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CNN Live At Daybreak
Bolton Battle; The Royal Wedding
Aired April 11, 2005 - 05:30 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon is in Texas this morning. He's going to meet with President Bush. The two allies are at odds over Israel's plan to build 3,500 new homes in a West Bank settlement.
It's back to court today for Michael Jackson. More witnesses are expected to testify this week about previous sexual misconduct allegations. Already four former employees have testified.
And more testimony today on the safety of silicone breast implants. A government advisory panel will hold public hearings on whether to lift restrictions on the implants.
Forget what your calendar says, Colorado is trying to dig out from a blizzard that's dumped as much as two feet of snow in some areas. As you might imagine, travel is difficult, if not impossible.
And if you're flying to Denver today -- Chad...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... pack your patience, as they say.
MYERS: There are a lot of people still stuck in the airport from yesterday that didn't get out, put in hotels, whatever. They're saying if you don't have a seat already on a flight that's today confirmed, don't even go there, because there are so many other people that are backed up waiting to standby.
The chances of standby today are nothing, because last I looked, I went on the Delta Web site, Delta.com, and looked for all the flights that came out of Denver to Atlanta yesterday. They were all canceled all the way back until late, late Saturday night. So you think about all of those people that were trying to get home, and not even to Atlanta, because Delta goes other places after it gets to Atlanta, I'm sure there's a bunch of people sitting there waiting for the first flight out today.
And it's still snowing, so I'm not even sure the first flight is going to be the first flight. We'll see.
(WEATHER REPORT) Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: We begin this half-hour with the trouble facing Tom DeLay. Now even fellow Republicans are ganging up on the embattled House majority leader. DeLay has been dogged in the recent months by reports of possible ethics violations.
Here's what Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays had to say. "Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re- election." Shays goes on to say, "My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election."
But other Republicans are speaking out in DeLay's defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it, and let the people then judge for themselves. But from everything I've heard, again, from his -- from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: DeLay was admonished three times last year by the House Ethics Committee, but that panel is now in limbo over a rules dispute.
Some tough talk, too, expected today as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing to confirm John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations.
CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel tells us why the nomination is so controversial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Love him or hate him, John Bolton provokes strong reactions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the man we want at the U.N.? America doesn't need a loose cannon; it needs a problem solver.
KOPPEL: In the week since he was named, critics and supporters have turned Bolton's nomination into a public fight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need leaders who will stand up for American values, like John Bolton.
KOPPEL: And dozens of retired ambassadors have fired off dueling letters to Senator Richard Lugar, Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Democrats have promised a confirmation battle.
And Don Kraus with Citizens for Global Solutions is spearheading the grassroots campaign to keep Bolton out of the U.N. at a time when Bush claims he wants to repair relations with U.S. allies.
DON KRAUS, CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS: He has the wrong message and he brings with him baggage that would make it difficult for him to be an effective ambassador for the United States at the U.N.
KOPPEL: As the State Department's point man on arms control during the first Bush term, Bolton grabbed headlines for his tough talk on North Korea, Iran and Cuba. He led the way to keep the U.S. from joining the International Criminal Court.
But critics say most telling is Bolton's open hostility for the United Nations, expressed here in a 1994 speech when he was out of government.
JOHN BOLTON, AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. NOMINEE: Is there is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that's the United States.
KOPPEL: Bolton's supporters say as the U.S. pushes for U.N. reform, it needs a strong voice, like past U.N. Ambassadors Jeane Kirkpatrick and Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: He is a believer, like the president, in effective multilateralism, not multilateralism for the sake of it.
KOPPEL (on camera): Bolton's nomination is anything but a slam dunk. Following his testimony, former State Department intelligence officers are expected to testify later in the week that Bolton tried to intimidate them to skew intelligence on Iraq and Cuba.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Bolton has not directly responded to these allegations, but the State Department says he would be fully prepared to answer any senator's questions on the subject.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says that two years ago the stories were looked into thoroughly and that there were no grounds for questioning Bolton's nomination.
U.S. troops and those from other countries could be out of Iraq within two years. That's the word from newly elected President Jalal Talabani.
He spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. JALAL TALABANI, IRAQ: I think we are in great need to have American and other allied forces in Iraq until we will be able to rebuild our military forces, rebuild our security forces and until we will be assured that there will be no danger from terrorism and from full intervention in our internal affairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There are about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, says that two-year timetable is probably realistic.
For thought provoking commentary on world affairs, you don't have to look any farther than "New York Times" columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman wrote recently that America is freaking out over record gas prices. But Friedman says $4 a gallon might not be a bad idea.
On CNN's "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer gave Friedman some time to explain himself. We're going "Beyond the Soundbite" now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS FRIEDMAN, "NEW YORK TIMES": If we had $4-a-gallon gasoline, Wolf, that would truly change the buying behavior of the American public. We'd have hybrid cars, OK, and hybrid trucks. We would have nowhere near the effect on the climate that we're having now. It'd be great for the climate. It'd be great for Europe.
We'd use that money to pay down the deficit. We'd use that money, basically, to fund our own schools, our own roads.
Oh, we've got a gas tax now. Gas was $1.25 when 9/11 happened. Now it's 2.5 bucks. Where did that extra $1.25 go? It went to Saudi schools, Saudi madrassas, Saudi mosques.
We've had a gas tax. Have a nice day, OK. All that money went to their schools instead of ours.
So let's put ourselves in a position where we can capture the money, use it to solve our problems and be better global citizens at the same time.
If we don't find an alternative source of energy, and a way to reduce our consumption, we are going to -- one of two things are going to happen, Wolf, we're either going to burn up the planet, or we're going to be in a global war with China over oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Friedman added that $4-a-gallon gas would actually boost the U.S. dollar by reducing oil imports.
I think that will be a pretty hard sale to the American public, though, don't you? It's about 20 minutes until the top of the hour. Coming up on DAYBREAK, perhaps not the wedding of the century but certainly an affair to remember. In five minutes, a look back at the Royal I dos.
And later, a frothy paint heralds spring in the nation's capital.
And a reminder, our e-mail question of the morning, the influence of celebrity: is it too much? Send us your thoughts, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROWAN WILLIAMS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: Charles, have you resolved to be faithful to your wife, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?
PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: This is my resolve, with the help of God.
WILLIAMS: Camilla, have you resolved to be faithful to your husband, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?
CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES, PRINCE CHARLES' FIANCÉE: That is my resolve, with the help of God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We, or you, for that matter, couldn't be there to witness the Royal vows, so we decided to show you a little bit of the ceremony.
The Royal couple is now ensconced at the family's Balmoral Estate in Scotland for their honeymoon. Prince Charles and the new Duchess of Cornwall are on their honeymoon in Scotland, as I said, so let's find out how the wedding went and what's next for the Royal couple.
Debretts Limited keeps a trained eye on the British parish (ph). Charles Mosley is Editor-in-Chief of "Debretts," and he joins us live from London.
Good morning -- sir.
CHARLES MOSLEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "DEBRETTS": Good morning.
COSTELLO: It was a nice ceremony. I'm still getting over that you know remain faithful line from the wedding when, you know, I guess the priest was saying to Prince Charles...
MOSLEY: Yes, it's telling, isn't it?
COSTELLO: But it was a nice ceremony, wasn't it? MOSLEY: Yes, it was. Plenty of nice music and well wishers outside on the steps of St. George's Chapel as they came out. They were, of course, selected for their well-wishing, but that's the way to do it, obviously.
COSTELLO: Were there many people around outside of the church?
MOSLEY: Not in the turn itself. I was standing on the balcony of a hotel right opposite the main gate, and I don't think there were more than 3,000. You will see newspaper reports saying there were 20,000. I just don't buy that. I'm sorry, I was there and I could do a reasonable assessment.
COSTELLO: If there were only 3,000, I mean what does that say?
MOSLEY: It says that it was a very cold-cutting wind that day. It also says that the Grand National was on that day, which is one of the biggest sporting racehorse events in the whole of the British calendar. But of course it also says that there is some antipathy, I've got to say this, about the wedding.
There's an opinion poll report in the Sunday papers that say that some, roughly like 60 to 21, that's almost two-to-one majority, think that William would make a better king than Charles. Now that's not saying they necessarily want that to happen.
You can say that George V was a better king than George III on the grounds he only lost Ireland as opposed to America. That doesn't say that you don't think he should ever have reigned.
But there's something more worrying. There's a 16 percent only to 82 percent majority. In other words, only 16 percent think that Camilla should be queen. Now that's 82 percent who thinks she shouldn't and that's very worrying. That's a big, big hill to climb over.
COSTELLO: Wow! Chad would like to ask you a question, Charles.
Chad, take it away.
MYERS: Yes, I never saw the Royal kiss. Did it -- did they not show it on TV? Did it not happen? And I never saw the Queen with the couple for a photo op. Did that not happen either?
MOSLEY: You are absolutely right. There was a formal photograph in which the Queen was sitting down with the other, as it were, parents of the bride and groom and the bride and groom standing up. And the Queen was very, very happy or smiley, I should say, when she gave her speech after the ceremony. But that may have been as much relief that there had been no untoward incidents as anything else.
You are absolutely right, however, there was no public kiss and there was no public, as it were, acclimation by the Queen of her new daughter-in-law.
MYERS: Right. COSTELLO: Interesting. So what does that mean? I mean does that mean anything significant?
MOSLEY: Yes, it does. One has to look at the Queen in terms of body language, because what she says is normally so unexceptionable. And there is an element there, obviously, of non-acceptance or reluctant acceptance, argue it which way you will.
The couple are now up in Scotland, where, luckily, they're known as Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, because that is his local title there, and that means that for once they are equal. When they get back south of the border, he will revert to being a prince and she will stay a mere duchess.
MYERS: Charles, did I hear that that's where they went, Princess Diana and Charles went on their honeymoon as well?
MOSLEY: They went surely to on a cruise, did they not, aboard the Britannia.
MYERS: OK. OK.
MOSLEY: I think they went to sunnier climates than Scotland.
MYERS: Because that would be really tacky.
COSTELLO: That would be tacky.
MOSLEY: Quite. Quite.
COSTELLO: Oh, Chad.
Thank you, Charles Mosley, joining us live from London this morning, we appreciate it.
By the way, the official photographs of the Royal wedding are being released today. The photos were taken by official wedding photographer Hugo Burnand in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. The newlyweds are joined by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh and Camilla's father, Major Bruce Shand.
In another photo they're joined by Charles' sons, Princes William and Harry, and Camilla's children, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles.
And by the way, Chad, her ex-husband, Camilla's ex-husband...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... was in attendance.
MYERS: Correct. Yes. They get along, actually.
COSTELLO: Yes, they do.
MYERS: And, actually, all Camilla's children, Camilla's boys, and the Royal children, you know the Prince William and Harry, they get along very well as well, so.
COSTELLO: Just like "The Brady Bunch."
MYERS: Kind of. Now we just need somebody for the center square.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:48 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Cardinal Bernard Law, who is accused of covering up priest sex abuse in Boston, celebrates a mass to remember the pope today in Rome. That prestigious role has angered abuse victims, as well as other American Catholics, and they do plan to protest.
Tokyo, Japan rocked by a strong earthquake this morning. The magnitude 6.1 quake caused minor damage to some buildings and delays in public transportation. No injuries reported, though.
In money news, if you're overweight, you may have already experienced this. A new Rice University study finds that obese shoppers face discrimination from retail sales clerks. It includes less eye contact and rudeness.
In culture, comedian Jeff Foxworthy hosts this year's Country Music Television awards show. It's tonight in Nashville, Tennessee.
And in sports, watch this, it eventually goes in. It's sweet, huh. Tiger Woods' shot on the 16th of the Masters. It didn't win it for him, but it put him in position to take his fourth Masters Green Jacket. Woods meets Chris DiMarco in a sudden death playoff -- Chad.
MYERS: There's no gambling at Bushwood and I never slice.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, in case those of you in Colorado are losing faith, we have some evidence that spring has arrived, an up close look at Washington's beautiful cherry blossoms. If only you were there.
We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Time to check out our "Web Clicks" this morning. We're always interested in what you're interested in on CNN.com. And three pretty fascinating stories, actually.
MYERS: Yes, one pretty serious.
COSTELLO: Did you hear about this Arena Football player?
MYERS: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. Former NFL defensive lineman Al Lucas died Sunday from a presumed spinal cord injury sustained while trying to make a tackle for the Los Angels Avengers during an Arena Football game.
MYERS: Well you know it's a very violent little game. If you've never seen it, people banging into the walls, although they are soft walls, but you know you don't get a lot of room to run around and the arena floor, obviously the old Astroturf type stuff. So, yes, an unfortunate event.
COSTELLO: He was making a tackle.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And he was bending down and he just fell the wrong way. Someone fell on top of him the wrong way.
MYERS: Ouch!
COSTELLO: Really sad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: You know you always forget what a rough game football is. And you know when you're watching professional football games you always say hit him harder, hit him harder.
MYERS: Right, right, yes.
COSTELLO: And you forget that it really is a dangerous sport.
MYERS: Well you forget that they're real people, too, until something like this happens, Carol, because they're all dressed up. You know you got nice uniforms on, it's like, you know, it's like the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy playing the mascot from Burger King, you just think that they are two mascots, but in fact there are actually people inside.
COSTELLO: True.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about John Kerry. He said some controversial things in Massachusetts. Did you hear about this? He said...
MYERS: You know, I didn't. You're going to have to drive this one.
COSTELLO: He said voters in last year's election were denied access to polls through trickery and intimidation. He said leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you've never had a parking ticket you're not allowed to vote. So he's stirring up some controversy here. A lot of people think, Chad, that he's going to run in 2008 once again.
MYERS: If you don't know when Election Day, you may not -- you probably shouldn't be voting.
COSTELLO: Well some people think that way. But we won't get into that this morning,...
MYERS: All right, never mind.
COSTELLO: ... because, frankly, I'm too tired.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: OK. The third most clicked on story on CNN.com, MGM is gone. No more lion's roar -- Chad.
MYERS: What?
COSTELLO: I think that's sad.
MYERS: I do, too. What happens...
COSTELLO: United Artists is gone, too, along with MGM. It's a big huge deal, a corporate deal. It's expected to close on Friday for a consortium of companies, including Sony to purchase the MGM assets for some $4.8 billion.
MYERS: So not going away, just being absorbed.
COSTELLO: No, they're being absorbed.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: But no more MGM or United Artists. And those two companies have seemed to be around forever.
MYERS: Sure have.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Time to read some e-mail. Our e-mail question this morning, we were very interested in the "Times" list of the 100 most influential people. There were many, many celebrities on the list. Everyone from like Clint Eastwood to Hilary Swank. And we were wondering, Hilary Swank, does she really influence your life? So influence of celebrity: is it too much?
MYERS: Martha (ph) from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Hilary Swank, who is Hilary Swank? I think that should answer your question.
I also have another one here from Minnesota from William (ph). Certainly celebrity is way too much. Celebrities use their position in life to advocate things that they have no understanding about. Maybe they should use their pocketbooks instead of standing up in front of a camera expounding on things that they know nothing about.
COSTELLO: Well here's one from Darryl (ph). Absolutely, figures like Swank and Foxx are influential. Hearing how Swank, a girl from a trailer park, and Foxx, and a man from a tiny segregated town in Texas, envision life and goals for themselves and attained it by independent means is awe-inspiring for a young man like myself paying and working his way through college.
So thank you, Darryl, for giving us a glimpse of the other side of this issue.
MYERS: You go, Darryl.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a break. DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Unbelievable, but true, take a look. This duck is attracting as much attention as Washington's famous cherry blossoms. The brown mallard decided a pile of mulch outside the Treasury Department is just fine for her nine eggs. They are going to hatch later this month. And already you can buy Duck Cheney T-shirts. Don't know what that has to do with the Treasury Department, but they thought that sounded funny, Duck Cheney. Very cute.
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 April 11, 2005 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Carol Costello, along with Chad Myers.
"Now in the News."
Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon is in Texas this morning. He's going to meet with President Bush. The two allies are at odds over Israel's plan to build 3,500 new homes in a West Bank settlement.
It's back to court today for Michael Jackson. More witnesses are expected to testify this week about previous sexual misconduct allegations. Already four former employees have testified.
And more testimony today on the safety of silicone breast implants. A government advisory panel will hold public hearings on whether to lift restrictions on the implants.
Forget what your calendar says, Colorado is trying to dig out from a blizzard that's dumped as much as two feet of snow in some areas. As you might imagine, travel is difficult, if not impossible.
And if you're flying to Denver today -- Chad...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... pack your patience, as they say.
MYERS: There are a lot of people still stuck in the airport from yesterday that didn't get out, put in hotels, whatever. They're saying if you don't have a seat already on a flight that's today confirmed, don't even go there, because there are so many other people that are backed up waiting to standby.
The chances of standby today are nothing, because last I looked, I went on the Delta Web site, Delta.com, and looked for all the flights that came out of Denver to Atlanta yesterday. They were all canceled all the way back until late, late Saturday night. So you think about all of those people that were trying to get home, and not even to Atlanta, because Delta goes other places after it gets to Atlanta, I'm sure there's a bunch of people sitting there waiting for the first flight out today.
And it's still snowing, so I'm not even sure the first flight is going to be the first flight. We'll see.
(WEATHER REPORT) Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: Thank you -- Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: We begin this half-hour with the trouble facing Tom DeLay. Now even fellow Republicans are ganging up on the embattled House majority leader. DeLay has been dogged in the recent months by reports of possible ethics violations.
Here's what Connecticut Congressman Christopher Shays had to say. "Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re- election." Shays goes on to say, "My party is going to have to decide whether we are going to continue to make excuses for Tom to the detriment of Republicans seeking election."
But other Republicans are speaking out in DeLay's defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICK SANTORUM (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it, and let the people then judge for themselves. But from everything I've heard, again, from his -- from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: DeLay was admonished three times last year by the House Ethics Committee, but that panel is now in limbo over a rules dispute.
Some tough talk, too, expected today as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a hearing to confirm John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations.
CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel tells us why the nomination is so controversial.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Love him or hate him, John Bolton provokes strong reactions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the man we want at the U.N.? America doesn't need a loose cannon; it needs a problem solver.
KOPPEL: In the week since he was named, critics and supporters have turned Bolton's nomination into a public fight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need leaders who will stand up for American values, like John Bolton.
KOPPEL: And dozens of retired ambassadors have fired off dueling letters to Senator Richard Lugar, Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Democrats have promised a confirmation battle.
And Don Kraus with Citizens for Global Solutions is spearheading the grassroots campaign to keep Bolton out of the U.N. at a time when Bush claims he wants to repair relations with U.S. allies.
DON KRAUS, CITIZENS FOR GLOBAL SOLUTIONS: He has the wrong message and he brings with him baggage that would make it difficult for him to be an effective ambassador for the United States at the U.N.
KOPPEL: As the State Department's point man on arms control during the first Bush term, Bolton grabbed headlines for his tough talk on North Korea, Iran and Cuba. He led the way to keep the U.S. from joining the International Criminal Court.
But critics say most telling is Bolton's open hostility for the United Nations, expressed here in a 1994 speech when he was out of government.
JOHN BOLTON, AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. NOMINEE: Is there is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world and that's the United States.
KOPPEL: Bolton's supporters say as the U.S. pushes for U.N. reform, it needs a strong voice, like past U.N. Ambassadors Jeane Kirkpatrick and Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: He is a believer, like the president, in effective multilateralism, not multilateralism for the sake of it.
KOPPEL (on camera): Bolton's nomination is anything but a slam dunk. Following his testimony, former State Department intelligence officers are expected to testify later in the week that Bolton tried to intimidate them to skew intelligence on Iraq and Cuba.
Andrea Koppel, CNN, at the State Department.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Bolton has not directly responded to these allegations, but the State Department says he would be fully prepared to answer any senator's questions on the subject.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says that two years ago the stories were looked into thoroughly and that there were no grounds for questioning Bolton's nomination.
U.S. troops and those from other countries could be out of Iraq within two years. That's the word from newly elected President Jalal Talabani.
He spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. JALAL TALABANI, IRAQ: I think we are in great need to have American and other allied forces in Iraq until we will be able to rebuild our military forces, rebuild our security forces and until we will be assured that there will be no danger from terrorism and from full intervention in our internal affairs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: There are about 140,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Richard Lugar, says that two-year timetable is probably realistic.
For thought provoking commentary on world affairs, you don't have to look any farther than "New York Times" columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman wrote recently that America is freaking out over record gas prices. But Friedman says $4 a gallon might not be a bad idea.
On CNN's "LATE EDITION," Wolf Blitzer gave Friedman some time to explain himself. We're going "Beyond the Soundbite" now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS FRIEDMAN, "NEW YORK TIMES": If we had $4-a-gallon gasoline, Wolf, that would truly change the buying behavior of the American public. We'd have hybrid cars, OK, and hybrid trucks. We would have nowhere near the effect on the climate that we're having now. It'd be great for the climate. It'd be great for Europe.
We'd use that money to pay down the deficit. We'd use that money, basically, to fund our own schools, our own roads.
Oh, we've got a gas tax now. Gas was $1.25 when 9/11 happened. Now it's 2.5 bucks. Where did that extra $1.25 go? It went to Saudi schools, Saudi madrassas, Saudi mosques.
We've had a gas tax. Have a nice day, OK. All that money went to their schools instead of ours.
So let's put ourselves in a position where we can capture the money, use it to solve our problems and be better global citizens at the same time.
If we don't find an alternative source of energy, and a way to reduce our consumption, we are going to -- one of two things are going to happen, Wolf, we're either going to burn up the planet, or we're going to be in a global war with China over oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Friedman added that $4-a-gallon gas would actually boost the U.S. dollar by reducing oil imports.
I think that will be a pretty hard sale to the American public, though, don't you? It's about 20 minutes until the top of the hour. Coming up on DAYBREAK, perhaps not the wedding of the century but certainly an affair to remember. In five minutes, a look back at the Royal I dos.
And later, a frothy paint heralds spring in the nation's capital.
And a reminder, our e-mail question of the morning, the influence of celebrity: is it too much? Send us your thoughts, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROWAN WILLIAMS, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: Charles, have you resolved to be faithful to your wife, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?
PRINCE CHARLES, PRINCE OF WALES: This is my resolve, with the help of God.
WILLIAMS: Camilla, have you resolved to be faithful to your husband, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?
CAMILLA PARKER BOWLES, PRINCE CHARLES' FIANCÉE: That is my resolve, with the help of God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We, or you, for that matter, couldn't be there to witness the Royal vows, so we decided to show you a little bit of the ceremony.
The Royal couple is now ensconced at the family's Balmoral Estate in Scotland for their honeymoon. Prince Charles and the new Duchess of Cornwall are on their honeymoon in Scotland, as I said, so let's find out how the wedding went and what's next for the Royal couple.
Debretts Limited keeps a trained eye on the British parish (ph). Charles Mosley is Editor-in-Chief of "Debretts," and he joins us live from London.
Good morning -- sir.
CHARLES MOSLEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "DEBRETTS": Good morning.
COSTELLO: It was a nice ceremony. I'm still getting over that you know remain faithful line from the wedding when, you know, I guess the priest was saying to Prince Charles...
MOSLEY: Yes, it's telling, isn't it?
COSTELLO: But it was a nice ceremony, wasn't it? MOSLEY: Yes, it was. Plenty of nice music and well wishers outside on the steps of St. George's Chapel as they came out. They were, of course, selected for their well-wishing, but that's the way to do it, obviously.
COSTELLO: Were there many people around outside of the church?
MOSLEY: Not in the turn itself. I was standing on the balcony of a hotel right opposite the main gate, and I don't think there were more than 3,000. You will see newspaper reports saying there were 20,000. I just don't buy that. I'm sorry, I was there and I could do a reasonable assessment.
COSTELLO: If there were only 3,000, I mean what does that say?
MOSLEY: It says that it was a very cold-cutting wind that day. It also says that the Grand National was on that day, which is one of the biggest sporting racehorse events in the whole of the British calendar. But of course it also says that there is some antipathy, I've got to say this, about the wedding.
There's an opinion poll report in the Sunday papers that say that some, roughly like 60 to 21, that's almost two-to-one majority, think that William would make a better king than Charles. Now that's not saying they necessarily want that to happen.
You can say that George V was a better king than George III on the grounds he only lost Ireland as opposed to America. That doesn't say that you don't think he should ever have reigned.
But there's something more worrying. There's a 16 percent only to 82 percent majority. In other words, only 16 percent think that Camilla should be queen. Now that's 82 percent who thinks she shouldn't and that's very worrying. That's a big, big hill to climb over.
COSTELLO: Wow! Chad would like to ask you a question, Charles.
Chad, take it away.
MYERS: Yes, I never saw the Royal kiss. Did it -- did they not show it on TV? Did it not happen? And I never saw the Queen with the couple for a photo op. Did that not happen either?
MOSLEY: You are absolutely right. There was a formal photograph in which the Queen was sitting down with the other, as it were, parents of the bride and groom and the bride and groom standing up. And the Queen was very, very happy or smiley, I should say, when she gave her speech after the ceremony. But that may have been as much relief that there had been no untoward incidents as anything else.
You are absolutely right, however, there was no public kiss and there was no public, as it were, acclimation by the Queen of her new daughter-in-law.
MYERS: Right. COSTELLO: Interesting. So what does that mean? I mean does that mean anything significant?
MOSLEY: Yes, it does. One has to look at the Queen in terms of body language, because what she says is normally so unexceptionable. And there is an element there, obviously, of non-acceptance or reluctant acceptance, argue it which way you will.
The couple are now up in Scotland, where, luckily, they're known as Duke and Duchess of Rothesay, because that is his local title there, and that means that for once they are equal. When they get back south of the border, he will revert to being a prince and she will stay a mere duchess.
MYERS: Charles, did I hear that that's where they went, Princess Diana and Charles went on their honeymoon as well?
MOSLEY: They went surely to on a cruise, did they not, aboard the Britannia.
MYERS: OK. OK.
MOSLEY: I think they went to sunnier climates than Scotland.
MYERS: Because that would be really tacky.
COSTELLO: That would be tacky.
MOSLEY: Quite. Quite.
COSTELLO: Oh, Chad.
Thank you, Charles Mosley, joining us live from London this morning, we appreciate it.
By the way, the official photographs of the Royal wedding are being released today. The photos were taken by official wedding photographer Hugo Burnand in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle. The newlyweds are joined by Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh and Camilla's father, Major Bruce Shand.
In another photo they're joined by Charles' sons, Princes William and Harry, and Camilla's children, Tom and Laura Parker Bowles.
And by the way, Chad, her ex-husband, Camilla's ex-husband...
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... was in attendance.
MYERS: Correct. Yes. They get along, actually.
COSTELLO: Yes, they do.
MYERS: And, actually, all Camilla's children, Camilla's boys, and the Royal children, you know the Prince William and Harry, they get along very well as well, so.
COSTELLO: Just like "The Brady Bunch."
MYERS: Kind of. Now we just need somebody for the center square.
COSTELLO: Yes, exactly.
Your news, money, weather and sports. It's 5:48 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
Cardinal Bernard Law, who is accused of covering up priest sex abuse in Boston, celebrates a mass to remember the pope today in Rome. That prestigious role has angered abuse victims, as well as other American Catholics, and they do plan to protest.
Tokyo, Japan rocked by a strong earthquake this morning. The magnitude 6.1 quake caused minor damage to some buildings and delays in public transportation. No injuries reported, though.
In money news, if you're overweight, you may have already experienced this. A new Rice University study finds that obese shoppers face discrimination from retail sales clerks. It includes less eye contact and rudeness.
In culture, comedian Jeff Foxworthy hosts this year's Country Music Television awards show. It's tonight in Nashville, Tennessee.
And in sports, watch this, it eventually goes in. It's sweet, huh. Tiger Woods' shot on the 16th of the Masters. It didn't win it for him, but it put him in position to take his fourth Masters Green Jacket. Woods meets Chris DiMarco in a sudden death playoff -- Chad.
MYERS: There's no gambling at Bushwood and I never slice.
Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Still ahead on DAYBREAK, in case those of you in Colorado are losing faith, we have some evidence that spring has arrived, an up close look at Washington's beautiful cherry blossoms. If only you were there.
We'll be back.
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COSTELLO: Time to check out our "Web Clicks" this morning. We're always interested in what you're interested in on CNN.com. And three pretty fascinating stories, actually.
MYERS: Yes, one pretty serious.
COSTELLO: Did you hear about this Arena Football player?
MYERS: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: Yes. Former NFL defensive lineman Al Lucas died Sunday from a presumed spinal cord injury sustained while trying to make a tackle for the Los Angels Avengers during an Arena Football game.
MYERS: Well you know it's a very violent little game. If you've never seen it, people banging into the walls, although they are soft walls, but you know you don't get a lot of room to run around and the arena floor, obviously the old Astroturf type stuff. So, yes, an unfortunate event.
COSTELLO: He was making a tackle.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And he was bending down and he just fell the wrong way. Someone fell on top of him the wrong way.
MYERS: Ouch!
COSTELLO: Really sad.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: You know you always forget what a rough game football is. And you know when you're watching professional football games you always say hit him harder, hit him harder.
MYERS: Right, right, yes.
COSTELLO: And you forget that it really is a dangerous sport.
MYERS: Well you forget that they're real people, too, until something like this happens, Carol, because they're all dressed up. You know you got nice uniforms on, it's like, you know, it's like the Kentucky Fried Chicken guy playing the mascot from Burger King, you just think that they are two mascots, but in fact there are actually people inside.
COSTELLO: True.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Let's talk about John Kerry. He said some controversial things in Massachusetts. Did you hear about this? He said...
MYERS: You know, I didn't. You're going to have to drive this one.
COSTELLO: He said voters in last year's election were denied access to polls through trickery and intimidation. He said leaflets are handed out saying Democrats vote on Wednesday, Republicans vote on Tuesday. People are told in telephone calls that if you've never had a parking ticket you're not allowed to vote. So he's stirring up some controversy here. A lot of people think, Chad, that he's going to run in 2008 once again.
MYERS: If you don't know when Election Day, you may not -- you probably shouldn't be voting.
COSTELLO: Well some people think that way. But we won't get into that this morning,...
MYERS: All right, never mind.
COSTELLO: ... because, frankly, I'm too tired.
MYERS: All right.
COSTELLO: OK. The third most clicked on story on CNN.com, MGM is gone. No more lion's roar -- Chad.
MYERS: What?
COSTELLO: I think that's sad.
MYERS: I do, too. What happens...
COSTELLO: United Artists is gone, too, along with MGM. It's a big huge deal, a corporate deal. It's expected to close on Friday for a consortium of companies, including Sony to purchase the MGM assets for some $4.8 billion.
MYERS: So not going away, just being absorbed.
COSTELLO: No, they're being absorbed.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: But no more MGM or United Artists. And those two companies have seemed to be around forever.
MYERS: Sure have.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Time to read some e-mail. Our e-mail question this morning, we were very interested in the "Times" list of the 100 most influential people. There were many, many celebrities on the list. Everyone from like Clint Eastwood to Hilary Swank. And we were wondering, Hilary Swank, does she really influence your life? So influence of celebrity: is it too much?
MYERS: Martha (ph) from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Hilary Swank, who is Hilary Swank? I think that should answer your question.
I also have another one here from Minnesota from William (ph). Certainly celebrity is way too much. Celebrities use their position in life to advocate things that they have no understanding about. Maybe they should use their pocketbooks instead of standing up in front of a camera expounding on things that they know nothing about.
COSTELLO: Well here's one from Darryl (ph). Absolutely, figures like Swank and Foxx are influential. Hearing how Swank, a girl from a trailer park, and Foxx, and a man from a tiny segregated town in Texas, envision life and goals for themselves and attained it by independent means is awe-inspiring for a young man like myself paying and working his way through college.
So thank you, Darryl, for giving us a glimpse of the other side of this issue.
MYERS: You go, Darryl.
COSTELLO: We're going to take a break. DAYBREAK will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Unbelievable, but true, take a look. This duck is attracting as much attention as Washington's famous cherry blossoms. The brown mallard decided a pile of mulch outside the Treasury Department is just fine for her nine eggs. They are going to hatch later this month. And already you can buy Duck Cheney T-shirts. Don't know what that has to do with the Treasury Department, but they thought that sounded funny, Duck Cheney. Very cute.
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