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American Morning
Astronaut Grounded: Nowak Accused of Attempted Murder; British Mail Bombing; Securing Baghdad
Aired February 07, 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: Star-crossed lover. Did the stress of space travel spark the astronauts' alleged crime of passion? She's on the move again just moments ago. We'll get you up-to-date.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Money talks. The new attempt today to stop North Korea's nuclear ambitions with lots of cash for Kim Jong-il as a bargaining tool.
M. O'BRIEN: And sexual healing. Evangelical minister Ted Haggard says therapy has set him straight. Why one fellow pastor now is calling Haggard completely heterosexual on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Wednesday, February 7th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad your with us this morning.
We begin in Florida and the odd, tragic mission of astronaut Lisa Nowak. She arrived at the airport in Orlando earlier this morning, free to return home to Houston, but not to her job at the Johnson Space Center. She is grounded on paid leave for 30 days while she fends off charges she had kidnapping and murder on her mind as she pursued the other woman in an alleged love triangle.
Police say she targeted Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who shared with her a love interest in astronaut Bill Oefelein. Police say Nowak drove 950 miles from Houston to Orlando to meet Shipman as she arrived on a flight at Orlando Airport. Nowak wore diapers to avoid bathroom breaks.
She confronted Shipman at the airport parking lot disguised with a wig and a trench coat, dousing her with pepper spray. Her attorney says she simply wanted to talk with Shipman, but she was carrying a BB gun, a buck knife, a steel mallet, rubber hoses, latex gloves and garbage bags and police say that is enough to charge her with attempted first degree murder. CNN's Susan Candiotti picks up the story in Orlando.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Free on bond and covered her head with a jacket, Lisa Nowak's courthouse exit not the white glove treatment astronauts are used to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder was the plan and it just was not able to be carried out.
CANDIOTTI: Nowak was stoic in court, but police say she was obsessed with her perceived love rival Colleen Shipman over fellow astronaut Bill Oefelein and had murder on her mind. Her attorney says Nowak just wanted to talk with Shipman. Nowak's family released this statement.
"Considering her personal and professional life, these alleged events are completely out of character and have come as a tremendous shock to our family"
By all accounts, a loving family. Nowak was thrilled by Neil Armstrong's moonwalk. In Rockville, Maryland, she was co- valedictorian in high school. Her former classmate showed off yearbook photos of Nowak, active in student government and sports.
DENNIS ALLOY, FORMER NOWAK CLASSMATE: She was a good student, a sweet person, you know, serious student athletic. Just never -- didn't find her to be the one in trouble or doing something like this.
CANDIOTTI: She earned an aerospace engineering degree at the U.S. Naval Academy. Nowak finally made it into the Navy's test pilot school after six failed attempts. In the mid '80s she married. Her husband works at mission control. They separated a few weeks ago. They have a teenage son and young twin daughters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And liftoff of the space shuttle Discovery.
CANDIOTTI: Last year, she flew on the shuttle Discovery, working a robotic arm.
BRIAN CLEAVES, FORMER NOWAK CLASSMATE: I think she's all about her career and that's why I'm just very surprised that she'd do something outside of normal, you know, and get herself in a jam like this.
CANDIOTTI: Before the shuttle launch, Nowak talked with CNN about the program's future.
LISA NOWAK, MARCH 2005: I'm glad we get to participate in the current program, even if it's retiring soon. But I'm also looking forward to the next things that are coming.
CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: At 6:15 Eastern Time, a closer look at the world of NASA astronauts, the stress of coming back to earth.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Diplomats are arriving in Beijing today for renewed six-party negotiations to stop North Korea's nuclear program. This time, apparently, money is going to be doing some talking. CNN's John Vause is live for us in Beijing this morning. Hey, John, good morning.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
The U.S. envoy is not using the word "optimism," however, there is a sense that this time maybe a break-through is close. It will all depend on what the North Koreans demand and what the Americans are prepared to give.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE, (voice over): Apart from his cognac, caviar and plasma TV, all banned under international sanctions, what else does Kim Jong- il want for giving up his nuclear program? David Albright, a nuclear expert who recently traveled to North Korea, says the dear leader wants more than anything else for the U.S. to lift a freeze on his accounts at this Macao (ph) bank, accused of laundering counterfeit American bills.
DAVID ALBRIGHT, INSTITUTE FOR SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL SECURITY: If they get that, then they're willing to enter negotiations.
VAUSE: The same demands made by the North at last December at talks which failed after just five days.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president's reaction is, our conditions have always been the same for returning to six- party talks, which we believe the North Koreans will do on Thursday, which is they do it without pre-condition.
VAUSE: But according to Albright, if there is agreement on the Macao bank accounts, then the North may be willing to freeze plutonium production in returns for 500,000 tons of heavy fuel oil a year, improved relations with Washington and removal from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
ALBRIGHT: A freeze doesn't get you nuclear disarmament, it just gets you a cap on future plutonium production. It doesn't get rid of the, whatever it is, half a dozen to a dozen nuclear weapons that North Korea may already possess.
VAUSE: To scrap those weapons, Albright says the North could be looking for a light water nuclear reactor, but the White House has repeatedly ruled that out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: These negotiations have dragged on now for more than three years with nothing to show. And some analysts believe, unless there is a break-through this time, then the six-party talks may have run their course.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: John Vause for us this morning.
Thank you, John.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning.
More rain in Jakarta, Indonesia, slowing the cleanup from the flooding that has killed 38 so far in the capital there. Almost half a million people are out of their homes and in filthy water up to 13 feet deep in some areas.
A little less harsh outside this morning in the upper Midwest and the Northeast. Wind chill advisories still in effect for the Great Lakes, however. At least seven people have died in the cold or on slippery roads. We'll get more from Chad at quarter past the hour, 10 minutes from now.
Cancer researchers are hopeful about a new breast cancer test approved called the Mammaprint. It can help determine how likely the cancer is to return, which helps doctors choose the best treatment and patients avoid unnecessary chemotherapy.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. A little news to get to in the race to '08 this morning. Former Massachusetts Governor Republican Mitt Romney is setting a date to formally announce that he's running for president. He's going to announce in his birth state of Michigan next Tuesday. Romney created an exploratory committee last month.
Is it political suicide or could this be a good gamble? Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards admits, if elected he would raise your taxes. Edwards says he believes voters would support a tax increase to pay for quality health care for every American citizen, a total cost of $120 billion every year.
And after just one visit to Iowa, Senator Hillary Clinton is now in the lead there. The latest poll from the American Research Group shows that she jumped from fourth place to first place at 35 percent. For Republicans, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the favorite in Iowa. He's followed by John McCain, then Newt Gingrich and then Mitt Romney.
Then there's New Hampshire, which holds the first primary in just under a year. CNN senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, has some new numbers from there this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): It's neck and neck in New Hampshire. John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are nearly tied.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Thank you for having me here at this New Hampshire, first in the nation, rally.
SCHNEIDER: The poll is not good news for McCain. McCain won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 and he's been leading polls of New Hampshire Republicans for the past two years -- until now. Giuliani seems to have gotten a boost from his visit to New Hampshire last month, not from moderate Republicans, where McCain leads Giuliani by nearly 2:1. Giuliani seems to be rallying conservatives in New Hampshire, despite his views on social issues.
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: We have to reassert the basic core principles of the Republican Party.
SCHNEIDER: In 2000, McCain was helped by independents who voted in the Republican primary, but granite state independents are strongly anti-Bush and anti-war. This year, two-thirds of them say they plan to vote in the Democratic primary. Hillary Clinton is still in first place among New Hampshire Democratic primary voters, but Barack Obama has bolted into the number two spot. Clinton commands the loyalty of registered Democrats.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) NEW YORK: I've been fighting for more than 35 years on behalf of poor people and children and women and families.
SCHNEIDER: But her lead is considerably smaller among independents who intend to vote in the Democratic primary. They like Obama's stand on the war.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) ILLINOIS: I was opposed to this invasion, publicly, frequently, before it began.
SCHNEIDER: For voters, the toughest choice is often between candidates with similar views. McCain and Giuliani, Clinton and Obama. That's why the New Hampshire primary could get close in both parties, and very exciting.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Some encouraging numbers for folks in the Midwest. The bitter cold is lightening up just a tad. Chad Myers will show us how much up next.
Plus, a closer look at another world, inside the lives of NASA astronauts. The stress, the cheating hearts, all of it unknown to those of us on the outside, until now.
And new revelations about former Pastor Ted Haggard and claims that he's now completely heterosexual. Could this be the beginning of his comeback?
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning is right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Some tough questions expected on Capitol Hill today. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testifies about the president's proposed budget, including the need for more money in Iraq.
And NBC News Anchor Tim Russert is also on the hot seat today. He's expected to testify in the Lewis Libby CIA leak trial.
It's coming up on quarter past the hour now. Chad Myers is at the CNN Weather Center. He is tracking the cold, cold, cold.
Good morning, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: A closer look now at an astronaut's star-crossed fall from grace. Lisa Nowak is not the first astronaut to deal with demons. Despite the carefully managed public image from NASA, they are, after all, human beings who live in a world of huge risk, high stress and towering expectations for themselves and from others.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN, (voice over): Jon Clark is no long with NASA, but he's still part of the family. And that family is in shock.
JON CLARK, FORMER NASA FLIGHT SURGEON: It was very apparent that she's under a huge amount of stress and, obviously, she was not thinking right.
M. O'BRIEN: Lisa Nowak was there for Clark and his son, Ian, on some very dark days. Clark's wife Laurel perished on the space shuttle Columbia four years ago. The two had much in common, both naval officers, astronaut classmates, working moms.
CLARK: They loved kids. They loved their family life. They loved gardening and flowers. And, you know, she was very close to Lisa and that's the part of it I sit there and I think, you know, if somebody's under enough emotional stress, who know what could happen.
M. O'BRIEN: As a former NASA flight surgeon, Clark has seen the stress through a doctor's eyes as well. He says many astronauts do not have happy landings after the emotional high of space flight.
CLARK: They've been on this tremendous high and then there's this tremendous low that follows, this vacuum that follows, and that's a period I think that they're very vulnerable and I think that might be the case, you know, here, too.
M. O'BRIEN: Lisa Nowak flew to space for the first time in July. If she needed psychological help post-mission, it would be no surprise that she did not seek it.
MIKE MULLANE, FORMER ASTRONAUT: You've got to understand, for astronauts, it is a life quest. This isn't a job. This is a dream for us. And we have worked our entire lives to achieve this dream and we don't want to have anything get in the way of having it realized on a mission into space.
M. O'BRIEN: Former astronaut Mike Mullane flew on the shuttle three times starting in the late '80s. He reluctantly sought out a NASA psychiatrist because of a problems he had with a boss.
MULLANE: They don't just lock us in a tube and say "deal with it," like I'm getting the impression some people think.
M. O'BRIEN: But it is an elite club. A type "a" plus fraternity. The ranks always closed, allowing problems to fester. The divorce rate is high and astronauts say extramarital affairs are not uncommon, seldom discussed outside the family.
HOMER HICKAM, FORMER NASA ENGINEER: For years we've left it up to the astronauts to essentially pick their own membership. And so they're brought in. They're beholden to the people who brought them in. They've become part of this little fraternity. They become isolated down in Houston to a great extent.
M. O'BRIEN: Former NASA engineer Homer Hickam is author of the book that inspired the movie "October Sky." He says there are too many astronauts chasing too few seats to space. The competition almost inhumane.
HICKAM: The astronaut office, in my opinion, really needs to be broken up. It needs to be spread around all of the NASA centers. It needs to get out -- the people in the astronaut office need to get out into the real world a little bit, breathe a little fresh air and understand what's really going on in the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: Anyone who saw "The Right Stuff" or read the book knows the astronaut office is no stranger to shenanigans. And in the earlier days, there were a lot of people covering up for the astronauts to protect the image of the space agency. But no active astronaut has ever faced felony charges before.
Now, naturally, details of this love triangle, diapers and all, was grist for the mill on the late night shows last night. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": You folks are here on a special night and thank you very much for showing up. The entire balcony of the Ed Sullivan Theater tonight is filled with deranged, love-sick astronauts.
JAY LENO, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": She was in court today and the judge let her go free on bail. On bail? Talk about a flight risk. She's an astronaut. She could leave the planet. She could be in Mars by tomorrow.
CONAN O'BRIEN, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": After hearing about it, NASA officials said, "we may need to add a new question to the astronaut entrance exam." LETTERMAN: Thank God the kidnapping attempt failed. And, of course, it failed. I mean, let's face it, she's no rocket scientist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: OK. The tabloids, of course, having some fun this morning. "Daily News," "Dark Side of the Loon." And I think probably the headline winner of the morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's the best.
M. O'BRIEN: "Lust in Space." You know, NASA prefers to be in "Aviation Week." in "Space Technology," "Discover" magazine, "Popular Science." Not where they like to be.
S. O'BRIEN: Not "The Post" headline.
M. O'BRIEN: No.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that's a weird and sad story.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning on AMERICAN MORNING, Ford Motors is hoping a blast from the past is going to turn some of its fortunes around sales.
Also, after a stunning fall from grace, rehab. Well, we'll tell you what Pastor Ted Haggard now says is this next move in a completely heterosexual life. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning right here.
New pictures just in. NASA astronaut underneath that jacket there. Lisa Nowak arriving at the airport in Orlando, Florida. She just arrived a little while ago. Her flight to Houston set to depart in about 14 minutes. She's probably already on and strapped in. She's accompanied by chief astronaut Steve Lindsay, on her way back to Houston. Nowak out on bail, accused of trying to murder the other woman in a love triangle gone bad.
And Snickers pulling a Super Bowl ad that shows two men accidentally kissing and then getting freaked out about it. Gay rights groups say the ad makes fun of homosexuality.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The Reverend Ted Haggard is telling friends that he is ready to move on after that sex scandal with a male prostitute and three weeks of intensive counseling. Haggard resigned in November as pastor from the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs and also the National Association of Evangelicals. And he sent an e-mail to his former church. AMERICAN MORNING's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher with us this morning.
Good morning to you.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: The e-mail that he sent basically says, this is a chunk of it at least, "Jesus is starting to put me back together. I spent so much time in repentance, brokenness, hurt and sorrow. Jesus and his followers, though, have saved my life."
What do you make of this letter?
GALLAGHER: Very contrite e-mail. It was sent to a few friends. Then it was leaked out to the press and the church made it available. And it's sort of typically, you know, begging kind of for forgiveness. And really what he has to do here is sort of set the boundary and say, you know, he hasn't addressed the whole gay affair problem, because that was the theme that really got him in trouble.
I mean he committed adultery. He was guilty of deception with his church. But the fact that this involved a gay affair was something for evangelicals is very difficult to understand and to get over. So he needed to, in this e-mail to his friends and to his congregation to say, you know, I am being restored. That's their word for it, to be restored.
S. O'BRIEN: OK. But it looks like, from this letter at least, that he had this intense, three-week therapy session. One of the ministers who oversaw the session says he's completely heterosexual.
GALLAGHER: Well, again, so part of this restoration process -- I mean this is something which they claim takes, you know, can take several years. It depends on the individual. And so I . . .
S. O'BRIEN: So three weeks seems kind of fast to me.
GALLAGHER: Part of that is this intensive program which he did down in Phoenix. And, again, the message here, I mean, there's also a PR restoration that has to go on, and so the message, the main message has to be, you know, that this was a one-off thing. That he is not a gay man and that this was a one-off, three-year affair. And that he can be restored from that. And that goes back to the larger question here, which is, you know, evangelicals think this is something you can be cured from. It's a choice that you make and other people say he's gay and he's in denial.
S. O'BRIEN: And we'll see, because we'll see if he gets to regain his leadership position at some point.
Delia Gallagher, of course, thank you very much. She's our faith and values correspondent.
GALLAGHER: Thank you.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Soledad.
Ford is turning to an old name to help revive sales. About 25 minutes past the hour. Stephanie Elam is in for Ali Velshi.
Good morning, Stephanie.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
It's the Taurus. We've all heard about the Taurus forever and ever. It seemed like it was always on the market. Well, in October they pulled it off after it was launched in 1985. And the reason why they're bringing it back, is because they're hoping they can actually turn around some weak sales and bring out some cars that are more desirable to consumers.
So they're renaming the low selling 500 model as the Taurus. This announcement is expected to be made today at the Chicago Auto Show. More than 7 million sold of the Taurus over all that time. So, obviously, this is a change here. They'll get a more powerful engine in the Taurus and also some aesthetic chances by the time it comes out for the 2008 model year.
Now another thing I want to tell you about today is, Wal-Mart is facing a class action suit. Some are claiming that as many as 1.5 million former and current female employees were allegedly discriminated against in pay as well as in promotions. This would be in line with an appeals court ruling in 2004. This would be the largest class action employment discrimination lawsuit in the U.S. Wal-Mart, obviously, wants them to re-hear this case.
Otherwise, the Dow yesterday up just 5. Nasdaq up just 1 yesterday. Pretty much shirking off Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's speech. So not much movement there.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Stephanie, thank you.
The top stories of the morning are up next, including flooding in Indonesia. Even more rain today. The race to help survivors before disease sets in there.
And we first told you about a nine-year-old lobbyist. We'll she how he's taking his idea all the way to the state capital.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Homecoming for a lovesick astronaut. Lisa Nowak on her way to Houston. She'll be tracked, ironically, by some space-age technology. She faces attempted murder charges.
S. O'BRIEN: The new fight for Iraq. A look inside the unfolding mission to crack down on insurgents as they turn their guns toward U.S. helicopters. There are reports of another chopper down this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: And super size me, baby! Happening within the hour, the AirBus A-380 -- that's a big plane -- takes flight. Richard Quest will be on board on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It's Wednesday, February 7th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: In Florida now, the odd, tragic mission of astronaut Lisa Nowak. This morning she's on her way home to Houston, but not to her job at the Johnson Space Center. These are new pictures which just came in a little while ago. Her flight is due to depart in five minutes. She is grounded, however, on paid leave for 30 days while she fends off charges she had kidnapping and murder on her mind as she pursued the other woman in a love triangle.
CNN's John Zarrella has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you swear that the information you're about to give is true and correct?
LISA NOWAK, DEFENDANT: Yes.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Astronaut Lisa Nowak in court for the second time today, this time charged with attempted murder.
DONALD LYKKEBAK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR LISA NOWAK: They filed a brand-new charge, based on preposterous assumptions drawn from facts that -- that are perhaps a misdemeanor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Murder was the plan, and it just was not able to be carried out.
ZARRELLA: Attempted murder of a romantic rival, Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who has been involved with this astronaut, shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, who just flew on Discovery in November.
Police say Nowak told them she, too, was having a relationship with Oefelein, and that she wanted to confront Shipman, who works with the space shuttle program. Knowing Shipman was flying to Orlando, Nowak took off from Houston, driving 900 miles, and wearing diapers, so she wouldn't have to stop.
She went to the airport and waited for Shipman to arrive on a United flight. But Shipman had to wait a couple hours for her lost luggage. At 3:00 a.m., she finally made her way to catch the bus to the blue satellite parking lot. Nowak was waiting on a bench near the taxi stand. SERGEANT BARBARA JONES, ORLANDO, FLORIDA, POLICE DEPARTMENT: The victim got on the bus. She did notice the arrestee, Mrs. Nowak. At the time, she didn't know it was her, also sitting on the bench, boarding the bus.
ZARRELLA: When Colleen Shipman got off the bus, police say, so did Lisa Nowak.
(on camera): After she got off the bus, Shipman told police she turned and noticed Nowak following after her. She was frightened, she said, so she started to move more quickly to get to her car, because, she told police, she heard footsteps running towards her.
JONES: When Ms. Shipman got in the car, apparently, there was a tap on the window. The arrestee indicated that she needed some help, that, you know, could she use a cell phone. Somebody was supposed to pick her up, but they didn't show up.
At that point, it's my understanding Mrs. Shipman lowered the window. And that's when the arrestee sprayed -- we believe it was mace.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): Even though she was hit with mace, Shipman took off. Police say they found Nowak in the parking lot, trying to get rid of a disguise. And she had a bag, containing a brand-new steel mallet, a folding knife with a four-inch blade, and four feet of rubber tubing.
Nowak told police she had no intention of hurting Shipman; she just wanted to talk.
Nowak's attorney denied she was going to kidnap or harm Shipman. Late in the afternoon Tuesday, Nowak, wearing a black hood, left the jail. Accompanied by NASA's chief astronaut, Steve Lindsey, she headed back to Houston, without saying anything about the charges.
John Zarrella, CNN, Orlando.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: In our next hour I'll talk with a good friend of Lisa Nowak, former NASA flight Jon Clark. Nowak helped Clark and his young son after his wife Laurel perished on Columbia four years ago.
That's at 7:30 Eastern. Stay with us -- Soledad
S. O'BRIEN: A developing story for you this morning out of Britain. The third letter bomb has exploded. It's the third in three days.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is live for us in London.
Alphonso, good morning.
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. We're getting details now that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency -- that's this country's version of the DMV -- was indeed a target of a partial bomb. Authorities telling us that one woman has been injured and that there are other people at that building that may have sustained minor injuries. This parcel bombing has got the attention of the British home secretary, authorities wanting to know who may be responsible and why they would do such a thing -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Are they linked? As I said, three bombs, three days. Is there any sense of a motive, and is there any sense that the three of them are actually connected?
VAN MARSH: Well, yes, one of the theories that is out there that authorities are investigating -- as you mentioned, this is the third bombing in as many days -- on Monday, there was a company that was targeted in central London, I should say. This company actually collects congestion charges. That's the fee that drivers pay in order to be able to put their cars into central London.
One person was injured there. And then on Tuesday, yesterday, an accounting firm that handles an account, one of their clients, is a speeding ticket camera company -- these cameras that are set up around the city to catch drivers who are perhaps going through lights or not following traffic rules. This company was targeted, two people were injured, but authorities I spoke to at this company say that those injuries were not serious, that the two employees did not require hospitalization.
S. O'BRIEN: So then it sounds, when you describe those different companies, it sounds as if, in fact, they could all be linked.
Who do they think could have had the skill and the ability to pull this off?
VAN MARSH: Well, that's very much an area of speculation here. One of the theories that is out there, that perhaps there is somebody who really isn't pleased about the situation and what people need to do to be able to drive, or more so, the penalties for those who do not drive correctly.
To kind of put things into context about these tickets, some two million tickets were issued just this year alone. And that means about $235 million worth of revenue collected. Some people are not happy over the dramatic increase in fines, the increase in tickets, as well as the points that come along with them that can affect one's ability to get a driver's license and to drive in this country.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Sort of the same way they do things here in the U.S. Still, a long way between being unhappy with your speeding ticket and setting off a letter bomb.
All right. Alphonso Van Marsh for us this morning. He's in London.
Thanks, Alphonso -- Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Remember that 9-year-old who was lobbying politicians trying to make it illegal to smoke and drive? We told you about it a few weeks ago. Well, 9-year-old Justin Kvadas and some pals were lobbying Connecticut lawmakers yesterday. They're hoping to ban smoking in cars if a child under the age of 7 is along for the ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN KVADAS, STUDENT LOBBYIST: When I got up there, I got a little bit more nervous. I think it might have a good chance of passing. If it doesn't, I will go with it again next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: And after that, Justin announced the formation of a presidential exploratory committee.
S. O'BRIEN: And now he's leading in New Hampshire.
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to watch this kid. We're going to watch that kid closely. A similar law happens to be in effect in Maine. Violators there face up to a fine of up to $50. We'll track it.
S. O'BRIEN: It's a great idea. I mean, he's a -- you know, 7 years old and he's got one of the smarter ideas coming from a lobbyist than I've heard in a long time. That's a brilliant idea. Little babies who strapped in the back of a car shouldn't be subjected to smoke. They can't do anything about it.
M. O'BRIEN: He's got a bright future himself, I think. Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: I like him already.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, this week's brutal cold snap might finally be loosening its grip. Chad Myers is going to tell us just where it could be warming up today.
Plus, the new plan to secure Baghdad, is it going to stop the violence? We'll take you through it step by step straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
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M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
Another chopper is down in Iraq today. It's the fifth one to go down in the past few weeks. It happened northwest of Baghdad. Details still sketchy on it.
We're going to talk about the significance of all of these choppers going down, and also about strategy in general, as we ready for this troop buildup to play out in Iraq.
CNN military analyst Major General Don Shepperd got on an airplane for us to come here and walk us through it.
General Shepperd, good to have you with us.
Let's get right into Baghdad now, and give people the lay of the land. If we could zoom in the map, this is a huge city. We're talking a city of seven million people, and we're talking on the order of 20,000 U.S. troops.
Now, I just want to give people quickly the lay of the land, and then you can tell me how they're going to go at it.
First of all, this is the Green Zone you've heard so much about. That's the U.S. headquarters, that's where the Iraqi government is based. And what you've done is pointed out some neighborhoods that are of key interest.
Explain how they partition this.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Basically, here in blue, Miles," we've got the Shia neighborhoods -- Sadr City, which we've heard a lot about; Khadamiya; Hurriyah; and then in the green you've got the Sunni neighborhoods.
You've got fighting going on between these neighborhoods, mortaring going on, death squads, particularly in the Sadr City. They try to go in between neighborhoods, they try to kidnap people. The whole idea is for the Shia to push the Sunni out, if they can, and it's causing a big mess, and that's the need for security that we're seeing.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. And as you're going to see in our next graphic, the key is what's going to happen in all these other areas. Take a look at the next graphic.
These are some of the recent attacks that have occurred. Once again, I want to point out here for you, this is that Green Zone we've been talking about.
This -- these two, this is Sadr City, a Shia area -- a Shia area as well. But As you look here where these explosions are, these are recent big car bombings, and they don't really fit the pattern of those neighborhoods, five, six of them right there that we've just been able to track in recent weeks.
SHEPPERD: Exactly. What you see here is the hardest thing to prevent. No matter how many soldiers you add, American, Iraqi, policemen, what have you, it's really hard to prevent suicide bombers and car bombs.
Every vehicle is a potential bomber, if you will. If you stop the car travel, you stop commerce in this city. Very, very hard and difficult to do. M. O'BRIEN: I've got a question for you. If you're focusing, let's say, on Sadr City or some other area out here, isn't it -- and this may not be the best term, but isn't it kind of like Whac-a-Mole? If you hit it over there, isn't it going to pop up over here somewhere?
SHEPPERD: It is, but the whole idea is to take Baghdad, divide it into an eastern and western sector, divided by the Tigris River, and then divide it into nine precincts. And each of those nine precincts you have an Iraqi brigade, and American battalion, you have Iraqi national police, Iraqi local police. And so the whole idea is to bring the kidnapping, the level of violence down, and secure the public.
M. O'BRIEN: Too bad it wasn't that way in the first place before this violence got so out of control.
Let's go to the next graphic. I want to move on to the issue of helicopters...
SHEPPERD: Right.
M. O'BRIEN: ... because this seems to be a troubling ripple, a change in the tactic. We -- and it frankly hearkens back to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, when shoulder-fired stinger missiles, CIA-supplied to the Mujahadeen, ultimately al Qaeda people, shot down Soviet helicopters and ultimately drove the Soviets out.
We've got -- we've been tracking over the past couple of weeks, two, three, four, and now a fifth chopper down just this morning. We don't know the circumstances just yet.
What are we to make of this?
SHEPPERD: First, don't make too much or too little of it. Of course it's a matter of concern, but you've got to investigate each one of those incidents to find out what shot the helicopter down.
Helicopters can be shot down by ground fire. They can be shot down by shoulder-fired missiles. If it's a shoulder-fired missile, you want to know what kind of shoulder-fired missile. Is it the old SA-7 which proliferate in the area, in the black arms market around the world, or is it one of the newer missiles, the SA-16 or SA-18, which would likely come from Iran?
So, you want to know what shot these down. But, let me make this point. These helicopter losses and increasing American ground losses go along with the addition of American soldiers. We should expect to see this. You have to investigate each one to find out what happened.
M. O'BRIEN: So you're saying this is all because there's an uptick in helicopter missions or sorties, or is there perhaps an escalation in tactics, in armament, on the part of the insurgents aiming at the U.S.?
SHEPPERD: Any time you have helicopters involved in combat they are vulnerable. They are the most vulnerable of all of the military, aerial vehicles, if you will.
Shoulder-fired missiles can bring them down, AAA anti-aircraft fire can bring them down, accidents can bring them down, and human error can bring them down. You have to investigate each one to find out. But increased losses are a matter of concern. You've got to find out what brings them down, exactly what brings them down, and then you adjust your tactics and your equipment basically to deal with it.
M. O'BRIEN: Major General Don Shepperd, always a pleasure. Thanks for dropping by -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: It's about quarter before the hour. Let's get right to Chad Myers. He is tracking some of this cold weather for us.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, some news for the millions of women who take the pill. Why some are concerned about a new generation of birth control pills on the market now, and some of the risks those pills might pose.
Also, all aboard. You and, oh, 800 of your best friends on the world's biggest and newest jumbo jet. It's about to take off this morning. We'll be on the runway.
M. O'BRIEN: Tell them to take off the covers on the engine. Don't you see that?
S. O'BRIEN: They will. They will. They've got time. They've got a little time.
M. O'BRIEN: Don't forget.
S. O'BRIEN: That's when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
We're back in a moment.
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S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
For the first time ever this morning, journalists are going to get a chance to fly on board the world's biggest jumbo jet, the Airbus 380.
CNN's own Richard Quest was one of the lucky few invited on this maiden voyage over France. Here's his report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Airbus A380, the super jumbo. And for journalists who have been covering this plane for years, today is a special event. It's our first chance to experience the plane up in the air -- a short media flight that will take us from southern France, down over the Pyrenees, and across southern Spain. Just two hours long, but it will give us a chance to experience what passengers in the future will get to enjoy with this giant aircraft.
Initially, when it goes into service in October this year, there will just be 550 passengers on board. But the plane is built and can carry over 800 passengers.
For Airbus, the jury is still firmly out on whether this will ever be a commercial success. More than 160 have been sold, but numerous delays, cost overruns, and billions of dollars of losses means it will be many years before it becomes profitable.
Then there's a question of restructuring Airbus itself. The company could become involved in a nasty dispute with its workers over the next few months.
All of that will be put aside for today. For people like myself, our only experience will be what it's like up in the air.
Richard Quest, CNN, Toulouse, with the super jumbo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Super jumbo.
M. O'BRIEN: The super jumbo.
And it's big enough to even hold Richard Quest. I mean, because he's a big guy. He's big in every way.
S. O'BRIEN: Every which way.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. So we'll keep you posted on that.
Of course, the A380 has had some issues, production issues, delays, canceled orders, and so forth. But nonetheless, they are flying today.
S. O'BRIEN: Apparently.
M. O'BRIEN: A little tour around France today. Oh, and there's a live picture, Toulouse.
So is Richard on board already?
Yes, we believe he's on board.
You see, they have to have about eight jetways just to get people on the darned thing. It kind of looks like a plane that tried -- that's blown itself up like a balloon or something. And...
S. O'BRIEN: That's a big old plane.
M. O'BRIEN: That is a big old plane, that's one way of putting it. And that doesn't even give you a scale. It's big.
Coming up, you could call it TiVo unplugged. TiVo and Amazon going to new lengths to download right into your living room.
And the emotional and mental strain of being an astronaut. We'll talk with a flight surgeon and friend of the astronaut now accused of attempted murder.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
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S. O'BRIEN: One day after Wal-Mart joined the party, another new competitor is getting into the movie download business.
It's 55 minutes past the hour. And Stephanie Elam is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Hey, Stephanie. Good morning.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
And what's different about this one, it's coming from TiVo and Amazon, and the important part here? They're beaming it directly to your TV.
As you've known, most of these downloads, they're relegated to the world of your computer. But we spend all that money on getting our big TVs and also getting our sound systems. So now you can actually watch them there. That's the idea.
This is starting today, and it is called Amazon Unbox on TiVo. That's the test version.
It's expected to debut in full later on this year. Also taking a look at it, TiVo's 1.5 million digital video recorders will be able to go ahead and use the service as long as they have broadband Internet capability as well.
They're saying that right now, thousands of movies will be available to this, as well as TV shows coming from CBS and FOX. But they're saying more agreements are expected in the future.
TV episodes are only going to sell for $1.99. Taking a look at movies, between $9.99 and $14.99. And to rent a movie, about $1.99.
The other interesting part here, no added hardware is needed, and also no extra subscription fees. So this does sound like the wave of the future of where we're going to see companies going. Now, besides Wal-Mart, Cisco came out with their second quarter earnings yesterday and saying that their profits were up 40 percent. And the main reason was is because service providers are actually updating their networks, as well as increasing bandwidth, because they need to handle this increased movement as far as downloads go.
So this is obviously a change here that's helping the market overall.
Back to you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. You've got to increase the pipes, I guess. All right.
ELAM: There you go.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Stephanie.
Some of the other stories out there this morning.
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S. O'BRIEN: We're coming up at the top of the hour. Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Star-crossed lover. New pictures of NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak leaving Florida this morning, fitted with a GPS ankle bracelet. Did the stress of space spark her alleged murder plot?
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