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American Morning
Some Minor Fireworks in Democratic Debate; JFK Terror Plot; Paris Off to Jail
Aired June 04, 2007 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Fire line.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And the fact is, is that I opposed this war from the start. So, you're about four and a half years late.
ROBERTS: Iraq dominates the Democrats' big debate. But did candidates make any gains with voters?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My objective was fulfilled. I can bring this country together.
ROBERTS: We'll track the answers with real-time scoring technology...
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Fifty thousand more people are going to be dead.
ROBERTS: ... and see if flash point moments could reshape the race on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. It is Monday, June the 4th.
I'm John Roberts. And we're broadcasting live this morning from Manchester, New Hampshire.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, the morning after the fiery debates last night with the Democrats.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
We're going to talk all about the debates today, plus the stories "On Our Radar" this morning as well, the plot to attack JFK airport right here in New York.
There is a new effort now to bring two suspects in the Caribbean to justice today. We're going to follow up the latest details, and also talk to a terror expert about whether or not the Caribbean could be a new front in the war on terror, and in some of these groups that have previously probably flown a little bit more under the radar, at least with our feds. ROBERTS: Kiran, in our debate coverage today, we're going to be talking with Elizabeth Edwards, of course the wife of presidential candidate John Edwards.
And we've got new video for you this morning. Take a look at this. Paris Hilton reports to jail overnight. Earlier in the night, she attended the MTV Music Awards, and in true Paris Hilton fashion, with P.R. the preeminent concern, she talked about her pending walkout.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARIS HILTON, SOCIALITE: I'm trying to be strong right now. I'm definitely scared, but I'm ready to face my sentence. And even though this is a really hard time, I have my friends and family and my fans who support me, and it's just really helpful in this really scary time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: I'm sure she is going to look immaculate in an orange jumpsuit.
CHETRY: Well, who knows if she's going to have to wear it? She is going to get a little bit of special treatment, but not as much special treatment as she could have opted for. We're going to explain that coming up a little later.
Meantime, to our top stories.
President Bush leaves for Europe and the G8 summit in the hour. Police are now tightening checks around the summit site. It's the port town of Rostock, Germany.
On Saturday, 128 protesters were arrested. More than a thousand others clashed with police in a huge protest. A lot of them are expected before the G8 summit begins on Wednesday.
And Russian president Vladimir Putin making some headlines before he heads to the summit. He says he would point his missiles at Europe if the U.S. goes ahead with the Europe missile shield. U.S.-Russian tensions are at a post-Cold War high.
And Iran's top security official calling those plans for a missile shield in Europe a joke. He says Iran's missiles can't reach Europe.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is calling Israel also a corrupt occupier regime that will soon be destroyed. He says the Lebanese and Palestinians will bring about that destruction.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is set to meet with Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua. Ahmadinejad visited Ortega in Nicaragua just a few months ago. Ortega's first stop will be Libya as he makes the trip on a jet that was lent to him by Muammar Gaddafi. ROBERTS: The U.S. military in Iraq is announcing a bloody start to the month of June. Fifteen soldiers were killed in the first three days of this month, including four killed by a bomb during a search in Baghdad yesterday. A roadside bomb also killed three Iraqis in Baghdad today.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says U.S. and NATO forces are making progress against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Despite a recent increase in violence there, Gates said things are slowly, cautiously headed in the right direction. Gates is on his second trip to Afghanistan since becoming secretary of defense back in December.
Violence in Lebanon spreading this morning, moving now to a second refugee camp. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in the new fight in southern Lebanon. Thousands of troops are battling militants linked to al Qaeda and holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north. Fighting there is now in its third week. More than a hundred people have died.
No major surprises in last night's debate, but some minor fireworks on the subject of the war in Iraq.
Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley was watching it all. She joins me now with a look at how everyone did.
Thanks very much for joining us this morning.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: I know it was a late night last night.
So, what did we learn about the candidates last night in this debate that we didn't know about before, and how do you think that is going to shape the race going forward?
CROWLEY: You know, what I thought was the most interesting was, if you just listened to the debate, you could figure out who was running where in the races. You know, you knew that Hillary Clinton was the frontrunner because she was the one up there going, now, we all agree far more than we disagree.
You knew that John Edwards had to make a move. He has been staying at number three, at least in the national polls, and you could tell, because he was aggressive last night. More aggressive than we've seen him.
So I thought that was interesting about last night's debate. I'm not sure we saw anything that shapes the race from here on out. I think it was -- probably the pressure was the greatest on what we call the lower tier to kind of have a breakout moment.
ROBERTS: Right. Well, let's go back to Edwards for just a second here, because a recent American Research Group poll had him running second, ahead of Barack Obama. So maybe, you know, New Hampshire voters like to see their politicians very assertive. Maybe he was trying to play to that to bump himself up just a little bit. Let's take a quick listen to this now famous exchange between Edwards and Obama, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They went quietly to the floor of the Senate, cast the right vote, but there is a difference between leadership and legislature.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think, John, the fact is that I opposed this war from the start. So you're about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue. And, you know, I think it's important not to play politics on something that is as critical and as difficult as this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So, that's like trying to throw a long bomb to the receiver down in the end zone and not notice that the opposing linebacker is coming up on your left flank.
CROWLEY: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: He really left himself open on that.
CROWLEY: Absolutely, he did. And you know, again, John Edwards coming at both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama from the left.
I mean, this is -- this is , as we have said so often, a very antiwar party at this point. And John Edwards clearly thinks that there is an opening there for him, because he has been, by far, if you take out Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd, the most critical in the upper tier of the war and the most consistent since apologizing for his...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: But that was a pretty good shot that Obama got.
CROWLEY: It really was.
ROBERTS: And it forced to Edwards to say to Obama later, hey, it was a good vote, it was a good position that you took, it was the right position to take. And he had to admit that he was wrong. So it's almost like he took a step back trying to take a step forward.
CROWLEY: Exactly. And I thought Obama had a much better performance than he did in the last debate because he was a lot quicker on his feet, and that was the best example of it.
ROBERTS: Great. Well, we'll talk more about this in our next hour?
CROWLEY: That's a deal.
ROBERTS: Candy, thanks for coming in. CNN remains the place for politics tonight. Beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards will talk about what role faith plays in their politics. It's hosted by Soledad O'Brien and Paula Zahn tonight.
And then tomorrow night, the Republicans get their chance to debate. CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderates beginning at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
CHETRY: And there will be an extradition hearing in Trinidad today for two of the suspects in that alleged terrorist plot against John F. Kennedy airport. Four men charged with a homegrown plot to blow up fuel tanks, cause as much destruction as possible at JFK airport. Just last month, another homegrown terror cell was broken up. This one, the plot to attack soldiers at Fort Dix.
Joining me now to talk more about this, former FBI agent Robert Strang is with us.
Good to see you this morning.
ROBERT STRANG, FMR. FBI AGENT: Good morning. Good morning.
Actually, DEA for 10 years. I started with the FBI, but that is where I had all my international experience, was with...
CHETRY: With the Drug Enforcement Agency as well.
STRANG: That's right.
CHETRY: You know, do you think that there is -- that in light of both of these things that we've seen, not the typical we need to worry about people coming over from the Middle East and getting these visas? I mean, we obviously still need to worry about that as well, but we're talking about homegrown -- people that are American citizens that are hatching plots.
How do we refocus what we're -- what we're concerned about?
STRANG: Well, it's not easy because there is really no head of the snake to go after anymore. You know, now that we don't have al Qaeda to actually go after and know who is in what position, like kind of an organized crime chart, we have different cells that are popping up all over.
We saw that in Miami. We saw it last week in Fort Dix. We've seen it across the country. We've seen it in Europe. And now not only do we have to worry about from state to state in the United States, but we have to worry about these homegrown terrorists, these extremists being radicalized from Canada, form South America, from Europe.
CHETRY: And now from the Caribbean.
The other troubling thing is, this is a guy who had security clearance, the likes of things you and I would never have. You're talking about cargo people, you're talking about mechanics, you're talking about the behind-the-scenes baggage handlers who are not subject to the same scrutiny.
STRANG: That's right. I mean, when you and I go to the airport, we have to go through the magnetometer. We're checked by TSA. But there are many employees that really have a back door entrance. They have some minimal background check done. So, if you're a caterer for food, if you're a bag handler, if you're a mechanic on the airplane, you get to walk right through.
CHETRY: Is that going to change now? Are they going to revisit the backgrounds of some of these people who have been working there for decades?
STRANG: Well, you know, I think they're going to definitely take a look at -- a second look at some of the people that have access to the airports, there's no question. But remember, five and a half years later, TSA has grown and really become more sophisticated and better as time has gone on. But there are three areas we have to look at.
First is the intelligence. Second is the enforcement. And third is security. And the three areas work together to keep us safe, and it's worked so far, so we're definitely doing something right.
CHETRY: How crucial are these informance that we're hearing about?
STRANG: Well, they are important, because we can't make these cases without the informants. It takes one to know one, if you will. And these bad guys kind of go together, they travel together. They trust each other, they tell each other things.
So the informants are really -- are key to getting inside these organizations and finding out exactly what they're up to. Without them, some of these plots may have succeeded. So it's kind of frightening. We need informants.
They either come to us for two reasons. One, they want to get paid. Or two, they're trying to work off a beef to stay out of jail. But, in any event, it's great to have them.
CHETRY: And -- but the other interesting thing is getting to the heart of what makes people turn against their own country. What, I guess, is in place for you guys to sort of pinpoint or figure out, who is becoming radicalized, who may try to attack their fellow citizens.
STRANG: It's been a tough priority for the FBI. The director has been talking about this for a good six months. And the FBI is making an effort to get informants in the community to be able to identify who these extremists are before they become radicalized so that we can stop it before it actually takes place, any of these types of plots.
CHETRY: And obviously, this is the situation we saw here, where it was clearly in the rudimentary planning stages -- the alleged plot.
STRANG: Absolutely. And if you look over the past five and a half years, this is one of a dozen cases in the United States -- Ohio, California, New York. So -- you know, Miami.
When we go back over time, we can see that through informants, through intelligence information, we have been able to stop these things from taking place. The most important thing that I can tell viewers right now is to keep your eyes and ears open.
If you see something, say something, because the next five years are going to be a lot harder than the past five years. You know, the past five years, we knew who we were going after, we had al Qaeda, we had an organization. Now these cells are popping up (AUDIO GAP) for law enforcement to get their arms around these types of cases. So we need everybody to kind of -- if you see something suspicious...
CHETRY: Like we saw with the Fort Dix, the Circuit City -- Brian Morganstern...
STRANG: Absolutely.
CHETRY: He called, and he saw something that was very suspicious and he could have saved many, many lives.
STRANG: He did.
CHETRY: Former FBI and DEA (AUDIO GAP) -- John.
ROBERTS: A war crimes trial begins without the defendants. Some "Quick Hits'" for you now.
Former president of Liberia Charles Taylor refused to show up today at The Hague today. His attorney says he won't get a fair trial. Taylor is accused of orchestrating 50,000 deaths during Sierra Leone's civil war.
New charges expected today against a driver suspected of mowing down 40 people at a festival on Saturday in Washington, D.C. The police chief says the driver had been smoking crack cocaine all day before getting behind the wheel. She is charged with aggravated assault while armed.
Paris Hilton trading her designer duds for a jail-issued jumpsuit. The story next on AMERICAN MORNING, live from New York and Manchester, New Hampshire.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Paris Hilton waking up behind bars this morning. Last night her family drove her to the Lynnwood, California, jail. It's about 20 miles outside of L.A.
This video courtesy of TMZ. There she is. It looks like she is either wiping away tears or rubbing her eyes there. Her mom sitting next to her as she gets ready to head to the clink.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Lola Ogunnaike joins us now with more on Paris and her -- well, what's she's going to be going through.
She went a little bit early, probably to, what, shock -- to throw the paparazzi off this thing?
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, to evade the paparazzi, I think, because the sheriff decided that it was just getting dangerous, there were too many people camped out in front of the prison. So, they decided to go a few days earlier and throw them off track.
CHETRY: But they were still camped out, right?
OGUNNAIKE: Oh, they were still camped out, and they will still be camped out actually.
CHETRY: Yes. That's a gig for all 23 days that she is there. The paparazzi are serving a sentence as well.
Let's hear from Paris, because she -- the funny thing is that she actually went to the movie awards, the MTV Awards, and then hit -- from the red carpet went -- so let's hear what she said on the red carpet about her stay in jail.
OGUNNAIKE: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARIS HILTON, SOCIALITE: Well, I did have the choice to go to a pay jail, but I declined, because I feel like the media portrays me in a way that I'm not. And that's why I wanted to go to county, to show that I can do it and I want to be treated like everyone else. And I'm going to do the time. I'm going to do it the right way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What is this pay jail she was referring to?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, that's the thing. Everyone says, you know, Paris is doing soft time because she is going to be in a unit with high-profile celebrities and other people, but her time could have been a little softer. Pay jail, apparently, you pay anywhere from $75 to $130 a day and you get access to things like your laptop and your cell phone. And, you know...
CHETRY: So it's like a cleaner, cushier version of jail, with a little bit more privilege?
OGUNNAIKE: Exactly. And some facilities, you can actually even work the entire day, and you just go to jail to sleep at night. I mean, you have to be strip-searched. That's still a little word, but...
CHETRY: And so Paris had to be searched as well, like everyone who goes to county?
OGUNNAIKE: She certainly -- oh, absolutely. No one gets in easy.
CHETRY: Lola Ogunnaike, thanks so much.
An emergency landing in Oakland tops our "Quick Hits".
A Southwest flight had some trouble when its landing gear -- with its landing gear as it was flying from Sacramento to San Diego. And there you see a shot right there. Passengers came off the inflatable slides. Nobody was hurt.
Also, a new view on the life of Rosie O'Donnell. Her much- delayed memoir, "Celebrity Detox," is finally set to be released this fall. Apparently, it provides a candid look at her life, including her time on "The View," which she credits with motivating her to finish the book.
And a manhunt under way right now for a fourth person suspected of being involved in that plot to blow up New York's Kennedy airport. We're going to get a live report from the seen of that search live from Trinidad coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The Charlotte Coliseum slam-dunked permanently. Your "Quick Hits" now.
It stood for 18 years but came down in 15 seconds. The place was home to the Charlotte Hornets. It was imploded to make space for a office park, hotel and condos. Look at that thing come down.
And take a look at that. A world record rendition. Nearly 1,700 guitars cranked out Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" in Kansas City yesterday. They broke the Guinness record for the biggest ensemble performance ever of a song.
CHETRY: Not bad. It's not a bad rendition.
Twenty-two past the hour now. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business".
Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's this company called Fortune Brands out of Illinois. You won't know the company, but you'll know a lot of their brands.
They've got Master Lock, Moen Faucets, kitchen cabinets, things like that -- Titleist golf clubs, Pinnacle golf balls, and they also are one of the biggest companies with liquor brands. Take a look at some of the brands that they have out there -- Jim Beam, Clos du Bois, Sauza, Maker's Mark. They've got (INAUDIBLE).
Lots of scotch, lots of bourbon. No vodka.
Now, the biggest vodka name in the world is Smirnoff. And the number two is Absolut. These guys are interested in buying Absolut -- to add Absolut to their...
CHETRY: Absolut had a very -- has a very creative ad campaign.
VELSHI: A very creative ad campaign. And it's really been one of the contributors to the idea that vodka has become such a sort of a trendy drink in the last few years.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: It used to be the drink that didn't taste like anything, that you snuck into places or you added into drinks to not feel like you were drinking anything.
CHETRY: Right.
VELSHI: Now vodka, with all the flavors, is a big deal.
Absolut, interestingly enough, is owned by a company called Vin & Sprit, which is owned by the Swedish government. The Swedish government has got a privatization push. A lot of the companies that the government owns they are trying to -- they're thinking about selling out. Absolut would be one of those brands.
It has other things. But Fortune Brands would be like to be a buyer of it, and then Absolut would be an American vodka.
CHETRY: Pretty cool. So, is that definitely going through, or they're looking?
VELSHI: No. They're definitely going to be talking about it. I mean, these things are all a little tricky because governments like to make sure that one company doesn't control too much of a particular product.
There may have to be things sold off. But it doesn't look like there's anything that Vin & Sprit has that would actually compete too much with Fortune Brands.
So this whole portfolio -- the idea is when you go to a bar, you think you might be buying different drinks from different companies. So many of them are owned by just a couple of companies.
CHETRY: It all goes in the same pocket, right?
VELSHI: That's right.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks so much.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Some "Quick Hits" now.
The top story on CNN.com, Democrats clash on Iraq. Senator John Edwards providing some fireworks with his attacks on his main rivals. We're going to be speaking with his wife, Elizabeth Edwards, in just a few minutes. Also on the most popular list, it wasn't a knockout blow, but a good showing at the box office this weekend for the movie "Knocked Up". The comedy brought in nearly $300 million, enough for a second place finish. But "Pirates of the Caribbean" stayed in the top spot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice over): Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, a new front in the hunt for terrorists? We're live in Trinidad as suspects in the alleged plot against Kennedy airport face justice today.
And we're live with Elizabeth Edwards. Her children, her cancer battle, and her husband's performance in last night's debate next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. It is Monday, June the 4th.
I'm John Roberts, live from Manchester, New Hampshire, this Monday morning.
Good morning to you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Nice to see you, John.
I'm Kiran Chetry, here in New York.
And you're not the least bit bleary-eyed, even though you were probably up late doing a lot of the talk after yesterday's Democratic debate.
ROBERTS: What can I tell you? Politics is absolutely energizing. That's how the candidates manage to run around the country on very little sleep.
Stories "On Our Radar" this morning.
The Democratic presidential debate occurred last night. The Republican debate coming up on Tuesday night.
We're going to have full coverage today from here in New Hampshire. We're going to be talking with Elizabeth Edwards in just a couple of minutes about her husband's performance and her own fight with cancer. We haven't checked in with her for a while.
CHETRY: And also coming up, I don't know if you've seen these, John. I mean, your kids are a little too old and mine too young.
Heelys, but apparently they're all the craze with the kids. They're sneakers, but then they have a wheel on the bottom so the kids can just sort of wheel around when the time is right and then get right back on to normal ground with the sneakers. Well, they putting out a warning today, saying we should treat these shoes just like you would with roller skates or roller blades. Kids need to wear helmets, wrist guards, knee pads.
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us ahead to talk about just how dangerous they are. You wouldn't think they are that dangerous, but apparently responsible for a lot of serious injuries.
But we begin with the latest in a developing story, the alleged plot against Kennedy airport in New York. And we are learning more about the suspects.
Two of them are in custody in Trinidad right now, and the search is on for a fourth, a guy in (INAUDIBLE). One is in U.S. custody right now in Brooklyn.
CNN's Susan Candiotti joins us live via broadband from the Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Good morning, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.
(CROSSTALK)
CANDIOTTI: This morning -- this is huge news on the island. Well, we don't expect very much to happen. This is pretty much a formalized hearing. There will likely be a reading of the charges against the two men in custody, and at some point during the hearing we expect that the United States request for extradition of these men will be made. We don't know exactly how long that might take. This is huge news here on the island, people weighing in on both sides supportive of the United States and others who are very suspicious of these charges. Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Oh, suspicious of the charges. Do we know more about the two suspects?
CANDIOTTI: The two who are in custody are both imams at mosques, one here in Trinidad, the other in Guyana. We do know that Kareem Ibrahim (ph) also joined a political party last November. He is a father of five. The other man who was an imam in Guyana is a grandfather and a father of nine children. He is a civil engineer and he was on his way out of the country heading to Venezuela and on to Iran to attend an Islamic conference when he was arrested.
CHETRY: And I guess they're trying to make some connection today with this Jamad al Muslim (ph) radical Islamic group there known for launching a bloody coup attempt back in the '90s in Trinidad. Any ties between the defendant and that group?
CANDIOTTI: It remains unclear. Certainly we do know this from the criminal complaint filed in the United States, that there was a meeting that took place at that compound. We do know that the FBI at the mosque here, we do know that the FBI has been on the ground. They are working with authorities here looking for the fourth suspect. They've been out to that mosque as well. So far, the imam of that mosque has been keeping low. We haven't heard much from him, nothing at all as a matter of fact.
CHETRY: Of course, you're going to be checking in on the latest developments and we will check back with you a little later. Susan Candiotti reporting for us from the port of Spain, Trinidad this morning.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: The war in Iraq took center stage in last night's Democratic debate. John Edwards attacked early, challenging his main rivals and trying to draw distinctions. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think one difference we do have is I think I was wrong. I should never have voted for this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And I'm joined now by John Edward's wife, Elizabeth. Thanks for joining us this morning.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF JOHN EDWARDS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate you being here. He was very aggressive, came right out of the box swinging last night. There was some blogs and some focus groups who believe that he won the debate last night. He is polling in some polls running in second spot in New Hampshire. Did he really need a breakout moment last night?
E. EDWARDS: He wasn't looking for a breakout moment. He was just trying to be honest. You saw him be critical but you also saw him be complimentary. He was just trying to be honest about whatever the topic was and the chips will fall where they will.
ROBERTS: I also saw him, it looked like he accidentally left himself a little open in one particular moment last night. Let's play the exchange between him and Barack Obama here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. EDWARDS: Senator Clinton and Senator Obama did not say anything about how they were going to vote until they appeared on the floor of the Senate, voted, they were along the last people to vote.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I opposed this war from the start so you're about 4 1/2 years late on leadership on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That was a pretty stinging comeback by Barack Obama. And, in fact, your husband had to come back later and say, yours was the right position to take, I made a mistake. So has that diminished that line of compare/contrast for the future for him?
E. EDWARDS: No, I don't think so. I think that -- we need to, first of all, be looking toward the future. I think it's important that any woman will tell you it's important for a man to be able to say I was wrong and John has said that with respect to his vote. But as early as November of 2003, John was already saying that this president needed a plan. John never voted for any funding, unlike actually Senator Obama never voted for any funding for this war. That was designated funding. There was some omnibus bills in which there was funding but no designated funding. The famous $87 billion vote happened in November 2003. John not only voted against it, but spoke out against it and that is what he was asking for. The distinctions with respect to -- we're glad that Senator Obama and Senator Clinton voted against this funding. But it would have been better, in our opinion, if they had done what Senator Dodd was, speak out beforehand, let them know. That is what leadership is about and that is why John thinks the distinction is, not necessarily where you end up but because we think they're pretty close now, but how it is you got there and whether you were a leader.
ROBERTS: In this idea of saying that his vote for the war was a mistake, he took a little bit of a shot at Hillary Clinton without naming names that if you want to be president, you got to be open and honest. You got to admit when you made a mistake and she has never come back and said my vote for the Iraq war was a mistake. But it got into a little bit of a disagreement with her over this idea that the war on terror is a bumper sticker slogan. Let's take a quick listen to what he said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J. EDWARDS: What this global war on terror bumper sticker, political slogan, that's all it is, all it has ever been, was intended to do was for George Bush to use it to justify everything he does, the ongoing war in Iraq, Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, spying on Americans, torture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: She came back from that, she politely disagreed with him invoking the memories of all the people who died in New York in 9/11. Does he run the risk in calling the war on terror a bumper sticker, seeming insensitive particularly to the families of those victims?
E. EDWARDS: No, as a matter of fact, it's particularly sensitive and what we're saying is and what John has been trying to say is we need a real focus to go after the terrorists who are out there, who have done us harm, who may do us harm but the very idea that we -- that we are -- have some great big -- I call it a picture frame in which we throw all potential threats against us and, therefore, permit all potential violations of law, the violations of the Geneva convention, violations of habeas corpus, spying on our own citizens, that's too big of a frame. It has to be narrower. And Mrs. Clinton said last night that she thinks in fact we are safer because we have the global war on terror. We're not safer. The State Department says terrorists attacks are up 40 percent in the last year. That's not safer. That is more dangerous. We have less allies, more terrorist attacks. That's not safe.
ROBERTS: We should point out before we go here that you're undergoing chemotherapy now? It's quite a modified regimen from the one that you were on before. You look like you're doing really well.
E. EDWARDS: It's odd that I look healthier now, isn't it?
ROBERTS: Are you feeling all right?
E. EDWARDS: I feel fine. I have lots of energy and actually having the campaign and the children to focus on makes it a lot easier. I don't sit around and focus on cancer, which is great.
ROBERTS: Yeah. As a person who has had cancer in his family, I know that it's always better if you can focus on something else. Elizabeth Edwards, thanks very much.
E. EDWARDS: It's always great to see you.
ROBERTS: Always good to see you as well. Thanks for coming by.
Tonight, John Edwards joins Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama by the way, to talk about the role that faith plays in their politics. That's tonight at 7:00 Eastern hosted by Soledad O'Brien and Paula Zahn. And then tomorrow night, the Republicans get their chance to debate. CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderates beginning at 7:00 Eastern here.
CHETRY: Angry protests in Venezuela topping our quick hits now. Thousands hitting the streets to send a message to President Hugo Chavez and his decision to pull the plug on a opposition television station in Caracas. They you see the video of the angry protesters. They're saying that Chavez is trying to muzzle his critics.
And there's also some new video of Fidel Castro making the rounds on Cuban state television. He is seen meeting with the Vietnamese communist party chief in this tape. It was released yesterday. Castro has not been since in public since announcing he was having abdominal surgery, intestinal surgery last July.
A huge tree limb falling 75 feet. Two police cruisers' dashcams caught that freak accident on tape. We're going to have more on the dramatic pictures coming up on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
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ROBERTS: A development in the fight against liver cancer tops our quick hits. The drug Nexavar (ph) was shown to extend patients' lives by three months or 50 percent. It is the first liver cancer drug to show any positive results.
A new at-home fertility test hits the market today. For the first time, it will allow men to run a quick test at home. The product called Fertel (ph) tests both men and women and runs about a hundred dollars.
And dashboard cameras captured some incredible video, take a look at this, a tree limb crashing down and hitting a police officer in the head. The officer was responding to accidents from a storm. High winds in Greenbush, New York when the branch came crashing down on top of him. It hit a fire truck first, slowing it down, before it banged into the officer. He did suffer a concussion, but no other injuries. That could have been terrible for him!
Forty two minutes now after the hour. Chad Myers is monitoring extreme weather down in the weather center in Atlanta and we're getting some of it up here Chad, the remnants of Barry blowing into here in New Hampshire.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You bet. I tell you what, this is exactly what we asked for really. I think maybe not on a Monday or on a weekend, but remember we said we need to break the drought in Florida or Georgia a couple of small tropical systems. Well, now this thing is still moving. Boston, Manchester, all the way up even into Vermont, Rochester picking up some showers. Heavier rain showers here in Philadelphia, Atlantic City, moving up into New York City later on today. Flash flood watches and some flash flood warnings around New York City this morning for that rain that falls on the concrete. It has to run off somewhere. If the gullies are blocked or the drainage areas are blocked, that water piles up especially in the underpass areas.
Some of the rain though that was so beneficial for a very dry Florida. Eight, six, five, three, four inches right on that fire in Valdosta. Those big two fires in Georgia now 98 and 99 percent contained. Even into the city in Philadelphia picked up two inches, inch and a half, somewhere around there and Newark at 1.46. Got an e- mail from a guy who said, hey, tell us about Lake Okeechobee. The big story last week, it was so dry. It rained. Did it help? Lake Okeechobee is up 1.2 inches with all that rainfall they picked up (ph). In fact the Lake Okeechobee area only picked up about an inch of rain. So when you're talking about a lake that's down four feet and it's up one inch tells you how much more rain they need.
CHETRY: At least it's a start. You saw those fires burning along the lakebed down there, it really makes you wonder.
MYERS: Is that crazy?
CHETRY: Chad, thanks so much.
Gadget geeks, get ready. Apple is announcing a launch date for its new iPhone, highly, highly anticipated. They're debuting it June 29th, the price tag between $500 and $600.
Larry Flynt (ph) the publisher of "Hustler" magazine will pay a million dollars for dirt on Washington big shots. Flynt took out a full-page ad in "The Washington Post" asking anyone who has had illicit sex with members of Congress or other high-ranking officials to send him proof. Again he is willing to pay you a million bucks.
Before you send the kids to school today, you may want to find out what doctors are saying about those sneakers the kids love. Helis (ph), the one with wheels in the heel, next on AMERICAN MORNING."
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ROBERTS: From the red carpet to behind bars in one night. That tops our quick hits. Paris Hilton reported to jail overnight at least a day early. She is serving a 23-day sentence for driving under the influence which violated the terms of her probation. Hilton attended the MTV movie awards in Los Angeles before turning herself in.
A medical mystery in Indiana. Health officials say four people in northeastern Indiana have died this year from an extremely rare brain disorder. Doctors suspect the deaths were caused (INAUDIBLE) . It usually strikes just one out of a million people. The disorder is similar to mad cow disease.
And from medical mystery to medical miracle. A Polish man woke up after 19 years in a coma. He fell into a coma back in 1988 after sustaining head injuries as he was attaching two train cars. While he was sleeping he missed the fall of communism and the development of cell phones among other things. His wife though never gave up hope that he would, one day, wake up.
It was really interesting, John. She said when I went out to buy him a new shirt he was amazed that stores were open on Sunday. So much he couldn't believe people walking around on the cell phones moaning and complaining as well. He said put that type of stuff into perspective people, so a lot has changed for that guy.
ROBERTS: A modern day Rip van Winkle.
CHETRY: Exactly. It sure is.
This one's also interesting John. There's a warning about those trendy sneakers on wheels. I mean, you don't think they could do a lot of harm but actually they could send your kid rolling right into the emergency room. There's a new report out offering safety tips for kids who wear helis. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from Atlanta with details on this. Hi Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Kiran. We're talking about helis and shoes like them. I have one here, looks just like a regular sneaker. Turn it over there is a wheel in this heel as you can see. This is a study in the journal of pediatrics that's out of a children's hospital in Dublin. What they found is that in just a 10-week period, they had 67 kids come in for helis-related injuries. It was everything from injured wrists to broken ankles to cracked skulls. The kids you see on your screen here, they look like they're pretty good. They've probably been doing this for a while. A lot of the injuries were novices, kids who were using helis maybe the first or second time. Kiran.
CHETRY: The other tricky part about it is if you take your kid out roller blading, you're going to tell them obviously to wear a helmet and to wear knee pads but they use these shoes as sneakers most of the day so they're not going to walk around with gear on all the time. So how do you fix that?
COHEN: Right. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons is expecting to come out with recommendations this coming week that says if you're going to use helis, you need to be using things like wrist protectors and knee and elbow pads and of course the helmets. But you're right. It's tricky. Kids go to school and you can take that heel out, so they've taken the heel out and then maybe they want to switch during recess and put the heel in. Well also theoretically in their backpack they should have all this protective gear. But you're right, realistically that might not happen because some people would say, just don't let your kids wear them.
CHETRY: And so what do you do then if your kids have them? Of course they are the rage and the more you try to tell them they can't have them, then they really want them.
COHEN: You have to use that word no. Parents need to learn how to use that word no. They should practice in front of a mirror.
CHETRY: You're right. It's tough these days for some isn't it? Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: A little smoke alarm over around Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent trip to Canada tops our quick hits. He reportedly had an aide pick him up a Cuban cigar while on a trade mission to Canada. Here's something you might not have known. Because of the trade embargo against Cuba, it is illegal for Americans to buy Cuban cigars anywhere in the world. No comment so far from the governor's office.
A ban on advertising in schools is being considered by lawmakers in Massachusetts. Critics blame ads in school from everything obesity to gender stereotyping. The ban would prohibit placing ads on everything from book covers to scoreboards.
The cold war could be heating up again. The latest hot words from Russia's president next on AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is here on CNN.
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CHETRY: Six minutes now before the top of the hour. Ali Velshi joins us now "Minding our Business" this morning
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm talking about --
CHETRY Can you draw a picture?
VELSHI: They won't give me one. They're not giving me an iPhone.
CHETRY: That is your rudimentary sketch. VELSHI: This is a script. You can't even see it there, but I drew my iPhone. That's as exciting as it gets for me. I was looking on eBay to see if anybody is selling them. They got to be $500 to $609 depending on how you want to configure them and then you got to get your contract through AT&T which will be the exclusive provider. The reason we're talking about this today is because Apple is running commercials now to say that this thing will be out on June 29th. It will be available in stores on June 29th. It remains to be seen who is going to buy this. At that kind of price point, you're looking at people remarkably committed to either Apple or iTunes or guys like me who are into new gadgets. But I don't know. Does everybody buy one of these?
CHETRY: Does this replace their iPod?
VELSHI: It replaces your iPod and theoretically your phone and could replace your blackberry if you send messages. It's got a lot of those capabilities and one of the concerns when you and I talked about this earlier is that if you want to be in on this first generation and have it not work fantastically. One of the things that Apple says is it will make this thing upgradable so theoretically, they might come up with newer ones that are slimmer or better looking but you should be able to get upgrades for the hardware on this thing, which means you can keep on using it for longer because as we mentioned, one of our floor directors Pete, has had his phone for five years. Some people like to (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: If you can pull out the antenna on your phone it's probably...
VELSHI: (INAUDIBLE) so it'll be interesting to see how this takes off and how successful it is. It's an iPod.
CHETRY: Do you have to be willing to commit $600 or around that and be with AT&T? If you're with a different carrier, does not mean you have to change all of your service?
VELSHI: That is absolutely right. They say you can you keep your number, but you're going to have to change your service if you're not with AT&T. Now fortunately, AT&T is a big company, so lots of people are with them, but that might be enough of a draw. The issue is there used to be two things people would carry, something like a blackberry, a messaging device and a phone and then there was some sense do they come together? Then people started carrying iPods or some music device. Now they can come together. So if you work this out the right way it could be worth it because you're carrying one thing, not three but it's expensive. Then again, it's Apple and they've managed to figure these things out.
CHETRY: They sure have. Very interesting.
VELSHI: Until I get mine, I'm just going (INAUDIBLE) .
CHETRY: You're going to continue with the sketch, not bad, keep that in your pocket. Don't throw your phone away yet because that is just paper. Meanwhile, hot dogs, they'll never go out of style. Hot dog eating champ, a new one crowned this morning. There he is, Joey Chestnut setting a new record in Phoenix this weekend. He scarfed down 59 1/2 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes, just crushing the old record set by Kobayashi (ph) by six dogs which was kind of a big deal and look (INAUDIBLE). 19,000 calories consumed in just 12 minutes! That's how much we added up the 315 calories of a Nathan's dog times 50 .98.
ROBERTS: The trick is to soak them in water too before you chow them down and I'll tell you, there's plenty of water up here in New Hampshire to soak your hot dog in today and we've got the remnants of Barry coming up here. Chad Myers at the CNN weather center. How bad is it going to be in the northeast today Chad?
MYERS: A good two inches in some areas, in areas that are actually pretty wet. Yes, this Barry thing, this tropical storm and now a depression and now just remnants of Barry did help the very dry areas of Florida and Georgia in the Carolinas but now we're getting up into areas that well frankly, have had enough rain for almost the entire summer. You don't want to shut the rain off anytime, but still.
Philadelphia, 45 minute ground delays right now because of that rain. We do expect the areas around New York City to have flash flood watches and flash flood warnings for a lot of the day. If you get a lot of water on the runways and obviously that is going to happen, you're going to slow down the airplanes. Take a look at Baghdad just for a moment here. We look at this once a week or so to kind of give you an idea of what the men and women are feeling over there. Today the high will be 108 but by the end of the week, the high will be 117. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: War and politics. Military tough talk dominates the Democrats debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The fact is that I opposed this war from the start so you're about 4 1/2 years late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Will the answer influence voters or shake up the leader board?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My objective was fulfilled. I can bring this country together.
E. EDWARDS: It's important for a man to be able to say I was wrong and John has said that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: We talk with the candidates the morning after and get analysis from the best political team on television on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. It is Monday, June 4th. I'm John Roberts in Manchester, New Hampshire.
CHETRY: Good to see you this morning John. I'm Kiran Chetry here in New York. What caught your eye last night about the debate, John? Anything stand out for you?
ROBERTS: I really liked the interaction on Iraq and I thought that Barack Obama had an interesting out of the box response when the candidates were asked if English should be the official language of the United States. You remember a few weeks back on George Stephanopoulos' show, he said in terms of affirmative action, I think that when my daughters go to university, they should be considered as advantage people. That was out of the box thinking that even caught the eye of some Republicans. I think he had a similar answer last night on the idea of English as an official language.
CHETRY: It was interesting to hear the candidates go back and forth on the Iraq issue and Barack Obama stinging back at John Edwards
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