign really heats up and we think that the public will have a chance then to discuss our report before you get into the Republican convention, before you get into the after Labor Day political period. And we just need that extra time, really to make the best possible report.
O'BRIEN: Talking about time, President Bush says he's going to limit his time to one hour of questioning from two members, the top members of the Commission.
Do you think you're getting sufficient cooperation on that front from the president?
KEAN: Well, we've gotten a lot of cooperation from the president...
O'BRIEN: But specifically, a one hour limit.
KEAN: Well, we'd like more time. But, you know, this is one of the first presidents who ever agreed to be interviewed by any commission. I mean even when you went back to the commission investigating the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Johnson wouldn't give them an interview. Lyndon Johnson submitted some stuff in writing and that was it.
So the president is giving this time. If we need extra time, we'll request it. But that's still under negotiation.
O'BRIEN: Characterize for me how helpful you think the White House and the administration has been not only in the specific thing, but overall in bringing documents forward and being helpful to the Commission's goals.
KEAN: Well, from day one, when they helped us get our clearances expedited, they've been quite helpful. I mean we have now seen the most secret documents in the possession of the United States government. No congressional committee has ever seen those kind of documents, that category. We've seen them. We've been able to take notes on them and they will inform our report.
That's very helpful. There hasn't been a single thing we've asked for that some members of the staff or some commission haven't seen. There's not a single person who's refused to be interviewed. That's been very helpful. And the administration has been helpful in expediting that.
O'BRIEN: So then in that light, how hopeful are you that they're going to say yes to 60 more days?
KEAN: I'm very hopeful. I speak as a reasonable man and I think this is a reasonable request. The American people need it. It's fair to the families, who really want the answers to some of these questions. And so my hope is that the Speaker will be changing his mind and hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
O'BRIEN: We will see.
Governor Thomas Kean joining us.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for coming in and discussing this topic with us.
KEAN: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, some disturbing revelations about the massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School are contained in a report from the Colorado attorney general. In the two years before the April, 1999 massacre, the report says authorities had two direct contacts with the gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and complaints or questions about them at least 13 times. A display of evidence related to the massacre was made public yesterday. The number of contacts with Harris and Klebold has led some victims' parents to question why officials did not intervene before the shootings.
Earlier this morning, we spoke to Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar and he tried to explain why some clues were missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: 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 that 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: A supplemental report about the massacre will be released at a time that is still yet to be determined -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, in a moment, some say it's the ball that brought so many Cubs fans to tears. Last night, Chicago got its revenge. We'll show you how after this.
But what about that Billy goat?
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: For this next story, we're going to take you back to last October. Remember how the Cubs fans were about, ooh, five outs away from their first World Series appearance in 58 years?
Steve Bartman, a Chicago Cubs fan, loyal to the core, knocked that ball away from Moses Alou. The Cubs went on to lose the NLCS and World Series dreams were dashed.
Here is what happened on live television last night in Chicago with that baseball. Hollywood special effects experts blew it up. Fans packed into Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago, hoping that cruse will be lifted now. That's the Bartman baseball. It is gone.
Now the question is what do they do about the Billy goat? Remember the curse? The late '40s, the Billy goat taken to Wrigley Field...
O'BRIEN: Yes, they've only really dealt with one curse. They have a few other issues they need to clear up.
CAFFERTY: Why take it out on a baseball? They should have put the guy who interfered with the catch in that thing and blown him up.
O'BRIEN: Oh, no. No.
HEMMER: You know, you're still not letting up on Bartman, are you?
O'BRIEN: Poor Steve Bartman.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: The poor guy. No, Steve.
CAFFERTY: It's not the baseball's fault.
O'BRIEN: It wasn't his fault, either.
CAFFERTY: Yes, it was.
O'BRIEN: The question of the day.
CAFFERTY: It was his fault.
O'BRIEN: It wasn't.
CAFFERTY: The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would treat attacks on a pregnant woman as two crimes -- one against the woman and one against the fetus she's carrying. Supporters named the bill in honor of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. But critics say the bill would give fetuses a new federal legal status and that's something that abortion opponents have wanted for a long time.
So the question is whether or not Congress ought to pass this thing, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, it's called.
Audrey in Sable, Florida writes, "No. I fear this could be a way to criminalize abortion in a round about way. Is there a provision that the fetus could have been viable outside the womb?"
Valerie in San Antonio, Texas, "I am a staunch pro-lifer, but I don't see a need for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The person who murdered the unborn victim could claim they didn't know the woman was pregnant, thereby reducing the charge to manslaughter."
Joy in Iowa, "Until Congress is willing to admit fetuses are people, the killers of pregnant women and their children will never truly be punished. The majority of violence against pregnant women is committed because of their pregnancies. By making the sentences truly reflect the devastation caused by both deaths, only then will the law be just."
Reg in Ontario, "Jack, that barely audible creaking noise you hear is the back door being ever so slowly pried open."
And Doug writes from Stony Creek, Ontario, "Whatever happened to Cafferty Casual Friday? This question is far too serious for me to answer today. Give us back our Jack lite to end the week."
HEMMER: Yes, where did you go?
I got an e-mail. "Dear Jack, you should have your own show."
Oh, but you do.
O'BRIEN: Oh, wait a minute. It's a tidy little broadcast.
CAFFERTY: Who's that from?
HEMMER: Call it "In The Money." Some guy named Michael in (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: Joe Hemmer in Ohio.
CAFFERTY: Carol Costello.
What about "In The Money?"
HEMMER: "In The Money" this weekend. I thought we'd give you a little plug, for crying out loud.
O'BRIEN: We're setting you up for the tease here. Setting you up for the tease.
HEMMER: We care about you.
CAFFERTY: We are. But I forgot what it is we're supposed to be plugging.
O'BRIEN: That's OK. Just talk about the show.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes. Outsourcing American jobs to India. There we go. Thank you, Ted. Cashing in when U.S. jobs go overseas. "In The Money" Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at 3:00 are the two times that we broadcast that little deal.
HEMMER: Carol Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: What? That I should have my own show?
O'BRIEN: Sincerely, Mrs. Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: She's in favor of anything that'll keep me out of the house longer.
HEMMER: I know that.
CAFFERTY: Get more jobs, do more shows, whatever it takes, just stay away.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're funny.
All right, thanks, Jack.
Still to come this morning, shock jock Howard Stern gets some public support from a very unlikely ally. We're going to tell you who it is when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Special Oscar Edition of "90-Second Pop">
Aired February 27, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to Friday. Good morning.
What does New Paltz, New York, have in common with San Francisco? Soon, it could be the latest community to defy state government and marry same-sex couples. Whether these will actually be marriages or not still a bit of a question, but we'll talk to the mayor about it in a few moments this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this morning, have you made your Oscar predictions yet? We're making ours this morning. A special Oscar edition of "90-Second Pop" is coming up in just a little bit. We're going to go on the record for all the major awards.
HEMMER: That's right. Sunday night is the big night.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Friday morning's the big morning for Jack Cafferty.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Good morning.
CAFFERTY: One of five that I enjoy each and every week. There's a piece of legislation moving through the Congress that isn't exactly what it appears to be at first glance. If you attack a pregnant woman, this law would make it also a crime, a second crime, if the fetus that she's carrying is harmed. Some people say it's a bit of a weasel deal. We'll explain and read some e-mails about it a bit later.
HEMMER: Good deal. Thank you, Jack.
Top of the hour now, top stories.
Neighbors of Haiti calling for U.N. peacekeepers to restore order there after three weeks of violence. Rebels closing in on the capital city, while supporters gather to protect the president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who says he will not leave. The U.S. has said it will not support sending a multi-national force to Haiti, unless its government reaches a peace compromise. Much more on this story in a few moments>
A California judge has ruled on having only one set of jurors for the double murder trial of Scott Peterson. That ruling means that a single jury will hear arguments in the trial, and will also participate in the penalty phase if convicted. The judge also turned down a defense request to have the jury sequestered. Peterson accused of killing his wife and unborn son. Jury selection for that trial is set for next week.
NASA was forced to cut short a risky space walk due to a space suit malfunction. Three hours into the walk yesterday, Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri complained of water inside his helmet. He and American astronaut Michael Foale had left the International Space Station empty, marking the first time the outpost had ever been unattended during a space walk. The crewmen managed to complete their work by about 50 percent of what they set out to do.
A late winter storm blanketing parts of the Deep South today. About six to eight inches fell in parts of Tennessee. The snowfall forced many schools to close and slowed travel. Certainly that's the case today. The storm also hit parts of Georgia, Kentucky and the Carolinas.
And South Carolina talking about nine inches on the ground, which is right near a record, I believe, or pretty close anyway.
O'BRIEN: That's a lot of snow. Hey, Chad Myers.
HEMMER: That's where we find our guy.
O'BRIEN: Yes, he's in South Carolina this morning.
(WEATHER BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The AMERICAN MORNING snowman clearly will not last very long if Chad goes ahead and builds that this morning.
It is back to the stump today for the Democratic presidential candidates after last night's debate, which was seen right here on CNN. Senator John Kerry will talk about terrorism and national security during a speech today in Los Angeles. His main rival, Senator John Edwards, travels to Minnesota. That state like California and eight other states will hold nominating contests on Tuesday.
Senators Kerry and Edwards sparred about trade, the death penalty, and who's better-suited to defeat President Bush come November. At one point, CNN's Larry King asked both senators about their votes in favor of the president's Iraq war resolution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Do you regret your vote? Do you regret your vote?
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did what I believed was right at the time.
KING: Do you regret it? EDWARDS: I believe I did what was right at the time.
KING: No, do you regret it?
EDWARDS: I -- we don't get to go back, Larry...
KING: No, but you can...
EDWARDS: ... 500 times -- no, wait a minute.
KING: But you can regret something.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You asked a yes or no answer. Do you regret your vote? The answer is no. I do not regret my vote. I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Joining us this morning from our L.A. bureau is one of the panelists from last night's debate, CNN political contributor Ron Brownstein of the "Los Angeles Times."
Nice to see you, Ron. Thanks for being with us as always.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Let's start by rating the performances, as we like to do. The two front-runners especially, how do you think each did?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I thought that Senator Edwards sort of continued the trajectory that we've seen in the last few debates, where he has steadily ramped up his attempt to differentiate himself from Senator Kerry. But he didn't do so in such a dramatic or aggressive way as to radically change the trajectory of the debate or the race.
I thought Senator Kerry was very forceful from beginning to end, very confident, and very aggressive in defending his views, his positions and his experience. I thought he really did a good job of holding his ground.
O'BRIEN: Some people say Senator Kerry looked presidential to them, maybe even more so than Senator Edwards. They covered a number of issues in this debate, and I know that we have talked in the past about how they had to sort of start moving away from just attacking President Bush...
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... and just sort of getting on the record with what they believe and their own solutions to the nation's problems. What issue do you think was the most important?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, let's see. You know, we saw Senator Edwards, as we've said over the last few weeks, has really emphasized trade, and he went into more detail about their differences, tried to stretch that out. The problem, of course, in California, it's less of a one- sided advantage for him, I think, than in some other states like Ohio, where trade is seen more perhaps as a negative, at least among Democratic voters.
But we also saw Senator Edwards take a more centrist or even conservative position on social issues, forcefully defending the death penalty, and suggesting that he was better attuned on values-related issues to connect to voters in swing states and especially in the South.
Senator Kerry's strategy, I think by and large, was to argue there was not as much difference between them, as Senator Edwards was insisting. And that probably makes sense when you're the one who is ahead in the polls, you are looking to blunt rather than accentuate the differences.
O'BRIEN: The issue of gay marriages came up relatively early in the debate, as many people expected, of course. It's a big deal in California right now. I want to play what some people said was the best lines of the debate. This was Al Sharpton talking about gay marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL SHARPTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The issue is not who you go to bed with. The issue is whether either of you have a job when you get up in the morning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Any big surprises from all of the candidates in the gay marriage discussion?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, very quickly on Al Sharpton's point. That really is an open question for this election. I mean, Democrats want -- and you saw this from John Kerry last night. John Edwards, I think, came back at him on it. Democrats, whenever Republicans want to talk about these values-related issues like gay marriage, want to say, no, the real issue is the economy. And John Edwards said, I think correctly, that you can't tell voters what's important to them. They're going to tell you what's important to them.
The surprise on gay marriage, to me, was John Kerry saying he was wrong in his interpretation of the law in 1996 when he voted against the efforts signed by President Clinton called the Defense of Marriage Act, which said that if a gay marriage was authorized in one state, like California or Massachusetts, other states would not have to recognize that. John Kerry was one of only 14 senators who voted against it. He said it unconstitutional.
Last night, he said he was wrong. It wasn't unconstitutional. In fact, it wasn't even necessary. States would not have to recognize it. That was an attempt to get himself out of a box, the one that President Bush was drawing on when he came out with his comments this week in which he said, look, the only way to ensure that one state will not have to recognize a gay marriage formed in another was a constitutional amendment.
The only way Kerry could square the circle between his opposition to the amendment and his old vote was to say that his old vote was based on faulty logic.
O'BRIEN: Which he did last night.
BROWNSTEIN: So, that's kind of a little odd, yes.
O'BRIEN: Ron Brownstein, nice to see you as always. Great job last night. And thanks for being with us this morning.
BROWNSTEIN: OK, thank you.
O'BRIEN: And, of course, CNN is the place to turn for complete coverage and results from the upcoming Super Tuesday contest. Our Super Tuesday coverage begins next Tuesday night, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, there's a new report on the Columbine killings that says the gunmen were well-known to authorities well before that massacre took place. Police had at least 15 contacts related to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in the two years prior to April of 1999. The investigation, though, by the Colorado attorney general, Ken Salazar, found no negligence on the part of law enforcement.
Earlier, I talked with the attorney general, asking him how law enforcement could miss what many considered to be warning signs for the two teens.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think the law enforcement community saw these kids as being involved in criminal mischief. There were only two direct contacts with the killers, and, in fact, with one of the principals there was only one. It was a traffic stop, and there was a van break-in. Those are the direct contact. The other contacts were complaints that were received about Eric Harris by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, and then follow-up for those contacts.
HEMMER: The 90-minute videotape released yesterday showing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold essentially making their own videotape. When we look at that tape, sir, does that help you understand how they could have been possibly so dangerous?
SALAZAR: You know, I think it is a horrific and painful videotape to watch -- essentially what were mass murders out there practicing what they were planning on doing. And it is very painful to watch that video. And, you know, all of us here in Colorado and all of us involved in law enforcement very much hoped that April 20, 1999 would never have happened in the way that it did.
HEMMER: Let's go back to April of 1998. There was a search warrant issued to search the home of Eric Harris. That search was never carried out. Why not?
SALAZAR: From our investigation and my review of the report what happened is there was a lieutenant within the Jefferson County Sheriff's office who felt that there was additional information that was needed prior to the execution of the affidavit. The search warrant on the Harris' home could not have been obtained without the execution of that affidavit.
HEMMER: I also understand that paperwork is missing from that time. Is that common?
SALAZAR: The materials that have been assembled with respect to Columbine are voluminous. They occupy a gymnasium full of space with all of the documents that have been collected. It is for me troublesome that we have not been able to locate those documents within the Jefferson County Sheriff's office, and that is why I refused to close our investigation yesterday and have said that we're going to continue to investigate to see whether we can find the missing files and daily reports.
HEMMER: When you put that together with this report in the "Rocky Mountain News" that within the report itself, it alleges that at least one officer admitted to a number of people who said that they were told to mislead the public on signs that were missed prior to April of 1999. What do you say to families who still believe at this point there was a cover-up in your state?
SALAZAR: I do not believe there was a cover-up before April 20th of 1999. I think law enforcement was doing its job. And I think what ended up happening is that these kids were looked at as kids who were involved in criminal mischief. JeffCo. (ph) Sheriff's Office was getting a complaint once a week from someone involved in a pipe bomb, and these were different kids.
And so, I think they were doing their job. And what happened after April 20th of 1999 and how the sheriff handled the communication out of the Jefferson County Sheriff's office, that's another question, and that's part of what we're looking at with respect to the missing files.
HEMMER: You say that report is incomplete. It's been almost five years. How long does it take to get a report like this done?
SALAZAR: Well, it's not -- what's missing is a file and a set of daily activity reports from Officer Gerra (ph), who was involved in putting together the affidavit. And I don't think that I can bring my investigation and my report to conclusion until I'm able to locate that report and those daily activity forms.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: That's the attorney general from earlier.
After that interview, we also talked about these meetings that took place in the home of a neighbor of Eric Harris, in the home of Randy Brown (ph), who made repeated calls to the police, talking about threats he felt from Eric Harris. Now in hindsight, the attorney general admits that meeting should have also taken place inside the home of Eric Harris.
More on Columbine a bit later this morning on AMERICAN MORNING here.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, some same-sex couples are planning to get married. They're not heading to San Francisco to exchange their vows. We're going to talk with the mayor of a community that will start hosting same-sex weddings today.
O'BRIEN: Also, did Mel Gibson change "The Passion" because of protests? We'll tell you what he said last night about that criticism in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And attorneys in Houston present their case, but put on a show. Did they go too far is the question now? That story is just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Wedding bells for Rosie O'Donnell and partner, Kelli Carpenter. The couple was married in San Francisco, where more than 3,300 same-sex couples have wed since February 12.
Well, now the focus of the same-sex marriage debate shifts to the East Coast, and the 26-year-old mayor of a Hudson Valley village who 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, but New Paltz Major Jason West calls the unions his moral obligation. And Mayor West joins us from Village Hall in New Paltz this morning.
Nice to see you, Mayor West. Thanks for being with us.
MAYOR JASON WEST, NEW PALTZ, N.Y.: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: You are not issuing marriage licenses. So, what exactly are you going to be doing starting today?
New York state law clearly states in Article 3 of the Domestic Relations Law that for a marriage to be legal in this state, all that's required is for it to be properly solemnized by someone with authority to do so. As mayor, I'm fully able to do that, and at noon today I start solemnizing marriages regardless of gender.
O'BRIEN: How many folks do you expect will be coming out starting at noon today?
WEST: I have no idea. We're going to cut it off at 12 marriages today and leaving the option open for more. If folks in the Northeast would like to be married, we're going to have a form up on our village Web site later today. And thats' www.VillageofNewPaltz.org.
O'BRIEN: Here is what the...
WEST: We're compiling a waiting list today.
O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you there. Here is what the Health Department of New York state says. They say it's not legal. And this is what it actually says: "A municipal clerk who issues a marriage license outside of these guidelines and any person who solemnizes such a marriage would be violating state law and subject to penalties in the law."
So, what they seem to be saying is what you're doing is illegal. You disagree.
WEST: I do. I actually recommend that the officials of the Department of Health re-read the Domestic Relations Law and re-read the Constitution of New York state. The 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 this state, and I intend to do so today.
O'BRIEN: There are legal experts who would say that basically you found a loophole. That actually while they do not state same-sex marriages in any of those documents that was the essential intention. These are legal experts. These are not necessarily people who weigh in on either side of this debate.
So, there are some who are saying essentially you're exploiting a loophole here. Is that, do you think, fair to say?
WEST: If you think abiding by the wording of the New York state laws is finding a loophole, then perhaps, yes.
O'BRIEN: There are some people who...
WEST: As far as I'm concerned, I'm upholding the Constitution and obeying the laws of this state as I see them.
O'BRIEN: Do you expect that you're going to get some political backlash for this? You're 26 years old. I have to assume you're pretty much at the start of your political career. Are you worried about what could happen to you personally?
WEST: I'm not worried at all, no. I'm not a Democrat or a Republican. I'm a member of the Green Party. I don't have any higher-ups in my organization trying to quash this for their future political careers, which leaves open me to follow my conscience and the Constitution as I see it.
O'BRIEN: Mayor Jason West joining us. He is the mayor of New Paltz in New York. Thanks for being with us.
HEMMER: More trouble in the magic kingdom yet again today. We talked a little bit about this yesterday. Also, the deposed head of the stock exchange now fighting back.
Andy Serwer has it all this morning, minding your business on Friday.
Good morning.
First, Michael Eisner.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, let's talk about that. Only a few days away from the Oscars, and the real action in Hollywood is not in the screening room, but in the boardroom, specifically Disney. We've been talking about the mounting problems for Michael Eisner, the CEO of that company, and they continue today. More shareholders coming out and saying they will vote no confidence at the board meeting on Wednesday of next week, at the annual meeting.
Let's take a look at some of the outfits now that have decided they're not going to support him.
T. Rowe Price, the giant mutual fund company in Baltimore coming out. The New York State Fund coming out yesterday, as well. We already know about Disney and CalPERS. Moving on to some of the others, you can see here also the pension funds in Massachusetts, Virginia, New Jersey. And we are looking at about 30 percent of the shareholders saying no at this point.
What can Disney do? A couple things. Ignore it. They can certainly do that. Number two, they could give him the boot. And number three, they could possibly separate the roles of chairman and CEO, making George Mitchell, the former senator from Maine who is on the board, the chairman.
HEMMER: Wow, downright rebellion, isn't it?
SERWER: Yes, it really is. It's interesting stuff. It's going to be great to watch this happen.
HEMMER: Dick Grasso says he's keeping the cash. Forget about it.
SERWER: Yes, yesterday...
HEMMER: My millions are my millions.
SERWER: That's it. And, you know, he got paid, so why should he give it back? That's a good argument, perhaps, although the New York Stock Exchange says otherwise. There he is, the former head of the NYSE. A letter yesterday from his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan. He said Mr. Grasso has no intention of returning any of the money and nothing will cause him to capitulate. The New York Stock Exchange is not happy. John Thane has suggested it might be appropriate for him to return some of that money.
HEMMER: Yes, thank you, Andy.
The GDP numbers are out in an hour. We'll talk about that next time.
SERWER: That's right.
HEMMER: All right. OK -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: He's probably going to require more of a suggestion to return the money, one would imagine.
SERWER: Hint, hint, sharper elbow.
O'BRIEN: Yes, yes, like a lawsuit, maybe.
CAFFERTY: That's...
O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That's, I'll be giving some of the money back to CNN in some life. Yes, that'll happen.
SERWER: Not.
CAFFERTY: The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would treat attacks on a pregnant woman as two separate crimes, one against her and one against the fetus she's carrying. Supporters named the bill, which is actively supported by the White House, in honor of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. Peterson's husband Scott is facing double murder charges in California.
But critics claim this piece of legislation is not what it appears to be. They say it would give fetuses a new federal legal status, something that abortion opponents have wanted for a very long time.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist says he's going to bring it up soon, but he may not have the votes to pass it. It has passed the House of Representatives.
The question is this, then, should Congress pass the Unborn Victims of Violence Act?
You can e-mail us at am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: Good deal.
Thank you, Jack.
And a break here. What a year for the Oscars, huh? You've got your hobbits, your horsemen, your sailors, your cops and your washed up TV star all Sunday night. Who takes home the Oscar? The "90 Second Pop" weighs in in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
COMMERCIAL
HEMMER: What a sight. A pretty good sight on a Friday.
7:30 here in New York. Welcome back.
In a few minutes here, a stunning moment in a Texas courtroom -- a demonstration in front of a jury as prosecutors try to show how they think a woman killed her husband. We'll get a complete look at the trial in a moment, a remarkable case for a number of reasons, including the number of times they allege this man was stabbed. It is remarkable.
O'BRIEN: One has to imagine how all that happened. Did they bring the bed?
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And they reenact the hellish murder in the...
HEMMER: They'll see that all, yes.
O'BRIEN: Wow, shocking for the jurors, one has to imagine.
Also this morning, on a much lighter note, the Oscars are going to be handed out on Sunday night, but we're going to get an early jump on the awards, making our predictions with the "90 Second Pop" gang. Which movies have early buzz? We're talking about that, also get our picks on the record so that we can follow-up when we were all wrong and see who really had the worst record.
HEMMER: Wrong being the key.
O'BRIEN: As we like to do.
HEMMER: That's right.
The top stories again here at the half hour now.
California's attorney general says he will ask the state's highest court today to rule on same-sex marriages. The attorney general wants the state supreme court to decide if San Francisco is breaking the law by issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The mayor says the state's equal protection clause demands that all people be treated equally.
President Bush will talk about the U.S. dollar today with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. The chancellor expected to warn the president of a global implications of a weak dollar, including its impact on world trade. The two leaders meet at the White House in a few hours this morning.
The U.S. Senate has agreed to require child safety locks on handguns. The measure was added to a Republican-backed bill protecting gun manufacturers from certain lawsuits. Senate Democrats are also calling for amendments requiring background checks on gun show sales and a renewal of the assault weapons ban.
From Chicago, what a sight it was last night -- hundreds of Cub fans gathered yesterday to cheer on the infamous Bartonin (ph) ball that some say cost the team a shot at the World Series. The ball was destroyed inside a bulletproof tank when an Oscar winning special effects designer applied pressure and heat and explosives to blow it up and reduce it to a pile of string. And in Chicago, they carried that on live television.
From North Carolina, winter storm warnings are in effect for much of the state today. Snow started falling overnight in Charlotte. They have about a foot of snow on the ground there already. And south of there, in South Carolina, it came down, as well, about nine inches thick in certain areas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: The Democratic presidential candidates are beginning their final push towards Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the nominating season. Ten states are going to hold contests on Tuesday. Eleven hundred fifty-one convention delegates are at stake. The four remaining candidates had their final face to face showdown last night in Los Angeles.
And as national correspondent Frank Buckley reports, it did little to change the established pecking order.
(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.
EDWARDS: He's a good man. He's a good candidate. He'd make a good president.
KERRY: I think John has run a terrific campaign and he and I are friends.
BUCKLEY: But for Senator Edwards, it was not the break out 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 spent 20 years in Washington or by someone who's more of an outsider to this process?
BUCKLEY: Senator Kerry was already aiming at President Bush.
KERRY: He's 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 of American politics because he can't come to America and talk about jobs.
BUCKLEY: Long shots Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton also had their say.
SHARPTON: Let's make a constitutional amendment against presidents that lie. Let's deal with the whole thing.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I'm the voice for getting out of Iraq, for universal, single pair 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 including Senator Edwards on his list of potential vice presidential picks if he gets the nomination. He says he admires him, considers him a friend, thinks he's a great communicator but that was as far as he would go -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Frank, many people thought that this particular debate was one of the best because of the interchanges. The format sort of allowed for more interchanges.
What were better interchanges? What do you think was the biggest surprise of the night?
BUCKLEY: Well, I thought that, strangely, that interchange, that relaxed atmosphere meant that John Edwards, who is a guy who was supposed to have his breakout moment here, possibly get out a zinger, get out a where's the beef line or something that would get onto the newspaper front pages today and start to draw voters' attention to him just didn't happen. And, in fact, it was the opposite.
If you looked at those two guys, even though they joked about the ticket, someone just looking in on this process last night, maybe for the first time or who hadn't been paying very much attention to the Democrats to this point, might say, hey, is that the Democratic ticket?
They looked like buddies. They were buddy-buddy throughout the evening. Yes, Senator Edwards was drawing distinctions between himself and Senator Kerry, but the body language, the language he used suggested that they were collegial Senate friends and it looked like they could be a ticket.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. I'm sure many people are considering that today.
Frank Buckley for us this morning.
Nice to see you, Frank. Thanks.
CNN is going to have complete coverage and results for you all from the upcoming Super Tuesday contest. Our Super Tuesday coverage begins next Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time -- Bill.
HEMMER: Right about 22 minutes now before the hour.
A Houston courtroom took on the air of theater yesterday. Prosecutors trying to prove their murder case with a dramatic recreation.
Here's Mike Brooks on that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Susan Wright, accused of murdering her husband Jeffrey by stabbing him 193 times, looked as if she could barely contain herself Wednesday as prosecutors, using the blood-soaked bed where the murder allegedly took place, reenacted how they believe she killed her husband.
Jurors looked on as assistant D.A. Paul Doyle was tied to the bed post by his wrists and ankles with neckties and terry cloth strips. Lead prosecutor Kelly Siegler then straddled Doyle as she questioned homicide detective Mark Reynolds.
KELLY SIEGLER, PROSECUTOR: Something like this and straddled him. And she's right-handed. And how do you think she held the knife? Attack at the head area first -- which side of his face are most of the injuries going to be on?
BROOKS: Defense Attorney Neal Davis, who denies that his client tied her husband to the bed, objected to the graphic demonstration. NEAL DAVIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's overly theatrical and I think it's overly prejudicial to the jury.
BROOKS: The defense says the 27-year-old defendant killed her husband only in self-defense after years of abuse and only after he pulled a knife on her and she wrestled it away from him. Defense attorney Davis also said that Susan Wright had been beaten and raped at their home.
Prosecutors say that Jeffrey Wright was murdered by his wife on January 13, 2003 because she had religious concerns about divorce and that she wanted $200,000 from a life insurance policy. They allege that she then buried her husband's body under their backyard patio. On January 15, Susan Wright filed a report for domestic abuse. Prosecutors say that report is part of the murder cover-up.
Mike Brooks, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: If convicted, Susan Wright could receive a prison sentence of five to 99 years behind bars -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, how much of a chance does the president of Haiti have to keep his job? We've got an update on the violence there just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, as Japanese forces head to Iraq, the country's navy takes an unusual step to attract recruits. We'll show it to you in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And we won't know the winners till Sunday, but, hey, we can still guess, right? "90-Second Pop" and their Oscar predictions coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Some 20,000 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division have been returning home from Iraq. The storied Army unit was based in northern Iraq for the past year. In the first weeks of the war, the 101st liberated the cities of Najaf, Hilla (ph) and Karbala, and it played a pivotal role in the attack that killed Saddam Hussein's two sons.
Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st Airborne, just returned this month, and he joins us this morning.
It's nice that you return home and you stop by to visit us. We certainly appreciate it.
MAJ. GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION: Well, it's great to be here, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: How has it been coming back?
PETRAEUS: It's wonderful.
O'BRIEN: I mean, for yourself, but everybody as well?
PETRAEUS: It's wonderful. We have under a hundred soldiers still left actually in Kuwait now, who will be home in the next week or so. But it's just great to see our soldiers reunited with their families and enjoying a break, and really enjoying America again.
O'BRIEN: Talk to me about some of the highlights and some of the lowlights of what you were able to accomplish and not accomplish in your time in Iraq.
PETRAEUS: Well, of course, there is the liberation of several key cities -- Najaf, Karbala and Hilla (ph) -- on the road to Baghdad. And then in Mosul, where we ended up in northern Iraq, the running of the first province election in Iraq was a real key moment for us and really for the rest of the country, the killing of Uday and Qusay.
And then there were some low moments. The loss of 17 soldiers in one night when the two helicopters crashed over Mosul was clearly the lowest point of the entire effort for us, and the month of November was very difficult for us as well.
O'BRIEN: In all, you lost something like 60 soldiers, didn't you?
PETRAEUS: It was over 60 soldiers of units that were with the 101st while we were in Iraq during our year.
O'BRIEN: You're a major general. You obviously are responsible for lots of manpower and weapons. But what was your real job there? It seems that a lot of your work was in diplomacy and sort of walking that fine line, as you were in these cities, of dealing with ethnic tensions.
PETRAEUS: Well, really, all of our soldiers were, on one hand, civil affair's soldiers in addition to being instruments, and also diplomats. The people of Iraq saw our soldiers. That was the coalition to them. They didn't see all the high-ranking officials.
And so, all of us ended up mediating, working together with Iraqi people, constantly helping at the sub-district, district and province level throughout the four provinces in northern Iraq.
O'BRIEN: You've talked a little bit about some acts of heroism that you witnessed.
PETRAEUS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And I'd like to hear about maybe the one that you thought most the remarkable.
PETRAEUS: Well, there were a number under heavy fire where our soldiers reacted extraordinarily. And ones that stick out most are probably the response under fire in the city of Karbala when we were liberating that city. Very, very heavy firefights in there, and infantrymen and medics coming to the rescue of other soldiers who were very seriously injured, wounded themselves, and continued to fight, and then rescued their buddies from the heavy action.
O'BRIEN: Is there any chance that you have could be returning to Iraq in the near future?
PETRAEUS: I don't think in the near future. And it's probably too early to tell what will be needed in the future. Everyone has said that we'll have soldiers in Iraq for some time, and probably a year or so hence we may have soldiers there again.
O'BRIEN: There is still a lot of work obviously to do there. What do you feel you didn't have time to do before you left?
PETRAEUS: Well, our soldiers accomplished some 5,000 reconstruction projects in northern Iraq, but there still is a tremendous amount to do. There are still countless schools and medical clinics and roads and so forth to rebuild. There is certainly a great deal of work to be done in the security arena, although our soldiers trained some 20,000 Iraqi security forces in northern Iraq, including police, border police, civil defense corps. And they were doing quite well. They were standing up to the bad guys, who want to see the new Iraq fail and who will continue to come after our forces and the new Iraq forces. O'BRIEN: Major General David Petraeus, it's nice to have you. Thanks for being back...
(CROSSTALK)
PETRAEUS: Well, it's great to be with you.
O'BRIEN: And welcome back to not only you, of course, but all of your men and women who served with you as well.
PETRAEUS: Thanks very much.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: Well done.
From Japan, on a military note, the navy is feeling a bit left out in Japan, because the Japanese army these days is getting all of the attention with its deployment to Iraq.
So, for the navy, time for a bit of a PR push.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP -- JAPANESE COMMERCIAL)
HEMMER: Can't make that up. The ad is aimed at young people, men and women that the navy spokesman says do not seem much interested in what the navy is doing. It will be aired next week on giant screens in trendy Tokyo shopping districts. And, you know, we're on primetime in Japan on AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: I think that's something that Jack Cafferty (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as he always likes to say, you know, we're on primetime.
HEMMER: In a moment...
O'BRIEN: But that's an interesting strategy for recruiting people.
HEMMER: I would say, yes. Go.
In a moment here, Hollywood's biggest event comes Sunday night. Plenty of contenders, few winners. Who will take home the top prize on Sunday? "90-Second Pop" weighs in after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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. Man, that's...
BERNARD: Five hours and five minutes...
BOROWITZ: That is the last thing to do.
TOURE: Do they cut out bad jokes? Do they use it for that?
BOROWITZ: That would be great.
HEMMER: Does "Finding Nemo" win much on Sunday night?
TOURE: It should.
BERNARD: It's going to win...
(CROSSTALK) BOROWITZ: You know, I am really holding out for it to win, even best sound on it, because Michael Eisner is having such a bad week, I just want him to get something.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: If the "City of God" doesn't win something, there should be rioting in the streets of New York, Hollywood, Rio, everywhere. Oh, my god. What a great movie.
HEMMER: We'll get a live report from Rio on Monday.
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: I'll be covering it.
HEMMER: Thanks Toure. Thank you Sarah. See you a bit later, Andy. Nice to see you here as well.
All right, here's Soledad again.
O'BRIEN: Well, Bill, I love when all of your panelists agree. That's great.
Still to come this morning...
HEMMER: Sometimes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. That was sarcasm.
Political observers say Senator John Edwards needed a win to gain ground on Senator John Kerry. We're going to get a read on last night's debate from senior analyst Jeff Greenfield just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Good morning.
John Edwards wanted a one-on-one contest with John Kerry. This might be as close as he gets. The two squared off in a debate live on CNN. Did Edwards get his moment of distinction?
Also, explaining "The Passion."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEL GIBSON, FILMMAKER: I expected, you know, hey, if you get into religion and politics, you know, you're going to touch a few nerves. But I didn't know I was going to hit a main artery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Director Mel Gibson talks about the vision behind one of the most controversial films in years.
Also, Cub fans rejoicing now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is right there, ladies and gentlemen. The ball is gone, the curse is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A $100,000 baseball blown to smithereens, the violent end to the Bartman ball.
This hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
Other stories that we're following this morning, the stunning amount of evidence that's been collected in the Columbine investigation. Ten thousand items on public display in Colorado related to that school massacre.
HEMMER: Also this hour, former governor of New Jersey, Thomas Kean is with us. He's the chairman of the 9/11 Commission. The panel has been asking for more time, about 60 days to do its work. Now it has hit yet another roadblock. We'll talk about that with him and what the future may hold for that Commission.
O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty's with us -- good morning, sir.
CAFFERTY: Good morning.
Coming up on the Cafferty File, if you have problems falling asleep, there's a new kind of milk out that may help you get the rest you need. And a remarkable squirrel in St. Louis, Missouri that made an amazing escape from a burning building.
HEMMER: Go squirrel.
CAFFERTY: You don't want to miss this.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad.
O'BRIEN: We're doing the squirrel video now.
I love it.
HEMMER: Look at the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CAFFERTY: That's the end of the wake up at the bottom of the container.
O'BRIEN: No, I think it's a good thing. CAFFERTY: You do?
O'BRIEN: I'm very happy about it.
CAFFERTY: You're easily amused.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I am. That is true.
CAFFERTY: By virtue of the fact that you show up here every morning. That's proof enough.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely right.
Let's get right to our top stories this morning.
California's attorney general says he will ask the state's highest court today to rule on same-sex marriages. The attorney general wants the state supreme court to decide if San Francisco is breaking the law by issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The mayor of San Francisco says the state's equal protection clause demands that all people be treated equally.
Israeli police clashing with Palestinians at one of Jerusalem's holiest sites. Israeli police say they used stun grenades to disperse hundreds of Palestinians after they began throwing stones at them. The disputed compound is the site of biblical temples and the home to two mosques. No injuries have been reported.
Attackers who assault pregnant women could be in additional trouble. The House of Representatives passed a bill which makes injury to the fetus a separate crime. President Bush is backing the bill. It is not clear if the Senate's going to pass it or not. Jack Cafferty is talking about that this morning.
And a weighty matter for airline passengers. The National Transportation Safety Board says air travel would be safer if airlines weighed passengers periodically. The recommendation comes after an investigation into a commuter plane crash last year in North Carolina, which found that mistakes were made in estimating the weight of passengers and baggage.
In Minnesota, ice crossed racers slipped and slid to victory at the ice cross downhill races. With temperatures well below freezing, nearly 100 men, women and children looked on. An American and a Swede came out on top in that event. Apparently together they slid into each other and slid down the ice right through the finish line. A very dramatic ending.
HEMMER: It looked a bit like South Carolina, huh, in the past 24 hours?
O'BRIEN: Yes, kind of. Exactly.
HEMMER: That's where we find Chad Myers, live in Spartanburg. Nine inches on the ground -- Chad, good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: We're about four days away now from Super Tuesday, when 10 states hold Democratic presidential nominating contests. The biggest state is California on Tuesday. The four remaining candidates there last night at USC for a debate sponsored by CNN and the "L.A. Times."
Senator John Edwards said he is more appealing to independent voters while the front runner, Senator John Kerry, maintains that he has the best chance to beat President Bush. They both had to defend their votes for the Iraq War resolution last evening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: What we did is we voted on a resolution. It is for the president of the United States to determine how to conduct the war.
KING: So, you trusted...
EDWARDS: That's his responsibility.
KING: You trusted...
EDWARDS: No, I didn't trust him. What this comes down to is this president has failed in his responsibility.
KERRY: I do not regret my vote, I regret that we have a president of the United States who misled America and broke every promise he made to the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Also other hot topics last night, the death penalty; same-sex marriage, especially in the state of California, where it is hot yet again.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, watched it all last night, back with us this morning to talk about it.
I saw you with Aaron just about nine short hours ago.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Yes.
HEMMER: Nice to see you early today.
Your impressions from last night.
What was key?
GREENFIELD: Well, I think the most important thing, Bill, is that this was John Edwards' first and best and maybe last chance to face off with Kerry as the only likely alternative and to argue, as we talked about yesterday, why Democrats should not simply go with John Kerry. Edwards made explicit what he's been sort of saying for months -- I can win all the votes Kerry can, but I can also win where he can't. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARDS: What do we do to attract independent voters? Because we have to get these people.
KING: And you're saying you can do that better?
EDWARDS: I know I can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, part of Edwards' argument is biography. He came from modest roots in the South. He understands such folks. He feels their pain, if you will.
Kerry was clearly ready, as he has been in the past, to strike some populist themes, in this case, when he's talking about health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: The biggest story today, Larry, are 43 million Americans who have no health care. The biggest story today is the people...
(APPLAUSE)
KERRY: The biggest story, the biggest story are the workers that I met with out in front of Bond's Supermarket, the UFCW workers, who have been out there walking for five months. A husband and a wife who haven't worked in five months because they can't get health care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: So Kerry is determined not to be the establishment insider distant from real people and that's what that was.
HEMMER: In the State of California, they talked about gay marriage. There were a couple of hot button issues last night.
How did they rank? How did they do?
GREENFIELD: Well, the death penalty came up and John Kerry, who is the first Democrat to oppose it, would be the first nominee to oppose it since Mike Dukakis, began by answering a question about a child killer the way Mike Dukakis should have answered that famous question about what he'd do if his wife were raped and murdered. And then he went on.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: If it was a 5-year-old. Should live? KERRY: Larry, my instinct is to want to strangle that person with my own hands. I understand the instincts. I really do. I've prosecuted people. I know what the feeling of the families is and everybody else. But we have 111 people who have been now released from death row, death row, let alone the rest of the prison system, because of DNA evidence that showed they didn't commit the crime with which they were convicted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: John Edwards said, by the way, he was for the death penalty, despite some problems he had with that.
And on gay marriage, I think both Kerry and Edwards were trying to kind of thread a needle -- I'm against gay marriage, but I'm against a constitutional amendment, but I want states to have the power to stop if it they want, but I'm not sure how I feel about the Defense of Marriage Act. This one, I think, is going to be playing out a little more.
HEMMER: Like this a little bit, huh?
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: I don't want to make too much of this, Frank Buckley talked about it a half hour ago, posture, physical interaction is very critical in a debate like this last night.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: The way this table was set up, with John Kerry on the end and John Edwards, almost forced the ping pong back and forth with his answers and his questions, the way he followed it.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Did you pick up on that at all?
GREENFIELD: Well, I mentioned this last night before the debate, that I thought it would help Kerry, and, frankly, this time I think a rare prediction that was right. It stopped Kerry from being an orator, from pointing and making these grand senatorial comments that sometimes make him look pompous. And it kept Edwards from commanding the room physically, the way he does when he's giving a closing argument, the way he uses his hands.
So the format actually helped Kerry cool it down a little, which is what he needed. And it also marginalized Kucinich and Sharpton by putting them on the other end.
So, yes, it makes a difference sometimes.
HEMMER: And it was spirited, too, Ron and Larry, an excellent job; Janet, as well.
GREENFIELD: They were excellent questioners. Larry did a great job. And when you have four instead of 10 people, you know what? The debate gets a lot more coherent.
HEMMER: So true.
Have a good weekend.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: Nice to see you.
CNN is the place to turn, we know that already. Complete coverage, results from the upcoming contests. Our coverage on Super Tuesday starts at 7:00 Eastern. We'll have it all for you. That's 4:00 in L.A. -- now, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: An unusual meeting is taking place today in Oklahoma City. Law enforcement agents from six states are getting together to see if they're all looking for the same killer.
Ed Lavandera is live for us in Oklahoma City -- Ed, good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, authorities say here that the murder cases they'll be talking about today have more similarities than differences at this point, and the similarities include women that were found at truck stops, were picked up at truck stops here along Interstate 40 in Oklahoma. And that's what they'll be talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY RUSHING, GRAY COUNTY CHIEF DEPUTY: This is a still photo from a surveillance camera.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): The blurry picture captured the last moments of a woman's life.
RUSHING: This woman here is who we believe to be our victim.
LAVANDERA: But since she was last seen five months ago, this woman remains a complete mystery. Chief Deputy Kelly Rushing and a team of investigators don't know who she is. They know nothing about her.
RUSHING: The last thing she said to anyone was, "I've got a ride and I've got to go."
LAVANDERA: Six hours after cameras showed her walking around a truck stop in Oklahoma with a backpack and wearing what looks like men's clothing, she was found dead along a highway in the Texas Panhandle, the clothes and backpack nowhere to be found.
RUSHING: Just discarded on the side of the road like a bag of trash.
LAVANDERA: Investigators believe this case could be linked to similar murders in Oklahoma, Texas and four other states. In the last two years, some 10 women have been found dead along highways. In almost every case, the women were last seen at truck stops and also had a history of prostitution. Investigators say there are more similarities to these cases, but they're ready to say they're all connected.
JESSICA BROWN, OKLAHOMA STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: We have entertained the idea we may be talking about a serial killer, but we have nothing at this point in time that directly links these homicides to one person.
TED UNDERWOOD, VICTIM'S UNCLE: We're looking at Casey's spirit houses.
LAVANDERA: Following ancient Seminole tradition, Casey Jo Pipestem was buried on her family's land in central Oklahoma. Pipestem was 19 and last seen in an Oklahoma City truck stop in January. She was found dead in Texas, her body thrown off a bridge into a creek. Her family worries that no one cares about these victims because of their lifestyles and they want people to know that no one deserves to die like this.
UNDERWOOD: I think if people looked at their background, I think what they would find is that they were human beings, that they were people with families.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: There will be about four dozen investigators here in Oklahoma City this morning to discuss and compare notes on all the different cases that they have from Texas to Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, as well. And the authorities do say that they're, as we mentioned before, that there are more similarities than differences, and that's what brings them all here. In fact, they wouldn't travel this far to compare notes if they didn't feel that they had a reason to. But at the same point, we must stress again that authorities here are not ready to call this a serial killer case. But they're definitely investigating that possibility -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Such sad stories to tell there.
I'm curious to know, as you point out and really reiterate, similar is the word investigators are using. But are they pointing to any forensic evidence that would link any of these people?
LAVANDERA: Well, it's difficult to get that kind of information out of authorities. But they do say that all the different investigations are kind of at different points, so you have a lot of different law enforcement agencies that are waiting for their forensic testing to come back. But that's definitely one of the pieces of evidence they hope will be able to connect the dots between all of these different cases if that does happen.
O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us this morning.
Ed, thanks.
LAVANDERA: You've got it.
O'BRIEN: Again, what a sad story.
Thank you.
HEMMER: Still to come here, the commission investigating the attacks of 9/11 fighting now for more time. We'll talk with the chairman, Thomas Kean, to find out why and what 60 more days would do for that commission.
O'BRIEN: And some say it's a baseball that might have kept the Chicago Cubs out of the World Series. We're going to show you the explosive way that Cubs fans tried to get rid of the curse.
HEMMER: Also, a momentous occasion for former talk show host Rosie O'Donnell. What she says motivated her to go to San Francisco. Back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The commission that is investigating the 9/11 attacks wants 60 more days to get its report ready, past the current May 27th deadline. But House Speaker Dennis Hastert says he's going to block that request even though the Senate and President Bush have OKed it.
Former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean is the chairman of the 9/11 Commission.
He joins us this morning.
Nice to see you.
Thank you for joining us.
TOM KEAN, CHAIRMAN, 9/11 COMMISSION: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Specifically, why the extra 60 days needed?
KEAN: We've just got a tremendous amount of work to do. We've done over 1,000 interviews now. We've got over two million documents that we're going through. We've reached the stage where we've put everything together. Now we've got to start working doing the report and making the recommendations to make the American people safer.
We were about a month delayed getting started because they changed chairman and vice chairman. We need this extra time at the end to really do the kind of solid report that the American people deserve.
O'BRIEN: Here's what Dennis Hastert has to say. He says, "The Speaker says -- thinks," rather, "it's the wrong thing to do for two reasons. One, if there are recommendations that need action, we need them sooner rather than later. Two, he does not want this to be delayed any further and become a political football in the middle of the campaign."
This comes from the spokesperson for Speaker Dennis Hastert.
So let's take each of those points that he makes.
The first is if there's something important in this report, we need it sooner than later.
Why would you argue with that point?
KEAN: If there's something important we'll get it out. One of the things we want to do in this process is have an additional public hearing or two. That's how you do get information out and to the American people. One of the things that we'd have to do if we were to shorten our time is cancel some of those public hearings. The public would get less information, not more.
We'll get everything important out as soon as we have it.
O'BRIEN: Some people say a bigger concern might be, for some people, the political element of all of this. Boy, you're getting close to the election cycle. We're getting closer to November and the closer you get to November, that seems to be what Dennis Hastert is reiterating, it becomes a political issue in the election.
How would you answer his concerns about that? And what would you say to him?
KEAN: Well, first of all, I really don't think, with all due respect to the Speaker, that politics is a reason for saying we should have a less good report for the American people. We're asking, really, for a July date, to get it out in July. And that's before, long before Labor Day, long before the campaign really heats up and we think that the public will have a chance then to discuss our report before you get into the Republican convention, before you get into the after Labor Day political period. And we just need that extra time, really to make the best possible report.
O'BRIEN: Talking about time, President Bush says he's going to limit his time to one hour of questioning from two members, the top members of the Commission.
Do you think you're getting sufficient cooperation on that front from the president?
KEAN: Well, we've gotten a lot of cooperation from the president...
O'BRIEN: But specifically, a one hour limit.
KEAN: Well, we'd like more time. But, you know, this is one of the first presidents who ever agreed to be interviewed by any commission. I mean even when you went back to the commission investigating the Kennedy assassination, Lyndon Johnson wouldn't give them an interview. Lyndon Johnson submitted some stuff in writing and that was it.
So the president is giving this time. If we need extra time, we'll request it. But that's still under negotiation.
O'BRIEN: Characterize for me how helpful you think the White House and the administration has been not only in the specific thing, but overall in bringing documents forward and being helpful to the Commission's goals.
KEAN: Well, from day one, when they helped us get our clearances expedited, they've been quite helpful. I mean we have now seen the most secret documents in the possession of the United States government. No congressional committee has ever seen those kind of documents, that category. We've seen them. We've been able to take notes on them and they will inform our report.
That's very helpful. There hasn't been a single thing we've asked for that some members of the staff or some commission haven't seen. There's not a single person who's refused to be interviewed. That's been very helpful. And the administration has been helpful in expediting that.
O'BRIEN: So then in that light, how hopeful are you that they're going to say yes to 60 more days?
KEAN: I'm very hopeful. I speak as a reasonable man and I think this is a reasonable request. The American people need it. It's fair to the families, who really want the answers to some of these questions. And so my hope is that the Speaker will be changing his mind and hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
O'BRIEN: We will see.
Governor Thomas Kean joining us.
Nice to see you, sir.
Thanks for coming in and discussing this topic with us.
KEAN: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, some disturbing revelations about the massacre at Colorado's Columbine High School are contained in a report from the Colorado attorney general. In the two years before the April, 1999 massacre, the report says authorities had two direct contacts with the gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and complaints or questions about them at least 13 times. A display of evidence related to the massacre was made public yesterday. The number of contacts with Harris and Klebold has led some victims' parents to question why officials did not intervene before the shootings.
Earlier this morning, we spoke to Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar and he tried to explain why some clues were missed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN SALAZAR, COLORADO ATTORNEY GENERAL: 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 that 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: A supplemental report about the massacre will be released at a time that is still yet to be determined -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, in a moment, some say it's the ball that brought so many Cubs fans to tears. Last night, Chicago got its revenge. We'll show you how after this.
But what about that Billy goat?
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: For this next story, we're going to take you back to last October. Remember how the Cubs fans were about, ooh, five outs away from their first World Series appearance in 58 years?
Steve Bartman, a Chicago Cubs fan, loyal to the core, knocked that ball away from Moses Alou. The Cubs went on to lose the NLCS and World Series dreams were dashed.
Here is what happened on live television last night in Chicago with that baseball. Hollywood special effects experts blew it up. Fans packed into Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago, hoping that cruse will be lifted now. That's the Bartman baseball. It is gone.
Now the question is what do they do about the Billy goat? Remember the curse? The late '40s, the Billy goat taken to Wrigley Field...
O'BRIEN: Yes, they've only really dealt with one curse. They have a few other issues they need to clear up.
CAFFERTY: Why take it out on a baseball? They should have put the guy who interfered with the catch in that thing and blown him up.
O'BRIEN: Oh, no. No.
HEMMER: You know, you're still not letting up on Bartman, are you?
O'BRIEN: Poor Steve Bartman.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: The poor guy. No, Steve.
CAFFERTY: It's not the baseball's fault.
O'BRIEN: It wasn't his fault, either.
CAFFERTY: Yes, it was.
O'BRIEN: The question of the day.
CAFFERTY: It was his fault.
O'BRIEN: It wasn't.
CAFFERTY: The House of Representatives passed a bill yesterday that would treat attacks on a pregnant woman as two crimes -- one against the woman and one against the fetus she's carrying. Supporters named the bill in honor of Laci Peterson and her unborn son. But critics say the bill would give fetuses a new federal legal status and that's something that abortion opponents have wanted for a long time.
So the question is whether or not Congress ought to pass this thing, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, it's called.
Audrey in Sable, Florida writes, "No. I fear this could be a way to criminalize abortion in a round about way. Is there a provision that the fetus could have been viable outside the womb?"
Valerie in San Antonio, Texas, "I am a staunch pro-lifer, but I don't see a need for the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The person who murdered the unborn victim could claim they didn't know the woman was pregnant, thereby reducing the charge to manslaughter."
Joy in Iowa, "Until Congress is willing to admit fetuses are people, the killers of pregnant women and their children will never truly be punished. The majority of violence against pregnant women is committed because of their pregnancies. By making the sentences truly reflect the devastation caused by both deaths, only then will the law be just."
Reg in Ontario, "Jack, that barely audible creaking noise you hear is the back door being ever so slowly pried open."
And Doug writes from Stony Creek, Ontario, "Whatever happened to Cafferty Casual Friday? This question is far too serious for me to answer today. Give us back our Jack lite to end the week."
HEMMER: Yes, where did you go?
I got an e-mail. "Dear Jack, you should have your own show."
Oh, but you do.
O'BRIEN: Oh, wait a minute. It's a tidy little broadcast.
CAFFERTY: Who's that from?
HEMMER: Call it "In The Money." Some guy named Michael in (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: Joe Hemmer in Ohio.
CAFFERTY: Carol Costello.
What about "In The Money?"
HEMMER: "In The Money" this weekend. I thought we'd give you a little plug, for crying out loud.
O'BRIEN: We're setting you up for the tease here. Setting you up for the tease.
HEMMER: We care about you.
CAFFERTY: We are. But I forgot what it is we're supposed to be plugging.
O'BRIEN: That's OK. Just talk about the show.
CAFFERTY: Oh, yes. Outsourcing American jobs to India. There we go. Thank you, Ted. Cashing in when U.S. jobs go overseas. "In The Money" Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at 3:00 are the two times that we broadcast that little deal.
HEMMER: Carol Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: What? That I should have my own show?
O'BRIEN: Sincerely, Mrs. Cafferty.
CAFFERTY: She's in favor of anything that'll keep me out of the house longer.
HEMMER: I know that.
CAFFERTY: Get more jobs, do more shows, whatever it takes, just stay away.
O'BRIEN: Oh, you're funny.
All right, thanks, Jack.
Still to come this morning, shock jock Howard Stern gets some public support from a very unlikely ally. We're going to tell you who it is when AMERICAN MORNING continues.
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