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American Morning
Search for Madeleine: Police Say They Have Suspect in Case; Second in Command at Justice Department Resigns; Giuliani Before 9/11
Aired May 15, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): On the move. High winds breathe new life into wildfires.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are prepared almost immediately to launch an evacuation should circumstances warrant that.
CHETRY: We're live on the fire line in Florida.
Plus, a message from Supermax. Words from convicted Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph reach his victims. Why the government says it can't stop him.
On this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And welcome. It's Tuesday, May 15th. Glad to have you with us.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts, here in Washington, D.C.
Good morning to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Good to see you.
Well, we're getting straight to the big news coming out of Portugal this morning. It may be a break in the case.
Police say they have a suspect in the case of missing 4-year-old Madeleine McCann, snatched from her bed nearly two weeks ago while on vacation with her family.
And Phil Black has been following the story from Madeleine's hometown of Rothley, England. He brings us the very latest.
Hi, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kiran. Good morning.
Last talk through what we know. Last night in Portugal, police interviewed a British man, Robert Murat (ph). He's been staying at his mother's home not far from the resort where Madeleine was taken 12 days ago. Police searched their home, and now they have announced they have a formal suspect in this case.
They will not, however, confirm that that man, Robert Murat (ph), is the suspect. He has not been arrested. And we understand he is no longer in police custody -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Phil. Thanks so much for that update -- John.
ROBERTS: Wildfires in the southeast are forcing more people from their homes today. High winds pushed the fires west, forcing hundreds in Columbia County, Florida, to evacuate. Right now, 21 major fires are burning in Florida and Georgia.
Rob Marciano is in Florida, and he'll have a live report coming up for us in about 10 minutes time.
Extreme weather, meanwhile, in the Rockies. New pictures now from Denver.
Flashfloods have stranded drivers and closed roads. Take a look at what they're trying to get through there in Denver.
Last night the high water turned deadly. A young mother and her toddler were walking along a bicycle path, suddenly a flashflood came along. The creek overflowed its banks, swept both of them into the floodwaters.
Searchers tried to find the child. The mother is in the hospital. They did find a stroller, an empty stroller, about a mile downstream. So, the baby is presumed drowned at this point.
A teenager also died after venturing to a river to help a friend.
The highest ranking official yet is quitting the Bush administration's Department of Justice. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty is the third top official to resign since the federal prosecutors were fired.
Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is here.
He says it's because of financial considerations.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, he's got four kids, and some of them are heading into college age. So he has been working in government for 20 years. It's time to make some money. I mean, it is a valid reason, and he has been saying that for a long time.
ROBERTS: We've heard that from other people. But as we mentioned to Orrin Hatch this morning, who knew McNulty well from when McNulty was working in the House, he said he assumes that the U.S. attorneys scandal had something to do with it.
So what part might it have played?
ARENA: Well, you know, McNulty was the one who went before Congress and said that those U.S. attorneys were fired for performance reasons. And until then, this was a pretty quiet situation.
Well, that just really blew it up. I mean, the U.S. attorneys who had remained quiet up until then felt that their reputations have been tarnished. And McNulty had to go back before Congress and say, you know, that wasn't exactly the case. You know, looking at these documents, I wasn't fully briefed on this whole -- on this whole situation. I wasn't lying to you, but I wasn't briefed, and so I did mislead you.
ROBERTS: And Gonzales apparently very upset when he heard McNulty's testimony on that front. Do you think, you know, you upset the boss, you're not going to last too long?
ARENA: Well, from what I am hearing, yes, there was some -- they were upset, but Gonzales felt that McNulty was a stabilizing force in the Justice Department, and that he wasn't pushed out. That this was, indeed, his choice.
ROBERTS: So a quick question here just to wrap up. Is this the end of it, or is this just the latest shoot it up?
ARENA: No, it's just the latest shoot it up. I mean, they still want to talk to McNulty, whether he's at Justice or not. You know, there are still calls for Gonzales to resign. The investigation continues.
It's not over.
ROBERTS: All right.
Kelli Arena, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes. And tonight the Republican candidates for president will be swearing off in their second debate.
This morning, some new questions likely to be asked tonight as well for frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani. He's been praised for his leadership after the 9/11 attacks, but now there is some scrutiny on some decisions that he made as mayor of New York in the years before those attacks.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho joins us now.
And one of the issues is, who made the call to put the city's emergency command center at the World Trade Center? And of course, we know now what happened, which is the building was destroyed.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There's a great debate over who made that decision, Kiran. Remember, Giuliani really built his reputation on how he handled 9/11. So the big question now is, why back in 1997 did then Mayor Giuliani decide to put the city's emergency operation center at 7 World Trade Center?
Now, that's the building right next to the twin towers. The same complex had been the target of a bomb attack just four years earlier, in 1993.
Now, keep in mind, it is absolutely critical that this command center, this hub remain operational in the event of a major attack or disaster. But on 9/11, that did not happen -- 7 World Trade and the command center inside were destroyed.
So, now with Giuliani running for president, there is a lot of finger-pointing going on with this. It's turned into an ugly fight between Giuliani and the former director of New York City's Office of Emergency Management and a man named Gerry Hower (ph).
Now, these two men used to be very close friends. Now there's a fight going on. Giuliani saying it was Hower (ph) recommended 7 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: It was 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 even sure I can mention at this date, that we had to be in contact with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All right. And you had a chance to speak to Gerry Hower (ph) by phone yesterday. And what was his response to what Rudy Giuliani said?
CHO: Well, we talked to him for a long time, Kiran. You know, this is a man who does not mince words. Not at all.
You know, he called Giuliani a liar. He says he's trying to rewrite history.
Now, Hower (ph) gave us a copy of a memo he sent 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 this Brooklyn site. But one of the pros that was talked about was that this Brooklyn building was "... secure and not as visible a target as buildings in lower Manhattan."
Now, ultimately, Hower (ph) says Giuliani wanted the command center to be walking distance of City Hall, his office. And Hower (ph) says that is why the mayor chose 7 World Trade Center as a site for this command center.
CHETRY: And as we talked about before, that would be common sense. You would never be able to see in the future and think, not only would the World Trade Center be attacked, but actually brought down.
CHO: That's right. You know, they had to -- they ultimately went to plan B, which was to go to 1 Police Plaza as the backup center.
CHETRY: Right.
CHO: The phones were down there. They had to go far north to the police academy on East 20th Street, and that is where they finally set up the command center.
But, you know, Giuliani sent out -- his campaign sent out a memo yesterday, and they said, essentially, that what Hower (ph) said was wrong, that there were various options looked at including the Brooklyn site, including dozens of buildings in lower Manhattan. That ultimately, 7 World Trade was the best site, and that it was praised by national security agencies, including the Clinton White House.
Now remember, as we talked about earlier, Kiran, Giuliani built his reputation on how he handled 9/11. So it's no surprise now that there is great scrutiny on every decision that he made in the years prior, the days prior, and the days after. So, this is something that could get some attention tonight in the debate.
CHETRY: Yes. I think he'll probably be answering some questions about that for sure.
CHO: Sure.
CHETRY: Alina Cho, thanks so much.
CHO: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: A BBC reporter is apologizing this morning for a heated fight that was caught on camera. John Sweeney was making a documentary on the Church of Scientology when he was confronted by a spokesman accusing Sweeney of calling Scientology a cult.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY DAVIS, SCIENTOLOGY SPOKESMAN: I'm not stopping here. You listen to me for a second. You're accusing members of my religion of engaging in brainwashing.
JOHN SWEENEY, BBC REPORTER: No, Tommy!
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIS: Brainwashing is wrong. SWEENEY: No! Listen to me! You were not there at the beginning of that interview! You were not there! You did not hear...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That hurts my ear just to listen to it.
The church's own crew shot that outburst, and it ended up on YouTube. Sweeney has apologized, but, you know, another clip on YouTube shows Sweeney at a movie premier shouting at Scientologist John Travolta, "Are you a member of a sinister brainwashing cult?"
So maybe there was something to the charge that was leveled at him by Tom Davis.
CHETRY: You know, when you look back on the video, every time you see it you notice something new. The other guy from the Church of Scientology doesn't flinch. He just keeps talking as this guy is screaming an inch from his face.
ROBERTS: What's really kind of amazing, too, is the fact that Sweeney yells like this, and then suddenly goes into a much calmer voice saying, "Do you understand me? Do you understand me?" And then bursts out into the bombastic yelling, yet again.
CHETRY: Yes. It's clearly a lot of emotions at play here. And all I said before is it really put some publicity toward that documentary, when and if it's actually released.
ROBERTS: Yes. You have got to wonder how much of that was actually stagecraft though.
CHETRY: Yes.
It's all on YouTube. You can check it out.
Well, coming up, we're going to go to the fire lines in Florida, check for potential or extreme weather around the country, as well.
And also, his poll numbers are rising, but many have questions about Mitt Romney's politics, as well as his faith. A Romney campaign adviser who also happens to be his son is going to be joining us next.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is actually on location now in Lake City, Florida, with more on the wildfire situation there.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. This morning a similar scene to yesterday morning. We're along 441 right here, just west of Lake City, Florida, a staging area for fire crews for not only here in Lake City, but around the entire state.
They come here in the morning. They get their assignments from their crew chiefs to figure out what streets they need to go down, what structures they need to protect, what neighborhoods they need to position themselves in order to save structures of folks who have evacuated their homes due to this fire, which is advancing rapidly to the west.
There was some progress yesterday. There was also some setbacks. Here's what a fire official out of Florida Forestry Department had to say yesterday afternoon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONNY GREEN, FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY: The fire is still very active. We have learned that we do have a jump in the Fairview area. That would be this area right here.
We have got our helicopters working that jump right now. As soon as the smoke clears, we'll try to get in some air tankers into that area. All of our equipment is staged there, and we'll do everything we can to catch it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Some of those tankers include five P2s and P3 tankers that come in and drop some of that fire retardant. Also, heavy helicopters dropping water to help these firefighters out.
A hundred and seventy firefighters on the ground along 441, plus these guys going in to protect the structures. Winds have shifted somewhat today. As you know, there's been very little rainfall. Red flag warnings remain posted for this afternoon, high winds and low levels of humidity, and that same situation will present itself as we go on through tomorrow.
Over 100,000 acres burned so far here in northern Florida. That does not include the Georgia half of this fire, which has also burned over 100,000 acres. And activity ramping up, as you can see here, Kiran, as these firefighters get set to attack this blaze once again.
Back to you.
CHETRY: Rob Marciano, thanks.
ROBERTS: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is enjoying a rise in poll numbers, but for some Republican voters questions still linger about where he stands on the issues. And should his Mormon faith matter to voters?
Tagg Romney is an adviser to his father's campaign, and he joins me now from Columbia, South Carolina, where tonight Republican candidates will take part in their second presidential debate.
Good to see you, Tagg. thanks for joining us.
TAGG ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S SON: Thanks for having me.
ROBERTS: Hey, your father is on the cover of this week's "TIME" magazine. Take a look here. It says, "Sure he looks like a president, but what does Mitt Romney really believe?"
For example, on the issue of abortion, he used to be an abortion rights advocate. Your mother donated to Planned Parenthood. I believe it was back in 1994. Now he's against abortion, says he simply changed his mind. But that's a huge issue to just change your mind on.
ROMNEY: You know, it's an important issue, it's a big issue. And it's something that he thought long and hard about, and he felt in 2004, after studying the stem cell issue, that it was something that the value of life had been so cheapened in this country as a result of Roe v. Wade, that he changed his mind on the position. And, you know, he feels that people who are -- stand up and are honest will recognize that occasionally they make mistakes, and it's OK to correct that record.
ROBERTS: He's also changed his mind on immigration. Last year he was calling the proposals in Congress "reasonable". Now he's deriding what he calls amnesty for illegal immigrants.
Can you disabuse us of any notion that we might have that he's calibrating his position on these issues for political purposes?
ROMNEY: You know, he's been very, very consistent on all the issues. He's been very clear that he -- that he changed his position on abortion. On other issues, like immigration and other things, he's been very, very consistent throughout his entire life.
ROBERTS: Paul Weyrich, who is from the Heritage Foundation, he's also the founder of the Moral Majority, said this -- quoted in this "TIME" magazine article about your father -- "He does not appear to credible in his deathbed conversions -- pro-life, anti-homosexual agenda, and so on. People simply do not believe him."
Consistent or not, Tagg, he does seem to have a credibility problem with the very people that he needs to win over if he wants to get that conservative vote.
ROMNEY: You know, I take issue with the way he phrased the anti- homosexual agenda. He does not have an anti-homosexual agenda, nor has he ever.
He has been very, very clear that he is opposed to discrimination against anyone for any reason. And if you go back and try to parse past statements and make them look inconsistent, you can do that to anybody.
ROBERTS: Right. ROMNEY: He has been clear that he opposes discrimination against anyone for any reason. He doesn't believe, to that extent, to gay marriage. He opposes gay marriage and continues to do so.
He isn't anti-homosexual. He doesn't think that we ought to be able to discriminate against them. So, one does not preclude the other. And I think people, as they listen to him and hear him speak on the stump, they're very, very convinced that he's genuine and that he believes very strongly what he says. And the more people get to know him, the more they break his way and the more his message resonates with them.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll be watching tonight, Tagg, to see if he manages to convert on his appearance there in California. A lot of people like what he said in California. We'll see what he has to say tonight.
Tagg Romney, in Columbia, South Carolina.
ROMNEY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thanks very much.
Let's go back to Kiran, though, who has got some breaking news to report for us this morning.
CHETRY: That's right.
And some new information, John, on the soldiers killed in an ambush on Saturday near Mahmoudiyah in Iraq. It's about 20 miles south of Baghdad.
We now know that two of the soldiers were from Fort Drum, New York. Three soldiers are still missing from that same ambush.
CNN's Hugh Riminton is live in Baghdad with more details for us -- Hugh.
HUGH RIMINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, we now know from U.S. military sources that the families of all seven U.S. soldiers in this ambush -- there was an eighth person, he was an Iraqi army soldier -- but all seven American families have been notified that their sons were involved in this ambush. Not coming from the Pentagon, but coming from the families themselves.
We've been given the identities of two of the soldiers. The families have been told that their sons were killed in this incident.
And the names that have been given to us, Private First Class Daniel W. Courneya, 19 years old only of Vermontville, in Michigan. And sergeant First Class James D. Connell Jr. (ph), 40 years old, of Lake City, Tennessee. Those two have been confirmed by the families. They say they've been told by military authorities that their family members have been killed in this incident.
Now, General Caldwell, the U.S. military spokesman, said a few hours ago that they had of the five U.S. bodies -- sorry, of the five bodies found at the scene, one Iraqi, four Americans, there is still one body they haven't positively identified at the scene. That's why it leaves this area of doubt and potential confusion, which are the three who are now, as we understand, being held by al Qaeda-affiliated group, which is the other one who died at the scene -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And Hugh, any other information now about the search? I understand that al Qaeda or a group associated with al Qaeda sent out a warning of sorts to U.S. troops.
RIMINTON: Yes. The al Qaeda-linked group, through the Islamic State of Iraq, it calls itself through a Web site, says we have your soldiers, if you want their safety, call off your search for them. U.S. intelligence has also confirmed to their satisfaction that is it an al Qaeda group or an al Qaeda affiliate that has these soldiers.
The search is still enormous, as you can imagine, now into its fourth day. They say on their figures they have brought in hundreds of people for questioning, hundreds of people have been detained. A number of people are still being held, including high-value targets, as they call them.
They say they're getting information from the public that has led to further raids. And they're searching not just physically. That search is still going on and is enormous across now a wide area, but also using intel resources, intelligence to try to focus down on where these three missing soldiers might be -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Hopefully they'll make progress soon.
Hugh Riminton, thanks so much.
Well, he's the abortion clinic and Olympic Park bomber who now sits deep inside one of America's most secure prisons, but Eric Rudolph has still been able to taunt victims from behind bars. We're going to talk with one of them coming up.
Also, millions of kids are on MySpace. Who else though is on with them?
Coming up, you'll hear from an attorney general who says sex offenders are just a click away from targeting your children. What's being done about that?
Stay with us on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back.
Victims of Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph says he's taunting them from behind bars. He's serving a life sentence at Supermax Prison in Colorado.
Supporters are posting letters from him online. In one letter, Rudolph mocks a victim who used a finger that was mangled in the bombing to make an obscene gesture at him during the 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 send it next to the MLK's 'I Have a Dream". They could call it, "I Have a Middle Finger".
Well, the victim Rudolph was talking about is Emily Lyons. And Emily joins us this morning from Alabama, along with her husband, Jeff.
Emily and Jeff, thanks so much for being with us this morning.
EMILY LYONS, BOMBING VICTIM: Hello.
JEFF LYONS, EMILY'S HUSBAND: Good morning.
CHETRY: Emily, what went through your mind when you heard what Rudolph had said?
E. LYONS: Disappointment that it seems that the criminals have more rights than the so-called victims. And that people are profiting from his essays. People who support terrorist groups in this country are receiving donations from people who support Rudolph.
CHETRY: You know, you make the comparison this group, Army of God, Emily, that is helping post these words is really a terrorist group. Would the feds allow an al Qaeda member behind bars to have his words posted on a Web site?
E. LYONS: Well, not that I know of, but I'm not a government person. You would think that if it was a possibility of a terrorist network receiving information, encouragement to kill, the government would do something about it.
CHETRY: And so, Jeff, what have the answers been from the Bureau of Prisons and from the other federal agencies about whether or not they can stop this?
J. LYONS: Well, the prosecutors that negotiated the plea bargain to send him there have said that they support his attacks because it's freedom of speech. I sent a letter to the warden basically asking him to help me protect my family from this person, as well as others. He's endangering others besides just us, and I never received a reply.
CHETRY: And you're worried that his words could incite others. People read these words printed on the Web site, encouraging followers to carry out other attacks.
J. LYONS: Well, there have already been people attempt to copycat Rudolph's works. There is this network, and they even hold a banquet called the White Rose Banquet where they honor these people that are in prison and encourage others to do the same thing, yes.
CHETRY: And Emily, I understand you had to have 22 painful operations so far. How are you doing? E. LYONS: Fairly well. The years are telling me that I'm getting older. Probably, you know, a few more surgeries in the upcoming year.
CHETRY: And we can just certainly understand how having to read and hear these words again can make you feel victimized all over again.
Please keep us posted, both of you, if you hear anything from the prisons and if anything is being done to try to stop it.
Emily and Jeff Lyons from Birmingham, Alabama, this morning.
Thank you.
And AMERICAN MORNING will continue in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: And there's a shot of the Capitol building. It's a beautiful day here in Washington. A lovely way to start your day with brilliant sunshine, not a cloud in the sky.
Going to go up close to 90 degrees today. Summer's almost here.
It's Tuesday, May 15th. And good morning to you. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
I'm John Roberts in Washington.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry in New York.
I wonder if you'll be as happy stuck in the traffic on the beltway when the 86 degree heat is pounding down on you.
ROBERTS: I have air conditioning. I'm fine.
CHETRY: And sunglasses. All right.
Well, some stories on our radar this morning.
Eight states take aim at myspace.com. It's the very popular social networking Web site. A lot of kids have profiles in there.
Well, unfortunately, so do a lot of sexual predators. In fact, convicted sexual predators that may targeting your kids online. We'll hear more from Connecticut's attorney general how they want the site, as well as the federal government, to get involved to try to help shut this down, shut down convicted sex offenders being able to get on these sites.
ROBERTS: In our last hour Doctor Sanjay Gupta had an exclusive interview with First Lady Barbara Bush; and later on in this half hour we'll see his exclusive interview with U2 lead singer Bono. Are the world's eight richest countries living up to their pledge to fight AIDS in Africa? Sanjay will put the question to Bono. Look forward to that.
CHETRY: Absolutely. It's Bono, how can you go wrong?
Also, wedding insurance. A way to protect your investment, so to speak, if your soon to be husband or wife decides to leave you at the alter -- or how about this one, you bring all your relatives and then a hurricane washes out your destination wedding. We'll be talking to an insurance salesman about whether or not people are really buying these policies. What they cover, does it make sense?
ROBERTS: I like the, "I changed my mind" idea.
CHETRY: Right. A rider in there, if you change your mind you get your money back. ROBERTS: Exactly.
Hey, has the scandal over the firing of eight federal prosecutors claimed another casualty? Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty says, he is going to resign at the end of the summer. He cites financial reasons. But he is the highest-ranking Justice Department official to quit since the investigation began.
Court TV's Savannah Guthrie is here with me now.
Savannah, what do you make out of all of this? It's one thing to be in the employ of the federal government, and say, look, I have set the table long enough, I actually want to eat there, but the timing of it is very weird.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, COURT TV: Of course, anyone you talk to on the Hill who has been following the scandal with the U.S. attorneys says this is not a surprise. I mean, he's saying it's not related to this U.S. attorneys issue, but at a minimum you have to believe that wore him out, and maybe ushered in his decision it leave the government.
He is a government guy. He's been with the government either on the Hill or as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, then deputy attorney general, just a year. He was confirmed in March of 2006. So, I think this scandal probably has something to do with his resignation.
ROBERTS: He also seemed to upset the boss, Alberto Gonzales, in his testimony on the Hill when he said the U.S. attorneys were fired for performance reasons. The Department of Justice didn't want to say that publicly, and he went out there, and did it in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on the record. Do you think that might have played in to it somehow? That Gonzales was saying, if you're going to go say something like that, you're not my guy. I don't want you on the team.
GUTHRIE: Well, there's some thinking that McNulty's testimony in early February was the pivotal point. Because he was the first to come out and say it's performance-related reasons, that's why we let the U.S. attorneys go. At that point these U.S. attorneys felt, wait a minute, are you impugning my reputation? I have to stand up and respond to it. They went to the Hill and suddenly this issue has a life of its own.
ROBERTS: The timing of all of this in terms of when he's leaving is sort of curious it me. You would think if it was really a product of the U.S. attorneys and was being told to go, he would go right away, like Martha Goodling did, like Kyle Sampson did. The fact that he's going to say on for another four, maybe even five more months might be an indication there isn't quite as much to this as some people might think.
GUTHRIE: It's possible. Or another possibility that is looming out there is that he knows there's is some further damaging revelation to come, and he wants to get out ahead of it so people aren't calling for his head. It will be a non-issue, so even if there is some further testimony that draws him into this controversy further, he's already sort of said, well, I'm not going to be there much longer, don't call for my head.
ROBERTS: On that front, Monica Goodling, who is Al Gonzales' former aide, she been granted immunity, by the Justice Department. She will probably testify. Is she expected to say derogatory things about McNulty?
GUTHRIE: Don't be surprised if she tells a different story. Because, look, she feels that there is no one -- her lawyer feels that McNulty said I wasn't adequately prepared when I went to Congress and said the White House wasn't involved. In some way that blame kind of falls at Kyle Sampson's feet and Monica Goodling's feet. So, when it's her turn to talk, she might tell a different story.
ROBERTS: Just when this story is losing its legs, boom, it gets whole new set of them. Savannah, thanks very much.
GUTHRIE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Savannah Guthrie from Court TV.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Thank, John.
Well, chances are your kids have found a home, a virtual home, as it were, on MySpace, maybe FaceBook, a couple of the other sites. But, unfortunately, some have very real sexual predators online, as well. Now, eight states want to do something about it. We have that story ahead.
Also Bono speaks out. World leaders pledging millions to Africa. Pledging, but are they delivering? Well, an exclusive one-on-one with Doctor Sanjay Gupta, up next. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 37 minutes past the hour now, Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" and there are some new additions to the crash test ratings. ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: The IIHS, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, they test cars for front, side and rear impact. They've added two new cars to their top list. Their top safety picks. That's how the tests are done. They hit the front ones at 40 miles per hour, the side at 31 miles per hour.
Let me show you the list of cars on there, or at least the cars that are on there. The 2007 Acura MDX, which is an SUV. That rated, that got a good rating, which is the highest rating from this organization. And then the two other cars that were added to the list are actually the same car. It's the 2008 Ford Taurus and its twin the 20008 Mercury Sable.
For those of you who are confused because you heard our reporting over the last year about how there is no more Taurus. Ford did a little switcheroo at the auto show in January and re-named the Ford 500 into the Ford Taurus because the Taurus was the best-selling, kind of ever, for Ford.
CHETRY: So, what happened to the 500?
VELSHI: The 500 is gone. It's the same car. That's the 500. It is just that if you wondered why there is a new Taurus, that's why.
CHETRY: I wondered where in the heck did the Ford Festiva go? It looked like a little roller skate.
VELSHI: I remember the Festiva, one of my largest friends actually had one.
CHETRY: Me, too!
VELSHI: He loved it.
CHETRY: Hey, you could parallel park anywhere.
VELSHI: You could. The smart car is coming to the U.S. now, which is Mercedes small, it's called the 2four (sic)?
CHETRY: Right, only two people can fit.
VELSHI: Smaller than a --
CHETRY: There's no back seat at all.
VELSHI: None at all.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks so much.
John, you have a story about MySpace.
ROBERTS: Yes. I was going to say, I love those smart cars, as well. I like the one that can actually them into a parallel parking spot and put two of them in there.
CHETRY: Exactly. ROBERTS: It's 39 minutes after the hour.
Millions of kids use MySpace every day, but they are not the only ones. Sexual predators are also lurking on MySpace and the social networking site is trying to track them down. But Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is leading the calls for MySpace to do more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: They have found thousands of convicted sex offenders with profiles on MySpace. We're demanding the numbers, the names, their addresses, and what is being done to remove those convicted sex offenders from this site, because convicted sex offenders should have no place on MySpace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Blumenthal also points out that those are only the convicted offenders using their real names. Other predators could be using aliases or never been convicted. Jacki Schechner joins me.
And what is it that MySpace is doing to try to protect its young users?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: That was the key there, you heard Richard Blumenthal say they found, they are doing a lot to try and protect their users. They are very concerned about security.
One of the things they have is a data base called Sentinel Safe. They just put that into place in January. That basically searches the 600,000 sexual predators that are registered, registered sex offenders, and compares them with information that people are putting online when they sign up for a MySpace profile.
There are 123 data points in this profile, so what they can do is really match up anything. If somebody, a sexual predator, is using any aspect of their actual real information that can then be matched up. They also have something that will scan photographs, so they can compare images, too.
ROBERTS: But couldn't a sexual predator just lie about their I.D.?
SCHECHNER: Absolutely, absolutely.
I spoke to the chief security officer (UNINTELLIGIBLE), back in January and he said you'd be surprised, first of all, at how much real information that these sexual predators actually use. Secondly, though --
ROBERTS: You mean, they actually do use some of their legitimate information?
SCHECHNER: Yes, some of it. Yes. They might not use all of their information, but they do use -- because they have so many data points they can compare against, it really ups the chance that they can possibly find out that this is somebody they want to keep off of their website.
Another thing is that a registered e-mail would be really, really helpful. This is something that Myspace needs.
ROBERTS: It's interesting, too, that more and more kids are becoming wise to this whole thing. And I think parents are beginning to educate them, as well, but there is still a lot of kids out there who are vulnerable.
Jacki, thanks.
SCHECHNER: Sure.
CHETRY: U2's frontman Bono pressing the world's richest countries to put some money where their mouth is, after pledging $25 billion in aid to Africa for debt relief as well as AIDS medicine. Well, Bono has just talked exclusively with our Doctor Sanjay Gupta.
And Sanjay, you're quite a jetsetter. If you're not interviewing the first lady, or the former president, you're talking to one of the greatest rock stars of all time.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I know, it's a pretty amazing thing, too.
Two years ago, the year of Africa, in Glenn Eagle, Scotland, and the G8 Summit there, there was some of these pledges that you were talking about, Kiran. Sort of amazing.
Where are we on those pledges? Where have we arrived two years later and where are we headed over the next few years? Bono has this organization, in addition to fronting U2 he also fronts this organization called DATA, Debt Aids Trade in Africa. They sort of hold organizations accountable for where they are going and where they might be. The number of these medications actually getting to people in sub-Saharan Africa has increased. That's actually a good story. It was about 1 percent, only, of the people who needed medications, were getting them, in 2002. It's about 28 percent now.
It's good news and bad news, depending on how you look at it. It also seems to be some improvements in terms of debt. I talked to Bono as you mentioned, this is how he put it to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONO, MUSICIAN, ANTI-POVERTY ACTIVIST: On debt cancellation, I can tell you, Sanjay, and this it is a thrill for me to say, on this program, because people got out on the streets and marched, and spoke up seven, six, five years ago, 20 million children are going to school in Africa that weren't before. And that is one of the greatest feelings ever.
You know, I mean, being on stage in a rock band, and in front of 70,000 people is an amazing feeling. But this -- this is -- it's overwhelming. And I'm very proud of all the people who got involved in the United States and around the world on that.
And we will, we will prevail against AIDS, you know. It's coming. There will be a day, soon coming, when the world will be rid of AIDS. Malaria, the United States is leading. Go!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANJAY: He gets really fired up, Kiran, about these issues. It's amazing. I think he's very genuine and very sincere about this. It's heart. He's had a very long career, certainly as a rock star, but also in this other world, as well. It can be trying sometimes. I decided to ask him about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Do you ever worry about Bono fatigue? I mean either in rock 'n' roll or your initiatives, or all the other stuff you're trying to do. Do you worry about that?
BONO: Look, I am Bono. And I'm sick of Bono. And I fully understand, I don't know why there's many more boos, catcalls and hisses when I walk down the street. People are, you know, jump for their wallet. You know, politicians close their blinds, oh, God, here he is again.
I really do understand that. And I look forward to a time when I'm not such a pest and a self-righteous rock star. Who needs one? And you know, that time is coming soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: It's amazing. He really does have quite a platform. He is in Berlin, Germany, right now. He met with Chancellor Merkel out there. Because that is where the G8 Summit is going to be, Kiran. He's already starting to hold people accountable. He has met with a lot of the presidential candidates here, as well.
I asked him, he's not endorsing anyone in particular, but he's quite proud, I think, of what the United States has done. He also thinks the United Kingdom, even after Tony Blair steps down, is going to be able to maintain their commitments.
So, overall, a rather positive message, but always a case of good news and bad news, as well, Kiran.
CHETRY: He's such a humble guy. I mean, he says I have Bono fatigue. I highly doubt anyone is closing the blinds on him. He can come here any time.
GUPTA: That's right. We're not going to close the blinds, or shut the doors at all on him.
CHETRY: Yes, open arms for Bono. Sanjay, great job. By the way, we can see more of Sanjay's interview with Bono, as well as Laura Bush, and former President Bill Clinton, on a special edition of "House Call". That's Saturday and Sunday, 8:30 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: We have new information this morning on the soldiers that were killed in that ambush on Saturday near Mahmoudiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. We now know that two of the soldiers were from Ft. Drum, New York.
The Pentagon is IDing, Sergeant 1st Class James D. Connell, Jr., 40, of Lake City, Tennessee, and Private 1st Class Daniel W. Cournea of Vermontville, Michigan. Wendy Thompson, Daniel's mother, reacted to the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WENDY THOMPSON, MOTHER OF KILLED SOLDIER: She said Daniel's dead. And I just started screaming. Begging her to tell me it was a joke. Just some stupid, sick Mother's Day prank. It wasn't.
I'm more proud of Daniel now than I was the day I signed the papers, and watched him take his oath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You can just imagine the anguish. Three soldiers are still missing from that same ambush. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon now, she joins us with more.
What do we have on the status of those soldiers and the search to try to find them, Barbara?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is a very delicate, very sensitive issue for the U.S. military. And things are becoming very complex as they try to notify these families.
What we can tell you is that all seven families who had their loved ones involved in this incident have been notified that their loved ones were involved. But it is getting tough to sort all this out.
Three of the families, including the two you mentioned, have been notified their soldiers were killed in action. That's three of the seven. There are four currently listed, duty status, whereabouts unknown. But to be very clear, yet sensitive here, they have a body that they're trying to identify through DNA matching. That body is very badly damaged. They hope to have the DNA completed by mid-day tomorrow. And then the fourth family will be notified their loved one was killed in action.
That, of course, John, leaves three missing, duty-status, whereabouts unknown, and those three are the object of this massive search that is under way at this hour in Iraq.
But at this point, the toughest thing is they cannot clarify for these other four families the exact status until they get that body that they do have, that set of remains formally identified. What the military tells us this morning is they hope to have it completed by mid-day tomorrow and they hope at mid-day tomorrow they will be able to put out a mass casualty announcement, identifying as many people as they can out of this.
But what is unclear, John, is whether the military will identify by name the soldiers that they do have that are missing while this massive search is under way in Iraq -- John.
ROBERTS: Yes, while I was in Iraq they really wanted to not do that to preserve operational security. And, as well, to preserve this idea that they didn't want to giving too much information to the enemy.
But the fact that Al Qaeda put out an announcement yesterday saying call off the search, or you're going it endanger the health and well being of these three soldiers. Does that give people at the Pentagon reason to believe that they may still be alive?
STARR: It is a very delicate matter to discuss at this hour. I think what we can reasonably tell everyone is, yes, there is some hope. Obviously, that these three, who are missing, not the fourth one, of course, the remains they're trying to identify. The three who are missing may be out there somewhere alive. That is why the military is engaging in this massive search in Iraq at this hour, rounding up suspects, looking for all the tips, all leads that they can possibly have.
I can also tell you, it is a matter of discussion, at the highest levels of the Pentagon, about how to proceed on this very critical matter. Do they identify the names of the missing in advance of any possible Al Qaeda video being put out? It's a tough question for them because it's going to be a very tough matter for families, if there is a video of these soldiers that emerges somewhere in the Arab media, even if the U.S. media doesn't show it. This is becoming an issue hour-by-hour, that is being discussed here at the Pentagon, at the very highest levels -- John.
ROBERTS: You can't help but wonder as well, Barbara, what those soldiers are going through right now. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks very much.
STARR: Sure.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Coming up a look at a CNN hero. This woman said if you graduate from high school I will pay for your college. It's a promise she made to first graders. Did she keep it? Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Graduate from high school, and I'll pay for college. Oral Lee Brown made that promise to kids that were just starting first grade, and she kept that promise. She's CNN's hero today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ORAL LEE BROWN, CNN HERO, PHILANTHROPIST: These are our kids. We should at least take them to a position in their life that they can lead their way. They can't do it without an education.
An education can get you everything you want. You can go wherever you want to go. It's a way out of the ghettos, bottom line.
YOLANDA PEEK, FORMER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: She said, give me your first graders who are really struggling and who are most needy. I want to adopt the class and I want to follow the class until they graduate from high school. She says that she was going it pay their college tuitions.
BROWN: How many are going to college?
At the time I was making I think, $45,000, $46,000 a year, so I committed $10,000 to the kids. I grew up in Mississippi. I lived off of $2 a day, that's what we got. $2 a day for picking cotton. So, I really feel that I was blessed from God, and so I cannot pay him back, but these kids are his kids. These kids -- some of them are poor like I was.
LAQUITA WHITE, FORMER STUDENT: When you have that mentor, like Ms. Brown, a very strong person, you can't go wrong, because she's on you constantly, every day. What are you doing? How are you doing?
BROWN: The world doubted us. I was told, lady, you cannot do it. I would say, you know what, these kids are just like any other kid, the only thing that they don't have is they don't have the love and they don't have the support.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They called me yesterday and told me I was accepted.
(CHEERS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good for you!
BROWN: You're looking at doctors and lawyers and one president of the United States. When you give a kid an education, and they get it up here, nobody or nothing can take it away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Well, she's an inspiration for sure.
Here's a quick look at what CNN's "Newsroom" is working on for the top of the hour. T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: See these stories in the "CNN Newsroom": Congress looking at record-high gas prices today.
Flames jumping a fire line in Florida. Hundreds more families out of their homes this morning. Missing girl case: Police say they have a suspect in the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann.
Want to rent a road? Two states will let private companies run public highways. The "Newsroom", top of the hour on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, Sylvester Stallone pleaded guilty to importing a controlled substance into another country. The 60-year-old Rocky star caught with 48 vials of human growth hormone on a trip to Australia back in February.
Human growth hormone used to build muscle mass, ironic because it was "Rocky 4", his opponent, Ivan Drago, who took the needles, while Rocky was the one building up his muscles the old-fashioned way.
I got that update, courtesy of one of our intrepid writers, who corrected me. It was not "Rocky 3".
By the way he faces a maximum fine, $22,000.
ROBERTS: Got to keep those Rockies straight.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Could Paris Hilton be going to jail under the man dubbed the toughest sheriff in the West? Hilton was ordered to serve 45 days for violating probation after a drunk driving charge. The sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, reportedly says he has room for Paris in his tent city jails. L.A. jails are notoriously overcrowded. Temperatures in the tents can reach 110 and more during the time that Paris would begin her sentence.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Department says that the L.A. County sheriff is considering the offer.
Wouldn't that be interesting?
CHETRY: It will be a long 45 days for Miss Hilton.
Well, that's all here, for AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for being with us today.
ROBERTS: All right. See you again tomorrow.
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