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American Morning

'Newsweek' Damage; Senate Showdown; Charity Scam; Plane Lands Safely After Landing Gear Problems

Aired May 17, 2005 - 8:59   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: "Newsweek" magazine retracts a report that sparked riots in Afghanistan. Is that good enough? The reaction at the White House is straight ahead.
Can a compromise be delivered in the Senate to prevent a showdown over the filibuster? Senator John McCain weighs in.

And the mystery man found in England who spoke through a piano. His incredible story is ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. Miles O'Brien helping us out today.

So thank you very much for that.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be here. We're going to talk about those charity bracelets. You know, those...

S. O'BRIEN: The little plastic ones.

M. O'BRIEN: ... Live Strong derivatives. My kids have about 10 of them on their wrists now.

S. O'BRIEN: Buck a piece.

M. O'BRIEN: Buck a piece, you know. And some for a good cause, some not. Some are just for-profit. Well, anyway, we're going to tell you a little bit about them and more.

S. O'BRIEN: And some fraud going out there on -- with those as well.

M. O'BRIEN: A little bit of that. A little bit of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty's got the "Question of the Day," which involves the filibuster.

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The showdown could come as early as tomorrow, Soledad, in the Senate over the filibuster rules that are currently being used to block judicial nominees. Bill Frist and Harry Reid tried to work this thing out behind closed doors and walked out of the place agreeing to disagree yesterday.

The question this morning is whether or not you think that the filibuster rules should be altered in order to enable a quicker up-or- down vote on judicial nominees. AM@CNN.com.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll take e-mails on that ahead. Thank you.

Let's get right to the headlines first, though, with Carol Costello.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," President Bush is hosting former South African president Nelson Mandela at the White House this hour. Mandela is calling on industrialized nations to give more aid to Africa.

He will deliver that message in person to President Bush. The two will also discuss the fight against HIV and AIDS. It is their first direct meeting in more than two years. Mandela has been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.

Sentencing begins next hour for an Army reservist convicted of abuse in the Abu Ghraib to prison scandal. A military jury convicted Specialist Sabrina Harman on all but one of the seven charges against her. She could face up to five-and-a-half years in prison.

And voters in Los Angeles getting ready to pick the next mayor of Los Angeles. It seems like this has been going on forever, doesn't it?

The election is a rematch for incumbent mayor, James Hahn, and the rival he defeated four years ago. But this time, Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to win. If that is the case, he will be L.A.'s first Hispanic mayor in more than a century.

And Australian singer Kylie Minogue is postponing her tour due to breast cancer. The 37-year-old Minogue is set to undergo immediate treatment. She was apparently diagnosed this week. Her publicist has apologized to Minogue's fans and says she looks forward to being back on the road very soon.

This story, by the way, is one of the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

Wow, 37 years old. We wish her the best.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely, Carol. Gosh, you know, you do think 37, that's so young. Shocking, yes. We wish her absolutely all the best on that recovery and her treatment as well. "Newsweek" now fully retracting the story about desecration of the Quran by U.S. troops. The magazine's Washington bureau chief told us what it is doing to correct those mistakes now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN KLAIDMAN, "NEWSWEEK" WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: What we've done is to lay out in as much detail as we can, as we've learned the facts, what mistakes we made, how we believe we made them. And we will continue to look at our processes, our reporting methods, questions about sourcing. We're going to go back and learn from the mistakes we've made so that we don't repeat them in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash now live at the White House for us.

Dana, good morning to you. Retraction from "Newsweek," is that good enough for the Bush administration?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Soledad, it was, of course, the White House that pushed all day yesterday to get that full retraction. And now what they say here is it is a good first step, but they don't think it's enough.

You know, on Sunday, when "Newsweek" first apologized, the administration, through the State Department, through its embassies, tried to really push that apology out into the Muslim press. Now what officials at the White House are saying is they want "Newsweek's help with that.

They say it is incumbent upon the magazine to even more fully explain how and why they got this story wrong and to help push that explanation out into the Muslim press. That is how officials here say they hope to start repairing some of the damage.

They have said over and over they consider very severe in the region, not only because of the lives lost, they say, because of riots in Afghanistan and elsewhere, but because of the U.S. image, the damage to the U.S. image abroad. But they understand here that it will take a lot of work to undo it, but they do privately understand that perhaps it will be "Newsweek's" -- "Newsweek" will be more powerful than Bush officials simply explaining it. Hearing it from "Newsweek" rather than the White House, certainly they hope would have more of an impact in the region -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's turn now and talk a little bit about the filibuster. We were talking to Senator McCain earlier today. He sort of hinted at maybe a compromise. Any word from the White House on that?

BASH: No, not at all. And it's been very interesting to see how the White House has dealt with this, as it's really bubbled up on Capitol Hill.

These are, of course, the president's judges, but he has been very careful not to comment at all on this publicly. The line has been that this is the Senate's internal business, and that it is up to them to figure it out.

The vice president, because he does have a Senate role, is he the president of the Senate, of course. He has said he supports a change in the rules and he would cast the tie-breaking vote if it came down to that. But the reality, Soledad, is that privately they are a little bit concerned about this, because Democrats have threatened that this could bring all of the Senate business to a grinding halt if they don't come to a compromise, and the White House understands that means that the president's agenda, things like energy reform, Social Security, if it ever got to the floor, and even the president's nominations, other nominations, like, for example, John Bolton for the U.N., that all could be stalled if there isn't a compromise -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House for us. Dana, thanks very much.

Here's what John McCain, in fact, had to say about the filibuster. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: This all started with the Democrats abusing the process by filibustering so many of President Bush's nominees. And that provoked this reaction, and I believe the Democrats, at least the moderate ones, have learned that this filibuster should be used only in extreme cases, and judiciously. So I think what it would do, if it were approved, would cause both sides to back off, and to -- and to work in the way that we worked for the last 200 years.

Soledad, most of our viewers know that the Senate works on an atmosphere of trust and agreement, and it's very easy to shut down the Senate. It was designed that way. That's why we have two houses of Congress.

And -- and so I think what this -- this has brought us to the brink, and if we can step back from it, I think it would improve the atmosphere around here. But as you know, the environment in the country is very bitter and very partisan today, and it certainly is is reflected here on Capitol Hill.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see what happens later today. Let's take a moment to talk about the "Newsweek" story. "Newsweek" now retracting their story after a couple of days of apologies. Do you think it goes far enough, that retraction? The White House says no.

MCCAIN: Well, I think everybody should try to -- I think we should know what it is that caused this and how it happened. I'm glad that "Newsweek" did retract, but I think we should all be aware, particularly the news media, of how volatile the situation is in some parts of the Middle East, particularly in less developed. That most anything that -- that is said or done that touches on the Muslim religion can be exploited by extremists. I'm sure that the story was exploited by religious extremists in the Middle East. And so -- but that doesn't change the fact that we have to have reliable and absolutely accurate stories, particularly on such a volatile issue.

S. O'BRIEN: Obviously in the wake of the riots, people died as a result.

MCCAIN: Yes, absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: It's now acknowledged, of those reports. But do you think there has been significant long-term damage as well as a result?

MCCAIN: I think there's been a lot of things that caused long- term significant damage, including Abu Ghraib, and the stories and pictures surrounding that terrible situation. But we have a war of ideals and ideas, and that is to sell democracy and freedom and tolerance to the world. And stories like these set us back.

S. O'BRIEN: Today you are calling for the release of 408 Moroccan prisoners of war. They're being held by Algerian-backed soldiers. Some of them held, I think the average is something like 17 years. There was a cease-fire that was signed back in '91. Why haven't these men been released?

MCCAIN: They haven't been released because the Polisario, this group that was warring against the Moroccan government for some sort of independence, wants to use them as leverage in continued negotiations. It's a human tragedy, 408 people being held for 25 years.

They're human beings. We should all work for their release. The result, a cease-fire that took place. They should have been released.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: That's Arizona Republican Senator John McCain. He himself, of course, was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five-and-a- half years -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check some wild weather now in the West, where floods, wind and flames taking a heavy toll this morning. Parts of Yosemite closed down.

The warm weather melting an unusually large snow pack there. You remember all that snow over the winter, well now it's causing some serious flooding. Travelers advised to check road conditions before making a visit that way.

A lot of cleaning up to do in Utah, meanwhile. Winds of more than 80 miles an hour cut through the northern part of the state, blowing over trailers, power lines and trees. No injuries, though. At one point, power companies reported about 18,000 without electricity there.

And a huge fire in Arizona burning up a sparsely populated recreation area about 30 miles northeast of Phoenix. Stiff winds there hampering more than 300 firefighters trying to get the 9,500- acre blaze under control. Fire crews hope to have the blaze contained by Friday night, but a lot of that depends on what Chad has to say.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up...

M. O'BRIEN: Would you like me to go? Want me to go?

S. O'BRIEN: Please.

M. O'BRIEN: John Walsh is coming up.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's a hard time name to pronounce. It really is two syllables, John Walsh.

S. O'BRIEN: And I know John Walsh and I've worked with John Walsh.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's a serious subject. Missing children is the subject, and Amber Alerts now in your cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: I know. A name like Soledad, John should be an easy name.

M. O'BRIEN: You would -- you would think.

S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, it seems like everybody's wearing those yellow "Live Strong" bracelets that Lance Armstrong sports there in those pictures. Well, it's also attracting scam artists. We're going to look at what you need to know.

M. O'BRIEN: I hope the kids are listening to this one, because they keep buying those darned things.

All right. Dark secrets from Frank Sinatra's past are now coming out, and it's one of those unauthorized biographies. We'll talk to the authors. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: It has been exactly one year since the launch of those yellow "Live Strong" bracelets. You can't miss them. Lance Armstrong wore won on the winner's podium at the Tour de France.

Well, the bracelets in that one year have raised more than $40 million for cancer research. And the success has spawned copycats, lots and lots of copycats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Daniel Borochoff is the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog group. Nice to see you, Daniel. Thanks for talking with us this morning.

DANIEL BOROCHOFF, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHILANTHROPY: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: You see these bracelets absolutely everywhere, not just the yellow ones, but other colors as well for other charities. Why do you think they catch on and have caught on so well?

BOROCHOFF: Well, people want to publicly identify a cause. It's a little more subtle than wearing a bumper sticker.

S. O'BRIEN: On your forehead certainly. Give me a sense of how much money we're talking about, because of course there's some fraud involved, and that usually means there's lots of money involved, too.

BOROCHOFF: It's really pretty amazing the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the American Institute of Philanthropy gives a B+ grade to, has sold 40 million of these things. They give 100 percent of the purchase price to their cause, whereas other groups may give very little to their cause. So you've really got to -- got to make sure that a good portion of the money actually goes to the charity.

S. O'BRIEN: It's kind of an easy thing to be -- to be duped, frankly, if you want to give to a charity you support. What do you think makes it more easy to dupe people this way than in some other ways?

BOROCHOFF: Well, people -- it's very popular. It's a fad now, it's a craze.

People want them, so a lot of people just don't pay attention. They just buy them, think they're doing good, when they may just be benefiting somebody who is just looking at it as a business and a way to make money. Any time there's a popular profit-making formula, both honest and dishonest people are going to jump on the bandwagon and start -- start taking an opportunity here.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's tell folks how they can separate the good bracelets from the bad bracelets.

First thing you say, find out exactly how much money goes to charity. Just ask? They have to tell you?

BOROCHOFF: Well, that's something you may not want to buy it unless you find out, if you really care and want to help the cause, because it may be nothing. It may be pennies, or it may be all of it.

S. O'BRIEN: How do you find out if the seller is authorized? Which is your second tip.

BOROCHOFF: I would encourage people to go to the Internet, go to the source. It's always better to buy directly from the charity, if you can. If not, see who the authorized vendors are, and then buy only from the authorized vendors. S. O'BRIEN: In fact, that's your next piece of advice, buy direct on the Internet. What -- do most charities have an international portal, a Web site where you can go and purchase things?

BOROCHOFF: A number of them do. Most of the major ones do.

Also, see that they have an official license. You know, royalty agreement. If they don't, that's a good sign that there's not a relationship with the charity and the person may just be pocketing the money.

S. O'BRIEN: And I guess your final piece of advice is, know some of the facts behind the bracelet. For example, the fraud that we've seen in the Lance Armstrong bracelets, some people were paying some serious bucks for what's a $1 bracelet, right? That should have been a tip.

BOROCHOFF: Right. Yes, go to the source, find out what it actually costs, because if you're paying any more, them it's not going to help to the charity.

S. O'BRIEN: It only costs a buck, they only come in yellow, and there's only four official vendors where you can buy it.

Daniel Borochoff is the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. Hopefully this fraud won't stop folks from giving to good causes.

Thanks for talking with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. I hope the kids were listening.

A mystery man is baffling British investigators. He speaks only through the piano. The amazing story is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Right to Jack with the "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you.

Showdown looming possibly as early as tomorrow on the so-called nuclear option for ending Senate filibusters on judicial nominees. Negotiations between Bill Frist and Harry Reid collapsed yesterday. Tomorrow, Senator Frist could introduce two new names of prospective judges, and that could force the potential change in the rules.

The number of votes required to end the filibuster currently stands at 60. The Republicans want to bring it down to 51 in order to get these judicial nominees through the Senate.

Do you think that's a good idea is kind of what we're asking this morning. Jim in Arizona writes, "The Senate should be careful not to upset years of tradition over a handful of nominees. It's a game of chicken in which no one will win. We're talking less than 10 out of a total of more than 200 the president has sent to the Senate."

Steve in Wisconsin, "Apparently the media and some members of Congress have forgotten about the judicial nominations that were blocked by the Republicans during the Clinton nomination."

Cecil in Arkansas, "I believe the filibuster has to be retained as a tool for the minority party regardless of which one is in power. Without the filibuster the minority has no tools to be heard or to react."

And Jerry in Georgia writes, "Yes, the filibuster should be ended. The drafters of our Constitution never foresaw the potential for the ignorance and arrogance of politicians in trying to force their own agendas."

S. O'BRIEN: It was interesting talking to Senator McCain earlier, and he talked about the nuclear option, you know, blowing up essentially the filibuster. His concern seems to be the slippery slope, that maybe it just won't be for judicial nominees but you could -- you know, someone else in the next administration, whatever that is, maybe it's Democrats, could say well, now we'll do it for this, now we'll do it for that, and start chipping away at all the...

CAFFERTY: Serious consequences potentially for both parties depending on what they decide to do.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Interesting. We'll see if they come to a compromise. Thanks, Jack.

In London, investigators have few clues to the identity of a man who turned up on a beach, unable or unwilling to speak a word. They do know, though, that he plays the piano like a master. Details of this baffling mystery now from CNN's Max Foster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was found by the sea, in good health, but without a voice. The piano man, as he's become known, cowers in a corner when approached. His social worker says he's apparently traumatized by something in his past.

Two police officers discovered him on this beach in southeast England just after midnight one night last month. He was smartly dressed in a dark suit and tie but was soaked to the skin. The police drove him to a nearby hospital. When he got there, he drew a picture of a piano, which gave the social worker an idea.

MICHAEL CAMP, SOCIAL WORKER: We took him to the chapel in the local hospital, and as soon as he saw the piano, really, he went over to it and began playing. It was -- there was no music or anything on the piano at the time, so it was obviously something that he knew. Later, we -- we've -- obviously since we know he's gotten a talent there, we've given him pieces of music, and he certainly can read that music because he kind of follows it with his finger as he goes.

FOSTER: His case is being compared to that of the acclaimed pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a nervous breakdown whilst playing, a story told in the film "Shine." A help line set up to identify the piano man is being inundated with calls.

KAREN DOREY-REES, HOSPITAL MANAGER: We haven't been able to get any information regarding where he comes from. His clothing, there are no labels in the clothing. The police as well are certainly in the dark and haven't been able to get any information like that. So there are no clues on his -- on his person as to where he comes from, even if he comes from this country.

FOSTER: So, unless someone recognizes this face, the name of this talented pianist will remain a secret until he, himself, reveals it.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Due to extensive media coverage in the United Kingdom, the National Missing Persons' help line Web site also reports it's been overwhelmed by hundreds of e-mails. They point out, though, they still have not yet gotten the man's identity.

John Walsh, the host of "America's Most Wanted," is going to join us in a little bit to talk about that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll do that in a moment. But first, let's head down to Fort Lauderdale, the skies over Fort Lauderdale, more specifically.

Live pictures now coming to us through our affiliate WPLG out of Miami. That's a Beechcraft King Air 200 licensed to a company called Woricon Inc (ph) out of the Bahamas. And this particular airplane does not appear to have landing gear, its main landing gear -- that's the two that are underneath each wing -- down and locked.

And so this airplane has been flying over the airport several times so far, giving controllers in the control tower an opportunity to get a close look at that landing gear to confirm what the pilots are seeing, which is they do not have two green lights on their main landing gear. That nose gear appears to be OK, but the two that are just beneath the engines, those turbine engines on the Beechcraft, are not down and locked apparently from what we just saw a moment ago.

So what they'll do is they'll fly around and burn off a little bit of fuel. And one of the things they do in these situations, Soledad, is they do a little bit of cranking. There's a hand crank mechanism...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, to get it down?

M. O'BRIEN: ... to try to get it down. And they're making another pass right now. I would put this in the category of low passes. I don't think they're coming in just yet.

We'll watch it closely. And we're showing it to you on a five- second delay, just so you know.

See, and look at...

S. O'BRIEN: That's not landing gear under...

M. O'BRIEN: It is, but look at how it's kind of forward. Do you see that? It's not completely perpendicular to the airplane, it's not completely down. So...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see.

M. O'BRIEN: ... they tried to get the landing gear down. Something failed along the way. And what they're trying to do now is crank it down. It might be locked, and that could be a problem. So then they're going to be faced with the question of, what do you do then?

S. O'BRIEN: How fast are they going there?

M. O'BRIEN: Jeez, right now as he jerks it up, he's probably trying to give them a look at it or jerk it down there, really more accurately. You see, if you give it a pull, maybe that will knock the gear down in place and put it in the lock position.

I'd say right now about 120 miles an hour, in that neighborhood, maybe a little bit faster. It doesn't look like he has his flaps down, so he might be going a little faster than that as he makes his low pass.

Now, it's hard to predict how much fuel he has, whether he began his journey in the Bahamas. That's obviously a very short flight to Fort Lauderdale. So difficult to say how much fuel he has. But part of the thinking here is you -- you fly around until you have a lot less fuel to contend with here. So...

S. O'BRIEN: As a pilot, do they train you -- I mean, obviously you don't want to do practice landings without your landing gear ever, but at some point you think this cannot be a completely unheard of problem for a small plane. How do you -- how do you prepare or practice for circumstances like this?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, what you -- you practice, of course, the whole notion of lowering the gear manually. As a matter of fact, I had a plane, kind of a little cousin of this, a Beechcraft Bonanza, where we'd go out and we'd actually, you know, sort of fail the gear and crank it down and count how many cranks it would take and so forth.

So a good pilot would go through all of that. Obviously, you don't want to practice the actual belly landing. Belly landings happen all the time. You know, there's a saying that when you have an airplane with retractable gear, either you've had a belly landing or you're about to have one eventually, because pilots, as a matter of course, generally aviation pilots, tend to forget this.

Now, there's all kinds of fail-safe mechanisms on this plane to avoid inadvertently doing this, but what you have right now is a situation where something failed obviously in that system, which brings the gear down. It's a hydraulic system, so anything can happen, gears can lock that, that kind of thing.

S. O'BRIEN: How slow can you do the approach? I mean, how slow could you possibly get to go? Because the goal would be to slow down as much as possible and then bring it in and then essentially slide in on the belly if your landing gear is not going to come down.

M. O'BRIEN: Right. Yes, I don't -- I can look up the numbers here in just a moment on the Beechcraft...

S. O'BRIEN: Because 120 miles an hour seems really fast.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's -- I'm sure they can get it a little slower once they put the flaps down, which allow you to fly the plane in a slower manner. So when they actually come down for the landing, I'm sure they can get it below 100 miles an hour.

And -- but still, that's a lot of scraping on the runway. So what you want to do, you want to find a nice, long runway, and you want to -- as you come down, you want to kill the power on the airplane, cut off all the electrical systems, sort of reduce the possibility of a fire occurring as a result.

S. O'BRIEN: So as he's doing these fly-overs, because he seems to be coming actually quite low to the -- to the ground there, he's doing that so that people on the grown can take a look and maybe view for him what he can't see, which is what's stuck in the landing gear or what's holding the landing gear up?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, exactly. There are people in the tower with binoculars trained on that right now. And as he makes that low pass, they're trying to see if there's anything they can see obvious. I mean, it's quite obvious without binoculars, that the landing gear -- you can see the way they're kind of tilted forward, that they're not in the ready position.

Chad Myers is watching this for us, as well. Chad, what do you know?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Miles, I've got winds there at Ft. Lauderdale out of the East, 090, at about 13 miles per hour. Now the good news with that is that there is a 9L, a runaway 9 Left, at 9,000 feet long. If he can fly into that headwind, he can actually slow his approach by that speed and still be airborne. So he does have a very long runway and very good wind to go with.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's funny, in the movies, they talk about, you know, foaming the runways and all that. They really don't do that, because it's difficult to predict exactly where the plane's going to land and stop and so forth.

S. O'BRIEN: What will they do? I mean, obviously stopping all traffic into the airport until this guy can get down, or this woman can get down. But what else do they do to try to ease the landing? I mean, it just seems...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, there's not a lot you can do except get the trucks out there and get them ready. So if something did spark a fire, as it scrapes down that runway, if that's what, in fact, happens that they could, you know, put it out quickly.

S. O'BRIEN: How many people does this plane carry, do you know?

M. O'BRIEN: This would be on the order of eight passengers roughly. There's versions of this and stretch versions. I haven't had a chance to get the specifics on it, but it's a Beechcraft 200 King Air, which puts it in the eight-passenger realm. Let's listen to WPLG for just a moment. The helicopter pilot there, I think, is doing a report right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, WPLG: The problem right now are the two wing wheels as the plane is still attempting, over the ocean, east of Pompano Beach (ph), trying to get those wheels down. So that's the story right now, Mark (ph). We'll be following this situation. Ft. Lauderdale fire department has been alerted. They're on stand-by. And when the pilot does decide this is the moment to come in, he's going to sign from runway eight here at Executive Airport.

M. O'BRIEN: And that came from reporter on the scene there, I'm sorry I don't know his name, with WPLG out of Miami. Just to set the scene if you're just tuning in, this is Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. And what we have there is a Beechcraft (ph) twin engine turbine aircraft, registered in the Bahamas, a company called Worocon (ph). Presumably this flight might have began this morning in the Bahamas and for whatever reason on approach to the United States. the pilot realized that he didn't get the green lights you want to get with your landing gear, indicating that they're down and in locked position.

And if you -- OK, this is Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. I was -- there was some confusion about that earlier. Ft. Lauderale, there are two airports, Ft. Lauderdale International and Ft. Lauderdale Executive. OK, this is at executive.

S. O'BRIEN: Meaning it's a small, private...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, in the category of small airfields, this is a pretty big one. I can get you -- I will get the numbers on the runways and so forth.

S. O'BRIEN: But this is where all the private jets would essentially land, next to the International Airport, who it's part of. But now, meaning, are they close? Can they use the longer runway. Does that belong to the International Airport or do they have their own long runway? Because that's going to be a critical factor here. You want as much runway as possible if you're going to be belly- flopping.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And the other thing you want, you want to make sure that you have, you know, the proper capabilities for, you know, they call them crash trucks.

S. O'BRIEN: Any emergency vehicle that's going to help out.

M. O'BRIEN: Emergency vehicles to help out. And Ft. Lauderdale Executive is a pretty big airport, as, you know, feeder airports go. They've got a couple of runways there. One is 6,000 feet and that is plenty. The other one is 4,000 feet. Apparently they're going to stick with that. Of course, if it's a belly landing, you're not going to be going that far, if that's how this turns out. Now, you know, the question that the pilot would ask, the FAA would ask in this situation, is do you have the appropriate facilities and capabilities there to handle something, as a plane comes in like this. And apparently they've made that decision.

S. O'BRIEN: We probably should reset the scene for folks who are just joining us, because it looks like we're watching a little sort of spec in the middle of a very cloudy day. But we are taking coverage from our affiliate WPLG. This is Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport and there's a small aircraft that looks like it's having some trouble making a landing. They've done a couple of passes over the airport. It looks pretty clear the landing gear is not coming down fully into place. We can see it's sort of partly down. And at this time, it looks as if the pilot in those upper passes trying to get folks on the ground to take a look at what the problems might be as they assess what they're going to do to bring this small plane down.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, and Chad is with us. Chad, did you have a question?

MYERS: Miles, I have a question for you. You're a pilot. You got FXE, the Executive Airport there, the runway 6,000 feet long, 100 feet wide. Or you've got FLL, big Ft. Lauderdale Airport, 8,000 feet long, 150 feet wide. Wouldn't you try to get this over to FLL to have a better runway, a longer runway and at least a wider shot at it, as well?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, in a word, yes. I might request that if I was in that situation and if I had come to the conclusion that a belly landing was likely. That might be something that eventually could happen. Right now, they're probably still in the troubleshooting phase, trying to get that landing gear down. They're hoping this ends up as just a normal landing with having hand-cranked down that gear. We have on the phone a public information officer with the city of Ft. Lauderdale.

S. O'BRIEN: Chaz Adams, in fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Chaz Adams. Chaz, are you there?

CHAZ ADAMS, PIO, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL.: Yes, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, what can you tell us about the plane? ADAMS: Well, basically, it's a king air twin-engine turbo prop plane, which is a dual engine plane. It left Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport at approximately 6:30 a.m. this morning. It was headed toward the Caribbean. At some point during that flight, it experienced problems and turned around and headed back to Executive Airport. And since about 8:45 this morning, it has been circling in an attempt to get its landing gear problems corrected.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, so it's on its way to some destination, the Caribbean, and en route, they realized they had some sort of problem?

ADAMS: That is correct, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, do you know, was it an electrical failure of some kind?

ADAMS: At this point, we don't know that.

M. O'BRIEN: Or hydraulic failure for that matter?

ADAMS: No, we're assuming that it was obviously the landing gear, since that's the problem they're having right now, but I don't have confirmation on that at this point.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, but of course, in the middle of your flight, you wouldn't necessarily know about the landing gear. There must have been something else going on. Tell us about the choice of airports here. We were just been talking about the fact that the Executive Airport has a 6,000-foot runway. Longer and wider facilities at the nearby Ft. Lauderdale International. Do you know anything about the decision-making process as to where he will ultimately land?

ADAMS: I do not, sir. I'm assuming that would probably be a decision that the FAA would have to make. And the reason that it went back to Executive Airport is because that's where it originally took off from.

M. O'BRIEN: I see. And as far as the capability there, with the emergency vehicles and so forth at Executive Airport, is that pretty much -- I'm sorry?

ADAMS: Yes, the folks up at the Executive Airport, I just got off the phone with them minutes ago. All of their emergency vehicles are standing by, and they're fully prepared to address whatever type of landing ends up taking place.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Chaz, as you mentioned just a moment ago, that they've been circling since about 8:45, which gives us about an hour that they've been circling to try to fix their landing gear problems, have they dumped the fuel? Did we see that?

ADAMS: I do not know that. The one thing that I do know, though is that at last report, the plane had said that they have about three hours of fuel. So they do have adequate fuel to continue to try to correct the situation.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you any information about who's on board this flight?

ADAMS: I do not know. The only thing I do know is that there's seven total people on board, but in terms of identities and things like that, no information on that.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, Chaz, you said the plane left at 6:30. It left with how much fuel or it currently has three hours of fuel, is that right?

ADAMS: Correct, it currently has about three hours of fuel. I do not know how much it left with.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, all right, so I think with that little piece of knowledge, we know one thing. Nothing's going to happen very soon here. They're probably spending a lot of time burning off fuel, trying to troubleshoot this problem before they commit to any sort of belly landing at Ft. Lauderdale Executive or wherever that may be the case, as you just heard from Chaz Adams, public information officer there. The facilities are capable and the emergency vehicles are there at Ft. Lauderdale Executive to handle this kind of thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Do we know that they dumped the fuel? He said he wasn't sure. Do we see, as we started monitoring this, do we see them dump the fuel? Because I would wonder, how much time does that, then, give you? I mean, on the upside, as a strategy, it would keep any kind of explosions minimalized. On the downside, you lose the ability to continue to circle and work out your issues.

M. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: How does a pilot make a decision what route to take?

M. O'BRIEN: A pilot in this predicament wants fuel. It's not going to hurt you to be up there and burn it off the old-fashioned way and try troubleshoot the problem. Dumping fuel, I'm pretty sure the Beechcraft King Air 200, I don't think it has the capability of dumping fuel. But even if it did, you wouldn't want to do that in this case. You'd just as soon fly around and burn it off and while you're doing that, you come up with, hopefully, a solution to your problem. So that's clearly what's going on right now.

This particular aircraft -- as we said, we were talking about some of the speeds. I was trying to get some of the official numbers for you on how fast it could come in. But you notice the way that, you know, it's got the big twin turbine engine propellers there, and that obviously, as you come in for a belly landing, that can cause a real problem. So you want to -- as you come in, you want to kill the power...

S. O'BRIEN: So you glide in to -- as much as you possibly could.

M. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: But of course we're jumping ahead of things a little bit because there's been no decision on any kind of belly landing. It looks like they are still trying to work out whatever landing-gear issues they have. You can see the photographer here from our affiliate WPLG, which is taking this coverage for us, is looking for that plane in the sky as they continue to circle around the executive airport.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, the stall speed is 74 knots, so and that's with flaps, 74 knots at about 10 percent to come up with the miles per hour, so about, you know, in the 80-mile-an-hour range.

S. O'BRIEN: That's how slow they could go.

M. O'BRIEN: That's as slow as they can go without falling out of the sky. So, ultimately, whenever they start landing, they will slow it down to that point; with or without gear, they will do that.

So we're going to watch it closely. Obviously there's going to be a lot of troubleshooting going on over at Ft. Lauderdale Executive, and we'll keep you posted.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and they'll keep circling, trying to figure out what to do.

All right, let's get to the headlines and Carol Costello is watching those for us while we monitor this story.

COSTELLO: Right, and if anything happens, we'll go right back to Florida.

But now in the news, "Newsweek's" Washington bureau chief says the magazine feels terrible about the role it played in sparking violence overseas. A report alleging U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran has been blamed for massive anti-American riots in Afghanistan, that left at least four people dead. The magazine has retracted the story now, but the White House says more has to be done to reverse the damage.

Officials in Afghanistan are working to find and free a kidnapped aide worker. Officials say the woman was seized in Kabul on Monday night. She works for the international aid agency CARE, providing assistance to Afghan widows and their children. Dozens of those women turned out earlier today in Kabul to show support for this kidnapped aide worker.

Atlanta courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols is set to appear at an arraignment hearing in the next hour. Nichols is accused in the deaths of four people following a shooting rampage in March. He's expected to enter a plea in the murders, as well as carjacking, kidnapping and armed-robbery charges.

And imagine owning one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses, or her divorce papers from baseball player Joe DiMaggio. These are just some of the items going on the block at a New York auction house next month. One of the most coveted items up for sale is a painting Monroe made and signed for president John F. Kennedy. The auction is expected to bring in more than half-a-million dollars. And by the way, we'll have much more on this and we'll actually be able to show you more of the items on "DAYBREAK" tomorrow morning in our 6:00 a.m. Eastern hour.

S. O'BRIEN: The dress? Yes. Her divorce papers? Kind of cool to have Marilyn Monroe's dress.

COSTELLO: Well, the divorce papers, you know, signed by Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. I'm a Marilyn Monroe freak!

S. O'BRIEN: The dress, the dress.

M. O'BRIEN: Is this the dress on the grate? That is the dress.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the dress. It is the halter dress.

COSTELLO: I want to know what size it is, because everybody said she was a size eight. I always wondered if that was really true.

S. O'BRIEN: We all know sizes are very flexible.

COSTELLO: Exactly. But I'd die to know what size it is. So maybe we'll find out on "DAYBREAK."

M. O'BRIEN: Inquiring minds wish to know.

All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, we're going talk to John Walsh. The Amber Alert system, which unfortunately, we've become very familiar with over the past few months is now taking it to the next step. It's going wireless, and we'll explain how that will work for you and hopefully help out some kids in trouble in the future.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A story developing for you this morning in Idaho. Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for two missing children, after three people were found killed in their home. The bodies were discovered on Monday in Couer D'Alene. The two missing children live at home with their mother, but it is unclear whether she was one of the victims. The children are 9-year-old Dylan Groehne (ph) and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta. Another Amber Alert to tell you about. We're sorry about that.

You may have seen those Amber Alert signs. You certainly are familiar with it by now on the nation's freeways. They're there. The Amber Alert is taking another leap in technology. More than 180 million customers now have the capability to receive those alerts through their wireless providers on their text-capable cell phones.

John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," cofounder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children joins us from Washington to explain how it all works.

John, good to have you back with us.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Good to be back here on especially a wonderful day like today.

M. O'BRIEN: Good day and a good cause that brings you there, and course on this sobering note, we have an Amber Alert, two more children missing this morning. How do you think having the wireless component to the Amber Alerts will help?

WALSH: Oh, it's crucial. It's just a glorious addition to the search to find missing children. The Amber Alert started back in Texas in 1997, when a little girl named Amber Haggerman was found murdered. She was kidnapped right off of her front yard, found murdered. Her case has never been solved. We put that case on "America's Most Wanted," and a radio station, a local radio station and TV station there said, hey, let's put out the word out on this little girl. Isn't time crucial, Mr. Walsh? I said yes, time is absolutely crucial. The Justice Department says that in the case of a stranger abducted child, the child taken by a non-family member, that child is dead within four hours, so time is absolutely of the essence.

So we started working on a national Amber Alert. We went state to state. We talked to national legislators, and then Nextel got into the battle. Tim Donahue...

WALSH: Yes?

M. O'BRIEN: John, can I just put you on hold for just a moment. I apologize, but this plane we've been telling everybody about is about to land. You just stay right there. We'll get right back to you.

And my apologize to the viewers and to John, but we want to -- since we brought this to you we wanted to show you this Beechcraft King Air 200. Look at the landing gear now. Notice how those wheels beside the engines on the wing, the main landing gear, they call them, are down and straight down, perpendicular as they should be. The pilot, obviously, got green lights, making him feel good about it. I suspect he did quite a bit of cranking, he or she, and down they come to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. And what this should be, should be a -- well, that's a landing that you can be proud of, and he did it for millions.

All right, congratulations to them. We're glad that one ended OK.

John Walsh, let's get back to you. It's this whole notion of taking it to wireless devices. It's real simple. I've got the Web site up here. And all you do is go to wirelessamberalerts.com. Is that correct? that's the site?

WALSH: Absolutely. It's put a whole new dimension on the fight for looking children -- looking for missing children.

M. O'BRIEN: It took me only 60 seconds to sign it up. I'll show you. I did it. And what's interesting here, look what I did. I put in all the zip codes where I am most likely to be, and that's important, because what that does is you don't get Amber Alerts from Couer D'Alene, for example, if you're in Atlanta. So if people have concerns about getting this text messages incessantly, it's really specific to your location, isn't it?

WALSH: Absolutely. We don't want to burn people out. We don't want those Amber Alerts to become blase and passe, and somebody shoots them off, like when you get too many messages, you shut your phone off. These are for children that go missing in your area. Tom Donahue, the head of Nextel, has brought all these Nextel -- all these wireless companies together with Steve Largent, who runs the Wireless Association. Last year, when we got the child protect bill passed in the Rose Garden, and President Bush signed it, he asked and hoped that now that we have them on highways, we have them on television, couldn't we get them on people's cell phones. And now the cell phone carriers are here today. Yes, they are brutal competitors out in the market every day, but it makes my heart warm to say we're here today.

You will get your Amber Alert for free. And I want to mention it again. You've got to sign up with your wireless carrier, but you'll get it for free and it will only be regional. And can't you imagine, you're driving down the highway, you look to open your phone to see if you make a phone call to your loved one and there's somebody else's loved one's picture on that phone. You see that car go by, you see that tag and you call in to police and you save a child's life. That's technology that works good for children.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, John Walsh. It took me about 60 seconds to do it this morning. I encourage everybody with a text-enabled cell phone or a Blackberry to do this. Why not? It could help save a child's life someday. And the way it's set up, as I say, it's not like you're going to be besieged with every Amber Alert that occurs.

John Walsh, good luck today at the ceremony and the announcement. Appreciate it.

WALSH: Good day today.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, take care -- Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: It's terrible that we're talking about besieged with every Amber Alert. Somebody's missing and...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it is. It is sad, isn't it? But this is, you know, I didn't get a chance to ask him, but in the case of the loss of his son Adam in 1981, there was no Amber Alerts, no capabilities, no way of getting word out quickly.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and the technology could have really helped, which, of course, is what everybody wants to do. They want to make a difference, maybe save a couple of kids.

Let the games begin. Before you go out and get Microsoft's brand new Xbox, you better wait for Andy Serwer to tell you what's new in Sony's Playstation 3. It hit the markets this week. And that story's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. There's a new Xbox game out there, and if you have a son about 12, as I do, you know all about this now. I'm getting worked over real big on that one. Andy, is that why you're here, to talk about Xbox, games you like?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'm going to talk about that, I'm going to talk about the markets. We're going to talk about all manner of things, Miles. Let's start off in the markets. A little bit of a breather this morning, naturally, after yesterday's big gain. The Dow down 12 points. Home Depot, Miles, was inquiring about that earlier this morning. The stock is up, reporting some good earnings.

Time Warner unchanged, actively traded, though. And there's a story in the latest issue of "Fortune" Magazine, where I work. Time Warner, parent company of CNN. Dick Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, in this "Fortune" article, said he would consider spinning off AOL if the business strategy does not work for this company. Of course, AOL and Time Warner merged in 2001.

Yes, there is big news in the gaming industry this year. Basically, what's happening, the three platforms, of course, Xbox from Microsoft, the Playstation from Sony, Nintendo, all coming out with new models. Last week we talked about you about the new Xbox. Yesterday Sony unveiled the new Playstation, the PS3. And basically, this has got all sorts of bells and whistles. Movie-quality images on the screen. That's the one biggie there, but also will play digital music, DVDs.

They call these devices now the trojan horse to get into your living room, and then, of course, you'll buy all sorts of services and products that are linked to the parent companies, Microsoft in the case of the Xbox and Sony in the case of the Playstation. This one won't be out until next spring -- and Nintendo's new Revolution. That's what they're calling their new machine, will be debuting next week, so stay tuned next week. We'll be talking about that.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Andy, it's amazing how the 12-year-olds pick up on those selling points. Because he said to me, oh, you can put your pictures on it, Dad, you can put the music on there. Oh, and then I get this little game.

SERWER: We could have him come on to talk about it, probably.

M. O'BRIEN: He'd be a good spokesperson for...

SERWER: That's better than me, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... for the Xbox generation.

S. O'BRIEN: Staking out space in your home, figure out what's going to happen next.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You guys, thanks.

The nuclear option. It's what Senator John McCain was talking about this morning. That's "The Question of the Day." CAFFERTY: Right. Should the Senate end the filibuster for judicial nominees? The answer to that question may come whether we like it, tomorrow -- whether we like it or not, starting tomorrow.

Some of the answers we've gotten. Jim in Texas writes: "No, the appointment of right-wing ideologues to the federal bench is the key to the radical rights agenda to turn America into a police state."

Doug in New Jersey writes: "The Senate filibuster for judicial nominees is the last line of defense against cronyism and the placement of special interest discrimination into the courts. It must be preserved."

And Marilyn writes from Colorado: "I'm not ready for any more Democratic shenanigans. What happened to the phrase, let's roll? Congress gets paid regardless of what happens to their workload and I'm tired of sending money to Washington to pay for their nonsense."

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting to see what happens.

CAFFERTY: Join the club, darling.

S. O'BRIEN: Senator McCain seems very, eh. I mean, he didn't sound confident, he didn't quite sound not confident, but kind of kind of middle of the road on it.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and if they can't come up with some sort of compromise, what happens? The whole thing gums up, right? Because the Democrats -- well, there will be no unanimous consent. Nothing will happen in Washington.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, they could end up going for the nuclear option, which ends up, you know -- I think certainly for judicial court nominees, would make it an up/down vote. And there would be no filibuster for it and that could sort of start that whole -- what do they call it? -- the slippery slope question.

SERWER: Yes. That's interesting that filibusters have been so controversial for so many decades, really, now. On and on. It was a tool of the Republicans, then the tool of the Democrats. It's just interesting to watch this.

S. O'BRIEN: And whoever's complaining, it just...

SERWER: Right, it's the other side's fault.

S. O'BRIEN: Whoever's the administration. It just switches sides, is kind of how it works.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting, though, how is takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, but only a simple majority to change the rules.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And that may change.

SERWER: A contradiction there.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a contradiction, isn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: One of many.

CAFFERTY: Maybe they'll filibuster the proposed rules.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: This gets confusing.

S. O'BRIEN: It does. But guess what? We're out of time, so we can no longer filibuster about it this morning. That's it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's over at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on CNN LIVE TODAY. Good morning.

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 May 17, 2005 - 8:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: "Newsweek" magazine retracts a report that sparked riots in Afghanistan. Is that good enough? The reaction at the White House is straight ahead.
Can a compromise be delivered in the Senate to prevent a showdown over the filibuster? Senator John McCain weighs in.

And the mystery man found in England who spoke through a piano. His incredible story is ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Bill Hemmer's got the day off. Miles O'Brien helping us out today.

So thank you very much for that.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be here. We're going to talk about those charity bracelets. You know, those...

S. O'BRIEN: The little plastic ones.

M. O'BRIEN: ... Live Strong derivatives. My kids have about 10 of them on their wrists now.

S. O'BRIEN: Buck a piece.

M. O'BRIEN: Buck a piece, you know. And some for a good cause, some not. Some are just for-profit. Well, anyway, we're going to tell you a little bit about them and more.

S. O'BRIEN: And some fraud going out there on -- with those as well.

M. O'BRIEN: A little bit of that. A little bit of that.

S. O'BRIEN: Jack Cafferty's got the "Question of the Day," which involves the filibuster.

Good morning.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The showdown could come as early as tomorrow, Soledad, in the Senate over the filibuster rules that are currently being used to block judicial nominees. Bill Frist and Harry Reid tried to work this thing out behind closed doors and walked out of the place agreeing to disagree yesterday.

The question this morning is whether or not you think that the filibuster rules should be altered in order to enable a quicker up-or- down vote on judicial nominees. AM@CNN.com.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll take e-mails on that ahead. Thank you.

Let's get right to the headlines first, though, with Carol Costello.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News," President Bush is hosting former South African president Nelson Mandela at the White House this hour. Mandela is calling on industrialized nations to give more aid to Africa.

He will deliver that message in person to President Bush. The two will also discuss the fight against HIV and AIDS. It is their first direct meeting in more than two years. Mandela has been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq.

Sentencing begins next hour for an Army reservist convicted of abuse in the Abu Ghraib to prison scandal. A military jury convicted Specialist Sabrina Harman on all but one of the seven charges against her. She could face up to five-and-a-half years in prison.

And voters in Los Angeles getting ready to pick the next mayor of Los Angeles. It seems like this has been going on forever, doesn't it?

The election is a rematch for incumbent mayor, James Hahn, and the rival he defeated four years ago. But this time, Antonio Villaraigosa is expected to win. If that is the case, he will be L.A.'s first Hispanic mayor in more than a century.

And Australian singer Kylie Minogue is postponing her tour due to breast cancer. The 37-year-old Minogue is set to undergo immediate treatment. She was apparently diagnosed this week. Her publicist has apologized to Minogue's fans and says she looks forward to being back on the road very soon.

This story, by the way, is one of the most popular stories right now on CNN.com.

Wow, 37 years old. We wish her the best.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely, Carol. Gosh, you know, you do think 37, that's so young. Shocking, yes. We wish her absolutely all the best on that recovery and her treatment as well. "Newsweek" now fully retracting the story about desecration of the Quran by U.S. troops. The magazine's Washington bureau chief told us what it is doing to correct those mistakes now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN KLAIDMAN, "NEWSWEEK" WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: What we've done is to lay out in as much detail as we can, as we've learned the facts, what mistakes we made, how we believe we made them. And we will continue to look at our processes, our reporting methods, questions about sourcing. We're going to go back and learn from the mistakes we've made so that we don't repeat them in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash now live at the White House for us.

Dana, good morning to you. Retraction from "Newsweek," is that good enough for the Bush administration?

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Soledad, it was, of course, the White House that pushed all day yesterday to get that full retraction. And now what they say here is it is a good first step, but they don't think it's enough.

You know, on Sunday, when "Newsweek" first apologized, the administration, through the State Department, through its embassies, tried to really push that apology out into the Muslim press. Now what officials at the White House are saying is they want "Newsweek's help with that.

They say it is incumbent upon the magazine to even more fully explain how and why they got this story wrong and to help push that explanation out into the Muslim press. That is how officials here say they hope to start repairing some of the damage.

They have said over and over they consider very severe in the region, not only because of the lives lost, they say, because of riots in Afghanistan and elsewhere, but because of the U.S. image, the damage to the U.S. image abroad. But they understand here that it will take a lot of work to undo it, but they do privately understand that perhaps it will be "Newsweek's" -- "Newsweek" will be more powerful than Bush officials simply explaining it. Hearing it from "Newsweek" rather than the White House, certainly they hope would have more of an impact in the region -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's turn now and talk a little bit about the filibuster. We were talking to Senator McCain earlier today. He sort of hinted at maybe a compromise. Any word from the White House on that?

BASH: No, not at all. And it's been very interesting to see how the White House has dealt with this, as it's really bubbled up on Capitol Hill.

These are, of course, the president's judges, but he has been very careful not to comment at all on this publicly. The line has been that this is the Senate's internal business, and that it is up to them to figure it out.

The vice president, because he does have a Senate role, is he the president of the Senate, of course. He has said he supports a change in the rules and he would cast the tie-breaking vote if it came down to that. But the reality, Soledad, is that privately they are a little bit concerned about this, because Democrats have threatened that this could bring all of the Senate business to a grinding halt if they don't come to a compromise, and the White House understands that means that the president's agenda, things like energy reform, Social Security, if it ever got to the floor, and even the president's nominations, other nominations, like, for example, John Bolton for the U.N., that all could be stalled if there isn't a compromise -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House for us. Dana, thanks very much.

Here's what John McCain, in fact, had to say about the filibuster. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: This all started with the Democrats abusing the process by filibustering so many of President Bush's nominees. And that provoked this reaction, and I believe the Democrats, at least the moderate ones, have learned that this filibuster should be used only in extreme cases, and judiciously. So I think what it would do, if it were approved, would cause both sides to back off, and to -- and to work in the way that we worked for the last 200 years.

Soledad, most of our viewers know that the Senate works on an atmosphere of trust and agreement, and it's very easy to shut down the Senate. It was designed that way. That's why we have two houses of Congress.

And -- and so I think what this -- this has brought us to the brink, and if we can step back from it, I think it would improve the atmosphere around here. But as you know, the environment in the country is very bitter and very partisan today, and it certainly is is reflected here on Capitol Hill.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see what happens later today. Let's take a moment to talk about the "Newsweek" story. "Newsweek" now retracting their story after a couple of days of apologies. Do you think it goes far enough, that retraction? The White House says no.

MCCAIN: Well, I think everybody should try to -- I think we should know what it is that caused this and how it happened. I'm glad that "Newsweek" did retract, but I think we should all be aware, particularly the news media, of how volatile the situation is in some parts of the Middle East, particularly in less developed. That most anything that -- that is said or done that touches on the Muslim religion can be exploited by extremists. I'm sure that the story was exploited by religious extremists in the Middle East. And so -- but that doesn't change the fact that we have to have reliable and absolutely accurate stories, particularly on such a volatile issue.

S. O'BRIEN: Obviously in the wake of the riots, people died as a result.

MCCAIN: Yes, absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: It's now acknowledged, of those reports. But do you think there has been significant long-term damage as well as a result?

MCCAIN: I think there's been a lot of things that caused long- term significant damage, including Abu Ghraib, and the stories and pictures surrounding that terrible situation. But we have a war of ideals and ideas, and that is to sell democracy and freedom and tolerance to the world. And stories like these set us back.

S. O'BRIEN: Today you are calling for the release of 408 Moroccan prisoners of war. They're being held by Algerian-backed soldiers. Some of them held, I think the average is something like 17 years. There was a cease-fire that was signed back in '91. Why haven't these men been released?

MCCAIN: They haven't been released because the Polisario, this group that was warring against the Moroccan government for some sort of independence, wants to use them as leverage in continued negotiations. It's a human tragedy, 408 people being held for 25 years.

They're human beings. We should all work for their release. The result, a cease-fire that took place. They should have been released.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: That's Arizona Republican Senator John McCain. He himself, of course, was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for five-and-a- half years -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check some wild weather now in the West, where floods, wind and flames taking a heavy toll this morning. Parts of Yosemite closed down.

The warm weather melting an unusually large snow pack there. You remember all that snow over the winter, well now it's causing some serious flooding. Travelers advised to check road conditions before making a visit that way.

A lot of cleaning up to do in Utah, meanwhile. Winds of more than 80 miles an hour cut through the northern part of the state, blowing over trailers, power lines and trees. No injuries, though. At one point, power companies reported about 18,000 without electricity there.

And a huge fire in Arizona burning up a sparsely populated recreation area about 30 miles northeast of Phoenix. Stiff winds there hampering more than 300 firefighters trying to get the 9,500- acre blaze under control. Fire crews hope to have the blaze contained by Friday night, but a lot of that depends on what Chad has to say.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up...

M. O'BRIEN: Would you like me to go? Want me to go?

S. O'BRIEN: Please.

M. O'BRIEN: John Walsh is coming up.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's a hard time name to pronounce. It really is two syllables, John Walsh.

S. O'BRIEN: And I know John Walsh and I've worked with John Walsh.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's a serious subject. Missing children is the subject, and Amber Alerts now in your cell phone.

S. O'BRIEN: I know. A name like Soledad, John should be an easy name.

M. O'BRIEN: You would -- you would think.

S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, it seems like everybody's wearing those yellow "Live Strong" bracelets that Lance Armstrong sports there in those pictures. Well, it's also attracting scam artists. We're going to look at what you need to know.

M. O'BRIEN: I hope the kids are listening to this one, because they keep buying those darned things.

All right. Dark secrets from Frank Sinatra's past are now coming out, and it's one of those unauthorized biographies. We'll talk to the authors. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: It has been exactly one year since the launch of those yellow "Live Strong" bracelets. You can't miss them. Lance Armstrong wore won on the winner's podium at the Tour de France.

Well, the bracelets in that one year have raised more than $40 million for cancer research. And the success has spawned copycats, lots and lots of copycats.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Daniel Borochoff is the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy, a charity watchdog group. Nice to see you, Daniel. Thanks for talking with us this morning.

DANIEL BOROCHOFF, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHILANTHROPY: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: You see these bracelets absolutely everywhere, not just the yellow ones, but other colors as well for other charities. Why do you think they catch on and have caught on so well?

BOROCHOFF: Well, people want to publicly identify a cause. It's a little more subtle than wearing a bumper sticker.

S. O'BRIEN: On your forehead certainly. Give me a sense of how much money we're talking about, because of course there's some fraud involved, and that usually means there's lots of money involved, too.

BOROCHOFF: It's really pretty amazing the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the American Institute of Philanthropy gives a B+ grade to, has sold 40 million of these things. They give 100 percent of the purchase price to their cause, whereas other groups may give very little to their cause. So you've really got to -- got to make sure that a good portion of the money actually goes to the charity.

S. O'BRIEN: It's kind of an easy thing to be -- to be duped, frankly, if you want to give to a charity you support. What do you think makes it more easy to dupe people this way than in some other ways?

BOROCHOFF: Well, people -- it's very popular. It's a fad now, it's a craze.

People want them, so a lot of people just don't pay attention. They just buy them, think they're doing good, when they may just be benefiting somebody who is just looking at it as a business and a way to make money. Any time there's a popular profit-making formula, both honest and dishonest people are going to jump on the bandwagon and start -- start taking an opportunity here.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's tell folks how they can separate the good bracelets from the bad bracelets.

First thing you say, find out exactly how much money goes to charity. Just ask? They have to tell you?

BOROCHOFF: Well, that's something you may not want to buy it unless you find out, if you really care and want to help the cause, because it may be nothing. It may be pennies, or it may be all of it.

S. O'BRIEN: How do you find out if the seller is authorized? Which is your second tip.

BOROCHOFF: I would encourage people to go to the Internet, go to the source. It's always better to buy directly from the charity, if you can. If not, see who the authorized vendors are, and then buy only from the authorized vendors. S. O'BRIEN: In fact, that's your next piece of advice, buy direct on the Internet. What -- do most charities have an international portal, a Web site where you can go and purchase things?

BOROCHOFF: A number of them do. Most of the major ones do.

Also, see that they have an official license. You know, royalty agreement. If they don't, that's a good sign that there's not a relationship with the charity and the person may just be pocketing the money.

S. O'BRIEN: And I guess your final piece of advice is, know some of the facts behind the bracelet. For example, the fraud that we've seen in the Lance Armstrong bracelets, some people were paying some serious bucks for what's a $1 bracelet, right? That should have been a tip.

BOROCHOFF: Right. Yes, go to the source, find out what it actually costs, because if you're paying any more, them it's not going to help to the charity.

S. O'BRIEN: It only costs a buck, they only come in yellow, and there's only four official vendors where you can buy it.

Daniel Borochoff is the president of the American Institute of Philanthropy. Hopefully this fraud won't stop folks from giving to good causes.

Thanks for talking with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. I hope the kids were listening.

A mystery man is baffling British investigators. He speaks only through the piano. The amazing story is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Right to Jack with the "Question of the Day."

CAFFERTY: Thank you.

Showdown looming possibly as early as tomorrow on the so-called nuclear option for ending Senate filibusters on judicial nominees. Negotiations between Bill Frist and Harry Reid collapsed yesterday. Tomorrow, Senator Frist could introduce two new names of prospective judges, and that could force the potential change in the rules.

The number of votes required to end the filibuster currently stands at 60. The Republicans want to bring it down to 51 in order to get these judicial nominees through the Senate.

Do you think that's a good idea is kind of what we're asking this morning. Jim in Arizona writes, "The Senate should be careful not to upset years of tradition over a handful of nominees. It's a game of chicken in which no one will win. We're talking less than 10 out of a total of more than 200 the president has sent to the Senate."

Steve in Wisconsin, "Apparently the media and some members of Congress have forgotten about the judicial nominations that were blocked by the Republicans during the Clinton nomination."

Cecil in Arkansas, "I believe the filibuster has to be retained as a tool for the minority party regardless of which one is in power. Without the filibuster the minority has no tools to be heard or to react."

And Jerry in Georgia writes, "Yes, the filibuster should be ended. The drafters of our Constitution never foresaw the potential for the ignorance and arrogance of politicians in trying to force their own agendas."

S. O'BRIEN: It was interesting talking to Senator McCain earlier, and he talked about the nuclear option, you know, blowing up essentially the filibuster. His concern seems to be the slippery slope, that maybe it just won't be for judicial nominees but you could -- you know, someone else in the next administration, whatever that is, maybe it's Democrats, could say well, now we'll do it for this, now we'll do it for that, and start chipping away at all the...

CAFFERTY: Serious consequences potentially for both parties depending on what they decide to do.

S. O'BRIEN: Right. Interesting. We'll see if they come to a compromise. Thanks, Jack.

In London, investigators have few clues to the identity of a man who turned up on a beach, unable or unwilling to speak a word. They do know, though, that he plays the piano like a master. Details of this baffling mystery now from CNN's Max Foster.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was found by the sea, in good health, but without a voice. The piano man, as he's become known, cowers in a corner when approached. His social worker says he's apparently traumatized by something in his past.

Two police officers discovered him on this beach in southeast England just after midnight one night last month. He was smartly dressed in a dark suit and tie but was soaked to the skin. The police drove him to a nearby hospital. When he got there, he drew a picture of a piano, which gave the social worker an idea.

MICHAEL CAMP, SOCIAL WORKER: We took him to the chapel in the local hospital, and as soon as he saw the piano, really, he went over to it and began playing. It was -- there was no music or anything on the piano at the time, so it was obviously something that he knew. Later, we -- we've -- obviously since we know he's gotten a talent there, we've given him pieces of music, and he certainly can read that music because he kind of follows it with his finger as he goes.

FOSTER: His case is being compared to that of the acclaimed pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a nervous breakdown whilst playing, a story told in the film "Shine." A help line set up to identify the piano man is being inundated with calls.

KAREN DOREY-REES, HOSPITAL MANAGER: We haven't been able to get any information regarding where he comes from. His clothing, there are no labels in the clothing. The police as well are certainly in the dark and haven't been able to get any information like that. So there are no clues on his -- on his person as to where he comes from, even if he comes from this country.

FOSTER: So, unless someone recognizes this face, the name of this talented pianist will remain a secret until he, himself, reveals it.

Max Foster, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Due to extensive media coverage in the United Kingdom, the National Missing Persons' help line Web site also reports it's been overwhelmed by hundreds of e-mails. They point out, though, they still have not yet gotten the man's identity.

John Walsh, the host of "America's Most Wanted," is going to join us in a little bit to talk about that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll do that in a moment. But first, let's head down to Fort Lauderdale, the skies over Fort Lauderdale, more specifically.

Live pictures now coming to us through our affiliate WPLG out of Miami. That's a Beechcraft King Air 200 licensed to a company called Woricon Inc (ph) out of the Bahamas. And this particular airplane does not appear to have landing gear, its main landing gear -- that's the two that are underneath each wing -- down and locked.

And so this airplane has been flying over the airport several times so far, giving controllers in the control tower an opportunity to get a close look at that landing gear to confirm what the pilots are seeing, which is they do not have two green lights on their main landing gear. That nose gear appears to be OK, but the two that are just beneath the engines, those turbine engines on the Beechcraft, are not down and locked apparently from what we just saw a moment ago.

So what they'll do is they'll fly around and burn off a little bit of fuel. And one of the things they do in these situations, Soledad, is they do a little bit of cranking. There's a hand crank mechanism...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, to get it down?

M. O'BRIEN: ... to try to get it down. And they're making another pass right now. I would put this in the category of low passes. I don't think they're coming in just yet.

We'll watch it closely. And we're showing it to you on a five- second delay, just so you know.

See, and look at...

S. O'BRIEN: That's not landing gear under...

M. O'BRIEN: It is, but look at how it's kind of forward. Do you see that? It's not completely perpendicular to the airplane, it's not completely down. So...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see.

M. O'BRIEN: ... they tried to get the landing gear down. Something failed along the way. And what they're trying to do now is crank it down. It might be locked, and that could be a problem. So then they're going to be faced with the question of, what do you do then?

S. O'BRIEN: How fast are they going there?

M. O'BRIEN: Jeez, right now as he jerks it up, he's probably trying to give them a look at it or jerk it down there, really more accurately. You see, if you give it a pull, maybe that will knock the gear down in place and put it in the lock position.

I'd say right now about 120 miles an hour, in that neighborhood, maybe a little bit faster. It doesn't look like he has his flaps down, so he might be going a little faster than that as he makes his low pass.

Now, it's hard to predict how much fuel he has, whether he began his journey in the Bahamas. That's obviously a very short flight to Fort Lauderdale. So difficult to say how much fuel he has. But part of the thinking here is you -- you fly around until you have a lot less fuel to contend with here. So...

S. O'BRIEN: As a pilot, do they train you -- I mean, obviously you don't want to do practice landings without your landing gear ever, but at some point you think this cannot be a completely unheard of problem for a small plane. How do you -- how do you prepare or practice for circumstances like this?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, what you -- you practice, of course, the whole notion of lowering the gear manually. As a matter of fact, I had a plane, kind of a little cousin of this, a Beechcraft Bonanza, where we'd go out and we'd actually, you know, sort of fail the gear and crank it down and count how many cranks it would take and so forth.

So a good pilot would go through all of that. Obviously, you don't want to practice the actual belly landing. Belly landings happen all the time. You know, there's a saying that when you have an airplane with retractable gear, either you've had a belly landing or you're about to have one eventually, because pilots, as a matter of course, generally aviation pilots, tend to forget this.

Now, there's all kinds of fail-safe mechanisms on this plane to avoid inadvertently doing this, but what you have right now is a situation where something failed obviously in that system, which brings the gear down. It's a hydraulic system, so anything can happen, gears can lock that, that kind of thing.

S. O'BRIEN: How slow can you do the approach? I mean, how slow could you possibly get to go? Because the goal would be to slow down as much as possible and then bring it in and then essentially slide in on the belly if your landing gear is not going to come down.

M. O'BRIEN: Right. Yes, I don't -- I can look up the numbers here in just a moment on the Beechcraft...

S. O'BRIEN: Because 120 miles an hour seems really fast.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's -- I'm sure they can get it a little slower once they put the flaps down, which allow you to fly the plane in a slower manner. So when they actually come down for the landing, I'm sure they can get it below 100 miles an hour.

And -- but still, that's a lot of scraping on the runway. So what you want to do, you want to find a nice, long runway, and you want to -- as you come down, you want to kill the power on the airplane, cut off all the electrical systems, sort of reduce the possibility of a fire occurring as a result.

S. O'BRIEN: So as he's doing these fly-overs, because he seems to be coming actually quite low to the -- to the ground there, he's doing that so that people on the grown can take a look and maybe view for him what he can't see, which is what's stuck in the landing gear or what's holding the landing gear up?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, exactly. There are people in the tower with binoculars trained on that right now. And as he makes that low pass, they're trying to see if there's anything they can see obvious. I mean, it's quite obvious without binoculars, that the landing gear -- you can see the way they're kind of tilted forward, that they're not in the ready position.

Chad Myers is watching this for us, as well. Chad, what do you know?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Miles, I've got winds there at Ft. Lauderdale out of the East, 090, at about 13 miles per hour. Now the good news with that is that there is a 9L, a runaway 9 Left, at 9,000 feet long. If he can fly into that headwind, he can actually slow his approach by that speed and still be airborne. So he does have a very long runway and very good wind to go with.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's funny, in the movies, they talk about, you know, foaming the runways and all that. They really don't do that, because it's difficult to predict exactly where the plane's going to land and stop and so forth.

S. O'BRIEN: What will they do? I mean, obviously stopping all traffic into the airport until this guy can get down, or this woman can get down. But what else do they do to try to ease the landing? I mean, it just seems...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, there's not a lot you can do except get the trucks out there and get them ready. So if something did spark a fire, as it scrapes down that runway, if that's what, in fact, happens that they could, you know, put it out quickly.

S. O'BRIEN: How many people does this plane carry, do you know?

M. O'BRIEN: This would be on the order of eight passengers roughly. There's versions of this and stretch versions. I haven't had a chance to get the specifics on it, but it's a Beechcraft 200 King Air, which puts it in the eight-passenger realm. Let's listen to WPLG for just a moment. The helicopter pilot there, I think, is doing a report right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, WPLG: The problem right now are the two wing wheels as the plane is still attempting, over the ocean, east of Pompano Beach (ph), trying to get those wheels down. So that's the story right now, Mark (ph). We'll be following this situation. Ft. Lauderdale fire department has been alerted. They're on stand-by. And when the pilot does decide this is the moment to come in, he's going to sign from runway eight here at Executive Airport.

M. O'BRIEN: And that came from reporter on the scene there, I'm sorry I don't know his name, with WPLG out of Miami. Just to set the scene if you're just tuning in, this is Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. And what we have there is a Beechcraft (ph) twin engine turbine aircraft, registered in the Bahamas, a company called Worocon (ph). Presumably this flight might have began this morning in the Bahamas and for whatever reason on approach to the United States. the pilot realized that he didn't get the green lights you want to get with your landing gear, indicating that they're down and in locked position.

And if you -- OK, this is Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. I was -- there was some confusion about that earlier. Ft. Lauderale, there are two airports, Ft. Lauderdale International and Ft. Lauderdale Executive. OK, this is at executive.

S. O'BRIEN: Meaning it's a small, private...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, in the category of small airfields, this is a pretty big one. I can get you -- I will get the numbers on the runways and so forth.

S. O'BRIEN: But this is where all the private jets would essentially land, next to the International Airport, who it's part of. But now, meaning, are they close? Can they use the longer runway. Does that belong to the International Airport or do they have their own long runway? Because that's going to be a critical factor here. You want as much runway as possible if you're going to be belly- flopping.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And the other thing you want, you want to make sure that you have, you know, the proper capabilities for, you know, they call them crash trucks.

S. O'BRIEN: Any emergency vehicle that's going to help out.

M. O'BRIEN: Emergency vehicles to help out. And Ft. Lauderdale Executive is a pretty big airport, as, you know, feeder airports go. They've got a couple of runways there. One is 6,000 feet and that is plenty. The other one is 4,000 feet. Apparently they're going to stick with that. Of course, if it's a belly landing, you're not going to be going that far, if that's how this turns out. Now, you know, the question that the pilot would ask, the FAA would ask in this situation, is do you have the appropriate facilities and capabilities there to handle something, as a plane comes in like this. And apparently they've made that decision.

S. O'BRIEN: We probably should reset the scene for folks who are just joining us, because it looks like we're watching a little sort of spec in the middle of a very cloudy day. But we are taking coverage from our affiliate WPLG. This is Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport and there's a small aircraft that looks like it's having some trouble making a landing. They've done a couple of passes over the airport. It looks pretty clear the landing gear is not coming down fully into place. We can see it's sort of partly down. And at this time, it looks as if the pilot in those upper passes trying to get folks on the ground to take a look at what the problems might be as they assess what they're going to do to bring this small plane down.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, and Chad is with us. Chad, did you have a question?

MYERS: Miles, I have a question for you. You're a pilot. You got FXE, the Executive Airport there, the runway 6,000 feet long, 100 feet wide. Or you've got FLL, big Ft. Lauderdale Airport, 8,000 feet long, 150 feet wide. Wouldn't you try to get this over to FLL to have a better runway, a longer runway and at least a wider shot at it, as well?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, in a word, yes. I might request that if I was in that situation and if I had come to the conclusion that a belly landing was likely. That might be something that eventually could happen. Right now, they're probably still in the troubleshooting phase, trying to get that landing gear down. They're hoping this ends up as just a normal landing with having hand-cranked down that gear. We have on the phone a public information officer with the city of Ft. Lauderdale.

S. O'BRIEN: Chaz Adams, in fact.

M. O'BRIEN: Chaz Adams. Chaz, are you there?

CHAZ ADAMS, PIO, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL.: Yes, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, what can you tell us about the plane? ADAMS: Well, basically, it's a king air twin-engine turbo prop plane, which is a dual engine plane. It left Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport at approximately 6:30 a.m. this morning. It was headed toward the Caribbean. At some point during that flight, it experienced problems and turned around and headed back to Executive Airport. And since about 8:45 this morning, it has been circling in an attempt to get its landing gear problems corrected.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, so it's on its way to some destination, the Caribbean, and en route, they realized they had some sort of problem?

ADAMS: That is correct, sir.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, do you know, was it an electrical failure of some kind?

ADAMS: At this point, we don't know that.

M. O'BRIEN: Or hydraulic failure for that matter?

ADAMS: No, we're assuming that it was obviously the landing gear, since that's the problem they're having right now, but I don't have confirmation on that at this point.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, but of course, in the middle of your flight, you wouldn't necessarily know about the landing gear. There must have been something else going on. Tell us about the choice of airports here. We were just been talking about the fact that the Executive Airport has a 6,000-foot runway. Longer and wider facilities at the nearby Ft. Lauderdale International. Do you know anything about the decision-making process as to where he will ultimately land?

ADAMS: I do not, sir. I'm assuming that would probably be a decision that the FAA would have to make. And the reason that it went back to Executive Airport is because that's where it originally took off from.

M. O'BRIEN: I see. And as far as the capability there, with the emergency vehicles and so forth at Executive Airport, is that pretty much -- I'm sorry?

ADAMS: Yes, the folks up at the Executive Airport, I just got off the phone with them minutes ago. All of their emergency vehicles are standing by, and they're fully prepared to address whatever type of landing ends up taking place.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, Chaz, as you mentioned just a moment ago, that they've been circling since about 8:45, which gives us about an hour that they've been circling to try to fix their landing gear problems, have they dumped the fuel? Did we see that?

ADAMS: I do not know that. The one thing that I do know, though is that at last report, the plane had said that they have about three hours of fuel. So they do have adequate fuel to continue to try to correct the situation.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you any information about who's on board this flight?

ADAMS: I do not know. The only thing I do know is that there's seven total people on board, but in terms of identities and things like that, no information on that.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, Chaz, you said the plane left at 6:30. It left with how much fuel or it currently has three hours of fuel, is that right?

ADAMS: Correct, it currently has about three hours of fuel. I do not know how much it left with.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, all right, so I think with that little piece of knowledge, we know one thing. Nothing's going to happen very soon here. They're probably spending a lot of time burning off fuel, trying to troubleshoot this problem before they commit to any sort of belly landing at Ft. Lauderdale Executive or wherever that may be the case, as you just heard from Chaz Adams, public information officer there. The facilities are capable and the emergency vehicles are there at Ft. Lauderdale Executive to handle this kind of thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Do we know that they dumped the fuel? He said he wasn't sure. Do we see, as we started monitoring this, do we see them dump the fuel? Because I would wonder, how much time does that, then, give you? I mean, on the upside, as a strategy, it would keep any kind of explosions minimalized. On the downside, you lose the ability to continue to circle and work out your issues.

M. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: How does a pilot make a decision what route to take?

M. O'BRIEN: A pilot in this predicament wants fuel. It's not going to hurt you to be up there and burn it off the old-fashioned way and try troubleshoot the problem. Dumping fuel, I'm pretty sure the Beechcraft King Air 200, I don't think it has the capability of dumping fuel. But even if it did, you wouldn't want to do that in this case. You'd just as soon fly around and burn it off and while you're doing that, you come up with, hopefully, a solution to your problem. So that's clearly what's going on right now.

This particular aircraft -- as we said, we were talking about some of the speeds. I was trying to get some of the official numbers for you on how fast it could come in. But you notice the way that, you know, it's got the big twin turbine engine propellers there, and that obviously, as you come in for a belly landing, that can cause a real problem. So you want to -- as you come in, you want to kill the power...

S. O'BRIEN: So you glide in to -- as much as you possibly could.

M. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: But of course we're jumping ahead of things a little bit because there's been no decision on any kind of belly landing. It looks like they are still trying to work out whatever landing-gear issues they have. You can see the photographer here from our affiliate WPLG, which is taking this coverage for us, is looking for that plane in the sky as they continue to circle around the executive airport.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, the stall speed is 74 knots, so and that's with flaps, 74 knots at about 10 percent to come up with the miles per hour, so about, you know, in the 80-mile-an-hour range.

S. O'BRIEN: That's how slow they could go.

M. O'BRIEN: That's as slow as they can go without falling out of the sky. So, ultimately, whenever they start landing, they will slow it down to that point; with or without gear, they will do that.

So we're going to watch it closely. Obviously there's going to be a lot of troubleshooting going on over at Ft. Lauderdale Executive, and we'll keep you posted.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and they'll keep circling, trying to figure out what to do.

All right, let's get to the headlines and Carol Costello is watching those for us while we monitor this story.

COSTELLO: Right, and if anything happens, we'll go right back to Florida.

But now in the news, "Newsweek's" Washington bureau chief says the magazine feels terrible about the role it played in sparking violence overseas. A report alleging U.S. interrogators desecrated the Koran has been blamed for massive anti-American riots in Afghanistan, that left at least four people dead. The magazine has retracted the story now, but the White House says more has to be done to reverse the damage.

Officials in Afghanistan are working to find and free a kidnapped aide worker. Officials say the woman was seized in Kabul on Monday night. She works for the international aid agency CARE, providing assistance to Afghan widows and their children. Dozens of those women turned out earlier today in Kabul to show support for this kidnapped aide worker.

Atlanta courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols is set to appear at an arraignment hearing in the next hour. Nichols is accused in the deaths of four people following a shooting rampage in March. He's expected to enter a plea in the murders, as well as carjacking, kidnapping and armed-robbery charges.

And imagine owning one of Marilyn Monroe's dresses, or her divorce papers from baseball player Joe DiMaggio. These are just some of the items going on the block at a New York auction house next month. One of the most coveted items up for sale is a painting Monroe made and signed for president John F. Kennedy. The auction is expected to bring in more than half-a-million dollars. And by the way, we'll have much more on this and we'll actually be able to show you more of the items on "DAYBREAK" tomorrow morning in our 6:00 a.m. Eastern hour.

S. O'BRIEN: The dress? Yes. Her divorce papers? Kind of cool to have Marilyn Monroe's dress.

COSTELLO: Well, the divorce papers, you know, signed by Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio. I'm a Marilyn Monroe freak!

S. O'BRIEN: The dress, the dress.

M. O'BRIEN: Is this the dress on the grate? That is the dress.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, the dress. It is the halter dress.

COSTELLO: I want to know what size it is, because everybody said she was a size eight. I always wondered if that was really true.

S. O'BRIEN: We all know sizes are very flexible.

COSTELLO: Exactly. But I'd die to know what size it is. So maybe we'll find out on "DAYBREAK."

M. O'BRIEN: Inquiring minds wish to know.

All right, we'll take a break. When we come back, we're going talk to John Walsh. The Amber Alert system, which unfortunately, we've become very familiar with over the past few months is now taking it to the next step. It's going wireless, and we'll explain how that will work for you and hopefully help out some kids in trouble in the future.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A story developing for you this morning in Idaho. Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for two missing children, after three people were found killed in their home. The bodies were discovered on Monday in Couer D'Alene. The two missing children live at home with their mother, but it is unclear whether she was one of the victims. The children are 9-year-old Dylan Groehne (ph) and his 8-year-old sister, Shasta. Another Amber Alert to tell you about. We're sorry about that.

You may have seen those Amber Alert signs. You certainly are familiar with it by now on the nation's freeways. They're there. The Amber Alert is taking another leap in technology. More than 180 million customers now have the capability to receive those alerts through their wireless providers on their text-capable cell phones.

John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted," cofounder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children joins us from Washington to explain how it all works.

John, good to have you back with us.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Good to be back here on especially a wonderful day like today.

M. O'BRIEN: Good day and a good cause that brings you there, and course on this sobering note, we have an Amber Alert, two more children missing this morning. How do you think having the wireless component to the Amber Alerts will help?

WALSH: Oh, it's crucial. It's just a glorious addition to the search to find missing children. The Amber Alert started back in Texas in 1997, when a little girl named Amber Haggerman was found murdered. She was kidnapped right off of her front yard, found murdered. Her case has never been solved. We put that case on "America's Most Wanted," and a radio station, a local radio station and TV station there said, hey, let's put out the word out on this little girl. Isn't time crucial, Mr. Walsh? I said yes, time is absolutely crucial. The Justice Department says that in the case of a stranger abducted child, the child taken by a non-family member, that child is dead within four hours, so time is absolutely of the essence.

So we started working on a national Amber Alert. We went state to state. We talked to national legislators, and then Nextel got into the battle. Tim Donahue...

WALSH: Yes?

M. O'BRIEN: John, can I just put you on hold for just a moment. I apologize, but this plane we've been telling everybody about is about to land. You just stay right there. We'll get right back to you.

And my apologize to the viewers and to John, but we want to -- since we brought this to you we wanted to show you this Beechcraft King Air 200. Look at the landing gear now. Notice how those wheels beside the engines on the wing, the main landing gear, they call them, are down and straight down, perpendicular as they should be. The pilot, obviously, got green lights, making him feel good about it. I suspect he did quite a bit of cranking, he or she, and down they come to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport. And what this should be, should be a -- well, that's a landing that you can be proud of, and he did it for millions.

All right, congratulations to them. We're glad that one ended OK.

John Walsh, let's get back to you. It's this whole notion of taking it to wireless devices. It's real simple. I've got the Web site up here. And all you do is go to wirelessamberalerts.com. Is that correct? that's the site?

WALSH: Absolutely. It's put a whole new dimension on the fight for looking children -- looking for missing children.

M. O'BRIEN: It took me only 60 seconds to sign it up. I'll show you. I did it. And what's interesting here, look what I did. I put in all the zip codes where I am most likely to be, and that's important, because what that does is you don't get Amber Alerts from Couer D'Alene, for example, if you're in Atlanta. So if people have concerns about getting this text messages incessantly, it's really specific to your location, isn't it?

WALSH: Absolutely. We don't want to burn people out. We don't want those Amber Alerts to become blase and passe, and somebody shoots them off, like when you get too many messages, you shut your phone off. These are for children that go missing in your area. Tom Donahue, the head of Nextel, has brought all these Nextel -- all these wireless companies together with Steve Largent, who runs the Wireless Association. Last year, when we got the child protect bill passed in the Rose Garden, and President Bush signed it, he asked and hoped that now that we have them on highways, we have them on television, couldn't we get them on people's cell phones. And now the cell phone carriers are here today. Yes, they are brutal competitors out in the market every day, but it makes my heart warm to say we're here today.

You will get your Amber Alert for free. And I want to mention it again. You've got to sign up with your wireless carrier, but you'll get it for free and it will only be regional. And can't you imagine, you're driving down the highway, you look to open your phone to see if you make a phone call to your loved one and there's somebody else's loved one's picture on that phone. You see that car go by, you see that tag and you call in to police and you save a child's life. That's technology that works good for children.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, John Walsh. It took me about 60 seconds to do it this morning. I encourage everybody with a text-enabled cell phone or a Blackberry to do this. Why not? It could help save a child's life someday. And the way it's set up, as I say, it's not like you're going to be besieged with every Amber Alert that occurs.

John Walsh, good luck today at the ceremony and the announcement. Appreciate it.

WALSH: Good day today.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, take care -- Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: It's terrible that we're talking about besieged with every Amber Alert. Somebody's missing and...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, it is. It is sad, isn't it? But this is, you know, I didn't get a chance to ask him, but in the case of the loss of his son Adam in 1981, there was no Amber Alerts, no capabilities, no way of getting word out quickly.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and the technology could have really helped, which, of course, is what everybody wants to do. They want to make a difference, maybe save a couple of kids.

Let the games begin. Before you go out and get Microsoft's brand new Xbox, you better wait for Andy Serwer to tell you what's new in Sony's Playstation 3. It hit the markets this week. And that story's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. There's a new Xbox game out there, and if you have a son about 12, as I do, you know all about this now. I'm getting worked over real big on that one. Andy, is that why you're here, to talk about Xbox, games you like?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I'm going to talk about that, I'm going to talk about the markets. We're going to talk about all manner of things, Miles. Let's start off in the markets. A little bit of a breather this morning, naturally, after yesterday's big gain. The Dow down 12 points. Home Depot, Miles, was inquiring about that earlier this morning. The stock is up, reporting some good earnings.

Time Warner unchanged, actively traded, though. And there's a story in the latest issue of "Fortune" Magazine, where I work. Time Warner, parent company of CNN. Dick Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, in this "Fortune" article, said he would consider spinning off AOL if the business strategy does not work for this company. Of course, AOL and Time Warner merged in 2001.

Yes, there is big news in the gaming industry this year. Basically, what's happening, the three platforms, of course, Xbox from Microsoft, the Playstation from Sony, Nintendo, all coming out with new models. Last week we talked about you about the new Xbox. Yesterday Sony unveiled the new Playstation, the PS3. And basically, this has got all sorts of bells and whistles. Movie-quality images on the screen. That's the one biggie there, but also will play digital music, DVDs.

They call these devices now the trojan horse to get into your living room, and then, of course, you'll buy all sorts of services and products that are linked to the parent companies, Microsoft in the case of the Xbox and Sony in the case of the Playstation. This one won't be out until next spring -- and Nintendo's new Revolution. That's what they're calling their new machine, will be debuting next week, so stay tuned next week. We'll be talking about that.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, Andy, it's amazing how the 12-year-olds pick up on those selling points. Because he said to me, oh, you can put your pictures on it, Dad, you can put the music on there. Oh, and then I get this little game.

SERWER: We could have him come on to talk about it, probably.

M. O'BRIEN: He'd be a good spokesperson for...

SERWER: That's better than me, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... for the Xbox generation.

S. O'BRIEN: Staking out space in your home, figure out what's going to happen next.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You guys, thanks.

The nuclear option. It's what Senator John McCain was talking about this morning. That's "The Question of the Day." CAFFERTY: Right. Should the Senate end the filibuster for judicial nominees? The answer to that question may come whether we like it, tomorrow -- whether we like it or not, starting tomorrow.

Some of the answers we've gotten. Jim in Texas writes: "No, the appointment of right-wing ideologues to the federal bench is the key to the radical rights agenda to turn America into a police state."

Doug in New Jersey writes: "The Senate filibuster for judicial nominees is the last line of defense against cronyism and the placement of special interest discrimination into the courts. It must be preserved."

And Marilyn writes from Colorado: "I'm not ready for any more Democratic shenanigans. What happened to the phrase, let's roll? Congress gets paid regardless of what happens to their workload and I'm tired of sending money to Washington to pay for their nonsense."

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting to see what happens.

CAFFERTY: Join the club, darling.

S. O'BRIEN: Senator McCain seems very, eh. I mean, he didn't sound confident, he didn't quite sound not confident, but kind of kind of middle of the road on it.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and if they can't come up with some sort of compromise, what happens? The whole thing gums up, right? Because the Democrats -- well, there will be no unanimous consent. Nothing will happen in Washington.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, they could end up going for the nuclear option, which ends up, you know -- I think certainly for judicial court nominees, would make it an up/down vote. And there would be no filibuster for it and that could sort of start that whole -- what do they call it? -- the slippery slope question.

SERWER: Yes. That's interesting that filibusters have been so controversial for so many decades, really, now. On and on. It was a tool of the Republicans, then the tool of the Democrats. It's just interesting to watch this.

S. O'BRIEN: And whoever's complaining, it just...

SERWER: Right, it's the other side's fault.

S. O'BRIEN: Whoever's the administration. It just switches sides, is kind of how it works.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting, though, how is takes 60 votes to break a filibuster, but only a simple majority to change the rules.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And that may change.

SERWER: A contradiction there.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a contradiction, isn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: One of many.

CAFFERTY: Maybe they'll filibuster the proposed rules.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: This gets confusing.

S. O'BRIEN: It does. But guess what? We're out of time, so we can no longer filibuster about it this morning. That's it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning. Let's get right to Daryn Kagan. She's over at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next few hours on CNN LIVE TODAY. Good morning.

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