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American Morning
'90-Second Pop'; Bush Administration Believes Iran Secretly Trying to Build Nuclear Weapons
Aired February 14, 2005 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN morning.
Questions this morning about just how far the U.S. is willing to go to get good intelligence out of Iran. "The Washington Post" is reporting that high-tech spy planes are flying missions over the country's airspace. We'll talk to David Ensor about that, and also about the possibility of any military action.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, it is February 14th on the calendar. If you're alone this Valentine's Day, and that's what you want, congratulations. If not, though, coming up, we'll give you some proven tips for meeting that perfect person -- perfect person? -- in a moment. A professional matchmaker shares her secrets, and her secrets do not come cheap, either. Cost you a little bit of cash.
O'BRIEN: Like 20 grand, I believe. I have to write down her...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty grand for the perfect match?
HEMMER: It's cheaper than a divorce.
COLLINS: Where's the guarantee? Yikes!
O'BRIEN: We'll talk to her about that.
COLLINS: Yes, very good.
To the serious news now, folks. This morning, we're talking about the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He's among the casualties following a bomb attack in Beirut, Lebanon. At least six fires were burning in aftermath of the powerful blast. These pictures you're looking at show charred wreckage and mangled debris. There are reports of many more casualties. We'll be watching this story for you throughout the day.
President Bush congratulating Iraq on an election he says was well done. But many Washington officials are curious to see how Iraqis will work together to divide up power in the upcoming national assembly. Iraqi officials released results from the national election yesterday, and no alliance won a ruling majority. Political parties have three days to file objections before the final uncertified results are certified.
Some pomp and circumstance for new Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Just a half hour from now, there will be a ceremonial swearing in for Gonzales at the Justice Department. President Bush will be on hand. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will also do the honors. Gonzales is the first Hispanic attorney general. When that event happens, of course you can see it right here on CNN.
And we wanted to give you an update on the story we told you about last week, about the good samaritan who says she found a newborn tossed from a moving car. Well, as you may already know, it turned out to be a hoax. According to Florida police, the woman who claimed she found the baby is actually its biological mother. The mother has been placed under psychiatric evaluation. The baby, who is being called "Johnny," is said to be doing well. Very, very sweet.
HEMMER: We had the sheriff on here Friday, and he had nothing but praise for the "good samaritan," at the time.
O'BRIEN: There were questions because, of course, you know, throwing a baby out of a window, which is what she claimed, she saw the couple fighting, and I mean, obviously, the baby had no real injuries, the sheriff said, that it all seemed fine.
COLLINS: She needs some help.
O'BRIEN: Yes, no question. Thanks, Heidi. Appreciate it.
Well, the Bush administration believes Iran is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies that, but without conclusive intelligence, it is hard to know just how strong a position Washington should take.
David Ensor in Washington for us this morning.
David, good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And as you say, with the U.S. intelligence community working on a wide-ranging review of its intelligence about Iran, there have been two revelations over the weekend regarding intelligence collection there.
First, knowledgeable former officials are telling CNN that in the early 1990s a network of Iranian agents for U.S. intelligence was discovered by Iranian counterintelligence. Dozens of agents were jailed or executed, according to the sources, who said that the low- level network was set up at the request of the Pentagon. Word of the loss came first in recent testimony by former Pentagon official Richard Perle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD PERLE, FMR. PENTAGON OFFICIAL: I imagine there are many on the committee who are familiar with the terrible setback that we suffered in Iran a few years ago when, in a display of unbelievably careless management, we put pressure on agents operating in Iran to report with greater frequency and didn't provide improved communications channels for them to do it. The Iranian intelligence authorities quickly saw the surge in traffic, and as I understand it, virtually our entire network in Iran was wiped out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: But knowledgeable former officials dispute Perle on several accounts. They call his testimony inaccurate in some details and misleading in other. These officials say his description of how the network was rolled up is wrong, and that it was smaller than he described.
Meantime, two well-placed sources are now confirming to CNN, "A Washington Post" report, that the U.S. has used unmanned aerial vehicles over Iran to collect intelligence on its nuclear programs. Though U.S. military and other officials say, no such flights have occurred recently.
Some CIA officials worry just now that the Pentagon and FBI may be seeing to take over more of the human intelligence effort in Iran, recruiting spies to report from the ground. With the president delaying his choice of a new director of national intelligence, the U.S. intelligence community may be vulnerable, says one former official, to what he called poaching -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: David Ensor for us this morning.
David, thank you for that update -- Bill.
HEMMER: Today is an extra special valentine's day for the Ottos of Williamsburg, Virginia. First Lieutenant Shawn Otto just returned to Fort Dix in New Jersey from his time in Iraq. He was in Mosul when that mess tent was hit by a suicide bomber days before Christmas. Nineteen U.S. troops were killed that day.
Trish Otto has not seen her husband since a brief leave back in September, until today. We've got the two together by satellite a bit earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Lieutenant, welcome back to U.S. soil. What kind of a message do you have for your wife today on Valentine's Day?
1ST LT. SHAWN OTTO, VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD: Trish, darling, I'm coming home soon. I'll be there very shortly.
HEMMER: Well, Trish, how does that feel?
TRISH OTTO, HUSBAND RETURNING FROM IRAQ: It feels wonderful. I can't wait to have him back home.
HEMMER: Yes. You're wearing the Valentine red today. A special message? Do you have one for the lieutenant, your husband, today, Trish?
T. OTTO: Just that I love him very much and I'm glad he's going to be home in one piece.
HEMMER: Yes.
Lieutenant, what has this been like for you, being overseas, especially at a time when the attack hit in Mosul. You were at the base at the time. Share some of your thoughts being back home now as a result of that.
S. OTTO: It's -- first, let me just say it's wonderful to be back in the states. And I feel like we did a really important mission. And it's good to be home.
But Mosul is a very dangerous place. Every day we basically executed our mission and were under threat from all kinds of terrorist activity.
I'm really happy with the performance of my soldiers. And I think it was a lot easier for us to do it because we were so mission- focused. We didn't really have time to worry about how much we missed our families. But I think it was much harder on the families at home, because they had the uncertainty, they don't really know what's going on and whether or not we were going to come back and so on. So it's good to be home.
HEMMER: Trish, how difficult was that, reflecting back in December? Great to be home, I'm certain of that. And we talked to you again during the time of the attack and about all the tension you had built up inside of you, trying to wait for word from your husband. How difficult was that, Trish?
T. OTTO: It was pretty difficult. I got a call from Shawn, and I knew that he was OK. But just knowing what he was going through was really difficult, not knowing what was going to happen afterwards.
It was difficult just him being away in general. And all the attacks that were happening every single day, it was just a scary thing, just knowing he was out there, just knowing that any soldier was having his life put up every day. You just -- not knowing if he was coming home. Just knowing now that he is coming home now, it's an exciting thing for us to look forward to.
HEMMER: He's going to be home a little later this month. What are your plans, Trish?
T. OTTO: Our plans are that we have a lot of catching up to do. I have just tons of plans.
HEMMER: I bet.
Lieutenant, how about yourself?
S. OTTO: I try not to make too many plans. I just want to be home with my family and put my arms around them and just spend time with them. And it's the one great thing about the Army, is it really makes you appreciate the small things in life, like family time and a cup of coffee, and so on.
HEMMER: I'm certain it does. Listen, say hello to your two boys for us, Trish, will you, Chase (ph) and Caleb (ph) sitting to your right and left. And congratulations.
Lieutenant, welcome home. Thanks for your time today. And Happy Valentine's Day to both of you.
S. OTTO: Thanks so much.
T. OTTO: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Lieutenant Shawn Otto is due home in a week's time, a little more than that; February 23rd he'll be back with his family.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: If you're someone who looks at valentine's day and sees a big red flag, Janis Spindel can help. She's a matchmaker extraordinaire with more than 700 marriages to her credit, and her new book is called "Get Serious About Getting Married."
And Janis is my guest now here in our studios.
Good morning to you.
Ten years, 700 marriages?
JANIS SPINDEL, AUTHOR, "GET SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING MARRIED": Seven as of Thursday night, to be exact.
So we continue -- how -- overall, how many are still together?
SPINDEL: All of them.
HEMMER: Every single one?
SPINDEL: As far as I know, and I think I would be the first phone call, all of them.
HEMMER: Do you think they would report back to you, first of all, huh?
SPINDEL: I would think so.
HEMMER: OK, you say the top three things women want in men -- intelligence, sense of humor, character and integrity?
SPINDEL: Yes.
HEMMER: Don't allow me to point out the obvious, but I think these are.
SPINDEL: Out of the 6,800 women that I have met in 10-plus years, intelligence is always No. 1, sense of humor is always No. 2, and three can vary -- it can be character, it can be integrity, it can be values; sometimes it can be looks.
HEMMER: Honesty.
SPINDEL: Honesty, passion. Sometimes it varies. But one and two are always, always the same.
HEMMER: All right, top three things that men want in women: great looks, thin body, younger than they are, but not necessarily young. Stereotype.
SPINDEL: Don't shoot the messenger, but it is what it is. It's a very competitive visual world out there, and men are visual.
HEMMER: But if you look at these lists, women have three things that are completely opposite of what men have. So it's your job to bridge the gap?
SPINDEL: That's exactly correct.
HEMMER: How do you do it?
SPINDEL: Well, I think that the best way to describe what I do, even though it sounds a little corny, is I am definitely clairvoyant. I have some kind of a sixth sense on who belongs with whom.
HEMMER: What do you mean? You walk down the street, you see someone, and you say, you know what, I think you might go well with this person?
SPINDEL: Well, at first, obviously, the visual is the most important, and once I get past the visual and interview that person and find out obviously how old they are, what religion they are, where they went to school, where they grew up, you know, the whole nine yards about them, then it sort of just kicks in on who belongs with whom.
HEMMER: What if someone -- you know, it sounds like a bunch of bunk; you really can't just go ahead and pick two people out and say...
SPINDEL: Let me tell you something that is totally flipped out. I just got back from a book tour. And Thursday I flew back from Miami. And coincidentally I bumped into a very, very old friend who I've known for probably about 25, 30 years at the airport. I introduced him to somebody four months ago. I met her for 20 minutes. I sat across the table from her, and I said, do you know who you're going to marry? And she looked at me like I had four heads, and if she's watching this, she's probably laughing. They are going to end up getting married. They have been together four months. It's 24/7, they are flying back and forth from Miami and New York. Their in love, totally in love.
HEMMER: I want to talk about (INAUDIBLE) in a moment here. A couple of things you think are important about Mr. and Ms. Right here, you say, look in the mirror, explain that.
SPINDEL: Well, most important you need to look in the mirror, and you can't let that be a magic mirror, you have to know who you are, what you're looking for and what you're non-negotiables are.
HEMMER: Well, is that part of No. 2, make your list of non- negotiables?
SPINDEL: Absolutely. Nonnegotiables could be religion, it could be smoking, it could pets; it could a lot of different things, but you really have to come up with your list of what you're nonnegotiables are.
HEMMER: I like the next one, too -- don't be so negative.
SPINDEL: That's right. It's a positive world out there. People should not talk about their negative experiences on dates.
HEMMER: one of the biggest things that women do wrong is they talk about ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, how they're dating on the Internet with I don't know how many men. Men don't want to hear you've been on match.com, or whatever it is, and you've gone out with 300 men but you're still sitting there.
HEMMER: How do you explain the price?
SPINDEL: Which price? My price?
HEMMER: Twenty thousand?
SPINDEL: It's a very -- it begins at $20,000 for the initiation fee. It's a small price to be pay to be happy for the rest of your life.
HEMMER: So it goes even higher. I said earlier than it's cheaper than the divorce, and if you can make it happen, here's to it.
SPINDEL: Well, I make it happen, that's for sure.
HEMMER: Thanks. Good to see you.
SPINDEL: Thanks.
HEMMER: Janis Spindel, she wrote the book. And Happy Valentine's Day.
SPINDEL: Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to you.
HEMMER: All right, here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, If you think the Hummer is an SUV for wimps, then meet the bad boy. Andy is "Minding Your Business," just ahead.
Plus, a Grammy duet so bad, our friend Toure called it a Spanish soap opera disaster. The "0-Second Poppers weigh in, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: I should be a rapper, you know. I can get into that. Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is the morning after music's biggest night. And it's time for a special Grammy edition of "90-Second Pop".
Joining us this morning, Andy Borowitz from BorowitzReport.com. Crystal McCrary Anthony, author of "Gotham Diaries." And Christopher John Farley from "TIME" magazine.
Good morning. Nice to see you, everybody.
CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: So, no big surprise, I think, Ray Charles walks away with it, all practically.
CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Yes, it was a big night for Ray Charles. I mean, it was actually a strange night, because there was kind of this death hang over a lot of the Grammys. And that may have been what made so it lively, because it seemed to have a lot of meaning. I mean, you have Ray Charles winning after passing away. You have Bono sending out a tribute to his late father. You have the tribute to the tsunami victims. So, there's a lot going on that really paid tribute to people who had passed on, who have gone on before.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some other winners as well. Alicia Keys did very well.
FARLEY: Alicia Keys did well. She did very well. Also in her tribute to Ray Charles, I think that she and Jamie Foxx kind of brought down the house with their performance of "Georgia on My Mind." She's brought sort of the old school and new school, a little hip-hop thrown in there. There's a kind of a classic feel to her. I think that it was really beautiful.
O'BRIEN: You love someone who can both sing and -- like, she's like a real musician, you know.
FARLEY: Right. But speaking of real musicians, it's too bad that Maroon 5 won best new artist.
O'BRIEN: I like them.
FARLEY: They really didn't deserve it.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Maroon 5, they're like a rock band for people who think John Mayer is too heavy, you know. Like, you go to Maroon 5...
ANTHONY: Wait a second. I was very proud of John Mayer winning song of the year for "Daughter."
O'BRIEN: That's a beautiful song.
ANTHONY: Isn't that a wonderful song? BOROWITZ: Yes, you know what? Every woman loves that song.
O'BRIEN: Every mother driving is crying.
BOROWITZ: And every man hates that song. I have a daughter, and I do not want parenting advice from John Mayer.
O'BRIEN: He is kind of young.
BOROWITZ: You know, you don't tell me how to handle my daughter, and won't tell you how to handle your groupies. OK, John? I want to just make that deal.
FARLEY: "Daughter" just makes me long for the hard-hitting days of Lilafair (ph).
O'BRIEN: Oh, please. I love that song.
ANTHONY: I do too. We have a saying...
BOROWITZ: And, you know, Chris...
ANTHONY: You have a daughter, don't you think of that?
O'BRIEN: I do. I drive and I cry when I hear that song. We've got to talk about something that also made me cry, but in a whole different way. J.Lo and Marc Anthony. Come on, now.
BOROWITZ: Well, now, I know that I've been asked to explain this to America. I cannot. And I apologize.
O'BRIEN: The bed? The robe?
BOROWITZ: That was like a set borrowed from, like, a soap opera on Unavision (ph). And then the two of them are singing this song, and I don't know. It's like I had no problem that they were singing in a different language, but J.Lo was actually singing in a different key from Marc Anthony.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ANTHONY: And I was like -- I kept waiting for her to break him in two.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
ANTHONY: I got that impression as I was watching that. I mean, you know, they were -- it was like a soap opera. It was a bad set. It reminded me of, like, a "Dynasty" episode crossed with, like, a soap opera.
(CROSSTALK)
FARLEY: I didn't want to peek into the bedroom. I did not want to see what was going on. BOROWITZ: Yes, he was very impassioned. I thought he was good. She has put more energy into some of her prenuptial agreements, I think it's safe to say. It was just not much there.
O'BRIEN: And, again, he can sing. I mean, he's a terrific artist.
BOROWITZ: He is good.
ANTHONY: He is.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, I loved "Jenny From the Block," but, you know, you want to have a lot of track and singers behind you on future events, let's say.
You guys, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Bill, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. If your idea of a compact car is the Hummer, listen up. Andy shows us the bad boy in a moment. "Minding Your Business" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. A new bad boy truck, leaving the Hummer in the dust. With more on that and a check of Wall Street, here's Andy Serwer back with us now. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. A lot of action on Wall Street this morning. Dow trading down a little bit in early trading. Let's go look at it. Down seven, not too bad. Big merger, Verizon buying MCI for $6.7 billion. How are they are going to pay for the merger? Guess what, in the conference call, Verizon announced 7,000 job cuts. That's how they're going to pay for it.
Verizon stock is up, MCI's is down. That's kind of surprising. Why? Because MCI shareholders were looking for a higher bid from Qwest. That didn't happen. Verizon shareholders happy that they're paying less.
Google is down about one and a half percent. The lockup period ends. That's means all those insiders can sell shares. That's going to be a very active stock today.
The record business seeking a boost after the Grammys. Soledad, here's your Ray Charles CD.
O'BRIEN: You are so nice to me.
SERWER: See, that's what happens. People go out and buy the CDs and give them as gifts.
O'BRIEN: And we've been buying a lot of music at Starbucks every morning.
SERWER: Yes, we have. That's right.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
SERWER: That big truck you're talking about, billed "The Bad Boy." You know, the Hummer is so last year. This thing is -- this is amazing. OK, get this. This is a converted tactical military truck for commercial uses. The Homeland Defense Vehicle is making this. Base price, $225,000. Can go up to $750,000. Here we go. Ten feet high, climb a 60-foot grade, tow six tons, it can go through five feet of water and has a 589-gallon gas tank. You know, they expect to sell 50 of them.
O'BRIEN: It's like that Pepsi ad.
SERWER: Right, exactly. Hey, P. Diddy. Call P. Diddy up. He's one of those. You know he's going to get one of those. Carson Daly, they're all going to get them.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Jack's got a final look at the question. Let me warn you, though, we're going to cut away to talk about Alberto Gonzales if it happens. That's your fair warning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: This is your program, you know. You know, I just sit over at the end of the couch here and read these letters. Would you buy a taser stun gun for your home? The company wants to market a civilian version for about $1,000.
Charles in Savannah, Georgia: "So I can spend a $1,000 to buy a very short-range weapon with less stopping power than the police version or I can spend couple hundred bucks on a good shotgun. That's a tough decision. Taser should be honest. The real customers are jerks who want to take these out into the streets. A great non-lethal weapon for a mugger or a rapist."
Knoah writes: "For a $1,000, you might as well put money toward a home alarm system."
And Greg in Westville, Nova Scotia: "Dear Jack, can I suggest instead of the overpriced one-shot taser, the never fail Canadian version. Soak the welcome mat well before retiring for the night and connect then connect the red lead of your arc welder to the inside of your door knob." That'll light them up like a Christmas tree.
SERWER: Yes, now you have something to do today, Jack.
HEMMER: Any moment now we're expecting to hear from the president. His pick to become attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, about to be sworn in. We'll have it live for you when it happens down there in D.C., the Department of Justice. AMERICAN MORNING is back in a moment after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Before we run, a little gift, you guys. Little treats for you.
CAFFERTY: What's in there?
SERWER: You should have.
O'BRIEN: Candy, chocolate, for Valentine's Day.
SERWER: You should, again. Wow!
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: I baked them all last night. You guys, we are out of time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 14, 2005 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN morning.
Questions this morning about just how far the U.S. is willing to go to get good intelligence out of Iran. "The Washington Post" is reporting that high-tech spy planes are flying missions over the country's airspace. We'll talk to David Ensor about that, and also about the possibility of any military action.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Also, it is February 14th on the calendar. If you're alone this Valentine's Day, and that's what you want, congratulations. If not, though, coming up, we'll give you some proven tips for meeting that perfect person -- perfect person? -- in a moment. A professional matchmaker shares her secrets, and her secrets do not come cheap, either. Cost you a little bit of cash.
O'BRIEN: Like 20 grand, I believe. I have to write down her...
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty grand for the perfect match?
HEMMER: It's cheaper than a divorce.
COLLINS: Where's the guarantee? Yikes!
O'BRIEN: We'll talk to her about that.
COLLINS: Yes, very good.
To the serious news now, folks. This morning, we're talking about the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. He's among the casualties following a bomb attack in Beirut, Lebanon. At least six fires were burning in aftermath of the powerful blast. These pictures you're looking at show charred wreckage and mangled debris. There are reports of many more casualties. We'll be watching this story for you throughout the day.
President Bush congratulating Iraq on an election he says was well done. But many Washington officials are curious to see how Iraqis will work together to divide up power in the upcoming national assembly. Iraqi officials released results from the national election yesterday, and no alliance won a ruling majority. Political parties have three days to file objections before the final uncertified results are certified.
Some pomp and circumstance for new Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Just a half hour from now, there will be a ceremonial swearing in for Gonzales at the Justice Department. President Bush will be on hand. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will also do the honors. Gonzales is the first Hispanic attorney general. When that event happens, of course you can see it right here on CNN.
And we wanted to give you an update on the story we told you about last week, about the good samaritan who says she found a newborn tossed from a moving car. Well, as you may already know, it turned out to be a hoax. According to Florida police, the woman who claimed she found the baby is actually its biological mother. The mother has been placed under psychiatric evaluation. The baby, who is being called "Johnny," is said to be doing well. Very, very sweet.
HEMMER: We had the sheriff on here Friday, and he had nothing but praise for the "good samaritan," at the time.
O'BRIEN: There were questions because, of course, you know, throwing a baby out of a window, which is what she claimed, she saw the couple fighting, and I mean, obviously, the baby had no real injuries, the sheriff said, that it all seemed fine.
COLLINS: She needs some help.
O'BRIEN: Yes, no question. Thanks, Heidi. Appreciate it.
Well, the Bush administration believes Iran is secretly trying to build nuclear weapons. Iran denies that, but without conclusive intelligence, it is hard to know just how strong a position Washington should take.
David Ensor in Washington for us this morning.
David, good morning.
DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And as you say, with the U.S. intelligence community working on a wide-ranging review of its intelligence about Iran, there have been two revelations over the weekend regarding intelligence collection there.
First, knowledgeable former officials are telling CNN that in the early 1990s a network of Iranian agents for U.S. intelligence was discovered by Iranian counterintelligence. Dozens of agents were jailed or executed, according to the sources, who said that the low- level network was set up at the request of the Pentagon. Word of the loss came first in recent testimony by former Pentagon official Richard Perle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD PERLE, FMR. PENTAGON OFFICIAL: I imagine there are many on the committee who are familiar with the terrible setback that we suffered in Iran a few years ago when, in a display of unbelievably careless management, we put pressure on agents operating in Iran to report with greater frequency and didn't provide improved communications channels for them to do it. The Iranian intelligence authorities quickly saw the surge in traffic, and as I understand it, virtually our entire network in Iran was wiped out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENSOR: But knowledgeable former officials dispute Perle on several accounts. They call his testimony inaccurate in some details and misleading in other. These officials say his description of how the network was rolled up is wrong, and that it was smaller than he described.
Meantime, two well-placed sources are now confirming to CNN, "A Washington Post" report, that the U.S. has used unmanned aerial vehicles over Iran to collect intelligence on its nuclear programs. Though U.S. military and other officials say, no such flights have occurred recently.
Some CIA officials worry just now that the Pentagon and FBI may be seeing to take over more of the human intelligence effort in Iran, recruiting spies to report from the ground. With the president delaying his choice of a new director of national intelligence, the U.S. intelligence community may be vulnerable, says one former official, to what he called poaching -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: David Ensor for us this morning.
David, thank you for that update -- Bill.
HEMMER: Today is an extra special valentine's day for the Ottos of Williamsburg, Virginia. First Lieutenant Shawn Otto just returned to Fort Dix in New Jersey from his time in Iraq. He was in Mosul when that mess tent was hit by a suicide bomber days before Christmas. Nineteen U.S. troops were killed that day.
Trish Otto has not seen her husband since a brief leave back in September, until today. We've got the two together by satellite a bit earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Lieutenant, welcome back to U.S. soil. What kind of a message do you have for your wife today on Valentine's Day?
1ST LT. SHAWN OTTO, VIRGINIA NATIONAL GUARD: Trish, darling, I'm coming home soon. I'll be there very shortly.
HEMMER: Well, Trish, how does that feel?
TRISH OTTO, HUSBAND RETURNING FROM IRAQ: It feels wonderful. I can't wait to have him back home.
HEMMER: Yes. You're wearing the Valentine red today. A special message? Do you have one for the lieutenant, your husband, today, Trish?
T. OTTO: Just that I love him very much and I'm glad he's going to be home in one piece.
HEMMER: Yes.
Lieutenant, what has this been like for you, being overseas, especially at a time when the attack hit in Mosul. You were at the base at the time. Share some of your thoughts being back home now as a result of that.
S. OTTO: It's -- first, let me just say it's wonderful to be back in the states. And I feel like we did a really important mission. And it's good to be home.
But Mosul is a very dangerous place. Every day we basically executed our mission and were under threat from all kinds of terrorist activity.
I'm really happy with the performance of my soldiers. And I think it was a lot easier for us to do it because we were so mission- focused. We didn't really have time to worry about how much we missed our families. But I think it was much harder on the families at home, because they had the uncertainty, they don't really know what's going on and whether or not we were going to come back and so on. So it's good to be home.
HEMMER: Trish, how difficult was that, reflecting back in December? Great to be home, I'm certain of that. And we talked to you again during the time of the attack and about all the tension you had built up inside of you, trying to wait for word from your husband. How difficult was that, Trish?
T. OTTO: It was pretty difficult. I got a call from Shawn, and I knew that he was OK. But just knowing what he was going through was really difficult, not knowing what was going to happen afterwards.
It was difficult just him being away in general. And all the attacks that were happening every single day, it was just a scary thing, just knowing he was out there, just knowing that any soldier was having his life put up every day. You just -- not knowing if he was coming home. Just knowing now that he is coming home now, it's an exciting thing for us to look forward to.
HEMMER: He's going to be home a little later this month. What are your plans, Trish?
T. OTTO: Our plans are that we have a lot of catching up to do. I have just tons of plans.
HEMMER: I bet.
Lieutenant, how about yourself?
S. OTTO: I try not to make too many plans. I just want to be home with my family and put my arms around them and just spend time with them. And it's the one great thing about the Army, is it really makes you appreciate the small things in life, like family time and a cup of coffee, and so on.
HEMMER: I'm certain it does. Listen, say hello to your two boys for us, Trish, will you, Chase (ph) and Caleb (ph) sitting to your right and left. And congratulations.
Lieutenant, welcome home. Thanks for your time today. And Happy Valentine's Day to both of you.
S. OTTO: Thanks so much.
T. OTTO: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: Lieutenant Shawn Otto is due home in a week's time, a little more than that; February 23rd he'll be back with his family.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: If you're someone who looks at valentine's day and sees a big red flag, Janis Spindel can help. She's a matchmaker extraordinaire with more than 700 marriages to her credit, and her new book is called "Get Serious About Getting Married."
And Janis is my guest now here in our studios.
Good morning to you.
Ten years, 700 marriages?
JANIS SPINDEL, AUTHOR, "GET SERIOUS ABOUT GETTING MARRIED": Seven as of Thursday night, to be exact.
So we continue -- how -- overall, how many are still together?
SPINDEL: All of them.
HEMMER: Every single one?
SPINDEL: As far as I know, and I think I would be the first phone call, all of them.
HEMMER: Do you think they would report back to you, first of all, huh?
SPINDEL: I would think so.
HEMMER: OK, you say the top three things women want in men -- intelligence, sense of humor, character and integrity?
SPINDEL: Yes.
HEMMER: Don't allow me to point out the obvious, but I think these are.
SPINDEL: Out of the 6,800 women that I have met in 10-plus years, intelligence is always No. 1, sense of humor is always No. 2, and three can vary -- it can be character, it can be integrity, it can be values; sometimes it can be looks.
HEMMER: Honesty.
SPINDEL: Honesty, passion. Sometimes it varies. But one and two are always, always the same.
HEMMER: All right, top three things that men want in women: great looks, thin body, younger than they are, but not necessarily young. Stereotype.
SPINDEL: Don't shoot the messenger, but it is what it is. It's a very competitive visual world out there, and men are visual.
HEMMER: But if you look at these lists, women have three things that are completely opposite of what men have. So it's your job to bridge the gap?
SPINDEL: That's exactly correct.
HEMMER: How do you do it?
SPINDEL: Well, I think that the best way to describe what I do, even though it sounds a little corny, is I am definitely clairvoyant. I have some kind of a sixth sense on who belongs with whom.
HEMMER: What do you mean? You walk down the street, you see someone, and you say, you know what, I think you might go well with this person?
SPINDEL: Well, at first, obviously, the visual is the most important, and once I get past the visual and interview that person and find out obviously how old they are, what religion they are, where they went to school, where they grew up, you know, the whole nine yards about them, then it sort of just kicks in on who belongs with whom.
HEMMER: What if someone -- you know, it sounds like a bunch of bunk; you really can't just go ahead and pick two people out and say...
SPINDEL: Let me tell you something that is totally flipped out. I just got back from a book tour. And Thursday I flew back from Miami. And coincidentally I bumped into a very, very old friend who I've known for probably about 25, 30 years at the airport. I introduced him to somebody four months ago. I met her for 20 minutes. I sat across the table from her, and I said, do you know who you're going to marry? And she looked at me like I had four heads, and if she's watching this, she's probably laughing. They are going to end up getting married. They have been together four months. It's 24/7, they are flying back and forth from Miami and New York. Their in love, totally in love.
HEMMER: I want to talk about (INAUDIBLE) in a moment here. A couple of things you think are important about Mr. and Ms. Right here, you say, look in the mirror, explain that.
SPINDEL: Well, most important you need to look in the mirror, and you can't let that be a magic mirror, you have to know who you are, what you're looking for and what you're non-negotiables are.
HEMMER: Well, is that part of No. 2, make your list of non- negotiables?
SPINDEL: Absolutely. Nonnegotiables could be religion, it could be smoking, it could pets; it could a lot of different things, but you really have to come up with your list of what you're nonnegotiables are.
HEMMER: I like the next one, too -- don't be so negative.
SPINDEL: That's right. It's a positive world out there. People should not talk about their negative experiences on dates.
HEMMER: one of the biggest things that women do wrong is they talk about ex-husbands, ex-boyfriends, how they're dating on the Internet with I don't know how many men. Men don't want to hear you've been on match.com, or whatever it is, and you've gone out with 300 men but you're still sitting there.
HEMMER: How do you explain the price?
SPINDEL: Which price? My price?
HEMMER: Twenty thousand?
SPINDEL: It's a very -- it begins at $20,000 for the initiation fee. It's a small price to be pay to be happy for the rest of your life.
HEMMER: So it goes even higher. I said earlier than it's cheaper than the divorce, and if you can make it happen, here's to it.
SPINDEL: Well, I make it happen, that's for sure.
HEMMER: Thanks. Good to see you.
SPINDEL: Thanks.
HEMMER: Janis Spindel, she wrote the book. And Happy Valentine's Day.
SPINDEL: Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to you.
HEMMER: All right, here's Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, If you think the Hummer is an SUV for wimps, then meet the bad boy. Andy is "Minding Your Business," just ahead.
Plus, a Grammy duet so bad, our friend Toure called it a Spanish soap opera disaster. The "0-Second Poppers weigh in, up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: I should be a rapper, you know. I can get into that. Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It is the morning after music's biggest night. And it's time for a special Grammy edition of "90-Second Pop".
Joining us this morning, Andy Borowitz from BorowitzReport.com. Crystal McCrary Anthony, author of "Gotham Diaries." And Christopher John Farley from "TIME" magazine.
Good morning. Nice to see you, everybody.
CRYSTAL MCCRARY ANTHONY, AUTHOR, "GOTHAM DIARIES": Good morning.
O'BRIEN: So, no big surprise, I think, Ray Charles walks away with it, all practically.
CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Yes, it was a big night for Ray Charles. I mean, it was actually a strange night, because there was kind of this death hang over a lot of the Grammys. And that may have been what made so it lively, because it seemed to have a lot of meaning. I mean, you have Ray Charles winning after passing away. You have Bono sending out a tribute to his late father. You have the tribute to the tsunami victims. So, there's a lot going on that really paid tribute to people who had passed on, who have gone on before.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about some other winners as well. Alicia Keys did very well.
FARLEY: Alicia Keys did well. She did very well. Also in her tribute to Ray Charles, I think that she and Jamie Foxx kind of brought down the house with their performance of "Georgia on My Mind." She's brought sort of the old school and new school, a little hip-hop thrown in there. There's a kind of a classic feel to her. I think that it was really beautiful.
O'BRIEN: You love someone who can both sing and -- like, she's like a real musician, you know.
FARLEY: Right. But speaking of real musicians, it's too bad that Maroon 5 won best new artist.
O'BRIEN: I like them.
FARLEY: They really didn't deserve it.
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Maroon 5, they're like a rock band for people who think John Mayer is too heavy, you know. Like, you go to Maroon 5...
ANTHONY: Wait a second. I was very proud of John Mayer winning song of the year for "Daughter."
O'BRIEN: That's a beautiful song.
ANTHONY: Isn't that a wonderful song? BOROWITZ: Yes, you know what? Every woman loves that song.
O'BRIEN: Every mother driving is crying.
BOROWITZ: And every man hates that song. I have a daughter, and I do not want parenting advice from John Mayer.
O'BRIEN: He is kind of young.
BOROWITZ: You know, you don't tell me how to handle my daughter, and won't tell you how to handle your groupies. OK, John? I want to just make that deal.
FARLEY: "Daughter" just makes me long for the hard-hitting days of Lilafair (ph).
O'BRIEN: Oh, please. I love that song.
ANTHONY: I do too. We have a saying...
BOROWITZ: And, you know, Chris...
ANTHONY: You have a daughter, don't you think of that?
O'BRIEN: I do. I drive and I cry when I hear that song. We've got to talk about something that also made me cry, but in a whole different way. J.Lo and Marc Anthony. Come on, now.
BOROWITZ: Well, now, I know that I've been asked to explain this to America. I cannot. And I apologize.
O'BRIEN: The bed? The robe?
BOROWITZ: That was like a set borrowed from, like, a soap opera on Unavision (ph). And then the two of them are singing this song, and I don't know. It's like I had no problem that they were singing in a different language, but J.Lo was actually singing in a different key from Marc Anthony.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
ANTHONY: And I was like -- I kept waiting for her to break him in two.
BOROWITZ: Yes.
ANTHONY: I got that impression as I was watching that. I mean, you know, they were -- it was like a soap opera. It was a bad set. It reminded me of, like, a "Dynasty" episode crossed with, like, a soap opera.
(CROSSTALK)
FARLEY: I didn't want to peek into the bedroom. I did not want to see what was going on. BOROWITZ: Yes, he was very impassioned. I thought he was good. She has put more energy into some of her prenuptial agreements, I think it's safe to say. It was just not much there.
O'BRIEN: And, again, he can sing. I mean, he's a terrific artist.
BOROWITZ: He is good.
ANTHONY: He is.
O'BRIEN: And, you know, I loved "Jenny From the Block," but, you know, you want to have a lot of track and singers behind you on future events, let's say.
You guys, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Bill, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HEMMER: All right, Soledad. If your idea of a compact car is the Hummer, listen up. Andy shows us the bad boy in a moment. "Minding Your Business" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everybody. A new bad boy truck, leaving the Hummer in the dust. With more on that and a check of Wall Street, here's Andy Serwer back with us now. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. A lot of action on Wall Street this morning. Dow trading down a little bit in early trading. Let's go look at it. Down seven, not too bad. Big merger, Verizon buying MCI for $6.7 billion. How are they are going to pay for the merger? Guess what, in the conference call, Verizon announced 7,000 job cuts. That's how they're going to pay for it.
Verizon stock is up, MCI's is down. That's kind of surprising. Why? Because MCI shareholders were looking for a higher bid from Qwest. That didn't happen. Verizon shareholders happy that they're paying less.
Google is down about one and a half percent. The lockup period ends. That's means all those insiders can sell shares. That's going to be a very active stock today.
The record business seeking a boost after the Grammys. Soledad, here's your Ray Charles CD.
O'BRIEN: You are so nice to me.
SERWER: See, that's what happens. People go out and buy the CDs and give them as gifts.
O'BRIEN: And we've been buying a lot of music at Starbucks every morning.
SERWER: Yes, we have. That's right.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
SERWER: That big truck you're talking about, billed "The Bad Boy." You know, the Hummer is so last year. This thing is -- this is amazing. OK, get this. This is a converted tactical military truck for commercial uses. The Homeland Defense Vehicle is making this. Base price, $225,000. Can go up to $750,000. Here we go. Ten feet high, climb a 60-foot grade, tow six tons, it can go through five feet of water and has a 589-gallon gas tank. You know, they expect to sell 50 of them.
O'BRIEN: It's like that Pepsi ad.
SERWER: Right, exactly. Hey, P. Diddy. Call P. Diddy up. He's one of those. You know he's going to get one of those. Carson Daly, they're all going to get them.
HEMMER: Thank you, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
O'BRIEN: Jack's got a final look at the question. Let me warn you, though, we're going to cut away to talk about Alberto Gonzales if it happens. That's your fair warning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: This is your program, you know. You know, I just sit over at the end of the couch here and read these letters. Would you buy a taser stun gun for your home? The company wants to market a civilian version for about $1,000.
Charles in Savannah, Georgia: "So I can spend a $1,000 to buy a very short-range weapon with less stopping power than the police version or I can spend couple hundred bucks on a good shotgun. That's a tough decision. Taser should be honest. The real customers are jerks who want to take these out into the streets. A great non-lethal weapon for a mugger or a rapist."
Knoah writes: "For a $1,000, you might as well put money toward a home alarm system."
And Greg in Westville, Nova Scotia: "Dear Jack, can I suggest instead of the overpriced one-shot taser, the never fail Canadian version. Soak the welcome mat well before retiring for the night and connect then connect the red lead of your arc welder to the inside of your door knob." That'll light them up like a Christmas tree.
SERWER: Yes, now you have something to do today, Jack.
HEMMER: Any moment now we're expecting to hear from the president. His pick to become attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, about to be sworn in. We'll have it live for you when it happens down there in D.C., the Department of Justice. AMERICAN MORNING is back in a moment after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Before we run, a little gift, you guys. Little treats for you.
CAFFERTY: What's in there?
SERWER: You should have.
O'BRIEN: Candy, chocolate, for Valentine's Day.
SERWER: You should, again. Wow!
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: I baked them all last night. You guys, we are out of time.
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