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American Morning
China Busts Plot to Kidnap Athletes; Tornado Touches Down in the Plains; Record Oil Prices Reaches $112; Olympic Torch Relay Protest Continues; American Airlines Cancels 900 Flights
Aired April 10, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Which is a great way to look at.
Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us.
Breaking news from China this morning. Authorities there say that they busted up a criminal plot to kidnap Olympic athletes during the Summer Games in Beijing. The news comes as the International Olympic Committee presses China on human rights overnight, and the Olympic torch makes a hasty exit from San Francisco.
CNN's John Vause has got the new developments on the kidnap plot for us. He joins us live from Beijing this morning. John, what are they talking about here?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, not a lot of detail about just what was involved in this plot. But according to the Ministry of Public Security, 35 people have been arrested here over the last couple of weeks and they're accused of "planning violent terrorist activities." Authorities say they found jihadist propaganda as well as bomb-making equipment, and they accuse these 35 people of planning to set off explosives in Shanghai, Beijing and other areas. A deliberate attempt, they say, to try and disrupt preparations for the Olympic Games.
All of this happened in the northwest part of China, in Xinjiang Autonomous Region. It's home to about eight million Muslims, known as the Uighurs. This is the same place where in January, police say they arrested 15 men who were also planning on sabotaging the game. The situation in Xinjiang is very similar to Tibet. The Muslims there have been demanding greater autonomy. Some want independence.
But so far in both these plots, both these terror plots, the one in January, the more recent one, authorities here have not provided any evidence or any sources on their information about just what these men were up to, John.
ROBERTS: So, John, should we make anything of the timing of this announcement at the same time that the Olympic Torch Relay is under such protest and also at the same time as the IOC president is beginning to really turn up the heat on Chinese authorities?
VAUSE: Yes, certainly comes at a difficult time for China. One, when they'd like the world's attention to focus on something else because today, the IOC president, the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, had some very blunt words for China pressing this country to keep its word when it comes to human rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUES ROGGE, PRESIDENT, INTL. OLYMPIC CMTE.: Awarding the games to China would advance the social agenda of China, including human rights. And this is what I would call a moral engagement rather than a political one, and we definitely ask China to respect this moral engagement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now, we put this to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today. They acted almost with disbelief. They thought Rogge must have been misquoted. When they finally were pressed for an answer, they quoted the IOC back to itself saying the IOC has always said politics and sports do not mix. It really is a sign of increasing tension and this relationship between Beijing and the IOC, John.
ROBERTS: All right. John Vause for us this morning in Beijing, and obviously a lot of people believing that China was awarded the Olympic Games to try to make some progress in human rights and they haven't seen that yet. So we'll be hearing more about this. And John, we'll come back to you for more on that plot as you uncover more details this morning. Thanks -- Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: We also have some breaking news right here at home, and that's extreme weather right now in the plains. We're going to take a look at the scenes near San Angelo, Texas. This is where possible tornadoes touched down overnight. Seventy mile-an- hour winds reported as well as quarter-sized hail. It tore shingles off of roofs, shattered glass, even flipped over trucks on some of the roads.
In Breckenridge, Texas, about 125 miles west of Dallas, five homes were destroyed. Oklahoma also slammed with heavy rains. Flooding shut down five highways, and there were reports of tornadoes touching down there as well.
Rob Marciano is tracking extreme weather for us from the weather update desk. You know, I guess, you know, if your house is destroyed or you're one of the people who's caught in this, it's neither here nor there whether it was actually a tornado, but they're still deciding, right? They're taking in these reports.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I mean, you can usually see it and say it is, but officially until the National Weather Service goes out there and checks out the damage and assigns it a number, talks about the path and how wide it was, you know, we like to say -- we say possible. You're right. The damage is done and we've got more on the way.
Here is what it looked like as far as the track goes for these particular tornadoes across Texas. Just over the I-20 corridor and just north of Fort Worth, and we've got more to come today.
Look how big this storm is. And guess what? We even have some snow behind us with blizzard warnings in effect today. So let's start with the more immediate concerns here with multiple tornado watches that are out, three in fact for the rest of this morning. The strongest line now moving through Dallas, Texas, and sliding off towards the east, and Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma under the gun now.
Fort Smith, you're about to get hammered with heavy wind and gusty -- and some hail as well. And then a pretty strong cell heading up towards the mid-south of Paducah, Union City, down towards Memphis, Tennessee. So a lot of action on the radar scope this morning, Kiran, and I don't think it's going to end really until tomorrow morning. So another 24 hours of rough weather, and we run the gamut from the threat for tornadoes to blizzard warnings as well this morning. We'll talk more in about 10 minutes.
CHETRY: All right. See you then, Rob. Thank you.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: Five minute after the hour now, and Alina Cho here with other stories new this morning. Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, guys. Good morning to you, and good morning, everybody. New this morning.
President Bush will meet with his top commander in Iraq within the hour, and then he's going to address the nation. The president is expected to announce he will not order any additional troop drawdowns for now. That leaves open the possibility that up to 140,000 U.S. servicemen and women will still be in Iraq when the next president takes office. President Bush will also announce that combat tours will be cut from 15 months to 12 months, but that won't affect the troops already there.
The recommendations come from General David Petraeus, who briefed Congress this week, and you can see the president's Address to the Nation at 11:30 a.m. Eastern time right here on CNN, and, of course, at CNN.com.
Taking to the skies today? Another day of flyer frustration is beginning. American Airlines canceled more than 900 flights scheduled for today, and that means that more than 100,000 people, if not more, are going to be stranded at airports all over the country. Imagine that. American is taking a hard look at the wiring on MD-80 planes and found that 119 of them need repairs. In all, American has canceled more than 2,400 flights in the past three days.
Disturbing new details are out this morning from inside a polygamous ranch in Texas. CNN has identified the shelter where that 16-year-old girl first called for help, and she goes by the name Sarah (ph) apparently. Court documents say she identified 50-year-old Dale Evans Barlow as her husband. She says Barlow beat her, choked her, and forced her to have sex with him. That she has an 8-month-old child and is pregnant again.
Also, investigators say they found a bed inside the group's temple that adult men apparently used to have sex with underage girls immediately after wedding ceremonies. The temple also contained multiple locked safes, vaults and desk drawers that may contain records showing marriages of underage girls as young as 12.
An Ohio man has been indicted on charges he made racially- motivated threats against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Federal prosecutors say the indictment alleges that the suspect targeted African-American males who were in relationships with white females. Justice Thomas' wife is white. The suspect is also charged with threatening to blow up the Supreme Court building and sending threatening communications to athletes and entertainers.
And what would you do if you found 140,000 bucks just lying in the street? Would you give it back? Well, it happened to a guy in California, and guess what he did? The right thing.
Eli Estrada is his name. He's a landscaper. He turned over the money to police. Good for him. So it was a tough decision though because all the cash was unmarked, $20 bills, basically couldn't be traced.
Money apparently fell off a Brink's armored truck. The company thanked him, by the way, with a $2,000 reward. His mom said he should have gotten 10 percent, but he says some people say he should be smacked on the head. Other people say you should be patted on the back. So --
CHETRY: Smacked on the head? That guy is great.
CHO: Oh, I mean, listen, it's a great thing, and he could have really used the money. His mother apparently just moved in with him. He's supporting her. Just started a landscaping business, but he did the right thing. So, you're absolutely right.
ROBERTS: Good for him.
CHO: Yes.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: $2,000 is a little slim.
(CROSSTALK)
CHO: I know. That's what I was saying.
CHETRY: I know. They could have even tripled that a little bit.
ROBERTS: Yes. He certainly could have used the money because gasoline prices up again, and the barrel is here today.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, that's it. Whenever we see my little barrel, we know there's problems. $112.21 is where oil got to yesterday. It's -- you know, we're just -- we're trying to see that trend break a little hundred and we just haven't seen it for a long time, and a lot of estimates about how gasoline prices are going to continue to go higher and how that affects you. Just keep on going up. We've got lots on that when we come back. So I'm going to be telling you about oil prices and how it continues to flow through to the rest of the economy. So you can all stay around and boo me while I'm here. AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi, and here we got the barrel because yesterday oil hit $112.21. That's the highest it's ever hit. Now, fortunately, it came down a little bit to settle at about $110.87. What a discount. And of course, you are seeing that in the price that you're paying for gasoline.
But it's not just the gasoline, which is what people are feeling in their pockets. It's the price of everything else that gets to you. We have spoken a lot about food and sort of everything that's transported to you, but UPS, which says that it moves five percent of the country's goods on a daily basis, is expecting that its quarter is going to be weaker than -- and its rest of the year is going to be weaker than expected for a couple of reasons.
One is, it's costing UPS more in gasoline and while they send those fuel surcharges along to its clients, the fact is those clients are, in fact, shipping less. People are buying less. So that's a big indicator we tend to watch about whether we think people are going to be driving more and how the economy is generally going.
Also, jet fuel costs a great deal of money whenever crude oil goes up. We've seen yet another increase, fare increase attempt by United Airlines. We've seen a lot of those this year generally speaking. Some of them stick and some of them don't. We'll keep an eye on whether this one does.
But what typically happens is that if the fare increase sticks, other airlines start to match it on the same route. So we're looking at yet more expenses for your transportation or anything that you have to ship around today as a result of higher gas prices. This, by the way, was as a result of an inventory report that we get once a week about how much oil was used and how much is left, and there was less left in this last week than we thought. It's just less oil so that obviously shoots the price up.
CHETRY: You know, if we could just lift the curtain for our viewers for a second. You know, in the morning before the show we're gathering information and getting everything together.
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: There were some reports out that made it seem that gas had jumped 35 cents.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right. A very unusual high move.
And you know, it gets everybody going as we should be. CHETRY: But the strange thing is in a crazy environment we've been in, it was somewhat shocking but not necessarily all that shocking.
VELSHI: If the evidence was there which it hasn't been, we continue, by the way, to research this. But if the evidence was there, I certainly would have said, crazy stuff happens these days. That's a big jump though. I don't think it's a 35 cents jump.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: It looked like somebody put the wrong number in.
VELSHI: If you saw an overnight jump that was 3.5 cents that would be highly significant. So 10 times that. We'll check it out. We'll find out where the glitch came from.
ROBERTS: I said to Ali, I said the only way that gasoline could jump that high overnight is if Iran blockaded the Straits of Hormuz.
VELSHI: Right.
ROBERTS: Which again didn't happen. So --
VELSHI: But if it did, we'll tell you.
CHETRY: Knock on wood. All right.
ROBERTS: You got to figure we're getting to the point though where gasoline is so expensive that people will start to drive less, that therefore pressure -- demand on the price of gasoline.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Except that in China and India, they're still serving gas -- So, you know, we'll have to see.
ROBERTS: True.
CHETRY: Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
CHETRY: We're also watching extreme weather in Texas and Oklahoma. These sightings of possible tornadoes touching down overnight. Heavy rain and flooding. Rob is watching a line of severe weather that's on the move right now. Hi, Rob.
MARCIANO: Hi, Kiran. Hi, guys. We have a number of tornado watches still in effect this morning, and I would expect a number more to be posted as we go on through the afternoon. When we come back, we'll break it down for you. Not just tornadoes, not just rain and gusty winds, but also blizzard conditions across parts of the U.S. Weather is coming up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MARCIANO: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're watching this huge storm system roll across the plains, and we've got everything as it taps moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and cold air from Canada. Good chunk of real estate here in the U.S. getting hammered with all sorts of weather.
Dallas got it to overnight last night. Town called Breckenridge, just down 20, got hit with a tornado and now this line is moving east rapidly towards Tyler and eventually towards Shreveport across Texarkana. And some of the -- a lot of the energy heading towards Fort Smith right now. A pretty good line of thunderstorms here with gusty winds and probably some hail moving across Arkansas, which has already been hammered with severe weather and fatalities already this year. It will be rolling across the Mississippi from Memphis up through Paducah. St. Louis as well getting some heavy rainfall at this hour.
How many tornado watches do we have in effect? Four. One is about to expire, but nonetheless, a big range of land all the way down from central and southeast Texas all the way up to western parts of Kentucky.
Here is where we expect the action to be today, later on today. Large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes pushes eastward across the Mississippi and, again, this danger will exist going on tonight into tomorrow morning as well. The backside of this, as we mentioned, has a tremendous amount of cold air with it. So snow is going to be an issue in areas that have already seen record-breaking amounts of snow, namely Wisconsin up through parts of Minnesota.
And we'll see blizzard conditions, winds in excess of 35 miles an hour and blowing snow and just miserable conditions, and then back towards parts of Colorado. Ten to 20 inches of snow expected across parts of the Rocky Mountains. Kiran, John, back up to you.
CHETRY: I feel like I know a lot about you, but I'm not sure. Are you a dog lover, Rob? A dog lover?
ROBERTS: Rob's pretending he doesn't hear you. I guess -- that's one of those ways to avoid the question. Now, it's like when I used to shout at President Bush, Mr. President. He's like Roberts, I can't hear you.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Go ahead.
CHETRY: Sorry. Bye. See you later.
Meanwhile, the reason I asked is, even if you're not dog lover, you got to love this little guy. Chihuahuas, of course, a big fashion accessory for some in Hollywood. But this guy has got his own fashion statement. Let's see it. Let's see him. He's so cute.
He is -- there he is. How adorable. That's Francisco, by the way. He has his own aviator specs and his owner says he loves to cruise through the streets of New Mexico in the car, hanging out the window. He's got rose-colored goggles, and he loves to stick his head out the window.
ROBERTS: Yes. So life looks pretty good to old Francisco through those rose-colored glasses.
CHETRY: How about that.
ROBERTS: So the fashion accessory has some fashion accessories himself.
CHETRY: Such a cutie. All right.
If you have a "Hot Shot," send it to us. Head to our Web site, CNN.com/am. Follow the "Hot Shot" link. Rob, Chihuahuas, they don't mix.
ROBERTS: That's not a surprise.
Nineteen minutes after the hour. Criminal plots and human rights protests. Four months away and the Olympic Games are already wrought with drama. We've got your photos and video of the latest demonstrations ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-one minutes after the hour. The Olympic torch on its way to Buenos Aires, Argentina, this morning after making its only North American stop in San Francisco. Tens of thousands of pro- Tibet demonstrators showed up along the relay route yesterday. They were playing hide-and-seek with the flame all afternoon.
Our Veronica De La Cruz has been going through your I-Reports of the protest, and she joins us now with some of that. Good morning to you.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. And like you just said, you know, the route completely changed. The torch playing hide-and-seek. Really something to see. But overall, San Francisco definitely calmer than the stops in London and Paris and that was thanks in part to the change in its route.
Officials ended up canceling the closing ceremony at the waterfront. We wanted to share a couple of shots from I-Reporters on the scene whose images really take you there. Take a look at these.
This first one is from Jon Wollenhaupt (ph) of a man protesting in AT&T Park. He says supporters of Tibetan freedom are making sure that their voices were heard. Wollenhaupt (ph) also took this shot of Chinese dancers. He says he saw them light the torch and then take it outside the ballpark.
And Jennifer Brown sent us a couple of photos. This one of Tibetan monks marching peacefully across Golden Gate Bridge. Jennifer says it was strange to see the protest being led peacefully surrounded by all of the law enforcement. And on top of all the photos, images, video we've been receiving, also a lot of people voicing their displeasure with these protests. One user by the name of Edison at Ireport.com saying do you guys really understand the spirit of Olympics? Let me and my children enjoy the games.
So to post your own images or comments this morning, you too can logon to ireport.com. You can also send us more pictures and video and, you know, a lot of comments on ireport.com right now. That page is definitely filling up.
ROBERTS: Yes. There's no shortage of opinion on both sides of this issue.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. But really a strange juxtaposition to see, you know, law enforcement jogging alongside the torch. I think that --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: I have just never seen a scene like that ever in my life where you have the Olympic --
DE LA CRUZ: I know.
ROBERTS: You have more police out protecting the Olympic torch than you do have people out on the route there to see it go by.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
CHETRY: You know, and people will certainly go to extremes to express their point. In fact, a little bit later in the show we're going to be talking to two of the people who scaled the Golden Gate Bridge to hang that humongous banner. Why they risk it? They just actually posted bail. So we're going to talk to them a little later as well. Veronica, thank you.
Well, you know, we've been talking this morning about the nightmare for people that are flying American, and if you're flying again today, once again you better check ahead because chances are your flight may be canceled. American has canceled more than 900 addition flights to inspect and fix faulty wiring in hundreds of its jets. It means that more than 100,000 people are stranded at airports all over the country.
In all, American has canceled more than 2,400 flights in the past three days alone. Now, company executives offering profuse apologies along with travel vouchers to try to calm angry customers, and we're going to hear from some of them and have a live report from the airport coming up.
But it also brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question about airport delays and what do you do? You try to, you know, do what you can to avoid them, but if you end up stuck at the airport, what do you do? Do you scramble to rebook? Try to find out more flight information? Cast your vote, CNN.com. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up in the next hour, and also e-mail us if you have any creative ways to pass the time when you're at the airport, CNN.com/am. There it is. And we'll be reading some of your e-mails a little later in the hour.
ROBERTS: Should there be a question, a response in there, I'm bouncing off the walls?
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: Because that's what a lot of people do when their flight gets canceled. All right.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
Breaking news out of Beijing this morning. An alleged kidnap plot targeting athletes broken up.
Plus, disturbing new allegations this morning from the polygamous ranch in Texas and the 16-year-old who first blew the whistle. That's coming up when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Twenty- seven minutes past 6:00 here on the East Coast. American Airlines canceling 900 more flights today. This is the third day of mass cancellations for the nation's biggest carrier. Well over 100,000 passengers were stranded yesterday.
Some of the hardest hit airports, Dallas/Fort Worth, as well as Chicago's O'Hare, and LaGuardia in New York. American decided to ground its fleet of MD-80s to comply with the FAA mandated safety inspections on wiring, and it's turned into quite a mess for the airline and for those that travel.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick is live this morning outside of LaGuardia with more. A lot of questions that you had and then we'll ask you some about exactly why it's turning into as big of a nightmare as it seems to be for passengers and for the airlines, Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, definitely and I can tell you, Veronica (ph), that it is not getting better for a lot of passengers flying American Airlines right now. Nine hundred more flights canceled. You take a look at the arrival and departure boards behind me. Flight canceled to Orlando, Pittsburg, Atlanta, Phoenix. No planes going in, no planes going out, at least those affected flights. And for many passengers that is leaving a lot of headaches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): From Dallas to Chicago to New York, the scene was the same, and the feeling universal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just crazy. FEYERICK: American Airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights Wednesday, and nearly that many for today, leaving more than 100,000 people scrambling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to spend the night. I can't get out until tomorrow. My luggage is on its way to Detroit.
FEYERICK: While some rushed to catch a new flight --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need to get to Love Field in about the next 30 minutes.
FEYERICK: Others work the phones or try to relax. But for many, there was no getting over the feeling that the whole mess could have been avoided.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They knew this was happening with the airplanes, so why do we, the common folk, have to suffer?
FEYERICK: This is the second time in just weeks that American has grounded the MD-80s. The problem is wires in the plane's wheel well. If not properly secured, they could cause a short circuit, fire, or even an explosion. The airline thought it fixed the issue the first time around, but Monday inspectors from the FAA said not all of the work was done to its exact specifications.
DAN GARTON, AMERICAN AIRLINES: We felt and our mechanics felt they had greater latitude. They did not.
FEYERICK: Back in the terminal, the vouchers, snacks, and juice did little to appease frustrated flyers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've all my miles with American, but I'm willing to sacrifice all of them to never have to fly on American for the rest of my life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And, Kiran, American Airlines says that inspectors are being harder now on the airlines because the FAA, the Federal Aviation Administration, has been taking such a beating recently over lax security compliance. American says it plans to hire an independent contractor to review all FAA directives so that this kind of thing never happens again. But I can tell you, a lot of passengers just vowing that they will never fly this airline in the future -- Kiran.
CHETRY: It's a tough spot to be in for both sides, of course, but avoids some travel nightmares, for sure. Thanks a lot, Deb.
We also have some breaking news this morning. Security officials in China say they have broken up a plot to kidnap Olympic athletes, foreign journalists, as well as other visitors during the Beijing Games. 35 people now arrested.
And meanwhile, the head of the International Olympic Committee says that the torch relay will go on despite the anti-China protests that have been raging in many cities.
Officials in San Francisco yesterday played hide and seek with the demonstrators. They were massed along the city's Waterfront. The torch took a shortened alternate route. It was barely visible to the crowd. Usually they have some sort of farewell ceremony that was scrapped as well. The closing ceremony canceled. It was moved to the airport and under really no pomp and circumstance. The torch was not seen again before it was shuttled on to a plane.
The Olympic flame is now on its way to Buenos Aires. The IOC President in Beijing urging China to uphold its moral obligation to improve human rights.
Coming up in our next hour, we're going to be speaking with two people who earlier this week pulled off this stunt. They were able to scale the walls of the Golden Gate Bridge and unfurl banners protesting China's human rights record and calling for a free Tibet.
How did they do it? What was the fallout? And why do they feel so strongly about the issue that they would risk life and limb? They're going to be joining us at 7:35 Eastern time with their story.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Some shocking new details this morning about that polygamist ranch in Texas. The 16-year-old girl whose phone calls led to the raid on the ranch say this man, Dale Evans Barlow, beat, choke, and sexually assaulted her after their spiritual marriage. That's according to court documents.
And a former member of the group has revealed troubling new allegation about the possibility of public sex with underage girls. Our Ed Lavandera is live in San Angelo, Texas for us this morning.
Ed, what are they talking about here?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, as you mentioned that former member of the FLDS apparently had been working as a confidential informant for the sheriff down in Eldorado. The sheriff has really essentially been the only person that has been able to speak with the leadership of the compound ever since they started moving into the area. So, he had spent a lot of time developing those relationships.
And according to these court records, this confidential informant told the sheriff that inside the temple there were multiple beds that were used for the adult males of the church to have sex with the teenage girls in the sect. One bed, according to these documents, was found disturbed and they found female hair in the bed as well.
So, that is why authorities wanted to get into this temple area over the weekend. And imagine, that was part of the most tense standoff, where the portion of this search has been the most tense, which was Saturday night. Ambulances and air support were actually brought in to the compound area just in case things got out of hand.
John? ROBERTS: So, Ed, they would have these marriage rituals and then the man and the underage girl who they were married, they would actually engage in sex in public there before everybody who went to that wedding?
LAVANDERA: That's what these court documents are alleging. You know, if you've seen this video of the compound grounds, this temple area is surrounded by a ten-foot limestone wall. This is the most pristine area of the compound.
And by all accounts, all of these members, they didn't want -- if you're not a member of this group -- entering into this temple is seen as sacrilegious essentially. And that is why they were so adamant about keeping out the law enforcement authorities. But obviously, these papers, these new court records suggest there might have been another reason for that as well.
ROBERTS: Extraordinary new allegations. Ed Lavandera for us this morning in San Angelo, Texas. Ed, thanks very much.
One woman who says she is happy with the polygamist lifestyle talked last night with Larry King. "Valerie X" told Larry what she likes about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"VALERIE X," INVOLVED IN POLYGAMIST MARRIAGE: I like -- I really like the camaraderie between myself and the other wives. We have a really good relationship where we can do things together. We go shopping or we can cook together, just different things.
LAARY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Do you have jealousy when your husband sleeps with any of the other two women?
"VALERIE X": Well, I wouldn't say that it's only when he sleeps with them. I think that -- I wouldn't be human if I didn't get jealous. And there are many instances where I may have a jealous feeling and, yes, that happens. But we deal with those things as they come. I think that happens in a lot of marriages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The woman told Larry she has eight children of her own but that she considers all of her husband's wives and children part of her one big family.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, the Democratic presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail taking aim John McCain as well as each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One candidate will continue the war and keeping troops in Iraq indefinitely. One candidate only says he'll end the war. And one candidate is ready, willing, and able to end the war.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The person you want answering the phone at 3:00 a.m. is the person who has read the intelligence reports, who is asking the tough questions about why we want to invade a country like Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11. You want to have somebody who has good judgment, and there's only one out of the remaining candidates who qualifies on that front.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Barack Obama also attacked John McCain on the economy, saying he is willing to sit idly by during the housing crisis. McCain's spokesman said Hillary and Obama are, quote, "Selfishly trying to make political gains in the worst way by dishonestly saying that John McCain is something that he is not."
There's also a new poll out showing that John McCain and Condoleezza Rice as a ticket would beat a hypothetical ticket of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Clinton's home state of New York. This is a WNBC Marist Poll that says McCain and Rice would beat Clinton and Obama 49 percent to 46 percent. With Obama as the nominee and McCain and Rice still win 49 percent to 44 percent.
Secretary of State Rice has denied that she wants to be the vice president.
Well, Elton John is singing Hillary Clinton's praises. He's a staunch Clinton supporter and last night he was singing her song.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELTON JOHN, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Hillary should be the next president of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The singer performed at a benefit for Clinton at New York's Radio City music hall. The event was expected to raise some $2.5 million for her campaign.
ROBERTS: Coming up on 37 minutes after the hour now. President Bush will make a major announcement this morning about the Iraq war. The main topics will be troop withdrawals and tours of duty. CNN's Elaine Quijano is live at the White House. She's got a preview of the speech.
Elaine, what do we expect the president will say on those topics?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, in a tacit acknowledgement of the incredible strain on U.S. military forces, President Bush will discuss his decision to reduce combat tours of duty from 15 months to 12 months. That according to Democratic and Republican officials that are talking to my colleague Ed Henry.
Now in addition, the President is expected to embrace the recommendations of the top U.S. Commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, for a 45-day period of assessment before making any decisions on further troop drawdowns. That means some 140,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq indefinitely.
Now, in a speech today, the president is going to be delivering that update to the American people, on the heels of that congressional testimony by General Petraeus as well as the top diplomat in Iraq, General -- Ambassador Ryan Crocker, rather. This morning, the president, in fact, will be sitting down for breakfast with the two men before the president gives his remarks.
Now, unlike last September, John, interesting to note the president will not be making this a prime time address to the nation to tout the news coming out of Iraq. Instead, the White House deciding against that. The president's speech happening in the middle of the day, expected to last 12 to 15 minutes.
John?
ROBERTS: Will he only be talking about the troop withdrawals and the rotations or will he also be talking about the issue that's probably most important to the Americans during this election year, and that's the economy?
QUIJANO: Well, certainly, the economy continues to be front and center and an indication of the fact this White House understands full well that continues to be a primary concern. They did not decide to have this address in prime time.
But the economy is certainly something that the White House has tried to send the message out repeatedly that it is on top of. We don't expect, though, necessarily the comments today to really focus on that. The president looking to update the American people again on the heels of that congressional testimony.
ROBERTS: Elaine Quijano for us on the north lawn of the White House this morning. Elaine, thanks.
And a reminder that CNN will bring you the president's speech. That will be live at 11:30 Eastern this morning. And if you're not around your television set, you can also catch it online, cnn.com/live.
CHETRY: All right. Well, meanwhile, our Ali Velshi joins us now with a look at what he's going to be talking about soon. Six months ago, we were saying, are we in a recession? And now, could we possibly be asking the question about a depression?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's starting to surface, starting to bubble a few weeks ago with people talking about the possibility of a depression. That wasn't really too far around, but now it's getting to be a little bit more mainstream. The conversation about how bad this recession can get and what happens if it becomes a depression.
Now, frankly, a lot of folks didn't know what a recession was in the first place. Probably still don't because it doesn't matter to you. It's all about your money and how much you're spending. I'm going to come back and tell you who is saying that we could go into a depression and exactly what the difference is between a recession and a depression.
Stay with us. It's not going to be all that depressing. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. We're coming right back.
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VELSHI: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi. We know that issue no. 1 to Americans in this election is the economy. But to many people, it is the idea that we may be in a recession.
Now, we don't tend to know whether we're in a recession until after we're well into one because of the way they're measured. But what we do have now is some people talking about the fact that the recession could be long, deep, serious, and maybe even a depression. This is the former U.S. labor secretary Robert Reich. He was the secretary under President Clinton. Listen to what he told me.
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ROBERT REICH, FORMER LABOR SECRETARY: A realistic way that we're going to go into 2009 with a very serious recession. Hopefully, not a depression. I hate to use that word. It scares people. I think there's no more than that 20 percent chance of a depression, but it's going to be serious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Depression scares people because you think of lineups of people looking for jobs and shortages of things. In fact, a depression doesn't have an official definition. It is a long, more serious recession that is usually followed by big numbers in terms of unemployment and deflation.
Prices collapsing so businesses can't make money and employ people. It's pretty serious. I think Robert Reich was trying to be measured there. The 20 percent does sort of scare people. That's a big deal. It's not common thinking that there will be one.
What he says is we need a stimulus package that's much bigger than the one we've got right now. And it needs to involve low wage earners getting better wages so that they can continue to spend and stimulate the economy. He does worry about these three months this year that we have seen job losses and they have been getting worse every month.
He says that's the kind of thing that worries him because its -- jobs get lost very quickly. It's very hard to bring a job back. To actually create a job, because what that means is there has to be a tax environment and a government environment where businesses say, hey, I think we'll hire a few thousand people. And when they hire them, it's much harder to create.
ROBERTS: How much longer until we know if we're actually in a recession?
VELSHI: Well, let's assume -- no reason to assume it. Let's assume it started at the beginning of this year. We will know at the -- you know, in about a month whether the first quarter was negative growth. And then if it's two quarters, we'll sort of know that. So it could be three or four months before we know. But to the average person out there, you're feeling what you're feeling. Maybe you're not waiting for somebody to officially tell you that this is a recession.
ROBERTS: It's a matter of semantics for a lot of people. Right. Ali, thanks very much.
We're following extreme weather this morning. We got new pictures of damage in Texas after possible tornadoes near Dallas touched down there. Our Rob Marciano is watching all of the extreme weather because more is developing today.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. You know, tornadoes touching down overnight. And we just got a tornado warning issued for this morning. And a number of watch. Just take a look at the radar. It is just, a big, old mess. And tornadoes and heavy rain not the only thing to deal with. Blizzards in the middle of April. Stay tune. AMERICAN MORNING continues after the break.
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CHETRY: Back on the campaign trail with the Iraq war report in their pockets. The candidates are now talking about why they would be the best choice for commander-in-chief. And our Candy Crowley joins us live from the trail just ahead.
Also, Chinese authorities now say they've broken up a terror plot that would have targeted Olympic athletes in Beijing this summer. We have new details on exactly how far these plotters actually got, what they were planning to do. We're going to talk to a security expert next about the potential threat.
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CHETRY: We're following breaking news this morning. Once again related to the Beijing Olympics. China now saying it's uncovered a plot to kidnap Olympic athletes, as well as foreign journalists and visitors during the Beijing games. So far 35 people have been arrested. Said to be part of a movement called the East Turkistan Islamic Movement.
Officials say that the latest police raids netted 22 pounds of explosives, as well as eight sticks of dynamite and quote, "Jihadist Literature." They say the suspects were acting on orders from a radical Islamic independents group. The one we just mentioned. A second plot in China to sabotage the games was busted back in January. Will Geddes is a counterterrorism and security analyst and joins us now from London.
Thanks for being with us. You know, the first thing that comes to mind when you talk about China is not a Jihadist movement. Can you tell us a little bit about this group?
WILL GEDDES, COUNTERTERRORISM/SECURITY ANALYST: Well, this group has been operating for quite some time. I mean, it was involved in some car bombings back in the 1990s. And certainly in 2005, the U.S. State Department actually noted and brought out a report that linked them directly to al-Qaeda. And that their founding member and leader, (INAUDIBLE) Hasan Mahsum, had actually met with Osama Bin Laden at one time.
And Osama Bin Laden had actually extended support both financially and in training to the group in their course.
CHETRY: What is the goal of this group?
GEDDES: Well, the goal of this group is to try and gain an independence for their particular region in China, which is within the Xinyang region. And it's the eastern part of Turkistan. And what they're looking for is an independent state. But they're going about it in a very militant action.
And they've been involved in a succession of different events. Most notably obviously this, but also a potential threat against the airlines out of Beijing in January this year. And also a very high profile operation by the Chinese intelligence agencies against them back in January of last year, when a training camp was uncovered. A number of individuals were actually killed through that process and some armaments and explosives were discovered.
CHETRY: Well, let's talk about this plot in particular. The police reporting they found 22 pounds of explosives, including eight sticks of dynamite and that perhaps these people had been able to start manufacturing explosives. The plot to attack hotels, government offices, and military targets in Shanghai, Beijing and other cities.
In your opinion, what do you think the scope of this was and how likely that it could have actually happened?
GEDDES: Well, from somebody in intelligence resources that I have been speaking to this morning already, in amongst this plot, actually not only is the target military bases and police stations and facilities around the Olympics in Beijing. There were plans allegedly to also try and kidnap some of the competitors and some of the journalists actually attending.
So from the scope of this operation and certainly the number of people that have been apprehended, it would appear that this was a highly organized and well-plan operation that they were intending to rule out, either both in advance to the actual Olympics itself or during the Olympics where the action is taking place. CHETRY: It's interesting that we're hearing this though from Chinese officials, right? How is this going to be affecting how they're planning to secure the venues come the Olympics?
GEDDES: Well, certainly, you know, the Chinese will quite obviously want this information to come to light. They're going to want the PR of telling the international community and also the IOC that they have the security situation in hand.
Now, any Olympics and certainly I have been involved in some of the previous Olympics, will have security implications. There are always going to be individuals and groups that are going to be opposed to it or want to use that as a platform to promote their agenda.
Now, the Chinese themselves, they are very, very, very good at certainly what we'd call intelligence and information interceptions which involves not only cell phones, landlines, but also e-mail communications. And it's quite obvious potentially that this was how they came about this current plot.
CHETRY: All right. Will Geddes for us, counterterrorism, security analyst. Thanks for being with us.
ROBERTS: 55 minutes after the hour. As we have been telling you this morning, if you're planning to fly on American Airlines today, you'd better check ahead. American has canceled more than 900 additional flights today to inspect and fix the wiring in hundreds of jets.
It means that more than 1,000 people are stranded at airports across the country. In all, American has canceled more than 2,400 flights in the past three days. Company executives are offering profuse apologies and along with travel vouchers to calm down angry customers. We'll hear from some of those customers and have a live report, from the airport, coming right up.
And that brings us to this morning's "Quick Vote" question. What do you do when you're delayed at the airport? Do you scramble to rebook? Do you hit the bar? Read a book? Do work or just go to sleep for a little while?
Cast your vote at cnn.com/am. We'll have the first tally of votes coming up in our next hour. And we also want to know what you think. What are the creative ways that you use to pass the time when you're waiting for a plane? Are you on an airport right now? Send us an e-mail. Go to cnn.com/am. We'll be reading some of those e-mails coming up in the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: There is some right answer today, it's watch CNN.
ROBERTS: And we're all over the airport, it's very easy.
One of them will inherit as many as 140,000 troops in Iraq. After hearing from the war's top commander, what the presidential candidates are saying on the campaign trail. We got that, coming up.
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ROBERTS: President Bush is meeting with his top commander in Iraq right now. And then he's going to address the nation later on this morning. The president is expected to announce that there will not be additional troop withdrawals once U.S. Forces are down to pre- surge levels of about 140,000.
Combat tours will also be cut from 15 months to 12 months, which is very good news for the troops. The recommendations come from General David Petraeus, who briefed Congress this week. We'll be talking with the president's press secretary, Dana Perino, coming up in about 25 minutes time here on CNN.
And you can see President Bush's address to the nation at 11:30 Eastern this morning, here on CNN and also on cnn.com/live.
Fresh from grilling the nation's top commander in Iraq, the presidential candidate are back to targeting one another. Senator Barack Obama has opened up a ten-point lead over Senator Hillary Clinton in one national tracking poll. Senator Obama is campaigning in Indiana, where we catch up with senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley. She's in South Bend for us this morning.
So to what are they attributing this again double digit lead in this Gallop Tracking Poll for Barack Obama, Candy?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: As you know, John, a tracking poll goes day to day and sort of takes the mix of three days at a time moving forward.
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