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American Morning
Is Al-Anbar Lost?; Taliban & Al Qaeda; Chafee Wins; Apple Goes Hollywood
Aired September 13, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Wednesday, September 13. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Here's a look at what's happening this morning.
In Baghdad, a roadside bomb has killed at least 14 people. It happened overnight near the city's traffic police headquarters. Meanwhile, police have found more than 60 bodies across the city. Authorities say they appear to be victims of sectarian violence.
The second trial of Saddam Hussein is in recess right now. Just a few hours ago, the prosecutor demanded that the presiding judge step down. He's accusing him of a pro-Hussein bias. Saddam Hussein is accused of slaughtering tens of thousands of Kurds in the late 1980s.
M. O'BRIEN: In Washington this morning, North Korea's nukes on the front burner as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with the South Korean President Roh Mu-hyun. The U.S. and the South working on a response to North Korea's saber rattling.
Also in Washington today, President Bush meets with Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. At issue, possible U.S. missile defense system in Poland. The goal: to protect Europe against missile attacks.
S. O'BRIEN: In southern California this morning, firefighters are battling to keep a huge wildfire from jumping Interstate 5 near Castaic. That's about 40 miles north of downtown L.A. The fire has already burned almost 24,000 acres since Labor Day.
M. O'BRIEN: And Tropical Storm Gordon is now a hurricane. Right now it's hovering about 500-plus miles north-northeast of the Leeward Islands, but the Category 1 storm is not expected to pose a threat to land.
Chad Myers calls these storms fish storms, right, -- Chad?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Got to like that.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
MYERS: The one that you are seeing there, the big blob coming off Africa, that was going to be Helene. That's still Tropical Depression Number Eight. There it is though, there's Bermuda. The one that just ran over Bermuda, which was Florence, is now affecting Atlanta Canada (ph), seeing some pretty big weather up there. Up into Newfoundland, seeing winds up to 50 miles per hour still there.
But the storm itself, there is Gordon, going to get very close to Bermuda, but not nearly as close as the other one. It will be well to your east by a couple hundred miles. There's the island of Bermuda and the storm is still very strong, still a Category 1 hurricane, but it's just going to get up there and just kind of bounce around some of the boats.
Actually got an e-mail from a guy on one of the boats yesterday that was trying to get to Bermuda, 15-foot seas on the ship, they left from Boston, tried to get down to Bermuda. He even sent me a picture. Maybe I'll show it to you later. He said the gift shop, everything from the gift shop walls and the shelves were all on the floor because the boat was listing back and forth so much with those big 15-to-20- foot waves out there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Miles, Soledad, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, -- Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: Winning the battle but losing the war, that is the dire assessment contained in a secret U.S. military report about Iraq's Al Anbar Province. That report saying a shortage of U.S. troops a large part of the problem there.
CNN's Michael Ware has more for us live from Baghdad.
Michael, we were talking about this yesterday, you were saying you were seeing al Qaeda, al Qaeda up -- sort of up close and personal there, closer than you'd like it to be, and yet not enough troops on the ground.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Miles. I mean if you'll recall, you and I were talking about this from Al Anbar last week, and we've mentioned it many, many times in the past. I mean this is not a new situation, nor is it a new story.
This Marine military intelligence report service is merely relaying the facts as they have existed for almost two years now there has simply not been enough troops in Al Anbar Province to attack al Qaeda. I mean, honestly, the American military commanders, the planners here, the ones who are making these decisions have not committed to the fight against al Qaeda out there. They don't have the number of forces to even cover the ground.
The best that they say they can hope to do is disrupt al Qaeda. As the American Marine general who commands that western province last night said, my mission is to train Iraqis. That's what I had the troops for. If my mission changes, if I am told to win this fight against al Qaeda-led insurgents, then my metrics, his troop numbers, would have to change -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, so I guess this is a fundamental question as to what the goal and the mission is for those soldiers and marines on the ground there in Iraq. Is that the reason they are not getting more troops? Are they asking for more people?
WARE: Well, look, on the ground these boys are just being fed essentially into a meat grinder. They are being -- I have been on those streets with these kids as -- and I've watched them bleed. And it's just the progress is so intangible. I mean they have been sent out there to hold the line with the people who are sending them knowing that they are undermanned and unable to defeat the enemy while attention is focused elsewhere.
You can say this about the entire war in Iraq, you either do it or you don't is the feeling among many senior commanders. And right now militarily this war is being fought with one hand tied behind the Army's back. The reason for this is politics. One commander once said to me that he calls it the big lie. If you need to ask up high through the chain, to Pentagon, to D.C. for more troops or more resources, then by implicit admission you are saying that there is a problem on the ground, and that's not the message that D.C. wants to put out -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So there is pressure that is put on from the political power structure in Washington on the Pentagon all the way down the chain not to ask for more troops?
WARE: There's certainly that dynamic. Whether the pressure is direct or indirect, it's very much perceived and it's taken as read. No U.S. commander, no general will come on camera and tell you this, but off-line, you see it for yourself. And in their quiet moments, they will tell you about it. I mean this is where the politics wraps the military operation up in knots.
What does this do, Miles? This does two things. One, it allows al Qaeda to breathe and arguably become stronger. Secondly, it allows America's other great contestant, its other great component here in Iraq, to get ever stronger. And that is Iran.
Iran is battling with America for political influence. And in many ways with this government it has much closer ties to Tehran, this current Baghdad government, than it does to Washington. And we now see repeated allegations from military intelligence, President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld and Ambassador Khalilzad that Iran is also sending bombs and bullets -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad, thank you very much -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: In Afghanistan, NATO is saying that so far this year suicide bombs have killed 173 people. A particularly horrific attack took place on Monday when a suicide bomb exploded at a funeral and killed six people. The funeral was for a provincial governor who himself was assassinated by the Taliban.
Twelve Taliban died on Tuesday in a shootout south of Kabul. And along the Pakistani border there are some signs that the Taliban is getting some help from al Qaeda.
CNN's Anderson Cooper is there with the 10th Mountain Division.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Increasingly soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division who are operating here very close to the border with Pakistan out of this forward operating base are seeing a growing adoption of al Qaeda-style tactics by Taliban militants that they are facing. They are seeing an increasing use by militants of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, and suicide attacks, vehicle-borne IEDs. So far they are pretty ineffective.
Most of the casualties U.S. forces are taking in Afghanistan do not come from those Iraq-style tactics, they come from direct contact with the enemy. But the enemy does seem to be learning, adapting their tactics, on a month-by-month basis.
There is great concern among some U.S. military officials and U.S. intelligence sources about a cease-fire agreement that Pakistan has now signed with Taliban militants on the Pakistan side of the border. U.S. troops, who I have gone out on patrol with, though, continue to see militants and al Qaeda fighters crossing over from the Pakistan side of the border into eastern Afghanistan, not only to lay IEds, but to fire rockets on U.S. positions.
Every day U.S. forces are going out on patrol, going out with -- in conjunction with the Afghan National Army, as much as possible, trying to separate the fighters, the insurgents and the foreign terrorists from the Afghan population, trying to isolate them as much as possible. It is a very difficult terrain they are operating in, the patrols going out every day. And there's no telling what sort of an impact this cease-fire is going to have on future operations here on the ground in eastern Afghanistan.
Reporting from a forward operating base very close to the Pakistan border, I'm Anderson Cooper with CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: "ANDERSON COOPER 360" airs weeknights, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: No huge upsets or big surprises this morning after a key round of primary elections all across the country last night. In New York, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton soundly defeated her Democratic primary opponent, an anti-war activist. The former first lady heavily favored in November.
And in Rhode Island, a hard-fought battle inside the GOP, a moderate Republican incumbent Lincoln Chafee wakes up a winner this morning. CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Senate's most liberal Republican survived his first big test, he convincingly beat his conservative and feisty challenger here in this primary, Mayor Stephen Laffey. But now Senator Chafee faces his next test, and that is to keep this seat in Republican hands, even though just about 10 percent of voters here in Rhode Island are Republican.
The way Senator Chafee won this race is interesting and perhaps one of the most bizarre subplots of this election season. He got the help from the White House, and the National Republican Party, the same party that he so often bucks and votes against in the Senate back in Washington. The senator says he is going to continue to take their help, if they will offer it. And they certainly have already offered to help him keep this seat in Republican hands in November.
And the big question is why is the White House doing this? The answer is Senator Chafee's survival is very much linked to the Republican survival, them keeping the majority of the Senate in November and if that is in a year that does not bode well for Republicans.
Dana Bash, CNN, Providence, Rhode Island.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: And in Minnesota, the State Representative Keith Ellison takes a big step toward becoming the first Muslim in Congress. He beat three challengers for the Fifth District House seat. He is heavily favored in November. The Fifth District considered the most Democratic in all of Minnesota -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: In America today, John Mark Karr is expected in a California courtroom. He's facing child pornography possession charges. The one-time suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case arrived in San Francisco yesterday after he was released by authorities in Boulder, Colorado.
Testimony resumes again today in the farmer's market crash trial. The driver, George Russell Weller, arrived by wheelchair to hear opening statements yesterday. Remember these pictures? Remember this horrible accident? The 89-year-old driver facing 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter after he mowed down dozens of people in a Santa Monica farmer's market three years ago.
In Massachusetts, a 46-year-old man is accused of drunk driving for a fifth time. Police say he caused a three-vehicle crash, killing one of his passengers. It happened about 15 miles outside of Boston. Joseph Dixon (ph) is his name. His arraignment has been put on hold as he recovers from his own injuries this morning.
Big old battle royale during last night's Kansas City Royals game in Cleveland. Take a look at this. Ouch. M. O'BRIEN: Looks like a hockey game.
S. O'BRIEN: Or a boxing match. This is a Kansas City pitcher -- I have no idea how to pronounce his name -- Runelvys. Come on, help me out. Where's Shane (ph)?
M. O'BRIEN: Runelvys.
S. O'BRIEN: Hernandez. I can do that one.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: And catcher John Buck, punching each other. This happened at the end of the third inning. They both were back in the game, though. And the Royals ended up beating the Indians 5 to 3. They were like punching each other out.
M. O'BRIEN: Baseball, a contact sport.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, going to take a look at that major scandal at Hewlett-Packard that's pushing the CEO to start packing. It's a case of an investigation that went way overboard. We'll talk about that just ahead.
Plus, another stroll in space to tell you about, the shuttle astronauts are trying to finish what they started in order to give the space station a much-needed boost.
And check out this picture. Can you see that there? Yes, that would be the second floor and a car has jumped into a home.
M. O'BRIEN: Happens all the time.
S. O'BRIEN: We'll tell you what happened straight ahead this morning.
Plus, Carrie Lee has got our business headlines.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Soledad.
You were talking about Hewlett-Packard. Well, the top brass at that titan, as well as a drug giant, are ousted. We'll have those stories and an early market check coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
A roadside bombing killed at least 14 people in central Baghdad. The bomb exploded overnight near a police patrol station.
The second trial of Saddam Hussein in recess right now. Just a few hours ago, though, the prosecutor demanded that the presiding judge step down. He's accusing him of being biased in favor of Saddam Hussein. And new information on just who is behind yesterday's attempted attack on the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. Just a couple moments ago, CNN confirmed that all four attackers were Syrians.
Time for a check of the forecast, Chad has got that.
Good morning to you, -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.
We have Florence now moving up into Newfoundland. Also have Gordon here, now Hurricane Gordon. It's going to miss Bermuda. And another storm, Tropical Depression Number Eight, just coming off Africa right now. So getting busy and we would expect it because September 10 is the peak of hurricane season. So we're just a couple of days past the peak. We're not past -- so we're past halfway, but we still have a lot of warm water out here.
Here's Tropical Depression Number Eight, 90 mile per hour by Monday. Obviously that's a hurricane. But notice going the same path, making the big right-hand turn on up into the Atlantic. And wouldn't it be nice if we got 20 hurricanes this year and they all just stayed in the Atlantic. I know the surfers across the East Coast are saying bring it on, but maybe some of the property owners with the damage, just some of the big waves that we're having now across the East Coast may be saying no, no, no, not so fast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
Back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, -- Chad.
MYERS: Not quite.
M. O'BRIEN: Now for a little tool time in space, the second space walk of this space shuttle mission. Atlantis has docked with the International Space Station, as you know, bringing an important piece to the space station. And the astronauts are in the process of putting that piece together and making it functional.
Take a look at live pictures now. This is -- you want to know what Dan Burbank is up to? Well this is exactly what he's seeing right now. This is his helmet cam. Lower part of your screen you can see his rather supped-up cordless drill. Kind of -- it's not the Makita you can buy at Home Depot, necessarily, but basically the same idea.
He's going through a series of bolt and screw turns today to remove launch and protective covers on this giant 35,000-pound truss and solar array combination which they have attached to the station. How do they keep track of what they're doing? See that, that's their checklist right there on the left there. That's how they go through the cards. And they just flip those over so they know what they're doing. There is his space walking buddy Steve MacLean. You can see his feet right up there as they begin the process. They've been out for about an hour and 10 minutes. They were told as they walked out, by their comrade Joe Tanner who was out yesterday, to look for a loose bolt and washer, which, in the midst of his six-hour-and-26-minute spacewalk, he lost.
Listen to what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Houston, Alpha, it looks like we have lost some bolts and perhaps a spring and a washer. I'm Alpha One, it looks like we have.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Houston -- or Atlantis, Houston, we copy. And we would just like to get confirmation from Joe about what direction he saw that bolt depart, or the washer, or any other information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, that's the problem, the washer...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: OK. So that's bad form if you're a space walker. Joe Tanner is quite the veteran. He felt real bad about it. He was asking about where that bolt might be. It creates another little piece of space junk. We never saw it depart from his grasp.
But this is the bolt, just a still picture of it before it was launched. You can see it has a little washer on there right on the end which is supposed to keep it from coming out of that hole there in the equipment. But that washer apparently came free somehow in the process and so did the bolt. And so now we have one more piece of space junk out there, which you don't want to do.
We'll be watching the space walk and keep you updated all throughout the morning.
Still to come in the program, a scandal at Hewlett-Packard, an attempt to stop media leaks could lead to criminal charges at the computer printing giant.
Also, Apple hoping to do for movies what it did for music. Steve Jobs raises the curtain on a new venture.
Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Well, if you're looking for a job at the top of a company, this is a good time to look.
There're some openings, Carrie Lee, and you applying for anything of these?
LEE: You know qualifications pretty high on this, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
LEE: Well, we're talking about Hewlett-Packard. The Chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, is stepping down in January, this amidst a media leak investigation scandal. So really the management here reshuffling the board of directors. Dunn is stepping down. She'll be replaced by CEO Mark Hurd.
Meanwhile, one other director acknowledged he was a source of leaks. He resigned. A second director identified as a source had refused to resign. So a big shake-up at Hewlett-Packard, and this all involves companies hiring an outside private investigator to get information about some board members and some journalists. So that's the latest on HP.
Bristol-Myers Squibb also ousting its Chief Peter Dolan. Company's top lawyer leaving as well. Two basic things going on at Bristol, number one, the company delayed generic competition for Plavix, the top selling blood-thinning drug. Number two, an accounting scandal involving pushing inventory on wholesalers in order to boost Bristol's sales. Now "The Wall Street Journal" says that getting rid of Dolan could potentially lead to a takeover. Shares down over 50 percent since Dolan took over in 2001. So the stock has not been a great performer.
Let's take a look at stocks overall. Dow Jones industrials up over 100 points yesterday on a strong profit report from Goldman Sachs. Also oil prices have been coming down for seven days running now, although it is looking like a flat to slightly higher start for stocks this Wednesday morning. So that's the latest from here.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carrie.
LEE: OK, my pleasure.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
It's one of the worst kept secrets in Apple history, the company rolling out a TV and movie offering for its fabulously successful iTunes service. They're hoping to do for movies what they did for online music.
Here's CNN's Maggie Lake.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the premiere the tech world had been waiting for, Steve Jobs took the stage in San Francisco to announce Apple is going into movies in a big way.
STEVE JOBS, APPLE CEO: Today we are making available over 75 films online starting today. We're going to be adding more every week and every month.
LAKE: The announcement of Apple's new iTunes Movie Store was widely anticipated. How successful it will be, though, remains a mystery. After all, Apple is hardly alone, just last week Amazon announced its new movie service called Unbox, but critics panned it. CNN's sister network AOL and Sprint also offer download movie services. But Apple is hoping to do for movies what it did for music, take an existing technology and make it faster and easier to use.
Consumers need some convincing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must be less than the DVD price, for example.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to be able to download in a reasonable time. If it's going to take you hours to download, then you're not going to be interested.
LAKE: Apple hopes its new movie service will address those concerns. The company plans to sell films for between $10 and $15 U.S. dollars. Downloading time is estimated to be about 30 minutes for an average-length Hollywood movie. And customers will be able to access films from studios like Disney, Pixar and Miramax.
Analysts note that Apple may have one other trick up its sleeve.
BRYAN GLICK, COMPUTING MAGAZINE: They also want to try and encourage people to watch these movies through their TVs, as well. So this is why they're talking about bringing out a special new piece of electronics that you can plug in the back of your TV to watch films while they're coming down, being delivered down to you over the Internet.
LAKE (on camera): With the latest announcement, Apple is hoping it has yet another runaway hit on its hands.
Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: We'll take a look at the morning's top stories straight ahead, including the results of one primary challenge that could set the tone for November
And a grim assessment on the war in Iraq from a top intelligence officer, what are his superiors saying about the secret report now?
And a car takes flight, ends up on the second floor. We'll tell you what happened.
Those stories, much more, straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
The second trial of Saddam Hussein should resume any moment now. But just a few hours ago, the prosecutor asked the judge to quit the trial. He claims the judge is biased toward Hussein. Afghan police say they've killed 16 Taliban fighters in a gun battle near Kandahar. The fight began yesterday and continues today.
And the second space walk of the Atlantis mission is under way as we speak, astronauts removing a series of locks and restraints on a giant new truss and solar array for the International Space Station.
Good morning to you, I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
Debate inside the military today as a top U.S. commander in Iraq says the military has not lost the battle for Iraq's dangerous Al Anbar Province. He agrees, though, it's going to take significant political progress to defeat the insurgents.
Let's get right to CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre for more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraq's sprawling Anbar province west of Baghdad is insurgent territory and headquarters for al Qaeda in Iraq. Anbar is also lost politically, according to a classified analysis by a Marine colonel summarized in the "The Washington Post" by Tom Ricks, author of "Fiasco", the current best-seller that's sharply critical of the conduct of the war.
TOM RICKS, AUTHOR, "FIASCO": The military basically could win any technical engagement it had, but there was very little security progress coming from that. And that the political and social systems were deteriorating and that al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group, was filling the vacuum.
MCINTYRE: The publication of the dire assessment drew a quick response from the superior officer of the colonel who wrote it. In a video statement, the two-star general endorses the report's still secret conclusions but disputes the defeatist characterization.
MAJ. GEN. RICHARD ZILMER, COMMANDING GENERAL, MULTINATIONAL FORCE: Recent media reports fail to accurately capture the entirety and the complexity of the current situation in Al Anbar province in Iraq.
MCINTYRE: In a later conference call with reporters, General Zilmer went farther, insisting the war in Anbar was not lost.
ZILMER: I have never heard any description about the war being lost before last weekend. We are winning this war. We are certainly accomplishing our mission.
MCINTYRE: Zilmer conceded the recruitment and training of Iraqi security forces, his primary mission in Anbar, is behind schedule. But he insisted additional U.S. reinforcements wouldn't make any difference in the long run, because progress depends on social and political change, not military might.
At the White House, spokesman Tony Snow said U.S. commanders know they're free to ask for what they need.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: If the president gets a recommendation from the combatant commanders to send more troops to Al Anbar province, they will get them.
MCINTYRE (on camera): But reporters who embed with U.S. troops in Iraq continually hear complaints from lower level officers that they need more troops to complete their job. The question is why senior commanders don't seem to agree.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Iraqi police were again the target of deadly attacks in Baghdad this morning. Two separate bombings, including one suicide attack, left more than 20 dead. Dozens more injured.
CNN's Cal Perry has more for us. He's live in Baghdad this morning.
Hey, Cal. Good morning.
CAL PERRY, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hey, good morning to you, Soledad.
As you said, police the target today in Iraq. We have two major bombings to report this morning.
The first at about 8:30 a.m. this morning. An IED -- that is, an improvised explosive device -- killing at least 14, wounding some 67 others.
Shortly before noon a second attack, this time a car bomb. Eight dead there, 14 others wounded.
And a third attack, two mortar rounds impacting the Al Muthanna Airfield here in Baghdad. Four people wounded there.
It is important to mention that this airfield houses an Iraqi army recruitment center that was attacked on Monday. Thirteen army recruits were killed in that very same spot on Monday.
So, Soledad, those that are charged with protecting the streets of Baghdad once again falling under insurgent attacks.
S. O'BRIEN: Cal, let me ask you a question about the death toll numbers in Baghdad. The numbers down for August, but they're not exactly real numbers, right?
PERRY: Well, they're a bit deceiving, as you said. Last month, Iraqis classify sectarian deaths at around 1,500. These are the numbers the U.S. military is classifying as murders. The one thing that these numbers don't include are those that are killed in insurgent attacks just like the ones we're talking about this morning.
We do know from Iraqi sources that at least 3,000 people in total died last month, so about half those were from sectarian attacks, the other half from insurgent attacks. And the U.S. military is pointing to a slight drop in sectarian deaths. Those that they call murders, from July into August -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Cal Perry for us this morning.
Cal, thanks.
He's in Baghdad -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Politics now. The most liberal Republican in the Senate dodges a bullet in Rhode Island. Senator Lincoln Chafee victorious over a conservative Republican in the primary election there yesterday. A lot of politicos felt Chafee's opponent would not be electable in the general election, and so they believe Chafee's win bolsters the GOP's prospects for retaining control of the Senate in November.
In New York, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton soundly defeated her Democratic primary opponent, an antiwar activist. The former first lady heavily favored to win in November.
And in Minnesota, state representative Keith Ellison takes a big step toward becoming the first Muslim in Congress. He beat three challengers for the 5th District House seat and is heavily favored in November. The 5th District considered the most Democratic of all in Minnesota -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Also happening "In America" this morning, in Virginia, the FBI questioning an unruly passenger who apparently tried to open an airplane exit door in the middle of the flight last night. The flight was going from L.A. to D.C. According to United Airlines, the man, who was wearing military fatigues, started throwing punches. Passengers tackled him before he could actually open the plane's door.
In San Diego, a husband and wife have entered a not guilty plea. They're accused of beating FOX 6 News reporter John Maddis (ph), who was investigating a suspected real estate scam.
Remember we showed you these pictures? That would be the husband of the team. Maddis (ph) suffered cracked ribs and bite wounds and cuts to his face in the wake of that, while his photographer kept rolling.
In California -- that would be the wife.
In California, minimum wage there now one of the nation's highest. Governor Schwarzenegger signed a bill that raises California's minimum wage to $8 an hour, up from $6.75. California now joins Massachusetts with the country's highest minimum wage.
Some Michigan lawmakers want all girls vaccinated against cervical cancer by the time they enter the sixth grade. It's the first legislation of its kind in the U.S. The vaccine stops infections from a sexually transmitted virus that can cause cervical cancer. At least certainly a lot of those infections.
Now, some parents are concerned that some girls could see it as a license to become sexually active. Others obviously disagree.
In New York, a tragedy to tell you about at high speed. Look at this.
A car hit a dirt hill and then flew about 200 feet into the second story of an apartment building. The driver was killed. No injuries, fortunately, to anybody inside that building. Police say they're not exactly sure what happened. They don't believe the driver had been drinking, though.
At 36 minutes past the hour, let's check the forecast. Chad's got that for us.
Good morning, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Did you say snow?
MYERS: I'm sorry, I did.
M. O'BRIEN: Wow. What is it?
MYERS: Snow with a hurricane. You know, it's -- you know...
S. O'BRIEN: But then he said 86-68.
MYERS: Well, it's different when you look at it from this side, compared to when you look at it from this side. The numbers are kind of different.
(LAUGHTER)
M. O'BRIEN: Wow, Chad.
MYERS: I'm not using to having the TV (ph) back there.
S. O'BRIEN: That's the funniest thing I've heard.
M. O'BRIEN: Did you quit caffeine, too?
All right.
Still to come on the program, the chairman of Hewlett-Packard now looking for another job. It's unlikely she'll become a private investigator. We'll have details on the boardroom uproar ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: More fallout this morning from Hewlett-Packard's spy scandal. The company's chairman is stepping down. She will remain on the board for now. California's attorney general says he has enough evidence to indict Hewlett-Packard's staff and outsiders.
Ali Velshi going to tell us how this whole mess unfolded to HP.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. Good to see you.
This is about a leak on the board, and pretty much everybody believes that a board of directors has a right to keep its deliberations secret. The issue here is that the chairman, Patricia Dunn, went too far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI (voice over): Under every HP logo you'll see the word "invent." HP's latest invention? A scandal.
Back in January, this news report surfaced on the Internet, loaded with confidential information leaked by someone on HP's board. The company's chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, authorized HP's lawyers to hire a security firm to spy on its own directors. That security firm hired a private investigator who decided the best way to nab the source of the leak was to pretext, to impersonate the board members, in order to obtain their personal phone records.
Inventive, some might say. New York private investigator Diana Moneta says pretexting is dirty business.
DIANA MONETA, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: A client will say, "Well, you got that information. By the way, how did you get it?"
We always are able to attribute how we get our information. And one thing we don't want to do is say we got it through acting like so and so.
VELSHI: HP's private investigators did find their leaker. It was HP's longest-serving board member. But they didn't stop there. They impersonated nine journalists who cover HP, including reporters from "The New York Times" and "The Wall Street Journal" to obtain their telephone records, too.
In a written statement, HP's chair, Patricia Dunn, acknowledges it was wrong. "Unfortunately, the investigation, which was conducted with third parties, included certain inappropriate techniques. These went beyond what we understood them to be, and I apologize that they were employed."
HP's lawyers say that pretexting is a common investigative technique. New York lawyer and private investigator Stanley Arkin says it's largely been the domain of debt collectors or suspicious partners, and divorce lawyers. STANLEY ARKIN, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: In matrimonial cases, it became very popular, for example, to find out who your spouse, or your -- whoever it might be was calling.
VELSHI: Because there's no legal way to get someone's phone records without their knowledge or permission, unless you have a subpoena, pretexting is an option that many turn to. One bright spot about pretexting, this time the cell phone companies are on your side. In the past year, all of the major cell phone companies have gone to court against pretexters.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELSHI: And back at HP, the company found its leaker. But Patricia Dunn has lost her job. She's going to step down as chair in January. And perhaps next time HP will choose not to be so inventive.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. The board member who did the leaking...
VELSHI: Yes?
M. O'BRIEN: ... did they ever just go to him and ask him?
VELSHI: He said on the record the day they disclosed it in a board meeting, if you guys had just told me you were looking, I would have -- I would have told you that I had done this. He was apparently someone they had used in the past to leak information to the media.
M. O'BRIEN: So he was a conduit...
VELSHI: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: ... and thought he was doing what the board would have wanted him to do?
VELSHI: He may have or may not have. And the board had a right to find out and control information flow. But they turned to illegal means to do so, and it has hurt their reputation. And HP had a good reputation.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, actually, really untarnished.
VELSHI: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: And it really stands apart at Silicon Valley for its culture, or has...
VELSHI: Absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: All that's gone.
VELSHI: It had a few rough years, but it was -- it's a good company. These board members who have quit, 25 years and 50 years on the board. This was serious stuff. HP has done itself a lot of damage here.
M. O'BRIEN: I should say.
Ali Velshi, thanks for coming in -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, the popular computer site for young people, facebook.com, is opening up its membership. Is that going to upset some members?
We'll take a look ahead on AMERICAN MORNING..
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Michael Ware in Baghdad.
This morning, the gaping black hole in the president's global war on terror. In Iraq's western Anbar province, an al Qaeda headquarters is located. But as American commanders can see, they do not have the troops to do anything about it.
Meanwhile, the bombs and the deaths continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Robin Oakley, reporting from Downing Street, where today Prime Minister Tony Blair has been meeting his Chinese opposite member, Wen Jiabao. Exchanges have included a memorandum of understanding on climate change and trade discussions. Also, the form of any action to be taken at the U.N. Security Council over Iran's nuclear program.
But any Chinese requests for a resumption of arm sales from Britain are unlikely to be heeded. EU countries are agreed there will be no significant stepup in arms sales until China's human rights record improves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jaime FlorCruz in Beijing, where ew rules now ban foreign news operations from directly distributing information in China. These restrictions come from the government-run Xinhua news agency, which directly competes with wire agencies like AP, Reuters, Dow Jones and Bloomberg.
With these rules, Xinhua hopes to box out its foreign competitors from the $100 million financial news market in China. Xinhua also hopes to censor news that it deemed may be bad for China's national security and social stability. Critics say those are code words for press soreship. (END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, for more information on these or any of our top stories, go right to our Web site, CNN.com.
M. O'BRIEN: And some of the most popular stories there right now.
Anna Nicole Smith's son apparently had antidepressants and other drugs in his system when he died the other day in the Bahamas. A reporter for "The Nassau Guardian" talked about the case on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night.
Joseph Francis, the man behind those risque "Girls Gone Wild" videos, facing a big fine, along with his two companies. They've agreed to pay $2.1 million in fines. The company accused of failing to prove those girls were of age.
We know why you're checking out that story.
And in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a 30-year-old mom pleads guilty to several misdemeanor marijuana charges. She admitted smoking pot with her 13-year-old son. Why? To reward him for doing his homework.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh god.
M. O'BRIEN: Different parenting techniques. I'm not going to get in the middle of that one.
Andy Serwer, what do you got next?
ANDY SERWER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE, "FORTUNE": Miles, can the Web site FaceBook grow bigger and stay cool at the same time?
Plus, Stanford University Hospital gives drug salesmen the boot -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy.
Also ahead on the program, building a better brain. I sure need one. One doctor really tried to farm geniuses. We'll take a look at how well he did with that effort.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
Here's a look at some of the stories we're working on for you this morning.
Damning report on the situation in Al Anbar province. The report comes from the head of Marine intelligence. Just how bad are things there? We'll take a look this morning.
Primary election day in nine states. We'll take a look at some of the key races.
Religion in America. A new study takes a look at how religion is affecting all of us here.
And Michigan. A first of its kind legislation has been proposed aimed at protecting girls from a form of cancer.
In California, north of L.A., wildfires are taking a big toll. We'll bring you the latest on what's happening there, as well -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, the second time in a week, FaceBook is risking alienating its college audience.
Andy Serwer is here.
This is a problem for companies that start out, you know, organically and suddenly get big and they get corporate, and then they lose that appeal. They've got to be careful, right?
SERWER: Yes, how do you become -- how do you be ubiquitous and also stay cool? It's a problem a lot of companies face.
You know, FaceBook is a social networking site, not unlike MySpace, only it's for college students, and also high school students and some others. You had to have a valid .edu Internet address.
Now FaceBook is looking to get bigger. It's only two years old. It has nine million users. But, you know, it's business, so it's looking to get bigger.
A lot of people wondering when it branches out, when everyone can join FaceBook, well, it loses its exclusivity. Just last week, also angered some of its users by making it easier for people to track who was friends with whom. And so the site got in a little hot water there.
Another story we want to tell you about this morning involves Stanford University Hospital. Do you know that the drug companies give $19 billion in gifts in marketing costs to doctors? Golf outings, dinners, NFL tickets.
Then there are the pens. We've all seen the pens. They're all over. Talk about ubiquity.
S. O'BRIEN: The samples.
SERWER: The samples, the coffee mugs, the frisbees, the stick 'ems.
Stanford University is saying, absolutely no more of that stuff to our doctors, at all. Zero. No drug samples, even.
The drug salesmen are not allowed in customer areas -- or patient areas, I should say. Also, they must make appointments. They can't drop in anymore. What's a poor drug salesman to do?
Also, no more ghostwritten articles for doctors in medical journals by drug companies. You know, that was another dirty little business that they had going on.
So, Stanford's following suit of some other university hospitals, and it really is a wonderful thing, because, you know, this is a major potential conflict of interest. And so they're getting rid of it.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, I wonder if everybody else is going to follow suit. I mean, it's not just obviously Stanford. It's every medical facility.
SERWER: Yes. I think they're going to have to, because, you know, it's the right thing. Let's hope.
(LAUGHTER)
S. O'BRIEN: As you said that I thought, they're going to have to because it's the right thing?
M. O'BRIEN: A little disconnect in your logic there. But we'll go with it for this morning.
What do you have next?
SERWER: Hope springing eternal.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
SERWER: We're going to talk more about the HP scandal at Hewlett-Packard, of course, and what exactly was going on with the director who said he was leaking information but then didn't tell the rest of his board members. It sort of doesn't add up. We'll get to that.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Andy.
S. O'BRIEN: Before we get to that, though, a little celebrity gossip for you.
SERWER: Good stuff.
S. O'BRIEN: That's what I have this morning. We're going to get from a court date, and to a due date.
First of all, Paris Hilton's DUI, remember this videotape...
SERWER: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: ... we showed you from the Web site TMZ.com? LAPD submitted the case. Now they say the city's attorney's office needs to decide if they're going to file charges against Ms. Paris Hilton. And that decision is expected by the end of the month. Plus, rumor has it that Britney Spears gave birth to a second baby early on Tuesday. The big shocker, I guess, is that it's not a baby girl, as some of the tabloids have been reporting on their covers, as you might have noticed. I did.
It's a boy, they say. And the baby boy born just two days...
M. O'BRIEN: Well, they had a 50-50 shot, didn't they?
S. O'BRIEN: You know -- I guess. You know, you took a stab at it and that's what happens.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Anyway, two days -- if it's true that, in fact, she had this baby, two days before her other baby, her other son -- what's his name? Sean -- Sean Preston?
M. O'BRIEN: Shiloh...
SERWER: Don't know.
M. O'BRIEN: Little Sean Preston turns 1 tomorrow.
M. O'BRIEN: Suri -- Suri -- I don't know. Suri, Shiloh.
S. O'BRIEN: No, Sean Preston turns 1 tomorrow. So now she's got two boys. That's nice.
Good for her.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm glad for her.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's take a check of the forecast. Chad's got that.
Hey, Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
M. O'BRIEN: The battle for Al Anbar. The Iraqi province is lost if the Pentagon doesn't send in more troops. Well, those who are there say yes, but the Pentagon leaders beg to differ.
S. O'BRIEN: Mandatory vaccinations are being proposed. The first controversial (ph) measure aimed at young girls.
M. O'BRIEN: Do you believe in god? Well, most of us do. But what kind of god?
S. O'BRIEN: And manufacturing genius. Is it possible to engineer a better brain? One doctor gave it a try. We'll take a look at the second part of Sanjay's series on genius just ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: And out West, a wildfire jumps a fire line near Los Angeles. A major interstate could be in the path.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
Thanks for being with us.
Nine states held primary elections yesterday, and the Republicans pick up a key victory in the Rhode Island Senate race. Senate Lincoln Chafee's win over a more conservative candidate is apparently good news, according to Republican politicos.
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