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CNN Live At Daybreak

Bush-Blair Summit; Interview With Cokie Roberts; Bill Rancic is "The Apprentice"

Aired April 16, 2004 - 9:00   ET

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

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


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The president huddling today with one of his closest allies on Iraq. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, on his way to the White House. Critical meetings today about the war.
At the last minute, thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq have their plans to leave cancelled. Celebrations at home now on hold, and it is hard getting ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RANCIC, "THE APPRENTICE": I was on the edge of my seat every minute in that boardroom. I mean, that was real sweat coming off my palms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The Donald makes his choice. Meet the New apprentice on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He is so dramatic. That was real sweat, Bill.

HEMMER: I think the reason why...

O'BRIEN: As opposed to fake sweat?

HEMMER: It was smart reality TV, as opposed to a lot of the inane stuff we've seen so far. I think that is what drew so many millions to that program.

O'BRIEN: Something like 22 million people watching it.

HEMMER: Is that right?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: Early returns say? That's big-time stuff.

Welcome back, everybody. Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Coming up this morning, someone who has seen lots of presidential elections. Coke Roberts, we're going to talk with her and ask her, one, has she ever seen an election like this. Also talk about her New book, which sounds fascinating.

HEMMER: All right. Also this hour, hundreds of American counties on smog alert. Counties that were not so polluted, they say, in years past, now failing the government standards for air quality. What is the impact on you? Sanjay talks about that this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Hi, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the dirtiest air in America right here in New York City.

O'BRIEN: Oh, that's not a surprise.

CAFFERTY: Oh, man. You leave your window open and you get this little air of black stuff that accumulates. It's a wonderful thing.

Anyway, laws of physics? Here's one of political science. Government under attack tends to respond by creating more government. We have 15 intelligence agencies in this country, but maybe it's not enough. Those are the things we're talking about with the e-mails, AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: All right. Jack, good deal.

Top stories now as we start another hour here.

U.S. military and civilian officials meeting today with leaders from Fallujah trying to find a way to end the violence there. Overnight explosions rumbling through the Iraqi city west of Baghdad. A spokesperson confirming there is fighting ongoing but is not clear who is involved there.

From Spain, the parliament voting to approve Jose Zapatero as the New prime minister. Lawmakers voted 1830148; 19 abstentions to endorse him. He's pledged to take out Spanish troops from the Iraq if the U.N. does not take charge there by the end of June. Zapatero due to officially be sworn in tomorrow as the New prime minister in Spain.

The State Department strongly urging U.S. citizens to get out of Saudi Arabia. The department has ordered all non-essential personnel serving the U.S. embassy to get out of the country now. U.S. officials say they are concerned about the terror threat level in Saudi Arabia and feel the U.S. needs to keep a lower profile in that country.

Health news this morning for you. There may be such a thing as too much sleep. We would not know, Soledad.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego finding that people who sleep nine to 10 hours a night seem to have more trouble falling and staying asleep than those who sons for about eight hours. Also, that study says people who sleep only seven hours a night experience similar problems.

So whatever the case for you, get some sleep this weekend.

You're up to date at 9:03 in New York now.

O'BRIEN: Good advice, Dr. Hemmer.

HEMMER: Thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: In under an hour, the president's closest ally in Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, arrives for a meeting at the White House. Last night in New York, after meeting with U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, Mr. Blair said he welcomed recent proposals about the peace of Iraq from one of Annan's special advisers. Those ideas include an Iraqi government headed by a prime minister, a president, and two vice presidents who would all take over on June 30. Mr. Blair also indicated that it might take formal U.N. action to make that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Circumstances will require us at some point in the near future to have a New United Nations Security Council resolution that will allow us to plan this way forward, political transition in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Senior White House correspondent John King is covering today's meeting for us.

John, good morning to you. Let's talk a little bit about the situation in Iraq, forcing, really, I think it's fair to say, the White House to go back to the U.N. Do you think that's fair to say?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely fair to say, Soledad. And good morning.

Both the political situation and the security situation on the ground in Iraq forcing this White House to get the United Nations much more involved and much more actively involved; much more in charge than the Bush White House has previously envisioned as a role for the United Nations. Now, Prime Minister Blair will be here to endorse with President Bush the sketch of a plan. It's not quite a plan yet outlined by the U.N. special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.

That plan is very different from the initial plan pushed by the Bush administration. Remember a few months ago, the administration wanted regional caucuses in Iraq to choose a New government. That plan was scrapped because of objections mostly from Shia clerics.

Then the administration went to a plan to expand the current 25- member Governing Council. Mr. Brahimi scrapped that plan himself after running into opposition during his recent visit to Iraq. What he says now is that the United Nations will pick a New Iraqi government, mostly technocrats. There will be a president, two vice presidents, mostly technocrats to run the government. It is very different than President Bush envisioned, but the point for the president is to keep that June 30 deadline.

He is essentially willing to step back. The United States step back from taking the lead in the political transition and give the United Nations the lead. And, Soledad, the president wants to do that because this White House believes the only way to improve the security situation on the ground is to get a new government in place so that those -- the insurgents in Iraq cannot say that the United States is running that country.

O'BRIEN: Politically, it has been very tough for Tony Blair. Have you seen any cracks in the relationship between the prime minister and the president, or do things seem hunky-dory essentially?

KING: Well, they are two men who, when they appear in public, are a United voice of solidarity. And that is critical, of course, because they both have troops on the ground getting shot at every day in Iraq, critical because they are the two leaders who have stood up against world opinion on many occasions to bring this coalition, to bring this war about, and to keep the coalition in place.

Behind the scenes, the British have argued for months that there should be a more active United Nations role. They are now seeing that. The Bush administration has conceded that point.

Some tension over the broader Middle East issues, especially the U.S.' firm embrace of the Sharon plan in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In public, though, Prime Minister Blair has been a staunch ally of this president. When he has differences, he tends to air them in the private meetings, about an hour now here at the White House.

O'BRIEN: We'll see if that happens. Senior White House correspondent John King for us this morning. John, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

Our next guest is very familiar with that Bush-Blair relationship. Peter Stothard is the author of "Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair's War," which chronicles the months that Stothard spent with Blair, beginning March 10, 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq. Peter Stothard joins us from London this morning.

Nice to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

PETER STOTHARD, AUTHOR, "THIRTY DAYS": Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

You know, we were just talking with John King about this sort of public face, is that the two are the closest of allies. But I'm curious to know, privately, are they personal friends? You've observed them. How do they actually get along? STOTHARD: I think it would be fair to say that they are like familiar business associates. They -- Blair and Clinton were personal friends, you know, let's talk about the future of this, the future of that.

I watched Bush and Blair closely on a number of occasions. They seem much, much more business-like, sort of respectful, slightly weary. I think very realistic of what each other can do, which has not always been the case with British prime ministers and American presidents.

And I think they will be shoulder to shoulder on this. And I think they're really able to kind of weather this kind of strain. I mean, a lot of British people who don't like Bush very much, particularly people around Blair, were very impressed at the kind of way that Bush and Blair work together.

O'BRIEN: So then is this meeting more sending a public message of solidarity? Is that fair to say?

STOTHARD: I think they will both be putting quite a lot of effort into doing that. They are better together than they are separately. We saw that often.

When I was with them in Camp David, it's very noticeable the effort that they put in to their sort of joint performances. As I say, its almost as though Bush is like a sort of cabaret singer, sort of hammering on the sort of high notes, and Blair is doing the accompaniment and keeping the whole sort of song together.

Sometimes when Bush is on his own, he doesn't look very good, to British audiences, at least. And Blair can sometimes seem as though he's talking without any real power to back it up. They are better together than they are separately, and I think they will put quite a lot of effort into making sure that people see that in the press conference later today.

O'BRIEN: The prime minister is expected to lean pretty heavily on the president to include more U.N. involvement. Do you expect that that's very likely to happen?

STOTHARD: I'm sure it will if they can get it. I mean, I was there at Hillsboro when the huge excitement on the British side, where we persuaded -- or the British side persuaded George Bush to talk about a vital role for the U.N. in postwar Iraq. And the British were really up on that because, up to that point, Bush hadn't been saying anything like that.

I remember watching Bush and Condoleezza Rice together, and she was very wise about what the Defense Department would say and, you know, perhaps Bush had gone too far in talking about this vital role. Clearly, the Americans are very divided as to how this role would be.

I'm very interested to see them talking about it amongst themselves. I suspect certain British who were that meeting or this meeting today will be saying, you know, it's taken us a long time to get around to this point where we should have been before.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of how the prime minister is doing politically. How is his approval numbers, especially in the wake of all the violence that we have seen out of Iraq?

STOTHARD: The prime minister ratings are holding up pretty well. I mean, the important thing, of course, he doesn't have an election to fight this year. He has an opposition that is still very weak and is strengthening, but is not strong yet.

His main problems are still with his own party and with his own supporters who never wanted this war, who don't like George Bush, who -- all of the pictures will come out later of Bush and Blair together, you know, will be poison to large numbers of people very close to Blair and his own party. But we've gone past the phase where Blair can disguise that.

And before the war, they tried to keep Blair and Bush apart in order not to fight in too much labor party opinion. They've gone past that stage now. They're shoulder to shoulder. It's a cliche, but that's what they will be, that's what they'll say they are. And I think are. That's exactly what they are.

O'BRIEN: And they will literally be at the White House today. Peter Stothard, joining us this morning from London. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Bill?

HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday delivering the news to the family and the soldiers -- tough news, too -- the duty in the desert now extended after the intense violence of recent weeks. Twenty thousand will stay in Iraq longer than planned.

Secretary Rumsfeld saying the delayed rotations, along with newly arriving units, will put U.S. troop strength in Iraq at 137,000. The Pentagon extending some tours of duty by up to three months again. This breaks a promise back in November to soldiers who had been told they would only be in Iraq for one year of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Needless to say, we regret having to extend those individuals. They had anticipated being in country or in the OAR something like up to 365 days. This will extend their time in Iraq somewhat. But the country is at war and we need to do what is necessary to succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Secretary Rumsfeld from yesterday. April, so far, has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq. Ongoing battles with insurgents have killed close to 90 Americans already in the month of April. Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, one community prepares to welcome back some of its soldiers. But it will be a bittersweet homecoming. We'll explain just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, how much has the 9/11 Commission hearings been affected by the presidential campaign? Or is it possibly the other way around? Political analyst and author Cokie Roberts our guest live in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: And, "You're hired." It came down to the final two, and the Donald picked his apprentice. We're going to recap it all just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Cokie Roberts, political analyst and best-selling author, has written a new book about the founding of America. It's a profile of those other patriots, the women who were behind the men who help forge a new nation. "Founding Mothers" is a collection of their untold stories. And she joins us this morning to talk about that, as well as the 9/11 Commission and the presidential election.

We're kind of bringing you in for a lot of questions.

COKIE ROBERTS, AUTHOR, "FOUNDING MOTHERS": That's great.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with some political insight, in fact. Do you think that this particular campaign on both sides is significantly different than others that you have covered?

ROBERTS: Well, it's likely to be at the end because it is so close, and it's going to stay so close, I think, that if you have some event toward the end of the campaign, it could really swing it. And I don't think that's been true in the past.

O'BRIEN: So then when you talk about the role of 9/11 or the role of Iraq and the presidential election, because very possible some event will happen...

ROBERTS: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... it could have a huge impact.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. And that is very nervous-making for the candidates because they can't control that. And they don't know how to play out.

O'BRIEN: Who is at bigger risk from that?

ROBERTS: Well, I think the president is because, basically, a second term is a referendum on the first term. And if people feel like they're not secure or that they're not better off than they were four years ago for some reason, that's a problem for him. O'BRIEN: Conversely, what is happening in Iraq and what we're seeing in the 9/11 Commission, how much of that do you think is being affected by the overriding political situation? Even though I will say, any 9/11 commissioner who comes on to talk will say, absolutely not, we all agreed we wouldn't be political in this.

ROBERTS: Well, Iraq, I think, is very much affected by it. The fact that the United States is so determined to hand over power by June 30 is with November in mind. So I think that whole situation, trying to internationalize it, which you can make a case should have happened a long time ago, is with the election very much in mind.

The 9/11 Commission, I actually think, having covered Washington for many, many, many years, is one of the least partisan commissions that we've seen in many a moon. It's got some serious grownups on that commission, which doesn't happen often. And they have defended each other across party lines.

We'll see what happens when it comes to writing a report. But if they can write a bipartisan unanimous report, that would be the first in a very long time in Washington.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about your book, "Founding Mothers." Your last book -- I think it was your last book when you wrote about your mom and other important women...

ROBERTS: It was the one before that.

O'BRIEN: The one before the last one. I've missed one. It was a fantastic book.

ROBERTS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: And, again, you're focusing on women. Name some names of the women who are the fascinating mothers.

ROBERTS: Well, the ones you'd know are Martha Washington and Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison. But there are many, many others. And they are the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends of the founding fathers, the women who had the ears of the founding fathers.

O'BRIEN: Overlooked because they're women or overlooked because their roles, while decent, was not really overriding?

ROBERTS: Well, their names are not on the Declaration of Independence. They weren't generals in the war. Their names aren't on the Constitution. They weren't the first presidents and vice presidents. So it's not surprising they're overlooked.

O'BRIEN: What did they do?

ROBERTS: Well, they were incredible. They really made it possible for the men to do what they did.

Abigail Adams was alone for years at a time, running the farm, trying to run John's legal business, collect fees for it, supporting the family. Keeping -- of course, caring for the children and the old people and, oh, by the way, the British were coming. And he at one point wrote to her and said, if it gets really -- he's wining and dining in Philadelphia, right? If it gets really dangerous, take the children and run to the woods.

O'BRIEN: Honey. Thanks a lot. Right.

ROBERTS: But they also -- Martha Washington, every year of the war -- and it was eight years of war -- went to camp. And there were times when the soldiers were so demoralized, whole regiments were threatening desertion. She would be cheered in the camp when she would bring goods from Mount Vernon to clothe and feed the soldiers.

She'd nursed them; she'd pray with them. They adored her. And after she became first lady, the veterans would come around and visit with her. And she lobbied for them in the first Congress for good veteran benefits.

O'BRIEN: Kind of similar role to first ladies today to some degree.

ROBERTS: It is. In fact, there was a lot similar.

She was very aware of image. And even though she loved nice clothes, she arrived for her first public appearance as first lady in homespun. So it was like the good Republican cloth coat.

And she described herself as first lady as a prisoner of state. So I think every first lady since then has had a similar view.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. I think others have described it that same way. Cokie Roberts, nice to have you as our guest.

ROBERTS: So good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in. We sure appreciate it. The book is called "Founding Mothers."

ROBERTS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, British Prime Minister Blair is set to arrive in the United States in just a few minutes. We're going to bring you the latest on his visit, and also what he hopes to accomplish.

And it came down to the last two apprentices last night. Donald Trump decided which one got the dream job and which one got the boot.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Well, there was one. One selected last night. If you saw it, along with 22 million other Americans, "The Apprentice" a huge initial season.

Sibila Vargas saw it. She's here now to talk about the winner from last night and a hugely successful series for NBC.

Good morning.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hugely. I was in love with the show. There were 16 contestants, and we fell in love with all of them. But, ultimately, one apprentice emerged.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS (voice-over): They braced themselves for those two dreaded words...

DONALD TRUMP, "THE APPRENTICE": You're fired.

VARGAS: But after weeks of contentious boardroom meetings, one apprentice got to hear the words he and 15 others had been longing to hear.

TRUMP: Bill, you're hired.

VARGAS: Bill Rancic learned his fate live on television in the two-hour season finale of "The Apprentice."

RANCIC: I had no outcome of this show. I mean, I was on the edge of my seat every minute in that boardroom. That was real sweat coming off my palms. So it's a great night.

VARGAS: Donald Trump and producer Mark Burnett broke the reality mold by pitting 16 contestants against each other for the opportunity to work for the master himself. And what began as an innocent task of selling lemonade exploded into a spectacle of romance, betrayal...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I would recommend firing...

TRUMP: You're a cold-hearted person.

VARGAS: And, oh yeah, Amorosa

AMOROSA MANIGAULT-STALLWORTH, APPRENTICE CANDIDATE: When you sign up for a reality show, all fairness goes out of the window. They can portray you anyway they want. They have these characters that they developed for you, and I was characterized as a villain.

VARGAS: In the end, it came down to two, Bill Rancic, a successful entrepreneur from Chicago, and Kwame Jackson, the Harvard MBA. But it was Bill who would take it all the way.

(on camera): When do you start your new job?

RANCIC: I think I started already. So I'm on the clock right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: Well, Bill is going to be making $250,000 a year working for Trump in Chicago, his hometown, at the Trump International Hotel. HEMMER: So he's got a big job ahead of him here. Watching that show last night, he was hyper. He had to organize the golf tournament.

VARGAS: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: He did pretty well. Kwame had to do, what, the Nick and Jessica concert down at the Taj Mahal Casino down in Atlantic City.

VARGAS: Yes. But one thing I learned about Bill is that he's unbelievably energetic, he's charismatic. I saw him in person and I understand why Trump picked him. He has this wonderful charisma.

HEMMER: The thing that struck me about that series, it was heady in many ways, much unlike some of the other reality programs we've seen. And I think that's what attracted so many viewers, too. It was smart reality television.

VARGAS: Absolutely. And I think it had a lot to do with both Trump being a very smart, intelligent businessman, and also Mark Burnett. You can't leave that out.

HEMMER: So we wait for versions two and three, do we not?

VARGAS: That's right.

HEMMER: Sibila, thanks.

VARGAS: All right. Thank you.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, mixed emotions at a military installation in Louisiana. What was supposed to be a major welcome home celebrations for the troops at Ft. Polk in Louisiana now scaled back. Bitter sweet there, because, of course, some 21,000 troops will remain in Iraq. We've got that story just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

You can imagine just how hard it has been for families this week as many U.S. troops who were scheduled to come home have actually been told they're going to have to stay in Iraq. In a few minutes, we're going to get a look at what is happening at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. You're looking at a live picture there.

They had planned a big party for those returning troops. Well, now some are coming back, but it is a bittersweet event, of course. They put the big party on hold while they wait for so many of the other troops to join these.

HEMMER: Also this half-hour, the EPA says more than half of all Americans now live somewhere that does not meet clean air standards. A big issue for the EPA trying to clean up air pollution. A huge health issue as well. Sanjay is back in a moment to talk about that. What you need to know heading into the spring season here.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's get to our top stories this morning.

U.S. military and civilian officials meeting today with leaders from Fallujah to try to find a way to end the violence there. Overnight explosions have rumbled through the Iraqi city. A military spokesman confirms that there is fighting there but it is not at this hour just clear who is involved.

A radical Shiite cleric has a stern warning for U.S. forces who are trying to kill or capture him. Muqtada Al-Sadr tells a Lebanese newspaper, if the U.S. succeeds, Iraqis would hit back with a force and severity beyond anyone's imagination, he says. The wanted cleric is behind some of the recent uprisings in Iraq.

Iraq will be the main focus of a meeting today between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The two leaders will try to show unity on coalition efforts there. They're also planning to discuss peace efforts in the Middle East. And CNN is going to have live coverage for that conference which is set for 11:55 a.m. Eastern Time.

Vice President Dick Cheney wrapping up a weeklong Asian tour in South Korea. American troops delivered an exuberant welcome to Vice President Cheney. Earlier, he thanked South Korea's troops for joining coalition forces in Iraq. The vice president also asked leaders to work toward ending North Korea's nuclear program.

And finally, a Florida business owner got a little unexpected shipment. A female cat survived a month-long trip in a shipping crate, carrying, of all things, birdcages. But no birds, alas.

The traveling feline apparently began her journey at a factory in China, made a stop in Los Angeles, then traveled by rail to Tampa, Florida. When she was found, she weighed in at just over three pounds, but apparently she's doing all right and she is recovering.

HEMMER: Saw a lot of the world, too.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Disappointment today for about 20,000 troops and their families. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld giving the word yesterday, confirming those troops will stay in Iraq for three more months minimum. Ft. Polk, Louisiana, welcoming home a small contingent, but it is not the celebration originally planned. And Gary Tuchman is live there in Ft. Polk for more there.

Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.

Here in western Louisiana, at Ft. Polk, a welcoming ceremony just now completed for about 125 soldiers who came home from Iraq in the last week. As we speak, they're walking off, talking with their families. And they will now be allowed to go home.

These are the lucky ones, these are the soldiers from Ft. Polk who got home before the faucet, so to speak, was turned off. Earlier this week, Ft. Polk was told that 3,000 of its soldiers who were supposed to come home this month won't come home for three or four months.

There was supposed to be a huge party here when all of the soldiers were back. That's now been called off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Ft. Polk, Louisiana, was ready to host a huge party for its soldiers returning from Iraq.

MAJOR RON ELLIOTT, FT. POLK SPOKESMAN: This was going to be the biggest celebration we were hoping within the country. We didn't put in a request for the president to come back out here.

TUCHMAN: The celebration has been put on hold.

SUZY YATES, WIFE OF SOLDIER: The first thing I thought was to be strong for him. I don't like my husband to hear me cry. So I told him it would be all right.

TUCHMAN: Suzy Yates was told by her husband, Sgt. Cory Yates, that after a year in Iraq his return home later this month has been delayed by at least three months.

YATES: And my head dropped into my hands and I took a moment for myself and let it sink in.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How difficult was that moment?

YATES: It was pretty difficult. I was in a lot of shock, disbelief. I thought I was dreaming.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The home of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has lost 14 soldiers in Iraq, has been told 3,000 of their men and women will not be coming home as scheduled, including Sgt. Arnold Powell, a husband and father.

HELEN POWELL, WIFE OF SOLDIER: I couldn't get mad at him, and I couldn't get mad at anybody. So I was kind of mad at the Army. But it's an entity. I'm mad at that a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's more potential he might get hurt or something might happen to him.

TUCHMAN: Many people are sharing similar thoughts with military counselors. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now the chance right now of him being hurt or killed are even stronger.

TUCHMAN: Back at the Powell's house, personal items already sent home from Iraq are going back to Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Sgt. Powell has spent his career in the military. He was scheduled to retire next week when he came home. That retirement has now been delayed.

He and his wife were scheduled to go on a celebratory cruise of the Caribbean next month. That cruise has now been postponed, and they're not even sure they will be able to get their money back.

We can tell you, this fort still plans to hold that huge celebration when all their soldiers get home. And they hope it's sometime early this summer.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: A sizeable sacrifice. Gary Tuchman, thanks, in Louisiana.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Well, the NRA is looking for media to spread its message. Plus, Disney theme parks are looking to beef up their security. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with the market. How about that?

SERWER: Let's do that.

Stocks dancing around the last couple of days, Soledad. A check of the Big Board: Dow was up earlier this morning, still up seven. We like that. Nasdaq down a little bit.

Techs suffering a little bit. IBM down nearly $2 to $92. Nokia, we talked about their problems this morning with their business. They're down $1.23 to $14.

Let's move on to the NRA, though. Air America, watch out. Somewhat has cut you in the crosshairs.

The NRA is rolling out a radio network today. That's the NRA convention today, by the way, being held in Pittsburgh; 60,000 expected to show up there. But, yes, the NRA has an Internet radio show rolling out today. They plan to actually take it to the regular airwaves soon. That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a conservative talk show host from Oklahoma they've hired. To me, it sounds a little boring, you guys. I don't know if I'd want to listen to it.

I've got some ideas for some shows, though -- 1:00 p.m.: trigger mechanisms, fact or fiction?; 2:00: shotgun shells, big, bigger and biggest; and then the gun factor.

I don't know. So this is what the spokesman says -- Time Warner owns CNN, Disney owns ABC, just like GE owns NBC. We want to be a broadcaster and also equivalent of those outlets.

O'BRIEN: What are they going to talk about?

SERWER: Guns the whole time. Nothing but guns. Women and guns, guns going hunting.

HEMMER: And the various political stories...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Well, that's right. I mean, it's really a lobbying effort, of course.

Now, this next story has nothing to do with the previous story. OK? I want to be clear about that.

Disney looking to put metal detectors at Disney World in Orlando. This according to published reports down there in Florida.

The not company not commenting yet, but security is pretty tight at the parks. They've always been worried about terrorism since 9/11. Long lines to get in the parks. They look through the bags and purses and such. And this is all that we need is more lines at Disney World.

HEMMER: Sign of the times, though, huh?

SERWER: Yes, it really is.

HEMMER: All right. Andy, thanks.

In a moment here, half the U.S. must clean up its act. That's what the EPA says. Sanjay is back in a moment. How serious are the smog issues today? And what you need to know in a moment on that.

O'BRIEN: And a dozen young women in Boston have a message for an entire generation. We've got their story just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: There is an ominous new report from the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. It now says more than half the American population is living in counties that have dirty air. The implications now with the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. How serious?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, 159 million people affected by this. The EPA has been talking about standards on ozone for quite sometime now.

The concern is this: the standards have become more stringent, but a lot of these counties have been given more time as well. Health advocates not happy about that.

Ozone, 10 to 30 miles above the Earth's surface, a good thing. Blocked some of the harmful sun's UV rays. Once it settles, or once it's generated close to the surface, because of what you see there, pollution coming out of cars, factories, things like that, that mixing with sunlight, that can be a problem. Specifically a problem for the children, the elderly, asthmatics. This is information we've been hearing for quite some time.

What it does specifically, it can irritate your respiratory system, subsequently reducing lung function. These are common things: aggravating asthma, inflaming and damaging cells that lie in your lung, and aggravating long-term diseases.

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. What is this pollution actually doing to your lungs? This pictures are actually pathologic pictures of lungs.

On the left, that's a pretty clean lung. On the right, you can see all the redness, all the inflammation. All of that being caused now by ozone in this particular case, and what it does to the lungs.

More and more people experiencing health affects. People becoming serious about this. again, the standard is becoming more stringent in terms of what the levels of pollution can be. But some of these counties have been given more time.

HEMMER: All right. So many times you hear parents talk about their kids being affected, having to use the inhalers for asthma, as you refer to.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: How do you know if you're being affected by the ozone later in your county if you apply with this study from the EPA?

GUPTA: That's an excellent question because, first of all, you can read the data and find out if your county is one of the high-risk counties, certainly. But if you're walking around day to day, or there are specific things that might affect you or give you a clue that you're being affected, yes. And they're sort of obvious as well.

You might have coughing fits. If you have asthma or if you've never had asthma, you might have sudden difficulty breathing from time to time. It may not be all of the time, but it may come and go. Shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing, worsening with exercise.

HEMMER: Is that right?

GUPTA: If you're out there taking a jog on a nice day.

HEMMER: Because you're exposed to it, one would think.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: Short of staying in inside, though, how do you cut the possibility being affected by it?

GUPTA: There are some things I think you can do as an individual and as a society. First of all, you know, taking public transport instead of driving. All these lessons that we've been talking about for years. But, also, exercising before 11:00 or after 8:00.

Simple pieces of advice. That's when you're going to have less pollution, less ozone affects on your lungs. Aerosols, all those sorts of things that emit vapors.

HEMMER: Roll-on is required.

GUPTA: That's right.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you.

GUPTA: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Hope you have a great weekend.

GUPTA: You too.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, taking on negative stereotypes in rap music with a new and powerful voice. That story is ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: One final reminder: we are "IN THE MONEY" this weekend with our good friends Jack Cafferty and Andy Serwer.

CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for that?

SERWER: No.

O'BRIEN: Five dollars for me.

SERWER: You have to watch it. That's the thing, though.

HEMMER: We'll be here.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: It's a tardy (ph) little program.

HEMMER: That's right.

Have a great weekend, you guys. All right? We've got to run.


Aired April 16, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The president huddling today with one of his closest allies on Iraq. The British prime minister, Tony Blair, on his way to the White House. Critical meetings today about the war.
At the last minute, thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq have their plans to leave cancelled. Celebrations at home now on hold, and it is hard getting ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RANCIC, "THE APPRENTICE": I was on the edge of my seat every minute in that boardroom. I mean, that was real sweat coming off my palms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: The Donald makes his choice. Meet the New apprentice on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: He is so dramatic. That was real sweat, Bill.

HEMMER: I think the reason why...

O'BRIEN: As opposed to fake sweat?

HEMMER: It was smart reality TV, as opposed to a lot of the inane stuff we've seen so far. I think that is what drew so many millions to that program.

O'BRIEN: Something like 22 million people watching it.

HEMMER: Is that right?

O'BRIEN: Yes.

HEMMER: Early returns say? That's big-time stuff.

Welcome back, everybody. Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Coming up this morning, someone who has seen lots of presidential elections. Coke Roberts, we're going to talk with her and ask her, one, has she ever seen an election like this. Also talk about her New book, which sounds fascinating.

HEMMER: All right. Also this hour, hundreds of American counties on smog alert. Counties that were not so polluted, they say, in years past, now failing the government standards for air quality. What is the impact on you? Sanjay talks about that this hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: Hi, Jack.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Some of the dirtiest air in America right here in New York City.

O'BRIEN: Oh, that's not a surprise.

CAFFERTY: Oh, man. You leave your window open and you get this little air of black stuff that accumulates. It's a wonderful thing.

Anyway, laws of physics? Here's one of political science. Government under attack tends to respond by creating more government. We have 15 intelligence agencies in this country, but maybe it's not enough. Those are the things we're talking about with the e-mails, AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: All right. Jack, good deal.

Top stories now as we start another hour here.

U.S. military and civilian officials meeting today with leaders from Fallujah trying to find a way to end the violence there. Overnight explosions rumbling through the Iraqi city west of Baghdad. A spokesperson confirming there is fighting ongoing but is not clear who is involved there.

From Spain, the parliament voting to approve Jose Zapatero as the New prime minister. Lawmakers voted 1830148; 19 abstentions to endorse him. He's pledged to take out Spanish troops from the Iraq if the U.N. does not take charge there by the end of June. Zapatero due to officially be sworn in tomorrow as the New prime minister in Spain.

The State Department strongly urging U.S. citizens to get out of Saudi Arabia. The department has ordered all non-essential personnel serving the U.S. embassy to get out of the country now. U.S. officials say they are concerned about the terror threat level in Saudi Arabia and feel the U.S. needs to keep a lower profile in that country.

Health news this morning for you. There may be such a thing as too much sleep. We would not know, Soledad.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego finding that people who sleep nine to 10 hours a night seem to have more trouble falling and staying asleep than those who sons for about eight hours. Also, that study says people who sleep only seven hours a night experience similar problems.

So whatever the case for you, get some sleep this weekend.

You're up to date at 9:03 in New York now.

O'BRIEN: Good advice, Dr. Hemmer.

HEMMER: Thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: In under an hour, the president's closest ally in Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, arrives for a meeting at the White House. Last night in New York, after meeting with U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, Mr. Blair said he welcomed recent proposals about the peace of Iraq from one of Annan's special advisers. Those ideas include an Iraqi government headed by a prime minister, a president, and two vice presidents who would all take over on June 30. Mr. Blair also indicated that it might take formal U.N. action to make that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Circumstances will require us at some point in the near future to have a New United Nations Security Council resolution that will allow us to plan this way forward, political transition in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Senior White House correspondent John King is covering today's meeting for us.

John, good morning to you. Let's talk a little bit about the situation in Iraq, forcing, really, I think it's fair to say, the White House to go back to the U.N. Do you think that's fair to say?

JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely fair to say, Soledad. And good morning.

Both the political situation and the security situation on the ground in Iraq forcing this White House to get the United Nations much more involved and much more actively involved; much more in charge than the Bush White House has previously envisioned as a role for the United Nations. Now, Prime Minister Blair will be here to endorse with President Bush the sketch of a plan. It's not quite a plan yet outlined by the U.N. special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.

That plan is very different from the initial plan pushed by the Bush administration. Remember a few months ago, the administration wanted regional caucuses in Iraq to choose a New government. That plan was scrapped because of objections mostly from Shia clerics.

Then the administration went to a plan to expand the current 25- member Governing Council. Mr. Brahimi scrapped that plan himself after running into opposition during his recent visit to Iraq. What he says now is that the United Nations will pick a New Iraqi government, mostly technocrats. There will be a president, two vice presidents, mostly technocrats to run the government. It is very different than President Bush envisioned, but the point for the president is to keep that June 30 deadline.

He is essentially willing to step back. The United States step back from taking the lead in the political transition and give the United Nations the lead. And, Soledad, the president wants to do that because this White House believes the only way to improve the security situation on the ground is to get a new government in place so that those -- the insurgents in Iraq cannot say that the United States is running that country.

O'BRIEN: Politically, it has been very tough for Tony Blair. Have you seen any cracks in the relationship between the prime minister and the president, or do things seem hunky-dory essentially?

KING: Well, they are two men who, when they appear in public, are a United voice of solidarity. And that is critical, of course, because they both have troops on the ground getting shot at every day in Iraq, critical because they are the two leaders who have stood up against world opinion on many occasions to bring this coalition, to bring this war about, and to keep the coalition in place.

Behind the scenes, the British have argued for months that there should be a more active United Nations role. They are now seeing that. The Bush administration has conceded that point.

Some tension over the broader Middle East issues, especially the U.S.' firm embrace of the Sharon plan in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In public, though, Prime Minister Blair has been a staunch ally of this president. When he has differences, he tends to air them in the private meetings, about an hour now here at the White House.

O'BRIEN: We'll see if that happens. Senior White House correspondent John King for us this morning. John, thanks, as always. Appreciate it.

Our next guest is very familiar with that Bush-Blair relationship. Peter Stothard is the author of "Thirty Days: An Inside Account of Tony Blair's War," which chronicles the months that Stothard spent with Blair, beginning March 10, 2003, just before the invasion of Iraq. Peter Stothard joins us from London this morning.

Nice to see you again. Thanks for being with us.

PETER STOTHARD, AUTHOR, "THIRTY DAYS": Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

You know, we were just talking with John King about this sort of public face, is that the two are the closest of allies. But I'm curious to know, privately, are they personal friends? You've observed them. How do they actually get along? STOTHARD: I think it would be fair to say that they are like familiar business associates. They -- Blair and Clinton were personal friends, you know, let's talk about the future of this, the future of that.

I watched Bush and Blair closely on a number of occasions. They seem much, much more business-like, sort of respectful, slightly weary. I think very realistic of what each other can do, which has not always been the case with British prime ministers and American presidents.

And I think they will be shoulder to shoulder on this. And I think they're really able to kind of weather this kind of strain. I mean, a lot of British people who don't like Bush very much, particularly people around Blair, were very impressed at the kind of way that Bush and Blair work together.

O'BRIEN: So then is this meeting more sending a public message of solidarity? Is that fair to say?

STOTHARD: I think they will both be putting quite a lot of effort into doing that. They are better together than they are separately. We saw that often.

When I was with them in Camp David, it's very noticeable the effort that they put in to their sort of joint performances. As I say, its almost as though Bush is like a sort of cabaret singer, sort of hammering on the sort of high notes, and Blair is doing the accompaniment and keeping the whole sort of song together.

Sometimes when Bush is on his own, he doesn't look very good, to British audiences, at least. And Blair can sometimes seem as though he's talking without any real power to back it up. They are better together than they are separately, and I think they will put quite a lot of effort into making sure that people see that in the press conference later today.

O'BRIEN: The prime minister is expected to lean pretty heavily on the president to include more U.N. involvement. Do you expect that that's very likely to happen?

STOTHARD: I'm sure it will if they can get it. I mean, I was there at Hillsboro when the huge excitement on the British side, where we persuaded -- or the British side persuaded George Bush to talk about a vital role for the U.N. in postwar Iraq. And the British were really up on that because, up to that point, Bush hadn't been saying anything like that.

I remember watching Bush and Condoleezza Rice together, and she was very wise about what the Defense Department would say and, you know, perhaps Bush had gone too far in talking about this vital role. Clearly, the Americans are very divided as to how this role would be.

I'm very interested to see them talking about it amongst themselves. I suspect certain British who were that meeting or this meeting today will be saying, you know, it's taken us a long time to get around to this point where we should have been before.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of how the prime minister is doing politically. How is his approval numbers, especially in the wake of all the violence that we have seen out of Iraq?

STOTHARD: The prime minister ratings are holding up pretty well. I mean, the important thing, of course, he doesn't have an election to fight this year. He has an opposition that is still very weak and is strengthening, but is not strong yet.

His main problems are still with his own party and with his own supporters who never wanted this war, who don't like George Bush, who -- all of the pictures will come out later of Bush and Blair together, you know, will be poison to large numbers of people very close to Blair and his own party. But we've gone past the phase where Blair can disguise that.

And before the war, they tried to keep Blair and Bush apart in order not to fight in too much labor party opinion. They've gone past that stage now. They're shoulder to shoulder. It's a cliche, but that's what they will be, that's what they'll say they are. And I think are. That's exactly what they are.

O'BRIEN: And they will literally be at the White House today. Peter Stothard, joining us this morning from London. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Bill?

HEMMER: About 12 minutes past the hour.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday delivering the news to the family and the soldiers -- tough news, too -- the duty in the desert now extended after the intense violence of recent weeks. Twenty thousand will stay in Iraq longer than planned.

Secretary Rumsfeld saying the delayed rotations, along with newly arriving units, will put U.S. troop strength in Iraq at 137,000. The Pentagon extending some tours of duty by up to three months again. This breaks a promise back in November to soldiers who had been told they would only be in Iraq for one year of duty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Needless to say, we regret having to extend those individuals. They had anticipated being in country or in the OAR something like up to 365 days. This will extend their time in Iraq somewhat. But the country is at war and we need to do what is necessary to succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Secretary Rumsfeld from yesterday. April, so far, has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq. Ongoing battles with insurgents have killed close to 90 Americans already in the month of April. Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, one community prepares to welcome back some of its soldiers. But it will be a bittersweet homecoming. We'll explain just ahead.

HEMMER: Also, how much has the 9/11 Commission hearings been affected by the presidential campaign? Or is it possibly the other way around? Political analyst and author Cokie Roberts our guest live in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: And, "You're hired." It came down to the final two, and the Donald picked his apprentice. We're going to recap it all just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Cokie Roberts, political analyst and best-selling author, has written a new book about the founding of America. It's a profile of those other patriots, the women who were behind the men who help forge a new nation. "Founding Mothers" is a collection of their untold stories. And she joins us this morning to talk about that, as well as the 9/11 Commission and the presidential election.

We're kind of bringing you in for a lot of questions.

COKIE ROBERTS, AUTHOR, "FOUNDING MOTHERS": That's great.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with some political insight, in fact. Do you think that this particular campaign on both sides is significantly different than others that you have covered?

ROBERTS: Well, it's likely to be at the end because it is so close, and it's going to stay so close, I think, that if you have some event toward the end of the campaign, it could really swing it. And I don't think that's been true in the past.

O'BRIEN: So then when you talk about the role of 9/11 or the role of Iraq and the presidential election, because very possible some event will happen...

ROBERTS: Right.

O'BRIEN: ... it could have a huge impact.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. And that is very nervous-making for the candidates because they can't control that. And they don't know how to play out.

O'BRIEN: Who is at bigger risk from that?

ROBERTS: Well, I think the president is because, basically, a second term is a referendum on the first term. And if people feel like they're not secure or that they're not better off than they were four years ago for some reason, that's a problem for him. O'BRIEN: Conversely, what is happening in Iraq and what we're seeing in the 9/11 Commission, how much of that do you think is being affected by the overriding political situation? Even though I will say, any 9/11 commissioner who comes on to talk will say, absolutely not, we all agreed we wouldn't be political in this.

ROBERTS: Well, Iraq, I think, is very much affected by it. The fact that the United States is so determined to hand over power by June 30 is with November in mind. So I think that whole situation, trying to internationalize it, which you can make a case should have happened a long time ago, is with the election very much in mind.

The 9/11 Commission, I actually think, having covered Washington for many, many, many years, is one of the least partisan commissions that we've seen in many a moon. It's got some serious grownups on that commission, which doesn't happen often. And they have defended each other across party lines.

We'll see what happens when it comes to writing a report. But if they can write a bipartisan unanimous report, that would be the first in a very long time in Washington.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk about your book, "Founding Mothers." Your last book -- I think it was your last book when you wrote about your mom and other important women...

ROBERTS: It was the one before that.

O'BRIEN: The one before the last one. I've missed one. It was a fantastic book.

ROBERTS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: And, again, you're focusing on women. Name some names of the women who are the fascinating mothers.

ROBERTS: Well, the ones you'd know are Martha Washington and Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison. But there are many, many others. And they are the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends of the founding fathers, the women who had the ears of the founding fathers.

O'BRIEN: Overlooked because they're women or overlooked because their roles, while decent, was not really overriding?

ROBERTS: Well, their names are not on the Declaration of Independence. They weren't generals in the war. Their names aren't on the Constitution. They weren't the first presidents and vice presidents. So it's not surprising they're overlooked.

O'BRIEN: What did they do?

ROBERTS: Well, they were incredible. They really made it possible for the men to do what they did.

Abigail Adams was alone for years at a time, running the farm, trying to run John's legal business, collect fees for it, supporting the family. Keeping -- of course, caring for the children and the old people and, oh, by the way, the British were coming. And he at one point wrote to her and said, if it gets really -- he's wining and dining in Philadelphia, right? If it gets really dangerous, take the children and run to the woods.

O'BRIEN: Honey. Thanks a lot. Right.

ROBERTS: But they also -- Martha Washington, every year of the war -- and it was eight years of war -- went to camp. And there were times when the soldiers were so demoralized, whole regiments were threatening desertion. She would be cheered in the camp when she would bring goods from Mount Vernon to clothe and feed the soldiers.

She'd nursed them; she'd pray with them. They adored her. And after she became first lady, the veterans would come around and visit with her. And she lobbied for them in the first Congress for good veteran benefits.

O'BRIEN: Kind of similar role to first ladies today to some degree.

ROBERTS: It is. In fact, there was a lot similar.

She was very aware of image. And even though she loved nice clothes, she arrived for her first public appearance as first lady in homespun. So it was like the good Republican cloth coat.

And she described herself as first lady as a prisoner of state. So I think every first lady since then has had a similar view.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. I think others have described it that same way. Cokie Roberts, nice to have you as our guest.

ROBERTS: So good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in. We sure appreciate it. The book is called "Founding Mothers."

ROBERTS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, British Prime Minister Blair is set to arrive in the United States in just a few minutes. We're going to bring you the latest on his visit, and also what he hopes to accomplish.

And it came down to the last two apprentices last night. Donald Trump decided which one got the dream job and which one got the boot.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Well, there was one. One selected last night. If you saw it, along with 22 million other Americans, "The Apprentice" a huge initial season.

Sibila Vargas saw it. She's here now to talk about the winner from last night and a hugely successful series for NBC.

Good morning.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hugely. I was in love with the show. There were 16 contestants, and we fell in love with all of them. But, ultimately, one apprentice emerged.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS (voice-over): They braced themselves for those two dreaded words...

DONALD TRUMP, "THE APPRENTICE": You're fired.

VARGAS: But after weeks of contentious boardroom meetings, one apprentice got to hear the words he and 15 others had been longing to hear.

TRUMP: Bill, you're hired.

VARGAS: Bill Rancic learned his fate live on television in the two-hour season finale of "The Apprentice."

RANCIC: I had no outcome of this show. I mean, I was on the edge of my seat every minute in that boardroom. That was real sweat coming off my palms. So it's a great night.

VARGAS: Donald Trump and producer Mark Burnett broke the reality mold by pitting 16 contestants against each other for the opportunity to work for the master himself. And what began as an innocent task of selling lemonade exploded into a spectacle of romance, betrayal...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I would recommend firing...

TRUMP: You're a cold-hearted person.

VARGAS: And, oh yeah, Amorosa

AMOROSA MANIGAULT-STALLWORTH, APPRENTICE CANDIDATE: When you sign up for a reality show, all fairness goes out of the window. They can portray you anyway they want. They have these characters that they developed for you, and I was characterized as a villain.

VARGAS: In the end, it came down to two, Bill Rancic, a successful entrepreneur from Chicago, and Kwame Jackson, the Harvard MBA. But it was Bill who would take it all the way.

(on camera): When do you start your new job?

RANCIC: I think I started already. So I'm on the clock right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: Well, Bill is going to be making $250,000 a year working for Trump in Chicago, his hometown, at the Trump International Hotel. HEMMER: So he's got a big job ahead of him here. Watching that show last night, he was hyper. He had to organize the golf tournament.

VARGAS: Oh, yes.

HEMMER: He did pretty well. Kwame had to do, what, the Nick and Jessica concert down at the Taj Mahal Casino down in Atlantic City.

VARGAS: Yes. But one thing I learned about Bill is that he's unbelievably energetic, he's charismatic. I saw him in person and I understand why Trump picked him. He has this wonderful charisma.

HEMMER: The thing that struck me about that series, it was heady in many ways, much unlike some of the other reality programs we've seen. And I think that's what attracted so many viewers, too. It was smart reality television.

VARGAS: Absolutely. And I think it had a lot to do with both Trump being a very smart, intelligent businessman, and also Mark Burnett. You can't leave that out.

HEMMER: So we wait for versions two and three, do we not?

VARGAS: That's right.

HEMMER: Sibila, thanks.

VARGAS: All right. Thank you.

HEMMER: Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, mixed emotions at a military installation in Louisiana. What was supposed to be a major welcome home celebrations for the troops at Ft. Polk in Louisiana now scaled back. Bitter sweet there, because, of course, some 21,000 troops will remain in Iraq. We've got that story just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

You can imagine just how hard it has been for families this week as many U.S. troops who were scheduled to come home have actually been told they're going to have to stay in Iraq. In a few minutes, we're going to get a look at what is happening at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. You're looking at a live picture there.

They had planned a big party for those returning troops. Well, now some are coming back, but it is a bittersweet event, of course. They put the big party on hold while they wait for so many of the other troops to join these.

HEMMER: Also this half-hour, the EPA says more than half of all Americans now live somewhere that does not meet clean air standards. A big issue for the EPA trying to clean up air pollution. A huge health issue as well. Sanjay is back in a moment to talk about that. What you need to know heading into the spring season here.

O'BRIEN: All right. Let's get to our top stories this morning.

U.S. military and civilian officials meeting today with leaders from Fallujah to try to find a way to end the violence there. Overnight explosions have rumbled through the Iraqi city. A military spokesman confirms that there is fighting there but it is not at this hour just clear who is involved.

A radical Shiite cleric has a stern warning for U.S. forces who are trying to kill or capture him. Muqtada Al-Sadr tells a Lebanese newspaper, if the U.S. succeeds, Iraqis would hit back with a force and severity beyond anyone's imagination, he says. The wanted cleric is behind some of the recent uprisings in Iraq.

Iraq will be the main focus of a meeting today between President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. The two leaders will try to show unity on coalition efforts there. They're also planning to discuss peace efforts in the Middle East. And CNN is going to have live coverage for that conference which is set for 11:55 a.m. Eastern Time.

Vice President Dick Cheney wrapping up a weeklong Asian tour in South Korea. American troops delivered an exuberant welcome to Vice President Cheney. Earlier, he thanked South Korea's troops for joining coalition forces in Iraq. The vice president also asked leaders to work toward ending North Korea's nuclear program.

And finally, a Florida business owner got a little unexpected shipment. A female cat survived a month-long trip in a shipping crate, carrying, of all things, birdcages. But no birds, alas.

The traveling feline apparently began her journey at a factory in China, made a stop in Los Angeles, then traveled by rail to Tampa, Florida. When she was found, she weighed in at just over three pounds, but apparently she's doing all right and she is recovering.

HEMMER: Saw a lot of the world, too.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Disappointment today for about 20,000 troops and their families. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld giving the word yesterday, confirming those troops will stay in Iraq for three more months minimum. Ft. Polk, Louisiana, welcoming home a small contingent, but it is not the celebration originally planned. And Gary Tuchman is live there in Ft. Polk for more there.

Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.

Here in western Louisiana, at Ft. Polk, a welcoming ceremony just now completed for about 125 soldiers who came home from Iraq in the last week. As we speak, they're walking off, talking with their families. And they will now be allowed to go home.

These are the lucky ones, these are the soldiers from Ft. Polk who got home before the faucet, so to speak, was turned off. Earlier this week, Ft. Polk was told that 3,000 of its soldiers who were supposed to come home this month won't come home for three or four months.

There was supposed to be a huge party here when all of the soldiers were back. That's now been called off.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Ft. Polk, Louisiana, was ready to host a huge party for its soldiers returning from Iraq.

MAJOR RON ELLIOTT, FT. POLK SPOKESMAN: This was going to be the biggest celebration we were hoping within the country. We didn't put in a request for the president to come back out here.

TUCHMAN: The celebration has been put on hold.

SUZY YATES, WIFE OF SOLDIER: The first thing I thought was to be strong for him. I don't like my husband to hear me cry. So I told him it would be all right.

TUCHMAN: Suzy Yates was told by her husband, Sgt. Cory Yates, that after a year in Iraq his return home later this month has been delayed by at least three months.

YATES: And my head dropped into my hands and I took a moment for myself and let it sink in.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How difficult was that moment?

YATES: It was pretty difficult. I was in a lot of shock, disbelief. I thought I was dreaming.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The home of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, which has lost 14 soldiers in Iraq, has been told 3,000 of their men and women will not be coming home as scheduled, including Sgt. Arnold Powell, a husband and father.

HELEN POWELL, WIFE OF SOLDIER: I couldn't get mad at him, and I couldn't get mad at anybody. So I was kind of mad at the Army. But it's an entity. I'm mad at that a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's more potential he might get hurt or something might happen to him.

TUCHMAN: Many people are sharing similar thoughts with military counselors. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now the chance right now of him being hurt or killed are even stronger.

TUCHMAN: Back at the Powell's house, personal items already sent home from Iraq are going back to Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Sgt. Powell has spent his career in the military. He was scheduled to retire next week when he came home. That retirement has now been delayed.

He and his wife were scheduled to go on a celebratory cruise of the Caribbean next month. That cruise has now been postponed, and they're not even sure they will be able to get their money back.

We can tell you, this fort still plans to hold that huge celebration when all their soldiers get home. And they hope it's sometime early this summer.

Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: A sizeable sacrifice. Gary Tuchman, thanks, in Louisiana.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Well, the NRA is looking for media to spread its message. Plus, Disney theme parks are looking to beef up their security. Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Good morning to you.

O'BRIEN: Let's start with the market. How about that?

SERWER: Let's do that.

Stocks dancing around the last couple of days, Soledad. A check of the Big Board: Dow was up earlier this morning, still up seven. We like that. Nasdaq down a little bit.

Techs suffering a little bit. IBM down nearly $2 to $92. Nokia, we talked about their problems this morning with their business. They're down $1.23 to $14.

Let's move on to the NRA, though. Air America, watch out. Somewhat has cut you in the crosshairs.

The NRA is rolling out a radio network today. That's the NRA convention today, by the way, being held in Pittsburgh; 60,000 expected to show up there. But, yes, the NRA has an Internet radio show rolling out today. They plan to actually take it to the regular airwaves soon. That's (UNINTELLIGIBLE), a conservative talk show host from Oklahoma they've hired. To me, it sounds a little boring, you guys. I don't know if I'd want to listen to it.

I've got some ideas for some shows, though -- 1:00 p.m.: trigger mechanisms, fact or fiction?; 2:00: shotgun shells, big, bigger and biggest; and then the gun factor.

I don't know. So this is what the spokesman says -- Time Warner owns CNN, Disney owns ABC, just like GE owns NBC. We want to be a broadcaster and also equivalent of those outlets.

O'BRIEN: What are they going to talk about?

SERWER: Guns the whole time. Nothing but guns. Women and guns, guns going hunting.

HEMMER: And the various political stories...

(CROSSTALK)

SERWER: Well, that's right. I mean, it's really a lobbying effort, of course.

Now, this next story has nothing to do with the previous story. OK? I want to be clear about that.

Disney looking to put metal detectors at Disney World in Orlando. This according to published reports down there in Florida.

The not company not commenting yet, but security is pretty tight at the parks. They've always been worried about terrorism since 9/11. Long lines to get in the parks. They look through the bags and purses and such. And this is all that we need is more lines at Disney World.

HEMMER: Sign of the times, though, huh?

SERWER: Yes, it really is.

HEMMER: All right. Andy, thanks.

In a moment here, half the U.S. must clean up its act. That's what the EPA says. Sanjay is back in a moment. How serious are the smog issues today? And what you need to know in a moment on that.

O'BRIEN: And a dozen young women in Boston have a message for an entire generation. We've got their story just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: There is an ominous new report from the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency. It now says more than half the American population is living in counties that have dirty air. The implications now with the good doctor. Sanjay Gupta back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. How serious?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, 159 million people affected by this. The EPA has been talking about standards on ozone for quite sometime now.

The concern is this: the standards have become more stringent, but a lot of these counties have been given more time as well. Health advocates not happy about that.

Ozone, 10 to 30 miles above the Earth's surface, a good thing. Blocked some of the harmful sun's UV rays. Once it settles, or once it's generated close to the surface, because of what you see there, pollution coming out of cars, factories, things like that, that mixing with sunlight, that can be a problem. Specifically a problem for the children, the elderly, asthmatics. This is information we've been hearing for quite some time.

What it does specifically, it can irritate your respiratory system, subsequently reducing lung function. These are common things: aggravating asthma, inflaming and damaging cells that lie in your lung, and aggravating long-term diseases.

They say pictures are worth a thousand words. What is this pollution actually doing to your lungs? This pictures are actually pathologic pictures of lungs.

On the left, that's a pretty clean lung. On the right, you can see all the redness, all the inflammation. All of that being caused now by ozone in this particular case, and what it does to the lungs.

More and more people experiencing health affects. People becoming serious about this. again, the standard is becoming more stringent in terms of what the levels of pollution can be. But some of these counties have been given more time.

HEMMER: All right. So many times you hear parents talk about their kids being affected, having to use the inhalers for asthma, as you refer to.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: How do you know if you're being affected by the ozone later in your county if you apply with this study from the EPA?

GUPTA: That's an excellent question because, first of all, you can read the data and find out if your county is one of the high-risk counties, certainly. But if you're walking around day to day, or there are specific things that might affect you or give you a clue that you're being affected, yes. And they're sort of obvious as well.

You might have coughing fits. If you have asthma or if you've never had asthma, you might have sudden difficulty breathing from time to time. It may not be all of the time, but it may come and go. Shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing, worsening with exercise.

HEMMER: Is that right?

GUPTA: If you're out there taking a jog on a nice day.

HEMMER: Because you're exposed to it, one would think.

GUPTA: Exactly.

HEMMER: Short of staying in inside, though, how do you cut the possibility being affected by it?

GUPTA: There are some things I think you can do as an individual and as a society. First of all, you know, taking public transport instead of driving. All these lessons that we've been talking about for years. But, also, exercising before 11:00 or after 8:00.

Simple pieces of advice. That's when you're going to have less pollution, less ozone affects on your lungs. Aerosols, all those sorts of things that emit vapors.

HEMMER: Roll-on is required.

GUPTA: That's right.

HEMMER: Thank you, Sanjay. Good to see you.

GUPTA: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Hope you have a great weekend.

GUPTA: You too.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, taking on negative stereotypes in rap music with a new and powerful voice. That story is ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: One final reminder: we are "IN THE MONEY" this weekend with our good friends Jack Cafferty and Andy Serwer.

CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) for that?

SERWER: No.

O'BRIEN: Five dollars for me.

SERWER: You have to watch it. That's the thing, though.

HEMMER: We'll be here.

(CROSSTALK)

CAFFERTY: It's a tardy (ph) little program.

HEMMER: That's right.

Have a great weekend, you guys. All right? We've got to run.