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American Morning

Interview With Senator Joseph Lieberman; Likely Voters' Choice for President?; Michael Moore Muzzled

Aired May 06, 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. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld under fire, not only feeling the president's anger. He's being hit hard on Capitol Hill as well.
A deadly 24 hours in Baghdad. A suicide bomb attack at rush hour, a firefight, and a roadside explosion to talk about today.

And a man survives with six nails driven into his head. The full story this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: All right. Welcome to 9:00. Good morning, everyone. Soledad is out this week. Heidi Collins here filling in.

Good morning again to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Busy day today.

COLLINS: Yes, very busy day. In fact, some of the stories we're following now: the latest polls from shifted from President Bush and towards Senator John Kerry. A lot of money being spent on TV ads, but it doesn't seem to be what is influencing likely voters. We'll find out what is going on in just a few minutes.

HEMMER: Also this hour, Disney trying to avoid controversy apparently. Instead, they walked right into it. An update on what the company says and what Michael Moore says about his film, highly critical of the President and the White House. And our friend, Jack Cafferty, was all over this story at this time yesterday.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: That was an interesting morning yesterday. And that story is not going to go away for a while. Lots of stuff there.

Speaking of stories that might be around, President Bush took his secretary of defense to the woodshed yesterday; a little unscheduled meeting between Mr. Rumsfeld and the President. Tomorrow, Mr. Rumsfeld before a congressional committee. They are furious over the fact that they didn't find out about these pictures and this report about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Should the secretary of defense resign is the question. And we're getting a lot of e-mail. We'll read some of it a little bit later.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Thanks so much, Jack.

I want to get to the news now this morning. An overnight car bombing in central Baghdad has left at least seven people dead, including one U.S. soldier. The suicide attack taking place near the area that houses the U.S.-led coalition headquarters. Dozens of people also injured.

And two U.S. soldiers were killed, two others wounded in the Iraqi capital in a separate explosion. Military officials say the soldiers were killed after an improvised explosive device went off late last night.

President Bush has asked Congress for $25 billion to help cover military expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critics say the precise cost of next year's operations is not known and the President is low- balling the amount for political reasons.

At the World Trade Center site, they will be breaking ground on the 4th of July for the new Freedom Tower. New York Governor George Pataki says this is the first step in reclaiming the skyline. At 1,776 feet tall, the Freedom Tower will be the highest building in the world. The groundbreaking is ahead of schedule. It was not supposed to take place until September 11, which will mark three years since terrorists destroyed the twin towers.

And Mother Nature finally cooperating in California now. Cooler weather and a lot less wind is helping firefighters battling the raging wildfires in the southern portion of the state. More than 20,000 acres have burned.

And there is a smoky situation at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. A prescribed burn there jumped a containment line earlier yesterday. The flames threatening some buildings and roads. And the national landmark is closed now to hikers.

HEMMER: A shade of things to come, fire season.

COLLINS: It's going to be nasty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: An effort under way in the Senate to have Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison torn down. In our last hour here on AMERICAN MORNING, Intelligence Committee chairman Senator Pat Roberts telling us that tearing down that prison would exercise a symbol of Saddam Hussein's regime and help end the deepening prisoner abuse scandal. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifying tomorrow about that scandal before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, a member of that committee, live with us today on Capitol Hill.

Senator, great to have you back. Good morning.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Good to be with you, Bill. Thank you.

HEMMER: There are grumblings throughout Washington from some corners that say Donald Rumsfeld should step down and resign and take the fall for this. You told Wolf last night on CNN you don't think that should be the case. Tell us why.

LIEBERMAN: Well, there is not evidence to convict Secretary Rumsfeld of the kind of wrongdoing that would lead him to resign or the President to ask his resignation. We're just at the beginning of an inquiry in this.

I hope tomorrow, when Secretary Rumsfeld comes before our committee, he's not defensive. In fact, he needs to be aggressive and quick to get to the root of how this happened and tell the world, not just America and Congress, what we're doing to make sure it never happens again so that we do not do further dishonor to the cause which leads us to fight in Iraq, and to the 135,000 American soldiers who are serving there with extraordinary honor and bravery every day.

HEMMER: Take the end of your statement and pile on here. You say the Pentagon has weakened our position, meaning the U.S. position. How so?

LIEBERMAN: Well, this from last night. What I meant was these horrific acts, these immoral and intolerable acts committed by Americans against these Iraqi prisoners, have hurt our cause in Iraq by the effective hat on Arab and Islamic opinion. Because in the long run, the war on terrorism is not just about capturing and/or killing the terrorists. It's about winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the Islamic world.

And obviously, what happened here, committed by a small number of Americans, has hurt our cause there. And we've got to clean it up quickly and get back to the war in these critical days and weeks before the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

HEMMER: Senator, many have suggested that the White House, and the Pentagon, for that matter, have not been out in front of the story in the way they have in so many times in the past three and a half years. With that behind us, and looking toward the testimony tomorrow, your critical question is what that you want answered?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I mean, the basic question, obviously, is how did this happen? And I want to ask the secretary to look critically at himself and everybody else. Did some of the decisions he made about not fully applying the rules of the Geneva Convention to these Iraqi prisoners in any way contribute to the immoral and intolerable acts that occurred?

Was there some -- well, how did this breakdown in discipline occur? Now, I'm concerned, as others here are, about the fact that we in Congress, the White House, apparently, didn't know that this was going on. But I must say my greater concern is that the way the Pentagon handled this, which is classic organizational response, hide bad news -- in fact, has heard our cause -- the Army acted quickly and responsibly when the soldier first reported this aberrant behavior. They investigated it. A report was done. The report should have been issued publicly on the day or two after General Tacuba (ph) made it. And we would have gotten ahead of this in world opinion.

HEMMER: Senator, I don't have much time for this. If we could do it in 15 seconds, that would be great.

LIEBERMAN: Sure.

HEMMER: You're privy to much more information at this point than we are with private hearings on Capitol Hill earlier in the week. Will this story get worse before it gets better?

LIEBERMAN: The truth is, Bill, we don't know. I mean, we know that there are at least 11 pending investigations. Obviously, we hope now that there is a broad scale -- I've called for a stand-down, that everybody involved in our prison system in Iraq, Afghanistan, throughout the world, stand down for a day and be asked is anything else like this going on? We've got to flush it out, get to the bottom of it, and then get back to winning the war on terrorism.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator. Joe Lieberman on Capitol Hill.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is weighing in with his take on the prison abuse scandal. Yesterday in Los Angeles, Senator Kerry singled out Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I called for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation months ago based on his miscalculations with respect to Iraq and based on the lack of a plan to win the peace. With respect to this particular incident, we've got to have the facts.

I want to know, as I think Americans do, is this isolated? Does it go up the chain of command? Who knew what, when? All of those questions have to be answered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Senator Kerry also echoed the call of an all-out investigation of the scam.

A new Gallup poll shows a dead heat, though, in the race for the White House. Among likely voters polled, both President Bush and Senator Kerry got 47 percent support, and Independent Ralph Nader received 3 percent. That's a significant shift from nearly three weeks ago, when the President led by six percentage points.

Earlier, I spoke with CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. I asked him for his take on these new numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: These numbers might indicate the beginning of momentum for Kerry. Democrats have been waiting and waiting and waiting and saying when he is going to gain some traction?

They do show a bit of a lift for Kerry, and principally because the president's job approval ratings are down by that same three points. He's now getting a 49 percent job approval rating. To be pretty sure of reelection, the President needs at least 50. So we're in the range right now where the president's reelection has to be considered in doubt because his job approval is just below 50 percent.

COLLINS: In fact, we're looking at those numbers now. And if you go all the way back to January, you see there 60 percent as opposed to 49 percent now. I mean, that's quite a jump, wouldn't you say?

SCHNEIDER: That is. There was a big shift.

What's happening right now is there are growing questions about Mr. Bush's policies in Iraq, about his stewardship of the economy. Those have been accumulating all year. But the big problem is Democrats are dismayed because John Kerry hasn't been able to gain much traction out of Mr. Bush's problems. That's because the White House has raised a lot of questions about Kerry.

Most voters don't know a great deal about John Kerry right now. The White House has raised questions about whether he's steadfast and steady at a time of great uncertainty, whether he can meet the threat of terrorism with staunch leadership comparable to the president's. So while Americans have doubts about President Bush, they're not yet ready at this point to say they put their confidence in the Democrat.

COLLINS: Tell me, Bill, if you think the controversy over Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse there, do you think that's what's hurting the President?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that certainly is contributing to it, but, of course, there has been mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq all year. Americans have always expressed confidence in the mission in Iraq. They felt like we're doing the right thing, but we're not doing it right.

Now, for the first time, with growing casualties in the month of April, since the insurrection began, and now with the revelations that there was mistreatment of prisoners, a lot of Americans are saying what are we doing there? Why are we there? How are we going to get out of there? And those are beginning to create real questions about the mission.

COLLINS: And as you know, Bill, here has been quite a bit of talk about whether or not the President actually really apologized, used those words, "I'm sorry." You may remember way back, when President Kennedy did apologize for the Bay of Pigs, and that approval rating of his just kind of skyrocketed. Do you think there would have been a change here if President Bush had done the same?

SCHNEIDER: I'm doubtful. I think the President expressed regret on behalf of the United States. He might have gone one step further and apologized on behalf of the American people.

There was not quite the same thing as, for instance, President Clinton apologizing for his behavior in the Monica Lewinsky episode, or even President Kennedy in Bay of Pigs. Those were policies in which they were directly involved and were directly responsible.

Here, clearly, there were actions by United States military personnel. Perhaps the President should have known about it. There is no evidence he did until the rest of the world knew about it. And he expressed regret on behalf of the United States of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider with us earlier this morning. The new Gallup poll reflects a survey of 1,000 adults and has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

HEMMER: In a moment here, how is the Arab world responding to President Bush's vow that "justice will be delivered" for apparent prison abuses?

Back in a moment with that story.

COLLINS: What's really behind the flak between Disney and Michael Moore? We'll take a look at that as well.

HEMMER: Also, how does anyone survive this? The story of a man who has on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: That press briefing in Baghdad, the U.S. civilian administrator there, Paul Bremer, calling on those loyal to Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadder to lay down their arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: Establishment of lawful tranquility requires Muqtada and his armed followers no more, no less, than what is required of all citizens. First, Muqtada must face Iraqi justice for the crime of which he has been accused. And second, his armed followers must disarm, as must the members of all such groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That appeal from Ambassador Bremer following the appeal of a number of Shiite clerics throughout the week, urging the same for Muqtada al-Sadder. Bremer held that conference in Baghdad about 45 minutes ago, naming a new provincial governor in Najaf in an attempt to try and restore order there.

Meanwhile, in Najaf, U.S. forces rolling into the town and taking over the governor's office without any resistance, we're told. This word just into us from CNN's Jane Arraf, calling the development dramatic, saying that it indicates now the U.S. military is in the stages of establishing control of that town. That move follows weeks of clashes between coalition forces and al-Sadr's followers around the holy city and predominantly on the outskirts of it.

Much more when we get it -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Miramax Films confirms its parent company, Walt Disney, won't allow it to release Michael Moore's new documentary. But Disney says Moore is free to find another distributor or to distribute the film himself. The documentary, "Fahrenheit 911," criticizes President Bush's handling of the terror attacks.

Jen Rogers takes a look at the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Moore has never hidden his feelings about President Bush.

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: He was never elected by a majority of the citizens of this country, and I'll keep saying that until he's out of there.

ROGERS: Now, in his latest documentary, "Fahrenheit 911," he's taking his criticisms to the big screen, or at least trying to. The movie, said to be sharply critical of Bush, and according to The New York times, links Bush and prominent Saudis, including the family is of Osama bin Laden, has become the center of controversy after Moore announced on his Web site that the Walt Disney company was blocking distribution by its subsidiary, Miramax.

MOORE: It's disappointing that Disney doesn't want people to see this. You know, there are no bad things in it. You know, there is no sex and violence. There's just some truth about what's happening to this country.

ROGERS: In a statement, Miramax said, "We're discussing the issue with Disney. We're looking at all of our options and look forward to resolving this amicably." But for Disney's part, there doesn't seem much left to resolve.

MICHAEL EISNER, CEO, DISNEY: We just chose not to be involved.

ROGERS (on camera): Any chance that Disney will change their mind?

EISNER: We've made our position very clear on that.

ROGERS (voice-over): In a written statement, the company said, "In May 2003, the Walt Disney Company communicated to Miramax and Mr. Moore's representatives that Miramax would not be the distributor of his film. Contrary to his assertion, Mr. Moore has had and continues to have every opportunity to either find another distributor or to distribute the film himself." Regardless of who actually ends up distributing Moore's film, the current controversy is publicity money can't buy.

MATT FELLING, THE CENTER FOR MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS: The big winner in this entire fiasco is Michael Moore and Michael Moore's publicity team. They should send thank you cards to the Disney people.

ROGERS: For now, dueling press releases will have to do.

(on camera): While the release date for Moore's new movie may still be months away, congressional hearings could be held sooner. On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey called for the Senate Commerce Committee to look into what he has called the pattern of politically-based corporate censorship.

Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Moore says he will screen the film next week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Bill?

HEMMER: A couple of medical stories got our attention, Heidi. Last month, Isidro Mejia fell from a roof and onto a co-worker who was using a nail gun. Six nails were driven into his head. Amazing x- rays.

Doctors say three of the nails penetrated his brain, one entered his spine just below the base of his skull. A neurosurgeon removed the nails at a hospital in LA and says his recovery has been absolutely remarkable.

A guy who knows a lot about this, our own neurosurgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Good morning to you, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Really.

HEMMER: You've seen this before, too, though?

GUPTA: Well, not six nails.

HEMMER: That's true. Half a dozen.

GUPTA: It's pretty remarkable. Half a dozen nails all into the guy's head.

If you could take a look at those films again, you know, you look at the side profile, you look at the front profile, important images. Why? Because you can see that these nails actually do go into the guy's brain. This is a delicate situation for any doctor, neurosurgeon in this case, removing those nails. He said he passed out.

I actually have a three and a half inch nail here. You can measure it, and you can see that that's the length of it. Take a look, though, of just how far that's going to go into somebody's head.

HEMMER: Yes.

GUPTA: That's no joke here.

HEMMER: More than halfway into the forehead.

GUPTA: Why does someone survive this? If there is a significant blood vessel, a major blood vessel that is hit, that's going to be a problem. In his case, apparently that did not happen.

It sounds like he's making a pretty good recovery. He's probably going to have a little bit of trouble in terms of neurological recovery, maybe in terms of his speech. One of the speech areas affected there, and maybe in terms of his strength a little bit. He's in a wheelchair, although that might be standard post-operative stuff.

HEMMER: Yes. He is tough as nails, too.

You raised a good question. How do you get six nails in your head? There was actually a police investigation...

GUPTA: Yes, there was.

HEMMER: ... that was involved. And I guess the man who had the gun was cleared of charges.

GUPTA: I looked at these x-rays very closely, actually, because if you look at where the front of the nails, the back of the nails in all of those pictures, you'll actually see that they all seem to come from relatively the same trajectory. Even though if you look at the x-ray it seems like it's all over the head, they come from relatively the same trajectory. Hard to predict in a situation like this, Bill, how exactly did they fall, all that sort of thing.

HEMMER: Listen, we got caught up in a conversation yesterday afternoon watching this videotape from the chopper, News Channel 4, WNBC here in New York, crashing on to the top of a building in Brooklyn covering a breaking news story on Tuesday afternoon here in New York. What you point out is how the rate of dissension is slowed by number of factors with that helicopter descending into that building. And that saved the live of those three people involved.

How can you explain, medically speaking, how that's possible?

GUPTA: I know. When you look at images like that, hard to believe. Three separate decelerations this chopper goes through.

First of all, it's just sort of hovering there. Then it has the first deceleration there, boom. Another one there, and then a third one. That's significant because it decelerated over a period of time. If this helicopter were to come straight down without it having hovered like that, without having sort of slowed down like that, that would have been a much more significant problem.

Bill, I know you watch NASCAR from time to time. You look at those car wrecks sometimes. Sometimes a relatively innocuous or harmless-looking car wreck can cause significant injuries inside because there is a quick deceleration. Whereas if the car is rotating and tumbling all over, it looks really terrible, but, in fact, not that bad, why? Because it had a longer time to decelerate.

HEMMER: In addition, the equipment inside that helicopter, as Jack was talking about earlier -- inside the NASCAR, too, for that matter -- it helps to decelerate that rate of speed.

GUPTA; If you look at that the concept behind all of that, that is the concept.

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

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: Still to come, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld goes to the Capitol tomorrow to answer questions about abused Iraqi prisoners. Should he look for work on the way? Your answers just ahead.

Plus, which make of SUV would offer you and your family the most protection in certain crashes? Some new government information to consider coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Going to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day, once again.

CAFFERTY: President Bush called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to the White House yesterday. It was an unscheduled meeting, meaning he probably got chewed on a little bit, criticized for his handling of the Iraqi prisoner issue. Tomorrow, Mr. Rumsfeld goes before a congressional committee. That's just got to be great theater.

Lawmakers from both parties angry that they found out about these pictures only when they surfaced in the media, even though the military had the pictures for a long time. The question remains, how far up the chain of command did the information go, and why wasn't it dealt with sooner at a higher level? The question we have posed this morning is whether or not Mr. Rumsfeld ought to resign, because typically somebody winds up paying the price when something like this happens.

Lots of mail. Hundreds and hundreds of letters.

Martha in Virginia: "No, Rumsfeld should not resign. How can he or the president be held responsible for the abuse that happened in Iraq? It would be like a police chief taking the heat for the actions of a cop. Certainly, both Rumsfeld and the president need to make sure that the people that did this face trial, but nothing would be accomplished by Rumsfeld resigning."

Mark in Rochester: "In no way do I condone the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. But while we're all focusing hours of media condemnation on this, and on Rumsfeld, where's the outrage by the media when we see Iraqi citizens dancing in the streets over dead U.S. soldiers? That story lasts two days and then the media moves on."

And Celia in Lawrence, Kansas -- Jim Ryan, remember the distance runner? Lawrence, Kansas, KU -- "There's no doubt in my mind," writes Celia, "that the Bush administration will get to the bottom of the prison abuse scandal. I am, however, extremely skeptical that it will get to the top of it."

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Big response, huh?

CAFFERTY: Lots and lots of response.

HEMMER: Imagine if you are a Marine or a soldier over there, trying to fight the best fight possible, and seeing this stuff?

COLLINS: Yes, nobody's more upset than them, that's for sure.

Still to come, though, this morning, the end of a television era tonight. Jack will be watching closely. The "Friends" say their goodbye. That, and the weekend movie preview, coming up on "90-Second Pop."

Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: It's 9:32 here in New York. Welcome back. Heidi is in for Soledad again today.

Good morning to you.

COLLINS: Good morning.

HEMMER: Talking about California, the fire officials out there believe they're getting atop the current fires. Their first taste of the fire season, but a bitter one, too. A full report in a moment here, what's happening today. Better news, anyway, from overnight last night.

COLLINS: Yes, that's for sure.

Really bad news, though, for all of the fans of "Friends." We're going to be losing them tonight, and people have been talking about the final episode for quite a while. What story lines will be settled and where we be left hanging? Our "90-Second Pop" crew will tell us what to expect on that one. Standing by, right?

HEMMER: You got it.

COLLINS: OK. Want to get now to the news of the morning, though. We begin in Iraq, where U.S. forces have rolled into the holy city of Najaf. The U.S. military is said to be in the early stages of reestablishing control of the city from militia loyal to Muqtada al- Sadr, which has a strong presence there.

The U.S. troops have also taken over the governor's office in Najaf without any resistance. More than 20 insurgents have been killed in firefights in that region.

Britain is reportedly considering sending more troops into Iraq. There are 7,500 British soldiers already stationed there. The additional troops would make up the shortfall following Spain's withdrawal of 1,300 soldiers. Honduras and the Dominican Republic also pulled out. Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons yesterday the soldiers may be sent to various parts of Iraq.

The Middle East will be the focus of discussions today when President Bush hosts Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House. The visit was postponed last month after the president endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. Sharon's ruling party has since rejected that plan.

And in baseball, a milestone for Roger Clemens. He moved into second place on the career strikeout list. Clemens slipping into the number two spot, passing Steve Carlton last night in the fifth inning with his 4,137th strikeout. Unbelievable.

Houston beat Pittsburgh 6-2. Clemens still trails Nolan Ryan, though, who tops the list with 5,714 strikeouts.

HEMMER: What a career. Roger Clemens throwing darts for Houston, 6 and 0 already this year.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prepping for his demand performance tomorrow on Capitol Hill. How is the president's appearance, though, yesterday on Arab language TV network playing out in that part of the world?

Samer Shehata, a professor at Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Centers has been looking into that for us. He's with us live in D.C.

Good morning to you. Good to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

SAMER SHEHATA, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Here is the president, in part, from yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to tell the people of the Middle East that the practices that took place in that prison are abhorrent and they don't represent America. They represent the actions of a few people.

Secondly, it's important for people to understand that in a democracy, that there will be a full investigation of it. We want to know the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Very serious tone. Is that enough?

SHEHATA: It's not enough. All of the press satellite television, as well as newspapers, are reporting the president's comments in the interviews. But I think it's having minimal to no impact whatsoever. The damage has already been done, and the photos are so powerful. And there are so many more photos that are coming out.

HEMMER: If he were to say "I'm sorry," if he were to apologize -- and granted, that question was not posed to him directly yesterday and the words did not come from his mouth -- what does that mean in the Arab world to say those words?

SHEHATA: Well, I think it would have gone significantly further than what happened yesterday. There wasn't that much emotion in his remarks, unlike, for example, General Kimmitt, who seemed to be genuinely sorry as it were and talked about his men. I think it would of helped a little bit, but as I said, I think this is an irreparable situation. The damage is too great, and people in the Arab world, in the newspapers and on television, are calling for much more immediate action.

HEMMER: Action such as what?

SHEHATA: They're calling human rights groups, for example, in Beirut and Cairo, are calling for an independent investigation by a non-U.S. government body like the U.N. Commission for Human Rights, for example, or other human rights organizations. And the papers today in the Arab world are openly mocking the idea that the war in Iraq was "for the liberation of Iraq," and are saying that, "the U.S. has no credibility whatsoever when it comes to issues like democracyization and so on."

HEMMER: Is that only because of a result of the prison investigation, or is that the position before?

SHEHATA: No. Certainly, before the U.S. had a very bad image in the Arab world, and it was largely because of particular policies that are very -- people are very unhappy about. But this has really gone to a new point.

People are disgusted and horrified by the photos, and are furious. And it's interesting. The Arabic press today is somewhat similar to the American press, with many of the papers focusing on what President Bush said about Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, that he still has confidence in him. And a number of the Arabic papers said that the responsibility really goes with the Department of Defense.

HEMMER: Senator Pat Roberts was on our program about an hour and a half ago. He's suggesting you tear down that prison, Abu Ghraib, and show that as a symbol, much like the Saddam statue that came down about a year ago, or more than that, anyway, would show the Iraqi people that again they are serious about rooting this out. Would that hold water in Iraq?

SHEHATA: I think that would certainly help. I think that allowing groups like the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society to do prison visits would also help.

But in the Arabic press, people are talking about Guantanamo, for example, and the prisoners there. There are so many individuals from all throughout the Muslim world at Guantanamo, so people are wondering whether this is really the tip of the iceberg, how serious and endemic these kinds of problems are.

HEMMER: Samer Shehata in D.C., thanks.

SHEHATA: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: This morning, cooler weather is helping firefighters control several southern California he would wildfires. Still, the devastation from the fast-moving flames has been widespread. Ted Rowlands reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The combination of a weather shift and around-the-clock work from thousands of firefighters is helping to bring the year's first round of California wildfires under control. Fourteen homes have been destroyed and more than 22,000 acres blackened by six separate fires since they started last weekend.

People evacuated from their homes are coming back to dramatically different scenes. This house near the city of Temecula, east of Los Angeles, was in the middle of the fire zone but was untouched.

JANET NICH, HOMEOWNER: I just couldn't believe it that the house was saved. It was fantastic.

ROWLANDS: People living at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony are not as lucky. The only thing left of the world renowned artists' retreat is the charred remains of nine buildings and two cottages. Lost in the fire are decades worth of work and numerous antiques, including a 1920 Steinway concert grand piano which is said to have been played by Russian pianist Sergey Rachmaninov during visits to the colony.

KAREN PARROTT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DORLAND MOUNTAIN ARTS COLONY: Everything gone. It's been a bit to take in.

ROWLANDS (on camera): While they believe they have the upper hand, firefighters are expected to keep a very close eye on the two largest fires in the region, both centered in Riverside County. It is expected, barring any change in the weather, that full containment will be achieved in all of these fires by the end of the week.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Temecula, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Fire officials are saying the season's first wildfires burned with an intensity usually not seen until late summer.

Still to come this morning, why some folks don't want Wal-Mart in their neighborhood. Andy Serwer has that.

HEMMER: Also, in a moment here, what will happen to Rachel and Ross? More on the "Friends" finale later tonight in "90-Second Pop."

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Oh, isn't it sad? It's time now for another all new edition of "90-Second Pop." And the gang's all here.

Andy borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold"; Sarah Bernard, a contributing editor for New York Magazine; and B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for US Weekly, thanks for being here, guys.

What are we going to do?

SARAH BERNARD, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: It's a big night tonight. You haven't heard?

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: I didn't get the memo.

COLLINS: OK. So the finale is finally here. We've been hearing about it for quite sometime. Sarah, tell me, why has this show had such an incredible impact on pop culture?

BERNARD: OK. I thought about this. The main reason is because everyone wants to have a group of friends that's like their family. It is the "St. Elmo's Fire" tradition, where you have these attractive, supportive, funny group of friends that really become the people, especially in New York City -- everyone says you make your own family by who you know here. And that's really what it is.

It's like everyone wants to have that kind of group of friends. There are so many loose ends to tie up tonight. There's the Ross and Rachel, obviously. They're like Lucy and Desi. They've become this romantic couple that will go down in TV history.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: They do.

BERNARD: They have to be together. Well, Monica is going to have her -- you know, Monica and Chandler and the baby. But I really want to know who is going to get their apartments? OK? For me, that is the ultimate.

COLLINS: You New Yorker, you!

BERNARD: Yes.

B.J. SIGESMUND, US WEEKLY: The thing is people are a little sick of the hype. I've been hearing a lot of complaints about the hype. But NBC is expecting half of the televisions in the country to be tuned into "Friends" tonight, and they are charging $200 million for every commercial.

BERNARD: That's worth it.

BOROWITZ: That's the Super Bowl rate.

COLLINS: Yes, I was going to say that's Super Bowl money.

BOROWITZ: So much of the appeal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I think is just seeing these incredibly hot, sexy people sitting around on a couch talking, which also is a lot of the appeal of "90-Second Pop."

BERNARD: Hey, that sounds kind of familiar.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so. So we're prepared to carry on the torch.

COLLINS: Oh, good.

SIGESMUND: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like be prepared, because "Joey," the show on in the fall, you know, the Matt LeBlanc spin-off, that could last three weeks. I mean, it could be bad. The chemistry among the six friends is something that happens once in a million...

BOROWITZ: I think David Schwimmer, though, will be awesome in the center square, though. Don't you think?

COLLINS: All right, guys, we've got to move on to the next topic: Mary Kate and Ashley, which I have been told not the Olson twins. They are definitely separate gals. Their new movie, "The New York Minute," they've had their hands really in this from top to bottom, producing-wise.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

COLLINS: But B.J., you say it's not so great?

SIGESMUND: Well, they're -- no, it's not so great. This is the first weekend of the summer movie season. This is not such a great movie. I'm expecting the tweens who adore Mary Kate and Ashley Olson will be there. But it's really a silly movie.

BERNARD: And older guys.

SIGESMUND: And old me. Young girls and old men are going to be going to see this. You know, they play Long Island twins who are very different who get chased across Manhattan over one day.

BOROWITZ: Why?

SIGESMUND: The best thing about it is the hair, actually. Why? It's too complicated to explain.

BOROWITZ: OK.

SIGESMUND: They're holding on to some computer chip that has music downloading stuff.

BERNARD: Don't worry about that kind of stuff.

SIGESMUND: Don't worry about that.

COLLINS: It sounds very complicated, though.

SIGESMUND: It's not.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: To me, this weekend, it's a choice between "Van Helsing" or the Olson twins movie. And I'm going to see "Van Helsing" because I don't like scary films.

BERNARD: I don't think it's going to matter. I think that "New York Minute" is going to be number one for the next couple of weeks. They have such a big draw.

BOROWITZ: They were promoting it on Al Jazeera last night.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: "Van Helsing" is going to be number one. It's playing this $150 million B movie. It's Hugh Jackman playing this 19th century crusader who goes after Count Dracula. The earlier reviews have been really bad.

Colleagues of mine saw it, said it's like century overload. You don't know where to look on the screen. It's a big mess.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much for being with us today. We appreciate your time so much. Andy, Sarah, and B.J., thanks.

Bill?

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Here is Aaron Brown now with a preview of what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Thank you, Bill.

Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," from Rochester, New York, a wife and mother brutally murdered. Her husband charged and doesn't deny the killing. He says he did it to save his family's honor, his Muslim family honor. Police say it is the first so-called honor killing ever in the United States identical to murders that have occurred widely in the Muslim world.

That story, plus all of today's top news, morning papers and the rest, on "NEWSNIGHT," CNN, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.

HEMMER: We'll see you then, Aaron. Thanks.

In a moment, first a small town in California, now some in Chicago are hoping to stop Wal-Mart from coming to town. Andy has details on that. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: First, it was Los Angeles. Now, Wal-Mart is running into trouble in Chicago. With that, and a check of the market action, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" today.

Big report coming out.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: That's right. Tomorrow is the big day, Heidi. That's the jobs report. But today, wave got some other stuff to talk about. Let's check in and look at the market first.

A little bit of slip sliding away. Down 41 on the Dow. What is happening this morning?

Oil prices are higher. That's one thing. Also, we did have some good news on the jobless front. New jobless claims at a low since going back to October of 2003, 315,000.

Also, productivity up, which is good news. But here is a little interesting thing: a whiff of inflation. Job wages going up a little bit, and that is something that is probably rattling the markets probably.

One stock very active today, McDonald's. More news coming out of the company this morning that is pretty interesting stuff. You may remember a couple of week ago, their CEO, Jim Cantalupo, passed away. Now we learn that Charlie Bell, the new CEO, had surgery, successful surgery for colorectal cancer, the company just announced.

Wow. How about that? Two weeks in a row.

One analyst saying -- listen to this -- "It always undermines the stability of a company when your CEO dies and the other one has to have surgery." Always. Always? How often does that happen?

Anyway, let's talk about this Wal-Mart situation, because, you know, a lot of people think that Wal-Mart is big brother. Obviously, the biggest company in the United States, the largest employer. Trying to open up a couple of big stores in Chicago, and the city council delaying plans for them to change some zoning laws, saying we want to study this thing a little further. A lot of protesters saying that Wal-Mart, yes, they would be creating new jobs, but they're low paying jobs.

Well, news flash. I don't think Goldman Sachs is going to be moving in there anytime soon, so it might be a good idea to let these Wal-Marts go ahead. I mean, you're going to get a lot of low-cost goods as well. So that controversy continues. They had some similar problems in California, so we'll be watching that.

COLLINS: All right. Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Coming up on CNN, the Bush administration trying to get on top of the deepening Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. The story could be behind some movement in the latest opinion polls. All of the details coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.

AMERICAN MORNING will be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We've got to run. Thanks for being with us. Today, tomorrow, and Friday morning, right here, same time on AMERICAN MORNING. Daryn Kagan now at the CNN Center.

Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Already developing into a very busy breaking news day. We're going to get started right away.

Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan.

We have another dramatic story developing this hour. It is coming out of Najaf, Iraq. U.S. forces have rolled into the city and taken control of the governor's office. Our Jane Arraf joins us by videophone...


Aired May 6, 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. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld under fire, not only feeling the president's anger. He's being hit hard on Capitol Hill as well.
A deadly 24 hours in Baghdad. A suicide bomb attack at rush hour, a firefight, and a roadside explosion to talk about today.

And a man survives with six nails driven into his head. The full story this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: All right. Welcome to 9:00. Good morning, everyone. Soledad is out this week. Heidi Collins here filling in.

Good morning again to you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Busy day today.

COLLINS: Yes, very busy day. In fact, some of the stories we're following now: the latest polls from shifted from President Bush and towards Senator John Kerry. A lot of money being spent on TV ads, but it doesn't seem to be what is influencing likely voters. We'll find out what is going on in just a few minutes.

HEMMER: Also this hour, Disney trying to avoid controversy apparently. Instead, they walked right into it. An update on what the company says and what Michael Moore says about his film, highly critical of the President and the White House. And our friend, Jack Cafferty, was all over this story at this time yesterday.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: That was an interesting morning yesterday. And that story is not going to go away for a while. Lots of stuff there.

Speaking of stories that might be around, President Bush took his secretary of defense to the woodshed yesterday; a little unscheduled meeting between Mr. Rumsfeld and the President. Tomorrow, Mr. Rumsfeld before a congressional committee. They are furious over the fact that they didn't find out about these pictures and this report about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Should the secretary of defense resign is the question. And we're getting a lot of e-mail. We'll read some of it a little bit later.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. Thanks so much, Jack.

I want to get to the news now this morning. An overnight car bombing in central Baghdad has left at least seven people dead, including one U.S. soldier. The suicide attack taking place near the area that houses the U.S.-led coalition headquarters. Dozens of people also injured.

And two U.S. soldiers were killed, two others wounded in the Iraqi capital in a separate explosion. Military officials say the soldiers were killed after an improvised explosive device went off late last night.

President Bush has asked Congress for $25 billion to help cover military expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan. Critics say the precise cost of next year's operations is not known and the President is low- balling the amount for political reasons.

At the World Trade Center site, they will be breaking ground on the 4th of July for the new Freedom Tower. New York Governor George Pataki says this is the first step in reclaiming the skyline. At 1,776 feet tall, the Freedom Tower will be the highest building in the world. The groundbreaking is ahead of schedule. It was not supposed to take place until September 11, which will mark three years since terrorists destroyed the twin towers.

And Mother Nature finally cooperating in California now. Cooler weather and a lot less wind is helping firefighters battling the raging wildfires in the southern portion of the state. More than 20,000 acres have burned.

And there is a smoky situation at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. A prescribed burn there jumped a containment line earlier yesterday. The flames threatening some buildings and roads. And the national landmark is closed now to hikers.

HEMMER: A shade of things to come, fire season.

COLLINS: It's going to be nasty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: An effort under way in the Senate to have Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison torn down. In our last hour here on AMERICAN MORNING, Intelligence Committee chairman Senator Pat Roberts telling us that tearing down that prison would exercise a symbol of Saddam Hussein's regime and help end the deepening prisoner abuse scandal. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testifying tomorrow about that scandal before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator Joe Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, a member of that committee, live with us today on Capitol Hill.

Senator, great to have you back. Good morning.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (D), CONNECTICUT: Good to be with you, Bill. Thank you.

HEMMER: There are grumblings throughout Washington from some corners that say Donald Rumsfeld should step down and resign and take the fall for this. You told Wolf last night on CNN you don't think that should be the case. Tell us why.

LIEBERMAN: Well, there is not evidence to convict Secretary Rumsfeld of the kind of wrongdoing that would lead him to resign or the President to ask his resignation. We're just at the beginning of an inquiry in this.

I hope tomorrow, when Secretary Rumsfeld comes before our committee, he's not defensive. In fact, he needs to be aggressive and quick to get to the root of how this happened and tell the world, not just America and Congress, what we're doing to make sure it never happens again so that we do not do further dishonor to the cause which leads us to fight in Iraq, and to the 135,000 American soldiers who are serving there with extraordinary honor and bravery every day.

HEMMER: Take the end of your statement and pile on here. You say the Pentagon has weakened our position, meaning the U.S. position. How so?

LIEBERMAN: Well, this from last night. What I meant was these horrific acts, these immoral and intolerable acts committed by Americans against these Iraqi prisoners, have hurt our cause in Iraq by the effective hat on Arab and Islamic opinion. Because in the long run, the war on terrorism is not just about capturing and/or killing the terrorists. It's about winning the battle for the hearts and minds of the Islamic world.

And obviously, what happened here, committed by a small number of Americans, has hurt our cause there. And we've got to clean it up quickly and get back to the war in these critical days and weeks before the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.

HEMMER: Senator, many have suggested that the White House, and the Pentagon, for that matter, have not been out in front of the story in the way they have in so many times in the past three and a half years. With that behind us, and looking toward the testimony tomorrow, your critical question is what that you want answered?

LIEBERMAN: Well, I mean, the basic question, obviously, is how did this happen? And I want to ask the secretary to look critically at himself and everybody else. Did some of the decisions he made about not fully applying the rules of the Geneva Convention to these Iraqi prisoners in any way contribute to the immoral and intolerable acts that occurred?

Was there some -- well, how did this breakdown in discipline occur? Now, I'm concerned, as others here are, about the fact that we in Congress, the White House, apparently, didn't know that this was going on. But I must say my greater concern is that the way the Pentagon handled this, which is classic organizational response, hide bad news -- in fact, has heard our cause -- the Army acted quickly and responsibly when the soldier first reported this aberrant behavior. They investigated it. A report was done. The report should have been issued publicly on the day or two after General Tacuba (ph) made it. And we would have gotten ahead of this in world opinion.

HEMMER: Senator, I don't have much time for this. If we could do it in 15 seconds, that would be great.

LIEBERMAN: Sure.

HEMMER: You're privy to much more information at this point than we are with private hearings on Capitol Hill earlier in the week. Will this story get worse before it gets better?

LIEBERMAN: The truth is, Bill, we don't know. I mean, we know that there are at least 11 pending investigations. Obviously, we hope now that there is a broad scale -- I've called for a stand-down, that everybody involved in our prison system in Iraq, Afghanistan, throughout the world, stand down for a day and be asked is anything else like this going on? We've got to flush it out, get to the bottom of it, and then get back to winning the war on terrorism.

HEMMER: Thank you, Senator. Joe Lieberman on Capitol Hill.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is weighing in with his take on the prison abuse scandal. Yesterday in Los Angeles, Senator Kerry singled out Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I called for Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation months ago based on his miscalculations with respect to Iraq and based on the lack of a plan to win the peace. With respect to this particular incident, we've got to have the facts.

I want to know, as I think Americans do, is this isolated? Does it go up the chain of command? Who knew what, when? All of those questions have to be answered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Senator Kerry also echoed the call of an all-out investigation of the scam.

A new Gallup poll shows a dead heat, though, in the race for the White House. Among likely voters polled, both President Bush and Senator Kerry got 47 percent support, and Independent Ralph Nader received 3 percent. That's a significant shift from nearly three weeks ago, when the President led by six percentage points.

Earlier, I spoke with CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. I asked him for his take on these new numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: These numbers might indicate the beginning of momentum for Kerry. Democrats have been waiting and waiting and waiting and saying when he is going to gain some traction?

They do show a bit of a lift for Kerry, and principally because the president's job approval ratings are down by that same three points. He's now getting a 49 percent job approval rating. To be pretty sure of reelection, the President needs at least 50. So we're in the range right now where the president's reelection has to be considered in doubt because his job approval is just below 50 percent.

COLLINS: In fact, we're looking at those numbers now. And if you go all the way back to January, you see there 60 percent as opposed to 49 percent now. I mean, that's quite a jump, wouldn't you say?

SCHNEIDER: That is. There was a big shift.

What's happening right now is there are growing questions about Mr. Bush's policies in Iraq, about his stewardship of the economy. Those have been accumulating all year. But the big problem is Democrats are dismayed because John Kerry hasn't been able to gain much traction out of Mr. Bush's problems. That's because the White House has raised a lot of questions about Kerry.

Most voters don't know a great deal about John Kerry right now. The White House has raised questions about whether he's steadfast and steady at a time of great uncertainty, whether he can meet the threat of terrorism with staunch leadership comparable to the president's. So while Americans have doubts about President Bush, they're not yet ready at this point to say they put their confidence in the Democrat.

COLLINS: Tell me, Bill, if you think the controversy over Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse there, do you think that's what's hurting the President?

SCHNEIDER: Well, that certainly is contributing to it, but, of course, there has been mounting U.S. casualties in Iraq all year. Americans have always expressed confidence in the mission in Iraq. They felt like we're doing the right thing, but we're not doing it right.

Now, for the first time, with growing casualties in the month of April, since the insurrection began, and now with the revelations that there was mistreatment of prisoners, a lot of Americans are saying what are we doing there? Why are we there? How are we going to get out of there? And those are beginning to create real questions about the mission.

COLLINS: And as you know, Bill, here has been quite a bit of talk about whether or not the President actually really apologized, used those words, "I'm sorry." You may remember way back, when President Kennedy did apologize for the Bay of Pigs, and that approval rating of his just kind of skyrocketed. Do you think there would have been a change here if President Bush had done the same?

SCHNEIDER: I'm doubtful. I think the President expressed regret on behalf of the United States. He might have gone one step further and apologized on behalf of the American people.

There was not quite the same thing as, for instance, President Clinton apologizing for his behavior in the Monica Lewinsky episode, or even President Kennedy in Bay of Pigs. Those were policies in which they were directly involved and were directly responsible.

Here, clearly, there were actions by United States military personnel. Perhaps the President should have known about it. There is no evidence he did until the rest of the world knew about it. And he expressed regret on behalf of the United States of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider with us earlier this morning. The new Gallup poll reflects a survey of 1,000 adults and has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

HEMMER: In a moment here, how is the Arab world responding to President Bush's vow that "justice will be delivered" for apparent prison abuses?

Back in a moment with that story.

COLLINS: What's really behind the flak between Disney and Michael Moore? We'll take a look at that as well.

HEMMER: Also, how does anyone survive this? The story of a man who has on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: That press briefing in Baghdad, the U.S. civilian administrator there, Paul Bremer, calling on those loyal to Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadder to lay down their arms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: Establishment of lawful tranquility requires Muqtada and his armed followers no more, no less, than what is required of all citizens. First, Muqtada must face Iraqi justice for the crime of which he has been accused. And second, his armed followers must disarm, as must the members of all such groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That appeal from Ambassador Bremer following the appeal of a number of Shiite clerics throughout the week, urging the same for Muqtada al-Sadder. Bremer held that conference in Baghdad about 45 minutes ago, naming a new provincial governor in Najaf in an attempt to try and restore order there.

Meanwhile, in Najaf, U.S. forces rolling into the town and taking over the governor's office without any resistance, we're told. This word just into us from CNN's Jane Arraf, calling the development dramatic, saying that it indicates now the U.S. military is in the stages of establishing control of that town. That move follows weeks of clashes between coalition forces and al-Sadr's followers around the holy city and predominantly on the outskirts of it.

Much more when we get it -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Miramax Films confirms its parent company, Walt Disney, won't allow it to release Michael Moore's new documentary. But Disney says Moore is free to find another distributor or to distribute the film himself. The documentary, "Fahrenheit 911," criticizes President Bush's handling of the terror attacks.

Jen Rogers takes a look at the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEN ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Moore has never hidden his feelings about President Bush.

MICHAEL MOORE, FILMMAKER: He was never elected by a majority of the citizens of this country, and I'll keep saying that until he's out of there.

ROGERS: Now, in his latest documentary, "Fahrenheit 911," he's taking his criticisms to the big screen, or at least trying to. The movie, said to be sharply critical of Bush, and according to The New York times, links Bush and prominent Saudis, including the family is of Osama bin Laden, has become the center of controversy after Moore announced on his Web site that the Walt Disney company was blocking distribution by its subsidiary, Miramax.

MOORE: It's disappointing that Disney doesn't want people to see this. You know, there are no bad things in it. You know, there is no sex and violence. There's just some truth about what's happening to this country.

ROGERS: In a statement, Miramax said, "We're discussing the issue with Disney. We're looking at all of our options and look forward to resolving this amicably." But for Disney's part, there doesn't seem much left to resolve.

MICHAEL EISNER, CEO, DISNEY: We just chose not to be involved.

ROGERS (on camera): Any chance that Disney will change their mind?

EISNER: We've made our position very clear on that.

ROGERS (voice-over): In a written statement, the company said, "In May 2003, the Walt Disney Company communicated to Miramax and Mr. Moore's representatives that Miramax would not be the distributor of his film. Contrary to his assertion, Mr. Moore has had and continues to have every opportunity to either find another distributor or to distribute the film himself." Regardless of who actually ends up distributing Moore's film, the current controversy is publicity money can't buy.

MATT FELLING, THE CENTER FOR MEDIA AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS: The big winner in this entire fiasco is Michael Moore and Michael Moore's publicity team. They should send thank you cards to the Disney people.

ROGERS: For now, dueling press releases will have to do.

(on camera): While the release date for Moore's new movie may still be months away, congressional hearings could be held sooner. On Wednesday, Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey called for the Senate Commerce Committee to look into what he has called the pattern of politically-based corporate censorship.

Jen Rogers, CNN Financial News, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Moore says he will screen the film next week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Bill?

HEMMER: A couple of medical stories got our attention, Heidi. Last month, Isidro Mejia fell from a roof and onto a co-worker who was using a nail gun. Six nails were driven into his head. Amazing x- rays.

Doctors say three of the nails penetrated his brain, one entered his spine just below the base of his skull. A neurosurgeon removed the nails at a hospital in LA and says his recovery has been absolutely remarkable.

A guy who knows a lot about this, our own neurosurgeon, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Good morning to you, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Really.

HEMMER: You've seen this before, too, though?

GUPTA: Well, not six nails.

HEMMER: That's true. Half a dozen.

GUPTA: It's pretty remarkable. Half a dozen nails all into the guy's head.

If you could take a look at those films again, you know, you look at the side profile, you look at the front profile, important images. Why? Because you can see that these nails actually do go into the guy's brain. This is a delicate situation for any doctor, neurosurgeon in this case, removing those nails. He said he passed out.

I actually have a three and a half inch nail here. You can measure it, and you can see that that's the length of it. Take a look, though, of just how far that's going to go into somebody's head.

HEMMER: Yes.

GUPTA: That's no joke here.

HEMMER: More than halfway into the forehead.

GUPTA: Why does someone survive this? If there is a significant blood vessel, a major blood vessel that is hit, that's going to be a problem. In his case, apparently that did not happen.

It sounds like he's making a pretty good recovery. He's probably going to have a little bit of trouble in terms of neurological recovery, maybe in terms of his speech. One of the speech areas affected there, and maybe in terms of his strength a little bit. He's in a wheelchair, although that might be standard post-operative stuff.

HEMMER: Yes. He is tough as nails, too.

You raised a good question. How do you get six nails in your head? There was actually a police investigation...

GUPTA: Yes, there was.

HEMMER: ... that was involved. And I guess the man who had the gun was cleared of charges.

GUPTA: I looked at these x-rays very closely, actually, because if you look at where the front of the nails, the back of the nails in all of those pictures, you'll actually see that they all seem to come from relatively the same trajectory. Even though if you look at the x-ray it seems like it's all over the head, they come from relatively the same trajectory. Hard to predict in a situation like this, Bill, how exactly did they fall, all that sort of thing.

HEMMER: Listen, we got caught up in a conversation yesterday afternoon watching this videotape from the chopper, News Channel 4, WNBC here in New York, crashing on to the top of a building in Brooklyn covering a breaking news story on Tuesday afternoon here in New York. What you point out is how the rate of dissension is slowed by number of factors with that helicopter descending into that building. And that saved the live of those three people involved.

How can you explain, medically speaking, how that's possible?

GUPTA: I know. When you look at images like that, hard to believe. Three separate decelerations this chopper goes through.

First of all, it's just sort of hovering there. Then it has the first deceleration there, boom. Another one there, and then a third one. That's significant because it decelerated over a period of time. If this helicopter were to come straight down without it having hovered like that, without having sort of slowed down like that, that would have been a much more significant problem.

Bill, I know you watch NASCAR from time to time. You look at those car wrecks sometimes. Sometimes a relatively innocuous or harmless-looking car wreck can cause significant injuries inside because there is a quick deceleration. Whereas if the car is rotating and tumbling all over, it looks really terrible, but, in fact, not that bad, why? Because it had a longer time to decelerate.

HEMMER: In addition, the equipment inside that helicopter, as Jack was talking about earlier -- inside the NASCAR, too, for that matter -- it helps to decelerate that rate of speed.

GUPTA; If you look at that the concept behind all of that, that is the concept.

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

GUPTA: Thank you.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: Still to come, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld goes to the Capitol tomorrow to answer questions about abused Iraqi prisoners. Should he look for work on the way? Your answers just ahead.

Plus, which make of SUV would offer you and your family the most protection in certain crashes? Some new government information to consider coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Going to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day, once again.

CAFFERTY: President Bush called Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to the White House yesterday. It was an unscheduled meeting, meaning he probably got chewed on a little bit, criticized for his handling of the Iraqi prisoner issue. Tomorrow, Mr. Rumsfeld goes before a congressional committee. That's just got to be great theater.

Lawmakers from both parties angry that they found out about these pictures only when they surfaced in the media, even though the military had the pictures for a long time. The question remains, how far up the chain of command did the information go, and why wasn't it dealt with sooner at a higher level? The question we have posed this morning is whether or not Mr. Rumsfeld ought to resign, because typically somebody winds up paying the price when something like this happens.

Lots of mail. Hundreds and hundreds of letters.

Martha in Virginia: "No, Rumsfeld should not resign. How can he or the president be held responsible for the abuse that happened in Iraq? It would be like a police chief taking the heat for the actions of a cop. Certainly, both Rumsfeld and the president need to make sure that the people that did this face trial, but nothing would be accomplished by Rumsfeld resigning."

Mark in Rochester: "In no way do I condone the abuse of Iraqi prisoners. But while we're all focusing hours of media condemnation on this, and on Rumsfeld, where's the outrage by the media when we see Iraqi citizens dancing in the streets over dead U.S. soldiers? That story lasts two days and then the media moves on."

And Celia in Lawrence, Kansas -- Jim Ryan, remember the distance runner? Lawrence, Kansas, KU -- "There's no doubt in my mind," writes Celia, "that the Bush administration will get to the bottom of the prison abuse scandal. I am, however, extremely skeptical that it will get to the top of it."

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: Big response, huh?

CAFFERTY: Lots and lots of response.

HEMMER: Imagine if you are a Marine or a soldier over there, trying to fight the best fight possible, and seeing this stuff?

COLLINS: Yes, nobody's more upset than them, that's for sure.

Still to come, though, this morning, the end of a television era tonight. Jack will be watching closely. The "Friends" say their goodbye. That, and the weekend movie preview, coming up on "90-Second Pop."

Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: It's 9:32 here in New York. Welcome back. Heidi is in for Soledad again today.

Good morning to you.

COLLINS: Good morning.

HEMMER: Talking about California, the fire officials out there believe they're getting atop the current fires. Their first taste of the fire season, but a bitter one, too. A full report in a moment here, what's happening today. Better news, anyway, from overnight last night.

COLLINS: Yes, that's for sure.

Really bad news, though, for all of the fans of "Friends." We're going to be losing them tonight, and people have been talking about the final episode for quite a while. What story lines will be settled and where we be left hanging? Our "90-Second Pop" crew will tell us what to expect on that one. Standing by, right?

HEMMER: You got it.

COLLINS: OK. Want to get now to the news of the morning, though. We begin in Iraq, where U.S. forces have rolled into the holy city of Najaf. The U.S. military is said to be in the early stages of reestablishing control of the city from militia loyal to Muqtada al- Sadr, which has a strong presence there.

The U.S. troops have also taken over the governor's office in Najaf without any resistance. More than 20 insurgents have been killed in firefights in that region.

Britain is reportedly considering sending more troops into Iraq. There are 7,500 British soldiers already stationed there. The additional troops would make up the shortfall following Spain's withdrawal of 1,300 soldiers. Honduras and the Dominican Republic also pulled out. Prime Minister Tony Blair told the House of Commons yesterday the soldiers may be sent to various parts of Iraq.

The Middle East will be the focus of discussions today when President Bush hosts Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House. The visit was postponed last month after the president endorsed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan. Sharon's ruling party has since rejected that plan.

And in baseball, a milestone for Roger Clemens. He moved into second place on the career strikeout list. Clemens slipping into the number two spot, passing Steve Carlton last night in the fifth inning with his 4,137th strikeout. Unbelievable.

Houston beat Pittsburgh 6-2. Clemens still trails Nolan Ryan, though, who tops the list with 5,714 strikeouts.

HEMMER: What a career. Roger Clemens throwing darts for Houston, 6 and 0 already this year.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld prepping for his demand performance tomorrow on Capitol Hill. How is the president's appearance, though, yesterday on Arab language TV network playing out in that part of the world?

Samer Shehata, a professor at Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Centers has been looking into that for us. He's with us live in D.C.

Good morning to you. Good to have you here on AMERICAN MORNING.

SAMER SHEHATA, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Here is the president, in part, from yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to tell the people of the Middle East that the practices that took place in that prison are abhorrent and they don't represent America. They represent the actions of a few people.

Secondly, it's important for people to understand that in a democracy, that there will be a full investigation of it. We want to know the truth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Very serious tone. Is that enough?

SHEHATA: It's not enough. All of the press satellite television, as well as newspapers, are reporting the president's comments in the interviews. But I think it's having minimal to no impact whatsoever. The damage has already been done, and the photos are so powerful. And there are so many more photos that are coming out.

HEMMER: If he were to say "I'm sorry," if he were to apologize -- and granted, that question was not posed to him directly yesterday and the words did not come from his mouth -- what does that mean in the Arab world to say those words?

SHEHATA: Well, I think it would have gone significantly further than what happened yesterday. There wasn't that much emotion in his remarks, unlike, for example, General Kimmitt, who seemed to be genuinely sorry as it were and talked about his men. I think it would of helped a little bit, but as I said, I think this is an irreparable situation. The damage is too great, and people in the Arab world, in the newspapers and on television, are calling for much more immediate action.

HEMMER: Action such as what?

SHEHATA: They're calling human rights groups, for example, in Beirut and Cairo, are calling for an independent investigation by a non-U.S. government body like the U.N. Commission for Human Rights, for example, or other human rights organizations. And the papers today in the Arab world are openly mocking the idea that the war in Iraq was "for the liberation of Iraq," and are saying that, "the U.S. has no credibility whatsoever when it comes to issues like democracyization and so on."

HEMMER: Is that only because of a result of the prison investigation, or is that the position before?

SHEHATA: No. Certainly, before the U.S. had a very bad image in the Arab world, and it was largely because of particular policies that are very -- people are very unhappy about. But this has really gone to a new point.

People are disgusted and horrified by the photos, and are furious. And it's interesting. The Arabic press today is somewhat similar to the American press, with many of the papers focusing on what President Bush said about Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld, that he still has confidence in him. And a number of the Arabic papers said that the responsibility really goes with the Department of Defense.

HEMMER: Senator Pat Roberts was on our program about an hour and a half ago. He's suggesting you tear down that prison, Abu Ghraib, and show that as a symbol, much like the Saddam statue that came down about a year ago, or more than that, anyway, would show the Iraqi people that again they are serious about rooting this out. Would that hold water in Iraq?

SHEHATA: I think that would certainly help. I think that allowing groups like the International Committee for the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Society to do prison visits would also help.

But in the Arabic press, people are talking about Guantanamo, for example, and the prisoners there. There are so many individuals from all throughout the Muslim world at Guantanamo, so people are wondering whether this is really the tip of the iceberg, how serious and endemic these kinds of problems are.

HEMMER: Samer Shehata in D.C., thanks.

SHEHATA: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Heidi?

COLLINS: This morning, cooler weather is helping firefighters control several southern California he would wildfires. Still, the devastation from the fast-moving flames has been widespread. Ted Rowlands reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The combination of a weather shift and around-the-clock work from thousands of firefighters is helping to bring the year's first round of California wildfires under control. Fourteen homes have been destroyed and more than 22,000 acres blackened by six separate fires since they started last weekend.

People evacuated from their homes are coming back to dramatically different scenes. This house near the city of Temecula, east of Los Angeles, was in the middle of the fire zone but was untouched.

JANET NICH, HOMEOWNER: I just couldn't believe it that the house was saved. It was fantastic.

ROWLANDS: People living at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony are not as lucky. The only thing left of the world renowned artists' retreat is the charred remains of nine buildings and two cottages. Lost in the fire are decades worth of work and numerous antiques, including a 1920 Steinway concert grand piano which is said to have been played by Russian pianist Sergey Rachmaninov during visits to the colony.

KAREN PARROTT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DORLAND MOUNTAIN ARTS COLONY: Everything gone. It's been a bit to take in.

ROWLANDS (on camera): While they believe they have the upper hand, firefighters are expected to keep a very close eye on the two largest fires in the region, both centered in Riverside County. It is expected, barring any change in the weather, that full containment will be achieved in all of these fires by the end of the week.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Temecula, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Fire officials are saying the season's first wildfires burned with an intensity usually not seen until late summer.

Still to come this morning, why some folks don't want Wal-Mart in their neighborhood. Andy Serwer has that.

HEMMER: Also, in a moment here, what will happen to Rachel and Ross? More on the "Friends" finale later tonight in "90-Second Pop."

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Oh, isn't it sad? It's time now for another all new edition of "90-Second Pop." And the gang's all here.

Andy borowitz, author of "Governor Arnold"; Sarah Bernard, a contributing editor for New York Magazine; and B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for US Weekly, thanks for being here, guys.

What are we going to do?

SARAH BERNARD, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: It's a big night tonight. You haven't heard?

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: I didn't get the memo.

COLLINS: OK. So the finale is finally here. We've been hearing about it for quite sometime. Sarah, tell me, why has this show had such an incredible impact on pop culture?

BERNARD: OK. I thought about this. The main reason is because everyone wants to have a group of friends that's like their family. It is the "St. Elmo's Fire" tradition, where you have these attractive, supportive, funny group of friends that really become the people, especially in New York City -- everyone says you make your own family by who you know here. And that's really what it is.

It's like everyone wants to have that kind of group of friends. There are so many loose ends to tie up tonight. There's the Ross and Rachel, obviously. They're like Lucy and Desi. They've become this romantic couple that will go down in TV history.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: They do.

BERNARD: They have to be together. Well, Monica is going to have her -- you know, Monica and Chandler and the baby. But I really want to know who is going to get their apartments? OK? For me, that is the ultimate.

COLLINS: You New Yorker, you!

BERNARD: Yes.

B.J. SIGESMUND, US WEEKLY: The thing is people are a little sick of the hype. I've been hearing a lot of complaints about the hype. But NBC is expecting half of the televisions in the country to be tuned into "Friends" tonight, and they are charging $200 million for every commercial.

BERNARD: That's worth it.

BOROWITZ: That's the Super Bowl rate.

COLLINS: Yes, I was going to say that's Super Bowl money.

BOROWITZ: So much of the appeal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) I think is just seeing these incredibly hot, sexy people sitting around on a couch talking, which also is a lot of the appeal of "90-Second Pop."

BERNARD: Hey, that sounds kind of familiar.

BOROWITZ: Yes, I think so. So we're prepared to carry on the torch.

COLLINS: Oh, good.

SIGESMUND: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) like be prepared, because "Joey," the show on in the fall, you know, the Matt LeBlanc spin-off, that could last three weeks. I mean, it could be bad. The chemistry among the six friends is something that happens once in a million...

BOROWITZ: I think David Schwimmer, though, will be awesome in the center square, though. Don't you think?

COLLINS: All right, guys, we've got to move on to the next topic: Mary Kate and Ashley, which I have been told not the Olson twins. They are definitely separate gals. Their new movie, "The New York Minute," they've had their hands really in this from top to bottom, producing-wise.

SIGESMUND: Yes.

COLLINS: But B.J., you say it's not so great?

SIGESMUND: Well, they're -- no, it's not so great. This is the first weekend of the summer movie season. This is not such a great movie. I'm expecting the tweens who adore Mary Kate and Ashley Olson will be there. But it's really a silly movie.

BERNARD: And older guys.

SIGESMUND: And old me. Young girls and old men are going to be going to see this. You know, they play Long Island twins who are very different who get chased across Manhattan over one day.

BOROWITZ: Why?

SIGESMUND: The best thing about it is the hair, actually. Why? It's too complicated to explain.

BOROWITZ: OK.

SIGESMUND: They're holding on to some computer chip that has music downloading stuff.

BERNARD: Don't worry about that kind of stuff.

SIGESMUND: Don't worry about that.

COLLINS: It sounds very complicated, though.

SIGESMUND: It's not.

(CROSSTALK)

BOROWITZ: To me, this weekend, it's a choice between "Van Helsing" or the Olson twins movie. And I'm going to see "Van Helsing" because I don't like scary films.

BERNARD: I don't think it's going to matter. I think that "New York Minute" is going to be number one for the next couple of weeks. They have such a big draw.

BOROWITZ: They were promoting it on Al Jazeera last night.

(CROSSTALK)

SIGESMUND: "Van Helsing" is going to be number one. It's playing this $150 million B movie. It's Hugh Jackman playing this 19th century crusader who goes after Count Dracula. The earlier reviews have been really bad.

Colleagues of mine saw it, said it's like century overload. You don't know where to look on the screen. It's a big mess.

COLLINS: All right. Thanks so much for being with us today. We appreciate your time so much. Andy, Sarah, and B.J., thanks.

Bill?

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Here is Aaron Brown now with a preview of what's coming up later tonight on "NEWSNIGHT" -- Aaron.

AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT": Thank you, Bill.

Tonight on "NEWSNIGHT," from Rochester, New York, a wife and mother brutally murdered. Her husband charged and doesn't deny the killing. He says he did it to save his family's honor, his Muslim family honor. Police say it is the first so-called honor killing ever in the United States identical to murders that have occurred widely in the Muslim world.

That story, plus all of today's top news, morning papers and the rest, on "NEWSNIGHT," CNN, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Bill.

HEMMER: We'll see you then, Aaron. Thanks.

In a moment, first a small town in California, now some in Chicago are hoping to stop Wal-Mart from coming to town. Andy has details on that. Back in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: First, it was Los Angeles. Now, Wal-Mart is running into trouble in Chicago. With that, and a check of the market action, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" today.

Big report coming out.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: That's right. Tomorrow is the big day, Heidi. That's the jobs report. But today, wave got some other stuff to talk about. Let's check in and look at the market first.

A little bit of slip sliding away. Down 41 on the Dow. What is happening this morning?

Oil prices are higher. That's one thing. Also, we did have some good news on the jobless front. New jobless claims at a low since going back to October of 2003, 315,000.

Also, productivity up, which is good news. But here is a little interesting thing: a whiff of inflation. Job wages going up a little bit, and that is something that is probably rattling the markets probably.

One stock very active today, McDonald's. More news coming out of the company this morning that is pretty interesting stuff. You may remember a couple of week ago, their CEO, Jim Cantalupo, passed away. Now we learn that Charlie Bell, the new CEO, had surgery, successful surgery for colorectal cancer, the company just announced.

Wow. How about that? Two weeks in a row.

One analyst saying -- listen to this -- "It always undermines the stability of a company when your CEO dies and the other one has to have surgery." Always. Always? How often does that happen?

Anyway, let's talk about this Wal-Mart situation, because, you know, a lot of people think that Wal-Mart is big brother. Obviously, the biggest company in the United States, the largest employer. Trying to open up a couple of big stores in Chicago, and the city council delaying plans for them to change some zoning laws, saying we want to study this thing a little further. A lot of protesters saying that Wal-Mart, yes, they would be creating new jobs, but they're low paying jobs.

Well, news flash. I don't think Goldman Sachs is going to be moving in there anytime soon, so it might be a good idea to let these Wal-Marts go ahead. I mean, you're going to get a lot of low-cost goods as well. So that controversy continues. They had some similar problems in California, so we'll be watching that.

COLLINS: All right. Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

COLLINS: Coming up on CNN, the Bush administration trying to get on top of the deepening Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. The story could be behind some movement in the latest opinion polls. All of the details coming up on "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan.

AMERICAN MORNING will be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We've got to run. Thanks for being with us. Today, tomorrow, and Friday morning, right here, same time on AMERICAN MORNING. Daryn Kagan now at the CNN Center.

Good morning, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Already developing into a very busy breaking news day. We're going to get started right away.

Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan.

We have another dramatic story developing this hour. It is coming out of Najaf, Iraq. U.S. forces have rolled into the city and taken control of the governor's office. Our Jane Arraf joins us by videophone...