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American Morning
Winter Weather: A Storm's Brewing; Congressional Convicts: Why You're Still Paying; Rice's Mideast Trip
Aired January 12, 2007 - 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: Breaking news. The U.S. embassy attacked overnight in Athens, Greece, with rocket propelled grenades.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Under fire. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice taking hostile questions on Capitol Hill and going overseas now to defend the president's new plan for Iraq.
O'BRIEN: Ice storm warning. The south central U.S. preparing for an inch of ice that could coat roads and power lines.
CHO: And big score. International soccer star David Beckham coming to America for $250 million. Those stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: That's a real mind bender, you might say.
CHO: No kidding.
O'BRIEN: Good morning. It's Friday, January 12th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad. Thanks for joining us.
O'BRIEN: We begin in Greece and an attack on the U.S. embassy there. Authorities are investigating a rocket attack at the embassy in Athens. A grenade hit the building causing minor damage. No one hurt. The rocket apparently fired from a street just beyond the embassy gates. The U.S. ambassador to Grease is condemning the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES REIS, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO GREECE: There can be no justification for such a senseless act of violence. I have talked to the minister of foreign affairs. She has assured me that the government will do all it can to find who did this, how it was done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Police are investigating claims a left-wing group, called the Revolutionary Struggle, might be responsible. Reporter Anthee Carassava joins us on the phone from Athens.
What do we know, Anthee?
ANTHEE CARASSAVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Terrorist attack and authorities here are scouring the embassy and buildings near the U.S. compound, collecting evidence that will help them answer the main question now, which is, who waged this attack? Who staged it? Authorities have ruled out this being the work of foreign terrorist organizations like al Qaeda. They say an anonymous caller rang a security company to claim responsibility on behalf of a group called the Revolutionary Struggle.
Now officials are investigating whether this claim is, in fact, true. They have been suggesting throughout this morning that this attack may have been waged by what they called remnants of Greece's deadliest terrorism organize called November 17. That group was disbanded here in 2002, but authorities have repeatedly said that the group has not been eradicated entirely.
Now police have told us that the empty tank missile that was used in the attack was fired from the street, some 300 yards from the embassy compound. We expect to hear more on their findings within the day.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Anthee Carassava, in Athens, thank you.
Alina.
CHO: Here at home, just about everywhere you look, winter weather is making news again. Storm warnings, freezing rain, wind chills, flooding. And a new warning this morning about a massive ice storm brewing. We have team coverage. CNN's Rob Marciano in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, and severe weather expert Chad Myers at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
Hey, Chad, good morning. Let's begin with you.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina.
Things are really going to get very interesting this evening and also into tonight. As we take a look at some of the temperatures from Billings, now the air temperature, 13 degrees below zero. And then to the south of the front, it is 66 degrees in Dallas.
This is the air, this is the cold front, this is the wind chill factors that are really going to make an entirely different story for the weekend. An ice storm develops right through Oklahoma and possibly spreads as far north as Indianapolis and Detroit by the end of the weekend. A lot of snow on the north side, too. We'll talk about that.
Back to you.
CHO: All right, Chad, thank you.
As he just mentioned, another winter storm is heading for the Rockies. Bitter cold and the fourth snow storm in a month in Colorado today. CNN's Rob Marciano is in Steamboat Springs for us.
Hey, Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alina.
Here in the high country of Colorado, snow has begun to fall and winter storm warnings are posted up for much of the mountains across this state as another big, winter storm begins to wind up across the western U.S. But still, in the southeast corner of this state, ranchers are still reeling and some are still without power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO, (voice over): Rancher Tom Verquer and his son TJ have finally reached their starving cattle after plowing through seven-foot snow drifts.
TOM VERQUER, COLORADO RANCHER: Hey. Come on, girls.
MARCIANO: A life of ranching has taught him how quickly a blizzard can devastate his livelihood, but he says he has to stay focused.
VERQUER: We're more or less eternal optimists and gamblers at heart. We kind of -- it's a lifestyle that a lot of us have grown up with. We're kind of used to it. We like it. We endure it.
MARCIANO: This week, President Bush declared a state of emergency in 13 Colorado counties hit hardest by recent blizzards, making them eligible for federal aid. The National Guard has dropped 3,000 tons of hay to cattle in remote southeast Colorado. Five thousand head of cattle have already been lost. And that number is expected to rise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were appreciative of air drop and all that stuff, but that was one feeding for these animals. They've got to be fed every day.
MARCIANO: At the National Western Stock Show in Denver, the recent blizzard is a hot topic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ranching business, we're all friends. We're buddies. It's devastating. I mean, the talk in the barn is, what's happening to these guys down in eastern Colorado? How are they doing?
MARCIANO: Fourth generation rancher Garret Worth (ph) from Quinter, Kansas, knows all to well. He still has no power back home.
GARRET WORTH, RANCHER: We've got a lot of generators and stuff and you've just got to keep moving them around and trying to get the cattle fed and everything. It's a pain. It's rough.
MARCIANO: More than 8,000 customers in Kansas and Nebraska are still without power. Colorado ranchers like Tom Verquer feel fortunate that their power has been restored. But with another storm on the way, preparation it his only hope.
VERQUER: There's one lady that's still the boss, and that's mother nature.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Amen to that. And mother nature is getting her act together with a big old mess from California, all across New Mexico. And as Chad mentioned, a big ice storm potentially across the plains states. Not a lot of snow expected with this storm in Denver.
And in the front range, I think the bigger story, Alina, is going to be the bitterly cold air that drops in behind it. Either way, it's not a good scenario for those folks, especially in the southeast corner of the state. They're still dealing without power.
Avalanches also going to be an issue as we begin to pile up the snow here in the mountains and through the next couple hours we'll deal with that threat here on CNN on AMERICAN MORNING.
Alina.
CHO: All right, Rob. I know you like this cold weather stuff, but try to stay warm for us, all right. We'll talk to you later. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: OK. Thanks.
O'BRIEN: Now to the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's hard sell on adding more U.S. troops continues on many fronts today. Here's what's new this morning. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveling to the Middle East today to explain the strategy, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, will run the congressional gauntlet once again facing the Senate Armed Services Committee. Guaranteed fireworks there if yesterday's scene on Capitol Hill is any guide. Many Republicans breaking ranks with the White House and joining Democrats with a blistering attack on the new war strategy. Dana Bash with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): From the moment she sat done, unrelenting criticism.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, (D) DELAWARE: I believe the president's strategy is not a solution, Secretary Rice. I believe it's a tragic mistake.
BASH: Across the Capitol, the secretaries of state and defense came to sell the president's Iraq plan and were greeted with hostility and exasperation, but with unprecedented, how scornful Republicans were.
SEN. CHUCK HAGEL, (R) NEBRASKA: This speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam if it's carried out.
BASH: Republicans who think Mr. Bush is flat wrong to send more troops into what they call a deepening civil war.
SEN. GEORGE VOINOVICH, (R) OHIO: I've gone along with the president on this and I've bought into his dream and I, at this stage of the game, I don't think it's going to happen.
BASH: Republicans who say increasing U.S. troop levels has been tried before.
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI, (R) ALASKA: I'm not convinced as I look to the plan that the president presented yesterday that what we're seeing is that much different than what we have been doing in the past.
BASH: And Republicans joining Democrats and questioning whether the Iraqi prime minister can or will do what it takes to stabilize his country.
REP. JOHN MCHOUGH, (R) NEW YORK: I just have my doubts the Iraqis will show up. The track record isn't there.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: If, at the end of the day, they don't keep the commitments that they have made to us, as I indicated before, we would clearly have to relook at the strategy.
BASH: Under heated questioning from lawmakers, including five presidential hopefuls who sit on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bush lieutenants were forced to admit there are no guarantees this latest plan will work.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) ILLINOIS: What leverage do we have that would provide us some assurance that six months from now you will not be sitting before us again saying, well, it didn't work.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Senator, the leverage is, is we're not going to stay married to a plan that's not working in Baghdad.
BASH: For now, Democrats won't try to block funding for additional troops. Concerned if they did, it could send a message they don't support the troops. Instead, they'll show where Congress stands on the president's Iraq plan by voting on it.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: This morning, the U.S. ambassador for Kenya is appealing for African peace keepers to get control of Somalia. Six people died in a clash with government troops today outside the president's house in Mogadishu. And a refugee crisis is brewing on the border of Kenya. CNN Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange joins us live from neighboring Kenya.
Jeff, good morning.
Jeff, are you with us?
Obviously we're having some technical problems. We will get back to Jeff Koinange in Kenya a bit later.
Meanwhile, a 60-day cease-fire between the Sudanese government and rebel militias in Darfur is holding for now. The conflict has uprooted millions of people and killed an estimated 200,000 others. The cease-fire does not demand that U.N. forces move into the region and some question whether it can hold.
New Mexico governor and former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson brokered the deal. Programming note. We will talk with him at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, more on that ice storms and winter storm warnings all around the country. Severe weather expert Chad Myers will be back to tell you where mother nature's on the war path.
Also, check your pockets. Your change could be spying on you. We'll explain that.
And spend it like Beckham. We wish. The scoop on soccer star David Beckham's big move to the U.S. with his ever so posh wife. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most new sin the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Top stories this morning.
A rocket propelled grenade fired at the U.S. embassy in Athens overnight. No one hurt. Authorities suspect a Greek revolutionary group.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hitting the road a day after getting grilled by Congress. She'll present the new plan for Iraq to leaders in the Middle East.
CHO: The latest in the Duke lacrosse case now. The woman who accused three players of rape says one of them, Reade Seligmann, did not participate in the alleged attack, and the parents of all three players are speaking out for the first time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If Mr. Nifong walked in the room right now, what would you like to say to him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess I'd say, with a smile on my face, Mr. Nifong, you've picked on the wrong families. You've picked on the wrong family of the Duke lacrosse team. You've picked on the wrong family of Duke University. And you will pay every day for the rest of your life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHO: Fighting words. "60 Minutes" is also reporting the prosecutors' forensic expert says he made a "big error." He left out of his report that he found DNA on the accuser from others, but no one on the lacrosse team.
Happening in America.
Thousands marched in New Orleans protesting a recent spike in the city's murder rate. They blame Mayor Ray Nagin for a lack of leadership in stopping the violence. There have been nine murders in New Orleans since new years.
Jane Bolin, America's first black female judge, has died. Judge Bolin, who steadfastly fought for racial equality from the bench, was 98 years old. A number of firsts for Bolin. The first black female graduate of Yale Law School. And the first black woman admitted to the New York State Bar.
Doctors say Senator Tim Johnson's condition is improving after emergency brain surgery last month. He's apparently starting to talk and breathing on his own. Johnson is a Democrat from South Dakota. He had surgery after suffering a brain hemorrhage in December.
And better news for Kentucky Derby champ Barbaro. Doctors say he's not showing any complications after having damaged tissue removed from his left hind foot on Tuesday. Barbaro is suffering from laminitis, an often fatal complication, after breaking his leg in the Preakness last May.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Quarter past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center. He's got his hands full today. But, you know what, that's what Chad likes. He likes to stay busy.
Don't you?
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: From the cloak and dagger desk this morning, there is word some spies may be on the hunt for secret technology in the west by circulating some coins with radio transmitters inside. Every so Bondian, isn't it? Jacki Schechner is here to explain.
Good morning, Jacki.
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I get to be a Bond girl? Really?
O'BRIEN: Is that Q or M?
SCHECHNER: A dream come true.
O'BRIEN: Is it Q or M who's the gadget person? I can't remember.
SCHECHNER: Q, wasn't it?
O'BRIEN: Q, yes, right. Yes.
SCHECHNER: So it all revolved around this. It don't know if you can see this. It's the little - the Toonie, the Canadian coin. And it's got two different kinds of metal. There you can see a picture of it up there. Now, theoretically, somebody could pop out the middle of this with some sort of tool and then slip a radio transmitter inside and solder is back together and you'd be none the wider because you can't really tell the piece (ph) in the coin.
Well, apparently the Department of Defense is warning American contractors to be on the lookout for Canadian coins that have transmitters inside. There's a report that they apparently issued saying that three American contractors passing through Canada had these coins on them on -- it was October 25th through January of 2006.
Again, this is very cloak and dagger, but there's not a lot of details about it, who, what, when, why. It doesn't seem likely that the Canadians would spy on the U.S. Some of the assumptions are maybe that it's foreign nationals spying on the U.S. contractors that are traveling through Canada. It could be one of their reasons.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but the report mentions a lot of Pacific Rim nations, just leave it at that, that are trying to get a hold of some of these secret technology that's out there. But the interesting thing about this is, you don't know -- always keep coins with you. If you have a coin, you're going to put it in a machine to get a soda, or whatever, right?
SCHECHNER: Well, that's the crazy thing. I mean, you're going to put a spy device in here. Somebody's going to spend it, right?
O'BRIEN: Right.
SCHECHNER: Or if you put something like a radio frequency device in here, it's got to be within a certain limited range.
O'BRIEN: Right.
SCHECHNER: So you've got that problem. And the metal in the coin might interfere with the radio waves. So it doesn't seem like a likely way to spy on somebody. You've got a lot of what-ifs and how comes and . . .
O'BRIEN: I think Q would do better, frankly.
SCHECHNER: Yes, it's not the best. And MacGyver could do better, frankly.
O'BRIEN: All right.
SCHECHNER: This doesn't seem like a likely use for spy technology.
O'BRIEN: Anyway, watch out for those coins. Thank you, Jacki.
SCHECHNER: Interesting, though.
O'BRIEN: All right.
Still to come on the program, the blue chips are up and Wall Street sees another record close. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Could the tide finally be turning for families waiting for insurance companies to pay up after Hurricane Katrina. The ruling that could tip it all ahead.
Plus, David Beckham kicking Europe aside to come states side. A huge payday. Hollywood is calling him to America, but will Americans give a darn about soccer. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Some of the headlines we're looking at for you this morning.
Fire fight at the presidential residence in Mogadishu, Somalia. Six people killed there. The U.S. calling on African troops to get Somalia under control.
Big storms brewing. America's heartland on notice. An inch of ice or more could fall in three states this weekend.
Alina.
CHO: Thank you, Miles.
Posh and Becks will soon be kicking it state side. Soccer star David Beckham has signed a five-year contract to play in the U.S. And, guess what, his famous wife is coming along with him, for a huge amount of cash and the allure of Hollywood glamour. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then Beckham with the service (ph) in.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): He's a European soccer star. His wife, a former Spice girl. And they're ready to take on America together. David Beckham has reportedly signed a $250 million contract to play for the L.A. Galaxy.
LEIGH STEINDERG, SPORTS AGENT: Everyone in America will be talking about this signing, at water coolers, in schools.
LAWRENCE: Everyone in America talking? About a man hardly anyone can even recognize?
Do people even know who David Beckham is here? KEN BAKER, "US WEEKLY": They do, but it's like one in ten.
LAWRENCE: "US Weekly" editor Ken Baker says that will change quickly. Not due to Beckham alone, because his wife is more famous here than he is. But the former Posh Spice, they're a paparazzi's dream.
BAKER: There is no Hollywood power couple left. They've all either broken up or gotten old and went to raise babies. They have an opportunity to fill the void and become the next big Hollywood power couple.
LAWRENCE: Beckham is betting his popularity in Europe will follow him across the pond to a sport sill watched by few Americans.
DAVID BECKHAM, SOCCER PLAYER: I've never had any regrets through my life, through my career, and I never want to.
LAWRENCE: But mentioning him in the same breath as Brittany Spears or Brad Pitt?
BAKER: There's a lot of agents in town right now frothing at the mouth about the idea, wow, he's in Hollywood now, let's book him for movies, let's get a TV show.
LAWRENCE: Beckham was an instant celebrity among American soccer fans when he visited in 2005. This time, he's after a whole different level of fame.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Plus, he's cute. The Los Angeles Galaxy is already feeling the so-called Beckham effect. After word of the deal got out, the team sold 1,000 new season tickets.
O'BRIEN: Oh, so there's a cute factor here is what you're saying?
CHO: Well, it can't hurt.
O'BRIEN: Americans don't like soccer, though.
CHO: You're right, but he could help with the female fan base.
O'BRIEN: They go for the demo.
CHO: That's right.
O'BRIEN: All right. Well, you can score one for the little guy. The first case of Katrina victim versus the insurance company. Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Good morning, Ali. ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Boy, this is an interesting score. When this news first came out yesterday, this is the case of a couple in Mississippi who was suing State Farm for damage done to their home during Hurricane Katrina. Well, the first ruling came down, the judge said State Farm had to pay this couple $223,000 for their home and contents. Then the jury ruling came down on punitive damages, $2.5 million.
Now the issue here is wind versus water. Many of the insurance companies have denied claims to insured people in the Gulf, saying that a storm surge, water caused by a storm surge, caused the damage, not wind. Well, in this case, the judge said that State Farm hadn't proved that most of the damage was caused by water and they had to pay up.
We're going to have more on this and what it means for State Farm and what State Farm has to say on it. We've also got word that we've been reported on about a possible deal between State Farm and Mississippi's attorney general.
Oil prices down again, more than $2.15 a barrel. About $2.15 a barrel yesterday. $51.88. That is the lowest it's been since May of 2005 before those hurricanes showed up. And that helped the Dow yesterday to another record. Twenty-three records since October and the first one of 2007 above 12,514. We will have more on that.
And Toyota is going to be building more cars and more plants in North America. I'll have that for you in half an hour.
Miles and Alina.
O'BRIEN: All right. A lot on your plate.
Thank you, Ali.
The top stories are coming up next. The U.S. embassy attacked over night in Athens. Plus, an update on the former congressman locked away in prison who is still collecting your hard-earned tax money. What current members of Congress are doing or maybe not doing about it.
And words that changed a nation. We'll see the note that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. carried with him until the day he died. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice taking hostile questions on Capitol Hill. Going overseas now to defend the president's escalation of the war.
CHO: Storm warning. Winter weather alerts coast to coast. The south central U.S. preparing for an inch of ice.
O'BRIEN: And convicted members of Congress still cashing in, collecting pensions in prison. See what the new Congress is doing about it on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back to you, Friday, January 12th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning, a rocket-propelled grenade fired at the U.S. Embassy in Athens. U.S. and Greek investigators treating it as a possible terror attack. No one was hurt. The shell hit the third floor near the ambassador's office and didn't cause too much damage. The ambassador says it's still a very serious attack.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaving today for the Middle East and Europe. Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Britain just a few of the stops she'll make trying to build support for President Bush's new Iraq war plan.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will also be selling the president's plan today. It's day two for Gates and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, on Capitol Hill, answering questions today from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Lawmakers were critical of the new strategy, to say the least, in Thursday's session.
Later today, three leading senators will introduce a new bill on global warming. The measure from senators John McCain, Barack Obama and Joe Lieberman will demand mandatory caps on greenhouse emissions for power plants, industry and oil refineries.
CHO: Winter weather is making news again. Storm warnings, freezing rain, wind chills, flooding, and a new warning this morning about a massive ice storm brewing.
CNN's Rob Marciano is in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, for us, and severe weather expert Chad Myers at the CNN weather center in Atlanta. In Colorado, bitter cold and the fourth snowstorm in a month.
Let's begin with Rob.
Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina.
Yet another snowstorm, as you mentioned. They're just lining up here across the Colorado Rockies, and the snow is falling here in the high country.
Still some three and four feet of snow across the high plateau in southeastern Colorado, where we told you that some are still without power. And the ranchers down there still just hurting badly.
Five thousand head of cattle now confirmed dead. They're even having a problem with removing some of the carcasses. And some government officials are saying now with this latest storm coming down, another 5,000, potentially 10,000 head of cattle, could be lost. And that would be a total of $10 million lost to that very important industry down to the South. So not so much a blizzard expected for those folks, but Chad will tell you it's more of a snow and ice, and a very cold storm coming in for that part of the state.
Up in the road in the Mile High City, in Denver right now, the temperature is one degree. Likely not going to get much above that. They will see some snow, maybe three to six inches, mixed in with some freezing rain.
In the high country here, six to 12 inches of snow expected, and then 12 inches or more expected in parts of the San Juan Mountains with this storm as it continues to drop snow here in the high country. And with that snow, Alina, there will be a threat for avalanche, especially on the western slopes in the -- in the wind-blown areas as snow begins to load at the higher peeks.
We'll talk more about that throughout the morning -- Alina.
CHO: All right, Rob. Thank you very much. Keep that hat on. We'll talk to you a bit later.
We're going to head now to severe weather expert Chad Myers. He's at the CNN weather center with more.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
O'BRIEN: The clock is ticking on the first 100 hours of the 110th Congress. So far, 17 hours 48 minutes down, currently holding. And so far, this is what they've accomplished: the enactment of the 9/11 Commission recommendations, among them a mandatory inspection of all air and sea cargo entering the U.S.; increasing the federal minimum wage, up to $7.25; and last night members voted to expand stem cell research, although President Bush is expected to veto that.
Today the House votes on negotiating lower drug prices for seniors.
We've been exposing convicted members of Congress who get to keep their fat pensions. It's a Washington tradition. You've told us you don't like it. The National Taxpayers Union found in the last 25 years that 20 lawmakers have broken the law, gotten caught, but still kept taxpayer-funded pensions. Some lawmakers have tried to stop this.
CNN's Drew Griffin tells us who got in their way.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former Congressman Randall Duke Cunningham pleaded guilty to accepting more than $2 million in bribes, but he still gets his congressional pension of an estimated $64,000 a year.
Convicted congressman James Traficant gets an estimated $40,000 a year. Both of them are still in prison.
Why hasn't anyone stopped it? Senate bill 2268 was introduced last year to do just that. The bill would have banned the pensions of lawmakers convicted of what its co-sponsor called the really bad crimes: stealing, bribery, public corruption.
SEN. KEN SALAZAR (D), COLORADO: It's really that white-collar crime where people, instead of representing the private interest and the people of the country, instead of representing their own personal interests. And so that's why we went after the white collar crime.
GRIFFIN: But even as good as it sounds, the bill never even got a vote. Tuesday night, we reported it got to this Senate subcommittee and died.
(on camera): But that wasn't good enough for at least one of our viewers. Julia Charles of West Palm Beach, Florida, wrote to say all members of that subcommittee are to blame. She says, "The fact no one did a thing to move that bill makes them guilty. All of them. So why didn't you name the committee members?"
(voice-over): Julia, here they are, all the members of the Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, Federal Workforce and District of Colombia. For two days we've been tracking them down, and it may come as no surprise, that was not easy.
The chairman of last session's committee was Republican George Voinovich of Ohio. His staff told us he was just too busy. The ranking Democrat was Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii. He emerged from a vote in the Senate today and he says he doesn't know where there was no vote last year.
(on camera): You support it and you will support it?
SEN. DANIEL AKAKA (D), HAWAII: I will. Yes.
GRIFFIN: I -- but I still, I spent two days trying to figure out why nobody supported it last year.
AKAKA: Yes, that's right. I didn't, but this year is different.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Two more senators on the subcommittee, one Democrat and one Republican, also had no explanation for last year's failure. In fact, they couldn't remember what happened.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: The question is what happened to it last year? I don't know the answer to that question.
SEN. MARK PRYOR (D), ARKANSAS: I can't remember all the specifics. We had a lot of amendments last year.
GRIFFIN: If their memories are a little weak on the subject of getting crooks a pension, it's because they say last year ethics weren't a big issue. Now they are.
PRYOR: This year we're going to try to do our dead level best to pass the amendment to take pensions away from senators and congressmen who have been convicted of public corruption while they're in office.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Senator, every single lawmaker I've talked to on this issue says we absolutely should not be paying the pensions of crooks. And, yet, year after year it does not happen. Is it really going happen?
COBURN: I don't know. I am certainly supportive of it. I will drive it through the subcommittee.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Senator Coburn even told us, CNN, that we should keep the pressure on, keep the cameras on, keep revealing how many convicted politicians are still getting pensions.
But critics are telling us nothing will change, and if we want to find out why, just go into the House Ways and Means Committee hearing room and see how Congress has treated one of its own who was caught and convicted but certainly not forgotten.
(on camera): That is convicted Congressman Dan Rostenkowski's picture up there. The former chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee went to prison for stealing public money. He got a pardon from Bill Clinton, he got a spot on the wall and he gets from you and me, the federal taxpayers, an estimated $126,000 a year pension.
MELANIE SLOAN, CREW: This is money they don't want to take away from their colleagues and their colleagues' families. These are their friends we're talking about.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Maybe this time, though, it will happen. The Senate bill to ban pensions for felons may come up for a vote next week.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Coming up, more on that massive ice storm that could be headed your way this weekend. Chad Myers has your forecast.
Plus, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's upcoming trip to the Mideast to sell the president's new plan for Iraq.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING
The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) O'BRIEN: There are harsh critics of the Bush plan to escalate the war in Iraq, here at home, and beyond. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, fresh from a congressional tongue-lashing, is going overseas today to try and sell President Bush's new plan for Iraq to a skeptical international community.
CNN's Nic Robertson with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Condoleezza Rice could not be going to the Middle East at a more troubled time. She'll need to sell President Bush's new Iraq strategy even as the country slips deeper into sectarian bloodletting -- Sunni killing Shia, Shia killing Sunni.
The U.S.'s Sunni allies in the region, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt, are increasingly fearful of Shia Iran's growing regional influence. And the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, a must-fix according to Iraq Study Group, all but dead amid rising clashes between rival Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah. And add to that Sunni-Muslim displeasure in some quarters that America attacked suspected al Qaeda-linked extremists in Somalia, and it's clear the secretary of state will need to marshal her considerable diplomatic skills to negotiate her way through what is going to be a very tough week.
Her first leg in Jerusalem and Ramallah may be the easiest, not because she can expect to make significant progress, but because it's the same problem she's been dealing with for years. In Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the problem is newer and unraveling faster. They have very real fears U.S. policy in Iraq is not only backing a Shia- dominated government at the expense of the country's Sunnis, but by default, benefiting Iran.
So bad are these worries, Vice President Dick Cheney recently flew all the way from Washington to Riyadh for one short meeting with Saudi's King Abdullah. Sunni clerics in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East are calling for financial and even military support for Iraq's Sunnis, destabilizing not just for Saudi Arabia, but the whole region.
No doubt Rice will also face tough questioning from these Sunni allies about what the U.S. plans to do about Iran's growing nuclear capability and about Hezbollah's destabilization in Lebanon, that these allies see as an Iranian proxy.
(on camera): After her grueling days in the Middle East, Rice will end her week here in London, where any news of progress will be keenly welcomed by her British allies whose political fortunes are so closely tied to hers and the U.S.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: Forty-four minutes after the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center with the traveler's forecast and the cold and flu report.
(WEATHER REPORT)
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Chad.
MYERS: Sure.
O'BRIEN: All morning long we're keeping a close eye on the grid and Chad, for that matter. We always keep a close eye on him. Nevertheless, we're watching all the incoming feeds as the weather sets in all across this nation. We'll check that out after the break.
Plus, the daughter of the "Crocodile Hunter," little Bindi, speaking out. Hear what she had to say to Larry King last night ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Busy day at the grid. Let's take a look at some of the feeds we're watching for you.
Incoming 12, that's Greek television. It went to a commercial just now.
They were just talking just a moment ago to U.S. ambassador to Greece John Reese (ph) in the wake of that rocket-propelled grenade attack at the U.S. embassy in Athens. A leftist Greek revolutionary group has taken responsibility. The investigation continues. No injuries, but some damage to the U.S. Embassy there.
Take a look at incoming 17. Look at the podium there.
Tony Blair is going to approach that podium very shortly. He's going to give a major speech, or so it is being billed, on Britain's defense policy, presumably in the wake of the Bush administration announcement of a change in tactics in Iraq, escalating the war there.
Incoming 14, Steamboat Springs. Too bad we're not on vacation skiing there. Rob Marciano is there. He has to work for a living. We're going to hear from him as we take a look at this tremendous storm sweeping all across the country.
Nice, fluffy snow there. Going to be some serious ice storms across this country. In many respects, much worse than a blizzard.
Of course incoming 301, that's the Capitol. It's going to be a busy day at the Capitol today as the 100 hours clock continues in the House of Representatives. An effort to pass legislation which will make it cheaper for seniors to buy drugs.
Back to you, Alina.
CHO: All right. Thank you, Miles. The daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin is in the U.S. this week to promote her new TV show, "Bindi the Jungle Girl." And last night, Bindi Irwin and her mother Terry appeared on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."
Bindi talked to Larry about the show and what it was like to lose her father.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Is it hard to look at your dad?
BINDI IRWIN, STEVE IRWIN'S DAUGHTER: Sometimes it is. Sometimes I have good days and bad days. Sometimes it brings back memories and it's really nice, and some days I just cry straight off.
KING: What did you get from your father?
IRWIN: Me?
KING: That you're happiest about?
IRWIN: I got from my father the best -- the best kind of loving person.
KING: He brought you love?
IRWIN: He brought me love. He brought me love.
KING: And that helps you love others, right?
IRWIN: Yes, that helps me.
KING: Because he loved so many people?
IRWIN: He loved so many people, including me, and I'm so happy about that.
KING: What do you do on the show? On the show, like Sunday, what are you going to do?
IRWIN: I sing and dance. We bring out a couple of animals like snakes and baby tigers. It's really nice.
KING: What kind of songs -- what kind of songs do you sing?
IRWIN: I sing kind of songs, active kind of songs.
KING: Like?
IRWIN: All about animals.
KING: Give me an example.
IRWIN: Example? (SINGING): When the hippo moves her hips, the monkey just flips. The lions and the tigers can't believe his eyes when the hippo moves her hips
TERRY IRWIN, STEVE IRWIN'S WIFE: That was very good. I'm moving my hips.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: A performer just like her father was.
Bindi's new show debuts on the Discovery Kids Network later this year.
And don't forget, you can catch CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" every night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, a live report on the winter storm warnings all around the country right now. Snow falling in Steamboat Springs, and the crew walking from the camera right now.
A massive ice storm is taking aim at the heartland, meanwhile. Severe weather expert Chad Myers has the latest.
Plus, Toyota joins the big three. It's not stopping there. They're going for global domination. You know that.
Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
And Lance Armstrong, taking charge. Taking to the cancer battle. He's taking it to Congress. He talks with us live here on AMERICAN MORNING a little bit later.
The most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Toyota wants to build cars where it sells them.
Fifty-five minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Hello, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
We've been talking a lot. It's been the auto show, and we've just been generally talking about auto sales in the United States, where Toyota is set to become the number two auto seller in the United States and number one in the world this year.
That's got some problems associated with it. Toyota has been for the last year or so taking out ads to show that it is a big American car builder, employs American workers. But the bottom line is, more than half of the cars that sold in the United States last year were built overseas. Now, Toyota is set to announce its ninth plant in North America and says that it has plans to build five more plants over the next 10 years. Now, that will create about 10,000 jobs, an investment of about $5 billion, and keeps growing that company. And this is why we think it's going to become the second biggest auto seller in the United States, because it keeps increasing its capacity in the United States, while the America automakers have spent the last couple of years announcing cuts and decreases to their capacity in the United States.
So, what Toyota wants to do is, by the time it does start taking those titles away and by the time it starts to become known as the number one automaker, replacing GM, it doesn't want Americans to start saying, hold on, they're taking over, we better start buying American cars again. So it's a bit of public relations move, but really it's a major investment in jobs and in plants in the United States -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Ali Velshi. See you in a little bit.
Some of the other headlines we're looking at for you this morning, most popular on CNN.com -- and I guess it should come as no surprise, but it doesn't -- well, you know, it appeals to our base instincts, let's just say.
"Staff Sergeant relieved of duties after posing for 'Playboy.'"
CHO: Oh boy.
O'BRIEN: Air Force Staff Sergeant Michelle Manhard (ph), who is all woman hard, if you know what I mean, in hot water for posing in uniform and nude in "Playboy."
And did she really think she was going to get away with that one?
CHO: Well, I don't think so.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHO: But that photo was very nice, modest and -- all right.
O'BRIEN: Off we go into the wild blue yonder for her, right? OK.
CHO: Let's talk about the "Los Angeles Times." Headline there, "A Human Rights Setback in China."
Apparently, Human Rights Watch says last year Beijing imposed stricter controls over just about everything -- media, academia, the legal community. Of course, Beijing says Human Rights Watch isn't dealing in reality and they piece together these reports out of thin air. So there you have it, both sides.
O'BRIEN: All right.
And what do you think the headline is in "The Denver Post" this morning?
CHO: Well, I'm going to guess weather.
O'BRIEN: It could be the weather. But actually, you know what it is?
CHO: Oh, yes.
O'BRIEN: The Democrats are coming to town.
CHO: The Democrats.
O'BRIEN: The Mile High City is hosting the 2008 Democratic national convention.
I was listening to Michael Bloomberg on the radio this morning. He was saying we didn't want it here in New York City because it costs money.
CHO: Right.
O'BRIEN: Apparently, $85 million bucks the host city has to put up.
CHO: Well, but it also brings in a lot of business.
O'BRIEN: Well, he was sort of waffling on that.
CHO: Really?
O'BRIEN: But the point is, he says, we're too busy trying to raise money for the...
CHO: Here's something I read which I thought was interesting. They said that part of the reason why Denver got it was because of their changing demographics and they have more Democrats in the region. So...
O'BRIEN: Do you know the last time the convention was there?
CHO: I'm stumped.
O'BRIEN: 1908. William -- William Jennings Bryan. Whatever it is.
All right. We're coming up to the top of the hour. We better get to Chad Myers -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Miles.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts now.
O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad.
Breaking news. The U.S. Embassy attacked overnight in Athens with a rocket-propelled grenade.
CHO: Selling the plan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice going overseas to defend the president's new plan for Iraq. And a new poll just out showing how Americans feel.
O'BRIEN: A killer in the room. Deadly gas could be seeping into your hotel room, and there are very few laws to protect you.
CHO: And Lance Armstrong out front again, challenging Congress to do something about cancer and talking live with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you, Friday, January 12th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho, in for Soledad this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
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