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American Morning

Moussaoui Defense; Brown Out; Nuclear Threat

Aired April 13, 2006 - 06:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning at the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, the defense takes its turn and they have a tough act to follow. Gripping cockpit tapes played for the jury yesterday, lots of emotion in that courtroom.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A human smuggling ring is shut down, not before, though, dozens of undocumented immigrants are shuttled into the U.S. from Canada.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Carol Costello.

Michael Brown helping out the people of New Orleans? The answer is not just no, it's hell no.

M. O'BRIEN: A restraining order not enough to keep an activist safe in Cincinnati. He is shot several times, except that's Mike Brown, which is another story we'll tell you about a little bit later.

S. O'BRIEN: And a tragedy to tell you about at Disney World, the Mission Space Ride is shut down once again after a tourist dies Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Tell you what, we have one day in a row of dry weather in California and that's all you're going to get. The rain comes back tomorrow, more flooding, more mudslides for the weekend. Details on that coming up after this.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Thursday. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

The lawyers defending al Qaeda operative Zacarias Moussaoui will try to spare his life today by telling a jury he's too insane to be executed. And the jury may be able to make a firsthand judgment, Moussaoui himself might very well take the witness stand.

Defense lawyers have a very tough act to follow, though, prosecutors laid out an emotionally devastating portrayal of the brutality and violence of the 9/11 attacks, attacks which they have already proved Moussaoui knew full well about and could have prevented.

Here's Jeanne Meserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The defense begins its case today. We expect Moussaoui to testify. We also expect testimony about his mental health. The defense has said it believes he is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. We will also hear about his difficult childhood in France and why he was susceptible to recruitment by al Qaeda.

Richard Reid, the so-called Shoe Bomber, has been subpoenaed by the defense. Moussaoui has testified that he and Reid were supposed to fly a fifth plane into the White House. It's unclear at this point in time as to whether Reid will actually appear in court.

All of this to counter the prosecution case which rested yesterday. It featured emotional victim impact testimony, phone calls, and also, yesterday, the playing of the cockpit voice recorder from Flight Number 93. You heard the hijackers taking over the cockpit. You heard the crew pleading for their lives and losing them. You also heard the passengers rising in revolt and trying to retake the cockpit.

The hijackers deciding to fly the plane into the ground. One of them chanting as they did so, "Allah is the greatest." It packed a big emotional wallop. And experts say the defense has its job cut out for it.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Alexandria, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Sounds like Iran is doing some chest thumping this morning about its nuclear program. This is increasing concerns around the world about the intent of that program. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El-Baradei, has arrived in Iran. He's trying to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said this, "strong steps need to be taken." The U.N. Security Council already has demanded that Iran halt the enrichment of uranium by the end of April.

Iran's hardline President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, says his country will not back down on its on developing its nuclear program. And Iran says the program is for energy, not for weapons production Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border say they have broken up a sophisticated human smuggling ring that helped 50 Pakistani and Indian nationals sneak into Washington State. Fourteen are under indictment in both countries. Investigators say the illegal immigrants paid about $35,000 apiece for phony documents in their home countries that allowed them to board planes to Canada. The ring housed them, drove them across the border and then helped them reach their city of choice in the U.S. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUD MERCER, SUPERINTENDENT, RCMP: And the detention of over 60 smuggled individuals, some were young children that we consider victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEIGH WINCHELL, SPECIAL AGENT, U.S. CUSTOMS: The aliens were charged as much as $35,000 apiece to be smuggled from their home countries through Canada into the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Authorities haven't decided whether to try the suspects in the U.S. or Canada. They say there is no apparent link to terrorism in this case.

Investigators in Afghanistan want to know how secret U.S. military manuals and personal information about soldiers ended up for sale in an open-air bizarre outside the Bagram Air Base. Several shops outside the base searched today.

The "L.A. Times" reporting the shops are selling computer memory drives stolen by civilian workers at the base. Among the items, info on U.S. troops, including Social Security numbers, plus a manual on a Chinook helicopter and checkpoint information. Some items were marked secret Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a little scary.

I've got a new development to tell you about. Looks like Michael Brown, the former FEMA Director, is not going to take that job with St. Bernard Parish after all.

Let's get right to Carol Costello. She's in the newsroom, has an update on that story we were following all day yesterday.

COSTELLO: No, that is an understatement. Mr. Brown will not be going to St. Bernard Parish. Remember he was going to go to the parish council today and he was going to tell them how he could help FEMA to help St. Bernard Parish and why of course St. Bernard's Parish should pay him for that.

Well, the controversy started before he even arrived. He didn't even go to St. Bernard Parish before he decided that it's probably his best bet not to go.

St. Bernard Parish, as you know, is east of the city of New Orleans. About 129 people died here during Hurricane Katrina, 26,000 homes still virtually destroyed, looking much the same as those pictures look right now.

St. Bernard Parish Councilwoman Judy Hoffmeister, this is what she had to say about Michael Brown possibly helping out the people of St. Bernard's Parish. She says "anyone who votes for him needs to be committed. My vote would not only be no, but hell no."

Of course Michael Brown was hearing all of this. And this is what he had to say on "THE SITUATION ROOM."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: I will provide whatever advice, whatever direction and guidance he needs free of charge. That's always been my position all along. And he is free to call me anytime and get that advice, get the recommendations, get those recommendations what he should or should not be doing to speed the recovery to those people. It's not a job that I sought, they came after me, and I'm going to provide them whatever advice they want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That free of charge thing is up for debate because we all thought he was going to be a paid consultant because that's his business right now. But it doesn't really matter because it isn't going to happen Soledad.

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

Speaking of New Orleans, there are some new rebuilding rules to tell you about. Those new rebuilding rules are being set for New Orleans. And FEMA says now that rebuilt homes are going to have to be raised in order to qualify for flood insurance. New flood maps for the area are dictating the move. Rebuilt homes would have to be raised as much as three feet off the ground Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Happening in America this morning, an activist in critical condition after being shot right outside Cincinnati City Hall yesterday. It started startled council members in session at the time. A suspect has been arrested and charged. It's not clear what prompted the shooting, but police say the victim did have a restraining order against the suspect.

Walt Disney's Mission Space Ride shut down indefinitely. A 49- year-old woman died yesterday after riding the Epcot attraction a day earlier. The ride simulates a flight to Mars, complete with G-forces twice Earth's gravity. A 4-year-old died after riding Mission Space last June, but doctors later determined the ride was not to blame for his death.

A Florida man ordered held on $70,000 bond. He's accused of offering two West Melbourne teenagers money to expose themselves. Surveillance video from a Wal-Mart, somewhat grainy here, but police say that man is 45-year-old Russell Chapman (ph). Chapman says he was just offering the teens help in buying video games.

Persistent rain causing more mudslides in northern California. This one in Monte Rio near Napa forced three families from their homes. In Mill Valley near San Francisco, rescue crews now using cranes to try to find a 73-year-old man believed buried under a wall of mud Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: That is such a sad story.

Let's get right to the forecast. Chad Myers is of course watching all of this this morning.

Hey, Chad, good morning.

MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: It never rains in southern California, right?

MYERS: But it does. It pours.

M. O'BRIEN: It pours. Yes.

MYERS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Speaking of southern California, wild chase on the streets of L.A. yesterday. And of course we got the pictures thanks to the helicopter crews there.

S. O'BRIEN: He's moving.

M. O'BRIEN: Driving like mad to ouch.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

M. O'BRIEN: Wow! He does a rear end. And the suspect let's take a look at it again takes off on foot afterward. And he makes it around the block and through a nearby business before officers swarm him. The man was arrested.

How was the person in the car that was hit? I don't know the answer to that, but I think he was OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

M. O'BRIEN: But, anyway, we'll try to get you the answer on that one as well.

S. O'BRIEN: They spend a lot of time shooting those freeway chases.

M. O'BRIEN: You could do a whole channel on this the L.A. chases.

S. O'BRIEN: You really could. M. O'BRIEN: The L.A. chase channel.

S. O'BRIEN: And then the guy runs away...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... almost invariably.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Bizarre.

Still to come this morning, police say they have uncovered a Columbine-style plot to shoot up a school. One of the suspects, though, still on the loose. We'll tell you about that just ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: Plus, as millions get ready to travel this Easter weekend, pilots at Delta were practicing the etiquette of picket lines.

S. O'BRIEN: And it is no surprise that fast food has got a lot of fat in it. But did you know that things like fries and nuggets are fattier here in the U.S. then other countries? We're going to tell you why just ahead.

First, though, here's a look at some of the other stories that are making news on this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Here's a quick look at our top stories for you.

The defense of Zacarias Moussaoui begins this morning. Moussaoui might very well take the witness stand.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is meeting today with Iranian officials about Iran's growing nuclear excuse me program. Mohammed El-Baradei is trying to persuade Iran to stop the enrichment of Uranium.

And if you bought a Powerball ticket in Missouri, check your numbers this morning, that's where the winning ticket worth a cool $224 million was sold. Always go for the lump sum, folks, the lump sum.

S. O'BRIEN: You're planning what to do with it already.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get more now on the controversy over Iran's nuclear program and the announcement that it is enriching more uranium.

Shirzad Bozorgmehr is one of the few Western journalists in Tehran. He joins us by phone this morning.

Hey, Shirzad, good morning to you. Give me a sense of how the Iranian president is now positioning his stand.

SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, JOURNALIST: Well, President Ahmadinejad's stand has been and still is that Iran is not going to retreat on this issue of nuclear programming. And he believes that this is more of an energy and technological issue rather than a weapons issue, which the West keeps insisting it's a weapons issue. He says it is not, it is a matter of achieving new and advanced technology in this field to help Iran generate more electricity and also to be on the forefront of technological advancement.

And this idea has also been embedded in the minds of the Iranians through the Iranian radio and television which has been running the long campaign convincing the Iranians that this is a matter of energy and technology rather than weapons. So Iranians are sold on that idea. They are very delighted that they have achieved this technological advance. And they are saying that this could be the beginning of more of such advancements.

S. O'BRIEN: Is there any are there any Iranian citizens who are taking the opposite position to the president who think that in fact the president is wrong and that the West's position is right?

BOZORGMEHR: There are a few, yes. They're reformists who were in the previous administration, for example. And the newspaper editor, which does not necessarily agree with the current administration's policies, said a couple of days ago, after the declaration of Iran about this nuclear achievement, that this is all very well but then we have this is only one side of the coin. We have to look at the other side which has a negative load and that is that we're going to be isolated, we're going sanctions are going to be implemented against us.

And he said that this is fine, but we have now to work on a very logical basis with the rest of the world and try and convince them that this is truly just for technological reasons and energy purposes and not for weaponry. And he said that Iran is necessarily not doing enough on that respect and should concentrate more on that.

S. O'BRIEN: Shirzad Bozorgmehr is in Tehran for us this morning reporting by phone.

Shirzad, thank you very much for that update Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Atlanta, Delta Air Lines pilots paid a little visit to the company headquarters, not exactly a friendly one, we might add. They traded in their charts and flight bags for picket signs and inflated a big rat. And presumably the company was watching all of this unfold.

In New York, meanwhile, pilots are fighting Delta's plan to void the union contract. They're asking for more give backs. An arbitration panel expected to rule this weekend on all that. And then might be a for real strike. Who knows?

Former Enron Chief Jeffrey Skilling remaining strongly defiant at his fraud and conspiracy trial. Testifying Wednesday, he said he and Enron founder Ken Lay were a good team and they never broke the law. He also said he's angry at the government for bringing charges against him.

Bayer is putting $20 billion on the line today and Carrie Lee is here with that.

Hello, Carrie.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles. Good morning, Soledad.

Twenty billion dollars for Schering. This is going to be a huge drug merger, basically upping Merck's bid. Remember Bayer and Merck have been fighting over Schering. And this values Schering at $104.28 per share.

This is expected to result in the loss of about 6,000 jobs from the combined work force of some 60,000. The combined company will be called Bayer Schering Pharmaceuticals and have its headquarters in Berlin. So a big drug merger on the horizon there.

Go Daddy Group, remember this company known for its risque ads during the Super Bowl in 2005? Well, they have hired Lehman Brothers to help them manage an initial public offering. And some say this deal could raise more than $100 million, value the company at several times that amount.

GoDaddy.com, which is a flagship business, is the world's largest registrar of Internet domain names. They have nine million names under management. That's up from about two million in 2002.

And finally, Michael Jackson is close to a deal that would keep him from bankruptcy by refinancing some $270 million worth of loans. Now as part of this deal, he'd have to give up a part of his most prized asset, that is a song catalog that includes the Beatles hits. He owns 50 percent of that catalog. His stake valued at about a billion dollars. He paid $47.5 million for it back in 1985. And you know that in recent months he's been living in Bahrain trying to figure out his finances.

M. O'BRIEN: Boy, he did well on that investment.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow, that was a good one. That's keeping...

M. O'BRIEN: Those Beatle songs.

LEE: That was a smart one.

M. O'BRIEN: Good move.

LEE: But you know it seems like he could use the money right now, right?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: I mean, we know Neverland Ranch is closing, and quite a different story from where he stood in the 1980s.

M. O'BRIEN: But he's hanging on to Neverland, interesting, right, isn't he?

LEE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: No.

LEE: I thought he had sold it. I thought they were selling it. I thought they were selling it.

M. O'BRIEN: He actually sold it.

S. O'BRIEN: I thought they were.

M. O'BRIEN: He's just scaling it down. We'll have to get that squared away. I thought he had I thought he just anyway.

LEE: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll find out.

LEE: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll see.

All right, Carrie Lee, thank you very much.

LEE: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: You know what they say, you want to super size that? If you have ever been to a McDonald's or KFC overseas, you might have noticed a little bit of a difference. Researchers in Denmark say that American fast food has more fat. I wonder why?

M. O'BRIEN: Because we like it.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, probably.

M. O'BRIEN: Researchers say the differences are in the type of frying oil. Apparently more hydrogenated vegetable oil is used in the U.S. and that's higher in the fats. McDonald's counters it's all about taste preferences.

S. O'BRIEN: That you were right, we like the way it tastes.

M. O'BRIEN: We like...

(CROSSTALK)

LEE: The better it tastes, the more fattening it is.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

LEE: That's usually the correlation, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Exactly. Exactly.

M. O'BRIEN: I could use some fries right now.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that sounds good.

Still to come this morning, one of the most liberal marijuana laws in the country could soon go up in smoke. We'll have that story just ahead.

Also, Tiger Woods in a lot of hot water in Britain this morning because of some comments that he made at the Masters. Find out what all the fuss is about just ahead on this Thursday edition of AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A few of the more popular stories on CNN.com right now.

Persistence has paid off for one New York opera singer. After 18 years of waiting tables, she finally got her big chance replacing a six starlet at The Met.

More details this morning about a congressman who is accused of making his staff baby-sit his kids. A legal adviser says Representative John Conyers would often dump his kids with her for a few minutes or an hour. Sometimes she says she'd call around frantically trying to find him because it was late at night, she didn't know what to do with the kids. A deputy chief of staff has made similar allegations.

And Alaska's governor wants to make it illegal to use pot. Residents are now allowed to keep up to four ounces of marijuana for recreational use.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check the forecast now. Chad Myers in the Weather Center with that.

Hello, Chad.

MYERS: Good morning guys.

(WEATHER REPORT)

Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: We love to hear that.

MYERS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

This morning's top stories are straight ahead, including mounting pressure on Iran and its nuclear program. We're at the United Nations this morning with a look at what the U.S. is doing about this crisis Bob. BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Washington, where the central figure in the CIA leak investigation, Scooter Libby, is not saying that the president and vice president made him do it. An explanation upcoming.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: You can get the latest news every morning in your e- mail. Sign up for "AMERICAN MORNING" Quick News at cnn.com/am.

Still to come this morning, Washington police are hunting for a teenage girl who is suspected in a Columbine-style plot to attack her school. There are three boys already under arrest. We've got details just ahead. Stay with us, you're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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