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American Morning

Campus Shooting Arrest; Bush, Ahmadinejad to Address United Nations; Iran War Plans; Detainee Showdown

Aired September 19, 2006 - 08:59   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: New developments this morning in the shooting at Duquesne University. A suspect in custody.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush and Iranian President Ahmadinejad both at the United Nations today, but do not expect any face-to-face chats. Well, maybe they'll bump into each other.

Venezuela's president stepping into the showdown, threatening to stop oil shipments to the United States.

O'BRIEN: A spritz for your health. A new way now to keep deli meat from making you sick, but with a virus?

COSTELLO: And battling the Red Baron. A new movie looks at the high-flying heroes of World War I. "FLYBOYS" star James Franco live on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello, in for Soledad.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

A developing story in Pittsburgh to tell you about. Police making an arrest in that weekend shooting at Duquesne University. Five basketball players were shot, one still in critical condition this morning. We get more on this from Marcie Cipriani from our affiliate WTAE in Pittsburgh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIE CIPRIANI, REPORTER, WTAE: Four people have been brought into here to Pittsburgh police headquarters. We know one of them is a 19-year-old female student from Duquesne University, the other is one of the two suspected shooters in this case. He was brought in here to Pittsburgh police headquarters early this morning in handcuffs.

Police believe he is one of the men who attended the student union dance on Duquesne's campus late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, argued with the five Duquesne basketball players, then shot at them. He remains here at headquarters, along with two others who investigators say are being questioned as witnesses in the shooting.

As for the 19-year-old Duquesne University student, she has been charged with conspiracy, but police say her crimes occurred at the dance, prior to the shooting. We did get a chance to talk with her attorney here at headquarters late last night

JIM ECKER, FEMALE SUSPECT'S ATTORNEY: They have indicated that she was there and she has information pertaining to what went on. Whether in fact she knows the shooters or not, I don't know.

CIPRIANI: Once again, there are still three people being questioned here at Pittsburgh police headquarters. We are waiting word from investigators on exactly how they are connected in this case.

I'm Marcie Cipriani for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: The showdown between the United States and Iran begins in just about two and a half hours, with President Bush's speech to the United Nations. Later, the Iranian president will have his say. But the two men are not supposed to meet face to face.

We have two reports this morning from CNN's Richard Roth and Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's go to Richard first.

Good morning.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Yes, here at the General Assembly, President Bush, in about two hours, addresses the United Nations General Assembly, and then many hours later it's the president of Iran's turn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH (voice over): The president of Iran and the president of the United States in the same room last year at the United Nations General Assembly, but they never met. This year Iran's president says he wants a debate. The U.S. is not interested.

QUESTION: President Bush said that he will not be meeting with Ahmadinejad, I believe -- he said that early yesterday.

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMB. TO U.N.: What a surprise.

QUESTION: What a surprise.

BOLTON: I won't be either.

KARIM SADJAPOUR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: You have the individual, George W. Bush, who is most reviled in the Middle East, and you have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the foreign leader who, I would argue, is most reviled in the United States. And really they see eye to eye on very, very little.

ROTH: Opening day of the big U.N. event is an annual traffic jam of world leaders, plenty of chances for unlikely encounters and potential collisions. The U.S. and Iran will likely steer clear.

MARK MALLOCH BROWN, DEPUTY U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: I'm sure both will have minders, or at least one of them will have minders working hard to keep them apart. So, you know, probably the great clash of the Titans, the rumble in the jungle, or whatever you'd want to call it, is not going to happen.

ROTH: The world will watch these two presidents through masses of global media, but only a few Iranian journalists are permitted in the U.S. They say their audiences would love interviews with President Bush, but the U.S. won't talk to them either. They say their president is misunderstood in the U.S.

NADER TALEBZADEH, IRANIAN JOURNALIST: It's going to be just sort of a standoff, what Ahmadinejad is going to say, what Bush is going to say. And he's not going to change -- he's not a man of transformation. I don't think he's going to inspire any of us with something new.

ROTH: The White House has said don't expect a steel cage death match, but the U.N. will still, no doubt, have to grapple with the nuclear deadlock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: And in another U.S.-Iranian dispute, a group of Iranian journalists and photographers say they were denied visas to cover the speech by their leader. The State Department says they did all they could. They kept the mission in Switzerland open as late as possible, just another part of the diplomatic fuss between these two countries.

COSTELLO: Richard Roth, live at the United Nations.

Thanks.

The president has been building up to today's address for several weeks. He will continue to build his case for the war on terror.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joins us live now.

So what will the president say in his speech?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol, the president really has a credibility problem with a lot of these leaders. I mean, four years ago it was, we're going to the war with or without you, you know, questioning the U.N.'s relevance. This time around what he's going to do is he's going to say, look -- he's going to cloak himself in these rhetoric of peace, talk about this broader war on terror, and say the international community has an obligation to deal with these fledgling democracies, people who are having problems in the region, in Iraq, or Lebanon, or the Palestinian Authority.

And it's really for two audiences. It's for the international audience, but the domestic audience, because this is the culmination of a series of speeches in this very aggressive public relations campaign to turn the focus with American voters from the larger war in Iraq -- the war in Iraq to the larger war on terror before the midterm elections.

COSTELLO: OK. We heard Richard Roth say the Iranian president will, of course, be there. I mean, is there a chance they could bump into each other in a hallway? And what might that be like?

MALVEAUX: Oh, god, there's always that random chance. It's really odd and it's interesting to watch because it's a kabuki dance between these two leaders. And clearly the White House is trying to steer away from that actually happening.

It could happen. The Iranian president will be there watching the president speak, as he did last year. And they may attend the same luncheon, it could happen in the hallway.

But I did ask the president last week whether or not he was going to meet face to face with Ahmadinejad. He flatly said no.

They are taking a hard-line stance against Iran, pushing sanctions. It hasn't really worked for them. And so what you should see -- I know we're all excited about whether or not these two are going to bump each into other, but the behind-the-scenes negotiations, Secretary Rice and some of her counterparts are quietly talking to the Iranians. And that is the thing to watch for to see if there's going to be a breakthrough.

COSTELLO: A breakthrough in what way?

MALVEAUX: Well, we don't expect it to happen over the next 48 hours, but look at the next couple of weeks, the potential of Iran saying, look, we will suspend our enriching uranium program and then we'll come to the table and talk. As Bush says, look, we are not -- we're not going to be there. We are not going to talk to you until that happens, that is nonnegotiable.

But European counterparts have been working with the Iranians quietly to see if there's some sort of wiggle room there.

COSTELLO: OK. So you are going down to the United Nations and you're going to be watching for the dance.

MALVEAUX: The kabuki dance.

COSTELLO: For the kabuki dance.

Suzanne Malveaux, thanks.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

COSTELLO: CNN will, of course, bring you live coverage of the president's address. It's expected at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, the president does say all options are on the table for getting Iran to stop building nuclear weapons. War may not seem likely, but the Pentagon is drawing up plans just in case. CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon with more on that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Miles, you probably can't say often enough those little words, "just in case." Pentagon officials consistently emphasize that any planning for any action against Iran is prudent, routine contingency planning. But -- but we have a little insight behind the scenes.

A senior Navy official has now confirmed that the chief of naval operations, Admiral Mike Mullen, has asked his senior staff, his senior Navy staff, for detailed, updated assessment on how the U.S. Navy would supply warships and troops in the event military action was ordered against Iran. Now, this Navy official who has direct insight into this says Admiral Mullen has held a number of meetings about this over the last four to six weeks, and that he has ordered this because he knows, the official says, of the national importance of the issue over Iran right now.

So, what is Admiral Mullen really looking at? Well, the understanding that the official is giving us is Admiral Mullen is looking at how many warships, how many troops, how many Navy ships would be required to maintain a naval blockade of Iranian oil facilities in the Persian Gulf while keeping those shipping lanes open to the international community because, of course, in the event of any action against Iran, it would be vital to the international economy to keep those Gulf shipping lanes open.

So, that is one of the little peaks behind the scenes as to what's going on with military planning against Iran. Just planning, they say.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And I guess we need to put it in perspective, Barbara. Help viewers understand, this is what they do at the Pentagon, in many respects, is plan for all kinds of eventualities.

STARR: That is absolutely correct. The U.S. military likes to say they have plans for everything. But for the Navy, planning this -- keeping it updated, keeping it really fresh, knowing what ships they have out there, where they can move, how long it takes them to get anywhere, is really vital because if, if there was any action against Iran, it would most likely, of course, be U.S. Navy ships or Air Force long-range bomber aircraft. Very unlikely you would ever see ground forces move into Iran, given the war in Iraq and Afghanistan -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Thank you very much.

This just in to us. Let's go across the river now. It appears leading Republican senators have rejected a White House compromise over the treatment of terror detainees.

CNN's Kathleen Koch live at the White House with details.

The last time we talked to you, Kathleen, it appeared compromise was in the air. Not so, huh?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there still may be a compromise, Miles, but what we are hearing -- and this from a Republican source who's very close to the negotiations and familiar with the offer that -- that the White House sent up -- is that, in this source's words, the Senate Armed Services Committee is "not accepting it in its current form."

Again, this is an offer that the White House sent to the Hill yesterday. And according to the source, the senators are looking carefully at this, saying it was "a serious offer on their part," on the White House's part. And the source added that the sense is among the Republicans that there is still a 50-50 chance of working this out.

Now, I had just gotten word from Dana Perino, White House spokesperson, before we heard from the Republicans up on the Hill that the White House is "committed to reaching a resolution and we are cautiously optimistic that we can." So both sides say a deal on this may be possible, but it just looks like it's going to take a little bit longer.

What we are hearing is that the senators now plan to send a compromise offer of their own back to the White House at some point today. And what our source tells us is that, indeed, just as we had suspected, what the White House sent to Capitol Hill dealt with this sticking point, just what are the U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions? The White House wanted to clarify them, saying they were too vague. The senators saying, no, that's a very dangerous road to go down -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Kathleen Koch, we'll be watching it. Thank you very much.

KOCH: You bet.

O'BRIEN: Carol.

COSTELLO: Happening "In America," the Capitol police chief promises a security review after an SUV crashed through a barricade at the Capitol yesterday. Police say 20-year-old Carlos Greene of Silver Spring, Maryland, was carrying a loaded gun and crack cocaine when he jumped out of the car and ran into the Capitol. They plan to charge Greene with a federal possession of a handgun and assault of a police officer today.

In South Carolina, bail denied for the man accused of kidnapping a 14-year-old girl and keeping her in underground bunker for 10 days. Vinson Filyaw facing sexual assault and kidnapping charges. The kidnapped girl, Elizabeth Shoaf, used his cell phone to send a text message for help.

A California man is pleading not guilty to drug charges after an underground tunnel is discovered along the Mexico border. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the tunnel is 400 feet long, running from Mexico to a house about two hours from San Diego. Agents say about a half-ton of marijuana was found in the bust.

In Louisiana, country music star Willie Nelson has been cited for possession of marijuana and narcotic mushroom. Four others on his tour bus were also charged with misdemeanors. State police searched the bus after a highway traffic stop on Monday. They said they smelled marijuana.

O'BRIEN: Let's get a check of the forecast now. Chad is off. Rob Marciano is at the CNN Center.

Hello, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Miles

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Thank you, Rob. See you in just a little bit.

Coming up, what's the real reason behind Iraq's deadly sectarian violence? Perhaps some of the answer may lie within the country's police force.

We'll explain.

And later, a new trade to make deli meat and hot dogs safer. It sounds like a good idea, but what if we told you the active ingredient was a virus?

That story is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, whether you call it raging sectarian violence or plain old civil war, the violence in Iraq is unrelenting, and increasingly it bears the hallmarks of vengeance and retribution. Nearly every morning authorities awaken to a grim harvest of bodies bound, bearing signs of torture.

Joining us now from Baghdad is our CNN correspondent there, Michael Ware.

Michael, first of all, it seems as if the number of bodies being discovered and with clear signs of torture is on the increase. Is that so?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a matter of great debate. What is beyond question is that the number still remains beyond any kind of figure that is acceptable.

I mean, on a good month, there are 1,500 tortured and executed bodies showing up on Baghdad's morning streets. Other months, there's over 3,000. And so far, despite everything that the U.S. military and its Iraqi partners have attempted to do, nothing has been able to prevent it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: I guess that this is mostly Shia versus Sunni that we're seeing here, or is al Qaeda in the mix on this as well?

WARE: Oh, al Qaeda is very much in the mix of this. In fact, this is one of Zarqawi's great, enduring legacies, the Al Qaeda in Iraq leader assassinated by U.S. forces back in June.

It was his plan from the beginning, spelled out two years ago, to start this very thing, this sectarian conflict. So, what we're seeing is both Sunni death squads, some al Qaeda, some otherwise seem to be defending their Sunni constituency, against Shia death squads. Many of them arriving and operating with the relative impunity that comes with being within the police or the Ministry of Interior, paramilitary forces, or the Iraqi army itself, all of whom are American partners.

So, in one sense, the irony is that a U.S.-backed government has its own death squads -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: So, essentially, Shias who are a part of the police and army are using that as a cover to engage in death squad activity, and by virtue of that the United States becomes less than a neutral player?

WARE: Very much so. In fact, U.S. military intelligence, the U.S. ambassador here, has pointed to this problem time and time again.

Indeed, the U.S. military has raided Ministry of Interior police stations or facilities and found on one occasion not far from where I used to live more than 100 torture victims chained in blackened dungeons beneath. So, these men are showing up in the middle of the night, in legitimate police or military or paramilitary uniforms, presenting legitimate identification, and hauling people from their homes.

They then show up dead a couple of days later. And if it's not them, it's their militia partners who are doing it with the government's acquiescence.

You need to remember that the building blocks of this government are the militias. Essentially, these groups carve up power. And as the U.S. military and the ambassador has pointed to time and time again, these very militias are backed by Iran -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Michael Ware in Baghdad.

Thank you -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Coming up in "House Call," a new spray that uses a virus to make hotdogs and deli meats safer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us how it works.

And later, painted Cracker Jacks and bibles? The latest way to get fans out to the ballpark.

That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: In this morning's "House Call," E. coli isn't the only food-born bacteria that can make us sick. The FDA has just approved a virus spray to protect meat and poultry products from contamination.

Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now from the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Ooh, this sounds kind of gross, actually. They're going to spry a virus on hotdogs and make them safer to eat?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are good viruses and there are bad viruses, Carol. In this case, it's a good virus.

Let me back up for a second here. We're talking about a new product, as you mentioned, approved by the FDA called LMP 102. The name is not that important, but what it does, it basically controls a bacteria called listeria, which causes a disease called listeriosis.

It's not that common. It kills about 500 Americans every year, it makes 2,000 people sick. But the FDA has been coming up with ways -- different manufacturers coming up with ways to try and control that bacteria for some time now.

One of the ways to do that, again, as you pointed out, is to actually spray a particular type of virus called a phage. A phage is a virus that only attacks other bacteria. It does not attack plants, it does not attack animals, including humans, so it is going to be very safe in terms of overall eating if you spray this phage or virus on your food.

It can control listeria, and subsequently really reduce the cases of listeriosis.

Again, just recently approved. It's going to be out there for some time, but it's something that people need to know about -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm curious as to what the symptoms of listeriosis are.

GUPTA: Well, the good news is, is that for the most part, they're going to be very mild symptoms, flu-like symptoms people might have. But the people hear about it the most in pregnant women who may get infected with listeria, may pass that bacteria on to their babies, and subsequently the newborns might be born with the infection. And that can be quite serious and devastating.

Also, the very young and elderly are more at risk, and people who have weakened immune systems, for example.

Again, mainly flu-like symptoms, but in rare cases it can affect the spinal canal as well, causing a meningitis, which can make people quite sick. The specific types of foods that will actually be sprayed with this LMP 102 are going to be sort of the cold cut foods, hotdogs, soft -- soft deli cheeses. Foods like that are mainly going to be the candidates for this. Again, not all foods are going to be sprayed. And humans, as well as other animals, are going to be safe from it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, if they do spray them, will that be indicated on the food label or the package?

GUPTA: Yes, that's a good question, a good point. The FDA is actually going to mandate that you know about it. If this phage or virus is actually on your food, you will know about it. And it will actually have a label called bacteriophage.

Look for that. And that will tell you basically that the food most likely has been sprayed with these virus to prevent listeria.

COSTELLO: So they're not going to spray everything. So what do you do to avoid listeriosis, then?

GUPTA: Well, you know, again, this is one of the things that is being done so that most people won't have to worry about it with these particular types of foods, but the prevention of listeriosis is much like the prevention of any other bacteria, including the E. coli, which you and I have talked about so much this week.

Basically, the simple things. You know, if you -- if you want to -- if you are cooking foods, cook them to a certain temperature, 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Also, just use good -- good sanitation techniques. Keep your foods refrigerated when -- don't leave them out on the counter, for example, including lunch meats.

Eat quickly, which can be sort of a relative term. You know, but, again, the point is you don't want to leave food sort of sitting out there, especially in hot weather.

And wash your hands. That's something we say just about -- just about every "House Call" segment -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. All right. Thanks.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, senior medical correspondent, joining us live from Atlanta this morning.

GUPTA: Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Coming up in the program, the growing E. coli outbreak from bagged spinach. The government issued a safety warning to the nation's farmers months ago. Did they turn a deaf ear?

Plus, the controversy over lethal injection. Why more and more critics now say it is cruel and unusual punishment.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The opening bell ringing on Wall Street.

O'BRIEN: Well, it hasn't rung yet. We were waiting for it.

Dow Jones -- there it goes.

COSTELLO: There you go.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien.

COSTELLO: And I'm Carol Costello in for Soledad.

New information this morning about that E. coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach. It turns out federal officials warned California farmers last November that they needed to make sure their fresh greens were protected from contamination. The outbreak has now expanded to 21 states, 114 people have gotten sick.

In the meantime, the investigation moves ahead. Of all the states reporting illnesses, Wisconsin is the hardest hit. Health officials there say they've now confirmed 33 cases of E. coli linked to raw spinach.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Wisconsin couple says their 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter suffered kidney failure after eating tainted spinach.

ANNE GRINTJES, PARENT OF VICTIM: There is no drug or pill they can give your child to make your child better. It's almost a wait and see. And as parents, that's the worst thing.

77-year-old Marian Graph (ph) died from kidney failure after eating spinach.

ANN WERGEN, MANITOWOC COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: The bacteria that she had matches the fingerprint of all of the other people.

ROWLANDS: What investigators can't match yet is what caused the outbreak and until they do, people are being advised to throw away any fresh spinach.

DR. MARK HORTON, STATE PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICER: The main recommendation is not to cook the spinach, it's not to eat the spinach. The idea is I think what makes sense to people is if you go in your refrigerator and you pull out a product and you know it's contaminated, you throw it out.

ROWLANDS: There's no formal recall. The FDA does not have power to order one, but grocers around the country have taken spinach off their shelves and restaurants are replacing it on menus.

In Texas, this California trucker was allegedly arrested for allegedly dumping a load of spinach in a creek.

Meanwhile, nervous spinach growers are waiting to find out the cause of the contamination. The stakes are extremely high. If the FDA doesn't find a cause, it could leave a lasting mark on the consumers.

BOB PERKINS, MONTEREY COUNTY FARM BUREAU: We want an answer to this. We have to have an answer to this. It may be that it won't be as precise as we want, but at some point it will be narrowed down to likely causes, and if we can pin it down to likely causes, then we can propose practices that would eliminate those likely causes.

ROWLANDS: The E. coli strain at work is found in animal waste. Industry experts said it could be introduced at any time in the growing process. The most likely scenarios, experts say, are from tainted water or unsanitary conditions during harvest or processing. It could also come from unsafe refrigeration levels during distribution.

FDA officials say to expect more reports of people getting sick.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Some grocers are trying to use the natural recall of bagged spinach as an opportunity to interest shoppers in other grains. Food Market Whole Foods is featuring arucala (ph), and kale, and red lettuce and baby romaine are being featured on the shelves of Wild Oats stores. Grocers are trying to keep up produce sales, despite the spinach recall.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Here in New York, the Mets clinched the division last night, beating the Marlins 4-0. And now a lot of the Shea faithful are saying, you've got to believe again. Out at some other ballparks, though, that phrase has new meaning. AMERICAN MORNING's Delia Gallagher tells us the meeting of bats, balls and bibles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Smoltz has helped win a World Series and earned a Cy Young Award in 18 years playing baseball for the Atlanta Braves. But on this day, he's pitching for another team, one with a much more powerful lineup.

JOHN SMOLTZ, ATLANTA BRAVES PITCHER: Only God can change and rip you of some of the things you're holding on to, and he did that for me in baseball.

GALLAGHER: Welcome to Faith Night, a new phenomenon bringing Christianity to the ballpark.

SMOLTZ: Don't take my words for the gospel or what it should be. Take it as something to prompt you to think deeper.

GALLAGHER: Free Bibles, Christian bands, biblical bobbleheads and player testimonials are all provided to fans by the marketing company Third Coast Sports, which so far has been in 27 minor league ballparks across the country.

BRENT HIGH, PRESIDENT, THIRD COAST SPORTS: Teams markets demographics and cycographics (ph) every day of the week, and this is just, in business terms, another demographic.

GALLAGHER: And now, they've hit the Major Leagues.

DEREK SCHILLER, BRAVES VP, SALES AND MARKETING: I've been told that there are some 5,400 churches within a 75-mile radius, so that, obviously, makes a lot of sense for the Atlanta Braves.

O'BRIEN: Derek Shiller estimates a 10 percent increase over average attendance on the Braves three faith nights this year, the first Major League team to stage such an event. The Arizona Diamondbacks also have done it, and the Florida Marlins plan to next year.

(on camera): Wooing Christians to Bible Belt ballparks may work in places like Atlanta and Mobile, but can this promotion be a hit in the blue states? If Third Coast Sports has its way, cheering Christians may some day fill every stadium in the nation.

HIGH: We're very close to having deals with teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, and obviously we're already in major league baseball. I don't see this slowing down.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Still, not everyone is a fan.

REV. MARK BOZZUTI-JONES, ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHURCH: I am against any kind of fellowship that then becomes exclusive, a kind of fellowship where a Jewish person won't feel welcome, a Muslim person, or somebody who doesn't believe in God.

GALLAGHER: Third Coast Sports says Faith Nights are not hostile to nonbelievers, and no one is forced to participate.

HIGH: We will never throw a Bible in your face as you come in the turnstile.

BOZZUTI-JONES: I'm a Christian, and I'm very much for, you know, promoting Christianity, but the time and the place have to be right. It shouldn't be a marketing tool, definitely shouldn't be a marketing tool.

GALLAGHER: But some fans don't mind baseball being used to market religion.

RODNEY JOHNSON, MOBILE BAY BEARS FAN: We can display our faith at the ballgame and, you know, maybe people from being around us will be able to attend the events and find a church that, you know, maybe they've been looking for.

GALLAGHER: Delia Gallagher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Coming up, the growing controversy over lethal injection. Even the doctor who developed it now says his method should be revisited. We'll have much more, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: There is a constitutional battle going on over lethal injection. Some say it can be extremely painful. The argument has become so powerful that an inmate in Tennessee chose to die in the electric chair rather than be injected with a cocktail of drugs. At 1:00 this morning, he was granted a reprieve. It's what other inmates are hoping for across the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty-one executions on Texas' death row this year, all men, all injected with a cocktail of lethal drugs. Michael Johnson is waiting for his turn. It could come October 19th. He claims he's innocent, despite being convicted of killing a man over $24 worth of gas eight years ago.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, TEXAS DEATH ROW INMATE: What if somebody confessed before I even went to trial, and then they put the dude on the stand in my trial to testify I shot the guy?

COSTELLO: The state of Texas disagrees.

(on camera): If the worst happens and if you have to pay for something you say you didn't do...

JOHNSON: Right.

COSTELLO: Are you prepared?

JOHNSON: Yes, man, I was ready three years ago. I mean, it sucks, but, damn, there's nothing I can do about it. What am I going to do, pray to the good lord Jesus and cry or something?

COSTELLO (voice-over): Johnson knows exactly how death will come. The first drug to be injected is sodium thiopental. It induces sleep. The second, pancuronium bromide, it paralyzes your muscles and stops breathing. The third, potassium chloride, stops the heart, causing death.

If each injection is times properly, prison officials say death comes peacefully.

(on camera): Here in Texas they say an inmate is pronounced dead in seven minutes. But there are legal challenges in 20 states claiming it doesn't always work out that way, making lethal injection cruel and unusual.

(voice-over): In March of 1992, in Oklahoma, convicted murder Robin Lee Parks has a violent reaction to the drugs, he gasps and gags until death comes 11 minutes later. San Quentin, December of 2005, it takes prison officials 20 minutes to find a vein in gang leader Tookie Williams, prompting him to ask his executioners if they were doing it right. He keeps breathing up to six minutes after the paralyzing drug is administered. That's the kind of treatment Johnson not only fears, but expects.

JOHNSON: To be totally honest, I think if Texas could make it hurt more, they would. And I think truth be told, they're probably over there mixing things up on their own.

COSTELLO: But Dr. Jay Chapman says mistakes rarely happen. Chapman, a former Oklahoma medical examiner, created lethal injection more than 30 years ago.

DR. JAY CHAPMAN, LETHAL INJECTION CREATOR: I think there certainly are problems that have arisen, but most of the problems have arisen because of inexperienced or untrained people who are carrying out the protocol.

COSTELLO: That happens because some doctors refuse to participate in executions, believing it violates the Hippocratic Oath. Medical ethicists say it's the outdated combination of drugs that can make lethal injection far from painless.

DR. STUART FINDER, MEDICAL ETHICIST: Right now, most of the protocols around this country use three drugs. Why those drugs? There's a whole pantheon of medications out there that are used in medicine to help people not have anxiety, not have sensations of pain. Why are those not being used?

COSTELLO: Dr. Chapman, who travels the world teaching forensic medicine, now says his method should be revisited.

CHAPMAN: If I were devising protocol again today, I would probably omit the pantimonium bromide from the cocktail of drugs.

COSTELLO: Talk of possible changes and legal challenges have stopped executions in Missouri, but may not in Texas. If Johnson is not granted a reprieve by the courts, he will die by lethal injection.

JOHNSON: The way I see it, if God wants you to have a stage, you're going to get one, and it's not going to matter if you sit there and grovel and beg the whole time. That's not going to have any impact on what's going to happen.

COSTELLO: For now, he sits and waits for however death comes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: You heard the creator of this drug protocol say lethal injection does need to be revisited. If you're wondering why someone isn't stepping forward to institute a change, well, it seems no one in the medical profession wants anything to do with the death penalty. That's basically why it's not being changed.

"CNN NEWSROOM" is just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.

Hello, Heidi.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, miles. Stay informed right here in the "CNN NEWSROOM." President Bush at the u.n., his address live in the "NEWSROOM" this morning. A likely focus, Iran's president refusing to surrender its nuclear program. We'll be watching that.

Also, terror detainees, how to interrogate them, how to prosecute them. The White House trying to persuade key Republicans.

And sick from spinach -- E. coli poisoning hits more states. Spinach growers get hit, too. They're losing lots of green, in fact.

Join Tony Harris and me in the NEWSROOM at the top of the hour. We get started at the top of the hour.

Back to you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Heidi. Andy Serwer is here. He's here, got a preview of what's ahead.

Hello, Andy.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Hello, Miles.

Watch out for falling gas prices. Just how are tumbling prices at the pump affecting the economy? We'll get to that in a minute. Stay tuned for AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This news just in to CNN: General John Abizaid of Central Command made some comments about when U.S. troops might be coming home from Iraq, and it's not any time soon. Let's head to the Pentagon to check in with Barbara Starr.

What did he say, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, General John Abizaid has just held a breakfast meeting with a number of reporters here in Washington, and he has said not to expect any major troop reduction in Iraq until at least the spring of next year, the spring of '07, unless the situation on the ground changes. General Abizaid saying it would continue to be re-evaluated, but at this point, he does not expect any major troop reductions until the spring of '07.

There are about 145,000 U.S. troops in Iraq right now. That is because of a plus-up due to a troop rotation and the security situation in Baghdad. That is now the focus of the U.S. military effort.

General Abizaid making very clear now that the plan that had been in place to possibly bring two brigades -- 5,000 to 7,000 troops -- home, that plan is now on the shelf. Current troop levels, he said, will be maintained until the spring of '07 unless there is some change on the ground in the situation in the violence in Iraq -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, that means there won't be additional troops sent either?

STARR: Carol, he did not rule that out. To be very clear, General Abizaid, as all commanders, are saying it will continue to be re-evaluated. If they need more troops, they will ask for them. But they had had every anticipation of announcing some significant troop reduction around this time frame. And General Abizaid's comments this morning clearly reflect that they expect the violence to continue in Iraq, especially in the Baghdad area, the sectarian violence. And they are going to maintain troop levels at this point until the situation changes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon. Thanks.

O'BRIEN: "A.M. Pop" time. A new movie out this weekend that makes me want to go buy a white silk scarf. It's the amazing true tale of the first fighter pilots, the young American men who volunteered to fly with the French before the U.S. joined World War I. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's this? You got cow punchers are coming over now?

JAMES FRANCO, ACTOR: Yes, I done some cow-boying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think that's going to help you up there?

FRANCO: Well, whatever you were using didn't seem to do you much good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Well, that's James Franco, a little bit cocky there in that scene. And there to join the Lafayette Escadrille, which is a true story of how these really brave men went up there in planes made of wood and fabric and had a lifespan, what, of about six to eight weeks, right? Tell us the story of the Lafayette Escadrille.

FRANCO: It's a true story. It was a group of 38 men who went over and volunteered before America joined the war. And basically were the first fighter pilots. Aviation had only been around about 12 years, and so they're still figuring a lot of things out.

O'BRIEN: Yes, it's spectacular the way these scenes have all -- came together. Some of it done with computer, some of it done with some fancy flying. I know you went out and got your pilot's license for this. Of course, that probably didn't -- you weren't doing the stunt flying, obviously, but did that help you in the role, do you think?

FRANCO: I think it helped. You know, I was -- I'm a big fan of Steve McQueen. He did a movie called "The War Lover," which is World War II. But he's a pilot, and you watch him in and around the plane and he's so comfortable and detailed, because he was a pilot. So I hoped to do the same thing, and maybe it would rub off on the performance.

O'BRIEN: Yes. When you saw the script, did the story kind of ring for you? Did it resonate?

FRANCO: Yes, it did. And you know, I thought they haven't done a World War I aviation film in a long time. You know, the great ones are Howard Hughes' "Hell's Angels" and "Wings," which one the first Oscar. And that was back in the '20s.

O'BRIEN: "Mad Max" was one, right?

FRANCO: "The Blue Max."

O'BRIEN: Or "The Blue Max," yes. "Mad Max" is the other one. That's Mel Gibson.

FRANCO: Right.

O'BRIEN: But anyway, yes, for some reason, this particular type of movie doesn't do well. Why?

FRANCO: I don't know that it doesn't do well, they just haven't made them. And I mean, "Wings" won the first Oscar. And, you know, nowadays, the technology is advanced, so we did a lot of real flying. But they can augment that with special effects. So you get a real sense of what it's -- actual flight combat was like more than the other movies.

O'BRIEN: Yes. This is -- I read this is perhaps the biggest budget independent film ever made, because studios didn't buy into this notion because it wasn't a sequel of a blockbuster or whatever. Why don't the studios want to make movies like this?

FRANCO: Well I don't know if it was they didn't want to make movies, it was just that Dean Devlin, the producer, wanted more control. And so if they did want to make a movie like this, they would say who they want, you know, in the movie, how they wanted the script to be. And Dean is a very kind of independent guy, and he was able to raise money on his own and control the movie.

O'BRIEN: Give us a sense of the courage and the danger that these guys faced.

FRANCO: Well, like you said, the life expectancy was anywhere from three weeks down to three days at some points. And they weren't allowed to have parachutes.

O'BRIEN: Why not?

FRANCO: I guess they thought the planes were more valuable. They didn't want anybody abandoning the planes.

O'BRIEN: No seat belts.

FRANCO: Yes, no need, I guess, at that point. And you know, they were given pistols so in case the plane caught on fire and they didn't want to burn to death, they would shoot themselves.

O'BRIEN: Wow.

FRANCO: But, I mean, if you think about it, nowadays, I think it's -- the law that if you go above 12,000 feet, you have to have oxygen. These guys are in an open cockpit, and they were going up to 20,000 feet, they'd come down. Some people had to be chipped out of the planes it was so cold.

O'BRIEN: It tells it all. All right, the movie is "Flyboys." James Franco is the actor. Thanks for being with us.

FRANCO: All right, thank you.

O'BRIEN: Carol.

COSTELLO: Coming up at the top of the hour, the search for a Missouri newborn. Police want your help to find the kidnapper. We'll have a live report for you just ahead.

And crisis on the produce aisle. Spinach won't ever be the same for Popeye. Jeanne Moos to fill us in. Much more to come on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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