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American Morning
New Audio Tape Said to be From Osama Bin Laden Shows Up on Arabic Web Sites; New Study Says Produce Today Contains Fewer Nutrients Than 50 Years Ago
Aired December 16, 2004 - 09:30 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Miles is in for Bill Hemmer, who is still traveling back from Japan. More analysis this morning of a new audio recording. It is believed to be of Osama Bin Laden. It showed up on the Internet overnight. The primary message appears to be a call to overthrow the Saudi royal family. More analysis on that in just a moment.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this is the busiest time of year to send someone a package. And with that mighty crush of boxes moving across America, we're going to talk a little bit about the dos and don'ts of packaging with a report from the largest sorting facility on Earth. Wow.
Let's get a check of the headlines. Kelly Wallace has that.
Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again. Good morning, everyone.
Now in the news, in Washington, President Bush wrapping up a two- day economic summit today with meetings on jobs and Social Security reform. Today's session getting under way just about now. The event is designed to boost the administration's plans for the economy in its second term. CNN will have live coverage of the president's closing remarks at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
More violence today in Iraq. A senior Iraqi government official gunned down by suspected insurgents in western Baghdad. The official was the director general of the communications ministry.
And in Karbala, police say at least seven Iraqis died and more than 30 others were injured yesterday when a bomb went off near a mosque.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Washington at this hour for meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state nominee. The secretary-general looking for White House support after coming under scrutiny over the U.N. oil-for- food program. There have been loud calls from some members of Congress for Annan to resign over the corruption scandal involving that program.
And a study showing that being married and staying married may be good for your health. Researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics speculates marriage gives people economic and social stability, and that can improve health. But there may be a downside: 70 percent of husbands say they're overnight, compared with 65 percent of men overall. Of course we want to know about whys? Well, same number of wives are overweight as women overall. So marriage not affecting wives -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. It's that good cooking.
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: Kelly, thanks.
GUPTA: A new audio tape said to be from Osama bin Laden has showed up on Arabic Web sites today. The voice strongly criticizes the Saudi royal family, and mentions the attack on the consulate in Jeddah earlier this morning.
Octavia Nasr, senior editor of Arab affairs, has listened to the tape. She's at the CNN Center this morning.
Good morning, Octavia.
First, what do you think makes this tape so interesting?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: What makes it so interesting is, of course, the timing. Osama bin Laden, although he buried that reference to the Jeddah attack at the U.S. consulate, this definitely makes the tape very fresh. And it makes you wonder when it was taped, and recorded, and how quickly it's reached the -- its independent audience. In this case it's the Muslims around the world, and especially the active Muslims and the reformists in Saudi Arabia.
S. O'BRIEN: In addition to railing against the Saudi royal family, what's the message on this tape?
NASR: This is obviously a rallying of troops. An hour and 14 minutes of uninterrupted talk by Bin Laden. It's like a sermon. It's -- he goes over the history of the region, the history of the relationship between the Saudi -- see, we call it the royal family. He calls it the ruling family. He doesn't believe that they are legitimate, that they should stay in power. He believes that that they should be overruled, and this is exactly what he's doing. He's talking to the people who might be able to change that.
And you know, for people like me, we monitor Web sites, Islamist Web sites constantly. There was a move on those Islamist Web sites to call for a big march in both Jeddah and Riyadh today in Saudi Arabia. As a matter of fact, wire services are reporting that this march went through. So the timing couldn't be more perfect for Bin Laden and his supporters to bring this tape to light at this point, when reformists in Saudi Arabia are being active against the Saudi government.
S. O'BRIEN: Any surprise in your mind that this is an audio tape and not videotape? NASR: Not really. I mean, we're used to Bin Laden by now. He started with paper statements, you may remember, in 2001. There was a paper statement signed by him which CNN was able to authenticate because we happened to have his hand signature on an affidavit. So we've seen paper statements, we've seen audio statements, video statements, video clips.
By now, no, this is not surprising. Some people are asking whether it's surprising that this is on the Internet, versus on an Arab network, which also Bin Laden has used as a conduit to his supporters. And this is not surprising, either. Al Qaeda has been known for using the Internet every now and then, whenever it can, as a matter of fact, because it seems like when you read their messages on the Internet, you know that they're not too happy with the way Al Jazeera, or Al Arabiya or the Western media handling their tapes, because they're edited, they're cut down to a minimum of a few seconds, maybe a minute, max. So this way, an hour and 14 minutes are out there for anyone to listen and get the message.
S. O'BRIEN: Octavia Nasr for us this morning. Thanks, Octavia, appreciate that analysis -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: President of the United States on day two of his economic forum, that's under way right now. Live pictures right now as he gathers together a series of participants to discuss the economy. If yesterday is any indication, we'll hear a lot of complaints about the Bush course of action. So far, everybody has been endorsing Bush's economic proposals, and plans. We will be watching it very closely all throughout the day, as well, with, in particular, some special coverage I believe.
We're going to listen in for a moment. I'm sorry, we're going to listen in. Then 1:30 Eastern we'll offer you some more live coverage, as well. Let's listen to the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nothing will change. In other words, nobody's going to take away your check. You'll receive that which has been promised.
Secondly, I do not believe we should be raising payroll taxes to achieve the objective of a sound Social Security system.
Thirdly, I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own payroll taxes and set them up in a personal savings account which will raise a better rate of return, encourage ownership in savings and provide a new way of -- let me just say reforming -- modernizing the system to reflect what many workers are already experiencing in America, the capacity to make your own asset base that government cannot take away. And so with those principles in mind, I'm open-minded with the members of Congress.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, president making light a little bit of his desire to privatize Social Security, and indicating with some very narrow parameters, he's hoping to compromise.
All right now, 1:30 Eastern, as I prematurely told you a few moments ago, we're going to give you some significant live coverage of the White House conference on the economy. So stay tuned to CNN all throughout the day and in particular for that.
Now, today is one of the busiest days of the year for shipping companies. Americans sending millions of holiday packages to loved ones. So packing your gifts so they arrive safely and in time is critical this week. Better listen up, folks, if you haven't done your list yet. What are some of the dos and don'ts you should follow.
Keith Oppenheim following that for us. He is in Hodgkin's, Illinois, the busiest and biggest sorting packaging plant in the world, just outside of Chicago.
Hello, Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.
It is incredibly busy. Get this, approximately two million packages will be sorted and sent out to trucks and trains from this facility alone on this busiest week and peak period, and despite great attempts by UPS to get people to pack properly, it, of course, doesn't always happen. So some of the packages have to be taken off the busy line and sent to where I am right now, to a package hospital.
This is Bryan Paige, who, if you will, is sort of a package doctor.
Bryan, hi.
BRYAN PAGE, UPS PACKAGE ENGINEER: How are you doing today?
OPPENHEIM: Can you show us a bad box to give us a sense of what is pulled?
PAGE: Yes, definitely. What we have here is this is a package that came in the system today. As you can see, it's open, it wasn't taped. There's actually no cushioning in here, so this is going to be a problem.
OPPENHEIM: That stuff could just fall out.
PAGE: Exactly. We're going to pull it off, retape it, get some cushioning around it.
OPPENHEIM: Brian, show us how to pack properly. I think people probably think they know, but show us what they really should know.
PAGE: What we're going to package a fragile wine glass here, and a little truck for your kid possibly. Where you want to start with is have a nice, new box with the flaps intact, and then you want to wrap each product individually with some bubble wrap or craft paper material.
OPPENHEIM: You like the think bubble wrap, do you?
PAGE: Yes, this works very well for good separation. You want to wrap each one separately so that they're not hitting each other, their not banging against the walls.
And then also, once you get it in there, you want to make sure everything's packed nice and tight. So fill in all the void space on the top of the package. Go ahead and seal the package. And we want to use the six-strip method of h-dial (ph). She when we tape it, you want to go across, and then you want also get the sides, as well. And this is going to give you the strongest package possible.
OPPENHEIM: Nice job, and as you finish up -- well, you have finished up. I'll just mention that what we're talking about here, Miles, is often consumer-to-consumer shipping. For example, someone in the family sending to someone else, not through a company. We have a graphic to show you of who actually leads in that segment of this shipping business, and it's the United States Postal Service that is actually in the lead, with 48 percent. UPS with 28 percent. You have FedEx with 19 percent. And DHL with 5 percent.
And just one more tidbit before we go, I find this fascinating. When things go properly, Miles, it takes a box, a package, just 15 minutes to be unloaded, and then to be reloaded and sent to its destination from this huge facility. So on a day like today the boxes are zipping through.
Back to you.
OPPENHEIM: Tell the truth, Keith, between live shots you're popping all that bubble wrap, right?
All right, thanks, Keith. Appreciate it.
S. O'BRIEN: You know what? of course he's not. He's a hard- working journalist. That's the silliest question I've heard on live TV.
M. O'BRIEN: No, it's not the silliest question. You've heard sillier questions.
S. O'BRIEN: He could hear you; he was ignoring you is what was going on, by the way.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Alan Greenspan says no to President Bush. We're going to take you live to the New York Stock Exchange in just a few moments to find out why.
M. O'BRIEN: And you can't compare apples to oranges, or so they say. You can't even compare oranges to oranges, not if you're trying to match the nutritional value of today's fruit with fruit grown 50 years ago. You know the fruit isn't as good as it used to be, listen to granddad about that.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Well, you wouldn't expect the phrase oldies but goodies to apply to fruits and vegetables, but a new study says produce today contains fewer nutrients than it did 50 years ago. Elizabeth Cohen at the CNN Center, proving once again the good old days are always the better days. Even the fruit was better.
Hello, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. And you'll hear sometimes people say, you know, a tomato today just doesn't taste like it did decades ago, that fruits and vegetables used to taste better. Well, that's subjective.
But some researchers decided to look objectively at nutritional value of produce 50 years ago versus now. And what they found is that since 1950, that in eggplants, they have 70 percent less Vitamin C know than in the 50s. Lettuce and tomato, the potassium has gone down 30 percent. Bell peppers and celery, protein has gone down 30 percent.
Now, if this is true, and there are some people who criticize the methodology of this study. But if this is true, does that mean, well, you just don't have to eat fruits and vegetables, they're not as good as they used to be? No, dietitians say this means you need to eat more of them, since they appear to possibly have less nutrients than they used to -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So why the nutritional shortfall in the produce these days?
COHEN: Well, it's not entirely clear, but one theory is that today in agriculture, they try to breed varieties so that they're bigger, shinier, so that they can withstand more transportation, so they look better on the shelf. And some people say that the methods they use to do that mean less nutrition in the produce.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And so just take a vitamin is probably the best advice that comes out of this, to make up for the bad tomato?
COHEN: Well, that's possible. But also just eat more fruits and vegetables. They're good for you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, mom -- I mean, Elizabeth. I will eat my fruits and vegetables, promise. All right -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles, thanks.
Well everybody knows the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and for the next twelve days, we're going to take a closer look. Today, the partridge. In reality, the partridge is fighting for survival in New England because of predators and a logging plan by the U.S. Forest Service.
CNN's Dan Lothian tells us just what's being done to try to save the bird.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is North America's partridge.
PAUL KARCZMARCYK, RUFFED GROUSE SOCIETY, NEW ENGLAND: The name partridge actually comes from a European species. There are Hungarian partridge, gray partridge, and in North America what we really have are grouse.
LOTHIAN: Not limited to the pear tree, the roughed grouse makes its nest in the forests, found in most states and Canada. But only 45 percent of the population will survive to adulthood.
On this snowy day in Vermont, the bird remains under cover. Paul Karczmarcyk, with the roughed grouse society of New England, says the most widely distributed game bird is constantly being hunted. At every turn, there's an enemy.
KARCZMARCYK: Foxes will eat them, bobcats, lynx, hawks, owls, you name it. They're all after grouses.
LOTHIAN: They are also in the crosshairs of hunters. And federal wildlife biologist Clayton Grove says the grouse is being pinched by a diminishing habitat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need the whole spectrum of young forest, middle-aged forest and old forest to survive well in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to get real bouncy here.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Karczmarcyk's group, which is pushing for more diverse habitat, hopes a controversial U.S. forest management plan can be modified to better protect the roughed grouse.
(voice-over): Why is this bird so important?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roughed grouse is kind of an indicator species for what we consider a healthy forest.
LOTHIAN: A bird made famous by a holiday song, also an environmental bellwether.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Conservationists, easy for me to say, are also working to curtail partridge hunting in Vermont. We're going to take a look at all twelve days of that song. So up next is the two turtle doves -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? You're going to do the two turtle doves?
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm going to sing it at the end.
M. O'BRIEN: What about the maids a-milking? How're they doing? S. O'BRIEN: You'll have to wait.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, live to Wall Street where a big merger might affect heart patients. Stay with us for that, on AMERICANA MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is taking the mike, talking about the U.N. expanding its presence in Iraq, and also some other issues as well. Let's listen in.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: We also had the opportunity to talk about U.N. reform and the proposals put forward by the panel on threats, challenges and change.
I think it's an excellent report, and it gives the membership an opportunity to bring the U.N. into the 21st century.
And I hope the reform proposals in that report will be taken very, very seriously by members. And I look forward to U.S. leadership and cooperation as we try to reform the organization.
And this also gave me a chance to thank Secretary Powell for the excellent cooperation and the wonderful work he's done around the world. And we at the U.N. are going to miss him. We did work extremely well together.
So thank you very much.
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: Thank you, Kofi.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned that the Iraq election program and the U.N. support for it is on track. Are you confident at this point that the United Nations is doing enough? And if not, what specifically would you like to see done differently?
POWELL: The secretary general reports that he is on track with respect to the planned efforts that the U.N. is making and is expecting to make in support of the independent election commission.
And so you may want to add a word to that, Kofi.
ANNAN: I would only say a word about that.
I think, as I said, we are on track with technical preparation. And so what we had to do we've done.
Obviously, there are other aspects of the elections where the Iraqi government will have to take care of, particularly the context in which the elections are held, security, political environment, and the efforts which we are helping them on to try to pull into the process those who are outside the process to make it as inclusive as possible.
The more inclusive the process, the likelier that the results will not be contested.
So from a technical point of view, we have done all that we need to do. We have enough people in there to do the work. And if need be, we'll put in the staff we need to get the work done.
It's not a question of numbers; it's a question of what you need to get the job done.
And are we doing the job?
ANNAN: Yes, we are doing the job.
QUESTION: Has the oil-for-food program or the oil-for-food investigations been discussed today in your meetings?
POWELL: We did touch on it briefly, in our meeting, and we know there are a number of inquiries under way. Mr. Volcker is doing his work, and there are inquiries taking place up on Capitol Hill here, and we're waiting for the results of those inquiries.
The secretary general and I noted that we're both deeply concerned about this matter and we want to get the truth out. We want to see these investigations come to a conclusion so responsibility and accountability can be assigned. And the world wants to see the results of these investigations as soon as possible, as well.
QUESTION: Have you had a chance to hear the new bin Laden audio tape? Do you know if it's actually him?
POWELL: No, I've not.
QUESTION: As you've probably heard, he praises the attack in Jeddah. I'm wondering if you're concerned this could lead to more attacks in Saudi Arabia.
POWELL: I have not heard the tape. And I know that our intelligence community is analyzing it to see whether it actually is bin Laden. It appears to be, but I will wait for the results of that analysis.
QUESTION: Could I just follow on to that? Is he -- is bin Laden taunting the U.S. and Saudi Arabia with these tapes? I mean, what's the purpose here, do you think?
POWELL: He's a terrorist. That's what terrorists do.
He is a criminal. He's a terrorist. He's a murderer. And we're going to continue to hunt for him until he is captured and brought to justice.
But let's wait and see the authenticity of this tape, and give our intelligence communities time to really examine it, make sure it is bin Laden. Appears to be.
But what he's trying to do is to incite, and he's on the run. And he will be brought to justice eventually, I'm confident. One more and then we have to go.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I just want to ask Mr. Annan if he feels disappointed that he did not meet with the president or his deputy to talk about your side of the story of the oil-for-food program, and whether you feel snubbed, as some reports said, by the president.
ANNAN: No, not at all. I don't feel snubbed.
I will be seeing the national security adviser. And we have lots of technical issues to discuss.
And the president and I have met on many occasions, and we also do talk on the phone. And so I don't feel that if I come to Washington and we don't get the chance to meet, I should feel offended or snubbed. This is the nature of things.
QUESTION: Any thoughts on the oil-for-food, sir?
ANNAN: I think my -- the oil-for-food is something that I'm concerned about and would want to get to the bottom of it. And I am anxious to see the investigations concluded as quickly as possible so that we can put it behind us and focus on the essential work of the United Nations.
QUESTION: Are you disturbed by continuing accusations against your son?
POWELL: As I noted earlier, we are doing a lot of work together with the United Nations and want to support the United Nations, support the secretary general in his work.
And as we noted earlier, we have confidence in the secretary general. We want to get to the bottom of these matters as quickly as we can. And that is in our mutual interest to do so.
Thank you.
ANNAN: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: That's the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell wrapping up a very brief news conference that they held outside of the State Department, taking some questions, not only about the impact of the U.N.'s progress in Iraq, but also questions about the oil-for-food investigations, and also some questions about this tape that is believed to be from Osama bin Laden that has appeared on Islamic Web sites.
Obviously, the last question, a question maybe most people were waiting for, a question from a journalist, about Kofi Annan's son and the oil-for-food scandal. At that moment, actually Secretary Colin Powell stepped in and sort of answered another question, taking that in a different direction. They wrapped it up, and so that was never fully answered.
Of course more on this as the day goes on. Let's wrap it up here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Miles, nice to have you today. Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: Time has flown once again.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll have you back tomorrow. You think it flew today?
M. O'BRIEN: I can come back one more day.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll have you back.
M. O'BRIEN: Busy morning.
S. O'BRIEN: It certainly was. We expect another one tomorrow.
Mr. Cafferty, I'm still mad at you.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: For what?
S. O'BRIEN: I don't know, the litany of things today.
CAFFERTY: You'll get over it. Or you won't.
S. O'BRIEN: I will, or maybe not.
Let's go down to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez. They're going to take you through the next few hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
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 December 16, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: It is exactly half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Miles is in for Bill Hemmer, who is still traveling back from Japan. More analysis this morning of a new audio recording. It is believed to be of Osama Bin Laden. It showed up on the Internet overnight. The primary message appears to be a call to overthrow the Saudi royal family. More analysis on that in just a moment.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also this is the busiest time of year to send someone a package. And with that mighty crush of boxes moving across America, we're going to talk a little bit about the dos and don'ts of packaging with a report from the largest sorting facility on Earth. Wow.
Let's get a check of the headlines. Kelly Wallace has that.
Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning again. Good morning, everyone.
Now in the news, in Washington, President Bush wrapping up a two- day economic summit today with meetings on jobs and Social Security reform. Today's session getting under way just about now. The event is designed to boost the administration's plans for the economy in its second term. CNN will have live coverage of the president's closing remarks at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
More violence today in Iraq. A senior Iraqi government official gunned down by suspected insurgents in western Baghdad. The official was the director general of the communications ministry.
And in Karbala, police say at least seven Iraqis died and more than 30 others were injured yesterday when a bomb went off near a mosque.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Washington at this hour for meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state nominee. The secretary-general looking for White House support after coming under scrutiny over the U.N. oil-for- food program. There have been loud calls from some members of Congress for Annan to resign over the corruption scandal involving that program.
And a study showing that being married and staying married may be good for your health. Researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics speculates marriage gives people economic and social stability, and that can improve health. But there may be a downside: 70 percent of husbands say they're overnight, compared with 65 percent of men overall. Of course we want to know about whys? Well, same number of wives are overweight as women overall. So marriage not affecting wives -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. It's that good cooking.
(CROSSTALK)
S. O'BRIEN: Kelly, thanks.
GUPTA: A new audio tape said to be from Osama bin Laden has showed up on Arabic Web sites today. The voice strongly criticizes the Saudi royal family, and mentions the attack on the consulate in Jeddah earlier this morning.
Octavia Nasr, senior editor of Arab affairs, has listened to the tape. She's at the CNN Center this morning.
Good morning, Octavia.
First, what do you think makes this tape so interesting?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: What makes it so interesting is, of course, the timing. Osama bin Laden, although he buried that reference to the Jeddah attack at the U.S. consulate, this definitely makes the tape very fresh. And it makes you wonder when it was taped, and recorded, and how quickly it's reached the -- its independent audience. In this case it's the Muslims around the world, and especially the active Muslims and the reformists in Saudi Arabia.
S. O'BRIEN: In addition to railing against the Saudi royal family, what's the message on this tape?
NASR: This is obviously a rallying of troops. An hour and 14 minutes of uninterrupted talk by Bin Laden. It's like a sermon. It's -- he goes over the history of the region, the history of the relationship between the Saudi -- see, we call it the royal family. He calls it the ruling family. He doesn't believe that they are legitimate, that they should stay in power. He believes that that they should be overruled, and this is exactly what he's doing. He's talking to the people who might be able to change that.
And you know, for people like me, we monitor Web sites, Islamist Web sites constantly. There was a move on those Islamist Web sites to call for a big march in both Jeddah and Riyadh today in Saudi Arabia. As a matter of fact, wire services are reporting that this march went through. So the timing couldn't be more perfect for Bin Laden and his supporters to bring this tape to light at this point, when reformists in Saudi Arabia are being active against the Saudi government.
S. O'BRIEN: Any surprise in your mind that this is an audio tape and not videotape? NASR: Not really. I mean, we're used to Bin Laden by now. He started with paper statements, you may remember, in 2001. There was a paper statement signed by him which CNN was able to authenticate because we happened to have his hand signature on an affidavit. So we've seen paper statements, we've seen audio statements, video statements, video clips.
By now, no, this is not surprising. Some people are asking whether it's surprising that this is on the Internet, versus on an Arab network, which also Bin Laden has used as a conduit to his supporters. And this is not surprising, either. Al Qaeda has been known for using the Internet every now and then, whenever it can, as a matter of fact, because it seems like when you read their messages on the Internet, you know that they're not too happy with the way Al Jazeera, or Al Arabiya or the Western media handling their tapes, because they're edited, they're cut down to a minimum of a few seconds, maybe a minute, max. So this way, an hour and 14 minutes are out there for anyone to listen and get the message.
S. O'BRIEN: Octavia Nasr for us this morning. Thanks, Octavia, appreciate that analysis -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: President of the United States on day two of his economic forum, that's under way right now. Live pictures right now as he gathers together a series of participants to discuss the economy. If yesterday is any indication, we'll hear a lot of complaints about the Bush course of action. So far, everybody has been endorsing Bush's economic proposals, and plans. We will be watching it very closely all throughout the day, as well, with, in particular, some special coverage I believe.
We're going to listen in for a moment. I'm sorry, we're going to listen in. Then 1:30 Eastern we'll offer you some more live coverage, as well. Let's listen to the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nothing will change. In other words, nobody's going to take away your check. You'll receive that which has been promised.
Secondly, I do not believe we should be raising payroll taxes to achieve the objective of a sound Social Security system.
Thirdly, I believe younger workers ought to be able to take some of their own payroll taxes and set them up in a personal savings account which will raise a better rate of return, encourage ownership in savings and provide a new way of -- let me just say reforming -- modernizing the system to reflect what many workers are already experiencing in America, the capacity to make your own asset base that government cannot take away. And so with those principles in mind, I'm open-minded with the members of Congress.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, president making light a little bit of his desire to privatize Social Security, and indicating with some very narrow parameters, he's hoping to compromise.
All right now, 1:30 Eastern, as I prematurely told you a few moments ago, we're going to give you some significant live coverage of the White House conference on the economy. So stay tuned to CNN all throughout the day and in particular for that.
Now, today is one of the busiest days of the year for shipping companies. Americans sending millions of holiday packages to loved ones. So packing your gifts so they arrive safely and in time is critical this week. Better listen up, folks, if you haven't done your list yet. What are some of the dos and don'ts you should follow.
Keith Oppenheim following that for us. He is in Hodgkin's, Illinois, the busiest and biggest sorting packaging plant in the world, just outside of Chicago.
Hello, Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.
It is incredibly busy. Get this, approximately two million packages will be sorted and sent out to trucks and trains from this facility alone on this busiest week and peak period, and despite great attempts by UPS to get people to pack properly, it, of course, doesn't always happen. So some of the packages have to be taken off the busy line and sent to where I am right now, to a package hospital.
This is Bryan Paige, who, if you will, is sort of a package doctor.
Bryan, hi.
BRYAN PAGE, UPS PACKAGE ENGINEER: How are you doing today?
OPPENHEIM: Can you show us a bad box to give us a sense of what is pulled?
PAGE: Yes, definitely. What we have here is this is a package that came in the system today. As you can see, it's open, it wasn't taped. There's actually no cushioning in here, so this is going to be a problem.
OPPENHEIM: That stuff could just fall out.
PAGE: Exactly. We're going to pull it off, retape it, get some cushioning around it.
OPPENHEIM: Brian, show us how to pack properly. I think people probably think they know, but show us what they really should know.
PAGE: What we're going to package a fragile wine glass here, and a little truck for your kid possibly. Where you want to start with is have a nice, new box with the flaps intact, and then you want to wrap each product individually with some bubble wrap or craft paper material.
OPPENHEIM: You like the think bubble wrap, do you?
PAGE: Yes, this works very well for good separation. You want to wrap each one separately so that they're not hitting each other, their not banging against the walls.
And then also, once you get it in there, you want to make sure everything's packed nice and tight. So fill in all the void space on the top of the package. Go ahead and seal the package. And we want to use the six-strip method of h-dial (ph). She when we tape it, you want to go across, and then you want also get the sides, as well. And this is going to give you the strongest package possible.
OPPENHEIM: Nice job, and as you finish up -- well, you have finished up. I'll just mention that what we're talking about here, Miles, is often consumer-to-consumer shipping. For example, someone in the family sending to someone else, not through a company. We have a graphic to show you of who actually leads in that segment of this shipping business, and it's the United States Postal Service that is actually in the lead, with 48 percent. UPS with 28 percent. You have FedEx with 19 percent. And DHL with 5 percent.
And just one more tidbit before we go, I find this fascinating. When things go properly, Miles, it takes a box, a package, just 15 minutes to be unloaded, and then to be reloaded and sent to its destination from this huge facility. So on a day like today the boxes are zipping through.
Back to you.
OPPENHEIM: Tell the truth, Keith, between live shots you're popping all that bubble wrap, right?
All right, thanks, Keith. Appreciate it.
S. O'BRIEN: You know what? of course he's not. He's a hard- working journalist. That's the silliest question I've heard on live TV.
M. O'BRIEN: No, it's not the silliest question. You've heard sillier questions.
S. O'BRIEN: He could hear you; he was ignoring you is what was going on, by the way.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Alan Greenspan says no to President Bush. We're going to take you live to the New York Stock Exchange in just a few moments to find out why.
M. O'BRIEN: And you can't compare apples to oranges, or so they say. You can't even compare oranges to oranges, not if you're trying to match the nutritional value of today's fruit with fruit grown 50 years ago. You know the fruit isn't as good as it used to be, listen to granddad about that.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Well, you wouldn't expect the phrase oldies but goodies to apply to fruits and vegetables, but a new study says produce today contains fewer nutrients than it did 50 years ago. Elizabeth Cohen at the CNN Center, proving once again the good old days are always the better days. Even the fruit was better.
Hello, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles. And you'll hear sometimes people say, you know, a tomato today just doesn't taste like it did decades ago, that fruits and vegetables used to taste better. Well, that's subjective.
But some researchers decided to look objectively at nutritional value of produce 50 years ago versus now. And what they found is that since 1950, that in eggplants, they have 70 percent less Vitamin C know than in the 50s. Lettuce and tomato, the potassium has gone down 30 percent. Bell peppers and celery, protein has gone down 30 percent.
Now, if this is true, and there are some people who criticize the methodology of this study. But if this is true, does that mean, well, you just don't have to eat fruits and vegetables, they're not as good as they used to be? No, dietitians say this means you need to eat more of them, since they appear to possibly have less nutrients than they used to -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So why the nutritional shortfall in the produce these days?
COHEN: Well, it's not entirely clear, but one theory is that today in agriculture, they try to breed varieties so that they're bigger, shinier, so that they can withstand more transportation, so they look better on the shelf. And some people say that the methods they use to do that mean less nutrition in the produce.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And so just take a vitamin is probably the best advice that comes out of this, to make up for the bad tomato?
COHEN: Well, that's possible. But also just eat more fruits and vegetables. They're good for you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, mom -- I mean, Elizabeth. I will eat my fruits and vegetables, promise. All right -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles, thanks.
Well everybody knows the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and for the next twelve days, we're going to take a closer look. Today, the partridge. In reality, the partridge is fighting for survival in New England because of predators and a logging plan by the U.S. Forest Service.
CNN's Dan Lothian tells us just what's being done to try to save the bird.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is North America's partridge.
PAUL KARCZMARCYK, RUFFED GROUSE SOCIETY, NEW ENGLAND: The name partridge actually comes from a European species. There are Hungarian partridge, gray partridge, and in North America what we really have are grouse.
LOTHIAN: Not limited to the pear tree, the roughed grouse makes its nest in the forests, found in most states and Canada. But only 45 percent of the population will survive to adulthood.
On this snowy day in Vermont, the bird remains under cover. Paul Karczmarcyk, with the roughed grouse society of New England, says the most widely distributed game bird is constantly being hunted. At every turn, there's an enemy.
KARCZMARCYK: Foxes will eat them, bobcats, lynx, hawks, owls, you name it. They're all after grouses.
LOTHIAN: They are also in the crosshairs of hunters. And federal wildlife biologist Clayton Grove says the grouse is being pinched by a diminishing habitat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They need the whole spectrum of young forest, middle-aged forest and old forest to survive well in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to get real bouncy here.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Karczmarcyk's group, which is pushing for more diverse habitat, hopes a controversial U.S. forest management plan can be modified to better protect the roughed grouse.
(voice-over): Why is this bird so important?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roughed grouse is kind of an indicator species for what we consider a healthy forest.
LOTHIAN: A bird made famous by a holiday song, also an environmental bellwether.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Conservationists, easy for me to say, are also working to curtail partridge hunting in Vermont. We're going to take a look at all twelve days of that song. So up next is the two turtle doves -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? You're going to do the two turtle doves?
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm going to sing it at the end.
M. O'BRIEN: What about the maids a-milking? How're they doing? S. O'BRIEN: You'll have to wait.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, live to Wall Street where a big merger might affect heart patients. Stay with us for that, on AMERICANA MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is taking the mike, talking about the U.N. expanding its presence in Iraq, and also some other issues as well. Let's listen in.
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: We also had the opportunity to talk about U.N. reform and the proposals put forward by the panel on threats, challenges and change.
I think it's an excellent report, and it gives the membership an opportunity to bring the U.N. into the 21st century.
And I hope the reform proposals in that report will be taken very, very seriously by members. And I look forward to U.S. leadership and cooperation as we try to reform the organization.
And this also gave me a chance to thank Secretary Powell for the excellent cooperation and the wonderful work he's done around the world. And we at the U.N. are going to miss him. We did work extremely well together.
So thank you very much.
COLIN POWELL, U.S. SECY. OF STATE: Thank you, Kofi.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you mentioned that the Iraq election program and the U.N. support for it is on track. Are you confident at this point that the United Nations is doing enough? And if not, what specifically would you like to see done differently?
POWELL: The secretary general reports that he is on track with respect to the planned efforts that the U.N. is making and is expecting to make in support of the independent election commission.
And so you may want to add a word to that, Kofi.
ANNAN: I would only say a word about that.
I think, as I said, we are on track with technical preparation. And so what we had to do we've done.
Obviously, there are other aspects of the elections where the Iraqi government will have to take care of, particularly the context in which the elections are held, security, political environment, and the efforts which we are helping them on to try to pull into the process those who are outside the process to make it as inclusive as possible.
The more inclusive the process, the likelier that the results will not be contested.
So from a technical point of view, we have done all that we need to do. We have enough people in there to do the work. And if need be, we'll put in the staff we need to get the work done.
It's not a question of numbers; it's a question of what you need to get the job done.
And are we doing the job?
ANNAN: Yes, we are doing the job.
QUESTION: Has the oil-for-food program or the oil-for-food investigations been discussed today in your meetings?
POWELL: We did touch on it briefly, in our meeting, and we know there are a number of inquiries under way. Mr. Volcker is doing his work, and there are inquiries taking place up on Capitol Hill here, and we're waiting for the results of those inquiries.
The secretary general and I noted that we're both deeply concerned about this matter and we want to get the truth out. We want to see these investigations come to a conclusion so responsibility and accountability can be assigned. And the world wants to see the results of these investigations as soon as possible, as well.
QUESTION: Have you had a chance to hear the new bin Laden audio tape? Do you know if it's actually him?
POWELL: No, I've not.
QUESTION: As you've probably heard, he praises the attack in Jeddah. I'm wondering if you're concerned this could lead to more attacks in Saudi Arabia.
POWELL: I have not heard the tape. And I know that our intelligence community is analyzing it to see whether it actually is bin Laden. It appears to be, but I will wait for the results of that analysis.
QUESTION: Could I just follow on to that? Is he -- is bin Laden taunting the U.S. and Saudi Arabia with these tapes? I mean, what's the purpose here, do you think?
POWELL: He's a terrorist. That's what terrorists do.
He is a criminal. He's a terrorist. He's a murderer. And we're going to continue to hunt for him until he is captured and brought to justice.
But let's wait and see the authenticity of this tape, and give our intelligence communities time to really examine it, make sure it is bin Laden. Appears to be.
But what he's trying to do is to incite, and he's on the run. And he will be brought to justice eventually, I'm confident. One more and then we have to go.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, I just want to ask Mr. Annan if he feels disappointed that he did not meet with the president or his deputy to talk about your side of the story of the oil-for-food program, and whether you feel snubbed, as some reports said, by the president.
ANNAN: No, not at all. I don't feel snubbed.
I will be seeing the national security adviser. And we have lots of technical issues to discuss.
And the president and I have met on many occasions, and we also do talk on the phone. And so I don't feel that if I come to Washington and we don't get the chance to meet, I should feel offended or snubbed. This is the nature of things.
QUESTION: Any thoughts on the oil-for-food, sir?
ANNAN: I think my -- the oil-for-food is something that I'm concerned about and would want to get to the bottom of it. And I am anxious to see the investigations concluded as quickly as possible so that we can put it behind us and focus on the essential work of the United Nations.
QUESTION: Are you disturbed by continuing accusations against your son?
POWELL: As I noted earlier, we are doing a lot of work together with the United Nations and want to support the United Nations, support the secretary general in his work.
And as we noted earlier, we have confidence in the secretary general. We want to get to the bottom of these matters as quickly as we can. And that is in our mutual interest to do so.
Thank you.
ANNAN: Thank you very much.
O'BRIEN: That's the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Secretary of State Colin Powell wrapping up a very brief news conference that they held outside of the State Department, taking some questions, not only about the impact of the U.N.'s progress in Iraq, but also questions about the oil-for-food investigations, and also some questions about this tape that is believed to be from Osama bin Laden that has appeared on Islamic Web sites.
Obviously, the last question, a question maybe most people were waiting for, a question from a journalist, about Kofi Annan's son and the oil-for-food scandal. At that moment, actually Secretary Colin Powell stepped in and sort of answered another question, taking that in a different direction. They wrapped it up, and so that was never fully answered.
Of course more on this as the day goes on. Let's wrap it up here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Miles, nice to have you today. Thank you very much.
M. O'BRIEN: Time has flown once again.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll have you back tomorrow. You think it flew today?
M. O'BRIEN: I can come back one more day.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll have you back.
M. O'BRIEN: Busy morning.
S. O'BRIEN: It certainly was. We expect another one tomorrow.
Mr. Cafferty, I'm still mad at you.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: For what?
S. O'BRIEN: I don't know, the litany of things today.
CAFFERTY: You'll get over it. Or you won't.
S. O'BRIEN: I will, or maybe not.
Let's go down to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez. They're going to take you through the next few hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
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