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President Bush Standing by Donald Rumsfeld as Defense Secretary Goes to Capitol Hill; How Are Mr. Bush's Comments Playing in Arab World?
Aired May 07, 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Security is reportedly being beefed up at U.S. nuclear weapon sites. According to the report, the Energy Department is expected to outline a plan for a security upgrade at major sites, such as Los Alamos and in New Mexico. A post-September 11th review showed some of the U.S. nuclear sites could be vulnerable to possible terrorist attacks.
On the campaign trail now, President Bush takes on his second bus tour of the week. He adds to rallies -- he heads to rallies in Iowa and Wisconsin today.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate John Kerry will meet with Democrats in Phoenix. He's also expected later today at the Jambalaya Jamboree Rally in Louisiana.
And just in this morning, in the new jobs report for April, from the Labor Department.
Andy Serwer here to tell us about that. You have it?
ANDY SERWER "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we do, Heidi.
And I think the jobless recovery is over. We've created 288,000 jobs in the month of April. That's much more than expected. We were looking to create 173,000 jobs. And that, you add that to the 308,000 created in March, and I really think you can call that fairly robust.
Also, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.7 percent to 5.6 percent. They were expecting that to hold steady. So that's also an improvement.
Ironically, perhaps, the stock market may suffer a little bit, because this could signal to Alan Greenspan at the Fed that the economy is heating up, and maybe heating up a little too fast. So They may have to raise interest rates a little quicker and a little more an anticipated. However, that's probably getting a little ahead of ourselves, so let's just focus on the good news that more jobs created than expected at this time.
COLLINS: You think it's pretty significant?
SERWER: I think it's big, and I think you've got to anticipate that there's going to be some smiling faces in the White House this morning, absolutely, and also across the country as well. It's a nonpartisan event after all, when thousands and hundreds of thousands of jobs are created in this country.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Expecting 173,000 and they got 288,000.
SERWER: That's correct.
HEMMER: Considerable.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: President Bush is standing by Donald Rumsfeld as the defense secretary goes to Capitol Hill today to defend his handling of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. We have word this morning that Rumsfeld will apologize to lawmakers for keeping them in the dark about the scandal. The president yesterday called Rumsfeld "an important part of his cabinet, who will be staying there."
Also yesterday, Mr. Bush took a step towards formally apologizing for the scandal. He spoke at the White House after meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families. I hold him I was equally sorry that people -- I've been seeing those pictures. Didn't understand the true nature and heart of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: How are Mr. Bush's comments playing in the Arab World? Well, here to talk about that this morning is Yahya Mahmassani, the Arab League ambassador to the United Nations.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
We just heard that sound from the other day. It was a little bit of damage control being done for what he said on Wednesday, which was not going all the way to use that word, I'm sorry. How does that play in the Arab world? Are people believing his words?
YAHYA MAHMASSANI, ARAB LEAGUE AMB. TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Look, to start with, it's a good gesture. It augurs well, but it's not enough. We want to know what happened, why it wasn't done before. Who is in charge? Who is supposed to be responsible? An investigation should take place and those people who are responsible should be put to justice and those even at the higher rank should be accountable. No matter what kind (ph) they take, justice must be done.
COLLINS: So you say it's not enough. And we did also just report moments ago that Donald Rumsfeld is expected to apologize to the congressional members who don't know anything about what had happened in all of this, according to the Associated Press. Will the Arab world be interested in those types of details? MAHMASSANI: Of course we are. You don't know what damage you have done to your reputation in the Arab world. Your reputation is at its lowest ever, unprecedented lowest level; hate and anti- Americanism, it's unprecedented high level. There is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shock and anger in the Arab world.
This is not just doing an abuse. This is more than abuse. There are traditions, Muslim tradition, Arab culture. What were those women's underwear were put on the face of men? This is like just putting a bullet in his head. You've killed these people. These people are dead. The Arab world are outraged. I think (UNINTELLIGIBLE) took place, and those accountable should be brought to justice.
COLLINS: Is there anyone in the Arab world that you think -- I'm not sure the last time you were there and spoke with them about this. Obviously, some of it is quite new. But it was six people that we're talking about, at least this point, at least that we know of, that were engaged in these activities. Do they talk about that at all, or just the whole 135,000 soldiers who are there, that they feel this way about?
MAHMASSANI: It's the whole United States. It's all the United -- it's the United States. These six people represented the United States. They work under the flag of the United States.
And let me ask you something, is this really confined to six people? This might be the tip of an iceberg. We want to know what happened in other prisons. We want to know what happened in other camps.
In the first place, why are these people detained without any charges for years, for one year now? How many prisoners are actually tortured and locked behind the closed doors? We want to know what's going on in other places.
Those who are not charged should be freed.
The families of those who are in prison want to see them. They have no chance to see them. They haven't seen them for years. So something should -- the whole policy, your whole policy should change. You are in a depth of a quagmire in Iraq, and believe me, two-third of the Iraqi people want you out of Iraq, and that was before the images were released. This is the report, this is an official report.
COLLINS: What is the source of that report?
MAHMASSANI: Well, that was the Arab-American Association, done (ph), I think, by Mr. Zogby.
COLLINS: So there is no one there in Iraq, in your eyes -- quickly, we're running out of time here -- that is happy or considering the sounds of freedom, if you will, in Iraq?
MAHMASSANI: What kind of freedom? People don't see freedom. They see occupation. They see people being killed. They see armed men torturing soldiers, torturing civilians. There is nothing called freedom now in Iraq. They forgot everything. They just look at you as an occupier, and this is what they see.
COLLINS: All right, Yahya Mahmassani, thanks so much for being with us this morning with the Arab League, ambassador to the United Nations. Thanks so much for being with us.
MAHMASSANI: Thank you. Good to see you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: About 22 minutes now before the hour. It is Friday, time for "Gimme a Minute." The usual suspects are here. In D.C., Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online.
Good morning, Jonah. Happy Friday to you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist, CNN political contributor.
Donna, good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You look lively in that nice maroon down there or burgundy, or what your calling it?
BRAZILE: Thank you. It's just red, honey.
HEMMER: Andy Borowitz, "The New Yorker," here in New York City with me.
Good morning, everybody.
Let's start with Secretary Rumsfeld.
Jonah, to you first, who ultimately pays a price for this?
GOLDBERG: Well, my guess is we're probably going to have to solve this Yakuza style, and Rumsfeld's going to have to chop off a finger and apologize. Look, I think this is silly season. I think, whatever happened to letting the investigations go forward. It's fine if Rumsfeld wants to apologize, but I think way people are handling this has gotten way out of control, and it's really -- it's gotten dangerous and terrible.
HEMMER: Donna, what about it, silly season or more?
BRAZILE: You know, when you keep people in the administration out of the loop and the entire Congress out of the loop, I think someone should take responsibility, and if it's Mr. Rumsfeld, well, so long.
HEMMER: We're about to fine out in about three hours when the testimony begins. How about it, Andy? What are you thinking?
BOROWITZ: I think responsibility has to go to the top levels of our government, yes, Prince Bandar.
HEMMER: Someone get a comment from that guy.
Bill Clinton is work on his memoirs. Apparently, he is having a tough time meeting his deadline. He himself says he's working around the clock to get this done.
Donna, what's taking him so long?
BRAZILE: You know, this is a guy who's lived a full life in just a short period of time. I understand that he's just about there. So good luck, Mr. President. I finished my book.
HEMMER: Yes, you have.
Jonah, "Vanity Fair" says there are few mea culpas involved here. Why the delay, do you believe?
GOLDBERG: Well, you know, It takes so much longer to write when you have to remember all the lies that you told.
My guess is that from what you hear about the book and the "Vanity Fair" article that's coming out, so people that had problems with him are still going to have problems with him, and the people who didn't, aren't.
HEMMER: Well, Andy, the book is called "My Life." Are you going to read it?
BOROWITZ: I think I probably will. But you know, the delay is all about Clinton and his editor can't agree about what the meaning of the word "is" is. That's the problem.
HEMMER: We're back to that.
Baseball is striking out with "Spider-Man." Jonah, I don't know if you were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on this story the past week or not. But the right call or not to get the ads off the bases, or just a simple PR move on behalf of baseball?
GOLDBERG: I think it's the right move. I think, look, there are so few -- I'm a free market guy, but there are so few places that are without commercialism and that sort of thing, and baseball is supposed to be chief among them. It was silly to do it.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm just thinking, you know, at least we're talking about baseball, which is more than we would have been doing had they not started this story in the first place -- Donna.
BRAZILE: Well, yes, I'm a little bit sad, because I love Spider- Man. And just imagine if you can get somebody like Barry Bonds to stay on second base long enough to check to see if he's on steroids or something. HEMMER: You kind of sound like Andy today.
What about it, Drew? The Yankees were not going along with this in the first place.
BOROWITZ: I think the whole thing is out of control. Now there's some talk about renaming Shea Stadium "Olsen Twins Park."
HEMMER: Under the radar -- Donna, what did we miss this past week?
BRAZILE: This past week, "The Miami Herald" reported that Florida officials once again are trying to purge so-called ex-felons. The last time they did that, they caught a lot of people that never got arrested. So I hope they stop it this time.
HEMMER: All right, what about you, Jonah? What's under your radar?
GOLDBERG: Well, this week, Michael Moore announced that Disney was going to censor him and refused to distribute his movie, and then it turned out in an interview with CNN, that Michael Moore admitted that he lied, and that was just saying that to gin up publicity for his movie.
HEMMER: It's all about PR, just spell the name right -- Drew.
BOROWITZ: Well, "Friends" was a huge ratings hit in Iraq last night, as millions of Iraqis jumped at the chance to say goodbye to some Americans.
HEMMER: Well done, Borowitz.
To all three of you, thanks. Have a great weekend, OK, on this Friday edition of "Gimme a Minute" -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, what one thing do all of those who push themselves to extremes have in common?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell us next, in his "Life Beyond Limits" series. Keep it here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All this week Sanjay's been explaining life beyond limits in a special series here on CNN, introducing us to people who perform amazing feats in strength and spirit.
Sanjay's here to tell us a bit more this week on a Friday morning.
Good morning to you, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
One of the, you know -- we started this documentary basically to try and learn how these people do these things. Watch them, how do they do that? That was the question we wanted to ask from a medical and scientific standpoint. You're going to get that, for sure, as you watch this special, but also the stories of these people. That's what really struck us as well, the stories of them as they live their own lives beyond limits.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Ed Veesters (ph), one of the world's toughest mountaineers, who is on a quest to summit the tallest peaks, all over 26,00 feet, without the use of supplemental oxygen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to have the desire or the thought that, no matter what, this is the way I'm doing this. If you kind of say, well, I might use oxygen or I might try without, as soon as you put the word might in there, it gets so hard and so difficult.
GUPTA: Tonya Streeter, a world record-holding free diver, who in a single breath plunges more than 500 feet below the sea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is a sport like any other sport. You have to train and understand what we're physiologically capable of doing, and you have to understand what your limitations are. I'm constantly preaching to people that they need to redefine their limits.
GUPTA: The strong man. Those who have been champions and those who still dream of titles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I trained by myself because I didn't really have anybody who had the same drive that I did in the weight room. And it was, for five years straight, I trained every day, five days a week. Sometimes six.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a quest already from when I was born to be the biggest and the strongest man on this planet.
GUPTA: Lynn Cox, the extraordinary endurance swimmer who actually swam in the Antarctic Ocean, the coldest water on the planet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sort of like a huge experimental level that you are at to jump into the water in Antarctica. You are also jumping into the unknown, and things you don't know about are going to occur during the swim, and that's what makes it exciting and challenging.
GUPTA: Through training, natural abilities and determination, these people are living lives beyond limits.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Some people call them extreme sports. But you know, you get a chance to meet these folks and you really get a sense there's one unifying thing that binds them together. And we'll talk about that as well.
HEMMER: Interesting, you talk about science, you talk of medicine and what you're looking into throughout this series.
Take Lynn Cox toward the end of that story, 32-degree water temperature she's swimming in. What can you learn?
GUPTA: Well, First of all, most people think that would be frozen, right, 32 degrees. But in fact, because it's a little bit of movement and the water is not pure, it's just barely not frozen. You can learn a lot about hypothermia. How does a body regulate its temperature? What happens if people suddenly find themselves immersed in cold water? How do you survive that? Those are the things that she's teaching scientists.
HEMMER: I'm also watching these people and thinking, they are human guinea pigs, which in a way, they are, and also people who also say they are willing to accept a challenge to go ahead and push the science to help people like you figure out some things.
GUPTA: You know it was interesting, I asked them -- we asked them a question, one question. I asked them, if no one else would know that they just accomplished what they accomplished, they had just gone to the highest place the world, gone deeper than anyone else in the ocean, would they still do it? Are they doing it for other people or just for themselves? And almost universally, the answer was, they were doing it for themselves. They want to do this. These are true explorers. And they have that, as one person said, in their genetic code.
HEMMER: Well, thankfully, they've got a guy like Gupta around to pick up on the contrails and figure something out for science. So.
GUPTA: You got to watch this.
HEMMER: Sunday night. Indeed we will. A great series all week, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Good to see you. Have a great weekend, all right.
GUPTA: Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Sunday night, 9:00 here on CNN, 6:00 on the West Coast, "LIFE BEYOND LIMITS." You can check it out in primetime this weekend -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come, about three hours from now, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to apologize to Congress over the Iraq prison abuse scandal. That's coming up in our next hour. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Jack is back now with the Cafferty File.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Heidi. Earlier, we told you about the decision announced this morning, President Bush and the first lady not going to attend their twin daughters' college graduations. They don't want to become a distraction to the people who are attending. One viewer wrote and offered a personal explanation. You are right on this one, Jack. It's deplorable the Bushes will not be attending their twin daughter' graduation. The reason they offer though is disingenuous. The other parents of the graduates would be delighted to have the president and first lady at the graduation, disruptions aside.
But if the Bushes were to attend, they would encounter anti-Bush protesters. Such protesters are removed to so-called safe zones, far from the presidential party. This would be hard to pull off in this setting.
I just know that if any of my four daughters, if I said I wasn't coming to your graduation man, man, I would be in so much trouble, and I think rightfully so.
All right, here's the deal the next time you go to Singapore, Heidi. You said you were looking for one of these. Well, they are going to publish a map in Singapore that will direct tourists to the city state's 500 cleanest public toilets. This is part of Singapore's Happy Toilet Campaign, which began last June. Now the campaign rates toilets on a five-star system. And in order to be a happy toilet, you have to get at least three stars. Maps will be available at the airport and information centers around the city. They are being put out by an organization called the World Toilet Organization.
COLLINS: Oh, come on.
CAFFERTY: I thought that was something else. And the Restroom Association of Singapore, both of which organizations I understand, have several vacancies, if you ever want to join those.
Ireland issued a stamp to commemorate new European Union members. The problem is, the new Cyprus member looks suspiciously like the Greek island of Crete. Cyprus on the stamp is printed south of Greece, and is longer and thinner than the real Cyprus. An Irish stamp expert says the designer does seem to take, quote, "artistic license" with the shapes of some countries. The Irish post office insists there is no mistake, they just had to move Cyprus. That's what they said, we had to move bit, but there's no mistake; we put it there, now that's where it belongs.
Those are my people, those Irish, and I love them dearly.
HEMMER: So proud.
No surprise in Singapore. This is a country that Li Kwon Yu (ph) took over, what, in the mid '60s, and you can be cited if you chew gum and put it in the wrong place.
CAFFERTY: Didn't they cane some American over there a few year back. Remember that story.
HEMMER: He was from Ohio.
CAFFERTY: Oh, imagine that. Those Singaporeans are a shrewd bunch, they are. If you're from Ohio...
HEMMER: "IN THE MONEY" this weekend, quick plug or not? Do we have time?
CAFFERTY: Actually we do. I'm trying to think what it is we're doing. I can't remember right off hand.
What is it?
Oh, you know, what we're going to look at, we're going to look at the most famous still photographs taken throughout wartime. The Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Sirabachi (ph) on Iwo Jima, the shot of the Vietnam prisoner being summarily executed by the officer. Remember that shot of the .45 automatic blowing the guy's head off? The little girl who was scalded with napalm. The power of the still picture. People think television rules. But when it comes to wartime, a still image can have even more profound effects. So that's one of the topics we'll be looking at on "IN THE MONEY."
And my thanks to Will Sherrod (ph), our executive producer, for reminding me what the hell the show is about.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm trying to give you your props.
CAFFERTY: Well, I'm old, and my mind sometimes just wanders off.
HEMMER: You told us a great story the other week. Can I share this. Is that all right? He forgot the password to his security system at home to allow himself to get out of the front door to come to work.
CAFFERTY: I had to wake my wife up. We've only lived in the house 14 years, and I couldn't remember the code to disarm the security system.
COLLINS: And you've never changed the code, right?
CAFFERTY: No, no, it's been the same code always, and I had to wake her up to ask her, and she just looks at me like, God, and I married him. It's sad.
COLLINS: It's all right. We still love you.
Still to come this morning, a story we've been following all morning. The defense secretary in front of Congress. There will be an apology, but will it be enough? We're talk to a Republican senator when we come back, here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, will the U.S. close in on a wanted Shiite cleric? U.S. forces in renewed clashes with those loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr. We'll have the latest on the fighting there, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 7, 2004 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Security is reportedly being beefed up at U.S. nuclear weapon sites. According to the report, the Energy Department is expected to outline a plan for a security upgrade at major sites, such as Los Alamos and in New Mexico. A post-September 11th review showed some of the U.S. nuclear sites could be vulnerable to possible terrorist attacks.
On the campaign trail now, President Bush takes on his second bus tour of the week. He adds to rallies -- he heads to rallies in Iowa and Wisconsin today.
Meanwhile, Democratic candidate John Kerry will meet with Democrats in Phoenix. He's also expected later today at the Jambalaya Jamboree Rally in Louisiana.
And just in this morning, in the new jobs report for April, from the Labor Department.
Andy Serwer here to tell us about that. You have it?
ANDY SERWER "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we do, Heidi.
And I think the jobless recovery is over. We've created 288,000 jobs in the month of April. That's much more than expected. We were looking to create 173,000 jobs. And that, you add that to the 308,000 created in March, and I really think you can call that fairly robust.
Also, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.7 percent to 5.6 percent. They were expecting that to hold steady. So that's also an improvement.
Ironically, perhaps, the stock market may suffer a little bit, because this could signal to Alan Greenspan at the Fed that the economy is heating up, and maybe heating up a little too fast. So They may have to raise interest rates a little quicker and a little more an anticipated. However, that's probably getting a little ahead of ourselves, so let's just focus on the good news that more jobs created than expected at this time.
COLLINS: You think it's pretty significant?
SERWER: I think it's big, and I think you've got to anticipate that there's going to be some smiling faces in the White House this morning, absolutely, and also across the country as well. It's a nonpartisan event after all, when thousands and hundreds of thousands of jobs are created in this country.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Expecting 173,000 and they got 288,000.
SERWER: That's correct.
HEMMER: Considerable.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: President Bush is standing by Donald Rumsfeld as the defense secretary goes to Capitol Hill today to defend his handling of the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal. We have word this morning that Rumsfeld will apologize to lawmakers for keeping them in the dark about the scandal. The president yesterday called Rumsfeld "an important part of his cabinet, who will be staying there."
Also yesterday, Mr. Bush took a step towards formally apologizing for the scandal. He spoke at the White House after meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I told him I was sorry for the humiliation suffered by the Iraqi prisoners and the humiliation suffered by their families. I hold him I was equally sorry that people -- I've been seeing those pictures. Didn't understand the true nature and heart of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: How are Mr. Bush's comments playing in the Arab World? Well, here to talk about that this morning is Yahya Mahmassani, the Arab League ambassador to the United Nations.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
We just heard that sound from the other day. It was a little bit of damage control being done for what he said on Wednesday, which was not going all the way to use that word, I'm sorry. How does that play in the Arab world? Are people believing his words?
YAHYA MAHMASSANI, ARAB LEAGUE AMB. TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Look, to start with, it's a good gesture. It augurs well, but it's not enough. We want to know what happened, why it wasn't done before. Who is in charge? Who is supposed to be responsible? An investigation should take place and those people who are responsible should be put to justice and those even at the higher rank should be accountable. No matter what kind (ph) they take, justice must be done.
COLLINS: So you say it's not enough. And we did also just report moments ago that Donald Rumsfeld is expected to apologize to the congressional members who don't know anything about what had happened in all of this, according to the Associated Press. Will the Arab world be interested in those types of details? MAHMASSANI: Of course we are. You don't know what damage you have done to your reputation in the Arab world. Your reputation is at its lowest ever, unprecedented lowest level; hate and anti- Americanism, it's unprecedented high level. There is (UNINTELLIGIBLE) shock and anger in the Arab world.
This is not just doing an abuse. This is more than abuse. There are traditions, Muslim tradition, Arab culture. What were those women's underwear were put on the face of men? This is like just putting a bullet in his head. You've killed these people. These people are dead. The Arab world are outraged. I think (UNINTELLIGIBLE) took place, and those accountable should be brought to justice.
COLLINS: Is there anyone in the Arab world that you think -- I'm not sure the last time you were there and spoke with them about this. Obviously, some of it is quite new. But it was six people that we're talking about, at least this point, at least that we know of, that were engaged in these activities. Do they talk about that at all, or just the whole 135,000 soldiers who are there, that they feel this way about?
MAHMASSANI: It's the whole United States. It's all the United -- it's the United States. These six people represented the United States. They work under the flag of the United States.
And let me ask you something, is this really confined to six people? This might be the tip of an iceberg. We want to know what happened in other prisons. We want to know what happened in other camps.
In the first place, why are these people detained without any charges for years, for one year now? How many prisoners are actually tortured and locked behind the closed doors? We want to know what's going on in other places.
Those who are not charged should be freed.
The families of those who are in prison want to see them. They have no chance to see them. They haven't seen them for years. So something should -- the whole policy, your whole policy should change. You are in a depth of a quagmire in Iraq, and believe me, two-third of the Iraqi people want you out of Iraq, and that was before the images were released. This is the report, this is an official report.
COLLINS: What is the source of that report?
MAHMASSANI: Well, that was the Arab-American Association, done (ph), I think, by Mr. Zogby.
COLLINS: So there is no one there in Iraq, in your eyes -- quickly, we're running out of time here -- that is happy or considering the sounds of freedom, if you will, in Iraq?
MAHMASSANI: What kind of freedom? People don't see freedom. They see occupation. They see people being killed. They see armed men torturing soldiers, torturing civilians. There is nothing called freedom now in Iraq. They forgot everything. They just look at you as an occupier, and this is what they see.
COLLINS: All right, Yahya Mahmassani, thanks so much for being with us this morning with the Arab League, ambassador to the United Nations. Thanks so much for being with us.
MAHMASSANI: Thank you. Good to see you.
COLLINS: Bill.
HEMMER: About 22 minutes now before the hour. It is Friday, time for "Gimme a Minute." The usual suspects are here. In D.C., Jonah Goldberg, National Review Online.
Good morning, Jonah. Happy Friday to you.
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Donna Brazile, Democratic strategist, CNN political contributor.
Donna, good morning.
DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You look lively in that nice maroon down there or burgundy, or what your calling it?
BRAZILE: Thank you. It's just red, honey.
HEMMER: Andy Borowitz, "The New Yorker," here in New York City with me.
Good morning, everybody.
Let's start with Secretary Rumsfeld.
Jonah, to you first, who ultimately pays a price for this?
GOLDBERG: Well, my guess is we're probably going to have to solve this Yakuza style, and Rumsfeld's going to have to chop off a finger and apologize. Look, I think this is silly season. I think, whatever happened to letting the investigations go forward. It's fine if Rumsfeld wants to apologize, but I think way people are handling this has gotten way out of control, and it's really -- it's gotten dangerous and terrible.
HEMMER: Donna, what about it, silly season or more?
BRAZILE: You know, when you keep people in the administration out of the loop and the entire Congress out of the loop, I think someone should take responsibility, and if it's Mr. Rumsfeld, well, so long.
HEMMER: We're about to fine out in about three hours when the testimony begins. How about it, Andy? What are you thinking?
BOROWITZ: I think responsibility has to go to the top levels of our government, yes, Prince Bandar.
HEMMER: Someone get a comment from that guy.
Bill Clinton is work on his memoirs. Apparently, he is having a tough time meeting his deadline. He himself says he's working around the clock to get this done.
Donna, what's taking him so long?
BRAZILE: You know, this is a guy who's lived a full life in just a short period of time. I understand that he's just about there. So good luck, Mr. President. I finished my book.
HEMMER: Yes, you have.
Jonah, "Vanity Fair" says there are few mea culpas involved here. Why the delay, do you believe?
GOLDBERG: Well, you know, It takes so much longer to write when you have to remember all the lies that you told.
My guess is that from what you hear about the book and the "Vanity Fair" article that's coming out, so people that had problems with him are still going to have problems with him, and the people who didn't, aren't.
HEMMER: Well, Andy, the book is called "My Life." Are you going to read it?
BOROWITZ: I think I probably will. But you know, the delay is all about Clinton and his editor can't agree about what the meaning of the word "is" is. That's the problem.
HEMMER: We're back to that.
Baseball is striking out with "Spider-Man." Jonah, I don't know if you were (UNINTELLIGIBLE) on this story the past week or not. But the right call or not to get the ads off the bases, or just a simple PR move on behalf of baseball?
GOLDBERG: I think it's the right move. I think, look, there are so few -- I'm a free market guy, but there are so few places that are without commercialism and that sort of thing, and baseball is supposed to be chief among them. It was silly to do it.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm just thinking, you know, at least we're talking about baseball, which is more than we would have been doing had they not started this story in the first place -- Donna.
BRAZILE: Well, yes, I'm a little bit sad, because I love Spider- Man. And just imagine if you can get somebody like Barry Bonds to stay on second base long enough to check to see if he's on steroids or something. HEMMER: You kind of sound like Andy today.
What about it, Drew? The Yankees were not going along with this in the first place.
BOROWITZ: I think the whole thing is out of control. Now there's some talk about renaming Shea Stadium "Olsen Twins Park."
HEMMER: Under the radar -- Donna, what did we miss this past week?
BRAZILE: This past week, "The Miami Herald" reported that Florida officials once again are trying to purge so-called ex-felons. The last time they did that, they caught a lot of people that never got arrested. So I hope they stop it this time.
HEMMER: All right, what about you, Jonah? What's under your radar?
GOLDBERG: Well, this week, Michael Moore announced that Disney was going to censor him and refused to distribute his movie, and then it turned out in an interview with CNN, that Michael Moore admitted that he lied, and that was just saying that to gin up publicity for his movie.
HEMMER: It's all about PR, just spell the name right -- Drew.
BOROWITZ: Well, "Friends" was a huge ratings hit in Iraq last night, as millions of Iraqis jumped at the chance to say goodbye to some Americans.
HEMMER: Well done, Borowitz.
To all three of you, thanks. Have a great weekend, OK, on this Friday edition of "Gimme a Minute" -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, what one thing do all of those who push themselves to extremes have in common?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell us next, in his "Life Beyond Limits" series. Keep it here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: All this week Sanjay's been explaining life beyond limits in a special series here on CNN, introducing us to people who perform amazing feats in strength and spirit.
Sanjay's here to tell us a bit more this week on a Friday morning.
Good morning to you, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
One of the, you know -- we started this documentary basically to try and learn how these people do these things. Watch them, how do they do that? That was the question we wanted to ask from a medical and scientific standpoint. You're going to get that, for sure, as you watch this special, but also the stories of these people. That's what really struck us as well, the stories of them as they live their own lives beyond limits.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Ed Veesters (ph), one of the world's toughest mountaineers, who is on a quest to summit the tallest peaks, all over 26,00 feet, without the use of supplemental oxygen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to have the desire or the thought that, no matter what, this is the way I'm doing this. If you kind of say, well, I might use oxygen or I might try without, as soon as you put the word might in there, it gets so hard and so difficult.
GUPTA: Tonya Streeter, a world record-holding free diver, who in a single breath plunges more than 500 feet below the sea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom is a sport like any other sport. You have to train and understand what we're physiologically capable of doing, and you have to understand what your limitations are. I'm constantly preaching to people that they need to redefine their limits.
GUPTA: The strong man. Those who have been champions and those who still dream of titles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I trained by myself because I didn't really have anybody who had the same drive that I did in the weight room. And it was, for five years straight, I trained every day, five days a week. Sometimes six.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a quest already from when I was born to be the biggest and the strongest man on this planet.
GUPTA: Lynn Cox, the extraordinary endurance swimmer who actually swam in the Antarctic Ocean, the coldest water on the planet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sort of like a huge experimental level that you are at to jump into the water in Antarctica. You are also jumping into the unknown, and things you don't know about are going to occur during the swim, and that's what makes it exciting and challenging.
GUPTA: Through training, natural abilities and determination, these people are living lives beyond limits.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Some people call them extreme sports. But you know, you get a chance to meet these folks and you really get a sense there's one unifying thing that binds them together. And we'll talk about that as well.
HEMMER: Interesting, you talk about science, you talk of medicine and what you're looking into throughout this series.
Take Lynn Cox toward the end of that story, 32-degree water temperature she's swimming in. What can you learn?
GUPTA: Well, First of all, most people think that would be frozen, right, 32 degrees. But in fact, because it's a little bit of movement and the water is not pure, it's just barely not frozen. You can learn a lot about hypothermia. How does a body regulate its temperature? What happens if people suddenly find themselves immersed in cold water? How do you survive that? Those are the things that she's teaching scientists.
HEMMER: I'm also watching these people and thinking, they are human guinea pigs, which in a way, they are, and also people who also say they are willing to accept a challenge to go ahead and push the science to help people like you figure out some things.
GUPTA: You know it was interesting, I asked them -- we asked them a question, one question. I asked them, if no one else would know that they just accomplished what they accomplished, they had just gone to the highest place the world, gone deeper than anyone else in the ocean, would they still do it? Are they doing it for other people or just for themselves? And almost universally, the answer was, they were doing it for themselves. They want to do this. These are true explorers. And they have that, as one person said, in their genetic code.
HEMMER: Well, thankfully, they've got a guy like Gupta around to pick up on the contrails and figure something out for science. So.
GUPTA: You got to watch this.
HEMMER: Sunday night. Indeed we will. A great series all week, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Good to see you. Have a great weekend, all right.
GUPTA: Appreciate it.
HEMMER: Sunday night, 9:00 here on CNN, 6:00 on the West Coast, "LIFE BEYOND LIMITS." You can check it out in primetime this weekend -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come, about three hours from now, Defense Secretary Rumsfeld is expected to apologize to Congress over the Iraq prison abuse scandal. That's coming up in our next hour. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Jack is back now with the Cafferty File.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Heidi. Earlier, we told you about the decision announced this morning, President Bush and the first lady not going to attend their twin daughters' college graduations. They don't want to become a distraction to the people who are attending. One viewer wrote and offered a personal explanation. You are right on this one, Jack. It's deplorable the Bushes will not be attending their twin daughter' graduation. The reason they offer though is disingenuous. The other parents of the graduates would be delighted to have the president and first lady at the graduation, disruptions aside.
But if the Bushes were to attend, they would encounter anti-Bush protesters. Such protesters are removed to so-called safe zones, far from the presidential party. This would be hard to pull off in this setting.
I just know that if any of my four daughters, if I said I wasn't coming to your graduation man, man, I would be in so much trouble, and I think rightfully so.
All right, here's the deal the next time you go to Singapore, Heidi. You said you were looking for one of these. Well, they are going to publish a map in Singapore that will direct tourists to the city state's 500 cleanest public toilets. This is part of Singapore's Happy Toilet Campaign, which began last June. Now the campaign rates toilets on a five-star system. And in order to be a happy toilet, you have to get at least three stars. Maps will be available at the airport and information centers around the city. They are being put out by an organization called the World Toilet Organization.
COLLINS: Oh, come on.
CAFFERTY: I thought that was something else. And the Restroom Association of Singapore, both of which organizations I understand, have several vacancies, if you ever want to join those.
Ireland issued a stamp to commemorate new European Union members. The problem is, the new Cyprus member looks suspiciously like the Greek island of Crete. Cyprus on the stamp is printed south of Greece, and is longer and thinner than the real Cyprus. An Irish stamp expert says the designer does seem to take, quote, "artistic license" with the shapes of some countries. The Irish post office insists there is no mistake, they just had to move Cyprus. That's what they said, we had to move bit, but there's no mistake; we put it there, now that's where it belongs.
Those are my people, those Irish, and I love them dearly.
HEMMER: So proud.
No surprise in Singapore. This is a country that Li Kwon Yu (ph) took over, what, in the mid '60s, and you can be cited if you chew gum and put it in the wrong place.
CAFFERTY: Didn't they cane some American over there a few year back. Remember that story.
HEMMER: He was from Ohio.
CAFFERTY: Oh, imagine that. Those Singaporeans are a shrewd bunch, they are. If you're from Ohio...
HEMMER: "IN THE MONEY" this weekend, quick plug or not? Do we have time?
CAFFERTY: Actually we do. I'm trying to think what it is we're doing. I can't remember right off hand.
What is it?
Oh, you know, what we're going to look at, we're going to look at the most famous still photographs taken throughout wartime. The Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Sirabachi (ph) on Iwo Jima, the shot of the Vietnam prisoner being summarily executed by the officer. Remember that shot of the .45 automatic blowing the guy's head off? The little girl who was scalded with napalm. The power of the still picture. People think television rules. But when it comes to wartime, a still image can have even more profound effects. So that's one of the topics we'll be looking at on "IN THE MONEY."
And my thanks to Will Sherrod (ph), our executive producer, for reminding me what the hell the show is about.
HEMMER: Yes, I'm trying to give you your props.
CAFFERTY: Well, I'm old, and my mind sometimes just wanders off.
HEMMER: You told us a great story the other week. Can I share this. Is that all right? He forgot the password to his security system at home to allow himself to get out of the front door to come to work.
CAFFERTY: I had to wake my wife up. We've only lived in the house 14 years, and I couldn't remember the code to disarm the security system.
COLLINS: And you've never changed the code, right?
CAFFERTY: No, no, it's been the same code always, and I had to wake her up to ask her, and she just looks at me like, God, and I married him. It's sad.
COLLINS: It's all right. We still love you.
Still to come this morning, a story we've been following all morning. The defense secretary in front of Congress. There will be an apology, but will it be enough? We're talk to a Republican senator when we come back, here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, will the U.S. close in on a wanted Shiite cleric? U.S. forces in renewed clashes with those loyal to Muqtada Al Sadr. We'll have the latest on the fighting there, on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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