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Joint Chiefs Chairman Pace: Homosexuality is Immoral; President Bush to Meet With Mexican President Calderon; Airport Insecurity
Aired March 13, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
For the next three hours, watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Tuesday, March 13th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
He calls it immoral. Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace on the record with his view of homosexuality. One gay rights group calls the remark outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful.
HARRIS: Prosecutor purge. Reports suggest behind-the-scenes White House involvements in the mass firings of eight U.S. attorneys.
COLLINS: An airport worker using his employee I.D. to smuggle weapons on a plane. Now the TSA cracks down on its own workers.
Checking the checkers in the NEWSROOM.
A new take on an old controversy involving gays in the military. Joint Chiefs chairman Peter Pace tells the "Chicago Tribune" he does not believe gay men and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly. For that reason, Pace says he supports the current policy on gays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral, and that we should not condone immoral acts. So the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" allows an individual to serve the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon for us this morning.
Barbara, has General Pace ignited a controversy here? What's going to be happening with these comments?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Heidi, I think it's going to evolve over the next several hours here in Washington, whether members of Congress weigh in on this, some of the presidential candidates weigh in on it. It is a very sensitive matter that he has now addressed after being asked for his personal opinion on whether "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should stand.
He said yes because of his views on morality. That has led to a call now for an apology.
A group called the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which is a group here in Washington that lobbies on behalf of gays and lesbians in the military, issued this very strongly-worded statement saying, "General Pace's comments are outrageous, insensitive and disrespectful to the 65,000 lesbian and gay troops now serving in our armed forces."
They are calling upon him to apologize. Don't expect to see an apology from General Pace. His senior staff tells us that he stands by his statements, that he was asked for his personal view, and he gave it -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And maybe talk about that for a minute, Barbara, for us. How important is his personal view? He said that he completely supported "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". But then he did go further to say although he thinks personally it is immoral.
STARR: That's right. That's going to be one of the issues here.
The policy "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is nearly 14 years old now, and what it is, it's a law passed by Congress that says people who are in the military cannot openly declare that they are gay or lesbian. Be that as it may, that has been the policy.
And the reason has been because it is believed that that kind of open declaration is detrimental to the good order and discipline of the U.S. military. Those are very standard words that they use.
General Pace took a somewhat different tact talking about morality. He is -- there are people who are not in agreement with him in the military. One of the former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General John Shalikashvili, a very respected man, wrote a couple of months ago in "The New York Times" that he believed it was time to take a second look at this, that he believed it was possible now in today's age, 14 years later, for gays and lesbians to openly serve.
So the question I think is going to be whether General Pace's comments now open up this whole issue again, some 14 years after Congress passed a law.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we know you'll be watching this one for us. Thanks so much.
Barbara Starr live from the Pentagon this morning.
And a closer look at the military's policy on gays.
As you know, it is known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," signed into law by President Clinton in 1994. It says gays and lesbians may serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private. Commanders are not allowed to ask about one's orientation. The policy applies to all military personnel, not just troops.
HARRIS: Job performance or pure politics? A growing firestorm of criticism over the firings of some federal prosecutors.
The Justice Department announced the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys late last year. Now Democrats in Congress have opened an investigation, saying the firings were politically motivated. Some of the prosecutors say they felt pressured by powerful Republicans in their home states to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats.
Also today, reports of deeper involvement by the White House. A White House spokeswoman says two years ago then White House council suggested the Justice Department get rid of all 93 prosecutors at the start of President Bush's second term. That proposal eventually led to the eight firings.
The U.S.-Mexico border and the political chasm separating two neighbors. Right now, President Bush is in Mexico searching for common ground with that country's newly elected president. The two meet next hour to confront the issues that have strained relations between the countries.
CNN White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has no more important relationship in the world than the one we have with Mexico.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): That was President Bush six days before September 11th, but terrorist attacks changed all that and put Mexico on the back burner of U.S. foreign policy.
Now, more than five years later, and with a new Mexican president, Felipe Calderon, at the helm, President Bush wants to send a signal the U.S. cares about its neighbors to the south.
BUSH: I'm working with the United States Congress on comprehensive immigration reform. It seems like to me we've got to get this done by August.
QUIJANO: But in Latin America, bitterness lingers over legislation signed by President Bush and pushed by conservatives in his party to build a 700-mile-long fence along the border.
MICHAEL SHIFTER, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE: Calderon is interested in immigration agreement and clearly resents, as do most of Mexicans, this idea of building a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico. It sends a message that Latin Americans are not wanted in the United States. And it's been seen as an insult. And many have taken offense.
QUIJANO: Asked about that, President Bush did not back away from his decision.
BUSH: Quite the contrary. People are welcome, but under the law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And Elaine Quijano is live with us now from Merida, Mexico.
Elaine, great to see you.
Based on that tension over this fence, what can we expect to hear from both President Bush and President Calderon on the immigration issue today?
QUIJANO: Well, Tony, I think what you'll hear from both the presidents is areas where they do agree on the immigration issue. And that is the shared goal of having more decent paying jobs created in Mexico so they can cut down on the number of people who try to sneak across the border into the United States to try and get jobs in the U.S.
Now, that is a goal that President Calderon actually laid out, and it's one, Tony, that President Bush has said he certainly supports -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Elaine, President Bush had a close relationship with the previous Mexican president, Vicente Fox, as you know. But ultimately, that didn't produce results for Mexico.
How much is that, that lack of results, affecting the dynamic between President Bush and President Calderon?
QUIJANO: You know, it's absolutely affecting the dynamic. It was seen, that close relationship between President Bush and President Fox, as disappointing for people in Mexico when there was not an immigration deal passed in the United States that would have allowed more Mexicans into the U.S. to work there. And so, President Calderon is very mindful of that.
He's been very cognizant of that fact. And he has made clear that he wants the agenda with the U.S. to be broader than just immigration issues like fighting the drug problem, as well. And President Calderon has been very careful to try to not raise expectations for the visit here -- Tony.
HARRIS: Elaine Quijano traveling with the president in Mareda, Mexico, this morning.
Elaine, thank you.
In Mexico, a train ride to the American dream. But locals call these tracks the "Passage of the Dead," the journey through the eyes of those willing to risk it all.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Soledad O'Brien will bring us their story in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A nursing home fire in North Carolina kills one resident, 19 others are injured. The fire broke out in Mocksville, North Carolina. It happened just after 10:00 last night while most residents were probably asleep.
Of the 19 injured, officials say four are in critical condition. Authorities also say two police officers were treated for smoke inhalation. The cause of the fire still under investigation.
Officials in southern California now searching for the arsonist who started this week's big blaze in the Anaheim Hills. Right now firefighters say they expect to have the wildfire fully contained in the next few hours.
It's burned more than 2,000 acres. Authorities say the fire, about 35 miles from downtown L.A., spread from a stolen car that had been set on fire.
HARRIS: Let's check in now with Chad Myers in the severe weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Tables turned. Federal screeners are getting screened at some U.S. airports. The case that triggered the inspections coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Dirt roads, dead-end leads. A Georgia town launches a massive search for a missing boy. Police believe he was abducted.
That story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: You can't see their scars, but a growing number of troops coming home from battle with mental illness.
Telling the numbers in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: To impoverished Latin Americans it is a veritable gravy train, railroad tracks that lead to the United States in a land of plenty. But along the way, danger looms as close as the rumble of engines.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien joining us now from Mexico City.
Hi, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Heidi. And the rain has sort of picked up in here. We're in Zocalo Square, in Mexico City. And you're absolutely right, although gravy train might be a little bit strong because these people are desperate and it is a terrible, brutal ride. We'll tell you this morning about just how people are sacrificing and what they are losing, sometimes body parts, limbs, as they take this ride, hitch a freight train ride to take them closer to the north.
Remarkably, these are not mostly Mexicans. These are Hondurans, these are Guatemalans, these are people whose poverty is maybe even more intense than those in Mexico. We'll update you on what's happening with that story as well.
That's straight ahead. That's in the NEWSROOM.
We're back in a moment.
COLLINS: All right, Soledad. Thanks.
And moving on now, screening the screeners. Badge holders at five Florida airports get security checks after a baggage handler is charged with smuggling weapons.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Every day, Audrey Loop (ph) does security at Tampa International Airport. Today, the tables were turned. When Loop (ph) reported for work, she was the one getting a security check, a pat-down, a bag inspection.
This arrest last week is one reason why. Thomas Anthony Munoz (ph) is charged with using his airport employee I.D. to smuggle 14 weapons and marijuana into the secure portion of the Orlando Airport and then into the passenger cabin of a plane which flew to Puerto Rico. While he was in the air, law enforcement got a tip.
EARL MORRIS, TSA: No passengers were at risk because we knew who the individual was and we had air marshals on board.
MESERVE: Since then, three more arrests in an alleged airport- based drug and weapon smuggling ring. Officials are still investigating its full dimensions. One of those charged even posted on his Web site pictures of himself flaunting cash and weapons, and in a cockpit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. How are you?
MESERVE: Today, the Transportation Security Administration responded by sending a team of 160 officers into five airports in Florida and Puerto Rico. CNN was given exclusive access. Not only are there random searches of airport workers and their bags, canine teams are checking vehicles entering secure areas. Access to those areas is being limited at night. And before passengers board, some planes are getting a closer look as security personnel check for contraband.
The security teams change location every 45 minutes or so. Their goal is to be unpredictable.
DARIO CAMPAIN, FED. SECURITY DIR., TAMPA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: That is a formidable weapon when bad people don't know where we're going to be, what time, which door, which hallway.
MESERVE: Is it a foolproof system? Consider this -- at Tampa alone there are 6,300 badge holders with access to secure areas. Nationwide, about 800,000, including the swarms of people who refuel, load, cater and clean aircraft.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Jeanne Meserve joining us now live from Tampa.
Jeanne, any idea how long this crackdown will last?
MESERVE: It's going to go on here just for a couple of more days. But they are going to move these teams around to other airports around the country. They're not going to announce it ahead of time. Their hope is, of course, that they're going to detect things or deter things -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, understood. How are employees reacting to the crackdown, though? Anybody mad about it?
MESERVE: It's mixed. We saw a few people yesterday who clearly were a little bit irritated at being held up on their way to work to go through these pat-downs and searches of their bags. But there were other people who said, hey, this is the environment we live in and we work in, and we understand it.
There was one baggage handler for Southwest who said, "Hey, this is my company. I want to keep things secure. I am absolutely fine with this" -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Very good.
Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
HARRIS: In Georgia, a search for a missing boy believed to have been abducted. This is 6-year-old Christopher Michael Barrios Jr. He was last seen Thursday near his home in a Glenn County (ph) mobile home park.
Search crews have checked dumpsters, wells and isolated stretches of the area. Police believe he was abducted but say they have no leads. His crime is so abominable, it makes you sick to your stomach. Today, convicted child killer John Couey faces the sentencing phase of his trial. It will determine whether Couey will get life in prison or the death penalty.
A Florida jury found Couey guilty last week of abducting, raping and murdering Jessica Lunsford two years ago. She was buried alive.
Defense lawyers say Couey is mentally retarded and they recommend a life sentence. A judge will ultimately decide Couey's fate.
COLLINS: Droopy pants, a fashion statement, but an on-the-job hazard for this guy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Face the camera. Straight at the camera. And you can see me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A burglar showing more than just his face for security cameras.
Full rear view...
HARRIS: Oh.
COLLINS: ... in the NEWSROOM.
It looks like the full Monty, right?
HARRIS: Right...
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why do you got to do that before me?
HARRIS: ... right ahead of Ali.
COLLINS: I thought it was a perfect transition.
HARRIS: It's outrageous.
COLLINS: Speaking of "Minding Your Business"...
VELSHI: Yes.
COLLINS: ... Ali Velshi is here now with a preview.
VELSHI: We're going to take a big left turn. If you like the new Beetle or the new Thunderbird or the new Mini Cooper, I've got something for you. When we come back, how about a new MG?
Stay with us in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: MG, the legendary British sports car, beloved by auto aficionados, well, will now be reborn as a Chinese sports car.
Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business."
People surprised by this, Ali?
VELSHI: Yes. Well, you know, I don't know if you are surprised by virtue of the fact that so many of these cars that have been -- were big hits in decades past are coming back.
I mean, never mind the Corvettes and things like that, that really hadn't disappeared. But look at things like the Beetle or the Thunderbird.
Well, MG was a company that had sort of been floundering around, had been bouncing. It used to be a British car. You can see the old model on your left.
COLLINS: Cute.
VELSHI: The new model, which is on your right, sort of ended production in 2005 because the company just went bankrupt and stopped producing. So now the Chinese, a company called Nanjing Automobile Corporation, which is the biggest and oldest automaker in China, they bought the assets of MG about two years ago. And on March 27th, they're going to start production of it.
Two models. One of them is a five-seat, four-door sedan, and the other is this two-door convertible sports car that you see on your screen.
COLLINS: Yes.
VELSHI: You know, nice. I got the hair for it.
COLLINS: You totally do. It wouldn't matter how windy it was at all, would it?
You know, this is a bigger indication, though, of the Chinese economy. I mean, just the competition is unbelievable.
VELSHI: Sure. Yes, well, the Chinese have actually announced that they are going to be making big planes by 2020. I mean, right now there are two major big commercial plane makers in the world. China is going to add a third because they're big buyers of it.
This idea of buying other companies that have brands -- so MG has a brand. The Chinese start remaking the car. They'll still keep it designed in Britain.
They are going to try to export it to Europe. And in fact, they're talking about a deal to sell it in the United States.
The most recent example of success in this area is the old Austin Mini which BMW bought and made it into the Mini Cooper. I mean, what a hot seller.
COLLINS: Yes.
VELSHI: This new car is a nifty little thing. So the Chinese have a good idea here. And unlike sort of Japan and Korea, which sort of built up their brands over years, the Chinese are sort of buying these brands and then they're going to manufacture it.
COLLINS: I do love what they're telling people MG stands for.
VELSHI: Yes, I thought that was funny. MG, the real name is Morris Garages, where they were first made in Britain.
COLLINS: Built, yes.
VELSHI: But now we're hearing that Nanjing automotive executives are saying that it stands for Modern Gentlemen.
COLLINS: Interesting, isn't it? And I wonder if you have to be a modern gentleman.
VELSHI: It's a good selling point.
COLLINS: Yes.
VELSHI: I mean, that has more to do with me than Morris Garages, right?
COLLINS: Yes. Who knew with that one.
VELSHI: I'll take you out for a spin when I get mine.
COLLINS: Please. Please. I would love it.
I'll have to do something about my hair, though. All right.
VELSHI: Just put it back. It will be fine.
COLLINS: Ali Velshi, thanks so much, "Minding Your Business" today.
VELSHI: Good to see you guys.
COLLINS: You too.
HARRIS: I'm sorry, am I interrupting here?
COLLINS: Oh, no, no.
HARRIS: OK.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, wouldn't you want to be a fly on this wall? Iraq sits down with neighbors and other nations. Someone who was in the room joins us straight ahead.
And returning from war with hidden wounds, a look at the extent of mental illness among Iraq war vets -- in the NEWSROOM. O'BRIEN: Also coming up, we'll show you "El Paso de la Muerte," the road of death. It's a freight train that takes immigrants north but often it has deadly consequences.
We'll have that story live in Mexico City coming up next here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You ready to get the business day started, Heidi? Why not. Let's do it. Let's help some folks make some money today.
Musicians on Call, you can see they're ringing the bell. I love what they do. You know what they do?
COLLINS: I actually have heard of them, yeah.
HARRIS: Aren't they great. They pull together all of these performers, they go to hospitals and they perform. Bedside for folks who aren't feeling well.
COLLINS: Make people feel better.
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. The Dow starts the day at 12,318 after closing up 42 points yesterday. Do we have initial numbers? Out of the blocks? Out of the starting gate? Ok, we will be checking all of the business headlines today with our good friend Susan Lisovicz from New York City throughout the morning here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: President Bush in Mexico and in the middle of a political mine field. This morning he's meeting with Mexico's newly elected president Felipe Calderon says the U.S. has to do much more to ease the tensions between the two countries. Topping the list, thorny issues, drug trafficking and illegal immigration. President Calderon is adamantly opposed to Washington's plans of building a fence along the border.
To impoverished Latin Americans it is seen as a gravy train of sorts. Railroad tracks that lead to the United States and a land of plenty. But along the way danger looms as close as the rumble of the engines. CNN's Soledad O'Brien joining us now from Mexico City. This is a very perilous journey.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. In fact they called (INAUDIBLE) the passage, the road to death and that is because for some of these immigrants it can be deadly. They hook a ride on these freight trains, but sometimes in the middle of the night and the dark or when they just fall asleep and they fall off, and sometimes they die. We asked them why, then, why risk so much just to get up north. And what they told us points to the entrenched poverty of their region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Behind a small store along the train tracks in (INAUDIBLE) Mexico, 10 men have the same dream, to get to the U.S. and to make money.
JOSE LUIS ESPINADA, HONDURAN IMMIGRANT: What motivated me is to get a better future and a broader future for my wife and kids.
O'BRIEN: Jose Luis Espinada is from Honduras. He left behind his wife and five children, 16 days ago, to ride the trains north. He has cousins in Georgia who will help him if he gets there but he has been turned back before. So has Santiago Ortiz. Ortiz begins to cry when we ask him why he left behind his wife and two kids.
SANTIAGO ORTIZ, HONDURAN IMMIGRANT: Sometimes you take a chance, even death, to bring your family out of poverty.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Giant cargo trains like this one run right through the heart of (INAUDIBLE) and it's a jumping off point of sorts for Mexicans and Hondurans and Guatemalans who are trying to get up north. And what they can do is just hang on to one of these ladders like this. Climb up onto the train, and then ride along for free, obviously, as this train heads up north. It clearly is very dangerous, clearly, it can be deadly and it's truly an indication of just how desperate people are to risk everything to try to get out of their poverty.
(voice-over): Locals call the tracks El Paso De La Muerte, the passage of the dead. Maria Del Carmen Lopez Espinola lives with her family along the tracks. Six months ago -- she saw a young man lose his legs. They were cut off when he tried to jump on board. She often helps the immigrants she sees, giving clothing or food. The Hondurans we meet say they haven't eaten a real meal in days, they haven't slept. So when a train passes heading north, they let it go. They'll sleep behind the store tonight and try to hop on board tomorrow.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Many of those immigrants have absolutely nothing, no money by the time they get to that town, (INAUDIBLE). And so the town's people help them out, give them some money, give them some food, allow them really to rest up before they try once again, hook a ride on a freight train and see if they can make it a little bit closer to the U.S. border. Heidi?
COLLINS: And they do try again and again. All right, Soledad O'Brien coming to us live this morning from Mexico City. Soledad, thanks.
A tour of taunts? While President Bush visits Latin America a rival leader takes a shadow tour. We'll tell you about that coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Job performance or pure politics, a growing storm over the firings of several federal prosecutors. The Justice Department announced the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys late last year. Now Democrats in Congress have opened an investigation saying the firings were politically motivated. Some of the prosecutors say they felt pressured by powerful Republicans in their home states to rush investigations of potential voter fraud involving Democrats. Also today, reports of deeper involvement by the White House, a White House spokeswoman says two years ago then White House Council Harriet Myers suggested the Justice Department get rid of all 93 prosecutors at the start of President Bush's second term. That proposal eventually led to the eight firings.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Well, they are wounded warriors with scars, you may not see. A new study shows mental illness taking a toll on vets. CNN's Jamie McIntyre with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Calling the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the most sustained combat operation since Vietnam, the study concludes the conflicts have produced an epidemic of mental illness. The kind that can sometimes kill. Take the case of Jason Cooper, profiled by CNN last year. The young soldier hanged himself after returning from combat. His mother says he was never the same.
TERRI JONES, JASON COOPER'S MOTHER: Soldiers are in distress. They are taught to be tough. They are taught to go into combat. And when the tears come they're not taught how to survive that.
MCINTYRE: The primary factors say the study's authors, U.S. troops are subjected to multiple tours of high intensity guerrilla warfare and face the constant threat of death or dismemberment from improvised bombs. According to a review of over 100,000 veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan who were seen at V.A. hospitals between 2001 and 2005, it's taking a heavy toll. One quarter, 25 percent, have been diagnosed with some form of mental disorder, includes psychosocial problems such as domestic violence and the percentage jumps to almost one third. Not surprisingly, younger troops, 18 to 24-year-olds, who often draw the deadliest front line duty, are the most at risk. Post traumatic stress disorder is the biggest problem, diagnosed in 13 percent of returning veterans, followed by anxiety, problems adjusting, depression, and substance abuse. More than half of the 100,000 suffered two or more problems.
(on camera): The biggest difference between now and the Vietnam war is the prevalence of what's become the signature wound of the Iraq conflict, traumatic brain injury which causes not just physical but mental damage as well. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Wouldn't you like to be a fly on this wall. Take a look. Look at the folks at the table. Iraq sits down with neighbors in other nations. Someone who was in the room joins us straight ahead.
COLLINS: A small Ohio college in mourning. A memorial service for members of the Bluffton baseball team who died in a bus crash. We'll have that coming up in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9 until noon eastern. But did you know you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod? CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod.
HARRIS: From stardust to just dust in seconds.
There you go. There's the moment there. Everything, everything is a show on the Las Vegas strip in a hail of fireworks you saw just a moment ago, the Stardust Casino and Hotel came crashing down overnight. When it opened almost 50 years ago, the Stardust called itself the world's biggest resort hotel. The implosion makes way for one of those new mega resorts.
COLLINS: Two attacks caught on tape, one with fists, one with words. Hate crime or not. CNN'S Ted Rollins reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This surveillance video from a Seattle convenience store shows a couple getting out of a taxi and walking in.
STEVEN SALEH, STORE OWNER: These two individuals walked in and they appeared to be intoxicated.
ROLLINS: On the tape the woman seems to lose her balance as she reaches for a six pack of beer. Then when she gets to the counter, she has trouble paying.
SALEH: She was intoxicated to a point where she was giving us a Safeway card to pay for her beer.
ROLLINS: It's hard to see everything that happens next, but you can hear most of it. First, the woman calls the store owner quote "un- American."
SALEH: Excuse me.
WOMAN: That's what I just said. He didn't grow up here. He's un-American.
SALEH: You know, I hate to do this to you, but if you are going to be like this, I'm going to ask you to leave.
You're un-American, you're not American, you should go back to your own country. The next time she calls me Ghandi.
ROLLINS: Things quickly escalate with the store owner telling the couple to leave.
SALEH: Don't be like that, ok.
WOMAN: Kiss my --- ok? Guess what.
SALEH: Get out. Get out. She's drunk, she's drunk. Get her out of here.
When I was fed up with that, I told her that I will not serve her.
ROLLINS: It eventually turns physical.
SALEH: Get your woman out of here.
MAN: You don't want me to kick your ___ you really don't... you really don't.
ROLLINS: The male customer takes off his coat and then reaches for the store owner.
WOMAN: You are not f----g American. You're a piece of ----.
SALEH: Don't touch me!
ROLLINS: In the scuffling the store owner hits the man at least twice with a metal rod.
WOMAN: You f----g Arabian mother f----r. You g-damn f----g Gandhi, go back to your own country, you f-----g Arabian.
ROLLINS: At one point he pushes the woman to the floor. The police end up taking the couple away. They now both face felony hate crime charges.
MIKE HOGAN, PROSECUTOR: If someone's being targeted because of their national origin, then everybody of that national origin is going to feel uncomfortable by that crime and that's why it's a felony.
ROLLINS: They both pled not guilty. The attorney for the woman, 25 year old Nicole Kirk says don't believe what you see and hear on that tape.
ROBERT JOURDAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The fact of the matter is I have no concern she is a racist, and I believe that the primary force behind this was her use of alcohol that night. She was extremely intoxicated.
ROLLINS: Prosecutors say it wouldn't matter if the couple was drunk. The lawyer for the man, 35 year old Brian Lapin says this was not a hate crime.
RANDALL HALL, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The facts, in my opinion, aren't really something that would justify the charge. It's usually for something that's more extreme than what happened here, such as a cross burning or a gay bashing or something along those lines.
ROLLINS: The store owner Steven Saleh has been the victim of hate before. In 2003, someone wrote the words "towel head" on a dumpster outside his store. Steven was born in Yemen and has been in the U.S. for 23 years. He's a naturalized citizen with 14 and 9-year- old daughters. He's owned the Seattle store for 11 years. Since the attack Steven has received flowers and cards from concerned customers. SALEH: You wouldn't know how hard it is to be discriminated against and to be in a situation where I've been for years. I think they should be punished by whatever law there is for hate crime. This is as hate crime as it gets.
ROLLINS: According to the law if convicted the couple could each face between three and nine months in jail. Ted Rollins, CNN, Seattle.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: They asked, so he told. The nation's top man in uniform angers gays with his description of homosexuality. Hear it in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: He kidnapped, raped and killed a little girl. Will he live or die for his horrible crimes? The sentencing of John Couey ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Baghdad was the scene of a most unusual gathering last weekend. Diplomats from near and far talking about the future of Iraq. It was noteworthy for many reasons, not the least because Iran and Syria took part. U.S. Envoy David Satterfield took part in that conference as well, he joins us now from the State Department Ambassador Satterfield thanks for your time this morning.
DAVID SATTERFIELD, DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION, IRAQ: Happy to be here.
HARRIS: Listen with me if you would please to what the Iraqi foreign minister had to say about the weekend conference and then let me get your reaction to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOSHYAR ZEBARI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: I believe there is tension between Iran and the United States over a whole range of issues. One of them is Iraq. And yesterday's conference I think was an ice breaking attempt to provide an atmosphere for some discussions.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Ambassador Satterfield an ice breaker, is that how you would describe the weekend conference?
SATTERFIELD: I think it was a positive, constructive engagement by all parties who had an opportunity to hear from the Iraqi government, the steps being taken on security, on political reconciliation, on economic progress, and to discuss in general fashion, this was a preparatory meeting, how best they can help Iraq move forward. So yes, I think this was a step forward.
HARRIS: What do you think came of it? SATTERFIELD: I think it was a useful beginning of a process of much better regional and international support for the very real efforts being undertaken by Iraq in a number of critical areas.
HARRIS: And what issues specifically did you put on the table?
SATTERFIELD: Well the United States discussed our own commitment to help the Iraqi government move forward in re-establishing security and stability for its people, bringing down the level of violence, in moving forward a political reconciliation process which is very important to getting that country back on a track towards true national unity, national progress. Then finally on economic issues where we're very pleased that this Friday at the United Nations there will be a formal closure of the text of the international compact for Iraq. We noted, however, that we were concerned about the engagement of some of Iraq's neighbors in facilitating violence even through their own efforts or by allowing others to transit their territory and enter Iraq to perpetrate acts of violence on innocent Iraqis and that has to stop.
HARRIS: And what was the response from namely the Iranians, the Syrians, to those very pointed comments?
SATTERFIELD: There was no specific engagement on these comments. I would note that all delegations including the Iranians and the Syrians made a rhetorical commitment to a stable, secure, peaceful Iraq. Well, that kind of rhetoric is fine but what matters as the president has said, is action. And we do look for real action by the Syrians, by the Iranians, to stop the kind of activities, the kind of behaviors, which are adding to violence, not resolving violence in Iraq.
HARRIS: How difficult was it for you, how difficult a position for the United States to be talking to a country which this nation believes is responsible for the deaths of American soldiers, either by supplying technology or by supplying the actual devices, these horrible devices that are killing U.S. soldiers?
SATTERFIELD: It's not a question of difficulty in talking. The issue here is how to see changes take place in action, how to see changes take place in behaviors. We made our views very clear. We would hope that there is positive progress made on these issues but one preparatory meeting is just that, a single preparatory meeting. There's going to have to be continued progress on this.
HARRIS: What is the real price that you believe Iran has paid, will have to pay at some point for its interfering with the security situation, stability in Iraq?
SATTERFIELD: We've made very clear that we will not allow Iran to continue to attack with impunity our forces through the lethal materiel, weapons, training it's providing to Iraqi groups, that we will confront this, we will act to defend our forces. And so the issue here is whether the Iranian government is prepared to change its policies, its behaviors or wishes further confrontation.
HARRIS: Will there be further talks?
SATTERFIELD: We look forward to the process begun in Baghdad over the weekend continuing. There has been discussion of additional ministerial level meetings. Secretary Rice has said that she would certainly attend a ministerial session with T5 and G8 participation. We hope that can take place in the very near future. So yes we do look to further discussion. But I want to reiterate, what's important here is not just discussion, its actions.
HARRIS: How will you know if you have a partner in Iran and Syria in stabilizing?
SATTERFIELD: Very simply, we will see changes in conduct, changes in the strategies they are executing, we'll watch for actions.
HARRIS: Ambassador David Satterfield, thanks for your time this morning.
SATTERFIELD: Thank you.
COLLINS: South of the border and in search of common ground. President Bush meeting with Mexico's new leader this morning. A border fence just one of their obstacles. We'll explain coming up in the NEWSROOM.
And a growing fire storm over fired federal prosecutors. Were they dismissed for political reasons? And did the White House play a role? Details on that as well. And back home, after a terrifying ordeal, Bluffton baseball player Kyle King talks about his team's deadly bus wreck coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Spend the second hour in the NEWSROOM with us this morning and stay informed. Here's what's on the rundown. The joint chief's chairman drawing fire from gays and lesbians this morning. General Peter Pace calling homosexuality, immoral.
COLLINS: U.S. security in question an airport worker accused of using his employee ID to get guns on a plane. Now the government checking on the inside threat.
HARRIS: Women and war, rebuilding families in countries after the bullets. We talk to a filmmaker about her gripping documentary this Tuesday, March 13th, you are in the NEWSROOM.
At the top of this hour, outrageous, insensitive, disrespectful, that's some of the reaction --
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