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American Morning

No Troop Timetable; Ad Controversy; Western Wildfires

Aired August 12, 2005 - 9:00   ET

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

SOLEAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush may come face to face with one of his sharpest critics today, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq.
And despite increasing American casualties in Iraq, the president insists the U.S. must stay the course.

Residents in three western states are waking up to wildfires burning out of control. Firefighters desperately trying to get the upper hand today.

And all eyes are on Irene. The tropical storm could soon become a hurricane 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.

O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. Miles O'Brien has a little vacation. So hopefully he's relaxing.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was thinking about changing my name to Carol O'Brien.

O'BRIEN: We'd love to have you, You know, you can always use another O'Brien, as we like to say.

COSTELLO: True, very true. But I am Carol Costello. I'm in for Miles.

Also ahead, the interview you will only see on CNN. Former President Bill Clinton talks about the war in Iraq and his wife's bid for reelection to the Senate.

O'BRIEN: He also talks about whether Hillary is looking toward -- we shouldn't say he talks about whether Hillary is looking toward the White House. We should day he dodges...

COSTELLO: He does.

O'BRIEN: ... about whether is looking toward the White House.

COSTELLO: I know. My favorite quote from that is Candy Crowley came on and said, "He can dance on the head of a pin."

O'BRIEN: Yes, and he does it very well. We'll show you that in just a little bit.

First, though, let's get a look at a check on the headlines with Fredricka Whitfield. She's at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Good morning.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Ladies, good morning again.

An extradition hearing is set to be held in the next hour for the fugitive couple accused of gunning down a prison guard in Tennessee. George and Jennifer Hyatte are facing first-degree murder charges in the courthouse shooting. They surrendered to authorities without a fight after fleeing to Ohio. A funeral for the slain officer is set to be held later on today.

The former number two at WorldCom has been sentenced to five years in prison. Scott Sullivan was WorldCom's chief financial officer. He testified against former CEO Bernard Ebbers in the company's $11 billion accounting fraud trial. Ebbers had gotten 25 years in jail.

Thousands of passengers at London's Heathrow Airport are staying put this hour. British Airways has canceled all of its flights in and out of the airport. It's apparently due to a dispute with the airlines' workers. Flights are expected to resume later on today.

And a perfect liftoff for NASA's Mars orbiter. The spacecraft blasted off early this morning. The launch was postponed Thursday after some technical problems. NASA hopes the orbiter will collect more data on Mars than all of its previous missions combined. The orbiter is expected to circle the Red Planet for four years -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: All right, Fred. Thanks a lot.

Well, President Bush says he sympathizes with the anti-war mother who's protesting outside of his ranch. He believes, though, that withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq would send a terrible message to America's enemies.

Suzanne Malveaux live at the White House this morning.

Suzanne, there actually could be a face-to-face meeting between the president and this mother who's been protesting in Crawford, Texas, right?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, circumstances, Soledad, could bring them together. We understand the motorcade is going to pass by her campsite possibly later today.

Now, what the president is trying to focus here and emphasize, he says, look, he believes American troops are successful in training these Iraqis. He also says that he believes that those Iraqis can meet that Monday deadline, a draft for a constitution. And he's trying to reassure these anti-war protesters that he does understand their concerns, but he says now is not the time to pull those U.S. troops out of Iraq. Now, it was just yesterday that President Bush essentially was asked directly about one of those protesters who's really put a human face on this debate. That, of course, Cindy Sheehan. She is the mother who has been camped outside of the Crawford ranch since Saturday.

She says she wants to talk to the president, that she is not going to leave until he actually does see her. Now, Mr. Bush yesterday said that he sympathized with her cause, but at the same time he does not agree. He believes those troops to stay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I understand the anguish that some feel about -- about the death that takes place. I also have heard the voices of those saying, pull out now. And I have thought about their cry and their sincere desire to reduce the loss of life by pulling our troops out. I just strongly disagree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And that was the message that the president basically carried out. This is after a meeting that he held with his foreign policy, as well as his defense team, at the Crawford ranch. And again, it will be very interesting to see how this all unfolds, whether or not the president's motorcade will pass by Sheehan's campsite.

It has grown tremendously. There are several dozen, even perhaps 100 protesters who have now joined her in that cause. The president today is going to be attending a neighborhood barbecue, a GOP fund- raiser. We'll see if they actually see each other face to face -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, everybody's watching for that. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Also, on the subject of politics, an abortion rights group has buckled the heavy criticism and pulled its ad linking Supreme Court nominee John Roberts to violent anti-abortion activists. NARAL Pro-Choice America is planning to replace the ad. The group withdrew it after Senator Arlen Specter, who is chairman of the Judiciary Committee, sent a letter calling the ad "blatantly untrue and unfair."

Correspondent Ed Henry, live on Capitol Hill, he has the latest on the controversy.

Ed, I know the ad's been pulled, but hasn't the damage already been done?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, that's what conservatives are saying. They're fuming about this. They've been reeling for days about this ad, saying it's a vicious smear that distorted John Roberts's record on the hot-button issue of abortion. But you're right, it was not that conservative criticism that actually got the ad pulled.

Instead, it was a scathing letter from a NARAL ally. Senator Arlen Specter, the Judiciary chairman, who is a Republican who supports abortion rights, sent this letter to NARAL last night, saying that, in fact, in his words, he believed that the group was "undercutting the credibility of the pro-choice movement."

The ad which aired on CNN charged that Roberts as a young lawyer in the first Bush administration had written legal briefs supporting a convicted abortion clinic bomber. That was a false charge. And also, the ad ran footage from a 1998 abortion clinic bombing, even though this was a case that actually happened several years earlier.

It's also important to point out, though, that CNN ran an ad by a conservative group, Progress for America, that was defending Roberts' record, and was also pushing back hard against this NARAL ad in saying that it was a distortion. But the bottom line, as you mentioned at the top, conservatives, allies of Judge Roberts, say they believe the damage may be done here.

In addition to the fact that the ad by NARAL was running for several days, there was all kinds of free publicity that the liberal group got from all of the media attention about this controversy. I think the bottom line is this is a sign that while the Roberts' nomination appears to be sailing through, these hot-button issues in the cultural wars, like abortion, are so bitterly divisive right now in this country that this debate is not over -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Ed Henry, live on Capitol Hill this morning.

O'BRIEN: Well, thousands of firefighters in three western states have their hands full. They're battling several wildfires that are burning out of control.

The fires are located in Davenport, in Washington; Grangeville, Idaho; and Alberton, Montana. The so-called Interstate 90 fires in Alberton are now one big, single, giant wildfire.

Firefighters deliberately merged them all because they claim it would help with safety purposes. So far, the flames have swallowed up about 10,000 acres.

In Idaho, 100 homes evacuated because of the wildfire there. It's spreading across 2,000 acres of state land and national forest. The nation's largest wildfires, though, are burning in Washington, where the governor's declared a state of emergency now.

Look at these pictures. The largest area charred, 42,000 acres, including dozens of homes and buildings. There's another small fire near davenport, and that's threatening dozens more homes.

Oh, what a mess.

Let's get right to reporter Matt Rogers of Spokane affiliate KHQ. He's live in Davenport and has an update for us.

Matt, good morning to you. What does it look like for firefighters today?

MATT ROGERS, REPORTER, KHQ: Well, Soledad, I tell you what, right now it's very calm here in Davenport. The winds have really diminished. And that's good news.

However, firefighters do expect those winds to pick up significantly later on this afternoon, and they're actually going to switch. They're going to start from the southeast, southwest, and switch to a northwesterly wind, and that's got firefighters very concerned here.

They've dug some lines, and they're going to really focus on reinforcing those lines around the fire today in an attempt to make sure that those winds don't push the fire across. But right now, this fire has burned about 1,500 acres, and there's around 400 firefighters fighting it right now -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: What about evacuations? Dozens of people were evacuated in the region yesterday. How about now?

ROGERS: Yes, there were 30 or so, roughly 30 or so homes that were actually evacuated. And the folks there really concerned, because they -- the fire was burning down a steep embankment headed towards those homes.

Firefighters yesterday were really able to get a handle on things and save those homes. So the good news is, 30 or so homes have been saved, the folks are back inside their homes today and didn't lose anything. So that is very good news for the people here in Davenport.

O'BRIEN: Well, a little good news to report, at least. Matt Rogers, reporter for Spokane affiliate KHQ.

Thanks, Matt. Appreciate it.

ROGERS: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Folks along the mid-Atlantic coast might be spending part of their weekend getting ready for a hurricane. Tropical Storm Irene is heading toward land. It could reach hurricane strength, in fact, as early as today.

That brings us right to Chad Myers at the CNN center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Also, Wolf Blitzer interviews former President Bill Clinton. Does he think the war in Iraq is a mistake?

COSTELLO: And in our "Extra Effort" segment, a special program that uses horses to help children deal with special needs. Parents say it's creating small miracles every day.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: Israel is on the eve of one of the greatest changes in its history as it ends nearly 40 years of occupation in the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank. Under its disengagement plan, 9,000 Jewish settlers must leave their homes before the land's turned over to Palestinian control.

The disengagement begins on Monday, and by Wednesday, troops will forcibly remove resisters. It brings us right to Ben Wedeman. He's live in Gaza City for us this morning.

Ben, as the settlers start to pull out, what's the mood there?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Well, certainly among the settlers within the Jewish settlements here in Gaza, the mood is partly somber, partly defiant, where we understand that 60 percent of the settlers have accepted the compensation package offered by the government. They've -- many of them have already left.

Others are packing up their belongings and their possessions from many of the homes, many of them from the only homes they ever -- ever really knew. And -- but nonetheless, we know that, for instance, a majority of Israelis have said in opinion polls time and time again that they, in fact, support the pullout. But we saw last night in Tel Aviv more than 150,000 opponents of the pullout demonstrating in the main center of the city.

Their opposition is passionate. These people are very much opposed to a pullout that at this point seems like it's going to go ahead, despite, as can you tell from these demonstrations, this very heartfelt opposition from a minority of Israelis.

Meanwhile, here in Gaza, the mood is completely different. In just a few hours' time, the Palestinian Authority is going to be staging what they're calling a celebration along the waterfront. They call this celebration Setting Sail for Freedom.

Many Palestinians say this is the first time Israel is pulling out, dismantling settlements on a Palestinian territory. And it's not just the authority that's celebrating the pullout, it's also Hamas.

Las night in the refugee camp of Jabalia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, we saw Hamas gunmen and militants coming out, showing off their weapons and making it clear that, as far as they're concerned, it was not negotiations or diplomacy that led to this pullout, but rather, their, as they called, armed resistance -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ben Wedeman for us this morning in Gaza City. Ben, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Former President Bill Clinton has some ideas on what America should be doing in Iraq. In an exclusive interview on CNN's "SITUATION ROOM," Wolf Blitzer asked the former president to give his views on a wide range of current issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "SITUATION ROOM" (voice over): On Iraq, President Clinton didn't come out and say the war was a mistake, but he came close.

WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I thought that we should not have gone in there until we let the U.N. inspectors finish their job. I don't think -- I never thought it had much to do with the war on terror. Whether it was a mistake or not, we are where we are, and we ought to try to make this strategy succeed.

BLITZER: On John Roberts' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Clinton had mixed views on the fight over releasing documents from Roberts' work for past administrations. The former president thinks papers should be made public if they deal with broad constitutional matters. But he says advice to a president on a specific policy should stay private.

That puts him on the side of Republicans, to a point.

CLINTON: I do think it's interesting that a lot of these Republicans in Congress who didn't believe there was any such thing as executive privilege when I was president now want to protect these documents, but I think that some of them should be protected.

BLITZER: On Senator Hillary Clinton's political future, Mr. Clinton was quick to defend his wife against Republican Jeanine Pirro, who's now running for Mrs. Clinton's job.

JEANINE PIRRO (R), NEW YORK STATE CANDIDATE: She asked us to put out the welcome mat, and New York did. But now she wants to use it as a doormat to the White House.

CLINTON: Jeanine Pirro is wrong. Hillary has not used any doormat. And by the way, she doesn't even have a Republican opponent yet. I don't know who the Republicans are going to nominate, and I don't think you do.

BLITZER: The former president insists his wife is focused on a run for re-election next year, not on a race for the White House. He brushed off our new poll showing Senator Clinton is far and away the early front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

CLINTON: We have a rule in our family that I always follow and now she does. Don't look past the next election, or you might not get past the next election. So I'm convinced in my own mind she hasn't decided on that. I believe I would know if she had, and I don't want her to even think about it.

BLITZER: No stranger to situation rooms, President Clinton seemed to enjoy being in ours.

CLINTON: Well, I like being in the other situation room, but I like this one better. There's less pressure and more freedom.

BLITZER: Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And I think President Clinton added at the end, "And I can walk out on you, Wolf."

He didn't, though. Wolf and "THE SITUATION ROOM" room can be seen weekdays on CNN at 3:00 Eastern, 12:00 Pacific Time. Today, the Reverend Jerry Falwell responds to the criticism that he instructed his followers to vote Christian in '08.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" today at 3"00 p.m. Eastern.

And still to come this morning, get a case of sticker shock on your latest power bill? A lot of people did thanks to the record- setting heat wave across much of the country. But we have some money- saving tips for you. They are next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Are you getting sticker shock from your utility bill? As in electricity bill. Americans are spending a fortune to keep cool this summer.

Nearly half of your energy payment goes for heating and cooling. That's the big blue part of the pie there. The water heater, washer, dryer and the lights take up a hefty amount, too.

Consumer advocate Clark Howard is at the CNN Center in Atlanta with some ways to save on your utility costs.

Good morning, Clark.

CLARK HOWARD, CONSUMER ADVOCATE: Good morning. How are you doing today?

COSTELLO: Well, I'm still reeling from the sticker shock.

We did an informal poll, one of our producers, $650 for one month of electricity use.

HOWARD: Our bill was $507 last month. It just about killed me.

COSTELLO: And you're Mr. penny pincher.

HOWARD: My wife's pregnant. And, you know, she gets control of the thermostat while she's pregnant. So...

COSTELLO: Oh, you don't get to save money during that time?

HOWARD: I do not. You know, we don't get to set back the temperature. And it's cold all the time, like I'm in a refrigerator at the house.

COSTELLO: Well, you could be in physical danger if you interfered with her.

But let's talk about how you can save money.

HOWARD: Sure.

COSTELLO: And one of your favorite tips is to turn the thermostat up.

HOWARD: Oh, yes.

COSTELLO: To 78 degrees, though?

HOWARD: Sure! You know, if it's much hotter outside, if it's, let's say, 85, 90 degrees outside, and you have your house set at 78, it's going feel comfortable inside.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on!

HOWARD: I'm serious. There is no law that your house has to be 72 degrees. If the temperature inside the house is much lower than it is outside, you're going to feel better, you're going to feel fine.

COSTELLO: OK. So let's say you want to set the thermostat at 75 degrees.

HOWARD: OK.

COSTELLO: How much money would you save from 75 to 78 degrees?

HOWARD: Well, you know, as you move up each degree, you're going to reduce your temperature -- your cost for electricity several percent. And so it's just a multiple of whatever your bill is, but it's a hard thing to get people to do. So here's an alternative. Ready?

COSTELLO: Ready.

HOWARD: You get an energy setback thermostat or a programmable thermostat. When you're home, have it at that bone-chilling temperature that you want to have it at. But when you're not home, it automatically sets the thermostat back to a warmer temperature.

And then you guess kind of what time you're going to be home. About an hour before you get home, it starts cooling the house down, so when you walk in, you have your refrigerator at home.

COSTELLO: OK. Let me ask you this, because it causes many fights between me and my husband. I say turn the air-conditioner off.

HOWARD: No.

COSTELLO: No?

HOWARD: No. Especially not in the summer with the humidity. You can cause mold problems.

You don't want to turn it off. You want to turn it up, but don't turn it off, because one of the things that an air conditioner does is in moist climates it pulls moisture out of the house, and you need to let it do its job, at least to that extent.

COSTELLO: I owe him a bottle of wine now.

HOWARD: So your husband is right this time.

COSTELLO: I know. I owe him a bottle of wine.

HOWARD: Really? Well, buy a $2 bottle of wine. You k now, there's lots of cheap wine now.

COSTELLO: Good idea. I'm going to get the list from you later.

Let's go over a few more tips for people.

HOWARD: Sure.

COSTELLO: Use energy-efficient light bulbs. That's simple.

HOWARD: Oh, I love them. The energy-efficient light bulbs have gone down and down and down in price. You can buy them now for about $2 a bulb.

You install those. And per year, per light bulb, if it's in a busy part of your house, you'll save as much as $10 in energy per bulb.

COSTELLO: Wow. OK.

HOWARD: And it's great.

COSTELLO: Let's go to the next tip.

HOWARD: Sure.

COSTELLO: Buy ENERGY STAR appliances.

HOWARD: Yes, ENERGYSTAR.gov is the official federal site. If you go to ENERGYSTAR.gov, you're going to learn all the tips, all the techniques of which appliances are the ones that are extra energy efficient. And starting January of next year, the feds will pay you money to buy the energy-efficient appliances under the new energy law.

COSTELLO: Loving that.

HOWARD: So you'll actually get money back if you save yourself energy.

COSTELLO: Loving that!

OK. This one sounds scary. Have utility, seize power.

HOWARD: Right. I do that at my house.

There's a program where, on extra hot days, many power companies have a thing where they come and seize your air-conditioner, make you sweat a little in your house so they don't have to generate as much electricity for a whole metro area. And they pay you a bounty, they pay you a rebate for you letting them help them save money.

COSTELLO: I know Connecticut does that. I believe they send you $100.

HOWARD: Isn't that neat?

COSTELLO: It is neat.

HOWARD: It's found money.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

And the last tip is, insulate your attic.

HOWARD: Absolutely. Remember that chart you showed at first, that about half of energy costs are heating and air-conditioning? Well, if you think about your attic, that's where you throw your money out of your house.

So if people will insulate their attic properly -- you get a rebate for that starting next year, too -- you'll save more money doing that than anything else you do. So go pull down that attic stair, go look up there, see what insulation you have. If you don't see a lot, hire somebody. Get it done.

COSTELLO: We will do that. Thank you so much, Clark Howard.

HOWARD: Certainly.

COSTELLO: We appreciate your being with us today.

And we should mention Clark Howard's latest book, "Clark Smart, Parents, Clark Smart Kids." That's hard to say.

Thank you for being with us, Clark, once again.

HOWARD: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the 60th anniversary of a legendary lip lock. We revisit the most famous kiss ever photographed with a woman who says she was part of it. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, a look at "The Aristocrats." Have you heard about this movie? We're going to talk to a comedian who tells the dirtiest version of the dirtiest joke ever told. Don't worry, parents, we're not actually going to tell you the joke.

COSTELLO: Darn.

O'BRIEN: Bob Saget joins us just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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