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American Morning
Two Soldiers Found Dead in Iraq; Mona Lisa Controversy in Maine
Aired June 21, 2006 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening this morning, President Bush is in Vienna, Austria. He's meeting with European Union leaders. The main issue on the agenda is Iran's nuclear program.
One of Saddam Hussein's lead attorneys is dead. Police found him shot to death this morning. And another 21,000 U.S. troops are headed to Iraq later this year. The Pentagon says they're going to replace troops that are scheduled to come home.
Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts in this week for Miles O'Brien.
It's Wednesday and welcome to it.
The bodies of two American soldiers are being flown back to the United States very soon. The military won't release exact details, but the information that their families have already heard describes a brutal death at the hands of insurgents.
CNN's Kyung Lah is live in Washington and joins us now -- good morning, Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
The military says it was tips from Iraqi civilians that led them to the men's bodies. And now, from what the military is telling us, two cities and two families are preparing for their return.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KENT WRIGHT, PRESIDENT, LOCAL LION'S CLUB: And we plan to keep the flags out until the bodies are returned.
LAH (voice-over): The town of Madras, Oregon salutes one of its fallen sons -- 25-year-old Army Private Thomas Tucker.
WRIGHT: We just want to be here and show support for the family.
LAH: In Houston, grief and outrage from the family of 23-year- old Kristian Manchaca. MARIO VASQUEZ, SOLDIER'S UNCLE: Make them pay for what they did. You know, don't think that it's just two more soldiers and don't negotiate anything. They didn't.
LAH: Military sources say the soldiers' bodies were rigged with explosives, the main route to the site lined with IEDs targeting the recovery team. Military sources say Tucker and Menchaca's bodies were mutilated.
MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES, IRAQ: The bodies of those two soldiers did show signs of severe trauma, that the nature of this anti-Iraqi force element we're facing is one of a brutal nature and that the remains are going to require DNA testing for conclusive evidence that is, in fact, their loved ones.
LAH: A radical Islamist Web site boasted that al Qaeda's new leader in Iraq, believed to be Egyptian Abu al-Masri, personally killed the soldiers. The posting said: "We executed god's will and slaughtered the two crusader animals we had in captivity."
The U.S. military could not verify the claim.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LAH: The military says the soldiers' remains will first be flown to Kuwait and then to Dover Air Force Base here in the United States. That's anticipated to happen either today or tomorrow -- John.
ROBERTS: Kyung Lah for us live in Washington.
Kyung, thanks very much -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We are watching several wildfires in the western part of the country. A fire burning in Arizona getting closer to hundreds of homes this morning. As of last night, the fire had destroyed nearly 1,800 acres and had reached Oak Creek Canyon near Sedona. The fire is only about 5 percent contained. More than 450 firefighters, helicopters and air tankers are on the scene this morning.
In New Mexico, five fires have destroyed more than 40,000 acres. One of the largest is in Pinos Altos. It's been burning for more than two weeks. Firefighters say they're hoping for rain.
Forest in Costilla County in southern Colorado is in danger. Firefighters are trying to control flames said to be as high as 200 feet. Can you believe that?
The National Weather Service says the fire is moving like a freight train. Some 4,500 acres have been destroyed so far, 250 homes evacuated.
A slower moving fire east of Santa Maria in California to tell you about. Heavy smoke from the area can be seen miles away. The brush fire has spread over 7,500 acres. No homes, though, fortunately, are directly in the path.
All that brings us to Chad Myers.
He's at the CNN Center -- Chad, how is it looking out West this morning?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you what, there is not one cloud over Arizona, but the map behind me, Soledad, you wouldn't know that. You may see a couple of what looked like clouds here in northern Arizona. That is all the smoke that you can actually see from the satellite. These fires are so big now, you can actually see the smoke from 22,000 miles in space.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: Happening in America today, a Tennessee teenager dragged out of her home was found safe overnight. An amber alert had been issued for 16-year-old Thuydung Cao. She was found handcuffed in the back of an alleged kidnapper's car just across the state line in Mississippi. Armed suspect Binh Ho is still on the loose. Police were led to the scene by another girl, who said she escaped the kidnapper by spraying him with mace.
Police in Seattle are searching for a bandit who preys on the grieving. A man came home from his wife's funeral to find his house had been burglarized. Police say the thief likely saw the obituary in the newspaper and knew the man wouldn't be home at the time.
A tanker truck driver is lucky to be alive this morning after his truck full of jet fuel overturned and burst into flames. Look at those pictures. The driver suffered only burns on his hands. A U- Haul truck also caught fire when the driver tried to get around the burning tanker. Duh.
A battle is brewing in the Massachusetts State Senate over the popular Fluffernutter.
O'BRIEN: Oh, I love that sandwich.
ROBERTS: Yes. If you don't know, a Fluffernutter is a peanut butter sandwich with Massachusetts made Marshmallow Fluff with it. One state senator wants to stop school cafeterias from serving the sandwich more than once a week.
The next thing you know, they'll be banning cheese steaks in Philadelphia.
In response, a second senator now wants to have the Fluffernutter designated as the official state sandwich.
Is there such a thing?
O'BRIEN: They serve Fluffernutter in school? I had no idea.
ROBERTS: Hey, you know -- energy...
O'BRIEN: That exactly should be the state sandwich.
ROBERTS: Energy food.
O'BRIEN: Awesome.
ROBERTS: And a reprieve for Lewis the cat. A Connecticut judge has let the feisty feline off with just house arrest instead of the death penalty. Lewis's owner Ruth Cisero will also escape a reckless endangerment charge if she completes two years probation that includes keeping Lewis locked up.
We're talking about a cat here, right, not a lion?
O'BRIEN: I know. But we've been talking about Lewis a lot. It's high drama, Lewis. People are all into that story.
ROBERTS: Something doesn't fit with that story.
O'BRIEN: No, it sure doesn't. But Lewis sounds like he is a little bit obnoxious.
The man who first brought you the first $40 hamburger decided that $40 is too cheap for the hamburger.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
O'BRIEN: He has decided to up the ante a little bit.
This is the brand new -- look at that thing. That's not a burger. That's a torpedo.
ROBERTS: That's a $100...
O'BRIEN: A $100 hamburger.
ROBERTS: It's a belly bomb, is what that is.
O'BRIEN: It is on sale now at the Old Homestead Restaurant in Boca Raton in Florida. $100. A 20 ounce burger. It combines American, Japanese and Argentinean beef. You get a little extra lettuce on the side, which one would hope for $100.
ROBERTS: God.
O'BRIEN: For every one that's ordered, the restaurant makes a $10 donation to Make-A-Wish.
ROBERTS: You know, it looks to me like the $100 hamburger is going to be followed by the $10,000 angioplasty.
O'BRIEN: Exactly.
Your insurance covers that, though, see? So all good.
Still to come this morning, Picasso, Andy Warhol -- you wouldn't really expect to pick up works of art from Kmart, until now. We'll explain. ROBERTS: Then, have you heard about the Da Vinci mystery brewing in Maine? We'll tell you why this puzzler has many art buffs scratching their heads. Is it Mona or not?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: actress Angelina Jolie made headlines when she gave birth to a daughter in the African nation of Namibia. Shiloh Nouvel Jolie Pitt came into the world on May the 27th.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Angelina Jolie talked about her daughter's birth and why she chose Namibia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "ANDERSON COOPER 360")
ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: I love Africa. And I love -- -- I love -- I wanted to just be in a part of the world that would be wonderful for my other children. I didn't want to spend just months holed up in a house here. And I wanted to have a beautiful time with my family.
We had amazing doctors and everybody was so lovely. And, you know, you're just -- because you're there for the birth -- which I wasn't for my first two kids -- you're just suddenly terrified they're not going to take a first breath. That was my whole focus. I just wanted to hear her cry. And I was sure everything would go wrong. At the last minute I became the mother that was sure everything was going to go wrong. And she's healthy and it was amazing.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's great.
JOLIE: I've always -- I've always felt that my kids are around the world. And I love -- I went to Cambodia and fell in love with the kids and the country. And I knew -- I don't know, it's just -- I suppose it's like somebody realizing they're going to have a baby one day. It suddenly becomes very clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Angelina Jolie.
And tonight on "360," Anderson talks with Cher about her new mission to save the lives of U.S. troops in Iraq. That's tonight at 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, you might have seen the rumors on the Internet. Even the director is talking about it. Now we're taking a closer look. Is Superman gay?
But first, forget Paris. Why people are now flocking to Portland, Maine to see Mona Lisa.
But is it the real deal?
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
NAT KING COLE: Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa, men have named you. You're so like the lady with...
(END AUDIO CLIP)
ROBERTS: While the movie version of The Da Vinci Code" is petering out at the box office, another Da Vinci mystery is drawing record crowds in Portland, Maine. A painting in the Portland Museum of Art could be a study of Da Vinci's most famous work, The Mona Lisa." Or not.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some say the eyes have it. In this case, the key to unlocking the mystery of the two Mona Lisas could be the smile. The original Mona Lisa, which hangs in The Louvre in Paris, is smiling. This Mona Lisa in Portland, Maine definitely is not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think I like it better without the smile, strangely enough.
CHO: The famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci has had a renaissance of sorts thanks to the blockbuster film, The Da Vinci Code."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DA VINCI CODE,"
COURTESY SONY PICTURES)
TOM HANKS, ACTOR: See, she appears larger from the left than on the right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Playing on the popularity of the movie, the Portland Museum of Art dusted off and put on display what it believes is an unfinished study of The Mona Lisa painted by the master himself. It bears a striking resemblance to the original and people are flocking to see it.
People like Sissy Linderman (ph), who says she believes this is the real deal.
SISSY LINDERMAN: It has that feeling.
CHO: Some experts agree. A Harvard University study concluded the Portland painting is of the same period as the original. Others believe brush strokes show it was done by a left-handed artist like Leonardo. Then there's the smile. Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa for a man who wanted a portrait of his wife. But the director of the Portland Museum says the woman depicted in the original would have disapproved. He says she would have preferred the Mona Lisa minus the smile.
DANIEL O'LEARY, PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART: It is a sweeter painting. It is a gentler, more feminized celebration of a woman really at the height of her attractiveness. This is the girl you would take home to Merwin (ph). The other woman is -- is a, a mysterious creature.
CHO: Still, many believe the Portland painting is nothing more than a fourth rate copy.
James Beck is an art history professor at Columbia University and an expert in Italian art.
PROF. JAMES BECK, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Well, I suppose there's a chance that it's an original, as there's a chance that the moon is made of cheese.
CHO: Beck says the slight smile in the original is Leonardo's signature, that the hands, which he says the artist painted so magnificently, are not the same in the Portland version. Finally, he says, there is no way to analyze when the painting was made. Among the Picassos, Cezannes and Magrittes in Portland, patrons of the arts say copy or not...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is still a very nice painting.
CHO: And worth the price of admission.
Alina Cho, CNN, Portland, Maine.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ROBERTS: And whether it is fake or for real, the main Mona Lisa helped give Portland's Museum of Art its busiest month on record.
And you might not be able to buy that or the real Mona Lisa, but coming up next, Andy is staying with the art theme in Minding Your Business -- what's for sale?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: John -- attention Kmart shoppers. There's a real Picasso for sale in aisle eight.
ROBERTS: Oh my goodness.
SERWER: An amazing story.
Plus, finally Target is embracing the name Tar-Zhay. It's about time.
ROBERTS: is it really?
SERWER: yes, it is.
ROBERTS: That's great.
Thanks, Andy.
Also ahead, competing Democratic proposals to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.
Why can't the Democrats get on the same page? Why is it, as Howard Dean says, like herding cats?
We'll talk to Senator Carl Levin ahead.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some of the most popular stories on cnn.com right now.
A lead defense attorney for Saddam Hussein has been shot to death. Iraqi police believe he had been kidnapped.
Dan Rather has blunt words for CBS News as he leaves after 44 years at the Tiffany network. He says CBS did not live up to its obligation to allow him to do substantial work after he left the anchor chair.
And health researchers say exercise can help people have a better sex life, a better night's sleep and it could help smokers kick the habit. There you go. A good reason to get out there on the treadmill.
Kmart holding a blue light special, aisle three, on some fine art.
Andy Serwer Minding Your Business -- good morning, Andy.
SERWER: Good morning, John.
This is a really cool story, I think.
Kmart is having a sale unlike any other. It is auctioning off and selling 1,000 works of fine art that the company collected over the years -- Andy Warhol, Georgia O'Keefe, Jasper Johns and a Picasso, shown here. I guess it's not the blue light special, it's the blue period special.
They have also got a 15th century Ming Dynasty water color, in case you're interested.
I think this points to just how ridiculous these corporate art collections are.
I mean what are these companies doing with all this money, spending it on art?
There's no take on exactly how much this entire collection is worth, but pieces, according to the person who is going to be auctioning this off, are worth several hundred thousand dollars each. There's 1,000 pieces. So you can just see how much money this amounts to.
ROBERTS: You know, we're seeing companies like Costco-getting into high end jewelry and watches and now Kmart with the Picassos and now Tar-Zhay is finally embracing its nickname.
SERWER: That's right.
I mean people have been calling that company Tar-Zhay for years and years. And, you know, Target has always had this high end designer business model where they brought in a Michael Graves or an Isaac Mizrahi to make merchandise for their stores.
But now they're going high end. They're having a new line called Tar-Zhay Couture. And get this -- it's so high end, it's not even going to be sold at Target. That's right. Their new line, Tar-Zhay Couture, was being sold -- is being sold at a high-end boutique in L.A. called Intuition. And soon it will be sold around the country at other boutiques. Some brand experts say it might not be a great strategy.
But, you know, the red bull's eye and their ad campaign is very cool. And when you've something that's cool...
ROBERTS: It is. It's got...
SERWER: ... things should go for it, right?
ROBERTS: It's kind of hip, you know? It's like the Old Navy thing. It's a little bit offbeat, but, you know, you'd think that if they're going to embrace the name Tar-Zhay, they should also embrace the designer thing as opposed to putting it into these other boutiques.
Hey, I'm really excited this morning because I think for what may be the first time ever, we've got a cooking segment on AMERICAN MORNING.
SERWER: Oh, really?
ROBERTS: We do.
SERWER: That is unusual.
ROBERTS: But in the true CNN style, it's not really a cooking segment. It's the latest MREs.
SERWER: Oh, yes. OK. I understand.
ROBERTS: What the military is eating.
And I'm perking along this morning because, in addition to my cup of coffee, I also had some of this new military Staler caffeine gum.
SERWER: No kidding? ROBERTS: And in addition to that, I had my Hoaah! bar.
SERWER: Yes.
ROBERTS: Designed by the American military.
SERWER: Well, you seem a little perkier than usual this morning, John.
ROBERTS: Yes.
I'm about to take off. I'm like that rocket that they've got in North Korea all set on the launch pad.
Thanks, Andy.
We'll see you next hour.
SERWER: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Well, now some of the stories that we're working on today.
Family and friends remember two American soldiers abducted and killed in Iraq.
One of Saddam Hussein's lawyers was found shot to death in Baghdad.
Another 21,000 U.S. troops are being called to serve in Iraq.
And the U.S. says it has new technology capable of tracking a North Korean missile launch.
And we are watching the series of wildfires out West. Thousands of acres burning in California, New Mexico-and Colorado, and what you see here in Arizona.
Time now for a check of the forecast.
Chad Myers at the CNN Center -- any relief in sight for those Four Corner states?
MYERS: No. No. Just ridiculous hot weather out there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Two abducted women found overnight after a daring escape. Now police in two states are on the hunt for the armed suspect.
New details now on the brutal deaths of two American soldiers in Iraq. The families just coming to grips with the grim realities.
Another member of Saddam Hussein's defense team murdered in Baghdad. Was it meant as a message?
President Bush meeting with European Union leaders right now in Vienna, Austria. Iran's nuclear ambitions topping the agenda there.
And Angelina Jolie's plea for action from the United States government. More of Anderson Cooper's xiv with the actress ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Soledad just in the middle of an assignment.
And good morning.
I'm John Roberts in for Miles O'Brien this week.
Soledad just in the middle of an assignment. She'll be back in a few minute's time.
The bodies of two American soldiers will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Those bodies are believed to show signs of a brutal death at the hands of Iraqi insurgents.
CNN's Arwa Damon is live in Baghdad and joins us now -- good morning, Arwa.
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
That's right, the bodies were discovered at around 7:30 Monday night. Apparently a tip from a civilian led coalition forces to the locations where their bodies were found in Yusufiya, just south of Baghdad, in the triangle of death.
The U.S. military saying that the bodies themselves were booby- trapped and the road leading to the bodies was filled with IEDs, roadside bombs.
It took U.S. forces about 12 hours just to clear that area -- John.
ROBERTS: Arwa Damon in Baghdad with the latest. Arwa, thanks.
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