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American Morning

Author: Duke University Rape Allegations Part of Trend; Disneyworld Opens Everest Expedition Ride

Aired April 07, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Good morning. We're glad you're with us this morning. We've got lots happening right now. Let's get right to Carol Costello in the news room.

Carol, good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": That's not "Your Money."

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone.

We are looking at the situation in Iraq now. I have a little more information to tell you. That deadly attack did indeed take place at a mosque. Officials now confirming to CNN that at least one of the attackers was a suicide bomber who managed to get inside of a Shiite mosque. Police initially believed the explosions were because of mortar attacks. At least four people have been killed, but we do expect that number to rise. Dozens of people now wounded.

After all the huffing and puffing over new immigration laws, it looks like the measure might die. Squabbling over procedures brought the Senate floor to a standstill. Lawmakers are back at work, but a two-week break begins tonight. So the question now: can an immigration bill be ironed out before the senators leave for their break?

President Bush is sharing breakfast and a prayer. He is speaking right now at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington. You see him being introduced. The president will share the podium with a bishop from Wisconsin. The bishop is not exactly bono. The U2 rocker joined the president for a multi-denominational breakfast earlier this year.

With hurricane season just two months away, President Bush is getting a new FEMA director. He's nominating David Paulison to the post. Paulison is the acting director of the agency. He unofficially took over when Michael Brown stepped down.

And one of the biggest mysteries in "The Da Vinci Code" could be involved in the next hour. That's when we expect the verdict in a highly publicized trial involving author Dan Brown. Two British authors claim Brown copied parts of their nonfiction novel (sic), "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". Sugar Ray is sweet again. The man once selected as the top boxer of the 20th Century is getting his own stamp. The Sugar Ray Robinson 39-center is set to be unveiled today at New York's Madison Square Garden. His son says Robinson would have considered that an honor, for him, for God and the community.

A look at the headline this is morning. Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks very much, Carol.

The Duke University rape scandal is certainly not the first case accusing college athletes of a violent crime. In fact, studies seem to show that male student athletes have a greater propensity for violence than non-athletes. Jeff Benedict is the author of several books on sports and violence. He joins us this morning.

Nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

JEFF BENEDICT, AUTHOR: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Give me your sense. What is your first take of what's happening at Duke University right now?

BENEDICT: Well, this case is a little unusual, Soledad. I mean, normally when you see an athlete in the news for a rape case, it's an athlete. That is a whole team that's been implicated in an incident that's been, you know, extremely widely reported.

And I think what it shows is there's a deeper problem here, and it has to do with sort of social behaviors and social norms that have become more acceptable in some of these group settings that really aren't normal.

S. O'BRIEN: That's what your studies have certainly seemed to bear out. And we really should take this moment to emphasize that nobody's been charged with anything, that DNA results are still pending.

But I'm curious to know if you think, for example, the coach, Mike Pressler, should have been -- he resigned. But do you think he had to go?

BENEDICT: Well, I think it was a -- probably a good move on his part, and I think it was the right thing for the university to end the season early. I mean, these are sort of affirmative steps that acknowledge that there's clearly a problem here, and sometimes universities aren't that quick to do things like that. And that was the right thing to do here.

S. O'BRIEN: You looked at some studies looking at assault charges overall. We've got some results back, you know, from 1995, but you say in the general population, 8.5 percent of the general population is ever charged with assault. But in the population of athletes, that number skyrockets to 36.8 percent are charged with assault. That's pretty shocking. BENEDICT: Well, if you look at college campuses, it's more like 19 percent. And, I think one of the reasons that there's a higher, you know, likelihood for being accused of these crimes, at least in a college setting, is these guys are treated very differently when they get on campus. It's not just that they have scholarships and go to school for free. But, there's a lot of things about their whole environment where they're treated differently and they're not very often told no.

And that doesn't make, you know, every athlete a bad guy. Most of the athletes are good guys, but some guys, when you give them all these entitlements and these liberties, they get abused, and particularly when it involves situations like alcohol and women and those kinds of things that these guys get involved in.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's look at stats again. You say the general population, 80 percent conviction rate for that percentage that's charged with assault. Eighty percent convicted. In the athlete population, that number 38 percent. Is that because, hey, they've been unfairly accused, or is it because they're getting off scot-free?

BENEDICT: Well, there's two things. If you're an athlete, whether it's pro or college, and you get accused of one of these offenses, there's almost no doubt that you're going to be -- you're going to be covered in the news much more aggressively than someone else who's accused of one of these offenses.

The flip side of that is that these guys have benefits in the legal system that most accused offenders don't have. They have spokesmen around them like highly respected coaches and people in the community who defend them.

They're able to afford the best legal defense, which many times an accused rapist doesn't have. These guys get the best lawyers. They get the best private investigators. They get a safety net around them.

And they get the benefit of the doubt because when you pit one of these guys and their good reputation against someone who is portrayed often as a stripper or a prostitute or these other negative connotations that are often put on the girl or the woman or the accuser, those things all work against her in the justice system.

S. O'BRIEN: Outside of the specifics of the Duke lacrosse team, do you think this is an indication of a bigger societal problem? Not just athletes and how they're treated on campus?

BENEDICT: I do. And I think actually you can sort of set the athlete thing aside for a minute. Really, what this boils down to is you've got a group of young men who happen to be lacrosse players. And this activity that led up to this alleged incident is rife with -- with social problems.

And I think what it does is it underscores -- we've really let our guard down. We've moved the boundaries of what's socially acceptable for -- for people in this age group. And I don't think it's all that shocking, actually, when you consider all the things that young men in this age group are now being exposed to through videos, through magazines, through movies, through music, and this is just an extension of that. What you're seeing is them doing what they've been watching.

S. O'BRIEN: Author Jeff Benedict, the author of several books about sports and violence, thanks for talking with us.

BENEDICT: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Thirty-seven minutes past the hour. Time to check on the weather with Chad.

Hey, Chad, what are you looking at now?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Thank you very much, Chad Myers.

I guess you call it into humid air. Everest meets the Everglades, as Disneyworld unveils its latest thrill machine, Expedition Everest. Will it be the very summit in roller coaster fun? Certainly, the creative cabal at Disney hopes so. They call them Imagineers. Disney's head Imagineer, Joe Rohde, takes us on an adventure, how Everest went from concept to reality.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE ROHDE, WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING: We flew by helicopter from Katmandu to just the dry river bed of the Kaligangoke (ph) River. Just this vast gravel plain, you know, with mountains on either side. The helicopter drops us off, out come the duffel bags, and it's gone.

And we're alone on this flat river bed in the middle of nowhere and have to pick up all of our bags and basically hike to the nearest town, set ourselves up there. And then we got horses from there, little Tibetan ponies.

We would make these day trips. We would ride out to a village and ride out to another village. Take our photographs. You know, do our sketches, absorb all the information and then come back to our home base.

And we did that for days until we felt we had enough, and then we returned to Katmandu, met with all of our wood carvers again, the wood carvers and the people creating the crafts for us there. Got everything tied up together and then returned to the design offices.

It's important to remember that as Imagineers, we are creating these places. We're not copying places. We're creating a place. And so we're looking for those details that line up with our story goal. It's not enough to just replicate a place. Because then you've got all kinds of details that aren't relevant.

We're looking for the relevant details that will propel our story forward and imbue this place with a very specific feeling. In this case, a feeling of reverence and respect and awe for these unseen forces of nature that surround this village, which include the forces behind the legend of the yeti.

The point is that this is not a dressed up roller coaster. We don't do that. Anybody can go buy a roller coaster and stick fake rocks on it and then call it Amazing Himalayan Adventure. And it's not. Right? It has no roots. It has no depth. It has no pith.

This is an experience that people can come and have at many, many levels. And for some of them, it is exactly the physical experience of going fast, you know, on a mountain. Period. But for others, there is more and more and more to be absorbed so that you can come back to this experience forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: I don't know. Does your lobe hurt a little bit? Imagine that ear for the Imagineer. You know?

Interesting side note: the Himalayan replica they built is supposedly now Florida's tallest peak. Does that exceed the vehicle assembly building at NASA? We'll have to get right down to the bottom of that one.

S. O'BRIEN: That is a tall peak?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's a peak.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a mountain. It's a vehicle assembly building.

M. O'BRIEN: A man-made structure. I mean, I don't know.

S. O'BRIEN: I don't know either.

After the break this morning, we're going to talk to Disney's head man, Bob Iger. He's going to join us live from Orlando to tell us a little bit more about the new ride. There he is right now. And we're going to ask him, also a little business news about the challenges that he's faced since he's taken over the company. That's just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: You just heard a few moments ago about Expedition Everest. Certain to bring new excitement to the Animal Kingdom and maybe even the stock price, as well.

Bob Iger is the president and CEO of the Walt Disney Company. He joins us from right in front of the attraction in Orlando.

Nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us this morning.

BOB IGER, PRESIDENT/CEO, WALT DISNEY COMPANY: Good morning. You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: We heard just a moment ago from the Imagineers: choppering in, working with the wood carvers to get everything exactly right. How big a deal, how much are you relying on Expedition Everest to really bring more people into the Animal Kingdom?

IGER: Well, we really believe that new attractions like this that tell great stories and are highly Imagineered and leave people with great memories and great experiences have real value for the company near term and long term. And we continue to invest in our properties around the world like Walt Disney World.

So this is important but Walt Disney World is in top shape. It's doing extremely well, and this is just one more step to make Walt Disney World one of the greatest destinations in the world for families.

S. O'BRIEN: Some of these rides look really scary. We're looking at videotape as I talk to you right now. You taken the ride yet?

IGER: I have. I've ridden it a couple of times. I actually rode it last night. It was the first time I rode it at night. It's a great experience. It's a great experience.

S. O'BRIEN: Is it scary?

IGER: No. It's not scary. It is a tremendous adventure. Maybe that's a euphemism. I don't know. It's a good -- it's a good experience.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, the old "it's a tremendous adventure." The detail in that...

IGER: You have to -- Soledad, you have to like ride riding a coaster, No. 1.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

IGER: Even though this -- as Joe said, this isn't just any coaster. And you have to like riding it backwards, which is a unique experience but one that's really worthwhile.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Detail and effort as we heard from Joe. I mean, pretty amazing. You know, they spent so much time and effort and money, frankly, working on getting the yeti exactly right and you never even really get a good glimpse. Is it sort of worth it to do it the way Joe described it just a few moments ago for us?

IGER: Yes. It's always worth it. Whether we're making a movie or a television show or building a hotel or a restaurant or a theme park attraction, attention to detail is really valuable, and it's what sets us apart from many others, particularly at our parks and resorts. So all the investment in time and creativity and money to make this as detailed as possible and to make the experience as good as it is, is really worth it.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take a moment and talk a little bit of business if we can. You just paid over $7 billion for Pixar. Worth it, do you think?

IGER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Animation is the heart and soul of the Walt Disney Company. It's what really was the foundation of the company when Walt started it many, many years ago, and it continued to be strong through the '80s and the '90s. And it's vital to the company that animation is strong, and buying Pixar is one giant step in the direction of making sure that it continues to be strong.

S. O'BRIEN: Steve Jobs is now on the Disney board. How critical is he in particular, and how critical is Pixar overall, do you think, to Disney?

IGER: Well again, animation is extremely critical to the company and to the success of the company. Just walk around a theme park and you'll see just how important animation is, not just to the motion picture business but to all of our businesses.

And Steve, who will join the board after the deal closes, will be a valuable contributor as a board member and someone that we can all turn to for advice on a variety of subjects from technology to great creativity to staying on top of consumer trends.

So Pixar is very important, which is why we stepped up and acquired them. And I think Steve will be an incredibly important member of the board and member of the Disney family.

S. O'BRIEN: And paid the very big bucks.

You're been in the job, had the gig since October. How are you finding it? What's the biggest upside and the biggest downside so far?

IGER: Well, this is a pretty unique experience, as you'd expect. Running the Walt Disney Company, which is one of the best known, one of the greatest companies in the world, is a fantastic experience to me, one that I'm appreciative of and extremely excited about.

Mostly because I think the world offers the Walt Disney Company many opportunities. Sure, there are challenges, particularly in the area of creativity. This is a company that is based on great creativity and maintaining it at its peak form is probably the biggest challenge.

But this is also a world that loves creativity and loves experiences, whether you're riding Expedition Everest or going to the movie "Cars" or "Pirates of the Caribbean". And so I really believe that the company is well positioned to take advantage of a world that's going to have much more access to great content in many different ways, ways that we've never seen before. And we're focused more on opportunity than anything else right now.

S. O'BRIEN: See, and I thought you were going to say your biggest upside is you get to ride Expedition Everest for free as many times as you want all through the day. Bob Iger.

IGER: Well, it's not -- it's not a bad gig, Soledad. It's not a bad gig.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Iger, the president and CEO of Walt Disney. Thanks for talking with us this morning. Looks like a fun ride.

IGER: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm not a big fan of those roller coaster things.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you're not?

S. O'BRIEN: And then he said goes backwards, too? I'm like, I'm out. I can't do it.

M. O'BRIEN: That's it?

SERWER: I bet you are. You like those things?

S. O'BRIEN: I'm easily scared by those.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: You do?

M. O'BRIEN: No problem.

S. O'BRIEN: And your kids?

SERWER: He's a pilot. So...

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Forget you.

M. O'BRIEN: But anyway, you know, you're asking the wrong guy.

S. O'BRIEN: I don't like scary movies.

M. O'BRIEN: Jeez, what do you like? Andy Serwer. You like Andy Serwer.

S. O'BRIEN: What have you got for us this morning?

SERWER: We have some more entertainment news, actually, Soledad. Steven Spielberg gets a reality check. Plus, like a good partner, State Farm is there for Pixar. We'll explain coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

SERWER: Some blue-eyed soul, right? Hall and Oates?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. They performed not long ago.

SERWER: Really?

M. O'BRIEN: Are they back together, doing Holiday Inns? S. O'BRIEN: They performed together, yes. You know, not a lot.

SERWER: They was big (sic).

M. O'BRIEN: In the day.

S. O'BRIEN: Back in the day. They were.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about what Steven Spielberg is up to.

SERWER: Yes. Maybe this was inevitable, Steven Spielberg getting into the reality TV business. He is going to be hooking up with Mark Burnett, who of course, is the reality guru of all gurus. They're going to have a TV show coming out in the summer of 2007 on FOX -- what a surprise -- called "On the Lot."

And basically, it's an "American Idol" for film directors. They're going to be finding various small film clips. People can submit them, and then they will pick people they think are suitable to make small films. They'll be shown. They'll have a panel of three judges.

S. O'BRIEN: How is this different from "Project Greenlight"?

SERWER: You know, that's what I was wondering myself. I think with Project Greenlight they kind of have a whole long season of making a movie and then decide. This will be sort of a week by week thing. Each director will make one -- one will make a horror film. One will make a comedy. One will make an action film. And then the judges, they'll probably have a mean guy like Simon saying that's terrible.

S. O'BRIEN: The formula works.

SERWER: Right. It really does. And they're going to have these three judges, but apparently, Spielberg is not going to be one of the judges.

M. O'BRIEN: He's not going to be a judge?

SERWER: I think that sort of ruins it. I mean, you know, I'd want him to at least be there some of the time. But he's the executive producer of everything. You ever notice that?

S. O'BRIEN: Right, right.

SERWER: You know, so I think this is another one of those deals.

And another entertainment story to tell you about. This one unlikely at first blush. State Farm, the insurance company, is going to be a major sponsor of the movie "Cars." Well, maybe it makes sense. After all, State Farm is the largest auto insurer in the United States. But usually you think of, you know, sort of Kellogg's and these companies and McDonald's doing tie-ins with new kids' movies.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: But State Farm is there for "Cars".

S. O'BRIEN: Little animation there.

M. O'BRIEN: Like a good neighbor.

SERWER: Well, they're going to some auction with Mustangs, use a whole marketing campaign. But it will be interesting to see how this movie does, because Pixar has never had a miss. Every one of their movies has been a hit. And this is the latest one. But this is the first one under the umbrella of Disney. We just saw Bob Iger.

S. O'BRIEN: He said it was worth the 7 bill they paid for it.

SERWER: Well, we shall see.

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: The bar is awfully high.

SERWER: It is high. Seems fun, though. I mean, I'm going to see it. It will be cool.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. Thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Speaking of cars, coming up on Monday, AMERICAN MORNING is the program. You'll be here, we know. We'll give you a peek at the coolest, cutting edge cars on display at the New York City Auto Show. That's Monday at 6 a.m. right here on CNN. Are you going to go down?

SERWER: I'd like to. Can I go?

M. O'BRIEN: You should be doing your segment from down there. Let's cook that up.

SERWER: I'll go down there, yes. I had fun (ph). I'll do that again.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: I'd like to go, too. That sounds fun.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. None of us will be here. We'll be at the auto show.

SERWER: We'll be driving cool cars.

S. O'BRIEN: Definitely want to go.

SERWER: You do the planes. We'll do the cars.

S. O'BRIEN: Cool. Coming up in just a moment, a look at the top stories, including a deadly attack at a Shiite mosque in Baghdad. New documents suggest President Bush approved intelligence leaks.

And apology over a Capitol Hill confrontation. Now another scuffle over Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, though.

And how one family survived an avalanche in their SUV.

Plus we're keeping an eye on developing storms. We're going to see if people in the plains could get more severe weather today.

That's all ahead non AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, actress and comedienne Whoopi Goldberg. She is the creator behind a new comedy series aimed at teenagers. It's called "Just for Kicks". We'll talk to her about it. It's got a good message. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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