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American Morning
Laura Bush Encounters Tensions in Middle East; Florida Girl Found Buried Alive
Aired May 23, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. The week begins with new and deadly violence in Iraq. A top security official assassinated, four soldiers killed. Plus, an overnight sweep and the arrest of 300 suspected insurgents.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Bill Hemmer. New details about the shocking crime in Florida. An 8-year-old girl rescued after being buried alive. The police officer who found her will join us live today.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jack Cafferty. Nearly 200 level III sex offenders -- they're worst kind -- are getting free Viagra from the taxpayers in the state of New York. And New York's not the only place it's happening. We'll take a look.
O'BRIEN: And a school bus fight between the driver and students caught on tape. A controversy now brewing on who the police charge on this AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Good morning everybody, on a Monday morning. Good to have you along with us. Good morning to you, as well.
O'BRIEN: And likewise. Good weekend?
HEMMER: Yes, excellent. Can't complain, Saturday and Sunday, right?
Over the weekend, too, looking back at the first lady, Laura Bush. Some tense moments with a group of protesters over the weekend in Jerusalem.
O'BRIEN: Some questions now, of course, about whether the first lady should have visited these holy sites. We'll have a report on that ahead in a moment.
First though, let's right to the new violence in Iraq to tell you about. A developing story right now. A car bomb blew up outside a Baghdad restaurant in the past hour. There have been at least three attacks against the government today and three car bombings aimed at U.S. troops.
Ryan Chilcote is live in Baghdad for us this morning. Ryan, good morning. The latest assassination, first. Yet another attack against a member of the new government.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Soledad. It's turning into an exceptionally violent day, a violent beginning of the week here in Iraq, after a relative lull in the violence over the last week.
Start with that assassination. This was an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister on national security. He and his driver were on their way to work, just outside of a candy shop. That's when insurgents opened fire on them in a drive-by killing -- shooting, killing both of them. This was just the most recent attack. It's a long-standing tactic, really, by the insurgents to target government officials that have been doing it for more than a year now.
But those attacks have really picked up since this new government was formed at the end of last month, Iraq's first democratically- formed government. Just since then, we've seen nearly a dozen of these attacks, almost every Iraqi ministry hit. Of course, the majority of the attacks have been on officials from the defense and interior ministries. Another one of those attacks today.
Then moving on to a lot of car bombing attacks. Four of them in all already today. We start up just south of Kirkuk. That's where a suicide bomber targeted a government building there, killing at least five Kurdish soldiers, wounding another 13. Then in the city of Mosul, another suicide car bomber wounding four. And then a very elaborate attack in the city of Samarra, targeting U.S. troops. Two suicide car bombers, as we understand at this time, attacking a gate outside of that U.S. installation.
The U.S. troops responded to both of those car bomber attacks and that's when a third suicide bomber, this time on foot, wearing a suicide bomber vest -- one of those vests with the explosives in it -- attacked, blowing himself up, wounding four of those U.S. soldiers there.
In addition now, just within the last few minutes, here in Baghdad, another car bombing. Not clear how it was detonated. As you said, it was outside of a restaurant. The police are telling us that at least three were wounded in that attack -- three were killed in that attack, another seven wounded. Police, however, fear the casualty figures could rise there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, a new military operation in western Baghdad also to talk about this morning. It's aimed, of course, at taking down the insurgency. Just who is taking part in this?
CHILCOTE: It's being billed as the largest U.S. military joint operation with Iraqi forces. It's being called Operation Squeeze Play. One U.S. military official described it as a coordinated search operation on steroids, really moving into the west of the city. Seven battalions of Iraqi troops, that's about 2,000, accompanied with a small number of U.S. forces.
They say that they have already detained some 285 insurgents there, concentrating on the area around the Abu Ghraib prison and around the airport. However, we have seen large numbers detained before. That doesn't necessarily mean that all of these individuals will be of interest to U.S. interrogators. Many of them will probably be released -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad for us this morning. Ryan, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: At this hour, the first lady Laura Bush is meeting with Egyptian women leaders in Cairo. Earlier today, Mrs. Bush met with Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak. They taped a popular Egyptian children's show and later will visit pyramids there.
The first lady says she was not surprised to be confronted by protesters during her tour of Middle East holy sites on Sunday. And just this morning, in an interview with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, Mrs. Bush said she was not worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I wouldn't say it's a risk. It's not a risk. You know, this is a -- there's a very important mission behind all of this, and it's certainly not taking a risk. Myself, I'm perfectly safe. And, you know, it's very, very important. It was important to go to the World Economic Forum, to talk about women's rights. It's important to talk about democracy.
Both the Israelis and the Palestinian women that I met with want the United States to be involved. They want the U.S. to be part of the peace process. We're an important part of it. And countries around the Middle East and around the world rely on the United States. They come to us with their problems. They want us to try to help them however we can. And that's the role that we have right now in the world, and it's important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: More with Suzanne's interview throughout the morning here. And the Secret Service also downplaying any security threat, but many wonder if it was a good idea to visit these holy sites.
Over the weekend, our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, with me this morning down in D.C. Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: How serious was this on Sunday?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it communicated exactly the opposite message of what the first lady was trying to do. She said this trip is -- was, still is, a goodwill trip. It's meant to repair the U.S. image in the Middle East and to demonstrate that, as she put it, the chances for peace now are as close as they've been in really long time.
I'm not sure that was communicated by the appearance of protesters in the holy places in Jerusalem. My view is that it was ill-advised for the first lady to go to the most contentious spot in a very contentious area, namely what the Israelis call the Temple Mount, the Arabs call the Noble Sanctuary, which is the focal point of a lot of intense emotions and hatreds.
HEMMER: As she said, though, to expect protests at a time that we see today in 2005. But again, this was a group of about 40, 50 people. This wasn't 10,000 people gathered in the streets, awaiting her arrival there to protest that arrival.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. It was a very small group, but I think the images for Americans were a bit shocking. Americans see the first lady as above politics, they see this as goodwill mission. But when she goes to the Middle East on a trip like this, she's the United States. She's not the first lady, she's America. And all the grievances with the United States were expressed by, again, this small group. And that's what got portrayed by the press.
So I think the message a lot of Americans are seeing here is they hate us. Some Israelis, some Palestinians, people on both sides. Why do they hate us? If this was meant to repair the U.S. image, I'm not sure that worked.
HEMMER: The bigger point for you, though, was what you consider the main event, the Israeli-Palestinian issue. You also believe the Iraq War is truly a sideshow. Is that really the case throughout the Middle East today, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Well, look, the central issue in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Iraq War was supposed to spread democracy, stability in the Middle East. And you've got to raise the question what did it really achieve? Because you see these intense emotions coming out. The focus is still on the Israeli-Palestinian problem.
The Iraq War -- Iraq doesn't seem to be particularly more stable. There was a moment of hopefulness on January 30th, when we had -- when they had the election in Iraq, and Americans breathed a sigh of relief. America applauded the fact that they were electing their own government. Well, it took a long time for that government to be set up and now the situation appears to continue to deteriorate, veering close to civil war.
That, plus the Saddam photos, the "Newsweek" report and now the protests to the first lady, all raise some questions, are we really making progress in the Middle East?
HEMMER: We'll continue to look at this throughout the morning. Bill Schneider, thanks for that. Down in D.C.
Another note from over the weekend: While Laura Bush is being heckled in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was being heckled here in New York City. A speech to American Jewish leaders Sunday, interrupted by protesters shouting, "Jews don't expel Jews!" The hecklers oppose his plan to close Israeli settlements in the Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Excuse me. The evacuation supposed to begin in mid-August -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Buried alive. We are learning new details about a pretty shocking crime in Florida. Police found an 8-year-old girl in an abandoned landfill in Lake Worth, Florida, just down the coast from West Palm Beach. A policeman found the little girl Sunday, just hours after her reported kidnapping. Well, this morning, the 17-year-old who originally called police to report the girl's abduction is the prime suspect. Police say he's confessed. He faces charges of attempted murder, sexual battery on a child under 12 and false imprisonment. Authorities say he will be charged as an adult.
Sergeant Mike Hall found the child in a trash bin. He joins us from Lake Worth, Florida, along with police chief William Smith. Thank you for joining us. Nice to have you.
Sergeant Hall, let's begin with you. She was in a recycling bin, in the landfill, buried under rocks. How did you exactly find this little girl?
SGT. MIKE HALL, LAKE WORTH POLICE DEPT.: We were divided up into grid areas, and part of the landfill was assigned to my grid. Myself and Corporal Chriswell (ph) from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office were driving the service road in the landfill. We came upon a bunch of dumpsters. And knowing that suspects have a tendency to dispose of items, whether it's clothing, weapons, or sometimes bodies, we decided to start our search with the dumpsters.
O'BRIEN: And you went and looked inside the dumpster. What did you see?
HALL: Inside the big green dumpster was a big yellow recycling bin. I leaned in, flipped the lid open on the recycling bin and saw large concrete slabs piled into the recycling bin. And in between those concrete slabs, I saw a small foot and a small hand.
O'BRIEN: What did you think you first saw it? And at what point did you realize the little girl was alive?
HALL: Well, first, I started shaking the recycling bin, trying to get a response out of her. I saw no movement. I heard no voice. I did that several times, each time, getting no response. So at that time, you know, I felt for the worst. I got on the radio, called the command post. Lieutenant Matthews (ph) arrived, our detective bureau lieutenant. He jumped up, looked into the bin as well. And then all of a sudden, he shouted out, "A finger's moving, a finger's moving." And at that point, you know, I mean, that hopelessness turned to hope, you know. And everybody jumped in and started taking the rocks off of her.
O'BRIEN: Once you were able to remove the rocks off the little girl, was she able to help you and cooperate? What kind of condition was she in?
HALL: Considering what she had been through, I mean, she was in a lot better condition than we thought she would be in. She was able to actually name her attacker while still in the dumpster. O'BRIEN: Chief Smith, the attacker is -- or the suspect or the attacker that she named is this 17-year-old who was staying at the house where the girl was overnighting with her godmother, if I'm correct. At what point did you think of him as a suspect?
CHIEF WILLIAM SMITH, LAKE WORTH POLICE DEPT: Well, we began to drive the area and we checked out his story. It showed that there were some holes in the story. We, of course, acted on the information that he gave us. We had an amber alert. We activated our system in Florida. We asked for assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. We mobilized 50 of our officers, 35 sheriff's deputies, and 8 or 9 investigators from FDLE.
O'BRIEN: When you look at what has happened and the ability of your sergeant to discover this little girl, we could have a much different ending to this story, as you well know. I know miracle is one of those words people like throw around a lot, but you've got to be thinking that today, am I right?
SMITH: Well, it sure is a miracle. And Sergeant Hall's an excellent officer, the best of the best. We had some luck and a lot of good police work and those hundred officers that went out and searched is what really saved this girl's life.
O'BRIEN: Well, all those things coming together. Chief William Smith and Sergeant Mike Hall, very fair to call you guys heroes today. I thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate it.
SMITH: Thank you.
HALL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill?
HEMMER: A remarkable outcome there.
13 minutes now past the hour. In Charlotte County, Florida, officials looking into whether or not a school bus driver should be charged with a more serious offense after getting into a brawl with two teenage boys. The entire fight caught on videotape last week, on board that bus, showing the driver ordering one of the boys to come to the front of the bus. When the boy did not move, the driver grabbed him. Police say the boy and his brother then hit the driver.
The teens are charged with felony counts of assault. The bus driver, Albert Marshall Taylor, has been charged only with a misdemeanor, suspended with pay. But officials say seeing the videotape has changed their thinking about the seriousness of that incident. The story broke over the weekend.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The clock is ticking on a showdown in the U.S. Senate. In a moment, a closer look at this crucial meeting today that could make the ultimate decision on the fate of this judicial filibuster. O'BRIEN: Also, the fallout from the controversial photo of Saddam Hussein in his underwear. How is it playing in the streets of Baghdad? We'll take a look.
HEMMER: Also, "Star Wars" shattering records yet again. The force, though, not enough to keep bootleggers at bay. That's part of our coverage in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Saddam Hussein's lawyers are now threatening to sue a British tabloid over pictures of the former dictator behind bars and in his underwear. The "Sun" published a second set of photos on Saturday that included the former regime members, nicknamed Chemical Ali and Mrs. Anthrax. The Bush administration now investigating the leak of these photos.
Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Samir Sumaida'ie, back with us to talk about the Iraqi reaction. Good morning to you. Thanks for coming by. How big of a deal is this right now in Iraq?
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: You know, I'm amazed at the amount of interest and air time this story has been given. As far as I am concerned, it's something of a non-event, really. Let me be absolutely clear. We want to do the right thing. We want to show the world that we have a new set of values, a value that respects human rights and we have to do the right thing, even to Saddam.
But this is a man who has humiliated the whole nation. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested to see him in his underwear. And, you know, the fact that he's been shown in this way doesn't move me.
HEMMER: Are you saying you're surprised by the amount of air time in this country or the amount of attention back home?
SUMDAIDA'IE: Both. But the amount of attention -- it's qualitatively different. At home, it's -- anything to do with Saddam is of interest, but you're not going to see thousands of people going into the street protesting about this. Some people might feel good about this. Some people might feel a little bit unhappy. But I don't think it's going to move a lot of people.
HEMMER: This is some of the reaction we picked up over the weekend. "Al-Quds," this newspaper, a pan-Arab newspaper out of London, the editor wrote this over weekend: "We are not going to publish the pictures because they are revolting. It's adding salt to the wounds. It is not actually heroism to publish a picture of a man in private in his underpants." I understand your view. Does that reflect the broad Arab view?
SUMDAIDA'IE: "Al-Quds" might reflect some views in the Arab street, but it's certainly not in harmony with the mood of the Iraqi people. I can tell you that. "Al-Quds" has been strongly, strongly opposed to the removal of Saddam, and I think that it makes no secret of its sympathies to the Saddam regime and to Saddam's followers. HEMMER: Let me try to get to two more points quickly here. Next hour, an attorney for Saddam Hussein will be on air, talking about this issue. He's concerned about that it's been 19 months, no charges have been issued against Saddam Hussein. Is there an explanation as to why that's the case?
SUMDAIDA'IE: Well, that's a more substantial point to discuss, frankly. And I'm glad this point has been raised, that it's being discussed. You know, until there has been an elected government in place, there was an issue of legitimacy. And that was one of the reasons why processing his trial was held off. We did not want to be open to the charges that he's being tried by an illegitimate government. Now, the government is elected and I think this will go ahead fairly soon.
HEMMER: Let me quickly get to one other point here, on the political front over the weekend. There's a large group of Sunnis that apparently now are coming to the table to try and cut a deal with the Shiite government that has taken control. This is the same group of people a year ago who essentially bucked the system, saying they will not take part in this.
SUMDAIDA'IE: Yes.
HEMMER: Overall, are you getting the sense now that at least this group of people are saying if we cannot beat them, it is time to join them?
SUMDAIDA'IE: It's not only this group. It's a very wide, widely held feeling amongst the Sunni community that it's time to be part of the system and not to be against it. Otherwise, they risk -- know they risk being left behind.
HEMMER: Mr. Ambassador, thanks for your time.
SUMDAIDA'IE: Thank you.
HEMMER: We'll speak again.
More in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING. Get a break. Right after this on a Monday edition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Another massive case of identity theft to talk about, this one affecting thousands of customers at leading national banks. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad.
A couple to report, as you said. And the first one definitely with a new twist. Bank employees this time selling account numbers and balances of over 100,000 individuals to an intermediary, who then sold this data to collection agencies. 100,000 customers, half a million accounts at ten branches of four major banks in seven Eastern states. Those states include New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina South Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Here are the institutions. And as usual in these cases, it is not clear what the damage is here. The banks continue to investigate. And it's all centers around Hackensack, New Jersey, is where the investigation is centered. This, according to the "Wall Street Journal."
The other case involves MCI. This we've seen before. A stolen laptop computer containing 16,000 files of MCI employees, current and former. Laptop stolen from a car in a garage, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. And again, unclear exactly what the damage will be. But this drumbeat goes on and on and on.
O'BRIEN: Yes, because you always have to wait and see. It's kind of catchword there. All right, Andy, thanks.
HEMMER: Here's Jack, "Question of the Day" now.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
Nearly 200 level III sex offenders are getting free Viagra, courtesy of the New York taxpayers. An audit by the state controller's office found Medicaid reimbursed Viagra going to people convicted of assaulting kids as young as two and raping women as old as 90. The courts have determined that level three sex offenders represent a high risk to public safety.
A 1998 federal mandate requires state Medicaid programs to pay for Viagra. New York senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton are calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to change the Medicaid policy immediately to exclude sex offenders. There's a good idea.
The question is this: Should Medicaid coverage include sexual potency pills such as Viagra?
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Am@CNN.com. We'll get to it.
O'BRIEN: Ridiculous. Well, there's much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come this morning.
Ahead on "90 Second Pop," the force is strong with the final "Star Wars" movie. "Episode III" rakes in big bucks at the box office, but some folks are seeing it for free. We'll explain why. Plus, Tom Cruise declares his love for Katie Holmes and scientology. Is it all part of one big P.R. stunt? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired May 23, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien. The week begins with new and deadly violence in Iraq. A top security official assassinated, four soldiers killed. Plus, an overnight sweep and the arrest of 300 suspected insurgents.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Bill Hemmer. New details about the shocking crime in Florida. An 8-year-old girl rescued after being buried alive. The police officer who found her will join us live today.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Jack Cafferty. Nearly 200 level III sex offenders -- they're worst kind -- are getting free Viagra from the taxpayers in the state of New York. And New York's not the only place it's happening. We'll take a look.
O'BRIEN: And a school bus fight between the driver and students caught on tape. A controversy now brewing on who the police charge on this AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Good morning everybody, on a Monday morning. Good to have you along with us. Good morning to you, as well.
O'BRIEN: And likewise. Good weekend?
HEMMER: Yes, excellent. Can't complain, Saturday and Sunday, right?
Over the weekend, too, looking back at the first lady, Laura Bush. Some tense moments with a group of protesters over the weekend in Jerusalem.
O'BRIEN: Some questions now, of course, about whether the first lady should have visited these holy sites. We'll have a report on that ahead in a moment.
First though, let's right to the new violence in Iraq to tell you about. A developing story right now. A car bomb blew up outside a Baghdad restaurant in the past hour. There have been at least three attacks against the government today and three car bombings aimed at U.S. troops.
Ryan Chilcote is live in Baghdad for us this morning. Ryan, good morning. The latest assassination, first. Yet another attack against a member of the new government.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Soledad. It's turning into an exceptionally violent day, a violent beginning of the week here in Iraq, after a relative lull in the violence over the last week.
Start with that assassination. This was an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister on national security. He and his driver were on their way to work, just outside of a candy shop. That's when insurgents opened fire on them in a drive-by killing -- shooting, killing both of them. This was just the most recent attack. It's a long-standing tactic, really, by the insurgents to target government officials that have been doing it for more than a year now.
But those attacks have really picked up since this new government was formed at the end of last month, Iraq's first democratically- formed government. Just since then, we've seen nearly a dozen of these attacks, almost every Iraqi ministry hit. Of course, the majority of the attacks have been on officials from the defense and interior ministries. Another one of those attacks today.
Then moving on to a lot of car bombing attacks. Four of them in all already today. We start up just south of Kirkuk. That's where a suicide bomber targeted a government building there, killing at least five Kurdish soldiers, wounding another 13. Then in the city of Mosul, another suicide car bomber wounding four. And then a very elaborate attack in the city of Samarra, targeting U.S. troops. Two suicide car bombers, as we understand at this time, attacking a gate outside of that U.S. installation.
The U.S. troops responded to both of those car bomber attacks and that's when a third suicide bomber, this time on foot, wearing a suicide bomber vest -- one of those vests with the explosives in it -- attacked, blowing himself up, wounding four of those U.S. soldiers there.
In addition now, just within the last few minutes, here in Baghdad, another car bombing. Not clear how it was detonated. As you said, it was outside of a restaurant. The police are telling us that at least three were wounded in that attack -- three were killed in that attack, another seven wounded. Police, however, fear the casualty figures could rise there -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, a new military operation in western Baghdad also to talk about this morning. It's aimed, of course, at taking down the insurgency. Just who is taking part in this?
CHILCOTE: It's being billed as the largest U.S. military joint operation with Iraqi forces. It's being called Operation Squeeze Play. One U.S. military official described it as a coordinated search operation on steroids, really moving into the west of the city. Seven battalions of Iraqi troops, that's about 2,000, accompanied with a small number of U.S. forces.
They say that they have already detained some 285 insurgents there, concentrating on the area around the Abu Ghraib prison and around the airport. However, we have seen large numbers detained before. That doesn't necessarily mean that all of these individuals will be of interest to U.S. interrogators. Many of them will probably be released -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ryan Chilcote in Baghdad for us this morning. Ryan, thanks -- Bill.
HEMMER: At this hour, the first lady Laura Bush is meeting with Egyptian women leaders in Cairo. Earlier today, Mrs. Bush met with Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak. They taped a popular Egyptian children's show and later will visit pyramids there.
The first lady says she was not surprised to be confronted by protesters during her tour of Middle East holy sites on Sunday. And just this morning, in an interview with CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, Mrs. Bush said she was not worried.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, I wouldn't say it's a risk. It's not a risk. You know, this is a -- there's a very important mission behind all of this, and it's certainly not taking a risk. Myself, I'm perfectly safe. And, you know, it's very, very important. It was important to go to the World Economic Forum, to talk about women's rights. It's important to talk about democracy.
Both the Israelis and the Palestinian women that I met with want the United States to be involved. They want the U.S. to be part of the peace process. We're an important part of it. And countries around the Middle East and around the world rely on the United States. They come to us with their problems. They want us to try to help them however we can. And that's the role that we have right now in the world, and it's important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: More with Suzanne's interview throughout the morning here. And the Secret Service also downplaying any security threat, but many wonder if it was a good idea to visit these holy sites.
Over the weekend, our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, with me this morning down in D.C. Bill, good morning to you.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: How serious was this on Sunday?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think it communicated exactly the opposite message of what the first lady was trying to do. She said this trip is -- was, still is, a goodwill trip. It's meant to repair the U.S. image in the Middle East and to demonstrate that, as she put it, the chances for peace now are as close as they've been in really long time.
I'm not sure that was communicated by the appearance of protesters in the holy places in Jerusalem. My view is that it was ill-advised for the first lady to go to the most contentious spot in a very contentious area, namely what the Israelis call the Temple Mount, the Arabs call the Noble Sanctuary, which is the focal point of a lot of intense emotions and hatreds.
HEMMER: As she said, though, to expect protests at a time that we see today in 2005. But again, this was a group of about 40, 50 people. This wasn't 10,000 people gathered in the streets, awaiting her arrival there to protest that arrival.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. It was a very small group, but I think the images for Americans were a bit shocking. Americans see the first lady as above politics, they see this as goodwill mission. But when she goes to the Middle East on a trip like this, she's the United States. She's not the first lady, she's America. And all the grievances with the United States were expressed by, again, this small group. And that's what got portrayed by the press.
So I think the message a lot of Americans are seeing here is they hate us. Some Israelis, some Palestinians, people on both sides. Why do they hate us? If this was meant to repair the U.S. image, I'm not sure that worked.
HEMMER: The bigger point for you, though, was what you consider the main event, the Israeli-Palestinian issue. You also believe the Iraq War is truly a sideshow. Is that really the case throughout the Middle East today, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Well, look, the central issue in the Middle East is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Iraq War was supposed to spread democracy, stability in the Middle East. And you've got to raise the question what did it really achieve? Because you see these intense emotions coming out. The focus is still on the Israeli-Palestinian problem.
The Iraq War -- Iraq doesn't seem to be particularly more stable. There was a moment of hopefulness on January 30th, when we had -- when they had the election in Iraq, and Americans breathed a sigh of relief. America applauded the fact that they were electing their own government. Well, it took a long time for that government to be set up and now the situation appears to continue to deteriorate, veering close to civil war.
That, plus the Saddam photos, the "Newsweek" report and now the protests to the first lady, all raise some questions, are we really making progress in the Middle East?
HEMMER: We'll continue to look at this throughout the morning. Bill Schneider, thanks for that. Down in D.C.
Another note from over the weekend: While Laura Bush is being heckled in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was being heckled here in New York City. A speech to American Jewish leaders Sunday, interrupted by protesters shouting, "Jews don't expel Jews!" The hecklers oppose his plan to close Israeli settlements in the Gaza and parts of the West Bank. Excuse me. The evacuation supposed to begin in mid-August -- Soledad. O'BRIEN: Buried alive. We are learning new details about a pretty shocking crime in Florida. Police found an 8-year-old girl in an abandoned landfill in Lake Worth, Florida, just down the coast from West Palm Beach. A policeman found the little girl Sunday, just hours after her reported kidnapping. Well, this morning, the 17-year-old who originally called police to report the girl's abduction is the prime suspect. Police say he's confessed. He faces charges of attempted murder, sexual battery on a child under 12 and false imprisonment. Authorities say he will be charged as an adult.
Sergeant Mike Hall found the child in a trash bin. He joins us from Lake Worth, Florida, along with police chief William Smith. Thank you for joining us. Nice to have you.
Sergeant Hall, let's begin with you. She was in a recycling bin, in the landfill, buried under rocks. How did you exactly find this little girl?
SGT. MIKE HALL, LAKE WORTH POLICE DEPT.: We were divided up into grid areas, and part of the landfill was assigned to my grid. Myself and Corporal Chriswell (ph) from the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office were driving the service road in the landfill. We came upon a bunch of dumpsters. And knowing that suspects have a tendency to dispose of items, whether it's clothing, weapons, or sometimes bodies, we decided to start our search with the dumpsters.
O'BRIEN: And you went and looked inside the dumpster. What did you see?
HALL: Inside the big green dumpster was a big yellow recycling bin. I leaned in, flipped the lid open on the recycling bin and saw large concrete slabs piled into the recycling bin. And in between those concrete slabs, I saw a small foot and a small hand.
O'BRIEN: What did you think you first saw it? And at what point did you realize the little girl was alive?
HALL: Well, first, I started shaking the recycling bin, trying to get a response out of her. I saw no movement. I heard no voice. I did that several times, each time, getting no response. So at that time, you know, I felt for the worst. I got on the radio, called the command post. Lieutenant Matthews (ph) arrived, our detective bureau lieutenant. He jumped up, looked into the bin as well. And then all of a sudden, he shouted out, "A finger's moving, a finger's moving." And at that point, you know, I mean, that hopelessness turned to hope, you know. And everybody jumped in and started taking the rocks off of her.
O'BRIEN: Once you were able to remove the rocks off the little girl, was she able to help you and cooperate? What kind of condition was she in?
HALL: Considering what she had been through, I mean, she was in a lot better condition than we thought she would be in. She was able to actually name her attacker while still in the dumpster. O'BRIEN: Chief Smith, the attacker is -- or the suspect or the attacker that she named is this 17-year-old who was staying at the house where the girl was overnighting with her godmother, if I'm correct. At what point did you think of him as a suspect?
CHIEF WILLIAM SMITH, LAKE WORTH POLICE DEPT: Well, we began to drive the area and we checked out his story. It showed that there were some holes in the story. We, of course, acted on the information that he gave us. We had an amber alert. We activated our system in Florida. We asked for assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. We mobilized 50 of our officers, 35 sheriff's deputies, and 8 or 9 investigators from FDLE.
O'BRIEN: When you look at what has happened and the ability of your sergeant to discover this little girl, we could have a much different ending to this story, as you well know. I know miracle is one of those words people like throw around a lot, but you've got to be thinking that today, am I right?
SMITH: Well, it sure is a miracle. And Sergeant Hall's an excellent officer, the best of the best. We had some luck and a lot of good police work and those hundred officers that went out and searched is what really saved this girl's life.
O'BRIEN: Well, all those things coming together. Chief William Smith and Sergeant Mike Hall, very fair to call you guys heroes today. I thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate it.
SMITH: Thank you.
HALL: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: Bill?
HEMMER: A remarkable outcome there.
13 minutes now past the hour. In Charlotte County, Florida, officials looking into whether or not a school bus driver should be charged with a more serious offense after getting into a brawl with two teenage boys. The entire fight caught on videotape last week, on board that bus, showing the driver ordering one of the boys to come to the front of the bus. When the boy did not move, the driver grabbed him. Police say the boy and his brother then hit the driver.
The teens are charged with felony counts of assault. The bus driver, Albert Marshall Taylor, has been charged only with a misdemeanor, suspended with pay. But officials say seeing the videotape has changed their thinking about the seriousness of that incident. The story broke over the weekend.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: The clock is ticking on a showdown in the U.S. Senate. In a moment, a closer look at this crucial meeting today that could make the ultimate decision on the fate of this judicial filibuster. O'BRIEN: Also, the fallout from the controversial photo of Saddam Hussein in his underwear. How is it playing in the streets of Baghdad? We'll take a look.
HEMMER: Also, "Star Wars" shattering records yet again. The force, though, not enough to keep bootleggers at bay. That's part of our coverage in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
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HEMMER: Saddam Hussein's lawyers are now threatening to sue a British tabloid over pictures of the former dictator behind bars and in his underwear. The "Sun" published a second set of photos on Saturday that included the former regime members, nicknamed Chemical Ali and Mrs. Anthrax. The Bush administration now investigating the leak of these photos.
Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Samir Sumaida'ie, back with us to talk about the Iraqi reaction. Good morning to you. Thanks for coming by. How big of a deal is this right now in Iraq?
SAMIR SUMAIDA'IE, IRAQ'S AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: You know, I'm amazed at the amount of interest and air time this story has been given. As far as I am concerned, it's something of a non-event, really. Let me be absolutely clear. We want to do the right thing. We want to show the world that we have a new set of values, a value that respects human rights and we have to do the right thing, even to Saddam.
But this is a man who has humiliated the whole nation. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not interested to see him in his underwear. And, you know, the fact that he's been shown in this way doesn't move me.
HEMMER: Are you saying you're surprised by the amount of air time in this country or the amount of attention back home?
SUMDAIDA'IE: Both. But the amount of attention -- it's qualitatively different. At home, it's -- anything to do with Saddam is of interest, but you're not going to see thousands of people going into the street protesting about this. Some people might feel good about this. Some people might feel a little bit unhappy. But I don't think it's going to move a lot of people.
HEMMER: This is some of the reaction we picked up over the weekend. "Al-Quds," this newspaper, a pan-Arab newspaper out of London, the editor wrote this over weekend: "We are not going to publish the pictures because they are revolting. It's adding salt to the wounds. It is not actually heroism to publish a picture of a man in private in his underpants." I understand your view. Does that reflect the broad Arab view?
SUMDAIDA'IE: "Al-Quds" might reflect some views in the Arab street, but it's certainly not in harmony with the mood of the Iraqi people. I can tell you that. "Al-Quds" has been strongly, strongly opposed to the removal of Saddam, and I think that it makes no secret of its sympathies to the Saddam regime and to Saddam's followers. HEMMER: Let me try to get to two more points quickly here. Next hour, an attorney for Saddam Hussein will be on air, talking about this issue. He's concerned about that it's been 19 months, no charges have been issued against Saddam Hussein. Is there an explanation as to why that's the case?
SUMDAIDA'IE: Well, that's a more substantial point to discuss, frankly. And I'm glad this point has been raised, that it's being discussed. You know, until there has been an elected government in place, there was an issue of legitimacy. And that was one of the reasons why processing his trial was held off. We did not want to be open to the charges that he's being tried by an illegitimate government. Now, the government is elected and I think this will go ahead fairly soon.
HEMMER: Let me quickly get to one other point here, on the political front over the weekend. There's a large group of Sunnis that apparently now are coming to the table to try and cut a deal with the Shiite government that has taken control. This is the same group of people a year ago who essentially bucked the system, saying they will not take part in this.
SUMDAIDA'IE: Yes.
HEMMER: Overall, are you getting the sense now that at least this group of people are saying if we cannot beat them, it is time to join them?
SUMDAIDA'IE: It's not only this group. It's a very wide, widely held feeling amongst the Sunni community that it's time to be part of the system and not to be against it. Otherwise, they risk -- know they risk being left behind.
HEMMER: Mr. Ambassador, thanks for your time.
SUMDAIDA'IE: Thank you.
HEMMER: We'll speak again.
More in a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING. Get a break. Right after this on a Monday edition.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Another massive case of identity theft to talk about, this one affecting thousands of customers at leading national banks. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad.
A couple to report, as you said. And the first one definitely with a new twist. Bank employees this time selling account numbers and balances of over 100,000 individuals to an intermediary, who then sold this data to collection agencies. 100,000 customers, half a million accounts at ten branches of four major banks in seven Eastern states. Those states include New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina South Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Here are the institutions. And as usual in these cases, it is not clear what the damage is here. The banks continue to investigate. And it's all centers around Hackensack, New Jersey, is where the investigation is centered. This, according to the "Wall Street Journal."
The other case involves MCI. This we've seen before. A stolen laptop computer containing 16,000 files of MCI employees, current and former. Laptop stolen from a car in a garage, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. And again, unclear exactly what the damage will be. But this drumbeat goes on and on and on.
O'BRIEN: Yes, because you always have to wait and see. It's kind of catchword there. All right, Andy, thanks.
HEMMER: Here's Jack, "Question of the Day" now.
CAFFERTY: Thank you, Bill.
Nearly 200 level III sex offenders are getting free Viagra, courtesy of the New York taxpayers. An audit by the state controller's office found Medicaid reimbursed Viagra going to people convicted of assaulting kids as young as two and raping women as old as 90. The courts have determined that level three sex offenders represent a high risk to public safety.
A 1998 federal mandate requires state Medicaid programs to pay for Viagra. New York senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton are calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to change the Medicaid policy immediately to exclude sex offenders. There's a good idea.
The question is this: Should Medicaid coverage include sexual potency pills such as Viagra?
HEMMER: Thank you, Jack. Am@CNN.com. We'll get to it.
O'BRIEN: Ridiculous. Well, there's much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come this morning.
Ahead on "90 Second Pop," the force is strong with the final "Star Wars" movie. "Episode III" rakes in big bucks at the box office, but some folks are seeing it for free. We'll explain why. Plus, Tom Cruise declares his love for Katie Holmes and scientology. Is it all part of one big P.R. stunt? That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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