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American Morning

White House Campaign to Defend Warrantless Wiretapping; Saddam Hussein Kept on Hold; Parents of Missing Penguin Toga Expecting Another Chick

Aired January 24, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
A developing story out of Germantown, Maryland, this morning. A 5-year-old is shot at her day care center, apparently shot by another child. More details on this story just ahead.

Saddam Hussein kept on hold. What caused today's last-minute delay at his trial? We'll explain this morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

Could your precious BlackBerry be soon out of service? And how will millions of people, including me, get by without it?

And turn the page on Britain's little penguin lost, Toga. His parents have moved on ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. We're glad you're with us this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Lots to get to.

We'll begin this morning with a White House campaign to defend the warrantless wiretapping. It's already begun. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales firing back at critics in Congress on AMERICAN MORNING this morning. He says if they had complaints they should have spoken up when they were briefed.

Elaine Quijano is live for us at the White House.

Elaine, good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

The White House is now calling this a Terrorist Surveillance Program, hoping to counter critics who see it as illegal. And today is part of that effort.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be making a speech on the program here in Washington. Now, he'll be laying out the administration's argument that President Bush does have the constitutional authority as part of the war on terror to authorize the warrantless wiretaps on Americans. And the administration also insists that the surveillance is limited in nature.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're talking about communications where one end of the call is outside the United States and where there's a reasonable basis to believe, based upon the experience of a qualified foreign intelligence expert, that a personal on the call is either a member of al Qaeda or a member of an organization that is affiliated with al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, President Bush outlined those same arguments yesterday at an appearance in Kansas, trying to frame the debate, not in terms of civil liberties which he says are being protected, but in terms of national security, Soledad, calling the program vital in the war on terror -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk a little bit about the timing, Elaine. Why is the administration pushing so hard right now?

QUIJANO: Well, this big White House push is really meant to get out ahead of Senate committee hearings that are scheduled for early next month. It's not just Democrats who have voiced concerns, it's also some Republicans, including the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter. His committee is set to hold hearings on this on February 6 -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House for us this morning.

Elaine, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Europe today, more talk of torture, terror and the CIA. The source, the head of a European investigative team who is looking into reports the U.S. spy agency is operating secret prisons in Europe. You've heard about that.

Swiss senator Dick Marty says the evidence suggests the CIA is sending terror suspects to countries where they could be subjected to torture. Marty says it is likely European governments were also aware of the CIA's actions, but he adds there is no evidence of clandestine detention centers in Romania or Poland, as previously claimed by the group Human Rights Watch.

The chaotic Saddam Hussein trial should be in session this morning, but now there's another delay without a very good explanation at all.

CNN's Aneesh Raman live in Baghdad with the latest chapter in this bizarre trial -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.

About four hours after the court was set to convene after all of us who were covering it and involved in the process were in the courthouse, a spokesman for the Iraqi High Tribunal came down to the media gallery where we were being sequestered and read a simple and short statement.

They said the trial would not convene today, it would reconvene on Sunday. The reason being that witnesses that were set to testify could not appear in court. Some of them, they said, were out of the country on the Hajj pilgrimage.

Now, there are any number of significant questions on that statement. The first, of course, the Hajj pilgrimage ended well over a week ago. If they knew that witnesses who were to testify could not appear in court, why did they not know that before today? And why did it take four hours for this issue to be resolved this morning?

So there is incredible skepticism on the ground in terms of what the court is saying.

It is the first time the Iraqi High Tribunal has set a date to convene and not met at all in open court. This is a court that has been riddled with issues from the beginning and just yesterday had a major shakeup in terms of the judges. A new interim chief judge was named to replace the outgoing chief judge, Rizgar Mohammed Amin -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, if you don't mind, I want to shift gears here because we haven't talked much about it this morning, that kidnapped U.S. journalist, Jill Carroll. Have we heard anything from her captors?

RAMAN: Nothing so far. The agonizing silence for Jill Carroll's family, for those in Iraq who are calling for her release, continues after that Friday deadline came and went. The demands remain on the table in terms of what the captors asked for, the release of all Iraqi women. But at the same time, we understand behind the scenes that a flurry of activity is taking place, diplomatic and otherwise, to try and secure -- at least reports that the U.S. forces are going house to house in some areas looking for Jill -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad for us.

Thank you very much.

A wild story coming to us, D.C. suburbs today. Carol has details on that.

Hello, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's a pretty scary story for parents. There's been a shooting at a day care center near Washington, D.C., in Germantown, Maryland. That's actually in Montgomery County. The story is still developing, but we have some new details to share with you right now.

Police say a 5-year-old girl was shot in the upper extremities. We understand her injuries are not life-threatening.

Right now authorities believe another child, an 8-year-old boy at the center, accidentally shot the girl. The Associated Press is reporting the little boy had the gun in his backpack, didn't take the gun out of the backpack, but when he moved it, somehow the gun went off.

As for where he got the gun, we don't know that information just yet. But, of course, when we sort out this whole story we will pass those details on to you.

President Bush's pick for the U.S. Supreme Court is closer to winning confirmation this morning. The Senate Judiciary Committee is getting ready to vote on Samuel Alito's nomination. He is expected to win approval. The nomination then heads to the full Senate for a vote, and that could happen as early as this week.

Throughout the country, towns with Ford plants are preparing for big changes. The number two U.S. automaker is planning to shut down 14 North American facilities over the next six years, cutting as many as 30,000 jobs. Union leaders call the planned cuts extremely disappointing.

And a 28-year-old man is now facing several charges after a very strange airplane incident in Fort Lauderdale. Authorities say Troy Rigby started yelling and he wanted to get off a Continental Airlines flight. He even bit a passenger who tried to restrain him just before he jumped on to the tarmac while the plane was still moving. Yes, he managed to get open the door.

Early this morning, Miles talked with the passenger who was bitten.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL SIGLER, BITTEN BY AIRLINE PASSENGER: Well, I guess the captain depressurized the plane. Then the man went nuts. He as kicking all the doors, he beat the flight attendant up pretty well.

I had grabbed him by the shoulder and by the shirt. His shirt ripped. A couple other passengers were holding his arm.

I grabbed his head and I grabbed his neck. And he started snapping at me with his teeth. He just said he wanted to get off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And that he did. And as you might imagine, he's charged with several crimes this morning. We'll keep you posted on this.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: What a shocking story. It will be so interesting to figure out what happened. I mean, why? What triggered it?

Let's get to the forecast. Chad's got that.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. I don't even have a theory here.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Who would you say is Britain's most treasured couple? Would you say it's Charles and Camilla? Would you say, no, no, it's David Beckham and Posh Spice?

No, no, no. It's Kyala and Oscar. Now, I'm not sure if that's Kyala or Oscar, or which one is which one. But as a pair, we've got a little news to share. They are going to be parents again.

Let's get right to Paula Newton. She's on the penguin watch in London this morning.

Hey, Paula. Good morning.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

They have a new egg. This is the couple that was bereaved by losing their first born, Toga. Toga was stolen from the zoo in mid- December. They never did find Toga.

But this is good news. They had the egg on Friday. It will take about 40 days. We should have a live birth and a new name by the end of February.

And people at the Amazon Zoo on the Isle of Wight here, a couple of hours outside of London, are really, really grateful that this worked for a second time -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It was a really sad story. I mean, not only, obviously, in London, but also here in the U.S. People really were following this story very closely.

They said that they were depressed, that both of them, both penguins, were depressed when Toga was lost and never recovered.

Can penguins really get depressed? I mean, how could they tell they were depressed penguins?

NEWTON: Well, you know, I'm no expert, but I spoke to Derek Curtis (ph), who runs the zoo, and he was telling me that for almost two weeks afterwards they were really depressed. You know, many people out there have seen "March of the Penguins," and it's quite sad.

You can almost see the penguins in that movie really having these kind of bereaved expressions on their face when anything happened to their eggs. And these two penguins really did behave that way.

Remember, penguins mate for life. And in that sense, they really are a homogeneous little family unit. And they took that very seriously.

The people at the zoo were very concerned about them, very happy to see that after two weeks of depression there was about two weeks of courting. And there you have it. There's the egg.

Unfortunately, their first, Toga, they really don't know whatever happened to that animal. They're assuming that it's unfortunately passed on.

But good news here. And we'll keep you updated towards the end of February, when they should have a new one.

More than a thousand e-mails up until this morning just from the United States alone. I'm sure there will be a big baby naming contest coming right up.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And then they need a big old gate to keep people out of that pen, because obviously someone broke in and snatched little Toga.

Paula Newton.

Thank you, Paula.

That is good news.

NEWTON: They have a -- they will have a little bit more security.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Good. Good.

Ahead this morning, we're going to talk a little bit more...

M. O'BRIEN: Hey -- wait a minute. I have an answer on this penguin pet thing.

David Borman (ph), the guy who runs our D.C. bureau, he was doing shoot at Wayne Newton's house. They have several pet penguins there.

S. O'BRIEN: So you can have a penguin as a pet.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go.

S. O'BRIEN: So it could be good news for Toga. I mean, bad that he was stolen, but he could be alive and in a new home.

M. O'BRIEN: A penguin pet owner.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, you'd hate people -- you don't have a penguin as a pet. That's bad.

M. O'BRIEN: I don't think they would allow it in my building, for sure. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Definitely not in Manhattan apartment. Anyway...

M. O'BRIEN: Onward. Press on.

S. O'BRIEN: No, it was important. Go ahead.

We're going to talk a little more about the domestic spying controversy. President Bush is now taking his case straight to the American people. A big question, though, is, are people buying what he's selling? We'll take a look at the latest poll numbers.

M. O'BRIEN: Also the on-again, off-again trial of Saddam Hussein. What kind of chaos is going on behind the scenes? We'll ask a member of his defense team.

S. O'BRIEN: And then later, for all the BlackBerry users out there, enjoy it while it lasts. You could be one step closer to losing your e-mail. We'll tell you why just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The Saddam Hussein trial should have resumed today but it did not. It turns out some witnesses who were slated to testify were not there. There were no-shows. But it shouldn't have been a surprise. They were at the Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage. It shouldn't have been a secret to members of the prosecution team.

Attorney Ramsey Clark who was the former attorney general of the United States under President Johnson, is part of Saddam Hussein's defense team. He joins us from Baghdad to talk about what is going on behind the scenes.

Mr. Clark, good to have you with us. What can you tell us about this latest delay?

RAMSEY CLARK, DEFENDING SADDAM HUSSEIN: It's further evidence and strong evidence that the court's dysfunctional. I mean, we've now had three of the original five judges taken off the court. One some time ago because he was clearly disqualified, and two now because of external pressures, political pressures. One because he resigned because the pressure against him was so great, and one was removed because of a committee that Ahmed Chalabi, one of the major politicians here.

So the court is under all these political pressures, and it simply can't function.

We have had two defense counsel murdered, assassinated, one seriously injured, and a great number who have simply not showed up anymore. And still, they haven't provided protection for the defense counsel.

How do they expect the trial to go forward if the defense counsel get killed? It's a part of their dysfunction.

They've put on 16 witnesses before two of these judges were removed from the court. And how are new judges going to pick up that? How can they judge the testimony of witnesses they didn't even see. M. O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark -- Mr. Clark, you were involved in defending Slobodan Milosevic, whose trial occurred, of course, in the Hague international war crimes tribunal. Do you believe -- I suspect you do, but I'm curious if you feel if this trial were moved to a place lake the Hague if there would be a fairer trial there?

CLARK: Well, there's all the difference in the world. You have a real court there. You have a court that's able to function.

You have a court there that knows the law. You have a court there that can manage the case.

And here you have chaos. You never know what is going to happen.

We come to the court 7:30 this morning, traveled all the way from the United States, have to wait here two days for the court to tell us seven hours after they are supposed to convene that there's not going to be any trial. Not only today, but not tomorrow, not the next day, and not until next Sunday. And we have no confidence there will be a trial next Sunday because they are simply out of control.

Then they give a false reason. Unbelievable.

The reason they gave for not hearing anybody today was, after six or seven hours of waiting, that the witnesses weren't available because they were coming back from Hajj. But Hajj has been over for a long time. It's simply not true.

It's because the judges couldn't agree on what to do because they put in new political people because there's pressure on them. You had President Bush on the 19th of this month, just a few days ago, really, saying that the trial was on track. The trial has never been on track.

M. O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark...

CLARK: (INAUDIBLE) complete the case this year, and they will -- the Busherer will get his due justice this year. But look what you've got. It's pure chaos.

M. O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark...

CLARK: You had (INAUDIBLE), who's the -- he said the trial would be finished in two months or less. There's no way that can happen.

M. O'BRIEN: Mr. Clark, who do you petition to, though? If your petition is a question of the legitimacy of the court, and it goes before the court, obviously that's a catch-22.

CLARK: We filed briefs on the legality of the court. The court announced that it was -- before they received the briefs and before they heard the argument on legality, they said, the court is legal, we'll give you our reasons later, soon.

A month has gone by. We don't have the reasons. They want to continue the trial when there's a challenge to the legality of the court. And the court is clearly illegal. It was created by the United States during a military occupation.

And it's not conceivable that this court could be legal. It's a creature of the United States. It's financed by the United States.

This expensive building is paid for by the United States. The court -- everything comes from the United States.

The United States personnel are all over the courtroom. And no wonder it doesn't function well, because they are not independent.

M. O'BRIEN: But isn't it important that justice for Saddam Hussein come from inside Iraq by Iraqis?

CLARK: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. I couldn't hear the question.

M. O'BRIEN: Is it not important that the trial be held on Iraqi soil and that justice for Saddam Hussein comes at the hands of Iraqis?

CLARK: What you can tell is that this court is so dysfunctional, it's so lacking in independence, and the judges are not impartial. You don't -- you don't have a Sunni Arab on this court. You've got people that are avowed enemies that are chosen by his avowed enemies. And you can't have a fair trial.

It's impossible to have a fair trial. And that's -- that will be a tragedy. It will mean more war because people will deeply resent the conduct of an illegal court. But the court's not even functional.

So what they are going to have to do is they are going to have to abandon this court. The idea was wrong. The court was conceived illegally. And it's being functioning -- trying to function under pressures that destroy its independence.

And you just -- you're just going to have to start over again some place. And I don't think you're going to be able to do it here. We already lost two defense lawyers.

M. O'BRIEN: We have to cut you off, sir. I'm sorry. Our time has expired.

Ramsey Clark is a Saddam Hussein legal adviser, former attorney general of the United States.

Thank you for your time.

CLARK: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, remember the school nurse when you were a kid? Just about every school had them. Not any more. Believe it or not, not having a school nurse is turning into a disaster for some schools. A look at "House Call" is up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: There was a time when it seemed like every single school had a school nurse. Whether you were sick, really, or just faking it, there was somebody who had medical expertise who could help you. Well, to the shock of many parents today, lots of schools don't have a nurse.

So what happens to kids who have deadly food allergies or diabetes?

Elizabeth Cohen has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA ASSAEL, DAUGHTER HAS DIABETES: OK. It's a little chilly, kids. Give me your finger.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Melissa Assael tests her daughter's blood sugar one last time before school starts.

Katie has diabetes. And after her mother leaves...

ASSAEL: By, Kate (ph). I love you.

COHEN: ... this 6-year-old, to a great extent, is on her own. And that has her parents scared.

(on camera): Did you both grow up with a school nurse in your school?

M. ASSAEL: Yes. I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COHEN: Were you surprised to hear that your daughter's school wouldn't have one?

M. ASSAEL: I was shocked.

COHEN (voice-over): But that's the way it is these days at many schools around the country. In California, where Katie lives on any given day, 70 percent of the students don't have a nurse at their school. That's according to the California School Nurse's Organization.

(on camera): While she's at school what is the big worry in the back of your mind?

M. ASSAEL: Many worries but sometimes even when she has low blood sugar, she gets too low, her body doesn't recognize it. And it is just so dangerous. She can pass out. And they wouldn't know how to care for her.

COHEN: Does Katie worry about Katie while she's at school?

M. ASSAEL: Katie definitely worries about Katie.

COHEN (voice-over): And Katie isn't the only one who is worried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me what kind of medications is he on.

COHEN: This is registered nurse Kathy Gabe. She splits her time between Katie's school and five others.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Off I go.

COHEN: Half a day here, half a day there, driving from one school to another.

(on camera): In all you take care of how many students?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My case load is approximately 5,000 students.

COHEN: Can one nurse really cover 5,000 students in six schools?

NANCY SPRADLING, CALIFORNIA SCHOOL NURSES' ORGANIZATION: No. Absolutely not.

COHEN (voice-over): And as the number of school nurses continues to decrease, the number of children with chronic illnesses continues to rise.

(on camera): So there are more sick kids these days.

SPRADLING: Absolutely.

COHEN: And fewer school nurses.

SPRADLING: Correct.

COHEN: Many fewer.

COHEN: Many fewer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?

COHEN: Gary McHenry is the superintendent of schools in Katie's district. He agrees that one nurse for six schools isn't enough but he says there is nothing he can do. Could you hire more school nurses if you wanted to?

GARY MCHENRY, SUPERINTENDENT, MT. DIABLO SCHOOL DISTRICT: No.

COHEN: Because the money is not there.

MCHENRY: Just not there. With the funding that we have, we have to put the money into teachers first. Safety second. And nursing and counseling services is less of a priority in terms of the money. So I would say to those parents that are angry that they have to put pressure on legislators to provide more funding for schools so that can happen.

COHEN: Nationally there are many overworked nurses like Kathy. Statistics in regulations vary from state to state and district to district. But according to a 2004 National Association of School Nurses survey, nurses take care of nearly twice as many students as they're supposed to under federal guidelines.

KATHY GABE, SCHOOL NURSE: Don't feel hot. I'll have you sit in a chair over there. How about you, young man?

COHEN: Kathy does what she can. On any given day, she's taking care of children with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, diabetes, and headaches and fevers.

GABE: Go ahead and put that under your tongue.

I love my job. And there are days I feel overwhelmed because there was so much to do and not enough time to do it and not enough answers. And those are the days that I leave and I go, you know, I'm worried about that child.

COHEN: Of course Kathy can't be at six schools at one time so what happens when there is an emergency. These days at many schools, when a child has a terrible allergic reaction or a child has an asthma attack who is there to take care of them?

GABE: Our secretaries.

COHEN: That's right. The secretary. The same person who takes attendance, registers new students and answers the phones is handling medical problems.

GABE: The minute they say my throat is tight, can't swallow, you give them the Epipen.

COHEN: Today Kathy teaches to secretaries how to handle severe allergic reactions.

(on camera): So you're expected to handle kids who have seizures ...

MARY SHEPHERD, SCHOOL SECRETARY: Who have fallen and broken something who have destroyed their hands in wood shop, all that kind of stuff.

COHEN: And you're a secretary.

SHEPHERD: Last time I looked, yeah.

COHEN: You have no medical training.

SHEPHERD: Nope. I'm just a mom.

COHEN: Does that seem right to you that a secretary should be asked to handle shock?

SHEPHERD: No. Not at all.

COHEN: Are you surprised there aren't more accidents?

SPRADLING: I think that it is an accident waiting to happen. I think that if not tomorrow or next week, then, you know, it could be in six months, but kids are going to die. Kids are going to die. And kids have died.

COHEN: Linda Gonzalez (ph) has seen what can happen when the school nurse isn't there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a call and they told me that Philip had collapsed.

COHEN: When Linda's 11-year-old son Philip had an asthma attack at school, the nurse was at another school. The staff tried but couldn't help him. They called 911. Linda rushed to the hospital but her son was already dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I miss him. He was my baby. If the nurse would have been there at school, she could have helped Philip.

COHEN: Katie Assael knows all too well what to expect in an emergency. KATIE ASSAEL, HAS DIABETES: I would have to take a shot.

COHEN: Who gives you the shot while you're at school?

K. ASSAEL: My mom.

COHEN: Melissa is back at school just a few hours after dropping Katie off. Worried Katie's sugar is too low she does another check. After Melissa leaves, Katie will check it again herself.

M. ASSAEL: If you feel low anytime before lunch time, will you check it again?

K. ASSAEL: Mm-hmm.

COHEN: Is a big responsibility for a six-year-old.

M. ASSAEL: It could truly be a matter of life or death. It should be the nurse that does it, not the teacher, not the secretary, not Katie alone.

COHEN: But with nurse Kathy Gabe only at Katie's school half a day a week, it is up to Melissa to check on her daughter.

M. ASSAEL: I never know what it is going to be and it is a constant worry. Constant worry.

COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Walnut Creek, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: That report first aired on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." You can see Paula on weeknights, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. M. O'BRIEN: Coming up in the program, President Bush says the White House wiretap program perfectly legal, but does the rest of the country agree? We'll try to find out an answer for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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