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American Morning
Cairo Police Hold Man in London Terror Bombings; "Gimme a Minute"; Harry Potter Mania
Aired July 15, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in the London terror investigation. Reports within the last few minutes of a possible arrest in Egypt. Details about who was detained and why he could be crucial to the investigation.
And a major story developing in the Caribbean. Hurricane Emily getting bigger, now a category four storm, still gaining strength and headed for Texas.
And authorities in Aruba make a key decision on those two brothers released in the Natalee Holloway investigation. Are they in the clear? The latest twists in this investigation on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
We've been talking about the latest developments in this terror bombing investigation. But British police saying that they are now aware of a man being detained. Apparently the police not confirming though, at this point, arrests of this Egyptian biochemist. But apparently there is a man being detained in connection with the London bombing investigation.
You're looking at a picture of Scotland Yard. We are awaiting some kind of word from them. And, of course, as soon as they make any kind of statements about this case, we'll bring that to you as soon as it happens.
Let's get right to David Mattingly.
He is live for us in North Carolina -- David, good morning.
What's the latest on this?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, as you were saying, British authorities now saying that they are aware of a man being detained in Cairo today in connection with this investigation. They will not go far enough to confirm media reports that the person being detained in Cairo is, in fact, Magdy al-Nashar, the biochemical engineer from Leeds University in England. He had recently received his doctorate at that university. He has a connection to the United States in that he attended one semester of classes here at North Carolina State back in the year 2000. He attended the spring semester as a graduate student, as a chemical engineer.
University authorities are compiling his information for the investigation. The FBI looking into whatever he might have done while he was here, during the brief time he was here at this campus.
Someone who knew him said that -- told us that they believe that when he left here, he was going back to his native Cairo in 2000 with plans to continue his education in England, which is apparently what he did.
But, again, at this hour, British authorities not confirming that al-Nashar is, indeed, the one who is being detained in Cairo. Only saying that they are aware someone is being detained there -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: And, David, of course, we're waiting for Scotland Yard to clarify some of the many questions that we have about this case.
David Mattingly for us.
Thanks -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: This is a story that's really all over the map. You just saw David Mattingly in North Carolina. We're talking about Cairo this morning. We're going to check in in London, as well. But, also, Leeds, which is where this alleged group of terrorists supposedly cooked up this scheme.
Let's turn it over now to CNN's Jim Boulden, joining us live from there -- Jim.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.
I can add a little bit to that.
CNN has been told that Egyptian officials have confirmed that al- Nashar was actually arrested last night in Egypt. So Egyptian officials are saying he is the man in custody. And as you said, we should be hearing word from Scotland Yard any moment.
We should stress, however, that he is not being considered a suspect necessarily. He is somebody who is a person of interest. They're very keen on talking to him. There has been some links to an apartment on the west side of Leeds. Also, they talked about the fact that he was here getting his chemical engineering doctorate and that he left in early July. He left before the bombings. But, of course, schools, universities don't go much into July, so he very well could have left at the end of his teaching times. Leeds University hasn't really told us much more information about him.
But let's move on to some other issues now, as well.
We do have the confirmation and the picture of the fourth suspected bomber. This is the 19-year-old. He was a Jamaican born, Germaine Morris Lindsay. His friends and neighbors say he was also going by the name of Jamal, that he converted to Islam a few years ago. He's 19 years old, a black Jamaican. He also had a girlfriend or wife and he had a small child, as well. And the picture that was in the British press this morning shows that. That's the second suspected bomber that also had children.
And as you see behind me, the police are continuing to look into houses, investigate what they might find in these places and I have to say, as we've seen, it's a very fluid situation and we hope to hear from the British police any moment about what's happened in Egypt -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Jim, the allegation on the person being detained today, al-Nashar, is that he was perhaps the mastermind? Is that what the allegation is?
BOULDEN: Well, the police are not saying that and I think we should be careful about that. They're saying that there was a phone number of a flat that he was renting in one of the phones that they found during their investigation. But it was the phone of the person who owned the flat. So it's kind of confusing.
I think what's happened is that you see the word chemical engineer, you see that he's from the Middle East and you see that he disappeared or went back to the Middle East just before the bombings and that makes him a very keen person of interest for the police.
But they are not calling him a suspect. Now, of course, that may change when we hear from the police in a few moments.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. A lot could change in a few moments. And, of course, we are poised to give you that announcement as it happens.
There's a live picture for you at Scotland Yard. We expect a statement from the authorities there and the minute it happens we will, of course, bring it to you live right here on CNN.
Let's check the other headlines.
Fredricka Whitfield watching those for us at the CNN Center in Atlanta -- Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks again, Miles.
A new twist in the investigation into who leaked a CIA operative's name to the media. Fingers have been pointing at White House adviser Karl Rove. But according to the Associated Press, Rove told a grand jury he learned the name from reporters and not the other way around. He then reportedly discussed the information with a "Time" magazine reporter days after the story broke.
Palestinian leaders declare a state of emergency in Gaza. Clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian insurgents for a second straight day. Tensions have been on the rise in the aftermath of a Palestinian attack that killed an Israeli woman. You could be paying more to fly on Delta. The airline is raising the cap on its most expensive fares by $100. Other airlines are following suit. Higher fuel prices are being blamed.
And NASA could give more details today about when the Space Shuttle Discovery will take off. Engineers are still working to find the cause of the fuel sensor problem that grounded the mission earlier this week. NASA says a Sunday launch is possible, but there's a chance it will probably be delayed until later next week.
And a messy commute in Houston, Texas. Intense rain storms Thursday dropped about eight inches of rain in just about two hours. Luckily, no injuries have been reported, but more rain could be on the way.
Let's look at the overall weather picture now, specifically, lets focus in on hurricane Emily -- Chad Myers.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Emily going to bring rain to Texas, probably four or five days away, but that could happen. It's raining right now in Houston. More flooding going on there.
This storm did miss Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, as we expected. It traveled to the north. If you use your imagination, in the overnight hours there was a little wobble to the north, but now it's back on track. Not really seeing any significant change in itsy at this point. It is still that category four that it became in the overnight hours. Going through an eye wall replacement cycle right now, which means it was going so fast and it was getting so small, that eye wall was, that it actually blew itself apart. And it had to rebuild the eye wall going in there. A hurricane hunter in there right now looking for the pressure and the maximum wind speed. But it is forecast to still be 135 miles per hour later on today into tonight.
It will travel to the south of Jamaica, or at least very, very close to Jamaica. Kingston, you're going to be right in that right front quadrant of the storm and then traveling over the Yucatan Peninsula and possibly even into Texas.
Now, Miles, by the time we get this far out, you notice the air possibly all the way from the north Texas coast all the way down to central parts of Mexico. You just have to kind of give us some time on this one because that, as it gets farther and farther away, the cone gets obviously larger and larger and larger -- back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: And Texas is that big state there, right? I just want to make sure.
MYERS: That's the one.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. Just checking.
MYERS: That's the one just to the west of Louisiana.
M. O'BRIEN: For the geographically challenged among us, wanted to make sure.
Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Appreciate that.
A 17-year-old suspect in the Natalee Holloway disappearance will stay in jail for now. Judges in Aruba decided Thursday there is enough evidence to hold Joran van der Sloot. But the two brothers who are also suspects will not be re-arrested.
Aruban attorney Chris Lejuez -- Juez, excuse me -- represented the first men arrested in the case, two security guards. Remember them? They're free now.
He is live now in Aruba.
Chris, sorry for mangling your name there.
Let's talk about Joran van der Sloot's story -- well, I was going to say story, but it's stories, isn't it?
How many stories?
CHRIS LEJUEZ, ARUBA ATTORNEY: Well, several. I heard someone say yesterday between seven and eight different versions. But there have been more than seven or eight statements.
M. O'BRIEN: More than seven or eight? I've even seen bigger numbers than that in some reports.
LEJUEZ: Yes, in statements, yes. But perhaps they mean to say that there are -- there have been 15 to 16 statements, but several of them would have had the same story.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. And is that enough to -- just changing stories, by Aruban law, is that enough to hold a person if the story keeps changing every day?
LEJUEZ: Well, the prosecutor has to prove that -- she has to convince the judge, not yet prove beyond a reasonable doubt, but she would have to convince the judge that a crime has possibly been committed and that probably this is the person who committed that crime, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, and that's kind of problematic...
LEJUEZ: Yes, that would be enough.
M. O'BRIEN: There's kind of an absence of evidence on that front, isn't there?
LEJUEZ: Well, it's the burden of proof during this pretrial detention. Of course, if you go to trial, the burden of proof would be much higher. There you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a trial judge that a crime has been committed and that this person has committed that crime. That's a much higher burden of proof.
Right now, to keep someone in pretrial detention, a much lower burden of proof is sufficient.
M. O'BRIEN: But this can go on for quite some time, then?
LEJUEZ: Not, no, sir. It can go on up to 116 days if a person is detained, because after the 116 days, the prosecutor would have to decide if she's going to charge the person in the sense that she would have to summon this person to appear before a judge in a trial and she would have to try him. It's either try him and perhaps lose the case and then she cannot try him again or let him go and go on with the investigation.
She will have then, if he is free, up to two years to come up with a case.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's -- let me ask you a kind of a -- it's kind of a weird aspect to this, at least from my view.
There was a question about whether Joran van der Sloot should have access to television and newspapers, and he will be allowed that.
LEJUEZ: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Why was that an issue at all in the first place?
LEJUEZ: That happens all the time when they believe that it's possible he might have access to information that could -- that he could use to adapt his stories. It is normal that they have -- that they give a restraining order when it comes to certain information, like TV, radio, newspapers and also visits from parents or friends.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, a final thought here. Lacking any significant breaks in evidence, the Kalpoe brothers...
LEJUEZ: Yes?
M. O'BRIEN: Is it -- are they in the clear, do you think?
LEJUEZ: I would say so, sir. If the prosecutor cannot even meet the standard of proof to keep them during the pretrial detention, it is quite obvious that she cannot meet the burden of proof to get a conviction from a trial judge. The burden of proof there, as I just said, will be much higher. So it's quite obvious that unless she gets more new evidence, she has no case against the Kalpoe brothers.
M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lejuez, thank you for your time this morning.
We appreciate you walking us through Aruban law.
LEJUEZ: You're welcome.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're keeping our eye on Scotland Yard. We're going to get an update on this morning's developments in the London bombing investigation, hopefully just ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: Also, an interview with former President Bill Clinton. He has some advice for President Bush on picking Supreme Court justices.
S. O'BRIEN: And we meet a mother and a daughter with a very special bond. A soldier donating a kidney to her mom just months before she heads off to war.
M. O'BRIEN: It's quite a story.
Plus more on the CIA leak probe. How safe is Karl Rove's job? The "Gimme A Minute" gang weighs in on that one, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: In a CNN interview, former President Clinton weighs in on a variety of issues facing his successor, President Bush. Among them, the firestorm surrounding the leak of Valerie Plame's role as a CIA operative. That interview conducted by CNN's Richard Roth, joining us now.
You touched on a number of topics. I assume you've been working hard at getting this interview.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill Clinton was at the U.N. because he's the special tsunami envoy. But I couldn't resist asking him about the two controversial issues going on these days, Karl Rove and the Supreme Court.
Karl Rove, that issue, he first wants to see the facts, but he is very familiar with Joe Wilson, who was one of his diplomats overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I like Joe Wilson, the man who was the target of the wrath of somebody in the administration. But he didn't vote for me in '92. He voted for former President Bush and he said so publicly. He's a career diplomat. He didn't deserve to have his career ruined and his wife didn't deserve to have her career ruined because he wouldn't say what they wanted him to say, which was that in Niger they sent uranium yellow cake to Iraq. He knew there was no evidence of it and he wasn't going to lie about it. And he shouldn't be punished for it.
But I don't know who did it and I'm not going to say anything until we know what the facts are. And I don't think anybody else should. We should let the facts come out.
ROTH: You told students yesterday, Democratic activists, to look at the movie "Advise and Consent," the old political Washington movie.
So what's your advice for President Bush in choosing Supreme Court justices? What type of person?
CLINTON: I would say that he should pick someone -- he'll want to pick someone who may be quite a bit more conservative than I would pick because he's probably the most conservative president we've had since the 1920s. But I would say pick someone who's broad-minded and can think, and has a heart as well as a mind. Because you can never predict what decisions the Supreme Court's going to have to face. And if you get too political or -- you're liable to be disappointed anyway, because the issues you think should dominate your selection may not be the issues that dominate the court's calendar within three years, much less five, 10, or 20 years.
So I would urge him to just think about somebody he would be really proud to have appointed 10 or 15 years from now. That's what I tried to do. And I went through this twice. There are always lots of good qualified people. And the people that are your political opponents will politicize anybody you appoint anyway. So you need to stay out of that and just do -- I think he ought to do something that, you know, when he goes to bed the night after he announces it, he'll sleep well.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ROTH: Speaking of feeling good, President Clinton said his doctor say he's doing OK. Though, Miles, the former president is off no a long Africa trip for his AIDS fighting efforts shortly.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, he's been doing a lot of traveling, and, of course, tsunami relief a big focus.
How is that going?
ROTH: Well, he wants countries to not take their feet off the pedal. He's very worried of a slip back after the focus is off. He wants places rebuilt more than they were already at, at the level that the disastrous tsunami hit. He said, when I told him you were once the world's most powerful man, now he's saying he's got no power. He has to use this U.N. system, which he says is the glue for the international community.
But he really has to borrow and detain staffers as he works his way through the international plan.
M. O'BRIEN: He still has a pretty big megaphone. He can make some statements when people...
ROTH: Oh, yes. When he's at the U.N., the whole place is electric in that room when they were listening to him. Before that, people are making long speeches and...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, hopefully, people will listen to him on that tsunami issue because that is so important to stay focused on that.
Richard Roth, thanks for your time.
Appreciate it -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a soldier heading off to war. But first she has to complete an important mission at home. She has to save her mother's life. We talk to mother and daughter just ahead.
That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: For Army Private Danielle Carpenter, a tough choice. Her regiment was being deployed to Iraq, but at home in Michigan, her mom needed her. Her mom was dying and needed her help.
Well, Diane Brogger's health in steep decline. Her daughter's kidney might be able to save her life.
Army Private Danielle Carpenter is in Mosul, Iraq, and her mom, Diane Brogger, is in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Nice to see both of you ladies.
Thanks for talking with us.
Diane, let's begin with you.
In 1998 you went into kidney failure and your daughter, Danielle, was just 14 years old at the time. And even at that young age, she offered to you her kidney. She was too young, of course.
Were you surprised, though, that your teenaged daughter was so generous with that?
DIANE BROGGER, RECEIVED DAUGHTER'S KIDNEY: Yes, I was very surprised. She wanted to do it. As soon as she found out that I had kidney failure, she said mom, I'll take care of it. I'll be sure you get a kidney. And they had said, well, you're just too young right now. You're going to have to wait a few years until you reach at least 20 years old.
S. O'BRIEN: Fast forward, then, six years. You've been on the waiting list at this point for a kidney for seven years. You were really staying alive because of dialysis.
Did you think, at this point, when your health got quite bad, that you would not survive, that you were going to die?
BROGGER: Yes. I saw people all around me on dialysis that had less time than I did that were dying because of different reasons, infections and so forth, because dialysis is not a cure for kidney failure. It's just a temporary hold until you can get a transplant.
S. O'BRIEN: It brings us back to Danielle, who now is 20 years old and who is old enough to give you her kidney. But the timing terrible because your doctors wanted to do the surgery in March and Diane's had to be -- Danielle, sorry, was going to be deployed to Iraq in March.
Danielle, give me -- how did you decide what your priority was going to be here?
PFC. DANIELLE CARPENTER, DONATED KIDNEY TO MOTHER: Well, I never had to decide. It was never a priority. The Army never made me decide. It was never my mother or the Army. So, it was really great having that support from everybody.
S. O'BRIEN: At the same time, Danielle, you must have been concerned, boy, what will people think if I say oh, I'm not going to do my deployment with the rest of you, I'm going to stay home and help my mom.
Were you worried about that?
CARPENTER: No, because right away I told everybody was I was going to see you. I was going to tell -- I told everybody I was going to see them as soon as I could get deployed.
S. O'BRIEN: You weren't concerned what your colleagues would think?
CARPENTER: Oh, no. My colleagues never looked down on me.
S. O'BRIEN: Good. Good.
Now, I know that the surgery, Diane, was very difficult, really, for both of you. You had a lot of complications. And, again, both of you did.
Give me a sense, though, Danielle, what you were thinking about when just days after your surgery you were doing sit-ups in your room while you were in the hospital. And it put you in the hospital for even longer.
CARPENTER: Right. I wasn't really thinking that the surgery was such a big deal. And I didn't -- the reality of the surgery didn't hit me until I was actually in pre-op. And at that point, I started freaking out a little bit. But after surgery, the top priority was making sure my mom was getting better and getting ready for deployment, because I didn't want to put myself or my battle buddies in danger once I arrived in Iraq.
S. O'BRIEN: You listed your priorities there, but you didn't really put yourself on that list. So let's bring that back to your mom.
You must have been concerned, Diane, you know, not only is your daughter undergoing surgery, which is invasive and dangerous, you know, she's young and she's going off to war.
Did you have second thoughts about having her contribute her kidney to you, even though it was going to save your life?
BROGGER: Yes, I surely did. But she was so determined to do it and I -- it was just a fantastic thing. And there just was no way I was going to ever get a cadaver donor to work. I would have to have had a family member to do it, and I have a real small family. So I knew she was about my only lifeline.
But I was concerned for her health. And I was up a few days after surgery and went down to visit her. She actually had a longer and harder recovery than I did in the beginning. And then I started to reject a few weeks later.
But she had quite a recovery for a donor. It was quite difficult for her. So I was concerned about that and the fact that she wanted to hurry and get well as quick as possible to join her Army troop.
S. O'BRIEN: You had some complications, as you mentioned. But I understand that now your new kidney is doing pretty well.
We don't have much time left and since we have you both up on the satellite anyway, Danielle, anything you want to say to your mom? And, Diane, anything you want to say to Danielle before I let you go?
BROGGER: I love her very much.
CARPENTER: I just want to let my mom know that I miss her and I can't wait to see her when I come home and redeploy. And I love her very much.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, you guys, thanks for sharing your story with us.
I'm glad to hear that you're both recovering pretty well.
BROGGER: Thank you very much.
CARPENTER: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: What a sweet story.
Still to come, new developments in the London terror investigation. An Egyptian biochemist reportedly detained in Cairo. We're tracking details on that. We expect an update from Scotland Yard very soon and we'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
Lots to talk about.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to this developing story we've been telling you about.
The London terror investigation, another man apparently in custody. Egyptian sources telling CNN that Magdy al-Nashar, an Egyptian biochemist, has been detained in Cairo. London police want to know about his connection to the suspects that they already have. Some evidence reportedly points to the bombs being homemade.
Nic Robertson live now in Leeds with the latest on this -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, Egyptian police have confirmed that on Thursday night, they arrest Magdy al-Nashar at Cairo Airport. British police are saying that they are aware of this arrest. However, they are also saying that they will not discuss how this arrest factors into their investigation at this time.
What we do know about Magdy al-Nashar, however, is that he was a biochemist studying here at Leeds University. He got his Ph.D. on the 6th of May, just two months ago. Then he left Britain, disappeared about two weeks, perhaps a little less, before the bombings in London.
Police have linked him in, apparently, to this investigation through a phone number they found through part of their investigation that's going on here. They linked him in through the phone number to his rental of an apartment in Leeds.
Now, what we know about that apartment is that when police went to raid it about Monday lunch time, they cordoned off the area, evacuated 600 people. They went in with bomb disposal experts. The police went in there with the British Army, suspecting it could have been a bomb factory. We don't know the details, exactly, of what they discovered there. They did discover some material they said could be harmful to the public. We don't know what that material is.
Specifically, British police are not telling us exactly how Magdy El-Nashar factors into this investigation, but it is very clear that he has been high on their list of people they want to interview and find. Now Egyptian authorities confirming that he was detained and arrested at Cairo Airport Thursday evening -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: So, Nic, we really don't know the structure of this cell at this point, and the outline of the plot and how it all was put together?
ROBERTSON: There are bits and pieces of the jigsaw emerging. What we have in this particular area are three people that have -- that were so far the suspected bombers. We know, or it's -- there's strong evidence to believe that perhaps at a mosque in this area, that they met and had meetings together. There is another element, the fourth bomber, whose house is being searched by police in the South of Britain, close to London.
Not clear exactly how that bomber linked in, that suspected bomber linked him with the three other suspected bombers. Not clear how El-Madgy -- El-Nashar, rather, linked in with the three bombers here. But his proximity to them and information that the police have discovered while searching their houses here does indicate a link of some kind. We don't know what it is.
So the bits of the jigsaw, Miles, emerging. but, again, we were only able to put some of them firmly together. Perhaps the strongest links are with the three young men in this area, those three of the four bombers, Miles. M. O'BRIEN: All right, Nic Robertson, who's trying to connect all the dots for us. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Let's check in now and get some other headlines from Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center -- Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Miles.
"Now in the News," more American and Iraqi security forces coming under fire. A string of car bombings in Baghdad this morning killed at least eight people. Police say at least two U.S. soldiers were hurt. And U.S. military sources confirm two marines were killed Thursday in an explosion in the Anbar province.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist says he has no plans to retire. The 80-year-old chief justice was released from a Virginia hospital Thursday, where he had been undergoing treatment for a fever. Rehnquist released a statement saying he has no plans to step down from the Supreme Court and would continue to serve as long as his health permits.
Joran Van Der Sloot, the only suspect still detained in the Natalee Holloway case, will remain behind bars in Aruba. A panel of judges overruled his appeal Thursday. An Aruban judge tells CNN the detention could continue for three more months. Meanwhile, Joran's friends, the Kalpoe brothers, will not be rearrested at this time, but they officially remain suspects in this case.
The man at the center of a steroids scandal involving some top athletes as apparently reached a plea deal. Victor Conte is the founder of BALCO, a nutritional supplements company. His lawyer says Conte will plead guilty today to steroid distribution and money laundering, in exchange for a deal with federal prosecutors. There are some reports that he could spend four months behind bars.
And Hurricane Emily is growing even more powerful this morning. Right now, it's packing 135 miles per hour winds. A hurricane warning has been issued for Jamaica. Emily is already being blamed for at least one death in Grenada. The storm could possibly hit Texas by Wednesday of next week.
Back to you, Miles and Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Fred, thanks a lot.
Well, every Friday at this time, our "Gimme a Minute" panel gets the last word on the week's big stories. In Boston this morning, Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway is joining us. Hey, Doug, good morning.
DOUG HATTAWAY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: In Washington, D.C., Republican consultant Tara Setmayer. Nice to see you, Tara. Good morning to you.
TARA SETMAYER, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: How are you? S. O'BRIEN: I'm well, thank you. And here in New York, Andy Borowitz from borowitzreport.com.
Let's get going. Doug, we're going to start with you this morning. We've been talking, of course, about Joe Wilson and Karl Rove. Back and forth, back and forth, you're a liar, no, you're a liar, no, you're a liar. At the end of the day, we saw the picture. The president walking with Karl Rove. Does a picture speak a thousand words? And, in fact, no way this guy's going to lose his job.
HATTAWAY: Yes, I mean, the bottom line is, there's a traitor in the White House who betrayed America and the war on terror right under George Bush's nose. And now that they think it's Karl Rove, the Republicans are making excuses for it. I don't expect him to go anywhere.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow, words like betrayal and traitor. Tara, I know you have something to say about this.
SETMAYER: You know, Democrats need to really just stop it. I mean, I understand that it's going into recess. But, listen, Karl Rove did not break any laws. The laws -- the statute clearly states that the covert operative must be undercover overseas. Joe Wilson's own book shows that his wife and him were not overseas at the time. More than five years removed. She was at a desk job. No laws have been broken, and Democrats need to get an agenda.
S. O'BRIEN: Andy?
ANDY BOROWITZ, BOROWITZREPORT.COM: Soledad, I can't comment while there's an ongoing investigation. I just can't.
S. O'BRIEN: I knew you were going to say that. All right, our next topic. The president and the Republicans and the NAACP. Ken Mehlman, as you all know, was appearing at the NAACP's annual meeting. Mehlman says that Republicans want black support. They want more black candidates. Tara, let's begin with you. As you well know, the president has a terrible relationship with the NAACP. Think it's a little too late?
SETMAYER: No. And that relationship is by no fault of the president's. When you have someone like Julian Bonds, who spews hate speech to the point where -- if you want to talk about a traitor, he's a traitor to black America. He should know better. The Republican party, I applaud them.
S. O'BRIEN: Did you just call Julian Bonds a traitor to black America?
SETMAYER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. Just clarifying that.
SETMAYER: For the comments that he has -- the comments that he has made as of late, calling Republicans the Taliban wing and that any blacks that are conservative are puppet masters. That, to me, is betraying the good works of conservative blacks in this country, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: We're going to go over our time. I can see the bell ringing in ten seconds, anyway. Doug, you know, my theory of a relationship is that it takes two to tango. Do you just blame one side in this?
HATTAWAY: Well, Ken Mehlman did say it was wrong for Republicans all these years to be appealing to racism to win votes. And they're not going to do that anymore, because now they have the gays to kick around.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, Lordy. I can see where this is going. Andy, why not just pile on?
BOROWITZ: Well, you know, if the Republicans are trying to appeal to black voters, they have not used their secret weapon yet: Dick Cheney. Very popular in that community.
S. O'BRIEN: Our last topic. Stop laughing, Miles. The new "Harry Potter" book is going on sale. It's going to happen at midnight, I guess, Saturday morning. And apparently, everybody is going to love it, except for the pop. Pope Benedict apparently already hates it. He has said that it distorts Christianity, on and on and on. Do you think that even devout Catholics will care, Doug, or no?
HATTAWAY: I don't know. I was very glad the pope exposed this. I knew there was some evil at foot when so many ostensibly kids started wearing pointy hats and dorky glasses. And I went out and burned my son's entire copy of his "Harry Potter" novels.
S. O'BRIEN: So you're not going to buy the next one. How about you, Tara?
SETMAYER: Well, I think that Christians around the world have a legitimate concern. Witchcraft is very real. Biblical principles say in Phillippians 4:8 that whatever is admirable, whatever is praiseworthy, that you should pay attention to. So Christian parents need to adhere to their biblical principles. And it is -- there is moral ambiguity involved in "Harry Potter." So it's up to the parents.
S. O'BRIEN: OK, Andy, final word on this?
BOROWITZ: You know, I tend to follow the pope on pop culture. He also hated the sequel to "Scooby Doo," and he was right.
S. O'BRIEN: He was so right.
Let's talk about the undercovered story of the week. We'll start with Tara on this one. Tara, what do you think was missed?
SETMAYER: Well, I was going to talk about the gains in our economy. President Bush's tax cuts have reaped unbelievable rewards. The trade deficit is only 2.7 percent. The unemployment rate is at 5 percent, which is lower than the average in the '70s, '80s, and '90s. So, despite the apologists for tax increases, we -- Bush's tax cuts have worked for America.
S. O'BRIEN: That would be Tara's headline. Doug, what would you pick?
HATTAWAY: While the conservatives were discovering African- Americans, progressives this week showed they were going to stop ignoring young people. The Center for American Progress had a big conference for college students, and there's a new group called progressive student initiative that was launched to mobilize the silent majority on college campuses. That's good news for progressives and Democrats.
S. O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz, a final word?
HATTAWAY: Well, speaking of "Harry Potter," the new "Harry Potter" book was leaked one week early in Canada, and Karl Rove has denied responsibility.
S. O'BRIEN: Thus we end as we began. Doug Hattaway, Tara Setmayer, and Andy Borowitz joining us. You guys, have a great weekend, and we'll see you next week.
SETMAYER: Thank you.
HATTAWAY: See you.
M. O'BRIEN: It comes full circle. "Gimme Me a Minute."
S. O'BRIEN: It all comes together, doesn't it?
M. O'BRIEN: Isn't that wonderful? All right.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: In this morning's medical segment, health warnings for soft drinks. The Center for Science in the Public Interest says soda consumption leads to obesity, wants the FDA to require cigarette- style warning labels on the cans. The group's director Michael Jacobson joining us now from Washington.
Good to have you with us, Mr. Jacobson.
This is actually a big concern at my house. My son has become a Coke drinker, a couple three, four a day. That's not good, is it?
I want to put up full screen here just so people can say. This is on average, studies you've done. Boys consume about two cans a day, 13 to 18 years old. Girls less. That's a lot of soda pop, a lot of sugar, isn't it?
DR. MICHAEL JACOBSON, CTR. FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: It's an enormous amount. Studies over the past few years have shown that soft drinks are a significant contributor to weight gain and obesity, in kids and adults. The federal government has urged people to cut back on sweetened beverages, like soft drinks and those fake fruit drinks. The government, though, has to do more. It needs to put some policies behind that to really have an effect. And having health messages on soft drinks reminding people that there are healthier beverages that won't contribute to tooth decay, that won't contribute to obesity, I think is one significant step. It's not going to solve the childhood obesity problem by itself, but it would arm parents with another tool to remind kids.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but don't we know this already? I mean, we know intuitively that drinking a can of sugary soda pop is bad for you, right?
JACOBSON: Yes, but it doesn't hurt to remind people, to give parents another tool. McDonald's -- we know where every McDonald's is in our neighborhood, yet McDonald's still spends $1 billion a year promoting its products, because it knows that to change behavior, to get people to do something, you have to remind them, and remind them and remind them. Now, a health notice is one thing. We'd like to see soft drinks kicked out of schools. We'd like to see calorie information on menu boards of fast food restaurants, mass media campaigns to urge people to drink water, or skim milk or fruit juice instead of soft drinks. There are a lot of things we can do if we take this obesity crisis seriously.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. The industry organization that represents the soft drink bottlers and makers, you've gotten their dander up a little bit. Let's look at what he they have to say in response to your calls for labels. "To ask the FDA for warning on labels on soft drinks or any food products that contain caloric sweeteners patronizes consumers and lacks common sense. Where would such a food hitlist stop? Even skim milk and thousands of other food products could potentially fit into a CSPI labeling scheme because of the sugars contained in those products." That comes from Susan Neely. What about skim milk? You want to get a label on that?
JACOBSON: That's the industry's old slippery slope. I don't know where things should end, but I know where things should start. That's soda pop, one of the most significant contributors to the obesity crisis, and a crisis that is causing diabetes, adult-onset diabetes in children. Are we going to do nothing about it, just sit around while the soft drink industry spends over a half-a-billion dollars a year advertising its products?
M. O'BRIEN: But kids crave sugar? Kids have sweet tooths? How bad are soda pops in the grand scheme of things that are out there available to them?
JACOBSON: It's the one food that has been shown to promote obesity, the one food. And one reason is not just the calories, but they come in a liquid form that appear to be more conducive to obesity than calories in solid foods.
M. O'BRIEN: Really? Why is that?
JACOBSON: The calories don't seem to trigger the satiety, the satisfaction that calories in solid foods do. And the federal government, which does not move quickly, has said Americans should cut back on sweetened beverages, including carbonated soft drinks. But it's got to do something more than just put it in a volume that's going to sit on a shelf for the next 10 years. And having health messages would be one useful reminder. You know, something else would be to put a two-cent tax on a can of soda pop and use that money to fund mass-media campaigns to urge people to eat healthier diets.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm sure the bottlers would love that.
All right, Dr. Michael Jacobson, thanks for your time. He's with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Hope you were listening at home, in the O'Brien household, one young 12-year-old boy there.
S. O'BRIEN: And I thought you were talking about my household.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, maybe yours, too. It might apply there.
S. O'BRIEN: No soda. They're too little.
Ahead this morning, the new Harry Potter book is going on sale at midnight. Coming up, we're going to look at the rags-to-riches story of the woman behind fiction's most famous boy wizard. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: E-mail errors cause panic among Potter fans and Amazon celebrating its birthday in style. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning. What you want to start with?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE; Let's talk about "Harry Potter" and just talk what a mega-event it is. You probably know by now, the sixth edition of the "Harry Potter" books comes out on Saturday. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." 10.8 million editions in the first printing alone, Soledad. And this is what one bookseller said. This is amazing. "We expect to sell three times as many copies of 'Harry Potter' in one day as we sold of the 'Da Vinci Code' in all of last year." I mean, it's so huge.
S. O'BRIEN: It's going to do well.
SERWER: It's going to do very well. And there's a price war breaking out already amongst booksellers because they're desperate to get people in the stores. The list price is about $30 there. There's Amazon's price. Barnesandnoble.com. And then you can skip down. Barnes and Noble, that's in the store, if you join the club -- and people are going to want to join the club.
Now, there was panic amongst "Harry Potter" fans, though, this week, when an e-mail from walmart.com and amazon.com came out saying that their books would be late. My goodness gracious. You don't do that to the "Harry Potter" people.
S. O'BRIEN: That sounds great, yes. SERWER: And it was just an error, and they sent another message out saying that everything's OK. You're going to get your books on Saturday. But some people putting in multiple orders just to be sure.
Speaking of amazon.com, Soledad, and Saturday, this weekend is the tenth anniversary of amazon.com. Happy birthday Jeff Bezos and crew out there. Quite a story, of course. He was "Time" magazine's man of the year in 1999. Remember that?
S. O'BRIEN: Mmm hmm.
SERWER: It was kind of a controversial pick at that point. And the stock has done tremendously. You can see, of course, it was even better back in the day, in the technology boom. Still up 2,300 percent since that IPO back then. And they're doing some cool things. They're having Harrison Ford, Jason Alexander and Moby delivering packages to Amazon customers. A live Web cast with Dylan and Norah Jones on the Web site this weekend.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's kind of cool, yes.
SERWER: Yes, it's fun.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.
SERWER: You're welcome.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, boys and girls. Midnight tonight is the night. It is now that the hour is upon you. Go to your parents now and insist you wait in a long line to buy this new book. They'll really love you if you ask for that.
What about the woman behind it, J.K. Rowling? We -- she's kind of a mysterious woman who began this whole saga, writing the first "Harry Potter" book in a coffee shop in London, or outside London.
CNN's Paula Hancocks with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, J.K. Rowling!
(APPLAUSE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A welcome you'd normally expect for a rock star. The woman who brought the world "Harry Potter" has secured a place in a generation's hearts. A phenomenal rise to stardom she can hardly believe herself.
J.K. ROWLING, "HARRY POTTER" AUTHOR: The first reading I ever did, there were two people who had wandered into the basement of Waterstone's by mistake and were too polite to leave when they saw someone was doing a reading. And they had to get all staff in the shop downstairs to bulk out the crowd a bit. HANCOCKS: 250 million copies later, she can certainly hold her own in Waterstone's these days. The boy wizard has made Rowling the most successful author of her time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Famous Harry Potter. Can't even go to a book shop without making the front page.
HANCOCKS: Fiction reflects fact, thanks to her phenomenal success of her books and the movie adaptations. The Hogwart's Express sped Harry towards wizardry. Harry's ability to sell sped a single mother on benefits to a spot as one of the wealthiest women in Britain, a far cry from humble beginnings in Edinburgh, where she penned her first novel longhand in this cafe with her sleeping daughter by her side.
J.K. Rowling even met Queen Elizabeth II last year, safe in the knowledge she was probably more wealthy than her highness, the "Harry Potter" fortune estimated at around $1 billion. J.K. Rowling has never put an exact figure on her wealth. In fact, she very rarely talks about her personal life at all, fiercely protective of herself, her husband and her three children. She does not want fame to change her.
ROWLING: My life is really what it always was, which is trying to get time to write, which used to be difficult because I'm a single parent and I was doing a day job. And now it's difficult because the phone never stops ringing, so I still walk out of the house to write.
HANCOCKS (on camera): Come midnight tonight U.K. time, it probably wouldn't be too safe for me to be standing in this doorway, as there will be a rush of excited children coming in to get their hands on the latest "Harry Potter" book. Now, at the same time, up in Edinburgh, J.K. Rowling will be hosting an exclusive event at the castle for more than 2,000 children.
Paula Hancock, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: And tomorrow on CNN Saturday morning, we'll have more on the Potter craze, with a look at tonight's scene when those books go on sale at midnight.
Still to come, an up-close look at the most feared creature in the sea. We'll dispel some myths about sharks. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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