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American Morning

Devastating Attack in Iraq; Ohio Terror Arrests; California Execution Postponed

Aired February 22, 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. Welcome, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien. Miles is on vacation. Rob Marciano is helping us out.

A big thank you.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: Glad to be here.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

Some new pictures to show you just in to CNN this morning, this devastating attack in Iraq. A major holy site has been destroyed, and the attack is now sparking violent protests all across Iraq.

We're live in Baghdad for you with much more on this developing story.

And we have this, this morning...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACK WINCHELL, VICTIM'S FATHER: I just think the whole judicial system went to hell in my book.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: ... utter disbelief from a victim's family as a killer has escaped execution once again.

MARCIANO: And American figure skater Sasha Cohen is flawless, at least in round one. Her Olympics ice skating competition went very well -- the first one, at least. We're going to go live to Torino.

And Donald Trump has some pretty nasty thing to say about his former "Apprentice" pal. If you missed it last hour, we'll talk about it again.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: We'll begin in Iraq this morning, where officials are urging peace and calm. Several protests and attacks have broken out following massive explosions at one of the country's most revered Shiite mosques.

Let's get right to CNN's Aneesh Raman. He's live in Baghdad for us this morning.

Hey, Aneesh. Good morning.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good morning to you.

Tensions rising here by the hour. Some new video to show you from the southern Shia city of Basra, where gun battles evidently took place between Shia militia there and Sunnis that were living in and around the area.

Also, in the Iraqi capital, a number of Sunni mosques have come under attack. One of them, the front was burned. Another coming under RPG attack, damaging the exterior of the mosque.

All of this as thousands of Iraqis have poured to the street in the capital in the holy city of Najaf. In Kadamiya, the mainly Shiite area of Baghdad, up to 10,000 people were out demonstrating in reaction to this attack.

As you say, leaders are urging calm. But this attack really ignited a great deal of fury among the Shia population.

That mosque, the Escaria (ph) mosque, the golden dome completely destroyed. That is one of the most revered Shia mosques in the entire world. And Soledad, this morning it is hard to overstate the potential impact this could have on sectarian strife in Iraq.

O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh, I completely agree, because I think we're already seeing just the very beginning of it.

Aneesh, what are the Shiite leaders doing, then, as the potential for more violence really is right on the edge there?

RAMAN: Well, they are all urging calm. Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the Shia spiritual leader of the country who we haven't seen in over a year and a half, making a television appearance today, along with senior Shia clerics.

In a separate statement, he is as well urging calm. But again, it is a very difficult sell to an enraged people that are out on the streets, that are demanding some action be placed, are wondering why security wasn't better around this mosque. And we'll now wait and see in the days ahead what sort of reaction we do see on the streets from the Shia community -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Aneesh Raman just watching it for us from Baghdad this morning.

Aneesh, thanks -- Rob.

MARCIANO: A CNN "Security Watch" now.

The mayor of Toledo, Ohio, calls it a "speck of evil." Three Ohio men originally from the Middle East are charged with conspiring to train potential terrorists. Two live in Toledo, the third used to live there.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is live in Toledo this morning with that story.

Good morning, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rob, good morning to you.

The 12-page indictment unsealed here in Ohio yesterday is quite detailed. It essentially provides a timeline, and the indictment says that these three men were planning a holy war, a jihad against U.S. troops in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice over): The three suspects allegedly began plotting the attacks 15 months ago.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The folks had the motivation, and I think that they demonstrated that they had the means.

CHO: One of the men, 26-year-old Mohammad Zaki Amawi, is accused of verbally threatening to kill or injure President Bush. His younger brother, who spoke to CNN in silhouette, said Amawi was all talk, that he wasn't against the president, just U.S. foreign policy in Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said doesn't like, you know, the war. And he was against the war. You know, that's why he said that.

CHO: The federal indictment unsealed Tuesday said Amawi and two others, Marwan Othman El-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum, had detailed plans to enter Iraq to wage a holy war against U.S. forces there. The men allegedly tried to set up terrorist training camps. The indictment said Amawi conducted target practice at a Toledo indoor shooting range, that the men downloaded videos like this one showing how to make and use suicide bomb vests, that they discussed how to build improvised explosive devices, that they even talked with an informant about practicing setting off explosives on July 4 when fireworks would mask the noise.

All three men lived in Toledo, Ohio, within the past year. One of them allegedly used his Toledo car business as a cover to travel in and out of Iraq.

The three suspects pleaded not guilty in Ohio courtrooms Tuesday. A lawyer for one of the men, El-Hindi, said his client has never been a part of anything to undermine the U.S. at home or abroad. Amawi's family said he left for Amman, Jordan, seven months ago to set up an Internet cafe and find a wife. They called Amawi a nice guy who cries at movies and wouldn't hurt a bird.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He probably talks too much. Maybe that's what the problem is. You know?

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: The government would not say how far along these men allegedly were in planning the attacks, or if an attack was imminent. But Rob, I can tell you that the local Muslim community is quite concerned about potential backlash, and they will be meeting here in Toledo with the local FBI on ways to deal with that -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Alina, in your -- in your report you mentioned an informant. Can you tell us anything more about him?

CHO: Yes. This 12-page indictment was filled with interesting details. And one of them was about this informant.

He's referred to as "The Trainer." Quite interestingly, we've learned that he is a U.S. citizen with a military background. He did speak some Arabic, and he clearly had close ties to the suspect.

Now, the government would not speak any further about that. They would only say that these arrests, Rob, were not the result of a sting.

MARCIANO: Alina Cho, thanks very much. Live for us in Toledo, Ohio -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Ethical concerns have put a California execution on indefinite hold. Now a third try of the execution of Michael Morales could take months, if it happens at all.

The victim in the case was a 17-year-old girl who was raped and then left to die in a vineyard. They live in Stockton, California. They are understandably furious in Stockton, just about 80 miles from the prison which is just outside of San Francisco.

Priya David is with our affiliate KTVU.

Priya, good morning.

PRIYA DAVID, REPORTER, KTVU: Soledad, good morning.

We have been in contact with the family of Terri Winchell. She is the teenager who Michael Morales is convicted of raping and bludgeoning to death back in 1981. They are absolutely furious.

Her father said, "I just think the whole judicial system went to hell, in my book. I cannot believe it."

Folks who were outside the prison, protesters and supporters, were very mixed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad. I'm so happy. Thank you, lord, that somebody heard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm thrilled. I'm thrilled that his life -- life has been saved. I'm thrilled that it will probably have an impact on the death penalty. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now we find another flimsy excuse to delay justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's undue pain, more pain given to the family. The family needs to see closure. I think California needs to see closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID: The delays stemmed from Morales' attorney's argument that death by lethal injection was cruel and unusual punishment because the inmate can feel the pain. Well, a judge ordered two anesthesiologists to be in the chamber with Morales to make sure he doesn't suffer any pain, but they walked off the job. Then the whole execution was rescheduled for 7:30, but a medical professional could not be found by the prison to inject Morales with the lethal drug.

So, in the end, the prison called it off entirely. And it could be several months before they can find someone, a new execution order.

Live in Sacramento County, Priya David.

Back to you, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Priya, let me ask you a quick question. There's -- they could not find one anesthesiologist in the entire state of California who would oversee this execution, is that right?

DAVID: In the end, it turned out they didn't even need an anesthesiologist. The judge's order said a medical professional. So, it was a much broader range at that point, because they were using a different drug. They didn't need to put him under at that point.

But they said -- the prison said they couldn't find anyone. And part of this is because, you know, the American Medical Association, the California Medical Association, have both spoken out strongly against this and say in their guidelines it's very clear physicians cannot harm the patient in any way.

This would obviously be harming a patient. And it's not with the patient's consent, which is the other concern.

O'BRIEN: Interesting. What an interesting case.

Priya David, of course, with our affiliate KTVU, covering this for us.

Thanks, Priya. Appreciate it.

Other stories making news, too. Kelly has got that. She's in our newsroom.

Hey, Kelly.

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Soledad.

Good morning, everyone.

We're beginning with President Bush. He says he won't back down. He is now threatening what would be the first veto of his presidency over a port security deal.

Some lawmakers, including Republicans, are up in arms over the agreement which would give control over some major U.S. ports to an Arab-based company. Critics of the transaction say it puts America's security at risk. But a White House spokesman says the U.S. should not be plaguing favorites by rejecting the deal.

Heavy rains put things on hold in the Philippines for now. Rescuers have been digging through about 100 feet of mud and debris, hoping to find any signs of life after a massive landslide last week. Officials believe more than 1,000 people may have died in that disaster.

In Mexico, family members are holding on to hope that some trapped coal miners will be found alive. About 65 miners got caught underground after a gas explosion on Sunday. So far, no contact has been made with those miners.

They have been waiting and waiting, and now a glimmer of hope for some Louisiana residents. About 300 FEMA mobile homes on their way to areas damaged by Katrina. Nearly 11,000 mobile homes have been sitting empty in the mud in Arkansas. This is the first time any of those homes are being moved to the hurricane zone.

And we're expecting to find out the answer to a real mystery today. The winning ticket for last Saturday's Powerball drawing was purchased at this store in Lincoln, Nebraska. The record jackpot, oh, just a measly $365 million. Officials are holding a news conference less than three hours from now to announce the winner or winners.

And Rob and Soledad, a crew and I were supposed to go to Lincoln, Nebraska, over the weekend for a story, but we changed plans. Had we gone, do you think we could have won the big ticket?

MARCIANO: Yes, maybe. If you shop at the U-Stop, or U-Shop, wherever they sold that thing.

WALLACE: I know. Chances are so, so, so...

O'BRIEN: Oh my god. You missed it by this much, Kelly.

WALLACE: Right, exactly.

O'BRIEN: Oh my god.

WALLACE: The odds were very much against me even if I went to Lincoln, Nebraska.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I know.

WALLACE: But, you know, you can dream if you want.

O'BRIEN: Yes, you can always dream.

MARCIANO: Well, Kelly, you know, the weather is kind of harsh out there. So...

WALLACE: That's true, too.

MARCIANO: ... you may not have liked it.

Bonnie, that was my lame transition to you in the CNN Center.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No problem.

MARCIANO: Thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Bonnie. Appreciate it.

MARCIANO: Thanks, Bonnie.

O'BRIEN: Much more is on the controversial deal to outsource U.S. ports to an Arab company this morning. President Bush says he's willing to use veto power to make it a reality. We're going to take a look at the political stakes for Mr. Bush this morning.

MARCIANO: Also, Sasha Cohen holds a lead, a very slim lead at the Olympics. Can she clinch the gold? We'll know in a couple days, but this morning we're going to go live to Torino for an Olympic update.

That's all on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: CNN "Security Watch" this morning. Call it port politics. President Bush is backing a deal to put management of six American seaports into the hands of a company based in the Middle East.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If there was any chance that this transaction would jeopardize the security of the United States, it would not go forward. The company has been cooperative with the United States government. The company will not manage port security. The security of our ports will be -- continue to be managed by the Coast Guard and Customs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Despite the assurances, some on Capitol Hill fear terrorist connections. Is it politics or is it P.R.?

CNN Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is in Washington, D.C. this morning.

Hey, Candy. Good morning. Nice to see you, as always.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good to see you.

O'BRIEN: Wow, harsh backlash. I don't even think that word goes far enough to describe what's been going on. And the names involve Frist, Hastert, Collins, Bloomberg, Pataki, not what you would normally expect. The president says he's going to veto any bill that crosses his desk that tries to kill this deal.

Why do you think he's got so much at stake here?

CROWLEY: Well, I think, first of all, what this -- all the dissent shows, particularly on the Republican side and the sort of unyielding dissent from Republicans, does show something about the president's weaknesses right now. He is very weak politically. He's in the middle of an election year where he's not running but most of his Republicans are running. So you do see a reflection of that.

What does the president have at stake? Well, he still has roughly three more years in office. To have his first veto be something that's overridden by Congress wouldn't help that whole lame duck status thing. But remember that threatening a veto and actually imposing a veto are two different things. It may at this point be jockeying.

O'BRIEN: Could be like night and day, actually, even, right?

CROWLEY: Right.

O'BRIEN: Let me ask you about this bill that is being sponsored by senators Bob Menendez and Hillary Clinton. And this is a bill that would block this deal, essentially.

Could this bill have legs, do you think?

CROWLEY: It certainly has legs rhetorically. There's a lot that happens between the introduction of a bill and the passage of it.

Clearly, Congress is wanting some say-so in this particular deal. Clearly, they are going to have to get some say-so. We've already see the hearings start, but there's a long time between now and then.

And this is also -- I mean, introducing a bill is another way to make your point both legislatively and politically. It's a little bit like threatening a veto. There's a lot of those bills out there sponsored by a number of different people who wanted to be on record as saying, I am prepared to take this to the nth degree. Bill Frist is one of those who also said that he had a bill.

So, there's a lot of jockeying that goes on and a lot of time between when legislation is first thought up and when it gets passed.

O'BRIEN: Two issues that seem to have arisen out of this debate from the Congress' point of view. The first is, many of them have said almost a version of, we didn't know anything about it. Boy, it came to a surprise to us, number one.

And then the other one is, you know, the American people aren't buying it, ergo, I am up for reelection. Ergo, I'm not going to be behind the bill.

How big of -- how big obstacles are these two things?

CROWLEY: I think the biggest one, really, is what voters think. This is a tough one to explain.

When you say -- I mean, all you have to say is, well, two of the hijackers from 9/11 were from the United Arab Emirates. And, you know, there's been some nuclear material that has gone through that port there.

This is something that doesn't seem like an area of gray to most Americans. And so we're going to let that country have control of the operations of that port? They also don't see the difference between operations and security.

So, nuance doesn't actually play well in politics. And so this is a tough one for the voters.

And it's also a year when Karl Rove, the president's political adviser, said, well, national security is certainly going to be the issue. So apparently everybody heard that. And, you know, this is an issue that many people think does not play well with voters, the issue of national security. And it's not surprising that at this particular point they would come out and say, you know, this just doesn't look good and doesn't sound good.

O'BRIEN: Well, we're going to see what they say in the end.

CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley.

Thanks, Candy, as always.

CROWLEY: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Remember, you'll want to stay with CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Rob.

MARCIANO: Coming up, there may be a link between Attention Deficit Disorder drugs and heart problems, but the FDA won't take action on it for months. What parents need to know about the potential risks next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Recent warnings about drugs to treat Attention Deficit Disorder have a lot of families worried. It's hard for parents to know whether to put their children or even themselves on these drugs.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us from the CNN Center in Atlanta to clear up the confusion.

Good morning, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.

Rob, when an FDA committee said that there might possibly be a link between drugs that treat ADHD and heart disease, it sent many people panicked, running to their doctors saying, doctor, what do I do now? I'm on this drug, or my child is on the drug. Do I need to take them off? Is the drug going to cause heart problems? What do I do?

Well, first, since a lot of these people group a lot of these drugs together, let's take a look at exactly what drugs this FDA committee was talking about.

You see one right there, Ritalin. Also involved in this is Adderall, Strattera, Concerta, Dexedrine, Focalin, Metadate and Methylin. Those are the ADHD drugs that the FDA committee was talking about.

And what they did was they looked at people who were taking this drug, and they looked at reported deaths from this drug. And what they found is that about four million people in the United States are taking these drugs.

So, out of that four million, there were 300 deaths in five years. And they found that 25 of these deaths appeared to be strongly related to the drugs and that many of these deaths were apparently from heart problems.

And so what this committee decided to recommend to the full FDA is they said, look, we think that there ought to be what's the called the black box warning. That's the strongest warning possible that tells consumers, look, there might possibly be a link. There have been these deaths apparently due to heart disease.

Now, that's a big deal if the FDA were to put on this actual warning. They haven't decided to do that. But if they do, that would, of course, send a certain message.

So, what do you do if you're on these drugs or your children are on these drugs? Well, the first thing you want to do is, before you start taking an ADHD drug, have a physical and tell your doctor if you have had heart problems, high blood pressure, seizures or fainting, or if you have a family history of sudden death, because that may put you at a higher risk for having heart problems due to the drugs.

So a lot of the responsibility is on the patient. You have to tell the doctor if you're having these problems, and then the doctor can decide if these drugs are right for you -- Rob.

MARCIANO: And I suppose, Elizabeth, if you're -- if you're a borderline case, you know, maybe you don't want to risk it. Doesn't it depend on how badly you would need these drugs?

COHEN: Absolutely. For example, if you're an adult who has ADHD, and before you went on these drugs you were getting in car accidents, which sometimes happens because your attention just wasn't -- wasn't -- wasn't there or wasn't present. Then maybe it's worth it for you to stay on these drugs even if there is a heart disease risk.

However, some people are sort of on the fence, they feel like their child isn't performing quite as well in school -- in school as they would like. They're really not sure should they, shouldn't they. Well, maybe this news about the possible heart risk will make you decide not to take the drugs.

And it's also important to remember there are alternatives. You can get counseling, for example. If it's a child, you can change some things about the child's classroom. That's a possibility. You can also talk to your doctor about possibly taking a lower dose.

MARCIANO: CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, figure skater Sasha Cohen is in the lead in Torino. She still has one major hurdle to clear before she wins Olympic gold, though. We're going to take you live to Torino this morning.

Then, in "AM Pop," Johnny Cash's oldest child, Rosanne Cash, joins us live in the studio talking about her new album and the family legacy that inspires her.

We've got that ahead. Stay with us.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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