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American Morning
Terror Tape; Covenant Marriage; 'Minding Your Business'; '90- Second Pop'
Aired November 10, 2004 - 07:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
U.S. officials may have unmasked Azzam the American. He is the man who threatened the U.S. with more terror attacks late last month. We're going to have -- rather, another tape has surfaced. It seems to give strong clues to Azzam's true identity. We'll take a look at that this morning.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also on a much lighter note, have you seen this picture? Cameron Diaz, "US Weekly," some amazing pictures...
O'BRIEN: Not those pictures.
HEMMER: ... of actress Cameron Diaz. Yes, that's right. You're going to have to wait for it in "90-Second Pop" apparently, Soledad. Hang on!
O'BRIEN: That's a good tease. A deep tease, Bill, I like it.
HEMMER: My word. We'll tell you what happened out there in L.A.
O'BRIEN: She looks good.
HEMMER: Yes, she looks good. She looks even better in that picture, though, going after that guy. Stay tuned.
O'BRIEN: All right. We're going to get to the headlines now with Kelly Wallace at our news desk.
Hello.
HEMMER: Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello again, Soledad and Bill. Good morning again, everyone.
"Now in the News."
A top Muslim cleric is the latest to visit the bedside of ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at a French military hospital. And he says the Palestinian leader is gravely ill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHEIKH TAISSIR AL TAMINI, MUSLIM CLERIC (through translator): He is alive and well. He is sick and he is in critical condition, but he alive. And God has said we pray for them to feel better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are making plans for Arafat's funeral and burial. Israel has agreed to Arafat being buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The 75-year-old Arafat has been hospitalized since October 29.
The United Nations and France are evacuating thousands of U.N. staff and other foreign nationals from the violence in the Ivory Coast. Thousands have been trapped at U.N. offices and French military bases since violent clashes broke out between the government and rebels in the West African country. More than 20 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the violence broke out Saturday.
Meanwhile, South Africa's president has invited both sides for peace talks, which could happen within the week.
Here in the United States, jury deliberations are starting from scratch in the Scott Peterson trial. That's because jury member Fran Gorman was dismissed yesterday for reportedly conducting independent research on the case. Jurors are instructed to only consider information presented in the courtroom. An alternate member has joined the jury.
And finally, the American League winner of the prestigious Cy Young award will be announced today. Yesterday, Roger Clemens won the pitching honor for the National League. He has won a record-setting seven Cy Young awards. Clemens announced his retirement last year, but came back to pitch for the Houston Astros this season. He apparently has not decided whether he will continue to play in 2005. He, of course, was hoping to go to the World Series but so maybe 2000 but not.
O'BRIEN: Not bad for a guy who retired, right?
WALLACE: I know.
HEMMER: Spoken like a Yankee fan over here.
WALLACE: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: I'm a fair-weather fan. I'm in favor of whoever is winning. Thanks, Kelly. Appreciate it.
U.S. intelligence says that a videotape obtained in Pakistan on which a young man threatens further terrorism against the U.S. was probably made by an American named Adam Gadahn.
National security correspondent David Ensor filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the videotape obtained in Pakistan in late October by ABC News, a young man identified as "Azzam the American," his face concealed, threatened more terrorism against the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11.
ENSOR: Now, U.S. intelligence officials say they believe that voice is probably the same as this one, the voice of Adam Gadahn of Riverside County in southern California, who appeared years ago as a teenager, along with his father, discussing environmental issues at a news conference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How the garbage project help the future of the earth.
ENSOR: Gadahn, born in 1978 as Adam Pearlman, has been on an FBI list since May of suspects wanted for possible involvement in terrorist threats.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Adam Gadahn is a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam, is associated with Abu Zubaydah (ph) in Pakistan, and he attended the training camps in Afghanistan. He is known to perform translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERROR ANALYST: He's somebody that the FBI regards as one of the seven people they would most like to find. One or two of those people have been found in Pakistan since, but Gadahn obviously remains at liberty.
ENSOR (on camera): Officials note that Gadahn's voice also appears to be on another al Qaeda tape released earlier. U.S. officials say his family are under loose surveillance in case he tries to contact them.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The government tells CNN that there are no charges pending against Gadahn but that he is wanted for questioning -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 34 minutes before the hour.
The Reverend Jerry Falwell says he has formed a new coalition to guide -- quote -- "an evangelical revolution" to take advantage of the conservative momentum from the election. Reverend Falwell calls the new group a 21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority. The group's mission is to lobby for judges who oppose abortion and for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Reverend Falwell said he would serve as the coalition's national chairman for a period of four years.
Disillusioned by a nearly 50 percent divorce rate, couples looking for a greater commitment are finding it in covenant marriage. That's a union currently on the books in three states designed to discourage divorce.
In Arkansas, the governor, Mike Huckabee and his wife plan to convert their marriage to 30 years to a covenant marriage. And they're inviting couples to join them in the process.
Let's talk about that this morning with two people. In D.C., Reverend Peter Sprigg with The Family Research Council.
Reverend, good morning to you.
REV. PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Good morning.
HEMMER: Also here in New York City, Ashton Applewhite, from the Council of Contemporary Families, also the author of "Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well."
Good morning to you, Ashton. Nice to see you.
ASHTON APPLEWHITE, COUNCIL OF CONTEMPORARY FAMILIES: Good morning.
HEMMER: Reverend, first in D.C., what is a covenant marriage in terms of how you define it?
SPRIGG: Well, covenant marriage is a very modest experiment that a few states have undertaken to try to deal with the disaster of no- fault divorce. It is a voluntary option for a different kind of marriage license, whereby the people would be required to have marriage counseling before they can get married. And if they choose to dissolve their marriage, they are required to have counseling first, or a waiting period, a separation period of two years, or a finding of fault rather than being -- using the normal no-fault system...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: So it makes it a little more difficult to go through the process, right? It makes you reconsider things for a period of time?
SPRIGG: Well, it's to encourage people to take their marriage vows more seriously by raising the barriers both to entry into marriage and to exit from marriage.
HEMMER: In a word, Reverend, do you like it or not?
SPRIGG: I think it's a terrific idea.
HEMMER: OK.
SPRIGG: And I think that Governor Huckabee's idea of trying to promote it is terrific. In the states that have it, like Arkansas and Louisiana, where it was introduced by my boss, Tony Perkins, when he was a state legislator there, and in Arizona. Unfortunately, not enough couples have been informed about this option being available and not enough are taking advantage of it. That's what Governor Huckabee is trying to do is to publicize this option a little bit more.
HEMMER: All right, Ashton, here in New York City, do you like the idea or not? Does it seem like such a bad thing to delay the process and give you second consideration.
APPLEWHITE: What I like about it a lot is the premarital counseling. I think everyone should think long and hard before they enter a marriage. So in that, I think that's a fantastic idea.
Arkansas has the second highest divorce rate in the nation. Covenant divorce has been available since the late '90s in two of the three states and less than 2 percent -- significantly less of couples who have chosen covenant marriage. And I think it's because you have a notion here that divorce laws are going to change people's behaviors. That's not the way it works.
No-fault divorce was a response to surging divorce in the '60s. It didn't precipitate it. And where you have very strict divorce laws, the divorce rates do not drop. What you have is higher rates of desertion and fraud, because people who want to get out of a marriage are going to get out. And if there's not a relatively, you know, conflict freeway to do it, then they're going to desert. They're going to get out. You can't legislate people to stay in a marriage.
HEMMER: Reverend, take that last point that Ashton is making here.
SPRIGG: Well, it's simply not true no-fault divorce doesn't raise the divorce rates. There are good studies that show that, in fact, divorce rates have risen considerably since the introduction of no-fault divorce.
And a lot of people don't understand that no-fault divorce was supposed to reduce the acrimony in marriages that have already failed. But, in fact, what we really have now is a system of unilateral divorce, whereby if one partner wants out of the marriage and the other partner wants to -- the other spouse wants to work at making the marriage succeed, the spouse who wants to dissolve the marriage and abandon it is given all of the negotiating power under the law. We'd like to see that incentive changed.
HEMMER: All right, let me get Ashton's reaction to that then, Reverend.
APPLEWHITE: Well, I have to ask, who would want to stay in a marriage with someone who didn't want to be married to them? Let's talk about the quality of marital life. I think that the reason such a minuscule percentage of people, even among evangelical Christians, fundamentalist Christians who have opted for covenant marriage, are because they understand that you don't need to be abused or abandoned...
HEMMER: Do you think that this... APPLEWHITE: ... in order to have your marital life not worth living.
HEMMER: Does this diminish a traditional marriage, do you believe?
APPLEWHITE: No. One thing I like about covenant marriage is that it is truly optional. No one here is saying, you know, you have to do it. I think it puts some pressure on, you know, why go for marriage light if you're really committed.
HEMMER: One final thought, Reverend. What does the state have to do with this? Why the involvement from the state in places like Arkansas? Why is that necessary?
SPRIGG: Well, there is a strong public interest in maintaining strong marriages and encouraging stronger commitment to marital vows, because we see a great deal of social dysfunction that results from divorce, not only for the adults involved, but especially for the children who suffer as a result of that.
HEMMER: All right, let's leave it there. Good points all around. Reverend Peter Sprigg, thanks down in D.C. Ashton Applewhite here in New York City, nice to see you as well.
APPLEWHITE: Thank you.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Hey, Chad, were you watching 10 minutes ago when we were talking about Cameron Diaz?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was.
HEMMER: We've got the picture now.
O'BRIEN: Get ready, Chad.
HEMMER: We'll show it to you in a moment here, OK? Stand by, 10 minutes.
MYERS: OK.
HEMMER: Thank you. Right here.
O'BRIEN: That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also this morning, as drug companies race to produce the magic weight loss pill, are consumers prepared to take the risk to lose weight?
HEMMER: Also, there is not much about Jim Walton that would let you know he's one of the world's richest men, $18 billion rich. Andy tells us about the most-private member of the Wal-Mart clan in a moment today.
O'BRIEN: That and much more ahead with Cameron Diaz. We're back in just a minute on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This morning in our weeklong glimpse into America's richest family, the Waltons, we take a look at the life of another son of Sam Walton. His name is Jim.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." It's also the cover story in "Fortune."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
The Walton family controls 39 percent of Wal-Mart, worth about $90 billion. There is Helen Walton, who is Sam Walton's widow, and her four children. So there are five people dividing up that $90 billion, which is why each one of them is worth about $18 to $20 billion. That's a lot of money.
Jim is Helen and Sam's youngest son. And he is the most private member of the family. He works very long hours, like his dad. And he runs a company called Walton Enterprises, which is basically the organization that owns the stock of the Walton family.
Sam Walton put all of his stock into a partnership when the family was very young, and they were able to avoid estate taxes that way. Interesting, that $90 billion generates $870 million a year in dividends. That's a lot of money.
HEMMER: I could live off of that.
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Pretty well, too. He's the CEO of Arvest Bank. What's Arvest Bank?
SERWER: Yes. He's the chairman of this bank, soldier. And for people who live in that part of the country in the central southwest, you probably know Arvest. It's a fast-growing bank, the largest bank in Arkansas, and also growing in Oklahoma and Missouri. It's a private company. And it's interesting. It's actually a lot like Wal- Mart. The people who work there wear big badges that say Jack or Andy or Bill or Soledad. You get the point. So it's kind of interesting.
He also controls the local newspaper there, the family does that, owns the newspaper in Bentonville, which is interesting, as well as a couple of other private companies. And Jim Walton is the only member of his family to stay in Bentonville. His siblings have moved.
Tomorrow, we'll talk about John Walton, who is a very interesting guy. He is a decorated Vietnam Veteran, and he also heads up the family's philanthropic efforts. O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: We know a Jim Walton of...
SERWER: Yes, this is not the same Jim Walton who runs our network.
(CROSSTALK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: He wishes he was in that family.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: You know, if you've got $90 billion, you probably should have your own bank, right? To keep your money in.
SERWER: Yes, that would make sense.
HEMMER: Or your own cable network.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
CAFFERTY: It's being called a miracle pill that helps you lose weight, quit smoking and fight heart disease all at the same time. It's part of a new class of experimental drugs that fight cravings for things like food and nicotine. Short-term studies show promising results. But like any drug, there are side effects. The long-term effects are unknown still. Some patients involved in the study complained of nausea, anxiety and depression.
The question is this: How far are you willing to go to lose weight?
Leo in Glassine, Kentucky: "We live in a society where no one is comfortable with who they are. And they're trying to reinvent themselves all the time to be someone else. It doesn't help when the news media keeps propagating the theory that you have no value unless you are thin or young."
Jack writes -- this is some other Jack: "It surprises me people would rather suffer through the side effects of some new pill than the side effects of hard work, diet and exercise. Anxiety, depression and nausea are so much better than pride and a sense of accomplishment. Flush the pills, get off the couch, go to the gym."
Matthew in Amherst, New Hampshire: "Instead of stopping at that favorite fast food outfit today, bring a sandwich to work, save $7 and a 1,000 calories. Not all that far to go to lose weight."
Ken in Newton Square: "How far would I be willing to go to lose weight? Paris."
Not bad.
And Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "The blue state election diet is working for me. I may never get my appetite back again. However, the jelly donut was pretty tasty with the news of Ashcroft's resignation."
Very good.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a report out of Hollywood says that actress Cameron Diaz was not ready for her close-up. She mixed up with some photographers. They've got the pictures to show it. That's up next on "90-Second Pop." Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time for a Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop" with our house band, as we like to call them. Pretty good today, very clever. Andy Borowitz, the minister of humor at BorowitzReport.com.
I met someone who is a big fan of yours. He's crazy about you. We've got to talk about that later.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: The pizza guy.
O'BRIEN: Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine.
Good morning to you.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly" with some breaking news this morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Yes.
O'BRIEN: But we're not going to start it by talking about that.
SIGESMUND: OK.
O'BRIEN: So you have to hold that.
BERNARD: Save that for last.
O'BRIEN: That's a deep tease...
SIGESMUND: Oh. O'BRIEN: ... for our viewers to stick with us as begin with Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrell.
BERNARD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: That's Colin.
BERNARD: Colin.
O'BRIEN: He doesn't want to be 007.
BERNARD: Can you believe he doesn't?
O'BRIEN: Why not?
BERNARD: You know...
O'BRIEN: "Alexander" is such a great movie. Come on.
BERNARD: You know, there's just been this trend for actors to not want to play these kind of -- these roles, like -- remember when we were trying to talk about who was going to be Superman? No one really wanted to do it, because they were afraid of being typecast as Superman for the next 10 years. And I think that that might be what Colin Farrell is thinking. He doesn't want to be sort of pigeonholed into the James Bond mold. But I can't understand why you would turn that down.
SIGESMUND: Well...
BERNARD: I mean, this is the kind of role that...
O'BRIEN: Great cars.
BERNARD: ... you're supposed to be -- exactly. You're supposed to be handsome. You're supposed to be an athlete. You are supposed to be all sorts of things.
SIGESMUND: Yes. Colin Farrell is still on the up and up in his career. You know, he's doing "Alexander," He's doing bigger movies next year. He might get an Oscar one of these years. The James Bond franchise is someone...
O'BRIEN: Oh, we all might get an Oscar one of these days.
SIGESMUND: No, seriously, he could. The James Bond franchise, though, is for an actor who wants to lose himself in a franchise and is willing to give away the next six or seven years of his life. And Colin Farrell just isn't that guy.
BERNARD: He doesn't want to do it. I...
BOROWITZ: He has one quote that I thought was pretty, that when he said that they should choose somebody that the audience doesn't have a history with. And to me that's Colin Farrell.
O'BRIEN: That's Colin Farrell. BOROWITZ: That's the guy. I mean, wasn't he the star of "Phone Booth?" You know, I mean, that's...
BERNARD: He was.
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
BERNARD: I would like to suggest maybe Richard Branson for the job actually.
BOROWITZ: There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: Because did you see the show last night? I mean, I know you're about to talk about it.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: It was unbelievable.
O'BRIEN: Nicely into -- thank you -- "The Rebel Billionaire."
BERNARD: Yes.
O'BRIEN: He's got his own reality show, like who doesn't?
SIGESMUND: Exactly.
BOROWITZ: And this is an amazing thing.
O'BRIEN: I loved it.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's cool, because you know, Richard Branson, this, you know, Virgin Airways, Virgin Records, the whole thing. And his concept is that he is doing all of these stunts to select the next president of his corporation. So it's things like two hot air balloons and they have to walk up this three-inch plank. And I'm watching this and thinking, you know, in the average day of a corporate president, how often does that skill really come up? I mean, aren't you on the phone most of the time?
SIGESMUND: It is so much more like "Fear Factor." It really had nothing to do with "The Apprentice." I mean, there is some business stuff in it, but it's much more -- it comes to life really with these crazy events. In the second hour, he has them, one, pass a baton from another while hanging upside down off an airplane.
O'BRIEN: Well, I do that that all the time.
BERNARD: But he's doing it, too. I mean, the difference between this and "The Apprentice" is he's actually doing all of the challenges with the contestants.
SIGESMUND: Right.
O'BRIEN: And the winner actually gets to become the president of Virgin Worldwide...
SIGESMUND: Supposedly.
O'BRIEN: ... which -- whatever that is.
SIGESMUND: Yes, yes.
O'BRIEN: But it sounds good.
SIGESMUND: He's also very different than Trump. You know, he's much more friendly.
O'BRIEN: Better hair?
SIGESMUND: He's cuddly even. Much better hair.
BERNARD: I'm telling you, James Bond.
O'BRIEN: All right, we de-teased this. Cameron Diaz, who weighs, like, 97 pounds soaking wet, beats up a photographer.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What happened? This is an exclusive for "US Weekly," by the way.
SIGESMUND: Yes. I edited this story actually Monday night. What is clear is that Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake were in a scuffle with two paparazzi Saturday night. Cameron and -- the photographers say that Cameron attacked them, actually, after they took her picture. She jabbed the guy in the neck. He fell, and she stole his camera. That's what the photographers maintain.
Cameron and Justin's lawyer say, no, my clients were accosted. These guys jumped out and attacked them. They acted in self-defense, and Cameron took the camera because she wanted to identify him later.
BOROWITZ: You know, I don't think Cameron really thought this thing through, because if you're going to beat up a photographer and steal his camera, don't you also have to beat up the photographer who takes the picture of you beating up the photographer?
BERNARD: Right.
BOROWITZ: I mean, this is like -- more people will see those pictures than "Charlie's Angels 2."
O'BRIEN: You know...
BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "Charlie's Angels."
O'BRIEN: The friend who is snapping pictures. Yo (ph) man, I got you back.
SIGESMUND: Yes. O'BRIEN: And Cameron is kicking, like, his butt all over the place. Well, you know, technically, legally, they could face some legal trouble, right?
SIGESMUND: Yes, they could. There has been a police report charge -- I'm sorry. There has been a police report filed. And, yes, I mean, it could be battery. It could be grand theft when you rob someone.
O'BRIEN: He's already embarrassed, because, look, the girl is like a little reed and she (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the photographer.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: I think this is only going to help Cameron Diaz's, you know, next role.
SIGESMUND: Right.
BERNARD: She can be, you know, Lorsa Mesita (ph).
O'BRIEN: Charlie's Angels 10.
BERNARD: Charlie's Angels 3, exactly.
BOROWITZ: Could this put a crimp in Justin Timberlake's singing career? Because then I know which side I'm on.
O'BRIEN: You guys -- good question. And as always, fabulous talking with you.
Let's go back to Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.
A break here. In a moment, today's top stories, including Falluja. U.S. forces have a solid idea when they will control that city, but the kidnapping, it continues at the highest of levels in Baghdad. Back in a moment, top of the hour after this.
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Aired November 10, 2004 - 07:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
U.S. officials may have unmasked Azzam the American. He is the man who threatened the U.S. with more terror attacks late last month. We're going to have -- rather, another tape has surfaced. It seems to give strong clues to Azzam's true identity. We'll take a look at that this morning.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also on a much lighter note, have you seen this picture? Cameron Diaz, "US Weekly," some amazing pictures...
O'BRIEN: Not those pictures.
HEMMER: ... of actress Cameron Diaz. Yes, that's right. You're going to have to wait for it in "90-Second Pop" apparently, Soledad. Hang on!
O'BRIEN: That's a good tease. A deep tease, Bill, I like it.
HEMMER: My word. We'll tell you what happened out there in L.A.
O'BRIEN: She looks good.
HEMMER: Yes, she looks good. She looks even better in that picture, though, going after that guy. Stay tuned.
O'BRIEN: All right. We're going to get to the headlines now with Kelly Wallace at our news desk.
Hello.
HEMMER: Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello again, Soledad and Bill. Good morning again, everyone.
"Now in the News."
A top Muslim cleric is the latest to visit the bedside of ailing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at a French military hospital. And he says the Palestinian leader is gravely ill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHEIKH TAISSIR AL TAMINI, MUSLIM CLERIC (through translator): He is alive and well. He is sick and he is in critical condition, but he alive. And God has said we pray for them to feel better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Meanwhile, Palestinian officials are making plans for Arafat's funeral and burial. Israel has agreed to Arafat being buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The 75-year-old Arafat has been hospitalized since October 29.
The United Nations and France are evacuating thousands of U.N. staff and other foreign nationals from the violence in the Ivory Coast. Thousands have been trapped at U.N. offices and French military bases since violent clashes broke out between the government and rebels in the West African country. More than 20 people have been killed and hundreds wounded since the violence broke out Saturday.
Meanwhile, South Africa's president has invited both sides for peace talks, which could happen within the week.
Here in the United States, jury deliberations are starting from scratch in the Scott Peterson trial. That's because jury member Fran Gorman was dismissed yesterday for reportedly conducting independent research on the case. Jurors are instructed to only consider information presented in the courtroom. An alternate member has joined the jury.
And finally, the American League winner of the prestigious Cy Young award will be announced today. Yesterday, Roger Clemens won the pitching honor for the National League. He has won a record-setting seven Cy Young awards. Clemens announced his retirement last year, but came back to pitch for the Houston Astros this season. He apparently has not decided whether he will continue to play in 2005. He, of course, was hoping to go to the World Series but so maybe 2000 but not.
O'BRIEN: Not bad for a guy who retired, right?
WALLACE: I know.
HEMMER: Spoken like a Yankee fan over here.
WALLACE: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: I'm a fair-weather fan. I'm in favor of whoever is winning. Thanks, Kelly. Appreciate it.
U.S. intelligence says that a videotape obtained in Pakistan on which a young man threatens further terrorism against the U.S. was probably made by an American named Adam Gadahn.
National security correspondent David Ensor filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the videotape obtained in Pakistan in late October by ABC News, a young man identified as "Azzam the American," his face concealed, threatened more terrorism against the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The magnitude and ferocity of what is coming your way will make you forget all about September 11.
ENSOR: Now, U.S. intelligence officials say they believe that voice is probably the same as this one, the voice of Adam Gadahn of Riverside County in southern California, who appeared years ago as a teenager, along with his father, discussing environmental issues at a news conference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How the garbage project help the future of the earth.
ENSOR: Gadahn, born in 1978 as Adam Pearlman, has been on an FBI list since May of suspects wanted for possible involvement in terrorist threats.
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: Adam Gadahn is a U.S. citizen who converted to Islam, is associated with Abu Zubaydah (ph) in Pakistan, and he attended the training camps in Afghanistan. He is known to perform translations for al Qaeda as part of the services he has provided to al Qaeda.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERROR ANALYST: He's somebody that the FBI regards as one of the seven people they would most like to find. One or two of those people have been found in Pakistan since, but Gadahn obviously remains at liberty.
ENSOR (on camera): Officials note that Gadahn's voice also appears to be on another al Qaeda tape released earlier. U.S. officials say his family are under loose surveillance in case he tries to contact them.
David Ensor, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: The government tells CNN that there are no charges pending against Gadahn but that he is wanted for questioning -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 34 minutes before the hour.
The Reverend Jerry Falwell says he has formed a new coalition to guide -- quote -- "an evangelical revolution" to take advantage of the conservative momentum from the election. Reverend Falwell calls the new group a 21st century resurrection of the Moral Majority. The group's mission is to lobby for judges who oppose abortion and for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Reverend Falwell said he would serve as the coalition's national chairman for a period of four years.
Disillusioned by a nearly 50 percent divorce rate, couples looking for a greater commitment are finding it in covenant marriage. That's a union currently on the books in three states designed to discourage divorce.
In Arkansas, the governor, Mike Huckabee and his wife plan to convert their marriage to 30 years to a covenant marriage. And they're inviting couples to join them in the process.
Let's talk about that this morning with two people. In D.C., Reverend Peter Sprigg with The Family Research Council.
Reverend, good morning to you.
REV. PETER SPRIGG, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Good morning.
HEMMER: Also here in New York City, Ashton Applewhite, from the Council of Contemporary Families, also the author of "Cutting Loose: Why Women Who End Their Marriages Do So Well."
Good morning to you, Ashton. Nice to see you.
ASHTON APPLEWHITE, COUNCIL OF CONTEMPORARY FAMILIES: Good morning.
HEMMER: Reverend, first in D.C., what is a covenant marriage in terms of how you define it?
SPRIGG: Well, covenant marriage is a very modest experiment that a few states have undertaken to try to deal with the disaster of no- fault divorce. It is a voluntary option for a different kind of marriage license, whereby the people would be required to have marriage counseling before they can get married. And if they choose to dissolve their marriage, they are required to have counseling first, or a waiting period, a separation period of two years, or a finding of fault rather than being -- using the normal no-fault system...
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: So it makes it a little more difficult to go through the process, right? It makes you reconsider things for a period of time?
SPRIGG: Well, it's to encourage people to take their marriage vows more seriously by raising the barriers both to entry into marriage and to exit from marriage.
HEMMER: In a word, Reverend, do you like it or not?
SPRIGG: I think it's a terrific idea.
HEMMER: OK.
SPRIGG: And I think that Governor Huckabee's idea of trying to promote it is terrific. In the states that have it, like Arkansas and Louisiana, where it was introduced by my boss, Tony Perkins, when he was a state legislator there, and in Arizona. Unfortunately, not enough couples have been informed about this option being available and not enough are taking advantage of it. That's what Governor Huckabee is trying to do is to publicize this option a little bit more.
HEMMER: All right, Ashton, here in New York City, do you like the idea or not? Does it seem like such a bad thing to delay the process and give you second consideration.
APPLEWHITE: What I like about it a lot is the premarital counseling. I think everyone should think long and hard before they enter a marriage. So in that, I think that's a fantastic idea.
Arkansas has the second highest divorce rate in the nation. Covenant divorce has been available since the late '90s in two of the three states and less than 2 percent -- significantly less of couples who have chosen covenant marriage. And I think it's because you have a notion here that divorce laws are going to change people's behaviors. That's not the way it works.
No-fault divorce was a response to surging divorce in the '60s. It didn't precipitate it. And where you have very strict divorce laws, the divorce rates do not drop. What you have is higher rates of desertion and fraud, because people who want to get out of a marriage are going to get out. And if there's not a relatively, you know, conflict freeway to do it, then they're going to desert. They're going to get out. You can't legislate people to stay in a marriage.
HEMMER: Reverend, take that last point that Ashton is making here.
SPRIGG: Well, it's simply not true no-fault divorce doesn't raise the divorce rates. There are good studies that show that, in fact, divorce rates have risen considerably since the introduction of no-fault divorce.
And a lot of people don't understand that no-fault divorce was supposed to reduce the acrimony in marriages that have already failed. But, in fact, what we really have now is a system of unilateral divorce, whereby if one partner wants out of the marriage and the other partner wants to -- the other spouse wants to work at making the marriage succeed, the spouse who wants to dissolve the marriage and abandon it is given all of the negotiating power under the law. We'd like to see that incentive changed.
HEMMER: All right, let me get Ashton's reaction to that then, Reverend.
APPLEWHITE: Well, I have to ask, who would want to stay in a marriage with someone who didn't want to be married to them? Let's talk about the quality of marital life. I think that the reason such a minuscule percentage of people, even among evangelical Christians, fundamentalist Christians who have opted for covenant marriage, are because they understand that you don't need to be abused or abandoned...
HEMMER: Do you think that this... APPLEWHITE: ... in order to have your marital life not worth living.
HEMMER: Does this diminish a traditional marriage, do you believe?
APPLEWHITE: No. One thing I like about covenant marriage is that it is truly optional. No one here is saying, you know, you have to do it. I think it puts some pressure on, you know, why go for marriage light if you're really committed.
HEMMER: One final thought, Reverend. What does the state have to do with this? Why the involvement from the state in places like Arkansas? Why is that necessary?
SPRIGG: Well, there is a strong public interest in maintaining strong marriages and encouraging stronger commitment to marital vows, because we see a great deal of social dysfunction that results from divorce, not only for the adults involved, but especially for the children who suffer as a result of that.
HEMMER: All right, let's leave it there. Good points all around. Reverend Peter Sprigg, thanks down in D.C. Ashton Applewhite here in New York City, nice to see you as well.
APPLEWHITE: Thank you.
HEMMER: All right -- Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Hey, Chad, were you watching 10 minutes ago when we were talking about Cameron Diaz?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was.
HEMMER: We've got the picture now.
O'BRIEN: Get ready, Chad.
HEMMER: We'll show it to you in a moment here, OK? Stand by, 10 minutes.
MYERS: OK.
HEMMER: Thank you. Right here.
O'BRIEN: That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also this morning, as drug companies race to produce the magic weight loss pill, are consumers prepared to take the risk to lose weight?
HEMMER: Also, there is not much about Jim Walton that would let you know he's one of the world's richest men, $18 billion rich. Andy tells us about the most-private member of the Wal-Mart clan in a moment today.
O'BRIEN: That and much more ahead with Cameron Diaz. We're back in just a minute on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: This morning in our weeklong glimpse into America's richest family, the Waltons, we take a look at the life of another son of Sam Walton. His name is Jim.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." It's also the cover story in "Fortune."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
The Walton family controls 39 percent of Wal-Mart, worth about $90 billion. There is Helen Walton, who is Sam Walton's widow, and her four children. So there are five people dividing up that $90 billion, which is why each one of them is worth about $18 to $20 billion. That's a lot of money.
Jim is Helen and Sam's youngest son. And he is the most private member of the family. He works very long hours, like his dad. And he runs a company called Walton Enterprises, which is basically the organization that owns the stock of the Walton family.
Sam Walton put all of his stock into a partnership when the family was very young, and they were able to avoid estate taxes that way. Interesting, that $90 billion generates $870 million a year in dividends. That's a lot of money.
HEMMER: I could live off of that.
SERWER: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Pretty well, too. He's the CEO of Arvest Bank. What's Arvest Bank?
SERWER: Yes. He's the chairman of this bank, soldier. And for people who live in that part of the country in the central southwest, you probably know Arvest. It's a fast-growing bank, the largest bank in Arkansas, and also growing in Oklahoma and Missouri. It's a private company. And it's interesting. It's actually a lot like Wal- Mart. The people who work there wear big badges that say Jack or Andy or Bill or Soledad. You get the point. So it's kind of interesting.
He also controls the local newspaper there, the family does that, owns the newspaper in Bentonville, which is interesting, as well as a couple of other private companies. And Jim Walton is the only member of his family to stay in Bentonville. His siblings have moved.
Tomorrow, we'll talk about John Walton, who is a very interesting guy. He is a decorated Vietnam Veteran, and he also heads up the family's philanthropic efforts. O'BRIEN: Andy, thanks.
SERWER: You're welcome.
HEMMER: We know a Jim Walton of...
SERWER: Yes, this is not the same Jim Walton who runs our network.
(CROSSTALK)
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: He wishes he was in that family.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: You know, if you've got $90 billion, you probably should have your own bank, right? To keep your money in.
SERWER: Yes, that would make sense.
HEMMER: Or your own cable network.
CAFFERTY: There you go.
SERWER: Yes.
HEMMER: Thanks, Andy.
CAFFERTY: It's being called a miracle pill that helps you lose weight, quit smoking and fight heart disease all at the same time. It's part of a new class of experimental drugs that fight cravings for things like food and nicotine. Short-term studies show promising results. But like any drug, there are side effects. The long-term effects are unknown still. Some patients involved in the study complained of nausea, anxiety and depression.
The question is this: How far are you willing to go to lose weight?
Leo in Glassine, Kentucky: "We live in a society where no one is comfortable with who they are. And they're trying to reinvent themselves all the time to be someone else. It doesn't help when the news media keeps propagating the theory that you have no value unless you are thin or young."
Jack writes -- this is some other Jack: "It surprises me people would rather suffer through the side effects of some new pill than the side effects of hard work, diet and exercise. Anxiety, depression and nausea are so much better than pride and a sense of accomplishment. Flush the pills, get off the couch, go to the gym."
Matthew in Amherst, New Hampshire: "Instead of stopping at that favorite fast food outfit today, bring a sandwich to work, save $7 and a 1,000 calories. Not all that far to go to lose weight."
Ken in Newton Square: "How far would I be willing to go to lose weight? Paris."
Not bad.
And Doug in Bloomfield, New Jersey: "The blue state election diet is working for me. I may never get my appetite back again. However, the jelly donut was pretty tasty with the news of Ashcroft's resignation."
Very good.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a report out of Hollywood says that actress Cameron Diaz was not ready for her close-up. She mixed up with some photographers. They've got the pictures to show it. That's up next on "90-Second Pop." Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time for a Wednesday edition of "90-Second Pop" with our house band, as we like to call them. Pretty good today, very clever. Andy Borowitz, the minister of humor at BorowitzReport.com.
I met someone who is a big fan of yours. He's crazy about you. We've got to talk about that later.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: The pizza guy.
O'BRIEN: Sarah Bernard is a contributing editor for "New York" magazine.
Good morning to you.
SARAH BERNARD, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: B.J. Sigesmund is a staff editor for "US Weekly" with some breaking news this morning.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Yes.
O'BRIEN: But we're not going to start it by talking about that.
SIGESMUND: OK.
O'BRIEN: So you have to hold that.
BERNARD: Save that for last.
O'BRIEN: That's a deep tease...
SIGESMUND: Oh. O'BRIEN: ... for our viewers to stick with us as begin with Pierce Brosnan and Colin Farrell.
BERNARD: That's right.
O'BRIEN: That's Colin.
BERNARD: Colin.
O'BRIEN: He doesn't want to be 007.
BERNARD: Can you believe he doesn't?
O'BRIEN: Why not?
BERNARD: You know...
O'BRIEN: "Alexander" is such a great movie. Come on.
BERNARD: You know, there's just been this trend for actors to not want to play these kind of -- these roles, like -- remember when we were trying to talk about who was going to be Superman? No one really wanted to do it, because they were afraid of being typecast as Superman for the next 10 years. And I think that that might be what Colin Farrell is thinking. He doesn't want to be sort of pigeonholed into the James Bond mold. But I can't understand why you would turn that down.
SIGESMUND: Well...
BERNARD: I mean, this is the kind of role that...
O'BRIEN: Great cars.
BERNARD: ... you're supposed to be -- exactly. You're supposed to be handsome. You're supposed to be an athlete. You are supposed to be all sorts of things.
SIGESMUND: Yes. Colin Farrell is still on the up and up in his career. You know, he's doing "Alexander," He's doing bigger movies next year. He might get an Oscar one of these years. The James Bond franchise is someone...
O'BRIEN: Oh, we all might get an Oscar one of these days.
SIGESMUND: No, seriously, he could. The James Bond franchise, though, is for an actor who wants to lose himself in a franchise and is willing to give away the next six or seven years of his life. And Colin Farrell just isn't that guy.
BERNARD: He doesn't want to do it. I...
BOROWITZ: He has one quote that I thought was pretty, that when he said that they should choose somebody that the audience doesn't have a history with. And to me that's Colin Farrell.
O'BRIEN: That's Colin Farrell. BOROWITZ: That's the guy. I mean, wasn't he the star of "Phone Booth?" You know, I mean, that's...
BERNARD: He was.
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
BERNARD: I would like to suggest maybe Richard Branson for the job actually.
BOROWITZ: There you go.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: Because did you see the show last night? I mean, I know you're about to talk about it.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: It was unbelievable.
O'BRIEN: Nicely into -- thank you -- "The Rebel Billionaire."
BERNARD: Yes.
O'BRIEN: He's got his own reality show, like who doesn't?
SIGESMUND: Exactly.
BOROWITZ: And this is an amazing thing.
O'BRIEN: I loved it.
BOROWITZ: Well, it's cool, because you know, Richard Branson, this, you know, Virgin Airways, Virgin Records, the whole thing. And his concept is that he is doing all of these stunts to select the next president of his corporation. So it's things like two hot air balloons and they have to walk up this three-inch plank. And I'm watching this and thinking, you know, in the average day of a corporate president, how often does that skill really come up? I mean, aren't you on the phone most of the time?
SIGESMUND: It is so much more like "Fear Factor." It really had nothing to do with "The Apprentice." I mean, there is some business stuff in it, but it's much more -- it comes to life really with these crazy events. In the second hour, he has them, one, pass a baton from another while hanging upside down off an airplane.
O'BRIEN: Well, I do that that all the time.
BERNARD: But he's doing it, too. I mean, the difference between this and "The Apprentice" is he's actually doing all of the challenges with the contestants.
SIGESMUND: Right.
O'BRIEN: And the winner actually gets to become the president of Virgin Worldwide...
SIGESMUND: Supposedly.
O'BRIEN: ... which -- whatever that is.
SIGESMUND: Yes, yes.
O'BRIEN: But it sounds good.
SIGESMUND: He's also very different than Trump. You know, he's much more friendly.
O'BRIEN: Better hair?
SIGESMUND: He's cuddly even. Much better hair.
BERNARD: I'm telling you, James Bond.
O'BRIEN: All right, we de-teased this. Cameron Diaz, who weighs, like, 97 pounds soaking wet, beats up a photographer.
SIGESMUND: Yes.
O'BRIEN: What happened? This is an exclusive for "US Weekly," by the way.
SIGESMUND: Yes. I edited this story actually Monday night. What is clear is that Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake were in a scuffle with two paparazzi Saturday night. Cameron and -- the photographers say that Cameron attacked them, actually, after they took her picture. She jabbed the guy in the neck. He fell, and she stole his camera. That's what the photographers maintain.
Cameron and Justin's lawyer say, no, my clients were accosted. These guys jumped out and attacked them. They acted in self-defense, and Cameron took the camera because she wanted to identify him later.
BOROWITZ: You know, I don't think Cameron really thought this thing through, because if you're going to beat up a photographer and steal his camera, don't you also have to beat up the photographer who takes the picture of you beating up the photographer?
BERNARD: Right.
BOROWITZ: I mean, this is like -- more people will see those pictures than "Charlie's Angels 2."
O'BRIEN: You know...
BERNARD: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "Charlie's Angels."
O'BRIEN: The friend who is snapping pictures. Yo (ph) man, I got you back.
SIGESMUND: Yes. O'BRIEN: And Cameron is kicking, like, his butt all over the place. Well, you know, technically, legally, they could face some legal trouble, right?
SIGESMUND: Yes, they could. There has been a police report charge -- I'm sorry. There has been a police report filed. And, yes, I mean, it could be battery. It could be grand theft when you rob someone.
O'BRIEN: He's already embarrassed, because, look, the girl is like a little reed and she (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the photographer.
(CROSSTALK)
BERNARD: I think this is only going to help Cameron Diaz's, you know, next role.
SIGESMUND: Right.
BERNARD: She can be, you know, Lorsa Mesita (ph).
O'BRIEN: Charlie's Angels 10.
BERNARD: Charlie's Angels 3, exactly.
BOROWITZ: Could this put a crimp in Justin Timberlake's singing career? Because then I know which side I'm on.
O'BRIEN: You guys -- good question. And as always, fabulous talking with you.
Let's go back to Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Soledad, thanks.
A break here. In a moment, today's top stories, including Falluja. U.S. forces have a solid idea when they will control that city, but the kidnapping, it continues at the highest of levels in Baghdad. Back in a moment, top of the hour after this.
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