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American Morning

Police Say They May Have Identified Suspected Cop Killer; School Shooting in Bailey, Colorado

Aired September 29, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Candiotti reporting live in Lakeland, Florida.
Police here say they may have now identified a suspected cop killer. But the manhunt goes on. I'll have the latest coming up.

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jonathan Freed live in Bailey, Colorado.

More details on the school shooting here, including the victim's last message to her family. I will have that coming up.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill.

White House officials have been mum about their contacts with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. But a new Congressional report being released this morning has details, and we've got them for you coming up.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And journalist Bob Woodward drops a bombshell 39 days before the election. His new book claims the White House is hiding the truth about the violence in Iraq.

Those stories and much more ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

The search for a cop killer underway in Central Florida this morning. Hundreds of police officers in Polk County looking for a man who killed one deputy and wounded another during a traffic stop yesterday.

CNN's Susan Candiotti joining us now from Lakeland with more -- hello, Susan.

CANDIOTTI: Hi, Miles.

As we said, police say they may have now identified the suspected cop killer and they've released a new photograph of him. But they have a few aliases they're working with. As you look at the photograph, here is his name -- Alex or Andrew Cloxton or it could be Angelo Freeland. Police are saying that he does have ties to Miami. And according to a records check, he had an address here in Lakeland, Florida as recently as 2003.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): It started as a routine traffic stop for speeding. Police say the driver didn't have a license, produced a false I.D. and then got nervous about the possibility of going to jail. He ran into some nearby woods. Giving chase, Polk County, Florida Sheriff's Deputy Matt Williams and his police dog were shot dead.

Another deputy survived a leg wound.

SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: We are prepared for a gunfight if he wants a gunfight. Or we're prepared to take him into custody peaceably. If he's got any sense at all, he'll choose that option.

CANDIOTTI: The suspect's name on his fake I.D. was Eswardo Ramclaim. But it could be phony, too, just like history address.

JUDD: The address is bogus. The name very well may be bogus. But this is the face of the man that shot and killed my deputy today.

CANDIOTTI: After the deputies were shot, police say the suspect fired at another officer near a home then disappeared again. Kathleen High School and two others in the immediate search area were locked down for about seven hours. Police from surrounding areas converged on the scene to help look for the suspect.

Authorities also urged area residents to stay inside their homes. Just before nightfall, students were escorted to buses for home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fear just goes through you. You know, you want to -- oh my god, is this going to be like a Columbine?

CANDIOTTI: The manhunt took investigators into some woods, where they used shields and more dogs to find the alleged cop killer.

JUDD: He's on the run-and anyone that gets in his way, I'm absolutely confident will end up shot, as well.

CANDIOTTI: The deputy who was killed was on the force for 12 years. He lost his life on his wife's birthday and leaves behind three children.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CANDIOTTI: Police are going over the rental car that that suspect was driving. At least they will say about it is that, "It had every indication that -- of some kind of drug activity." That's all they'll say about that.

Also, police say that the suspect has a couple of cell phones with him, at the very least. And, of course, he is armed.

They are combing through a 150-acre wooded area, with the woods so thick they say you could walk right by the man and possibly not see him. But they've got hundreds of officers looking for him -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Is there reason to believe, Susan, that he's still inside that general vicinity of Polk County or have there been cars stolen? Any reason to believe he might be much farther away?

CANDIOTTI: Boy, they're saying they sure don't know. He could still be inside the perimeter where he was yesterday or he could have escaped it. Police say they're not taking any chances. For now, they're concentrating mainly on that perimeter. But naturally they've got officers across the state looking out for this man.

M. O'BRIEN: Susan Candiotti in Lakeland.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A Congressional report out this morning indicates closer ties between convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House than had been previously reported.

CNN's Congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is following that story for us out of Capitol Hill.

Kathleen Koch is live at the White House.

Let's begin with Dana -- good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And, you know, this report, Congressional investigators sifted through more than 14,000 documents, e-mails, billing records. And, as you say, they did come up in this report with the idea that the White House and Jack Abramoff -- or at least Jack Abramoff -- tried to contact the White House a little more than we've known about before this date.

Now, some of what we know about, according to this report, is 400 instances where Jack Abramoff told clients and billed clients for work involving White House officials, including drinks and meals with White House officials. There were 10 direct contacts between Abramoff and top White House political adviser Karl Rove.

Now, the report does make clear that Jack Abramoff didn't have an open line to Karl Rove. In fact, many of his e-mails and phone calls were left with no response from Rove at all. And the report also noted that Jack Abramoff tried to use some mutual friends, acquaintances like Republican political operative Ralph Reed, in order to try to get to Rove.

But the big question is what did Abramoff actually get from all of these lobbying efforts for his clients?

And the results, according to the report, are quite mixed. He did get some victories like, for example, $16.3 million in federal funding for a jail for an Indian tribe client and $3 million in federal money for another Indian tribe client for school construction.

But there is also a long list of people that Abramoff and his associates at his lobbying firm tried to get administration jobs for, judicial nominations for, and they were met with absolutely no success.

Now, the GOP chairman of this committee who prepared the report, Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia, he told our Deirdre Walsh that there is no evidence in this report that Karl Rove or anyone else at the White House did anything wrong -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash for us.

Thanks, Dana.

Let's get to the White House to hear more about what they're saying about all of this.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is there for us -- hey, Kathleen, good morning.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And certainly the White House is none too happy with the report. In the past, it had acknowledged very few contacts with the disgraced lobbyist. Now this report says there were more than 400.

But White House Spokesperson Dana Perino suggests, really, that this information is very questionable, saying: "The report is based on billing records that are widely regarded as fraudulent in how they misrepresent Abramoff's activities and level of access. So there is no reason why they should suddenly be viewed as credible."

Now, Perino goes on to explain that Abramoff lists even very minor, innocuous contacts as lobbying, saying: "For example, he apparently lists as a lobbying contact and billable event bumping into somebody at a fundraiser and then describing it in billing records as a substantial lobbying contact."

The White House continues to maintain that President Bush never met one-on-one himself with Jack Abramoff. And this report, Soledad, certainly does not challenge that assertion.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think we're going to hear more about all of this we will hear from the president?

He's talking in about, I guess, 90 minutes or so.

Or does he have a different focus today?

KOCH: It's a different focus, Soledad, and this is not the sort of subject that the president would be interested in raising himself unilaterally at a speech on the war on terror.

He is going to be speaking to a group of retired military officers. He will likely talk about the National Intelligence Estimate, that controversial document that -- much of it was released this week -- that raised some questions about the impact that the war in Iraq is having on terrorism worldwide. Also likely to praise the Senate for its vote yesterday, passing his plan to try and interrogate suspected terrorists.

Democrats, though, still have a lot of problems with that measure that is, again, expected to go to the president's desk very soon. They just say it gives the president far too much latitude in deciding what type of interrogation practices are acceptable. And they believe it could even endanger U.S. forces if they were ever captured in enemy territory -- back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch for us at the White House.

Thanks, Kathleen.

KOCH: You bet.

S. O'BRIEN: The president's speech begins at 9:40 a.m. this morning, Eastern time.

We're going to carry it live.

And you can read the entire Abramoff report on our Web site. It's at cnn.com/ticker. In fact, all your daily political news is there -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Authorities outside Denver now know who is responsible for a deadly hostage taking at a high school there. Fifty-three-year-old Duane Morrison is the man who shot and killed one student before taking his own life. But the answer to why remains a mystery that might never be solved.

CNN's Jonathan Freed in Bailey, Colorado with more -- Jonathan.

FREED: Good morning, Miles.

That is the question that, no matter who you talk to here, whether it's parents of children who went to this school, whether it's the chap-lain, whether it's just people in town, friends, everybody just wants to know why this happened.

This was a man that police are saying was living out of his car, living out of his jeep. They have found no direct connection to anybody here at the school. So that question of why is on everyone's mind.

And, Miles, there's hope here that it might be answered, or at least an inkling of why, might be addressed in just under an hour from now, when police are expected to give us an update.

One of the things that they mentioned at their last briefing yesterday afternoon was that an assault rifle was found about a mile away from here. Now, they've been checking that out. They're not sure whether or not it's linked to this. But they did say that Duane Morrison had two guns on him when his body was removed from that classroom -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Jonathan Freed in Bailey, Colorado.

Thank you very much.

Let's get a check of the forecast now.

Chad Myers at the CNN Center with that -- hello, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Miles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, is the which keeping some big secrets from the public?

We'll look at the revelations in the latest book from journalist Bob Woodward.

And in Tennessee, some folks there upset about books at a local library.

Pornographic? Seditious?

No. Just Spanish. We'll explain on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Woodward is out with a book that offers a scathing indictment of the Bush administration's public statements about the war in Iraq. Woodward contends the White House is deliberately glossing over grim news about the war.

The question is how might this impact the mid-term election?

CNN's Mary Snow with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "State of Denial: Bush at War, Part Three" is claimed to reveal damaging secrets from inside the White House about the war in Iraq. One of those secrets Bob Woodward tells CBS' "60 Minutes" is that the administration isn't telling the full story about the amount of violence. In an interview to air Sunday, CBS quotes Woodward as saying: "It's getting to the point now where there are 800, 900 attacks a week. That's more than 100 a day. That is four an hour attacking our forces."

HOWARD KURTZ, "WASHINGTON POST": A Bob Woodward book is always a bombshell event and the fact that the book is even called "State of Denial" suggests that perhaps he's going to be more critical of the Bush administration and its handling of the Iraq war than he has been in the past.

SNOW: Critics have accused Woodward of being too soft on the Bush administration in his last two books. While this new one is under lock and key until it hits the bookstores on Monday, the details he's purportedly revealed to CBS indicate it could be highly critical of the White House.

He tells "60 Minutes" there is intelligence being kept under wraps that the insurgency will get worse in 2007. And he reveals that Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state under Richard Nixon during the Vietnam War, meets often with the president and vice president as an adviser. Kissinger's advice, he reports, has been victory is the only meaningful strategy.

Kissinger was traveling and could not be reached for comment. But in an interview with "Late Edition" in March, he made a similar argument.

HENRY KISSINGER, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: I do not think that setting a deadline is a useful strategy, because then everything is working in the expectation of a fixed deadline in which the insurgents can simply wait us out.

SNOW: A senior administration official downplayed the book, telling CNN: "It doesn't appear to be anything new. The president has been very frank with the country about the challenges we face in the war on terror, how ruthless, violent and determined our enemy is."

Some predict Woodward's claims might be felt in the November elections.

KURTZ: When Iraq is such an overriding issue in these House and Senate campaigns undoubtedly it is going to have an impact and it's going to provide ammunition, probably, for Democratic candidates running against Republicans, to try to hang that war and its missteps around the neck of the Bush White House.

SNOW: But Woodward told CBS that President Bush is so certain about staying in Iraq that he told key Republicans: "I will not withdraw, even if war and Barney are the only ones supporting me."

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: That story first aired on "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. You can see it at 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern time, weekdays, on CNN -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Democrats trying to take back control of Congress come November.

Do they have enough cash, though, to carry them through the campaign?

We'll take a closer look just ahead. And then later, the controversy over library books in Tennessee.

The scandal?

The books are in Spanish.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back in a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gabriella Amarine (ph) is having a tough time facing retirement. After raising three children and getting divorced, she entered the workforce for the first time at age 41.

Today, despite savings and investments, Amarine, now 65, says she can't afford to retire.

GABRIELLA AMARINE: It's scary to think about it because every year the cost of living goes higher and higher. If god gives me good health, I'll keep on working until I'm 80 years old.

MORRIS: Amarine is not alone. A recent retirement risk study by the Society of Actuaries finds most women will not be able to support themselves over a lifetime.

CINDY HOUNSELL, PRESIDENT, WOMEN'S INSTITUTE FOR SECURE RETIREMENT: Women earn less. They spend time out of the workforce for care giving. And then the biggest issue is that they ilve longer.

MORRIS: Despite those obstacles, experts say women need to take an active approach to saving for retirement.

HOUNSELL: You have to think about this early, live beneath your means, save as much as you can. You need to know what you have, which is one of the biggest mistakes, is people not knowing whether they have a retirement benefit.

I think it's never too late to start. Social Security pays you 8 percent a year when you reach the full retirement age, but you don't take your benefit until age 70. So that's a great way of getting a lot more income. The most important thing is to not throw your hands up in the air and say I can't do this.

MORRIS: Valerie Morris, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Happening This Morning, the search for a cop killer underway in Central Florida as we speak. Hundreds of police officers in Polk County looking for a man who killed one deputy and wounded another in a traffic stop yesterday. Lawyers for a West Point cadet who was convicted of rape vowing an appeal this morning. Lonnie Story sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday for raping a fellow cadet.

In Canada, authorities publicly apologizing to a man they falsely branded a terrorist. Maher Arar was deported to Syria by the U.S. based on inaccurate information from the Canadian authorities. He says he was tortured in a Syrian prison -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: A controversy in Tennessee over some library books. Books in Spanish and a Spanish language story time for kids brought protests from some of the residents.

Nashville affiliate WKRN's Amy Napier-Viteri has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JAN ALLEN, LIBRARY DIRECTOR: It has been overwhelming, the calls that we have fielded for the positive response.

AMY NAPIER-VITERI, WKRN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The community of Lewisburg is reaching out to the Marshall County Memorial Library after a News-2 report showed several residents don't want foreign language books on the shelves.

ROBIN MINOR, RESIDENT: It should not be paid for with the taxpayers' money of Marshall County. And I do think that we have a lot of county commissioners that will be interested on it. And, again, if it's one penny, it's one penny too much.

I would like to see a policy that if somebody is going to donate a book to this library, where English has been the dominant language since 1836, let's make those books be donated in English only.

NAPIER-VITERI: The library's director was concerned until receiving all this feedback from the community.

ALLEN: It's a great relief to know that they feel that we're doing a good job and that we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, and that's disseminating information, whether it's Spanish, French or English.

NAPIER-VITERI: Residents have been making donations for Spanish language books. Many are in honor of Nellie Rivera (ph), a library employee who has been criticized by some for hosting a bilingual story time.

ALLEN: They specifically said I want this book to be in honor, whatever you pick out, in honor of Nellie and make sure that it's Spanish language materials.

NAPIER-VITERI: John Robie, the chair of the library's board of trustees, says it's not the library's job to censor what kind of books are available to its patrons. But in spite of the controversy, he's glad for the support. JOHN ROBIE, CHAIR, BOARD TRUSTEES, MARSHALL COUNTY MEMORIAL LIBRARY: Very much so. I just wish that we had that kind of support without an issue like this bringing it out.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: That was Amy Napier-Viteri of WKRN in Nashville reporting -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: In Ventura County, California, another day for the Day Fire. That stubborn fire just refuses to die.

CNN's Peter Viles with more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 25 days it has outfoxed the firefighters, shifting in one direction then doubling back. But it's when the wind blows that it gets downright mean.

A fire tornado, two of them, broke out Tuesday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two of them! Two of them! Oh, I got the other one next to it!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They merged. They merged. Oh, it came out the back.

VILES: Roughly 200 feet high, the tornado jumped fire lines, threatening the mountain village of Lockwood Valley.

STEVE MUELLER, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY: It picked up cardboard boxes, chairs and other items. And stuff was just flying around. And I've never seen anything like that.

VILES: Many residents packed up and left their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just hope it's here when we get back.

VILES: The village was spared, but the Day Fire, so-called because it started on Labor Day, has now blackened a wilderness area the size of Chicago and is still less than 50 percent contained.

(on camera) The biggest challenge in fighting this fire has been the terrain. It is so steep and so rugged up in these hills that when fire flares like it is right now behind me, it's almost impossible to get in here with a fire engine or a bulldozer to fight these flames.

(voice-over) When winds are calm, firefighters attack from the air, dumping water, even using a DC-10 to spread fire retardant. On the ground, hot shots, specially trained ground crews, are doing what they can.

CHERYL GOETZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY: Right now we're flying crews in, dropping them in. We call it coyoting them out. They stay in for three or four days. They live off of the supplies that are dropped there.

FOREMAN: But when the fire jumped line this week it ran into valleys where firefighters had to fight back with hoses and bulldozers.

More than 4,000 firefighters are now battling the blaze. This group just checked in from New York City.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's so dry out here, this stuff won't go out.

VILES: On day 25, the fire itself was hard to find. But these firefighters know the Day Fire is not done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a little tired. The fire lays down and it picks back up again. So, it has been a long ordeal.

VILES: An ordeal with no end in sight.

Peter Viles for CNN, Lockwood Valley, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now, the Day Fire is now about 63 percent contained. Firefighters expected to have it under control by Monday. But we've heard other projections in the past, as well.

Coming up, it is the election season. That, of course, means a big political fight pitting Democrats against Democrats. We'll ask the man in charge why they just can't get along, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning.

Welcome back, everybody.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

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

Thanks for being with us.

S. O'BRIEN: Carol Costello has got a look at some of the stories that are making headlines today -- good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

And good morning to all of you.

More grim discoveries in Iraq this morning. Twenty-five more bodies found across Baghdad. Since Sunday, police have found 147 bodies, nearly all of them showing signs of torture. Also in Baghdad, a family member of the chief judge in the Saddam Hussein trial was shot and killed. It is unclear if the judge's brother-in-law was targeted because he took over as chief judge of the trial last week.

In a little over an hour, President Bush delivers another speech on the war on terrorism. This on the heels of a victory for the administration. Last night, the Senate approved landmark changes to the nation's system of interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects. We'll bring the president's speech to you live.

Two Roman Catholic priests are accused of stealing millions of dollars from their Palm Beach parish. Retired Monsignor John Skehan is under arrest after a trip to Ireland. But police are still looking for Reverend Francis Guinan. Skehan, seen here at his arraignment -- there he is -- was the pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer Church for four decades. Investigators say the two priests stole a whopping $8.6 million. And they did it to buy property and take vacations.

Last night the Senate approved landmark changes to the nation's system of interrogating and prosecuting terrorism suspects. We'll bring the president's speech to you live.

Two Roman Catholic priests are accused of stealing millions of dollars from their Palm Beach parish. Retired Monsignor John Skehan is under arrest after a trip to Ireland, but police are still looking for Reverend Francis Gaynan(ph). Skehan seen here at his arraignment, there he is, was the pastor of St. Vincent for our Church for four decades. Investigators say the two priests stole a whopping $8.6 million and they did it to buy property and take vacations.

The latest phase in the case of one of America's deadliest fires. The owners of a Rhode Island nightclub where 100 people died in the 2003 fire will plead no contest to involuntary manslaughter charges. Jeffrey and Michael Derdarian owned the "Station" nightclub where the fatal fire sparked by concert pyrotechnics burned the club to the ground. Michael Derdarian will go to prison for four years. Jeffrey will get a suspended sentence, probation and 500 hours of community service.

A Colorado judge is refusing to impose a gag order in that horrific dragging death case. Jose Luis Rubinava is accused of killing Luz Marie Franco-Fierros almost two weeks ago. She died of asphyxiation and head injuries after being dragged behind a vehicle for more than a mile. Now his attorney says coverage could hurt her clients right to a fair trial.

And in Maryland this morning, people are cleaning up after severe weather sweeps through the state, spawning at least one tornado. The storm with lashing rains, thunder and lightning, uprooted trees, damaged homes and left thousands in the Maryland, D.C. and northern Virginia areas without power. One person was hurt. For the calm after the storm, let's head to Atlanta and Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Thirty nine days until the election. Democrats may have their best chance in 12 years of getting back in power. Democrats need to arrest 15 seats from the GOP to seize control of the House. The man charged with that challenge is Congressman Rahm Emanuel, he is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the DCCC. Congressman Emanuel, good to have you with us.

REP. RAHM EMANUEL, (D) ILLINOIS: Good morning Miles, how are you?

M. O'BRIEN: Good. Let's talk money shall we for a moment.

EMANUEL: You sound like my wife.

M. O'BRIEN: And mine too, as a matter of fact. The Democratic National Committee, which is a separate entity, is funneling about $2.4 million to the D-trip, your organization, to be spent in about 40 congressional races. We're told you're being outspent by the RNC expenditure by something like 25 times. Now before I ask you the question, we had Paul Begala and James Cargow(ph) on here the other day and they had a little something to say about this. Listen up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Is it Governor Dean and the National Party have raised tens of millions of dollars but only have a tiny fraction of that left for the election. Governor Dean has decided that its better to do as he said in the piece, do party building and organizing across the country.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Is it a mistake?

EMANUEL: Are you asking me that?

M. O'BRIEN: Yeah.

EMANUEL: Look, we have a great game plan for the ground campaign going into this election to make sure that each of our races know how to get to the voters and communicate to them both through the TV, the mailbox, the telephone and door to door. And I feel that we have a strong operation, but also most importantly, we have a strong message about having a new direction for this country from Iraq to the economy, but also most importantly, to Congress.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm talking about money. I'm talking about money right now. Is that a strategic mistake to spend the money on party building, long-term investment as opposed to the short-term need for the party, which would be to try to arrest control of the House?

EMANUEL: The way you build a party for the long term is you win elections every election cycle. That is the charge that Chuck Schumer and I have and I'm very comfortable with where we are going into this election.

M. O'BRIEN: But come on, you want some more money, don't you?

EMANUEL: I always want more money because those resources help you do what you have to do. Obviously I would prefer more. We are not going to deter, we have 39 days and we're putting together the plans we need in each of these districts, to contact voters one by one, mailbox by mailbox, phone by phone, at the door, where they work, making sure that they know why Democrats are new direction Democrats.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. But you made -- at the top you made this analogous to your wife. There is a little bit of a marital spat going on here right now, so to speak, over money. Let's share with some viewers some headlines on some stories where there's some disagreement with you and Chairman Dean about exactly how this money should be spent. "Roll Call" says this, "Emanuel, Dean Still Sparring," that's July 3rd. "Chicago Tribune", "Democrats Fear Rifts Risk Midterm Victory; Dean, Emanuel at Odds on Strategy." "Pittsburgh Post", "The Tangled Democrats; Rahm Emanuel and Howard Dean Square off over the Party's Direction." On it goes. I guess we all have disagreements, but Democrats like to do it on the front pages, right?

EMANUEL: Well, what I prefer is look, I got charged by the candidates running for Congress, members of Congress and our supporters throughout the country to make sure that we are fully prepared for this election, and we are, both in what we want to say, why we think this country has to go in a different direction and the resources we need to make sure that both on the ground and in the air campaigns are fully funded and competitive. This is an historic election about whether you want to stay the course or have a new direction which Democrats are calling for, and I believe every Democrat wants to make sure that we have all the resources for these races and the DCCC, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and our candidates will have that.

M. O'BRIEN: Have you patched up things, though, with Howard Dean?

EMANUEL: My guess is I'm not on Howard Dean's holiday mailing list and he's not on mine but that doesn't matter because we're both committed to winning this election this year.

M. O'BRIEN: So you're still battling?

EMANUEL: No. I didn't say that. I just said we're both committed. Miles, what I think is really important, I'm not going to tell you what your viewers think, but I think they really care about what are we going to do on the minimum wage, what are we going to do to make sure that we get a prescription drug bill that directly negotiates for lower prices? Are we going to be sure that, in fact, before we leave Congress, that there is a middle class tax cuts for people to go get a college education? They're not really interested about whether Howard Dean or Rahm Emanuel get along, they want to make sure that our agenda meets their needs and the challenges they have to raise their children.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's shift gears here. Money buys ads and ads give you what you're about to see here. This is an ad for Joe Donnelly, he's a Republican trying to win a seat in Indiana.

EMANUEL: No, Joe's a Democrat trying to win a seat in Indiana.

M. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry, he's a Democrat.

EMANUEL: Right.

M. O'BRIEN: I apologize.

EMANUEL: That's ok.

M. O'BRIEN: They've connected Joe Donnelly to Nancy Pelosi, my apologies. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Liberal Democrat Leader Nancy Pelosi has given Joe Donnelly thousands of dollars. She contributed to Joe Donnelly and she wants his vote for speaker. Connect the dots for yourself. It's not hard to see it means liberal leadership that's bad for America and expensive for you.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Nancy Pelosi has one of the most liberal voting records of anybody in Congress. Is she too liberal for that position and does she become a liability for the party?

EMANUEL: In another part of Indiana and down in the southern part of Indiana they tried that on another candidate who's now up in some polls 18, 19 percent, (INAUDIBLE) for the sheriff, who's running against Hostetler in the Adamsville and (INAUDIBLE) area. People will judge Joe Donnelly on his own, which is why in poll after poll consistently, he's leading incumbent Congressman Chris Chocola because his positions on social security is for privatization, which is a mistake. His position on the prescription drug bill benefited the pharmaceutical companies, not the seniors of his district. And so on issue after issue, people will judge Joe Donnelly and Chris Chocola and they have so far at this point are choosing Joe Donnelly's new direction over Chris Chocola's stay the course, rubber stamp policies for this president.

M. O'BRIEN: But back to the question about Nancy Pelosi. Is she, perhaps, a liability because of that voting record? Can she be used against you?

EMANUEL: In the same way that -- you know, listen, George Bush is a liability for a lot of Republicans who never want to see George Bush in and around their district because both him and his policies are failing America, both at home and abroad. And Nancy Pelosi is just one individual who is a leader of our party here in Congress. But Joe Donnelly and the candidates across this country in fact are running on their own and their own record and their positions, everything from what we have to do in Iraq, to what we have to do for Social Security, Medicare, our veterans and fight Republicans who want to cut our veterans, vets. And Joe Donnelly is doing just fine representing the views of that district, which is why he is in a competitive campaign right now, which in a race in a district just a short year ago people didn't think was a competitive race.

M. O'BRIEN: Nancy Pelosi on record sort of predicting that she'll become the next speaker of the House. Are you along with that prediction? EMANUEL: My job is to affect races, not predict them. As you noted when you opened up Miles, we have 39 days until election. I'm focused like a laser on making sure that every campaign and every candidate has the resources and all the things that they need to make sure people know what their positions are when it comes to seniors issues like social security and Medicare. What their positions are on energy independence rather than dependence on both foreign oil and big oil companies that determine America's future. As long as they have that, they have the right message of taking this country in a new direction, versus this Congress that says on everything from Iraq to the economy, we have an endless occupation, we have a wages recovery, but our option is as Republicans say, is to stay the course in both areas. And Democrats are saying, nope, it's time for a new direction.

M. O'BRIEN: Congressman Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Comittee. Thanks.

EMANUEL: Thanks Miles.

Still to come, back on terra firma, the world's first female space tourist ends her gold plated adventure in orbit. Was it really worth $20 million?

And some animal tape we just couldn't resist. Olympics for the animals. Gets a gold medal from our producers ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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S. O'BRIEN: Here's a look now at stories that CNN correspondents around the world are covering today.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon in Baghdad. Iraqi police have found 25 more bodies scattered across the capital, bringing the total over the last 48 hours to 85 bodies, all believed to be victims of sectarian violence, bearing gruesome signs of torture and all with gunshot wounds to the head. Sectarian violence is increasingly becoming a greater threat to this country's future than the insurgency.

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Rivers in Bangkok where a new candidate has emerged as a leading contender to the post of prime minister. General Suriet Chulenon(ph) a career soldier, is currently an adviser to the king. People here are hoping he will take the first steps to lead this country back to democracy.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance in Moscow. Authorities in the former soviet republic of Georgia have now charged four Russian service personnel, arrested earlier this week with espionage despite angry protests in Moscow. The Kremlin has already withdrawn its ambassador from Georgia and ordered all Russian citizens to be evacuated from the country. Georgia said the Kremlin is reacting with hysteria and has released a security video it says proves the Russian service personnel that were involved with espionage. The background to this is that Russia maintains peacekeeping forces in Georgia and supports two breakaway regions of the country that want independence from Georgia. The Georgian leadership has been at odds with Russia for the past several years as it attempts to move closer to the NATO alliance and the European Union. But this latest diplomatic spat really represents a new low in those already-strained relations between the two countries.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ryan Chilcote in Moscow. American space tourist Anousheh Ansari is back on earth after an 11 day trip in space capped with a four hour rapid decent back to the earth's atmosphere. Ansari was all smiles at the landing site in the country of Kazakhstan. The 40-year-old multimillionaire achieved a number of firsts with her flight. She became the first woman ever to pay her way into space, the first person ever of Iranian decent to go and the first person to blog from a space station.

S. O'BRIEN: That's a lot of firsts. For theses or any of our top stories go right to our website at cnn.com.

News keeps going through the weekend. Let's check in with Betty Nguyen, she's at the CNN Center today, to tell us what CNN's going to be looking at this weekend. Hey Betty, good morning.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, good morning, Soledad. Well after years of soaring home prices, there's a shift in the market. We will tell you how to take advantage of this cooling trend.

And the battle for young minds in the war on terror. One youth program is trying to reach kids of all faiths before al Qaeda finds them.

Plus this...

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't want my kids getting a hold of something like that. The impression is, you know, it says drugs. You know, that's not good.

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NGUYEN: Cocaine for kids? Are you serious? A throat-numbing energy drink is creating a big buzz over the Internet. And making its way into the hands of some kids. Is this legal alternative safe for your children? We're going to ask that question. We'll have all the top stories, plus in depth coverage and any breaking news. That's starting at 7:00 a.m. Eastern right on "CNN SATURDAY" and "SUNDAY" morning -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Betty. Thank you. I love the new hairdo, by the way.

NGUYEN: Oh, thanks. Getting in touch with my inner Farrah Fawcet.

S. O'BRIEN: Girl, you found her, and she's cute.

M. O'BRIEN: She's back to being 16. (CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Men, everywhere are melting.

M. O'BRIEN: the poster.

Andy?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Miles?

There's a transition for you. I'm going to have to run with it. Potentially massive problems for Sony. We're going to add up its computer battery woes. This is really getting out of hand, and we'll put it altogether for you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you.

Also ahead, we'll talk with actor Kevin Costner. He's got a new movie out. It's called "The Guardian." It's about the people that will come get you when you're in a world of hurt in the water. Coast Guard rescue swimmers. It's quite a role, and he has some interesting insights about what they have to do to save lives.

Stay with us.

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KEVIN COSTNER, ACTOR: That's amazing. I'll bet it was, like, what, eight feet deep in the deep end?

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M. O'BRIEN: Inconsequential yet completely irresistible video desk. We offer you this, the 4th National Animal Olympics, where anything with fur or feathers gathers to compete simply for the love of the sport. Or maybe a little monkey snack afterwards.

More than 300 animal athletes, 30 species in all, in Shanghai. It's the biggest ever, they say. Somehow they're going to milk this puppy for two months -- two months of this!

They'll compete in everything from track and field to bike racing. The crowd goes wild! I love the llama, go llama! Hopefully, there are workers on hand to clean up any Olympic movements

S. O'BRIEN: Are those birds supposed to be the symbol of the Olympic doves?

M. O'BRIEN: No, that's a sport. That's flying. That was the flying sport. Point to point flying.

S. O'BRIEN: Too bad they have to hit the bears with the poles to get them to box. I mean, that seems a little cruel.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, they don't have (INAUDIBLE) there.

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S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, lawmakers are getting ready to head home for re-election campaigns. How much have they really accomplished over the last year? We'll take a look at why some people say it's been a do-nothing Congress.

Those stories and more, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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