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American Morning
U.S. Military Makes Controversial Call Not To Attack Taliban Cemetery in Midst of Insurgent Funeral; Global Opinion Poll Reveals Attitudes About America Blame the U.S. for World's Strife
Aired September 14, 2006 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lavandera joining us live now from Dallas with more.
Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, no doubt that across this state today, people will be remembering a politician who's personality seemed as large as the state. A true Texas legend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA, (voice over): Someone once said Ann Richards wasn't born funny, but she got funny pretty quick.
ANN RICHARDS: After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.
LAVANDERA: There wasn't much to laugh about as a young girl during the depression. Growing up in Lakeview, a small town near Waco, she was Dorothy Ann Willis then. Her father once told her she could be anything she wanted to be. So at Baylor University, Richards joined the debate team. A career in politics was born.
She married Dave Richards and had four children. They immersed themselves in Texas Democratic politics. Even spent their honeymoon campaigning for a congressman. Richards' first elected office was as a county commissioner in Austin, but years of hard drinking were taking its toll. Richards marriage ended in divorce. In 1980, she quit drinking and smoking. Richards never shied away from talking about her alcohol abuse.
RICHARDS: I had such high expectations of myself. I was going to be the best mother, the best housewife, the best entertainer, the best nurse. You know, whatever it was, I was going to be the best. And I never could live up to my own expectations.
LAVANDERA: But Richards' political career continued to flourish. She became Texas state treasure, which catapulted her to the state's biggest stage.
RICHARDS: I Ann Willis Richards do solemnly swear.
LAVANDERA: In 1990, Ann Richards was elected Texas governor. The first woman to hold the office in more than 50 years. In a conservative, now Republican state, she's always remained popular. A testament to the power of personality. Ann Richards loved to put on a show, but nothing inspired her sharpest verbal darts quite like the Bush family. First at the expense of President George Bush at the 1988 Democratic Convention.
RICHARDS: Poor George. He can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.
LAVANDERA: Then, six years later, in a heated campaign for governor against George W. Bush, after he accidentally shot a protected bird on a hunting trip.
RICHARDS: You can't get dressed up in a hunting jacket, borrow somebody's shotgun, hire yourself a guide, and go out in somebody's pasture and fake it.
LAVANDERA: Richards lost that election to the future president and never returned to public office.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: Miles, I remember fondly that 1994 campaign. It was the first campaign I ever had the opportunity to cover and it was quite an introduction into politics. One moment in particular that I remember was back in Texarkana where she was kicking off that gubernatorial campaign back in 1994. In her words, she said she had given a fantastic speech kicking off that campaign. However, in the course of that speech, she had alluded to George W. Bush as some jerk who thought that because his daddy was president that he could be governor of this state. She was furious at the press corps for having covering that angle of the speech. But given the way she was, a few months after that campaign, she had the press corps all over at the governor' mansion for a Christmas party.
M. O'BRIEN: So, yes, what you're alluding to there is, what we saw on TV is what you got in person, in a sense?
LAVANDERA: Oh, absolutely. You know, you just never -- and this was, you know, 12 years ago. But you just never really knew what you were going to get when she was giving a speech. You just knew you were going to be listening intently to what she said. And it was someone who I thought kind of had that old political kind of, you know, we might duke it out throughout the day, but at the end of the day, you know, kick back and have a little bit of fun as well.
M. O'BRIEN: Not part of the spin machine at all.
All right, Ed Lavandera in Dallas, thank you very much.
LAVANDERA: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: There is still no word on a motive in that shocking shooting rampage that took place at Dawson College in Montreal yesterday. One student was killed, 19 others people had been wounded, several of them critically. CNN senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, is live at the hospital this morning.
Hey, Allan, good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
And we do now have a name of the apparent gunman. Kimveer Gill is the name that Canadian media sources are citing this morning. We don't know much about this man. He was described at the scene as being dressed totally in black with a Mohawk haircut. And the gunman just, apparently out of nowhere, during lunchtime, began shooting. And students were running for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF, (voice over): A scene of panic and terror after a gunman opens fire at Dawson College in the center of Montreal. Students pour out in a frenzied stamped to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some guy came in the cafeteria out of nowhere and started shooting. Shot like three or four shots. Everybody got down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw one man go down. He was shot either in the head or the neck because he was a lot, a lot of blood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he shot the people right next to us. So we were all running. We were hiding in the bushes. And there was debris flying from the bullet shots right next to us.
CHERNOFF: Emergency personnel wheeled stretchers to ambulances. Police sealed off the campus. In the confusion, it was thought there was more than one shooter, but police say they killed the lone gunman, described as wearing a black trench coat and having a Mohawk haircut.
CHIEF YVAN DELORME, MONTREAL POLICE: The first policeman took charge of the situation and shot in the dark (ph) kind of the suspect and he died. The suspect died.
CHERNOFF: The college is closed for now after a horror reminiscent of scenes played out in American high schools.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the Canadian version of Columbine.
CHERNOFF: A dozen students and a teacher died in that Colorado tragedy after two students went on a shooting rampage and then committed suicide. Yesterday was not the first time Montreal has seen such terror. Nearly 17 years ago, 14 female students were killed at another school and 13 others were wounded before the gunman killed himself.
RICHARD FILION, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DAWSON COLLEGE: We are never expecting such a situation. Dawson is a very tight community and it's very sad for Dawson. It has been a very long day for all of us. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Eleven of the most seriously wounded were brought here to Montreal General Hospital. Six were operated on last night and they remain in intensive care. And we are expecting a news conference within the half hour to give the latest details on their status.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. We'll wait for that. Allan Chernoff for us.
Allan, thanks.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush taking a rare trip to Capitol Hill today to try and push for his anti-terror proposals. He'll be huddling with House Republicans in a basement conference room with the hope they can get something passed in time for the fall elections. CNN's White House correspondent, Kathleen Koch, joining us live now from the White House with more.
Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the hour long visit is expected to be part pep talk, part strategy session. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow says that House Speaker Dennis Hastert invited President Bush to come to The Hill. And Snow says that among the issues that are certainly expected to be discussed this morning, first of all, President Bush's bid to legalize, get legal status for his administration's warrantless wiretapping program. That program legislation. It has been passed by a Senate committee but right now it's stalled in the House.
And certainly the other issue very important that the president wants to deal with this morning is the legislation to set up military commissions to begin to try the hundreds of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now many in Congress, including plenty in his own party, have concerns about the administration's plan, which would not allow the defendants to see the evidence used against them. And it would also allow the admission of testimony in the trial based - that was obtained through coercion. A word critics say is (INAUDIBLE) to torture.
Ironically, as the president is meeting with the House this morning, the Senate Armed Services Committee will be putting the finishing touches on its own version of that bill. An alternative plan which does eliminate those controversial measures. So, Miles, a lot of give and take expected this morning, especially a lot of House Republicans expected to take the president on about the ongoing violence in Iraq.
Back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House, thank you very much.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: "Happening this Morning."
A string of car bombings to tell you about in Baghdad. It happened again today. Reuters reported that nine people were killed outside of an orphanage in one of the blasts. Another blast targeted police, ripped right through east central Baghdad. Killed four people there.
Meanwhile, Saddam Hussein's genocide trial goes on in Baghdad. The chief judge in that trial says today that he doesn't believe that Hussein was a dictator. The judge made the remark during a friendly chat with Saddam Hussein that took place during the court proceedings.
In Spain, an airport roof under construction on the Spanish island of Manorka (ph) collapsed today. The press reports say that three people have been hurt. Twenty workers are apparently are still trapped under the rubble.
New pictures this morning of the Cuban president, Fidel Castro, recovering from intestinal surgery. The photos are raising some expectations that he's going to appear at a summit of world leaders that's taking place in Havana. Many of America's biggest critics are there this morning. The U.S. invited to attend but declined.
Actor George Clooney expected to address the U.N. Security Council about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur today. Anderson Cooper's going to have a special, live interview with Clooney tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
And finally, it's back to school today for kids in Detroit. The teacher's union voting to end a 16 day strike. They've agreed to a new contract that includes a one-year pay freeze followed by raises over the next two years.
Another big wildfire to tell you about in southern Montana. It doubled in size and that's forcing more evacuations this morning. Three hundred and twenty-five homes in a celebrity studded section of Montana have been evacuated.
And better weather is finely helping fire crews battle a big fire north of L.A. this morning. It's called the Day Fire. The cooler temperatures and the higher humidity certainly are a welcome change for those firefighters.
Let's get right to Chad with a look at the forecast.
Good morning, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, ready, aim, don't fire. The U.S. has the Taliban in their sights but takes a pass. Why? And why is the military mad we have this picture you see there. Also, a move from the Tonya Harding playbook. A backup college punter accused of stepping way over the line to get in the game.
And later, your child above average in every way? Of course he or she is. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will show you though a school for some really special kids ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: "Happening In America" this morning.
A university of northern Colorado's football player is out on $30,000 bond this morning. He's accused of stabbing a teammate. The second-string kicker is accused of stabbing the starting kicker in his kicking leg.
In Pennsylvania, we're following a trial involving a little league baseball coach. He's accused of paying one of his eight-year- old players $25 to hurt an autistic teammates so the little boy couldn't play. Closing arguments are expected today. The coach and the father got in a shouting match during court yesterday. Each one calling the other one a big liar.
Duke University's lacrosse team back on the field again for fall practice. They're going to be under a microscope no doubt this season. They're hoping a new guy in charge is going to help people, including the players themselves, move forward. CNN's Jason Carroll has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DANOWSKI, DUKE LACROSSE COACH: Get to five and five. You've got to get to five and five.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Duke University men's lacrosse team is back on the field for the new school year and already it's clear the type of game being played . . .
JOHN DANOWSKI: Be poised, relaxed.
CARROLL: May be more psychological than physical.
JOHN DANOWSKI: It's just being cool under fire.
CARROLL: That message is drilled into the players' heads. Their new coach, John Danowski, says his message will help them achieve their real goal, repairing the team's tarnished reputation.
JOHN DANOWSKI: The guys are going to put so much pressure on themselves to be successful that they're going to live and die on every pass and every shot and every -- and because they just want to prove to the world, you know, that everybody was wrong about them.
CARROLL: Just a few months ago, the future of Duke men's lacrosse was very much in question. The coach resigned. The team suspended from play. Their season canceled last April following the arrests of three players, Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans, all charged with raping an exotic dancer hired to perform at a team party. All three maintain their innocence.
Danowski, a lacrosse coach at Hofstra University in New York at the time, watched with a critical eye and a personal interest. His son, Matt, was a junior on last year's team.
JOHN DANOWSKI: That's a great job!
It was really hard. I mean it was painful on many different levels. Not only because, you know, that my son was involved in the situation, but his friends were. You know, there were so many people who were generally, you know, hurt by this whole experience that you couldn't help but not be hurt along with them.
CARROLL: Duke reinstated the team. Danowski's son returned as co-captain.
JOHN DANOWSKI: We'll get them.
MATT DANOWSKI, DUKE LACROSSE PLAYER: A couple months ago, the emotions were flying off the hinges. You know, it was a whirlwind of emotions from, you know, all different angles. But, you know, right now, we're on the field. I think you've got to leave all your emotions aside.
JOHN DANOWSKI: Are you bummed out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, a little bit.
JOHN DANOWSKI: Don't be bummed out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
JOHN DANOWSKI: Don't put pressure on yourself.
CARROLL: For those who make mistakes off the field, Danowski says he's serious about enforcing the rules.
JOHN DANOWSKI: You get yourself in a situation that you embarrass the program, you do something that is not acceptable, then you're going to have to pay a consequence.
CARROLL: The team wouldn't comment on details surrounding the pending case, except to say they miss their teammates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every guy in that locker room wishes with all their heart that they could be here, especially Collin and Reade. Those are the guys who still are very much part of this team. Dave had a fantastic career here and has moved on.
CARROLL: So with a new season and a new coach, the Duke lacrosse team is trying to rebuild and rebrand itself. Knowing no matter how hard they play, their reputation may ultimately be determined by the winner in the courtroom.
Jason Carroll, CNN, Durham, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, new technology that could save thousands of dollars every year and it could soon be required for every new car and truck on the road. We'll tell you what it is as we "Mind Your Business" just ahead.
And, no, this is not a scene from that show, MTV "Jackass." It's not a scene from "America's Funniest Home Videos" either. Police are not laughing about what the couple is trying to do in this picture. We'll tell you in a little bit. Stay with us. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Ford boardroom today. Ellen McGirt with "Fortune" magazine in for Andy Serwer today.
What are they going to be talking about?
ELLEN MCGIRT, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Oh, there's a lot of stuff coming up. Some of it's not such great news. As you know, they have already announced some job cuts in July of 30,000 as part of their way forward program. It looks like more are on the table today. But this latest rounds of cuts is supposed to focus on white collar worker. No doubt UAW is breathing a sigh of relief there. But they could reduce white collar staffing, benefits and costs up to 30 percent. So that's pretty significant.
That's not the only thing. And it's going to be some bad news for some folks here in New York. They're considering the future of the Lincoln Mercury brand. That famous Towncar that we're always seeing around the streets. That car has long been the means of transportation for many folks on Wall Street. In fact, 80 percent of New York City's 35,000 cars for hire are Lincoln Towncars.
M. O'BRIEN: So they might dump the Lincoln altogether?
MCGIRT: They might.
M. O'BRIEN: Or would they just re-brand it somehow?
MCGIRT: They might. You know, they dumped the Taurus back in the day, which was one of their most popular cars.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
MCGIRT: Who knows what's going to happen today but it's on the docket, along with their (INAUDIBLE) credit arm and Aston Martin is also. And they're going to be talking about some of their other luxury brands as well.
M. O'BRIEN: Might sell Jaguar or something?
MCGIRT: They might. Everything is for sale in troubled times. S. O'BRIEN: But cutting close to the bone on this one, huh?
MCGIRT: No, I know. I know. Well, things have been tough for all the U.S. automakers. So everything is up for grabs.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, if you happen to be Toyota, though, you're not doing so bad are you?
MCGIRT: You're not. You're actually not doing so bad. And, you know, as Toyota goes, so goes the nation. That could be the new rallying cry. They're going to be making smaller cars going forward. But they're growing plants in Indiana, which is hard up for jobs too. They're not going to be making some of the small trucks so much, but they'll be expanding some of their Camry line. So we can see some good news coming from there probably.
M. O'BRIEN: So they're positioning themselves, once again, to be the high gas price leader.
MCGIRT: They are. They are very responsive to oil prices and they're responsive to consumer needs as well.
M. O'BRIEN: Responsive is good, isn't it?
MCGIRT: Yes. Right. Anti-rollover technology coming on the way, too. So that should be interesting.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, tell us about this. I need this, right?
MCGIRT: Electronic stability control. It senses when a driver's automatically going to go out of control and it applies the brakes. Be nice if my mouth had that, too, sometimes, I think.
But Ford's announced that it's going to be making that standard on all cars coming out of Ford in 2009. And the federal government today, it looks like, is going to be saying that they're going to expect it to be standard for all cars from 2010. It could save up to 10,000 lives a year. That a quarter of all fatalities on the road one study says. So it's significant technology as long as it works.
M. O'BRIEN: I should say. It's up there, they say, it's like seat belts as far as innovations. A big one.
MCGIRT: Absolutely. It's a huge one. So we'll see.
M. O'BRIEN: What's next?
MCGIRT: What's next? Monopoly.
M. O'BRIEN: Monopoly?
MCGIRT: The new Monopoly game. But here's the trick. More zeros than you can possibly imagine.
M. O'BRIEN: Ah, I guess it's time they added a few zeros, isn't it? All right. Thank you, Ellen.
MCGIRT: It's going to be fun.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
It's an understatement to say the U.S. has a bad image in some countries. But why is the hatred growing? Coming up, why more and more of the world sees Washington as the enemy.
And later, the Vatican goes shopping for a Picasso. A look at why the catholic church is in the market for a painting by an atheist. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: "Happening This Morning."
Two car bombs in Baghdad today have left five people dead, 33 others injured. In another incident, an Iraqi police colonel was killed while he was leaving his home today.
In Texas, quick-witted former Governor Ann Richards has died. Richards broke onto the national scene at the 1988 Democratic National Convention when she gave the keynote address. She died of cancer. She was 73 years old.
A wildfire southeast of Livingston, Montana, has doubled in size now. Authorities are urging residents in about 325 homes to evacuate. The fire burned about 9,300 acres by Tuesday night. It's now 19,000 acres.
Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
Poland announced today that it will send as many as 1,000 more troops to Afghanistan. But those reinforcements won't be getting there until next year. NATO asking member countries to commit as many as 2,500 extra troops to Afghanistan. But this Polish deployment was actually agreed upon before that plea was made.
So just when do you pull the trigger. The U.S. military plane, one of them, took this photo of nearly 200 Taliban back in July in Afghanistan. (INAUDIBLE) in the cross-hairs but the U.S. decided not to attack. Why? CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr with more.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
Well, that's a pretty interesting picture everyone's looking at there. That picture, first obtained by NBC News, was taken in July, the military says, from a U.S. spy plane flying overhead in Afghanistan. It is said, indeed, to show a Taliban gathering. Why didn't the U.S. military take the shot against these Taliban? That's the question.
Now the U.S. military originally would not say anything about this picture, but it did create a firestorm of controversy. So the military then did put out a statement. And they said that at first glance at this picture, "it was a tactically viable enemy target." But then the military said it decided not to strike against this target because "the group was on the grounds of a cemetery and was likely conducting a funeral for Taliban insurgents killed earlier in the day."
So, here is the question, Miles, are cemeteries viable targets? Can the U.S. military strike inside a cemetery? The answer is yes, and no, it all depends. The military decided not to take the shot here, but, indeed, if insurgents -- it's happened in Iraq before -- use a cemetery to launch attacks, then a cemetery like a mosque or a hospital, would lose that protected status. It's very clear the U.S. military would take the shot.
In this case, it was a judgment call. They decided not to -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So it's fairly clear from the intelligence they had, they were there actually for a funeral and not to do anything else?
STARR: That is what the military believes. That the reason they decided not to take the shot here, is that these people were gathered for a funeral. But we have to tell you, by all accounts there are people inside the U.S. military who disagree with that decision and think the shot should have been taken.
M. O'BRIEN: Much to debate there. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The government has found holes in its computer systems. The Department of Homeland Security says, that's a good thing. They've just released the results of simulated attacks on systems like air traffic control and subways and electrical grids. And now have an idea, they say, of where the weak spots are.
There are those who might argue that our nation is more vulnerable because of the policies we have here. Well, CNN's Tom Foreman, this morning, takes a look at the increasing divide between how the Bush administration views its goal, and how the world views our nation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Against the protests, the bombings and battles, the Bush administration has said time and again, America and its allies are rolling up terrorists; disrupting their funding, winning the war on terror.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are in a war that will set the course for this new century and determine the destiny of millions across the world.
FOREMAN: Yet poll after poll shows that around the world more people see Washington as a problem.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are now regarded as a threat to the world. That is a ridiculous position.
FOREMAN: The key is this -- other nations think America is using its military and economic power with no regard for international opinion, and for much more than fighting terror. That's what Steven Kull has found in his global public opinion surveys.
STEVEN CULL, PROG. ON INT'L. POLICY ATTITUDES: The perception is that it's being used as a pretext for the U.S. to promote its interests, to increase its presence in the Middle East, to gain greater access to oil, and to just generally gain a more powerful position in the world.
KAREN HUGHES, SPECIAL ENVOY: So help me, God.
FOREMAN: The administration has appointed a special envoy, the president's old friend Karen Hughes, to address just this problem. And points out other governments are still cooperating in the search for terrorists and no major attacks have hit the U.S. in five years.
The foreign policy analysts say, despite all that, international mistrust is undermining more ambitious efforts to spread democracy, to promote political alliances, to secure long-term peace.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Because if you don't have support, as powerful as we are, we don't have the forces, we don't have the international economic clout, we don't have the policy levers to do most things on our own.
FOREMAN (on camera): Just how bad is it? Well, the polls here show that in terms of being a positive influence in the world, the world's people now rank the United States next to Iran and North Korea.
(Voice over): And the pollsters themselves say that overwhelming unease over America's power and intent is pushing many young Muslims, who don't even like the terrorist agenda, to quietly cheer each strike against America and its allies. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Tom's report first aired on "Anderson Cooper 360". You can catch Anderson weeknights at 10 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
M. O'BRIEN: High above us, the International Space Station, Space Shuttle Atlantis crew working hard to get the space station a little more juice. You're taking a look at live pictures right now.
This is the solar array (ph) which they are about to deploy. The starboard solar array, that is right for you landlubbers. And as you can see right there, it's kind of just like a little blind there. It will be extended out in that direction very shortly. That will happen a little after 8:00 Eastern Time when they get into orbital sunrise. Take a look at the pictures though as they deployed the other side, the port array. Beautiful sight.
You can see it, if you look very closely, you can see it unfurling there, ever so slowly. This time it went a lot more smoothly than it did six years ago. They tried to extend them 100 percent, all the way, at once. They got all stuck. They call that sticktion -- sticktion. I looked it up. There is no such word. NASA can make up their own words.
That's what happened as you see there. What they did this time is they deployed them about halfway, let them heat up a little bit in the sun, and then went the full distance. That seemed to solve the problem. Apparently being compressed for that length of time and the heating issues -- there you see how it collapsed on them, back six years ago.
Take a look at how the solar arrays work. Here are a little different than the fixed arrays that are already on the station. Here are the fixed arrays over here. As the space station does it 90- minute pass around the planet, this solar array will be doing kind of a little rotating deal to match the sun's rays at any given moment. So, in theory, that provides a lot more juice for the space station.
This will lay the ground work for putting additional modules on from say European partners and the Japanese, as time goes on. NASA kind of doing everything it can before they retire the space shuttle fleet to build out this space station before they move on to the next thing, which would be return to the Moon, and maybe one day Mars.
And it's Thursday so what does that mean? What does that mean, campers? Does everybody here know?
S. O'BRIEN: Time four the pipeline webcast, with your own Miles Zuwang (ph).
M. O'BRIEN: I have changed -- Yes, it's Miles Cam Day. Send me your questions, space and otherwise, to milescam@cnn. We'll really those e-mails, answer them, and do the, ubiquitous, omnipresent, are we married routine, as usual. I won't answer it this time. I'll just leave it open.
S. O'BRIEN: I like your new picture. That looks good.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, thank you.
Cnn.com/pipeline is the place to get those answers from the Milescam, from my office, a product you should check out regardless of whether it's Thursday or not.
Happening in America: Smoke'em if you got'em, in the city of Brotherly Love. The Mayor John Streep (ph), poised to sign an indoor smoking ban, passed three months ago by the city council. He has some reservations though, he wants the ban to extend to outdoor cafes. In New Hampshire, an 18-year-old accused of breaking into apartments and -- get this -- stealing women's underwear. Police say they found Joseph Greenquist (ph) asleep in a video store, wearing only women's lingerie. They found a full bag of panties nearby. He faces four counts of burglary.
Here's a guy on Virginia Beach that police are looking for. Apparently he's been pulling off an ATM scam. It was caught on the surveillance camera. He's expected of reprogramming a gas station ATM to give out four times more cash than requested. Smart thief.
All right, here's the question of the morning -- not so smart. Why on earth would you tape yourself committing a crime? Police in Illinois says that's exactly what we're looking at here.
Two couples working together to crash the van into a tree so they could get the insurance check. Well, you know what happened. There was an angry ex-husband in this foursome, turned the tape into police. Couple has paid insurance money back, they pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. You could say felonious stupidity, but that's another matter.
A lot of people in northwest and southwest Indiana are awaking up to a people mess. Mud and water everywhere after major flooding. You're looking at pictures from Evansville, where up to 8 inches of rain fell yesterday, which brings us to Chad Myers is in the weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: The Vatican Museum, home, of course, to many priceless works of art, looking for a little gift to mark their 500th birthday. What they want is something, well, maybe not so little. They'd like a Picasso, please. And they're not cheap.
AMERICAN MORNING's Delia Gallagher joins us with a look at that.
Good morning.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH & VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: A Picasso? That's quite a gift that you want even for your 500th birthday.
GALLAGHER: It's a very funny story because the director of the Vatican Museum during the summer said, well, maybe we're going to buy a Picasso, because they want to sort of beef up their modern collection.
The Vatican isn't really known for modern art. So, he said, I think we need to buy a Picasso. And then ensued a sort of brouhaha, about why is the Catholic Church going to buy an artist who doesn't necessarily personify sort of Christian values? And so, then just a few days ago, he said, well, maybe someone will donate one to us.
S. O'BRIEN: He won't buy it, but he'd love to have one. (CROSS TALK)
It's kind of an interesting strategy. You're right, they're not really known for their modern art collection. Who do they have in their collection?
GALLAGHER: Well, Michael Angelo obviously is the person who is most associated with the Vatican, "The Pieta" is very famous. In fact, that's not exactly in the museums, it is in St. Peter's Basilica. So, tourists can go in and see it actually for free. Then, of course, the Sistine Chapel, that is also Michael Angelo's work.
And "The Last Judgment", that painting we saw a lot during the conclave, when the pope was elected. On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, "The Creation of Adam" is also Michael Angelo's. Rafael -- Rafael rooms are in the Vatican Museums. He did a painting of Pope Julius, who was the pope who started the Vatican Museums.
And so, there are a number of other sort of wonderful artists in there, but modern art -- they have Picasso ceramics, but they don't have the paintings.
S. O'BRIEN: Why do you think they want to beef up their modern collection? Is it to sort of maintain a world-class status with everybody else, they're competing with? They're a museum like all the other museums out there.
GALLAGHER: That's precisely why and I think also to encourage new donors because they operate very much on donors, of course. In the old days it was sort of aristocratic families in Europe that gave them donations of paintings. Nowadays they what's called the Office of Patrons, and those are actually mainly Americans, that are considered patrons of the Vatican Museum. They donate money every year for restoration of some of the artwork and also acquisitions.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a good gift to be a patron. You get some nice perks.
GALLAGHER: It is because they have perks. They get private tours, they get audiences with the pope. And they get the satisfaction of being able to sort of help contribute to the conservation of art.
S. O'BRIEN: Worth every dime of approximately $100 million Picasso, I think. We'll see if they get their gift.
Delia Gallagher is our faith and values correspondent.
Thanks, Delia.
GALLAGHER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, what's the best way for a kid to learn? Dr. Sanjay Gupta will show us a school for the gifted, that is taking a new approach to education. Seems to be paying off as well. That's ahead stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: So you think your kid's a genius. You might want to check out a new school devoted to kids with extremely high IQs. It's giving a lesson to other schools in what's best ways for kids to learn. Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at the CNN Center this morning with part three of his series, "The Quest for Extreme Brain Power."
Hey, Sanjay. Good morning.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
You know, there's so many educational tools out there and learning devices. It almost seems like it's child abuse if you're not buying these things for your child. But how well do they really work? What if you think your kid already is a genius? What sort of resources are available for your child?
We got a unique look inside a very special school that's teaching future child prodigies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice over): That's the Reno Philharmonic Youth Symphony Orchestra. And its concert master 11-year-old Misha Raffi (ph); not only a first-class violinist, she's not bad at the piano.
With an IQ north of 160, she's quickly outpaced her classmates at one of Reno's best private schools. The message from her teachers? Slow down.
MISHA RAFFI, : I was told that I shouldn't ask as many questions. I felt that my learning was being held back.
GUPTA: But then, last month the Davidson Academy opened its doors for 36 students from around the United States and as far away as Australia. Everyone here has an IQ higher than 160, or the equivalent on another achievement test. Only about one person in 10,000 has an IQ that high.
The academy is the brain child of Jan and Bob Davidson, entrepreneurs who made a fortune selling educational software, like "Math Blaster".
BOB DAVIDSON, CO-FOUNDER, DAVIDSON INSTITUTE: I think there has been a kind of a hang up on what we call age-based education. That if you're six, you learn this, if you're seven, you learn that, if you're eight, et cetera. That's probably what needs to be rethought.
GUPTA: At Davidson, each student has their own curriculum. For some 12-year-olds, calculus. For Misha, three languages. Older students are also taking courses at the University of Nevada, Reno.
ELLEN WINNER (ph), BOSTON PSYCHOLOGIST: They learn in different ways. They're not just faster, they're different.
GUPTA: Ellen Winner is a Boston psychologist who studies gifted children.
WINNER (ph): They think in unusual ways, they solve problems in unusual ways. One of the ways in which they're unusual is they learn things almost completely on their own, they soak it up on their own. The way a typical child soaks up language on his own, when he's learning his first language.
GUPTA: Nationwide, for every $100 spent on special education for struggling students, Winner says just three cents goes to classes for the so-called gifted. That's a shame, say the Davidsons, not just for the academic elite.
JAN DAVIDSON, CO-FOUNDER, DAVIDSON INSTITUTE: I think the opportunity to learn at your own pace, and your own motivation level, would allow anyone to achieve more than they would otherwise. It's not just the profoundly gifted.
GUPTA: For Misha, so far the academy is hitting all the right notes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: That's a really amazing statistics. $100 for every special needs child versus three cents for every gifted child. It gives you a little sense of the disparity. Also, if you take a look inside prodigy school, like this one, you get a sense of what future curriculum might be for the entire country. We're learning a lot about how to educate children by looking at this select group of kids, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, you have to wonder, though, if there are applications for other people as well. Do they think that, as you started those videotapes work? You take certain specific things that appeal to kids, and kind of increase their learning on those fronts? Do those show -- have they been shown to actually be effective?
GUPTA: We did a lot of research on this and I was personally and professionally interested in this particular topic. For the most part, the message that we got back is those are pretty good marketing tools, but that sort of stimulation probably isn't as necessary as allowing a kid to just play and learn, do what's called natural learning.
And also just spending a lot of time with kids. Kids get parked in front of televisions, things like that, or in front of those educational tools, without the stimulation of just having an older person around, which seems to make the biggest difference of all, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: So the $500 you spent on all of those videotapes for your kids, Sanjay, you would be better buying a big old cardboard box, is what you're saying?
GUPTA: I tell you the marketing tool is very good. The gimmicks are very good out there.
S. O'BRIEN: What's coming up tomorrow?
GUPTA: Tomorrow I want to introduce you to a great kid, his name is Chris Pallini (ph). When he was 15 years old he wrote a book that is now being turned into a major motion picture. He teaches us a lot about intelligence and creativity. You can see the entire interview, as well, on the special, on Sunday night at 10:00 p.m. only on CNN. I hope you guys will watch it. I'm anxious to hear what you think.
S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. You've got it. We'll let you know.
GUPTA: Thank you very much.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Sanjay.
M. O'BRIEN: That would make me feel pretty stupid. I'll watch, though, nevertheless.
Coming up on the program, "Monopoly" gets a makeover. Say so long to the Boardwalk and the railroads. Really?
S. O'BRIEN: No railroads.
M. O'BRIEN: No railroads anymore. The times are changing. We're "Minding Your Business" next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Five million, $10 million, $15 million, $20 million. There you go.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Enjoy. Have a nice shopping trip. This is the new "Monopoly" money. Ain't what it used to be. It's not your father's or your grandfather's "Monopoly" board anymore.
Ellen McGirt is here with an updated version which has all kinds of things that have taken it away from Atlantic City, and the era of railroads.
ELLEN McGIRT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has. America has voted. This is the here and now version. Hasbro went online and asked people what are their favorite place, their favorite cities; how can they update the game. It's incredible. Number one, Times Square, New York City, that's going to cost you $4 million.
M. O'BRIEN: That's the Park Place, that's Times Square.
McGIRT: That's right. Everything, you've got the White House is here.
M. O'BRIEN: Boardwalk is higher than Park Place? Boardwalk?
McGIRT: Boardwalk, I guess it would be. M. O'BRIEN: Boardwalk was the place with the two blue.
McGIRT: Yes. That's right. So this is a new board.
M. O'BRIEN: Fenway Park is the Park Place.
S. O'BRIEN: What does that cost?
M. O'BRIEN: $3.5 million. You've got it? You got it right there.
S. O'BRIEN: Actually, I do.
M. O'BRIEN: I'll give you some change.
S. O'BRIEN: Let me use your --
M. O'BRIEN: All right, anyway.
(CROSS TALK)
Do you want a hotel? Nothing for Detroit.
McGIRT: Would you like the Liberty Bell?
M. O'BRIEN: There you go.
McGIRT: The pieces are all different, too, as you can see. You've got McDonald's french fries, Starbucks coffee, Motorola Razor, New Balance running shoe, a Prias (ph). I know, I know -- a Labradoodle (ph).
S. O'BRIEN: All those companies, I assume, had a hand in --
McGIRT: They didn't. They just reached out to see which was going to be the most popular icons and got permission to do it.
S. O'BRIEN: Really?
M. O'BRIEN: I can get the Johnson Space Center for $1.8 million. It's in orange.
McGIRT: That's what I was going to get you for Christmas.
M. O'BRIEN: How that's so sweet of you. Nice of you to think of that.
And instead of railroads, it's airports. Instead of utilities, it's like cell phone companies, right?
McGIRT: That's right. The original version is still available if you want to play with your kids the same way your parents played with you, but this is going to be available today at 165,000 stores.
M. O'BRIEN: I guess it should come as no surprise to you I have the space shuttle version of this. There is one. They have all kinds of derivatives these days, yes.
McGIRT: They do. This is supposed to be a bit more mainstream than the special -- the side ones.
M. O'BRIEN: Not everyone likes the "Space Shuttle Monopoly"? Here, $5 million, be quiet.
(LAUGHTER)
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: We'll have more in a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: We know the name, but still not the reason, the latest on Canada's Columbine.
S. O'BRIEN: Former Texas Governor Ann Richards is dead, one of the most colorful figures in American politics is being remembered this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: It's right up there with the seat belt and the airbag. You're going to want to have it in your car. The government is going to make it mandatory. We'll tell you about it.
S. O'BRIEN: Wildfires out West to tell you about. More homes in danger this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: And prepare for the worst. A group of kids now getting a crash course in disasters. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.
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