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American Morning
Political Fallout from 9/11 Investigation; 'Passion' Confession
Aired March 29, 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: We'll talk to a Texas sheriff about a man who supposedly confessed to murder after seeing the film. We'll get to that in a moment as well.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: But first, our top stories this morning.
Massachusetts is once again taking up the issue of same-sex marriage. The state legislature is expected to meet again today on whether to give final approval to an amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, but allow civil unions.
President Bush is welcoming seven former Soviet Bloc countries to NATO. The president will take part in a White House ceremony today honoring the organization's expansion. The incoming members won't formally take their seats, though, until next month.
In New Jersey, the Jayson Williams trial resumes today with more questions for an expert witness for the defense. Lawyers for the former NBA star are contending that the investigation was incompetently handled by law enforcement. Williams is accused of recklessly handling a shotgun, which fired and killed a limousine driver back in 2002.
Community leaders from National People's Action are showing their support for the Dream Act. Hundreds rally -- rallied, rather, outside the home of White House senior policy adviser Karl Rove over the weekend. The bill would allow high school graduates to legalize their immigrant status and qualify for in-state college tuition.
And part of the major highway that links Boston and New York now reopened. The northbound lanes of I-95 in Connecticut were reopened on Sunday, well ahead of schedule. The southbound lanes may be opened as early as Thursday. The highway, you will recall, was badly damaged by fire last week after a crash, which involved a tanker truck that was carrying thousands of gallons of home heating oil.
HEMMER: Wow!
O'BRIEN: What a mess there.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But good news on that front.
HEMMER: Indeed, you're right. O'BRIEN: At least a little faster than we thought.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: It was the hot topic on the talk shows yesterday, the explosive charges by former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke and the equally explosive response by the Bush White House.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, here with that and more.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Was there a theme yesterday you picked up on coming from the White House?
GREENFIELD: I think so, and I think what it was, was a clear effort to tone down the level of the attacks on Clarke and to make two points, that first no one could have anticipated September 11, and that the war on terror has been successfully prosecuted since. For example, listen to what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. We know that throughout history. What you keep -- innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it. What you must do then is to go after the terrorists where they are and get them before they have that opportunity to have the advantage of an attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Secretary Powell made very similar points in his appearances, as did Condi Rice.
HEMMER: And Condoleezza Rice last week was very strong in her comments; again last night on "60 Minutes." She called the attack by Richard Clarke scurrilous.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Is that tone still at that level, or has it come down a bit?
GREENFIELD: No, I think here, too, Condoleezza Rice on "60 Minutes" in her interview, she was at pains to focus attention on the potential future dangers of terrorism and also to promise ultimate victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: They believed that they were going to win. They saw us cut and run in Somalia. They go all the way back to the fact that the Marines left Beirut after the bombing of the barracks. They believed that if we took casualties, we would not respond. And what they've been surprised by is the fact that this has this time been a launching of an all-out war on them.
And, yes, they are going to continue to try to attack. They are going to succeed sometimes. But they are going to be defeated, and, as the president said, you cannot fight this war on the defensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, Condi Rice also said in response to growing pressure from not just Democrats, but Republicans, that she would love to testify under oath in public, but that the principle of separation of powers prevents this.
HEMMER: And meanwhile, Richard Clarke, a few appearances yesterday, including one here on CNN, he continues to, what some consider, raise the stakes a little bit...
GREENFIELD: Well...
HEMMER: ... just about every time he appears.
GREENFIELD: Yes, and I think we see why Richard Clarke survived bureaucratic wars for many years. He said that he'd be happy if his congressional testimony and his commission testimony were declassified. Senator Frist suggested that last week. But then, I think as we've already heard this morning, Clarke threw out a very tough challenge of his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CLARKE, FORMER TERRORISM ADVISOR: Let's declassify that memo I sent on January 25. And let's declassify the national security directive that Dr. Rice's committee approved nine months later on September 4. And let's see if there's any difference between those two, because there isn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was yesterday on "Meet the Press." Political stakes, what do you see?
GREENFIELD: Well, if you look at the poll numbers -- and you know how I feel about poll numbers, they're always dangerous -- but it seems that the president's approval ratings on national security did take a marginal hit, with a majority of Americans, though, still giving him positive marks on that. And Richard Clarke appears to be seen more as someone interested in personal or political gain than selfless service to the nation.
But I think one of the things that's widely misunderstood about this kind of issue is that you can't measure its impact in seven days. It's only been eight days since the first "60 Minutes" interview.
I think what matters is what people think and talk about over weeks and even months ahead. And remember, the commission's report will not be out for months. If the staff reports we've already heard and read become the conclusions of the commission, what we may hear is that both the Clinton and Bush administrations were at fault for inaction.
But in November, it's the Bush administration that's going to be before the voters, and in an evenly-divided country, which we still seem to be, even a marginal shift in public opinion toward a more negative view of what the Bush folks did on September 11, I think, could be politically damaging.
HEMMER: And in the dog days of the summer, July 26, we'll get that commission's report.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: The same day the Democrats start their convention up in Boston.
GREENFIELD: Exactly. And, you know, I see people all the time. They read polls, and 60 hours, two days later, they go, oh, this is what it means or doesn't mean. People talk. They go to the market. They talk among themselves. And that's where the fallout is going to be, I think.
HEMMER: Nice to see you, Jeff.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, now to the case of a Houston-area man who confessed to murder after he saw "The Passion of the Christ." Dan Leach confessed to the murder of his girlfriend after viewing the film and then discussing it with a religious adviser. Nineteen-year-old Ashley Nicole Wilson's death back in January was originally ruled a suicide.
Earlier, I spoke about the case with Milton Wright. He is the sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas. And I asked him if he could confirm reports that it was seeing "The Passion of the Christ" that actually led Leach to admit his guilt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERIFF MILTON WRIGHT, FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS: According to his statement, he, after watching the movie, it did play, I think, a strong role in making his decision.
O'BRIEN: There were also some reports that the TV crime show, "CSI," taught him how to disguise what was a murder of his girlfriend as a suicide. Is there any accuracy to that report?
WRIGHT: Well, again, that was part of his statement, but to what degree of accuracy it is what he applied to what he did at the crime scene I can't confirm that. I don't know if that had a bearing or not. But he did -- he had the idea that it helped him out. O'BRIEN: Did you -- do you believe his confession? Is there any reason to doubt that, in fact, Dan Leach murdered Ashley Nicole Wilson, who was 19 years old at the time?
WRIGHT: No, we don't have any reason to doubt it. In his confession, he made too many statements that no one else would have known about.
O'BRIEN: The young woman was just 19, as I mentioned, when she died. Can you tell us the circumstances of her death? What exactly happened?
WRIGHT: Well, she was strangled by Mr. Leach, and then she was positioned using the same litigant to indicate that she had hung herself.
O'BRIEN: And that's why law enforcement originally assumed that, in fact, she had committed suicide?
WRIGHT: Yes. That's one of the reasons. Another strong reason, the house being locked from the inside and a note that suggested she was at least contemplating suicide.
O'BRIEN: Did the family members agree with you at the time when you came down with the ruling that it was a suicide and not homicide that -- did they agree with you at that time?
WRIGHT: No, they did not.
O'BRIEN: If Dan Leach then hadn't come forward with his confession, would you have reopened the case because of the family members' concerns? Or did you consider it a completely closed case?
WRIGHT: The greater probability is that unless something else had turned up, we would not have reopened the case, because the evidence that we collected up to that point and turned over to the medical examiner's office, and with their ruling, we wouldn't have changed anything unless there had been something new to cause us to reopen the investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that's Sheriff Milton Wright of Texas this morning.
Dan Leach could face up to life in prison if he is convicted. There are unconfirmed reports that Ashley Nicole Wilson was pregnant at the time of her death, and if that is true, Leach could be charged with the murder of the unborn fetus as well under Texas law -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour.
A sports note for you. The madness was top notch over the weekend. The final four now is set for San Antonio. Duke makes its 14th trip to the final four, knocking off a hard-charging Xavier down to the end, 66-63. Duke wins it by three. A tough game there. Duke faces Connecticut. The Huskies knocked off Alabama on Saturday, 87- 71. Really impressive, too, for UConn.
Georgia Tech and Kansas, another great game on Sunday, they went into overtime. Here's the game-winner. Tech wins it 79-71, the final in O.T. Oklahoma State's three-pointer with six seconds on the clock ended St. Joe's Cinderella season on Saturday. St. Joe's a great run. It ends on Saturday. Even with the nearly perfect record, a number one seeding, St. Joe's certainly had a lot to prove, a great team and a great season -- in the end, too much.
The cowboys and Eddie Sutton continue to play. They will go to San Antonio next weekend as well. And then there were four in the NCAA tournament.
O'BRIEN: A bunch of fun games to watch this weekend.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
O'BRIEN: We had a really good time.
HEMMER: Really strong competition itself.
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come this morning, more deadly attacks in Iraq on coalition forces. We've got the very latest from Iraq coming up in just a moment.
HEMMER: Also, Condoleezza Rice is under fire for not testifying publicly about 9/11. Now she is fighting back yet again. What she had to say last night in that primetime interview.
O'BRIEN: And Janet Jackson's got a new album out starting tomorrow. It's called "Damita Jo." But will her Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, is that going to help her sales or hinder the sales? Plus, is the album any good anyway? We've got that and much more from our "90-Second Pop" panel as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Do we have to do this segment? Can't we just rock out?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Yes, this is my favorite part of the morning. In today's "90-Second Pop," we're talking about famous facials. Also, Janet faces the music, and "Jersey Girl" takes the fifth. And that is not a good thing.
Our pop star panel this morning is humorist Andy Borowitz.
Hello.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Hello.
O'BRIEN: And Toure. He's a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."
Good morning.
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": How are you?
O'BRIEN: I'm well, thank you.
And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning to you.
Where should we begin? This MTV, it's all kind of weird today. A reality show. What's it called? It's called, "I Want a Famous Face." And, granted, it's really a documentary. I mean, they're not encouraging young people to get plastic surgery to look like a star.
TOURE: No, no.
O'BRIEN: But these are really people who literally...
TOURE: There are twins who made themselves try to look like Brad Pitt. There's going to be a guy who wants to look like J.Lo. I've seen the show twice. It turns my stomach every time.
O'BRIEN: Really?
TOURE: I mean, they show all of the pain, all of the blood. If you are thinking about surgery, if you're 18, you will run from the doctor. So, I mean, MTV is being really responsible in it, but it's just really difficult and sick to watch the self-esteem. And these people are trying to, like, transplant the soul of the celebrity, like, get their good fortune for themselves.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Well, I was reading an interview with the guys -- the twins who wanted to look like Brad Pitt, and they didn't really think they were going to go to sleep in the doctor's office and wake up looking like this movie star, Brad Pitt. They wanted Brad Pitt's bone structure. They want to move into acting. And if you've seen the before pictures, their skin is so horrible. It couldn't help but improve them.
BOROWITZ: But what I don't understand is, like, why would you want to have plastic surgery to look like a celebrity when the celebrity is probably having plastic surgery to look like someone else? Well, let's say you want to look like Meg Ryan, but Meg Ryan is trying to look like Kate Hudson. I mean, I don't get that.
SIGESMUND: Also, a lot of them are impersonators. There's a Britney impersonator in there and an Elvis impersonator. They don't just want to look like celebrities.
O'BRIEN: That's creepy.
TOURE: I mean, it's one thing to, like, enhance your features, but to look like a specific individual, I mean (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: Did it work at all? But, yes.
TOURE: They don't look like Brad Pitt, and their friends are, like, oh, my god, I can't believe you did that to yourself, like...
SIGESMUND: Actually, in "US Weekly" we ran a poll of who they look like, and 61 percent of the people said that the Brad Pitt guys looked like Steven Cojocaru (ph) and only 8...
TOURE: Steven Cojo (ph).
O'BRIEN: And I love Cojo (ph). I love him.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: Not bad.
SIGESMUND: And only 8 percent thought they looked like Brad Pitt.
O'BRIEN: Oh!
TOURE: Really? But they did look like Cojo (ph). That's real.
SIGESMUND: They did. They looked like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Cojo (ph).
BOROWITZ: So, they got a famous face.
O'BRIEN: See? It all worked out in the end.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Let's move on, shall we? Janet Jackson's new album comes out.
TOURE: Yea!
O'BRIEN: "Demita Jo," which is her middle name, I guess...
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... which I never knew until I read the research on this.
BOROWITZ: Also, by the way, my middle name, yes, Demita Jo.
O'BRIEN: So, do you think...
TOURE: Now they're -- now she's coming to me, OK.
O'BRIEN: ... does the boob-bearing controversy, that can only help sales, right? I mean, I'm not an idiot, right? That (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: I think it will really only help sales. I mean, people have been hearing about this album since early February when the Super Bowl scandal happened. And so, there's a lot of pre- awareness about it. And if the reviews are good -- and most of the reviews say it's basically the same sort of shy, sexy persona that she has had for the last 10 years.
O'BRIEN: Or not so shy.
TOURE: But the under 35s don't care and actually feel like she's been victimized too much in this.
O'BRIEN: By Justin.
TOURE: The anger is more at Justin.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: His long-term career is more in trouble. He's lost his ghetto pass. He's in trouble.
BOROWITZ: You know, I'm looking...
O'BRIEN: Really?
BOROWITZ: I'm looking at the song titles here, and these song titles should be on a five-second delay. It's things like "Sex Exhibition," "Moist." Here's my favorite part. This is being released by Virgin.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: I so dig that.
TOURE: It's off the top of his head. Oh, my god!
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
SIGESMUND: You know, Janet actually talks about sex so much on this album that she had to create new words, like sexblane (ph). That's one of the words that she has on the album.
TOURE: In one interlude...
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: There is one interlude where she says, relax, it's just sex. And like that's ultimately what she's talking about is it's not a big deal.
SIGESMUND: But this is a big -- she's been doing this for 10 years, this sort of naive porn star kind of thing. That's what she does.
O'BRIEN: That's an interesting category I hadn't heard before.
And let's turn to talk before we go further than that. "Jersey Girl" -- excuse me -- opened on Friday. I saw it.
TOURE: You did?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I did. TOURE: Oh, my goodness.
O'BRIEN: It doesn't make me a bad person.
TOURE: Are you OK?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I thought the little girl was a wonderful little actor. She's sweet. So how badly? It comes in fifth.
BOROWITZ: It did -- you know, this is a Ben Affleck film. It did not do well. But I think there was a marketing error, because if they had said Jennifer Lopez disappears after the first 15 minutes, there would have been lines around the block. I would pay money to see that. But I don't know. I mean, it's...
O'BRIEN: B.J. thought the chemistry in the beginning between Ben and J.Lo was really...
BOROWITZ: I loved it.
SIGESMUND: Twelve minutes.
BOROWITZ: Oh really?
SIGESMUND: I thought the first 12 minutes were great. But, you know, it came in fifth, but that's basically what people thought it was going to do. Miramax didn't release it on that many screens. It was on half as many screens as "Scooby Doo." They were hoping...
O'BRIEN: So, it doesn't hurt his career? It's all fine?
TOURE: Now, look, look, look. Commitment is in. Being married is cool, right? Ben has lost cache because of this breakup. Ethan Hawke lost a lot of cache because of his breakup.
O'BRIEN: He's got to stop complaining about (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Tom Cruise lost cache. Like, stay in your relationship. That's the best thing.
O'BRIEN: Honey, are you listening?
SIGESMUND: Oh, commitment is in.
TOURE: It totally is.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's so nice. Are we surprised at "Scooby Doo 2?"
BOROWITZ: No, because "Scooby Doo," you know, got trashed by the critics, but on the positive side it did not have Ben Affleck in it. And I think that that was a draw. You know, it was a real draw.
O'BRIEN: And we say that, Ben, with lots of respect toward your acting ability.
BOROWITZ: Ben (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Ben can play Shaggy and Scooby 3. That's what I think.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Oh, lordy. All right, you guys, as always, thank you so much -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, in a moment here, a trip to the Irish pub will not be the same. There's a new law in Dublin. It went into effect last night. We'll get to that and Jack in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: You can't light up in public anywhere on the Emerald Island. At midnight on Sunday, Ireland became the first country in the world to outlaw in any restaurants, pubs or workplaces smoking. If you're caught, you're going to have to pay a hefty fine, about 3,000 euros. That works out to about 4,000 bucks U.S.
HEMMER: Yes, try that stuff here in New York. Folks didn't like it for a while, but now they do (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Hey, Jack, what's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Not nearly enough. Did you really go to see "Jersey Girl?"
O'BRIEN: I did.
CAFFERTY: I'm ashamed of you.
O'BRIEN: I went to a screening because I was interviewing George Carlin, who is fantastic in the movie.
CAFFERTY: Oh.
O'BRIEN: It was really interesting.
CAFFERTY: So, you didn't, like, opt to go stand in line and pay $8...
O'BRIEN: Well, I've got to tell you...
CAFFERTY: ... to go sit and watch this thing?.
O'BRIEN: Ten dollars a person.
O'BRIEN: Well, first of all, it's 10.50 now.
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK. It shows you how often I get to the movies.
O'BRIEN: But maybe I would have, you know. If I had 27 hours in a day, which I don't.
CAFFERTY: Serena Williams is saying that the threat of terrorism at the summer Olympic Games in Athens may keep her from going. She says if she doesn't feel comfortable, she's not going to go and compete.
Security is expected to come with an $80 million price tag, 50,000 cops, soldiers, other personnel are expected to be at the games. Still, U.S. officials are questioning whether or not that will be enough.
The question we're asking this morning: Is how will the threat of terrorism affect the summer Olympics?
John in Ontario writes: "I've read and heard that Athens is so far behind in their preparations for the Olympics, there is concern that they won't be ready on time. This makes one wonder how much is going to be done to ensure the security of the athletes and the spectators."
Bill in Brooklyn writes: "I believe an act of terrorism will overshadow the spirit of the Olympic Games in Athens this summer. I fear that U.S. athletes will undoubtedly be the prime target. We should think long and hard before sending our young people to compete."
Joy in Iowa writes: "The security will be incredible, I'm sure. But given how far behind they are with construction on some of the major venues, Greece should be more worried about being on deadline without rushing. I would be more afraid of shoddy construction than a bomb."
And Dave in Japan weighs in with: "Why not keep the terrorists -- why not keep the terrorists busy by sponsoring an all-terrorist Olympics? The events could include the javelin throw jihad, fencing for fundamentalists, high jumping for hijackers, and for aspiring suicide bombers the 100 meter blast. No qualifying rounds there for obvious reasons."
Very sick, Dave, but funny.
HEMMER: You know, the bombings in Madrid have really focused the issue of security and terrorism at the games, not that it was not on the forefront before, but now a lot of people are talking about it.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: This venue question always comes up at Olympic Games. It came up at Atlanta.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
HEMMER: It came up in Salt Lake. But Athens apparently has a very acute case of getting this construction done on time.
CAFFERTY: Yes. There is one other question that goes with all of this. Did you really go to see "Jersey Girl" over the weekend?
O'BRIEN: Yes I did, and I thought the young lady who is in it -- I forgot her name -- is wonderful, and George Carlin.
HEMMER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: We enjoyed interviewing him the other day.
CAFFERTY: Talking about a fear of bombs.
O'BRIEN: You know, I haven't gone to a -- I haven't gone to a movie in a long time. I, you know...
CAFFERTY: Well, and after that...
O'BRIEN: I got out of the house.
CAFFERTY: It may be a while before you go again.
O'BRIEN: It might be.
CAFFERTY: What do the guys say? If they just told people Jennifer Lopez disappears in 15 minutes, there would be lines around the block. A very funny line.
O'BRIEN: That was funny. All right, still to come this morning, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is coming under increased pressure for not testifying in public about the 9/11 attacks. We've got the latest from the White House when we're back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment here, a coalition attempt to cut down on violence in Iraq brings thousands of Iraqis into the streets. Details on why they're upset this time in a moment when AMERICAN MORNING continues top of the hour right after this.
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Aired March 29, 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: We'll talk to a Texas sheriff about a man who supposedly confessed to murder after seeing the film. We'll get to that in a moment as well.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: But first, our top stories this morning.
Massachusetts is once again taking up the issue of same-sex marriage. The state legislature is expected to meet again today on whether to give final approval to an amendment that would ban same-sex marriages, but allow civil unions.
President Bush is welcoming seven former Soviet Bloc countries to NATO. The president will take part in a White House ceremony today honoring the organization's expansion. The incoming members won't formally take their seats, though, until next month.
In New Jersey, the Jayson Williams trial resumes today with more questions for an expert witness for the defense. Lawyers for the former NBA star are contending that the investigation was incompetently handled by law enforcement. Williams is accused of recklessly handling a shotgun, which fired and killed a limousine driver back in 2002.
Community leaders from National People's Action are showing their support for the Dream Act. Hundreds rally -- rallied, rather, outside the home of White House senior policy adviser Karl Rove over the weekend. The bill would allow high school graduates to legalize their immigrant status and qualify for in-state college tuition.
And part of the major highway that links Boston and New York now reopened. The northbound lanes of I-95 in Connecticut were reopened on Sunday, well ahead of schedule. The southbound lanes may be opened as early as Thursday. The highway, you will recall, was badly damaged by fire last week after a crash, which involved a tanker truck that was carrying thousands of gallons of home heating oil.
HEMMER: Wow!
O'BRIEN: What a mess there.
HEMMER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: But good news on that front.
HEMMER: Indeed, you're right. O'BRIEN: At least a little faster than we thought.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: It was the hot topic on the talk shows yesterday, the explosive charges by former counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke and the equally explosive response by the Bush White House.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, here with that and more.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: Was there a theme yesterday you picked up on coming from the White House?
GREENFIELD: I think so, and I think what it was, was a clear effort to tone down the level of the attacks on Clarke and to make two points, that first no one could have anticipated September 11, and that the war on terror has been successfully prosecuted since. For example, listen to what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: It means that you can't stop every terrorist attack. We know that throughout history. What you keep -- innocent men, women and children are going to be killed if terrorists are determined to do it. What you must do then is to go after the terrorists where they are and get them before they have that opportunity to have the advantage of an attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Secretary Powell made very similar points in his appearances, as did Condi Rice.
HEMMER: And Condoleezza Rice last week was very strong in her comments; again last night on "60 Minutes." She called the attack by Richard Clarke scurrilous.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
HEMMER: Is that tone still at that level, or has it come down a bit?
GREENFIELD: No, I think here, too, Condoleezza Rice on "60 Minutes" in her interview, she was at pains to focus attention on the potential future dangers of terrorism and also to promise ultimate victory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: They believed that they were going to win. They saw us cut and run in Somalia. They go all the way back to the fact that the Marines left Beirut after the bombing of the barracks. They believed that if we took casualties, we would not respond. And what they've been surprised by is the fact that this has this time been a launching of an all-out war on them.
And, yes, they are going to continue to try to attack. They are going to succeed sometimes. But they are going to be defeated, and, as the president said, you cannot fight this war on the defensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GREENFIELD: Now, Condi Rice also said in response to growing pressure from not just Democrats, but Republicans, that she would love to testify under oath in public, but that the principle of separation of powers prevents this.
HEMMER: And meanwhile, Richard Clarke, a few appearances yesterday, including one here on CNN, he continues to, what some consider, raise the stakes a little bit...
GREENFIELD: Well...
HEMMER: ... just about every time he appears.
GREENFIELD: Yes, and I think we see why Richard Clarke survived bureaucratic wars for many years. He said that he'd be happy if his congressional testimony and his commission testimony were declassified. Senator Frist suggested that last week. But then, I think as we've already heard this morning, Clarke threw out a very tough challenge of his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CLARKE, FORMER TERRORISM ADVISOR: Let's declassify that memo I sent on January 25. And let's declassify the national security directive that Dr. Rice's committee approved nine months later on September 4. And let's see if there's any difference between those two, because there isn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was yesterday on "Meet the Press." Political stakes, what do you see?
GREENFIELD: Well, if you look at the poll numbers -- and you know how I feel about poll numbers, they're always dangerous -- but it seems that the president's approval ratings on national security did take a marginal hit, with a majority of Americans, though, still giving him positive marks on that. And Richard Clarke appears to be seen more as someone interested in personal or political gain than selfless service to the nation.
But I think one of the things that's widely misunderstood about this kind of issue is that you can't measure its impact in seven days. It's only been eight days since the first "60 Minutes" interview.
I think what matters is what people think and talk about over weeks and even months ahead. And remember, the commission's report will not be out for months. If the staff reports we've already heard and read become the conclusions of the commission, what we may hear is that both the Clinton and Bush administrations were at fault for inaction.
But in November, it's the Bush administration that's going to be before the voters, and in an evenly-divided country, which we still seem to be, even a marginal shift in public opinion toward a more negative view of what the Bush folks did on September 11, I think, could be politically damaging.
HEMMER: And in the dog days of the summer, July 26, we'll get that commission's report.
GREENFIELD: Right.
HEMMER: The same day the Democrats start their convention up in Boston.
GREENFIELD: Exactly. And, you know, I see people all the time. They read polls, and 60 hours, two days later, they go, oh, this is what it means or doesn't mean. People talk. They go to the market. They talk among themselves. And that's where the fallout is going to be, I think.
HEMMER: Nice to see you, Jeff.
GREENFIELD: OK.
HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, now to the case of a Houston-area man who confessed to murder after he saw "The Passion of the Christ." Dan Leach confessed to the murder of his girlfriend after viewing the film and then discussing it with a religious adviser. Nineteen-year-old Ashley Nicole Wilson's death back in January was originally ruled a suicide.
Earlier, I spoke about the case with Milton Wright. He is the sheriff of Fort Bend County, Texas. And I asked him if he could confirm reports that it was seeing "The Passion of the Christ" that actually led Leach to admit his guilt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERIFF MILTON WRIGHT, FORT BEND COUNTY, TEXAS: According to his statement, he, after watching the movie, it did play, I think, a strong role in making his decision.
O'BRIEN: There were also some reports that the TV crime show, "CSI," taught him how to disguise what was a murder of his girlfriend as a suicide. Is there any accuracy to that report?
WRIGHT: Well, again, that was part of his statement, but to what degree of accuracy it is what he applied to what he did at the crime scene I can't confirm that. I don't know if that had a bearing or not. But he did -- he had the idea that it helped him out. O'BRIEN: Did you -- do you believe his confession? Is there any reason to doubt that, in fact, Dan Leach murdered Ashley Nicole Wilson, who was 19 years old at the time?
WRIGHT: No, we don't have any reason to doubt it. In his confession, he made too many statements that no one else would have known about.
O'BRIEN: The young woman was just 19, as I mentioned, when she died. Can you tell us the circumstances of her death? What exactly happened?
WRIGHT: Well, she was strangled by Mr. Leach, and then she was positioned using the same litigant to indicate that she had hung herself.
O'BRIEN: And that's why law enforcement originally assumed that, in fact, she had committed suicide?
WRIGHT: Yes. That's one of the reasons. Another strong reason, the house being locked from the inside and a note that suggested she was at least contemplating suicide.
O'BRIEN: Did the family members agree with you at the time when you came down with the ruling that it was a suicide and not homicide that -- did they agree with you at that time?
WRIGHT: No, they did not.
O'BRIEN: If Dan Leach then hadn't come forward with his confession, would you have reopened the case because of the family members' concerns? Or did you consider it a completely closed case?
WRIGHT: The greater probability is that unless something else had turned up, we would not have reopened the case, because the evidence that we collected up to that point and turned over to the medical examiner's office, and with their ruling, we wouldn't have changed anything unless there had been something new to cause us to reopen the investigation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And that's Sheriff Milton Wright of Texas this morning.
Dan Leach could face up to life in prison if he is convicted. There are unconfirmed reports that Ashley Nicole Wilson was pregnant at the time of her death, and if that is true, Leach could be charged with the murder of the unborn fetus as well under Texas law -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes before the hour.
A sports note for you. The madness was top notch over the weekend. The final four now is set for San Antonio. Duke makes its 14th trip to the final four, knocking off a hard-charging Xavier down to the end, 66-63. Duke wins it by three. A tough game there. Duke faces Connecticut. The Huskies knocked off Alabama on Saturday, 87- 71. Really impressive, too, for UConn.
Georgia Tech and Kansas, another great game on Sunday, they went into overtime. Here's the game-winner. Tech wins it 79-71, the final in O.T. Oklahoma State's three-pointer with six seconds on the clock ended St. Joe's Cinderella season on Saturday. St. Joe's a great run. It ends on Saturday. Even with the nearly perfect record, a number one seeding, St. Joe's certainly had a lot to prove, a great team and a great season -- in the end, too much.
The cowboys and Eddie Sutton continue to play. They will go to San Antonio next weekend as well. And then there were four in the NCAA tournament.
O'BRIEN: A bunch of fun games to watch this weekend.
HEMMER: I'm telling you.
O'BRIEN: We had a really good time.
HEMMER: Really strong competition itself.
O'BRIEN: Well, still to come this morning, more deadly attacks in Iraq on coalition forces. We've got the very latest from Iraq coming up in just a moment.
HEMMER: Also, Condoleezza Rice is under fire for not testifying publicly about 9/11. Now she is fighting back yet again. What she had to say last night in that primetime interview.
O'BRIEN: And Janet Jackson's got a new album out starting tomorrow. It's called "Damita Jo." But will her Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, is that going to help her sales or hinder the sales? Plus, is the album any good anyway? We've got that and much more from our "90-Second Pop" panel as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Do we have to do this segment? Can't we just rock out?
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Yes, this is my favorite part of the morning. In today's "90-Second Pop," we're talking about famous facials. Also, Janet faces the music, and "Jersey Girl" takes the fifth. And that is not a good thing.
Our pop star panel this morning is humorist Andy Borowitz.
Hello.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Hello.
O'BRIEN: And Toure. He's a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."
Good morning.
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE": How are you?
O'BRIEN: I'm well, thank you.
And B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning to you.
Where should we begin? This MTV, it's all kind of weird today. A reality show. What's it called? It's called, "I Want a Famous Face." And, granted, it's really a documentary. I mean, they're not encouraging young people to get plastic surgery to look like a star.
TOURE: No, no.
O'BRIEN: But these are really people who literally...
TOURE: There are twins who made themselves try to look like Brad Pitt. There's going to be a guy who wants to look like J.Lo. I've seen the show twice. It turns my stomach every time.
O'BRIEN: Really?
TOURE: I mean, they show all of the pain, all of the blood. If you are thinking about surgery, if you're 18, you will run from the doctor. So, I mean, MTV is being really responsible in it, but it's just really difficult and sick to watch the self-esteem. And these people are trying to, like, transplant the soul of the celebrity, like, get their good fortune for themselves.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Well, I was reading an interview with the guys -- the twins who wanted to look like Brad Pitt, and they didn't really think they were going to go to sleep in the doctor's office and wake up looking like this movie star, Brad Pitt. They wanted Brad Pitt's bone structure. They want to move into acting. And if you've seen the before pictures, their skin is so horrible. It couldn't help but improve them.
BOROWITZ: But what I don't understand is, like, why would you want to have plastic surgery to look like a celebrity when the celebrity is probably having plastic surgery to look like someone else? Well, let's say you want to look like Meg Ryan, but Meg Ryan is trying to look like Kate Hudson. I mean, I don't get that.
SIGESMUND: Also, a lot of them are impersonators. There's a Britney impersonator in there and an Elvis impersonator. They don't just want to look like celebrities.
O'BRIEN: That's creepy.
TOURE: I mean, it's one thing to, like, enhance your features, but to look like a specific individual, I mean (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...
O'BRIEN: Did it work at all? But, yes.
TOURE: They don't look like Brad Pitt, and their friends are, like, oh, my god, I can't believe you did that to yourself, like...
SIGESMUND: Actually, in "US Weekly" we ran a poll of who they look like, and 61 percent of the people said that the Brad Pitt guys looked like Steven Cojocaru (ph) and only 8...
TOURE: Steven Cojo (ph).
O'BRIEN: And I love Cojo (ph). I love him.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: Not bad.
SIGESMUND: And only 8 percent thought they looked like Brad Pitt.
O'BRIEN: Oh!
TOURE: Really? But they did look like Cojo (ph). That's real.
SIGESMUND: They did. They looked like (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Cojo (ph).
BOROWITZ: So, they got a famous face.
O'BRIEN: See? It all worked out in the end.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Let's move on, shall we? Janet Jackson's new album comes out.
TOURE: Yea!
O'BRIEN: "Demita Jo," which is her middle name, I guess...
TOURE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... which I never knew until I read the research on this.
BOROWITZ: Also, by the way, my middle name, yes, Demita Jo.
O'BRIEN: So, do you think...
TOURE: Now they're -- now she's coming to me, OK.
O'BRIEN: ... does the boob-bearing controversy, that can only help sales, right? I mean, I'm not an idiot, right? That (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: I think it will really only help sales. I mean, people have been hearing about this album since early February when the Super Bowl scandal happened. And so, there's a lot of pre- awareness about it. And if the reviews are good -- and most of the reviews say it's basically the same sort of shy, sexy persona that she has had for the last 10 years.
O'BRIEN: Or not so shy.
TOURE: But the under 35s don't care and actually feel like she's been victimized too much in this.
O'BRIEN: By Justin.
TOURE: The anger is more at Justin.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
TOURE: His long-term career is more in trouble. He's lost his ghetto pass. He's in trouble.
BOROWITZ: You know, I'm looking...
O'BRIEN: Really?
BOROWITZ: I'm looking at the song titles here, and these song titles should be on a five-second delay. It's things like "Sex Exhibition," "Moist." Here's my favorite part. This is being released by Virgin.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
BOROWITZ: I so dig that.
TOURE: It's off the top of his head. Oh, my god!
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes.
SIGESMUND: You know, Janet actually talks about sex so much on this album that she had to create new words, like sexblane (ph). That's one of the words that she has on the album.
TOURE: In one interlude...
(CROSSTALK)
TOURE: There is one interlude where she says, relax, it's just sex. And like that's ultimately what she's talking about is it's not a big deal.
SIGESMUND: But this is a big -- she's been doing this for 10 years, this sort of naive porn star kind of thing. That's what she does.
O'BRIEN: That's an interesting category I hadn't heard before.
And let's turn to talk before we go further than that. "Jersey Girl" -- excuse me -- opened on Friday. I saw it.
TOURE: You did?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I did. TOURE: Oh, my goodness.
O'BRIEN: It doesn't make me a bad person.
TOURE: Are you OK?
O'BRIEN: Yes, I thought the little girl was a wonderful little actor. She's sweet. So how badly? It comes in fifth.
BOROWITZ: It did -- you know, this is a Ben Affleck film. It did not do well. But I think there was a marketing error, because if they had said Jennifer Lopez disappears after the first 15 minutes, there would have been lines around the block. I would pay money to see that. But I don't know. I mean, it's...
O'BRIEN: B.J. thought the chemistry in the beginning between Ben and J.Lo was really...
BOROWITZ: I loved it.
SIGESMUND: Twelve minutes.
BOROWITZ: Oh really?
SIGESMUND: I thought the first 12 minutes were great. But, you know, it came in fifth, but that's basically what people thought it was going to do. Miramax didn't release it on that many screens. It was on half as many screens as "Scooby Doo." They were hoping...
O'BRIEN: So, it doesn't hurt his career? It's all fine?
TOURE: Now, look, look, look. Commitment is in. Being married is cool, right? Ben has lost cache because of this breakup. Ethan Hawke lost a lot of cache because of his breakup.
O'BRIEN: He's got to stop complaining about (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
TOURE: Tom Cruise lost cache. Like, stay in your relationship. That's the best thing.
O'BRIEN: Honey, are you listening?
SIGESMUND: Oh, commitment is in.
TOURE: It totally is.
O'BRIEN: Oh, that's so nice. Are we surprised at "Scooby Doo 2?"
BOROWITZ: No, because "Scooby Doo," you know, got trashed by the critics, but on the positive side it did not have Ben Affleck in it. And I think that that was a draw. You know, it was a real draw.
O'BRIEN: And we say that, Ben, with lots of respect toward your acting ability.
BOROWITZ: Ben (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Ben can play Shaggy and Scooby 3. That's what I think.
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: Oh, lordy. All right, you guys, as always, thank you so much -- Bill.
HEMMER: All right, in a moment here, a trip to the Irish pub will not be the same. There's a new law in Dublin. It went into effect last night. We'll get to that and Jack in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: You can't light up in public anywhere on the Emerald Island. At midnight on Sunday, Ireland became the first country in the world to outlaw in any restaurants, pubs or workplaces smoking. If you're caught, you're going to have to pay a hefty fine, about 3,000 euros. That works out to about 4,000 bucks U.S.
HEMMER: Yes, try that stuff here in New York. Folks didn't like it for a while, but now they do (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
Hey, Jack, what's happening?
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Not nearly enough. Did you really go to see "Jersey Girl?"
O'BRIEN: I did.
CAFFERTY: I'm ashamed of you.
O'BRIEN: I went to a screening because I was interviewing George Carlin, who is fantastic in the movie.
CAFFERTY: Oh.
O'BRIEN: It was really interesting.
CAFFERTY: So, you didn't, like, opt to go stand in line and pay $8...
O'BRIEN: Well, I've got to tell you...
CAFFERTY: ... to go sit and watch this thing?.
O'BRIEN: Ten dollars a person.
O'BRIEN: Well, first of all, it's 10.50 now.
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK. It shows you how often I get to the movies.
O'BRIEN: But maybe I would have, you know. If I had 27 hours in a day, which I don't.
CAFFERTY: Serena Williams is saying that the threat of terrorism at the summer Olympic Games in Athens may keep her from going. She says if she doesn't feel comfortable, she's not going to go and compete.
Security is expected to come with an $80 million price tag, 50,000 cops, soldiers, other personnel are expected to be at the games. Still, U.S. officials are questioning whether or not that will be enough.
The question we're asking this morning: Is how will the threat of terrorism affect the summer Olympics?
John in Ontario writes: "I've read and heard that Athens is so far behind in their preparations for the Olympics, there is concern that they won't be ready on time. This makes one wonder how much is going to be done to ensure the security of the athletes and the spectators."
Bill in Brooklyn writes: "I believe an act of terrorism will overshadow the spirit of the Olympic Games in Athens this summer. I fear that U.S. athletes will undoubtedly be the prime target. We should think long and hard before sending our young people to compete."
Joy in Iowa writes: "The security will be incredible, I'm sure. But given how far behind they are with construction on some of the major venues, Greece should be more worried about being on deadline without rushing. I would be more afraid of shoddy construction than a bomb."
And Dave in Japan weighs in with: "Why not keep the terrorists -- why not keep the terrorists busy by sponsoring an all-terrorist Olympics? The events could include the javelin throw jihad, fencing for fundamentalists, high jumping for hijackers, and for aspiring suicide bombers the 100 meter blast. No qualifying rounds there for obvious reasons."
Very sick, Dave, but funny.
HEMMER: You know, the bombings in Madrid have really focused the issue of security and terrorism at the games, not that it was not on the forefront before, but now a lot of people are talking about it.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: This venue question always comes up at Olympic Games. It came up at Atlanta.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
HEMMER: It came up in Salt Lake. But Athens apparently has a very acute case of getting this construction done on time.
CAFFERTY: Yes. There is one other question that goes with all of this. Did you really go to see "Jersey Girl" over the weekend?
O'BRIEN: Yes I did, and I thought the young lady who is in it -- I forgot her name -- is wonderful, and George Carlin.
HEMMER: Yes?
O'BRIEN: We enjoyed interviewing him the other day.
CAFFERTY: Talking about a fear of bombs.
O'BRIEN: You know, I haven't gone to a -- I haven't gone to a movie in a long time. I, you know...
CAFFERTY: Well, and after that...
O'BRIEN: I got out of the house.
CAFFERTY: It may be a while before you go again.
O'BRIEN: It might be.
CAFFERTY: What do the guys say? If they just told people Jennifer Lopez disappears in 15 minutes, there would be lines around the block. A very funny line.
O'BRIEN: That was funny. All right, still to come this morning, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice is coming under increased pressure for not testifying in public about the 9/11 attacks. We've got the latest from the White House when we're back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment here, a coalition attempt to cut down on violence in Iraq brings thousands of Iraqis into the streets. Details on why they're upset this time in a moment when AMERICAN MORNING continues top of the hour right after this.
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