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American Morning
Missing U.S. Soldiers' Remains Found in Iraq; Freed American Hostages Speak Out; Obama's FISA Vote Angers Supporters; Is Jesse Ventura Running for the Senate?
Aired July 11, 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: Breaking news. A family's anguish.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just kept saying that there was no hope. That there was nothing to hope for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The bodies of two soldiers abducted in an ambush more than a year ago have been found in Iraq.
Damage control.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't agree with Senator Gramm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain's top man on the economy calls America a "nation of whiners." And Obama sees an opening.
The freed hostages for the first time sit down exclusively with CNN. The stories you haven't heard until now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC GONSALVES, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: You're looking up, and there was a rainbow. Time said, I wonder if it's a sign?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And good morning. Thanks very much for being with us. It's Friday, which is always a good thing with people. Got the weekend to look forward to. Always appreciated that.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right especially in the summer. Will the weather hold? We're going to find out from Rob Marciano in a couple of minutes.
But we begin with issue number one. Your money. And oil up another $3 a barrel this morning. That's just a day after gaining more than $5. It was the second highest gain on record settling at $141.65 a barrel.
Our Ali Velshi says those gains nearly wipe out the drop in oil we saw earlier in the week.
Meantime, President Bush will meet with economic advisers today which also happens to be the final day the IRS sends out stimulus checks.
Hurricane Bertha still heading toward Bermuda now losing some strength, though. Bertha is back to a Category One storm with 85 mile an hour winds. It was some 350 miles southeast of Bermuda at last report, and the National Hurricane Center is advising people on the island to make sure they are monitoring Bertha's progress.
Well, from fire fight to the Middle East to fighting fires out west. Two hundred National Guard troops just home from Iraq and Afghanistan are now being called in to help fight more than 320 active fires in California. It's the first time in more than three decades that guardsman have been asked to fight wildfires in the state. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the blazes are getting worse and more troops could be called in to help.
ROBERTS: The search for two soldiers missing in Iraq has reportedly come to an end this morning. U.S. military officials have not yet confirmed details, but the father of Army Sergeant Alex Jimenez, seen here on the right, said military officials visited his home on Thursday to inform him that his son's remains have been found along with those of Private Byron Fouty of Michigan. The two had been missing for more than a year.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now from Baghdad. Frederik, what's the latest that you have on this?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, it was an exhaustive and a very relentless search for these two soldiers. You know, I was in that area of operations a couple times last year and every time we went down there we would always say the military has operations going on to try and find these two soldiers. So certainly this is something that over the past year has been a high priority for the U.S. military down there south of Baghdad.
And, of course, during the course of that year there were always clues that surfaced. First, the two soldiers IDs were shown on an Islamist Web site. But the Islamist never showed any proof that they actually had these two soldiers. Then later the military found the two soldiers' IDs and then towards the end of last year, they actually found the two soldiers' weapons.
So certainly, the search has been going on for a very, very long time. And even though over the course of the past year, it seemed less and less likely that these two soldiers were still alive. The military never stopped the search for them, John.
ROBERTS: You know, we always know from the military that they hold back on releasing information until the family has been notified. Jimenez's family has apparently been notified. Any idea when the military will make the official announcement?
PLEITGEN: Yes. You know, we talked to the American military here in Iraq earlier this morning. And all they said they could confirm to us is that they found human remains in the area of operations and that those human remains had been sent back to the U.S. for positive identification.
Now, what they say they do then is they inform the family and then they usually give the family about a 24-hour period, a 24-hour warning period before they actually disclose the names of the deceased soldiers. So if we're talking about Alex Jimenez's father saying he got a call or he got a visit from the military yesterday, then we are looking for the military to possibly disclose the names sometime later today, John.
ROBERTS: Sad end to this for the Jimenez and Fouty family.
Frederik Pleitgen for us in Baghdad. Fred, thanks.
CHETRY: To the "Most Politics in the Morning" now. John McCain's campaign doing damage control this morning after some comments by one of McCain's top economic advisers. Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm questioned the reality of an economic recession in a newspaper interview, suggesting that the country's economic troubles could be a figment of the imagination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL GRAMM, MCCAIN ECONOMIC ADVISER: You've heard of mental depression. This is a mental recession. We've sort of become a nation of liars.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't agree with Senator Gramm. I believe that the person here in Michigan that just lost his job isn't suffering from a mental recession. I believe the mother here in Michigan, around America, who's trying to get enough money to educate their children isn't whining.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: McCain distanced himself from the comments telling reporters Phil Gramm doesn't speak for me. Gramm is standing by his mental recession remark, but the nation's leaders, not the American people, he says, are the whiners.
Well, Barack Obama wasted no time jumping on Gramm's remarks as well, saying Republicans are oblivious to the struggles Americans are facing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want all of you to know that America already has one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one. When it comes to the economy, we need somebody to actually solve the economy. It's not just a figment of your imagination. It's not all in your head. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Obama also said his administration would deliver more than psychological relief and wouldn't blame the American people for the country's problems.
ROBERTS: And Barack Obama is getting more heat from his own supporters for dropping his opposition to that new FISA surveillance bill. Some of his backers are taking their frustration to Obama's own Web site.
Our Deb Feyerick is here with a sample of what we're saying this morning. I'm sure it's not pretty.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly not. Well, John, you know, during the primaries, Barack Obama harnessed the power of the Internet organizing an unprecedented grassroots movement, bringing in millions in campaign donations. But now that same tool is being used against him by some of the same supporters who feel Obama is moving away from his more liberal position.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK (voice-over): On Barack Obama's own networking Web site, here under this section, supporters staged an uprising. Rebelling against Obama and his vote this week protecting telecom companies used by the United States to snoop on Americans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The motion is agreed to.
FEYERICK (on camera): This title, upset and disillusioned, here, beyond disappointment.
FEYERICK (voice-over): There's also, you lied. My support is wavering. And one man even asked for his donation back. Unprecedented dialogue says NYU Professor Charleton McIlwain.
CHARLETON MCILWAIN, MEDIA & CULTURE, NEW YORK UNIV: And so, as some of Obama's message is changing and being altered a bit to fit the political circumstances, I think they are a bit disappointed and saying, hey, what is this and who is this person all of a sudden?
FEYERICK: Some 20,000 people protested online. Activist John Pincus was one of them.
JON PINCUS, POLITICAL ACTIVIST: If we can't disagree amongst ourselves then it's mindless following. And really the whole message, a lot of the message of the Obama campaign is that we can do things differently.
FEYERICK: But the online outcry from shock and disappointment to outright betrayal sparked Senator Obama to respond to them directly. "I think it is worth pointing out that our agreement on the vast majority of issues that matter outweighs the differences we may have," he said. The Republican team quickly jumped on the fan dissent, invoking the 2004 flip-flop slogan that helped scuttle the Democrats last time around.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not the first change in position.
FEYERICK: Obama denies his moving to the middle. But political insiders say between his latest switch and his switch turning down public financing, it could damage the image Obama's trying to create.
JOHN MERCURIO, EDITOR, "THE HOTLINE": That is exactly the sort of criticism that his campaign waged against Hillary Clinton during the primaries. So I think it sort of lifts the veil off of a lot of Obama's rhetoric about creating this new politics, creating this new era.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: But even as the online uprising continues, political insiders say it's unlikely Obama supporters, even those most angry at him will actually change their vote -- John.
ROBERTS: But they sure are going to let him know about their displeasure.
FEYERICK: You better believe it.
ROBERTS: All right. Deb Feyerick, thanks very much.
CHETRY: Three Americans held hostage by rebels in the Colombian jungle are speaking exclusively to CNN about their five and a half years in captivity. Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes and Marc Gonsalves were among 15 hostages that were freed last week in a Colombia military operation. They spoke to Headline News anchor Robin Meade, and Gonsalves recalled a positive sign on one of their darkest days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC GONSALVES, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: I cried a lot. But something happened that day at night, the evening, when -- before the sun went down. Again, we came close to each other, the three of us, and we were looking up. And there was a rainbow.
This is a true story. There was a rainbow up there. And the three of us, we had our arms around each other and we were looking at it. Tom said, I wonder if it's a sign?
Well, I believe in God. And I looked at that rainbow and I'll never forget it. And I held that rainbow. I took it as -- as something.
KEITH STANSELL, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: I remember that. I remember that.
GONSALVES: As something for me and for us that we're going to live and we're going to go home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: It's unimaginable what they went through. And they're able to articulate it so well. Just you know, how they felt and how they lost hope and kept hope.
ROBERTS: It's a fascinating interview.
CHETRY: It is.
ROBERTS: And it reveals so much about what they went through in captivity.
CHETRY: And you can tell just by the way that they're interacting with each other, I mean, they're linked for life now.
ROBERTS: Yes. And we'll be hearing more of that coming up in about 50 minutes here on CNN.
Crude prices shoot back up as political tensions escalate in another all important oil producing region. We're not talking about the Middle East either. We're going to take you to the hot spot that is hitting you square in the pocketbook.
And the wedding's off. And his fiancee just sold the engagement ring. So can he get it back? A surprising answer in our legal hot line segment. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Yes. It's not about the gas. It's all about the royal oil. And Ali Velshi here with more on the latest problems and the latest price hikes. What's going on?
ALI VELSHI, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got a big jump in oil prices last night. In fact, it moved so quickly I wrote it down.
Oil yesterday settled $5.60 higher to $141.60. But just in the last little while, we've seen a further jump of $3.65. We're now at over $145 and just within a few cents of the highest that oil has ever been, $145.85.
The last few days we've talked about a few different regions. We were talking about Iran yesterday. Today we're looking at Nigeria. This is where the problem is right now.
Now, we often talk about a pipeline that's been ruptured or attacked in the Niger Delta. Let me explain to you what that is.
There's a great deal of oil in Nigeria. The Niger Delta region is the oil-rich region. It also happens to be an area were there is a lot of unrest. There has been rebel activity for about two years and what happens is many of these rebel groups will attack major pipelines in order to stop the flow of oil. Why is that important? Well, it's important because Nigeria is the fourth largest producer of oil that is imported into the United States. It's not the fourth largest producer of oil in the world but it is the fourth largest supplier of oil. And over the last couple of years, production from Nigeria has been cut by about 25 percent.
Now, the reason that oil is spiking on this news today is because the attacks in Nigeria, the rebel attacks on the oil facilities are expected to resume today. Today would be Saturday. Later on today would be Saturday, Nigeria time. There has been a cease fire in effect, but the bottom line is that cease fire is coming to an end, according to the rebels. And if there is an attack on another pipeline, remember that we only have between half a million and 1.5 million spare production every day in the world in oil.
If somebody wants to take out half a million barrels worth of oil from Nigeria by attacking a pipeline, that really does affect supply. So the last -- in the last few days we've been talking about supply problems through Iran and now Nigeria. These are the places we're going to keep an eye on over the next few days.
CHETRY: All right, sounds good. Ali, thanks.
Well, if you're fed up over expensive air fares, 12 airline CEOs say it's not our fault. You have to blame the oil speculators, and they're asking customers to force Congress into action.
Also, we have Rob Marciano with us today here in New York watching extreme weather. Hi, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kiran. Watch the fires in California. Now we've got some in Washington and Oregon as well. And Bertha refuses to go away. An update on her track when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Bon Jovi, who's going to be right there -- well, not exactly right there but will be in Central Park tomorrow for a free concert. It's all part of all star week here in New York, because the all-star game is going to be played at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
CHETRY: How about it? These are free tickets. They gave out I think about 60,000 tickets. Now, there's a big controversy, and our Rob Marciano is caught right in the middle of it.
MARCIANO: Yes, I know.
CHETRY: Your lovely sister wanted to go.
MARCIANO: Yes, she wanted to go and --
CHETRY: Now they're scalping these things for $750 on eBay.
MARCIANO: But you doubt me and Phil (ph). What's going around? Setting us up and -- CHETRY: Is Phil (ph) scalping them as well?
MARCIANO: No, no. He's giving them away, as he should. Anyway, you don't have to be from Jersey to like Bon Jovi, right?
CHETRY: No, you don't.
MARCIANO: No. You can be from Tennessee these days with the country swing that he took on his latest album.
MARCIANO: Anyway, the guy's concert is going to be fun for sure.
Good morning, guys, good to see you.
ROBERTS: Good to see you too.
CHETRY: Nice to see you.
ROBERTS: You going to the game, by the way?
MARCIANO: No, no. You know, I'm up here working, John. There's no fun.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: Bon Jovi tickets but not the tickets to the all star game?
MARCIANO: No, no, unfortunately. I'd like to -- one less than a year left, the Yankee Stadium.
We do have fires to talk about in California. Still want to update you on this. God, 1,100 square miles have burned since these fires started just a couple weeks ago. And the Butte fire really, that's the biggest one right now with 50 homes destroyed and thousands of people still evacuated from their homes. And they're worried about winds today gusting especially this morning. So the fire threat certainly is high there.
These have moved now to Washington. We had fires that were sparked by lightning a couple of days ago just outside of Spokane. Also, some homes destroyed there and a couple hundred people evacuated. They had a real bad firestorm back in 1991 where over 70 homes were evacuated. So this area certainly prone to it.
All right. Fire weather watch you better believe it across parts of northern California. Today, we've got heat, we've got gusty winds, we've got red flag warnings posted for the areas that don't need it. Hopefully tomorrow things will get just a little bit better.
Where's the rain? Well, monsoon moisture now coming into the desert southwest. This is a time of year where actually will spark more in the way of thunderstorms and fires possibly across parts of the sierra. But right now, the heaviest rain in Phoenix and through parts of New Mexico. We do have flash flood watches that are posted for this area throughout the day today. Some heavy thunderstorms overnight and yesterday. Wisconsin had winds gusting to 70 miles an hour. We had a pretty strong line right now moving south towards Chicago. So be aware of that. Rush hour may be a little bit rough in Chai-Town (ph).
All right. Bertha, let's talk about Hurricane Bertha. Still winds of 85 miles an hour. Still moving off towards the northwest at about seven miles an hour.
So Bermuda still threatened by this. Worst we probably think of experiencing maybe tropical storm force winds. But there's the latest forecast track for Hurricane Bertha. Just doesn't want to go away. Thought it was weakening there for a while but hanging on to its status as a Category One hurricane.
ROBERTS: So what's the effect on Bermuda at present?
MARCIANO: Waves will be rolling in there. And then the east side of the island will see some winds. I think at this point maybe about a 50/50 chance of just seeing tropical storm force winds. But as you know, that island is built like a fortress.
ROBERTS: It is.
MARCIANO: They're certainly used to storms.
ROBERTS: And we have a lot of people on Bermuda who are watching us this morning. So we want to make sure we give them lots of information.
MARCIANO: Always.
CHETRY: Plus, I don't know if it's really built like a fortress. I should go there and see firsthand.
MARCIANO: Investigative report by Kiran Chetry.
CHETRY: Yes.
MARCIANO: I love it.
ROBERTS: You'll love the pink beaches.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thanks, guys.
ROBERTS: She broke off the engagement. She used her phone numbers and then sold the ring that he gave her. So what's a jilted fiance to do? We dial up our legal hot line for the answer.
CHETRY: Also, former pro-wrestling sensation and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura may climb into the political ring yet again. Will he be Jesse the wild card in the hotly contested race for a Minnesota Senate seat? He sat down with John Roberts, and we're going to hear what he says about it. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it's Friday and it's time for our legal hot line. AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst Sunny Hostin is here to answer some of your legal questions. You wrote in and Sunny answers. Good to see you this morning, Sunny.
SUNNY HOSTIN, AMERICAN MORNING LEGAL ANALYST: Good to see you.
CHETRY: Well, Lester from Ohio is writing about age discrimination. And this is a question a lot of people had.
I'm 63 and I've been told more times than I care to remember, I'm overqualified for a job. Age discrimination is one of the greatest blocks to employment that I have ever seen. I am now working and being paid less than half of my previous salary.
So what are his rights? Does he have anything -- recourse?
HOSTIN: Absolutely. And you're right, Kiran. I'm hearing this all the time. I'm getting all these questions and I'm really surprised because this is protected under federal law. And the federal law has been around since 1967.
It's actually called the Age Discrimination and Employment Act. And really it protects employees 40 years and older from age discrimination and payment, rather compensation, promotion, hiring. And so, Lester is absolutely protected.
And the other thing, Kiran, that I want to note, is each state typically has another law that protects someone from age discrimination.
CHETRY: How do you prove it, though?
HOSTIN: Oh, there are -- well, you have to have evidence, clearly. But there are several things that you can do to help yourself when you think that you are being the target of age discrimination.
First, talk to your employer to resolve the matter if you feel that this is happening. You can also file a charge with the EEOC. And that's where you bring in your proof, Kiran. And finally, you can contact your local AARP office. They can provide legal referrals. They can also provide advice for mediation and arbitration. But this is activity that is absolutely protected and it's illegal.
CHETRY: Good idea. Thanks, Sunny.
Also, Steven from Dallas. Poor Steven. We close out before we read this one.
He says that his fiancee broke up with him and moved out. He said she sold my engagement ring, changed her phone numbers, ignored my e-mails and borrowed lots of money from me over $20,000 to pay her bills. I want my ring and my money back. Can you tell me what are my options are?
HOSTIN: Isn't this unbelievable, Kiran? She took the ring and she didn't give it back. But I think Steven is very, very lucky because it really depends on which state you're in. Some states think, you know, if you're the person that was the dumpee, you get to keep the ring. However, however, in Texas, since she broke it off she has to return the ring. So Steven can get his money back for the ring.
The other piece is he says that she borrowed all this money. And typically I would say go to small claims court in Texas and get your money back yourself. However, there's a $5,000 limit in Texas. So Steven, go get an attorney. Get your money back.
CHETRY: At least some of it.
HOSTIN: At least some of it. At least some of it.
CHETRY: Right. Sunny, good advice. Thanks so much. Good insight this morning. Sunny Hostin, AMERICAN MORNING legal analyst, have a good weekend. Good to see you.
HOSTIN: You too. Thanks.
ROBERTS: She always has a lot of useful things to say, doesn't she?
HOSTIN: I try, John. I try.
ROBERTS: You did well this morning. Twenty-four minutes after the hour, he was Jesse the Body before becoming Jesse the Governor. Now, former pro wrestler Jesse Ventura is considering a run for the U.S. Senate.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the private paradise that's giving new life to chimps who spent their lives locked up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't rehabilitate chimps. We open the doors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: John Zarrella takes us to their island playground. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Former Minnesota governor and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is floating with the idea of running for U.S. Senate in his home state of Minnesota. He would go up against Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and former "Saturday Night Live" regular Al Franken. Jesse Ventura joins us now from Minneapolis, Minnesota. By the way, he's also the author of a brand new book entitled "Don't Start the Revolution Without Me." Governor, it's great to see you.
JESSE VENTURA, FMR. MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Good to see you this morning.
ROBERTS: So the deadline for you to declare your candidacy for U.S. Senate is Tuesday. Can you tell us now, are you going to throw your hat in the ring?
VENTURA: Well, I haven't made the decision yet. You know, the story came out that -- of the media again creating a news story. It went all over the country that I was running, and I haven't made that decision yet. I will really make it over this weekend.
It's based upon whether I want to change the lifestyle that I'm leading now in the private sector and go back into the public arena or not because it's a major decision to make for not only myself, but my family.
ROBERTS: I'm sure it is. What would cause you in terms of issues that are close to your heart to want to get into the race?
VENTURA: Well, for me it's the Iraq war. I despise anyone that voted for the Iraq war. And I think that anyone that did vote for the Iraq war ought to be taken out of office because they got duped. And we don't need people getting duped when it comes to going to war. And I feel that everybody that voted to go to the Iraq war should be taken out of office.
ROBERTS: Governor, you said just a second ago that it would be a lifestyle decision as to whether or not you did decide to run for the Senate. Your new book, "Don't Start the Revolution Without Me," you said that you wrote the book to try to reawaken America to the problems facing our society these days. I mean, if you really -- if you really, really care about it as you say you do in the book, are you not almost beholden to this idea of putting your lifestyle of golfing and surfing and whatever on hold for six years and running for office?
VENTURA: No. Because I need to see a light at the end of the tunnel. I need to see that the American people are ready to rise up, ready to have a revolution and will support it. If they don't want to come along, I don't want to pound my head against the wall for nothing.
ROBERTS: Do you think you're going to see that in the next few days?
VENTURA: No.
ROBERTS: Because that's when you need to make the decision.
VENTURA: Yes. But I'll see it during the campaign because if I do make the decision, because there's nothing that says you can't drop out after you get in, too, is there?
ROBERTS: Right. But, you know, in terms of this idea of trying to reawaken America, seeing this light at the end of the tunnel, do you not have to be there in the Senate pounding away day after day after day, and trying to make a difference for there to be a light at the end of the tunnel?
VENTURA: Well, what's --
ROBERTS: How can you just sit back during the campaign and say, yes, you know, I don't see it, I'm not going to try?
VENTURA: Well, because I can also go back to the Baja and continue my surfing then if I don't think it's worth it to put yourself on the line. See, people don't realize what it's like to hold these offices today. It's not a special thing today to do that. It's a brutal thing to do it. So it's a very difficult task to undertake to be an independent in our two-party dictatorship that we have in this country.
ROBERTS: But do you not -- I mean, if anybody represents this, do you not have the independent force of will and physical stature to be able to go up against those two parties?
VENTURA: Certainly, I do. But it's a question of whether I want to do it or not. I'm 57 years old next week. It's a six-year commitment and that would take me into my 60s.
And, you know, that's the dilemma I'm facing right now. Do I want to commit for six years of my life to this?
ROBERTS: Let me ask you this question, Governor. You only served one term as governor. You only served one term as mayor. Would you only serve one term in the Senate as well?
VENTURA: Probably. Because I believe that the problem, one of the major problems of our country today is career politicians. People who make a living at getting elected by these two parties. There's no fresh thoughts. I mean, I heard the other day, and don't quote me on this, but I heard there's 23 senators older than John McCain currently serving.
I don't know if that's true or not. But that's a disturbing number to me.
ROBERTS: Well, Governor, we look forward to your announcement. When will it be? On Tuesday?
VENTURA: Well, you'll find it won't be an announcement. It'll just be whether I file or not.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we're looking forward --
VENTURA: If I file, I'm running. If I don't file, I'm not.
ROBERTS: We're looking forward to finding out. Governor Jesse Ventura, it's good to talk to you. Thanks for coming in.
VENTURA: Thank you. My pleasure.
CHETRY: Well, we're just crossing the half hour. Some of the top stories we're following now for you. Iranian and European Union officials will reportedly meet to address Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Iran's news agency says that the talks will focus on a package of nuclear incentives presented to Iran by members of the U.N. Security Council. Iran had said it has no plans to stop enriching uranium, which is a key demand.
Three American hostages freed from their rebel captors are talking exclusively to CNN about their five and a half year ordeal in Colombia. Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves and Keith Stansell spoke with "HEADLINE NEWS" anchor Robin Meade about how they were treated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH STANSELL, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: This lock with five meters of chain, thick, one inch links, went to his neck. So this was locked around my neck like this. The other was lock around Mark's neck. We slept like that. Tom had exact same thing. He slept with a Colombian captain the same way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: We're going to have more of that interview with the freed hostages coming up in about 25 minutes.
It's a new strategy by major airlines. Instead of more apologies for high prices, now they're asking customers to focus their anger somewhere else. But as Carol Costello shows us, not all flyers are buying it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's getting harder and more expensive to fly, but the airlines say don't blame us. Blame the oil speculators. CEOs from 12 airlines signed an open letter to their customers, asking them to pull together to reform the oil markets. Then urging flyers to go to a Web site to lobby Congress on the airlines' behalf to regulate market speculation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just seems inappropriate.
DAVID CLARK, AIRLINE PASSENGER: To blame the oil speculators is ridiculous as well. The price of oil is going up. It's not because of oil speculators. It's because more people around the world are demanding and using oil.
COSTELLO: The airlines' plea to pull together may be the toughest part for many airline passengers who had been trapped on runways for hours with little explanation. Force to pay 15 bucks for checked bags, charged $25 for a fuel surcharge, et cetera, et cetera.
And if you read the whole open letter there is no guarantee things will improve for consumers even if fuel prices do go down.
TYSON SLOCUM, PUBLIC CITIZEN: Maybe these airlines should have thought a little harder about this e-mail that they sent out to make some pledges of improved service on their own before asking consumers to act on their behalf to call Congress to reign in these speculators.
COSTELLO: Still, Slocum says the airlines are not insincere about what fuel costs and about what they believe speculators are doing to their industry.
SLOCUM: There is a legitimate case to be made that the airlines are not necessarily the culprit of recent fair increases, but rather sustained high oil prices.
COSTELLO: And Slocum who heads a consumer group is slated to testify before Congress himself to say oil speculators are driving up oil prices. And he says while the airline's open letter isn't perfect, he does agree wholeheartedly with this line. "The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this problem."
(on-camera): I called on four of the airlines to ask if the price of a ticket would go down if oil prices dropped. I really didn't get an answer to that question, but those fuel surcharges that some airlines charge, they will probably go away if oil prices go down.
Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: 34 minutes now after the hour. And Alina Cho here on this Friday morning with other stories new.
Good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and Happy Friday to both of you. Good morning, everybody. Some of the stories we're following this morning.
A new report says teen pregnancies are up for the first time in 15 years. The National Institutes of Health says pregnancies rose between 2005 and 2006 to about 22 births for every 1,000 teenage girls. But it's too soon to tell whether it's the beginning of a trend.
Some say it might just be a blip. The report also showed pregnant teens are less likely to get prenatal care and are more likely to smoke than older pregnant woman.
Hollywood producer says we're not budging. Meanwhile, the Screen Actors Guild rejected the producers final deal yesterday. The actors offered a counterproposal, but the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers says it's not interested in bargaining. The alliance's S.A.G. is unreasonably asking for more than what other unions received. The actors want more pay for DVDs, a demand that writers, directors, and other actors couldn't get. S.A.G., by the way, is the largest actor's union with 120,000 members.
And a big honor for one of CNN's legendary broadcasters. Take a listen.
Well, there's the applause. The intersection of Sunset and Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood will now be known as Larry King Square. And there he is. Larry and CNN's top executives were on hand for the unveiling yesterday, marks King's 50th anniversary in broadcast journalism.
The 74-year-old King also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his 40th anniversary in TV. "LARRY KING LIVE" debuted in 1985 and, of course, is among CNN's most watched programming. 74 years young by the way. But, well deserved.
You know, renaming a square is rare, apparently, but fitting for somebody like Larry King.
ROBERTS: Yes and congratulations to Larry as well.
CHO: Yes, big honor.
CHETRY: He said even when he was a kid he thought, someday, if they ever named a street after me...
CHO: That's right.
CHETRY: It would really be something.
CHO: And there you go.
CHETRY: There you go. Congrats, Larry.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Jesse Jackson was quick to apologize for his crude remark about Senator Barack Obama. But not everyone is buying it. We get the ethics guy to weigh in.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING -- the retirement community for chimpanzees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the bottom of the barrel chimps. This was the worst lab left in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: After being locked up for years, these chimps are headed to Florida in their own private playground. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We might not be sending postcards, but for decades chimpanzees once used by NASA and for other research were left to live out their lives in cramped cages in a place known as the Dungeon. But now, thanks to one facility, those chimps are free.
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, meet some of the chimps. For 40 years they were poked and prodded and tested. Now, they are getting a taste of freedom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: When the cage door opened Gabriela and her son, Gab, just sat for a moment. Mom not quite sure what to make of all this. For the first time in her life, Gabriella will no longer be living in a box.
CAROLE NOON, SAVE THE CHIMPS FOUNDER: I mean, cement boxes, monkey chow twice a day of the same diet day after day. Excruciating boredom.
ZARRELLA: Thanks to Carole Noon.
NOON: Welcome to Florida.
ZARRELLA: Nearly 300 chimpanzees who spent decades in cages are spending the rest of their lives literally enjoying island living -- chilling in a hammock, playing kid games, chatting with friends. Noon is founder and director of the Save The Chimps facility near Fort Pierce, Florida. The 200 acres with 12 private islands are run solely on donations.
NOON: We don't do anything particularly magical here. We don't rescue chimps. We don't rehabilitate chimps. We open the doors.
ZARRELLA: A handful of the chimps are descendants of NASA's space chimps. But most were used in HIV and Hepatitis research in this lab in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Some for as long as 40 years. Six years ago the lab facing bankruptcy was sold to Noon, one of the world's experts on primates.
NOON: These are the bottom of the barrel chimps. This was the worst lab left in the country. 54 living alone in a building we called the Dungeon because it rolled off your tongue because that's what it was.
ZARRELLA: Today, ten chimps arrive.
NOON: One, we're going to open the door now.
ZARRELLA: There 145 here now. A few come at a time.
NOON: It's your turn! You guys are next.
ZARRELLA: Before making the trip from New Mexico, weeks are spent putting the group together. Making sure they all get along after living in five by five by seven cages.
NOON: Imagine how the dynamic changes when all of a sudden they aren't living in a small, one bedroom apartment.
ZARRELLA: When they first arrive they stay in a transition building getting used to new faces. From now on, human contact is minimal. Soon they will begin coming and going as they please. Why all this for the chimps? It's simple, Noon says -- because they deserve it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: It will take about a month for some of the new arrivals to get acclimated to their surroundings. And then like these guys back here, they'll be allowed to roam free on the islands that they all call home.
John?
Kiran?
ROBERTS: Wow. What a great story. And you could see when they were sitting there in those cages by themselves, obviously, they feel emotion.
CHETRY: Yes.
ROBERTS: They feel sadness and loneliness.
CHETRY: Chimps are our closest ancestors, right?
ROBERTS: Yes. High primates.
CHETRY: How about it? Well, it was funny, John Zarrella sitting there and they're looking behind him. I wonder if he's going to be joining us. He's probably leaving after this.
ROBERTS: He's the new guy. Do we like him or not?
CHETRY: Right. Exactly.
Well, John McCain was left speechless when asked about Viagra. Find out why he doesn't want to discuss that part of his voting record. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: About 15 minutes before 7:00 here on the East Coast. Rob Marciano tracking extreme weather for us. We're following Bertha and you're also telling us about La Nina today.
(WEATHER REPORT) ROBERTS: So, let see, so La Nina great for skiing. El Nino, good for getting rid of hurricanes.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly. You know, we find friends on both sides of the equation.
ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you, guys.
ROBERTS: Regrets. Jesse Jackson has a few for his crude comment about Barack Obama. He has apologized repeatedly, but some say it's not enough. The ethics guy joins us next.
CHETRY: Painful memories.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First months of our captivity, we were at that point locked in boxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: American hostages held in a jungle for five years finally tell their story. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Jesse also said he thought Barack Obama was talking down to black people by lecturing them on things like fatherhood and being a responsible husband. Jesse thought it was insulting, not only to him, but to his former mistress and their love child. So its --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jay Leno and the other late night hosts having their way with Jesse Jackson's hot mike comment moment over the weekend, which kind of whispering a crude remark about Senator Barack Obama. Jackson has apologized, but is it enough?
Joining us now, Bruce Weinstein. He's the ethics columnist for businessweek.com, better known as "The Ethics Guy."
Good to see you. Happy Friday morning to you.
BRUCE WEINSTEIN, THE ETHICS GUY: You, too, John.
ROBERTS: Let's take a quick listen to Jesse Jackson and the apology from the other day.
WEINSTEIN: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JESSE JACKSON, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: If in this thing I've said in a hot mike statement that's interpreted as distractions, I offer apology for that because I don't want harm to hurt to come to this campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: So what do you make of that apology?
WEINSTEIN: It's a non-apology, apology. It really didn't go far enough. He's basically blaming FOX News for being unethical and broadcasting it rather than taking full responsibility for having said it. It's a classic textbook case of how not to apologize.
ROBERTS: So what should he have said?
WEINSTEIN: He should have said this was wrong. I own it. I take full responsibility. End of story.
ROBERTS: So, yesterday, he went on television several times. He was on our air a couple times. He was also on "Good Morning America." He did a lot of phone interviews as well explaining his position. What happened. Saying that it was hurtful, I shouldn't have said that. Was that enough?
WEINSTEIN: It's understandable that he would be embarrassed. We've all been caught off guard. We've all made statements. We've all made mistakes. But the problem is that after we make a mistake, especially one as serious as that, we have to own up to it. That's what fairness requires.
Now, compassion requires that the offended honor and accept the apology. And Obama's camp did that. So they took the high road. Unfortunately, Jackson's initial apology is what's bouncing around the Internet and that's what's going to be remembered.
ROBERTS: Yes. The Obama campaign, as you said, accepted the apology, accepted it quite quickly. You said that was the right thing to do. Is it also the politically expedient thing to do to try to kill this from their standpoint as quickly as possible?
WEINSTEIN: Well, I'm an ethicist. You can't -- there are other political pundits who could comment on that. But, ethically, it was above and beyond the call of duty. He didn't have to personally accept it. It would have been nice if he had, but he did accept it and that was the right thing to do.
ROBERTS: Because certainly Jesse Jackson Jr., Jesse's son didn't accept it. He had some very harsh things to say about that. You got to wonder, you know, as Jesse Sr. in the --
(CROSSTALK)
WEINSTEIN: What that calls to mind is the scene in the "Godfather." When Michael Corleone says: Fredo, you're my older brother and I love you. But don't ever take sides against the family with anyone ever again, ever.
ROBERTS: Right. All right. Bruce, thanks so much for that.
WEINSTEIN: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Thanks for your perspective on that.
Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING -- political side effect. McCain left speechless when the topic turns to Viagra.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I certainly do not want to discuss that issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Plus, the science that cleared JonBenet's family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an area where you think that person might have been grabbed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: An exclusive look inside the lab. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The three American hostages held for more than five years in Colombia's jungles by FARC rebels are now back with their families. And they're talking exclusively to CNN. "HEADLINE NEWS" anchor Robin Meade sat down with Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes as the three shared their remarkable stories of survival and told what got them through years of captivity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR, HEADLINE NEWS: Can you -- any of you take me to your darkest day in captivity? What was happening and how did you survived that?
MARC GONSALVES, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: I remember my darkest day was in the first months of our captivity. We were, at that point, locked in boxes at night. And they would unlock the boxes to let us out.
And that night, I dreamt about my daughter. It was a wonderful with all of my family, but the problem was I woke up and being freshly taken, abducted, it hurt. It was very, very painful. It was very painful. And I couldn't -- I couldn't lift my chin. My head got so heavy. And I was just like this.
And we weren't allowed to speak to each other, the three of us, at that time. But Keith saw from the other corner of the camp, from his box, that I was in a very hard, difficult moment. And these two guys, they came over, and they put their arms around me. When they did that, I just started bawling. And that was a hard, hard day and I cried a lot.
THOMAS HOWES, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: I just developed a severe dislike for this commander. And I would lose control as my friends would tell me and try to bring me back and just start -- I'd get him in front of his troops and I tried to make him look as bad as he could. And he was a mean guy.
And he got to the point where he said he was going to kill me one day. He took out his gun and made, like, made a cocking -- he didn't quite half cock it. He said I'm going to kill you. I made a comment back. And he lowered the gun. He said -- well, I'm not going to kill you but I'm going to ruin your day.
Then he went down to my feet. He said, I'm going to shoot you in the foot, so it's going to be tough to March. (INAUDIBLE), I finally just gave up and he double chain me that day. He took Keith chain. And so, I had 18 pounds of chain and lock and off we went through the jungles.
I have two little boys -- 5-year-old twins.
MEADE: And you never met them?
KEITH STANSELL, FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE: I'm sorry. It's a happy -- this is happy. This is a good thing for me.
HOWES: The camp told us about the fact that they just thought he had one -- one little boy.
STANSELL: I thought one had died.
HOWES: He didn't even think about getting the photos. He said he saw the photo and he looked good.
STANSELL: (INAUDIBLE) the picture, I've got two boys I've never seen.
HOWES: Yes.
STANSELL: You know, these two guys helped me through it.
GONSALVES: This is the chess board and here are the pieces that --
MEADE: How did you get these?
GONSALVES: I was able to carve with a broken piece of a machete.
MEADE: You carved the chess pieces with a broken piece of machete.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just woke up one day and did it. He said, guys, I'm going to make a chess set. He just started. He said, I'm making a chess and I'm tired of this.
MEADE: And your captors allowed you to do it or did you hide it?
GONSALVES: No. They allowed me to do it. Some of the lower ranking guards actually took interest to see if I was going to be able to finish it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They wanted one carved later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want themselves and want to get it.
MEADE: They wanted you to carve it?
GONSALVES: Yes. Then later, they wanted me to carve some for them.
HOWES: We had just started to take off in the helicopter, break ground. And all hell broke loose in the helicopter. Nothing I ever expected. I mean, there were people moving and fists flying and things going on.
STANSELL: One of the guys came up to Marc and I, and he's going, in English, cooperate with us. And I said, who are you? And he had a fake U.N. ID and I grabbed it and I looked at it. And he said I'm Australian. I said, Australian, you're Spanish?
He spoke English with a Spanish accent. And Marc was saying you're not going to tire at me. And he just gets us and he says please believe me, in English, we're going to get you out of here but we need your help.
GONSALVES: What happened was during this scuffle, I've got a -- I tried to get up to get the keys because the scuffle was right next to him. And I wanted to try to keep him out of it, do whatever I could. And losing my mind, I guess in the chaos and excitement, I couldn't move. I was tied.
Well, one of the aide workers grabbed me, kind of put his arms around me and put me down. And he said we are Army. We're Army. And that's when I found out I was -- I was free.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Wow. Remarkable to hear their stories. And also, doctors say that the tests over the past five days have shown that the men are, quote, "in good condition and in good health." Because there were some questions as to whether or not they were suffering from various ailments after being stuck in the jungles for five years with no medical care.
ROBERTS: What an extraordinary series of stories they have to tell. It's just incredible stuff. Wow.
Just crossing the top of the hour and here are this morning's top stories for you.
