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American Morning
Bush Summits; America Votes 2004; Scott Peterson Trial; Violence in Iraq; 'Question of the Day'; 'Minding Your Business'
Aired June 25, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
The attorney, Mark Geragos, did he turn a prosecution witness to his own advantage? A surprising courtroom admission. Will that bolster Scott Peterson's defense? Have a look at that today.
President Bush heads for Ireland this morning, an important meeting there with European allies. Can he bring NATO into the fold in Iraq?
And what do Americans feel about confidence in the war? A new poll is out. It may spell bad news for the White House.
All this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome, everybody.
Some of the stories that are making headlines this morning.
We're going to get right to President Bush's big overseas trip just ahead in just a moment from the report from the White House this morning.
Also, we're taking a look at the Iraq handover just five days away now. Much more fighting today in Fallujah, that on top of the nearly 100 people who were killed yesterday. What does this all say about security and who is really behind all the violence? We're going to try to answer those questions this morning.
HEMMER: Also on a Friday morning, lighten it up just a bit today, '90-Second Pop' comes your way. Mariah Carey, what is her future? Maybe a comeback? That roller coaster career continues, we know that, but is it up or is it down? We'll talk about that in a moment with our panel.
Jack continues with his time off, but Toure is stirring the pot. He'll be with us in a moment.
O'BRIEN: The Toure experience.
HEMMER: Yes, rolls on.
O'BRIEN: He's got yet another day. But first, before we get to any of that, let's talk about President Bush. He's heading to Ireland today for a summit with leaders of the European Union before he travels tomorrow to the NATO Summit in Turkey. In Ireland, thousands of police and troops will be on hand to control the expected demonstrations.
Dana Bash live for us at the White House this morning.
Hey, Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And the president has three stops in his five-day trip. The focus, as you mentioned, is a pair of summits. First he goes to Ireland and then Mr. Bush ends up for a NATO Summit in Turkey. And the primary objective is to get help with security in Iraq. And he will be carrying with him a letter from Iraq's prime minister asking NATO countries for help with security, for training Iraqi security forces.
And on the eve of Mr. Bush's trip, he did an interview that perhaps illustrates the challenge he has in getting some of these key European countries to help. He is still defending whether or not the war was just in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was dangerous. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein -- if Saddam Hussein were in power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, Mr. President, the world is a more dangerous place today. I don't know whether you can see that or not?
BUSH: Why do you say that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are terrorist bombings every single day. It's now a daily event. It wasn't like that two years ago.
BUSH: What was it like September the 11th, 2001? It was a -- there was a relative calm. We thought...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But if your response to Iraq was considered...
BUSH: But let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now the problem Mr. Bush might be facing is that some of the European leaders he is trying to convince have populations that don't support his policies in Iraq, still. And you will probably be seeing that in full force with the protests that are planned in Ireland and elsewhere around Europe. But the message that the president will bring for NATO members is that they should remember their own history and that is that other countries around the world make sacrifices for them for them to have their freedom -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Dana, a question on another topic now, there were reports that President Bush is focusing now on Porter Goss to head the CIA. What are you hearing about that?
BASH: Well administration officials say that the House Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss is a top candidate for the post of CIA director, of course to replace George Tenet who announced earlier this month that he was going to be stepping down. But they also say that there are other candidates, there's more than one candidate and that the president has not made his final decision -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well we'll see. Dana Bash for us at the White House this morning. Dana, thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well months of bad news out of Iraq has taken a political toll on the president. According to a new CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll, for the first time since the war began, a majority of Americans, 54 percent, say the U.S. made a mistake in sending troops into Iraq. That's up from 41 percent at the beginning of the month.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us from Washington with more on these poll numbers and what they could mean for the presidential election.
Excuse me, Bill, I'm losing my voice here. Let's talk about those poll numbers that we just showed up on the screen there. A real flip-flop we're seeing. What do you think it means?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, with continuing violence, shocking brutality, you heard the Irish interviewer's question. Well our poll shows that most Americans now feel that the war in Iraq did not make, did not make the U.S. safer from terrorism. Plus the finding reported this month from the 9/11 Commission that no credible evidence exists that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States.
So that for the first time the poll shows most Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was not personally involved in the 9/11 attacks. You see it there on your screen. All of that has led a majority of Americans to conclude, for the first time, that the war in Iraq was a mistake.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, there is some good news, at least on the economic front for the White House. Tell me about that.
SCHNEIDER: Yes, well, the economy stupid. It would be a great irony if the economy that brought his father down, the bad economy, if a good economy saved this president. The economy is growing at a good clip. And look at President Bush's approval rating for his handling of the economy. It is growing right along with it. It was 41 percent two-and-a-half weeks ago, now 47 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy. So it's looking up. O'BRIEN: But with many people, me sometimes included, is if the numbers for President Bush go down around Iraq and terror where he's supposed to be strongest, why don't we see an uptick for Senator Kerry? I mean as the primary candidate against the president, you would imagine that one would go up, one would go down.
SCHNEIDER: Yes. Well, actually, Kerry has gone up. And right now he is neck and neck with President Bush, particularly on the issue of Iraq. Who would handle it better? The two candidates are even. You know this is a president who overthrew the regime, captured Saddam Hussein, mission was supposed to be accomplished, and Kerry has now neutralized Bush's advantage. He no longer -- Bush no longer holds the lead on the issue of Iraq.
You know John Kerry is running a very cautious campaign, like General Eisenhower in 1952 who said I will go to Korea, or Richard Nixon in 1968 who was depicted as having a -- quote -- "secret plan to end the war in Vietnam." Not saying too much worked both times.
O'BRIEN: When you look at the race right now, give me an assessment of where it stands. And also, the analysis of what it really means, because we're a long way out, frankly, from the election.
SCHNEIDER: Sure. Well right now where it stands is a statistical tie, Bush 49, Kerry 48. Even if you throw Ralph Nader in the mix, it's still a tie. It would be Bush 48, Kerry 47, with Nader at 3, depending on how many ballots he goes on.
What's happening, Soledad, is the ground is shifting in this campaign. (INAUDIBLE) you would have said that Bush wins on national security and Kerry wins on the economy. But national security is now turning into a vulnerability for President Bush while the economy is looking more favorable. So we are seeing a big shift in this campaign.
O'BRIEN: And I guess the $64,000 question is does that shift continue -- Bill Schneider?
SCHNEIDER: Yes, that's -- especially with the handover coming next week in Iraq, is that going to look -- start looking much better?
O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll see. Bill Schneider for us this morning. Bill, thanks.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HEMMER: Another Bill, Bill Clinton sat down last night with CNN's Larry King. Mr. Clinton's first live prime time interview since the release of his book. Talked about a number of topics last night, including Osama bin Laden going back to October of 2000 the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.
Here is how that conversation went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I regret deeply that I didn't get him. I tried everything I knew to get him. I wish -- the only real regret I have in terms of our efforts is nearly everybody in the world knew that he did the USS Cole in October of 2000.
I knew what our options were. I knew what our military options were. I knew what our covert options were, and I felt I couldn't take strong military action against Afghanistan because the FBI and the CIA didn't officially agree that bin Laden had done it until after I left office. If they had done so when I was in office, I would have taken stronger action, even as a lame duck president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Bill Clinton from "LARRY KING" last night -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: When testimony resumes next week in the Scott Peterson trial, prosecutors will try to repair the damage from one of their own witnesses. In a fairly stunning development yesterday, a police detective admitted concealing information from a witness who contradicts key elements of the state's double murder case against Scott Peterson.
Joining us this morning from Sacramento, Gloria Gomez, reporter for KOVR Television. She's been covering the trial and chatting with us almost each and every morning.
Nice to see you, Gloria. Give me a sense of how...
GLORIA GOMEZ, KOVR-TV REPORTER: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: ... significant this seems to be at this point. Some people are using the word bombshell, other people say well it potentially could be a bombshell. What happened and what does it mean?
GOMEZ: Well it was very dramatic in the courtroom yesterday because Mark Geragos, showing that this police detective, Detective Brochini, actually omitted some information from his report, and he did it in a pretty dramatic way.
Actually, when an investigator actually submits a report, he puts it on a tape recorder, and, you know, actually has a dictation report. Well, when he did that, he played that for the jury, which clearly showed this tip coming in from a woman who claims she saw Laci Peterson on December 23, and Laci asked if she could use the rest room.
Well that dictation was played for the jury, and then Mark Geragos played on a full screen the actual final report that did not have that final version of the report. And Detective Brochini admitting, yes, I took that part out of the report.
Now that's significant, because prosecutors contend Laci did not know about the boat and that Laci's hair ended up on a pair of pliers because that was part of the crime scene, that Laci's body was dumped in the boat and then later dumped in the bay. So obviously, that's contradicting what the prosecution has been saying the whole time.
O'BRIEN: So, Gloria, then let me jump in here, how big of a deal is this? I mean it sounds like you're saying it's a bombshell. Is it? And I mean they ended court on that. And so this gives something important for everybody to sort of mull over, over the weekend.
GOMEZ: Right. But of course sources telling me new information is the fact that this wasn't information that was hidden from the defense. In fact, this woman was interviewed by several police detectives, and there are several reports indicating what this woman had said. So this wasn't anything the defense didn't know about.
And one reason Brochini actually took that out of his report is because he found out later that this woman had been interviewed by several other detectives, so he didn't just want to be redundant, repeating the same information over and over again.
O'BRIEN: But it seems as if that information is not going to come to the jurors yet until maybe next week. So what's the court's reaction been on what seems to be, at this point, sort of a big bombshell?
GOMEZ: Well, I know that I was in the courtroom when all of this happened, and clearly there was a big buzz in the courtroom, everybody talking about it as Brochini was testifying. I looked to see what the jury was doing, and they were paying attention to everything and taking a lot of notes during this.
But, of course, you know when we get to hear Brochini testify on Monday, he will actually clarify exactly why he took this out of his report. And clearly they're probably going to want to bring in this witness to see how credible she is. Because sources say that when she actually talked to police, she wasn't sure if she saw Laci on the 20th or the 23rd, and then she even said she wasn't even sure if it was Laci.
O'BRIEN: Well I've got to tell you, I have a feeling we're going to be talking about bombshells, potential bombshells, could be, would be bombshells throughout this entire trial.
Gloria Gomez for us this morning, Nice to see you, Gloria, thanks.
GOMEZ: Nice to see you. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Twelve minutes past the hour now. To Daryn Kagan in the CNN Center watching other news for us.
Good morning -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill. Let's start in Iraq, that is where a military hearing will decide whether a U.S. soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners will face a court-martial or have those charges dismissed. Specialist Sabrina Harman is one of seven U.S. soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. The hearing began yesterday is expected to wrap today.
Here in the U.S., U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson says he is stepping down. Olson's job was to argue for the Bush administration in cases that came before the Supreme Court. He helped secure President Bush's win during a legal fight over the 2000 election in Florida. Olson did not give specific reasons for the resignation, which will take effect next month.
China is reportedly canceling the closing ceremony for its nuclear talks in Beijing, that news coming a day after North Korea threatened to test a nuclear weapon if the U.S. did not accept its proposal for a nuclear freeze. U.S. officials say the warning was made during a private meeting yesterday between the U.S. and North Korea on the sidelines of the six-way talks.
A spacewalk turning too dangerous for NASA. The U.S.-Russian team stepping out of the International Space Station for a repair mission ordered back about 14 minutes later. Mission Control had spotted a pressure drop in American Michael Fink's oxygen tanks. They might make another attempt on Tuesday.
And they were feeling the draft in New York City last night. The NBA's No. 1 pick, Dwight Howard. Keep in mind the guy is not even old enough to drink, landing a major deal. He is 6'10". He is a high school forward. He will go to the Orlando Magic. He becomes the third high schooler chosen No. 1 in the last four years. He was one of eight high school players picked in the first round. Not bad career experience, if you can get it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed you're right.
KAGAN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn, good to see you on a Friday. Talk to you a bit later this morning.
KAGAN: Sure.
HEMMER: Five days now and counting, the handover of power in Iraq. Security is heightened there after heavy violence across the country yesterday. Fighting between insurgents and coalition forces resumed early today also in Fallujah. At least two Iraqis reported dead there, seven more wounded.
Yesterday, near simultaneous attacks killed 100 in Fallujah, Ramadi, Mosul, Baqubah and Baghdad. Claims of responsibility for those attacks came within hours, but who is really behind them?
Sajjan Gohel is back with us. He is an expert on terrorism with the Asia-Pacific Foundation, our guest live in London.
And good morning to you, good afternoon, I should say, to you in London.
SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Good morning.
HEMMER: Throughout the day yesterday, we heard the deputy prime minister in Iraq saying that their intelligence is getting better. Is that true? And how much better does it need to get in order to penetrate the insurgents?
GOHEL: Well we're going to need a substantial increase in our local on the ground intelligence in order to thwart possible future terrorist attacks. What we have to understand is that the terrorist infrastructure on the ground is very developed. It's dispersed throughout the country and able to coordinate activities throughout all the major cities.
And as we witnessed yesterday, five Iraqi cities were all targeted on the same day at the same time. The terrorists definitely have the advantage and we are always having to play a game of catch-up to try and thwart possible future terrorist attacks.
HEMMER: Let's focus on Zarqawi for a moment, if we could. You say he is not the next bin Laden, he is the new Zarqawi. What do you mean by that?
GOHEL: Well I think though what we have to understand that al- Zarqawi operates independently. He is only affiliated to the ideas of Osama bin Laden, but he operates in his own ideas, he has his own terror infrastructure, he has cells that are linked in the Middle East, in Europe that recruit individuals to go fight in Iraq. And certainly it's difficult to say that he would be the next bin Laden.
Bin Laden has a different set of ideas, but they are similar strategies. And al-Zarqawi certainly now is definitely the most wanted terrorist, not just in Iraq, but would be pretty high ranked, along with Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden is No. 2 and bin Laden himself.
HEMMER: Is it too simple though to blame Zarqawi for all the violence in Iraq?
GOHEL: Well I think we often like to use individuals to identify them with an exact problem, just like we do with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Certainly we have to look at the fact that there are also different types of groups that operate inside Iraq, Saddam loyalists, disgruntled former Baathists, Ali Baba-type bandits and of course Shia militiamen and then we have the foreign fighters linked to al-Zarqawi. You have a plethora of outfits operate independently, have their own ideas. Some of them, though, do pool their resources together because ultimately their shared goal is to drive out the coalition and disrupt the rebuilding process.
HEMMER: Moving away from the insurgents here, there is a report back in the U.S. that broke yesterday about the possibility of 15,000 more troops maybe being sent to Iraq. There's also a story out about this poll that was done exclusively in Iraq in five different parts of the country. Overwhelmingly, more than 70 percent of Iraqis polled support the new government, support the handover, support the new prime minister and have a fairly high level of confidence for the future in that country. What does that say to you, despite the violence we've been reporting?
GOHEL: I think that's a very positive, good news that is coming out. Certainly many Iraqis, of course, want to rebuild their lives after the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and they want to see an Iraq thriving, and a prosperous one.
The problem is that the insurgents, the terrorists inside the country, want the opposite. They want to turn Iraq into a Taliban/Afghanistan, another cesspool for terrorism. And it's going to have to require joint effort by all the members of international community to help in the rebuilding process. We have to look at the long term in Iraq, because if we fail, then the consequences of that are unimaginable.
HEMMER: Sajjan Gohel, thanks, live in London.
GOHEL: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I thought we'd check in with Toure. He's got the 'Question of the Day,' and he's in for Jack Cafferty who is off.
Good morning.
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. And we're going to have...
O'BRIEN: Happy Friday.
TOURE: ... fun today. Happy Friday.
We're going to rock out a little bit today because it's Friday. Our 'Question of the Day,' a simple question, what's the greatest rock band of all time? If you want to say what's the greatest band of all time, we'll take that too.
The correct answer to both questions of course is U2. They've been successful for 20 years, far longer than the Beatles. They remain relevant unlike the Rolling Stones. They have been brilliant in the studio, in their videos, in their amazing concerts. They are important sonically, politically and they just rock.
Now there are other acceptable, correct answers. The Beatles are correct. Radiohead is correct. Guns N' Roses is also correct. And it's also Friday, so you know do whatever you like. It's rock 'n' roll. Feel free to write us about whatever is on your mind. The only rule is you have to make it a poem in the form of four lines. It's true.
HEMMER: Nice.
TOURE: And don't knock the Hustle. Show us what you've got. The greatest band ever, or whatever four-line poem you can come up with.
O'BRIEN: You're going to make people write their -- write their...
TOURE: No, they don't have to write the -- the rock question is one.
O'BRIEN: But if you do anything other than the rock question...
TOURE: The poem -- then it's a poem.
O'BRIEN: ... you have to write it in iambic pentameter in a four-line poem?
TOURE: It doesn't have to tetrameter, Shakespearean, just make it interesting.
O'BRIEN: That's going to encourage people to write in.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: I'm brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, let me sit down and jot out a four-line poem.
TOURE: There's a lot of poets in America.
O'BRIEN: Good thinking, Toure. I like it, very creative.
TOURE: We're a nation full of poets, man. It's all right!
HEMMER: Thanks, Toure.
TOURE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Hey, you're better than a cup of coffee, most days.
TOURE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: He keeps moving.
HEMMER: Thanks for waking us up.
TOURE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Here is Chad Myers at the CNN Center.
Good morning, Chad.
O'BRIEN: Hey -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill, are you voting for the E Street Band?
HEMMER: I, no doubt, would get one of them, yes.
MYERS: Probably would be your vote, I would guess, considering how many concerts you've been to, which is more than a couple dozen, fact, if you don't know.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
HEMMER: All right, Chad, thanks for that.
O'BRIEN: Thanks -- Chad.
MYERS: Bye.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an appeals court deals a serious setback to some of the country's biggest media companies. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, another pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson matter. He will not be there. We'll ask Jeffery Toobin why in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And the NHL has suspended Todd Bertuzzi for that vicious hit on the ice. Now we'll know whether he has to answer to authorities off the ice as well.
Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody.
It's being called a major setback for major media companies. For more on this, Andy Serwer, first check, "Minding Your Business" with us now.
Good morning, Andy.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you guys.
Yes, long faces here on media row on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan where a lot of the big media companies are headquartered, but possibly some good news for consumers. A U.S. appeals court yesterday struck down a ruling that would have allowed these giants to buy other media outlets across the country.
You kind of knew this one was in trouble going back a couple of months ago when groups from the left and the right were against it. Remember this one, the NRA was opposed to it and the National Organization for Women.
O'BRIEN: Never happens.
SERWER: Now, you know when you're going to have both of those two together on the same side of an issue that it's probably not going to make any headway. And the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, had ruled that giant media companies, like our parent company Time Warner, Fox, Clear Channel, could go out and buy other media companies across the country. The U.S. appeals court saying hold fast, let's just keep this. Media companies not so chagrined, actually, because it's really just the status quo is being left alone. They're not given a setback.
Let's talk about the markets quickly. Yesterday, a down day. We had a rally going on this week, but it was a two-day wonder and now it's over. Thirty-five points downside. More stuff on the international front hurting stocks, violence abroad, et cetera.
This morning, though, futures are up nicely, and we're going to get another read on the economy at 8:30.
And my favorite rock 'n' roll band of all-time...
HEMMER: Is?
SERWER: ... Sly and the Family Stone. Kind of a wild card there, but I love that band.
O'BRIEN: I like it. I like it.
SERWER: And they brought people together all across the country in different ways. Kind of short lived, but I love Sly. He's the greatest.
HEMMER: Contribution well noted.
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: How's the Norwegian oil strikers?
SERWER: We'll get to that later.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: I'm glad you asked.
HEMMER: OK. That's a tease. Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: In a second here, the weekend's coming up here, '90- Second Pop' comes your way in a moment.
After a nervous breakdown, a movie flop and a lost record deal, Mariah Carey's luck may be changing. Team Carey wants to give the star a makeover.
And the Wayans brothers poking fun at white chicks this weekend, but will that be enough to knock off "The Notebook?" '90-Second Pop' is coming up.
Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Just about 7:30 here in New York on a Friday morning, good to have you with us along the ride today.
The Michael Jackson case back in court. The decisions made now, we're told, could make a big difference in how much you hear about the case in the weeks to come. Jeff Toobin talks about that in a moment here.
Also, '90-Second Pop' a bit later. Mariah Carey, is that star for her, is it rising again? The big career makeover in the works for her and the revival.
Also, the Shaw (ph) report, among other topics, this morning with our poppers.
Sources telling CNN that President Bush seriously considering appointing a replacement soon for outgoing CIA director George Tenet. Sources say the front runner, Representative Porter Goss, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, but they say the president is considering others. Administration sources previously indicating it was unlikely a replacement would be named before the November elections. Tenet set to leave the director post next month. More on this throughout the morning.
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Aired June 25, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
The attorney, Mark Geragos, did he turn a prosecution witness to his own advantage? A surprising courtroom admission. Will that bolster Scott Peterson's defense? Have a look at that today.
President Bush heads for Ireland this morning, an important meeting there with European allies. Can he bring NATO into the fold in Iraq?
And what do Americans feel about confidence in the war? A new poll is out. It may spell bad news for the White House.
All this morning here on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome, everybody.
Some of the stories that are making headlines this morning.
We're going to get right to President Bush's big overseas trip just ahead in just a moment from the report from the White House this morning.
Also, we're taking a look at the Iraq handover just five days away now. Much more fighting today in Fallujah, that on top of the nearly 100 people who were killed yesterday. What does this all say about security and who is really behind all the violence? We're going to try to answer those questions this morning.
HEMMER: Also on a Friday morning, lighten it up just a bit today, '90-Second Pop' comes your way. Mariah Carey, what is her future? Maybe a comeback? That roller coaster career continues, we know that, but is it up or is it down? We'll talk about that in a moment with our panel.
Jack continues with his time off, but Toure is stirring the pot. He'll be with us in a moment.
O'BRIEN: The Toure experience.
HEMMER: Yes, rolls on.
O'BRIEN: He's got yet another day. But first, before we get to any of that, let's talk about President Bush. He's heading to Ireland today for a summit with leaders of the European Union before he travels tomorrow to the NATO Summit in Turkey. In Ireland, thousands of police and troops will be on hand to control the expected demonstrations.
Dana Bash live for us at the White House this morning.
Hey, Dana, good morning.
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And the president has three stops in his five-day trip. The focus, as you mentioned, is a pair of summits. First he goes to Ireland and then Mr. Bush ends up for a NATO Summit in Turkey. And the primary objective is to get help with security in Iraq. And he will be carrying with him a letter from Iraq's prime minister asking NATO countries for help with security, for training Iraqi security forces.
And on the eve of Mr. Bush's trip, he did an interview that perhaps illustrates the challenge he has in getting some of these key European countries to help. He is still defending whether or not the war was just in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was dangerous. And no one can argue that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein -- if Saddam Hussein were in power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But, Mr. President, the world is a more dangerous place today. I don't know whether you can see that or not?
BUSH: Why do you say that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are terrorist bombings every single day. It's now a daily event. It wasn't like that two years ago.
BUSH: What was it like September the 11th, 2001? It was a -- there was a relative calm. We thought...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But if your response to Iraq was considered...
BUSH: But let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now the problem Mr. Bush might be facing is that some of the European leaders he is trying to convince have populations that don't support his policies in Iraq, still. And you will probably be seeing that in full force with the protests that are planned in Ireland and elsewhere around Europe. But the message that the president will bring for NATO members is that they should remember their own history and that is that other countries around the world make sacrifices for them for them to have their freedom -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Dana, a question on another topic now, there were reports that President Bush is focusing now on Porter Goss to head the CIA. What are you hearing about that?
BASH: Well administration officials say that the House Intelligence Chairman Porter Goss is a top candidate for the post of CIA director, of course to replace George Tenet who announced earlier this month that he was going to be stepping down. But they also say that there are other candidates, there's more than one candidate and that the president has not made his final decision -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well we'll see. Dana Bash for us at the White House this morning. Dana, thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Well months of bad news out of Iraq has taken a political toll on the president. According to a new CNN-"USA Today" Gallup Poll, for the first time since the war began, a majority of Americans, 54 percent, say the U.S. made a mistake in sending troops into Iraq. That's up from 41 percent at the beginning of the month.
CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider joins us from Washington with more on these poll numbers and what they could mean for the presidential election.
Excuse me, Bill, I'm losing my voice here. Let's talk about those poll numbers that we just showed up on the screen there. A real flip-flop we're seeing. What do you think it means?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, with continuing violence, shocking brutality, you heard the Irish interviewer's question. Well our poll shows that most Americans now feel that the war in Iraq did not make, did not make the U.S. safer from terrorism. Plus the finding reported this month from the 9/11 Commission that no credible evidence exists that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States.
So that for the first time the poll shows most Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was not personally involved in the 9/11 attacks. You see it there on your screen. All of that has led a majority of Americans to conclude, for the first time, that the war in Iraq was a mistake.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, there is some good news, at least on the economic front for the White House. Tell me about that.
SCHNEIDER: Yes, well, the economy stupid. It would be a great irony if the economy that brought his father down, the bad economy, if a good economy saved this president. The economy is growing at a good clip. And look at President Bush's approval rating for his handling of the economy. It is growing right along with it. It was 41 percent two-and-a-half weeks ago, now 47 percent approve of the way he is handling the economy. So it's looking up. O'BRIEN: But with many people, me sometimes included, is if the numbers for President Bush go down around Iraq and terror where he's supposed to be strongest, why don't we see an uptick for Senator Kerry? I mean as the primary candidate against the president, you would imagine that one would go up, one would go down.
SCHNEIDER: Yes. Well, actually, Kerry has gone up. And right now he is neck and neck with President Bush, particularly on the issue of Iraq. Who would handle it better? The two candidates are even. You know this is a president who overthrew the regime, captured Saddam Hussein, mission was supposed to be accomplished, and Kerry has now neutralized Bush's advantage. He no longer -- Bush no longer holds the lead on the issue of Iraq.
You know John Kerry is running a very cautious campaign, like General Eisenhower in 1952 who said I will go to Korea, or Richard Nixon in 1968 who was depicted as having a -- quote -- "secret plan to end the war in Vietnam." Not saying too much worked both times.
O'BRIEN: When you look at the race right now, give me an assessment of where it stands. And also, the analysis of what it really means, because we're a long way out, frankly, from the election.
SCHNEIDER: Sure. Well right now where it stands is a statistical tie, Bush 49, Kerry 48. Even if you throw Ralph Nader in the mix, it's still a tie. It would be Bush 48, Kerry 47, with Nader at 3, depending on how many ballots he goes on.
What's happening, Soledad, is the ground is shifting in this campaign. (INAUDIBLE) you would have said that Bush wins on national security and Kerry wins on the economy. But national security is now turning into a vulnerability for President Bush while the economy is looking more favorable. So we are seeing a big shift in this campaign.
O'BRIEN: And I guess the $64,000 question is does that shift continue -- Bill Schneider?
SCHNEIDER: Yes, that's -- especially with the handover coming next week in Iraq, is that going to look -- start looking much better?
O'BRIEN: Yes, we'll see. Bill Schneider for us this morning. Bill, thanks.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HEMMER: Another Bill, Bill Clinton sat down last night with CNN's Larry King. Mr. Clinton's first live prime time interview since the release of his book. Talked about a number of topics last night, including Osama bin Laden going back to October of 2000 the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen.
Here is how that conversation went.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I regret deeply that I didn't get him. I tried everything I knew to get him. I wish -- the only real regret I have in terms of our efforts is nearly everybody in the world knew that he did the USS Cole in October of 2000.
I knew what our options were. I knew what our military options were. I knew what our covert options were, and I felt I couldn't take strong military action against Afghanistan because the FBI and the CIA didn't officially agree that bin Laden had done it until after I left office. If they had done so when I was in office, I would have taken stronger action, even as a lame duck president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Bill Clinton from "LARRY KING" last night -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: When testimony resumes next week in the Scott Peterson trial, prosecutors will try to repair the damage from one of their own witnesses. In a fairly stunning development yesterday, a police detective admitted concealing information from a witness who contradicts key elements of the state's double murder case against Scott Peterson.
Joining us this morning from Sacramento, Gloria Gomez, reporter for KOVR Television. She's been covering the trial and chatting with us almost each and every morning.
Nice to see you, Gloria. Give me a sense of how...
GLORIA GOMEZ, KOVR-TV REPORTER: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: ... significant this seems to be at this point. Some people are using the word bombshell, other people say well it potentially could be a bombshell. What happened and what does it mean?
GOMEZ: Well it was very dramatic in the courtroom yesterday because Mark Geragos, showing that this police detective, Detective Brochini, actually omitted some information from his report, and he did it in a pretty dramatic way.
Actually, when an investigator actually submits a report, he puts it on a tape recorder, and, you know, actually has a dictation report. Well, when he did that, he played that for the jury, which clearly showed this tip coming in from a woman who claims she saw Laci Peterson on December 23, and Laci asked if she could use the rest room.
Well that dictation was played for the jury, and then Mark Geragos played on a full screen the actual final report that did not have that final version of the report. And Detective Brochini admitting, yes, I took that part out of the report.
Now that's significant, because prosecutors contend Laci did not know about the boat and that Laci's hair ended up on a pair of pliers because that was part of the crime scene, that Laci's body was dumped in the boat and then later dumped in the bay. So obviously, that's contradicting what the prosecution has been saying the whole time.
O'BRIEN: So, Gloria, then let me jump in here, how big of a deal is this? I mean it sounds like you're saying it's a bombshell. Is it? And I mean they ended court on that. And so this gives something important for everybody to sort of mull over, over the weekend.
GOMEZ: Right. But of course sources telling me new information is the fact that this wasn't information that was hidden from the defense. In fact, this woman was interviewed by several police detectives, and there are several reports indicating what this woman had said. So this wasn't anything the defense didn't know about.
And one reason Brochini actually took that out of his report is because he found out later that this woman had been interviewed by several other detectives, so he didn't just want to be redundant, repeating the same information over and over again.
O'BRIEN: But it seems as if that information is not going to come to the jurors yet until maybe next week. So what's the court's reaction been on what seems to be, at this point, sort of a big bombshell?
GOMEZ: Well, I know that I was in the courtroom when all of this happened, and clearly there was a big buzz in the courtroom, everybody talking about it as Brochini was testifying. I looked to see what the jury was doing, and they were paying attention to everything and taking a lot of notes during this.
But, of course, you know when we get to hear Brochini testify on Monday, he will actually clarify exactly why he took this out of his report. And clearly they're probably going to want to bring in this witness to see how credible she is. Because sources say that when she actually talked to police, she wasn't sure if she saw Laci on the 20th or the 23rd, and then she even said she wasn't even sure if it was Laci.
O'BRIEN: Well I've got to tell you, I have a feeling we're going to be talking about bombshells, potential bombshells, could be, would be bombshells throughout this entire trial.
Gloria Gomez for us this morning, Nice to see you, Gloria, thanks.
GOMEZ: Nice to see you. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: Twelve minutes past the hour now. To Daryn Kagan in the CNN Center watching other news for us.
Good morning -- Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, Bill. Let's start in Iraq, that is where a military hearing will decide whether a U.S. soldier accused of abusing Iraqi prisoners will face a court-martial or have those charges dismissed. Specialist Sabrina Harman is one of seven U.S. soldiers accused in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. The hearing began yesterday is expected to wrap today.
Here in the U.S., U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson says he is stepping down. Olson's job was to argue for the Bush administration in cases that came before the Supreme Court. He helped secure President Bush's win during a legal fight over the 2000 election in Florida. Olson did not give specific reasons for the resignation, which will take effect next month.
China is reportedly canceling the closing ceremony for its nuclear talks in Beijing, that news coming a day after North Korea threatened to test a nuclear weapon if the U.S. did not accept its proposal for a nuclear freeze. U.S. officials say the warning was made during a private meeting yesterday between the U.S. and North Korea on the sidelines of the six-way talks.
A spacewalk turning too dangerous for NASA. The U.S.-Russian team stepping out of the International Space Station for a repair mission ordered back about 14 minutes later. Mission Control had spotted a pressure drop in American Michael Fink's oxygen tanks. They might make another attempt on Tuesday.
And they were feeling the draft in New York City last night. The NBA's No. 1 pick, Dwight Howard. Keep in mind the guy is not even old enough to drink, landing a major deal. He is 6'10". He is a high school forward. He will go to the Orlando Magic. He becomes the third high schooler chosen No. 1 in the last four years. He was one of eight high school players picked in the first round. Not bad career experience, if you can get it -- Bill.
HEMMER: Indeed you're right.
KAGAN: Yes.
HEMMER: Thank you, Daryn, good to see you on a Friday. Talk to you a bit later this morning.
KAGAN: Sure.
HEMMER: Five days now and counting, the handover of power in Iraq. Security is heightened there after heavy violence across the country yesterday. Fighting between insurgents and coalition forces resumed early today also in Fallujah. At least two Iraqis reported dead there, seven more wounded.
Yesterday, near simultaneous attacks killed 100 in Fallujah, Ramadi, Mosul, Baqubah and Baghdad. Claims of responsibility for those attacks came within hours, but who is really behind them?
Sajjan Gohel is back with us. He is an expert on terrorism with the Asia-Pacific Foundation, our guest live in London.
And good morning to you, good afternoon, I should say, to you in London.
SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Good morning.
HEMMER: Throughout the day yesterday, we heard the deputy prime minister in Iraq saying that their intelligence is getting better. Is that true? And how much better does it need to get in order to penetrate the insurgents?
GOHEL: Well we're going to need a substantial increase in our local on the ground intelligence in order to thwart possible future terrorist attacks. What we have to understand is that the terrorist infrastructure on the ground is very developed. It's dispersed throughout the country and able to coordinate activities throughout all the major cities.
And as we witnessed yesterday, five Iraqi cities were all targeted on the same day at the same time. The terrorists definitely have the advantage and we are always having to play a game of catch-up to try and thwart possible future terrorist attacks.
HEMMER: Let's focus on Zarqawi for a moment, if we could. You say he is not the next bin Laden, he is the new Zarqawi. What do you mean by that?
GOHEL: Well I think though what we have to understand that al- Zarqawi operates independently. He is only affiliated to the ideas of Osama bin Laden, but he operates in his own ideas, he has his own terror infrastructure, he has cells that are linked in the Middle East, in Europe that recruit individuals to go fight in Iraq. And certainly it's difficult to say that he would be the next bin Laden.
Bin Laden has a different set of ideas, but they are similar strategies. And al-Zarqawi certainly now is definitely the most wanted terrorist, not just in Iraq, but would be pretty high ranked, along with Ayman al-Zawahiri, bin Laden is No. 2 and bin Laden himself.
HEMMER: Is it too simple though to blame Zarqawi for all the violence in Iraq?
GOHEL: Well I think we often like to use individuals to identify them with an exact problem, just like we do with Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda. Certainly we have to look at the fact that there are also different types of groups that operate inside Iraq, Saddam loyalists, disgruntled former Baathists, Ali Baba-type bandits and of course Shia militiamen and then we have the foreign fighters linked to al-Zarqawi. You have a plethora of outfits operate independently, have their own ideas. Some of them, though, do pool their resources together because ultimately their shared goal is to drive out the coalition and disrupt the rebuilding process.
HEMMER: Moving away from the insurgents here, there is a report back in the U.S. that broke yesterday about the possibility of 15,000 more troops maybe being sent to Iraq. There's also a story out about this poll that was done exclusively in Iraq in five different parts of the country. Overwhelmingly, more than 70 percent of Iraqis polled support the new government, support the handover, support the new prime minister and have a fairly high level of confidence for the future in that country. What does that say to you, despite the violence we've been reporting?
GOHEL: I think that's a very positive, good news that is coming out. Certainly many Iraqis, of course, want to rebuild their lives after the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and they want to see an Iraq thriving, and a prosperous one.
The problem is that the insurgents, the terrorists inside the country, want the opposite. They want to turn Iraq into a Taliban/Afghanistan, another cesspool for terrorism. And it's going to have to require joint effort by all the members of international community to help in the rebuilding process. We have to look at the long term in Iraq, because if we fail, then the consequences of that are unimaginable.
HEMMER: Sajjan Gohel, thanks, live in London.
GOHEL: Thank you.
HEMMER: Soledad.
O'BRIEN: I thought we'd check in with Toure. He's got the 'Question of the Day,' and he's in for Jack Cafferty who is off.
Good morning.
TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. And we're going to have...
O'BRIEN: Happy Friday.
TOURE: ... fun today. Happy Friday.
We're going to rock out a little bit today because it's Friday. Our 'Question of the Day,' a simple question, what's the greatest rock band of all time? If you want to say what's the greatest band of all time, we'll take that too.
The correct answer to both questions of course is U2. They've been successful for 20 years, far longer than the Beatles. They remain relevant unlike the Rolling Stones. They have been brilliant in the studio, in their videos, in their amazing concerts. They are important sonically, politically and they just rock.
Now there are other acceptable, correct answers. The Beatles are correct. Radiohead is correct. Guns N' Roses is also correct. And it's also Friday, so you know do whatever you like. It's rock 'n' roll. Feel free to write us about whatever is on your mind. The only rule is you have to make it a poem in the form of four lines. It's true.
HEMMER: Nice.
TOURE: And don't knock the Hustle. Show us what you've got. The greatest band ever, or whatever four-line poem you can come up with.
O'BRIEN: You're going to make people write their -- write their...
TOURE: No, they don't have to write the -- the rock question is one.
O'BRIEN: But if you do anything other than the rock question...
TOURE: The poem -- then it's a poem.
O'BRIEN: ... you have to write it in iambic pentameter in a four-line poem?
TOURE: It doesn't have to tetrameter, Shakespearean, just make it interesting.
O'BRIEN: That's going to encourage people to write in.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: I'm brushing my teeth, getting ready for work, let me sit down and jot out a four-line poem.
TOURE: There's a lot of poets in America.
O'BRIEN: Good thinking, Toure. I like it, very creative.
TOURE: We're a nation full of poets, man. It's all right!
HEMMER: Thanks, Toure.
TOURE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Hey, you're better than a cup of coffee, most days.
TOURE: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: He keeps moving.
HEMMER: Thanks for waking us up.
TOURE: Thank you.
HEMMER: Here is Chad Myers at the CNN Center.
Good morning, Chad.
O'BRIEN: Hey -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Bill, are you voting for the E Street Band?
HEMMER: I, no doubt, would get one of them, yes.
MYERS: Probably would be your vote, I would guess, considering how many concerts you've been to, which is more than a couple dozen, fact, if you don't know.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you guys.
HEMMER: All right, Chad, thanks for that.
O'BRIEN: Thanks -- Chad.
MYERS: Bye.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, an appeals court deals a serious setback to some of the country's biggest media companies. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning just ahead.
HEMMER: Also, another pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson matter. He will not be there. We'll ask Jeffery Toobin why in a moment.
O'BRIEN: And the NHL has suspended Todd Bertuzzi for that vicious hit on the ice. Now we'll know whether he has to answer to authorities off the ice as well.
Those stories all ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody.
It's being called a major setback for major media companies. For more on this, Andy Serwer, first check, "Minding Your Business" with us now.
Good morning, Andy.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you guys.
Yes, long faces here on media row on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan where a lot of the big media companies are headquartered, but possibly some good news for consumers. A U.S. appeals court yesterday struck down a ruling that would have allowed these giants to buy other media outlets across the country.
You kind of knew this one was in trouble going back a couple of months ago when groups from the left and the right were against it. Remember this one, the NRA was opposed to it and the National Organization for Women.
O'BRIEN: Never happens.
SERWER: Now, you know when you're going to have both of those two together on the same side of an issue that it's probably not going to make any headway. And the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, had ruled that giant media companies, like our parent company Time Warner, Fox, Clear Channel, could go out and buy other media companies across the country. The U.S. appeals court saying hold fast, let's just keep this. Media companies not so chagrined, actually, because it's really just the status quo is being left alone. They're not given a setback.
Let's talk about the markets quickly. Yesterday, a down day. We had a rally going on this week, but it was a two-day wonder and now it's over. Thirty-five points downside. More stuff on the international front hurting stocks, violence abroad, et cetera.
This morning, though, futures are up nicely, and we're going to get another read on the economy at 8:30.
And my favorite rock 'n' roll band of all-time...
HEMMER: Is?
SERWER: ... Sly and the Family Stone. Kind of a wild card there, but I love that band.
O'BRIEN: I like it. I like it.
SERWER: And they brought people together all across the country in different ways. Kind of short lived, but I love Sly. He's the greatest.
HEMMER: Contribution well noted.
SERWER: Thank you.
HEMMER: How's the Norwegian oil strikers?
SERWER: We'll get to that later.
HEMMER: Really?
SERWER: I'm glad you asked.
HEMMER: OK. That's a tease. Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: In a second here, the weekend's coming up here, '90- Second Pop' comes your way in a moment.
After a nervous breakdown, a movie flop and a lost record deal, Mariah Carey's luck may be changing. Team Carey wants to give the star a makeover.
And the Wayans brothers poking fun at white chicks this weekend, but will that be enough to knock off "The Notebook?" '90-Second Pop' is coming up.
Stay with us here on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. Just about 7:30 here in New York on a Friday morning, good to have you with us along the ride today.
The Michael Jackson case back in court. The decisions made now, we're told, could make a big difference in how much you hear about the case in the weeks to come. Jeff Toobin talks about that in a moment here.
Also, '90-Second Pop' a bit later. Mariah Carey, is that star for her, is it rising again? The big career makeover in the works for her and the revival.
Also, the Shaw (ph) report, among other topics, this morning with our poppers.
Sources telling CNN that President Bush seriously considering appointing a replacement soon for outgoing CIA director George Tenet. Sources say the front runner, Representative Porter Goss, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, but they say the president is considering others. Administration sources previously indicating it was unlikely a replacement would be named before the November elections. Tenet set to leave the director post next month. More on this throughout the morning.
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