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American Morning

Price of Gas Putting Pressure on Congress; I Want My CNN; Prince Harry's Charity

Aired April 28, 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: Checking our top stories for you, the State Department releasing its annual terrorism report this morning. It says Iraq is fast becoming a safe haven for terrorists from around the world.
In Alabama, after 50 years, a pardon for Rosa Parks. Alabama Governor Bob Riley signs a bill opening the way for pardoning Parks and hundreds of other civil rights protesters.

It's about time.

President Bush wants Congress to give him the authority to change auto fuel economy requirements. Right now the administration can only do that for trucks, vans and SUVs.

Top of a Friday morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

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

Also this morning, we're going to talk about lawmakers and what they're driving. The answer could surprise you a lot.

M. O'BRIEN: Not exactly fuel-stingy vehicles.

S. O'BRIEN: No, no. Not at all. Not at all.

First, though, let's check today's gas prices as we gauge gasoline for you this morning.

The average price for a gallon of regular unleaded, $2.92. A month ago it was $2.50. A year ago the price of a gallon of regular, $2.23. .

The president Azerbaijan is in Washington, D.C., today for talks with President Bush. Obviously what they're going to talk about, at least in part, will be oil. That country is scheduled to deliver the first shipments of oil from the Caspian Sea to Western markets through a new pipeline this June. D.C. helped Azerbaijan develop energy markets in the West.

We're awaiting the release of more oil profit numbers this morning. Chevron now is what we're waiting on, expected to release their figures some time before the markets open. Yesterday, ExxonMobil announced more than $8 billion in the first quarter profits. That's just the first quarter. Chevron is expecting to announce something about half of that number. High gas prices prompting New Jersey to consider some statewide changes. Those changes include decreasing the maximum speed limit to 55 miles an hour, and also ending that ban on self-service gas stations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: We will start with select sites, if not on all of the turnpike positions over a period of time, and in some local neighborhoods, north, south, and central, to see whether these price savings actually goes through to the consumer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, no self-serve stations in New Jersey. Governor Corzine says consumers could say as much as six cents a gallon. Opponents say, though, that gas station insurance rates are probably going to rise, and then, of course, that would hurt consumers, because, of course, all those costs are eventually passed on to consumers.

Full-service or self-service, it really doesn't matter. The price of gas is putting a lot of pressure on members of Congress, as we certainly heard of late.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken up early for us. He's at the nation's capital.

Hey, Bob. Good morning to you.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

It's cliche time on your AMERICAN MORNING. The cliche of the day is: if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. And I think it might apply here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN (voice over): When the Federal Reserve chairman speaks, everyone listens, even when he states the obvious.

BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Rising energy prices pose a risk to both economic activity and inflation.

FRANKEN: Those rising energy prices are fueled in part by ever- rising energy uses. The Fed chairman, for instance, is transported around town in the standard dignitary Cadillac limo, figure around 16 miles to the gallon. According to published reports, he sold his Toyota Sienna Minivan when he took the job. That got 21 miles per gallon.

The spike in energy prices has brought a spike in energy-related media events.

REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: We've passed legislation time and time again with Democrats blocking it, but that was history. Now this is the future. And we need to move forward.

FRANKEN: But when House Speaker Dennis Hastert joined fellow Republicans at his news conference, he traveled there in an SUV. It gets approximately 15 miles to the gallon.

Congressional leaders are driven around in SUVs. The same goes for Democratic leaders, like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. When some of her fellow Democrats engaged in their own finger-pointing, the reporters had a snarky question, how had they gotten there?

REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: Taurus -- Ford Taurus. A little two door -- four-door. It's a Ford Taurus.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Hey, we got you.

EMANUEL: OK?

SCHUMER: Every one of us drove -- drove fuel-efficient cars here.

EMANUEL: Right here? Wait a second. Hold on. Hold on.

No. No. I ain't doing this. You want to play that game?

Chicago CTA card, public transportation. Washington, D.C., public transportation. Any time you want, anywhere you want to go.

FRANKEN: Maybe so, but the fact is, the parking lots for members of Congress around the Capitol look like "Gas-Guzzlers Are Us," which look like parking lots just about everywhere else in this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: So, when it comes to oil consumption in the United States, perhaps we should remember that quote from the old Pogo cartoon, "We have met the enemy, and he is us" -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, you know, I was going to look around for my metro card, and I drive a big old SUV. So, you know, having a metro card does not necessarily mean that you don't drive a big old gas-guzzling vehicle.

How about the president's limo -- limos? Big stretch limos, and so many when you put them in the motorcade.

FRANKEN: Well, yes. And with all the armor, it's really kind of hard to tell exactly what the gas mileage is. But perhaps if the president really means about his concern about this, we'll see a motorcade where you'll see a lot of motorcycles and all the crash vehicles, and all that, and then comes the presidential Mini Cooper.

S. O'BRIEN: Or on bicycle.

M. O'BRIEN: He likes mountain biking.

FRANKEN: He does like biking. He does. He does. S. O'BRIEN: Electric bicycle.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, he could do it. He's in good shape.

M. O'BRIEN: Can you imagine? I think the Secret Service might have some issues with a presidential mountain bike.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Armored limo versus a mountain bike down the street. Yes, I can see it.

Thanks, Bob. Appreciate it.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Bob.

Let's go to Reynolds Wolf to get a check of the weather.

Hello, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Reynolds Wolf.

WOLF: There you go.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Mr. Doom and Gloom. Thanks.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks a lot, Mr. -- Dr. Doom. Appreciate that.

WOLF: It's informing.

S. O'BRIEN: Informing.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's good spin. Here's some more good spin for you...

M. O'BRIEN: Look, he's bailing out on us.

S. O'BRIEN: He stalks off the set.

M. O'BRIEN: Stalking off the set.

All right. You can file this next one under one of the many reasons Scott McClellan will not miss his job...

S. O'BRIEN: Reason 263.

M. O'BRIEN: ... as press secretary. I'm sure there's a long book.

Yesterday, Air Force One is the dateline. The issue: what to watch on TV in the press cabin.

S. O'BRIEN: And it got heated. I mean, it got...

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, of course it did.

S. O'BRIEN: ... like, a little bit snitty (ph). Of course it did. You're right.

Reporters and Scott McClellan kind of going at it. They want to know why. There's FOX -- a preference for FOX, as opposed to other channels.

M. O'BRIEN: Are we allowed to say that? Can we say that? Or is just the "F" word network?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, if you're -- if you're Jack Cafferty...

M. O'BRIEN: Cafferty, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: ... it's the "F" word. I say FOX.

Abbi Tatton has a update for us from "THE SITUATION ROOM."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: In the air today, those reporters asking the questions of Scott McClellan, "Do all the TVs on Air Force One have to be tuned to FOX?" "First I've heard of it," answered Scott McClellan.

But the questions persisted. One person saying they were "officially complaining." Another reporter saying they were told no when they asked for CNN, although told no by whom is a little bit unclear. That reporter answered, "Well, the magic people at the end of the phone."

More questions for Scott McClellan. He said he found it amusing and said repeatedly that it's the first he's heard of it, but then goes off to investigate.

The bottom line comes at the end of the transcript. The channels on Air Force One will be changed to the channel requested, which is CNN.

If you want to read this transcript itself, we've posted it at CNN.com/situationreport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: It's nice to see that the important work of the nation is -- and the focus of journalists is really on the crucial issues like gas prices, the war, all those really other important things, as opposed to the TVs on Air Force One.

M. O'BRIEN: This is important. This is important. And more importantly, how do we get Nielsen diaries on Air Force One now? Because it could...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a nuclear deadline for Iran. Will the country bow to international pressure? I think you know the answer to that so far. We will take a closer look, however.

S. O'BRIEN: And a new development to tell you about in the Duke investigation. We're going to tell you why that has defense attorneys now scratching their heads.

M. O'BRIEN: And Harry's heart of gold. We'll tell you what the third in line to the British throne is up to.

But first, a look at what else is making news this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Let's take a quick look at some of the stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering this morning.

It takes us to Iran, Iraq and Nepal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Aneesh Raman, in Tehran. Today is the day by when Iran has been told to suspend its nuclear program. No sign the country is willing to do so. And amid rising rhetoric with America, we went to the streets to find out what Iranians thought of those in the U.S.

About half the people we spoke to would speak to us on camera. By and large, they separated between the American government and the American people. They said they liked American society.

One man we spoke to off camera said that he was a fan of President Bush because he had gotten rid of Saddam Hussein. Saddam, of course, fought a bloody eight-year war with Iran. But when we turned the camera on, he said something much different. A sense of how difficult it is to get Iranians to speak openly on camera.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon, embedded with U.S. forces in Balad, Iraq. Now, troops operating to the south of here are increasingly focusing their efforts on breaking up kidnapping gangs.

The kidnapping of Iraqis has been ongoing since the fall of Saddam Hussein, but military commanders say that it has shifted from being a pure criminal activity to one that is funding the insurgency. They say that ransom money at times is ending up directly in the hands of the insurgents. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. I'm Satinder Bindra in New Delhi. Nepal's parliament is meeting for the first time in four years. The country's king decided to reconvene parliament and give power back to the people after facing massive street protests for over three weeks.

The country's new prime minister is a veteran 84-year-old politician, Mr. Girija Prasad Koirala. Today Mr. Koirala was too ill to be sworn in, but when he is, his first priority will be to make peace with Maoist rebels who have been fighting a 10-year-old insurgency in Nepal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Also this morning, it turns out that Britain's Prince Harry following in his mother's footsteps. His focus, like hers, charity to help children in Africa who lost their parents to the growing AIDS epidemic there.

CNN Correspondent Jeff Koinange has more for us from London this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fresh off his stint at the Royal Military College At Sandhurst, Prince Harry's first personal tour of duty, the tiny African mountain kingdom of Lesotho. His mission, to raise funds for AIDS orphans. And he started a charity. It's called Sentebale, a local Besutu (ph) word that means "forget me not."

Now, the prince wants to raise awareness for the pandemic that's racked the country, where one in three adults are said to be HIV positive.

Now, AIDS in Africa was a very important issue for Prince Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana. Looking every bit like an officer and a gentleman, the recent military college graduate seems to be picking up where his mother left off.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: And you want to be sure to watch CNN this weekend. Former President Bill Clinton and our senior medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, team up for "The End of AIDS," a CNN global summit. That comes your way on Saturday and Sunday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Business news. Business news straight ahead.

What you got for us? ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Big business, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Good to see you this morning.

S. O'BRIEN: Ka-ching.

SERWER: Shareholders trying to retaliate against a monster CEO pay package.

And because of Winn-Dixie, some lobsters may be in trouble.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Top stories this morning.

The woman who says she was raped by three Duke lacrosse players filed a police report 10 years ago alleging that three men sexually assaulted her back when she was 14 years old. The Associated Press reports that none of the three men was ever charged in that alleged incident.

A Florida brushfire temporarily shut down parts of Interstate 95. The fire jumped the highway in St. John, which is near Cocoa Beach. It's said to be under control right now, though.

And Chevron is out this morning with its quarterly earnings report. Yesterday, ExxonMobil announced that it had earned more than $8 billion, with a "B," in the first quarter alone.

New Jersey's governor thinks he's got a way to save drivers some dough, right?

SERWER: Yes. And that's about getting rid of those gas attendants, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, and I'm curious to know why they have never allowed -- you know, they have the ban on self-serve, which means it's full serve.

Let's get right this morning to Amy Buckman. She's with our affiliate WPVI. She's at a service station -- easy for me to say -- service station on the New Jersey Turnpike in Mount Laurel.

Good morning to you.

AMY BUCKMAN, REPORTER, WPVI: Good morning.

We're here at the service station along the New Jersey Turnpike. If you take a look behind me at the pumps, you can see the way the folks here in New Jersey fill up for gas. They don't get out of their cars. They have gas stations, service attendants who fill up for them. And despite this, out of our tri-state region with New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, New Jersey traditionally has the lowest gas prices in the area.

Now, Governor Corzine here, yesterday, said he's looking at ways to try to keep the gas prices down in New Jersey. And one of the things he is proposing is allowing for the first time in more than 50 years that self-serve stations can happen in the state of New Jersey.

We've been speaking to drivers all morning long. They say even though self-serve might save them five to six cents a gallon, they don't like the idea. They like staying in their cars. They like having the gentlemen clean the windows for them and fill them up. And they say the five to six cents savings isn't worth it.

S. O'BRIEN: Amy Buckman for us this morning.

You know what? I tell you, it will be interesting to see what happens. Many people have said, though -- thanks, Amy.

Many people have said, Andy, that if you indeed do that, you get rid of the ban...

SERWER: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: ... and you -- the price goes down, eventually, though, insurance rates go up for the operators.

SERWER: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: And then that gets passed on to consumers anyway. So, you know, losing the six cents could result in a fee that's higher than six cents at the end of the day.

M. O'BRIEN: So we just can't win.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Yes. And there's that. And then...

S. O'BRIEN: That's what I was trying to say -- yes, in a nutshell.

SERWER: ... the other thing about it is the jobs. And people are always concerned about those gas attendant jobs that would go by the by.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: And if you also go to New Jersey and there's a big rainstorm, and you go to a gas station, and someone's there to pump your gas, that's a kind of -- a nice thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Many a time.

SERWER: Very old school, right?

S. O'BRIEN: It is.

SERWER: But it's true.

S. O'BRIEN: So that would be interesting to see, the impact.

What are you talking about business-wise?

SERWER: We're going to be talking right now about CEO pay, excessive CEO pay, Soledad, in the headlines again. This time concerning Pfizer.

Shareholders yesterday at its annual meeting tried to oust board members who voted for a pay package for CEO Hank McKinnell, a retirement package that could total as much as $83 million, or $6.5 million a year.

That peeved these people, because the stock has gone down 44 percent on average annually since he became -- or -- and I should say, 44 percent in total since he became CEO in 2001. In other words, he got a lot of dough and the stock did very poorly.

The AFL-CIO led the protest. Banners flying overhead at the Cornhusker Marriott Hotel in Lincoln where the annual meeting was held, saying, "Give it back, Hank."

In other news I want to tell you about, this concerning Winn- Dixie. The bankrupt supermarket chain can't get a break. Federal investigators have charged this chain of stores with illegal possession, transportation and sale of undersized spiny lobsters.

S. O'BRIEN: I didn't know they had size regulations.

SERWER: Well, of course. Soledad, the tail length has to be five and a half inches long.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course, by the way, those are -- those are Maine lobsters, not spiny lobsters, just for the record.

SERWER: Just for the record.

S. O'BRIEN: That's generic lobster video.

SERWER: That was generic lobster footage.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm just telling you, a spiny lobster is -- it's a different thing.

S. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: It's a different breed (ph).

M. O'BRIEN: I had to be a nudge, but, you know...

SERWER: The other thing about it -- this sort of intrigued me -- is these lobsters apparently were for sale in 2002. That's a long time ago. And the lobsters might not be around...

S. O'BRIEN: How did they find out? Did someone call in? M. O'BRIEN: If they're around, don't eat them. Put it that way. Whatever you do.

SERWER: A story that raises more questions.

S. O'BRIEN: Not only because the tail length is too small.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That's funny.

SERWER: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy.

Let's get right to...

M. O'BRIEN: They might have grown bigger by now, though.

SERWER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: It's possible.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Reynolds, Reynolds, Reynolds, save me from these two, please.

Good morning.

Oh, it looks like we...

M. O'BRIEN: We're going to take another break. Let's do a break.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes. We'll get to Reynolds right after this short break.

Stop it, you two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The "Star-Spangled Banner," American as apple pie, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it is.

M. O'BRIEN: Or, as you would say in Spanish, (SPEAKING SPANISH).

S. O'BRIEN: (SPEAKING SPANISH)

M. O'BRIEN: Excellent. Excellent. Good work. Soledad, excellent. Which means solitude.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it does.

M. O'BRIEN: A Spanish...

S. O'BRIEN: Look at you, Mr. bilingual. Go ahead.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm on a roll here.

A Spanish version of the Francis Scott Key original is set to hit the airwaves today, titled, "Nuestro Himno."

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Or "Our Anthem." It is meant to encourage patriotism among the Latino population, but the Spanish version is not translating well among some critics in the context of all the discussions we've had of late.

S. O'BRIEN: It's gotten very nasty actually.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. They're calling it the "illegal alien anthem."

Listen.

(MUSIC)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, so this -- that version, what do you think? I think it's great. You know, I...

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you could understand because of the immigration debate that's going on right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Everybody's, you know, tensions are at a high about this. And so, I mean, could you imagine if this were in a different language? If we weren't talking about Spanish? We were talking about some other language? You know, I don't think it would even merit a mention.

M. O'BRIEN: Pig Latin. Pig Latin, it wouldn't be a problem.

S. O'BRIEN: Pig Latin or, you know, I don't know.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Anyway, obviously it's riling debate.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Including the great-great-grandson of Francis Scott Key, who penned that particular song. Not happy.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Interesting. They changed some of the words, too. We're going to talk about that story in a little bit. M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: First, though, Reynolds Wolf, as promised before the break.

Hey, Reynolds. Good morning.

WOLF: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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