Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

New Allegations in Leak of a CIA Agent's Identity; Late Night Wrangling Over Immigration Reform

Aired April 07, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

New allegations in the leak of a CIA agent's identity. Now Scooter Libby is pointing a finger at the Oval Office.

S. O'BRIEN: Some late night wrangling over immigration reform. Not enough so to get a deal done. We're live on Capitol Hill with the very latest.

M. O'BRIEN: Tales of horror in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. But will he get the death penalty?

S. O'BRIEN: An unexpected spring break trip right down the side of a mountain. Listen...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I remember is lying and my seatbelt holding me right here and bumping around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: We'll tell you how this family managed to ride out a major avalanche in their SUV.

M. O'BRIEN: And tornadoes, high winds and hail. Severe weather pummeling the Heartland once again. We'll have the latest forecast with you Chad. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

President Bush at the center of a rekindled firestorm over that CIA leak case today. The vice president's former top staffer has told a grand jury that it was Mr. Bush who authorized him to leak classified information.

Elaine Quijano at the White House with more on this. Good morning, Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

Well, as you might expect, the White House is neither confirming nor denying the testimony revealed in those new court papers filed by the special prosecutor in this case, Patrick Fitzgerald, but these documents suggest that back in 2003 when the White House was engaged in a very vigorous pushback campaign, if you will, to rebut critics of the Iraq War, that in fact, the go ahead to release some previously classified intel may have come from the very highest level, from President Bush himself.

Now that is the assertion being made by the vice president's former top aide "Scooter" Libby, who is facing perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Now, according to the prosecutor's statement, Libby, quote, "testified that the vice president advised him that the president had authorized the defendant to disclose relevant portions of NIE," end quote. Now the NIE, of course, the highly classified National Intelligence Estimate, parts of which we knew already, Miles, the White House had declassified in order to refute critics in the absence of WMD in Iraq, and of course the most prominent critic at the time, was the former Ambassador Joe Wilson. It was his wife Valerie Plame, a CIA employee, whose identity was disclosed, and the investigation into that particular leak eventually leading to the charges against Scooter Libby.

Now it is important to note there's no suggestion that the president or the vice president broke the law. In fact, the president certainly has a legal authority to declassify intelligence information, intelligence or this kind of a document, but Democrats only have been quick to pounce. They say that whether or not it may have been legal, they question whether other sources might have been burned as a result of what they say was Libby's license to leak -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, but just to clarify, the president does have the authority to release intelligence information at his discretion. So I guess what is he -- I mean, there's probably semantic discussion as to whether that's a leak.

QUIJANO: Well, absolutely. And in fact, the senior aide that I talked to said, look, in response to the some of these critics who say that President Bush has been highly critical in the past of leakers, and for now this revolution to come out certainly does not look good for him politically, they draw a distinction.

What they say it's that a leak such as the leak that led to the disclosure of that secret NSA surveillance program, far different, they say, because that's an active, sort of ongoing operation going on. Far different, they say, then what might have taken place here. And again, they're not confirming or denying Libby's testimony, but they say there is a distinction to be made. They point out, as well, that parts of the NIA were disclosed, were declassified, and they don't see it as a same kind of situation -- Miles.

S. O'BRIEN: Elaine Quijano at the White House this morning, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it sort of looked like a Senate deal on immigration reform was imminent, but now there's another impasse that could lead to an even longer delay.

CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel is live for us on Capitol Hill for us this morning.

Andrea, good morning.

What exactly is the hold up here?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, good morning to you. The Senate is going to be back in session at 8:30 this morning when the hold up is going to be front and center. That is, there's supposed to be a procedural vote on a compromise bill that Republican and Democratic leaders yesterday had announced as a kind of a breakthrough, but then, by late last night, it appeared there was yet another deadlock. This time over amendments that Republicans say they need to offer up, need to put on the floor of the Senate. The Democrats say will put a fragile compromise on shaky ground.

Needless to say, by last late night, the frustration was evident on both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FRIST (R), MAJORITY LEADER: The problem is unless the Senate is able to work its will, we are not going to be able to ever finish a bill. In everything we want to do, all the good we want to do in addressing immigration is going to come to naught.

If not for them, the legislation could move forward. We would head into recess with a bipartisan victory for the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now that compromise was supposed to lay out a path to citizenship for an estimated 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants living in this country. But as one Republican senator described it last night. He said, if you think our borders are broken, you should see the Senate.

Soledad, they're going to be leaving later today. They're supposed to be leaving on the spring vacation. And it's entirely possible they could be leaving without any agreement -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That's disappointing.

All right, Andrea Koppel for us this morning. Andrea, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: More heart wrenching testimony expected Monday at the Zacarias Moussaoui trial. Yesterday, the government began the final push for the death penalty, with testimony from 9/11 family members and from New York's former mayor.

Here's CNN's Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prosecutors want jurors to hold Zacarias Moussaoui responsible for the horrors of 9/11 and decide that he should be executed.

And to remind the jury of exactly how horrible those attacks were, they showed dramatic videotape like this, and made jurors relive the tragedy of people jumping to their deaths from the World Trade Center.

They were shown pictures of body parts lying in the streets, blocking rescue crews. And they heard former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani describe the stench of burned flesh that permeated New York City for weeks.

Abraham Scott, who lost his wife on 9/11, has listened to most of the testimony.

ABRAHAM SCOTT, HUSBAND OF SEPTEMBER 11 VICTIM: We were all in tears when they were showing the excerpt of the plane hitting the -- the Twin Towers, people jumping out of -- out of the towers, trying to save their lives, people on fire. It -- it was just -- it was just horrific.

ARENA: For the most part, the jury remained stone-faced. But at least two members had to fight off tears during the day. The same panel of nine men and three women who decided that Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty will now decide whether he gets it.

Following Giuliani's testimony, jurors heard from the families and friends of some of the nearly 3,000 victims. New York police officer Jim Smith spoke about his wife, Moira, also an officer, who died helping evacuate people from the World Trade Center.

Breaking down, Smith said he now tells his little girl her mom was a hero.

Tony Sensaviro (ph) told of his friend, firefighter Danny Suhr, who was killed when he was struck by a falling body. One expert consulted by Moussaoui's defense said it's going to be very difficult for the jury to focus on the legal facts.

DAVID BRUCK, DIRECTOR, VIRGINIA CAPITAL CASE CLEARINGHOUSE: Whether this jury or any jury composed of human beings is going to be in any shape to do that, after they have been subjected to the extravaganza of grief and agony that the government has carefully, over these last few years, planned and stage-managed, after shopping around for the most heartrending week of testimony it could possibly find, that's a very, very open question.

ARENA: In opening arguments, Moussaoui's defense team urged jurors to keep an open mind. They say their experts have diagnosed Moussaoui a paranoid schizophrenic, reason enough to spare him execution. Moussaoui was in the courtroom listening, laughing at times, at other times, seemingly bored with it all.

(on camera): After hearing testimony about people dying in the flames of the World Trade Center, as he was leaving the courtroom, Moussaoui started singing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA," except that he changed the words to "burn in the USA." Kelli Arena, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: The Moussaoui jury will also hear cockpit recordings from United flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11. Stay tuned to CNN for news about your security --Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it was a congressional about-face from Cynthia McKinney, the Georgia Democrat who claimed that her scuffle with a Capitol Hill Police officer was a case of racial profiling. She's now apologizing for the incident. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D), GEORGIA: I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all, and I regret its escalation. And I apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: McKinney is accused of hitting the officer when he tried to stop her from entering a House office building last week. A grand jury is now investigating that case.

M. O'BRIEN: A family's spring break trip sends them tumbling down a mountain in the SUV, but we're happy to tell you they came out of the snow safe and sound, a little bit banged up, but amazing story to tell.

Here's Jeb Bowl (ph) with our KSL in Little Wood Canyon, Utah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEB BOWL (ph), KSL REPORTER: Michael Thomas, his wife and five young kids skied in blizzard conditions all day. But it was the drive down the mountain the St. Louis family will never forget. They picked up two Alta workers bumming a ride and they headed down the ice- packed road.

MICHAEL THOMAS, FATHER: Driving down the road. Next thing you know, we're off the road and tumbling, and you just thought, oh my God. This must be an avalanche.

BOWL: Their large SUV went over the edge in White Pine Sled area, halfway up the canyon. They landed hanging upside down in seatbelts. One of the teenager workers kicked out a window. Thomas estimated they rolled 100 to 150 feet down the canyon.

ADAM THOMAS, SURVIVED AVALANCHE: And I remember lying and my seatbelt holding me right here and bumping around.

BOWL: Amazingly, no one was hurt. The worst of it was scrapes and bruises on 10-year-old Adam's face. His two younger brothers and two younger sisters are fine. The rescue crews were amazed. SGT. TODD GRIFFITHS, SALT LAKE CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: When we got to it, there was little kids climbing up out of the snow, you know, covered in snow, little 3-year-old snowballs coming out of there. So it was pretty exciting to see they were all OK.

BOWL: Little Cottonwood Canyon was closed all afternoon for avalanche control. It was reopened around 5:00 p.m., about an hour before the Thomas family drove down.

M. THOMAS: Just a little shaken up, but fabulous condition. Happy to be alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: That report was from Jeb Bowl of KSL. Crews in Little Cottonwood Canyon hope to have all the roads open there later this morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: It's going to be another windy, rainy day for much of Kansas today. Nothing, though, like they say on Thursday, when a number of tornadoes and funnel clouds were spotted across the state. Take look at this one right here. Look at that. Amazing. No serious injuries, fortunately, reported. This particular twister was reported moving at about 50 miles per hour.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, much more on the latest headache in the Oval Office. It seems that President Bush may have OK'd the leak of classified prewar intelligence on Iraq. We're going to take a look at whether it leaves the president with a big credibility gap today.

M. O'BRIEN: A verdict expected today in "The Da Vinci Code" trial. Who will come out on top? It is a real page-turner. We'll go live to London.

S. O'BRIEN: Plus, the baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. joins us live in the studio. He's got a new book out about making sure that your kids get the best experience when they're playing sports. Got advice for parents. Pretty cool book.

M. O'BRIEN: Better listen up.

S. O'BRIEN: That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: An accusing finger is being pointed at the Oval Office by the vice president's former top aide Scooter Libby. Court documents indicate the authorization to leak classified prewar intelligence may have come from the very top of the Bush administration.

CNN's chief national correspondent John King joins us from Washington. Hey, John, good morning to you.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Go ahead, John.

KING: No, please, you.

S. O'BRIEN: I was just going to run through, before I let you talk, I wanted to kind of take a look back at what the president has said over time about what he would do, his response, if, in fact, there was leaking, and it was someone in his administration.

So let's listen first. Then I'll get to questions for you. September 30th, here's the first thing the president said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATE: If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is. And if the person is violated law, that person will be taken care of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: A week later, October 7th -- same year -- 2003, here's what he said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: This is a town of -- that -- where a lot of people leak. And I've constantly expressed my displeasure with leaks, particularly with leaks of classified information, and I want to know. I want to know the truth. I want to see to it that the truth prevail. And I hope we can get this investigation done and in a thorough way as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: In a nutshell, John, the president casting himself as an observer, when it appears now that he's the one that authorized the leak of secret intelligence. Is it really just as simple as that?

KING: Well, it is certainly to the Democrats as simple as that, which is why you hear so loudly charges of hypocrisy, saying that this president, who has repeatedly chastised the Congress for being the source of classified information. Remember when the eavesdropping program became public, the White House said it was appalled that "The New York Times" would have a source that would give it this classified information.

Now the White House would say when the president was asked questions about Valerie Plame and the leak of the CIA operative, he was speaking in the context of who leaked her name, and he is a president, who as you just in those clips repeatedly said leaking classified information is an awful thing. Now Scooter Libby, his former top aide, the vice president's former chief of staff, has told the grand jury he had the president's authorization to leak classified information. So in the political context it certainly turns what the Democrats think is quite a damaging light on the president.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, because, legally, technically the president can do it. Politically is sort of another story. What do you think the political fallout is for the president?

KING: Well, the political fallout is he's now going to deal with questions about this at a time he's 30-something percent in the polls. He's trying to defend the unpopular war in Iraq right now. He's trying to get some momentum, some traction in his second term. And what every Republican in this town would tell you, and even some Democrats probably would tell you, the president needs a break if he's going to get back on track. He needs a good period of time, two, three weeks of forward momentum on an issue. And it seems every time they think they're beginning to maybe turn the corner a little bit at the White House, something like this comes up, an opening for the Democrats to hit him.

And it's not just an opening for the Democrats to hit him, there is a question of how can you so often chastise others for leaking classified information when it appearance, at least in this one case, you authorized it.

Now the president can do this. He has the legal right, but there's a political dynamic to this case. It's a fascinating legal case as well, but there's a great political dynamic, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, if the president was looking for a break, this isn't going to be it right now.

The president's alleged role comes in this 39-page documents that was submitted to district court by the chief prosecutor. He has consistently, I think it's fair to say, revealed some embarrassing details about the administration, you know, while the administration continues to support him.

KING: The administration has always said that it believes Mr. Fitzgerald is being a professional, that he's being very thorough, that he has not had any political motives in the investigation to its degree.

But I will tell you, Soledad, I spoke to two senior officials in the White House yesterday who are beginning to wonder a little bit. What they see happening here is Scooter Libby is asking for the sky and the moon. He wants just about every document that passed through during the relevant portion of this case. The prosecutor has voiced frustration with that, saying why don't we deal with the specific charges against Mr. Libby? He doesn't need the documents he's requesting.

But if the judge gives him access to these documents, inside the White House, they're beginning to think that Mr. Fitzgerald, in his legal responses, is beginning to poke a bit, if you will, serve notice that he's there. And it was Mr. Fitzgerald who first disclosed that some e-mails were missing from the vice president's office. They have since found. It's no big issue anymore. But that was a Fitzgerald disclosure. It was Fitzgerald who first disclosed that Scooter Libby testified his superiors had authorized him to have these conversations with reporters. That was the first hint we had that either the vice president or the president said you can leak this information.

And now, of course, in this latest filing by Mr. Fitzgerald, he says, Mr. Libby says, it was the president who specifically authorized him to leak classified information. We should be careful not to leak the name of the CIA operative. That is not the charge against Mr. Libby. But certainly Mr. Fitzgerald in some of his filing has not only added to the legal debate, but given us the evidence, if you will, the fodder for the political debate, as well.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that.

Chief national correspondent John King for us this morning. He's in Washington D.C. Thanks, John -- Miles.

KING: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, more trouble in Motor City. Word this morning of another big shakeup at one of the nation's big car makers.

Andy has that story, "Minding Your Business." Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... what it's all about, and that's what I heard about, Katrina and how weather is cruel...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Straight ahead, FEMA tries to fix its broken image as it cleans up the devastation in tornado-ravaged Tennessee.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up in our 8:00 Eastern hour, part three of the A.M. Tax Guide. Are you one of the millions of Americans getting a refund this year? Do you know what the average refund is this year, do you know?

SERWER: No.

M. O'BRIEN: About $2500.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

M. O'BRIEN: Too much! People, do not let the IRS keep your money. Come on!

S. O'BRIEN: Overpaying them during the year.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll get the executive director of "Forbes" magazine -- forbes.com, will show us what to do with the money. Soledad has some shoes in mind.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's see, $2500, how many shoes? Not very many, I'll tell you that. It is about two pairs of Jimmy Choos, I think.

A verdict expected today also in "The Da Vinci Code" trial. Is it a big win or a big loss? We're going to take you live to London for a look at that.

Plus, future baseball Hall-of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. joins us live in the studio. He's got a new book out for parents with kids who are playing sports. He'll share his keys for helping kids do well without pressure on them.

That's ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com