Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Anger, Grief in Egypt; That's 'God' to You
Aired February 06, 2006 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A daring prisoner escape leads to a world-wide security alert for al Qaeda terrorists, including one linked to the bombing of the USS Cole.
Plus, the cartoon controversy grows. Rioting around the world is worsening this morning. And now there are clashes between Christians and Muslims.
And the Senate about to question the attorney general. It should be rather heated. Is the White House wiretapping program without warrants legal or not?
ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: It looks like a beautiful morning there on the east side of Manhattan. Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien. Good to have you with us. Good to have you with us.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: It's good to be back. I'm Zain Verjee in for Soledad. Did you watch the game last night?
M. O'BRIEN: The first half. The last half was a little past my bedtime. But I saw enough -- actually, I didn't see enough of the football, because Pittsburgh obviously had a much better second half. Very happy to see the Steelers win that one.
VERJEE: I was happy to watch the commercials with the three million other Americans who were watching it for the commercials.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Did you have a favorite?
VERJEE: You know, I liked the one where the guy fell through the roof. That was the favorite.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, the roof.
VERJEE: The chimps, you can lose with the chimps. I liked that one.
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: I was kind of a sucker for (INAUDIBLE), the little baby Clydesdale pulling the wagon being pushed by the big Clydesdale. Did you see that one? It kind of made me misty. How about you, Chad Myers? What did you like? The Stones, you know what? Bad idea.
VERJEE: Why?
M. O'BRIEN: This is Detroit. What do you think of Detroit? Motown. It should have been all about Motown, and instead we have -- I like the Stones.
VERJEE: Like the Stones.
M. O'BRIEN: A British rock group, wonderful. British rock group in Detroit. It made no sense. Now, I know Aretha Franklin said a few things, and she got to sing the National Anthem, but it should have been an homage to Motown, for god's sake. The crew is agreeing. Pete, Bruce, you with me on this? Everybody is with me. Are you with me?
VERJEE: I'm with you. But fortunately there was...
M. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE).
VERJEE: There was no wardrobe malfunction.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes, there wasn't.
VERJEE: And, you know, there was a little bit of tummy (ph), I think, by Mick Jagger, right, Chad? You were watching.
M. O'BRIEN: I've got to say, he does that good, though. He's about 86 now, I think.
VERJEE: Well, you know...
M. O'BRIEN: And he really, he must -- I don't know what he's doing, but he's living right, I guess.
VERJEE: Do you know? The...
M. O'BRIEN: It's that easy living as a rock star, right, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's the green tea, I think.
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: It's antioxidants. You just drink this tea there.
MYERS: Anti-something.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
MYERS: I did like the magic beer fridge, though.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, that was great.
MYERS: Because I saw the preview of that, and he just spun it around, and you could only see the table.
M. O'BRIEN: Right.
MYERS: You didn't get to see the second half, where the guy is in the other apartment stealing all of the other guy's beer.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that was good.
MYERS: Yes, I thought that was kind of cute.
M. O'BRIEN: Good to have you with us, Chad.
MYERS: Good to be here.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: Miles, I was wondering, did you actually get to go skiing this weekend, or did you just stay home and watch football?
M. O'BRIEN: You know what? I should tell you, Chad, I tried snowboarding this weekend.
MYERS: Oh.
M. O'BRIEN: I should be sitting on one of those donuts right now.
MYERS: So you tried sliding this weekend.
M. O'BRIEN: I am so miserable right now.
MYERS: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: And the kids just loved seeing daddy flail. And the conditions were lousy.
MYERS: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: So there you have it. But the kids had a blast, and that's all that counts, right?
MYERS: That's right.
VERJEE: Where did you go?
M. O'BRIEN: Butternut (ph). But it was well below the rain line as opposed to the snow line. The snow line was up there in the Artic Circle. All right, we'll get back with Chad in a little bit.
More anger in Egypt in the wake of that deadly sinking in the Red Sea. An angry crowd attacked the offices of the company that owned that ship. Almost 1,000 people were killed in that sinking. The captain of the ship remains missing.
CNN Cairo bureau chief Ben Wedeman joining us with more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): Another pitched battle between riot police and the angry relatives of passengers from the ill-fated Egyptian ferry.
In Safaga, relatives ransacked the offices of El Salam Maritime Company, owners of the ferry, which sank off the Egyptian coast around midnight last Thursday.
Much of the rage is focused on the company. Relatives accused the ship's captain of not turning around when fire broke out on the lower deck.
Now others claim the captain abandoned the ship, neglecting the fate of the passengers. The ship's owners say the captain is still missing.
Anger is also directed at the government. Relatives claim the authorities were late to respond to the disaster and have been indifferent to their needs.
Around 400 survivors have been plucked from the sea. About 200 bodies have been recovered. Sunday the government organized buses to take relatives to Cairo, where they'll try to identify those bodies.
But that still leaves almost 800 passengers unaccounted for and thousands of relatives demanding to know what happened.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Safaga, Egypt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Let's get to Kelly Wallace in the newsroom and get some headlines.
Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning again, Miles.
We're beginning in France, where the woman who made medical history is now showing her new face off to the world. Isabelle Dinoire is the first person to have a partial face transplant. She's been recovering for the past 10 weeks behind closed doors at a hospital north of Paris. We heard from her just a short time ago. She apparently is smoking, and doctors are concerned that will interfere with her healing. We're showing you some live pictures right now of a news conference under way. Dinoire's face was disfigured after she was mauled by a dog last November. She received a new nose, lips and a chin. And we'll be monitoring that news conference and bringing you any developments as we get them.
Right now in London, a jury is about to deliberate the fate of Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri for the third day. Al-Masri faces 15 charges of inciting murder and racial hatred against Jews and other non-Muslims. His attorneys admit the preacher was offensive and -- quote -- "a bit over the top." But they say he never intended to incite such acts. The Egyptian-born cleric faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
Denmark is urging its citizens to leave Lebanon and Syria. Thousands of protesters stormed the Danish consulate in Beirut Sunday. They broke windows and burned furniture. The anger? All over cartoons printed in a Danish newspaper depicting the prophet Mohammed. Meantime in Iraq, the transportation ministry there says it is cutting all ties with Danish and Norwegian companies in response to those cartoons.
This morning, President Bush presents his budget, and we understand defense and security topping his list of priorities. The $2.8 trillion budget would increase spending for both the Defense Department and Homeland Security by about 5 percent each. But, according to congressional sources, money for Medicare and non-defense programs will be cut. The proposed budget also includes another $18 billion for hurricane reconstruction.
And U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is expected to make a strong defense of the National Security Agency's domestic spying program. The attorney general is set to testify this morning before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gonzales is expected to say the program is -- quote -- "indispensable for the defense of the nation." And that hearing begins at 9:30 Eastern.
That gets you caught up. Now back to Miles and Zain.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Kelly. Appreciate that.
Still to come on the program...
VERJEE: We're going to be talking live to God.
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to...
VERJEE: God. Yes, we've got him on the line.
M. O'BRIEN: We -- this is CNN. We have the capability of speaking to anybody anywhere on or off the planet. But in this case it turns out it's Pennsylvania. Why the state, however, would like him to change his ways.
VERJEE: And a cabinet position for Jimmy Carter, but it's not for what you may think. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
M. O'BRIEN: Installing cabinets at one of those homes he builds? I don't know.
And Mexican authorities shut down an alternative health clinic after Coretta Scott King died there. Do such clinics provide real help to those in need or only false hope? That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, if you watch movies you might think God looks like George Burns or more recently Morgan Freeman. It turns out God is actually a bail enforcement agent from Reading, Pennsylvania. He joins us on the line right now to tell us why the Department of Motor Vehicles doesn't like this idea at all. Oh, by the way, his real name is Paul Sewell.
Paul, good to have you with us.
PAUL SEWELL, "GOD": How are you doing?
M. O'BRIEN: You sign your name as G-O-D. That is not how you spell Paul Sewell. How did you get from Sewell to G-O-D?
SEWELL: Well, I'm a bail enforcement agent, and I've been doing this for 10 years. And when I go out and arrest people, we're hearing that they would say to me, "God, give me another chance, Oh, God, I'll turn myself in tomorrow, oh, God, I'll show up tomorrow, Please don't take me to jail, God." Stuff like that.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, Paul, I suspect there are some other words they might use when they see you when you're enforcing bail jumpers. You don't sign those words either, do you?
SEWELL: Usually I don't hear those other words.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you don't? OK.
SEWELL: No. Probably one time.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So when did you start signing your signature as God? And do you use it for everything?
SEWELL: I started signing it about 10 years ago. And, yes, I sign everything with G-O-D.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And banks, credit cards, all of the other things, they say that's fine?
SEWELL: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Social Security?
SEWELL: They say, you could sign your name whatever you want.
M. O'BRIEN: I mean, you could put an "x" down, can't you legally? Have you looked into the legalities of this?
SEWELL: Yes, I've looked. Yes, you can.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, here's the rub. The Department of Transportation in Pennsylvania, let's share with you -- there you see your credit cards with G-O-D on there. Let's share the rules and regulations. "The DOT may cancel a license if the licensee was not entitled to it, or if he or she failed to give required correct information, or if the person committed fraud in obtaining the license."
I guess the required correct information is the most important part of that. What have they said to you?
SEWELL: They haven't said anything. They sent me a letter. They haven't really said anything to me on why. They want to cancel it, I'm guessing, because it's says G-O-D. But I've been signing it since I was 14, and I'm 40 right now.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And so basically this is the first time in all these years since you were 14 you've been doing it.
SEWELL: Well, not since I was 14. This is the first time in 10 years that I've been hearing. The first time in 10 years.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, 10 years. OK. But it's the first time anybody has given you difficulty about this.
SEWELL: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So what are you going to do about it?
SEWELL: Oh, I appealed it to the 1st County Court.
M. O'BRIEN: And what happens next?
SEWELL: Well, then a judge decides. If a person can sign an "x" or God or anything else on their license, or if they can sign, they have to sign their name that is on their birth certificate. But according to PENNDOT, it's says in their rules that you have to sign your usual signature.
M. O'BRIEN: Which is, in your case, G-O-D.
SEWELL: G-O-D.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. A final thought. Why not just roll over on this one, Paul, just sign Paul Sewell and let the DOT give you your license and on you go?
SEWELL: It's the principle of it.
M. O'BRIEN: The principle?
SEWELL: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: OK. And what is the principle?
SEWELL: I'm not going to let them (ph) win this time.
M. O'BRIEN: Paul Sewell a.k.a. G-O-D. Thank you very much for being with us. Good luck as you continue fighting the good fight there in Pennsylvania.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: The DOT versus G-O-D.
VERJEE: Wasn't it Nietzsche that said, "God is dead."
SERWER: Yes.
VERJEE: And then there was a t-shirt that came out after that saying " Nietzsche is dead. God." M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
VERJEE: You know? Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
VERJEE: But Andy is...
M. O'BRIEN: Andy is alive.
SERWER: Nice to see you guys. Thank you, yes.
VERJEE: ... alive and well.
SERWER: At least for today I am. Some business news coming up. How much would you pay for a Jimmy Carter handicraft? Two bucks? Two hundred bucks? How about seven figures? Stay tuned to AMERICAN MORNING. We'll tell you all about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Andy is "Minding Your Business." But before we do that, let's get to Kelly Wallace in the newsroom.
Hello, Kelly.
WALLACE: Hello again, Miles.
Jury selection is beginning this morning for the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. He, as you might know, is the only person charged in the United States in connection with the September 11 terror attacks. Moussaoui admitted he knew about the plot, but says he wasn't directly involved. The jury will have to decide between life in prison or the death penalty. We understand jury selection could take about a month.
Israel will continue to transfer tax money to the Palestinians as long as Hamas is out of the picture. Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to hand over $54 million to the Palestinian Authority, but he says he might suspend payments once Hamas takes over or if the Palestinian Authority joins forces with that group. Israel collects taxes and customs duties on behalf of the Palestinians, and that money is critical to the Palestinian Authority.
Still no arrests for the fires that hit five Baptist churches in Alabama. The fires destroyed three churches in Bibb County Friday, but did little to shake the faith of worshippers. Members of Rehobeth Baptist Church attended Sunday's service inside a small building near the rubble of their church. Meanwhile, the FBI is looking into possible civil rights violations, though no motive is known yet.
A high-stakes hearing to tell you about on Capitol Hill this morning. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He is expected to tell lawmakers that the domestic spying program is necessary in stopping another al Qaeda attack in this country. But many senators on the panel are skeptical. Even Republican Chairman Arlen Specter says the wiretapping may have gone too far.
And the Super Bowl celebrations are still going on. Yes, they are. The Pittsburgh Steelers winning 21-10 over the Seattle Seahawks for their fifth Super Bowl championship, but their first since 1980. Hundreds of fans celebrating in the streets in Pittsburgh, some wearing just t-shirts even though the temperatures hit the 20s. There are reports of at least two cars overturned, but overall the celebrations were mostly calm.
And, Chad, it was awfully hard to go to sleep last night during the second half. It got quite exciting after a pretty boring first two quarters, I thought.
MYERS: Really? I feel asleep right after Mick Jagger sang that second song. Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VERJEE: Well, if a president's cabinet was for sale, how much would you be willing to pay, Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Oak or cherry?
VERJEE: Cedar.
M. O'BRIEN: Cedar! Big bucks.
SERWER: Big bucks.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, you could put your fabric in there, and then the moths won't get it if it's cedar, right? So that's worth a lot.
SERWER: You're really thinking this morning, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
VERJEE: Nice little (INAUDIBLE) as well. Maybe 500.
M. O'BRIEN: Easy.
SERWER: All right. We'll get to that in a second. Let's do some other business news first.
We're talking about GM here. Their board is meeting today. And at stake, the troubled giant's dividend, which could be cut.
Now, right now GM's dividend yields 8.64 percent. That means if you buy $100 of stock you'd get paid $8.64 a year. If that sounds too good to be true, it kind of is. Right now they're paying over a billion dollars out to shareholders, $2.00 a share. You can see here, the stock price going down, down, down.
They really can't afford this. They lost $8.6 billion last year. And shareholder activists are looking for them to cut this by half. Kirk Kerkorian (ph), the activist who is going after this company right now, estimates the company is losing $24 million a day. So this could be something come out of Detroit later this afternoon, Zain.
VERJEE: Let's talk about President Jimmy Carter's cabinet.
SERWER: Yes.
VERJEE: Not his former cabinet.
SERWER: Right.
VERJEE: But another kind of cabinet.
SERWER: You know, he is famous for making houses for housing for Habitat, but I guess he's also pretty good in the handicraft department. Jimmy Carter made this cabinet and put it up for auction for the Carter Center. And it was auctioned off for $1 million. That's right.
VERJEE: What?
SERWER: A million dollars.
VERJEE: A million?
SERWER: Someone bought this. In fact, the person who bought it is a gentleman named John Moores, who is there with his wife, Rebecca (ph). John is a tech multimillionaire and also the chairman of the San Diego Padres, and also is the chairman of the Carter Center. So, Zain, you might say this is kind of an inside job. In other words, he just wanted to give his own organization a million dollars. Does that mean the market value of that cabinet is a million dollars? I don't think so.
VERJEE: No way.
M. O'BRIEN: Resale value?
SERWER: Five hundred.
M. O'BRIEN: Maybe?
SERWER: You said 500. It's probably about 500.
M. O'BRIEN: That's probably about it.
VERJEE: Did you watch the game last night?
SERWER: I did.
VERJEE: Yes?
SERWER: I watched the game.
VERJEE: Had some spicy wings?
SERWER: I had some spicy wings and some pizza.
VERJEE: Yes, we can tell.
SERWER: And I just (INAUDIBLE) and -- well, sorry. And I just, I wonder about some of those calls against the Seahawks, I really do. I felt like they kind of got ripped off a few times.
M. O'BRIEN: A little indigestion this morning over the game, you might say.
SERWER: You might say.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
SERWER: Zain might too.
M. O'BRIEN: In a moment, today's top stories, including the explosive anger and attack stemming from those controversial cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.
Also, another first for the woman who got a face transplant. Does she finally have something to say to us all? We'll be telling you about that in just a bit. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: It's just about the top of the hour. Let's check in with Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
