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American Morning
Tensions Run High in Olympic Torch Relay; Petraeus Calls for Suspension of Troop Withdrawals; Fed Warns of Severe Downturn
Aired April 09, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The commander of U.S. forces reports to Congress in front of the next commander in chief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The current strategy in Iraq has very real costs.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To go into Iraq was a massive strategic blunder.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is possible to talk with real hope and optimism about the future of Iraq.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Relay raid. Calls for a boycott getting louder as the Olympic torch hits U.S. soil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China lie, people die!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And grounded. Flying American Airlines this morning? Why you may want to call ahead. More chaos and cancellations at a major airline on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Wednesday. It's the 9th day of April. John Roberts along with Kiran Chetry, and good to have you with us this morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and a lot going on today. We begin though in San Francisco, and that's where the Olympic torch makes its only North American run. It's happening this afternoon. Thousands of protesters angry over China's human rights record and actions in Tibet are expected to turn out, and hundreds of police will also patrol that route.
The plan is to have 79 people carry the torch along six miles of San Francisco's waterfront. The mayor though says that the route could be changed to prevent a repeat of some of the mayhem caused by protesters in London and Paris. There was also a candlelight vigil last night where thousands gathered, including the archbishop, Desmond Tutu, as well as actor Richard Gere. All of them in support of a free Tibet, and calling on the president, our president, to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing.
CNN's Ted Rowlands joins us from San Francisco now with a preview of what is expected a little bit later this morning. Hi, Ted.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Every member of the San Francisco Police Department is working today. Vacations were pulled back. Everybody will be on duty. The Feds are helping out. FBI and state and local police all working together.
Bottom line is that after London and Paris, what happened there, people in San Francisco don't know what to expect today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS (voice-over): It was all smiles for the carefully orchestrated arrival of the Olympic flame, but clearly the city of San Francisco is bracing for trouble. After watching the chaos in London and Paris, San Francisco police admit they're concerned the same problems could erupt along the planned six-mile San Francisco torch route, which they may end up changing at the 11th hour.
SGT. NEVILLE GITTENS, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Things still are subject to change based on the information that we receive. The goal is to have a safe event for everybody, the spectators and the participants.
ROWLANDS: Torchbearer Marilyn King knows firsthand the worst case scenario of the Olympic stage. The two-time Olympian was in Munich in 1972 when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed by terrorists. She also lost her chance to compete in the 1980 Olympics because of the U.S. boycott in Moscow. She is planning to run with the Olympic torch even though she is concerned that something may happen.
MARILYN KING, TORCHBEARER: There are always people who are willing to step outside of those boundaries, so I have some anxiety about that.
ROWLANDS: Protesters have already made their presence felt in San Francisco with the precision-planned Golden Gate Bridge stunt that included using baby carriages to sneak in banners and climbing equipment past police.
PROTESTERS: China!
ROWLANDS: Several organizations held demonstrations Tuesday, including actor Richard Gere's International Campaign for Tibet. Gere sat down with us to discuss the torch protest which he describes as extraordinary.
RICHARD GERE, ACTOR: The whole world seems to spontaneously react to this situation, and know that it's a fraud what the Chinese are doing. It's a fraud. This is not an athletic game to them. This is pretty much a stamp of approval on repression and human rights abuses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop lying to the world!
CROWD: Stop lying to the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: China lie, people die!
ROWLANDS: San Francisco is the only North American torch stop in the world including China. We'll be watching to see what happens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROWLANDS: And people will be watching closely the conduct of the Chinese police that are Chinese security forces that accompany the flame as well. They've come under some criticism after Paris and London saying that their conduct was too aggressive and it may have made matters worse. That will be one thing people are looking at.
Also, the torchbearers themselves, we do expect a few of them to show their support for Tibet in some way. We've been told, not sure what they'll be doing. Eighty people will be carrying the torch or were originally going to be carrying the torch. One person has bowed out because of safety concerns. A teenager said he doesn't want to deal with it, doesn't want to take a chance.
A lot of eyes on San Francisco today obviously, and a lot of people crossing their fingers that this thing goes off without any trouble.
CHETRY: Absolutely. We'll be following it throughout the morning as well. Ted Rowlands in San Francisco for us, thanks.
ROBERTS: It's now five minutes after the hour. Right now, Baghdad is on lockdown. A shaky cease-fire could erupt into new violence at any time. Even though a demonstration set for today has been postponed, a curfew is still in place. No cars allowed into the city until midnight tonight. That's 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.
There are fears that the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr will call his militia to action again. Last week, his fighters dug in against Iraqi soldiers and hundreds of people died.
With all of that as a backdrop, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is asking Congress for more time. General David Petraeus will be on Capitol Hill for day two of his Iraq war report today. This time the House gets its turn. The general told senators yesterday that there has been significant but uneven security progress in Iraq, and that it is fragile and reversible. Petraeus says al-Qaeda in Iraq and a number of other extremist elements have been dealt serious blows, but that does not mean that the troops can come home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, MULTI-NATIONAL COMMANDER, IRAQ: I have repeatedly noted that we haven't turned any corners. We haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us this morning. And Barbara, a lot of the talk yesterday was on this pause that General Petraeus says he wants in July. He's called for 45 days at the beginning. How long could that go on?
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, General Petraeus again today will not be pinned down on that question, John. I think it's fair to expect. At the Senate yesterday Carl Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, tried to get an answer, how long could a 45-day pause really last? Could that pause go on for some time? Listen to what General Petraeus had to answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), ARMED SERVICES CHAIRMAN: PETRAEUS: I'm just asking you a direct question. Could that be as long as three months?
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, MULTI-NATIONAL COMMANDER, IRAQ: It could be, sir.
LEVIN: Could it be as long as four months?
PETRAEUS: Sir, it is when the conditions are met.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Conditions are met. And what General Petraeus is not going to be pinned down about today, John, on the House side when he appears is any timetable. He wants to see security conditions improve and have some additional stability in Iraq. That is what he is going to continue to say. But the calendar will tick on, 45-day pause at least after the last surge brigade comes home in July. But the next nonsurge brigade, if you will, the next brigade scheduled to rotate out after the surge ends comes in September. So, fairly soon.
The reality is General Petraeus will have to make a decision, does he let that brigade continue to be replaced by fresh troops, or does he let it come home and have it not replaced and have a further drawdown? John?
ROBERTS: There was a lot of talk about al-Qaeda as well yesterday. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker warning if you pull the U.S. troops out, it might create a vacuum in which al-Qaeda could again flourish. And also, Ambassador Crocker said as dangerous as al-Qaeda is in Iraq, so is Iran.
STARR: Absolutely. Throughout the day, and I think we will see it again later today, Iran was a threat. Both General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker going to great lengths to say that Iran continues to be heavily involved militarily and economically as well as on the religious side through the Shia militias, deeply involved in affairs inside Iraq. Both of them invoking the Specter of Lebanon and Iran's involvement over the years there suggesting that the Iranian strategy could be, perhaps, to create some sort of puppet state, if you will, in Iraq.
Expect to see a lot more about that today, but there will be a lot of tough questions. The question really begins, when does the U.S. sit down and talk to Iran? There have been a number of talks already. Are they going to sit down with them again? John?
ROBERTS: And Senator Obama suggesting yesterday that what's needed is a diplomat surge as well, particularly with Iran. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon. Thanks, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: Following other news this morning as well, and Veronica De La Cruz is here with an update for us. We start off with the airlines. Could be more headaches if you're trying to fly today.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We're talking about these MD-80s. Good morning to you, and good morning to all of you out there. New this morning.
Today could be another rough day, like Kiran was just saying, for travelers on American Airlines. More flights could be disrupted after the airlines canceled close to 500 flights yesterday to check the wiring on its MD-80 planes. American says it will try to arrange other flights for travelers, and it will also foot the bill for meals, hotels and ground transportation.
Disturbing new details coming out this morning about what was going on behind the scenes of polygamist ranch in Texas. Court papers say the teen who sparked the investigation called a local family violence shelter several times last month saying her parents brought her to the ranch a year ago, and she was being physically and sexually abused by an adult male member of the church. She was forced to spiritually marry. Four hundred sixteen children are in temporary legal custody, but that girl has still not been accounted for.
The government is expanding its warning on a blood-thinning drug, heparin, after discovering the number of deaths linked to tainted batches has tripled. The Food and Drug Administration now says 62 deaths since last January may now be related to contaminated heparin.
That's up from the 19 deaths the agency previously counted. The tainted supplies came from China. The Feds are asking manufacturers to check codings on devices like stents and catheters for contamination.
And was he fighting for the rights of his fellow commuters, or was he just being a sea hog? A retired cop has been acquitted on charges of assault and harassment after he cursed at a fellow rider for talking on a cell phone and slapped down another one's hand on the Long Island Rail Road. But his accusers say he was that guy on the train who would hog up five seats on the 7:39 to Penn Station.
60-year-old John Clifford claimed he needed the seats for his bad back and even compared himself to Rosa Parks for fighting for his right to sit where he wants. Hmmm.
CHETRY: Yes. In a lot of the pictures that they had in the local newspapers, you see him by himself in this island. Nowhere is anywhere near him. I guess they were all petrified at this guy, but the judge didn't find enough evidence.
DE LA CRUZ: I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, John, but on the Acela, they have a car for people who want to be loud, talk on their cell phones.
ROBERTS: It goes the other way around.
(CROSSTALK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It has the quiet --
ROBERTS: And here is the funniest thing about the quiet car.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: At least on the train that I take every week coming back up from Washington is at every stop, the conductor gets on the intercom and as loudly as he possibly can says, if you're in the quiet car and you want to talk, get out! I'm like, whoa!
CHETRY: Well, this is the Long Island Rail Road --
(LAUGHTER)
DE LA CRUZ: Apparently not.
CHETRY: Definitely trying to avoid this guy. All right. Thanks, Veronica.
ROBERTS: Quiet is all relative, I guess.
Hey, Fed fears for the economy. Warning of a possible severe and protracted downturn ahead that could mean another rate cut in the cards. And also, more warnings about inflation not being completely taken (ph) up.
VELSHI: There's nobody formerly or presently employed by the Fed who's been quiet about anything. Everybody who ever had anything to do with the Fed who is alive is making speeches and talking about Alan Greenspan. We had Paul Volcker who was the Fed chair before Alan Greenspan, making a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
Now, I got to tell you, I sometimes think that the show gets too many viewers. So I just want to take care of that right now with a little clip from Paul Volcker. This is what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL VOLCKER, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The apparent pressure on the Federal Reserve to take many billions of uncertain assets into its own balance sheet raises questions that must be decisively answered by demonstrating the commitment to deal with emerging inflationary pressures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Fed language entirely. It's sort of like just hearing something in Chinese, if you've never heard Chinese. Basically, he's saying that the Fed has taken on all these bad debts like the Bear Stearns stuff. They guaranteed that these mortgage-backed securities is all going to be OK. But, you know, we have inflation problems. That's what all of you know out there.
You pay more for stuff, and the Fed keeps dropping interest rates. It's done it six times in six months. It's probably going to do it again on April 30th. Maybe not as much, but another quarter of a percentage point.
That actually stimulates inflation. The dollar gets lower, it creates demand. So Volcker is basically saying really the Fed, you got to look at inflation. It's a concern for most people.
But the minutes from the last meeting, they always wait several weeks before giving them out. And at the last meeting, there were a few of the people on the Fed when they made that last cut, who said, no, no, we don't have to cut so much. Inflation is, by the way, not nearly going to be the problem that it is.
So here's -- this is always the case. The Fed seems to be a few months behind what Americans are realizing about the economy and about inflation. So those are the concerns.
ROBERTS: That was Greenspan's primary concern.
VELSHI: Well, Green -- right. But now people are saying, well, if you were concerned about inflation why did Greenspan keep rates as low as he did all those years. And he came out this week saying don't blame me.
ROBERTS: Although he does say that he missed the housing crisis.
VELSHI: Yes, but he says it in a way that makes it sound like anybody would have kind of thing.
ROBERTS: Chinese, right?
VELSHI: It's Chinese.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
CHETRY: Still ahead, power to the patient. A new study out on diabetes and what patients can do to protect themselves from heart disease and strokes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us coming up next.
Also the city of San Francisco, all eyes will be on it today as it prepares for protests. The Olympic Torch Relay making its way through the City by the Bay. China still cracking down. The whole world watching. And we're going to be talking to CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour about the Olympics and what's going on across the world on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: For people with type II diabetes, the threat of developing heart disease is very real. It is the leading cause of death in diabetics. Now, doctors believe that diabetic patients can reduce their risk of certain heart problems. How do they do that? By lowering their blood pressure and cholesterol, and not just lowering it but lowering it below the recommended levels that most diabetic patients currently go by.
CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta at the medical update desk. Is this good news for diabetic patients, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think so for a couple of reasons. First, you have some very specific numbers in which to target and some more specific benchmarks as well, John. We're talking about blood pressure as you mentioned, but the upper number of the blood pressure reading specifically known as the systolic blood pressure. That was one of the numbers they looked at. Also, what is known as LDL or bad cholesterol.
The theory was this. If low is good, then reducing the number even lower would be better. Already if you take a look at sort of the recommended systolic blood pressure and LDL across the board for all people, about 140 systolic number and LDL around 130. People who pay attention to these numbers will know what they mean.
For diabetics, they say, you know what, it needs to be a little bit lower because you're at higher risk of heart disease and stroke, 130 and 100. What they said is, how about we reduce those numbers even lower to 115 and 70? And what they saw, John, was interesting.
Not only was there no increased plaque production, plaque formation, or hardening of the arteries, as some people know it. They actually started to see something they hardly ever see, which is reversal of some of that plaque formation as well. So the plaque that was there started to decrease in size with these lower numbers. So some good news as you ask, John.
ROBERTS: I mean, we're talking about some pretty dramatic reductions in these numbers here. You're talking about, what, 25 points in the systolic blood pressure. You're talking about similar numbers in terms of cholesterol.
GUPTA: Right.
ROBERTS: How do patients get both the blood pressure and the cholesterol down to those levels?
GUPTA: Well, you know, in this particular study, they use a lot more medications. No question about that. They use more medication. They used higher doses. And to your point, sometimes they had some of the adverse side effects, more so than people who didn't take as much medication. So that's one thing.
But certainly the basics still apply. I can't imagine that anybody who is a diabetic would think about smoking, but smoking certainly increases your levels of bad cholesterol and lowers your good cholesterol. So stopping smoking will give you a huge benefit right away, 30 minutes of exercise a day, and staying away from fatty foods as much as possible. Those basics still apply.
But again, to your point, John, they had to take more medication, cholesterol-lowering medication as well as blood pressure medication to get down to those numbers.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, maybe if you combine it with diet and exercise, you might not need to take as much medication. So definitely something to shoot for though because it sounds like some pretty good news there.
GUPTA: Absolutely. And, you know, again, that's one of the biggest killers for diabetics.
ROBERTS: Yes.
GUPTA: So you bring those numbers down, huge benefit.
ROBERTS: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. We'll see Sanjay a little later on as well. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: All right, John, thanks.
ROBERTS: Kiran?
CHETRY: The Olympic torch makes its only North American run today. Security is tight in San Francisco. The city has already seen two days of pro-Tibetan protest. So what impact will these demonstrations have around the world? CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us next.
Also, the nation's top commander on the ground in Iraq saying there's been progress. Senator Joe Biden though disagrees with General David Petraeus' assessment. We're going to ask the senator what he thinks needs to be done when he joins us, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Tensions are high this morning in San Francisco ahead of the Olympic Torch Relay that's going to be taking place in that city. We've already seen a torch relay interrupted in Paris, chaos in London. All of it in an effort to bring attention to the Chinese government. Calls to improve its human rights record.
CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour joins us now with more on the impact that these protests have been having. Certainly these pictures have been broadcast throughout the world. Any change in China? CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, we're following this relay to see what is going to happen and whether, in fact, it does cause a change, not just in China's behavior but whether world leaders decide to take action ahead of the Olympics or at the Olympics. But the fact of the matter is that China faced with the protests that went on in Tibet just in March after these demonstrations started, has cracked down more, and it's sort of like old-style communism. They don't quite know how to deal with it. And instead of, you know, trying to step back and trying to make the situation better, they've been very heavy-handed against the Tibetans inside Tibet.
You know, just making mass arrest but saying they're going to put, you know, more than 1,000 people on trial, forcing as they have done for a while now, continuing to force Tibetan monks inside to denounce the Dalai Lama. I mean, things that are sort of heresy for the Tibetans themselves. So China has not at least visibly been doing things to ameliorate the situation there.
CHETRY: China wants to, it seems though, do whatever it can to put forth this great, shiny image of the Beijing Olympics. We've seen a lot of, you know, stories about the fact that they have been trying to change things. I mean, is there any chance that all of the national and international attention on this story is going to cause any shame or any effort on their part to make it at least appear that they're trying to be more open?
AMANPOUR: Well, it doesn't seem to be at the moment. I mean clearly it's having an impact on them. I mean, this is, as we've said before, their worst public diplomacy, public image, public relations nightmare.
CHETRY: Right.
AMANPOUR: Because what they really believed this was going to just sail through and it was going to end up in this wonderful Olympic ceremony in China and in Beijing. But already the torch relay has been disrupted. The real issues are now on the table. The human rights issues are on the table, and I think the world leaders, including President Bush, are weighing just what signal to send to China, whether or not they go to the opening ceremonies, whether or not they try to pressure China diplomatically. We'll see. Certainly the Olympic president has said that they hope that China will take some action to help the situation in Tibet.
CHETRY: Let's talk a little bit about Iraq and, of course, the testimony yesterday by General Petraeus as well as Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Petraeus saying that the progress that's been made in Iraq, he describes it as "fragile but reversible." As people around the world and countries around the world are watching, what do they think about U.S./Iraq policy and what's being discussed right now?
AMANPOUR: Well, reversible means it could all fall apart.
CHETRY: Right. AMANPOUR: And that is what obviously the people in the region and U.S. allies in the region worry about intensely. And so, while this election debate in the United States goes on about whether to withdraw the troops or not and Democrats want to withdraw, Republicans don't want to withdraw the troops, it's playing very, very minutely in the capitals of the countries that support the United States, whether it be Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf states, because they're very concerned that without at least the United States there, it could be a worse situation than exists at the moment.
They're also concerned about the rising power of Iran. So for them, the U.S. is a buffer against Iran. And, of course, the United States this time last year began talks with Iran over the Iraq issue. They had high-level talks in May in Baghdad. Ambassador Crocker met with his Iranian counterpart, and there was another meeting at an expert level in August last year. But nothing really has happened since. So this is a worry for people in the region and U.S. allies in the region.
CHETRY: Christiane Amanpour, great to see you. Thanks for coming out this morning.
AMANPOUR: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: We've been talking about the Olympic protests this morning as well, and it brings us to our "Quick Vote" question. Would a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies pressure China in any way to change its human rights policies?
Right now, only 33 percent of you think yes. Sixty-seven percent say no.
Cast your vote at CNN.com/am. We'll continue the tallies throughout the morning, and we also want to hear your e-mails as well. We're getting a bunch of them in. Very interesting perspectives, and we're going to read some of those a little bit later. But go ahead and send one this morning.
ROBERTS: You are watching the "Most News in the Morning." If you're flying American Airlines today, you might want to call before you head out to the airport. More planes are being inspected. Find out how it might affect your next flight coming up.
And he says we've gone from drowning to just treading water in Iraq. Senator Joe Biden -- there he is -- joins us next on AMERICAN MORNING. We'll get straight to him in just a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: Shot this morning of a sort of cloudy New York. 41 degrees right now going up to a high of 58, but it's going to be cloudy, and tomorrow it's going to be partly cloudy and Friday it will be cloudy and Saturday and Sunday it's going to be cloudy...
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Sounds like spring. ROBERTS: ...with rain and thunderstorms. It does sound like spring. Tomorrow it will be fairly warm, up almost to 70 degrees. Something to look forward to, and something to look forward to in the next few minutes, Senator Joe Biden is going to be joining us from Delaware this morning to talk more about Iraq and get into some politics with him as well.
CHETRY: What's his take on the testimony that's been going on that continues today on Capitol Hill?
ROBERTS: He was there front and center at the Foreign Relations Committee yesterday.
CHETRY: We also begin this morning with prices at the pump. Another record hit another high this morning. According to AAA, the nationwide average price for a gallon of regular self-serve is now $3.34 a gallon. That's up 12 cents from last month. 55 cents higher than this time last year.
Fleeing from the shadow of a volcano. 2,000 people evacuated from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the big island after the Kilauea Volcano began venting elevated levels of sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide can cause breathing problems. Officials will decide whether or not to reopen the park today after they check the weather forecast and wind direction.
Well, if you're flying American Airlines, it is definitely a day to call ahead. American canceling more flights today after close to 500 flights were scrapped yesterday as they continued to inspect MD-80 planes. At least two flights from Dallas and Tampa were canceled this morning so far. The FAA wants American to look at wiring on the planes. American says it will try to arrange other flights for travelers and also foot the bill for meals, hotels, and ground transportation.
Rob Marciano at the CNN Weather Center tracking extreme weather and flights around the country for us. Not a good day probably if you're trying to fly American, you'll probably find yourself a little backed up.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: You know, it looks a little thin. But I'm not sure how many flights at this hour of the morning are flying out of DFW. We'll take you into flight tracker, kind of zoom in a little bit and show you these planes, obviously, not to scale. But we'll come in a little bit and certainly looks a little bit thin here around DFW. This particular -- this is at 757 heading towards Orlando. Here is one MD-82 heading towards Chicago. So that's interesting. There's probably a couple planes that they've already checked out that are already in the air. By the way, Philadelphia reporting a delay right now of about 30 minutes.
All right. Here is the storm that we're watching from today winding itself up and heading north and east. There is some snow with that. My goodness. Here is the Ohio River, the mid-Mississippi River where a little bit empty right now. That's good because they got flooding problems. More rain to come tonight though. Dallas up to Little Rock, this is some heavy rain that continues to train over the same area, and there has just been a severe thunderstorm watch that was issued for parts of New Mexico and Texas for this next thing. This guy really has some energy with it. Also has some snow. Winter storm warnings are posted right now for the Wasatch of Utah and into the Colorado Rockies.
As this thing ejects into the plains, we're looking at the possibility of seeing tornadoes, damaging wind, and hail today. Well, beginning in west Texas and New Mexico and then heading eastward as we go through time and tomorrow even a more intense risk I think, and this, unfortunately, gets into more populated areas in Arkansas and the mid-south with the potential of seeing some long track, long-lived dangerous tornadoes tomorrow into tomorrow night. So some pretty intense weather we're watching develop here, Kiran, and we'll keep you posted as it begins to pop.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: 34 minutes now after the hour. He has declared the troop buildup in Iraq a failure and yesterday said we can't keep treading water in Iraq without exhausting ourselves. Senator Joe Biden is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He joins us now this morning, live from Wilmington, Delaware. Senator Biden, always good to see you. Thanks for coming on today.
JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Good to see you, John. Good to be with you.
ROBERTS: Let's listen to just a little bit of what General Petraeus said yesterday before your committee about the situation on the ground there in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE IRAQ: OK. We haven't turned any corners. We haven't seen any lights at the end of the tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator, and the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Fragile and reversible were the two key words. He also wants a pause in the troop draw down beginning in July. A month and a half is the shortest assessment. What did you make of what he said about Iraq yesterday?
BIDEN: Well, I think he was straightforward and honest, John. I think that, look, our military has done everything we've asked them. Remember what the President said the purpose of the surge was. The purpose of the surge was that there was no military solution, but the surge would provide breathing room, bring down the violence, allow the Iraqi warring factions to work out a political solution with our guidance. The first part worked. It brought down the violence, although there's still 30 to 40 Americans being killed per month, 225 being wounded a month. And we're still spending $3 billion a month. But it brought down the violence. But what it hasn't done, it hasn't produced any political accommodation, and that's acknowledged by General Petraeus when he says things are fragile. 90,000 Sunnis --
ROBERTS: Ambassador Crocker did point to some political progress, not enough for you?
BIDEN: No, because the progress he pointed to was progress all from the bottom up. You know, John, I have been pushing for years now, a couple years now, with Les Gelb, this idea of federalism, giving more control to the local governments. That's the only thing that's working even though the administration continues to reject the idea. Everything he pointed to shows that when you give local control, you give the Sunnis control over their neighborhoods, you give the Shia control over their neighborhoods, et cetera, you get some progress. And it's based on tribal allegiances more than it is based on anything else, but that doesn't a government make. That doesn't come up with this overall political solution, as you saw when all of a sudden Maliki decides to end the truce and there's a war in Basra among the Shia, and what happens tomorrow is General Petraeus acknowledges with 90,000 Sunnis who we're paying don't get integrated into the main government, and they decide to begin to go after the Shia. I mean, it's very fragile.
ROBERTS: But it's not enough, as you say, but it is a beginning, and if we are to look at plans...
BIDEN: It is.
ROBERTS: ...that the presidential candidates on the Democratic side had to pull these troops out, do you risk losing that beginning and going back to the bad old days?
BIDEN: Well, I think not, John. Let me give you an example. They say one of the major reasons to stay and the numbers we have is Al Qaeda in Iraq. Yet when I asked the ambassador is the threat of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan where we don't have enough troops and we can't get more because of Iraq, is the threat in Afghanistan of Al Qaeda greater than it is in Iraq? He said, yes, it is.
Look, we've debated the cost, which we should. The cost of drawing down troops. What are the threats? A lot of people equally as informed as our two witnesses say the threats aren't nearly as severe as they paint. Conversely, we have not debated the cost of staying. They're knowable. We know it fundamentally affects our troop readiness. We don't have even a battalion available to fight another war or to fight another circumstance anywhere in the world. We know, according to our army, we're breaking the United States Army. We know we are spending $120 billion a year, which is helping break our economy. So what do we do about those costs? How do we balance this? That's our job.
ROBERTS: Senator, time is growing short, I'm told, and there's a couple other things I want to get to quickly. One of them on this topic of cost. Iraq apparently has billions of dollars in oil revenues sitting in the bank, money that could be used for reconstruction, money that we as the United States citizens are paying out of our pockets for reconstruction in Iraq. Ambassador Crocker said yesterday, hey, the United States is out of the reconstruction funding business. It doesn't quite seem to add up.
BIDEN: No, it doesn't add up because we're still funding a lot of things, and we're still funding and paying, for example, their military and their military training. Let me give you one example, John. Every military man says the idea that Senator Luger and I have to spend $150 million in - I mean, yes, $150 million in Pakistan is essential to stabilize Pakistan. Yet, we're told by the administration we don't have $150 million. If the Iraqis just paid -- picked up $150 million of the cost for paying for training of their military which we're now paying for, we'd be able to do something consequential in Pakistan. Their the kind of trade off, John. That's why they should be paying more.
ROBERTS: But one of the big questions that people are asking is should -- because they're taking in all this oil money, should Iraq be paying the United States back for a lot of money that we spent there?
BIDEN: Well, I'd be happy if they just started paying our costs for being there. The ability to pay us back, we're way above what -- we're approaching having spent $600 billion with a commitment of between $1.7 billion - trillion, in $2 trillion. So, I'd be happy if they just took the burden off us now of spending $3 billion a week over there.
ROBERTS: I want to ask you a quick political question, if I could. You have so far resisted the siren call of endorsing a candidate, but who did, which one of the Democratic candidates do you think is best versed on this issue of Iraq?
BIDEN: Well, I think they're both equally versed on it. I watched Hillary and Barack was in my committee. He did a stellar job yesterday of questioning. I think they're both far superior to my friend John McCain in terms of their approach as to how to deal with Iraq from this point on. This administration has no plan to end the war, no plan to draw them down. It's just going to hand it off to the next administration.
ROBERTS: Earlier on a different program you said that you thought Obama was the only one who really knew what was going on.
BIDEN: No, no. What I said was I only one I heard specifically was in my committee, and he did a great job. That's what I was saying. I just heard clips of Hillary and clips of John McCain, but I sat there with Barack and he did an excellent job.
ROBERTS: All right. Senator Joe Biden, it's always great to have you on. And we hope to do it again soon. Appreciate you joining us this morning from Wilmington.
BIDEN: Thanks, John.
ROBERTS: All right. See you again soon. Kiran.
BIDEN: I appreciate it.
CHETRY: While many Americans are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments, others are spending millions of dollars on art. Ali Velshi with a look at the income gap.
Also stock market investors tired of losing money while CEOs are making millions. And now, they're fighting back. We're going to tell you what shareholders are doing, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: 44 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding your business." Doing any bidding lately on anything?
ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right, you know, you look at what people are buying these days, you wonder whether there's any downturn or recession. Sotheby's had an auction, a big auction. Photo auction week in New York at the auction houses. They were expecting to raise a lot of money out of these photos but it brought in a record. Sotheby's raised $8.9 million on a bunch of photographs. Ten lots sold for more than a quarter of a million each, and the number one seller was an Edward Westin entitled "Nude," which sold for $1.6 million.
CHETRY: Let's see it!
VELSHI: There it is. 1.6 million bucks for that. It was supposed to go between 600 and $900,000. That is a record for Edward Westin who hasn't been...
ROBERTS: How much was it?
VELSHI: $1.6 million.
ROBERTS: And not even any naughty bits.
VELSHI: No naughty bits. For $1.6 million, you got to go above (inaudible).
CHETRY: It looks like when you're trying to fix your camera, does this thing work, click.
VELSHI: I couldn't really tell much about that. I sort of did some consulting around the network to make sure it's appropriate to put that sort of thing, not. I don't think the picture is inappropriate. It's called "Nude." So, I figured I should ask somebody.
CHETRY: That's a behind on the right?
VELSHI: I don't know. That's what I'm saying. I can't really make out what that is. Obviously, it's somebody...
ROBERTS: You don't get out much, do you?
VELSHI: Well, okay. If pressed I could probably figure out which bits are which. But I want to let you know that some people are spending a lot of money on photographs.
CHETRY: I have one where I have taken the picture slightly to the left. I will give it to you for just $1 million. You'll like that.
VELSHI: That's it. Just round it.
CHETRY: Right, mine shows a little bit more.
I don't know yet.
VELSHI: I knew this was going down a bad road. I will come back with some other business news shortly.
ROBERTS: We look forward to. Thank you.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: Well, the people who own a company want to decide how much the people running it get paid. Sounds like a good idea, right? Shareholders are hoping to get say on pay. That's coming up. Sounds like a great idea.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 11 minutes now to the top of the hour. If you're just joining us, here is a look at what's making headlines this morning.
Thousands of protesters are expected along the Olympic torch's route today in San Francisco to rally against China's human rights policies. Every city police officer is on duty today. Mayor Gavin Newsom says the route could be changed to avoid the chaos that was seen in London and Paris. They want to keep people guessing there.
Thousands gathered for a candle light vigil. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and actor Richard Gere called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing, joining calls from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Hillary Clinton.
A new warning on the blood thinning drug, heparin today. The government believes the number of deaths linked to tainted batches of heparin have tripped. Batches made in China were recalled back in February. Since then federal officials have linked to total of 62 deaths to heparin. Today, the FDA will announce, will ask manufacturers to check codings on devices like stents and catheters for contamination.
A violent food riots are sweeping Haiti. Protesters stormed the presidential palace yesterday demanding lower food prices. U.N. troops fought them off with rubber bullets and tear gas. Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Food prices there have risen 40% in less than a year.
Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff says government computer experts are creating an early warning system to protect against hackers. He said it's needed because computer based attachments could cripple systems like air traffic control or financial markets. Security experts aren't convinced saying current technology can only tell when a hack already happened and can't track one.
Well, we're always wondering about how much money our executives are making, and you probably would like a say in that. Here's Kiran with more on that.
CHETRY: Well, sure. With home foreclosures at an all-time high, unemployment rising, and stock prices falling. One group of people still making record profits, that's corporate CEOs. Well, now upset shareholders are trying to do something about it. Our Polly Labarre joins us now with more on exactly what's going on. Hey, Polly.
POLLY LABARRE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Hi. So executive pay is the hot button issue in this proxy season. And shareholder ire is particularly focused on the financial services sector, which of course is reeling from sub prime losses. $200 billion worth of shareholder value wiped off the books and yet the top ten CEOs in that sector earned $320 million. Most egregious offender, of course, is the CEO of Countrywide Financial, outgoing CEO Angelo Mozilo. He packed in $257 million in salary, bonus, stock options, and that was based not on the quality of transactions but on the quantity of subprime mortgage transactions and even worse all of that income was tax-free.
CHETRY: Yes. And there were, he was actually talked before Congress about it and it was a pretty hairy situation. So there's a lot of anger. People think that it's not necessarily fair and are disgusted by it, but what can shareholders actually do?
LABARRE: Sure. Well, shareholders are up in arms. This is a very activist shareholder season. There are 90 so-called say on pay resolutions being fought out at annual meetings this season, which is essentially giving shareholders an advisory vote on executive compensation. There are also proposals on some 33 on pay for superior performance. Congress, shareholders and pension funds are looking at how can we get more disclosure in plain English. This is an issue that is on the agenda and isn't going away.
CHETRY: It's also moving through Congress right now.
LABARRE: well, so, there are hearings right now in Congress again about say on pay, should we make this a blanket rule for every corporation, and certainly on disclosure. Anyone who has ever read a proxy statement, trying to figure that out.
CHETRY: You just throw them out. You get them in the mail and you you're like what the heck is this.
LABARRE: It's a recyclable item. But really, they're trying to say, look, let's make this a tool for shareholders that it should be.
CHETRY: Very interesting. Polly Labarre, thank you.
LABARRE: Thank you.
CHETRY: John. ROBERTS: Could be another day of waiting for American Airlines passengers. We'll tell you why the airline may be canceling more flights coming up. There's a shot at La Guardia this morning. Down there in Dallas it's worse. People actually had to sleep in the airport overnight.
And a brutal beating that was caught on tape. Police say the tape was destined for the Internet. We'll talk with the victim's mother and the sheriff involved in the case ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 56 minutes after the hour. The whole world will be watching today. The Olympic torch relay hits the streets of San Francisco. Demonstrators are protesting China's human rights record, it's policies on Tibet and Darfur. There have been protests around the world that greeted this torch relay. And some members of Congress are calling on President Bush to skip the opening ceremonies in Beijing.
Well, we've been talking about the Olympic protests all morning. It brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. We said would a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremony pressure China to change its human rights policies? And well, we got some interesting answers today. 34% of you say yes. Look at this though, 66% say no. Keep casting your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll tally the votes throughout the morning.
Also, we've been asking for your e-mails as well. Read a couple for you this morning. Dennis from Spokane, Washington, says "not only should our President not attend the opening ceremonies, he should not go to communist China at all."
CHETRY: And Sayota from Cooksville, Tennessee, writes "I think a boycott of the Olympics will not stop China's human rights violations, but a boycott of goods made in China might get them to think about how they treat human beings. It's our dollars that we can speak the loudest with. Buy American if possible and let's see what happens.
ROBERTS: And Francis from Lemarque, Texas says, "these protests are very important, but I don't believe the Olympics should be used to air grievances. Let the athletes show their greatness."
Keep them coming, folks. We'll read more in the next hour.
CHETRY: And thanks for your input this morning. You're watching the most news this morning. Still ahead, American Airlines canceling more flights today. We're going to tell what you they're doing to help out stranded customers, and again if you're traveling today, you may want to call ahead.
Also, a girl viciously attacked by a group of her teens, she thought she was friends with. The cameras rolled the whole time. What exactly happened here, and are there lessons to be learned for other parents? We're going to speak to her mother, find out how she's doing, and also the sheriff in this case. Will these kids possibly face charges, felony charges as adults because of this tape and because of what they did. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: More time. The top general in Iraq heads back to Capitol Hill.
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS: The progress made since last spring is fragile and reversible.
ROBERTS: His advice for the next moves on the ground.
Five bullies on MySpace. Six teenage girls in a brutal beating they captured on tape. What all parents should know.
Plus, got milk? How concerned should you be about hormones in milk? And your family's health. On this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It's the 9th of April. It's a Wednesday. John Roberts along with Kiran Chetry. Also coming up this hour, the author of "War and Decision," a brand new book out. Douglas Feight, he was the number three guy at the Pentagon during the runoff for the Iraq war and thereafter. Let's ask him some tough questions about the Iraq war, where we are now and how we got there?
CHETRY: We'll hear more from him ahead of today's testimony. They're all back on the Hill today. And meanwhile, there's some breaking news out of Iraq. The number of people killed rising again in Baghdad, seven now including three children, reportedly killed in fighting as the city marks the fifth anniversary since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Witnesses says Baghdad's green zone is also under attack again, reporting sightings of seeing black smoke rising, also a mortar or a rocket hitting the heavily guarded area, home to the Iraqi government as well as the U.S. embassy.
And this comes as the city is on lock down. No cars allowed in today. the powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr threatens more violence. So, with all of that as his back drop, the top U.S. commander in Iraq is asking Congress for more time. General David Petraeus will be on Capitol Hill for day two of his Iraq war report.
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