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American Morning
Wildfire Out of Control in Lake Tahoe; Murdered Ohio Mother: Who is Bobby Cutts?; Tony Blair's Future
Aired June 25, 2007 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Breaking news. A wildfire roaring in the Lake Tahoe area right now. Firefighters hitting the ground and taking to the sky to save hundreds of homes.
Plus, a second arrest in the murder of nine months pregnant Jessie Davis. The woman's boyfriend and his high school classmate in court today. And a community in shock and grief on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: And welcome back once again. It is Monday, June 25th.
Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for John Roberts.
CHETRY: Good to see you this morning with us.
MARCIANO: Nice to be here.
CHETRY: And we start off with some breaking news out of Lake Tahoe, California, which is this wildfire that is out of control at this hour. Only 5 percent contained. There are more than 600 firefighters that are battling it right now.
More than 220 homes wiped out at last count. That number has grown overnight. It was only 165. So we are going to keep you up to date on that since there are 500 homes at least that are considered at risk right now for burning.
About a thousand people have been forced to leave their homes. The fire is burning about five miles south of Lake Tahoe.
Our Ted Rowlands is right next to the fire. He joins us from Meyers, California.
And Ted, we can see the flames right behind you. What is the scene like?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is incredible, Kiran, the devastation that this fire has wreaked in this area. You can see this house is still burning here. Firefighters are monitoring it, but there is nothing they can do. They are just simply watching it and making sure that it doesn't spread into the trees around it.
They're not actively fighting it. They're just going to let it go down.
And this is going on and has gone on throughout the night, house after house all along this block. It is heartbreaking and devastating to see the destruction that this fire has caused in this area.
Like you mentioned, 220-plus homes have been lost. The reason, yesterday the fire got out of control in the afternoon. The winds were up. There was so much fuel because of a lack of rain over the winter, and the humidity was very low.
There was absolutely no chance for firefighters to be able to actively fight this fire and make much progress. They were able to use some -- they were able to use some resources from the air, but, by and large, they had to sit and watch this happen in front of them, saying there just really was nothing they could do. People were just told to get out.
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LT. KEVIN HOUSE, EL DORADO COUNTY SHERIFF: The wind just pumped up a bunch of ash and stuff and sprinkled it through the neighborhoods and started a bunch of spot fires. And there just wasn't enough people to go around to put them out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As it starts to build the heat and starts to smoke, we just want to keep it cooled down. That's about all we can do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: They will be at it at sunrise here. The humidity is down a bit and the winds are down. They're hoping to attack this thing and get a hold of it.
Right now, just 5 percent contained. More homes are in jeopardy. And over a thousand people evacuated, and a lot of people are going to come home, come back to find that they have lost everything. It is really devastating and an incredible scene to see house after house just completely leveled -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, it really is. And is there anything that people can do for the houses that are in jeopardy right now to try to help with the situation, or are they just being told get out and hope for the best?
ROWLANDS: Yes, cross your fingers, basically, and hope that Mother Nature helps out, which it looks like that will be case this morning. There is an arsenal ready to go from the air, and if Mother Nature helps out, in that the winds are down -- they're down right now, obviously, you could tell -- obviously they will be able to really take this thing head on and hopefully save the lion's share of those homes now in jeopardy.
But boy, the damage has really been done here. And a lot of people, that literally some of them fled on foot, they will come back very disappointed to find that they did, indeed, lose everything.
CHETRY: Yes. And a tough fight for those 600-plus firefighters that are doing their best.
Ted Rowlands, we will check in with you in the next hour. Thanks so much.
You talked about needing some cooperation from Mother Nature, and that's where we bring in severe weather expert Chad Myers.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: The latest now in the case of the missing pregnant woman whose body was found over the weekend. A second arrest has been made, and both suspects will be in court today.
The body of Jessie Davis was found in a park just north of Canton, Ohio, over the weekend. The father of her child and possibly her unborn child, police officer Bobby Cutts, was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. And yesterday police made another arrest. Twenty-nine-year-old Myisha Lynne Ferrell is charged with obstruction.
Ferrell and Cutts will be arraigned today.
The question many people are asking is, who is Bobby Cutts, the suspect killed -- or charged with killing the girlfriend and possibly his unborn daughter?
Alina Cho is here now with a look into just who this guy is. Quite a past.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he does have quite a past, Rob.
Remember, Bobby Cutts is a police officer, and he is now a suspect in a double murder case. He's the father of three children. And a man with a checkered past.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO (voice over): Canton police patrolman Bobby Cutts, Jr. denied any involvement in the disappearance of Jessie Davis to a local newspaper reporter last week.
TODD PORTER, REPORTER: Bobby, did you have anything at all to do with the disappearance of Jessie?
BOBBY CUTTS, JR.: No, I didn't.
CHO: The 30-year-old Cutts fathered a 2-year-old son with Davis, and authorities believe he is the father of Davis' unborn child. He also fathered two other children from two previous relationships.
He carried on the relationship with Davis even as he was married to another woman. Last week, Cutts said he believed authorities had their eye on him.
PORTER: Have authorities given you any indication if you're a suspect?
CUTTS: I mean, they continue to say that I'm not a suspect, but, I mean, I would be dumb and naive to think that they weren't treating me as a suspect by different things I've had to go through in the past couple of days.
CHO: The Cleveland "Plain Dealer" says Cutts studied sociology in college for three years but left six months before graduation for family reasons. Before joining the Canton police, he worked for GE Capital in Canton as a collection coordinator.
This is not Cutts' first brush with the law. He pleaded no contest to trespassing in 1998 after forcing his way into the home of a former girlfriend, Nikki Giavasis (ph), with whom he has a daughter.
Canton police fired Cutts in 2003 claiming he lied about a gun, but later reinstated him with back pay. And according to the "Akron Beacon Journal," the minister who performed his 2001 marriage ceremony called Cutts loving, compassionate and caring, and said he volunteered with the church's youth ministry.
Bobby Cutts says he is innocent. And that is the hope Jessie Davis' mother expressed before his arrest.
PATRICIA PORTER, JESSIE DAVIS' MOTHER: Bobby Cutts is my son's -- my grandson's father. This is the most painful part of this whole thing for me, is that I pray every day that it's not Bobby Cutts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Now, Cutts is on paid administrative leave right now. He'll make his first court appearance later today. Still too early to say whether this case will be a death penalty case, but, Rob, the prosecutor says the case will be pursued vigorously.
MARCIANO: And it gets even more confusing. A second arrest made, Myisha Ferrell. And seems to be connected in some way to Mr. Cutts. How is that?
CHO: That's right. You know, remember, she is charged with obstruction of justice. She's believed to be an accomplice in this case, and she's believed, reportedly, to have helped in disposing the body.
Investigators went into her apartment over the weekend. They recovered, reportedly, among other things, garbage bags, bleach and duct tape.
Now, she was a waitress at a local diner until Friday, and the manager has reportedly said that Cutts was a dishwasher there. But they go back before this because they were classmates, Rob, in high school. Lots of twists and turns in this case.
MARCIANO: You better believe it. You couldn't write this stuff.
All right. Thanks, Alina.
CHETRY: There's some reaction coming in now from the family of a BBC correspondent who has been held in Gaza since March. And new video is out.
Alan Johnston's father says he is most concerned and distressed at the video that appeared on the Internet last night. It shows his son wearing what appears to be an explosives belt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN JOHNSTON, BBC REPORTER: Captives tell me that very promising negotiations were ruined when the Hamas movement and the British government decided to press for a military solution to this kidnapping, and the situation is now very serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Johnston also saying on that video that a military attempt to free him would cause his captors to set off the explosives.
(NEWSBREAK)
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MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
We're taking you back live now to Lake Tahoe, California, where we do have breaking news. That fire continues to burn there in this area of south Lake Tahoe, right on the border of California and Nevada.
Ted Rowlands' camera is showing you these live pictures of a home fully engulfed in flames. We are told 220 homes have been wiped out, 500 more homes are in danger of burning there right now. And about a thousand people have been forced to evacuate.
First Lady Laura Bush begins a five-day tour of Africa starting in Senegal. She will visit AIDS and malaria program that get U.S. funds there.
And a surprise shower for passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. A water pipe broke. The sprinklers went on, sending passenger running for the exits. Terminal one at LAX was reopened a half hour later.
CHETRY: The search for Jessie Davis, the nine months pregnant Ohio woman, coming to the worse possible conclusions. Searchers finding her body over the weekend, and her unborn baby girl dead as well. Now startling revelations that the father of Jessie's 2-year- old son, police officer Bobby Cutts, may have actually confessed to the murders.
Joining us now from Canton, Ohio, Eric Mansfield of our affiliate WKYC. He is close to the investigation.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Eric.
ERIC MANSFIELD, WKYC: Good to be here.
CHETRY: Tell us what you know about the possible confession from Bobby Cutts.
MANSFIELD: Well, as we understand it, it was shortly after 1:00 on Saturday when Bobby Cutts, who had been holed up in his parents home for several days, finally just cracked, as one person described it to me, sharing intimate details with his family and, I'm told, a few off-duty police officers who were there to support him. Now, how much of the confession was related to the death of Jessie Marie Davis we don't know yet, but he certainly confessed to disposing the body, certainly provided the information to police, who then recovered her body about two hours later.
CHETRY: So it was -- because they had big search parties out there, but it was his information that eventually led them to finding Jessie's body?
MANSFIELD: That's correct. The search parties had been within about a two to five-mile radius of Jessie Marie Davis' home.
Her body was found about 30 miles north in the next county to our north, just north of Akron, in Summit County, found a little more than two hours after Bobby Cutts, Jr. had made these statements to his family. After that he had been let out of the house to go meet with police.
So, police are not saying whether or not he was with them as they found the body and went to the metro parks and discovered that grave there, but he certainly provided the information that led them to the discovery.
CHETRY: Now, you know, as we look and try to figure out what the motive would be in this case, Bobby Cutts had quite a checkered past. He fathered children with several different women. In fact, he was still married.
What is the situation? Or what are you hearing from any sources about why, if, indeed, he did do this, why he would do it?
MANSFIELD: That's one of the million-dollar questions here, and everybody seems to have a theory. But I haven't been able to pin anybody down that's willing to stake their reputation as to the motive.
Simply that Bobby Cutts Jr. and Jessie Marie Davis had a complicated relationship. At one point she believed he was single. He fathered a child with her. She eventually learned that he was married. They continued a relationship, at least to some degree. And he is believed to be the father of her unborn child, Chloe. But as to what the motive would be, way too early. All we can do is really speculate.
CHETRY: Lastly, Myisha Ferrell, a high school friend of Bobby Cutts and now facing charges of obstruction of justice, what do you know about the possible evidence against her?
MANSFIELD: Well, we know the police keyed in on her very, very early, as early as a week ago today, and began interviewing her and visiting her home and possibly taking out some items in a voluntary search. Neighbors say she then started spending less and less time there.
As for the relationship, yes, they went to high school together. She worked in a Denny's restaurant in his area where he would normally drive his patrol car. So they certainly had an opportunity to see each other on the beat.
I'm told by relatives and a few friends that she was a very caring and trusting person, and she really sometimes got taken advantage of by people because she was so dedicated to them. Speculation is that Bobby Cutts Jr. called her when he needed a friend and needed somebody to help. She came forward and helped.
That's where the obstruction charge leads. But as to the details of what she did, we don't know. We know police took empty bleach bottles out of her apartment, and, of course, bleach was found at the scene where Jessie Marie Davis was taken.
Both she and Bobby will be arraigned here at Canton Municipal Court later today.
CHETRY: All right. So maybe we will find out more about the details and charges of obstruction of justice, as well as the two murder counts that Bobby Cutts is facing.
Eric Mansfield with WKYC.
Thanks for the information.
MANSFIELD: Good to be here.
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CHETRY: Well, Prime Minister Tony Blair leaves office this week, and his future is already being debated, including what was he doing visiting the Vatican over the weekend?
Our faith and values correspondent, Delia Gallagher, joins me now. Fueling more of the speculation that he will indeed convert to Catholicism. His wife is Catholic, as are his children.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's been a few years now that they've been saying this is going to happen. And, of course, now that he is going to leave office, the rumors are really revving up.
And he doesn't do much to quell them because he goes to visit the pope over the weekend. And what's the gift that he brings the pope? John Henry Newman, who is the prime example of an English convert to Catholicism.
So, you know, if you're going to bring a gift to the pope and you don't want to encourage the kind of rumors that you are going to convert, you probably wouldn't choose that. There is lots of other English Catholics.
CHETRY: Right. And so for people who don't follow this, what is the big deal if he converts to Catholicism?
GALLAGHER: Well, I mean, you have to remember, he is representative of a government which is the established -- of which Anglicanism, you know, is the established religion of England. Furthermore, Anglicanism grew out of a protest against Catholicism.
So if he goes back to the Catholic religion, I mean, there are some kind of -- there is historical meaning there as well. So, you know, I mean, today, everybody gets along, but there is a long history between Catholics and Anglicans.
CHETRY: Sure.
GALLAGHER: And sometimes it was an ugly one. You remember Henry the VIII. I mean, that's how the whole thing started, because he protested against the pope, who didn't want to give him an annulment. And he said, well, you know, that's fine, we don't need the pope anyway. So, he established his own religion. That's how the Anglican Church came to be.
And so, Tony Blair, being a prime minister of a country which has an established religion, you know, that would be -- that would be a very high profile conversion.
CHETRY: It sure would.
All right. Let's talk a little bit about Rudy Giuliani, because he is coming under fire from bishops. Many of them weighing in about his pro-choice stance, including Joseph Sella (ph), who had something interesting to say.
He is with the Catholic -- I mean, with the advocacy group Fidelis, a Catholic advocacy group. And he says, "It's becoming ever more clear that Rudy Giuliani suffers from John Kerry syndrome. It's just a matter of time before more bishops steps up, because he shares the identical position on abortion as John Kerry and Hillary Clinton." GALLAGHER: Well, abortion is the big question. And, of course, if you're a Catholic politician, that's even more problematic, because the pope has come out and spoken about Catholic politicians and their stance on abortion.
So quite apart from just Catholics, of course, you have conservative Christians and other people for whom that issue is a big one. But it's more important if you are a Catholic politician, because you have to defend yourself against holding such a position which is contrary to what the Catholic Church...
CHETRY: And it is a tough one for him. I mean, they're calling him hypocritical, pathetic and confusing because he says he personally hates abortion, yet, at the same time, he would not tell a woman that they couldn't make that decision.
GALLAGHER: Right. And that is the problematic stance for some of these Catholic bishops because they say, look, you know, this is not a question of what you personally think about it, or if you are a Catholic you should personally agree that it is wrong, you know? And as a politician, you have a responsibility to take those personal beliefs and use them to a larger good.
CHETRY: Well, I have a feeling we're going to be checking in with you throughout this campaign as more religious leaders begin to speak up and speak out against some of the candidates based on their stances.
Delia Gallagher, thank you so much.
GALLAGHER: You're welcome.
MARCIANO: Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" right now, and we're talking about people just giving their money away.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In fact, we were just talking about religion. Religious charities, in fact, are big recipients of what was a record-breaking year in 2006 for Americans giving to charity.
Now, 2006, this is where we saw almost $300 billion donated in the United States. Religious organizations got almost a third of that money. The second biggest recipient were educational donations and endowments.
2006 topped 2005, which was also a record year because of the tsunamis and because of the hurricanes. So this is really quite fascinating, because when you look at where this money comes from, 75 percent of it comes from individual donors. People making under $100,000 a year give -- 65 percent of people making under $100,000 a year give money to charities.
America come sin as the highest percentage of gross domestic product, the most amount of money as a percentage given to charity. Britain, which is number two, is about half as much. So America is particularly charitable. And one of the things that you can track is that charitable giving, the growth in it, tracks the stock market. It's about one- third of the growth in the stock market.
So, last year, for instance, the stock market was up 10 percent. Charitable giving was up about 3.3 percent. So when the economy is good, people give, and Americans are particularly charitable.
MARCIANO: Like spending, anything else.
VELSHI: That's right.
MARCIANO: All right. We'll check in with you a little bit later.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
MARCIANO: Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
(NEWSBREAK)
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ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: A live picture for you from Dallas, WFAA, our affiliate out there in the big D, some sun rising up, some clouds in there.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Usually Rob I sometimes read the weather, just the temperature which is 76 degrees but since you're the meteorologist, really you should do that.
MARCIANO: I'm not going to read it because it's from a website other than cnn.com and I won't tell you which one it is but it starts with "W ".
CHETRY: It starts with weather and ends with a dot com. No, cnn.com of course provides up to the minute weather too, but it's going to be 85 degrees and thunderstorms in the area.
Typical weather for Dallas this time of year.
CHETRY: So it's not that exciting, just typical, all right, fine. Welcome back by the way. It is Monday, June 25th. We're so glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in today for John Roberts.
Our top story is that wildfire. It's burning in south Lake Tahoe, California right on the border between California and Nevada. More than 600 firefighters are on the scene and they've been helped because the winds have died down this morning but 220 buildings have already been destroyed and 2000 acres were burned. Our Ted Rowlands joins us from Meyers (ph), California. He's right in the front of a burning home. Ted, tell us what you're seeing right now. TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, you're seeing it, too. It is a burning home and firefighters are actually on the back side of it. They're just going to let it burn because they really can't do anything about it. There is another home however on the back side behind those trees that is untouched, one of the very few homes in this area in that condition. Firefighters are protecting that structure. As you can see, the wind is really nonexistent and that is helping firefighters at this hour. They're also planning a full attack as soon as the sun comes up here in a few hours on the west coast.
Most of the homes on this street look like this one behind us, nothing left, burned completely to the ground. The problem, yesterday, the winds whipped up to gusts up to 35 miles per hour. Some people had to flee on foot to get out. They took what they could and got out. Firefighters were unable to tackle the fire from the air because of the conditions, the high winds and the heavy smoke and the ground crews were just overwhelmed. They could not save all of these homes. In fact like you mentioned, 220 structures completely wiped out. It is a devastating scene here. Many people left with hopes that their homes would be saved. Unfortunately the lion's share of those people are going to come back to find out that they have lost everything.
About a thousand people right now are evacuated. Some are in shelters, others staying with family and friends. This is an area, a very popular tourist area so some of these homes are summer homes or vacation homes. Most of them, though, are people's residences. You can see it going up and down these streets, these homes completely leveled. Rob.
MARCIANO: Tough to watch there Ted and once the sun comes up I'm sure we'll get a better grasp of the situation. Ted Rowlands live for us in Lake Tahoe, California.
CHETRY: We have some breaking news of a pretty devastating bus crash taking place in Bowling Green, Kentucky. These are the first pictures coming in to us from WTVF in Kentucky. According to state police that was dispatched there to the area, they say that this bus crashed when it hit a concrete abutment saying that it was torn to pieces. One person is killed. And as many as 40 others hurt, according to a coroner. They say this happened on interstate 65 in southern Kentucky early this morning about 3:20 in the morning central time. Ambulances and medical helicopters responded to the scene. It was near the Cumberland parkway exchange, which is about 20 miles east of Bowling Green. There are no other immediate details about what caused the bus to go off the roadway so violently as you can see there and smash into that concrete abutment but right now the coroner saying one person killed and as many as 40 others injured here on interstate 65 in southern Kentucky.
We want to bring you up-to-date now on the case of the missing pregnant woman whose body was found over the weekend. A second arrest now has been made. Both suspects will appear in court today. The body of Jessie Davis found in a park just north of Canton, Ohio over the weekend. The father of her child and possibly her unborn child is police officer Bobby Cutts. He was arrested and charged with two counts of murder. Also yesterday police made another arrest, 29-year- old Myisha Ferrell. She is charged with obstruction of justice. Ferrell and Cutts went to high school together. They will be arraigned later today. And this horrible crime has left a community shaken. CNN's Carol Costello joins us live now from her hometown of Canton and Carol, it must be difficult to hear your hometown in the news, but in such a tragic way with the murder of this nine months pregnant woman.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You got that right, Kiran. This is such a great community. I'm standing here at the Greentown fire station. Literally thousands of volunteers showed up a few days ago to help search for Jessie Davis' body. So many people showed up, (INAUDIBLE) surprise me that people do around here. They reach out their hand to help. But now, sadly, it's time to grieve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Many of the people who flocked to Jessie Davis' home had never heard of her before she vanished. But they came to offer comfort and perhaps receive some in return. Eleven-year-old Katlyn Mitchell decided to bring her teddy bear. Why did you decide on a bear?
KATLYN MITCHELL, 11 YEARS OD: Well, usually, a lot of people have teddy bears so maybe a teddy bear might help.
COSTELLO: Might in some way help Davis' two-year-old son whose father, a Canton cop, is now facing murder chargers.
LT. DENNIS PELLIGRINO, CANTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I've never seen anything like it in the 32 years.
COSTELLO: That is my cousin Dennis Pelligrino with the Canton police department. This case has affected our hometown perhaps more than any other. For Dennis and Canton police, the thought that one of their own might be a killer is tough.
PELLIGRINO: You celebrate with the good. You cry with the bad. All you can do is pray it comes out all right.
COSTELLO: Canton and Stark County are already going through rough times. The Hoover Company, a major employer in town, where my mother once worked, where my cousins now work, will close in September, leaving thousands out of work. In fact, plant closings in Canton have caused the population to dwindle by almost one-third since 1970.
CHIEF JOHN BACON, N. CANTON FIRE DEPT., STARK CO: It's a great community.
COSTELLO: It is a warm, tight-knit community. 1800 people showed up the first day to search for Jessie and when she was found, they immediately wanted to know where.
BACON: All they wanted to know is where was she found? I wanted to make sure I wasn't the person to way over it and didn't see it. COSTELLO: Now they wait for word of what happened to Jessie Davis and her unborn daughter who would have been born July 3rd.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: The fire chief just told me an astounding story. An elderly couple who turned up to help in the search gave their wedding rings to members of the Davis family just in case they needed money. That's how kind and generous people are in this community. Kiran?
CHETRY: Carol Costello, just heartbreaking to see. Thanks so much.
MARCIANO: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's European tour tops our quick hits now. He is meeting the new president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy (ph) in Paris this morning, then heads to London to meet outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair. Governor Schwarzenegger is talking with them about ways to cut greenhouse gases.
And a 24-hour day Iranian news network tops our - is also one of our quick hits. Iran will launch press today on July 2nd. It is to be based in Tehran and have reporters stationed in Jerusalem, Gaza City, Ramallah and as well as New York and DC bureau.
And let the campaigning begin. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson says he is the best and most qualified candidate to be president. He joins us live to tell us about what he considers his defining political moment. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Disarming North Korea tops our quick hits right now. North Korea repeated its promise this morning to shut down its nuclear reactor. A team of UN monitors head to North Korea to begin work on that shutdown.
And former Liberian President Charles Taylor is boycotting his war crimes trial. Taylor did not appear in court today in The Hague. This picture is from a previous hearing. He won't even come out of his jail cell. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Well, it may be fun, but apparently they're not addictive. That's what doctors are now saying about video games. They're backing away from controversial proposal that would designate video game addiction as a mental disorder like alcoholism. They now say more study is necessary.
CHETRY: Every Monday on AMERICAN MORNING, we're taking a special look at the presidential candidates and asking them about a defining moment in their political career, something that tells you who that person is and why he or she wants and should be president. This morning, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson joins us from Santa Fe. Good morning governor. Good to see you this morning.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice to be with you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Unfortunately, the bad news, once again, out of Iraq this morning. We're hearing about more violence, including a suicide bombing at the Mansour hotel and also the killing of a doctor who headed up a children's hospital. You favor bringing U.S. troops home, I believe, by the end of the calendar year. What is the solution then with what is left over in Iraq?
RICHARDSON: My view is we bring the troops home, no residual forces. You're just reporting every day of sectarian violence, of civil war, more American troops getting killed. Our troops have become a target. I believe the solution is the diplomatic work cannot begin until our troops are out. The diplomatic work being a reconciliation conference led by the United States of the three groups in Iraq to have a coalition government, to divide the country into three entities, an all-Muslim peacekeeping force involving Iran and Syria to bring stability to the region and then, at the same time, trying to diffuse the Middle East crisis, the Israeli/Palestinian issue, Hamas, Fatah, the breakdown there of any potential negotiations. And I believe what needs to be the key here is a withdrawal of American troops with this very aggressive diplomatic plan led by the United States. That's what I am pushing very hard for.
CHETRY: Just want to ask you a couple questions. Some of the Iraqis that we talked to say that the Americans are really the only ones they can trust to protect them or get them through some of these situations because of the sectarian violence. How would Syria and Iran help that situation when they clearly have agendas of their own as well?
RICHARDSON: Well, the first point that I would make to you is that 61 percent of the Iraqi people, these are certified polls, say it's OK to shoot at an American soldier and 72 percent of the Sunni and Shia population in Iraq are saying they want American troops out within a year. Syria and Iran, no country wants a civil war, sectarian conflict, thousands of refugees spilling into the region. That would be the motivating factor to bring them in. In addition to that, an American withdrawal, coupled with this structured diplomatic plan, an all-Muslim peacekeeping force. Basically you sell the argument that what is needed in the region is regional stability and there is going to be a multiplicity of actors playing part. Today we say we're not going to talk to Iran and Syria. Look what is happening in the Israeli/Palestinian matter. It's falling apart. Look what is happening in Iraq. We can't have Iran build nuclear weapons, how do you deal with that? You deal with it by negotiating with them, by possibly putting diplomatic sanctions on them. So I believe the answer is diplomacy, it's negotiation. It's not threats and continuing a surge of troops.
CHETRY: Compared to the other candidates in the democratic field, your resume really stands out. You have a ton of experience on so many different levels, yet the polls consistently have you in fourth place or behind. What do you think you need to do to sort of break out of the pact and make your way up higher in those polls? RICHARDSON: Well, if you look at the polls -- and there's some coming out in the next few days in the key states of Iowa and New Hampshire -- I'm in double digits for the first time so I'm moving up. The reality is that this race is seven months away, so I'm very hopeful that my message of experience, but also of somebody that can bring this country together, that, through my diplomatic, my energy, secretary experience, my -- the fact that I'm a governor, I'm the only one that has run anything. I run a state. Two million people, balanced budget, created jobs, that that will be a factor and that the American people and the voters will not decide on the basis of who has the most money or who is part of which political dynasty or who is the biggest rock star, that they base it on experience, competence and a future vision to the country. I'm confident that that will happen and we really have a long way to go.
CHETRY: Yeah, but as you said, you got many months to try to make some headway there. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, great to talk to you and thanks for being with us.
RICHARDSON: Thank you.
MARCIANO: Back to the breaking news out of Iraq. We're getting new information in that deadly bombing at the Mansour hotel in Baghdad. CNN's Barbara Starr working this story from the Pentagon. Barbara, what do you have right now?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This from U.S. military officials is that seven sheiks were killed in this blast, very significantly, five Sunni sheiks and two Shia sheiks killed in this blast at the Mansour motel in Haifa Street in Baghdad. Apparently some of the sheiks, according to U.S. officials, were at the hotel for a meeting. Of course, reconciliation is a huge significant issue in Iraq at the moment. The U.S. has been reaching out to some of these Sunni tribal sheiks, trying to get them to turn away from fighting with al Qaeda to turn against al Qaeda, join the reconciliation process in Iraq.
By all indications, the meeting that was taking place at the Mansour at the time of this suicide bomb attack was part of that effort. So seven sheiks, very critical to the process, killed in the blast. Ten Iraqis wounded. A suicide bomber wearing a vest, apparently penetrating multiple layers of security at the hotel, walking right into the reception area and detonating the suicide bomb vest. It is believed that a small number of U.S. personnel were at the hotel at the time. No reports of any U.S. personnel wounded or killed in this blast. Helping facilitate that meeting, of course, several western organizations also have their headquarters there. More information emerging over the next several hours. Rob?
MARCIANO: Were anybody taking credit for this bombing at this point? Any word on that?
STARR: No, there is no word on that at the moment. But the U.S. officials that we're talking to clearly believe, at this point, that it is some sort of al Qaeda-backed attack, because they do believe, according to these initial reports, that the sheiks who were meeting there, as part of that reconciliation process, were most likely the very specific target of the suicide bomber, at least that's the working theory in these very early hours. Rob?
MARCIANO: Barbara Starr from the Pentagon, thanks Barbara.
CHETRY: The wife of presidential candidate comes out in support for same sex marriages, your quick hits now. Elizabeth Edwards, the wife of John Edwards saying, quote, she is completely comfortable with gay marriage. She kicked off San Francisco's gay pride parade. Her husband supports civil unions but not gay marriage.
Some Massachusetts Democrats are trying to say that former Governor Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on the issues so they handed out flip-flops during a Boston campaign event yesterday. Romney's campaign called it name calling.
Is city water better than bottled water? San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (ph) thinks so and he is banning the purchase of bottled water saying that it's better for the environment. We're going to talk to our next guest about that controversial decision coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: We have some breaking news out of Israel right now, actually, coming from Gaza city in the Gaza strip. According to the Associated Press, captured Israeli soldier Gelad Shalit (ph) has appeared now in an audio message posted on the Hamas military wing website. In it, he says his health is deteriorating and that he needs to go to the hospital. He also said, in this brief statement, that he has been disappointed in the, quote, lack of interest the Israeli government has taken in his fate. The message was released on the anniversary of his capture by Hamas allied militants. We have Paula Hancocks live in Jerusalem right now with more detail. If people do not remember Gelad Shalit, his capture is actually what touched off the big war that took place between Israel and Lebanon because he was snatched from the border in that area.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually Kiran yes. This was a year ago today when Gelad Shalit, the Israeli soldier was actually kidnapped on the border between Israel and Gaza. Now, this was the kidnapping, a very daring cross-border attack. Three different Palestinian militant groups were involved in this attack. They tunneled underneath the border killing two Israeli soldiers and taking Gelad Shalit into Gaza itself.
Certainly this sparked weeks of fighting within Gaza itself. It was a very intense Israeli incursion that followed. Then just a few weeks later, on July 12th, as you were referring to, there were two more Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped on the Israeli/Lebanese border and of course that did result in that particular war between Israel and Hezbollah. We have been hearing all morning that there would be a surprise from Hamas regarding Gelad Shalit. Obviously this is the one-year anniversary of him being held captive in Gaza. We have heard this audiotape. In this audiotape he talks to his mother, his father, his sister and his brother saying he misses them. He also says in the audio tape that he is sorry that the Israeli government and the Israel military are not more vocal and more concerned with what is happening as he was on military maneuvers at the time that he was taken. He also refers to Palestinian prisoners saying I, like thousands of Palestinian prisoners, do have a mother and father. They have a mother and father and he says that he hopes the Israeli government will give into the demands of these three militant groups, namely a huge prisoner swap, so that he can go home. Kiran.
CHETRY: Paul, there has been a lot of speculation about his living conditions. In fact, some reports that he is perhaps in an explosives laden basement, a booby trap area, if you will, in the town of Rafa in southern Gaza. Do you know anything about the details of where he is being held?
HANCOCKS: None of these reports at this point have given any evidence that we can actually confirm them. Over the past few days, there have been reports that he is, however, many feet underground in some kind of installation like this but we can't confirm that independently. In fact, there's never really been an official confirmation that he is still in Gaza. It is assumed that he is still in Gaza. But if this tape does turn out to be Gelad Shalit, if it is confirmed to be Gelad Shalit, it would really be the first official proof of life that his parents and the Israeli government will have actually had. Throughout the last 12 months this has been something that his parents have been lobbying for, a tremendous amount of supporters of Gelad Shalit and his family have joined this particular fight. There has been many protests over the past couple of days coming up to 12 months since he was taken all of them calling for proof of life and his immediate release.
CHETRY: Paula Hancocks, we will check in with you as we find out more details about this audiotape of the captured soldier, Gelad Shalit. Thanks Paula.
MARCIANO: And another breaking story we're following this morning. It's happening in Bowing Green, Kentucky, a bus crash on interstate 65 earlier this morning. The county coroner says at least one person was killed and as many as 40 others are hurt. We're following this closely. Stay with us. We'll be right back.
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MARCIANO: San Francisco's mayor is trying to get his city off the bottle, the water bottle that is. Mayor Gavin Newsom is banning the use of city funds to buy bottled water. He says it will save the city money and also save the environment. My next guest says that's good but not good enough. Greenpeace energy policy analyst Samantha Rogers joins me now from Washington. Samantha, let's first start off with talking about why bottled water is bad for the environment.
SAMANTHA ROGERS, GREENPEACE ENERGY POLICY ANALYST: Good morning. Yes. Well, every year in the U.S., over 15 million pounds of plastics are produced and only one million of those pounds are recycled so, clearly, this is a significant problem. MARCIANO: All right. So U.S. water bottle production, we've got a couple of other factoids to add to what you just said. U.S. water bottle production 1 billion pounds of Co2 because that have and then also on top of that, you got a billion empty bottles every year, like you said, they don't get recycled. They got directly into the landfill so this would seem like a pretty good idea of banning the city from buying bottled water. What do you think of the mayor's initiative?
ROGERS: Greenpeace wholeheartedly supports efforts to reduce plastic waste in the consumption of oil. We have to seriously call into the question the significance of this move, however. It is encouraging to see Mayor Newsom address the issue of global warming in particular. However, there is a plan awaiting his signature that will be much more significant than this move to ban bottled water. This plan called community choice energy will actually deliver over 50 percent of San Francisco's energy from clean renewable sources like wind and solar power which is clearly a much more broad sweeping solution than banning plastic bottles.
MARCIANO: It's a start. Here is what the mayor says. He says as the city advances its plan to combat global warming, it's paramount that we initiative policies that limit the most significant contribution to climate change. So this certainly is a stop. -- start. But you're telling me this is just popular green washing and he's got other energy issues to move forward. But let's talk about this particular issue. I mean, is there a way to expand it beyond just San Francisco?
ROGERS: Within Mayor Newsom's realm, probably not as mayor of the city. You have to look at the fact that the city probably only consumes a very small portion of the plastic water bottles. So this seems, at the surface level, to be just that, just a surface level solution.
MARCIANO: Tap water? Quick question. Tap water pretty much nationwide is OK to drink, right? So that's one way that everybody at home maybe could save the environment. Samantha Rogers, thanks very much for your insight, joining us from Washington. Thanks Samantha.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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