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American Morning

American Beheaded; Interview With Senator Saxby Chambliss

Aired May 12, 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: American Nicholas Berg executed in Iraq. Today, some of the last words he shared with family and friends.
Is it the price of things to come? Gas now above $3 in a few places; no relief in sight.

And the tornado that sounded like a freight train just before it hit a freight train on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome everybody. Other stories that we're following this morning, lots to still cover in the Iraqi prisoner abuse story.

More photographs of abuse will be seen today. These by senators under high security conditions. Barbara Starr is going to join us this morning to give us a little bit more on that investigation.

HEMMER: Also this morning, Kobe Bryant entering a plea yesterday in that sexual assault case. A number of important matters came up during those hearings on Monday and on Tuesday a lot more is now set to be decided over the next several weeks.

Jeff Toobin stops by in a moment and will explain to us where this case goes from here. Stay tuned for that.

O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty with us this morning -- good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The beheading of that American Nick Berg by these malignant cretins in the Middle East. In addition to being vicious and cowardly, what with the bags over their heads, these people are among the most stupid individuals on the planet. We'll explain our thinking behind that statement.

HEMMER: Will be a lot of our coverage this morning.

O'BRIEN: No question. All right, Jack, thanks.

Let's get to our top stories this morning. Coalition troops are fighting to disarm insurgents loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Military officials say at least 20 insurgents were killed during an ongoing operation in Karbala. Troops also confiscated weapons and ammunition. Seven coalition soldiers were wounded in the raid. Four have since returned to duty, though.

The former commander of military police at U.S. prisons in Iraq reportedly claims she resisted orders to use lethal force at Iraqi prisons. That is according to "The Washington Post."

General Janis Karpinski has been formally admonished for the abuses at the Abu Ghraib Prison, but she claims that the orders came from superior officers who wanted military intelligence officials to control the prisons.

Top military officials deny General Karpinski's account.

NBA star Kobe Bryant has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault. Two days of hearings were held in Eagle, Colorado. A trial date has not been set, but lawyers for both sides have agreed to begin in August. Bryant's accuser was not in court yesterday.

Senate Democrats have failed to pass a measure extending federal unemployment benefits. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, campaigning in Kentucky at the time, was the only senator who did not cast a vote. The absence led President Bush's reelection campaign to say that the senator was too busy playing politics to do his job.

Some Democrats have accused Republicans of engineering the vote to embarrass Senator Kerry.

And motorists are hoping for some relief as gasoline prices continue to reach record highs. Some gas stations in California already charging more than $3 a gallon for premium gasoline. The government says gas prices across the country could hit a record high of $2.03 in June. We're going to have more on those rising prices with Andy Serwer just ahead.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: A U.S. official telling the Associated Press that communications worker Nick Berg was in Iraq of his own accord and that he'd been advised to leave the country but refused.

Berg is the American captive beheaded in a grisly videotape posted on an al Qaeda link Web site yesterday. This morning, David Ensor begins our coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLAS BERG: My name is Nick Berg; my father's name is Michael.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN: My name is Nick Berg, says the 26-year-old American civilian on the tape, then he names his parents, his brother and sister, and his hometown.

Standing behind Berg, who disappeared April 9, one of five hooded terrorists reads a statement referring to the controversy over abuse of prisoners by American soldiers.

The dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib Prison is not redeemed except by blood and souls. The speaker promises coffin after coffin.

And then on the tape the last cry of Nick Berg is heard as his head is cut off with a knife.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R) ARIZONA: It's terrible, it's tragic. It also shows the stark difference between America and these barbarians.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: We're dealing with an enemy that has absolutely no boundaries, that's despicable in every way and really behaves like animals in the name of God.

ENSOR: The Web site claims that the killing was done by Abu Musab al Zarqawi -- a Jordanian terrorist who's al Qaeda affiliated group -- is held responsible by U.S. intelligence for a string of bombings in Iraq and for the killing of an American diplomat in Amman.

CNN Arabic linguists say, however, that the voice on the tape has the wrong accent. They do not believe it is Zarqawi.

U.S. officials said the killer is trying to take advantage of the prison abuse controversy to gain attention.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think we need to understand that Zarqawi or none of the other terrorist leaders needed in the past any particular provocation for their deadly, destructive designs and conduct.

ENSOR: On the tape, the hooded terrorists claims they offered to exchange Berg for Iraqi prisoners held in Abu Ghraib Prison. U.S. officials say that's false. They know of no such offer.

David Ensor, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Nicholas Berg is being remembered as a free spirit who wanted to help others. That's the reason he went to Iraq, we're told.

About 150 friends and family members held a candlelight vigil near the Berg home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philly, last night.

Through a few extensive e-mails from Iraq, we can learn a lot more about the work and the life of the young American.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: 26-year-old Nicholas Berg went to Iraq to help rebuild the country and make his own company stronger. Nick was working on communication towers, many badly damaged from bombing and from sabotage.

Those closest to him say he was smart, funny and committed, ideals that compelled him to travel to Iraq.

These were his father's words before he learned of his son's death.

MICHAEL BERG, NICK BERG'S FATHER: He just really wanted to be part of something that was important. He supported the administration's being in Iraq; he supported everything that they were doing. And he wanted to help and he wanted to help in a positive way by building rather than breaking down.

HEMMER: Through e-mail, Nick kept in touch with family, friends and business colleagues. When he was working in northern Iraq, he wrote: "Mosul is very calm -- except for the Army convoys and check points, you can't really tell there is an occupation. Baghdad every night you hear IEDs and such, but here I've yet to hear or see anything except a few aged craters."

In another e-mail, he also mentioned the Democratic reform starting to take hold. "The fact alone that an Iraqi man and I are just now sitting in a free and open Internet shop is unbelievable to most Iraqis."

But in the end, Nick was in Iraq to help rebuild its infrastructure. And he wrote about the freedom he experienced while doing his work. "When I'm climbing these towers I even get to go a few hours without some awkward American question. The answer to which is usually 'Sawa' -- as you like."

Nick Berg, far too young to die, will never see the Iraq he tried to make better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: We are told that Nick Berg was set to leave Iraq, but he disappeared back in early April. The White House vowing that the executioners in that videotape will be hunted down and brought to justice -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to the Iraqi prisoner abuse story. For three hours this afternoon, all 100 U.S. Senators will have a chance to view additional material documenting abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

The viewing comes the day after the officer who blew the top off the scandal told his story to Congress. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us this morning with details -- Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, as the senators get ready to view those photographs, they are still digesting what they heard from key witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: The general who investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison could not have been more blunt about what went wrong.

MAJ. GEN. ANTONIO TAGUBA, U.S. ARMY: Failure in leadership, sir, from the brigade commander on down. Lack of discipline. No training whatsoever and no supervision.

STARR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke about the reaction when the photos reached the Pentagon.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The look on the faces of the people who have viewed the photographs and the videos from what took place there. They were stunned, absolutely stunned.

STARR: Taguba said there was no evidence the soldiers were under orders from military intelligence or other higher ups or following any policy to soften up detainees for interrogation. But he was critical of two officers.

Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

TAGUBA: The lack of leadership on her part overall in terms of her training, the standards, supervisory omission, the command climate in her brigade -- those were all in totality why I held her accountable and responsible.

STARR: And Colonel Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, control of the prison was taken away from Karpinski last year and given to Pappas. Karpinski has been disciplined. Pappas is under investigation for failing to make sure his troops follow the Geneva Convention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (on camera): But Soledad, still a key question when military intelligence took over the prison, did that somehow encourage the military prison guards to begin abusing the prisoners in order to gain information out of them? The first court martial begins in Baghdad next week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us -- Barbara thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 11 minutes past the hour now.

Weather news now. Savage storms ripping across Texas stirring up twisters in at least two parts of that state, opposite ends for that matter.

A tornado derailed this train near the panhandle town of Hartley yesterday afternoon. The winds sent 15 empty coal cars off the tracks there. One of the trains' cars thrown 400 feet away onto a highway.

Another twister southeastern part of Texas near the town of Conroe damaged 18 homes, blew down trees and left 60,000 without power.

Luckily no one was hurt by either twister. The scenes from Texas yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Amazing. Still to come this morning, Kobe Bryant finally enters a plea in court. Where does the case go from here? We've got legal analysis from Jeff Toobin this morning.

HEMMER: Also those gas prices tick even higher. Will the summer bring any relief and if so when? Andy's got that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And a bizarre phenomenon in the Mexico sky. We've got details ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Are those UFOs?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you understand that charge?

KOBE BRYANT: Yes sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plea? Not guilty or guilty?

BRYANT: Not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A plea of not guilty will be entered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Kobe Bryant entering his plea in a sexual assault case. Court adjourned shortly after his plea yesterday but sources say the lawyers and the judge have agreed on when the trial will begin.

Here to discuss Bryant's day in court and what happens next, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin -- nice to see you. Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Everybody was sort of expecting that. I mean, I think people have been saying now for a while that he was going to say not guilty your honor in some way shape or form.

Any surprises you think?

TOOBIN: Not really. This was mostly a formality. You don't fight a case this hard for this many months and then plead guilty. The real significance of yesterday is that under Colorado law, it starts the clock for six months; the trial has to take place.

Many of us believe that the trial is at least tentatively scheduled to begin in August but remember they're probably going to be three to six weeks of jury selection before the actual trial begins.

O'BRIEN: The judge referred to the accuser by her initials in this particular part of the hearing and yet at previous times he's called her Jane Doe. Is that relevant you think?

TOOBIN: Well, this has been a very hotly debated topic in the case, how to refer to the accuser.

O'BRIEN: Victim or not.

TOOBIN: Right, mostly the prosecution wants to refer to her as the victim; the defense is fighting that.

You know this all can sound like semantics but it actually can have some significance. You see jurors identify with people by how they label them. In the Jayson Williams case it was very interesting when the jurors came back they were all talking about how well Jayson felt this way or Jayson did that -- you know they obviously...

O'BRIEN: First name basis.

TOOBIN: First name basis and you know that could matter.

O'BRIEN: The judge called her in this hearing a victim and also called her by her initials as opposed to the Jane Doe name so what -- what do you read into that?

TOOBIN: I think that -- I read into it that the judge hasn't made up his mind yet about how he wants this to be resolved. I think the easiest way probably is just to call her by her name and trust the reporters present not to disclose it because most of us who are covering the case do know her name. It has come out in various places but just don't -- we don't -- disclose it.

O'BRIEN: There's a report in "The L.A. Times" that says that prosecutors have now said that they will not use Kobe Bryant's sexual history and I thought wow that's the first time I've heard of anyone even considering his sexual history in this. What's the indication, that there's just nothing there?

TOOBIN: Well, that's right. There is no evidence that the prosecution could say that there's part of a pattern.

Interestingly, yesterday the defense conceded that the -- that they are not going to claim that the victim has made prior claims of rape before. They're not going to say she has a pattern of false accusations so even though they are alleging some sort of promiscuity, they're not saying that, you know she has in effect cried wolf before.

O'BRIEN: And there is another hearing on May 27. Jeff Toobin as always.

TOOBIN: Plenty more.

O'BRIEN: And more after that and a little bit more after that. Jeff as always thanks.

TOOBIN: And if I could -- Kobe scored 42 points last night and the Lakers won. I mean, it's just incredible after each hearing he continues to play well -- it's just amazing.

O'BRIEN: Yes, interesting, isn't it. All right, Jeff, thanks -- Bill. HEMMER: A renowned UFO expert held a news conference yesterday talking about a bizarre phenomenon over that country. Look at these strange lights surrounding a Mexican military surveillance plane.

The 11 objects were picked up by an infrared camera on March 5. UFO expert Jenny Mauson (ph) says the objects were invisible to the eye, but can be seen on the videotape. Mexican Air Force officials do confirm they shot the tape along the east coast of Mexico.

Makes you wonder on a Wednesday morning.

In a moment here after the beheading of a U.S. citizen in Iraq, are other Americans there in greater danger? A closer look at that.

Also reaction this morning from the White House on that topic.

And what's fueling the rising gas prices yet again? Andy has more after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Welcome back everybody. Oil and gas prices headed in the same direction, up.

Plus the Gap offers a mea culpa. A rather large one, we're told. Andy Serwer checks in "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you.

Oil passed a major threshold yesterday, Bill. $40 a barrel, we haven't seen that in 13 years and obviously not great news for the economy.

What's causing higher oil prices? Well it's pretty simple. The economic recovery here means strong demand, also strong, strong demand in China as well and you can see here we're talking about gas prices, which is where it hits home.

A new report from the Energy Department showing that the outlook now for the average price of gas in the United States through the summer will be $1.94; that's up 20 cents. They're looking at a peak of $2.03.

That's not as high as it is in that shop because obviously in California and other places it's way above $2.00 already.

Also we're talking about sabotage here and the fear of sabotage. Jack was talking about that the other day, the psychological impact on the price of oil as well.

And another point is there's just not so much supply out there, Bill. A lot of industries and a lot of companies and countries are really operating at full capacity right now.

HEMMER: They are. So the refineries are full is what you're saying. SERWER: Well that's right. Absolutely.

HEMMER: Cisco came out with earnings yesterday, highly anticipated. How'd they do?

SERWER: They did very well, actually. The market has recovered from the debacle on Monday and part of that had to do with anticipation of Cisco's earnings and they delivered after the bell over there in San Jose, good news, earnings up.

More importantly, the outlook is good which is important because this is a tech bellwether -- and -- they're going to add 1,000 jobs, John Chambers, the CEO saying there. And in fact a lot of those jobs, or most of them, are even going to be in the United States if you can imagine. Right.

And you want to talk about this last story here, which is interesting, which has to do with the Gap, a story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning.

A report coming out from the retailer suggesting that conditions in its factories overseas, 3,000 factories overseas are not in good shape. Kind of interesting, it's a mea culpa -- the company itself divulging this. And saying that there's psychological coercion in factories. Boy, that sounds like working conditions in a lot of places. Lack of safety. But not here, no.

A lack of safety -- we shouldn't make light of this. A lack of safety devices in factories overseas as well, so will be interesting to see when that report comes out.

HEMMER: Will get in front of that too.

SERWER: That's right.

HEMMER: And Cisco sent the Nasdaq soaring yesterday too.

SERWER: Yes, futures are down a little bit this morning.

HEMMER: They are, OK. All right, thanks Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: And it's time for the "Question of the Day" -- Mr. Cafferty.

CAFFERTY: Good morning. The debate about what to do with the additional pictures and video of Iraqi prisoners just got a whole lot more complicated in the last 24 hours.

Before yesterday, the debate was mostly about spin and political considerations. If the pictures were not released, the fear was they would eventually leak out anyway and that would cause additional embarrassment to the administration.

If they were simply turned loose to the public, they would create a second round of revulsion and opposition to the war. So what to do? Well, the terrorists are playing a hand in solving the debate.

They claim the decapitation of the American Nick Berg was revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Now the debate has suddenly changed and the question we're asking this morning is in light of what's going on, should additional pictures and video of alleged prisoner abuse be released? The address is am@cnn.com.

In addition to being a bunch of cowards who have to do this stuff with bags over their heads, they're just plain stupid. They had public opinion in this country turning against the war based on all of the publicity about Iraqi prisoner abuse. We put the question on the Web site before this program starts, we're already getting e-mails from people saying it's time to take off the gloves.

Combat should be resumed. I mean, people are absolutely enraged at this thing that they did.

HEMMER: And should.

CAFFERTY: And these people have no sense at all of how to -- you know -- manipulate public opinion.

O'BRIEN: Right, because I think again they're terrorists. They are...

SERWER: Yes, but they don't care about what we think. Right? I mean, that's not part of their thinking.

HEMMER: I thought what Lindsey Graham said yesterday was the nail on the head. He said we're the good guys so we have to act like the good guys and when you listen to this stuff coming out of Baghdad as a result of yesterday, turns your stomach. If you can read the e- mails that Nick Berg sent home to his family and friends.

This was a guy at total peace trying to help a country get back on its feet. That was his mission over there, also to help build his own company. He was taking a huge chance doing it.

CAFFERTY: Yes and you have to think about is you're going to create democracy in a country where these kinds of individuals are running around? That's -- I mean that's a monumental assignment and I don't even know if it's possible as long as these people are alive over there. I mean, you know you can't deal with folks like this, you can't negotiate, you can't reason, you got to kill them. That's all. People like that have to be taken out.

HEMMER: One point -- talk about the pictures being shown to members of Congress today -- Saxby Chambliss our guest in a moment here. Talk to him about whether or not he thinks it's a good idea to put them out or not.

Thanks Jack.

O'BRIEN: Thank you Jack. Still to come this morning, an extreme hero or epic failure. A preview of the weekend's big box-office opening of Brad Pitt's "Troy" plus what you can look forward to from other summer flicks. All of that and the "Frasier" finale coming up on "90-Second Pop" -- that's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right almost 7:30 here in New York, welcome back everybody.

In a minute we'll get you to the White House, more on the gruesome execution of that American Nick Berg in Iraq.

Also in a moment, Senator Saxby Chambliss will talk more bout that issue. Also the issue today about whether or not pictures, more pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse should be released to the public.

Many members of Congress get a chance in that three-hour window today on Capitol Hill to take a look. We'll examine whether or not they should be released or should be held back. What's the effect of all that. So we'll get to that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: That Nick Berg story such a gruesome, gruesome story and of course our hearts go out to his family members. I mean, how do you go on after hearing that kind of news?

HEMMER: Seeing the pictures of the family you know huddled up on the front lawn yesterday...

O'BRIEN: Heartbreaking.

HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely heartbreaking. In fact, these stories -- they're so serious that -- identity theft which is one of the other stories that we're covering becomes our light story this morning.

Of course the question what can happen when you least expect it with just a misplaced piece of paper. Consequences, though, can stick around for years.

HEMMER: First, the top stories here at 7:30 in New York.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says his country's troops have shown remarkable restraint and discipline in Iraq. The prime minister's comments come in response to photographs showing what seemed to be British troops abusing Iraqi soldiers. In a speech before parliament, Blair says there is no proof such abuse ever took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There is no evidence whatever either of systematic abuse or of ministers or anyone else refusing to act on allegations of abuse in respect of detainees in British custody. On the contrary, the only evidence that is being presented are photographs that are almost certainly fake. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Also, the prime minister adding that any claims of abuse are now being investigated by the British government.

A police officer in Afghanistan claims he was abused while in coalition custody. That incident reportedly took place in Gardez and Bagram in August of 2003. According to the statement, the officer says he was stripped naked, photographed, kicked and subjected to sexual taunting during his incarceration there. The U.S. military is investigating that.

The vice president, Dick Cheney, is getting the thumbs-up from his doctors. The vice president underwent an annual heart checkup yesterday. According to his spokesperson, Cheney's doctors say his pacemaker had not detected any irregular heartbeats. The vice president has had four heart attacks, but none while in office.

Also in sports from last night, Jason Kidd's slump coming to an end, and just in time for the New Jersey Nets. They evened their series with Detroit last night, 94-79, and controlled the entire way for the Nets.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant, along with Shaquille O'Neal, dominating yet again in the second half. The Lakers knock off the Spurs 98-90. That also evened the series at two games apiece.

And Jeff Toobin talked earlier about the performance from Kobe Bryant last night.

O'BRIEN: Right.

HEMMER: Pretty remarkable, getting on that plane in Eagle and flying to the game and returning the next day.

O'BRIEN: And he said apparently after every hearing like that he does well.

HEMMER: He performs.

O'BRIEN: Interesting to see.

(WEATHER BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Bush administration is vowing to hunt down and bring to justice those responsible for the beheading of 26-year-old American Nicholas Berg.

For more on that we go to the White House now and Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne -- good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. President Bush warned that there would be some people who would use this prison abuse scandal as a reason or an excuse to express their hatred against Americans, to undermine the U.S. effort in Iraq. The president, through his spokesperson, saying that that is not going to happen. White House spokesman Scott McClellan condemning the beheading and saying that this is a heinous act that reflects the true nature of those who are opposed to freedom and democracy in the Middle East. He also said that those who carried out this attack would be pursued and brought to justice.

Now, the administration, the president's thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family at this time. We heard on that tape the terrorists saying that they had offered to exchange Berg from some Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. U.S. officials saying that that is not true.

We understand that the Berg family has been told by State Department officials that their son's body will be brought home today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks.

Well, family, friends and neighbors in the Philadelphia suburb where Berg lived gathered last night for a candlelight vigil. Over the weekend, before he knew of his son's murder, his father, Michael Berg, talked about why Nick went to Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BERG, NICK BERG'S FATHER: He just really wanted to be part of something that was important. He supported the administration's being in Iraq. He supported everything that they were doing. And he wanted to help, and he wanted to help in a positive way by building, rather than breaking down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The Berg family last heard from Nick on April 9 -- Bill.

HEMMER: In the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, we are now hearing from Army Private Lynndie England, who has been seen in some of the photos taken inside of that prison, Abu Ghraib, concerning that picture of her pointing at a naked prisoner. England telling KCNC TV in Denver -- quote -- "I was told to stand there, point thumbs-up, look at the camera and take the picture." She said superiors praised her by saying, they just told us, hey, you're doing great. Keep it up.

England is one of seven soldiers facing charges in connection with the abuse there.

In a secure room today in the Capitol building today from 2:00 to 5:00 Eastern Time, senators will have a chance to view additional material documenting abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. The debate continues as to whether or not these photos should go public. And if they do, are Americans now in greater danger?

Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Senator, good morning to you and welcome back.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I want to get your thoughts on the suggestion by some that with the beheading of Nick Berg being so public yesterday, does that put the Iraqi prisoner case in a different context, senator?

CHAMBLISS: No, it really doesn't, Bill. I mean, what we did or what we saw over there taking place from our soldiers is reprehensible. There's no way we can condone it, but it just shows the beheading of this man yesterday by these thugs just validates every reason why we're in Iraq today. We are there to root out terrorism around the world, and this is where the center of it is today. They proved it once again yesterday.

HEMMER: Senator, will you stop later today and view the additional evidence?

CHAMBLISS: It's certainly not something I'm looking forward to, Bill, but I guess it's part of my job. I'm obligated to do it. I have very mixed feelings about these photographs. They have been described to me as bad as the ones that have already been shown on your screen and other arenas around the world. These are going to be much worse, and there are going to be men and women in American uniforms who are doing things that Americans don't do. And it's just unfortunate that a very few are soiling the name of America today by the depiction of these acts.

HEMMER: Senator, stop for a second. You say much worse. How?

CHAMBLISS: Well, the descriptions that have been given to us indicate there are sexually-explicit acts that are contained on here. There are acts of sodomy. Just horrible things, Bill, and they are things that are just so un-American. And to have American military personnel being pictured doing these things is just not something I look forward to.

HEMMER: If you could, Senator, address the question that I mentioned here in the lead-in to you, as to whether or not they should go public and whether or not they'll put more Americans in more danger in Iraq. Where do you come down on that debate?

CHAMBLISS: Well, I don't know that it puts us in more danger than we are now. The hatred towards Americans in that part of the world has been fueled over the last several months, and the people who delighted in seeing the Abu Ghraib photographs are people who already had strong feelings against America.

But I do think that it simply drags on this issue of Abu Ghraib. We are in the midst right now of a thorough investigation. We're going to bring the culprits to justice, and we're going to put this behind us and we're going to move on. But every time we have these photographs dribbled out or some other expansion of that situation, it just is not good for America, and we need to conclude it.

HEMMER: Senator...

CHAMBLISS: And getting all of these photographs out at one time is the way to do it.

HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption here. I want to play a portion of a Republican colleague, James Inhofe, what he said yesterday during these hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R-OK), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I have to say, and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment. The idea that these prisoners, you know, they are not there for traffic violations. If they are in cell block 1a or 1b, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands. And here we are so concerned about the treatment of those individuals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: He says he's outraged by the outrage. Do you share his concerns?

CHAMBLISS: Well, Jim is my dear friend, and I have great respect for his opinion. However, I don't think even Senator Inhofe can look at the pictures of a man with a hood over his head with wires attached to his body and say, you know, this is something that we ought not to be outraged at.

So, I share some of his concern, because, you know, he's right. These are the meanest, nastiest people in the world. They were taking shots at Americans. They were killing Americans. And we ought to do whatever within the bounds we can to extract information from them. But there are limits to what we can do.

HEMMER: Saxby Chambliss, Republican senator from Georgia. Thank you, Senator.

CHAMBLISS: Good to be with you, Bill.

HEMMER: A bit later this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING, Democratic reaction. Michigan Senator Carl Levin is our guest here on our program. We'll get to that a bit later this morning.

O'BRIEN: And still to come this morning, the white-collar crime that can ruin your credit before you even know it. In just a few minutes, we're going to find out how to avoid being a victim of identity theft.

HEMMER: Also, Brad Pitt's summer blockbuster "Troy" is out this weekend. What do the critics have to say? We'll have that in our "90-Second Pop" still to come in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, question of the day on our minds throughout the morning here.

CAFFERTY: Yes, thanks, Bill.

The debate about what to do with the additional pictures and video of the Iraqi prisoners has gotten a lot more complicated in the last 24 hours. Before yesterday, the debate was mostly about spin and political considerations. If the additional pictures were not released, the fear was they would eventually leak out anyway and that would cause additional embarrassment to the administration. If they were simply turned loose to the media and the public, they would create a second round of public revulsion and opposition to the war.

But because the terrorists claim that the decapitation of Nick Berg was revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, now the debate has changes.

So, the question we're asking this morning is: Should additional pictures and video of alleged prisoner abuse be released? It's mind- boggling that the people responsible couldn't grasp the concept that public opinion in this country, because of the Iraqi prisoner scandal, was running against the war. And now, with this thing, this atrocity that was done yesterday, some of the e-mail we're getting is just -- I mean, this country is furious. The people in this country are just furious.

Jason writes: "The recent killing of Mr. Berg in Iraq should signal the end of a phase in the war. This barbaric act should cause President Bush to take the gloves off, finish the war. Forget rebuilding Iraq. Unleash the full firepower of the U.S. military on that place, put them back into the Stone Age where their minds obviously still remain, and then move our forces home to defend this country."

Tamara in Mobile, Alabama: "I'm tired of hearing people say Nick Berg was asked to leave Iraq. So what? He was trying to help and felt like he could do something. Terrorists killed Nick Berg, not the war, not George Bush and certainly not his decision to help rebuild Iraq. Terror must be stopped. Americans need to understand that. It could have been your son."

And Lawrence in Crystal River, Florida, says: "There's no reason to release any additional photos. There's nothing to be gained and everything to lose. If our concern is that the prisoners were humiliated, doesn't making the pictures public make the humiliation worse?"

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: If you hold them back, you do take the chance that this dribbling out over time in a way that I'm certain the Pentagon would not like to see it go. CAFFERTY: Especially if they are in somebody's custody in Washington, because that place leaks like a sieve. It's just a matter of time until the stuff gets out.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. No question about that. All right, Jack, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to business news, when bad things happen to your good name, it is, of course, a financial nightmare. We're talking this morning about identity theft. It is the No. 1 white- collar crime in the U.S., claiming more than 27 million victims in the past five years. More than $400 million in losses were reported last year alone.

So, what is an unsuspecting consumer to do? David Bach is the author of best-selling book, "The Automatic Millionaire," and he is our personal finance contributor. He sat down with me for some "90- Second Tips" on beating this financial foe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: Smart, aggressive thieves are stealing your information off of a laptop to as simple as leaving your ATM receipt on the bank floor to you having your identity maybe lying around your office. You know, having your mail lying around the office. Having your social security number on your health identification card somewhere in your office. Simple things like this where we leave our information out there, and somebody who is looking to steal an identity is watching for it.

O'BRIEN: Is the strategy to try to avoid it, or is the best strategy to detect it early so the person who had stolen your identity basically can't get away with too much?

BACH: It's both. It's absolutely both. So, first of all, how do you protect your identity? No. 1, be very aggressive and be smart. The easiest thing you can do -- and we've heard this time and time again, but nobody does it -- shred your mail. The most important mail to be shredding is the junk mail, because if you take a credit card junk mail piece and just throw it back in the garbage, you know, literally in your garbage can, somebody can go out and steal that, apply for a credit card. They've got your name.

But it's being also very careful with who you give now your social security number to. The other day I went to the doctor's office, and they wanted my social security number, and I said no. You've got my health identification number. You don't need both. We're used to filling out forms and just giving out our social security number.

O'BRIEN: But many people actually require your social security number as your identification number.

BACH: You're right. And I will tell you that probably 2 out of 10 times, it's really necessary. So, ask somebody, why do you need my social security number? Don't carry your social security number with you. People do this all of the time. They carry their passport with them as identification. Don't have the social security number with you anywhere you go. Don't write these things down. Don't put them in your Palm Pilot. If you have a Palm Pilot, put a code on it so it's got a password protection, because if you lose, you know, your Palm Pilot or your Blackberry and it's not password-protected, boom, I'm inside. All of your life's information, I've got everything I need to steal your identity.

O'BRIEN: Other advice you give, you say keep track of your receipts. Do you think that a lot of people just don't know when their identity has been stolen?

BACH: This is a very big problem. So, every single time you shop, take that receipt. And what I do is I actually staple the receipts to my Daytimer. Why? One for IRS...

O'BRIEN: You're organized.

BACH: One for IRS purposes, but, two, I want to make sure that when I go and get my Visa statement that everywhere I spent money actually matches the Visa statement. A lot of times identity theft doesn't come down to thousands of dollars. It can come down to maybe only $50 once a month, and you don't notice it. The next thing you know is you've had $1,000 stolen over the year and very easily taken away from you without realizing it.

O'BRIEN: What do people do? I mean, what's the first step if you suddenly discover that you are the victim of identity theft?

BACH: All right, if you discover you're the victim of identity theft, first of all, the fastest way to discover it is to read your statements and then check your credit report once a year. If you discover this, you contact all three credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, immediately the second you notice it, so they can put your account on identification notice.

What that means is any time somebody applies for credit in your name, they will contact you directly. Now, that can be a big pain in the butt for you, because you may go and use your credit card and they won't immediately let it go through. But, again, this is done in your own protection. And there's also an 800 number that I think we can get it up there on the screen that will show you the number to call. The government now has a toll-free number you can call if you have your identify stolen, I think it's IDtheft, and they'll put out a notice to both the police services and the credit bureaus for you at once.

O'BRIEN: So, you really have to monitor it. I mean, at the end of the day it's really your money. You're responsible.

BACH: It really is.

O'BRIEN: All right, David Bach, as always, thanks.

BACH: Thank you, Soledad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And, of course, David is the host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show, which airs Saturday afternoons on Sirius Satellite Radio. And, of course, David is with us on Wednesdays right here on AMERICAN MORNING for tips on how you can improve your financial life.

HEMMER: About 11 minutes now before the hour. Later on Thursday night, the final episode of "Frasier" will air. Where are his friends, some are wondering?

O'BRIEN: It's not the same as the other show that ended, is it?

HEMMER: I'm telling you. "90-Second Pop" takes a shot at that right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Yes, if we had rhythm, we'd show it. It's time for "90- Second Pop." Say hello to Andy Borowitz, Sarah Bernard from "New York" magazine and B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." Good morning.

SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

HEMMER: You guys are getting more air time than Larry King lately. Good to see you again.

BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

HEMMER: Probably not, Sarah, but you're working on it. Tomorrow night, "Frasier" comes to a close.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: It comes to a close.

HEMMER: Where is the NBC PR machine on this that we saw a week ago?

BOROWITZ: Well, they're not there. I've got to say, when I heard the news that this was the final episode of "Frasier," I couldn't believe it, because I didn't know the show was still on the air.

BERNARD: Oh!

BOROWITZ: I really didn't. I have not watched "Frasier"...

HEMMER: For the benefit of our audience, this is the creator of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" going back to...

BERNARD: Which is still on the air somewhere.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: Do you think "Frasier" is one of the best-written sitcoms today?

BOROWITZ: Oh, yes. It was really smart. It was really a smart show. And we're going to miss it, I mean, instead of all of this reality stuff. I mean, we're definitely going to miss this show.

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: But what if you were Kelsey Grammer and you'd worked 11 years on a show and it had won Emmys five years in a row for best comedy and you were going to go off the air and "Friends" went off seven days before you? How bummed would you be? People don't even want to tune in.

BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: They're like, oh, I just sat through a big hyped finale.

BOROWITZ: You know, to put this in perspective, he has actually played the character of "Frasier" for 20 years.

BERNARD: Maybe he's tired of it already.

BOROWITZ: I don't know.

BERNARD: He wants to move on.

BOROWITZ: It's the longest running performance by a comedian in the same role, I guess with the exception of Peter Jennings. I mean, it's...

BERNARD: You know what I think made this show so great is the fact that played this very uptight shrink, and then in real life he had all of these personal problems.

SIGESMUND: Right.

BERNARD: I mean, he was in Betty Ford. He crashed his Viper. He had an alleged affair with a 15-year-old. But that's...

HEMMER: But as he would say now...

BOROWITZ: Thanks for bringing that up again.

BERNARD: Yes, yes, well, you know...

HEMMER: As he would say now, he's in the headlines for the right reasons.

BERNARD: That's right, but I think that's what made it so interesting.

HEMMER: That goes down tomorrow night. You guys both saw "Troy" last night, Brad Pitt's new film.

BERNARD: Right.

HEMMER: You like or no like, Sarah?

BERNARD: All I have to say is Eric Bana, now I get it, as opposed to Brad Pitt who played everything exactly as you would expect, phenomenal body, slightly cheesy acting. I really didn't really understand why people liked Eric Bana, but the scene that is the climax of the movie is the fight between the two of them.

HEMMER: Don't give up too much.

BERNARD: I won't.

HEMMER: I know it's rooted in history.

BERNARD: But Hector and Achilles had this gorgeous battle scene. And apparently it took them six days to shoot it. And what was a very funny little tidbit is every time they actually hit each other, they were supposed to pay the other person 50 bucks or 150 bucks.

HEMMER: Is that right? And?

BERNARD: And then in the end, they said, how much did you owe Eric, Brad? And he said $750.

SIGESMUND: The one-on-one battle scene, the one-on-one fights were the best part of the film. And the epic spectacles of the thousand ships, of course, sailing across the sea...

HEMMER: Yes.

SIGESMUND: ... were wonderful, but the character scenes fall really flat. The dialogue...

BERNARD: It's not "Gladiator."

SIGESMUND: Yes, it's not dialogue -- I'm sorry -- it's not "Gladiator." The dialogue is hammy (ph). There were laughs in the theater when there shouldn't have been.

HEMMER: Do you think it makes the $200 million they spent on it?

BOROWITZ: I don't know. I will not go see a movie where the star's bicep is bigger than my head.

BERNARD: That's your rule?

BOROWITZ: That's why I don't go to Madonna films.

HEMMER: Well, we now know your standards.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: This summer some huge blockbusters are out, B.J. You've got "Shrek 2," "Harry Potter" and "Spider-Man 2."

SIGESMUND: Yes. Summer means sequels, and these are three sequels to three of the biggest movies from the last few years. I don't know. We can start with "Shrek 2." You know, it picks up where the last one left off. The newlyweds go home to meet Fiona's parents, and home is this strange place Far, Far Away, which looks a lot like Beverly Hills.

BERNARD: It looks a lot like "Troy," actually, doesn't it?

SIGESMUND: It looks like "Troy."

HEMMER: You know, listen, they call it summer films for a reason. Some are good, and some are not. The bottom line, can they all three have the potential to be blockbusters?

SIGESMUND: I think all three of these films, yes, they do have the potential.

BOROWITZ: "Harry Potter," I've seen the trailer, and Harry is, like, 30 now.

BERNARD: His voice has changed.

SIGESMUND: His voice...

BERNARD: Everybody is totally different.

BOROWITZ: He's really got the wizard thing down in this one.

SIGESMUND: The interesting thing, though, about the "Harry Potter" film is it has a new director. It has Alfonso Cuaron, who did "Y Tu Mama Tambien", a very small arty movie.

BOROWITZ: And "The Little Princess," which was a good film.

SIGESMUND: Yes. Well, so Warner Brothers is really taking a chance on this guy who made this arty movie and giving him the "Harry Potter" franchise to do with what he will. So, that could be good.

HEMMER: We'll talk about these again when they come out. B.J., good to see you. Sarah, good to see you.

BERNARD: You too.

HEMMER: Andy, "Fresh Prince."

Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Still to come this morning, as the deadline for handing over sovereignty to the Iraqis grows closer, who should get custody of Saddam Hussein? A closer look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 12, 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: American Nicholas Berg executed in Iraq. Today, some of the last words he shared with family and friends.
Is it the price of things to come? Gas now above $3 in a few places; no relief in sight.

And the tornado that sounded like a freight train just before it hit a freight train on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome everybody. Other stories that we're following this morning, lots to still cover in the Iraqi prisoner abuse story.

More photographs of abuse will be seen today. These by senators under high security conditions. Barbara Starr is going to join us this morning to give us a little bit more on that investigation.

HEMMER: Also this morning, Kobe Bryant entering a plea yesterday in that sexual assault case. A number of important matters came up during those hearings on Monday and on Tuesday a lot more is now set to be decided over the next several weeks.

Jeff Toobin stops by in a moment and will explain to us where this case goes from here. Stay tuned for that.

O'BRIEN: And Jack Cafferty with us this morning -- good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The beheading of that American Nick Berg by these malignant cretins in the Middle East. In addition to being vicious and cowardly, what with the bags over their heads, these people are among the most stupid individuals on the planet. We'll explain our thinking behind that statement.

HEMMER: Will be a lot of our coverage this morning.

O'BRIEN: No question. All right, Jack, thanks.

Let's get to our top stories this morning. Coalition troops are fighting to disarm insurgents loyal to radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Military officials say at least 20 insurgents were killed during an ongoing operation in Karbala. Troops also confiscated weapons and ammunition. Seven coalition soldiers were wounded in the raid. Four have since returned to duty, though.

The former commander of military police at U.S. prisons in Iraq reportedly claims she resisted orders to use lethal force at Iraqi prisons. That is according to "The Washington Post."

General Janis Karpinski has been formally admonished for the abuses at the Abu Ghraib Prison, but she claims that the orders came from superior officers who wanted military intelligence officials to control the prisons.

Top military officials deny General Karpinski's account.

NBA star Kobe Bryant has pleaded not guilty to one charge of sexual assault. Two days of hearings were held in Eagle, Colorado. A trial date has not been set, but lawyers for both sides have agreed to begin in August. Bryant's accuser was not in court yesterday.

Senate Democrats have failed to pass a measure extending federal unemployment benefits. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, campaigning in Kentucky at the time, was the only senator who did not cast a vote. The absence led President Bush's reelection campaign to say that the senator was too busy playing politics to do his job.

Some Democrats have accused Republicans of engineering the vote to embarrass Senator Kerry.

And motorists are hoping for some relief as gasoline prices continue to reach record highs. Some gas stations in California already charging more than $3 a gallon for premium gasoline. The government says gas prices across the country could hit a record high of $2.03 in June. We're going to have more on those rising prices with Andy Serwer just ahead.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: A U.S. official telling the Associated Press that communications worker Nick Berg was in Iraq of his own accord and that he'd been advised to leave the country but refused.

Berg is the American captive beheaded in a grisly videotape posted on an al Qaeda link Web site yesterday. This morning, David Ensor begins our coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLAS BERG: My name is Nick Berg; my father's name is Michael.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN: My name is Nick Berg, says the 26-year-old American civilian on the tape, then he names his parents, his brother and sister, and his hometown.

Standing behind Berg, who disappeared April 9, one of five hooded terrorists reads a statement referring to the controversy over abuse of prisoners by American soldiers.

The dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib Prison is not redeemed except by blood and souls. The speaker promises coffin after coffin.

And then on the tape the last cry of Nick Berg is heard as his head is cut off with a knife.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R) ARIZONA: It's terrible, it's tragic. It also shows the stark difference between America and these barbarians.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R) SOUTH CAROLINA: We're dealing with an enemy that has absolutely no boundaries, that's despicable in every way and really behaves like animals in the name of God.

ENSOR: The Web site claims that the killing was done by Abu Musab al Zarqawi -- a Jordanian terrorist who's al Qaeda affiliated group -- is held responsible by U.S. intelligence for a string of bombings in Iraq and for the killing of an American diplomat in Amman.

CNN Arabic linguists say, however, that the voice on the tape has the wrong accent. They do not believe it is Zarqawi.

U.S. officials said the killer is trying to take advantage of the prison abuse controversy to gain attention.

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think we need to understand that Zarqawi or none of the other terrorist leaders needed in the past any particular provocation for their deadly, destructive designs and conduct.

ENSOR: On the tape, the hooded terrorists claims they offered to exchange Berg for Iraqi prisoners held in Abu Ghraib Prison. U.S. officials say that's false. They know of no such offer.

David Ensor, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Nicholas Berg is being remembered as a free spirit who wanted to help others. That's the reason he went to Iraq, we're told.

About 150 friends and family members held a candlelight vigil near the Berg home in West Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philly, last night.

Through a few extensive e-mails from Iraq, we can learn a lot more about the work and the life of the young American.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: 26-year-old Nicholas Berg went to Iraq to help rebuild the country and make his own company stronger. Nick was working on communication towers, many badly damaged from bombing and from sabotage.

Those closest to him say he was smart, funny and committed, ideals that compelled him to travel to Iraq.

These were his father's words before he learned of his son's death.

MICHAEL BERG, NICK BERG'S FATHER: He just really wanted to be part of something that was important. He supported the administration's being in Iraq; he supported everything that they were doing. And he wanted to help and he wanted to help in a positive way by building rather than breaking down.

HEMMER: Through e-mail, Nick kept in touch with family, friends and business colleagues. When he was working in northern Iraq, he wrote: "Mosul is very calm -- except for the Army convoys and check points, you can't really tell there is an occupation. Baghdad every night you hear IEDs and such, but here I've yet to hear or see anything except a few aged craters."

In another e-mail, he also mentioned the Democratic reform starting to take hold. "The fact alone that an Iraqi man and I are just now sitting in a free and open Internet shop is unbelievable to most Iraqis."

But in the end, Nick was in Iraq to help rebuild its infrastructure. And he wrote about the freedom he experienced while doing his work. "When I'm climbing these towers I even get to go a few hours without some awkward American question. The answer to which is usually 'Sawa' -- as you like."

Nick Berg, far too young to die, will never see the Iraq he tried to make better.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: We are told that Nick Berg was set to leave Iraq, but he disappeared back in early April. The White House vowing that the executioners in that videotape will be hunted down and brought to justice -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to the Iraqi prisoner abuse story. For three hours this afternoon, all 100 U.S. Senators will have a chance to view additional material documenting abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

The viewing comes the day after the officer who blew the top off the scandal told his story to Congress. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us this morning with details -- Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, as the senators get ready to view those photographs, they are still digesting what they heard from key witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: The general who investigated the abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison could not have been more blunt about what went wrong.

MAJ. GEN. ANTONIO TAGUBA, U.S. ARMY: Failure in leadership, sir, from the brigade commander on down. Lack of discipline. No training whatsoever and no supervision.

STARR: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke about the reaction when the photos reached the Pentagon.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The look on the faces of the people who have viewed the photographs and the videos from what took place there. They were stunned, absolutely stunned.

STARR: Taguba said there was no evidence the soldiers were under orders from military intelligence or other higher ups or following any policy to soften up detainees for interrogation. But he was critical of two officers.

Brigadier General Janis Karpinski, commander of the 800th Military Police Brigade.

TAGUBA: The lack of leadership on her part overall in terms of her training, the standards, supervisory omission, the command climate in her brigade -- those were all in totality why I held her accountable and responsible.

STARR: And Colonel Thomas Pappas, commander of the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade, control of the prison was taken away from Karpinski last year and given to Pappas. Karpinski has been disciplined. Pappas is under investigation for failing to make sure his troops follow the Geneva Convention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (on camera): But Soledad, still a key question when military intelligence took over the prison, did that somehow encourage the military prison guards to begin abusing the prisoners in order to gain information out of them? The first court martial begins in Baghdad next week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us -- Barbara thanks -- Bill.

HEMMER: About 11 minutes past the hour now.

Weather news now. Savage storms ripping across Texas stirring up twisters in at least two parts of that state, opposite ends for that matter.

A tornado derailed this train near the panhandle town of Hartley yesterday afternoon. The winds sent 15 empty coal cars off the tracks there. One of the trains' cars thrown 400 feet away onto a highway.

Another twister southeastern part of Texas near the town of Conroe damaged 18 homes, blew down trees and left 60,000 without power.

Luckily no one was hurt by either twister. The scenes from Texas yesterday.

O'BRIEN: Amazing. Still to come this morning, Kobe Bryant finally enters a plea in court. Where does the case go from here? We've got legal analysis from Jeff Toobin this morning.

HEMMER: Also those gas prices tick even higher. Will the summer bring any relief and if so when? Andy's got that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: And a bizarre phenomenon in the Mexico sky. We've got details ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Are those UFOs?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you understand that charge?

KOBE BRYANT: Yes sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plea? Not guilty or guilty?

BRYANT: Not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A plea of not guilty will be entered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Kobe Bryant entering his plea in a sexual assault case. Court adjourned shortly after his plea yesterday but sources say the lawyers and the judge have agreed on when the trial will begin.

Here to discuss Bryant's day in court and what happens next, CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin -- nice to see you. Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Everybody was sort of expecting that. I mean, I think people have been saying now for a while that he was going to say not guilty your honor in some way shape or form.

Any surprises you think?

TOOBIN: Not really. This was mostly a formality. You don't fight a case this hard for this many months and then plead guilty. The real significance of yesterday is that under Colorado law, it starts the clock for six months; the trial has to take place.

Many of us believe that the trial is at least tentatively scheduled to begin in August but remember they're probably going to be three to six weeks of jury selection before the actual trial begins.

O'BRIEN: The judge referred to the accuser by her initials in this particular part of the hearing and yet at previous times he's called her Jane Doe. Is that relevant you think?

TOOBIN: Well, this has been a very hotly debated topic in the case, how to refer to the accuser.

O'BRIEN: Victim or not.

TOOBIN: Right, mostly the prosecution wants to refer to her as the victim; the defense is fighting that.

You know this all can sound like semantics but it actually can have some significance. You see jurors identify with people by how they label them. In the Jayson Williams case it was very interesting when the jurors came back they were all talking about how well Jayson felt this way or Jayson did that -- you know they obviously...

O'BRIEN: First name basis.

TOOBIN: First name basis and you know that could matter.

O'BRIEN: The judge called her in this hearing a victim and also called her by her initials as opposed to the Jane Doe name so what -- what do you read into that?

TOOBIN: I think that -- I read into it that the judge hasn't made up his mind yet about how he wants this to be resolved. I think the easiest way probably is just to call her by her name and trust the reporters present not to disclose it because most of us who are covering the case do know her name. It has come out in various places but just don't -- we don't -- disclose it.

O'BRIEN: There's a report in "The L.A. Times" that says that prosecutors have now said that they will not use Kobe Bryant's sexual history and I thought wow that's the first time I've heard of anyone even considering his sexual history in this. What's the indication, that there's just nothing there?

TOOBIN: Well, that's right. There is no evidence that the prosecution could say that there's part of a pattern.

Interestingly, yesterday the defense conceded that the -- that they are not going to claim that the victim has made prior claims of rape before. They're not going to say she has a pattern of false accusations so even though they are alleging some sort of promiscuity, they're not saying that, you know she has in effect cried wolf before.

O'BRIEN: And there is another hearing on May 27. Jeff Toobin as always.

TOOBIN: Plenty more.

O'BRIEN: And more after that and a little bit more after that. Jeff as always thanks.

TOOBIN: And if I could -- Kobe scored 42 points last night and the Lakers won. I mean, it's just incredible after each hearing he continues to play well -- it's just amazing.

O'BRIEN: Yes, interesting, isn't it. All right, Jeff, thanks -- Bill. HEMMER: A renowned UFO expert held a news conference yesterday talking about a bizarre phenomenon over that country. Look at these strange lights surrounding a Mexican military surveillance plane.

The 11 objects were picked up by an infrared camera on March 5. UFO expert Jenny Mauson (ph) says the objects were invisible to the eye, but can be seen on the videotape. Mexican Air Force officials do confirm they shot the tape along the east coast of Mexico.

Makes you wonder on a Wednesday morning.

In a moment here after the beheading of a U.S. citizen in Iraq, are other Americans there in greater danger? A closer look at that.

Also reaction this morning from the White House on that topic.

And what's fueling the rising gas prices yet again? Andy has more after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HEMMER: Welcome back everybody. Oil and gas prices headed in the same direction, up.

Plus the Gap offers a mea culpa. A rather large one, we're told. Andy Serwer checks in "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning to you.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Nice to see you.

Oil passed a major threshold yesterday, Bill. $40 a barrel, we haven't seen that in 13 years and obviously not great news for the economy.

What's causing higher oil prices? Well it's pretty simple. The economic recovery here means strong demand, also strong, strong demand in China as well and you can see here we're talking about gas prices, which is where it hits home.

A new report from the Energy Department showing that the outlook now for the average price of gas in the United States through the summer will be $1.94; that's up 20 cents. They're looking at a peak of $2.03.

That's not as high as it is in that shop because obviously in California and other places it's way above $2.00 already.

Also we're talking about sabotage here and the fear of sabotage. Jack was talking about that the other day, the psychological impact on the price of oil as well.

And another point is there's just not so much supply out there, Bill. A lot of industries and a lot of companies and countries are really operating at full capacity right now.

HEMMER: They are. So the refineries are full is what you're saying. SERWER: Well that's right. Absolutely.

HEMMER: Cisco came out with earnings yesterday, highly anticipated. How'd they do?

SERWER: They did very well, actually. The market has recovered from the debacle on Monday and part of that had to do with anticipation of Cisco's earnings and they delivered after the bell over there in San Jose, good news, earnings up.

More importantly, the outlook is good which is important because this is a tech bellwether -- and -- they're going to add 1,000 jobs, John Chambers, the CEO saying there. And in fact a lot of those jobs, or most of them, are even going to be in the United States if you can imagine. Right.

And you want to talk about this last story here, which is interesting, which has to do with the Gap, a story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning.

A report coming out from the retailer suggesting that conditions in its factories overseas, 3,000 factories overseas are not in good shape. Kind of interesting, it's a mea culpa -- the company itself divulging this. And saying that there's psychological coercion in factories. Boy, that sounds like working conditions in a lot of places. Lack of safety. But not here, no.

A lack of safety -- we shouldn't make light of this. A lack of safety devices in factories overseas as well, so will be interesting to see when that report comes out.

HEMMER: Will get in front of that too.

SERWER: That's right.

HEMMER: And Cisco sent the Nasdaq soaring yesterday too.

SERWER: Yes, futures are down a little bit this morning.

HEMMER: They are, OK. All right, thanks Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: And it's time for the "Question of the Day" -- Mr. Cafferty.

CAFFERTY: Good morning. The debate about what to do with the additional pictures and video of Iraqi prisoners just got a whole lot more complicated in the last 24 hours.

Before yesterday, the debate was mostly about spin and political considerations. If the pictures were not released, the fear was they would eventually leak out anyway and that would cause additional embarrassment to the administration.

If they were simply turned loose to the public, they would create a second round of revulsion and opposition to the war. So what to do? Well, the terrorists are playing a hand in solving the debate.

They claim the decapitation of the American Nick Berg was revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.

Now the debate has suddenly changed and the question we're asking this morning is in light of what's going on, should additional pictures and video of alleged prisoner abuse be released? The address is am@cnn.com.

In addition to being a bunch of cowards who have to do this stuff with bags over their heads, they're just plain stupid. They had public opinion in this country turning against the war based on all of the publicity about Iraqi prisoner abuse. We put the question on the Web site before this program starts, we're already getting e-mails from people saying it's time to take off the gloves.

Combat should be resumed. I mean, people are absolutely enraged at this thing that they did.

HEMMER: And should.

CAFFERTY: And these people have no sense at all of how to -- you know -- manipulate public opinion.

O'BRIEN: Right, because I think again they're terrorists. They are...

SERWER: Yes, but they don't care about what we think. Right? I mean, that's not part of their thinking.

HEMMER: I thought what Lindsey Graham said yesterday was the nail on the head. He said we're the good guys so we have to act like the good guys and when you listen to this stuff coming out of Baghdad as a result of yesterday, turns your stomach. If you can read the e- mails that Nick Berg sent home to his family and friends.

This was a guy at total peace trying to help a country get back on its feet. That was his mission over there, also to help build his own company. He was taking a huge chance doing it.

CAFFERTY: Yes and you have to think about is you're going to create democracy in a country where these kinds of individuals are running around? That's -- I mean that's a monumental assignment and I don't even know if it's possible as long as these people are alive over there. I mean, you know you can't deal with folks like this, you can't negotiate, you can't reason, you got to kill them. That's all. People like that have to be taken out.

HEMMER: One point -- talk about the pictures being shown to members of Congress today -- Saxby Chambliss our guest in a moment here. Talk to him about whether or not he thinks it's a good idea to put them out or not.

Thanks Jack.

O'BRIEN: Thank you Jack. Still to come this morning, an extreme hero or epic failure. A preview of the weekend's big box-office opening of Brad Pitt's "Troy" plus what you can look forward to from other summer flicks. All of that and the "Frasier" finale coming up on "90-Second Pop" -- that's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: All right almost 7:30 here in New York, welcome back everybody.

In a minute we'll get you to the White House, more on the gruesome execution of that American Nick Berg in Iraq.

Also in a moment, Senator Saxby Chambliss will talk more bout that issue. Also the issue today about whether or not pictures, more pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse should be released to the public.

Many members of Congress get a chance in that three-hour window today on Capitol Hill to take a look. We'll examine whether or not they should be released or should be held back. What's the effect of all that. So we'll get to that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: That Nick Berg story such a gruesome, gruesome story and of course our hearts go out to his family members. I mean, how do you go on after hearing that kind of news?

HEMMER: Seeing the pictures of the family you know huddled up on the front lawn yesterday...

O'BRIEN: Heartbreaking.

HEMMER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely heartbreaking. In fact, these stories -- they're so serious that -- identity theft which is one of the other stories that we're covering becomes our light story this morning.

Of course the question what can happen when you least expect it with just a misplaced piece of paper. Consequences, though, can stick around for years.

HEMMER: First, the top stories here at 7:30 in New York.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says his country's troops have shown remarkable restraint and discipline in Iraq. The prime minister's comments come in response to photographs showing what seemed to be British troops abusing Iraqi soldiers. In a speech before parliament, Blair says there is no proof such abuse ever took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There is no evidence whatever either of systematic abuse or of ministers or anyone else refusing to act on allegations of abuse in respect of detainees in British custody. On the contrary, the only evidence that is being presented are photographs that are almost certainly fake. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Also, the prime minister adding that any claims of abuse are now being investigated by the British government.

A police officer in Afghanistan claims he was abused while in coalition custody. That incident reportedly took place in Gardez and Bagram in August of 2003. According to the statement, the officer says he was stripped naked, photographed, kicked and subjected to sexual taunting during his incarceration there. The U.S. military is investigating that.

The vice president, Dick Cheney, is getting the thumbs-up from his doctors. The vice president underwent an annual heart checkup yesterday. According to his spokesperson, Cheney's doctors say his pacemaker had not detected any irregular heartbeats. The vice president has had four heart attacks, but none while in office.

Also in sports from last night, Jason Kidd's slump coming to an end, and just in time for the New Jersey Nets. They evened their series with Detroit last night, 94-79, and controlled the entire way for the Nets.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant, along with Shaquille O'Neal, dominating yet again in the second half. The Lakers knock off the Spurs 98-90. That also evened the series at two games apiece.

And Jeff Toobin talked earlier about the performance from Kobe Bryant last night.

O'BRIEN: Right.

HEMMER: Pretty remarkable, getting on that plane in Eagle and flying to the game and returning the next day.

O'BRIEN: And he said apparently after every hearing like that he does well.

HEMMER: He performs.

O'BRIEN: Interesting to see.

(WEATHER BREAK)

O'BRIEN: The Bush administration is vowing to hunt down and bring to justice those responsible for the beheading of 26-year-old American Nicholas Berg.

For more on that we go to the White House now and Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne -- good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. President Bush warned that there would be some people who would use this prison abuse scandal as a reason or an excuse to express their hatred against Americans, to undermine the U.S. effort in Iraq. The president, through his spokesperson, saying that that is not going to happen. White House spokesman Scott McClellan condemning the beheading and saying that this is a heinous act that reflects the true nature of those who are opposed to freedom and democracy in the Middle East. He also said that those who carried out this attack would be pursued and brought to justice.

Now, the administration, the president's thoughts and prayers are with the victim and his family at this time. We heard on that tape the terrorists saying that they had offered to exchange Berg from some Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib. U.S. officials saying that that is not true.

We understand that the Berg family has been told by State Department officials that their son's body will be brought home today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks.

Well, family, friends and neighbors in the Philadelphia suburb where Berg lived gathered last night for a candlelight vigil. Over the weekend, before he knew of his son's murder, his father, Michael Berg, talked about why Nick went to Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BERG, NICK BERG'S FATHER: He just really wanted to be part of something that was important. He supported the administration's being in Iraq. He supported everything that they were doing. And he wanted to help, and he wanted to help in a positive way by building, rather than breaking down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: The Berg family last heard from Nick on April 9 -- Bill.

HEMMER: In the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal, we are now hearing from Army Private Lynndie England, who has been seen in some of the photos taken inside of that prison, Abu Ghraib, concerning that picture of her pointing at a naked prisoner. England telling KCNC TV in Denver -- quote -- "I was told to stand there, point thumbs-up, look at the camera and take the picture." She said superiors praised her by saying, they just told us, hey, you're doing great. Keep it up.

England is one of seven soldiers facing charges in connection with the abuse there.

In a secure room today in the Capitol building today from 2:00 to 5:00 Eastern Time, senators will have a chance to view additional material documenting abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops. The debate continues as to whether or not these photos should go public. And if they do, are Americans now in greater danger?

Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia back with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Senator, good morning to you and welcome back.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I want to get your thoughts on the suggestion by some that with the beheading of Nick Berg being so public yesterday, does that put the Iraqi prisoner case in a different context, senator?

CHAMBLISS: No, it really doesn't, Bill. I mean, what we did or what we saw over there taking place from our soldiers is reprehensible. There's no way we can condone it, but it just shows the beheading of this man yesterday by these thugs just validates every reason why we're in Iraq today. We are there to root out terrorism around the world, and this is where the center of it is today. They proved it once again yesterday.

HEMMER: Senator, will you stop later today and view the additional evidence?

CHAMBLISS: It's certainly not something I'm looking forward to, Bill, but I guess it's part of my job. I'm obligated to do it. I have very mixed feelings about these photographs. They have been described to me as bad as the ones that have already been shown on your screen and other arenas around the world. These are going to be much worse, and there are going to be men and women in American uniforms who are doing things that Americans don't do. And it's just unfortunate that a very few are soiling the name of America today by the depiction of these acts.

HEMMER: Senator, stop for a second. You say much worse. How?

CHAMBLISS: Well, the descriptions that have been given to us indicate there are sexually-explicit acts that are contained on here. There are acts of sodomy. Just horrible things, Bill, and they are things that are just so un-American. And to have American military personnel being pictured doing these things is just not something I look forward to.

HEMMER: If you could, Senator, address the question that I mentioned here in the lead-in to you, as to whether or not they should go public and whether or not they'll put more Americans in more danger in Iraq. Where do you come down on that debate?

CHAMBLISS: Well, I don't know that it puts us in more danger than we are now. The hatred towards Americans in that part of the world has been fueled over the last several months, and the people who delighted in seeing the Abu Ghraib photographs are people who already had strong feelings against America.

But I do think that it simply drags on this issue of Abu Ghraib. We are in the midst right now of a thorough investigation. We're going to bring the culprits to justice, and we're going to put this behind us and we're going to move on. But every time we have these photographs dribbled out or some other expansion of that situation, it just is not good for America, and we need to conclude it.

HEMMER: Senator...

CHAMBLISS: And getting all of these photographs out at one time is the way to do it.

HEMMER: I apologize for the interruption here. I want to play a portion of a Republican colleague, James Inhofe, what he said yesterday during these hearings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES INHOFE (R-OK), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I have to say, and I'm probably not the only one up at this table that is more outraged by the outrage than we are by the treatment. The idea that these prisoners, you know, they are not there for traffic violations. If they are in cell block 1a or 1b, these prisoners, they're murderers, they're terrorists, they're insurgents. Many of them probably have American blood on their hands. And here we are so concerned about the treatment of those individuals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: He says he's outraged by the outrage. Do you share his concerns?

CHAMBLISS: Well, Jim is my dear friend, and I have great respect for his opinion. However, I don't think even Senator Inhofe can look at the pictures of a man with a hood over his head with wires attached to his body and say, you know, this is something that we ought not to be outraged at.

So, I share some of his concern, because, you know, he's right. These are the meanest, nastiest people in the world. They were taking shots at Americans. They were killing Americans. And we ought to do whatever within the bounds we can to extract information from them. But there are limits to what we can do.

HEMMER: Saxby Chambliss, Republican senator from Georgia. Thank you, Senator.

CHAMBLISS: Good to be with you, Bill.

HEMMER: A bit later this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING, Democratic reaction. Michigan Senator Carl Levin is our guest here on our program. We'll get to that a bit later this morning.

O'BRIEN: And still to come this morning, the white-collar crime that can ruin your credit before you even know it. In just a few minutes, we're going to find out how to avoid being a victim of identity theft.

HEMMER: Also, Brad Pitt's summer blockbuster "Troy" is out this weekend. What do the critics have to say? We'll have that in our "90-Second Pop" still to come in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back to Jack, question of the day on our minds throughout the morning here.

CAFFERTY: Yes, thanks, Bill.

The debate about what to do with the additional pictures and video of the Iraqi prisoners has gotten a lot more complicated in the last 24 hours. Before yesterday, the debate was mostly about spin and political considerations. If the additional pictures were not released, the fear was they would eventually leak out anyway and that would cause additional embarrassment to the administration. If they were simply turned loose to the media and the public, they would create a second round of public revulsion and opposition to the war.

But because the terrorists claim that the decapitation of Nick Berg was revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, now the debate has changes.

So, the question we're asking this morning is: Should additional pictures and video of alleged prisoner abuse be released? It's mind- boggling that the people responsible couldn't grasp the concept that public opinion in this country, because of the Iraqi prisoner scandal, was running against the war. And now, with this thing, this atrocity that was done yesterday, some of the e-mail we're getting is just -- I mean, this country is furious. The people in this country are just furious.

Jason writes: "The recent killing of Mr. Berg in Iraq should signal the end of a phase in the war. This barbaric act should cause President Bush to take the gloves off, finish the war. Forget rebuilding Iraq. Unleash the full firepower of the U.S. military on that place, put them back into the Stone Age where their minds obviously still remain, and then move our forces home to defend this country."

Tamara in Mobile, Alabama: "I'm tired of hearing people say Nick Berg was asked to leave Iraq. So what? He was trying to help and felt like he could do something. Terrorists killed Nick Berg, not the war, not George Bush and certainly not his decision to help rebuild Iraq. Terror must be stopped. Americans need to understand that. It could have been your son."

And Lawrence in Crystal River, Florida, says: "There's no reason to release any additional photos. There's nothing to be gained and everything to lose. If our concern is that the prisoners were humiliated, doesn't making the pictures public make the humiliation worse?"

AM@CNN.com.

HEMMER: If you hold them back, you do take the chance that this dribbling out over time in a way that I'm certain the Pentagon would not like to see it go. CAFFERTY: Especially if they are in somebody's custody in Washington, because that place leaks like a sieve. It's just a matter of time until the stuff gets out.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. No question about that. All right, Jack, thanks.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to business news, when bad things happen to your good name, it is, of course, a financial nightmare. We're talking this morning about identity theft. It is the No. 1 white- collar crime in the U.S., claiming more than 27 million victims in the past five years. More than $400 million in losses were reported last year alone.

So, what is an unsuspecting consumer to do? David Bach is the author of best-selling book, "The Automatic Millionaire," and he is our personal finance contributor. He sat down with me for some "90- Second Tips" on beating this financial foe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BACH, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE CONTRIBUTOR: Smart, aggressive thieves are stealing your information off of a laptop to as simple as leaving your ATM receipt on the bank floor to you having your identity maybe lying around your office. You know, having your mail lying around the office. Having your social security number on your health identification card somewhere in your office. Simple things like this where we leave our information out there, and somebody who is looking to steal an identity is watching for it.

O'BRIEN: Is the strategy to try to avoid it, or is the best strategy to detect it early so the person who had stolen your identity basically can't get away with too much?

BACH: It's both. It's absolutely both. So, first of all, how do you protect your identity? No. 1, be very aggressive and be smart. The easiest thing you can do -- and we've heard this time and time again, but nobody does it -- shred your mail. The most important mail to be shredding is the junk mail, because if you take a credit card junk mail piece and just throw it back in the garbage, you know, literally in your garbage can, somebody can go out and steal that, apply for a credit card. They've got your name.

But it's being also very careful with who you give now your social security number to. The other day I went to the doctor's office, and they wanted my social security number, and I said no. You've got my health identification number. You don't need both. We're used to filling out forms and just giving out our social security number.

O'BRIEN: But many people actually require your social security number as your identification number.

BACH: You're right. And I will tell you that probably 2 out of 10 times, it's really necessary. So, ask somebody, why do you need my social security number? Don't carry your social security number with you. People do this all of the time. They carry their passport with them as identification. Don't have the social security number with you anywhere you go. Don't write these things down. Don't put them in your Palm Pilot. If you have a Palm Pilot, put a code on it so it's got a password protection, because if you lose, you know, your Palm Pilot or your Blackberry and it's not password-protected, boom, I'm inside. All of your life's information, I've got everything I need to steal your identity.

O'BRIEN: Other advice you give, you say keep track of your receipts. Do you think that a lot of people just don't know when their identity has been stolen?

BACH: This is a very big problem. So, every single time you shop, take that receipt. And what I do is I actually staple the receipts to my Daytimer. Why? One for IRS...

O'BRIEN: You're organized.

BACH: One for IRS purposes, but, two, I want to make sure that when I go and get my Visa statement that everywhere I spent money actually matches the Visa statement. A lot of times identity theft doesn't come down to thousands of dollars. It can come down to maybe only $50 once a month, and you don't notice it. The next thing you know is you've had $1,000 stolen over the year and very easily taken away from you without realizing it.

O'BRIEN: What do people do? I mean, what's the first step if you suddenly discover that you are the victim of identity theft?

BACH: All right, if you discover you're the victim of identity theft, first of all, the fastest way to discover it is to read your statements and then check your credit report once a year. If you discover this, you contact all three credit bureaus, Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, immediately the second you notice it, so they can put your account on identification notice.

What that means is any time somebody applies for credit in your name, they will contact you directly. Now, that can be a big pain in the butt for you, because you may go and use your credit card and they won't immediately let it go through. But, again, this is done in your own protection. And there's also an 800 number that I think we can get it up there on the screen that will show you the number to call. The government now has a toll-free number you can call if you have your identify stolen, I think it's IDtheft, and they'll put out a notice to both the police services and the credit bureaus for you at once.

O'BRIEN: So, you really have to monitor it. I mean, at the end of the day it's really your money. You're responsible.

BACH: It really is.

O'BRIEN: All right, David Bach, as always, thanks.

BACH: Thank you, Soledad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And, of course, David is the host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show, which airs Saturday afternoons on Sirius Satellite Radio. And, of course, David is with us on Wednesdays right here on AMERICAN MORNING for tips on how you can improve your financial life.

HEMMER: About 11 minutes now before the hour. Later on Thursday night, the final episode of "Frasier" will air. Where are his friends, some are wondering?

O'BRIEN: It's not the same as the other show that ended, is it?

HEMMER: I'm telling you. "90-Second Pop" takes a shot at that right after this on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Yes, if we had rhythm, we'd show it. It's time for "90- Second Pop." Say hello to Andy Borowitz, Sarah Bernard from "New York" magazine and B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly." Good morning.

SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

HEMMER: You guys are getting more air time than Larry King lately. Good to see you again.

BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

HEMMER: Probably not, Sarah, but you're working on it. Tomorrow night, "Frasier" comes to a close.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: It comes to a close.

HEMMER: Where is the NBC PR machine on this that we saw a week ago?

BOROWITZ: Well, they're not there. I've got to say, when I heard the news that this was the final episode of "Frasier," I couldn't believe it, because I didn't know the show was still on the air.

BERNARD: Oh!

BOROWITZ: I really didn't. I have not watched "Frasier"...

HEMMER: For the benefit of our audience, this is the creator of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" going back to...

BERNARD: Which is still on the air somewhere.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: Do you think "Frasier" is one of the best-written sitcoms today?

BOROWITZ: Oh, yes. It was really smart. It was really a smart show. And we're going to miss it, I mean, instead of all of this reality stuff. I mean, we're definitely going to miss this show.

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY" MAGAZINE: But what if you were Kelsey Grammer and you'd worked 11 years on a show and it had won Emmys five years in a row for best comedy and you were going to go off the air and "Friends" went off seven days before you? How bummed would you be? People don't even want to tune in.

BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SIGESMUND: They're like, oh, I just sat through a big hyped finale.

BOROWITZ: You know, to put this in perspective, he has actually played the character of "Frasier" for 20 years.

BERNARD: Maybe he's tired of it already.

BOROWITZ: I don't know.

BERNARD: He wants to move on.

BOROWITZ: It's the longest running performance by a comedian in the same role, I guess with the exception of Peter Jennings. I mean, it's...

BERNARD: You know what I think made this show so great is the fact that played this very uptight shrink, and then in real life he had all of these personal problems.

SIGESMUND: Right.

BERNARD: I mean, he was in Betty Ford. He crashed his Viper. He had an alleged affair with a 15-year-old. But that's...

HEMMER: But as he would say now...

BOROWITZ: Thanks for bringing that up again.

BERNARD: Yes, yes, well, you know...

HEMMER: As he would say now, he's in the headlines for the right reasons.

BERNARD: That's right, but I think that's what made it so interesting.

HEMMER: That goes down tomorrow night. You guys both saw "Troy" last night, Brad Pitt's new film.

BERNARD: Right.

HEMMER: You like or no like, Sarah?

BERNARD: All I have to say is Eric Bana, now I get it, as opposed to Brad Pitt who played everything exactly as you would expect, phenomenal body, slightly cheesy acting. I really didn't really understand why people liked Eric Bana, but the scene that is the climax of the movie is the fight between the two of them.

HEMMER: Don't give up too much.

BERNARD: I won't.

HEMMER: I know it's rooted in history.

BERNARD: But Hector and Achilles had this gorgeous battle scene. And apparently it took them six days to shoot it. And what was a very funny little tidbit is every time they actually hit each other, they were supposed to pay the other person 50 bucks or 150 bucks.

HEMMER: Is that right? And?

BERNARD: And then in the end, they said, how much did you owe Eric, Brad? And he said $750.

SIGESMUND: The one-on-one battle scene, the one-on-one fights were the best part of the film. And the epic spectacles of the thousand ships, of course, sailing across the sea...

HEMMER: Yes.

SIGESMUND: ... were wonderful, but the character scenes fall really flat. The dialogue...

BERNARD: It's not "Gladiator."

SIGESMUND: Yes, it's not dialogue -- I'm sorry -- it's not "Gladiator." The dialogue is hammy (ph). There were laughs in the theater when there shouldn't have been.

HEMMER: Do you think it makes the $200 million they spent on it?

BOROWITZ: I don't know. I will not go see a movie where the star's bicep is bigger than my head.

BERNARD: That's your rule?

BOROWITZ: That's why I don't go to Madonna films.

HEMMER: Well, we now know your standards.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

HEMMER: This summer some huge blockbusters are out, B.J. You've got "Shrek 2," "Harry Potter" and "Spider-Man 2."

SIGESMUND: Yes. Summer means sequels, and these are three sequels to three of the biggest movies from the last few years. I don't know. We can start with "Shrek 2." You know, it picks up where the last one left off. The newlyweds go home to meet Fiona's parents, and home is this strange place Far, Far Away, which looks a lot like Beverly Hills.

BERNARD: It looks a lot like "Troy," actually, doesn't it?

SIGESMUND: It looks like "Troy."

HEMMER: You know, listen, they call it summer films for a reason. Some are good, and some are not. The bottom line, can they all three have the potential to be blockbusters?

SIGESMUND: I think all three of these films, yes, they do have the potential.

BOROWITZ: "Harry Potter," I've seen the trailer, and Harry is, like, 30 now.

BERNARD: His voice has changed.

SIGESMUND: His voice...

BERNARD: Everybody is totally different.

BOROWITZ: He's really got the wizard thing down in this one.

SIGESMUND: The interesting thing, though, about the "Harry Potter" film is it has a new director. It has Alfonso Cuaron, who did "Y Tu Mama Tambien", a very small arty movie.

BOROWITZ: And "The Little Princess," which was a good film.

SIGESMUND: Yes. Well, so Warner Brothers is really taking a chance on this guy who made this arty movie and giving him the "Harry Potter" franchise to do with what he will. So, that could be good.

HEMMER: We'll talk about these again when they come out. B.J., good to see you. Sarah, good to see you.

BERNARD: You too.

HEMMER: Andy, "Fresh Prince."

Here's Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.

Still to come this morning, as the deadline for handing over sovereignty to the Iraqis grows closer, who should get custody of Saddam Hussein? A closer look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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