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American Morning
Bush Begins Series of Weekly Speeches Tonight
Aired May 24, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What's the president's plan for Iraq? We'll preview his critical speech to the nation. That's coming tonight.
Video from Iraq of a wedding in the desert. Does it prove the U.S. bombed the wrong target in a mission last week?
And tornado devastation in Nebraska. We'll talk to the storm chaser who outran a killer twister on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. Welcome to another week here at AMERICAN MORNING.
In a moment President Bush expected to lay out how the Iraqi transfer to sovereignty will work. He'll talk to the country about it later tonight in prime time.
In a moment a preview of that speech. We'll talk to a deputy assistant to the president in a few moments in the front lawn of the White House this morning.
O'BRIEN: Also in Iraq the Associated Press has obtained home video apparently of a wedding. Locals say it proves that innocent people were killed in a U.S. attack last week in Western Iraq.
The videotape shows members of the wedding party -- guests and musicians. One of the musicians appears to be a person that was found among the victims at the scene.
The military maintains that foreign fighters were killed in the raid last week.
HEMMER: Also back here in the U.S., Michigan hoping for some relief today from the weather before the skies open back up again later in the week.
Severe thunderstorms for the past three days have triggered tornadoes and left much of that state flooded. That's in Michigan.
Back in Nebraska you have major problems with tornadoes over the weekend. We'll get to all of it in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, did you have a nice weekend? JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's over, and I had a delightful weekend -- and yourself?
O'BRIEN: The same, thanks for asking.
CAFFERTY: Everything all right in there?
O'BRIEN: Yes, so far.
HEMMER: "In there."
CAFFERTY: Any movement?
O'BRIEN: Oh gosh, all the time. Unfortunately. I decided to start poking back. Anybody pokes me, I poke back.
CAFFERTY: That's right, go to sleep.
All right, coming up, the storm fires over Iraq threatening to develop into a full blown tornado for the White House.
We'll take a look at what's at stake for President Bush when he makes that speech tonight; look up the word "huge," because it's huge for him.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
Let's start with that prime time speech later tonight. The speech at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania will be the first in a series laying out details of a plan for transferring power to the Iraqis.
Suzy DeFrancis, the president's deputy communications assistant, our guest live from the front lawn. Good morning to you there. What is the...
SUZY DEFRANCIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: ... message later tonight?
DEFRANCIS: Well, Bill, the president tonight is going to talk about the future of Iraq, and he'll specifically talk about how we achieve our goal of a secure and self-governing Iraq that will no longer threaten America or the rest of the world.
And he's going to lay out some very specific steps to get to that goal. He'll talk about the actual new government that will be stood up in Iraq, what it will look like, how it will function.
He'll talk about the need to improve security in Iraq and what we're doing on that front. He'll talk about how we enlarge the international role.
As you know, the U.S. and the British will be introducing a resolution in the U.N. this week to enlarge that international role. And he'll talk about other things such as building up the infrastructure and of course preparing for the critical elections that will come into Iraq very soon.
HEMMER: Republican Senator Richard Lugar said this over the weekend. He wants to know, quote, precisely what is going to happen as opposed to a generalization. Will he be satisfied after that speech tonight?
DEFRANCIS: I believe he will, Bill. As I said, the president is going to lay out some very specific steps and really paint a picture for the United States -- American people -- of what this government will look like. That it will have a president, vice-president, governing council. These types of things.
And in addition, he's going to also talk about the stakes and what is at stake in Iraq. It's very important to realize, the president believes, that the terrorists know that if they win in Iraq they have won a major battle in the war on terror and we can't let that happen.
He'll talk about the importance of the United States succeeding in its mission.
HEMMER: And lets also talk about the importance of the United Nations. There's a proposed resolution that's being reported that will be talked about today within the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors asking for more international donations and possibly more international troops.
How specific will he be on that later tonight?
DEFRANCIS: Well, I think we'll let the language of the resolution -- we'll let the president outline that tonight.
But clearly, as the president has said, from the beginning we want the U.N. to play a vital role in Iraq, and as we move toward this transfer of self government to the Iraqi people, obviously the U.N. will play a much bigger role and -- as will other nations, whose support we hope to enlist more nations to come into Iraq and help.
HEMMER: I take it from the beginning of your answer this is still coming together in terms of the U.N.'s involvement -- is that a fair assessment?
DEFRANCIS: It's coming together, but I think very quickly you'll see the resolution introduced, I believe today, and they'll be discussing the language this week, but they need to consult with the other members of the Security Council on the exact language.
HEMMER: There was a recent survey done within the Gallup Poll, CNN/USA Today that found the approval ratings for the Iraq effort at their lowest ever. Forty-one percent.
If you consider those numbers, and consider the speech tonight, and going five weeks forward, how critical is it for the president to make this speech beginning this evening?
DEFRANCIS: Well, clearly these polls reflect some of the distressing images that we've seen over the last month in Iraq, and -- but, we must remember they are kind of a snapshot in time, and I believe the president feels that not only will it be important as we move forward to June 30 to build support in the country for this new Iraqi government but also as we move past that he's going to counsel the (AUDIO GAP) because as I said the stakes are extremely high here.
We must win in the war on terror and Iraq is a central front on the war on terror.
HEMMER: Suzy DeFrancis, our guest from the front lawn. Thanks for your time this morning.
Certainly be watching later tonight.
CNN has live coverage of the address tonight, a special edition of "PAULA ZAHN NOW." 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, 5 on the West coast, here on CNN -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, they are still cleaning up in parts of the Midwest this morning after tornadoes cut a path of destruction over the weekend.
Nebraska is in a state of emergency after 18 tornadoes touched down, causing one death and practically blowing some small towns right off the map.
Nebraska's governor described the scene in the town of Hallam as complete and total devastation.
And in Iowa, hundreds of homes were damaged after tornadoes tore through that state, bringing heavy rain and winds and flooding. Federal disaster assistance is being sought for sixteen counties in that state.
Unfortunately another rough day is expected today as well.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Storm chaser Mike Phelps has seen his share of extreme weather and capturing some of that footage of dramatic storms in certain parts of the country, specifically the plains.
On Saturday afternoon while out searching for tornadoes near the Kansas-Nebraska border, he came across a monster. He's live in Memphis, Tennessee this morning to talk about it.
Mike, good morning. Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING. What did you see over the weekend?
MIKE PHELPS, EXTREME WEATHER PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, it was quite a storm on Saturday. We were set up to the east of a large super cell thunderstorm in Southern Nebraska. This storm eventually went on to do quite a bit of damage across southern Nebraska. In the formative stages, it was just a large picturesque storm, but it rapidly turned into a monster and became a tornadic thunderstorm and we shot some video of this thing as it dropped down and grew in size and became a very picturesque, almost Cecil B. DeMille type scene, there in southern Nebraska.
Now thankfully at that point it was just out in open farm country and wasn't doing any damage. It later moved into more populated areas of southern Nebraska and did quite a bit of damage.
HEMMER: You know, Mike, some people are saying there are 18 maybe 19 tornadoes. Others say it's not clear how many tornadoes hit that state over the weekend.
What does it say or suggest to you if you can't count the number of tornadoes about how severe these storms were?
PHELPS: Well, they were extremely intense. I've been doing this for 15 years and this was one of the biggest tornado outbreaks I've ever experienced in my years of chasing.
Just out there viewing this scene, seeing thunderstorms from horizon to horizon was just quite a scene and the entire horizon was lit up with lightning at one point, continuous lightning.
The energy and the power that these storms packed was something that I've never witnessed before.
HEMMER: In the small town of Hallam, Nebraska, completely devastated at a level 25 miles south of Lincoln. Some say that tornado may have been an F-3. How big does a tornado have to be to take down a town like Hallam in Nebraska?
PHELPS: Well, it doesn't have to be very strong at all. In fact, winds a little over a 100 miles an hour can do quite a bit of damage, but generally winds over about 130 miles an hour can do enough damage to really tear up a town and we're talking F-2, 3, and 4.
What we do is we rate tornadoes by the F-scale, the Fujita scale, 0-5 and tornadoes generally above F-2 are considered significant and quite damaging.
HEMMER: Wow. That's a heck of a thing you're saying, your second to last answer there. You ever seen a day like this before, huh?
PHELPS: Yes, it really was something else. It was just like viewing thunderstorms, but it was a notch above anything I've ever seen before.
HEMMER: Mike Phelps, storm chaser in Memphis, Tennessee this morning. Thanks, Mike. Stay safe when you go back out there, all right?
PHELPS: I sure will. Thanks.
HEMMER: OK. Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The U.S. military is denying a "Washington Post" report that the Army's top commander in Iraq witnessed or knew about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
The report, a third hand sourced allegation, says Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was present during inmate interrogations at Abu Ghraib Prison.
The account comes from the attorney for Sargent Ivan "Chip" Frederick, one of seven soldiers charged in the prisoner abuse scandal.
Joining us this morning from Atlanta to talk a little bit about the allegations is retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Beck. He's a civilian military attorney, also a former judge advocate general.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us this morning.
We have a really straight out flat denial from the military. General Mark Kimmitt released this statement where he said that yesterday's report that suggested that General Sanchez in fact was aware or present during the abuse at Abu Ghraib was false, and he stands by his testimony that he gave before Congress.
What do you think in fact is the likelihood that a very high- ranking general would be witnessing the interrogation of witnesses at Abu Ghraib?
LT. COL. DAVE BECK (RET.), CIVILIAN MILITARY ATTORNEY: Well I think a thorough investigation, a search for the truth, needs to be done. What's been done to this point, Soledad, has been too slow and we've got seven lower-ranking soldiers charged.
We do know in addition to what Captain Reas (ph) has allegedly said that General Karpinski, who was relieved, has reported that General Sanchez was there numerous times at the prison shortly after General Miller came up from Guantanamo Bay.
Why was he there several times and why was General Miller there? And General Karpinski indicates that General Miller said that they weren't getting enough information from the detainees and that they needed to Gitmoize it in response...
O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you there, but one might say that General Sanchez, would travel with so many people, that one witness who has come forward, someone who is implicated now in the abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison, there should be many more people coming forward. Doesn't that make sense?
BECK: It does make sense, and that's what I said the investigation needs to be -- somebody needs to get involved in the investigation, why is it taking this long when the abuse was reported in December and we had photographs of it in early January? What needs to be done is everybody who worked in that prison needs to be brought back. I understand a lot of them have been dispersed throughout Iraq. Some of them need to be given immunity so that they know that the only way they can be in trouble is if they don't tell the truth and we need to have every witness, potential witness, everybody who was there in the prison during that time period, brought in and questioned so that the truth can be determined.
O'BRIEN: The claim certainly, obviously going to be the centerpiece of Chip Frederick's case but is -- would the presence of a senior military official on the site, if that's what was happening and of course strong denial from the military this morning. That still would not clear him from any wrongdoing isn't that right?
BECK: It wouldn't clear him for obeying if that is the defense that they were obeying an order because you obey unlawful orders at your own peril. That kind of defense was tried at Nuremberg it was tried by Lieutenant Calley during the My Lai massacre and you -- everybody knows whether you've been trained or not you don't do the kind of abuse the inhumane abuse that clearly violated the Geneva Convention and international law.
So it would not be a complete defense; it might be something in mitigation, but again General Karpinski has indicated that as of October and November she relinquished command to the Intel operations.
If she did, what were the Intel officers doing there, what were they saying and that needs to be investigated, it needs to be a search for the truth and if senior officers are implicated they need to be held accountable just as the PFCs and the specialists are.
O'BRIEN: Certainly many questions remain this morning. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Beck joining us. Nice to see you sir. Thanks for your time.
BECK: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About 15 minutes past the hour. International inspectors have discovered evidence that North Korea may have supplied Libya with uranium, enriched uranium, the key ingredient needed to make nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials confirm the discovery but stress the evidence is not conclusive and the link is still being investigated.
National Security correspondent David Ensor live in D.C. to talk about this -- David, good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well as you say, U.S. officials are confirming that they understand that the international inspectors looking at the materials and these materials are now in American hands.
The nuclear related materials that came from Libya now believed based on information from a couple of sources who were in the A.Q. Khan nuclear market that this uranium hexafluoride may have come actually from North Korea rather than Pakistan.
Now this raises if it proves out to be true a whole lot of interesting and rather worrisome questions. If North Korea was supplying not just nuclear equipment but also nuclear material to Libya and places like that, who else might they have sold it to?
Could it have been sold on the black market also to perhaps al Qaeda or other terrorist groups in addition to rogue states, so this raises a lot of interesting and very worrying questions for U.S. intelligence.
But as I should stress so far all we have is confirmation from U.S. officials that this is something that has been told to international inspectors by some of the sources in the A.Q. Khan nuclear black market network -- Bill.
HEMMER: David Ensor in D.C. -- David, thank you.
A bit later this morning we'll talk a bit more about this issue and the implications that maybe there in -- if indeed it is found to be true. David, thanks again.
Want to give a big warm welcome right now here at AMERICAN MORNING to the newest member of our team across the room, Heidi Collins.
Great to have you here in New York.
O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks; I like it. It's great; I'm tall. It's like a high chair.
HEMMER: You look terrific and good morning.
COLLINS: Well thank you so much, you guys. We do want to make sure to get straight to the news though, because there's quite a bit going on this hour.
Good morning everybody. There has been an explosion in Baghdad just in the last hour or so near an entrance to the U.S.-led coalition headquarters.
The U.S. military says four people were killed when an SUV hit an improvised explosive device. The explosion was initially thought to have been a car bombing.
We're also just getting word now of more explosions in Baghdad. Of course we are going to go there live in just a few minutes to get the very latest for you.
Saudi Arabia plans to send more oil to the market now. That's what Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said after a meeting with the Saudi oil minister yesterday. Secretary Abraham says the Saudis will boost their production from about seven million barrels a day to nine million barrels a day.
The increase, though, probably won't come in time to ease rising summer gas prices, unfortunately. Andy Serwer though will have more on that in just a few moments.
Rail commuters may see some delays today, as security on passenger train service across the country gets tighter. New federal mandates are now in effect on subway and rail systems.
Bomb sniffing dogs and random ID checks are all part of the plan. The new security guidelines are said to be a response to the Madrid train attacks, which killed nearly 200 people back in March.
In the NBA finals, and not that this is a favorite story of mine or anything, but the Minnesota Timberwolves howled through Game Two, 89-71, to even it up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Timberwolves Derrick Martin stepped off the bench for 15 points after Sam Cassell left the game with a back injury. Lakers star Kobe Bryant's 27 points that he made just wasn't enough to keep his team in the game. Lakers aren't going home, though for Game Three tomorrow and see how that goes.
And in Italy Michelangelo's David will be seen for the first time today after a bit of a makeover. After much debate, the 500-year-old statue was cleaned for the very first time in 130 years. Sounds like Bill's apartment.
Many art lovers wanted David to be left to age naturally but even though the chemical peel left the piece looking brand new, it also now shows the cracks and blemishes from centuries of aging.
HEMMER: How'd you know?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Hundred and thirty years, not so long.
HEMMER: From the high chair to the man who won the bid over here, good morning. And it's only Monday.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
President Bush's speech tonight, huge for him. Huge. His job approval numbers at an all time low, things in Iraq are seeming to go from bad to worse, the stakes for the president tonight couldn't be any higher.
The prison abuse scandal won't go away. U.S. troops still being killed in Iraq almost every day. The handover of power set for June 30, but there's no clear idea of exactly yet what that's going to entail and the U.S. is struggling to get more involvement from the United Nations with a new resolution expected today. Of course, there's one shadow over all of this; that would be that little thing called the presidential election in November. So, if I was the president I might call in sick tonight and wouldn't want to do this.
What's the single most important thing you want to hear from the president this evening? AM@cnn.com.
O'BRIEN: Good question I was talking a lot about that this morning with analysts as well.
CAFFERTY: He's -- he's...
O'BRIEN: Pressure.
CAFFERTY: Yes, he's under an awful lot of pressure and this thing is just not getting any better.
HEMMER: Forty days and counting. Thank you Jack. In a moment here does new videotape back Iraqi claims that U.S. forces hit a wedding ceremony last week. Live to Baghdad for the latest on this Monday morning. What's happening on that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also as gas prices surge to record levels is it time for the government to investigate why? That's ahead.
HEMMER: Also the box office over the weekend, wow. "Shrek II" walked all over the competition. It was a very green weekend for a lot of reasons. Back in a moment after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Nothing is slowing the rise of gas prices so what's it doing to SUV sales? With a look at that and a market preview Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning -- hello. I'm going to guess SUV...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: ... sales way down.
SERWER: Yes, they are.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to guess gas prices continue to go up and Memorial Day is on the horizon.
SERWER: You are a business guru. You should take my job, Soledad. You're doing great. Gas prices are on the rise up 14 cents over the last ten days. Can you believe that?
The national average price now $2.10. OK, we're going to do this inflation-adjusted thing if it makes you feel any better. In 1981 today's dollars would be $2.91, but that's not, you know, making you feel much better.
Here's what's happening. In San Diego, you've got your most expensive gas, $2.36. Charleston, South Carolina is the cheapest, $1.87. Maybe you should drive from San Diego to Charleston to fill up your tank. No, that wouldn't work.
This even with the Saudis apparently going to be increasing their production but you know OPEC hasn't signed off on this. Going to be a lot of interesting stuff over the next couple of weeks. A week from Thursday, OPEC meets in Beirut, June 3, and it'll be really fascinating to see what happens, Soledad.
Rippling through the economy, though. Get this. United Airlines underestimating how much they're going to be spending on fuel this year by $750 million. I mean, how about that?
And now let's talk about those SUVs you mentioned earlier. Get this: GM is going to be shutting down an SUV plant in Morane, Ohio which Bill Hemmer will tell us where that is located. Morane, Ohio.
HEMMER: West of Buffalo.
SERWER: West of Buffalo. You learned the line. West of Buffalo. But this is actually kind of sad news. They're going to be laying off 4,000 workers for a week. They're shutting it down for a week and they make Chevy Trailblazers, GMC Envoys and Buick Rainer, some of their midsize SUVs there, so you can see the ripple effect really going through the economy, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And how's all this effecting the market?
SERWER: Well, yesterday -- or on Friday -- we kind of had a mixed session. In fact, the whole week was a mixed bag. Let's take a look at the numbers here. You can see the Dow not doing so well. Nasdaq up a little bit but we basically have been treading water.
Futures much stronger this morning, though, Soledad because of the news of Saudi Arabia boosting production but I will tell you this is the first week of the year that the Dow begins below 10,000 so markets down about four percent for the year so we've really kind of been slipping a bit.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau apologizing for Sunday's comic strip -- that strip was drawn weeks ago, he says, but it makes a reference that some people take issue with.
The cartoon shows a mans head on a platter. The punch line to the strip a reference to a woman lawyer handing a man his head on a platter. It has nothing to do with Iraq, and the recent story just two weeks ago after terrorists showed a videotape of the beheading of Nicholas Berg. Trudeau said in part, quote, I regret the poor timing, and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate.
The words of Gary Trudeau. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Still to come this morning, the White House says the president plans to dispel, quote, this idea that we don't know what we're doing in Iraq and video that seems to tell quite a different story from what the military says about an attack in Iraq.
That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 24, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What's the president's plan for Iraq? We'll preview his critical speech to the nation. That's coming tonight.
Video from Iraq of a wedding in the desert. Does it prove the U.S. bombed the wrong target in a mission last week?
And tornado devastation in Nebraska. We'll talk to the storm chaser who outran a killer twister on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everybody. Welcome to another week here at AMERICAN MORNING.
In a moment President Bush expected to lay out how the Iraqi transfer to sovereignty will work. He'll talk to the country about it later tonight in prime time.
In a moment a preview of that speech. We'll talk to a deputy assistant to the president in a few moments in the front lawn of the White House this morning.
O'BRIEN: Also in Iraq the Associated Press has obtained home video apparently of a wedding. Locals say it proves that innocent people were killed in a U.S. attack last week in Western Iraq.
The videotape shows members of the wedding party -- guests and musicians. One of the musicians appears to be a person that was found among the victims at the scene.
The military maintains that foreign fighters were killed in the raid last week.
HEMMER: Also back here in the U.S., Michigan hoping for some relief today from the weather before the skies open back up again later in the week.
Severe thunderstorms for the past three days have triggered tornadoes and left much of that state flooded. That's in Michigan.
Back in Nebraska you have major problems with tornadoes over the weekend. We'll get to all of it in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Cafferty, did you have a nice weekend? JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's over, and I had a delightful weekend -- and yourself?
O'BRIEN: The same, thanks for asking.
CAFFERTY: Everything all right in there?
O'BRIEN: Yes, so far.
HEMMER: "In there."
CAFFERTY: Any movement?
O'BRIEN: Oh gosh, all the time. Unfortunately. I decided to start poking back. Anybody pokes me, I poke back.
CAFFERTY: That's right, go to sleep.
All right, coming up, the storm fires over Iraq threatening to develop into a full blown tornado for the White House.
We'll take a look at what's at stake for President Bush when he makes that speech tonight; look up the word "huge," because it's huge for him.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
Let's start with that prime time speech later tonight. The speech at the U.S. Army War College in Pennsylvania will be the first in a series laying out details of a plan for transferring power to the Iraqis.
Suzy DeFrancis, the president's deputy communications assistant, our guest live from the front lawn. Good morning to you there. What is the...
SUZY DEFRANCIS, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: ... message later tonight?
DEFRANCIS: Well, Bill, the president tonight is going to talk about the future of Iraq, and he'll specifically talk about how we achieve our goal of a secure and self-governing Iraq that will no longer threaten America or the rest of the world.
And he's going to lay out some very specific steps to get to that goal. He'll talk about the actual new government that will be stood up in Iraq, what it will look like, how it will function.
He'll talk about the need to improve security in Iraq and what we're doing on that front. He'll talk about how we enlarge the international role.
As you know, the U.S. and the British will be introducing a resolution in the U.N. this week to enlarge that international role. And he'll talk about other things such as building up the infrastructure and of course preparing for the critical elections that will come into Iraq very soon.
HEMMER: Republican Senator Richard Lugar said this over the weekend. He wants to know, quote, precisely what is going to happen as opposed to a generalization. Will he be satisfied after that speech tonight?
DEFRANCIS: I believe he will, Bill. As I said, the president is going to lay out some very specific steps and really paint a picture for the United States -- American people -- of what this government will look like. That it will have a president, vice-president, governing council. These types of things.
And in addition, he's going to also talk about the stakes and what is at stake in Iraq. It's very important to realize, the president believes, that the terrorists know that if they win in Iraq they have won a major battle in the war on terror and we can't let that happen.
He'll talk about the importance of the United States succeeding in its mission.
HEMMER: And lets also talk about the importance of the United Nations. There's a proposed resolution that's being reported that will be talked about today within the U.N. Security Council behind closed doors asking for more international donations and possibly more international troops.
How specific will he be on that later tonight?
DEFRANCIS: Well, I think we'll let the language of the resolution -- we'll let the president outline that tonight.
But clearly, as the president has said, from the beginning we want the U.N. to play a vital role in Iraq, and as we move toward this transfer of self government to the Iraqi people, obviously the U.N. will play a much bigger role and -- as will other nations, whose support we hope to enlist more nations to come into Iraq and help.
HEMMER: I take it from the beginning of your answer this is still coming together in terms of the U.N.'s involvement -- is that a fair assessment?
DEFRANCIS: It's coming together, but I think very quickly you'll see the resolution introduced, I believe today, and they'll be discussing the language this week, but they need to consult with the other members of the Security Council on the exact language.
HEMMER: There was a recent survey done within the Gallup Poll, CNN/USA Today that found the approval ratings for the Iraq effort at their lowest ever. Forty-one percent.
If you consider those numbers, and consider the speech tonight, and going five weeks forward, how critical is it for the president to make this speech beginning this evening?
DEFRANCIS: Well, clearly these polls reflect some of the distressing images that we've seen over the last month in Iraq, and -- but, we must remember they are kind of a snapshot in time, and I believe the president feels that not only will it be important as we move forward to June 30 to build support in the country for this new Iraqi government but also as we move past that he's going to counsel the (AUDIO GAP) because as I said the stakes are extremely high here.
We must win in the war on terror and Iraq is a central front on the war on terror.
HEMMER: Suzy DeFrancis, our guest from the front lawn. Thanks for your time this morning.
Certainly be watching later tonight.
CNN has live coverage of the address tonight, a special edition of "PAULA ZAHN NOW." 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, 5 on the West coast, here on CNN -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, they are still cleaning up in parts of the Midwest this morning after tornadoes cut a path of destruction over the weekend.
Nebraska is in a state of emergency after 18 tornadoes touched down, causing one death and practically blowing some small towns right off the map.
Nebraska's governor described the scene in the town of Hallam as complete and total devastation.
And in Iowa, hundreds of homes were damaged after tornadoes tore through that state, bringing heavy rain and winds and flooding. Federal disaster assistance is being sought for sixteen counties in that state.
Unfortunately another rough day is expected today as well.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Storm chaser Mike Phelps has seen his share of extreme weather and capturing some of that footage of dramatic storms in certain parts of the country, specifically the plains.
On Saturday afternoon while out searching for tornadoes near the Kansas-Nebraska border, he came across a monster. He's live in Memphis, Tennessee this morning to talk about it.
Mike, good morning. Welcome back here to AMERICAN MORNING. What did you see over the weekend?
MIKE PHELPS, EXTREME WEATHER PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, it was quite a storm on Saturday. We were set up to the east of a large super cell thunderstorm in Southern Nebraska. This storm eventually went on to do quite a bit of damage across southern Nebraska. In the formative stages, it was just a large picturesque storm, but it rapidly turned into a monster and became a tornadic thunderstorm and we shot some video of this thing as it dropped down and grew in size and became a very picturesque, almost Cecil B. DeMille type scene, there in southern Nebraska.
Now thankfully at that point it was just out in open farm country and wasn't doing any damage. It later moved into more populated areas of southern Nebraska and did quite a bit of damage.
HEMMER: You know, Mike, some people are saying there are 18 maybe 19 tornadoes. Others say it's not clear how many tornadoes hit that state over the weekend.
What does it say or suggest to you if you can't count the number of tornadoes about how severe these storms were?
PHELPS: Well, they were extremely intense. I've been doing this for 15 years and this was one of the biggest tornado outbreaks I've ever experienced in my years of chasing.
Just out there viewing this scene, seeing thunderstorms from horizon to horizon was just quite a scene and the entire horizon was lit up with lightning at one point, continuous lightning.
The energy and the power that these storms packed was something that I've never witnessed before.
HEMMER: In the small town of Hallam, Nebraska, completely devastated at a level 25 miles south of Lincoln. Some say that tornado may have been an F-3. How big does a tornado have to be to take down a town like Hallam in Nebraska?
PHELPS: Well, it doesn't have to be very strong at all. In fact, winds a little over a 100 miles an hour can do quite a bit of damage, but generally winds over about 130 miles an hour can do enough damage to really tear up a town and we're talking F-2, 3, and 4.
What we do is we rate tornadoes by the F-scale, the Fujita scale, 0-5 and tornadoes generally above F-2 are considered significant and quite damaging.
HEMMER: Wow. That's a heck of a thing you're saying, your second to last answer there. You ever seen a day like this before, huh?
PHELPS: Yes, it really was something else. It was just like viewing thunderstorms, but it was a notch above anything I've ever seen before.
HEMMER: Mike Phelps, storm chaser in Memphis, Tennessee this morning. Thanks, Mike. Stay safe when you go back out there, all right?
PHELPS: I sure will. Thanks.
HEMMER: OK. Soledad.
O'BRIEN: The U.S. military is denying a "Washington Post" report that the Army's top commander in Iraq witnessed or knew about the abuse of Iraqi prisoners.
The report, a third hand sourced allegation, says Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez was present during inmate interrogations at Abu Ghraib Prison.
The account comes from the attorney for Sargent Ivan "Chip" Frederick, one of seven soldiers charged in the prisoner abuse scandal.
Joining us this morning from Atlanta to talk a little bit about the allegations is retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Beck. He's a civilian military attorney, also a former judge advocate general.
Nice to see you, sir. Thanks for being with us this morning.
We have a really straight out flat denial from the military. General Mark Kimmitt released this statement where he said that yesterday's report that suggested that General Sanchez in fact was aware or present during the abuse at Abu Ghraib was false, and he stands by his testimony that he gave before Congress.
What do you think in fact is the likelihood that a very high- ranking general would be witnessing the interrogation of witnesses at Abu Ghraib?
LT. COL. DAVE BECK (RET.), CIVILIAN MILITARY ATTORNEY: Well I think a thorough investigation, a search for the truth, needs to be done. What's been done to this point, Soledad, has been too slow and we've got seven lower-ranking soldiers charged.
We do know in addition to what Captain Reas (ph) has allegedly said that General Karpinski, who was relieved, has reported that General Sanchez was there numerous times at the prison shortly after General Miller came up from Guantanamo Bay.
Why was he there several times and why was General Miller there? And General Karpinski indicates that General Miller said that they weren't getting enough information from the detainees and that they needed to Gitmoize it in response...
O'BRIEN: Forgive me for interrupting you there, but one might say that General Sanchez, would travel with so many people, that one witness who has come forward, someone who is implicated now in the abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison, there should be many more people coming forward. Doesn't that make sense?
BECK: It does make sense, and that's what I said the investigation needs to be -- somebody needs to get involved in the investigation, why is it taking this long when the abuse was reported in December and we had photographs of it in early January? What needs to be done is everybody who worked in that prison needs to be brought back. I understand a lot of them have been dispersed throughout Iraq. Some of them need to be given immunity so that they know that the only way they can be in trouble is if they don't tell the truth and we need to have every witness, potential witness, everybody who was there in the prison during that time period, brought in and questioned so that the truth can be determined.
O'BRIEN: The claim certainly, obviously going to be the centerpiece of Chip Frederick's case but is -- would the presence of a senior military official on the site, if that's what was happening and of course strong denial from the military this morning. That still would not clear him from any wrongdoing isn't that right?
BECK: It wouldn't clear him for obeying if that is the defense that they were obeying an order because you obey unlawful orders at your own peril. That kind of defense was tried at Nuremberg it was tried by Lieutenant Calley during the My Lai massacre and you -- everybody knows whether you've been trained or not you don't do the kind of abuse the inhumane abuse that clearly violated the Geneva Convention and international law.
So it would not be a complete defense; it might be something in mitigation, but again General Karpinski has indicated that as of October and November she relinquished command to the Intel operations.
If she did, what were the Intel officers doing there, what were they saying and that needs to be investigated, it needs to be a search for the truth and if senior officers are implicated they need to be held accountable just as the PFCs and the specialists are.
O'BRIEN: Certainly many questions remain this morning. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Beck joining us. Nice to see you sir. Thanks for your time.
BECK: Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About 15 minutes past the hour. International inspectors have discovered evidence that North Korea may have supplied Libya with uranium, enriched uranium, the key ingredient needed to make nuclear weapons.
U.S. officials confirm the discovery but stress the evidence is not conclusive and the link is still being investigated.
National Security correspondent David Ensor live in D.C. to talk about this -- David, good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well as you say, U.S. officials are confirming that they understand that the international inspectors looking at the materials and these materials are now in American hands.
The nuclear related materials that came from Libya now believed based on information from a couple of sources who were in the A.Q. Khan nuclear market that this uranium hexafluoride may have come actually from North Korea rather than Pakistan.
Now this raises if it proves out to be true a whole lot of interesting and rather worrisome questions. If North Korea was supplying not just nuclear equipment but also nuclear material to Libya and places like that, who else might they have sold it to?
Could it have been sold on the black market also to perhaps al Qaeda or other terrorist groups in addition to rogue states, so this raises a lot of interesting and very worrying questions for U.S. intelligence.
But as I should stress so far all we have is confirmation from U.S. officials that this is something that has been told to international inspectors by some of the sources in the A.Q. Khan nuclear black market network -- Bill.
HEMMER: David Ensor in D.C. -- David, thank you.
A bit later this morning we'll talk a bit more about this issue and the implications that maybe there in -- if indeed it is found to be true. David, thanks again.
Want to give a big warm welcome right now here at AMERICAN MORNING to the newest member of our team across the room, Heidi Collins.
Great to have you here in New York.
O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks; I like it. It's great; I'm tall. It's like a high chair.
HEMMER: You look terrific and good morning.
COLLINS: Well thank you so much, you guys. We do want to make sure to get straight to the news though, because there's quite a bit going on this hour.
Good morning everybody. There has been an explosion in Baghdad just in the last hour or so near an entrance to the U.S.-led coalition headquarters.
The U.S. military says four people were killed when an SUV hit an improvised explosive device. The explosion was initially thought to have been a car bombing.
We're also just getting word now of more explosions in Baghdad. Of course we are going to go there live in just a few minutes to get the very latest for you.
Saudi Arabia plans to send more oil to the market now. That's what Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said after a meeting with the Saudi oil minister yesterday. Secretary Abraham says the Saudis will boost their production from about seven million barrels a day to nine million barrels a day.
The increase, though, probably won't come in time to ease rising summer gas prices, unfortunately. Andy Serwer though will have more on that in just a few moments.
Rail commuters may see some delays today, as security on passenger train service across the country gets tighter. New federal mandates are now in effect on subway and rail systems.
Bomb sniffing dogs and random ID checks are all part of the plan. The new security guidelines are said to be a response to the Madrid train attacks, which killed nearly 200 people back in March.
In the NBA finals, and not that this is a favorite story of mine or anything, but the Minnesota Timberwolves howled through Game Two, 89-71, to even it up with the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Timberwolves Derrick Martin stepped off the bench for 15 points after Sam Cassell left the game with a back injury. Lakers star Kobe Bryant's 27 points that he made just wasn't enough to keep his team in the game. Lakers aren't going home, though for Game Three tomorrow and see how that goes.
And in Italy Michelangelo's David will be seen for the first time today after a bit of a makeover. After much debate, the 500-year-old statue was cleaned for the very first time in 130 years. Sounds like Bill's apartment.
Many art lovers wanted David to be left to age naturally but even though the chemical peel left the piece looking brand new, it also now shows the cracks and blemishes from centuries of aging.
HEMMER: How'd you know?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Hundred and thirty years, not so long.
HEMMER: From the high chair to the man who won the bid over here, good morning. And it's only Monday.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
President Bush's speech tonight, huge for him. Huge. His job approval numbers at an all time low, things in Iraq are seeming to go from bad to worse, the stakes for the president tonight couldn't be any higher.
The prison abuse scandal won't go away. U.S. troops still being killed in Iraq almost every day. The handover of power set for June 30, but there's no clear idea of exactly yet what that's going to entail and the U.S. is struggling to get more involvement from the United Nations with a new resolution expected today. Of course, there's one shadow over all of this; that would be that little thing called the presidential election in November. So, if I was the president I might call in sick tonight and wouldn't want to do this.
What's the single most important thing you want to hear from the president this evening? AM@cnn.com.
O'BRIEN: Good question I was talking a lot about that this morning with analysts as well.
CAFFERTY: He's -- he's...
O'BRIEN: Pressure.
CAFFERTY: Yes, he's under an awful lot of pressure and this thing is just not getting any better.
HEMMER: Forty days and counting. Thank you Jack. In a moment here does new videotape back Iraqi claims that U.S. forces hit a wedding ceremony last week. Live to Baghdad for the latest on this Monday morning. What's happening on that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also as gas prices surge to record levels is it time for the government to investigate why? That's ahead.
HEMMER: Also the box office over the weekend, wow. "Shrek II" walked all over the competition. It was a very green weekend for a lot of reasons. Back in a moment after this.
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O'BRIEN: Nothing is slowing the rise of gas prices so what's it doing to SUV sales? With a look at that and a market preview Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning -- hello. I'm going to guess SUV...
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: ... sales way down.
SERWER: Yes, they are.
O'BRIEN: I'm going to guess gas prices continue to go up and Memorial Day is on the horizon.
SERWER: You are a business guru. You should take my job, Soledad. You're doing great. Gas prices are on the rise up 14 cents over the last ten days. Can you believe that?
The national average price now $2.10. OK, we're going to do this inflation-adjusted thing if it makes you feel any better. In 1981 today's dollars would be $2.91, but that's not, you know, making you feel much better.
Here's what's happening. In San Diego, you've got your most expensive gas, $2.36. Charleston, South Carolina is the cheapest, $1.87. Maybe you should drive from San Diego to Charleston to fill up your tank. No, that wouldn't work.
This even with the Saudis apparently going to be increasing their production but you know OPEC hasn't signed off on this. Going to be a lot of interesting stuff over the next couple of weeks. A week from Thursday, OPEC meets in Beirut, June 3, and it'll be really fascinating to see what happens, Soledad.
Rippling through the economy, though. Get this. United Airlines underestimating how much they're going to be spending on fuel this year by $750 million. I mean, how about that?
And now let's talk about those SUVs you mentioned earlier. Get this: GM is going to be shutting down an SUV plant in Morane, Ohio which Bill Hemmer will tell us where that is located. Morane, Ohio.
HEMMER: West of Buffalo.
SERWER: West of Buffalo. You learned the line. West of Buffalo. But this is actually kind of sad news. They're going to be laying off 4,000 workers for a week. They're shutting it down for a week and they make Chevy Trailblazers, GMC Envoys and Buick Rainer, some of their midsize SUVs there, so you can see the ripple effect really going through the economy, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And how's all this effecting the market?
SERWER: Well, yesterday -- or on Friday -- we kind of had a mixed session. In fact, the whole week was a mixed bag. Let's take a look at the numbers here. You can see the Dow not doing so well. Nasdaq up a little bit but we basically have been treading water.
Futures much stronger this morning, though, Soledad because of the news of Saudi Arabia boosting production but I will tell you this is the first week of the year that the Dow begins below 10,000 so markets down about four percent for the year so we've really kind of been slipping a bit.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: Doonesbury cartoonist Gary Trudeau apologizing for Sunday's comic strip -- that strip was drawn weeks ago, he says, but it makes a reference that some people take issue with.
The cartoon shows a mans head on a platter. The punch line to the strip a reference to a woman lawyer handing a man his head on a platter. It has nothing to do with Iraq, and the recent story just two weeks ago after terrorists showed a videotape of the beheading of Nicholas Berg. Trudeau said in part, quote, I regret the poor timing, and apologize to anyone who was offended by an image that is now clearly inappropriate.
The words of Gary Trudeau. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Still to come this morning, the White House says the president plans to dispel, quote, this idea that we don't know what we're doing in Iraq and video that seems to tell quite a different story from what the military says about an attack in Iraq.
That's ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
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