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American Morning
Nine U.S. Servicemen Die in Iraq Overnight; NATO Launches Spring Offensive Against Taliban; In Indonesia a Deadly Earthquake
Aired March 06, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
M. O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: The U.S. announcing the deaths of at least nine service members overnight. NATO troops launching a fresh offensive on Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
In Indonesia a deadly earthquake overnight; it registered 6.3. Hit Sumatra in western Indonesia. CNN's Kathy Kuiano (ph) is following developments from Jakarta.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): When the quake struck everyone, the sick and the able rushed out of this hospital in west Sumatra. Nurses pushed patients out on stretchers and wheelchairs to safer ground. Many remained outdoors for hours. Powerful aftershocks followed the 6.3 strong tremor.
Terrified residents tried to flee to higher ground, fearing a tsunami would follow. The city of Padang, on the southwest coast of Sumatra is one of the few cities in Indonesia with a tsunami warning system, but the quake centered inland did not trigger a tsunami.
After the initial panic, the damage became apparent. Hundreds of houses or shops were flattened or badly damaged. The injured, many with broken bones, were brought to hospitals. More victims are expected to be found in the hardest hit areas just outside the capitol. The quake was also felt in Singapore, hundreds of kilometers away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We felt the tremors and we looked at each other and we asked, did you feel that? Suddenly everybody felt that. The building was shaking. So, we went back to our respective departments, and got our notebooks, and handbags and just evacuated and came downstairs to the building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): But the hardest hit areas are in the remote part of west Sumatra. Officials are still assessing the damage. Communication was disrupted and power has not been restored in some areas. Government officials say there are medical tents for the injured and evacuation centers for those who have lost their homes, but they are appealing for more help. Kathy Kuiano (ph), CNN, Jakarta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Other top story of the morning, at least nine American soldiers have been killed in separate bombings north of Baghdad. The Pentagon is confirming that six of the soldiers died on Monday when a bomb blew up near their convoy, in the Salah ad Din Province. Three other soldiers died in an explosion Diyala Province. And 3,183 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began.
NATO is on the move again today against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan. CNN's Nic Robertson is reporting to us from Kandahar this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (On camera): The operation is Operation Achilles, it involves 5,500 troops. It is NATO's largest operation inside Afghanistan so far. They describe it as a major operation. They also describe it as their own, NATO's own spring offensive, an offensive to get ahead, of the expected Taliban offensive that will take in northern Helmand, in the south of Afghanistan. It will involve American, British, Dutch, Danish and other NATO member countries involved in this operation.
It will focus on a dam, a strategically important dam, the Kajaki Dam, this is dam is part of a reconstruction project. There is a high Taliban presence in the area. This means that so far the reconstruction is not progressing as the Afghan officials and the NATO would like to see it progress.
They hope by focusing this Operation Achilles they can enable this dam project, which is reconstruction and rehabilitation of a hydroelectric power plant, to bring electricity to more people in the area. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: This morning in Washington, Army medical brass will once again be called on the carpet, this time by a Senate committee on those scandalous conditions on the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
If it was anything like yesterday's session it will be a mix of emotion, outrage and some pleas for forgiveness. CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon with a preview.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles. Well, indeed, yesterday the top generals' apologized but perhaps could not explain why they did not know about the problems at Walter Reed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DUNCAN, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: The conditions in the room, in my mind were just -- it was unforgivable for anybody to live -- it wasn't fit for anybody to live in a room like that.
STARR (voice over): But Specialist Jeremy Duncan lived in such a horror at Walter Reed Army hospital, in a building with moldy walls, roaches, and mouse droppings, trying to recover from a broken neck and loss of sight in one eye after an IED attack in Iraq.
Annette Mcleod's husband suffered a traumatic brain injury. She found Walter Reed's bureaucracy overwhelming.
ANNETTE MCLEOD, WIFE OF WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: My life was ripped apart the day that my husband was injured. But then having to live through the mess that we lived through at Walter Reed, has been worse than anything I've ever sacrificed in my life.
STARR: A congressional panel went to the hospital to try to find out why nobody in charge noticed poor living conditions, and the problems troops had. There were few answers. The general relieved of duty for his failures apologized.
MAJ. GEN. GEORG WEIGHTMAN, FMR. CMDR. REE ARMY MEDICAL CTR.: I'd just like to apologize for not meeting their expectations, not only in the care provided, but also in having so many bureaucratic processes that just took your fortitude to be an advocate for your husband that you shouldn't have to do.
STARR: Still on the hot seat, Lieutenant General Kevin Kiley, the Army's top medical officer and Walter Reed's commander in 2004. Kiley says he just didn't know about the problems at Building 18.
LT. GEN. KEVIN KILEY, U.S. ARMY SURGEON, GENERAL: Sir I can't explain that. I -- I -- it's been pointed out I live across the street. I don't do barracks' inspections at Walter Reed, in my role as the MedCom commander.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: Miles, many of the congressional members were very irritated with General Kiley. It's not at all clear he will be able to hang on to his job because many of these problems began to emerged back in 2004, when he was the commander at Walter Reed -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Barbara, it was gut wrenching testimony yesterday. And there are a lot of calls for heads to roll. Will there be more firings and how does the army sort of pick up the pieces either way?
STARR: Well, you know, one question is indeed, whether General Kiley will remain. But, you're right, Miles, it's picking up the pieces, it's moving on, it's getting the problem fixed. It's not at all clear, officials say, that they really need more money. It's the bureaucracy that many patients say is so overwhelming to them at a time they're so badly injured and they really need help.
Perhaps the real bottom line is so many of these hundreds of badly injured troops are going to need medical care for the rest of their lives, another 50 or 60 years. This is a problem that will be with the country, Miles, long after the troops are out of Iraq.
M. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.
Coming up, we'll talk to Senator Bill Nelson from Nebraska about his plan to help wounded vets.
The White House now saying, by the way, it needs more money to pay for its troop buildup in Iraq. They will ask lawmakers for $2 million as early as today. Expect some "I told you so's" from Democrats. Who said the initial request of $5.6 billion was too low -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Also happening this morning, Asian stocks are finally rallying after five days of losses. The Nikkei in Tokyo bounced back 1.22 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 1.58 percent. And Wall Street opens lower today. The Dow sliding eight of the last nine trading days.
President Bush addressing the American Legion after 10 o'clock, this morning, Eastern Time. He's expected to argue that the new U.S. offensive in Baghdad is seeing early success. You can also look for the president to talk about the scandal at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Vice President Dick Cheney now on blood thinners after a potentially dangerous blood clot was found in his leg. He is reportedly feeling fine. Says he's going to stick to his schedule. Blood clots like the vice president's can be fatal if they're not caught in time.
Back to work today, day 10 of deliberations for the jury in the Scooter Libby trial. The judge is deciding now how to respond to three questions that jurors asked. Sources tell CNN that the questions have to do with one of the charges accusing Libby of making false statements to the FBI. Libby is on trial for allegedly lying in the investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the press -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Hillary Clinton this morning pushing hard to get a natural constituency, women, to line-up behind her historical presidential bid. She'll begin enlisting an army of women to help her win the presidency. The move comes as African-Americans increasingly line-up behind Barack Obama. Our Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley live for us from Washington with more on this.
Candy I guess this is a natural zig, or zag, in the road for Senator Clinton at this point?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Miles. I mean, you know, for Hillary Clinton to go after the female vote is not a huge surprise. I will tell you, having been out on the road with her, that the audiences are largely female, and she gets a lot of what we would call female questions, at least at the beginning of this campaign.
It's, obviously a novelty. We see a lot of young women standing up telling Hillary Clinton that she's their role model. So that women would be interested in this candidacy is not a surprise -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: If the goal is to go after women, where does she put her famous husband and former President Bill Clinton in the campaign? Front and center, or back in the boiler room?
CROWLEY: Well, if Selma, Alabama, where the two of them appeared for the first time together since she made her presidential announcement, is any kind of hint as to how this will go, we're talking about a silent partner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice over): If ever there was a place where Bill Clinton can count on a warm, rousing reception, it's in the African- American community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can look at me right now, and see who I am holding hands with.
I must say that God is good.
CROWLEY: But if Bill Clinton went to Selma, Alabama, with his presidential candidate wife because he wanted some of his popularity to rub off, it was a subtle performance.
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All the good speaking has done by Hillary and Senator Obama, today already. I'm just sort of bringing up the rear.
CROWLEY: He gave just one public speech in Selma, at his indication to the Voting Rights Hall of Fame. It didn't come close to her speech, which can't be a coincidence. And when an audience member suggested he run again, the former president passed the baton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can run again.
B. CLINTON: Hey, wait a minute, well, I can't, you need to think about something else.
CROWLEY: Something else acknowledged his presence in Selma, if not at the big church where she gave her speech.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And my husband, who sends greetings to all of you today --
CROWLEY: Bill in the back seat, little seen, and barely heard, just like a political spouse. This double Clinton thing is a high-wire act, well before she announced pundits were figuring the equation.
DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Bill Clinton, there's no question people will say this is the third coming of Bill Clinton.
CROWLEY: Given he had a 60 percent favorable rating as of last September, that's not a bad thing if you're Hillary Clinton. On the other hand, he hasn't been out there campaigning for her yet. Still, she can hardly run a campaign as though he doesn't exist.
H. CLINTON: I know my eight years with my husband in the White House gave me a perspective about -- deal with some of the tough challenges facing us.
CROWLEY: And he can hardly act as though he has no vested interest in her future, and he doesn't.
B. CLINTON: I was glad when Hillary decided to throw her hat in the ring because for 35 years, long before she ever thought about running for office, she was trying to figure out how to solve problems.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: In an interview with Iowa radio Hillary Clinton said yesterday that appearances with her husband will be a rarity on the campaign trail, but she says it will happen when it can because she likes having him around -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Candy Crowley in Washington, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, for years I had been dreaming about winning Mega Millions and I'm sure I'm not alone. You, and you, and you, and you, also.
M. O'BRIEN: Me! Me!
S. O'BRIEN: Well, tonight is the big night. Got to be in it to win it, as they say. Tonight's Mega Millions jackpot is worth $355 million. I bet it will come right up to half a billion dollars by the end of the day.
Anyway, it is the most money ever in the 12 lottery's history. Winning numbers are drawn at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. They're trying to make a bigger deal of it than ever, so they're drawing it right here in Times Square in New York.
Did a little math overnight, for you. Take the lump sum pay off you get $117 million, after tax.
M. O'BRIEN: My choice. And your choice?
S. O'BRIEN: No, I didn't say my choice yet.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh! You're waffling a little.
S. O'BRIEN: $9.4 million every year for the next 26 years. I can just see how people would go with that one. You can consistently going back to the pot. No, Pete saying take the lump sum. Thank you, Pete. My financial adviser, Pete.
M. O'BRIEN: You can take the lump sum and go to Mahegan (ph) Sound, right there, badda bing.
S. O'BRIEN: But I you know -- you know, if you do in fact drop dead before the 26 years, it goes to your estate.
M. O'BRIEN: I don't care about my estate. I want to die broke.
S. O'BRIEN: Happy, happy Brad.
M. O'BRIEN: Are you kidding? I don't care what happens to my kids, my wife, I want to die broke and happy. S. O'BRIEN: A happy man.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, parts of the country waking up on ice. Chad Myers tells us when the bitterly cold air will finally be gone.
Plus, one of the senators who saw the problems at Walter Reed up close; how he plans to help wounded vets get the care they need.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. Most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
New this morning, the U.S. military is confirming that nine American soldiers are dead after separate bombings happened north of Baghdad.
More than 4,000 NATO troops targeting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan right now. It's part of the new crackdown that was launched overnight.
Quarter past the hour, and Chad Myers is at the CNN Weather Center watching cold, cold, cold temperatures for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Today the Senate gets its turn to question commanders on the conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Yesterday some wounded vets and a wife of one, told a scandalous tale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNETTE MCLEOD, WIFE OF WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: My life was ripped apart the day that my husband was injured. But then having him live through the mess that we lived through at Walter Reed has been worse than anything I've ever sacrificed in my life.
STAFF SGT. DANIEL SHANNON, U.S. ARMY: The system can't be trusted. And soldiers get less than they deserve from a system seemingly designed to run, and run to cut the costs associated with fighting this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska took a tour of Walter Reed on Monday. He joins us now from Capitol Hill. He'll be asking some questions today.
Senator, good it have you back on the program.
SEN. BEN NELSON (D-(NB): Thank you, Miles. M. O'BRIEN: Walter Reed is one of the places in the military that is slated to be decommissioned. I am wondering if that fact has laid the groundwork for a lot of these troubles. In other words, people weren't looking for long-term solutions there because they knew it was closing down.
NELSON: Well, there are two stories at Walter Reed. One is the acute care that many patients get who lost a limb, who have brain injuries, or who have suffered a very traumatic wound. The care they get is spectacular. As one Nebraska soldier told me yesterday who lost a leg, they got me to walk again.
The other story is what you just alluded to, and that is the story about Building 18. Apparently, through some sort of SNAFU where their staff was being laid off, and now the care, the contractors are being contracted with to come in and take care of the conditions, the physical conditions of buildings, something fell through the cracks.
There's always some reason, but there's no excuse.
M. O'BRIEN: There is a dramatic moment yesterday when one of the generals, who was in charge there, turned to some of the family members and apologized. Let's watch for just a moment.
NELSON: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEIGHTMAN: I'd just like to apologize for not meeting their expectations, not only in the care provided, but also in having so many bureaucratic processes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: What's your reaction to that? Is that enough?
NELSON: You know, it helps, but it doesn't really do it all. What we really have to have here is a review of these bureaucratic practices. Now, some of its paperwork. I heard there are 22 forms to be filled out going to eight different military commands. And the paperwork has to follow the soldier. That gets lost all the time. That's something that we can't tolerate. You can't even whitewash that as you can the walls with the mold.
The other is, there are two kinds of commands at Walter Reed. And at other military hospitals, as well, I'm sure. One is the garrison command. That's where the soldiers report every day for a report, and then whether they're all present or accounted for. The other is the care command. And there is not enough communication between the two so those who report for garrison duty are not always completed with the command care, they get lost for days. And we've seen instances where they have been lost for a couple of weeks.
M. O'BRIEN: Going back to the bureaucracy, you know, 22 forms to prove what is plainly true, that you've lost a limb is just absurd.
NELSON: Yes.
M. O'BRIEN: We're talking about a military that prides itself on it's high tech prowess on the battlefield, why can't they employ some of that technology to help the same people who are injured on that same battlefield?
NELSON: They can and they need to. It's as though we need to bring somebody in from a multi-national company that has hundreds of thousand of employees. I can tell you right now they wouldn't tolerate this. They couldn't afford to do it and keep in business. So, we need to have new practices. We need to bring in a team to reform the system so that the paperwork and the bureaucracy just simply go away, and we have a smooth, a machine for military care, the way we have a very, very efficient and state of the art care, acute care facility at Walter Reed and at other facilities, as well.
M. O'BRIEN: How quickly can you turn things around there? Because this is urgent.
NELSON: Changing the command I think is part of the solution. And I commend Secretary Gates for moving quickly on the command issue. But it's going to take more than that. It's going to take bringing people in who know how to do it. You have it change the culture of the paperwork, that requires new thinking, new ideas and, obviously, new processes
M. O'BRIEN: Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, thanks for your time.
NELSON: Thank you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: You know when Greenspan talks, people listen. He's talking again. Ali Velshi will tell us what he's saying, up next.
Plus, it's potentially deadly. Vice President Dick Cheney is suffering from it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta fills us in on the latest threat to the vice president's health. Stay with us, you're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: This just in, a major HMO is changing its earnings report. And, no surprise, it's all about stock options. It's 25 minutes past the hour, that means it's time for Ali Velshi who is "Minding Your Business".
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
This is the granddaddy of stock options problems, United Healthcare.
It's the nation's largest health insurer, and it says because of its unbelievable stock options backdating practices, you cannot trust it earnings for the last decade. In a filing with the SEC, the company says, in quotes, "due solely to the company's historic stock option practices, the company's financials statements from the periods 1994 to 2005 should no longer be relied upon."
The effect of the restatement will be in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion. The important thing here is that when it comes to a public company the earnings are all the investor has to go on. So, when one of the biggest companies around says, don't trust our earnings -- well who do you trust? United Health is a $74 billion health care provider.
While United Health affects a lot of people, the possibility of recession affects more. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, in an interview with Bloomberg, says he sees as much as a one-third probability of a recession this year.
And referring to last week's massive drop in the stock market, Greenspan says, quote, "I was surprised at this recent episode."
Now, current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke declined to comment on his predecessor's prediction. But Bernanke himself, in testimony before Congress, last week said that -- well, he said the same thing that many private sector economists are saying, and that is the economy might even get stronger this year.
The current economic expansion that we're in started in 2001. Markets of course are going to be digesting all of this as we open. Asian markets and European markets doing well overnight. We'll have to see where it goes this morning -- folks.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you for watching it.
Top stories in the morning coming up next. We're going to head back breaking news out of Indonesia. New pictures still coming in after that devastating earthquake over night, we'll share those with you you.
The U.S. and North Korea together again today. What chance is there that promises being made will ever be kept?
Plus, another health scare for the vice president, Dick Cheney. Warning signs he caught and those signs that millions of other Americans need to know about. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING; Good morning to you, Tuesday, March 6. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us, a busy Tuesday morning already.
A powerful earthquake clobbering western Indonesia overnight. At least 70 people are dead. Have some new pictures coming in and right now search teams are looking for survivors in the rubble of hundreds of buildings that were essentially flattened by the quake, a strong aftershock too.
M. O'BRIEN: Here at home, more fallout expected today in those filthy conditions at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. President Bush is set to talk to veterans. There's a lot of interest in whether he'll comment on the scandal and whether more heads may roll at the Pentagon.
S. O'BRIEN: And Vice President Dick Cheney is on medication this morning after doctors found a dangerous blood clot in his leg. We're going to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta who tells us about the warning signs of deep vein thrombosis, signs that the vice president caught and signs frankly that we all need to be on the watch for.
M. O'BRIEN: First, more on those deadly quakes in Indonesia. Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center. He's been watching them for us. Chad, what do we know?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You say quakes and that's correct. There was a 6.2 , a 6.1 aftershock and then they actually raised the 6.2 to a 6.3 and a 6.1. The big earthquake that made the huge tsunami was up here years ago, this earthquake was actually over land, but over basically over the same land mass. A 6.3, not that far from Podong (ph) actually just to the north northeast of Podong by about 30 miles or so, but a fairly large city here, a coastal city, a region that shakes an awful lot. As we move you back up to where the earthquake was, you will notice one thing on the map, a mountainous area and that right there is actually a volcano. So this is a very active area with earthquakes and volcanoes, part of what we know as the ring of fire. Not unusual to have earthquakes all the time, but a 6.3 and 6.1, both of them considered very strong earthquakes. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: All right Chad, thank you for watching it.
The new deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte is speaking out this morning in Seoul, South Korea. He's saying that North Korea is going to be held accountable for its program to enrich uranium, but they now have enforced (ph) North Korea's promises. Negotiators for the U.S. and North Korea go back to the table today in New York. Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee is live for us in Washington, DC, Hey, Zain, good morning.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. It's a big deal in the big apple. A U turn in U.S. policy, but there are possible pit falls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): The Bush administration has invited the enemy to New York for a one-on-one.
CHRISTOPHER HILL, ASST. SEC. OF STATE: The U.S. is prepared to begin that process now and to begin, to begin talking to the North Koreans.
VERJEE: U.S. negotiator Chris Hill will talk to the North Koreans about restoring diplomatic ties and tackle remaining questions on the tough nuclear issues. Does North Korea have a highly enriched uranium program to make bombs? U.S. intelligence says there's evidence North Korea bought the equipment but details on the program are sketchy. How exactly will the north shut down its main nuclear reactor and what's going to happen to all the plutonium material North Korea has already used to make and test a nuclear device? In a deal last month, North Korea says it will end its nuclear program. In return, it gets cash, $300 million in aid and oil and could get its name taken off a U.S. list of countries that support terror. It's a breakthrough deal that could always break down.
MIKE CHINOY, PACIFIC COUNCIL ON INTERNATIONAL POLICY: The big question mark is having tested a bomb and having produced enough plutonium for eight or 10 or 12 bombs, having declaring themselves a nuclear power, will the North Koreans in fact be ready to account for everything they've done and give it all up?
VERJEE: Skeptics in the U.S. say, no, North Korea is just playing games. U.S. financial sanctions have threatened to derail the deal. Washington has frozen $24 million in North Korean assets at a bank in Macao, accusing it of counterfeiting U.S. dollars and money laundering, but some of that money could be released as early as this week.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: A senior administration official tells CNN that U.S. negotiators are concerned that the deadline set for the first part of the deal could be too short. Each side has to take some significant steps in just 60 days. The official says the U.S. wants to live up to its promises so that the North Koreans meet theirs and that's one of the reasons, Soledad, for these talks.
S. O'BRIEN: Zain Verjee for us in Washington, DC, Zain, thank you. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: In Washington, also, today, lawmakers will get an earful from some of those eight Federal prosecutors summarily fired by the Bush administration. The Justice Department says it pink slipped all but one of them for performance reasons, but Democrats say they smell a political vendetta. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash on the Hill with more. Good morning Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. Democrats do suggest that the Bush administration fired eight of the president's own appointed U.S. attorneys because they were too soft on Democrats and too hard on Republicans in corruption cases. This has been bubbling here on the Hill for weeks, but now one long-time GOP senator not known as a partisan firebrand is at the center of this. He is the subject of a preliminary ethics committee probe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): New Mexico GOP Senator Pete Domenici acknowledges that one month before November's election he called his state's U.S. attorney to vet displeasure with the slow pace of a corruption investigation involving Democrats but says he did not cross the line. In retrospect, I regret making that call and I apologize, the senator said, but insisted I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way. Former U.S. attorney David Iglesias has said phone calls from Domenici and one other New Mexico lawmaker did feel like political pressure and alleges the Bush administration fired him for not indicting state-level Democrats before last fall's elections.
DAVID IGLESIAS, FMR. US ATTORNEY: Obviously, I tripped some wire that caused there to be pressure to ask me to step down.
BASH: The Justice Department insists Iglesias was fired because of his performance, not politics. And just as officials say Senator Domenici called the attorney general four times to complain, Iglesias wasn't up to the job. Some legal experts suggest that by calling Iglesias, Domenici broke Senate ethic rules against meddling in active cases.
STAN BRAND, FORMER HOUSE COUNSEL: It is a criminal case and reaching down to the U.S. attorney is a highly unusual thing to do.
BASH: Others aren't so sure.
BILL CANFIELD, FMR. SENATE ETHICS LAWYER: You can certainly ask about the facts, ask where the investigation seems to be going, how much longer it will take to conclude, that kind of thing.
BASH: Iglesias has not identified the other New Mexico lawmaker who called him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Dave Iglesias will be here on the Hill today for hearings on this issue. He's one of eight prosecutors who were wrapped up in this. Six of them will be here on the Hill. Iglesias according to a Democratic source, had planned on pointing the finger at GOP Congresswoman Heather Wilson of New Mexico. No doubt knowing that late last night, Miles, her office released a statement saying, admitting that she did call Iglesias but denying that she pressured him to prosecute Democrats. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: That will be one to watch, Dana Bash on the Hill for us, thank you. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Following a bizarre story out of Russia this morning. Two American women are in the hospital in Moscow. Apparently they have been poisoned with thallium. That's according to wire reports. Now thallium is a toxic substance. It's commonly used in rat poison. U.S. embassy says they're aware of the case, but they're not commenting so far. Miles?
S. O'BRIEN: They call it the economy class syndrome. So, how did the vice president with that big fancy plane end up with it? Another health scare for him today and the warning signs we should all watch ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, the most news in the morning is right here on CNN. Take a look at these pictures just in in suburban Woodbridge, that's a Chicago area, a tractor trailer that crashed right into the side of that house. The driver of the tractor trailer now hospitalized. Fortunately nobody inside the house has been injured, but apparently part of that home is in danger of collapsing. I can believe that. That's according to local media reports.
Afghanistan, thousands of NATO troops are targeting Taliban militias right now. It's all part of a new crackdown that was launched overnight.
M. O'BRIEN: Health news now, think twice before you green light that R-movie for your teenager. Hollywood may be encouraging him or her to smoke by showing big stars puffing like a chimney. A new study out this morning says movies make teens seven times more likely to pick up the coffin nails.
More obese young people are turning to surgery to lose weight. The number of morbidly obese 10 to 19 year olds having weight loss surgery more than tripled between 2000 and 2003. This is a report in this month's "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine."
Warning now, if you've heard that an aspirin a day can prevent colon cancer, a Federal task force says the risk of intestinal bleeding, stroke or kidney failure outweigh potential benefits of preventing cancer. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Vice President Dick Cheney is going to keep his schedule despite news of a potentially life-threatening blood clot in his leg. Doctors discovered a deep vein thrombosis in the vice president's left leg and now they're treating him with blood thinners. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us this morning with some details on the president's condition and really what the rest of us should know about DVT is what they call it. Hey Sanjay, good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Soledad. First of all, DVT's actually a rather common condition. About one in 1,000 people will develop it at some point in their lives. The vice president's case, specifically he was complaining of some leg pain and that's one of the more common symptoms. People do complain of some leg pain. What is happening is that one of the veins is sort of blocked and blood is accumulating in part of the leg. That causes some swelling, causes some pain, may cause some redness, as well. Excuse me. Most times that is all it will be, but in some cases, rare cases it can actually turn into something known as a pulmonary embolism.
Now a lot of people have heard about this. Pulmonary embolism is when a part of the clot actually breaks off, travels through the blood vessels and lodges itself in the heart. And that can be a deadly problem. About 200,000 people a year or so die from pulmonary embolisms, most of those related to DVT. So it raises the level of concern. In fact, David Bloom, a lot of people remember him, NBC correspondent, he died of pulmonary embolism. At the time he was covering the war in Iraq. It was believed that the dehydration that he was experiencing, the fact that he was in a cramped tank and the fact that he also had an inherited coagulation disorder sort of led to the DVT forming in his leg and subsequently the pulmonary embolism.
There are some risk factors people need to be aware of. One of those is the inherited coagulation problem, possibly increasing the risk for clotting, also blood flow soon after an injury or an operation, being immobile, also being age 60 or higher or just being overweight, as well. Soledad, the vice president is going to be on blood thinners. That is the recommendation for treatment for DVT for a few months anyway Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: I remember when David died of DVT and we were all so shocked. I was at NBC at the time and people talk about how the long travel may have exacerbated his condition. The vice president too was on those trips that we were reporting about last week, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Is it assumed that those trips exacerbated his condition, too?
GUPTA: Absolutely, 65 hours in a plane, you may remember this, as well, Soledad. Vice President Gore actually also developed a DVT while campaigning for president at the time and was also attributed to his lots of flight and these are people who were not flying in economy class. DVT is typically called economy class syndrome but the vice president supposedly was able to get up and walk around both vice president Gore and Vice President Cheney. But just being on a plane for that long can have an impact. Also in the vice president's case, he obviously has a long-standing history of problems with his vascular system. He's had four heart attacks, his first in 1978 at age 37, the bypass surgery, the stent, s-t-e-n-t, balloon angioplasty, shortness of breath in 2006, all these things may have actually contributed to his increased risk for DVT as well.
S. O'BRIEN: Sanjay, we don't have time, but I think it's important for everybody to know. How do you know if you have deep vein thrombosis? Some people describe it as horrible pain in their leg, but other people say, no, actually you could miss it.
GUPTA: The vast majority of people say it's rather mild pain, which is why a lot of people will miss it and a lot of people may have the DVT and not even know they have it. Some swelling, some redness, warm to touch, some leg cramping that seems unusual as well. The biggest thing, Soledad, if you think you might be at risk because you've been a plane for a long time, you've been immobile for a long time, you just had surgery, you should probably get it checked out.
S. O'BRIEN: Good advice, Sanjay, thanks, as always. Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: It's quarter of the hour. Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center and he's got the travelers forecast for you. What's going on, Chad?
MYERS: A lot of wind across the northeast airports this morning, guys, 24 miles per hour, JFK, 20 miles per hour, la Guardia and that's going to slow down some planes today, already La Guardia at about an hour delay. They're only using one runway this morning, 25 below is the wind chill factor in Albany. That may slow you down just in general. If you're traveling to the northeast, prepare for that bitterly cold air all day long today and most of the day tomorrow. Pleasant Miami high of 75, New York you get to 21, but it never feels that warm with that wind just howling through the streets, 46 in St. Louis. You get to the other side of the front and it is warm. It will be warm in Denver and Oklahoma City, all through Kansas and warm across the entire west coast. Vegas is 77 today. Phoenix is 81 and in fact, Phoenix will be 88 by the weekend, Houston, San Antonio, all pleasant today if you're traveling there, as well. Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Makes you want to travel there. All right, thank you Chad. A couple of weeks ago we did the story on Michael Orr (ph), the University of Mississippi tackle who has a very bright future in the NFL, thanks in large part to a generous Memphis family who adopted him. He was part of our salute to black history month. There he is there. An important point, this story came to national light in Michael Lewis' best-selling book, "The Blind Side." Michael Lewis contacted us and he let us know he thought it was wrong that we didn't acknowledge that we found out about the story from his book. Well he's right. We should have and it was an omission. I regret. It is a great read. I recommend it to you and we should have mentioned it when we aired this story.
Coming up, lust in space. New documents released by prosecutors in the case against NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak. Stay with us for the details ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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S. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning is right here on CNN. Happening right now, the Asian markets rallied overnight. The Nikkei in Tokyo up 1.22 percent. The Hang Seng up 1.58 percent. What's going to happen with the Dow?
And long lines, big dreams. They are drawing for the biggest lottery jackpot ever tonight, $355 million mega millions jackpot. The drawing is tonight in Times Square. (INAUDIBLE)
Icon here in New York City, come on, everyone knows that. Anyway, she'll do the drawing. Usually it is in Atlanta, but it's in New York tonight.
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to get in. We got to get in. We're going to work on that.
Lust in space now. Some of the e-mails are now out in the public domain. The e-mails linked to this whole astronaut lovers' triangle. Astronaut Lisa Nowak remember the 900-mile diaper-wearing road trip to confront her romantic rival at the airport. They both sought the love attentions of shuttle pilot Bill Ofelein (ph). Now Bill Ofelein is up in space in January doing his mission and there's a series of e-mails that go back and forth. So share some of these. These are (INAUDIBLE) Shipman who was the other member of this triangle.
S. O'BRIEN: Well apparently, we should mention that all these documents apparently were released late yesterday by the (INAUDIBLE) state attorney's office which is how we got access it them, but, apparently, it seems as if maybe Lisa Nowak downloaded them right off of his home computer because from the documents you can see she that she his key still to his apartment. She had access to his password to his home computer and it looks as if she just actually just downloaded some of these e-mails between him and Colleen Shipman.
M. O'BRIEN: While was these -- these are e-mails that were transferred back and forth between them while he was on his mission. We got a few of these, right? This is Colleen to Bill Ofelein. I have to control myself when I see you, first urge will be to rip your clothes off, throw you on the ground and onward, anxious to get you alone, but, honestly, love, I want you to totally and thoroughly enjoy your hero's homecoming.
S. O'BRIEN: It's pretty revealing. I mean poor Colleen Shipman whose now personal e-mails are being, everyone kind of has access to them now that they've been released. He had apparently broken up with Nowak and started dating Shipman --
M. O'BRIEN: But maintained a relationship with both of them, you know?
S. O'BRIEN: But local papers report how Colleen Shipman said why do you have a purple bike? He said oh that's Lisa's bike. He had broken up with Lisa and then at one point, she says, they were in bed together and he called her Lisa. So an indication that maybe all the ties were not cut. The case gets more and more complicated.
M. O'BRIEN: You can imagine seeing these e-mails might have triggered the whole thing.
S. O'BRIEN: Enough on that story. Let's move on and watch some of the developing stories right now. There are dozens of people dead after a massive earthquake and aftershock in Indonesia. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We'll have details for you. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
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S. O'BRIEN: Is red in the red? The red campaign championed by Bono to fight AIDS defends itself against reports that it costs more than it generates. 57 minutes past the hour.
Ali Velshi is "minding your business." Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Soledad. The red campaign is part of the global fund, which describes itself as the largest funder of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis research. And we've seen this for the last several months, products like iPods, American Express cards, clothing that is branded red and proceeds from the sale of those products go to this red fund, the global fund. Now, reports in "Ad Age" and the "Boston Globe" say that the campaign for red is costing more than $100 million and that red itself has only raised $25 million. Red is disputed that by saying, first of all, they raised $25 million, but they've only been in operation for about six months and secondly, they don't spend a penny on marketing. The marketing is undertaken by Apple and the Gap and Motorola and American Express, companies like that that would have advertised anyway. Now those companies wouldn't tell us how much they spend on advertising, but they don't typically tell us that anyway. Red is saying that by those companies advertising, selling those products and making a profit out of it, red is getting the money. It's going to the global fund and it's funding AIDS. So they're saying that the two are not really connected. They're not quite sure what it costs to market the red products, but that they don't pay for the marketing campaign. That $25 million that they raised is money that will go towards funding tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria programs.
S. O'BRIEN: It's all in how you do the accounting.
M. O'BRIEN: It's all about the accounting, isn't it? All right, thank you Ali.
Some of the other top stories we're looking at today. There's a good one in "USA Today" you should check out, laptop batteries, lithium laptop batteries could pose a huge fire risk for airplanes. As a matter of fact, the FAA, the Department of Transportation is looking at ways to ban the way, or change the way batteries are shipped on airplanes because of the fire risks that they pose. At least nine fires involving these lithium batteries have happened since 2005. Now there's no talk about banning carrying your laptop onboard the plane, but there is some concern that these faulty batteries or, in some cases, counterfeit batteries, batteries that are poorly taken care of and poorly shipped could cause fires. So, look for that to change. Hopefully we'll still be able to carry on our laptops.
S. O'BRIEN: I hope so.
Also this from the "Los Angeles Times," Asian air pollution is affecting the weather. Plumes of soot and smog and wood smoke in Asia disrupting weather patterns on the U.S. west coast bringing more clouds and more rain. . Researchers say the winds carry the soot and the grit from Asia, seeding clouds on the west coast and that causes storms. The reports come out of the proceedings of the National Academy of (INAUDIBLE) .
M. O'BRIEN: Speaking of storms, Mr. Storm for our program, Chad Myers at weather center. Hello, Chad.
MYERS: Mr. Wind today. From la Guardia to JFK and Newark, we're expecting airport delays all up and down the east coast because of the wind. The planes have to separate themselves a little bit. They can't get as close and la Guardia only able, at least this morning to use one runway because of the cross wind across the other runway that is has. A lot of times they like to use two, one take off, one landing, can't do that today because of those gusty winds.
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