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American Morning

Hollywood's Gold Rush; Moussaoui Trial

Aired March 06, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.
Hollywood glamour took center stage at the Oscars last night, but it was a lesser known party crasher that came out on top.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Port politics. Congress not backing down in its fight with the White House over that Dubai deal.

COSTELLO: Reliving 9/11. Sentencing begins today for the man convicted of aiding al Qaeda.

O'BRIEN: The Pentagon takes a new look at the friendly-fire death of Pat Tillman, and it could lead to a criminal prosecution.

COSTELLO And bashing bumpers. A new look at the best and the worst in safety, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

O'BRIEN: And we begin with "The Oscars." In a field full of art house films, no big blockbusters. "Crash" scored a bigtime upset at the 78th Annual Academy Awards.

CNN's Sibila Vargas -- have you been up all night?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have been up all night. I have not slept.

O'BRIEN: You look marvelous as always..

VARGAS: Thank you. I just hope I sound OK.

O'BRIEN: You sound great. Take it away, Sibila.

VARGAS: The annual Academy Awards spread the love last night, for sure. Oscars welcomed new faces to its family. And again, when it came to the highly anticipated best picture race, let's just say it went out with a bang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACK NICHOLSON, ACTOR: And the Oscar goes to -- "Crash."

VARGAS (voice-over): The big win and the big surprise of the night for best picture, "Crash."

CATHY SCHULMAN, PRODUCER, "CRASH": We are humbled by the other nominees in this category. You have made this year one of the most breathtaking and stunning maverick years in American cinema. VARGAS: The maverick small-budget film about race and class upset the much-buzzed front-runner "Brokeback Mountain," but it wasn't a total shutout for the cowboy romance. "Brokeback Mountain's" Ang Lee used the film's signature line when accepting the award for best director.

ANG LEE, BEST DIRECTOR: I wish I knew how to quit you.

VARGAS: "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart hosted the evening with a mix of his classic political humor.

JON STEWART, HOST: Bjork couldn't be here tonight. She was trying on her Oscar dress, and Dick Cheney shot her.

VARGAS: And a few jokes at the expense of Hollywood.

STEWART: "Goodnight and Good Luck," which is not just Edward R. Murrow's sign off, it's also how Mr. Clooney ends all of his dates.

VARGAS: George Clooney, nominated for three Academy Awards for two different films, took home the first Oscar of the night for best supporting actor in "Syriana." Clooney praised Oscar voters for their willingness to award out of the mainstream films.

GEORGE CLOONEY, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: I'm proud to be a part of this Academy, Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch.

VARGAS: "The Constant Gardener's" Rachel Weisz won the Oscar for best supporting actress. The best actor award, as most industry experts predicted went to "Capote" to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

And the man of the evening thanked his mom.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, BEST ACTOR: Be proud, mom, because I'm proud of you. And we're here tonight, and it's so good.

VARGAS: Reese Witherspoon won the best actress award for her portrayal of June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line." She thanked her grandmother.

REESE WITHERSPOON, BEST ACTRESS: My grandmother was one of the biggest inspirations of my life. She taught me how to be a real woman.

VARGAS: And also honored, the woman she played.

WITHERSPOON: People used to ask June how she was doing, and she used to say, I'm just trying to matter. And I know what she means, you know? I'm just trying to matter, and live a good life and make work that means something.

VARGAS: A significant night for all of the Oscar winners.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VARGAS: Of course Reese Witherspoon and Philip Seymour Hoffman took home SAG and Golden Globe Awards earlier this year. You might remember that.

But when it came to Oscar gold, the big surprise, of course, of the night went to "Crash," which snagged the coveted best picture award.

Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Sibila Vargas working all night long for us, thank you very much -- Carol.

COSTELLO: In the news this morning, the sentencing trial of confessed al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui begins in earnest later today, after a jury of 12, along with six alternates, is seated.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve is live in Alexandria, Virginia.

Jeanne, you scored an exclusive with Zacarias' mother. What did she have to say?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she said that she hopes her son gets a fair trial, but she has some concern that he'll be made a scapegoat for the 9/11 attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): Prosecutors will argue Zacarias Moussaoui should die because he concealed from the FBI his knowledge of al Qaeda agents in the United States.

To win a death sentence, prosecutors must first persuade the jury that Moussaoui's lying, which he confessed to, directly resulted in people dying on 9/11.

ANDY MCCARTHY, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: If his lies really did stop the agents from breaking up the conspiracy, we'd have 3,000 people alive today who aren't, so he is as responsible in terms of somebody who committed activity that resulted in the death of Americans, as the people who actually were on the plane and carried this out.

MESERVE: Moussaoui, who has pled guilty to terrorism conspiracy, has denied having a direct role in the 9/11 plot. He says he was being trained for a different al Qaeda mission, to fly a plane into the White House.

Prosecutors will argue the training was very similar to that of the 9/11 hijackers. But the defense is expected to use summaries of interrogations of key al Qaeda detainees, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Muhammad, to argue that Moussaoui should not be linked to that attack.

Some of the evidence, as attorneys will present, will point the finger at the government for failing to detect the plot, even though it was well known al Qaeda wanted to strike in the U.S. Exhibit one, the government's failed search in August 2001 for two al Qaeda agents who would turn out to be hijackers aboard the plan that struck the Pentagon.

But a large hurdle for the defense may be the client himself. Moussaoui, who was pledging to testify, had several outbursts at the beginning of jury selection, proclaiming "I'm al Qaeda," and calling his attorneys' names.

ANDREW MCBRIDE, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: They want to say that Moussaoui was not really committed to this plot, and that Moussaoui was a bumbler, and that Moussaoui had psychological problems, and Moussaoui, himself, rejects those arguments. He doesn't want the jury to believe that he was a bumbler. He wants them to believe that he was a high-ranking member of al Qaeda.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: This jury will hear evidence from the 9/11 attacks. They will hear the voice recorder from the plane that went down in Pennsylvania. They will also hear testimony from the family member of victims.

Back to you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Let's talk a little bit about what his mother said about him. Has she been able to talk to her son?

MESERVE: No. She has not been able to talk to him and to see him, very little communication with him in recent months. And in fact, their relationship has been somewhat spotty. She says he left home and went to England, and their conversations have been somewhat sporadic since that time.

What was interesting was asking about her son's innocence. She says she just is hoping that the truth would come out here. She did not say definitively, one way or another, whether or not she felt he was innocent or guilty, but she did say it didn't seem logical to her that he would know about the 9/11 attacks, even if he had been in training for al Qaeda, because she said information was so compartmentalized within that organization -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jeanne Meserve reporting live from Alexandria, Virginia, thank you.

O'BRIEN: The U.S. army is taking another look at that friendly fire death of former NFL star Pat Tillman. This is the fifth formal investigation. This time, it is criminal. Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

The death of a well-known soldier in Afghanistan still apparently unresolved.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): Almost two years after the death of Corporal Pat Tillman, the NFL player, turned Army Ranger, the Army will open a criminal probe to determine if any fellow soldiers should be held responsible for his death. Tillman died in a firefight in the mountains of Afghanistan in April 2004 in what was eventually ruled to be friendly fire, killed by fellow Rangers in the confusion of battle.

The Pentagon's inspector general has now ruled that while there were fact-finding reviews, the Army failed to ever conduct a criminal probe, and did not consider the possibility of negligent homicide. The Army's criminal investigative division, the CID, will now take over.

GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The investigation is taking place now with regard to the possibility of criminal charges, and there is no indication that there would be, just indication that it was not specifically looked at.

STARR: Tillman gained national attention when he walked away from a $3.6 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals to become an Army Ranger after the 9/11 attacks. His unit was on patrol when his group was separated from the others. Shooting broke out. Tillman's fellow soldiers fired at targets without realizing they were firing at him. Although the Rangers quickly knew something had gone terribly wrong, it was weeks before the news became public.

LT. GEN. PHILLIP KENSINGER, U.S. ARMY: The investigation results indicate that Corporal Tillman probably died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces.

STARR: Seven members of the elite Ranger unit were punished, mostly for dereliction of duty in failing to communicate with their troops, and failure to maintain fire discipline in combat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Miles, this investigation could be very tough. Some key evidence, such as portions of Corporal Tillman's bloodied uniform were burned at the time. Some members of the unit have now left military service, so the question is, was this something as a result of confusion of fog of war, or was there some sort of negligent homicide involved -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Barbara, you have to wonder why the question wasn't asked in the first place, if there was any sort of criminality. In other words, why wasn't there a comprehensive investigation from the beginning?

STARR: Well, you know, that is exactly the point that the inspector general has now made almost two years later. They went back, they reviewed all of the previous investigations, and simply found that a criminal probe under criminal procedures, criminal investigatory roles had not been done. But there is a bit of a mystery here, Miles. What we don't know is whether this is just procedural, checking the box, doing a criminal probe, or there may be some piece of evidence or something in the record they found that led them to order this probe to be undertaken. Nobody is really talking about the specifics, but it is very unusual, we are told.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

Coming up in just a few moments, we will ask a military law expert why the military didn't conduct a proper investigation in the first place -- Carol.

COSTELLO: The search for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans picks up the pace today. The cadaver-sniffing dogs used since last week will be back on the job this morning. They're going to get some help. The Corps of Engineers is bringing in heavy equipment. On Sunday, searchers found a man's body in the attic of a house.

In West Virginia, a dramatic rescue from atop a 100-story smokestack is followed by questions about safety. Three of four workers trapped when a fire broke out in the power plant smokestack on Saturday. They were rescued by helicopter. The men had been installing a fiberglass lining. The fourth man is presumed to have died. The father of one of the men says his son complained about safety issues just days before the incident.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Coming up, a U.S. soldier forever changed by the war in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was thinking about my wife, and I knew that I was going to die. There was no question about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: He thought it was over, but thanks to a special place in Texas, he and other soldiers are finding new hope.

COSTELLO: Also the insurance industry is out with its new car crash safety test. We'll tell you what car passed and what car failed.

O'BRIEN: And I guess you can call it son of Ma Bell maybe? A huge phone company...

COSTELLO: Sounds like a horror movie.

O'BRIEN: It does. Maybe it will be, who knows?

A huge phone company merger could affect you, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

COSTELLO: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a wounded soldier's remarkable story of survival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I remember thinking, why aren't they calling my name? I must be dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Tragedy left him without his legs, but thanks to a unique center in Texas, he's found a way to start his life over.

Also next, President Bush returns from India and Pakistan and finds a big ol' headache waiting for him at home. We'll take you live to the White House. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

COSTELLO: President Bush's four-day Asian trip did little to change a big headache back at home, and that would be that opposition to the ports management deal. Kathleen Koch joins us live from the White House.

Kathleen, what's new about that this morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, you know that controversy over federal plans to turn over the operations of those six U.S. port terminals to this Dubai company really has -- remains front and center this week. The controversy not dissipating whatsoever while the president was overseas for much of the week, returning to the White House with the first lady early Sunday morning.

And in fact two key Republican lawmakers are now insisting that the process by which the U.S. approves the foreign management of facilities that are critical to national security be overhauled. Those lawmakers, California Congressman Duncan Hunter and Maine Senator Susan Collins, say that they both plan to introduce legislation to change it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R), HOMELAND SECURITY CMTE. CHMN.: I think the process right now is deeply flawed. It's too weighed toward investment concerns, when the purpose should be and needs to be national and homeland security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now the president has threatened to veto any congressional attempts to block the ports deal. The president warning that such an action could alienate a country that's truly a key ally in the Persian Gulf region. A White House spokesperson yesterday telling CNN that the administration, quote, "welcomes discussions with members of Congress on the process," and would be talking with lawmakers about their ideas -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Why isn't the president bending a little? I mean, what's behind this that he won't bend even a little from his threats of a veto?

KOCH: Well, again, Carol, the White House really does believe that just because this company is based in the Persian Gulf, is based in the Middle East, that does not mean that it is a threat to U.S. security. The administration says, again -- and the head of this Dubai company -- that the United States, U.S. federal entities, would still be in charge of maintaining security at these ports, that this company would simply be administering these terminals at these facilities, and that really it would not pose a threat, but clearly lawmakers are not convinced, even Republicans.

COSTELLO: No, they're not.

Kathleen Koch reporting live from the White House this morning, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

COSTELLO: Wolf Blitzer will be live from Dubai this afternoon and tonight, at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., in a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM."

O'BRIEN: Our kids are getting fatter, and there is no end in sight to this troubling trend. Nearly half the kids in North and South America, nearly half of them, will be obese in the next four years. This comes from the International Journal of Pediatric Obesity. It says this is part of really of a worldwide epidemic.

Now here's the troubling prediction. Think about this one this morning. If this continues, this will be the first generation to have a lower life expectancy than their parents.

The insurance industry is releasing its latest car crash test results. We'll tell you which cars made the grade and which ones still need a little bit of work.

And later, backstage at the Oscars. Speaking of "Crash," candid comments from the big winners on Hollywood's big night.

Stay with us for that.

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