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U.S. Officials Said to be Highly Concerned About Potential for Terror Attack Here in U.S.; 'Gimme a Minute'
Aired April 23, 2004 - 08:30 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. More cryptic comments are coming out of the Bush administration about the current threat from terrorists here in the U.S. We've got a guest coming up from the RAND Corporation, who is very familiar with the threat levels. We're going to try to find out whether the odds of an attack have actually gone up.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, in a moment here, does the risk of a heart attack increase with every hour you spend in your car? New findings that could be of serious concern for millions of drivers. What you can do to protect yourself in a few moments, and whether or not this is indeed the case. We'll get to it in a moment.
O'BRIEN: All right, top stories, though, first: the U.S. willing to rehire former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist Party. Top U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, making an official announcement just a short time ago that thousands of former army officers and teachers will be allowed to return to their jobs. Bremer said de- Baathfication, as it is called, is a good policy, but it's implementation needs to be changed.
Sweden's ambassador to North Korea updating details on the train explosion there. He quotes North Koreans officials as saying the massive blast was caused by a live-wire spark. A Red Cross team has arrived on the scene. The accident taking place in Ryongchon, about 30 miles southeast of the Chinese border. Nearly 100 people, they say, are dead, more than 1,000 injured. We'll have more on the story, of course, that we are following throughout the show.
The trial for terrorist suspect Zacarias Moussaoui could be back on track. Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with the September 11th terrorist attacks. A federal appeals court ruled yesterday to lift a ban on prosecutors presenting evidence relating to the hijackings. It also decided that the government can pursue the death penalty against him. Jury selection could begin as early as October.
The House overwhelmingly approved a so-called "doomsday bill" in response to terror fears. The long-stalled measure would require special elections within 45 days, if more than 100 members of the House were killed in an attack. Some believe that one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 was meant to target Capitol Hill.
And then turning to a much lighter note, a brouhaha, so to speak, has broken out, over one of the nation's most popular diets. Anheuser-Busch taking aim at the creator of the South Beach Diet over claims that maltose in beer causes beer bellies. Well, the brewer says there is no maltose in its products, and claims that beer is OK for dieters in moderation. The company, in fact, is running full-page adds to support its claim, starting today.
HEMMER: Beer causes something. Can't just make that stuff up, you know.
O'BRIEN: They're spending a million bucks on their ad campaign, so they're taking it very seriously.
HEMMER: That they are. It costs them business.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: U.S. officials said to be highly concerned about the potential for a terror attack here in the U.S. The attorney general yesterday saying that America remains a primary target for terrorists. Let's talk more about that with Brian Jenkins, senior adviser for the RAND Corporation, one of the world's leading authorities on terrorism. He's live in L.A. this morning.
Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.
If you look at the events over the past 2 1/2 years, do Americans have more reason to be concerned now the threat of terrorism or less based on what's been put in place?
BRIAN JENKINS, SR. ADVISER, THE RAND CORP.: I would say that the threat continues to be about the same. Certainly, we have damaged the al Qaeda enterprise significantly. But nonetheless, we do remain vulnerable. They do remain determined to carry out attacks against the United States.
HEMMER: When you think about a lot of people are talking about going back to yesterday, to the fallout from the Madrid, Spain bombings, and the influence it had on the election there, there's a lot given the conventions in New York and Boston this summer and the general election early November, this coming year. Do you look at it the same way, between now and next November?
JENKINS: Well, look, to be sure, this will be the first time since 9/11 that we've had two major national political conventions, and those events will fall into the same category as the State of Union Addresses or some of the other major events, like the Olympics in Salt Lake City, things that we have had since 9/11 that have required extraordinary security measures.
At the same time, judging by the public comments that have been made, while the threat is real, the language used itself is notably feeble. It appears to be based largely upon speculation and surmise.
HEMMER: Is it the same for the June 30th handover date, 10 weeks away?
JENKINS: Well, I mean, look, we're dealing now with an escalating insurgency in Iraq. The violence level has been going up there in recent weeks, and I think as we come closer to that turnover date, I think, unfortunately, we can say that it is likely to be continued terrorist violence, at the very least, in the coming approximately 60, 68 days. I have difficulty thinking of a 68-day period over the past year when there hasn't been terrorist violence in Iraq. But, certainly, there's going to be a lot of jockeying among the various elements involved if this struggle who apparently can only agree on one thing and that is attacking Americans.
HEMMER: In 15 second or less, here, as you examine what has been done in the past 2 1/2 years, what needs to be done better in this country?
JENKINS: Oh, I think we have improved security. I think we still have to raise our consciousness level. One of the comments made in the CNN story yesterday from one of the officials said that these threats of an attack in this election year are based upon increasing awareness of terrorist capabilities and American vulnerability. Gosh, if 31 months after 9/11, that quote reflects the state of consciousness in Washington, God help us.
HEMMER: We'll leave it there. Brian Jenkins, thanks, live in L.A. this morning.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know what time it is. Each Friday around this time, we look at three of the stories big in the week with our "Gimme a Minute" panel, and we introduce you to the panel today. From Washington D.C., Jonah Goldberg, he's with the National Review Online.
Hello, Jonah. Good morning to you. Good to see you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor Donna Brazile is with us as well.
Hello, Donna. Good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Andy Borowitz from "The New Yorker" is scheduled to be here with us, but he was unavoidably detained, which is what we always say when we don't want to tell you where you actually is. So Andy Serwer is pinch hitting for him this morning.
Thank you, Andy. Nice to see you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: And I've seen you all morning.
So hey, hey, let's get going.
We're going to begin this morning with Jonah.
And, Jonah, I want to start with the cost of war debate, as you well know, that is raging in Congress right now. How much of this do you think is political? Don't you think the president should just come forward and tell us what the war is going to cost? I mean, don't all of us American taxpayers deserve that?
GOLDBERG: In fact we do. I think Bush should come forward and come up with a number. This doesn't absolve Democrats from opportunism. And I understand why the White House would be nervous about doing it; Bush has been terrible on spending. But the fact remains, we need more money, Bush should come out with it. He's a war president. Act like a war president.
O'BRIEN: Donna, at the same time, we heard from the joint chiefs, realistically, the situation is very fluid, as people like to say when maybe they don't really have a handle on what it is going to cost. So isn't there some truth in that they can't nail it down at this point yet?
BRAZILE: Well, I think they have nailed it down. General Meyers said this week that perhaps we need $4.7 million a month. That's on top of the $87 billion Congress has approved. Before they give them any more money, Congress should hold them accountable to the amount that they've already spent.
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, you are the money guy, what do you think?
SERWER: Well, it's ridiculous that the public should know this. Of course it's only their own money. The military has long had a don't ask, don't tell policy after all. And we mind find out that Ludacris was paid more money than Jessica Simpson on the USO Tour.
O'BRIEN: Don't ask, don't tell when it comes to money.
All right, you guys, moving on to our next topic, Bob Woodward's new book. All right, Donna, first and foremost, most damaging allegations against the White House. What are they?
BRAZILE: Seven-hundred million dollars being transferred from operations in Afghanistan to Iraq without telling one member of Congress.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think is the most positive thing to come out of this book for this administration?
GOLDBERG: I think the book actually works against all sorts of silly stories about Bush lying about WMDs, not being in charge, all those sorts of things, and overall, it's very positive for Bush.
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, have you read the book? What do you think of it?
SERWER: I haven't read the book. I've read all about the book. I don't know about the good news. The bad news is that Colin Powell in the book told the president that he had a Pottery Barn problem, that if he broke Iraq, he'd have to pay for it. We find out that Pottery barn doesn't have a policy. It looks bad that Colin Powell didn't know that, particularly when Prince Bandar did. O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, we're going to begin with you for our next question. The former Baathist officials and military officers apparently being brought back into the fold as a way to try to help get more influence in the Sunni minority and also take advantage of their expertise as well. Do you think this is a smart thing do?
GOLDBERG: Well, the American generals certainly seem to think about it. I think it's a very tough call. As long as they take it on a case by case basis, balancing justice with the specific needs of an individual and the specific crimes by that individual, it's probably a good policy.
O'BRIEN: I don't know, Donna, it sounds risky to me. What do you think?
BRAZILE: I totally agree with Jonah. It's a very risky proposition, given the fact that these are the former murderers and rapists, and now we're about to bring them back into the fold? I think we need to screen them before we rehire them.
O'BRIEN: They're said to have clean records, we should underscore them there, just to add a little something to that.
Andy, what do you think? Good idea or bad idea?
SERWER: Well, I think it's a good idea. It's very important for the president to show this, and in a power sharing move, I understand he's going to be asking Bill and Hillary back into the White House to demonstrate this to the Iraqis.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's end with our undercovered story of the week, and, Donna, What do you think we didn't cover?
Well, I think this week, you covered a lot about, you know, newsmakers, but one wonderful journalist here in Washington, Mary McGory, passed away. She was a great columnist, and everyone said she was a great writer, and I agree. But for those of us in this offer, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and many children will miss her because she was also a great humanitarian.
O'BRIEN: Interesting sidebar to add to her life story.
Thank you for that, Donna.
How about you, Jonah? What do you think we didn't cover?
GOLDBERG: I haven't seen much coverage at all of the fact that two American police women working with peacekeepers in Kosovo were murdered, and several others wounded by Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers over a fight about Iraq. It should get a lot more coverage, and it should undermine all these talks about how great the U.N. is.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
And all right, Andy Serwer, you're going to get the final word this morning. How about that? What do you think? SERWER: Michael Jackson indicted this week, Soledad. What we didn't know is that he just added a new member of his legal team, William Hung, from "American Idol" to choreograph his next car roof dance.
O'BRIEN: Ouch. All right. That's our final word this morning. You all, as always, thank you so much. You have a wonderful weekend, and we'll see you back here next week.
BRAZILE: Great job, Andy.
HEMMER: Andy Serwer in the house, how about that?
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Pinch hitting.
O'BRIEN: And he rocks.
HEMMER: And he's doing a great job.
O'BRIEN: Pinch hitting and he rocks, as always.
SERWER: All right, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, going to get you back to this North Korea story. We don't know exactly what's happening. The Red Cross is on the scene. A massive explosion of some sort. Word today of a different cause. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Major League Baseball gets into good grooming. Andy Serwer is going to be back to explain that.
HEMMER: In double time.
Hitting the highway might be bad for your heart. It might. Important new medical findings to talk about in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Sanjay is off today. But in medical news this morning, long hours of driving may actually increase the chance of a heart attack. There's a study out by the EPA saying air pollutants are -- from cars are the culprit.
Morton Lippmann, a professor of the New York University School of Medicine here to talk about it.
Good morning to you, professor.
How strong is this link between emissions and the heart?
MORTON LIPPMANN, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: The link between emissions and the heart is very strong. An increasing number of research studies are showing that the heart function changes in proportion to the fine particle concentration.
O'BRIEN: The function of the heart changes, you're saying. The fine particles, why so dangerous?
LIPPMANN: We really don't know yet. At my laboratory and at five other centers, supported by EPA for long-term research, we're beginning to hone in on what it is that makes the links. We do know from many population studies that there are links, that there's more mortality and hospital emissions for respiratory and cardiac disease when fine particle levels in the air go up. And so the associations are consistent and strong. The mechanisms, the biological mechanisms, that lead from one step to the next, are still, need more research.
O'BRIEN: Are the emissions from a car more dangerous to the human body than, say, other pollutants that you would find in the air?
LIPPMANN: The limited number of studies of pointing in that direction. When we do studies of human populations, making associations between the various sources, there are tracers from different sources. There's more sulfur from power plants. There's more organic stuff in cars. And so if you look at the tracers and try to separate which of the fine particles are most closely associated with effects, motor vehicle-related particles seem to be somewhat more dangerous than other fine particles.
O'BRIEN: Just to be clear, professor, this is a study right now, there is a link here.
LIPPMANN: Well, I really haven't been talking about the study that you referred to. That's another chain in the link of evidence that very clearly in a scientific sense shows that for these young highway patrolmen who spend nine hours in a vehicle, their next day's cardiac measurements show more change, change more closely associated with fine particle levels than any other measured pollutant. And there's an increasing change with increasing level of fine particles that were measured.
They looked at all of the other measured pollutants. The pollutant gases, carbon monoxide, SO2, and the associations were most clearly significant for the fine particles.
O'BRIEN: And more studies to come, I am certain.
LIPPMANN: There will be.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, professor. Nice to see you here. Morton Lippmann, here in New York -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, can today's markets match yesterday's huge rally? Andy Serwer has the early market signs just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If a critic was writing a review of the Microsoft earnings report, "boffo" would be the word that comes to mind -- boffo. Andy Sewer is here "Minding Your Business."
SERWER: Boffo, one of my favorite words, Jack.
That's if you leave aside those legal costs. But they're going to be doing that this morning on Wall Street, because that to just a one-time deal.
Let's check out what happened yesterday, because it was a boffo day all the way around.
143 points up on the Dow, and Nasdaq up above 2000, again, as William Hemmer pointed out earlier.
And things are looking pretty good this morning, mostly because Microsoft reported after the bell, Jack, so that's up this morning in premarket.
Also, durable goods orders, wow, really soaring last month, up 3.4 percent, more than five times what was expected. Also follows a great report in February. Those are things that last three years or longer, washers, dryers those kind of things. So the markets look good.
CAFFERTY: Yes, and Borowitz's agent said he's going to California to look for something up there.
No, you were very good I thought.
SERWER: Thanks.
CAFFERTY: On to The Cafferty File.
Yesterday, we told you this story from Chicago, where apparently there are no other issues apparently except this one. Workers there are being fired for making calls to sex and psychic hotlines. Don't you know, we get a call from some flack in the mayor's office. I think her name is Jacqueline something or another. At the time, I commented that the calls were being made on the taxpayers dime. Well, the flack said the phone company was picking up the bill for the calls, but the flack did not address that the calls were made while the city employees were on the clock, therefore, being paid by the taxpayers, therefore, it was on the taxpayers dime. In at least two places, people have been fired for this, others suspended, and the flack from the mayor's office, Jacqueline, also pointed out that while some calls were made by employees at the public library, they were not made by the librarians.
HEMMER: This is flack to you, by the way.
CAFFERTY: I feel better knowing that.
They've got nothing going on in Chicago?
HEMMER: "The Apprentice" is going there to build this new building for Trump.
SERWER: Call early and often, isn't that what they say in Chicago?
O'BRIEN: They're just trying to clarify the issue. I think that's OK.
CAFFERTY: And by the way, Jacqueline, my producer, Sarah, she loved talking with you yesterday. She thinks you guys could have a long-term relationship.
SERWER: I think this is going to carry on over the weekend.
CAFFERTY: The German government says it may soon lift its ban on sex in army barracks. A spokesman said it's because the ban's outdated. The changes will allow troops to have, quote, "partnership relations," within military facilities. Couples who are serving in the military will be able to live together, according to a draft for the changes. Somebody was having partnership relations in a tree in Central Park yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Did you see that yesterday?
CAFFERTY: Yes, in "The Daily News," these two...
SERWER: Really? Relations?
CAFFERTY: In "The Daily News," there was a pre-op transvestite and a guy in -- this is true, in a tree in Central Park for several hours. So the cops were climbing the tree. So come to New York. I mean, you can't see this stuff at Disney World.
SERWER: Let's go to the videotape.
O'BRIEN: There is videotape of it. I saw it this morning. There's a lot of blurring of things.
CAFFERTY: And finally, there's a night club. Cambridge is competing, Cambridge, Massachusetts, competing for the tourist dollar here in New York. On Monday nights, at this nightclub up there, they're sweating to punk rock. Watch this video. It turns out it's one of the latest trends in fitness. Participants do dances like skanking, moshing and pogoing. There are no mirrors, so people are not self conscious. And most of these people couldn't see the mirror if there was one.
SERWER: They'd break it.
CAFFERTY: One thing participants have in common is they're loathing, and I absolutely agree with them here, their loathing of gym bunnies, they call them, people who work out in those swanky gyms.
HEMMER: People like Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I like swanky gyms. You knows, nice things. They give you a towel, buy water. CAFFERTY: You can buy water.
O'BRIEN: You want to carry a brick?
SERWER: She was baiting you with that.
CAFFERTY: Buy water. Boy, there's an incentive.
O'BRIEN: And one day, when I'm working out again, I'm going to go back to my swanky gym, darn it.
CAFFERTY: We're going to start keeping a closer eye on Chicago in the Cafferty File, too. You're on notice out there.
O'BRIEN: Jacqueline, I apologize for everyone on the couch.
Still to come this morning, law enforcement on alert, concerns about terrorist sleeper cells here in the U.S. We're going to talk with one of America's top city cops just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 23, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. More cryptic comments are coming out of the Bush administration about the current threat from terrorists here in the U.S. We've got a guest coming up from the RAND Corporation, who is very familiar with the threat levels. We're going to try to find out whether the odds of an attack have actually gone up.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, in a moment here, does the risk of a heart attack increase with every hour you spend in your car? New findings that could be of serious concern for millions of drivers. What you can do to protect yourself in a few moments, and whether or not this is indeed the case. We'll get to it in a moment.
O'BRIEN: All right, top stories, though, first: the U.S. willing to rehire former members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist Party. Top U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, making an official announcement just a short time ago that thousands of former army officers and teachers will be allowed to return to their jobs. Bremer said de- Baathfication, as it is called, is a good policy, but it's implementation needs to be changed.
Sweden's ambassador to North Korea updating details on the train explosion there. He quotes North Koreans officials as saying the massive blast was caused by a live-wire spark. A Red Cross team has arrived on the scene. The accident taking place in Ryongchon, about 30 miles southeast of the Chinese border. Nearly 100 people, they say, are dead, more than 1,000 injured. We'll have more on the story, of course, that we are following throughout the show.
The trial for terrorist suspect Zacarias Moussaoui could be back on track. Moussaoui is the only person charged in the U.S. in connection with the September 11th terrorist attacks. A federal appeals court ruled yesterday to lift a ban on prosecutors presenting evidence relating to the hijackings. It also decided that the government can pursue the death penalty against him. Jury selection could begin as early as October.
The House overwhelmingly approved a so-called "doomsday bill" in response to terror fears. The long-stalled measure would require special elections within 45 days, if more than 100 members of the House were killed in an attack. Some believe that one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 was meant to target Capitol Hill.
And then turning to a much lighter note, a brouhaha, so to speak, has broken out, over one of the nation's most popular diets. Anheuser-Busch taking aim at the creator of the South Beach Diet over claims that maltose in beer causes beer bellies. Well, the brewer says there is no maltose in its products, and claims that beer is OK for dieters in moderation. The company, in fact, is running full-page adds to support its claim, starting today.
HEMMER: Beer causes something. Can't just make that stuff up, you know.
O'BRIEN: They're spending a million bucks on their ad campaign, so they're taking it very seriously.
HEMMER: That they are. It costs them business.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: U.S. officials said to be highly concerned about the potential for a terror attack here in the U.S. The attorney general yesterday saying that America remains a primary target for terrorists. Let's talk more about that with Brian Jenkins, senior adviser for the RAND Corporation, one of the world's leading authorities on terrorism. He's live in L.A. this morning.
Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING.
If you look at the events over the past 2 1/2 years, do Americans have more reason to be concerned now the threat of terrorism or less based on what's been put in place?
BRIAN JENKINS, SR. ADVISER, THE RAND CORP.: I would say that the threat continues to be about the same. Certainly, we have damaged the al Qaeda enterprise significantly. But nonetheless, we do remain vulnerable. They do remain determined to carry out attacks against the United States.
HEMMER: When you think about a lot of people are talking about going back to yesterday, to the fallout from the Madrid, Spain bombings, and the influence it had on the election there, there's a lot given the conventions in New York and Boston this summer and the general election early November, this coming year. Do you look at it the same way, between now and next November?
JENKINS: Well, look, to be sure, this will be the first time since 9/11 that we've had two major national political conventions, and those events will fall into the same category as the State of Union Addresses or some of the other major events, like the Olympics in Salt Lake City, things that we have had since 9/11 that have required extraordinary security measures.
At the same time, judging by the public comments that have been made, while the threat is real, the language used itself is notably feeble. It appears to be based largely upon speculation and surmise.
HEMMER: Is it the same for the June 30th handover date, 10 weeks away?
JENKINS: Well, I mean, look, we're dealing now with an escalating insurgency in Iraq. The violence level has been going up there in recent weeks, and I think as we come closer to that turnover date, I think, unfortunately, we can say that it is likely to be continued terrorist violence, at the very least, in the coming approximately 60, 68 days. I have difficulty thinking of a 68-day period over the past year when there hasn't been terrorist violence in Iraq. But, certainly, there's going to be a lot of jockeying among the various elements involved if this struggle who apparently can only agree on one thing and that is attacking Americans.
HEMMER: In 15 second or less, here, as you examine what has been done in the past 2 1/2 years, what needs to be done better in this country?
JENKINS: Oh, I think we have improved security. I think we still have to raise our consciousness level. One of the comments made in the CNN story yesterday from one of the officials said that these threats of an attack in this election year are based upon increasing awareness of terrorist capabilities and American vulnerability. Gosh, if 31 months after 9/11, that quote reflects the state of consciousness in Washington, God help us.
HEMMER: We'll leave it there. Brian Jenkins, thanks, live in L.A. this morning.
O'BRIEN: Well, you know what time it is. Each Friday around this time, we look at three of the stories big in the week with our "Gimme a Minute" panel, and we introduce you to the panel today. From Washington D.C., Jonah Goldberg, he's with the National Review Online.
Hello, Jonah. Good morning to you. Good to see you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: Democratic strategist and CNN political contributor Donna Brazile is with us as well.
Hello, Donna. Good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: And Andy Borowitz from "The New Yorker" is scheduled to be here with us, but he was unavoidably detained, which is what we always say when we don't want to tell you where you actually is. So Andy Serwer is pinch hitting for him this morning.
Thank you, Andy. Nice to see you.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: And I've seen you all morning.
So hey, hey, let's get going.
We're going to begin this morning with Jonah.
And, Jonah, I want to start with the cost of war debate, as you well know, that is raging in Congress right now. How much of this do you think is political? Don't you think the president should just come forward and tell us what the war is going to cost? I mean, don't all of us American taxpayers deserve that?
GOLDBERG: In fact we do. I think Bush should come forward and come up with a number. This doesn't absolve Democrats from opportunism. And I understand why the White House would be nervous about doing it; Bush has been terrible on spending. But the fact remains, we need more money, Bush should come out with it. He's a war president. Act like a war president.
O'BRIEN: Donna, at the same time, we heard from the joint chiefs, realistically, the situation is very fluid, as people like to say when maybe they don't really have a handle on what it is going to cost. So isn't there some truth in that they can't nail it down at this point yet?
BRAZILE: Well, I think they have nailed it down. General Meyers said this week that perhaps we need $4.7 million a month. That's on top of the $87 billion Congress has approved. Before they give them any more money, Congress should hold them accountable to the amount that they've already spent.
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, you are the money guy, what do you think?
SERWER: Well, it's ridiculous that the public should know this. Of course it's only their own money. The military has long had a don't ask, don't tell policy after all. And we mind find out that Ludacris was paid more money than Jessica Simpson on the USO Tour.
O'BRIEN: Don't ask, don't tell when it comes to money.
All right, you guys, moving on to our next topic, Bob Woodward's new book. All right, Donna, first and foremost, most damaging allegations against the White House. What are they?
BRAZILE: Seven-hundred million dollars being transferred from operations in Afghanistan to Iraq without telling one member of Congress.
O'BRIEN: Jonah, what do you think is the most positive thing to come out of this book for this administration?
GOLDBERG: I think the book actually works against all sorts of silly stories about Bush lying about WMDs, not being in charge, all those sorts of things, and overall, it's very positive for Bush.
O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, have you read the book? What do you think of it?
SERWER: I haven't read the book. I've read all about the book. I don't know about the good news. The bad news is that Colin Powell in the book told the president that he had a Pottery Barn problem, that if he broke Iraq, he'd have to pay for it. We find out that Pottery barn doesn't have a policy. It looks bad that Colin Powell didn't know that, particularly when Prince Bandar did. O'BRIEN: All right, Jonah, we're going to begin with you for our next question. The former Baathist officials and military officers apparently being brought back into the fold as a way to try to help get more influence in the Sunni minority and also take advantage of their expertise as well. Do you think this is a smart thing do?
GOLDBERG: Well, the American generals certainly seem to think about it. I think it's a very tough call. As long as they take it on a case by case basis, balancing justice with the specific needs of an individual and the specific crimes by that individual, it's probably a good policy.
O'BRIEN: I don't know, Donna, it sounds risky to me. What do you think?
BRAZILE: I totally agree with Jonah. It's a very risky proposition, given the fact that these are the former murderers and rapists, and now we're about to bring them back into the fold? I think we need to screen them before we rehire them.
O'BRIEN: They're said to have clean records, we should underscore them there, just to add a little something to that.
Andy, what do you think? Good idea or bad idea?
SERWER: Well, I think it's a good idea. It's very important for the president to show this, and in a power sharing move, I understand he's going to be asking Bill and Hillary back into the White House to demonstrate this to the Iraqis.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's end with our undercovered story of the week, and, Donna, What do you think we didn't cover?
Well, I think this week, you covered a lot about, you know, newsmakers, but one wonderful journalist here in Washington, Mary McGory, passed away. She was a great columnist, and everyone said she was a great writer, and I agree. But for those of us in this offer, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), and many children will miss her because she was also a great humanitarian.
O'BRIEN: Interesting sidebar to add to her life story.
Thank you for that, Donna.
How about you, Jonah? What do you think we didn't cover?
GOLDBERG: I haven't seen much coverage at all of the fact that two American police women working with peacekeepers in Kosovo were murdered, and several others wounded by Jordanian U.N. peacekeepers over a fight about Iraq. It should get a lot more coverage, and it should undermine all these talks about how great the U.N. is.
O'BRIEN: Interesting.
And all right, Andy Serwer, you're going to get the final word this morning. How about that? What do you think? SERWER: Michael Jackson indicted this week, Soledad. What we didn't know is that he just added a new member of his legal team, William Hung, from "American Idol" to choreograph his next car roof dance.
O'BRIEN: Ouch. All right. That's our final word this morning. You all, as always, thank you so much. You have a wonderful weekend, and we'll see you back here next week.
BRAZILE: Great job, Andy.
HEMMER: Andy Serwer in the house, how about that?
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: Pinch hitting.
O'BRIEN: And he rocks.
HEMMER: And he's doing a great job.
O'BRIEN: Pinch hitting and he rocks, as always.
SERWER: All right, thanks.
HEMMER: In a moment here, going to get you back to this North Korea story. We don't know exactly what's happening. The Red Cross is on the scene. A massive explosion of some sort. Word today of a different cause. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Major League Baseball gets into good grooming. Andy Serwer is going to be back to explain that.
HEMMER: In double time.
Hitting the highway might be bad for your heart. It might. Important new medical findings to talk about in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Sanjay is off today. But in medical news this morning, long hours of driving may actually increase the chance of a heart attack. There's a study out by the EPA saying air pollutants are -- from cars are the culprit.
Morton Lippmann, a professor of the New York University School of Medicine here to talk about it.
Good morning to you, professor.
How strong is this link between emissions and the heart?
MORTON LIPPMANN, NYU SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: The link between emissions and the heart is very strong. An increasing number of research studies are showing that the heart function changes in proportion to the fine particle concentration.
O'BRIEN: The function of the heart changes, you're saying. The fine particles, why so dangerous?
LIPPMANN: We really don't know yet. At my laboratory and at five other centers, supported by EPA for long-term research, we're beginning to hone in on what it is that makes the links. We do know from many population studies that there are links, that there's more mortality and hospital emissions for respiratory and cardiac disease when fine particle levels in the air go up. And so the associations are consistent and strong. The mechanisms, the biological mechanisms, that lead from one step to the next, are still, need more research.
O'BRIEN: Are the emissions from a car more dangerous to the human body than, say, other pollutants that you would find in the air?
LIPPMANN: The limited number of studies of pointing in that direction. When we do studies of human populations, making associations between the various sources, there are tracers from different sources. There's more sulfur from power plants. There's more organic stuff in cars. And so if you look at the tracers and try to separate which of the fine particles are most closely associated with effects, motor vehicle-related particles seem to be somewhat more dangerous than other fine particles.
O'BRIEN: Just to be clear, professor, this is a study right now, there is a link here.
LIPPMANN: Well, I really haven't been talking about the study that you referred to. That's another chain in the link of evidence that very clearly in a scientific sense shows that for these young highway patrolmen who spend nine hours in a vehicle, their next day's cardiac measurements show more change, change more closely associated with fine particle levels than any other measured pollutant. And there's an increasing change with increasing level of fine particles that were measured.
They looked at all of the other measured pollutants. The pollutant gases, carbon monoxide, SO2, and the associations were most clearly significant for the fine particles.
O'BRIEN: And more studies to come, I am certain.
LIPPMANN: There will be.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, professor. Nice to see you here. Morton Lippmann, here in New York -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, can today's markets match yesterday's huge rally? Andy Serwer has the early market signs just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: And welcome back, everybody. JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: If a critic was writing a review of the Microsoft earnings report, "boffo" would be the word that comes to mind -- boffo. Andy Sewer is here "Minding Your Business."
SERWER: Boffo, one of my favorite words, Jack.
That's if you leave aside those legal costs. But they're going to be doing that this morning on Wall Street, because that to just a one-time deal.
Let's check out what happened yesterday, because it was a boffo day all the way around.
143 points up on the Dow, and Nasdaq up above 2000, again, as William Hemmer pointed out earlier.
And things are looking pretty good this morning, mostly because Microsoft reported after the bell, Jack, so that's up this morning in premarket.
Also, durable goods orders, wow, really soaring last month, up 3.4 percent, more than five times what was expected. Also follows a great report in February. Those are things that last three years or longer, washers, dryers those kind of things. So the markets look good.
CAFFERTY: Yes, and Borowitz's agent said he's going to California to look for something up there.
No, you were very good I thought.
SERWER: Thanks.
CAFFERTY: On to The Cafferty File.
Yesterday, we told you this story from Chicago, where apparently there are no other issues apparently except this one. Workers there are being fired for making calls to sex and psychic hotlines. Don't you know, we get a call from some flack in the mayor's office. I think her name is Jacqueline something or another. At the time, I commented that the calls were being made on the taxpayers dime. Well, the flack said the phone company was picking up the bill for the calls, but the flack did not address that the calls were made while the city employees were on the clock, therefore, being paid by the taxpayers, therefore, it was on the taxpayers dime. In at least two places, people have been fired for this, others suspended, and the flack from the mayor's office, Jacqueline, also pointed out that while some calls were made by employees at the public library, they were not made by the librarians.
HEMMER: This is flack to you, by the way.
CAFFERTY: I feel better knowing that.
They've got nothing going on in Chicago?
HEMMER: "The Apprentice" is going there to build this new building for Trump.
SERWER: Call early and often, isn't that what they say in Chicago?
O'BRIEN: They're just trying to clarify the issue. I think that's OK.
CAFFERTY: And by the way, Jacqueline, my producer, Sarah, she loved talking with you yesterday. She thinks you guys could have a long-term relationship.
SERWER: I think this is going to carry on over the weekend.
CAFFERTY: The German government says it may soon lift its ban on sex in army barracks. A spokesman said it's because the ban's outdated. The changes will allow troops to have, quote, "partnership relations," within military facilities. Couples who are serving in the military will be able to live together, according to a draft for the changes. Somebody was having partnership relations in a tree in Central Park yesterday.
O'BRIEN: Did you see that yesterday?
CAFFERTY: Yes, in "The Daily News," these two...
SERWER: Really? Relations?
CAFFERTY: In "The Daily News," there was a pre-op transvestite and a guy in -- this is true, in a tree in Central Park for several hours. So the cops were climbing the tree. So come to New York. I mean, you can't see this stuff at Disney World.
SERWER: Let's go to the videotape.
O'BRIEN: There is videotape of it. I saw it this morning. There's a lot of blurring of things.
CAFFERTY: And finally, there's a night club. Cambridge is competing, Cambridge, Massachusetts, competing for the tourist dollar here in New York. On Monday nights, at this nightclub up there, they're sweating to punk rock. Watch this video. It turns out it's one of the latest trends in fitness. Participants do dances like skanking, moshing and pogoing. There are no mirrors, so people are not self conscious. And most of these people couldn't see the mirror if there was one.
SERWER: They'd break it.
CAFFERTY: One thing participants have in common is they're loathing, and I absolutely agree with them here, their loathing of gym bunnies, they call them, people who work out in those swanky gyms.
HEMMER: People like Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I like swanky gyms. You knows, nice things. They give you a towel, buy water. CAFFERTY: You can buy water.
O'BRIEN: You want to carry a brick?
SERWER: She was baiting you with that.
CAFFERTY: Buy water. Boy, there's an incentive.
O'BRIEN: And one day, when I'm working out again, I'm going to go back to my swanky gym, darn it.
CAFFERTY: We're going to start keeping a closer eye on Chicago in the Cafferty File, too. You're on notice out there.
O'BRIEN: Jacqueline, I apologize for everyone on the couch.
Still to come this morning, law enforcement on alert, concerns about terrorist sleeper cells here in the U.S. We're going to talk with one of America's top city cops just ahead. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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