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American Morning
Barry Bonds Indictment?; Disney Death; Duke Rape Investigation
Aired April 14, 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: One person is dead after another batch of serious tornadoes overnight. Classes at the University of Iowa canceled today due to heavy damage on the campus.
New information now in the Duke University rape case. A tape of police radio transmissions indicates an officer found the alleged victim passed out in a grocery store parking lot shortly after that alleged attack. The officer told his dispatcher he found an unconscious woman that he believed was drunk.
Today the last day on the job for White House Chief of Staff Andy Card. He announced his resignation last month. Former budget director Josh Bolten moves into Card's old office as the new chief of staff.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
The big story we're talking about this morning, baseball star Barry Bonds could be facing some very serious charges over his testimony in a steroids investigation. The story was first reported here on CNN, and Ted Rowlands has more from L.A.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Legal analysts say this is potentially very bad news for Barry Bonds, saying that federal prosecutors typically do not go after perjury indictments unless they are confident that they are going to get one. Sources close to the case tell CNN that a federal grand jury has been hearing evidence against Barry Bonds for more than a month.
At issue here is whether or not Bonds lied in 2003 in front of the BALCO grand jury. The BALCO steroid scandal resulted in many athletes going up to San Francisco and testifying. All of those athletes were given a deal.
The deal was, if you tell the truth, we won't go after you. If you lie, we may come after you for perjury. And that appears to be what is happening now.
Since 2003, Bonds' legal team has maintained that Barry Bonds has been the focus of overaggressive federal prosecutors. They, in fact, predicted that this might happen two years ago. Nothing happened, but now it has happened for whatever reason, whether they have new evidence or it has just taken them this long to build their case. They are pursuing potential criminal charges against Barry Bonds.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Ted Rowlands broke that story on our network last night.
This morning we talk more about the possible grand jury action. That's a little bit later. CNN legal analyst Jeff Toobin and also a senior sports writer is going to join us in our 8:00 hour -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Chad, we just told folks about those tornadoes in Tennessee, another batch of tornadoes, and already you've got some boxes out indicating more activity, huh?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's still kind of going this morning, although in the morning hours it's not as hot outside. Clearly, there hasn't been a sun out for 12 hours. And so there's not as much rotation, not as much uplift, not as much draft going up, so the storms aren't quite as strong.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: Ninety in mid April?
MYERS: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: That's just weird, isn't it?
MYERS: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: OK.
S. O'BRIEN: Disney's Mission Space ride is back open today. The Epcot ride was shut down, you'll recall, after a woman died one day after she rode on it.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has more for us from Orlando, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Orange County, Florida, medical examiner is conducting an autopsy today on Hiltrud Bleumel. She's the 49-year-old German tourist who died after riding Mission Space at Disney's Epcot Center on Tuesday. Its not known how long it will take to get those autopsy results.
A Florida official tells CNN Disney told him the woman may have had high blood pressure and other heart problems. It is not the first time someone has died after riding Mission Space.
Ten months ago a 4-year-old Pennsylvania boy died. He had an undiagnosed heart problem. Disney officials have now reopened the ride this holiday weekend after engineers looked the ride over. Since it opened in 2003, nearly 12 million people have been on Mission Space. And during that time, only 12 people are been hospitalized, including the two people who died.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: A racial summit slated for Durham, North Carolina, this morning. Racial tensions heightened there after a black woman accused white members of the Duke University lacrosse team of rape.
CNN's David Mattingly is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Durham, North Carolina, Police Department has released new information in the case involving rape allegations against the Duke University lacrosse team. It comes in the form of an audiotape from the city's 9 11 center.
On that tape, you hear a Durham police officer as he encounters for the first time a local black woman in a grocery store parking lot. She later claims that she had been raped by three white men at a lacrosse team party. On the tape you hear the officer describe her condition as "passed-out drunk."
OFFICER: This is going to wind up being a 24-hour hold. She's 10-56 and unconscious (INAUDIBLE).
DISPATCHER: 10-4. Do you need a medical truck or are you (INAUDIBLE)?
OFFICER: She's breathing, appears to be fine. She's not in distress. She's just passed-out drunk.
MATTINGLY: The Durham Police Department will not comment any further on the contents of that tape. Defense attorneys for the players, however, have already been critical of the woman's story, saying that DNA results released earlier this week failed to link any of the lacrosse players to the woman and failed to connect the woman to the alleged crime scene.
The players, the team should have been chasing a national championship this season. However, the season has been canceled and the coach has resigned.
Everyone now waiting and looking ahead to Monday, when a grand jury goes into session. Everyone wondering if the case will be taken up and if the grand jury will decide to finally name and charge any Duke players with this alleged crime.
David Mattingly, CNN, Durham, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan joins a group of protesters on the steps of the county courthouse in Waco, Texas. They're protesting an ordinance that prohibits camping along the road near President Bush's Crawford ranch.
A teenager's tale of abduction, well, now it turns out to be a hoax. This is what it looked like when 16-year-old Kelsey Stelting returned home to Kansas just one day after her disappearance.
The teenager told police a pretty elaborate tale of being taken at gunpoint and then fighting her way free. Instead, it turns out she was spending the day alone in the country. She could face charges for filing a false police report.
And take a look at this one. Look at those big old teeth, huh?
It took trappers about two hours to get this guy, a 13-foot-long alligator, out of a West Palm Beach, Florida, canal. He weighs more than a thousand pounds. In the end, they drugged him and then dragged him right out of the water with a pickup truck, which is kind of a standard way they get alligators out of the canal, apparently.
M. O'BRIEN: It looks like that would kind of hurt a little bit, but...
S. O'BRIEN: He's drugged.
M. O'BRIEN: ... no problem. No problem. He's quite happy about it, I guess, huh?
All right. When he wakes up I'm sure there will be heck to play.
All right. Residents of Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, worried about their future. This week, the federal government announced a comprehensive flood protection program for southern Louisiana that excludes a 20-mile strip of land south of New Orleans known as Lower Plaquemines Parish.
CNN's Gulf Coast correspondent, Susan Roesgen, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: This is Lower Plaquemines Parish, a peninsula that carries the Mississippi River right into the Gulf of Mexico. About 14,000 people live in this coastal area, and the federal government says that may be too few people to try to protect.
This week, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would cost about $2 billion to protect this area, to restore the levees. And Congress has not been asked to allocate that money.
People here are furious about that. They say the government has abandoned them. And they also say that if the government won't protect this land, then in the next major hurricane, the last defense between New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico could be wiped out.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that was an area that was so devastated during from Hurricane Katrina. What a -- what a mess there.
Still to come this morning, almost summer, and that's a thrill. But if you're thinking about a thrill ride, you're going to want to stay tuned. We're going to tell you how to make sure the thrill rides you're on are safe.
M. O'BRIEN: And there's this...
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in London.
The Beatles have finally decided to let it be. They'll be joining the downloading Internet craze. I'll have more from Abbey Road coming up.
M. O'BRIEN: Ah, and tax time just days away. This morning, we've got word of a scam out there that could rob you of your refund. You've got to stay tuned to find out about this.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
M. O'BRIEN: Very nice. Very nice work on the board there this morning.
S. O'BRIEN: It's a beautiful shot, isn't it?
M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. That is the sky with diamonds right there.
S. O'BRIEN: Very, very nice.
Welcome back, everybody.
We begin with what people are talking about around the world today, and it's something from the Beatles. They finally decided to sell their music online.
Let's get right to Paula Newton. She is live from, where else, of course, London's Abbey Road.
M. O'BRIEN: Abbey Road. There she is right there. No, that's not here.
S. O'BRIEN: The third one in. She is -- that is the home of the Beatles' Apple recording studio and also the place where that famous cover was shot that you just saw a moment ago.
Hey, Paula. Good morning to you.
M. O'BRIEN: She's wisely not in the middle of the street, by the way.
Good move, Paula.
NEWTON: They tried. They tried to put me in the middle of the street, Miles. But, you know.
This is just a regular corner. I know the residents here don't like all this busyness here. Listen, let's get right to it.
So the Beatles have decided they're going to join the 21st century and actually allow their songs to be downloaded. Now, they were very high-profile holdouts on this. They only wanted their songs to be bought traditionally in a store. I think now they've realized that they just have no hope of introducing their music to what now will be a third generation of music lovers if they stick with that.
You know, most young people that I know do not get their songs that way, especially if it's just a single. All they really do is download it from the Internet. And if they really just want to get a taste of a song, and they're parents are continually listening to "Let it Be," and they want to know -- you know, want to listen to it for themselves for a while, they want to be able to go online. And that is what the Beatles have finally decided to do.
S. O'BRIEN: Paula, when does it -- when does it start? When can you start downloading?
NEWTON: Well, they're being kind of shady about this. They're saying that they want to remix digitally all the masters recordings that were done right here on Abbey Road. That could take several months. And you can believe, Soledad, that when they do start doing this, it's going to be a huge marketing, too. They will make sure they have all the publicity around it and that it is well planned.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. That's the way it always is, isn't it?
Paula Newton for us this morning.
Thanks, Paula. Appreciate it.
M. O'BRIEN: You've got to stay current with the youngsters. They don't buy those disks.
S. O'BRIEN: And make money at the same time.
M. O'BRIEN: And that, too. There is that.
It is tax time. You may be fishing for a refund, but there are some folks out there who are phishing with a "ph". They're trying to phish for a way to separate you and your hard-earned money.
We have some tips to make sure you don't get ripped off by what seems like an e-mail from the IRS.
Plus, a young girl with a new chance at life thanks to a revolutionary operation. Doctors removed the heart she got in a transplant, bring back the old one back to life. We'll explain that one coming up.
Look at her. She's smiling. It worked.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In Great Britain, a breakthrough medical operation looks like it saved the life of a little girl. She's 12 years old. She had been living with two hearts, her own damaged heart and a donor heart they put right next to it. Well, now the donor heart is out and her own heart is working again. You know, you hate to say "medical miracle," but this one really is.
Let's get right o Paula Hancocks. She's live in London for us.
Hey, Paula. Good morning.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Soledad. Good morning.
That's right, yes, a 12-year-old girl that 10 years after her deceased heart started to give her problems, there was a life-saving operation, and then 10 years later her heart started working again. It does sound impossible, it does sound amazing, but this particular story has made Hannah Clark into a British first and possibly even a world first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice over): For most of her life, Hannah Clark had two hearts. She now has just one. It works, and she says she feels like a normal 12-year-old.
When she was just 2 years old, doctors attached a donor heart to her own diseased heart to save her life. But after 10 years, her body started to reject the donor heart. A pioneering operation brought her own heart back to life.
HANNAH Clark, HEART TRANSPLANT PATIENT: I feel good. I was really excited because I was allowed to take the donor out.
HANCOCKS: The procedure is the first of its kind in Britain, possibly even the world. It took less than four hours, and Hannah was home within five days.
The theory that Hannah's heart had recovered sufficiently only the last 10 years to be able to function normally again proved correct. A potentially dramatic theory that doctors believer could help other transplant patients. VICTOR TSANG, CARDIAC SURGEON: The fact that the diseased heart could recover so well to take over the circulation like any other normal children is most remarkable. And we need to understand the ability of the young heart muscle to recover, and more research needs to be done.
HANCOCKS: It has been a long and painful wait for her family, with Hannah in and out of the hospital for months before the operation.
ELIZABETH Clark, HANNAH'S MOTHER: I had mixed emotions, really, because we knew this operation could be deadly, but whether they would do it would be another thing, because there was a 50-50 chance.
HANCOCKS: Surgeons of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London were initially reluctant to remove the donor heart and reconnect the dormant one, as it had never been done before. But their willingness to take a risk has given Hannah a new chance at life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: And Hannah Clark has recovered so much that she's hoping to go back to school in just a couple of weeks time, and she's also taking part in what's known as the transplant games, which is a competition, a local competition here for those transplant patients. She wants to do swimming, long jump and table tennis, something she couldn't even have dreamed of just a few months ago -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, that is such good news for this little girl. And I have to imagine that her doctors are so thrilled, not only for her success, but also the potential for this procedure in other people.
HANCOCKS: That's right. That's what they're thinking about now.
They say more research into Hannah Clark's case needs to be done to see how much this can actually help other transplant patients. The doctor who 10 years ago actually carried out the operation on Hannah and inserted that donor heart was hoping that if the real heart actually had long enough to recover and rest, then it could make a full recovery. And he's saying the fact that it's such a young heart shows that it can make that full recovery -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Paula this morning.
Thanks.
Paula Hancocks for us -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business."
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning to you both. Are you guys thinking about going to a baseball game this Easter weekend? If so, you better bring some extra cash. We'll tell you why and how much.
Plus, what are the best jobs in America? We asked that question yesterday.
S. O'BRIEN: Anchoring AMERICAN MORNING, Andy.
SERWER: Today we're going to tell you.
Right. Yes. That's right.
M. O'BRIEN: You've got a good job.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you've got a good job.
M. O'BRIEN: You anchor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A look now at some of the stories we're working on for you this morning.
There's new information in the Duke investigation. It could throw maybe a little cold water on the alleged victim's side of the story. That's what some people are saying.
There's also word that a grand jury is investigating whether baseball slugger Barry Bonds lied under oath about steroids.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is under fire. The call from his critics for him to step down now getting louder.
And the growing refugee problem in Iraq. We're going to take a closer look at that this morning.
Plus, tornadoes tearing through eastern Iowa. At least one person's dead. An Iowa City dispatcher says the community is in disaster mode.
A look at those stories ahead.
First, business news.
Ballgames -- you know what, everything is getting more expensive. Why am I even slightly surprised?
SERWER: Yes. Baseball a little bit more expensive, Soledad, but not so much. Up 5.4 percent, tickets are this year, to about $22, which if you think about it is not so bad, particularly when you compare it versus other sports.
Baseball is far and away your best sports value. Baseball season about two weeks old. And we have a rundown of some of the most expensive cities. Boston Red Sox, number one. And this is because Fenway is the smallest park, you could argue.
S. O'BRIEN: So what kind of seat is that for $46.46?
SERWER: That's an average seat price. And so it's up, you know, about 4 percent, which is really just...
M. O'BRIEN: Do they -- I mean, what is a cheap seat at Fenway now? I don't know. We'll have to look that up.
SERWER: We'll have to look that up.
M. O'BRIEN: There aren't many left.
SERWER: We can see here the cheapest park in the United States, Kansas City. The average ticket, 13 bucks and change.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, that is a value. That is a value.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's nice.
SERWER: But, you know, there's not a lot of love there in Kansas City for the Royals. I mean...
S. O'BRIEN: Hence the lower price.
SERWER: Yes, exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I think people there love the Royals.
SERWER: They love the Chiefs a lot more.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
SERWER: It's really true.
And this is interesting, too. Baseball, 22 bucks. The NFL average ticket, $58. The NBA, 45 bucks. NHL, $41.
S. O'BRIEN: How do you take your kids to a game for 50 bucks a ticket? That's insane.
SERWER: Well, the thing is, you know, you think about it, baseball, there's 160 games. The NFL, there's only 16, 80 home games.
M. O'BRIEN: Supply and demand, yes.
SERWER: Right. So you can see the prices are, you know, commensurate with the number of games. You have you have to charge more if there are fewer games.
Let's talk about the best jobs in America. Kind of surprising here.
"Money" magazine has the list. This is done by having the highest salaries, plus the best job growth prospects.
Let's take a look at this chart. And we can see here, you know, not a surprise at the top, software engineer. They get paid a lot of money and expected to grow nicely, 46 percent. Then college professor, kind of surprising. Some good money there, and some good...
M. O'BRIEN: Job security once you get tenure.
SERWER: Yes, that's right. Surprising, the demographics -- financial adviser, not surprising the demographic changes.
Human resource manager, that's called a layoff administrator, OK, in my book.
M. O'BRIEN: And that's a miserable job. That's a miserable job.
S. O'BRIEN: No, I have friends who are HR managers. They like their jobs.
M. O'BRIEN: Got a minute? That's what they say, "Got a minute?"
SERWER: Yes, "Got a minute?" Yes, got a lot of minutes.
And let's go down to the bottom ones here of the top 10 rounded out, and look at that, number 10, psychologist. Neurotic America, perhaps?
S. O'BRIEN: Pharmacists make a ton of money.
SERWER: Yes, they do do very well. And again, that's a demographic play. As the population ages we need our meds.
S. O'BRIEN: Right.
SERWER: So, some interesting stuff there.
S. O'BRIEN: That's pretty interesting. We didn't make the list at all.
M. O'BRIEN: And weather caster did not either.
SERWER: Yes -- no.
M. O'BRIEN: Chad...
(CROSSTALK)
M. O'BRIEN: I think you've got a god job.
SERWER: You have a good job.
M. O'BRIEN: You've got a gig.
MYERS: You know what? My first job was $4.05 an hour, and minimum wage was $4.00. But they... (LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: It's a glamorous business, isn't it?
MYERS: The station didn't want to say that it paid anybody minimum wage. So they paid us $4.05.
S. O'BRIEN: That's funny. What did you do with that extra money that you saved up?
SERWER: That nickel?
MYERS: Actually, I made water -- I sold water heaters at Sears and made $12 an hour doing that. They'd come in and they'd go, "Don't I know you?" "Yes, I'm the weather guy."
(LAUGHTER)
(WEATHER REPORT)
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