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American Morning
Details on Polygamist Ranch in Texas; Gas Prices Hit New Record; White House May Boycott Olympics Opening Ceremonies
Aired April 09, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: No cars allowed in today as powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatens more violence. So with all of that as his 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 in just an hour from now. And this time, the House gets its turn. The general telling senators yesterday there's been significant but uneven security progress in Iraq.
Petraeus says that al-Qaeda in Iraq and a number of other extremist elements have been dealt serious blows but that doesn't mean that the troops can come home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE, 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)
CHETRY: Well, the general did call for a pause in troop withdrawals after the current surge draw down is complete this summer.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning. Disturbing details of what may have been going on at that Polygamist ranch in Texas. Court documents describe rampant sexual and physical abuse on the ranch. A total of 416 children are now in the care of the State of Texas. Many of them are pregnant.
And today the leaders of the polygamist sect are going to be in court. They say that the search of their compound is unconstitutional. AMERICAN MORNING's Ed Lavandera is live for us this morning in Eldorado, Texas with the latest.
Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Well, the 16-year-old teenager at the center of this investigation, the polygamist compound in Eldorado, Texas, is described as the seventh wife of an adult male inside of the ranch. But investigators in these court documents also lay out the difficulty in their investigation saying that many of the children are unable or unwilling to identify their own parents. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Child abuse investigators allege in newly-released court documents that every child inside the YFZ compound was at risk of physical and sexual abuse. The investigators say a culture of adult men marrying teenage girls once they reached child-bearing age is rampant.
MARLEIGH MEISNER, TEXAS CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: We also have a couple of people on board that are working with us that are really helping us with the therapeutic needs of these children. They're very familiar with the issues that go into the people that live within this compound.
LAVANDERA: Investigators also detailed the plight of an unknown 16-year-old girl. The court records say the teenage girl called a family violence shelter saying she was being held against her will and wanted to escape. She reported the court record say that the adult man she married beat and hurt her whenever he got angry. And then if she tried to leave, she would be found and locked up.
But at the end of the phone calls, investigators say the girl began crying and she said everything she said should be forgotten. Despite removing 416 children from the ranch, child abuse investigators still haven't identified the teenage caller.
Since authorities raided the compound last Thursday, the air space above it was closed, but not anymore.
As we fly over the compound here, you can see the large temple and the beautiful grounds that around it, well manicured. As we come around one side of the temple here, you see one part of the building surrounded by cars. Those are all the law enforcement authorities that have been searching this 1,600 acre ranch since last Thursday.
(on camera): The only way to see what's going on inside the polygamous compound is to fly over it. They've never allowed anyone in. In fact, since they started moving in four years ago, every time pilots would fly over, they'd say that they'd see people scattering for cover, that they didn't want to be seen. Today it's at a standstill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: John, we're able to speak with a source close to the leadership of the compound in Eldorado, and they describe themselves as angered over the way this investigation has been handled and they also say they don't understand how the search for one child can lead to the wholesale round-up of every child inside the ranch.
John?
ROBERTS: Did those folks have any explanation for why there were so many pregnant teenaged girls?
LAVANDERA: We haven't heard any explanation for that at this point. That's clearly one of the things the child abuse investigators are pursuing. But, you know, it's been very difficult to get any kind of response or information from the leadership of this compound, especially considering all the details that have emerged in these new court documents.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll be watching the court appearance with great interest today. Ed Lavandera for us in Eldorado, Texas. Ed, thanks very much.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Veronica De La Cruz joins us now with more stories new this morning. Hi, Veronica. Good to see you.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hey, nice to see you both. And good morning to all of you.
They are following the torch this morning and every police officer in San Francisco is on duty today for the Olympic torch relay. Thousands of protesters pushing for a free Tibet and angry with China's human rights policies gathering along this torch route.
Officials hoping to avoid a repeat of a pro-Tibetan anti-China chaos seen in London and Paris. At a candlelight vigil last night, thousands gathered, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu and actor, Richard Gere, calling for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies in Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD GERE, ACTOR: This one day the Chinese leadership wakes up and they blink their eyes, as if coming out of an enchantment, and they look at each other and they go, oh, my God, what have we done?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Today's relay is the only North American leg for the flame. 79 torchbearers will carry it along San Francisco's Water Front. But the route could change if demonstrators get too close.
Getting the message during a crisis. According to "USA Today," the government is building a nationwide cell phone alert system. It would send text messages to phones and other devices during an emergency. Officials say the FCC will set up technical standards and other requirements that will make the system possible. The report says all four major national cell phone providers -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel and T-mobile, will all be on board.
Gas prices hitting a new record this morning. The new average price for a gallon of self-serve regular is $3.34. That's according to AAA. That's up 55 cents from last year.
And in London, a real-life Star Wars battle. The man who made the storm trooper helmets for the original 1977 "Star Wars" movie is being sued by Lucas Film for copyright violation. He's making replicas from the original mold and selling them for up to $1,000 a piece. Lucas Film won nearly $20 million in a similar lawsuit here in the U.S.
And that is what is new this morning. I'll send it back to John and Kiran. Apparently, this costume designer marched the storm troopers into the courtroom just to kind of make his case. Making the judge really, really uncomfortable.
ROBERTS: I'm sure. I mean, you ever been to a "Star Wars" convention? It's kind of getting uncomfortable with that sort of stuff.
CHETRY: You can't follow all the icons (INAUDIBLE).
ROBERTS: I'm just reading here. This guy designed the storm trooper helmets. He made 50 helmets for the original 1977 film. Guess how much money he made for making those 50 helmets.
DE LA CRUZ: It was something ludicrous.
ROBERTS: 50 bucks apiece. $2,500.
DE LA CRUZ: But Lucas Film is saying that they had a team of designers. But he is saying -- the designer is saying I own the copyright. Therefore I should be able (INAUDIBLE) replicas.
ROBERTS: Everybody else get points on that original movie except the poor guy that made the storm troopers.
DE LA CRUZ: So he's going to counter sue actually. And he wants a portion of the merchandising revenue, which has lawyer says estimated $24 billion. So we'll have to see what happens.
ROBERTS: 2,500 bucks or $24 billion.
CHETRY: Veronica, thanks.
ROBERTS: But apparently, he lost $20 million already, right?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Not sure about that. We're going to follow this on court.
ROBERTS: All right, thanks.
CHETRY: Well, today could be another rough day for travelers on American Airlines. More passengers could be stranded at airports. At least two flights scheduled from Dallas to Tampa had to be canceled this morning. And there you see pictures of people spending the night at the airport, doing whatever they can to try to make themselves comfortable. Not fun.
There are some people sleeping on cots. The airline canceled close to 500 flights yesterday to check the wiring on its MD-80 planes. Americans says it will try to arrange other flights for travelers and also foot the bill for meals, hotels, and ground transportation.
Our Rob Marciano at the weather update desk right now with a little more. So if it's not the weather, it's the wiring. But boy, some headaches for travelers today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: The high cost of medical mistakes. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying in hospitals and their deaths could have been prevented. We're paging our Dr. Gupta, just ahead.
CHETRY: Behind the shocking tape. Teen range. A girl cornered and beaten while other girls rolled the camera. What drives kids to the extreme? The victim's mother speaks out.
Gossip, bullying, and revenge in the age of the Internet, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, a 16-year-old girl in Lakeland, Florida, viciously beaten by a gang of her classmates. They taped the attack, police say, and then planned to post it online. Police say that the girls knocked her unconscious, and then when she woke up, the beating started again.
And in fact, they say that there were some boys involved as well. One of them possibly acting as lookout. All eight faced charges of battery and false imprisonment. These are felony charges. Talisa Lindsay is the mother of the teen who was attacked. And Grady Judd is the sheriff of Polk County, Florida. Both of them joins us this morning.
Thanks for joining us.
SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: Good morning, too.
TALISA LINDSAY, MOTHER OF ATTACKED TEEN: Good morning.
CHETRY: I'm sorry it's under these circumstances, Talisa. This is a very upsetting situation no doubt for your family. But also for the many people who saw this tape that was released by the sheriff's department. First of all, tell us how your daughter is doing this morning.
LINDSAY: She's still recovering at this point. She's going to be going back to the doctor's again today. When she's lying down on the left side of her face now, apparently, there is still some blood that was underneath the skin and the cheek that's now starting to surface. And the swelling in the cheek is starting to come back again when she lays on that side.
CHETRY: So she has that, as well as some hearing loss and also some blurred vision?
LINDSAY: Correct. On the left side, where she took I guess the big scent of the blow on that side.
CHETRY: Now, also emotionally, what is she going through? What is she telling you about how she's feeling about this situation? LINDSAY: Well, she's feeling angry. She's feeling hurt. Part of it is she feels like she's still completely being victimized with the whole situation. But, you know, the more people that support her -- we had family and some friends and some close co-workers of mine yesterday that sent her flowers from where I used to work and just said, you know, I'm sorry, I can't believe this. You know, we support you, we love you.
And when she walked in and saw that, just the look on her face was enough that I knew that, you know, part of my (INAUDIBLE) that I love came back.
CHETRY: And Sheriff Judd, let me ask you about this. First of all, you made the decision to release this tape. Why did you do that? Or the department?
JUDD: In Florida, it's a public record. So this tape would become public. You know, we didn't really want to do that because in a perverted sense, we were feeding into exactly what the kids wanted, although the end result for them certainly was not what they wanted.
But according to Florida law, that is public record. And it's going to be in the public domain whether we agree with that or not.
CHETRY: So, let's talk a little bit about what is possibly facing these youngsters. Only one of them is 18. There were four involved that are 17 years old and one of them as young as 14.
Do you know yet what charges they're going to be facing and whether it's going to be as an adult?
JUDD: I can tell you that we have all of the kids locked up in juvenile detention now facing felony charges of false imprisonment, felony battery, and three of them are also charged with kidnapping. My detectives will met this morning with State Attorney Jerry Hill and his team to decide on whether they stay in the juvenile system or whether or not he binds them over for adult court.
I'll certainly respect his decision, and it is his decision. But we will take the complete investigation to him this morning for them to begin the analysis, and they will render a decision and allow us to know that within probably the next few days.
CHETRY: You know, the tape was shocking and disturbing, you know, on its own, just watching it. But then also there appears to be a real lack of remorse. Some of the discussions that were taking place, I guess, when you guys were talking to them at the courthouses. Does this mean I'm not going to be able to make cheerleading practice tomorrow?
And in fact, one of the mothers said something along the lines of, well, I don't see why she would write what she did on her MySpace page? If she wasn't going to back it up. How does that factor in to the decision that you guys are making about charges?
JUDD: Well, certainly, it factors in to the decision. I can tell you that some parents were remorseful. The kids really were not. They were laughing and joking about I guess we won't get to go to the beach during spring break. And one, as you said, asked whether she could go to cheerleading practice.
That one mother that was interviewed said what she said and that was appalling to us. But it's important to note that her child does not live with her but lives with a grandmother who is cooperating in this investigation and is very upset.
CHETRY: And Talisa, I mean, it must be devastating as a parent not only for this to happen, but to wonder is there anything I could have done. Were there were warning signs and is there anything that other parents can take away from this situation? I mean, these girls, for the most part where your daughter's friends, at least she thought.
LINDSAY: You know, we try to be aware of our children's life besides what they have at home. But we can only, you know, take face value for what they tell us and what they want to share with us, basically.
Just spend more time with your kids. And don't let something like this make it where you think, you know, what can I do, what was it that I didn't do, because a lot of times society speaks for itself.
You know, these kids are I feel lashing out because it's their trend. They see everything on the -- you know, the Internet, the medias of people beating the snot out of each other and they think it's funny. And in a sense, it's just warped their minds to think, well, I'll be the next one to do it.
CHETRY: And how about the MySpace usage and the computer? Is that going to change in your household?
LINDSAY: Oh, absolutely. As a matter of fact, my husband made a good point this morning that I'd forgotten about. But even last year, of course we've gotten a new computer since then. We had actually e- mailed MySpace trying to get them to delete our daughter's MySpace just because at that time we didn't really feel comfortable with it.
We didn't know -- the reason we didn't feel comfortable with it was because when we put parental controls on our computer, our child was still able to go past that and still get on that site. Well, once they do that, we can't really protect them.
And our children can put things on there, of course, that we won't know about. Because it is protected by password protected, and so therefore, we can't go on it unless they want to share that password. But anyhow, you know, they can put false information about themselves out there that leads to a bigger and wider expanse of, you know, sexual predators, just you know nonsense like that that just put our kids as victims.
CHETRY: Well, we're hoping for the best for your daughter and hope that she gets over this both physically and emotionally, Talisa Lindsay. And Sheriff Grady Judd, good luck with this investigation. Hopefully, justice is served in this case. Thanks for being with us. JUDD: Thank you so much. Have a great day.
LINDSAY: Thank you.
ROBERTS: There's a whole lot of young people who use this very irresponsibly. But for some, you know, there's a whole paradigm shift between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. What's right and what's wrong. Wow.
CHETRY: And as you said, it's password protected and there are many, many parents out there that have no idea what this virtual world is, what MySpace is, what Facebook is, or what actually goes on online with their kids.
ROBERTS: You got to -- she said you got to talk to your kids. Get them to open up to you and trust you. That's the only way to do it.
It's 20 minutes after the hour. For the first time he hinted the White House may consider a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies. At an on-camera briefing, CNN directly asked White House spokeswoman Dana Perino whether the president would skip it. Listen to her response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA PERINO, White House PRESS SECRETARY: We haven't provided any schedules on the president's trip.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Does that leave the door open to the president not attending the opening ceremonies but attending some of the games?
PERINO: I would put it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Perino added that President Bush made it clear that the Olympics are for the athletes and pressuring China before, during and after the Games is the best way to help the Chinese and the Tibetans.
That brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Would a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies pressure China to change its human rights policies? Right now, 34 percent of you say yes, it would be effective, and 66 percent say no.
Cast your vote for us this morning at cnn.com/am. And we want your e-mails as well. Give us your thoughts on this. Drop us a line at cnn.com/am and let us know what you think.
And, you know, just looking through some of what we've got so far, a lot of people are saying, hey, don't boycott the Olympics, boycott the sponsors, which I guess...
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. (INAUDIBLE) corporate sponsors. ROBERTS: Corporate sponsors may be worried about that.
VELSHI: Now, there's certainly no sense that I know that this is what would happen, but you know that some of these big sponsors are thinking about this. They're concerned about it.
Some of the biggest sponsors of the Olympics are the companies. You would think they are Coca-Cola, General Electric, Lenovo, which is the company that took over computer manufacturing from IBM, and Samsung.
We've got some statements from some of them. Coca-Cola is expressing deep concern for the situation on the ground in Tibet, but says it firmly believes -- and this is the interesting point -- that the Olympics are a force for good. It says that it has witnessed first hand the cultural, economic and social benefits that accrue to the country, the host city and country.
Lenovo has just said that it is a vital part of their brand worldwide to be associated with the Olympics. And by the way, Lenovo is a Chinese company that took over. So, your IBM ThinkPads are now Lenovo ThinkPads.
General Electric has said that GE is transparent about its human rights policies. And the key there is that the sponsorship money that comes from companies actually funds teams that would otherwise not get to go. GE says we think consumers get that.
But the tipping point here is when people start to associate what they think China is doing incorrectly in Tibet with the company. That's where the companies have to sit there and rethink their strategy if they do. But these are big, massive, multimillion-dollar contracts that are not easy to unwind. So, you know that they're having these discussions.
ROBERTS: You know, when you look at this in the context of where we are in the world today, it's not just sponsorships of the Olympics or the Olympics in general. The American manufacturing economy is so indelibly intertwined with China.
VELSHI: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Do you stop at the Olympics or do you...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Is the Olympics the place to do that?
CHETRY: That's what a lot of our e-mailers are saying this morning. Forget the opening ceremonies, how about the products.
VELSHI: Right. And that's where it becomes very complicated because it is intertwined. It's just not a matter that we can necessarily stop at, but at least it's got everybody thinking about what do we do now that it has come to broader light.
CHETRY: Right. Brought the issue to the forefront.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: So, we'll be talking a lot more about this in the days to come. Keep it right here to learn about issue no. 1, the economy. Join Ali, Gerri Willis, the CNN money team for "ISSUE #1," noon Eastern, right here on CNN and online at cnnmoney.com.
CHETRY: There are some disturbing details on the danger of medical mistakes and how you can prevent them. We're paging Dr. Gupta.
Hi, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Kiran.
Almost 250,000 preventable deaths every year. Those are some new numbers. I'll tell you how they arrived at these new numbers. And everyone is saying it's unacceptable, but who is to blame and more importantly, what can you do about it to protect yourself. We're investigating. We'll have it for you. Sure to have it on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHANDRIKA NARAYAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gavin Hudson came to South Korea to teach, but what he's learned here is a lesson the West has yet to fully embrace.
In this densely-populated country, recycling is not a generous option anymore, but a way of life.
GAVIN HUDSON, ECOWORLDLY.COM: We have our garbage bag, which is a green garbage bag which you buy at the store. Just like some bags or any old bag that you can get from the store. You have a compost in the yellow bag. Compost recycling and garbage will go to the (INAUDIBLE) to be picked up by the garbage, recycling, and compost departments of the city.
NARAYAN: Hudson sorts his trash every Thursday for recycling pick-up. This scene is very common all across South Korea. It's the law, and those who don't must pay a fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Recycling and composting is really taken quite seriously at all of the restaurants and even at all of the community centers.
NARAYAN: Every household, business, and even schools have to sort their trash. The municipal waste management trucks picks up the recycling items free of charge. Citizens have to purchase government- issued trash bags at a cost of 40 cents per bag for the unrecycleable trash, nonfood trash, and food scraps. This pay-as-you-throw program creates a direct economic incentive to recycle more and waste less. The government reports the daily recycling rate grew 175 percent to more than 24,000 tons in the ten years after the recycling program began in 1994.
Chandrika Narayan, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 29 minutes after the hour. And shocking news about your safety in the hospital. New research shows more than 250,000 people died from medical mistakes in the two years between 2004 and 2006. But many of those deaths could have been prevented.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is at the medical update desk for us this morning.
Sanjay, when you look at the raw numbers, that's three times the number of people that died from breast cancer in that same time period, about the same number that died from lung cancer. Yet, we don't hear anywhere near as much about medical mistakes as we do those cancers.
GUPTA: Well, I think we're hearing a lot more about medical mistakes than we used to. These numbers, obviously, are higher than any reported numbers in the past. The Institute of Medicine sort of studied this extensively about 10 years ago and said there maybe was about 100,000 preventable deaths every year, as you said.
This particular new report coming from Health Grades says the number is almost 2 1/2 times, at 250,000. So, I think a lot of people are starting to pay attention -- the types of mistakes. We're talking about everything from something known as failure to rescue, which is any kind of adverse event leading to death in a hospital to bedsores, to objects being left in wounds during surgery. So, all sorts of different mistakes.
The way they arrive at these numbers, John, they looked at 41 million Medicare patients and they studied them over a couple of years looking at the number of mistakes. Take a look at some of the things I found most interesting when we called all these data together. We found that mistakes overall occurred in about 3 percent of hospital admissions. Again, this is based on this one study.
If you have one of these mistakes, you have about a 1 in 5 chances of dying from it. The top hospitals, hospitals that are particularly experienced in procedures, 43 percent less likely to have those errors. So, that was all potentially the sort of gist of what the study said. Now, not everyone has sort of endorsed the study. There's an agency for health care quality and research. They're not officially endorsing this report saying these numbers may not be an accurate reflection overall of, you know, how things stand right now and that the hospitals are doing in trying to curb some of these mistakes. JOHN ROBERTS, CNN, ANCHOR: All right. Sanjay Gupta for us this morning. Sanjay, thanks very much. Hopefully more will get done now that is becoming and better know. All right. Sanjay, thanks.
GUPTA: Thank you.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: He was a major power player at the Pentagon, the number three guy when the U.S. went into Iraq. More than five years later, he's not budging on the decision to go to war. We're going to ask him why next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. You know, in just a minute, we're going to be hearing more from a guy who was there front and center when the Iraq war began and still today, five years later, the news out of Iraq is topping our show today.
ROBERTS: Yes. Doug Feith, the number three guy at the Pentagon, coming right up. First of all, breaking news out of Iraq, though. Witnesses say Baghdad's green zone is under attack again. They say a mortar or a rocket hit the heavily guarded area, home to the Iraqi government and U.S. embassy. Seven people are reported dead in Baghdad's Sadr City area after fighting there. Baghdad is on lockdown, no cars allowed in today. Powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada Al Sadr is threatening more violence as the city marks five years now since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Douglas Feith was one of the main architects of the war in Iraq. He was the number three man at the Pentagon, as we said, the former undersecretary for policy under Donald Rumsfeld. He has been a lightning rod for criticism of how the U.S. went to war in Iraq. But in his new book, "War and Decision -- inside the Pentagon at the dawn of the war on terrorism," he offers few if any apologies.
I sat down with Feith to talk about his book and the decisions that took the U.S. to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You write in your book that the administration's number one concern post 9/11 was to prevent the next terrorist attack from happening. And a question that many people have had since the Iraq war was, what was the clear and present danger that Saddam Hussein presented to the American homeland?
DOUGLAS FEITH, FORMER UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, Saddam Hussein was part of the broader international network, and after 9/11, what we were focused on in preventing the next attack was not just the group that had done 9/11 but the whole network from which another attack might come.
ROBERTS: You mentioned weapons of mass destruction in the book, in the photo section of the book, you show a picture of Colin Powell at the United Nations. And I was at the United Nations for that speech and you write, "although Powell's speech presented a broad rationale for action against Iraq, it emphasized the CIA's intelligence on WMD stockpiles undermining the administration's credibility when those stockpiles could not be found." You seem to down play the role of weapons of mass destruction in the case for war, but were they not the keystone?
FEIGHT: There was a serious WMD problem, but it was an extremely serious error for the administration to rely on the erroneous intelligence. It was sincerely believed. I don't think people have said it was a lie. It was not a lie. People since, I think, Colin Powell sincerely believed the intelligence reports that he presented to the U.N..
ROBERTS: I also accompanied the marines in the initial invasion in March of 2003, and to a person, from the commanding officer of the unit that I was with, all the way down to the enlisted men, they said we don't have enough guys.
FEITH: Fundamentally, General Franks decided what he needed. What Secretary Rumsfeld was concerned about was he didn't, he wanted to make sure that we were not weakening ourselves around the world any more than, you know, was necessary to allocate the resources for Iraq. But I don't think there was any question that he would have given General Franks whatever troop levels General Franks said were necessary for the operation.
ROBERTS: The inspector general of the Department of Defense singled you out for what he called, "inappropriate action for writing up alternative intelligence assessments that were, "inconsistent with the intelligence community's consensus view."" Were you cherry- picking intelligence?
FEITH: What we did in my office was we looked at some of this intelligence that now everybody knows was wrong. In fact, one of the main points of interest about the book that various people have highlighted was the memorandum that Secretary Rumsfeld and his team did to highlight for the President everything that could go wrong in the event of war. I mean, that, in fact --
ROBERTS: What, you called -- the so-called parade of horribles.
FEITH: Exactly.
ROBERTS: And in fact, we have a graphic of that. You warned, Syria and Iran could end up helping our enemies in Iraq, the U.S. could become so absorbed with Iraq that we would pay inadequate attention to other problems including other proliferation of terrorism, post-Saddam stabilization and reconstruction efforts could not take just two to four years but eight to 10 years, the terrorist network could improve their recruiting and fund raising as the result of the U.S. invasion and Iraq could experience ethnic strife among Kurds, Sunnis and Shias. You were basically batting 1,000 on that memo. So, why was it a surprise when it all happened and why was it not more accurately planned?
FEITH: Let me just make a point that that memo, which was an extremely serious effort to bring to the President's attention all the considerations that would argue against going to war, is the perfect refutation of the point about cherry-picking and intelligence.
ROBERTS: Douglas Feith, thanks very much for being with us today. Good to see you. The book is called "War and Decision, inside the Pentagon at the dawn of the war on terrorism." Good to have you join us. Thanks for coming in.
FEITH: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: We had to cut it down to air but we actually talked to Douglas Feith at length about 15 minutes' time, and you can watch the entire interview online. It will be up there very shortly on at cnn.com/am. We talked about a whole lot more than we had time to put on the air this morning. A very interesting conversation.
CHETRY: That's the beauty of cnn.com. Right?
ROBERTS: Right. What we don't use here, gets used on dot.com.
CHETRY: Exactly. Well, just in this morning, could be some help for struggling home owners, a Senate bill to help ease the housing crisis getting closer to passing. The Bush administration is planning to announce more help for homeowners today as well. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here to help break it down for all of us. Good to see you this morning.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: You have to have a scorecard these days to keep up. CNN confirming this morning the administration will announce a plan, an expansion of an existing program, called FHA Secure to help folks who are under water in their mortgages. Now, the estimate that that plan could help as many as 100,000 people. The administration has been under fire for not doing more to help individuals affected by the mortgage crisis compared to what they've done for business, industry, involved in the mortgage crisis. But it's certainly not just the administration involved in this.
The Senate yesterday debating its own bill to help folks involved in the mortgage meltdown. Parts of that bill would give money to communities to help them refab homes hit in the mortgage crisis, clean up foreclosures, also tax breaks for home builders. The bill is chockablock full of all kinds of different proposals. However, Senator Arlen Specter yesterday called the bill a crumb that won't do anything or very little, indeed, to help people affected by the mortgage meltdown.
Senator Chris Dodd shot back, defending the bill. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), BANKING CHAIRMAN: We had our first meetings on this matter in March of last year, trying to get something done on it. I'm not going to take a back seat to anyone who's discovered this issue in the last couple of days, and how much they care about it. I've been at it for 13 month, on trying to get something moving in this area. And so we're doing some things here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIS: Tempers flying in the Senate yesterday in the debate over this bill. Dodd says the bill is not perfect, but he thinks that it's certainly adequate for what needs to be done, Kiran.
CHETRY: And then there's also a House version coming up to counter this, as well. They're working on one.
WILLIS: Yes. The House will be debating this as well. They have a cast of thousand, it seems, coming into this hearing this afternoon to discuss the House versions of this. Charlie Rangel, Representative Charlie Rangel came out with the bill Tuesday, that picks up with the House out of the Senate version, and of course, Barney Frank's bill, which has gotten so much press. This bill, it would refinance at-risk borrowers into affordable mortgages. The price tag of that $300 billion. It would require lenders to write down loans to 85 percent of today's value. That, of course, not controversial, but Barney Frank has managed to get support from a number of different areas. It will be interesting to watch this debate unfold.
CHETRY: That one is controversial you're saying.
WILLIS: It's all controversial right now. Obviously, Barney Frank has been talking to people in the industry for sometime about how to fix this. They, many of them have signed on. There's been some opposition to the administration, obviously the administration out with its own version of this which differs in some important and technical ways.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we'll keep our eye on all of this. Hopefully something will get done because there certainly are...
WILLIS: Hopefully something will get done because Barney Frank said, they've been talking about this for 13 months. They're still waiting.
CHETRY: Chris Dodd wants something right now. All right. Thanks a lot.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
ROBERTS: Well, first they're pumped into cows. Then they end up in you. Concerns about hormones in milk and the possible health risks associated with it. Coming right up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: If you're flying American Airlines, it is definitely a day to call ahead. American is canceling more flights today after close to 500 were held yesterday for inspections on MD-80 planes. At least two flights from Dallas to Tampa were canceled this morning. The FAA wants American to look at wiring on the aircraft. American says it's going to try to arrange other flights for travelers and foot the bill for meals, hotels and ground transportation for those flyers inconvenienced. It looks like it's the least they can do.
CHETRY: That's right, including the cots that we saw many of the poor people at Dallas-Ft. Worth lying on.
ROBERTS: Hey, no charge for those.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly. Thin, narrow blankets.
Well, it's supposed to do a body good, but now there are some health concerns about hormones in milk. In fact, there are some big department stores -- rather supermarkets -- that are selling hormone- free milk only, things like Kroger -- Kroger I think it is? OK, Kroger, Safeway and Wal-Mart. I can pronounce Wal-mart. That's a good thing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now with more on this. So, hormone-free milk meaning not added. I mean, all cows have hormones in them, obviously, but there is this push on to make sure that you're drinking milk or giving your children milk that has the least amount of additives and chemicals as possible.
GUPTA: I mean that's the goal. A lot of consumer advocates and a lot of concerned parents say, look, we don't want to have milk from cows that have had additional growth hormone given to them. Now, the reason they get the additional growth hormone is they make more milk. And the question is, is that a problem, is that some sort of health detriment, especially to growing children. Now, to be fair here, the science that we've looked at basically says there's not enough research actually out there right now to show that there is a detriment, but there is a huge concern, as you mentioned. Wal-mart is one of the stores that now is going to sell only milk that doesn't have growth hormone added. Kroger, as well as Safeway, even Starbucks.
There are specific concerns with this -- if you give growth hormone to these cows, what does it do to the milk? Some say that overall it increases the likelihood of developing cancer in the long run. Some animal studies have proven this, but not any human studies, to be fair. There is also the concern about increased antibiotic resistance because these cows end up getting more antibiotics as well. Now, we've talked to the FDA, Kiran. We've talked to the American Cancer Society, asked them specifically about this, and again, they say we recognize that there's a huge concern out there, but based on the existing science today, there is no specific increased cancer risk.
And as far as substance that you'll see known as IGF-1, which is what your body essentially makes in response to the growth hormone, the amount that you may absorb is very tiny. In fact, they say, you have to drink 95 quarts a day to have a significant effect. So, concerns, not a lot of science there but still the movement is growing, Kiran.
CHETRY: There's also talk or concern among parents that perhaps the hormones in milk may accelerate puberty in girls. Is there any scientific evidence to that data?
GUPTA: I was very concerned about that as well. And we actually did some digging. You know, this was sort of based on survey of about 17,000 girls and what they found generationally was that puberty seems to be occurring earlier than in generations past. The question was why. One of the possible culprits pointed to at that point was milk and more specifically, the growth hormone that's being added to milk -- or being added to the cows. Again, the science really doesn't back that up specifically.
What you're looking at -- take a look at that label. Maybe hard for you to read but at the very bottom of that it says there's no milk being treated with rbST. That stands for recombinant bovine somadotropin. That is the label that you need to see if you want to be convinced that your milk in fact doesn't have this growth hormone in it.
CHETRY: It costs a little more, as do organic milk, and a lot of people are doing that regardless of whether the research shows any difference, at least at this point.
GUPTA: Yes. I think the prices will come down a little bit with all this -- again, so many more stores offering it.
CHETRY: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, good to see you. Thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran. All right.
ROBERTS: 48 minutes after the hour. CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away and Tony Harris is at the CNN Center with a look at what lies ahead. Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: John, good morning to you. And good morning, everyone. A fast-paced Wednesday shaping up for you in the CNN NEWSROOM. Incoming fire for the Iraq war commander. This time from house lawmakers. Live coverage in minutes. General David Petraeus calling for a pause in troop withdrawals.
The Olympic torch relay set to draw protesters to be sure to the streets of San Francisco this afternoon. Live coverage on CNN.
Flying American today? Delays. The airline reinspecting wires. Were done two weeks ago. Was it done properly, perhaps? Stay informed, all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Minutes away at the top of the hour on CNN. John, back to you.
ROBERTS: Important question to be asking today. Tony, thanks very much.
More people vote for "American Idol" than vote for president of the United States. Tonight, the vote to make a difference. What happens to the money raised in the second annual "Idol gives back?" Our Lola Ogunnaike shows us next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eight minutes to the top of the hour. "American Idol's" "Idol gives back" show airs tonight. But where does all that money really go? Our Lola Ogunnaike takes us backstage with the stars of tonight's show.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The celebrities came out in full force. Miley, Crash, Snoop and Reese. Fergie even flipped for the cause. A slimmed-down Mariah Carey kept her feet on the ground, but she let her voice soar. Robin Williams put on a Russian accent and brought the laughs. And none of the jokes had anything to do with his shirt.
RYAN SEACREST, HOST, AMERICAN IDOL: what kind of television shows do they have back home?
ROBIN WILLIAMS, ACTOR: In Russia, we had many shows like yours. We have the quiz show "Meal or not Meal." We have "survivor Siberia," and my favorite show, "So you think you can drink?"
OGUNNAIKE: Last year's concert raised $76 million. This year they're hoping to rake in a lot more.
JOSH GROBAN, SINGER: You raise me up to more than I can be.
OGUNNAIKE: The money goes to charities like "Malaria No More," "The Boys & Girls Club of America," and "Save the Children."
MARK SHRIVER, VP., MANAGING DIRECTOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN: One in six children live in poverty in the United States. When you have a show like "American Idol" raising putting a spotlight on poverty in this country, it makes a big difference to our work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And what are some of the other charities that benefit from this "Idol Gives Back" as well?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, "Save the children" last year received more than $14 million, and much of that money went to help 10,000 kids who were victims of the wildfires in California last year. Also "Malaria No More" received $6 million last year. So, you think it's this cheesy singing show, but it actually manages to do a lot of good, John. I guess they're atoning for inflicting Sanjaya upon the world. And then also this year -- there was some concern last year that too many organizations abroad were benefiting and not enough domestic organizations are benefiting. So they've added "Make it right," which is Brad Pitt's campaign that helps Hurricane Katrina victims and also the "Children's Defense Fund."
ROBERTS: How do people contribute during the show?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, you log on to idolgivesbackfoundation.org or you call 1-877-IDOL AID. And it's all tax deductible as well.
ROBERTS: All right. Make sure though that you Tivo that and watch it in the middle of the night after you finish watching CNN.
OGUNNAIKE: Exactly. Always. ROBERTS: All right. Lola, thanks very much.
OGUNNAIKE: Good to know.
ROBERTS: Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, still ahead, our CNN viewers sound off. Would a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies really force China to change its tune? We're reading some of your e-mails up next.
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CHETRY: Well, they're getting ready in San Francisco today for the Olympic torch relay and the protesters that are due to come out for that. We're also asking today what you think about whether a boycott of the Olympic opening ceremonies would do any good pressuring China to change its human rights policies. You guys, have been pretty consistent all morning. 32 percent of you saying yes. 68 percent saying no. You don't think it would make a difference. We've also been asking for your e-mails as well. Let's read a few now.
Stephanie from Burlington, New Jersey says that "a boycott of the sponsors would be more effective. I will not be purchasing any of the sponsored products."
ROBERTS: Morris from Monterey, California writes, "what's with all of the protests about China in the Olympics. We're shocked... shocked... that there are human right abuses is China! If you want to protest something, try the International Olympic Committee, which awarded the games to China in the first place."
CHETRY: And also, we have Sharon from Toronto, Canada, saying, "no, a boycott of the Olympics will have no effect on China except to anger a sleeping giant. Unfortunately, China is holding the economic cards right now, an important one. The U.S. doesn't dare boycott the games while owing that country billions of dollars." To all of you who voted this morning, thank you.
ROBERTS: She's talking about the fact that China holds an enormous amount of U.S. debt currently.
CHETRY: Right. Absolutely.
Well, here's some great art. It looks like a garbage bag lying on the ground outside of a New York City subway. But get it, "grate" art, subway grate when the subway goes by, the air blows through and it blows up the bag into the shape of a ...
ROBERTS: Let's take a look here.
CHETRY: A giraffe.
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHETRY: A wobbly little newborn giraffe, still having trouble, getting the sea legs. How about it? The creator is an art student. He says the best part is the reaction of New Yorkers.
ROBERTS: Yes. In fact, there was this picture in one of the local newspapers and says, sanitation guy came along and he's going to sweep up the bag and the artist is there saying, "no, no. Just wait until the 6th train passes."
CHETRY: That's pretty mean.
ROBERTS: "you'll see what this actually is."
CHETRY: That's pretty neat. Very creative.
ROBERTS: Very interesting stuff.
CHETRY: I'd pay more for that one than the photo of the smallest woman's back that went for $1.6 million.
ROBERTS: It kind of looks like the pants that Fergie was wearing. There's the sanitation guy right there that was going to sweep it up.
CHETRY: Well, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Glad you were with us and we hope to see you back here tomorrow.
ROBERTS: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Brianna Keilar begins right now.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN, ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. Heidi continues maternity leave.
HARRIS: Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Wednesday, April 9th. Here's what's on the rundown.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: The U.S. commander in Iraq under fire over war strategies. The general taking heat in the House today. We're live in minutes.
HARRIS: The Olympic torch in San Francisco running into protesters. They are angry at Olympic host, China. Live coverage all day. Bothered by the Bay in the NEWSROOM.
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