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American Morning

Iranian Nuclear Threat; Final Moments of Flight 93 Heard in Moussaoui Trial; Leak Investigation

Aired April 13, 2006 - 06:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Here's a look at our top stories right now.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran just a short time ago. Mohamed ElBaradei there to hold talks with Iranian officials about their nuclear ambitions.

The defense takes its turn in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial today. The prosecution rested yesterday after playing those cockpit tapes from United Flight 93. The jury will decide whether Moussaoui is to be put to death.

A member of the Black Panthers in critical condition this morning in a Cincinnati hospital. Michael Bailey (ph) shot three times right across from city hall. Police arrested a suspect, and he was under a restraining order to stay away from Bailey (ph).

Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Much more on those stories just ahead.

First, though, a look at Iran, not backing off on enriching its uranium. That amid growing concern in the international community.

The head of the U.N.'s top atomic watchdog agency is in Tehran. The program is a key concern of the U.N. Security Council.

Let's get right to our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Members of the U.N. Security Council are eagerly watching the visit by Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency to Tehran. They're already here waiting for his report at the end of the month.

The Security Council gave Iran 30 days in which to suspend uranium enrichment. Now Tehran has announced its done the opposite.

The five permanent veto-carrying members of the Security Council met on Wednesday to get an update on where things stand. Still, China and Russia oppose getting tougher with sanctions. U.S., France and Britain ready to introduce a legally-binding, stronger resolution against Iran if the nuclear watchdog agency says Iran is not complying. Richard Roth, CNN, the United Nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Zacarias Moussaoui could take the stand today. The al Qaeda operative death penalty defense starts in about three hours' time. He has so far insisted on testifying. We'll see what happens.

The prosecution finished up with the powerful words and recording of that United Flight 93, which crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11th.

Tara Mergener live now from Washington with more on this.

Tara, good morning.

TARA MERGENER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Miles.

This has been an emotional trial right from the start. Now the defense must convince jurors what they've seen and heard is not enough to put Moussaoui to death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MERGENER (voice over): For the first time, the static-filled 31- minute cockpit recording was played publicly in the courtroom. On it, a graphic account of the valiant struggle of passengers and crew members trying to retake the plane from hijackers on 9/11.

ABRAHAM SCOTT, WIFE KILLED IN PENTAGON CRASH: They had grabbed one of the terrorists, and it sounded like they took him out. And it's -- up and until the plane hit, it was really bad.

MERGENER: The tape began at 9:32 a.m., four minutes after the terrorists took over. Then the voice of a woman prosecutors have identified as a flight attendant begging for her life. "I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

After being forced to the back of the plane, passengers tried to storm the cockpit. "Let's get them." Investigators don't believe they ever made it inside, but the hijackers were worried.

"They want to get in there. Hold, hold from the inside. Hold from the inside. Hold."

"Is that it? Shall we finish it off?" "Not yet. When they all come, we'll finish it off."

Minutes later, the plane dove into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Hamilton Peterson's father and stepmother were on board.

HAMILTON PETERSON, PARENTS KILLED ON FLIGHT 93: What was going through my heart is that this is an example of ordinary citizens stepping up to the plate on a moment's notice and protecting the United States Capitol from a terrorist attack. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MERGENER: Defense attorneys will argue that Moussaoui is mentally ill and that he had a limited role in 9/11.

Live in Washington this morning, I'm Tara Mergener.

Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Tara.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Lawyers for former White House aide Scooter Libby say the government's not playing fair. They're accusing prosecutors of withholding information needed for a thorough defense.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken live for us in Washington, D.C.

Bob, good morning to you.

Specifically, Bob, what's the defense talking about?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the things they're trying to do is to undo the impression that was left last week by special prosecutor Fitzgerald that the president or vice president had ordered Scooter Libby to release the name of Valerie Plame, the wife of Joseph Wilson, the CIA leak's critic that had so bedeviled the administration.

In his filing, in a footnote, as a matter of fact, Libby said, "Mr. Libby does not contend" -- this his lawyers talking -- "Mr. Libby does not contend that he was instructed to make any disclosures concerning Ms. Wilson by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, or are anyone else."

I should point out there's some very artful wording here. He is not denying that they did. Simply saying that in his legal defense, is he not making that claim.

He goes on to say that it is a mistake to believe that this was just an effort that was centered in the vice president's office. He said that would be "a fairytale" -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob, let me ask you a question. If Scooter Libby says, listen, I'm not implicating the president and the vice president, who -- does he say who he is implicating?

FRANKEN: Well, what he says in this motion is that among the witnesses that he will be calling would be the former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer, the former CIA director, George Tenet, and Karl Rove, who continues as the deputy White House chief of staff. Of course, Rove is still waiting to find out if the special prosecutor intends to indict him in this case -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning.

Bob, thanks, as always -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's check the forecast once again. Chad Myers at the weather center with that -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A whole lot of rain in a whole lot of places this morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: See, there's still time.

MYERS: At least I'm closer than you are. But not quite there.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, you are. It looks pretty good where you are, too.

MYERS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Rubbing it in, aren't you?

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, they're searching for the source of this mumps outbreak we told you about in the Midwest. Investigators think now it might be linked to one passenger on one flight.

M. O'BRIEN: It always comes down to one passenger on one flight, doesn't it?

Why Mike Brown will not be going to help residents in St. Bernard Parish after all. That was quick.

S. O'BRIEN: A quick turnaround there.

And also this morning, we'll tell you why some French women want to say au revoir to the term "Mademoiselle."

But first, here's a look at some of the other stories making news on this Thursday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, a former Tennessee elementary school teacher could be headed back to prison for seven years. There's Pamela Rogers. She's serving -- she served, rather, six months for having sex with a 13-year-old student. Prosecutors are now saying she's broken her probation by trying to send a coded message to the boy on her myspace.com Web page. Police in Lakebay, Washington, are looking for a 14-year-old girl involved potentially in a plot to attack her middle school. Three boys between the ages of 12 and 14 are already under arrest. Police say they planned to steal weapons and shoot school staff members and other students, too. Police believe the attack was supposed to take place on May 1st.

Take a look what happened in this Virginia Beach convenience store. You can see somebody walked in and tossed a molotov cocktail. Luckily, no customers were in the store. Two clerks who were inside were able to pretty quickly douse the flames. Police are still on the lookout for the attacker in that case.

And take a look at, oh, these cute little faces. These are puppies, obviously, and some of the more than two dozen stopped at the Mexican border. The puppies were spotted under the seat of a minivan crossing near San Diego. The border puppy taskforce says the dogs were probably going to be sold on street corners in California for more than $300 a piece.

M. O'BRIEN: St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana will not be hiring former FEMA director Mike Brown after all. Brown's appearance at a parish meeting now canceled after a lot of backlash to the notion, which we first told you about yesterday.

CNN's Susan Roesgen with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: I'm on one of the levees here in St. Bernard Parish just outside of New Orleans. This is a parish that was nearly knocked out by Hurricane Katrina and it's a parish that has been very vocal in its criticism of FEMA for the federal response to the hurricane.

Now a new storm is brewing. The parish president here had invited Michael Brown, former FEMA director, to consult the parish on hurricane recovery. But there has been such an up roar from the people who live here, that Michael Brown has, for now, decided not to come. One parish councilwoman told me it would be insanity for the parish to hire a man they blame for so much misery.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Is an infected airline passenger responsible for that major mumps epidemic in the Midwest?

Let's get right to Carol Costello. She's taking a look at the morning papers today.

Hey, Carol. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, this is a fascinating story. The CDC is -- had been trying to figure out why there's this huge mumps outbreak in the state of Iowa, of all places, and they have traced the mumps outbreak, maybe, to one passenger aboard a flight to Washington. She developed mumps while on board the plane, she got of the plane and she talked to a congressional delegation from Iowa in Washington. And they think that that may have spread it throughout Iowa.

Of course, it's spreading through -- it's spreading through other Midwestern states right now. They're still trying to figure out that part. But they think maybe that other people on board the plane with her came down with mumps, and they may be spreading mumps in their own states.

A fascinating article in "The Washington Post" this morning.

In the "Sun Times," a very funny story out of Ogden, Utah. A charter school there were very excited because they were going to have "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart. In fact, school officials did all the work and invited him, they were going to pay him and everything. It turned out they had -- they had invited the wrong Jon Stewart.

Here's the real Jon -- oh, there's the wrong Jon Stewart. He was a big-time wrestler from Chicago. He even e-mailed the school and he said, "Are you really interested in me? Because I'm not so famous, like, nationwide, but I am famous in Chicago." And the school wrote back, "Yes, we're sure we want you, Jon Stewart."

Well, a reporter from Ogden called the real Jon Stewart's press agent and he said, "No, Jon Stewart doesn't have plans to go to Utah anytime soon." So that's how the school found out. They had to call the big-time wrestler and say, I'm sorry, we don't want you to come and talk to our school.

The sad part is, though, the students bought 700 tickets at $50 a pop.

You know, every so often we get press releases in here, and they're so ridiculous that we feel we must read them to you. This is about Tom Cruise's new movie, "Mission Impossible 3."

And this is what the top line of the press release says: "Tom Cruise, the most exciting and successful action star in the world, returns to one of his signature roles, secret agent Ethan Hunt. Traveling by motorcycle, speedboat, taxicab, helicopter, sports car and subway, Cruise will crisscross the island of Manhattan, making his way to premiers in Tribeca in Harlem before heading to the U.S. premier at the Ziegfeld Theater."

So he's going to take all of those modes of transportation right here in the great city of New York.

M. O'BRIEN: Gosh, it sounds exciting.

COSTELLO: Doesn't it?

M. O'BRIEN: Wow.

S. O'BRIEN: Town car.

COSTELLO: Maybe it's more exciting than the movie will be. Who knows?

M. O'BRIEN: Let's hope he can clear through the traffic.

All right. Thank you, Carol.

Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Tiger Woods calls himself a name and then upsets an awful lot of people. Paula Newton live in London with an explanation.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outrage this morning here in London, where Tiger Woods' use of just one single word has people angry. I'll explain coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, if you're lucky enough to have a Lexus in the garage or driveway, you'll want to stay tuned. We have word of a recall as the Thursday edition of AMERICAN MORNING rolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Wow. That's Atlanta, Georgia, WAGA. Thank you for that wonderful shot. Full moon? Full moon? I think so.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That is a...

S. O'BRIEN: It's gorgeous.

M. O'BRIEN: That looks positively fake it's so beautiful. But that's real.

Good morning, Atlanta. You've got a beautiful day ahead, 82 degrees there today. And enjoy it.

There are some stories people are talking about around the world today. We want to kind of fill you in on that.

Prince Harry is a soldier now. But can he serve in a battle zone? And will he need his own special forces to protect him in the battle zone? How absurd would that be?

Some French women don't like being caused "Mademoiselle."

And Tiger Woods has put his cleated foot in his mouth.

Paula Newton live now in London with these stories and more.

Paula, let's start with Tiger. It's a word that I think a lot of Americans would not guess would be so offensive.

NEWTON: I think maybe -- I'm venturing a guess -- you used it maybe in high school. I confess, I did, too. Certainly, it comes out of ignorance. Let's tell you what we're talking about here.

We'll go to the full screen of what he said here. I'll give you the quote.

"Once I got on the green," according to Tiger Woods, "I was a spaz." Now, he said this in relation to how his putting game was going when he was involved in the Masters tournament on the weekend.

Of course, that is a very politically incorrect word. And more than that, Miles, it does really offend those people who are disabled and who have cerebral palsy, because it refers to their very serious condition, and being spastic, which is a very serious form and a reaction to having the cerebral palsy.

Now, it's interesting. The British papers here and the British radio were going on and on, and they were using the quote, and really, they were offended by it. It was interesting to see what some of the American newspapers did, though. They fudged his quote.

If you can see what one of the American papers wrote, "It was frustrating because I felt so in control of my golf ball from tee to green, and then when I got on the green, I was a wreck." There was no "spaz" involved there.

I mean, I think Tiger Woods is starting to realize it doesn't matter what he says. Just because of his status, he does have to be politically correct at all times -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It's interesting the "L.A. Times" would fix his quote. That's a separate issue entirely. We'll give that one to Howie Kurtz in "RELIABLE SOURCES" maybe.

All right. Let's talk about French women not wanting to be caused "Mademoiselle." Sacre bleu! I can't believe it!

NEWTON: OK. Maybe I'm not politically correct on this one at all, because I love being caused "Mademoiselle" because I'm normally called "Madame." But having said that, the largest feminist group in France is saying that, in fact, they want to do away with the title "Mademoiselle." That it's sexist, that it is -- means you're being submissive to macho values, because at any point in time it points out not just a reference to age, but a reference to your availability, whether you're married or not, and they want it done away with.

Certainly, Miles, you know, in other countries in Europe, they have done away with those titles just to make sure it is, again, politically correct.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. All right. We are deep into politically correct country this morning. It kind of gets to the point of absurd.

And speaking of absurd, Prince Harry left Wales, who has signed up with a forward reconnaissance group that does all kinds of risky things, potentially could be in Iraq or Afghanistan doing that. And now there's some question whether we would put the potential, not directly there, lineage to the throne in harm's way that way. Will he ever actually see combat?

NEWTON: It's not exactly combat, although of course it is. It's a front -- it's a front advance group, and it's reconnaissance.

The problem here is how to protect him. When you're in Afghanistan and Iraq, you could be subject to insurgents, terrorist attacks, hostage-takers. There are plans on the table to have SAS soldiers -- those are special troops here in Britain -- bodyguard him.

Now, a lot of commanders here are just dismissing it, saying, look, this is ridiculous. But this is one of the things they have to look at, soldiers to guard the soldier.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Soldiers to guard the soldier. Kind of -- well, it seems a little silly. Anyway -- all right.

Paula Newton -- oh, Mademoiselle Paula Newton.

NEWTON: Thank you. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Merci beaucoup.

All right.

Andy is "Minding Your Business."

S. O'BRIEN: I'm with Paula on that one. You all can call me "Mademoiselle" any time you want.

M. O'BRIEN: It's kind of classy. You know, it's a classy thing. Don't you think?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Monsieur Serwer.

SERWER: Yes, sir. Hertz has a very cool new car to rent. Is it a Corvette? Not exactly.

And Toyota has a bit of a hiccup.

We will tell you all about that coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Toyota's got a big problem with a nice car.

SERWER: It does.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."

SERWER: "The Lexus and the Olive Tree." Thomas Friedman's book. S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's not a -- that's not a cheap car.

SERWER: No, it's not. And I was down at the auto show yesterday, of course, Soledad, and it was really interesting to see the automakers.

M. O'BRIEN: You're such a showoff.

SERWER: Well, you know, it's the truth.

S. O'BRIEN: Did you bring home that Mercedes?

SERWER: No. And I didn't bring you the Bentley either. That Bentley convertible was something else.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, friend.

M. O'BRIEN: Next time come back with a swag, all right?

SERWER: Or don't come back.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: So what's wrong with the Lexus.

SERWER: Well, I want to talk about this other story. There's a new Ford that is kind of interesting. And, you know, when you talk about a lot of the new cars and the strategies, the hybrids and the luxury cars, we decided to focus on kind of a smaller strategy here by Ford just because it was kind of interesting and cool.

A new, very, very limited edition Shelby Mustang only -- only available to be rented at Hertz. Note the black and gold coloration, which, of course, is Hertz' colors. It's a Shelby...

M. O'BRIEN: And the stripes being a Shelby thing, of course.

SERWER: Yes, the Shelby thing. The Shelby GT 350, 325 horse, which is more than the conventional one, only 300 horses. And actually, they did this in 1966, 40 years ago. There was a limited edition Shelby that Hertz rented, as well.

So it's sort of hearkening back to 40 years ago.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, that is a beautiful...

SERWER: That's a bat mobile.

M. O'BRIEN: ... beautiful, beautiful machine.

SERWER: Would you like that one, Soledad?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I would. I'd look good in that car, I've got to tell you.

SERWER: You would. M. O'BRIEN: I read that people would rent them and change out the engine and return it.

SERWER: I didn't know about that.

M. O'BRIEN: So they'd get the good engine, the Shelby engine. So they're going to be watching these cars very carefully when they come back.

SERWER: Yes. Those old ones are collectors items and worth about $200,000.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you want the gas option? Do you want the engine option?

(LAUGHTER)

SERWER: Very good, the engine option.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's going to cost you more.

SERWER: Soledad, Hertz online one.

Now, we want to talk about this Toyota problem, a little bit more of a serious note. They had a lot of good buzz down at the show, but a bit of a downer yesterday.

They have to recall 57,000 Lexuses, Lexi, Lexuses -- Lexi.

M. O'BRIEN: Lexi.

SERWER: Yes. Anyway, 29,000 of these are in North America. It's a seatbelt issue on the GS and IS sedans. Probably not that serious. No injuries or fatalities due to this. But you'll be contacted if you have one of these with this problem.

And more from the auto show in the next hour coming up as well.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Great. Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Making it last, that auto show.

All right. As we approach the top of the hour, let's check in with Chad -- Chad.

MYERS: Thank you. Thank you, garcon.

M. O'BRIEN: Monsieur.

MYERS: Monsieur?

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you guys. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.

Fighting for his life. Zacarias Moussaoui's defense begins this morning. Will he testify in his own defense?

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