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American Morning
Interview With Asa Hutchinson; experts Diffuse Bomb Outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi
Aired March 15, 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Support for President Bush in Iraq costs the ruling party power -- and what is the message to terrorists around the world?
200 gallons of liquid dynamite in Pakistan spotted only days before Secretary of State Colin Powell visits that country.
College basketball. Whose got what it takes to rule the brackets? The strong, the powerful, and the hungry all ready for "March Madness" on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Announcer: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: And good morning everybody.
Other stories that we're following this morning, the terrorist attacks last week in Spain raising questions now about rail security here in the U.S.
How can government really provide protection? Asa Hutchinson is one of the best-qualified persons to speak to that question.
He, of course, is the undersecretary of transportation at the Department of Homeland Security.
We're going to talk to him about that coming up.
HEMMER: A lot of questions coming out of Spain from over the weekend.
Also this hour, while Martha Stewart contemplates prison time, is she wishing she had hired different attorneys? Good question.
Jeff Toobin here with some remarkable behind the scenes perspective. A whole new article in "The New Yorker" by Jeff Toobin. It's excellent, and we'll get to him about that in a few moments.
O'BRIEN: Lots of behind the scenes, good inside stuff.
Let's get right to our top stories though, first, this morning.
Authorities in Pakistan investigating after experts diffused a bomb this morning outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Pakistani police have asked the consulate for surveillance footage that may have captured whoever left behind a stolen van packed with explosives.
The incident comes just two days before secretary of state Colin Powell is set to arrive in Islamabad.
A report by the Senate intelligence committee blames CIA chief George Tenet and his advisers for faulty intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
According to "USA Today," the Senate Intelligence Committee says agencies gave firm estimates that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons based on shaky evidence. The report is still being edited before it will be released to the public.
Police in California are trying to determine if polygamy and incest were part of a mass killing in Fresno, California. People in the community have piled up flowers and balloons outside the home where police found nine bodies on Friday.
57-year-old Marcus Wesson now faces nine counts of murder. Fresno police say the victims include at least two children that Wesson fathered with his own daughters.
We've got more on this story coming up in our next half hour.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is resting at home after undergoing gall bladder surgery. The 61-year-old attorney general was released from a Washington, D.C. hospital yesterday just five days after his surgery.
The Department of Justice says it is unclear when he will be able to return to work.
And NASA plans to hold a news conference later today to offer more details about what may be a tenth planet.
Astronomers say they have named the object Sedna after an ocean goddess. It's apparently the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered back in 1930.
NASA's news conference is set for 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
HEMMER: That's shaken a few science classes across the country. Stay tuned for more.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start in Spain. A tumultuous weekend in that country.
A government-changing general election; massive anti-terrorist demonstrations, and now lingering questions about who's to blame for last week's train bombings.
Turnout for yesterday's election was heavier than usual, voters handing a surprise victory to Spain's Socialist Party.
They had trailed in the polling; its' the first time that a government which backed the war in Iraq has been democratically defeated.
Spain's prime minister elected Jose Luis Zapatero says he will pull Spain's 1300 troops out of Iraq on June 30.
That is the day that power is to be handed to an Iraqi interim government except if there is a U.N. resolution passed before then.
Millions of Spaniards took to the streets now, calling for an end to the kind of violence that struck Madrid's train network. 200 people are dead, 1500 wounded when 10 bombs exploded on trains last Thursday.
The latest on the investigation, the latest on the fallout from the attacks, straight to Madrid and Brent Sadler who is watching there for us.
Brent, good afternoon.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill, yes, indeed, the day after that amazing electoral upset, Spaniards here are still paying their respects in public for those who had lost their lives in last week's bomb attacks.
Evidence is mounting here that Osama bin Laden's terror network might have been responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER (voice-over): Even as Spanish voters went to the polls, suspicion mounted that al Qaeda carried out last week's deadly rail blasts. Investigators say one of three arrested Moroccan men was already being watched in connection with last May's bomb attacks in Casablanca.
And that he had links to the indicated chief of an al Qaeda cell in Spain who is now in jail, implicated with the September 11 attacks on America.
Further evidence here suggesting Spain may have been made to pay in blood for supporting the war in Iraq came in a videotaped message. It was found in this garbage bin, close to a Madrid mosque, after an anonymous call, telling authorities to go there.
The message was purported to have been sent by al Qaeda's European cell.
It said, "We claim responsibility for what happened in Madrid, just tow and a half years after the attacks in New York and Washington. This is an answer to your cooperation with the Bush criminal and their allies."
An unsubstantiated claim, insist Spanish officials, that may or may not prove to be true.
ANA PALACIO, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I mean, all the possibilities are open and they are trying to analyze to what extent this is -- this video that was found is something that must be taken into account or not.
SADLER: But the shadow of al Qaeda loomed large on the Spanish election, reigniting widespread discontent that the government ignored the will of the people by supporting last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
National grief for victims turned to anger as anti-government protesters marched on the ruling popular party's headquarters. They accused officials of rushing to blame ETA, the militant Basque separatist group and downplaying a possible al Qaeda role to protect themselves from electoral defeat.
But voters seemed to go for the jugular, punishing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's ruling conservatives with a heavy dose of political payback, leading to a stunning change of government.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER: A government whose prime minister designate says he will pull Spanish troops -- about 1300 of them -- out of Iraq unless there is a new United Nations Security Council resolution that will cover an international presence in Iraq -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brent, back to the heart of the matter for Spain over the weekend -- had these attacks not occurred would Aznar's party have held onto power in that country?
SADLER: Certainly, in most opinion polls here, were suggesting that the ruling party, the popular party, would hold on to power; perhaps lose the absolute majority it had or certainly be returned to government, so everybody here, political commentators, people you talk to in the street said that had there not been these bombings last week the popular party would have been returned to power.
Not in Spain's modern history, Bill, have there been such an upset in elections as this with a government having an absolute majority before going to the polls being replaced at the -- as head of the ruling system here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks for that Brent -- Brent Sadler in Madrid. Now Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The horrors of Madrid present a critical new challenge for homeland security officials here in the U.S.
How to protect subways and railings admittedly vulnerable to terrorism. Earlier this morning I spoke with Asa Hutchinson; he is the undersecretary for border and transportation issues in the Department of Homeland Security and I asked him if there is any new information that connects the attacks in Spain to al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASA HUTCHINSON, UNDERSECRETARY, BORDER AND TRANSPORTATION, DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We do know that there is a connection to al Qaeda. We have verified that. The extent of responsibility and whether any other terrorist organization is involved has yet to be determined.
The investigation continues but at this point there clearly is some link and we're going to continue to see the depth of that.
O'BRIEN: In the wake of the attack in Madrid, do you think that the chances now increase for a rail attack here in the U.S.?
HUTCHINSON: I would not characterize it in that way; obviously whenever we see this type of capability that al Qaeda or whoever is totally responsible, has made this type of adjustment in their tactics it causes us to be more alert.
We know that they're aiming at hitting us and trying to do us damage. The transit system is something that they will look at but there's not any current recent reporting that would justify us in raising the alert level but we are taking some precautionary security measures.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of those security measures. Specifically, what's being done?
HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, the transit systems, there's a natural reaction that the law enforcement presence is increased. A lot of people are called from being off duty to increase their patrols.
We've increased the explosive detection teams that are present in the stations.
We're increasing our deterrence and the public announcements are very important. Alerting the public that you need to look for unattended bags, for suspicious items to report to law enforcement. They're our greatest tool.
In addition, additionally, we're doing some things that we can't talk about. They're trying to enhance security in what has been traditionally a very open system.
O'BRIEN: A bulletin went out from the U.S. federal officials and it went to some local law enforcement officials. This information comes to us from "The Washington Post."
I want to read you a little bit of what it had to say. It said, "We acknowledge that the U.S. rail sector has vulnerabilities which terrorists may choose to exploit. Trains and rail stations remain potential targets for terrorist groups due to their reduced security (in comparison to airports.)"
When you consider that there are so many thousands of miles of rail, that there is not -- obviously -- not enough people to actually patrol those every single mile of those -- and there's no screening of the baggage really in any way shape or form how do you possibly protect against all those vulnerabilities?
HUTCHINSON: Well you do it in a different way than the solution we had for the aviation industry. Obviously in the aviation we checked every bag, there's a greater threat and vulnerability in that arena. When it comes to rail and transit systems you look for a different approach to it relying more upon technology, sensors, surveillance, law enforcement presence, deterrence, public awareness and that's the approach that we're taking.
I think it's the right approach. We very well need to -- may need to invest more. We -- local law enforcement probably needs to deploy more but that security measure is probably appropriate to the rail and transit systems.
O'BRIEN: But if you're not going to check every bag, isn't that essentially the exact vulnerability of what happened in Madrid?
Explosives in a backpack, stashed in a train when you consider how many times a train stopped and then take off again, people come and go, nobody really keeps an eye on what backpacks are in the overhead compartment? How do you possibly safeguard people from something like that happening here?
HUTCHINSON: Well it's not easy. I mean, first of all, one solution would be to check every person, every bag that goes on to that rail or transit system. Anybody that's used those systems knows how difficult, expensive and slow that process would be.
The other one -- and just because somebody left their bag somewhere that in and of itself may tip someone who is alert or law enforcement person adds to something that is suspicious. In fact, there are instances in which we have been able to detect unattended bags taken appropriate law enforcement actions, so it's a little bit more difficult than it first seems, but clearly it's an open system. We've got to step up our presence there and we're doing that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's undersecretary Asa Hutchinson joining us this morning.
HEMMER: To answer the question of the day on a Monday morning, here's Jack Cafferty, same time.
JACK CAFFERTY, ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. The bombings in Madrid are being compared to the events in this country on September the 11th.
Not because of the carnage; the 200 who have died in Spain don't begin to compare to the over 3,000 that were killed on September the 11th in the United States.
Certainly not because of the significance of the targets, the Pentagon, the World Trade Center far outstripping commuter trains in terms of spectacular targets for terrorist attacks.
But if al Qaeda as suspected is behind the bombings in Madrid, they've got to be basking this morning in the glow of their accomplishment because what they managed to do or at least that's the perception is change the course of Spanish history in a matter of 48 hours.
The incumbent prime minister, Aznar, had a significant lead in the polls before those bombs went off on those trains -- suddenly overnight the lead evaporated, the voters went to the polls yesterday and the socialists were voted in.
Their leader says he'll withdraw Spain's troops from Iraq, a shift in foreign policy away from the United States and toward European allies like France and Germany and we have elections in case its lost on you coming up in this country in November.
The question is do Spain's election results mean the terrorists are winging? Very interested in your thoughts on the significance of what happened in Madrid, but more importantly on what happened at the polls hours after the bombings in Madrid -- am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: It is a topic we'll visit throughout the morning. Stunning memorial Friday night, I thought, for Madrid. 2.5 million people in support in the streets at the Spanish capitol, what a sight it was.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks Jack. Still to come this morning, protesters have a message for President Bush they're going to deliver today in Washington, D.C. -- we'll explain what that is.
HEMMER: Also the real story behind the Martha Stewart trial. Jeffrey Toobin takes us through the point-by-point case throughout this trial. An amazing article he has out today in "The New Yorker." Jeff's our guest in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And why "The Passion of The Christ" may transform what we see on movie screens in the near future. Our 90-second pop crew is going to tell us what Hollywood sees in the "Passion" ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In just under two hours, the sixth week of Jayson Williams's manslaughter trial will begin. Prosecutors plan to call to the stand two more members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Both men were at Williams's home the night a limo driver was shot to death.
Two other members of the team have already provided eyewitness accounts of the shooting. Both testify that Williams handled the shotgun recklessly just before the driver was shot -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 18 minutes past the hour. Even before Martha Stewart's conviction on four criminal counts, there were questions about her team's legal strategy. Why did she not testify? Why was it such a meager defense? In other words, what were her lawyers thinking?
CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has written a piece in this week's "New Yorker" -- it follows the behind-the-scenes moves by both sides in Stewart's legal drama and Jeff is here to talk about it. It's called "Enabling Martha" and it is a terrific piece, too. Congratulations, Jeff.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you, sir.
HEMMER: I've heard some legal analysts give the defense a D for disaster for the defense. Why was it out of the question that you write for Martha to take the stand?
TOOBIN: There were basically two reasons. One is she didn't have answers to the most basic questions about the case. For example, why did you alter the document at your secretary's desk?
What is a good explanation that the jury is going to believe? She just didn't have one. Then you have the question of why did you tell Mariana Pasternack, her friend, in Mexico -- why did you tell her that you knew the Waksal's were selling their stock when you told investigators you didn't know that the Waksal's were selling their stock?
The answers simply weren't there. OK, that -- that's one set of problems. The other set of problems was that once you take the witness stand in a criminal trial your whole life is fair game and Martha Stewart has things in her life that she didn't want to be questioned about such as she lost a tax case to the state of New York over what -- where her residence was, where the judge in that case essentially found that she'd lied under oath during her testimony in that case.
She could be cross-examined about that. Plus, there were incidents largely forgotten now, 1997, she had an altercation with a landscaper with a gardener next door in her house in East Hampton where she basically ran him over. He was screaming "you're crushing me, you're crushing me" -- she wound up paying a confidential settlement to this guy.
All of this would have gone -- been gone over in loving detail by the prosecutors and -- and they didn't want and her lawyers didn't want to put her on the stand and I think they were right not do it.
HEMMER: In loving detail. Even before this trial began, you write also about a decision she made with a former attorney to talk with the federal authorities investigating this.
You say that was a huge mistake.
TOOBIN: A huge mistake. Now this is before Robert Morvillo got involved in the case where her lawyers were at a big firm called Wachtell, Lipton and this is the most -- this is where you can maybe criticize the lawyers because remember this sale of stock took place on December 27, 2001.
Just the following month on January 25 the lawyer -- the prosecutor said we want to talk to Martha and you know there was a lot of pressure on corporate executives to cooperate then.
That's when the Enron scandal was breaking but six days later the 31st that was the incident at Ann Armstrong, the secretary's, desk. That's where Martha Stewart altered those documents. Yet four days later her lawyers took her in and had her speak -- that was crazy, I think.
You know -- go ahead.
HEMMER: Just a short period of time left here. How much influence did Martha Stewart have in making these decisions? Lawyers come to you and say what do you think about this, and she says. On how many occasions did she make the final call?
TOOBIN: She always made the final call. Another incident I talk about in the "New Yorker" story is the plea-bargaining negotiations right before she was indicted in June of 2003 they -- there's a great deal on the table. One count, one felony count, almost certain no jail -- she rejected it and she said look I did nothing wrong, I'm not pleading guilty.
HEMMER: Listen, I'm out of time but I want to put this on the screen for our viewers. On page one of your article. As she told me her ImClone holding constituted .03 percent of her assets. This was a mere morsel, Jeff.
TOOBIN: So many times in this story you think this was insane for her to lose so much over such a tiny, tiny thing.
HEMMER: Thanks for sharing. "Enabling Martha" is in "The New Yorker." Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning why tax cheats are still getting away with it even after they're caught. We'll look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Believe it or not, it seems like the IRS is routinely dropping the ball and missing out on millions of dollars in penalties.
Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.
Pretty amazing story. You know it is March 15, that's one month away from -- dare I say it -- tax day.
That's right coming up; I hope you've got your self ready. You know the IRS has been stepping up audits but we may not have that much to fear. That's because a story in "The Washington Post" talks about a new study coming out of the Treasury Department that shows the IRS is letting tax evaders off the hook.
Pretty amazing stuff. They looked at like 172 tax convictions; $2.5 million they never collected. 37 cases they left about 11 of these people off the hook by simply never telling them they were convicted.
I mean, what is going on there? Of course, the IRS has been under scrutiny for years and listen, if you bust people you've got to collect the fines and you've got to have them do the time. They're just not doing it.
O'BRIEN: There's no indication that they're not collecting the fines because the people are bankrupt by then; there's no money to collect, is there?
SERWER: No, most of these cases are simply not following through, Soledad. It's pretty amazing.
O'BRIEN: That is just pathetic, then.
SERWER: Yes, the P word there, right?
O'BRIEN: It works today. The market? Bad, bad.
SERWER: Yes, really interesting even though we're up 111 points on the Dow on Friday, Soledad, not enough. We were down over 300 points for the week. You can see how far we were down for the week.
Also March 15 the Ides of March. So let's beware the Ides of March because unfortunately futures are slipping rather sharply this morning. No signs the economy is picking up steam. That's number one. And of course the situation in Europe, in Spain, the bombing and the election unsettling the markets as well.
I wish I had better news for you, sorry.
O'BRIEN: I was going to say I don't see any good news.
SERWER: No, there's no good news on this piece of paper, sorry.
O'BRIEN: Well maybe we'll come back and check in with us a little bit later.
SERWER: We'll try harder.
HEMMER: I don't know if you saw ESPN last night. They did three hours last night on Braketology in prime time. Whoa, what a shot.
SERWER: I asked my wife. Did that the last couple of days
HEMMER: Listen, no doubt plenty of talk today and plenty of time wasted in American offices. Millions fill out their annual NCAA bracket forms today. Much to the dismay of our people back in the control room here. Congratulations to Andy Serwer -- the Terps of Maryland won their first ACC tournament title in 20 years; beat Duke in overtime 95-87 great game there. Terps take on Texas El Paso Thursday in Denver.
Despite the loss, Duke is one of the tournaments number one seeds and well deserved, too, for the past year.
Blue Devils meet Alabama State Thursday in Raleigh. Kentucky is another of those number ones. SEC tournament victory this weekend, too, their 25th tournament title. The Wildcats will play either Lee High (ph) or Florida A&M in Columbus Ohio on Friday.
The other number one seed, Stanford and St. Joe's despite a late season loss for St. Joe's, they click in with a number one seed.
We are ready to go on Thursday they games shall begin.
O'BRIEN: What was the take away from Braketology?
Did they tell you how to fill out the...
HEMMER: A lot of talk and...
SERWER: A lot of very important information.
HEMMER: A lot of opinion.
O'BRIEN: I'd watch the TV and be like is this still on? Is this still going on? Oh for goodness sakes.
All right, well, still to come this morning with our 90-second pop panel we will talk stars and smarts.
We're looking at the finale or HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the reality show that's literally pumped up and much more still ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi>
Aired March 15, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Support for President Bush in Iraq costs the ruling party power -- and what is the message to terrorists around the world?
200 gallons of liquid dynamite in Pakistan spotted only days before Secretary of State Colin Powell visits that country.
College basketball. Whose got what it takes to rule the brackets? The strong, the powerful, and the hungry all ready for "March Madness" on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Announcer: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: And good morning everybody.
Other stories that we're following this morning, the terrorist attacks last week in Spain raising questions now about rail security here in the U.S.
How can government really provide protection? Asa Hutchinson is one of the best-qualified persons to speak to that question.
He, of course, is the undersecretary of transportation at the Department of Homeland Security.
We're going to talk to him about that coming up.
HEMMER: A lot of questions coming out of Spain from over the weekend.
Also this hour, while Martha Stewart contemplates prison time, is she wishing she had hired different attorneys? Good question.
Jeff Toobin here with some remarkable behind the scenes perspective. A whole new article in "The New Yorker" by Jeff Toobin. It's excellent, and we'll get to him about that in a few moments.
O'BRIEN: Lots of behind the scenes, good inside stuff.
Let's get right to our top stories though, first, this morning.
Authorities in Pakistan investigating after experts diffused a bomb this morning outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Pakistani police have asked the consulate for surveillance footage that may have captured whoever left behind a stolen van packed with explosives.
The incident comes just two days before secretary of state Colin Powell is set to arrive in Islamabad.
A report by the Senate intelligence committee blames CIA chief George Tenet and his advisers for faulty intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
According to "USA Today," the Senate Intelligence Committee says agencies gave firm estimates that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons based on shaky evidence. The report is still being edited before it will be released to the public.
Police in California are trying to determine if polygamy and incest were part of a mass killing in Fresno, California. People in the community have piled up flowers and balloons outside the home where police found nine bodies on Friday.
57-year-old Marcus Wesson now faces nine counts of murder. Fresno police say the victims include at least two children that Wesson fathered with his own daughters.
We've got more on this story coming up in our next half hour.
Attorney General John Ashcroft is resting at home after undergoing gall bladder surgery. The 61-year-old attorney general was released from a Washington, D.C. hospital yesterday just five days after his surgery.
The Department of Justice says it is unclear when he will be able to return to work.
And NASA plans to hold a news conference later today to offer more details about what may be a tenth planet.
Astronomers say they have named the object Sedna after an ocean goddess. It's apparently the largest object found in the solar system since Pluto was discovered back in 1930.
NASA's news conference is set for 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
HEMMER: That's shaken a few science classes across the country. Stay tuned for more.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Let's start in Spain. A tumultuous weekend in that country.
A government-changing general election; massive anti-terrorist demonstrations, and now lingering questions about who's to blame for last week's train bombings.
Turnout for yesterday's election was heavier than usual, voters handing a surprise victory to Spain's Socialist Party.
They had trailed in the polling; its' the first time that a government which backed the war in Iraq has been democratically defeated.
Spain's prime minister elected Jose Luis Zapatero says he will pull Spain's 1300 troops out of Iraq on June 30.
That is the day that power is to be handed to an Iraqi interim government except if there is a U.N. resolution passed before then.
Millions of Spaniards took to the streets now, calling for an end to the kind of violence that struck Madrid's train network. 200 people are dead, 1500 wounded when 10 bombs exploded on trains last Thursday.
The latest on the investigation, the latest on the fallout from the attacks, straight to Madrid and Brent Sadler who is watching there for us.
Brent, good afternoon.
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill, yes, indeed, the day after that amazing electoral upset, Spaniards here are still paying their respects in public for those who had lost their lives in last week's bomb attacks.
Evidence is mounting here that Osama bin Laden's terror network might have been responsible.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER (voice-over): Even as Spanish voters went to the polls, suspicion mounted that al Qaeda carried out last week's deadly rail blasts. Investigators say one of three arrested Moroccan men was already being watched in connection with last May's bomb attacks in Casablanca.
And that he had links to the indicated chief of an al Qaeda cell in Spain who is now in jail, implicated with the September 11 attacks on America.
Further evidence here suggesting Spain may have been made to pay in blood for supporting the war in Iraq came in a videotaped message. It was found in this garbage bin, close to a Madrid mosque, after an anonymous call, telling authorities to go there.
The message was purported to have been sent by al Qaeda's European cell.
It said, "We claim responsibility for what happened in Madrid, just tow and a half years after the attacks in New York and Washington. This is an answer to your cooperation with the Bush criminal and their allies."
An unsubstantiated claim, insist Spanish officials, that may or may not prove to be true.
ANA PALACIO, SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: I mean, all the possibilities are open and they are trying to analyze to what extent this is -- this video that was found is something that must be taken into account or not.
SADLER: But the shadow of al Qaeda loomed large on the Spanish election, reigniting widespread discontent that the government ignored the will of the people by supporting last year's U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
National grief for victims turned to anger as anti-government protesters marched on the ruling popular party's headquarters. They accused officials of rushing to blame ETA, the militant Basque separatist group and downplaying a possible al Qaeda role to protect themselves from electoral defeat.
But voters seemed to go for the jugular, punishing Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's ruling conservatives with a heavy dose of political payback, leading to a stunning change of government.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SADLER: A government whose prime minister designate says he will pull Spanish troops -- about 1300 of them -- out of Iraq unless there is a new United Nations Security Council resolution that will cover an international presence in Iraq -- Bill.
HEMMER: Brent, back to the heart of the matter for Spain over the weekend -- had these attacks not occurred would Aznar's party have held onto power in that country?
SADLER: Certainly, in most opinion polls here, were suggesting that the ruling party, the popular party, would hold on to power; perhaps lose the absolute majority it had or certainly be returned to government, so everybody here, political commentators, people you talk to in the street said that had there not been these bombings last week the popular party would have been returned to power.
Not in Spain's modern history, Bill, have there been such an upset in elections as this with a government having an absolute majority before going to the polls being replaced at the -- as head of the ruling system here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Thanks for that Brent -- Brent Sadler in Madrid. Now Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The horrors of Madrid present a critical new challenge for homeland security officials here in the U.S.
How to protect subways and railings admittedly vulnerable to terrorism. Earlier this morning I spoke with Asa Hutchinson; he is the undersecretary for border and transportation issues in the Department of Homeland Security and I asked him if there is any new information that connects the attacks in Spain to al Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASA HUTCHINSON, UNDERSECRETARY, BORDER AND TRANSPORTATION, DEPT. OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We do know that there is a connection to al Qaeda. We have verified that. The extent of responsibility and whether any other terrorist organization is involved has yet to be determined.
The investigation continues but at this point there clearly is some link and we're going to continue to see the depth of that.
O'BRIEN: In the wake of the attack in Madrid, do you think that the chances now increase for a rail attack here in the U.S.?
HUTCHINSON: I would not characterize it in that way; obviously whenever we see this type of capability that al Qaeda or whoever is totally responsible, has made this type of adjustment in their tactics it causes us to be more alert.
We know that they're aiming at hitting us and trying to do us damage. The transit system is something that they will look at but there's not any current recent reporting that would justify us in raising the alert level but we are taking some precautionary security measures.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some of those security measures. Specifically, what's being done?
HUTCHINSON: Well, first of all, the transit systems, there's a natural reaction that the law enforcement presence is increased. A lot of people are called from being off duty to increase their patrols.
We've increased the explosive detection teams that are present in the stations.
We're increasing our deterrence and the public announcements are very important. Alerting the public that you need to look for unattended bags, for suspicious items to report to law enforcement. They're our greatest tool.
In addition, additionally, we're doing some things that we can't talk about. They're trying to enhance security in what has been traditionally a very open system.
O'BRIEN: A bulletin went out from the U.S. federal officials and it went to some local law enforcement officials. This information comes to us from "The Washington Post."
I want to read you a little bit of what it had to say. It said, "We acknowledge that the U.S. rail sector has vulnerabilities which terrorists may choose to exploit. Trains and rail stations remain potential targets for terrorist groups due to their reduced security (in comparison to airports.)"
When you consider that there are so many thousands of miles of rail, that there is not -- obviously -- not enough people to actually patrol those every single mile of those -- and there's no screening of the baggage really in any way shape or form how do you possibly protect against all those vulnerabilities?
HUTCHINSON: Well you do it in a different way than the solution we had for the aviation industry. Obviously in the aviation we checked every bag, there's a greater threat and vulnerability in that arena. When it comes to rail and transit systems you look for a different approach to it relying more upon technology, sensors, surveillance, law enforcement presence, deterrence, public awareness and that's the approach that we're taking.
I think it's the right approach. We very well need to -- may need to invest more. We -- local law enforcement probably needs to deploy more but that security measure is probably appropriate to the rail and transit systems.
O'BRIEN: But if you're not going to check every bag, isn't that essentially the exact vulnerability of what happened in Madrid?
Explosives in a backpack, stashed in a train when you consider how many times a train stopped and then take off again, people come and go, nobody really keeps an eye on what backpacks are in the overhead compartment? How do you possibly safeguard people from something like that happening here?
HUTCHINSON: Well it's not easy. I mean, first of all, one solution would be to check every person, every bag that goes on to that rail or transit system. Anybody that's used those systems knows how difficult, expensive and slow that process would be.
The other one -- and just because somebody left their bag somewhere that in and of itself may tip someone who is alert or law enforcement person adds to something that is suspicious. In fact, there are instances in which we have been able to detect unattended bags taken appropriate law enforcement actions, so it's a little bit more difficult than it first seems, but clearly it's an open system. We've got to step up our presence there and we're doing that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That's undersecretary Asa Hutchinson joining us this morning.
HEMMER: To answer the question of the day on a Monday morning, here's Jack Cafferty, same time.
JACK CAFFERTY, ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. The bombings in Madrid are being compared to the events in this country on September the 11th.
Not because of the carnage; the 200 who have died in Spain don't begin to compare to the over 3,000 that were killed on September the 11th in the United States.
Certainly not because of the significance of the targets, the Pentagon, the World Trade Center far outstripping commuter trains in terms of spectacular targets for terrorist attacks.
But if al Qaeda as suspected is behind the bombings in Madrid, they've got to be basking this morning in the glow of their accomplishment because what they managed to do or at least that's the perception is change the course of Spanish history in a matter of 48 hours.
The incumbent prime minister, Aznar, had a significant lead in the polls before those bombs went off on those trains -- suddenly overnight the lead evaporated, the voters went to the polls yesterday and the socialists were voted in.
Their leader says he'll withdraw Spain's troops from Iraq, a shift in foreign policy away from the United States and toward European allies like France and Germany and we have elections in case its lost on you coming up in this country in November.
The question is do Spain's election results mean the terrorists are winging? Very interested in your thoughts on the significance of what happened in Madrid, but more importantly on what happened at the polls hours after the bombings in Madrid -- am@cnn.com.
HEMMER: It is a topic we'll visit throughout the morning. Stunning memorial Friday night, I thought, for Madrid. 2.5 million people in support in the streets at the Spanish capitol, what a sight it was.
Thank you, Jack.
O'BRIEN: All right, thanks Jack. Still to come this morning, protesters have a message for President Bush they're going to deliver today in Washington, D.C. -- we'll explain what that is.
HEMMER: Also the real story behind the Martha Stewart trial. Jeffrey Toobin takes us through the point-by-point case throughout this trial. An amazing article he has out today in "The New Yorker." Jeff's our guest in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And why "The Passion of The Christ" may transform what we see on movie screens in the near future. Our 90-second pop crew is going to tell us what Hollywood sees in the "Passion" ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
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O'BRIEN: In just under two hours, the sixth week of Jayson Williams's manslaughter trial will begin. Prosecutors plan to call to the stand two more members of the Harlem Globetrotters. Both men were at Williams's home the night a limo driver was shot to death.
Two other members of the team have already provided eyewitness accounts of the shooting. Both testify that Williams handled the shotgun recklessly just before the driver was shot -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 18 minutes past the hour. Even before Martha Stewart's conviction on four criminal counts, there were questions about her team's legal strategy. Why did she not testify? Why was it such a meager defense? In other words, what were her lawyers thinking?
CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin has written a piece in this week's "New Yorker" -- it follows the behind-the-scenes moves by both sides in Stewart's legal drama and Jeff is here to talk about it. It's called "Enabling Martha" and it is a terrific piece, too. Congratulations, Jeff.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you, sir.
HEMMER: I've heard some legal analysts give the defense a D for disaster for the defense. Why was it out of the question that you write for Martha to take the stand?
TOOBIN: There were basically two reasons. One is she didn't have answers to the most basic questions about the case. For example, why did you alter the document at your secretary's desk?
What is a good explanation that the jury is going to believe? She just didn't have one. Then you have the question of why did you tell Mariana Pasternack, her friend, in Mexico -- why did you tell her that you knew the Waksal's were selling their stock when you told investigators you didn't know that the Waksal's were selling their stock?
The answers simply weren't there. OK, that -- that's one set of problems. The other set of problems was that once you take the witness stand in a criminal trial your whole life is fair game and Martha Stewart has things in her life that she didn't want to be questioned about such as she lost a tax case to the state of New York over what -- where her residence was, where the judge in that case essentially found that she'd lied under oath during her testimony in that case.
She could be cross-examined about that. Plus, there were incidents largely forgotten now, 1997, she had an altercation with a landscaper with a gardener next door in her house in East Hampton where she basically ran him over. He was screaming "you're crushing me, you're crushing me" -- she wound up paying a confidential settlement to this guy.
All of this would have gone -- been gone over in loving detail by the prosecutors and -- and they didn't want and her lawyers didn't want to put her on the stand and I think they were right not do it.
HEMMER: In loving detail. Even before this trial began, you write also about a decision she made with a former attorney to talk with the federal authorities investigating this.
You say that was a huge mistake.
TOOBIN: A huge mistake. Now this is before Robert Morvillo got involved in the case where her lawyers were at a big firm called Wachtell, Lipton and this is the most -- this is where you can maybe criticize the lawyers because remember this sale of stock took place on December 27, 2001.
Just the following month on January 25 the lawyer -- the prosecutor said we want to talk to Martha and you know there was a lot of pressure on corporate executives to cooperate then.
That's when the Enron scandal was breaking but six days later the 31st that was the incident at Ann Armstrong, the secretary's, desk. That's where Martha Stewart altered those documents. Yet four days later her lawyers took her in and had her speak -- that was crazy, I think.
You know -- go ahead.
HEMMER: Just a short period of time left here. How much influence did Martha Stewart have in making these decisions? Lawyers come to you and say what do you think about this, and she says. On how many occasions did she make the final call?
TOOBIN: She always made the final call. Another incident I talk about in the "New Yorker" story is the plea-bargaining negotiations right before she was indicted in June of 2003 they -- there's a great deal on the table. One count, one felony count, almost certain no jail -- she rejected it and she said look I did nothing wrong, I'm not pleading guilty.
HEMMER: Listen, I'm out of time but I want to put this on the screen for our viewers. On page one of your article. As she told me her ImClone holding constituted .03 percent of her assets. This was a mere morsel, Jeff.
TOOBIN: So many times in this story you think this was insane for her to lose so much over such a tiny, tiny thing.
HEMMER: Thanks for sharing. "Enabling Martha" is in "The New Yorker." Here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning why tax cheats are still getting away with it even after they're caught. We'll look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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O'BRIEN: Believe it or not, it seems like the IRS is routinely dropping the ball and missing out on millions of dollars in penalties.
Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.
Pretty amazing story. You know it is March 15, that's one month away from -- dare I say it -- tax day.
That's right coming up; I hope you've got your self ready. You know the IRS has been stepping up audits but we may not have that much to fear. That's because a story in "The Washington Post" talks about a new study coming out of the Treasury Department that shows the IRS is letting tax evaders off the hook.
Pretty amazing stuff. They looked at like 172 tax convictions; $2.5 million they never collected. 37 cases they left about 11 of these people off the hook by simply never telling them they were convicted.
I mean, what is going on there? Of course, the IRS has been under scrutiny for years and listen, if you bust people you've got to collect the fines and you've got to have them do the time. They're just not doing it.
O'BRIEN: There's no indication that they're not collecting the fines because the people are bankrupt by then; there's no money to collect, is there?
SERWER: No, most of these cases are simply not following through, Soledad. It's pretty amazing.
O'BRIEN: That is just pathetic, then.
SERWER: Yes, the P word there, right?
O'BRIEN: It works today. The market? Bad, bad.
SERWER: Yes, really interesting even though we're up 111 points on the Dow on Friday, Soledad, not enough. We were down over 300 points for the week. You can see how far we were down for the week.
Also March 15 the Ides of March. So let's beware the Ides of March because unfortunately futures are slipping rather sharply this morning. No signs the economy is picking up steam. That's number one. And of course the situation in Europe, in Spain, the bombing and the election unsettling the markets as well.
I wish I had better news for you, sorry.
O'BRIEN: I was going to say I don't see any good news.
SERWER: No, there's no good news on this piece of paper, sorry.
O'BRIEN: Well maybe we'll come back and check in with us a little bit later.
SERWER: We'll try harder.
HEMMER: I don't know if you saw ESPN last night. They did three hours last night on Braketology in prime time. Whoa, what a shot.
SERWER: I asked my wife. Did that the last couple of days
HEMMER: Listen, no doubt plenty of talk today and plenty of time wasted in American offices. Millions fill out their annual NCAA bracket forms today. Much to the dismay of our people back in the control room here. Congratulations to Andy Serwer -- the Terps of Maryland won their first ACC tournament title in 20 years; beat Duke in overtime 95-87 great game there. Terps take on Texas El Paso Thursday in Denver.
Despite the loss, Duke is one of the tournaments number one seeds and well deserved, too, for the past year.
Blue Devils meet Alabama State Thursday in Raleigh. Kentucky is another of those number ones. SEC tournament victory this weekend, too, their 25th tournament title. The Wildcats will play either Lee High (ph) or Florida A&M in Columbus Ohio on Friday.
The other number one seed, Stanford and St. Joe's despite a late season loss for St. Joe's, they click in with a number one seed.
We are ready to go on Thursday they games shall begin.
O'BRIEN: What was the take away from Braketology?
Did they tell you how to fill out the...
HEMMER: A lot of talk and...
SERWER: A lot of very important information.
HEMMER: A lot of opinion.
O'BRIEN: I'd watch the TV and be like is this still on? Is this still going on? Oh for goodness sakes.
All right, well, still to come this morning with our 90-second pop panel we will talk stars and smarts.
We're looking at the finale or HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the reality show that's literally pumped up and much more still ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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Outside U.S. Consulate in Karachi>
