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American Morning

Political Game?; Emmy Nominations

Aired July 14, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Really an important time for NASA engineers right now. Some important meetings under way this morning, waiting to find out what's going to happen to Discovery, whether NASA can try to fix the problem that cropped up yesterday on the launch pad, possibly have a launch as early as Saturday, or maybe, maybe that long, laborious roll back to the hangar which could raise all kinds of implications for a delay of the shuttle launch. We're expecting some information soon, and I'll have that ahead -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR; Also ahead, Miles, we've got the Emmy nominations, actually just a few moments away from being announced. We're going to bring it live when it happens. Look they're getting ready for it. Can you wait?

First, though, let's get a look at the headlines with Fredricka Whitfield.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, Soledad.

People in Britain and other parts of Europe pausing to remember the victims of the London terror attacks. Two minutes of silence were observed in honor of the victims. It's the one-week anniversary of the bombings.

Meantime, authorities are on the hunt for a possible fifth suspect in the London attacks. Police say four other suspects died in the explosions.

Chief Justice William Rehnquist remains in a Virginia hospital this morning. The 80-year-old Rehnquist was taken in Tuesday night after complaining of a fever. It's not clear how long he'll remain at the facility. Court security workers, though, were seen Wednesday taking clothing and shoes from his residence.

Former Worldcom CEO Bernie Ebbers is expected to appeal what's being called the stiffest sentence yet in a wave of recent corporate scandals. Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday for his role in orchestrating an $11 billion accounting fraud. That's the biggest corporate fraud in U.S. history. A judge ordered Ebbers to begin serving his sentence in October.

And actor Brad Pitt is apparently recovering at home from a mild case of viral meningitis. The actor had checked in to a Los Angeles hospital Monday night with flu-like symptoms. His publicist said Pitt is doing well. Pitt was in east Africa last week, where his costar Angelina Jolie adopted a baby girl.

And to see more of our other top stories, visit CNN.com. Click on to "watch free video" link to see the latest update dates on weather, politics and entertainment stories -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Fred, thanks a lot.

Well, here's a question for you, will it be the day after tomorrow, or will we see you in September? Miles is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and they are asking those questions today. When is the shuttle going to fly again, Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, these are questions that we cannot answer just yet. As a matter of fact, Soledad, there are 11 separate technical meetings under way right now. We'd love to show them to you, but I'm sure we wouldn't understand what they're saying as they go through all the technical intricacies of the problem that occurred yesterday in the midst of that launch.

There's a pretty sight, except as we've been saying the only prettier sight would be a vacant launch pad and Discovery in space 16 1/2 hours into its mission now it would be, but about 1:30 eastern time yesterday, as they were going through the countdown, routine tests of the fuel sensor, essentially the light in your car which says low-fuel warning; well, that's what this is, at the base of the external fuel tank was stuck inoperative. And that's a real problem because it can create two situations, either a shutdown the main rocket engines early, or it will allow them to run dry, which can cause a catastrophic failure. You don't want that to happen. You want them to shutdown with fuel in the system.

So why did that happen? That's the big question at those 11 meetings. Back in April, they had a test on the pad that fueled up that tank to see how it all worked. A similar problem cropped up. For that and some other reasons they changed out fuel tanks and they decided that the problem that occurred because they couldn't recreate it back in April was sort of an unexplained given, if you will. They didn't run another test. So yesterday, this cropped up again.

And there's all kinds of questions now, is it actually that sensor, or could it be some other box, perhaps, that is part of that system that checks the fuel inside the orbiter itself?

This is the scene just shortly after that scrub. The astronauts had just gotten strapped in. They were checking out their radios and their gear, going through their checklist. And having walked out a few moments ago, they were walking back very shortly to the astronaut van and then on to the crew quarters here. The questions that are being asked today and those engineering meetings will determine where they stay. If there's a long delay, they could very well go back to Houston.

And at the root of all this uncertainty, Soledad, is the desire of NASA to launch by daylight to the space station. The daylight opportunities run out at the end of July, and so if they can't fix it by the end of July we're talking about, as you said, see you in September. So we will keep you posted -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We will wait and hear. Thanks, Miles.

President Bush now, he says he is reserving judgment on whether Karl Rove knowingly revealed the identity of a CIA agent, but many other people in Washington D.C. don't have any trouble at all expressing their opinion.

Senior political analyst Bill Schneider with a look at the political hardball.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: You hear leak, and you think Washington.

STEPHEN HESS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It's part of the Washington game. It's a high-level, political official who is in the game of tug-of-war, and he's trying to pull the reporters over to his side of the interpretation.

SCHNEIDER: That's what White House adviser Karl Rove was doing when he spoke to a reporter. Rove leaked information aimed at discrediting a White House critic, Joe Wilson, who challenged President Bush on Iraq. But this leak was different. Rove included information that Wilson's wife worked for the CIA.

To many Americans, it sounds like dirty politics for a White House official to use inside information to try to discredit a critic of the president anonymously and to bring his wife's name into it.

HESS: If Joe Wilson's wife was an interior decorator it would be OK. The problem is that she was an operative of the CIA.

SCHNEIDER: Leaking an agent's identity could be a crime.

HESS: Legally, they got to find out whether Karl Rove knew that she was an operative of the CIA and so forth if he broke the law.

SCHNEIDER: Rove's defenders said Rove mentioned Wilson's wife because she helped put her husband up to it, so the reporter should not take Wilson's story too seriously.

KEN MEHLMAN, RNC CHAIRMAN: Karl Rove warned a reporter that Joe Wilson's story was inaccurate, and Karl was right. The story was inaccurate.

SCHNEIDER: If Rove wanted to discredit Wilson's story, why didn't he just say so publicly? Why leak?

HESS: I think for that, they would probably have had to produce data, information, probably in this case classified information.

SCHNEIDER (on camera): So where does this story go? It all depends on whether the public sees this as a matter of serious ethical wrongdoing, or simply as the Washington political game. Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take you out to Hollywood now. That's where the primetime Emmy nominations are just about to be announced any moment now, and with the absence of long-time Emmy favorites from the TV screen this season, some fresh faces finally might get a nod.

Let's get right to CNN's entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas. She is live at the theater where this is all going to happen. It's the Leonard Goldenson Theater in Hollywood.

Hey, Sibila. Good morning.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

A very exciting day, indeed. Very early in the morning, but of course we're here for you live. And I'll tell you, everybody's talking about the "Desperate Housewives." I think they are the sure thing when it comes to getting a nomination. Those ladies are probably watching television right now, waiting for their names to be called. Everyone in the industry believes that these ladies are the top dogs. The show is doing phenomenally well. The ratings have been extraordinary. It's an incredible trip that these ladies have made. What a short, incredible lucrative trip it's been, if you really think about it.

Last year I was covering the Emmys and I was on the red carpet, little Eva Longoria starts walking into frame and nobody even knows who she is. Today she stands as one of the top contenders to get a nomination. So it's been pretty incredible.

The other story here, besides the "Desperate Housewives" has is HBO. HBO has been dominant, has been the top dog for about 10 years now, and this year, because "The Sopranos" are no longer eligible, they did not air episodes during the eligibility period, there's a big chance that HBO will lose a lot of its steam. But that will be good news for ABC. ABC has been having a incredible, a phenomenal year with "Lost." "Lost" is really -- I mean, if you really think about it, "Lost" really put scripted drama back into the forefront. Before that, everybody was talking about reality TV, but this show, J.J. Abrams little show, really did quite an incredible, incredible showing. But now, the announcements are about to take place, so I'm going to step out and let them take over. Let's listen in, OK.

DICK ASKIN, CHAIRMAN, ACADEMY OF TELEVISION OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCE: I'm Dick Askin, chairman of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

On behalf of the academy, welcome to the 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards announcements. Joining me to present the nominations are Michael Imperioli from "The Soprano's" and "Law and Order" and Jami Gertz from "Still Standing."

(APPLAUSE) MICHAEL IMPERIOLI, ACTOR: Thank you, Dick.

JAMI GERTZ, ACTRESS: And good morning, everybody.

IMPERIOLI: Jamie, ladies first. Why don't you start?

GERTZ: Thank you, Michael.

The nominations in the drama series category are: "Deadwood," "Lost," "Six Feet Under," "24," and "The West Wing."

IMPERIOLI: Nominations for lead actress in a drama series are: Patricia Arquette, "Medium." Glenn Close, "The Shield." Francis Conroy, "Six Feet Under." Jennifer Garner, "Alias." And Mariska Hargitay, "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit."

GERTZ: The nominees for lead actor in a drama series are: Hank Azaria, "Huff." Hugh Laurie, "House." Ian McShane, "Deadwood." James Spader, "Boston Legal." I love him. And Kiefer Sutherland, "24."

IMPERIOLI: Made for television movie nominations are: "Lackawanna Blues," "Life and Death of Peter Sellers," "The Office: Special," "Warm Springs," and "The Wool Cap."

GERTZ: The nominees for the miniseries category are: "Elvis," "Empire Falls, "The 4400" and "The Lost Prince: Masterpiece Theatre."

IMPERIOLI: The nominees for lead actress in a miniseries or a movie are: Halle Berry, "Their Eyes Were Watching God." Blythe Danner, "Back When We Were Grown-Ups." S. Epatha Merkerson, "Lackawanna Blues." Cynthia Nixon, "Warm Springs." And Deborah Winger, "Don Ana."

GERTZ: The nominees for the lead actor in a miniseries or movie are: Kenneth Branagh, "Warm Springs." Ed Harris, "Empire Falls." William H. Macy, "The Wool Cap." Jonathan Rhys Meyers, "Elvis." And Geoffery Rush, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

IMPERIOLI: The nominees for lead actress in a comedy series are: Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives." Teri Hatcher, "Desperate Housewives." Patricia Heaton, "Everybody Loves Raymond." Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives." And Jane Kaczmarek," "Malcolm in the Middle."

GERTZ: Yay. The nominees for lead actor in a comedy series are: Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development." Zach Braff, "Scrubs." Eric McCormack, "Will and Grace." Ray Romano, "Everybody Loves Raymond." And Tony Shaloub, "Monk."

IMPERIOLI: Nominations in the comedy series category are: "Arrested Development," "Desperate Housewives," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Scrubs," and "Will and Grace."

OK, Jami, haven't we done enough, let's bring back Dick to announce our final category. GERTZ: I'm done. Dick, get back here.

ASKIN: Here I am. Thank you. Here are this year's nominees for reality competion programs: "The Amazing Race," "American Idol," "The Apprentice," "Project Runway," and "Survivor." That's a lot of new faces.

Find out who takes home the Emmy for all of our categories when the primetime Emmy awards are broadcast on Sunday, September 18th, on CBS. Jami, Michael, thanks for a great job, thanks for being with us. And to all our nominees...

S. O'BRIEN: Well, there you have it. The Emmy award nominations have just been announced for primetime. We're going to get right to B.J. Sigesmund for a little wrap-up. First of all, let's talk about some big shockers before we get to the individual categories to fill everybody in.

B.J. SIGESMUND, "US WEEKLY": Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: You got to go with the desperate housewife who was dissed in a big way.

SIGESMUND: Dissed for the second time. Eva Longoria, sorry. She didn't get a Golden Globe nomination a few months ago. Teri Hatcher ended up winning. And this morning, she did not get it -- an Emmy nomination, when the other three "Desperate Housewives" were both...

S. O'BRIEN: And in fact...

SIGESMUND: Both Patricia Heaton and Jane Kaczmarek, who both won before, rounded out that category instead.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, little surprised there.

OK, let's walk through some of these. The drama series, "Deadwood," "The West Wing," "Lost," "24," "Six Feet Under."

S. O'BRIEN: Any surprises there?

SIGESMUND: The big surprise here was "Six Feet Under." People feel that the show has peaked. It's on its last season now. A lot of people felt that "CSI" would have the fifth slot again. But no, "Six Feet Under," people do love HBO, so they want to give it one more whirl.

S. O'BRIEN: Lead actress in a drama series. Mariska Hargitay, Glenn Close, Jennifer Garner, Patrica Arquette and Francis Conroy from "Six Feet Under." Who would you predict as the big winner? Glenn Close?

SIGESMUND: I would say Glenn Close, probably, or Mariska Hargitay. You know, she's returned to the category. She won the Golden Globe this year. There were two surprises in this category, which were Patricia Arquette for "Medium," which is a new show that has a lot of critical success, not huge audiences. And Francis Conroy from "Six Feet Under." Again, "Six Feet Under" going off the air, but, you know, they love her on that show.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, you know, we're going to chat about this a little bit more in our next hour, so we'll keep keep you around, ask you to stick around for us...

SIGESMUND: Sure thing.

S. O'BRIEN: ... while we dish a little a Emmy dirt. That's going to be a special edition of "90 Second Pop" that's coming up in just a little bit.

A short break and we are back in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. We're closely watching Hurricane Emily, upgraded overnight to a Category-one hurricane.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: The most popular summer series since the first "Survivor" back in 2000. Well, soap opera star Kelly Monaco beat "Seinfeld" actor John O'Hurley to walk away with the ballroom dance competition. I really got into to, but O'Hurley spoke with CNN's Larry King about his experience, and also one of his unlikely competitors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN O'HURLEY, ACTOR: ABC call me, and they contacted me, and they explained what it was. And I said, "Sure, I'll be glad to host it."

And they said, "No, we want you to do it." I said, "No, no, I'll host it."

(CROSSTALK)

TOM BERGERON, HOST, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": No, you won't

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought it was the same thing.

KING: Did they know you could dance?

O'HURLEY: No. No, I truly -- and I came farther back than anybody else. But my wife was the one who said to me -- she said, "You should do this because, whatever happens, it will change your life." And she couldn't have been more prophetic, could not have been more prophetic.

No, I didn't know I could dance. Nobody started farther -- if I gave you the image of a beached whale, that's what they were...

And you know, there's one person that's missing here who really sold the show, and that was Evander Holyfield. I've got to tell you...

KING: How did he sell it?

O'HURLEY: Well, because nobody would have sat and said, "Hey, let's depend -- or let's put the entire success of the ABC summer season on the fact that O'Hurley may be able to dance or not." That was not what this was about. Evander Holyfield came in, and everybody wanted to see, can he possibly put the steps on the floor?

KING: How good was he?

O'HURLEY: He was a big huggy bear, and everybody loved him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Me too. Well, ABC hasn't announced whether there will be a second season of the show, but we are going to bet yes.

Let's go back to Miles.

Hey, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, I didn't watch the whole series, but I saw the finals, and the woman who had the blue outfit on, that was the winner, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, Kelly Monaco, the woman who had the blue outfit. Obviously you're watching closely, Miles. Yes, Kelly Monaco stole it away from John O'Hurley, but I'm not bitter.

M. O'BRIEN: If John O'Hurley had worn the blue outfit, maybe, I don't know. I think that might have something -- no, actually, wouldn't be a bad idea, wouldn't it>

S. O'BRIEN: You never know.

M. O'BRIEN: It's all part of the picture.

All right, thank you, Soledad.

Ahead, the launch of the Shuttle Discovery delayed of course. We've been telling you all about it. But it's breathing new life into the local economy here. You know, they call this the space coast, and that's not for nothing.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, anybody who has watched "I Dream of Jeannie" knows about Cocoa Beach, and the Space Coast, and the fact that space means a lot to this part of the world, as a matter of fact, kind of put it on the map. but these days, it's kind of a little different economy.

Andy Serwer "Minding Your Business" this morning has more on that.

Good morning, Andy.

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

Yes, indeed the space program has really been a boost. It's really been a big part of the local economy in that part of the world. Of course as you know, used to be about 15 percent of the $1 billion local economy. Now down to about five percent. Why is that? Well, obviously there's a lot less launches these days. A shuttle launch would bring about $5 million to the local economy. Visitors to the Kennedy Space Center would pay about $35 a ticket. In fact, they just did, and I'd like to know, Miles, if you have any idea what happens if they get a raincheck to watch the launch, and then, of course, when the launch is scrubbed.

You can see here those are some tourists, and here are some others setting up a little tent to just watch it and right across the way there.

And of course, all kinds of local businesses benefit as well. You can see here we've got a florist who set up a sign showing that they want to -- there you go. They're putting an extra exclamation point there you can see, and of course T-shirts and all sorts of other businesses like that benefit as well. About 1.5 million visitors a year come down there, and I don't know, how are the crowds down there, Miles? Do they have the same amount of people who come to see the shuttle launches as used to see the old Apollo launches?

M. O'BRIEN: No, you know, it's not like the moon shots of course. But this particular mission, of course, has drawn quite a crowd. I'm sitting amid 2,000-plus members of the media here, and there are crowds out on the beaches. And the last time we had something like that was John Glenn's flight back in '98. The typical shuttle launch doesn't draw the crowd the same way, and that's why the economy has kind of had to evolve here.

SERWER: And it's interesting, I don't know what happens to the people who are down there when a launch is scrubbed. I mean, obviously have to go back, and then do they come back on Saturday? You know, it's obviously a difficult situation for them.

M. O'BRIEN: Got to spend a lot more money. I guess maybe the truth is, probably the local businesses like scrubs.

SERWER: Yes, that's right.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business" and focusing on the Space Coast. Thank you. He can do it all, that Andy Serwer.

In a moment. more on the holding pattern here at the Kennedy Space Center, 11 separate technical meetings under way as we speak. They're trying to figure out what went wrong, how to fix it, how big the delay might be as a result, all that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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