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American Morning
Firefighter Chopper Crash Kills Nine and Injures Four; McCain Says He Can Fix Broken Government; Feds Drop Heath Ledger Drug Probe Case; Outrage Over Oil Money in Iraq; China Responds to President Bush's Speech; Rudy Giuliani Weighs in on Candidates' Energy Plan
Aired August 07, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: 7:00 straight up Eastern time, time for our top stories.
We begin with breaking news of a nuclear sub leak. The U.S. Navy says the USS Houston has been leaking radioactive water during port calls in Japan and other Asian countries as far back as 2006. Navy officials say the attack sub made port calls to three Japanese bases between 2006 and March of this year. Officials say the leak was discovered last month while the sub was in dry dock. This morning Japan says it appreciates being notified but wants a full explanation of what happened.
Also breaking this morning, President Bush on his way to Beijing right now. He's scheduled to touch down next hour. This morning China responded to President Bush's speech, criticizing it over human rights violations. China says no one should interfere in other countries' internal affairs.
And this just in to CNN. A major development that could impact the war on terror. It's an impeachment threat against Pakistan's president. "The Associated Press" reporting this morning the country's ruling coalition will ask Pervez Musharraf to seek a confidence vote in parliament or face impeachment. Musharraf has seen his power decrease significantly since he stepped down as the country's military ruler last year and since opposition parties gained a victory in February's elections.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, right now, eight firefighters and a pilot are presumed dead. They're missing after a helicopter crashed in flames in northern California. Four survivors are hospitalized. Two of them in serious condition.
Now this happened late Tuesday night in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest after the chopper picked up workers battling a wildfire.
CNN's Dan Simon joins us now with more on this story. Good morning, Dan.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran. We are at the command post, the crash site about 20 miles away from here deep in the Shasta-Trinity Forest. Now, authorities say that the helicopter and the crew had made several previous flyovers to that area where the crash site occurred. So they were familiar with the difficult terrain there.
Several firefighters on the ground witnessed the crash, so their eyewitness account could be critical in the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON (voice-over): The chopper had just picked up a group of firefighters from a clearing in a rugged California forest. It crashed in thick woods about 200 miles northwest of Sacramento, then caught fire.
Other firefighters waiting to be picked up rushed to the scene. Thirteen people were aboard the chopper. Just four were pulled from the wreckage. They're the only survivors.
The others are believed to have died in the fire that destroyed the helicopter. Rescuers say just getting to the crash site was a treacherous effort.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This area is very difficult terrain. It is steep, remote, rugged, and very difficult to access.
SIMON: The helicopter that went down is a Sikorsky S-61N chopper, widely used to shuttle crews to and from remote fire lines. Officials from the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff reacted to news of the crash.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This country owes a great debt to the firefighters and everybody else who was out there protecting us day in and day out. And we hope that this season, which looks to be a tough season, will not cost us any more brave lives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Prior to this, three firefighters in California had died this year while battling fires. So no doubt this will bring the total up significantly. The NTSB taking the lead on the investigation.
Some of the questions they'll be looking at, the maintenance records for the helicopter, the experience level of the pilot. Did they have enough rest? Did he and his co-pilot have enough rest?
And also the winds. Were winds a factor when the crash occurred? Obviously a lot of questions here, Kiran.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Dan Simon for us this morning. Still hoping for the best, though. Thanks.
MARCIANO: John McCain has a new pitch on the campaign trail. He's bringing a little bit of negative, and he's also trying to steal a page out of Barack Obama's book.
Our Ed Henry is on the campaign trail with John McCain in Ohio today. Good morning, Ed. ED HENRY, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob. You know, Barack Obama has been building himself as the candidate of change who can shake up Washington. But John McCain is here in this pivotal state to try to seize that mantle back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): A new one-two punch from John McCain.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The cost of everything is going up and in the face of this, Washington is on vacation.
HENRY: First, McCain is on the attack. Charging government is broken and Barack Obama is too inexperienced to fix it.
MCCAIN: My opponent, Senator Obama, opposes both storage and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. He opposes offshore drilling immediately, and he's out of touch.
HENRY: At the same time, McCain is trying to present a positive agenda. Making the case he has better plans to improve the economy and solve the energy problem.
MCCAIN: We need to crack down on those who've abused our credit market and caused this housing decline. We need to take action to support American businesses so that we can stop jobs from going overseas.
HENRY: A tricky balancing act for McCain who may come across as too negative. He's walking that same fine line in a new ad that, again, charges Obama as a celebrity. But with a forward-looking twist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL)
NARRATOR: He's the biggest celebrity in the world. Ready to help your family? The real Obama promises higher taxes, more government spending. So, fewer jobs. Renewable energy to transform our economy, create jobs and energy independence? That's John McCain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: This ad is toned down. No images of Paris Hilton that were in last week's ad and prompted so much outrage in the Obama camp.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, trying to go positive and negative at the same time may be a tough balancing act for John McCain. Every time he attacks Washington, Barack Obama likes to remind audiences that McCain has been in Washington for about 26 years. So the key is for McCain to restore that old reputation as a maverick instead of a Washington insider -- Rob.
MARCIANO: Ed Henry live in the campaign trail in Lima, Ohio. Thanks, Ed.
CHETRY: There's some incredible video coming in from Tennessee of a school bus crashing through a house. There it is.
Police say the driver swerved to miss an animal and ended up hitting that garage. The driver suffered some neck and back pain. There were no kids on the bus at the time. They're not back from school break yet -- summer break, rather. Police say that one woman was in the home at the time but she is also OK.
Dozens of school bus drivers among those caught in a $400,000 OxyContin bust in Miami-Dade County. Authorities say 62 people were arrested, most of them government employees. Among them a police officer, a court clerk, two corrections officers and 27 school bus drivers, as well as attendants. They were allegedly in a scam that got 12,000 of these painkillers from pharmacies using phony prescriptions.
Well, new developments today in the painkiller related death of actor Heath Ledger. And it could mean that his friend, Mary-Kate Olsen, is off the hook, at least when it comes to questioning.
Alina Cho is standing by with new details this morning. And explain for people what the connection is, anyway.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are very, very close friends, as you well know, and we'll get more to that in just a moment, Kiran. But the headline here is that the case is closed.
Federal investigators have dropped their case into how Heath Ledger got those powerful painkillers. The drugs, as you may recall, contributed to his overdose death back in January. And some had questioned whether the actor had obtained them illegally. But in published reports a law enforcement source says prosecutors have given up on the case in part because there's no "viable target."
Now, so what does this mean for Ledger's close friend, Mary-Kate Olsen? You may recall that the 22-year-old actress was the very first person that Ledger's masseuse called after she discovered Ledger's body inside his New York apartment. Now, one source told the "New York Daily News" that no one suggested Olsen gave him the drugs, but she may have known where the drugs came from.
Then there were several reports that prosecutors wanted to subpoena Olsen and that she wanted immunity before she talked to anyone. In response, Olsen's attorney put out a statement this week saying in part, "Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs found in Heath Ledger's home or his body, and she does not know where he obtained them."
The statement went on to say, "We don't know the source of the information being quoted in the media, but these descriptions are incomplete and inaccurate."
Now, the U.S. attorney's office told CNN it is not their policy to comment on investigations. Of course, there's no denying that this case has gotten a lot of attention in part because of Heath Ledger's fame, his age, he was just 28 years old when he died, and most recently, of course, Kiran, because of the new Batman film, "The Dark Knight" in which Ledger plays the joker.
That movie has been a hit, making more than $400 million at the box office. It could break an all-time record. And, of course, Kiran, there's been a lot of talk that Ledger could be nominated or may even win a posthumous Oscar -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Sad case all around, though, to miss such a talent. Alina Cho, thank you.
MARCIANO: Outrage over oil in Iraq this morning. A government watchdog group says Iraq is rolling in tens of billions of dollars in oil profits.
Our Brianna Keilar reports on the debate over why American taxpayers are footing the bill to rebuild Iraq -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rob and Kiran, good morning. Iraq's projected oil revenues in this new report by the Government Accountability Office has many people wondering why the U.S. has picked up so much of the tab for reconstruction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Record high oil prices. A pain at the pump for Americans but a windfall for the Iraqi government. A new report says Iraqi oil revenues since 2005 could total up to $169 billion. With the U.S. government on the hook for almost $50 billion in war reconstruction costs, members of Congress are fuming.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), CHMN, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: This is not rocket science. They've got tens of billions of dollars of surplus in banks around the world. $10 billion in American banks alone. They wrote a check to get that money into the bank. They can write a check to reimburse us for these reconstruction costs.
KEILAR: Shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq, a top Pentagon official told Congress rebuilding would be paid for with oil money.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY DEFENSE SECRETARY: There's a lot of money to pay for this. It doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money.
KEILAR: But it didn't happen that way. Since 2003, the United States has largely funded security as well as infrastructure for oil, water and electricity in Iraq. Now news that Iraq is projected to have a surplus of as much as $80 billion this year. But White House Spokesman Tony Fratto said Iraq is now footing most of the bill for rebuilding and dismisses suggestions that Iraq reimburse American taxpayers.
TONY FRATTO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The reimbursement to the United States is that we will have a long-term ally that will stand with us in this very critical part of the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And an Iraqi lawmaker tells CNN Iraq needs to set aside that surplus money in case the price of oil, Iraq's primary source of revenue, drops significantly -- Rob, Kiran.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Brianna. The report also says $10 billion of Iraq's surplus is at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And the bank has paid Iraq $435 million in interest payments on that money.
CHETRY: Well, here's what we're working on for you this morning. $7 pillows putting fly -- you get a blanket, too. Flyers are still over the edge about it. JetBlue CEO says you're actually getting a deal. We're going to check out Larry King's exclusive interview.
MARCIANO: And Osama bin Laden's former driver convicted of supporting terrorism for his role in aiding the terror leader. We'll have a live report from Guantanamo Bay.
CHETRY: The war of words between presidential candidates heating up, especially when it comes to energy. We're going to be speaking to McCain supporter Rudy Giuliani, former New York mayor, about the issue. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: From Green Bay to Gang Green. Brett Favre is now a New York Jets. The Green Bay Packer shipped away the most beloved player in franchise history for a draft pick late last night. It ends one of the longest soap operas in NFL off season history.
Back in March you may remember Favre announced he was retiring. He did the crying, the whole thing. That didn't last long. The Packers had already moved on and after 16 years decided to part ways with Favre. And, of course, it's all over the papers this morning here in New York. You see I'm a Giants fan.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
MARCIANO: I don't like -- VELSHI: It's a big story.
MARCIANO: It's huge. Good luck to him.
CHETRY: Look at the other side. Is it going to say the same thing? Jets get Favre.
MARCIANO: You know it's big if it's on both sides of the "Daily News."
VELSHI: Yes.
CHETRY: Exactly. Like the news that you shaved your goatee -- your one day goatee.
MARCIANO: I guess we forgot to tell people who by chance weren't watching yesterday... VELSHI: Right.
MARCIANO: ... that you came back from vacation with a full on Fu Manchu beard.
VELSHI: Right. I had a goatee and I said I would keep in place until gas prices went up again or until the man told me to shave it.
(CROSSTALK)
You can guess what happened. Gas prices are down today. It's like you figured out what happened there, but I made it through the day.
We got some more news in the auto industry. It's actually kind of interesting. First of all, Toyota came out with its results and they are down.
Now, Toyota is the gold standard of auto companies. I mean, they really, really are excellent. Their sales are down because everybody's car sales are down. And that's not just a this-year economy thing.
In the Western world, in the United States and Europe, car sales have been sort of edging off over the last several years. The gas prices have just sort of accelerated that. There's a lot more growth in the Eastern world, in China, in India, in Russia, and the Middle East.
Now, another issue is that Nissan, of the major car company, has also been suffering but not as much as the U.S. companies. So there's a report in the "Wall Street Journal" that there are discussions between Nissan and Chrysler about pairing up where Nissan would make a car for Chrysler and Chrysler would make a truck for Nissan. The Nissan car made for Chrysler would sell in the United States. The truck made by Chrysler for Nissan would sell in Japan.
But let me just show you, give you a sense of how bad sales have been for some of these companies. This is a July auto sales compared to a year ago and they're really quite bad. Nissan of the North American makers is the worst, down 29 percent. You see GM and Ford both down. Chrysler by comparison is only down nine percent. So expect to see lots of changes again in the auto industry this year.
CHETRY: That's why I could never be a manager then I couldn't tell Ali Velshi, shave the goatee.
MARCIANO: Yes, I know. I wouldn't have the heart to do it either.
VELSHI: You guys were OK with it?
MARCIANO: I'm all right with it, you know. I didn't want to say that I was fatally attracted to you. I think that's going too far.
VELSHI: But you were OK with me having it? CHETRY: But now you are saying it. Thanks, Ali.
Well, a CNN exclusive. JetBlue CEO trying to answer for those $7 pillow and blankets. He told Larry King that you're actually getting a real bargain. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE BARGER, CEO, JETBLUE AIRWAYS: I think the way to look at this is this is really about -- this is a $2 product. This is a $7 purchase of a brand-new pillow, blanket. A very cool company called Clean Brands up in Providence, Rhode Island, and you take it home with you and you get a $5 gift certificate, store coupon from Bed, Bath and Beyond. So that's a pretty good deal as opposed to, say, using somebody else's blanket and pillow off the inbound aircraft. So this is a nice way to offer an amenity, if you will, to our customers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Here's an idea. Wash the darn blankets. What is it? Like bring your own sheets now to the hotels? You don't want to sleep on the guy from last week, do you?
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: I wonder what's on their sheets.
CHETRY: Oh, goodness. But, hey, that's their stuff.
Earlier this week, JetBlue did announce it will begin charging for pillows and blankets aboard their flights. The airline getting rid of the recycled blankets as the CEO said.
MARCIANO: Chasing the dopers right before they light the torch in Beijing. A doctor says steroid testing isn't really that reliable. We are paging our own Dr. Gupta.
ELAINE QUIJANO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elaine Quijano live in Bangkok, Thailand, where President Bush delivers some sharp criticism of China from a distance. I'll have that story when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Breaking news this morning. President Bush on his way to Beijing right now. He's scheduled to touch down within the next hour. And this morning, China responds to President Bush's speech criticizing its human rights violation. China says that no one should interfere in other countries' internal affairs.
White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is traveling with the president. She joins us live from Bangkok this morning. Hi, Elaine.
QUIJANO: Hi there, Kiran. Well, just hours before the president visits Beijing, the president tried to maintain a respectful but firm tone in chastising China over human rights. Now, in his speech here in Bangkok, the president aimed carefully crafted China remarks at a dual audience. First, activists and U.S. lawmakers who argue that his Beijing visit gives China a pass on human rights, and his second audience, China's government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents and human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: In giving his speech here in Thailand not China, the president intentionally blunted his own criticism. Allowing China its big moment, the Summer Olympic Games. Now, the president's next stop, of course, is Beijing where his first day will include the opening ceremony -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Elaine Quijano for us in Bangkok, Thailand, this morning. Thanks.
MARCIANO: Barack Obama says he wants to get the U.S. off foreign oil in 10 years. So how does he plan to do it? You'll hear from him, his plan, in his own words.
And a warning -- warning Iran. The secretary of state makes her first comments after Iran stalls on nukes again. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Well, with the presidential election less than three months away, we want to help you make an informed choice for president. So we're playing you extended clips of the candidates talking about the issues. Barack Obama at a campaign stop in Indiana outlines his energy plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we're going to be serious about this problem, we need an all "hands on deck" approach. An effort from scientists and engineers, businesses, homeowners, all of us are going to have to get behind a new approach to energy. We know this is a challenge that we can meet.
(APPLAUSE)
That's one of the reasons I voted for an energy bill in the Senate that was far from perfect, but doubled our use of alternative energy. We've got to develop it. That's why as president I will put the full resources of the federal government and the full energy of the private sector behind a single, overarching goal. In 10 years, we're going to eliminate the need for oil from the entire Middle East and Venezuela. All of it.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, to do this we're going to invest $150 billion over the next decade and leverage billions of dollars more in private capital to harness American energy and create five million jobs in the process. Jobs that cannot be outsourced. Good paying jobs that will be created right here in Indiana and all across the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Coming up in our next half hour, you'll hear from John McCain responding to Barack Obama's tax plan.
CHETRY: Well, we're talking energy with former presidential candidate and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani up next. We're going to get his views on the presidential race's current hot topics.
He's here in the studio -- coming over now. The "Most News in the Morning" when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The energy crisis at the top of the political agenda for Barack Obama and John McCain this week. And joining me now to talk about that is former McCain rival but now supporter and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Great to see you as always, Mr. Mayor.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning.
CHETRY: One of the things that's been going on in the campaign is that John McCain's been really tough on Barack Obama about his energy plan in recent days. And now, we have Barack Obama pushing back a little bit with this ad. So let's listen to a little bit of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL)
NARRATOR: John McCain, he's been in Washington for 26 years. As gas prices soared, independence on oil exploded, McCain was voting against alternative energy, against higher mileage standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Now, is it challenging for John McCain to make the argument that Washington is broken when he's been there for decades?
GIULIANI: Well, it's very interesting that Barack Obama would challenge to set forth his energy plan. His energy plan is to attack McCain with a negative ad that's false. John McCain was in favor of cap and trade back in the '90s. I don't think Barack Obama was even a state legislator then. I think he was a community organizer at the time. So his record on energy is really an excellent one. To go pick out a vote in which there are ten things in it in a measure and use it in a commercial is very, very deceiving.
CHETRY: The larger issue though, is that we still in Washington don't have a plan and we still are facing a lot of trouble, you know, around the country. And so he's making the argument, though, that Washington's broken, but he's been there?
GIULIANI: Well, he's going to make it no better, if not worse. He's going to take us back to maybe before Bill Clinton. He's not in favor of drilling. He's not in favor of nuclear power. He's not in favor of any of the things that are going to move us in the short term, at least, and short term means, the next 10 to 15 years, toward energy diversity, energy independence. And with regard to solar and wind, they're both in favor of it. So the two major things where they differ, Barack Obama would do no new drilling. How are we going to have anymore oil without some new drilling? Second, he wouldn't do nuclear power. France is 80 percent nuclear. America is only 20 percent nuclear. So the reality is Barack Obama is the one who will hold us back. His plan for the future is to take us back to the past.
CHETRY: I want to ask you about this. McCain's been calling on Congress to come back from the recess and saying don't be on recess while we're still trying to go over this. There's a liberal leaning league of conservation voters though that's giving McCain a zero rating for 2007 because they say he missed all 11 votes on energy issues. Is there a touch of hypocrisy there?
GIULIANI: I mean, the reality is this is what happens when your presidential candidate, when Barack Obama was in the state legislature I think he voted present 130 times. And both he and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were absent for many, many critical votes. So I mean that's one of the perils that happens when you run for the president of the United States.
CHETRY: It's a difficult situation, no doubt. I want to ask you about this. Barack Obama looking at republicans, possibly a bipartisan ticket. We're talking about Chuck Hagel as his running mate, possibly serving in the Cabinet. I believe he even said, you know, if there was a good cabinet position for McCain that might be a possibility down the road. Are we at a time now where it is more and more a possibility that we would see either a bipartisan ticket or a bipartisan cabinet?
GIULIANI: We could. I mean, the last time John Kerry was talking about putting John McCain on the ticket? Remember? Back in 2004. there was some serious talk about John Kerry putting John McCain on the ticket. Kind of funny how the democrats are all running against him when they wanted him four years ago. But the reality is either way you might see something like that. Sure.
CHETRY: Is that something McCain would consider? And if so -
GIULIANI: Well, I haven't talked to John about it. And if you're asking me is it possible in this day and age you could have a ticket like that? I think so. And with the emphasis in Washington on bipartisan cooperation you might see one or the other candidate do something like that?
CHETRY: Are there any democrats you can think of that would make a good either VP or cabinet choice for McCain?
GIULIANI: There are a couple I can think of but John is the best to decide. I don't want to preempt him. There are a couple I could think of.
CHETRY: Rudy Giuliani, great to see you. As always, mayor. Thanks.
GIULIANI: Thank you very much.
CHETRY: Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: 32 minutes after the hours. Here are the top stories we're working on. Human rights protesters in Beijing one day before the opening ceremonies. Christian demonstrators from the U.S. were removed from Tienanmen Square. Some refused to leave. They didn't want to leave their knees during the demonstration.
And right now the search is on for eight firefighters and a crew member missing and presumed dead after their helicopter crashed in flames. It went down Tuesday night shortly after picking up firefighters, battling a blaze in northern California. Three other firefighters and a pilot were hospitalized with severe burns. Recovery efforts for the nine missing have been hampered by their remote location.
And Osama Bin Laden's former driver found guilty of supporting terrorism. He faces life in prison. The U.S. government wasn't able to prove its whole case. Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Salim Hamdan's face fell into his hands and he wiped his eyes as the jury of anonymous American military officers pronounced him guilty of supporting terrorism. Even as it cleared him of conspiracy to murder. Hamdan will face life in prison after the jury found him guilty of what the judge described as essentially supporting Osama Bin Laden by serving as his personal driver, bodyguard, and weapons courier. In a statement the chief prosecutor called Hamdan "a career Al Qaeda warrior, pledged to ensuring the personal security of Osama Bin Laden years before the September 11th attacks up until the minute he was captured, heading toward the battlefield."
But human rights advocates pointed to the other verdict. The finding that Hamdan was not guilty of conspiracy to murder innocents as evidence the charges were too extreme for even a military jury to accept.
BEN WIZNER, ACLU ATTORNEY: This is not a fair system. This judgment will be appealed. But I would say that there is no appeal from the judgment of history. It won't be kind about these proceedings.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon argued that Hamdan has a vigorous defense that resulted in his acquittal on some charges. In the statement a spokesman said, these proceedings should show the world that we are committed to providing detainees with due process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: That was Jamie McIntyre reporting.
CHETRY: All right. Warning Iran that more serious sanctions could be coming. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talking about the nuclear stand off in an interview with Yahoo and the politico. Let's take a quick look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We've always said Iran has a way out if they wish. But we will seriously pursue sanctions if they don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of this foot dragging are we going to be tougher with them?
RICE: Well, we've been pretty tough with them already. We have three Security Council resolutions. We are making a difference in terms of their own -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should they feel like time is running out? Like should they feel -
RICE: They should have felt like time was running out quite a long time ago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: The U.S. and its allies said Iran's most recent response to a package of incentives was insufficient because Iran suggested that it would not stop enriching uranium.
Alina Cho joins me now with some other stories new this morning.
Hey, Alina. Good to see you.
CHO: Hey there, guys. Good morning, again. Good morning, everybody.
New this morning, the amount of time you have to wait to get into the E.R. has almost doubled in the past decade. A federal report says patients are waiting almost an hour on average to see a doctor in hospital emergency rooms. The Centers for Disease Control says the wait time has grown steadily from 38 minutes in 1997 to 56 minutes in 2006. Officials say it's a supply and demand problem. There were 119 million emergency room visits in 2006. That's up 32 percent increase over a ten-year period. Another contributing factor, many hospitals are closing their emergency services department. Some say because they're not profitable.
Well, talk about bad timing. After a savage murder on a Greyhound bus in Canada the company has pulled a new ad that talks about the relaxing upside of bus travel. The ad's tag line says, "there's a reason you've never heard of bus rage." Last week, police say a man beheaded a fellow Greyhound passenger on a bus trip through Canada. 35 other passengers witnessed it. Greyhound says the new ads will be pulled by the end of the day.
And a Snickers ad starring Mr. T is also off the air. Mars pulled this one from U.K. TV after people in the U.S. complained it was anti-gay. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MR. T: I pity you, fool. You're a disgrace to the man race. It's time to run like a real man. Take that, speed walker. That's going to be trouble with a capital Mr. T.
Get some nuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: It's a Snickers the man was being hit with, by the way. Mars said the ad was meant to be in fun and didn't mean to offend anyone. Of course, humor is subjective.
CHETRY: You know, power walking - power walkers get a bad rap. Men and women.
CHO: Men and women.
MARCIANO: I don't think it's fair to single -
CHETRY: It's harder than running, power walking.
MARCIANO: Well, I don't think it's fair to assume it's homosexual.
CHETRY: I was looking through this magazine. Come on, I have. Sorry.
MARCIANO: What kind of transition is this, by the way?
CHETRY: Alina and I don't have that much excitement in our lives because this had us both going crazy. This is Rob Marciano. I've never even heard of this magazine but it's a good one. It's call V- Man.
CHO: It doesn't matter.
CHETRY: There it is. A man for all seasons. Rob Marciano. I'm just giving a little teaser. There's more.
MARCIANO: If you keep showing that, Mr. T is going to come after me.
CHO: You know what I like to say, lots of photos, little coffee. Right?
And that's what this is. Lot of photos, little coffee.
MARCIANO: We're being wrapped here, guys.
CHETRY: We're going to show it to you all at the end of 8:00. So if you can stick around, please do. Do not do anything with that.
Well, from Hollywood to Bollywood, American film makers are turning to India's booming movie industry for some financial help. Some of the top names doing it when the most news in the morning returns.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Tinseltown's power couples are about to get a little competition. Brook Anderson shows us how two of India's top movie stars are bringing Bollywood to Hollywood -- Brooke.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Kiran and Rob, Hollywood is going Bollywood and vice versa as multimillion dollar deals are sealed and top stars cross over.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): They're called the Brad and Angelina of India. Bollywood icons seen here in the hit movie's "Guru" and "Bunty aur Babli." Now Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and her husband Abhishek Bachchan are taking the U.S. by storm. On tour, hoping to drum up excitement for Indian film.
ABHISHEK BACHCHAN, ACTOR: We're the largest film industry in the world. We sell the largest amount of tickets in the world.
ANDERSON: India produces more movies than any other country. And its movie industry commonly known as Bollywood is expected to double in size by 2012. That success is driving a strong fiscal relationship with Hollywood. Indian producers are a reliable source of cash for American film makers seeking financing outside the unpredictable U.S. economy.
NELSON GAYTON, ANDERSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, UCLA: You're seeing a lot of the Indian producers or entertainment conglomerates really trying to become the Hollywood studios of the future. Certainly by buying into Hollywood content, but also by spending the money to build a distribution infrastructure to really create, you know, global products.
ANDERSON: Nelson Gayton of UCLA's Entertainment Media Management Institute asserts mutually beneficial opportunities abound. Steven Spielberg is reportedly in talks with India's Reliance Big Entertainment for half a billion dollars. An investment that would enable Spielberg's DreamWorks to break off from Paramount Pictures.
GAYTON: When you're talking about Steven Spielberg type movies, you're talking about movies that, you know, that play all over the world. But you're also talking about movies to fill a very, very attractive pipeline in India.
ANDERSON: Reliance is also linked to production companies connected to Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, and George Clooney. The upcoming Bollywood theme "Cheetah Girls" movie was filmed in India. A sign of the growing synergy between Hollywood and Bollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It as all of our hopes that we would begin to educate a whole generation of American kids and their families about the India of today.
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ANDERSON: The joint ventures keep growing. Disney is distributing a Bollywood kids' story on home video. Actor Sylvester Stallone will appear in an upcoming Indian movie and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will be seen opposite Steve Martin in "Pink Panther 2." -- Kiran, Rob.
MARCIANO: Thank you, Brooke.
Well, a congressman tangles with a critic and shoves him out the door. We're going to show you that altercation. Stay tuned. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: How about this? The race for the Tennessee congressional seat heating up now. Tempers flaring. Congressman Steve Cohen got into a scuffle with one of his opponent's supporters.
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REP. COHEN: Out of here. Out of here.
PHOTOGRAPHER: I need my tripod. I need my tripod.
REP. COHEN: Get out of here.
PHOTOGRAPHER: I need my tripod.
REP. COHEN: Take his tripod around the back and throw it at him.
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CHETRY: At least, he's got it back. Cohen said that Peter Surleyan (ph) has been stalking him so he threw him out of the press conference at his home. Surleyan is making a documentary about the race between Cohen and Nikki Tinker, his opponent. Surleyan says he plans to file an assault charge against Cohen.
Well, for more up to the minute political news, head to CNN.com/ticker.
MARCIANO: All right. Time for the most politics in the morning. As part of our commitment to help you make a more informed decision in the presidential election, we're playing longer versions of what the candidates are saying in their own words. So you can hear the issues and what they're talking about on the campaign trail.
John McCain was in Ohio yesterday talking taxes and why Americans don't need anymore of them.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: America has the second highest business rate in the entire world. It's any wonder that jobs are moving overseas. And we're taxing them out of the country. Unfortunately Senator Obama's plans would raise taxes on businesses even more. He's promised tax increases on income, tax increases on investment, tax increases on small businesses. That's exactly, exactly the wrong strategy.
Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you can do. Because it'll kill even more jobs when what we need are policies that create jobs. What we need today is an economic surge. Our surge has succeed in Iraq militarily. Now we need an economic surge. To keep jobs here at home and create new ones. We need to reduce the tax burden on businesses that choose to make their homes in the United States of America. We need to open new markets to U.S. products, and we need to reduce the cost of health care, and we need to end the out of control spending in Washington that's putting our debt on the backs of our children. Now's the time for action. And when I'm president, we are going to get it done.
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MARCIANO: Coming up in our next hour, Barack Obama in his own words.
CHETRY: And here's what we're working on for you this morning as well. The Obama family opens up to "Essence" magazine. The magazine's editor in chief will join us live for some insight on how the Obamas' lives, how their lives have changed since the start of this election.
MARCIANO: And a walk to remember. A new documentary relives the day a world famous tight rope walker balanced between the Twin Towers.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. On the eve of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing, some researchers say that testing for performance-enhancing drugs is actually flawed. That argument is based on the case of ex-Tour de France champion Floyd Landis, who was stripped with his win, and there are still questions about that. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta" right now. CNN's chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta live in Atlanta for us. First of all, tell us exactly what they're talking about when they talk about this risk for false positives.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The math and science here is very interesting. What they're talking about here is the idea that the science overall for testing for a banned substance, how definitive is that if something comes back positive. That's sort of the question that Donald Barry who wrote this article in "Nature" that a lot of people are talking about this morning. That's what he was writing about. And his conclusion, I'll cut to the chase here, is that the science is so weak, that you cannot definitively say whether someone doped or not based on a positive test. Pretty interesting conclusion.
But he did give the example, as you pointed out, of Floyd Landis. And what he said was, you know, the International Court of Arbitration stripped him of his title as winner of the 2006 tour and said that e couldn't compete for two years. But overall, if you look at the number of samples that he gave, eight pairs of urine samples. And you look at the specificity of the test and the sensitivity of the test, in essence, he says there was a 34 percent chance that he would have a false positive rate from those tests.
Take a look again. 34 percent chance of a false positive rate. Now, we've taken this article, we've gone to some of the testing authorities and we said, look, this is a very high false positive rate. How can you definitively say anything? And they acknowledge that the testing is not perfect, but they err on the side of false negative. So that people in the testing world believe that more people are probably getting by without getting caught than people getting caught who didn't actually doped. Kiran.
CHETRY: It does raise a lot of questions, though. Because either way, you know, the whole point of it is to make sure people aren't cheating. And if you can't tell either way whether it's positive or negative, it seems in some ways a little bit useless.
GUPTA: Yes. I mean, you look at statistics overall, unless you have something that's going to be 100 percent sensitive and 100 percent specific, you are going to get false positives and false negatives. And the problem is, as you increase the amount of testing, you get more false positives and false negatives. So it is harder than I think people would imagine. Just simply getting a test back positive doesn't tell you a whole lot. If you add to that, Kiran, the fact that a lot of people are changing the chemicals so they become harder to test for the in the first place, that makes it a moving target, which complicates things further.
CHETRY: Yes. And it is interesting in the case of Dara Torres, for example, the Olympic swimmer. She's doing this pre-emptively. She's saying, I'm going to get tested and I'm going to do it routinely before it's even asked of me to show that I'm clean. How is that working?
GUPTA: Well, you know, for her, it's working great because the tests are coming back negative. But one thing you may not know is that the International Olympic Committee owns the blood or urine for eight years after the competition. So, for example, let's say new tests are devised at some point over the next few years, they could go back and test those samples again. So nothing is full. Again, no one is saying anything about her innocence or guilt. She's come back completely clean. But you know, there are going to be new tests that come out over the next few years which they could go back and test these samples. So even years from now, we may hear something about samples on various athletes.
CHETRY: Well, that's fascinating. They're saving that. And if technology catches up, maybe they will be able to decipher it even better.
Sanjay, great to see you. As always.
GUPTA: It is fascinating, yes.
CHETRY: Thanks.
GUPTA: Good morning. Thanks.
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CHETRY (voice-over): Chopper crash, down in flames, the search for eight firefighters and a pilot feared dead. The latest on why it went down.
Plus, walking the tight rope at 1,300 feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is somebody out there on a tight rope walking between the two towers of the World Trade Center.
CHETRY: A new documentary relives the day a death-defying stunt man walked on air.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an amazing adventure.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a bright, Friday morning. I was driving along down the avenue going towards Moy (ph) Avenue. Suddenly, I saw a truck, which took a turn and went towards the American embassy gates. And that is when the huge blast went. And from that day, I have never seen light again.
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CHETRY: And that was one of the victims of the embassy bombings in Kenya carried out by Al Qaeda ten years ago today, it was August 7th, 1998.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will speak at a ceremony marking today's somber anniversary. Meantime, a memorial this morning in Nairobi, honoring more than 200 killed and 5,000 injured. Besides, Al Qaeda, Kenyans are directing anger toward their government and the U.S. over a lack of compensation for the surviving victims.
MARCIANO: Outrage over oil in Iraq this morning. A government watchdog group says Iraq is rolling in tens of billions of dollars in oil profits.
Our Brianna Keilar reports on the debate over why Americans taxpayers are footing the bill to rebuild Iraq -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rob and Kiran, good morning. Iraq's projected oil revenues in this report by the Government Accountability Office has many people wondering why the U.S. has picked up so much of the tab for reconstruction.
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KEILAR (voice-over): Record high oil prices, a pain at the pump for Americans, but a windfall for the Iraqi government. A new report says Iraqi oil revenues since 2005 could total up to $169 billion. With the U.S. government on the hook for almost $50 billion in war reconstruction costs, members of Congress are fuming.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), CHAIRMAN ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: This is not rocket science. They've got tens of billions of dollars of surplus in banks around the world. $10 billion in American banks alone. They wrote a check to get that money into the bank. They can write a check to reimburse us for these reconstruction costs.
KEILAR: Shortly after the U.S. invaded Iraq, a top Pentagon official told Congress rebuilding would be paid for with oil money.
PAUL WOLFOWITZ, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money.
KEILAR: But it didn't happen that way. Since 2003, the United States has largely funded security as well as infrastructure for oil, water and electricity in Iraq. Now news that Iraq is said to projected to have a surplus of as much as $80 billion this year. But White House spokesman Tony Fratto says Iraq is now footing most of the bill for re-building and dismisses suggestions that Iraq reimburse American taxpayers.
TONY FRATTO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The reimbursement to the United States is that we will have a long-term ally that will stand with us in this very critical part of the world.
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KEILAR: And an Iraqi lawmaker tells CNN Iraqis are to set aside that money in case the price of oil, Iraq's primary source of revenue, drops significantly. Rob. Kiran.
MARCIANO: Brianna Keilar, thank you. The report also say $10 billion of Iraq's surplus is at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. And the bank paid Iraq $435 million in interest payments on that money. And we want you to know -- we want to know what you think about this story. So, go to CNN.com/am and weigh in, tell us your opinion -- Kiran.
