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American Morning
Massive Car Bomb Rips Through Baghdad's Commercial District; A Devastating Weekend of Weather
Aired June 14, 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: A massive car bomb rips through Baghdad's commercial district. International workers are the targets, though many more are killed.
Here in the U.S., a devastating weekend of weather with tornadoes ripping up communities in state after state.
And, the former president jumping to prove a point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Get out and do something. If you don't want to do a parachute jump, do something else. Don't just sit around watching TV, talking to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Even at age 80, George Bush the elder says speed is still a thrill 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, everyone, on a Monday morning. Best soundbite of the day: don't just stare at the TV and talk to it -- get out and do something.
O'BRIEN: When I'm 80, I'm going to be staring at the TV -- I don't know that I'm going to be jumping out of planes.
Good for him, though.
HEMMER: Good morning, everyone, and welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.
From Iraq, another dangerous place for Westerners. So, too, is Saudi Arabia. Terrorists there kidnapped an employee of Lockheed Martin over the weekend.
Forty-nine-year-old Paul Johnson is his name. We'll look at who may have done it, talk to the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia about whether or not that kingdom is facing a crisis in security. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Senator John Kerry has got a big decision ahead. We're going to take a look at who the Democrats say they want him to pick as his running mate.
Some names, of course, getting much better reaction than others. But Bill Schneider is going help us sort through all of those names.
HEMMER: Also this hour, the Scott Peterson murder trial entering a whole new phase today. Defense attorneys start picking apart the police investigation. This is where we are told the sparks could really fly. We'll look at that this morning, also.
O'BRIEN: We will. Jack Cafferty here also. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Last week it was President Reagan. Next week it will be former President Bill Clinton. If you're John Kerry what do you do to find a little space on the front page of the daily newspaper?
It's getting tough out there on the sharecropper. We'll take a look at what the Clinton book tour might mean to the Kerry candidacy.
HEMMER: All right, Jack -- thanks for that. Let's start overseas.
Westerners apparently the target of this powerful car bomb in central Baghdad today. At least 13 are dead, 60 injured.
The explosion ripped apart a convoy carrying Western electrical contractors, but also leveled a two-story building nearby.
All this comes the day after a car bomb killed four Iraqi police officers and eight civilians. Also on Sunday a roadside bomb killed an American soldier in Iraq and an education ministry official of the new government was gunned down.
Military officials report that over the past month there's been an average of one car bombing every day and 35 to 40 violent engagements every day, as well.
U.S. and Iraqi officials say insurgents are increasingly focused on participants in the new government.
Our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, now live from the Iraqi capitol and -- Jane -- only two weeks to go before the official handover.
How can the coalition help keep these people protected?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Bill, it's really, really tough, and one of the things they're doing is preparing Iraqis for the possibility that it is definitely going to get worse.
One coalition official tells us that he believes there may be -- continue to be a car bombing a day until the handover, and even after that. It's a horrific way to start off the morning of -- horrific thing for Iraqis to be seeing.
But one of the things that officials are trying to do is set up these new services. Iraqi police, Iraqi civil defense forces, even a new Iraqi intelligence service.
The only way to combat, they say -- this, they say -- is through intelligence, to get the people who are carrying out these increasingly targeted, increasingly sophisticated attacks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Who is this anger directed toward, Jane?
ARRAF: It's almost indiscriminate. When you go to these scenes like the scene this morning, Bill, it's just such a shock.
You have people who are digging through stones, digging though bricks, pulling out bodies with their hands. And these were ordinary Iraqis who were killed this morning.
People are absolutely enraged, and they take out that rage; it's pretty well any possible target, particularly those who look like they might be affiliated with the coalition.
This morning they were angry at journalists, they were angry even at the vehicles that these contractors rode in. Some of them apparently dousing them with kerosene, banging them up, setting them on fire again.
They're very angry, they say, at the coalition that they believe has failed to keep them safe -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane Arraf live in Baghdad at the half hour. Dan Senor is our guest from the Iraqi capitol as well -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Terrorists appear to be using new tactic in Saudi Arabia, kidnapping a militant group claims to be holding an American, Paul M. Johnson who works for Lockheed Martin.
The same al Qaeda-connected group claims responsibility for the killing on Saturday of another American, Kenneth Scroggs, the second American and the third Westerner killed there last week.
Secretary of State Colin Powell says terrorists are trying to make Saudi Arabia unstable. For some perspective on the kidnapping and Saudi Arabia and much more, we turn to a former U.S. ambassador to the kingdom, Robert Jordan, who went to Saudi Arabia in October 2001, just after 9/11, and stayed for two years.
He joins us from Dallas this morning.
Nice to see you, sir, thanks for being with us.
ROBERT JORDAN, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Explain to me what you think is the root cause of all this violence. At the end of the day is the target the kingdom, is the target all Westerners, is the target the United States?
JORDAN: The first target of the terrorists, I think, is to bring down the House of Al-Saud, the royal family.
The second target is Westerners. They want to rid the kingdom and in fact the entire Arabian peninsula of all Westerners.
But it's very much an attack on the Saudi royal family. I think it's also intended to embarrass the royal family and to suggest that they are incapable of protecting Westerners in their Kingdom.
O'BRIEN: How much of these attacks is tied to the impending handover in Iraq?
JORDAN: I don't think very much is tied to that at all. I think this is actually a shift in emphasis by the terrorists.
For the last year they have focused on large-scale car bombings and suicide bombings in housing compounds in facilities like that. They're now being much more targeted.
I think they've turned off the Saudi people in many ways by the grisly violence, by the deaths of many Muslims and Arabs, as well.
Now these targeted attacks are really much more specific and they're designed to frighten the Westerners, to cause a mass exodus by Westerners, and particularly Americans, so I don't think it's directly tied to the June 30th handover.
O'BRIEN: The group claiming responsibility apparently is called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Who is this group? Have you ever heard of them before?
JORDAN: We've heard of them, and it's basically an al Qaeda branch or offshoot. A lot of these cells work relatively independently.
There is not some master control for them. In fact, we've disrupted a lot of their command and control and so that you have a number of these independent groups and cells springing up and this is one of them.
O'BRIEN: Let me play a little bit of what Colin Powell had to say about the violence in Saudi Arabia before I ask you a question about it. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're very sad over the loss of American life, and we're worried about the individual who was kidnapped, and we're working with the Saudi officials to recover him safely, and it's a troubling time in Saudi Arabia. And I know that the Saudis are doing everything that they can to deal with this terrorist threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A little later on he actually said that there was more that the Saudis could be doing. What more do you think they could be doing?
JORDAN: There are a couple of things. First, they can be recruiting and training many more security officers. This is a longer horizon, of course, but it's a very essential part of what they have to do.
Second, I think they can improve their intelligence. We can always do better and I think this is a situation where Saudi intelligence needs to step up to a new level here.
Hopefully we can assist them, but there's a lot more that can be done, and I think the secretary was quite correct about that even though they are trying very hard right now.
O'BRIEN: You were the ambassador to the kingdom, as we mentioned a little bit ago. Right after 9/11, stayed for two years. Things worse or better than when you were there?
JORDAN: Well, I think they've gotten worse in the short term. I think the threats to Westerners are much more profound and more frightening than they were after 9/11.
This is a new tactic by the terrorists and I think we now are finding that there are a lot more of these terrorists inside Saudi Arabia than we believed even a year ago.
O'BRIEN: Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan joining us this morning from Dallas. Nice to see you, sir, thank you.
JORDAN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now. There are several new polls out on the presidential race, including one survey on running mates.
Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider looking at the numbers with us live in D.C.
Bill, good morning to you on this Monday morning.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: We throw John Edwards name in the mix. Look what the AP found out.
A Kerry-Edwards ticket slightly edging out a Bush-Cheney ticket. What do you make of these numbers, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I make of these that Edwards is kind of pre- sold because he ran a positive campaign, the voters like him.
He would do OK. All the others tested would do OK, but it doesn't make a great deal of difference.
I'll tell you why. People don't vote for vice president. I think Dan Quayle proved that. They never thought he was qualified to be president, but they elected him vice president. What's interesting is the -- his fellow Senators are urging John Kerry to put Edwards on the ticket because he's a Southerner and they believe he could help in a number of competitive races in the South.
Democrats are desperately trying to hold on to their seats and even gain a majority, they hope and Edwards would be a far more appealing candidate for Democrats in the South than John Kerry.
HEMMER: Meanwhile, the overtures continue for Senator John McCain. If the reports are true, John Kerry has gone back to him repeatedly over the past two months.
Why continue along this route when John McCain has said repeatedly over that same period that he's not interested?
SCHNEIDER: Because it's the idea that refuses to die for a reason. Because it would symbolize exactly what the voters want right now.
They want a candidate who can deliver what President Bush promised in 2000 when he said I'm going to be a unifier, not a divider. If Kerry put McCain on the ticket, it would electrify the campaign and it would elect Senator Kerry.
Other polls show that with McCain on the ticket, Kerry bolts into the lead 14 points ahead in a CBS News poll, 14 points ahead of Bush.
What does McCain add? He adds breadth; he adds the image of Kerry as someone who can bring the country together.
Look, I always say there are ten reasons why you pick a running mate. Number one, pick someone who will help you win. The other nine reasons don't matter.
HEMMER: "Time" Magazine poll talks about religion and the Catholic vote. John Kerry is the Catholic candidate, yet he only edges out George Bush slightly at this point.
Forty-five percent to 43. Why is this advantage not in more favor of John Kerry?
SCHNEIDER: Well, a lot of people don't know, only about a third of the voters know that he is a Catholic. I think when they discover that Bush is concern that that swing vote could swing to Kerry.
Interestingly, when he was at the Vatican about a week ago, President Bush is reported in the "National Catholic Reporter" to have met with the Vatican Secretary of State and asked the Vatican to urge bishops to be more outspoken on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage hoping that that'll bring Catholics to him.
That could backfire because the same polls shows most Catholics do not want bishops and priests telling candidates what they can and cannot say and telling voters how to vote.
That could make them more aware that Kerry is a Catholic. HEMMER: One more point let's take out here in that "Time Magazine" poll -- when asked if there are religious or not religious, the very religious who were surveyed overwhelmingly go for George Bush.
Flip it around, not religious overwhelmingly they favor Senator John Kerry. At this point, five months away, how much can you gauge as to how much religion will play a role in November?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's the single most defining characteristic that will determine how people will vote. If you had to ask people one question whether they're going to vote for Republicans or Democrats, ask them how often they go to church.
Not whether they are Protestant or Catholic, but whether they are churchgoers or not. And you know who started that, Bill? Ronald Reagan.
Under Ronald Reagan the religious gap entered American politics and voters of all faiths who go to church regularly started voting more and more Republican and those who do not go to church regularly started voting more and more Democratic. And that has become the single strongest feature of American politics.
HEMMER: Here we are two dozen years later. Thank you, Bill. Bill Schneider in D.C. Good to see you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Testimony resumes today in the Scott Peterson trial in California. It follows a week in which the prosecution raised suspicions about Peterson's behavior after his wife Laci disappeared and the defense put forth its own theories. Here's Rusty Dornin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jurors found out just how quickly Modesto police became suspicious of Scott Peterson.
Sergeant Byron Duerfeldt testified he summoned a detective to investigate within two hours after he arrived the night of Laci Peterson's disappearance. Somewhat unusual, he said, for a missing person's case.
The defense said Modesto police zeroed in on Peterson too quickly and did a sloppy job. Prosecutors claim investigators were not only thorough but left few clues undiscovered.
It was a week highlighting alleged discrepancies in Peterson's stories to family and friends. Three people testified Scott Peterson told them he went golfing the day his wife disappeared. His alibi to police -- he went fishing.
Harvey Kemple, a relative of Laci Peterson, says he became so suspicious because of that remark; he followed Peterson around town twice. Family and friends testified Peterson seemed unemotional to them following his wife's disappearance. But then Susan Medina a neighbor told the court that Peterson came to her house one day and broke down and cried. Medina's house was burglarized in the two days that followed Laci Peterson's disappearance. She also testified transients often came through the neighborhood. Some say the defense is likely to capitalize on later with their theory that Laci Peterson was abducted while walking her dog.
Two weeks of testimony and no bombshells. No evidence yet presented by prosecutors that directly links Peterson to the crime.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And it's just about 15 minutes past the hour. Time to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines today with Heidi Collins. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad, and good morning everybody.
Here is what's happening with other news now. Crews are working to restore power to residents in parts of the Midwest after some heavy weekend storms.
You may have seen these amazing pictures already but look at this. This twister tore apart a house in Mulvane, Kansas. Luckily, no one was home at the time. It was just one of at least six tornadoes reported in that area.
And strong winds also whipping through Kentucky. At least one home was destroyed there. Two deaths were reported in Missouri due to the severe weather.
Secretary of State Colin Powell expressing regret over a State Department report that showed a decline last year in terrorism worldwide. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Powell said the report was a mistake but denied that any data had been manipulated for political reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: With respect to this report, if you read the report, you will see that it in narrative form gives a solid picture of the challenge we are facing with terrorism. It doesn't downplay terrorism in the slightest. But unfortunately, the data that is within the report, the actual numbers of incidents is off, it's wrong.
And I am regretful that this has happened. We're going to get it fixed, we're going to get it corrected and that's the best I can say -- do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The State Department is blaming new data collection procedures for the errors.
To basketball now: the NBA Finals. The Detroit Pistons now just one game away from the championship title after taking Game Four last night.
Rasheed Wallace scoring 26 points, grabbing 13 rebounds. Final score there 88 to 80. The Pistons now lead the best of seven series three games to one. Game five set for tomorrow in Michigan.
And finally a big leap of faith for a man turning 80. How about 13,000 feet? The 41st president, George Bush, Sr., jumping in tandem twice yesterday with members of the U.S. Army on the grounds of his presidential library in Texas.
Coming in for a landing there. Plans for a solo leap, though, were canceled due to the strong winds.
Former president last jump was in 1999 in celebration of his 75th birthday. Certainly not slowing down, huh?
HEMMER: Yes, next stop 85.
COLLINS: Yes, that's right.
HEMMER: Even greater than that.
O'BRIEN: Later on this morning we're going to talk to the guy who was -- did the tandem jump with the president.
COLLINS: The jumpmaster? I guess they call him?
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
COLLINS: Great.
O'BRIEN: The guy who didn't let the president get injured is what we like to call him this morning. Thanks, Heidi.
HEMMER: "Question of the Day" and Jack Cafferty. Good morning.
CAFFERTY: He didn't actually jump though did he -- he was sort of carried down to the ground by the guy in the -- right?
HEMMER: Yes. Still fell from 13,000 feet.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Sixty second free fall.
HEMMER: Heck of a rush.
O'BRIEN: I'm impressed. You may not be, but I'm impressed.
CAFFERTY: Last week Senator John Kerry -- ouch...
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm so sorry. Was that your arm?
CAFFERTY: You know -- if you weren't in the condition you are in.
Last week Senator John Kerry was taken off the front pages by the funeral of President Reagan.
Next week, former president Bill Clinton kicks off a huge book tour for the publication of his memoirs, and some Democrat strategists are afraid that Senator Kerry could wind up in the backseat once again.
Mr. Clinton has promised to try to help Senator Kerry's campaign wherever he can and, in fact, Kerry has been steadily gaining ground on President Bush pushing past him in some of the national polls.
But doubts among Democrats linger that beyond promising to undo a lot of the Bush agenda, Kerry's candidacy lacks definition.
Today's question, boys and girls, is this: will Bill Clinton's book tour help or hurt John Kerry's campaign? You can e-mail us your thoughts at am@cnn.com and we'll read some of them later.
O'BRIEN: That's a great question because I think it could really go either way, you know. The president likes -- former President Clinton -- likes the spotlight. I'm not sure he's going to be campaigning or anything for Senator Kerry.
CAFFERTY: Well, the fact of the matter is Bill Clinton could sit on a park bench and feed the pigeons and it would probably be more exciting than anything John Kerry has come up with so far. I mean, John Kerry is an interesting candidate but not a lot of -- real long in the personality department if you know what I mean.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Am@cnn.com
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we are going to talk to a man who had a front row seat to history. A discussion with the man who was at Nancy Reagan's side all last week. We're going to find out not only how he got the job, but how he made it through that emotional week.
HEMMER: Also in a moment, the Big Apple can take a bite out of your wallet, we know that, but it is not the world's most expensive city.
O'BRIEN: It's not?
HEMMER: No. What is? We've got the list in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And believe it or not, the crocodile hunter is in hot water again. This time it's got nothing to do with his baby -- remember this videotape holding his little infant with the crocodile -- not the smartest thing to do. We're going to explain what he's in trouble for now just ahead ad AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Could the pain at the pump finally be easing? With a look at that plus a preview of the market, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning. Easy for me to say.
Good morning. You've got some good news, though.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We do. Indeed, the price of gas falling over the past three weeks. The price of gas has fallen six and a half cents. We're now down just about to $2 a gallon across the country. Just a hair above.
Let's check it out. We'll check out what's going on in your city. The lowest Tulsa, Oklahoma. Highest, San Francisco. Take a cable car, people.
No reason to drive around...
O'BRIEN: They don't go anywhere...
SERWER: No, that's true. And here's what's going on across the nation. You know, always the price of gas low in the South, high in the Northeast and higher on the West Coast. What's going on? There's more crude coming on stream, more crude oil out there higher gas stocks. However, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro...
HEMMER: Who?
SERWER: From Indonesia. Hard to say. Maybe for us. Warns that prices may be going back up. So this may be a bit of a reprieve.
O'BRIEN: Why?
SERWER: Well, he's saying that he's really suggesting more violence in, particularly, Saudi Arabia; he's very concerned about that and we've talked about that over the weekend, more stuff happening there as well so that's not good news.
If it doesn't go on, perhaps prices will stay low.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the market because really we had a three-day weekend. They closed in memory of President Reagan.
SERWER: Right. So let's talk about what happened this year. Last week, stocks were up.
Year to date, however, this is kind of interesting -- you can see here the Dow is down, that's because of AT&T and GM dragging that down.
Techs still on the weak side with Nasdaq, but overall that's the broadest benchmark -- is your S&P 500 we're actually up for the year and a lot of concern about higher interest rates and of course the price of oil, that's what's weighing on the markets.
HEMMER: All right, Andy. Thanks for that. There's a new list out, by the way to see where are the most expensive cities.
SERWER: Yes, interesting.
HEMMER: There was not a single American city in the top ten.
O'BRIEN: Really?
HEMMER: Yes, Tokyo topped the list second year in a row aided by strong Asian currencies and a weak American dollar.
The survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranked cost of living in more than 100 urban areas. Also making the top five, London is number two. Moscow, Osaka, Japan and Hong Kong.
Second five: Geneva, Switzerland; Seoul, South Korea; Copenhagen; Zurich and St. Petersburg in Russia.
New York City came in...
SERWER: Not in the top 10.
HEMMER: Number twelve.
SERWER: The Russian city -- isn't that fascinating? You know you wouldn't think that it would be so expensive there, but I think the currency situation is just expensive.
HEMMER: New York was twelve.
O'BRIEN: I would have thought it was higher. I guess that's good news for those of us who live here, right.
SERWER: Oh, yes, it's cheap to live here.
O'BRIEN: Always feels expensive. It's not really expensive. Still to come this morning, "90-Second Pop."
Death, dysfunction, and the dearly departed are back. Why are so many viewers fascinated with what's going on "Six Feet Under?"
Plus, more drama for Rush Limbaugh -- his love life ahead on "90- Second Pop." Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back everybody. Seven thirty here in New York on a Monday morning. There is more violence to talk about today in Iraq. We saw the videotape a short time ago.
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Aired June 14, 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: A massive car bomb rips through Baghdad's commercial district. International workers are the targets, though many more are killed.
Here in the U.S., a devastating weekend of weather with tornadoes ripping up communities in state after state.
And, the former president jumping to prove a point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Get out and do something. If you don't want to do a parachute jump, do something else. Don't just sit around watching TV, talking to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Even at age 80, George Bush the elder says speed is still a thrill 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, everyone, on a Monday morning. Best soundbite of the day: don't just stare at the TV and talk to it -- get out and do something.
O'BRIEN: When I'm 80, I'm going to be staring at the TV -- I don't know that I'm going to be jumping out of planes.
Good for him, though.
HEMMER: Good morning, everyone, and welcome here to AMERICAN MORNING.
From Iraq, another dangerous place for Westerners. So, too, is Saudi Arabia. Terrorists there kidnapped an employee of Lockheed Martin over the weekend.
Forty-nine-year-old Paul Johnson is his name. We'll look at who may have done it, talk to the former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia about whether or not that kingdom is facing a crisis in security. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Senator John Kerry has got a big decision ahead. We're going to take a look at who the Democrats say they want him to pick as his running mate.
Some names, of course, getting much better reaction than others. But Bill Schneider is going help us sort through all of those names.
HEMMER: Also this hour, the Scott Peterson murder trial entering a whole new phase today. Defense attorneys start picking apart the police investigation. This is where we are told the sparks could really fly. We'll look at that this morning, also.
O'BRIEN: We will. Jack Cafferty here also. Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Last week it was President Reagan. Next week it will be former President Bill Clinton. If you're John Kerry what do you do to find a little space on the front page of the daily newspaper?
It's getting tough out there on the sharecropper. We'll take a look at what the Clinton book tour might mean to the Kerry candidacy.
HEMMER: All right, Jack -- thanks for that. Let's start overseas.
Westerners apparently the target of this powerful car bomb in central Baghdad today. At least 13 are dead, 60 injured.
The explosion ripped apart a convoy carrying Western electrical contractors, but also leveled a two-story building nearby.
All this comes the day after a car bomb killed four Iraqi police officers and eight civilians. Also on Sunday a roadside bomb killed an American soldier in Iraq and an education ministry official of the new government was gunned down.
Military officials report that over the past month there's been an average of one car bombing every day and 35 to 40 violent engagements every day, as well.
U.S. and Iraqi officials say insurgents are increasingly focused on participants in the new government.
Our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, now live from the Iraqi capitol and -- Jane -- only two weeks to go before the official handover.
How can the coalition help keep these people protected?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Bill, it's really, really tough, and one of the things they're doing is preparing Iraqis for the possibility that it is definitely going to get worse.
One coalition official tells us that he believes there may be -- continue to be a car bombing a day until the handover, and even after that. It's a horrific way to start off the morning of -- horrific thing for Iraqis to be seeing.
But one of the things that officials are trying to do is set up these new services. Iraqi police, Iraqi civil defense forces, even a new Iraqi intelligence service.
The only way to combat, they say -- this, they say -- is through intelligence, to get the people who are carrying out these increasingly targeted, increasingly sophisticated attacks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Who is this anger directed toward, Jane?
ARRAF: It's almost indiscriminate. When you go to these scenes like the scene this morning, Bill, it's just such a shock.
You have people who are digging through stones, digging though bricks, pulling out bodies with their hands. And these were ordinary Iraqis who were killed this morning.
People are absolutely enraged, and they take out that rage; it's pretty well any possible target, particularly those who look like they might be affiliated with the coalition.
This morning they were angry at journalists, they were angry even at the vehicles that these contractors rode in. Some of them apparently dousing them with kerosene, banging them up, setting them on fire again.
They're very angry, they say, at the coalition that they believe has failed to keep them safe -- Bill.
HEMMER: Jane Arraf live in Baghdad at the half hour. Dan Senor is our guest from the Iraqi capitol as well -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Terrorists appear to be using new tactic in Saudi Arabia, kidnapping a militant group claims to be holding an American, Paul M. Johnson who works for Lockheed Martin.
The same al Qaeda-connected group claims responsibility for the killing on Saturday of another American, Kenneth Scroggs, the second American and the third Westerner killed there last week.
Secretary of State Colin Powell says terrorists are trying to make Saudi Arabia unstable. For some perspective on the kidnapping and Saudi Arabia and much more, we turn to a former U.S. ambassador to the kingdom, Robert Jordan, who went to Saudi Arabia in October 2001, just after 9/11, and stayed for two years.
He joins us from Dallas this morning.
Nice to see you, sir, thanks for being with us.
ROBERT JORDAN, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Explain to me what you think is the root cause of all this violence. At the end of the day is the target the kingdom, is the target all Westerners, is the target the United States?
JORDAN: The first target of the terrorists, I think, is to bring down the House of Al-Saud, the royal family.
The second target is Westerners. They want to rid the kingdom and in fact the entire Arabian peninsula of all Westerners.
But it's very much an attack on the Saudi royal family. I think it's also intended to embarrass the royal family and to suggest that they are incapable of protecting Westerners in their Kingdom.
O'BRIEN: How much of these attacks is tied to the impending handover in Iraq?
JORDAN: I don't think very much is tied to that at all. I think this is actually a shift in emphasis by the terrorists.
For the last year they have focused on large-scale car bombings and suicide bombings in housing compounds in facilities like that. They're now being much more targeted.
I think they've turned off the Saudi people in many ways by the grisly violence, by the deaths of many Muslims and Arabs, as well.
Now these targeted attacks are really much more specific and they're designed to frighten the Westerners, to cause a mass exodus by Westerners, and particularly Americans, so I don't think it's directly tied to the June 30th handover.
O'BRIEN: The group claiming responsibility apparently is called al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Who is this group? Have you ever heard of them before?
JORDAN: We've heard of them, and it's basically an al Qaeda branch or offshoot. A lot of these cells work relatively independently.
There is not some master control for them. In fact, we've disrupted a lot of their command and control and so that you have a number of these independent groups and cells springing up and this is one of them.
O'BRIEN: Let me play a little bit of what Colin Powell had to say about the violence in Saudi Arabia before I ask you a question about it. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're very sad over the loss of American life, and we're worried about the individual who was kidnapped, and we're working with the Saudi officials to recover him safely, and it's a troubling time in Saudi Arabia. And I know that the Saudis are doing everything that they can to deal with this terrorist threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: A little later on he actually said that there was more that the Saudis could be doing. What more do you think they could be doing?
JORDAN: There are a couple of things. First, they can be recruiting and training many more security officers. This is a longer horizon, of course, but it's a very essential part of what they have to do.
Second, I think they can improve their intelligence. We can always do better and I think this is a situation where Saudi intelligence needs to step up to a new level here.
Hopefully we can assist them, but there's a lot more that can be done, and I think the secretary was quite correct about that even though they are trying very hard right now.
O'BRIEN: You were the ambassador to the kingdom, as we mentioned a little bit ago. Right after 9/11, stayed for two years. Things worse or better than when you were there?
JORDAN: Well, I think they've gotten worse in the short term. I think the threats to Westerners are much more profound and more frightening than they were after 9/11.
This is a new tactic by the terrorists and I think we now are finding that there are a lot more of these terrorists inside Saudi Arabia than we believed even a year ago.
O'BRIEN: Former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Robert Jordan joining us this morning from Dallas. Nice to see you, sir, thank you.
JORDAN: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now. There are several new polls out on the presidential race, including one survey on running mates.
Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider looking at the numbers with us live in D.C.
Bill, good morning to you on this Monday morning.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: We throw John Edwards name in the mix. Look what the AP found out.
A Kerry-Edwards ticket slightly edging out a Bush-Cheney ticket. What do you make of these numbers, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I make of these that Edwards is kind of pre- sold because he ran a positive campaign, the voters like him.
He would do OK. All the others tested would do OK, but it doesn't make a great deal of difference.
I'll tell you why. People don't vote for vice president. I think Dan Quayle proved that. They never thought he was qualified to be president, but they elected him vice president. What's interesting is the -- his fellow Senators are urging John Kerry to put Edwards on the ticket because he's a Southerner and they believe he could help in a number of competitive races in the South.
Democrats are desperately trying to hold on to their seats and even gain a majority, they hope and Edwards would be a far more appealing candidate for Democrats in the South than John Kerry.
HEMMER: Meanwhile, the overtures continue for Senator John McCain. If the reports are true, John Kerry has gone back to him repeatedly over the past two months.
Why continue along this route when John McCain has said repeatedly over that same period that he's not interested?
SCHNEIDER: Because it's the idea that refuses to die for a reason. Because it would symbolize exactly what the voters want right now.
They want a candidate who can deliver what President Bush promised in 2000 when he said I'm going to be a unifier, not a divider. If Kerry put McCain on the ticket, it would electrify the campaign and it would elect Senator Kerry.
Other polls show that with McCain on the ticket, Kerry bolts into the lead 14 points ahead in a CBS News poll, 14 points ahead of Bush.
What does McCain add? He adds breadth; he adds the image of Kerry as someone who can bring the country together.
Look, I always say there are ten reasons why you pick a running mate. Number one, pick someone who will help you win. The other nine reasons don't matter.
HEMMER: "Time" Magazine poll talks about religion and the Catholic vote. John Kerry is the Catholic candidate, yet he only edges out George Bush slightly at this point.
Forty-five percent to 43. Why is this advantage not in more favor of John Kerry?
SCHNEIDER: Well, a lot of people don't know, only about a third of the voters know that he is a Catholic. I think when they discover that Bush is concern that that swing vote could swing to Kerry.
Interestingly, when he was at the Vatican about a week ago, President Bush is reported in the "National Catholic Reporter" to have met with the Vatican Secretary of State and asked the Vatican to urge bishops to be more outspoken on issues like abortion and same-sex marriage hoping that that'll bring Catholics to him.
That could backfire because the same polls shows most Catholics do not want bishops and priests telling candidates what they can and cannot say and telling voters how to vote.
That could make them more aware that Kerry is a Catholic. HEMMER: One more point let's take out here in that "Time Magazine" poll -- when asked if there are religious or not religious, the very religious who were surveyed overwhelmingly go for George Bush.
Flip it around, not religious overwhelmingly they favor Senator John Kerry. At this point, five months away, how much can you gauge as to how much religion will play a role in November?
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's the single most defining characteristic that will determine how people will vote. If you had to ask people one question whether they're going to vote for Republicans or Democrats, ask them how often they go to church.
Not whether they are Protestant or Catholic, but whether they are churchgoers or not. And you know who started that, Bill? Ronald Reagan.
Under Ronald Reagan the religious gap entered American politics and voters of all faiths who go to church regularly started voting more and more Republican and those who do not go to church regularly started voting more and more Democratic. And that has become the single strongest feature of American politics.
HEMMER: Here we are two dozen years later. Thank you, Bill. Bill Schneider in D.C. Good to see you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Testimony resumes today in the Scott Peterson trial in California. It follows a week in which the prosecution raised suspicions about Peterson's behavior after his wife Laci disappeared and the defense put forth its own theories. Here's Rusty Dornin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jurors found out just how quickly Modesto police became suspicious of Scott Peterson.
Sergeant Byron Duerfeldt testified he summoned a detective to investigate within two hours after he arrived the night of Laci Peterson's disappearance. Somewhat unusual, he said, for a missing person's case.
The defense said Modesto police zeroed in on Peterson too quickly and did a sloppy job. Prosecutors claim investigators were not only thorough but left few clues undiscovered.
It was a week highlighting alleged discrepancies in Peterson's stories to family and friends. Three people testified Scott Peterson told them he went golfing the day his wife disappeared. His alibi to police -- he went fishing.
Harvey Kemple, a relative of Laci Peterson, says he became so suspicious because of that remark; he followed Peterson around town twice. Family and friends testified Peterson seemed unemotional to them following his wife's disappearance. But then Susan Medina a neighbor told the court that Peterson came to her house one day and broke down and cried. Medina's house was burglarized in the two days that followed Laci Peterson's disappearance. She also testified transients often came through the neighborhood. Some say the defense is likely to capitalize on later with their theory that Laci Peterson was abducted while walking her dog.
Two weeks of testimony and no bombshells. No evidence yet presented by prosecutors that directly links Peterson to the crime.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And it's just about 15 minutes past the hour. Time to take a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines today with Heidi Collins. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad, and good morning everybody.
Here is what's happening with other news now. Crews are working to restore power to residents in parts of the Midwest after some heavy weekend storms.
You may have seen these amazing pictures already but look at this. This twister tore apart a house in Mulvane, Kansas. Luckily, no one was home at the time. It was just one of at least six tornadoes reported in that area.
And strong winds also whipping through Kentucky. At least one home was destroyed there. Two deaths were reported in Missouri due to the severe weather.
Secretary of State Colin Powell expressing regret over a State Department report that showed a decline last year in terrorism worldwide. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press," Powell said the report was a mistake but denied that any data had been manipulated for political reasons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: With respect to this report, if you read the report, you will see that it in narrative form gives a solid picture of the challenge we are facing with terrorism. It doesn't downplay terrorism in the slightest. But unfortunately, the data that is within the report, the actual numbers of incidents is off, it's wrong.
And I am regretful that this has happened. We're going to get it fixed, we're going to get it corrected and that's the best I can say -- do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The State Department is blaming new data collection procedures for the errors.
To basketball now: the NBA Finals. The Detroit Pistons now just one game away from the championship title after taking Game Four last night.
Rasheed Wallace scoring 26 points, grabbing 13 rebounds. Final score there 88 to 80. The Pistons now lead the best of seven series three games to one. Game five set for tomorrow in Michigan.
And finally a big leap of faith for a man turning 80. How about 13,000 feet? The 41st president, George Bush, Sr., jumping in tandem twice yesterday with members of the U.S. Army on the grounds of his presidential library in Texas.
Coming in for a landing there. Plans for a solo leap, though, were canceled due to the strong winds.
Former president last jump was in 1999 in celebration of his 75th birthday. Certainly not slowing down, huh?
HEMMER: Yes, next stop 85.
COLLINS: Yes, that's right.
HEMMER: Even greater than that.
O'BRIEN: Later on this morning we're going to talk to the guy who was -- did the tandem jump with the president.
COLLINS: The jumpmaster? I guess they call him?
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
COLLINS: Great.
O'BRIEN: The guy who didn't let the president get injured is what we like to call him this morning. Thanks, Heidi.
HEMMER: "Question of the Day" and Jack Cafferty. Good morning.
CAFFERTY: He didn't actually jump though did he -- he was sort of carried down to the ground by the guy in the -- right?
HEMMER: Yes. Still fell from 13,000 feet.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Sixty second free fall.
HEMMER: Heck of a rush.
O'BRIEN: I'm impressed. You may not be, but I'm impressed.
CAFFERTY: Last week Senator John Kerry -- ouch...
O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm so sorry. Was that your arm?
CAFFERTY: You know -- if you weren't in the condition you are in.
Last week Senator John Kerry was taken off the front pages by the funeral of President Reagan.
Next week, former president Bill Clinton kicks off a huge book tour for the publication of his memoirs, and some Democrat strategists are afraid that Senator Kerry could wind up in the backseat once again.
Mr. Clinton has promised to try to help Senator Kerry's campaign wherever he can and, in fact, Kerry has been steadily gaining ground on President Bush pushing past him in some of the national polls.
But doubts among Democrats linger that beyond promising to undo a lot of the Bush agenda, Kerry's candidacy lacks definition.
Today's question, boys and girls, is this: will Bill Clinton's book tour help or hurt John Kerry's campaign? You can e-mail us your thoughts at am@cnn.com and we'll read some of them later.
O'BRIEN: That's a great question because I think it could really go either way, you know. The president likes -- former President Clinton -- likes the spotlight. I'm not sure he's going to be campaigning or anything for Senator Kerry.
CAFFERTY: Well, the fact of the matter is Bill Clinton could sit on a park bench and feed the pigeons and it would probably be more exciting than anything John Kerry has come up with so far. I mean, John Kerry is an interesting candidate but not a lot of -- real long in the personality department if you know what I mean.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Am@cnn.com
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we are going to talk to a man who had a front row seat to history. A discussion with the man who was at Nancy Reagan's side all last week. We're going to find out not only how he got the job, but how he made it through that emotional week.
HEMMER: Also in a moment, the Big Apple can take a bite out of your wallet, we know that, but it is not the world's most expensive city.
O'BRIEN: It's not?
HEMMER: No. What is? We've got the list in a moment here.
O'BRIEN: And believe it or not, the crocodile hunter is in hot water again. This time it's got nothing to do with his baby -- remember this videotape holding his little infant with the crocodile -- not the smartest thing to do. We're going to explain what he's in trouble for now just ahead ad AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Could the pain at the pump finally be easing? With a look at that plus a preview of the market, Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning. Easy for me to say.
Good morning. You've got some good news, though.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: We do. Indeed, the price of gas falling over the past three weeks. The price of gas has fallen six and a half cents. We're now down just about to $2 a gallon across the country. Just a hair above.
Let's check it out. We'll check out what's going on in your city. The lowest Tulsa, Oklahoma. Highest, San Francisco. Take a cable car, people.
No reason to drive around...
O'BRIEN: They don't go anywhere...
SERWER: No, that's true. And here's what's going on across the nation. You know, always the price of gas low in the South, high in the Northeast and higher on the West Coast. What's going on? There's more crude coming on stream, more crude oil out there higher gas stocks. However, OPEC president Purnomo Yusgiantoro...
HEMMER: Who?
SERWER: From Indonesia. Hard to say. Maybe for us. Warns that prices may be going back up. So this may be a bit of a reprieve.
O'BRIEN: Why?
SERWER: Well, he's saying that he's really suggesting more violence in, particularly, Saudi Arabia; he's very concerned about that and we've talked about that over the weekend, more stuff happening there as well so that's not good news.
If it doesn't go on, perhaps prices will stay low.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the market because really we had a three-day weekend. They closed in memory of President Reagan.
SERWER: Right. So let's talk about what happened this year. Last week, stocks were up.
Year to date, however, this is kind of interesting -- you can see here the Dow is down, that's because of AT&T and GM dragging that down.
Techs still on the weak side with Nasdaq, but overall that's the broadest benchmark -- is your S&P 500 we're actually up for the year and a lot of concern about higher interest rates and of course the price of oil, that's what's weighing on the markets.
HEMMER: All right, Andy. Thanks for that. There's a new list out, by the way to see where are the most expensive cities.
SERWER: Yes, interesting.
HEMMER: There was not a single American city in the top ten.
O'BRIEN: Really?
HEMMER: Yes, Tokyo topped the list second year in a row aided by strong Asian currencies and a weak American dollar.
The survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting ranked cost of living in more than 100 urban areas. Also making the top five, London is number two. Moscow, Osaka, Japan and Hong Kong.
Second five: Geneva, Switzerland; Seoul, South Korea; Copenhagen; Zurich and St. Petersburg in Russia.
New York City came in...
SERWER: Not in the top 10.
HEMMER: Number twelve.
SERWER: The Russian city -- isn't that fascinating? You know you wouldn't think that it would be so expensive there, but I think the currency situation is just expensive.
HEMMER: New York was twelve.
O'BRIEN: I would have thought it was higher. I guess that's good news for those of us who live here, right.
SERWER: Oh, yes, it's cheap to live here.
O'BRIEN: Always feels expensive. It's not really expensive. Still to come this morning, "90-Second Pop."
Death, dysfunction, and the dearly departed are back. Why are so many viewers fascinated with what's going on "Six Feet Under?"
Plus, more drama for Rush Limbaugh -- his love life ahead on "90- Second Pop." Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back everybody. Seven thirty here in New York on a Monday morning. There is more violence to talk about today in Iraq. We saw the videotape a short time ago.
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