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American Morning
Republican Congressman Mark Foley Forced to Resign; Women in Combat
Aired October 02, 2006 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Bob Franken in Washington.
We'll show you some of the e-mails and instant messages that are attributed to a congressman who has now resigned.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In harm's way -- women in combat, boots on the ground -- despite what the Pentagon says, American women in uniform face the same deadly dangers as their male counterparts.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: An AWOL soldier says he's doing what is right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I mean they can beat us down emotionally and put us in prison and call us cowards, but as long as we're doing what we feel is right, we'll always be free inside and they can never take that from us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: As he suggests, accused by some of being a coward. But will the Army show mercy to a soldier gone AWOL?
Also, if you can find out how to move these DVDs off the shelves, you, too, could be a millionaire.
And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... Jack Beach, watching them streak through the back streets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: 'Gangsta rap for an audience you might expect -- prison inmates. We'll explain what the hard rock is all about on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez sitting in for Miles. O'BRIEN: A controversy to tell you about on Capitol Hill this morning.
Republican Congressman Mark Foley forced to resign on Friday over a series of lurid, sexually explicit e-mails that he sent to a 16- year-old Congressional page, a teenage boy.
Well, this morning, an investigation is getting underway not only into the e-mails, but the question of what Republican lawmakers knew about the situation months ago.
Complete live coverage this morning beginning with AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken, who is in Washington, D.C. -- hey, Bob, good morning.
FRANKEN: Good morning, Soledad.
And Republican lawmakers acknowledge that they knew about one e- mail that had been sent to a 16-year-old former page. That was brought to the attention of a Republican Congressman in 2005. But, Congressman Mark Foley resigned on Friday after the disclosure by ABC News of some other instant messages that had been sent earlier, in 2003, to other former pages.
Some of them are quite lurid, as you pointed out.
Here is an example. Foley using the term on the air, according to those who have done the investigation, Maf54.
He says to the recipient: "You in your boxers, too?"
The teen: "Nope, just got home. I had a college interview that went late."
Maf54 -- as I said, that's supposed to be Foley -- "Well, strip down and get relaxed."
And according to the ABC News, that was one of the instant messages that went out. There has been quite a reaction, quite a firestorm. Republicans are trying very hard to stop this from becoming so politically damaging in this very vital election year battle for control of Congress.
Among the people who are trying to put it in perspective is the White House press secretary, Tony Snow, who had an interview this morning, Soledad, with you on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, I hate to tell you, but it's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill and there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.
I think that, Soledad, you know, look, again, I'll reiterate my point, I think it's important to protect these kids and make sure that they have a good experience. And, look, like you, I want to find out what happened.
But before we prosecute, let's figure out what all the facts are. That's probably the most important thing to do, is to be fair to all parties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And as far as the Republican Party is concerned, what is of paramount concern right now is to try and exercise damage control -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Bob Franken for us in Washington, D.C..
Thanks, Bob.
And, of course, the question is as old as the political scandals themselves -- who knew what when?
As the Foley fallout unfolds, that's going to be at the center of this heated debate.
Andrea Koppel joins us with a time line of the events in this controversy -- hey, Andrea, good morning.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Even though this story only broke into the open late last week, some Republicans say they first learned about it last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KOPPEL (voice-over): In the fall of 2005, the family of a 16- year-old page contacts the office of Louisiana Congressman Rodney Alexander, the teen's sponsor and hometown representative. They were concerned about e-mails to the boy from Foley.
Alexander's staff contacts House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office, which then refers the matter to the House clerk. From there, it's passed to the chairman of the Page Board, Republican Congressman John Shimkus. Shimkus tells Congressman Foley to "immediately cease any communication with the young man."
Fast forward to the spring of this year. That's when Congressman Alexander discusses what's described as "over friendly e-mails" with his colleague, Congressman Tom Reynolds, who heads up the House Congressional Election Committee.
Reynolds says he shared this information with Speaker Hastert. Hastert says he doesn't explicitly recall their conversation, but does not dispute Reynolds's account.
It isn't until last Friday that Foley abruptly resigns over news reports he had exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with other teenage pages.
The next day, House Republican leaders issue a joint statement calling Foley's communications with pages "an obscene breach of trust" and recommend the house Page Board conduct a full review.
On Sunday, Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate are suggesting a GOP election year cover-up. By late afternoon, Speaker Hastert's office releases letters he's written to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Florida Governor Jeb Bush asking them to conduct an investigation to determine if Foley's actions violated federal or state law.
The letter to the attorney general says: "I request that the scope of your investigation include any and all individuals who may have been aware of this matter, be they members of Congress, employees of the House of Representatives or anyone outside the Congress."
(END VIDEO TAPE)
KOPPEL: The extraordinary speed with which House Republicans are responding to this scandal is no doubt influenced but the fact that even before this story broke, Republicans, Soledad, were worried that they could lose control of the House -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: We'll see how it plays out.
Andrea Koppel for us this morning.
Andrea, thanks -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, how is this scandal playing with voters?
CNN's Ed Lavandera is joining us now.
He's in Aurora, Illinois.
That's House Speaker Dennis Hastert's district -- you know, Ed, was interesting about this, the Republicans have long played to the conservative Christian vote. This particular scandal, this particular issue smacks right up against that, doesn't it?
What are people saying?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing here this morning as people are catching the morning train into Chicago for work, to start off their work week here, if there is a silver lining to what Republicans -- the Republican leadership is probably very worried about, at this point, it is that the vast majority of the people we've spoken with this morning aren't very aware of the details surrounding this case.
Now, whether or not that starts to change in the next few days remains to be seen.
But what we're hearing right now is that many people simply just don't know much about this. But that could change. The headlines that are greeting people this morning as they board the train this morning: "Sex Scandal In Congress," "Hastert Caves" definitely not the kind of headlines a politician wants to be seen about a month before the mid-term elections here. Some of the other things that people have been telling us here this morning, as well, is that we have heard from a couple of people who say they do believe that there are people covering their tracks and that sort of thing, and hiding information that they have at this point.
But we've also heard from other people who have been following it a little bit that say look, we just don't know a whole lot about what is going on right now. We're willing to wait a few more days, a few more weeks, perhaps, to get the facts come out and let everything play itself out at this point.
But here in the home district of Speaker Hastert, who is the man who wrote the letter yesterday asking for a full-fledged, independent investigation that should include looking into members of Congress or members of staff who might have known about what is going on, this is definitely something that people here driving their morning train to commute to work this morning will begin to learn a lot more about as this work week begins -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Did they talk at all about this perhaps making them more likely or less likely to vote as a result?
LAVANDERA: Not really. I think -- I think, based on what we have heard so far this morning is that it's just a little bit too early for all of that. And the people that did say that they believed that there was information being covered up or being hidden or glossed over so far, at this point, those are people that -- the train is rather loud this morning, so I apologize -- are saying that those are probably people who have already made up their minds as to exactly how they were going to vote in the upcoming election in a month.
SANCHEZ: Ed Lavandera in Aurora, Illinois.
We thank you so much for bringing us up to date on that.
Always good to get the people's perspective on things.
Also, what's next for Foley?
Susan Candiotti is live now.
She's in West Palm Beach with some more information on this investigation and on Foley himself -- good morning, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.
Yes, I just spoke with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and it acknowledges that it is now part of this investigation. In fact, FDLE tells me that it contacted the FBI in Washington yesterday and told them that the state was beginning its own investigation of this after communications between Florida Governor Jeb Bush and FDLE.
It was not about what investigative techniques it will use, but it's safe to say that it will be looking at whether any of the communications between Foley and these aides took place or originated in Florida at any time.
Now, what kind of a guy is Congressman Mark Foley?
Well, we spoke to a number of his friends, who describe him as smart and funny. And Foley himself told a Washington, D.C. newspaper a few years ago, called "The Hill," that the spark for him entering politics began at the tender age of six, when he ran into Florida Congressman, at the time, Paul Rogers.
Foley says that he saw Rogers being the center of attention, talking with his constituents, running for office. And that's where he said his dream was born.
Foley served in local politics for a number of years then went on to work at the state level and then serve in the U.S. Congress for 12 years.
He is described by friends as a devout Catholic, proud of meeting once, in person, Pope John Paul II. And his friends say they're having a hard time trying to wrap their arms around what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SID DINERSTEIN, PALM BEACH GOP CHAIRMAN: They're just the people who are out front of a very large army and of a philosophy and of values. And -- so something like this is a betrayal of all of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, in Florida this afternoon, Republican leaders will be meeting to decide on a replacement candidate for Mark Foley. That person will have a tough time of it, with only five weeks to go, and Foley's name on the ballot -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: The relationship between Governor Jeb Bush and Mark Foley goes back quite a bit, doesn't it, even before Jeb Bush was governor of the state, when he was head of the Republican Party?
CANDIOTTI: Oh, sure. They have known each other for a long, long time. And interesting to note that Florida Governor Jeb Bush on Friday was one of the first to say that he didn't know whether the allegations were true, but he thought it was the right thing for Foley to step down. He said he was very disappointed.
SANCHEZ: Susan Candiotti following that situation for us from Florida.
We thank you, Susan -- Soledad, over to you.
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, much more on the e-mail scandal surrounding Congressman Mark Foley.
Was there a Republican cover-up?
We'll take a closer look at that question just ahead. And the 2006 Paris Auto Show takes the wraps off the brand new Mini Cooper. It looks kind of like the old one. But designers say there's one big difference. We'll tell you what it is.
And later, got an idea to boost business for Netflix?
We'll explain why there could be a million bucks in it for you if you do.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Just 26 days until the election. It's a bad time for scandals and bad news for Republicans. Yet, a look at the headlines. The resignation of Florida Congressman Mark Foley over improper e- mails to a teenage page, plus questions about the Republican leadership's handling of the matter.
As we said, five weeks until the elections.
Is the GOP in trouble?
David Gergen is a former presidential adviser.
He's now the Kennedy School of Government and "U.S. News & World Report."
He joins us from Boston.
Nice to see you, David, as always.
Thanks for talking with us.
DAVID GERGEN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER, KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Thank you, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: In a nutshell, how damaging do you think this Congressman Mark Foley scandal will be?
Obviously to his career it's a disaster, but for -- not only for other Republicans, but Republican leadership?
GERGEN: Well, I think that the -- for the Republicans in this campaign race, they were gaining momentum and they were gaining ground here over the last couple of weeks. And now we've had a one-two punch -- first with the Bob Woodward book and now with the Mark Foley scandal.
Distinctly unhelpful. Hard to say how much they will hurt. I imagine Iraq, in the end, will count more than Foley by some distance.
But even so, this Foley story is going to be with us. It has legs. There are going to be all sorts of developments here in the next few days. We have yet to hear from, say, the Christian right. Jim Dobson, for example, who has been so strong on family values on the Republican side. We're going to hear more from the Democrats saying well, Tom Reynolds and the other Republican leadership have been negligent.
But this story is going to have a -- is going to keep playing. And as the -- and as the Internet messages pass around to more people -- and when you read a couple of these messages, you really -- it's -- they're -- they are disgusting. And they're -- I mean they're a real turnoff. And I think as that spreads -- a lot of people haven't tuned into this story yet, as we just heard out in Illinois.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think you're right, the story has legs. You know, when I talked to Tony Snow earlier this morning, he tried really hard to minimize the impact and any kind of political fallout.
Let me play a little bit of what he said to me this morning.
GERGEN: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Look, I hate to tell you, but it's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill and there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.
I think that, Soledad, you know, look, again, I'll reiterate my point, I think it's important to protect these kids and make sure that they have a good experience. And, look, like you, I want to find out what happened.
But before we prosecute, let's figure out what all the facts are. That's probably the most important thing to do, is to be fair to all parties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: He calls them "naughty e-mails."
Do you think this strategy is going to work for the White House?
GERGEN: Well, I think Tony Snow is -- I think that's a, you know, a very -- I'm -- it's his best very respectable response to it. Tony Snow is very smooth about things like this. I think that's the right thing to say.
I have to say, Soledad, on one issue, I'm doubtful the Democrats will hit pay dirt, and that is it strikes me that the Republican leadership may be guilty of negligence in not pursuing this more aggressively, but I am seriously doubtful that they would have tried to cover-up something like this.
These people, you know, as political as people are, you know, are running for office right now on both sides, this is -- this is something Republicans do care about. And I think if they had hard evidence of really predatory behavior... O'BRIEN: Well, maybe but...
GERGEN: ... they would have cracked down on it.
O'BRIEN: Well, maybe the question isn't sort of hard evidence and predatory behavior, but maybe it's being aware of red flags or not choosing to be aware...
GERGEN: I...
O'BRIEN: ... because you're talking about a guy, Mark Foley, who looks like he's going to win his Congressional seat and beat the Democratic opponent, who now, one would imagine, has got a healthy lead.
GERGEN: Well...
O'BRIEN: You know, I think it's more like that. Maybe there is a sense that it wasn't an out and out cover-up, but hey, listen, a red flag, someone go dispatch to deal with it.
Do you think voters are going to have a really hard time with this when you're talking about a kid, essentially?
GERGEN: Oh, yes. Listen, I think it's a -- I think a lot of voters are going to be disgusted by this. I mean I'm already getting calls from people who are far more irate about this than about what they're learning from the Woodward book. They think, basically, a lot of what we know from Bob Woodward is, you know, we've seen the general story here, but this is fresh. This is something everybody understands. This is something, after all, that -- preying on interns, preying on pages, is what the Republicans, you know, impeached Bill Clinton over.
So, yes, people get this. And they -- and they see the hypocrisy in Mark Foley trying to protect kids, you know, as the head of the Republican caucus on this issue and yelling about predators and then engaging in predatory practices himself.
But I would just say, I think in terms of the Republican leadership, were there red flags?
Sure, there were red flags.
Were they as red as what we now know were in the e-mails?
It does not appear so. So I'm just very -- I'm skeptical there's a cover-up. I do believe that they themselves will say god, we should have pursued this more vigorously. There were red flags. We should have gone after it. We, you know, we treated it as sort of -- I mean what -- the evidence that they had in these -- or some of these earlier e-mails, after all, was quite different from the lurid, you know, quality of some of the ones that are now coming to light.
O'BRIEN: Oh, the ones from 2003...
GERGEN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: ... which are absolutely, completely disgusting.
GERGEN: Right.
O'BRIEN: I mean, we're certainly not going to share them on TV this morning.
GERGEN: Right.
O'BRIEN: David Gergen, thanks.
I think you've got a good point there. It'll be interesting to see where it all leads.
GERGEN: OK.
O'BRIEN: Appreciate your time, as always.
GERGEN: Thanks very much, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: If you want to make sure you get they very latest on this story or any of our political news, go right to CNN's new Political Ticker at cnn.com/ticker -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Coming up, the Pentagon doesn't let women serve in combat.
So why are so many female troops dying in Iraq anyway?
We're going to take a look at that.
Also later, a chilling new videotape of two 9/11 hijackers, including Mohammed Atta. He's the one there on the right, in case you're wondering. We'll look at what it reveals, this new videotape, about the ringleader of the attacks on our nation, right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back.
Three American Marines were killed in the volatile Anbar Province in Iraq. It happened Sunday. Two died from injuries they suffered in combat. The other died in a non-combat related vehicle accident.
Now, these bring the total number of American military deaths in Iraq to 2,717.
Other violence today in Iraq to tell you about. Three dead, 12 injured in a bombing in a building in Baghdad. It's a suicide bomber that's suspected. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq said that despite the daily attacks and the death, Iraq is not technically in a civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LATE EDITION") ZALMAN KHALILZAD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: I don't call it a civil war because the main political leaders want Iraq to stay together. They are in the government together. They have not left the government. There are security forces that are mixed. They have not fragmented.
But there is the sectarian violence that is there and forces associated with some of the political groups are involved in the sectarian violence.
So it is a matter of definition. But I believe that based on the definition that I gave that it's not a civil war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, the U.S. military says insurgents sometimes wear Iraqi police uniforms when they carry out their attacks and kidnappings. That makes it particularly difficult to combat them. In August, for example, American commanders unveiled new Iraqi police uniforms and they had to do this in an effort to try and stop such attacks.
During the Vietnam War, which lasted a full decade, only eight women were killed. Compare that to now. Compare it to Iraq. In the last three years in the war, 55 women have died, many by hostile fire. Which raises the question about whether the ban on women in combat is the reality on the ground in Iraq.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr takes a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a little girl, Emily Perez loved the movie "Sound of Music" so much she told her mother she wanted to be a nun.
VICKI PEREZ, DAUGHTER KILLED IN IRAQ: And I told her Emily, we're Baptists. You can't be a nun.
STARR: In high school, she visited the U.S. military academy at West Point.
DANIEL PEREZ, DAUGHTER KILLED IN IRAQ: She said hmm, this might be the place for me.
STARR: Last month, Second Lieutenant Emily Perez became the first female West Point graduate killed in Iraq when her convoy was hit by a roadside bomb.
Emily Perez is one of at least 55 military women to die in Iraq. In a U.S. military where women are not allowed to serve in ground combat jobs.
Dawn Halfaker lost an arm when a rocket-propelled grenade tore through her Humvee. DAWN HALFAKER, FORMER U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN: Now, I'm reminded every day, you know, every time I look in the mirror that -- that I was most certainly in combat.
STARR: This former Army captain worked with Iraqi police.
HALFAKER: I carried an M-4 with a 203 grenade launcher on it.
STARR: So far, more than 150,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Pentagon says they are essential.
Kayla Williams wrote a book about her tour of duty with the 101st Airborne Division.
KAYLA WILLIAMS, AUTHOR/IRAQ WAR VET: Women are in combat. That is the reality on the ground. We can know this by the fact that women are dying in combat.
STARR: The Perezes say everyone in Iraq is at risk.
V. PEREZ: I would think that Iraq...
D. PEREZ: It's combat, I guess.
V. PEREZ: ... is combat.
D. PEREZ: Yes. Iraq is a combat zone.
V. PEREZ: I mean we're -- everything -- there's no -- what is it...
D. PEREZ: Safe zone.
V. PEREZ: ... safe zone.
D. PEREZ: No safe haven.
STARR: Emily's parents believe their daughter was every bit the military commander.
D. PEREZ: Emily was the one, she always led from the front. And her thing was I'm going to be in the lead vehicle, because these are my soldiers and I have to bring them back home safe.
STARR (on camera): This memorial honors the more than two million women who have served on the battlefield since the American Revolution. Today, what is clear is that when America goes to war, American women are on the front lines.
Barbara Starr, CNN, Arlington, Virginia.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SANCHEZ: These badly wounded women, such as Dawn, who lost an arm, tell us that they struggle with personal tasks like hair and makeup, things most people would just consider normal daily activities -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: A sad, sad story there.
Coming up this morning, much more on the scandal surrounding Congressman Mark Foley, raising new questions about the role of teenage pages on Capitol Hill.
We'll take a closer look at just what exactly pages do.
Plus, a U.S. soldier who went AWOL gets ready to come home after two years in Canada. We'll find out why he says he's ready to face the music.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
SANCHEZ: And I'm Rick Sanchez helping out today, sitting in for Miles.
O'BRIEN: We certainly appreciate it.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: How is the White House reacting to the Foley scandal? CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House this morning.
Hey, Suzanne. Good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
As you can imagine, the White House is fully engaged in damage control. This is the last thing they anticipated five weeks before the midterm elections.
And essentially what you are hearing is White House officials coming out and making three points. The first one that they had no idea before media reports that there was such a scandal or even the accusations about Congressman Foley's behavior.
Secondly, they believe that the e-mails are reprehensible.
And third, they are saying they believe the Republican leadership will react appropriately in conducting an investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Our plate's full enough. This is a terrible story. Soledad, I got three kids. I think it's absolutely incumbent on members of Congress, many of whom have the charge of young pages, to make sure these kids can come and get a good experience in Washington, not have to worry about the sort of things that have been alleged here.
My sense is figure out what the facts are, figure out who knew what when, let the House go ahead and conduct its investigation and others do it. We're going to find out the facts, and I think probably sooner or later, because people do want to know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Soledad, while clearly the White House is trying to distance itself from this scandal, they do have a dog in this fight. They want the Republicans, of course, to keep the majorities in the house and Senate, so President Bush can get something done over the next two years, the remaining two years, so that is why you hear them time and time again saying they have confidence in the Republican leadership, that all of this in the end will be worked out -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: And this focus suddenly over the turmoil in the case of former Republican Congressman Mark Foley, I'm sure brings up a question in many of your minds, as it has us. It's about the pages, the page system. Who are these teenagers in many cases who end up going to Washington, walking the hallowed halls of Congress?
CNN's Gary Nurenberg has the answer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The congressional page program begun in 1829 was reformed in 1983 after two congressmen were censured for sexual misconduct involving boy and girl pages.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not yet apologized to my colleagues in this body for the shame I brought down on this institution.
NURENBERG: Pages were moved from apartments and private homes to a new dormitory on Capitol Hill where boys and girls live on separate floors and are under constant supervision.
LUKE MOSES, FORMER PAGE: You have to go through a metal detector to get into your dorm every day. You are only allowed out with a buddy.
NURENBERG: That supervision continues when the pages do their work in the capitol, running errands and delivering messages for representatives.
KARA FRANK, FORMER PAGE: There are definitely people on the House floor, especially in the cloakroom that definitely overlooked the interactions between congressmen and congresswomen and pages. They were sort of there to make sure that no lines were crossed.
NURENBERG: Kara Frank was a page in 1999, away from home for the first time, admittedly naive.
FRANK: I definitely think that more precautions should be taken and things should be monitored because you know you are a minor and you're 16, you know, you're still a kid.
NURENBERG: It's hard work. The pages are up at 5:30 every morning, go to school in the Library of Congress and then move to the capitol to help representatives with seemingly endless tasks. In 2002 for example, paying attention to the Australian prime minister when he addressed a joint session of Congress.
MOSES: Like half the members were there. So they let the pages sit in the seats to try to fill up the seats on camera.
NURENBERG: Luke Moses loved his time with Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.
MOSES: She was very kind to me. We remain close today. She took me to briefings and lunches.
NURENBERG: And not unusual for a mentor/student relationship, he says, they remain in e-mail contact. He says the program gave him an appreciation of Congress that other former pages share.
FRANK: It really is the basis of, you know, how this country began and how it's continuing to grow, and I just think there's something really special about that.
NURENBERG: Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And in case you wondered, the House has about 70 pages at last check.
(NEWSBREAK)
SANCHEZ: We're going to show you something now you should probably see. U.S. intelligence has known about this for some time, but for the rest of us, it's the first time that we get a chance to see it for ourselves. It's a startling videotape of two of the 9/11 hijackers, including ringleader Mohammed Atta, as they plan their deaths. And what seems particularly chilling about this, as you watch it, is the expressions on their faces. They seem ecstatic about what they're about to do -- kill so many people.
CNN's Paula Newton has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The entire video is silent and yet the images unnerving. The 9/11 mastermind and his accomplice laughing it up and going through their lines for a performance of martyrdom wills. According to the "Sunday Times" of London the tape was apparently shot in Afghanistan a full 21 months before 9/11.
It is startling in the human portrait it paints of Mohammed Atta, AK-47 at his side, stage managing his look just before he stares deadpan at the camera and gives what the paper claims is a death will, justifying himself for flying a plane straight into the World Trade Center.
With his easy style and comical posture, Ziad Jarrah is no less bizarre. And then he recites his will. He was the hijacker authorities believe was destined for Capitol Hill but who then crashed a United Airlines flight in Pennsylvania.
U.S. intelligence sources tell CNN, they have aware of the tape for years, even unsuccessfully tried to have it lip-read. It's assumed U.S. authorities found it in Afghanistan in late 2001, but never released it.
YOSRI FOUDA, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR: And I wonder why, because it would have been benefited everyone.
NEWTON: Author of "The Sunday Times" article Yosri Fouda won't reveal his sources but says the hour-long tape reveals much about how and why Atta, the so-called ringleader, was so carefully coached by Osama bin Laden.
FOUDA: If it wasn't for Atta, 9/11 may have never happened. The rest were described by some people as dumb and dumber, wherever they went. What you needed to the end of this plot is someone of the caliber of Mohammed Atta, someone to pull the plot together.
NEWTON (on camera): Osama bin Laden himself makes an appearance on the tape, again the whole thing is silent, but it's clear that bin Laden is holding court in Afghanistan, where he carefully plotted the 9/11 attack.
(voice-over): What is so striking about the incidents depicted in the video is al Qaeda broke its own rules by bringing two key plotters together.
ROBERT GRENIER, FORMER DIRECTOR, CIA COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER: It must have been very important to the al Qaeda leadership at the time that they get a firsthand look at these fellows, because they were residing a great deal of responsibility in them. And perhaps it was thought that it would be important to bring these fellows to meet the al Qaeda leadership in Kandahar, so that they could motivate them properly.
NEWTON: No one can know if bin Laden has since refined his strategy, finding it too risky to be directly involved in future terror plots but the play by play of this footage reveals a long and methodical path to terror.
Paula Newton, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: By the way, experts say that that tape was likely going to be edited into another well-produced video to be districted once again by al Qaeda -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, an AWOL soldier gets ready to come home after fleeing to Canada. We'll tell you why he's finally ready to turn himself in two years later.
And the controversy over a rap group whose main audience is behind bars. We'll tell you why authorities say their music has no place in prisons.
And come up with a way to boost he rentals at Netflix, and there could be a little money in it for you, $1 million. We'll tell you how to do it, all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Rick Sanchez.
An American soldier who suddenly went AWOL is on his way home this morning, ready to face the army. Specialist Darrell Anderson spent the last two years living in Canada.
And as Global TV's Jennifer Tryon explains, he says he's now ready to stand up for the choices that he's made.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER TRYON, GLOBAL TV REPORTER (voice-over): He has been evading the U.S. military for two years, but has been anything but quiet about it, holding press conferences, doing interviews; he even went on a public speaking tour, talking about how he would rather face military prison than go back on duty.
SPC. DARRELL ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY: I mean, they can beat us down emotionally, and put us in prison and call us cowards, but as long as we're doing what we feel is right, we will always be free inside, and they can never take that from us.
TRYON: Deserting a military post is a crime. He could face court-martial, even years in prison for deserting. It's why Canada looks like freedom for those suffering from the stress of returning from war. And, like Darrell Anderson, would do anything not to go back.
He knows he has been called a coward, a traitor, but he's ready to face it, and he's going back over the Niagara border he sneaked across two years ago.
ANDERSON: Just want to put on my uniform and stand in a military base, and make my first stance that I am against this war, even if you put me in prison or whatever you do to me.
TRYON: But late word to his lawyer is that the U.S. military is planning mercy.
JIM FENNERTY, ANDERSON'S ATTORNEY: Basically we have reached an agreement that I hope that's going to be honored when we get there, that Darrell will be there for three to five days. And after that, he will be allowed to go home.
TRYON: His family credits the leniency on going public. His new Canadian wife still finds it hard to believe.
GAIL GREER, ANDERSON'S WIFE: Until the discharge papers are in our hands, I am not really going to be that relieved.
TRYON: Whatever the U.S. military decides to do with him, he is prepared. He's got support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck.
TRYON: Besides, he says nothing could be worse than staying at war.
In Fort Eerie (ph) Ontario, this is Global National's Jennifer Tryon reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Specialist Anderson says he will report back to his base, Fort Knox, Kentucky, tomorrow morning. We will follow it and let you know what happens with this -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Coming up next, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" with a look at Netflix and a $1 million offer. We'll tell you all about it, coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Violence in hip-hop music isn't new. But these days, there is one group that's not just talking about a life of crime, they're talking to those who have already lived it and now are in prison. The controversy doesn't end there, though.
CNN's Kareen Wynter takes a look and listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rock music has always had a fascination with jail and prisoners. Back in 1957, Elvis Presley had a tongue-in-cheek hit about prison inmates.
But a controversial rap trio strikes a tone that is far more serious. Giving new meaning to jailhouse rock by using explicit lyrics that glorify violence. It also boasts of white pride.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Woodpile, baby. If you're hardcore and you're white, use the wood.
WYNTER: This Arizona-based group called Woodpile is marketing itself to people behind bars. Not just anyone, specifically white inmates, commonly referred to as woods, but Woodpile member Diesoul says don't call them racist.
(on camera): You don't like the word skinhead?
DIESOUL, RAPPER: Not at all.
WYNTER: White supremacy, white power.
But white pride, what's the difference there?
DIESOUL: To us it's different. We're just proud, proud to be who we are.
WYNTER (voice-over): Diesoul says even if that includes embracing other racist prison gangs like the Aryan Nation and Aryan Brotherhood, of which they have close ties.
DIESOUL: And there's not a white boy you'll meet in the penitentiary who doesn't say, I'm a wood.
WYNTER (on camera): Well, why not say we're appealing to everyone behind bars?
DIESOUL: Well, I guess we are in a way, because we are doing, you know, hardcore music. And a lot of people behind bars are really digging that. But we're representing for the woods, and we think that they're definitely going to take to our record quickly.
WYNTER (voice-over): The group's label says pushing their beats in prison has translated into big sales in an untapped market.
TERRANCE POWE, WEST COAST MAFIA RECORDS: There's Woodpile CDs all over the penitentiary, from California to New York, all over the nation.
WYNTER: Including Arizona, a claim department of corrections officials there deny, saying explicit lyrics are banned behind these bars.
KATIE DECKER, ARIZ. DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: Reporter: When you have those kind of lyrics being ingested into a person's mind over and over and over again, and they're living among a criminal population, you obviously have the opportunity for a lose-lose situation.
SCOTT KERNAN, CA. DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: Our department, you know, is plagued with violence, and any activity that would promote violence or criminal activity in our prisons would be disallowed.
WYNTER: Woodpile hopes its fanbase of felons spreads the music's popularity outside of prison walls, turning inmates into an unlikely base of trendsetters.
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: Here is a story that's going to interest a lot of people. The wraps are coming off. Check it out. It's a brand-new Mini Cooper. Little car, right? hard to tell here, but the standard Mini Cooper is -- ready for this -- a full three inches longer. The Mini's new design is one of the most popular stories on CNN.com. The new Mini was unveiled at the Paris auto show.
O'BRIEN: Why is that a popular story? It's three inches longer than the old one. What's the big -- why?
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Big news.
SANCHEZ: Because then your knees don't hit the back.
SERWER: That's a full 25 percent longer or something like that.
O'BRIEN: That's funny.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
O'BRIEN: Take a look at our top stories coming up in just a few moments, including the very latest on the investigation into Congressman Mark Foley. That's right after this short break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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