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American Morning
Possible Troop Cuts in Iraq; 'Hot Topics'; Warren Buffett Giving Away Billions
Aired June 26, 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, a group linked to al Qaeda says it's killed four Russian diplomats being held hostage in Iraq. That's according to a statement on the Internet. Russian authorities say there is no proof of that claim.
The Senate today is set to debate a constitutional amendment that would ban flag burning. A vote on the Republican measure could come tomorrow.
And around D.C., Maryland, and Delaware, residents dealing with heavy flooding this morning after strong thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain. At least eight inches reported in Seaford, Delaware.
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 on this Monday morning. The...
S. O'BRIEN: Nice to have you back, by the way.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh. Well, thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Did you have a nice vacation?
M. O'BRIEN: It was quite nice, thank you. Very relaxing.
S. O'BRIEN: Good. Glad to hear it.
M. O'BRIEN: Glad to be back. And you've got a vacation coming up, too. So count it down now.
The Pentagon has a plan to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq starting this fall. This according to "The New York Times." And Democrats are angry about it, saying it sounds an awful lot like a plan that Republicans characterized as "cut and run" last week.
And there's more that is stirring up anger in Washington, a possible amnesty plan for Iraqis who killed American troops that is in the works.
CNN's Kyung Lah following all this from Washington for us this morning.
Good morning, Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
As you recall -- you may recall -- it was quite a heated week on the Hill last week over whether or not there should be a timetable on withdrawing U.S. troops. In light of this weekend report, Democrats are left wondering what exactly was the point of that debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice over): The first sign of a Japanese pullout this weekend, this rumbling convoy leaving a base in southern Iraq. U.S. troops may follow suit, according to "The New York Times." The paper reports a top U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, plans to send home more than 20,000 by the end of 2007 and not replace them.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL (R), NEBRASKA: I do think Casey's plans are correct. We need to start moving our troops out. And I would expect that by the end of next year, we'll see most of our troops out of Iraq. And they should be.
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: And I wonder what all this talk was about how a timeline is a bad idea, we can't tell the terrorists what we're going to do. Well, General Casey just told them.
LAH: It's violence like this and the murders of four Russian diplomats that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is trying to quell with his national reconciliation plan aimed at placating militant Sunni factions and includes the release of 2,500 Iraqi prisoners.
HUSSAIN SHAHRISTANI, IRAQI OIL MINISTER: This amnesty does not cover the terrorists, does not cover the Saddamists, does not cover anybody who has committed any crime against the Iraqi people or the Iraqi armed forces.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: I don't think granting amnesty to people who have killed Americans is acceptable, and I don't believe that's what the Iraqi government intends to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: But it does open the door to freeing someone who may have killed a U.S. soldier, and that is the part that remains troubling to many lawmakers -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Kyung Lah in Washington.
Thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Happening "In America" this morning, searches resume looking for a 12-year-old girl. They believe she may have drowned in a Clackamas County, Oregon, lake. Four other people are missing in western Oregon over the weekend. Searchers fear they may have drowned as well.
San Francisco shocked over the apparent suicide of 46-year-old Denice D. Denton. She's the chancellor of the University of California, Santa Cruz. Police think Denton may have jumped to her death on Saturday from a 43-story luxury apartment building. Her longtime partner has an apartment in that building.
There she goes. The wall comes tumbling down at Methodist Hospital in Houston. They detonated an old professional building to clear the way for an new outpatient facility. They let the person who worked there the longest push the button to blow that building right up.
Gay pride on display in New York City. Rain did not keep tens of thousands of people from marching in the annual Gay Pride Parade. About the same number of people marched in San Francisco's parade.
About 90 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona, fire crews today are going to put -- finish putting up a protection line trying to hold back a wildfire. The fire's already burned 4,200 acres near Sedona. Hundreds of residents have been evacuated and are still out of their homes.
It's floodwaters on the East Coast that are of concern this morning.
Chad Myers at the CNN Center with a forecast for us.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
Yes, and a lot of flooding yesterday in D.C., in Baltimore, the Eastern Shore, even into New York. Some of the numbers are, like, 12 inches of rain in 12 hours in some spots. Here's one of the rainfall maps that you'll see.
Federalsburg, Maryland, 11.5. Even Bridgehampton, out in the Hamptons in New York, Long Island, 6.5, 6 inches of rain there. And Dulles Airport, some flooding around Reston as well, 6 inches. Even flooding literally right in downtown D.C.
Here's where the rain goes today. There'll be a band here about the Poconos. And then a lot of it, though, will be farther west there, to the Alleghenies, and all the way down to the west of D.C. today.
In New York City, they may very well be dry for most of the day. It looks like there's some dry air that's coming in from the ocean. I know that doesn't make sense, but there is some dry air out there with a high pressure going to push the real moisture away, which is the source of it.
All the way down from Orlando, down to Miami today, there's this low pressure that came off the shore. Not a tropical system, really. It was tropical moisture, but it never got its act together. Then it just fed all of this moisture, all this humidity into the system. And now the front there cutting off how far it can go west, so it's going down -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Stay with me here. A question for you.
MYERS: Yes?
M. O'BRIEN: What would you guess would be the most expensive city in the world?
MYERS: Tokyo.
M. O'BRIEN: It's up there. It's up there. I would have guessed New York.
MYERS: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: At least it seems that way to me when the mortgage comes due about once a month.
MYERS: Yes. Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: But no.
MYERS: No?
M. O'BRIEN: New York City is not the winner. The distinction goes to Moscow.
MYERS: Oh.
M. O'BRIEN: Would you have guessed that one?
MYERS: No.
S. O'BRIEN: I believe it. I believe it. When I was in Moscow, it was -- it's ridiculous, out of control.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, it's kind of a tale of two cities. There's two economies there, right?
S. O'BRIEN: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: Moscow at the top. Seoul, South Korea, there. You see the chart there. That's a new cost of living survey that's out.
Tokyo is now at number three, Chad. So you were -- you're in the ballpark there.
MYERS: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: And then rounding out, Hong Kong and London. And as for New York, 10th overall, but, of course -- yes, I'm sorry, go ahead.
MYERS: Is it the priciest city to live in or to visit or...
M. O'BRIEN: Priciest city to -- good question, live in or visit?
S. O'BRIEN: I don't know. M. O'BRIEN: That's a good question.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, they look at food and housing and transportation, so I would guess live in.
M. O'BRIEN: I mean, I would think -- I would think living in Moscow if you're a citizen of Russia would not be -- but we'll have to -- we'll try to get...
MYERS: Yes, OK.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll get back to you on that.
MYERS: Fair enough.
M. O'BRIEN: As always.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for asking a question we can't answer, Chad. We appreciate that. Thanks, Chad.
M. O'BRIEN: You make me look like a stupid man.
MYERS: Thanks for live TV.
M. O'BRIEN: Hey, I just got back from vacation. What do I know?
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: Jeez. At least I showed up.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Chad. Thank you. We're going to start asking you about the history of various hurricanes and earthquakes.
M. O'BRIEN: He knows it though. That's the problem.
MYERS: Well, it was your -- it was your story.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, your story.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, it's my fault.
S. O'BRIEN: What's wrong with you?
All right, Chad. Thanks a lot.
M. O'BRIEN: See you, Chad.
MYERS: Yes, sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, the world's second richest man is starting to give away his fortune. You might be surprised, though, to find out why he's giving it to the world's first richest man. That's ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: And then, Congress today debating, if you will, a burning issue, perhaps, for some of you, an amendment to ban flag burning. A constitutional amendment. We want to know why, though, and why now. To talk about it, we'll check in with "Hotline's" senior editor on our Monday morning segment.
S. O'BRIEN: And a terror group claims to have killed four Russian hostages in Iraq. Just ahead this morning, a report on why Russians may have been targeted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back.
A group with links to al Qaeda claims it has killed four Russian diplomats. That tops our look at stories CNN correspondents all around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says it's doing everything in its power to verify the reported killing of its four diplomats in Iraq. It's not been verified yet, but over recent weeks Russian officials have been appealing for the men to be released, stressing the fact that Russia opposed the U.S.-led invasion of the country. The hostage-takers, though, have looked outside of Iraq to claim justification, demanding the Kremlin withdraw its forces from the Russian Republic of Chechnya, where Muslim separatists have been fighting for an independent state.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Jerusalem.
Hundreds of Israeli troops are lined up on the border with Gaza ready for military action if Palestinians do not release a kidnapped Israeli soldier. The soldier was taken on Sunday during an attack on an Israeli military post. Two other soldiers were killed.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is holding the Palestinian government responsible both for the attacks and for the safekeeping of the soldier. The military ring of Hamas has said this is not the last attack they'll launch, but the political wing of Hamas is saying keep the soldier safe, as they do not want Israel to attack Gaza.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Patrick Snell, at the World Cup in Berlin, where all the pressure is on three-time world champion Italy. They face Australia's Socceroos in the last 16, while tournament debutante Ukraine faced Britain in the nation currently with meanest defense in (INAUDIBLE).
Well, Sunday action seeing Ecuador sneak through against England, while Portugal and The Netherlands really were embroiled in a bad- tempered match. Sixteen yellow cards brandished and four red ones as well for the record. The Portuguese winning it by a goal to nil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: For more on these and any of our other top stories, we invite you to head to our Web site, CNN.com.
Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, amnesty for insurgents in Iraq. That proposal stirring up some politicians in Washington. We'll explain.
And later, some major problems for people all along the East Coast this morning. Basements, streets, parking lots flooded. We'll have a report from one of the hard-hit areas.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: It's Monday morning, and that means that it is time to get our political game going. And this morning we're talking bribes, flag burning, and amnesty for terrorists.
Just another week at the office for John Mercurio, the senior editor of "National Journal's Hotline." He joins us from Washington, as he does every week at this time.
John, good to have you back with us.
JOHN MERCURIO, SR. EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": Thank you, Miles. Welcome home. Welcome back.
M. O'BRIEN: It's good to be back. Thank you.
Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, is trying to figure out a way to stop the bloodshed. He has a reconciliation plan, and the "A" word has come into play, amnesty, perhaps, for some terrorists. I just want to give our viewers a little sampling of the bipartisan reaction here.
Let's listen for a moment.
MERCURIO: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAGEL: To talk about amnesty, blanket, unconditional for everyone, I think, is premature. And this is going to be a difficult issue, because I think Maliki does need some options here -- flexibility and options.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: Now, let me just ask you this: If you thought there was a plan in place in Iraq which said the killing of an American soldier is excusable, would you want to leave your son in uniform as an American soldier in that country?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: So there you have it, Republicans trying to explain it, saying, well, it may not be amnesty as such, and Democrats really seizing the moment here, it seems.
MERCURIO: Yes. It's been a really bad year for the word "amnesty," if you've noticed. It's become taboo in American politics to talk about amnesty, whether about immigration or now about this Iraqi policy. But I think what you're going to see, and it's very interesting, is sort of a delicate dance on the part of American politicians, because at the same time that they're trying to assert this sort of -- the legitimacy of this new Iraqi government and the cabinet, it's impossible for them to accept or embrace a policy like this.
So they, of course, have to try to aggressively assert their will. And so for the next couple of months, I think you're going to see on this issue and a lot of other Iraqi policies Americans having a very -- being very careful about how they assert themselves.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, and if you're being pragmatic about how this Iraqi government will evolve, one way or another they're going to have to figure out a way to have some kind of reconciliation with at least groups that have been -- insurgents are part of, if not the insurgency themselves. So it will be interesting to see how that plays out.
Let's move...
MERCURIO: A lot of fractious groups involved here.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I should say. And fractious and that dome behind you, too.
Let's talk about flag burning. Of all the things, flag burning. All the things we're worried about right now from Iraq, to the economy, to the deficit, to immigration, and we're talking flag burning?
MERCURIO: Well, one guess, Miles, as to why we're talking about this...
M. O'BRIEN: OK.
MERCURIO: ... if you look at the calendar, you can probably figure it out.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think I know. I think I know.
MERCURIO: Five months to Election Day. You know, we had gay marriage a couple of weeks ago that we debated.
This is not rocket science. This is the Republicans Party, sort of extremely unpopular at this point with the American people, trying to do what any party would do in this sort of situation, which is to rally their conservative base.
We're going to see it on flag burning early this week. We saw it last week in the Senate when they tried to vote down the minimum wage -- or when they did vote down the minimum wage -- on voting rights, on immigration, pension reform, the estate tax. All these issues motivate the base that they need to turn out in November.
M. O'BRIEN: You've got to wonder when these issues -- it's sort of like Groundhog Day, the issues just come up time and again, when they won't -- won't work. I mean, it seems like it always seems to play out this way.
MERCURIO: Well, you know, in the Republicans' defense, they do believe that they have a legitimate shot on this flag burning issue of actually passing this amendment. Orrin Hatch, who's the chief sponsor, actually believes that he has the votes. It's unclear as to whether he actually does, but we'll see.
But on -- right, you're exactly right, on gay marriage there was no indication on anybody's part that this was a bill or this was an amendment that would pass, even though the president was behind it.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And we like to ask you always the inside story. What are you going to be watching this week that we should probably have our antenna out for?
MERCURIO: Yes, you should -- everybody should be watching the Senate report. It actually came out last week from the Indian Affairs Committee in the Senate. It was -- it was a focused -- it was focused on the investigation into Jack Abramoff, a name who's become synonymous with lobbying scandals and unethical behavior in Washington.
The report was interesting for several reasons. It targeted some very high-profile Republican activists, people like Grover Norquist, a very well known anti-tax advocate, Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, both of whom have a lot of questions to answer following this report.
But I think most interesting, the report was issued, it was authored by Senator John McCain, a Republican who, of course, is talking very seriously about running for president in 2008. And to watch him last week and, I think, over the weekend and this week, he's clearly uncomfortable having authored a report that implicates high- profile members of his own party at a time that he, himself, is trying to court the conservative base.
M. O'BRIEN: It puts him in a difficult position, doesn't it?
MERCURIO: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. John Mercurio, we'll be watching that and other stories. Thanks for your help, as always.
MERCURIO: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: John is with "The Hotline" -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Andy is "Minding Your Business" ahead.
Good morning, Andy.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Good morning, Soledad.
Warren Buffett has decided to give away his billions. He was going to leave that job to his heirs, but now he's changed his mind.
We will tell you why coming up next, you guys.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Yes, I think that's a fascinating story.
SERWER: It is.
S. O'BRIEN: Also, have you guys ever heard of this thing called community guns? Do you know what this is? It's criminals -- what they do is they take a gun, they use it, then they stash the gun so that somebody else, another criminal can come by and grab that gun and use it. It makes it almost impossible for the cops to trace these weapons in crimes.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow.
S. O'BRIEN: This morning we're going to tell you what one police force and one community is doing about this really big problem.
That story is ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Warren Buffett giving away billions of dollars, giving away more money than we would ever hope to make. And not to me, unfortunately.
Andy Serwer, tell us about what he's doing.
SERWER: I will tell you.
The world's second richest man, Warren Buffett, has decided to give away 85 percent of his $44 billion fortune. The bulk of this will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates, of course, is the world's richest man. And Buffett and Gates have become very close friends over the past 15 years.
This is a big deal if you know anything about Warren Buffett, because basically what's going on is he has changed his mind. Previously, he said he would not give his money away until after he passed away, his heirs would do the job. And the main reason for that is not that he was greedy. It was that he said, I have a billion dollars now, for instance, I want to invest that money and turn it into two billion so I have more money to gave away later on.
M. O'BRIEN: I see his point. I see his point.
SERWER: OK? And he said he would be cheating someone.
M. O'BRIEN: Leverage the money.
SERWER: Exactly. And now this new plan, he will give the money away gradually, through the Gates Foundation primarily, also through foundations of his children. But five-sixths of it will go to the Gates Foundation.
And the big question is, why is he making this move now?
S. O'BRIEN: It sounds like a major life change has happened to him, because, you know, he's always said it was going to happen after he died. And then suddenly, you know, it's a whole new plan.
SERWER: And it is a major life change, Soledad. It has to do in part, at least, with the passing of Buffett's wife, Susie, two years ago.
She was supposed to run the foundation that his money was going to go to. With her deceased, that couldn't happen.
And, the other thing is, Buffett became so close to Gates and watched what Gates did, and said, here is almost a son-like figure who is so successful at doing this, why don't I just give the money to him? And, in fact, why don't I start this process right now? My wife has passed away, this is someone I trust implicitly.
But it's almost a compromise situation, because he's giving the money away gradually. So he hasn't lost that idea of continuing to build his fortune. So he can watch some of his money given away by the Gateses and continue to grow the fortune through the business of Berkshire Hathaway over the coming years.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, the interesting thing is, though, for many wealthy people, foundations are about continuing their name. And this doesn't do that. It's a not like it's a Buffett foundation.
SERWER: That's right. And the Gateses are going to do it for him.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Good for him.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: That's great news. It's good news.
All right, Andy. Thank you very much.
SERWER: Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get a quick check of the forecast with Chad. He's at the CNN Center.
Hey, Chad. MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House, where the Bush administration is considering troop cuts. Democrats are calling foul because it sounds suspiciously like a timetable. That story coming up
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Andrea Koppel in Washington. Iraq's prime minister offering amnesty to insurgents? This idea is stirring up controversy with Congress. I'll tell you who's saying what coming up.
M. O'BRIEN: Warren Buffett takes charity to a new level. The world's second richest man giving away billions to the only man richer.
S. O'BRIEN: And major flooding across the Mid-Atlantic. Evacuations now in several states. And more rain might be on the way. We're going to check the forecast, ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Welcome.
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