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American Morning
Troop Withdrawal; Missing Maddie Case; Toy Safety Hearing; Oil Markets; Remarkable Turnaround; Minding Your Business
Aired September 12, 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: Drawing fire. The president's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq under attack. The exit strategy debate on the right and the left.
On defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By no shape or form have we ever tried to cheat or anything like that, because we don't need to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: What next for the New England Patriots, their sideline cameraman and the NFL's explosive spy scandal?
Plus, incredible rally. From life-threatening injury to word he just might walk out of the hospital. The miracle turn-around on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. Thanks very much for joining us. It is Wednesday, the 12th of September. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
You know, that really is a miracle. They were talking about a catastrophic injury as latest as yesterday, and then he moves his arms and legs and they believe he will be able to walk again.
ROBERTS: It's all pretty incredible. It was just the same as the hit that Dennis Byrd from the Jets took back in the 1990s.
CHETRY: Right.
ROBERTS: Just crumbled. And now we hear that there may be some good news ahead.
We've got all that coming up for you, as well as lot of other news, beginning with President Bush taking his top general's recommendation. He is expected to announce a plan to bring 30,000 troops home from Iraq by next summer. It comes after General David Petraeus told Congress that the president's troop build-up has met its military objectives "in large measure." Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, has late-breaking details. Barbara, bottom line, wasn't this going to happen anyway? And doesn't that leave us next summer in the same place we were at the beginning of this year?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pretty much, John.
The question is, how inevitable was all of this? General Petraeus has said for days now on Capitol Hill that he wanted to bring the troops home in large part because of that 15-month tour of duty they're doing. It's very tough for them.
What he has really laid out is going back to the status quo of December of last year. His plan, to bring some 30,000 troops home by mid-July, starting by Christmas of this year. It may all happen a little bit faster than some people anticipated.
But, really, fundamentally, nothing new. It was 160,000 troops on the ground with the surge. By this time, July of '08, it will be about 130,000.
The real question is, when does he start drawing down that 130,000. He says he's not ready to make a decision about that for months.
John.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, thanks.
Already we're hearing that Democrats and some Republicans are not happy with the president's plans. Pretty obvious on the Democratic side. It's the Republican one that's a little more intriguing. Congressional correspondent Dana Bash is live on Capitol Hill.
Dana, is either side really happy with the president's plan?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just like you said, John, it really depends on who you ask. And just as you said, Republicans are split. Some say, you know, at least we are able to say some troops are coming home.
But what was really striking about yesterday's hearing in the Senate with General Petraeus is the abundant Republican skepticism about this. Republicans saying just what Barbara Starr was reporting, that, wait a minute, we are talking about bringing home the extra troops, 30,000 troops, by next summer. And what many Republicans said is, what our constituents want to see is a light at the end of the tunnel and a plan. And that is exactly, John, what the Democrats are saying.
Listen to what the House speaker said walking right out of a meeting with the president standing outside the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: So the president added 30,000 troops and now he's saying a year and a half later, nearly two years later, we'll be back to where we've started from. I mean, please, it's an insult to the intelligence of the American people that that is a new direction in Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now that is the theme we are going to hear over and over from Democrats, that they think that the plan still is an open-ended commitment in Iraq. But, John, the big question still is how Democrats can turn this into a policy to force a change in course, because Republicans, they don't have enough Republican votes in the Senate still to have a firm deadline for withdrawal. And that is why behind the scenes already they are really scrambling, Democrats, to try to talk to those frustrated Republicans to try to find some kind of legislation short of that hard and fast date for troop withdrawal.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll be watching to see how far across the line those Republicans are willing to go.
Dana Bash for us on Capitol Hill this morning.
Dana, thanks. We'll catch up with you a little bit later on.
By the way, President Bush is going to outline his plans tomorrow night in an address to the nation. It's a prime time address, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time and CNN will be carrying that.
And coming up in our 8:00 hour, we're going to talk with one of the president's staunch defenders on the war, Senator John McCain of Arizona. Also talking about him breathing some new life into his campaign.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, John, thanks.
Well, there are some new developments overnight in the case of missing British four-year-old Madeleine McCann. A judge is examining the evidence against her parents and there are local media reports that say police plan to dig right outside of the church where the McCanns prayed for Maddie's safe return. Our Paula Hancocks is live at the courthouse in Puerto Mayo (ph), Portugal, with new details. And this comes after prosecutors released 1,000 pages of evidence, reportedly talk of finding her hair in a rental car and also possible evidence of decomposition.
What's the latest, Paula?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kiran, yes.
Well, I'm standing outside the prosecutors office and we know that they have handed over 10 files of evidence from the police to now a judge. The judge is going to be looking through it and deciding on the next course of action. Now what we understand is that the prosecutor is asking for something urgently. Now whether that is asking to have authorization to search another area, to tap a phone, or anything of that description. The only other thing it could be is to change the algwedo (ph), or the formal suspect status, of the McCanns and Robert Murat, the three suspects so far.
Now we're expecting the judge to organize this fairly quickly. He has 10 days from yesterday. But as it was an urgent request, we're thinking that sometime either today or over the next couple of days he could decide that they will be authorized to do whatever it is, seize that piece of evidence that they reportedly want to seize.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So they're talking about possibly charging them with -- in the accidental death of their daughter, one or both. What is the theory that prosecutors seem to be working from right now about what happened to Maddie?
HANCOCKS: Well, according to the McCann family, we heard that Kate McCann was quizzed about accidentally killing her daughter. She was even, according to her sister-in-law said, told that she could have a plea bargain. She was able to have less than two years in prison if she admitted to accidentally killing her daughter.
Now at this point we are not hearing that they are considering charges of any kind. This is, obviously, one of the things that is an option to the prosecutors. So we just have to wait for the judge to decide whether or not this piece of evidence, whatever it is, can be authorized. If that is so, then the prosecutors clearly think that is going to be extra evidence to make the case stronger, either against the McCanns or against Robert Murat. You'll remember he was arrested in the early days of the investigation.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Paula Hancocks for us in Puerto Mayo. Thank you so much.
John.
ROBERTS: Other headlines new this morning.
State TV in Russia says the military successfully tested what it claims is the world's most powerful non-nuclear bomb. Video shown here shows the bomb being dropped from a plane and exploding. The Russians call it the dad of all bombs and say it's four times more powerful than America's mother of all bombs.
Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, announced today that he's going to resign after less than a year in office. Abe's party has seen several scandals and the loss of control of parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHINZO ABE, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER, (through translator): Given the kind circumstances, it is very difficult to win the support and confidence of the general public. Therefore, it has become difficult for me to move forth, move forward, with my reforms powerfully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Abe also said that japan needs a new leader to fight against terrorism. His resignation takes effect once a successor is chosen.
President Bush has said to be close to choosing a nominee to replace Alberto Gonzales as attorney general. Former Solicitor General Ted Olson appears to be the leading candidate. He represented the Bush campaign, you'll remember, in the Supreme Court case that decided the 2000 election. An announcement could come as early as today.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Other stories new this morning.
Fewer flights might be the solution to easing record flight delays. At least that's what the FAA could be saying. They say the airlines need to cut their schedules to reduce congestion or the government will do it for them. Now according to FAA records, less than 70 percent of flights arrived on time in July.
Hopes are dwindling in the search for Steve Fossett. His plane vanished in the treacherous Nevada desert shortly after taking off last Monday. Rescue crews say there's been no hits from his plane's emergency beacon or his watch, which was capable of sending a signal. They say that they are betting on Fossett's sheer grit and determination.
A Rutgers University basketball player is dropping her slander and defamation lawsuit against former radio host Don Imus. Kia Vaughn had claimed that Imus damaged her reputation after making a racist and sexist remark about the Rutgers women's team. Imus, as you'll recall, was fired as a result. Vaughn's attorney says that she's decided to drop the suit so that she can focus on school and training for the upcoming season.
ROBERTS: Coming up to nine minutes after the hour. Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new that we're following this morning.
Top toy executives will be on Capitol Hill today after millions of toys made in China were yanked off of the shelves. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is at our national update desk with that.
Good morning, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Good morning to you.
You know, the CEOs of both Mattel and Toys "r" Us will go before a Senate panel today. They'll be joined by members of the Consumer Products Safety Commission. The topic, something all of us are familiar with by now, how to prevent dangerous toys from getting into the hands of consumers.
Now, today's hearing comes on the heels of numerous recalls of toys made in China, including the largest ever recall by Mattel, some 18 million toys. Just yesterday, China signed an agreement to prohibit the use of lead paint in toys exported to the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY NORD, CPSC: These agreements represent a beginning, not an end. They set in place mechanisms for closer cooperation between our respective agencies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Sounds good, but not everyone believes this can actually work. Democratic senator from Illinois, Richard Durbin, chairman of the Senate panel holding today's hearings, said this. "Lead paint has been banned on toys for 30 years in America. I'm very skeptical about this agreement, but I hope the Chinese will prove me wrong."
Just last week you may recall that Disney announced it would begin testing its own toys. And the Chinese government has promised it will step up inspections of exports as well.
Now this is big business. Nearly 90 percent of all of the toys sold in the U.S. come from Chinese. And, remember, it's not just toys, John. This all started with a recall of Chinese-made pet food, extended to toys, jewelry, even toothpaste.
ROBERTS: China saying it's going to stop using lead paint in toys. You've got to wonder, what was it doing using it in the first place.
Alina, thanks very much. Look forward to more from you on the story as it develops this morning.
Oil is up again with light swede crude selling at its highest level ever. Ali Velshi at our business update desk.
I guess if you want the sweet stuff, Ali, you've got to pay for it.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You've got to pay for it and this is what it will cost you if you want to pick up a barrel, $78.22 is where it settled yesterday. This is for a barrel of light sweet crude oil at NYMEX.
Now this is up, even though OPEC yesterday at a meeting decided to increase its output by 500,000 barrels a day starting November 1st. The bottom line is, the markets are still jittery about there was a explosion in Mexico, there are countries like Iran and Venezuela who still don't want to increase their output because they think it will help the United States. So right now you're looking at that. And yesterday we had markets that actually surged. The Dow was up more than 180 points. But overnight, Asian markets slumped because of the surprise resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. And as a result of that, we are now looking at U.S. futures which look to be lower right now. Dow futures, last I checked, were about 50 points lower.
And oil is actually a little higher than where it settled last night. It trades internationally. Right now it's trading in Singapore.
So we'll continue to follow what markets are looking like they're doing and where the price of oil is going, because you can soon expect that to affect the price of gas.
John.
ROBERTS: All right, Ali, thanks very much. See you with your business hit in just a little while.
Rob Marciano at the CNN weather desk tracking extreme weather.
Texas again, Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Still ahead, it was a wild outburst in a courtroom. Police ending up tasering a man in a wheelchair. Believe it or not, the story does not end there. We're going to show you what happened when the defendant returned to the courtroom next on AMERICAN MORNING.
Also, an amazing turn-around in the condition of injured NFL player Kevin Everett. We're going to tell you why doctors are suddenly a lot more optimistic, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's about sixteen minutes after the hour. And some of the best shots of the morning in our "Quick Hits" now.
Racing a towering inferno. This pyrotechnics display was all just a stunt at the 2007 Oceana Naval Air Show. A jet-propelled shock wave jet truck speeding down the runway in front of this wall of flames.
A real wall of flames, though, and it was just in the nick of time. Two hundred and fifty firefighters north of Los Angeles were able to surround a huge brush fire amid 90-degree temperatures and 26- mile-an-hour winds. Those flames came within just a few hundreds of feet from homes.
And for one night only, the Manhattan skyline was complete again. The "Tribute in Light" returned to Ground Zero again. Last night, the twin beams symbolized the twin towers that came down six years ago yesterday.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well it was a remarkable turnaround as well yesterday for NFL player Kevin Everett. The Buffalo Bills tight end was able to voluntarily move his arms and legs. Now that is amazing after this catastrophic spinal cord injury. That's how it was described. Doctors now say it is "totally spectacular and unexpected," and he may walk again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANDY CAPPUCCINO, OPERATED ON KEVIN EVERETT: The Doppler study was performed to evaluate the cord. The covering of the cord and the cord itself were completely intact and actually looked good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with more on this.
And especially when we talk about spinal cord injuries, it always seems that there's no going back. How significant is this that he can now move his arms and legs voluntarily, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is definitely significant, Kiran. And you heard his doctor, Dr. Cappuccino, say how amazing this is. That same doctor just the day before had said, frankly, we are very skeptical that he will ever walk again. It just doesn't happen usually when you see this kind of injury. As you mentioned, he said that we are witnessing actually a minor miracle.
However, it is important to keep in mind that his doctors said it takes weeks to know the final outcome. And certainly this is a step in the right direction.
Kiran.
CHETRY: So what exactly was his injury? What were they able to determine it was that he had?
COHEN: Right. He had a spinal cord injury. And what you see in these situations, according to doctors we spoke to, is that the first 72 hours are a very dynamic time. With these kinds of injuries, you see things get better, you see things get worse.
We talked to the head of neurosurgery at UCLA and he said you do see this happen. I mean, it's certainly not run of the mill to have someone who you think is paralyzed actually start to move. But in the first 72 hours, that does happen. It's a time of great changes.
Kiran.
CHETRY: And so any long-term prognosis? I mean are we talking he could play again or maybe the best he can hope for is just to be able to walk?
COHEN: Oh, I think his doctors aren't going that far this early. I think that it's, you know, we're really just talking days after his injuries. As they described it, it is a time of great change. Certainly things are going in the right direction.
But they also talked about this as being a time of peaks and valleys. That things sometimes get better and then they get worse. Long-term prognosis, they don't do a lot of that at this stage.
CHETRY: Wow. Well, it still is incredible news that he was able to voluntarily move his arms and legs this soon after what was described as a catastrophic spinal injury.
COHEN: That's right.
CHETRY: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
CHETRY: Also in other NFL news, the New England Patriots are caught up in a spy scandal. The fallout later this hour when we speak with a reporter who covered the controversial game.
ROBERTS: It's payback time for Office Depot. That tops your "Quick Hits" now. Prosecutors say the company has agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle a lawsuit with customers in California. Office Depot is accused of overcharging customers with faulty price scanners at the checkout line.
A union wants the federal government to pay for a series of immigration raids. The United Food and Commercial Workers today plan to file a suit against the feds, claiming that agents illegally held thousands of workers against their will and violated their constitutional rights when they went into six Swift and Company meat- packing plants last December.
No sugar-coating when it comes to rising health care costs. It's a bitter pill for workers and employers to swallow. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
Smoke-free gambling topping your "Quick Hits" now. At least five casinos in Atlantic City are getting set to completely ban smoking from the gambling floor. There's a new city law that requires at least 75 percent of the casino to be smoke-free, so some casinos are opting to install special lounges where people can still smoke while they play.
And a judge in New York City has struck down a law that would require fast food restaurants to post calorie counts on their menus. The judge said that the rule conflicted with federal law, but suggested it might be legal if the city required all restaurants, not just fast food restaurants, to comply. In case you're curious, a large fry at McDonald's, 570 calories and only 30 grams of fat. And Burger King is looking to make its kids meals more mom- friendly. They're cutting back on calories, including options such as flame-broiled chicken tenders and organic unsweetened apple sauce. There's also what they call BK fresh apple fries, which are apples cut up to look like thick-cut french fries.
ROBERTS: Yes, that's going to work.
CHETRY: Yes, it's like they can have all of these and kids still go for the fries and they still go for the soda.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, right.
ROBERTS: Give me the 270 calories from the fat in the fries any time.
It's about as close as you can come to driving a real life Batmobile. Check out the new Lamborghini Remington. It's the hottest new sports car at the International Auto Show in Frankfurt, Germany. Lamborghini says it can top 200 miles an hour. Just what you need for driving down I-95. And go from zero to 60 in about three seconds.
CHETRY: Wow!
ROBERTS: And it's cheap, too. Just $1.5 million on the stick price there. Even if you had the cash, you can't buy it because all 20 that will be built next year already have owners. They're all pre- ordered.
CHETRY: So besides Ali, who are the other 19?
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: I thought you were going to get one as well. No?
CHETRY: That's a cool car, all right. (INAUDIBLE).
VELSHI: It's sweet.
ROBERTS: Here's a surprise. Ali Velshi, by the way, here "Minding Your Business" at 25 minutes after the hour. The cost of health care premiums going up again. I mean, what, did we expect them to go back down?
VELSHI: Again. Yes. No. I mean, they've been up about -- health care premiums are actually costing you -- you have an increase of about 78 percent since 2001. So when people talk about insurance, inflation and the core rate of inflation up around 3 percent a year, the fact is, if you buy health insurance, you're affected very differently.
The cost of health insurance premiums, if you have an employee- sponsored plan, like many Americans do, was up about 6 percent last year. But the cost of hospitals, the cost of health care, the cost of doctors is actually up more than that. You're only paying a 6 percent increase because your insurer has, on average, cut back on what it's offering you.
More costs are passed on to the worker. You're paying more premiums. So as a result of it, if you actually consider how much health insurance is up, it's more like 9 percent. That's a lot more than the price of inflation at 3 percent.
A couple of trends, though, that we're seeing. There's greater coverage of preventive health care. For instance, greater coverage of immunizations and mammograms. I guess some insurance companies are figuring that a little bit on the front end might be helpful.
Sixty percent of all American employers do offer some form of health benefit to their employees. Most large corporations with 200 employees or more do, but only 9 percent of companies with 50 or fewer employees do. So the health care situation costing Americans a lot of money.
ROBERTS: Obviously. Well, as I said, you don't expect the cost to go down, did you?
VELSHI: No, that's true. That's true.
ROBERTS: Wouldn't it be revolutionary if it did?
Thanks, Ali.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks.
ROBERTS: Here's a story coming now coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss. And this one's a beaut. Caught on tape in the courtroom.
CHETRY: Yes, check this out. So the defendant gets wheeled out. He's in a wheelchair because he's injured, right? Well, there he goes on the attack, trying to kick an officer. They ended up using a taser to try to subdue him. Actually tasered the officer at the same time, as you can see.
But this isn't where it ends. Wait until you see what happened when the suspect was wheeled back in the courtroom a second time. It is -- you can't make this stuff up.
ROBERTS: Like the return of Hannibal Lecter.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, we're going to tell you more on that when AMERICAN MORNING comes back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a shot of Lady Liberty this morning on Liberty Island, right at the very tip of Manhattan. Sixty-four degrees right now. It is shaping up to be a nice one for September. Seventy-seven degrees and sunny on this Wednesday, September 12th. Thanks so much for being with us on AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. We need a nice day, because yesterday was muggy and wet and...
CHETRY: Really muggy. Probably washed out in Washington, D.C.
ROBERTS: Washington was horrible. It was like wearing a warm, wet blanket all day long.
CHETRY: That's right. Well, we're glad you're back.
ROBERTS: It's good to be back.
CHETRY: We begin, by the way, with the president's plan for his prime time address. He's going to be talking about what was discussed in Washington all day yesterday, the plan for troops in Iraq. He's going to announce a cut in troops. Addressing the nation tomorrow night, laying out plans to bring home 30,000 troops by July of next year.
Now, critics in Congress are fearing that the remaining 130,000 troops could be in Iraq for years to come.
White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is live on the North Lawn with more on this today.
Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Kiran, good morning. And of course, the big question here is whether or not this is really going to make a difference and whether or not this is really more of the inevitable. And there certainly is an element of that.
Military advisers have been saying for some time they could not sustain this surge to begin with for the summer of next year and that these troops will be coming home anyway, some 30,000 or so. So what you're seeing is the administration and the president, you'll hear, trying to get some political credit here to convince the American people that enough progress has been made on the ground to at least pull out some of those troops, but obviously, there is an inevitability about that for the military.
What you're also hearing, too, is President Bush, talks about giving the Iraqi prime minister some breathing space. Well, this is a president who's looking for some breathing space, as well, some six months asking Congress to give him essentially more time to make this work -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Yeah, and when we talk about the more time, are we talking about the benchmarks that the Iraqi government was supposed to meet and, to this point, has not?
MALVEAUX: You know, the benchmarks -- what you hear the president do is really downplay the benchmarks. If you look at the independent reports, the national intelligence estimate, the Government Accountability Office, many of these benchmarks have not been met. There has not been the political progress that the president essentially talked about and that Congress has been looking for. So you'll hear him talk about grassroots progress, but not so much what Maliki has done.
CHETRY: So when we talk about giving Maliki more time and possibly six months, what assurances, if any, can they give the White House and the United States, at large, about being able to turn the tide and actually get something accomplished?
MALVEAUX: Well, I mean, all the president -- the prime minister of Iraq can do is simply say that we are trying here, that we are trying to reconcile our differences.
There are huge differences here, obviously, Kiran, and there are big, big problems. The president is essentially going to say that, look, we need to give the Iraqis more time. He is also going to say that this is a matter of national security. But as you know, patience for many of the American people and Congress is running out. But the president and this administration believe that at least the Republicans, they've got the support they need so that there will not be legislation to essentially mandate those additional troops coming home -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House for us. Thanks very much.
By the way, President Bush's planned announcement comes as the top general commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, told Congress the very same thing. Senators wanted to know if -- what Petraeus would tell President Bush if pressed for a timeline about a withdrawal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ, (D), NEW JERSEY: And if he pressed you, clearly, you would give -- you would be able to give him some timeline, two years, five years?
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, IRAQ: I would not. Sir, I would be doing a disservice to our soldiers if I tried to lay out a specific timeline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Petraeus went on to say that his own family feels the pain of the war since he's been involved in Iraq for three years now.
General Petraeus also took heat from Senators on both sides of the aisle, also from Senators running for president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This continues to be a disastrous foreign policy mistake.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're getting it right because we finally have in place a strategy that can succeed.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: We're going to be talking with Senator McCain about that live from the campaign trail. He is in Iowa. John will be speaking with him 8:00 a.m. eastern time. Also, CNN will be carrying President Bush's prime time address. Its tomorrow night, 9:00 p.m. eastern.
ROBERTS: New this morning, police in Turkey have thwarted what would have been a devastating terrorist attack. They defused a huge bomb packed inside a minivan. The device contained 660 pounds of TNT, reportedly the most ever found in Turkey. Bomb-sniffing dogs found the minivan parked on a multi-story lot in Ankara. If it had detonated, the blast radius, according to officials, would have been nearly two miles wide in the heart of the capital city.
Taking the pill may actually reduce a woman's chances of getting cancer later in life, but it depends on how long you take it. According to a new British study, the overall cancer risk was reduced by as much as 12 percent for women who took the contraceptive pill for less than eight years. But for women on the pill for more than eight years, the risk of cancer increased by 22 percent. The findings are based on research dating back, in some cases, all the way to 1968.
A call this morning for all states to adopt helmet laws for motorcycle riders. The National Transportation Safety Board issued the recommendation in an effort to stem a rise in motorcycle-related deaths. The number of people killed in motorcycle accidents has doubled in just the past ten years. Riders not wearing helmets are also three times more likely to suffer a brain injury in a crash. Currently, just 20 states have mandatory helmet laws for adults.
Coming up in our next hour, Greg Hunter takes a closer look at why motorcycle deaths are on the rise and what else is being done -- ouch -- to try to stop it. That's coming up in our 7:00 eastern hour.
CHETRY: As a rider, you know, oftentimes, it's not anything you do. It's the cars that don't see you.
ROBERTS: I never go out on the road without a helmet on, never.
CHETRY: Good.
Well, a beauty queen's title up in smoke now. 18-year-old Ann Knight is giving up her crown because she was caught at a hookah bar. The Miss Illinois, she's old enough to smoke, but apparently, it does violate the contract. Hookah is a water pipe that produces cold tobacco smoke.
ROBERTS: A car-mounted video camera is more commonly used by police, not against them, but that's just what's happening outside of St. Louis after police officers' loud and threatening confrontation was caught by a video camera that was mounted in 20-year-old Brett Daro's car. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: You want to try me? You want to try me tonight? You think you're going to have a bad night? I'm going to ruin your [bleep] night. Do you want to try me? Do you want to try me, young boy? You want to try me tonight, young boy? You want to go to jail for some [bleep] reason I come up with? You want to see who knows the law better, me or you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Yikes. The officer involved in that confrontation now on suspension after the entire encounter was posted on Google and YouTube.
CHETRY: We're going to be speaking with the young man involved. Why did he have a dash cam? Why did he decide to post it and more? We're going to be speaking with Brett Daro, coming up in our 8:00 hour about that confrontation. And his police chief strongly condemning what he said, "Our officers are not to make up charges." That would seem like a no-brainer.
ROBERTS: It certainly turned the tables on that one officer.
And take a look at this wild scene in a central Ohio courtroom. Police have to Taser a man in a wheelchair when he tries to attack his attorney. Let's look at the whole thing again.
No, let's not. But boy, what happened here was incredible, because the officer there with the Taser gun, the little yellow thing, tried to shoot the guy and then later on, this fellow comes in -- look at this. He's looking like Hannibal Lecter, all bound up there, seat belts across him, tied to his wheelchair and a spit guard on his mouth.
CHETRY: And what sort of netting is over his head there, as well? Either way, that was the ending to that situation. He was basically accused of robbing parishioners at a Catholic Church. He says he tried to fire his lawyer, that the court wouldn't let him and that's why he started kicking the guy. As we see, he was wheeled back in the courtroom. There it is once again. And then, how was he in the wheelchair in the first place? Apparently, he injured himself in his cell.
ROBERTS: Right. But you see the guy with the yellow Taser gun in his hand. He pulled it out to fire at the guy, at Wendell Hollingsworth -- he was the defendant there -- managed to strike his partner in the leg as well and took him down with the whole thing.
CHETRY: I'm sure he heard about that one later.
ROBERTS: Maybe more lessons in the use of Taser in order for that particular officer.
CHETRY: Still ahead, we are continuing to follow new developments in the case of missing Madeleine McCann. Could her parents now be charged in her disappearance? Police in Portugal think they will be, and soon. New details on some evidence that turned up. We'll explain.
Also, rules are made to be broken, right? Well, the New England Patriots could be in hot water with the NFL for spying on their rival team, the Jets. We're going to have much more on the fallout, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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CHETRY: New Orleans keeps its black majority. Topping our "Quick Hits." According to a new census report, the city is 58 percent African-American. Before Hurricane Katrina, that number was larger, at 67 percent. More blacks than whites left New Orleans after the storm.
And water up to rooftops, thousands stranded as floodwaters return to Bangladesh. The high water just added to the misery that was suffered by millions this summer. Witnesses say that many people had just started to rebuild after a deadly two-month-long flood from a monsoon destroyed their homes and left 500 people dead.
Well, the ice covering the Arctic Ocean was at an all-time low this summer. The ice cover has long been pointed to as a sign of global warming. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, which measured if the ice cover is less, is 20 percent less than it was in September of 2005.
42 minutes past the hour now. We check in with Rob Marciano to see what's cooking weather-wise across the country.
Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. I need the sea ice big time. It helps reflect some of that heat back into outer space. It has a huge reflection quotient, I suppose, or albito (ph), so the less we have of that sea ice, the warmer the earth is going to get. So that's definitely a concern.
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MARCIANO: Still hurricane season. Watching this area of disturbed weather getting close to the Houston and Galveston, Texas, coastline. And there's a little bit of a swirl right here. National Hurricane Center's watching this for development. It is throwing some moisture into southeast Texas.
John, though, it's pretty close to land and it's slowly drifting towards land, so it's pretty much warming out of the warm Gulf water to deal with there. But nonetheless, look for heavy rain in Texas. And as you mentioned, they don't need any more rain in Texas. Back to you.
ROBERTS: Yeah, they sure don't need any more rain. Rob, thank you very much.
Coming up to 44 minutes after the hour.
The NFL is getting ready to announce whether the New England Patriots cheated during last Sunday's blowout win over the New York Jets. The league has been reviewing a videotape taken by a Patriots employee who may have been standing on the sideline filming hand signals by the Jets' coaches.
Sportsnet New York Jets reporter, Steve Overmyer, was at that game. He joins us this morning.
And the back cover of the "New York Post" this morning, says it all, a picture of Bill Belichick there, the Patriots coach "Snoop Dogg".
STEVE OVERMYER, REPORTER, "SPORTSNET": Right.
ROBERTS: We're hearing some reports today that the NFL has decided that yes in fact, they were cheating. What have you heard?
OVERMYER: Yeah, that's exactly what the NFL decided. The reports are that Roger Goodell, the commissioner of the NFL, has stated that there has been a rules infraction. What the problem really has come down to, more or less, this is an issue with the integrity of the game. This isn't a matter of just looking across the sidelines and trying to steal signals, it's using video technology to try to steal signals. And that is where it becomes a major problem, more or less.
ROBERTS: Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said during that game, it's like they knew what we were going to be doing. I mean, you were at that game. Did it seem like that to you?
OVERMYER: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Did you notice anything going on in the sidelines?
OVERMYER: Obviously, our attention is focused on the game at that time, so we're not really focused on what's happening on the sidelines. But I spoke with a couple players afterwards as well, and they basically said the exact same thing. You look at the numbers. Tom Brady in the second half was 10 for 11 for 138 yards against the Jets.
Now, I understand the Patriots already are a Super Bowl- contending team, more or less. But, believe it or not, it just seemed like, when talking with some of the players, they said it felt like the Patriots were in their huddle. And according to these accusations, maybe they were.
ROBERTS: Marcus Straya (ph) is believed to have taken the video tape. Eric Mangini, the Jets coach, used to be the coach with the New England Patriots. He spotted this guy. He recognized him.
OVERMYER: Sure.
ROBERTS: And the "Boston Herald" says the Patriots have been suspected of doing this before. In fact, Green Bay, last year, I think they saw this guy, Straya (ph), walking around and they kicked him off the field.
OVERMYER: I spoke with some of the sources I have with the Green Bay Packers and they confirmed back in November of that game last year, there was somebody trying to videotape. And not only did they kick him off the sidelines, but then they also saw him in the tunnel trying to shoot video then as well and trying to relay signals back to the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator as well of the Patriots.
So it seems like there is a precedent set here. There was a letter apparently that was sent to all of the teams reminding them that no video can be shot of any of the opposing coaches.
ROBERTS: After the Michael Vick case, obviously, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to make an example out of people. What do you think he's going to do here to Belichick and his team? And does it also call into question the three Super Bowl victories they recently have?
OVERMYER: You can never take away the Super Bowl victories and what they had. I mean, those teams won those games by what they did on the field.
But right now, there is a lot of questions right now. And this just happens to be the wrong time to be in the line of fire when Roger Goodell is firing bullets, because with Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, there are so many issues right now.
In fact, this could have been the worst summer for sports ever with what we've seen out of everything in sports. The Tim Donaghy situation -- if there is any hint of impropriety, if there is any hint of cheating, you know that they're going to come down hard.
Reports were that Bill Belichick was here in New York this week meeting with Roger Goodell, and there could be sanctions, not only draft picks, but possibly even a coach's suspension as well.
ROBERTS: Some people are saying take away the win as well. Steve Overmeyer from Sportsnet New York, thanks for being with us.
OVERMYER: Good to see you.
Kiran?
CHETRY: New information in the search for Madeleine McCann. Portuguese police were found digging outside of a church and Maddie's parents could be charged. We're going to be live in Portugal, ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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ROBERTS: Ten minutes to the top of the hour now.
More funding for safer mines in Arizona tops your "Quick Hits." Arizona's state mine inspector is seeking more than $1 million to seal up thousands of dangerous abandoned mines. That's a 20-fold increase in state funding. A 13-year-old girl was killed over the Labor Day weekend and her sister seriously injured when their all-terrain vehicle plunged into an abandoned mine shaft. There are something like 100,000 of those in Arizona. A fire at the PBS station in Jacksonville, Florida, knocked the station off of the air. Flames were shooting 20 feet into the air after a transformer near the studio caught fire. Thirty employees were in the building at the time. No one was hurt, though.
All three passengers were unhurt when a helicopter crashed and burned in Washington State. Witnesses say they saw the copter go down fast and then heard a boom, saw smoke. It is not known what caused the crash.
CHETRY: Well, new developments in the search for missing 4-year- old Madeleine McCann. Police in Portugal say that Maddie's parents could be charged for accidentally killing her, maybe as soon as today. The local media is also reporting police are getting ready to dig for clues outside of a church where her parents prayed for Maddie's safe return and also of the possibility of finding hair in a rental car that was rented by the McCanns in the weeks after Maddie's disappearance.
Paula Hancocks is live outside of the courthouse in Portimao, Portugal, with more on where this case is possibly heading next.
Good morning, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. Well, it is all about the DNA evidence, this case. Certainly, the Portuguese police appear to think that they have enough to bring charges, possibly against somebody, whether it's the McCanns or Robert Murat, or to ask for more evidence on these particular three prime suspects.
Now, we do understand from Portuguese and British media that there was hair found in the boot of the rental car. This is the rental car that the McCanns took 25 days after they reported that Madeleine was missing. And this DNA sample was taken about five weeks after Madeleine was reported missing.
Now, we understand from Portuguese media that the reports are, this was not just a couple of blades of hair, this was a significant amount so that it showed that it couldn't have been transferred either on a blanket or on a toy, something like that. But the reports are saying that this was a significant amount. So it did suggest that the body of Madeleine was in that boot at some time.
CHETRY: And we also understand, Paula, that this is quite a large amount of evidence, possibly like 4,000 to 10,000 pages that are being handed over to this judge. Is it really safe to assume that charges could come as early as today, when presumably, this judge would have to go over all of this information?
HANCOCKS: We're not expecting charges today. We're not expecting charges any time soon, really, unless this really does go a lot quicker than we are expecting at this point.
What is happening now is the prosecutor has these ten files of evidence, a huge amount of paperwork. He's giving it to the judge. The judge has hired another prosecutor to help him, because it's such a volume, and he wants to get this done as quickly as possible. And then the judge will decide whether or not to authorize whatever the prosecutor has asked.
Now, we understand at this point from unconfirmed reports that the prosecutor has asked to be able to seize some evidence.
Now, we don't know what that evidence is. But clearly, it is pertinent to this case, and the prosecutor only spent half a day looking at these papers yesterday and instantly decided that this is what he need. So the reports are that there is a piece of evidence that needs to be looked at. What that is, though, we don't know at this point.
CHETRY: Yeah, they are remaining tight-lipped, citing that they need to keep this private for the ongoing investigation.
Paula Hancocks live for us in Portugal, thank you.
ROBERTS: Opium in Afghanistan tops your "Quick Hits" now. NATO says it will not participate in destroying poppy fields in Afghanistan. The United Nations and the Afghan government had called on NATO to get involved in the war on drugs. Afghanistan produces most of the world's illegal opium, which is then used to make heroin.
A leftist rebel group claims responsibility for bomb attacks on Mexican oil and gas pipelines earlier this week. The so-called popular Revolutionary Army promises more attacks in the coming weeks. It blasted six pipelines on Monday, disrupted oil and gas supplies for thousands of people from their homes and has seen gasoline prices worldwide start to increase.
China says it will immediately stop using lead paint in toys. The question? Why was it using lead in the first place? That's ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
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ROBERTS: Just a couple of minutes now before the top of the hour, and this is the question we've asked several times as we welcome Ali Velshi," Minding Your Business"...
CHETRY: What'd you bring us to eat?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's the second question.
ROBERTS: If China's saying we'll stop using lead paint on toys, why were they using it in the first place?
VELSHI: Why were they using it in the first place? In fact, it's not even that. It's even more specific than that. China is saying they will take immediate action to eliminate the use of lead paint on Chinese-manufactured toys exported to the United States. So it's not even clear that there is not going to be lead paint used in China. It's cheaper, and one of the things about China, is pretty much everything it builds is cheaper than most other places in the world, which is why China supplies 80 percent of the world's toys.
For some people, they're saying maybe we should just have fewer toys made in China and they're hoping this attention will lead to that. But things are not going that way. In fact, they are going the opposite direction.
The United States now buys more from China than from any other country on earth. Until now -- a lot of people don't know this -- Canada was the number one exporter of goods to the United States. China has now overtaken Canada to take the top spot as the number one source of imports. Canada does remain the largest buyer of U.S.-made products, obviously because there is easy flow between the two borders and a lot of that trade is made up of energy, oil and gasoline and natural gas that comes in from Canada. The bottom line is China is selling more to the U.S.
CHETRY: But the other interesting thing is that we kept saying that there were excessive amounts of lead found in toys. There's not supposed to be any lead in children's toys.
VELSHI: Right. Since 1978, you're not supposed to sell any lead-pain toys or lead-paint anything in the United States. And we're going to have to, you know, increase the testing on that as well on the U.S. side.
ROBERTS: Maybe they didn't get the memo.
VELSHI: Yeah, exactly.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks, very much.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: Meanwhile, the next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
ROBERTS: Political warfare. The president's prime time plan to announce troop withdrawals draws fire from Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: This continues to be a disastrous foreign policy mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
The debate, dividing the left, ahead.
Plus, full throttle. What's behind a dramatic jump in motorcycle crashes and deaths? A new call for safety solutions many riders still fight on this "AMERICAN MORNING."
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