Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Fired Prosecutors; Iraqi V.P. Executed; Missing Boy Scout; Deadly Mine Explosion; Great Divide; Minding Your Business
Aired March 20, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Baghdad execution. The highest ranking official since Saddam Hussein was put to death overnight. Did it all go as planned? We'll take a look this morning.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Document dump. What thousands of e- mail released last night reveal about why U.S. attorneys were fired and how involved Attorney General Gonzales was in their dismissal.
S. O'BRIEN: Without a trace. We'll tell you how technology is helping in that search for the missing Boy Scout who spent a third freezing night gone.
M. O'BRIEN: And sky walk launch. A breathtaking $30 million view of the Grand Canyon debuts today. But there's a fight over it.
We're live from Arizona, Moscow, Baghdad and North Carolina on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's begin this morning with those 3,000 pages of documents that were released late last night from the Justice Department to Congress, all about the firing of those eight U.S. attorneys. They include e-mails from one U.S. attorney who's asking why she's being fired. And other e-mail reveals Justice Department dissent over just who was being let go. And as Kelli Arena reports, this new dump of documents is putting new pressure on the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (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.
ARENA: Justice officials insist that they did not remove the U.S. attorneys for improper reasons. But the new documents only muddy this issue even further, when all anyone wants is the truth.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: And one more revelation to tell you about. One of the documents ranks the U.S. attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald, as not distinguished while he was investigating the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name (ph).
Today's "Washington Post" and the Politico.com website say the White House is reviewing candidates to replace the attorney general, Gonzales. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is one name that's being floated. Now the White House is telling CNN that those reports are not true.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Another hanging in Iraq overnight. Another high- ranking henchmen to Saddam Hussein executed. Witnesses say Hussein's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, was terrified and chanting prayers on his way lead to the gallows. Ramadan was put to death for his role in the mass killing of Shiites in Dujail, Iraq, 25 years ago. CNN's Kyra Phillips live in Baghdad with more.
Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, it happened just before dawn. This is the fourth person of Saddam's inner circle to be handing. I can tell you that Ramadan, who was the vice president when Saddam Hussein's regime was ousted in 2003. He was sentenced to death, as a matter of fact, last month by the high tribunal for his role in the killing of the 148 men and boys in Dujail, Iraq, after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein.
Ramadan had originally been sentenced to life in prison in November. The charges, of course, included the killing of those people in Dujail. There was a massive crackdown that went down there in the early 80s. But then in December, the tribunal and the nine member appeals chamber said, hey, that sentence, it is too lenient, it's got to be stronger and ordered the court to re-sentence him.
I mentioned this is the fourth person to be hanged here in Iraq. Next to Saddam Hussein, the other two, the head of Saddam's revolutionary court, he was the chief judge, and also Saddam's half brother, who was the head of intelligence here in Iraq.
The next trial, of course, will be the Anfal trial that we will be following. This is the end of the four individuals that were on trial to be handing for the Dujail incident. Now we'll be following the gassing of the Kurds. That Anfal trial. That will be happening. And, of course, you can't forget Chemical Ali, who was involved in that.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Kyra Phillips in Baghdad, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's turn to North Carolina now where rescue teams searching nonstop overnight for that missing Boy Scout. Twelve-year-old Michael Auberry disappeared on Saturday while he was camping with his Scout troop in the rugged mountains. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken live for us in McGrady, North Carolina, this morning.
Good morning to you, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
And, of course, in this Boy Scout training, as we've heard, is included quite a bit of time spent on how to survive in the cold outdoors. And there are a whole lot of people that are hoping that he learned those lessons.
(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 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 on to 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 a group of 10 that included at least three adult leaders? According to park officials, it happens all the time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one of those things, you turn your back a minute and they're gone. FRANKEN: Since Michael disappeared three days ago, his parents have spent most of their time at the command post campsite, clinging to hope. The same tenacious optimism that the searchers maintain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're still hopeful. And you've just got to keep trying. If it was my children out there, I'd want them to keep trying, as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FRANKEN: And, as a matter of fact, the commander of the operation here says that there's a reason to keep this aggressive search going, in his words, for several more days.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken watching it for us this morning.
Thank you, Bob.
Miles.
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 Kamysneratskaya. It began while residents were sleeping. Sixty-three of them perished there. One is missing, 33 injuries. The tiny village has no fire department of its own and there are reports it took firefighters from neighboring towns an hour to respond.
At the other end of the country, in Siberia, a desperate search is underway for some coal miners missing underground after a deadly methane gas explosion. At least 100 miners are dead, more than a dozen unaccounted for. CNN's Matthew Chance live from Moscow with the latest on that.
Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, thanks very much.
And over the past few minutes, we've had an updated casualty figure toll from the Russian emergency situation's ministry that is overseeing the rescue efforts in that remote Siberian coal mining community. They're saying that at the moment they've confirmed the death of 102 of the miners inside that shaft explosion ripping through the area yesterday.
They're working hard, though, they say, to recover at least eight other people who are trapped inside the mine. It's not clear at this stage, though, Miles, whether those people are still alive or whether this is just an exercise in retrieving their bodies.
Investigators, though, are working hard, as well, to try and work out what it was that caused such a devastating explosion. One of the main culprits is believed to be methane gas, a buildup of that gas somehow ignited. But I think it really underlines, along with that fire that you mentioned in southern Russia, the desperate situation of Russia's infrastructure. It has been more than a decade, perhaps, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 since there was real investment in safety procedures in this country.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Two American women poisoned by thallium while they were in Russia are out of the hospital this morning. Marina Kovalevsky and her daughter Yana went home yesterday. They were hospitalized in Moscow last month before they had a chance to fly home to Los Angeles. Tests confirmed that they were poisoned by thallium, apparently accidentally. Thallium's used to manufacture elections and used to be found in rat poison.
Happening in America this morning.
In St. George, Utah, the trial of polygamist sect leader Warrens Jeffs is delayed indefinitely. Jeffs is charged as an accomplice to rape for allegedly arranging the marriage of an under aged girl to her 19-year-old cousin. Now the judge put the trial on hold because of recent information in the case but no more details than that.
In New York City, three cops charged of firing at least 50 shots that killed an unarmed groom on his wedding day are free on bond this morning. They pleaded not guilty at their arraignments on Monday.
On Manhattan's west side, supermodel Naomi Campbell, there she is just sashaying right into that sanitation garage. She continues her five days of community service this morning. That is her punishment for throwing a cell phone at her maid. Campbell's eight-hour duties will include sweeping, mopping, cleaning offices, locker rooms and bathrooms. Oh, to be a fly on the wall while that's going on. It would be fun.
M. O'BRIEN: No pirouette. She didn't do a pirouette (INAUDIBLE).
S. O'BRIEN: No, no, I don't think so.
Have you ever been to the seeing natural mineral bath, water baths at Saratoga State Park?
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, at Saratoga. Yes.
S. O'BRIEN: That's fabulous. I've been there as well. Guess what, if you've been over the last 20 years . . .
M. O'BRIEN: Doesn't look so good there, though, does it?
S. O'BRIEN: No. That looks like somebody's old bath tub. It's fabulous. It's beautiful. It's relaxing. It's also a little bit fake. Officials say that the mineral water there has actually been diluted with regular old tap water for the past 20 years. It costs $20 to soak in that fabulous water and now the state is investigating how this happened.
M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. Hang on to your wallet.
S. O'BRIEN: That's a lot of dough for tap water.
M. O'BRIEN: We are on the cusp of spring. The season of warming days and budding flowers. But in the Northeast, you'll be forgiven if you're not in the mood just yet. Chad Myers will tell us though if there's a silver lining ahead.
Also, an acre of land free for the taking. Does it sound too good to be true? Does it sound like spring water in Saratoga? Well, there is a catch. And it also has something to do with the weather.
Plus, there's this.
(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 sidewalk and show you why some people never wanted it built.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: We'll tell you about that. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
The highest ranking official since Saddam Hussein has been put to death overnight. His former vice president was handing for the mass killing of Shiites in Dujail 25 years ago.
And the Post Office approving a plan that would increase the price of a stamp again to 41 cents. That will start in mid May.
It is 13 minutes past the hour. That brings us right to Chad Myers watching the weather and more delays I'm sorry to hear.
Good morning.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: You know there's a land rush underway in Alaska and it may be too late if you want a snowy acre of your own. It's happening in the tiny town of Anderson. That's about 25 miles west of Fairbanks. Only 300 hearty souls live there and they'd like to have a little more company. So they offered up 26, one acre plots, free for those willing to make the move there. And let's show you one of the takers there.
That's David Knoll (ph) and his brother, Jacob, checking out their new land. They were among 44 parties who lined up for the land grab.
The temperature was 26 below at the time. Some people even camped out. They had to pay a $500 refundable deposit to secure the land. But those who missed out may get another shot as the winners have a week to chance their minds, in case there's any buyer's remorse or winner's remorse in this case.
Well, there's a Grand Canyon-sized divide over a new tourist attraction that opens up and into the spectacular vista today. An Indian tribe is looking for some cash and it's unveiling a horseshoe shaped cantilever glass sidewalk. It will give tourists a view straight down 4,000 feet. Can you say vertigo? But all the critics see is red. They say it's an eyesore. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence live at the Grand Canyon with more.
Good morning, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
You know, the Hualapai tribe is not going after those four million people who visit the Grand Canyon National Park. They're going after the nearly 40 million people who visit Las Vegas. Now it doesn't open to the public for yet another week, but later today we'll get a chance to step out on the sky walk ourselves. The tribe calls it stunning. Others call it sacrilege.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE, (voice over): The skywalk 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. I mean this is a, you know, a modern marvel of the world out here.
KIERAN SUCKLING, CENTER 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 Los 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 jetting 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 40,000 feet into limestone 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 OK for them to do that? Why isn't it OK 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. We don't -- 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 them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: A Las Vegas investor paid about $30 million to build this sky walk. So it would take about 400,000 extra visitors to recoup that money. Now the tribe and the investor will split the earnings for a while, but eventually the tribe will own the sky walk.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: It seems like they could make a lot of money on this things, Chris. Have they given you revenue projections?
LAWRENCE: Well, they get about 300,000 people a year that come out to this area for their other attractions. They say they hope to double that in the first year and increase that even more as the word gets out. Right now, it's bare bones. I mean, to get up here, you've got about a 14, 15-miles drive on a bumpy dirt road. It's a tough ride up here. But over the next year or two, they're going to be building a welcome center and maybe a hotel, so things will develop more in the next year or two.
M. O'BRIEN: So at this point, it's an if you build it they will come kind of thing and more comes later.
All right. Chris Lawrence at the Grand Canyon, thank you.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, tough time for home builders. A new report out later today. It could also be bad news for the economy. We'll tell you what it says.
And if you've ever had a sinus infection, we've got a story you need to hear before you fill another prescription.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) M. O'BRIEN: The most news in the morning right here on CNN.
Word this morning Russia may be pressuring Iran to stop making nuclear fuel that could be used in atomic bombs. "The New York Times" says Russia issued an ultimatum to Iran that it will not provide fuel to fuel Iran's nuclear power plant unless the country stops making its own fuel.
And a new warning this morning that the number of Americans with Alzheimer's disease could triple in the next 40 years. Five million Americans currently have Alzheimer's.
S. O'BRIEN: All those sad looks you have on your face when you go to buy a new home. Believe it or not, it's starting to effect home builders. It's 22 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Folks just aren't cheery when they go home buying these days.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, it's expensive and there's less options and your mortgage.
VELSHI: They're worried that it's all going to disappear. And this is actually taking a toll on the folks who sell you those homes. Let me tell you about this for a second.
The home builders every now and then are gauged by something called the Housing Market Index. They're surveying 375 home builders about how they're feeling about things and they're measuring sales activity for new, single family homes, sales expectations for those homes for the next six months and traffic of perspective buyers.
That index is down again. Home builders, in fact, are saying that things aren't looking great, which means that they may make decisions about not starting as many homes. At 8:30 this morning Eastern Time we'll get a report of how many houses were started in February.
Now house prices and home building and home sales are all important matters that will be considered by the Fed. The Federal Reserve starts its meeting today in Washington. It's a two-day meeting. You're looking at Ben Bernanke there. They're going to be talking about what to do with interest rates.
Now on one side they have a weakening housing market, and on the other side they have threats of inflation. So, on balance, you can probably expect a washout of the Fed. Most people don't expect interest rates to increase. They've been at 5.25 percent since they were set there last August, which means the prime rate that you might be paying is 8.25 percent.
Yesterday did turn out to be a merger day on Wall Street. There were at least five major mergers worth more than a billion dollars. I'll tell you about that in the next hour. But, as a result, the Dow, you can see there, was up 115 points, 12,226. We'll be keeping track of what's going to be driving markets this morning. And there is a lot of stuff. But I'll tell you about those mergers when I come back in a little while.
Folks.
S. O'BRIEN: All right.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Ali.
S. O'BRIEN: Ali, thank you.
Top stories of the morning coming up next.
Some very interesting revelations found in thousands of pages of documents that were dumped last night, released, all about those fired U.S. attorneys.
Dude, where's my bag. It might be there, yes, among those hundreds of bags waiting in an airport where you are not. We'll tell you how you can track down your baggage better.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome, everybody. I's Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.
S. O'BRIEN: We are watching a couple of developing stories for you this morning.
Details coming in about an execution overnight in Iraq. The highest ranking official after Saddam Hussein is now dead. We've got a live report straight ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: North Carolina this morning. New concern as rescuers gird for another day of searching for that missing Boy Scout. He doesn't have some important medication with him.
S. O'BRIEN: Oh, that poor little boy.
Take a look at this, if you will. Oh, that's an ugly site, isn't it, especially if one of those bags belongs to you. Hundreds of bags landing there, stranded and separated from the their owners who are all over the country today. This morning, we'll tell you how you can make sure that lost luggage doesn't ruin your next trip, even if the weather does. It's called carry on, people. Get a clue. No, I'm kidding. That's ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: So that's where the luggage goes to die there, right there.
S. O'BRIEN: Right there. M. O'BRIEN: Let's get right to the search for 12-year-old Michael Auberry. He disappeared Saturday while camping with his Boy Scout troop in the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. AMERICAN MORNING's Bob Franken joining us live now from McGrady, North Carolina, with the latest on the search.
Good morning, Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
And one of the newer aspects of this is this flier from the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. Officials here are open to the possibility that maybe Michael Auberry is no longer in the park but somehow left and is now a missing child. So they've put up fliers.
They have put out a missing person alert. They put out what they call a BOTLO. That's short for be on the look out. And they've also mentioned in this flier that he might be in need of medical attention, as he has attention deficit disorder, we're finding out, and is not carrying his Ritalin. So there's some concern about that.
But still the search is focused on this park here. This 5,900 acres of really rugged terrain. The blood hounds were being brought out yesterday, along with the high tech airplanes and all of that.
He's been missing since Saturday when he walked away from a luncheon. Officials say that is not uncommon. In some area that is as dense as this, somebody can get lost very easily. People are clinging to the hope that with his Boy Scout training he is able to survive and might be able to survive for several days in terrain like this.
And, of course, now there's that new hope that maybe he just simply left the area and is a missing child who will soon turn up. All of this, of course, is based just on hope with an intense effort to find him - Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob, yesterday they was a lot of confusion as to whether an Amber Alert was issued or a missing persons alert. It makes you wonder about the possibility of foul play here.
Are the authorities just being as prudent as they can be in covering all the bases? Or is there some concern here that he might have been snatched?
FRANKEN: You know, every time we raise the question they say, look. We can't discount the possibility of foul play. But a significant investigation, say the authorities, has not turned up any evidence of that. They think it's a remote possibility.
This is just an effort, they say, to cover all their bases. The Amber Alert was just a case of somebody misspeaking. This missing persons report is just opening up another possibility that he's not in the woods at all, that he got out and he just was walking along the road somewhere and is missing that way. That, of course, would be perhaps an optimistic scenario.
M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken in McGrady, North Carolina. Thank you - Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, they asked for it, and they got it.
House and Senate Judiciary Committees are now sifting through 3,000 pages of Justice Department documents, all related to the firing of those eight U.S. attorneys.
The documents were turned over yesterday, and they include e- mails between Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, and some of his underlings. And they seem to show an attorney general who was out of the loop.
Gonzales now faces calls for his resignation.
Coming up in our next hour, our Justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, will have more on this story.
In Iraq, a pre-dawn execution to tell you about. Former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan is the fourth man to hang for the Dujail killings. Next to Saddam Hussein, he is the highest-ranking member of the former regime who has been put to death.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is live for us in Baghdad this morning. Good morning to you, Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: Good morning, Soledad. You're right. It happened just before dawn, the fourth of Saddam's inner circle to be hanged.
Ramadan, who was vice president when Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003, was sentenced to death, actually last month, by the high tribunal for his role in the killing of those 148 men and boys in Dujail, Iraq, after a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein.
You may even remember the video. Our Aneesh Raman had turned a piece and actually risked his life going back into that area to remind us of what happened in Dujail before this trial even got started.
Now, Ramadan had originally been sentenced to life in prison in November on charges that included the willful killing of those men and boys in December. The tribunal's nine-member appeals chamber said that original sentence was too lenient, it needed to change. And they ordered the court to re-sentence him. That happened.
The two other men that were hanged in addition to Saddam Hussein - the head of Saddam's revolutionary court, his chief judge and also his half-brother, who was the head of his intelligence.
The next trial that we'll be following, Soledad, is that of the Anfal trial. You remember the gassing of the Kurds - up to 180,000 Kurds, we're told, found in mass graves and gassed during the regime of Saddam Hussein. That will be the next trial to follow. You'll remember one of the most famous defendants in that trial, Chemical Ali.
S. O'BRIEN: Interesting to see if some of these same shenanigans that went on in the first trial will be seen again this time around.
Kyra Phillips for us this morning. She's in Baghdad. Thank you, Kyra, for the update - Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Also happening this morning, a deadly nursing home fire in Russia in the village of Kamyshevatskaya - 63 killed, 33 hurt.
The village has no fire department of its own. Reports say it took firefighters an hour to respond from neighboring towns.
Also in Russia, rescue workers searching for four missing coalminers after an explosion in the Siberian region of Kuzbass. At least 106 miners killed in the worst Russian mine disaster in a decade. Ninety-three miners were rescued.
The U.S. is giving the OK for Iran's president to enter the United States, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request for a visa approved. He's asked to speak at the United Nations Security Council during a debate on possible new sanctions against Iran. The Security Council has tentatively scheduled to meet with him as early as tomorrow.
A good news-bad news story from the post office. First the bad news. The cost of mailing a letter will go up to 41 cents on May 14th.
Now the good news. The post office has agreed to that "forever" stamp.
Remember, we told you about it a couple of weeks back? If you buy a forever stamp, it'll be good forever for mailing letters, no matter how much rates increase, so buy a lot of stamps - now.
S. O'BRIEN: And hang on to them until ...
M. O'BRIEN: And hang on to them.
S. O'BRIEN: ... the stamps are $8 per letter.
M. O'BRIEN: Ooh. Think of the savings then.
S. O'BRIEN: Let's get to some health headlines for you this morning.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University say they have developed a malaria-resistant mosquito. The mosquitoes are genetically engineered and they have a higher survival rate, which means they could eventually out-breed mosquitoes that carry and spread malaria.
Now, malaria, of course, is a huge problem in Africa - 2.7 million people die from malaria every year, and most of them are children. A new report out today on Alzheimer's disease said that there are more than five million Americans who are now living with Alzheimer's. That is up 10 percent just over the last five years.
There's a report out today from the Alzheimer's Association. And it predicts a massive increase in cases when baby boomers start turning 65, which happens in the year 2011.
A new study says that doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics for sinus infections, which are often caused by viruses and not bacteria, meaning that antibiotics won't help.
The study found that 82 percent of acute sinus infections, 70 percent of chronic cases, all treated with antibiotics. And those are useless against viruses.
Going to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about that when we page Dr. Gupta at 7:40 a.m. Eastern time.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. We have a first glimpse this morning on the latest edition to the Brangelina clan.
S. O'BRIEN: The back of his head. There he is.
M. O'BRIEN: That's all we get is the back of his head?
S. O'BRIEN: And an umbrella.
M. O'BRIEN: That's it? Oh, for gosh sakes.
Paparazzi snapped this picture. Popularize should ...
S. O'BRIEN: How much do they pay for that?
M. O'BRIEN: ... hang up their cameras for that one. Yes, how much do they get for that?
S. O'BRIEN: I take better pictures than that.
M. O'BRIEN: That's Pax. That's Pax's back under an umbrella at an airport in Ho Chi Minh City.
I guess that's mom with him, I assume. Can't see her either. They arrived in Hanoi to complete the paperwork.
S. O'BRIEN: I recognize that shoulder, and that's Angelina Jolie.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, yes. I can see the lips. That's what I see.
Anyway, three-year-old Pax is headed home to join the clan, the Brangelina clan - Angelina and Brad Pitt - have three others. There's five-year-old Maddox. There's - that's the biological, right?
S. O'BRIEN: No. Maddox is from Cambodia.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, sorry.
S. O'BRIEN: Zahara is from Africa.
M. O'BRIEN: Two-year-old Zahara, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: And Shiloh is the new baby that she had.
M. O'BRIEN: Oh, Shiloh is the biological one. I'm so glad I have you here for this. Thank you for straightening that out.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm on the mother beat this morning, yes.
M. O'BRIEN: I'm still thinking of Suri. But that's the other one.
S. O'BRIEN: Hey, good for her. Oh, Suri, that's a whole other family whatsoever.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I know. I know. Congratulations.
S. O'BRIEN: Spring is on the way - just hours away, literally. Today, spring.
Plus this.
GREG HUNTER, AMERICAN MORNING CORRESPONDENT, PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT: Well, I'm at terminal D at the Philadelphia airport, and a bad storm backed up a lot of flights and a lot of bags. Would you believe, hundreds of people still don't have their bags?
When will they get their bags, and how can you protect yourself? Coming up right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Saddam Hussein's one-time deputy hangs from the gallows in Iraq. Taha Yassin Ramadan hanged for the mass killing of Shiites in Dujail, Iraq, 25 years ago.
And search teams in North Carolina using dogs, helicopters and heat sensors today, trying to find a Boy Scout missing in the wilderness now since Saturday.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, the backlog is slowly clearing up at those airports up and down the East Coast. Thousands of passengers were stranded from that winter storm that happened over the weekend. Hundreds of bags also left sitting.
AMERICAN MORNING's Greg Hunter is at Philadelphia's airport with some tips on how you can avoid losing your bag on your next flight, and I'm going to guess that it's not just about carry-on, is it, Greg. Good morning.
GREG HUNTER, AMERICAN MORNINGS CORRESPONDENT, PHILADELPHIA AIRPORT: Well, that's one sure way when you have your bags with you. Yes, good morning. You know, this is an airport that's been plagued with problems. US Airway has about 800 of the 1,200 flights. And it's one of the airports that's had a lot of problems with mishandling bags, according to the government.
Now, to US Airway's credit, they've spent a lot of time and money trying to fix that problem. But, of course, the big storm this weekend kind of put the kibosh on that, and bags backed up.
US Airways did admit, though, that some of their computers and personnel was the culprit. And what that meant was a lot of people got separated from their bags.
Take a look at the bags that we shot late last night, early this morning - hundreds of bags in piles around different US Airways terminals. People scrounging around looking for their bags.
There are literally several hundred bags, piles of 100 or 200 here, 100 or 200 there. And people actually looking and finding their bags in some way.
So, what can you do to keep yourself from being on a scavenger hunt for your own luggage? One of the things you need to do is mark your bag inside and outside. Inside is really important, in case they lose your bag.
The second thing is, you need to make sure you get to the airport at least an hour-and-a-half ahead of time. The longer lead time you have for them to process that luggage onto the plane, the better it is.
The third thing is, you want to try to take direct flights. Sometimes, you know, connections are cheaper, they offer deals on those. But direct flights are always better. It's less chance for somebody to mishandle the bag.
The fourth thing you need to do is, you need to - well, there's no difference, also, between curbside check-in and inside check-in, although you should tip. It's customary to tip a dollar or two bucks a bag.
And finally, the last thing, when you have valuables like your digital camera, or like some important piece of memorabilia, don't check it. Take it on the carry-on with you, just in case one of these mishaps happen. And when we have bad weather or you have some snafu with computers, you can get separated from your bag - Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, practical advice. But also, the number of times I've seen people lose things like their medications or important things, you say, why would you check that during a snowstorm? It doesn't make a lot of sense.
Greg Hunter for us this morning. Thank you, Greg - Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Ahead on the program, John Edwards is talking about energy today. He'll be unveiling his new plan this morning. We'll have a preview for you ahead of the news conference.
Plus, when is it too old to drive? And what are the most dangerous places for seniors to be behind the wheel?
Stay with us. AMERICAN MORNING is shifting into overdrive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back.
In Russia right now, an intense search is underway for four miners who are trapped after an explosion in a mine in southwestern Siberia. The blast killed 106 other miners. That number comes to us from the Associated Press.
And breaking news out of Iraq this morning. At least seven people are dead, dozens more injured, after early morning bombings across Baghdad - Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush will hit the road today. He'll visit a GM plant in Kansas and a Ford factory in Missouri where they build hybrids.
Other political news to tell you about. Former Senator John Edwards and presidential candidate will be talking energy, as well - right here on AMERICAN MORNING. He's announcing his new plan with us in our 8:00 a.m. Eastern hour.
Later, Edwards tours an energy conservation plant - excuse me, conversion plant, although they probably conserve, as well, too - in Iowa today.
And another presidential candidate talking on CNN. Senator Barack Obama spent an hour last night with Larry King discussing Iraq, Hillary Clinton and the attorney general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, D-ILLINOIS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I voted against Alberto Gonzales' confirmation for precisely the reason that we're seeing now. He seemed to conceive his role as being the president's attorney instead of being the people's attorney.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: And former New York governor, George Pataki - it looks like he will not be joining the long list of presidential candidates. One of Pataki's aides has signed on with the Rudy Giuliani campaign, another with the campaign of former Virginia governor, Jim Gilmore.
Pataki told supporters in New Hampshire earlier this year that they should feel free to support other candidates. There are your signals here.
And, of course, all the day's political news available at any time - all the signals and the tea leaves read - at CNN.com/ticker.
S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning, Enron is back in the news, believe it or not. We'll tell you what it means for all those people who lost so much money when that company collapsed.
Plus, we'll bring you the very latest on the desperate search now for that little Boy Scout who is lost in the freezing cold mountains since the weekend.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Fifty-seven channels and nothing on. Bruce Springsteen - the man is hopelessly out of date, we're told. The folks at Nielsen - that's the ratings company - say the average home now gets 104 channels of television.
I think I get - I don't know what I get on the digital. It's like 1,000, if you count the music stuff. I don't know. I've lost track.
But anyway, that's up from 61 channels in 2000, and 33 in 1990. I was trying to tell my kids ...
S. O'BRIEN: And three in 1978.
M. O'BRIEN: Right. I was trying to tell my kids about having three. And then we were really excited when we had a fourth channel, growing up, and then you had the rabbit ears and ...
S. O'BRIEN: And your dad had to move the rabbit ears to get it in.
M. O'BRIEN: ... and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) antenna in there.
ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I only watch five.
M. O'BRIEN: They looked to my like from Mars.
VELSHI: I mean, I don't really watch all that ...
M. O'BRIEN: So you don't need them.
VELSHI: No, they can have them back.
M. O'BRIEN: All right.
S. O'BRIEN: You're still paying for them.
VELSHI: I'm still paying for them.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's shift gears. Let's talk Enron.
VELSHI: Yes, speaking about ...
M. O'BRIEN: That's a ...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Speaking about people paying for stuff, let me tell you.
A group of Enron investors lost out big yesterday. A U.S. court overturned their $40 billion lawsuit.
Now, it's a lawsuit that was about a month away from starting. It was a trial that could have seen them recover some of their money until a federal appeals panel overturned the decision to give them class action status.
This relates specifically to a case that was set to begin in mid- April. A group of Enron shareholders were suing some investment banks for $40 billion.
They accused Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse of being what they called "primary participants" in the fraud that led to Enron's collapse.
Merrill said that there's no evidence to prove the bank was a substantial or significant factor in the losses that caused Enron's collapse.
But the judges reviewing the decision to give them class action now says that that decision was a mistake, and the case is going back to lower court unless the lawyer for the shareholders gets his way, because he says they'll appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
Now, why this matters is that a class action lawsuit would have allowed the plaintiffs more clout than a bunch of individual lawsuits.
It revolves around whether the banks, even if they didn't actually withhold information or not share things with the investors, did they have a hand in the outcome - which, of course, was the collapse of Enron.
So far, this particular case has netted a little more than $7 billion from banks that have settled - CIBC, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup.
S. O'BRIEN: That would be huge implications for all cases.
VELSHI: Well, that's what the banks say.
S. O'BRIEN: I mean, even the companies that don't go under ...
VELSHI: Right.
S. O'BRIEN: But even if there's some kind of a loss.
VELSHI: The underlying criticism here from investors is that, you know, people complain there's way too much regulation in the financial markets. Well, OK. We can do without regulation, if the front line - the people you trust to advise on these decisions - are making good decisions.
S. O'BRIEN: And they're supposed to be doing due diligence, shouldn't they ...
VELSHI: That's what ...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That's the point. The banks say, we didn't make the place collapse. And the investors are saying, yes, but you guys were the bankers. You should know better than anyone else what was happening.
So, this case will continue.
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: OK.
M. O'BRIEN: See you in a bit.
S. O'BRIEN: Some of the other headlines this morning, one of CNN.com's most popular stories, in fact, right now.
Remember this? We were talking about this, how we lost the jackpot ...
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, we're still here.
S. O'BRIEN: ... $390 million?
Well, it turns out a New Jersey couple is going to claim their share.
They're the newest mega millionaires.
M. O'BRIEN: They took their sweet time, didn't they?
S. O'BRIEN: They sure did. I guess they said that they're still trying to come to terms with the fact that they now are worth $117 million.
M. O'BRIEN: They're still doing their shopping list.
S. O'BRIEN: That's the plan. I think they lose 25 percent of it from taxes. They're both from South Jersey.
The drawing was two weeks ago now. The Messners, though, wanted to talk with their financial advisor first.
He's 57, she's 56. They say, we're retired now, effective immediately.
M. O'BRIEN: That's what everybody dreams of saying.
S. O'BRIEN: Document dump - what thousands of new e-mails released last night reveal about fired U.S. attorneys, and just how involved the attorney general was in their dismissals.
M. O'BRIEN: And deadly justice. Saddam Hussein's one-time vice president executed overnight. Did it all go as planned this time?
S. O'BRIEN: And without a trace. We'll tell you how technology is helping the search for that Boy Scout, and the new concern that is energizing the rescuers today.
M. O'BRIEN: And a controversial skywalk launch. A breathtaking $30 million view of the Grand Canyon debuts. But there's a fight.
We're live from Arizona, Atlanta, Washington and New York City on this AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. It's Tuesday, March 20th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: And I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us
S. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's begin with that 3,000 pages of documents released late last night from the Justice Department to Congress, all about the firing of those eight U.S. attorneys.
They include e-mails from one U.S. attorney asking why she's being fired. And there are e-mails that reveal Justice Department dissent over just who's being let go.
This new dump of documents is putting new pressure on the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, this morning.
CNN's Justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, live for us from Washington, D.C.
Good morning to you, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON: Good morning, Soledad.
And, of course, that really is the big question. How will Attorney General Alberto Gonzales fare once these documents are thoroughly scrutinized by the Hill?
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
