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American Morning
Deep Throat Mystery Revealed; New Developments in Investigation of House Fire That Killed Nine People in Cleveland, Ohio
Aired June 01, 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 Deep Throat mystery revealed. This morning, the story behind the story. What happened when this former FBI man came forward?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
In record numbers, Americans realize the dream of owning a new home and the government wants to push the numbers even higher. But has buying now become way too easy?
O'BRIEN: And 25 years of 24-hour coverage from around the world, from the White House to the West Wing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: But he's not a stupid man, and he knows where CNN is on his television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Marking our 25th anniversary on this AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Good morning, everyone. June 1st on the calendar, 1980, 25 years ago. Happy birthday.
O'BRIEN: And a big one.
HEMMER: CNN went on the air for the first time today. We celebrate our 25th anniversary, the silver anniversary for the Cable News Network.
O'BRIEN: And this morning, we're going to look at some of the stories that defined the past 25 years and defined the network as well.
HEMMER: And a lot of reflections, too. Bernie Shaw's going to stop by a bit later, too, so a lot to talk about in that area.
First, though, let's start this morning with the answer to one of Washington's biggest mysteries. In a town that loves to tell secrets, the identity of Deep Throat has been revealed. "Vanity Fair" magazine revealing Tuesday that former FBI official Mark Felt is the informant who leaked information to "Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The "Post" later confirmed it.
David Von Drehle wrote the article in today's edition of the "Post." He's live down in Washington.
David, good morning to you.
DAVID VON DREHLE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.
HEMMER: Excellent front-page story this morning, and very detailed as well. I imagine the last few days at the "Post" have been quite hectic, at least today, and obviously yesterday. One of the points you make in your piece today, David, is that the "Post" was caught flat-footed on this story. How so?
VON DREHLE: Well, we really were. We, of course, had some plans, rough plans in the works on the assumption that Felt would die at some point in the next few years. But we had no idea that the story was coming. We learned of it yesterday morning. Our top editors were at a corporate retreat. They had to rush back to the "Post."
Bob Woodward had to read the story, figure out what was in it. He had been in contact with the Felt family for the past several years, trying to figure out exactly what Mr. Felt's wishes were and whether he was lucid enough, at his advanced age, to undo the agreement they'd both kept for so many years.
So we had to react to this, had to determine that, in fact, this agreement had been be a abrogated by the family, by the lawyer, and there was no point in us doing anything but confirming and telling the story.
HEMMER: You also write in today's story that Felt's daughter was trying to coax her father, the words you used today, into admitting his role. Why was that important to her at this point?
VON DREHLE: She says in the story that she wanted her father to get the glory for this while he was alive. There's also a quotation from her talking about a desire that if there's money to be made from this revelation, that some of it should go to the Felt family, and those seemed to be the motivations.
HEMMER: Well, at first, yesterday, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein denied it. Later they admitted it through the "Post" in a series of stories that came out throughout the day yesterday. But I imagine if this "Vanity Fair" article was not out there, that this secret is still that, it's a secret, is that right?
VON DREHLE: Absolutely. The commitment that Bob Woodward and the Washington post made to Mark Felt was that we would keep this secret until he died, and that was Bob's intention up until 4:00 or so yesterday afternoon. It was -- that's why the initial statement said the same thing that Woodward and Bernstein have been saying for 33 years, that they had no intention of revealing this source while he was alive.
HEMMER: The other point you make in today's piece, you quote Carl Bernstein as saying that Felt's role in all of this can be overstated. In what way is Deep Throat's role overstated at this point?
VON DREHLE: Well, the cultural power of the figure from the movie, the Holbrook character in the parking garage, is so intense, and so romantic and mysterious that this mystery has sort of overshadowed the complexity of Watergate. A lot of pieces went into it. Woodward and Bernstein themselves had scores of sources, not all of them anonymous, many of them named in these stories. They worked hard to get people on the record for their stories.
Now that we know Felt's identity, their hope is that people will get a little more rounded picture of the Watergate story and of Deep Throat's role in it. He was their coach, in a sense, their -- he gave them context, direction and encouragement when they needed it to keep this story alive at a time when the Nixon administration was desperately trying to cover it up.
HEMMER: And more from Bob Woodward tomorrow. He's preparing a piece in the "Post" tomorrow. Any idea what he's going to say and write then?
VON DREHLE: He's going to tell, as I understand it, a really dramatic personal story of a young reporter and a nervous source, their relationship, how this all unfolded from an accidental meeting in the early 1970s.
HEMMER: Thanks, David.
David Von Drehle, "Washington Post." You can read his story above the fold this morning, front page of the post this morning.
VON DREHLE: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you. Good speaking with you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN; A CNN Security Watch this morning. We're learning more about the two men accused of conspiring to help Al Qaeda. Tarik Shah and Rafiq Sabir appeared in federal courtrooms on Tuesday and are being held without bail. Friends and relatives say they are shocked by the charges, and they believe the government's case is racially biased.
Adaora Udoji has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tarik Shah a music man, seen here jamming on a base in a New York City club. Friends say he's magical.
NELLIE DYER, FRIEND OF SUSPECT: He's a peace-loving, masterful bassist. He is internationally renowned. He's respected in the jazz community.
UDOJI: But federal prosecutors say Shah plotted to help terrorists, that he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, unknowingly to an undercover FBI agent and a confidential informant, that he promised to use his martial arts expertise to teach militants hand-to-hand combat, even scouted warehouses.
Shah was in court, but made no formal plea. Outside, his wife, among friends, stood by his lawyer who denied the charge.
ERICA MCDANIEL EDWARDS'S SHAH'S ATTY.: He wouldn't be the victim of a sting operation unless he was a Muslim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he wasn't -- exactly.
UDOJI: Prosecutors also allege Shah brought in his friend of 20 years, Dr. Rafiq Sabir, a father of four. An Ivy League medical school graduate, now an emergency specialist in Boca Raton, Florida. His alleged contribution, to help stitch up militants fighting the holy war. They say hours of tape recordings prove it. Sabir was also in court, but his hearing was delayed so he could hire an attorney. Sabir's friends don't believe the accusations.
DANIEL MCBRIDE, ISLAMIC CTR. OF BOCA RATON: He's just a real nice guy. He's a physician, because that's what he wants to do, is help people.
UDOJI: Dr. Farouq Khan, a lung specialist who knew Sabir in Long Island in the late 1990s says the man cared deeply about health care for all.
DR. FAROUQ KHAN, STATE UNIV. OF N.Y.: He was hard working, he would put in his hours, and he was very committed to justice.
UDOJI: Shah and Sabir's supporters question the validity of the case, asking how a two-year investigation led to only a single charge. They want justice, but they worry sometimes Muslims are scapegoated.
KHAN: There have been these high profile cases put forth, and then when they hit the judicial system, they fizzle out. I know many families which have been destroyed because of allegations made.
UDOJI: The court case has just begun against the musician and the doctor. Both are being held without bail.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And you want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: There are new developments in the investigation this morning of a house fire that killed nine people in Cleveland, Ohio. Fire officials now say the blaze was intentionally set. Early-morning fire, broke out May 21st while several children were sleeping over. Eight children died inside this home. Two adults did escape.
Shannon O'Brien from our affiliate, WOIO, is in Cleveland in front of that burned home.
And what are police saying about this investigation now, Shannon? SHANNON O'BRIEN, WOIO REPORTER: Well, Bill, 11 days after this house fire killed nine people here in Cleveland, you can see behind me, this makeshift memorial still intact. The house has been guarded by police so investigators could find a cause.
Now this house is being protected as a crime scene. Investigators believe this fire was no accident. It was deliberately set.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Eight caskets were wheeled out of the Cleveland Convention Center yesterday as the final eight victims of this house fire in Cleveland were laid to rest; 4,000 people showed up. The fire on East 87th street was the deadliest house fire in Cleveland history. Victims died of smoke inhalation. Officials said the fire got so hot, it scorched the frame of the house jet black and melted the metal window frames.
Investigators first thought this was an accident. But they were perplexed. How did the fire get so hot and spread so fast?
Well, now they have evidence the fire was no accident. It was arson. See, they found accelerant inside the house, and that accelerant, we're not sure what it is exactly, but it would be gasoline or another flammable liquid. Neighbors and people in the community are shocked at this latest development.
DEVON CABEZA, NEIGHBOR: This is crazy. Who would be a person who would want to do something like this? That's just crazy.
KIMBERLY BURKS, NEIGHBOR: I'm shocked. I'm speechless.
FREDA BURKS, NEIGHBOR: I'm not shocked because of the way the fire went so fast, I thought somebody had set it on fire.
S. O'BRIEN: What would you like to say to that person tonight?
F. BURKS: I hope he rot in hell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: You can see that melted frame on this house because the fire did get so hot. Police are not involved yet, because they're waiting for the Cuyahoga County coroner to rule these death as homicide. Once she does, the police will start their investigation in to who could have started the fire.
Now fire investigators don't know a motive or maybe who might have done this, and they have no suspects right now. But they will be having a press conference at 11:00 this morning, where we're going to learn more about exactly what started the fire and how they'll proceed from here.
Live in Cleveland, I'm Shannon O'Brien.
Back to you Bill.
HEMMER: Terrible and devastating story in Cleveland. Shannon O'Brien, thanks. WOIO, our affiliate there, in Cleveland -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's go to Texas now. Some fierce storms are bringing hail, and rain and lightning. Take a look at this, dramatic bolts caught on tape in the skies over San Antonio. Also reported some golf-ball sized hail that damaged crops even further north, just around Lubbock, Texas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Florida gearing up for what could be another devastating hurricane season this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on a tinderbox of emotions in this state right now, everybody is skittish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: And now officials trying to make sure residents are ready for the next big storm when it comes. Problem is, too many people are still reeling and still recovering from the last one.
O'BRIEN: Also, home sales hitting an all-time high. But is the nation's housing boom about to go bust?
HEMMER: Also, June 1st, 1980. Twenty-five years ago today, CNN made its debut, changed TV news forever, and this man right here will be along a bit later to talk about what he was feeling sitting at that very desk on this date, 25 years ago. Bernie Shaw coming up here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Today marks the official start of hurricane season, and forecasters say that this year could be even worse than 2004. That's when four massive storms slammed the Atlantic coast. It caused $40 billion in damage.
CNN's John Zarrella now in Punta Gorda in Florida. It's one of the towns that was hardest hit by last year's storms.
John, good morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I guess it's sort of appropriate on June 1st. We've got rain, lightning, thunder, just a bad day across Florida. Nothing to do with hurricanes, though. But again, $40 billion caused in flood damage, caused in Florida last year by the four hurricanes. And with this expected to be another very active season, folks here in Punta Gorda certainly unsettled by that news. We are in downtown Punta Gorda. Off to my right last year, there was a shopping mall here. There's nothing here now. Gas station to my left. It's gone now. Behind me, a condominium complex that was pretty much completely destroyed last year. It's being rebuilt.
All of what's happened here in Florida and, certainly, here in Punta Gorda, all this damage going to take years before it's repaired.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Wayne Sallade's message is simple: just try to relax.
WAYNE SALLADE, CHARLOTTE CO. EMERGENCY MGR.: We are sitting on a tinderbox of emotions in this state right now. Everybody is skittish.
ZARRELLA: The man, who has been a Charlotte County emergency manager for 18 years, delivered his sermon during one of three stops on his day-long hurricane caravan, preaching preparedness and dispelling myths.
SALLADE: Tornadoes is Dorothy in Kansas in the "Wizard of Oz," not in Hurricane Charlie.
ZARRELLA: Sallade's focused on getting people ready for this hurricane season. The problem is, many folks, like Miriam Carothers, are still living last year's nightmare. Ten months after Charlie and $16,000 later, all she has is a new roof and drywall. The rest of the house remains gutted. While she waits for work to be done, she lives in a FEMA trailer, right outside her bedroom window.
(on camera): You're living right out this window?
MIRIAM CAROTHERS, HOME DAMAGED: Right out that window. We wash, and eat and cook over there.
ZARRELLA: So you've been living in there all this time?
CAROTHERS: Yes. Yes, sir.
ZARRELLA: How much longer you going to have to -- I mean, hurricane season is here.
CAROTHERS: Tell me about it. I don't even want to hear about that.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Carothers, a grandmother who has lived here for more than 20 years, is one of nearly 27,000 people in Florida still living in FEMA-provided housing. Many are in mobile-home cities set up by the agency. Affordable housing is scarce, and is the biggest post-hurricane issue facing the state.
Across Florida, blue tarps still cover thousands of roofs. Building materials are in short supply. All people can do is try to be patient. Painting landscapes keeps Miriam Carothers blood from boiling. (on camera): Snow and It's not like a hurricane in Florida, is it? A little bit of a different setting.
CAROTHERS: Yes. No, I'm not.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): She doesn't use canvas either. Carothers paints on pieces of drywall left over from the work her contractor did finish.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Across Florida, there are many, many stories, very similar to Miriam's. Now, Soledad, the first named storm this year, when it forms, and that's pretty much a guarantee it will form, will be named Arlene -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, John, are folks there preparing for this year's potential slew of storms?
ZARRELLA: Oh, yes, absolutely. No question. People are getting prepared earlier now. In fact, the governor signed a bill that allows people starting today and for the next 12 days here in Florida, to buy hurricane supplies, generators, flash lights, batteries, tax-free for the next 12 days, encouraging people to get out now and prepare and avoid those last-minute rushes to buy supplies when they are not available -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That we inevitably see, right? John Zarrella for us this morning in Punta Gorda. Thanks, John -- Bill.
HEMMER: Twenty-five years ago today, Ted Turner launched a network that changed television news forever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER: I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment, the impact CNN has made on the world from politics to pop culture. And there are many.
Back in a moment here, 25 years later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: CNN is celebrating its silver anniversary today. Twenty-five years ago today, in fact, Ted Turner launching his vision, the world's first 24-hour news network. Since then, CNN has influenced not only the media, but also pop culture and even foreign policy as well. AMERICAN MORNING's Kelly Wallace is here to talk more about this morning.
Good morning to you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, 25 years.
HEMMER: Happy anniversary.
WALLACE: Happy anniversary.
You know, Bill, CNN didn't really become a household name until about 11 years after its launch and what it did with one very, very big story in 1991 got the attention of world leaders, academics, journalists and, yes, even Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. COLIN POWELL, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think the best source of how careful we have been is listening to the CNN reporters who are watching it unfold.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Best reporting I've seen on what transpired in Baghdad was on CNN.
WALLACE (voice-over): Observers say to analyze the CNN effect, you have to go back to the first Gulf War, when people around the world, even then President Bush, watched the war play out live on CNN, and only on CNN. The night the war began, NBC's Tom Brokaw interviewed CNN's Bernard Shaw, who was in Baghdad.
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: CNN used to be called the little network that could. It's no longer a little network.
WALLACE: It was during and then after the first Gulf War that U.S. policymakers knew what they said and did would now be broadcast around the world.
Mike McCurry served as State Department spokesman and then White House press secretary in the Clinton administration.
MIKE MCCURRY, FMR. CLINTON PRESS SECY.: Many foreign embassies have told me this, they used to monitor the coverage on CNN, the broadcasting of the various news briefings around town and instantaneously relay that information.
WALLACE: McCurry says there is a down side, a press corps sometimes getting it wrong.
MCCURRY: Sometimes in the need to report quickly on a breaking story, it's very difficult to get on top of the facts.
WALLACE: Since the 1990s, academics have been analyzing what they have termed the CNN effect, the impact of 24-hour news on our culture, not just from CNN now, but also its competitors.
KURT ANDERSON, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: It has just speeded up incredibly the -- not only the way people expect to get news, but, in fact, the way news is made to the degree that news is made by people like politicians. WALLACE: Hollywood took notice too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: You can't run for the president of the United (EXPLETIVE DELETED) States without CNN!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH HARTNETT, ACTOR: We have two things we can do: We can either help or we can sit back and watch the country destroy itself on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: From the big screen to television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Leo Izaray (ph) is a sadistic mad man. This can't possibly be argued, but he's not a stupid man, and he knows where CNN is on his television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sharon, you've been watching CNN for about eight weeks now. Don't you want to watch something else?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Even "The Gilmore Girls."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why do you wish to be Christiane Amanpour?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Well, I don't wish to be her, exactly. I just want to do what she does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And a sign CNN was truly part of the pop culture, Kudos from one of the most famous women in the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I just came back from Africa. I've been in other countries. And no matter where you are, CNN is there, your friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And she said, and there's Larry, no matter where you go. There were so many more clips to include, Bill. All the late night comedians making fun of CNN, especially Wolf Blitzer. And get this, when you logon to amazon.com, looking for mentions of CNN, you get 117 books, 31 movies, and six DVDs.
HEMMER: Your first memory is what?
WALLACE: CNN and the Gulf War.
HEMMER: The Gulf War.
WALLACE: Yes.
HEMMER: Summer of '87, Fawn Hall, Ollie North, Iran-Contra hearings.
I was like, wow, hey, mom, dad, check this out, this thing called CNN.
WALLACE: You were a sports producer then.
HEMMER: This thing called CNN.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly.
HEMMER: Thanks, Kelly. Good stuff.
We wanted you to shake your take with us. The biggest stories we've that we have covered in the past 25 years today, asking online today, what news event of the last 25 years mattered most to you? AM@CNN.com.
Jack's out today, so Carol Costello is helping out with those responses a bit later today.
Here's Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.
Business news now. The Supreme Court overturning a major verdict in a corporate scandal case, plus a look at Wall Street this morning.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
The once proud accounting firm of Arthur Andersen was found guilty in 2002 of obstruction of justice, shredding documents in connection with the Enron case. Yesterday, the Supreme Court voted unanimously, however, to overturn that conviction, that once -- that ended up dooming this once proud firm. The great irony is that even though the conviction has been overturned, it won't save the firm, because there are only 200 employees left, basically handling lawsuits, Soledad. There used to be 28,000 employees in the United States. A lot of people suggested the penalty was too harsh for the firm at that time.
O'BRIEN: It ended the company, essentially.
HEMMER: It really did. And people suggested maybe the executives should have been jailed; the company should have been fined. But for 28,000 jobs to disappear like that, did the penalty fit the crime?
Let's talk about the markets. Yesterday kind of a down day again on Wall Street. We're below 10,500 on the Dow. You can see there, some weak economic data, higher oil prices. But guess what, Google was at it again, up $11 yesterday to 277. And a brokerage firm has now put a $350 a share target on that stock. So we'll be watching.
O'BRIEN: It's like watching yesterday's news. Google up again.
SERWER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks a lot.
Well, now that we know that former FBI official Mark Felt is the infamous Deep Throat, many people are wondering just how did he keep it a secret for so long? Some reaction from Felt's stunned neighbors is coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired June 1, 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 Deep Throat mystery revealed. This morning, the story behind the story. What happened when this former FBI man came forward?
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Bill Hemmer.
In record numbers, Americans realize the dream of owning a new home and the government wants to push the numbers even higher. But has buying now become way too easy?
O'BRIEN: And 25 years of 24-hour coverage from around the world, from the White House to the West Wing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: But he's not a stupid man, and he knows where CNN is on his television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Marking our 25th anniversary on this AMERICAN MORNING.
HEMMER: Good morning, everyone. June 1st on the calendar, 1980, 25 years ago. Happy birthday.
O'BRIEN: And a big one.
HEMMER: CNN went on the air for the first time today. We celebrate our 25th anniversary, the silver anniversary for the Cable News Network.
O'BRIEN: And this morning, we're going to look at some of the stories that defined the past 25 years and defined the network as well.
HEMMER: And a lot of reflections, too. Bernie Shaw's going to stop by a bit later, too, so a lot to talk about in that area.
First, though, let's start this morning with the answer to one of Washington's biggest mysteries. In a town that loves to tell secrets, the identity of Deep Throat has been revealed. "Vanity Fair" magazine revealing Tuesday that former FBI official Mark Felt is the informant who leaked information to "Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. The "Post" later confirmed it.
David Von Drehle wrote the article in today's edition of the "Post." He's live down in Washington.
David, good morning to you.
DAVID VON DREHLE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Good morning.
HEMMER: Excellent front-page story this morning, and very detailed as well. I imagine the last few days at the "Post" have been quite hectic, at least today, and obviously yesterday. One of the points you make in your piece today, David, is that the "Post" was caught flat-footed on this story. How so?
VON DREHLE: Well, we really were. We, of course, had some plans, rough plans in the works on the assumption that Felt would die at some point in the next few years. But we had no idea that the story was coming. We learned of it yesterday morning. Our top editors were at a corporate retreat. They had to rush back to the "Post."
Bob Woodward had to read the story, figure out what was in it. He had been in contact with the Felt family for the past several years, trying to figure out exactly what Mr. Felt's wishes were and whether he was lucid enough, at his advanced age, to undo the agreement they'd both kept for so many years.
So we had to react to this, had to determine that, in fact, this agreement had been be a abrogated by the family, by the lawyer, and there was no point in us doing anything but confirming and telling the story.
HEMMER: You also write in today's story that Felt's daughter was trying to coax her father, the words you used today, into admitting his role. Why was that important to her at this point?
VON DREHLE: She says in the story that she wanted her father to get the glory for this while he was alive. There's also a quotation from her talking about a desire that if there's money to be made from this revelation, that some of it should go to the Felt family, and those seemed to be the motivations.
HEMMER: Well, at first, yesterday, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein denied it. Later they admitted it through the "Post" in a series of stories that came out throughout the day yesterday. But I imagine if this "Vanity Fair" article was not out there, that this secret is still that, it's a secret, is that right?
VON DREHLE: Absolutely. The commitment that Bob Woodward and the Washington post made to Mark Felt was that we would keep this secret until he died, and that was Bob's intention up until 4:00 or so yesterday afternoon. It was -- that's why the initial statement said the same thing that Woodward and Bernstein have been saying for 33 years, that they had no intention of revealing this source while he was alive.
HEMMER: The other point you make in today's piece, you quote Carl Bernstein as saying that Felt's role in all of this can be overstated. In what way is Deep Throat's role overstated at this point?
VON DREHLE: Well, the cultural power of the figure from the movie, the Holbrook character in the parking garage, is so intense, and so romantic and mysterious that this mystery has sort of overshadowed the complexity of Watergate. A lot of pieces went into it. Woodward and Bernstein themselves had scores of sources, not all of them anonymous, many of them named in these stories. They worked hard to get people on the record for their stories.
Now that we know Felt's identity, their hope is that people will get a little more rounded picture of the Watergate story and of Deep Throat's role in it. He was their coach, in a sense, their -- he gave them context, direction and encouragement when they needed it to keep this story alive at a time when the Nixon administration was desperately trying to cover it up.
HEMMER: And more from Bob Woodward tomorrow. He's preparing a piece in the "Post" tomorrow. Any idea what he's going to say and write then?
VON DREHLE: He's going to tell, as I understand it, a really dramatic personal story of a young reporter and a nervous source, their relationship, how this all unfolded from an accidental meeting in the early 1970s.
HEMMER: Thanks, David.
David Von Drehle, "Washington Post." You can read his story above the fold this morning, front page of the post this morning.
VON DREHLE: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Thank you. Good speaking with you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN; A CNN Security Watch this morning. We're learning more about the two men accused of conspiring to help Al Qaeda. Tarik Shah and Rafiq Sabir appeared in federal courtrooms on Tuesday and are being held without bail. Friends and relatives say they are shocked by the charges, and they believe the government's case is racially biased.
Adaora Udoji has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tarik Shah a music man, seen here jamming on a base in a New York City club. Friends say he's magical.
NELLIE DYER, FRIEND OF SUSPECT: He's a peace-loving, masterful bassist. He is internationally renowned. He's respected in the jazz community.
UDOJI: But federal prosecutors say Shah plotted to help terrorists, that he pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda, unknowingly to an undercover FBI agent and a confidential informant, that he promised to use his martial arts expertise to teach militants hand-to-hand combat, even scouted warehouses.
Shah was in court, but made no formal plea. Outside, his wife, among friends, stood by his lawyer who denied the charge.
ERICA MCDANIEL EDWARDS'S SHAH'S ATTY.: He wouldn't be the victim of a sting operation unless he was a Muslim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he wasn't -- exactly.
UDOJI: Prosecutors also allege Shah brought in his friend of 20 years, Dr. Rafiq Sabir, a father of four. An Ivy League medical school graduate, now an emergency specialist in Boca Raton, Florida. His alleged contribution, to help stitch up militants fighting the holy war. They say hours of tape recordings prove it. Sabir was also in court, but his hearing was delayed so he could hire an attorney. Sabir's friends don't believe the accusations.
DANIEL MCBRIDE, ISLAMIC CTR. OF BOCA RATON: He's just a real nice guy. He's a physician, because that's what he wants to do, is help people.
UDOJI: Dr. Farouq Khan, a lung specialist who knew Sabir in Long Island in the late 1990s says the man cared deeply about health care for all.
DR. FAROUQ KHAN, STATE UNIV. OF N.Y.: He was hard working, he would put in his hours, and he was very committed to justice.
UDOJI: Shah and Sabir's supporters question the validity of the case, asking how a two-year investigation led to only a single charge. They want justice, but they worry sometimes Muslims are scapegoated.
KHAN: There have been these high profile cases put forth, and then when they hit the judicial system, they fizzle out. I know many families which have been destroyed because of allegations made.
UDOJI: The court case has just begun against the musician and the doctor. Both are being held without bail.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And you want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Bill.
HEMMER: There are new developments in the investigation this morning of a house fire that killed nine people in Cleveland, Ohio. Fire officials now say the blaze was intentionally set. Early-morning fire, broke out May 21st while several children were sleeping over. Eight children died inside this home. Two adults did escape.
Shannon O'Brien from our affiliate, WOIO, is in Cleveland in front of that burned home.
And what are police saying about this investigation now, Shannon? SHANNON O'BRIEN, WOIO REPORTER: Well, Bill, 11 days after this house fire killed nine people here in Cleveland, you can see behind me, this makeshift memorial still intact. The house has been guarded by police so investigators could find a cause.
Now this house is being protected as a crime scene. Investigators believe this fire was no accident. It was deliberately set.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Eight caskets were wheeled out of the Cleveland Convention Center yesterday as the final eight victims of this house fire in Cleveland were laid to rest; 4,000 people showed up. The fire on East 87th street was the deadliest house fire in Cleveland history. Victims died of smoke inhalation. Officials said the fire got so hot, it scorched the frame of the house jet black and melted the metal window frames.
Investigators first thought this was an accident. But they were perplexed. How did the fire get so hot and spread so fast?
Well, now they have evidence the fire was no accident. It was arson. See, they found accelerant inside the house, and that accelerant, we're not sure what it is exactly, but it would be gasoline or another flammable liquid. Neighbors and people in the community are shocked at this latest development.
DEVON CABEZA, NEIGHBOR: This is crazy. Who would be a person who would want to do something like this? That's just crazy.
KIMBERLY BURKS, NEIGHBOR: I'm shocked. I'm speechless.
FREDA BURKS, NEIGHBOR: I'm not shocked because of the way the fire went so fast, I thought somebody had set it on fire.
S. O'BRIEN: What would you like to say to that person tonight?
F. BURKS: I hope he rot in hell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: You can see that melted frame on this house because the fire did get so hot. Police are not involved yet, because they're waiting for the Cuyahoga County coroner to rule these death as homicide. Once she does, the police will start their investigation in to who could have started the fire.
Now fire investigators don't know a motive or maybe who might have done this, and they have no suspects right now. But they will be having a press conference at 11:00 this morning, where we're going to learn more about exactly what started the fire and how they'll proceed from here.
Live in Cleveland, I'm Shannon O'Brien.
Back to you Bill.
HEMMER: Terrible and devastating story in Cleveland. Shannon O'Brien, thanks. WOIO, our affiliate there, in Cleveland -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Let's go to Texas now. Some fierce storms are bringing hail, and rain and lightning. Take a look at this, dramatic bolts caught on tape in the skies over San Antonio. Also reported some golf-ball sized hail that damaged crops even further north, just around Lubbock, Texas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Florida gearing up for what could be another devastating hurricane season this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... on a tinderbox of emotions in this state right now, everybody is skittish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: And now officials trying to make sure residents are ready for the next big storm when it comes. Problem is, too many people are still reeling and still recovering from the last one.
O'BRIEN: Also, home sales hitting an all-time high. But is the nation's housing boom about to go bust?
HEMMER: Also, June 1st, 1980. Twenty-five years ago today, CNN made its debut, changed TV news forever, and this man right here will be along a bit later to talk about what he was feeling sitting at that very desk on this date, 25 years ago. Bernie Shaw coming up here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Today marks the official start of hurricane season, and forecasters say that this year could be even worse than 2004. That's when four massive storms slammed the Atlantic coast. It caused $40 billion in damage.
CNN's John Zarrella now in Punta Gorda in Florida. It's one of the towns that was hardest hit by last year's storms.
John, good morning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
I guess it's sort of appropriate on June 1st. We've got rain, lightning, thunder, just a bad day across Florida. Nothing to do with hurricanes, though. But again, $40 billion caused in flood damage, caused in Florida last year by the four hurricanes. And with this expected to be another very active season, folks here in Punta Gorda certainly unsettled by that news. We are in downtown Punta Gorda. Off to my right last year, there was a shopping mall here. There's nothing here now. Gas station to my left. It's gone now. Behind me, a condominium complex that was pretty much completely destroyed last year. It's being rebuilt.
All of what's happened here in Florida and, certainly, here in Punta Gorda, all this damage going to take years before it's repaired.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Wayne Sallade's message is simple: just try to relax.
WAYNE SALLADE, CHARLOTTE CO. EMERGENCY MGR.: We are sitting on a tinderbox of emotions in this state right now. Everybody is skittish.
ZARRELLA: The man, who has been a Charlotte County emergency manager for 18 years, delivered his sermon during one of three stops on his day-long hurricane caravan, preaching preparedness and dispelling myths.
SALLADE: Tornadoes is Dorothy in Kansas in the "Wizard of Oz," not in Hurricane Charlie.
ZARRELLA: Sallade's focused on getting people ready for this hurricane season. The problem is, many folks, like Miriam Carothers, are still living last year's nightmare. Ten months after Charlie and $16,000 later, all she has is a new roof and drywall. The rest of the house remains gutted. While she waits for work to be done, she lives in a FEMA trailer, right outside her bedroom window.
(on camera): You're living right out this window?
MIRIAM CAROTHERS, HOME DAMAGED: Right out that window. We wash, and eat and cook over there.
ZARRELLA: So you've been living in there all this time?
CAROTHERS: Yes. Yes, sir.
ZARRELLA: How much longer you going to have to -- I mean, hurricane season is here.
CAROTHERS: Tell me about it. I don't even want to hear about that.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Carothers, a grandmother who has lived here for more than 20 years, is one of nearly 27,000 people in Florida still living in FEMA-provided housing. Many are in mobile-home cities set up by the agency. Affordable housing is scarce, and is the biggest post-hurricane issue facing the state.
Across Florida, blue tarps still cover thousands of roofs. Building materials are in short supply. All people can do is try to be patient. Painting landscapes keeps Miriam Carothers blood from boiling. (on camera): Snow and It's not like a hurricane in Florida, is it? A little bit of a different setting.
CAROTHERS: Yes. No, I'm not.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): She doesn't use canvas either. Carothers paints on pieces of drywall left over from the work her contractor did finish.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Across Florida, there are many, many stories, very similar to Miriam's. Now, Soledad, the first named storm this year, when it forms, and that's pretty much a guarantee it will form, will be named Arlene -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, John, are folks there preparing for this year's potential slew of storms?
ZARRELLA: Oh, yes, absolutely. No question. People are getting prepared earlier now. In fact, the governor signed a bill that allows people starting today and for the next 12 days here in Florida, to buy hurricane supplies, generators, flash lights, batteries, tax-free for the next 12 days, encouraging people to get out now and prepare and avoid those last-minute rushes to buy supplies when they are not available -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: That we inevitably see, right? John Zarrella for us this morning in Punta Gorda. Thanks, John -- Bill.
HEMMER: Twenty-five years ago today, Ted Turner launched a network that changed television news forever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED TURNER: I dedicate the news channel for America, the Cable News Network.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: In a moment, the impact CNN has made on the world from politics to pop culture. And there are many.
Back in a moment here, 25 years later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: CNN is celebrating its silver anniversary today. Twenty-five years ago today, in fact, Ted Turner launching his vision, the world's first 24-hour news network. Since then, CNN has influenced not only the media, but also pop culture and even foreign policy as well. AMERICAN MORNING's Kelly Wallace is here to talk more about this morning.
Good morning to you.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, 25 years.
HEMMER: Happy anniversary.
WALLACE: Happy anniversary.
You know, Bill, CNN didn't really become a household name until about 11 years after its launch and what it did with one very, very big story in 1991 got the attention of world leaders, academics, journalists and, yes, even Hollywood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEN. COLIN POWELL, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think the best source of how careful we have been is listening to the CNN reporters who are watching it unfold.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Best reporting I've seen on what transpired in Baghdad was on CNN.
WALLACE (voice-over): Observers say to analyze the CNN effect, you have to go back to the first Gulf War, when people around the world, even then President Bush, watched the war play out live on CNN, and only on CNN. The night the war began, NBC's Tom Brokaw interviewed CNN's Bernard Shaw, who was in Baghdad.
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: CNN used to be called the little network that could. It's no longer a little network.
WALLACE: It was during and then after the first Gulf War that U.S. policymakers knew what they said and did would now be broadcast around the world.
Mike McCurry served as State Department spokesman and then White House press secretary in the Clinton administration.
MIKE MCCURRY, FMR. CLINTON PRESS SECY.: Many foreign embassies have told me this, they used to monitor the coverage on CNN, the broadcasting of the various news briefings around town and instantaneously relay that information.
WALLACE: McCurry says there is a down side, a press corps sometimes getting it wrong.
MCCURRY: Sometimes in the need to report quickly on a breaking story, it's very difficult to get on top of the facts.
WALLACE: Since the 1990s, academics have been analyzing what they have termed the CNN effect, the impact of 24-hour news on our culture, not just from CNN now, but also its competitors.
KURT ANDERSON, COLUMNIST, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: It has just speeded up incredibly the -- not only the way people expect to get news, but, in fact, the way news is made to the degree that news is made by people like politicians. WALLACE: Hollywood took notice too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: You can't run for the president of the United (EXPLETIVE DELETED) States without CNN!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH HARTNETT, ACTOR: We have two things we can do: We can either help or we can sit back and watch the country destroy itself on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: From the big screen to television.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Leo Izaray (ph) is a sadistic mad man. This can't possibly be argued, but he's not a stupid man, and he knows where CNN is on his television.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Sharon, you've been watching CNN for about eight weeks now. Don't you want to watch something else?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Even "The Gilmore Girls."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why do you wish to be Christiane Amanpour?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Well, I don't wish to be her, exactly. I just want to do what she does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And a sign CNN was truly part of the pop culture, Kudos from one of the most famous women in the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: I just came back from Africa. I've been in other countries. And no matter where you are, CNN is there, your friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALLACE: And she said, and there's Larry, no matter where you go. There were so many more clips to include, Bill. All the late night comedians making fun of CNN, especially Wolf Blitzer. And get this, when you logon to amazon.com, looking for mentions of CNN, you get 117 books, 31 movies, and six DVDs.
HEMMER: Your first memory is what?
WALLACE: CNN and the Gulf War.
HEMMER: The Gulf War.
WALLACE: Yes.
HEMMER: Summer of '87, Fawn Hall, Ollie North, Iran-Contra hearings.
I was like, wow, hey, mom, dad, check this out, this thing called CNN.
WALLACE: You were a sports producer then.
HEMMER: This thing called CNN.
WALLACE: Yes, exactly.
HEMMER: Thanks, Kelly. Good stuff.
We wanted you to shake your take with us. The biggest stories we've that we have covered in the past 25 years today, asking online today, what news event of the last 25 years mattered most to you? AM@CNN.com.
Jack's out today, so Carol Costello is helping out with those responses a bit later today.
Here's Soledad now.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bill.
Business news now. The Supreme Court overturning a major verdict in a corporate scandal case, plus a look at Wall Street this morning.
Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.
The once proud accounting firm of Arthur Andersen was found guilty in 2002 of obstruction of justice, shredding documents in connection with the Enron case. Yesterday, the Supreme Court voted unanimously, however, to overturn that conviction, that once -- that ended up dooming this once proud firm. The great irony is that even though the conviction has been overturned, it won't save the firm, because there are only 200 employees left, basically handling lawsuits, Soledad. There used to be 28,000 employees in the United States. A lot of people suggested the penalty was too harsh for the firm at that time.
O'BRIEN: It ended the company, essentially.
HEMMER: It really did. And people suggested maybe the executives should have been jailed; the company should have been fined. But for 28,000 jobs to disappear like that, did the penalty fit the crime?
Let's talk about the markets. Yesterday kind of a down day again on Wall Street. We're below 10,500 on the Dow. You can see there, some weak economic data, higher oil prices. But guess what, Google was at it again, up $11 yesterday to 277. And a brokerage firm has now put a $350 a share target on that stock. So we'll be watching.
O'BRIEN: It's like watching yesterday's news. Google up again.
SERWER: That's right.
O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks a lot.
Well, now that we know that former FBI official Mark Felt is the infamous Deep Throat, many people are wondering just how did he keep it a secret for so long? Some reaction from Felt's stunned neighbors is coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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