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American Morning

Controversial Call for Amnesty in Iraq; Supreme Court Expected to Rule in Case of Osama Bin Laden's Alleged Former Driver and Bodyguard

Aired June 26, 2006 - 07:31   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody, I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.

A controversial call for amnesty in Iraq. It's part of the prime minister's reconciliation plan. He's trying to stem the violence. It is intended to heal old wounds and move the country into a less violent future.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Baghdad.

The concern, of course, Nic, is that it would provide amnesty for insurgents who might have the blood of U.S. soldiers on their hands.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and this is a big concern, particularly for U.S. troops and their commanders here, that the message might be being sent to insurgents here, it's OK to attack Americans, but don't attack Iraqis. The words of Nuri Al Maliki, the prime minister, used when addressing parliament, he said that what he wanted to do was speed the release of detainees who had not been involved in criminal acts, who hadn't been involved in acts of terrorism, hadn't been involved in crimes against humanity or war crimes. Those were the words that he used to describe the people he wanted to see get this amnesty and be free from jail early. It does appear that this is directed towards insurgents. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said from his understanding, that perhaps this could mean that people would attack U.S. soldiers could be released.

Nevertheless, he called this overall 24-point reconciliation package a positive step.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZALMAY KALILZAD, U.S. AMB. TO IRAQ: The National Reconciliation and Dialogue Project unveiled today before the Iraqi Council of Representatives by prime Minister Nuri Maliki is a positive step in this vital effort. I congratulate him and other Iraqi leaders for this initiative, and assure them of U.S. support. We will work together to help Iraq stand on its own feet as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Now, there are some parliamentarians who have said that Maliki hasn't gone far enough, that he needs to be setting out a timetable for U.S. troops actually to be pulling out -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Nic, let's shift gears here slightly, still in Iraq, of course. If there's any doubt in anybody's mind that Saddam Hussein was delusional, we can allay that now, because what he's talking about is borderline crazy talk, isn't it?

ROBERTSON: It is. He's talking about being the man that the Americans in Iraq have to turn to if they want to solve the problems of Iraq. This really falls into line with everything we've been hearing from Saddam Hussein since he came to trial. Still thinks he's the legitimate president, still thinks it is an unfair trial, and now he says the Americans will turn to me to help resolve the problems in Iraq. It is Saddam Hussein in denial of his situation, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: To say the least. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, this week, perhaps as early as today, the Supreme Court's expected to rule in the case of Osama bin Laden's alleged former driver and bodyguard. The decision could have major implications for detainees who are being held at Guantanamo Bay.

CNN's Kyung Lah has our story today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the center of the Supreme Court case, this man, Salim Ahmed Hamdan, arrested in Afghanistan two months after the 9/11 attacks, Hamdan has sat in Guantanamo Bay for at least three and a half years, waiting to be tried by a military court. President Bush calls him an enemy combatant, not a prisoner of war, meaning he would not have any rights under the Geneva Conventions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will hear argument in 05184, Hamdan against Rumsfeld.

LAH: The case lay before the Supreme Court. The justices may issue a decision this week that affects whether Hamdan and at least 400 prisoners in Guantanamo are being held lawfully under a presidential order.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I also recognize that we are holding some people that are darn dangerous and that we better have a plan to deal with them in our courts. And the best way to handle -- in my judgment handle these people is through our military courts.

LAH: But Hamdan's attorneys say the president is overstepping his authority.

DAVID REMES, COVINGTON & BURLING: He's exercising the powers of a monarch or a dictator, he's ignoring the system of checks and balances. He doesn't want the executive to be accountable to anyone, not the judiciary, not Congress.

LAH: But the rules in this post-9/11 world are different argue layers and Republicans who support the president.

DAVID RIVKIN, BAKER & HOSTETLER: These people are lawful enemy combatants. They are not ordinary criminals. And to put them in civilian courts would fundamentally remove that sigma.

WARNER: We simply can not take the key and unlock the door and disburse them all over the country, it would be wrong.

LAH: The court could rule in a number of ways. The high court may decide it doesn't have any jurisdiction in this area. That would be a major victory for the White House. The justices may also rule narrowly, rejecting parts of the White House's argument but not throwing open the doors of Guantanamo. Court watchers say what's really at stake is how much power the commander in chief should hold.

TONI MASSARO, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA LAW SCHOOL: Under what circumstances do we consider national security for the trumping move for other interests that we hold dear and what role should the court play in this.

LAH: In Washington, Kyung Lah, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Hamdan is charged with conspiracy to commit treason -- terrorism rather, and murder.

It was a big old mess in the nation's capital this weekend and elsewhere. It was a weekend really of torrential rain and it caused some major flood problems in and around the D.C. Area.

Let's get right to AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken. He's live in D.C.

How's it looking today, bob?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, I suppose you could call this inside the belt bay. The tunnel which at the moment is blocked by a bus of course. It's the CNN law. In any case, that is just one of the places that is really seriously flooded because of some torrential rains overnight, rains that caused flooding, caused trucks to get stuck in that tunnel right there, trucks that thought they could make it through the water. Ramps to various freeways have been closed.

There was a mudslide in Alexandria, which is causing other transportation problems.

As a matter of fact, the flooding has been so bad that rail transportation has been disrupted throughout the area, from Virginia and Maryland, some of the Metro subway system. In Washington, it caused various event to get suddenly get flooded, giving new meaning to the term flash floods. Further out on the eastern shore, there's been some serious rain, in towns like Seaford, Delaware and Federalsburg, Maryland, causing some evacuations.

And this area here, where it is now dry was under about five feet of water overnight. This area, by the way, is Constitution Avenue.

And for anybody who has faced the ire of the Internal Revenue Service, well, they might want to see this. The IRS building is now dry, but they're still pumping water out of the basement. So perhaps there are people who might have had problems with the IRS and are thinking, gee, that's where they store my records.

In any case, things are very slowly returning to normal. However, in this area, they're expecting more rain. They've had it all weekend. It has really saturated the area. There could be more, more flooding of this kind of mess which is going to make things slow starting up in Washington -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, what a big old mess.

All right, Bob. Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Closer look now at an increasing problem in many urban areas. They're called community guns. That's right, community guns. The idea is to find it, use it, stash it, and then someone else can use it. Now, federal and local officials in Massachusetts are trying to crackdown on all this.

AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty-five-year- old landscaper Antonio Someto (ph) was born in Angola, but recently met a violent death south of Boston.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody murdered my brother.

LOTHIAN: It's believe the gun used in his murder could have been a so-called community weapon, which is typically stored outdoors and shared by multiple gang members.

PAUL WALSH, BRISTOL CO. D.A.: They'll put it in one area where these five individuals know where it is, and they have access to it.

LOTHIAN: Now for the first time, federal ATF agents and local law enforcement officers have launched a major effort, using a dozen bomb-sniffing dogs to seek out community guns.

JIM MCNALLY, ATF: Don't leave your guns outside anymore.

LOTHIAN: ATF special agent Jim McNally says dogs like Herbie have the skills to do the job.

MCNALLY: Because of their ability to find explosive residue, they can find guns. LOTHIAN: They targeted a half-dozen sites recently in the city of New Bedford, a coastal working-class community dealing with a rash of gang violence, searching under trash bins, around playgrounds, and in overgrown fields.

MCNALLY: We know that the gangs are putting guns outside so that they won't be in the house and linked to the gang member, should they be caught.

LOTHIAN (on camera): And finding the weapons takes care of another concern, that innocent children in the neighborhood might run across a gun, pick it up, and end up in the middle of a tragic accident.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, U.S. ATTY.: Parents should be able to let their children play in the public parks and playgrounds without fear that they'll come across a loaded firearm.

LOTHIAN: In this first sweep, nothing was found, but the effort is expected to expand statewide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad that something is being done.

MCNALLY: This is a way to shake things up, to let them know we can find guns.

LOTHIAN: An effort to disrupt the way gang members operate.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: God, that's a sad story. It's amazing.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I was just kind of reading "Newsweek" magazine here. "Newsweek." By the way, Soledad...

S. O'BRIEN: I have a hundred of these.

M. O'BRIEN: She has a hundred right, to honor.

Take a look at the cover of "Newsweek" magazine. I'm going to brag on my co-anchor here a little bit. Yes, far right there. Who's that guy in the foreground? I don't know who he is.

S. O'BRIEN: He's all right looking.

M. O'BRIEN: So I hear, yes from what I here.

S. O'BRIEN: That's Brad Pitt.

M. O'BRIEN: Anyway, on the far right there is our own Soledad O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: Why, I'm standing right next to Brad Pitt. How about that? M. O'BRIEN: Isn't that special? This is a special double edition of "Newsweek," which means two weeks of exposure to own Soledad. They came in. They took tons of pictures. I was in some of them. I was thinking I'd grab onto her coattails. I got zero. Anyway...

S. O'BRIEN: That's not your hand?

M. O'BRIEN: Anyway, but to tell you the truth, I believe this is the Giving Back Awards, first annual, and they cited Soledad for her efforts in the midst of Katrina, in particular, asking some really hard questions of one Mike Brown, and some other reportage associated with that, and just your general good work and being a good American.

S. O'BRIEN: And 14 other people, too.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm kind of lucky to -- I can sit right here. I can still sit here, right?

S. O'BRIEN: You can touch. I'll try not to get a big head on you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, all right.

Coming up on the program, a closer look at billionaire Warren Buffett's decision to give away most of his fortune. Why's he doing it now? We'll ask the writer who broke the story.

M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead, pit crew 101. We're going to explain why the folks at a racing school are trying to actually help build a better airline.

S. O'BRIEN: And later, some teachers get a free ride on the so- called vomit comet. This is a fun ride. I've done this a few times. We'll look at how they plan to apply astronaut training to the classroom. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Well, there are some things which should be done fast and some things she should be done right, and we will put jet airliner maintenance in the latter category. That said, time is money, even for the airlines. Pit crew, meet flight crew.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a quick turnaround -- a tire change in 13 seconds, teamwork down to an art. But can you repeat that raceway performance on the runway? Dave Chavez has spent the last 20 years loading bags and waving in jets. Now he's one of 1,200 United Airlines ramp employees training to cut the turnaround time for aircraft from five to eight minutes. They're doing it by watching the pros for three days at a NASCAR school known as Pit School U. Teams compete against the clock. There's never been this kind of training for airline workers, no set standards for precision team work on the tarmac. Airline officials hope the NASCAR pros drive home a message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go, work together. Help each other out.

JOHN PERFETTI, UNITED AIRLINES: Performing the same task from station to station, city to city, trip to trip, in the same way every time, works to make their turns quicker.

DORNIN: But in practice, just like at work on the real job, there are obstacles.

DANIEL MONDRAGON, PIT SCHOOL U.: Their pit is going to be a disaster, a mess when they come out here, so that's supposed to represent what it is, like, when they come into the job in the morning, when the group before them didn't reset their area, their work environment, for them.

DORNIN: Ana Garza from San Antonio had her doubts coming into the training, but now says he gets it.

ANA GARZA, UNITED AIRLINES: It's time, time management. You know, you're relying on your team players to make that poor connection.

DORNIN (on camera): The company's just come out of bankruptcy. Some people might see this as a frivolous way, at this point, to spend money.

PERFETTI: Well, it's not a waste of money. It's an investment in our people, and it's an investment in our customers.

DORNIN (voice-over): Airline officials say cutting turnaround times could put more planes in the air, making passengers happier. For employees who thought their jobs were doomed, United officials believe it's a morale booster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go, guys, all right!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

DORNIN: Two days after training school, we followed Chavez back to Dulles. His is turning around a flight from Orlando heading to Tampa. The goal, a 36-minute turnaround.

GABE CHAVEZ, UNITED AIRLINES: The issue was not for us -- are we able to do it? Are we able to do it safely and consistently has always been the issue.

DORNIN (on camera): And this helped?

CHAVEZ: This helped a lot.

DORNIN (voice-over): The plane was so early, they had to wait for the outgoing bags, but still managed to beat the clock.

(on camera): United officials hope that employees like Gabe Chavez spread their newfound wisdom. And for an airline emerging from some very bad times, they can turn the planes from here to there in record time.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Dulles International.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Once United finishes sending ground crews through Pit Crew U. -- not easy to say on a Monday after a vacation, they'll give the customer-service agents a crack at the cars. You know, if you're on a plane and something gets jacked up and somebody starts sprinkling Gatorade in your mouth, I'd be worried right.

Anyway, Andy Serwer has got a little preview for us.

Hello.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE": I got that.

What would you do if the cable repairman crashed out on your couch? Well, you'd probably make a viral video of it and show it to 200,000 of your closest friends. And you'll get a chance to see it, too, coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at the days' top stories right after this short break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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