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American Morning
More Troops Headed for Afghanistan; Dean to Endorse Kerry; Scientists Work to Free an Entangled Whale
Aired March 25, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Right at 9:30 here in Washington, I'm Bill Hemmer.
Soledad, good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: You look pretty in that red outfit back there.
O'BRIEN: Aren't you sweet? You still are a flatterer, even from far, far away. We miss you, Hemmer. We're looking forward to having you back tomorrow.
HEMMER: OK. You got it.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, we're going to get the opening bell coming up in a few moments.
Also, in a few minutes, a story out of California has lots of people outraged. A 51-year-old woman went to prison for stealing a toolbox. She was released after she got a new trial. But now she's going back because somebody couldn't add. We'll explain.
But first now the opening bell is ringing on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average -- there it is -- starts this morning at about 1048, down over 15 points. Over at the NASDAQ, the composite index opens at 1990. That's up more than seven points.
A look at some of our top stories this morning.
We start with the former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke. He says that the Bush administration did not treat al Qaeda as an urgent threat.
Clarke yesterday delivered testimony before the September 11 commission.
One of the panel members told Clarke he had, quote, "real credibility problems." Clarke's claims have been refuted by several White House members, including National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
The U.S. faces a major vote at the United Nations today. The U.N. Secretary -- Security Council is set to vote on a resolution condemning Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The U.N. Human Rights Commission voted for the resolution yesterday.
The defense continues to present its case today in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial.
But before the jury hears from a defense weapons expert, the judge wants to know more about his testing. That's because the expert didn't test the shotgun that actually killed a chauffeur at Williams' mansion back in February of 2002.
And a California woman ordered back to prison after being freed more than two years ago. Pamela Martinez went to jail in 1996 for theft, and then was released in 2001.
But the California high court says she was released too early. They're ordering her back to jail for two months.
Friends and supporters are asking California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency for Martinez.
Six British explorers are still trapped in that cave in Mexico. But a team of British navy divers is preparing to rescue them today.
Meanwhile, Mexico's president wants to know what they were doing in his country in the first place. The team reportedly entered Mexico on a tourist visa, didn't notify the government that some of them were members of the British military.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: News from the Pentagon this morning about the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon across town here with more on this.
Barbara, what are you finding out? Good morning there.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, good morning to you.
CNN now learning from Pentagon sources that plans are in the works to send more troops to Afghanistan in the next few weeks.
Sources telling CNN about 2,000 Marines are expected in Afghanistan as part of this upcoming spring offensive. They will land on their ship, somewhere in the Persian Gulf, we are told, and then fly into Afghanistan with their equipment, possibly with their harrier jets.
All of that an effort to keep them from having to drive through Pakistan, of course, now very sensitive in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
So 2,000 Marines on their way to Afghanistan. That will be extra firepower, of course. There are about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan right now. They will be there for this upcoming spring offensive -- Bill. HEMMER: Barbara, if we could go back to a week ago, where it was believed and thought by many that there was a key al Qaeda leader trapped in Pakistan who may have gotten out. We don't know.
But there was concern about whether or not the Pakistani army had enough people to seal off tunnels and escape routes. Is that part of this reason now or can you tell at this point?
STARR: Well, it does all fit together, Bill, as part of a broader jigsaw puzzle, if you will.
The U.S. military had always planned this spring offensive, if you will. They wanted to put extra firepower up in those mountain passes of Afghanistan.
The thinking was, as the Pakistanis press their case on their side of the border, this would pressure whatever al Qaeda elements were in Pakistan, pressure them to move. And the only place they would likely be able to move would be across the border into Afghanistan.
So all of this, part of what the plan was, part of what the strategy was, getting ready in case those elements start to move.
Now, in terms of what was going on in Pakistan, still officials saying here they don't know who, if anybody, was actually in that compound.
HEMMER: Barbara, thanks. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Back here in D.C. again with politics on the mind.
John Kerry holds a rally this morning with Howard Dean. He will get the former governor's official endorsement today.
Kelly Wallace, live in D.C. now with a preview of that.
Good morning, Kelly. Nice to see you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great to see you.
HEMMER: How critical is this for Senator Kerry to get this endorsement?
WALLACE: Well, Senator Kerry's aides say this is incredibly important, that seeing the two men together later today will validate John Kerry in the eyes of Howard Dean's base.
But here's the interesting thing. In a recent interview, Howard Dean said, "Are you going to tell your 600,000 supporters to go out and support John Kerry?"
He said, "I'm not going to tell anybody anything. But I'll encourage them, saying he is the best chance to defeat George Bush in November."
He's sending letters to his supporters. And again, this is part of that campaign.
HEMMER: Is that a Howard Dean effort to hold on to some of his base and take it into the convention this summer?
WALLACE: It is. I mean, he's trying to do his own thing here. He's trying to have an impact on the Democratic Party, on the platform, exert his influence. But he says he is going to try and help, try and raise money.
But also, Bill, with this report comes some problems. Because last week Howard Dean -- or a week or so ago -- Howard Dean was making comments about the bombings in Madrid and sort of blaming the Bush administration's war in Iraq, the war on terror, for that. And he had John Kerry who had to sort of side step and say those comments don't reflect his position.
HEMMER: Fund-raiser tonight. A big one I'm told. What is it?
WALLACE: Huge. They hope to raise more than $10 million. The Democratic National Committee bringing together the party. Unity. Trying to say the party is united.
You'll have past presidents. Former President Bill Clinton. You'll have Al Gore. You'll have the other presidential candidates. But this is so important, Bill, because John Kerry is more than $100 million behind in fundraising behind George Bush. And he's hoping to make a lot of extra money over the next few months.
HEMMER: He is out of Idaho now, out of Sun Valley. Is there a talked about campaign strategy starting today and moving forward, let's say, for the next week, or even two weeks beyond that?
WALLACE: There is. I mean, he had some missteps, no question, before he went on that vacation. He made some comments that the Republicans are using to say he's a flip-flopper.
So he had some problems. He's got some rest. He says he's recharged. He said he'll talk in smaller paragraphs from here on out.
But they're trying to put the emphasis on the positive. They think that all this negative campaigning so far is hurting the president, driving his unfavorables up. They're going to try and hit the road in a positive way and hope that does well for them.
HEMMER: Good to see you, Kelly. Travel well, all right?
WALLACE: I will.
HEMMER: Kelly Wallace here in D.C. Now to Soledad again in New York.
O'BRIEN: Bill, thanks.
Off the coast of the Carolinas, rough seas are still preventing scientists from freeing a ten-ton whale. The endangered animal is tangled in a web of fishing gear. Eric Philips has the very latest on that rescue effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rescue team knew it would be a complicated and tedious process to untangle the North American right whale from fishing lines.
Choppy seas made attempts to free the whale, nicknamed Kingfisher, even more difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it?
PHILIPS: First crews had to sedate it. That process alone could have backfired, causing the 34-foot whale to become hyperactive. Scientists took blubber samples to assess Kingfisher's health.
They wanted to remove the fishing lines from the whale's body, but the water was too rough. Scientists say if that doesn't happen, the 1-year-old whale will die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't stress enough that this is a very serious entanglement for this whale. It's a very dangerous situation. And so the team's going to do what they can do one step at a time.
PHILIPS: Kingfisher first became entangled last week off the coast of Florida. The lines pinned its fins to its body. But the whale slowly made its way north to the North Carolina coast, where crews caught up with it Wednesday.
A satellite device attached to the whale during rescue efforts last week has helped scientists track the whale.
Although it's not uncommon for whales to become entangled this way, scientists are working hard to save Kingfisher because it's part of an endangered species. They estimate there are only around 300 North American right whales in existence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One whale is a very significant part of such a small population.
PHILIPS: A similar attempt to save another North American right whale in 2001 failed. Crewmembers say they'll do all they can to bring about success this time.
Eric Phillips, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Scientists are going to try again to free that whale in just a few days once those weather conditions improve -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, jurors in the trial of former Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski keep asking to review the pieces of evidence. What are they looking for? We'll get to that and hopefully get some answers, too, in a moment. O'BRIEN: Well, Bill, "American Idol's" Simon Cowell has insulted lots of people, but this time he may have gone a little too far. "Ninety Second Pop" has a look at what he did just ahead when we continue.
(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.
Circling the train. Andy Borowitz, the man who's responsible for the book called "Governor Arnold." Also Sarah Bernard, who's a "New York Magazine" contributing editor. And B.J. Sigesmund, 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, "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, Ben Affleck. Both charming men.
But Ben Affleck really needs a hit. You know, "Paycheck," "Gigli," of course, the critical flop that that was.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "GOVERNOR ARNOLD" AUTHOR: I didn't hear much about that. That wasn't a good movie?
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, not just a celebrity.
SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": I think the real drama with this movie, however, is that he is trying to make up to Harvey Weinstein for bad mouthing him in Peter Bisken's (ph) book.
O'BRIEN: Is that what's going on?
BERNARD: I think that's the real problem, because he has just been promoting this everywhere. He's done "Saturday Night Live." He's been on "LARRY KING." He's just been non-stop. And I think he's really trying to almost say he's sorry for his last crazy year, for what has happened with Kevin Smith's movie coming out at this bad time. And he's trying to make up to Harvey.
SIGESMUND: And 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.
BOROWITZ: I'm concerned. That's the one I'm concerned about. Because I think there should be an investigation of how "Scooby Doo 2" was allowed to happen. I really do.
SIGESMUND: It makes a ton of money. It's as easy as that. The first one was -- got terrible reviews and everyone still went to see it.
BOROWITZ: I think there are...
O'BRIEN: There are so many movies, aren't there? You say that's going to be terrible, and yet it makes goo-gobs of money.
BERNARD: For a 9-year-old. Interesting.
SIGESMUND: Nine-year-old.
O'BRIEN: There is a show now on MTV called charmingly enough, "Pimp my Ride."
SIGESMUND: "Pimp my Ride."
O'BRIEN: I'm going to encourage my young children to watch a show called "Pimp my Ride." Firstly, what the heck does that mean?
BOROWITZ: Well, pimp my ride, Soledad, is a phrase I use all the time. I'm actually trying to get a trademark.
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 try to turn it into a pimp mobile.
And Xzibit, the very talented Xzibit is the host of the show. It's a big show. Actually, I think it's kind of an important show. I think it's going to fill..
O'BRIEN: Is there someone named Xzibit?
BOROWITZ: There is.
You have so much to learn.
O'BRIEN: I'm so old.
BOROWITZ: When one pimps one's ride, you go to Xzibit. And 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. There was a lot -- a lot there that you need to fill.
BERNARD: 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 in...
(CROSSTALK) BERNARD: Exactly.
SIGESMUND: Funny enough, though, this show has not really caught on in New York because oddly enough, no one drives.
O'BRIEN: Pimp my taxicab.
SIGESMUND: It's better than newlyweds. It's 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.
HEMMER: I'm going talk to Brad and see if he wants to pimp our car.
BOROWITZ: Exactly. Your ride.
O'BRIEN: Our ride. Sorry, our ride.
BOROWITZ: We're getting there.
O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Simon Cowell?
BERNARD: All right.
O'BRIEN: First of all, here is a guy who is pretty mean -- I think that's fair to say -- to all 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 have 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 then he kind of realized, maybe, what he was doing and then switched to the other finger.
O'BRIEN: Conspiracy theory.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: That he knew what was going on.
SIGESMUND: Give me a break. No way that he was giving that kid the finger. 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 is doing a new show for MTV called "Flip my Bird." So I think there is a possibility it's sort of a promo for that.
O'BRIEN: All right. We're out of time. As always, you guys, thanks so much. Nice to see you -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Heidi Collins now to preview what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, "NEWSNIGHT": Thanks, Bill.
Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," a new lifestyle magazine with a difference. Not "Vogue" or "Cosmo," but it focuses, instead, on life in modern Muslim society.
Plus all the day's news on "NEWSNIGHT," 10 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi.
Still to come here, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, waiting on a jury to decide his fate. What have the jurors been talking about for the past five days? And what critical questions do they keep asking the judge?
Find out in a moment and Christine Romans, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, welcome back everybody. Just how are the markets responding to this morning's economic news? Plus, what might be going on in the jury room of the Tyco trial?
Christine Romans is in for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Hello. Let's start with the market.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The good news, right?
Market is up. Stocks are up. The Dow up 61 points. But don't hold your breath, because it's been more than one day over the past couple weeks that we've started strong and the market has petered out in the middle of the day. O'BRIEN: And only 21 minutes in.
ROMANS: Yes. So 63. Take that for what it's worth, I guess.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the Tyco trial. Boy, this thing's been going on for a long time.
ROMANS: Six months. This will be the sixth day of testimony.
And the jury yesterday asked to be read back some statistics, some jury information about the $84 million in bonuses that the former CEO and CFO had.
I mean, it could take some time to read back all of this testimony, frankly. I mean, you've got boxes and boxes of exhibits and testimony. It's just amazing.
So we'll see if this thing's going to wrap up in the next couple of days. This is a jury that's been asking a lot of questions and has been poring over a lot of these board minutes and testimony.
O'BRIEN: Six days of deliberations.
Let's talk a bit about the Adelphia trial. I mean, the Rigases completely out of control.
ROMANS: You know, this is -- Both of these cases are cases where the prosecution is trying to show people who were maybe overcome by hubris and who were using their companies as personal piggy banks.
In the case of the Rigas trial, a witness says the Rigas family had 22 company cars and tried to keep them, even after they weren't working for the company anymore. This witness said it was very difficult to try to get these cars back. everything from a Lexus to a Caddie to a Corvette.
Also, that the company paid for a wedding, paid for memberships, paid for a masseuse, paid for a personal trainer. This company even...
O'BRIEN: The shareholders paid for the masseuse, the cars.
ROMANS: Right. Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: And the wedding.
ROMANS: This jury -- this trial just began. But the Tyco one's been going on for six months. It will be very interesting to see how both work out, especially given the outcome of the Martha Stewart trial.
O'BRIEN: Right. No question about that. All right, Christine. Thanks a lot -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Question of the day. We're getting a lot of e-mail about President Bush. Last night at the correspondents' dinner down in Washington, D.C., he did some jokes, which is customary for the president to do jokes kind of about himself at the correspondents' dinner.
But last night he picked the subject of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Not going over so well with a lot of our viewers, actually.
Donald writes from Galesburg, Illinois, "Jack, our son is a Marine in Fallujah. Our nephew is an Army sergeant in Mosul. We will see no humor if anything happens to one of these boys. Bush has offended every American with a loved one in harm's way."
Jackie in Florida writes, "People are just overreacting. It seems lately he can't do anything right. Let's give him a little slack. He's trying to make a funny over there not being WMD found in Iraq. He is not making light of the fact that he was wrong about that. President Bush has taken so much heat for everything, that I think we all forget how he got us through September 11. This is all politics."
K.T. in Omaha writes, "How much more do we have to endure from this White House, to poke fun about weapons of mass destruction, one more of the many examples of the lack of taste and intelligence from this president."
Gail in Yorktown, Virginia, "So it's OK for others to make fun but he can't do the same? It's good to see that President Bush can keep a sense of humor to deal with the attacks on him."
And Mike writes from Los Angeles, "Bush sends us to war about weapons of mass destruction and then jokes about the fact that there aren't any? It's outrageous and it's not funny."
Thank you for your letters.
O'BRIEN: Overall negative, would you say the e-mail was?
CAFFERTY: Yes, overwhelmingly. People don't think that's maybe a subject that's -- that ought to be joked about.
O'BRIEN: Two good questions of the day, today.
CAFFERTY: Well, I'm taking off tomorrow. So I got it all done today.
O'BRIEN: Take the rest of the day off, Jack.
CAFFERY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning on CNN, what steroid scandal? Major league baseball teams say they're doing a brisk business this spring. A live report from the grapefruit league coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.
We're back on AMERICAN MORNING in just a few moments. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Just in time for us to say goodbye on this Thursday morning, the sun comes out here in the nation's capital. Not a bad picture.
I'm Bill Hemmer, live in D.C. Thanks for making us a part of your Thursday. Hope to see you back again tomorrow.
Soledad, Jack, you guys have a good day.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Likewise, Bill.
HEMMER: I miss you guys. See you soon, OK?
O'BRIEN: We will see you back here, right tomorrow? Hope so. Also big thank-you to Christine Romans.
And you're off tomorrow, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That's correct.
O'BRIEN: Have a good day off.
CAFFERTY: Well, I shall. Thank you.
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 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CO-HOST: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Right at 9:30 here in Washington, I'm Bill Hemmer.
Soledad, good morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning to you.
HEMMER: You look pretty in that red outfit back there.
O'BRIEN: Aren't you sweet? You still are a flatterer, even from far, far away. We miss you, Hemmer. We're looking forward to having you back tomorrow.
HEMMER: OK. You got it.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, we're going to get the opening bell coming up in a few moments.
Also, in a few minutes, a story out of California has lots of people outraged. A 51-year-old woman went to prison for stealing a toolbox. She was released after she got a new trial. But now she's going back because somebody couldn't add. We'll explain.
But first now the opening bell is ringing on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average -- there it is -- starts this morning at about 1048, down over 15 points. Over at the NASDAQ, the composite index opens at 1990. That's up more than seven points.
A look at some of our top stories this morning.
We start with the former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke. He says that the Bush administration did not treat al Qaeda as an urgent threat.
Clarke yesterday delivered testimony before the September 11 commission.
One of the panel members told Clarke he had, quote, "real credibility problems." Clarke's claims have been refuted by several White House members, including National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
The U.S. faces a major vote at the United Nations today. The U.N. Secretary -- Security Council is set to vote on a resolution condemning Israel for killing Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
The U.N. Human Rights Commission voted for the resolution yesterday.
The defense continues to present its case today in the Jayson Williams manslaughter trial.
But before the jury hears from a defense weapons expert, the judge wants to know more about his testing. That's because the expert didn't test the shotgun that actually killed a chauffeur at Williams' mansion back in February of 2002.
And a California woman ordered back to prison after being freed more than two years ago. Pamela Martinez went to jail in 1996 for theft, and then was released in 2001.
But the California high court says she was released too early. They're ordering her back to jail for two months.
Friends and supporters are asking California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for clemency for Martinez.
Six British explorers are still trapped in that cave in Mexico. But a team of British navy divers is preparing to rescue them today.
Meanwhile, Mexico's president wants to know what they were doing in his country in the first place. The team reportedly entered Mexico on a tourist visa, didn't notify the government that some of them were members of the British military.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: News from the Pentagon this morning about the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon across town here with more on this.
Barbara, what are you finding out? Good morning there.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, good morning to you.
CNN now learning from Pentagon sources that plans are in the works to send more troops to Afghanistan in the next few weeks.
Sources telling CNN about 2,000 Marines are expected in Afghanistan as part of this upcoming spring offensive. They will land on their ship, somewhere in the Persian Gulf, we are told, and then fly into Afghanistan with their equipment, possibly with their harrier jets.
All of that an effort to keep them from having to drive through Pakistan, of course, now very sensitive in the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
So 2,000 Marines on their way to Afghanistan. That will be extra firepower, of course. There are about 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan right now. They will be there for this upcoming spring offensive -- Bill. HEMMER: Barbara, if we could go back to a week ago, where it was believed and thought by many that there was a key al Qaeda leader trapped in Pakistan who may have gotten out. We don't know.
But there was concern about whether or not the Pakistani army had enough people to seal off tunnels and escape routes. Is that part of this reason now or can you tell at this point?
STARR: Well, it does all fit together, Bill, as part of a broader jigsaw puzzle, if you will.
The U.S. military had always planned this spring offensive, if you will. They wanted to put extra firepower up in those mountain passes of Afghanistan.
The thinking was, as the Pakistanis press their case on their side of the border, this would pressure whatever al Qaeda elements were in Pakistan, pressure them to move. And the only place they would likely be able to move would be across the border into Afghanistan.
So all of this, part of what the plan was, part of what the strategy was, getting ready in case those elements start to move.
Now, in terms of what was going on in Pakistan, still officials saying here they don't know who, if anybody, was actually in that compound.
HEMMER: Barbara, thanks. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Back here in D.C. again with politics on the mind.
John Kerry holds a rally this morning with Howard Dean. He will get the former governor's official endorsement today.
Kelly Wallace, live in D.C. now with a preview of that.
Good morning, Kelly. Nice to see you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great to see you.
HEMMER: How critical is this for Senator Kerry to get this endorsement?
WALLACE: Well, Senator Kerry's aides say this is incredibly important, that seeing the two men together later today will validate John Kerry in the eyes of Howard Dean's base.
But here's the interesting thing. In a recent interview, Howard Dean said, "Are you going to tell your 600,000 supporters to go out and support John Kerry?"
He said, "I'm not going to tell anybody anything. But I'll encourage them, saying he is the best chance to defeat George Bush in November."
He's sending letters to his supporters. And again, this is part of that campaign.
HEMMER: Is that a Howard Dean effort to hold on to some of his base and take it into the convention this summer?
WALLACE: It is. I mean, he's trying to do his own thing here. He's trying to have an impact on the Democratic Party, on the platform, exert his influence. But he says he is going to try and help, try and raise money.
But also, Bill, with this report comes some problems. Because last week Howard Dean -- or a week or so ago -- Howard Dean was making comments about the bombings in Madrid and sort of blaming the Bush administration's war in Iraq, the war on terror, for that. And he had John Kerry who had to sort of side step and say those comments don't reflect his position.
HEMMER: Fund-raiser tonight. A big one I'm told. What is it?
WALLACE: Huge. They hope to raise more than $10 million. The Democratic National Committee bringing together the party. Unity. Trying to say the party is united.
You'll have past presidents. Former President Bill Clinton. You'll have Al Gore. You'll have the other presidential candidates. But this is so important, Bill, because John Kerry is more than $100 million behind in fundraising behind George Bush. And he's hoping to make a lot of extra money over the next few months.
HEMMER: He is out of Idaho now, out of Sun Valley. Is there a talked about campaign strategy starting today and moving forward, let's say, for the next week, or even two weeks beyond that?
WALLACE: There is. I mean, he had some missteps, no question, before he went on that vacation. He made some comments that the Republicans are using to say he's a flip-flopper.
So he had some problems. He's got some rest. He says he's recharged. He said he'll talk in smaller paragraphs from here on out.
But they're trying to put the emphasis on the positive. They think that all this negative campaigning so far is hurting the president, driving his unfavorables up. They're going to try and hit the road in a positive way and hope that does well for them.
HEMMER: Good to see you, Kelly. Travel well, all right?
WALLACE: I will.
HEMMER: Kelly Wallace here in D.C. Now to Soledad again in New York.
O'BRIEN: Bill, thanks.
Off the coast of the Carolinas, rough seas are still preventing scientists from freeing a ten-ton whale. The endangered animal is tangled in a web of fishing gear. Eric Philips has the very latest on that rescue effort.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The rescue team knew it would be a complicated and tedious process to untangle the North American right whale from fishing lines.
Choppy seas made attempts to free the whale, nicknamed Kingfisher, even more difficult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it?
PHILIPS: First crews had to sedate it. That process alone could have backfired, causing the 34-foot whale to become hyperactive. Scientists took blubber samples to assess Kingfisher's health.
They wanted to remove the fishing lines from the whale's body, but the water was too rough. Scientists say if that doesn't happen, the 1-year-old whale will die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't stress enough that this is a very serious entanglement for this whale. It's a very dangerous situation. And so the team's going to do what they can do one step at a time.
PHILIPS: Kingfisher first became entangled last week off the coast of Florida. The lines pinned its fins to its body. But the whale slowly made its way north to the North Carolina coast, where crews caught up with it Wednesday.
A satellite device attached to the whale during rescue efforts last week has helped scientists track the whale.
Although it's not uncommon for whales to become entangled this way, scientists are working hard to save Kingfisher because it's part of an endangered species. They estimate there are only around 300 North American right whales in existence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One whale is a very significant part of such a small population.
PHILIPS: A similar attempt to save another North American right whale in 2001 failed. Crewmembers say they'll do all they can to bring about success this time.
Eric Phillips, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Scientists are going to try again to free that whale in just a few days once those weather conditions improve -- Bill.
HEMMER: In a moment here, jurors in the trial of former Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski keep asking to review the pieces of evidence. What are they looking for? We'll get to that and hopefully get some answers, too, in a moment. O'BRIEN: Well, Bill, "American Idol's" Simon Cowell has insulted lots of people, but this time he may have gone a little too far. "Ninety Second Pop" has a look at what he did just ahead when we continue.
(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.
Circling the train. Andy Borowitz, the man who's responsible for the book called "Governor Arnold." Also Sarah Bernard, who's a "New York Magazine" contributing editor. And B.J. Sigesmund, 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, "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, Ben Affleck. Both charming men.
But Ben Affleck really needs a hit. You know, "Paycheck," "Gigli," of course, the critical flop that that was.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "GOVERNOR ARNOLD" AUTHOR: I didn't hear much about that. That wasn't a good movie?
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, not just a celebrity.
SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": I think the real drama with this movie, however, is that he is trying to make up to Harvey Weinstein for bad mouthing him in Peter Bisken's (ph) book.
O'BRIEN: Is that what's going on?
BERNARD: I think that's the real problem, because he has just been promoting this everywhere. He's done "Saturday Night Live." He's been on "LARRY KING." He's just been non-stop. And I think he's really trying to almost say he's sorry for his last crazy year, for what has happened with Kevin Smith's movie coming out at this bad time. And he's trying to make up to Harvey.
SIGESMUND: And 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.
BOROWITZ: I'm concerned. That's the one I'm concerned about. Because I think there should be an investigation of how "Scooby Doo 2" was allowed to happen. I really do.
SIGESMUND: It makes a ton of money. It's as easy as that. The first one was -- got terrible reviews and everyone still went to see it.
BOROWITZ: I think there are...
O'BRIEN: There are so many movies, aren't there? You say that's going to be terrible, and yet it makes goo-gobs of money.
BERNARD: For a 9-year-old. Interesting.
SIGESMUND: Nine-year-old.
O'BRIEN: There is a show now on MTV called charmingly enough, "Pimp my Ride."
SIGESMUND: "Pimp my Ride."
O'BRIEN: I'm going to encourage my young children to watch a show called "Pimp my Ride." Firstly, what the heck does that mean?
BOROWITZ: Well, pimp my ride, Soledad, is a phrase I use all the time. I'm actually trying to get a trademark.
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 try to turn it into a pimp mobile.
And Xzibit, the very talented Xzibit is the host of the show. It's a big show. Actually, I think it's kind of an important show. I think it's going to fill..
O'BRIEN: Is there someone named Xzibit?
BOROWITZ: There is.
You have so much to learn.
O'BRIEN: I'm so old.
BOROWITZ: When one pimps one's ride, you go to Xzibit. And 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. There was a lot -- a lot there that you need to fill.
BERNARD: 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 in...
(CROSSTALK) BERNARD: Exactly.
SIGESMUND: Funny enough, though, this show has not really caught on in New York because oddly enough, no one drives.
O'BRIEN: Pimp my taxicab.
SIGESMUND: It's better than newlyweds. It's 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.
HEMMER: I'm going talk to Brad and see if he wants to pimp our car.
BOROWITZ: Exactly. Your ride.
O'BRIEN: Our ride. Sorry, our ride.
BOROWITZ: We're getting there.
O'BRIEN: Can we talk about Simon Cowell?
BERNARD: All right.
O'BRIEN: First of all, here is a guy who is pretty mean -- I think that's fair to say -- to all 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 have 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 then he kind of realized, maybe, what he was doing and then switched to the other finger.
O'BRIEN: Conspiracy theory.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: That he knew what was going on.
SIGESMUND: Give me a break. No way that he was giving that kid the finger. 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 is doing a new show for MTV called "Flip my Bird." So I think there is a possibility it's sort of a promo for that.
O'BRIEN: All right. We're out of time. As always, you guys, thanks so much. Nice to see you -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Heidi Collins now to preview what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, "NEWSNIGHT": Thanks, Bill.
Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," a new lifestyle magazine with a difference. Not "Vogue" or "Cosmo," but it focuses, instead, on life in modern Muslim society.
Plus all the day's news on "NEWSNIGHT," 10 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi.
Still to come here, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski, waiting on a jury to decide his fate. What have the jurors been talking about for the past five days? And what critical questions do they keep asking the judge?
Find out in a moment and Christine Romans, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, welcome back everybody. Just how are the markets responding to this morning's economic news? Plus, what might be going on in the jury room of the Tyco trial?
Christine Romans is in for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Hello. Let's start with the market.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The good news, right?
Market is up. Stocks are up. The Dow up 61 points. But don't hold your breath, because it's been more than one day over the past couple weeks that we've started strong and the market has petered out in the middle of the day. O'BRIEN: And only 21 minutes in.
ROMANS: Yes. So 63. Take that for what it's worth, I guess.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the Tyco trial. Boy, this thing's been going on for a long time.
ROMANS: Six months. This will be the sixth day of testimony.
And the jury yesterday asked to be read back some statistics, some jury information about the $84 million in bonuses that the former CEO and CFO had.
I mean, it could take some time to read back all of this testimony, frankly. I mean, you've got boxes and boxes of exhibits and testimony. It's just amazing.
So we'll see if this thing's going to wrap up in the next couple of days. This is a jury that's been asking a lot of questions and has been poring over a lot of these board minutes and testimony.
O'BRIEN: Six days of deliberations.
Let's talk a bit about the Adelphia trial. I mean, the Rigases completely out of control.
ROMANS: You know, this is -- Both of these cases are cases where the prosecution is trying to show people who were maybe overcome by hubris and who were using their companies as personal piggy banks.
In the case of the Rigas trial, a witness says the Rigas family had 22 company cars and tried to keep them, even after they weren't working for the company anymore. This witness said it was very difficult to try to get these cars back. everything from a Lexus to a Caddie to a Corvette.
Also, that the company paid for a wedding, paid for memberships, paid for a masseuse, paid for a personal trainer. This company even...
O'BRIEN: The shareholders paid for the masseuse, the cars.
ROMANS: Right. Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: And the wedding.
ROMANS: This jury -- this trial just began. But the Tyco one's been going on for six months. It will be very interesting to see how both work out, especially given the outcome of the Martha Stewart trial.
O'BRIEN: Right. No question about that. All right, Christine. Thanks a lot -- Jack.
CAFFERTY: Question of the day. We're getting a lot of e-mail about President Bush. Last night at the correspondents' dinner down in Washington, D.C., he did some jokes, which is customary for the president to do jokes kind of about himself at the correspondents' dinner.
But last night he picked the subject of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Not going over so well with a lot of our viewers, actually.
Donald writes from Galesburg, Illinois, "Jack, our son is a Marine in Fallujah. Our nephew is an Army sergeant in Mosul. We will see no humor if anything happens to one of these boys. Bush has offended every American with a loved one in harm's way."
Jackie in Florida writes, "People are just overreacting. It seems lately he can't do anything right. Let's give him a little slack. He's trying to make a funny over there not being WMD found in Iraq. He is not making light of the fact that he was wrong about that. President Bush has taken so much heat for everything, that I think we all forget how he got us through September 11. This is all politics."
K.T. in Omaha writes, "How much more do we have to endure from this White House, to poke fun about weapons of mass destruction, one more of the many examples of the lack of taste and intelligence from this president."
Gail in Yorktown, Virginia, "So it's OK for others to make fun but he can't do the same? It's good to see that President Bush can keep a sense of humor to deal with the attacks on him."
And Mike writes from Los Angeles, "Bush sends us to war about weapons of mass destruction and then jokes about the fact that there aren't any? It's outrageous and it's not funny."
Thank you for your letters.
O'BRIEN: Overall negative, would you say the e-mail was?
CAFFERTY: Yes, overwhelmingly. People don't think that's maybe a subject that's -- that ought to be joked about.
O'BRIEN: Two good questions of the day, today.
CAFFERTY: Well, I'm taking off tomorrow. So I got it all done today.
O'BRIEN: Take the rest of the day off, Jack.
CAFFERY: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning on CNN, what steroid scandal? Major league baseball teams say they're doing a brisk business this spring. A live report from the grapefruit league coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.
We're back on AMERICAN MORNING in just a few moments. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Just in time for us to say goodbye on this Thursday morning, the sun comes out here in the nation's capital. Not a bad picture.
I'm Bill Hemmer, live in D.C. Thanks for making us a part of your Thursday. Hope to see you back again tomorrow.
Soledad, Jack, you guys have a good day.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. Likewise, Bill.
HEMMER: I miss you guys. See you soon, OK?
O'BRIEN: We will see you back here, right tomorrow? Hope so. Also big thank-you to Christine Romans.
And you're off tomorrow, Jack.
CAFFERTY: That's correct.
O'BRIEN: Have a good day off.
CAFFERTY: Well, I shall. Thank you.
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