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American Morning
President Bush Trying to Sell Social Security Plan to American People; Discussion with Senator Ben Nelson
Aired February 04, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush takes his message to the American people again today. But back in Washington, his argument for Social Security isn't gaining any ground.
Wanted in Florida. Police are searching for this couple. You'll not believe what they're accused of doing to their own children.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's plenty of blood. I wrote, "I heart my kids."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Trapped in the wreckage of a mangled train, his heart did the talking. His story of love for his family on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here in New York City. Good to have you along with us. Good morning to you, and welcome back from Washington.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Some of the stories we're watching today, more on the address from the other night as President Bush carefully choosing every stop on his sales trip regarding Social Security. We'll talk to Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, why the president is choosing his state today to take his message. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was ready to take the blame for Abu Ghraib Prison. That came out in an exclusive interview with Larry King. We're going to hear what he had to say.
Jack Cafferty on a Friday, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How're you doing? The question is, would you pay $1,000 for a pair of dirty socks once worn by Brian Adams? Well, people do these things. It's called "celebrity worship syndrome," and it is way, way out of control. We'll take a look at this phenomenon. And it's Friday, so who knows, we might get into other some stuff, too.
HEMMER: I know we will. Thank you, Jack.
Let's start with Carol Costello now across town with here the headlines.
Carol, good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Good morning, everyone.
Now in the news, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning Iran against developing the nuclear program, but stresses the United States isn't planning a military attack at this point. Rice spoke in London less than two hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: The question is simply not on the agenda at this point in time. You know, we have diplomatic means to do this. Iran is not immune to the changes that are going on in this region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rice spoke following a closed-door session with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. She next heads to Germany, and then to France.
U.S. officials say at least three Americans are among the 104 people onboard a jet missing near the Afghan-Pakistan border. Afghan authorities have launched a search-and-rescue mission to the plane, similar to the one being shown here. The jet was heading for Kabul, but was detoured to a Pakistani airport due to a snowstorm. There's no record it ever landed landed.
A horrific case in Florida, where police search for a couple accused of torturing five children. John and Linda Dollar, the children's legal guardians, each face a count of aggravated child abuse in Citrus County. The sheriff's spokeswoman says the children were so malnourished that, quote, "they looked like pictures from Auschwitz."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAIL TIERNEY, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: They did dell tell detectives that, you know, they had the toenails pulled out and when asked how would their toenails pulled out, they said by pliers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And their 16-year-old weighed just 59 pounds. Authorities say the children were also tortured by electric shock and struck with hammers.
Turning to sports news now, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, is planning to sign a one-day contract with Dallas so he can officially retire as a Cowboy. In an emotional farewell, Emmitt Smith says it's been a tremendous ride as he announced his retirement. Smith spent the last two years with the Cardinals after 13 seasons with Dallas.
Back to you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Big old guy crying like that.
Carol, thanks very much.
President Bush on the road this morning, trying to sell his Social Security plan to the American people. It is part of a two-day, five-state tour.
Senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president. He joins us from Omaha, Nebraska this morning.
Hey, John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. You know, when the president won re-election back in November, he said that was it, it was his final campaign. But as you noted, he's on the road again. There are groups lining up to spend money on television ads. The fight over Social Security very quickly taking on the air of yet another campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Wheels down, Fargo, stop one in a Social Security sales pitch that will quickly test the president's second- term political clout.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to travel our country, speaking as plainly as I can about a problem that I see.
KING: Five states in two days -- North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas and Florida. All share this, Mr. Bush won them on the way to re-election, but all have Democratic senators who opposed the president's Social Security plan.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: The president saying let's borrow $1 trillion to $3 trillion, stick it in the stock market, cut Social Security benefits, and somehow that will be good? Most people, I think, will understand that doesn't add up.
KING: Remapping Social Security is the most ambitious domestic challenge of the Bush presidency. One urgent goal is to convince politically powerful older voters, anyone over age 55, that the Bush plan would not touch their benefits.
BUSH: For those of you who have received our check or about to receive a check, not one thing will change.
KING: Another hurdle is rebutting Democrats whose say the private-investment accounts Mr. Bush wants for younger Americans would destroy a program designed as a government guaranteed safety net.
JOHN SNOW, U.S. TREASURY SECY.: These would be safe investment vehicles. They would -- wouldn't be allowed to go out to the Las Vegas and play the wheels, or go to the race track.
KING: Protests in Fargo underscore why Republicans are nervous. Mr. Bush says the debate must consider trimming benefits and raising the retirement age.
(on camera): Touching Social Security has long been deemed political suicide. So Mr. Bush's enormous first challenge, before there can be any negotiations about how to change the program, is turning public opinion to the point where doing nothing is deemed the greater political risk.
(voice-over): It's a tough sell, but Air Force One draws attention, and local news coverage a member of Congress can only envy. Mr. Bush compares the Democratic opposition to the first term vows he would never win sweeping tax cuts. But even allies concede this fight will be far tougher, and tests the depth of what the president likes to call the political capital earned by winning re- election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Big campaign-style crowds at both stops yesterday. The crowd already lining up outside this arena here in Omaha. The president's initial target on these first stops, Democratic senators, the White House concedes he needs some Republican votes too. But, Soledad, they think it will work this way, if they can win over some of the Democrats, the Republicans will be much less nervous and get in line, too -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's an interesting strategy. We'll see if that actually works. John, I'm going to ask you to stick around for a moment. We'll get to our next story. I want to ask you a question on the other side of that, OK?
KING: Sure.
HEMMER: Last year, at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, there were calls in Congress for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. At the time, Secretary Rumsfeld said he has no intention of stepping down. In an exclusive interview, though, with CNN's Larry King, aired last night here, Rumsfeld says he actually did offer to resign twice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: ... my resignation to President Bush twice during that period, and told him that I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on. And he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was from last night.
John King this morning, any reaction from the White House on that?
KING: Well, Bill, they're being very careful about this. They say they don't discuss personnel matters in public. But I did speak to senior officials as we traveled yesterday, they did confirm that these dramatic conversations did take place. Secretary Rumsfeld said if that he'd become a burden, a problem for the administration, he was willing to resign, actually submitted his resignation to the president. Aides telling us Mr. Bush never considered accepting it, told the secretary then to stay on and has full confidence now in Secretary Rumsfeld's ability.
HEMMER: Thank you, John, live in Omaha this morning there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: New developments this morning from the Vatican concerning the health of Pope John Paul II. The pontiff is steadily improving, and there is word he hopes to make his live weekly address this Sunday.
Jim Bittermann is live outside the hospital with an update for us this morning.
Hey, Jim, good morning to you.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.
In fact, yes, things are improving. Very positive word from the Vatican this morning about the pope's health. Here's the way the hospital spokesman, Nicola Corbino, put it to the press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLA CORBINO, GEMELLI HOSPITAL SPOKESMAN (through translator): His health conditions have improved. He's feeding himself regularly. The various tests confirm that the clinical situation is stable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: The Vatican very much managing the news out of here this morning. Even though a statement was read by the hospital spokesman, it was prepared over at the Vatican. And the Vatican seems to be making every effort to project the image of the pope as returning back to business as usual.
On Sunday, they're saying he perhaps will have an audio link from his hospital room here to St. Peter's square, where he normally delivers the Angeles (ph), his Sunday message from his apartment window. This Sunday, he'll try to do it from his hospital room here.
The other thing is that on Saturday, they're talking about setting up a video link, video conference with a group of Seminarians who are in town. Again, projecting the image that the pope is going back to business as usual. One thing, though, however, he has canceled his meeting with Condoleezza Rice. He was supposed to meet with Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday. Instead, she'll meet with No. 2 at the Vatican, the secretary of state, Angelos Soldana (ph) -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jim Bittermann for us this morning. Jim, thanks for that update, appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: To Iraq now, Soledad. Early results from the election show overwhelming support for a Shiite coalition. That alliance, endorsed by the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, very influential throughout the entire country of Iraq, and is made up of religious groups with ties to Iran.
Nic Robertson tracking this in Baghdad.
Nic, what more do you have there? Hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, just before I get to that, we have some new information just in here to us in Baghdad. An Italian journalist, Julianna Segranna (ph), was kidnapped in the last few hours in Baghdad. She apparently had been on the streets interviewing people, was driving away from that interview, police say, kidnappers pulled alongside her car, fired shots in the air, pushed her driver and translator out of the way, grabbed her, put her in their vehicle and drove off with her. The police have no more information at this time.
And as you say, those election commission results, partial results out. The electoral commission here urging caution. They say demographically, these results are not -- cannot be used to interpret the overall outcome of the elections. What they show so far is that the votes cast in the south of Iraq, the predominantly Shiite area, favor the United Iraqi Alliance, the party supported by the most influential religious leader in the country, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani.
In Baghdad, where there's a more mixed population, the results in from there as well indicate that the party -- that the Prime Minister Ayad Allawi is a part of the Iraqi list of parties. That has done slightly better in Baghdad. But against the United Iraqi Alliance. However that party, and that listing, the United Iraqi Alliance, has got predominantly more votes in Baghdad.
But again, the commission pointing out that statistically, these results cannot be used to interpret an overall outcome. The Sunni parts of the country, votes have not yet been counted, and the Kurdish votes in the north have not been counted either.
But it does tend to show that there is beginning to be much stronger support for the religious grouping, the United Iraqi Alliance, the religious grouping away from the other mainly Shiite party, the Iraqi more secular grouping -- Bill.
HEMMER: We will await more results in that Nic. In the meantime, in the past 24 hours, a number of stories giving credence, possibly, to the fact that Zarqawi may have been nabbed very soon by Iraqi authorities. What are they saying about how they just missed him once again?
ROBERTSON: What they're saying, and this was the interior minister, he said that they'd missed catching Zarqawi by just one hour. They say that they are hot on his trail, that they expect to catch him soon, but the fact that he keeps moving from area to area presents a problem for them. We know recently they caught several of his top lieutenants. Perhaps that has helped them derive the information that led to this close call on Zarqawi.
Zarqawi is still, it seems, one step ahead of them, but the interior minister saying they're getting very close to him -- Bill.
HEMMER: Nic, thanks. Nic Robertson in Baghdad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The president hitting the road and the red states to push Social Security. He's going to need help, though, from a blue senator. Democrat Ben Nelson is our guest back live in Omaha in a moment on that.
O'BRIEN: Also, questions of corruption and bribery at the U.N. How high up the ladder does an investigator's scathing report go?
HEMMER: Also a man facing death scrawling an emotional message to his family in his own blood. He'll share his story as we continue on a Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: We're turning now to President Bush and his road trip to push his Social Security plan. The president is visiting five red states, and they're all states that have at least one Democratic senator that Mr. Bush hopes to persuade, along with the American people, that his plan is a good one.
Yesterday, the president made stops in North Dakota and Montana. Today, he's waking up in Nebraska before he travels to Arkansas and Florida.
Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is one of those Democrats that the president is hoping to win over.
He joins us from Omaha this morning.
Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much for being with us.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You live in a red state, which of course, helped President Bush get reelected. He's there to sell his Social Security plan. You're a Democrat.
Tell me a little bit about your constituency and their feelings, as far as you can tell, about an overhaul of Social Security.
NELSON: Well, I think the constituency here, which voted overwhelmingly for the president's reelection, just generally though has some skepticism about any kind of tampering with Social Security. It's sort of -- they're anxious to see the plan.
The president has gone from a concept to some content, and now it's time to see the calculations. And when we see the plan, I think the people in Nebraska and the people of the country will have an idea about what it will do.
O'BRIEN: Speaking about what's known at this time about the plan, 43 of your fellow Democratic senators, and also Vermont's independent Senator James Jeffords, signed a letter to President Bush, and they said this about the plan: "In our view, shifting financial obligations of this magnitude to future generations is immoral, unacceptable, unsustainable."
You were the only Democrat, I believe, to not sign the letter. Why not?
NELSON: There were a couple of reasons why. First of all, as you know, the Democrats are not always united on things of this sort. And I felt that the tone of the letter was a little sharp. Also, it criticized the tax cut that I supported. And so I just didn't feel comfortable signing the letter.
But, you know, many of my colleagues felt comfortable doing it and they felt comfortable with the fact; I didn't. And that's sort of how the process works.
O'BRIEN: Just a moment ago, you said you sort of want to see the calculations and some of the numbers.
Let's play a clip of what the president had to say about the numbers in this the State of the Union address:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt.
If steps are not taken to avert that outcome, the only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or other government programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And you're saying you want to wait and kind of do your own math on this.
Are you saying you think the president's not being forthright and truthful about those numbers?
NELSON: No, he's citing the CBO numbers of 2052 (ph). The GAO numbers are 2042.
I don't want to get wonkish on the numbers, but there are actuarial calculations that are important: mortality tables, health or morbidity tables.
This is a very complex situation. It's an insurance plan as well as a pension plan. It provides for disability or survivor's benefits as well as for pension or retirement benefits.
I don't want to be a wonk about it, but I do know that you have to have actuarial calculations. And to do that, it's not about what year it will become insolvent or what year it won't be able to respond fully, but it's about what these proposed changes would do to continue to provide benefits for people above 55 and below 55, and what implications are there to the deficit.
O'BRIEN: And the president has said, hey, he's willing to take any suggestions from everybody.
Do you have any suggestions? What would you like to see?
NELSON: Well, my suggestions are that, first of all, we do no harm, that we not only take care of the people above 55, but make sure that what we're doing below 55 doesn't reduce their benefits.
Restructuring the plan doesn't necessarily cure the potential insolvency of it. What we've got to do is cure the insolvency first. Any kind of restructuring, I think, is probably secondary, maybe important, but is secondary to making sure that the plan is solvent.
I want to work with the president. I'm anxious what his specific plan is, and then (inaudible) we'll be able to sit down and work through it.
Calculations become very important. It's one thing to have a concept. I'm glad that he's putting out content. And the next step, of course, is calculation.
O'BRIEN: Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson joining us this morning.
Thank you, sir. Nice to see you.
NELSON: Nice to see you.
HEMMER: Now to the shakeup at United Nations. There's a report implicating the man in charge for the oil-for-food program of illicit oil deals. Chief investigator Paul Volcker released the interim report on corruption in the program yesterday. The report says the director of oil-for-food, Benon Sevan, put himself in, quote, "a grave and continuing conflict of interest situation." It accused him are of soliciting Iraqi oil for a company trading, which sold it for profit. Sevan denies all those accusations. However, Annan has ordered disciplinary action against him and another U.N. official in charge of the sanctions branch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Is the job market finally back in gear? Andy has the early word on a big report. He's "Minding Your Business," just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. The first monthly jobs report due out this year in about an hour's time. With that and a check of the markets today, Andy Serwer is back with us today for "Minding Your Business."
Welcome back, by the way.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Thank you very much. Good to see you all.
Stocks dipped a little bit yesterday after being on the rise three days previous. Not a whole lot of damage. That is, unless you own amazon.com. We'll talk about that. Look at that, so the Nasdaq really got beat up by Amazon, which was down 14 percent, six dollars, because of a weak earnings report. Futures are looking pretty good this morning. Jobs report is out at 8:30. First one of the year for the month of December. Economists looking for a gain of 200,000 jobs. That would be the best start for a year since 1998. Unemployment rate is supposed to hold constant. We got 157,000 jobs in December. So a lot of optimism out there. And we shall see.
Interesting, we've been talking a lot about Social Security this morning, and a hot topic on Wall Street is what would be the implications of privatization on the stock market? Would all that new money coming in boost stocks? A lot of chatter about that on the street this morning.
HEMMER: We'll look into it later. Thank you, Andy.
O'BRIEN: I'm thinking about spending 1,000 bucks on Brian Adams' sock.
CAFFERTY: Dirty socks. Not any socks, dirty socks.
How much would you pay for a styrofoam cup, those dirty socks or a piece of used chewing gum. Well, if we told you the cup touched Elvis Presley's lips, the socks were on Brian Adams' feet and the gum was chewed by Britney Spears, would that make you reach for your wallet? People are doing this. They pay big money for this stuff, $1,500 for a billiard ball from Elvis' pool table. How do you know it's from Elvis' pool table? All billiard balls look alike. A million dollars for ordinary household items that belonged to Jackie Kennedy, things like mason jars and dirty oven mitts. "USA Today" has got a great story, the boom in the celebrity auction business, especially with the growing popularity of online auction sites like eBay.
Here's another one: $3,000 paid for Justin Timberlake's partially eaten toast. This is a little creepy. Thirty-one-31-year-old Chaz Welch, who framed a napkin from Prince's 1996 wedding, says it's a connection to the person no one else can have. O'BRIEN: Or want.
CAFFERTY: Or want.
So here's the question: Has celebrity worship gone too far? What would you pay top dollar for if you could get it from your favorite celebrity? Am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: We ought to take Jack's old shoe, the one with the hole in the bottom, put that online see what we could get.
SERWER: How about Bill Hemmer's billfold.
CAFFERTY: It's never been opened.
SERWER: I knew you were going there.
HEMMER: Touche.
HEMMER: Doesn't have his fingerprints on it at all.
SERWER: So it wouldn't be worth anything.
O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks very much. We look forward to some of those answer, and will be back in just a moment.
Ahead on "90-Second Pop," Fox might be skittish. It's the first Super Bowl since Miss Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. But don't worry, "The Simpsons" are cooking up a whole new controversy. That and more later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 4, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush takes his message to the American people again today. But back in Washington, his argument for Social Security isn't gaining any ground.
Wanted in Florida. Police are searching for this couple. You'll not believe what they're accused of doing to their own children.
And...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's plenty of blood. I wrote, "I heart my kids."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Trapped in the wreckage of a mangled train, his heart did the talking. His story of love for his family on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. 7:00 here in New York City. Good to have you along with us. Good morning to you, and welcome back from Washington.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.
HEMMER: Some of the stories we're watching today, more on the address from the other night as President Bush carefully choosing every stop on his sales trip regarding Social Security. We'll talk to Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, why the president is choosing his state today to take his message. We'll get to that in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was ready to take the blame for Abu Ghraib Prison. That came out in an exclusive interview with Larry King. We're going to hear what he had to say.
Jack Cafferty on a Friday, good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How're you doing? The question is, would you pay $1,000 for a pair of dirty socks once worn by Brian Adams? Well, people do these things. It's called "celebrity worship syndrome," and it is way, way out of control. We'll take a look at this phenomenon. And it's Friday, so who knows, we might get into other some stuff, too.
HEMMER: I know we will. Thank you, Jack.
Let's start with Carol Costello now across town with here the headlines.
Carol, good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Bill. Good morning, everyone.
Now in the news, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is warning Iran against developing the nuclear program, but stresses the United States isn't planning a military attack at this point. Rice spoke in London less than two hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECY. OF STATE: The question is simply not on the agenda at this point in time. You know, we have diplomatic means to do this. Iran is not immune to the changes that are going on in this region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rice spoke following a closed-door session with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. She next heads to Germany, and then to France.
U.S. officials say at least three Americans are among the 104 people onboard a jet missing near the Afghan-Pakistan border. Afghan authorities have launched a search-and-rescue mission to the plane, similar to the one being shown here. The jet was heading for Kabul, but was detoured to a Pakistani airport due to a snowstorm. There's no record it ever landed landed.
A horrific case in Florida, where police search for a couple accused of torturing five children. John and Linda Dollar, the children's legal guardians, each face a count of aggravated child abuse in Citrus County. The sheriff's spokeswoman says the children were so malnourished that, quote, "they looked like pictures from Auschwitz."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAIL TIERNEY, CITRUS CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: They did dell tell detectives that, you know, they had the toenails pulled out and when asked how would their toenails pulled out, they said by pliers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And their 16-year-old weighed just 59 pounds. Authorities say the children were also tortured by electric shock and struck with hammers.
Turning to sports news now, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, is planning to sign a one-day contract with Dallas so he can officially retire as a Cowboy. In an emotional farewell, Emmitt Smith says it's been a tremendous ride as he announced his retirement. Smith spent the last two years with the Cardinals after 13 seasons with Dallas.
Back to you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Big old guy crying like that.
Carol, thanks very much.
President Bush on the road this morning, trying to sell his Social Security plan to the American people. It is part of a two-day, five-state tour.
Senior White House correspondent John King is traveling with the president. He joins us from Omaha, Nebraska this morning.
Hey, John, good morning.
JOHN KING, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad. You know, when the president won re-election back in November, he said that was it, it was his final campaign. But as you noted, he's on the road again. There are groups lining up to spend money on television ads. The fight over Social Security very quickly taking on the air of yet another campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KING (voice-over): Wheels down, Fargo, stop one in a Social Security sales pitch that will quickly test the president's second- term political clout.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to travel our country, speaking as plainly as I can about a problem that I see.
KING: Five states in two days -- North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Arkansas and Florida. All share this, Mr. Bush won them on the way to re-election, but all have Democratic senators who opposed the president's Social Security plan.
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: The president saying let's borrow $1 trillion to $3 trillion, stick it in the stock market, cut Social Security benefits, and somehow that will be good? Most people, I think, will understand that doesn't add up.
KING: Remapping Social Security is the most ambitious domestic challenge of the Bush presidency. One urgent goal is to convince politically powerful older voters, anyone over age 55, that the Bush plan would not touch their benefits.
BUSH: For those of you who have received our check or about to receive a check, not one thing will change.
KING: Another hurdle is rebutting Democrats whose say the private-investment accounts Mr. Bush wants for younger Americans would destroy a program designed as a government guaranteed safety net.
JOHN SNOW, U.S. TREASURY SECY.: These would be safe investment vehicles. They would -- wouldn't be allowed to go out to the Las Vegas and play the wheels, or go to the race track.
KING: Protests in Fargo underscore why Republicans are nervous. Mr. Bush says the debate must consider trimming benefits and raising the retirement age.
(on camera): Touching Social Security has long been deemed political suicide. So Mr. Bush's enormous first challenge, before there can be any negotiations about how to change the program, is turning public opinion to the point where doing nothing is deemed the greater political risk.
(voice-over): It's a tough sell, but Air Force One draws attention, and local news coverage a member of Congress can only envy. Mr. Bush compares the Democratic opposition to the first term vows he would never win sweeping tax cuts. But even allies concede this fight will be far tougher, and tests the depth of what the president likes to call the political capital earned by winning re- election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Big campaign-style crowds at both stops yesterday. The crowd already lining up outside this arena here in Omaha. The president's initial target on these first stops, Democratic senators, the White House concedes he needs some Republican votes too. But, Soledad, they think it will work this way, if they can win over some of the Democrats, the Republicans will be much less nervous and get in line, too -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's an interesting strategy. We'll see if that actually works. John, I'm going to ask you to stick around for a moment. We'll get to our next story. I want to ask you a question on the other side of that, OK?
KING: Sure.
HEMMER: Last year, at the height of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, there were calls in Congress for the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. At the time, Secretary Rumsfeld said he has no intention of stepping down. In an exclusive interview, though, with CNN's Larry King, aired last night here, Rumsfeld says he actually did offer to resign twice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECY. OF DEFENSE: ... my resignation to President Bush twice during that period, and told him that I felt that he ought to make the decision as to whether or not I stayed on. And he made that decision and said he did want me to stay on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: That was from last night.
John King this morning, any reaction from the White House on that?
KING: Well, Bill, they're being very careful about this. They say they don't discuss personnel matters in public. But I did speak to senior officials as we traveled yesterday, they did confirm that these dramatic conversations did take place. Secretary Rumsfeld said if that he'd become a burden, a problem for the administration, he was willing to resign, actually submitted his resignation to the president. Aides telling us Mr. Bush never considered accepting it, told the secretary then to stay on and has full confidence now in Secretary Rumsfeld's ability.
HEMMER: Thank you, John, live in Omaha this morning there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: New developments this morning from the Vatican concerning the health of Pope John Paul II. The pontiff is steadily improving, and there is word he hopes to make his live weekly address this Sunday.
Jim Bittermann is live outside the hospital with an update for us this morning.
Hey, Jim, good morning to you.
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad.
In fact, yes, things are improving. Very positive word from the Vatican this morning about the pope's health. Here's the way the hospital spokesman, Nicola Corbino, put it to the press.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLA CORBINO, GEMELLI HOSPITAL SPOKESMAN (through translator): His health conditions have improved. He's feeding himself regularly. The various tests confirm that the clinical situation is stable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BITTERMANN: The Vatican very much managing the news out of here this morning. Even though a statement was read by the hospital spokesman, it was prepared over at the Vatican. And the Vatican seems to be making every effort to project the image of the pope as returning back to business as usual.
On Sunday, they're saying he perhaps will have an audio link from his hospital room here to St. Peter's square, where he normally delivers the Angeles (ph), his Sunday message from his apartment window. This Sunday, he'll try to do it from his hospital room here.
The other thing is that on Saturday, they're talking about setting up a video link, video conference with a group of Seminarians who are in town. Again, projecting the image that the pope is going back to business as usual. One thing, though, however, he has canceled his meeting with Condoleezza Rice. He was supposed to meet with Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday. Instead, she'll meet with No. 2 at the Vatican, the secretary of state, Angelos Soldana (ph) -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jim Bittermann for us this morning. Jim, thanks for that update, appreciate it -- Bill.
HEMMER: To Iraq now, Soledad. Early results from the election show overwhelming support for a Shiite coalition. That alliance, endorsed by the Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, very influential throughout the entire country of Iraq, and is made up of religious groups with ties to Iran.
Nic Robertson tracking this in Baghdad.
Nic, what more do you have there? Hello.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, just before I get to that, we have some new information just in here to us in Baghdad. An Italian journalist, Julianna Segranna (ph), was kidnapped in the last few hours in Baghdad. She apparently had been on the streets interviewing people, was driving away from that interview, police say, kidnappers pulled alongside her car, fired shots in the air, pushed her driver and translator out of the way, grabbed her, put her in their vehicle and drove off with her. The police have no more information at this time.
And as you say, those election commission results, partial results out. The electoral commission here urging caution. They say demographically, these results are not -- cannot be used to interpret the overall outcome of the elections. What they show so far is that the votes cast in the south of Iraq, the predominantly Shiite area, favor the United Iraqi Alliance, the party supported by the most influential religious leader in the country, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani.
In Baghdad, where there's a more mixed population, the results in from there as well indicate that the party -- that the Prime Minister Ayad Allawi is a part of the Iraqi list of parties. That has done slightly better in Baghdad. But against the United Iraqi Alliance. However that party, and that listing, the United Iraqi Alliance, has got predominantly more votes in Baghdad.
But again, the commission pointing out that statistically, these results cannot be used to interpret an overall outcome. The Sunni parts of the country, votes have not yet been counted, and the Kurdish votes in the north have not been counted either.
But it does tend to show that there is beginning to be much stronger support for the religious grouping, the United Iraqi Alliance, the religious grouping away from the other mainly Shiite party, the Iraqi more secular grouping -- Bill.
HEMMER: We will await more results in that Nic. In the meantime, in the past 24 hours, a number of stories giving credence, possibly, to the fact that Zarqawi may have been nabbed very soon by Iraqi authorities. What are they saying about how they just missed him once again?
ROBERTSON: What they're saying, and this was the interior minister, he said that they'd missed catching Zarqawi by just one hour. They say that they are hot on his trail, that they expect to catch him soon, but the fact that he keeps moving from area to area presents a problem for them. We know recently they caught several of his top lieutenants. Perhaps that has helped them derive the information that led to this close call on Zarqawi.
Zarqawi is still, it seems, one step ahead of them, but the interior minister saying they're getting very close to him -- Bill.
HEMMER: Nic, thanks. Nic Robertson in Baghdad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The president hitting the road and the red states to push Social Security. He's going to need help, though, from a blue senator. Democrat Ben Nelson is our guest back live in Omaha in a moment on that.
O'BRIEN: Also, questions of corruption and bribery at the U.N. How high up the ladder does an investigator's scathing report go?
HEMMER: Also a man facing death scrawling an emotional message to his family in his own blood. He'll share his story as we continue on a Friday morning.
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O'BRIEN: We're turning now to President Bush and his road trip to push his Social Security plan. The president is visiting five red states, and they're all states that have at least one Democratic senator that Mr. Bush hopes to persuade, along with the American people, that his plan is a good one.
Yesterday, the president made stops in North Dakota and Montana. Today, he's waking up in Nebraska before he travels to Arkansas and Florida.
Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska is one of those Democrats that the president is hoping to win over.
He joins us from Omaha this morning.
Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much for being with us.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D), NEBRASKA: Good morning, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: You live in a red state, which of course, helped President Bush get reelected. He's there to sell his Social Security plan. You're a Democrat.
Tell me a little bit about your constituency and their feelings, as far as you can tell, about an overhaul of Social Security.
NELSON: Well, I think the constituency here, which voted overwhelmingly for the president's reelection, just generally though has some skepticism about any kind of tampering with Social Security. It's sort of -- they're anxious to see the plan.
The president has gone from a concept to some content, and now it's time to see the calculations. And when we see the plan, I think the people in Nebraska and the people of the country will have an idea about what it will do.
O'BRIEN: Speaking about what's known at this time about the plan, 43 of your fellow Democratic senators, and also Vermont's independent Senator James Jeffords, signed a letter to President Bush, and they said this about the plan: "In our view, shifting financial obligations of this magnitude to future generations is immoral, unacceptable, unsustainable."
You were the only Democrat, I believe, to not sign the letter. Why not?
NELSON: There were a couple of reasons why. First of all, as you know, the Democrats are not always united on things of this sort. And I felt that the tone of the letter was a little sharp. Also, it criticized the tax cut that I supported. And so I just didn't feel comfortable signing the letter.
But, you know, many of my colleagues felt comfortable doing it and they felt comfortable with the fact; I didn't. And that's sort of how the process works.
O'BRIEN: Just a moment ago, you said you sort of want to see the calculations and some of the numbers.
Let's play a clip of what the president had to say about the numbers in this the State of the Union address:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the year 2042, the entire system would be exhausted and bankrupt.
If steps are not taken to avert that outcome, the only solutions would be dramatically higher taxes, massive new borrowing or sudden and severe cuts in Social Security benefits or other government programs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: And you're saying you want to wait and kind of do your own math on this.
Are you saying you think the president's not being forthright and truthful about those numbers?
NELSON: No, he's citing the CBO numbers of 2052 (ph). The GAO numbers are 2042.
I don't want to get wonkish on the numbers, but there are actuarial calculations that are important: mortality tables, health or morbidity tables.
This is a very complex situation. It's an insurance plan as well as a pension plan. It provides for disability or survivor's benefits as well as for pension or retirement benefits.
I don't want to be a wonk about it, but I do know that you have to have actuarial calculations. And to do that, it's not about what year it will become insolvent or what year it won't be able to respond fully, but it's about what these proposed changes would do to continue to provide benefits for people above 55 and below 55, and what implications are there to the deficit.
O'BRIEN: And the president has said, hey, he's willing to take any suggestions from everybody.
Do you have any suggestions? What would you like to see?
NELSON: Well, my suggestions are that, first of all, we do no harm, that we not only take care of the people above 55, but make sure that what we're doing below 55 doesn't reduce their benefits.
Restructuring the plan doesn't necessarily cure the potential insolvency of it. What we've got to do is cure the insolvency first. Any kind of restructuring, I think, is probably secondary, maybe important, but is secondary to making sure that the plan is solvent.
I want to work with the president. I'm anxious what his specific plan is, and then (inaudible) we'll be able to sit down and work through it.
Calculations become very important. It's one thing to have a concept. I'm glad that he's putting out content. And the next step, of course, is calculation.
O'BRIEN: Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson joining us this morning.
Thank you, sir. Nice to see you.
NELSON: Nice to see you.
HEMMER: Now to the shakeup at United Nations. There's a report implicating the man in charge for the oil-for-food program of illicit oil deals. Chief investigator Paul Volcker released the interim report on corruption in the program yesterday. The report says the director of oil-for-food, Benon Sevan, put himself in, quote, "a grave and continuing conflict of interest situation." It accused him are of soliciting Iraqi oil for a company trading, which sold it for profit. Sevan denies all those accusations. However, Annan has ordered disciplinary action against him and another U.N. official in charge of the sanctions branch -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Is the job market finally back in gear? Andy has the early word on a big report. He's "Minding Your Business," just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
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HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. The first monthly jobs report due out this year in about an hour's time. With that and a check of the markets today, Andy Serwer is back with us today for "Minding Your Business."
Welcome back, by the way.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Thank you very much. Good to see you all.
Stocks dipped a little bit yesterday after being on the rise three days previous. Not a whole lot of damage. That is, unless you own amazon.com. We'll talk about that. Look at that, so the Nasdaq really got beat up by Amazon, which was down 14 percent, six dollars, because of a weak earnings report. Futures are looking pretty good this morning. Jobs report is out at 8:30. First one of the year for the month of December. Economists looking for a gain of 200,000 jobs. That would be the best start for a year since 1998. Unemployment rate is supposed to hold constant. We got 157,000 jobs in December. So a lot of optimism out there. And we shall see.
Interesting, we've been talking a lot about Social Security this morning, and a hot topic on Wall Street is what would be the implications of privatization on the stock market? Would all that new money coming in boost stocks? A lot of chatter about that on the street this morning.
HEMMER: We'll look into it later. Thank you, Andy.
O'BRIEN: I'm thinking about spending 1,000 bucks on Brian Adams' sock.
CAFFERTY: Dirty socks. Not any socks, dirty socks.
How much would you pay for a styrofoam cup, those dirty socks or a piece of used chewing gum. Well, if we told you the cup touched Elvis Presley's lips, the socks were on Brian Adams' feet and the gum was chewed by Britney Spears, would that make you reach for your wallet? People are doing this. They pay big money for this stuff, $1,500 for a billiard ball from Elvis' pool table. How do you know it's from Elvis' pool table? All billiard balls look alike. A million dollars for ordinary household items that belonged to Jackie Kennedy, things like mason jars and dirty oven mitts. "USA Today" has got a great story, the boom in the celebrity auction business, especially with the growing popularity of online auction sites like eBay.
Here's another one: $3,000 paid for Justin Timberlake's partially eaten toast. This is a little creepy. Thirty-one-31-year-old Chaz Welch, who framed a napkin from Prince's 1996 wedding, says it's a connection to the person no one else can have. O'BRIEN: Or want.
CAFFERTY: Or want.
So here's the question: Has celebrity worship gone too far? What would you pay top dollar for if you could get it from your favorite celebrity? Am@CNN.com.
HEMMER: We ought to take Jack's old shoe, the one with the hole in the bottom, put that online see what we could get.
SERWER: How about Bill Hemmer's billfold.
CAFFERTY: It's never been opened.
SERWER: I knew you were going there.
HEMMER: Touche.
HEMMER: Doesn't have his fingerprints on it at all.
SERWER: So it wouldn't be worth anything.
O'BRIEN: Jack, thanks very much. We look forward to some of those answer, and will be back in just a moment.
Ahead on "90-Second Pop," Fox might be skittish. It's the first Super Bowl since Miss Jackson's wardrobe malfunction. But don't worry, "The Simpsons" are cooking up a whole new controversy. That and more later on AMERICAN MORNING.
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