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American Morning
Prisoner Abuse Scandal; Fight Over Life
Aired May 07, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I gave it an "A" for average last night.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: "A" for average, really?
HEMMER: I just thought there would be more surprises or more humor or something.
COLLINS: But you're not really tied into this show.
HEMMER: Over the decade of "Friends, "I wasn't a huge fan of the show.
COLLINS: Yes, see that might be the problem. We'll get into that later.
HEMMER: OK.
COLLINS: We want to get to the news, though, first this morning.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is expected to face some tough questions today over his handling of the Iraq prison scandal. The secretary will answer questions from two Congressional committees. Some Democrats have called for his resignation. Officials say Rumsfeld will announce the creation of an independent panel to review the situation. The session before the Senate Armed Services Committee begins at 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. CNN will have special coverage beginning at 11:30.
A family in Colorado is pleading for the release of a man who says he is an Iraqi-American kidnapped in Baghdad. Al Arabiya television aired a videotape yesterday, showing a blindfolded man who says he is a civil engineer for the Pentagon. The network says it received the tape from a group calling itself The Islamic Rage Squadrons.
The Senate has approved John Negroponte as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte serves as the U.S. envoy to the United Nations. He'll take control of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad after the June 30th power handover.
An Oregon lawyer is arrested on a material witness warrant in those deadly train bombings in Spain. Brandon Mayfield was taken in by federal agents in Portland, Oregon. A law enforcement source says his fingerprints link him to evidence found near the March terrorist attacks in Madrid. Friends and family claim he's never even been to Spain. And hundreds of evacuated residents in southern California are now returning home. More than a dozen houses have been destroyed by raging wildfires there. Lower temperatures and moist air are helping firefighters contain the flames. But officials are bracing for a long, long summer. The start of the wildfire season was declared three weeks earlier this year due to unusually hot weather.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: Back now to the Iraqi prisoner abuse situation, a new question today. Whether or not President Bush's move toward a full apology is likely to matter in the Muslim world or have any political impact here at home. The shift came yesterday at the White House just as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was getting ready for today's testimony before two Congressional committees -- first in the Senate, later in the House.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, back with us today.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: That apology statement, matter much?
GREENFIELD: I don't think so. And, in fact, I find the whole focus on an apology a little bit strange. It's clear the president had to acknowledge the gravity of what happened, and had he dismissed it as, you know, kids blowing off steam, the way apparently Rush Limbaugh did, then he really would have had a personal apology to make. But I think for the Arab world, he had to say that.
In terms of here at home, I think this is sort of part of the whole therapeutic culture where the question is, it isn't what you did, but whether you feel bad about it. And I think actually Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, was really right when, according to "The New York Times," he said this is going to take a generation for the U.S. to recover from this. And in terms of domestic politics, I think he was right when he said that really fundamentally it's the burden of running a national security campaign that you are the prisoner of events.
You know, I'll say it again, I've said it a hundred times, how Americans feel about Bush's Iraq policy, the decision to go to war, the rationale, the cost in blood, it's going to depend on what is happening there. That's what policymakers and the president need to focus on, not answering questions from an army of Dr. Phil's.
I mean, I'll just remind you that, you know, Bill Clinton apologized a while ago for not putting forces in Rwanda to prevent the genocide. I'm sure that's really consolation to the families of the 800,000 who were slaughtered there. For me, it's the deed and not the words that make a difference.
HEMMER: With today's events today on Capitol Hill, at 11:45 that testimony, live coverage certainly here on this cable news network... GREENFIELD: I would bet.
HEMMER: ... is this only about the prison abuse situation that you have some Democrats saying he should resign and get out now? Or is there more to that story in D.C.?
GREENFIELD: No, this is a long story. Remember, Rumsfeld began making enemies almost as soon as he was sworn in, when he was calling for a radical transformation of the Army. He wanted it lighter, more mobile. The Pentagon brass, the Army, didn't like that.
Then in the run-up to the war in Iraq, he in effect set up his own intelligence operation. The CIA didn't like that.
His clashes with Colin Powell and the State Department on the case for war were and are famous. There are stories even today about how angry the State Department people are with Rumsfeld. And his insistence that the war and, maybe even more important, the reconstruction be done with fewer bodies on the ground than others want have caused a very big fight.
So, now that there's trouble over there -- and this is not just the prison scandal, Bill. It's the extension of tours of duty for the military and for the Guard and National Reserve. Also the anger of war supporters, people who were for this who felt they were a bit snookered by Rumsfeld. This is all coming home to roost.
And since the Congress has felt left out of the loop anyway -- and they tend to get their back up fairly quickly about that -- you've even got a couple of Republicans saying he should have been more forthcoming.
HEMMER: Back to the issue of resignation. It is only Democrats, and only a handful of them so far, no Republicans, no moderate Democrats even for that matter.
GREENFIELD: Well...
HEMMER: Given that to this point, is this likely to stick?
GREENFIELD: Biden, who has been a very strong supporter of the war, came tippy, tippy close to that. And I think...
HEMMER: Then he seemed to pull back a little bit, too.
GREENFIELD: I think you are exactly right. This is the old schoolyard ball rule. Your old man says so. As long as it's Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel and Senator Harkin, you know, partisan, liberal Democrats, then it becomes just politics. But you're absolutely right. It's if you hear hints of these calls from moderate Republicans, from supporters of the war and from editorial pages, not "The New York Times", but more like "The Washington Times" or the "New York Post,." then he's got a real political problem.
HEMMER: And perhaps that argument changes a little bit. I don't get this sense in talking with a number of people outside of our industry of television, a sense of outrage on behalf of the American public. But when you describe to them the sexual allegations involved in this story that are documented in print, but far too graphic for us to talk about on morning television, that's when people start to really perk up and say, wow, that really happened?
GREENFIELD: Yes, I think you've got, again, I don't mean to flatter you, but I think you're right again, that both in the Muslim world, where whole issues of women and sexuality have -- we saw, you know, Mohammed Atta, the 9/11 hijacker, his big concern was he didn't want a pregnant woman or anyone near his body. Now, you take that culture and infuse it with the kinds of pictures and acts you're describing, it sounds grim. It would have been much -- this is much worse than if it had simply been an allegation of physical abuse.
HEMMER: Thanks Jeff. Jeff Greenfield here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Later today, 11:30, our coverage begins in D.C. The Senate Armed Services Committee testimony starts about 15 minutes later into that, 11:45 a.m. Wolf Blitzer heads up our coverage a little later this morning here on CNN -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A Florida circuit court judge has ruled the so-called Terri's law unconstitutional. Terri Schiavo is severely brain damaged and has been living on medical machines for more than a decade.
Now, Florida Governor Jeb Bush is appealing the judge's decision to strike down the law. Governor Bush used the law to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted last October.
The battle over Terri Schiavo's life is just one of the many stories in the debate over life support and the heart wrenching dilemma that many family members must face.
John Zarrella has this story now of the Greenbergs and the choice one husband made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Evelyn and Arthur Greenberg made it, 50 years together. Surrounded by their children and grandchildren...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
ZARRELLA: ... the Greenbergs celebrating their life together, toasted life itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The courage and strength of Ma to survive.
ZARRELLA: In 2001, Evelyn suffered a brain stem stroke. She was paralyzed from the nose down. The Greenbergs say they were advised to turn off life support; that at best, Evelyn would be vegetative. But Arthur Greenberg refused to give in to the doctors and give up on his wife.
ARTHUR GREENBERG, EVELYN'S HUSBAND: I wanted my wife back is the way I saw it, and this is -- we decided to give her a chance.
ZARRELLA: Evelyn is severely handicapped, but she's not in a vegetative state. She gets around just fine, even on Main Street in Disney World. It's tough, she says...
EVELYN GREENBERG, STROKE VICTIM: But in all, life is good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But in all, life is good.
ZARRELLA: Medical ethicists say deciding whether to disconnect a loved one's life support can tear a family apart.
KEN GOODMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: It divides families apart though because, well, sometimes they don't talk about it. They don't like what they hear when they do talk about it.
ZARRELLA: The public fight over whether to keep alive a brain- damaged woman, Terri Schiavo, has pitted her husband against her parents.
(on camera): The Florida legislature even passed a bill to keep Schiavo connected to a feeding tube, but it remains a divisive issue. A recent poll of Florida voters found 41 percent agreed with the legislation, 41 percent said it was wrong.
(voice-over): The Greenbergs understand the conflict. While Evelyn's husband wanted to keep her alive, her daughter, Joyce, wasn't sure.
JOYCE GREENBERG, EVELYN'S DAUGHTER: We were told she would be in a vegetative state, and the thought of that was just too painful to bear. I didn't think she would want to live that way.
ZARRELLA: Joyce says she's never been so glad she was wrong.
John Zarrella, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: You just never know, huh?
HEMMER: Yes.
In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, a promise of gold to kill high-level officials in Iraq. That's the offer on a tape said to be from Osama bin Laden. Is it really him? A check on that at the top of the next hour here.
COLLINS: Also, Madonna in a big fight across the pond. It's not about her music. It's about her back yard.
HEMMER: And, the finale of "Friends" and what happened with Ross and Rachel last night. The burning answers to the burning questions in our "90-Second Pop" panel today, and they are loaded up and ready to go. Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: So, one of the most popular TV sitcoms ever is now history. It has to be a really special event to get our "90-Second Pop" crew up at 10:00 -- or, actually, much really earlier than normal, I believe. They usually sleep in on Fridays, don't you?
Joining us now with reaction to the "Friends" finale -- now, bear with me. There's a few people here today. Humorist Andy Borowitz, "New York" magazine, contributing editor Sarah Bernard, B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly," CNN entertainment reporter, Sibila Vargas, and Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."
So, what we want to do first...
TOURE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "90-Second Pop".
(CROSSTALK)
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: This is the spin-off right here.
COLLINS: Oh, yes.
BERNARD: Forget Joey.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: This is our final episode, by the way.
COLLINS: First and last. Let's go ahead and listen, you guys, really quick to the big moment of the whole show. We'll start there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! Did she off the plane? Did she get off the plane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got off the plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Well?
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: My goodness!
COLLINS: All right, Toure, go ahead.
TOURE: Another boring, sappy episode of "Friends," as interesting as Ritz cracker. I mean, my God, they all act stupid. They're all simple-minded. They've learned nothing. Like, I mean, it wasn't sad like the end of "Sex and the City." It wasn't smart like the end of "Seinfeld." It was just boring, boring, boring.
BERNARD: I think it's the subplots that were the worst. I mean, Ross and Rachel had to be together, or it was going to be, you know, revolt in the streets. But the duck and the chick? What was that? And then going to the wrong airport? TOURE: Oh, God!
BERNARD: I mean, that's in a car commercial.
BOROWITZ: I've got to say, I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt. But it completely lacked the closure and catharsis of the final episode of "Saved by the Bell." (UNINTELLIGIBLE) low standards.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": I have to say, about that drive to the airport...
COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: ... in the words of Chandler Bing, could it have been any more cliche?
BOROWITZ: Right.
SIGESMUND: "Friends" invented that cliche, the big drive to the airport.
BERNARD: Right (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I think I was the only one who actually enjoyed it.
COLLINS: I was going to say, is there no one who liked it?
(CROSSTALK)
VARGAS: I really liked it, and I thought it was endearing, you know, Ross and Rachel getting together. And actually I got goose bumps.
SIGESMUND: Who could have predicted that, though?
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: They kept this episode shrouded in secrecy for four months. Don't let anybody know what happened, as if we all could have predicted this.
COLLINS: But, listen, if you're a writer for the show and you know that the entire contingent of people who watch this program are wanting Ross and Rachel back together, to end on that note, what do you do as a writer?
BERNARD: I think you want to give them, in a sense, what they want. You want to satisfy them, but you want to do it in an interesting way and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it was that answering machine, the last-minute arrival, but it wasn't that clever.
BOROWITZ: It gave David Schwimmer a great chance to show off his acting. "Did she get off the plane?"
TOURE: Ross is always such a dork. Always a day late and a dollar short that it's like he doesn't deserve Rachel, this great prize (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: This show has always been about the crispness of its writing, and I thought that last night's finale sort of exemplified what's been wrong the last few years, which is that it's not fresh anymore. It's flabby. It's very flabby.
BERNARD: And sometimes the guest stars are often the highlight. I thought Anna Farris (ph), who played Erica (ph), the surrogate mother, she was in "Lost in Translation" and "Scary Movie," she was fantastic. She was a lot funnier.
TOURE: But can we really believe somebody to be so stupid to not know they are having twins and the others around them don't know they're having twins?
BERNARD: It's a sitcom!
TOURE: But they're supposed to be modern in New York and sophisticated, and they're so stupid!
COLLINS: OK, Toure, how would you have written the show? At least give me an ending, give me an ending, just real quick.
TOURE: An ending off the top of my head? I don't know. A close-up of Jennifer Aniston and just keep going, just to get closer to her. Because that's the only reason why I ever watched.
COLLINS: OK, so it's obvious that at least four of the five of you did not like this. But tell me, Sarah...
BOROWITZ: It will be better next week.
BERNARD: Yes.
COLLINS: It will be better next week, right. No more chances, though. What was it about this cast of characters -- and leaving it out last night if you want...
BERNARD: Yes, leaving it out.
COLLINS: ... that worked so well?
BERNARD: It was their chemistry. It was obviously the way that they all reacted together. I mean, they were such rounded characters. Everyone was, you know, very clear, their individual personalities, and they really, I think, did a great job of all these 10 years making them that way. I mean, so many shows are just not well-drawn like that.
SIGESMUND: Although, ironically, Joey has gotten more one- dimensional as this series has wrapped up.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And now he's the one who has his own series.
COLLINS: Well, he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) after this show, right?
VARGAS: And, you know, Ross said the first season -- actually even before the first season, on the pilot, it felt as if they were doing the third season. That is how close they were. And what was also amazing about them is they were friends on the set and they were also friends outside of the set. And they negotiated their million- dollar per episode deal together. There were no divas.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: That's a bonding moment when you get the $1 million deal.
TOURE: But the way...
COLLINS: This is "90-Second Pop," and we are out of time.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Man!
BOROWITZ: We'll be there for you, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, well, thank you so much. I can't even go through all the names again.
TOURE: Everyone here...
BOROWITZ: Group hug. Group hug.
COLLINS: Please, God, save us.
HEMMER: That is so sweet. And just for the record, Toure, I agree with you.
BOROWITZ: There you go.
HEMMER: You and I have found common ground, my man.
TOURE: Thanks.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. Our man, Richard Quest, is back with us today. It's been awhile, but our friend is over there yet again.
Good morning -- Richard.
Good morning to you, Bill. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And I'll show you a gadget that's going to help you lose weight as you go around the store. AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back with Jack and a good friend of ours as well.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Richard Quest is back with us. I am told -- it's been a long time since he's been on the program. He's usually on every Friday morning. But I'm told that he's been touring the world, doing a series of reports on peculiarities. And the thought occurred to me that out of all of the correspondents that we have in the CNN stable, they found the right guy for the assignment.
Richard, how are you? It's nice to see you. We've missed you.
QUEST: I've been traveling, Jack. I've been visiting places on the map that you couldn't even find.
CAFFERTY: Or spell probably.
QUEST: Well, I had a bit of difficulty with that. Now, I've been to all sorts of parts of eastern and central Europe. Go that way a bit, and eventually you end up there. Look, I have the ultimate for you this morning.
CAFFERTY: All right.
QUEST: Just picture it, Jack. What could be more perfect than a machine -- a shopping cart, as you would call it -- that allows you to go shopping, spend, eat and actually lose weight?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): They call it the Trim Trolley. It will turn your supermarket visits into your regular gym workout.
The cart has been designed to monitor heartbeat, how far you've traveled up the aisles, even how many calories you're burning. Like the treadmill, it can be programmed to increase resistance, making pushing those groceries more difficult.
But why stop there? There's plenty of chances for a workout in this supermarket.
(on camera): Deep breaths.
(voice-over): Baguette (ph) barbells. That will get the heart rate moving.
The Trim Trolley won't tell me what to buy, although it seems to have a mind of its own, but that might just be the usual wonky wheel.
A workout for your body, brain, even your wallet.
(on camera): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will come when they find a trolley that will pay the bill as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And they say that this new shopping cart or trolley, the old trolley, as we call it over here, where is the old trolley? They say it's an old joke, but a good one.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I know.
QUEST: They say that it only costs about $500 and gets rid of all of those pounds. Jack, you should try it.
CAFFERTY: Speaking of old trolleys, tell me about Madonna.
QUEST: Oh, that was unkind. Talking of old trolleys, look, she's got this very large garden. It's about 1,200 acres. The problem is the peasants want to get close to her, and they seem to suggest there's a right of way through her garden. And now, Madonna is going to court saying, no, the peasants are revolting. Keep them at the doors.
CAFFERTY: She's a treat. She should worry more why her records aren't selling these days.
What about this lady that bought all of the Mars bars in the city of London. There's something wrong with this woman, I think.
QUEST: Now, this woman, she didn't buy a few. She bought 10,656 Mars bars. If you've ever eaten one of them, you'll know how difficult that is. Now, imagine eating 10,000 of them. She paid over nearly $4,000. And the best part about it, Jack, nobody knows why. She just went into the store and says, I'll have every Mars bar you've got, including every one in the store, and the store next door. And it came to 10,500 Mars bars. I challenge anyone to eat that many.
CAFFERTY: Yes, maybe she wasn't eating them. Maybe she had something else in mind.
QUEST: Oh, please, please!
CAFFERTY: Richard, it's good to see you. Don't be such a stranger around here. We look forward to these little chats. Do drop by often.
QUEST: Next week.
CAFFERTY: All right, partner, Richard Quest, over there.
HEMMER: He's a good reminder that it's Friday.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Good to see him again, huh?
CAFFERTY: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Peculiarities around the world, that's what he was covering, right?
CAFFERTY: Yes. I guess. That's what he said.
HEMMER: Eastern Europe.
CAFFERTY: You don't have to go around the world. There's peculiarities closer to home than that.
HEMMER: Indeed there are.
CAFFERTY: Huh?
COLLINS: Plenty of them.
Still to come this morning, Donald Rumsfeld getting set to head to Capitol Hill. Coming up, we'll talk to one Democrat who has got some questions for the defense secretary. Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment here, plan B gets a thumbs down, but the fight to bring the emergency contraceptive to consumers may not be over yet. Details in a moment when we continue after this.
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Aired May 7, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I gave it an "A" for average last night.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: "A" for average, really?
HEMMER: I just thought there would be more surprises or more humor or something.
COLLINS: But you're not really tied into this show.
HEMMER: Over the decade of "Friends, "I wasn't a huge fan of the show.
COLLINS: Yes, see that might be the problem. We'll get into that later.
HEMMER: OK.
COLLINS: We want to get to the news, though, first this morning.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is expected to face some tough questions today over his handling of the Iraq prison scandal. The secretary will answer questions from two Congressional committees. Some Democrats have called for his resignation. Officials say Rumsfeld will announce the creation of an independent panel to review the situation. The session before the Senate Armed Services Committee begins at 11:45 a.m. Eastern Time this morning. CNN will have special coverage beginning at 11:30.
A family in Colorado is pleading for the release of a man who says he is an Iraqi-American kidnapped in Baghdad. Al Arabiya television aired a videotape yesterday, showing a blindfolded man who says he is a civil engineer for the Pentagon. The network says it received the tape from a group calling itself The Islamic Rage Squadrons.
The Senate has approved John Negroponte as the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq. Negroponte serves as the U.S. envoy to the United Nations. He'll take control of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad after the June 30th power handover.
An Oregon lawyer is arrested on a material witness warrant in those deadly train bombings in Spain. Brandon Mayfield was taken in by federal agents in Portland, Oregon. A law enforcement source says his fingerprints link him to evidence found near the March terrorist attacks in Madrid. Friends and family claim he's never even been to Spain. And hundreds of evacuated residents in southern California are now returning home. More than a dozen houses have been destroyed by raging wildfires there. Lower temperatures and moist air are helping firefighters contain the flames. But officials are bracing for a long, long summer. The start of the wildfire season was declared three weeks earlier this year due to unusually hot weather.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: Back now to the Iraqi prisoner abuse situation, a new question today. Whether or not President Bush's move toward a full apology is likely to matter in the Muslim world or have any political impact here at home. The shift came yesterday at the White House just as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was getting ready for today's testimony before two Congressional committees -- first in the Senate, later in the House.
Our senior analyst, Jeff Greenfield, back with us today.
Good morning to you.
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: Good morning.
HEMMER: That apology statement, matter much?
GREENFIELD: I don't think so. And, in fact, I find the whole focus on an apology a little bit strange. It's clear the president had to acknowledge the gravity of what happened, and had he dismissed it as, you know, kids blowing off steam, the way apparently Rush Limbaugh did, then he really would have had a personal apology to make. But I think for the Arab world, he had to say that.
In terms of here at home, I think this is sort of part of the whole therapeutic culture where the question is, it isn't what you did, but whether you feel bad about it. And I think actually Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, was really right when, according to "The New York Times," he said this is going to take a generation for the U.S. to recover from this. And in terms of domestic politics, I think he was right when he said that really fundamentally it's the burden of running a national security campaign that you are the prisoner of events.
You know, I'll say it again, I've said it a hundred times, how Americans feel about Bush's Iraq policy, the decision to go to war, the rationale, the cost in blood, it's going to depend on what is happening there. That's what policymakers and the president need to focus on, not answering questions from an army of Dr. Phil's.
I mean, I'll just remind you that, you know, Bill Clinton apologized a while ago for not putting forces in Rwanda to prevent the genocide. I'm sure that's really consolation to the families of the 800,000 who were slaughtered there. For me, it's the deed and not the words that make a difference.
HEMMER: With today's events today on Capitol Hill, at 11:45 that testimony, live coverage certainly here on this cable news network... GREENFIELD: I would bet.
HEMMER: ... is this only about the prison abuse situation that you have some Democrats saying he should resign and get out now? Or is there more to that story in D.C.?
GREENFIELD: No, this is a long story. Remember, Rumsfeld began making enemies almost as soon as he was sworn in, when he was calling for a radical transformation of the Army. He wanted it lighter, more mobile. The Pentagon brass, the Army, didn't like that.
Then in the run-up to the war in Iraq, he in effect set up his own intelligence operation. The CIA didn't like that.
His clashes with Colin Powell and the State Department on the case for war were and are famous. There are stories even today about how angry the State Department people are with Rumsfeld. And his insistence that the war and, maybe even more important, the reconstruction be done with fewer bodies on the ground than others want have caused a very big fight.
So, now that there's trouble over there -- and this is not just the prison scandal, Bill. It's the extension of tours of duty for the military and for the Guard and National Reserve. Also the anger of war supporters, people who were for this who felt they were a bit snookered by Rumsfeld. This is all coming home to roost.
And since the Congress has felt left out of the loop anyway -- and they tend to get their back up fairly quickly about that -- you've even got a couple of Republicans saying he should have been more forthcoming.
HEMMER: Back to the issue of resignation. It is only Democrats, and only a handful of them so far, no Republicans, no moderate Democrats even for that matter.
GREENFIELD: Well...
HEMMER: Given that to this point, is this likely to stick?
GREENFIELD: Biden, who has been a very strong supporter of the war, came tippy, tippy close to that. And I think...
HEMMER: Then he seemed to pull back a little bit, too.
GREENFIELD: I think you are exactly right. This is the old schoolyard ball rule. Your old man says so. As long as it's Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel and Senator Harkin, you know, partisan, liberal Democrats, then it becomes just politics. But you're absolutely right. It's if you hear hints of these calls from moderate Republicans, from supporters of the war and from editorial pages, not "The New York Times", but more like "The Washington Times" or the "New York Post,." then he's got a real political problem.
HEMMER: And perhaps that argument changes a little bit. I don't get this sense in talking with a number of people outside of our industry of television, a sense of outrage on behalf of the American public. But when you describe to them the sexual allegations involved in this story that are documented in print, but far too graphic for us to talk about on morning television, that's when people start to really perk up and say, wow, that really happened?
GREENFIELD: Yes, I think you've got, again, I don't mean to flatter you, but I think you're right again, that both in the Muslim world, where whole issues of women and sexuality have -- we saw, you know, Mohammed Atta, the 9/11 hijacker, his big concern was he didn't want a pregnant woman or anyone near his body. Now, you take that culture and infuse it with the kinds of pictures and acts you're describing, it sounds grim. It would have been much -- this is much worse than if it had simply been an allegation of physical abuse.
HEMMER: Thanks Jeff. Jeff Greenfield here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Later today, 11:30, our coverage begins in D.C. The Senate Armed Services Committee testimony starts about 15 minutes later into that, 11:45 a.m. Wolf Blitzer heads up our coverage a little later this morning here on CNN -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A Florida circuit court judge has ruled the so-called Terri's law unconstitutional. Terri Schiavo is severely brain damaged and has been living on medical machines for more than a decade.
Now, Florida Governor Jeb Bush is appealing the judge's decision to strike down the law. Governor Bush used the law to have Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted last October.
The battle over Terri Schiavo's life is just one of the many stories in the debate over life support and the heart wrenching dilemma that many family members must face.
John Zarrella has this story now of the Greenbergs and the choice one husband made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Evelyn and Arthur Greenberg made it, 50 years together. Surrounded by their children and grandchildren...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
ZARRELLA: ... the Greenbergs celebrating their life together, toasted life itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The courage and strength of Ma to survive.
ZARRELLA: In 2001, Evelyn suffered a brain stem stroke. She was paralyzed from the nose down. The Greenbergs say they were advised to turn off life support; that at best, Evelyn would be vegetative. But Arthur Greenberg refused to give in to the doctors and give up on his wife.
ARTHUR GREENBERG, EVELYN'S HUSBAND: I wanted my wife back is the way I saw it, and this is -- we decided to give her a chance.
ZARRELLA: Evelyn is severely handicapped, but she's not in a vegetative state. She gets around just fine, even on Main Street in Disney World. It's tough, she says...
EVELYN GREENBERG, STROKE VICTIM: But in all, life is good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But in all, life is good.
ZARRELLA: Medical ethicists say deciding whether to disconnect a loved one's life support can tear a family apart.
KEN GOODMAN, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: It divides families apart though because, well, sometimes they don't talk about it. They don't like what they hear when they do talk about it.
ZARRELLA: The public fight over whether to keep alive a brain- damaged woman, Terri Schiavo, has pitted her husband against her parents.
(on camera): The Florida legislature even passed a bill to keep Schiavo connected to a feeding tube, but it remains a divisive issue. A recent poll of Florida voters found 41 percent agreed with the legislation, 41 percent said it was wrong.
(voice-over): The Greenbergs understand the conflict. While Evelyn's husband wanted to keep her alive, her daughter, Joyce, wasn't sure.
JOYCE GREENBERG, EVELYN'S DAUGHTER: We were told she would be in a vegetative state, and the thought of that was just too painful to bear. I didn't think she would want to live that way.
ZARRELLA: Joyce says she's never been so glad she was wrong.
John Zarrella, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: You just never know, huh?
HEMMER: Yes.
In a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, a promise of gold to kill high-level officials in Iraq. That's the offer on a tape said to be from Osama bin Laden. Is it really him? A check on that at the top of the next hour here.
COLLINS: Also, Madonna in a big fight across the pond. It's not about her music. It's about her back yard.
HEMMER: And, the finale of "Friends" and what happened with Ross and Rachel last night. The burning answers to the burning questions in our "90-Second Pop" panel today, and they are loaded up and ready to go. Back in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: So, one of the most popular TV sitcoms ever is now history. It has to be a really special event to get our "90-Second Pop" crew up at 10:00 -- or, actually, much really earlier than normal, I believe. They usually sleep in on Fridays, don't you?
Joining us now with reaction to the "Friends" finale -- now, bear with me. There's a few people here today. Humorist Andy Borowitz, "New York" magazine, contributing editor Sarah Bernard, B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly," CNN entertainment reporter, Sibila Vargas, and Toure, contributing editor for "Rolling Stone."
So, what we want to do first...
TOURE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "90-Second Pop".
(CROSSTALK)
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: This is the spin-off right here.
COLLINS: Oh, yes.
BERNARD: Forget Joey.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: This is our final episode, by the way.
COLLINS: First and last. Let's go ahead and listen, you guys, really quick to the big moment of the whole show. We'll start there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God! Did she off the plane? Did she get off the plane?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got off the plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Well?
TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: My goodness!
COLLINS: All right, Toure, go ahead.
TOURE: Another boring, sappy episode of "Friends," as interesting as Ritz cracker. I mean, my God, they all act stupid. They're all simple-minded. They've learned nothing. Like, I mean, it wasn't sad like the end of "Sex and the City." It wasn't smart like the end of "Seinfeld." It was just boring, boring, boring.
BERNARD: I think it's the subplots that were the worst. I mean, Ross and Rachel had to be together, or it was going to be, you know, revolt in the streets. But the duck and the chick? What was that? And then going to the wrong airport? TOURE: Oh, God!
BERNARD: I mean, that's in a car commercial.
BOROWITZ: I've got to say, I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt. But it completely lacked the closure and catharsis of the final episode of "Saved by the Bell." (UNINTELLIGIBLE) low standards.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": I have to say, about that drive to the airport...
COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: ... in the words of Chandler Bing, could it have been any more cliche?
BOROWITZ: Right.
SIGESMUND: "Friends" invented that cliche, the big drive to the airport.
BERNARD: Right (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I think I was the only one who actually enjoyed it.
COLLINS: I was going to say, is there no one who liked it?
(CROSSTALK)
VARGAS: I really liked it, and I thought it was endearing, you know, Ross and Rachel getting together. And actually I got goose bumps.
SIGESMUND: Who could have predicted that, though?
(CROSSTALK)
SIGESMUND: They kept this episode shrouded in secrecy for four months. Don't let anybody know what happened, as if we all could have predicted this.
COLLINS: But, listen, if you're a writer for the show and you know that the entire contingent of people who watch this program are wanting Ross and Rachel back together, to end on that note, what do you do as a writer?
BERNARD: I think you want to give them, in a sense, what they want. You want to satisfy them, but you want to do it in an interesting way and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it was that answering machine, the last-minute arrival, but it wasn't that clever.
BOROWITZ: It gave David Schwimmer a great chance to show off his acting. "Did she get off the plane?"
TOURE: Ross is always such a dork. Always a day late and a dollar short that it's like he doesn't deserve Rachel, this great prize (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
SIGESMUND: This show has always been about the crispness of its writing, and I thought that last night's finale sort of exemplified what's been wrong the last few years, which is that it's not fresh anymore. It's flabby. It's very flabby.
BERNARD: And sometimes the guest stars are often the highlight. I thought Anna Farris (ph), who played Erica (ph), the surrogate mother, she was in "Lost in Translation" and "Scary Movie," she was fantastic. She was a lot funnier.
TOURE: But can we really believe somebody to be so stupid to not know they are having twins and the others around them don't know they're having twins?
BERNARD: It's a sitcom!
TOURE: But they're supposed to be modern in New York and sophisticated, and they're so stupid!
COLLINS: OK, Toure, how would you have written the show? At least give me an ending, give me an ending, just real quick.
TOURE: An ending off the top of my head? I don't know. A close-up of Jennifer Aniston and just keep going, just to get closer to her. Because that's the only reason why I ever watched.
COLLINS: OK, so it's obvious that at least four of the five of you did not like this. But tell me, Sarah...
BOROWITZ: It will be better next week.
BERNARD: Yes.
COLLINS: It will be better next week, right. No more chances, though. What was it about this cast of characters -- and leaving it out last night if you want...
BERNARD: Yes, leaving it out.
COLLINS: ... that worked so well?
BERNARD: It was their chemistry. It was obviously the way that they all reacted together. I mean, they were such rounded characters. Everyone was, you know, very clear, their individual personalities, and they really, I think, did a great job of all these 10 years making them that way. I mean, so many shows are just not well-drawn like that.
SIGESMUND: Although, ironically, Joey has gotten more one- dimensional as this series has wrapped up.
TOURE: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And now he's the one who has his own series.
COLLINS: Well, he's (UNINTELLIGIBLE) after this show, right?
VARGAS: And, you know, Ross said the first season -- actually even before the first season, on the pilot, it felt as if they were doing the third season. That is how close they were. And what was also amazing about them is they were friends on the set and they were also friends outside of the set. And they negotiated their million- dollar per episode deal together. There were no divas.
(CROSSTALK)
BOROWITZ: That's a bonding moment when you get the $1 million deal.
TOURE: But the way...
COLLINS: This is "90-Second Pop," and we are out of time.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Man!
BOROWITZ: We'll be there for you, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, well, thank you so much. I can't even go through all the names again.
TOURE: Everyone here...
BOROWITZ: Group hug. Group hug.
COLLINS: Please, God, save us.
HEMMER: That is so sweet. And just for the record, Toure, I agree with you.
BOROWITZ: There you go.
HEMMER: You and I have found common ground, my man.
TOURE: Thanks.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. Our man, Richard Quest, is back with us today. It's been awhile, but our friend is over there yet again.
Good morning -- Richard.
Good morning to you, Bill. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. And I'll show you a gadget that's going to help you lose weight as you go around the store. AMERICAN MORNING back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back with Jack and a good friend of ours as well.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Richard Quest is back with us. I am told -- it's been a long time since he's been on the program. He's usually on every Friday morning. But I'm told that he's been touring the world, doing a series of reports on peculiarities. And the thought occurred to me that out of all of the correspondents that we have in the CNN stable, they found the right guy for the assignment.
Richard, how are you? It's nice to see you. We've missed you.
QUEST: I've been traveling, Jack. I've been visiting places on the map that you couldn't even find.
CAFFERTY: Or spell probably.
QUEST: Well, I had a bit of difficulty with that. Now, I've been to all sorts of parts of eastern and central Europe. Go that way a bit, and eventually you end up there. Look, I have the ultimate for you this morning.
CAFFERTY: All right.
QUEST: Just picture it, Jack. What could be more perfect than a machine -- a shopping cart, as you would call it -- that allows you to go shopping, spend, eat and actually lose weight?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST (voice-over): They call it the Trim Trolley. It will turn your supermarket visits into your regular gym workout.
The cart has been designed to monitor heartbeat, how far you've traveled up the aisles, even how many calories you're burning. Like the treadmill, it can be programmed to increase resistance, making pushing those groceries more difficult.
But why stop there? There's plenty of chances for a workout in this supermarket.
(on camera): Deep breaths.
(voice-over): Baguette (ph) barbells. That will get the heart rate moving.
The Trim Trolley won't tell me what to buy, although it seems to have a mind of its own, but that might just be the usual wonky wheel.
A workout for your body, brain, even your wallet.
(on camera): (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will come when they find a trolley that will pay the bill as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
And they say that this new shopping cart or trolley, the old trolley, as we call it over here, where is the old trolley? They say it's an old joke, but a good one.
CAFFERTY: Yes, I know.
QUEST: They say that it only costs about $500 and gets rid of all of those pounds. Jack, you should try it.
CAFFERTY: Speaking of old trolleys, tell me about Madonna.
QUEST: Oh, that was unkind. Talking of old trolleys, look, she's got this very large garden. It's about 1,200 acres. The problem is the peasants want to get close to her, and they seem to suggest there's a right of way through her garden. And now, Madonna is going to court saying, no, the peasants are revolting. Keep them at the doors.
CAFFERTY: She's a treat. She should worry more why her records aren't selling these days.
What about this lady that bought all of the Mars bars in the city of London. There's something wrong with this woman, I think.
QUEST: Now, this woman, she didn't buy a few. She bought 10,656 Mars bars. If you've ever eaten one of them, you'll know how difficult that is. Now, imagine eating 10,000 of them. She paid over nearly $4,000. And the best part about it, Jack, nobody knows why. She just went into the store and says, I'll have every Mars bar you've got, including every one in the store, and the store next door. And it came to 10,500 Mars bars. I challenge anyone to eat that many.
CAFFERTY: Yes, maybe she wasn't eating them. Maybe she had something else in mind.
QUEST: Oh, please, please!
CAFFERTY: Richard, it's good to see you. Don't be such a stranger around here. We look forward to these little chats. Do drop by often.
QUEST: Next week.
CAFFERTY: All right, partner, Richard Quest, over there.
HEMMER: He's a good reminder that it's Friday.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
HEMMER: Good to see him again, huh?
CAFFERTY: Yes, it is.
HEMMER: Peculiarities around the world, that's what he was covering, right?
CAFFERTY: Yes. I guess. That's what he said.
HEMMER: Eastern Europe.
CAFFERTY: You don't have to go around the world. There's peculiarities closer to home than that.
HEMMER: Indeed there are.
CAFFERTY: Huh?
COLLINS: Plenty of them.
Still to come this morning, Donald Rumsfeld getting set to head to Capitol Hill. Coming up, we'll talk to one Democrat who has got some questions for the defense secretary. Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment here, plan B gets a thumbs down, but the fight to bring the emergency contraceptive to consumers may not be over yet. Details in a moment when we continue after this.
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