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American Morning
Terri Schiavo Appeal Rejected; Comments Caught on Tape, Religion, Youth
Aired March 23, 2005 - 07:31 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Wednesday here in New York City. It's nice to have you along with us today. Good morning again to you.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Are you doing all right?
O'BRIEN: So far, so good.
HEMMER: OK, so far. In a moment here, we're going to get back to these overnight developments in the decision on the Terri Schiavo matter. An appeals court rejecting a request to put the feeding tube back in. It's been five days now, and time is ticking. Also, some curious comments from the House majority leader, Tom DeLay about God and Terri Schiavo and conservatives. We'll get to that also in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Kelly Wallace reporting on "Faith in America," a new series. She's also talking this morning about a problem facing some young people. On one hand, they are sure of their spiritual beliefs, but on the other hand they say they are disturbed by some of the stereotypes those beliefs could create. We've got that special report ahead this morning.
HEMMER: Back to the headlines now. Here's Carol Costello. First check this morning with Carol.
Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
Federal investigators are still looking for a motive behind the shooting rampage in northern Minnesota. Officials say Jeff Weise, the suspected shooter, apparently posted comments using a name meaning "angel of death" in German on a neo-Nazi Web site. Authorities say the postings may provide more clues about Monday's shootings, but there is no confirmation that the messages were even posted by Weise.
A bomb ripped through a shopping mall north of Beirut in Lebanon, the blast killing at least two people. Police say at least two others were wounded. The explosion struck a predominantly Christian area. It's the third bombing attack in the past six weeks in Lebanon. The man accused of planning to kidnap David Letterman's baby has pleaded not guilty. Kelly Frank is charged with two felony counts of solicitation and theft. Authorities say Frank was working on Letterman's Montana ranch when he plotted to kidnap the talk show host's 16-month-old son and his nanny and hold them for a $5 million ransom. A judge will set a trial date on April 5.
And Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, are moving on. The couple resigned from the top post at the Carter Center. The 80-year-old Carter says he and his wife are in good health and plan to remain active in the Center's efforts. The Center promotes peace and health initiatives around the world. It won't be the same.
HEMMER: You can do that? I mean, your name's on the building, right?
COSTELLO: I'm sure he'll still be very involved.
HEMMER: True. Thank you Carol.
We want to get back to these new developments overnight in the Terri Schiavo matter. A three-judge panel at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied the case of Schiavo's parents to have the feeding tube reinserted. The judges voted 2-1 in rejecting that appeal. It came down in the middle of the night. Schiavo's parents say their next step now is the U.S. Supreme Court.
On a related matter, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay thought he was talking off the record last week. His comments have given this story another wrinkle this morning.
And to Capitol Hill we go with Ed Henry.
Ed -- what happened? Good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Tom DeLay is the man who muscled through the emergency legislation in Congress, trying to get that feeding tube reinserted. He has repeatedly said he was acting on principle, not politics.
But CNN has obtained an audiotape of a speech that Mr. DeLay gave to a conservative group here in Washington on Friday. And at this closed-door meeting, Mr. DeLay said that God had sent Terri Schiavo to help the conservative movement.
This speech was secretly recorded by a liberal group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. They say this shows that Mr. DeLay was motivated by politics, not principle.
Let's go to the audiotape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America, that Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death for two weeks. I mean, in America, that is going to happen if we don't win this fight.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: And Mr. DeLay has been under fire for allegations of various ethics lapses. So, there have been whispers that he was motivated in this case by trying to whip up conservative support from activists, who may help him keep his job. It turns out that in this speech on Friday, just hours before the feeding tube was taken out, the Congressman used the Schiavo case to defend himself against these ethics charges.
Let's listen again to the tape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DELAY: This is exactly the issue that's going on in America, the attacks against the conservative group, against me and against many others. The point is, is the other side has figured out how to win and to defeat the conservative movement, and that is to go after people personally, charge them with frivolous charges.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, CNN tried last night and again this morning to try to get comment from Mr. DeLay's office about this audiotape. There is no response yet. But I want to stress that over the weekend, when a memo leaked out suggesting that Republicans were trying to get political gain from this issue, Mr. DeLay was very direct in saying that if anyone on his staff had anything to do with that memo, he would fire that staffer, because he feels this is a life-and-death issue, not a political matter -- Bill.
HEMMER: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Rick Warren is the author of the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life," that's become even more popular since the Atlanta courthouse shootings. And I asked him what he thinks about the Terri Schiavo case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK WARREN, AUTHOR, "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE": The problem I see right now with the Terri Schiavo case is people are trying to make it a test case for either side, and they're making an ideological issue without actually looking at the personal issues involved.
This is a real person, Terri Schiavo. She's not a test case, and she's not dying. People try to frame this as a right-to-die issue, but it's not about that at all, because she's not dying. She's not dying of a disease. She is not brain dead. She is just in what doctors would call a vegetative state. And those states often last 10 or 12 years. And while most do not come out of it, some do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Coming up in our next hour, we're going to hear more from Rick Warren about the role of his book, "The Purpose Driven Life," and what it played in the surrender of the courthouse shooting suspect, Brian Nichols. That's ahead.
And this morning, we begin a special three-part series on "Faith in America." We're going to take a look at religion's impact on politics and music. But first, young people.
As Kelly Wallace discovered on a visit to one college campus, the subject of faith is on a lot of young minds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the campus of tiny Elizabethtown College in southeastern Pennsylvania, we met three students, best of friends, but very different when it comes to religion.
Brea, on the left, is Christian. Laura, on the right, is Catholic. And Rebecca, in the middle, was baptized Catholic but says she doesn't believe in religion or God.
(on camera): Is it ever sometimes you feel like odd man out or odd woman out?
REBECCA BOWLING, 22-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: Sometimes, I mean, yes. It's always kind of hard when people around you think different things or believe different things.
WALLACE (voice over): Hard, too, for Brea and Laura, because Rebecca is constantly playing devil's advocate.
(on camera): What is it like when Rebecca is questioning you? Why do you believe this, why do you think this?
LAURA SARDONE, 23-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: It's scary, because it makes me realize -- well, it makes me question and it makes me responsible for my own faith. And it makes me stronger.
WALLACE (voice over): And Brea says she understand how Rebecca, a non-believer living with two believers, must feel.
BREA MCCAULEY, 22-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: I came from a high school in a town where I was the weird one who liked to go to church.
WALLACE: They're from different worlds. Two are from small towns. Laura is from Staten Island, New York. But they have a lot in common, sharing the same goal, a master's degree in occupational therapy, and sharing an interest in discussing religion. A UCLA survey last year found that 78 percent of juniors said they talked about religion with their friends.
SARDONE: Maybe it's just become more acceptable or more things that you can talk about it. Like, more things that I can sit down with friends over lunch and talk about. And I think maybe that's the cool part.
WALLACE: The survey also showed 77 percent of juniors say they pray. That makes sense, even to Rebecca.
BOWLING: I do pray. And I find myself, like, why am I praying? Who am I praying to? And I do believe in some sort of, like -- I don't want to say -- I want to say like divine spirit, if you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have mercy upon...
WALLACE: Brea and Laura say they get inspiration from Bible study and church, and in Brea's case also from the singer, Bono.
MCCAULEY: His convictions are just strewn out all through his music, all through -- everything he's doing politically. It just speaks exactly to what I feel God would want here on this earth.
WALLACE: Spend some time with these strong, confident women, and you find they have something else in common: a fear of being judged.
BOWLING: I assume I'm going to meet people one day who are going to not like me because I'm a non-believer, or question why I don't go to church, or why I don't believe in a God.
SARDONE: Judgment happens, like, every day whether you know it or not, and it can work for both sides.
MCCAULEY: I know sometimes I'm ashamed of the church. I'm ashamed to call myself Christian sometimes from what I hear on the news and from the stereotypes that I get. I don't want people to know sometimes, because it's, you know, immediately, right away, I'm labeled.
WALLACE: And their message? Look at what students can get if, instead of judging, they are accepting.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Tomorrow, our series continues with a look at the black church and its role in politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The black church has never played in the political sphere in both parties. And for the first time, both parties are needing to take seriously the votes, the aspirations and hopes of the black church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Look at that tomorrow in part two of our special series "Faith in America" -- Bill. HEMMER: Soledad, it's about 20 minutes now before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, if you're worried about identity theft, you might want to worry about your mutual funds instead.
HEMMER: Also, a former angel is letting the cameras in behind the scenes. Even Farrah Fawcett has a reality TV show. You haven't seen her like this before. We'll check it out this hour on AMERICAN MORNING as we continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time to check in with Jack. He's got the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi.
Jeff Weise, this kid who allegedly shot up that high school in Minnesota, spent about a year on a Web site called the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party Web site. Thirty-four postings, according to the people on the Web site.
In addition to swastikas, if you go there, you'll find things like this: National Socialists willing to engage in eugenics -- which is altering the gene pool: things like sterilizing prisoners and poor people, the kind of stuff Hitler did in Nazi Germany -- racial separation, the removal of elements hostile to a healthy society.
And then you're given links to sites like White Revolution, the only solution, the National Alliance, which advocates an Aryan society, and something called overthrow.com.
While it is a monumental task, the question we're sort of trying to get at this morning is whether or not it's time to do something about the absolute freedom of the Internet. Meaning that kids have access to these things, and if a kid is troubled, like Mr. Weise may have been, the impact of sites like this can't be anything good.
Here is some of what you've written about whether or not the Internet should be regulated in some way.
Tom writes: "The government tries to regulate everything from baseball to the right to die. What is one more lost right? Freedom of speech is all we have to our name. Watch out. They may be starting to regulate this site" -- meaning the one that we use here in the morning.
Doug in California writes: "It would seem to be an ever-changing definition, based on politics and public tolerance. I dislike hate groups, as do almost all Americans, but I love freedom even more."
Michael writes: "There's no way to regulate hate, period. No law will ever stop it."
Ernie in Ohio writes: "It's time parents regulated their children. You know, Jack, the hand of persuasion applied to the seat of knowledge. Let's get back to the old school discipline. Our society is suffering without it."
And Greg writes from Nova Scotia: "When we can eliminate hate sites, we might as well click the mouse a few more times, get rid of child porn and terrorism sites as well. The person who can come up with that technology will make Bill Gates look like a pauper."
HEMMER: Wow!
CAFFERTY: AM@CNN.com. We've been getting some mail about Barry Bonds, too, as you might expect we would have. And I will share a couple of those with you as we move through the rest of the morning.
HEMMER: You hate that, don't you?
CAFFERTY: No, I think it's terrific.
HEMMER: I know you do.
O'BRIEN: Sarcasm.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
There are new concerns about identity theft. And also the Fed are raising rates again. What are they so worried about today?
Gerri Willis can tell us. She's working for Andy Serwer. Good morning. "Minding Your Business."
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've got to start you with this identity theft story, because this has really got me going this morning. Who is the biggest friend of identity thieves right now? Maybe your mutual fund company. That's right. They're slapping our information on the Internet, your personal information in some cases that you might not want to see made public: your name, your address, your phone number, even in some cases your brokerage account number.
Take a look at some of these mutual fund company names. They may be familiar to you. These are some of the biggest: Pimco; Dreyfus -- check it out.
This story today, guys, is in "The Wall Street Journal." The information that's being shared, some of it required by federal regulators, but not all of it.
HEMMER: This just continues a stream of stories. We've talked about ID for the past month.
What's the Fed doing? What are they worried about?
WILLIS: Well, the Fed has been talking about inflation and now the markets today, worried about inflation as well. It's set to open a little lower this morning. We'll be taking a look later in the morning and see what's happening.
HEMMER: All right, down across the board. Thank you, Gerri. We'll talk to you later.
There was a re-vote on "American Idol." The show screwed up in a big way this week. That's ahead in a moment here on "90-Second Pop." Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. It's time for another episode of "90-Second Pop." Starring today, Jessi Klein, comedian with VH-1's "Best Week Ever." I've had a few of those.
Welcome back, Jessi.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: This one.
HEMMER: OK. B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning, B.J.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: And Belinda Lunscombe from "TIME" magazine.
How are you doing?
BELINDA LUNSCOMBE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good, thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: You all right?
LUNSCOMBE: Yes.
HEMMER: What's Simon going to say now? "American Idol" has this huge deal on its hands. They screwed up in a big way on Tuesday night, right?
SIGESMUND: Just last night, yes.
HEMMER: What happened?
SIGESMUND: A huge blunder. At the very end of the show when they do that recap, where for a few seconds they show each of the 11 contestants, they posted the wrong number for the last three of them. In fact, they posted the same number for the first three. So, for instance, Mikalah, if you wanted to call for her, you were actually voting for Anthony.
So, Fox, overnight, decided that they were going to scrap the whole thing, do another show tonight that mixes encore performances from last night. And it's a re-vote. It's like a classic election re-vote.
HEMMER: So, they're going to do another show...
SIGESMUND: Yes. They're going to do...
HEMMER: ... for another 30 million viewers.
SIGESMUND: Right, right. And then tomorrow night, we'll have the results show. So all you "Point Pleasant" fans out there are going to have a week without that show.
HEMMER: Well, the skeptic in me says, was this intentional? If you have a show out there that's beating the State of the Union address, and you have a chance to show another show during the week, why not do it?
SIGESMUND: I think that's too sophisticated of an argument. I think basically it's a screw-up.
KLEIN: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Somebody got fired.
KLEIN: The graphics guy.
SIGESMUND: But, you know, there is a silver lining, which is that Fox gets a third night of "Idol" this week.
LUNSCOMBE: Personally, I blame Florida.
KLEIN: It does seem like this is being taken more seriously than, like, voter fraud in the national presidential election. It's just "Idol."
HEMMER: Come on. We're talking about Anwar here and Mikalah for crying out loud.
KLEIN: I'm sorry.
SIGESMUND: Yes, Anwar is one of the favorites.
KLEIN: I'm sorry.
SIGESMUND: He's one of the people affected. So they want -- I mean, it's interesting, too. It's only five seconds at the very end, but wrong numbers are wrong numbers. So they have to throw the whole thing out.
HEMMER: Another one this week. Let's talk about the new shows that premiered this week.
KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: NBC has got "The Office." They did this in Britain first. It went over huge.
KLEIN: They did this in Britain.
HEMMER: How is it here going to go over? KLEIN: Well, you know, NBC, I guess, obviously, "The Office" was a huge hit in the U.K. They're trying to bring it here. It's an amazing show. It's my favorite show.
HEMMER: Really?
KLEIN: It changed my life. I won't tell you how.
HEMMER: Right here? Two thumbs up?
KLEIN: Two thumbs up for the original. The new one, you know, there is some concern about the humor of the original, which was very subtle and very quiet, sort of crossing the Atlantic. But I think there are enough people here who hate their jobs and their bosses.
HEMMER: Let me stop you there for a second and let's watch a quick clip here.
KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Here's "The Office" on NBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, sir. You're a gentleman and a scholar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. That was a woman I was talking to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: He's constantly making mistakes like that. He's an idiot. I mean, that's the whole point, the boss is an idiot. He actually -- he's very proud of his "World's Best Boss" coffee mug, which he bought for himself."
KLEIN: Yes.
LUNSCOMBE: My point with it is when they have the racial diversity show, the next one, and he asked the Mexican person, "Is there a term less offensive than Mexican?"
SIGESMUND: But overall, I think the humor doesn't work, and if "Arrested Development" has had a really hard time on Fox, I can't imagine that "The Office" will work.
HEMMER: There is a second show coming out on TV Land. Who watches TV Land around here, by the way?
KLEIN: I'm a fan.
HEMMER: Where is it on the dial? Farrah Fawcett even has a reality TV show now. Watch this real quick, and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's you.
FARRAH FAWCETT, ACTRESS: You were silent. I wasn't laughing anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea what this is.
FAWCETT: It's my first recording and only. This is before the poster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty good.
FAWCETT: Before "Charlie's Angels."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Euro trash kind of music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You were this way with "The Office." What are you with this?
KLEIN: Well, I'm just going to say, if you were a fan of the Farrah Fawcett poster, that famous poster, you'll like the show. If you ever wanted that poster to say something interesting...
HEMMER: Yes.
KLEIN: ... the show might not be for you.
HEMMER: Very well stated.
SIGESMUND: It's really ditzy. It is really ditzy.
HEMMER: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I mean, I watched the whole thing last night. Basically, I only smiled once. I never...
HEMMER: You sat through the whole thing.
KLEIN: I sat through...
SIGESMUND: I did my homework.
HEMMER: Congratulations.
KLEIN: I sat through, too. And, you know, I'll tell you why. Because Ryan O'Neal was on it, her boyfriend. He's very Shatner- esque. There's a lot of Shatner in him, which I like.
HEMMER: All right, next topic here. Let's talk about the queen. Who wants to be queen? Because this story is changing by the day. Will Camilla wear the crown or not?
LUNSCOMBE: This is, like, the worst organized wedding. This is worse than, like, your worst cousin's wedding. First, they had to change the venue. Then the queen mother, you know, the mum is not even coming to her own son's wedding. And then they don't even know what to call the bride once she's married.
KLEIN: Right.
LUNSCOMBE: First she was going to be the princess consort. And then she turns out by law, she gets to be queen. You marry the king, you're the queen.
HEMMER: You're a subject, right?
LUNSCOMBE: Well, technically I'm a subject. But, you know...
HEMMER: Australia.
LUNSCOMBE: Australia.
HEMMER: Do the subjects in Britain even want Camilla?
LUNSCOMBE: You know, I don't -- the subjects in Australia, don't care what we call her by the way. I mean, in Canada and Malta, there's an uprising, I'm sure. But I think...
SIGESMUND: Camilla...
LUNSCOMBE: No, I think it's better to be called queen. And she fits queen, because basically she's old. She's not good looking, you know. That's queen to me.
SIGESMUND: Well, Camilla herself is, I think, being very smart, because now she's saying she doesn't want to be called queen. Princess consort is fine for her.
HEMMER: Oh, she's playing to the masses, isn't she?
SIGESMUND: Well, that is, because the masses do not want her to be queen. She already doesn't have their sympathy so she is trying to earn it.
KLEIN: I think it's...
HEMMER: What would Simon say, Belinda, for crying out loud? We've got to run. We're out of time. Great to see all three of you, OK?
KLEIN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Have a good day.
Back to Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, a look at today's top stories, plus I talk to Pastor Rick Warren. He's the author of "The Purpose Driven Life." His reaction to the role that his best seller played in the surrender of the Atlanta shooting suspect, Brian Nichols. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us. 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 March 23, 2005 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. Wednesday here in New York City. It's nice to have you along with us today. Good morning again to you.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Are you doing all right?
O'BRIEN: So far, so good.
HEMMER: OK, so far. In a moment here, we're going to get back to these overnight developments in the decision on the Terri Schiavo matter. An appeals court rejecting a request to put the feeding tube back in. It's been five days now, and time is ticking. Also, some curious comments from the House majority leader, Tom DeLay about God and Terri Schiavo and conservatives. We'll get to that also in a moment.
O'BRIEN: Also this morning, Kelly Wallace reporting on "Faith in America," a new series. She's also talking this morning about a problem facing some young people. On one hand, they are sure of their spiritual beliefs, but on the other hand they say they are disturbed by some of the stereotypes those beliefs could create. We've got that special report ahead this morning.
HEMMER: Back to the headlines now. Here's Carol Costello. First check this morning with Carol.
Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News."
Federal investigators are still looking for a motive behind the shooting rampage in northern Minnesota. Officials say Jeff Weise, the suspected shooter, apparently posted comments using a name meaning "angel of death" in German on a neo-Nazi Web site. Authorities say the postings may provide more clues about Monday's shootings, but there is no confirmation that the messages were even posted by Weise.
A bomb ripped through a shopping mall north of Beirut in Lebanon, the blast killing at least two people. Police say at least two others were wounded. The explosion struck a predominantly Christian area. It's the third bombing attack in the past six weeks in Lebanon. The man accused of planning to kidnap David Letterman's baby has pleaded not guilty. Kelly Frank is charged with two felony counts of solicitation and theft. Authorities say Frank was working on Letterman's Montana ranch when he plotted to kidnap the talk show host's 16-month-old son and his nanny and hold them for a $5 million ransom. A judge will set a trial date on April 5.
And Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalyn, are moving on. The couple resigned from the top post at the Carter Center. The 80-year-old Carter says he and his wife are in good health and plan to remain active in the Center's efforts. The Center promotes peace and health initiatives around the world. It won't be the same.
HEMMER: You can do that? I mean, your name's on the building, right?
COSTELLO: I'm sure he'll still be very involved.
HEMMER: True. Thank you Carol.
We want to get back to these new developments overnight in the Terri Schiavo matter. A three-judge panel at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has denied the case of Schiavo's parents to have the feeding tube reinserted. The judges voted 2-1 in rejecting that appeal. It came down in the middle of the night. Schiavo's parents say their next step now is the U.S. Supreme Court.
On a related matter, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay thought he was talking off the record last week. His comments have given this story another wrinkle this morning.
And to Capitol Hill we go with Ed Henry.
Ed -- what happened? Good morning.
ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Tom DeLay is the man who muscled through the emergency legislation in Congress, trying to get that feeding tube reinserted. He has repeatedly said he was acting on principle, not politics.
But CNN has obtained an audiotape of a speech that Mr. DeLay gave to a conservative group here in Washington on Friday. And at this closed-door meeting, Mr. DeLay said that God had sent Terri Schiavo to help the conservative movement.
This speech was secretly recorded by a liberal group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State. They say this shows that Mr. DeLay was motivated by politics, not principle.
Let's go to the audiotape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: One thing that God has brought to us is Terri Schiavo, to elevate the visibility of what's going on in America, that Americans would be so barbaric as to pull a feeding tube out of a person that is lucid and starve them to death for two weeks. I mean, in America, that is going to happen if we don't win this fight.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: And Mr. DeLay has been under fire for allegations of various ethics lapses. So, there have been whispers that he was motivated in this case by trying to whip up conservative support from activists, who may help him keep his job. It turns out that in this speech on Friday, just hours before the feeding tube was taken out, the Congressman used the Schiavo case to defend himself against these ethics charges.
Let's listen again to the tape.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DELAY: This is exactly the issue that's going on in America, the attacks against the conservative group, against me and against many others. The point is, is the other side has figured out how to win and to defeat the conservative movement, and that is to go after people personally, charge them with frivolous charges.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, CNN tried last night and again this morning to try to get comment from Mr. DeLay's office about this audiotape. There is no response yet. But I want to stress that over the weekend, when a memo leaked out suggesting that Republicans were trying to get political gain from this issue, Mr. DeLay was very direct in saying that if anyone on his staff had anything to do with that memo, he would fire that staffer, because he feels this is a life-and-death issue, not a political matter -- Bill.
HEMMER: Ed Henry on Capitol Hill -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Rick Warren is the author of the best-selling book, "The Purpose Driven Life," that's become even more popular since the Atlanta courthouse shootings. And I asked him what he thinks about the Terri Schiavo case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK WARREN, AUTHOR, "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE": The problem I see right now with the Terri Schiavo case is people are trying to make it a test case for either side, and they're making an ideological issue without actually looking at the personal issues involved.
This is a real person, Terri Schiavo. She's not a test case, and she's not dying. People try to frame this as a right-to-die issue, but it's not about that at all, because she's not dying. She's not dying of a disease. She is not brain dead. She is just in what doctors would call a vegetative state. And those states often last 10 or 12 years. And while most do not come out of it, some do. (END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Coming up in our next hour, we're going to hear more from Rick Warren about the role of his book, "The Purpose Driven Life," and what it played in the surrender of the courthouse shooting suspect, Brian Nichols. That's ahead.
And this morning, we begin a special three-part series on "Faith in America." We're going to take a look at religion's impact on politics and music. But first, young people.
As Kelly Wallace discovered on a visit to one college campus, the subject of faith is on a lot of young minds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the campus of tiny Elizabethtown College in southeastern Pennsylvania, we met three students, best of friends, but very different when it comes to religion.
Brea, on the left, is Christian. Laura, on the right, is Catholic. And Rebecca, in the middle, was baptized Catholic but says she doesn't believe in religion or God.
(on camera): Is it ever sometimes you feel like odd man out or odd woman out?
REBECCA BOWLING, 22-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: Sometimes, I mean, yes. It's always kind of hard when people around you think different things or believe different things.
WALLACE (voice over): Hard, too, for Brea and Laura, because Rebecca is constantly playing devil's advocate.
(on camera): What is it like when Rebecca is questioning you? Why do you believe this, why do you think this?
LAURA SARDONE, 23-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: It's scary, because it makes me realize -- well, it makes me question and it makes me responsible for my own faith. And it makes me stronger.
WALLACE (voice over): And Brea says she understand how Rebecca, a non-believer living with two believers, must feel.
BREA MCCAULEY, 22-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: I came from a high school in a town where I was the weird one who liked to go to church.
WALLACE: They're from different worlds. Two are from small towns. Laura is from Staten Island, New York. But they have a lot in common, sharing the same goal, a master's degree in occupational therapy, and sharing an interest in discussing religion. A UCLA survey last year found that 78 percent of juniors said they talked about religion with their friends.
SARDONE: Maybe it's just become more acceptable or more things that you can talk about it. Like, more things that I can sit down with friends over lunch and talk about. And I think maybe that's the cool part.
WALLACE: The survey also showed 77 percent of juniors say they pray. That makes sense, even to Rebecca.
BOWLING: I do pray. And I find myself, like, why am I praying? Who am I praying to? And I do believe in some sort of, like -- I don't want to say -- I want to say like divine spirit, if you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have mercy upon...
WALLACE: Brea and Laura say they get inspiration from Bible study and church, and in Brea's case also from the singer, Bono.
MCCAULEY: His convictions are just strewn out all through his music, all through -- everything he's doing politically. It just speaks exactly to what I feel God would want here on this earth.
WALLACE: Spend some time with these strong, confident women, and you find they have something else in common: a fear of being judged.
BOWLING: I assume I'm going to meet people one day who are going to not like me because I'm a non-believer, or question why I don't go to church, or why I don't believe in a God.
SARDONE: Judgment happens, like, every day whether you know it or not, and it can work for both sides.
MCCAULEY: I know sometimes I'm ashamed of the church. I'm ashamed to call myself Christian sometimes from what I hear on the news and from the stereotypes that I get. I don't want people to know sometimes, because it's, you know, immediately, right away, I'm labeled.
WALLACE: And their message? Look at what students can get if, instead of judging, they are accepting.
Kelly Wallace, CNN, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Tomorrow, our series continues with a look at the black church and its role in politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The black church has never played in the political sphere in both parties. And for the first time, both parties are needing to take seriously the votes, the aspirations and hopes of the black church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Look at that tomorrow in part two of our special series "Faith in America" -- Bill. HEMMER: Soledad, it's about 20 minutes now before the hour.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Well, if you're worried about identity theft, you might want to worry about your mutual funds instead.
HEMMER: Also, a former angel is letting the cameras in behind the scenes. Even Farrah Fawcett has a reality TV show. You haven't seen her like this before. We'll check it out this hour on AMERICAN MORNING as we continue in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's time to check in with Jack. He's got the "Question of the Day."
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi.
Jeff Weise, this kid who allegedly shot up that high school in Minnesota, spent about a year on a Web site called the Libertarian National Socialist Green Party Web site. Thirty-four postings, according to the people on the Web site.
In addition to swastikas, if you go there, you'll find things like this: National Socialists willing to engage in eugenics -- which is altering the gene pool: things like sterilizing prisoners and poor people, the kind of stuff Hitler did in Nazi Germany -- racial separation, the removal of elements hostile to a healthy society.
And then you're given links to sites like White Revolution, the only solution, the National Alliance, which advocates an Aryan society, and something called overthrow.com.
While it is a monumental task, the question we're sort of trying to get at this morning is whether or not it's time to do something about the absolute freedom of the Internet. Meaning that kids have access to these things, and if a kid is troubled, like Mr. Weise may have been, the impact of sites like this can't be anything good.
Here is some of what you've written about whether or not the Internet should be regulated in some way.
Tom writes: "The government tries to regulate everything from baseball to the right to die. What is one more lost right? Freedom of speech is all we have to our name. Watch out. They may be starting to regulate this site" -- meaning the one that we use here in the morning.
Doug in California writes: "It would seem to be an ever-changing definition, based on politics and public tolerance. I dislike hate groups, as do almost all Americans, but I love freedom even more."
Michael writes: "There's no way to regulate hate, period. No law will ever stop it."
Ernie in Ohio writes: "It's time parents regulated their children. You know, Jack, the hand of persuasion applied to the seat of knowledge. Let's get back to the old school discipline. Our society is suffering without it."
And Greg writes from Nova Scotia: "When we can eliminate hate sites, we might as well click the mouse a few more times, get rid of child porn and terrorism sites as well. The person who can come up with that technology will make Bill Gates look like a pauper."
HEMMER: Wow!
CAFFERTY: AM@CNN.com. We've been getting some mail about Barry Bonds, too, as you might expect we would have. And I will share a couple of those with you as we move through the rest of the morning.
HEMMER: You hate that, don't you?
CAFFERTY: No, I think it's terrific.
HEMMER: I know you do.
O'BRIEN: Sarcasm.
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack.
There are new concerns about identity theft. And also the Fed are raising rates again. What are they so worried about today?
Gerri Willis can tell us. She's working for Andy Serwer. Good morning. "Minding Your Business."
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've got to start you with this identity theft story, because this has really got me going this morning. Who is the biggest friend of identity thieves right now? Maybe your mutual fund company. That's right. They're slapping our information on the Internet, your personal information in some cases that you might not want to see made public: your name, your address, your phone number, even in some cases your brokerage account number.
Take a look at some of these mutual fund company names. They may be familiar to you. These are some of the biggest: Pimco; Dreyfus -- check it out.
This story today, guys, is in "The Wall Street Journal." The information that's being shared, some of it required by federal regulators, but not all of it.
HEMMER: This just continues a stream of stories. We've talked about ID for the past month.
What's the Fed doing? What are they worried about?
WILLIS: Well, the Fed has been talking about inflation and now the markets today, worried about inflation as well. It's set to open a little lower this morning. We'll be taking a look later in the morning and see what's happening.
HEMMER: All right, down across the board. Thank you, Gerri. We'll talk to you later.
There was a re-vote on "American Idol." The show screwed up in a big way this week. That's ahead in a moment here on "90-Second Pop." Back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. It's time for another episode of "90-Second Pop." Starring today, Jessi Klein, comedian with VH-1's "Best Week Ever." I've had a few of those.
Welcome back, Jessi.
JESSI KLEIN, COMEDIAN: This one.
HEMMER: OK. B.J. Sigesmund, staff editor for "US Weekly."
Good morning, B.J.
B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: And Belinda Lunscombe from "TIME" magazine.
How are you doing?
BELINDA LUNSCOMBE, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Good, thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: You all right?
LUNSCOMBE: Yes.
HEMMER: What's Simon going to say now? "American Idol" has this huge deal on its hands. They screwed up in a big way on Tuesday night, right?
SIGESMUND: Just last night, yes.
HEMMER: What happened?
SIGESMUND: A huge blunder. At the very end of the show when they do that recap, where for a few seconds they show each of the 11 contestants, they posted the wrong number for the last three of them. In fact, they posted the same number for the first three. So, for instance, Mikalah, if you wanted to call for her, you were actually voting for Anthony.
So, Fox, overnight, decided that they were going to scrap the whole thing, do another show tonight that mixes encore performances from last night. And it's a re-vote. It's like a classic election re-vote.
HEMMER: So, they're going to do another show...
SIGESMUND: Yes. They're going to do...
HEMMER: ... for another 30 million viewers.
SIGESMUND: Right, right. And then tomorrow night, we'll have the results show. So all you "Point Pleasant" fans out there are going to have a week without that show.
HEMMER: Well, the skeptic in me says, was this intentional? If you have a show out there that's beating the State of the Union address, and you have a chance to show another show during the week, why not do it?
SIGESMUND: I think that's too sophisticated of an argument. I think basically it's a screw-up.
KLEIN: Yes.
SIGESMUND: Somebody got fired.
KLEIN: The graphics guy.
SIGESMUND: But, you know, there is a silver lining, which is that Fox gets a third night of "Idol" this week.
LUNSCOMBE: Personally, I blame Florida.
KLEIN: It does seem like this is being taken more seriously than, like, voter fraud in the national presidential election. It's just "Idol."
HEMMER: Come on. We're talking about Anwar here and Mikalah for crying out loud.
KLEIN: I'm sorry.
SIGESMUND: Yes, Anwar is one of the favorites.
KLEIN: I'm sorry.
SIGESMUND: He's one of the people affected. So they want -- I mean, it's interesting, too. It's only five seconds at the very end, but wrong numbers are wrong numbers. So they have to throw the whole thing out.
HEMMER: Another one this week. Let's talk about the new shows that premiered this week.
KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: NBC has got "The Office." They did this in Britain first. It went over huge.
KLEIN: They did this in Britain.
HEMMER: How is it here going to go over? KLEIN: Well, you know, NBC, I guess, obviously, "The Office" was a huge hit in the U.K. They're trying to bring it here. It's an amazing show. It's my favorite show.
HEMMER: Really?
KLEIN: It changed my life. I won't tell you how.
HEMMER: Right here? Two thumbs up?
KLEIN: Two thumbs up for the original. The new one, you know, there is some concern about the humor of the original, which was very subtle and very quiet, sort of crossing the Atlantic. But I think there are enough people here who hate their jobs and their bosses.
HEMMER: Let me stop you there for a second and let's watch a quick clip here.
KLEIN: Yes.
HEMMER: Here's "The Office" on NBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, sir. You're a gentleman and a scholar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry. My mistake. That was a woman I was talking to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIGESMUND: He's constantly making mistakes like that. He's an idiot. I mean, that's the whole point, the boss is an idiot. He actually -- he's very proud of his "World's Best Boss" coffee mug, which he bought for himself."
KLEIN: Yes.
LUNSCOMBE: My point with it is when they have the racial diversity show, the next one, and he asked the Mexican person, "Is there a term less offensive than Mexican?"
SIGESMUND: But overall, I think the humor doesn't work, and if "Arrested Development" has had a really hard time on Fox, I can't imagine that "The Office" will work.
HEMMER: There is a second show coming out on TV Land. Who watches TV Land around here, by the way?
KLEIN: I'm a fan.
HEMMER: Where is it on the dial? Farrah Fawcett even has a reality TV show now. Watch this real quick, and we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's you.
FARRAH FAWCETT, ACTRESS: You were silent. I wasn't laughing anymore.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea what this is.
FAWCETT: It's my first recording and only. This is before the poster.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty good.
FAWCETT: Before "Charlie's Angels."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's Euro trash kind of music.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: You were this way with "The Office." What are you with this?
KLEIN: Well, I'm just going to say, if you were a fan of the Farrah Fawcett poster, that famous poster, you'll like the show. If you ever wanted that poster to say something interesting...
HEMMER: Yes.
KLEIN: ... the show might not be for you.
HEMMER: Very well stated.
SIGESMUND: It's really ditzy. It is really ditzy.
HEMMER: Yes.
SIGESMUND: I mean, I watched the whole thing last night. Basically, I only smiled once. I never...
HEMMER: You sat through the whole thing.
KLEIN: I sat through...
SIGESMUND: I did my homework.
HEMMER: Congratulations.
KLEIN: I sat through, too. And, you know, I'll tell you why. Because Ryan O'Neal was on it, her boyfriend. He's very Shatner- esque. There's a lot of Shatner in him, which I like.
HEMMER: All right, next topic here. Let's talk about the queen. Who wants to be queen? Because this story is changing by the day. Will Camilla wear the crown or not?
LUNSCOMBE: This is, like, the worst organized wedding. This is worse than, like, your worst cousin's wedding. First, they had to change the venue. Then the queen mother, you know, the mum is not even coming to her own son's wedding. And then they don't even know what to call the bride once she's married.
KLEIN: Right.
LUNSCOMBE: First she was going to be the princess consort. And then she turns out by law, she gets to be queen. You marry the king, you're the queen.
HEMMER: You're a subject, right?
LUNSCOMBE: Well, technically I'm a subject. But, you know...
HEMMER: Australia.
LUNSCOMBE: Australia.
HEMMER: Do the subjects in Britain even want Camilla?
LUNSCOMBE: You know, I don't -- the subjects in Australia, don't care what we call her by the way. I mean, in Canada and Malta, there's an uprising, I'm sure. But I think...
SIGESMUND: Camilla...
LUNSCOMBE: No, I think it's better to be called queen. And she fits queen, because basically she's old. She's not good looking, you know. That's queen to me.
SIGESMUND: Well, Camilla herself is, I think, being very smart, because now she's saying she doesn't want to be called queen. Princess consort is fine for her.
HEMMER: Oh, she's playing to the masses, isn't she?
SIGESMUND: Well, that is, because the masses do not want her to be queen. She already doesn't have their sympathy so she is trying to earn it.
KLEIN: I think it's...
HEMMER: What would Simon say, Belinda, for crying out loud? We've got to run. We're out of time. Great to see all three of you, OK?
KLEIN: Thank you.
HEMMER: Have a good day.
Back to Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, a look at today's top stories, plus I talk to Pastor Rick Warren. He's the author of "The Purpose Driven Life." His reaction to the role that his best seller played in the surrender of the Atlanta shooting suspect, Brian Nichols. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
