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American Morning

Royal Funeral for Prince Rainier; A Nationwide Bust Takes 10,000 Fugitives Off U.S. Streets

Aired April 15, 2005 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story in downtown Paris, where rescuers are searching for victims of a massive hotel fire. Eighteen people dead this morning, dozens hurt.
In Monaco right now, the royal funeral for Prince Rainier. Heads of state from across Europe paying their respects.

A nationwide bust takes 10,000 fugitives off U.S. streets. This morning, the attorney general tells us who they got.

And the Yankees and the Red Sox at it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY SHEFFIELD, N.Y. YANKEES OUTFIELDER: To get punched in the mouth, you know, you don't expect that at a baseball game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield mixing it up with the fans. More bad blood, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

O'BRIEN: Yes, our guy kind of dropped off there.

HEMMER: Good morning, everybody. Check the calendar. It is April 15th, and the tax man cometh. It's here. I'm going at 3:30 this afternoon.

O'BRIEN: To start your taxes or mail your taxes?

HEMMER: I'm going to get them done today.

O'BRIEN: Nothing like waiting to the last minute, Bill.

HEMMER: I'm telling you.

Andy is talking taxes today as well, some important personal finance issues you need to know. We'll get to Andy a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the diet supplement Ephedra back in the news. A federal judge saying the FDA was wrong to ban it. Sanjay is going to join us, tell us whether there are any good medical reasons to keep this off the market.

HEMMER: Story broke yesterday afternoon. We'll get to it today, too.

What's happening, Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It is as much a symbol around the United States today as the stars and stripes and the bald eagle, the golden arches of McDonald's. They are everywhere. The hamburger chain celebrates its 50th anniversary today, and we're going to take a look and decide whether this was really a good idea or not.

HEMMER: What a day they chose, April 15th. Let's open this thing.

Thank you, Jack.

A massive nationwide dragnet has snatched thousands of fugitives, taking them off the streets of America. Over 10,000 captured during the past week in Operation Falcon. that involves hundreds of law enforcement agencies at every level. Police say many of those captured are violent, 162 accused or convicted of murder, 638 wanted in connection with armed robberies, 553 wanted in rapes or sexual assaults.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales my guest now. Good morning to you.

ALBERT GONZALES, U.S. ATTY. GENERAL: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Why carry this operation out now?

GONZALES: Well, we did it to coincide with National Crime Victims Rights Week. When I think one of the greatest needs that victims need to see met is to know that their perpetrators, those who have committed crimes against them, have, in fact, been apprehended. I think that it was a very successful program. We ran it up over 10,000 of the most dangerous people around the country, and I think it shows the department's commitment to not only continue to fight the war on terror, but to make sure that we're doing everything we can do to make our communities safe.

HEMMER: If they are the most dangerous, why are so many roaming free?

GONZALES: Well, that's a very good question. I think that there are a variety of reasons for that. One is lack of information. One of the benefits of doing this kind of program is that state and local communities can get -- with the federal government, can get together and share information, and with more information, we are able to much better locate where these people are and capture them.

HEMMER: The critics are saying that this is just a headline, the announcement of these arrests. Some are saying the real stories are the fugitives, know the government doesn't have the manpower, the government doesn't have the resources to continue to look for people, and the system is a joke, some say. To the critics, you say what?

GONZALES: To the critics, I say that we have taken off the street 10,000 very dangerous people. More work needs to be done, clearly, Bill, but we now have developed new relationships, new lines of communication, new ways of sharing information that I think will make us more effective. I think we need to build on what's been done in the past. This is the 22nd time we've done a coordinated roundup in this fashion, the first time we've done it on a nationwide basis. We, quite frankly, were surprised about how effective it was. And because of the effectiveness, I think this is something you'll see occur in the future.

HEMMER: You say it will occur in the future. How often would you like to see it happen?

GONZALES: Well, that -- again, it requires a great deal of coordination between state, local and the federal government. So it takes time to try to set these things up properly. We want to be effective in the way that we do this. State and locals have their priorities as well, so it requires a great deal of coordination. But, obviously, we want to all work together toward the same goal, which is, of course, to make our community safer.

HEMMER: On another matter, it's been two years since the identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA worker, was identified and made public. There are Democrats up on the Hill who demand right now that some members of the government should be investigated themselves. Will you give the Democrats the answer on that issue?

GONZALES: Well, as you know, bill, I am recused from that matter, and so it really wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on that. That is in the hands of the U.S. attorney Pat Fitzgerald, and I have every confidence in the world that he's proceeding on a basis that he thinks is appropriate, and that at the appropriate time matter will come to a head.

HEMMER: After two years, what's appropriate in terms of time?

GONZALES: Bill, I don't know where Mr. Fitzgerald stands on the investigation, but, again, I have every confidence in the world -- I know many members of Congress, who -- some who have been critical of the administration, are fully supportive of Mr. Fitzgerald and have confidence in his abilities and judgment. And therefore, I believe the appropriate time that the matter will be concluded.

HEMMER: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. attorney general, nice to speak with you. Thank you for your time.

GONZALES: Thanks, Bill. Thank you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: A once popular weight-loss supplement could soon be back on store shelves. A federal judge on Thursday struck down the FDA's ban on Ephedra, ruling in favor of a Utah company who claimed Ephedra was wrongly regulated as a drug instead of a food. Ephedra was pulled from the market a year ago. The FDA says it is evaluating the judge's decision.

Let's get to more on Ephedra. It's been, of course, the subject of federal scrutiny.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with more on this.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Really interesting here, when you talk about this lawsuit now, one of the Utah-based pharmaceutical companies actually suing now the FDA, saying, listen, you can't ban this particular substance. It didn't meet some of the specific guidelines necessary to do that. And the president of Naturceuticals, this is a particular company here, saying it's been safe. We know that's it's safe. It's been used for a long time. Billions of doses have been given, and we think it's a safe medication. You did not meet the standards of which to go ahead and ban the drug, and that's really what's at the heart of this, more of a legal issue in some ways than a medical one here -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, then let me ask you questions about this. Is at the end of the day, is this really an issue of the FDA's authority overall, even though it's focusing on just one case?

GUPTA: It is. This sort of gets a little bit murky in some ways, because when people typically think about drugs or any kind of medication that's a prescription medication, you think about the fact that the FDA says to the manufacturer of the drug, you've got to prove to me that this is safe. When it comes to supplements, when it comes to herbs, there's a different standard that has to be met. You basically have to say -- they have to prove that the medication or, in this case, the supplement, is not safe. So is there an unreasonable risk of illness or injury? And that has to be proved by the FDA. They have to prove it's not safe before they can ban something.

The question becomes, was the FDA able to prove that Ephedra was not safe? And lots of different things came into that. They came to this decision after several different courses. They tried this back in '97 and could not prove that Ephedra was not safe, so it stayed on the market until last year. Specifically, they had adverse-event reports. They had about 16,000 adverse-event reports. They had scientific studies that they conducted as well, and public hearings. All these things were conducted.

What they were trying to specifically find, was Ephedra linked to heart attacks, strokes, seizures, and death? At least it was the FDA's opinion that, in fact, Ephedra was. The question was this, how much Ephedra could possibly cause adverse effects? And that's a question that was not adequately answered, at least according to this lawsuit, not adequately answered -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So at the end of the day, it was really about dosage, this particular case, but might have implications really across the board for all sorts of supplements.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, that's a good way of looking at it. You say to yourself, OK, the standard was we have to prove this particular supplement is not safe. What they came back and said was that the FDA didn't really do that. What they said was we cannot find an acceptable dosage for Ephedra that is safe. Are those the same thing? At least in this case, the Utah judge said no.

The president of Naturceuticals basically said a quote, he had a quote about this -- he said, "This lawsuit had very little to do about Ephedra, but rather the FDA established a standard that was a much more dangerous standard to the industry. It did not follow the statutes of dechet (ph)," which is the thing we're talking about here, the Dietary Supplement Act -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. We're going to of course talk more about this, this morning, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- Bill.

HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now. Authorities in Florida still searching for 13-year-old Sarah Lunde, reportedly last seen by her older brother early Sunday morning. Sheriff David Gee of Hillsborough County is live again this morning, from Ruskin, Florida.

Sheriff, good morning to you. We spoke two days ago on Wednesday.

And late last night, you said 43 leads or so have been given to the department. You call these leads surprisingly low. How would you characterize your search again this morning, sheriff?

SHERIFF DAVID GEE, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA.: We're pursuing a parallel axis, one being the ground search here at the place where she was last seen, and we'll continue to do that today with a lot of law enforcement. We'll probably have upwards of 200 law enforcement officers again here today, and I would assume probably close to that number of volunteers as well. So we'll do that. We're also pursuing the investigative -- all the investigative leads and all the things that we think we need to be doing from that angle.

Yet the 43 number, again, I thought it was a little low for a case that had received this much attention. Not encouraging people to call if you don't have any information, but it did seem low as compared to many other cases we get a lot of attention.

HEMMER: Sheriff, is it your sense your investigation has reached a dead end? GEE: Oh, no. It's not reached a dead end. I mean, there's a lot of things that are being done out there right now and a lot of things behind the scenes that I have not been able to discuss publicly that are being done. And, of course, it just takes time, and we'll just continue to chip away at this thing and hopefully get a break in the case.

HEMMER: David Onstott's (ph) a former girlfriend of Sarah's mother, and apparently the brother says he came by the house, and that was the first time he'd seen him in months. This goes to Sunday of last weekend. His bail was increased from a thousand to $250,000. Why did that happen, sheriff?

GEE: Well, you know, I can't tell you why the judge did that. Obviously, he is one of the people that we are -- we have looked at, as well as others, and I think it's best right now that anybody who may have any potential involvement in the case, that we know where they're all at. So other than that, I won't comment any further on that.

HEMMER: Just to be careful, he has not been listed as a suspect. Is he cooperating?

GEE: You know, I've just kind of made it a policy until just about the time I'm either looking for you or ready to put handcuffs on you, not going to label anybody at this time.

HEMMER: All right, sheriff, one more question.

GEE: He has been cooperative.

HEMMER: Go ahead. Sorry. He's been what?

GEE: Yes. I mean, we have had some cooperation with him.

HEMMER: I asked you this question the other day. Sarah's run away from home in the past. Is it still a possibility she's a runaway kid again?

GEE: It is a possibility. You know, we're just at the point in the investigation where I cannot exclude that as a possibility. You know, it has been a while, and even though she would sometimes -- even when she when she would leave her home, she would always usually come to the church or contact the pastor. The pastor, who we consider to be a very reliable person and probably he and his wife may be the closest to her, have told us this is just absolutely out of the ordinary. And, again, in these cases, you have to go a lot of times on what friends, family, relatives are telling you about the person, and that's what we're relying on at this time.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, sheriff, and your entire team down there. David Gee, the sheriff in Hillsborough County.

GEE: Thank you for your help.

HEMMER: Sure. (WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have one of the most intense rivalries in sports. Duh. And at Fenway Park in Boston last night, it spilled over into the stands. Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield went after a fan who appeared to take a swing at him as he fielded a ball against the fence. The fan was ejected, but not arrested. The Red Sox went on to win 8-5.

It was kind of interesting how you could see, instead of throwing the ball, he tried to fight with the fan, and then he -- it's like, OK, focus on the game for a second.

HEMMER: Two runs scored. Kind of looked like a hockey game, but we haven't seen much hockey lately.

In a moment here, Chad mentioned this, a huge headache for travelers along the East Coast. There may be a safety risk involved with some trains and we'll let you know about thousands that could be stranded today. A live report on that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, a developing story overseas. A deadly fire sweeps through a hotel housing dozens of needy families. The latest on that is ahead as well.

HEMMER Also, a funeral today for a prince. The world gathering to honor the life of Prince Rainier. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Amtrak has canceled services on Acela express trains up and down the East Coast because of concerns over faulty brakes.

WABC's Ken Rosato is live at Penn Station here in Manhattan.

Ken, good morning. What's the problem with the trains?

KEN ROSATO, WABC REPORTER: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning, everyone.

A major problem with Amtrak today. They have canceled all their Acela train service. That train service canceled throughout the Northeast and wherever Acela train service is offered.

Now this is all because brake components on most of their coaches, when examined by the inspectors, they discovered there were cracks in those brakes. Amtrak normally operates 15 Acela Express round trips between New York and D.C., and 11 between New York and Boston. These 26 routes representing about 20 percent of Amtrak's Northeast corridor weekday service. Acela service will remain canceled until the brake problem will be rectified. And this will impact several thousand commuters who are all being urged to use regional train service for the meantime.

All other Amtrak service, we should mention, is not affected. This all comes a day after the Bush administration unveiled a plan to revamp the ailing railroad, urging Congress to turn Amtrak them into a private operator with a federal/state partnership. Amtrak would run the trains, while the states would maintain the tracks and the stations. The administration would also set aside $360 million for Northeast corridor service, some of the very trains being impacted today.

That's it from here. We're live outside New York City's Penn Station. Ken Rosato for CNN.

HEMMER: Hey, Ken, thanks for that.

Quickly, though, the trains are still running. It's just going to take longer to get there, right?

ROSATO: Well, Amtrak trains are running that are non-Acela, but Acela trains are being taken out of service for now until they can rectify the problems with the brakes.

HEMMER: Thanks, Ken, and WABC for their help this morning on that.

From overseas today, fire swept through a central Paris hotel earlier today. Officials now say at least 18 are dead, including 8 children. That death toll is expected to climb. More than 60 others injured too. The videotape, too, just startling. A number of the victims are immigrants who are being housed in the hotel while welfare officials were looking for permanent homes. The sixth floor of the Paris Opera Hotel was gutted. Many were trapped in upper floors, jumping to escape the fire. The hotel is the city's ninth district, an area popular with tourists. An investigation already today indicating the cause of the fire was accidental. That word from Paris -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, kings, and queens and presidents are paying their final respects to Monaco's Prince Rainier today. The 81-year-old monarch died last week from heart, and lung and kidney failure.

CNN's Becky Anderson joins us live this morning.

Becky, good morning to you. Give us a sense of what the funeral has been like.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, it's a real sense of loss and mourning in this tiny principality here. It's a rock effectively, just the size of Central Park. There are 7,000 citizens and 35,000 residents of this amazingly small, but amazingly vibrant city-state they call Monaco.

The funeral for Prince Rainier is now coming to a close, presided over by the Archbishop Bernard Bassie (ph) of Monaco, and attended, of course, by Prince Rainier's close family, the Prince Salbot (ph) of Monaco, who succeeds Prince Rainier, Princess Caroline of Monaco, her children, and Princess Stephanie of Monaco and, of course, her children as well. Dignitaries from around the world, as you've suggested, also here in Monaco today at the funeral in St. Nicholas' Cathedral, which is where Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace in 1956. She was subsequently killed, of course, in the car crash in 1982. And after this funeral mass, Prince Rainier's body will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife, a woman he said, after her death that he missed sorely. He felt alone. He felt very lonely and missed her dearly.

The funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Pretty amazing. Becky Anderson for us this morning. Becky Thank you for that update -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Andy has a special tax-day edition of "Minding Your Business." And a reminder for Monday, too, AMERICAN MORNING is live in Oklahoma City, special coverage on the eve of the 10th year marking bombing from April of 1985.

Back in a moment here after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

News from IBM gives investors the blues, and one company filing on tax day, trying to make it a bit easier for you.

Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." First check this morning. What's happening?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, we've got tax day. That's what's really happening.

Let's talk about the markets first of all, because kind of an ugly picture on Wall Street, investors really taking it on the chin yesterday, Bill. You can see here the Dow down 125 points. Big blue chips like Citi, Wal-Mart, GM all getting hurt pretty badly. And this morning doesn't look any better. IBM announcing after the bell its numbers are weaker than Wall Street wanted to see. The stock is down over $3 in pre-market trading. Nasdaq now down 10 percent the year.

Worries about the economy not doing well enough, and this is ironic, because just a couple weeks ago we were talking about inflation and the economy overheating. Now Wall Street's looking the other way.

Of course, it is April 15th, tax day, and I'm going to be right after Bill Hemmer at 3:45. I'm going to be down there trying to get my taxes.

O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes. True confessions.

CAFFERTY: It's because of guys like you the country doesn't have any money.

SERWER: All right. Thank you.

And, listen, this is kind of an interesting one, if you haven't got your taxes done, you're going to run down to the post office and get in those big lines like I am, and you haven't made a copy of your 1040, Staples, the big office supply chain, is setting up copiers outside of post offices in four big cities. Nice little promotional deal for staples -- Chicago, L.A., New York and Boston. And also, you can make free copies at their 1,200 stores. I think they probably want you to buy some paper clips while you're there.

HEMMER: I would think.

SERWER: Nod, nod, wink, wink. But still a pretty nice gesture.

CAFFERTY: How about a shredder.

HEMMER: Andy, I'll pick up the cab fare for the commute today.

SERWER: Yes, let's do it together.

CAFFERTY: You guys are awful. Terrible example you're setting for the rest of America.

O'BRIEN: Pathetic.

SERWER: Yes, we are.

O'BRIEN: Hi, jack.

CAFFERTY: I got my taxes in on March 24th.

O'BRIEN: I got my extension in.

SERWER: Yes, pick on her. Come on.

CAFFERTY: Fifty years ago today, milk shake machine salesman Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's restaurant in a Chicago suburb. He thought his restaurants should look the same, serve the same food, and follow the same preparation procedures. That was revolutionary thinking back in those days, and it was the beginning of a fast food revolution. Today McDonald has 30,000 restaurants. They serve 50 million people a day. McDonald's has become as much a symbol of the United States as just about anything you can think of worldwide.

Here's the question, was all of this a good idea? AM@CNN.com.

O'BRIEN: Kind of an open question. Great idea for the Kroc family. They've done all right.

CAFFERTY: Yes, but there are a lot of people who have suggested there's a downside to fast food and that the health nuts and your friends, the PC crowd, that you hang with, have suggested...

O'BRIEN: You're still smarting over yesterday when I whooped you.

SERWER: Right, should immigrants eat McDonald's food and speak English there? That's what he really wants to ask.

HEMMER: Should the menu be in Spanish?

SERWER: Ooh, even better. Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. More in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, right after this.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," summer concert season is almost here, and why you can see the big acts for less cash this year.

Plus is this the end for Paris and Nicole?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARIS HILTON, "THE SIMPLE LIFE": We should just, like, tell them that you're sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Seems life isn't so simple. That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 15, 2005 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story in downtown Paris, where rescuers are searching for victims of a massive hotel fire. Eighteen people dead this morning, dozens hurt.
In Monaco right now, the royal funeral for Prince Rainier. Heads of state from across Europe paying their respects.

A nationwide bust takes 10,000 fugitives off U.S. streets. This morning, the attorney general tells us who they got.

And the Yankees and the Red Sox at it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY SHEFFIELD, N.Y. YANKEES OUTFIELDER: To get punched in the mouth, you know, you don't expect that at a baseball game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield mixing it up with the fans. More bad blood, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: This is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

O'BRIEN: Yes, our guy kind of dropped off there.

HEMMER: Good morning, everybody. Check the calendar. It is April 15th, and the tax man cometh. It's here. I'm going at 3:30 this afternoon.

O'BRIEN: To start your taxes or mail your taxes?

HEMMER: I'm going to get them done today.

O'BRIEN: Nothing like waiting to the last minute, Bill.

HEMMER: I'm telling you.

Andy is talking taxes today as well, some important personal finance issues you need to know. We'll get to Andy a bit later this hour.

O'BRIEN: Also this morning, the diet supplement Ephedra back in the news. A federal judge saying the FDA was wrong to ban it. Sanjay is going to join us, tell us whether there are any good medical reasons to keep this off the market.

HEMMER: Story broke yesterday afternoon. We'll get to it today, too.

What's happening, Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It is as much a symbol around the United States today as the stars and stripes and the bald eagle, the golden arches of McDonald's. They are everywhere. The hamburger chain celebrates its 50th anniversary today, and we're going to take a look and decide whether this was really a good idea or not.

HEMMER: What a day they chose, April 15th. Let's open this thing.

Thank you, Jack.

A massive nationwide dragnet has snatched thousands of fugitives, taking them off the streets of America. Over 10,000 captured during the past week in Operation Falcon. that involves hundreds of law enforcement agencies at every level. Police say many of those captured are violent, 162 accused or convicted of murder, 638 wanted in connection with armed robberies, 553 wanted in rapes or sexual assaults.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEMMER: U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales my guest now. Good morning to you.

ALBERT GONZALES, U.S. ATTY. GENERAL: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: Why carry this operation out now?

GONZALES: Well, we did it to coincide with National Crime Victims Rights Week. When I think one of the greatest needs that victims need to see met is to know that their perpetrators, those who have committed crimes against them, have, in fact, been apprehended. I think that it was a very successful program. We ran it up over 10,000 of the most dangerous people around the country, and I think it shows the department's commitment to not only continue to fight the war on terror, but to make sure that we're doing everything we can do to make our communities safe.

HEMMER: If they are the most dangerous, why are so many roaming free?

GONZALES: Well, that's a very good question. I think that there are a variety of reasons for that. One is lack of information. One of the benefits of doing this kind of program is that state and local communities can get -- with the federal government, can get together and share information, and with more information, we are able to much better locate where these people are and capture them.

HEMMER: The critics are saying that this is just a headline, the announcement of these arrests. Some are saying the real stories are the fugitives, know the government doesn't have the manpower, the government doesn't have the resources to continue to look for people, and the system is a joke, some say. To the critics, you say what?

GONZALES: To the critics, I say that we have taken off the street 10,000 very dangerous people. More work needs to be done, clearly, Bill, but we now have developed new relationships, new lines of communication, new ways of sharing information that I think will make us more effective. I think we need to build on what's been done in the past. This is the 22nd time we've done a coordinated roundup in this fashion, the first time we've done it on a nationwide basis. We, quite frankly, were surprised about how effective it was. And because of the effectiveness, I think this is something you'll see occur in the future.

HEMMER: You say it will occur in the future. How often would you like to see it happen?

GONZALES: Well, that -- again, it requires a great deal of coordination between state, local and the federal government. So it takes time to try to set these things up properly. We want to be effective in the way that we do this. State and locals have their priorities as well, so it requires a great deal of coordination. But, obviously, we want to all work together toward the same goal, which is, of course, to make our community safer.

HEMMER: On another matter, it's been two years since the identity of Valerie Plame, the CIA worker, was identified and made public. There are Democrats up on the Hill who demand right now that some members of the government should be investigated themselves. Will you give the Democrats the answer on that issue?

GONZALES: Well, as you know, bill, I am recused from that matter, and so it really wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment on that. That is in the hands of the U.S. attorney Pat Fitzgerald, and I have every confidence in the world that he's proceeding on a basis that he thinks is appropriate, and that at the appropriate time matter will come to a head.

HEMMER: After two years, what's appropriate in terms of time?

GONZALES: Bill, I don't know where Mr. Fitzgerald stands on the investigation, but, again, I have every confidence in the world -- I know many members of Congress, who -- some who have been critical of the administration, are fully supportive of Mr. Fitzgerald and have confidence in his abilities and judgment. And therefore, I believe the appropriate time that the matter will be concluded.

HEMMER: Alberto Gonzales, U.S. attorney general, nice to speak with you. Thank you for your time.

GONZALES: Thanks, Bill. Thank you.

HEMMER: All right, Soledad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) O'BRIEN: A once popular weight-loss supplement could soon be back on store shelves. A federal judge on Thursday struck down the FDA's ban on Ephedra, ruling in favor of a Utah company who claimed Ephedra was wrongly regulated as a drug instead of a food. Ephedra was pulled from the market a year ago. The FDA says it is evaluating the judge's decision.

Let's get to more on Ephedra. It's been, of course, the subject of federal scrutiny.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is at the CNN Center with more on this.

Hey, Sanjay, good morning.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Really interesting here, when you talk about this lawsuit now, one of the Utah-based pharmaceutical companies actually suing now the FDA, saying, listen, you can't ban this particular substance. It didn't meet some of the specific guidelines necessary to do that. And the president of Naturceuticals, this is a particular company here, saying it's been safe. We know that's it's safe. It's been used for a long time. Billions of doses have been given, and we think it's a safe medication. You did not meet the standards of which to go ahead and ban the drug, and that's really what's at the heart of this, more of a legal issue in some ways than a medical one here -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, then let me ask you questions about this. Is at the end of the day, is this really an issue of the FDA's authority overall, even though it's focusing on just one case?

GUPTA: It is. This sort of gets a little bit murky in some ways, because when people typically think about drugs or any kind of medication that's a prescription medication, you think about the fact that the FDA says to the manufacturer of the drug, you've got to prove to me that this is safe. When it comes to supplements, when it comes to herbs, there's a different standard that has to be met. You basically have to say -- they have to prove that the medication or, in this case, the supplement, is not safe. So is there an unreasonable risk of illness or injury? And that has to be proved by the FDA. They have to prove it's not safe before they can ban something.

The question becomes, was the FDA able to prove that Ephedra was not safe? And lots of different things came into that. They came to this decision after several different courses. They tried this back in '97 and could not prove that Ephedra was not safe, so it stayed on the market until last year. Specifically, they had adverse-event reports. They had about 16,000 adverse-event reports. They had scientific studies that they conducted as well, and public hearings. All these things were conducted.

What they were trying to specifically find, was Ephedra linked to heart attacks, strokes, seizures, and death? At least it was the FDA's opinion that, in fact, Ephedra was. The question was this, how much Ephedra could possibly cause adverse effects? And that's a question that was not adequately answered, at least according to this lawsuit, not adequately answered -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So at the end of the day, it was really about dosage, this particular case, but might have implications really across the board for all sorts of supplements.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, that's a good way of looking at it. You say to yourself, OK, the standard was we have to prove this particular supplement is not safe. What they came back and said was that the FDA didn't really do that. What they said was we cannot find an acceptable dosage for Ephedra that is safe. Are those the same thing? At least in this case, the Utah judge said no.

The president of Naturceuticals basically said a quote, he had a quote about this -- he said, "This lawsuit had very little to do about Ephedra, but rather the FDA established a standard that was a much more dangerous standard to the industry. It did not follow the statutes of dechet (ph)," which is the thing we're talking about here, the Dietary Supplement Act -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks. We're going to of course talk more about this, this morning, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- Bill.

HEMMER: About nine minutes past the hour now. Authorities in Florida still searching for 13-year-old Sarah Lunde, reportedly last seen by her older brother early Sunday morning. Sheriff David Gee of Hillsborough County is live again this morning, from Ruskin, Florida.

Sheriff, good morning to you. We spoke two days ago on Wednesday.

And late last night, you said 43 leads or so have been given to the department. You call these leads surprisingly low. How would you characterize your search again this morning, sheriff?

SHERIFF DAVID GEE, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLA.: We're pursuing a parallel axis, one being the ground search here at the place where she was last seen, and we'll continue to do that today with a lot of law enforcement. We'll probably have upwards of 200 law enforcement officers again here today, and I would assume probably close to that number of volunteers as well. So we'll do that. We're also pursuing the investigative -- all the investigative leads and all the things that we think we need to be doing from that angle.

Yet the 43 number, again, I thought it was a little low for a case that had received this much attention. Not encouraging people to call if you don't have any information, but it did seem low as compared to many other cases we get a lot of attention.

HEMMER: Sheriff, is it your sense your investigation has reached a dead end? GEE: Oh, no. It's not reached a dead end. I mean, there's a lot of things that are being done out there right now and a lot of things behind the scenes that I have not been able to discuss publicly that are being done. And, of course, it just takes time, and we'll just continue to chip away at this thing and hopefully get a break in the case.

HEMMER: David Onstott's (ph) a former girlfriend of Sarah's mother, and apparently the brother says he came by the house, and that was the first time he'd seen him in months. This goes to Sunday of last weekend. His bail was increased from a thousand to $250,000. Why did that happen, sheriff?

GEE: Well, you know, I can't tell you why the judge did that. Obviously, he is one of the people that we are -- we have looked at, as well as others, and I think it's best right now that anybody who may have any potential involvement in the case, that we know where they're all at. So other than that, I won't comment any further on that.

HEMMER: Just to be careful, he has not been listed as a suspect. Is he cooperating?

GEE: You know, I've just kind of made it a policy until just about the time I'm either looking for you or ready to put handcuffs on you, not going to label anybody at this time.

HEMMER: All right, sheriff, one more question.

GEE: He has been cooperative.

HEMMER: Go ahead. Sorry. He's been what?

GEE: Yes. I mean, we have had some cooperation with him.

HEMMER: I asked you this question the other day. Sarah's run away from home in the past. Is it still a possibility she's a runaway kid again?

GEE: It is a possibility. You know, we're just at the point in the investigation where I cannot exclude that as a possibility. You know, it has been a while, and even though she would sometimes -- even when she when she would leave her home, she would always usually come to the church or contact the pastor. The pastor, who we consider to be a very reliable person and probably he and his wife may be the closest to her, have told us this is just absolutely out of the ordinary. And, again, in these cases, you have to go a lot of times on what friends, family, relatives are telling you about the person, and that's what we're relying on at this time.

HEMMER: Good luck to you, sheriff, and your entire team down there. David Gee, the sheriff in Hillsborough County.

GEE: Thank you for your help.

HEMMER: Sure. (WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox have one of the most intense rivalries in sports. Duh. And at Fenway Park in Boston last night, it spilled over into the stands. Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield went after a fan who appeared to take a swing at him as he fielded a ball against the fence. The fan was ejected, but not arrested. The Red Sox went on to win 8-5.

It was kind of interesting how you could see, instead of throwing the ball, he tried to fight with the fan, and then he -- it's like, OK, focus on the game for a second.

HEMMER: Two runs scored. Kind of looked like a hockey game, but we haven't seen much hockey lately.

In a moment here, Chad mentioned this, a huge headache for travelers along the East Coast. There may be a safety risk involved with some trains and we'll let you know about thousands that could be stranded today. A live report on that in a moment.

O'BRIEN: Also, a developing story overseas. A deadly fire sweeps through a hotel housing dozens of needy families. The latest on that is ahead as well.

HEMMER Also, a funeral today for a prince. The world gathering to honor the life of Prince Rainier. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Amtrak has canceled services on Acela express trains up and down the East Coast because of concerns over faulty brakes.

WABC's Ken Rosato is live at Penn Station here in Manhattan.

Ken, good morning. What's the problem with the trains?

KEN ROSATO, WABC REPORTER: Good morning to you, Bill. And good morning, everyone.

A major problem with Amtrak today. They have canceled all their Acela train service. That train service canceled throughout the Northeast and wherever Acela train service is offered.

Now this is all because brake components on most of their coaches, when examined by the inspectors, they discovered there were cracks in those brakes. Amtrak normally operates 15 Acela Express round trips between New York and D.C., and 11 between New York and Boston. These 26 routes representing about 20 percent of Amtrak's Northeast corridor weekday service. Acela service will remain canceled until the brake problem will be rectified. And this will impact several thousand commuters who are all being urged to use regional train service for the meantime.

All other Amtrak service, we should mention, is not affected. This all comes a day after the Bush administration unveiled a plan to revamp the ailing railroad, urging Congress to turn Amtrak them into a private operator with a federal/state partnership. Amtrak would run the trains, while the states would maintain the tracks and the stations. The administration would also set aside $360 million for Northeast corridor service, some of the very trains being impacted today.

That's it from here. We're live outside New York City's Penn Station. Ken Rosato for CNN.

HEMMER: Hey, Ken, thanks for that.

Quickly, though, the trains are still running. It's just going to take longer to get there, right?

ROSATO: Well, Amtrak trains are running that are non-Acela, but Acela trains are being taken out of service for now until they can rectify the problems with the brakes.

HEMMER: Thanks, Ken, and WABC for their help this morning on that.

From overseas today, fire swept through a central Paris hotel earlier today. Officials now say at least 18 are dead, including 8 children. That death toll is expected to climb. More than 60 others injured too. The videotape, too, just startling. A number of the victims are immigrants who are being housed in the hotel while welfare officials were looking for permanent homes. The sixth floor of the Paris Opera Hotel was gutted. Many were trapped in upper floors, jumping to escape the fire. The hotel is the city's ninth district, an area popular with tourists. An investigation already today indicating the cause of the fire was accidental. That word from Paris -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, kings, and queens and presidents are paying their final respects to Monaco's Prince Rainier today. The 81-year-old monarch died last week from heart, and lung and kidney failure.

CNN's Becky Anderson joins us live this morning.

Becky, good morning to you. Give us a sense of what the funeral has been like.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, it's a real sense of loss and mourning in this tiny principality here. It's a rock effectively, just the size of Central Park. There are 7,000 citizens and 35,000 residents of this amazingly small, but amazingly vibrant city-state they call Monaco.

The funeral for Prince Rainier is now coming to a close, presided over by the Archbishop Bernard Bassie (ph) of Monaco, and attended, of course, by Prince Rainier's close family, the Prince Salbot (ph) of Monaco, who succeeds Prince Rainier, Princess Caroline of Monaco, her children, and Princess Stephanie of Monaco and, of course, her children as well. Dignitaries from around the world, as you've suggested, also here in Monaco today at the funeral in St. Nicholas' Cathedral, which is where Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace in 1956. She was subsequently killed, of course, in the car crash in 1982. And after this funeral mass, Prince Rainier's body will be laid to rest next to his beloved wife, a woman he said, after her death that he missed sorely. He felt alone. He felt very lonely and missed her dearly.

The funeral of Prince Rainier of Monaco today -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Pretty amazing. Becky Anderson for us this morning. Becky Thank you for that update -- Bill.

HEMMER: In a moment here, Andy has a special tax-day edition of "Minding Your Business." And a reminder for Monday, too, AMERICAN MORNING is live in Oklahoma City, special coverage on the eve of the 10th year marking bombing from April of 1985.

Back in a moment here after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone.

News from IBM gives investors the blues, and one company filing on tax day, trying to make it a bit easier for you.

Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." First check this morning. What's happening?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, we've got tax day. That's what's really happening.

Let's talk about the markets first of all, because kind of an ugly picture on Wall Street, investors really taking it on the chin yesterday, Bill. You can see here the Dow down 125 points. Big blue chips like Citi, Wal-Mart, GM all getting hurt pretty badly. And this morning doesn't look any better. IBM announcing after the bell its numbers are weaker than Wall Street wanted to see. The stock is down over $3 in pre-market trading. Nasdaq now down 10 percent the year.

Worries about the economy not doing well enough, and this is ironic, because just a couple weeks ago we were talking about inflation and the economy overheating. Now Wall Street's looking the other way.

Of course, it is April 15th, tax day, and I'm going to be right after Bill Hemmer at 3:45. I'm going to be down there trying to get my taxes.

O'BRIEN: Really?

SERWER: Yes. True confessions.

CAFFERTY: It's because of guys like you the country doesn't have any money.

SERWER: All right. Thank you.

And, listen, this is kind of an interesting one, if you haven't got your taxes done, you're going to run down to the post office and get in those big lines like I am, and you haven't made a copy of your 1040, Staples, the big office supply chain, is setting up copiers outside of post offices in four big cities. Nice little promotional deal for staples -- Chicago, L.A., New York and Boston. And also, you can make free copies at their 1,200 stores. I think they probably want you to buy some paper clips while you're there.

HEMMER: I would think.

SERWER: Nod, nod, wink, wink. But still a pretty nice gesture.

CAFFERTY: How about a shredder.

HEMMER: Andy, I'll pick up the cab fare for the commute today.

SERWER: Yes, let's do it together.

CAFFERTY: You guys are awful. Terrible example you're setting for the rest of America.

O'BRIEN: Pathetic.

SERWER: Yes, we are.

O'BRIEN: Hi, jack.

CAFFERTY: I got my taxes in on March 24th.

O'BRIEN: I got my extension in.

SERWER: Yes, pick on her. Come on.

CAFFERTY: Fifty years ago today, milk shake machine salesman Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's restaurant in a Chicago suburb. He thought his restaurants should look the same, serve the same food, and follow the same preparation procedures. That was revolutionary thinking back in those days, and it was the beginning of a fast food revolution. Today McDonald has 30,000 restaurants. They serve 50 million people a day. McDonald's has become as much a symbol of the United States as just about anything you can think of worldwide.

Here's the question, was all of this a good idea? AM@CNN.com.

O'BRIEN: Kind of an open question. Great idea for the Kroc family. They've done all right.

CAFFERTY: Yes, but there are a lot of people who have suggested there's a downside to fast food and that the health nuts and your friends, the PC crowd, that you hang with, have suggested...

O'BRIEN: You're still smarting over yesterday when I whooped you.

SERWER: Right, should immigrants eat McDonald's food and speak English there? That's what he really wants to ask.

HEMMER: Should the menu be in Spanish?

SERWER: Ooh, even better. Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. More in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING, right after this.

Ahead on "90-Second Pop," summer concert season is almost here, and why you can see the big acts for less cash this year.

Plus is this the end for Paris and Nicole?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PARIS HILTON, "THE SIMPLE LIFE": We should just, like, tell them that you're sick.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: Seems life isn't so simple. That's later on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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