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American Morning

President Bush Picks General Michael Hayden as New CIA Director; Florida Fire; Apple Vs. Apple

Aired May 08, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Koch at the White House. The president picks General Michael Hayden as his new CIA director. That announcement coming within the hour.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill, where General Hayden and criticism is mounting on both sides of the aisle.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Ensor, where the nominee will have pluses and minuses before the Senate. He's a controversial figure.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Wildfire in central Florida. A thousand acres burning right now, a thousand people forced from their homes. Can firefighters get an upper hand?

Plus this...

JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Boulden in London, and it's Apple versus Apple. And I'll tell you whether Apple Records or Apple Computer has won the day.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. Welcome to Monday. I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Let's get right to our developing story this hour.

President Bush is expected to nominate a four-star Air Force general to head the CIA, but like many things in Washington, D.C., it's a nomination that's a little controversial.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House for us this morning. Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill. National Security Correspondent David Ensor is in our Washington bureau.

Kathleen, let's begin with you this morning. How's the White House dealing with the early word even before the president's made his announcement?

KOCH: Well, the president is going to be making that announcement in just about a half an hour, but it did get the word out early, as you mentioned, by putting out National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley in the White House briefing room doing interviews with all of the networks. It was he who made the announcement, and it was he who also tackled this criticism expressed by a lot of lawmakers over the weekend that having a military man at the helm of the nation's spy agency might not be a good idea, but Hadley said not so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president actually thinks it's a -- it's a strength. He understands the military aspect of the intelligence business, but as I say, he's also had broad experience and can be an integrator and an agent of reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Now, after the president makes the announcement at 9:30 this morning in the Oval Office that Michael Hayden will be his new CIA direct, the director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, will appear in the White House briefing room at 11:00 a.m. to defend that nominee. Hayden is currently Negroponte's deputy director.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks.

Kathleen Koch at the White House for us this morning.

Now turning to Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel.

Andrea, good morning to you. How would you characterize reaction on the Hill?

KOPPEL: Good morning to you, Soledad.

Well, controversial pretty much sums it up. In fact, the most controversial aspect of General Hayden's nomination -- and this comes from both Democrats and Republicans -- is the fact that Hayden not only helped develop that highly controversial NSA domestic surveillance program, but he also helped to defend it. And that has led some to question his independence from the White House and also led some to say that they feel perhaps that General Hayden is someone who crossed the line. One congressional source said that General Hayden is himself at the center, at the epicenter of this controversy.

Now, another issue that is also controversial and has to do with what Kathleen was just alluding to there about General Hayden's military background. That has led some conservative Republicans, members of President Bush's own party like Senator Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, who is also a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to raise questions about that, as well as the powerful chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Peter Hoekstra, who appeared on AMERICAN MORNING earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: A signals that we are not that concerned about having an independent intelligence community, independent of the Department of Defense. And the second thing I believe that it starts to send a signal is that the director of National Intelligence is going to become more of an operational office rather than an executive office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Now, once President Bush makes the official announcement, we'll have to see when the Senate Intelligence Committee will set its date for those confirmation hearings. The chairman of the committee, Pat Roberts, I spoke to one of his staffers. He said that the chairman does not rule out the possibility of having these hearings before the Memorial Day Weekend, but a lot of that, Soledad, depends on how he answers -- General Hayden answers the questions that the Intelligence Committee will put to him -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: I imagine that's the case. Not even being on Capitol Hill is going to depend on how the answers go before anybody will commit to that.

Thanks.

Andrea Koppel for us this morning on Capitol Hill.

Let's turn now to David Ensor.

David, thanks for being with us. Let me ask you a question. What do you think General Hayden brings that Porter Goss did not bring to this role?

ENSOR: First and foremost, Soledad, he brings the trust of the president of the United States and of John Negroponte, the chief intelligence officer of the nation. And frankly, from what I hear from other officials, Porter Goss, the current CIA director, had lost that trust at the time. So, that is absolutely critical and that is a very key thing that he has.

He has access to the president, Negroponte, whenever he wants it. He's a very seasoned intelligence officer. So, all those are on the plus side, and those are big pluses.

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

Thank you, David.

A big thanks to Kathleen Koch and Andrea Koppel, and, of course, David Ensor.

We should mention that President Bush is expected to officially make that announcement of his choice for the CIA director's job from the Oval Office. We're expecting it in just about 25 minutes or so. We're going to carry that live when it happens.

More shake-up at the White House. It's going to be a busy first day for Tony Snow, his first as the president's new press secretary. Snow is a former FOX News commentator. He's going to be now answering tough questions instead of asking them. He takes over the job, of course, from Scott McClellan -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hundreds of people in Florida will have to wait a little longer before returning home. They were forced to leave ahead of a wildfire near Smyrna Beach. That's about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach.

Firefighters right now trying to widen fire lines around the thousand-acre fire to contain it. Three homes have been outright destroyed, others damaged.

We get more now from Josh Einiger from our affiliate WFTV. He joins us from New Smyrna Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH EINIGER, REPORTER, WFTV: I'm standing along the edge of the fire line here in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, and this is one of several flare-ups we've been watching all morning. And they're not all actually giving off flames like this. A lot of them simply are embers that are still giving off a good deal of smoke, but firefighters say that is an indication of just how volatile this situation is.

Tons of embers right now ready for a stiff breeze to whip them into flames and set off fires like the likes of which they saw around here yesterday. At that point, flames were in the air as high as 40 feet as the fire gobbled up more than a thousand acres of wild land here in a part of Volusia County, Florida, not far from Daytona Beach.

Two houses have been destroyed, another three homes damaged. And in the course of the fire spreading, authorities ended up forcing mandatory evacuations of 800 people, another 200 strongly urged to evacuate as the fire crept ever closer to their homes.

Now, right now you can see this flare-up sitting here. Firefighters trying to mop up as much as they can. They will be back here later today with more than a hundred people in helicopters and the sky to drop water on the fire, also on the ground to attack things like this at the ground level as they try to put this out and keep it from spreading. But right now, authorities say all bets are off, they are bracing for a day that could be even worse than yesterday.

I'm Josh Einiger for CNN, in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" now, the leader of a polygamist sect has been added to the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Warren Jeffs is the self-proclaimed prophet of the fundamentalist Latter-day Saints Church. The group is not affiliated to the Mormon Church, which denounces polygamy. Jeffs faces rape and unlawful flight charges. The FBI offering $100,000 reward.

He may be in rehab, but Congressman Patrick Kennedy getting a boost today from fellow Democrats in Rhode Island. It's expected they will endorse him for re-election. Kennedy in rehab for an addiction to prescription painkillers, he says. He checked himself into the Mayo Clinic after that car wreck in D.C. last week we told you about. In Massachusetts, the last American survivor of the Titanic has died. Lillian Asplund, who was 99 years old, she was just 5 when the unsinkable sink went down in the icy Atlantic in 1912. April was the month. She lost her father and three brothers in that. Her mother and a younger brother survived as well.

Barry Bonds gaining on the bambino. The San Francisco Giants slugger at the plate last night against the Phillies. Deep, deep, deep. Upper deck, right field, 713.

He's one behind "The Babe," and getting close Henry Aaron. Forty-two runs -- homeruns, I should say, specifically the time behind Aaron's all-time homerun record.

Oh, the Giants lost, though.

We are all holding our breath in suspense after spending a week wondering what's going to happen in the man bowl. David Blaine will perform his most dangerous feat tonight, or so it is claimed.

The magician will attempt to, after doing all he's done, soaking himself for all this time, will come out and lose the breathing apparatus. They'll chain him up, and then he'll try to hold his breath for nine minutes, which would break the world record wrestle free the handcuffs and do all the Houdini stuff. So, that will be on a broadcast network tonight, and I'll be -- will I be up? I may miss that.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, I'm definitely going to watch that.

M. O'BRIEN: I'll definitely record it, one way or another.

All right. Let's get the forecast in.

Chad Myers, are you going to be watching that? It is a little past our bedtime.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Way.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right.

Apple versus Apple. The winner, of course, is Apple. But was it Apple Computer or Apple Records?

CNN's Jim Boulden has our story from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOULDEN: A judge here at London's high court ruled on Monday that Apple Records cannot sue Apple Computer over its iTunes music service. Apple Records has sued Apple Computer many times in the past, claiming that it's encroached on its trademark.

The two sides agreed in 1991 that they would stay in separate businesses, that Apple Records, owned by the Beatles, would do music, and Apple Computer would stay in the hardware business. Now, in 2003, Apple Records said that the very successful iTunes service was now a record label, a music company, and said that Apple Computer should not be able to use the Apple logo or the Apple trademark when using the iTunes service. However, that judge has disagreed with the that.

Now, Apple Records says that it will appeal.

NICHOLAS VALNER, ATTORNEY FOR APPLE CORPS.: We say they've clearly been using Apple marks on or in connection with prerecorded music. You only have to look at the iTunes Web sites to get that view.

The judge has taken a different view. We don't agree. That is why we're going to appeal.

BOULDEN: This was the third lawsuit filed by Apple Records against Apple Computer in 25 years. And if the appeal is not successful, then the two sides will rely on their 1991 uneasy truce on how each can use the Apple name and logo.

Jim Boulden, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks to you, Jim.

Coming up on the program, President Bush set to name in his choice to head the CIA. His name is General Michael Hayden, and his selection has some Republicans worried. We'll have the official announcement in about 20 minutes' time.

S. O'BRIEN: Also, we're going to take a closer look at that pick with a former 9/11 commissioner. He says he thinks Hayden might be doomed to fail. We'll tell you about that.

M. O'BRIEN: And later, a scary moment for one of our own. Nic Robertson stuck in the middle of an angry mob in a refugee camp in Sudan. We will take you inside the tense moments and explain what's going on there.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush coming up in 15 minutes. President Bush expected to make it official. He will announce the nomination, his nomination of Air Force General Michael Hayden as his choice to head the CIA. We're going to have live coverage of that as soon as it happens, of course, for you.

Of course, as we've been telling you all morning long, there's a lot of opposition to that nomination in advance of the nomination. That's the way things go in Washington, of course.

In this case, some Republicans on Capitol Hill are concerned. In particular, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee was talking to me just a little while ago about how concerned he is that an Army -- excuse me, Air Force general would be put in the position of heading the civilian intelligence apparatus.

We'll hear from a little bit in just a moment. But joining me now is former secretary of the Navy, John Lehman. He is now of the J.F. Lehman and Company. But, of course, you may recall him as being part of the 9/11 Commission which offered up suggestions for wholesale change in the intelligence community.

Mr. Lehman, good to have you with us.

First of all, just first cut on this as a choice to run the CIA, good or bad?

JOHN LEHMAN, CHAIRMAN, J.F. LEHMAN AND COMPANY: Good.

M. O'BRIEN: Really? Why?

LEHMAN: Well, first of all, we -- I think many of us on the 9/11 Commission have very mixed emotions here. On the one hand, we feel the administration has taken a completely wrong approach to implementing the reforms.

You'll recall that our report identified in chapter and verse the total dysfunctional nature of our intelligence -- it doesn't work, our intelligence apparatus. And we called for a wholesale reform, breaking up the bureaucracy, tearing down the stovepipes, creating a strong, powerful DNI staff that could break up and reduce the bureaucracy and bring change, and change the culture.

Instead, the administration adopted a policy of more bureaucracy. And instead of bringing in a lot of new, innovative personnel concepts, they have relied on the career services.

M. O'BRIEN: It's kind of disheartening to hear that, when you put it that way. So what you're saying is, you have a good man who's put in an untenable job.

LEHMAN: Yes. I mean, the good news is that the administration has picked the best of the best. I mean, John Negroponte may be the best diplomat we've had in the last 40 years. And Mike Hayden is one of the best military intelligence officers we've ever had. And so that's good, except that the structure that they're being put into cannot succeed.

M. O'BRIEN: That's exactly what Congressman Hoekstra was saying just a few moments ago when I was talking to him. Let's listen to him interject his comments. I want to have you play off that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOEKSTRA: I think we made -- we have made major strides, we continue to make progress. But at the same time, al Qaeda's adapting. We still don't have an intelligence committee that is as entrepreneurial, that has as flat of a structure, meaning that, you know, people at the lower levels can make decisions or that is as quick as al Qaeda. That's what we need to get to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Would you concur with that assessment? Not nimble enough?

LEHMAN: Completely. We are -- we are absolutely muscle bound and bureaucratically tied up in knots. And putting -- changing a few people here and there, moving titles around and moving boxes and organization charts, creating a new thousand-person bureaucracy is in no way going to improve the situation.

M. O'BRIEN: So figuratively, it's, at least, blow it up.

LEHMAN: I believe that fundamental reform has to be done. And I think there's a bipartisan consensus in Congress that that needs to be done. I mean, the evidence is so overwhelming, yet it seems to have been ignored.

M. O'BRIEN: Why is there this inertia, though? Is it just turf that we're talking about here?

LEHMAN: Well, I think that it's -- there are two different philosophies of government at work here. I think people that really immerse themselves in what really caused the failures that led to 9/11 have come away, Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. I've never seen such a bipartisan consensus totally clear in the view that we've got to change this system.

It doesn't work. It's got to be reduced. The layers have to be reduced, the stovepipes torn down.

And you can't do that by just trying to run a little faster and jump a little higher and use the same career establishment that brought us these failure. Yet, that is the philosophy of government that has been adopted here.

M. O'BRIEN: The other point that Congressman Hoekstra makes is his concern that a military man is running the civilian apparatus. You, with a background in the military, might quibble with that.

LEHMAN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: What do you think about that?

LEHMAN: Well, in the abstract, I agree, except in the specifics here. Once -- now I've stepped through the looking glass into -- into the world that we're dealing with here.

Mike Hayden has proved -- and we spent a lot of time with him in the 9/11 Commission -- to be very sensitive to civil liberties issues and to unwarranted surveillance issues. So I feel comfortable with both his record at NSA and what he's likely to do at CIA. But the reality is that, why people object, they say that the Pentagon is grabbing too much power. It's because the system that they're forced to depend on doesn't work. And so, at least Don Rumsfeld has moved to reform the part that he's responsible for.

M. O'BRIEN: We're just about out of time, but you did mention the civil liberties. And we're talking about domestic spying here. That's a whole program that he championed in his role at the NSA, the National Security Agency.

Do you really think he's conversant with the Fourth Amendment and the protections that are afforded all of us when it comes to these domestic wiretaps?

LEHMAN: I do, because he was an advocate internally of what we ended up recommending, which was a civil liberties board that could oversee to see that abuses, which are inevitable when you have a bureaucracy implementing a program like that, you have to have outside balances on it. And he's been an advocate, and I believe he's very sensitive to those issues.

M. O'BRIEN: John Lehman, former Navy secretary, 9/11 commissioner. Thanks for coming in.

LEHMAN: A pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, thanks.

Still ahead this morning, a frightening reminder of all the tension in Sudan. Nic Robertson is caught right in the middle of it. We're going to show you this videotape in just a moment.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Things spun out of control in Darfur, Sudan. CNN's Nic Robertson was there, the cameras were rolling.

First, here's Nic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Go! Go! Go! Keep driving! Keep driving!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's happening?

ROBERTSON: I don't know. Are you OK?

Driver, try to leave. Just get out of here!

Keep driving! Just drive. What's happening?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Apparently the crowd thought that a U.N. translator was a government spy. This comes to us according to Nic.

That translator then jumped into their vehicle, tried to escape the angry crowd. They tried to pull him out, threw bricks, as you saw. Beat up the car, too. And as you can see, they were able to make it all out safely.

This happening, of course, just days after a peace deal was reached in Nigeria between Sudan's government and the rebel groups.

President Bush is expected to make some kind of statement on Darfur later this morning. We're expecting it at about 11:40 a.m. Eastern Time from the Roosevelt Room. We're going to monitor that for you -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Any moment now we're expecting to hear from President Bush. He is set to nominate General Michael Hayden as the new CIA director. We're going to have that for you from the Oval Office very shortly.

Plus, how will Hayden's military background fly at the CIA? We'll take a closer look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Live pictures now. That's the Oval Office, and that's a podium. And in just a few moments, the president of the United States will be there to formally announce what we've been telling you all morning, that he would like Air Force General Michael Hayden to be the next head of the Central Intelligence Agency. And we'll be seeing that announcement inside in 90 seconds or so from now.

S. O'BRIEN: As people like to say, it is not without controversy. And interestingly enough, controversy on a number of fronts.

For example, while many people have come out to say really what -- what a person of integrity and how intelligent General Hayden is -- we've heard that numerous times -- the fact that he is an active military man and the fact that the CIA really needs a certain type of leadership at that point, if not an entire gutting of the agency wholesale, certainly has -- has people on different sides of the aisle agreeing on different elements of that.

M. O'BRIEN: It's interesting. The other thing that's going to be factored into this whole discussion will be his strong defense. He is a proponent of that domestic wiretapping campaign in his time at the National Security Agency.

Let's get a couple of words briefly in here from David Ensor, who's watching this for us.

David, you were talking a while ago about really what a brilliant intelligence analyst General Hayden is. That is not a point of debate, is it?

ENSOR: No. He's very highly regarded on both sides of the aisle. Probably one -- most people say the best intelligence briefer in town.

The problem is he's wearing four stars. There are some who feel there shouldn't be a military man leading a civilian intelligence agency. They feel strongly about that. And of course, as Soledad just mentioned, he was the head of the NSA when the warrantless wiretaps were put in place. He strongly defends that. They're to be some tough questions about that in that confirmation hearing for sure.

M. O'BRIEN: But you were talking about how the irony here is that -- and the criticism is that you have a military person running a civilian agency. I'll tell you what, let's hold that thought. Let's listen to the president as he makes his announcement.

Stay with us.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good morning. Today, I am pleased to nominate General Mike Hayden as the next director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Mike Hayden is supremely qualified for this position.

I've come to know him well as our nation's first deputy director of national intelligence. In that position, he's worked closely with our director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, to reform America's intelligence capabilities to meet the threats of a new century.

Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the intelligence field. He served for six years as director of the National Security Agency, and thus brings vast experience leading a major intelligence agency to his new assignment.

He also served as commander of the Air Intelligence Agency, as director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center, and as deputy chief of staff of United States and U.N. forces in Korea.

He's held senior positions at the Pentagon, the U.S. European Command, the National Security Council, and served behind the Iron Curtain in our Embassy in Bulgaria during the Cold War.

Mike knows our intelligence community from the ground up. He has been both a provider and a consumer of intelligence. He's overseen the development of both human and technological intelligence. He has demonstrated an ability to adapt our intelligence services to the new challenges in the war on terror.

He's the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation's history.

It's my honor to welcome Mike's wife, Jeanine, and their family to the Oval Office. I want to thank them for their willingness to support Mike Hayden in his long service to the United States. With the agreement of the Senate, Mike will succeed a great patriot in Director Porter Goss.

Under Porter's leadership, the CIA launched a five-year plan to strengthen the agency's human intelligence capabilities.

This plan involves increasing the number of operatives and sources in the field, and building up the agency's analytical capabilities, so the hardworking men and women of the CIA have the resources they need to penetrate closed societies and secretive organizations.

Porter also played a vital role in shaping the new relationship between the CIA and the new director of national intelligence. And this process benefited greatly from the decades-long friendship between him and Director Negroponte.

Porter took on a critical job at a critical moment in our nation's history. He instilled a sense of professionalism in the CIA and maintained the high standards of this vital agency at a time of transition and transformation.

Throughout his public life, Porter Goss has been a man of accomplishment and integrity. And America appreciates his service.

I'm confident that Mike Hayden will continue the reforms that Porter has put in place and provide outstanding leadership to meet the challenges and threats of a dangerous new century.

Mike Hayden was unanimously confirmed by the Senate last year for his current post. And I call on the Senate to confirm him promptly as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

The work of the CIA has never been more important to the security of the American people. America faces determined enemies who struck our nation on September the 11th, 2001, and who intend to attack our country again.

To stop them, we must have the best possible intelligence.

The men and women of the CIA are working around the clock and around the world in dangerous conditions to gain information that is vital to securing our nation. I appreciate their dedicated service, and so does Mike Hayden.

In Mike Hayden, the men and women of the CIA will have a strong leader who will support them. He will ensure they have the resources they need to do their jobs. He will enforce the secrecy and accountability that are critical to the security of the American people.

Mike, I appreciate your many years of service to our country. We're grateful that you've agreed to step forward and serve once again.

Thank you very much. GENERAL MICHAEL V. HAYDEN (USAF), NOMINEE TO BE DIRECTOR OF THE CIA: Mr. President, thank you for those kind words and for the confidence that you and Ambassador Negroponte have shown in me in nominating me for this position.

There's probably no post more important in preserving our security and our values as a people than the head of the Central Intelligence Agency.

When I returned from Korea in 1999 to take the position at NSA, I was befriended most of all by two people: George Tenet, who was then DCI; and Porter Goss, then chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Both of these men befriended me, mentored me and supported me. And I will always be in their debt, especially now that I find that I've been nominated to be their successor.

If I'm confirmed, I know that I will be standing on their shoulders.

In the confirmation process, I look forward to meeting with the leaders of the Congress, better understanding their concerns and working with them to move the American intelligence community forward.

This is simply too important not to get absolutely right.

To the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency: If I'm confirmed, I would be honored to join you and work with so many good friends. Your achievements are frequently underappreciated and hidden from the public eye, but you know what you do to protect the republic.

And finally, to my wife, Jeanine, and the other members of my family: Thank you yet again for agreeing to continue your sacrifices. I can never repay you enough. Thank you.

BUSH: Congratulations, Mike. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Thank you all.

M. O'BRIEN: General Mike Hayden receiving the nod of support from the president of the United States, indicating formally what we've been telling you all morning, that he would like him to be his nominee to head the Central Intelligence Agency. It should make for some interesting hearings on Capitol Hill once the Senate gets a hold of this. The issue of a military man running the CIA and also his close link to that domestic wiretapping campaign should make for some interesting questions as this proceeds.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, i thought he had some interesting points, mainly a message to Congress, I look forward to working with you, and also to the hearings. A message for the people who will be working under him at the CIA: I look forward to working with friends. You're underappreciated. Often what you do is hidden from the public eye. A very interesting take in the only, you know, 90 seconds in which he had a few words to say. Let's move it right to a political roundtable this morning. Now we get to David Ensor, who, a you know, has been monitoring this announcement, also bring in our chief national correspondent John King and Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Thanks to all of you for joining us as you've been listening to this.

Let's start with you, Barbara. The president talked about, in his remarks, experience, and then had a litany, an impressive resume. Tell me a little bit more about General Hayden.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, General Hayden really is one of the most respected military intelligence officers in the United States. He has a very long background in a number of areas, but especially technical intelligence, the kinds of programs he ran while he was at the National Security Agency, the kinds of priorities he had while he served out in the Pacific monitoring North Korea, for example. The question now will be, how he transfers that experience and the experience as John Negroponte's deputy over to the CIA, which of course is in a changing role, is moving out of the technical intelligence area, out of the area, traditional area of analysis, and moving much more into what they call human intelligence, or spying.

So there's -- I think there's no question that Mike Hayden is 100 percent capable of doing the job. He's a brilliant intelligence strategist by all accounts, but the questions he will face on Capitol Hill will still be significant about whether or not he will stand up to Don Rumsfeld as this turf war continues between the Pentagon and Negroponte. It may be very interesting to see what happens when Mike Hayden breaks ranks and doesn't agree with Secretary Rumsfeld, because, again, by all accounts General Hayden is a very independent thinker, and will do what he considers to be the right thing -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's bring it right over to John king. What we heard from the president is the job requires a reformer. Does General Hayden have a reputation of being a reformer?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, he does have a reputation of being a very good manager, and he has a reputation, dispute the dustup over the domestic-surveillance program, of having very good relations with people on Capitol Hill. There are many, and you just had John Lehman on from the 9/11 Commission, who say the blueprint, as they see it right now, is a flawed blueprint for the intelligence community.

But the key point from the White House standpoint is that Mr. Negroponte and General Hayden agree on what needs to be done. Mr. Negroponte and former director Porter Goss -- soon to be former director Porter Goss -- did not agree on what needed to be done on additional changes they wanted at the CIA that Director Goss simply said were too much, in his view.

So from the White House perspective, the key point is Mr. Negroponte, the president and General Hayden are all in the same page. Now there are others who disagree who say you need to still change all these new developments, these new reforms in the intelligence community. That will be one of the debates before Congress.

It will continue to be a debate between the agencies, obviously. That's why I think you heard General Hayden try to reassure the people at the CIA, I'm coming to be your friend and your leader, I'm not coming to damage. And David Ensor can speak to this much better than I, but what all say is a significant morale crisis at the agency.

S. O'BRIEN: And let's send right to David Ensor, who we really started it all with. It was interesting remarks, I agree with John King there where he said I understand that my friends are there and you could underappreciate it. All the things you've accomplished, to a large degree, are hidden from the public. Not a sly message at all, a very overt message to people at the CIA.

ENSOR: Certainly an appeal to them to say I want to be one of you, I respect what you've done. There are going to be more heads, though, going from the CIA. Certainly people that Porter Goss brought in, the ones that were close to him and came in from Capitol Hill, they'll probably all be leaving.

Number two will leave because he's an admiral and you can't have two military men at the top. Number three will leave because there's a cloud over his head. So there's going to be tremendous upheaval and change at the CIA and certainly General Hayden wants to say to them I'm going bring stability.

There will be people there that are very pleased to have a man who has as much access to the president as General Hayden does. And on the whole question of him being a general, you know, I have to tell you that of all the generals in Washington, this is probably Donald Rumsfeld's least favorite general. These two men have crossed swords publicly and forcefully. General Hayden will do what he thinks he should do, and if the Pentagon disagrees, that will be -- that will not be a problem for him.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, David, thanks. Quick final question for John King. John, yes or no, is he going to be confirmed?

KING: Yes. There will be a dust-up over a few things. Republicans will raise some questions. But Republicans run the Senate. He will be confirmed probably quite quickly.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. John King, Barbara Starr, David Ensor. Thank you very much. Appreciate all the analysis this morning -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is here. How are you, sir?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: I'm fine. Good morning to you guys. Wall Street is off to the races this morning. Will the bull run continue? Plus, a big, big bank merger to tell you about. Stay tuned. Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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M. O'BRIEN: As you just saw, the president has made it official. General Mike Hayden is his choice to run the CIA. Confirmation hearings lie ahead, but as you heard from our roundtable, it's just a matter of time, probably, before he'll be confirmed as the next person to run the Central Intelligence Agency. That's a tough job. As we heard just a few moments ago from Mr. Lehman, maybe an impossible job.

General Charles Boyd joins us now. He is the CEO of Business Executives for National Security. That's a non-profit group in Washington. Retired general.

General Boyd, good to have you with us. I know you have a long history with General Hayden. How do you -- how would you characterize him for us?

GEN. CHARLES BOYD (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: Well, first of all, he's a wonderful choice. I can think of no one -- simply no one that's even remotely as well qualified to do this job as Mike Hayden. So I would congratulate the president for doing the right thing.

M. O'BRIEN: But as to your experience with him, give us some specifics. What kind of person is he?

BOYD: Well, he's a -- I've known Mike Hayden for a long time. I ran across him first when he was a lieutenant colonel. He's an extremely intelligent man. He's disciplined in his thinking, his thought processes. He has a clarity of thought that is really extraordinary and an ability to articulate his thoughts, which is has given him the reputation, I think, as intelligence briefer in Washington. But it's the body of his knowledge and the clarity with which he thinks that makes him that extraordinary briefer.

M. O'BRIEN: Can you give us a sense, then -- you know, we heard earlier from Congressman Peter Hoekstra. This concern about a military person running a civilian agency. You as former military may take umbrage with that in general. But do you think that, in some respects, it might give the Pentagon too much sway in the course of intelligence gathering and reporting.

BOYD: Well, first of all, I think Congressman Hoekstra is very smart fellow, but I think he's confused on this issue. This is not an issue of military versus civilian. It's an issue of professional versus an amateur. What we need at the CIA is a professional, and Mike is as professional as they come. A professional military man, a professional intelligence officer, a professional foreign service officer. Those are all professionals. That's what we need.

M. O'BRIEN: Are you implying that there were amateurs running the CIA prior?

BOYD: We've had a lot of amateurs running the CIA over the years.

M. O'BRIEN: Mr. Goss included?

BOYD: Look, I don't want to point any particular fingers, but we choose very often the director the CIA from people whose ideological and political compatibility with that of the president is paramount, or who serve at the pleasure of the president, who serve in support of the president's policies, and come under as a result enormous pressure to bring forward the intelligence which supports the president. This is what we have to escape, and we can do that with professionals running the place.

M. O'BRIEN: And would you -- your implicit in that is that General Hayden would not be subjected to that kind of pressure?

BOYD: I think that's exactly right.

M. O'BRIEN: What -- you know, when we talk about General Hayden, the other that comes up frequently is his support of this domestic wiretapping campaign. Are you convinced that Mike Hayden fully appreciates the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment specifically, and isn't trying to play fast and loose with the rules there?

BOYD: Mike Hayden is a lot of things, but he's not a lawyer. And when Mike Hayden was assured by the attorney general of the United States that what he was doing, what the president wanted to do was legal, he executed the program as professionally as he could. This is not -- this is a red herring issue. People that are after the president will do a bank shot off of Mike Hayden. But Mike Hayden is not the issue. Those people ought to take up their disagreements with the president or with the attorney general, not with Hayden.

S. O'BRIEN: Retired General Charles Boyd, thank you very much -- Soledad.

BOYD: Pleasure being with you.

"CNN LIVE TODAY" is coming up next.

Daryn Kagan, good morning to you. What are you working on?

DARYN KAGNA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad.

We're going to roll out the Monday edition of "CNN LIVE TODAY at the top of the hour.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How bad do you want this guy back?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad. Bad. We need to stop the practice of marrying these children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: An accused polygamist makes the list, the FBI's notorious 10 most-wanted list. And with summer coming, do you long with your day in the sun? Bathing beauties beware. We spotlight National Skin Cancer Prevention and Detection Month. My guest will fill us in when you stick around for LIVE TODAY. And we'd like to hear your experience with skin cancer. So e-mail me now at livetoday@CNN.com. We'll share them experiences and run them by the doctor.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Daryn, thank you very much. Looking forward to that.

Ahead this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." In fact, he's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

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