Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
President Bush Announcing New Economic Sanctions on Sudan; Boy vs. Hogzilla
Aired May 29, 2007 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome once again. It's Tuesday, May 29th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts.
Good morning to you.
Stories "On Our Radar" this morning.
An AMERICAN MORNING exclusive. We're going to hear again from the Fort Dix whistleblower. He was the guy who was given that videotape by two members of the Fort Dix Six charged with a terror plot against soldiers at Fort Dix. When he took a look at the tape as he was dubbing it, saw some things he thought he better pass along to the authorities. Being hailed now as a hero.
CHETRY: He saved many lives if this plot would have gone on. Who knows how many people would have been killed at Fort Dix. So we'll let you hear more from him.
But also, right now we're going to get right to the White House. President Bush coming out in just a moment. He is announcing new sanctions on Sudan over the crisis in Darfur.
Kathleen Koch is at the White House right now with a bit of a preview. Apparently, the administration running out of patience with the slow progress of diplomatic efforts to try to stem the bloodshed there.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Quite so, Kiran. And so what the president is going to be announcing -- this according to a senior administration official -- the president will announce in just a few minutes a multi-pronged effort to really turn the screws, put the pressure on the Sudanese government to stop this violence that has claimed the lives of roughly 450,000 people over the last four years and left some 2.5 million homeless.
The measures will target the Sudanese economy. According to the official, it will target specifically government-run ventures that are involved in the country's oil business.
Secondly, the U.S. will directly sanction two Sudanese officials and a rebel leader believed to be responsible for part of the violence. Thirdly, the United States will go to the U.N. Security Council and ask for more international sanctions.
Now, this official that I spoke with this morning said the president had considered announcing these measures last month in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, but that the United Nations had asked to give more time to diplomacy.
Here's the president.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For too long the people of Darfur have suffered at the hands of a government that is complicit in the bombing murder and rape of innocent civilians. My administration has called these actions by their rightful name, genocide. The world has a responsibility to help put an end to it.
Last month, I announced that the United States was prepared to take new steps if the government of Sudan did not allow the full deployment of a U.N. peacekeeping force. If the government did not begin living up to its many commitments, that the United States would act. I made clear that the time for promises was over, and that President Bashir had to do something to end the suffering.
I held off implementing these steps because the United Nations believed that President Bashir could meet his obligations to stop the killing and would meet his obligations to stop the killing. Unfortunately, he hasn't met those obligations. President Bashir's actions over the past few weeks follow a long pattern of promising cooperation or finding new methods for obstruction.
One day after I spoke, the military bombed a meeting of rebel commanders designed to discuss a possible peace deal with the government. In the following weeks he used his army and government- sponsored militias to attack rebels and civilians in south Darfur. He has taken no steps to disarm these militias in the years since the Darfur peace agreement was signed.
Senior officials continue to oppose the deployment of the U.N. peacekeeping force. The result is that the dire security situation on the ground in Darfur has not changed. And so, today, at my instruction, the United States is taking the steps I announced in April.
First, the Department of Treasury is tightening U.S. economic sanctions on Sudan. With this new effort, the United States will more aggressively enforce existing sanctions against Sudan's government.
As part of this effort, the Treasury Department will add 30 companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan to its list of specially-designated nationals. We're also adding an additional company to the list, a company that has been transporting weapons to the Sudanese government and militia forces in Darfur.
All these companies are now barred from the U.S. financial system. It is a crime for American companies and individuals to knowingly do business with them. Second, we're targeting sanctions against individuals responsible for violence. These sanctions will isolate these persons by cutting them off from the U.S. financial system, barring them from doing business with any American citizen or company, and calling the world's attention to their crimes.
Third, I'm directing the secretary of state to consult with the United Kingdom and other allies on a new United Nations Security Council resolution. This resolution will apply new sanctions against the government of Sudan against individuals found to be violating human rights or obstructing the peace process.
It will impose an expanded embargo on arms sales to the government of Sudan. It will prohibit the Sudanese government from conducting any offensive military flights over Darfur. It will strengthen our ability to monitor and report any violations.
At the same time, we will continue to push for U.N. support, including funding for the African Union peacekeepers who remain the only force in Darfur that is protecting the people. We will continue to work for the deployment of a larger hybrid force of a A.U. and U.N. peacekeeping troops.
We will continue to support the diplomacy of U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon. We will continue to insist on the full implementation of the Darfur peace agreement. We will continue to promote a broadly supported and inclusive political settlement that is the only long-term solution to the crisis in Darfur.
America's commitment is clear. Since this conflict began, we have provided more than $1.7 billion in humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance for Darfur. We are the world's largest single donor to the people of Darfur.
We're working for the day when the families of this troubled region are allowed to return safely to their homes and rebuild their lives in peace. The people of Darfur are crying out for help, and they deserve it.
I urge the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and all members of the international community to reject any efforts to obstruct implementation of the agreements that would bring peace to Darfur and Sudan. I call on President Bashir to stop his obstruction and to allow the peacekeepers in, and to end in campaign of violence that continues to target innocent men, women and children.
And I promise this to the people of Darfur: the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world.
Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: President Bush there in the diplomatic reception room, making a new statement on Darfur, saying that the United States is going to increase sanctions against that country, particularly against three individuals, and also aspects of the oil industry. The president wants the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, to accept the United Nations peacekeeping force. He has been resisting that notion for years, allowing an African Union peacekeeping force in there. But it's the United Nations force that President Bush wants in there, urging President Bashir to do more to urge (sic) the suffering in Darfur.
Of course we'll continue to follow this story all day today.
And right now we want to bring in CNN's Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon.
And Barbara, it's sanctions that the president is talking about, not military action. The Pentagon is getting involved, more involved in the region. Fears about the rise of terrorist groups in Africa?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, John.
Now, as for Darfur, as you say, you heard the president talk about an African Union peacekeeping force, that vital need for a U.N. peacekeeping force. One of the things the U.S. military could get involved with there is helping get the aircraft necessary, charter aircraft or bring some of those peacekeepers in. Those African countries simply don't have the capability to move around themselves, they don't have the money or the airplanes.
But the U.S. military is keeping a much closer eye on all of Africa these days. In the last couple of months they have begun to set up for the first time an Africa command, a four-star command just like Pacific command or European command. A four-star general will be put in charge of keeping an eye over everything on Africa.
A lot of the focus is on humanitarian assistance, medical care, digging wells, building schools. The military theory in Africa for the U.S. is, if you do that vital humanitarian assistance work now, you don't have situations where things like Darfur happened, where governments become unstable, where militaries aren't really very reliable. So, the feeling by the U.S. military is, do that humanitarian work now and you won't have to come back later.
ROBERTS: Barbara, we also got some bad news today that it looks as though May is going to be the deadliest month of the year so far for the U.S. military, with as many as 112 U.S. soldiers and Marines killed.
What is the latest incident that has brought those numbers up?
STARR: Well, there has been a very tragic incident over the last 24 hours in Diyala province, in eastern Iraq, north of Baghdad.
A U.S. Army Kiowa helicopter was brought down. Both people on board that helicopter were killed. But when a quick reaction force on the ground tried to go in to help, one of their vehicles came across an IED. Several people killed in that. And then a second vehicle hit. By the time all of this basically was concluded, two killed on the helicopter, six people killed on the ground. U.S. troops trying to come in to help.
That now, John, is going to make this month of May, even just before it wraps up, the deadliest month so far this year. And it will become one of the deadliest months of the war.
It's exactly, of course, what President Bush was warning about, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates. As the U.S. steps up its security operations, they do expect a higher level of casualties -- John.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, thanks.
Coming up to 11 minutes after the hour.
Coming up here on AMERICAN MORNING, meet the Fort Dix whistleblower. He is the guy who was credited with intervening in a possible terrorist attack against soldiers at Fort Dix.
We'll hear what he has to say and how he feels about what he did coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: One ordinary citizen helped stop a suspected terror plot when he reported some unusual activity to local police. Brian Morgenstern was working at a Circuit City on January 31st of last year when two men came in and asked him to transfer home video footage to DVD. That eventually led to the unraveling of a plan to kill soldiers at New Jersey's Fort Dix.
Earlier I spoke exclusively with Brian Morgenstern, and he told me about that day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, TOLD POLICE ABOUT TERROR PLOT: Oh, it's an honor to be here today.
ROBERTS: So, this whole thing goes back to January 31st of 2006. You're working there at the Circuit City in southern New Jersey. What happened then?
MORGENSTERN: Well, it's just an ordinary day for me, just like every other day. And two gentlemen came in and were interested in video conversion. They brought in an 8 millimeter tape and they want it converted to DVD.
ROBERTS: So, they gave it to you. You were going to take it, put it on your equipment, just dub it down. It seemed like a typical request you'd get several times a day probably?
MORGENSTERN: Yes, I get it all the time.
ROBERTS: Did these guys strike you as being strange in any kind of way? Did they -- did your radar go off at all?
MORGENSTERN: No, not at all. They just looked like normal people.
ROBERTS: When did your radar go off?
MORGENSTERN: Well, as far as the process goes, I start the conversion, and then I'll just usually work on something else and keep an eye on it to make sure. But I saw some stuff on the film that was disturbing, and it kind of gained my attention that way. So I started paying more attention to it.
ROBERTS: Now, the U.S. attorney has asked you not to divulge everything that was on the tape for security and investigative purposes.
MORGENSTERN: Correct.
ROBERTS: But what can you tell us that you saw?
MORGENSTERN: Well, I saw men at a shooting range with handguns, rifles, and what appeared to me as fully automatic weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Morgenstern's tip led to the arrest of six men. He is now being hailed as a hero.
CHETRY: Some extreme weather to show you now. A powerful storm ripping the roof right off a stable at a Connecticut horse farm. There you see it. Witnesses say it looked like a tornado passed through. None of the horses in the stable were hurt.
And a life-saving warning. A new law in Indiana will make it mandatory that all mobile homes installed after July come equipped with a weather alert radio. The push to get this bill signed came from a woman who lost her 2-year-old son in a tornado in 2005.
On Cocoa Beach in Florida, lifeguards rescued more than 200 people in just three hours. The result of strong rip currents over the weekend. At least two men died, one in Cocoa Beach, another in Fernandina Beach, due to the rip currents, as well.
It's a quarter past the hour now. We head out to Chad Myers.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Ahead, if you think the story of the 11-year-old boy who killed the 1,000-pound hog is a little hard to believe, well, then you'll want to hear from the boy himself. We're going to talk to him next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Twenty minutes after the hour. A big victory for Syrian president Bashir al-Assad. More "Quick Hits" for you now.
Syria announcing today that Assad has won his second seven-year term in office. Not exactly surprising, as he ran unopposed. Assad took over the leadership of Syria in the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, seven years ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced today that they are going to meet next week. Israeli warplanes have been pounding Palestinian positions for two weeks in response to Palestinian rocket attacks near Gaza.
And China's former drug regulator was sentenced to death after being convicted of corruption and abuse of office. He was fired two years ago for taking almost $1 million in bribes to approve medicine that was never tested. At least 10 people died as a result of that.
CHETRY: Well, it's a story as big as the wild hog at the center of it all. Eleven-year-old Jamison Stone using a pistol to kill a wild hog in Alabama. There you see the picture. It's said to weigh in at over 1,000 pounds. Some are saying this is the biggest wild hog ever bagged before.
Joining me to tell the story, Jamison Stone himself, as well as his dad, Mike Stone.
Thanks to both of you for being with us. Welcome.
MIKE STONE, JAMISON'S FATHER: Thanks for having us.
CHETRY: Now some people are saying we don't know if it's true or not.
M. STONE: It's absolutely true.
CHETRY: Do you guys have the head of this -- of the hog?
M. STONE: As a matter of fact, the notoriety just over the weekend has actually got the taxidermist to start actually preparing to mount it now.
CHETRY: You guys had to get a backhoe actually to get it out of the place where you were hunting.
What did people say when they saw it?
M. STONE: Well, it was amazing how big it was. We knew it was big when we were pursuing it, but we had no idea it was that large until we actually had it down and got to look at it up close.
CHETRY: Jamison, tell me how this happened. How did you first spot it and what did you do?
JAMISON STONE, KILLED 1,000-POUND HOG: Well, when I first saw it we were walking down this hill to see if we could find it. And we saw it, and, man, it was -- it looked like a hippopotamus. It was huge.
(LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: What did you think when you saw it?
M. STONE: I said, "Man, I hope I hit this thing so it doesn't run at me."
CHETRY: And were you ever worried for your son's safety at the time? He's 11.
M. STONE: Well, we had two skilled hunters, Keith O'Neill (ph) and Keith Williams (ph) there. They're very skilled hunters, and they both had high-powered rifles, as well as the guy who owned the place. So there were three guns at the pig -- aimed at the pig the whole time.
So, until we actually started pursuing it through the creek beds and stuff -- and then they were close by. But we were very safe, as safe as you can be hunting.
CHETRY: So, this turned out to be a three-hour chase. At any point did you think, I better just give this up?
J. STONE: For a little while I was thinking maybe I should -- I was having second thoughts at first when I first saw it. I was definitely having second thoughts.
CHETRY: And what did your mom say when she found out after the fact about all this?
J. STONE: Man, she was -- when she first saw the hog after we had killed it, man, she couldn't believe it.
M. STONE: We were -- you know, we actually -- I did this for the purpose -- he didn't know about it. It was a surprise when we got there.
He knew we were going to go over to hunt a pig, but we did this for the purpose -- he's getting to be a teenager and I wanted to give him something to do that would be a challenge. He's been a hunter since he was 5. He killed his first deer at 5.
I wanted to give him a challenge, something that he would have to hang in there with. It was never a question of not going after it and pursuing it. It was a question of how long would it take.
It was very difficult to get down. We did have a very large handgun, but it was still difficult. The pig was extremely strong. But it was a challenge that we gave him for the purpose of getting ready to be a teenager. We wanted to...
CHETRY: And you know, buy the way, you guys are making -- you guys are going to eat this?
M. STONE: Absolutely. A lot of people don't, but we actually had it prepared in breakfast sausage.
CHETRY: Do you like sausage? Because you're going to be eating it for a while, Jamison.
J. STONE: Yes, ma'am.
CHETRY: All right. Good.
You know, it's funny, because this did gain worldwide attention, besides the fact that, I mean, when you first saw the picture, it doesn't even look real. But now, of course, people are also being critical and saying, is it a good idea to have such a young boy and teach him about hunting and killing living animals?
What do you say to that?
M. STONE: Well, we believe in my part of the world, and not only my part of the world, but all over the world -- we actually got about 85 percent positive e-mails at that monsterpig.com site. But we do have a lot of negative people who just -- we've had some death threats made at us because of it.
It's amazing, but we actually have. And we think they're the people who just hide behind a keyboard and do that. But somebody has to go out and plant and somebody has to harvest meat in order for you to eat. So, we believe in planting and harvesting, and we don't think there's anything wrong with it at all.
CHETRY: You know, the other interesting thing is you are also getting a lot of notoriety. And there was a movie that was being planned to be made called "The Legend of Hogzilla" about a different wild boar back in 2004.
M. STONE: Exactly.
CHETRY: Let's listen quickly to what the director said when I asked him yesterday if he was going to cast you in this movie.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK TRIMM, PRODUCER, "THE LEGEND OF HOGZILLA": It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. We talked to them about maybe having Jamison do a -- just a small bit in the film.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What do you think, Jamison? Are you ready for your first star turn as an actor?
J. STONE: Yes, ma'am. It's very exciting. That's probably the highlight of this whole thing, is going to be in this movie.
CHETRY: Are you going to let him be an actor?
M. STONE: Well, you know, it's kind of funny. Ever since he's been a little guy he's always said he wanted to be an actor. And this is kind of wild how that popped up. When we got their phone call, we were very, very excited.
CHETRY: Very neat.
Well, keep us posted and let us know. I mean, this really -- this story has captured a lot of attention. A lot of people just can't believe it when they see the picture.
So, congratulations to you.
J. STONE: Thank you.
CHETRY: You have some great stories to tell to your seventh grade class, I'm sure.
M. STONE: We'll send you some sausage.
CHETRY: All right. If you send it to me, I will taste it.
M. STONE: All right. Great.
CHETRY: I've never had boar sausage before, but there's a first time for everything.
M. STONE: Oh, I understand.
CHETRY: Mike Stone and Jamison, thanks so much. See you later.
John.
ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes now after the hour. Some "Quick Hits" for you.
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake hit eastern Indonesia today. The epicenter was about 25 miles southeast of Labuha. That's in the Malakas (ph) Islands. No tsunami warning though as a result of that.
Hawaii is getting almost $38 million in federal aid to recover from an earthquake that occurred last October. Most of it going to fix roads on the big island, and also on Maui.
Coming up, Congress promises to turn green. So why are some in the Senate fighting to keep the coal burning plant that keeps Capitol Hill alight, and why are they pushing for subsidies for the coal industry?
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome back. It's Tuesday, May 29th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts.
Good morning to you.
Fascinating tale of that giant hog, isn't it?
CHETRY: Are you going to taste any boar sausage?
ROBERTS: If you get some, I'll try it.
Hey, we're hearing this morning for the first time from the store clerk who tipped off police to suspects accused of plotting against soldiers at Fort Dix. Brian Morgenstern spoke out right here on AMERICAN MORNING last hour. He says he was working in a Circuit City on January the 31st of last year when two men came in and asked him to dub a home video to DVD. When he saw people in the video at a shooting range, he wasn't sure what to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, TOLD POLICE ABOUT TERROR VIDEO: I thought about whether or not it should be reported. I actually waited that night and weighed out my decisions. I went home and I talked to my family about it. I thought their input would be very helpful in this situation and they agreed with me.
And the next day I went into work and I told the management at the time that I was going to make the call and they supported me. Circuit City has been very supportive on this whole situation. And I called the police.
ROBERTS: And what happened? What did the police say when you called them?
MORGENSTERN: The police came over, they took a look at the film.
ROBERTS: So they treated this pretty seriously, right?
(CROSSTALK)
MORGENSTERN: Everybody has been very professional about this. And they came over and they looked at the video and they stopped it at one point and said, OK, this is serious, we need a copy.
ROBERTS: So you made a copy of it for them. The FBI came and saw you, what, about a week later?
MORGENSTERN: About a week later, yes. The FBI came in and they asked me some questions, they looked at the video, as well. And that was about it.
ROBERTS: So what were you saying to yourself at that point? Here you've gone from seeing this tape, talking about it with your parents, suddenly you're being interviewed by the FBI.
MORGENSTERN: I figured it was pretty serious at this point. It was not your everyday occurrence. It was something out of a movie.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Well, Morgenstern took the bull by the horns and informed people, his tip led to the arrest of six men accused of plotting to attack soldiers at Fort Dix. He's now being hailed, rightly so, as a hero.
CHETRY: Remarkable guy. President Bush heading off to Georgia at this hour where he'll talk about the immigration bill, specifically about the Border Patrol part of it. Earlier in the hour, the president's focus was on the crisis in Darfur. Speaking at the White House just about 30 minutes ago, the president announced new economic sanctions designed to stop the violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I promise this to the people of Darfur, the United States will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The president also saying he would seek help from the U.N. and international community. Senior officials in Sudan this morning called the sanctions unjustified. More than 200,000 people have died during years of fighting in Darfur and millions more have been displaced.
ROBERTS: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Greenland over the weekend getting a first-hand look at what she says is evidence that climate change is reality. Here at home, Speaker Pelosi is trying to get the U.S. Capitol to clean up its environmental act, but she's meeting resistance from the real source of power in Washington.
Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel is live on Capitol Hill to explain -- Andrea.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. You know, Democrats have promised that they were going to tackle global warming head on. Still, some say Pelosi and other Democrats are overlooking what's happening here, right in their own backyard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to turn the Capitol green, and she tapped this guy, Dan Beard, the Capitol's chief administrative officer, to make it happen.
DAN BEARD, HOUSE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER: We have 17,000 lamps in the House of Representatives. If we replaced all the light bulbs, you know, with compact fluorescents, it's the equivalent of taking 250 cars off the road, you know, forever.
KOPPEL: A good first step? Maybe. But just down the street the equivalent to 5,700 cars sit idling day after day, pumping tens of thousands of greenhouse gases into the air. Built in 1910, the Capitol Power Plant is responsible for heating and cooling the Capitol, among other buildings. And if it were December instead of May, you'd see plumes of thick smoke. That's because about half the plant is still fuelled by coal, one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions.
Why do they still burn coal?
BEARD: Seven letter word starting with P, Politics.
KOPPEL: Politics as in two of the most powerful lawmakers in the Senate from two of the biggest coal-producing state. Eight-term Democrat Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Kentucky Republican Mitch McConnell, now the Republican leader.
Frank O'Donnell is with Clean Air Watch.
FRANK O'DONNELL, CLEAN AIR WATCH: It's as if Tony Soprano had a seat in the Senate, they're saying this plant must stay alive, it must keep burning coal even though it is causing pollution and global warming.
KOPPEL: According to the D.C. government, Capitol Power is the third-biggest polluter in the city. Still, burning coal Capitol Power and elsewhere is legal. So we asked Pelosi why, as she works to green the Capitol, it isn't a priority for her to stop it, at least in her own backyard.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER: There are issues involved with the power plant that we have to learn more about.
KOPPEL: O'Donnell says what Pelosi won't. It's all about special interests.
O'DONNELL: Speaker Pelosi can't override Senator Byrd. He has been around too long and he has got too much power.
KOPPEL: So does Senator McConnell. Back in 2000 the then- architect of the capitol recommended Congress eliminate coal from the power plant. But McConnell and Byrd body-blocked it, telling the architect, in a matter of speaking, to get lost.
The days of smoke-filled backroom politics may be over, but smokestack politics will likely be around for a while.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: That's not going to stop Dan Beard, who is the Capitol's chief administrative officer, from recommending in a final report he'll deliver to Pelosi in coming weeks that they stop burning coal and switch entirely to natural gas. If they did that, John, they would cut back on 34,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
ROBERTS: But as you say, king coal, a powerful lobby there on Capitol Hill. And now many members of Congress pushing for increased subsidies for the coal industry. Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill for us this morning, thanks. CHETRY: A spinoff for Ford. Some quick hits for you now. Ford wants to sell Volvo, part of Ford's plan to try to cut costs by unloading luxury car brands, also including Jaguar and Land Rover. Insiders say BMW could be a possible buyer for Volvo.
New York cab drivers fighting back this morning, getting a sketch out today of a suspected thief. They say he has robbed seven New York taxi cabs in the past two weeks, some of them at gunpoint.
And some students at Stanford University finding out last week that one of their classmates wasn't a classmate at all. She lived in a dorm with them for almost a year, even posted online about her experiences at school. We'll tell you how she pulled it off when we return. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Some quick hits for you now. Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is taking his name out of the running for World Bank president. He served two terms in the Senate, reportedly wants a break from government work. The search is still on for a replacement for World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
And a death sentence today for China's former drug regulator two years fired for taking almost $1 million in bribes to approve medicine that was never tested. At least 10 people died as a result.
And hundreds of people waited to be among the first inside of the Creation Museum, this near Cincinnati, Ohio, for its opening day. It included animatronic dinosaurs. There were people that protested across the street. The $27 million museum tells a story of creation in six days. The museum, they say, is the story of creation, literally, according to the Bible.
ROBERTS: Forty minutes after the hour now. The rising price of gasoline has prompted some folks to try to turn grease into gold. They're using old vegetable oil to create a new clean-burning biodiesel fuel. And if you're cooking with grease, there is no better place to go than New Orleans. That's where AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs, and found some entrepreneurs giving it a go there in the Big Easy.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Would you think felafel could be a fuel source? It isn't, but the old cooking oil is. And that's what attracts Topher Mira to the Lebanon Cafe in New Orleans.
TOPHER MIRA: This is primo vegetable oil. The better the dining, the better the fuel.
CALLEBS: You heard right, fuel. MIRA: This is very good oil.
CALLEBS: Mira turns vegetable oil into a clean burning fuel called biodiesel. He, and business partner Eileen Bell (ph), formed a company called New Orleans Biodiesel Initiative and say they crank out a modest 80 gallons of the diesel alternative a day.
MIRA: Well, we're just two young entrepreneurs trying to get it done, you know.
CALLEBS: Mira goes all over the city collecting waste vegetable oil. Back at what can only charitably be called his refinery, they mix 80 percent vegetable oil with 20 percent methanol and then add lye for a catalyst and heat the concoction. This is the end result.
MIRA: Well, you can see how it's really clear and nice.
CALLEBS: And the biodiesel industry says it burns 73 percent cleaner than diesel. If it's so great, why haven't we heard more about it? It's arguably in its infancy with only 105 real production plants in the United States. And since most vehicles don't run on diesel, demand is limited. But it is renewable and it's an attractive alternative.
JOE JOBE, NATIONAL BIODIESEL BOARD: It's actually growing our nation's fuel supply. And one of the main reasons that we have high fuel prices right now is because of the lack of refinery capacity.
CALLEBS: Mira says they have one contract with the Orleans Parish School District to fuel one bus twice a week, not nearly enough to make a living, but it's a start.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: And we're live now in New Orleans. And this is the scene that has played out every Tuesday and Thursday morning. A school bus pulls up from Orleans Parrish, Topher and Eileen here getting ready to pump the biodiesel into the school bus. And the way this works, John, this is actually what they call B-20.
Right now the tank is filled with about 80 percent regular diesel. So they are going to add 12 gallons. You can see it clicking off here on the meter just like you would any other service station.
And then they will top it off with 12 gallons. And they have the receipt here. Topher writes this receipt out, gives it to Mr. Anderson over here, the school bus driver who then, in turn, turns it back over to the district.
John, this is a pilot program, but clearly these two entrepreneurs have much grander plans. They have already secured a warehouse and they hope to open up a refinery in the next couple months. Next year they want to turn out about 250,000 gallons of biodiesel. The year after that 1.5 million. So, certainly, lofty expectations for this alternative fuel -- John. ROBERTS: A growing industry down there. So that's 20 percent bioodiesel. There are some vehicles in that area that run on 100 percent, are there not? Do they need any kind of a special modification in the same way that cars do if they're going to run ethanol?
CALLEBS: No modification whatsoever. In fact, this truck here, this is Topher's, and this runs on 100 percent vegetable oil. They need no modifications and it doesn't have to be from old, used, vegetable oil. Chiefly biodiesel and some of those 105 factories around the country are made from soybean oil. They take the soybeans, mash them, then the oil that comes from that they use to make the biodiesel.
But the one concern that Environmentalists have about that, growing so many soybeans year after year after year, a degree about soil degradation. It's always about the green, John.
ROBERTS: Yes. And the whole neighborhood smelling like french fries, too. Sean Callebs, thanks very much down there in New Orleans.
CALLEBS: CNN "NEWSROOM" just minutes away now. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a look at what lies ahead this morning.
Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And, John, good morning to you. We have got these stories in the NEWSROOM for you this morning. We have followed developing news out of Iraq. Two pilots killed when their helicopter is shot down near Baqubah. Troops called in to help are attacked, as well. A total of eight Americans dead.
President Bush heading to Georgia right now to push a new immigration bill. His remarks live right here in the "NEWSROOM."
And the rough and tumble world of beauty queens. Miss USA takes a spill during the Miss Universe competition. But she pops right back up. Betty is with me in the "NEWSROOM" this morning. We get started top of the hour right here on CNN. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: See you soon, 15 minutes from now because it's now 45 minutes after the hour.
And an amazing story out of California, a young woman pretending to attend Stanford University. She stayed in a dorm, took ROTC classes, even posted online about her college experiences. The only problem, she wasn't enrolled. Find out how she pulled off the scam for almost a year. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Oh, to be a freshman at Stanford University. Eighteen- year-old Asia Kim lived that dream, living in the dorms, buying textbooks, studying with friends, she even enrolled in the ROTC program and accepted over $1,000 in military equipment. Just one problem, Kim was never a student. Just pretended to be one. Managed to pull it off for almost a year.
Daniel Novinson is the editor of The Stanford Daily. It's the college newspaper. He has closely been covering the story. In fact, he was the one who first published her name. He joins us now live from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.
So, Daniel, how did she pull it off?
DANIEL NOVINSON, EDITOR, THE STANFORD DAILY: Well, John, first of all, thank you guys so much for having me. I really appreciate this opportunity. As far as to how Asia Kim pulled it off, you know, her roommates were really trusting. They never double checked on her.
You know, I have been a Stanford student for three years and I have never had any reason to ask to see someone's student ID. No one has ever asked to see my ID. You know, you guys went to college, I mean, unless you're suspicious of someone, why would you double check on them?
ROBERTS: Well, as I understand it, she came to her "roommates" and said, listen, I have been having a problem with housing, I got mixed up. Can I stay with you folks for a while? Then later changed the story to say, well, you know, I am not getting along with my roommate, can I continue to stay with you?
In her second residence, which was the Asian-American themed residence, she asked her "roommate" to leave the window open. That's how she got in and out. I mean, she never raised suspicions?
NOVINSON: She certainly did raise suspicions. And maybe that's one reason why she moved from dorm one, with was Kimball, which was where she lived fall and winter quarter, to Okada, the Asian-American themed dorm, which is where she lived throughout some of the spring quarter.
You know, but I guess she just always stayed one step ahead, just like in "Catch Me If You Can." Leo DiCaprio always just staying one step ahead. I guess that's the best analogy.
ROBERTS: So what was her downfall?
NOVINSON: You know what, we're not entirely sure. We have a lot of speculation, but we're not entirely sure. We think that one R.A. here told another R.A. that he was a little bit suspicions and that just triggered a whole staff meeting, you know, and then they turned to housing and they e-mailed housing and then they finally figured out the ruse.
And this was just a week ago Monday, eight months after Asia Kim originally -- starting coming to Stanford.
ROBERTS: And if I understand your reporting correctly, Asia Kim even intercepted some of those e-mails about housing that were going it her "roommate" wrote back -- hacked into her account, wrote back saying, oh no, this was just nothing but a mix up, everything is fine.
NOVINSON: That's absolutely correct. I mean, it's a crazy story.
ROBERTS: Right. And so you approached her for comment. Apparently she would not talk to you on the record, but did she talk to you off the record at all? Did she explain anything to you? Did she give you her side of the story?
NOVINSON: Well, John, you know, she was really reluctant to give us any details that would help kind of explain the situation. I was talking to her for two days before we published this story, just over cell phone. We were going to meet in person.
And her main concern was just making sure that we didn't publish her name, you know, making sure that we didn't write anything that made her look bad. And we certainly bent over to try to be fair to her and try not to be mean. But, I mean, it's journalism, you have to do what you have to do.
ROBERTS: You know, there are obviously some security implications here, particularly in light of what happened at Virginia Tech. Did the university drop the ball here?
NOVINSON: You know, I really don't think so, John. I have been a Stanford student for three years and I have never felt the least bit unsafe once. And however safe a place is going to be, if it's going to be 99 percent safe, 99.9 percent safe, I don't think any place is going to be 100 percent safe.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, she certainly sounds like a modern day Frank Abagnale, as you were suggesting, "Catch Me If You Can." Managed to pull the wool over people's eyes for a long time. Daniel Novinson, editor of The Stanford Daily, appreciate your being with us this morning. Thanks very much.
NOVINSON: Thank you so much for having me.
ROBERTS: All right.
CHETRY: He now works for the government helping them catch forgeries, as well. He was so good at it.
ROBERTS: Yes. I wonder if Asia Kim -- perhaps the ultimate upshot of this -- wouldn't it be -- the ultimate irony would be if Asia Kim starts working for the security department at the college to catch people who were doing this sort of thing.
CHETRY: Exactly. She knows the loopholes.
ROBERTS: Yes. Here's a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on now for the top of the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS (voice-over): See these stories in the CNN "NEWSROOM." A U.S. helicopter down in Iraq. Both pilots are killed. Six troops called in to recover the chopper die in bomb blasts.
Car bombs kill more than three dozen people in Baghdad.
An immigration reform bill on President Bush's radar this morning. His speech from Georgia, live.
Ten years after her death, a new Diana documentary causes gasps.
"NEWSROOM," top of the hour on CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All this year CNN is introducing you to people making a difference in their communities. We call them "CNN Heroes." And today we meet two people who for just $25 help a small business in a developing country succeed. Matt and Jessica Flannery are today's "CNN Heroes."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA FLANNERY, "COMMUNITY CRUSADERS": My name is Jessica Flannery and I'm co-founder of kiva.org.
MATT FLANNERY, "COMMUNITY CRUSADERS": I'm Matt Flannery, co- founder and CEO of kiva.org.
J. FLANNERY: We connect people through lending for poverty alleviation.
M. FLANNERY: By facilitating loans from people in the developed work to those in the developing world.
J. FLANNERY: On our site, anybody in the world can browse profiles of entrepreneurs and then lend directly to those entrepreneurs.
M. FLANNERY: And get paid back over time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mother started getting sick in 1989. We had to pay the rent, we had to eat. With my heart only, I could not make it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a savings account. It was sitting there, it wasn't doing anything. And then I saw this opportunity where I could do something useful with it. Positive for other people. The cool thing about Kiva is that it's not a donation, the money is actually yours. When the borrowers finish with their loan, you get it back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I took that loan, I extended my business. We eat from here and we are able to pay the rent. The way I was before is not the way I am today.
M. FLANNERY: I wasn't necessarily surprised intellectually by how $25 can really transport someone's life in East Africa, but I was surprised in my heart. People, by nature, are not selfish and if you just give them an outlet for expressing their generosity, they will be generous.
J. FLANNERY: Someone out there is overwhelmed, thinking what can I do? I'm just one person. That's all you need to be. That's enough to get started.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And some quick hits now before the top of the hour. Get this, Poland is taking a page from the late Reverend Jerry Falwell, taking on the Teletubbies. Poland's children's rights watchdog says that she is concerned Tinky Winky and the other Teletubbies promote home sexuality. She'll ask psychologists to check out the tubbies. Poland has drawn criticism from human rights groups from moves that seem to discriminate against homosexuality. She's going to ask psychologists to check out the Tubbies. Poland has drawn criticism from human rights groups for some perceived moves that seem to discriminate against homosexuals.
ROBERTS: What would you do if a leopard jumped through a window and then climbed into bed with you? That's what Arthur Du Mosch says happened to him in his home in Israel. He wrestled the leopard to the floor and held him there for 20 minutes until park rangers arrived to take the leopard away. I guess he had one hand free to dial on the telephone, too. Experts say that the leopard was sick, he jumped into the home trying to get Du Mosch's cat. Veterinarians were treating the leopard and hoped to release him back into the wilds of Jerusalem.
CHETRY: Right. He was anesthetized. Not euthanized. As we clarified...
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: OK. And all this, it's just downhill from here now. The annual cheese roll in Gloucester, England. It happens every year, but you can't get enough of watching this. The people flop down the hill like little dummies -- I meant, you know, dummies, not dummies. The nine-pound cheese roll can reach speeds of 40 miles per hour. No one knows how this tradition got started. But I mean, of course, you'd want to do it since the payoff is enormous.
ROBERTS: Yes, you get the entire wheel of Gloucester cheese.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE). Well, that's going to do it for us today here on AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks for being with us.
ROBERTS: Good to see you. We'll see you again tomorrow. CNN "NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen begins right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
