Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Fmr. NYC Police Comm. Says U.S. Safer With Bush; Updates On Hacking Case; CEOs Making More Money; "90-Second Pop"
Aired July 28, 2004 - 07:30 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: Welcome back, everyone, on a Wednesday morning. Day three at the Democratic National Convention live from the FleetCenter in Boston we come to you again this morning. And good morning.
Also my colleague, Heidi Collins, in New York. Heidi, how are you?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm doing great, thanks. You're doing a good job out there, Bill. And it's Wednesday. Only two more days to go.
Also in this half hour, police in Utah return to a landfill overnight to look for clues in the case of a missing woman. We'll get much more on the situation there including why volunteers have been told to stop searching.
But for now, back to Bill in Boston.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. I want to take our viewers back to last night.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy walking proudly on to the stage here at the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter, criticizing the war in Iraq as misguided, speaking angrily about the loss of U.S. lives in that conflict and making it very clear what he thinks about the current president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: In the depths of the depression, Franklin Roosevelt inspired the nation when he said -- the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Today, we say -- the only thing we have to fear is four more years of George Bush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Kennedy also accusing the Bush administration of wasting the goodwill that came from after the attacks of 9/11.
Meanwhile, Senator John Kerry challenging the president, also, to act immediately on the recommendations that came out last week from the 9/11 Commission. Senator Kerry wants an 18-month extension for that panel. Campaigning in Virginia, yesterday, en route to Boston ultimately tomorrow, Kerry says, "We can't afford to go slow on national security." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't treat the commission's report as something that you hope will go away. You can't treat the commission's report as something that sort of represents a threat to America that will go away, because this threat won't go away, and the recommendations of the commission make sense and they should be implemented now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Kerry from yesterday. He'll speak tomorrow night. Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik also here in Boston working with the Bush-Cheney response team. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And good morning to you, Mr. Kerik.
BERNARD KERIK, FMR. NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thank you.
HEMMER: You said recently that another terror attack similar to 9/11 is "more likely with a Democrat in office."
On what do you base that opinion?
KERIK: Well, that's not exactly what I said. I think that was a quote from "The Daily News" that wasn't accurate.
I think what I said at the time was that, you know -- I was asked what I feared most. And I said that I fear another attack, and I fear that attack with a John Kerry, Senator Kerry, being in office, responding to it.
That was my quote. And I said that based on his record, based on his history and based on what I've seen over the last two and a half years with regard to President Bush and his response to the attacks on September 11th and the aftermath, and what we had to do about fighting terror.
HEMMER: Just to be accurate here. This is the quote I have from "The Daily News," "If you put Senator Kerry in the White House I think you are going to see that happen, and I don't want to see another September 11th."
Are you now saying that was inaccurate?
KERIK: Yes. We've talked about this in the past. The exact quote was not accurate.
But the bottom line is, I believe that we are much better off with President Bush in the office. He has been committed. You have to look at his record over the last two and a half years.
Going back to September 20th of 2001, when he talked about going to war, when he talked about what it would entail. It would take time. It would take money. It would come at a cost and that cost may be in life, and we've done everything he said we would do. We went into Afghanistan. We removed the Taliban. We removed the al Qaeda leadership. We went in to Iraq. We removed Saddam and his sons in the regime. And in the battle against terror continues.
You have to look at his record and then look at the record of Senator Kerry, somebody that was in the Senate Intelligence Committee from 1993 to the year 2000.
A very, very important time in our history over that seven-year period when we were attacked in '93 at the World Trade Center, '95 in Riyadh, '96 in Al-Khobar, our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in '98, the Cole in 2000.
His proposals then were to reduce spending in the intelligence community, reduce spending with regard to the military. We can't have someone in office that is looking to reduce spending when this is probably the most important time in our lives. This election is probably the most important election in my life, when it comes to defending this country.
HEMMER: We're going back to your city in about a month's time, as the former police commissioner of New York. Some are suggesting it could be a much more difficult task in terms of security, relative to Boston.
And we'll have the next four or five weeks or so to talk about that.
Thanks. Good to see you. Bernard Kerik here in Boston with us today.
KERIK: You're welcome.
HEMMER: All right. Heidi again in New York.
COLLINS: Thanks, Bill.
Now to the case of a missing Utah woman. For a second day, police returned to a Salt Lake City landfill in search of the missing pregnant woman, Lori Hacking.
Ted Rowlands is live now with more on.
Ted, good morning to you.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Lori Hacking's husband, Mark, remains in this Salt Lake City hospital. Meanwhile, as you mentioned, investigators continue to search for his missing wife, Lori Hacking.
Evidence search teams, as you mentioned, used cadaver dogs last night again in an area landfill. The used backhoes combing through the landfill looking for potential evidence. Detectives say they are still waiting forensic evidence in this case. Meanwhile, family members yesterday, without warning, closed down the volunteer center. They thanked the thousands of people that have come out here in Salt Lake City to help them look for Lori, and then they acknowledged that they do not expect a happy ending in this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT DUNAWAY, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: It's day eight. We understand what that means. We know that the -- what the statistics are for that. Is the family still hopeful? Obviously. Would we love to have a happy ending to this story? Of course we would. Do we know that there are other possibilities? Yes, we understand that as well, and we're prepared for that, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Mark Hacking continues to get the love and support from his family. They also continue to say that they are looking for answers. He received a visit from his parents here at the hospital yesterday.
Lori Hacking was last seen by someone other than her husband Sunday night, the day before she was reported missing by her husband Mark -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Ted Rowlands, live from Salt Lake City, Utah. Must be so hard for that family. Ted, thanks very much.
Yesterday in Los Angeles, a judge sentenced rocker Courtney Love to 18 months in a drug rehab program. She was also ordered to stop drinking alcohol.
Love pleaded guilty to a charge connected with a skirmish at her ex-boyfriend's home when she was arrested last October. Tests revealed cocaine and other drugs in her system. This is one of four criminal cases against the singer/actress.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan. To Iraq, right Daryn?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Heidi. Good morning to you there.
There has been another attack on security officials in Iraq. A suicide car bomb exploded this morning as would-be recruits lined up outside of a police station in Baquba.
Iraqi officials say that at least 68 people were killed in the attacks. They say some 56 others wounded.
Meanwhile, Egyptian officials are denying a CNN report that their government paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom for the release of a top diplomat. His kidnappers let the man go on Monday.
Here in the U.S., a Republican Senator is criticizing the Bush administration for "a host of mistakes in post-war Iraq." Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee tells the Associated Press that Iraq is less secure now than before the war, and he says the U.S. effort will fail if the White House doesn't work more closely with other countries in the region.
Chafee was the only Republican to vote against the October 2002 resolution supporting the invasion of Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is focusing on the future of Iraq during his tour of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Secretary Powell met with the Egyptian foreign minister in Cairo earlier today.
Powell now heads to Saudi Arabia where he's expected to meet tomorrow with Ayad Allawi in their first meeting since Allawi became Iraq's first interim prime minister.
And finally, how about some optimism? And it's coming with the upcoming Olympic games in Athens. Organizers say they are seeing a last-minute surge in ticket sales. They say they are now selling some 13,000 tickets for the games every day.
Still, though, about half of the 5.3 million tickets remain unsold. So if you're heading for Athens, they're waiting for you with a ticket in hand.
Let's check the weather. Rob Marciano in for Chad Myers this week. Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Daryn. That's not always the case for Olympics. Usually a hot ticket, I would guess.
KAGAN: Yes, but you know the same thing happened here in '96 in Atlanta. They said no one was going to get a ticket. And then the games got here, you could go to pretty much anything you wanted.
MARCIANO: Not a bad deal. All right. Let's go over to Athens. Sounds pretty good.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Bill, so look for the rain to increase right where you are.
HEMMER: It was raining this morning, Rob. So we got a heads up there. Hey, thanks a lot, OK.
Still to come here on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy's "Minding Your Business."
Back in a moment. It looks like some of the calls for corporate restraint have gone unanswered. Andy explains that after this.
Also, Florida a bit jittery about voting again in '04. We'll tell what you the problem is this time.
And some "90-Second Pop." The Donald scored a huge hit with "The Apprentice." Now he wants more.
We'll tell you how much more ahead this hour ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It looks like the nation's CEOs are making out pretty well on payday, as you might imagine. Andy Serwer is joining us now "Minding Your Business"
So, how much is it?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, you know what they say about the rich getting richer? CEOs are getting richer, too, Heidi. Average CEO last year made $1.85 million. That's right. We need to change jobs, don't we?
COLLINS: What are we thinking?
SERWER: What are we doing in this TV business, anyway. Pretty good.
A new survey by the corporate library affirmed, that tracks these type of things. You can see here on average CEO pay was up 15 percent last year. Well we did OK, too because the stock market was up 26 percent.
But it just keeps on going. With all of this talk of reining in CEO pay, it doesn't look like it's happening because investors really don't have leverage. It's a competitive world and companies keep having to pay these people more and more.
Let's look at some of the companies where the CEOs did best. Some of these things here kind of make sense. Yahoo and Apple -- Terry Semel at Yahoo! and Steve Jobs at Apple -- these people who have, pay went up over 1,000 percent last year -- 1,000 percent, Jack.
And that's not bad because these people did pretty well. The Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison didn't do as well there. And Colgate- Palmolive, Reuben Mark, that company has done pretty well over the years.
But the CEO who made the most money last year, Barry Diller, media mogul from QVC, $156 million. Most of that was stock options.
Let's talk a little bit about the markets, though.
COLLINS: OK.
SERWER: There is Barry Diller right there.
COLLINS: He looks happy.
SERWER: He does and he really should be happy. Here's what happened yesterday. Red meat for investors. You keep hearing about red meat up in Boston. Well red meat for investors on Wall Street. You can see here stocks are up. Verizon did very well yesterday, so did Lockheed. Futures are looking a little softer, though, this morning.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Andy, thanks so much for that.
SERWER: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Time for Jack and the "Question of the Day."
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you.
The 9/11 Commission report came out last Thursday, and the first thing Congress did was go on vacation for six weeks and said, "We don't have time. We'll take a look at it maybe next year."
Well, apparently the public didn't think that was the right answer. And now they're all kind of trying to rethink their position and come up with something that's more acceptable to the voters who will have something to say about how long they keep their jobs in a few weeks.
The question we're asking is: What's the first change you would make based on the 9/11 Commission report? That's assuming that Congress gets around to making any changes any time soon.
Here's some of what you've written. Charlie in Newport, Virginia: "Bush jumped right on the 9/11 recommendations. Bush also had in place already a lot of the key recommendations in some shape or form before the report came out. That's why we haven't been attacked again."
Karen in Glendale, California: "First thing I'd do based on the 9/11 report is vote for John Kerry."
Fred in Baghdad, Arizona. There's a town.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Baghdad, Arizona: "I fear that in the rush to implement the commission's defensive moves we lose sight of the offensive side of the war. What causes terrorists? What about the Palestinian conflict? What about our quagmire in Iraq?"
And Paul in Hellertown -- who we can count on for something reasonably intelligent almost on a daily basis -- writes: "Due to the public outcry, we will now have to listen to the endless platitudes of Congressman pandering to the thundering herd about their steadfast commitment to protecting our national security. The net result of which will be to raise the threat level to a different color. Given the choice between listening to these mindless, self-congratulatory hearings, I'd prefer to shove a pencil in my ear."
SERWER: Wow.
CAFFERTY: Am@cnn.com
COLLINS: OK.
CAFFERTY: What?
COLLINS: OK.
SERWER: That's some painful stuff.
CAFFERTY: What, listening to the Congress, or putting a pencil in your ear?
SERWER: A little of both.
CAFFERTY: Could be a toss up.
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Jack, thanks for that.
Bill, we're going to send it back to you in Boston now.
HEMMER: I'm keeping my pencil in the pocket, by the way.
COLLINS: Yes, good idea.
HEMMER: Listen there are problems and concerns already in Florida. Listen to this story.
Apparently these touch-screen voting systems, a bit of an issue out of Miami-Dade, southeastern Florida. In the 2002 mid-term election, the records, apparently, had been lost after two computers had crashed.
Officials say there's a backup problem. They can fix it for this election. But the touch-screen system though, meant to prevent the irregularities that we all witnessed back in November in to December of 2000.
Wouldn't you know it, here in Boston, perhaps the delegation that is the fired up this year, they come from Florida. This is their stand later tonight. This is essentially where all of the delegates gathered, 202 from the state of Florida.
A computer system is set up throughout the entire FleetCenter for each delegation. They can communicate with the party all they want. In addition, they have two telephones here. One goes straight to the Kerry campaign, and one straight to the party.
So, what do you need a telephone for down here? They said, you name it. We need more banners. We need more signs. They can bring them down for us, here.
Also, for medical help -- apparently there was a -- one of the delegates perhaps fainted the other night and they had to call him a doctor to help him out. Later tonight in primetime, when they do the roll call. Let me try to get this down here a second. This is what you'll see here on CNN, the head of the delegation -- in this case, Florida -- will come to this microphone, and handoff and essentially assign their delegates, 202 total for the state of Florida.
We're told about 99 percent will go for John Kerry. Maybe two or three will go in John Edwards's favor. So, that's what you'll see here on CNN later tonight, Heidi.
COLLINS: Florida, you know it well, from the last time around, right?
HEMMER: I could give you a tour sometime.
COLLINS: OK, great. As long as we bring the bat phones with us, that would be good.
HEMMER: See you in a couple of minutes.
COLLINS: All right, Bill.
Still to come this morning, some "90-Second Pop." Siegfried and Roy make a decision about their Vegas show. Our panel takes a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It is Wednesday, and it's time for "90-Second Pop."
We'll be rounding up the usual suspects this morning. B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly", Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York Magazine" and Andy Borowitz, the man responsible for "borowitzreport.com," just in case you were wondering.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": They're getting more and more dramatic.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "BOROWITZREPORT.COM": More grandiose. I like that.
COLLINS: Sarah, let's start with you. All right. We're talking about Donald Trump wants to make $18 million.
BERNARD: Million -- yes, he wants a little bit of a pay raise, I know.
COLLINS: I think that's an episode in itself.
BERNARD: Well here is how he gets his math. He's figured out that since the "Friends" cast got $1.5 million each, right, and there were six of them that should make him get $9 million. But his show is an hour and theirs was only a half-hour...
COLLINS: Times two.
BERNARD: ... so he should get $18. And you know I can understand him wanting all this, but what's really funny is the whole point of reality TV for the networks was that it was supposed to be economical, right? It costs a lot less than sitcoms and dramas. And now what's happening because when there's something good everyone wants to do it again...
COLLINS: Sure.
BERNARD: Is that it's just getting to be ratcheted up. And the producers like Mark Burnett are really the ones that are making money. He's got $2 million an episode.
SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": This thing about Donald Trump. He was kidding. He was on the front page of "The Wall Street Journal" yesterday.
BERNARD: He was kidding, oh no.
SIGESMUND: He is going to get in the six figures per episode. He is not asking for $18 million. But what this is indicative of, as Sarah says, is that reality stars are becoming more like the old- fashioned celebrities.
Even Nicole Richie, who has everything in the world, demanded for "The Simple Life 2" that her pet, her dog, get a personal assistant herself.
COLLINS: Well that's important.
SIGESMUND: And all these stars are asking for all these perks, so it is becoming more like the old television celebrities.
BOROWITZ: You know I'm going to get in trouble with Lou Dobbs for saying this, but I think we should outsource Donald Trump to India because all he's doing is firing people. That could be done by a calling center in Bangalore. I really do think so.
BERNARD: You're right because that is $18 million, totally worthless.
BOROWITZ: Exactly.
COLLINS: All right. Well speaking of other countries, let's get to Germany where, B.J., a German newspaper is saying Siegfried and Roy not going to be able to take the stage ever again.
SIGESMUND: Right, right. Their German rep is saying that Roy Horn has good days and bad days. He is spending about six to eight hours in rehab per day. He can walk about 100 or so steps at a time and then he has to get back in his wheelchair.
It's been about 10 months since the mauling, and now they're saying officially that the show will not go on.
BERNARD: He must be doing really not well, because I would think with a show that generated something like $57 million, you know, they would do anything to keep it going.
COLLINS: Right. And then what happens to Vegas without Siegfried and Roy?
SIGESMUND: I know. It's a major attraction there.
COLLINS: It really has been a staple there.
SIGESMUND: But you shouldn't worry because there is going to be this show on in the fall, on Tuesday nights, in the "Frasier" time slot that is actually an animated show for adults about the Siegfried and Roy lions.
This was conceived years ago before the event, and Jeffrey Katzenberg has been the major force behind the show because he, believe it or not, is a huge Siegfried and Roy fan. He's seen it 14 times.
BERNARD: I think that show sounds like the worst idea I've ever heard.
BOROWITZ: That's sort of the end of an era, I think, for show business legends because also Ryan Seacrest's show is also not going to continue.
SIGESMUND: Let's have a moment for Ryan.
BERNARD: We should have a total moment of silence for both of them together.
COLLINS: All right. Andy, what about election fashion? We've been seeing some things here and there. What you think?
BOROWITZ: Well I've been in Boston. I was in Boston on Monday. I'm going back again today.
And checking out -- a lot of people are wearing these sort of vote, T-shirts, a lot of sort of rock the vote, choose or lose, vote or die, you're seeing a lot of that.
I thought the one that was sort of poignant, in a way, was Al Gore was wearing a T-shirt that said, I won the popular vote, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
I like that. I like that one. I thought that was great.
SIGESMUND: I love this election fashion. You know, someone like Ben Affleck, who is a huge celebrity, with him taking time off from movies. He refused a role of couple of weeks ago...
BOROWITZ: Which is always a good thing, by the way.
SIGESMUND: Well, he's helping John Kerry. He wants Kerry to win, and he's getting out there -- I think this generation of young people grew up and came of age in the '90s which were a really great, fun time. COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And since 9/11, it's been so much more serious. And I think the events of that day got people more interested in politics than maybe they were before that.
BERNARD: I think that Ben Affleck just might be better at his political ambitions than at his acting ambitions.
COLLINS: OK. All right. You guys, we're going to have to leave it there. Appreciate your time this morning Andy, Sarah, and B.J.
And Bill, back to you in Boston.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi, thanks.
Later tonight: The number two man on the Democratic ticket, his turn to take center stage in the spotlight. A preview for Senator John Edwards, checking in last night after midnight here in Boston.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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 July 28, 2004 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everyone, on a Wednesday morning. Day three at the Democratic National Convention live from the FleetCenter in Boston we come to you again this morning. And good morning.
Also my colleague, Heidi Collins, in New York. Heidi, how are you?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm doing great, thanks. You're doing a good job out there, Bill. And it's Wednesday. Only two more days to go.
Also in this half hour, police in Utah return to a landfill overnight to look for clues in the case of a missing woman. We'll get much more on the situation there including why volunteers have been told to stop searching.
But for now, back to Bill in Boston.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi. I want to take our viewers back to last night.
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy walking proudly on to the stage here at the Democratic National Convention at the FleetCenter, criticizing the war in Iraq as misguided, speaking angrily about the loss of U.S. lives in that conflict and making it very clear what he thinks about the current president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: In the depths of the depression, Franklin Roosevelt inspired the nation when he said -- the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Today, we say -- the only thing we have to fear is four more years of George Bush.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Kennedy also accusing the Bush administration of wasting the goodwill that came from after the attacks of 9/11.
Meanwhile, Senator John Kerry challenging the president, also, to act immediately on the recommendations that came out last week from the 9/11 Commission. Senator Kerry wants an 18-month extension for that panel. Campaigning in Virginia, yesterday, en route to Boston ultimately tomorrow, Kerry says, "We can't afford to go slow on national security." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can't treat the commission's report as something that you hope will go away. You can't treat the commission's report as something that sort of represents a threat to America that will go away, because this threat won't go away, and the recommendations of the commission make sense and they should be implemented now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Senator Kerry from yesterday. He'll speak tomorrow night. Former New York police commissioner Bernard Kerik also here in Boston working with the Bush-Cheney response team. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. And good morning to you, Mr. Kerik.
BERNARD KERIK, FMR. NYC POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thank you.
HEMMER: You said recently that another terror attack similar to 9/11 is "more likely with a Democrat in office."
On what do you base that opinion?
KERIK: Well, that's not exactly what I said. I think that was a quote from "The Daily News" that wasn't accurate.
I think what I said at the time was that, you know -- I was asked what I feared most. And I said that I fear another attack, and I fear that attack with a John Kerry, Senator Kerry, being in office, responding to it.
That was my quote. And I said that based on his record, based on his history and based on what I've seen over the last two and a half years with regard to President Bush and his response to the attacks on September 11th and the aftermath, and what we had to do about fighting terror.
HEMMER: Just to be accurate here. This is the quote I have from "The Daily News," "If you put Senator Kerry in the White House I think you are going to see that happen, and I don't want to see another September 11th."
Are you now saying that was inaccurate?
KERIK: Yes. We've talked about this in the past. The exact quote was not accurate.
But the bottom line is, I believe that we are much better off with President Bush in the office. He has been committed. You have to look at his record over the last two and a half years.
Going back to September 20th of 2001, when he talked about going to war, when he talked about what it would entail. It would take time. It would take money. It would come at a cost and that cost may be in life, and we've done everything he said we would do. We went into Afghanistan. We removed the Taliban. We removed the al Qaeda leadership. We went in to Iraq. We removed Saddam and his sons in the regime. And in the battle against terror continues.
You have to look at his record and then look at the record of Senator Kerry, somebody that was in the Senate Intelligence Committee from 1993 to the year 2000.
A very, very important time in our history over that seven-year period when we were attacked in '93 at the World Trade Center, '95 in Riyadh, '96 in Al-Khobar, our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in '98, the Cole in 2000.
His proposals then were to reduce spending in the intelligence community, reduce spending with regard to the military. We can't have someone in office that is looking to reduce spending when this is probably the most important time in our lives. This election is probably the most important election in my life, when it comes to defending this country.
HEMMER: We're going back to your city in about a month's time, as the former police commissioner of New York. Some are suggesting it could be a much more difficult task in terms of security, relative to Boston.
And we'll have the next four or five weeks or so to talk about that.
Thanks. Good to see you. Bernard Kerik here in Boston with us today.
KERIK: You're welcome.
HEMMER: All right. Heidi again in New York.
COLLINS: Thanks, Bill.
Now to the case of a missing Utah woman. For a second day, police returned to a Salt Lake City landfill in search of the missing pregnant woman, Lori Hacking.
Ted Rowlands is live now with more on.
Ted, good morning to you.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Lori Hacking's husband, Mark, remains in this Salt Lake City hospital. Meanwhile, as you mentioned, investigators continue to search for his missing wife, Lori Hacking.
Evidence search teams, as you mentioned, used cadaver dogs last night again in an area landfill. The used backhoes combing through the landfill looking for potential evidence. Detectives say they are still waiting forensic evidence in this case. Meanwhile, family members yesterday, without warning, closed down the volunteer center. They thanked the thousands of people that have come out here in Salt Lake City to help them look for Lori, and then they acknowledged that they do not expect a happy ending in this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT DUNAWAY, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: It's day eight. We understand what that means. We know that the -- what the statistics are for that. Is the family still hopeful? Obviously. Would we love to have a happy ending to this story? Of course we would. Do we know that there are other possibilities? Yes, we understand that as well, and we're prepared for that, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Mark Hacking continues to get the love and support from his family. They also continue to say that they are looking for answers. He received a visit from his parents here at the hospital yesterday.
Lori Hacking was last seen by someone other than her husband Sunday night, the day before she was reported missing by her husband Mark -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Ted Rowlands, live from Salt Lake City, Utah. Must be so hard for that family. Ted, thanks very much.
Yesterday in Los Angeles, a judge sentenced rocker Courtney Love to 18 months in a drug rehab program. She was also ordered to stop drinking alcohol.
Love pleaded guilty to a charge connected with a skirmish at her ex-boyfriend's home when she was arrested last October. Tests revealed cocaine and other drugs in her system. This is one of four criminal cases against the singer/actress.
Thirty-eight minutes past the hour now. Time for a look at some of today's other news with Daryn Kagan. To Iraq, right Daryn?
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Heidi. Good morning to you there.
There has been another attack on security officials in Iraq. A suicide car bomb exploded this morning as would-be recruits lined up outside of a police station in Baquba.
Iraqi officials say that at least 68 people were killed in the attacks. They say some 56 others wounded.
Meanwhile, Egyptian officials are denying a CNN report that their government paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom for the release of a top diplomat. His kidnappers let the man go on Monday.
Here in the U.S., a Republican Senator is criticizing the Bush administration for "a host of mistakes in post-war Iraq." Rhode Island's Lincoln Chafee tells the Associated Press that Iraq is less secure now than before the war, and he says the U.S. effort will fail if the White House doesn't work more closely with other countries in the region.
Chafee was the only Republican to vote against the October 2002 resolution supporting the invasion of Iraq.
Secretary of State Colin Powell is focusing on the future of Iraq during his tour of the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Secretary Powell met with the Egyptian foreign minister in Cairo earlier today.
Powell now heads to Saudi Arabia where he's expected to meet tomorrow with Ayad Allawi in their first meeting since Allawi became Iraq's first interim prime minister.
And finally, how about some optimism? And it's coming with the upcoming Olympic games in Athens. Organizers say they are seeing a last-minute surge in ticket sales. They say they are now selling some 13,000 tickets for the games every day.
Still, though, about half of the 5.3 million tickets remain unsold. So if you're heading for Athens, they're waiting for you with a ticket in hand.
Let's check the weather. Rob Marciano in for Chad Myers this week. Good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Daryn. That's not always the case for Olympics. Usually a hot ticket, I would guess.
KAGAN: Yes, but you know the same thing happened here in '96 in Atlanta. They said no one was going to get a ticket. And then the games got here, you could go to pretty much anything you wanted.
MARCIANO: Not a bad deal. All right. Let's go over to Athens. Sounds pretty good.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Bill, so look for the rain to increase right where you are.
HEMMER: It was raining this morning, Rob. So we got a heads up there. Hey, thanks a lot, OK.
Still to come here on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy's "Minding Your Business."
Back in a moment. It looks like some of the calls for corporate restraint have gone unanswered. Andy explains that after this.
Also, Florida a bit jittery about voting again in '04. We'll tell what you the problem is this time.
And some "90-Second Pop." The Donald scored a huge hit with "The Apprentice." Now he wants more.
We'll tell you how much more ahead this hour ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It looks like the nation's CEOs are making out pretty well on payday, as you might imagine. Andy Serwer is joining us now "Minding Your Business"
So, how much is it?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, you know what they say about the rich getting richer? CEOs are getting richer, too, Heidi. Average CEO last year made $1.85 million. That's right. We need to change jobs, don't we?
COLLINS: What are we thinking?
SERWER: What are we doing in this TV business, anyway. Pretty good.
A new survey by the corporate library affirmed, that tracks these type of things. You can see here on average CEO pay was up 15 percent last year. Well we did OK, too because the stock market was up 26 percent.
But it just keeps on going. With all of this talk of reining in CEO pay, it doesn't look like it's happening because investors really don't have leverage. It's a competitive world and companies keep having to pay these people more and more.
Let's look at some of the companies where the CEOs did best. Some of these things here kind of make sense. Yahoo and Apple -- Terry Semel at Yahoo! and Steve Jobs at Apple -- these people who have, pay went up over 1,000 percent last year -- 1,000 percent, Jack.
And that's not bad because these people did pretty well. The Oracle CEO, Larry Ellison didn't do as well there. And Colgate- Palmolive, Reuben Mark, that company has done pretty well over the years.
But the CEO who made the most money last year, Barry Diller, media mogul from QVC, $156 million. Most of that was stock options.
Let's talk a little bit about the markets, though.
COLLINS: OK.
SERWER: There is Barry Diller right there.
COLLINS: He looks happy.
SERWER: He does and he really should be happy. Here's what happened yesterday. Red meat for investors. You keep hearing about red meat up in Boston. Well red meat for investors on Wall Street. You can see here stocks are up. Verizon did very well yesterday, so did Lockheed. Futures are looking a little softer, though, this morning.
COLLINS: All right. Very good. Andy, thanks so much for that.
SERWER: You're welcome.
COLLINS: Time for Jack and the "Question of the Day."
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you.
The 9/11 Commission report came out last Thursday, and the first thing Congress did was go on vacation for six weeks and said, "We don't have time. We'll take a look at it maybe next year."
Well, apparently the public didn't think that was the right answer. And now they're all kind of trying to rethink their position and come up with something that's more acceptable to the voters who will have something to say about how long they keep their jobs in a few weeks.
The question we're asking is: What's the first change you would make based on the 9/11 Commission report? That's assuming that Congress gets around to making any changes any time soon.
Here's some of what you've written. Charlie in Newport, Virginia: "Bush jumped right on the 9/11 recommendations. Bush also had in place already a lot of the key recommendations in some shape or form before the report came out. That's why we haven't been attacked again."
Karen in Glendale, California: "First thing I'd do based on the 9/11 report is vote for John Kerry."
Fred in Baghdad, Arizona. There's a town.
SERWER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Baghdad, Arizona: "I fear that in the rush to implement the commission's defensive moves we lose sight of the offensive side of the war. What causes terrorists? What about the Palestinian conflict? What about our quagmire in Iraq?"
And Paul in Hellertown -- who we can count on for something reasonably intelligent almost on a daily basis -- writes: "Due to the public outcry, we will now have to listen to the endless platitudes of Congressman pandering to the thundering herd about their steadfast commitment to protecting our national security. The net result of which will be to raise the threat level to a different color. Given the choice between listening to these mindless, self-congratulatory hearings, I'd prefer to shove a pencil in my ear."
SERWER: Wow.
CAFFERTY: Am@cnn.com
COLLINS: OK.
CAFFERTY: What?
COLLINS: OK.
SERWER: That's some painful stuff.
CAFFERTY: What, listening to the Congress, or putting a pencil in your ear?
SERWER: A little of both.
CAFFERTY: Could be a toss up.
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, Jack, thanks for that.
Bill, we're going to send it back to you in Boston now.
HEMMER: I'm keeping my pencil in the pocket, by the way.
COLLINS: Yes, good idea.
HEMMER: Listen there are problems and concerns already in Florida. Listen to this story.
Apparently these touch-screen voting systems, a bit of an issue out of Miami-Dade, southeastern Florida. In the 2002 mid-term election, the records, apparently, had been lost after two computers had crashed.
Officials say there's a backup problem. They can fix it for this election. But the touch-screen system though, meant to prevent the irregularities that we all witnessed back in November in to December of 2000.
Wouldn't you know it, here in Boston, perhaps the delegation that is the fired up this year, they come from Florida. This is their stand later tonight. This is essentially where all of the delegates gathered, 202 from the state of Florida.
A computer system is set up throughout the entire FleetCenter for each delegation. They can communicate with the party all they want. In addition, they have two telephones here. One goes straight to the Kerry campaign, and one straight to the party.
So, what do you need a telephone for down here? They said, you name it. We need more banners. We need more signs. They can bring them down for us, here.
Also, for medical help -- apparently there was a -- one of the delegates perhaps fainted the other night and they had to call him a doctor to help him out. Later tonight in primetime, when they do the roll call. Let me try to get this down here a second. This is what you'll see here on CNN, the head of the delegation -- in this case, Florida -- will come to this microphone, and handoff and essentially assign their delegates, 202 total for the state of Florida.
We're told about 99 percent will go for John Kerry. Maybe two or three will go in John Edwards's favor. So, that's what you'll see here on CNN later tonight, Heidi.
COLLINS: Florida, you know it well, from the last time around, right?
HEMMER: I could give you a tour sometime.
COLLINS: OK, great. As long as we bring the bat phones with us, that would be good.
HEMMER: See you in a couple of minutes.
COLLINS: All right, Bill.
Still to come this morning, some "90-Second Pop." Siegfried and Roy make a decision about their Vegas show. Our panel takes a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It is Wednesday, and it's time for "90-Second Pop."
We'll be rounding up the usual suspects this morning. B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly", Sarah Bernard, contributing editor for "New York Magazine" and Andy Borowitz, the man responsible for "borowitzreport.com," just in case you were wondering.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK MAGAZINE": They're getting more and more dramatic.
ANDY BOROWITZ, "BOROWITZREPORT.COM": More grandiose. I like that.
COLLINS: Sarah, let's start with you. All right. We're talking about Donald Trump wants to make $18 million.
BERNARD: Million -- yes, he wants a little bit of a pay raise, I know.
COLLINS: I think that's an episode in itself.
BERNARD: Well here is how he gets his math. He's figured out that since the "Friends" cast got $1.5 million each, right, and there were six of them that should make him get $9 million. But his show is an hour and theirs was only a half-hour...
COLLINS: Times two.
BERNARD: ... so he should get $18. And you know I can understand him wanting all this, but what's really funny is the whole point of reality TV for the networks was that it was supposed to be economical, right? It costs a lot less than sitcoms and dramas. And now what's happening because when there's something good everyone wants to do it again...
COLLINS: Sure.
BERNARD: Is that it's just getting to be ratcheted up. And the producers like Mark Burnett are really the ones that are making money. He's got $2 million an episode.
SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": This thing about Donald Trump. He was kidding. He was on the front page of "The Wall Street Journal" yesterday.
BERNARD: He was kidding, oh no.
SIGESMUND: He is going to get in the six figures per episode. He is not asking for $18 million. But what this is indicative of, as Sarah says, is that reality stars are becoming more like the old- fashioned celebrities.
Even Nicole Richie, who has everything in the world, demanded for "The Simple Life 2" that her pet, her dog, get a personal assistant herself.
COLLINS: Well that's important.
SIGESMUND: And all these stars are asking for all these perks, so it is becoming more like the old television celebrities.
BOROWITZ: You know I'm going to get in trouble with Lou Dobbs for saying this, but I think we should outsource Donald Trump to India because all he's doing is firing people. That could be done by a calling center in Bangalore. I really do think so.
BERNARD: You're right because that is $18 million, totally worthless.
BOROWITZ: Exactly.
COLLINS: All right. Well speaking of other countries, let's get to Germany where, B.J., a German newspaper is saying Siegfried and Roy not going to be able to take the stage ever again.
SIGESMUND: Right, right. Their German rep is saying that Roy Horn has good days and bad days. He is spending about six to eight hours in rehab per day. He can walk about 100 or so steps at a time and then he has to get back in his wheelchair.
It's been about 10 months since the mauling, and now they're saying officially that the show will not go on.
BERNARD: He must be doing really not well, because I would think with a show that generated something like $57 million, you know, they would do anything to keep it going.
COLLINS: Right. And then what happens to Vegas without Siegfried and Roy?
SIGESMUND: I know. It's a major attraction there.
COLLINS: It really has been a staple there.
SIGESMUND: But you shouldn't worry because there is going to be this show on in the fall, on Tuesday nights, in the "Frasier" time slot that is actually an animated show for adults about the Siegfried and Roy lions.
This was conceived years ago before the event, and Jeffrey Katzenberg has been the major force behind the show because he, believe it or not, is a huge Siegfried and Roy fan. He's seen it 14 times.
BERNARD: I think that show sounds like the worst idea I've ever heard.
BOROWITZ: That's sort of the end of an era, I think, for show business legends because also Ryan Seacrest's show is also not going to continue.
SIGESMUND: Let's have a moment for Ryan.
BERNARD: We should have a total moment of silence for both of them together.
COLLINS: All right. Andy, what about election fashion? We've been seeing some things here and there. What you think?
BOROWITZ: Well I've been in Boston. I was in Boston on Monday. I'm going back again today.
And checking out -- a lot of people are wearing these sort of vote, T-shirts, a lot of sort of rock the vote, choose or lose, vote or die, you're seeing a lot of that.
I thought the one that was sort of poignant, in a way, was Al Gore was wearing a T-shirt that said, I won the popular vote, but all I got was this lousy T-shirt.
I like that. I like that one. I thought that was great.
SIGESMUND: I love this election fashion. You know, someone like Ben Affleck, who is a huge celebrity, with him taking time off from movies. He refused a role of couple of weeks ago...
BOROWITZ: Which is always a good thing, by the way.
SIGESMUND: Well, he's helping John Kerry. He wants Kerry to win, and he's getting out there -- I think this generation of young people grew up and came of age in the '90s which were a really great, fun time. COLLINS: Yes.
SIGESMUND: And since 9/11, it's been so much more serious. And I think the events of that day got people more interested in politics than maybe they were before that.
BERNARD: I think that Ben Affleck just might be better at his political ambitions than at his acting ambitions.
COLLINS: OK. All right. You guys, we're going to have to leave it there. Appreciate your time this morning Andy, Sarah, and B.J.
And Bill, back to you in Boston.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi, thanks.
Later tonight: The number two man on the Democratic ticket, his turn to take center stage in the spotlight. A preview for Senator John Edwards, checking in last night after midnight here in Boston.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
