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American Morning
Iraq Car Bomb; Pope Back at Vatican; North Korea Threat
Aired February 11, 2005 - 09:00 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 on another surprise visit in Iraq, inspecting Iraqi troops for himself. How soon will they be ready?
What does North Korea want with its game of nuclear brinkmanship? And are they now demanding one-on-one talks with the U.S.?
And a tiny baby perhaps just an hour old survives being tossed from a moving car. Searching for the parents now at this hour 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 making headlines this morning, the faithful in Rome watching to see if the pope's going to make his second public appearance in two days. The pope leaving the hospital yesterday. You see the shots right there from the pope mobile. We're going to take you live to Rome for an update on his recovery and also what he does next.
HEMMER: That's one heck of the way to leave the hospital, huh? With a parade?
O'BRIEN: The pope mobile is an impressive little vehicle with people lining the streets.
HEMMER: Also this hour, did Americans die in Soviet gulags? A report is to be released today capping many years of investigation. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. She has more on this story in a moment as well.
O'BRIEN: North Korea the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. They want unilateral talks, Soledad, with the United States, North Korea does on the future of their nuclear weapons program. They're demanding unilateral talks.
They don't want to talk with any of their neighbors. They just want to talk with the United States.
There is one theory that says they'd lay down those nuclear weapons in a heartbeat if you'd offer them one of those all you can eat buffets because there's no food over there. Anyway, do you think we ought to talk with them or not? AM@CNN.com.
O'BRIEN: That would be the Jack Cafferty theory?
CAFFERTY: Open up one of those big Chinese buffets, all you can eat.
HEMMER: $9.95.
CAFFERTY: Put those bombs -- check them at the door. Come on in and...
O'BRIEN: It might work.
CAFFERTY: ... get you some lo mein and...
O'BRIEN: I think people are looking for options in this. All right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Absolutely. It's one possibility.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
There are new developments to talk about in Iraq this morning. A car bomb explodes near a Shia mosque north of Baghdad, killed at least 12 people. This just hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in the country. Nic Robertson in Baghdad for us this morning.
Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That car bomb going off outside a Shia mosque just northeast of Baghdad. We're told that 12 people were killed, four of them were Iraqi National Guards who were patrolling the area. The eight others civilians, 23 people wounded in that bombing.
And there was another attack on Shiites earlier in the day. A bakery in Baghdad run by Shia Muslims in a Shia neighborhood, two cars of gunmen pulled up outside the two little bakery stores. The gunmen burst out, police say, fired shots at the workers inside the bakery. Nine people killed in that particular attack.
Just hours later, Donald Rumsfeld was in Baghdad. He was meeting with Ayad Allawi, the interim prime minister. The prime minister thanking the secretary of defense for all the efforts by U.S. troops to provide security for the elections.
Earlier in the day, Donald Rumsfeld had met with troops up in the northern city of Mosul. He had arrived there on his aircraft while it was still dark for security reasons.
One of the soldiers he met with in the medical facility there had been shot by a sniper just 24 hours before. And Donald Rumsfeld gave him a Purple Heart, the soldier's second Purple Heart. He received his other just four months ago. After that, the secretary of defense reviewed the training of Iraqi special forces. He saw them on the gun range firing automatic weapons and handguns. Saw them rappelling, climbing down ropes from beneath helicopters to simulate the storming of a building. And that one of the principal focuses of this particular visit by Donald Rumsfeld, to highlight the beginning -- the focus of U.S. troops here in Iraq now to begin to train Iraqi security forces in greater numbers and to pass off the security of cities like Baghdad and Mosul to those Iraqi troops -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. Nic, thank you for that update -- Bill.
HEMMER: And that's our top story. More headlines now with Carol here.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," President Bush is rounding out a second term cabinet this morning. In less than two hours, the president will take part in the swearing in of Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt. The last cabinet nominee still awaiting confirmation is Michael Chertoff. He's the president's pick for Homeland Security secretary. A full Senate vote on his nomination is expected next week.
Police in Florida are hoping a couple suspected of tossing a newborn baby out of a moving car will come forward. A witness who originally thought the baby was a puppy stopped and found the infant on the side of a road.
The newborn is said to be in serious condition this morning, but is expected to improve. Doctors say he's in remarkably good shape considering his ordeal.
A massive recall for General Motors. This year's Hummers are part of some 200,000 vehicles being recalled by GM. Federal safety officials say the part in the braking system could crack during driving. GM says it is not aware of any injuries caused by these defects.
And the droopy pants measure is coming up short. The Virginia- based legislation would have slapped a $50 fine on people whose underpants are visible in a "lewd or indecent manner," like that guy's! The measure breezed through the state house earlier this week, but it was killed by a Virginia Senate committee who said it was just too embarrassing and they didn't want to go on with it. That's it.
O'BRIEN: Enough already. People are making fun of us for this.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: Carol, thanks. Well, the faithful in Rome are waiting to see if pope John Paul II will appear for a mass today at St. Peter's Basilica. The 84-year- old pontiff left the hospital last night. And Vatican officials insist he is impatient to get right back to work.
CNN's Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci join us with the very latest on that.
Hey, Alessio. Good morning.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Indeed, we are still trying to find out whether Pope John Paul II will make a surprise appearance at that mass which is expected to begin in about an hour and a half time -- in about an hour and a half from now. It is a mass dedicated to the sick around the world. It is a mass that was first initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
He was supposed to celebrate that mass before being admitted to hospital. And then he returned yesterday. But we do not know whether or not the pope will make that surprise appearance.
The next time we could see the pope publicly, it would be likely on Sunday, when as he does every Sunday, the pope will deliver his angelus prayer from the window of his Apostolic Palace to the pilgrims that flock to St. Peter's Square -- St. Peter's Square every Sunday.
So these two moments, these two occasions, are when we do expect to see the pope for more than just a few minutes. And we ourselves will be able to establish a bit better beyond what the Vatican is telling us, his true state of health.
Today's bulletin, for example, which was issued by the Vatican, did not mention at all the pope's health. So we have to see ourselves his condition in order to better establish whether or not he has completely healed, as the Vatican claims he has -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Alessio, we're sort of following up on that question, I guess. You know, yesterday was such a public spectacle almost, the pope mobile and the people waving and cheering as the pope drove down the street.
Do you think that -- or to what degree was this kind of a PR spectacle that the Vatican was manipulating a little bit to say, look, the pope is actually in good shape?
VINCI: Absolutely. I think that perhaps "manipulated" is too strong of a word, but certainly the Vatican wanted to send a message around the world, not just to pilgrims, but also those -- to those who speculated that the pope was in a condition -- was in no condition to lead the Catholic Church or was about to step down or resign or whatever.
And so it was definitely an attempt by the Vatican to show the pope in his best light, if you want. I definitely had the sense that the preparation was such that the media were ready to broadcast live around the world and, indeed, in Italy his return to the Vatican. I'll give you just one small example.
Earlier in the day we heard that the pope was going to be driving a car that he usually takes to drive up in the mountains. It's a small car, like a minivan with blackened windows.
At the end of the day we saw the pope driving away in his pope mobile, which is the way -- it's a bit higher car, and you can see the pope much better, at least the people who are lining up in the streets are able to see him as well much better. So certainly the Vatican was really trying to show the pope. And, indeed, the pope did look quite rested.
He waved to the crowd. So after nine days in the hospital, now he's back at the Vatican. We have to believe what the Vatican is telling us, that the pope is indeed feeling better.
However, we would like to see him in public. And that's going to happen in either an hour's time or on Sunday.
O'BRIEN: You, the journalist, and also everybody else as well. Alessio Vinci for us this morning in Rome. Alessio, thank you -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, now to North Korea. In the past two days the North Korean government of Kim Jong-il has cranked up the tension with more nuclear threats. In our CNN "Security Watch" this morning, what is Kim Jong-il capable of today?
Write Peter Maass has studied the volatile dictator. He's my guest here now in New York.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
PETER MAASS, CONTRIBUTOR, "NYT MAGAZINE": Good morning.
HEMMER: Two hours ago Ambassador Jack Pritchard said he's not suicidal, he's not crazy. Based on your research, do you agree with that?
MAASS: Absolutely. And it's not just the ambassador and myself who thinks that. Really everybody who has met with Kim Jong-il -- and there have been quite a few -- South Koreans, Americans, Russians, North Koreans who have since defected, they all come out saying this man knows what he's doing. He's not crazy. He might be emotional, he might be some somewhat eccentric, but crazy absolutely not.
HEMMER: About three hours ago the story came out of a newspaper in South Korea that says North Korea has withdrawn now and will not re-enter until they can sit at the same table with the U.S. Not China, not South Korea, not Japan, but the U.S. What is the intention behind a statement like that?
MAASS: They've always wanted, the North Koreans, to be seen kind of on a par with the United States. They've always wanted direct negotiations. They never really liked negotiating directly with South Korea or anyone else.
They want to be basically seen at the same level. And that's one of the reasons they're believed to have developed nuclear weapons, in order to be part of this very special club, to have the respect of everyone else, particularly the United States.
HEMMER: In your extensive reporting, at one point you were quoted as writing this: "Dictators come in different strains, like poisons. Some are catastrophically toxic, others less so." How toxic is Kim Jong-il?
MAASS: He's in the catastrophically toxic category, because this is a man who presided in the 1990s over a famine that killed two million of his people, and he didn't allow as much foreign aid in as the outside world was offering.
There's a gulag in North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of people are there now. Many have been killed, and this has been going on for decades really since the country was born. This is his regime.
HEMMER: Under what conditions, though, would he give up his weapons, if indeed he has them, as they've stated publicly now this week?
MAASS: If he has them, I think the only conditions under which he would give them up is when he feels that he will no longer be attacked by the United States, and also when he feels that he's going to get the offsets, the aid, the trade, things of that sort from the United States.
HEMMER: So, then, as Condoleezza Rice when she's touring Europe, and says that's not on the table at this point, and that's been said repeatedly, why is that not good enough for them?
MAASS: Well, it's not really a black and white question in terms of like, OK, you agree now to give up all of your weapons, and now we're going to give you all this aid., or whatever. It would be a stretched out process. So, you know, there's kind of a gray zone in diplomacy where things like that could be worked on.
HEMMER: In all of your research, what surprises you the most about him?
MAASS: I suppose it's that he's as well clued in as he is. He tells visitors to his office that he has computers in his office, that he browses the Internet. When he said good-bye to Madeleine Albright, who visited him in 2000 when she was secretary of state, the last thing he did was ask her for the State Department's e-mail address. He wanted to stay in touch by e-mail.
HEMMER: That's extraordinary. Peter Maass, thanks. "The New York times Magazine." Get to chat with you.
MAASS: Yes.
HEMMER: A related note now. For the past two years, Kim Jong- il's name has topped the list of the world's worst dictators that "Parade" magazine puts out. But this year there is a different name on top of that list. And you can find out who that is.
"Parade" magazine latest list revealed Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time here on CNN. And again, stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's time to take another look at the weather this morning. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the very latest for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks a lot.
HEMMER: Police say her home was her prison. A 14-year-old girl eventually kicking down the door and making a brave run for freedom. Her story is coming up this hour.
O'BRIEN: Also, the face of baseball's steroids scandal says he's sorry, but he didn't say the one word that everybody was waiting to hear. We'll explain.
HEMMER: Also, a beautiful newborn baby safe and sound after being thrown from a car. Police need your help in finding his parents. That's ahead as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In Arizona, a 14-year-old girl finds her way to freedom after months of abuse at the hands of her father and his girlfriend. That's what police say, at least.
Authorities say the teenager was held captive in a locked bedroom for 15 months where she was starved and then physically and sexually abused by her father. Her father and the girlfriend now in jail. They're facing charges of child abuse and child molestation. It's a terrible story to talk about.
Joining us this morning from Tucson is Assistant Police Chief Kathleen Robinson.
Nice to see you. Thank you very much for talking with us.
Tell me a little bit about how the story first came to light. How did this 14-year-old girl get out of a situation where she was essentially imprisoned in her own home for 15 months?
ASST. CHIEF KATHLEEN ROBINSON, TUCSON POLICE: She was left alone in her residence. And she was able to kick through or force her way out of the hollow core door.
She wandered at a local mall close to her home. And then she walked approximately a mile and a half to two miles to an old residence where she lived in prior years. And she contacted a girlfriend, and the mother there contacted the police officers.
O'BRIEN: What was her condition when she first came to the attention of detectives?
ROBINSON: Well, of course she was very scared. She was unsure if she'd made the right decision or not. She looked relatively well. She's very malnourished, very thin. But she was very glad to be out of that situation.
O'BRIEN: How could nobody know really even what had happened to her? Because this was a young woman that kind of fell through the cracks. She had been in school at some point, but then was home- schooled for a while. Why was no one curious about where she was and how come they hadn't seen her?
ROBINSON: Well, you know, she completed the third grade, and then she dropped out and the father filed the paperwork for home schooling. So her friends and neighbors, people were told that she was being home schooled.
She went back to the school for the fifth grade, and she did complete the fifth grade. But shortly after that, the family moved to a new residence, and it was at that time that we lost sight of her. The neighbors were not even aware she lived in the house because that is about the time that she became barricaded in that bedroom.
O'BRIEN: Describe for me -- and I think it's pretty awful, really, to have to hear what the conditions were inside that house and inside that bedroom.
ROBINSON: Well, the house itself was in relatively good shape. The bedroom where the child was held captive, there was really -- it was very dismal.
There was nothing in the room other than a foam pad, a very small foam pad. She had a couple of blankets. And there were a couple of changes of clothes. And really that was it. There were no books, there was nothing in the room for her.
O'BRIEN: Back in 2000 -- let's look at this guy's rap sheet. Indicted on three counts of domestic violence, pleaded guilty to endangering a child, he got three years of probation, including some domestic violence counseling. He apparently was taking a medication affiliated with alcohol abuse.
Why was this young girl in his care anyway?
ROBINSON: Well, he -- actually, there were three children in his care. He and his girlfriend -- his girlfriend had two younger daughters, a 7 and a 10-year-old, and no one was paying attention. They weren't aware that the issues were continuing, they weren't aware that abuse was occurring to this young girl.
O'BRIEN: What happens with her now? What kind of help will she get?
ROBINSON: Well, I'm being told by the detective that she's doing fairly well. What's important to realize here is she's going to need a lot of support, a lot of counseling, But she's hopeful.
She has hope for her future. And she's going to have to make the -- you know, the needed transition to get back into school and to get her life put back together. But we're very hopeful that she's going to do fine.
She's courageous, she was strong. She made the right decisions. And we're very hopeful for her.
O'BRIEN: Yes, well, we certainly hope so as well. Kathleen Robinson is Tucson's assistant police chief. Thank you very much for coming on to talk to us about that. We appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes past the hour now. Meet a postman who became a hero overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm glad I had the strength and the courage to go back and do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: He delivered the mail and saved two lives in the process. A very grateful community still to come here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back to Jack now, "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Bill.
For the first time, North Korea announced they do have nuclear weapons. Now they're demanding bilateral talks with the U.S., saying only then will they consider resuming multinational negotiations.
The "Hankyoreh" newspaper in South Korea interviewed a North Korean diplomat, and they got him to say that these bilateral talks would be a signal the United States is changing its hostile policy toward the north. The U.S. says any talks with North Korea should include the neighbors of that country, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea.
The question this morning is, should the U.S. agree to bilateral talks with North Korea?
Peter in Houston writes: "Absolutely not. Tell them, one, come back to the table and talk to your neighbors. And two, if you threaten to use your nukes, you will cease to exist as a nation."
Eric in Nashville, "After world wars I and II, Ho Chi Minh wanted to talk with us, wanting our assistance with independence. We snubbed him. Nothing good comes out of not talking. Talk to Kim."
Bill in Indian River, Michigan, "I spent 15 and a half months doing combat patrols on the DMZ in Korea. Why not talk to them? North Korea's economy is in shambles. Desperate societies do desperate things. They need food, not nuclear bombs."
And Robert writes: "Korea has no gas, money, or power. The only weapon they have is media. They are irrelevant. Any sanctions will destroy them, as well as any meager invasion. Stop giving them air time."
I'll stop at 10:00. Until then...
O'BRIEN: Thirty-six more minutes of it.
CAFFERTY: That's right. Then your wish will be granted.
O'BRIEN: Right. Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: And we are back in just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Ahead on "90-Second Pop," a Grammy preview. 2004 was a banner year for Usher, but will his star be eclipsed by a rapper who came out of nowhere?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name up until Sunday is no longer (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's "The Face," the face of the Grammys.
O'BRIEN: Plus, a world premier that only J.Lo and her new husband could bring you.
That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It has been many decades since the Soviet Union's brutal gulag system was at its very height. But some American families are still waiting for answers about whether their loved ones died in those prison camps. Well, now there's a new report coming out looking into this dark chapter in history. Barbara Starr has a look at that.
HEMMER: Also, this story out of Florida. A newborn baby boy, less than an hour old, tossed out of a moving car. He was rescued, and the sheriff in Broward County is our guest, talking about that in a moment. Also talking about the investigation, trying to locate the parents and how the boy is doing.
O'BRIEN: That's pretty amazing that he weighed just over eight pounds.
HEMMER: Oh my.
O'BRIEN: So...
COSTELLO: What a cold act, just to toss the baby out of the window. Apparently they just had the baby in the car. The umbilical cord is still attached.
O'BRIEN: If that woman hadn't been driving by and saw something which I guess she thought was like a puppy or something go out the window, that kid probably would not have survived. It's terrible.
COSTELLO: It's amazing.
O'BRIEN: Another check of the headlines this morning, Carol Costello.
Good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling U.S. troops they have proven America is a land of liberators and not occupiers. Secretary Rumsfeld meeting with Iraq's interim prime minister Ayad Allawi in a surprise visit this morning. He also met with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Mosul and Baghdad.
In the meantime, there have been more deadly attacks. At least a dozen people were killed near a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad, and more than 20 others were injured here. In a separate attack, nine others were gunned down in Baghdad earlier today.
Pope John Paul II may attend mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the next hour. The pope arrived at the Vatican yesterday after more than a week in the hospital for a respiratory infection. He was originally scheduled to take part in today's mass for the sick before his hospitalization. But it's still not clear whether or not he will appear.
Hundreds of families in Venezuela have been evacuated due to massive flooding. Authorities say torrential rains have left more than a dozen people dead. The rescue operation is taking place in the same area where heavy rains and flooding left thousands dead more than five years ago. The rains are expected to continue throughout the weekend.
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Aired February 11, 2005 - 09:00 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 on another surprise visit in Iraq, inspecting Iraqi troops for himself. How soon will they be ready?
What does North Korea want with its game of nuclear brinkmanship? And are they now demanding one-on-one talks with the U.S.?
And a tiny baby perhaps just an hour old survives being tossed from a moving car. Searching for the parents now at this hour 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 making headlines this morning, the faithful in Rome watching to see if the pope's going to make his second public appearance in two days. The pope leaving the hospital yesterday. You see the shots right there from the pope mobile. We're going to take you live to Rome for an update on his recovery and also what he does next.
HEMMER: That's one heck of the way to leave the hospital, huh? With a parade?
O'BRIEN: The pope mobile is an impressive little vehicle with people lining the streets.
HEMMER: Also this hour, did Americans die in Soviet gulags? A report is to be released today capping many years of investigation. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. She has more on this story in a moment as well.
O'BRIEN: North Korea the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. They want unilateral talks, Soledad, with the United States, North Korea does on the future of their nuclear weapons program. They're demanding unilateral talks.
They don't want to talk with any of their neighbors. They just want to talk with the United States.
There is one theory that says they'd lay down those nuclear weapons in a heartbeat if you'd offer them one of those all you can eat buffets because there's no food over there. Anyway, do you think we ought to talk with them or not? AM@CNN.com.
O'BRIEN: That would be the Jack Cafferty theory?
CAFFERTY: Open up one of those big Chinese buffets, all you can eat.
HEMMER: $9.95.
CAFFERTY: Put those bombs -- check them at the door. Come on in and...
O'BRIEN: It might work.
CAFFERTY: ... get you some lo mein and...
O'BRIEN: I think people are looking for options in this. All right, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Absolutely. It's one possibility.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
There are new developments to talk about in Iraq this morning. A car bomb explodes near a Shia mosque north of Baghdad, killed at least 12 people. This just hours after Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in the country. Nic Robertson in Baghdad for us this morning.
Nic, good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
That car bomb going off outside a Shia mosque just northeast of Baghdad. We're told that 12 people were killed, four of them were Iraqi National Guards who were patrolling the area. The eight others civilians, 23 people wounded in that bombing.
And there was another attack on Shiites earlier in the day. A bakery in Baghdad run by Shia Muslims in a Shia neighborhood, two cars of gunmen pulled up outside the two little bakery stores. The gunmen burst out, police say, fired shots at the workers inside the bakery. Nine people killed in that particular attack.
Just hours later, Donald Rumsfeld was in Baghdad. He was meeting with Ayad Allawi, the interim prime minister. The prime minister thanking the secretary of defense for all the efforts by U.S. troops to provide security for the elections.
Earlier in the day, Donald Rumsfeld had met with troops up in the northern city of Mosul. He had arrived there on his aircraft while it was still dark for security reasons.
One of the soldiers he met with in the medical facility there had been shot by a sniper just 24 hours before. And Donald Rumsfeld gave him a Purple Heart, the soldier's second Purple Heart. He received his other just four months ago. After that, the secretary of defense reviewed the training of Iraqi special forces. He saw them on the gun range firing automatic weapons and handguns. Saw them rappelling, climbing down ropes from beneath helicopters to simulate the storming of a building. And that one of the principal focuses of this particular visit by Donald Rumsfeld, to highlight the beginning -- the focus of U.S. troops here in Iraq now to begin to train Iraqi security forces in greater numbers and to pass off the security of cities like Baghdad and Mosul to those Iraqi troops -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning. Nic, thank you for that update -- Bill.
HEMMER: And that's our top story. More headlines now with Carol here.
Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," President Bush is rounding out a second term cabinet this morning. In less than two hours, the president will take part in the swearing in of Health and Human Services secretary Mike Leavitt. The last cabinet nominee still awaiting confirmation is Michael Chertoff. He's the president's pick for Homeland Security secretary. A full Senate vote on his nomination is expected next week.
Police in Florida are hoping a couple suspected of tossing a newborn baby out of a moving car will come forward. A witness who originally thought the baby was a puppy stopped and found the infant on the side of a road.
The newborn is said to be in serious condition this morning, but is expected to improve. Doctors say he's in remarkably good shape considering his ordeal.
A massive recall for General Motors. This year's Hummers are part of some 200,000 vehicles being recalled by GM. Federal safety officials say the part in the braking system could crack during driving. GM says it is not aware of any injuries caused by these defects.
And the droopy pants measure is coming up short. The Virginia- based legislation would have slapped a $50 fine on people whose underpants are visible in a "lewd or indecent manner," like that guy's! The measure breezed through the state house earlier this week, but it was killed by a Virginia Senate committee who said it was just too embarrassing and they didn't want to go on with it. That's it.
O'BRIEN: Enough already. People are making fun of us for this.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: Carol, thanks. Well, the faithful in Rome are waiting to see if pope John Paul II will appear for a mass today at St. Peter's Basilica. The 84-year- old pontiff left the hospital last night. And Vatican officials insist he is impatient to get right back to work.
CNN's Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci join us with the very latest on that.
Hey, Alessio. Good morning.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Indeed, we are still trying to find out whether Pope John Paul II will make a surprise appearance at that mass which is expected to begin in about an hour and a half time -- in about an hour and a half from now. It is a mass dedicated to the sick around the world. It is a mass that was first initiated by Pope John Paul II in 1992.
He was supposed to celebrate that mass before being admitted to hospital. And then he returned yesterday. But we do not know whether or not the pope will make that surprise appearance.
The next time we could see the pope publicly, it would be likely on Sunday, when as he does every Sunday, the pope will deliver his angelus prayer from the window of his Apostolic Palace to the pilgrims that flock to St. Peter's Square -- St. Peter's Square every Sunday.
So these two moments, these two occasions, are when we do expect to see the pope for more than just a few minutes. And we ourselves will be able to establish a bit better beyond what the Vatican is telling us, his true state of health.
Today's bulletin, for example, which was issued by the Vatican, did not mention at all the pope's health. So we have to see ourselves his condition in order to better establish whether or not he has completely healed, as the Vatican claims he has -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Alessio, we're sort of following up on that question, I guess. You know, yesterday was such a public spectacle almost, the pope mobile and the people waving and cheering as the pope drove down the street.
Do you think that -- or to what degree was this kind of a PR spectacle that the Vatican was manipulating a little bit to say, look, the pope is actually in good shape?
VINCI: Absolutely. I think that perhaps "manipulated" is too strong of a word, but certainly the Vatican wanted to send a message around the world, not just to pilgrims, but also those -- to those who speculated that the pope was in a condition -- was in no condition to lead the Catholic Church or was about to step down or resign or whatever.
And so it was definitely an attempt by the Vatican to show the pope in his best light, if you want. I definitely had the sense that the preparation was such that the media were ready to broadcast live around the world and, indeed, in Italy his return to the Vatican. I'll give you just one small example.
Earlier in the day we heard that the pope was going to be driving a car that he usually takes to drive up in the mountains. It's a small car, like a minivan with blackened windows.
At the end of the day we saw the pope driving away in his pope mobile, which is the way -- it's a bit higher car, and you can see the pope much better, at least the people who are lining up in the streets are able to see him as well much better. So certainly the Vatican was really trying to show the pope. And, indeed, the pope did look quite rested.
He waved to the crowd. So after nine days in the hospital, now he's back at the Vatican. We have to believe what the Vatican is telling us, that the pope is indeed feeling better.
However, we would like to see him in public. And that's going to happen in either an hour's time or on Sunday.
O'BRIEN: You, the journalist, and also everybody else as well. Alessio Vinci for us this morning in Rome. Alessio, thank you -- Bill.
HEMMER: Soledad, now to North Korea. In the past two days the North Korean government of Kim Jong-il has cranked up the tension with more nuclear threats. In our CNN "Security Watch" this morning, what is Kim Jong-il capable of today?
Write Peter Maass has studied the volatile dictator. He's my guest here now in New York.
Good morning. Nice to see you.
PETER MAASS, CONTRIBUTOR, "NYT MAGAZINE": Good morning.
HEMMER: Two hours ago Ambassador Jack Pritchard said he's not suicidal, he's not crazy. Based on your research, do you agree with that?
MAASS: Absolutely. And it's not just the ambassador and myself who thinks that. Really everybody who has met with Kim Jong-il -- and there have been quite a few -- South Koreans, Americans, Russians, North Koreans who have since defected, they all come out saying this man knows what he's doing. He's not crazy. He might be emotional, he might be some somewhat eccentric, but crazy absolutely not.
HEMMER: About three hours ago the story came out of a newspaper in South Korea that says North Korea has withdrawn now and will not re-enter until they can sit at the same table with the U.S. Not China, not South Korea, not Japan, but the U.S. What is the intention behind a statement like that?
MAASS: They've always wanted, the North Koreans, to be seen kind of on a par with the United States. They've always wanted direct negotiations. They never really liked negotiating directly with South Korea or anyone else.
They want to be basically seen at the same level. And that's one of the reasons they're believed to have developed nuclear weapons, in order to be part of this very special club, to have the respect of everyone else, particularly the United States.
HEMMER: In your extensive reporting, at one point you were quoted as writing this: "Dictators come in different strains, like poisons. Some are catastrophically toxic, others less so." How toxic is Kim Jong-il?
MAASS: He's in the catastrophically toxic category, because this is a man who presided in the 1990s over a famine that killed two million of his people, and he didn't allow as much foreign aid in as the outside world was offering.
There's a gulag in North Korea. Hundreds of thousands of people are there now. Many have been killed, and this has been going on for decades really since the country was born. This is his regime.
HEMMER: Under what conditions, though, would he give up his weapons, if indeed he has them, as they've stated publicly now this week?
MAASS: If he has them, I think the only conditions under which he would give them up is when he feels that he will no longer be attacked by the United States, and also when he feels that he's going to get the offsets, the aid, the trade, things of that sort from the United States.
HEMMER: So, then, as Condoleezza Rice when she's touring Europe, and says that's not on the table at this point, and that's been said repeatedly, why is that not good enough for them?
MAASS: Well, it's not really a black and white question in terms of like, OK, you agree now to give up all of your weapons, and now we're going to give you all this aid., or whatever. It would be a stretched out process. So, you know, there's kind of a gray zone in diplomacy where things like that could be worked on.
HEMMER: In all of your research, what surprises you the most about him?
MAASS: I suppose it's that he's as well clued in as he is. He tells visitors to his office that he has computers in his office, that he browses the Internet. When he said good-bye to Madeleine Albright, who visited him in 2000 when she was secretary of state, the last thing he did was ask her for the State Department's e-mail address. He wanted to stay in touch by e-mail.
HEMMER: That's extraordinary. Peter Maass, thanks. "The New York times Magazine." Get to chat with you.
MAASS: Yes.
HEMMER: A related note now. For the past two years, Kim Jong- il's name has topped the list of the world's worst dictators that "Parade" magazine puts out. But this year there is a different name on top of that list. And you can find out who that is.
"Parade" magazine latest list revealed Sunday morning at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time here on CNN. And again, stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's time to take another look at the weather this morning. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center with the very latest for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks a lot.
HEMMER: Police say her home was her prison. A 14-year-old girl eventually kicking down the door and making a brave run for freedom. Her story is coming up this hour.
O'BRIEN: Also, the face of baseball's steroids scandal says he's sorry, but he didn't say the one word that everybody was waiting to hear. We'll explain.
HEMMER: Also, a beautiful newborn baby safe and sound after being thrown from a car. Police need your help in finding his parents. That's ahead as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: In Arizona, a 14-year-old girl finds her way to freedom after months of abuse at the hands of her father and his girlfriend. That's what police say, at least.
Authorities say the teenager was held captive in a locked bedroom for 15 months where she was starved and then physically and sexually abused by her father. Her father and the girlfriend now in jail. They're facing charges of child abuse and child molestation. It's a terrible story to talk about.
Joining us this morning from Tucson is Assistant Police Chief Kathleen Robinson.
Nice to see you. Thank you very much for talking with us.
Tell me a little bit about how the story first came to light. How did this 14-year-old girl get out of a situation where she was essentially imprisoned in her own home for 15 months?
ASST. CHIEF KATHLEEN ROBINSON, TUCSON POLICE: She was left alone in her residence. And she was able to kick through or force her way out of the hollow core door.
She wandered at a local mall close to her home. And then she walked approximately a mile and a half to two miles to an old residence where she lived in prior years. And she contacted a girlfriend, and the mother there contacted the police officers.
O'BRIEN: What was her condition when she first came to the attention of detectives?
ROBINSON: Well, of course she was very scared. She was unsure if she'd made the right decision or not. She looked relatively well. She's very malnourished, very thin. But she was very glad to be out of that situation.
O'BRIEN: How could nobody know really even what had happened to her? Because this was a young woman that kind of fell through the cracks. She had been in school at some point, but then was home- schooled for a while. Why was no one curious about where she was and how come they hadn't seen her?
ROBINSON: Well, you know, she completed the third grade, and then she dropped out and the father filed the paperwork for home schooling. So her friends and neighbors, people were told that she was being home schooled.
She went back to the school for the fifth grade, and she did complete the fifth grade. But shortly after that, the family moved to a new residence, and it was at that time that we lost sight of her. The neighbors were not even aware she lived in the house because that is about the time that she became barricaded in that bedroom.
O'BRIEN: Describe for me -- and I think it's pretty awful, really, to have to hear what the conditions were inside that house and inside that bedroom.
ROBINSON: Well, the house itself was in relatively good shape. The bedroom where the child was held captive, there was really -- it was very dismal.
There was nothing in the room other than a foam pad, a very small foam pad. She had a couple of blankets. And there were a couple of changes of clothes. And really that was it. There were no books, there was nothing in the room for her.
O'BRIEN: Back in 2000 -- let's look at this guy's rap sheet. Indicted on three counts of domestic violence, pleaded guilty to endangering a child, he got three years of probation, including some domestic violence counseling. He apparently was taking a medication affiliated with alcohol abuse.
Why was this young girl in his care anyway?
ROBINSON: Well, he -- actually, there were three children in his care. He and his girlfriend -- his girlfriend had two younger daughters, a 7 and a 10-year-old, and no one was paying attention. They weren't aware that the issues were continuing, they weren't aware that abuse was occurring to this young girl.
O'BRIEN: What happens with her now? What kind of help will she get?
ROBINSON: Well, I'm being told by the detective that she's doing fairly well. What's important to realize here is she's going to need a lot of support, a lot of counseling, But she's hopeful.
She has hope for her future. And she's going to have to make the -- you know, the needed transition to get back into school and to get her life put back together. But we're very hopeful that she's going to do fine.
She's courageous, she was strong. She made the right decisions. And we're very hopeful for her.
O'BRIEN: Yes, well, we certainly hope so as well. Kathleen Robinson is Tucson's assistant police chief. Thank you very much for coming on to talk to us about that. We appreciate it.
ROBINSON: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes past the hour now. Meet a postman who became a hero overnight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I'm glad I had the strength and the courage to go back and do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: He delivered the mail and saved two lives in the process. A very grateful community still to come here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back to Jack now, "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Bill.
For the first time, North Korea announced they do have nuclear weapons. Now they're demanding bilateral talks with the U.S., saying only then will they consider resuming multinational negotiations.
The "Hankyoreh" newspaper in South Korea interviewed a North Korean diplomat, and they got him to say that these bilateral talks would be a signal the United States is changing its hostile policy toward the north. The U.S. says any talks with North Korea should include the neighbors of that country, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea.
The question this morning is, should the U.S. agree to bilateral talks with North Korea?
Peter in Houston writes: "Absolutely not. Tell them, one, come back to the table and talk to your neighbors. And two, if you threaten to use your nukes, you will cease to exist as a nation."
Eric in Nashville, "After world wars I and II, Ho Chi Minh wanted to talk with us, wanting our assistance with independence. We snubbed him. Nothing good comes out of not talking. Talk to Kim."
Bill in Indian River, Michigan, "I spent 15 and a half months doing combat patrols on the DMZ in Korea. Why not talk to them? North Korea's economy is in shambles. Desperate societies do desperate things. They need food, not nuclear bombs."
And Robert writes: "Korea has no gas, money, or power. The only weapon they have is media. They are irrelevant. Any sanctions will destroy them, as well as any meager invasion. Stop giving them air time."
I'll stop at 10:00. Until then...
O'BRIEN: Thirty-six more minutes of it.
CAFFERTY: That's right. Then your wish will be granted.
O'BRIEN: Right. Thanks, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Sure.
O'BRIEN: And we are back in just a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Ahead on "90-Second Pop," a Grammy preview. 2004 was a banner year for Usher, but will his star be eclipsed by a rapper who came out of nowhere?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name up until Sunday is no longer (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It's "The Face," the face of the Grammys.
O'BRIEN: Plus, a world premier that only J.Lo and her new husband could bring you.
That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half-past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
It has been many decades since the Soviet Union's brutal gulag system was at its very height. But some American families are still waiting for answers about whether their loved ones died in those prison camps. Well, now there's a new report coming out looking into this dark chapter in history. Barbara Starr has a look at that.
HEMMER: Also, this story out of Florida. A newborn baby boy, less than an hour old, tossed out of a moving car. He was rescued, and the sheriff in Broward County is our guest, talking about that in a moment. Also talking about the investigation, trying to locate the parents and how the boy is doing.
O'BRIEN: That's pretty amazing that he weighed just over eight pounds.
HEMMER: Oh my.
O'BRIEN: So...
COSTELLO: What a cold act, just to toss the baby out of the window. Apparently they just had the baby in the car. The umbilical cord is still attached.
O'BRIEN: If that woman hadn't been driving by and saw something which I guess she thought was like a puppy or something go out the window, that kid probably would not have survived. It's terrible.
COSTELLO: It's amazing.
O'BRIEN: Another check of the headlines this morning, Carol Costello.
Good morning.
COSTELLO: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld telling U.S. troops they have proven America is a land of liberators and not occupiers. Secretary Rumsfeld meeting with Iraq's interim prime minister Ayad Allawi in a surprise visit this morning. He also met with U.S. and Iraqi soldiers in Mosul and Baghdad.
In the meantime, there have been more deadly attacks. At least a dozen people were killed near a Shiite mosque northeast of Baghdad, and more than 20 others were injured here. In a separate attack, nine others were gunned down in Baghdad earlier today.
Pope John Paul II may attend mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the next hour. The pope arrived at the Vatican yesterday after more than a week in the hospital for a respiratory infection. He was originally scheduled to take part in today's mass for the sick before his hospitalization. But it's still not clear whether or not he will appear.
Hundreds of families in Venezuela have been evacuated due to massive flooding. Authorities say torrential rains have left more than a dozen people dead. The rescue operation is taking place in the same area where heavy rains and flooding left thousands dead more than five years ago. The rains are expected to continue throughout the weekend.
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