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American Morning

Are We Less Safe?; Gitmo Visit; Dead Or Alive; Pope & Islam

Aired September 25, 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: Have some new ammunition in their debate against the war in Iraq. Their latest piece of ammunition, a government intelligence report that reportedly says we're less safe now than we were before the Iraq War. The April report, leaked over the weekend, is the first U.S. intelligence appraisal of global terrorism threats since the Iraq War began. According to "The New York Times," the report concludes the Iraq War contributed to an increased threat of terrorism. It also finds the war helped create a new generation of Islamic radicalists. We have correspondents from Washington to Baghdad on this. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon, Kathleen Koch at the White House, Michael Ware is in Baghdad.
Let's start with Barbara at the Pentagon.

Barbara, good morning.

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

Well, the fact that Iraq is playing a role in the global war on terror, I suspect, comes not as a surprise to anyone. But why is this report getting so much attention? Why is it significant?

This is a National Intelligence estimate. This is a report done by the intelligence community, approved by John Negroponte, the director of National Intelligence. It carries a good deal of weight. It now becomes basically a fundamental document from which other actions, policy actions, may be taken. So a lot of attention being paid to this.

Now, by all accounts, this report talks about how Iraq has basically fueled the war on terror. Again, military commanders, intelligence officials saying for the last many months what they are seeing is that very fact. They are seeing self-generating terrorist cells spring up both in Iraq and around the world. And these self- generating terrorist cells, the people in them may never meet Osama bin Laden and probably won't, may never meet a core al Qaeda leader. But these are people who adhere to the Jihadist ideology.

One of the things the report, by all accounts talks about is the role the Internet plays in all of this. How things have changed in the last many months. The Internet playing a vital role in recruiting, financing, directing operations, all of those Internet videos that we see. All of this making it much tougher for the U.S. to go after that global terrorist network.

Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Barbara Starr.

The report contradicts what President Bush has been telling us. Listen to what he said in Atlanta just days before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have put in place the institutions needed to win this war. Five years after September 11, 2001, America is safer and America is winning the war on terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Live now to Kathleen Koch at the White House.

Kathleen, what does the White House have to say about all this that transpired over the weekend?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, certainly that quote there you played from the president, when you look at these excerpts that were released from this April report, the report certainly does seems to fly in the face of President Bush's very reassuring words. The White House, though, had no formal reaction, saying that they don't comment on these -- on classified documents.

However, the nation's top intelligence director has made a rare statement on this. Basically saying, read the full thing first. The director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte, in a statement, a written statement, warning that any news report that includes, "only a small handful of those judgments distorts the broad strategic framework the NIE is assessing. In this case, trends in global terrorism." He goes on to say, "the estimate highlights the importance of the outcome in Iraq on the future of global Jihadism, judging that should the Iraqi people prevail in establishing a stable, political and security environment, the Jihadists will be perceived to have failed and fewer Jihadists will leave Iraq determined to carry on the fight elsewhere."

Now certainly the Democrats are taking this report and making hay of it. The Democrats citing it basically as proof of their continuing argument that the Iraq War is a failure and has instead made Americans -- put them in greater jeopardy. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi saying that President Bush, "should read the intelligence carefully before giving another misleading speech about progress in the war on terrorism."

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House, thanks very much.

Let's check the situation in Iraq. CNN's Michael Ware joining us live from Baghdad.

And, Michael, anything in that report that surprised you? MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, look, what this really is, this is the unraveling of a great dynamic here. The contents of the report are not startling at all. Ever since the arrival of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the summer of 2003, with the bombings of the Jordan embassy and the U.N. headquarters, followed up a year later by his release of his suicide bombing videos for the first time ever, his declaration of arrival, it has been well known on the ground here that al Qaeda was becoming stronger and that this war was actually making global terrorism stronger, not weaker.

What we see now is President Bush's top 16 intelligence agencies confirming this for him. This undercuts the Bush administration's whole strategy on the war on terror. You're helping them, not hurting them.

The real question is, why is this being leaked now? I mean this is on the back of President Bush just saying, we're safer than we were before the war in Iraq. We've seen the release of the Anbar military intelligence document that said al Qaeda is becoming stronger there and we can't defeat them. Now we have this leak.

We are starting to see the war apparatus, the military and the intelligence agencies, who have been screaming about this for years, starting to raise questions about their political leadership. They're no longer quite on the same song sheet. And I suspect it's because the men on the ground are sick of seeing what's happening to their men and women here on the battle field being distorted back home.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So what you're suggesting is, Michael, there's so much dissension within the ranks that we're seeing leaks like this and we probably should expect to see more in the future?

WARE: Well, all I can tell you is this, that we see these leaks coming out over the recent weeks. They're very selective and they're very much on point with regard to the strength of al Qaeda.

What I can tell you about is the shift in the mood that I've experienced here. I've watched it develop over a year. But in recent months, it's boiled even further. You talk to top American commanders and they can only thinly veil their frustration. The essential attitude is, I'm doing what I can here in Iraq with what little I've been given. Just don't expect me to smile about it.

They're now starting to see the grind between the military and the political start to take its effect. And I suspect what I'm getting here on the ground, the military has almost had enough and it may be time for radical solutions.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Michael Ware in Baghdad, thank you very much.

Throughout the day we'll be taking an in-depth look at how the Iraq War has affected the war on terror. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, we'll see what political impact, if any, will be in the wake of this leaked report. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley will join us live 7:30 Eastern.

Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington today, more focus on a new bill that spells out how the U.S. treats its terror detainees and more dissension within the GOP. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter says he has a problem with the Republican agreement on the rules for interrogation and the trial of terror suspects. He's upset over a provision that allows legal counsel only to those detainees selected by the Pentagon for prosecution. The Senate Judiciary Committee is going to meet about this issue today.

Conditions will be getting tougher for suspected al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. U.S. military officials say new prison rules are designed to protect guards who have been victims of attacks in recent months. Officials also say there's evidence that the detainees are organizing themselves into groups and they could mount uprisings.

The Red Cross is going to be in Guantanamo today. This will be the first time that fourteen high-profile terror suspects will be seen by anybody from the outside. Some of them have been in custody for up to four years. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live for us in Washington, D.C.

Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

These 14 now are in the super secrecy of the Guantanamo naval prison. But, of course, they were in the ultimate secrecy of the unacknowledged CIA prisons until very recently where the 14, including Khalil Sheikh Mohamed, were removed there. These are among the highest profile, most important prisoners, says the administration, in the war on terror.

They will now have their first visits for the International Committee for the Red Cross. The ICRC goes down there about every six weeks, spends about two weeks on the ground talking to the various detainees. It will mean that these 14 will be able to send letters to their families for the first time. Letters, by the way, that are going to be heavily censored.

They're waiting for some tribunals that are going to determine whether they are to be designated enemy combatants. These are three- member military tribunals which determine just that. In effect, they are pre-trial hearings. It is a certainty that they will be designated enemy combatants and will be put out there for the military commissions.

Those military trials that are so much the debate that's going on in Washington. The ones where they've yet to finally agree on the rules. That is an ongoing debate that they're hoping to resolve this week in D.C. Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us this morning. Bob, thanks.

Former President Bill Clinton delivering a fiery counterattack on his critics, who he said portrayed his administration as weak on terror. The former president spoke to Fox News. He said he regretted not killing Osama bin Laden but insisted that he tried. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But at least I tried. That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try. They did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed, I left a comprehensive anti- terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke, who got demoted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Mr. Clinton accused Fox's Chris Wallace, who was doing that interview, of a conservative hit job. Then he asked if Wallace had challenged the Bush administration on its handling of the war on terror.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So where in the world is Osama bin Laden? Or maybe perhaps the better question is, is he dead or alive? Rampant speculation this weekend about the world's most wanted terrorist. It all started when a French reporter got a hold of a confidential intelligence memo that contained details of bin Laden's death. But there's a lot of skepticism over this. Here's our Jim Bittermann.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In a town square in rural France, the reporter who's article set off speculation about bin Laden's death is convinced the intelligence memorandum he published is accurate. Leid Samari (ph), a national reporter for the regional paper "East Republican," frequently writes about intelligence matters but rarely has he seen a leak of this sort involving classified information from France's foreign intelligence agency. A memo stating that a reliable source had given Saudi intelligence officials exact details of bin Laden's death.

LEID SAMARI, REPORTER, EAST REPUBLICAN, (through translator): That is to say that on the 23rd of August in Pakistan, after coming down with typhoid, and the memorandum adds that he could not be treated because of the absence of medical assistance.

BITTERMANN: French and American intelligence services could not confirm the contents of the memo and said there was no new information on bin Laden's health. But there was tacit confirmation that the memo is authentic from French President Jacques Chirac, who said Saturday that he had ordered an investigation into how the memo found its way into print.

Samari says he could not reveal who gave him the memo, but that it circulated three days ago, through the president and the prime minister's officer, as well as the offices of the interior and defense ministers, passing through the hands of perhaps 50 people in addition to those in the foreign intelligence service. The reporter believes the memo will turn out to be true.

SAMARI: The note ends with information, according to which the Saudis are waiting to localize the burial place of the body before making an official announcement of bin Laden's death.

BITTERMANN: Samari says it's up to someone else to prove whether bin Laden is still alive. All he is sure of is that Saudi intelligence has a source that claims the leader of al Qaeda is dead.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Nancy, France.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: A Saudi intelligence source telling CNN that while there is no confirmation bin Laden is dead, there have been credible reports in recent weeks that the al Qaeda leader is ill.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Residents in Lexington, Kentucky, are trying to get their lives back in order today after some major flooding over the weekend. The waters are receding this morning. But at least eight people were killed because of the flooding.

And severe weather is blamed for the deaths of four other people in Arkansas and Illinois. In northern Arkansas this morning, the flooding is still a big concern. Rivers aren't expected to crest there, though, till tomorrow.

Southern California firefighters gaining ground on that so-called Day fire along the Los Angeles, Ventura County line. Now calmer winds have helped and allowed planes like this DC-10, you can see right there, back into the skies so they can drop that stuff. That's fire retardant that it's dropping. The fires burned more than 127,000 acres. It's only about 40 percent contained.

Let's get right to Chad Myers with the update on how it looks for them weather wise.

What do you think, Chad?

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, the E. Coli outbreak showing no signs of slowing down. We'll bring you up-to-date on that.

Plus, the pope reaching out again to Muslim leaders. Will another olive branch diffuse the anger? We'll go live to Rome ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.

East St. Louis, Illinois. Police say a woman confessed to drowning three children and stuffing them into a washer and dryer. Tiffany Hall is already charged in the death of the children's mother and she's suspected of cutting a fetus from that mother's wound. She's expected in court today.

Two more people sickened by E. coli-tainted spinach. That now raises the number of illnesses to 173. There's been one confirmed death. Two other deaths are being investigated. The contaminated spinach has been traced back to three counties in California's Salinas Valley.

"The Washington Post" is reporting that the FBI is convinced that anthrax mailed to the U.S. Senate five years ago was nowhere near as sophisticated as was first believed. Makes the list of potential suspects in the investigation much longer.

M. O'BRIEN: Muslim diplomats meeting with the pope today as he tries to stem the anger from his remarks about Islam. It's happening at the pope's summer residence. AMERICAN MORNING's Delia Gallagher joining us live from Rome with more.

Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.

In a relatively brief, very diplomatic speech, the pope sais he feels, in the current world situation, it is imperative that Christians and Muslims speak together to help overcome violence. Let's take a listen to what he said just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE BENEDICT, (through translator): We have absolute need to take up an authentic dialogue between religions and cultures. A dialogue which will allow us to overcome all the questions and the doubts of our age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Miles, the pope did not go into the whole question of his apology or all of the consternation that was caused in the weeks ensuing from his initial speech. He said we all know why we're here today. I've had time to talk about that previously and was not going to go into it today. Interestingly, he also referred to John Paul II, several times, talking about that legacy of trust that John Paul II brought to Christian and Muslim relations and reiterating that Pope Benedict felt that that should continue.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So what's your sense of it, Delia? Is that satisfactory? Did those diplomats go into this meeting hoping for something more? A more candid and outright apology?

GALLAGHER: Well, Miles, we were able to talk to the Iraqi ambassador to the Vatican just following the meeting. And he said, while they didn't get a chance to speak, that he was very happy with what the pope said and that he thought it was an important step towards helping this dialogue.

So I think the feeling here, Miles, will be that this is the first step toward starting this dialogue. I don't think that many of them expected that there was going to be a sort of a heart-to-heart today. But that the mere fact of the pope calling them in to meet face-to-face like this, which is relatively unprecedented, is a sign in itself that he's taking this question very seriously.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Delia Gallagher in Rome, thank you very much.

Coming up, you ever wonder what happens to all that stuff confiscated in airport security?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I have.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Where's my leather mat? I'm missing about three - actually about six of them. We'll show you who's making money off all this stuff.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Roesgen live in the Superdome where a football game is not just a football game tonight. I'll show you the repairs after Hurricane Katrina when AMERICAN MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

Oprah in '08? Well, think again. Last week we were telling you about that Kansas man who set up the website to promote Oprah Winfrey for president. Oprah, she's not laughing. Her lawyers have sent the Kansas City resident, (INAUDIBLE), a letter demanding that he remove her picture from the website.

M. O'BRIEN: Really? No sense of humor there.

S. O'BRIEN: Now it's still up.

She's Oprah. If she's going to runs for president, she doesn't need him. She's got Dori (ph).

M. O'BRIEN: It's a flattering thing. I mean . . .

S. O'BRIEN: Anyway. It's still up. You can check it out. It's on the website this morning. Stay tuned on that one, obviously.

So you can't call her president Oprah, but you can still call her radio Oprah. She's launching her own channel on XM Satellite Radio today. The deal is worth $55 million. Oprah's best friend, Gale King, fitness expert Bob Greene, renowned poet Maya Angelou, you saw her just a minute ago, they're all going to join Oprah on the show from time to time. The cheers are already going. Seven million people listen to XM Radio. That's going to be a hit.

M. O'BRIEN: You'll be listening, hugh?

S. O'BRIEN: You know what, honestly, I love Maya Angelou. I would listen to her forever. She's got the best voice in the world.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Kind of poetic, you might say. Yes.

All right, let's talk about HP, shall we. It's just poetry in motion.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. It really is. (INAUDIBLE) poets are here.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, yes, it is.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, Andy Serwer.

SERWER: The latest on this. Now you probably know this point, if you've been following this story. Patricia Dunn stepped down as chairman of the company on Friday and has left the board. Probably see this coming a mile away. She was going to do this in January. Got accelerated with all the brouhaha.

Now Mark Hurd, the CEO, takes over as chairman and he can only hope that his name is completely cleared from this whole mess. You know, he came in to stabilize the company after Carly Fiorina left and he's done a pretty good job doing that. Turned the company around. And it looks like things are back on track, or did until this whole scandal broke.

Now also happening this week, we're going to have that congressional testimony before the committee. Patricia Dunn has agreed to appear. We don't know if she's going to take the fifth or not. Mark Hurd has offered to appear. We don't know if the committee has accepted his invitation.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, why would they turn it down? Wouldn't they want to hear from him?

SERWER: I would think they would. But you never really know.

M. O'BRIEN: You never know. It is Washington.

SERWER: Story in "The Wall Street Journal" has a very interesting slant. Saying that there are inconsistencies between Patricia Dunn's version of things and HP's version of things.

S. O'BRIEN: It's starting to get interesting.

SERWER: And that could get really, really interesting under oath or just as the California state attorney general continues his investigation.

And then finally, guess who's coming back into the picture on the Hewlett-Packard front? Yes, Carly Fiorina. Her book called, "Tough Choices." Sounds like the name of a cafeteria, tough choices. I mean what a name that is.

S. O'BRIEN: I like it.

M. O'BRIEN: It depends on the cafeteria, I guess.

SERWER: Yes, exactly. I don't really like it. I think it's . . .

S. O'BRIEN: I like it.

SERWER: Anyway. All right. Well, maybe you can pick it up. It's coming out two weeks from today and then she's going to have this . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting how it's coming out now.

SERWER: Oh, yes.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, her publishers had so moved that up, did they?

M. O'BRIEN: That was not a tough choice.

SERWER: A big PR blitz. She's going to be on "60 Minutes," et cetera.

S. O'BRIEN: I wonder if that was already scheduled.

SERWER: And listen to this. This is leaked out, the first line of the book. "In the end, the board did not have the courage to face me."

S. O'BRIEN: Ooh.

SERWER: You know, I mean, this is going to get better and good.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I hope she is ready to dish.

M. O'BRIEN: It just goes from there.

SERWER: It's a full employment act for me, right?

S. O'BRIEN: I hope she's ready to dish on that board.

SERWER: I think she -- from what we hear, she doesn't pull any punches.

S. O'BRIEN: Definitely (ph) no love loss.

SERWER: Exactly. So you're going to have Patty Dunn here, Carly Fiorina there, Mark Hurd there.

S. O'BRIEN: The story that keeps giving just keeps giving.

SERWER: And the shareholders are probably not going to be happy, but that's right.

S. O'BRIEN: No. No. that's true.

M. O'BRIEN: What's next?

SERWER: We're going to be talking about text messaging, which is the next frontier for companies . . .

M. O'BRIEN: More doughnuts?

SERWER: No. Well, Soledad, we saved one for you. It's somewhere. Did you hear about that?

S. O'BRIEN: From last week? Thanks, guys.

M. O'BRIEN: We texted some doughnuts.

S. O'BRIEN: Ooh, mmm.

SERWER: It's just how companies are using text messages to sell stuff. We'll talk about that.

M. O'BRIEN: Not as much fun as doughnuts.

SERWER: No.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Andy.

SERWER: You're welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, a new intel report says the Iraq War has increased the threat of terrorism reportedly. Well, why it's being leaked now and when it was finished five months ago. A little curious about all that. We'll talk about the timing, among other things, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

A new week dawns. And we should see a new dimension to the debate over the war in Iraq this week, the war on terror and also the missteps in the run-up to 9/11.

Did you see Bill Clinton on Fox News yesterday? Host Chris Wallace asked a seemingly innocuous question about whether he did enough as president to try to get Osama bin Laden.

Listen up. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: You know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is only 1/7 as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive thing, when all you have to do is read Richard Clark's book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror.

And you've got that little smirk on your face and you think you're so clever. But I had the responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and failed to get bin Laden. I regret it, but I did try.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joining us now from Washington.

Candy, it was certainly good television, as they say. The president told Chris Wallace that he was doing a conservative hit job. Was that a liberal hit job on the part of the president?

CANDY CROWLEY, SR. POL. CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, it certainly doesn't hurt when Democrats are trying to push back on national security issues. In 2002, in 2004, there has been large criticism within the party, starting at the left and sort of moving slowly like rolling thunder into the entire Democratic Party, that Democrats have not been forward thinking enough, they have not pushed back enough on the issue of national security.

And you've seen this throughout the last month or so, leader after leader coming out and saying, we can keep America safer, because that, of course, is the main question of this election.

And to have Bill Clinton, the most effective spokesman for the Democratic Party, come out and push back so hard certainly can't hurt this election.

M. O'BRIEN: So you think he was spoiling for that fight?

CROWLEY: Well, I'm not saying it wasn't genuine anger. I mean, I think there are lots of things that clearly motivate President Clinton. One of them is they just had this ABC docudrama, which a lot of the Clinton folks said, listen, this is not what really happened. Second of all, 2,700 people died in the World Trade Center. Who wants to have that on their legacy? Certainly a lot of the reports have said there's enough blame to go around. Obviously the president has felt maligned by both the ABC docudrama and what he believes is right wing propaganda. Nonetheless, it is something that can help frame this season's debate.

M. O'BRIEN: So you think Democrats will take that as a cue, almost talking points for Democrats?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. But to be fair, they've been doing this all along. But who's more high profile than the former president? So he has a platform and he has a credibility. Any number of Democrats still when you ask about his popularity, he is the most popular figure in the Democratic party. So to have him come out and join this debate in such a healthy way, shall we say, certainly does give platform to what the Democrats have been trying to do.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's talk about this National Intelligence Estimate. This is an assessment of, you know, where the world sits according to the 16 intelligence organizations that we all pay for here. And we haven't seen the report. We've just seen leaked -- it was a leaked summary, I guess, of the report that was written about over the weekend.

Democrats are already taking this as a statement that is very much in their favor, against the war in Iraq. Ted Kennedy saying this is the last nail in the coffin for the Bush White House trying to link 9/11 to the war in Iraq. Do you really think that this changes the debate?

CROWLEY: Well, it gives new fodder for the debate. Certainly Democrats have been saying all along, and we've heard all along that, in fact, Iraq had become this magnet for jihadists, that, in fact, people were coming across the border to make this fight with the U.S.

So it's not so much that it's new, it's that it comes up at a time that, obviously, is very politically sensitive. So what it does is give more backbone to Democrats who have been saying all along, listen, we're not safer, and they have needed -- they have complained, I think you know, recently that no one pays attention to Democrats when they come out and give a news conference, that all the coverage is for the president which, obviously, is an argument that every Congress makes when they're out of power. So the Democrats have been trying all along to say we are not safer, and certainly this report gives them a little more ammunition.

M. O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley, thank you very much. The CNN political ticker is debuting today, less than an hour from now. The daily news service on CNN.com will give readers an inside perspective on the day's political stories as we head into the crucial midterm election and prepare for the presidential contest of 2008. You can find it at CNN.com/ticker -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, car parts, and brakes and shock absorbers. No, I'm not just talking about the things you just find in auto shop. Believe it or not, these were also things that were found at airport security checkpoints around the country. I am not joking you. So as we have more to hand over, and we have to hand over much more as we go through the lines, do you ever wonder what happens to all that stuff?

AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian took a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Concord, New Hampshire, across a two-lane road, next to a cornfield, inside a small warehouse, airport contraband is up for sale. (on camera): And you're able to pretty much sell most of this stuff?

JOHN SUPRY, NEW HAMPSHIRE SURPLUS DIVISION: Oh, yes, yes.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): John Supry, with New Hampshire's surplus division, uses a forklift to lower the thousands of pounds of banned items from travelers at Boston Logan and three other New England airports.

SUPRY: About every six weeks we get a call from one of the airports and we'll send a truck in and pick these items up.

LOTHIAN: Some things are tossed. Others are sold to the public for a few dollars.

The biggest seller?

SUPRY: Jackknifes.

LOTHIAN: Boxes and boxes of them.

But there's all sorts of other things as well.

SUPRY: Things you can't imagine, car parts, brakes, shock absorbers, blenders, you name it.

LOTHIAN: And even now, knowing what the 9/11 hijackers used, this still keeps showing up.

SUPRY: You've got the box cutter.

LOTHIAN: Remember, all these items were about to be carried on to an airplane.

TOM KINTON, MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY: There still are things that people are attempting to bring on the airplane that the TSA is getting at the security checkpoint and confiscating. But the vast majority of the traveling public understands the restrictions and packs accordingly.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Still, the Transportation Security Administration says at least 30 million banned items have been collected since 2002, at 450 airports across the country.

(voice-over): The federal government would typically have to pay to get rid of it all. Instead, some of the contraband ends up in places like this.

SUPRY: We save the taxpayers money, and they don't have to pay to dispose of these items.

LOTHIAN: New Hampshire makes about $226,000 a year from its programs. The state of Pennsylvania also cashes in, selling items on eBay, retrieved for 12 airports in five states.

And what happens to all the butane-filled lighters?

SUPRY: Anything that's hazardous they dispose of through another means.

LOTHIAN: The TSA contracts with this environmental cleanup company, which disposes of them in incinerators, a booming market for banned items that missed their flights.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Weekend storms pounded parts of the Midwest and South with deadly consequences. At least eight people were killed in Kentucky. Six of those were flood-related deaths.

The water is receding this morning, and it's leaving homeowners with a pretty tough job ahead cleaning up. Severe weather is also being blamed for the deaths of four other people in Arkansas and in Illinois.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: A big milestone on the road to recovery for New Orleans. Tonight the Saints play their first game at home in the Superdome since it became a desperate shelter during Hurricane Katrina. U2, Green Day and the Goo-Goo Dolls will play there, but there'll be VIPs in the seats. But most important, these characters, the Saints fans, will at last, come marching back into the dome.

CNN Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen on the field at the Dome.

Susan, big day in New Orleans.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: A really big day, Miles.

As you mentioned, the Superdome was the scene of so much misery after Hurricane Katrina, but look at it now. When the Saints come marching in tonight, it will be so much different.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN (voice-over): The repairs have gone on for more than a year, an almost complete overhaul. From the top of the roof to the gold lettering in the end zone, the dome is almost like new.

DOUG THORNTON, SUPERDOME MANAGER: It's hard for me to believe. Sometimes I come in here late at night by myself and I look around, and I just can't -- you know, I just can't believe what it looked like before.

ROESGEN: Both during and after Hurricane Katrina, the Superdome became a shelter for nearly 30,000 people. They never dreamed the power would go out and they'd be stuck in a place without lights, air- conditioning or functioning toilets.

With rain pouring down through holes in the roof.

THORNTON: There was a 50-hoot gash created over here at one point in time, by a four-foot by 50-foot hole. And the metal was just vibrating against the skin of the building, and it just created this enormous echo.

ROESGEN: For Superdome manager Doug Thornton, it was a nightmare, and it could have gotten worse. The numbers on this wall show how close floodwater got to the generator, the only thing that saved the last little bit of emergency power.

Now, a year later with $185 million in repairs and improvements still ongoing, the Superdome is a stadium again, not a shelter.

THORNTON: It's really a very proud moment, I think, for all of us. And I'm very proud to be a New Orleanian. We certainly didn't want Katrina to be the last chapter in the Dome's colorful history.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROESGEN: And the Superdome's history includes six Super Bowls, but no game is going to be bigger than the one tonight. I got to tell you, Miles, I got here at 5:30 this morning, and already I saw two guys with plastic lawn chairs, probably getting ready to be the very first tailgaters. That's how much excitement there is for this game tonight.

M. O'BRIEN: They ought to be in rare form by game time, I suspect.

Just give us a sense -- maybe you can pan around a little bit, just give us a sense of how it looks.

ROESGEN: Well, it looks beautiful. I mean, last time I was here on the field, my feet were squishing because of the water, all of rainwater that had come in through the roof. All the seats were trashed.

Now I don't know if you can tell behind me, but they have 22,000 brand new seats, they have brand new astroturf, as you saw in the report there, a brand new roof, a beautiful facility for the Saints when they come in tonight. And for the fans, this game is sold out. In fact, For the first time in Saints history, they have sold out every single season ticket, 68,000 seats.

M. O'BRIEN: Susan Roesgen inside the Dome. We saw a nice picture of it on the outside, looks pretty good there, doesn't it?

For more about the transformation of the Superdome, catch Susan's in-depth piece about the Dome's comeback running all day today on Pipeline. You know where to find it, CNN.com/pipeline -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, there's a new way to help moms and dads become better parents. Ever think about a personal parenting coach? I haven't, but I don't hear that much about it.

M. O'BRIEN: I haven't, but I wouldn't turn it down.

S. O'BRIEN: We'll tell about you this modern-age Mary Poppins of sorts, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Kids out of control? don't know what too do or where to turn? There is professional help. Carol Costello has more.

Are you offering professional help?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Not me personally, but hey, this worked for the Detroit Tigers. They got a good coach for a group of undisciplined guys and, voila, they're in the playoffs for the first time since 1987. So why not get a coach for your own unruly team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lindy (ph), please go upstairs and get Brady. What are you standing around for? I've already told you twice. That's enough.

COSTELLO: It may seem like a typical morning for Sharon Pieters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls, the sooner you're done dressed, the sooner you can watch television.

COSTELLO: But this isn't her family. Shannon is a parent coach.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's a sleeper.

COSTELLO: Hired by Monica and Al, who preferred we only use their first names. They're hoping she'll help with their three young children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We couldn't even go on vacation. Everytime we go on vacation to the grandparents' house, the grandparents...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're rude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the vacation, instead of come back next year, don't come back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That means you're going to have to sleep in your big girl bed.

COSTELLO: More and more are turning to professionals for guidance, whether it's a sleeping issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sleeping arrangements have never been better. We actually sleep -- I haven't slept in my bed for three years. I didn't know what it was like. COSTELLO: Or bad manners.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Sharon's Role is reminiscent of TV shows like "Nanny 911" and "Super Nanny."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She just goes ballistic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My word!

COSTELLO: Flying around the country to work with families who can afford her expertise. But not everyone can pay her fee of $1,200 a day. Others turn to online help, which can cost as little as $30 a month. Some critics say that parent coaches lack uniform national standards and training.

DR. ALAN KAZDIN, CHMN. YALE CHILD STUDY CENTER: There's no area of education called parent coaching in which someone can take courses for it that are known to make a difference in parenting.

COSTELLO: Yet Kazdin understands the recent surge in demand for parent coaching.

KAZDIN: The parents' lives are much more stressful and frustrating, so they need as much help as they want just to ease the burden of child rearing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perfect. Everyone's ready.

KAZDIN: Think of it as family outsourcing.

COSTELLO: Monica says she need the outside help as her situation was getting out of control.

MONICA, HIRED A PARENT COACH: The three girls are so close in age that it's really, really overwhelming for me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hang on -- how many TVs do we have in this house?

COSTELLO: Sharon, a nanny by trade, spent a week with Monica and Al, training them to discipline their children.

SHARON PIETERS, FOUNDER, CHILD MINDED: Children are born into this world innocent little human beings. If a child is taught that you can interrupt while mommy's on the phone, that's what they believe is normal behavior, and that's what they're going to constantly do. But when your child is very young, you need to train them.

COSTELLO: With their new parental training, the typical morning is finally smooth sailing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's the bus. Daddy!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: It's creating quite a discussion on the set.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, they paid $8,000 more for a week of basic -- why is she talking to the kids? She should talk to the parents.

COSTELLO: Well, that's what I thought, you know, they should really train the parents about how to deal better with their children, and then that would save them money in the long run, at the very least.

S. O'BRIEN: Eight-thousand dollars for a week to have someone tell your child to say thank you when you pour their juice? Come on.

COSTELLO: Well, it's a little more than that. They were very unruly. But if you're less affluent, then Sharon will adjust the price and she can do the same service for you cheaper.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, I'll do it cheaper. I'll do it for 6,000 bucks.

COSTELLO: I'll do it for 5,000. I can beat that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, 4,900.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Come on, it's common sense. It's common sense.

COSTELLO: I can't -- well, these parents were having a lot of trouble, so they decided to bring in somebody to help. I mean, you haven't walked a mile in their shoes. So we should give them a little break.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we've all been there.

COSTELLO: As Andy said, maybe they should have brought the Dog Whisper in, because the Dog Whisperer.

SERWER: The Dog Whisperer could tell them what to do because...

COSTELLO: Because the Dog Whisperer trains the owners of the dog how to deal with the dog.

SERWER: That's right. That's what it's all about.

M. O'BRIEN: Having your kids on a leash is not a good idea. Probably wouldn't want to do that.

COSTELLO: No. M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Carol.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol. That is a great story.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at our top stories after the break. Stay with us, everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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