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American Morning

CIA Shake-Up; Political Hot Topics

Aired May 08, 2006 - 06:29   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. A look at our top stories this morning.
Lawmakers from both parties are wary of President Bush's choice to head the CIA. President Bush is expected to choose Air force General Michael Hayden to lead the agency. Some concerns, though, about his ties to the Pentagon.

Rhode Island Democrats expected today to endorse Representative Patrick Kennedy for re-election. Representative Kennedy checked himself into the Mayo Clinic for addiction to prescription drugs after a car accident on Capitol Hill last week.

And more details today on those sniper shootings in the D.C. area back in 2002. John Allen Muhammad, on trial for six of the sniper killings, is asking to have the trial moved and a new jury named.

A big announcement from the White House today. The president expected to reveal his nominee for CIA director. It's no secret, though, Air Force General Michael Hayden is said to be the nominee. Porter Goss, you'll recall, stepped down as the head of the spy agency on Friday.

Let's get right to CNN's Sumi Das. She's in Washington, D.C., this morning.

Hey, Sumi. Good morning.

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, the White House shake-up began a little over a month ago with a new White House chief of staff. The latest spot to be vacated, a key role in the nation's security.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAS (voice over): Buffeted by dismal approval ratings, the Bush administration shakeout goes on. Senior administration officials say President Bush is expected Monday to nominate Air Force General Michael Hayden for the top spot at the CIA, after Porter Goss's abrupt resignation Friday.

Hayden currently serves as deputy director of National Intelligence. Previously, he headed the National Security Agency. Hayden presided over and has defended the NSA's warrantless domestic wire-tapping program mandated by the president. GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, DEP. TO NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIR.: Had this program been in effect prior to 9/11, it is my professional judgment that we would have detected some of the 9/11 al Qaeda operatives in the United States.

DAS: But some say other issues could present obstacles during confirmation hearings.

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R), KANSAS: Here we have a man who everybody says is one of the best briefers they ever had on intelligence, but some real concern about somebody from the military heading up the CIA.

DAS: The changing face of the administration moves forward on another front Monday, when former news anchor Tony Snow begins work as White House press secretary. Friday, his predecessor wished him luck.

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: In terms of the advice, my advice to Tony is, have fun and enjoy this. It is a -- it is a great job, and there are certainly challenges with it, but it very rewarding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DAS: Some in Washington are saying that doubts about General Hayden heading a civilian agency could easily be remedied by Hayden resigning from the military -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Sumi Das for us this morning.

Sumi, thanks.

Of course we're going to watch it.

Happening now "In America," authorities in San Francisco say a broken water jet control may have caused a passenger ferry to crash into a pier at Fisherman's Wharf. Nine people were hurt on Friday when the Baylink ferry backed out of one pier and then ran right into the pilings of another.

A flight bound for San Diego made an emergency landing in Denver yesterday after the crew was alarmed by a strange odor. It turns out it was the scent acetone. A woman on board was polishing her fingernails.

And listen. Out with the old. An outdated hotel was imploded in Raleigh, North Carolina, making way for a new landmark. Construction on a new skyscraper is set to begin on that spot as soon as they can cart all that debris off. The new building is expected to be the tallest building in Raleigh.

And a huge success for jazz fest in New Orleans. Packed crowds came to see 4,000 musicians over two weekends. One disappointment, though, was that local legend Fats Domino had to cancel his closing night performance because he wasn't feeling so well.

And we're all holding our breath in suspense. After spending a week in a human aquarium, the man bowl, as I like to call it, David Blaine's going to perform his most dangerous feat. Tonight, the magician is going to attempt to hold his breath for almost nine minutes while he wrestles to break free of chains and handcuffs, a la Houdini.

Thirty-three minutes past the hour. Let's check on the forecast now with Chad.

Hey, Chad, think he's going to do it or not?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: You do?

MYERS: But he's still out there, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Yes. Yes.

MYERS: Yes? Oh, yes, he'll do it.

S. O'BRIEN: Tonight is the final big one. The big ending.

MYERS: Oh, he's just amazing. You know.

S. O'BRIEN: But you don't think after a week in a fish tank he's going to be a little exhausted?

MYERS: Oh, sure. And you saw what his hands looked like on Friday, right...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: From just the three -- now it's another three days after that, so I can imagine he's probably in a little bit of discomfort.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you. We sure appreciate it, Chad.

It turns out that it is official. General Michael Hayden will be the president's nominee to head the CIA. The word comes from NSA Director Stephen Hadley.

Let's get more on the shake-up at the CIA from CNN's national secured correspondent, David Ensor, in Washington D.C.

David, good morning to you. Not exactly a well-kept secret, was it?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Not much of a surprise. Stephen Hadley, the National Security adviser of the president, has announced it, and it's very unusual for them to jump the president's announcement like this, but then something very unusual happened yesterday on the talk shows. Michael Hayden -- General Michael Hayden's nomination ran into some criticism from some unexpected quarters.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee called him the wrong man at the wrong time, arguing that a general, a serving general was not the right person to head the nation's top civilian intelligence agency. So, clearly the White House is scrambling a little bit here and wants to get out right away on the morning shows with their defense of their man.

Now, this is a highly qualified nominee for a top intelligence post. He -- for seven years he was head of the National Security Agency, the nation's big ear. He's been deputy -- deputy to John Negroponte, the top intelligence officer in the nation since then.

So, this man knows intelligence. However, there will also be questions at his hearings about the -- what the press calls the domestic surveillance wire-tapping program. The president calls it the terrorist surveillance program. That was started under Michael Hayden at the NSA, so that's controversial.

Also, he has no experience in human intelligence gathering. So there will be questions about that, too -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, lots of questions. In addition to all of that long list, taking over the helm of the CIA is going to be a very tough job. I mean, disarray I think is a good word to describe how the CIA is right now.

ENSOR: Well, that's right. We're expecting further announcements. Porter Goss announced his retirement, the CIA director, on Friday. We're expecting further announcements of other people that Porter Goss brought into the agency, and at least one who was elevated by him to the number three post, and whose name has now been linked with others that are at least connected somehow with Congressman Cunningham, the congressman who is, of course, going to be serving some jail time soon.

So there's going to be some -- some broom sweeping at CIA. That's clear. And this an agency that's had a lot of turmoil lately. They could use a little stability -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. David Ensor for us this morning.

David, thanks.

Still to come this morning, church leaders, Catholic church leaders, are taking aim at "The Da Vinci Code" again, and it could turn into a legal battle. We're going to explain just ahead.

Plus, the jewel in his crown. We'll tell you what President Bush calls his very best moment as president.

First, though, a look at some the other stories make he can news on this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A quick look at the stories we're following around the world for you.

Tensions increase on the Iran-Iraq border.

A verdict expected in a high profile South African rape trial.

And the Vatican calling for a "Da Vinci Code" lawsuit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon, at a validation operation for the Iraqi army's 5th division. The aim is to determine if these Iraqi troops are ready to take responsibility for combat operations in their area.

Now, that is Diyala Province, which is located in central Iraq and extends all the way to the Iranian border, which is where this validation operation is taking place. The mission is counterinsurgency operations, to interdict and figure out smuggling routes, to look for weapons caches, to look for old stockpiles of weapons, and to disrupt insurgent activity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN ROME BUREAU CHIEF: I'm Alessio Vinci in Rome. A top Vatican official is suggesting that Christians around the world should not just sit back and forgive those who show disrespect for religious beliefs and for Jesus.

Cardinal Francis Arinze basically said that Christians should take legal action against "The Da Vinci Code," which suggests that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were lovers. Cardinal Arinze made this comment in a documentary produced here in Rome by a Catholic film agency, a transcript of which was made available to CNN. However, he was not available to elaborate what legal means he has in mind or whether the Vatican itself would take such legal action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: For more on these and any of our top stories, we invite you to head to our Web site, CNN.com, always there for you..

Coming up, controversy over the president's nominee to head the CIA. Some powerful Republicans already questioning the pick. Is this nomination already in trouble?

And later, this is a scary problem facing cops. We'll tale you why fake guns are proving just as deadly as the real thing.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We're looking at some hot topics this morning with John Mercurio, the big fight brewing on Capitol Hill over who should run the CIA. The president's choice, General Michael Hayden, is a man with deep roots in the intelligence community, but even some Republican lawmakers are worried that putting a military man in charge of a civilian spy agency will give the Pentagon too much sway over espionage.

Joining us now from Washington, John Mercurio, who is senior editor at "The National Journal's Hotline".

John, good to have you with us once again on this Monday morning.

JOHN MERCURIO, SR. EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Good to be here, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: It seems as if the administration is not at all concerned about this fight.

MERCURIO: Yes, exactly. I mean, it's interesting, you just had David Ensor on reporting that they've already basically announced this nomination, coming out trying to make their argument on the morning talk shows. They took a beating yesterday by both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, not just on the issue of domestic eavesdropping, but also on this issue of his military experience. So I think that both of those issues, both very separate issues, are going to be important to watch.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, run the political calculus for us. After Harriet Miers, wouldn't they decide to retrench a little bit here? Or is the best defense a good offense?

MERCURIO: Well, frankly, I think this -- this nomination has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it. The fact that the White House has insisted on pushing a nominee who was going to directly connect them to the issue of domestic eavesdropping is a very sort of Rove- esque strategy on their part.

He has decided he thinks it's important for Republicans to make domestic eavesdropping, to make national security the top priority in this election year because they believe Democrats, I think, look weak on national security because they don't support domestic eavesdropping. Michael Hayden, of course, the nominee, was in that time in charge of the National security Agency, he had overseen that program. And Republicans think by pushing this nominee, they then embrace that -- embrace that program and force Democrats to respond to it.

M. O'BRIEN: So, in other words, the Democrats would look weak on national security on defense by going after somebody of General Hayden's ilk?

MERCURIO: Exactly, exactly, very interesting.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, that is. And the numbers would suggest that people do, in fact, support domestic eavesdropping?

MERCURIO: Well, I think it depends on how you ask the question, but, yes, there have been a lot of polls over the past several months that show that Americans support the idea of allowing their federal government in certain circumstances to survey conversations, telephone conversations, e-mail conversations, going on with selected targets who they believe to be suspects and to be terror suspects. However, if you ask the question differently, if you ask about civil liberties, if you ask about sort of broader -- broader investigations that go on, I think Americans become a lot more nervous.

Now, Democrats, you saw Nancy Pelosi yesterday on the Sunday talk shows saying that she supports domestic -- domestic surveillance. She just wanted -- wants it done within the law. So it becomes a much more complicated legal argument I think once you get into the specifics.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Of course, the key is doing it within the law. And that is the rub.

Let's talk about the Porter Goss departure, hasty departure, not the long good-bye we've seen in some other cases from the Bush administration.

MERCURIO: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: And there's at least a whiff in that neighborhood of some controversy. His number three person at the CIA kind of linked to that whole Duke Cunningham scandal that's emerging there. It gets complicated, but the fact is, is there more to this politically than meets the eye?

MERCURIO: Well, it's interesting. You had seen Democrats and Republicans over the past several months, ever since Goss basically showed up in Langley, criticizing his tenure. You saw several veterans over the past 30 years at the CIA leave over the past 18 months because they didn't like Goss's leadership style. But you hadn't seen anything from within the administration.

The administration, of course, has this style of being very, you know, sort of locked together, very closed door, and there hadn't been a lot of criticism within the administration. What we're finding out now, however, is that -- sorry, Goss chafed at the -- at his relationship with John Negroponte, the director of National Intelligence, and he chafed at the decision by the administration to then take his access to the president away. So, a lot of sort of tensions building within the administration and between the president and Goss himself.

M. O'BRIEN: A bit of a turf battle there.

Let's shift gears here finally. There' a new sheriff in the briefing room today. Tony Snow, formerly of FOX News, will take the podium. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. It is your job today...

MERCURIO: Miles, I don't want to do that.

M. O'BRIEN: ... to do that, to go out and there and try to stem, turn the tide of communication right now. What would do you? MERCURIO: You know, I think he actually steps into this at a rather fortunate -- a rather fortunate times -- I mean, at a rather fortunate time. A lot of people are saying that, you know, he's got a huge headache on his first day, he has to deal with this Hayden nomination which looks like it's headed for a fight.

I think Tony Snow, though, heads into this office, into this job with an enormous amount -- enormous reservoir of goodwill among his former colleagues. A lot of people know him and know him well and respect him. He's just gone through a rather grueling battle with cancer and came out of it OK. So, I think a lot of people think that, you know, that he goes into this, there will be good feelings, the kid gloves haven't come off yet, there's a little bit of a honeymoon for Tony Snow.

And so, for him to come in and have to deal with something of a meaty and controversial issue on his first day, there might be at least a little bit of an easy ride for him, at least at first. Now, I could be wrong. Watch, I'll show up and the first White House briefing is going to be contentious. But at least at this point I think people are wishing him well.

M. O'BRIEN: I give the honeymoon 30 minutes. That's -- or maybe a day.

MERCURIO: I give it an hour.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, John Mercurio...

MERCURIO: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: ... generous fellow that he is, on our Monday morning edition of -- and he -- by the way, he's with "The Hotline," of course, which you'll want to check out online.

Thank you very much, John.

Andy Serwer is here.

Hello, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Hello, Miles.

Just about seven and a half, eight hours ago, I got back from the capitalism of Woodstock, the Woodstock of capitalism, Warren Buffett's annual meeting. I will give you a full report and tell you what happened in Omaha, Nebraska, coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A look now at some of the stories we're working on this morning.

It is confirmed, General Michael Hayden will be President Bush's pick to head the CIA.

A judge rules this morning on the Apple Computer versus Apple Records court battle.

President Bush says he would like to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

It will be a busy first day for the new White House press secretary, Tony Snow.

And firefighters still battling a huge wildfire in Florida. Thousands of acres burned, hundreds evacuated. Major roads closed.

Those stories ahead, but first, Andy Serwer is here to tell us more.

You know, I guess the question would be, how was the buffet at the Buffett event?

SERWER: Not a whole lot of food there.

M. O'BRIEN: Not a lot of food?

SERWER: But a lot of people, a lot of talk, a lot of wealthy Americans getting together and having a big old party.

M. O'BRIEN: How do I get invited to a party like this?

SERWER: You have to buy a share of stock that goes between $80,000 and $90,000 a share at this point.

M. O'BRIEN: Cheap.

SERWER: We are talking about Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting held this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. Twenty-four thousand people go to hear the oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, and his partner, Charlie Munger, dispense with advice -- dispense advice, I should say.

M. O'BRIEN: That too.

SERWER: And interesting, you know, they're in this giant arena, the Omaha Civic Center, and, you know, you walk amongst the crowd and you sort of feel like, you know, you're there, they're there for, like, a motivational speaker, like a Rick Warren or Tony Robins. And in a way they are.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's kind of like that, yes.

SERWER: In a way they are. I mean, they're there to, you know, hear, you know, these two very, very intelligent guys talk about investing in the economy and stock market, foreign affairs. They literally hang on every word these two guys say for hour after hour after hour. And it's really -- it's a very singular experience.

They had a film...

M. O'BRIEN: Do you feel enlightened?

SERWER: I feel somewhat enlightened. You know, it's interesting, because they say a lot of the same thing year after year...

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

SERWER: ... that things are getting out of control in the housing market, there's speculation in commodities. But, you know, as someone said, "I go to church every Sunday and they say the same thing every Sunday at church." So, it's, again, like that.

They had a film before the meeting where they have of lot of celebrities talking about Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Gates, who's the director of the company. This year, they also had the "Desperate Housewives" in a skit where they tried to seduce 82-year-old billionaire Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's partner. So that was kind of funny.

M. O'BRIEN: You had to be there for that one.

SERWER: You had to be there.

They say findings -- he says, you know, we're seeing -- we're seeing speculation, orgies tend to be wildest at the end. "It's like being Cinderella at the ball. You know that at midnight everything is going to turn back into pumpkins and mice."

So it's kind of fun. And...

M. O'BRIEN: What the heck is he talking about there?

SERWER: He was talking about, you know, the speculation in the housing market, that things get really kind of frothy at the end.

M. O'BRIEN: So kind of cryptic.

SERWER: Cryptic. Well, you know, pumpkins and mice. You know, you can see that the party's over, right?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I guess so.

SERWER: OK.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, if the shoe fits, Andy Serwer will wear it.

Thank you very much.

SERWER: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Always a pleasure.

Time for a check of the forecast. Chad Myers at the weather center.

Hello, Chad.

MYERS: Hello, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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