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American Morning

More Marines Needed; Iraq & Terror Separate?; Chilling Confession?; Calm Before The Storm?; War Of The Words; Amsterdam Flight Returns

Aired August 23, 2006 - 07:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Also ...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a pretty tough point if you consider what that symbol means to have the F-bombs thrown at you all day every day.

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SANCHEZ: Is it offensive or is it art? Residents in the Utah neighborhood debate the merits of this decoration and whether it's harmful to children. We will let you know.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And did he jump or was he pushed? Tom Cruise and movie studio Paramount Picture are parting ways. Those stories and much more are ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Rich Sanchez. Good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Let's get right to some breaking news coming to us out of the Netherlands this morning. A Northwest jetliner bound for Mumbai, India, is returning to Amsterdam's airport. It was escorted by two Dutch fighter planes. From what we know, the planes landed safely. Police say a number of passengers are being questioned. There are some arrests as well. Details scant at this point. We're going to bring you more as soon as we get them.

Also, thousands of American families with Marine reservists could be affected by a new Pentagon call-up. Up to 2,500 Marine reservists, in fact, could be headed back to Iraq or Afghanistan in the first wave. It is the biggest call-up since the Iraq war began. Reservists could face up to 18 months on duty.

Let's get right to Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon for us.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.

These Marines are coming from a group that most Americans probably haven't heard of. It's called the Individual Ready Reserve. These are Marine who left active duty but still have a contractual obligation, perhaps as much as four years left, in which they can be called back to duty. And that's what's happening. As you say, it has happened before.

These Marines -- they're looking first for volunteers, obviously. But if they don't get enough volunteers to fill that 2,500 person requirement, they will involuntary call people back to duty. They will get five months notice. They will be called to active duty for 12 to 18 months, deploying perhaps next year.

The Marines saying this is not a recruiting issue. They are getting enough recruits. But they need people for high-demand jobs in the field, such as combat, communications, intelligence, engineering and military police positions. As you might expect, some Marines who have just come back from the war zone perhaps very concerned that they will be called right back to combat duty. And what the Marines say is those who have just left the combat zone would be, of course, the last to be called back. They emphasize they are looking for volunteers first.

O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks.

Rick.

SANCHEZ: People increasingly see the war in Iraq as separate from the war on terror. That's affecting the politics as well. The Opinion Research Corporation polled more than 1,000 people just a few days ago. We have the results. On terrorism, 48 percent of the people said that Republicans would do a better job when it comes to terrorism. But on the war in Iraq, 47 percent said democrats is who they'd favor over Republicans. CNN's Ed Henry is at the White House this morning.

Ed, what do you make of these numbers?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Rick.

These numbers could be pretty ominous for President Bush and Republicans in general in the upcoming midterm elections. On its face, it shows, once again, if the Democrats are able to frame the midterm elections as a referendum on Iraq, it could be a long election night for the Republicans. On the other hand, the conventional wisdom has been, that's why the Republicans instead need to make this a referendum on the broader war on terror.

So at Monday's press conference you saw the president keep coming back to the notion that if we don't stop the terrorists in Iraq, they're going to end up following us back to the United States, that Iraq is a central front in the war on terror. But that notion may now be turned on its head a little bit.

If you look at another poll number within this poll, it shows that, in fact, the American people may not be buying that notion. Asked about Iraq, 52 percent of Americans say it has been a distraction from the broader war on terror, while only 44 percent of Americans say that Iraq is essential to the war on terror. That's not good for the White House. They won the 2002 and 2004 elections on the notion that they would keep the country safer in the broader war on terror. These poll numbers suggest that perhaps all of a sudden the Republicans could, in fact, be vulnerable on that notion.

Rick.

SANCHEZ: Well, the trick for Democrats, though, is to somehow make their arguments without seeming weak, though, right?

HENRY: Absolutely. And that's why the president has basically framed this as a clear choice in his eyes. You saw it Monday at the press conference. That it's either, you stay in Iraq and finish the mission and the United States will be safer, or you cut and run as the Republicans believe the Democrats want to do.

The challenge for the Democrats is to find some sort of a third way. If the election is framed as the Democrats want to cut and run, they don't want to finish the job, you're right, they may end up looking like they're the party that doesn't want to finish a job, they don't want to keep the United States safe. If they come up instead and thread the needle, come up with a third way, a third choice, an alternative for the American people, maybe these poll numbers suggest that the American people are hungry for a third choice. Democrats haven't made that sale yet.

Rick.

SANCHEZ: Ed Henry following things there for us in Washington. We thank you, Ed.

For years, the face of terror has been Osama bin Laden. The new CNN survey shows 74 percent of those polled say they believe that bin Laden is planning another attack on the U.S. Fifty-eight percent said it is likely that the United States will be able to capture or kill bin Laden. The Opinion Research Corporation conducted the poll on behalf of CNN.

And, by the way, speaking of that, Osama bin Laden that is, don't miss "In the Footsteps of Bin Laden." It's a CN Presents special two hour investigation with host Christiane Amanpour. It's tonight 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

O'BRIEN: Investigators have recovered the flight data and voice recorders from a deadly plane crash in Ukraine. The passenger jet crashed near the Russian border during a severe thunderstorm yesterday and killed all 170 people who were on board. There are some early indications that the jet -- that lightning may be to blame.

Arrangements are being made to transfer murder suspect John Mark Karr to Boulder, Colorado, from Los Angeles. The sheriff in Boulder, though, says he's not going to reveal when Karr's going to arrive there.

Meanwhile, we're learning some new details about the suspect in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Let's get right to Ed Lavandera. He's in Boulder for us.

Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, a law enforcement source in Los Angeles tells CNN that while John Mark Karr has been in custody there, that he has been heard saying that he doesn't understand why everybody's questioning how he could have gotten into the Ramsey home on Christmas night back in 1996, the night that six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey was murdered. According to this source, John Mark Karr said that he had snuck into the house at 5:00 at night and was able to hide there while the Ramseys were away at a Christmas party.

There's also comments from a police officer in Thailand that CNN has spoken with who says that John Mark Karr also said, while he was in custody there, admitted to having sex with JonBenet Ramsey. But the details beyond that are a little bit sketchy as to exactly what he was meaning. And without to get into too much detail here, that seemed there was some question as to what exactly John Mark Karr was talking about in that case.

Also, one other thing to update as well. A lot of people might remember John Mark Karr's family speaking last week, saying that they would have a picture of John Mark Karr with his family back in 1996, that Christmas season. So far the family says they haven't been able to find only a photograph of his three kids with him and they say it would have been extremely out of the ordinary for John Mark Karr not to be with his children at Christmas and that they do not remember John Mark Karr being way from them at any point.

But here in Boulder they're awaiting for the arrival of John Mark Karr. And it would be quite a change in the way this case has been handled so far. There will not be any kind of cameras following John Mark Karr the way it happened on Thailand and on that flight. The sheriff here, you know, being very secretive as to when he will arrive.

Soledad.

O'BRIEN: No surprise there. They have lived through this before. This kind of publicity. I'm not surprised. Ed Lavandera in Boulder for us. Ed, thanks.

Let's talk about weather now. CNN, your hurricane headquarters. And a couple of new storms to talk about this morning. First, the fourth named storm of the season is in the eastern Atlantic. Chad was talking about this a couple minutes ago. It's about 380 miles west of the Cape Bird Islands. It's called Tropical Storm Debby. And it's expected to pick up speed over the next few hours -- the next 24 hours I guess it's fair to say. Severe weather expert, Chad Myers, is at the CNN Center.

I covered the hurricane for you, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT) SANCHEZ: So far it's been an unusually quiet hurricane season. And experts had predicted this year would be a busy one. Is this just the quiet before the big storm? CNN's Rusty Dornin takes a look.

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RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Remember this prediction for hurricane season?

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR: The research meteorologists are telling us that we're in this very active period for major hurricanes that may last at least another 10 to 20 words.

DORNIN: Chilling words for the Still (ph) family. Their house north of Miami is still in shambles from Hurricane Wilma in October of last year.

When you first heard that this year was going to be maybe just as bad as last year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first thought was to get on a flight and go to Denver.

DORNIN: Meteorologists recently downgraded this year's dire forecast. Here we are in August and it's been early quiet. The disaster known as Katrina was in the making this same time last year. A spot on a weather map. The 11th named storm of the 2005 season.

Until now, experts say, conditions haven't been right for the development of a hurricane. Forecasters say, when and if this year the monster storms develop, it will be closer to the normal pattern, which is late August, September and October. That means the coast is far from clear.

CHRIS LANDSEA, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: The forecast we have is for seven, eight, or nine hurricanes, an average of six. So it's likely that it's going to get busy and get busy quite soon.

DORNIN: As for the Still family, the insurance company still hasn't paid their full claim. They can't fix their home until they get the money. And their house looks like another open invitation for the perfect storm.

There were a lot of predictions that this year was going to be like last year and the storms were going to be coming in June or July even. Were you surprised or are you just relieved?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was happy that it wasn't -- there weren't any. I mean I was just, you know, happy that we've gone this far into the season.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never put your guard down. You know, whether it's in May or November the storm can come and you're at risk.

DORNIN: A risk they know only too well living in the hurricane zone.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Miami.

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SANCHEZ: I don't know if you were watching a couple days ago, but you might remember that we talked to a man named Rockey Vaccarella. I got a lot of phone calls on this interview. He's a Katrina victim who was driving to the White House with a FEMA trailer. And he seemed to strike a nerve with people. He's there now. He's actually been invited inside. He wanted to go and met with the president. Well, guess what, the president has decided to meet with him. Last night he met with Donald Powell (ph), the government's point man for rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Told him just what he and his family went through during Katrina.

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ROCKEY VACCARELLA, LOST HOME IN KATRINA: Now I was there and I was in 150 mile per hour winds. The houses withstood everything. We thought we had it made. All of a sudden here goes the levee behind my house somehow got breached. And I look down the street and there's about an eight foot wave coming, tumbling cars. I start running to my house with my son. I told my brother, Johnny (ph), I said, "it's coming." He's in a two-story across the street, so he ran and got it on camera and started videoing. I went and shut the door and I'm thinking I'm going to hold all this water back and it just kept coming.

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SANCHEZ: He's telling his story. No body's going to stop him. Rockey's still waiting, like thousands of others, for his house to be rebuilt. But Powell told him that billions of dollars in promised federal funds have been slowed by local government indecision. But again, the headline here is, he wanted to meet with the president and, Soledad, the president says he's going to meet with him this morning.

O'BRIEN: Yes, well it's interesting too. What he's describing there is that they survived the storm but what happened was the levees failed. That's a big insurance issue for people there. St. Bernard Parish, he's talking about what happened to almost everybody in that parish. They were wiped out by what they called a tsunami-style wave that came over the levees and basically flattened a lot of that parish. It will be interesting to see what he has to say to the president when they have their meeting later this morning. We're going to bring you an update tomorrow morning after they have that meeting.

SANCHEZ: And amazing his persistence because he was originally told that the president was just busy. Look, he's not going to be able to meet with you.

O'BRIEN: He's like, that's all right. I'm still going.

SANCHEZ: I'm going to hang out there. O'BRIEN: I've driven all this way.

SANCHEZ: He was confident when he told us that the president would come out and find a way to talk to him.

O'BRIEN: He was confident then, he's confident now. We'll talk to him . . .

SANCHEZ: He was right.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk to him on our show tomorrow morning.

Remember that contact lens solution problem for Bausch & Lomb. It was a solution that was actually linked to a fungus that eventually could cause blindness if it wasn't treated. New information this morning on just how widespread the problem is. We're going to be "Minding Your Business" about this just ahead.

SANCHEZ: Also, the problems with Boston's big dig may soon become a bigger headache for drivers. We're going to explain that one to you.

O'BRIEN: And is Tom Cruise paying the price for his off-screen behavior. He parted ways with Paramount. We'll tell you what happened. That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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SANCHEZ: And happening this morning.

For the very first time since the early days of the Iraq war, an involuntary recall for thousands of Marines. Up to 2,500 Marines being brought back at a time with no cap on the total number. It begins, by the way, in the next couple of months.

Now if you get a Medicare check, listen up. The government has accidentally reimbursed 230,000 Medicare recipients around $50 million for premiums paid for prescription drug coverage. Just don't cash those checks from the Social Security Administration that you may have gotten at this point. They're just simply not good we're being told. The money has to be returned.

O'BRIEN: Oh, the checks are good, they want the money back is the problem, right? I mean the checks are fine.

SANCHEZ: The government says your prescription drug coverage, however, will continue nonetheless.

First, sex offenders, now methamphetamine offenders posted online. According to this morning's "USA Today," Meth registries have been approved in Tennessee, Minnesota and Illinois in the past 18 months.

Also, raging wildfires out west. A few hundred homes evacuated in Montana. Nursing home residents evacuated because of smoke in Washington. Fire fighters also facing some new blazes in Oregon, we're told, and Idaho as well. There you have it.

Soledad, over to you.

O'BRIEN: And there is yet another indication that Tom Cruise's star power could be dimming. The actor and Paramount Pictures parting ways. And the split, well, it's not friendly. CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson's in L.A. this morning.

Hey, Brooke. This is kind of a surprise. It's kind of he said, he said at this point, isn't it?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. And indeed it is a surprise, Soledad, because, you know, for years Tom Cruise's name on a marquee meant box office gold. He was at one time considered invulnerable. But not anymore.

Tom Cruise and Paramount Pictures are parting ways and their split has turning pretty sour. You know, Cruise starred last year in the Paramount film "War of the Worlds." Well, now there is quite a war of words going on with his former studio.

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ANDERSON, (voice over): It's a Hollywood breakup of monumental proportions. Tom Cruise and his long-time producing partner, Paramount Pictures, are splitting up. Their 14-year relationship produced mega hits like "Top Gun," "Days of Thunder," the "Mission Impossible" franchise, and "War of the Worlds." Movies that made more than a billion dollars in domestic ticket sales alone.

But the once happy union is coming to an end in a classic he said, he said scenario. In an interview of "The Wall Street Journal," Sumner Redstone, the chairman of Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures said, "as much as we like him personally, we thought it was wrong to renew his deal. His recent conduct has not been acceptable to Paramount." That conduct Redstone is apparently referring to includes a public relations blitz for Scientology, a bizarre stint on Oprah's couch where he professed his love for Katie Holmes, and a confrontational interview with "The Today Show's" Matt Lauer in which he spoke out against taking certain prescription drugs.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: Just knowing people who are on Ritalin isn't enough. You should be a little bit more responsible.

ANDERSON: The Cruise camp disagrees with Redstone's version of the breakup. A representative for Cruise/Wagner Productions tells CNN, it was their decision to part and they're setting up another operation financed independently. Cruise's business partner, Paula Wagner, tells "The Wall Street Journal" that Cruise's behavior has not cost Paramount box office receipts. But his last movie, "Mission Impossible 3," grossed $133 million domestically. A disappointment considering "Mission Impossible 2" earned $215 million. Proving the old Hollywood adage, you're only as good as your last picture.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON: Interestingly, Cruise has reportedly been slated to do a 2008 film with Paramount called "The Few." He was reportedly going to star in it and his production company was reportedly going to produce it. Now we've called Paramount to find out whether "The Few" will go ahead as was previously planned, but haven't heard bac.

Soledad, we're also awaiting response from the church of Scientology on Redstone's comments about Cruise's behavior. So you can bet this he said, he said scenario will continue for a while and we will keep you updated.

O'BRIEN: All right, Brooke, thanks a lot.

Want to get an update now on a story we're been following for you. Some information just in that we've been telling you about. This Dutch fighter plane that accompanied a U.S. Airlines -- Northwest Airlines plane back to Amsterdam. It was bound for Mumbai in India and it made a return back to Amsterdam. The pilot turned it around. Let's get right to Marijn Tebbens. He is a Dutch journalist joining us by phone this morning.

Marijn, what do you know?

MARIJN TEBBENS, DUTCH JOURNALIST: Well, what we know is that apparently briefly into the flight some passengers apparently behaved strange. This is according to sources that we just spoke to. And that was reason for the pilots to turn the flight around and to head back to Skihole (ph) Airport, the main airport here in the Netherlands. And that plane was escorted by two Dutch f-16s.

O'BRIEN: You say strange, which could be behavior that could cover a lot of ground there. Any more details on what that strange behavior was?

TEBBENS: No. Apparently it was -- it sounded to me as just unruly passengers, not too serious, and yet just strange behavior. That's all that I've been able to hear from the authorities. And apparently at 11:39 local time, which is about two hours ago, the plane landed safely. Some people, about 11, were questioned, but none are detained at this point by Dutch police. It's still unclear if that flight will continue with the same people back to Mumbai, Bombay, where it was heading to in India. The only thing I can add here is that, well this northwest flight to India would not be a very likely target for a terrorist.

O'BRIEN: Why do you say that?

TEBBENS: Well, that's just because -- you know, it's not heading towards the United States, not heading towards Britain. So that just seems unlikely.

O'BRIEN: Although we should note that it was only last month then those big series of bombs actually hit the trains in Mumbai and so one can imagine that tensions would be high when it comes to terror attacks across the border, potential terror attacks. What happens now? When will we know if this plane, in fact, takes off again with those 11 passengers who have been detained or not?

TEBBENS: Well, I'm sure there's going to be a press statement later on by the authorities. The Dutch national terrorism coordinator has been informed about this incident. He says it was no reason to impose any extra security measures right now. And then we'll just have to see. It's about well midday here. So within the next couple of hours I'm sure we'll hear more details about this developing story.

O'BRIEN: All right. We'll watch it as well. Marijn Tebbens is a Dutch journalist joining us by phone. The plane was turned around in German air space and brought back to the airport in the Netherlands. Thanks, Marijn.

Ahead this morning, more problems for the makers of that contact lens solution that's linked to a fungus that could be linked to blindness. We're "Minding Your Business" just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. There's some research out of the federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention having a big impact on Bausch & Lomb. Carrie Lee is "Minding Your Business" on this.

Yes, this is something we touched on earlier. What's going on?

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of problems here with this. Of course, the whole idea or the whole problem with ReNu MoistureLoc, fungal infections for some people who used the product. Well now one third of patients with serious eye infections associated with that product are going to have to have corneal transplants to repair the eye's outer surface.

Now in total, the CDC says that it identified 164 confirmed cases of this fungus in the U.S. Well, about 85 percent of them did, in fact, use ReNu with MoistureLoc. And so that means 55 people have either underwent or planed to have a corneal transplant as a result of these damages. So quite a high percentage here.

The company, in the meantime, says they did the right thing by recalling the product and researchers did say that they did find that the outbreak of this fungus was associated with the ReNu product. What we're not sure is who's going to pay for these transplants. But, still, bit impact here.

O'BRIEN: Yes. It has lawsuit all over it. I'll tell you who's going to pay at the end. Who loses the lawsuit.

LEE: Absolutely. Yes. So that all remains to be seen.

And meanwhile investors, you can imagine, Bausch & Lomb is a publicly traded company. If you take a look at the stock price, and here's a one-year chart, those shares are trading at just a little over half of where they were late last year. So lawsuit, people anticipating at probably at some level.

SANCHEZ: It's going to be real expensive.

LEE: Yes. Exactly.

Taking a look at markets overall. Looking a little weak for this morning's session, but we will get a look at existing home sales for July half an hour into the session and that could give us some further direction.

SANCHEZ: That's very regional, isn't it? It all depends on where you are. In some places it's hot. In some places it's dead.

LEE: Right. But when you look at the overall impact, that can give a pretty good window of where things are heading.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Carrie Lee.

LEE: OK. Sure.

O'BRIEN: Top stories straight ahead. Iran said it's ready for serious talks about its nuclear program. What exactly does that mean? We're going to take you live to Tehran just ahead.

Then later, the man accused in a shooting death of a sheriff's deputy and a security guard. Some people say he was known for bizarre behavior before the shootings. A look at that story as well. Stay with us.

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