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American Morning
Iraq Parliament Attack May Have Been Inside Job
Aired April 13, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Defying terror an emergency session of the Iraqi parliament this morning after a deadly and brazen bombing that now appears to be an inside job.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Face-to-face, Don Imus meets late into the night with women from the Rutgers basketball team whom he insulted. He's forced off the air this morning. Could he find a new career, though, on satellite radio?
S. O'BRIEN: Was it a sweetheart deal? World Bank head Paul Wolfowitz is under fire today accused of signing off on a pay hike for his girlfriend.
M. O'BRIEN: And mercury rising. The water is getting warmer in one of the Great Lakes, sparking new concerns and a new debate about global warming. We're live from Duluth, Minnesota, Baghdad, Washington and New York City on this AMERICAN MORNING.
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome back everybody, it's Friday, April 13th, I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien, thanks for being with us. We begin in Iraq where authorities suspect that bombing at the parliament building was an inside job. They have detained three cafeteria workers for questioning. It was a brazen attack at the very heart of the struggling Iraqi government. Eight died in the suicide bombing, one of them a lawmaker. A special session of parliament just wrapping up this morning and there is plenty of tough talk condemning the attack. The worst ever inside Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone. For the very latest let's go live now to Arwa Damon in Baghdad. Arwa?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just a few feet from where that deadly suicide bomber detonated his explosives yesterday. The cafeteria where the attack took place is just behind the walls behind me. We have not been allowed access as it is currently being considered a crime scene. It has been sealed off from all sorts of media coverage, security here incredibly tight following yesterday's attacks. But the magnitude of it can truly be seen in the debris that has been left behind. There is still blown out glass all over the floor, a thick layer of dust covering everything. There are inside many remnants of those who were wounded in the attack. Now, yesterday's blast really shook the very foundation of the Iraqi government. This was an attack against its parliament. Somehow, a suicide bomber managed to penetrate the various layers of security that exist to reach this compound and carry out his attack. This has been devastating to the Iraqi government here. Again, at least eight people have been killed, according to the U.S. military, one of them a member of parliament, who was remembered in an emergency session that was held today. Today's session was very somber, a lot of individuals, members of parliament spoke up remembering their colleague whose life was lost. They laid a bouquet of flowers on the chair that he used to once occupy. But we also heard from members of parliament and from members of the Iraqi government that were present there, was a reiteration of the necessity for true national unity. In fact, one female member of parliament who was wounded in the attack, who is a member of the same political party of the killed member of parliament, she said that for her in many ways this was truly a wake-up call because following the attack all of those who were wounded were taken to a U.S. medical facility and she there realized that the average Iraqis that were living with this type of violence every day did not have the luxuries that they had. So there is a sense of urgency amongst the Iraqi people and among the Iraqi government that perhaps right now their words of moving forward, moving national unity forward and moving security forward might, in fact, happen. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Arwa Damon at the parliament building in Baghdad, thank you. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: A strong earthquake hit Mexico early this morning, it knocked out power in parts of Mexico City, sent residents right into the streets in their pajamas. A Minnesota family that was vacationing in Acapulco say they literally flew out of their beds when the quake struck just after midnight local time. There are no reports yet of any deaths, serious injuries or major damage. The earthquake is reported to have lasted just about a minute.
M. O'BRIEN: It's the end of a radio era this morning for the first time in more than three decades Don Imus is off the air and out of a job. The other shoe dropped yesterday, CBS firing him the day after NBC dropped him from his TV simulcast. This as Imus met with the women of the Rutgers University basketball team, whom he offended. He apologized to them. The pressure on Imus seemed to grow every day after he made racist and sexist remarks. His program brought in $20 million a year for CBS. The coach of the Rutgers' team describes that meeting with Imus as very productive. CNN's Deborah Feyerick was at the governor's mansion in Princeton, New Jersey where it all took place. Deb, good morning.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. Don Imus listened to the players and their parents for more than two and a half hours, he apologized, said he was sorry. But the Rutgers women were not ready to forgive him at least not publicly last night. Imus' limousine pulled away from the New Jersey governor's mansion where that meeting took place. An hour later at about midnight after much talk and deliberation amongst themselves the team came outside and some of the players appeared tired and drained from what was described as a somber, emotional meeting. They repeatedly asked the shock jock, why us? A source at the meeting tells us they wanted him to feel the words, not just say them. Some of the players did cry during that meeting, the team coach now says, though, that the healing can begin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
C. VIVIAN STRINGER, RUTGERS BASKETBALL COACH: Hopefully we can put all of this behind us and look forward to a much more productive society. So, we'll look forward to things and that's really what we'd like to do, is to go forward and to let the healing process begin.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now the team hopes they can finally put this all behind them. It seems at least for now that they're going to have the last word because the team is going to issue a statement probably some time today. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Deb, when Don Imus showed up, he came with his wife. What was that all about? Was she there to kind of help him through this?
FEYERICK: Well it seems that way because she really seemed to connect with the players. After this meeting she hugged each of them individually. So whether she softened his image, whether by standing by him, she gave the impression that look, I'm a woman, he's not all that bad. She did seem to connect with the players. So whether that had any sort of an impact, we may learn that later.
M. O'BRIEN: It might have been his secret weapon at that meeting, who knows. Deb Feyerick, thank you. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Well you know the New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was supposed to be hosting that meeting between Imus and the women of Rutgers. He never made it though to the meeting. Corzine was seriously injured when the SUV that he was driving in crashed near Atlantic City. He had surgery overnight to repair numerous broken bones. He is in critical, but stable condition this morning and doctors say his injuries are significant, but they are not life- threatening. Apparently he broke ribs, his sternum, his collarbone, hi femur, his vertebrae and he had some lacerations to the head.
The district attorney who prosecuted the case against three former Duke University Lacrosse players is going to be fighting to keep his law license today. Those players were cleared of sexual assault charges earlier this week. Durham D.A. Mike NiFong is up on ethics charges with the North Carolina State Bar for the way he handled the case. The state called him a rogue prosecutor for bringing charges against the players. And yesterday NiFong apologized saying in a written statement, "To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused." No decisions are expected on NiFong's law license today. In fact, the full case won't even be heard until June and lawyers for the players haven't said whether they plan to sue NiFong. They also said they aren't exactly ruling it out either.
World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is also apologizing this morning, he approved a $60,000 raise for his female companion, her name is Shaha Riza, also got her a transfer to the state department, listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, PRESIDENT, WORLD BANK: I made a mistake for which I am sorry. But let me also ask for some understanding. Not only was this a painful personal dilemma, but I had to deal with it when I was new to this institution and I was trying to navigate in uncharted waters.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP) S. O'BRIEN: Some people say, well, not that uncharted, Mr. Wolfowitz because he's new to the World Bank of course, but he's worked in government for over 24 years. Some employees booed him and called for his resignation. Wolfowitz was a deputy defense secretary, one of the key architects of the Iraq war. Some employees had already questioned his suitability for the World Bank post. The bank board has not yet decided whether or not he's going to be fired.
M. O'BRIEN: In Washington today, the fight continues over those fired U.S. attorneys and now the focus is on some missing email. Democrats in Congress want to know why so many e-mails written by White House staffers but sent on a Republican Party account are now missing. Let's get the latest on the back and forth over this. Live from the White House Suzanne Malveaux is there. Good morning Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDEN: Good morning Miles. If you look at the actions in the White House you can tell that they are quite concerned about this. Yesterday in really an extraordinarily rare move the White House admitted that they indeed made a mistake, that this is really quite a big mess. They have no idea, Miles, just how many e-mails or what was deleted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): They've lost e-mails that they should have saved.
DEP. WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I will admit it, we screwed up and we're trying to fix it.
MALVEAUX: But Democrats aren't buying it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe that! I don't believe that. You can't erase e-mails, not today. They've gone through too many servers. They can't say they've been lost. That's like saying the dog ate my homework. It doesn't work that way.
MALVEAUX: Congressional investigators already have White House e-mails from ongoing investigations. But they believe the ones they're not seeing could be key. In revealing whether the administration improperly fired eight U.S. attorneys. Or whether the White House had unethical dealings with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to see those e-mails, I want them retrieved. MALVEAUX: The White House says some e-mails could be lost because administration officials may have improperly used outside e- mail accounts to do official work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: White House official business should be done on your White House official account.
MALVEAUX: The administration says it set up those accounts through the Republican National Committee, for 22 current aides, including Karl Rove, to help them avoid using official e-mail for political purposes, which is against the law. But those RNC accounts automatically deleted e-mails every 30 days.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So Miles, the White House says that what they're going to do is use computer forensic experts to try to resurrect some of those lost e-mails. In the meantime the House Judiciary Committee quite angry and upset about this, really trying to push the White House as well as the RNC to come up with this information as quickly as possible. They fired off letters to both the White House and RNC yesterday to say look, they need to get on this right away. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Suzanne, how does this affect the tug of war between the White House and Democrats in Congress over who might or might not testify on all of this from the White House staff?
MALVEAUX: Well it certainly puts a lot more pressure on people like Karl Rove or Harriet Miers to go before, to testify under oath, at least to have some sort of transcript here. Because what members of Congress are saying is look, we don't know what we have here, we don't know what's lost, we need to have a verifiable record. And Miles I should tell you, the immediate impact here is this White House really has a credibility problem. Fairly or unfairly, this really feeds into the perception that this is a White House that has something to hide. Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House, thank you. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Winter doesn't seem to want to let go in certain parts of the country, I'm sorry to tell you. Chad Myers is watching this morning's extreme weather for us straight ahead.
And also ahead, we'll take a look at this, this is Duluth, Minnesota, looks very icy. But all that ice, believe it or not, is very deceptive. Major changes on Lake Superior could drastically change the region's weather. We'll take a look this morning at how the sandwich generation is juggling caring for their children and their aging parents all at the same time. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: In California this morning a couple of downed power lines are being blamed for a brush fire that ripped through some homes in Beverly Hills. Powerful winds snapped the lines yesterday and electrical sparks touched off the flames. At least four multi-million dollar homes are now damaged or destroyed. Firefighters evacuated about 200 people as a precaution. There were no injuries reported.
Beverly Hills is not the only spot that's being affected by those whipping winds. In Kern County which is north of L.A. police closed a section of Highway 58. Wind gusts that were topping 80 miles an hour flipped a trailer, sent newspaper boxes and sand flying right onto the road.
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: It's 26 degrees and clear this morning in Duluth, Minnesota and the water temperature at Lake Superior, chilly 41 degrees. But scientists say they're worried that things are warming up in that part of the world. A study of Lake Superior is finding it is a lot warmer than it used to be. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is along the shores of Superior in Duluth. Good morning, Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Miles. We're getting some startling data from scientists here. First of all, I'm onboard the Blue Heron, this is a research vessel that's used by scientists at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. They are telling us that since 1979 the surface water temperatures on Lake Superior have gone up 4.5 degrees. That's considered a very big leap and it has some folks up here quite concerned about the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Look at the waves of ice on Lake Superior. Probably the last thing you'd think about is global warming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just going to put it back on.
OPPENHEIM: But talk to oceanographer Jay Austin and suddenly you realize that secrets lie beneath.
JAY AUSTIN: The rates of change in Superior are some of the fastest rates of temperature change that, to my knowledge, have been observed anywhere in the world.
OPPENHEIM: Austin analyzed government data from three buoys across Lake Superior which measured water temperature since 1979. Austin crunched the numbers with geologist Steve Coleman.
STEVE COLEMAN: What astounded us when we first discovered it, was that the water temperatures were warming faster than the air temperatures around them.
OPPENHEIM: In fact in roughly 25 years Lake Superior's water temperatures went up 4.5 degrees, almost twice as much as the air temperature. These scientists believe warmer air is melting the lake's ice cover earlier, ice that normally keeps heat away from the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you take that ice away you allow more heat into the lake earlier in the season.
OPPENHEIM: Adam Luck, a fisherman, wonders whether warming water could have a profound impact.
ADAM LUCK, FISHERMAN: A lot of fish in the lake, you know they're cold water fish, they like the colder temperature and the raise in the water temperature has got to affect the fish.
OPPENHEIM: Indeed, some scientists say warmer water in Superior could be an invitation to predatory fish like Asian carp, fish that normally can't stand Superior's cold but thrive elsewhere and wreak havoc on habitat. Other concerns, warmer water could mean stormier weather, more evaporation and less water which could make it tougher for ships to carry full loads.
MELANIE NAPOLEON, SHEDD AQUARIUM: If this trend continues over time, we're going to see a really different place than the place that we're used to.
OPPENHEIM: But some scientists say climate change here isn't necessarily bad. Is it possible that warming water here could mean more fish?
TOM HRABIK, BIOLOGIST, UNIV. OF MINN.: It could mean better reproduction, yes, for some of the species, certainly.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
OPPENHEIM: We're back live with a view of Lake Superior on the rocks. You know, Miles, the scientists here are telling us that if the trends continue as they have gone over the last quarter century or so, it's possible there could be little to no ice on Lake Superior in an average year. So that's just 33 years away, we are talking about at least at this point, fairly rapid climate change.
M. O'RIEN: Keith Oppenheim in Duluth, Minnesota, thank you. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: This story sounds like just unforgivable waste. A new report claims that literally tons of FEMA meals were allowed to go bad. Details on that story coming up next.
And a surprising last-minute development in the auction of those papers written by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. Stay with us, you're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Another case of FEMA's mismanagement to tell you about. As many as 6 million pre-prepared meals went to waste last hurricane season. The "Washington Post" is reporting that FEMA stockpiled food for potential storm victims without ever arranging for refrigerators to store the meals. More than $40 million of food apparently was spoiled in Gulf Coast heat when no major hurricanes made landfall. FEMA says they maybe overreacted after being criticized for doing a little bit too little too late after hurricane Katrina.
And now this fall from a story we've been following for quite a while now, 25 documents, a collection that was said to have been written by the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been taken off the auction block. It happened last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BROWN, GALLERY 63 OWNER: The auction will take place this Sunday as scheduled. We'll sell this million dollar collection to the highest bidder. We'll sell everything in this room to the highest bidder. Everything that is, except for the King papers. Gary 63 has reached an understanding with the King estate and we stand together in agreement that these papers need to be further evaluated before they go on the open market.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Evaluated for example to figure out where exactly they came from. The papers were expected to sell for about $400,000. They haven't been authenticated or appraised. The King family said if they really are from Dr. King, then they belong to King's estate, not to the so far anonymous woman who put them up for sale. Family reps said that yanking the auction of those specific documents was the right thing to do and put dignity and truthfulness before profit.
M. O'BRIEN: Tax day is fast approaching. You have your taxes done?
S. O'BRIEN: No comment.
M. O'BRIEN: I have mine done.
S. O'BRIEN: I never get them done in time.
M. O'BRIEN: I did it on time this year.
S. O'BRIEN: Really, good for you.
M. O'BRIEN: Then an overnight delivery company lost it for 10 days. I kid you not, 10 days it was gone.
S. O'BRIEN: But now you're back on track.
M. O'BRIEN: Now found and now I'm back on track.
S. O'BRIEN: You're still on time, it's all good.
M. O'BRIEN: Any way, so many Americans, meanwhile, are getting hit with that alternative minimum tax and paying more to Uncle Sam as a result. It wasn't intended to be the way it is right now, 25 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding your Business." That tax has crept into a lot of people's lives.
ALI VELSHI: You're right, it wasn't intended to be that. What it was intended to be was a tax for the highest income earners to make sure they couldn't take advantage of too many loopholes. Now the alternative minimum tax, there's no instant way to know for instance whether you're going to be subject to it or not. People who earn, you know single filers who earn about $42,500 a year or couples filing jointly, what they have to do is calculate their tax two different ways to figure out whether or not you're going to be subject to it. And one of them is a calculation with deductions, the other one is without deductions. Guess which one you're going to end up paying? The higher of the two. Now accountants and accounting software will figure most of this out for you, but you might be surprised to find out that it was supposed to be a tax for the rich. What's ended up happening, and look at this chart over here. What's ended up happening is that a couple hundred people started paying this in 1969 when it was invented about 3.5 million taxpayers last year and by 2010 the government estimates it could grow to 10 times that number. Now, what's going to be done about it? House Democratic leaders say that they'll draft a bill next month that excludes anyone who earns less than $200,000 a year, which would be 97 percent of all taxpayers. But don't expect them to go much further than that, why? Because repealing the AMT would cost the government $50 billion a year. And no matter who you are, if you were the government, you probably wouldn't give up the $50 million a year.
M. O'BRIEN: Safe to say that. The money in hand is hard to part with. All right, Ali, thank you.
Is satellite radio next for Don Imus? We'll look at whether Sirius and XM radio are likely to welcome Imus with open arms.
Should Hillary Clinton be worried about Dennis Kucinich? A new online survey favors the congressman ahead of the senator. You heard me right. You'll find out why, stay tuned.
Imagine having three kids, an ailing mother who needs care and hundreds of miles standing between the two of you. It's actually a struggle familiar to a lot of people in their 40s and 50s. The sandwich generation we are called. Most news in the morning, right here.
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SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Friday, April 13th. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: And I'm Miles O'Brien. We're glad you're with us this morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Several big stories we're watching on the radar this morning including a late night meeting between Don Imus and the Rutger players that he insulted. We'll tell you about the meeting and whether satellite radio could be Imus' next stop.
M. O'BRIEN: A new presidential poll is out. The online survey raising a new question for Hillary Clinton. Could she be in big trouble when it comes to winning support of liberals?
S. O'BRIEN: Also ahead this morning, the price of being a good daughter. We'll introduce you to a woman who has two jobs, three kids and a mother who really, really needs her in Texas. It's a stressful reality check. The only solution cost lots of money.
M. O'BRIEN: A strong earthquake hit Mexico early this morning knocking out power in parts of Mexico City and sending residents into their streets in their pajamas. A Minnesota family vacationing in Acapulco saying they literally flew out of bed when the quake struck just after midnight local time. No reports of deaths, serious injuries or major damage just yet. The earthquake lasted just about a minute.
In Iraq this morning, authorities suspect that bombing at the parliament building was an inside job. They have detained three cafeteria workers for questioning. It was a brazen attack, the very heart of the struggling Iraqi government. Eight died in the suicide bombing, one of them a lawmaker. A special session of parliament held this morning and there's plenty of tough talk condemning the attack, the worst ever inside Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone.
S. O'BRIEN: Don Imus may have hosted his last talk show. CBS fired him on Thursday after NBC pulled the plug on his TV simulcast. It was Imus' racially offensive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team that led to the dismissals. So is this the end of the so-called shock radio? CNN's Allan Chernoff has more for us. He's at CBS headquarters in New York this morning. Hey, Allan, good morning.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. The firing of Don Imus by CBS could lead to even bigger changes in broadcasting if you believe what the folks at CBS are saying about their action. Could this possibly be the end of the shock jock era?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD STERN: This broadcast is history in the making.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Shock jock Howard Stern left the public airwaves for satellite radio. So did controversial radio host Opi (ph) and Anthony.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our first day on XM satellite radio.
CHERNOFF: But a source in the industry says there's no opportunity now for Imus on satellite radio, especially since Sirius and XM are hoping to gain government approval for a planned merger.
PAUL LA MONICA, CNN MONEY.COM: Satellite radio can't afford the risk right now. Simply put, they just need to steer clear of any more controversy that could possibly derail their merger plans.
DON IMUS: Some time we go too far.
CHERNOFF: Indeed the collapse of Imus, an original shock jock, could mark a threshold, a change in attitudes about public vulgarity. In cutting ties to Don Imus, both CBS and NBC say they hope to clean up the airwaves. STEVE CAPUS, NBC NEWS PRESIDENT: This had touched a nerve and the comment that came through to us time and time again was, when is enough going to be enough?
CHERNOFF: CBS CEO Les Moonves (ph) told his staff in a memo, firing Imus is an effort to curb offensive speech in American pop culture. In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our company.
JESSE JACKSON: Make media more inclusive.
CHERNOFF: Minority leaders who called for Imus' firing say their campaign on all kinds of media companies is just getting started.
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: We're going to be looking around the television industry and the music industry and, clearly, I think that all of them ought to know that there is no one that does not, in our judgment, get a pass here. I think from musicians on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Of course, that's easier said than done. Controversial and often offensive comments very well lead to higher ratings in radio and television and of course, nasty lyrics have not hurt the music industry at all. So many people may be fed up, but among those who are not, will they actually stop buying and stop tuning in? Soledad, it remains to be seen, but let's not bet on it.
S. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff for us this morning, thank you Allan.
The wife of Don Imus is speaking out this morning. She is hosting a radiothon for charity today on WFAN radio in New York because her husband was fired late yesterday. She's attended the meeting, too, with the Rutgers players. Here's what she had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEIRDRE IMUS: They gave us the opportunity to listen to listen to what they had to say and why they're hurting and how awful this is. I have to say that these women are unbelievably courageous and beautiful women and one thing I want to say is that the hate mail that's being sent to them must stop. This is wrong. If you want to send hate mail, send it to my husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: That's quite a thing to say. Apparently, she was at this meeting hugging some of the young girls who were crying in that meeting. That was Deirdre Imus on WFAN this morning.
The New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was supposed to be hosting the meeting between Don Imus and the women's basketball team of Rutgers, never made it to the meeting, though. The governor was seriously injured when the SUV that he was riding in crashed near Atlantic City. He had surgery overnight to repair numerous broken bones. He's in critical but stable condition this morning and doctors say his injuries are significant, not life threatening. He's suffered several broken ribs, broken collar bone, broken femur, fractured lower vertebrae and some lacerations to the head.
M. O'BRIEN: In Washington today, the fight continues over those fired U.S. attorneys and now the focus is on some missing e-mail. Democrats in Congress want to know why so many e-mail written by White House staffers but sent on a Republican party account are missing. The e-mails were erased. The White House is calling it an accident. Democrats are skeptical and are threatening to issue subpoenas. They believe White House staffers used the party e-mail accounts to cover their tracks as they pursue politically motivated dismissals of those prosecutors. Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: (INAUDIBLE) Paul Wolfowitz's job could be on the line. He approved, apparently, a $60,000 raise for his female companion. Her name is Shaha Riza (ph), also got her a transfer to the State Department. As the World Bank opened its spring meeting yesterday, Wolfowitz apologized. Some employees though booed him and called for his resignation. Directors at the World Bank are now meeting to decide what steps they should take next.
M. O'BRIEN: Politics now, through the looking glass. Dennis Kucinich beating Hillary Clinton and Fred Thompson ahead of John McCain. What gives here? Here to break down these odd numbers senior political analyst and sometime Mad Hatter Bill Schneider in Washington this morning. Bill, good to have you with us. This comes from moveon.org. This is a liberal activist group. It's online straw poll and so, take it for what it is, given all those caveats. But look at this, Obama at the top with 28 percent and go all the way down to the bottom of the screen, folks, just barely above the banner and there is Hillary Clinton at 11 percent. What do you think Bill? Is it time for Hillary Clinton to apologize for that war vote or is it too late now?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's indicated she is not going to apologize and she moved her position. She's changed her position. Certainly she become a vociferous critic of the president's policies on Iraq. She has met with a lot of criticism from moveon.org and other progressive activists who are anti-Iraq war. And in fact when she spoke in the online forum sponsored by moveon, she told the members, although you may be a little surprised to hear me say this, I am grateful for your work. In the end, of course, she came in fifth in that online vote. About 43,000 of these grassroots activists participated. Obama was the winner, but only by a small margin. I think the bottom line here is the effort was attempting to showcase the unity of the Democrats in their opposition to the Iraq war and that it certainly did because those votes were spread pretty evenly among the candidates.
M. O'BRIEN: Right, but fragmented unity in the sense that it's spread among candidates, if that makes any sense, fragmented unity. Barack Obama at the top there. What should we take away from that? Is this all about the war or is there more to it than that? SCHNEIDER: I think you should take away that there is a basic unanimity of opinion among Democratic candidates for president of opposition to the war in Iraq, a determination to get the United States out of Iraq. This wasn't a vote for your favorite candidate. This was a vote on who would get the United States out of Iraq fastest and who has the best plan to do that. That's what those moveon.org members were voting on. And by a small margin they favored Barack Obama, but all of the candidates had a plan and the votes were scattered among all of them.
M. O'BRIEN: Let's move to another poll, this is a more scientific poll. It comes from the "LA Times" and Bloomberg. A couple sets of numbers I want to share with you. First of all, among Republican voters, support right now, Giuliani at the top with 29 percent, Fred Thompson, the actor turned politician turned actor turned politician again maybe because he's thinking about running, John McCain below him. By the way, Thompson has not announced a run and then Mitt Romney down 8 percent. Let's move to the next one and put these two things together for people. Iraq war is the top issue, 63 percent of Democrat primary voters believe it's the top issue. Republican primary voters put it at 37 percent. So what is going on here? Is John McCain strangely, ironically whatever, in sort of the same position as Hillary Clinton that the war is bringing him down?
SCHNEIDER: The war is a big problem for John McCain and his campaign is not doing as well as it was expected to do. He didn't raise as much money as any of the top six contenders in both parties. He came at the bottom of that list. A lot of people say well it's because he's embraced President Bush's policies on the war. But keep this in mind, he's faltering here among Republican primary voters, Republicans. Seventy percent of Republicans support President Bush on the war. So, why should McCain be faltering among Republicans? The last poll you showed gives a clue. The Republican voters are far less focused on the war in Iraq than Democrats are. They don't want to talk about it. They don't want to advertise it and it's McCain's signature issue. So I think a lot Republicans look at John McCain and they wonder, how can we win with this guy if he's wrapped his arms around Bush on the Iraq issue.
M. O'BRIEN: It's not a question of what they believe what he says. It's just be quiet about it or something to that effect, right?
SCHNEIDER: Well, he's running on an issue that they don't believe is a winning issue for them.
M. O'BRIEN: Bill Schneider, always a pleasure. Thank you, sir, our senior political analyst and sometime Mad Hatter, Bill Schneider.
Snow slated for the Rockies. Wind and brush fires out west and a dust storm covering Phoenix sounds positively biblical, doesn't it? Chad Myers has a look at the wild weather coming up.
And they're parents who also are caring for their own parents. Look at the realities of the sandwich generation coming up. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Happening in America, a couple items from our cars in stores desk, surveillance video division. First in Ohio a car drives into the front window of a combination appliance store and tanning salon, yes, appliances and tanning in one place. Maybe that's what lured them in. Who knows. Police say two cars collided actually in a parking lot and the driver apparently stepped on the gas instead of the brake. Fortunately, nobody got hurt, though.
But, wait, there's more. Alabama, Easter Sunday. We're just getting this surveillance tape in, car smashing into a pharmacy. Looks purposeful, right? Well, it was. Police think the driver and passenger were trying to smash and grab some drugs. They didn't get anything though because all that stuff in the foreground there is just the over the counter stuff. The stuff they were after was in a safe and the car couldn't open that. Pharmacy is already back in business. Police are still searching for the suspects, however.
A wild police chase in Orlando, Florida, end up with this scene, a cruiser in the lake. An officer chasing a suspected car thief lost control of the car and the car thieves did and so did the police officer who ended up in the lake. One of the suspects was arrested and charged with grand theft auto. The police officer had to wait several moments for the water to fill in in his car so he could open up the door.
In California 50 mile-an-hour winds blamed for knocking down power lines, sparking a Beverly Hills wild fire that damaged or at least four multi-million dollar homes. At least 200 people evacuated. No one nobody hurt. Thousands in the area still without power this morning. High wind warnings are still in effect for much of southern California today.
And strong winds also blamed for kicking up thick, choking dust and blowing over trees and power lines around Phoenix. Lights back on now for most of the 6,600 homes that lost power there.
S. O'BRIEN: Just about 45 minutes past the hour. Time for Chad Myers with a look at some of the parts of the country that have some serious storm warnings. Hey, Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Soledad. That big dust storm in Phoenix, that will really slow the airplanes down. Can't get planes flying through that kind of dust and get that into the jets. But, man, look at now the storm has moved into the central plains, Wichita, Oklahoma City and this big yellow box, their several thunderstorm watch box. I suspect we'll have four or five more watches before this day is over and they will be tornado watches, as well. Snowing now in Pueblo, snowing in western Kansas, Denver you get some snow, but you're not going to get feet of snow. Most of it is going to be well south of you, Castle Rock down to Pueblo. (INAUDIBLE) That's a foot of snow or more, I-25, that could get tricky for a while. Soledad, back to you.
S. O'BRIEN: It sure could. All right, Chad, thank you. Ahead this morning, they're caring for both their kids and their parents. We'll take a look at how millions of Americans are now dealing with the ultimate parent trap. That's straight ahead this morning.
And Reverend Al Sharpton's campaign to get Don Imus fired, but is there a double standard? Our next guest says a larger, much more critical problem is being deliberately ignored by the African-American community. We'll go head to head with the reverend coming up next.
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S. O'BRIEN: Millions of Americans are part of what's called the sandwich generation. They have to raise their own kids, then care for ailing parents and older relatives all at the same time. So, we decided to walk a mile, more like 2,000 miles in the shoes of one woman who is trying to be both a good parent to her children and a good child to her parent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): First problem was Patti Robison works as a computer security analyst and also teaches at New York University two nights a week. She's the mother of three and the daughter of 84- year-old Edith Robison. When Edith took a fall last year, Patty's life went from hectic to crazy. At the end of nearly every workweek, Patty makes the trip from New York City to her mother's side in Austin, Texas. Edith is a widowed World War II veteran. She was living in a nursing home but planned to retire at a veteran's community in Texas. But a few months after her fall, Edith was back in the emergency room again. Patty was notified by her mom's nursing home and tried to reach her mother, but it took hospital staffers five hours to finally find Edith. She was parked in a wheelchair facing a wall. That's when Patti and Edith decided they needed to live near each other.
PATTI ROBISON, MOTHER: It is challenging. I think there's times when I'm not quite handling everything. Something is slipping. Why you can hire somebody to do some of the work for you, they can't do all of it. They can't talk to the doctors, nurses, the social worker.
S. O'BRIEN: The idea is to move Edith to New York. On a rare weekend not spent in Texas, I tagged along as Patti went to check out an assisted living facility.
ROBISON: She might as well just move up here if we can find the right place.
S. O'BRIEN: The next battle is figuring out how to pay for it. Patti's travel costs about $1,000 a month and when she's on the road, her husband, a lawyer who works from home, takes over kid duty. It has been a burden on the family and Edith's nursing home bills will at least double when she moves to New York.
ROBISON: This is $14,000 a month. That's what nursing homes are, $14,000 a month. S. O'BRIEN: In some ways Patti is very lucky. Her mother has been putting away money for her own care for years. Still, there's a big, emotional toll.
ROBISON: I think there are moments you don't even think about it. You just do what you have to do and then there's those moments you just totally break down.
S. O'BRIEN: Do you have a lot of break down moments?
ROBISON: I think more than I used to. Don't cry, I'll see you soon. Like whenever I leave her, I always cry. It's hard. It's hard any time when you think about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Patti, unfortunately, has a lot of company. A study found that as many as 33 million Americans are taking care of their older parents or relatives. And usually it falls, the burden falls on the women, the daughters, not on the sons. Sometimes even the wives of sons, not necessarily the sons. The Harvard Business Review says one in four women who leave their jobs leave their jobs not because they're taking care of their children. They leave their jobs because they're taking care of an older parent who is ailing and needs their help.
M. O'BRIEN: That $14,000 a month figure is really a staggering one.
S. O'BRIEN: She is in good shape because her mother prepared. She said she went in as devastating as it was, she had all of her records. She had been saving money. She, in a way, she's the best- case scenario and you could see how she is a wreck. I mean, she's just pulled in every direction. She does that sprint and then runs back home and starts her workweek again, ends the week and does the sprint again. It's very wearing on her physically and emotionally.
M. O'BRIEN: That is tough. That could go on for quite some time.
S. O'BRIEN: Yeah.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you, Soledad.
Coming up, Don Imus sits down with the Rutgers women's basketball team. We're told it was a productive meeting. Plus, a look at what is next for him now.
And controversy over the Catholic prayer breakfast with the president. Why? Faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher will explain that. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: If you're an iTunes person and an iPod person and you want to hear the Beatles, you got a bit of a problem, but maybe not for long. A few minutes before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi is here minding your business.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You have to buy or get the Beatles CDs downloaded. You can't download it from iTunes or a digital music service. In fact, the Beatles, Radio Head, Led Zeppelin, there are a few of the standouts from the whole digital download world. A deal now has been reached between two companies, Apple Corps, no relation to Apple, which is the company that manages the Beatles catalog and EMI, the record label. The two have been in dispute for a few years now about various things. They've come to a settlement. In 2005 Apple Corps sued EMI for $50 million, about $60 million. They've now settled that. Not specifically having to do with digital downloads but nothing was going forward with this whole thing until this suit was settled. So this has been settled and what a lot of people are speculating is, it could mean now that the Beatles catalog might be available to digital download because EMI is a bit of a struggling record label and there's nothing more lucrative obviously in 2007 than having popular music available on a download service.
M. O'BRIEN: Remind me that Apple versus Apple deal.
VELSHI: That's also been settled. Apple Corps was suing Apple Music and that is called just Apple now. So everybody is happy and maybe we can make a deal and download Beatles music soon.
M. O'BRIEN: You say you want a revolution. All right Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Coming up at the top of the hour, Chad Myers at the CNN weather center. What are you watching for our big story today, Chad?
MYERS: A storm, Soledad, that making wind in California and will make tornadoes in Texas, snow in Kansas, big-time snow in southeastern Colorado and the snow is going to continue there, piling up a foot deep in some spots, not really so much for Denver, but Pueblo and Trinidad, even Dodge City going to pick up a bunch of snow today. The big story, I think though, will be the tornadoes on the ground this afternoon. We'll detail where that's going to happen in about 15 minutes. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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