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American Morning
A Community In Grief; The Forgotten War?; New Terror Video; Dow Plunge; Ballot Jackpot
Aired August 06, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Attacks on U.S. embassies.
And is big brother listening to you, trying to stop the next terror attack. A closer look at what new surveillance laws mean for you.
Plus, what's next in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN PRESIDENT: The security situation in Afghanistan over the past year has definitely deteriorated. There's no doubt about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A diplomatic push to get the forgotten war back on track, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning. Thanks very much for joining us as we kick off a brand new week. It's Monday, the 6th of August. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
We begin with new details in Minneapolis at the collapsed Interstate 35 West bridge. Investigators are now turning their focus to the bridge's north side. They're interviewing construction workers who were resurfacing the bridge. This morning's "Minneapolis Star Tribune" says that those workers felt the bridge "wobbling" as they broke up the old surface. Here's a live look right now courtesy of KARE.
Navy divers, as many as four cranes and two barges could be brought in to begin bringing up pieces of the wreckage. Hopefully it will bring some peace to families who believe that their loved ones are buried underneath. Some 1,400 people gathered for an interfaith service last night to mourn the five known victims and to pray for the people still missing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM PAWLENTY, MINNESOTA: Remember to restore and to rebuild. We certainly remember those who lost lives. We remember those who are still missing. We remember those who are badly injured. And we remember those and are thinking of those who grieve. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's Susan Roesgen is live in Minneapolis for us.
And, Susan, we talked about the possibility of bringing in the Navy divers, as well as the cranes, out there today to try to sift through that wreckage. Are they -- for sure, is that a go today?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They will be a go unless there's lightning in the area. They say that's the only thing that might stop the divers from getting back in the water.
And, you know, Kiran, one of the big questions here for the divers is, if there are now eight people listed as missing, officially, and really presumed dead at this point, where are the bodies? Those divers have been in the water now for four days and have not found any bodies in any of the submerged cars. So certainly the divers will be back at it again today.
And, in the meantime, the National Transportation Safety Board will be looking at things like, how much weight was on the bridge when it collapsed. It wasn't a typical rush hour, as you know, Kiran, because there was work on that bridge, the construction workers were there. The traffic had been reduced to just two lanes, only going about 30 to 40 miles an hour. Not the typical rate of speed.
But the construction crew had a cement mixer and other large equipment. There had been some jackhammering on the bridge. So the NTSB wants to look at how much weight was on the bridge and what was actually happening when the bridge collapsed at about 6:00 last Wednesday night.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Yes, and, Susan, this 35W, one of the busiest bridges in Minneapolis, and parts of the interstate are going to be reopening today, but how are officials making sure that commuters can get around smoothly?
ROESGEN: Well, when Minneapolis drivers wake up this morning, there's going to have to be patience. The city is also urging carpooling. And also the city is offering some free bus rides from about 12 different parking areas so people can park and ride. But basically this was the main artery. As one city councilman put it here, it cut this city in half when that bridge collapsed. So drivers are going to have to have a longer commute.
And also, Kiran, the state has to begin removing the debris from the river because river traffic has been shut since last Wednesday. So it's been rough for both drivers and boaters here.
CHETRY: All right. Susan Roesgen in Minneapolis for us this morning. Thanks.
We're also going to be getting the latest on the investigation, 8:00 Eastern, when NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker joins us live. ROBERTS: An update on the hunt for Osama bin Laden from the president of Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai is visiting President Bush at Camp David right now. He's pressing for more U.S. help in beating back the Taliban and tells CNN that U.S. forces are no closer to finding Osama bin Laden than they were a few years ago. CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House.
This two-day summit up there at Camp David, Elaine, what is expected to come out of it? Would the president potentially commit to more U.S. troops or some kind of enhanced troop presence there in Afghanistan?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly we'll be looking to see if that, in fact, is the case. Afghanistan's president, as you know, Hamid Karzai, himself, is going to be looking for signs that, in fact, he can count on President Bush's support in the U.S.-led war on terror as the security situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate with the resurgence of the Taliban.
Now for his part, President Bush, by extending this invitation to Hamid Karzai for a summit at Camp David, a meeting at Camp David, is trying to send a message of his own that, in fact, he wants Hamid Karzai to know that U.S. very much wants to work with Afghanistan moving toward. The two leaders have, of course, had several other meetings over the past few years, but this is the first time that Hamid Karzai will be coming to Camp David. A number of issues on the agenda, as we mentioned, fighting the Taliban, fighting the drug trade, and also the fate of those 21 Korean hostages being held by the Taliban.
John.
ROBERTS: Of course, one of the big issues for the administration is, what kind of influence Iran has both in Iraq and in Afghanistan. The administration seems to be suggesting that it's a negative role. But take a quick listen to what Hamid Karzai told our Wolf Blitzer on "Late Edition" yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: So far Iran has been a helper and a solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: "Iran has been a helper and a solution." I mean, how's that expected to go over with the White House?
QUIJANO: Well, that's certainly not something official here at the White House wanted to hear. In fact, we already heard from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates yesterday saying, look, Iran is basically playing both sides of the street in Afghanistan. We heard from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday as well saying that the U.S. continues to believe that Iran poses a security challenge to the U.S. allies in the Gulf region. The bottom line here, John, as you know, the U.S. could not disagree more with President Hamid Karzai's assessment of Iran's role in the region.
John.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano for us outside the White House, where we should point out it is pouring.
Elaine, thanks very much.
Presidents Bush and Karzai will be holding a news conference this morning up there at Camp David, 11:25 Eastern. CNN, of course, will carry it live for you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well a new and unusual terrorist tape getting a thorough going over by Homeland Security this morning. It was made by an American member of al Qaeda threatening new attacks on the U.S. Adam Gadahn pictured here. It comes as President Bush signs a controversial law that will allow the government to monitor the calls and e-mails of U.S. citizens with unprecedented freedom. Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the latest now from Washington.
Good morning, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, first about that tape from the man known as Azzam the American. It's about an hour long. It threatens U.S. interests. Specifically U.S. embassies and consulates. The FBI says it is going over this tape, looking for clues. Specifically clues to where Azzam the American, or Adam Gadahn, might be located. In addition, authorities note that his messages have never been associated with any specific attacks and at least one official dismissing this as just propaganda.
Kiran.
CHETRY: And as we said, the president signing that controversial legislation. It gives the government broader reach when it comes to the wiretapping, especially eavesdropping authority. And the president really pushed for this, defended it despite the controversy. Did he get everything he wanted?
MESERVE: Pretty nearly. The Democrats, on the other hand, didn't want to be portrayed as being soft on terror, that's why they gave him much of what he wanted. The law signed by the president specifically will give the attorney general and the director of National Intelligence the authority to approve surveillance of suspected terrorists overseas, rather than the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Civil liberty groups and some Democrats are very upset that the new law may open the door to eavesdropping on American communicating with people overseas without court oversight. The administration maintains the law will protect the civil liberties of American.
But there will be more debate. The law sunsets in six months unless renewed by Congress. And some Democrats say they want to roll it back. The administration wants much broader reform of the surveillance law.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So six months, as you said, is all that we're looking at here as the debate will probably likely continue in half a year.
Jeanne Meserve, thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
ROBERTS: Parts of the Asian subcontinent are under water this morning. The heavy flooding caused by monsoon rains. In India, the Ganges river has risen above its banks cutting off thousands of towns and villages. Even the largest cities have felt the effects.
The situation is the same nearby in Bangladesh. Thirty-two districts in the north, northeast and central parts of the country have been hit by severe flooding. Thousands of people had been forced to evacuate their homes and head for higher ground. About 20 million people live in the affected area.
And thousands of miles away in Nigeria, flash flooding in the country's largest city, Lagos, has forced thousands of families from their homes. The floods followed days of heavy rain and have left more than a hundred homes under water. Six people are missing.
CHETRY: Shots fired across the Korean demilitarized zone today. The South Koreans say the North fired first. No casualties were reported. Cross border incidents are rare. There was one last summer, though. The border between North and South Korea are the one of the most heavily armed in the world.
Montana is under a state of emergency right now because of the fires. There are several wildfires burning. And fire officials are worried about the winds roaring back today. They did that over the weekend. And the fire near Missoula doubled in size. A fire information officer is describing the situation as zero containment. The governor has urged people living in the area to get out of the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER, MONTANA: Pack up, get out, it's time. We're serious this time. We've pulled the ground crews off. At this moment, you need to evacuate. And everybody in Montana, say a prayer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Very true. About 200 homes have been evacuated in the area northeast of Missoula. This morning, police in Newark, New Jersey, say they have no suspects and few clues in the execution-style murder of three college friends. A 19-year-old girl also shot managed to survive. Her brother and their two friends were found lined up against a wall near an elementary school, each shot in the head.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA DOW, ESSEX COUNTY PROSECUTOR: You hear so many tragic things about what happens with our youth, but these were doing the right thing and were on their way on success stories.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: All four of the victims were enrolled at Delaware State University. Police are hoping that the victim who survived can help investigators find and identify and find the shooters.
The space shuttle Endeavour appears to be good to go. NASA fixed a couple of problems, ran a final test and now plans to launch Endeavour at 5:36 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday are a go. The launch will be from Kennedy Space Center.
John.
ROBERTS: Here's a look at some of the other stories new this morning that our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents are following.
Wall Street returns to work after the Dow's big plunge on Friday. Should the Fed come to the rescue? Ali Velshi here to explain.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
We are coming in to today with a futures market that's looking pretty good. It's looking like the Dow might be off to a positive start. But, you know, things have really, really changed through the course of the day in the last couple of months.
Friday, for instance, wasn't such a bad day through the course of it. In fact, the Dow was nearly at break even and then Bear Stearns came out with some comments in the afternoon about how bad this credit situation in the market is and look what happened, the Dow lost 281 points for the day. It lost about two-thirds of a percent for the week. But the S&P and the Nasdaq were bigger losers for the week.
Well, the Fed meets tomorrow for its regular meeting and there are some people who think, well, why doesn't the Fed just come in and cut interest rates and that should stimulate the economy and everything will be fine? Well, there are a lot of reasons why that's not fine and I'm going to discuss that with you.
Right now no one is betting that the Fed's going to increase rates. For those of you with loans that are tied to prime, that's probably good news. And I'll tell you about that later, too.
But we're looking at a positive open for the Dow, at least right now.
John.
ROBERTS: Although the mortgage crisis didn't resolve itself over the weekend, correct?
VELSHI: Absolutely not. But it also didn't start in the last two months. So this is an ongoing problem and we're going to find out how it, you know, might resolve itself over the next few months. No quick solutions.
ROBERTS: Ali, I know you'll be keeping a close eye on that. Thanks very much. We'll see you soon.
Rob Marciano's watching the dangerous heat across much of the country now.
Missouri really going to get hit today, huh, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: And another food safety scare to tell you about this morning. Botulism is making a comeback. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now.
What's this one all about?
ELISABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This one is all about green beans, John. This is a comeback that nobody wants. The second time we've heard of botulism in just the past few weeks.
So what you need to do, if you have a can of French-cut green beans in your cupboard, you need to do two things this morning. One, go and check what the label says. Go and check what company makes it. And, two, go to fda.gov and see if that name is on the list of cans that they're concerned might contain botulism.
Now the reason why we can't just say, oh, it's this brand or that brand, is because it's made by a company that distributes to many other companies that then put their labels on it. So it's sold under these green beans that might have botulism are sold under lots of different names. Kroger is one of them. Value Time. Shop and Save. There's a whole list of them. You'll have to go to fda.gov to get all the different names.
Now the company that originally made the green beans is called Lakeside Foods. They say no one has gotten sick. And they also say they haven't even found botulism in any of the cans. The concern is that the food was not adequately processed to protect against botulism.
John.
ROBERTS: And that botuliline (ph) of toxin is extremely deadly.
Elizabeth, thanks very much.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks, John.
A potentially explosive situation topping "Quick Hits" now. The military had to be called in to Ontario, Canada, after a woman walking her dog came across two anti-tank land mines. They were finally defused. The big question, though, that still remains, who put them there?
U.N. nuclear inspectors at the world's large nuclear power plant in Japan this morning. The plant was damaged in the powerful earthquakes last month. It caused malfunctions and "leaks."
Well, the hot political topics of the day are coming up next. What will our debaters be talking about? Well, we are playing "Ballot Jackpot." A lot of questions. We have them all in here. And our pundits are going to answer them.
ROBERTS: Keep the lid on that. You're going to let the secrets out.
CHETRY: Yes, I've got to keep the lid on it until we get back.
ROBERTS: Don't let the secrets out.
CHETRY: We'll be back in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: A little boy falls from a Ferris wheel. It tops you "Quick Hits" now. He was just three-years-old, falling 25 feet to the pavement in Union City, Ohio, this weekend. The little boy fractured his skull, but he is said to be recovering. The state is now checking out what happened on that Ferris wheel.
And what an amazing survival story. This eight-year-old in Israel is recovering after an incredible ordeal, spending six hours floating alone at night in the Dead Sea before being rescued. Authorities say that he was in the water with his father and two brothers when currents swept him away. As John pointed out, it's easier to float in the Dead Sea because of the high salt content. But, still, a miracle that he was able to keep himself alive like that. Six hours alone.
The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, on vacation in America. Apparently not happy with the photographers covering him. There you see him pointing. Not looking pleased. They say that President Sarkozy left his boat on a lake in New Hampshire, then jumped on to the photographer's boat and started screaming in French! Neither photographer understood French. ROBERTS: Yes, I don't know that you need to speak French to be able to understand that.
CHETRY: I think he wasn't pleased.
ROBERTS: I think he seemed pretty pointed there.
It's time for the Monday edition of a brand new segment that we're going to start this morning . . .
CHETRY: It's our maiden voyage.
ROBERTS: Yes. Political hot topics. We're calling it the "Ballot Jackpot" because who know what topic that we're going to pull out of our ballot box here.
CHETRY: That's right. We stuffed them with some of the hottest topics of the day. Each one in the box. And we're going to draw them out one at a time and our guests are going to weigh in.
We have with us Democratic Strategist Jamal Simmons joining us from Washington. Good to see you this morning, Jamal.
JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.
CHETRY: You ready?
SIMMONS: All right. Let's do it.
CHETRY: All right. And Leslie Sanchez, a Republican strategist, joins us from Orlando this morning.
Hi, Leslie, great to see you this morning as well.
LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Hi. Good to see you.
ROBERTS: Hey, who's going to picks the first question?
CHETRY: Let's start -- we should have . . .
ROBERTS: Well, here, let's flip a coin. Call it, heads or tails?
CHETRY: Heads.
ROBERTS: Boom, you go.
CHETRY: All right. I'm going to pick the first question. And ladies first. We'll let . . .
SANCHEZ: Great.
CHETRY: We'll let Leslie stat.
Here we go, Leslie. The first question, who can stop Hillary? She's been really leading in the polls lately. She's been doing well. Some of her opponents, like Barack Obama, getting themselves tripped up with their own words. What can be done to stop her, Leslie?
SANCHEZ: You know, I think the biggest threat to Hillary Clinton is Hillary Clinton, because the sooner we know more about her or are reminded about her long legacy, I think it's going to be the biggest hazard for her. I think she's gotten a pass from a lot of the Democratic media. I mean just the other day she was talking about real Americans are lobbyists. She's really out of touch in terms of a lot of things. And I think as soon as people recognize she's for bigger government, more restrictions on your personal freedoms and higher taxes, that's going to be a problem.
ROBERTS: Jamal, you want to respond to that?
SIMMONS: Well, defending lobbyists is never a good thing. They've got to be about as high as lawyers and political consultants. But I think the tough thing is the polls are really different inside the early stage. She's ahead in Nevada, which is going to go second. She's tied in Iowa right now and she's tied in New Hampshire. Obama may be ahead in South Carolina. So even though he's -- she's pretty far ahead nationally, those early states, it's still too early to tell.
ROBERTS: All right. Let's grab our second question now, see what it's going to be.
And, Jamal, why don't you start us off on this one.
It is, oh, future first ladies. Jeri, Judith, Elizabeth and maybe even Bill!
SIMMONS: Well, the first thing you learn in politics is, don't cross the wives by day, because the wives might cross you at night. But they've also got to learn not to get the husbands or the spouses crosswise with the public. So right now you've got Jeri Thompson getting in trouble and Judith Nathan Giuliani getting in trouble. But at the same time you've got Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton and Ann Romney, who are really great spouses, who are out there helping their campaign spouses.
SANCHEZ: Oh, wow. OK, you know,
CHETRY: And, Leslie, it is interesting, the delicate balance not being a liability to your husband or, in this case, wife, when they're running. How do you navigate that line?
SANCHEZ: Well, it's very true. I mean a lot of times, especially in campaigns like any other thing, perception is reality. That's the biggest challenge. And most folks, you know, Americans revere the first lady in that position. But with Republican candidates, and I would even say the Democratic candidates, these are sharp, bright, intelligent women. There's a lot made out of their attractiveness. But really those are false issues. I think in many cases with Jeri Thompson, with many of these candidates, these are women with a lot of experience, they understand political campaigns and they're protecting their families and their husbands. I think that's an important role.
CHETRY: All right. We got time for one more?
ROBERTS: Yes, absolutely. Maybe even two, if we go through it quickly.
CHETRY: OK.
SIMMONS: All right. We'll be quick.
CHETRY: We have -- oh, highlights from the GOP debate. Mitt Romney the front runner, Leslie. And he was sort of on the defensive, especially answering the allegations of flip-flopping when it comes to abortion.
SANCHEZ: You know, I would even spin that even more. I think Romney had one of the best lines when he was talking about Barack Obama, his inexperience. You know, one second he's, you know, Jane Fonda, and the next, you know, Dr. Strange Love.
I think the most important thing that pointed out is, you have to be able to communicate these ideas. Romney did an excellent job there. So did all of our candidates. And you saw the top-tier candidates really pull away.
SIMMONS: Well, the one thing I was sort of struck by, by Romney, you know, he's got a good suit and great hair, but I'm not sure there's much more to him. And the entire field looks so diminished compared to the Democrats. I think of them more like a literal right nine. There's just these -- these nine little guys trying to run for president.
ROBERTS: Well, do we got time for one more? Let's grab one more here.
CHETRY: Quick, guys.
ROBERTS: Finish this off. Yes, we're going to have to do this one fairly quickly. And it is, Romney lashes out. This was in a radio interview, conservative radio host, asking him at length, and according to Romney ad nauseam, about the Mormon faith.
Jamal, you want to handle that one for us?
SIMMONS: Well, it's going to really hurt him in the primary because I do think evangelical Christians have more trouble with the Mormon faith than the general public. But in the general election, if he makes it, it may help him because keeping the separation between church and state is not a bad thing.
CHETRY: And, Leslie, quick. Real quick. Will his Mormon (INAUDIBLE) trip him up? SANCHEZ: You know, Romney has very strong coalitions with evangelicals, especially in Iowa and New Hampshire. He's done a very good job reaching across all faiths. And he's a power to be reckoned with.
ROBERTS: Yes, you've got to wonder, though, is Mitt Romney reacting like that to people asking him about his Mormon faith going to cast even more suspicious on that whole thing or does he need to, as John Kennedy did back in 1960, come out with a speech to talk about this and say, look, it's no different, don't be worried, you know.
SIMMONS: We can't be that prickly.
SANCHEZ: I know, it's been a good point. It's been talked about for a long time. People want to know more.
CHETRY: Well, we're out of time. Both of you, thank for playing along. You did a great job. Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons and Orlando Republican strategist Leslie Sanchez.
ROBERTS: All right.
We're back in just a moment. Stay with us here on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think its swollen down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Meet the real life body doubles of this unusual speed trap, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Here's a look at some of the stories coming up that you can't miss.
This one is pretty funny. Let's show the picture right now. This is a guy who was looking to increase business.
ROBERTS: Yes, he was just trying to advertise literally. He makes live-sized cutouts of, you know, kids and, you know, adults and what not for birthday parties or for the grandparents. Well apparently he's been trying to get, you know, his business going. He had some unattended consequences here that may actually be beneficial.
CHETRY: Yes, we're going to explain that coming up on AMERICAN MORNING when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK) CHETRY: A newly released video from American al Qaeda member promising new terrorist attacks against the U.S. In the video the man calling himself Azzam the American, warning the U.S. to leave Muslims alone. Is this threat a reason to worry?
Joining me now CNN terrorist analyst, Peter Bergen. Peter, good to see you this morning.
This is a man whose real name is Adam Gadahn, apparently an al Qaeda recruit, and on this tape threatening more attacks on the U.S. is this something we should be taking seriously or is he just a propaganda tool?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: I don't take him particularly seriously. It's not news that al Qaeda plans to attack the United States or planned to attack American embassies as Adam Gadahn threatens in this tape. U.S. embassies have been targeted by al Qaeda beginning in '93 when they cased the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, which they eventually blew up in '98.
So to me there was very little new news on this tape. More of the same. We've seen this guy several times in the past making these kinds of threats. Certainly, al Qaeda does have the ability to attack soft American targets overseas, things like Kentucky Fried Chickens or American Expresses. Attacking U.S. embassies is much harder than it was in '98 when they blew up two U.S. embassies in Africa almost simultaneously.
CHETRY: Right. What is the point of having an American face on these tapes as opposed to a threat by someone else in al Qaeda?
BERGEN: They're lucky that, as it were, that they have an American. It gives it I guess some more validity, in their view, that they got somebody speaking in English, somebody who is American who they've recruited. But this guy has been charged with no -- he's been indicted for treason, but he hasn't been charged with any sort of criminal activities. There's no evidence that Adam Gadahn has been planning operations, or that he's being involved in terrorist activity. He is as used the word propagandist; he's a propagandist. That's it. Which is not to deny that al Qaeda's propaganda hasn't been somewhat effective. They've released 56 videotapes last year. They're on track to probably release probably even more this year, and it's not just talking propaganda like Adam Gadahn. Some of these videotapes show IED attacks on American convoys, successful IED attacks on American convoys in Afghanistan.
CHETRY: Right. All useful recruitment tools as well. President Bush and Afghan President Hamid Karzai waking up at Camp David this morning. And a little bit later they're expecting to hold a joint news conference in about four hours. What do you think has been on the top of the list as these two leaders meet?
BERGEN: I think one word -- Pakistan. Hamid Karzai and President Musharraf met with President Bush in September. At that time President Bush said that the peace agreements in the tribal areas were -- that Pakistan entered into. He thought that these might work out. Of course, we now know, according to the U.S. intelligence community, those peace agreements have not worked out. Senior counter-terrorism officials in the administration saying those peace agreements in the tribal areas have not worked out.
So the question is what to do. Because the tribal areas is where al Qaeda is regrouping and where Taliban is headquartered, and that's a problem for everybody. It's a problem for Pakistan, Afghanistan, the United States and NATO.
CHETRY: Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst, thank you.
BERGEN: Thank you.
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: Iraqi forces in America sounds unusual, but Chris Lawrence is in California to explain for us this morning.
Hey, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, you probably know American troops are in Iraq. But did you know that Iraqi troops are right here in America? I'm Chris Lawrence and I'll tell you all about it in an exclusive report, coming up just after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
ROBERTS: The Pentagon has lost track of some 30 percent of their weapons given to Iraqi security forces in the last few years. How much are we talking about? How about 190,000 AK-47s. A government accountability report is raising concerns that the arsenal may have fallen into insurgent hands, and could possibly be used against American troops.
One of the biggest challenges in Iraq has been getting local police and military into a position to provide security themselves. What you might not have known is that some of that training is happening right here in the United States.
Chris Lawrence is live this morning in Coronado, California. He's got the exclusive report for us.
Good morning, Chris.
LAWRENCE: Good morning, John.
You know, the American general in charge of training Iraqi forces say the police and military are growing so quickly they can't enough leaders to keep up. Well, we found some of those potential leaders in, of all places, Mississippi. Iraqi police getting trained on American waters in boats similar to these.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAWRENCE (voice-over): It's an all-out assault on the river bank. Three troops pinned down by insurgent fire. Two teams of Iraqi police race to the rescue. Only these bullets aren't real, and this isn't the Tigris River, but the pearl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember when the first boat comes off the beach.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to stop shooting so the other boat can come on in there.
LAWRENCE: These Iraqi police officers have traveled more than 7,000 miles to Mississippi, to learn how to patrol the rivers that run through Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're backing off the beach.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't throttle it; just give it a little bit.
LAWRENCE: It's a crash course for this class of 11 officers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them have just been assigned to the river patrol for the first time and have never driven a boat before.
LAWRENCE: So the missions don't always work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came in a little over-exuberant, so to speak, and got his engine stuck on the bottom and killed the engines.
LAWRENCE: Only a few hundred Iraqi police currently patrol the Tigris and Euphrates, and insurgents have been using the rivers to launch attacks.
(on camera): Back in Iraq they don't have enough boats and/or equipment to spare, so this level of training would be difficult, if not impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine line between, you know, real bullets flying over your head and trying to practice something.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Here, Naval special warfare instructors teach them how to board suspicious vessels and evade ambush on the river banks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is for my country.
LAWRENCE: This police officer says he has learned not only tactics, but how you to trust his team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm not scared at all, especially after this training. We're learning how to be more confident to deal with insurgency in Iraq. LAWRENCE: Back home, he'll have to be, because the bullets there could be just as loud and lethal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Now, they're the second group, small group to go through this training, and they graduate at the end of the week. The ultimate goal is to develop a very small, select group of leaders who can go back to Iraq and then train other police officers and down the road, open up their own school right there on the Tigris -- Don.
ROBERTS: Chris, it's really fascinating, and they do seem to be very much into it. The question I would have, though, is after being there in Southern California, would they really want to go back to Iraq?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they're actually training in Mississippi. The Naval special warfare group is on the Pearl River in Mississippi. And they do get a chance to experience America. They go home with some of the Navy personnel, spend time with their families, eat dinner. They take them out to the mall to go shopping with their families. They've taken them to some of the military museums in the area. So they have gotten a chance to experience American culture a little bit, which is the second goal of this, is to not only teach them the military aspect, but to also give them an idea of what American culture is about and perhaps they can go back and spread that idea as well.
LAWRENCE: All right, Chris Lawrence for us this morning live from Coronado. Chris, thanks very much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(NEWSBREAK)
CHETRY: New effort to get drivers to slow down. There you go. You'll never guess who is on the side of the road. Is that enough to stop traffic?
ROBERTS: I tell you. That's actually enough to make people drive over that lawn to hit us.
CHETRY: The man behind the cutouts, next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. An Ohio man decided that he has started sticking his kids out on the side of the road as a way to get drivers to slow down.
ROBERTS: We're not talking about real kids, but pretty close, a reasonable facsimile. Check this out. There you go. Mike Wood from West Salem originally put up these life-sized cutouts of children in the street to advertise his sign-making business. Their unattended effect, though, Drivers got nervous when they saw the kids and slowed down. They were afraid that they very real-looking kids might just happen wander out in the road as they were driving by.
CHETRY: Yes, it's really interesting. Mike is joining us now from his business this morning. The cutouts have actually ended up working so well it's hard to tell which ones are your -- except that your one little guy next to you is moving. But the other one standing still. It's hard to tell which is which.
Apparently you've been contacted by town and police forces around the country about whether or not this may be worked for them?
MIKE WOOD, HIS SIGNS SLOW DRIVERS: That's correct. I've been contacted by a number of police departments now that this has been on the news. They're very interested in trying this in their locations to see how it does in their neighborhoods.
ROBERTS: So, Mike, this really was just an attempt to try to bring a little bit more business with some outdoor advertising?
WOOD: That's correct. We were interested in making them for keepsakes for, like, parents and grandparents. And then we had this as a side benefit. People started to say how people would slow down whenever they saw the kid standing beside the road, and it was very effective.
CHETRY: Right. So when you first put them out, what was drivers reaction? What did they do when they came around your house?
WOOD: Well, first, they're scared and a little bit upset that the people are -- the kids are that close to the road, and then once they find out they're not real kids, they realized why they are there and that they should be slowing down, so it's pretty effective. We've heard from a lot of people and a lot of people stop just to buy the kids for that purpose, to slow kids down in their neighborhoods.
ROBERTS: Yes, we should mention that not far from your neighborhood, there's a speed limit of 55 miles an hour, and then goes down to 35, but, of course, a lot of the drivers...
CHETRY: we saw one roar by.
ROBERTS: ... cruising by at 55 miles an hour. I understand that taking a look at them, they look realistic here on camera, but I understand that in person, they're far more realistic looking to the point where your father-in-law was having a conversation with one for a few minutes before he realized it was fake.
Now, that might say more about your father-in-law than the actual cutout, but I mean how realistic looking are they?
WOOD: That's the truth. He did ask him a couple of questions, and he didn't answer. And he said, what's wrong? Is he mad? Why isn't he talking to me? He then realized that he was not real.
CHETRY: No, it's cute. The only way we can tell the difference there is it that looks like Alex yawning, and the fake Alex is not, he's smiling. I understand noticed that you had a sheriff's deputy, it looks like, holding up a radar gun? I'm sure that gets the traffic to slow down. Why did you do that one?
WOOD: That's very effective. Randy has his radar gun. He's my son. He's a deputy sheriff. And we did this as an experiment. And we actually have semis that will go past here and slow down to slow down to 10 to 15 miles an hour when he's out, so it's definitely effective to have him there.
ROBERTS: Right. And is that the cutout that law-enforcement agencies are looking for?
WOOD: Yes, yes.
ROBERTS: OK.
WOOD: They're also asking if they can get some of their own people in there, too, which we can do.
ROBERTS: Hey, I noticed that there's a couple of other cutouts that were on your lawn, a couple of who are kind of familiar to Kiran and I. You want to explain those?
CHETRY: Hey, why is he standing in front of me? Those are pretty realistic.
WOOD: We couldn't you here in person, so we had the next best thing.
CHETRY: We should mention to your web side www.25kids.com, and you can make these up for just about anybody, right?
WOOD: That's correct.
CHETRY: Don't let anyone throw any tomatoes at us, Mike.
WOOD: We'll protect you. We'll take good care of you.
CHETRY: Mathias (ph), Alec, both of you guys, good job standing still next to your cutouts. And, Mike, thanks on for being with us.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it.
WOOD: Thank you.
CHETRY: It may be a good time to -- you're laughing. You've got your hands in your pockets, the casual John.
ROBERTS: I like the fact the father-in-law was talking to the thing for a few minutes and didn't realize that it wasn't real!
CHETRY: Before that first cup of coffee that could happen to any of us.
ROBERTS: What's the matter with him? He's not speaking to me.
CHETRY: Well, it's a good time to upgrade to first class. Planes are as crowded as they've ever been. We're going to talk more about that when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Three minutes before the top of the hour. Actually let's check in with Ali Velshi instead.
ROBERTS: Boy, those were so quick.
CHETRY: You blinked and...
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: it went like that.
CHETRY: July such a busy time of year for travel, but this year setting records.
VELSHI: Typically busy. And this is a double whammy for people, because the load factors are in. That's percentage of seats that are sold on airlines, the percentage of available seats that are actually full. July was the busiest month ever for Delta, for instance. Delta was flying 86.8 percent of its planes entirely full. Northwest up at 88.4 percent of its planes. Maybe that's because it had a whole bunch of cancellations, had to squeeze people on.
The problem is great news for the airlines, by the way, been suffering for a long time. It means they're planes are full, and they can continue to make money. It's a little tough for travelers, because it means crowded planes, it means more delays, and it means that if you're bumped off a canceled plane there aren't that many seats on the next plane, or the plane afterwards or the plane afterwards. So a little patience is in order for those of you traveling, because it is going to continue to be busy.
What you might also see is with demand that high, demand for seats that high, it also means that you might start to see those fares creep up. July is the busiest travel month, and this happens to have been the busiest for a lot of airlines. Delta No. 1, coming in with the busiest month it's ever had.
VELSHI: All right, Ali, thanks we'll check in with you in a couple of minutes.
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