CNN.com - Transcripts

Transcript Providers

Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Interview With Representative Christopher Shays; Palestinian Boy Bomber

Aired March 25, 2004 - 07:30 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning yet again. I'm Bill Hemmer live in Washington. Soledad, good morning there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York City this morning. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Israel is on edge today, anticipating a new wave of terror. And yesterday, a teenager stopped at one checkpoint with explosives strapped to his chest. We've got a report coming up from Jerusalem in just a little bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: Also from Washington, Congressman Chris Shays out of Connecticut joins us in a few moments. He's come out with a letter blasting the former terrorism czar, Richard Clarke. His words in black and white in a moment. We'll get to that. He's our guest live here in D.C. -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, before we get to any of that, though, let's get a look at the top stories this morning.

The U.S. is facing a tough situation at the United Nations. The U.N. Security Council has been debating a resolution that condemns Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin earlier this week. A vote is expected as early as today. It is not clear just how the U.S. will vote.

The U.S. Supreme Court considering whether the words "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. Michael Newdow, who is an atheist, told the justices yesterday that the Pledge violates his 10-year-old daughter's religious liberty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL NEWDOW, PLAINTIFF: And I am a parent. I have an absolute right to know that when my child goes to the public schools she's not going to be indoctrinated with any religious dogma. I'm not asking for them to say that there is no God. I want government to stay out of the religion business, so that every religious opinion in this nation gets respected equally by the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The court can still dismiss the case. If not, a ruling is expected by early July. If your next flight is late taking off, don't blame the airline. The FAA announced yesterday it will begin intentionally delaying some flights in an effort to prevent gridlock in the air. The plan is to briefly delay some takeoffs and give priority to other takeoffs, creating express lanes to ease some congestion.

Michael Jackson's children's charity appears to be in some serious trouble. Records show that the pop star's Heal the World Foundation is just about out of money. The foundation, which once donated millions of dollars to children's causes, has been suspended in California since 2002 for failing to file yearly accounting statements.

And in baseball, this is why they call it the hot corner. Yankee player Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in baseball history -- ouch -- was hit in the face by a deflected ball at third base last night. A-Rod left the spring training game with a bruised cheekbone. The team said he was going to get a CT scan. It was negative. The final score, though, was the Yankees, 8, and the Red Sox, 6.

(WEATHER BREAK)

HEMMER: Back in Washington now. Congressman Chris Shays is weighing in on Richard Clarke. The Connecticut Republican, chairman of the National Security Committee, hits Clarke in a letter to the 9/11 Commission.

In part, that letter says -- I'm quoting now: "Mr. Clarke was of little help in our oversight. When he briefed the subcommittee, his answers were both evasive and derisive. He said a comprehensive threat assessment as recommended by the GAO" -- the Government Accounting Office -- "was too difficult."

Congressman Chris Shays is with us now in D.C.

Good morning to you. Nice to have you.

REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Derisive, evasive. This is an extremely strong letter that you put out yesterday.

SHAYS: Well, he was an outrageous witness. It was behind closed doors. Our expectation was that we would learn something from the terrorist czar. He's the person in charge.

Now, let me just say, we had already had 10 hearings on this before he appeared before us in June of 2000. And all three commissions that have come before us said we need to have an assessment of the terrorist threat. We need a strategy. And then we need to reorganize our government -- the Bremer Commission, the Hart- Redmond (ph) Commission, the Gomore (ph) Commission. The only area they disagreed was on how you reorganize.

So, when he came before us, we were expecting to hear what was that strategy? He said the strategy would be silly because there were so many threats out there. We couldn't believe it, so we wrote him a letter after he appeared behind closed doors asking him to explain what he meant and tell us when there would be a strategy.

HEMMER: A couple of things you say in this letter from yesterday, yet no truly national strategy to combat terrorism was ever produced during Mr. Clarke's tenure. You're saying there was no plan. Prior to that, you say: "Clarke was part of the problem before 9/11 because he took too narrow a view of the terrorism threat."

Why are we hearing this at this point? I can continue. Part of the problem, "because he took too narrow a view of the threat. His approach was reactive and it was limited to swatting at the visible elements of al Qaeda, not the hidden global network and its state sponsors."

SHAYS: Well, if we had reorganized our government after having an assessment of the threat and then developing a strategy, I think we would have known about September 11. And my criticism is, is not just at the Clinton administration, the Bush administration needed to do that. But they had only eight months. They were organizing their government. What's surprising to me is that Clarke of all people would be the one to weigh in on this. He had eight years to do this, and he didn't do it.

HEMMER: Now, listen, we are talking essentially about two different arguments here. One is the threat of al Qaeda, and one is the threat of Saddam Hussein. Listen to Richard Clarke from yesterday as he addresses the threat of Iraq and how we got there in the first place. Here's Clarke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CLARKE, FMR. COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISOR: And the reason I am strident in my criticism of the president of the United States is because by invading Iraq -- something I was not asked about by the commission, something I chose to write about a lot in the book -- by invading Iraq, the president of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: In retrospect now and listening to his testimony from the past two days, was Iraq a mistake, according to Richard Clarke?

SHAYS: Well, absolutely not. No, absolutely not. And if he had developed a comprehensive strategy, I think he would have realized that it wasn't a mistake. He never had a strategy. Someone should ask him, what was his strategy? And show us some documents of what your strategy was. He never developed it. He told us in our committee behind closed doors he had no strategy.

HEMMER: In all of this, the American people are sitting back and wondering who is telling the truth, and we have watched this for two days now.

SHAYS: We're going to get at... HEMMER: And we...

SHAYS: We're going to get at the truth. Ultimately, we're going to get at the truth. But Richard Clarke isn't helping us get at the truth.

HEMMER: Christopher Shays, appreciate your time this morning. The letter was written yesterday, the 24th of March. Nice to see you herein D.C. All right -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Some very tense moments in the West Bank. A Palestinian boy wearing a vest packed with explosives was stopped yesterday by Israeli soldiers. The boy, who says he's 14 and a half years old, was spotted at a checkpoint near the town of Nablus.

Paula Hancocks reports now from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 14-year-old Palestinian with eight kilograms of explosives strapped to his body. The boy was stopped at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. When soldiers asked him to lift his shirt, they saw the explosives.

CAPTAIN SHARON FEINGOLD, IDF SPOKESWOMAN: He was frightened by the sharp and quick reaction of the soldiers, who pointed the guns and stopped him. And he raised his hands. At that time, we grabbed him and persuaded him to assist us to dismantle him of the suicide vest that he was wearing.

HANCOCKS: The boy told the soldiers he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up.

Explosive experts used a remote-controlled robot to pass the boy scissors so he could cut the explosive belt from his body. He struggled with the straps before removing the vest and showing soldiers he had no more explosives.

They IDF blew up the vest. Shortly afterwards, the boy was shown to reporters. No questions allowed. The boy was then taken for interrogation to find out exactly who sent him and if he was coerced.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Earlier this month, Israeli troops stopped an 11-year- old boy, they say, was trying to smuggle explosives through that same checkpoint -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour, Soledad. In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, is the White House and the Bush campaign distracted by Clarke's charges that the White House ignored al Qaeda? President Bush's campaign manager, Ken Nelman (ph), our guest at the top the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. O'BRIEN: Also just ahead this morning, a major airline is fighting for its life, and 32,000 jobs are on the line. We'll explain.

HEMMER: Also, an "American Idol" cast member may have done something he just should not do on TV, or did he? Back in a moment with "90-Second Pop."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. We are rocking out on AMERICAN MORNING.

If you just woke up, well, hello. Good morning. It is time now for an all-new episode of "90-Second Pop," featuring this morning a Jersey girl, also, Simon says salute, and pimping a ride (UNINTELLIGIBLE) circling the drain.

Andy Borowitz is the man who is responsible for the book called "Governor Arnold." Also Sarah Bernard is a "New York" magazine contributing editor. And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."

Let's get right to it, because there's a lot to talk about.

B.J., we're going to start with you. You've seen "Jersey Girl." I saw it the other day, too. What did you think of the movie? And what are critics overall saying about it?

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Critics overall are not being kind. I enjoyed it. I think Bill -- I'm sorry, Ben Affleck is sort of charming.

O'BRIEN: Bill Hemmer.

SIGESMUND: Bill Hemmer and Ben Affleck are both charming men. But Ben Affleck really needs a hit. You know, "Paycheck," Gigli", of course, a critical flop that was, "Sum of all Fears."

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: I didn't hear much about that. That wasn't a good (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: Yes. Unfortunately, this is not going to be that hit that puts him back on top and makes people forget that he is an actor and not just a celebrity.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: I think the real drama with this movie, however, is that he is trying to make up to Harvey Weinstein for badmouthing him in Peter Biscin's (ph) book. And that's why...

O'BRIEN: Really? Is that's going (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BERNARD: I think that's the real problem, because he has just been promoting this everywhere. He's been on "Saturday Night Live." He's been on Larry King. He's just been nonstop. And I think he's really trying to almost say he's sorry for his last crazy year...

SIGESMUND: Yes.

BERNARD: ... for what has happened with Kevin Smith's movie coming out at this bad time. And he's trying to make up to Harvey, I think.

SIGESMUND: And an interesting thing, though, I don't expect this movie to be No. 1 or even No. 2 or No. 3. This movie might be No. 5. "Scooby Doo 2" is going to get all the box office this weekend.

BOROWITZ: I'm concerned that...

BERNARD: Oh, yes.

BOROWITZ: That's the one I'm concerned about, because I really think there should be an investigation to find out how "Scooby Doo 2" was allowed to happen. I really do.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: The first one made a ton of money. It's as easy as that.

O'BRIEN: Really?

BOROWITZ: Well...

SIGESMUND: The first one got terrible reviews, and everyone still went to see it (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: I think we're all owed an explanation.

O'BRIEN: There are so many movies, aren't there, where you say, oh, that's going to be terrible, and yet it makes goo-gobs of money?

BOROWITZ: Right.

O'BRIEN: And everyone goes.

SIGESMUND: You can't figure it out.

BERNARD: It's the 9-year-olds...

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: I guess that's a lot of 9-year-olds.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. There is a show now on MTV called, charmingly enough, "Pimp My Ride."

BOROWITZ: "Pimp My Ride."

O'BRIEN: And, you know, I'm going encourage my young children to watch a show called "Pimp My Ride." First of all, what the heck does that mean? BOROWITZ: Well, "Pimp My Ride," Soledad, is a phrase I use all of the time. I'm actually trying to get it trademarked. But "Pimp My Ride" is a show. It's sort of a makeover show for cars, where you get a ratty, old car, like a Gremlin or a Hornet, and you sort of turn it into a pimp mobile. An exhibit -- the very talented exhibit is the host of this show. It's a big show. I actually think it's kind of an important show. I think it's going to fill the...

O'BRIEN: Is there someone named exhibit?

BOROWITZ: There is.

BERNARD: Oh, yes.

BOROWITZ: There is.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: He's a rapper.

O'BRIEN: God, I'm so...

BOROWITZ: You've got so much to learn.

O'BRIEN: I'm so old!

SIGESMUND: Soledad!

BERNARD: I think this show is fantastic.

BOROWITZ: When one pimps one's ride, you go to exhibit, and I think it's a great show. I think it's a really important show. I think it's going to fill the cultural void that was left by the departure of "Jackass." I really do, because there was a lot there that we need to fill.

BERNARD: But we should say, it's not just about necessarily giving you a paint job and fixing some dents. They actually put a karaoke machine in the trunk of this guy's car because he liked to sing to the ladies. They put a Playstation 2.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: A Playstation 2?

BERNARD: Yes, exactly.

SIGESMUND: This show has not really caught on in New York, because, oddly enough, no one drives.

O'BRIEN: We don't have cars.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: You know, it has really caught on in...

O'BRIEN: Pimp my taxicab.

SIGESMUND: It's done even better than "Newlyweds." Like even repeats are doing really, really well on MTV. Somehow it's like -- it's a little bit of a phenomenon.

BOROWITZ: By the way, the process of sort of spiffing up your car, Soledad, is called styling, just so you know for future reference.

O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm going to talk to Brad and see if he wants to pimp our car.

BOROWITZ: Exactly. Your ride.

O'BRIEN: Our ride. Sorry. All right, anytime soon.

BOROWITZ: OK, we're getting there.

O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Simon Cowell? First of all, here is a guy who is pretty mean -- I think that's fair to say -- to all of the contestants. And he appeared to have kind of flipped the middle finger at one of the contestants on "American Idol." So, let's watch what he said and did first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON COWELL, "AMERICAN IDOL" JUDGE: On the negative side, you are, without question, the worst dancer we've ever had in any "American Idol" final. And I think at some stage you are going to have to learn to get your personality over. Because, trust me, this competition is as much personality as it is vocal ability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So, of course, the big question is: Was he basically giving that young distraught, devastated young man the middle finger? Because it kind of looked like that.

BERNARD: It did actually. And I think the fact that he switched fingers, you know, he went from the middle finger and he kind of realized maybe what he was doing and then switched to the other finger.

O'BRIEN: You're such a conspiracy theorist.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: Give me a break! Give me a break!

BERNARD: He knew what was going on.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: No way that he was giving that kid the finger.

BOROWITZ: Well... SIGESMUND: Simon Cowell is way too smart for that. This is nothing but a media story. Fox got all of 20 calls about this. That's less than one call per million people watching. No one noticed. No one thought it was a big deal.

BOROWITZ: Simon Cowell, though, is doing a new show for MTV called "flip my bird." So, I think there is a possibility that that was a promo for that.

O'BRIEN: You don't think this was...

BERNARD: A subtle promo.

SIGESMUND: No.

O'BRIEN: Because there certainly was talk about the FCC looking into this (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: You know what? The Fox people even looked at it before it aired on the West Coast and deemed it appropriate. And no one thought it was a big deal.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: The Fox people deemed it appropriate? Sorry if I don't run to the bank with that one, B.J.

BERNARD: No, the thing has gotten to a really extreme degree. I mean, if you want to look for something, you can probably find something to pick over in any show.

O'BRIEN: I know you can. You can (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BERNARD: Exactly.

BOROWITZ: The FCC is making him wear oven mitts. That is true.

O'BRIEN: That poor kid. Even worse than giving him the middle finger, or whether he was or not, was so devastated.

BOROWITZ: I know.

BERNARD: He says that to so many people.

O'BRIEN: I hate when they cut away.

BERNARD: You are the worst.

O'BRIEN: But, you know, he's like, my life is over.

SIGESMUND: Well, he's the only one who actually says anything honest. Randy and Paula never do.

O'BRIEN: Look at you today.

SIGESMUND: Sorry. BERNARD: So, actually, you like Simon.

O'BRIEN: Yes, he does. It's like a scary day here.

BOROWITZ: We all do.

O'BRIEN: We all match. Have you guys noticed that?

BERNARD: Yes, we're in a band.

O'BRIEN: That's a little weird.

SIGESMUND: Yes, exactly.

O'BRIEN: We've got a show after the show.

SIGESMUND: We're pop stars.

O'BRIEN: Pop star, our new show. All right, we're out of time. As always, you guys, thanks so much. Nice to see you.

Bill -- or should I call you Ben?

HEMMER: That was live there. Give me "Gigli."

In a moment here, U.S. Airways is bracing for a fight against a low-cost carrier that has gotten the best of it before. There is history to talk about here. We'll get to it in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: U.S. Airways is declaring war. And the enemy? A low- cost carrier.

Christine Romans is in for Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Hello.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Hello there.

A call to arms or a pep talk. I don't know which it was. But from David Siegel, the CEO over at U.S. Airways, he said yesterday that indeed it is a bloodbath out there for the airlines because of low-cost competition. He said they're going to have to fight, really fight Southwest Airlines simply to stay in business.

U.S. Airways is the No, 7 carrier. This is what he said. He said: "Herb Kelleher wants our customers" -- Herb Kelleher is the CEO of Southwest -- "he wants your job. It's going to be a battle for our lives. We have to prepare to fight him. They're coming for one reason. They're coming to kill us."

O'BRIEN: Wow! That doesn't sound like a pep talk. That sounds like... ROMANS: Yes. And he wants concessions from the workers.

O'BRIEN: ... a battle cry.

ROMANS: He said if you can't take a pay cut, if you can't work, you know, your butt off, essentially, to try to save this airline, you need to go find another job.

He's going to try to keep their international legacy, but he wants to turn U.S. Airways into a low-cost carrier just like, you know, Southwest and JetBlue. I mean, those are the only kind of airlines that are making money these days and that are even able to survive in this business. It's always been a tough business, the airline business has been.

O'BRIEN: Still, strange words from a CEO.

ROMANS: Absolutely. And you know, it's interesting to talk about another kind of airline business. This is sightseeing to Mars. You can't make money flying to Philly, but there is a panel of scientists and entrepreneurs who want to figure out how to send sightseers to Mars. This is, of course, part of a the president' commission, a report due in June about...

O'BRIEN: Charge more, a lot more.

ROMANS: Right. About, you know, man's space travel to Mars, but they had private entrepreneurs and government folks and scientists yesterday in Atlanta talking about how to make this a reality. I just love the idea. You can't get to Philly, but, boy, maybe Mars some day.

O'BRIEN: But you know what? Well, $1,500,000 a ticket that might for pay for itself.

Let's talk about the market because there's been a number of bad day in a row.

ROMANS: Yes, five days in a row now, three month lows for the Dow and the S&P. So, we'll watch to see what happens here today, but this is a route. I mean, December 15 is the last time we saw the Dow at this sort of level and the S&P at this sort of level. The S&P below 1,100.

We'll get a GDP report. That's, you know, the measure of how fast the economy is growing. Also jobless claims. That's a measure of how many people are getting laid off all over the place. So, hopefully that's improving.

O'BRIEN: All right, Christine, thanks a lot. We'll check in with you a little bit later this morning.

ROMANS: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Ms. O'Brien, question of the day. New York City's health commissioner said yesterday he wants restaurants to include nutritional information on their menus, like crude manufacturers do. Thomas Freedman (ph) said the guidelines would help diners make healthier choices.

Beginning next month, the national chain Ruby Tuesday is going the add the fat fiber, carbohydrates and calories for every item on its menu.

The question this morning is, whether or not restaurants ought to include all of this stuff on their menus.

Jason in Artesia, New Mexico: "They ought to just make it available as a different menu for the dieters who care. I truly do not even want to know the caloric content of my chili bacon cheese fries with sour cream."

O'BRIEN: A lot.

CAFFERTY: Jamie says: "This is from someone who tries to keep my carb count down. It would make it a lot easier to pick things from the menu and a lot faster."

Dominick writes" "Many restaurant owners don't have a clue about health, and it would create another ridiculous consulting niche. If you want to order healthy at a restaurant, order the meat baked or grilled and get a steamed vegetable. Pretty simple."

Tom in Knoxville, Iowa, Christine, our there in great Heartland, where you hale from.

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

CAFFERTY: How's your grandmother?

ROMANS: She's great.

CAFFERTY: You tell her I said hello.

ROMANS: Well, you know, in Iowa in the summer you go down to, like, San Diego or Arizona, so she just got back.

CAFFERTY: Tom in Knoxville, Iowa: "Nutritional labels on menus are just another added expense for restaurants. How does the small mom and pop restaurant get the nutrition information for that special homemade soup that mom makes? Where does this ever end?"

Tony in Roscoe, Illinois: "Amazing we can learn by reading nutritional information labels. The other day I bought a bottle of water. According to the label it has no nutritional value. Zero. I will not be drinking any more of that junk."

AM@CNN.com.

O'BRIEN: Very funny. CAFFERTY: Not bad.

O'BRIEN: I thought. Yes.

Well, Mr. Hemmer is in Washington, D.C. We're going to be hearing a little more from him this morning. We miss you here, Bill, though.

HEMMER: And obviously you guys, too. I had an apple this morning. Does that count for anything?

O'BRIEN: No.

HEMMER: And a pack of raisins.

Soledad, in a moment here, the charges and countercharges keep coming. Richard Clarke in one corner, the Bush administration in the other. The latest on this tit-for-tat in D.C. of the highest significance.

Back in a moment top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.

Aired March 25, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning yet again. I'm Bill Hemmer live in Washington. Soledad, good morning there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Soledad O'Brien in New York City this morning. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Israel is on edge today, anticipating a new wave of terror. And yesterday, a teenager stopped at one checkpoint with explosives strapped to his chest. We've got a report coming up from Jerusalem in just a little bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: Also from Washington, Congressman Chris Shays out of Connecticut joins us in a few moments. He's come out with a letter blasting the former terrorism czar, Richard Clarke. His words in black and white in a moment. We'll get to that. He's our guest live here in D.C. -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, before we get to any of that, though, let's get a look at the top stories this morning.

The U.S. is facing a tough situation at the United Nations. The U.N. Security Council has been debating a resolution that condemns Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin earlier this week. A vote is expected as early as today. It is not clear just how the U.S. will vote.

The U.S. Supreme Court considering whether the words "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance. Michael Newdow, who is an atheist, told the justices yesterday that the Pledge violates his 10-year-old daughter's religious liberty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL NEWDOW, PLAINTIFF: And I am a parent. I have an absolute right to know that when my child goes to the public schools she's not going to be indoctrinated with any religious dogma. I'm not asking for them to say that there is no God. I want government to stay out of the religion business, so that every religious opinion in this nation gets respected equally by the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The court can still dismiss the case. If not, a ruling is expected by early July. If your next flight is late taking off, don't blame the airline. The FAA announced yesterday it will begin intentionally delaying some flights in an effort to prevent gridlock in the air. The plan is to briefly delay some takeoffs and give priority to other takeoffs, creating express lanes to ease some congestion.

Michael Jackson's children's charity appears to be in some serious trouble. Records show that the pop star's Heal the World Foundation is just about out of money. The foundation, which once donated millions of dollars to children's causes, has been suspended in California since 2002 for failing to file yearly accounting statements.

And in baseball, this is why they call it the hot corner. Yankee player Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid player in baseball history -- ouch -- was hit in the face by a deflected ball at third base last night. A-Rod left the spring training game with a bruised cheekbone. The team said he was going to get a CT scan. It was negative. The final score, though, was the Yankees, 8, and the Red Sox, 6.

(WEATHER BREAK)

HEMMER: Back in Washington now. Congressman Chris Shays is weighing in on Richard Clarke. The Connecticut Republican, chairman of the National Security Committee, hits Clarke in a letter to the 9/11 Commission.

In part, that letter says -- I'm quoting now: "Mr. Clarke was of little help in our oversight. When he briefed the subcommittee, his answers were both evasive and derisive. He said a comprehensive threat assessment as recommended by the GAO" -- the Government Accounting Office -- "was too difficult."

Congressman Chris Shays is with us now in D.C.

Good morning to you. Nice to have you.

REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Derisive, evasive. This is an extremely strong letter that you put out yesterday.

SHAYS: Well, he was an outrageous witness. It was behind closed doors. Our expectation was that we would learn something from the terrorist czar. He's the person in charge.

Now, let me just say, we had already had 10 hearings on this before he appeared before us in June of 2000. And all three commissions that have come before us said we need to have an assessment of the terrorist threat. We need a strategy. And then we need to reorganize our government -- the Bremer Commission, the Hart- Redmond (ph) Commission, the Gomore (ph) Commission. The only area they disagreed was on how you reorganize.

So, when he came before us, we were expecting to hear what was that strategy? He said the strategy would be silly because there were so many threats out there. We couldn't believe it, so we wrote him a letter after he appeared behind closed doors asking him to explain what he meant and tell us when there would be a strategy.

HEMMER: A couple of things you say in this letter from yesterday, yet no truly national strategy to combat terrorism was ever produced during Mr. Clarke's tenure. You're saying there was no plan. Prior to that, you say: "Clarke was part of the problem before 9/11 because he took too narrow a view of the terrorism threat."

Why are we hearing this at this point? I can continue. Part of the problem, "because he took too narrow a view of the threat. His approach was reactive and it was limited to swatting at the visible elements of al Qaeda, not the hidden global network and its state sponsors."

SHAYS: Well, if we had reorganized our government after having an assessment of the threat and then developing a strategy, I think we would have known about September 11. And my criticism is, is not just at the Clinton administration, the Bush administration needed to do that. But they had only eight months. They were organizing their government. What's surprising to me is that Clarke of all people would be the one to weigh in on this. He had eight years to do this, and he didn't do it.

HEMMER: Now, listen, we are talking essentially about two different arguments here. One is the threat of al Qaeda, and one is the threat of Saddam Hussein. Listen to Richard Clarke from yesterday as he addresses the threat of Iraq and how we got there in the first place. Here's Clarke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CLARKE, FMR. COUNTERTERRORISM ADVISOR: And the reason I am strident in my criticism of the president of the United States is because by invading Iraq -- something I was not asked about by the commission, something I chose to write about a lot in the book -- by invading Iraq, the president of the United States has greatly undermined the war on terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: In retrospect now and listening to his testimony from the past two days, was Iraq a mistake, according to Richard Clarke?

SHAYS: Well, absolutely not. No, absolutely not. And if he had developed a comprehensive strategy, I think he would have realized that it wasn't a mistake. He never had a strategy. Someone should ask him, what was his strategy? And show us some documents of what your strategy was. He never developed it. He told us in our committee behind closed doors he had no strategy.

HEMMER: In all of this, the American people are sitting back and wondering who is telling the truth, and we have watched this for two days now.

SHAYS: We're going to get at... HEMMER: And we...

SHAYS: We're going to get at the truth. Ultimately, we're going to get at the truth. But Richard Clarke isn't helping us get at the truth.

HEMMER: Christopher Shays, appreciate your time this morning. The letter was written yesterday, the 24th of March. Nice to see you herein D.C. All right -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Some very tense moments in the West Bank. A Palestinian boy wearing a vest packed with explosives was stopped yesterday by Israeli soldiers. The boy, who says he's 14 and a half years old, was spotted at a checkpoint near the town of Nablus.

Paula Hancocks reports now from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 14-year-old Palestinian with eight kilograms of explosives strapped to his body. The boy was stopped at a checkpoint near the West Bank city of Nablus. When soldiers asked him to lift his shirt, they saw the explosives.

CAPTAIN SHARON FEINGOLD, IDF SPOKESWOMAN: He was frightened by the sharp and quick reaction of the soldiers, who pointed the guns and stopped him. And he raised his hands. At that time, we grabbed him and persuaded him to assist us to dismantle him of the suicide vest that he was wearing.

HANCOCKS: The boy told the soldiers he didn't want to die. He didn't want to blow up.

Explosive experts used a remote-controlled robot to pass the boy scissors so he could cut the explosive belt from his body. He struggled with the straps before removing the vest and showing soldiers he had no more explosives.

They IDF blew up the vest. Shortly afterwards, the boy was shown to reporters. No questions allowed. The boy was then taken for interrogation to find out exactly who sent him and if he was coerced.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Earlier this month, Israeli troops stopped an 11-year- old boy, they say, was trying to smuggle explosives through that same checkpoint -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour, Soledad. In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, is the White House and the Bush campaign distracted by Clarke's charges that the White House ignored al Qaeda? President Bush's campaign manager, Ken Nelman (ph), our guest at the top the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING. O'BRIEN: Also just ahead this morning, a major airline is fighting for its life, and 32,000 jobs are on the line. We'll explain.

HEMMER: Also, an "American Idol" cast member may have done something he just should not do on TV, or did he? Back in a moment with "90-Second Pop."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. We are rocking out on AMERICAN MORNING.

If you just woke up, well, hello. Good morning. It is time now for an all-new episode of "90-Second Pop," featuring this morning a Jersey girl, also, Simon says salute, and pimping a ride (UNINTELLIGIBLE) circling the drain.

Andy Borowitz is the man who is responsible for the book called "Governor Arnold." Also Sarah Bernard is a "New York" magazine contributing editor. And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."

Let's get right to it, because there's a lot to talk about.

B.J., we're going to start with you. You've seen "Jersey Girl." I saw it the other day, too. What did you think of the movie? And what are critics overall saying about it?

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Critics overall are not being kind. I enjoyed it. I think Bill -- I'm sorry, Ben Affleck is sort of charming.

O'BRIEN: Bill Hemmer.

SIGESMUND: Bill Hemmer and Ben Affleck are both charming men. But Ben Affleck really needs a hit. You know, "Paycheck," Gigli", of course, a critical flop that was, "Sum of all Fears."

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: I didn't hear much about that. That wasn't a good (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: Yes. Unfortunately, this is not going to be that hit that puts him back on top and makes people forget that he is an actor and not just a celebrity.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: I think the real drama with this movie, however, is that he is trying to make up to Harvey Weinstein for badmouthing him in Peter Biscin's (ph) book. And that's why...

O'BRIEN: Really? Is that's going (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

BERNARD: I think that's the real problem, because he has just been promoting this everywhere. He's been on "Saturday Night Live." He's been on Larry King. He's just been nonstop. And I think he's really trying to almost say he's sorry for his last crazy year...

SIGESMUND: Yes.

BERNARD: ... for what has happened with Kevin Smith's movie coming out at this bad time. And he's trying to make up to Harvey, I think.

SIGESMUND: And an interesting thing, though, I don't expect this movie to be No. 1 or even No. 2 or No. 3. This movie might be No. 5. "Scooby Doo 2" is going to get all the box office this weekend.

BOROWITZ: I'm concerned that...

BERNARD: Oh, yes.

BOROWITZ: That's the one I'm concerned about, because I really think there should be an investigation to find out how "Scooby Doo 2" was allowed to happen. I really do.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: The first one made a ton of money. It's as easy as that.

O'BRIEN: Really?

BOROWITZ: Well...

SIGESMUND: The first one got terrible reviews, and everyone still went to see it (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BOROWITZ: I think we're all owed an explanation.

O'BRIEN: There are so many movies, aren't there, where you say, oh, that's going to be terrible, and yet it makes goo-gobs of money?

BOROWITZ: Right.

O'BRIEN: And everyone goes.

SIGESMUND: You can't figure it out.

BERNARD: It's the 9-year-olds...

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: I guess that's a lot of 9-year-olds.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. There is a show now on MTV called, charmingly enough, "Pimp My Ride."

BOROWITZ: "Pimp My Ride."

O'BRIEN: And, you know, I'm going encourage my young children to watch a show called "Pimp My Ride." First of all, what the heck does that mean? BOROWITZ: Well, "Pimp My Ride," Soledad, is a phrase I use all of the time. I'm actually trying to get it trademarked. But "Pimp My Ride" is a show. It's sort of a makeover show for cars, where you get a ratty, old car, like a Gremlin or a Hornet, and you sort of turn it into a pimp mobile. An exhibit -- the very talented exhibit is the host of this show. It's a big show. I actually think it's kind of an important show. I think it's going to fill the...

O'BRIEN: Is there someone named exhibit?

BOROWITZ: There is.

BERNARD: Oh, yes.

BOROWITZ: There is.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: He's a rapper.

O'BRIEN: God, I'm so...

BOROWITZ: You've got so much to learn.

O'BRIEN: I'm so old!

SIGESMUND: Soledad!

BERNARD: I think this show is fantastic.

BOROWITZ: When one pimps one's ride, you go to exhibit, and I think it's a great show. I think it's a really important show. I think it's going to fill the cultural void that was left by the departure of "Jackass." I really do, because there was a lot there that we need to fill.

BERNARD: But we should say, it's not just about necessarily giving you a paint job and fixing some dents. They actually put a karaoke machine in the trunk of this guy's car because he liked to sing to the ladies. They put a Playstation 2.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: A Playstation 2?

BERNARD: Yes, exactly.

SIGESMUND: This show has not really caught on in New York, because, oddly enough, no one drives.

O'BRIEN: We don't have cars.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: You know, it has really caught on in...

O'BRIEN: Pimp my taxicab.

SIGESMUND: It's done even better than "Newlyweds." Like even repeats are doing really, really well on MTV. Somehow it's like -- it's a little bit of a phenomenon.

BOROWITZ: By the way, the process of sort of spiffing up your car, Soledad, is called styling, just so you know for future reference.

O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm going to talk to Brad and see if he wants to pimp our car.

BOROWITZ: Exactly. Your ride.

O'BRIEN: Our ride. Sorry. All right, anytime soon.

BOROWITZ: OK, we're getting there.

O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Simon Cowell? First of all, here is a guy who is pretty mean -- I think that's fair to say -- to all of the contestants. And he appeared to have kind of flipped the middle finger at one of the contestants on "American Idol." So, let's watch what he said and did first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON COWELL, "AMERICAN IDOL" JUDGE: On the negative side, you are, without question, the worst dancer we've ever had in any "American Idol" final. And I think at some stage you are going to have to learn to get your personality over. Because, trust me, this competition is as much personality as it is vocal ability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So, of course, the big question is: Was he basically giving that young distraught, devastated young man the middle finger? Because it kind of looked like that.

BERNARD: It did actually. And I think the fact that he switched fingers, you know, he went from the middle finger and he kind of realized maybe what he was doing and then switched to the other finger.

O'BRIEN: You're such a conspiracy theorist.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: Give me a break! Give me a break!

BERNARD: He knew what was going on.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: No way that he was giving that kid the finger.

BOROWITZ: Well... SIGESMUND: Simon Cowell is way too smart for that. This is nothing but a media story. Fox got all of 20 calls about this. That's less than one call per million people watching. No one noticed. No one thought it was a big deal.

BOROWITZ: Simon Cowell, though, is doing a new show for MTV called "flip my bird." So, I think there is a possibility that that was a promo for that.

O'BRIEN: You don't think this was...

BERNARD: A subtle promo.

SIGESMUND: No.

O'BRIEN: Because there certainly was talk about the FCC looking into this (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: You know what? The Fox people even looked at it before it aired on the West Coast and deemed it appropriate. And no one thought it was a big deal.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: The Fox people deemed it appropriate? Sorry if I don't run to the bank with that one, B.J.

BERNARD: No, the thing has gotten to a really extreme degree. I mean, if you want to look for something, you can probably find something to pick over in any show.

O'BRIEN: I know you can. You can (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BERNARD: Exactly.

BOROWITZ: The FCC is making him wear oven mitts. That is true.

O'BRIEN: That poor kid. Even worse than giving him the middle finger, or whether he was or not, was so devastated.

BOROWITZ: I know.

BERNARD: He says that to so many people.

O'BRIEN: I hate when they cut away.

BERNARD: You are the worst.

O'BRIEN: But, you know, he's like, my life is over.

SIGESMUND: Well, he's the only one who actually says anything honest. Randy and Paula never do.

O'BRIEN: Look at you today.

SIGESMUND: Sorry. BERNARD: So, actually, you like Simon.

O'BRIEN: Yes, he does. It's like a scary day here.

BOROWITZ: We all do.

O'BRIEN: We all match. Have you guys noticed that?

BERNARD: Yes, we're in a band.

O'BRIEN: That's a little weird.

SIGESMUND: Yes, exactly.

O'BRIEN: We've got a show after the show.

SIGESMUND: We're pop stars.

O'BRIEN: Pop star, our new show. All right, we're out of time. As always, you guys, thanks so much. Nice to see you.

Bill -- or should I call you Ben?

HEMMER: That was live there. Give me "Gigli."

In a moment here, U.S. Airways is bracing for a fight against a low-cost carrier that has gotten the best of it before. There is history to talk about here. We'll get to it in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: U.S. Airways is declaring war. And the enemy? A low- cost carrier.

Christine Romans is in for Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Hello.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: Hello there.

A call to arms or a pep talk. I don't know which it was. But from David Siegel, the CEO over at U.S. Airways, he said yesterday that indeed it is a bloodbath out there for the airlines because of low-cost competition. He said they're going to have to fight, really fight Southwest Airlines simply to stay in business.

U.S. Airways is the No, 7 carrier. This is what he said. He said: "Herb Kelleher wants our customers" -- Herb Kelleher is the CEO of Southwest -- "he wants your job. It's going to be a battle for our lives. We have to prepare to fight him. They're coming for one reason. They're coming to kill us."

O'BRIEN: Wow! That doesn't sound like a pep talk. That sounds like... ROMANS: Yes. And he wants concessions from the workers.

O'BRIEN: ... a battle cry.

ROMANS: He said if you can't take a pay cut, if you can't work, you know, your butt off, essentially, to try to save this airline, you need to go find another job.

He's going to try to keep their international legacy, but he wants to turn U.S. Airways into a low-cost carrier just like, you know, Southwest and JetBlue. I mean, those are the only kind of airlines that are making money these days and that are even able to survive in this business. It's always been a tough business, the airline business has been.

O'BRIEN: Still, strange words from a CEO.

ROMANS: Absolutely. And you know, it's interesting to talk about another kind of airline business. This is sightseeing to Mars. You can't make money flying to Philly, but there is a panel of scientists and entrepreneurs who want to figure out how to send sightseers to Mars. This is, of course, part of a the president' commission, a report due in June about...

O'BRIEN: Charge more, a lot more.

ROMANS: Right. About, you know, man's space travel to Mars, but they had private entrepreneurs and government folks and scientists yesterday in Atlanta talking about how to make this a reality. I just love the idea. You can't get to Philly, but, boy, maybe Mars some day.

O'BRIEN: But you know what? Well, $1,500,000 a ticket that might for pay for itself.

Let's talk about the market because there's been a number of bad day in a row.

ROMANS: Yes, five days in a row now, three month lows for the Dow and the S&P. So, we'll watch to see what happens here today, but this is a route. I mean, December 15 is the last time we saw the Dow at this sort of level and the S&P at this sort of level. The S&P below 1,100.

We'll get a GDP report. That's, you know, the measure of how fast the economy is growing. Also jobless claims. That's a measure of how many people are getting laid off all over the place. So, hopefully that's improving.

O'BRIEN: All right, Christine, thanks a lot. We'll check in with you a little bit later this morning.

ROMANS: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Ms. O'Brien, question of the day. New York City's health commissioner said yesterday he wants restaurants to include nutritional information on their menus, like crude manufacturers do. Thomas Freedman (ph) said the guidelines would help diners make healthier choices.

Beginning next month, the national chain Ruby Tuesday is going the add the fat fiber, carbohydrates and calories for every item on its menu.

The question this morning is, whether or not restaurants ought to include all of this stuff on their menus.

Jason in Artesia, New Mexico: "They ought to just make it available as a different menu for the dieters who care. I truly do not even want to know the caloric content of my chili bacon cheese fries with sour cream."

O'BRIEN: A lot.

CAFFERTY: Jamie says: "This is from someone who tries to keep my carb count down. It would make it a lot easier to pick things from the menu and a lot faster."

Dominick writes" "Many restaurant owners don't have a clue about health, and it would create another ridiculous consulting niche. If you want to order healthy at a restaurant, order the meat baked or grilled and get a steamed vegetable. Pretty simple."

Tom in Knoxville, Iowa, Christine, our there in great Heartland, where you hale from.

ROMANS: Oh, yes.

CAFFERTY: How's your grandmother?

ROMANS: She's great.

CAFFERTY: You tell her I said hello.

ROMANS: Well, you know, in Iowa in the summer you go down to, like, San Diego or Arizona, so she just got back.

CAFFERTY: Tom in Knoxville, Iowa: "Nutritional labels on menus are just another added expense for restaurants. How does the small mom and pop restaurant get the nutrition information for that special homemade soup that mom makes? Where does this ever end?"

Tony in Roscoe, Illinois: "Amazing we can learn by reading nutritional information labels. The other day I bought a bottle of water. According to the label it has no nutritional value. Zero. I will not be drinking any more of that junk."

AM@CNN.com.

O'BRIEN: Very funny. CAFFERTY: Not bad.

O'BRIEN: I thought. Yes.

Well, Mr. Hemmer is in Washington, D.C. We're going to be hearing a little more from him this morning. We miss you here, Bill, though.

HEMMER: And obviously you guys, too. I had an apple this morning. Does that count for anything?

O'BRIEN: No.

HEMMER: And a pack of raisins.

Soledad, in a moment here, the charges and countercharges keep coming. Richard Clarke in one corner, the Bush administration in the other. The latest on this tit-for-tat in D.C. of the highest significance.

Back in a moment top of the hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.