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American Morning

Tropical Storm Alberto; Iraq Strategy; 'Hot Topics'

Aired June 12, 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: The morning's top stories are straight ahead, including Tropical Storm Alberto is gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico. We'll tell you where it is headed. And it actually might be good news for some.
And President Bush rounds up his top advisers to discuss the future of Iraq. It could possibly mean troop cutbacks? We'll see.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening this morning, three separate bombings have killed at least 11 people in Iraq. Six of the deaths came when a roadside bomb hit a minibus carrying oil ministry workers in Baghdad.

Fourteen of the 17 suspects in that Canadian terror case are set to appear in court today for bail hearings. Prosecutors allege that the group's sinister plot included plans to behead Canada's prime minister.

And Tropical Storm Alberto is picking up strength as it closes in on Florida. It's expected to hit Florida's Gulf Coast by tomorrow.

Good morning and welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Welcome to our new digs. Hope you enjoy them. We're liking them.

S. O'BRIEN: I enjoy them. A lot more space in here, yes.

M. O'BRIEN: We like the space.

S. O'BRIEN: Like we're not, you know, right next to each other so much.

M. O'BRIEN: You're still going to push me away.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Demonstrating space.

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks. Good.

M. O'BRIEN: Florida's -- Florida's west coast is under a tropical storm warning this morning. Alberto, the first storm of the season, swirling in the Gulf of Mexico. It is getting stronger.

CNN, of course, your hurricane headquarters.

Let's go to Susan Candiotti, who's in Clearwater, Florida's west coast, near the Tampa Bay area.

Susan, how are things going there? How are people preparing for Alberto?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have light rain at this hour, not surprisingly at this hour. There's no one out on the beach, a beautiful one here in Clearwater.

I would say they prepared for one thing yesterday by taking advantage of the last bit of sun they will probably see for a few days. But also, it's a good reminder for everyone that they should have been prepared a long time ago.

For one thing, blue tarps, people who still have those on their roofs from the previous storms and from last hurricane season, they should be making sure that those blue tarps are secure on their rooftops. In a lot of cases, they have been unable to get roofing materials to make those repairs since last hurricane season.

Also, people are heading to the store to stock up on batteries just in case there are power outages from this tropical storm. You never know.

And then, in two communities north of Tampa, Crystal River and Homosassa, they are offering sandbags because, Miles, they are expecting a ton of rain, up to 10 inches.

M. O'BRIEN: Susan, tell us about the good side of this, if there's a good side of a storm like this, in the sense there have been all these wildfires we have been telling people about. I assume if you're a firefighter you're happy about Alberto.

CANDIOTTI: Very happy. Here in the Tampa area there's been normal rainfall, but throughout the state much lower than normal. So those 10 inches of rain could be a big plus in helping to finally put an end to those brushfires once and for all that have been plaguing the state for the last couple of months. They've been unable to keep up with them and put them out once and for all because of the lack of rain. So a good dousing could help move that forward tremendously, if they're lucky.

M. O'BRIEN: Susan Candiotti in Clearwater.

Thank you very much.

Let's check in with Chad Myers, our severe weather expert, back from vacation from the -- right back into it, aren't you?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, just in time.

M. O'BRIEN: Your timing was perfect. You got back just in time for the "A" storm.

MYERS: That's how I worked it out.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

MYERS: That's what I was thinking when I booked that vacation.

Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: Back to you guys.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thanks.

MYERS: Sure.

S. O'BRIEN: Al Qaeda in Iraq is vowing revenge for the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. At least 11 people were killed in three bombings today in Iraq. Al Qaeda has not claimed responsibility for those attacks, but according to an Islamic Web site, the remaining leaders met on Sunday and promised new large-scale operation.

U.S. and Iraqi leaders are calling it an empty threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is, I believe, a propaganda ploy. They're trying to make up for the huge loss and the disorientation they're suffering from, because there is a huge vacuum of power now within al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: The al Qaeda statement on the Web didn't name any successor to Zarqawi.

And we're expecting to hear the first autopsy results on Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, when the U.S. military holds a briefing in Baghdad. We're going to carry that live when it happens.

Today, President Bush starts up two days of strategy meetings at Camp David to discuss the future of Iraq.

CNN's Ed Henry has more from the White House this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Heading into the summit at Camp David that tick kicks off this morning, President Bush is downplaying expectations about potential U.S. troop cutbacks, saying that while the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is important, it's still just the death of one person and the violence in Iraq will continue. Nevertheless, the Iraqi national security adviser is predicting that U.S. troop levels will dip below 100,000 by the end of this year, and the overwhelming majority of multinational forces will be out of Iraq by mid 2008. But U.S. officials have heard that before, which is why General George Casey says U.S. forces will come home over time as Iraqi security forces continue to make progress.

Administration officials say the death of Zarqawi, coupled with the filling out of the new Iraqi cabinet, is all good news, but they're being cautiously optimistic because they've seen many ups and downs in Iraq.

Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, more angry exchanges at the Saddam Hussein trial. The former dictator getting fired up himself. One defendant even had to be dragged out in court. We'll have more on that.

First, here's what's making news this Monday morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: New developments in Iraq topping our look at stories CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm John Vause, reporting from Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein is back in court today. His defense lawyers have asked for the trial to be stopped to give them more time to prepare.

Also today, more dead Iraqi civilians. Six employees of the oil ministry were killed by a roadside bomb on their way to work in south Baghdad.

And to the north, residents of Ramadi says it appears U.S. and Iraqi forces are massing for a major offensive to take the city back from Sunni insurgents. The U.S. military will only say it's continuing with standard operations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Three dozen Kassam rockets fired into Israel from Gaza over the weekend. One Israel seriously injured.

This follows the ending by Hamas of its unofficial cease-fire with Israel. That followed a series of Israeli military strikes in Gaza Saturday. Seven members of one family were killed by a shell while picnicking on the beach. The Israeli army is investigating the source of the shell. A report is due in the next couple of days.

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Abbas has called a referendum for national consensus. Hamas says it won't agree to the referendum, but talks are continuing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Burns in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where the U.S. and Czech Republic face off in the first match for both teams at this World Cup. The Czech Republic FIFA rankings is second, the U.S. is fifth. So two very strong teams, though the U.S. has yet to defeat the Czechs.

There could be some strong support from among the 70,000 U.S. troops and their families based here in Germany. And, of course, security is a concern. The U.S. team has been traveling in an unmarked plane, an unmarked bus, and with a large security detail that includes bomb-sniffing dogs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a surprising name leads a key poll of potential Democratic presidential candidates. We're not talking about Hillary Clinton.

That's coming up next.

Plus, a surprising announcement from Representative John Murtha. We're going to talk to Washington insider John Mercurio coming up next.

Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As a retired Army paratrooper, 78-year-old Vernon Coffey (ph) knows to stay fit. Even though he suffered a minor stroke 13 years ago, doctors say he bounced back because he was physically active.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like the old saying, you know, if you don't pay now, you pay later.

FEIG: But seniors like Coffey are unusual. A recent study by the American Public Health Association found that almost half of older adults surveyed were aware they needed to make changes in their lifestyles to improve their health, but they say they lacked motivation, money, and time to do it. JENNIFER HARTIG, FITNESS COORDINATOR: We've got bridge, or a trip to the movies, or just something going all day long every day. And so they'll say they're retired, but they don't have time to do it.

Come on, big guy.

FEIG: Doctors say it takes just a little effort to improve quality of health. People don't need fancy gyms or equipment to stay healthy. Just walking around the block can help. By keeping active and seeing their physicians, many seniors can avoid the early onset of heart disease, hypertension, even Type II Diabetes.

In Washington, I'm Christy Feig.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Happening this morning, President Bush ticks off a two-day summit on Iraq at Camp David. He's going to meet with top defense and cabinet officials. The White House is playing down talk of troop cutbacks.

We could learn more today about the exact cause of death for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. military officials are expected to release autopsy results later this morning.

And John Edwards, is he the Democrat to beat in 2008? The former senator tops the list of potential Democratic presidential candidates in a new poll of likely Iowa caucus participants. Senator Hillary Clinton is second.

That's a little bit of surprise there.

M. O'BRIEN: The current occupant of the Oval Office and his top advisers heading for the Maryland hills today for a summit on the war in Iraqi. The meeting was planned before Zarqawi's demise and some key appointments in the fledgling Iraqi government. But those events will no doubt change the tone of the talks and might help shift political fortunes for the White House.

It sounds like grist for the Monday Mercurio mill, John Mercurio, senior editor of "The National Journal's Hotline." And he joins us every Monday at this time almost precisely.

John, good to have you back with us.

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

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about this meeting.

The president and his war cabinet, they can hold a meeting any day, get on the phone any day. They can meet in the cabinet room. The fact that they're all going to Camp David, is there a bit of symbolism there? Is there a statement to all of us?

MERCURIO: Yes. I think the message that they're trying to portray, we've all seen the polls, we've all seen how unsure the public is of the president's handling of the war. I think he's heading to Camp David for the first time in quite a while with his military advisers, trying to send the message that the administration has plenty of resources to bear, plenty of resources available to fight this war. And that's what he's going to be focusing on.

Whether or not he's actually going to commit to any troop withdrawals, unlikely. I think that the president's pretty much already said that.

This is an administration that's been very careful not to over- promise not to over-commit, especially on the issue of troop withdrawals. I think they're operating at this point on sort of a post-mission accomplished mindset. They really -- you know, they saw that as the biggest public relations disaster so far of his administration. They don't want to do that again, despite the obvious political pressures to do so.

M. O'BRIEN: Of course the risk is, when you go down that road, is you underplay true advances in the war on terror.

MERCURIO: Well, right. Exactly. I mean, we saw last week the killing of al-Zarqawi. He had to come out, the president, in the Rose Garden and sound a very sober and somber tone on what had been pretty -- on what had been sort of the biggest military victory since the capture of Saddam Hussein.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Now, the administration, of course, expected to stay on message. Part of the problem to the administration is that the fledgling Iraqi government is saying other things. And we have a senior leader in the Iraq government over the weekend saying troop levels could be down below 100,000 by the end of the year.

It that counterproductive politically for the White House?

MERCURIO: It's not necessarily counterproductive. It's a little bit confusing. I mean, we saw -- we saw George Casey, the military commander -- the U.S. military commander in Iraq, sound a, you know, sort of a middle ground, saying that it was definitely possible that there could be troop withdrawals.

Look, I really do think that this White House, this president and this vice president, have both committed some pretty big PR gaffs in the past. The vice president saying just over a year ago that the insurgency was in its last throes.

So I think the two of them, the president and the vice president, really, really trying at this point to be extremely cautious about what they promise. Again, despite the fact that we're just five months away from midterm election, in which it would do nothing but good, nothing but benefit to the Republican Party to bring some troops home. M. O'BRIEN: All right.

Got to shift gears here and talk about John Murtha, because that was -- if you're a political insider watching that, that is a fascinating thing. John Murtha, the Democrat, the Marine veteran, the antiwar spokesperson, I guess you could call him at this point, saying over the weekend that if, in fact, there's a shift of power in the House of Representatives, he'd like to be the majority leader.

What do you make of all that? That's a bit off the reservation as far as parties like to keep things, right?

MERCURIO: It's fascinating. I've actually covered Murtha for several years, and it's interesting to watch the sort of shift in his political -- where he fits on the political spectrum.

This is a man who for years and years has worked across the aisle with people like Tom DeLay. He's been the top Democrat on the defense -- the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, and has worked with Republicans to pass appropriations bills.

He's considered a moderate to conservative Democrat. And now I think specifically because of his position in the war on Iraq, he's going to be running to the left of Steny Hoyer, the current minority whip, who also announced last week after Murtha that he'll be running for majority leader. So an interesting race. Again, just this sort of hypothetical "if" -- and it's still a big "if" -- Democrats take back the House.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

I want to ask you, one story we should be looking at this week that you'll be watching as a political insider?

MERCURIO: Oh, there's a lot happening on Capitol Hill on the topic of Iraq. You've got in the House a full-scale debate for the first time since the war began on the issue of Iraq.

Of course, I think politically they're trying to capitalize on the -- on the killing last week of Zarqawi. They want to try to portray this as a war, a president in command in a war where we're seeing progress.

And in the Senate, you're going to see a pretty interesting debate on the issue of the defense appropriations bill. Senator John Kerry and Senator Carl Levin, both of whom intend to submit an amendment that would sort of get to the issue of troop withdrawal. So a lot of debate on Iraq on Capitol Hill this week.

M. O'BRIEN: "Hotline" senior editor John Mercurio.

Thanks.

MERCURIO: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer's got a look at what's coming up this morning.

Hey, Andy. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad. How are you doing?

S. O'BRIEN: I'm doing well, thank you.

SERWER: And this new set.

S. O'BRIEN: You like it, huh?

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome to the new digs.

SERWER: I do. I do.

We're doing business news right now, right? Oh, OK.

We're going to tell you about what business news is coming up next.

A monster of a stock option problem at a high-profile company.

Plus, why can't the feds get money back from corporate crooks?

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

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy. Thanks.

And let's take a look at what Chad's got for us this morning from the weather center right after this short break.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, let's talk about business practices that are under suspicion, shall we?

SERWER: Let's do that.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer is minding our business.

Good morning.

SERWER: Good morning again, you guys.

Two companies now caught up in this widening stock option scandal to tell you about this morning. The first, Apollo Group, which is a company that is in the for-profit education business.

And interestingly, also, monster.com, the job search Web site, this is a story in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning talking about stock options to the number two executive there between 1997 to 2001. Seven grants in that period, four were at very, very low points. The low point for the year or the low point of the quarter.

Now, they finally did what I've been waiting for someone to do for a while now. I paper-crunched the numbers and figured out that the chances of this occurring naturally, stock options granted on those low dates, would be one in nine million. One in nine million chances of this just happening to be a coincidence.

M. O'BRIEN: What are the odds of winning the Lotto? About that, right?

SERWER: About that.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And what are the odds of it happening at all these companies that you've been talking about over the past several weeks?

SERWER: Right. Forty companies named, Soledad. Twenty companies have received subpoenas at this point. And it's just -- it's just too bad, because we really thought with this Enron resolution that this would be the end of corporate scandals. Obviously not.

Another story we want to tell you about this morning has to do with clawbacks, which means when companies have moneys taken back from them by the government, by the SEC, particularly corporate crooks themselves, why hasn't the government been able to do this? We had that new Sarbanes-Oxley law -- laws, I should say, that were enacted in July of 2002.

Well, observers are suggesting now, and legal experts are saying the reason why is because the law may not apply retroactively. So if you take the case we were just talking about, if the malfeasance occurred before July, 2002, legal experts are suggesting that the government may not have the power to get that money back from those corporate crooks before then, which doesn't seem right to me, but the courts will probably have to decide that.

M. O'BRIEN: Is this some sort of statute of limitations thing, or...

SERWER: It's unclear.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: But it seems that the government does have the verve or nerve to test it at this point and want the SEC to do that.

We're going to talk about gas prices, always in the news, coming up in the next half-hour, you guys.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Andy Serwer.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now. ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano, live in Tampa Florida -- Clearwater Beach, actually, where the rains have begun as we approach -- or as we wait for the approaching storm, Tropical Storm Alberto. But it's not all bad news. We'll tell you why coming up.

M. O'BRIEN: Luster or believable? Al Qaeda vows to launch a large-scale attack in the wake of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's death.

S. O'BRIEN: From the Midwest to the Middle East to meet a man. Reaction after a 16-year-old runs away to Israel to meet a myspace.com friend.

M. O'BRIEN: And it's the little drill that could. A New Yorker keeps his eyes glued on the Red Planet and his contribution to space exploration.

That's ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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