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American Morning
Tel Aviv Explosion; Egg-Citement; Moussaoui Defense; Prison Games; Hollywood Justice
Aired April 17, 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: Top stories as we speak.
Violence in the Middle East to tell you about. At least six dead in a Tel Aviv explosion. The blast went off in a spot frequently attacked by Palestinian terrorists. Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility.
The Pentagon fighting back against critics of Donald Rumsfeld. Former Joint Chief's Chairman Richard Myers defending the defense secretary. Said any officers who didn't give Rumsfeld their best advice while in the Pentagon should be shot.
You paid your taxes yet? We have an extra couple of days to get our paperwork in here, but midnight tonight is the deadline for most of the country. A half dozen northeastern states get one more day. If you're in Katrina stricken areas, you have until August.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: A little extra time for those folks.
MILES O'BRIEN: It's . . .
NGUYEN: Considerable.
MILES O'BRIEN: They certainly need it.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen in for Soledad O'Brien today.
MILES O'BRIEN: Let's get right to that break news.
Islamic Jihad claiming responsibility for a deadly bombing just a short time ago in the heart of Tel Aviv. At least six are dead, dozens of others injured. Producer for CNN, Yoav Appel, is on the line right now from the scene in Tel Aviv.
Yoav, tell us what you know.
YOAV APPEL, CNN PRODUCER: We're at the scene of carnage and mayhem at the moment. Police have cordoned off the area. But the ground is littered with blood, guts, bits of (INAUDIBLE), bits of the nearby shops and restaurants that were basically exploded all over this area, near the old bus station in Tel Aviv.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yoav, it's a little bit hard to make you out because I think because of the wind. Do you have a sense right now as to the total casualty count?
APPEL: Yes. Well police at the moment are saying that there's six dead and at least 35 injured, a number of them critical.
MILES O'BRIEN: Islamic Jihad, as we understand it, has claimed responsibility. Tell us in -- this in response to some Israeli rocket attacks. Tell us about that.
APPEL: Well, that's correct. Israel's been responding to Palestinian rocket attacks out of Gaza in the last few weeks and Islamic Jihad has been threatening to carry out bombing attacks in Israeli population centers, especially over the holiday. At the moment it's the holiday of Passover here in Israel, so it was a quiet day when this blast went off and rocked the city. I was sitting in an apartment about a mile away when and everything shook around me. It was quite obvious that a bomb had gone off. And you can see that here from the buildings nearby that it shattered windows, all the cars around are dented and shattered as well.
MILES O'BRIEN: And this particular site, this location for the bombing, sadly has become a frequent target, hasn't it?
APPEL: That's correct. This area has been hit a number of times. I believe on the 20th of January this exact spot was hit as well. It's a small (INAUDIBLE) in the old bus station area. It's popular with migrant workers. This area is not so much an Israeli hangout anymore and quite a few of them have been around. Quite a few families (ph) that grieving for their loved ones with police trying to hold them back.
MILES O'BRIEN: CNN Producer Yoav Appel on the scene there in Tel Aviv. We'll get more for you as it comes in.
Betty.
NGUYEN: No simple Easter egg roll on the White House lawn today. It's hard boiled politics. Some gay and lesbian parents will be there with their children. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken is live at the White House.
Bob, give us the low down on all this.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, for heaven sakes, even an Easter egg roll gets controversial in these days and times. We're going to begin our report from the front lines of the battle. The very long front lines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN, (voice over): They waited in lines that stretched for blocks all night and into the morning. They were waiting for the chance to get tickets for the traditional Easter egg roll at the White House this morning.
JAMES ABBOTT, GAY PARENT: We got here last night about 8:00. FRANKEN: They included James Abbott and Daniel Gri, who would not be considered traditional parents. They're gay parents. Joining the thousands of straight couples in line. They plan to bring their two adopted children, ages eight and 10.
ABBOTT: We thought it would be fun for them and give them a chance to participate in the White House and see maybe the Bushs.
FRANKEN: They wore pink leis around their necks to make sure that everyone knew who they were and that concerned some of the other parents.
TRISCH AUST, MOTHER: That's my only issue, making something like this that should just be a fun occasion around a holiday like this into a political issue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something that's for kids, an event for kids, an event for families and using it as a political platform but . . .
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which I hope they don't do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just hope everybody can just mingle together. I don't want anyone just to stand out.
FRANKEN: It's ironic that some adults wearing bunny ears don't stand out, but those wearing pink plastic flowers do.
DANIEL GRI, GAY PARENT: You know, I think it's important for people to be able to see that gay parents do exist and that and gay people have families, long-term relationships and children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: Well, the White House has held this event since 1878. But I think it's safe to say, Betty, that this is not your great, great grandfather's Easter egg roll.
NGUYEN: Yes, pretty safe to that. Bob, what about the White House response to this?
FRANKEN: Well, the White House response from the first lady is that anybody is welcome. Now some of the tickets are given out at designated times and the first one for the gay parents is noon, leading some of them to complain that maybe that was intentional, that the president and Mrs. Bush would be gone. The White House says that the first group, as usual, will be youth volunteers and children.
NGUYEN: Is that rain I hear in the background there? Any chance that this event's going to be canceled because of weather?
FRANKEN: Well, don't bet on it. Last year there was a downpour and they had it. But, of course, weather is always something they have to be concerned about. I suspect we could say, when it comes to the weather, they're walking on eggs.
NGUYEN: Oh, Bob. You just had to go there, didn't you?
FRANKEN: Thank you for the straight line, yes.
NGUYEN: Nice. OK. I just led you right into that. All right. Thank you, Bob. We'll talk to you later.
MILES O'BRIEN: Kind of proud of him, actually.
All right, moving on to other things. The Zacarias Moussaoui penalty trial resumes in about two hours' time and the defense will try to recover from that damaging testimony from their own client. Jeanne Meserve live outside the federal courthouse in Alexandria this morning.
Jeanne, what is their strategy now?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're going to be putting on a roster of witnesses, some of them will be talking about how difficult it was for Moussaoui to grow up a Muslim in France. Also witnesses to talk about his specific family situation. There was a father who was estranged. He spent several years in an orphanage. Two sisters, attorneys say, are mentally unstable.
We'll also be hearing testimony about Moussaoui's own mental health. His defense attorneys have said that he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. They are likely to use some of his testimony from last week to try and make that case. You will recall, I'm sure, that Moussaoui said he had no remorse for the 9/11 attacks. That he would kill Americans any time, any place. It was a striking and disturbing contrast to the victim testimony which had come earlier in the trial. But experts say it was probably the defense strategy to get it out of the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIMOTHY HEAPHY, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think their thought was, given that it was a bad week, let's go ahead and get the worst stuff out of the way now and then get to the psychiatrists, the information about his upbringing in France and the deprivation that he suffered and neglect. All of that truly mitigating better evidence for the defense will help them finish stronger than they started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: The defense is expected to wrap its case before the end of the week and then the jury will decide whether Moussaoui should spend the rest of his life in jail or if he should die.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: Jeanne, one of the allegations Moussaoui made was that one of his potential accomplices, if he ever did hijack a plane, would have been Richard Reid, the shoe bomber. Will he be heard from? Will he testify one way or another? Will jury hear from him?
MESERVE: No. We expect -- he had been subpoenaed and there had been talk that he was being moved here. However, on Friday, the judge rescinded the order for him to be moved from Colorado, where he's in a maximum security prison, here to Virginia. He will not be testifying. Though we understand that that part of the case will be dealt with in a written summary.
Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN: Jeanne Meserve. Boy, they're still very busy with construction at the courthouse there in Alexandria. Wow. You might want to get a hard hat.
Betty.
Thank you.
NGUYEN: Oh, got jokes this morning, folks.
Well, another CNN security watch to tell you about. Big brother watching you right here in New York City. A new batch of wireless cameras are now keeping the eye on some city streets. Police say the cameras will help them combat crime and terrorism and are being paid for with homeland security grants. Right now the cameras are being placed in Brooklyn. Similar programs are already in places in cities like Chicago and Washington.
You want to stay tuned to CNN both day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
MILES O'BRIEN: There's new evidence that suggests Iran is ratcheting up its nuclear capabilities. Satellite photos from a nuclear watchdog group appear to show a new -- some new tunnel entrances at two Iranian nuclear plants. That could mean a new underground facility is under construction or existing ones are being expanded. Around claims to have made enriched uranium, which could eventually be used in a nuclear weapon. And Iran is threatening a counter attack if its plans are attacked themselves. Iran says it has trained suicide bombers. They are ready to attack American and British targets.
Betty.
NGUYEN: Stories making headlines in America.
Paramedics in the Detroit suburb of Livonia are seeking medical treatment themselves. They had apparently treated a very ill woman who later found out she had bacterial meningitis. That's a very serious, highly contagious infection and it could be deadly.
Now to Minnesota. Authorities are searching for a man who escaped from a sex offender program. The police say 42-year-old Michael Dale Benson (ph) and four others squeezed through a broken window Saturday night. The three others were caught shortly after that.
In Virginia, evacuations ordered for homes in the path of a forest fire in the southwestern part of the state. Look at the smoke here. The Bull Mountain fire has already destroyed a couple of houses. Members of Virginia National Guard were called in last night to help firefighters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, hang on. Here comes another one. Oh watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness is right. A scary sight seeing debris like that flying through the air at more than 100 miles per hour. What are they doing in the path? That's what it looked like as at least three tornadoes tore through southeastern Nebraska. Luckily no one was killed by the tornadoes in Nebraska or Kansas but there was a whole lot of damage. Volunteers are being asked to help with some of the cleanup efforts there.
Well, hopefully we won't see much more of that today. But it is spring, Chad, and that's when these storms pop up.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Hello, Andy Serwer, how are you?
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm fine. Good morning you guys.
NGUYEN: Good morning.
SERWER: Some business news coming up. CEO pay is in the news. Which chief executive has been making $144,000 a day?
NGUYEN: Wow. A day?
SERWER: A day.
Plus, which CEO is primed to take a month off for vacation and still make millions? We'll tell you coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: Mandatory minimum sentences have made time off for good behavior a thing of the past for many prisoners in the state of Oregon. So as CNN's Sumi Das reports, the corrections department has come up with a new way to keep peace in the prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The hot sellers at the Two Rivers Correctional General Store in Umatilla, Oregon, are coffee, Ramen Soup and video game consoles. Inmates buy goods with money earned from prison jobs. But a few items, like the game consoles, seven inch TVs and CD players have a added cost, good behavior. Permission to buy the TV requires six straight months of clean conduct. A video game console, 18 months. Randy Geer of the Oregon Department of Corrections says this noncash incentives program shows inmate that hard work pays off.
RANDY GEER, OREGON DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: In an institution where every day is somehow a shadow of the day that proceed it, that becomes, over time, almost a disincentive or an incentive to misbehave. So this gives them an alternative and a chance to have tomorrow be somewhat different.
DAS: Jason Touch is serving 21 years for robbery. Once prone to misconduct, he stayed trouble free for the past four years.
JASON TOUCH, INMATE: Actually, I've grown up a lot since I've been in here. Even working up to get a TV for people who have to work up to get a CD player and buy CDs. I mean that's a responsibility.
DAS: The Oregon Department of Corrections says noncash incentives work. Since the program began three years ago, the state inmate population has increased by about 11 percent, but the number of misconduct reports has remained stable.
Some critics say video games and flat screen TVs are luxuries prisoners shouldn't be afforded. John Foote has both prosecuted criminals and worked for the prison system. He says he sees both sides.
JOHN FOOTE, CLACKAMAS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I think the public really wants to know that people in prison are not being what is called coddled. But, on the other hand, I don't think anybody in a civilized society wants to see people treated inhumanely. So you had sort of competing, I think, reactions to it.
DAS: Bit Randy Geer points out giving prisoners incentives to meet goals on the inside will hopefully make them better citizens on the outside.
GEER: The long term view is if you want to make society safer, if you want to make it less likely that inmates will re-offend, then you try and structure their time while they're inside in a way that produces better people.
DAS: Sumi Das, CNN, Umatilla, Oregon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. In a money game, how about a pension worth almost $100 million? Sounds pretty good., huh?
MILES O'BRIEN: I'm in. I'm in.
NGUYEN: Looking good.
SERWER: Is that what they're doing here now?
NGUYEN: I'm in. But I don't want to split, guys.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes. No, it's a -- I don't know about you. We can get you $50 million.
SERWER: Yes. Right.
NGUYEN: Maybe. If you're good. But we want a cut. I mean like a 10 percent just because we're sharing it.
SERWER: See what I can do, you guys.
We're talking about Lee Raymond here, the former CEO of Exxon, in the news. A lot of analysis about just how much money this guy made in the long career at Exxon. How about $100 million pension last year and compensation of almost $69 million. "New York Times" did an analysis saying, over the past 12 years, this gentleman reaped $686 million over the past 12 years.
NGUYEN: Oh, my.
SERWER: That's $144,000 a day.
NGUYEN: To be exact.
SERWER: That's a lot of money. And some people are complaining . . .
MILES O'BRIEN: And what's gas per gallon?
SERWER: It's getting toward $3 if we don't watch out.
NGUYEN: That person don't care.
MILES O'BRIEN: I think we're paying that.
SERWER: Well that's -- some people are complaining that this guy was not the founder of a company. We don't begrudge Bill Gates or Larry Ellison when they make a lot of -- because they founded a company. He was just the CEO.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: Meanwhile, let's move over to Home Depot. Mr. Nardelli there, the CEO, doing OK himself, $38 million this past year, $37 million the year before. That's a lot of money.
Let's move over to Wal-Mart.
MILES O'BRIEN: I guess you can say that wasn't . . .
SERWER: Cheep.
MILES O'BRIEN: It wasn't low, if you know what I mean.
SERWER: No, it wasn't Lowe's. I got it. Very good. Thank you for the pun. MILES O'BRIEN: That's my one.
NGUYEN: That's your one pun this hour.
SERWER: Doing OK. That's your one.
Lee Scott, the CEO of Wal-Mart, he only made $5 million. But that makes sense because the stock's been a stinker. Finding out now he's going to be taking a month vacation. Just off for a month.
NGUYEN: Why not?
SERWER: How about that? CEO's don't usually do that. They take two weeks off here and there, work, bring the Blackberry.
NGUYEN: Well, he's got the money, right? He's got the money for it.
SERWER: I guess he does.
NGUYEN: Which means we're all in the wrong business apparently, right?
SERWER: We should all be CEOs.
MILES O'BRIEN: All right. We have a bonus for you, another story coming up after a break. And this one is interesting. This is a true crime story. Hollywood got a hold of it, but you may never actually see it. Because as it turns out, the prosecutor involved in the case may have stepped over a line. We'll explain in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: In Hollywood, once again, the line between art and real life is blurred. But this time it could lead to some serious problems for the Santa Barbara district attorney and his role in a high profile case. Here's Brooke Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): A grieving mother. A murdered teen. And a suspect on the lam.
SUSAN MARKOWITZ, VICTIM'S MOTHER: I would rather die. But hopefully before I do, I get to see Jesse James Hollywood caught.
ANDERSON: The case of Jesse James Hollywood, a San Fernando Valley man who fled the country after he was accused of murder, had all the makings of a Hollywood movie. And now, it is one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really? Watch it. Tell me what it's like.
ANDERSON: But the movie "Alpha Dog" has been the subject of a legal battle itself, even before it hits theaters. The reason? The prosecutor in Hollywood's death penalty case was an unpaid consultant on the film. Santa Barbara County Assistant D.A. Ron Zonen turned over his whole case file to Director Nick Cassavetes to help get the film made.
JAMES BLATT, HOLLYWOOD'S ATTORNEY: When you give out police reports, rap sheets, names and addresses of witnesses, psych and probation reports, those are misdemeanors. They are violations of law.
ANDERSON: Hollywood's attorney, James Blatt, has petitioned the California Supreme Court to get Zonen kicked off the case. Arguing that by collaborating on the film Zonen jeopardizes Hollywood's rights to a fair trial.
BLATT: It's not appropriate to make a motion picture where you present your concept of what the character is to the jury pool before we do the jury trial.
ANDERSON: Zonen insists he did nothing wrong. In a court declaration he said he decided to help on the fill hoping it would lead to the capture of Jesus James Hollywood, who was still a fugitive when "Alpha Dog" started filming. Hollywood was later apprehended in Brazil.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't just take a kid and have no one notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I told you. Didn't I say that?
ANDERSON: Blatt says if his petition to remove Zonen fails, he still has another card up his sleeve. He could try to keep "Alpha Dog" out of theaters.
BLATT: We are seriously considering legal action to try to enjoin (ph) the distribution of the film.
ANDERSON: Director Cassavetes doubts that effort would succeed.
NICK CASSAVETES, DIRECTOR, "ALPHA DOG": I don't think that the movie gets in the way of Mr. Hollywood getting a fair trial.
ANDERSON: No date has been set for Hollywood's murder trial. "Alpha Dog" is due for release sometime later this year.
Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN: In a moment, the top stories, including a deadly suicide blast at a bus station in Tel Aviv. At least six dead.
The war of words still raging over Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Zacarias Moussaoui's defense team will try to persuade a jury to spare his life.
Then, an egg race for kids is now becoming a battleground for some parents.
And cleanup day in the Midwest after some wild tornadoes once again this weekend. Details ahead. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN: In Israel this morning, a grim yet familiar scene. Another suicide bombing just a short time ago in central Tel Aviv. At least six are dead. We'll have a live report from the scene just ahead.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House where the defense of the defense secretary is intensifying. That story coming up.
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