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American Morning

Iran in Iraq? Bush Blames Quds Force; Terror Trial in Spain; Iraq War Resolution

Aired February 15, 2007 - 07:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Thursday, February 15th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

Thanks for begin with us.

Let's begin with the war on terror this morning.

The president's getting ready to make a speech about Afghanistan. We're expecting it at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. That's just in about two hours from now. But, of course, it's the questions about Iran that are dogging the president.

CNN's Ed Henry has been asking some of those tough questions. He's at the White House this morning.

Hey, Ed. Good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

That's right. The president will be delivering this speech this morning about the war on terror to a conservative think tank.

The focus will be about where Afghanistan is headed. Of course, a war that the U.S. thought had been won, but now the Taliban has had a resurgence.

But you're right, at yesterday's press conference it was really the president on the defensive about Iran. He declared for the first time that he's certain that Iranian forces are behind these deadly roadside bombs that are going into Iraq killing and maiming U.S. troops there. But the president pulled back on an earlier assertion by the U.S. government that the "highest levels" of the Iranian government were behind these bombs. The president bristled when I asked that given the botched intelligence in the lead-up to the war in Iraq, should Americans be concerned now about the intelligence in Iran?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: What assurances can you give the American people that the intelligence this time will be accurate? GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ed, we know they're there. We know they're provided by the Quds force. We know the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government.

I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said to the Quds force go do this. But we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government. What matters is, is that we're responding. The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs is preposterous, Ed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, the president also chafed at any suggestion that he's trying to build a case for war with Iran here.

Now, what's new this morning is that we're learning from the Pentagon, Barbara Starr reporting that General Peter Pace will be briefing reporters later today in the afternoon. We're told that all this confusion was caused by an anonymous intelligence briefer from the U.S. military this past weekend who went a little far in saying that the highest levels of the Iranian government were behind all these roadside bombings. But that certainly makes you wonder, why didn't the U.S. government have all their ducks in a row when they presented this information and why hasn't the White House clarified it in recent days -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Ed Henry is at the White House for us this morning.

Thanks, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to have more on the president's war on terror. We're taking that speech live. We're expecting it at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time right here on CNN -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: An awful lot of tension in Europe this morning. All eyes on a courtroom in Madrid, where the trial begins for the 29 men accused in the commuter train bombings there three years ago. A hundred and ninety-one were killed, 2,000 others hurt in the so-called 3/11 attacks, Europe's 9/11.

Paula Newton is there -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning, Miles.

I'm in front of the courthouse where the victims' families and some of the victims themselves continue to pour out after a lunch time break. Miles, they are already looking pretty drained.

What happened this morning quite dramatic. The first alleged ring leader was up and he says he refuses to give any testimony. This is really unnerving for the people in that courtroom.

They want to get to the bottom of this. They want answers. And still, it's been almost three years and they don't have what they're looking for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice over): Two years, 11 months and four days later, the sirens dissolved into silence. The silence turned to rage. But now there are just questions and that unsettling thought amongst Spaniards that somehow the terrorists got the better of them, chocked up a victory.

GUSTAVO DE ARISTEGUI, LAWMAKER AND AUTHOR, "JIHAD IN SPAIN": Of course it was -- I mean, in their eyes, it was the biggest blow they have ever given as Islamist terrorists.

NEWTON: It wasn't just the remote-controlled slaughter or all the fear and anxiety that it bred. Three days after the bombings, Spaniards voted out the government that sent troops to Iraq and voted in a government that withdrew those troops.

Later, 29 suspects were rounded up and are now facing trial. Among them, a handful of alleged ring leaders like Moroccan immigrant Jim Alzugum (ph). Judicial inquiries in Spain have suggested he is linked to al Qaeda. But the community where he prayed is waiting for solid proof.

Muslim leaders claim whatever happened, it was not nurtured in their mosques or by the Moroccan community.

SAIF BEN ABDANOUR, ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER (through translator): Still, nobody knows why this happened. We all know that a small cell was responsible for the carnage. Men are before a judge now, and we in this community don't feel implicated.

NEWTON: Al Qaeda, though, is implicated. In a martyrdom video by one suspect, it is singled out as a source of inspiration. But did it provide more than that?

Seven suspects blew themselves up in a standoff with police in the Madrid suburb of Leganes. They will never face a trial or any of the questions about al Qaeda.

Even so, the key question remains, how much influence did al Qaeda have among Spain's Muslim immigrants? Spaniards are hoping to learn more from the trial. It's a crucial question as the country's North African immigrant population grows and al Qaeda's influence in North Africa, especially Morocco and Algeria, grows, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You know, Miles, as the families of the victims and some of the victims themselves come out of court for their lunchtime break, you know, they've described what it was like to see those suspects behind the bulletproof glass. Some describe being completely overwhelmed.

Nonetheless, they are sitting there, they're trying to get the answers. And on Wednesday, yesterday, the victims' families from 9/11 sent a letter of support saying, "We understand what you're going through. We hope you get the answers you're looking for" -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Paula Newton in Madrid.

Thank you -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, the House is closing in on an Iraq war resolution this morning. The floor is going to be open for debate again today and could vote tomorrow on a 97-word resolution against the president's troop buildup.

CNN's Andrea Koppel is live for us. She's on Capitol Hill.

Good morning, Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Well, once things get under way in a couple of hours here, Democrats plan to kick things off with a group of freshmen Democrats who will be saying things like they're going to focus on the costs of war and the importance of supporting the troops, saying things like, we were just out on the campaign trail, we spoke to people who were always talking about Iraq. We want to make sure there are funds there for troops. We also want to emphasize that we understand where they are coming from.

Now, across the aisle, Republicans are going to feature a group of GOP war veterans. This is something the Democrats did earlier this week.

They're going to focus on Sam Johnson, Republican of Texas. He and his colleagues will continue to hammer away at the theme that we have heard this week. And that is that this Democratic resolution is nothing more than trying to cut the first step towards cutting funds for the war.

We heard from Republicans yesterday, even as the president spoke at the White House. They were breaking with the president over this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. RIC KELLER (R), FLORIDA: Interjecting more American troops into the crosshairs of an Iraqi civil war is simply not the right approach.

REP. JIM RAMSTAD (R), MINNESOTA: It's time for a surge in diplomacy, not a surge in troops to mend a broken country.

KOPPEL (voice over): Still, most Republicans agreed with Mr. Bush.

REP. MICHAEL ROGERS (R), ALABAMA: What disturbs me most, Mr. Speaker, about this resolution is its clear purpose is to divide those of us in this chamber KOPPEL: The president, were he to allow this mostly symbolic resolution, could turn into a slippery slope and leave Congress to cut off funding for the troops.

BUSH: Our troops are counting on their elected leaders in Washington, D.C., to provide them with the support they need to do their mission.

KOPPEL: Even those Republicans opposed to the president's plan said that would be going too far.

REP. MICHAEL CASTLE (R), DELAWARE: Protecting American soldiers must continue to be our greatest priority. And I will oppose any attempts to cut off funding for our troops who are serving in harm's way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOPPEL: Now, as you noted, Soledad, this resolution is expected to pass tomorrow. The question, however, is just how many Republicans are going to cross over and support this resolution -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill for us this morning.

Thank you, Andrea -- Miles.

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Another day, another unfortunate comment. This time it was from the former NBA star Tim Hardaway. Hardaway played guard for the Miami Heat and he was talking with a Miami radio station on Wednesday, asked to comment about another NBA player who came out of the closet that he was gay last week.

And that's when Hardaway said this...

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TIM HARDAWAY, FMR. MIAMI HEAT STAR: Well, you know -- you know, I hate gay people. So, you know, I let it be known. I don't like gay people. I don't like to be around gay people.

I don't -- you know, I am -- I'm homophobic. I don't like it. There shouldn't be (INAUDIBLE) the world for that or in the United States for it. So, yes, I don't like it.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, it only took a couple hours before we heard the apology. Hardaway put a call into a Miami TV station, WSVN, and said he was sorry, he shouldn't have ever said anything.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HARDAWAY: Yes, I do. I regret it and I'm sorry.

You know, I shouldn't have said anything like that. I shouldn't have said that, you know, I hate gay people or anything like that. It's just that I don't condone, you know, it being in the locker room. And that was my mistake, and, you know, that's it, that's all I have to say.

And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to have an uproar, and that was just my mistake and my bad and I'm sorry.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of a world of difference between "I hate gay people" and "I don't condone homosexuality."

Anyway, the player who came out last week, John Amaechi, says he has had some mixed reactions ever since he made his announcement. He is the first NBA player to say he was gay.

He actually said, very interestingly, that he thought that at least what Hardaway was saying was honest. That there's so many people who say things and they're not being honest. He said, you know, if there's any value in it, at least he was being honest.

M. O'BRIEN: And to be fair, he did say also that he got a good reaction generally from NBA players. As he said they were -- by and large, they were open-minded about it.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. And he said, also, especially Mark Cuban, too, a big note of support as well.

M. O'BRIEN: Another story people are talking about this morning, those long flights to nowhere. And passengers seeing red over JetBlue.

Thanks to yesterday's bad weather in New York City, the airline had planes full of passengers waiting on tarmacs at Kennedy airport for up to eight hours. And take a look at some of the cell phone pictures taken from inside the planes.

The toilets were backed up. They were running out of water and food. You can imagine how this was going. I'm sure the kids were delighted.

Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, I spoke to one of the hostages -- I mean passengers. At least he's home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLACE TURBEVILLE, STUCK IN PLANE FOR 8 HOURS: Well, at first it was -- the implication was sometime soon. But very soon after that we sort of banded together with the crew because they didn't know what was going on either. And then later, when people got even more frustrated, the crew got more defensive.

But for the most part, it was just, "We don't know. Nobody will tell us." And the crew was making telephone calls to friends in the organization trying to find out what was going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: JetBlue has issued the following statement: "JetBlue apologizes to customers who were impacted by the ice storm...specifically at John F. Kennedy. This resulted in unacceptable delays for our customers. JetBlue will be issuing a full refund and a free round-trip flight to customers delayed onboard any aircraft in excess of three hours." So if you did 2:59, you're out of luck.

Sorry about that.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that's right.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Kate Hanni is a woman who was on a flight just like one of those flights. She is now off to Washington, D.C., to do something about it.

Six weeks ago, she was trapped on a plane, stuck on the tarmac in San Francisco for about eight hours. You can see there she is smiling in that shot. That was kind of early on in her eight-hour ordeal, well before she knew just how long it was going to be that she would be stuck on that plane.

Well, now she's pushing Congress for a passenger bill of rights. Here's some of her proposals.

She says airlines need to refund 150 percent of the ticket price if they have a problem like this. They need to notify passengers within 10 minutes of diversions and cancellations. She wants the planes to return to the gate after three hours. She also says they need to provide food and water and sanitary facilities, access to medical attention.

There were some people who had to pay $4 for the meal on board the JetBlue flight. They were allowed to get food, but they had to buy it after six or seven or eight hours.

M. O'BRIEN: Ooh, that's twisting the knife, yes. Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And finally, she says they need to respond to complaints within 24 hours and resolve them altogether within two weeks.

You know, you go, girl. I hear you, sister.

I think she's exactly right.

M. O'BRIEN: I would add one more thing. Open up the bar.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Well, duh.

M. O'BRIEN: They didn't do that. All right. That could be bad, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. Actually, it might be a really bad idea.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, words and their meanings. We're going to listen to a phrase the president said six different times in his news conference and get some insight about what he was trying to say -- in other words.

Plus, if you're packing your kids' lunch right now, we want you to hang on. There's a new health warning about peanut butter. It could have salmonella in it.

And guess who has the germier desk, men or women? Who do you think? Women are probably clean, right?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: A quarter past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center looking at the after-effects of all this snow.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Did you listen to the president's news conference about Iran yesterday? Maybe you noticed what we noticed. In other words, maybe you heard a little rephrasing of the message.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: So, in other words, these are people that will kill innocent men, women and children.

In other words, they're able to get a better sense that this government of theirs will provide security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: In other words, it sounds like he's searching for the right words in all of this.

Frank Luntz is a well-known political pollster. He's got a new book out. It's called "Words that Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear." And he joins us from Washington, D.C.

It's nice to see you, Frank. Thanks for talking -- there you are. Nice to see you.

FRANK LUNTZ, POLITICAL POLLSTER: It's a pleasure to be here.

S. O'BRIEN: Hey, you know, did you notice that in the president's press conference yesterday? "In other words," he said it over and over and over again, in actually a fairly small amount of time.

What's that message he's sending when he keeps saying something in his prepared remarks and says "In other words"?

LUNTZ: He doesn't feel like he's being clear enough. And he wants to restate something so that people hear it. Another way that he did it was to say, "But here's my point."

He, I think, feels under tremendous duress. And when people are being challenged and they feel uncomfortable, whether their message is really getting out, they will either substitute the same comment again and again, or they'll say something like, "In other words" as a way to re-emphasize and restate so that he hopes that the audience hears him.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think being inarticulate is as bad or is it not as bad as being incredibly clear and strong but oh so wrong? For example, when the president said "Bring 'em on" -- you'll remember that -- you actually interviewed Colin Powell about those very words.

LUNTZ: "Bring it on" was one of the -- it was probably the three worst words of this administration. It affected women in this country tremendously, particularly moms who didn't want it brought on. They wanted to get it over with, the war.

And Colin Powell told me about how he was concerned. He was there when the president uttered those words. He was concerned about the international impact, that Europeans wouldn't respond favorably to it.

S. O'BRIEN: Troop "surge" is a word we've been using and hearing a lot of. There's a troop surge. A troop surge.

What kind of message do those words send, do you think?

LUNTZ: Yes. And the problem with "troop surge" is that it's numerical and it's tactical. The president could have used something like a reassessment and realignment. A reassessment of where things stand in Iraq right now, and a realignment of not just troops, but of resources.

A realignment and reassessment is more strategic, it's more comprehensive. The problem with "troop surge" is that it's only tactical.

Look, this president -- and I'll give you an example. There's another author, Tom Harrison, who wrote the book "Instinct." There's something in this president's DNA that causes him to reassert something when he feels like he's losing the battle.

And that's why you can see him being very repetitive in how he communicates. When he feels like he's on the defensive, you'll hear the same thing twice or maybe even three times.

S. O'BRIEN: And over and over in different speeches.

Let's just talk about bizarre things people have said. Joe Biden, for example, I mean, literally five seconds after we're doing the story on how he's running officially for president of the United States, we're also doing a story on the things he was saying about his colleague, Barack Obama.

What I thought very interesting, he said he is articulate and clean -- kind of a weird choice of words. This was his explanation to Jon Stewart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: And look, the other part of this thing is, the word that got me in trouble is using the word "clean". I should have said fresh. What I meant is he's got new ideas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: "I should have said 'fresh'." "What I meant was he's got new ideas." Really? Clean and fresh, so far apart.

LUNTZ: The amazing thing is he's trying to deliver a compliment, and yet he gets trapped in his own words.

I have to tell you, 2008, we're already paying attention to what the candidates say word for word. And we can see with each of these individual candidates a theme and a message that can be boiled down to a single word.

Mitt Romney is talking about "change". Rudy Giuliani is talking about "results" and "success". John McCain is talking about "reform". "Conversation" from Hillary Clinton. "Hope" and "opportunity" from Barack Obama.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, you talk about Hillary Clinton. Let me ask you a question about that.

There are people who keep saying, without nuance, was your vote for the war a mistake? You know, and you've heard that over and over and over again. And every time she answers that question, she will not use the word "mistake". She says, "If I knew then what I know now, I would not have voted."

Is that splitting hairs? Is it going to matter, do you think, to her campaign?

LUNTZ: It does matter. If I were her adviser, I would tell her that the most human thing you possibly can do is to say those two words, either "I'm sorry" or "I apologize".

To acknowledge that you've made a mistake is to say that "I'm human." And for Senator Clinton, the key to her presentation is not that she doesn't know the issues, because clearly she does. It's whether she has emotion and passion, as well as the intellect.

For her to acknowledge that she has erred in a vote says to the American people that she understands the anger and frustration that you hear on the Democratic side of the political spectrum. I don't know why she doesn't acknowledge it. She will. Mark my words -- I'll say it on your show for the first time -- she will admit that she made a mistake within the next 30 days.

S. O'BRIEN: Frank, I've got to tell you, I believe you, because I have said those same words, but not on camera. But just to myself.

Your book is great. It's called "Words That Work."

The author is Frank Luntz.

Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it -- Miles.

LUNTZ: It's my pleasure.

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, thanks -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: "Yes, dear," and "I'm sorry." Very important words in my house.

S. O'BRIEN: You're well-trained.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes I am.

Coming up, like a good neighbor? Well, if you live in Mississippi, State Farm is not necessarily there.

And FedEx delivers. They deliver a horrifying sight near Cincinnati. Somehow everyone walked away. We'll tell you how.

And what could be a new and better way to stop your kids from getting the flu and, more important for the kids, at least, take the sting out of the visit to the doctor.

We'll have that on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: A little while ago we asked you the question, who's got the grosser desk, the dirtier desk?

Don't wrinkle your cute nose, Stephanie.

Who's got the dirtier desk?

M. O'BRIEN: We assume it's the guys. We assume it's the guys, right?

S. O'BRIEN: It's just a question -- the men or the women? Actually, a new study says women.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I would have said that.

S. O'BRIEN: Three to four times...

M. O'BRIEN: Really? Why?

S. O'BRIEN: ... the amount of bacteria in and around their desks because women tend to store food.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh. Like little squirrels you are, storing your food for the winter.

S. O'BRIEN: One researcher said, "I was surprised how much food there is in women's desks. If there's ever a famine, that's the place I'm going to search for food." Also because you have makeup and hand cream. All those things are like little petri dishes for germs.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Sorry...

S. O'BRIEN: Hi, Miles. Hi how are you?

(LAUGHTER)

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad, for sharing...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: How are you?

M. O'BRIEN: Just great. Feeling better all the time.

Stephanie Elam is here. And we are talking about ice cream. We all scream for ice cream.

ELAM: My hands are clean because we're talking about food. No, I don't want anyone grossed out. And if anyone knows me, they know I'm a freak about germs.

But let's talk about something heating up in the ice cream world. And it's mergers.

What's going on here? There is a New York investment firm that supposedly is interested in buying Marble Slab Creamy and Maggie Moos. This is according to "The New York Times."

Those are the second and third largest high-end ice cream chains in the U.S. So if they came together, they would take over the number one spot held right now by Cold Stone Creamery.

And if you know how these guys work, you take your M&Ms, and you take your little things...

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's so good.

ELAM: ... and they sit there and they just scoop it back and forth and mix it all in. It's very yummy.

S. O'BRIEN: So good.

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: If you're going to bring business reporting, you must bring samples for these types of segments, right?

ELAM: Yes. We had a conversation and we knew -- and we knew you were not going to be happy about this.

S. O'BRIEN: Without the food, man.

ELAM: This early in the morning.

OK. Another thing I have to tell you about. Goats milk ice cream is apparently -- they're still laughing at me -- goats milk ice cream is apparently becoming kind of a favorite among ice cream connoisseurs.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

ELAM: And it's making it's way on to shelves. And it's actually pretty expensive.

But people who like it are into it. The thing is...

S. O'BRIEN: Is it good? Have you tried it?

ELAM: I have not tried it. But they are saying it doesn't taste, like, goaty (ph). Or it doesn't taste like it has that smoky goat flavor. It tastes more like premium ice creams. So as people try it they seem to be liking it more. So...

M. O'BRIEN: It's a smoky goat flavor?

ELAM: No, it's not.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh.

ELAM: It doesn't have that.

M. O'BRIEN: I never heard of a smoky goat flavor. Never knew goats smoked, for that matter.

ELAM: Yes. No, like goat cheese, it's not like that.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I see.

ELAM: Yes. So...

M. O'BRIEN: OK.

ELAM: Sorry. Breakfast, dessert, all together now.

S. O'BRIEN: Ew. That was just...

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thanks, Stephanie.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, thanks, Steph.

M. O'BRIEN: Top stories of the morning coming up next. Digging out after the big snowfall. Many feet of snow in parts of the Northeast. There's a lot of work to do still today. And to make matters worse, you're going to pile it up and it's just going to get blown over by the wind.

We'll tell you all about it.

And a warning as you make lunch for the kids this morning. Are you doing one of those, a little PBJ? That is kind of gross-looking PBJ, isn't it? I don't like the looks of that one.

Well, it turns out there might be some reason to worry about the peanut butter, linked to salmonella. We'll have the brands and the model numbers and everything you need to know after a break.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Brings us to right to CNN's Greg Hunter. He's in Albany, New York this morning. They got 20 inches of snow on the ground there.

Greg, I'm curious, when you were driving around, did you see accidents, maybe not as dramatic as the one we were just showing, but like that?

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We didn't see accidents. We saw a lot of people slipping and sliding. It came a point yesterday when the cars kind of left the road, and all you saw was city trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles.

Well, we did get 20 inches, as you just said. And just to give you an idea of what that means, this is just the snow in one pile of a parking lot. It's about 15 or 20 feet tall. But just to give you an idea of what it looks like and how much is there, it's as big as a big house. You still see the pile? It goes on forever. And mind you, it's 15, maybe 20 feet tall.

Now one of the things they're worried about with temperatures around 10 degrees, and they're not going to get much higher. They're going to be around maybe 15 degrees for a high temperature here in Albany. They're worried about the high winds. Right now the wind is pretty light, 10 miles an hour. It's a beautiful, sunny days. But they're expect the winds to get up to 40 miles per hour. Wind chills 20 below zero the reason why is this snow, it's very dry. And if you look at it, it's fluffy. So even after they take the snow and they pile it up, they're worried about it blowing into big drifts, so people can drive into them, they can block streets again. But that's what they're worried about here in Albany.

But I'll tell you, the road crews did a fantastic job clearing the snow, really did.

Back to you, Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: All right, Greg Hunter for us this morning, thanks. I wish I could say the same thing here in New York. They did a terrible job of clearing our streets. We only got, what do you think, four, five inches max, four inches? So good for you where you are.

Thanks, Greg -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Like a good neighbor, State Farm Insurance is there -- or maybe not. The company says it will stop selling homeowner and commercial policies in Mississippi.

Jeff Barker of Affiliate WALA has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF BARKER, WALA REPORTER (voice-over): 1896 is when the peoples Bank of Biloxi started handing out home loans with a handshake; 111 years later it takes much more to get a loan, including homeowners insurance.

CHEVIS SWETMAN, THE PEOPLES BANK: Yes, it is more difficult to get loans, but I think it will eventually work its way through the process.

BARKER: Bank president Chevis Swetman is optimistic. But a year and a half after Hurricane Katrina, overgrown slabs symbolize an ongoing fight with insurance companies.

On Wednesday, another strategic move in that fight: State Farm announces it will not write new homeowners or commercial policies in Mississippi.

VINCENT CREEL, CITY OF BILOXI: The fact is, if you can't get insurance, you can't get a bank loan, which means you can't build your home or you can't build your business.

BARKER: And a city struggling to recover needs houses built and businesses opened.

CREEL: It's not an issue; it is the issue of the recovery.

BARKER: State Farm is still deciding how many policies it will renew in 2007, but is not adding anymore. The company says it paid $1.1 billion in claims last year.

CREEL: They have been taking in money all these years, people have been paying premiums, and now when you have a hurricane you run through this kind of stuff, and it's really a shame.

BARKER: That's the sentiment of Biloxi, where everyone is either battling an insurance company or knows someone who is. Even the banker.

SWETMAN: I'm going back and asking them if they'll re-evaluate it again. And so hopefully I'll get a favorable decision, but only time will tell. (END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Again, that was Jeff Barker of WALA reporting. State Farm says its decision has nothing to do with the settlement reached last month. That deal calls for the company to pay more than $80 million to policyholders who sued State Farm.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up, what could be a new and better way to stop your gets from getting the flu and take the sting out of the visit to the doctor.

Plus, the letters of Otto Frank, the father of the famous diary writer Anne Frank, just coming to light now. They have been released and they reveal even more about the Frank family than we knew before.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. If you're making sandwiches or toast this morning, you want to listen up to this -- there's a salmonella outbreak in peanut butter. Nearly 200 cases across 39 states connected to tainted peanut from a canagra (ph) plant in Georgia. It effects Peter Pan or Great Value Peanut butter. The jars all have the code 2111 printed on the lid. About 20 percent of the people who've been infected have been hospitalized, but so far there are no deaths to report.

More on this story and much more with medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen this morning. She's in Atlanta.

Hey, Elizabeth. Good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's start with the peanut butter. I never heard of a salmonella peanut butter link before, have you?

COHEN: Well, now I have, and now you have. This is the first outbreak -- there's a reason you haven't hear of this. This is the first outbreak of salmonella in peanut butter in the United States.

However, it is not the first time that there's been a salmonella outbreak in a plant or vegetable-type food. Salmonella occurs in animals. It naturally occurs in animals. You can see up there the number of cases. Salmonella occurs in animals. It's in the intestinal track of animals, sometimes including human beings. However, when you have a contamination situation, salmonella can then get into plant foods.

Now we don't know exactly how it happened in this case. But in the past there've been situations where, for example, you have a plant crop that is next to an animal farm, and you get run-off from that animal farm into the crop. Or, for example, you might have a situation where you have a processing plant for a type of vegetable and someone who is working at that plant is ill with salmonella, doesn't know it, doesn't wash their hands, and then you have a contamination-like situation. So, again, first time that this has happened in peanut butter, not the first time that it's happened in a plant food -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, let's turn and talk about this Flumist story out there now. It looks like Flumist is actually more effective than they originally thought, and also might be effective in children younger than it's been approved for. Why is Flumist better than they thought?

COHEN: Well, it appears it's better because you take this vaccine by putting it directly into the nose. Well, that's where flu germs live. So it's very effective to put it right into the nose.

Now the CDC and FDA, the Food and Drug Administration, says do not give this to children under five years of age. But Merck, the company that makes it, decided to test it and see if it indeed did work and was safe for children under five.

What they found is that actually it was 55 percent more effective than a flu shot. Again, that giving a young child a nose spray vaccine was more effective than giving them a shot. And so that is something that doctors will be discussing, should they actually officially recommend it for children under five years of age.

But right now, the recommendations still stands that children should get a shot when they're that age. The reason for that, while this Flumist vaccine was very effective for children under five, it also gave some kids wheezing problems. And I'm not just talking a little bit of wheezing, some of these kids ended up in the hospital.

So right now, the recommendation still stands, children under five should get a flu shot, not the flu nose spray. That might change in the future, though, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I could imagine that would be very terrifying after you give them a nose spray, if you see that kind of reaction.

Elizabeth Cohen for us this morning. Thanks, Elizabeth, on all fronts this morning. Appreciate it.

COHEN: Thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" is just moments away.

Tony Harris definitely has a weather radio, I know he does.

Hello, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, on the to-do list. These stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM" this morning. We hear from President Bush live in the NEWSROOM. His remarks on Afghanistan and the resurging Taliban at 10:00 Eastern Time, complete coverage from the best political team on television.

The battle over the body. A hearing in Florida next hour. Three people now fighting over the remains of Anna Nicole Smith.

And the popular TV show "24." Some claim tactics used by super agent Jack Bauer encourage torture by U.S. interrogators in Iraq. We explore that allegation.

Heidi Collins is with me in the "NEWSROOM." We get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Tony -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up, the letters of Otto Frank, newly discovered. New insight from the father of Anne Frank about the family's struggle to survive. That story straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

We're back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Every school kid in America has read the diary of Anne Frank or should, the dramatic true account of how a young girl and her family hid from the Nazis. Well, now there's a new chapter coming all these years later from Anne Frank's father, Otto.

AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho gives us a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Seventy-eight pages of documents never before seen include telegrams, immigration papers, and three letters from Otto Frank to a good friend in the United States. Written in 1941, they reveal Frank's desperate efforts to get his family out of Amsterdam as the Nazis moved in during World War II. One last effort before his family is forced into hiding, made famous in "The Diary of Anne Frank."

PROF. DAVID ENGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Real desperation bubbling under the surface, but he does the best he possibly can to keep his emotions under control.

CHO: Otto Frank seeks help from his college classmate, Nathan Strauss Jr., son of the founder of Macy's and friend of then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. "It is for the sake of the children mainly that we have to care for," he writes. "Our own fate is of less importance. You are the only person that I know that I can ask."

Frank needed money and ultimately U.S. visas for his family. The problem, U.S. immigration policy during the war was rapidly changing. And worse... PROF. RICHARD BREITMAN, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: There was a fear that the Nazi regime might somehow be using Jews and other victims of persecution as agents.

CHO: In other words, spies. The U.S. was on the verge of entering the war, and Jews were shut out.

That forced Otto Frank to go to plan B.

BREITMAN: Plan B was to get to Cuba or at least to get a visa for Cuba.

CHO: In fact, in December, 1941, Otto Frank did get a visa for Cuba, but by then it was too late. Nathan Strauss writes, "I am afraid, however, the news is not good news."

ENGEL: In many cases, it didn't matter who you had on your side.

CHO: Anne Frank, her sister, Margo, and mother, Edith, died in a concentration camp. Three of six million Jews killed during World War II. Otto Frank survived, remarried, and lived a long life. He died in 1980 at the age of 91.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Otto Frank's letters are now on display at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's take a quick look now at what's coming up on "CNN NEWSROOM."

Here's what they're working on for the top of the hour.

HARRIS: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM," President Bush focusing on the resurging Taliban, his remarks on Afghanistan live in the "NEWSROOM" this morning.

The cold after the storm -- frigid temperatures set in after a record-setting winter storm slams the Northeast.

Internet safety tools. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children outlining resources today to help parents guard kids online.

You're in the "NEWSROOM," 9:00 a.m. Eastern, 6:00 Pacific.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: This weekend we are taking a special hour-long look at the words and work of Martin Luther King Junior. "MLK: Words That Changed a Nation," is what we're calling it. Back in Birmingham in 1963, Alabama was a hotbed of racial unrest. Violence erupted in the streets and eventually tore right through the walls of a local church.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Six years before his Birmingham campaign, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this sermon titled "Loving Your Enemies."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children and we will still love you. We will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. We will win our freedom."

S. O'BRIEN: Sunday morning, September 15, 1963.

CAROLYN MCKINSTRY, 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH: The phone was ringing in the church office. There was a male caller on the other end who said three minutes. And as quickly as he said that, he hung up.

S. O'BRIEN: At the 16th Street Baptist Church, youth volunteer Carolyn Mckinstry was preparing for service. I paused at the doorway, spoke to the girl that were there, Addie and Cynthia and Denise and Carol, and didn't linger there. I think they were just talking and primping, doing what girls do, combing hair. And Addie's about to tie Denise's sash.

S. O'BRIEN: Seconds later, the unimaginable -- a bomb planted by the Ku Klux Klan exploded outside the bathroom window.

MCKINSTRY: It was just kind of chaos. Police immediately surrounded the building.

S. O'BRIEN: Birmingham had once again become Bombingham.

MCKINSTRY: This was the first point in which I really realized that my parents were powerless to protect me. You came to church, you had friends who by the afternoon that were dead.

S. O'BRIEN: The lives of four little girls stopped at 10:22 a.m.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: We hope that you can join us for this CNN Special Investigations "Unit MLK Papers: Words That Changed a Nation," rare look into Martin Luther King's private library. It airs Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

M. O'BRIEN: I'll definitely be TiVo-ing that one.

That's all for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

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