Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Investigation and Impact of Congressman Foley's Lurid E-mails; Woodward Fallout
Aired October 02, 2006 - 08:59 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 talk about the top Republican leadership of the House of Representatives charged with doing too little about a congressman's alleged lurid e-mails to a child.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is under fire again. I'll tell you how he's reacting to this latest round of criticism on this AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Welcome back, everybody.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rick Sanchez, sitting in for Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: It's nice to have you. Thanks for helping us out.
Let's begin with the Republican Party. Damage control this morning over the Foley e-mail affair.
We've got correspondents covering every angle of the story for you.
We begin this morning with Bob Franken.
FRANKEN: And Soledad, you spoke of damage control. It is fair to say that the Republican leadership this morning has plenty of damage to control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice over): Congressman Mark Foley is gone from Congress, but his Republican leadership is struggling to avoid being buried in his fallout in this very competitive election battle for Control of Congress, while Democrats would love to bury them.
REP. JANE HARMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: I do think voters in an election season have a right to know what the leaders of Congress did, what they knew, and when they knew, and what they did. And I think these matters will have to come out. FRANKEN: The Republican leaders, in particular House Speaker Dennis Hastert, were trying to not get hopelessly entangled in questions about how they handled the Foley matter. Hastert's aides were notified in the fall of 2005 by Louisiana Republican congressman Rodney Alexander that a page he had sponsored complained about what the page called "sick" e-mails he had received from Foley. The information was shared over the next few months with the top echelon of the GOP in the House, including Hastert's office.
They reached a consensus that Mark Foley's e-mails were merely "over friendly," and Foley was warned to end all communications with the page and to be careful about his contacts. The chairman of thee House Republican Campaign Committee, Thomas Reynolds, and House Majority Leader John Boehner say they were told early this year and brought it to the attention of Hastert himself. There the matter stood until the explosive revelations of more provocative communications in the form of instant messages to former pages in earlier years, and an explosive chain of reactions.
From House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Republican leaders should be questioned under oath about what she called the "cover-up." Speaker Hastert himself has sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and another to Florida Governor Jeb Bush asking for federal and state investigations. In fact, sources tell CNN, the FBI has begun a preliminary investigation.
All of this is being watched very closely at a White House that is battling to make sure the president's fellow Republicans keep control of Congress.
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: And I know more than anybody else Speaker Hastert wants to make sure that if any crime was committed that it be held -- they be held accountable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: In fact, Republicans in and out of Congress are worried that they will be held accountable by the voters -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And it's a good worry, one would imagine, especially with just 36 days until the election.
Bob Franken for us this morning in Washington, D.C.
Thank you, Bob.
Well, exactly who is Mark Foley? He is well liked in his home district in south Florida, and he was expected to easily win re- election. But lots of Americans now want to know more.
Susan Candiotti is live for us from West Palm Beach with a profile of the man at the center of the scandal.
Hey, Susan. Good morning.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Not only the profile, but we just have some breaking news for you to report now. And that is this: we have confirmed through an attorney who represents Congressman Mark Foley or ex-Congressman Foley that, in fact, the congressman is acknowledging that he is seeking in- house treatment for an ongoing alcohol problem, as he puts it.
Now, the -- according to the lawyer, Congressman Foley wrote a letter to a local television station in West Palm Beach. That letter was faxed from Clearwater, Florida. He did not describe the significance of it, but it does say that the events leading to his resignation is, as the congressman put it, crystallized recognition of his long-standing significant alcohol and emotional difficulties.
And this direct quote as well from the letter -- "I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and related behavioral problems."
Again, the lawyer would not say where the congressman is seeking this treatment, nor how long he is expected to be there. But this is problem that, quite frankly, we've already spoken to friends of the ex-congressman who say that they had no idea of this particular situation, that he had a problem with alcohol, but they are supportive of him -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So, in essence, is the congressman, or former congressman, since he has just resigned on Friday, is he claiming that the reason he was e-mailing teenage pages is because he's an alcoholic? Is that what we are supposed to take away from what he has now said?
CANDIOTTI: Hard to say what we're supposed to take away from it. Clearly, that's a question that a lot of people want an answer to.
The lawyer would not delve into any of that or move beyond the words that the congressman put down in this letter. However, he did say that he would address some media questions, perhaps as later -- as early as later today.
But the question remains, what did prompt it? Is that he's saying is to blame? We don't know yet. And the congressman so far isn't saying.
O'BRIEN: You know, earlier today, Susan, David Gergen said that this is a story that's going to continue to develop, and I think we're seeing just the beginning of that development.
Susan Candiotti in West Palm Beach, Florida, for us.
Thanks, Susan. Appreciate the update.
CNN was the very first to report that House Speaker Dennis Hastert sent a letter to the Justice Department asking for an FBI investigation, and Hastert is not escaping criticism in the matter as well.
Ed Lavandera is in Aurora, Illinois, which is Hastert's House district.
Hey, Ed. Good morning.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
Well, morning commuters making their way into Chicago from the suburbs here just southwest of the city, and as they make their way toward the city on their -- beginning their work week, many of them picking up newspapers with the headlines of this story. For Dennis Hastert, if there is a little bit of a silver lining here this morning, is that many of the people, almost the majority of the people that we have spoken with here this morning, they say they haven't really been paying much attention to this story so far, although we did certainly get the impression that that might be starting to change. Several of the people we have spoken with here this morning, many of them Republican, say they want to learn a lot more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the House leadership has covered it up, or just said, hey, don't do that anymore, notifying maybe the Ethics Committee or something, you know, they should probably go after them, too. Even though I'm a Republican, I mean, if they did something stupid like that, then, you know, they should be held accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe there's a lot of hidden things going on, as everyone probably does believe. The -- I think the issue is going to come down to who's telling the truth and who's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And, of course, many of these people, as I mentioned, getting on the train here this morning, picking up the newspapers, beginning to delve into and read into this story of the finer points. And, of course, Speaker Hastert saying that several members of the House leadership knew about the first round of e-mails that were written in the fall of 2005. The e-mails that were not overly sexually explicit, they were described as overly friendly. But where they maintain they were unaware of the more damaging e-mails and the e-mails that, because of those Dennis Hastert is calling for an FBI investigation and alerting authorities in Florida about the e-mails, as well, and those are the instant messages that have more of the sexually explicit content -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Ed Lavandera for us this morning.
Ed, thanks -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: We've been talking about damage control this morning on many fronts. Here's another one.
The Bush administration is expected to spend much of this week trying to contain the damage from journalist Bob Woodward's book, "State of Denial".
CNN's Kathleen Koch has more now from the White House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Woodward book has the White House playing offense.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The book's sort of like cotton candy. It kind of melts on contact.
KOCH: Biting dismissals, followed Saturday by a detailed rebuttal of claims the president concealed deteriorating conditions in Iraq and ignored early requests for more troops. But the White House has less to say about the revelation that CIA director George Tenet and his counterterrorism chief, Cofer Black, two months before 9/11 requested an emergency meeting with Condoleezza Rice to sound the alarm that intelligence showed al Qaeda would soon attack the United States.
The book claims Rice was "polite, but they felt the brush-off."
DAN BARTLETT, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: We're puzzled by this. No one has seen these type of quotes before. Each of these participants went before the commission and testified. So Condoleezza is scratching her head because we don't believe that's an accurate account.
KOCH: Democrats want answers about whether the meeting occurred, and, if so, why the 9/11 Commission and the rest of the country ware never told about it.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: They were obliged to tell the 9/11 Commission when they were investigating of all relevant meetings that took place, relevant to the attack on 9/11. This sure sounds relevant to me. Why did they not do that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I find that stunning. And I think that is as close to a smoking gun that you get.
KOCH: There has already been debate over what impact the book's Iraq revelations would have on voters in the coming midterm elections.
SEN. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: Voters understand mistakes have been made. And so I don't know that this book is going to influence their attitude at all.
KOCH: But the possible concealment of an early warning about the 9/11 attacks could be more damaging.
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: There is a credibility gap in this administration that has now become a canyon.
KOCH (on camera): President Bush himself has yet to directly address any of the claims raised in the Woodward book. He will have ample opportunity this week as he heads out on a three-day campaign swing through the West.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: By the way, Bob Woodward is going to be Larry King's guest tonight. "LARRY KING LIVE" airs every night at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
And if you are wondering if the defense secretary is about to step out of the spotlight, forget about it. He's telling everyone that he is sticking around.
CNN Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us live now to talk about -- I suppose Mr. Rumsfeld digging his heels in even further, right?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this morning, Rick, finds Defense Secretary Rumsfeld in Managua, Nicaragua, far away from the fray, where he's attending a meeting of defense ministers from Central and South American countries.
He says he's not going to resign. He's brushed aside the reports in Bob Woodward's book that White House chief of staff Andy Card tried to get him fired, saying he understands that. He was the chief of staff at the White House himself during the Ford administration. It's the job of the chief of staff to suggest personnel changes.
But his popularity is definitely going down. Once hailed as a rock star after the Afghanistan war, his popularity is hitting rock bottom.
Here's a new CNN poll that shows just from April the number of people polled in this -- in this survey showed that they -- who thought Rumsfeld should resign has gone from 43 to 47 percent just since April, although the number who think he should not resign has also gone up from 35 to 43 percent. The big difference is fewer people unsure. People are picking sides in this contest.
And also, Rumsfeld as war planner -- back in April -- back in 2003, rather, 65 percent of people thought his war planning was right on target, as opposed to 33 percent now. And back in 2003, 21 percent felt his war planning hurt. That's up to 57 percent now.
So, with these poll numbers, you know, you can see that Rumsfeld is not the most popular guy in town. But he only needs to get one vote of confidence from President Bush, and he says that in a recent private phone call with the president he's gotten yet another vote of confidence -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know what I'm wondering as I'm listening to you talk about what people think of him, I wonder how he's gauged militarily. In other words, inside the military.
I know we have had some generals who have come forward and even had hearings on it, and they have been very critical of his policies. But is he accepted still as he was in the past by members in the military? MCINTYRE: Well, first of all, there's a strong tradition of civilian control of the military, and military officers understand that. They also have their own private feelings.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MCINTYRE: And, you know, Rumsfeld is respected. A lot of people disagree with what -- what he has done, but basically because of the outcome. The old -- the saying that success has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan, clearly if the war in Iraq were going better we wouldn't be hearing some of these private reservations from -- from some of the generals once they retire and are able to speak out.
SANCHEZ: Most of the comments are private, though. It's not an area you can really get into or do a poll on.
Jamie McIntyre, we thank you for that report.
Soledad, over to you.
O'BRIEN: Time for the forecast with Chad. He's at the CNN Center.
Good morning again.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, the Foley e-mail scandal. How is it going to affect the midterm congressional elections? We'll take a look at that this morning.
Also, a closer look at all the pages on Capitol Hill. We'll talk to a former page about the scandal.
That's all ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Count them, five weeks, one day, and Americans head to the polls. And with those midterm elections coming up fast, what's the potential political impact of the Foley scandal? And it certainly is already being called that.
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley is joining us now. She's at our Washington bureau.
Since we last spoke, Candy, there have been a couple of developments on this story which we knew would have legs one way or another. First of all, Tony Snow was here. He was having a conversation with Soledad.
He had this to say. Let's take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SNOW: 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 it's -- 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 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)
SANCHEZ: He also said that they had their hands full with a lot of other details. It does not sound, Candy, like the White House is being very proactive about this.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House is probably better off staying as far away as they can. And, you know, what they are saying is, look, this is a congressional problem and they're moving away from it.
I can almost guarantee that the two words, "naughty e-mails," will show up somehow in the blogs. This was obviously was -- as it progressed, at least, we're talking about lurid e-mails.
Now, what the Republican leadership knew, they claim that the e- mails that they saw were "overly friendly," and that they warned Foley that he needed to stop talking to pages. But, you know, there were others further on down the line in instant messaging that were lurid, that were highly suggestive. And the White House, obviously, wants to have very little to do with this and keep the president on the road, talking about what he wants to talk about, which is mostly the war on terror.
SANCHEZ: I think there may be a problem as far as the representation of this story, the way that the leadership is presenting it with the word "overly friendly". And I'm speaking as a parent to you, that if I was to have someone say, "There was a situation with your child where someone was overly friendly," I would immediately want to know, what does that mean? Because I'm not sure I have ever heard that term expressed before.
Could that become a problem?
CROWLEY: Well, sure, and I think we saw that in the Christopher Shays -- the congressman from Connecticut -- when he talked about what Republicans should -- what the Republican leaders knew and what they should have known. And when you're talking about a congressman of some age and underage -- basically children -- I mean, they were teenagers, but they're still children -- and having notes that were friendly and "Send me a picture" and "How are you?" this is enough to raise suspicion.
So, the question is, will these Republican leaders get skewered for not having investigated this further
SANCHEZ: Yes. Whether it was political at the time, and whether that decision was made that way.
Let me ask you about something Susan Candiotti just reported moments ago here on our air, and that is a statement that's now being made by Foley. In fact, we can put it up on the screen, I believe, and have the viewers see it for themselves. Here it is.
"I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and related behavioral activities."
And the interesting part of that, of course, is the "related behavioral activities," because he seems to be drawing a link between perhaps whatever it is he's done or thinks he's done and the alcohol.
You've covered this area, Congress. Have you ever heard anything about this in the past? Has there been anything stated that in the past wasn't -- wasn't reported because it was personal?
CROWLEY: About Foley's alleged alcoholism, no. But I can tell you insofar as I heard your conversation -- Soledad's conversation earlier with Susan, and if indeed he has entered this alcohol program, alcohol abuse program, sort of the first thing that you do is accept responsibility for whatever you have done. So insofar as excuses are, this is not one.
Look, there have been plenty of cases in the past when congressmen have misbehaved and said, "I'm an alcoholic and I need to go to treatment." If that's so, everyone has applauded their going to seek treatment. But nonetheless, have said they're responsible for their behavior.
SANCHEZ: Candy Crowley, part of the best political team on television.
Thanks again for -- for your insight on this -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: And ahead this morning, we will have much more on the Congressman Foley scandal. We'll talk to a former congressional page about what the job was like and if he's surprised by this case.
That's ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The unfolding scandal regarding Congressman Mark Foley is putting new attention on the congressional page program and the amount of oversight it receives. Here's a little snapshot of the program.
All the pages are high school juniors. They have to be at least 16 years old. They live in a dorm, and they take classes when they are not working as pages. And they work for a semester.
They get paid at an annual rate of just over $18,800. So obviously it's less than that.
What's it like to be a congressional page? Samuel Burke worked as a congressional page for a semester back in 2002 when he was 16. He's now 20. He's in Phoenix, Arizona.
Nice to see you, Sam. Well, thanks for talking with us.
SAMUEL BURKE, FMR. CONGRESSIONAL PAGE: Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of how much contact the average page would have with an average congressman or woman.
BURKE: The average page has contact with a congressman all day long, every single day. If Congress is in session, the pages are on the House floor talking with the congressmen, interacting with the congressmen. So 100 percent access.
O'BRIEN: So what kind of -- what was the take on Congressman Foley back when you worked as a page when you were 16 years old? Was he a nice guy, friendly guy?
BURKE: I worked with him very few times, just brought him papers once in awhile. And you don't know -- most of the congressmen you don't get to know that well. You just hand them the papers that their office has asked you to give them.
O'BRIEN: Some of the pages that have been talking to the media have been talking about how of all the Congress people, he seemed to be the friendliest. You know, he was the one who kind of went out of his way to get to know the pages and went to the page graduation, and would sort of be helpful to them in their careers.
Is that what you knew about him, or were you unaware of anything about him?
BURKE: I was unaware of anything specific about him, but I can tell you that most of the Congress people are very generous to the pages. They might bring you extra food, cookies, attend the page graduation. They were always interested in what was happening in the page program, and they always were -- were welcomed to talk to the pages and interact with us.
O'BRIEN: The latest allegations that have surfaced -- and even in the last few minutes we heard about the congressman now saying that he's an alcoholic, that he's going to try to get treatment for alcoholism.
Do these allegations surprise you?
BURKE: On one hand they surprise me, because I never saw anything like that when I was a page. I never saw a congressman acting inappropriately with the pages. But on the other hand, it doesn't surprise me because I know that we had a lot of access, that there was always room for something like this -- for something like that to happen because we were always interacting with the congressmen. So, there was always the possibility that something like this could unfold. But in terms of a scandal like this, it's very surprising to know that it actually went beyond the appropriate behavior for a congressman.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it's pretty shocking, I think, to almost everybody.
What kind of monitoring did you have to undergo when you were a page? I mean, you had a dorm and you probably had a curfew, but was anybody on top of, you know, who was communicating with you, things like that?
BURKE: In terms of the page dorm, we were never allowed to leave the dorm without somebody else. We couldn't just roam Washington, D.C.
There was a lot of oversight in terms of what you were doing outside of the program. But during the day, when we were in the Capitol, you were either on the House floor or going between the congressmen's office. And at that point, you are buy yourself, you are walking around the Capitol. So there's monitoring inside the page dorm, but not so much inside the Capitol.
O'BRIEN: I have heard that the pages, really it's the experience of a lifetime. And so you keep in touch with each other, there's, you know, real connections that are made when you are 16 years old, and in this fairly remarkable program.
Have you been talking to your friends who are also former pages? What are they saying about all this, Samuel?
BURKE: I am talking to all my friends. We have message boards online, we all stay in contact through MySpace and other Internet groups. And everybody is just shocked.
People are really surprised. But mostly my friends are sad because, like you said, this is the experience of a lifetime.
I have never had a better opportunity than being a page and getting to be on the floor of the House every single day. And people are really worried that someone is going to want to ax this program. And we want other pages -- other potential pages to be able to have this experience because it truly is something -- it really changes your life. It's just the most amazing opportunity.
So, we're hoping that the program stays intact and that this scandal doesn't hurt the program.
O'BRIEN: Yes, I think everybody is looking to see what the fallout is going to eventually be, both politically and then, of course, for the program, too.
Samuel Burke is a former congressional page.
Samuel, thanks for talking with us. We appreciate it. BURKE: Thank you.
O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at some of the morning headlines just ahead, including a possible jail escape plan by the alleged Atlanta courthouse shooter.
And we will tell you what Fidel Castro told Hugo Chavez just days after his life-saving surgery.
Those stories straight ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: This morning, five weeks before Election Day, Republicans in Congress are in damage control mode. Florida Congressman Mark Foley is out, accused have sending sexually explicit e-mails to teenage boys who were congressional pages. So how is the White House reacting? CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House for us this morning. Hey, Susan, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Soledad.
This is the last thing the White House anticipated, five weeks before the congressional midterm elections, obviously in full mode damage control here.
It was just in July you see a picture of President Bush with Congressman Foley actually in a bill-signing for missing and exploited children, ironically, Foley being one of the co-authors of that legislation.
Well, White House officials coming out in full force now, making three points, first of all, saying they had no idea of the allegations against the congressman, these e-mails, secondly that they are reprehensible and third, they are saying that they do have confidence in the Republican leadership that they are going to handle this situation, this scandal and the investigation appropriately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: ... our plate's full enough.
This is a terrible story, and, 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 that these kids can come and get a good experience on 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 investigations and others do it. We are 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, so clearly while the White House is trying to distance itself from the scandal it does have a dog in this fight. They want to make sure they keep the majority of Republicans in the House, in the Senate, so President Bush can get something done in the next couple of years that he is still president. So that is why you hear White House officials expressing such confidence in the Republican leadership that ultimately this is going to be handled appropriately. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: And then let's turn to the other front, Bob Woodward's new book which the White House has been coming out fighting against some of the things he said in his book.
MALVEAUX: And it's a full court press here. I mean, they are taking on each and every one of the allegations with these denials. We've heard it over the weekend. We're going to continue to hear it over the next couple of days.
It will be interesting to see whether or not President Bush actually makes himself available to deal with some of these. But White House officials denying some of these claims, that there was a request for more troops that were ignored or the fact that Condoleezza Rice, who was then national security advisor, dismissed this idea that al Qaeda was ready to attack the United States and, finally, the former chief of staff Andy Card also saying that he did not conduct this campaign to oust Secretary Rumsfeld.
But very interesting to note the language that all of them are using here, not saying that he denied he wanted to get rid of Rumsfeld or even called for it, but that there was not some sort of campaign.
All of this is really to try to downplay this book, to turn the focus away from the Iraq War, back onto the war on terror. That is something they believe they are strong and that is what they want to focus on before the midterm elections.
Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Downplaying seems to be the word of the morning. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Thank you, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Sure.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk more about the scandal and its impact with Republican strategist Ed Rollins. Nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.
The latest information as you probably know is that the now former Congressman Foley has entered rehab, apparently for alcoholism, his lawyer wouldn't disclose exactly where that treatment center was, they are expecting a news conference later today. From you I'm interested in the big picture. What do you think the fallout is going to be of this particular scandal, the Foley scandal?
ED ROLLINS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: This obviously goes to the credibility of the leadership. You had Bob Ney recently admit to felonies, he was chairman of the Government Administration Committee, he claims he's an alcoholic now, obviously this is a guy who was in leadership. Leadership says it knew about this.
And I think to a certain extent these are issues people understand. They may not understand national intelligence estimates, they may not understand or who did what, whether it was Clinton or whether it was George Bush who should have done what, but they do understand when someone is sending perverted e-mails to their -- to young people. And I think to a certain extent, why wasn't there some adult supervision.
And if the leadership knew about this why didn't they do something about it.
S. O'BRIEN: Is the big question going to be how much the leadership knew and when, because it sounds like Hastert, certainly his office was aware of what they called "over friendly."
ROLLINS: Well, and what is over friendly? There's been rumors about this guy for a long, long time. He had kind of an unconventional lifestyle and I think to a certain extent it's sort of nine (ph) neglect. And it's are you going to run the House, Republicans, you are in charge, why you want to keep the majority is because you have been more effective than Democrats. And what you have done is given people a reason now to make a change. In off-year elections, it's about motivating your base, getting your voters out. There's a big drop-off from presidential elections. You have got to make Republicans turn out and vote.
This is going to turn Republican voters off, this is going to turn off religious right voters ...
S. O'BRIEN: I was going to ask you about ...
ROLLINS: ... this is going to turn off elderly voters. This is going to make people -- Our voters are not going to be as motivated as Democrats are who think there can there be a change. And that's where something like this is catastrophic.
S. O'BRIEN: We still have not heard from the religious right leaders yet. If they call for a removal of the leadership, if they say, you know, heads need to roll not just Congressman Foley who is now in some kind of rehab, do you think that that's something that's going to have to be taken seriously?
ROLLINS: Certainly it has to be serious, and I think to a certain extent -- I think the speaker and the leadership have to say why haven't we used the Ethics Committee? For the last two years, there have been scandals, starting with Abramoff. The only thing we have done to reform the House after two years of lobbying scandals is basically say former members can't use the gym.
We have not had any kind of major reform. A report came out this week where Abramoff went 400 some odd times to the White House. There has been no slapping of any hands. And I think to a certain extent that's what's going to be the issue in this campaign and I think it's going to work to the detriment of Republicans.
S. O'BRIEN: To what degree does it trickle to the White House? The White House, when I talked to Tony Snow earlier this morning, clearly, no surprise, they are really downplaying and distancing themselves from the Foley scandal. But one of the things he said to me, there have been scandals before and these naughty e-mails. I think that caught a lot of people's attention -- not necessarily naughty e-mails, kind of more than that, perverted e-mails.
ROLLINS: The bottom line is this is a congressional election. Democrats would love to nationalize it and make it about President Bush. The president has his own battles with the war and his national prestige, but this is about the Congress, and in they lose the Congress, certainly the president gets a black eye and certainly we'll have two very, very miserable years. But this now is going to be a localized election and this is certainly going to be about getting Republican voters out to the polls which is going to be much more difficult.
S. O'BRIEN: So the real target could potentially be the Republican leadership. Can I ask you a quick question about the book, Bob Woodward's book?
That, in combination with what we are seeing today with this scandal, to what degree, is it just going to drive - either voters stay home or they just say forget it.
ROLLINS: Well, I think it all comes down to a question of integrity. It's sort of a drumbeat. It's sort of like one charge, you don't pay much attention to. A second charge you pay a little more attention to. When it guest the third and fourth and fifth. And someone like Woodward has a lot of credibility. Over a 25 year period. And I think to a certain extent when he makes a charge, people listen a little bit more and certainly is going to have a lot of play in the next three or four weeks. This is the worst thing that could happen to Republicans in the last closing weeks of this campaign.
S. O'BRIEN: Ed Rollins is a Republican strategist. Nice to see you as always.
ROLLINS: Thank you very much. My pleasure.
S. O'BRIEN: Rick?
SANCHEZ: Let's go over to Carol now. She's following some of the big stories for us. Carol, what you got?
COSTELLO: Thanks, Rick. And good morning to all of you. The U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term in just about 30 minutes, 31 cases already on the schedule including cases on abortion, affirmative action and immigration.
In Atlanta, an emergency hearing about Brian Nichols. He's accused of killing four people during a courthouse rampage last year. Prosecutors say he is plotting an escape and they want to go over security measures at the jail.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says Fidel Castro told him he is ready to die. Mr. Chavez says the Cuban leader told him this when the two met back in August as Mr. Castro recovered from intestinal surgery.
Thailand's new prime minister, Surayud Chulanont, was sworn in after receiving the endorsement from that country's king. Chulanot, a retired chief of the Thai army will serve on an interim basis. His appointment comes less than two weeks after the Thai military seized power in a bloodless coup.
Rescuers finally found the wreckage of a plane crash in the Amazon Rainforest. Brazilian authorities say they are no survivors. The plane carrying 155 people went down after apparently clipping a smaller plane in midair. The smaller plane managed to land safely.
In California, firefighters say they are close to containing one of the largest fires ever to strike that state. The Day Fire, so- called because it started on Labor Day, has burned 254 square miles of forest. Firefighters say calm winds and high humidity have helped them control the fire. That's a look at the headlines this morning. Back to you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks so much, Carol.
Well, coming up in "A.M. Pop" the one and only Mr. T. He is going to join us live. We are going to ask him about his had new reality show. It's called, what else, "Pity the Fool."
And then later, an auction that boldly goes where no other auction has gone before. Your chance to grab a piece of "Star Trek" history. It's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. This is something special, in "A.M. Pop" this morning, you know him, you love him, you wish he'd come back to TV.
Well, he has, Mr. T. He's back with his own reality show. It's called, you guessed it, "Pity the Fool." In it Mr. T helps other people solve their problems. Now, in the first episode he tries to help a lackluster car dealership. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MR. T, CELEBRITY: I was revved up for the final T challenge, motivate the staff.
Is it in you? Is it in you? Twelve more cars! Twelve more cars!
It was time to hit the nitrous, burn rubber, put the pedal to the metal and get in the passing lane.
Come on, man, help a brother out. Come on, man! We're going to sell brother. We're going to sell. That's right!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, that older guy looks a little intimidated.
Mr. T, welcome to the show. Nice to have you.
T: Thank you, brother. Thank you, man. Good to be here.
SANCHEZ: So tell me what you are going to do. You are going to actually go and help motivate different corporations?
T: Different people, whoever call, whatever. We did six episodes already, we did a family, we did a lady with a farm and four sons and stuff like that. So I go where I'm called. I go there and bring a little -- some excitement, but mostly inspiration, bring people together. I'm not really -- I don't really give advice. I joke with everybody, tell them Dr. Phil give advice.
SANCHEZ: Right.
T: Mr. T inspire people and motivate people.
SANCHEZ: It's interesting you say that because people say, well, Mr. T is trying to become the next Oprah. You are not trying to become the next Oprah, right?
T: No, see, what I have been doing I have been doing all my life. I used to go out and street preaching with my pastor back in 1977. So I didn't start just thinking I'm going to do this.
See, when people be around me, like earlier before the camera, they have a little excitement, that's my energy so I try to make things positive because we have got enough negative things. So I try to make getting up in the morning, feeling good about yourself, excited about going to work. Exciting to do things. Then I show people how to come together and work together.
SANCHEZ: Are you always like that?
T: I'm always like that. People think sometimes I'm high, I'm on drugs or whatnot. I am high, I'm high on life.
SANCHEZ: Other people would think perhaps you are doing it because the camera is on. But the private Mr. T is not like this.
T: When I'm at home, you know, I read my Bible, then I relax. My mother told me to rest. So when I'm out, I try to energize. I have fun with what I'm doing. I like doing what I'm doing. I like meeting the people, greeting them, having fun.
See, my celebrity status allows me this platform to reach the people, to motivate them, to go to the schoolyards, to go back to the ghettos to tell kids to stay away from drugs, listen to their parents, stay in school. That's always been my message. Always been my message. I have been to the prisons and whatnot and talked to people, the cameras wasn't there. I was doing that before the stuff. So this is just who I am. Plus, I have been pitying the fools for 20 years. The show just caught up with me pitying people. See what I mean? Then when I pity people it's not a bad thing. Pity, that means mercy.
SANCHEZ: You mentioned you read the Bible. You are a religious man.
T.: Yes, yes, yes.
SANCHEZ: Are you going to include that as part of your show?
T: No, I want people to know I don't force that on nobody, but we did an episode with a family, where we have breakfast on the show and they asked me to say the -- to bless the food, to say the blessing. And I do that.
One of the parents, we was in a situation one day, they - their relative was sick, they asked me would I come to the hospital because that's what I have been doing. It started many years ago in 1983with the Make a Wish foundation, a little kid that was dying, he wanted to see me. That's when my life was changed. And other kids wanted to come in and see me. That's who Mr. T is.
SANCHEZ: Is this a natural transformation for you? We remember seeing you on the "A Team", then "Rocky," great movie by the way.
T: Right.
SANCHEZ: And now this. It's like heading into reality TV and really you are helping people.
T: Yes. We call it -- see, what separates my show from everybody else's show, my show is reali-"T." The T in there. And then also there's no nudity, no obscenity.
SANCHEZ: This is clean.
T: This is clean. This is like -- this is what I have been doing, only the cameras happen to be following me. This is not me trying to be like nobody else or nothing like this. Like I said, it started, my life changed, when the little kid wanted to me see from the Make a Wish Foundation. The grant kids their last wish and he wanted to see me of all the people.
SANCHEZ: Your whole trademark looks, you don't have the chains anymore.
T: No, don't wear the gold no more.
SANCHEZ: You got rid of that. Did you ever think about changing the mohawk?
T: No, no, never, man.
SANCHEZ: Don't get mad at me.
T: I be havin' fun with you, Rick. People try to say that a long time ago. Mr. T, if you would change your hair, you would get more stuff. But they don't know who I am. All I ever wanted to do was be a good son to my mother. I come from a family of 12. So that's a message right there. We were on welfare. I tell kids it's not where you come from, it's where you going. I was born and raised in the ghetto. But the ghetto wasn't born and raised in me. That's what I bring.
SANCHEZ: I think you are going to do well. You are a motivator. I feel motivated sitting next to you and listening to you.
T: Thank you, brother.
SANCHEZ: It's very nice of you to come in and talk to us.
T: Thank you, brother.
SANCHEZ: Mr. T's new show by the way, "I Pity the Fool" debuts on TV Land in October, October 11th at 10:00 Eastern and that repeats on Nick at Night at 11:00 p.m.
Soledad, over to you.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, thanks. CNN NEWSROOM is just a couple minutes away. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center and she has got a look at what's ahead this morning. Hey, Heidi, good morning.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, so what's the deal? On Friday I came on after Natalie Cole, now today Mr. T. This is really tough to follow.
We are going to be talking about several different things coming up at 10:00 today. First and foremost, sexually charged e-mails and instant messages to minors. We follow the investigation into former Congressman Mark Foley. Democrats accuse Republicans leaders of a cover-up. So we'll get into that.
Also an overpass crashes down on motorists outside Montreal. Today, Canada launches a public inquiry.
And, shout it out loud. These believers say Jesus is back on earth, and living in Miami. Join Tony Harris and me in the NEWSROOM starting at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Heidi, thanks. Just about 10 minutes away.
And still ahead this morning, Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business." Back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Listen up. You can now own a piece of the original Starship Enterprise and some other items as well from the "Star Trek" universe, as long as you are willing to bid for it. CNN's Jason Carroll has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a five year mission, but 40 years later ...
PATRICK STEWART, ACTOR: Tactical analysis, Mr. Worf.
CARROLL: The Enterprise is still on its trek, launching five television series and 10 movies. It's a celestial franchise phenomenon. What better way to celebrate four decades since Captain Kirk battled his first alien than to have a sale?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is something where you walk in the room and you go, oh my God, this is it.
CARROLL: The posh auction house Christie's put aside its antique silver and fine artwork in place of Klingon weapons, starships and models the series technicians remember creating in strange ways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These vertical structures were actually Levelor blinds we stole from the office next to the art department and just we put this together.
CARROLL: On thousand items in all will be auctioned off this week. George Takei, who played Sulu in the original series is happy to see those polyester cutoffs become collectibles.
GEORGE TAKEI, "SULU": Our 40th anniversary is made possible by the fans. It's their dedication, their passion, their tenacity and undying love for "Star Trek" that's given us the unexpected longevity.
CARROLL: Trekkies lined up this past weekend to get a preview of their favorites.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would love to get a batlin (ph).
CARROLL: A what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A batlin.
CARROLL: What is that?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A batlin is the Klingon sword that's shaped like a crescent moon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want Jean-Luc Picard's uniform. One of them. I don't care which one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would probably pick the model of the Enterprise if I could figure out how to get it into my house and if I could convince my wife that I could have it.
CARROLL: Also popular, costumes worn by the conquering half human robots known as the borg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sexy.
CARROLL (on camera): The borg outfit is sexy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
CARROLL: Because it's so tight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I like leather.
CARROLL: Excuse me? Leather. OK. That's a different kind of collection.
You could have any item, your item would be what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would go for the captain's chair.
CARROLL: So, all you star trek fans, you finally have a chance to own Captain Kirk's chair, if you so choose. Imagine this. You can sit at home and visualize yourself transporting off to a different planet, with just one command. Scotty, energize.
(voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, aboard the Starship Enterprise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Didn't you just know that was coming?
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No.
SANCHEZ: You didn't?
SERWER: No, I didn't know that was coming.
SANCHEZ: You wouldn't have done that if you were doing that story?
SERWER: Beam me up, Scotty.
SANCHEZ: But it was well done.
SERWER: It was good. I like that.
SANCHEZ: Let's go to the guy in the business captain's chair. That would be you.
SERWER: I will take that. Let's go down to Wall Street and see how stocks are faring. After a stellar third quarter, we are starting off the fourth quarter with a little bit of a whimper, stocks down about two points there as we get started this morning.
Now, let's see. A couple stocks in focus this morning. Pier One, the CEO is leaving. That stock is on the move. And also, a stock that is actually moving to the upside, at least in pre-market trading, hasn't opened yet, is Harrah's. The "Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the nation's largest casino operator may be looking to go private through the leveraged buyout. And that was up to $8.50 to $75 in pre-market trading, and that could be one of the biggest buyouts of all time. If that happens.
And finally this morning, talking about a company that many of you may be familiar with, that is NetFlix, which is the DVD rental by mail company. They have a new $1 million contest. They want to have someone come up with a new way of improving the accuracy of their recommended list. In other words, if you can think of a way to improve the recommended list, you will win a million dollars. Now, this is a real sort of computer science kind of deal.
SANCHEZ: A software program.
SERWER: It really is, so it is mostly for people who are expert in that field of endeavor. They are going t the put out their 100 million ratings of their movies by their customers so you can study the database and see how it works. And apparently this is a kind of software problem that has been improved a lot over the last 10 years and they say they have hit the wall so they are can looking for people who are thinking out of the box.
SANCHEZ: Because there's a lot of movies out there and it's hard to figure out what's what and when and who so this would be nice to filter it down a little bit. Compartmentalize.
SERWER: For me it would be what's sort of like, what's "The Big Lebowski," which is my favorite movie. We've talked about that before.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up at the top of the hour, angry Palestinians on the streets of Gaza. They want their paychecks but the government is running low on cash.
And the book that has Washington, DC talking. Tell you all about "State of Denial" straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: That's it for us on AMERICAN MORNING. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
