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American Morning
Denver Blizzard II; Battle For Somalia; Hussein Death Sentence; Edwards In '08; Iraq Strategy Meeting; Oklahoma City Bombing Report
Aired December 28, 2006 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A gathering storm. Denver is bracing for a second blizzard with another travel nightmare bearing down on the plains.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story in Iraq. Saddam Hussein's execution is said to be imminent. Insurgents are now issuing new threats against America.
O'BRIEN: A retreat in Mogadishu. Islamist fighters with ties to al Qaeda on the run in Somalia's capital overnight.
CHO: And onward to '08. John Edwards will talk to us about his decision to run for president and his early campaign slip-up on this AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. It is Thursday, December 28th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad. Thanks for joining us.
O'BRIEN: Deja vu in Denver. A new storm could bring another foot or more of snow before the side roads have even been cleared of last week's blizzard. CNN's Jonathan Freed live at Denver International Airport with more.
Jonathan, good morning.
JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
It is expected to start snowing around noon today here in Denver, and we are told it is not going to let up until tomorrow evening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREED (voice over): You're looking at the last 100 or so bags still sitting at United Airlines baggage claim in Denver after last week's storm. Some 5,000 travelers were stranded here for two days, most sleeping wherever they could. United alone canceled 1,800 Denver flights and says it managed to reunite most people with their bags and get them on their way within 24 hours of the airport reopening last Friday.
Question is, have they cleared the place out only to have it happen all over again? Denver's mayor says if it does, despite the inconvenience, the city will not compromise safety. MAYOR JOHN HICKENLOOPER, DENVER: And we're not going to keep it open longer than what is completely safe and we're not going to open it sooner than we feel is completely safe.
FREED: Plowing this place is no small task.
When your crews plow every inch of concrete at this airport, how much are they talking about?
CHUCK CANNON, SPOKESMAN, DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Well, we're talking about 1,200 lane miles. And that's enough for a single- lane road from Denver to San Francisco, or Denver to Detroit, depending on which way you want to go.
FREED: Airlines are already waving restrictions on tickets to help people who want to try to get out ahead of the second storm in a week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREED: Now, Miles, some people are saying six, seven inches of snow here. Others are saying could be a healthy foot or so before this thing is done.
O'BRIEN: Or maybe an unhealthy foot. Who knows? Jonathan Freed at Denver International Airport.
Let's get the forecast right away. Chad Myers in the Weather Center.
Yesterday you were coming in kind of in the middle of the projections. What are you saying today, Chad?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHO: Funeral plans announced for former President Gerald Ford. A tribute that will span three states over the next six days. It begins tomorrow in Palm Desert, California, with a private church service for the Ford family. On Saturday, President Ford's casket will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a state funeral in the Capitol rotunda. The public will get to pay its respects while Ford's body lies in state from Saturday to Tuesday. On Tuesday, there will be a memorial service at the National Cathedral. Family members then accompany Ford's casket back to his home state of Michigan. On Wednesday, he will be laid to rest on a hillside plot near his presidential museum in Grand Rapids.
Miles.
O'BRIEN: Around the world this morning, several dramatic stories unfolding as we speak.
On the horn of Africa, Ethiopian troops on the march in Somalia. They're advancing on Mogadishu, the capital, routing Islamic fighters. The U.S. is signaling support for the Ethiopian offensive.
In Iraq, Saddam Hussein's date with the gallows apparently imminent. His death could touch off a wave of insurgent attacks.
And in Saudi Arabia, the annual Hajj is underway. Two million Muslim pilgrims converging on the holy city of Mecca. More than 700 have died in stampedes during the Hajj in the past two years.
We have these stories covered for you. Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange is covering the war in Somalia, Arwa Damon is in Baghdad and Zain Verjee is in Mecca. Let's begin with Jeff. The concern is Somalia could become another Afghanistan, a base for al Qaeda.
Jeff.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles.
And make no doubt about it, just because the Islamists have withdrawn from the capital doesn't mean that they are surrendering. You well know, you pointed it out. In Afghanistan, the Taliban retreated to the hills, came back with a vengeance. This is the most critical phase of the war.
If you talk to any military experts, the Ethiopians must be very weary. That's why probably they're holding flank right now. It's actually the Somali government forces which have moved into the capital and right now they've taken over the presidential palace. We heard there was looting and gunfire overnight as chaos ensued in a very chaotic city. This is not over by a long-shot.
Miles.
O'BRIEN: Jeff Koinange in Johannesburg, thank you.
Alina.
CHO: A developing story in Iraq this morning. Saddam Hussein facing execution at any time over the next 28 days and sharing what could be his last, public words. He's written a goodbye letter. CNN's Arwa Damon live in Baghdad with more.
Arwa, good morning.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And that's right, it can only really be described as being his goodbye letter. It was written at some point after the verdict came out back in early November. He is calling on all Iraqi people to unite, to put their sectarian differences aside. He appears to be accepting what he is calling his martyrdom. He is also calling for the continuation of the fight against occupying forces.
The Iraqi government, meanwhile, is gearing up. It's trying to ready itself for the hanging of Iraq's former dictator. The Iraqi government, on one hand, believed that executing Saddam Hussein will decrease the violence here.
However, a posting on a Baathist website warns that should Iraq's former president be hanged, that will only increase the violence here, calling this a red line that the United States does not want to cross. Also saying that this will hamper any efforts between the United States and the former regime element of the Iraqi insurgency here. Any negotiations for peace, those will fall apart if Saddam Hussein is killed.
The deadline now set at the latest for January 27th. That, according to the Iraqi high tribunal. However, it could happen at any moment. That end to an era in Iraqi history.
CHO: Arwa Damon live for us in Baghdad this morning. Arwa, thank you.
And news this morning that this month is one of the deadliest in the war for American troops. The military announcing today the deaths of three American soldiers yesterday by bombings. At least 96 Americans have died in Iraq in December. That's the sixth highest monthly total of the war and the second highest of the year. One hundred and six died in October. American military deaths in the Iraq War now total 2,985.
John Edwards joins the race for the White House in 2008, formally announcing his candidacy this morning, with hurricane-ravaged New Orleans as a backdrop. CNN's Dana Bash has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Later today, here in New Orleans east, John Edwards will make it official. He'll formally announce he's running for president. The former senator from North Carolina decided to make his announcement here in an area still rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina to try to illustrate the political territory he intends to stake out. That he's the candidate for the little guy. He's the Democrat who will fight and continue to focus on the plight of the poor and what he calls those have been forgotten.
Now John Edwards did run, of course, in 2004 and then went on to be John Kerry's running mate. And even after they lost, in many ways he never stopped campaigning. He went back home to North Carolina, started a center on poverty there. And then during the 2006 campaign, he canvassed the country, running and campaigning with candidates to try to stay in the spotlight.
Now it will be hard for him to continue to stay in the spotlight as we get closer to 2008, especially because there are going to be two candidates potentially in the race who could overshadow everybody -- Barack Obama and maybe Hillary Clinton. But Edwards' campaign aides say that he intends to make his campaign different by making it a call to action. In fact, expect to hear this line from Senator Edwards -- "tomorrow starts today."
Dana Bash, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: And keep it here. John Edwards will join us live here on AMERICAN MORNING. That's at 8:15 Eastern Time. Miles.
O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, more on that next round of bad weather headed for Denver. Another powerful blizzard in the forecast. It will make a travel mess from Wyoming to Texas, so the predictions go. Chad will update us on the forecast.
And a new report on the Oklahoma City bombing. Why a congressional subcommittee is taking another look.
And when is a secret family vacation for a very public person not so secret? Well, when your jet overshoots a runway, that's when. New details about Tony Blair's Christmas vacation. Now we know all about it, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Well, a runway mishap is blowing British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cover. What was to be a private family vacation is now stirring up some controversy for Downing Street. We told you how the plane carrying Mr. Blair and his family and 300 other passengers went off a runway in Miami. Now, no one was hurt, but it gave reporters a reason to look into Blair's vacation plans in Florida. Apparently at a waterfront estate owned by none other than Bee Gees singer Robin Gibb -- insert favorite song there. The British paper's eating this up this morning, pointing out that Gibb is trying to get the British government to enact copyright laws more favorable for musicians. Downing Street insisting the Blairs are paying their own way.
New strategy for Iraq has been at the top of President Bush's to- do list during his working vacation. Today he'll meet with his closest aides at the western White House. CNN's Elaine Quijano has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Bush today huddles with his top advisors at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to discuss options for changing his Iraq policy. Aides continue to describe the meeting as "non-decisional." Attending this morning will be top members of the president's national security team, including Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the president's new defense secretary, Robert Gates, and his national security advisor, Stephen Hadley.
The president is expected to make comments after that meeting and aides say the president still plans to announce any changes to his Iraq policy in a speech sometime in January.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Crawford, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Thirteen and a half minutes past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center with our traveler's forecast. And it's kind of a grim picture. (WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: In our closer look this morning, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City 11 « years ago now. A congressional subcommittee is out with a new report blasting the Justice Department and the FBI for mishandling the case. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live from Washington with more.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
And, yes, it's a new report, but it continues to raise questions that have really been there since almost the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN, (voice over): The conspiracy theories began almost immediately after 168 people were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. Did Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols act alone or were others involved? Was every lead hunted down?
This new report does not conclude there was foreign involvement. It does charge that federal investigators did not fully pursue those possibilities, even though the reported sub states -- "there are multiple witnesses who place McVeigh with another person at the scene of the bombing. It is reasonable to question," it continues, "if all leads were thoroughly pursued, all evidence gathered and properly analyzed."
Jannie Coverdale lost two grandchildren, ages two and five, in the explosion. She says she feels the investigations have been inadequate.
JANNIE COVERDALE, GRANDCHILDREN KILLED IN BOMBING: We need another investigation. We need the investigation we should have had in the beginning.
FRANKEN: Of the two men convicted in the bombing, one is dead, Timothy McVeigh, executed in April, 2001. The other, Terry Nichols, is serving a life sentence. Nichols, according to the report, admitted for the first time he was responsible for robbing an Arkansas gun store to get money for the operation. As for McVeigh, the report argues his execution should have been further delayed while investigators continued to delve into possibilities of involvement by terrorists associated with the New York World Trade Center bombing in 1993, as well as neo-Nazi groups, including a German national. Coverdale says she agrees.
COVERDALE: There were other people besides Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols involved in the bombing.
FRANKEN: But the FBI insists that all involved have been prosecuted. That "every bit of information was investigated and reviewed."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: So comes the question, why have another investigation? Well according to Republican Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, Miles, he's saying there are just too many questions that remain unanswered so long after the bombing.
O'BRIEN: All right. We're going to talk to him in just a little bit.
Bob Franken, thank you very much.
Congressman Rohrbacher will be our guest, talking to us about some of those unanswered questions. What his committee found out. 7:30 Eastern Time. You'll see it right here. Stay with us for that.
Alina.
CHO: Coming up, a sign of a strong finish for the economy in 2006. Ali Velshi's got the latest home sales numbers.
And the big names and the loyal fans all get their chance to pay tribute to James Brown starting today. We'll have more in a moment. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Plans for fans to say their goodbyes today to James Brown, the godfather of soul. Brown's body will lie in repose at New York City's legendary Apollo Theater today. Tomorrow, a private ceremony in his hometown, Augusta, Georgia. Then on Saturday, the public is invited to a homecoming celebration at the 8,500-seat James Brown Arena in Augusta. Brown will be buried in a family plot near the arena. James Brown died early Christmas morning in Atlanta. He was 73 years old.
Happening in America.
Colorado bracing for another big storm. Ten to 18 inches of snow forecast for the Denver area. Possibly up to 30 inches in the mountains. And they're still cleaning up from last week's storm. Denver International Airport has hired a snow removal consultant with experience at large airports. Good for them.
Modesto, California, the infamous home of Laci and Scott Peterson, selling for $350,000. The three-bedroom, two-bath house was where the Petersons lived until Laci's murder four years ago this Christmas. Scott Peterson is on death row for killing his wife and unborn son.
A tourism record for New York City. Officials estimating 44 million people will visit the big apple by the end of the year. One and a quarter million this holiday week alone. The city rebounding since the 9/11 attacks and Mayor Mike Bloomberg says he wants more people to come. Tourism is big business, $24 billion a year.
Swarms of online shoppers, four times more than last year at this time, overwhelmed Apple's iTunes store during the holidays. It prompted error messages and waits of 20 minutes or more to download just one song. No word from Apple on what's causing the trouble or when it will be fixed.
You had some problems on Christmas Day, huh?
O'BRIEN: I did. I did. I don't know -- Muhammad Yunus might be an iPod user as well, but that was the wrong videotape. Nevertheless, anyway, yes, we did. We tried to download some -- I was blaming it on the kids, of course.
CHO: Of course.
O'BRIEN: They messed up the computer. But, no, it wasn't their fault. Sorry, kids.
Santa Claus brought a rally to Wall Street, the exchanges, leading the Dow to another record close. Twenty-three minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
We've got a call into Apple, by the way, to get a little more information on those downloads.
But, yes, another milestone on the Dow. This one's important. First time the Dow closed above 12,500. These milestones don't mean anything other than they're nice, round numbers to remember.
The Dow was up 103 points yesterday, closing at 12,510. Hitting a new interday high as well. Just two more shopping days, as it were, on the stock exchanges before the end of the year.
Why were the markets up across the board? Well, first of all, we had some strong housing numbers. I'll tell you about that in a second. Oil was lower again. And there's low volume on the exchanges this week. People are not all at work. So low volume exaggerates the moves one way or the other.
Now, what does it mean? It means that it's broad. What this means is it's not a blip. Because you look at all the exchanges, they're doing very well for the year. The Dow year-to-date is up almost 16 percent. The S&P 500 -- 500 stocks, not just 30 like the Dow -- up about 14 percent. And the Nasdaq, which is a little more tech-heavy, up 10 percent. That's for the year. So stock markets have done fairly well for the year.
Now I want to tell you about that housing situation. We had numbers for new home sales yesterday and they showed that new home sales are up for November and the price of a -- the median new home is just above $250,000. That's not as high as it's ever been, but it's close. Now new homes account for about 15 percent of the total housing market. Existing homes, that already exist, account for about 85 percent. We're getting those numbers today and that will sort of determine whether or not we're going to close this year out higher or lower than last year. As you know, we've gone onto both sides of that line.
We're also checking with the New York Stock Exchange. Exchanges may close for the funeral of former President Ford. They did close last time when President Reagan was buried. We'll get more on that and bring it to you as soon as we have it.
CHO: All right, Ali, thank you very much. We'll check in with you later.
Top stories of the morning are straight ahead, including a discovery in China for search teams looking for two missing American climbers.
And it killed a former Russian spy, but you too can buy some polonium-210. And, guess what? We tried it and we'll show you what we got. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The final salute to a president. Preparations underway this morning for the ceremonies bidding farewell to Gerald Ford.
CHO: Developing news from Iraq. Saddam Hussein's execution said to be imminent. Insurgents are now issuing new threats against America.
O'BRIEN: And now arriving, another blizzard heading for landing at Denver. The latest forecast on that storm, what it could do to travel all across the nation on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back. Thursday, December 28th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad. Thanks for being with us today.
And we begin with Colorado bracing for another big storm. Ten to 18 inches of snow forecast for the Denver area. Up to 30 inches west of the city. Gusts up to 45 miles per hour could cause whiteout conditions. Crews are still cleaning up after last week's storm and Denver airport, paralyzed by last week's snow, has actually hired a snow removal consultant with experience at large airports. That's a good thing.
Let's get right to the forecast. Severe weather expert Chad Myers is at the CNN Weather Center for us.
And, Chad, do you think it's going to be so bad that they're going to have to close the airport again?
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Now to those plans announced last night for the nation's good-bye to former President Gerald Ford.
Peter Viles joining us from Rancho Mirage, California, with more on all of that.
Good morning, Peter.
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, the Fords have been coming to the church behind me, which is St. Margaret's Episcopal, in Palm Desert, California, for the better part of 30 years, and the funeral services will start here. One of the four children, in fact, was married here at this church in 1979. A more somber affair tomorrow as the Ford family comes here to gather one more time at the family church.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VILES (voice over): Former President Gerald Ford's funeral schedule will begin Friday, when his body, accompanied by his widow and their children, will be brought to St. Margaret's Church in Palm Desert.
In Washington, Saturday, Ford's casket will be taken up the east steps of the House of Representatives, a tribute to his tenure in the House, the longest of any U.S. president. And then a state funeral will be conducted in the rotunda of the Capitol.
On Tuesday, the casket will be moved outside the Senate chamber. As vice president, Ford was also president of the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know personally how much those two tributes themselves meant to President Ford.
VILES: Betty Ford expressed her gratitude as a nation remembered.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The nation's appreciation for the contributions that President Ford made throughout his long and well- lived life are more than we could ever have anticipated. These kindness have made this difficult time more bearable."
VILES: President Bush on Wednesday ordered U.S. flags at all government buildings to fly at half-staff for 30 days.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: During his time in office, the American people came to know President Ford as a man of complete integrity who led our country with common sense and kind instincts.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VILE: Now, President Ford's body will lie in repose here at St. Margaret's Episcopal beginning tomorrow afternoon into the evening Friday, and it will leave the church and leave the California desert for the final time on Saturday morning, Miles, to begin that long trip back east to Washington and funeral services there -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Peter Viles in Rancho Mirage.
Thank you -- Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: In China, a CNN crew was first on the scene for the latest news on those two missing American climbers. A search team has found a frozen body and believe it's that of Christine Boskoff. She and partner Charlie Fowler went mountain climbing in China near the Tibet border in November. An intense search for them began when they didn't return home as expected in early December.
CNN's Jaime FlorCruz reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): After weeks of frantically searching for two American mountain climbers missing in southwest China, a piece of grim news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our search and rescue teams found the body at about 17,400 feet on Genyen Peak in the Sichuan province yesterday about 1:30 in the afternoon. There is no other identification on the body other than a gray boot, blue gator (ph), and modern mountaineering gear that was found nearby.
FLORCRUZ: Friends and family concede it's probably the body of top female climber Christine Boskoff, or her climbing partner, Charlie Fowler, who haven't been heard from since November 11. They were last seen here in the town of Litang in Sichuan Province, where CNN caught up exclusively with the search team.
Boskoff and Fowler e-mailed friends, saying they were headed west from Litang toward the Genyen area, near the border with Tibet. They left their luggage with a local driver and said they'd be back by Thanksgiving to pick up their belongings. The pair never returned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is mere speculation, but it appears that it's either avalanche, or the climbers were blown off near the ridge.
FLORCRUZ: Here, mountains are pristine, but the terrain is treacherous and the temperature well below freezing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is the coldest time of the year, the deep winter. They had to climb under severe winter conditions. Combined with high altitudes, climbing here is very difficult.
FLORCRUZ: Just the kind of extreme challenges that the world's best climbers, like Christine and Charlie, aspired to conquer. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's something that keeps climbers going back and seeking that experience over and over again, and at the risk of life, loss of life.
FLORCRUZ: That loss of life seems more likely with each day, even as the search continues.
Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Here's a look at what CNN correspondents all around the world are covering today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Arwa Damon in Baghdad.
The clock is ticking for Saddam Hussein, Iraq's former dictator. The Iraqi government is trying to figure out the final details for the execution, as the nation gears itself up for the potential consequences. The deadline has been set as January 27th, according to the Iraqi high tribunal, but it could take place at any moment, marking the end of an era in Iraqi history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Frederik Pleitgen in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Ethiopian and Somali government forces continue to push to the Somali capital of Mogadishu in their war against Islamist insurgents. Now, what we hear from Somalia is that the government troops are entering the capital of Mogadishu and are retaking government buildings that they had left only a couple of months back.
Now, the Islamists had fled the capital area this morning, but said that this war is still far from over and that they will continue to fight, using all available methods. Now, they haven't elaborated on what that might actually mean, but many here in Ethiopia and many within the Somali interim government fear that it could mean protracted guerrilla warfare against Ethiopian and Somali government forces, but still we are not clear that that's really going to be the case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: For more on these or any of our top stories, log on to our Web site, CNN.com.
Straight ahead, an update on the morning's big story, wild weather in the plains. A blizzard likely for Denver again. Storm warnings from Wyoming to New Mexico, but the trouble for travelers could extend even farther. And you, too, could get your hands on some Polonium-210. You heard me right. The stuff that was used to kill that former Russian spy, only a few clicks away from your home computer.
That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Happening today, a strategy session on Iraq. President Bush meeting with senior advisers at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.
And two million Muslims now making the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. New security measures are in place to prevent deadly stampedes that killed hundreds of worshipers in recent years -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Alina.
More now on the poisoning death of that former Russian spy in London. The stuff that killed Alexander Litvinenko, Polonium-210, no longer considered a threat to public health in Great Britain. That coming from an independent health agency there.
Polonium-210 is a rare isotope. It's made in Russia, and it's probably a lot more easier to get than you think.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice over): Polonium-210, the radioactive isotope that killed the former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko, isn't hard to get at all. It's just a few mouse clicks and a few bucks away from any of us.
We found it at this Web site. United Nuclear of Sandia Park, New Mexico, sells all kinds of radioactive isotopes, including Polonium- 210. I was so surprised, I decided to order some -- $69 plus shipping and handling.
About a week later, it arrived.
(on camera): And here it is.
(voice over): But was it the genuine article?
(on camera): So now what we're going to do is we're going to send this off to some experts and see exactly what it is, if it is what they say it is. And perhaps more important, see how poisonous this particular amount would be.
(voice over): So we boxed it up and shipped it off to the experts at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta. They ran a quick test for us, and sure enough, it's the real McCoy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we know that it's either Polonium-210 or something very -- some other alpha particle very close to Polonium- 210. O'BRIEN: But it is a tiny amount, a tenth of a microcurie, really just a spec of Polonium. Exactly how dangerous is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A millicurie or tow would be a serious amount, and that would be 10,000 times a tenth of a microcurie on there. So you would have to really ingest a whole lot of these little discs in order to be seriously ill or die.
O'BRIEN: But United Nuclear says it won't ship more than one microcurie a month to anyone.
So let's do the math. With shipping and handling, that's about $800,000, and 833 years.
OK, I get it now. Guess you can take this one off your list of worries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We look at the security of all radioactive materials constantly, and if new information were to come to light, then we would take action. But right now we see no security threat from this material and the way it is sold and used in the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Now, since all this story broke, United Nuclear's gotten a few calls from reporters, as you might suspect. And since this happened, they have put a warning sign -- a warning on their Web page. Take a look at it right now.
You can see that they clearly state there what we just talked about in this piece, that they only ship small amounts and that it would take tremendous amounts of what they ship in order to cause any harm to any individuals, and that's why it is exempt. And that's why you can get something like this easily.
Now, you might ask, why would you want to get stuff like this?
CHO: Right.
O'BRIEN: In scientific laboratories, it is used, and it's also used in anti-static brushes that photographers use to get dust off of film...
CHO: Oh, OK.
O'BRIEN: ... for example, because it neutralizes the ions in the dust and the dust falls away.
CHO: So no reason to check the coffee or the water this morning.
O'BRIEN: No. I was thinking maybe you might want to have that as a little gift, though. A little brooch for you, maybe.
CHO: No, thank you. Miles, thank you very much.
All right.
U.N. forces still patrolling southern Lebanon. Peace in Lebanon considered one of the keys to stability in the Middle East. The fighting stopped in August, but as CNN's Brent Sadler reports, Lebanon is still a threat to boil over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): It was the spark that ignited a 34-day war in Lebanon, Hezbollah's cross-border kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, still missing, possibly dead. Engulfed in a firestorm, over a million Lebanese were made homeless. Israel's military machine crushed villages in south Lebanon while trying to obliterate Hezbollah, which controlled Lebanon's border with Israel and whose fighters Israel claimed used civilians as cover.
But Hezbollah's rockets rained down on northern Israel, claiming 157 lives until moments before a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. In the months that followed, enemy forces disengaged. Thousands more international peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon to bolster the truce. But Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, claimed Israel failed to knock out their weapons.
"Pay attention," stormed Nasrallah. "Hezbollah still has more than 20,000 rockets."
SADLER: Soon after, Nasrallah's militants launched a new offensive at home, backed by Syria and Iran, seeking to undermine the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Hezbollah orchestrated a walkout of all Shiite government ministers and won crucial Christian support from a faction allied to Hezbollah.
The political meltdown was enflamed by the assassination of an anti-Syrian government minister, one of a series of assassinations spanning two years, starting with former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. His son blamed Syria.
(on camera): From behind coils of razor wire, the government and its supporters accused Hezbollah, aided and abetted by Syria and Iran, of plotting to stage a coup.
(voice over): Also, that Syria was behind an Hezbollah-led attempt to scuttle both the Siniora government and the United Nations inquiry into the murders, an allegation Syria denied.
A swarm of opposition supporters packed downtown Beirut and camped on the prime minister's doorstep.
FOUAD SINIORA, LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER: I'm continuing with great determination, and we -- we are bound to succeed.
SADLER: The political showdown strangled Lebanon as the country tumbled into another dangerous cycle of instability that many feared could start another civil war.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: It's about 47 minutes after the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center with the travelers' forecast.
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O'BRIEN: We're watching some developing stories this morning around the country and around the world.
Denver, Mecca, Africa, California, all of them coming into us on our AMERICAN MORNING grid. We'll check in just a bit, tell you what's going on and what we're watching.
And we remember Gerald Ford. A look at the long love affair with his wife Betty. Fifty-eight years they were married. Guided his life and she charmed a nation.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Let's take a look at some of the feeds we're watching right now on the AMERICAN MORNING news grid.
Up there on APTN, what's feeding in right now is -- these are some of the pilgrims to the annual Hajj. Already two million pilgrims there. One of the five pillars of Islam.
Every able-bodied Muslim is expected to go there once in a lifetime if they can afford it. Two to three million people expected. Obviously, security and crowd control a big issue there.
Take a look at Denver. Incoming 12, that's what Chad is looking at right now. Some of the winter threat weather data that he's dealing with. There's more weather data that he's contending with right now.
He's saying on the north side of 12 inches of snow just in the Denver area alone. They're still digging out from that last blizzard, of course.
There's Peter Viles getting for his live shot in Rancho Mirage. We're talking about the funeral -- funerals, plural, for President Ford. It begins with his body lying in repose at the church where Peter is, starting tomorrow and into Saturday.
And then finally, this is the famous Apollo Theater, 125th Street in Harlem in New York City. In 1956, I believe it was, James Brown appeared there in the amateur hour and, really, in many respects, began his career there. And so there will also be an opportunity for the public to pay their respects to his remains today in Harlem -- Alina.
CHO: And still to come on this AMERICAN MORNING, Wall Street finding a worm in Apple after reports of a probe into executive stock options.
And breaking news overnight. Ethiopian forces on the brink of capturing Mogadishu from Islamic fighters.
Stay with us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, that stock options scandal continues to simmer. Fifty-six minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi here with a business report for us.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
We could start using the puns, taking a second bite out of Apple, or finding a worm in Apple.
Back in October, in the midst of this whole options backdating scandal -- and remember, a year ago people really hadn't heard of this kind of thing -- in the midst of this whole thing, Apple announced that it had conducted its own internal investigation -- no one else was checking it out -- it conducted its own internal investigation into backdating, and it said that it had found instances of backdating of stock option grants to executives dating from about 1987.
Now, it said that this wasn't a big deal, it was going to fix things up. Then December 15th, it was supposed to file its annual report. It missed that deadline.
Now, Wall Street pretty much shrugged this off because everybody likes Apple, they think it's a well-run company, and it did the right thing by investigating itself. Now the "Financial Times" is reporting that back in 2001, the CEO of the company, Steve Jobs, was awarded 7.5 million options, purportedly at a board meeting. Well, the "FT," citing sources close to the situation, says there was no such meeting, the board never approved those options. And that means the record that shows that the board approved those options is also incorrect or falsified.
Apparently, the government is investigating this. We asked Apple for a comment, and the response we got was that, "We're providing all details regarding the investigation to the SEC and we're not commenting beyond that."
The problem here, of course, is that Steve Jobs really is Apple, and if this touches Steve Jobs, it starts to become a bit of a concern. We'll get more from Apple on Friday, when it says it is filing its annual report -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much, Ali Velshi.
Let's take a look at some of the headlines around the nation that caught our eye this morning.
First of all, a story in the political world which is an interesting one. This one is one of our more popular ones on CNN.com.
The headline, Ford said before his death, obviously, Bush made a big mistake on Iraq justifications. Apparently, this was an interview with Bob Woodward, the famous former "Washington Post" journalist and writer of many books, who indicated in that interview, not published before, Mr. Ford said he felt that he would not have waged that war in Iraq.
CHO: All right. We want to look at an AP story in today's "St. Louis Post-Dispatch." The headline there is "Murder Rates Jump in U.S. Cities."
Now, some of the reasons cited are pretty obvious -- gangs, drugs, illegal guns. But some of it is actually because of a change in record-keeping, like in New York City, where they -- what they call reclassified homicides, victims who were shot and stabbed actually years ago but who didn't die until this year.
O'BRIEN: Cold comfort, I guess, in that case.
CHO: That's right.
O'BRIEN: "USA Today" has an interesting story which you might want to check out. The Food and Drug Administration saying "Cloned Animals' Meat is Safe." And you might want to -- you do a double take when you read that one.
First of all, are they cloning animals for slaughter? No. That would be way too costly. It's difficult to clone animals.
There are individual animals, however, that have characteristics which they'd like to preserve and continue into the breeding process. And so they want to use those cloned animals. The FDA says there's no problem with that and there won't be any specific label on either the milk or meat which comes from cloned animals.
I wonder what you think about that one.
CHO: It tastes like chicken.
O'BRIEN: Yes, right.
CHO: I think we're going to go to Chad at the CNN weather center with a look at the forecast.
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