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American Morning
New Osama bin Laden Tape; Flood Devastation; Bush, Koizumi Going to Graceland
Aired June 30, 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 a new audiotape believed to be from Osama bin Laden. We'll take a look at what it says and what it means.
Also, the floodwaters may finally be receding, but it's still a big dangerous mess in the Northeast. We're live in the hard-hit areas.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, we doubt he is wearing blue suede shoes, but the Japanese prime minister and Elvis fan, Junichiro Koizumi, is going to Graceland today. He's traveling with -- to Elvis's home and now shrine with President Bush, whose iPod includes a lot of country music, as well as John Fogerty, Joni Mitchell and The Knack. But apparently not the King. Maybe that will change.
In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, folks are heading home this morning, wondering how much damage they will find from the floods. Folks in parts of New York and New Jersey still out of their homes. The evacuation orders in place while crews check structures, look for hot wires and gas leaks.
The space shuttle countdown still under way at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Discovery slated for launch tomorrow, 3:49 Eastern. That's just when the afternoon thunderstorms kick into gear in Florida. NASA says they're the only issue standing in the way of an on-time departure for the crew of seven.
Live coverage. I'll be there, along with shuttle commander -- former shuttle commander Eileen Collins, who flew the last mission of Discovery, the first woman ever to fly in the command of a shuttle. And we'll give you coverage all throughout the day tomorrow.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
He is called a role model for future generations. Believe it or not, that's the way the former Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al- Zarqawi is being described by Osama bin Laden. It's all in a new audiotape. It is, in fact, bin Laden's first message since Zarqawi was killed in a June 7th raid in Iraq.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson live for us in Baghdad this morning.
Nic, that in and of itself is sort of bizarre, I think, but what else stood out to you on this tape?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it's certainly bizarre to call him a hero, because bin Laden has been at odds with Zarqawi in the past. But the other highlights are, he says that President Bush and no one else should rejoice because Zarqawi is dead, because as Osama bin Laden says, there is another lion to replace that lion, somebody else to replace him.
He said that President Bush should send the body back to Jordan so the family can bury him. He said while they're sad that Zarqawi has been killed, he was a great knight, a great leader, that poets should write poetry about him. And again, as with almost every Osama bin Laden message, there is the broader war, the broader issue. He says, al Qaeda will continue fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and Somalia and Sudan.
So we can see where his sights are set at this time -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson for us this morning in Baghdad.
Nic, thanks.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the weather now. Chad Myers is in the weather center with that.
Hello, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Miles.
Things look pretty good across the country here. We're seeing a couple of showers across parts of Minnesota and also into Chicago. But the rain from the Northeast, some heavy rain in the city yesterday, has now moved through and really through the cape, and even past Boston.
There will be a couple showers out there for the morning hours, and then finally all gone for you. Not enough really to make any airport delays. Today should be a pretty good getaway Friday when it comes to airports across the East Coast.
A little bit of a flare-up of something here north of Puerto Rico. We'll keep watching that over the weekend. The hurricane center not expecting rapid intensification of that, but you never know with these things, like that thing that moved up through North Carolina last week.
Ninety-one in Orlando, pretty pleasant weather across the Northeast. A few showers in upstate New York right along the front that's kind of just draping over Montreal right now. So most of the weather maybe up toward Burlington and even up into Lake Champlain.
Ninety-three in Rapid City today, 91 in Boise. Still hot in the Southwest, 106 and 108 for Phoenix and Vegas. But there are still some showers popping up in the warmest part of the day out there, and that kind of cools things down just a touch.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Chad Myers, stand by for this one. Don't go too far, because there's a reporter here we want to you chat with for a moment. You had some advice for him yesterday. We'll see what he has to say about that.
In the meantime, let's get to the business at hand. The floodwaters starting to recede in New Jersey. Thousands evacuated within the past 48 hours now bracing for what lies ahead. A lot of work cleaning up.
News 12 New Jersey's Tony Caputo live now from Trenton with more.
Tony, good morning.
TONY CAPUTO, REPORTER, NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY: Good morning.
It will be quite some time before any cleaning up begins because the waters haven't necessarily receded out of the island section of Trenton. Let me give you a look.
We've been using a mailbox as our guide in the island section, and in the distance you see it there. And it looks about the same as it did when I was here yesterday.
Now, I understand yesterday afternoon was when the water reached its highest point, came across Route 29, where I'm standing now. But it has begun to recede, but that is very slowly going to happen. And folks who live in this island section who aren't here now are going to have to wait quite some time before they can get in and start clearing out the water and the mud, once again, in this part of Trenton.
There you see the water about halfway across Route 29 right now. This roadway has been closed down since Wednesday afternoon because folks here have seen this in the past couple of years as well.
This is the third time in less than three years this has happened. So they're accustomed to it. They know what's going on. They closed down this road, a major artery, to get to the state House here in the capital city of Trenton.
Now, later this morning, U.S. representatives Frank Lautenberg Robert Menendez, along with Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer, will address the situation, get us up to date on exactly what's going on and let the folks who live here know when they may be able to return to their homes.
In Trenton, I'm Tony Caputo, reporting for CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, Tony, we noticed you're not wearing a jacket today.
CAPUTO: No jacket today.
M. O'BRIEN: No jacket.
CAPUTO: I went with a shirt and tie (INAUDIBLE) to what the story is.
M. O'BRIEN: We need to turn the machine way back to 24 hours to Tony yesterday, along with some advice from Chad. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to Chad Myers. He's standing by at the CNN Center. He is our severe weather expert.
And this is severe weather, for sure.
MYERS: Certainly, he was the best dressed flood reporter I've ever seen, though.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, because, you know, the governor's coming in, as he mentioned, and there is some high-level officials who will be talking and briefing them later. You don't want to be, you know, in sweats for the governor.
MYERS: Well, I know. But usually you see them out there in the Smurf suit, you know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: So no Smurf suit for Tony Caputo.
S. O'BRIEN: Tony, I had your back, man.
M. O'BRIEN: And he was wearing -- he was wearing the suit and all that. We don't have a picture of what he was wearing.
But you took the jacket off.
Chad, are you with him?
MYERS: Yes, this is -- what, this is dress-down Friday for you, huh?
M. O'BRIEN: There he is yesterday.
CAPUTO: Hey Chad -- hey Chad and Soledad, let me say this. The governor had nothing to do with me wearing this jacket yesterday.
S. O'BRIEN: Really? I was going to ask you.
CAPUTO: Let me say that. But -- hey, I'm on dry land here. Look, I've got the jeans on and everything else.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK.
(CROSSTALK) CAPUTO: As soon as they let me in the water -- as soon as they let me in the water, I'll throw on some trunks and I'll dive in, Chad. Don't worry about it.
M. O'BRIEN: The truth is, Chad Myers is an expert on everything, including what to wear to a flood.
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: You're our hero. Tony, thanks for being a good sport.
S. O'BRIEN: But noticed I went directly to his support.
And Tony, you look very handsome in the jacket and tie, by the way.
M. O'BRIEN: How do I look?
S. O'BRIEN: You look all right.
M. O'BRIEN: The usual. All right.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, we're talking about a new scandal at the Tour de France. The race hasn't even started yet. We'll fill you in and tell you what's happening there.
M. O'BRIEN: And then Ford is backing away, you could say, after that -- what Soledad was just talking about, backpedaling, from hybrid car production. We'll tell you why.
S. O'BRIEN: And it's road trip time for President Bush and the Japanese prime minister. They're going to Graceland today. We'll tell you what they're going to do there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Jerusalem, where the Israeli government says it continued to pound strategic terrorist locations in Gaza overnight but held its tanks and troops to the north in Gaza, waiting to see if there was some diplomatic solution, trying to recover the kidnapped soldier. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak says he is trying to work to get the release of the 19- year-old missing since Sunday.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is Harris Whitbeck in (INAUDIBLE), on the border between Mexico and thee U.S. state of Texas. Voters here are gearing up for presidential elections which will take place next Sunday. The election is being very closely watched by analysts who say at this point the race is too close to call.
Voters here are specifically concerned about security issues, about relations with the United States, and about the course that the Mexican economy will turn. While President Fox has said that the Mexican economy has experienced growth, that has not been translated into real growth for the pocketbooks of the Mexican people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Aneesh Raman in London.
The Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo Bay has made front-page news in some but not all of the British papers. The European people and their political leaders have been increasingly critical of Guantanamo Bay.
Some here have called for it to be closed. Others, like British Prime Minister Tony Blair, has stopped just short of that, raising grave concerns to President Bush.
Human rights groups throughout Europe are applauding the decision, but political leaders are essentially staying quiet right now, waiting to see what happens and whether Guantanamo could face closure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: For more on any of these stories or any of our top stories, you can go right to our Web site, CNN.com -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush and the prime minister of Japan turning into tourists today. They're heading to Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee.
CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano has more on this odd road trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Two world leaders will be paying tribute to "The King" later this morning. President Bush and Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, travel to Memphis, Tennessee. There, President Bush will treat his friend and ally, the prime minister, who is a huge Elvis fan, to a personal tour of Elvis Presley's home at Graceland.
Now, the trip underscores the affinity between these two leaders who first bonded over a game of catch at Camp David in 2001. Now with the prime minister set to step down in September after five years on the job, officials say this move is meant as a thank-you to the prime minister, who has been a staunch supporter of the president's efforts in the war on terror.
And one side note. A senior administration official says that on Air Force One on the ride to Memphis, there will be Elvis movies playing in the cabin.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: A little "Blue Hawaii" there on Air Force One.
S. O'BRIEN: A lot of Elvis.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come -- still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, a new audiotape from Osama bin Laden. We'll tell you what it says, what it means.
But first, another tragedy at Disney World. Actually, not at Disney World specifically. It's the Disney MGM theme park. A 12- year-old boy dies on a roller coaster. And we'll tell you about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, Israeli forces fired on Palestinian targets. Troops are not taking any more ground, though. They're saying they're going to give negotiators a chance to make a deal for the release of that kidnapped Israeli soldier.
There will be an autopsy today on a 12-year-old boy who suddenly went limp on that Rock 'n' Roller coaster yesterday at the Disney MGM theme park in Orlando. His father performed CPR. The boy died.
Fifty-six cyclists are now under suspicion in a doping scandal looming over the Tour de France. This morning, the former champion, Jan Ullrich, was kicked off his team. And a favorite to win, Ivan Basso, is now under investigation.
The race hasn't even gotten under way yet. It begins tomorrow.
M. O'BRIEN: Up next, Andy "Minding Your Business" -- Andy.
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Hey, Miles.
You know that song "Bad Day" that they play on "American Idol"?
S. O'BRIEN: Bad, bad day.
M. O'BRIEN: We've heard that a few times.
SERWER: That's right. Well, Microsoft had a bad day yesterday. We'll tell you about that.
And should Home Depot or Ford or Blue Cross/Blue Shield be allowed to be a bank? We'll explain that to you also coming up.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll see about that. That's one of the things that's ahead.
Also, all eyes on the skies over Florida this weekend.
S. O'BRIEN: No, that's "The View."
M. O'BRIEN: No, that's "The View."
S. O'BRIEN: Imagine, if you will, the shuttle.
M. O'BRIEN: Star. Yes, Star. And then we're going to do a rocket launch.
S. O'BRIEN: There we go.
M. O'BRIEN: There's the rocket launch.
SERWER: The shuttle is leaving the show.
M. O'BRIEN: That's a live picture, launch pad 39B, Kennedy Space Center, as the shuttle is pointed in the right direction. The question is, will it get any closer to space by 3:49 p.m. tomorrow Eastern Time? But there are also a lot of other issues.
This is the most tense shuttle content (ph) I can recall. We'll tell you all about it coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it has really truly become a complete soap opera on "The View." Barbara Walters...
M. O'BRIEN: What was it before? Just out of curiosity.
S. O'BRIEN: It was a little bit of a soap opera, but now it is a full-fledged out and out soap opera. Barbara Walters, of course, and Star Jones Reynolds locked in a drama.
"It was betrayal," says one. "No, I was fired," says the other. And then, of course, you saw -- well, you guys don't watch the show, but the audio goes out in the middle of the show, which was kind of a weird thing.
M. O'BRIEN: The mud wrestling is what I saw. Have them just duke it out.
S. O'BRIEN: Jay Leno had a very fun take last night.
SERWER: What is that, a seance?
S. O'BRIEN: Wait, listen. This is Jay. This is Jay. No, they're talking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Barbara Walters so mad at Star Jones, but she's erased all traces of her ever being on the show. She's not even on the credits anymore.
Did you see what Barbara did this morning in front of the ABC building in New York? Show what happened. Take a look at this. Oh my. Look. They're pulling down...
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: Unbelievable. They're -- oh, it's unbelievable. Do you see -- can you believe that?
And more problems today for "The View." You see what happened? The sound went out on the show, to which most guys said, hey, great, now I can finally watch it.
No, no. But the sound went out. There was some audio problem.
When they came back on, Barbara Walters could not explain what happened, but I think I know what happened. Look at the tape carefully. Here's Barbara trying to figure it out.
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": Just before we went into commercial, we lost all sound. We do not know why it happened. But we did. But we are now back.
(LAUGHTER)
LENO: That's what it was. That's what it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Leno was very funny on this last night.
Star told her side of the story to Larry King last night. Not quite as hysterical, but she had some interesting points she made. We're going to show you part of that interview. That's ahead in just a little bit.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, we have to wait? Oh, gosh, I'm dying to know.
SERWER: Oh, we have to do business news.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, let's do the business news, OK.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, that. Go ahead, Andy.
SERWER: That was funny, Jay Leno.
S. O'BRIEN: That was good.
SERWER: I want to talk Microsoft here, first of all, you guys. The trifecta of the very worst kind for the software giant yesterday. Three things went wrong.
First of all, they announced they were delaying their new Office 2007 software program, which is always bad news to delay a new product, obviously.
Second, number two, layoffs. Very unusual for this company, and some of the largest they've ever done. Not so big, 148 people. They employ 63,000-plus. But still, not a good sign for a growing technology company.
And then number three, a key executive departed and defects to archrival Google. Ooh, they hate that Redman (ph). A gentleman named Vic Gondotra (ph), who is -- and I love his title -- the general manager of developer evangelism.
M. O'BRIEN: What?
SERWER: Developer evangelism, praise the lord, we have new software. I'm not sure what that means.
M. O'BRIEN: He wears one of those bracelets, WWBD, "What would Bill do?" Right?
SERWER: Yes, that's right.
M. O'BRIEN: Or something like that, right?
SERWER: I guess that's it.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: He apparently is a key executive.
And then, of course, there's the stock that's gone nowhere for six years. But that's kind of more long term.
M. O'BRIEN: Not that we're keeping score, but...
SERWER: A problem there.
Another giant company in the news, and of several, actually -- now, Wal-Mart, you may remember, wanted to get in the banking business. And a lot of people were very concerned that, oh, here goes the Beast of Bentonville again, expanding into all manner of businesses and every facet of American life.
M. O'BRIEN: Their tentacles.
SERWER: Well, now it turns out there are a whole bunch of American companies that want to get into banking.
Home Depot, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's company, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, they want to set up these things called industrial loan corporations which are mostly all about processing credit cards and also making some loans. You can't get a checking account there, but it's to keep more of the money that would go through the processors instead.
So, this might make Wal-Mart's effort to get into the banking business a little easier now that it has some company.
M. O'BRIEN: It might dilute the criticism.
SERWER: Exactly.
M. O'BRIEN: But everybody wants to be in the banking business because that's where the money is, right?
SERWER: That's what Willie Sutton said.
M. O'BRIEN: That's what he said, yes. Exactly.
What do you got next?
SERWER: Coming up, Apple, it turns out, has a stock option problem. And Ford has a problem with those hybrid cars.
We'll tell you about that coming up.
M. O'BRIEN: See you then. Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Time for a check of the forecast. Let's get right to Chad.
Hey, Chad. Good morning. What are you looking at?
MYERS: Hi, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
S. O'BRIEN: The voice of terror has a new message. An audiotape believed to be from Osama bin Laden talks for the first time about the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
M. O'BRIEN: In Gaza, Israeli defense forces continue their high- pressure tactics in pursuit of a kidnapped corporal. But a brief pause. We'll tell you why.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jason Carroll in New Hope, Pennsylvania. Relief has been slow for the people here. I'll have an update coming up.
S. O'BRIEN: And wondering what exactly happened at Disney World? An investigation is under way right now after a child dies following a roller coaster ride.
We'll have those stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: There is a new message, it was posted overnight on an Islamic Web site. It likely holds the very first comments from Osama bin Laden since the death of his so-called knight in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
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