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American Morning
The Fight For Iraq; Week of Giving; In The Money Now
Aired November 21, 2005 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: They're great. They worked so hard.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Did you guys see these pictures? The president, as you know, he's wrapping up his Asian trip. This would be the president with a yak. There are not a lot of pictures like this, I would imagine, of the president.
Where is the shot from, you guys?
SANCHEZ: It's in Mongolia, right?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Probably . . .
KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mongolia.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: This is Mongolia. It's the last stop of his trip.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, no American president's ever been to Mongolia.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No. So he'd be the only president with the yak in the shot, I would imagine. Want to have asked you know, when you're the president, you probably are just forced to do all sorts of photo ops with some of them serious and some less.
WALLACE: And the picture everyone's talking about you saw, the cover of "The Daily News" today.
SANCHEZ: No.
WALLACE: When the president's finishing his speech, I believe in China, and he goes to leave the room and the door doesn't open and he kind of makes a face. Well, the tabloids are having a heck of a lot of fun with that one.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: His father had a little bit of a tough time when he went on an Asian tour not long ago and that was even worse, actually.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes (INAUDIBLE).
SANCHEZ: Well, that involved something we can't talk about this early in the morning.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: For people who are eating breakfast. But your hand motions say it all, Rick, thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Thank you very much.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Got lots of stories to cover this morning. Kelly's got a look at the news, too, making headlines.
Good morning.
WALLACE: We sure do. Good morning.
And hello, everyone.
We're beginning with President Bush who, as we have said, is wrapping up his eight-day Asian tour today in Mongolia. Of course, he is the first sitting U.S. president ever to visit that country. Mr. Bush thanked Mongolian leaders for help in the war on terror. Right now, Mongolia has 131 troops stationed in Iraq. The president's trip also included stops in Japan, South Korea and China. Chilling words coming from the suspect in a shooting spree at a Tacoma, Washington, shopping mall. Police say 20-year-old Dominick Maldonado sent a text message to his ex-girlfriend just about 20 minutes before he opened fire on Sunday. That message reads in part, "today is the day that the world will know my anger." Maldonado is accused of wounding six people, one critically, and taking three hostages before giving himself up.
Israeli's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, taking a big political gamble. The 77-year-old leader quitting the Likud party he helped form back in the 1970s, saying he'll launch a more moderate party and push for early elections. Sharon has been up against a party rebellion over Israeli's withdrawal from Gaza.
The U.S. is not prepared for a bird flu pandemic. That warning coming from the Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. Leavitt says it will take three to five years to make enough vaccine to protect all Americans. At least 67 people have died of the illness in Asia and officials have acknowledged the current strain could potentially reach the United States.
And investigators are trying to find out what caused a deadly helicopter collision at a Florida speedway near Miami after a season- ending Nascar championship. One pilot died from injuries in that collision. The other was hurt, but not seriously. Miami-Dade authorities said one helicopter was taking off while the other was attempting to land. A sad story there in Florida.
We turn now, though, to Jacqui Jeras.
Any good news for us, Jacqui, on the weather front?
(WEATHER REPORT)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We're talking this morning about the decision- making before and after the war in Iraq. The man who was once the former chief of staff of Secretary of State Colin Powell says that U.S. foreign policy is essentially a dictatorship and it's a dictatorship that's run by the vice president, Dick Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld. U.S. Army Colonel, retired now, Larry Wilkerson made those statements. As we mentioned, he was the chief of staff for Colin Powell.
It's nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking with us.
COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON (RET.), FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF TO COLIN POWELL: Thank you for having me.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why are you coming forward about this now?
WILKERSON: Well, let me just correct something you said there in the opening. All of foreign policy decisions have not been made by this alternative decision-making process I've referred to. In the statutory process, the secretary of state and others in the bureaucracy gave just as good as they got. My concern is with some principal decisions that were made with regard to Iraq in this alternative process that have now been pretty much proven failures.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What specifically?
WILKERSON: The two decisions I've looked at most closely, into which I have the most profound insights, are the decision to go into post-invasion Iraq with one of the most inept plans one could imagine. And secondarily, but contributing to that problem, in making the challenge for our troops in Iraq even greater, the decision to back off the Geneva Conventions and other international law governing the treatment of detainees.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: In fact, you have written that there has been a clear message sent to military personnel by the vice president. What's the message?
WILKERSON: Well, the message was actually sent by the secretary of defense. But the way this got started, in my view, because I've done quite a bit of studying of it, the way it got started was in a debate in the White House in the statutory process, which essentially involved, do we treat this as an entirely new kind of conflict this being the global war against terror or do we adhere to the principles we've always adhered to since Geneva and arguably in the 200 plus years of our history. And a compromise was reached and the president signed off on that compromise. And the compromised succinctly stated was simply to recognize that it was a new conflict, recognize that perhaps Geneva didn't apply to real, hard-core terrorists apprehended in this conflict, but that we would treat all of those detained by the American armed forces and assume other agencies of the government like the CIA in accordance with the spirit of Geneva consistent with military necessity.
Now many critics have said that consistent with military necessity is the out. It is not the out. It did not say consistent with national security demands or demands of the global war against terror. It said military necessity. That means, Soledad, that if I'm going to apprehend someone as a soldier on the ground, a Marine on the ground, and I have to take violent action against that person because I think while I'm detaining him he may be of threat to my buddies or to me, then I can do it and I'm not probably going to be punished. Or if I am taken to a court of law, a military court-martial, I'll have a defense.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: The vice president would says, OK, but the policy not only my policy but the policy of the administration is we do not torture. Secretary Rumsfeld said, you know what, I don't know the guy, meaning you. I don't know he hasn't been at any of the meetings, these high level meetings. And the chairman of the joint chiefs has said the same thing.
WILKERSON: General Pace.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes. He said, you know what, I don't know this guy and I don't know what he's saying and he's not been privy to any of these conversations.
WILKERSON: These conversations did not take place in the statutory process, so that's a very disingenuous statement. And I'm really miffed at General Pace. General Pace is my immediate superior at the Marine Corps War College. General Pace and I worked together. General Pace was in Mogadishu. He came home. He was in my seminar as a lecturer when Rick Donalee (ph), a dear friend of mine and a dear friend of his . . .
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why are you miffed at him?
WILKERSON: I'm sorry?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why are you miffed?
WILKERSON: Well, General Pace essentially said he didn't know me. He could of at least said, I know Colonel Wilkerson quite well. He worked for me at the Marine Corp War College. He was the only Army officer ever to be the director of that college. I know him quite well and I didn't see him in the meetings. Secretary Rumsfeld's dragging General Pace along with him to this one particular interview was disquieting to me in the fact that General Pace said he didn't know me. I mean clearly he knows me.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And do you think there was some kind of message being sent by that?
WILKERSON: Absolutely there was a message being sent by that.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Which was?
WILKERSON: Well, first of all, the military individual came along with Secretary Rumsfeld to give him a little credibility, which I think is fast dissipating. And also to give him credibility in saying that apparently that he didn't know me.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson. Obviously you have touched a nerve. We're going to continue to talk about this. Thanks for joining us this morning. Appreciate your time.
WILKERSON: Surely. Surely. Thank you. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Rick.
RICK: Hurricane Katrina took so much from the people of New Orleans, so here's what we're doing on AMERICAN MORNING. All this week we're going to be celebrating people who are giving back, highlighting stories of hope and stories of encouragement thanks to the kindness of others. Here now, AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Keith Calhoun (ph) and Chandra McCormick cherish the little things these days. The things that survived Katrina.
Not a spec of water on it.
KEITH CALHOUN, PHOTOGRAPHER: It was dry.
CHO: Keith and Chandra, husband and wife, and documentary photographers. Documenting history in New Orleans for more than a quarter century. Most of it in the lower ninth ward where Keith and Chandra and their two children used to live. We first met the couple in early October.
This is your house right there?
CALHOUN: Yes, this is it.
CHO: We were with them when they saw their home for the first time after the storm. There was nothing. Now, they need help.
CHANDRA MCCORMICK, PHOTOGRAPHER: Look at this freezer full of stuff. I mean, this is so much and we lost just as much as you see right here.
CHO: Keith and Chandra are getting ready to exhibit their work on December 2nd and there's a lot to do. For the past month, they've been keeping their negatives in a freezer to slow down the deterioration process. They are ready to see what's salvageable.
CALHOUN: Katrina might have given a new effect to it, but we're going to print them and find out.
CHO: With the help of a friend, they first washed the negatives. Then wait for them to dry. That's just the beginning. Next stop, The Darkroom. A professional photo lab in New Orleans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, wow.
CHO: The lab, which has worked with Keith and Chandra in the past, has agreed to donate services. The supplies are donated as well from companies like California based Light Impressions. It's a group effort. The first order of business, choosing the first image Keith and Chandra want restored.
What's the criteria? Just a feeling? CALHOUN: Yes.
MCCORMICK: Yes.
CALHOUN: You know, you just look at your negatives.
MCCORMICK: What moves you, you know.
CHO: They've settled on this, a photo Chandra took 12 years ago of a spiritual church in the lower ninth ward. The negative has suffered some damage.
Those two lines there, what are we looking at?
LIZ BICK, THE DARKROOM: It could be a water mark. It could be a scratch from any sort of abrasion from the storm. The surface of the negatives are very, very sensitive.
CHO: Thanks to digital correction, all of those flaws can be fixed.
BICK: We can just (INAUDIBLE) completely camouflage it and there's absolutely no detection that it was ever there.
CHO: Then the image is printed.
BICK: All right, our first print.
CHO: Matted and framed. Chandra is overwhelmed.
MCCORMICK: I thought that I had lost everything.
CALHOUN: Yes.
MCCORMICK: And to know that I have something of this magnitude, you know, one of my works, I'm very happy. I am.
CHO: It's more than just a photo.
MCCORMICK: It is. It means so much more to me because it's a part of my life as well, you know?
CHO: Keith calls their upcoming show "The Katrina Exhibition," showcasing what he calls a vanishing way of life. Chandra says the help they've received has given her hope things will get better.
MCCORMICK: This is the beginning of the new for us. And I appreciate it all. Thank you.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: That's great.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes. It's so hard to watch someone say, I'm so happy and grateful and sob through it.
SANCHEZ: Yes. It's all about memories, though, isn't it? It's all about pictures. They bring back things that are just so important. Especially the black and whites.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, our "Week of Giving" continues. It's with a prestigious prep school. It's giving young Katrina victims a home and an education. By the way, it's free of charge.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That's extra nice.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business." He says there's some good news at the gas station these days. We're going to take a look at what that means for your wallet just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: If you're waking up this morning and you're thinking, boy, I sure could use a little bit of money, hey, there's always the lotto. I know it doesn't work for everybody, but every once in a while it does work. Lucky seven, that's what we're talking about here. Seven people out in California. There they are. They pulled their resources together, bought a bunch of lotto tickets and, you know what, you got it, $315 million. We talked to three of them this morning. Joyce Onori, Jennifer Habib and Kate Juergens.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Good morning, ladies. Thanks so much for joining us. Wow, $25 million each.
Kate, let's begin with you. Has this sunk in yet?
KATE JUERGENS, MEGA MILLIONS LOTTO WINNER: Not at all. No, not at all.
SANCHEZ: What are you thinking? You know, people watching you want to know what you're going to do with the money.
JUERGENS: I'm going to take care of my family, take them on vacation, play a little bit, buy a car.
SANCHEZ: Jennifer, you worry a little bit about how this might change you. You know, there's people who suddenly won lottos who've not changed for the better.
JENNIFER HABIB, MEGA MILLIONS LOTTO WINNER: No, I don't anticipate that. I'm too grounded a person and too set in my ways. I don't anticipate that happening to me. Not at all. SANCHEZ: How do you protect against that? Because you know there are people who have, you know, had relationship problems, had problems with drugs and alcohol, even ended up broke after winning lottos. How do you keep that from happening to you? Joyce, give it a shot.
JOYCE ONORI, MEGA MILLIONS LOTTO WINNER: Well, I've just decided that I'm going to be very careful what I do for the next few months and how I take care of the money because it is going to be a job taking care of the money. And I don't want to be one of those people you're talking about. And I think, like Jennifer, I'm pretty grounded in my life and my life has been fairly well. So I'm hoping that none of that none of those things happen to me.
SANCHEZ: So, in other words, you didn't go out and buy a plane last night?
ONORI: Nope. Nope.
JUERGENS: We thought about it but, you know, the dealership was closed!
SANCHEZ: And you have every right to, you know?
Kate, I understand something funny happened with you. You actually only had two dollars when the team of seven people got together and everybody was putting in $3.
JUERGENS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: So you mind if I ask you where that other dollar came from?
JUERGENS: Bob gave me a dollar.
SANCHEZ: Bob. So has Bob been knocking on your door of late asking whether maybe he needs a cut of this or something or deserves it?
JUERGENS: No. He's OK with it!
SANCHEZ: Are you going to do anything for Bob?
JUERGENS: Yes. He said I have to take him to lunch!
SANCHEZ: A lot of people would want to know whether you guys are going to be going to work from now on or have you made that call yet to your boss saying, you know, working at a medical center may not be what I want to do from now on?
JUERGENS: No, we're still kind of thinking about it. It's a big decision and there's so much right now that we're all deciding. So it's . . .
HABIB: Maybe take a leave of absence.
JUERGENS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: $25 million a piece. Not bad, ladies! Congratulations!
HABIB: Smile.
JUERGENS: Yes. Thank you!
SANCHEZ: You should be laughing. Joyce, Jennifer, Kate, thanks so much for being with us.
HABIB: Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.
JUERGENS: Thank you.
ONORI: Bye-bye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. They laughed their way right through.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look at those ladies (INAUDIBLE), right?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And I like that friend who gave them a buck.
SANCHEZ: Bob.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Hi, Bob.
SANCHEZ: Bob's getting a raw deal here, isn't he?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No, Bob's going to get religion and, you know, get some of that money. What do you think that dollar's worth? About 8 mill, 9 mill?
SERWER: Yes. And I hope he gets it.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No, Bob, you've done the right thing.
SANCHEZ: More than a slice of pizza, that's for sure.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We admire you, Bob. You're insane, Bob, but we admire you.
What's coming up with morning in business news?
SERWER: We're going to be talking about gasoline prices, Soledad. How fast are they falling? And more importantly, how low can they go? Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Finally some good news in business news, plunging prices at the pump. Andy Serwer's "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good morning.
SERWER: Good morning, Soledad.
How about a penny a day? A penny a day. That's how fast gas prices have been falling over the past couple of weeks, which is great news. $2.21 a gallon is now the national average. That's down about 84 cents from the Katrina high, as we call it. The Katrina high. Still got a ways to go. A year ago, $1.94. But as we go to the national map, you can see there are some cities that are below $2 a gallon. And isn't that nice to see? Wichita, Kansas, $1.94. And also St. Louis, $1.97. Houston still kind of high at $2.22. Usually they have pretty cheap gas there. It's kind of a Katrina-Rita hangover. And, of course, San Francisco, we all know about taxes in California. And in Honolulu they've got to ship the stuff in and they have taxes.
SANCHEZ: Atlanta, $2.09. Thank you very much.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And $2.45 for San Francisco's not horrific compared to where it's been.
SERWER: No, not so bad.
Want to talk about the markets quickly, though, because, as we've been telling you for the past couple of weeks, lower oil prices and lower gasoline prices have been boosting stocks. Day after day, week after week, this fall, which is nice to see. However this morning, oil prices backing up a little bit because of that cold weather that Jacqui Jeras has been telling us about this morning. And then, of course, we have that big announcement from General Motors at 8:30 talking about those plant closures and traders and investors waiting to see what's going to happen there. And we'll give you the latest on that, too.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, lots on the horizon to talk about.
Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: Yes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You know, we've been talking about this week as our "Week of Giving." Trying to highlight the stories of the people who have been affected really specifically by this year's harsh hurricane season. Want to listen to one really remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA BUTT: My name's Amanda Butt. Our apartment that we were living in, which was on the beach, was completely destroyed. Our apartment flooded six feet. Our friend, Katie Bryant, she was there throughout the entire thing being supportive. She let us stay with her for an extended period of time. Didn't ask us to pay for anything. And I'm just thankful that she was there because I don't know how else we would have gotten through it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: You can see they have a baby there. So, obviously, that always complicates the matter.
SANCHEZ: That's nice.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Good thing someone helped out.
If you have a story to tell, you can e-mail us at cnn.com/am. We're going to post some of your responses on our website and you can share your story right here with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
SANCHEZ: And we'll play that little music, too.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, a heartfelt . . .
SERWER: Nice little tunes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Ahead, we're going to take you to the biggest aquarium ever. Plus, incredible story of the man behind it. Who is he? Stick around and you'll find out, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, is the most wanted terrorist in Iraq dead or alive? We've got a live report coming up from the Pentagon. There are some who say in a recent attacks he may have been killed. An update ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Words of warning from the man police say shot six people before taking others hostage inside a busy shopping mall. We've got the latest live from Tacoma, Washington, just ahead.
Stepping up the debate, Vice President Dick Cheney set to speak out once again today on why the U.S. should stay in Iraq as criticism of the war hits a fever pitch.
And is one of the world's most wanted men dead or alive? Was Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi killed in Iraq over the weekend. New details are emerging from the Pentagon just ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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