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American Morning

Bush On Iran Plans; Iran Not Iraq; World Talkers; Minding Your Business; Gossip Wars

Aired April 11, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The morning's top stories for you.
The ball is in the prosecutor's court now. Defense lawyers say none of the DNA samples taken from members of the Duke University lacrosse team match in that alleged sexual assault case.

Emotions expected to run high once again today in an Alexandria, Virginia, courtroom. The life and death phase of the trial of Zacarias Moussauoi includes testimony of families of victims killed at the Pentagon and on United Flight 93, the plane that crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

In Italy, opposition party leader Romano Prodi claims victory. But Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is not giving up just yet.

On edge in northern and central California. The governor has declared a state of emergency in seven counties battered by weeks of storms and flooding. He's warning several levees are at risk of failing.

Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

President Bush is insisting that Iran should not have nuclear arms or the capability to produce them. He says he wants to take the quote "diplomatic path" and calls any reports to the contrary just "wild speculation." Let's get right to the White House and Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

Hey, Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Soledad.

Well, President Bush usually makes a point of saying he doesn't pay much attention to the newspapers, but yesterday he specifically took issue with reports saying that the United States was poised to attack Iran. Specifically, of course, that "New Yorker" report from Sy Hershman, of course, saying that the United States was even considering a nuclear option to go against Iran and its program. Well President Bush making it very clear yesterday before a group of students at Johns Hopkins University that he is emphasizing diplomacy first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The doctrine of prevention is to work together to prevent the Iranians from having a nuclear weapon. I know, I know we're here in Washington, you know, prevention means force. It doesn't mean force necessarily. In this case it means diplomacy. And, by the way, I read the articles in the newspapers this weekend. It was just wild speculation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now U.S. administration officials say that they are not ruling out military contingency plans. That that is always a possible option. But one thing to note here, Soledad, is that President Bush and the White House have been working very hard at trying to put an international face on this effort, saying look to the International Atomic Agency, look to the U.N. Security Council, look to our European counter parts. This is not something the United States wants to get ahead of.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Suzanne, thanks.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: All that talk of military action and even a nuclear option may be nothing more than saber rattling. The truth is, the administration does not have as many options in how to deal with Iran than it did with Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I just want to be very clear. Iran is not Iraq.

MILES O'BRIEN, (voice over): They share a border and a dubious distinction. Both are charter members of the president's axis of evil. But in countless ways, these two countries pose different dilemmas for the U.S. as it considers diplomatic and military options.

Iran is twice as big as Iraq. Three times the population. Protected by mountains. No chance of an easy armored sprint across the desert here.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Iran is basically two to three times as tough of a military target as Iraq for an all out war.

MILES O'BRIEN: Unlike Iraq, and in part because the U.S. is stretched thin there, a ground invasion of Iran is not a realistic option. But what about a bombing mission? Iranian centrifuges and a central port of its nuclear program are buried deep, perhaps out of harm's way. And even if U.S. war planes did inflict damage, it could be a hollow victory with far reaching consequences. GEN. ANTHONY ZINNI, (RET.), FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: We should not fool ourselves to think it will just be a strike and then it would be over. The Iranians will retaliate and they have many possibilities in an area where there are many vulnerabilities from our troop positions, to the oil and gas in the region that can be interrupted, to attacks on Israel, to the conduct of terrorism.

MILES O'BRIEN: Despite the alleged links to terror, the conservative ayatollah and a president who says frightening things, Iranians do vote with competitive elections held every four years. Unlike Iraq under Saddam, Iranians have the ability to change their leaders and average Iranians actually like Americans.

O'HANLON: And so one of the great challenges in thinking through Iran military options is, how much do you want to sacrifice potential support over the longer term from the population, which is prepared the hold its leaders accountable for their misgovernment?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN: One other key difference between Iran and Iraq is, Iran is a much more homogenous population. Unlike Iraq with its three distinct entities of Sunnis, Shias and Kurds, and that group would be very reluctant, just as the Iraqis would be, to welcome with open arms any invading sort of army. And I guess on that point, Iran and Iraq have one thing they share in common.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Time to get a check of the weather this morning. It's 36 minutes past the hour. Let's get right to Chad.

Hey, Chad, good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business." Been waiting here to give us the latest.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I sure have been waiting.

MILES O'BRIEN: He just sat down.

SERWER: Back at you.

MILES O'BRIEN: About nine seconds ago.

SERWER: You're telling the secrets. Come on.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Really.

SERWER: Stop that, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Oh, it's all right. You got just in time.

SERWER: I did it.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Company with a problem with its contact lens solution. We'll tell you about that.

Plus, the cruise ship industry. In a good place or not? We'll let you know coming up straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: A look now at some of the stories we're talking about around the world.

Mass murder indictments in the Madrid train bombings. Italian elections too close to call. And some Prince William news. Paula Newton's live for us in London following these stories.

Hey, Paula. Good morning to you.

Let's start with the Italian election.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thankfully, they don't have hanging chads there, Soledad. But it is looking quite similar to what happened in the United States in the year 2000. The race is a dead heat.

Now Romano Prodi, the challenger, has claimed victory. But Silvio Berlusconi, the current prime minister, he's not conceding anything. He hasn't come out to say anything. He's just asking for a recount. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens here.

Also interesting, ex-patriot voters, many of them American, had a big say in this election. You know, the margin was as thin as 25,000 votes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Let's turn and talk, Paula, about these indictments. Two years after the terror attacks in Spain, finally they're handing down the indictments. Why the delay?

NEWTON: Well, as we've seen in the United States as well, these terror trials can be very tricky. The magistrate involved who was investigating it wanted to make sure he got it right. Many people in Spain are hoping that he did. Most of the people who were charged are already in custody and so they're hoping that this will proceed. It will take many years, though, Soledad, for this to actually complete and go to trial.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: "The Daily Mail" today has an article about Kate Middleton, who, of course, is the girlfriend of Prince William. And the queen actually sounds like she likes her a lot.

NEWTON: Well, it's interesting, the headline in "The Daily Mail" today is, what does the queen think of William and Kate? And according to a royal lady in waiting, apparently she really likes her and likes her especially because it seems that what's going on between the two of them is genuine. That they are truly in love.

Now I have to tell you, Soledad, the tabloids, although they've been hands off of Kate Middleton so far, they're really, you know, ganging up on her now. There are a lot of paparazzi that follow her on a daily basis. And, I mean, this is a woman that one minute has been invited to sit in the royal box at a horse race and the next minute she's standing waiting for a bus just like the rest of us. So it's going to be interesting to see how she handles all of this press in the coming years.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: That can't be fun waiting for a bus with the paparazzi all around you.

Finally I was going to ask you about -- a two second question about the most expensive sandwich. Is that true, $148 U.S. for that sandwich? Come on. Come on.

NEWTON: I don't know why you guys are making -- why are you guys making me do this before lunch. But, anyway, it's wagyu beef. OK. It's called the caviar of beef. Fois Gres (ph), which is duck liver. Which, although it's expensive, not many people like it. You know, truffles, they're a few hundred dollars each. Plum tomatoes. That seems kind of cheep. And, hey, 24-hour fermented sour dough bread. It better be worth it. Almost $150. Can you believe it?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, no, I can't. And none of that sounds good to me. I'm really sorry. Ugh.

Paula Newton for us this morning. Thanks, Paula, for updating us about what's happening across the pond as we like to say. Thank you.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: I'll have a quarter pounder with cheese, please.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, of course.

MILES O'BRIEN: Wow.

SERWER: It doesn't look very appealing.

MILES O'BRIEN: Fermented bread. Does it make you drunk? I wonder.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I don't know. Black truffle mayonnaise and wagyu.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. All right.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Weird.

MILES O'BRIEN: I don't suppose they're queuing up for those there in jolly old London.

All right, Andy Serwer, how are you?

SERWER: I'm doing just fine. A couple stories we want to get to right now.

We told you about this fungal caratis, which is an eye infection that there are cases being reported across the country right now. A hundred and nine of them are being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control. And today we are learning that Bausch & Lomb is suspending shipments of its ReNu contact lens cleaning solution in connection with this case.

And here's what we've got. The CEO of Bausch & Lomb saying there's an apparent disproportionate representation of U.S. manufacturer ReNu in the underlying data. However, he's saying it doesn't establish any type of solution as a cause of this problem. A hundred and nine cases, I said. Thirty of them fully investigated and 28 of them were using this contact solution.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It's a serious fungus. You can lose your eyesight. You can go blind if it's not treated.

SERWER: It is. And there are other solutions out in the market we should say, of course.

Now want to talk about the cruise ship industry. You know, this has really been some amazing stories overs the past several months. Let's go through them. There have been pirates.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: There have been assaults.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: There have been sicknesses.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Uh-huh.

SERWER: And there have been disappearances of passengers.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And the fire. You forgot the fire.

SERWER: And the fire. I forgot the -- how could I forget the fire?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes, it's been a bad year.

SERWER: It's been a bad stretch. Is it any surprise then that cruise ship lines are cutting prices to attract customers? Well, maybe not. Here's what we've got here. A cruise ship price, for instance, $529 a person for a family and then the third and fourth member of the family go for $99 each.

MILES O'BRIEN: You mean a whole week?

SERWER: Yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Wow. SERWER: And then you've got a situation here, for instance, a 10-day cruise in the Mediterranean was $1,500, now $1,149. A $429 trip for seven days out of the Caribbean is now $400. So I'm thinking, you know . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Is that off season only? I mean, through the summer or . . .

SERWER: It's through the summer right now, yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right, which is considered off season, right?

SERWER: It's considered off season.

MILES O'BRIEN: Right. So . . .

SERWER: But these are prices off of the off season price. You see what I'm saying?

MILES O'BRIEN: OK. I see what you're saying, yes.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: It's a good deal, yes.

SERWER: Right. It is a good deal.

MILES O'BRIEN: Way off, off.

SERWER: Off, off. As long as you don't get yourself lost, don't get in a fire, don't fall overboard and stay away from the pirates. Don't get sick.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Don't get to kind of -- right.

MILES O'BRIEN: We haven't had a hurricane yet strike one of these guys but, you know . . .

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, oh.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's -- presumably . . .

SERWER: You're not wishing that . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: No, I'm just saying, that's the only thing left. I mean locusts haven't come either, too, but, you know . . .

SERWER: No, they don't fly over water.

MILES O'BRIEN: Apparently not.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Oh, thank you. Thank you, Andy.

MILES O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Appreciate that. SERWER: Yes.

MILES O'BRIEN: Everybody loves a bargain, right?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, it's true. Talk about off, off, off prices.

MILES O'BRIEN: Off, off, off cruise ship deals. Well, what about outlet malls? What you don't always get the best bang for your buck at these places. I've always suspected this.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Yes, me too.

MILES O'BRIEN: There's a little bit of a -- well furnishment reality. You could call that a scam, too. We'll have some tips from consumers reports on what to look out for when you're at these outlet stores (INAUDIBLE).

And when does gossip become front page news? When the other paper is in trouble. That's when it becomes front page news. We'll tell you how "The Daily News" is trying to make some hay over what's happening over at "The Post" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: They are bitter tabloid rivals here in New York. So when a "New York Post" gossip columnist -- well, really sort of a writer -- was accused of trying to shake down a billionaire in exchange for favorable coverage, "The Daily News" pounced right on the story. And ever since, page six has been playing out on page one. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho joins us with more on the gossip wars. Page six, of course.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: They got the page in "The Post." "The Daily News" can't get enough of this story.

CHO: That's right. And if you think about it, Soledad, we can't get enough of it either because there's really nothing juicer than gossip about gossip.

But having said that, here in New York it is no secret that there is a rivalry between "The New York Post" and "The New York Daily News." It is legendary. And if ever there was a story that illustrated that point, it is this one.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO, (voice over): For one New York tabloid, the celebrity gossip scandal surrounding "The New York Post" is like a dream come true. The papers are arch enemies.

WILLIAM SHERMAN, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER: There certainly is a rivalry. I mean, I'm not denying it. CHO: "New York Daily News" reporter William Sherman broke the page six scandal in the paper Friday. It has been on page one ever since. "The New York Post" has virtually ignored it. Only one mention on Friday. The editor of "The Post" says "The Daily News'" shrinking circulation is driving its coverage, an assertion "The News" doesn't buy.

SHERMAN: Not really. I'm not surprised that "The Post" is not extensively covered it. I mean it's their paper.

CHO: And their reporter. Jared Paul Stern, who freelanced for the legendary gossip column, is accused of demanding more than $220,000 from billionaire Ron Burkle in exchange for keeping less than flattering things about him from appearing in page six. Stern called it a setup. The FBI recorded meetings between Stern and Burkle and excerpts have appeared in paper, including "The Daily News." "Daily News" gossip columnist Lloyd Grove says there is a line between news and gossip and this story is definitely news.

LLOYD GROVE, DAILY NEWS COLUMNIST: You're not going anywhere else with this, are you?

CHO: Grove's column called Lowdown is in direct competition with page six.

You want to get it before "The Post."

GROVE: Sure.

CHO: But how badly? I mean, you know . . .

GROVE: Very badly. It's just -- it's a competitive business we're in.

CHO: Grove says the idea of accepting payments from sources is something new to him. He admits page six may be getting more ink these days.

Don't they say there's no such thing as bad publicity as long as they spell your name right?

GROVE: That's what some people say. I think there probably is such a thing as bad publicity.

CHO: Over on the news side, William Sherman says he'll continue to work feverishly on what is for now his paper's top story.

SHERMAN: I covered this like any other story. This is a news story. For me, it had nothing to do with whether it was "The New York Post" or any other company or any other individual. I mean, it's a news story.

CHO: That's what they say.

Now just to give you an idea of how much of a news story this is. Since Friday, "The Daily News" has done seven separate stories on this one subject. And you may be surprised to hear that the venerable "New York Times" has had even more coverage. We counted eight stories on the page six scandal in "The Times" including two, Soledad , that made it to the front page. So this is very big news certainly in some papers but not "The New York Post."

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Exactly. Yes, they haven't mentioned it that much at all.

CHO: NO, they haven't.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Do they have at "The Daily News" like real editorial discussions about how to cover this?

CHO: Oh, sure.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I mean whether to relegate it to the gossip pages or put it on the front page?

CHO: Oh, sure. You can bet they did and it was decided very early on that this would be in the news section, not in the gossip section. Your friend, Lloyd Grove, said that, you know, as soon as this sort of turned the corner and the FBI got involved and this became a federal investigation, he decided he would sort of stay out of it. This belonged over on the news side.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: And the rivalry didn't hurt in that case.

CHO: No, it certainly didn't.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Alina, thank you.

CHO: Sure.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN: In a moment, top stories, including DNA test results are adding new twists to the Duke rape investigation..

More emotional 9/11 testimony today at the Zacarias Moussauoi trial.

Pro-immigration protesters keeping up the pressure on lawmakers.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared permanently incapacitated.

And an extraordinary waste of money in New Orleans. Wait til you find out what it costs to get one of those. A blue tarp. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: As we approach the top of the hour, Chad Myers at the Weather Center.

Hello, Chad. (WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Outlet shoppers. Everybody loves a bargain. But is it really what you're getting at some of those big outlet malls? We'll find out whether they're worth your time, whether you're saving any money ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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