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American Morning
Bush Criticized for Domestic Wiretaps; California Store Manager Fights Against Would-Be Robber
Aired December 19, 2005 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome. Miles O'Brien is on a little va-cay with the family. Hope he's having a great time. Hope he's sleeping in.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Playing video games, probably.
O'BRIEN: Rick Sanchez has been nice enough to fill in with us and for us. We appreciate it.
SANCHEZ: It's always nice to be here.
O'BRIEN: Thank you. You always say that. That is so sweet.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Getting back to this uproar over President Bush authorizing wiretaps in the U.S. without a warrant. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales spoke with us earlier this morning and he said the president acted within the law.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: There were many people, many lawyers within the administration who advised the president that he had an inherent authority as commander-in-chief under the Constitution to engage in this kind of signals intelligence of our enemy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Signals intelligence of our enemy or otherwise domestic spying? Let's get right to CNN senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin. He says the president's within the rights and within the law. Do you agree?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: You know, at this point, it's not possible to know. I mean, you know, we -- everybody is very sure of their positions on this one already. But we don't know exactly what this program entailed and we don't know exactly what the authority is.
The problem for the administration is -- you know, I thought Attorney General Gonzales with you was very shaky on his legal basis. You know, they don't -- they basically have come forward and said because we said so, that's why we have the authority.
O'BRIEN: And also said and as an additional authority, the Congress people, when they voted for use of force, also approved it, tacitly.
TOOBIN: And as you said, that was news to a lot of them. I mean, what they thought they were approving was military action against the Taliban. Domestic spying does not seem to come within that ambit.
But I think you just have to put this in the context of how the administration has approached the powers of the presidency since 9/11. They assert a much broader area of presidential authority without interference from the courts or Congress than basically any previous administration. The courts, which ultimately have the last word -- the Supreme Court has said in some areas you're wrong. We'll see what they have so say about this.
O'BRIEN: We talked about, Alberto Gonzales and I talked about, the 1972 Supreme Court ruling about President Nixon. Let's listen to a little bit of that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Back in 1972, as I'm well aware you know, the Supreme Court ruled that President Nixon could not do the same thing, go ahead and wiretap by virtue of the fact that he's the president. How is this case different than that?
GONZALES: Well, one key difference is that the statute itself, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act statute, requires that we can do so without a court order, engage in this kind of electronic surveillance if otherwise approved by Congress and through another statute. And we believe that Congress has done so in this particular case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: All right, so he's getting back to that congressional approval which, as you say, many Congress people have no knowledge heretofore of that. But what about the case, per se? The 1972 case. And it was about wiretapping during Watergate. What did the Supreme Court rule, and are there parallels at work here?
TOOBIN: Basically what the Supreme Court said is any time you wiretap within the United States, you need some kind of court order. When it's the usual like a mafia or a drug investigation, it's through a law called Title III. And when it's a foreign intelligence investigation, since 1978, it's been through this law called FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
The issue here -- I mean, it should be clear to people. It's perfectly OK for the administration to engage in domestic spying.
O'BRIEN: With a court order. TOOBIN: With the court order. The issue is did they do this without the court order. Apparently, yes, they did it without the court order. And what authority did they have to do that? The Supreme Court's decision in this 1972 case, plus the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978, suggests that they didn't have this authority.
Now, they're claiming the inherent power of the presidency, plus the post-9/11 law that Congress passed, gives them that authority. It sure doesn't seem that way to me, it doesn't seem that way to most legal scholars that have weighed in at this point, but it would be interesting to see them lay out sort of a full legal argument at this point rather than just sort of asserting the authority.
O'BRIEN: And also interesting to see -- why go around FISA, which is that secret court that could have theoretically approved?
TOOBIN: And why, when you have the Patriot Act passed in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, why not include this power in the Patriot Act, which Congress surely would have given them. I mean, in those days, Congress was just giving the administration a blank check. Why didn't they clear up this ambiguity immediately so we wouldn't be having this discussion?
O'BRIEN: We're going to hear from the president at 10:30 this morning.
TOOBIN: And he'll surely be asked some questions about this, yes.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, I would say that's pretty certain. Jeff Toobin, thank you very much.
TOOBIN: All right, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Jeff, of course, our senior legal analyst. Rick?
SANCHEZ: Here's a story we've been following for you. A suspected robber in California has quite a few legal problems today. Mr. Toobin may want to see this. That's because he ran into a store manager that wasn't ready to give in or give up.
We get the story now from Cornell Barnard of CNN affiliate KXTV in Modesto.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CORNELL BARNARD, KXTV REPORTER (voice-over): When 24-year-old Corey Allen Funk walked into this Modesto Quik Stop hoping to rob it, he never expected a manager like Edward Petrossi.
EDWARD PETROSSI, QUIK STOP MANAGER: I didn't want to hurt him, but he made me.
BARNARD: It was like the suspect waited for all of the customers to leave, then snuck up on Edward from behind. PETROSSI: As soon as I approach here, I see, my God, he's coming right behind me. I don't even have to turn around. I say what are you doing? Suddenly I saw the knife, rigid knife, long like that. He goes, open the door, give me your money. Whoa.
BARNARD: What the suspect didn't know was that Edward has a black belt in six martial arts. On surveillance video, Edwards goes into fighting stance, ready for action.
PETROSSI: I said no, this is serious. I had to jump backwards and stand my -- you know, get ready position. Grab something. I said, hey, you know, want my money? come on, get it! Right there, I chased him. He just was shocked.
BARNARD: The surprise suspect runs for the door, but the manager is right behind, and with a few high kicks, sends the robber tumbling right into the parking lot.
PETROSSI: That's the best place to jump through air, or just (INAUDIBLE) and hit him right behind his back. And he went all the way to the ground.
BARNARD: The young suspect almost loses his pants in the scuffle and flees to his car, but that's not the end of the story. At that moment, Edward remembers his cell phone camera.
PETROSSI: I said, my God, let me take a picture from this man. I take my cell phone, enhance the technology, I zoomed in gently, nice. Got it.
BARNARD: He sure did. A clear shot of the suspect's license plate number, which later led to his arrest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Oh, my God! What a rock star that guy is.
SANCHEZ: I like the crouching tiger look, though. He was all over it!
O'BRIEN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Let me show you how I fly through the air! A little bit Baryshnikov.
O'BRIEN: Well, it worked, boy. Good work. And then, of course, he's got the cell phone camera, wrapping up the whole case. Single- handedly.
SANCHEZ: Jeffrey Toobin says he's in the clear, by the way.
O'BRIEN: Oh yeah. I could have told you that.
SANCHEZ: That report was from Cornell Barnard. He's with CNN affiliate KXTV in Sacramento. O'BRIEN: Wow, that was a great story. And it turns out the attempted robber is suspected, believe it or not, in five other more successful robberies. The guy's currently in jail, $250,000 bond right now.
SANCHEZ: He met his match.
O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, he did.
SANCHEZ: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a mother and a son come up with a unique way to cope with dad leaving for Iraq and it's proving to be a big help for other military families as well.
O'BRIEN: And then those noisy cell phones at the movie. Are theaters soon going to turn them off for you without even asking? We'll explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Check out this book. It's called "Keep My Daddy Safe." Let me tell you about this. When Army Reservist Bill Yohn shipped off to Iraq just before Christmas about a year ago, he and his wife Debbie struggled with how to explain this long absence to the youngest of their three children. That's Isaac. He was only five at the time, six now.
Debbie turned Isaac's questions into this book. It's called "Keep My Daddy Safe." Now, about 600 copies of Debbie and Isaac's book have been distributed to other children whose parents are in Iraq as well. And joining us now are Debbie Yohn, 6-year-old Isaac, as aforementioned, and Master Sergeant Bill Yohn, as well, who by the way, just got back from Iraq in time for Christmas.
First of all, Master Sergeant Yohn, thank you for your service, sir.
BILL YOHN, MASTER SGT., ARMY RESERVE Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Debbie, why did you write this book?
DEBBIE YOHN, AUTHOR, "KEEP MY DADDY SAFE": Well, when I started thinking about how we were going to talk to my son about this, I looked around for something to explain the process and there just isn't anything out there. So I took words that we had been communicating for the last couple of months and put them together in a book and gave it to him when we gave daddy a going away party.
SANCHEZ: Daddy, what was your reaction to the book?
B. YOHN: Well, I guess I never thought that it would become what it is. All it was was to jot down some words to try to explain to my son, you know, why I'd be leaving and why I'd be gone for such a long time. And, you know, that I'd miss him and I'd be thinking about him the whole time I was there.
SANCHEZ: This has to be such a tough explanation. I mean, you know, sometimes I'm away -- when I'm on correspondent, I'm away from my kids for a week or so. And I know what I feel like and how much I miss them. It must be so terribly difficult when you're away for months and months and months and you're in a dangerous mission. How do you explain this to him? Is there a magic formula? Debbie? Master Sergeant? Either one of you.
B. YOHN: Well, I guess what we did was I took my son outside, you know, on starry nights and I just told him to look at the stars and I told him that the same stars that we're looking at now, if he'd come out while I was gone and look at those stars, I'd be over in Iraq and I'd be looking at the same stars. And that's how we could share, you know, try to share a moment.
SANCHEZ: So you're talking to each other. Isaac, how you doing? You there, Isaac? Can you hear me?
D. YOHN: He's asking us how you are.
SANCHEZ: How are you, Isaac?
D. YOHN: Can you say I'm fine?
B. YOHN: Say hello.
ISAAC YOHN, SON OF ARMY RESERVIST: Hello.
SANCHEZ: Isaac, call this the magic bullet, right? This book?
D. YOHN: Isaac, you call this the magic book?
B. YOHN: Talk, Isaac.
SANCHEZ: He's a little shy. That's OK. Now, I understand that you've talked to other people now and you're using this same technique and it's helping a lot of other families. Is that right, Debbie?
D. YOHN: Yes. Well, what happened was when I go to family meetings, other families that heard about the book and they requested a copy. So for a long time, I was at Staples xeroxing these copies. At $20 a book, it was really expensive to give away these books. So I had a little business and a printer friend of mine offered to donate his services and I just buy the ink. So he put together the project in this nice little book that Isaac is holding, that we sell for $10 a copy and donate the money to a charity here locally to help military families.
SANCHEZ: Pardon me for interrupting. But I understand a little while...
I. YOHN: My favorite part was when...
SANCHEZ: Go ahead, Isaac.
D. YOHN: Oh, go ahead, Isaac.
I. YOHN: My part -- my favorite part is when he came back on the buses.
SANCHEZ: Oh is that right? What was that like? Tell us about it.
D. YOHN: Tell him when daddy came home.
I. YOHN: When my dad came home, it was really -- I just loved that. I was really happy.
SANCHEZ: I bet you do. Isaac, could you do something for me? Can you go to the very back of the book and share with us the poem that you read at night when you think about how much you miss your dad?
I. YOHN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Can you read that for us?
I. YOHN: I will sing the poem. I mean, I will say it. Starlight...
SANCHEZ: I'm sorry, I think we had a little problem with his microphone there at the very end. We were able to hear just a little bit.
I. YOHN: Do you want me to hold the clip up?
SANCHEZ: We got it now. All right, thanks, guys. Debbie, Sergeant -- Master Sergeant Bill Yohn...
I. YOHN: Starlight...
SANCHEZ: Go ahead. We're not going to get in your way. Go ahead, read it!
Oh, my gosh, it went out again! All right. We apologize for that. Thanks nonetheless. Isaac, God bless you. Thanks for being us. And good luck, Master Sergeant. Debbie, thank you for the book.
Soledad, back over to you.
O'BRIEN: Terrible time for their mics to fail. What a cute little boy.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: Yes, bummer.
O'BRIEN: And what a nice family. Look at how happy he is his dad is back.
Let's talk business now. Andy is "Minding Your Business" just ahead. What you got?
SERWER: Soledad, movie-goers may find themselves jammed soon. And I'm not talking about crowded theaters. We'll explain, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN: He's smiling because "Brokeback Mountain" did really, really well over the weekend. Welcome back, everybody.
SERWER: My favorite cowboy. Cowboy -- that cowboy movie.
O'BRIEN: That cowboy.
SANCHEZ: It's a gay western.
O'BRIEN: That's right.
SERWER: That's what it is.
SANCHEZ: That's what it is.
SERWER: Don't call it that.
O'BRIEN: Haven't seen it yet. It's supposed to be great. Nothing worse, of course, when you're at the movies and somebody's cell phone goes off. That is so incredibly annoying.
SERWER: It is.
O'BRIEN: Theater owners might be doing something about it. Andy's got a look at that.
SERWER: That's right, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: He minds your business. What's up?
SERWER: Mr. Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man. You remember those ads? You probably see them all the time. Basically trying to -- there he is. The guy is -- I'm getting married and I'm on my cell phone. I mean, you know, come on! Basically encouraging you to put your cell phone away, turn them off, put them on all manner mode.
Now the National Association of Theater Owners wants the FCC to go a step further. They want to block or jam cell phone use in movie theaters. It's an interesting concept. They say they're doing it to try to get more people in movie theaters. I say how about ticket prices and making better movies?
It's an interesting. You know, they block them in China and France.
O'BRIEN: What did you do if you're a doctor and you're waiting for your cell phone to just vibrate so you can run out back to the emergency room and rescue somebody?
SERWER: I think -- what happens if there's a fire? What happens if the doors get blocked? What happens if there's a guy in there with a gun? I mean, I just think blocking them completely is not a great idea. O'BRIEN: Can't people just put their phones on vibrate, for God's sake?
SERWER: Yes, they can't do that. I don't know. It happened to Billy Crystal at his show here in Manhattan, his one-man show. And he got a little ticked off and addressed the particular person whose cell phone went off and told him where to put the...
SANCHEZ: What did he tell him?
SERWER: He said there's a certain place they could put their cell phone and someplace we can't talk about on television.
SANCHEZ: I can imagine, though, where that would be.
SERWER: Yes, exactly.
I want to talk about the markets a little bit and sort of recap what happened last week. Let's check out what was going on here. And you can see a mixed picture. The Dow up a little bit, the S & P up a little bit. Nasdaq slipping, but the Nasdaq is up the most for the year.
Memo to investors, there are nine trading days left in 2005. Still a chance to break through that 11,000 Dow barrier. So we're looking for people to help us out there, I guess. Futures are up briskly this morning, so maybe we'll make some headway.
O'BRIEN: Maybe we will.
SERWER: I hope so.
O'BRIEN: Be watching it.
Did you see the story in the Associated Press how they're wooing men to shop? Since there are only six more days of shopping left before Christmas. Wooing with pizza and beer. They're hauling in big, comfy chairs and they have them -- they play football games.
SERWER: That's us guys.
O'BRIEN: They just sit back and they hand over their credit card in a jewelry store...
SANCHEZ: Here's the wallet!
O'BRIEN: Pretty much, actually!
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN; Anyway, they hand over their credit cards and they do their shopping. And apparently they're doing this across the country now, although they profiled this one spot because they're finding that men really don't like to shop. That's not news. But it's much easier when you make it painless and they show videotape and serve beer. SANCHEZ: I love shopping with my wife, but I do enjoy a place to sit once in a while while she's doing it. And most malls don't have a place because they don't want you to sit down. Because if you're sitting you're not shopping or spending money, right?
O'BRIEN: Right, right.
SANCHEZ: Isn't that the way it works?
O'BRIEN: This is the wave of the future.
SERWER: That will solve the problem, yes.
O'BRIEN: Pizza and beer.
SANCHEZ: Well, I tell you what the president's going to be thinking about today and it has nothing to do with pizza and beer. It has to do with trying to convince reporters and the American people that we should believe in the Iraq cause.
So the president is what -- as Mr. Gergen said to us a little while ago, basically on a campaign blitz. He's going to be talking again at 10:30 about the very same thing and we're going to be following it for you and we'll have it right here on CNN.
O'BRIEN: Yes, we will. We'll have it, 10:30 a.m., the president's news conference. It's coming from the East Room of the White House.
A short break. And then in just a moment, a look at today's top stories, including the president's speech on Iraq last night. Took a new tone. Some are calling it more humble. Big question, of course, is it going to change any minds? And what should we expect at the press conference this morning? An expert panel, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Still ahead this morning, an amazing story of an honor student who graduates from a prestigious university, but with a checkered past. We're going to tell you how far he went to land a job. Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien. President Bush, ready to take questions in just about 90 minutes. The president backs up last night's primetime speech with a news conference this morning. But will the on-camera blitz swing public opinion on Iraq?
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez, in for Miles O'Brien. Big Storms leave thousands without power in California and now more rain could be on the way. We are going to be taking you West to show you.
O'BRIEN: And a big surprise at the weekend box office. A small film about gay cowboys raises a few eyebrows, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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