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American Morning
What Thousands of E-Mails Released Reveal About Fired U.S. Attorneys and Attorney General; A Pair of Tragedies in Russia this Morning
Aired March 20, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You can just barely see her there. They were on their way to Hanoi to complete the paperwork to take the 3-year-old Pax back to his new home in the U.S. of A. Baby makes four there.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That must be terrifying for a little kid.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, I know. But you know...
S. O'BRIEN: Surrounded by paparazzi.
M. O'BRIEN: Ultimately life will be good.
S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely.
Good morning to you. Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the top of the hour, let's get right to Chad, who is watching a big weather story for us.
What do you got?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Lots of planes in the air this morning, Soledad, 3,100 planes in the air right now. The good news is they're really not this big, because otherwise they'd be bump into each other, and that's not good, but all airports doing very well. Cleveland about a 15-minute delay with some low cloud. So far, so good. That's it. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
M. O'BRIEN: What thousands of e-mails released last night reveal about fired U.S. attorneys and the attorney general.
S. O'BRIEN: Without a trace -- there is new concern this morning about that Boy Scout who is missing for a third night and doesn't have his medicine.
M. O'BRIEN: Energized, John Edwards has a new plan today to ease global warming. He's going to roll it out right here. Stay tuned for that.
S. O'BRIEN: And Skywalk launch -- a $30 million view of the Grand Canyon is about to debut, but it's not happening without a fight. We're live this morning from Washington, from Moscow, Iowa and New York, all on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody, Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
Another battle brewing in Washington this morning. Lawmakers will hold some tense negotiations to try and force top White House staffers to testify about that mass firing of U.S. attorneys. While they talk, Washington is digesting a 3,000-page document dump that sheds new light on the pink-slipping, and this morning there is growing pressure on the attorney general.
Our CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena live in Washington. CNN's Ed Henry at the White House.
Let's begin with Kelli. Good morning, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles.
That's right, 3,000 documents, and the e-mails do show a justice department that was very worried about the political fallout from the decision to fire those prosecutors. And some concern about at least one of them testifying before Congress. And as we've seen, Miles, the worst of those fears were realized. And if officials thought the release of these documents would make this all go away, they were wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA (voice over): In one of the new e-mail messages released late last night, it's clear Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was "extremely upset" in February at what his number two man told Congress about the firing of one of those attorneys, namely Bud Cummins, the U.S. attorney for Arkansas. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told senators that Cummins was pushed out to make room for an associate of Karl Rove. Justice officials say Gonzales thought the dismissal was only due to poor performance. It seems to portray an attorney general who was out of the loop. All this as Gonzales faces continuing calls for his resignation.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He has the confidence of the president. But I do not -- as a pure and simple master, nobody's prophetic enough to know what the next 21 months hold.
ARENA: There are e-mails from Margaret Chiara, the U.S. attorney from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Defending her work as exemplary, she asked that any reference to poor performance be dropped when discussing her dismissal. Other e-mails raised questions about Carol Lam, the U.S. attorney for San Diego. While she's been criticized on her record on immigration, one document from a Justice official defends her office's work. Then there's a document in which McNulty admitted he didn't even look at the performance of U.S. attorney David Bogden. McNulty says he felt "a little skittish" about Bogden being fired. Lawmakers have just about had it.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I want a briefing where they stand before us, raise their right hand, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them God.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARENA: A Justice Department spokeswoman says that department officials will be made available for on-the-record interviews and congressional hearings. She insists that none of the prosecutors was let go for improper reasons -- Miles.
Kelli Arena in Washington, thank you -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Meanwhile, the White House is trying to decide whether Karl Rove and Harriet Miers will voluntarily testify before Congress. Let's get right to White House Ed Henry, live for us this morning at the White House.
Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
The answer is no, and that's putting the White House on a collision course with Democrats, especially today when its chief lawyer Fred Fielding goes up to Capitol Hill to try to negotiate the terms of this testimony. This White House has been particularly aggressive about asserting executive privilege, shielding staffers from having to give testimony, but this time the difference is Democrats are running the show on the Hill. They're threatening subpoenas if the White House does not comply voluntarily.
So the White House seems boxed in here, which is why Press Secretary Tony Snow was really on the run yesterday. He wouldn't even talk about what Fred Fielding will propose today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: I'm not going to be able to give you an answer, because that's Fred's to do, and I'm certainly not going to conduct negotiations in advance with members of the House and Senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now today's meeting come comes as politico.com is reporting that at the behest of the White House, Republican officials are already sounding out potential other candidates to replace Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The White House is emphatically denying that they've sanctioned this effort, but that's not shocking obviously. The White House is not going to go out and confirm that they have some sort of a plan B to replace Alberto Gonzales.
As one top Republican told me last night. This is a Republican close to the White House, saying basically the handwriting is on the wall for Gonzales. And the bottom line is if this White House has to choose between protecting Karl Rove or protecting Alberto Gonzales in order for this controversy to go away, they're going to choose Karl Rove, protecting him. Because the bottom line is they can get another attorney general, they can't get another Karl Rove. He's got his hands in so many things here. He's the lead adviser to the president -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow. If you're the attorney general, ouch on that one.
Let me ask you, speaking of boxed in and speaking of Tony Snow, off-camera briefing yesterday the two of you had it out a little bit to the point that "The New York Times" wrote about it today. What happened?
HENRY: Well, what happened was yesterday Tony Snow was talking about how he thinks a Democratic plan on Iraq, the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the war, is a recipe for defeat. So I asked him, what's the recipe for success then? Tony Snow tried to turn it around on me then. One of his usual tactics is to say, well, then what's your recipe for success. I pointed out to him, I'm not the president, obviously. I haven't sent troops into war, so it's not up for me to decide that. He felt I was interrupting him and told me to zip it -- quote -- "Zip it." I said that was inappropriate. He quickly apologized, to his credit.
What I think the bottom line here is, is that it showed Tony Snow being a bit defensive on exactly what this recipe for success is. It's four years later; White House still struggling to sort of get ahead of that and figure out exactly what they're going to do next -- Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: White House correspondent -- and not U.S. president -- Ed Henry for us this morning. Thank you, Ed -- Miles,
HENRY: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: A pair of tragedies in Russia this morning, leaving more than 160 dead. In the south, a fire at a nursing home in the village of Kamyshevatskaya. It began while residents were sleeping there. Sixty three of them perished, one is missing, 33 are injured. Reports saying a night watchman ignored two alarms before he finally reported the firing.
Other end of Russia now, in Siberia -- a search under way right now for coal miners after a deadly methane gas explosion underground. At least 106 miners are dead.
CNN's Matthew Chance live in Moscow with the latest -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, thanks very much.
Well, actually the Emergency Situations Ministry in Russia have revised their figures back to 104 people now confirmed as dead as a result of that explosion, but obviously it's still a big blow for the Russian -- the very dangerous Russian mining industry, and of course for those remote mining communities in Siberia who, because of the very poor safety standards in this industry, in this country, are really bearing the brunt. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE (voice-over): It's being called Russia's worst mining disaster in decades. Scores killed, at least a dozen missing. It's not clear if they're still alive. There's confusion, too, about the cause of this accident, which struck in an impoverished, but coal-rich region of southern Siberia.
VALERY KORCHAGIN, EMERGENCY SITUATIONS MINISTRY (through translator): A suspected cause, according to some date is a methane explosion. According to other data, it was a discharge of coal dust. It's difficult to be specific at the moment. Probably it will become clearer when the specialists have done their work.
CHANCE: Russian coal mines are notoriously run down and outdated, but this pit was relatively modern, only opening in 2003. Officials say it was being fitted with a British-made hazard monitoring system when the blast took place. At least 20 of the coal mine's local managers, as well as a British citizen inspecting the system, are believed to be among the dead.
AMAN TULEYE, GOVERNOR, KEMEROVO PROVINCE (through translator): Today at this mine we were to launch an English system to ensure secure work underground. Unfortunately, the chief engineer and all senior managers of the mine have left with the representatives of the English firm to test the work of this system.
CHANCE: And this is only the latest disaster to hit this remote Siberian mining community. Twenty-one miners were killed in the same area in 2005. A year earlier 45 were killed. Russia's coal mines may be producing more than they once were, but at what cost?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHANCE: And because of the high cost of coal these days, Miles, there is increased pressure on the companies that extract the coal in this part of Russia to produce more and more. But the concern from the industry watchdogs is that they're doing that at the expense of safety.
Back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Dangerous business. Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards will join us. He'll unveil his energy right here on AMERICAN MORNING. You'll want to stay tuned for that.
And grand controversy at the Grand Canyon. This cantilever platform is built to enjoy the view, but many say it's spoiling it. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (WEATHER REPORT)
S. O'BRIEN: A new report out this morning about the dangers that older drivers face, and just where they face it. It comes from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. They say that 40 percent of deadly accidents happen at intersection. And of those deadly accidents 58 percent involve drivers who are older than 80 years old who just fail to yield.
CNN's Brianna Keilar has been talking with some older drivers, who have a lot to say about those drivers. She's in Atlanta this morning.
Good morning.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And it's that failing to yield to oncoming traffic at intersections that really is increasingly a problem for elderly drivers.
Now, as I learned this past summer from an unlikely driving- safety instructor, everyone can use a refresher of the rules of the road, and this is especially true for seniors.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The speed limit up here is 15 miles per hour.
KEILAR (on camera): Do you really go 15 miles per hour around here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Personally?
KEILAR: Personally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not for publication.
KEILAR (voice-over): Drive around with Morty Morrison (ph) and it's like a trip back in time, way back in time. He was born on the day the titanic sank and has lived through the stock market crash and two World Wars.
How old are you, Morty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ninety-four going on 60.
(voice-over): So when Morty went to renew his driver's license -- it expires when he turns 100 -- he was surprised he was not given any tests to test his ability to keep driving.
(on camera): Did they check your sight?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't check to see if I have anything.
KEILAR (voice-over): That's because only two states, Illinois and New Hampshire, require drivers 75 and older to retake a road test when renewing their license, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and that is something Morty is concerned about. He teaches a course to the elderly on how best to avoid accidents and when seniors should stop driving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not as nimble, nor do we have the strength. Some people can't handle a wheel in an emergency.
KEILAR: Older drivers also have higher rates of fatal crashes based on miles driven than any other group, except very young drivers. That's according the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Morty is also aware of his limitations, but still feels he's a good driver.
(on camera): Do you think some elderly drivers get a bad rap?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be tolerant. They generalize that all elderly are. In other words, you see one accident and therefore you attribute it to all people of a certain age group.
KEILAR (voice-over): And as Morty showed me, it's hard enough for anyone to drive on the road, so I can only imagine how someone who might be affected by age limitations would pass a driving test with him.
(on camera): You want me to back out or pull through?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check again, right?
KEILAR: I feel like I'm 16 again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slow up a little.
KEILAR: I have about eight cars behind me right now.
Can I turn?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, stop over here. Go. Go. One more, one more -- that's it.
KEILAR: How did I do, Morty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I vote for you.
KEILAR: Oh, good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Morty turns 95 next month, and also in April, his next safe driving class for the elderly. And, Soledad, I assure you, my driving skills have dramatically improved since the summer.
S. O'BRIEN: It's hard to drive under pressure. Let me ask you a serious question, though. At a certain age, older people, the just lack the hand-eye coordination that you need to be able to kind of gauge when a car is coming at you, at what pace, down a highway, or even down just a regular rural road. How do you know if your grandma, or your grandpa or your father or your mother is just too old to drive?
KEILAR: Well, certainly you should be looking to so how they negotiate those unprotected left turns at intersections and how they're doing there, but also a couple of other things. Vision. It becomes dramatically impaired after the age of 75, and the other thing is range of motion. If your grandparent or your parent can't turn their head to check their mirrors or to look over their shoulder, Soledad, even Morty will tell you it's really time to suggest to them that they hang up their keys.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, It's time to take away the keys if they can't turn their head. I mean, come on.
Brianna Keilar for us this morning. Thanks, Brianna -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: John Edwards has a new plan to fight global warming. He's going to roll it out right here. There he is, live.
How are you, sir? We'll get -- we'll be with you very shortly.
And the best view you'll ever see, but some would say it's a view spoiler itself. We'll tell you about this fancy horseshoe, glass- bottom, walkie thingy out there in the Grand Canyon. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Presidential politics now. And a sure sign of the times. The environment, global warming, energy policy, a top-tier issue during this go around for the White House. The war in Iraq and concerns about our dependence on foreign oil may be the tipping point which has candidates scrambling for some solutions.
Later this morning Democratic candidate John Edwards will unveil his plan, but you don't have to wait if you stay tuned for a few moments because we have a preview.
Senator Edwards, good to have you with us.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: One of the keys to your plan is a so-called cap plan, which would institute, as it suggests, caps on the amount of carbon dioxide industry can put into the environment. The Bush administration, some Republicans would tell you, that's bad medicine for the economy. What do you say?
EDWARDS: I think they're just dead wrong about that. I think actually this is a huge emergency, this issue of global warming. It creates a huge issue for us and for the rest of the world. You know, over the long term it could create migration of millions and millions of people, millions of people not having adequate food, adequate water, and America needs to lead the way, and we can do what we need to do about global warming by capping carbon dioxide emissions, by reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050, which is aggressive, but achievable.
And if we do it the right way by auctioning off the right for these -- to be able to emit carbon dioxide, we can actually help transform the economy in America to a new energy economy and create jobs, probably create over a million jobs.
M. O'BRIEN: Some would suggest it might send jobs overseas, where they don't have those caps and the industry can be free to pollute away.
EDWARDS: Well, the reason, first of all, is the planet has to survive. So we have a pretty simple question to begin with.
And then, secondly, how do we deal with this issue in a smart way that helps us create jobs, helps us create jobs, smart tech jobs, helps us create jobs in rural areas in America, helps us replace some of the industrial jobs that we've lost.
And if we do this the right way, we cannot only address the issue of global warming and climate change, but we can actually help transform the American economy and create jobs to replace the jobs that we've lost.
M. O'BRIEN: Now, your plan gets into some of the ideas for capturing carbon dioxide, sequestering it, as they say, out of plants, which is a high-tech solution.
But one of the other things that is a key, many would suggest, is getting Americans to conserve more. What are your thoughts on that? What plans, what incentives can you put in that would get Americans on that path?
EDWARDS: Well, we need to ask Americans to be patriotic about things beyond war, and that includes being willing to conserve the strength in their country. I think we can reduce select dependence on electricity by 25 percent by the year 2025. We can actually create incentives, tax incentives and subsidies, so that people use higher level of conservation, use more energy-efficient technologies in their homes and in their offices.
I mean, to deal with this, we have to deal with it in a very comprehensive way, and one of the things that's going to be required is for Americans to drive more fuel-efficient vehicles and to be willing to conserve, and we want to help them do that.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, I've got to ask you about the house, though. You've got a house that's 10,000 square feet. The whole compound is 28,000 square feet. That isn't even completed. There's a whole other wing that we're not showing you there. First of all, what's your power bill each month there?
EDWARDS: It's actually not bad. Because what we've done is...
M. O'BRIEN: Really?
EDWARDS: No, it's not. Because what we've done -- well, first of all, the 10,000 square foot house, which is where we live, is a five-star energy-rated house, which is a federal government rating. It's extraordinarily energy efficient. We use solar to power part of the energy needs of our house. And I might add we have -- Elizabeth, and myself and my family -- we've committed to operate this house in a carbon-neutral way which means in addition to using energy-saving devices in the house itself, to the extent that doesn't cover it, we're going to purchase carbon credits on the market.
M. O'BRIEN: What is the power bill? We're just dying to know. What is it?
EDWARDS: I'm not telling you.
M. O'BRIEN: You're not going to tell me. Why not?
EDWARDS: It's actually not bad. It's about $300, $400, the last one I saw.
M. O'BRIEN: Three or four hundred dollars for 28 square feet? Boy, I want to move there. Orange County, North Carolina is the place to go.
EDWARDS: Well, first of all...
M. O'BRIEN: I pay more than that for 2,000 square feet in Manhattan.
EDWARDS: But we live in part of the house, and part of the house is being constructed, as you pointed out. So the part that we're living in, the power bill is extraordinarily energy efficient. The power bill is several hundred dollars a month.
M. O'BRIEN: I guess the real question is, when people look at the house they think, and you're saying, you know, let's cut back, let's put in the fluorescent bulbs, and they see the house, what conclusions will they draw?
EDWARDS: Well, if we weren't doing responsible things to control the energy needs of our house, they could draw an adverse conclusion, but we're actually doing, I think, responsible things under the circumstances. We're operating the house and we're going to operate the house in a carbon-neutral way. We use solar power. We've made sure we take the steps to have a five-star energy rating. I think we're doing the responsible things, for the place that we live.
M. O'BRIEN: Final thought, how do you explain this issue being a top-tier issue this go-round?
EDWARDS: Well, it's become increasingly a top-tier issue, because people are worried about what's going to happen on the planet. And the U.N.-sponsored scientific community concluded a few weeks ago that there is a huge probability that human activity is causing this climate change, that it could cause enormous consequences for us and for the rest of the world. And I think Americans have finally figured out that this is an emergency. It's something we need to deal with right now. And anybody who's running for president of the United States has to have a very clear plan for dealing with it, which is what I'll be laying out today.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, John Edwards, we'll be watching as you lay out that plan. Thanks very much.
EDWARDS: Good morning.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up this morning, the very latest on that search for the missing Boy Scout lost now in the freezing cold mountains without his medication since the weekend.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: And I'm Soledad O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
We're watching a developing story this morning in North Carolina. New details are coming about that search for the Boy Scout who disappeared in the state park on Saturday. Learning about a medical condition he has and just how a lack of medicine is now energizing the searchers today.
M. O'BRIEN: Also news for your health. Yet, another look at how soy affects you. A new study out about the link between soy and weight loss.
We're paging Dr. Gupta to separate fact from fiction.
S. O'BRIEN: Take a look at this, will you? Wow, that's spectacular, isn't it? Scary, too. This is a new attraction over the Grand Canyon about to debut. Pretty much it's a glass sidewalk that juts out over the edge of the canyon and some people say it's an eyesore, but it could also be a big money maker. We'll talk about that controversy straight ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: First to North Carolina we go and the increasingly desperate search for 12-year-old Michael Auberry. He disappeared Saturday while he was camping with his Boy Scout troop.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Bob Franken is in McGrady, North Carolina where officials will be brief us fairly soon. What do we know, Bob?
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know is, this has just been a continuation of the intense search that has been occurring. It now has expanded outside the park, as well as inside the park. And of course, the thinking is, no news can be construed as hopeful news.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN (voice over): Dogs sniff for any trace of 12-year-old Michael Auberry while high-tech aircraft fly overhead. It's all a part of a massive search effort covering the dense, treacherous Blue Ridge Mountain terrain. Auberry has been missing since Saturday. So far, there has been little trace of him.
In case he wandered outside the park under the road, officials have filed a missing person alert, although they're quick to say that they do not suspect foul play. It turns out Michael Auberry has attention deficit disorder. Which raises the question how could he so easily disappear at lunch in group of ten that included at least three adult leaders? According to Park Service officials, it happens all the time.
BRAD PENNINGTON, NATL. PARK SERVICE INCIDENT CMDR.: It's one of those things. You turn your back a minute and they're gone.
FRANKEN (voice over): Since Michael disappeared three days ago, his parents have spent most of their time at the command post camp site clinging it hope. The same tenacious optimism that the searchers maintain.
ERIN PURGASON, DOG HANDLER/SEARCHER: We're still hopeful and you just have to keep trying. If it was my children out there, I'd want them to keep trying, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: And they are going to continue to keep trying, Miles. Officials here say that they have to keep up this intense effort with some expectation they'll have success, at least, quote, "several more days."
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken, in North Carolina. Thank you. Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The House and Senate Judiciary Committees are now looking through 3,000 pages of Justice Department documents, all related to the firing of those eight U.S. attorneys. The documents include e-mails, notification between Alberto Gonzales and his staff or comments on those e-mail seem to show, some people say, the Attorney General wasn't quite in the clear on which attorney was on the list to be fired.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Congress also looking today for some answers from the FBI, it wants to know more about how the FBI used the Patriot Act to collect personal information from Americans, like phone records and e-mail. House Judiciary Committee hearings begin in the next hour. We'll be watching them. A hang up in Beijing, North Korea won't come to the table to talk about nuclear disarmament. It is waiting for the $25 million in frozen funds to show up. The U.S. has given the go ahead to put the money in a North Korean bank account, but the transfer hasn't happened yet.
In Russia this morning, a deadly nursing home fire, at least 62 people killed, 33 hurt. Reports say a night watchman ignored two alarms before reporting the fire. The village has no fire department of its own and there are reports that it took fire fighters an hour to respond from the neighboring towns.
Also in Russia, rescue workers searching for four missing coal miners after a methane explosion in the Siberian region of Kusbach. At least a 104 miners killed in the worst Russian mine disaster in a decade. Ninety-three miners were safely rescued.
Another Saddam Hussein henchman swinging from the gallows. Taha Yassin Ramadan was hanged overnight for his part in the Dujail mass killings 25 years ago. A witness says Ramadan was terrified and collapsed before the hanging. But that the execution, otherwise, went off without problems. Ramadan is the highest ranking official since Saddam Hussein to be put to death in Iraq.
Still to come, in the program, new housing numbers up next. Plus, news for your health. Yet another study out about soy. This one about soy and weight loss. We're paging Dr. Gupta about that.
Plus, there's the sky high debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence high above the Grand Canyon and coming up we will show you your first look at the brand-new sky-walk and tell you why some people never wanted it built.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: We're going to the Grand Canyon and we're going to take a look. And it's quite a sight to see. Some say it's an eyesore. The most news in the morning, right here, on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: New housing numbers are in. Ali Velshi is watching that for us. Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. These have just come in. We've got some good news on the housing starts front, that is the number of houses that got started in February. The number is up nine percent from January, for anybody keeping count. That means 1.5 million homes were started in February. Now, the problem is that's up from January, which was one of the worst months we had in ten years. January was a very low number.
The other piece of news we have is housing permits. How many permits were applied for to start building. That number was down. We're expecting permits for 1.5 million new homes, that was actually a little bit lower. Now the reason these things are important is because the Fed started its two-day meeting in Washington where they decide upon interest rates, housing is obviously a big part of this discussion. The Fed, while this is just one opponent of what they consider, it is the newest component that is in there today. Obviously any information that comes in right now, the fed starts meeting in less than an hour and a half, so they'll take that into consideration.
Just by the way, housing starts often depend on the weather. So you see in the West and the South, there were huge surges in the number of homes that were started in February in the Northeast and the Midwest, huge drops because of the weather in February. So, you know, you have to take a whole lot of this into account. You can leave this report thinking, not entirely sure where it's going, but it is new information to suggest that, guess what, we're not entirely sure where the economy is going.
S. O'BRIEN: Wow, that's pretty definitive.
M. O'BRIEN: Man, OK. I appreciate your candor.
VELSHI: I'm glad we're not sitting at the FED making decisions on these things.
M. O'BRIEN: There's reasons we're here. Ali Velshi, thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: There is a Grand Canyon size divide over a new tourist attraction that opens up and into a spectacular vista today. An Indian tribe, looking for some cash, is unveiling a horseshoe shape cantilever glass sidewalk. It will give tourists a view straight down 4,000 feet. But all critics really see is red. They say it is an eyesore.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Chris Lawrence, live from the Grand Canyon this morning with more.
Good morning, Chris.
LAWRENCE: Good morning, Miles. Yes, critics are calling this man made structure sacrilege of being at the top of the Grand Canyon. Others say there's something in human nature that pushes us to step right to the edge and then look out over the other side and the sky- walk even takes that one step further.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice over) The sky-walk is sheer glass. And higher than three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other. But when tribal leaders and environmentalists peer over the edge, they see two very different views.
ROBERT BRAVO, HUALAPAI TRIBE: I mean look at this thing, this is modern marvel of the world out here. KIERAN SUCKLING, CTR. FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY: The Eiffel Tower is an architectural wonder. Do I want the Eiffel Tower sitting on top of the Grand Canyon? No.
LAWRENCE: Environmentalist, Kieran Suckling, expects more than half a million tourists to make the two-hour drive from Las Vegas. He says speculators are already buying up the land in between hoping to build hotels and restaurants.
SUCKLING: We don't need to bring Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon.
LAWRENCE: Our view from a helicopter was stunning. And for $75 tourists will be able to step over the edge and look 4,000 feet straight down. It looks so precarious just jutting out over the canyon like that. But the builders say you could land 70 Boeing 747s on top of the sky-walk and it could still support the weight. More than 100 steel bars were drilled 40 feet into lime stone bedrock, then capped with steel plates.
The Hualapai leaders compare it to Canada's development of Niagara Falls.
BRAVO: I mean, did they desecrate that and is that okay for them to do it? Why isn't it okay for the Hualapais to do it?
LAWRENCE: The tribe is small and poor. Unemployment is at 50 percent.
SHERI YELLOWHAWK, HUALAPAI TRIBE: We have to go 50 miles to get groceries. We have to, we don't have a gas station in town. There's a lot of things we don't have.
LAWRENCE: They're hoping that every visitor who sets foot on sky-walk puts the tribe one step closer to getting there.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: A Las Vegas developer paid $30 million to build this sky-walk. So, they would need about an extra 400,000 visitors in order to recoup that money. The investor and the tribe will split the earnings for awhile but eventually the tribe will own the skywalk.
Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Chris Lawrence at the Grand Canyon, thank you very much.
Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: I predict that is going to be a big, big moneymaker.
M. O'BRIEN: You think so?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I do. I really do.
M. O'BRIEN: Alright. We'll watch it. S. O'BRIEN: Forty-five minutes past the hour, time for Chad checking the weather for us. Good morning.
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S. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" just a couple minutes away. Tony Harris has a look at what's ahead. Hi, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning to you.
We have these stories on the "NEWSROOM" rundown for you this morning. Congress sifting through thousands of Justice Department e- mails and other documents. Will they show a political motive for the firings of eight U.S. prosecutors?
See the PJs at work. Special rescue teams, they yank Americans flyers from danger after a plane or chopper goes down in Iraq or Afghanistan.
And, moving on up, low-income families in Hawaii hit a luxury jackpot, they get to live in multi-million dollar ocean front homes practically rent free. Oh, there is more to this story. Heidi Collins is with me in the NEWSROOM. We get started at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. Soledad, back to you.
S. O'BRIEN: Alright, Tony, thank you very much.
"ANDERSON COOPER 360" airs weeknights at 10:00 P.M. Eastern. Anderson's got a look at what's on his program tonight. Anderson?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, tonight on 360 we are live in Bangkok, Thailand, investigating trafficking. Women and children being sold into sexual slavery and endangered and threatened animals sold illegally on the black market. It's a 360 special investigation, trafficking tonight 10:00 p.m. Eastern, live from Thailand.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Anderson.
Coming up, the sauce on soy. Some claims that it can help you lose weight don't amount to a hill of beans. Sanjay Gupta will dish the details. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, most news in the morning, right here.
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M. O'BRIEN: Health headlines for you this morning. A novel way to fight Malaria. How about a genetically engineered mosquito? Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have figured a way to make the bugs malaria free. What's more, they live longer and they breathe more frequently and thus could push out their malaria spreading cousins. In Africa, nearly three million people die every year from malaria, most of them children.
New numbers in on Alzheimer's disease. More than five million Americans are living with it, that's up 10 percent in the last five years. A report out today from the Alzheimer's Association predicts a huge increase in cases when Baby Boomers start turning 65. That will officially begin in the year 2011.
If you're asking your doctor for a prescription to treat your sinus infection, a new study says you should think again. Most sinus infections, in fact, are caused by viruses and not bacteria and thus they're not treatable with antibiotics. Study finds 82 percent of acute sinus infections and 70 percent of chronic cases were treated with antibiotics anyway.
Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: You hear a lot about soy as a health food but there is a new study that says soy does not help you lose weight. Paging Dr. Gupta this morning, he is in Atlanta surrounded by snacks, yum. Yum. Yum. Yum. But it doesn't work. Why do people think it might work in the first place?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Maybe not that yummy here. I'll talk about that, as well. It's interesting, there's been a lot of enthusiasm around soy, really since 1999. One of the first reasons people thought that this might work, there was an FDA endorsement of some health claims talking about soy specifically for heart health. Trying to improve your heart health. They found that a diet rich in soy, along with a sensible diet, low in fat and cholesterol, improved cardiovascular health, more so than without the soy. That got a lot of interest in soy going.
And, then we started to see a lot of conflicting reports regarding whether or not it was a good weight loss tool. This new study, a better study, looking at whether or not this could actually work as a weight loss tool found some interesting things. The way they did the study is they found that women, and they basically put them into two groups. Both groups were overweight women and one group had 500 calories less and 18 grams of soy a day and the other group just had 500 calories less in their diet and what they found at the end of the study, which was only 12 weeks long, was that if you measured certain things with regards to overall impact on weight, weight loss, no difference and waist size, no difference and cardiovascular health, interestingly with the short study 12-weeks, no change.
It's worth noting though, Soledad, a lot of women just couldn't keep up with the amount of soy they needed to eat every day, 18 grams. A lot of women couldn't do it so a lot of women dropped out by the end of the study.
S. O'BRIEN: Alright. So what is soy good for if it's not going to help you lose weight?
GUPTA: Improper amounts over longer periods of time, it does appear to do certain things for you, things that measure your cardiovascular health. Such as your bad cholesterol, for example, your LDL cholesterol, it actually lowers that and your overall heart disease risk and its still a pretty good of protein. So if you're someone who wants to get a lot of protein in their diet, soy's not a bad choice, certainly also if you're worried about your heart. But you have to eat in the right amounts. We're not talking about just 12 weeks here, we are talking about something much longer term.
S. O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta for us, this morning, thank you, Sanjay, as always.
GUPTA: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's go live now to McGrady, North Carolina, where the search is under way for that missing 12-year-old Boy Scout. That is Tina White with the National Park Service, briefing reporters. They're just talking about dogs picking up on a scent last night that turned out to be a dead end. But let's listen.
TINA WHITE, NATIONAL PARK RANGER: .... I have received permission, from the parents, to confirm through the National Park Service as many of you have reported already, that their son Michael did suffer from ADHD, he is being treated with Ritalin for medication.
He has no other medical problems and he is taking no other medication. I think it's very important for the family to realize that this is not a situation where Michael is a totally different child when he's not on his medication. It's not a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde type thing where Ritalin really makes a big difference in the personality. The medication, that his father said he's taking, helps him to focus in school, test-taking situations, but the fact that he did not have his medication with him when he became missing here on the parkway is not a concern with the exception of the fact that his parents would like him to have 100 percent behind him as he's going out there.
But it's not a case, again, of a totally different personality or anything like that. He's a 12-year-old boy and I'm sure demonstrates all those normal personalities of a 12-year-old boy and just uses this medication to help him focus. He was a student or is a student at Mendenhall Middle School. He is active in a church basketball league. This is actually a church basketball league which encourages equal play among all players. I know many of the pictures that we have been circulating shows Michael in his basketball uniform. He enjoyed this very much, but it was a non-competitive type basketball league that he was participating in and he loved basketball, according to his father and had just finished the basketball season for this year.
He also loved Boy Scouts. His father believes that the main reason he enjoyed scouting so much is hanging out with the guys. This was something that he enjoyed a great deal, so that was something that was important to him also. He was in the scouts three years total, two years of those would be categorized, as Webelo, so he was more of a junior scout member there. He was, this past year for a year, he's been an official Boy Scout at this level, at 12 years old.
When I asked his father if he was athletic and interested in sports, he said that he would guess that the sport he would probably enjoy the most would be track. Something that he does enjoy doing quite a bit is running. So, that's something, so he's evidently in very good shape to be able to run. Maybe more than some of us sometimes. He was a well-rounded a/b type student. His parents describe him as very creative. He is enthusiastic. He likes writing and he also enjoys reading. Just a very good well-rounded kid. Again, he has no other medications and he is actually non-medicated most of the day, according to his father ....
M. O'BRIEN: We have been listening to Tina White, she's with the National Park Service there in McGrady, North Carolina, right at the search site for the 12-year-old Boy Scout who has been missing now since Saturday.
Temperatures were a little bit better overnight, more in the 30 to 40 degree range and they were in the 20 degree range the first couple nights he was missing. No less than 35 state and federal authorities involved in that search, including an airplane with some heat detection equipment on board. Continuing that search. Dogs involved in it, as well.
CNN's Bob Franken is there, as a matter of fact, Bob, have we, I'm sorry, toss to the break, not to Bob. They don't want me to talk to Bob. We are going to take a break and be back with more in a moment.
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