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American Morning
Senator Sex Scandal; World Report; Extreme Weather; Housing Woes; Justice Department's Future; ABC's Of Rebuilding
Aired August 28, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Sex scandal. Republican Senator Larry Craig accused of soliciting in the men's room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG, (R) IDAHO: I think we can be trusted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What now for this family values candidate.
Wildfires on the move. We're live with firefighters using snow machines on the firelines in Idaho's ski country.
Plus, one-on-one. Michael Vick faces questions about this dogfighting plea straight from the fans. The interview happening live on this AMERICAN MORNING.
A lot happening today to tel you about. Thanks very much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome. It's Tuesday, the 28th of August. I'm John Roberts.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Kiran Chetry is off today.
ROBERTS: Questions are swirling around the future of Idaho Senator Larry Craig this morning now that his arrested guilty plea are out in the open. The newspaper "Roll Call" on Capitol Hill got hold of the police report from Craig's arrest in June in the men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. It says Craig made sexual advances toward an undercover officer using signals for engaging in lewd behavior, like tapping his foot and waving his hand under the stall divider. Two months later, Craig pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a $500 fine.
But now he says he regrets the plea. He released a statement saying, "at the time of this incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct."
Craig is a republican who voted for a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. He's 62, married and has three children and nine grandchildren. We're going to speak with the reporter who broke the story in "Roll Call" coming up in just a few minutes time. Right now, though, here live with more from Washington is CNN political analyst and chief political correspondent for slate.com, John Dickerson.
So, John, Larry Craig is up for re-election in '08. This hearkens back to the Mark Foley incident which saw him out of office in the '06 elections.
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, it's not the kind of thing you want in a campaign, to have people learning about the men's room sex stings. But, you know, we're a ways away from the election. He needs a challenger to actually bring this up. We'll see how many more days of coverage this has.
The fact that he's sort of fighting this and saying he shouldn't have pled guilty tends to give it more energy. So we'll have to see what happens going forward.
ROBERTS: You know, on one of the other political websites this morning there is an NBC News report from back in 1992, I believe, in which Larry Craig is on camera denying accusations of homosexual relationships on Capitol Hill. This is something that has been with him for a long, long time. Is it the sort of thing that you can just say, particularly getting into the height of a campaign, hey, it was misconstrued, I didn't handle this like I should have, I should have gone to an attorney, I shouldn't have plead guilty, and have it all blow over?
DICKERSON: Well, it's certainly off message. It certainly takes away from whatever you might want to be talking about. And it's, obviously, something that, you know, people can chatter about and gossip about. And so it's incredibly distracting. And again, the fact that he's sort of taking it on and fighting it and not -- it's not going away, even by his own strategy, is a problem. It will stick with him.
ROBERTS: All right. John Dickerson from slate.com, thanks very much. John, stick with us, because we want to come back to you in a couple of minutes to talk more about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation and possible successor maybe named in the next day or two. So we'll see you in a couple minutes.
Heidi.
COLLINS: John, it's not over yet for the people of the Midwest. More rain and evacuations, more death in the wake of extreme weather there. Strong storms once again soaked parts of Wisconsin last night with one man killed by lightning.
And choppers are saving people from fires raging in southern Greece. We told you a little bit about this yesterday. And now at least 63 people have been killed as forest fires there burn across half of the country. Crews say close to a dozen people in one region of Greece may have no way out.
And take a look at a total lunar eclipse happening right now. This is a time lapsed video of what happened in the past hour or so. The either is passing between the sun and the moon and casting a shadow. It's visible across North and South America, parts of Asia and the Pacific.
ROBERTS: Other headlines new this morning.
Authorities in Washington D.C., are raising a red flag after another shutdown of the subway system. Small fires and heavy smoke closed metro stations in northern Virginia last night. That's for the second straight day. It's possible that electrical surges are to blame, but inspectors are also looking at the possibility that someone is intentionally targeting the tracks.
Also new this morning, another push to boost support for the Iraq War. During a fund-raiser in Washington state, President bush said America must stay on the offense overseas and keeping the enemy from coming here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We face an enemy that is ideologically bent, determined to achieve their objectives and murder the innocent. They are not religious people. They may have hijacked region, but they're not religious. I don't believe you murder innocent people to achieve political objectives and be a religious person. I just don't believe that. As a matter of fact, I believe that's the definition of evil. And I think the United States must do everything we can to prevent them from harming us and others again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Today is expected to be a day of protest across the country during events sponsored by anti-war groups like moveon.org.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Oil prices are climbing this morning. Light sweet crude trading over $72 a barrel in Asian markets today. Investors are anticipating lower gasoline supplies because a fire at a Chevron refinery in Mississippi and possible production cuts at a Citgo refinery in Texas.
And one day after pleading guilty to federal dog fighting charges, Michael Vick is facing the public this morning. He is scheduled to be on the Tom Joyner morning show in Atlanta and is expected to take questions from listeners. We are monitor that and we'll keep you posted.
Protesters for and against Vick faced off outside the Atlanta Falcons preseason home opener last night. The Falcons are going after the $22 million in bonuses paid to Vick. The team hasn't decided if they will cut Vick yet and there's no shortage of opinions about what should happen next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN A. SMITH, COLUMNIST, ESPN: He broke the law. He knew that he was breaking the law. He lied to the Atlanta Falcons. He lied to his teammates. He liked to their commissioner, Roger Goodell. He lied to everybody. He openly admitted that. My heart goes out to his family, there's no question about that. But when you do all of those things, you do the crime, you've got to do the time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Vick could get up to five years in prison when he is sentenced. That will happen December 10th. And, by the way, the Falcons won last night with Joey Harrington replacing Vick in the lineup, beating Cincinnati 24-19.
ROBERTS: Six minutes after the hour now on a busy Tuesday morning. Time to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning.
Strong words for Iran from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. That's one of the international stories that CNN's Monita Rajpal is covering for us from London today.
Good morning, Monita.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.
Yes, it's being called the diplomatic blockbuster. The first major foreign policy speech by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president. He said attacking Iran is an option if Tehran does not comply with the international community and stop its nuclear program.
Now he went on to say that diplomacy was the only way forward as it would avoid a "catastrophic alternative," an Iranian bomb or a bombing of Iran. Now Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Iran was not the only focus of Nicolas Sarkozy's foreign policy speech. He also talked about Iraq and maintains his predecessor Jacques Chirac's position against the war, saying history proved France right.
And we'll have much more coming out of London in international news. But for now, though, back to you.
John.
ROBERTS: Monita Rajpal watching the world for us from London this morning.
Monita, thanks very much.
In Idaho, the story is of more, hot, dry weather and fire dangers escalating. Our Rob Marciano is on the fire line near the Sun Valley Ski Resort in Idaho.
How's it looking this morning, Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's smoky this morning, John. The good news is, they did get to make some progress yesterday. Still, this fire going for over a week now. Over 42,000 acres have burned. That's over 50 square miles. Forty-four percent containment, so that's the good news. But they still have 38 miles of fire line to build around this fire and in very rugged terrain, as you can imagine.
There are over 800 firefighters on the line from almost 30 states helping out here. And a tremendous support crew with about 1,600 people total here. Twelve helicopters, 106 engines and seven dozers trying to battle back the flames.
For the first time in fire fighting of wildfires, snow guns on this resort mountain, put in action two days ago to help beat back the flames. And that's exactly what they've been doing for the past two days. On Sunday afternoon, the flames got within 100 feet high atop Bald (ph) Mountain at about 9,000 feet within this multi million dollar lodge out there. And with the help of snow guns and these firefighters, they were able to battle back these flames.
We are very close to this fire down at the base of Bald Mountain, John. And Ketchum, the city at which Sun Valley -- the closest town to the Sun Valley Resort, is just a couple of miles from the fire. So still evacuations in order. Up to 1,000 people have been still evacuated. So they're worried about this fire for sure. And any change in wind direction, as is always the case, will mean swift action by these crews. They're working round the clock. We'll have more in about a half an hour.
John.
ROBERTS: Interesting idea with the snow guns, Rob. They typically operate off of a reservoir. Do they got enough water there in Sun Valley to be able to continue to battle this fire with those snow guns?
MARCIANO: I asked them that question yesterday. And, actually, they work quite a bit of their water off well water. So they're not really sure how much is down there. And they just said, well, we hope we have enough. And they're just going to keep blowing that water until this fire is out.
ROBERTS: All right, Rob, thanks very much. Rob Marciano for us in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Declining home sales and growing mortgage woes pushed stocks lower on Monday. Ali Velshi here today with that.
Good morning, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, good to see you.
Lots of things can push these markets these days. And, in fact, the dip wasn't all that serious given the news. But we have got more houses available for sale now in America than we've had in 16 years.
There are a few things connected to that as well. Obviously these mortgage woes are a bit of a problem. But having that many houses for sale pushed the price down. So the media price for an existing home in the United States, one that's already been being, as opposed to one that's being built, is $228,900. That has been a straight decline for every month for the last 12 months. Now these numbers are coming in for July, which is a bit of an issue because, as you know, the mortgage crunch got pretty serious after that.
This is what it did to markets. Take a look. The Dow down 56 points. The Nasdaq and the S&P down as well. But, like I say, given the drops that we've had in recent weeks, this isn't so bad. We'll see how futures are looking a little later in the morning.
ROBERTS: Anything in double digits isn't too bad.
VELSHI: We'll almost call that a win.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali Velshi for us this morning.
Ali, thanks. We'll check back with you.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Who's next for the White House and the Justice Department now that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is on his way out, with the president insisting Gonzales did not get a fair shake from the very beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His good name was dragged through the mud for political reasons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So who will the president nominate and how quickly will it happen? CNN political analyst John Dickerson joining us once again for more on this.
John, good morning to you.
Washington, obviously, looking for a new attorney general. And once that person is named and we are at the point of confirmation hearings, do you see any chance that Republicans and Democrats could work together on that confirmation?
DICKERSON: Well, it depends on who the choice is and it also depends on the timing. We've got another big debate here in Washington over Iraq and that will be causing the two parties to engage with each other. Right now, both Democrats and Republicans are saying, you know, warm things about whoever the next choice is. That they want somebody who can rebuild the Justice Department, but this could get partisan very quickly.
COLLINS: Yes, well, I mean, it's going to be very important to try and rebuild the Justice Department, try to find someone for everyone to follow, as we talked about yesterday. We heard right away the first name floated off the top yesterday was Michael Chertoff. Obviously Homeland Security secretary. But by the end of the day, John, yesterday, we heard many other names being floated around. I think no one's really sure who it is going to be. What exactly are the main political considerations in the White House's choice?
DICKERSON: Well, an ally of the White House I was talking to yesterday said is, the first thing is, we want somebody who can go before the cameras. This was a reference to the fact that Alberto Gonzales, every time he appeared in front of the Senate or in a press conference, created more bad news for the White House. So they want somebody who can basically say, we've turned a page here. We're going to rebuild the Justice Department.
And he wants to try to position the Democrats, and any further questions they may have about the politicization of the Justice Department, make the Democrats look sort of out of bounds. So that's one of the first considerations. And the second is really to more stably sort of rebuild the Justice Department and rebuild a lot of the top posts are empty and confidence among the people still there is quite low.
COLLINS: All right. Well, we will be waiting for that name, of course, and get your opinions once the name comes out. How about that. CNN political analyst John Dickerson this morning.
Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: Coming up to 13 minutes after the hour now. Just a quick update for you.
No sooner had the words escaped our lips that Michael Vick was going to be on the Tom Joyner morning show, that Tom Joyner announced that Michael Vick had canceled. Said he was very apologetic. So we won't be able to bring you that this morning.
We do have lots of other news ahead, though.
Two years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. It's been a long struggle getting the schools up and running and many hardships for the students. But there was also hope. We'll have that story coming up for you.
And the reporter who broke the story that's rocking Washington today. Details on the arrest of Senator Larry Craig in an airport bathroom, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We told you earlier about today's top story, Republican Senator Larry Craig, who apparently pleaded guilty to some lewd behavior in a Minnesota airport bathroom, but then said his guilty plea was "misconstrued." Reporter John McArdle of the Capitol Hill newspaper "Roll Call" broke this story. He joins us now live from Washington.
John, how did this come to your attention? JOHN MCARDLE, "ROLL CALL": John, we got a tip about this last week. Yesterday -- only yesterday the documents actually came through. We've been trying to get them. With the court house, with the airport police department, we were able to finally get all the documents yesterday and that's why we published the story yesterday.
ROBERTS: Did the tipster have an agenda? Everybody in Washington's got an agenda.
MCARDLE: Don't know. It was a tip that we got last week, John.
ROBERTS: Right. An excerpt from the police report that was included in your story quotes Sgt. Dave Carsney (ph), who was the investigator officer at the time, who was actually stationed in these bathrooms at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport after complaints of lewd behavior, says, "at 12:16 hours, Craig," that's the senator, "tapped his right foot." I guess she had gone into a stall in the bathroom. "I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct." He goes on to say, "the presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot, which was within my stall area."
Now Craig claimed yesterday that he shouldn't have plead guilty in a statement. That he was trying to handle the matter quickly. He said, "at the time of the incident, I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct." But you say in your report he had plenty of time to think about all of this.
MCARDLE: Yes. This incident occurs on June 8th. And he has almost -- I'm sorry, June 11th. And he has almost two months until August 8th to think about this incident when he actually went and plead guilty. He says he should have had a lawyer with him. But if you go back to the police report, he went back to the airport, the Minnesota airport where this all happened, 11 days after this incident occur on the 22nd and there's a specific report from the police officers that say he came back looking for contact information to, "give a contact to his lawyer."
So I'm a little bit confused. Did he just not give that information to his lawyer? Did he never contact his lawyer. Because he said in a statement yesterday that he handled this himself.
ROBERTS: Have you talked to anybody at Craig's office -- this delay and this seemingly conflicting information about him wanting to get out of the way quickly. But then, at the same time, it took him two months to do so.
MCARDLE: Right. Still trying to understand that. I haven't heard back from the office yet. Looking to get that today.
ROBERTS: Now Craig is married with children, as we pointed out earlier. And this is not the first time he's faced questions about sexual misconduct, is it?
MCARDLE: No, there's been a few incidents. Most recently in October of 2006 he publicly denied accusations that he was a homosexual mate on a gay activist website. He called the -- there was an article and "The Spokane Spokesman Review" where he called the charges completely ridiculous, saying the alleges have no basis in fact. And it seems like more and more today some other sites are putting out some of these other allegations in the past.
ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, going all the way back to, I think, 1982, as well.
MCARDLE: I heard that as well.
ROBERTS: Yes, John McArdle from "Roll Call," thanks very much for joining us.
MCARDLE: Thanks. Appreciate it.
ROBERTS: I guess the question now is, what kind of political fallout is this going to have for the senior senator from Idaho?
Thanks. We'll see you soon.
MCARDLE: Thanks a lot.
ROBERTS: Heidi.
COLLINS: Pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan's son is out of the hospital. That tops your "Quick Hits" this morning. Seventeen-year-old Nick Bollea was released one day after he slammed his car into a tree and destroyed the car. His 22-year-old friend, who was a passengers, is in critical condition. No charges have been filed, but police say Bollea was definitely speeding. In fact, TMZ and thesmokinggun.com are reporting that Bollea has been ticketed five times for speeding in just the past year.
Owen Wilson is reportedly in good condition, but what happens to the actor is anyone's guess. The 38-year-old star is still at Cedars- Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He has released a statement asking that he be allowed to heal in private. On Sunday, Wilson was taken from his Santa Monica home by ambulance.
The struggle to get New Orleans schools back on their feet. Now two years after Hurricane Katrina, there is some hope. We'll tell you all about it coming up right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-three minutes after the hour now and your "Quick Hits."
He should be starting his first day in the sixth grade. Instead, this 11-year-old Alabama boy is a freshman in college. Heath Harding is headed to Huntington College in Montgomery. His parents home schooled Heath and his seven siblings. Three older sisters all started college by the age of 12. So it is a little bit ahead of the curve there. One autographed Michael Vick football is now a chew toy. This video sent to us from i-Reporter Jason Cripe (ph) shows a 13-year-old former fan handing off the ball to the family dog. The dog chewed up the ball and it's now posted on eBay, with half of the proceeds going to benefit the Humane Society.
And actions began today on two historic Barry Bonds' home run ball. The one that broke Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record, number 756, could bring in at least $500,000.
COLLINS: The future of any city is in its schools. And the new school year underway in New Orleans now two years after Hurricane Katrina. AMERICAN MORNING's Sean Callebs is live in the lower ninth ward for us this morning.
Sean, the kids started a couple of weeks ago. How's it going for them so far?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going great here at this school. In fact, we're standing in front of a building that looks pretty unremarkable. But the real remarkable fact is that this school is open here in the heart of the lower ninth ward. This area was under close to 20 feet of water. Now despite the city's wealth of well publicized problems and the fact this is one of the worst school districts in the nation.
We want to introduce you to two people. One, the top administrator in this school district. Another, a young girl. Both are thrilled to be here and thrilled about the prospect for the future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS, (voice over): Thirteen-year-old Delexis Rhodes knows first hand the enormous struggle facing New Orleans' education system. Alexis spent two long years bouncing from city to city, school to school. Now the eighth grader is back where she wants to be, at MLK Elementary in the lower ninth ward.
DELEXIS RHODES, STUDENT: The school is just so much fun. And it teaches you a lot. You learn so much. And at the same time, you have fun and you get to express yourself.
CALLEBS: But almost 50 New Orleans schools remain closed. About a third of all students in New Orleans are living without their parents. Delexis is staying with her aunt. To make masters worse, school age children are routinely the victims of violent crime.
RHODES: I stay around (ph) the street where a lot of like the drug dealers and stuff like that hang out. And she don't like me to walk down that way to my friends' houses by myself.
DR. PAUL VALLAS, SUPERINTENDENT: So we're going to be about college (ph). We're going to be about high expectations.
CALLEBS: New district superintendent Paul Vallas is considered a turnaround hot shot, credited with improving educational programs in Chicago and Philadelphia.
Why did you want this job?
VALLAS: Me? Oh, I love public service and I think this is the ultimate public service challenge.
CALLEBS: He's facing enormous obstacles here. Such as the dismal graduation rate.
VALLAS: I would suspect that it may be as low as the high 20s or the low 30s.
CALLEBS: Only one in three at best actually finish high school. But Vallas says the hurricane has created a unique opportunity.
VALLAS: And that is to literally build a school district from scratch because the hurricane literally wiped out the school district.
CALLEBS: Vallas has been able to hire hundreds of new teachers. And in a city where so many kids have suffered unimaginable hardship and loss, Vallas is providing something else -- hope.
RHODES: I see myself in school focused, at the same time having a fun life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: I talked a lot with Vallas about keeping kids in school and really focusing on the graduation rate is one of his primary goals. And here's why. He says that 90 percent of high schoolers who are incarcerated end up dropping out. And, Heidi, he also have a number of stats from his time in Chicago and Philadelphia that also show an overwhelming number of people who commit homicides, and the victims as well, are people who dropped out of high school.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, stay in school. No question about it.
All right. CNN's Sean Callebs for us from the ninth ward this morning.
Sean, thank you.
ROBERTS: Here's a look at some stories coming up in our next half hour that you can't miss.
Of course, a big story from yesterday which carries over to today is Michael Vick pleading guilty to supporting a dog fighting ring at his home in Virginia. He was supposed to appear on the Tom Joyner morning show today to talk to fans to get their reaction . . .
COLLINS: Take questions. Things like that.
ROBERTS: Right, see if he can live up to their expectations now that he's pleading guilty. But he bailed on the show this morning. COLLINS: He did bail on the show. He had quite a bit to say, though, yesterday, as you well know. He formally entered his guilty plea. Let's go ahead and listen in to some of that set (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, SUSPENDED ATLANTA FALCONS QB: I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here and not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done. I'm totally responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: He also said dogfighting is a terrible thing. That he had found Jesus throughout all of this process. And so we're going to be talking a little bit more about it this morning. In a few minutes, in fact, we will be speaking with Atlanta sports radio talk show host Steak Shapiro about what fans are actually saying right there in Atlanta because it might be a little bit different than other sections of the country about all of this.
ROBERTS: We'll have that and a whole lot more news for you when AMERICAN MORNING returns. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Nice shot of the Statue of Liberty this morning. A little cloudy, though, as we look all over New York City. But it's not hot. 104 in Atlanta, 69 here in New York City right now.
Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, August 28. I'm Heidi Collins. Kiran Chetry is off today.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
New this morning, the arrest and guilty plea of Idaho Senator Larry Craig out in the public today. The newspaper Roll Call got hold of police reports from Craig's arrest back in June in the men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport. It says, "Craig made sexual advances to an undercover police officer." Two months later, Craig pleaded guilty and paid a $500 fine. But now he says he regrets the plea. Senator Craig released a statement saying, "At the time of the incident, I complained to police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct." Craig is up for re-election next year. The Romney campaign announced last night that Craig is no longer working for them. He was their Senate liaison.
Two Alaska air jets bumped each other at the gate at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday afternoon. One plane was full of passengers. They were taken off the plane, re-booked on another one. The other plane was empty. The FAA investigating that incident. And the FAA says the dramatic fire and explosion on that China Airlines 737 was likely caused by a loose bolt. Here's another look at that scene last week in Japan. The initial investigation showed that a bolt on the right wing punctured a fuel tank, causing a leak. The FAA has ordered all airlines to inspect wings on all Boeing 737s that have been used since 1988. All 165 people on board that China Air flight made it out OK.
COLLINS: A student slashed in the throat on the first day of class at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Freshman Michael North (ph) underwent an hour of surgery but is expected to be OK. Police say an ex-mental patient who once worked at the school stabbed him outside the student center before he stabbed himself. Police tasered the suspect, who was hospitalized with several stab wounds. A spokesman for Colorado says text messages were sent to 1,300 students who signed up for them at the Virginia Tech massacre.
A report in a Pakistani newspaper this morning says President Pervez Musharraf is talking about quitting his post as head of the army to help his re-election chances. Musharraf's popularity way down and he's been heavily criticized for remaining as Pakistan's top military leader while also holding a top political job.
And for the second straight year opium production in Afghanistan is at a record level. Poppy growth and opium cultivation rose by 17 percent in 2007 according to a United Nations report. This despite a $600 million anti-drug effort by the U.S. Ninety-three percent of the world's opium now comes from Afghanistan.
ROBERTS: Now that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is stepping down, what are the challenges for the person that will take over for him? Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena is in our Washington Bureau. She's got more on that.
What's the first order of business going to be, Kelli?
KELLI ARENA, CNN NEWS JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: John, repair that relationship with Congress, which has basically been poisoned, also to increase morale. We spoke to people at a variety levels at main Justice yesterday who said that they're really looking forward to getting things back to normal. Of course, that comes on top of having to deal with the persistent terror threat, related legislation to that, the rise in violent crime and then figuring out what the federal role should be. Whoever it is will have to hit the ground running.
ROBERTS: And we're still awaiting the announcement of who is going to be the attorney to replace Alberto Gonzales. Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, has the inside track. He's not the only name out there.
ARENA: This is a constantly changing target here. Until a replacement is name, the Solicitor General Paul Cement will head the department. A lot of folks dismissed him as an option yesterday but, by last night, they were changing their tune saying, hey, don't count him out. There's also Homeland Secretary Michael Chertoff, Ted Olsen, who is the former solicitor general. He comes up a lot. Former Deputy General George Terwilliger, former Deputy General Larry Thompson, former Judge Lawrence Silverman. He was the co-chair of the WMD Commission. Chris Cox comes up. He's a former Congressman, the current head of the FCC.
I could go on and on but the bottom line, this is obviously not a done deal. Some political observers say that the president is going to try to pick somebody who Congress won't give him a big fight over. But John, one thing about this president, you don't predict what he's going to try to do. We'll have to wait and see.
ROBERTS: You wonder if Chertoff was a trial balloon yesterday to see what the reaction would be.
ARENA: That's true. And you know how Washington works. That happens all the time. I've been told, as of late last night, this is not a done deal and no decision has been made. We'll take it from there.
ROBERTS: All right, Kelli Arena in our Washington Bureau. Kelli, thanks.
ARENA: You're welcome.
Fred Thompson has lost another high-level aide as to his presidential campaign in waiting. The former Republican senator won't answer questions as to why Linda Rosette left, although Thompson's campaign manager made it sound as if she was asked to leave. Rosette had spent the last several weeks as communications director of the committee that's looking into a Thompson bid for the White House. Back in July, Thompson lost a number of staffers supposedly because of the active role that his wife, Jerri, has taken on the committee. COLLINS: In the past 30 minutes of so we learned Michael Vick has backed out of an appearance on a morning radio show. He was expected to come on the Tom Joiner Show and maybe take some calls. No reason was given for the change in his plans.
As to his long-term future, the Falcons haven't decided whether or not they are going to cut Vick, but they are going after that $22 million in bonuses he's received. And we could be in for an ugly fight. The Players Association reportedly saying the team is entitled to no more than $6 million. Vick did make some brief comments yesterday after appearing in court. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, ATLANTA FALCONS FOOTBALL PLAYER: I take full responsibility for my actions. Not for one second will I sit here and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done. I'm totally responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Steak Shapiro is host of the 790, The Zone in Atlanta. He's joining us now live from his radio show.
Steak, nice to see you. How are your listeners reacting to Vick's apology?
STEAK SHAPIRO, RADIO SHOW HOST, 790 THE ZONE: Say again?
COLLINS: How are your listeners reacting to Vick's apology?
SHAPIRO: Well, I think, for the most part, they've been waiting for that. They've been waiting to hear from Michael Vick. They're been hearing from lawyers, pundits, but they're not hearing from Michael Vick. I thought yesterday went a long way in a city that's badly injured and wounded by what has happened -- Michael didn't have any notes in front of him. Michael seemed legitimately contrite. He worked through, I thought, some important points. He also opened by saying, I'm going to play in football. Public speaking is not his forte, which I thought disarmed people a little bit. I thought Michael Vick did a good job talking to the fans and the people that have been waiting to hear from him, waiting for quite some time.
COLLINS: I want to play another part of Vick's apologize, real quick, and get your reaction. Listen in to this.
SHAPIRO: Yeah, sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICK: Through this situation, I found Jesus and I asked him for forgiveness and have turned my life over to God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Effective? Genuine?
SHAPIRO: Well, he's invoking the Jesus card, which has been invoked by many athletes in a lot of trouble for many years. It's an old long-standing tradition. I thought Arthur Blank later in the morning addressed it best when he said, "It's well and good that he's finding God but God can't help Michael in the next few years of trying to figure out what is right in his life." And he's got to make decision. He's not going to say I found God and things are going to turn around. So it's one of the first times we've heard Mike do that. I think it's almost standard apology confession 101. You have to invoke the God card at that point.
COLLINS: I don't know if you have to do it every time. I think it might have been insulting to some people. But hey, who am I?
SHAPIRO: Well...
COLLINS: Oh, here is a question. It gets very convoluted with the money. I think people are going to be interested in how much money he may end up paying back. Let me do my best here. The Falcons have told Vick they intend to make him pay back a portion of the $37 in bonuses. Ten-year contract, $130 million is what the contract contained. Should he pay any of it back, a portion of it?
SHAPIRO: Well, you know, the point is, you give him that huge bonus and the idea is you will fulfill your contract. That's what the Falcons say. We didn't pay you that bonus money for you to end up in federal prison and not play for us.
Mike Vick people will say, hey, that was a bonus and that's what it was and you paid it out regardless of whether he finished the contract. This will absolutely end up in court. The reality is there's a salary cap in the NFL. The Falcons need that money or they operate at a competitive disadvantage. They said it's not a spiteful thing. We need this money to be a better football team. And they absolutely intend to go after it. That will end up in some litigation with the NFL players and the Atlanta Falcons.
COLLINS: Real quickly, they won last night. They didn't have Vick.
SHAPIRO: Exhibition football is not a time for celebration. I will tell you this, it was good in this city and this city is hurting. This city is in a lot of pain. It's been front and center, Ground Zero for the Michael Vick story. They wanted and need to see people play football. Their new quarterback had a very good day, a very good night, I should say. So let the healing begin as they say here in Atlanta. That's what we're hoping for.
COLLINS: I think Atlanta is more about football, though. I don't know how hurt. Steak Shapiro, from 790 The Zone in Atlanta. Thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it.
SHAPIRO: All right. Take care.
ROBERTS: First home mortgages and now credit cards. Credit card companies say 30 percent more Americans are defaulting on credit card debt this year than last year.
New gear for the New York Police Department. The NYPD is replacing more than 2,500 gas masks found to be too fragile and easily crushed. The masks are standard equipment. Officers carry them on their hips in case of a terrorist attack.
A new plan of attack in the Idaho ski country. Snow-making machines pulled into the fight against a massive wildfire. A live report from the Fire Line, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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COLLINS: A rare glimpse for you of a total lunar eclipse in your "Quick Hits" right now. Here's a look at totality from down under in Australia. It's still going on and is visible across North and South America, parts of Asia, and the Pacific. Pretty.
The cause of a fire that killed two New York City firemen earlier this month, a preliminary report saying cigarettes left behind by workers demolishing the Deutsche Bank building likely sparked those flames.
In a small town in North Dakota, it's speaking up the pieces after a deadly tornado hit. Look at this video. One person was killed, 18 others hurt when the twister hit Northwood, North Dakota, Sunday night. North Dakota's governor declared a state of emergency in the town and has directed the National Guard to help in the cleanup.
It is 6:45 right now. Rob Marciano is joining us this morning from Ketchum, Idaho.
Good morning, Rob. Talk to us about what is happening there and what people will are going through in that area.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We have a big fire, Heidi. It's very close to the resort of Sun Valley. As a matter of fact, it's been burning up some of the flanks of the hills here and came in close contact with the multi-million dollar lodge high atop the morning.
Pretty eerie sight this morning, a total lunar eclipse with the smoke. Since we've been here, there's even a little ash falling out of the sky. This fire is far from over. It is 44 percent contained but it has charred 42,000 acres. They're battling it from the air. Fixed wing aircraft have been grounded because of the high winds but helicopters have been up there. They have 12 of them. They have engines on the ground and crews on the ground, as well. Over 800 men and women are battling this blaze on the ground. And that doesn't include another 800 of support crews.
But for the first time, in history, they've actually used snow- making guns to fight back these flames. We talked with the operations manager yesterday afternoon, who used to manage the mountain during the wintertime to make snow out of the snow-making guns. We asked him, did you ever think you would use these guns to fight back a fire?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER STEARNS, SUN VALLEY RESORT: A lot of people have asked that question, if you had a big fire, could you run the snow guns. I was probably the biggest skeptic because it's a snow-making system. Being able to put a significant amount of water over a big enough area to battle something of this magnitude, no, I wouldn't have expected that at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: They're going to use those guns again and firefighters are working round the clock in 12-hour shifts. About an hour behind me they'll be lining up to get some grub in advance of the day shift. And the guys are up their battling the blaze as well. And those snow- making guns will continue to blow.
The weather is cooperating a little bit although there are west winds in the forecast for today. That will blow the fire closer to town. We're really just a couple of miles from the flames. So evacuation orders are still in place and town folks here in Ketchum certainly are very worried about the flames getting chose to the town here in Idaho. Back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Rob. Thank goodness that they have those machines, that's for sure. Appreciate it. We'll check in with you a little later on, Rob. Thanks. ROBERTS: Some health news now in your "Quick Hits". A new study suggests that treating women who develop diabetes during pregnancy could greatly reduce the chance that their child will become obese. If gone untreated, the women are twice as likely to have an overweight child. Treatments include exercise, a special diet or injections of insulin.
It's being called the best evidence yet of the healing power of stem cells. Private researchers say they successfully used stem cells to repair damaged hearts in rats. They hope that the process could one day help people recovering from heart attacks.
People take statins to lower their cholesterol. But they may have another important side benefit. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will be here in a few minutes to tell us about that.
And finger pointing over how those massive wildfire necessary Greece got started. The government blames arson and terrorism. Ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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COLLINS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Searching the rubble for a family of five after an apartment complex collapses. That tops our "Quick Hits" now. Search crews and cadaver dogs are digging through the wreckage in Barbados. Police say the two-story unit collapsed on Tuesday.
Saved from a cave. Rescue teams in New Zealand pulled a climber from the rubble three days after a rock slide pinned him deep underground. Police say he suffered head injuries and falling rocks smashed his pelvis.
ROBERTS: One lucky fellow. The battle to control massive wildfires in Greece, one of the international stories that CNN's Monita Rajpal is covering for us. She joins us now from our London Bureau.
Good morning to you, Monita.
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Two battles are being waged in Greece today. The first is to rescue people from the scores of wildfires raging across the country. The second is by politicians who are worried about the crisis could have on upcoming elections. Firefighters from more than a dozen countries are staging dangerous and often dramatic rescues of villagers trapped in isolated parts of the countryside. And now many people are turning their anger towards the government. On Monday, 2,000 angry leftists marched through Athens to the parliament. They charged that incompetence has made a bad situation worse. At least 63 people have lost their lives in the fires but many fear that number could rise.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, a former advocate for the Islamist cause is set to be elected as the country's next president when parliament votes later today. The move has alarmed the country's seculars who say his election could mean the end of separation of religious and politics in government. Goul's wife wears an Islamic- style head scarf even though wearing Islamic clothing is banned in Turkey. For his part, Gul has promised to maintain the country's secular identity.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will be meeting in Jerusalem today. On the agenda, bolstering Abbas' government as well as ways of easing the lives of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation of the West Bank. The two leaders last met August 6th in Jericho but there was no concessions of what the fundamental issues would be discussed.
Those are the world news headlines. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: All right, Monita Rajpal for us. Monita, thanks.
Your "Quick Hits" now, this is what the desert looked like after Las Vegas was hit with one of its most violent storms in years. High water roared through the streets. Take a look at that. Emergency crews rushed to save drivers who were caught in flooded intersections.
And a whole lot of money up for grabs tonight. The jackpot in the big multi-state Mega Millions lottery has grown to $250 million. No one mashed all five numbers in last Friday's drawing. Tonight is the next drawing.
Drivers getting some serious relief this holiday weekend. Good news about gas prices, next on "AMERICAN MORNING." You don't need to win the lottery to fill up.
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ROBERTS: Coming up to three minutes until the top of the hour if you have to get out of the house.
Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business" this morning. Good news on gas prices, but the big question is will they last?
ALI VELSHI, CNN NEWS FINANCIAL ANALYST: Good morning to both of you. Well, for a lot of people, will they last through this weekend? Labor Day weekend is one of the drivingest weekends of the year. About 35 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home according to some estimates, although that's not clear whether they'll drive. AAA doesn't actually estimate more people will drive this year than they will last year.
But take a look at some of these prices. Across the country, the national average per gallon of self-serve unleaded is $2.77. One of the lowest city prices we could find was in Houston, around $2.60. One of the highest was in San Francisco around $3.05. Chicago is pretty high, too, around $3.03. It is lower by about 10 cents than it was at this point last year.
As John was pointing out moments ago, we are tracking the price of oil going up a little bit. There's not much you can do about it. It's not like you can fill up today if you have to drive for the rest of the weekend, but this is a bit of an issue. We are lower than we were last year but these are still pretty high prices for the price of oil and the price of gas.
We do have estimates from most people who estimate these things that two or three or four or five years out, the price of oil is not going to be where it is. It's most likely going to be lower. But there are so many depends-upons. So they're looking for more oil. At these high prices of oil, there's more impetus to go and find oil in harder to find places. That discounts the fact that there are all sorts of reasons why we might not have enough oil. But most estimates are that oil prices will be in the $50 to $55 a barrel range as opposed to $70, where it is right now.
COLLINS: Yes, and that's a bit of a...
VELSHI: You look very skeptical right now.
ROBERTS: I do. There's a lot of talk about $100 a barrel.
VELSHI: Yes. And that's the thing. It's not whether it's going to be $70 in five years. It's whether it's going to be $50 or $100.
Maybe I'll still be here to tell you.
COLLINS: And we'll are still be driving and that will be that.
VELSHI: And I'll be here telling you.
COLLINS: And we'll be here listening.
VELSHI: I'll be back in a little bit.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
COLLINS: Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: A look now at a story coming up in our next half hour that you can't miss. The FAA orders airlines to inspect wing slats on newer 737s. Seven hundred and eight three planes now in the U.S. It could grow to include 2,300 planes worldwide. It's after that Air China crash. They found a loose bolt could push a hole in the fuel tank.
COLLINS: Yea, look at this video. Remember. Thank goodness, happening in Japan, everybody was out of that plane. They had just evacuated before that major explosion. And no one was hurt. One hundred and sixty-five people on that flight, all OK, which is really the most amazing part of all of this.
Coming up, in fact, we're going to talking to a former FAA investigator on this story to find out exactly what's going on for 737.
The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" begins right now.
ROBERTS: He said, he said. Republican Senator Larry Craig says a men's room sex sting was a misunderstanding. A guilty plea on lewd conduct already shaking up the campaign.
Global hot spots. Daring rescues in Greece.
While firefighters use snowmaking machines on the fire line in Idaho's ski country.
After this dramatic crash, the driving record of Hulk Hogan's son is coming to light on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
Good morning. Welcome back. Thanks for joining us. Lot's to talk about today. It's Tuesday, the 28th of August. I'm John Roberts.
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