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American Morning
View From The Ground; Searching For Madeleine; American Votes 2008; Minding Your Business; Fighting Taxes
Aired May 15, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: On the move. High winds breath new life into wildfires.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are prepared, almost immediately, to launch an evacuation should circumstances warrant that.
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CHETRY: We're live on the fire line in Florida.
Plus, new developments in the search for a four-year-old snatched from a Portugese villa. Three people questioned, a home searched and a desperate plea from a family, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning. Thanks so much for being with us. It's Tuesday, May 15th. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts here in Washington, D.C. Thanks very much for joining us this morning.
Stories "On Our Radar" this morning.
It is a big day in politics. The Republicans will be duking it out again tonight in a debate. This one in South Carolina. Obviously, there is going to be a battle between all of the candidates as to which one is the real conservative. And Rudy Giuliani could be facing some tough questions as well about his post 9/11 record, including who decided to put New York City's emergency command center near the World Trade Center after the 1993 attack on that building. The command center was at seven World Trade Center, which collapsed in 2001.
CHETRY: Yes, so the last time it was his stance on abortion that sort of thwarted him in that debate, and this time it could be questions in the aftermath of 9/11.
Also, do you remember extremist Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolf? He also pleaded guilty to bombing an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. Well, apparently he is now terrorizing his victims from the country's toughest prison. His hate-filled words are actually making their way on to the Internet. We're going to take a look at that and why the government says it is powerless to stop it.
ROBERTS: And, I'll tell you, you know, everywhere, every day in this country, or somewhere every day, there is extreme weather. This time, out in the Rockies. Take a look at this. Hail creating a nightmare commute around Denver. Also, deadly flash floods out there. A toddler and a young man both swept away, both feared to be dead.
Those wildfires in the southeast have forced more people from their homes. High winds pushed the fire westward, forcing hundreds in Columbia County, Florida, to evacuate. Right now, 21 major fires are burning in Florida and Georgia. Over 380 square miles have burned so far.
But sections of I-75 and I-10 are back open this morning. They had been closed at times when heavy smoke cut visibility. And there's heavy smoke all over the state for that matter.
CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is in Lake City, Florida, for us this morning with an update.
How's it looking from where you are, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fire is north and east of us by about five or eight miles. So you travel on this road, which, by the way, is closed to traffic going north of here. Only local traffic and emergency vehicles are allowed this morning. But north and east of here is where that fire is. And the winds today are switching just a little bit.
All in all so far, 108,000 acres burned with this fire in Florida. That does not include the 130 associated with this same fire across the border in Georgia.
It started on May 5th with a lightning striking. And for the first time in several days, yesterday, finally, they could attack this thing from the air. Choppers and bombers came in with water and fire retardants to help the firefighters that have been battling this thing on the ground for days. They did made some progress, but they were battling winds all day long, sometimes in excess of 30 miles an hour, and they were northeasterly. And we'll talk more about why that wind direction is key.
So far, though, 50 percent containment. So they did made quite a bit of progress yesterday on the eastern and southern end of this fire. But the western end is the greatest concern. It did jump a fire line yesterday afternoon and now 440, which runs north and south, this now is the fire line that they hope will hold later on today.
Winds expected to turn more easterly and decrease to 20 miles an hour, but red flag warnings are still in effect. Now the easterly wind is important because south of I-10 is where the more populated areas are. If we blow that wind to the east, as opposed to out of a more northerly direction, then the fire remains in a more unpopulated area.
This is also the staging area for fire trucks that will be on the ground again today to help protect the structures. Over 500 people have been evacuated because of this fire as it progresses to the east. And although winds will be a little bit lighter today, John, they'll still be battling mother nature with low levels of humidity and those easterly winds. We'll keep you updated throughout the morning.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, thanks. We'll keep checking back with you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Meantime, in Colorado, the sound of spring storms in the Rockies. Hail, severe thunderstorms, even a tornado touching down in one county. It all rolled through the area last night, dropping six inches of hail in some places. Flash flooding also swept away a toddler and a teenager. A police officer tried to rescue the teen. The officer wound up having to be rescued himself. They've been dealing with severe flooding in areas. There was a lot of rollover accidents along a major highway, as well. Colorado State Patrol trying to do their best to help residents who were caught in this flooding. A real mess there in Colorado.
Back to normal in Philadelphia this morning for train commuters after a rush hour accident left 35 people hurt, no one seriously. But it happened when one train bumped into another in a downtown tunnel. The trains were able to make it to the next stop. And there you see injured passengers being taken off on stretchers to a local hospital. Again, no major injuries there.
ROBERTS: Well, the highest ranking official yet is quitting the Bush administration's Department of Justice. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, he's the number two to Alberto Gonzales, will leave at the end of the summer. McNulty is the third top official to resign since the federal prosecutors were fired. Those U.S. attorneys. He says that he's leaving for financial reasons.
Well, bank president Paul Wolfowitz goes before the bank's board today and will fight to keep his job. The board's executive report says Wolfowitz broke the rules by getting a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend. And it questions whether he can remain on as president of the World Bank.
CHETRY: In Iraq, an al Qaeda related group is warning, stop searching for three missing American soldiers or risk their safety. The Pentagon now saying that it does believes al Qaeda or an affiliated group is holding the three troops. Every resource, they say, is being used to search for them. The soldiers were captured in an ambush Saturday near Mahmudiyah. That's about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
Senate Leader Harry Reid setting up a test vote on Iraq. Two amendments will be debated today and voted on tomorrow. One would cut off funding for the war on March 31st of next year. And the other calls for U.S. troops to be withdrawn by then. This is not a final version of the funding bill, but a way to take the pulse of the Senate.
ROBERTS: This morning's suspensions for two Murfreesboro, Tennessee, teachers after a field trip prank. Assistant principal Don Bartch and teacher Quentin Masters have the rest of the school year off without pay after staging a fake gunmen attack on some sixth graders during a field trip last Thursday. The two were cited for unprofessional conduct and neglect of duty.
The Empress of the North is back in port in Juneau, Alaska, this morning. The river boat-style cruise ship arrived with a Coast Guard escort 10 hours after it ran aground on Monday morning about 50 miles southwest of Juneau. More than 200 passengers had to be evacuated before the ship could be moved. They were brought to Juneau on a ferry.
CHETRY: Yes. And, of course, that broke on our show yesterday on AMERICAN MORNING and we talked to the Coast Guard spokesman and he was giving us some insight into just what was happening at the time. It turns out it was taking on water, but it managed to come back to port in tact.
ROBERTS: Yes, as soon as they got all off the people off, the boat floated back up again, they managed to stop most of the water from coming on board and actually made it back to Juneau under its own power.
CHETRY: Wow. So some scary moments, but certainly a happy ending there.
Also in England, some significant develops this morning in the case that captured the attention of people all around the world. Four-year-old Madeleine McCann, snatched from her bed while her family was vacationing at a villa in Portugal. The BBC is reporting this morning that man questioned yesterday in her disappearance is now considered a "suspect." Phil Black has more from Madeleine's hometown of Rossly (ph), England.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Somehow, Kate and Jerry McCann are clinging to hope.
JERRY MCCANN, FATHER: And as far as we are concerned, until there is concrete evidence to the contrary, we believe that Madeleine is safe and being looked after and that is how we can continue in our effort.
BLACK: Remarkable courage, 12 days after their daughter, Madeleine, disappeared from a resort in Portugal. She vanished from the family's room while Kate and Jerry ate dinner in a nearby restaurant. Public sympathy for the McCanns and hopes for the save return of their daughter have circled the globe. The story even prompted soccer star David Beckham to make a public appeal.
DAVID BECKHAM, SOCCER PLAYER: We need to do everything possible to help the police with their inquiries in finding her.
BLACK: Sir Richard Branson and "Harry Potter" creator J.K. Rowling are among those who've donated to a reward fund, now totaling $5 million. The grassroots e-mail campaign is responsible for posters of Madeleine going up around the world. And Britain's foreign secretary has confirmed she's spoken directly to the Portuguese government about the investigation.
MARGARET BECKETT, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: We have offered to give any help and support that we can. And I know that he is very concerned about the situation. I think we're all very conscious. What we want is to get as much attention to Madeleine's case as possible because what we want is to get her back.
BLACK: But Portugal's police are yet to name a suspect. Days of searching turned up little. And each lead followed came to nothing.
Monday, police searched this home, not far from where Madeleine was taken, and they've been questioning British man Robert Murack (ph) who had been helping investigators as a translator. He was reported to police by a British newspaper journalist who thought he was acting suspiciously.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK: Kiran, now in just the last few minutes, Portuguese police have confirmed they do have a formal suspect in this case, but they will not say whether it is Robert Murack, the British man they have been questioning. He has not been arrested and he has been, we believe, released.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow. So they had him in custody and now he's not -- no longer in police custody?
BLACK: That's what we believe. His mother has told reporters in Portugal that he is staying with friends in the area and his status is that of a witness only. He has not been arrested. He has not been charged. But we are hearing from Portuguese police that they do have a suspect. It should be pointed out that under Portuguese law, Robert Murack himself may have requested that his status be upgraded to that of a suspect because that would bring him greater legal rights.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Right, it's a very different legal system in Portugal, which is also complicating this situation.
Thanks so much, Phil.
And again, later in the hour, we're going to see how the family is holding up under the strain. I'll be talking live to Madeleine's aunt, Diane McCann.
John.
ROBERTS: Such a tragic story.
More worries, Kiran, by the way for parents of children who use the Internet. Eight states want the social networking site MySpace to turn over the name of registered sex offenders who are using the service. Attorneys general from North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Pennsylvania want MySpace to tell them how many sex offenders are using the site and where those people live. We're going to talk about all of that with Connecticut's attorney general coming up at 7:30 Eastern. This is one thing that parents out there are going to want to hear about this morning.
CHETRY: Yes, you're right, John, for sure.
Well, some see his handling of 9/11 as Rudy Giuliani's strength. Now, though, there are questions cropping up in his campaign for president about whether or not he did all he could and properly handled the aftermath of that terror attack. We're going to explain up ahead.
Plus, prison walls have not been able to stop anti-abortion bomber Eric Rudolf from taunting his victims and the government's saying it can't stop him.
Also, which city has the most road rage? You probably think it's yours. But we've got the results of a new driver's survey.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning here on CNN.
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CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Tonight, the Republican candidates for president will be squaring off. It's their second debate. And this morning there are some questions for front runner Rudy Giuliani. He's been praised for his leadership after the 9/11 attack, but now there's some scrutiny about decisions he made as mayor of New York in the years before. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho joins us now. And one issue is who decided that it would be a good idea to put the city's emergency management's command center right at the World Trade Center site.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's really turned into a he said, he said situation. Remember, Kiran, that Giuliani really built his national reputation on how he handled 9/11. So the big question now is, why back in 1997, five years before 9/11, did then Mayor Giuliani decide to put the city's emergency operation center at seven World Trade Center. That's the building right next to the twin towers. It is the same complex that had been the target of a bomb attack just four years early in 1993.
Now, keep in mind, it is critical that this hub, this command center, remain operational in the event of a major attack or disaster. But as many of you know, on 9/11, seven World Trade and the command center inside were destroyed. Now with Giuliani running for president, there's a lot of finger pointing going on. This has really turned into an ugly fight between Giuliani and the former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management. A man named Jerry Hauer. Now these two men used to be very close friends. Now Giuliani says it was Hauer who recommended seven World Trade Center as a good site. Here's part of what the mayor told "Fox News Sunday."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He recommended that site as the sight that will be the best site. It was that largely on his recommendation that that site was selected. And the reason that that site made sense was, it was also the location of the customs service, the secret service, and a number of the federal agencies, some of which I'm not sure I can mention at this date, that we had to be in contact with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Wow. So you had a chance to speak with Jerry Hauer by phone yesterday. How did he respond to those comments by Giuliani?
CHO: Yes, we spoke to him for a really long time. You know, Hauer does not mince words. Remember, I said, this is a he said, he said situation. Hauer calls Giuliani a liar. He even says he's trying to rewrite history.
In fact, Hauer gave us a copy of a memo he sent way back in 1996 to the deputy mayor at the time about a potential site in Brooklyn. Now to be fair, that memo talked about both pros and cons with respect to that Brooklyn site. But one of the pros he talked about was that the Brooklyn building was, "secure and not as visible a target as buildings in lower Manhattan."
Now, ultimately, Hauer says Giuliani wanted the command center to be within walking distance of city hall, period. And Hauer says that is ultimately why the mayor chose seven World Trade Center as the site.
CHETRY: Which also makes sense too in a -- because I think the common wisdom at the time, nobody thought the twin towers would actually come crashing down to the ground.
CHO: Well, of course not. Nobody could have predicted what ultimately happened on 9/11, that those buildings would have been destroyed. That they had to go to not plan b, but plan c in terms of finding a new command center site.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: But, you know, the Giuliani campaign came out and said that that memo that Hauer sent about the Brooklyn site was actually one of "various options" that the city looked at. The city actually looked at 50 buildings over a period of a year and a half. Hauer, himself, in several articles, said that seven World Trade Center was chosen for its sturdiness, it's tight security and its proximity to city hall and one Police Plaza.
The Giuliani campaign went on to say that that decision was praised by national security agencies, including the Clinton White House at the time. So, again, as you mentioned, Kiran, nobody could have predicated what happened on 9/11. It's easy to do some Monday morning quarterbacking now. CHETRY: Exactly. So it will be interesting to see when the debate comes up tonight if he's question and just how -- what else he says about this issue.
CHO: Right. You can be sure that he'll be questioned about it.
CHETRY: You're right.
Alina, thanks a lot.
CHO: My pleasure.
CHETRY: John.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
Complaints are lining up like jets on the runway. A new survey of passengers shows that just two airlines, Southwest and Continental, got better marks than they did last year in terms of customer satisfaction. United, Delta and American all scored lower on customer satisfaction than the IRS. Grumpy airline workers, higher costs and record levels of lost or damaged luggage were all on the passenger complaint list.
Well, Miami wins the prize as the city with the worst road rage. In a survey out today, AutoVantage, a Connecticut-based auto club, surveyed drivers in 26 cities on things like tailgating, running lights, cutting people off and swearing. Miami is number one for the second year in a row. New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington also scored high for rude drivers. The most courteous drivers? They're in Portland, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tacoma, St. Louis, and Dallas-Ft. Worth, which was kind of a surprise to me.
CHETRY: Yes, you're right. And, also, I was wondering how they actually poll for that. Yes, I had a great day. Everybody was friendly. They let me pass. So we were stopped at a four-way stop for 20 minutes because everyone told everyone else to go. I mean, how do you test for that?
ROBERTS: It doesn't happen very often, courteous driving happens, where I drive, I'll tell you.
CHETRY: Me, either. It's just become normal to, oh, I almost got run off the road a couple of times today. It just -- life goes on in New York. It's just, people are mean on the roads, John.
Well, anyway, Paris Hilton headed to jail under the man dubbed the toughest sheriff in the west. Hilton ordered to serve 45 days for violating probation after a drunk driving charge. The sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, reportedly says he has room in his tent city jail. L.A. jails notoriously overcrowded. Temperatures in the tents can reach 110 and more during the time that Paris will be serving her sentence. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Department says that the L.A. County sheriff is considering that offer.
Are you a fed up homeowner? The market's sagging. Your property taxes on the rise. Well, we're going to introduce you to some people who are fighting back and let them tell you how you may be able to do it, too.
Also, speaking of rising prices, gas reaching another record. Is the worst finally over as we head into this busy travel season?
And the deal is done, now a lot of people, though, are asking, was Chrysler bought for just chump change. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."
That's all ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-three past the hour now. Ali Velshi back from -- how was it? You were in Auburn Hills, right outside of Detroit.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Auburn Hills. Just north of Detroit, yes.
CHETRY: You're back and you're still talking about the big Chrysler thing (ph).
VELSHI: Yes. Now we get to, you know, the day after this big deal with DaimlerChrysler selling the Chrysler division to a private equity firm for $7.5 billion, we get to dig a little deeper and see what isn't fantastic about the deal.
The first thing is the price. Take a look at this. Back in 1998, when Daimler -- we call it a buyout now. It used to be a merger of equals, but that clearly didn't happen. So about $36 billion. This buyout by Cerberus Corporation, Cerberus Management, was for $7.4 billion for 80 percent of it. So let's call it $10 billion round numbers.
That's a big, big discount. And some people are, today, saying, too much of a discount. That it sold for too little money.
In fact, Chrysler is going to end up cutting a check. They're not actually going to get money in the end. Because after all the settlements and the things they have to pay for . . .
CHETRY: They owe?
VELSHI: Daimler actually has to pay money to unload Chrysler.
Now, it did do well for the market. The other auto stocks, which have been troubled for some time, were all up. Take a look at this. DaimlerChrysler had a nice gain, which always happens when you're selling a company. Ford was up 34 cents to $8.71 and GM was up $1.16.
Now, we don't often talk about prices of specific stocks on this show, but these are some of the most widely held stocks in the country. And between people who own the stocks, know somebody who worked in the auto industry or owned one of those cars, these car companies really do touch everyone. So I'm going to talk more about this.
CHETRY: So the Chrysler purchase had a big effect on the market?
VELSHI: Absolutely. Mainly because there's confidence. It means it's a merger and the company's not going to go out of business.
I'll come back and tell you what some of those more specific problems are in about half an hour.
CHETRY: All right, Ali, thanks so much.
John.
ROBERTS: Despite a cooling housing market and its falling prices, many homeowners are getting hit in the wallet by rising property taxes. AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs is in a suburb of Atlanta this morning with a look at some people who are fighting back against these tax raises.
What can people do, Sean?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, John, there are a number of things at your fingertips that people can do that in many cases they simply don't know. And if you own property, pay attention to this story. Because for many families, it is the biggest investment that they will ever make. Property values have stagnated, indeed. In many states across the nation, it's actually gone down. But assessed values continue to go up. Here are some steps that you have if you want to battle back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON WITTLIN, HOMEOWNER: I'm not going to pay more than I need to.
CALLEBS, (voice over): It has become a rallying cry for homeowners who believe tax assessors are sticking it to them. And it's put local government on the defensive.
BERT NASUTI, GWINNETT COUNTY COMMISSIONER: I hear from people when they get reassessed. I mean, sometimes they don't like it.
CALLEBS: Jon Wittlin has watched his family grow since settling into this home in suburban north Atlanta several years ago. Even as the housing market cooled, Wittlin expected he would still receive a modest jump in his property value. But he was shocked when the county raised the assessed value of his home from about $250,000 to $350,000. He fought back.
WITTLIN: I think a lot of people just sit back and don't do anything. They don't know how to or they just don't do it.
CALLEBS: Wittlin wasn't alone, so he started a grassroots effort to help his neighbors fight back. It starts off with a letter writing campaign and can progress to legal action. So how exactly does a county determine the assessed value. NASUTI: I think one of the most effective things to look at is how you are rated compared to a neighbor.
CALLEBS: But Wittlin's house was being compared to a home more than a mile out of his subdivision, where homes are newer, larger, and, admittedly, nicer. Here's what homeowners should look at if they want to fight back, quality of public schools, street traffic, proximity to an airport, and, in Wittlin's case, power lines right next to his house, which weren't there when he moved in.
WITTLIN: Here's where we are. We're right here on this corner.
CALLEBS: OK.
WITTLIN: Here's a sewage treatment plant. Here's a field with radio towers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: Well, here's the Wittlin's home. And to give you an idea of these tension lines, just how close they are, and, mind you, this wasn't here when he moved in. These were just added in the last few years. So he actually went a few steps, John. He wrote the letter. Then he appeared before the assessor's board here to argue his case.
Now we laid it out for you. How do you think he did with the assessed value going from 250,000 to 350,000? Do you think he had any success?
ROBERTS: I don't know. You would think with those power lines there that the actual appraised value of his house might actually go down.
CALLEBS: Actually, he was successful in getting it back to the year before level. So they actually dropped it from the $350,000 proposed, down to about $250,000. So he said he saved more than $1,000 a year. He says perhaps the biggest rub is people are so busy or mortgage companies may handle paying the assessed value that people don't even realize it happened. So this is a good reason to pay attention to that bill every month.
ROBERTS: Yes, you've just got to be willing to stick up for yourself.
Sean Callebs outside of Atlanta.
Thanks very much, Sean.
CHETRY: Good advice.
Well, the top stories of the hour coming up next. He's the abortion clinic and Olympic Park bomber, who now sits deep inside one of America's most secure prisons. So how is it that Eric Rudolf is able to taunt his victims and why the feds say they can't do anything about it. Also, new developments in the search of a little girl snatched from her bed while her family was on vacation. We're going to speak with her aunt just ahead.
Also, gas prices. They hit an all-time high and the worst may be yet to come.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning on CNN.
ROBERTS: No help from nature this morning. Wind and low humidity fanning wildfires down South. The flames pushing closer to neighborhoods as firefighters take their fight to the sky.
Plus, deadly flooding in the Rockies. A toddler washed away in a stroller, roads closed, drivers stranded.
The new threat for extreme weather on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. It is Tuesday, May the 15th.
I'm John Roberts in Washington.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York.
Thanks so much for being with us today.
Some stories on our radar this morning.
(NEWSBREAK)
We begin now with a massive wildfire that's still burning along the Florida-Georgia border. And it's a race against time for firefighters today, because if they can't slow it down, hundreds of more people may be forced to leave their homes.
Rob Marciano is live in Lake City, Florida, and brings us an update now.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran.
The sun now coming up on the eastern horizon and trying to get through the haze and the smoke that has been filling the air here across north Florida for the past several days. This fire burning since May 5th now 108,000 acres on fire.
Yesterday, for the first time, they finally got up in the air. The smoke cleared enough to where the visibility was high enough to where they could attack this thing with air tankers and helicopters, with water and fire retardant.
From the southern and eastern end of this fire, they were able to contain about 50 percent of the flames, but the western end, which is where we are right now, that is the main area of concern. We're on Highway 441, which is close, for the most part, heading north of here. It did jump a fire line yesterday. This road, especially north of here, is the next fire line that they hope to hold later on today.
Where is the rain? That certainly would help. The radar showing that most of it, if at all, is mostly central and southern parts of Florida. That's where it's been falling the past couple of days, and we need it, of course, here to the north.
So, the ongoing drought is the main issue. Not a lot of rain in the forecast today. Maybe a little bit tomorrow, but only about a 20 to 30 percent chance of that.
So, red flag warnings are posted again for this afternoon, lowering levels of humidity an high winds. I talked to a couple of firefighters when we got in last night and they said that was the big factor yesterday, winds gusting to 30 miles an hour and relative humidities very low. And today weather will be a factor again.
Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano, thank you for the update.
Also, in Colorado, violent spring storms, hail and severe thunderstorms rolling through last night, dropping six inches of hail in some places. Flash flooding also swept away a toddler and a teenager.
Police tried to come to the rescue of that teen. The officer wound up having to be rescued himself. They also say a tornado touched down in that area. They're also dealing with severe flooding that led to road closures of major, major highways.
ROBERTS: Amazing pictures.
In Iraq, an al Qaeda-related group is warning today, stop searching for three missing American soldiers or risk their safety. The Pentagon says it believes al Qaeda or an affiliated group is holding its troops. And every resource is being used to search for them. The soldiers were captured in an ambush on Saturday near Mahmoudiyah. That's about 20 miles south of Baghdad, in the so-called Triangle of Death.
The highest ranking official yet is quitting the Bush administration's Justice Department. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, number two to Alberto Gonzales, will leave at the end of the summer. McNulty is the third top official to resign since the federal prosecutors were fired. He said that he's leaving for financial reasons.
World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz goes before the bank's board today, fighting to keep his job. The board's executive report says Wolfowitz broke the rules by getting a promotion and pay raise for his girlfriend, and it questions whether he can remain as president of the World Bank.
CHETRY: And still to come the story the world is watching. Missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann kidnapped while vacationing in Portugal. We're going to find out how the family is holding up. We're going to be speaking with Madeleine's aunt coming up.
Plus, taunted from behind bars. Victims of Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph want his hate-filled letters pulled from the Internet. We're going to find out why the government says they can't do anything about it.
And also, what happens when a popular social Web site identifies registered sex offenders? You might be surprised.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Sunrise over the capital in Washington, D.C. I mean, there just aren't many pictures that are more lovely than that.
We're heading for a high of 86 today. Summer is upon us here in the nation's capital.
And a big day for politics, as well. It's round two for the Republican presidential candidates. They square off tonight in their second debate, this one in South Carolina.
Joining us now with a preview, Bill Bennett. He's a CNN contributor and host of his own radio station, "Morning in America". He's on the air right now from our Arlington, Virginia, studios, and our interview is being simulcast.
Good morning to you, Bill. Good to see you again.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks, John. Thanks very much. Welcome.
ROBERTS: Hey, the first thing that I wanted to hit you with was that there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm for the candidates out there. A new CBS News poll found that 61 percent of Americans say that they're not happy with the candidates that they're seeing. Only about 35 percent say that they're satisfied.
What's going on?
BENNETT: Well, there are some strong Giuliani partisans, and McCain and Romney, and, of course, some of the others. But we noticed a similar thing, John, in a poll I was just talking about, a South Carolina poll, where Fred Thompson and Newt Gingerich, if you add their numbers together, is a higher number than the leader, Giuliani.
So there still is interest in looking at other people. And I think tonight we'll take as part of the way in answering that question. We'll see if someone gets over the hump.
But Newt has talked about his getting in, but he's talked about doing it in September, John. And you know that's going to be way too late. Thompson, I don't think he can be coy for much longer.
ROBERTS: I'm wondering if some of these people, people like Thompson and Gingrich, are just waiting for some of these other candidates to kind of wear out their welcome before they jump in, and then they'll be the fresh face. But let me get you to score the front-runners here on the issues and what they need to do tonight, and how they're doing on these issues.
BENNETT: Yes.
ROBERTS: First of all, let's take a quick listen to something that Rudolph Giuliani said about abortion at the last debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm against abortion, I hate it, I wish there never was an abortion, and I would counsel a woman to have adoption instead of an abortion. But ultimately, I believe it's an individual right of a woman to make that choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, Bill, how would you score Giuliani's candidacy at this point?
BENNETT: I think he's got -- each of the candidates -- I'll do it this way, John, if you Don't mind. Each of the candidates needs to get out of a box.
For Giuliani, he has got to get beyond the abortion question. If he remains stuck in it -- and it's been confusing. This normally very intelligent, very clear guy has made a muddle of this.
He has to got to get beyond this issue. He's got to get out of that box and talk about things which he regards is his strength. He does -- he has to do that by being clear and unequivocal and stop, you know, well, it would be good one way and it would also be good the other way. That won't work.
ROBERTS: What about McCain? What's his box? What does he need to break out of?
BENNETT: The box, he is clearly a fervent supporter of the war, and that by itself, you know, may cause distress in the public, because a lot of the public doesn't support the war, clearly. But I think people admire the conviction and so on. He has got to show conservatives that he can be trusted on other issues, like the border, immigration, which we're going to hit later this week in a big way.
ROBERTS: All right. Mitt Romney?
BENNETT: Mitt Romney has to get out of the box of being accused that his conversions were matters of opportunity. He's got to persuade people these were matters of deliberation, reflection.
But what I'm looking for tonight is somebody to do something that's unpredicted, that's --you know, that's spontaneous, or that breaks away a little bit from the usual stuff.
Did you notice Obama on Sunday said he hoped that his daughters, he and his wife's daughters, wouldn't have to be the beneficiaries of affirmative action and let them be judged on their own?
ROBERTS: Right.
BENNETT: That was kind of a breakaway thing. That's interesting. And what you want to do in these debates is mark yourself out by saying something interesting, not to interesting that it takes you out of the run, but interesting enough. You know what I'm saying.
ROBERTS: So Bill, do I read you correctly? Are you saying that Obama is your guy?
BENNETT: No, no, no. But I -- that indication -- when Obama -- when you -- when it's a man bites dog, when you say something and you say, "What did he say?" When Obama turned it that way and said, wait a minute, I may not be, you know, exactly orthodox in the ways that you would expect me to be, I've got a little surprise here for you. I'm a little more interesting person than you thought -- than you thought I was.
Somebody does that, that is -- remember Reagan and the Mondale debate, that was -- that was the big thing. Reagan turned that thing on Mondale and said, "Well, I won't hold your youth and inexperience against you."
ROBERTS: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BENNETT: And people said, wow. You know, that guy is -- that's right. That's right.
ROBERTS: Well, Bill, thanks very much for talking to us.
BENNETT: That's what I'm looking for.
ROBERTS: All right. We'll be watching tonight.
BENNETT: All right. My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Take care.
BENNETT: Now I'll be hearing from my base.
Thanks very much. Bye, John.
ROBERTS: You're welcome. All right. Take care.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, states want the social networking site MySpace to turn over the names of sex offenders who use the service. Attorneys general from North Carolina, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio and Pennsylvania want MySpace to tell them how many sex offenders are using the site and also where they live.
We're going to talk about it with Connecticut's attorney general at 7:30 Eastern Time.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to 46 minutes after the hour.
Victims of Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph say that he's taunting them from behind bars. Rudolph was responsible for a series of bombings across the South, including one at an abortion clinic in Alabama. He's being held in the most secure wing of the so-called Supermax Prison in Colorado. But in a letter posted online, Rudolph attacks a victim of the clinic bombing.
The woman had used a finger mangled in the attack to make an obscene gesture towards Rudolph at trial. Rudolph writes, "It was a great speech and one that the denizens of freedom should be proud to enshrine in a museum somewhere. Perhaps they could put it next to MLK's "I Have a Dream". They could call it, "I Have a Middle Finger".
Internet reporter Jacki Schechner has been looking into all of this.
How much of this is there online out there, Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Well, Eric Rudolph has a home page, and we found about eight writings of his on that home page. This is actually hosted through another Web site called Army of God. And what I want to tell you is that if you're going to go to this Web site online, it has some incredibly graphic images on it. We have doctored up the site a little bit so that we could show it to you on TV, but be forewarned.
Now, according to the Terrorism Knowledge database, the Army of God is actually an underground network of terrorists, they call them, who believe that it's OK to use violence to fight those who advocate for abortion. They also say that they have a manual, and it's essentially a how-to guide for abortion clinic violence.
So, this is the Web site that is hosting Eric's home page. They also glorify others who have killed in the name of combating abortion.
Now, these are some of the writings on Eric Rudolph's home page. One called "The Sentence," which he says is a satire. Now, this is the one that you were referencing originally, which talks about his sentencing trial, when one of his victims addressed him and held up her middle finger, and this is the portion right here that happened to have been mangled. And he makes fun of it.
So it was specifically this diatribe he calls "The Sentence," which he himself describes as a satire. There's other writings in here where he says he's not an anarchist. He just doesn't believe in the legitimacy of a government that allows abortion. So that's why he's fighting against this government. He also talks about pacifism in a very long diatribe. He discusses, what would Jesus have done? And basically, he says that Jesus would have been opposed to abortion and he would not have been opposed to militant action in fighting it.
So, he's got a series of these letters and diatribes online.
ROBERTS: So the question is, it's free speech to be able to post something like this on the Internet if you're a free citizen. However, the issue that is raised is, should he be able to get this material out there if he is in the custody of the federal prison system?
SCHECHNER: Well, a couple of things. One is free speech. The other is he doesn't threaten anyone directly. So that's another issue that came up, is whether or not these letters are actually a threat to anyone in particular.
There was a Department of Justice report that was done in September of 2006 that talked about the Federal Bureau of Prisons and how they were monitoring mail of high-risk inmates. I'm assuming that Rudolph is considered a high-risk inmate. And basically said that they were deficient in several respects, that they were not reading all of the mail that was going out, and that they did have the opportunity to do so.
They could then stop mail that was in some way encouraging activities of violence. So, they could be stopping the mail, John. They're just not doing enough to actually intervene.
ROBERTS: Well, thanks for putting that out. Very important.
SCHECHNER: Sure.
ROBERTS: Jacki Schechner.
CHETRY: And John, as Jacki said, the site had to be heavily censored for us to even put it on. It's very, very disturbing. Even when you go to the home page, the images are quite shocking. I wouldn't recommend doing it, actually.
Coming.up, we're going to talk with the aunt of the missing 4- year-old girl snatched from her bed while her family was on vacation. There is a $5 million reward out now for information. We have the latest on the investigation as well.
Also, Anna Nicole Smith's will is out. We'll tell you who stands to get her fortune.
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
It's the story that's captivated the world for the past two weeks. Many, many people trying their best to help out any way they can in the search for 4-year-old Madeleine McCann.
This little girl was snatched from the bed she was sleeping in while her family vacationed in Portugal. Her parents say that they'll stay in Portugal as long as is necessary to talk about how the family is holding up.
We're joined this morning by Madeleine's aunt, Diane McCann. She joins us from Glasgow, Scotland, this morning.
Thanks for being with us in this really difficult time.
DIANE MCCANN, AUNT OF MISSING BRITISH GIRL: OK.
CHETRY: Diane, we heard some new news just coming in to us that's been confirmed by Portugal police, which is they have a formal suspect in this case. What are you hearing about the progress of the investigation?
MCCANN: At the moment, the information we've had this morning is just what has been on the British television, that they have somebody who they've been questioning. But really, apart from that, we don't know any more than anyone else.
CHETRY: Now, right now, we understand it's just been very difficult, especially for Kate, who is the mother of Madeleine. Apparently, family members are very worried about her because of what she's been going through.
How are the parents holding up right now?
MCCANN: Well, to be honest, I mean, so far, they've both been amazingly courageous and inspirational for everyone that -- I mean, that -- these guys are what is keeping us going. When we see them on television and when we -- you know, when we speak to them on the phone, they are being very brave and very strong, and they're helping us to cope with it as well, just by -- you know, by remaining strong and remaining hopeful that somebody somewhere is going to know something and that soon we're going to have Madeleine back.
CHETRY: You know, this case has captivated the world's attention. As we said, a $5 million reward, and you have celebrities from across the country in Europe, like David Beckham and others from the U.K., who are coming out trying to help you guys.
We're also finding out more details. The parents -- her parents left Madeleine and the two younger siblings in a room when they went out to dinner. Was there an adult present at the time when the kids were sleeping?
MCCANN: The parents, Gerry and Kate, were directly a few yards away from the apartment that the children were sleeping in. They could see the apartment door. And so, I mean, as far as I'm concerned, you know, the fact that they weren't in the same room as them is not an issue. I don't think that Gerry and Kate did anything that most people that I know and that I wouldn't have done.
CHETRY: And did they have any ideas on their own about what may have happened or who may have been behind the disappearance?
MCCANN: No. They've got no idea, no idea at all.
CHETRY: And do you feel that the Portuguese police are doing all they can to keep the family informed and to work with officials in the U.K., as well?
MCCANN: Yes. As far as we're concerned, just now we are -- we and Gerry and Kate, all of us, are doing all we can to help them. And as far as we can tell at the moment, all the -- you know, they're doing all they can. You know, they've got everybody that they can have doing as much as they can, and we just have to put our trust in them and hope, you know, that something happens soon.
CHETRY: Yes. We're all hoping for that. And it looks like they are trying their best, working tirelessly to get to the bottom of this and hopefully bring Madeleine back safe and sound.
Our prayers are with your family. Thanks so much for talking with us, Diane.
MCCANN: OK. Thank you.
CHETRY: Still ahead, caught on camera, an angry confrontation between a reporter and the Church of Scientology. What started this huge screaming match? Who is right, who is wrong? We're going to play it for you so you can decide for yourself.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Coming up now almost on the top of the hour. Ali Velshi is here to talk more about how this Chrysler deal is affecting other automakers.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
We saw the stocks were up of Ford and GM, but really what this is about is, in a word, hope for Detroit, for the automakers there. Here's what it is.
John Snow, the former U.S. Treasury secretary, was saying about this deal, what a private equity firm can do for an auto company that public companies can't is they can take the time needed -- in this case, he says two or three years -- to turn Chrysler around, something that you can't do under the glare of shareholders who want quarterly reports.
Now, a group called the Chrysler Employees Buyout Committee said that it had tried to put in a bid for Chrysler and wasn't even -- that nobody talked about it. In a letter, they said "A member of the buying group" -- meaning Cerberus -- "told a union representative that if they made the acquisition they would eventually close five plants and probably lay off 30,000 employees."
This group also says that Cerberus plans to sell Jeep. No comment from Cerberus, the company that bought Chrysler on that.
Lee Iacocca, you'll remember he took over Chrysler in 1978 while that company was in big trouble. He issued a statement as well, and part of it reads, "It is my understanding that not everyone who was interested in the purchase was given the opportunity to bid" -- referring to that employees group. "The most important people in this scenario are the employees who build the cars and the dealers who sell the cars."
So, generally, the market and others thinking this was a good deal, good for Detroit and good for North American car makers. Some people shedding some doubts on it. The other doubts are, of course, about how little the company was sold for, 80 percent of the company.
I'm going to be back talking about gas prices hitting $3.10 on average across the country, but the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING begins right now.
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