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American Morning
Look Back on Second Anniversary of Start of War in Iraq; 'Gimme a Minute'
Aired March 18, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. Rob Marciano's been helping us out. Bill comes back on Monday.
But thanks for coming. We appreciate it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a lot of fun.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Ahead this morning, shock and awe two years later. Barbara Starr's taking a look at a major milestone in the Iraq war.
Also, some new information on when U.S. troops might be heading home.
MARCIANO: And Brent Sadler and Anderson Cooper in Lebanon, where the assassination of the former prime minister is stirring up ominous ghosts of the past.
O'BRIEN: That ahead this morning. But first, let's get another check of the headlines with Carol Costello. Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news a court date today for the man named a person of interest in the case of that missing 9-year-old, Jessica Lunsford. John Couey was picked up by authorities in Augusta, Georgia. He's facing charges unrelated to the little girl's disappearance, at least for now. Jessica Lunsford went missing over three weeks ago. Her father says they'll continue to look for her.
Promises of a temporary truce in the Middle East. The 13 main Palestinian groups announced they would halt attacks on Israel for the rest of the year. Israeli officials say they welcome the declaration, but want Palestinian leaders to eventually dismantle all militant groups.
In New York, hip-hop music artist Lil' Kim is in a little trouble. She's planning to appeal a guilty conviction that could send her to prison for up to 20 years. Lil' Kim, whose legal name is Kimberly Jones, was convicted of lying to a grand jury about a 2001 shootout in New York. She was cleared of the most serious charge, however, and that would be obstruction of justice. Jones is now free until her sentencing this summer.
And the madness now officially under way. Number 11 seed Alabama-Birmingham scores an upset. Get this. They knocked off sixth seeks Louisiana State 82-68. It was not even close. And top ranked Illinois with a close victory over Fairly Dickinson (ph). Final score, 67-55. Remember, Illinois was favored by 26.5 points at this game. Tonight, Oakland plays North Carolina, and Duke will take on Delaware. So the madness continues.
MARCIANO: It's crazy. We talked about Illinois yesterday and the kind of they had, and You had me convinced it was going to be a blowout the way you were talking.
COSTELLO: I know. I was completely wrong.
MARCIANO: Good thing I didn't put money on that.
Thanks, Carol.
We're coming up tomorrow on the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. What are the expectations and where do things stand today?
CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Rob.
Well, two years ago today, the first U.S. commandos were already secretly on the ground inside Iraq, even before the bombing began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Two years ago, these were the first pictures the world saw of the invasion of Iraq and a new vocabulary of war. The shock-and-awe bombing, rapidly followed by the run to Baghdad. Iraqis cheered when Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down.
And then, almost nothing worked out the way the U.S. planned. Looting perhaps not taken seriously enough.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECY.: Think what's happening in our cities when we've had riots, and problems and looting -- stuff happens.
STARR: Insurgents, the next watchword. Months of attacks by foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists. The most wanted man now a name everyone knows: Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.
The lowest point, March, 2004. U.S. contractors murdered, their mutilated bodies hung from a bridge in Falluja. Another town's name etched in military history. Two years on, more than 1,500 U.S. troops dead. More than 11,000 wounded.
But are things getting better? Elections in January. Displays of patriotism and Iraqi security forces that now appear to want to defend their country.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq made a rare Pentagon appearance, and another word of war emerged: tipping points. Did the election push the insurgency into collapse?
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN IRAQ: Whether it's a tipping point or not, I'm not ready to say that. It's a step forward. It's a major step in this process. So we're a little bit ahead of where I thought we'd be.
STARR: Some critics believe the road ahead remains much longer than a tipping point.
ANTHONY CORDESMAN, MILITARY ANALYST: And I think the key message of what I said is this debate over tipping points is absurd. We're talking about tipping years at a minimum -- 2005, 2006.
STARR: May, 2003. President Bush's "mission accomplished" appearance was supposed to signal the end of major combat.
Now, the words are more chilling.
CASEY: The average insurgency, the average counter insurgency in the 20th century was about nine years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: So U.S. commanders hope that they can begin to bring the troops home, Rob. But now they say military power alone, of course, won't defeat the insurgency. Political and economic independence for Iraq is important as those bombs that fell two years ago -- Rob.
MARCIANO: So, Barbara, it's been two years now. I know the Pentagon is not going to say when peel we'll actually pull all troops out. But any indication when they might reduce the number of troops in Iraq?
STARR: That is exactly what they're looking at right now, trying to predict what the level of violence will be, the insurgency, the strength of the new Iraqi government, could they begin to bring more troops home next year?
But listen to this -- the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency yesterday on Capitol Hill said publicly for the first time that they estimate the insurgency in Iraq is still somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 insurgents. So by that measure, still a long way to go -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK, Barbara. Thanks very much. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, every Friday at this time, we put our "Gimme a Minute" gang on the rapid-firing line to look at the week's big stories. Joining us from New York in New York, Lisa Caputo. She's Hillary Clinton's former press secretary. Also in New York, Republican strategist Joe Watkins. And in Los Angeles, comedy writer Mike Gibbons.
Good morning to all of you. Lisa, we're going to begin with you this morning, and we are talking about the congressional hearings into steroid use and abuse by baseball players.
What do you think was accomplished yesterday, Lisa?
LISA CAPUTO, HILLARY CLINTON'S FMR. PRESS SECY.: Well, I think we had high theater clearly, and I think, you know, it was very beneficial to the members of Congress to sit in front of what a lot of people consider to be American icons. And I think the interesting thing was to see Jose Canseco sitting at the same table with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
And I think, Soledad, there's one very interesting point here, and that is, we shouldn't be limiting these hearings. If Congress is going to have hearings into steroid use, it ought to be going way past baseball and into other professional sports and amateur sports as well.
O'BRIEN: Joe, what do you think? What was your take on yesterday?
WATKINS: My take on it is this, that if yesterday's hearings helped to stop some kids somewhere in some town somewhere from taking steroids, then it was a good thing. Something like an estimated half a million young people, high school athletes, take steroids, trying to emulate, of course, the stars who make multimillion dollars, lots of money, playing professional sports.
And so I think yesterday's hearings were a good start. Maybe it sends a strong signal to young people that steroid use is not a good thing.
O'BRIEN: Mike, we're about to hit the bell. What's your take?
MIKE GIBBONS, COMEDY WRITER: Not much happened. I mean, Sammy Sosa corked his mouth. But what struck me was Mark McGwire, he looked so great. He must have lost about 200 pounds, mostly upper body. I guess it's Atkins.
O'BRIEN: All right, another topic this morning, Paul Wolfowitz he's been named to head the world bank by President Bush.
Joe, let's start with you on this one. Good choice?
WATKINS: Very good choice. Paul Wolfowitz is a good guy, and clearly understands third world nations, understands emerging nations, and his background in the department of state really gives him a leg up. I think he's the right guy for the job. He's going to be a strong guy to lead the Bank.
O'BRIEN: Lisa, he's a tough guy. Does that make him a good fit, necessarily, for the person who is supposed to be helping a long fledgling democracy. CAPUTO: I think this is a disaster. He's put a war hawk to head a global bank that's supposed to be independent. How did we know there's not a political agenda, where the war on terror starts to influencing lending around the world, and whether or not Paul Wolfowitz can be somebody who can lead a bank that's supposed to help economic development and help impoverished areas around the world. It's as bat as John Boulden going to the U.N.
O'BRIEN: Mike what do you think of Paul Wolfowitz?
GIBBONS: If I got a resume that said architect of the Iraq war on it, I would not hire that person. And secondly, this guy going to be the most hated banker since Mr. Potter in "It's A Wonderful Life."
O'BRIEN: Let's talk, Lisa, about drilling in the ANWR, drilling in Alaska. It looks like it's going through. What do you think of it?
CAPUTO: Well, as a Democrat, obviously, this is something I personally worked on when I worked on Capitol Hill way back when for senator Tim Worth, who is a great environmentalist. I think this is an egregious example of the Bush administration's energy policy coming at the expense of good environmental policy.
Here we are, they're saying in the Senate now they've passed this resolution as part of the budget that they're going to drill in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where they don't even know for sure if they can export the oil overseas, and that to me is just an unbelievable turn of events, given the history of this really preserved piece of land and preserved piece of wildlife.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Joe, lots of people are saying, wouldn't it be smarter to just look for better alternatives to oil?
WATKINS: Well, Senator Stephens has been working on this for a long time, Soledad, and it's finally coming to fruition. I mean, we are so dependent upon foreign oil, the fact that we now have had the opportunity to move forward with this in Alaska, I think, is a great thing. I'm excited about it. I think it's going to be good for the United States.
O'BRIEN: Well, Mike, he's excited about it. How about you?
GIBBONS: You know, they're not 100 percent positive there's oil there. If there is, watch out, Alaska. Bush will attack you. It will be Operation Alaskan Freedom.
O'BRIEN: Finally, we're going to take a look at some of the stories that you thought were undercovered this week. Joe, we're going to start with you on this one. What did we miss?
WATKINS: I think the biggest undercovered story has to be Phil Angelides, the state treasurer of California, wanting to take on Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governator. I'm for Arnold in this one, I think Arnold wins by a knockout.
O'BRIEN: And what do you think, Lisa? What was the undercovered story this week?
WATKINS: I think the undercovered story of the week was the South Dakota governor enacting a law, passing a law, that will enable strong anti-abortion rights to occur, whereby doctors are going to be required to notify women that they're going to be ending a human life, so to speak, and also their decision could lead to depression and even suicidal tendencies. This is a horrible thing. It's just showing how wedge issues now are not only driving the national agenda, but starting to drive state agendas.
O'BRIEN: Mike, we're going to give you the final word this morning. What do you think was undercovered this week?
GIBBONS: There were two maybe. Well, either A, it is still legal if you're famous to kill your wife in Los Angeles. Or B, regarding the Blake case, there is a serial killer on the loose in Hollywood, killing celebrities' wives. And O.J. hasn't caught him yet and we really got to find this person.
O'BRIEN: That's our final word this morning. You guys, thank you very much. I hope you all have a great weekend. We'll see you back here next week -- Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: New violence uncovers old wounds in Lebanon. A reporter's amazing story of survival during decades of violence.
MARCIANO: And Fidel Castro is mad at "Forbes" magazine for revealing his secret. Jack has that.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Andy Serwer shows us a luxurious bathroom, but it's in a very unlikely place. Those stories ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The U.N.-appointed team investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has finished its work and expects to release its report next week. Last month's assassination of Hariri has thrust Lebanon's politics back into the spotlight. Violence has plagued that country for decades, the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut hitting the closest to home.
CNN's Brent Sadler has covered Beirut and Lebanon for the years. He takes a look back with Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: This week, although sporadic fighting is continuing, the area...
(voice-over): That was back in 1983...
All told, I covered the war here for more than 20 years. (on camera): There was no more dangerous place a journalist could be during those years. This location is where I nearly bought it.
Yeah, OK, there's the hill there. So we would have been about here.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "360 DEGREES": Could you actually see who was shooting at you?
SADLER: No. We just heard very heavy caliber machine gunfire. And then it was like Roman candles, like fireworks pouring down on us, bright orange balls of fire, sparks falling, the and flack as bullets hit concrete and metal. You knew you were about to die.
COOPER: And after you were shot over here, you ran into this area.
SADLER: That's right. After the cannon fire came down, I hit the deck, saw the rounds coming backwards and forwards going both sides of my body. And then I heard shouting, Brent, Brent, move, move, move!
So, I looked and all my colleagues were in there. So I just -- my cameraman hit me in the wrist, and nearly died here.
COOPER (voice-over): During the war years, whole sections of Beirut were reduced to rubble. Last month, when the former prime minister was blown up and an entire city block was destroyed in the blast, the scene looked all too familiar.
SADLER: The Rafik Hariri assassination is just a mile down there. So you've got Rafik Hariri's massive bomb blast, a turning point of Lebanese history just down there. And just here in front of us, an awful reminder of what happened in that massive car bomb against the U.S. here.
COOPER: So this was the site of the U.S. embassy.
SADLER: The images of that day were -- I remember vividly, the collapsed floors of the building, body parts hanging out of some of the floors. It came down like a deck of cards.
The car bomb is a weapon of choice by terrorists really was developed in this country. The car bomb and the truck bomb had a devastating impact, claimed more than 240 American marine lives at the airport. Who could not forget those horrendous images that day.
All of the buildings downtown used to look like this, millions of bullet holes everywhere.
This would be around about here, you can see the archway here, this is what it was like throughout the city. This was the green line area dividing Christian east from Muslim west. This is where some of the worst battles too place.
COOPER: I mean, is change possible here?
SADLER: It has changed, Anderson. Don't forget, these people, the sectarian divide here, were tearing each other's throats out. They hated each other. They murdered each other.
I guess I've learned more than anything else the durability of mankind to withstand some of the most incredible horrors and bloodshed. And also learn that deep divisions between societies, political groups, religious divides cannot be just brought together like that with some neat, magic formula. For policies to expect to change people's mindsets and traditions and culture and history is no overnight job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: As the investigation into Hariri's death continues, Lebanon security chief has rejected calls for his resignation and has offered to stand trial over the matter -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, in the middle of so much bad news for car companies, Ford has a winner on its hands. Andy Serwer tells us what's that's all about next. Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Ford grounded the T-Bird, but the Mustang is soaring. And a luxury bathroom, just what every gas station should have. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business."
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Gas station owners, take a note of this, Jack.
Let's talk about the markets, first of all. Yesterday the Dow slipped a little bit. Other indexes up. It's all about oil. Investors trying to sort out what's going on with these higher oil prices. Obviously, it's troubling stuff. Futures are up this morning, as the price of oil is down this morning.
Jack, we talked about this last week or a couple days ago, about how the T-Bird, they got rid of it. It's kind of a gimmick car. And you were saying, well, the Mustang is for real. And you're absolutely right, because sales of the Mustang are soaring and Ford is upping production 70 percent. They sold 112,000 of these babies last year.
CAFFERTY: That's a great looking car.
SERWER: Yes, it is. And they're going to sell -- make 192,000 this year. Eight million 'stangs sold over the past 42 years.
CAFFERTY: This is the best looking one they ever made.
SERWER: You think so? Even better than some the vintage ones?
CAFFERTY: I saw a convertible in the show room the other day. It's just -- it's a magnificent car.
SERWER: Maybe someone can send a Jack a Mustang. Ford, come on here, we're talking about your car here.
Now, you know why watch CNN. You watch CNN for stories like this. This is the world's best convenience store/gas station bathroom in the world. OK. This is West Covina, California. Entre (ph) and look in. This guy really went to town. A guy named Paul Mahayden (ph), who runs Chevron there. It's about ten miles east of downtown L.A. It looks like Versailles. He just says he really wants to respect his customers. He spent about $5,000.
A couple interesting comments. One little girl ran out of the bathroom screaming. She was just scared. She'd never seen anything like it before. Another guy walked out and goes, it makes you feel rich, which I kind of thought was cool. But he says he actually -- that's the commode. He actually says that he gets repeat customers. People really go there because of the bathroom.
MARCIANO: Well, it's really important for a lot of people.
SERWER: It is, especially when it looks like Versailles.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.
Time for "The File." Tim Russert over across the street there at NBC looking for other people's stories about their dads. Tim hosts "Meet the Press" and he wrote this best-selling book called "Big Russ and Me." It's all about -- a personal memoir reflecting on Tim's father, who was a World War II veteran, worked two jobs for 30 years, never complained. Salt of the earth kind of guy.
Now on his Web site, bigrussandme.com, Russert's asking the public to submit their stories about their fathers for a sequel. Now, here's the hook. Tim, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. If Tim uses your story, you get nothing except an autographed copy of the new book.
SERWER: Whoopi!
CAFFERTY: Russert, you can bet, will be going to the bank with a Brinks truck, carrying the money that he's going to get paid. So the deal is, he gets to use your story about your dad and you get a book and he gets a bundle.
SERWER: That ain't right.
O'BRIEN: Maybe the autographed copy's worth a lot of money.
CAFFERTY: Hmm?
O'BRIEN: Maybe the autograph's worth a lot of money.
SERWER: No. That ain't right. Not right.
CAFFERTY: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's criticizing "Forbes" magazine for listing him among the world's richest people. This punk Castro has a personal fortune estimated at $550 million. The people in Cuba live in poverty. In a speech Thursday to Cuba's communist party officials, at which attendance, of course, was required, Castro said: "Once again, they have committed the infamy of speaking about Castro's fortune, placing me almost above the queen of England." He ought to be embarrassed that he's been such a greedy pig at the expense of the Cuban people that he rules.
Now, my favorite story, at least for this day, is about an Oregon State football player, Ben Siegert. He was caught with a stolen sheep in his pickup truck by the police last week. The 20-year-old defensive tackle was pulled over for allegedly driving drunk and when police found the sheep in his truck, Siegert claimed he had nothing to do with the stolen animal. He told the cops, I'm from the city, I don't know anything about sheep. The sheep was taken from the university's sheep center, where it's part of a study on homosexuality in sheep.
SERWER: Oh no.
CAFFERTY: And that's all I'm going to say about this story.
SERWER: That was a study they had there at the university?
CAFFERTY: Did you not hear the last line?
SERWER: I'm sorry. I'm going to say something. That's interesting that they have a study about that at that university.
MARCIANO: It's science, Andy.
O'BRIEN: It's science, Andy.
CAFFERTY: I don't know nothing about sheep. I'm from the city. Baa!
SERWER: Wow. That's the audio portion of that particular segment.
O'BRIEN: I thought that was all you were going to say about that story, Jack.
MARCIANO: Well, that was in sheep language.
O'BRIEN: That was all you were going to say about the story
CAFFERTY: And the judge said well, the good ones will do that. And that's another punch line from a joke that can't be told.
SERWER: We know that one.
O'BRIEN: Is that all you're going to say about the story?
CAFFERTY: I'm done now.
O'BRIEN: OK, thank you. Ahead this morning, we're taking a look at today's top stories, including the latest developments in the Terri Schiavo case. That's ahead. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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Aired March 18, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. Rob Marciano's been helping us out. Bill comes back on Monday.
But thanks for coming. We appreciate it.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: It's been a lot of fun.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
Ahead this morning, shock and awe two years later. Barbara Starr's taking a look at a major milestone in the Iraq war.
Also, some new information on when U.S. troops might be heading home.
MARCIANO: And Brent Sadler and Anderson Cooper in Lebanon, where the assassination of the former prime minister is stirring up ominous ghosts of the past.
O'BRIEN: That ahead this morning. But first, let's get another check of the headlines with Carol Costello. Good morning.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news a court date today for the man named a person of interest in the case of that missing 9-year-old, Jessica Lunsford. John Couey was picked up by authorities in Augusta, Georgia. He's facing charges unrelated to the little girl's disappearance, at least for now. Jessica Lunsford went missing over three weeks ago. Her father says they'll continue to look for her.
Promises of a temporary truce in the Middle East. The 13 main Palestinian groups announced they would halt attacks on Israel for the rest of the year. Israeli officials say they welcome the declaration, but want Palestinian leaders to eventually dismantle all militant groups.
In New York, hip-hop music artist Lil' Kim is in a little trouble. She's planning to appeal a guilty conviction that could send her to prison for up to 20 years. Lil' Kim, whose legal name is Kimberly Jones, was convicted of lying to a grand jury about a 2001 shootout in New York. She was cleared of the most serious charge, however, and that would be obstruction of justice. Jones is now free until her sentencing this summer.
And the madness now officially under way. Number 11 seed Alabama-Birmingham scores an upset. Get this. They knocked off sixth seeks Louisiana State 82-68. It was not even close. And top ranked Illinois with a close victory over Fairly Dickinson (ph). Final score, 67-55. Remember, Illinois was favored by 26.5 points at this game. Tonight, Oakland plays North Carolina, and Duke will take on Delaware. So the madness continues.
MARCIANO: It's crazy. We talked about Illinois yesterday and the kind of they had, and You had me convinced it was going to be a blowout the way you were talking.
COSTELLO: I know. I was completely wrong.
MARCIANO: Good thing I didn't put money on that.
Thanks, Carol.
We're coming up tomorrow on the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. What are the expectations and where do things stand today?
CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Rob.
Well, two years ago today, the first U.S. commandos were already secretly on the ground inside Iraq, even before the bombing began.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Two years ago, these were the first pictures the world saw of the invasion of Iraq and a new vocabulary of war. The shock-and-awe bombing, rapidly followed by the run to Baghdad. Iraqis cheered when Saddam Hussein's statue was pulled down.
And then, almost nothing worked out the way the U.S. planned. Looting perhaps not taken seriously enough.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECY.: Think what's happening in our cities when we've had riots, and problems and looting -- stuff happens.
STARR: Insurgents, the next watchword. Months of attacks by foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists. The most wanted man now a name everyone knows: Abu Musab Al Zarqawi.
The lowest point, March, 2004. U.S. contractors murdered, their mutilated bodies hung from a bridge in Falluja. Another town's name etched in military history. Two years on, more than 1,500 U.S. troops dead. More than 11,000 wounded.
But are things getting better? Elections in January. Displays of patriotism and Iraqi security forces that now appear to want to defend their country.
The top U.S. commander in Iraq made a rare Pentagon appearance, and another word of war emerged: tipping points. Did the election push the insurgency into collapse?
GEN. GEORGE CASEY, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES IN IRAQ: Whether it's a tipping point or not, I'm not ready to say that. It's a step forward. It's a major step in this process. So we're a little bit ahead of where I thought we'd be.
STARR: Some critics believe the road ahead remains much longer than a tipping point.
ANTHONY CORDESMAN, MILITARY ANALYST: And I think the key message of what I said is this debate over tipping points is absurd. We're talking about tipping years at a minimum -- 2005, 2006.
STARR: May, 2003. President Bush's "mission accomplished" appearance was supposed to signal the end of major combat.
Now, the words are more chilling.
CASEY: The average insurgency, the average counter insurgency in the 20th century was about nine years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: So U.S. commanders hope that they can begin to bring the troops home, Rob. But now they say military power alone, of course, won't defeat the insurgency. Political and economic independence for Iraq is important as those bombs that fell two years ago -- Rob.
MARCIANO: So, Barbara, it's been two years now. I know the Pentagon is not going to say when peel we'll actually pull all troops out. But any indication when they might reduce the number of troops in Iraq?
STARR: That is exactly what they're looking at right now, trying to predict what the level of violence will be, the insurgency, the strength of the new Iraqi government, could they begin to bring more troops home next year?
But listen to this -- the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency yesterday on Capitol Hill said publicly for the first time that they estimate the insurgency in Iraq is still somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 insurgents. So by that measure, still a long way to go -- Rob.
MARCIANO: OK, Barbara. Thanks very much. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, every Friday at this time, we put our "Gimme a Minute" gang on the rapid-firing line to look at the week's big stories. Joining us from New York in New York, Lisa Caputo. She's Hillary Clinton's former press secretary. Also in New York, Republican strategist Joe Watkins. And in Los Angeles, comedy writer Mike Gibbons.
Good morning to all of you. Lisa, we're going to begin with you this morning, and we are talking about the congressional hearings into steroid use and abuse by baseball players.
What do you think was accomplished yesterday, Lisa?
LISA CAPUTO, HILLARY CLINTON'S FMR. PRESS SECY.: Well, I think we had high theater clearly, and I think, you know, it was very beneficial to the members of Congress to sit in front of what a lot of people consider to be American icons. And I think the interesting thing was to see Jose Canseco sitting at the same table with Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.
And I think, Soledad, there's one very interesting point here, and that is, we shouldn't be limiting these hearings. If Congress is going to have hearings into steroid use, it ought to be going way past baseball and into other professional sports and amateur sports as well.
O'BRIEN: Joe, what do you think? What was your take on yesterday?
WATKINS: My take on it is this, that if yesterday's hearings helped to stop some kids somewhere in some town somewhere from taking steroids, then it was a good thing. Something like an estimated half a million young people, high school athletes, take steroids, trying to emulate, of course, the stars who make multimillion dollars, lots of money, playing professional sports.
And so I think yesterday's hearings were a good start. Maybe it sends a strong signal to young people that steroid use is not a good thing.
O'BRIEN: Mike, we're about to hit the bell. What's your take?
MIKE GIBBONS, COMEDY WRITER: Not much happened. I mean, Sammy Sosa corked his mouth. But what struck me was Mark McGwire, he looked so great. He must have lost about 200 pounds, mostly upper body. I guess it's Atkins.
O'BRIEN: All right, another topic this morning, Paul Wolfowitz he's been named to head the world bank by President Bush.
Joe, let's start with you on this one. Good choice?
WATKINS: Very good choice. Paul Wolfowitz is a good guy, and clearly understands third world nations, understands emerging nations, and his background in the department of state really gives him a leg up. I think he's the right guy for the job. He's going to be a strong guy to lead the Bank.
O'BRIEN: Lisa, he's a tough guy. Does that make him a good fit, necessarily, for the person who is supposed to be helping a long fledgling democracy. CAPUTO: I think this is a disaster. He's put a war hawk to head a global bank that's supposed to be independent. How did we know there's not a political agenda, where the war on terror starts to influencing lending around the world, and whether or not Paul Wolfowitz can be somebody who can lead a bank that's supposed to help economic development and help impoverished areas around the world. It's as bat as John Boulden going to the U.N.
O'BRIEN: Mike what do you think of Paul Wolfowitz?
GIBBONS: If I got a resume that said architect of the Iraq war on it, I would not hire that person. And secondly, this guy going to be the most hated banker since Mr. Potter in "It's A Wonderful Life."
O'BRIEN: Let's talk, Lisa, about drilling in the ANWR, drilling in Alaska. It looks like it's going through. What do you think of it?
CAPUTO: Well, as a Democrat, obviously, this is something I personally worked on when I worked on Capitol Hill way back when for senator Tim Worth, who is a great environmentalist. I think this is an egregious example of the Bush administration's energy policy coming at the expense of good environmental policy.
Here we are, they're saying in the Senate now they've passed this resolution as part of the budget that they're going to drill in part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where they don't even know for sure if they can export the oil overseas, and that to me is just an unbelievable turn of events, given the history of this really preserved piece of land and preserved piece of wildlife.
O'BRIEN: Hey, Joe, lots of people are saying, wouldn't it be smarter to just look for better alternatives to oil?
WATKINS: Well, Senator Stephens has been working on this for a long time, Soledad, and it's finally coming to fruition. I mean, we are so dependent upon foreign oil, the fact that we now have had the opportunity to move forward with this in Alaska, I think, is a great thing. I'm excited about it. I think it's going to be good for the United States.
O'BRIEN: Well, Mike, he's excited about it. How about you?
GIBBONS: You know, they're not 100 percent positive there's oil there. If there is, watch out, Alaska. Bush will attack you. It will be Operation Alaskan Freedom.
O'BRIEN: Finally, we're going to take a look at some of the stories that you thought were undercovered this week. Joe, we're going to start with you on this one. What did we miss?
WATKINS: I think the biggest undercovered story has to be Phil Angelides, the state treasurer of California, wanting to take on Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governator. I'm for Arnold in this one, I think Arnold wins by a knockout.
O'BRIEN: And what do you think, Lisa? What was the undercovered story this week?
WATKINS: I think the undercovered story of the week was the South Dakota governor enacting a law, passing a law, that will enable strong anti-abortion rights to occur, whereby doctors are going to be required to notify women that they're going to be ending a human life, so to speak, and also their decision could lead to depression and even suicidal tendencies. This is a horrible thing. It's just showing how wedge issues now are not only driving the national agenda, but starting to drive state agendas.
O'BRIEN: Mike, we're going to give you the final word this morning. What do you think was undercovered this week?
GIBBONS: There were two maybe. Well, either A, it is still legal if you're famous to kill your wife in Los Angeles. Or B, regarding the Blake case, there is a serial killer on the loose in Hollywood, killing celebrities' wives. And O.J. hasn't caught him yet and we really got to find this person.
O'BRIEN: That's our final word this morning. You guys, thank you very much. I hope you all have a great weekend. We'll see you back here next week -- Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: New violence uncovers old wounds in Lebanon. A reporter's amazing story of survival during decades of violence.
MARCIANO: And Fidel Castro is mad at "Forbes" magazine for revealing his secret. Jack has that.
O'BRIEN: Plus, Andy Serwer shows us a luxurious bathroom, but it's in a very unlikely place. Those stories ahead as we continue right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The U.N.-appointed team investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri has finished its work and expects to release its report next week. Last month's assassination of Hariri has thrust Lebanon's politics back into the spotlight. Violence has plagued that country for decades, the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut hitting the closest to home.
CNN's Brent Sadler has covered Beirut and Lebanon for the years. He takes a look back with Anderson Cooper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: This week, although sporadic fighting is continuing, the area...
(voice-over): That was back in 1983...
All told, I covered the war here for more than 20 years. (on camera): There was no more dangerous place a journalist could be during those years. This location is where I nearly bought it.
Yeah, OK, there's the hill there. So we would have been about here.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "360 DEGREES": Could you actually see who was shooting at you?
SADLER: No. We just heard very heavy caliber machine gunfire. And then it was like Roman candles, like fireworks pouring down on us, bright orange balls of fire, sparks falling, the and flack as bullets hit concrete and metal. You knew you were about to die.
COOPER: And after you were shot over here, you ran into this area.
SADLER: That's right. After the cannon fire came down, I hit the deck, saw the rounds coming backwards and forwards going both sides of my body. And then I heard shouting, Brent, Brent, move, move, move!
So, I looked and all my colleagues were in there. So I just -- my cameraman hit me in the wrist, and nearly died here.
COOPER (voice-over): During the war years, whole sections of Beirut were reduced to rubble. Last month, when the former prime minister was blown up and an entire city block was destroyed in the blast, the scene looked all too familiar.
SADLER: The Rafik Hariri assassination is just a mile down there. So you've got Rafik Hariri's massive bomb blast, a turning point of Lebanese history just down there. And just here in front of us, an awful reminder of what happened in that massive car bomb against the U.S. here.
COOPER: So this was the site of the U.S. embassy.
SADLER: The images of that day were -- I remember vividly, the collapsed floors of the building, body parts hanging out of some of the floors. It came down like a deck of cards.
The car bomb is a weapon of choice by terrorists really was developed in this country. The car bomb and the truck bomb had a devastating impact, claimed more than 240 American marine lives at the airport. Who could not forget those horrendous images that day.
All of the buildings downtown used to look like this, millions of bullet holes everywhere.
This would be around about here, you can see the archway here, this is what it was like throughout the city. This was the green line area dividing Christian east from Muslim west. This is where some of the worst battles too place.
COOPER: I mean, is change possible here?
SADLER: It has changed, Anderson. Don't forget, these people, the sectarian divide here, were tearing each other's throats out. They hated each other. They murdered each other.
I guess I've learned more than anything else the durability of mankind to withstand some of the most incredible horrors and bloodshed. And also learn that deep divisions between societies, political groups, religious divides cannot be just brought together like that with some neat, magic formula. For policies to expect to change people's mindsets and traditions and culture and history is no overnight job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: As the investigation into Hariri's death continues, Lebanon security chief has rejected calls for his resignation and has offered to stand trial over the matter -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Soledad, in the middle of so much bad news for car companies, Ford has a winner on its hands. Andy Serwer tells us what's that's all about next. Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Ford grounded the T-Bird, but the Mustang is soaring. And a luxury bathroom, just what every gas station should have. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business."
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Gas station owners, take a note of this, Jack.
Let's talk about the markets, first of all. Yesterday the Dow slipped a little bit. Other indexes up. It's all about oil. Investors trying to sort out what's going on with these higher oil prices. Obviously, it's troubling stuff. Futures are up this morning, as the price of oil is down this morning.
Jack, we talked about this last week or a couple days ago, about how the T-Bird, they got rid of it. It's kind of a gimmick car. And you were saying, well, the Mustang is for real. And you're absolutely right, because sales of the Mustang are soaring and Ford is upping production 70 percent. They sold 112,000 of these babies last year.
CAFFERTY: That's a great looking car.
SERWER: Yes, it is. And they're going to sell -- make 192,000 this year. Eight million 'stangs sold over the past 42 years.
CAFFERTY: This is the best looking one they ever made.
SERWER: You think so? Even better than some the vintage ones?
CAFFERTY: I saw a convertible in the show room the other day. It's just -- it's a magnificent car.
SERWER: Maybe someone can send a Jack a Mustang. Ford, come on here, we're talking about your car here.
Now, you know why watch CNN. You watch CNN for stories like this. This is the world's best convenience store/gas station bathroom in the world. OK. This is West Covina, California. Entre (ph) and look in. This guy really went to town. A guy named Paul Mahayden (ph), who runs Chevron there. It's about ten miles east of downtown L.A. It looks like Versailles. He just says he really wants to respect his customers. He spent about $5,000.
A couple interesting comments. One little girl ran out of the bathroom screaming. She was just scared. She'd never seen anything like it before. Another guy walked out and goes, it makes you feel rich, which I kind of thought was cool. But he says he actually -- that's the commode. He actually says that he gets repeat customers. People really go there because of the bathroom.
MARCIANO: Well, it's really important for a lot of people.
SERWER: It is, especially when it looks like Versailles.
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.
Time for "The File." Tim Russert over across the street there at NBC looking for other people's stories about their dads. Tim hosts "Meet the Press" and he wrote this best-selling book called "Big Russ and Me." It's all about -- a personal memoir reflecting on Tim's father, who was a World War II veteran, worked two jobs for 30 years, never complained. Salt of the earth kind of guy.
Now on his Web site, bigrussandme.com, Russert's asking the public to submit their stories about their fathers for a sequel. Now, here's the hook. Tim, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. If Tim uses your story, you get nothing except an autographed copy of the new book.
SERWER: Whoopi!
CAFFERTY: Russert, you can bet, will be going to the bank with a Brinks truck, carrying the money that he's going to get paid. So the deal is, he gets to use your story about your dad and you get a book and he gets a bundle.
SERWER: That ain't right.
O'BRIEN: Maybe the autographed copy's worth a lot of money.
CAFFERTY: Hmm?
O'BRIEN: Maybe the autograph's worth a lot of money.
SERWER: No. That ain't right. Not right.
CAFFERTY: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's criticizing "Forbes" magazine for listing him among the world's richest people. This punk Castro has a personal fortune estimated at $550 million. The people in Cuba live in poverty. In a speech Thursday to Cuba's communist party officials, at which attendance, of course, was required, Castro said: "Once again, they have committed the infamy of speaking about Castro's fortune, placing me almost above the queen of England." He ought to be embarrassed that he's been such a greedy pig at the expense of the Cuban people that he rules.
Now, my favorite story, at least for this day, is about an Oregon State football player, Ben Siegert. He was caught with a stolen sheep in his pickup truck by the police last week. The 20-year-old defensive tackle was pulled over for allegedly driving drunk and when police found the sheep in his truck, Siegert claimed he had nothing to do with the stolen animal. He told the cops, I'm from the city, I don't know anything about sheep. The sheep was taken from the university's sheep center, where it's part of a study on homosexuality in sheep.
SERWER: Oh no.
CAFFERTY: And that's all I'm going to say about this story.
SERWER: That was a study they had there at the university?
CAFFERTY: Did you not hear the last line?
SERWER: I'm sorry. I'm going to say something. That's interesting that they have a study about that at that university.
MARCIANO: It's science, Andy.
O'BRIEN: It's science, Andy.
CAFFERTY: I don't know nothing about sheep. I'm from the city. Baa!
SERWER: Wow. That's the audio portion of that particular segment.
O'BRIEN: I thought that was all you were going to say about that story, Jack.
MARCIANO: Well, that was in sheep language.
O'BRIEN: That was all you were going to say about the story
CAFFERTY: And the judge said well, the good ones will do that. And that's another punch line from a joke that can't be told.
SERWER: We know that one.
O'BRIEN: Is that all you're going to say about the story?
CAFFERTY: I'm done now.
O'BRIEN: OK, thank you. Ahead this morning, we're taking a look at today's top stories, including the latest developments in the Terri Schiavo case. That's ahead. Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
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