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American Morning
Commuter Nightmare in San Francisco Bay Area; More Names to be Made Public in D.C. Sex Scandal?; Conference on Iraq
Aired April 30, 2007 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): State of emergency.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: The state has to help the local community here as quick as possible. They are right now working already on rebuilding this mess.
ROBERTS: Bracing for a commuter nightmare in the Bay Area that could last months.
And flight of fancy. Would you try a startup airline at $10 a ticket? Check out the no-frills operation for yourself on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. It's Monday, April the 30th.
I'm John Roberts in the nation's capital.
Good morning, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
We have a lot of stories on our radar today.
Of course, the big news, the big, salacious news out of Washington today, is the alleged madam. Apparently, there are two high-profile figures now connected to her, and it looks like D.C. could be bracing for one of its biggest scandals ever.
ROBERTS: I love that the big, salacious news out of Washington.
Also, other news out of Washington, reaction to George Tenet's new book which is out today, as well as his interview yesterday on "60 Minutes". We'll hear from White House press secretary Tony Snow on part of that, this claim that Tenet was hung out to dry over his comments of "slam dunk" on the Iraq prewar intelligence. And we're also hearing from former CIA intelligence officials who don't have very kind things to say about George.
CHETRY: That's right. And boy, the pictures tell the story in San Francisco today. Commuters in the Bay Area getting a free ride on mass transit. They're bracing for a traffic nightmare in the east bay after this happened.
It was a tanker truck carrying gasoline that crashed and caught fire Sunday. That intense heat, thousands of degrees, melted ramps at one of the Bay Area's busiest interchanges.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Chris Lawrence is live in Oakland, where the beginnings of the commute are getting under way, and it certainly is going to be a tough morning for everyone out there.
Hi, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Well, you know, the first time you see the one highway just literally collapsed on top of the other, you just think, thank god nobody was killed. But eventually commuters are going to want to know, how do I get to work without spending hours on the road?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice over): This is what it looks like when a tanker crashes and 8,000 gallons of gasoline ignite on a major highway. Flames shoot up 200 feet, and the air boils to nearly 3,000 degrees. Steel beams buckle, and bolts holding up the overpass melt.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger inspected the freeway Sunday night and declared a state of emergency.
SCHWARZENEGGER: No one has to fight over who is going to pay for the first few days. It's all taken care of.
How fast you move people and goods and services, that's economic power. We don't want the economy in the Bay Area to be disrupted, nor the economy of California to be disrupted.
LAWRENCE: The state of California is picking up the tab to provide free public transportation Monday, but the months to come could be a nightmare.
COMMISSIONER MIKE BROWN, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: I would love to be able to say it's going to be easy, but I don't think it will be.
LAWRENCE: Every day more than 250,000 commuters take the bridge into San Francisco.
ROSEANNE WINCEK, BAY AREA COMMUTER: I live in the city and I work at Berkeley. So I don't want to be here tomorrow when it's going to be insane.
MOSTAFA EL DESOKY, BAY AREA COMMUTER: I think I'm maybe going to have, like, probably at least two or three hours and before I hit (INAUDIBLE). It usually takes me 20 minutes, 25 minutes max. LAWRENCE: Repair costs could top tens of millions of dollars, and it could cause the worse traffic destruction since the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. To fix the freeways then took about seven years and $2 billion.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Now, there are some alternate routes that commuters can take, but a lot of them involve surface streets, so none of them are all that good. Officials are asking people to try to work from home or take public transportation, but if this stretches into October or perhaps November, as it could, people are going to have to come up with a longer-term solution in order to figure out how to get to work on time -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence out there in Oakland for us this morning.
Thank you.
Happening right now, a headache of a commute along Interstate 95 in Baltimore. We're just getting these pictures in courtesy of WBAL in Baltimore.
An overturned tractor-trailer causing a big backup there. Apparently, the truck crashed into an SUV a couple of hours ago, spilled some diesel fuel. It ended up closing the southbound lanes of 95.
The traffic is now being diverted on to Interstate 895 right now. And you can see a little bit of that rig. It looks like a real mess there outside of Baltimore this morning.
We'll keep you posted on that, as well.
ROBERTS: Wow. It doesn't look like a good outcome for that truck driver. We'll have to find out what happened to him. That is going to cause a real nightmare for commuters this morning in that area.
Will she name names? Washington is on edge waiting for the answer. A California woman who is accused of running a prostitution ring for the rich and powerful in the nation's capital has got a date in court this morning.
CNN's Jim Acosta is live at the federal courthouse outside of Washington.
Jim, this has really caused an incredible dustup here in Washington. People wondering who is on the list, whose name might come out.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John.
This is certainly a D.C. scandal in the making. It's not quite summer yet, but it certainly feels that way here in Washington. There are growing concerns in this town that this alleged D.C. madam will reveal scores of phone records that could embarrass Washington officials, high-level Washington officials, if these names are named. And she says that she plans on doing this if federal prosecutors in this case don't back down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice over): Deborah Jeane Palfrey denies accusations she ran a D.C. prostitution ring.
DEBORAH JEANE PALFREY, PAMELA MARTIN AND ASSOCIATES: The firm Pamela Martin and Associates operated as a legal, high-end, erotic fantasy service.
ACOSTA: But there are fears in the nation's capital that the woman behind the business Pamela Martin and Associates has every intention of naming names to stay out of jail.
PALFREY: This is on the head of the government. This is not on me. They had a chance at any given point in the last six or so months to stop this thing, but they don't seem to care.
ACOSTA: In an interview with the Internet radio site WS Radio, Palfrey says she plans on disclosing more than a decade's worth of phone records from her self-described erotic fantasy service as part of her defense.
PALFREY: Look, we're going to use some, if not many, of these 10,000 people who used the service for the 13 years as defense witnesses, and many of these people have government clearances, security clearances, high-level individuals.
Do you really want this to happen?
ACOSTA: High-level individuals like Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias. He resigned last week for personal reasons after confirming to ABC News that he was one of Palfrey's clients. Tobias, a proponent of abstinence-based AIDS prevention, and seen here with President Bush, told ABC he had only received massages from Palfrey's service.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And Deborah Palfrey, who also goes by Jeane, is expected to be back here at U.S. District Court later this morning at 10:00 to request a new public defender in this case. She claims that she is broke after federal authorities took her life savings and seized her assets last fall. She is now trying to sell clips from that interview you just heard to help pay for her legal defense -- John.
ROBERTS: Jim, it's a rather odd strategy that she's using, saying, you know, if you keep pressing ahead with this case, I'm going to release this information and you don't want that information to come out. I would think the prosecutors could care less. ACOSTA: Well, you would think the prosecutors could care less, but I think what the defense strategy here is, is that if they could raise the temperature in this town -- and it is late spring, it's almost summer here in Washington, John -- that perhaps some pressure could be brought to bear on these prosecutors. But that, obviously, is not something that -- you know, that they would willingly and publicly consider. But you have to wonder whether more names are dropped in this case and what effect that will have on what happens here.
ROBERTS: Well, you've got to think, Jim, that if that's the strategy, that the controversy of putting pressure on prosecutors to drop the case would be worse than anything that would come out of being named on her little black book.
Jim Acosta, thanks very much.
ACOSTA: Sure.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: There's already some backlash this morning over some comments by former CIA director George Tenet in his new book from former colleagues at the CIA and from the White House. Tenet sold CBS' "60 Minutes" that his now famous "slam dunk" comment was unfairly used by the Bush administration to justify going to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE TENET, FMR. CIA DIRECTOR: The hardest part of all this has just been listening to this for almost three years. Listening to the vice president go on "Meet the Press" on the fifth year of 9/11, you know, and say, well, George Tenet said "slam dunk," as if he needed me to say "slam dunk" to go to war with Iraq. And they never let it go.
I mean, I became campaign talk. I was a talking point. You know, look what the idiot told us, and we decided to go to war. Well, let's not be so disingenuous.
Let's stand up. This is why we did it. This is -- this is how we did it, and let's tell -- let's everybody tell the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we heard from White House Press Secretary Tony Snow, who said too much is being made of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It seems to me that there is a lot of umbrage taken with the term "slam dunk". You know, that was in Bob Woodward's book. But on the other hand, there doesn't seem to be any dispute about the fact that the best intelligence available to the United States, to the intelligence committees on Capitol Hill, to intelligence services around the world, was that Saddam had some weapons of mass destruction and was pursuing further weapons of mass destruction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We also spoke with a former CIA intelligence officer who had some harsh words for Tenet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY JOHNSON, FMR. CIA INTELLIGENCE OFFICER: I think George Tenet owes the soldiers and their families who have died, or who have been killed or wounded in Iraq, part of the proceeds of his book. Because now he could have stood up and spoke out when he had the chance when he had the job. He could have changed the course of American history.
Instead, he kept silent, and now he wants to get a $4 million pay day and $50,000 speaking engagements. The man is profiting from the blood of American soldiers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: George Tenet sits down with Larry King tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
A just-released government report lays out a bleak assessment of Iraq's reconstruction, saying that Iraq is still plagued by power outages and a lack of clean water and health care. The Iraq rebuilding project has already cost U.S. taxpayers $30 billion.
ROBERTS: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is off to Egypt today for a conference aimed at finding solutions to the violence in Iraq. Iran will also attend the U.N.-sponsored meeting.
State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee will also be heading to Sharm el Sheikh later on today. She joins us now with a quick preview.
What do they hope to achieve here?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are multiple goals here. The main one is to try and find a way, a solution to have to stabilize the violence in Iraq and try and help Iraqis with political reconciliation. That, as you know, is one of the main causes of sectarian violence between Sunni and Shia factions.
The conference is also going to address the issue of Iraqi reconstruction. It's expected that a big chunk of Iraq's debt will be forgiven. The meeting's going to take place this Thursday and Friday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh.
Now, Iran, as you mentioned, is going to be there. At the last minute it says it will attend. And what that does is it raises the chances of a direct encounter between Secretary Rice and her Iranian counterpart.
Now, in interviews yesterday, Secretary Rice didn't rule that out. Here's what she told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: If, in fact, everybody believes a secure Iraq is important, then we need to stop the flow of foreign fighters. We need to stop the help to militias that then go out and kill innocent Iraqis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Now, the State Department says that any discussion with the Iranians at all will only be about Iraq. The Bush administration is investing a lot in this conference, John. The U.S. hopes that it will essentially lead to greater regional and international support in helping get Iraq back on its feet.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you, anything would be welcome at this point.
You're also following another big story here in Washington, the fate of World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz.
VERJEE: Yes. It's his turn today to present his side of the story to a World Bank committee.
Now, the issue here is the way that Wolfowitz handled the transfer and the promotion of his girlfriend, Shaha Riza. World Bank staff for weeks have been in open revolt. There's been a rule mutiny of sorts at the World Bank, calling for his resignation, saying essentially that his actions have undermined the credibility of the World Bank. Many European countries and former World Bank officials are saying the same thing.
Now, Paul Wolfowitz's lawyer, Robert Bennett, says Wolfowitz took the action with the knowledge and the approval of the bank. Now, in a statement to CNN, Bennett says this -- he says, "I'm hopeful that the bank and the committee will lower the temperature and de-escalate the unnecessary dispute."
But John, this furor, it seems, is really less now about his girlfriend and more about general dissatisfaction and dislike over Wolfowitz personally, as well as professionally, and the way he's been managing things.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, you know, there's no end of controversy when it comes to Paul Wolfowitz. Look at his tenure at the Pentagon. But he's got a good attorney.
VERJEE: Yes.
ROBERTS: If anybody's going to get him out of this, it's Bennett. And he's got the president standing behind him, too.
VERJEE: Exactly.
ROBERTS: So a little White House pressure. VERJEE: Exactly. The president has said that he has full confidence behind him, and Bennett has also said that there is no way he's going to resign under this cloud.
ROBERTS: Well, thanks very much for that. Enjoy Sharm el Sheikh. It's a great place.
VERJEE: Thank you. I will.
ROBERTS: Take sunscreen. A little tip from somebody's who's been there.
VERJEE: I hope I get a chance to put sunscreen on.
ROBERTS: Just walking around you need it. Thanks, Zain. Appreciate it.
Thirteen minutes after the hour.
A jury in London today found five British Muslims guilty of plotting a series of bombings in the U.K. Investigators say they planned to use fertilizer bombs to destroy shopping malls and one of London's biggest nightclubs. The jury deliberated for seven weeks.
CHETRY: A revamped Delta Air Lines coming out of bankruptcy today. So what does it mean for your next flight and for the airline industry as a whole?
CNN's Rusty Dornin is live at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Airport with a report for us about this.
Are we going to notice a difference?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, what you're going to notice is a lot more smiling faces at Delta. They've had a tough 20 months, with slashes in payroll, pension plans, people laid off. Tomorrow, they're supposed to share $480 million in cash and stock options. Delta is not just emerging from bankruptcy, they're making a big splash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN (voice over): Delta cut 6,000 jobs and $3 billion in annual operating costs. And smack dab in the middle of the bankruptcy, the airline spent a bundle on remodeling at Atlanta's Hartsfield-International Airport.
JIM WHITEHURST, DELTA CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: We spent $30 million over the last year redoing the lobby. We have many more check-in positions, we have many more kiosks. It means shorter lines, easier to get through the lobby.
DORNIN: Millions more to spruce up plain interiors, live TV in the consoles, even new flight attendant uniforms. And the jets will get new paint jobs.
But what about the thousands of workers it was forced to lay off?
WHITEHURST: We have brought back most everyone who was out on furlough. And in most areas, we're hiring new people.
DORNIN: According to "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," the legal bills facing Delta could top $200 million. That's about the equivalent of the annual salaries of 3,000 mechanics.
Other airlines have faced similar financial problems. Northwest also filed for bankruptcy on the same day as Delta in September of '05. But unlike Northwest, which has yet to emerge from bankruptcy, Delta benefits from a largely non-union labor force. Chapter 11 has also allowed Delta to streamline its costs and ship more jets to more profitable overseas routes. The new sleaker, more efficient Delta could mean a nicer experience also.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for flying Delta.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks.
DORNIN (on camera): Does this mean we're going to get our pillows back?
WHITEHURST: We're looking hard at pillows. I don't want to promise you that, but we are looking hard at it. We are going to roll out food again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: You heard it right, food. Meals in coach as of fall, apparently, on flights longer than three hours. Delta has also apparently added 60 international flights to its service -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. But for now it's BYOP, bring your own pillow. They're looking hard at it.
Rusty, thanks so much.
And coming up, we're going to get on board with the newest airline taking flight. For less than a trip to the movies, you can fly. It's $10 a ticket. We're going to talk with the CEO up next.
Also, there's some encouraging news in the fight against Georgia's biggest wildfire ever.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes after the hour. There it is, the extreme weather graphic again, which means that we've got heavy weather in parts of the country.
(WEATHER REPORT) CHETRY: Well, we've been talking about changes in the airline industry. Delta coming out of bankruptcy. And today there is a new airline about to launch. It's called Skybus, and it's offering flights for only $10 one way.
Bill Diffenderffer is CEO of Skybus. And he's in front of one of his planes at the Columbus airport in Ohio.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
BILL DIFFENDERFFER, CEO, SKYBUS: Well, thank you. I welcome the chance to talk about Skybus.
CHETRY: All right. So, some are asking today, is this too good to be true? How does the $10 fare work?
DIFFENDERFFER: Well, the $10 fare works so that there's -- on every aircraft, every flight we have, there will always be at least 10 seats that are sold at $10 a piece. But really, that could be as many as 10 percent or more of our seats sold at that price. And we just think it's a great way to market the airline, let everybody understand exactly how outrageously low a fare can be.
CHETRY: And how much are the other seats, for the most part?
DIFFENDERFFER: Well, the other seats vary. As you get closer in to the time and date, the flight goes up. It's going to be more expensive. But on average, our fares will always be about 50 percent below everybody else's.
CHETRY: OK. So let me ask you, because you're getting a lot of attention about this, but also some criticism. In today's "Hartford Courant" they talk about some of the fine-print issues that they're taking issue with.
One of them is you have to pay for additional things like snacks, beverages, checking your luggage. And you can even pay to be able to board ahead of other people and get a good seat.
DIFFENDERFFER: Well, you know, people are always paying for all those things. They're just built into the fare. What we've done is we separated those charges out and let the individual make the choice.
But I think America can do some basic addition. And if our fares on average are $100 and everybody else's fares are $200. If you pay $2 for a coke and $5 to check your bag, you're still way under whatever else you would have paid.
CHETRY: All right. And people like the option to be able to choose what they're going to do with that to save some money.
The other thing though is about food. You don't let people bring outside food, even if they buy it in the airport. But you can only have food if you buy it from Skybus.
DIFFENDERFFER: Well, we prefer that because, first of all, our flight attendants make a commission on a sale. So we want to encourage the people to get what we're selling them in the same way that when you go into a restaurant you buy the restaurant's food, you don't bring something into a restaurant.
CHETRY: OK. And then my other question is about customer service. You guys are Web-based, and you do that to keep your costs down. But what about emergencies? Is there a number, a phone number, where people can call?
DIFFENDERFFER: Well, there really isn't. On the other hand, there's no phone number to call amazon.com either.
We're in an e-commerce world now, and that's one of the technological advances that Skybus produces. And we're a very technological-oriented airline. That's one of the things that we do to keep our costs down. So we think everybody is pretty much ready for e-commerce.
CHETRY: And you're...
DIFFENDERFFER: Even an e-commerce airline.
CHETRY: If you guys are successful, are you going to expand?
DIFFENDERFFER: I'm sorry, we've got an airplane going on right behind me right now.
CHETRY: I'm surprised you can hear me at all.
If you guys are successful, plans to expand to other cities?
DIFFENDERFFER: Sure, absolutely. We think there's lots of opportunity here in Columbus, but we think people across the country are interested in $10 fares, and fares that are half of everybody else's.
And we have gotten tremendous volume of support during this first week of sales. So we're real excited how things grow forward as we go forward.
CHETRY: All right. Well, good luck to you, and thanks for spending some time with us to talk about it.
Bill Diffenderffer is CEO of Skybus.
DIFFENDERFFER: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Burger King comes in with a whopper of a revenue boost.
Ali Velshi takes a look at that coming up next.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-six minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business". Ali is also fired up about Skybus.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Outrageous. Outrageous.
CHETRY: What? Because they don't have a phone number.
VELSHI: Outrageous when he says he doesn't have a number because Amazon doesn't have a number. The worst thing that Amazon can do to me is lose my package. There's a whole lot worse that an airline can do.
It's outrageous when he says that.
CHETRY: Well, I believe -- and we should have asked him this -- I believe that if they had an emergency, they would publish an emergency number.
VELSHI: Oh, no doubt they would. But if I'm on the road somewhere and I think there's a problem with Delta, I can call 411 and get a number for Delta. I mean, it's an airline.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: But aren't we out of the age when airlines are considered a luxury? It's like, you don't expected to be treated well anymore.
VELSHI: You know, that's actually...
CHETRY: You kind of -- it's bare bones.
VELSHI: The pillows, the peanuts, the meals...
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: ... give up on that kind of stuff. However, the meals, you would think we would get smarter about eating.
Generally speaking, you know, we're still eating more fast food. Burger King comes out with its -- came out with its earnings on Friday. No surprise, numbers are up.
This is the world's second largest hamburger chain. They're making money off a few things. One is new, cheaper breakfast menus to compete with McDonald's, which sort of owns that space. New lower- priced value meals to compete with McDonald's dollar menus and Wendy's super value menus.
And let me show you the burgers that are driving the sales in this one.
CHETRY: Please do.
VELSHI: There are three of them. The Angus Cheesy Bacon Burger on the left, 740 calories. The Texas Double Whopper on the right, 1,050 calories. And the BK Stacker right there in the middle. If you take just the double version -- I think that's the triple we're showing -- the double has 610 calories.
So apparently we're all not worried about our middles.
CHETRY: Yes, but there's no -- you can't have trans fat in your KFC anymore, but look at those things.
VELSHI: I'm making an airline just, you know, for wider folks, because, clearly, that's the -- that's the trend.
CHETRY: And you'll have a phone number.
VELSHI: And I will have a phone number. If I ever start a airline, there will be a number where you can reach me.
CHETRY: We'll give out Ali's cell phone, actually.
VELSHI: 1-800-CALL-ALI.
CHETRY: Thank you very much -- John.
ROBERTS: Ali Airlines, seat belt extenders and phone numbers.
VELSHI: There you go.
ROBERTS: All right.
Still to come this morning, Iran is taking a new stand against America, but this one is a little unusual. It starts at the barbershop.
We'll explain for you.
Plus, the alleged D.C. madam says she's about to go public with more than just her little black book. It's putting Washington on edge.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it is Monday, April 30th, welcome back. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you, I'm John Roberts in Washington. Lots of stories on our radar this morning, including Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the alleged Washington, D.C., Madam. She's in court today threatening to release the names of people who used or availed themselves of the services of her escort business. Two high- profile figures now connected to her. Is D.C. bracing for one of its biggest scandals ever, Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. We'll find out soon enough. Also, a commuter nightmare in the Bay Area. You saw those pictures, John, that unbelievable fire, tanker truck filled with gasoline went off, just took a turn too fast, they believe. And that's the result now this morning. It is a mess. This is part of a bridge that connects three different main highways and they say it could be months before things are back up and running again.
ROBERTS: And is Scotland Yard getting a makeover? U.K. officers say that their foot high helmets keep falling off when they're chasing suspects. So they've reached out now to a fashion design academy, which actually was the one that Jimmy Choo graduated from. Now they're not going to redo the shoes, just the hats at this point.
But it looks like the bobbies are going to be getting new hats. You know, Kiran, every time I think of a bobby running, somehow an image of John Cleese pops into my head.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly. And it looks like they were having trouble seeing out of them even just standing there. They were going over the eyes. I can understand why that would be hard.
ROBERTS: You have to wear them fashionably low, don't you?
CHETRY: I guess you do.
Well, the Army's new chief of staff says he wants more troops and he wants them ASAP. General George Casey telling the Army it needs to speed up the plan to get more active duty soldiers ready to fight. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is standing by live now with more details on that.
Hi, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Yes, in fact, yes, General George Casey, the new chief of staff of the Army, is saying he wants more troops and he wants them faster. I'm sorry, we're having a technical problem there with our sound.
You know, Defense Secretary Robert Gates had said several months ago he wanted to increase the size of the Army by 65,000 troops over the next five years. Casey says, not good enough. He wants it done in the next two years. But this is going to be very tough business, Kiran. It is very expensive.
What it means is that they're going to have to recruit an additional 7,000 troops every year. And why are they doing this? Well, of course, Iraq, Iraq, Iraq. What they are learning is a long- term conflict like Iraq simply requires a larger combat force, more boots on the ground -- Kiran.
CHETRY: In terms of numbers, how much are they talking about?
STARR: Well, you know, they're also increasing the size of the Marine Corps. And what they have calculated to have a larger Army and a larger Marine Corps, it's going to cost upwards of $10 billion a year, just to man, train and equip that force. And that doesn't begin to account for the cost of actually recruiting them, those large recruiting bonuses to bring them in.
Why is all of this so important? Well, what it really means, of course, is you're going to see more recruiters at high schools, more recruiters at shopping malls. They are going to be looking for young people to join the military -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And understandably, it's a tough time to get people to sign up for that knowing where they're probably going to end up.
STARR: Oh, absolutely. You know, Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, again, you know, you can't say it enough. The young people, and we've all gone and talked to them, who are thinking about signing up, thinking about joining the military, every young person who talks to a recruiter needs to know, recruiters say that it's very possible, indeed, they will go to Iraq -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Right. And those who are signing up and agreeing know that and are willing to take that on. Meanwhile, we're getting some numbers out. April 2007, 104 dead in Iraq, U.S. troops.
STARR: That's right, those numbers out just today, just before the end of the month. This now, of course, at this rate, 104 very sadly -- very tragically, April now shaping up far and away to be the deadliest month of the year for the U.S. military in Iraq, of 2007 so far. And, of course, the deadliest month since that troop increase, since they beefed up troop numbers on the ground -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon, thank you.
ROBERTS: Thirty-five minutes after the hour now. High anxiety in Washington. Will the alleged "D.C. Madam," Deborah Jeane Palfrey, tell all about her high-end escort service. Two names have already emerged, one of them is the military theorist who came up with the phrase "shock and awe." The other is Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias. He resigned last week after confirming that he was one of Palfrey's clients.
The scandal is the talk of the town and the talk of the blogs. Amy Argetsinger writes "The Reliable Source" column for The Washington Post. And CNN's Jacki Schechner has been watching what the blogs are saying about this this morning.
Let's start with you, Amy. It's huge buzz in D.C. going on around this thing. It is just because people here just love a salacious scandal or could it actually be significant?
AMY ARGETSINGER, "THE RELIABLE SOURCE," THE WASHINGTON POST: People here love a salacious scandal. It has been almost a decade since Washington's last big sex scandal, the Lewinsky case. And yes, I think for the average reader, there is a certain bloodlust and enthusiasm for one of these stories.
These are stories that people get on a basic level. It is not involving misappropriation of funds or complicated ethics law, it's involving sex. And people enjoy that.
ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, it's not like it's about nothing important, correct? So we know it's being written in the newspapers, we watch "The Reliable Source" column. What is being said about on the blogs today?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Well, I think part of it is also not the sex scandal, but a sex scandal during the Bush administration. I think there is a lot of liberal bloggers who are talking about the possibility of some gross hypocrisy at play here. That's what they're waiting to find out.
ROBERTS: Well, it's not like people stop having sex just because it's a Republican administration.
SCHECHNER: No, of course not. But there certainly is this air of higher moral fiber that sometimes resonates throughout the conservative administration. So, there's some discussion of that, but Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo warns that there is nothing more bipartisan than sexual indiscretion. So people shouldn't get too hyped up about this until we hear the names, if we hear the names. Conservatives, I'm finding, are having a little trouble taking this also seriously. It is D.C., after all, there are sex scandals. This isn't anything new in terms of what it could possibly be. So it's mixed bag out there, but I think, in general, people think that Tobias should have stepped down.
ROBERTS: Well, Amy, as we said, a couple of names out there, Randall Tobias and the name of the fellow who was the author of the "shock and awe" type of military strategy. Are people worried? She has got 10,000 names. Are people worried across Washington that they could be named as well?
ARGETSINGER: Well, you know, I think you're worried that you could be named if you're on that list. Otherwise, I mean, this is not probably affecting the general public.
ROBERTS: Yes. I'm scared to death...
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: ... I don't know what I am going to do.
ARGETSINGER: Let's also remember too, I mean, this has been teased out for maximum political -- maximum public relations impact. This promise of 10,000 names, it kind of plays into everyone's fantasy conspiracy theories about Washington, that every senator and cabinet member is going to be on this list. The truth is, A, I'm not sure that Congressman actually have to pay for sex and, B, you know, Washington's a big town.
There are a lot of other guys, perhaps, with the money and inclination to patronize an escort service. There are tech guys. There are government lawyers. And, I mean, again, and the two names that have been dribbled out to us, the guy that came up with the term "shock and awe," you have to describe him as, the guy who came up with the phrase "shock and awe." When his name came out, everyone said, who? Are we supposed to be excited about this? Randall Tobias, interesting career, long career, important guy, but not someone...
ROBERTS: Not well-known outside the beltway. ARGETSINGER: I think this is the first time his name was on the front page.
ROBERTS: So is that what we're seeing, Jacki, is that this is really an inside-the-Beltway thing phenomenon and that outside of the Washington area nobody knows who we're talking about here?
SCHECHNER: Well, I think a lot of us didn't know who we were talking about here.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHECHNER: Yes. I mean, I think if you go to the Web site, he had worked with the Bush administration. If you go it his White House bio...
ROBERTS: Which is right behind you on the screen.
SCHECHNER: Oh, there you go. That's actually still up, they haven't gotten rid of the page, but if you go to USAID, which he worked for most recently, they have actually taken his bio down. They updated his Web site last night and now there is a blank. It says, the current administrator is blank. So I they're trying to erase the tracks there. But it is certainly not a name many of us would have recognized.
ROBERTS: And, Amy, let me just quote something you wrote in "The Reliable Source." You say, quote: "We allowed Deborah Jeane Palfrey and her lawyer to play into our most cliched D.C. conspiracy fantasies." They really have played the Washington fiddle well, haven't they?
ARGETSINGER: They have. If the names had come out all at once a month or so ago, I suspect there would have been a quick dissipation of interest. It is unclear really why this is being trickled out the way it is, whether it is some kind of strategy hoping that the prosecutors will get scared and back down or whether they're just enjoying their moment in the sun and want to bring down a lot of names along with her.
But, yes, by teasing out one name at a time and letting people get interested in her first, it is definitely turning it into a bigger story than arguably it might have been.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll keep watching your column with anxious anticipation to see what is next, and the blogs, as well. Amy, Jacki, it is great to see you -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the morning commute is rumbling to life around San Francisco right now and it could be the worst drive since the 1989 earthquake. A tanker truck crashed and caught fire, melting a stretch of highway near Oakland's Bay Bridge. The director of California's transportation department tells AMERICAN MORNING about 80,000 drivers will have to find a new way to and from work. Public transportation the best bet. It's free today. Repairs to that stretch of highway, though, could take months. Well, they say last year was just the beginning. Another day of protests planned tomorrow with millions bringing the illegal immigration battle to the streets and living rooms of America. What can we expect? We're going to get a preview of that.
And also what could be good news in the fight against Georgia's biggest wildfire ever. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is here on CNN.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning. Firefighters in Waycross, Georgia, making progress overnight battling the state's biggest wildfire ever. The fire is now 70 percent contained. That's a big difference from when they went into the weekend. The low humidity and high winds could cause more flare- ups today.
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CHETRY: Chad, thanks so much. Well, tomorrow is like May Day. And like last year's May Day, it is going to be a day of national protest over immigration in the United States with rallies stretching from coast to coast. "AMERICAN MORNING's" Alina Cho is here to tell us exactly what we can expect for tomorrow.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning. Who could forget last year's rallies. You know, those rallies were really about shining the spotlight on the larger issue of immigration. This year organizers are narrowing their focus a bit. They are talking about families of mixed immigration status. What does that mean? Well, it means American-born children of illegal immigrants and their parents who are in danger of being deported. Thousands of families are being separated, in some cases, painfully so.
And tomorrow you could hear thousands of immigrants shouting, this has got to stop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice-over): In Los Angeles Sunday, hundreds of children in the streets, young faces, U.S. citizens, many of their parents are in this country illegally. The children argue they, too, are victims when their parents are targeted for deportation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Children are a group. They are aware that although they are born here, they are from immigrant parents and the possibility, the way the immigration laws are now of them being separated from their parents is very likely. And that's something that children don't want absolutely to have happen.
CHO: Last year's immigration rallies were much larger and louder than expected. Hundreds of thousands are expected to gather in cities like L.A., New York and Chicago. The rallying cry, how U.S. immigration raids are uprooting families and tearing them apart.
Shortly after last year's rallies the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched Operation Return to Sender. The goal, round up illegal immigrants and deport them. To date, the operation has netted more than 23,000 arrests nationwide. President Bush renewed his call for immigration reform during a commencement speech yesterday at Miami-Dade College.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need a system where our laws are respected. We need a system that meets the legitimate needs of our economy. And we need a system that treats people with dignity.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: But a year after last year's rallies, the president and Congress have yet to work out the details on immigration reform. So some cities are actually taking matters into their own hands. They're refusing to cooperate with federal authorities on raids. Now these are called sanctuary cities, San Francisco is one of them.
And tomorrow we'll take you to a town in New Jersey that is becoming just that, a sanctuary city. We'll tell you about the mayor's don't ask, don't tell policy. He says it's good for the local economy. That's the mayor there, Bob Patton (ph), but other long-time residents are not so happy about the way things are going there. We'll tell you what they have to say about it tomorrow.
And, Kiran, we also talked to some illegal immigrants about this. Of course, they're very happy about it, it is controversial, but seems to be working there.
CHETRY: There seems to be overwhelming support for tightening the border, but, also, it was interesting, our latest poll shows there is also a lot of support among the American people to try to come up with a way to allow for people in this country to get legal status.
CHO: That's right, a path to citizenship. You know, this poll -- CNN poll was conducted just two weeks ago, 77 percent of Americans actually believe if you're an illegal immigrant, if you have a job and you pay back taxes, that you should have a shot to citizenship.
Listen, this is a complicated issue, it is an emotionally charged issue. Congress is going to take it up the last two weeks of May. There are no easy answers. So we'll have to see what they come up with in the coming weeks.
CHETRY: It's also going to be hard in practical purposes because if they say, OK, if you've been here for five years, but if you've been here illegally, how do you prove it? And there are some other questions as well.
CHO: Oh yes. I mean, just getting a bill that people can understand has been really difficult. So again, we'll have to see what happens in the coming weeks. It will be interesting. CHETRY: Sure will. Alina, thanks so much. And CNN will have coverage of course, of immigration day all day tomorrow. We have correspondents fanned out across the country. We're going to kick it off here on AMERICAN MORNING beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
ROBERTS: And "CNN NEWSROOM" just minutes away this morning. Heidi Collins is at the CNN Center in Atlanta with a look at what's ahead.
Hey, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, good morning, John. That's right. We have these stories coming up in NEWSROOM rundown.
Highway meltdown. San Francisco's morning rush under way right now, but, look at this. Thousands of commuters facing a long haul after a crash brought down an overpass. We'll talk more about that.
And a court date this morning for the alleged "D.C. Madam." Deborah Jeane Palfrey's client list said to hold the names of Washington power brokers. We'll be watching that one too.
Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines flying high. The nation's number three carrier emerging from bankruptcy today and shed thousands of workers and billions of dollars in debt.
Join Tony Harris and me in the "NEWSROOM" top of the hour right here on CNN -- John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Heidi, thanks very much. See you soon.
The fashion police are cracking down in Iran with a warning for barbers. And a change is coming for the iconic uniform of the bobbies over England. AMERICAN MORNING is back in just a moment.
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CHETRY: All right. We are showing you some pictures now. These are live pictures coming to us from the place in Oakland and San Francisco, that overpass that collapsed over the weekend because of a tanker truck fire. And it's an area that deals with a lot of traffic to begin with, this adding to that morning mess. There are about 75,000 to 80,000 vehicles that use this portion of roadway that collapsed, a section of freeway that actually funnels traffic off of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. And they have to find a different way to work today or to school or wherever they're going.
It looks like the city -- Caltrans is actually offering free transportation today. They're encouraging people to try to use public transportation. You can see the line of lights there, it's quite a backup a little bit before 6:00 in the morning there.
In the meantime, this could be a nightmare for many months to come because they say it could take five to six months until those repairs are made. Right now the alternate routes wind around some areas that are not used to accommodating that much traffic overflow.
So we'll keep you posted. But there is a live look right now. You have to have some patience with you today if you're commuting in that area because of that meltdown that took place yesterday on that highway -- John.
ROBERTS: Supermodel Kate Moss is trying a new line of work today. She is debuting her clothing line in a top shop in Oxford Circus. People had been lining up since dawn to get a chance to buy. Word is that moss will also appear as a mannequin in the store window this afternoon. The question is, how can you tell?
And the bobbies in London have never been mistaken for fashion police, now they're blowing the whistle and demanding a uniform makeover. Officers complained that their iconic tall hat falls off when they're chasing suspects. The force has now recruited the London College of Fashion to redesign the uniforms. Jimmy Choo, the shoe guy, graduated from there.
CHETRY: Yes. I think they would have trouble chasing suspects in Jimmy Choos as well, but that's just me.
Well, Police in Iran are cracking down on so-called Western haircuts, issuing orders forbidding barbers in Tehran from giving their customers what they're calling un-Islamic hairstyles. Apparently the off-beat modern hair cuts are all the rage right now with young Iranian men.
ROBERTS: Well, here's a quick look at what the "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM." San Francisco rush hour's mess. A fiery crash melts an overpass where three busy highways meet.
The alleged "D.C. Madam" in court this morning, Washington movers and shakers said to be on her client list.
The St. Louis Cardinals lose a pitcher in a violent SUV crash.
KFC now frying without artery clogging trans-fats.
NEWSROOM, top of the hour on CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: A former "American Idol" finalist is out on bail this morning after being charged with battery. Twenty-one-year-old Jessica Sierra was arrested on Sunday on felony battery charges for allegedly hitting a man on the head with a heavy glass at a cafe. She was also charged with cocaine possession when her bag was searched when she was being brought into the jail. Jessica Sierra was one of "American Idol's" 10 finalists back in 2005. Can you imagine?
CHETRY: Wow, the scandal. We have had a few "American Idol" scandals. Mostly it's pictures -- undesirable pictures posted on the Internet.
ROBERTS: Yes. When you're running through that many people, you're bound to have some sort of a problem.
CHETRY: Very true. Hey, well, that's all for us for AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks so much for being with us today.
ROBERTS: I'll see you again tomorrow, Kiran. And hope to see you as well. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
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