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American Morning

Hamas Victory; Mideast Shock Waves; American Hostage; Secret Border Tunnel; Oprah Fries Frey

Aired January 27, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good Friday morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

The peace process in peril. Now that Hamas has won the majority, will there be any chance for peace in the Middle East? We're live in the West Bank this morning.

M. O'BRIEN: Could there be a supreme filibuster after all? A Senate floor fight may be brewing over Judge Samuel Alito. John Kerry pushes on, perhaps with 2008 in mind.

And burrowing beneath the broken borders, a major passageway found under the U.S.-Mexico border. Investigators searching for whoever is responsible for that smuggling tunnel.

S. O'BRIEN: And Oprah is furious. The talk show queen confronts the author she put on the map. She calls him a liar. What she said, what he said ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

M. O'BRIEN: Peace in the Middle East is now in the hands of militants. Hamas is trying to form a new Palestinian government, now reaching out to the opposition, not renouncing the destruction of Israel, but not ruling out a moderate approach either.

John Vause live in Ramallah on the West Bank.

John, you've been working some long hours. Can Hamas renounce violence? Are they talking about any sort of moderate views?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, for the time being, Hamas is unlikely to renounce what its long-term goal is, and that's what they say is the struggle to liberate all of the holy lands of Palestine, that includes the West Bank, Gaza and all of Israel. But Hamas officials are saying they will accept a long-term cease-fire in exchange for the West Bank. They already have Gaza after the Israeli pullout last summer and a capital in East Jerusalem.

Now over the last few years, Hamas has sent almost 60 suicide bombers into Israel, but not a single suicide attack ever since it agreed to a cease-fire last February. Hamas officials are very much aware this morning that if they renew the violence against Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people could very well be facing international isolation -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: John, Mahmoud Abbas insists negotiations of Israel can continue. Can Hamas form a government that includes him somehow?

VAUSE: Well, Hamas had said in the next couple of days they want to reach out to Mahmoud Abbas and form some kind of political partnership. But Abbas is already coming under incredible pressure from within his own Fatah party. Last night in Gaza, Fatah gunmen were marching through the streets. They were firing shots into the air. They were demanding that Abbas resign. They called him a traitor for allowing Hamas to take part in these elections in the first place.

Abbas did say last night that he hopes that the peace talks can renew with Israel, but the Israelis are saying they will not negotiate with terrorists. So the situation for Abbas, he's facing a hostile government at home, the Israelis won't talk to him, so the speculation now is that he will resign. The only question that remains is when -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: John Vause in Ramallah, thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: At the White House, President Bush is being very cautious complimenting the Palestinians on their democratic elections, but insisting that he will not deal with Hamas until it renounces the destruction of Israel comments.

Dana Bash is following the reaction this morning from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Later today, the president will meet with Saad Hariri, the son of assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A Bush aide says the two men will talk about the investigation into that assassination and also the future of democracy in Lebanon. That, a day after this White House got a blow when it comes to the issue of democracy in the Middle East, a stunning victory from Hamas, a group that the president very clearly labeled as terrorists.

The president, in a wide-ranging news conference, was very careful with his words in reacting to that news, but he did say that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel is one that this White House, that he, will not deal with.

Dana Bash, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in our next hour, we're going to talk to Senator Joe Biden. He just met with the acting Israeli prime minister. That's going to happen at 7:20 a.m. Eastern -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: A week now since the deadline passed for Jill Carroll. Her captors vowed to kill her if Iraqi women who were held by the U.S. are not released. The release of five Iraqi women from U.S. custody may help Carroll's fate, the U.S. journalist. The freeing of female prisoners was that demand more than three weeks ago. CNN's Aneesh Raman is following this from Baghdad for us.

Good morning -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning.

Feverish efforts continue behind the scenes by U.S. and Iraqi officials to try and secure the release of Jill Carroll. They're making no information public, of course, given the sensitivity of this case.

Also, newfound hope did come yesterday, as you mentioned, with the release of those five Iraqi female detainees. The demands of the group holding Jill Carroll had been the release of all female prisoners. Iraq's Justice Ministry says there are still four Iraqi women in custody, but that they are set to be released soon. Of course both they and the U.S. military caution this release is completely unrelated to the demands of those holding Jill Carroll, but of course the hope on the ground is that the effect may be the same.

It has now been 20 days since Jill Carroll was abducted, 10 days since that video appeared of her as a hostage. And, as you mentioned, a week since that deadline came and went. A period of just agonizing silence for her family, for her supporters here in Iraq who continue every day to await any word on Jill Carroll and grasp any hope that they can, which they found a little bit yesterday with the release of those female detainees -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh, is there a sense that no news is good news?

RAMAN: I think there is. And we have heard from other people who were taken hostage. On CNN, Roy Hallums saying that the longer period that we go with no news, it is better than finding out, of course, the worst type of news that you could hear in a situation like this.

It does suggest, perhaps, that there is dialogue going on between Iraqi officials and those holding Jill Carroll. It does suggest, perhaps, that the latest release may impact the situation. So people here are holding out hope that the longer we go, the more chance there is, perhaps, of her being found -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad, thanks -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well it turns out there is a tunnel that runs between Mexico and the United States. Who or what came through it into the U.S.? Who built it? The tunnel runs about seven tenths of a mile. It starts at a warehouse near the Tijuana airport, runs straight into southern California.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is in San Diego.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This tunnel is built underneath two buildings, one on the Mexican side, the other a half-mile into the United States. Today, the agents are going to be investigating who owned those buildings, as well as taking air and soil samples to try to find out what may have passed through those tunnels. They have already recovered more than two tons of marijuana.

But the federal agents are calling this the largest, most sophisticated tunnel they have ever found on the southwest border. I mean this is a tunnel that was as long as eight football fields. It was tall enough for a man to walk through. It had electricity, had a ventilation system, water pumps, even a gurney that allowed the smugglers to take items in and out of the tunnel. The agents are very concerned that a weapon could possibly be smuggled through that tunnel.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Amazing pictures there.

Meanwhile, remember that controversial plan we told you about to handout maps of the border to immigrants planning to enter the U.S. illegally? Well, the Mexican government has put a stop to it. Apparently it has nothing to do with U.S. criticism. Mexico's Human Rights Commission says there was concern that the maps would actually help anti-immigrant groups, like the Minutemen, stake out the migrant's entry points.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting.

Oprah says she is sorry, she made a mistake. Author James Frey admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he fabricated some of his memoir, "A Million Little Pieces." That was after she defended his book on the Larry King show. And now the talk show host admits she was wrong to defend him. It was gripping television.

CNN's Mary Snow has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: It is difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oprah Winfrey says it was a first in her television career. She confronted author James Frey, who admitted he embellished parts of his memoir, "A Million Little Pieces," in a book she touted as inspirational.

JAMES FREY, AUTHOR, "A MILLION LITTLE PIECES": Well I have, you know, essentially admitted to...

WINFREY: Lying.

FREY: ... that I have been -- to lying.

WINFREY: To lying. SNOW: In September, Winfrey added the memoir to her book club. Sales skyrocketed. By January, Frey found himself under scrutiny and went on the Larry King show to defend himself.

FREY: I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to say I've conned anyone.

SNOW: That same night, came a surprise phone call from Winfrey. She defended Frey.

WINFREY: To me, it seems to be much ado about nothing. The underlying message of redemption in James Frey's memoir still resonates with me and I know that it resonates with millions of other people who have read this book.

SNOW: Now, Winfrey has done an about-face and retracted her support.

WINFREY: I regret that phone call. I made a mistake and I left the impression that the truth does not matter and I am deeply sorry about that.

SNOW: Questions first arose on The Smoking Gun, a Web site owned by CourtTV, which is partly owned by Time Warner, CNN's parent company.

WINFREY: But The Smoking Gun report, titled "The Man who Conned Oprah," and I want to know were they right?

FREY: I think most of what they wrote was pretty accurate, absolutely.

SNOW: Among the facts that turned out to be fiction, Frey's time in jail. He says he spent a few hours in jail, not 87 days as written in the book. Frey also says he altered every character in the book but still thinks of it as a memoir, not a novel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: During the 8:00 Eastern hour of AMERICAN MORNING, we'll ask one of the founders of The Smoking Gun Web site how he learned about some of those embellished facts in Frey's book and kind of blew the lid off this story -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Their research into how they learned about it is fascinating. It's on the Web site. I mean it's absolutely fascinating. Their story of their uncovery is -- I would -- I suggest everybody reads it who has read this book.

M. O'BRIEN: It's a great Web site no matter what.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a great read.

M. O'BRIEN: This particular story, they did a great job.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. Let's get a check of the weather this morning 10 minutes past the hour.

Bonnie Schneider is at the CNN Center for us.

Hey, Bonnie, good morning.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

So another calm weather day with a nice warm-up for you guys in New York, Miles, Soledad, for Saturday.

S. O'BRIEN: A nice easy day for you, Bonnie, look...

SCHNEIDER: No problems.

S. O'BRIEN: ... a half-day for you.

Thanks -- Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Bonnie.

Coming up on the program, gender wars in the classroom. A high school student says his school discriminates against boys. We'll tell you what he wants done about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, new hope in the fight against Bird Flu. There's word of a new vaccine that could be, could be, 100 percent effective. We'll tell you about that.

M. O'BRIEN: And you can't smoke on planes or in most restaurants now. One state may be on the verge of banning smoking all together.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A little old Madonna.

M. O'BRIEN: Is that -- which version of Madonna was that?

S. O'BRIEN: That was, well, let's see, I was in high school at the time.

M. O'BRIEN: What?

S. O'BRIEN: So that's like...

M. O'BRIEN: That's like a setup line there. So that was just very recent. That's the recent version of Madonna.

S. O'BRIEN: '80s, back in the '80s. Good work, though, I appreciate that.

A lot to tell you about this morning. Let's, in fact, begin with our top story, one of our top stories.

Carol has got that.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I think I was in grade school.

Good morning, everyone. Some headlines for you now.

Senate Democrats with a big decision on their hands whether to filibuster Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Senator John Kerry is spoiling for a fight. He's pushing his colleagues to go for it and filibuster Alito. Alito's confirmation vote is scheduled for Tuesday. None of the 55 Republicans have come out against him and three Democrats support him. So with 60 votes needed to end a filibuster, Kerry's gamble is a long shot.

A CNN security watch now, a U.S.-led operation shuts down a fake passport ring in Colombia. Both U.S. and Colombian officials say terror groups are involved, but they can't agree on which ones. Colombian officials say the ring has connections to al Qaeda and Hamas militants, but a U.S. Justice Department spokesman tells The Associated Press no way, saying the ring is linked to FARC, Colombia's largest rebel army.

Stay with CNN for the latest news on your security.

It could be several weeks before charges are filed against the truck driver in that horrific Florida crash, if police file charges at all that is. Police say they are still trying to piece together the chain of events that sent the truck into a car and then the car into a school bus. Seven children died in that crash.

Some promising news in the fight against the deadly Bird Flu, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh say they have produced a vaccine that has been 100 percent effective in animal tests. The team says human testing could begin within weeks. So far, the virus has infected mostly birds; but of the 152 people who have come down with it, half have died.

A Massachusetts senior says his school makes it easier for girls. Seventeen-year-old Doug Anglin (ph) has filed a civil rights suit against Milton High School. He says teachers put more restrictions on boys and create a system geared towards girls. The school admits girls outnumber boys almost two to one on the honor roll, but says there is no discrimination involved. So where could the differences be coming from? Dan Lothian has more for you in the next hour. It's a fascinating story.

Let's head to Atlanta now for a check on the weather.

Bonnie Schneider in for Chad.

Good morning.

SCHNEIDER: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: No, not bad at all, Bonnie, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Bonnie sounds like she's at the beach there.

S. O'BRIEN: Sound. Pete (ph) was saying sound effects behind the weather.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That was just the blow (ph) 50 degrees.

M. O'BRIEN: That was the ambient tone of 50.

S. O'BRIEN: The sound. Yes, exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's what I think.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: General Motors takes a tumble. Stock market, though, not a big reaction.

Carrie Lee has that.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Shrugged it off.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: General Motors was a poor performer yesterday, but not stocks overall. GM looks like it is not the bellwether it used to be, because the Dow finished at its highest close in three weeks. Take a look, up just shy of 100 points, Nasdaq up about 1 percent. Bulls really out. We saw strong profit reports from other Dow components, like Caterpillar, Honeywell, AT&T and Verizon.

Let's take a look at GM's reaction, though. The stock was down over 3 percent yesterday, the poorest performer in the Dow after losing $4.6 billion, that's billion with a B, in the recent quarter. The company lost 8.6 billion for the year, and that is the company's first annual loss since 1992. Now we all know what's happening at GM, the high labor costs and other things.

Take a look at Microsoft, though, that stock, they had a pretty good profit report after the bell last night, a little weaker than Wall Street expected. But they're raising profit and sales guidance for 2006. That news came after the bell. So we'll keep an eye on Microsoft shares today.

And a very hot IPO yesterday, Chipotle. This is the food store, the retail store.

S. O'BRIEN: The Mexican -- the fresh Mex food.

LEE: That's right, fresh Mex food.

S. O'BRIEN: Around the corner from my apartment. I eat there all the time.

LEE: Hot IPO. Hot and spicy food.

M. O'BRIEN: Mex. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: You're buying that marketing campaign, fresh Mex.

S. O'BRIEN: I eat there a lot.

LEE: Do you?

S. O'BRIEN: And it's fresh.

LEE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: It's very good.

LEE: Good. Well, you're not the only one who thinks so. McDonald's owns this company, and they kept bidding up the stock price, or the share price, before this company went public. It closed yesterday at 44 bucks a share.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

LEE: So much higher than expected.

M. O'BRIEN: Doubled in a day, right?

LEE: Doubled in a day.

S. O'BRIEN: You know they tell you you should buy stock in things that you like.

LEE: That's right.

S. O'BRIEN: And that's the way to really play the market.

M. O'BRIEN: It's the Peter Lynch method, right?

S. O'BRIEN: And of course I never remember it until after I see the IPO and then...

LEE: Of course, and now you think, I should have gotten in.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, I wish I would have (ph).

LEE: But a lot of interest in that stock. Also going to Japan, the Nikkei today closing up, very nice gains, up about 3.6 percent, the highest close in five years. So remember that Livedoor story we were talking about?

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: That big investigation into the Internet company. Nikkei lost ground. Well now we're back up there to above those levels.

Sony a very nice performer, up 14 percent. And that's getting people excited that other tech stocks there may do well.

So today we get a look at GDP due at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, an hour before trading gets under way. And so far, it's looking like a bullish start for today. So hopefully we'll see yesterday's gains continue.

S. O'BRIEN: Good. Thanks -- Carrie.

LEE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Have a great weekend.

LEE: You too.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: You could always buy Google, by the way.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, what's it...

LEE: Take out a loan for that one.

S. O'BRIEN: Wait, that will be helpful, right?

M. O'BRIEN: That's one share. That's all I can afford.

S. O'BRIEN: We've got "Morning Coffee" coming up this morning.

Carol has got that.

COSTELLO: And it's a whole lot cheaper than a Google. Yes.

Coming up, Senator John McCain got the part. He's going to play an unidentified bureaucrat in a hot TV show. Wonder what the audition entailed. We'll tell you in "Morning Coffee" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well would you like a cure for your week? Friday.

COSTELLO: That was good, Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: Friday is a cure for the week, isn't it? M. O'BRIEN: That's it. Yes, it is.

Hello -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Hello, happy Friday, and it is time for "Morning Coffee."

Imagine your cigarette having to pass an emissions test before you smoke it. OK, so it probably won't come to that, but your cigarette's emission could transform California into the country's first non-smoking state. A state board in charge of the air out there is the first to officially list secondhand smoke as a pollutant, kind of like car exhaust.

M. O'BRIEN: So wait a minute, how will they attach the catalytic converter to the cigarette?

COSTELLO: It'll be tough, but they're going to figure it out.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. Right (ph).

S. O'BRIEN: They won't.

M. O'BRIEN: It'd be kind of bulky, wouldn't it?

S. O'BRIEN: They'll just get rid of the cigarette.

M. O'BRIEN: Is that it?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Actually, it means the state can take statewide measures to control smoking or stop smoking all together. Of course it could be years before they decide exactly what to do. But in between, they could pass all kinds of laws banning smoking indoors and maybe even outdoors all over the state. So the whole country is watching this one.

We all know about technical difficulties. Maybe you were giving a speech and the microphone made that awful loud screeching noise. Well, here is proof those difficulties happen to everyone, even the president of the United States. Watch this tape and pay attention to the upper right hand corner of your screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First, I recognize we live in a momentous time. And for those of you watching, we seem to have a mechanical flaw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was an accident.

BUSH: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It was a mechanical -- actually, that was a French TV camera.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course it was French.

COSTELLO: I was going to go the French joke route, but that would have been too easy. But anyway, they removed the offending camera.

M. O'BRIEN: I go for the easy stuff always. Jacques Chirac put that there personally.

COSTELLO: Put that camera there and that's why it was swinging around.

S. O'BRIEN: It looked like a "SNL" skit for a minute, didn't it?

M. O'BRIEN: It did, yes.

COSTELLO: Funny.

M. O'BRIEN: It's good that they did the belt and suspenders thing, the backup strap, because that could have caused somebody...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it would have clocked him on the head if they hadn't.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank goodness.

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: That would definitely get your mood (ph) for a press conference.

COSTELLO: Yes.

Senator John McCain, he's going to be on the TV show "24." That's his favorite show. And he's going to play the part of an unidentified bureaucrat.

M. O'BRIEN: What, he couldn't do better than that? He needs a new agent.

S. O'BRIEN: Clearly.

COSTELLO: He's not going to run with Jack Bauer, which would be very exciting, because he could become an action star. But imagine how the tryout went. This is -- because you know he's just going to hand a file to someone. So the tryout went sort of like this.

Come on back to us. Come on back. Come on back, Mr. Director.

M. O'BRIEN: There you go.

COSTELLO: This is how the tryout went. So here's my file and I'm going to hand it over. S. O'BRIEN: Beautifully done.

M. O'BRIEN: Brilliant. Brilliant.

S. O'BRIEN: Well you know how people sometimes they get their 10 seconds on the and then they do like a...

COSTELLO: Yes, exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

S. O'BRIEN: You see, you've got to take what you can with the moment you get.

COSTELLO: Well you know John McCain may want to be president, so he may make that part into something more.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, make it sing.

COSTELLO: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: It's only three seconds, but make it sing.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. He's not exactly a shrinking violet that John McCain.

COSTELLO: No.

S. O'BRIEN: That's funny.

COSTELLO: No.

S. O'BRIEN: That's so funny.

M. O'BRIEN: So watch the program and see.

COSTELLO: Yes, watch closely, because it's like three seconds and he's gone.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

All right, thank you very much, Carol.

The morning's top stories straight ahead, including this little piece of advice, don't mess with Oprah. When she gets mad, boy, she sets the record straight. She gave author James Frey an earful, a tongue lashing, an hour full of humble pie. He was eating crow. It goes on and on.

COSTELLO: Please (ph).

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, a new idea for helping the homeless. A look at why one church wants them to live on buses.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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