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American Morning
Toxic Pet Food: Is Chinese Plant to Blame?; Is Ethanol the Answer?; Captured Sailors: Is a Deal in the Works?
Aired April 04, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Face to face. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meeting with Syrian leaders this morning, trying to jump-start Mid East peace despite protests from President Bush.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Iran's president speaking out this morning. There is word of a possible prisoner exchange that could break the standoff over the captured British sailors.
M. O'BRIEN: A CNN exclusive. What's going on with the crew working your next flight. We hear from sleepy fight attendants raising concerns.
CHETRY: Plus, more than just April showers. Some extreme weather. Storms threatening more flooding rains and tornadoes today.
We're live from Amman, Jordan, Damascus, and New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
M. O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. Wednesday, April 4th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry in for Soledad. Thanks so much for joining us today.
M. O'BRIEN: We begin this morning in Syria and a high level U.S. visit that is widening the casm (ph) between Democrats in Congress and the White House. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi slated to speak with reporters any moment now. She just finished meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his chief deputies. President Bush is offering harsh criticism of this official trip. Brent Sadler joins us live via broadband from Damascus International Airport. This is a CNN exclusive.
Brent, what's the latest?
Brent Sadler, can you hear me?
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. Slight technical problem out of Damascus International Airport, where we're broadcasting live.
Yes, Miles, we're expecting the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to arrive here at Damascus International. They say she has just wrapped up a serious of very high profile meetings with Syria's top leadership. She began this day of talks first with Walid Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister. Spent about one hour with that foreign minister discussing important issues between Syria and the United States as they relate to Iraq, as they relate to Israel, as they relate to the peace process and, of course, as they relate to Syria's involvement with neighboring Lebanon.
Now also after that meeting, Nancy Pelosi met with Vice President Farouk al-Shara, also in Damascus. Again, about a one hour meeting.
But all eyes really on the top meeting of this very much criticized visit by the White House. U.S. President George W. Bush himself criticizing, rebuking this delegation for visiting Damascus, visiting Bashar al-Assad. That meeting has taken place in the presidential palace overlooking the Syrian capital. Nancy Pelosi expected to arrive, as I say, here at Damascus International Airport to hold a press conference before heading out of Syria on her next Middle East leg, going to Saudi Arabia next.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Brent Sadler in Damascus, thank you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: There are new developments from Iran this morning on the captured British sailors. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could address the crisis. He is speaking with reporters in Tehran coming up in the next hour.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is offering one on one talks, saying last night that he believes Iran wants an early resolution. Meantime, President Bush calls the seizure of the British sailors "indefensible." He says he supports the Blair government's attempts to solve this issue peacefully. There's also word from Iranian media this morning that an envoy will meet with Iranians held by U.S. troops in Iraq.
We're going to have full coverage from around the world. CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Amman, Jordan, Jim Boulden in London and Barbara Starr in Washington. We begin this morning with Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, new evidence this morning that the standoff between Tehran and London now has a lot to do with the United States. As you mentioned, the Iranian meeting today reporting that an Iranian envoy will meet with five Iranians in coalition custody in Iraq since January. Now the U.S. military is saying a request has been received for that to happen, but that no decision has been made.
Iran has said before that the release of those five Iranians in coalition custody would help secure the release of the 15 British military personnel who have been in Iranian in custody now for almost two weeks. In a short time we expect more news out of a rare press conference by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The sense I get, Kiran, from talking to people within Iran is, that he really isn't calling the shots amid this dispute. It has been handed over instead to the country's national security committee. They are telling CNN that talks with Britain have reached a critical stage. So what we're looking for out of this press conference is, what kind of statements Ahmadinejad makes. Belico (ph) statements about London, or subdued statements. That will give us an indication as to how close we are to seeing this standoff end.
Kiran.
CHETRY: And you say it's rare. How often does he hold these press conferences and talk to the Iranian press?
RAMAN: Yes, it's only the third time, I think, that he's met with foreign press. It's probably about the fifth time that he's met with Iranian journalists. The headline we expect is really not going to be about this British standing, but instead Iran's nuclear program.
On Sunday, the president suggested he'd have good news soon on Iran's nuclear program, just after the country was slapped with another round of sanctions, just as the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog wants to put cameras in the main site at Natans, Iran's president could very easy this morning up the ante and say the country is ever closer to nuclear self-sufficiency. That would bring pressure again over Iran's nuclear program. Pressure in addition to what it's feeling over this standoff with London.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, so good news for Iran doesn't necessarily mean good news for the world.
Aneesh Raman, thanks so much.
M. O'BRIEN: As Aneesh just reported, a lot of indications of prisoner swap may be in the works, just barely behind the scenes this morning. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is in Washington with more on that.
Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Miles.
Well, many of the experts we've spoken to in the last few days say that once the U.S. arrested those five Iranians earlier this year inside Iraq, everybody might have predicted that something like this hostage crisis could emerge, that there should have been an understanding Iran might try to do something to gain leverage to try and get their people released.
U.S. officials are reminding us that there even had been border skirmishes back in September between U.S. troops and Iranian troops. Now that is well before this incident, of course, but it showed that Iran was willing to try and provoke further tensions in the region, according to U.S. officials.
As for the five Iranians that the U.S. is holding, as late as last night, senior Pentagon officials were telling us, no coupling -- that was their word -- no tie between those five being released and the British situation. But there is one way it might happen. The U.S. could turn those people, those Iranians, over to the Iraqi criminal court system and let the Iraqis do what they will with them. That might mean they could be returned to Iran.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Barbara Starr in Washington, thank you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, now to London, where the rhetoric is softening and there is a lot of talk about talking. Could there be a deal in the works? Well, CNN's Jim Boulden is live in London with more for us on that this morning.
Hi, Jim.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Yes, the prime minister's office saying that it's up to Iran to make the next month. Britain says it is ready, willing and able to send a high-level delegation to Tehran to discuss how to get the 15 military personnel released. Not to negotiate. Very clear different working here to say they will discuss ways to get this diplomacy moving. But not negotiate. Not talk about who's to blame. Not talk about what happened 13 days ago. But they may be willing to speak about ways to make sure this doesn't happen again.
Now Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said nobody should read into that that they think that this might be resolved anytime soon.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Jim, thanks so much.
M. O'BRIEN: President Bush is poised to wrap up his criticism of Democrats in Congress. He will speak to some troops in California later today. Yesterday he land-basted Congress for going on spring break without approving that $100 billion for the Iraq War without strings attached.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And they need to send me this unacceptable bill as quickly as possible when they come back. I'll veto it and then Congress can get down to the business of funding our troops without strings and without delay.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: Well, the president has a swagger and he's been very uncompromising and that's the reason we're in the quagmire we're in in Iraq. He should become in tune with the fact that he is president of the United States, not king of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP) M. O'BRIEN: Of calling Congress back into session, he's taking some time off himself, spending the Easter weekend at his Texas ranch.
Now until that impasse ends, the Pentagon will have to do a lot of shuffling to keep the war machine primed. The president says the military will feel the pinch by mid-May, forcing commanders to curtail training. But Democrats insist there's enough money in the pipeline and combat operations would not be affected until July.
CHETRY: Well, there's some good news for Elizabeth Edwards this morning. Her cancer is actually more treatable than doctors first thought. Edwards says that she has a form of the disease that is likely to respond to anti-estrogen drugs. There's still no cure, but the treatment could help her maintain a better quality of life.
Meanwhile, John Edwards is gaining on Hillary Clinton in the battleground state of New Hampshire. A new CNN/WMUR presidential primary poll shows 27 percent of Democratic voters now support Clinton. That's an eight point drop since February. John Edwards jumped to 21 percent, with Barack Obama right on his heals at 20 percent. Former Vice President Al Gore is at 11 percent and he is not even a candidate.
Well, still to come this morning, we're going to talk to one of the Democrats who would like to be higher up on that list. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will talk about his presidential campaign and his upcoming diplomatic trip to North Korea. That's coming up in our next hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
M. O'BRIEN: On the other side of the aisle, newly minted presidential candidate Tommy Thompson makes his first campaign stop today. The former Wisconsin governor and Bush cabinet member speaks in Milwaukee and then he heads to Iowa.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, here's a look now at what's happening in America.
In Garland, Texas, right outside of Dallas, a former janitor at a nursing home is in jail this morning. Police say he barricading himself inside of the nursing home for three hours with a gun after he was fired. A lot of rattled nerves, but no one was hurt.
An Atlanta man is facing murder charges this morning after police say he shot his ex-girlfriend at the CNN center complex on Tuesday. She later died at a hospital. Arthur Mann is the accused shooter. He was shot by a security guard at the scene. Mann is in stable condition this morning after surgery.
And in Morristown, New Jersey, a case surrounding a man driving drunk on a Zamboni has forced a judge to make a ruling on the matter. The Zamboni operation was hit with DUI charges back in 2005, but a judge dropped the charges, ruling that a four-ton Zamboni is not considered a motor vehicle because they can't carry passengers or be used on highways. M. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, extreme weather in the South. Hail, rain, even tornadoes could be on tap today. We'll get the very latest from Chad Myers.
Then a clear signal for the government. Finally an answer on whether you can use cell phones in flight. Hopefully the answer is yes (ph).
And a CNN exclusive. Frustrated flight attendances are concerned their working conditions are putting your security at risk.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, what started out as an adventure ended in tragedy for some skiers in Canada. Two of them died when they were caught in an avalanche near Stewart, British Columbia. They had been dropped from a helicopter to ski the remote trails. There's a fear of more avalanches and that then delayed recovery of their bodies. But three survivors were air lifted to safety. Their injuries are not life threatening.
And some severe thunderstorms swept across Tennessee overnight. Some pictures now from Nashville. High winds and hail knocking down trees, making driving was tricky. In fact, this truck flipped after skidding on a slick road.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: So, will we see some more extreme weather ahead? It's about quarter past the hour. Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center with more on that.
Good morning, Chad.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Well, if you thought that you'd soon be allowed to use a cell phone on your next flight, forget it, for now at least. The FCC says it will keep the rule banning cell phone use on planes. It's concerned that using phones while in flight could jam cell phone networks on the ground. The commission had been considering reversing the ban since 2004.
Passengers on Delta Flight 511 just glad they finally got to Honolulu, even though it was a bit late. There was an unruly passenger who forced the flight from Cincinnati to land in San Francisco. The woman became very upset after she was caught smoking in the laboratory, which, of course, is a no-no. The pilot came out of the cockpit to help calm her down. The woman was removed from the plane in San Francisco and then taken to a hospital.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, handling unruly passengers is just one of the challenges facing flight attendance. Many of them say they are overworked and overtired and that could, one day, mean lives could be lost in an emergency. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho has been investigating this. She has a CNN exclusive and she joins us here with more.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Miles, good morning to you.
You know, you may think their biggest job is passing out peanuts and serving drinks, but flight attendance serve an important purpose in terms of safety. They're often the first line of defense in the event of an emergency. But flight attendants who spoke exclusively to CNN say they're simply too tired to do their jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO, (voice over): Flight attendants may be putting passenger safety at risk by working too many hours in a stretch on too little sleep. This flight attendance won't reveal her identity because she's terrified of losing her job. She says extreme fatigue among flight attendants could be catastrophic in an emergency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: If the flight attendant is not prepared and she hasn't had good rest, I don't know how she can possibly evacuate an aircraft that is on fire in a short period of time.
CHO: And those seconds . . .
CHARLIE BLACK (ph), FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Ticking away is the difference between life and death.
CHO: Flight Attendance Charlie Black has logged 50 million miles over her 37-year career. She says a 16-hour shift is not uncommon.
BLACK: It's the lack of rest, the inability to recuperate.
CHO: The problems have been documented. This comprehensive study, commissioned by the Department of Transportation, was released in 2005. In it, flight attendances say they often work with no more than four to six hours of sleep. And the study found that sleep loss can result in "slowed reaction time," "disorientation" and "involuntary sleep."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Falling asleep as they're talking. You know, sitting in their jump seat falling asleep. Just dozing off, you know.
CHO: The FAA requires nine hours of rest time for flight attendances between shifts. But the nine hours of time off is not actual rest. The clock starts ticking the moment the plane arrives at the gate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: As you're getting off the aircraft, my rest has begun and I'm still saying, good night, have a good evening.
CHO: There's also paperwork and travel time.
BLACK: I have gotten in my car and driven home and didn't remember the last 30 minutes of the drive.
CHO: In a statement, the FAA tells CNN, there is no data that shows current practices "pose any risk to airline passenger safety." The Air Transport Association, which represents 90 percent of the nations airlines says, "we rely on the results of the FAA safety studies" and there has been "no recommendation for change." And airline experts don't expect to see a change in rest time rules anytime soon. The reason? The bottom line.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Financial distress since 9/11. We've had oil prices that are three times higher than they were in the 20 years prior. So the industry has to make up for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: It's really out of control. There's no reason why we should be responsible for people's lives and we're not getting enough rest. It's real simple. We're just not getting enough rest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: So why hasn't the FAA changed the rest time rules? Well, airline experts we spoke to say, the FAA, first of all, is resistant to change. Those rules have been in place for decades. But perhaps more important, experts say the airline industry is strongly against it. As we mentioned in the piece, post 9/11, the airlines are in financial distress, Miles, and have to do much more with much less.
M. O'BRIEN: So why are we hearing about this now? Have rules changed? Are the airlines trying to press these flight attendants a little bit harder to work harder?
CHO: Well, they've been tired for a long time. So you wonder, why haven't they spoken out about it sooner or why hasn't this been in the news sooner. Well, a lot of the experts say, listen, air travel has gotten steadily safer over the years. In the words of one expert, if planes were crashing all the time, we would have heard about this a lot sooner.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you so much, Alina Cho.
CHO: Sure.
M. O'BRIEN: Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks so much.
And still to come, a rescue gone wrong. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to try to climb a tree to save a bird. We're going to show you how all of this ended up. Plus, the latest in the pet food recall. We're going to go around the world to where officials say the entire thing started, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back this morning. There is some good news about home sales today. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
Hi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
Good morning, Miles.
You know, with data the way it is right now, with all eyes on the housing market, we parse every little detail about the housing market. Let me show you what we're looking at now. We're looking at pending sales for February.
Now pending sales are not actual sales. They're the contracts that are signed. They've become sales in about two months when those deals close. But they were up for the month of February. We're, you know, watching everything we can to see this housing market and how it affects markets.
Now markets, obviously, reacted to this and other good news. Look at the Dow yesterday. It was up more than 100 points. About 128 points yesterday because of the pending home sales and because of the fact that the tensions in the Middle East around those British naval prisoners in Iran seems to have lessened. So we're looking at, you know, oil just under $65 right now.
We're going to see the unemployment report on February. But other than that, it's a slow week because of Passover and because of Easter. The stock markets will be closed on Friday.
Now stock markets, in fact, have something very interesting to look at today. Today's the first day of trading of the New York Stock Exchange Euronext stock. That's the merger between the New York Stock Exchange and the Paris-based Euronext Exchange. It's the biggest stock exchange in the world now and it, in fact, is going to trade across the Atlantic for the first time ever. Seventy-eight of the top 100 -- the biggest 100 companies in the world are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Euronext. The stock at least check was actually down a little bit, but it is going to be some kind of a big deal around here.
When I come back in a little while, I'm going to tell you about the story we've been following for the last couple of days, auto sales, and who's going to buy DaimlerChrysler, or Chrysler at least.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, apparently those rumors might be true. It is -- Chrysler is for sale. All right. We'll talk to you soon, Ali. Thank you. The Coast Guard is used to all kinds of odd rescue stories, but here is proof they are branching out, shall we say. A man and his pet bird plucked from a tree near Houston by a Coast Guard chopper crew.
Apparently the man's $2,000 cockateel flew away. He gave chase up a tree. Way up a tree. Sixty feet up a tree.
Do we have a picture of the helicopter? I haven't seen it yet. There's the helicopter.
Well, thanks to the good folks in that orange bird, both bird brains are back on tara firma. It was about 90 minutes after their adventure.
CHETRY: How did he get up that high?
M. O'BRIEN: Very carefully, I guess. He was, you know, he had that bird on his brain, there's no question.
And waiter, waiter, there is a coyote in my sandwich. This scene from downtown Chicago. Employees at a Quisno's restaurant stunned when a coyote just strolled through an open door. Animal control saved the day and nary a road runner in sight.
CHETRY: He looks like he needed an ice tea.
M. O'BRIEN: Apparently so.
CHETRY: Well, the top stories of the morning are coming up next. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is in Syria right now. We're going to hear what came of her meeting with Syria's president.
Also, what can be the best thing that's happened to American farmers in decades, ethanol. But is it really the answer for the nation's energy crisis?
Also, we're inside one of the most contested churches in the holy land to find the truth about Jesus. A rare report from inside that church.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. It is Wednesday, April 4th. I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry, in for Soledad today.
M. O'BRIEN: Several developing stories right now.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Syria at this hour. She is meeting with Syria's president. Just got done with that meeting. We expect to hear from her shortly and we'll have an update for you ahead.
CHETRY: And there are new developments today in the poisoned pet food scare. A new move that could ease the pain of grieving owners.
Plus, we'll also take you to ground zero in the crisis. It's China, where officials say the whole mess started.
M. O'BRIEN: And it's boom time in the nation's heartland. The biggest corn crop planted since World War II all thanks to what? Ethanol. Yes. You probably guessed it. Is it really, though, the answer to America's oil addition. We're live from Kansas with more on that.
CHETRY: Also, live pictures of the very rare site, inside the church of the holy seplicer (ph). We're going to be live from the holy land this morning on sacred ground, the spot where Jesus was said to be crucified and buried.
We begin, though, with developments in Iran on those captured British sailors. We expect to hear from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in less than an hour. He's speaking with reporters in Tehran
(VIDEO GAP)
CHETRY: President Bush calls the seizure of the sailors indefensible and says he supports the Blair government's attempts to solve the issue peacefully.
Also, in what could be the next diplomatic move, there is a report from Iran this morning saying that they will send a representative to meet with five Iranians that have been held by the U.S. in Iraq.
O'BRIEN: More this morning on your pet and the widening worries about what you're putting in his or her food dish. Lawyers are adding a fraud allegation in that class action lawsuit against the company suspected of being the source of all that tainted food, Menu Foods. The mass contamination is opening a lot of people's eyes to an even bigger security threat. It demonstrates the nation's food supply might be vulnerable to attack. And a large number of pet owners are now making their own food, rather than risking what might be in the cans or in the bags.
The source of contamination can be traced back to a warehouse in rural China, although the company denies it.
John Vause is joining us from the company headquarters in Xuzhou, China -- John.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The pet food scare across the U.S. can be traced back here to a rundown warehouse in rural China. According to local residents, this operation belongs to the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Company, named by the FDA as the source of the chemical melamine, which somehow contaminated wheat gluten, an ingredient in almost a hundred different brands of pet food which have now been recalled.
When we arrived, employees began covering what appeared to be sacks of grain. Every year, 9,000 tons of wheat gluten are reportedly exported from here, but all work has come to a standstill after an FDA ban on imports from this private-owned company.
This office worker, who would only give her name as Ms. Gurr (ph), seemed overwhelmed by the allegations.
"Of course it's not good for us," she told me. "We want to clear our name."
The company's senior management has been locked away in crisis meetings for days, but denies any wrongdoing during 12 years of operation. "In China, all factories that make white gluten follow a strict testing procedure. The situation, as depicted by these rumors, has never occurred."
But questions are being asked about the safety of China's food supply. Three hundred million Chinese every year, according to the U.N., suffer food poisoning. Last summer, nearly 100 restaurant patrons were hospitalized after eating bad snails. A company was recently prosecuted from making lard from sewage. Farmers have been caught adding a cancer-causing dye to duck feed, turning the egg yolk red, which apparently is more appealing to Chinese consumers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That report from John Vause in Xuzhou, China -- Kiran.
CHETRY: When it comes to making environmentally friendly cars, American automakers get a failing grade. For the fourth year in a row, Honda tops the list of carmakers producing so-called green automobiles. Toyota came in second, followed by Hyundai-Kia, Nissan, and then Volkswagen. Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler finished in the last three spots.
That study was done by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
O'BRIEN: A lot of smiles in the Corn Belt this morning. Business is booming, thanks largely to the government pushing corn- based ethanol as an alternative to Mideast oil. Corn farmers are planting their biggest crop since World War II, but can their harvest really head off the country's energy crisis?
AMERICAN MORNING'S Chris Lawrence went to Kansas for some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Bush planted the seed.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ethanol has got the largest potential for immediate growth.
LAWRENCE: And the industry haas has been nurtured by government subsidies.
PHILIP FLYNN, ENERGY ANALYST: They want to believe that ethanol is a source, and they're spending a lot of our money to prove it. LAWRENCE: Energy analyst Philip Flynn says it's fueling demand for ethanol's main ingredient, and could lead to the largest corn crop in 60 years.
FLYNN: This is a windfall for these -- for these farmers.
LAWRENCE: Flynn says corn growers are selling their crops for record prices, then they invest in the factories where corn is turned into ethanol and make more money off the tax credits.
(on camera): This has a potential to be a record crop. Are corn growers excited about a record profit?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Corn growers are excited about a profit.
LAWRENCE (voice over): Tim McCaully (ph) remembers the years when he barely broke even. Since last month, the price of corn has already dropped about $1 a bushel, but it's still a lot higher than last year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's good news. I think farmers have looked for something like this for a long time.
LAWRENCE: McCaully (ph) says ethanol is bringing business back to rural America. And once it produces 10 percent of the nation's fuel, it won't need subsidies.
We're actually creating this new demand for agriculture, but we're also making our country more secure not buying as much Mideast oil. And as ethanol gets bigger, we'll buy less and less Mideast oil.
LAWRENCE: Senator John McCain embraces ethanol after opposing it seven years ago. And some say it plays well in a presidential campaign.
FLYNN: We're going to have the first primaries in Iowa and in corn states. And these corn states love ethanol because it's like a subsidy where the government doesn't really have to write a check.
LAWRENCE: Politicians looking for votes may be willing to bet the farm on ethanol.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, White Cloud, Kansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Very interesting.
Well, now to London, where the rhetoric is softening and there's a lot of talk about talking in a standoff over those 15 captured British sailors. Could there be a deal in the works?
CNN's Jim Boulden is live in London with us this morning.
Hi, Jim.
JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Yes, we have reached the next level, I think it's fair to say, with Tony Blair saying last night -- his office saying last night that they are ready to have high-level discussions with Iran. There has been a lot of back-channel discussions going on.
The Iranian ambassador has been meeting with people here in the foreign office. And also, the British ambassador in Iran has been meeting with people. But the foreign office here is ready to send a high-level delegation to Iran to discuss how to get these 15 detainees released.
They are not going to negotiate. A big difference in the diplomatic use of the word. They say they'll discuss it, but they won't negotiate. And certainly Britain is nowhere near ready to say that they're sorry that this whole incident has taken place -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Jim. Thanks so much -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Google has a change of heart, and some say it's giving a more accurate picture of the Gulf Coast. We'll explain that story.
And we'll have some pictures for you from the Holy Land. There they are, live pictures, the site where some say Jesus was crucified and buried.
We're searching for "The Truth About Jesus" all this week. A rare live broadcast inside one of the most disputed pieces of land on Earth.
That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
The most news in the morning right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The most news in the morning is here on CNN. And two stories we're watching for you on this Wednesday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expected to talk to reporters about how it went when she met a short time ago with Syria's president.
Also, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is speaking out within the hour. He's expected to talk about his country's nuclear program and about those captured British sailors.
O'BRIEN: All this week we're looking for "The Truth About Jesus" from the Holy Land. Each day this Holy Week, we're visiting a different sacred site.
Today, Atika Shubert joining us from Jerusalem with a look at a church believed to be the site of Jesse's crucifixion and his tomb.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Every Easter, thousands of Christian pilgrims flock to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to see the miracle of the Holy Fire, a mysterious flame said to emerge from the tomb of Jesus.
Miracle or manipulation? It depends on who you ask. But religious tradition, biblical scholars and archaeologists all degree, this is the most likely place Jesus was crucified and buried.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why everyone wants a bit of this. And that struggle for power and possession.
SHUBERT: The gospels says Jesus was crucified and buried outside Jerusalem in an area called Golgotha, the place of the skull. This would have been outside the city walls, archaeologists say, and the porous bedrock underneath may have looked like a skull. But the tombs provide the most convincing evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have some bedrock and we have these little tombs in the back. This was, in fact, a proper Jewish burial place back in the first century.
SHUBERT: The church that now surrounds the site has little resemblance to biblical descriptions of Jesus' tomb. It is shared uncomfortably between the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Armenian churches. Frequent disagreements have resulted in violence.
Once, after a dispute during the ceremony of the Holy Flame...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Christian building I know because of the tension, the unchristian tension between the various groups inside. But for any archaeologist, it is the right place.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: And Atika Shubert joining us live now from that church.
Atika, is there much debate among Christians about whether this is, in fact, the place where Jesus was crucified and buried?
SHUBERT: There is some debate. There are, in fact, alternative tombs as well. But most archaeologists and historians agree that just based on the evidence, this is the most likely spot. But because there have been so many disputes over this Church of the Holy Sepulcher, some denominations have actually been excluded from praying here, particularly Protestants, and that's why they actually set up an alternative tomb called the Garden Tomb, and that's a sacred site that we'll be looking at tomorrow -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right.
Atika Shubert, thank you very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Forty-two past the hour now, and Chad Myers is at the CNN weather center watching the weather for us.
(WEATHER REPORT) O'BRIEN: Rolling Stones lead guitarist Keith Richards makes no bones about his veracious appetite for drugs, but this one will blow your mind.
Richards told a British magazine he once snorted some of his father's ashes mixed with cocaine. Apparently, it gave him plenty of satisfaction.
Which brings us to the headline of the morning, by the way, Kiran. Did you see this one, "New York Post"? "Father Nose Best."
CHETRY: That is so disgusting.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
CHETRY: He ate his dad. I mean, when you think about it, he's a cannibal.
O'BRIEN: Well, that's one way of putting it. That's one way of putting it, yes.
CHETRY: All right.
Well, still the come this morning, the experiment that could produce a silver bullet for stopping migraines. This is great news for the millions of migraine sufferers out there.
Stay with us. We'll explain coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
(NEWSBREAK)
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CHETRY: And there are some health headlines this morning.
Encouraging news for people who suffer from migraines. An experimental drug made up of two common drugs used to treat migraines is offering even more relief.
The new drug is called Trexima. It combines the migraine drug Imitrex with the painkiller Naproxen.
Researchers found the combo worked better in a study of 1,600 migraine sufferers. The results are in this week's "Journal of the American Medical Association".
We're going to talk to Dr. Sanjay Gupta about this new drug and the promise of other combo drugs ahead this morning.
Even a little bit of red meat daily can increase a woman's risk of breast cancer by more than half. That's the stunning result of an eight-year study of 3,500 women. The researchers took into account smoking, weight and fruit and vegetable intake. The study is in the "British Journal of Cancer".
O'BRIEN: Some car talk for you this morning. What to buy a car company? Chrysler is up for sale this morning.
Parent company DaimlerChrysler confirming overnight it's talking to prospective buyers about selling its Detroit-based operation. That had been rumored for some time.
The news comes as Toyota ratchets up its pressure on U.S. automakers. New numbers show Toyota posted a nearly 12 percent increase in sales in the U.S. last month. Look at the red arrows. GM and DaimlerChrysler saw four percent drops. Ford fell nine percent.
A grim picture, indeed.
Let's move on now.
The government charges Jackson Hewitt stores, those stores that do tax returns, with preparing false returns.
Ali Velshi is here with details a few minutes before the top of the hour -- Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Good morning, Kiran.
Jackson Hewitt is the second largest tax preparer in the country, and the Department of Justice and the IRS have filed civil charges against five owners of these Jackson Hewitt franchises, together making up about 125 stores. They've charged them with defrauding the government out of about $70 million in fraudulent tax returns, and the charges also target 24 people who either worked or managed these stores.
The stores in question are located in the Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago and Raleigh-Durham area. Now, Jackson Hewitt has not responded to this, but government officials have said that they are not ready to get an order to shut these stores down, just that they are continuing to investigate, and that that might be another step. So that's a bit of an issue for folks who are looking to use these tax preparation operations in order to do their tax returns.
The fraud that's alleged is around the earned income tax credit, which is specifically for people who are low income earners, and it's designed to help them out of poverty. So, one of the concerns here as this unfolds is --are folks who have had their taxes done by these Jackson Hewitt offices around the country. Are they in danger of having to pay whatever...
O'BRIEN: Who is...
VELSHI: Right, because the law is pretty clear on the fact that, fundamentally, you're liable for the information on your tax return, even if someone else prepares it. Obviously, the government is not looking to penalize a bunch of regular folks for something that a company did, but the bigger the refund, you know, the more money sometimes these preparation places get.
So, we'll continue to follow the story, but it's pretty disturbing.
O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Ali.
VELSHI: And I'll be back with more on the car stuff that you were talking about.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Lots of stuff to talk about there.
VELSHI: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Thanks.
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O'BRIEN: Face to face. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi meeting with Syrian leaders this morning, trying to jump start Mideast peace despite protests from President Bush.
CHETRY: Iran's president speaking out in the next 30 minutes. There's some rumblings of a possible prisoner exchange that could break the standoff over those captured British sailors.
O'BRIEN: And new hope for Elizabeth Edwards in her fight against cancer. She's out with some encouraging news from her doctors.
We're live from Damascus, London, New Hampshire and New York on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, Wednesday, April 4th.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry, in for Soledad.
Thanks so much for joining us today.
O'BRIEN: We begin in Syria this morning at a high-level U.S. visit that is widening the chasm between Democrats in Congress and the White House. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is slated to speak with reporters any moment now. She just finished meeting with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his chief deputies.
President Bush is offering harsh criticism of this official trip.
CNN Senior Correspondent Brent Sadler joining us on the phone from Damascus -- Brent.
BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Miles, Speaker Pelosi is expected to leave Damascus International Airport shortly. Before she leaves, however, she will be uttering her forced (ph) words in public about the high-level meeting she's had here with top Syrian officials, right up to the president himself, Bashar al-Assad.
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