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American Morning

CIA Leak, Karl Rove; Discovery Prepares for Liftoff

Aired July 13, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It is exactly 7:30 here in New York this morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien, live at the Kennedy Space Center. Let's set the scene here for you just a little bit. It's a beautiful morning. Let's hope the weather holds here. Shuttle Discovery on the launch pad. The tanking, the fueling-up process has begun. A half-a-million gallons of liquid hydrogen and oxygen, please. Fill it up, and put it on the card, so to speak.

Discovery for the second time serving as the orbiter that will fly after an accident. Sort of the comeback kid of the space shuttle fleet.

Let's take a look at the countdown clock. You have to do a little bit of new math to figure out when the launch is, because there's a series of holds built in. Three hours and 50 minutes of hold left. So add 3 hours and 50 minutes to what you see there, and you come up with 8 hours and change for the time to launch. That just gives the folks here at Mission Control and at Launch Control an opportunity to stop, regroup, make sure they're on schedule. They stop the clock, regroup and move on.

In a few minutes, we'll have a conversation with the mission commander, Eileen Collins. Wherever she has gone in her illustrious career, she has been first. First female shuttle pilot. One of the first Air Force pilots. First shuttle commander. And now she's first out of the box after a big and important event and a very big disaster for NASA. It could be the most important mission she ever faces -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, we're looking forward to that, Miles. Thanks.

First, though, let's take a look at the other stories that are making news this morning. Let's get right to Fredricka Whitfield. She's at the CNN center this morning.

Hey, Fred, good morning.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, "Now in the News."

At least four Americans are among the casualties in a morning suicide attack in Baghdad. Iraqi police say a vehicle filled with explosives drove up to a U.S. Army Humvee, apparently just as the troops were handing out treats to children. The explosion killed at least 24 people, including a U.S. soldier and at least seven children. Three other Americans were wounded.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is warning people against hate crimes on the British Muslim community in the wake of the London bombings. He also said work on a new antiterrorism measure will begin in the next few weeks. The prime minister speaking to the House of Commons just moments ago.

Meanwhile, British police are questioning a man following a series of raids outside London. Police searched six homes Tuesday, apparently looking for explosives and computer files related to the suspected terrorists. Fifty-two people are now confirmed dead in those attacks.

A CNN "Security Watch." A major overhaul in the Homeland Security Department. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is set to announce changes today. Chertoff ordered a review of the agency back in March. One of the priorities he's expected to mention is a new game plan for border security.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

A teenager is in critical condition this morning, apparently after going into cardiac arrest following a ride at Disneyworld. The 16-year-old British teen had to be revived by paramedics after her heart stopped on the way to the hospital. Engineers at Disneyworld/MGM Studios theme park are checking the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The ride remains closed.

And Tropical Storm Emily seems to be headed straight towards the Caribbean. Emily's winds are around 60 miles per hour. That's getting close to hurricane strength. Warnings have been issued across the Windward Islands. Emily could become a hurricane by tonight.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: "TIME" magazine reporter Matthew Cooper is expected to testify before a federal grand jury today. Investigators are looking into who leaked the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Cooper's secret source, presidential adviser Karl Rove, gave Cooper permission to testify, which spared him from jail time.

Well, some Democrats are calling for Rove's resignation over his involvement in the controversy. The White House says President Bush still has confidence in Rove.

Wayne Slater is the senior political writer for "The Dallas Morning News." He's also the author of "Bush's Brain." He's in Austin, Texas, this morning.

Nice to see you, Wayne.

WAYNE SLATER, "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Good to be with you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

Let's first talk about this relationship between Karl Rove and the president. They first met back in 1973. Give me a sense of their relationship.

SLATER: It's a very, very close relationship. And you're right. It's a long-term relationship. Rove actually worked for the father when the father was beginning his presidential run. So, he's known the Bush family for a long, long time.

The first time that George Bush ever met Karl Rove was when Rove was working in the Republican National Committee in Washington. George Bush, who was a student at Harvard, would come into Washington to cruise Georgetown. And Rove's job was to deliver the family car keys from the elder Bush to the son. At that time, Bush told me that he thought Karl Rove was a very bright young person. Rove said George Bush was one of the coolest guys he had ever seen.

S. O'BRIEN: Karl Rove seems to be all about strategy. And you've said that he really modeled himself and this relationship on President McKinley and his relationship with his campaign manager. Is that right?

SLATER: That's right. And Rove is loathe to talk about this these days. But some years ago Rove talked at some length -- I've talked to him and with others -- about the McKinley model. And essentially, Rove being sort of an amateur student of history, saw in the McKinley race the rise of the Republican Party and the domination of the Republican Party for about 30 years. McKinley was the beginning of that a century ago.

He saw that McKinley was important and McKinley had a key figure named Mark Hannah, who was behind the McKinley rise and the success of the Republican Party. In a sense, Rove sees himself as a Mark Hannah character one century later and George Bush as the beginning of what he hopes is a fundamental realignment, where Republicans will dominate Republican and Democrat politics in America, not just for years, but he hopes for decades.

S. O'BRIEN: How unusual then is it that Karl Rove is now in the spotlight? Because, of course, there have been many things attributed to Karl Rove, but there are never any fingerprints in many cases, right?

SLATER: Yes, that's the -- here in Texas, some of the political operatives who watched him 10, 15 years ago used to call that the mark of Rove. And essentially, if there's an attack against a Rove opponent, the Rove ally wins, but nobody leaves any fingerprints.

And there's a long pattern of this, Soledad, beginning back in the 1980s with Rove clients, where bad things happened. Sometimes hardball politics. Occasionally dirty tricks, leaks and other things. But in every case, the pattern is the same. Rove's client wins, and the Rove's enemies lose. S. O'BRIEN: Do you think that President Bush will ever cut Karl Rove free? I mean, as you know, the debate now is he said that he would essentially fire somebody if they were involved in this scandal. Do you think that Karl Rove, if it turns out that he is the one, will go?

SLATER: Well, it's a problem, obviously, if he's broken the law. That has been proved yet.

You have to understand that, in the Bush inner circle, Soledad, Karl Rove is the inner circle. This is a guy who has been with Bush, who plotted his entire political career, who encouraged Bush in the beginning, 16 years ago, to begin thinking about running for governor and had a plan to make him governor and president. Their loyalty is clear. Their respect for each other is enormous. And their relationship is longstanding.

It would take an act of God, or maybe a federal indictment, before this president would throw Karl Rove overboard. I don't see it happening short of an absolute evidence that Karl Rove has broken the law. If it's just a tough political fight, a furious firestorm in Washington, I see Karl Rove staying in the White House and this president staying with his adviser.

S. O'BRIEN: It's brought some interesting problems to the White House. Wayne Slater from "The Dallas Morning News" joining us. It's nice to talk with you, Wayne. Thanks.

SLATER: It's good to talk with you.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: With Discovery go for liftoff, crew members and their families are about to face some uncharted territory on the mission and here on Earth as well.

Here's a look at what's on the minds of some Discovery astronauts as they prepare for launch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice over): Being the first is never easy, and so it goes for the Discovery astronauts, the first shuttle crew to fly after the loss of Columbia. Good thing they're led by a commander well-accustomed to the vanguard.

Eileen Collins, among the first women to fly in the Air Force, the first female shuttle pilot, and then commander, she is at home in the hot seat.

EILEEN COLLINS, DISCOVERY COMMANDER: And I personally like being stressed out. I think it's good training for us. And on the real flight, if you only get one thing goes wrong, it's going to be much easier to handle it, because you're trained to handle a lot more.

M. O'BRIEN: The real flight they are training for began as a typical shuttle run to re-supply the Space Station. They were set to launch not long after Columbia was due back in February of 2003. But Columbia did not make it home. The crew of seven perished over Texas 16 minutes before they were due to arrive in Florida.

COLLINS: When the accident happened, I had an opportunity to just take myself off the mission and say, I want to spend more time with my family.

M. O'BRIEN: Eileen Collins is not only an astronaut, she's a working mom with two young children.

COLLINS: I have never had any pressure from my family to not fly this mission. My parents, my husband, my children, my friends -- you know, I would think that I would have, but I haven't. Having said that, I have asked myself, do I really want to fly this mission many times. And the answer always came back yes.

M. O'BRIEN: No surprise to anyone who knows her, not the least of them, husband Pat Young, who met her 22 years ago when they were both in the Air Force. He marvels at his overachieving spouse, who earned a Masters at Stanford in 11 months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I recall helping with some of her homework, and it was pretty difficult looking at it. And I remember she would just sit there and grind it out and sort it out when I was thinking, if I was doing this, I think I'd go play nine holes and come back and look at it later. But that's how she always is, and just, you know, figured it out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The liftoff of Discovery.

M. O'BRIEN: For the astronauts of Discovery and their families, this will be a long, hard mission. Before Columbia, shuttle crews and their families all breathed a sigh of relief once the rocket engine stopped and the orbiter was in space.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this time they're going to be sitting on the ground for two weeks, you know, watching the clock tick and going, well, I'm still waiting for the event that killed the last crew. So psychologically for the families, for NASA, for all the managers, for everybody, it's psychologically going to be a completely different thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: That's a big change in the way people view shuttle launches. It used to -- everybody used to have the feeling, Soledad, that the first eight-and-a-half minutes was the real risky part of the mission, because that was the previous experience with accidents. This go-round, we'll be holding our breath on landing day as well -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you and I will talk a little bit about your experiences on that day. I remember that as well. And it got to the point where people were just sort of expecting the shuttle to land. No one even sat, to a large degree, and waited for it. So things have truly changed. Miles, thanks a lot. We'll check in with you again in just a little bit.

And still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, just how much is NASA spending on this space program? Andy is "Minding Your Business" about that just ahead.

Also, Paris and Nicole, why the two might be forced to fake friendship for another season of "The Simple Life." "90-Second Pop" is coming up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. So just how much money is the U.S. spending on NASA space program? Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

The annual budget of the space shuttle is $4 billion. And like any government program, there's controversy surrounding the program.

As Miles has been telling us over the past couple days, the mission of this shuttle is essentially to service the Space Station. Space advocates say this is very, very important, actually, to wrap up the shuttle program, which is scheduled to be phased out in 2010.

After that, the Crew Exploration Vehicle Program would begin. That would be manned missions to Mars, which is estimated to cost $75 billion over 10 years.

Lawmakers actually recently tried to cut back NASA's budget. They wanted more money to go to police.

Let's look and see how NASA compares to other government programs that we're familiar with. The $4 billion, Soledad, that we talked about, the shuttle budget is part of the overall $16 billion. And you can see there the NASA line. And you can see -- you know, in Washington, $16 billion sounds like a lot of money. It's not a lot of money when you compare it to defense, $400 billion, or education. Homeland security is more. EPA is less.

You might wonder what else does NASA do besides the shuttle program? Only 25 percent of the budget goes to the shuttle. But, of course, the facilities in Florida and Houston are tremendously expensive to maintain, and then there's R&D as well.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting to see where it stacks up.

SERWER: Yes. And there's a lot of it there. It's a lot of money. But in the greater scheme of things, compared to defense, not as much.

S. O'BRIEN: Low on your list today.

SERWER: Yes. S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, how the lovable movie monster "Shrek" is causing some big troubles for DreamWorks. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: I love that song. Welcome back, everybody. It's time for another all-new episode of "90-Second Pop." Starring today B.J. Sigesmund, the newly-minted senior editor at "Us Weekly." Yea! Congratulations.

ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Wow!

S. O'BRIEN: Karyn Bryant, she's the co-host of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." And Andy Borowitz, the new president of borowitzreport.com, and CEO and CFO as well.

Welcome, you guys. Let's get right to it. We're going to start with DreamWorks. And kind of a bad week. First, you've got that pesky SEC investigation. Those are never fun. And then also "Shrek 2," a popular movie, but the DVD sales. Why?

B.J. SIGESMUND, STAFF EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": Right. Well, this is the most popular animated film of all time. But surprising to everyone, the DVD sales have not been that strong, nor were they very strong for "Shark Tale," DreamWorks' other big animated movie from last year.

And, in fact, all of this news sent DreamWorks stocks falling on Monday. In fact, it closed 13 percent lower than it had been at $23, which is down from a high of $42 back in December. I sound like Andy Serwer.

S. O'BRIEN: Look at you, Andy Serwer.

KARYN BRYANT, CNN CO-HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": My goodness.

BOROWITZ: But he is a senior editor now.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, sorry.

BOROWITZ: He needs to know these things.

SIGESMUND: But the more important...

BOROWITZ: Junior editors don't need to know this.

SIGESMUND: The more important news is it's not just DreamWorks that's happening -- their DVDs don't do well. Also, "The Incredibles" has not done that well on DVD. And it's causing people to wonder what's causing this slump. BOROWITZ: There's a bright side of this, which is that if no one wants these DVDs, that's really going to cut down on piracy, which is bad. In Hong Kong, the street vendors won't be able to move this stuff.

BRYANT: Well, isn't it partly because the shelves are overflowing?

BOROWITZ: Right.

BRYANT: The DVD window is so short now from when a movie is in the theater to when it's on the shelves, it's just flooded.

SIGESMUND: Sure.

BRYANT: Now they don't give you as much time.

SIGESMUND: Plus, when you go there, it's not just new releases. It's also vintage TV shows now coming out on DVD. For instance, "Dukes of Hazzard" is upon us, right? So, you can get...

BOROWITZ: The first season of "90-Second Pop" just came out, which is great. I recommend it to everyone.

S. O'BRIEN: We are all going to be billionaires, you guys.

BOROWITZ: Exactly.

SIGESMUND: So, you can now get the -- just to finish the "Dukes of Hazzard" thing, you can now get the first season of "Dukes of Hazzard" on DVD. Studies are using any excuse to put stuff out there. And, as Karyn said, it's causing confusion among consumers.

S. O'BRIEN: The crowded field problem. Well, that's interesting.

BOROWITZ: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about something that "People" magazine is reporting. Paris and Nicole -- for my mom, that's Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. OK, the two of them hate each other, big split, in fact, to the point where she issued a statement saying, like, we're broken up as friends.

BRYANT: Right, yes. Well, they do "The Simple Life," and Fox has picked up their option for a fourth season even though these two are no longer friends. And the press statement was, Nicole knows what she did.

BOROWITZ: Wow!

(CROSSTALK)

BRYANT: Right, exactly. And...

BOROWITZ: It's like middle school, like mean girls. BRYANT: Very much so. And so, she passed a note and said, do you like me anymore? Check yes or no.

S. O'BRIEN: And that would be no.

BRYANT: That would be a big no.

S. O'BRIEN: And so, they have to do the show, because they've signed a deal.

BRYANT: Exactly. And so the idea is they're both engaged. So maybe the show would follow their respective preparations for their weddings. Or if there were a reconciliation, the show could follow that. But the option has been picked up, so...

SIGESMUND: I vote for the former option. I think this show, which is so popular among women, and most women love weddings, I think it would be very fun to watch the two of them get ready for their insane weddings. You've seen the bling. You know, like you've seen the fiances. Let's see the bridal gowns, et cetera, et cetera.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, the thread of these two people, former friends who now hate each other, I mean, I would so watch that.

BOROWITZ: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: I have to tell you.

BOROWITZ: A steel cage match? Sound good? I would like that.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about kind of a more serious topic, actually. New movies coming out about 9/11. And, you know, I guess the question is at what point is it the right time to start revisiting an issue that is so deeply ingrained in our psyche that, you know, it's a tough one to talk about? Is the time right now, do you think?

BOROWITZ: I don't -- you know, I don't know. We're going to have to see when the movie -- this is a movie starring Nic Cage, and it's going to be directed by Oliver Stone, which makes me wonder a little bit, just because speaking as an American, I'm already paranoid enough about terrorism. Do I really want to see the Oliver Stone version? I mean, that is -- I mean, I might actually even go out and buy "Shrek 2" after that.

BRYANT: It's the story of the last two workers.

BOROWITZ: Right.

BRYANT: They were Port Authority policemen, and it's the story of the last two who were rescued.

BOROWITZ: It's a heroic story, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And some family members are hating the idea. They think it is way too soon to be doing this, and it's painful for the families. SIGESMUND: And that's maybe why one of the reasons the studio is trying to figure out a way to get some of the profits of this movie to charities to benefit families of those who were lost in 9/11. But I agree with Andy. I mean, Oliver Stone is an odd choice for this, you know.

S. O'BRIEN: Very weird, because it's going to be like, well, that's not what happened on 9/11. I was here that day.

SIGESMUND: Yes, yes. I mean...

BOROWITZ: Was Nixon involved?

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

SIGESMUND: It's a very straightforward -- you know, it's a straightforward story. We all know what happened. So we don't need Oliver Stone's spin necessarily.

S. O'BRIEN: I don't know that I'm ready to watch a movie about 9/11.

BOROWITZ: Yes, me neither. Me neither.

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I don't think I can do that. You guys, I thank you as always. Nice to see you. Congratulations on the new big gig.

SIGESMUND: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Now you can pay for lunch for all of us now.

Don't forget that Karyn and "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is on "HEADLINE PRIME." Tonight they're taking a look at how futuristic space travel as portrayed in movies and TV shows like "Lost In Space" really matches the reality. I'm going to guess, not very much. That's tonight.

BOROWITZ: Danger, Will Robinson.

S. O'BRIEN: Every weekday 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Well, let's head back to Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Danger, Will Robinson. Danger, Will Robinson.

All right. We'll talk about the real space flight. We're counting down to the first shuttle launch in more than two years, less than eight hours now. Will the weather cooperate? Big question here. Our special coverage of the Discovery launch continues in just a moment. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) S. O'BRIEN: The crew of the space shuttle Discovery set for liftoff in less than eight hours. Miles is live at the Kennedy Space Center as America returns to space.

Police in London are now saying the terror attacks could have been carried out by suicide bombers. If that's true, the attack would be the first of their kind in all of Western Europe.

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