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American Morning

American Held Captive in Saudi Arabia; Escalating Violence in Baghdad; New Criticism of Bush Administration's Foreign Policy

Aired June 14, 2004 - 9:00   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: Anger in Baghdad boils over after a devastating attack by terrorists targeting Westerners, but killing many Iraqis.
The destructive force from a tornado when it touches down, shattering homes in just a split second.

And George Bush, the elder, 80 years old and still ready for adventure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FMR. 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: The birthday party, that really got hopping when the former president jumped.

All that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Nine o'clock here in New York. Good to have you with us today.

President Bush facing criticism from his foreign policy from a group of former diplomats and members of the military. And apparently they are not all Democrats. We'll talk to Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst, also a writer for "The L.A. Times," about whether or not this story resonates with voters in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the son of an American kidnapped by militants in Saudi Arabia speaking out this morning. We're going to take a look at the search for Lockheed Martin contractor Paul Johnson and just find out how his family is doing today.

HEMMER: Tough times for them, as we saw last hour.

O'BRIEN: Oh, no question.

HEMMER: A way to get through airport screening lines -- I love this one -- without waiting nearly as long. The government has a new plan it would like to try. They're going to do a pilot system right now in about five different airports. We'll tell you whether or not you can get involved in this and how you do it, and whether or not it can help you. A lot of questions about the system, though. We'll get to it in a moment.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'd be interested in that. I'm flying next week. I would like to get to the -- through those lines.

HEMMER: You've got to open up your entire life, though.

CAFFERTY: I'm not interested in doing that.

Former President Bill Clinton has promised to do whatever he can to help the candidacy of John Kerry when he undertakes this giant book tour for his memoirs. That starts next week. Whether or not the former president can help the president wannabe is the question we're entertaining on am@cnn.com.

Bill Clinton arguably one of the great campaigners ever. John Kerry has been accused of being charismaticly challenged by some.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. We'll get to it.

The son of Paul Johnson -- he's the American who is believed to be held captive now by Saudi militants connected to al Qaeda -- heading to New Jersey to join the rest of his family. Johnson has not been seen since Saturday. Some of his documents apparently turned up on a Web site with al Qaeda links, and we have two live reports to talk about this today.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. Gary Tuchman is in Cocoa, Florida, where Johnson's son made a statement about 30 minutes ago. Let's start there.

Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.

And Paul Johnson, the 28-year-old son of the American kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, is on his way to the airport, flying from here in Florida to New Jersey to be with other family members to seek comfort during this ordeal. His father kidnapped in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, works for the contractor Lockheed Martin.

Now, about 30 minutes ago, he talked with us, the son, outside the house. He graciously thanked the news media for calling attention to his father and pleaded for his father's release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL JOHNSON III, SON OF HOSTAGE: I would trade in a heartbeat with my father. He doesn't deserve this, and I plead with you all to please let my father go. He don't deserve it. We all got to do jobs, you know? And he just does not deserve what has happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The younger Paul Johnson does say that Lockheed Martin and the U.S. State Department are in regular contact with him, but he's learned nothing new about his father -- Bill.

HEMMER: Gary, thanks for that.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Barbara, will the U.S. military government get involved in this at all in Saudi Arabia?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, people might be curious about that issue, Bill. And, in fact, they do not, because contractors, of course, are private U.S. citizens. And all of this type of thing is handled through the State Department.

It was a couple of weeks ago, you may remember, the State Department issued a warning, telling Americans Saudi Arabia was no longer safe, and that private citizens, such as workers, contractors, should leave. It was at that time that many contractors, including Lockheed Martin, began to get dependents, family members out of Saudi Arabia.

In fact, Lockheed Martin has almost no dependents or family members left in the country. But contractors do remain -- oil industry, defense industry contractors. Clearly, Saudi Arabia becoming much more dangerous for them.

HEMMER: Is there something, Barbara, the government can do to ease the fears of these Western contractors working there in Saudi Arabia?

STARR: Well, in fact, Bill, mainly it's been the Saudi government that's been trying to do that. After the attack at the Khobar oil facility, for example, Saudi oil ministry officials, very top officials in the government, met with U.S. oil industry executives, trying to reassure them that Saudi Arabia remains safe for American contract workers. A lot of that has been going on.

Of course, the Saudi government wants U.S. workers to stay there. They want to keep those contracts going. It is a very significant business issue for both the U.S. and the Saudi business interests. But the U.S. government has been very clear in the last few weeks that Saudi Arabia is increasingly dangerous. And the official position of the U.S. State Department is that Americans should get out of Saudi Arabia.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Gary Tuchman there in Florida -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Westerners were apparently the target of a powerful car bomb in central Baghdad this morning. At least 13 people were killed, 60 injured. The explosion ripped apart a convoy carrying Western electrical contractors and leveled a building as well. This comes a day after a car bomb had killed four Iraqi police officers and eight civilians.

And also on Sunday, a roadside bomb killed an American soldier. The education minister of the new government was gunned down as well.

Military officials report that over the last month there has been on average one car bombing every single day, and 35 to 40 violent engagements each day. U.S. and Iraqi officials say insurgents are increasingly focusing on participants in the new government. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joins us from Washington this morning.

Ken, nice to see you, as always. Thanks for being with us. Can you hear me?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN SENIOR MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I can, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Oh, there you go. I can hear you now. Wonderful.

Do you get the sense that -- I mean, I've listed this litany of attacks that have happened overseas. Is there a sense that the insurgents are making progress, are winning in their efforts to oust Westerners from the area?

ROBINSON: Their strategy is very effective. And the -- in Saudi Arabia, and in Iraq, if you notice what they're going after, they're going after technocrats, they're going after leadership, they are going after those who work on and maintain and sustain infrastructure, and they're trying to foster more instability.

O'BRIEN: Nine militants linked to al Qaeda arrested in Pakistan. You are just back from Pakistan. Give me -- give me a sense of what you expect the true impact of these arrests to be.

ROBINSON: Well, they're saying that one of those which was arrested is someone tied very closely to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. And there's reporting in the region that he was found with large sums of money.

One of the things that has been very valuable with all of the Pakistani arrests which have occurred -- and Pakistan has turned over approximately 500 people to the coalition in the global war on terrorism -- is that they exploit their computers. They exploit their cell phones, their pocket litter. And they put together the pieces of the puzzle, and they typically lead to dismantling other cells. And so that is very perishable, though, and they have to move very rapidly on anything that's actionable that they find.

O'BRIEN: Because the amount of cash -- I mean, you said a large sum of money. Some reports have said -- put that figure at $1 million in cash in Pakistan. Does that amount of money surprise you at all, Ken?

ROBINSON: Not at all, because what's happening is, you know, prior to the fall of the Taliban, the Taliban was reaping in around $40 million a year in poppy production. When the Taliban left and poppy production has surged now, about 80 percent of the world's heroin is coming out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. And that's one of the largest sources of terrorist funding with al Qaeda, other than blood diamonds.

O'BRIEN: I know we talk about this a lot, almost every single time we talk. How close do you think we are to catching Osama bin Laden?

ROBINSON: Well, he's certainly high on everyone's list. They simply don't know where he is. Otherwise, they would move forces to try to move against him.

They suspect that he's in that northwest frontier province that -- Waziristan, southern Waziristan area, which is very lawless. The government of Pakistan doesn't have a real presence there. He certainly is a high-value target, political target. But they're more importantly concerned with detecting and deterring the attacks and the insurgent reemergence of Taliban and al Qaeda in southern Afghanistan right now that are threatening the elections.

O'BRIEN: CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joining us this morning. Ken, thanks. Appreciate it.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn now to criticism of the Bush administration's foreign policy. It's coming from some former diplomats and military officials. A group of 26 retired officials plan to issue a statement this week, arguing that President Bush has damaged America's national security. And they urge that he be defeated come November. The group includes some former officials from Republican administrations as well.

CNN political analyst, Ron Brownstein, wrote a piece for "The L.A. Times" on this story. He joins us this morning from Washington.

Nice to see you, Ron, as always.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Name some names for me. Who are we talking about specifically, and politically as well?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's a group of, as you say, 26 former officials. Twenty of them former ambassadors, one State Department official who had not been an ambassador, and five former military officials.

The ambassadors include people like Jack Matlock, who was the ambassador to the Soviet Union under President Reagan and the first President Bush; William Harrop, who was the first President Bush's ambassador to Israel; Arthur Hartman, who was President Reagan's ambassador to the Soviet Union as well. There are people on the list who are more clearly identified as Democrats, like Stansfield Turner, the former director of the CIA, but it is essentially a fairly bipartisan list. I would call it a professionals kind of list. It is the foreign policy establishment really coming out, at least a portion of it, and making an unusually strong case against President Bush. Because not only are they arguing that his foreign policy has damaged America, they're taking another step and arguing explicitly for his defeat, which I think is very unusual for a group like this.

O'BRIEN: What is the basis exactly of their argument? Outside of obviously they want him defeated. But what's the basis for their argument?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, essentially, they are amplifying the basic fault line that we see in the foreign policy community and in the electorate itself. Their argument, much like John Kerry's, is that President Bush has alienated too many of our traditional allies in the way he has gone about foreign policy, and also has distracted and diverted resources from the war on terror by -- by invading and occupying Iraq.

Now, what the administration and supporters are arguing is, essentially, these voices, like Kerry himself, are making the case for an approach to the world that demonstrably failed on 9/11. And I am struck, Soledad, that even though this is a very elite group, it really reflects the debate that is out there in the country. When I talked to voters, this really seems to be the central issue right now in this campaign.

O'BRIEN: But what's the real impact of some two dozen diplomats? I mean, what kind of real impact can they make when you're talking about an election? And, you know, many people don't even vote as their favorite Hollywood stars vote. They may not...

BROWNSTEIN: Sure.

O'BRIEN: ... listen to a diplomat that they may not know very well.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that's absolutely right. I mean, no one -- I think no one imagines that anything like this or any other kind of statement -- the Vietnam veterans have criticized John Kerry, for example -- nothing like that is going to turn the election by itself. But this is a very close election in which everything matters.

And the answer to you question is going to be largely determined by how much attention this gets and what they do in -- to follow up on the initial release of the report. It can, I think, turn heads to some degree for two reasons.

One, because of the list. It includes many people who were involved with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in positions of responsibility. And secondly, as I said, it's unusually explicit in the political message. You don't usually see folks of this kind engaging so directly in the political fray, except for a few that have been identified with Kerry, mostly the former military officers. And for that result, I think some may pay notice. O'BRIEN: When you see the president leaning a little bit more on the international community for support, when you see, for example, this resolution in Iraq getting through the U.N. Security Council, do you see the president actually squashing these complaints with some of the progress he's making on this front?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think he is complicating the argument against him, no question. There is no doubt I think the president has made a mid-course correction on Iraq, is relying much more on the international community.

You saw the reliance on Ambassador Brahimi in selecting the government. But what the critics argue is that, even with these changes, the basic trajectory has been toward distancing the U.S. and its traditional allies. And they argue that there is so much international ill will toward President Bush that he's never going to get the cooperation that he needs.

For example, John Kerry has tried to make the case all month that if President Bush comes back from the NATO summit later this month without more troops for Iraq, that the diplomacy is going to be a failure, it's going to hard for President Bush to meet that test. On the other hand, he can point to things like the U.N. resolution to show that there is at least some thawing going on.

O'BRIEN: We'll see what the impact really is down the road a little bit. Ron Brownstein for us this morning. Nice to see you as always, Ron. Thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: About 13 minutes past the hour. Testimony resumes today in the Scott Peterson trial in California. This follows a week in which the prosecution raised suspicions about Peterson's behavior after his wife, Laci, disappeared. And the defense now putting forth theories of its own. Rusty Dornin has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jurors found out just how quickly Modesto Police became suspicious of Scott Peterson. Sergeant Byron Duefeldt 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 persons 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 families 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, something 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)

HEMMER: That case continues. Fifteen minutes now past the hour. Back to Heidi Collins checking the other news.

Heidi, good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. (AUDIO GAP) everybody.

A new report shows U.S. military commanders may have known about abuse at Iraqi prisons two months earlier than previously thought. According to "The New York Times," internal military documents show interrogators at Abu Ghraib Prison cited incidents back in November of last year. The newspaper says military officials in Baghdad acknowledge having reviewed abuse reports. But it is not clear if any incidents were investigated.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is releasing more prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison. Hundreds of detainees exiting the compound today on buses. It is the fifth scheduled release since the scandal over prison abuses came to light.

Here in the U.S., heavy weekend storms ripping through parts of the Midwest. The twister, this twister, tore apart a house in Mulvane, Kansas. Luckily, no one was home at the time. It was one of at least six tornadoes reported in the area.

And strong winds also whipping through Kentucky. You see the damage there. At least one home was destroyed. Two deaths were reported in Missouri due to the severe weather in that state.

And in basketball, 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 and driving 13 rebounds. Final score, 88-80. The Pistons now lead the best of seven series three games to one.

Game five set for tomorrow in Michigan. I think Jack's putting some money on this one.

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 ground at his presidential library in Texas, pretty good landing there.

Plans for his solo leap, though, were canceled due to strong winds. The former president's last jump, you may remember, 1999, in celebration of his 75th birthday.

And you guys talked with the jump master a little bit earlier. He was really bummed out that he didn't get to jump on his own.

HEMMER: His solo jump, that's right. What do you do for an encore, huh? Stay tuned for age 85.

Did I not tell you guys that the Lakers are going to sweep the Pistons...

O'BRIEN: You did.

COLLINS: See the money.

O'BRIEN: You bet.

HEMMER: Did I just not lose a dollar to Jack Cafferty on that?

CAFFERTY: Guess where I got this dollar. I'm going to take this home and frame it.

HEMMER: Yes, do that. I'll sign it for you, if I want. At least I pay.

CAFFERTY: How about those Lakers? No, no, no, no. Then people might question its authenticity.

HEMMER: What's going on?

CAFFERTY: Well, the collective consciousness of the nation promises to be numb next week when former President Clinton begins this book tour for his memoirs, "My Life." He will traverse the country, border to border, coast to coast, and be asked over and over and over again the same questions he didn't answer when he was president for eight years. And the pain from this could be overwhelming.

Nevertheless, he's promised to do whatever he can along the way to help John Kerry in his quest for the White House. And we just asked this morning whether or not the book tour could help or hurt John Kerry's campaign. Here's some of what you've written.

Richard in Cape Vincent, New York, "It will help Bush. After hearing about torture, lies and corporate theft, Bill's book will help us focus on real crimes, like lying about sex."

Ed in Minneapolis, "Napoleon once said, 'Never interrupt an enemy while he's making a mistake.' The last 12 months have been a long Bush mistake, and Kerry need not interrupt. The real battle starts in October."

Robert in Chicago: "I don't think this would help Kerry at all. From what I've heard, Clinton will be signing his books in 'adults only' bookstores."

Stephanie in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: "There's a problem with the premise of the question. Don't assume that what Kerry needs to do is outline his vision for America. After all, if Bush had outlined his vision of war in Iraq, huge debt and deficit, high gas prices and job exportation, do you think he would have been elected?"

And my friend Reg up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, "I think Kerry would be hurt when all of his staff leaves to get in line for an autograph and to kiss Bill's ring."

Clinton very popular among the Democrats.

HEMMER: We're going to be hearing a lot of him next week, too. The release is June 22.

CAFFERTY: You'll be reaching for sharp things to stick in your eye by the time this is about a week old, just to distract yourself from the pain of the book tour.

HEMMER: He's going to be just about everywhere.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: You know what his advance orders for this? Seven times as many as for that thing his wife wrote.

HEMMER: Is that so?

CAFFERTY: Seven times.

HEMMER: Do you think there's some competition there?

CAFFERTY: That's many.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

CAFFERTY: Not anymore.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. There was, you're right. Now it's over.

CAFFERTY: Not anymore. There was.

O'BRIEN: Now it's over.

CAFFERTY: It's all over.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Sure. (WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, a question on Alzheimer's. Can it be misdiagnosed, and if so, can you lose valuable time in reversing it? Interesting new studies out. Sanjay has results of that in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, some airports are about to try to cut down on all those long lines. But are they cutting down on safety, too? We'll look at that.

HEMMER: And the war on terror. Is there any reason to believe the U.S. is closing in on Osama bin Laden? A look at that in a moment as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. In five airports across the country, there's a select group of travelers that might soon have a slightly easier time getting through security. A new system called the Registered Traveler Program may begin a three-month trial phase this month.

Who benefits? Tim Anderson is deputy executive director of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, one of the airports involved in the pilot program. He's here to talk about it.

Mr. Anderson, good morning to you.

TIM ANDERSON, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL AIRPORT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Good to have you here. How does this program work?

ANDERSON: Well, the -- it's a trial program. I understand it will be for 90 days, starting fairly quickly, I assume. And it will give the opportunity to travelers to register so they can bypass some of the extra security procedures, thereby speeding up their travel to the airport.

HEMMER: But the actual system itself, what do you do? You sign up, you get a background check. How does it work from there?

ANDERSON: Well, you may be asking the wrong person. The TSA is going to work that out through the trial program, which will start soon. I'm guessing there will be a background check, probably a little more thorough than what we may do for our typical security badges at the airport. And a cost involved in that offsets the background checks, and the public will have an opportunity to participate.

HEMMER: Tim, who do you think benefits from this?

ANDERSON: Actually, I think everybody benefits. The people who register will be able to get through faster. Those who are the rest of us still in line will find those lines to be shorter. Therefore, we should be able to get through faster. And I think, primarily, it increases the efficiencies of the security process.

Right now, we have a process that has a little bit of a stigma attached to it because of the haystack effect. We're looking for a needle in a haystack. If we can thin that haystack out, I think it's obvious that the opportunity for failure will be less.

HEMMER: So listening to your answer, you think speed and efficiency will be helped in this, is that right?

ANDERSON: Absolutely, I think that's the case.

HEMMER: Is it fool proof, though, Tim?

ANDERSON: Nothing's fool proof. This is a new world we're living in. But I think it adds to both the business climate of the airlines, which is important, and also improves efficiency of the security process.

HEMMER: Yes. You mentioned a cost in there. Any idea what it could cost eventually?

ANDERSON: Well, I really don't. I think that's going to be determined through the test process.

HEMMER: Oh. Tim, thanks for talking. We'll be looking out for it. Tim Anderson is there in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Thanks and good luck to you, all right?

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Good to see you this morning.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: And 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 -- 9:29 here in New York City. We'll get to the opening bell in a moment here after the long weekend there honoring Ronald Reagan on Friday with markets closed. About a half past the hour.

Rocking the headlines yet again today, a powerful car bomb detonated in Baghdad's commercial district. Terrorists were apparently going after a convoy carrying international electrical workers. Fourteen are dead, five of them from overseas. We'll talk about that. More than 60 injured as well. We'll get to that in a moment. Also, the forgotten war in Afghanistan in a moment, that many refer to it that way.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us. He's looking at news about a new kind of a phantom Alzheimer's disease. It's a condition that's got very similar symptoms. But when doctors don't spot the differences, critical time can actually be lost in the treatment. He'll fill us in on that.

HEMMER: Yes. Good news to know, too. In a moment, Sanjay has that.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: Now to the hunt for al Qaeda and the prospects for stability in Afghanistan. Neighboring Pakistan says it has seized nine militants linked to al Qaeda, believed to have been involved in recent attacks. And despite such terrorist strikes in that region, Afghanistan's president says the first elections since the U.S. drove out Taliban rulers will take place in the month of December.

Scott Baldauf is a staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor. He recently came back from Kabul and Afghanistan. He's live in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Welcome, Scott. Good to see you here. And good morning to you.

SCOTT BALDAUF, STAFF WRITER, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Well, thank you very much.

HEMMER: A couple of stories in the news today. Your reaction. Possibly the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed picked up in Karachi, said to be holding about a million dollars in cash. How significant could that be, do you believe Scott?

BALDAUF: Well, any of these individuals who are on the operational side, if you were able to get them -- or on the financial side -- if you're able to get them, that weakens al Qaeda's ability to launch new attacks. It also -- it indicates that the intelligence is getting better and more specific, and that you might start to see more and more of these captures.

HEMMER: All right. Let's move from Karachi to the northwestern part of Pakistan. It is said that the Pakistani military is pounding al Qaeda targets there. What have you heard based on the information you're getting from there?

BALDAUF: Well, the reports are that the -- the Pakistani military has moved in heavily into that area. They're being much firmer than they were about month or two ago, at a point where they were negotiating with the tribes. So we're seeing -- we're seeing a lot more fierce fighting.

There are perhaps up to 500 al Qaeda fighters up there, in addition to Afghans who are supporting them. This could be pretty major. HEMMER: Elections now set for September. Hamid Karzai said it again repeatedly over the weekend. Only a third of Afghan eligible voters are registered at this point. What does that indicate to you about the problems they're having there in Afghanistan?

BALDAUF: The easy parts in this voter registration process have taken place in Kabul, in Mazar-e-Sharif. Now we're talking about the really hard work of going out to villages. And in those villages, there's no security. It's very difficult to be able to carry that process out when voter registration workers themselves are being attacked, threatened. So it's going to get harder before it gets easy.

HEMMER: Hamid Karzai also insists that the greater majority of Afghans want these elections to take place. What was your experience in traveling and reporting there?

BALDAUF: Traveling around Afghanistan is always a pleasure. But it's very -- it's very difficult. It's often dangerous.

We see a lot of goodwill among the Afghan people for the American and the international presence. But we don't -- we don't see the security that's necessary to keep aid workers coming in.

HEMMER: Let me rephrase the question. I think I stated it incorrectly here. Do Afghans you talk to want these elections to take place, as we hear from U.S. and Afghan officials?

BALDAUF: Oh, absolutely. They are looking forward to having the first chance of choosing their own leaders. Remember, Afghanistan has had governments chosen from outside for a long time. Russia, then Pakistan, now they're getting the chance to choose their own future. This is very exciting for them.

HEMMER: Scott Baldauf, thanks, Christian Science Monitor. We'll all be watching from here. Nice to talk to you.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: What if thousands of people were being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but they actually had another condition that could be reversed? Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center to tell us more on this.

What's this disease called, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This disease is called Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Experts believe that a large percentage of people who are thought to have Alzheimer's, even Parkinson's, might, in fact, have this condition. We met one man who had it, who found it, and whose life was turned around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): A few years ago, stooping down to pick up balls, even speaking with his granddaughter, was impossible for 74- year-old Bob Falor (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good shot, Emma (ph).

GUPTA: When she was a baby, he wasn't allowed to pick her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fell two or three times and almost hit her. I was scared to death.

GUPTA: His health and his family were slipping from his grasp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Driving a golf ball to driving a car, to running my home to running our business, all of that was dropping like a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dive bomber. And it was very, very frustrating.

GUPTA: Scores of doctors' visits across nine years, and not one could tell him what was wrong. Then Bob had an MRI. His diagnosis was Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, or NPH. The symptoms include a slow shuffling walk, frequent urination and dementia. But the biggest problem for doctors...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is to try to distinguish NPH from Alzheimer's.

GUPTA: The Hydrocephalus Association says that 375,000 people in the U.S. are affected by NPH. And many of them are mistaken for Alzheimer's patients. NPH is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain. On the left, a normal brain. On the right, a brain with NPH, the ventricles swelling with fluid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like if you're to take a garden hose that is running and pinch the end of it, it would blow up. And that's what occurs to the ventricles.

GUPTA: The problem, says Dr. Anthony Marmaro (ph), is that like Bob, many patients with NPH are either misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. But unlike Alzheimer's, NPH is reversible. It involves a simple operation using what's called a shunt, a device which diverts fluid from the brain to the abdomen. Seventy-two hours after surgery, most patients are nearly back to their normal selves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few weeks after my surgery, I could do anything I had done 10 years earlier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: There are complications that can arise from this shunt, like an infection, or blockage and stuff like that. But it is a very simple operation on the scale of things. And for Bob, you can see it made a world of difference for him -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So then how do you figure out if you have NPH or you have Alzheimer's?

GUPTA: A couple of things. One is that the NPH really has a classic triad of symptoms. You have dementia, you have a slow shuffling gait, and often incontinence. But the real key, as you saw in some of those images there, there is going to be a CT scan or an MRI scan. NPH is going to be a buildup of fluid which is easily diagnosed on one of those two scans -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: In a moment here, it came from outer space. In a big way, too. A landing in a living room. We'll explain in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the latest installment of "90-Second Pop." Amazingly enough, Rush Limbaugh's love life a hot topic. We're going to talk about that as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: I know. It's a good one. They couldn't hear, but I could hear. It sounded really good.

Good morning, everybody. I'm not a good singer, am I? It's Monday morning. That means it's time to check in with our "90-Second Pop" panel.

Joining us this morning, humorist Andy Borowitz.

Hello, Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Hello.

O'BRIEN: And New York Magazine contributing editor Sarah Bernard.

Hello, Sarah.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Hello.

O'BRIEN: And Toure, contributing editor for Rolling Stone.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it. "Six Feet Under," fourth season.

BERNARD: Premier yesterday.

O'BRIEN: It went incredibly well. And it's kind of morbid, I guess. Don't you think?

BERNARD: I know.

O'BRIEN: It doesn't even come close to describe it.

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: No, it does, though. It is obviously about a family who runs a funeral home.

O'BRIEN: Hence "Six Feet Under."

BERNARD: But yesterday's -- yesterday's show was so grim, I have to say, even for that. It was as if Tony Soprano literally handed the baton to Nate Fisher. Because he was, you know, shooting his cousin last week. And this week, Nate is burying the body of his -- of his wife. He's literally in the grave with her. It was so dark.

O'BRIEN: What's the appeal? Because it's -- I mean, there's so -- when you describe...

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: It's a dysfunctional family.

BOROWITZ: I'll tell you some of the appeal. I read this last night. I read this last night online. Morticians love this show. This is true, because they...

BERNARD: I love this show.

BOROWITZ: ... say it's finally -- it's a show for them. It speaks to them.

O'BRIEN: Are there enough morticians who make it that popular, though?

BOROWITZ: Well...

TOURE: But there's an -- but there's an amazing drama to it. I mean, at the end, Nate is burying her, like literally in the ground, where she wanted to be, and not cremated. And it's an amazing...

BERNARD: It was an act of love.

TOURE: ... example of love. I mean, it's unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's creepy.

BERNARD: But it's a dysfunctional family. I mean, it happens to have a strange profession, but it makes your dysfunctional family seem not so bad...

O'BRIEN: And that's what these are all about.

BERNARD: ... when you watch them.

O'BRIEN: It's like, well, I'm glad I'm not them. BERNARD: That's what I think when I watch it.

BOROWITZ: I want HBO to do a show about actuaries now. I think that would be cool. That's...

O'BRIEN: CPAs, actuaries, all of that. All right. Let's turn and talk about Rush Limbaugh. He's in the news because his marriage, number three, apparently crumbling.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

BERNARD: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Rush, I'm sorry. That's sad news.

BOROWITZ: And I thought that the third time would be the charm for him. I don't know. It's -- this marriage was probably doomed from the start because...

O'BRIEN: Why?

BERNARD: ... his wife, aerobics instructor. Rush, easily winded radio host.

(LAUGHTER)

BOROWITZ: So they were just not compatible. I'm hoping -- but I'm not trying to dwell on the divorce. I really want to look towards marriage number four.

O'BRIEN: Who are you looking at?

BOROWITZ: Courtney Love.

O'BRIEN: Really?

BERNARD: Oh!

BOROWITZ: I think -- yes, I think that's -- they can bond on some things.

TOURE: Just in terms of third marriages, I'm just happy that J. Lo and Marc are still married after a week.

BERNARD: Oh. You want to...

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: It takes a lot.

BOROWITZ: Where's the day eight?

BERNARD: But I don't know why everyone -- why is everyone making fun of Rush? I mean, 10 years they were married. That's pretty amazing in the celebrity world, don't you think?

BOROWITZ: They had just celebrated...

BERNARD: I mean, that's some sort of...

BOROWITZ: ... their -- they just celebrated...

O'BRIEN: Is she really an aerobics instructor?

BOROWITZ: Yes. They had just celebrated...

BERNARD: And they met on the Internet.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

BERNARD: So, you know...

BOROWITZ: Well, which I believe in.

BERNARD: ... modern guy. Do you believe it?

O'BRIEN: You guys, we're out of time. As always, thank you so much. Andy and Sarah and Toure, nice to see you.

TOURE: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Welcome back after the weekend.

BERNARD: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Bill, let's go back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Thanks.

In a moment here, there's new information about today's car bombing in Baghdad. We'll get to that in a moment.

Also, the billionaire, Richard Branson, sets a new world record. We'll explain that. Floating along in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Back to Heidi, checking the other news and the developments out of Iraq.

Heidi, good morning again.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning to you, everybody.

That is straight to Iraq now. The country's interim prime minister vowing to improve security after a deadly car bombing in Baghdad. At least 13 people were killed in the blast. About 60 others wounded. A spokesman for General Electric saying three of its employees and two security contractors working with GE were among those killed. The attack was apparently aimed at Western targets.

The family of an American contractor missing in Saudi Arabia is pleading for his safe return. Paul Johnson, an employee of Lockheed Martin, was reported missing by his family on Saturday. Speaking just a short while ago, one of Johnson's sons said the abduction came as a shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: We all get in routines. He's been over there a very long time. And I'm not sure if he got in the same routine. And he's just -- was caught off-guard. You can't let your guard down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: In a statement posted on a Web site, an Islamic militant group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Here in the U.S. now, after a week of paying tribute to former President Ronald Reagan, campaign 2004 is rolling on. President Bush returning to Missouri today to talk about Medicare and to drum up more support for his discount drug card program. Meanwhile, Democrat hopeful John Kerry heads to a fund raiser at the New Jersey mansion of rocker Jon Bon Jovi. He'll be in Atlantic City tomorrow.

Actress Courtney Cox Arquette has a new little friend that will likely be keeping her up at night. According to a magazine report, the former "Friends" star and her husband, David Arquette, are the proud parents of a baby girl born early yesterday in Los Angeles. The couple had gone public with their attempts to have a child. It is the first baby now for Cox, who turns 40 on Tuesday.

And British entrepreneur Richard Branson making a big splash in his Aquada sports car. Branson setting a new world record, crossing the English Channel in his James Bond-style car in less than two hours. The amphibious car, which seats three, can travel at more than 100 miles per hour on land, but just 30 miles per hour on water.

It looks like a boat. I mean, just a boat. Doesn't it?

HEMMER: Thirty miles an hour will do it, though, huh?

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Get you across the Hudson lickety split. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Here's a question for you. Where's the world's most expensive city? Not here, New York City, even though that's what I would have guessed. With that, and a check of the markets this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Hello.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Hello again. That Richard Branson, the master of a publicity stunt. Isn't he?

HEMMER: That he is.

SERWER: Always in the news. Smart guy.

Let's talk a little bit about the markets, first of all. Grim day, actually, for corporate America, what with the news in Saudi Arabia, with the Lockheed Martin employee, and then this morning learning about those GE employees killed in Iraq.

Dow is down 55 points here. You can see trade deficit in April wider than expected. A lot of that having to do with oil prices. Retail sales in May looking good. That's pretty much it as far as market news.

So let's move over to the expensive city quiz that Soledad was referring to. What are the world's most expensive cities? No, it's not New York. No, it's not San Francisco. Let's check out the top five.

Tokyo number one. You might have guessed that. London way up there as well. Hong Kong is number five.

Now let's see where the U.S. cities check in. Number 12 for New York. OK. Not so bad.

Then L.A., Chicago. San Francisco I'm surprised it's less expensive than Chicago?

O'BRIEN: What?

SERWER: Hello?

O'BRIEN: I don't believe that.

SERWER: I don't believe that.

O'BRIEN: No.

SERWER: Pittsburgh is your cheapest U.S. city, way down. And bottoming the list, number 144 on the list, Asuncion, Paraguay, in case you ever wanted to go.

Good news out of Paraguay here. This from a Web -- a travel Web site. It's now safe to approach and photograph the palace. Major improvement in the situation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the last leader's rule, where he ordered anyone gazing upon the palace to shot on sight. So things are looking up in Paraguay these days.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: But it is expensive.

SERWER: Number 144. No, it's cheap. It's cheap to live there, too.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. HEMMER: I thought you raised a great point a couple of hours ago, what, Moscow and St. Petersburg, are some of the most expensive cities in the world?

SERWER: Interesting. I think that's currency, a lot of that.

HEMMER: Could be.

SERWER: And also the price of fuel. There's all kinds of things.

O'BRIEN: San Francisco is off because...

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... San Francisco is an expensive city.

SERWER: It sure is, just to live there.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question. All right. Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, it's about to be the summer of Clinton. Is he stealing the spotlight? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: I showed you this earlier today. The pictures out of Kansas. Incredible, too.

Only an F-1, maybe an F-2, says Chad Myers. But nonetheless, on videotape, when you slow it down, you can see the damage done to this mobile home. A series of tornadoes south of Wichita.

The photographer about 200 yards away to get this one. It ripped apart a mobile home. You can see the metal as it swirls in the vortex of that tornado. The Kansas governor declaring 12 counties disaster areas. It continues the string that we've talked about for weeks now.

Chad Myers watching the weather outside to the, what, the Southwest, where it is hot.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.

Time to check in with Jack. He's got the "Question of the Day."

Hello.

CAFFERTY: How you doing? President Clinton -- former President Clinton's book tour for his memoirs gets under way next week. He has promised to do anything he can along the way to help John Kerry in his run for the White House. And we asked you whether we thought -- or whether you thought Mr. Clinton could help or hurt the Kerry campaign while he's out publicizing his book.

Phil in Las Vegas, Nevada, "We watched the 2000 national elections, and we were left pondering, what if Al Gore had utilized Bill Clinton's assistance? Now we may learn the answer in this election. I doubt that Clinton will hurt as much as he will help."

Steve in Hindem (ph), Kentucky, "Doesn't everyone know that it's always about Bill? He's never considered the consequences of his action upon others before, so why should we expect him to change now?"

Peter in Coral Gables, Florida, "Although Bill Clinton claims he'll do everything he can to help Kerry win, we all know what he really wants is for George W. Bush to be reelected so that Hillary can take a shot at the White House in 2008. Bill is excited about the possibility of helping select White House interns for his wife's administration."

That's...

O'BRIEN: I was waiting for...

CAFFERTY: That was a cheap, low blow, but I couldn't resist.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: That first one, 2000, Al Gore kept Bill Clinton at arm's length. And John Kerry has said he's not going to do that this time around. See if it has an impact.

CAFFERTY: A lot of people think that if Al Gore had embraced Bill Clinton, we would be voting for him for a second term right now.

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

CAFFERTY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: A good bunch of e-mails today.

CAFFERTY: Not bad.

O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning on CNN, a brat-packer goes to New England and runs into some of the scariest stuff Stephen King could cook up. Daryn Kagan talks to actor Rob Lowe up next on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

This is AMERICAN MORNING, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're out of time on this Monday. Thanks for being with us. We'll be back here again tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

SERWER: That's it.

HEMMER: Tell a million people. We take all viewers.

We've got to run. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

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


Aired June 14, 2004 - 9:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Anger in Baghdad boils over after a devastating attack by terrorists targeting Westerners, but killing many Iraqis.
The destructive force from a tornado when it touches down, shattering homes in just a split second.

And George Bush, the elder, 80 years old and still ready for adventure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FMR. 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: The birthday party, that really got hopping when the former president jumped.

All that ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Nine o'clock here in New York. Good to have you with us today.

President Bush facing criticism from his foreign policy from a group of former diplomats and members of the military. And apparently they are not all Democrats. We'll talk to Ron Brownstein, CNN political analyst, also a writer for "The L.A. Times," about whether or not this story resonates with voters in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the son of an American kidnapped by militants in Saudi Arabia speaking out this morning. We're going to take a look at the search for Lockheed Martin contractor Paul Johnson and just find out how his family is doing today.

HEMMER: Tough times for them, as we saw last hour.

O'BRIEN: Oh, no question.

HEMMER: A way to get through airport screening lines -- I love this one -- without waiting nearly as long. The government has a new plan it would like to try. They're going to do a pilot system right now in about five different airports. We'll tell you whether or not you can get involved in this and how you do it, and whether or not it can help you. A lot of questions about the system, though. We'll get to it in a moment.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'd be interested in that. I'm flying next week. I would like to get to the -- through those lines.

HEMMER: You've got to open up your entire life, though.

CAFFERTY: I'm not interested in doing that.

Former President Bill Clinton has promised to do whatever he can to help the candidacy of John Kerry when he undertakes this giant book tour for his memoirs. That starts next week. Whether or not the former president can help the president wannabe is the question we're entertaining on am@cnn.com.

Bill Clinton arguably one of the great campaigners ever. John Kerry has been accused of being charismaticly challenged by some.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. We'll get to it.

The son of Paul Johnson -- he's the American who is believed to be held captive now by Saudi militants connected to al Qaeda -- heading to New Jersey to join the rest of his family. Johnson has not been seen since Saturday. Some of his documents apparently turned up on a Web site with al Qaeda links, and we have two live reports to talk about this today.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. Gary Tuchman is in Cocoa, Florida, where Johnson's son made a statement about 30 minutes ago. Let's start there.

Gary, good morning.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bill, good morning to you.

And Paul Johnson, the 28-year-old son of the American kidnapped in Saudi Arabia, is on his way to the airport, flying from here in Florida to New Jersey to be with other family members to seek comfort during this ordeal. His father kidnapped in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, works for the contractor Lockheed Martin.

Now, about 30 minutes ago, he talked with us, the son, outside the house. He graciously thanked the news media for calling attention to his father and pleaded for his father's release.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL JOHNSON III, SON OF HOSTAGE: I would trade in a heartbeat with my father. He doesn't deserve this, and I plead with you all to please let my father go. He don't deserve it. We all got to do jobs, you know? And he just does not deserve what has happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The younger Paul Johnson does say that Lockheed Martin and the U.S. State Department are in regular contact with him, but he's learned nothing new about his father -- Bill.

HEMMER: Gary, thanks for that.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Barbara, will the U.S. military government get involved in this at all in Saudi Arabia?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, people might be curious about that issue, Bill. And, in fact, they do not, because contractors, of course, are private U.S. citizens. And all of this type of thing is handled through the State Department.

It was a couple of weeks ago, you may remember, the State Department issued a warning, telling Americans Saudi Arabia was no longer safe, and that private citizens, such as workers, contractors, should leave. It was at that time that many contractors, including Lockheed Martin, began to get dependents, family members out of Saudi Arabia.

In fact, Lockheed Martin has almost no dependents or family members left in the country. But contractors do remain -- oil industry, defense industry contractors. Clearly, Saudi Arabia becoming much more dangerous for them.

HEMMER: Is there something, Barbara, the government can do to ease the fears of these Western contractors working there in Saudi Arabia?

STARR: Well, in fact, Bill, mainly it's been the Saudi government that's been trying to do that. After the attack at the Khobar oil facility, for example, Saudi oil ministry officials, very top officials in the government, met with U.S. oil industry executives, trying to reassure them that Saudi Arabia remains safe for American contract workers. A lot of that has been going on.

Of course, the Saudi government wants U.S. workers to stay there. They want to keep those contracts going. It is a very significant business issue for both the U.S. and the Saudi business interests. But the U.S. government has been very clear in the last few weeks that Saudi Arabia is increasingly dangerous. And the official position of the U.S. State Department is that Americans should get out of Saudi Arabia.

HEMMER: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Gary Tuchman there in Florida -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Westerners were apparently the target of a powerful car bomb in central Baghdad this morning. At least 13 people were killed, 60 injured. The explosion ripped apart a convoy carrying Western electrical contractors and leveled a building as well. This comes a day after a car bomb had killed four Iraqi police officers and eight civilians.

And also on Sunday, a roadside bomb killed an American soldier. The education minister of the new government was gunned down as well.

Military officials report that over the last month there has been on average one car bombing every single day, and 35 to 40 violent engagements each day. U.S. and Iraqi officials say insurgents are increasingly focusing on participants in the new government. CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joins us from Washington this morning.

Ken, nice to see you, as always. Thanks for being with us. Can you hear me?

KEN ROBINSON, CNN SENIOR MILITARY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: I can, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Oh, there you go. I can hear you now. Wonderful.

Do you get the sense that -- I mean, I've listed this litany of attacks that have happened overseas. Is there a sense that the insurgents are making progress, are winning in their efforts to oust Westerners from the area?

ROBINSON: Their strategy is very effective. And the -- in Saudi Arabia, and in Iraq, if you notice what they're going after, they're going after technocrats, they're going after leadership, they are going after those who work on and maintain and sustain infrastructure, and they're trying to foster more instability.

O'BRIEN: Nine militants linked to al Qaeda arrested in Pakistan. You are just back from Pakistan. Give me -- give me a sense of what you expect the true impact of these arrests to be.

ROBINSON: Well, they're saying that one of those which was arrested is someone tied very closely to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. And there's reporting in the region that he was found with large sums of money.

One of the things that has been very valuable with all of the Pakistani arrests which have occurred -- and Pakistan has turned over approximately 500 people to the coalition in the global war on terrorism -- is that they exploit their computers. They exploit their cell phones, their pocket litter. And they put together the pieces of the puzzle, and they typically lead to dismantling other cells. And so that is very perishable, though, and they have to move very rapidly on anything that's actionable that they find.

O'BRIEN: Because the amount of cash -- I mean, you said a large sum of money. Some reports have said -- put that figure at $1 million in cash in Pakistan. Does that amount of money surprise you at all, Ken?

ROBINSON: Not at all, because what's happening is, you know, prior to the fall of the Taliban, the Taliban was reaping in around $40 million a year in poppy production. When the Taliban left and poppy production has surged now, about 80 percent of the world's heroin is coming out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. And that's one of the largest sources of terrorist funding with al Qaeda, other than blood diamonds.

O'BRIEN: I know we talk about this a lot, almost every single time we talk. How close do you think we are to catching Osama bin Laden?

ROBINSON: Well, he's certainly high on everyone's list. They simply don't know where he is. Otherwise, they would move forces to try to move against him.

They suspect that he's in that northwest frontier province that -- Waziristan, southern Waziristan area, which is very lawless. The government of Pakistan doesn't have a real presence there. He certainly is a high-value target, political target. But they're more importantly concerned with detecting and deterring the attacks and the insurgent reemergence of Taliban and al Qaeda in southern Afghanistan right now that are threatening the elections.

O'BRIEN: CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson joining us this morning. Ken, thanks. Appreciate it.

ROBINSON: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's turn now to criticism of the Bush administration's foreign policy. It's coming from some former diplomats and military officials. A group of 26 retired officials plan to issue a statement this week, arguing that President Bush has damaged America's national security. And they urge that he be defeated come November. The group includes some former officials from Republican administrations as well.

CNN political analyst, Ron Brownstein, wrote a piece for "The L.A. Times" on this story. He joins us this morning from Washington.

Nice to see you, Ron, as always.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Name some names for me. Who are we talking about specifically, and politically as well?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it's a group of, as you say, 26 former officials. Twenty of them former ambassadors, one State Department official who had not been an ambassador, and five former military officials.

The ambassadors include people like Jack Matlock, who was the ambassador to the Soviet Union under President Reagan and the first President Bush; William Harrop, who was the first President Bush's ambassador to Israel; Arthur Hartman, who was President Reagan's ambassador to the Soviet Union as well. There are people on the list who are more clearly identified as Democrats, like Stansfield Turner, the former director of the CIA, but it is essentially a fairly bipartisan list. I would call it a professionals kind of list. It is the foreign policy establishment really coming out, at least a portion of it, and making an unusually strong case against President Bush. Because not only are they arguing that his foreign policy has damaged America, they're taking another step and arguing explicitly for his defeat, which I think is very unusual for a group like this.

O'BRIEN: What is the basis exactly of their argument? Outside of obviously they want him defeated. But what's the basis for their argument?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, essentially, they are amplifying the basic fault line that we see in the foreign policy community and in the electorate itself. Their argument, much like John Kerry's, is that President Bush has alienated too many of our traditional allies in the way he has gone about foreign policy, and also has distracted and diverted resources from the war on terror by -- by invading and occupying Iraq.

Now, what the administration and supporters are arguing is, essentially, these voices, like Kerry himself, are making the case for an approach to the world that demonstrably failed on 9/11. And I am struck, Soledad, that even though this is a very elite group, it really reflects the debate that is out there in the country. When I talked to voters, this really seems to be the central issue right now in this campaign.

O'BRIEN: But what's the real impact of some two dozen diplomats? I mean, what kind of real impact can they make when you're talking about an election? And, you know, many people don't even vote as their favorite Hollywood stars vote. They may not...

BROWNSTEIN: Sure.

O'BRIEN: ... listen to a diplomat that they may not know very well.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think that's absolutely right. I mean, no one -- I think no one imagines that anything like this or any other kind of statement -- the Vietnam veterans have criticized John Kerry, for example -- nothing like that is going to turn the election by itself. But this is a very close election in which everything matters.

And the answer to you question is going to be largely determined by how much attention this gets and what they do in -- to follow up on the initial release of the report. It can, I think, turn heads to some degree for two reasons.

One, because of the list. It includes many people who were involved with Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in positions of responsibility. And secondly, as I said, it's unusually explicit in the political message. You don't usually see folks of this kind engaging so directly in the political fray, except for a few that have been identified with Kerry, mostly the former military officers. And for that result, I think some may pay notice. O'BRIEN: When you see the president leaning a little bit more on the international community for support, when you see, for example, this resolution in Iraq getting through the U.N. Security Council, do you see the president actually squashing these complaints with some of the progress he's making on this front?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think he is complicating the argument against him, no question. There is no doubt I think the president has made a mid-course correction on Iraq, is relying much more on the international community.

You saw the reliance on Ambassador Brahimi in selecting the government. But what the critics argue is that, even with these changes, the basic trajectory has been toward distancing the U.S. and its traditional allies. And they argue that there is so much international ill will toward President Bush that he's never going to get the cooperation that he needs.

For example, John Kerry has tried to make the case all month that if President Bush comes back from the NATO summit later this month without more troops for Iraq, that the diplomacy is going to be a failure, it's going to hard for President Bush to meet that test. On the other hand, he can point to things like the U.N. resolution to show that there is at least some thawing going on.

O'BRIEN: We'll see what the impact really is down the road a little bit. Ron Brownstein for us this morning. Nice to see you as always, Ron. Thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: About 13 minutes past the hour. Testimony resumes today in the Scott Peterson trial in California. This follows a week in which the prosecution raised suspicions about Peterson's behavior after his wife, Laci, disappeared. And the defense now putting forth theories of its own. Rusty Dornin has more now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jurors found out just how quickly Modesto Police became suspicious of Scott Peterson. Sergeant Byron Duefeldt 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 persons 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 families 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, something 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)

HEMMER: That case continues. Fifteen minutes now past the hour. Back to Heidi Collins checking the other news.

Heidi, good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Bill. (AUDIO GAP) everybody.

A new report shows U.S. military commanders may have known about abuse at Iraqi prisons two months earlier than previously thought. According to "The New York Times," internal military documents show interrogators at Abu Ghraib Prison cited incidents back in November of last year. The newspaper says military officials in Baghdad acknowledge having reviewed abuse reports. But it is not clear if any incidents were investigated.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military is releasing more prisoners from Abu Ghraib prison. Hundreds of detainees exiting the compound today on buses. It is the fifth scheduled release since the scandal over prison abuses came to light.

Here in the U.S., heavy weekend storms ripping through parts of the Midwest. The twister, this twister, tore apart a house in Mulvane, Kansas. Luckily, no one was home at the time. It was one of at least six tornadoes reported in the area.

And strong winds also whipping through Kentucky. You see the damage there. At least one home was destroyed. Two deaths were reported in Missouri due to the severe weather in that state.

And in basketball, 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 and driving 13 rebounds. Final score, 88-80. The Pistons now lead the best of seven series three games to one.

Game five set for tomorrow in Michigan. I think Jack's putting some money on this one.

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 ground at his presidential library in Texas, pretty good landing there.

Plans for his solo leap, though, were canceled due to strong winds. The former president's last jump, you may remember, 1999, in celebration of his 75th birthday.

And you guys talked with the jump master a little bit earlier. He was really bummed out that he didn't get to jump on his own.

HEMMER: His solo jump, that's right. What do you do for an encore, huh? Stay tuned for age 85.

Did I not tell you guys that the Lakers are going to sweep the Pistons...

O'BRIEN: You did.

COLLINS: See the money.

O'BRIEN: You bet.

HEMMER: Did I just not lose a dollar to Jack Cafferty on that?

CAFFERTY: Guess where I got this dollar. I'm going to take this home and frame it.

HEMMER: Yes, do that. I'll sign it for you, if I want. At least I pay.

CAFFERTY: How about those Lakers? No, no, no, no. Then people might question its authenticity.

HEMMER: What's going on?

CAFFERTY: Well, the collective consciousness of the nation promises to be numb next week when former President Clinton begins this book tour for his memoirs, "My Life." He will traverse the country, border to border, coast to coast, and be asked over and over and over again the same questions he didn't answer when he was president for eight years. And the pain from this could be overwhelming.

Nevertheless, he's promised to do whatever he can along the way to help John Kerry in his quest for the White House. And we just asked this morning whether or not the book tour could help or hurt John Kerry's campaign. Here's some of what you've written.

Richard in Cape Vincent, New York, "It will help Bush. After hearing about torture, lies and corporate theft, Bill's book will help us focus on real crimes, like lying about sex."

Ed in Minneapolis, "Napoleon once said, 'Never interrupt an enemy while he's making a mistake.' The last 12 months have been a long Bush mistake, and Kerry need not interrupt. The real battle starts in October."

Robert in Chicago: "I don't think this would help Kerry at all. From what I've heard, Clinton will be signing his books in 'adults only' bookstores."

Stephanie in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: "There's a problem with the premise of the question. Don't assume that what Kerry needs to do is outline his vision for America. After all, if Bush had outlined his vision of war in Iraq, huge debt and deficit, high gas prices and job exportation, do you think he would have been elected?"

And my friend Reg up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, "I think Kerry would be hurt when all of his staff leaves to get in line for an autograph and to kiss Bill's ring."

Clinton very popular among the Democrats.

HEMMER: We're going to be hearing a lot of him next week, too. The release is June 22.

CAFFERTY: You'll be reaching for sharp things to stick in your eye by the time this is about a week old, just to distract yourself from the pain of the book tour.

HEMMER: He's going to be just about everywhere.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

CAFFERTY: You know what his advance orders for this? Seven times as many as for that thing his wife wrote.

HEMMER: Is that so?

CAFFERTY: Seven times.

HEMMER: Do you think there's some competition there?

CAFFERTY: That's many.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely.

CAFFERTY: Not anymore.

O'BRIEN: Absolutely. There was, you're right. Now it's over.

CAFFERTY: Not anymore. There was.

O'BRIEN: Now it's over.

CAFFERTY: It's all over.

O'BRIEN: All right. Jack, thanks.

CAFFERTY: Sure. (WEATHER REPORT)

HEMMER: In a moment here, a question on Alzheimer's. Can it be misdiagnosed, and if so, can you lose valuable time in reversing it? Interesting new studies out. Sanjay has results of that in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, some airports are about to try to cut down on all those long lines. But are they cutting down on safety, too? We'll look at that.

HEMMER: And the war on terror. Is there any reason to believe the U.S. is closing in on Osama bin Laden? A look at that in a moment as AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. In five airports across the country, there's a select group of travelers that might soon have a slightly easier time getting through security. A new system called the Registered Traveler Program may begin a three-month trial phase this month.

Who benefits? Tim Anderson is deputy executive director of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, one of the airports involved in the pilot program. He's here to talk about it.

Mr. Anderson, good morning to you.

TIM ANDERSON, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL AIRPORT: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Good to have you here. How does this program work?

ANDERSON: Well, the -- it's a trial program. I understand it will be for 90 days, starting fairly quickly, I assume. And it will give the opportunity to travelers to register so they can bypass some of the extra security procedures, thereby speeding up their travel to the airport.

HEMMER: But the actual system itself, what do you do? You sign up, you get a background check. How does it work from there?

ANDERSON: Well, you may be asking the wrong person. The TSA is going to work that out through the trial program, which will start soon. I'm guessing there will be a background check, probably a little more thorough than what we may do for our typical security badges at the airport. And a cost involved in that offsets the background checks, and the public will have an opportunity to participate.

HEMMER: Tim, who do you think benefits from this?

ANDERSON: Actually, I think everybody benefits. The people who register will be able to get through faster. Those who are the rest of us still in line will find those lines to be shorter. Therefore, we should be able to get through faster. And I think, primarily, it increases the efficiencies of the security process.

Right now, we have a process that has a little bit of a stigma attached to it because of the haystack effect. We're looking for a needle in a haystack. If we can thin that haystack out, I think it's obvious that the opportunity for failure will be less.

HEMMER: So listening to your answer, you think speed and efficiency will be helped in this, is that right?

ANDERSON: Absolutely, I think that's the case.

HEMMER: Is it fool proof, though, Tim?

ANDERSON: Nothing's fool proof. This is a new world we're living in. But I think it adds to both the business climate of the airlines, which is important, and also improves efficiency of the security process.

HEMMER: Yes. You mentioned a cost in there. Any idea what it could cost eventually?

ANDERSON: Well, I really don't. I think that's going to be determined through the test process.

HEMMER: Oh. Tim, thanks for talking. We'll be looking out for it. Tim Anderson is there in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Thanks and good luck to you, all right?

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Good to see you this morning.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

HEMMER: Soledad?

O'BRIEN: And 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 -- 9:29 here in New York City. We'll get to the opening bell in a moment here after the long weekend there honoring Ronald Reagan on Friday with markets closed. About a half past the hour.

Rocking the headlines yet again today, a powerful car bomb detonated in Baghdad's commercial district. Terrorists were apparently going after a convoy carrying international electrical workers. Fourteen are dead, five of them from overseas. We'll talk about that. More than 60 injured as well. We'll get to that in a moment. Also, the forgotten war in Afghanistan in a moment, that many refer to it that way.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with us. He's looking at news about a new kind of a phantom Alzheimer's disease. It's a condition that's got very similar symptoms. But when doctors don't spot the differences, critical time can actually be lost in the treatment. He'll fill us in on that.

HEMMER: Yes. Good news to know, too. In a moment, Sanjay has that.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HEMMER: Now to the hunt for al Qaeda and the prospects for stability in Afghanistan. Neighboring Pakistan says it has seized nine militants linked to al Qaeda, believed to have been involved in recent attacks. And despite such terrorist strikes in that region, Afghanistan's president says the first elections since the U.S. drove out Taliban rulers will take place in the month of December.

Scott Baldauf is a staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor. He recently came back from Kabul and Afghanistan. He's live in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Welcome, Scott. Good to see you here. And good morning to you.

SCOTT BALDAUF, STAFF WRITER, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Well, thank you very much.

HEMMER: A couple of stories in the news today. Your reaction. Possibly the nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed picked up in Karachi, said to be holding about a million dollars in cash. How significant could that be, do you believe Scott?

BALDAUF: Well, any of these individuals who are on the operational side, if you were able to get them -- or on the financial side -- if you're able to get them, that weakens al Qaeda's ability to launch new attacks. It also -- it indicates that the intelligence is getting better and more specific, and that you might start to see more and more of these captures.

HEMMER: All right. Let's move from Karachi to the northwestern part of Pakistan. It is said that the Pakistani military is pounding al Qaeda targets there. What have you heard based on the information you're getting from there?

BALDAUF: Well, the reports are that the -- the Pakistani military has moved in heavily into that area. They're being much firmer than they were about month or two ago, at a point where they were negotiating with the tribes. So we're seeing -- we're seeing a lot more fierce fighting.

There are perhaps up to 500 al Qaeda fighters up there, in addition to Afghans who are supporting them. This could be pretty major. HEMMER: Elections now set for September. Hamid Karzai said it again repeatedly over the weekend. Only a third of Afghan eligible voters are registered at this point. What does that indicate to you about the problems they're having there in Afghanistan?

BALDAUF: The easy parts in this voter registration process have taken place in Kabul, in Mazar-e-Sharif. Now we're talking about the really hard work of going out to villages. And in those villages, there's no security. It's very difficult to be able to carry that process out when voter registration workers themselves are being attacked, threatened. So it's going to get harder before it gets easy.

HEMMER: Hamid Karzai also insists that the greater majority of Afghans want these elections to take place. What was your experience in traveling and reporting there?

BALDAUF: Traveling around Afghanistan is always a pleasure. But it's very -- it's very difficult. It's often dangerous.

We see a lot of goodwill among the Afghan people for the American and the international presence. But we don't -- we don't see the security that's necessary to keep aid workers coming in.

HEMMER: Let me rephrase the question. I think I stated it incorrectly here. Do Afghans you talk to want these elections to take place, as we hear from U.S. and Afghan officials?

BALDAUF: Oh, absolutely. They are looking forward to having the first chance of choosing their own leaders. Remember, Afghanistan has had governments chosen from outside for a long time. Russia, then Pakistan, now they're getting the chance to choose their own future. This is very exciting for them.

HEMMER: Scott Baldauf, thanks, Christian Science Monitor. We'll all be watching from here. Nice to talk to you.

Soledad?

O'BRIEN: What if thousands of people were being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease but they actually had another condition that could be reversed? Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the CNN Center to tell us more on this.

What's this disease called, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This disease is called Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Experts believe that a large percentage of people who are thought to have Alzheimer's, even Parkinson's, might, in fact, have this condition. We met one man who had it, who found it, and whose life was turned around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): A few years ago, stooping down to pick up balls, even speaking with his granddaughter, was impossible for 74- year-old Bob Falor (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good shot, Emma (ph).

GUPTA: When she was a baby, he wasn't allowed to pick her up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I fell two or three times and almost hit her. I was scared to death.

GUPTA: His health and his family were slipping from his grasp.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Driving a golf ball to driving a car, to running my home to running our business, all of that was dropping like a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) dive bomber. And it was very, very frustrating.

GUPTA: Scores of doctors' visits across nine years, and not one could tell him what was wrong. Then Bob had an MRI. His diagnosis was Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, or NPH. The symptoms include a slow shuffling walk, frequent urination and dementia. But the biggest problem for doctors...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is to try to distinguish NPH from Alzheimer's.

GUPTA: The Hydrocephalus Association says that 375,000 people in the U.S. are affected by NPH. And many of them are mistaken for Alzheimer's patients. NPH is an abnormal buildup of fluid in the brain. On the left, a normal brain. On the right, a brain with NPH, the ventricles swelling with fluid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like if you're to take a garden hose that is running and pinch the end of it, it would blow up. And that's what occurs to the ventricles.

GUPTA: The problem, says Dr. Anthony Marmaro (ph), is that like Bob, many patients with NPH are either misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. But unlike Alzheimer's, NPH is reversible. It involves a simple operation using what's called a shunt, a device which diverts fluid from the brain to the abdomen. Seventy-two hours after surgery, most patients are nearly back to their normal selves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few weeks after my surgery, I could do anything I had done 10 years earlier.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: There are complications that can arise from this shunt, like an infection, or blockage and stuff like that. But it is a very simple operation on the scale of things. And for Bob, you can see it made a world of difference for him -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So then how do you figure out if you have NPH or you have Alzheimer's?

GUPTA: A couple of things. One is that the NPH really has a classic triad of symptoms. You have dementia, you have a slow shuffling gait, and often incontinence. But the real key, as you saw in some of those images there, there is going to be a CT scan or an MRI scan. NPH is going to be a buildup of fluid which is easily diagnosed on one of those two scans -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right. Sanjay, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Bill?

HEMMER: In a moment here, it came from outer space. In a big way, too. A landing in a living room. We'll explain in a moment here.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the latest installment of "90-Second Pop." Amazingly enough, Rush Limbaugh's love life a hot topic. We're going to talk about that as AMERICAN MORNING continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: I know. It's a good one. They couldn't hear, but I could hear. It sounded really good.

Good morning, everybody. I'm not a good singer, am I? It's Monday morning. That means it's time to check in with our "90-Second Pop" panel.

Joining us this morning, humorist Andy Borowitz.

Hello, Andy.

ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: Hello.

O'BRIEN: And New York Magazine contributing editor Sarah Bernard.

Hello, Sarah.

SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, NEW YORK MAGAZINE: Hello.

O'BRIEN: And Toure, contributing editor for Rolling Stone.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

TOURE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right into it. "Six Feet Under," fourth season.

BERNARD: Premier yesterday.

O'BRIEN: It went incredibly well. And it's kind of morbid, I guess. Don't you think?

BERNARD: I know.

O'BRIEN: It doesn't even come close to describe it.

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: No, it does, though. It is obviously about a family who runs a funeral home.

O'BRIEN: Hence "Six Feet Under."

BERNARD: But yesterday's -- yesterday's show was so grim, I have to say, even for that. It was as if Tony Soprano literally handed the baton to Nate Fisher. Because he was, you know, shooting his cousin last week. And this week, Nate is burying the body of his -- of his wife. He's literally in the grave with her. It was so dark.

O'BRIEN: What's the appeal? Because it's -- I mean, there's so -- when you describe...

(CROSSTALK)

BERNARD: It's a dysfunctional family.

BOROWITZ: I'll tell you some of the appeal. I read this last night. I read this last night online. Morticians love this show. This is true, because they...

BERNARD: I love this show.

BOROWITZ: ... say it's finally -- it's a show for them. It speaks to them.

O'BRIEN: Are there enough morticians who make it that popular, though?

BOROWITZ: Well...

TOURE: But there's an -- but there's an amazing drama to it. I mean, at the end, Nate is burying her, like literally in the ground, where she wanted to be, and not cremated. And it's an amazing...

BERNARD: It was an act of love.

TOURE: ... example of love. I mean, it's unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's creepy.

BERNARD: But it's a dysfunctional family. I mean, it happens to have a strange profession, but it makes your dysfunctional family seem not so bad...

O'BRIEN: And that's what these are all about.

BERNARD: ... when you watch them.

O'BRIEN: It's like, well, I'm glad I'm not them. BERNARD: That's what I think when I watch it.

BOROWITZ: I want HBO to do a show about actuaries now. I think that would be cool. That's...

O'BRIEN: CPAs, actuaries, all of that. All right. Let's turn and talk about Rush Limbaugh. He's in the news because his marriage, number three, apparently crumbling.

BOROWITZ: Yes.

BERNARD: Oh.

O'BRIEN: Rush, I'm sorry. That's sad news.

BOROWITZ: And I thought that the third time would be the charm for him. I don't know. It's -- this marriage was probably doomed from the start because...

O'BRIEN: Why?

BERNARD: ... his wife, aerobics instructor. Rush, easily winded radio host.

(LAUGHTER)

BOROWITZ: So they were just not compatible. I'm hoping -- but I'm not trying to dwell on the divorce. I really want to look towards marriage number four.

O'BRIEN: Who are you looking at?

BOROWITZ: Courtney Love.

O'BRIEN: Really?

BERNARD: Oh!

BOROWITZ: I think -- yes, I think that's -- they can bond on some things.

TOURE: Just in terms of third marriages, I'm just happy that J. Lo and Marc are still married after a week.

BERNARD: Oh. You want to...

(CROSSTALK)

TOURE: It takes a lot.

BOROWITZ: Where's the day eight?

BERNARD: But I don't know why everyone -- why is everyone making fun of Rush? I mean, 10 years they were married. That's pretty amazing in the celebrity world, don't you think?

BOROWITZ: They had just celebrated...

BERNARD: I mean, that's some sort of...

BOROWITZ: ... their -- they just celebrated...

O'BRIEN: Is she really an aerobics instructor?

BOROWITZ: Yes. They had just celebrated...

BERNARD: And they met on the Internet.

O'BRIEN: Oh.

BERNARD: So, you know...

BOROWITZ: Well, which I believe in.

BERNARD: ... modern guy. Do you believe it?

O'BRIEN: You guys, we're out of time. As always, thank you so much. Andy and Sarah and Toure, nice to see you.

TOURE: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Welcome back after the weekend.

BERNARD: Nice to see you.

O'BRIEN: Bill, let's go back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad. Thanks.

In a moment here, there's new information about today's car bombing in Baghdad. We'll get to that in a moment.

Also, the billionaire, Richard Branson, sets a new world record. We'll explain that. Floating along in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Forty-five minutes past the hour. Back to Heidi, checking the other news and the developments out of Iraq.

Heidi, good morning again.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning to you, everybody.

That is straight to Iraq now. The country's interim prime minister vowing to improve security after a deadly car bombing in Baghdad. At least 13 people were killed in the blast. About 60 others wounded. A spokesman for General Electric saying three of its employees and two security contractors working with GE were among those killed. The attack was apparently aimed at Western targets.

The family of an American contractor missing in Saudi Arabia is pleading for his safe return. Paul Johnson, an employee of Lockheed Martin, was reported missing by his family on Saturday. Speaking just a short while ago, one of Johnson's sons said the abduction came as a shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: We all get in routines. He's been over there a very long time. And I'm not sure if he got in the same routine. And he's just -- was caught off-guard. You can't let your guard down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: In a statement posted on a Web site, an Islamic militant group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.

Here in the U.S. now, after a week of paying tribute to former President Ronald Reagan, campaign 2004 is rolling on. President Bush returning to Missouri today to talk about Medicare and to drum up more support for his discount drug card program. Meanwhile, Democrat hopeful John Kerry heads to a fund raiser at the New Jersey mansion of rocker Jon Bon Jovi. He'll be in Atlantic City tomorrow.

Actress Courtney Cox Arquette has a new little friend that will likely be keeping her up at night. According to a magazine report, the former "Friends" star and her husband, David Arquette, are the proud parents of a baby girl born early yesterday in Los Angeles. The couple had gone public with their attempts to have a child. It is the first baby now for Cox, who turns 40 on Tuesday.

And British entrepreneur Richard Branson making a big splash in his Aquada sports car. Branson setting a new world record, crossing the English Channel in his James Bond-style car in less than two hours. The amphibious car, which seats three, can travel at more than 100 miles per hour on land, but just 30 miles per hour on water.

It looks like a boat. I mean, just a boat. Doesn't it?

HEMMER: Thirty miles an hour will do it, though, huh?

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Get you across the Hudson lickety split. Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Here's a question for you. Where's the world's most expensive city? Not here, New York City, even though that's what I would have guessed. With that, and a check of the markets this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

Hello.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, FORTUNE MAGAZINE: Hello again. That Richard Branson, the master of a publicity stunt. Isn't he?

HEMMER: That he is.

SERWER: Always in the news. Smart guy.

Let's talk a little bit about the markets, first of all. Grim day, actually, for corporate America, what with the news in Saudi Arabia, with the Lockheed Martin employee, and then this morning learning about those GE employees killed in Iraq.

Dow is down 55 points here. You can see trade deficit in April wider than expected. A lot of that having to do with oil prices. Retail sales in May looking good. That's pretty much it as far as market news.

So let's move over to the expensive city quiz that Soledad was referring to. What are the world's most expensive cities? No, it's not New York. No, it's not San Francisco. Let's check out the top five.

Tokyo number one. You might have guessed that. London way up there as well. Hong Kong is number five.

Now let's see where the U.S. cities check in. Number 12 for New York. OK. Not so bad.

Then L.A., Chicago. San Francisco I'm surprised it's less expensive than Chicago?

O'BRIEN: What?

SERWER: Hello?

O'BRIEN: I don't believe that.

SERWER: I don't believe that.

O'BRIEN: No.

SERWER: Pittsburgh is your cheapest U.S. city, way down. And bottoming the list, number 144 on the list, Asuncion, Paraguay, in case you ever wanted to go.

Good news out of Paraguay here. This from a Web -- a travel Web site. It's now safe to approach and photograph the palace. Major improvement in the situation (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in the last leader's rule, where he ordered anyone gazing upon the palace to shot on sight. So things are looking up in Paraguay these days.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: But it is expensive.

SERWER: Number 144. No, it's cheap. It's cheap to live there, too.

O'BRIEN: Exactly. HEMMER: I thought you raised a great point a couple of hours ago, what, Moscow and St. Petersburg, are some of the most expensive cities in the world?

SERWER: Interesting. I think that's currency, a lot of that.

HEMMER: Could be.

SERWER: And also the price of fuel. There's all kinds of things.

O'BRIEN: San Francisco is off because...

SERWER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: ... San Francisco is an expensive city.

SERWER: It sure is, just to live there.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question. All right. Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, it's about to be the summer of Clinton. Is he stealing the spotlight? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: I showed you this earlier today. The pictures out of Kansas. Incredible, too.

Only an F-1, maybe an F-2, says Chad Myers. But nonetheless, on videotape, when you slow it down, you can see the damage done to this mobile home. A series of tornadoes south of Wichita.

The photographer about 200 yards away to get this one. It ripped apart a mobile home. You can see the metal as it swirls in the vortex of that tornado. The Kansas governor declaring 12 counties disaster areas. It continues the string that we've talked about for weeks now.

Chad Myers watching the weather outside to the, what, the Southwest, where it is hot.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.

Time to check in with Jack. He's got the "Question of the Day."

Hello.

CAFFERTY: How you doing? President Clinton -- former President Clinton's book tour for his memoirs gets under way next week. He has promised to do anything he can along the way to help John Kerry in his run for the White House. And we asked you whether we thought -- or whether you thought Mr. Clinton could help or hurt the Kerry campaign while he's out publicizing his book.

Phil in Las Vegas, Nevada, "We watched the 2000 national elections, and we were left pondering, what if Al Gore had utilized Bill Clinton's assistance? Now we may learn the answer in this election. I doubt that Clinton will hurt as much as he will help."

Steve in Hindem (ph), Kentucky, "Doesn't everyone know that it's always about Bill? He's never considered the consequences of his action upon others before, so why should we expect him to change now?"

Peter in Coral Gables, Florida, "Although Bill Clinton claims he'll do everything he can to help Kerry win, we all know what he really wants is for George W. Bush to be reelected so that Hillary can take a shot at the White House in 2008. Bill is excited about the possibility of helping select White House interns for his wife's administration."

That's...

O'BRIEN: I was waiting for...

CAFFERTY: That was a cheap, low blow, but I couldn't resist.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: That first one, 2000, Al Gore kept Bill Clinton at arm's length. And John Kerry has said he's not going to do that this time around. See if it has an impact.

CAFFERTY: A lot of people think that if Al Gore had embraced Bill Clinton, we would be voting for him for a second term right now.

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

CAFFERTY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: A good bunch of e-mails today.

CAFFERTY: Not bad.

O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning on CNN, a brat-packer goes to New England and runs into some of the scariest stuff Stephen King could cook up. Daryn Kagan talks to actor Rob Lowe up next on "CNN LIVE TODAY."

This is AMERICAN MORNING, back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We're out of time on this Monday. Thanks for being with us. We'll be back here again tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

SERWER: That's it.

HEMMER: Tell a million people. We take all viewers.

We've got to run. Here's Daryn Kagan at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

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