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American Morning

Look Back on Ronald Reagan's Impact on Republican Party and Politics in General

Aired June 07, 2004 - 08:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Eight o'clock East Coast time.

In our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., flags at half staff. In two days, the body of the late Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, his body will be brought to the nation's capital. A hundred thousand people expected to pay their final respects.

Good morning once again.

A special edition here of AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm Bill Hemmer live in Simi Valley, California here at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

About five hours away, we do expect a procession to take place from the funeral home in Santa Monica, about 45 minutes away, to proceed here, where the late Ronald Reagan, his will lie in repose for a period of about 30 hours.

Our coverage continues this hour.

We'll talk to David Gergen in a moment here. Ronald Reagan once said that his three favorite presidents were George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge. Well, David Gergen served four different presidents. We'll talk to him in a moment about how Ronald Reagan stacks up.

But for now, to Soledad O'Brien yet again in New York -- good morning there, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill.

Lots of other news this morning, as well, to talk about.

A developing story out of Iraq, in fact. An important mosque has been burning for part of the day in Kufa after an explosion. We're going to find out what happened; also, tell you about a deal on the table that could end the fighting between U.S. troops and the militias.

Also this morning, we're talking to the man who discovered the Titanic 19 years ago and all the emotions he's feeling as he prepares to go back. Robert Ballard taking part in a unique program tonight. He's going to let the TV viewers take part in a live journey back to the floor of the ocean, where that luxury liner sank almost a century ago. We'll tell you all about that in just a little bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: We are watching history throughout the week here in California -- Soledad.

In addition to the state funeral and the thousands who will pass by his casket both here in California, as well as the Capitol Building in Washington, former President Reagan is being remembered in many other ways. The New York Stock Exchange will begin today's trading session only after two minutes of silence to honor Mr. Reagan. That's a long held Exchange tradition reserved only for the deaths of presidents and former presidents.

In addition, President Bush has ordered all flags at federal buildings to be flown at half staff for the next month, a 30 day period. He has also declared Friday a national day of mourning. All government offices, also, will be closed on Friday, as the former president's body is brought from Washington to his final resting place here on the hillside in Simi Valley at the Reagan Presidential Library.

A lot to talk about here in California, as our coverage continues.

Here's Soledad again.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks.

In an essay published today in "Time" magazine, former First Lady Nancy Reagan remembers her husband as "a man of strong principles and integrity."

Well, what of the significant legacy that he left on the nation's political landscape?

Candy Crowley takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ronald Reagan did not shape a generation of Republicans. He created a generation of Republicans.

REP. TOM DELAY (R), MAJORITY WHIP: Well, it was Ronald Reagan that got me involved in politics back in 1976. I became a precinct chairman for the Republican party in Fortling (ph) County, Texas, where they shot Republicans, didn't elect them.

CROWLEY: He was a conservative before conservatives got cool and before they got elected.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: And I don't think you'd have had a contract with America without President Reagan. And I don't think you'd have the modern Republican majority in the House and Senate without Ronald Reagan.

CROWLEY: It has been more than a decade since we heard him speak.

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT: I have only one thing to say to the tax increases, go ahead, make my day.

CROWLEY: But his words echo in the political lexicon.

MCCAIN: When dared to veto a pork laden bill, I will take up the veto pen and invoke the words of Ronald Reagan, "make my day."

CROWLEY: When they tried to walk his walk, they'd call his name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's the candidate with a tax cut called Reaganesque and worthy of a new president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeking the best solutions, doing what's right.

CROWLEY: And they argue over who gets to wear his mantle.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I know Ronald Reagan. I helped elect him. I went to 36 states for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may know Ronald Reagan, but I worked for him for eight years.

HATCH: So did I.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I was at the cabinet table with...

HATCH: I worked with him 23 years.

CROWLEY: Ronald Reagan made the "L" word, liberal, a four letter word in politics, giving rise to a new kind of Democrat.

WALTER MONDALE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT: I think he did challenge the Democrats, unlike any modern Republican presidential candidate on the question -- the basic direction of American government.

CROWLEY: Stand along the political landscape and listen.

REAGAN: Our government is too big and it spends too much.

CROWLEY: That echo is not just through the years, but across the partisan divide.

CLINTON: The era of big government is over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Former President Bill Clinton said yesterday that he liked that Reagan wasn't mean spirited, that he was always optimistic about the nation and that he believed that freedom was a universal value -- Bill.

HEMMER: They considered him the great communicator, one of his many nicknames, Soledad. And if you track the career of Ronald Reagan, first as his sports broadcasting days in Illinois; later to his acting days here in California, going on to make more than 40 films; that formed the foundation that helped Ronald Reagan understand the power of the word, the spoken word, and the power of communication.

David Gergen, a presidential adviser now only for Ronald Reagan, but also three other presidents, our guest this hour in Watertown, Massachusetts.

And, David, good morning to you and welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday morning.

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I know at one point you said Ronald Reagan was clearly to television, clearly to TV what FDR was to radio.

Where and how did he shine?

GERGEN: Well, he shone because, in fact, he began his political career by voting for Franklin Roosevelt four times, from 1932 right through to 1944. He began as a Roosevelt Democrat. And he moved, during the 50s, he moved right, while he thought the Democratic Party moved left. But he always remembered something about Franklin Roosevelt -- his capacity to mobilize and touch the American voter and his contagious optimism, his contagious sense of the future.

And that's what Reagan brought to the White House. It was a warmth and a contagious view, a contagious optimism that drew people to him. He was a man of principle, he was a man of decency, but most of all, people just got drawn to him. And I think you see it in the outpouring of warmth in the last couple of days since he died. So many people have come forward. It's been wonderful, hasn't it, to see this?

And I, you know, those of us who were grateful to work for him and privileged to work for him are just thrilled to see that so many Americans now remembering him the way they are.

HEMMER: You served four presidents.

How did he rank?

GERGEN: Well, I must say that, in my judgment, you can agree or disagree with Ronald Reagan's policies, his conservatism, and I sometimes found myself out of step. I was less conservative than he was. But if you add it all up, I believe he ranked as the best leader we've had in the White House since Franklin Roosevelt. And that's saying a lot.

I think he did several things for us. He expanded and extended the bounds of liberty in this country and overseas. He rebuilt the American presidency. We'd had five presidents in a row who had left office in death and defeat or disgrace. He rebuilt the presidency.

And he restored America's faith in the future. We had always been a country that -- we've always believed that today was better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better still. And in the 1970s, we'd lost our way. We believed that yesterday was better than today and today is better than tomorrow. We had a sort of downhill view of ourselves.

And Reagan helped to put us on a path upward again. And that is the traditional American path. And I think that's why, again, why so many recall him now with nostalgia. He was so -- he was one of the great ones. He was one of these larger than life people. And it -- in a day like this when we seem so divided, he brought us together more, even though we -- not everyone agreed with his policies. He did seem to bring us together and people felt good about themselves and they felt good about America.

HEMMER: Yes, there were dark days, too. If you consider 1983, 241 mostly American Marines killed in that awful and tragic and devastating bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. If you fast forward a couple of years to Iran-Contra, the black eye that that put on his presidency.

When he left office, what did he regret?

GERGEN: Oh, I think he did regret the Iran-Contra affair. That was a, you know, an episode, some would call it a scandal, that broke on his watch. And I think he felt maybe he had -- didn't have a firm enough grasp on the wheel when it happened and things got away from him.

I must say that if you look at how he handled it after the fact, I think it was a model of responding well. He opened up the White House, made all the records available. He waived executive privilege when he sent everybody up to the Hill. He changed his team. He brought in Howard Baker and Ken Duberstein and Colin Powell to run the White House.

He cleaned house and made a totally transparent effort and began restoring trust in himself and in the American presidency. He was great.

And on Lebanon, let me get back to that, as you mentioned that, Bill. One of the remarkable things -- I saw this -- when they, there was an investigation ordered up about how did Lebanon happen, how did they get -- how did those terrorists get to the Marine barracks and blow it up and kill so many?

And the report came over to the White House and it said, you know, there were various generals who had been lax in the security and they deserved the blame.

Reagan got the report, looked at it and a day or so later walked out, before anything got publicized, he walked out in front of the cameras and said let's be clear here, I'm the commander-in-chief, the buck stops here, I'm the one who takes the blame, let me take the responsibility here, which he was willing to step up to the hard ones.

He was a man of courage and gallantry. And I'll tell you, the military officials, the officers over there always appreciated that of him, that he was the one who was willing to take responsibility for Lebanon, didn't duck the way sometimes, I'm afraid, we see happening.

And he was a big man. And he was a -- he was gallant, he was courageous and he was such a humble man.

HEMMER: He wrote in "An American Life," "It was the saddest day of my presidency," with regard to Beirut in 1983, "perhaps the saddest day of my life." The words of Ronald Reagan.

David Gergen, always a pleasure, Watertown, Massachusetts.

Thanks for sharing today.

GERGEN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Back to Soledad in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.

Good morning again.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Thanks, Soledad.

The death of former President Reagan has pushed all coverage of the upcoming election right off the front page. You can't find John Kerry's name hardly anyplace. In addition to stories about the passing of Reagan, the papers are full of stories about President Bush at the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, President Bush at the G8 summit this week down in Georgia.

Kerry has canceled all his appearances for the next five days as a result of the news.

So the question is how will President Reagan's death affect the campaign?

Peggy in Durham, California writes: "President Reagan's death does affect the campaign. The American people will remember that at one time, this country was run by a man with more values and dedication than the White House has seen in the last 12 years."

Not bad.

Stephanie in Osaka, Japan says: "Much ado about nothing, Mr. Cafferty. By this time next week, D-Day and Reagan remembrances will be relegated to the recycled newspaper pile. They are America's yesterday. The election is America's tomorrow."

And on the passing of President Reagan, we heard this from Iris in Augusta, Georgia: "Thank you to President Reagan. I grew up in East Germany and lived there until 1961. At this time I left the country and was not allowed to return. Thanks to Ronald Reagan, I was finally able to go to East Germany after the Wall came down and see my mother's and my grandmother's graves. Thank you, Mr. President."

O'BRIEN: Nice note.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: One of those really, really moving words.

CAFFERTY: He touched a lot of people in a very personal way, unlike most politicians, who just touch us and you want to take a shower.

O'BRIEN: Right. And I think, also, not only politicians, but also you see some of the e-mails, just regular folks really moved by things he did.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

Iraq's major political groups pledge to disband their militias. The country's new interim prime minister announced that agreement today. But the deal doesn't include the Mahdi Army, which is run, of course, by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad for us following several stories from there -- Harris, good morning.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

As you said, the interim prime minister announced what is considered to be an important scheme under which nine of the country's most important militias would, in fact, form part or become part of the Iraqi security forces within the next several months.

The scheme involves about 102,000 militia members and about at least -- and the vast majority of those would join either the Iraqi national police or the Iraqi Army once it is reconstituted. Others would form private security organizations for a lot of the political organizations that these militias originally belonged to.

But the interesting thing here is that those who do not join the security forces would be part of a jobs program and they all would be eligible for military pensions. The interim prime minister says that this is a way of rewarding all of these militias who he says fought against the Saddam Hussein regime and the majority of these are the Peshmergas, the Kurdish militias, who, in effect, did wage a war against Saddam Hussein's forces.

So, again, it is considered to be an important deal. Now, two of the political organizations that have militias that CNN spoke to were a bit non-committal about this scheme. They said they had -- they were just learning about it from the press and had no official comment.

Now, there was some more violence to report down in Kufa. Apparently a very, very revered mosque in Kufa blew up. Coalition officials say that they suspect that the mosque was being used as an ammunition dump or storehouse by militiamen belonging to Muqtada al- Sadr. But Muqtada al-Sadr's militias say that they believe that the U.S. fired a missile against that mosque. The U.S. says that it was nowhere near that mosque and it has suspended most of its military operations in that area -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck for us, weighing in on several stories coming out of Iraq this morning.

Harris, thanks.

It is now quarter past the hour.

Time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today with Daryn Kagan, who joins us from Atlanta this morning -- Good morning again, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And we begin with President Bush. He is a man on the move. He is preparing for the start of the G8 economic summit. It is on Sea Island, Georgia. The president arrived in Georgia last night following a whirlwind visit to Europe. Discussions during the summit will focus on Iraq and Mideast democracy, in addition to trade and development. Mr. Bush spent part of yesterday commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France.

In Houston, Texas, jury selection begins today in Enron's first criminal trial. Jurors will decide whether four former Merrill Lynch executives conspired with two former Enron execs to cook the company's books inn December of 1999. Meanwhile, defense lawyers in the case are expected to raise questions about statements that former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow made to investigators.

In California, firefighters are allowing hundreds of residents in the Santa Barbara area to go back home. A massive wildfire fueled by dry wind charred more than 7,000 acres of land. Some buildings have been destroyed. There are no reports of any injuries. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

And honoring the best of Broadway -- the Tony Awards were handed out last night in New York City. Actress Phylicia Rashad becoming the first black actress to win a Tony Award for a dramatic leading role. She takes the prize for her performance in "A Raisin In the Sun." "Avenue Q," which features puppets and four letter words, was the big upset. It beat out the top nominated show, "Wicked," for best new musical -- Soledad, I think a lot of people are saying "Avenue Q," what is that? Think of a very naughty "Sesame Street" but be ready to just laugh your head off. It is a hysterical show. O'BRIEN: I have -- you know, I haven't seen that. But I've got to tell you, I am so thrilled about Phylicia Rashad. Good for her. I think she's a wonderful actress.

KAGAN: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: It was nice to see her kiss her daughter. And I am just thrilled for her.

All right, Daryn, thanks a lot.

Appreciate it.

KAGAN: Sure.

We'll see you in a bit.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Marine explorer Robert Ballard is returning to the scene of his greatest deep sea discovery. Nineteen years after finding the wreck of the Titanic, Dr. Ballard is going back for some more. His new expedition is the subject of a National Geographic special. It's called "Return To Titanic" and it will include a live transmission from Titanic's watery grave.

Dr. Ballard joins us this morning from on board a NOAH research vessel to talk a little bit about the scientific quest.

Nice to see you, sir.

Thanks for being with us.

ROBERT BALLARD, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER IN RESIDENCE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You know, it's been interesting, this has, I think it's fair to say, your most famous discovery in the whole spectrum of all the things that you've had an opportunity to work on.

And that's not a good sign, is it, when we go to hash marks.

Obviously we have lost our satellite connection with Dr. Ballard. And we're going to get him back as soon as we possibly can fix that problem.

Let's go to break.

Still to come this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to stop by to talk a little bit more about the disease that Ronald Reagan battled for a decade -- Alzheimer's Disease. So just how promising are the treatments out there now? A look at that this morning.

Also ahead, we go back to school and take a look at Reagan, the college years. And in other news this morning, most folks are upset because they lost some money on Smarty Jones -- Bill Hemmer, in particular. But somebody's upset because they didn't have to pay out. We're minding your business this morning ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Nineteen years after discovering the Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard is going back. Just moments ago, we had an opportunity to try to hook up with him by satellite. But because he is a thousand miles off the coast of Boston, we had a few difficulties.

We've got him back now, though.

Nice to see you, Dr. Ballard.

Thanks for joining us.

As we mentioned, you're on this NOAH research vessel, really right above the location of the Titanic. I've read that you have a lot of mixed feelings about returning nearly 20 years later.

Why mixed feelings? Why not out and out joy about going back?

BALLARD: Well, I've got to tell you that it is mixed feelings. I've been sitting on the sidelines hearing all sorts of stories. Other countries have been coming out -- France and Russia -- with submarines exploring the site. And I finally decided it was time to go back and see what's gone on there, because I had heard that the ship was disintegrating and all sorts of bad things were happening.

And I can tell you that over the last week now, we've been doing extremely careful mapping of the ship. We mapped it long before anyone else arrived. And what we're seeing is Mother Nature isn't doing that much to the ship. What's being done to the ship is by the submarines. They're very clumsy. They're landing on the deck. They're bumping into things. We can see where they've collided with the Titanic, landed on its deck, crushed the deck.

And so what we're trying to do is to work with NOAH, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to create a treaty, a treaty that other nations will sign that will be -- you can come and visit it, just like we're going to do tonight at nine o'clock Eastern on the National Geographic channel. We'll take you live. We'll show you the ship. But during the entire time we've been investigating it, we have not landed on it. We have not touched it.

We believe in this look but don't touch. Enjoy the Titanic like you'd enjoy the Arizona and Pearl Harbor. But try to protect her so she can be around for future generations.

O'BRIEN: Lots has happened, certainly, since you were first searching the Titanic back in 1985. The "Titanic" movie became that gigantic hit. There were people who have come down, as you mentioned, scavenging the site, actually trying to take things away from the site. And then, of course, some folks got married on the bow of the ship, as well.

Do you ever feel a little bit responsible for creating this hugantic interest in the Titanic as -- and then to see people sort of work toward its destruction must be very heartbreaking.

BALLARD: Well, you know, in a way it is. I mean obviously discovering the Titanic has led to all the things that have happened since. But we think that the Titanic can still be saved. She's in great shape. I just toured the bow section of it. You'll see some of it on the camera behind me. It was like going back to an old friend. I didn't see a whole lot of change in lots of the areas of the ship. And, again, if we just try not loving it to death, we can really enjoy the Titanic as the memorial that it is.

We have some very compelling imagery that we'll be showing you tonight of where the people landed on the bottom; very, very compelling, beautiful high definition footage. And I hope that after watching the program tonight, you'll feel the same way I feel about the Titanic, that it's a very special site, a memorial site, and all steps should be taken to extend its life.

O'BRIEN: Is that the goal at the end of this, to have the folks who are watching say I want to visit the Titanic, but I don't necessarily want to land on it, crunch it up and I certainly don't want to stand on it to get married on the bow?

BALLARD: Absolutely. We can see exactly where they landed on the bow. There's a big crushed down spot where they landed. And that's -- you've just got to stop doing that. You know, you don't take belt buckles off the Arizona and Pearl Harbor and when you go to Gettysburg you go there very respectfully.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Robert Ballard, nice to see you.

Thanks so much.

And we should mention that if you want to see more of that amazing footage, you can tune into the National Geographic Channel tonight at 9:00 p.m., as Dr. Ballard mentioned, for the world premier of "Return To Titanic."

Some fascinating pictures coming from there.

Well, let's talk about Smarty Jones.

He broke a lot of hearts, including Bill Hemmer's, including Visa's. Plus, they're cutting back on luxuries at one major airline.

Here with that this morning is Andy Serwer, who's minding your business.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: I know why Bill Hemmer is disappointed when Smarty Jones lost.

SERWER: Yes?

O'BRIEN: But why Visa?

SERWER: Well, Visa was a big sponsorship of this race, the Triple Crown specifically. And here's how it worked. If that horse, Smarty Jones, had won the Triple Crown, Visa would have presented a check -- a debit card, actually -- of $5 million to the horse's owner. They didn't get to do that. Now why is that a bad thing?

O'BRIEN: That sounds like a good thing.

SERWER: Well, because they had already actually paid for this $5 million as part of a package. Plus, they would have gotten so much publicity for doing this. These guys are really upset. They would have gone on the "Today" show to do this, this whole thing...

O'BRIEN: AMERICAN MORNING.

SERWER: AMERICAN MORNING, of course. Right. They would have been able to do all these things. Well, it was actually a part of the deal to do that, yes.

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SERWER: You know what I'm saying. And so they're ticked off. This is actually the third year in a row that a horse has won the first two legs.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: So, you know, millions of horse racing fans upset and also Visa, as well.

O'BRIEN: So they stayed $5 million, but they lose probably $25 million in good P.R.

SERWER: Yes. That's how it works, yes.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about tough times at -- more tough times at American Airlines.

SERWER: More tough times, yes. American Airlines has lost $6.6 billion since 2001. It's on the brink of bankruptcy. And what they've been doing, Soledad, is cutting all kinds of costs, trying to get back into good financial shape. One thing, very interesting, we noticed here in a story in the "Wall Street Journal," they used to polish those silver airplanes once every year. They're now doing it once every two years.

O'BRIEN: I wonder what that costs.

Do you know? SERWER: Well, we don't know exactly what it costs. I do know there are job openings at American to do this, American Aircraft Cleaner. And it says here, "Must be able to work at heights."

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Now, they don't mean actually polishing them while they're flying, but you've to get up on the big ladders with these brushes and scrub those things. But, you know, I guess it's a big job and it saves some money doing it once every two years.

O'BRIEN: Polishing while you're flying.

SERWER: Yes, no that...

O'BRIEN: Too risky.

SERWER: That would not work.

O'BRIEN: No one would want to do that.

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: How about -- how does the market look this morning (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

SERWER: Well, the market is actually flying. The futures are flying this morning, biggest one day gain for Japan this year, up almost three percent. This is what happened last week. Still, no word from the NYSE about whether we're going to be closed on Friday in honor of President Reagan. Come on, NYSE, do the right thing. You've got to close the Exchange. I'm sure they still haven't had their board meeting yet to do this.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: But no word yet from them.

O'BRIEN: I'd put my money on that they're going to close it, wouldn't you? Don't you think?

SERWER: Yes, I would think so.

O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: They've got to do it.

O'BRIEN: Well, we'll see.

All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: OK.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

Still to come this morning, doctors already know that statins are good for preventing heart attacks, but there may be an important new benefit. We'll explain.

Also ahead, what was Ronald Reagan's most proud moment as president? We'll talk to a member of his inner circle at the White House to find out.

Those stories ahead as we continue, right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 7, 2004 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Eight o'clock East Coast time.

In our nation's capital in Washington, D.C., flags at half staff. In two days, the body of the late Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United States, his body will be brought to the nation's capital. A hundred thousand people expected to pay their final respects.

Good morning once again.

A special edition here of AMERICAN MORNING.

I'm Bill Hemmer live in Simi Valley, California here at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

About five hours away, we do expect a procession to take place from the funeral home in Santa Monica, about 45 minutes away, to proceed here, where the late Ronald Reagan, his will lie in repose for a period of about 30 hours.

Our coverage continues this hour.

We'll talk to David Gergen in a moment here. Ronald Reagan once said that his three favorite presidents were George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Calvin Coolidge. Well, David Gergen served four different presidents. We'll talk to him in a moment about how Ronald Reagan stacks up.

But for now, to Soledad O'Brien yet again in New York -- good morning there, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill.

Lots of other news this morning, as well, to talk about.

A developing story out of Iraq, in fact. An important mosque has been burning for part of the day in Kufa after an explosion. We're going to find out what happened; also, tell you about a deal on the table that could end the fighting between U.S. troops and the militias.

Also this morning, we're talking to the man who discovered the Titanic 19 years ago and all the emotions he's feeling as he prepares to go back. Robert Ballard taking part in a unique program tonight. He's going to let the TV viewers take part in a live journey back to the floor of the ocean, where that luxury liner sank almost a century ago. We'll tell you all about that in just a little bit -- Bill.

HEMMER: We are watching history throughout the week here in California -- Soledad.

In addition to the state funeral and the thousands who will pass by his casket both here in California, as well as the Capitol Building in Washington, former President Reagan is being remembered in many other ways. The New York Stock Exchange will begin today's trading session only after two minutes of silence to honor Mr. Reagan. That's a long held Exchange tradition reserved only for the deaths of presidents and former presidents.

In addition, President Bush has ordered all flags at federal buildings to be flown at half staff for the next month, a 30 day period. He has also declared Friday a national day of mourning. All government offices, also, will be closed on Friday, as the former president's body is brought from Washington to his final resting place here on the hillside in Simi Valley at the Reagan Presidential Library.

A lot to talk about here in California, as our coverage continues.

Here's Soledad again.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks.

In an essay published today in "Time" magazine, former First Lady Nancy Reagan remembers her husband as "a man of strong principles and integrity."

Well, what of the significant legacy that he left on the nation's political landscape?

Candy Crowley takes a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ronald Reagan did not shape a generation of Republicans. He created a generation of Republicans.

REP. TOM DELAY (R), MAJORITY WHIP: Well, it was Ronald Reagan that got me involved in politics back in 1976. I became a precinct chairman for the Republican party in Fortling (ph) County, Texas, where they shot Republicans, didn't elect them.

CROWLEY: He was a conservative before conservatives got cool and before they got elected.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: And I don't think you'd have had a contract with America without President Reagan. And I don't think you'd have the modern Republican majority in the House and Senate without Ronald Reagan.

CROWLEY: It has been more than a decade since we heard him speak.

RONALD REAGAN, FMR. PRESIDENT: I have only one thing to say to the tax increases, go ahead, make my day.

CROWLEY: But his words echo in the political lexicon.

MCCAIN: When dared to veto a pork laden bill, I will take up the veto pen and invoke the words of Ronald Reagan, "make my day."

CROWLEY: When they tried to walk his walk, they'd call his name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's the candidate with a tax cut called Reaganesque and worthy of a new president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeking the best solutions, doing what's right.

CROWLEY: And they argue over who gets to wear his mantle.

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: I know Ronald Reagan. I helped elect him. I went to 36 states for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You may know Ronald Reagan, but I worked for him for eight years.

HATCH: So did I.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I was at the cabinet table with...

HATCH: I worked with him 23 years.

CROWLEY: Ronald Reagan made the "L" word, liberal, a four letter word in politics, giving rise to a new kind of Democrat.

WALTER MONDALE, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT: I think he did challenge the Democrats, unlike any modern Republican presidential candidate on the question -- the basic direction of American government.

CROWLEY: Stand along the political landscape and listen.

REAGAN: Our government is too big and it spends too much.

CROWLEY: That echo is not just through the years, but across the partisan divide.

CLINTON: The era of big government is over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Former President Bill Clinton said yesterday that he liked that Reagan wasn't mean spirited, that he was always optimistic about the nation and that he believed that freedom was a universal value -- Bill.

HEMMER: They considered him the great communicator, one of his many nicknames, Soledad. And if you track the career of Ronald Reagan, first as his sports broadcasting days in Illinois; later to his acting days here in California, going on to make more than 40 films; that formed the foundation that helped Ronald Reagan understand the power of the word, the spoken word, and the power of communication.

David Gergen, a presidential adviser now only for Ronald Reagan, but also three other presidents, our guest this hour in Watertown, Massachusetts.

And, David, good morning to you and welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Monday morning.

DAVID GERGEN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: I know at one point you said Ronald Reagan was clearly to television, clearly to TV what FDR was to radio.

Where and how did he shine?

GERGEN: Well, he shone because, in fact, he began his political career by voting for Franklin Roosevelt four times, from 1932 right through to 1944. He began as a Roosevelt Democrat. And he moved, during the 50s, he moved right, while he thought the Democratic Party moved left. But he always remembered something about Franklin Roosevelt -- his capacity to mobilize and touch the American voter and his contagious optimism, his contagious sense of the future.

And that's what Reagan brought to the White House. It was a warmth and a contagious view, a contagious optimism that drew people to him. He was a man of principle, he was a man of decency, but most of all, people just got drawn to him. And I think you see it in the outpouring of warmth in the last couple of days since he died. So many people have come forward. It's been wonderful, hasn't it, to see this?

And I, you know, those of us who were grateful to work for him and privileged to work for him are just thrilled to see that so many Americans now remembering him the way they are.

HEMMER: You served four presidents.

How did he rank?

GERGEN: Well, I must say that, in my judgment, you can agree or disagree with Ronald Reagan's policies, his conservatism, and I sometimes found myself out of step. I was less conservative than he was. But if you add it all up, I believe he ranked as the best leader we've had in the White House since Franklin Roosevelt. And that's saying a lot.

I think he did several things for us. He expanded and extended the bounds of liberty in this country and overseas. He rebuilt the American presidency. We'd had five presidents in a row who had left office in death and defeat or disgrace. He rebuilt the presidency.

And he restored America's faith in the future. We had always been a country that -- we've always believed that today was better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better still. And in the 1970s, we'd lost our way. We believed that yesterday was better than today and today is better than tomorrow. We had a sort of downhill view of ourselves.

And Reagan helped to put us on a path upward again. And that is the traditional American path. And I think that's why, again, why so many recall him now with nostalgia. He was so -- he was one of the great ones. He was one of these larger than life people. And it -- in a day like this when we seem so divided, he brought us together more, even though we -- not everyone agreed with his policies. He did seem to bring us together and people felt good about themselves and they felt good about America.

HEMMER: Yes, there were dark days, too. If you consider 1983, 241 mostly American Marines killed in that awful and tragic and devastating bombing in Beirut, Lebanon. If you fast forward a couple of years to Iran-Contra, the black eye that that put on his presidency.

When he left office, what did he regret?

GERGEN: Oh, I think he did regret the Iran-Contra affair. That was a, you know, an episode, some would call it a scandal, that broke on his watch. And I think he felt maybe he had -- didn't have a firm enough grasp on the wheel when it happened and things got away from him.

I must say that if you look at how he handled it after the fact, I think it was a model of responding well. He opened up the White House, made all the records available. He waived executive privilege when he sent everybody up to the Hill. He changed his team. He brought in Howard Baker and Ken Duberstein and Colin Powell to run the White House.

He cleaned house and made a totally transparent effort and began restoring trust in himself and in the American presidency. He was great.

And on Lebanon, let me get back to that, as you mentioned that, Bill. One of the remarkable things -- I saw this -- when they, there was an investigation ordered up about how did Lebanon happen, how did they get -- how did those terrorists get to the Marine barracks and blow it up and kill so many?

And the report came over to the White House and it said, you know, there were various generals who had been lax in the security and they deserved the blame.

Reagan got the report, looked at it and a day or so later walked out, before anything got publicized, he walked out in front of the cameras and said let's be clear here, I'm the commander-in-chief, the buck stops here, I'm the one who takes the blame, let me take the responsibility here, which he was willing to step up to the hard ones.

He was a man of courage and gallantry. And I'll tell you, the military officials, the officers over there always appreciated that of him, that he was the one who was willing to take responsibility for Lebanon, didn't duck the way sometimes, I'm afraid, we see happening.

And he was a big man. And he was a -- he was gallant, he was courageous and he was such a humble man.

HEMMER: He wrote in "An American Life," "It was the saddest day of my presidency," with regard to Beirut in 1983, "perhaps the saddest day of my life." The words of Ronald Reagan.

David Gergen, always a pleasure, Watertown, Massachusetts.

Thanks for sharing today.

GERGEN: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: Back to Soledad in New York.

O'BRIEN: All right, Bill, thanks.

Time to check in with Jack and the Question of the Day.

Good morning again.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

Thanks, Soledad.

The death of former President Reagan has pushed all coverage of the upcoming election right off the front page. You can't find John Kerry's name hardly anyplace. In addition to stories about the passing of Reagan, the papers are full of stories about President Bush at the anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, President Bush at the G8 summit this week down in Georgia.

Kerry has canceled all his appearances for the next five days as a result of the news.

So the question is how will President Reagan's death affect the campaign?

Peggy in Durham, California writes: "President Reagan's death does affect the campaign. The American people will remember that at one time, this country was run by a man with more values and dedication than the White House has seen in the last 12 years."

Not bad.

Stephanie in Osaka, Japan says: "Much ado about nothing, Mr. Cafferty. By this time next week, D-Day and Reagan remembrances will be relegated to the recycled newspaper pile. They are America's yesterday. The election is America's tomorrow."

And on the passing of President Reagan, we heard this from Iris in Augusta, Georgia: "Thank you to President Reagan. I grew up in East Germany and lived there until 1961. At this time I left the country and was not allowed to return. Thanks to Ronald Reagan, I was finally able to go to East Germany after the Wall came down and see my mother's and my grandmother's graves. Thank you, Mr. President."

O'BRIEN: Nice note.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: One of those really, really moving words.

CAFFERTY: He touched a lot of people in a very personal way, unlike most politicians, who just touch us and you want to take a shower.

O'BRIEN: Right. And I think, also, not only politicians, but also you see some of the e-mails, just regular folks really moved by things he did.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jack.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

Iraq's major political groups pledge to disband their militias. The country's new interim prime minister announced that agreement today. But the deal doesn't include the Mahdi Army, which is run, of course, by radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Harris Whitbeck in Baghdad for us following several stories from there -- Harris, good morning.

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

As you said, the interim prime minister announced what is considered to be an important scheme under which nine of the country's most important militias would, in fact, form part or become part of the Iraqi security forces within the next several months.

The scheme involves about 102,000 militia members and about at least -- and the vast majority of those would join either the Iraqi national police or the Iraqi Army once it is reconstituted. Others would form private security organizations for a lot of the political organizations that these militias originally belonged to.

But the interesting thing here is that those who do not join the security forces would be part of a jobs program and they all would be eligible for military pensions. The interim prime minister says that this is a way of rewarding all of these militias who he says fought against the Saddam Hussein regime and the majority of these are the Peshmergas, the Kurdish militias, who, in effect, did wage a war against Saddam Hussein's forces.

So, again, it is considered to be an important deal. Now, two of the political organizations that have militias that CNN spoke to were a bit non-committal about this scheme. They said they had -- they were just learning about it from the press and had no official comment.

Now, there was some more violence to report down in Kufa. Apparently a very, very revered mosque in Kufa blew up. Coalition officials say that they suspect that the mosque was being used as an ammunition dump or storehouse by militiamen belonging to Muqtada al- Sadr. But Muqtada al-Sadr's militias say that they believe that the U.S. fired a missile against that mosque. The U.S. says that it was nowhere near that mosque and it has suspended most of its military operations in that area -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Harris Whitbeck for us, weighing in on several stories coming out of Iraq this morning.

Harris, thanks.

It is now quarter past the hour.

Time to take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today with Daryn Kagan, who joins us from Atlanta this morning -- Good morning again, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.

And we begin with President Bush. He is a man on the move. He is preparing for the start of the G8 economic summit. It is on Sea Island, Georgia. The president arrived in Georgia last night following a whirlwind visit to Europe. Discussions during the summit will focus on Iraq and Mideast democracy, in addition to trade and development. Mr. Bush spent part of yesterday commemorating the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France.

In Houston, Texas, jury selection begins today in Enron's first criminal trial. Jurors will decide whether four former Merrill Lynch executives conspired with two former Enron execs to cook the company's books inn December of 1999. Meanwhile, defense lawyers in the case are expected to raise questions about statements that former Enron finance chief Andrew Fastow made to investigators.

In California, firefighters are allowing hundreds of residents in the Santa Barbara area to go back home. A massive wildfire fueled by dry wind charred more than 7,000 acres of land. Some buildings have been destroyed. There are no reports of any injuries. The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

And honoring the best of Broadway -- the Tony Awards were handed out last night in New York City. Actress Phylicia Rashad becoming the first black actress to win a Tony Award for a dramatic leading role. She takes the prize for her performance in "A Raisin In the Sun." "Avenue Q," which features puppets and four letter words, was the big upset. It beat out the top nominated show, "Wicked," for best new musical -- Soledad, I think a lot of people are saying "Avenue Q," what is that? Think of a very naughty "Sesame Street" but be ready to just laugh your head off. It is a hysterical show. O'BRIEN: I have -- you know, I haven't seen that. But I've got to tell you, I am so thrilled about Phylicia Rashad. Good for her. I think she's a wonderful actress.

KAGAN: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: It was nice to see her kiss her daughter. And I am just thrilled for her.

All right, Daryn, thanks a lot.

Appreciate it.

KAGAN: Sure.

We'll see you in a bit.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Marine explorer Robert Ballard is returning to the scene of his greatest deep sea discovery. Nineteen years after finding the wreck of the Titanic, Dr. Ballard is going back for some more. His new expedition is the subject of a National Geographic special. It's called "Return To Titanic" and it will include a live transmission from Titanic's watery grave.

Dr. Ballard joins us this morning from on board a NOAH research vessel to talk a little bit about the scientific quest.

Nice to see you, sir.

Thanks for being with us.

ROBERT BALLARD, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER IN RESIDENCE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You know, it's been interesting, this has, I think it's fair to say, your most famous discovery in the whole spectrum of all the things that you've had an opportunity to work on.

And that's not a good sign, is it, when we go to hash marks.

Obviously we have lost our satellite connection with Dr. Ballard. And we're going to get him back as soon as we possibly can fix that problem.

Let's go to break.

Still to come this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to stop by to talk a little bit more about the disease that Ronald Reagan battled for a decade -- Alzheimer's Disease. So just how promising are the treatments out there now? A look at that this morning.

Also ahead, we go back to school and take a look at Reagan, the college years. And in other news this morning, most folks are upset because they lost some money on Smarty Jones -- Bill Hemmer, in particular. But somebody's upset because they didn't have to pay out. We're minding your business this morning ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Nineteen years after discovering the Titanic, Dr. Robert Ballard is going back. Just moments ago, we had an opportunity to try to hook up with him by satellite. But because he is a thousand miles off the coast of Boston, we had a few difficulties.

We've got him back now, though.

Nice to see you, Dr. Ballard.

Thanks for joining us.

As we mentioned, you're on this NOAH research vessel, really right above the location of the Titanic. I've read that you have a lot of mixed feelings about returning nearly 20 years later.

Why mixed feelings? Why not out and out joy about going back?

BALLARD: Well, I've got to tell you that it is mixed feelings. I've been sitting on the sidelines hearing all sorts of stories. Other countries have been coming out -- France and Russia -- with submarines exploring the site. And I finally decided it was time to go back and see what's gone on there, because I had heard that the ship was disintegrating and all sorts of bad things were happening.

And I can tell you that over the last week now, we've been doing extremely careful mapping of the ship. We mapped it long before anyone else arrived. And what we're seeing is Mother Nature isn't doing that much to the ship. What's being done to the ship is by the submarines. They're very clumsy. They're landing on the deck. They're bumping into things. We can see where they've collided with the Titanic, landed on its deck, crushed the deck.

And so what we're trying to do is to work with NOAH, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to create a treaty, a treaty that other nations will sign that will be -- you can come and visit it, just like we're going to do tonight at nine o'clock Eastern on the National Geographic channel. We'll take you live. We'll show you the ship. But during the entire time we've been investigating it, we have not landed on it. We have not touched it.

We believe in this look but don't touch. Enjoy the Titanic like you'd enjoy the Arizona and Pearl Harbor. But try to protect her so she can be around for future generations.

O'BRIEN: Lots has happened, certainly, since you were first searching the Titanic back in 1985. The "Titanic" movie became that gigantic hit. There were people who have come down, as you mentioned, scavenging the site, actually trying to take things away from the site. And then, of course, some folks got married on the bow of the ship, as well.

Do you ever feel a little bit responsible for creating this hugantic interest in the Titanic as -- and then to see people sort of work toward its destruction must be very heartbreaking.

BALLARD: Well, you know, in a way it is. I mean obviously discovering the Titanic has led to all the things that have happened since. But we think that the Titanic can still be saved. She's in great shape. I just toured the bow section of it. You'll see some of it on the camera behind me. It was like going back to an old friend. I didn't see a whole lot of change in lots of the areas of the ship. And, again, if we just try not loving it to death, we can really enjoy the Titanic as the memorial that it is.

We have some very compelling imagery that we'll be showing you tonight of where the people landed on the bottom; very, very compelling, beautiful high definition footage. And I hope that after watching the program tonight, you'll feel the same way I feel about the Titanic, that it's a very special site, a memorial site, and all steps should be taken to extend its life.

O'BRIEN: Is that the goal at the end of this, to have the folks who are watching say I want to visit the Titanic, but I don't necessarily want to land on it, crunch it up and I certainly don't want to stand on it to get married on the bow?

BALLARD: Absolutely. We can see exactly where they landed on the bow. There's a big crushed down spot where they landed. And that's -- you've just got to stop doing that. You know, you don't take belt buckles off the Arizona and Pearl Harbor and when you go to Gettysburg you go there very respectfully.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Robert Ballard, nice to see you.

Thanks so much.

And we should mention that if you want to see more of that amazing footage, you can tune into the National Geographic Channel tonight at 9:00 p.m., as Dr. Ballard mentioned, for the world premier of "Return To Titanic."

Some fascinating pictures coming from there.

Well, let's talk about Smarty Jones.

He broke a lot of hearts, including Bill Hemmer's, including Visa's. Plus, they're cutting back on luxuries at one major airline.

Here with that this morning is Andy Serwer, who's minding your business.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Soledad. O'BRIEN: I know why Bill Hemmer is disappointed when Smarty Jones lost.

SERWER: Yes?

O'BRIEN: But why Visa?

SERWER: Well, Visa was a big sponsorship of this race, the Triple Crown specifically. And here's how it worked. If that horse, Smarty Jones, had won the Triple Crown, Visa would have presented a check -- a debit card, actually -- of $5 million to the horse's owner. They didn't get to do that. Now why is that a bad thing?

O'BRIEN: That sounds like a good thing.

SERWER: Well, because they had already actually paid for this $5 million as part of a package. Plus, they would have gotten so much publicity for doing this. These guys are really upset. They would have gone on the "Today" show to do this, this whole thing...

O'BRIEN: AMERICAN MORNING.

SERWER: AMERICAN MORNING, of course. Right. They would have been able to do all these things. Well, it was actually a part of the deal to do that, yes.

O'BRIEN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

SERWER: You know what I'm saying. And so they're ticked off. This is actually the third year in a row that a horse has won the first two legs.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: So, you know, millions of horse racing fans upset and also Visa, as well.

O'BRIEN: So they stayed $5 million, but they lose probably $25 million in good P.R.

SERWER: Yes. That's how it works, yes.

O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about tough times at -- more tough times at American Airlines.

SERWER: More tough times, yes. American Airlines has lost $6.6 billion since 2001. It's on the brink of bankruptcy. And what they've been doing, Soledad, is cutting all kinds of costs, trying to get back into good financial shape. One thing, very interesting, we noticed here in a story in the "Wall Street Journal," they used to polish those silver airplanes once every year. They're now doing it once every two years.

O'BRIEN: I wonder what that costs.

Do you know? SERWER: Well, we don't know exactly what it costs. I do know there are job openings at American to do this, American Aircraft Cleaner. And it says here, "Must be able to work at heights."

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Now, they don't mean actually polishing them while they're flying, but you've to get up on the big ladders with these brushes and scrub those things. But, you know, I guess it's a big job and it saves some money doing it once every two years.

O'BRIEN: Polishing while you're flying.

SERWER: Yes, no that...

O'BRIEN: Too risky.

SERWER: That would not work.

O'BRIEN: No one would want to do that.

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: How about -- how does the market look this morning (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

SERWER: Well, the market is actually flying. The futures are flying this morning, biggest one day gain for Japan this year, up almost three percent. This is what happened last week. Still, no word from the NYSE about whether we're going to be closed on Friday in honor of President Reagan. Come on, NYSE, do the right thing. You've got to close the Exchange. I'm sure they still haven't had their board meeting yet to do this.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: But no word yet from them.

O'BRIEN: I'd put my money on that they're going to close it, wouldn't you? Don't you think?

SERWER: Yes, I would think so.

O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: They've got to do it.

O'BRIEN: Well, we'll see.

All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: OK.

O'BRIEN: Appreciate it.

Still to come this morning, doctors already know that statins are good for preventing heart attacks, but there may be an important new benefit. We'll explain.

Also ahead, what was Ronald Reagan's most proud moment as president? We'll talk to a member of his inner circle at the White House to find out.

Those stories ahead as we continue, right after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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