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American Morning

Donald Rumsfeld Back in Iraq This Morning; Newborn Baby Survives Being Thrown From Car

Aired February 11, 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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Rumsfeld is back in Iraq this morning. And this trip is as much about Iraqi troops as it is Americans.
The pope showing again he's a man of the people, leaving the hospital yesterday. But can he continue his very public life?

A newborn baby survives from being thrown from a car. Now, the search is on for who did it.

And the awakening.:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a rebirth. It's amazing to have that connect again, because I didn't think I would ever, again be able to talk to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER; For 20 years, her parents waited and waited, and now their daughter is talking again, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

Other stories we're following this morning. Another twist in all the back and forth about North Korea. A South Korean newspaper reporting now the north is demanding bilateral talks with the U.S. over its nuclear weapons. What's North Korea trying to get out of all this brinkmanship? We're going to talk about that with a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea.

HEMMER: That story continues today.

Also on a much lighter note this morning, the Grammys are just around the corner, Sunday night in fact, and the guy everybody is talking about this year is Kanye West, 10 Grammy nominations. We'll talk about his sudden emergence, where he came from and other Grammy storylines, coming up this hour in "90-Second Pop." We'll get to that.

O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack. How are you? JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. The Question of the Day this morning is about that North Korean situation? What do we do with them now? Yesterday they said we have the bomb. Today, we want bilateral talks with the United States. I figure if you wait long enough, they might be willing to trade the nuclear-weapons program for all you can eat buffets. They're a little short on groceries in that country. Anyway, we'll look at it in more detail in a couple of minutes.

O'BRIEN: That's our top story this morning. Thank you, Jack.

Gunmen opened fire in southern Baghdad, killing at least nine people. That as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived for a surprise visit in Iraq.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in Baghdad with the very latest.

Nic, good morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, Donald Rumsfeld arrived just before dawn in Mosul, touched down, helping to heighten the secrecy of his visit, the touchdown in darkness. Still, he went into his first meeting, meeting with U.S. commanders there, then he went to the bedside of a soldier and pinned a Purple Heart on him, gave him a Purple Heart, the soldier's second Purple Heart in four months. He was told the soldier had been shot by a sniper yesterday, wounded in the hand. The secretary went on to give a speech to Iraqi and U.S. troops, commending them for their sacrifices in bringing about the elections just two weeks ago, commending them for all their the work they were doing.

Then he traveled to Baghdad, and really the focus of his trip there became on Iraqi security forces. He watched as Iraqi special forces trained using -- demonstrated their capabilities using automatic weapons, handguns, then as they stormed buildings, some of them going down ropes, descending from helicopters, others arriving by vehicle, all putting an emphasis right now on what Donald Rumsfeld and Iraqi commanders see as the prime focus for U.S. troops here now, to help build up Iraqi security forces -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. Nic, thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: I want to get to Carol Costello with the headlines this morning as we continue now.

Carol, good morning, across town.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, one Florida congressman is predicting his Social Security plan will gain momentum. That congressman, Clay Shaw, is offering an alternative to President Bush's proposals. He suggests boosting Social Security with money from general revenues, instead of payroll taxes. President Bush has been on the road highlighting a plan which focuses on letting people divert payroll taxes to private accounts, an idea which still has not gained a strong foothold in either party of Congress.

Police in Florida are on the lookout for a couple suspected of tossing a newborn baby out of a moving car. Police say the baby cord was found with a plastic bag over his head, and his umbilical cord attached. He's now in serious condition, but continues to improve. We'll hear from the Broward County sheriff about the search for the couple. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

A major recall from General Motors. This year Hummer H2 is among the nearly 200,000 being called back. Federal officials say a part in the braking system could crack during driving. GM says it is not aware of injuries caused by the defects.

And Virginia lawmakers are dropping a droopy-pants measure. The legislation would have slapped a $50 fine on people whose underpants are visible in a, quote, "lewd or indecent manner." There you have it. The measure breezed through the state house earlier this week, but it was killed by a Virginia senate committee. Members said the whole thing was too embarrassing to pass. So you can still wear your low riders in Virginia.

O'BRIEN: You know what? I wonder if they did in that, in part, because we were sort of making fun of them the other day.

COSTELLO: Maybe so. We like to think we have that power, don't we?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, we sure do.

Carol, thank you very much.

North Korea this morning is once again demanding bilateral talks with the U.S. According to a South Korean newspaper, North Korea says it has the bomb, and has tested a missile capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii.

Our CNN Security Watch question today is, just how much of a threat is North Korea? Ambassador Jack Pritchard has negotiated with North Korea's Kim Jong-Il. He's in our Washington bureau this morning.

Nice to see you, Mr. Ambassador. Thanks you very much for being with us.

AMB. CHARLES "JACK" PRITCHARD, FMR. U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: My pleasure. Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Thank you. Appreciate that.

You have met Kim Jong-Il, and he is, I think in this country, positioned as being nutty, crazy almost verging on insane. You've met him. Is that an accurate description?

PRITCHARD: No, I don't think so. I think that's a characterization that's no longer valid. It was a secretive country up until about June of 19 -- excuse me, June of 2000, when former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung visited there. We began to get a clear picture of who this guy was, and that was followed up by a trip I took with Secretary Albright in October of that year, and we spent several hours with him over a two-day period. So I think it's a mischaracterization. He's not crazy. Certainly, we have concerns about what he's doing, but he is not suicidal, nor is he crazy.

O'BRIEN: What he's been doing has been described by many as brinkmanship. What exactly do you think North Korea is up to?

PRITCHARD: Well, I think they made an evaluation of this second Bush cabinet and compared it with the first and the lack of results that they saw in the first four years. And simply have said, we don't want to continue down the same path. And what happened yesterday was announcement that withdrew from the six-party talks on an indefinite basis. And they threw into the pot a declaration, a public declaration that they are a nuclear weapons state. We believed that for quite a while. We've heard it privately from them. But this was the first public, open declaration that they said that they possessed nuclear weapons.

Now part of that, I believe, is simply the North Koreans taking a look at what's been going on, what we've been saying about Iran, pressure that we've been putting on in the Middle East, and they've decided that the declaration outweighs the risks involved, that they would like to be seen as having an actual deterrent.

This morning, as you're reporting, the North Koreans are asking for bilateral negotiations with the United States. That's something that they've wanted all along. They've never believed that the other parties involved in the six-party process have a stake in the situation. And so they're pushing to get a more refined dialogue going with the United States.

O'BRIEN: Three different scenarios that many people have sort of posited. First, being they'd actually used nuclear weapons on the United States. That's being seen as relatively unlikely. Secondly, that they might be tempted to sell the nuclear weapons to extremists, seen as more likely. And also, thirdly, concerns that it could start an arms race in Asia. Which do you think is the most accurate and worst-case scenario there?

PRITCHARD: Well, I'm most concerned about the proliferation issue, that at a point in time when North Korea, at some point, will become destabilized in the future, if we don't have control of their nuclear weapons, once that country begins to go away and there's reunification on the peninsula, headed by the South Koreans, and we go in and find, hopefully, all of their nuclear weapons program. But the worst-case scenario is we go and find missing pieces, and we just don't know where they've been. And that's what we want to avoid now, by engaging in this kind of negotiation to get them back on to a nonproliferation track. O'BRIEN: Ambassador Jack Pritchard joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much.

PRITCHARD: My pleasure. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, nine minutes past the hour now.

The pope is back at the Vatican this morning, ending his 10-day stay in the hospital. John Paul II departed Gemelli Hospital yesterday, waving to crowds from inside the pope-mobile. The Vatican now says the pontiff has recovered completely from the breathing crisis that prompted that stay, though questions linger about the future for his papacy.

Back to Rome this morning, and back with us is CNN Vatican analyst John Allen.

And, John welcome back here.

Can we say at his point that his condition is as strong, if not stronger, than it was 11 days ago?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Bill.

Well, I think the truth is we really don't know. I mean, the medical bulletins that we've been getting from the Vatican have been relatively limited in terms of the information we've been given. We know that, as you say the breathing crisis is apparently resolved and that his general conditions are improving.

But until we see the pope in public, until we hear him and have a chance to watch the body language and some extended way, we're not going to know.

Now today might actually give us that first chance. Today, in the Catholic Church, is the World Day of the Sick. It's February 11th, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Lords, the premiere healing shrine in Christianity. Some three and a half hours from now, there will be a mass in the Vatican, and we do not yet know if John Paul will be there. But if he is, that might give us our first real handle on exactly where he's at.

HEMMER: This procession yesterday, what does it say about how he wants to be seen by the public?

ALLEN: Well, I mean, first of all, it means that he wants to be seen as back in the saddle, that is to say, you know, for 10 days, there's been a tidal wave of speculation in the press about the pope's incapacitation, the pope's demise, the possibility of a papal resignation, and I think this is away of him sort of putting a period on all of that and starting a new sentence, and that new sentence would be that John Paul is back on the job.

You mentioned yesterday that Roman citizens did not turn out yesterday in great numbers for this procession. Why is that?

ALLEN: Well, I'll tell you, Bill, the thing is that, you know, whenever the pope catches a cold, the outside world sort of goes nuts on the theory that we're now on death watch, but the Romans have been through the papal health scares so many times since 1981, really, and the assassination attempt, that in sort of Roman popular psychology, it is simply assumed that a John Paul will always pull through. So there isn't the same crisis of alarm in this city that you get elsewhere.

And actually, I'm convinced when the end finally does come, as of course it must for all mortals, no one is going to be more shocked than the Romans themselves.

HEMMER: That's interesting. John Allen, thanks, again, from Rome, Italy, with us today. Good to see you -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In Maine, thousands of people were left in the dark today by a winter storm. The snowfall, blanketing northern New England, is also causing problems for commuters as well. As much as 20 inches of snow are expected in parts of Maine, and Vermont and New Hampshire before it moves on later today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: The face of baseball's steroid scandal goes public. Jason Giambi says he's sorry over and over, but the big story is the word that he didn't use even once.

HEMMER: Also a woman left in a coma-like state by a drunken driver, unable to talk for 20 years. Doctors today now stunned by a change in her condition, and we are, too. We'll get to that this hour.

O'BRIEN: And look at this, a beautiful newborn baby, safe and sound after being thrown from a car. Police, though, want your help in finding the parents. That story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: A newborn baby boy, thrown from a car in Ft. Lauderdale. Now authorities asking for the public's help in finding the parents. The Broward County sheriff is Ken Jenne. He describes how that baby boy is doing so far this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF KEN JENNE, BROWARD CO. FLORIDA: Doing very good. While it's listed in serious condition, it's not in critical shape. There's no serious injuries from being tossed or from the birth. So we're looking forward for the boy to be very, very healthy.

HEMMER: You had an eyewitness a woman who described what she saw. She says this was a young couple, arguing apparently when a bundle was thrown from the car. What happened next, sheriff? JENNE: We -- this is more than a witness. This woman is a good samaritan. She thought, actually, it was a puppy when I was talking to her, and she got out of the car to retrieve the package, the puppy, and opened up the package and found the little one-hour-old boy there.

HEMMER: You say one hour.

JENNE: She was on obviously...

HEMMER: Was this baby one-hour old?

JENNE: Yes, it was one-hour old. The paramedics are estimating that, the birth, because of the umbilical cord and the dryness of it. They estimated that it was about an hour old when the woman happened upon it. And so it was lucky that the birth was new and we had a witness that was also a good samaritan, would take the time, the effort in what she thought was retrieving a puppy.

HEMMER: It is also reported. I think you said last night, the baby had a plastic bag on its head. What would explain that, sheriff?

JENNE: Well we think that the baby was wrapped in a plastic bag as it was tossed from the car, and I think it was just a way of possibly clothing the child. It was tossed into a swale (ph) area, obviously abandoned, without any real thought of what was going to happen to this child.

HEMMER: Do you have a good description of the car from this good samaritan?

JENNE: That's part of the problem we have. We have a description of the automobile, that it was about a five-year-old, white police-looking type of car, an older model. Also, that the driver of the car had an afro, about a three-inch afro, and the woman had blond hair. We do not know if the two people in the car, obviously, at this point, mother and father, mother or what it is. But we're very anxious that this couple come in, talk to us. We have asked the public to participate with us in trying to find the mother and also the father of this child.

HEMMER: I have a phone number here for Crime Stoppers. We'll let our viewers know now. It's 954-493-TIPS. Spell it out, it's "tips." Is it possible this baby, sheriff, was born in that car?

JENNE: It's very possible that the baby was born in the car, because we know there were bodily fluids, birth fluids all over the child when the good samaritan actually picked up the child. So I would believe that the -- it was a very good chance that the baby was born in that white automobile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: Again, Sheriff Jenne, earlier today. Again, the number to call, f you have information in Florida, is 954-493-TIPS. The sheriff also says a state law passed six years ago in Florida allows anyone to drop off a newborn up to the age of three days at any firehouse in the state without questions asked. They're urging people, if anyone knows anyone who is pregnant in the area to please call that phone number. Here's Soledad with more.

O'BRIEN: Bill, thanks.

Well, it is one of the ugliest moments in sports history. But one of the teams in that NBA basketbrawl has somehow managed to turn it into a feel-good story. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: This just in. Breaking news out of Iraq today. U.S. forces confirming now another deadly explosion northeast of Baghdad. A Shiite mosque just northeast of town, there at least 12 are reported dead. More than 20 others are injured. More information when we get it. Just breaking now out of the Iraqi capital -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to business news this morning. There are more allegations that Bernie Ebbers knew all about fraud at WorldCom. How all this connects to a big deal in telecom, Andy Serwer is going to tell us. He's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

A couple of really interesting stories that are connected. First of all, Soledad, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting this morning that a deal between Verizon and MCI is imminent. This would have Verizon buying MCI for about $6 billion. MCI is the nation's second largest long-distance company. Of course, Qwest is still in the mix, too. So we've seen a lot of deals in this sector.

The irony is that yesterday, in the trial of Bernie Ebbers, Scott Sullivan, you remember him, he's the chief financial officer, testifying against Ebbers, said that there was a deal being talked about between Verizon and WorldCom back in 2001.

Now, remember, that MCI is the new name of WorldCom, OK? So the same two companies were talking back in 2001. Why didn't they merge back then? Well, Sullivan says that he and Ebbers said it would be very, very difficult to do that. Because when the Verizon executives examined WorldCom's books, they discovered fraud. That's what Sullivan testified. Really shocking stuff, I think, and really interesting. And Ebbers said when Sullivan raised this point with Ebbers, he said, gee, you know, you're right, this is not a good time to be talking to them. So very damning testimony. And it's so interesting, too, what comes around goes around.

CAFFERTY: I wonder where they're going to have Bernie's goodbye party before he goes to the joint.

SERWER: Yes, I thought that was truly amazing. Gee, that wouldn't be good for them to be looking at our books, would it?

O'BRIEN: Or at least one set of them. SERWER: Right, or one set of them, or the regulators.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Back to the Question of the Day, and North Korea the focus today.

Good morning.

CAFFERTY: The real world series of poker is being played in North Korea, and the stakes are nuclear weapons. The country came out right out yesterday and for the first time yesterday and said, we have the bomb. Now they want bilateral talks with the U.S., saying only then will North Korea consider resuming multinational negotiations.

In an interview with South Korea Korea's "Hang Korea (ph)" Newspaper, a North Korean diplomat said bilateral talks would be, quote, "a signal the United States is changing its hostile policy towards us. North Korea's always wanted bilateral talks with the U.S. as a way to increase their stature in the international community." The U.S. says you want to talk, we talk with all of your neighbors as well, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. They don't like that arrangement.

The question is this, should the United States agree to bilateral talks with North Korea?

O'BRIEN: I think the description as a poker match is great, right on the money.

HEMMER: When we were in Japan, the prime minister told us consistently, that's what the North Koreans want, they want to be seen on the world stage as the same level as the United States, equal partners in this negotiating thing -- not with South Korea, not with China, not with Japan, on the same level.

SERWER: Their people don't have enough today food to eat.

CAFFERTY: They should open up deli. I mean, as a start, like, get a delicatessen open that serves, like, sandwiches and stuff. There is no food in that country. If they want to be seen on a par with us, they should open like some restaurants and start serving food.

HEMMER: They are negotiating again.

O'BRIEN: Take care of the people.

All right, Jack, thank you very much.

On a much lighter note now, hey, let's take a look at this. Julia Roberts fans, we've got pictures of her new twins. Actually, "People" has got them. We're just going to show them to you. That's coming up a little bit later this morning. We're back in just a moment.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," a Grammy preview. 2004 was banner year for Usher, but will hit star be eclipsed by a rapper who came out of nowhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANYE WEST, ENTERTAINER: My name up until Sunday is no long Kanye. It's the face, the face of the Grammys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Plus a world premiere that only J. Lo and her new husband could bring you. That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired February 11, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Rumsfeld is back in Iraq this morning. And this trip is as much about Iraqi troops as it is Americans.
The pope showing again he's a man of the people, leaving the hospital yesterday. But can he continue his very public life?

A newborn baby survives from being thrown from a car. Now, the search is on for who did it.

And the awakening.:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a rebirth. It's amazing to have that connect again, because I didn't think I would ever, again be able to talk to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER; For 20 years, her parents waited and waited, and now their daughter is talking again, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING, with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.

Other stories we're following this morning. Another twist in all the back and forth about North Korea. A South Korean newspaper reporting now the north is demanding bilateral talks with the U.S. over its nuclear weapons. What's North Korea trying to get out of all this brinkmanship? We're going to talk about that with a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea.

HEMMER: That story continues today.

Also on a much lighter note this morning, the Grammys are just around the corner, Sunday night in fact, and the guy everybody is talking about this year is Kanye West, 10 Grammy nominations. We'll talk about his sudden emergence, where he came from and other Grammy storylines, coming up this hour in "90-Second Pop." We'll get to that.

O'BRIEN: Good morning, Jack. How are you? JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. The Question of the Day this morning is about that North Korean situation? What do we do with them now? Yesterday they said we have the bomb. Today, we want bilateral talks with the United States. I figure if you wait long enough, they might be willing to trade the nuclear-weapons program for all you can eat buffets. They're a little short on groceries in that country. Anyway, we'll look at it in more detail in a couple of minutes.

O'BRIEN: That's our top story this morning. Thank you, Jack.

Gunmen opened fire in southern Baghdad, killing at least nine people. That as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived for a surprise visit in Iraq.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson in Baghdad with the very latest.

Nic, good morning.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, Donald Rumsfeld arrived just before dawn in Mosul, touched down, helping to heighten the secrecy of his visit, the touchdown in darkness. Still, he went into his first meeting, meeting with U.S. commanders there, then he went to the bedside of a soldier and pinned a Purple Heart on him, gave him a Purple Heart, the soldier's second Purple Heart in four months. He was told the soldier had been shot by a sniper yesterday, wounded in the hand. The secretary went on to give a speech to Iraqi and U.S. troops, commending them for their sacrifices in bringing about the elections just two weeks ago, commending them for all their the work they were doing.

Then he traveled to Baghdad, and really the focus of his trip there became on Iraqi security forces. He watched as Iraqi special forces trained using -- demonstrated their capabilities using automatic weapons, handguns, then as they stormed buildings, some of them going down ropes, descending from helicopters, others arriving by vehicle, all putting an emphasis right now on what Donald Rumsfeld and Iraqi commanders see as the prime focus for U.S. troops here now, to help build up Iraqi security forces -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. Nic, thank you -- Bill.

HEMMER: I want to get to Carol Costello with the headlines this morning as we continue now.

Carol, good morning, across town.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, one Florida congressman is predicting his Social Security plan will gain momentum. That congressman, Clay Shaw, is offering an alternative to President Bush's proposals. He suggests boosting Social Security with money from general revenues, instead of payroll taxes. President Bush has been on the road highlighting a plan which focuses on letting people divert payroll taxes to private accounts, an idea which still has not gained a strong foothold in either party of Congress.

Police in Florida are on the lookout for a couple suspected of tossing a newborn baby out of a moving car. Police say the baby cord was found with a plastic bag over his head, and his umbilical cord attached. He's now in serious condition, but continues to improve. We'll hear from the Broward County sheriff about the search for the couple. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

A major recall from General Motors. This year Hummer H2 is among the nearly 200,000 being called back. Federal officials say a part in the braking system could crack during driving. GM says it is not aware of injuries caused by the defects.

And Virginia lawmakers are dropping a droopy-pants measure. The legislation would have slapped a $50 fine on people whose underpants are visible in a, quote, "lewd or indecent manner." There you have it. The measure breezed through the state house earlier this week, but it was killed by a Virginia senate committee. Members said the whole thing was too embarrassing to pass. So you can still wear your low riders in Virginia.

O'BRIEN: You know what? I wonder if they did in that, in part, because we were sort of making fun of them the other day.

COSTELLO: Maybe so. We like to think we have that power, don't we?

O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, we sure do.

Carol, thank you very much.

North Korea this morning is once again demanding bilateral talks with the U.S. According to a South Korean newspaper, North Korea says it has the bomb, and has tested a missile capable of reaching Alaska or Hawaii.

Our CNN Security Watch question today is, just how much of a threat is North Korea? Ambassador Jack Pritchard has negotiated with North Korea's Kim Jong-Il. He's in our Washington bureau this morning.

Nice to see you, Mr. Ambassador. Thanks you very much for being with us.

AMB. CHARLES "JACK" PRITCHARD, FMR. U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: My pleasure. Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Thank you. Appreciate that.

You have met Kim Jong-Il, and he is, I think in this country, positioned as being nutty, crazy almost verging on insane. You've met him. Is that an accurate description?

PRITCHARD: No, I don't think so. I think that's a characterization that's no longer valid. It was a secretive country up until about June of 19 -- excuse me, June of 2000, when former South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung visited there. We began to get a clear picture of who this guy was, and that was followed up by a trip I took with Secretary Albright in October of that year, and we spent several hours with him over a two-day period. So I think it's a mischaracterization. He's not crazy. Certainly, we have concerns about what he's doing, but he is not suicidal, nor is he crazy.

O'BRIEN: What he's been doing has been described by many as brinkmanship. What exactly do you think North Korea is up to?

PRITCHARD: Well, I think they made an evaluation of this second Bush cabinet and compared it with the first and the lack of results that they saw in the first four years. And simply have said, we don't want to continue down the same path. And what happened yesterday was announcement that withdrew from the six-party talks on an indefinite basis. And they threw into the pot a declaration, a public declaration that they are a nuclear weapons state. We believed that for quite a while. We've heard it privately from them. But this was the first public, open declaration that they said that they possessed nuclear weapons.

Now part of that, I believe, is simply the North Koreans taking a look at what's been going on, what we've been saying about Iran, pressure that we've been putting on in the Middle East, and they've decided that the declaration outweighs the risks involved, that they would like to be seen as having an actual deterrent.

This morning, as you're reporting, the North Koreans are asking for bilateral negotiations with the United States. That's something that they've wanted all along. They've never believed that the other parties involved in the six-party process have a stake in the situation. And so they're pushing to get a more refined dialogue going with the United States.

O'BRIEN: Three different scenarios that many people have sort of posited. First, being they'd actually used nuclear weapons on the United States. That's being seen as relatively unlikely. Secondly, that they might be tempted to sell the nuclear weapons to extremists, seen as more likely. And also, thirdly, concerns that it could start an arms race in Asia. Which do you think is the most accurate and worst-case scenario there?

PRITCHARD: Well, I'm most concerned about the proliferation issue, that at a point in time when North Korea, at some point, will become destabilized in the future, if we don't have control of their nuclear weapons, once that country begins to go away and there's reunification on the peninsula, headed by the South Koreans, and we go in and find, hopefully, all of their nuclear weapons program. But the worst-case scenario is we go and find missing pieces, and we just don't know where they've been. And that's what we want to avoid now, by engaging in this kind of negotiation to get them back on to a nonproliferation track. O'BRIEN: Ambassador Jack Pritchard joining us this morning. Nice to see you, sir. Thank you very much.

PRITCHARD: My pleasure. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: You want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.

HEMMER: Well, nine minutes past the hour now.

The pope is back at the Vatican this morning, ending his 10-day stay in the hospital. John Paul II departed Gemelli Hospital yesterday, waving to crowds from inside the pope-mobile. The Vatican now says the pontiff has recovered completely from the breathing crisis that prompted that stay, though questions linger about the future for his papacy.

Back to Rome this morning, and back with us is CNN Vatican analyst John Allen.

And, John welcome back here.

Can we say at his point that his condition is as strong, if not stronger, than it was 11 days ago?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Bill.

Well, I think the truth is we really don't know. I mean, the medical bulletins that we've been getting from the Vatican have been relatively limited in terms of the information we've been given. We know that, as you say the breathing crisis is apparently resolved and that his general conditions are improving.

But until we see the pope in public, until we hear him and have a chance to watch the body language and some extended way, we're not going to know.

Now today might actually give us that first chance. Today, in the Catholic Church, is the World Day of the Sick. It's February 11th, which is the feast day of Our Lady of Lords, the premiere healing shrine in Christianity. Some three and a half hours from now, there will be a mass in the Vatican, and we do not yet know if John Paul will be there. But if he is, that might give us our first real handle on exactly where he's at.

HEMMER: This procession yesterday, what does it say about how he wants to be seen by the public?

ALLEN: Well, I mean, first of all, it means that he wants to be seen as back in the saddle, that is to say, you know, for 10 days, there's been a tidal wave of speculation in the press about the pope's incapacitation, the pope's demise, the possibility of a papal resignation, and I think this is away of him sort of putting a period on all of that and starting a new sentence, and that new sentence would be that John Paul is back on the job.

You mentioned yesterday that Roman citizens did not turn out yesterday in great numbers for this procession. Why is that?

ALLEN: Well, I'll tell you, Bill, the thing is that, you know, whenever the pope catches a cold, the outside world sort of goes nuts on the theory that we're now on death watch, but the Romans have been through the papal health scares so many times since 1981, really, and the assassination attempt, that in sort of Roman popular psychology, it is simply assumed that a John Paul will always pull through. So there isn't the same crisis of alarm in this city that you get elsewhere.

And actually, I'm convinced when the end finally does come, as of course it must for all mortals, no one is going to be more shocked than the Romans themselves.

HEMMER: That's interesting. John Allen, thanks, again, from Rome, Italy, with us today. Good to see you -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: In Maine, thousands of people were left in the dark today by a winter storm. The snowfall, blanketing northern New England, is also causing problems for commuters as well. As much as 20 inches of snow are expected in parts of Maine, and Vermont and New Hampshire before it moves on later today.

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O'BRIEN: The face of baseball's steroid scandal goes public. Jason Giambi says he's sorry over and over, but the big story is the word that he didn't use even once.

HEMMER: Also a woman left in a coma-like state by a drunken driver, unable to talk for 20 years. Doctors today now stunned by a change in her condition, and we are, too. We'll get to that this hour.

O'BRIEN: And look at this, a beautiful newborn baby, safe and sound after being thrown from a car. Police, though, want your help in finding the parents. That story's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: A newborn baby boy, thrown from a car in Ft. Lauderdale. Now authorities asking for the public's help in finding the parents. The Broward County sheriff is Ken Jenne. He describes how that baby boy is doing so far this morning.

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SHERIFF KEN JENNE, BROWARD CO. FLORIDA: Doing very good. While it's listed in serious condition, it's not in critical shape. There's no serious injuries from being tossed or from the birth. So we're looking forward for the boy to be very, very healthy.

HEMMER: You had an eyewitness a woman who described what she saw. She says this was a young couple, arguing apparently when a bundle was thrown from the car. What happened next, sheriff? JENNE: We -- this is more than a witness. This woman is a good samaritan. She thought, actually, it was a puppy when I was talking to her, and she got out of the car to retrieve the package, the puppy, and opened up the package and found the little one-hour-old boy there.

HEMMER: You say one hour.

JENNE: She was on obviously...

HEMMER: Was this baby one-hour old?

JENNE: Yes, it was one-hour old. The paramedics are estimating that, the birth, because of the umbilical cord and the dryness of it. They estimated that it was about an hour old when the woman happened upon it. And so it was lucky that the birth was new and we had a witness that was also a good samaritan, would take the time, the effort in what she thought was retrieving a puppy.

HEMMER: It is also reported. I think you said last night, the baby had a plastic bag on its head. What would explain that, sheriff?

JENNE: Well we think that the baby was wrapped in a plastic bag as it was tossed from the car, and I think it was just a way of possibly clothing the child. It was tossed into a swale (ph) area, obviously abandoned, without any real thought of what was going to happen to this child.

HEMMER: Do you have a good description of the car from this good samaritan?

JENNE: That's part of the problem we have. We have a description of the automobile, that it was about a five-year-old, white police-looking type of car, an older model. Also, that the driver of the car had an afro, about a three-inch afro, and the woman had blond hair. We do not know if the two people in the car, obviously, at this point, mother and father, mother or what it is. But we're very anxious that this couple come in, talk to us. We have asked the public to participate with us in trying to find the mother and also the father of this child.

HEMMER: I have a phone number here for Crime Stoppers. We'll let our viewers know now. It's 954-493-TIPS. Spell it out, it's "tips." Is it possible this baby, sheriff, was born in that car?

JENNE: It's very possible that the baby was born in the car, because we know there were bodily fluids, birth fluids all over the child when the good samaritan actually picked up the child. So I would believe that the -- it was a very good chance that the baby was born in that white automobile.

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HEMMER: Again, Sheriff Jenne, earlier today. Again, the number to call, f you have information in Florida, is 954-493-TIPS. The sheriff also says a state law passed six years ago in Florida allows anyone to drop off a newborn up to the age of three days at any firehouse in the state without questions asked. They're urging people, if anyone knows anyone who is pregnant in the area to please call that phone number. Here's Soledad with more.

O'BRIEN: Bill, thanks.

Well, it is one of the ugliest moments in sports history. But one of the teams in that NBA basketbrawl has somehow managed to turn it into a feel-good story. We'll explain ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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HEMMER: This just in. Breaking news out of Iraq today. U.S. forces confirming now another deadly explosion northeast of Baghdad. A Shiite mosque just northeast of town, there at least 12 are reported dead. More than 20 others are injured. More information when we get it. Just breaking now out of the Iraqi capital -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to business news this morning. There are more allegations that Bernie Ebbers knew all about fraud at WorldCom. How all this connects to a big deal in telecom, Andy Serwer is going to tell us. He's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

A couple of really interesting stories that are connected. First of all, Soledad, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting this morning that a deal between Verizon and MCI is imminent. This would have Verizon buying MCI for about $6 billion. MCI is the nation's second largest long-distance company. Of course, Qwest is still in the mix, too. So we've seen a lot of deals in this sector.

The irony is that yesterday, in the trial of Bernie Ebbers, Scott Sullivan, you remember him, he's the chief financial officer, testifying against Ebbers, said that there was a deal being talked about between Verizon and WorldCom back in 2001.

Now, remember, that MCI is the new name of WorldCom, OK? So the same two companies were talking back in 2001. Why didn't they merge back then? Well, Sullivan says that he and Ebbers said it would be very, very difficult to do that. Because when the Verizon executives examined WorldCom's books, they discovered fraud. That's what Sullivan testified. Really shocking stuff, I think, and really interesting. And Ebbers said when Sullivan raised this point with Ebbers, he said, gee, you know, you're right, this is not a good time to be talking to them. So very damning testimony. And it's so interesting, too, what comes around goes around.

CAFFERTY: I wonder where they're going to have Bernie's goodbye party before he goes to the joint.

SERWER: Yes, I thought that was truly amazing. Gee, that wouldn't be good for them to be looking at our books, would it?

O'BRIEN: Or at least one set of them. SERWER: Right, or one set of them, or the regulators.

O'BRIEN: All right, thanks, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

HEMMER: Back to the Question of the Day, and North Korea the focus today.

Good morning.

CAFFERTY: The real world series of poker is being played in North Korea, and the stakes are nuclear weapons. The country came out right out yesterday and for the first time yesterday and said, we have the bomb. Now they want bilateral talks with the U.S., saying only then will North Korea consider resuming multinational negotiations.

In an interview with South Korea Korea's "Hang Korea (ph)" Newspaper, a North Korean diplomat said bilateral talks would be, quote, "a signal the United States is changing its hostile policy towards us. North Korea's always wanted bilateral talks with the U.S. as a way to increase their stature in the international community." The U.S. says you want to talk, we talk with all of your neighbors as well, China, Russia, Japan and South Korea. They don't like that arrangement.

The question is this, should the United States agree to bilateral talks with North Korea?

O'BRIEN: I think the description as a poker match is great, right on the money.

HEMMER: When we were in Japan, the prime minister told us consistently, that's what the North Koreans want, they want to be seen on the world stage as the same level as the United States, equal partners in this negotiating thing -- not with South Korea, not with China, not with Japan, on the same level.

SERWER: Their people don't have enough today food to eat.

CAFFERTY: They should open up deli. I mean, as a start, like, get a delicatessen open that serves, like, sandwiches and stuff. There is no food in that country. If they want to be seen on a par with us, they should open like some restaurants and start serving food.

HEMMER: They are negotiating again.

O'BRIEN: Take care of the people.

All right, Jack, thank you very much.

On a much lighter note now, hey, let's take a look at this. Julia Roberts fans, we've got pictures of her new twins. Actually, "People" has got them. We're just going to show them to you. That's coming up a little bit later this morning. We're back in just a moment.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," a Grammy preview. 2004 was banner year for Usher, but will hit star be eclipsed by a rapper who came out of nowhere.

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KANYE WEST, ENTERTAINER: My name up until Sunday is no long Kanye. It's the face, the face of the Grammys.

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O'BRIEN: Plus a world premiere that only J. Lo and her new husband could bring you. That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

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