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American Morning
Senator Kerry Thinking About Sending Own Fact-Finding Team to Iraq; Martha Stewart Has Date With Her Probation Officer
Aired March 08, 2004 - 08:00 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An important meeting for Martha Stewart today. Much of her future could depend on it.
And the wind, the crew and the vessel now all under scrutiny today as investigators search for the cause of the passenger ferry disaster.
Also, gunfire and death in Haiti. U.S. forces get a taste of what it's like to be caught in the middle of a violent political upheaval.
Those stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Bill Hemmer has the day off.
Miles O'Brien is sitting in for him, so it's nice to have you.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's great to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: You look great.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. I'm keeping you. Fill in as long as you want. No, I'm just kidding you.
Other stories that we're following this morning, as Iraqi leaders begin navigating the tricky waters of democracy, former Defense Secretary William Cohen is going to help us understand what each side wants from the other side.
Also, Senator John Kerry is thinking about sending his own fact finding team into Iraq. We'll find out exactly what the goal is there.
M. O'BRIEN: Also, it's no surprise Senator Kerry and President Bush are trading some political punches already. But we'll also hear about the TV ads supported the candidates and why they are under attack.
S. O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty is with us this morning -- hello.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
Coming up in the Cafferty File, Soledad, in about 20 minutes, politically correct language causing a big problem at the "Los Angeles Times." And if you've ever wanted to disguise your location while making a cell phone call, we're going to tell you how to do it so you can fool the boss next time you tell him that you'll be a little late.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: I might be taking some notes on that one.
S. O'BRIEN: Exactly.
CAFFERTY: A lot of people will be interested in that.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about that in the commercial break.
CAFFERTY: Surely.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's check the news.
More missile attacks in Baghdad to tell you about. A rocket hit a house near a police patrol station in central Baghdad today. Four were injured, including two children and a police officer. A rocket attack last night damaged a hotel near the site where the Iraqi Governing Council signed the interim constitution this morning. We'll have more on all that, coming up.
Senator John Kerry says he might travel to Iraq before the presidential election on November 2, but he says he would prefer to have a group of congressional colleagues assess the situation there and help him to formulate his Iraq policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't ruled it out. I'm just not, it's not on the front burner right now and I'd prefer for the moment to get some assessments. If I find from those assessments that there may be a real reason to go further, I could follow up on it.
I haven't ruled out the potential of any foreign travel at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Kerry said that if he made the trip, he wouldn't want it to be politicized during the campaign.
Democrats and Republicans are on the attack in what Senator John McCain of Arizona says could become the nastiest presidential campaign yet. Over the weekend, President Bush's supporters depicted Senator John Kerry as an extreme liberal who flip-flops on the issues. Senator Kerry's campaign criticized the president as, and we quote now, "a divider, not the uniter."
Senator McCain says all this could affect turnout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: This is the most polarized political situation that I have ever seen. And, yes, I'm afraid it's going to be nasty and I don't think it's going to be confined to either side. And I think it will lower voter turnout.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: We'll have more on the campaign in the next half hour.
Attorney General John Ashcroft remains hospitalized this morning, as doctors wait for test results and continue to evaluate his condition. The 61-year-old attorney general was admitted to a Washington hospital last week suffering from gallstone pancreatitis. The inflammation of his pancreas is being treated with antibiotics and painkillers, according to a spokesman at the Justice Department.
The longest sled dog race in the world under way in Anchorage, Alaska. The 1,100 mile Iditarod trail sled dog race began yesterday. It usually takes nine to 10 days to complete the race from Anchorage to Nome. Eighty-seven teams competing this year. That's a record. The purse is more than $700,000. That's a lot of dog chow, isn't it?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Time to check on the weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Martha Stewart has a date with her probation officer today. The meeting is part of a pre-sentencing phase after her conviction on Friday for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.
Deborah Feyerick is outside the federal courthouse in New York for us this morning -- Deb, good morning.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Martha Stewart once again making the trek down here to federal court. Last week, her lawyer thought it was going to be because the jury was still out. However, today she is scheduled to meet with her probation officer. If Friday is any indication, Martha Stewart is not going to let this take her down. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): If the jury was expecting a reaction, Martha Stewart didn't give them the satisfaction. As the verdict was read, she betrayed no emotion. Even leaving court now a convicted felon, she remained poised and in control.
Jury member Chappell Hartridge saying...
CHAPPELL HARTRIDGE, JUROR: Well, she committed a crime. She got convicted.
FEYERICK: Stewart's stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, was also found guilty of lying about Stewart's sale of a biotech stock just one day before the government announced it was not approving an ImClone drug. He swept past cameras, his mother inside telling reporters her son had lost everything.
Lawyers for both Bacanovic and Stewart will appeal.
ROBERT MORVILLO, MARTHA STEWART'S ATTORNEY: We are disappointed at the outcome. We look at this as having lost the first round. We look at this as an opportunity for us to go to the next rounds and to explain to the court of appeals what we think went wrong in this case.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors called the verdict a warning to others in corporate America.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: We will not and frankly cannot tolerate dishonesty and corruption in any sort of official proceeding.
FEYERICK: Juror Hartridge said among the strongest evidence, the message left by Stewart's broker the day Stewart sold ImClone, the message her assistant testified Stewart later tried to change.
HARTRIDGE: The fact that she said that Martha tried to delete that message. That message was probably the foundation of the case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: This morning, Martha Stewart does meet with her probation officer. She will have filled out a very detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire will be used by the judge in terms of deciding what kind of sentence Martha Stewart will get. Of course, it will consider all the good work Martha Stewart has done, the company that she built, what her financial worth is, all of those things the judge will review.
Again, it's not expected to take long and the only reason that it was taking place today, the judge said, was because the verdict came out at about three on Friday. The judge thinking that she would give Martha Stewart a little break -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Deb, there is this civil suit involving insider trading from the SEC.
What's the status of that? Where does that stand right now?
FEYERICK: That is very much full steam ahead right now. As a matter of fact, the SEC had a representative in the court during the entire course of the trial. And a source close to the SEC had said that just because the judge dropped the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart, that would not affect the insider trading case that they're planning on bringing against her.
Interestingly, Soledad, her lawyer, Rob Morvillo, wanted to argue that Stewart was not guilty of insider trading, otherwise, the government would have charged her with that. But the judge did not allow that. The judge saying we're going to remain on point, we're going to consider just the false statement, the obstruction of justice and the perjury charges -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Deb Feyerick for us this morning downtown.
Deb, thanks.
The fifth week of testimony begins today in the manslaughter trial of former NBA star Jayson Williams. Williams is charged in the shooting death of a limo driver at his New Jersey home in February of 2002.
Last week, a former New Jersey Nets teammate testified that he recalled Williams pulling the trigger of a shotgun that he was holding. Williams' defense maintains that the shooting was, in fact, accidental.
The medical examiner has testified that the limo driver, Gus Christofi, died due to loss of blood within just minutes of being shot -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Recovery teams are getting back to work this morning at the site of Saturday's water taxi accident in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Twenty-two of the 25 people who were on the boat were rescued. But one of those rescued, a 60-year-old woman, died later at a hospital. Three others are missing.
Earlier, I spoke with the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman, Ellen Engleman Conner.
I asked her for an update on the recovery efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELLEN ENGLEMAN CONNER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: The recovery efforts were stopped last night around 6:00 due to weather. We anticipate, based on what we've been informed from the Baltimore Fire Department and others working on the recovery, that they'll reassume this morning around 9:00, again, weather permitting.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And as far as the investigation right now, obviously very early in the game right now.
Just give us a sense of what you're looking at, what areas are of most importance.
ENGLEMAN: Well, we look at four main areas -- human factors, operations, the engineering and the survival factors. Those are part of our regular investigation. However, in this accident, we're really focusing additionally on weather. We're focusing on the operations of the vessel, the safety education program that would have been given to passengers. We're going to look at the captain's discretion and the decisions that he made and the owner/operator's decisions to operate under such weather conditions.
We're looking at the vessel itself to ensure hull integrity, systems that were in place, if steering and propulsion were mechanically sound. Once again, the NTSB will thoroughly investigate all factors. But there is a focus on the safety education, the use of PFDs and the weather.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's talk about the weather for just a moment. Anybody who's spent some time on the water knows that storms can kick up very quickly.
Do you know, however, if there were any sort of small craft warnings issued prior to this accident?
ENGLEMAN: I believe that there was a small craft advisory that was issued. We also know that there was communication between the owner/operator and all of their vessels on the water, as well as a specific communication to this captain. The vessels were in the process of trying to return to a safe place, to appear where they could be more safely.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. But it is a short journey. Did this mission, did this taxi run begin under a small craft advisory?
ENGLEMAN: I don't have that information yet. That's certainly part of our investigation. We're putting together what I call a weather calendar, where we will track the weather and the knowledge about the weather, any advice or advisories about the weather, alongside the actual actions of the captain and the owner/operator, as well as other vessels out there.
So you'll see concurrent time lines put together so we can track this as close to minute by minute as possible.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And was it equipped with a radio, though, where the captain on board would have been able to know if there was a small craft warning in the middle of a run?
ENGLEMAN: There was a radio involved and the captain did have communication with the owner/operator. So, once again, we're putting the time line together and that will definitely be a focus of the investigation. What decisions were made when, where was the craft, what were the weather conditions at the time, what was the situation, that'll be all part of the full investigation.
M. O'BRIEN: A final thought here for those of us who have seen pontoon boats, more frequently on more protected lakes. Is this vessel inherently, perhaps, unsafe in an area where you can get big swells like this and strong winds so quickly?
ENGLEMAN: Well, the use of pontoons is used -- and a variety of types of pontoons, whether they be houseboats or traffic taxis such as this -- are used widely in harbors and on rivers and lakes, etc. This boat was certificated by the Coast Guard and fell under the appropriate Coast Guard regulations for use in this particular body of water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Ellen Engleman Connors. I spoke to her earlier this morning. Seven remain hospitalized this morning, two in critical condition.
S. O'BRIEN: Terrible, that accident there.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll watch that story closely.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Iraq has an interim constitution, but why did the deal almost fall apart? We've got some answers to those questions coming up next.
M. O'BRIEN: Protests turn violent when gunfire erupts near the presidential palace in Haiti.
S. O'BRIEN: And the gloves come off. The nominating conventions are months away, but Kerry versus Bush is well under way. We'll explain ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide this morning is calling for peace in his strife-ridden country. His appeal comes a day after deadly gunfire erupted during an anti-Aristide demonstration in Port-au-Prince. At least four people were killed near the presidential palace, including two policemen and a Spanish journalist.
The president of Iraq's Governing Council calls it a "historical moment for rebuilding Iraq." He was talking about this morning's signing of an interim constitution, setting the stage for Iraqi self- rule, scheduled for the end of June.
The top American in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, spoke yesterday about the country's future and also the challenges that it faces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Democracy is not just about elections and it's not just about majority rule. It's also about protecting the minorities, who may be, as they are in our case, temporary minorities. The Democrats are in power and then they're out. The Republicans are in power and then they're out. Democracy really does depend on the protection of minority rights, and at the bottom, that's the question that's involved here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: For more on the milestone in Iraq, we're joined by former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
He's the chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group.
Nice to see you, sir, as always.
Thanks for being with us.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY, THE COHEN GROUP: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what was at issue in this conflict. And it was really two issues -- minority rights, as we just heard from Ambassador Bremer, in veto power and also the size of the presidency. The Shia were looking for five members as opposed to the one member presidency.
At the end of the day, explain the biggest objections that the Shia have to those two issues.
COHEN: Well, the biggest objections came in the form of the so- called minority rights. As Jerry Bremer has pointed out, we want to see majority rule, but the protection of the minority itself.
The objection from the Shia came from the provision that would allow a two thirds vote on the final constitution, a two thirds vote by three provinces to either approve or reject. The constitution would allow, in essence, the Kurds, a minority in Iraq itself, to veto the constitution. And so the Shia were objecting to giving that kind of "veto power" to a minority, the Kurds in the north.
So that was the major objection on the part of the Shia. And then the second, of course, was to have greater participation in terms of the numbers of the Shia that would be represented.
Those two issues apparently were resolved, basically, to the satisfaction of Ayatollah Ali-Sistani. But it's for the moment and we'll have to wait and see how this unfolds. But I think the issue will probably not go away, but will be revisited at a later time.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that, because it seems to really highlight the fear that both the Shia and the Kurds have for each other, and maybe more specifically each other's power.
COHEN: Well, the Kurds have enjoyed a rather autonomous existence ever since 1991. They want to protect that, and, indeed, if not enlarge it. They have to be careful, of course, but to the extent that they declare themselves to be an autonomous region, you then have a problem not only with the Shia, the majority, as far as Iraq is concerned, but then that brings in Turkey, which would then see that as something of a threat. So it's a fine line they have to walk, as well. They have enjoyed semi-autonomy in recent years. They want to preserve that. The Shia are concerned that they be given too much power and, in essence, become an autonomous region rather than part of Iraq.
S. O'BRIEN: The delay due specifically to some of the concerns that Ayatollah Sistani had. And here's what one of the members of the Iraqi Governing Council had to say: "We're very happy that Ayatollah Sistani understands our point. We came to clarify the reason of delaying signing the law. He understands the explanation we gave him. He doesn't want to create crisis in the country. He wants to facilitate our work and the political process in Iraq."
What do you think the impact of this delay is? Obviously the pomp and circumstance has gone off, delayed over just a weekend. But is there a big picture delay, do you think?
COHEN: Well, I think the delay represented the significance of his power to hold up a ratification or a signing of this particular document. On the other hand, by agreeing to it, in essence, saying I'm not sure that I approve every word of this particular document but I'm not going to stand in the way of this process, understanding that it's important that the process begin, the old Chinese proverb that a thousand mile journey begins with the first step. This is the first step and I think Ayatollah Sistani saw this as part of an evolutionary process rather than it all being dictated and concrete and not open to change.
S. O'BRIEN: Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, as always.
Thanks.
COHEN: Good to see you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a problem crops up on Mars. We'll tell you what's stalling the mission of one of the rovers up there.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The Martian rover Opportunity undergoing some testing today. NASA wants to know why it can't grind a hole in a Martian rock. These are some recent pictures from the rover. And guess what? The red planet is red. During the weekend, Opportunity traveled through the region to the outcropping, where it's trying to gather information about its chemical composition. Last week, Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, found proof that there was once water there.
The question is who drunk it?
Anyway, Spirit, meanwhile, has been snapping pictures for a panorama of the region it's examining. A little rockier over there, as you can see. The rover is also collecting data as might moves toward a large Martian crater and I guess Jack can insert the joke about being unable to drill properly.
CAFFERTY: No, but what a beautiful landscape, don't you think?
S. O'BRIEN: I love that picture.
CAFFERTY: Interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: And to think...
S. O'BRIEN: He's being sarcastic. But I find it...
M. O'BRIEN: ... it was once waterfront property. Think about that.
S. O'BRIEN: I find it very, I find it very interesting.
CAFFERTY: I grew up in the State of Nevada. The whole state looks like that. I mean you look out any window in any city, in Reno or Vegas or any, and that's what you, that's what it looks like.
S. O'BRIEN: Are you saying that they're not really on Mars, that it's actually...
CAFFERTY: They're just outside Winnemucca.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's a Capricorn one thing.
CAFFERTY: A town that I used to have a little knowledge about, but not anymore.
Now, to the Cafferty File.
There's some confusion about the "Los Angeles Times" over the use of politically correct language. It all began when a music critic described a Richard Strauss opera as "pro-life." He meant the performance was a celebration of life.
But a copy editor changed the wording to anti-abortion all because the "Times" has a policy that bans the phrase "pro-life." Most large media outlets use the term pro-choice, anti-abortion when talking about abortion. The "Times" says that it's offensive to use the phrase pro-life because -- it's offensive to those who support abortion.
We had a copy editor at work on this script here, as well, this morning.
A German court turned down an unusual request from an unemployed man. A 35-year-old guy wanted the government to pay for four visits a month to a brothel while his wife is away in Thailand. He asked for $3,000 a month to ensure his "health and bodily well being." The money would cover the brothel trips as well as eight pornographic videos and transportation to and from the video store so he could make the selections himself. Although the court threw out the claim, the man can appeal at the taxpayers' expense.
The best story of the morning is this one. If you ever wanted to hide your location when making a cell phone call, now you can. Sounder Cover lets you add background noise to any incoming or outgoing call on a cell phone, a Nokia phone. The choices include being stuck in a traffic jam...
S. O'BRIEN: I'll be 15 minutes late, I'm stuck in traffic.
M. O'BRIEN: That's good.
That's good.
CAFFERTY: You've got it. That's exactly -- or, caught in the middle of a circus parade.
S. O'BRIEN: The parade's bigger than I thought it would, I'm going to be 15 minutes late.
M. O'BRIEN: Ooh, what's up with the elephant stuff?
CAFFERTY: You should see what the elephants are doing to the street, yes.
Or one I can relate to from last week, the dentist's chair.
M. O'BRIEN: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: Oh, man.
M. O'BRIEN: And the boss will hang up. They'll hang up.
S. O'BRIEN: They're drilling.
CAFFERTY: What?
S. O'BRIEN: They're drilling on me now. I will be 15 minutes late.
CAFFERTY: I see you've done these before. You can download these...
S. O'BRIEN: I love this.
CAFFERTY: You can download the sounds and use them to steal a day off work once in a while, 10 bucks, at simidea.com.
S. O'BRIEN: That's brilliant.
CAFFERTY: Isn't that funny?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. CAFFERTY: It's great.
S. O'BRIEN: That is the best story of the day.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, forget those hefty gym fees. We're going to tell you how you can do your workout at home for very little money. That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, some Boy Scouts of Utah get a little more than they bargained for during a winter survival camping trip. The harrowing details coming up. And you get a merit badge if you stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
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to Iraq; Martha Stewart Has Date With Her Probation Officer>
Aired March 8, 2004 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An important meeting for Martha Stewart today. Much of her future could depend on it.
And the wind, the crew and the vessel now all under scrutiny today as investigators search for the cause of the passenger ferry disaster.
Also, gunfire and death in Haiti. U.S. forces get a taste of what it's like to be caught in the middle of a violent political upheaval.
Those stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Bill Hemmer has the day off.
Miles O'Brien is sitting in for him, so it's nice to have you.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's great to be here.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: You look great.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. I'm keeping you. Fill in as long as you want. No, I'm just kidding you.
Other stories that we're following this morning, as Iraqi leaders begin navigating the tricky waters of democracy, former Defense Secretary William Cohen is going to help us understand what each side wants from the other side.
Also, Senator John Kerry is thinking about sending his own fact finding team into Iraq. We'll find out exactly what the goal is there.
M. O'BRIEN: Also, it's no surprise Senator Kerry and President Bush are trading some political punches already. But we'll also hear about the TV ads supported the candidates and why they are under attack.
S. O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty is with us this morning -- hello.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
Coming up in the Cafferty File, Soledad, in about 20 minutes, politically correct language causing a big problem at the "Los Angeles Times." And if you've ever wanted to disguise your location while making a cell phone call, we're going to tell you how to do it so you can fool the boss next time you tell him that you'll be a little late.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: I might be taking some notes on that one.
S. O'BRIEN: Exactly.
CAFFERTY: A lot of people will be interested in that.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about that in the commercial break.
CAFFERTY: Surely.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Jack, thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's check the news.
More missile attacks in Baghdad to tell you about. A rocket hit a house near a police patrol station in central Baghdad today. Four were injured, including two children and a police officer. A rocket attack last night damaged a hotel near the site where the Iraqi Governing Council signed the interim constitution this morning. We'll have more on all that, coming up.
Senator John Kerry says he might travel to Iraq before the presidential election on November 2, but he says he would prefer to have a group of congressional colleagues assess the situation there and help him to formulate his Iraq policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't ruled it out. I'm just not, it's not on the front burner right now and I'd prefer for the moment to get some assessments. If I find from those assessments that there may be a real reason to go further, I could follow up on it.
I haven't ruled out the potential of any foreign travel at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Kerry said that if he made the trip, he wouldn't want it to be politicized during the campaign.
Democrats and Republicans are on the attack in what Senator John McCain of Arizona says could become the nastiest presidential campaign yet. Over the weekend, President Bush's supporters depicted Senator John Kerry as an extreme liberal who flip-flops on the issues. Senator Kerry's campaign criticized the president as, and we quote now, "a divider, not the uniter."
Senator McCain says all this could affect turnout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: This is the most polarized political situation that I have ever seen. And, yes, I'm afraid it's going to be nasty and I don't think it's going to be confined to either side. And I think it will lower voter turnout.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: We'll have more on the campaign in the next half hour.
Attorney General John Ashcroft remains hospitalized this morning, as doctors wait for test results and continue to evaluate his condition. The 61-year-old attorney general was admitted to a Washington hospital last week suffering from gallstone pancreatitis. The inflammation of his pancreas is being treated with antibiotics and painkillers, according to a spokesman at the Justice Department.
The longest sled dog race in the world under way in Anchorage, Alaska. The 1,100 mile Iditarod trail sled dog race began yesterday. It usually takes nine to 10 days to complete the race from Anchorage to Nome. Eighty-seven teams competing this year. That's a record. The purse is more than $700,000. That's a lot of dog chow, isn't it?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Time to check on the weather now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Martha Stewart has a date with her probation officer today. The meeting is part of a pre-sentencing phase after her conviction on Friday for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.
Deborah Feyerick is outside the federal courthouse in New York for us this morning -- Deb, good morning.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Good morning, Soledad.
Well, Martha Stewart once again making the trek down here to federal court. Last week, her lawyer thought it was going to be because the jury was still out. However, today she is scheduled to meet with her probation officer. If Friday is any indication, Martha Stewart is not going to let this take her down. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): If the jury was expecting a reaction, Martha Stewart didn't give them the satisfaction. As the verdict was read, she betrayed no emotion. Even leaving court now a convicted felon, she remained poised and in control.
Jury member Chappell Hartridge saying...
CHAPPELL HARTRIDGE, JUROR: Well, she committed a crime. She got convicted.
FEYERICK: Stewart's stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, was also found guilty of lying about Stewart's sale of a biotech stock just one day before the government announced it was not approving an ImClone drug. He swept past cameras, his mother inside telling reporters her son had lost everything.
Lawyers for both Bacanovic and Stewart will appeal.
ROBERT MORVILLO, MARTHA STEWART'S ATTORNEY: We are disappointed at the outcome. We look at this as having lost the first round. We look at this as an opportunity for us to go to the next rounds and to explain to the court of appeals what we think went wrong in this case.
FEYERICK: Prosecutors called the verdict a warning to others in corporate America.
DAVID KELLEY, U.S. ATTORNEY: We will not and frankly cannot tolerate dishonesty and corruption in any sort of official proceeding.
FEYERICK: Juror Hartridge said among the strongest evidence, the message left by Stewart's broker the day Stewart sold ImClone, the message her assistant testified Stewart later tried to change.
HARTRIDGE: The fact that she said that Martha tried to delete that message. That message was probably the foundation of the case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: This morning, Martha Stewart does meet with her probation officer. She will have filled out a very detailed questionnaire. The questionnaire will be used by the judge in terms of deciding what kind of sentence Martha Stewart will get. Of course, it will consider all the good work Martha Stewart has done, the company that she built, what her financial worth is, all of those things the judge will review.
Again, it's not expected to take long and the only reason that it was taking place today, the judge said, was because the verdict came out at about three on Friday. The judge thinking that she would give Martha Stewart a little break -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Deb, there is this civil suit involving insider trading from the SEC.
What's the status of that? Where does that stand right now?
FEYERICK: That is very much full steam ahead right now. As a matter of fact, the SEC had a representative in the court during the entire course of the trial. And a source close to the SEC had said that just because the judge dropped the securities fraud charge against Martha Stewart, that would not affect the insider trading case that they're planning on bringing against her.
Interestingly, Soledad, her lawyer, Rob Morvillo, wanted to argue that Stewart was not guilty of insider trading, otherwise, the government would have charged her with that. But the judge did not allow that. The judge saying we're going to remain on point, we're going to consider just the false statement, the obstruction of justice and the perjury charges -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Deb Feyerick for us this morning downtown.
Deb, thanks.
The fifth week of testimony begins today in the manslaughter trial of former NBA star Jayson Williams. Williams is charged in the shooting death of a limo driver at his New Jersey home in February of 2002.
Last week, a former New Jersey Nets teammate testified that he recalled Williams pulling the trigger of a shotgun that he was holding. Williams' defense maintains that the shooting was, in fact, accidental.
The medical examiner has testified that the limo driver, Gus Christofi, died due to loss of blood within just minutes of being shot -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Recovery teams are getting back to work this morning at the site of Saturday's water taxi accident in the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Twenty-two of the 25 people who were on the boat were rescued. But one of those rescued, a 60-year-old woman, died later at a hospital. Three others are missing.
Earlier, I spoke with the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman, Ellen Engleman Conner.
I asked her for an update on the recovery efforts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELLEN ENGLEMAN CONNER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: The recovery efforts were stopped last night around 6:00 due to weather. We anticipate, based on what we've been informed from the Baltimore Fire Department and others working on the recovery, that they'll reassume this morning around 9:00, again, weather permitting.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And as far as the investigation right now, obviously very early in the game right now.
Just give us a sense of what you're looking at, what areas are of most importance.
ENGLEMAN: Well, we look at four main areas -- human factors, operations, the engineering and the survival factors. Those are part of our regular investigation. However, in this accident, we're really focusing additionally on weather. We're focusing on the operations of the vessel, the safety education program that would have been given to passengers. We're going to look at the captain's discretion and the decisions that he made and the owner/operator's decisions to operate under such weather conditions.
We're looking at the vessel itself to ensure hull integrity, systems that were in place, if steering and propulsion were mechanically sound. Once again, the NTSB will thoroughly investigate all factors. But there is a focus on the safety education, the use of PFDs and the weather.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, well, let's talk about the weather for just a moment. Anybody who's spent some time on the water knows that storms can kick up very quickly.
Do you know, however, if there were any sort of small craft warnings issued prior to this accident?
ENGLEMAN: I believe that there was a small craft advisory that was issued. We also know that there was communication between the owner/operator and all of their vessels on the water, as well as a specific communication to this captain. The vessels were in the process of trying to return to a safe place, to appear where they could be more safely.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. But it is a short journey. Did this mission, did this taxi run begin under a small craft advisory?
ENGLEMAN: I don't have that information yet. That's certainly part of our investigation. We're putting together what I call a weather calendar, where we will track the weather and the knowledge about the weather, any advice or advisories about the weather, alongside the actual actions of the captain and the owner/operator, as well as other vessels out there.
So you'll see concurrent time lines put together so we can track this as close to minute by minute as possible.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And was it equipped with a radio, though, where the captain on board would have been able to know if there was a small craft warning in the middle of a run?
ENGLEMAN: There was a radio involved and the captain did have communication with the owner/operator. So, once again, we're putting the time line together and that will definitely be a focus of the investigation. What decisions were made when, where was the craft, what were the weather conditions at the time, what was the situation, that'll be all part of the full investigation.
M. O'BRIEN: A final thought here for those of us who have seen pontoon boats, more frequently on more protected lakes. Is this vessel inherently, perhaps, unsafe in an area where you can get big swells like this and strong winds so quickly?
ENGLEMAN: Well, the use of pontoons is used -- and a variety of types of pontoons, whether they be houseboats or traffic taxis such as this -- are used widely in harbors and on rivers and lakes, etc. This boat was certificated by the Coast Guard and fell under the appropriate Coast Guard regulations for use in this particular body of water.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, Ellen Engleman Connors. I spoke to her earlier this morning. Seven remain hospitalized this morning, two in critical condition.
S. O'BRIEN: Terrible, that accident there.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll watch that story closely.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Iraq has an interim constitution, but why did the deal almost fall apart? We've got some answers to those questions coming up next.
M. O'BRIEN: Protests turn violent when gunfire erupts near the presidential palace in Haiti.
S. O'BRIEN: And the gloves come off. The nominating conventions are months away, but Kerry versus Bush is well under way. We'll explain ahead, as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide this morning is calling for peace in his strife-ridden country. His appeal comes a day after deadly gunfire erupted during an anti-Aristide demonstration in Port-au-Prince. At least four people were killed near the presidential palace, including two policemen and a Spanish journalist.
The president of Iraq's Governing Council calls it a "historical moment for rebuilding Iraq." He was talking about this morning's signing of an interim constitution, setting the stage for Iraqi self- rule, scheduled for the end of June.
The top American in Iraq, Ambassador Paul Bremer, spoke yesterday about the country's future and also the challenges that it faces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
L. PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATOR: Democracy is not just about elections and it's not just about majority rule. It's also about protecting the minorities, who may be, as they are in our case, temporary minorities. The Democrats are in power and then they're out. The Republicans are in power and then they're out. Democracy really does depend on the protection of minority rights, and at the bottom, that's the question that's involved here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: For more on the milestone in Iraq, we're joined by former Defense Secretary William Cohen.
He's the chairman and CEO of the Cohen Group.
Nice to see you, sir, as always.
Thanks for being with us.
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY, THE COHEN GROUP: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about what was at issue in this conflict. And it was really two issues -- minority rights, as we just heard from Ambassador Bremer, in veto power and also the size of the presidency. The Shia were looking for five members as opposed to the one member presidency.
At the end of the day, explain the biggest objections that the Shia have to those two issues.
COHEN: Well, the biggest objections came in the form of the so- called minority rights. As Jerry Bremer has pointed out, we want to see majority rule, but the protection of the minority itself.
The objection from the Shia came from the provision that would allow a two thirds vote on the final constitution, a two thirds vote by three provinces to either approve or reject. The constitution would allow, in essence, the Kurds, a minority in Iraq itself, to veto the constitution. And so the Shia were objecting to giving that kind of "veto power" to a minority, the Kurds in the north.
So that was the major objection on the part of the Shia. And then the second, of course, was to have greater participation in terms of the numbers of the Shia that would be represented.
Those two issues apparently were resolved, basically, to the satisfaction of Ayatollah Ali-Sistani. But it's for the moment and we'll have to wait and see how this unfolds. But I think the issue will probably not go away, but will be revisited at a later time.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that, because it seems to really highlight the fear that both the Shia and the Kurds have for each other, and maybe more specifically each other's power.
COHEN: Well, the Kurds have enjoyed a rather autonomous existence ever since 1991. They want to protect that, and, indeed, if not enlarge it. They have to be careful, of course, but to the extent that they declare themselves to be an autonomous region, you then have a problem not only with the Shia, the majority, as far as Iraq is concerned, but then that brings in Turkey, which would then see that as something of a threat. So it's a fine line they have to walk, as well. They have enjoyed semi-autonomy in recent years. They want to preserve that. The Shia are concerned that they be given too much power and, in essence, become an autonomous region rather than part of Iraq.
S. O'BRIEN: The delay due specifically to some of the concerns that Ayatollah Sistani had. And here's what one of the members of the Iraqi Governing Council had to say: "We're very happy that Ayatollah Sistani understands our point. We came to clarify the reason of delaying signing the law. He understands the explanation we gave him. He doesn't want to create crisis in the country. He wants to facilitate our work and the political process in Iraq."
What do you think the impact of this delay is? Obviously the pomp and circumstance has gone off, delayed over just a weekend. But is there a big picture delay, do you think?
COHEN: Well, I think the delay represented the significance of his power to hold up a ratification or a signing of this particular document. On the other hand, by agreeing to it, in essence, saying I'm not sure that I approve every word of this particular document but I'm not going to stand in the way of this process, understanding that it's important that the process begin, the old Chinese proverb that a thousand mile journey begins with the first step. This is the first step and I think Ayatollah Sistani saw this as part of an evolutionary process rather than it all being dictated and concrete and not open to change.
S. O'BRIEN: Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen joining us this morning.
Nice to see you, as always.
Thanks.
COHEN: Good to see you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a problem crops up on Mars. We'll tell you what's stalling the mission of one of the rovers up there.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The Martian rover Opportunity undergoing some testing today. NASA wants to know why it can't grind a hole in a Martian rock. These are some recent pictures from the rover. And guess what? The red planet is red. During the weekend, Opportunity traveled through the region to the outcropping, where it's trying to gather information about its chemical composition. Last week, Opportunity and its twin rover, Spirit, found proof that there was once water there.
The question is who drunk it?
Anyway, Spirit, meanwhile, has been snapping pictures for a panorama of the region it's examining. A little rockier over there, as you can see. The rover is also collecting data as might moves toward a large Martian crater and I guess Jack can insert the joke about being unable to drill properly.
CAFFERTY: No, but what a beautiful landscape, don't you think?
S. O'BRIEN: I love that picture.
CAFFERTY: Interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: And to think...
S. O'BRIEN: He's being sarcastic. But I find it...
M. O'BRIEN: ... it was once waterfront property. Think about that.
S. O'BRIEN: I find it very, I find it very interesting.
CAFFERTY: I grew up in the State of Nevada. The whole state looks like that. I mean you look out any window in any city, in Reno or Vegas or any, and that's what you, that's what it looks like.
S. O'BRIEN: Are you saying that they're not really on Mars, that it's actually...
CAFFERTY: They're just outside Winnemucca.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's a Capricorn one thing.
CAFFERTY: A town that I used to have a little knowledge about, but not anymore.
Now, to the Cafferty File.
There's some confusion about the "Los Angeles Times" over the use of politically correct language. It all began when a music critic described a Richard Strauss opera as "pro-life." He meant the performance was a celebration of life.
But a copy editor changed the wording to anti-abortion all because the "Times" has a policy that bans the phrase "pro-life." Most large media outlets use the term pro-choice, anti-abortion when talking about abortion. The "Times" says that it's offensive to use the phrase pro-life because -- it's offensive to those who support abortion.
We had a copy editor at work on this script here, as well, this morning.
A German court turned down an unusual request from an unemployed man. A 35-year-old guy wanted the government to pay for four visits a month to a brothel while his wife is away in Thailand. He asked for $3,000 a month to ensure his "health and bodily well being." The money would cover the brothel trips as well as eight pornographic videos and transportation to and from the video store so he could make the selections himself. Although the court threw out the claim, the man can appeal at the taxpayers' expense.
The best story of the morning is this one. If you ever wanted to hide your location when making a cell phone call, now you can. Sounder Cover lets you add background noise to any incoming or outgoing call on a cell phone, a Nokia phone. The choices include being stuck in a traffic jam...
S. O'BRIEN: I'll be 15 minutes late, I'm stuck in traffic.
M. O'BRIEN: That's good.
That's good.
CAFFERTY: You've got it. That's exactly -- or, caught in the middle of a circus parade.
S. O'BRIEN: The parade's bigger than I thought it would, I'm going to be 15 minutes late.
M. O'BRIEN: Ooh, what's up with the elephant stuff?
CAFFERTY: You should see what the elephants are doing to the street, yes.
Or one I can relate to from last week, the dentist's chair.
M. O'BRIEN: Ooh.
CAFFERTY: Oh, man.
M. O'BRIEN: And the boss will hang up. They'll hang up.
S. O'BRIEN: They're drilling.
CAFFERTY: What?
S. O'BRIEN: They're drilling on me now. I will be 15 minutes late.
CAFFERTY: I see you've done these before. You can download these...
S. O'BRIEN: I love this.
CAFFERTY: You can download the sounds and use them to steal a day off work once in a while, 10 bucks, at simidea.com.
S. O'BRIEN: That's brilliant.
CAFFERTY: Isn't that funny?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. CAFFERTY: It's great.
S. O'BRIEN: That is the best story of the day.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, forget those hefty gym fees. We're going to tell you how you can do your workout at home for very little money. That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, some Boy Scouts of Utah get a little more than they bargained for during a winter survival camping trip. The harrowing details coming up. And you get a merit badge if you stay with AMERICAN MORNING.
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to Iraq; Martha Stewart Has Date With Her Probation Officer>
