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American Morning

Decision to Keep Open Air Force Base in South Dakota; '90- Second Pop'

Aired August 26, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It is half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Miles today.

O'BRIEN: We've got some news just into CNN, a decision to keep open an Air Force base in South Dakota. We want to get right to David Ensor with the very latest.

Of course, we're talking about Ellsworth Base. And it's a setback for the Pentagon leaders, but a huge sigh of relief has to be becoming from the South Dakotans. They could have lost some 4,000 jobs if the base closed, right, David?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Four-thousand jobs, Soledad, and probably a lot more besides and in the community around there. It's a rural area. There's no way that industry would have come in and replaced those jobs. It would have been a severe blow to a state with such a small population. This is a very key employer in South Dakota. So that was one of the arguments that won the day with the commission. A couple other arguments. One, they didn't really believe, they questioned some of the Pentagon projections about savings that would be -- that would occur here if this base was closed. And secondly, they were uncomfortable with the idea of the nation having only one B- 1 bomber base. The idea had been to move all the B-1 bombers to Dias (ph) Air Force Base in Texas. Clearly, the BRAC commission was not comfortable with that, the Base Closings Commission. They're more comfortable with keeping those very important aircraft at two different bases.

So a big win for South Dakota. A defeat for the Pentagon, but they'll soldier on. There are more base closings being proposed.

O'BRIEN: Let me throw this out there, too, the big political win for a freshman senator, John Thune, who took over the minority position, and -- from Tom Daschle. And now I have to imagine this does something for his career.

ENSOR: It's a sigh of relief, certainly, because he ran against Daschle saying he would be better at saving the base, and it looked like he might not be able to, and now he clearly has. He said a moment ago that he's spent more time with members of the commission the last three months than he has with his own wife and family. Obviously he's a very happy man.

O'BRIEN: I bet he is. All right, David Ensor for us. Dave, thanks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: We're also keeping a close eye on Katrina this morning. CNN, we are your hurricane headquarters. Katrina now back out to sea. The category-one hurricane is moving through the Gulf of Mexico right now. Watches and warnings this morning for Florida's west coast and panhandle, where Katrina could strike on Monday morning.

In the Miami area, at least four people were killed during this storm, and more than a million South Florida Electric customers are still without power this morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: People living through the storm are also sending us their pictures, their still pictures. This citizen's journalist is named Adilbek, and the pictures shows damage caused by Hurricane Katrina last night at a mobile home park in Pompano Beach, Florida. And hopefully everybody got out of there on time, because those you had to evacuate.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, you always do. I mean, those just cannot stand up to even a category-one storm, which many people often don't even board up their windows for. Pretty remarkable picture there.

COSTELLO: But he's safe, because he took the picture. He's okay. You can add to our coverage if you live in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina. E-mail us your photos. You can do that by logging on to CNN.com/stories. And please include your name, locations and your phone number.

Stay with CNN all morning for the latest on Katrina. CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

Now let's get a check of the other headlines this morning with Kelly Wallace. Good morning.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, Soledad. And hello, everyone.

Here are some of those other stories now in the news. We begin in Iraq where lawmakers are still hoping to finalize a new constitution. After missing three deadlines, talks are expected to go through today to try and work out an agreement. President Bush is also said to have phoned in support this week on Wednesday, talking to a Shia leader, urging the Iraqis to make sure that all sides are heard.

It is being called one of the deadliest fire in Paris in recent years. French officials say a seven-story apartment building turned into an inferno overnight, killing at least 17 people. Several children are said to be among the victims. Investigators now trying to figure out what caused that fire.

A flood watch in effect this morning for much of South and Central Kansas. Official in El Dorado say more than nine inches of rain have fallen there over the past 24 hours. Hundreds of people have been evacuated.

And this last story for you. Merck saying it might consider settling some lawsuits regarding its painkiller Vioxx. The drug's link to heart trouble has generated thousands of lawsuits. Merck has previously said it would fight all personal-injury litigation. A spokesman saying this is not a change in policy, and stresses that the drug maker would not agree to any sort of global settlement.

That gets you caught up. Now back to Carol and Soledad.

COSTELLO: All right, thank you, Kelly.

Several months ago we told you about a dispute about a flag that was claimed to have flown over the Pentagon on 9/11, sold on eBay for more than $300,000, but that deal fell through when questions were raised about the flag's authenticity. John Andrews, school board chairman in Loudon County, Virginia, then bought the disputed flack for $25,000. He wanted to fly it over a new elementary school named after some victims, what happened at the Pentagon on 9/11, but the dispute continued. And on Wednesday, Andrews torched the flag in an effort to end the controversy for good.

Mr. Andrews joins us now live from Washington.

Good morning.

JOHN ANDERWS II, BURNED CONTROVERSIAL FLAG: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So first of all, why did you pay $25,000 for this flag when there were concerns over its authenticity?

ANDREWS: Well, I had originally participated in the first bidding, thinking that it would be a great place for the school to have this flag, because the school is named after two gentlemen that were on flight 77.

COSTELLO: And it does sound like a great honor. But what happened after you decided to put the flag up on that elementary school?

ANDREWS: Well, what we were going to do is to display it in the school with some other information about the two gentlemen. But subsequent -- or what's happened since then is, concerns have been raised by members of the victims' families from the Pentagon about the appropriateness of displaying a flag that is in dispute of actually being there.

COSTELLO: And how bad did it get? How big did this controversy become?

ANDREWS: Well, I -- it didn't become that big, and what I did by arranging for this ceremony and doing a dignified retirement of this flag, was to try to dispel the controversy before the school opens up next Monday.

COSTELLO: Why was that important to you? ANDREWS: Well, I didn't want to detract from the memories of the two gentlemen, and the circumstances that our community suffered through on 9/11. And I didn't want to do anything that would create emotional issues for the victims' families.

COSTELLO: OK, and you got the boy scouts to do this the proper way. This is the way that you properly burn a flack, right?

ANDREWS: Correct. It's called a retirement. And It was even more special because Christopher Newton, one of the gentlemen, was an Eagle Scout.

COSTELLO: Still, that's $25,000 up in smoke, I mean, at its very base level.

ANDREWS: Yes, well, it started out as, you know, an idea for a school named after two of the people, or two of the victims. And I just wasn't aware that there would be controversy about putting it up into a school. And -- but since there is controversy, I don't want to do anything to detract from our great public school system in Loudon County, or detract from the memories of Mr. Newton and Mr. Lee.

COSTELLO: You know, you try to do something really nice, and you were trying to do something really nice, I mean, it's just got to hurt a little.

ANDREWS: Well, not really in the sense -- I can't put myself in the place of the victims' families and what they have to live with on a daily basis. So by doing this, if I can dispel any future concerns that they might have, it is an extremely small price to pay.

COSTELLO: John Andrews, thanks for joining us this morning.

ANDREWS: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Turning now to a CNN exclusive, Lance Armstrong, appearing on "LARRY KING LIVE" for his first television interview since that French newspaper said it had proof that he took a performance-enhancing drug. The Tour De France champion calls the claim preposterous, and Armstrong says the charge could stem from the French's anger that's grown more intense as he took the title seven straight times.

Here's a little bit of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST: If you consider the landscape between Americans and French right now, obviously relations are strained. But this has been going on for seven years. Let's not forget that it's 2005, and this all really began in 1999, when I won the first tour. Immediately, at that time, they started with scandalous headlines, and a lot of insinuation and a lot of slimy journalism. So I've dealt with it for seven years.

This is perhaps the worse of it. I mean, ultimately when someone comes along and says, oh, by the way, you're positive, that's a pretty serious accusation. But it's never been pretty. Couple that with the fact that French cycling is one of its biggest lulls it has been ever, I think it's been 20 or 25 years since they won the Tour De France. And times are tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Armstrong says he hasn't decided yet whether he's going to bring legal action against the newspaper or the agency that conducted the tests that were cited in the doping report.

Much more AMERICAN MORNING still to come. Ahead on "90-Second Pop": a new memorial honoring the lives of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed is unveiled. Is this how they should be remembered?

Plus, HBO's "Rome" wasn't built in a day. In fact, it took seven years and $100 million. Did the network get its money worth? A preview is ahead, on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk identity theft. Banks, and credit card companies and data brokers are now all pushing services to try to keep us secure. Which ones do we really need?

Ellen McGirt is in for Andy Serwer. She's "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ELLEN MCGIRT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: It's a whole new industry.

MCGIRT: It really is.

O'BRIEN: It costs money.

MCGIRT: It does.

O'BRIEN: And everybody says, you need the one I have.

MCGIRT: That's exactly right. The very people who are supposed to be protecting and sometimes who are losing our data are now selling us all these services.

Short answer, you probably don't need much of them. They come in two basic forms. One is an insurance plan that will cover some of your losses in case of I.D. theft, and the other one are credit- monitoring services, which will keep an eye on things in case something goes wrong. Most people don't understand how they really work, and that they can get most of the benefits of these things already have or for free.

O'BRIEN: Talk at the insurance first. MCGIRT: Most people don't realize that you actually don't get that money back if anything is stolen. That actually comes from your credit card or your bank. This is just for out-of-pocket costs, for legal fees or wages, lost wages as you fight the good fight, because it can take up to 20 or 30 hours.

O'BRIEN: So why don't you like that as a service? That sounds great, because people will say, I had to spend thousands of dollars fighting the fraud and proving I am who I am.

MCGIRT: A couple reasons. One is they come with limits, $500 a week with a $2,000 cap for most of them. And the other one...

O'BRIEN: Two-thousand dollar cap?

MCGIRT: I hate to remind people of this, but many of these services won't cover if a family member has stolen your I.D., and that actually one of the common ways that I.D. theft happens. So if you're a small business owner, or you really can't have any sort of interruption in your -- if you bill by hour, and have any interruption in your income, then go right ahead. But check your homeowners insurance. A lot of them come with your homeowners insurance, so you don't have to pay extra.

O'BRIEN: And I think the cost that people end up shelling for these kinds of things, it's higher than that $2,000 cap anyway.

MCGIRT: I know, false peace of mind. I know.

O'BRIEN: Credit monitoring, that sounds like a good idea? Why is not?

MCGIRT: It actually isn't a bad idea. The basic services will cost you $20 to $60 a year, and it will keep an eye on your credit report in case there's a ding, or any kind of request or opening credit. If you're a victim of fraud, you get it for free. And there's these deluxe services that will help you with your credit score. That's only for someone who really has bad credit -- $150 a year. If you've got bad credit, you really need to do to be focusing on it anyway.

O'BRIEN: You can't afford the $150.

MCGIRT: You probably can't.

O'BRIEN: Ellen McGirt, great advice. Thank you -- Carol.

MCGIRT: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Still to come, now that "Six Feet Under" is dead and gone on HBO, the network is ready to debut a new show on Sunday night. We've got a preview of "Rome." That's just ahead on "90-Second Pop."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you all right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I'm fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: That's a little sneak peek at Julia Roberts' new gig. We're going to talk about that in just a moment.

First, though, it is time for the Friday edition of "90 Second Pop." Let's introduce you to our pop panelists today. Sarah Bernard of "New York" magazine, Bradley Jacobs of "US Weekly" and Amy Barnett from "Teen People." Good morning.

AMY BARNETT, "TEEN PEOPLE": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to it.

O'BRIEN: It's been eight years since Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed died in that terrible car crash. And now they're being honored with this. Take a look. There it is. It's a sculpture.

BARNETT: Use the term loosely.

O'BRIEN: It's called "Innocent Victims." Do we have -- yes, a closer? You know what, let's just go right to Amy. What did you think of it?

BARNETT: I just -- you know, I have to tell you. First of all, we have to remember the man who erected this statue, Mohammad Al Fayed, the owner of Harrods department store and the father of Dodi Fayed, you know, is the same man who on a recent episode of "Being Bobby Brown" actually literally accosted Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown as they came into Harrods on a shopping trip, and offered them Egyptian Viagra, guaranteed -- I can't believe I'm going to say this on CNN -- for instant...

O'BRIEN: Well, what are you going to say? Whoa, whoa, whoa.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Instant results.

BARNETT: Instant results, we'll just say that.

O'BRIEN: Good, OK.

BARNETT: So the point is that the man's judgment was already in question. And so I just don't think that this tacky statue helps his impression at well.

O'BRIEN: Well, you're the one who said tacky statue, not me, but they're kind of scantily clad.

BARNETT: This is eight years after...

SARAH BERNARD, "NEW YORK" MAGAZINE: We were talking about this earlier. I don't even think it looks like them.

BRADLEY JACOBS, "US WEEKLY": No.

BERNARD: I mean, do they not have a reference picture of Diana to base it on?

BARNETT: It's so weird that eight years after they died together -- it just seems so funny that the man is doing this weird P.R. play with this statue of the two of them, scantily clad, literally.

O'BRIEN: That's Diana's face right there.

BERNARD: That -- that. Who is that? That is not the -- the most photographed woman in a world, and he can't get a statue of her right.

BARNETT: Why did there (INAUDIBLE) even warrant a relationship -- a statue in the first place?

O'BRIEN: So many questions raised by a statue that looks nothing like them. OK. I'm not the only one who thought that.

Moving on. They say Rome wasn't built in a day. In fact, it took seven years, $100 million. Ha, I love that. Because we're talking about HBO's Rome. The truth is, they have a big old gaping hole in their lineup.

BERNARD: That's right. It is -- what are the we going to do with Sunday night situation, because "Six Feet Under" is over, "Sex and the City" is gone. You know, we're gearing up for a new season of "Desperate Housewives" on another network. And "Rome" is what HBO has decided to fill it with. This is one of the most expensive miniseries ever made.

O'BRIEN: Is it going to work?

BERNARD: You know, it was so dreary, I got to say. And it's the kind of thing where it's very impressive, what they've done. I mean, they really have you believing every detail.

O'BRIEN: The scope is amazing.

BERNARD: They made the clothes out of, like, fabrics that would have been available. Somehow they figured it out in 52 B.C. And there's like, something like, you know, thousands and thousands of extras.

O'BRIEN: That must have been comfortable!

BERNARD: Yes. That must have been -- yes, really breathable. But they -- you know, it is just really violent. It's a little racy. And it mostly is so dreary. I just don't think it's going to fly.

JACOBS: Well there was very -- there was a very similar miniseries done called "Empire" just recently that people did not tune in for. The one difference with HBO is you can count on a lot of nudity and a lot of violence and I think that that is what's going to draw people in.

BERNARD: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: People are going -- when was that again?

BARNETT: It's going even better than showing Brad Pitt's buns in "Troy," I hear.

O'BRIEN: It's possible, it's possible.

BARNETT: So I think that's what we're all tuning in for.

O'BRIEN: Julia Roberts has a new gig. She took time off to stay at home with her kids and -- which then she discovered it's not relaxing at all to be home with twins. And so she decided to get back to work. She's in a video?

JACOBS: Right. This is two great pop culture forces coming together. The Dave Matthews Band wanted to do a video called "Dream Girl" and Julia Roberts, who's been a longtime friend of the band and fan of the band, offered her services. This is her first gig since giving birth to her twins eight months ago. She worked for free. The only thing she asked for was time -- break so she should nurse Hazel and Phinnaeus.

But this shot -- this scene is shot here in New York, in the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. She is stalked throughout this video by a mystery figure who turns out to be Dave Matthews in the end. There's the mystery figure.

BARNETT: Surprise.

O'BRIEN: And it's pretty neat. I like the idea. There was a funny quote from Dave Matthews, you know, her career has fallen on some hard times and...

BERNARD: She needed work.

O'BRIEN: She needs some work so we thought we'd help her out. And of course, he was completely joking because she's doing better than ever. It's nice. I like that video, too.

You guys, thank...

BARNETT: Hippies everywhere are rejoicing, because she's very much in the Taoist, you know, Birkenstocks hippy mode right now. She is not pleasing her core fans, but pleasing hippies across America.

O'BRIEN: And everybody. You guys, thank you very much. Sarah and Bradley and also Amy, appreciate it.

Short break and we are back in just a moment.

Carol's got the (INAUDIBLE) tease, though, first.

COSTELLO: I do, indeed. Thanks. The U.S. Open begins next week, and Monday on AMERICAN MORNING, we'll meet the teenagers some people think could become the Tiger Woods of tennis. That's Monday at 7:00 Eastern. We're back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, that wraps it up for an all girl version of AMERICAN MORNING.

WALLACE: Girl power.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: All right.

MCGIRT: You go.

WALLACE: Miles and Andy will be like what's going on?

O'BRIEN: They'll be happy to be back after their vacations. Daryn Kagan's over at the CNN Center.

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